Antiquitates christianæ, or, The history of the life and death of the holy Jesus as also the lives acts and martyrdoms of his Apostles : in two parts.

SECT. XIII. Of the Second Year of the Preaching of JESVS.

[illustration]

The poole of Bethesda.

IOH. 5. 8. 9. Iesus saith unto him Rise take up thy bed and walk and immediately the man was made whol and walked and on the same day was the Sabboath. place this to the third Sunday in Advent.

[illustration]

Marie washing CHRISTS feet.

IOH. 12. 7 Then said Iesus. let her alone: Against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8 For the poore alwayes ye haue with you, but me ye haue not alwayes. Monday before Easter.

1. WHEN the First Year of Jesus, the year of Peace and undisturbed Preaching, was expired, there was a Feast of the Jews, and Jesus* 1.1 went up to Jerusalem. This Feast was the second Passeover he kept* 1.2 after he began to preach; not the Feast of Pentecost or Tabernacles, both which were passed before Jesus came last from Judaea: whither when he was now come, he finds an impotent person lying at the pool of Bethesda, waiting till the Angel should move the wa∣ters, after which whosoever first stepped in was cured of his infirmity. The poor man had waited thirty eight years, and still was prevented by some other of the Hospital that need∣ed a Physician. But Jesus seeing him, had pity on him, cured him, and bade him take up his bed and walk. This cure happened to be wrought upon the Sabbath, for which the Jews were so moved with indignation, that they thought to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 him: And their an∣ger was enraged by his calling himself the Son of God, and making himself equal with God.

2. Upon occasion of this offence, which they snatched at before it was ministred,* 1.3 Jesus discourses upon

his Mission, and derivation of his authority from the Father; of the union between them, and the excellent communications of power, participa∣tion of dignity, delegation of judicature, reciprocations and reflexions of honour from the Father to the Son, and back again to the Father. He preaches of life and Salvation to them that believe in him; prophesies of the resurrection of the dead by the efficacy of the voice of the Son of God; speaks of the day of Judgment, the dif∣fering conditions after, of Salvation and Damnation respectively; confirms his words and mission by the testimony of John the Baptist, of Moses and the other Scrip∣tures,* 1.4 and of God himself.

And still the scandal rises higher: for in the second Sab∣bath

after the first, that is, in the first day of unleavened bread, which happened the next day after the weekly Sabbath, the Disciples of Jesus pull ripe 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of corn, rub them in their hands, and eat them to satisfie their hunger: For which he offered satis∣faction to their scruples, convincing them, that works of necessity are to be permitted even to the breach of a positive temporary constitution, and that works of Mercy are the best serving of God upon any day whatsoever, or any part of the day that is vacant to other offices, and proper for a religious Festival.

3. But when neither Reason nor Religion would give them satisfaction, but that they went about to kill him, he withdrew himself from Jerusalem, and returned to Galilee; whither the Scribes and Pharisees followed him, observing his actions, and whether or no he would prosecute that which they called profanation of their Sabbath, by doing acts of Mercy upon that day. He still did so. For entring into one of the Sy∣nagogues of Galilee upon the Sabbath, Jesus saw a man* 1.5 (whom S. Hierom reports to have been a Mason) coming to Tyre, and complaining that his hand was withered, and de∣siring* 1.6 help of him, that he might again be restored to the use of his hands, lest he should be compelled with misery and shame to beg his bread. Jesus restored his hand as whole as the other in the midst of all those spies and enemies. Upon which act, being confirmed in their malice, the Pha∣risees went forth, and joyned with the Herodians, (a Sect of people who said Herod was the Messias, because by the decree of the Roman Senate, when the Sceptre departed from Judah, * 1.7 he was declared King) and both together took counsel how they might kill him.

4. Jesus therefore departed again to the sea-coast, and his companies encreased as his fame, for he was now followed by new multitudes from Galilee, from Judaea, from Jeru∣salem, from Idumaea, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 beyond Jordan, from about Tyre and Sidon; who, hearing the report of his miraculous power to cure all diseases by the word of his mouth, or the touch of his hand, or the handling his garment, came with their ambulatory hospital of sick and their possessed; and they pressed on him, but to touch him, and were all immediately cured. The Devils confessing publickly, that he was the Son of God, till they were upon all such occasions restrained, and compelled to silence.

5. But now Jesus having commanded a ship to be in readiness against any inconveni∣ence or troublesome pressures of the multitude, went up into a mountain to pray, and con∣tinued in prayer all night, intending to make the first ordination of Apostles: which the next day he did, chusing out of the number of his Disciples these * 1.8 twelve to be Apostles; Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John, the sons of thunder, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zelot, Ju∣das the brother of James and Judas 〈◊〉〈◊〉. With these descending from the mountain to the plain, he repeated the same Sermon, or much of it, which he had before preach∣ed in the first beginning of his Prophesyings; that he might publish his Gospel to these new Auditors, and also more particularly inform his Apostles in the Doctrine of the Kingdom: for now, because he saw Israel scattered like sheep having no Shepherd, he did purpose to send these twelve abroad to preach Repentance and the approximation of the Kingdom; and therefore first instructed them in the mysterious parts of his holy Do∣ctrine, and gave them also particular instructions together with their temporary com∣mission for that journey.

6.

For Jesus sent them out by two and two, giving them power over unclean spirits, and to heal all manner of sickness and diseases; telling them they were the light, and the eyes, and the salt of the world, so intimating their duties of diligence, holiness, and incorruption; giving them in charge to preach the Gospel, to dispense their power and Miracles freely, as they had received it, to anoint sick persons with oil, not to enter into any Samaritan Town, but to go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to provide no viaticum for their journeys, but to put themselves upon the Religion and Piety of their Proselytes: he arms them against persecutions, gives them leave to slye the storm from City to City, promises them the assistances of his Spirit, en∣courages them by his own example of long-sufferance, and by instances of Divine providence expressed even to creatures of smallest value, and by promise of great re∣wards, to the confident confession of his Name; and furnishes them with some pro∣positions, which are like so many bills of exchange, upon the trust of which they might take up necessaries; promising great retributions not only to them who quit any thing of value for the sake of Jesus, but to them that offer a cup of water to a thir∣sty Disciple.]

And with these instructions they departed to preach in the Cities.

7. And Jesus returning to Capernaum received the address of a faithful Centurion of the Legion called the Iron Legion (which usually quartered in Judaea) in behalf of his ser∣vant,* 1.9 whom he loved, and who was grievously afflicted with the Palsie; and healed him, as a reward and honour to his Faith. And from thence going to the City Naim, he raised to life the only son of a widow, whom the mourners followed in the street, bearing the corps sadly to his funeral. Upon the fame of these and divers other Mi∣racles John the Baptist, who was still in prison, (for he was not put to death till the latter end of this year) sent two of his Disciples to him by divine providence, or else by John's designation, to minister occasion of his greater publication, enquiring if he was the Messias. To whom Jesus returned no answer, but a Demonstration taken from the nature of the thing, and the glory of the Miracles, saying, Return to John and tell him what ye see; for the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised, and the lepers are cleansed, and to the poor the Gospel is preached: which were the Characteristick notes of the Messias, according to the predictions of the holy* 1.10 Prophets.

6. When John's Disciples were gone with this answer, Jesus began to speak con∣cerning John,

of the austerity and holiness of his person, the greatness of his functi∣on, the Divinity of his commission, saying, that he was greater than a Prophet, a burning and shining light, the Elias that was to come, and the consummation or ending of the old Prophets: Adding withall, that the perverseness of that Age was most notorious in the entertainment of himself and the Baptist: for neither could the Bap∣tist, who came neither eating nor drinking, (that by his austerity and mortified de∣portment he might invade the judgment and affections of the people) nor Jesus, who came both eating and drinking, (that by a moderate and an affable life framed to the compliance and common use of men he might sweetly insinuate into the affections of the multitude) obtain belief amongst them. They could object against every thing, but nothing could please them. But wisdom & righteousness had a theatre in its own family, and is justified of all her children. Then he proceeds to a more applied reprehension of Capernaum and Chorazin and Bethsaida, for being pertinacious in their sins and infide∣lity, in defiance and reproof of all the mighty works which had been wrought in them. But these things were not revealed to all dispositions; the wife and the migh∣ty of the world were not subjects prepared for the simplicity and softer impresses of the Gospel, and the down-right severity of its Sanctions. And therefore Jesus glori∣fied God for the magnifying of his mercy, in that these things which were hid from the great ones were revealed to babes; and concludes this Sermon with an invitation of all wearied and disconsolate persons, loaded with sin and misery, to come to him, pro∣mising ease to their burthens, and refreshment to their weariness, and to exchange their heavy pressures into an easie yoke, and a light burthen.

9. When Jesus had ended this Sermon, one of the Pharisees, named Simon, invited* 1.11 him to eat with him; into whose house when he was entred, a certain woman that was a sinner, abiding there in the City, heard of it; her name was Mary: she had been married to a noble personage, a native of the Town and Castle of Magdal, from whence she had her name of Magdalen, though she her self was born in Bethany; a widow she was, and prompted by her wealth, liberty and youth to an intemperate life, and too free entertainments. She came to Jesus into the Pharisee's house: not (as did the sta∣ring multitude) to glut her eyes with the sight of a miraculous and glorious person; nor (as did the Centurion, or the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, or the Ruler of the Synagogue) for cure of her sickness, or in behalf of her friend, or child, or servant; but (the only ex∣ample of so coming) she came in remorse and regret for her sins, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 came to Jesus to lay her burthen at his feet, and to present him with a broken heart, and a weeping eye, and great affection, and a box of Nard Pistick, salutary and precious. For she came trembling, and fell down before him, weeping bitter∣ly for her sins, pouring out a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 great enough to wash the* 1.12 feet of the Blessed Jesus, and wiping them with the hairs of her head; after which she brake the box, and anointed his feet with ointment. Which expression was so great an ecstasie of love, sorrow and adoration, that to anoint the feet even of the greatest Monarch was long* 1.13 unknown, and in all the pomps and greatnesses of the Roman Prodigality it was not used till Otho taught it to Nero; in whose instance it was by Pliny reckoned for a pro∣digy of unnecessary profusion, and in it self, without the circumstance of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 free a dis∣pensation, it was a present for a Prince, and an Alabaster-box of Nard Pistick was sent as a present from 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to the King of Ethiopia.

10. When Simon observed this sinner so busie in the expresses of her Religion and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to Jesus, he thought with himself that this was no Prophet, that did not know her to be a sinner, or no just person, that would suffer her to touch him. For although the Jews Religion did permit Harlots of their own Nation to live, and enjoy the pri∣viledges of their Nation, save that their Oblations were refused: yet the Pharisees, who pretended to a greater degree of Sanctity than others, would not admit them to ci∣vil 〈◊〉〈◊〉, or the benefits of ordinary society; and thought Religion it self and the ho∣nour of a Prophet was concerned in the interests of the same superciliousness: and therefore Simon made an objection within himself. Which Jesus knowing, (for he understood his thoughts as well as his words) made her Apology and his own in a civil question expressed in a Parable of two Debtors, to whom a greater and a less debt re∣spectively was forgiven; both of them concluding, that they would love their merci∣ful Creditor in proportion to his mercy and donative: and this was the case of Mary Magdalen, to whom because much was forgiven, she loved much, and expressed it in characters so large, that the Pharisee might read his own incivilities and inhospitable entertainment of the Master, when it stood confronted with the magnificency of Mary Magdalen's penance and charity.

11. When Jesus had dined, he was presented with the sad sight of a poor Demoni∣ack possessed with a blind and a dumb Devil, in whose behalf his friends intreated Jesus, that he would cast the Devil out; which he did immediately, and the blind man saw, and the dumb spake, so much to the amazement of the people, that they ran in so prodigious companies after him, and so scandalized the Pharisees, who thought that by means of this Prophet their reputation would be lessened and their Schools empty, that first a rumour was scattered up and down from an uncertain principle, but communicated with tumult and apparent noises, that Jesus was beside himself. Up∣on which rumour his friends and kindred came together to see, and to make provisions accordingly; and the holy Virgin-mother came her self, but without any apprehensi∣ons of any such horrid accident. The words and things she had from the beginning laid up in her heart would furnish her with principles exclusive of all apparitions of such fancies; but she came to see what that persecution was which, under that colour, it was likely the Pharisees might commence.

12. When the Mother of Jesus and his kindred came, they found him in a house, encircled with people, full of wonder and admiration: And there the holy Virgin-mo∣ther might hear part of her own Prophecy verified, that the generations of the earth should call her blessed; for a woman worshipping Jesus cried out, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. To this Jesus replied, not denying her to be highly blessed who had received the honour of being the Mother of the Messias, but advancing the dignities of spiritual excellencies far above this greatest temporal ho∣nour in the world; Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and do it. For in respect of the issues of spiritual perfections and their proportionable benedictions, all immunities and temporal honours are empty and hollow blessings; and all relations of kindred disband and empty themselves into the greater chanels and flouds of Divi∣nity.

13. For when Jesus being in the house, they told him his Mother and his Brethren staid for him without; he told them, those relations were less than the ties of Duty and Religion: For those dear names of Mother and Brethren, which are hallowed by the laws of God and the endearments of Nature, are made far more sacred when a spiritual cognation does supervene, when the relations are subjected in persons religious and ho∣ly: but if they be abstract and separate, the conjunction of persons in spiritual bands, in the same Faith, and the same Hope, and the union of them in the same mystical Head, is an adunation nearer to identity than those distances between Parents and Children, which are only cemented by the actions of Nature as it is of distinct consi∣deration from the spirit. For Jesus pointing to his Disciples said, Behold my Mother and my Brethren; for whosoever doth the will of my Father which is in heaven, he is my Brother, and Sister, and Mother.

14. But the Pharisees upon the occasion of the Miracles renewed the old quarrel; He casteth out Devils by Beelzebub. Which senseless and illiterate objection Christ ha∣ving confuted, charged them highly upon the guilt of an unpardonable crime, telling them, that the so charging those actions of his done in the virtue of the Divine Spirit, is a sin against the Holy Ghost: and however they might be bold with the Son of Man, and prevarications against his words or injuries to his person might upon Repen∣tance and Baptism find a pardon; yet it was a matter of greater consideration to sin

against the Holy Ghost; that would find no pardon here, nor hereafter. But taking occasion upon this discourse, he by an ingenious and mysterious Parable gives the world great caution of recidivation and backsliding after Repentance. For if the Devil returns into a house once swept and garnished, he bringeth seven spirits more impure than himself; and the last estate of that man is worse than the first.

15. After this, Jesus went from the house of the Pharisee, and, coming to the Sea of Tiberias or Genezareth, (for it was called the Sea of Tiberias from a Town on the banks of the Lake) taught the people upon the shore, himself sitting in the ship; but he taught them by Parables, under which were hid mysterious senses, which shined through their veil like a bright Sun through an eye closed with a thin eye-lid; it being light enough to shew their infidelity, but not to dispell those thick Egyptian darknesses which they had contracted by their habitual indispositions and pertinacious aversati∣ons. By the Parable of the Sower scattering his seed by the way side, and some on stony, some on thorny, some on good ground, he intimated the several capacities or indispositions of mens hearts, the carelesness of some, the frowardness and levity of others, the easiness and softness of a third, and how they are spoiled with worldliness and cares, and how many ways there are to miscarry, and that but one sort of men receive the word, and bring forth the fruits of a holy life. By the Parable of Tares permitted to grow amongst the Wheat, he intimated the toleration of dissenting Opinions not destructive of Piety or ci∣vil societies. By the three Parables of the Seed growing insensibly, of the grain of Mu∣stard-seed swelling up to a tree, of a little Leven qualifying the whole lump, he signified the increment of the Gospel, and the blessings upon the Apostolical Sermons.

16. Which Parables when he had privately to his Apostles rendred into their proper senses, he added to them two Parables concerning the dignity of the Gospel, comparing it to Treasure hid in a field, and a Jewel of great price, for the purchace of which every good Merchant must quit all that he hath rather than miss it: telling them withall, that however purity and spiritual perfections were intended by the Gospel, yet it would not be acquired by every person; but the publick Professors of Christianity should be a mixt multitude, like a net inclosing fishes good and bad. After which discourses he retired from the Sea side, and went to his own City of Nazareth; where he preached so ex∣cellently upon certain words of the Prophet* 1.14 〈◊〉〈◊〉, that all the people wondred at the wisdom which he expressed in his Divine discourses. But the men of Nazareth did not do honour to the Prophet, that was their Countryman, because they knew him in all the disadvantages of youth, and kindred, and trade, and poverty, still retaining in their minds the infirmities and humilities of his first years, and keeping the same ap∣prehensions of him a man and a glorious Prophet, which they had to him a child in the shop of a Carpenter. But when Jesus in his Sermon had reproved their infidelity, at which he wondred, and therefore did but few Miracles there in respect of what he had done at Capernaum, and intimated the prelation of that City before 〈◊〉〈◊〉, they thrust him out of the City, and led him to the brow of the hill on which the City was built, in∣tending to throw him down headlong. But his work was not yet finished, therefore he passing through the midst of them went his way.

17. Jesus therefore departing from Nazareth went up and down to all the Towns and Castles of Galilce, attended by his Disciples, and certain women out of whom he had cast unclean spirits; such as were Mary Magdalen, Johanna wife to Chuza Herod's Steward, Susanna, and some others, who did for him offices of provision, and mini∣stred to him out of their own substance, and became parts of that holy Colledge which about this time began to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉; because now the Apostles were returned from their Preaching, full of joy that the Devils were made subject to the word of their mouth, and the Empire of their Prayers, and invocation of the holy Name of Jesus. But their Master gave them a lenitive to asswage the tumour and excrescency, intimating that such priviledges are not solid foundations of a holy joy; but so far as they cooperate to∣ward the great end of God's glory and their own Salvation, to which when they are* 1.15 consigned, and their names written in Heaven, in the book of Election and Registers of Predestination, then their joy is reasonable, holy, true, and perpetual.

18. But when Herod had heard these things of Jesus, presently his apprehensions were such as derived from his guilt, he thought it was John the Baptist who was risen from the dead, and that these mighty works were demonstrations of his power, increa∣sed* 1.16 by the superadditions of immortality and diviner influences made proportionable to the honour of a Martyr, and the state of separation. For a little before this time He∣rod had sent to the Castle of Macheruns, where John was prisoner, and caused him to* 1.17 be beheaded. His head Herodias buried in her own Palace, thinking to secure it

against a re-union, lest it should again disturb her unlawful Lusts, and disquiet Herod's conscience. But the body the Disciples of John gathered up, and carried it with ho∣nour and sorrow, and buried it in Sebaste, in the confines of Samaria, making his grave between the bodies of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and Abdias the Prophets. And about this time was the Passeover of the Jews.

DISCOURSE XV. Of the Excellency, Ease, Reasonableness and Advantages of bear∣ing Christ's Yoke, and living according to his Institution.

[illustration]

Ecce agnus Dei gui to••lit peccata Mundi Iohn. 1. 29. Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the World.

[illustration]

The Christian's Work and Reward.

Matth. 11. 29, 30. Take my yoke upon you, & learn of me. For my yoke is easie & my burthen is light. Revel. 2, 10. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

1 Cor. 9. 24, 25. So run that ye may obtain. Every man that striueth for y^e mastery is temperate in all things: now they do it to obtain a corrupible crown, but we an incorruptible.

THE Holy Jesus came to break from off our necks two great yokes; the one of Sin, by which we were fettered and imprisoned in the condition of slaves and miserable persons; the other of Moses's Law, by which we were kept in pupillage and minority, and a state of Imperfection: and asserted us into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The first was a Despotick Empire, and the Government of a Tyrant: the second was of a School-master, severe, absolute and imperious, but it was in order to a farther good, yet nothing pleasant in the sufferance and load. And now Christ ha∣ving taken off these two, hath put on a third. He quits us of our Burthen, but not of our Duty; and hath changed the former Tyranny and the less-perfect Discipline in∣to the sweetness of paternal regiment, and the excellency of such an Institution whose every Precept carries part of its reward in hand, and assurances of after-glories. Mo∣ses's Law was like sharp and unpleasant Physick, certainly painful, but uncertainly healthful. For it was not then communicated to them by promise and universal reve∣lations, that the end of their Obedience should be Life eternal: but they were full of hopes it might be so, as we are of health when we have a learned and wise Physician. But as yet the Reward was in a cloud, and the hopes in fetters and confinement. But the Law of Christ is like Christ's healing of diseases; he does it easily, and he does it in∣fallibly. The event is certainly consequent, and the manner of cure is by a touch of his hand, or a word of his mouth, or an approximation to the hem of his garment, without pain and vexatious instruments. My meaning is, that Christianity is by the assistance of Christ's spirit, which he promised us and gave us in the Gospel, made very easie to

us: And yet a reward so great is promised, as were enough to make a lame man to walk, and a broken arm endure the burthen; a reward great enough to make us wil∣ling to do violence to all our inclinations, passions, and desires. A hundred weight to a giant is a light burthen, because his strength is disproportionably great, and makes it as easie to him as an ounce is to a child. And yet if we had not the strength of giants, if the hundred weight were of Gold or Jewels, a weaker person would think it no trouble to bear that burthen, if it were the reward of his portage and the hire of his la∣bours. The Spirit is given to us to enable us, and Heaven is promised to encourage us; the first makes us able, and the second makes us willing: and when we have power and affections, we cannot complain of pressure. And this is the meaning of our Blessed Saviour's invitation; Come to me, for my burthen is light, my 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is easie: which S. John* 1.18 * 1.19 also observed, For this is the love of God, that we keep his Commandments; and his Com∣mandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh, even our Faith: that is, our belief of God's promises, the promise of the Spirit for present aid, and of Heaven for the future reward, is strength enough to overcome all the world.

2. But besides that God hath made his yoke easie by exteriour supports more than ever was in any other Religion; Christianity is of it self, according to humane esti∣mate, a Religion more easie and desirable by our natural and reasonable appetites, than Sin in the midst of all its pleasures and imaginary felicities. Vertue hath more pleasure in it than Sin, and hath all satisfactions to every desire of man in order to humane and prudent ends; which I shall represent in the consideration of these particulars. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 To live according to the Laws of Jesus is in some things most natural and proportionable to the desires and first intentions of Nature. 2. There is in it less trouble than in Sin. 3. It conduces infinitely to the content of our lives, and natural and political satisfa∣ctions. 4. It is a means to preserve our temporal lives long and healthy. 5. It is most reasonable; and he only is prudent that does so, and he a fool that does not. And all this besides the considerations of a glorious and happy Eternity.

3. Concerning the First I consider, that we do very ill when, in stead of making our Natural infirmity an instrument of Humility, and of recourse to the grace of God, we pretend the sin of Adam to countenance our actual sins, natural infirmity to excuse our malice; either laying Adam in fault for deriving the disability upon us, or God, for putting us into the necessity. But the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 that we feel in this are from the rebelli∣on of the inferiour Appetite against Reason, or against any Religion that puts restraint upon our first desires, And therefore in carnal and sensual instances accidentally we 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the more natural averseness, because God's Laws have put our irascible and concu∣piscible faculties in fetters and restraints; yet in matters of duty, which are of imma∣terial and spiritual concernment, all our natural reason is a perfect enemy and contra∣diction to, and a Law against, Vice. It is natural for us to love our Parents, and they who do not are unnatural; they do violence to those dispositions which God gave us to the constitution of our Nature, and for the designs of Vertue: and all those tendernesses of affection, those bowels and relenting dispositions, which are the endearments of Parents and Children, are also the bands of duty. Every degree of love makes duty delectable: and therefore either by nature we are inclined to hate our Parents, which is against all reason and experience; or else we are by nature enclined to do to them all that which is the effect of love to such Superiours and principles of being and dependen∣cy: and every prevarication from the rule, effects and expresses of love, is a contradi∣ction to Nature, and a mortification; to which we cannot be invited by any thing from within, but by something from without, that is violent and preternatural. There are also many other vertues even in the matter of sensual appetite which none can lose, but by altering in some degree the natural disposition. And I instance in the mat∣ter of Carnality and Uncleanness, to which possibly some natures may think them∣selves apt and disposed: but yet God hath put into our mouths a bridle to curb the licen∣tiousness of our speedy appetite, putting into our very natures a principle as strong to restrain it as there is in us a disposition apt to invite us; and this is also in persons who are most apt to the vice, women and young persons, to whom God hath given a mo∣desty and shame of nature, that the entertainments of Lusts may become contradictions to our retreating and backward modesty, more than they are satisfactions to our too∣forward appetites. It is as great a mortification and violence to nature to blush, as to lose a desire; and we find it true, when persons are invited to confess their sins, or to ask forgiveness publickly, a secret smart is not so violent as a publick shame: and therefore to do an action which brings shame all along, and opens the Sanctuaries of

nature, and makes all her retirements publick, and dismantles her inclosure, as Lust does, and the shame of carnality, hath in it more asperity and abuse to nature, than the short pleasure to which we are invited can repay. There are unnatural Lusts, Lusts which are such in their very condition and constitution, that a man must turn a wo∣man, and a woman become a beast in acting them; and all Lusts that are not unnatu∣ral in their own complexion, are unnatural by a consequent and accidental violence. And if Lust hath in it dissonancies to Nature, there are but few apologies 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to excuse our sins upon Nature's stock: and all that systeme of principles and reasonable induce∣ments to Vertue, which we call the Law of Nature, is nothing else but that firm liga∣ture and incorporation of Vertue to our natural principles and dispositions, which who∣so prevaricates does more against Nature than he that restrains his appetite. And be∣sides these particulars, there is not in our natural discourse any inclination directly and by intention of it self contrary to the love of God, because by God we understand that Fountain of Being which is infinitely perfect in it self, and of great good to us; and whatsoever is so apprehended, it is as* 1.20 natural for us to love, as to love any thing in the world; for we can love nothing but what we believe to be good in it self, or good to us. And beyond this, there are in Nature many* 1.21 principles and reasons to make an aptness to acknowledge and confess God; and by the consent of Nations, which they also have learned from the dictates of their Nature, all men in some manner or other worship God. And therefore when this our Nature is determined in its own indefinite principle to the manner of worship, all acts against the Love, the Obedience and the Worship of God, are also against Nature, and offer it some rude∣ness and violence. And I shall observe this, and refer it to every man's reason and ex∣perience, that the great difficulties of Vertue commonly apprehended commence not so much upon the stook of Nature, as of* 1.22 Education and evil Habits. Our Vertues are difficult, because we at first get ill Habits; and these Habits must be unrooted be∣fore we do well: and that's our trouble. But if by the strictness of Discipline and wholsome Education we begin at first in our duty and the practice of vertuous prin∣ciples, we shall find Vertue made as natural to us, while it is customary and habitual, as we pretend infirmity to be and propensity to vicious practices. And this we are taught by that excellent Hebrew who said, Wisdom is easily seen of them that love her, and found of such as seek her: She preventeth them that desire her, in making her self first known unto them. Whoso seeketh her early shall have no great travel; for he shall find her sitting* 1.23 at his doors.

4. Secondly, In the strict observances of the Law of Chri∣stianity there is less Trouble than in the habitual courses of sin.* 1.24 For if we consider the general design of Christianity, it pro∣pounds to us in this world nothing that is of difficult pur∣chase, nothing beyond what God allots us by the ordinary and common Providence, such things which we are to receive* 1.25 without care and solicitous vexation: So that the Ends are* 1.26 not big, and the Way is easie; and this walk'd over with much simplicity and sweetness, and those obtained without difficulty. He that pro∣pounds to himself to live low, pious, humble, and retired, his main imployment is nothing but sitting quiet, and undisturbed with variety of impertinent affairs: But he that loves the World and its acquisitions entertains a thousand businesses, and every business hath a world of employment, and every employment is multiplied and made intricate by circumstances, and every circumstance is to be disputed, and he that dis∣putes ever hath two sides in enmity and opposition; and by this time there is a genealo∣gy, a long descent and cognation of troubles, branched into so many particulars, that it is troublesome to understand them, and much more to run through them. The ways of Vertue are very much upon the defensive, and the work one, uniform and little; they are like war within a strong Castle, if they stand upon their guard, they seldom need to strike a stroak. But a Vice is like storming of a Fort, full of noise, trouble, labour, danger, and disease. How easie a thing is it to restore the pledge? but if a man means to defeat him that trusted him, what a world of arts must he use to make pretences? to delay first, then to excuse, then to object, then to intricate the bu∣siness, next to quarrel, then to forswear it, and all the way to palliate his crime, and represent himself honest? And if an oppressing and greedy person have a design to co∣zen a young Heir, or to get his neighbour's land, the cares of every day and the inter∣ruptions

of every night's sleep are more than the purchase is worth; since he might buy Vertue at half that watching, and the less painful care of a fewer number of days. A* 1.27 plain story is soonest told, and best confutes an intricate Lie. And when a person is examined in judgment, one false answer asks more wit for its support and maintenance than a History of truth. And such persons are put to so many shameful retreats, false colours, Fucus's and dawbings with untempered morter, to avoid contradiction or discovery, that the labour of a false story seems in the order of things to be designed the beginning of its punishment. And if we consider how great a part of our Religion consists in Prayer, and how easie a thing God requires of us when he commands us to pray for blessings, the duty of a Christian cannot seem very troublesome.

5. And indeed I can cardly instance in any Vice but there* 1.28 is visibly more pain in the order of acting and observing it, than in the acquist or promotion of Vertue. I have seen drunken persons in their seas of drink and talk dread every cup as a blow, and they have used devices and private arts to* 1.29 escape the punishment of a full draught; and the poor wretch being condemned by the laws of Drinking to his measure, was forced and haled to execution, and he suffered it, and thought himself engaged to that person who with much kind∣ness and importunity invited him to a Fever: but certainly there was more pain in it than in the strictness of holy and severe Temperance. And he that shall compare the troubles and dangers of an ambitious War with the gentleness and easiness of Peace, will soon perceive that every Tyrant and usurping Prince, that snatches at his neigh∣bour's rights, hath two armies, one of men, and the other of cares. Peace sheds no bloud, but of the pruned vine; and hath no business, but modest and quiet entertain∣ments of the time, opportune for Piety, and circled with reward. But God often pu∣nishes Ambition and Pride with Lust; and he sent a thorn in the flesh as a corrective to the elevations and grandezza of S. Paul, growing up from the multitude of his Revela∣tions: and it is not likely the punishment should have less trouble than the crime, whose pleasures and obliquity this was designed to punish. And indeed every experi∣ence can verifie, that an Adulterer hath in him the impatience of desires, the burnings of lust, the fear of shame, the appre∣hensions* 1.30 of a jealous, abused, and an inraged Husband. He endures affronts, mistimings, tedious waitings, the dulness of delay, the regret of interruption, the confusion and amaze∣ments of discovery, the scorn of a reproached vice, the debasings of contempt upon it; unless the man grows impudent, and then he is more miserable upon another stock. But David was so put to it to attempt, to obtain, to enjoy Bathsheba, and to prevent the shame of it, that the difficulty was greater than all his wit and power, and it drove him into base and unworthy arts, which discovered him the more, and multi∣plied his crime. But while he enjoyed the innocent pleasures of his lawful bed, he had no more trouble in it than there was in inclining his head upon his pillow. The ways of sin are crooked, desert, rocky and uneven: they are broad indeed, and there is variety* 1.31 of ruines, and allurements to entice fools, and a large theatre to act the bloudy trage∣dies of Souls upon; but they are nothing smooth, or safe, or delicate. The ways of Vertue are streight, but not crooked; narrow, but not unpleasant. There are two Vices for one Vertue; and therefore the way to Hell must needs be of greater extent, latitude and dissemination: But because Vertue is but one way, therefore it is easie, regular, and apt to walk in without error or diversions. Narrow is the gate, and streight is the way. It is true, considering our evil customs and depraved natures, by which we have made it so to us. But God hath made it more passable by his grace and present aids; and S. John Baptist receiving his Commission to preach Repentance, it was ex∣pressed in these words, Make plain the paths of the Lord. Indeed Repentance is a rough and a sharp vertue, and like a mattock and spade breaks away all the roughnesses of the passage, and hinderances of sin: but when we enter into the dispositions which Christ hath designed to us, the way is more plain and easie than the ways of Death and Hell. Labour it hath in it, just as all things that are excellent; but no confusions, no distra∣ctions of thought, no amazements, no labyrinths, and intricacy of counsels: But it is like the labours of Agriculture, full of health and simplicity, plain and profitable, re∣quiring diligence, but such in which crafts and painful stratagems are useless and im∣pertinent. But Vice hath oftentimes so troublesome a retinue, and so many objections in the event of things, is so intangled in difficult and contradictory circumstances, hath

in it parts so opposite to each other, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 inconsistent with the present condition of the man, or some secret design of his, that those little pleasures which are its Fucus and pretence are less perceived and least enjoyed, while they begin in phantastick semblan∣ces, and rise up in smoak, vain and hurtful, and end in dissatisfaction.

6. But it is considerable, that God, and the Sinner, and the Devil, all joyn in in∣creasing the difficulty and trouble of sin, upon contrary designs indeed, but all coope∣rate to the verification of this discourse. For God by his restraining grace, and the checks of a tender Conscience, and the bands of publick honesty, and the sense of ho∣nour and reputation, and the customs of Nations, and the severities of Laws, makes that in most men the choice of Vice is imperfect, dubious and troublesome, and the pleasures abated, and the apprehensions various and in differing degrees; and men act their crimes while they are disputing against them, and the balance is cast by a few grains, and scruples vex and disquiet the possession; and the difference is perceived to be so little, that inconsideration and inadvertency is the greatest means to determine many men to the entertainment of a sin. And this God does with a design to lessen our choice, and to disabuse our perswasions from arguments and weak pretences of Vice, and to invite us to the trials of Vertue, when we see its enemy giving us so ill conditi∣ons. And yet the Sinner himself makes the business of sin greater; for its nature is so loathsome, and its pleasure so little, and its promises so unperformed, that when it lies open, easie and apt to be discerned, there is no argument in it ready to invite us; and men hate a vice which is every day offered and prostitute, and when they seek for plea∣sure, unless difficulty presents it, as there is nothing in it really to perswade a choice, so there is nothing strong or witty enough to abuse a man. And to this purpose (amongst some others, which are malicious and crafty) the Devil gives assistance, knowing that men despise what is cheap and common, and suspect a latent excellency to be in difficult and forbidden objects: and therefore the Devil sometimes crosses an opportunity of sin, knowing that the desire is the iniquity, and does his work suffici∣ently; and yet the crossing the desire by impeding the act heightens the appetite, and makes it more violent and impatient. But by all these means sin is made more trouble∣some than the pleasures of the temptation can account for: and it will be a strange im∣prudence to leave Vertue upon pretence of its difficulty, when for that very reason we the rather entertain the instances of sin, despising a cheap sin and a costly Vertue; chu∣sing to walk through the brambles of a Desart, rather than to climb the fruit-trees of Paradise.

7. Thirdly, Vertue conduces infinitely to the Content of our lives, to secular felici∣ties,* 1.32 and political satisfactions; and Vice does the quite contrary. For the blessings of this life are these that make it happy, Peace and quietness, Content and satisfaction of desires, Riches, Love of friends and neighbours, Honour and reputation abroad, a Healthful body, and a long Life. This last is a distinct consideration, but the other are proper to this title. For the first it is certain, Peace was so designed by the Holy Jesus, that he framed all his Laws in compliance to that design. He that returns good* 1.33 for evil, a soft answer to the asperity of his enemy, kindness to injuries, lessons the con∣tention always, and sometimes gets a friend, and when he does not, he shames his enemy. Every little accident in a family to peevish and angry persons is the matter of a quarrel, and every quarrel discomposes the peace of the house, and sets it on fire, and no man can tell how far that may burn, it may be to a dissolution of the whole fabrick. But whosoever obeys the Laws of Jesus, bears with the infirmities of his relatives and society, seeks with sweetness to remedy what is ill, and to prevent what it may produce, and throws water upon a spark, and lives sweetly with his wife, affectionately with his children, providently and discreetly with his servants; and they all love the Ma∣jor-domo, and look upon him as their Parent, their Guardian, their Friend, their Pa∣tron, their Proveditore. But look upon a person angry, peaceless and disturbed, when he enters upon his threshold, it gives an alarm to his house, and puts them to flight, or upon their defence; and the Wife reckons the joy of her day is done, when he re∣turns; and the Children enquire into their Father's age, and think his life tedious; and the Servants curse privately, and do their service as slaves do, only when they dare not do otherwise; and they serve him as they serve a Lion, they obey his strength, and fear his cruelty, and despise his manners, and hate his person. No man enjoys content in his family but he that is peaceful and charitable, just and loving, forbearing and forgiving, careful and provident. He that is not so, his house may be his Castle, but it is manned by enemies; his house is built, not upon the sand, but upon the waves, and upon a tempest: the foundation is uncertain, but his ruine is not so.

8. And if we extend the relations of the man beyond his own walls, he that does his duty to his Neighbour, that is, all offices of kindness, gentleness and humanity, no∣thing of injury and affront, is certain never to meet with a wrong so great as is the in∣convenience of a Law-suit, or the contention of neighbours, and all the consequent dangers and inconvenience. Kindness will create and invite kindness; an injury pro∣vokes an injury. And since the love of Neighbours is one of those beauties which Solo∣mon did admire, and that this beauty is within the combination of precious things which adorn and reward a peaceable, charitable disposition; he that is in love with spiritual excellencies, with intellectual rectitudes, with peace and with blessings of so∣ciety, knows they grow amongst rose bushes of Vertue and holy obedience to the Laws of Jesus. And for a good man some will even dare to die, and a sweet and charitable dis∣position is received with fondness, and all the endearments of the Neighbourhood. He that observes how many families are ruined by contention, and how many spirits* 1.34 are broken by the care, and contumely, and fear, and spite, which are entertained as advocates to promote a Suit of Law, will soon confess that a great loss, and peaceable quitting of a considerable interest, is a purchace and a gain, in respect of a long Suit and a vexatious quarrel. And still if the proportion rises higher, the reason swells, and grows more necessary and determinate. For if we would live according to the Disci∣pline of Christian Religion, one of the great plagues which vex the world would be no more. That there should be no wars, was one of the designs of Christianity; and the living according to that Institution which is able to prevent all wars, and to establish an universal and eternal peace, when it is obeyed, is the using an infallible instrument toward that part of our political happiness which consists in Peace. This world would be an image of Heaven, if all men were charitable, peaceable, just, and loving. To this excellency all those precepts of Christ which consist in forbearance and forgiveness do cooperate.

9. But the next instance of the reward of holy Obedience and conformity to Christ's Laws is it selfa Duty, and needs no more but a mere repetiti∣on of it. We must be content in every state; and because* 1.35 Christianity teaches us this lesson, it teaches us to be happy: for nothing from without can make us 〈◊〉〈◊〉, unless we* 1.36 joyn our own consents to it, and apprehend it such, and enter∣tain it in our sad and melancholick retirements. A Prison is but a retirement, and opportunity of serious thoughts, to a person whose spirit is confined, and apt to sit still, and desires* 1.37 no enlargement beyond the cancels of the body, till the state of Separation calls it forth into a fair liberty. But every re∣tirement is a prison to a loose and wandring fancy, for whose* 1.38 wildness no 〈◊〉〈◊〉 are restraint, no band of duty is consine∣ment, who, when he hath broken the first hedge of duty, can never after endure any enclosure so much as in a Symbol. But this Precept is so necessary, that it is not more a duty than a rule of prudence, and in many accidents of our lives it is the only cure of sadness: for it is certain that no provi∣dence less than divine can prevent evil and cross accidents; but that is an excellent re∣medy to the evil that receives the accident within its power, and takes out the sting, paring the nails, and drawing the teeth of the wild beast, that it may be tame, or harm∣less and medicinal. For all Content consists in the proportion of the object to the appe∣tite: and because external accidents are not in our power, and it were nothing excel∣lent that things happened to us according to our first desires; God hath by his grace put it into our own power to make the happiness, by making our desires descend to the event, and comply with the chance, and combine with all the issues of Divine Provi∣dence. And then we are noble persons, when we borrow not our content from things below us, but make our satisfactions from* 1.39 within. And it may be considered, that every little care may dis∣quiet us, and may increase it self by reflexion upon its own acts, and every discontent may discompose our spi∣rits,* 1.40 and put an edge, and make afflictions poynant, but cannot take off one from us, but makes every one to be* 1.41 two. But Content removes not the accident, but com∣plies* 1.42 with it, it takes away the sharpness and displeasure of it, and by stooping down makes the lowest equal, proportionable, and commen∣surate. Impatience makes an Ague to be a Fever, and every Fever to be a Calenture,

and that Calenture may expire in Madness: But a quiet spirit is a great disposition to health, and for the present does alleviate the sickness. And this also is notorious in the instance of Covetousness. The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have* 1.43 coveted after, they have pierced themselves with many sorrows. Vice makes poor, and does ill endure it.

10. For he that in the School of Christ hath learned to determine his desires when his needs are served, and to judge of his needs by the proportions* 1.44 of nature, hath nothing wanting towards Riches. Vertue makes Poverty become rich, and no Riches can satisfie a co∣vetous mind, or rescue him from the affliction of the worst kind of Poverty. He only wants that is not satisfied. And there is great infelicity in a Family where Poverty dwells with dis∣content:* 1.45 There the Husband and Wife quarrel for want of a full table and a rich wardrobe; and their love, that was built upon false arches, sinks when such temporary supporters are re∣moved; they are like two Milstones, which set the Mill on fire when they want corn: and then their combinations and soci∣ety were unions of Lust, or not supported with religious love. But we may easily suppose S. Joseph and the Holy Virgin-Mo∣ther in Egypt poor as hunger, forsaken as banishment, discon∣solate* 1.46 as strangers; and yet their present lot gave them no af∣flicton, because the Angel fed them with a necessary hospitali∣ty, and their desires were no larger than their tables, and their eyes look'd only upwards, and they were careless of the future, and careful of their duty, and so made their life pleasant by the measures and discourses of Divine Philosophy. When Elisha stretched himself upon the body of the child, and laid hands to hands, and applied mouth to mouth, and so shrunk himself into the posture of commensuration with the child, he brought life into the dead trunk: and so may we, by applying our spirits to the proportions of a narrow fortune, bring life and vivacity into our dead and lost condition, and make it live till it grows bigger, or else returns to health and salutary uses.

11. And besides this Philosophical extraction of gold from stones, and Riches from the dungeon of Poverty, a holy life does most probably procure such a proportion of Riches which can be useful to us, or consistent with our felicity. For besides that the Holy Jesus hath promised all things which our heavenly Father knows we need, (provided we do our duty) and that we find great securities and rest from care when we have once cast our cares upon God, and placed our hopes in his bosome; besides all this, the tempe∣rance, sobriety, and prudence of a Christian is a great income, and by not despising it, a small revenue combines its parts till it grows to a heap big enough for the emissions of Charity, and all the offices of Justice, and the supplies of all necessities: whilest Vice is unwary, prodigal and indiscreet, throwing away great revenues as tributes to intem perance and vanity, and suffering dissolution and forfeiture of estates as a punishment and curse. Some sins are direct improvidence and ill husbandry. I reckon in this number In∣temperance, Lust, Litigiousness, Ambition, Bribery, Prodigality,* 1.47 Caming, Pride, Sa∣crilege, which is the greatest spender of them all, and makes a fair estate evaporate like Camphire, turning it into nothing, no man knows which way. But what the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 gave as an estimate of a rich man, saying, He that can maintain an Army is rich, was but a short account; for he that can maintain an Army may be beggered by one Vice, and it is a vast revenue that will pay the debt-books of Intemperance or Lust.

12. To these if we add that Vertue is* 1.48 honourable, and a great advantage to a fair reputation, that it is* 1.49 praised by them that love it not, that it is honoured by the followers and family of Vice, that it forces glory out of shame, honor from contempt, that it reconciles men to the fountain of Honour, the Almighty God, who will honour them that honour him; there are but a few more excellencies in the world to make up the Rosary of tem∣poral Felicity. And it is so certain that Religion serves even* 1.50 our temporal ends, that no great end of State can well be ser∣ved without it; not Ambition, not desires of Wealth, not any great design, but Religion must be made its usher or support. If a new Opinion be commenced, and the Author would make a Sect, and draw Disciples after him, at least he must be thought to be Religious; which is a demonstration how great an instrument of reputation Piety and Religion is: and if

the pretence will do us good offices amongst men, the reality will do the same, besides the advantages which we shall receive from the Divine Benediction. The power of god∣liness will certainly do more than the form alone. And it is most notorious in the affairs of the Clergy, whose lot it hath been to fall from great riches to poverty, when their wealth made them less curious of their duty; but when Humility and Chastity and exemplary Sanctity have been the enamel of their holy Order, the people, like the Gala∣tians, would pull out their own eyes to do them benefit. And indeed God hath sin∣gularly* 1.51 blessed such instruments to the being the only remedies to repair the breaches made by Sacrilege and Irreligion. But certain it is, no man was ever honoured for that which was esteemed vicious. Vice hath got mony, and a curse many times, and Vice hath adhered to the instruments and purchaces of Honour: But among all Nations whatsoever those called Honourable put on the face and pretence of Vertue. But I chuse to instance in the proper cognisance of a Christian, Humility, which seems contra∣dictory to the purposes and reception of Honour; and yet in the world nothing is a more certain means to purchase it. Do not all the world hate a proud man? And therefore what is contrary to Humility is also contradictory to Honour and Repu∣tation. And when the Apostle had given command, that in giving honour we should one go before another, he laid the foundation of praises, and Panegyricks, and Triumphs. And as Humility is secure against affronts and tempests of despight, because it is below them: so when by imployment or any other issue of Divine Providence it is drawn from its 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and secrecy, it shines clear and bright as the purest and most polished me∣tals. Humility is like a Tree, whose Root, when it sets deepest in the earth, rises high∣er, and spreads fairer, and stands surer, and lasts longer; every step of its descent is like a rib of iron combining its parts in unions indissoluble, and placing it in the chambers of security. No wise man ever lost any thing by cession; but he receives the hostility of violent 〈◊〉〈◊〉 into his embraces, like a stone into a lap of wooll, it rests and sits down soft and innocently; but a stone falling upon a stone makes a collision, and extracts fire, and finds no rest: and just so are two proud persons, despised by each other, contemned by all, living in perpetual dissonancies, always fighting against as∣fronts, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of every person, disturbed by every accident, a perpetual storm within, and daily hissings from without.

13. Fourthly, Holiness and Obedience is an excellent preservative of Life, and makes it long and healthful. In order to which discourse, because it is new, material, and argumentative, apt to perswade men who prefer life before all their other in∣terests, I consider many things. First, In the Old Testament a long and a prosperous life were the great promises of the Covenant, their hopes were built upon it, and that was made the support of all their duty. If thou wilt diligently hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, I will put none of the diseases upon thee which I brought upon the Egypti∣ans;* 1.52 for I am the LORD that healeth thee. And more particularly yet, that we may not think Piety to be security only against the plagues of Egypt, God makes his promise more indefinite and unconfined; Ye shall serve the LORD your God, and I will take sick∣ness* 1.53 away from the midst of thee, and will fulfill the number of thy days; that is, the period of nature shall be the period of thy person thou shalt live long, and die in a seasonable and ripe age. And this promise was so verified by a long experience, that by David's time it grew up to a rule, What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see* 1.54 good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile. And the same argument was pressed by Solomon, who was an excellent Philosopher, and well skil∣led in the natural and accidental means of preservation of our lives. Fear the LORD,* 1.55 and depart from evil; and it shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Length of days is in the right hand of wisdome: For she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her.* 1.56 Meaning, that the Tree of Life and immortality which God had planted in Paradise, and which if Man had stood he should have tasted, and have lived for ever, the fruit of that Tree is offered upon the same conditions; if we will keep the Commandments of God, our Obedience, like the Tree of life, shall consign us to Immortality hereafter by a long and a healthful life here. And therefore although in Moses's time the days of Man had been shortned, till they came to threescore years and ten, or fourscore* 1.57 years, and then their strength is but labour and sorrow; (for Moses was Author of that Psalm;) yet to shew the great privilege of those persons whose Piety was great, Moses himself attained to one hundred and twenty years, which was almost double to the ordinary and determined period. But Enoch and Elias never died, and became great examples to us, that a spotless and holy life might possibly have been immortal.

14. I shall add no more examples, but one great conjugation of precedent observed by the Jewish Writers, who tell us that in the second Temple there were 300 high Priests, (I suppose they set down a certain number for an uncertain, and by 300 they mean very many) and yet that Temple lasted but 420 years; the reason of this so ra∣pid and violent abscission of their Priests being their great and scandalous impieties: and yet in the first Temple, whose abode was within ten years as long as the second, there was a succession but of 18 high Priests; for they being generally very pious, and the preservers of their Rites and Religion against the Schism of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and the De∣fection of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and the Idolatry and Irreligion of many of the Kings of Judah, God took delight to reward it with a long and honourable old age. And 〈◊〉〈◊〉 knew well enough what he said, when in his 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and prophetick rapture he made his prayer to God, Let* 1.58 my Soul die the death of the righteous. It was not a Prayer that his Soul might be saved, or that he might repent at last; for Repentance and Immortality were revelations of a later date: but he in his prophetick 〈◊〉〈◊〉 seeing what God had purposed to the Moa∣bites, and what blessings he had reserved for Israel, prays that he might not die, as the Mo∣abites were like to die, with an untimely death, by the sword of their enemies, dispossessed of their Countrey, spoiled of their goods, in the period and last hour of their Nation: but let my soul die the death of the just, the death designed for* 1.59 the faithful Israelites; such a death which God promised to A∣braham, that he should return to his Fathers in peace, and in a* 1.60 good old age. For the death of the righteous is like the des∣cending of ripe and wholsome fruits from a pleasant and florid Tree; our senses intire, our lims unbroken, without horrid tortures, after provision made for our children, with a blessing entailed upon posterity, in the presence of our Friends, our dearest relative closing up our eyes and binding our feet, leaving a good name behind us. O let my soul die such a death; for this, in whole or in part, accord∣ing as God sees it good, is the manner that the righteous die. And this was Balaam's pray∣er. And this was the state and condition in the Old Testament.

15. In the Gospel the case is nothing altered. For besides that those austerities, ri∣gours and mortifications which are in the Gospel advised or commanded respectively, are more salutary or of less corporal inconvenience than a vicious life of Intemperance, or Lust, or Carefulness, or tyrant Covetousness; there is no accident or change to the sufferance of which the Gospel hath engaged us, but in the very thing our life is careful∣ly provided for, either in kind, or by a gainful exchange: He that loseth his life for my* 1.61 sake shall find it, and he that will save his life shall lose it. And although God, who promi∣sed long life to them that obey, did not promise that himself would never call for our life, borrowing it of us, and repaying it in a glorious and advantagious exchange; yet this very promise of giving us a better life in exchange for this, when we exposed it in Martyrdome, does confirm our title to this, this being the instrument of permuta∣tion with the other: for God obliging himself to give us another in exchange for this, when in cases extraordinary he calls for this, says plainly, that this is our present right by grace, and the title of the Divine Promises. But the Promises are clear. For S. Paul calls children to the observation of the fifth Commandment by the same argument which God used in the first promulgation of it. Honour thy Father and thy Mother,* 1.62 (which is the first Commandment with Promise) That it may be well with thee, and that thou mayst live long upon the earth. For although the Gospel* 1.63 be built upon better Promises than the Law, yet it hath the same too, not as its foundation, but as appendences and ad∣juncts of grace, and supplies of need. Godliness hath the promise of this life, as well as* 1.64 of the life that is to come. That is plain. And although Christ revealed his Fa∣ther's mercies to us in new expresses and great abundance; yet he took nothing from the world which ever did in any sense invite Piety, or indear Obedience, or cooperate towards Felicity. And 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Promises which were made of old are also pre∣supposed in the new, and mentioned by intimation and implication within the greater. When our Blessed Saviour in seven of the Eight Beatitudes had instanced in new Promi∣ses and Rewards, as Heaven, Seeing of God, Life eternal; in one of them, to which* 1.65 * 1.66 Heaven is as certainly consequent as to any of the rest, he did chuse to instance in a tem∣poral blessing, and in the very words of the Old Testament; to shew, that that part of* 1.67 the old Covenant which concerns Morality, and the rewards of Obedience, remains firm and included within the conditions of the Gospel.

16. To this purpose is that saying of our Blessed Saviour; Man liveth not by* 1.68 bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God: meaning, that* 1.69

besides natural means ordained for the preservation of our lives, there are means su∣pernatural and divine. God's Blessing does as much as bread: nay, it is Every word proceeding out of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of God; that is, every Precept and Commandment of God is so for our good, that it is intended as food and Physick to us, a means to make us live long. And therefore God hath done in this as in other graces and issues Evangelical, which he purposed to continue in his Church for ever: He first gave it in miraculous and extraordinary manner, and then gave it by way of perpetual ministery. The Holy Ghost appeared at first like a prodigy, and with Miracle; he descended in visible representments, expressing himself in revelations and powers extraordinary: but it being a Promise intended to descend upon all Ages of the Church, there was appoint∣ed a perpetual ministery for its conveyance; and still, though without a sign or mira∣culous representment, it is ministred in Confirmation by imposition of the Bishop's hands. And thus also health and long life, which by way of ordinary benediction is consequent to Piety, Faith and Obedience Evangelical, was at first given in a mira∣culous manner; that so the ordinary effects, being at first confirmed by miraculous and extraordinary instances and manners of operation, might for ever after be confidently expected without any dubitation, since it was in the same manner consigned by which all the whole Religion was, by a voice from Heaven, and a verification of Miracles, and extraordinary supernatural effects. That the gift of healing, and preservation and re∣stitution of life, was at first miraculous, needs no particular probation. All the story of the Gospel is one entire argument to prove it: and amongst the fruits of the Spirit S. Paul reckons gifts of healing, and government, and helps, or exteriour assistences and advantages; to represent that it was intended the life of Christian people should be happy and healthful for ever. Now that this grace also descended afterwards in an ordinary ministery is recorded by S. James: Is any man sick amongst you? let him call* 1.70 for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oyl in the name of the Lord; that was then the ceremony, and the blessing and effect is still; for the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. For it is obser∣vable, that the blessing of healing and recovery is not appendent to the Anealing, but to the Prayer, of the Church; to manifest, that the ceremony went with the first mi∣raculous and extraordinary manner; yet that there was an ordinary ministery appoint∣ed for the daily conveyance of the blessing: the faithful prayers & offices of holy Priests shall obtain life and health to such persons who are receptive of it, and in spiritual and apt dispositions. And when we see, by a continual flux of extraordinary benediction, that even some Christian Princes are instruments of the Spirit not only in the government, but in the gifts of healing too, as a reward for their promoting the just interests of Christianity; we may acknowledge our selves convinced, that a holy life in the faith* 1.71 and obedience of Jesus Christ may be of great advantage for our health and life, by that instance to entertain our present desires, and to establish our hopes of life eternal.

17. For I consider that the fear of God is therefore the best antidote in the World a∣gainst sickness and death, because it is the direct enemy to sin, which brought in sickness and death; and besides this, that God by spiritual means should produce alterations na∣tural, is not hard to be understood by a Christian Philosopher, take him in either of the two capacities. 2. For there is a rule of proportion, and analogy of effects, that if sin de∣stroys not only the Soul but the Body also, then may Piety preserve both, and that much rather: for if sin, that is, the effects and consequents of sin, hath abounded, then shall* 1.72 grace superabound; that is, Christ hath done us more benefit than the Fall of Adam hath done us injury; and therefore the effects of sin are not greater upon the body, than ei∣ther are to be restored or prevented by a pious life. 3. There is so near a conjunction be∣tween Soul and Body, that it is no wonder if God, meaning to glorifie both by the means of a spiritual life, suffers spirit and matter to communicate in effects and mutual impres∣ses. Thus the waters of Baptism purifie the Soul; and the Holy Eucharist, not the sym∣bolical, but the mysterious and spiritual part of it, makes the Body also partaker of the death 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Christ and a holy union. The flames of Hell, whatsoever they are, torment accursed Souls; and the stings of Conscience vex and disquiet the Body. 4. And if we consider that in the glories of Heaven, when we shall live a life purely spiritual, our Bodies also are so clarified and made spiritual that they also become immortal; that state of Glory being nothing else but a perfection of the state of Grace, it is not unimaginable but that the Soul may have some proportion of the same operation

upon the Body as to conduce to its prolongation, as to an antepast of immortality. 5. For since the Body hath all its life from its conjunction with the Soul, why not also the perfection of life according to its present capacity, that is, health and duration, from the perfection of the Soul, I mean, from the ornaments of Grace? And as the blessedness of the Soul (saith the Philosopher) consists in the speculation of honest and just things; so the perfection of the Body and of the whole Man consists in the practick, the exercise and operations of Vertue.

18. But this Problem in Christian Philosophy is yet more intelligible, and will be reduced to certain experience, if we consider good life in union and concretion with particular, material, and circumstantiate actions of Piety: For these have great powers and influences even in Nature to restore health and preserve our lives. Witness the sweet* 1.73 sleeps of temperate persons, and their constant appetite; which Timotheus the son of Conon observed, when he dieted in Plato's Academy with severe and moderated diet; They that sup with Plato are well the next day. Witness the symmetry of passions in meek men, their freedome from the violence of inraged and passionate indispositions, the admirable harmony and sweetness of content which dwells in the retirements of a holy Conscience: to which if we add those joys which they only understand truly who feel them inwardly, the joys of the Holy Ghost, the content and joys which are at∣tending upon the lives of holy persons are most likely to make them long and healthful. For now we live, (saith S. Paul) if ye stand fast in the Lord. It would prolong S. Paul's* 1.74 life to see his ghostly children persevere in holiness; and if we understood the joys of it, it would do much greater advantage to our selves. But if we consider a spiritual life ab∣stractedly and in it self, Piety produces our life, not by a natural efficiency, but by Di∣vine benediction. God gives a healthy and a long life as a reward and blessing to crown our Piety even before the sons of men: For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the* 1.75 Earth; but they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. So that this whole matter is principally to be referred to the act of God, either by ways of nature, or by instruments of special providence, rewarding Piety with a long life. And we shall more fully ap∣prehend this if, upon the grounds of Scripture, Reason, and Experience, we weigh the* 1.76 contrary. Wickedness is the way to shorten our days.

19. Sin brought Death in first; and yet Man lived almost a thousand years. But he sinned more, and then Death came nearer to him: for when all the World was first drowned in wickedness, and then in water, God cut him shorter by one half, and five hundred years was his ordinary period. And Man sinned still, and had strange imagina∣tions, and built towers in the air; and then about Peleg's time God cut him shorter by one half yet, two hundred and odd years was his determination. And yet the generati∣ons of the World returned not unanimously to God; and God cut him off another half yet, and reduced him to one hundred and twenty years. And by Moses's time one half of the final remanent portion was pared away, reducing him to threescore years and ten; so that, unless it be by special dispensation, men live not beyond that term, or thereabout. But if God had gone on still in the same method, and shortned our days as we multipli∣ed our sins, we should have been but as an Ephemeron, Man should have lived the life of a Fly or a Gourd; the morning should have seen his birth, his life have been the term of a day, and the evening must have provided him of a shroud. But God seeing Man's thoughts were onely evil continually, he was resolved no longer so to strive with him; nor destroy the kinde, but punish individuals onely and single persons; and if they sinned, or if they did obey, regularly their life should be proportionable. This God* 1.77 set down for his rule, Evil shall 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the wicked person: and, He that keepeth the Com∣mandments* 1.78 keepeth his own Soul; but he that despiseth his own ways shall die.

20. But that we may speak more exactly in this Probleme, we must observe that in Scripture three general causes of natural death are assigned, Nature, Providence, and Chance. By these three I onely mean the several manners of Divine influence and operation. For God only predetermines; and what is changed in the following events by Divine permission, to this God and Man in their several manners do co∣operate. The saying of David concerning Saul with admirable Philosophy describes the three ways of ending Man's life. David said furthermore, As the LORD li∣veth, the LORD shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into* 1.79 battel and perish. The first is special Providence. The second means the term of Nature. The third is that which in our want of words we call Chance or Acci∣dent, but is in effect nothing else but another manner of the Divine Providence. That in all these Sin does interrupt and retrench our lives, is the undertaking of the following periods.

21. First, In Nature Sin is a cause of dyscrasies and distem∣pers,* 1.80 making our bodies healthless and our days few. For al∣though God hath prefixed a period to Nature by an universal and antecedent determination, and that naturally every man that lives temperately, and by no supervening accident is in∣terrupted, shall arrive thither; yet because the greatest part of our lives is governed by will and understanding, and there are temptations to Intemperance and to violations of our health, the period of Nature is so distinct a thing from the period of our person, that few men attain to that which God had fixed by his first law and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 purpose, but end their days with folly, and in a period which God appointed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 with anger, and a determination secondary, con∣sequent, and accidental. And therefore says David, Health is far from the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, for they regard not thy statutes. And to this purpose is that saying of(a) 1.81 Abenezra:

He that is united to God, the Fountain of Life, his Soul, being improved by Grace, communicates to the Body an establishment of its radical moisture and natural heat, to make it more healthful, that so it may be more instrumental to the spiritual operations and productions of the Soul, and it self be preserved in perfect constitution.

Now how this blessing is contradicted by the impious life of a wicked person is easie to be understood, if we consider that from(b) 1.82 drunken Surfeits come Dissolution of members, Head∣achs, Apoplexies, dangerous Falls, Fracture of bones, Drench∣ings and dilution of the brain, Inslammation of the liver, Cru∣dities of the stomach, and thousands more, which Solomen sums up in general terms;* 1.83 Who hath woe? who hath sor∣row? who hath redness of eyes? they that tarry long at the 〈◊〉〈◊〉. I shall not need to instance in the sad and uncleanly consequents of Lusts, the wounds and accidental deaths which are occasioned by Jealou∣sies, by Vanity, by Peevishness, vain Reputation and Animosities, by Melancholy, and the despair of evil Consciences; and yet these are abundant argument, that when God so permits a man to run his course of Nature, that himself does not intervene by an ex∣traordinary 〈◊〉〈◊〉, or any special acts of providence, but only gives his ordinary assi∣stence to natural causes, a very great part of men make their natural period shorter, and by sin make their days miserable and few.

22. Secondly, Oftentimes Providence intervenes, and makes the way shorter; God for the iniquity of man not suffering Nature to take her course, but stopping her in the midst of her journey. Against this David prayed, O my God, cut me 〈◊〉〈◊〉 off in the midst* 1.84 of my days. But in this there is some variety. For God does it sometimes in mercy, sometimes in judgment. The righteous die, and no man regardeth; not considering that* 1.85 they are taken away from the evil to come. God takes the righteous man hastily to his Crown, lest temptation snatch it from him by interrupting his hopes and sanctity. And this was the case of the old World. For from Adam to the Floud by the Patriarchs were eleven generations, but by Cain's line there were but eight, so that Cain's posterity were longer liv'd: because God, intending to bring the Floud upon the World, took delight to rescue his elect from the dangers of the present impurity, and the future Deluge. Abra∣ham lived five years less than his son Isaac, it being (say the Doctors of the Jews) intend∣ed for mercy to him, that he might not see the iniquity of his Grandchild 〈◊〉〈◊〉. And this the Church for many Ages hath believed in the case of baptized Infants dying before the use of Reason. For besides other causes in the order of Divine Providence, one kind of mercy is done to them too; for although their condition be of a lower form, yet it is secured by that timely (shall I call it?) or untimely death. But these are cases ex∣traregular: ordinarily and by rule God hath revealed his purposes of interruption of the lives of sinners to be in anger and judgment; for when men commit any signal and grand impiety, God suffers not Nature to take her course, but strikes a stroke with his own hand. To which purpose I think it a remarkable instance which is reported by 〈◊〉〈◊〉,* 1.86 that for 3332 years even to the twentieth Age, there was not one example of* 1.87 a Son that died before his Father, but the course of Nature was kept, that he who was first born in the descending line did die first; (I speak of natural death, and therefore Abel cannot be opposed to this observation) till that Terah the father of Abraham taught the People to make Images of clay and worship them; and concerning him it was first remarked, that Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity: God by an* 1.88 unheard-of Judgment and a rare accident punishing his newly-invented crime. And

when-ever such 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of a life happens to a vicious person, let all the world ac∣knowledge it for a Judgment; and when any man is guilty of evil habits or unrepent∣ed sins, he may therefore expect it, because it is threatned and designed for the lot and curse of such persons. This is threatned to Covetousness, Injustice, and Oppression. As a Partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not: so he that getteth riches, and not by right,* 1.89 shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a Fool. The same is threat∣ned to Voluptuous persons in the highest caresses of delight; and Christ told a parable with the same design. The rich man said, Soul, take thy ease; but God answered, O fool, this night shall thy Soul be required of thee. Zimri and Cozbi were slain in the trophies of their Lust; and it was a sad story which was told by Thomas Cantipratanus: Two Religious persons tempted by each other in the vigour of their youth, in their very first pleasures and opportunities of sin were both struck dead in their embraces and posture of entertainment. God(a) 1.90 smote Jeroboam for his Usurpation and Tyranny, and he died.(b) 1.91 Saul died for Disobedience against God, and asking counsel of a Pythonisse. God smote(c) 1.92 〈◊〉〈◊〉 with a Leprosie for his profaneness; and distressed‖ 1.93 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sorely for his Sacrilege; and(d) 1.94 sent a horrid disease upon Jehoram for his Idolatry. These instances represent Voluptuousness and Covetousness, Rapine and Injustice, Idolatry and Lust, Pro∣faneness and Sacrilege, as remarked by the signature of exemplary Judgments to be the means of shortening the days of man; God himself proving the Executioner of his own fierce wrath. I instance no more, but in the singular case of Hananiah the false Prophet: Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will cut thee from off the face of the earth;* 1.95 this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught Rebellion against the LORD. That is the curse and portion of a false Prophet, a short life, and a suddén death of God's own particular and more immediate 〈◊〉〈◊〉.

23. And thus also the sentence of the Divine anger went forth upon criminal per∣sons in the New Testament; Witness the Disease of Herod, Judas's Hanging himself, the Blindness of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, the Sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira, the Buffetings with which Satan 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the bodies of persons excommunicate. Yea, the blessed Sacrament of CHRIST's Body and Bloud, which is intended for our spiritual life, if it be unworthily received, proves the cause of a natural death: For this* 1.96 cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many are fallen asleep, saith S. Paul to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Church.

24. Thirdly, But there is yet another manner of ending man's life, by way of Chance or Contingency; meaning thereby the manner of God's Providence and event of things which is not produced by the disposition of natural causes, nor yet by any particular and special act of God; but the event which depends upon accidental causes, not so certain and regular as Nature, not so conclusive and determined as the acts of decretory Provi∣dence, but comes by disposition of causes irregular to events rare and accidental. This David expresses by entring into battel: and in this, as in the other, we must separate cases extraordinary and rare from the ordinary and common. Extraregularly, and upon extraordinary reasons and permissions, we find that holy persons have miscarried in battel. So the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 fell before Benjamin; and Jonathan, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and many of the Lord's champions, fighting against the Philistines: but in these deaths as God served other ends of Providence, so he kept to the good men that fell all the mercies of the Promise by giving them a greater blessing of event and compensation. In the more ordinary course of Divine dispensation, they that prevaricate the Laws of God are put out of protection; God withdraws his special Providence, or their tutelar Angel, and leaves them exposed to the influences of Heaven, to the power of a Constellation, to the accidents of humanity, to the chances of a Battel, which are so many and various, that it is ten thousand to one, a man in that case never escapes; and in such variety of con∣tingencies there is no probable way to assure our safety, but by a holy life to endear the Providence of God to be our Guardian. It was a remarkable saying of Deborah, The Stars sought in their courses, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in their orbs, against Sisera. Sisera fought when there* 1.97 was an evil Aspect or malignant influence of Heaven upon him. For even the smallest thing that is in opposition to us is enough to turn the chance of a Battel; that although it be necessary for defence of the godly that a special Providence should intervene, yet to confound the impious no special act is requisite. If God exposes them to the ill aspect of a Planet, or any other casualty, their days are interrupted, and they die. And this is the meaning of the Prophet* 1.98 Jeremy; Be not ye 〈◊〉〈◊〉 at the signs of Heaven, for the Heathen are dismayed at them: meaning, that God will over-rule all inferiour

causes for the safety of his servants; but the wicked shall be exposed to chance and humane accidents; and the signs of Heaven, which of themselves do but signifie, or at most but dispose and incline towards events, shall be enough to actuate and consummate their ruine. And this is the mean∣ing of that Proverb of the Jews, * 1.99 Israel hath no Planet: which they expounded to mean, If they observe the Law, the Planets shall not hurt them, God will over-rule all their influences; but if they prevaricate and rebel, the least Star* 1.100 in the firmament of Heaven shall bid them battel, and over∣throw them. A 〈◊〉〈◊〉 shall lie in a wicked Man's way, and God shall so expose him to it, leaving him so unguarded and defenceless, that he shall stumble at it and fall, and break a bone, and that shall 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a Fever, and the Fever shall end his days. For not onely every creature, when it is set on by God, can prove a ruine; but if we be not by the Providence of God defended against it, we cannot behold the least atome in the Sun without danger of losing an eye, nor eat a grape without fear of choaking, nor sneeze without breaking of a vein. And Arius, going to the ground, purged his entrails forth, and fell down unto the earth and died. Such and so miserable is the great insecurity of a sinner. And of this Job had an excellent meditation: How oft is the candle of the wicked* 1.101 put out? and how oft cometh their destruction upon them? GOD distributeth sorrows in his anger. For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his* 1.102 moneths is cut off in the midst? This is he that dieth in his full strength, being whol∣ly* 1.103 at ease and quiet.

25. I summe up this discourse with an observation that is made concerning the Fa∣mily of Eli, upon which, for the remisness of Discipline on the Father's part, and for the Impiety and Profaneness of his 〈◊〉〈◊〉, God sent this Curse, All the increase of their house shall die in the flower of their age. According to that sad malediction it happen∣ed* 1.104 for many generations; the Heir of the Family died as soon as he begat a Son to suc∣ceed him: till the Family being wearied by so long a Curse, by the counsel of Rabbi Johanan Ben Zachary, betook themselves universally to a sedulous and most devout me∣ditation of the Law, that is, to an exemplar Devotion and strict Religion: but then the Curse was turned into a Blessing, and the line masculine lived to an honourable old age. For the Doctors of the Jews said, that God often changes his purposes concerning the death of man, when the sick person is liberal in Alms, or fervent in Prayer, or changes his Name, that is, gives up his name to God by the serious purposes and religious vows of holy Obedience. He that followeth after righteousness (Alms it is in the vulgar 〈◊〉〈◊〉)* 1.105 and mercy findeth life; that verifies the first: and the fervent Prayer of Hezekiah is a great instance of the second: and all the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 discourse was intended for probation of the third and proves that no disease is so deadly as a deadly Sin; and the ways of Righteous∣ness are therefore advantages of Health, and preservatives of Life, (when health and life are good for us) because they are certain title to all God's Promises and Blessings.

26. Upon supposition of these premisses I consider, there is no cause to wonder, that tender persons and the softest women endure the violences of art and Physick, sharp pains of Causticks and Cupping-glasses, the abscission of the most sensible part, for pre∣servation of a mutilous and imperfect body: but it is a wonder that, when God hath appointed a remedy in Grace apt to preserve Nature, and that a dying unto sin should prolong our natural life, yet few men are willing to try the experiment; they will buy their life upon any conditions in the world but those which are the best and easiest, any thing but Religion and Sanctity; although for so doing they are promised that immor∣tality shall be added to the end of a long life, to make the life of a mortal partake of the eternal duration of an Angel, or of God himself.

27. Fifthly, The last testimony of the Excellency and 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Christ's yoke,* 1.106 the fair load of Christianity, is the Reasonableness of it, and the Unreasonableness of its contrary. For whatsoever the wisest men in the world in all Nations and Religions did agree upon as most excellent in it self, and of greatest power to make political, or future and immaterial felicities, all that and much more the Holy Jesus adopted into his Law: for they receiving sparks or single irradiations from the regions of light, or else having fair tapers shining indeed excellently in representations and expresses of Morality, were all involved and swallowed up into the body of light, the Sun of Righteousness. Christ's Discipline was the breviary of all the Wisdome of the best men, and a fair copy and transcript of his Father's Wisdome; and there is nothing in the laws of our

Religion but what is perfective of our spirits, excellent rules of Religion, and rare ex∣pedients of obeying God by the nearest ways of imitation, and such duties which are the proper ways of doing benefits to all capacities and orders of men. But I remember my design now is not to represent Christianity to be a better Religion than any other; for I speak to Christians, amongst whom we presuppose that: but I design to invite all Christians in name to be such as they are called, upon the interest of such arguments which represent the advantages of Obedience to our Religion as it is commanded us by God. And this I shall do yet farther, by considering, that those Christian names who apprehend Religion as the Fashion of their Countrey, and know no other use of a Church but customary, or secular and profane, that, supposing Christian Religion to have come from God, as we all profess to believe, there are no greater fools in the world than such whose life conforms not to the pretence of their Baptism and Institution. They have all the signs and characters of fools, and undiscreet, unwary persons.

28. First, Wicked persons, like children and fools, chuse the present, whatsoever it is, and neglect the infinite treasures of the future. They that have no faith nor foresight have an excuse for snatching at what is now represented, because it is that all which can move them: but then such persons are infinitely distant from wisdome, whose under∣standing neither Reason nor Revelation hath carried farther than the present adheren∣cies; not only because they are narrow souls who cannot look forward, and have no∣thing* 1.107 to distinguish them from beasts, who enjoy the present, being careless of what is to come; but also because whatsoever is present is not fit satisfaction to the spirit, no∣thing but gluttings of the sense and sottish appetites. Moses was a wise person, and so esteemed and reported by the Spirit of God, because he despised the pleasures of Pharaoh's Court, having an eye to the recompence of reward; that is, because he despised all 〈◊〉〈◊〉 pre∣sent arguments of delight, and preferred those excellencies which he knew should 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in∣finitely greater, as well as he knew they should be at all. He that would have rather cho∣sen to stay in the Theatre and see the sports out, then quit the present Spectacle upon as∣surance to be adopted into Caesar's family, had an offer made him too great for a fool; and yet his misfortune was not big enough for pity, because he understood nothing of his fe∣licity, and rejected what he understood not. But he that prefers moments before eternity, and despises the infinite successions of eternal Ages that he may enjoy the present, not da∣ring to trust God for what he sees not, and having no objects of his affections but those which are the objects of his eyes, hath the impatience of a child, and the indiscretion of a fool, and the faithlesness of an unbeliever. The Faith and Hope of a Christian are the graces and portions of spiritual wisdome, which Christ designed as an antidote against this folly.

29. Secondly, Children and fools chuse to please their Senses rather than their Rea∣son, because they still dwell within the regions of Sense, and have but little residence amongst intellectual essences. And because the needs of Nature first imploy our sensual appetites, these being first in possession would also fain retain it, and therefore for ever continue their title, and perpetually fight for it: but because the inferiour faculty fight∣ing against the superiour is no better than a Rebel, and that it takes Reason for its enemy, it shews such actions which please the Sense and do not please the Reason to be unnatural, monstrous, and unreasonable. And it is a great disreputation to the understanding of a man, to be so cozened and deceived, as to chuse Money before a moral Vertue; to please that which is common to him and beasts, rather than that part which is a communica∣tion of the Divine nature; to see him run after a bubble which himself hath made, and the Sun hath particoloured, and to despise a treasure, which is offered to him to call him off from pursuing that emptiness and nothing. But so does every vicious person, feeds upon husks, and loaths Manna; worships Cats and Onions, the beggarly and basest of Egyptian Deities, and neglects to adore and honour the eternal God: he prefers the soci∣ety of Drunkards before the communion of Saints; or the fellowship of Harlots before a quire of pure, chast, and immaterial Angels; the sickness and filth of Luxury before the health and purities of Chastity and Temperance; a dish of red lentil pottage before a Benison; Drink before Immortality, Money before Mercy, Wantonness before the se∣vere Precepts of Christian Philosophy, Earth before Heaven & Folly before the crowns and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and glories of a Kingdom. Against this folly Christian Religion opposes 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of things below, and setting our affections on things above.

30. Thirdly, Children and fools propound to themselves Ends silly, low and cheap, the getting of a nut-shel, or a bag of cherry-stones, a gaud to entertain the fancy of a few minutes; and in order to such ends direct their counsels and designs. And indeed in this they are innocent. But persons not living according to the Discipline of Christi∣anity

are as foolish in the designation of their Ends, chusing things as unprofitable and vain to themselves, and yet with many mixtures of malice and injuriousness both to themselves and others. His end is to cozen his Brother of a piece of Land, or to dis∣grace him by telling of a lie, to supplant his fortune, to make him miserable: Ends which wise men and good men look upon as miseries and persecutions, instruments of afflicti∣on and regret; because every man is a member of a society, and hath some common terms of union and conjuncture, which make all the body susceptive of all accidents to any part. And it is a great folly, for pleasing of the eye to snatch a knife which cuts our fin∣gers; to bring affliction upon my brother or relative, which either must affect me, or else I am an useless, a base or dead person. The ends of Vice are ignoble and dishonoura∣ble: to discompose the quiet of a family, or to create jealousies, or to raise wars, or to make a man less happy, or apparently miserable, or to fish for the Devil, and gain Souls to our Enemy, or to please a passion that undoes us, or to get something that cannot sa∣tisfie us; this is the chain of counsels, and the great aims of unchristian livers, they are all of them extreme great miseries. And it is a great undecency for a man to propound an end less and more imperfect than our present condition; as if we went about to un∣ravel our present composure, and to unite every degree of essence and capacity, and to retire back to our first matter and unshapen state, hoping to get to our journey's end by going backwards. Against this folly the Holy Jesus opposed the Fourth Beatitude, or Precept of hungring and thirsting after Righteousness.

31. Fourthly, But children and fools, what-ever their ends be, they pursue them with as much weakness and folly as they first chose them with indiscretion; running to broken cisterns or to puddles to quench their thirst. When they are hungry, they make phantastick banquets, or put Coloquintida into their pottage, that they may be furnished with pot-herbs: or are like the Asse that desired to flatter his Master, and therefore fawned upon him like a Spaniel, and bruised his shoulders. Such undecencies of means and prosecutions of interests we find in unchristian courses. It may be-they propound to themselves Riches for their end, and they use Covetousness for their means, and that brings nought home; or else they steal to get it, and they are apprehended, and made to restore fourfold. Like moths gnawing a garment* 1.108 they devour their own house, and by greediness of desire they destroy their content, making impatience the parent and in∣strument of all their 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Or they are so greedy and ima∣ginative, and have raised their expectation by an over-valuing esteem of temporary fe∣licities, that when they come they fall short of their promises, and are indeed less than they 〈◊〉〈◊〉 have been, by being before-hand apprehended greater than they could be. If their design be to represent themselves innocent and guiltless of a suspicion or a fault, they deny the fact, and double it. When they would repair their losses they fall to Gaming; and besides that they are infinitely full of fears, passions, wrath and vio∣lent disturbances in the various chances of their game, that which they use to re∣store their 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ruines even the little remnant, and condemns them to beggery, or what is worse. Thus evil men 〈◊〉〈◊〉 for content out of things that cannot satisfie, and take care to get that content; that is, they raise War to enjoy present Peace, and renounce all Content to get it: They strive to depress their Neighbours, that they may be their equals; to disgrace them, to get reputation to themselves; (which arts being ignoble do them the most disparagement) and resolve never to enter in∣to the felicities of God by content taken in the prosperities of man, which is a making our selves wretched by being wicked. Malice and Envy is indeed a mighty curse; and the Devil can shew us nothing more foolish and unreasonable than Envy, which is in its very formality a curse, an eating of coals and vipers because my neighbour's table is full, and his cup is crowned with health and plenty. The Christian Religion, as it chuseth excellent ends, so it useth proportionate and apt means. The most contradictory accident in the world, when it becomes hallowed by a pious and Christian design, becomes a certain means of felicity and content. To quit our lands for Christ's sake will certainly make us rich; to depart from our friends will encrease our relations and beneficiaries: but the striving to secure our temporal interests by any other means than obedient actions or obedient sufferings, is declared by the Holy Jesus to be the greatest improvidence and ill husbandry in the world. Even in this world Christ will repay us an hundred fold for all our losses which we suffer for the interests of Christianity. In the same proportion we find, that all Gra∣ces do the work of humane felicities with a more certain power and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 effect than their contraries. Gratitude endears Benefits, and procures more Friendships: Confession

gets a Pardon; Impudence and lying doubles the fault, and exasperates the offended per∣son: Innocence is bold, and rocks a man asleep; but an evil Conscience is a continual alarm. Against this folly of using disproportionate means in order to their ends the Holy Jesus hath opposed the Eight Beatitudes, which by contradictions of nature and improbable causes, according to humane and erring estimate, bring our best and wisest ends to pass infallibly and divinely.

32. But this is too large a field to walk in: for it represents all the flatteries of sin to be a mere cozenage and deception of the Understanding; and we find by this scru∣tiny, that evil and unchristian persons are infinitely unwise, because they neglect the counsel of their superiours and their guides. They dote passionately upon trifles; they rely upon false foundations and deceiving principles; they are most confident when they are most abused; they are like shelled fish, singing loudest when their house is on fire about their ears, and being merriest when they are most miserable and perishing; when they have the option of two things, they ever chuse the worst; they are not ma∣sters of their own actions, but break all purposes at the first temptation; they take more pains to do themselves a mischief than would 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Heaven: that is, they are rude, ignorant, foolish, unwary and undiscerning people in all senses and to all purposes; and are incurable but by their Obedience and conformity to the Holy Jesus, the eternal Wisdome of the Father.

33. Upon the strength of these premisses the yoke of Christianity must needs be ap∣prehended light, though it had in it more pressure than it hath; because lightness or heaviness being relative terms are to be esteemed by comparison to others. Christianity is far easier than the yoke of Moses's Law, not only because it consists of fewer Rites, but also because those perfecting and excellent Graces which integrate the body of our Re∣ligion are made easie by God's assisting, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost: and we may yet make it easier by Love and by Fear, which are the proper products of the Evan∣gelical Promises and Threatnings. For I have seen persons in affrightment have carried burthens, and leaped ditches, and climbed walls, which their natural pow∣er could never have done. And if we understood the sadnesses of a cursed Eternity, from which we are commanded to fly, and yet knew how near we are to it, and how likely to fall into it, it would create fears greater than a sudden fire, or a mid-night alarm. And those unhappy souls who come to feel this truth, when their condition is without remedy, are made the more miserable by the apprehension of their stupid folly. For certainly the accursed Spirits feel the smart of Hell once doubled upon them, by consi∣dering by what vain unsatisfying trifles they lost their happiness, with what pains they perished, and with how great ease they might have been beatified. And certain it is, Christian Religion hath so furnished us with assistences, both exteriour and interiour, both of perswasion and advantages, that whatsoever Christ hath doubled upon us in per∣fection he hath alleviated in aids.

34. And then if we compare the state of Christianity with Sin, all the preceding discourses were intended to represent how much easier it is to be a Christian, than a vile and wicked person. And he that remembers, that whatever fair allurements may be pretended as invitations to a sin, are such false and unsatisfying pretences, that they drive a man to repent him of his folly, and like a great laughter end in a sigh, and expire in weariness and indignation; must needs confess himself a fool for doing that which he knows will make him repent that he ever did it. A sin makes a man afraid when it thunders, and in all dangers the sin detracts the visour, and affrights him and visits him when he comes to die, upbraiding him with guilt, and threatning misery. So that Christianity is the easiest Law and the easiest state, it is more perfect and less troublesome; it brings us to Felicity by ways proportionable, landing us in rest by easie and unperplexed journeys. This Discourse I therefore thought necessary, because it reconciles our Religion with those passions and desires which are commonly made the instruments and arguments of sin. For we rarely meet with such spirits which love Vertue so metaphysically, as to abstract her from all sensible and delicious compositions, and love the purity of the Idea. S. Lewis the King sent Ivo Bishop of Chartres on an Embassy: and he told, that he met a grave Matron on the way with fire in one hand, and water in the other; and, observing her to have a melan∣cholick, religious and phantastick deportment and look, asked her what those symbols meant, and what she meant to do with her fire and water. She answered, My purpose is with the fire to burn Paradise, and with my water to quench the flames of Hell, that men may serve God without the incentives of hope and fear, and purely for the love of God. Whether the Woman were onely imaginative and sad, or also zealous,

I know not. But God knows he would have few Disciples, if the arguments of invi∣tation were not of greater promise than the labours of Vertue are of trouble. And therefore the Spirit of God knowing to what we are inflexible, and by what we are made most ductile and malleable, hath propounded Vertue* 1.109 clothed and dressed with such advantages as may entertain even our Sensitive part and first desires, that those also may be* 1.110 invited to Vertue who understand not what is just and rea∣sonable,* 1.111 but what is profitable, who are more moved with ad∣vantage* 1.112 than justice. And because emolument is more felt than innocence; and a man may be poor for all his gift of 〈◊〉〈◊〉; the Holy Jesus, to endear the practices of Religion, hath represented Godli∣ness unto us under the notion of gain, and sin as unfruitful: and yet besides all the na∣tural and reasonable advantages, every Vertue hath a supernatural reward, a gracious promise attending; and every Vice is not only naturally deformed, but is made more ugly by a threatning, and horrid by an appendent curse. Henceforth therefore let no man complain that the Commandments of God are impossible; for they are not onely possible, but easie; and they that say otherwise, and do accordingly, take more pains to carry the instruments of their own death, than would serve to ascertain them of life. And if we would do as much for Christ as we have done for Sin, we should find the pains less, and the pleasure more. And therefore such complainers are without excuse; for certain it is, they that can go in foul ways, must not say they cannot walk in fair: they that march over rocks in despight of so many impedi∣ments, can travel the even ways of Religion and Peace, when the Holy Jesus is their Guide, and the Spirit is their Guardian, and infinite felicities are at their journey's end, and all the reason of the world, political, oeconomical and personal, do entertain and sup∣port them in the travel of the passage.

The PRAYER.

O Eternal Jesus, who gavest Laws unto the world, that man-kind, being united to thee by the bands of Obedience, might partake of all thy glories and felicities; open our understanding, give us the spirit of discerning, and just apprehension of all the beauties with which thou hast enamelled Vertue, to represent it beauteous and amiable in our eyes; that by the allurements of exteriour decencies and appendent blessings our pre∣sent desires may be entertained, our hopes promoted, our affections satisfied, and Love entring in by these doors may dwell in the interiour regions of the Will. O make us to love thee for thy self, and Religion for thee, and all the instruments of Religion in or∣der to thy glory and our own felicities. Pull off the visors of Sin, and discover its de∣formities by the lantern of thy Word and the light of the Spirit; that I may never be bewitched with sottish appetites. Be pleased to build up all the contents I expect in this world upon the interests of a vertuous life, and the support of Religion; that I may be rich in Good works, content in the issues of thy Providence, my Health may be the result of Temperance and severity, my Mirth in spiritual emanations, my Rest in Hope, my Peace in a good Conscience, my Satisfaction and acquiescence in thee: that from Content I may pass to an eternal Fulness, from Health to Immortality, from Grace to Glory, walk∣ing in the paths of Righteousness, by the waters of Comfort, to the land of everlasting Rest, to feast in the glorious communications of Eternity, eternally adoring, loving and enjoying the infinity of the ever-Blessed and mysterious Trinity; to whom be glory, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and dominion now and for ever.

Amen.

DISCOURSE XVI. Of Certainty of Salvation.

* 1.113

1. WHen the Holy Jesus took an account of the first Legation and voyage of his Apostles, he found them rejoycing in priviledges* 1.114 and exteriour powers, in their authority over unclean spirits: but weighing it in his balance, he found the cause too light, and therefore diverted it upon the right object; Rejoyce that your names are written in Heaven. The revelation was con∣firmed and more personally applied in answer to S. Peter's Question, We have for saken all and followed thee: what shall we have therefore? Their LORD answered, Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Amongst these persons to whom Christ spake Judas was; he was one of the Twelve, and he had a throne allotted for him; his name was described in the book of life, and a Scepter and a Crown was deposited for him too. For we must not judge of Christ's meaning by the event, since he spake these words to produce in them Faith, comfort and joy in the best objects: it was a Sermon of duty as well as a Homily of comfort, and therefore was equally intended to all the Colledge: and since the number of Thrones is proportioned to the number of men, it is certain there was no exception of any man there included; and yet it is as certain Judas never came to sit upon the throne, and his name was blotted out of the book of life. Now if we put these ends together, that in Scripture it was not revealed to any man concerning his final conditi∣on, but to the dying penitent Thief, and to the twelve Apostles, that twelve thrones were designed for them, and a promise made of their inthronization, and yet that no man's final estate is so clearly declared miserable and lost as that of Judas, one of the Twelve, to whom a throne was promised; the result will be, that the election of holy persons is a condition allied to duty, absolute and infallible in the general, and suppo∣sing all the dispositions and requisites concurring; but fallible in the particular, if we fall off from the mercies of the Covenant, and prevaricate the conditions. But the thing which is most observable is, that if in persons so eminent and priviledged, and to whom a revelation of their Election was made as a particular grace, their condition had one weak leg, upon which because it did rely for one half of the interest, it could be no stronger than its supporters; the condition of lower persons, to whom no revela∣tion is made, no priviledges are indulged; no greatness of spiritual eminency is appen∣dent, as they have no greater certainty in the thing, so they have less in person, and are therefore to work out their salvation with great fears and tremblings of spirit.

2. The purpose of this consideration is, that we do not judge of our final condition by any discourses of our own, relying upon God's secret Counsels, and Predestination of Eternity. This is a mountain upon which whosoever climbs, like Moses, to be∣hold the land of Canaan at great distances, may please his eyes, or satisfie his curiosity, but is certain never to enter that way. It is like enquiring* 1.115 into fortunes, concerning which Phavorinus the Philosopher spake not unhandsomely;

They that foretell events of desti∣ny* 1.116 and secret providence, either foretell sad things, or pro∣sperous. If they promise prosperous, and deceive, you are made miserable by a vain speculation. If they threaten ill fortune, and say false, thou art made wretched by a false fear. But if they foretell adversity, and say true, thou art made miserable by thy own apprehension before thou art so by destiny; and many times the fear is worse than the evil feared. But if they promise felicities, and promise truly what shall come to pass; then thou shalt be wearied by an impatience and a suspended hope, and thy hope shall ravish and* 1.117 deflow∣er the joys of thy possession.

Much of it is hugely applicable to the present Question; and our Blessed Lord, when he was petitioned that he would grant to the two sons of Ze∣bedee, that they might sit one on the right hand and the other on the left in his Kingdom,

rejected their desire, and only promised them what concerned their duty and their suf∣fering, referring them to that, and leaving the final event of men to the disposition of his Father. This is the great Secret of the Kingdom, which God hath locked up and sealed with the counsels of Eternity. The sure foundation of God standeth, having this* 1.118 seal, The Lord knoweth who are his. This seal shall never be broken up till the great day of Christ; in the mean time the Divine knowledge is the only 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the final sentences, and this way of God is unsearchable and past finding out. And therefore if we be solicitous and curious to know what God in the counsels of Eternity hath decreed concerning us, he hath in two fair Tables described all those sentences from whence we must take accounts, the revelations of Scripture, and the book of Conscience: The first recites the Law and the conditions; the other gives in evidence: the first is clear, evident and conspicuous; the other, when it is written with large characters, may also be discerned; but there are many little accents, periods, distinctions, and little significations of actions, which either are there written in water, or fullied over with carelesness, or blotted with forgetfulness, or not legible by ignorance, or misconstru∣ed by interest and partiality, that it will be extremely difficult to read the hand upon the wall, or to copy out one line of the eternal sentence. And therefore excellent was the counsel of the Son of Sirach, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 not out the things that are 〈◊〉〈◊〉 hard for thee, 〈◊〉〈◊〉* 1.119 search the things that are above thy strength: 〈◊〉〈◊〉 what is 〈◊〉〈◊〉 thee think thereupon with reverence; for it is not 〈◊〉〈◊〉 for thee 〈◊〉〈◊〉 see with thine eyes the things that are in se∣cret. For whatsoever God hath revealed in general concerning Election, it concerns all persons within the pale of Christianity: He hath conveyed notice to all Christian people, that they are the sons of God, that they are the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Eternity, coheirs 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Christ, partakers of the Divine nature; meaning, that such they are by the design of God, and the purposes of the manifestation of his Son. The Election 〈◊〉〈◊〉 God is disputed in Scripture to be an act of God separating whole Nations, and rejecting others; in each of which many particular instances there were contrary to the general and univer∣sal purpose; and of the elect nations many particulars perished, and many of the reject∣ed people sate down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven: and to those persons to whom God was more particular, and was pleased to shew the scrowls of his eternal counsels, and to reveal their particular Elections, as he did to the twelve A∣postles, he shewed them wrapped up and 〈◊〉〈◊〉; and, to take off their confidences or presumptions, he gave probation in one instance that those scrowls may be cancelled, that his purpose concerning particulars may be altered by us; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 that he did not discover the bottom of the Abysse, but some purposes of special grace and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 design. But his peremptory, final, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Decree he keeps in the cabinets of the eternal ages, never to be unlocked till the Angel of the Covenant shall declare the unal∣terable universal Sentence.

3. But as we take the measure of the course of the Sun by the dimensions of the sha∣dows made by our own bodies or our own instruments; so must we take the measures of Eternity by the span of a man's hand, and guess at what God decrees of us, by consi∣dering how our relations and endearments are to him. And it is observable, that all the confidences which the Spirit of God hath created in the Elect are built upon Duty, and stand or fall according to the strength or weakness of such supporters. We know we* 1.120 are translated from death to life by our love unto the Brethren: meaning, that the perfor∣mance of our duty is the best consignation to Eternity, and the only testimony God gives us of our Election. And therefore we are to make our judgments accordingly. And here I consider, that there is no state of a Christian in which by virtue of the Co∣venant of the Gospel it is effectively and fully declared that his sins are actually pardon∣ed, but only in Baptism, at our first coming to Christ, when he redeems us from our 〈◊〉〈◊〉 conversation, when he makes us become Sons of God, when he justifies us 〈◊〉〈◊〉 by his grace, when we are purified by Faith, when we make a Covenant with Christ to live 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ever according to his Laws. And this I shall suppose I have already proved and ex∣plicated in the Discourse of Repentance. So that whoever is certain he hath not offen∣ded God since that time, and in nothing transgresseth the Laws of Christianity, he is certain that he actually remains in the state of Baptismal purity: but it is too certain that this certainty remains not long, but we commonly throw some dirt into our wa∣ters of Baptism, and stain our white robe which we then put on.

4. But then because our restitution to this state is a thing that consists of so many parts, is so divisible, various, and uncertain whether it be arrived to the degree of Innocence, (and our Innocence consists in a Mathematical point, and is not capable of degrees any more than Unity, because one stain destroys our being innocent) it

is therefore a very difficult matter to say that we have done all our duty towards our re∣stitution to Baptismal grace; and if we have not done all that we can do, it is harder to say that God hath accepted that which is less than the conditions we entred into when we received the great Justification and Pardon of sins. We all know we do less than our duty, and we hope that God makes abatements for humane infirmities; but we have but a few rules to judge by, and they not infallible in themselves, and we yet more fallible in the application, whether we have not mingled some little minutes of malice in the body of infirmities, and how much will bear excuse, and in what time, and to what persons, and to what degrees, and upon what endeavours we shall be par∣doned. So that all the interval between our losing baptismal grace and the day of our death we walk in a cloud, having lost the certain knowledge of our present condition by our prevarications. And indeed it is a very hard thing for a man to know his own heart: And he that shall observe how often himself hath been abused by confidences and secret imperfections, and how the greatest part of Christians in name only do think themselves in a very good condition, when God knows they are infinitely removed from it; (and yet if they did not think themselves well and sure, it is unimaginable they should sleep so quietly, and walk securely, and consider negligently, and yet pro∣ceed 〈◊〉〈◊〉) he that considers this, and upon what weak and false principles of Divinity men have raised their strengths and perswasions, will easily consent to this, that it is very easie for men to be deceived in taking estimate of their present condition, of their being in the state of Grace.

5. But there is great variety of men, and difference of degrees; and every step of returning to God may reasonably add one degree of hope, till at last it comes to the cer∣tainty and top of hope. Many men believe themselves to be in the state of Grace, and are not: many are in the state of Grace, and are infinitely fearful they are out of it: and many that are in God's favour do think they are so, and they are not deceived. And all this is certain. For some sin that sin of Presumption and Flattery of them∣selves, and some good persons are vexed with violent fears and temptations to despair, and all are not: and when their hopes are right, yet some are strong, and some are weak; for they that are well perswaded of their present condition have perswasions as different as are the degrees of their approach to innocence; and he that is at the highest hath also such abatements which are apt and proper for the* 1.121 conservation of humility and godly 〈◊〉〈◊〉. I am guilty of no∣thing, (saith S. Paul) but I am not hereby justified; meaning thus, Though I be innocent, for ought I know, yet God, who judges otherwise than we judge, may find something to reprove in me: It is God that judges, that is, concerning my degrees of acceptance and hopes of glory. If the person be newly recovering from a state of sin, because his state is imperfect, and his sin not dead, and his lust active, and his habit not quite extinct, it is easie for a man to be too hasty in pronouncing well. He is wrapt up in a cloak of clouds, hidden and encumbred;* 1.122 and his brightest day is but twilight, and his discernings dark, conjectural and imper∣fect; and his heart is like a cold hand newly applied to the fire, full of pain, and whe∣ther the heat or the cold be strongest is not easie to determine; or like middle colours, which no man can tell to which of the extremes they are to be accounted. But accord∣ing as persons grow in Grace, so they may grow in confidence of their present conditi∣on. It is not certain they will do so; for sometimes the beauty of the tabernacle is co∣vered with goats hair and skins of beasts, and holy people do infinitely deplore the want of such Graces which God observes in them with great complacency and accep∣tance. Both these cases say, that to be certainly perswaded of our present condition is not a Duty: Sometimes it is not possible, and sometimes it is better to be otherwise. But if we consider of this Certainty as a Blessing and a Reward, there is no question but in a great and an eminent Sanctity of life there may also be a great confidence and fulness of perswasion that our present being is well and gracious, and then it is certain that such persons are not deceived. For the thing it self being sure, if the perswasion answers to it, it is needless to dispute of the degree of certainty and the manner of it. Some per∣sons are heartily perswaded of their being reconciled; and of these some are deceived, and some are not deceived; and there is no sign to distinguish them, but by that which is the thing signified: a holy life according to the strict rules of Christian Discipline tells what persons are confident, and who are presumptuous. But the certainty is rea∣sonable in none but in old Christians, habitually holy persons, not in new Converts, or in lately lapsed people: for concerning them we find the Spirit of God speaking

with clauses of restraint and ambiguity, a * 1.123 perhaps, and, who knoweth, and, perad∣venture the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee; God may have mercy on 〈◊〉〈◊〉 And that God hath done so, they only have reason to be confident whom God hath blessed with a lasting continuing Piety, and who have wrought out the habits of their precontracted vices.

6. But we find in Scripture many precepts given to holy persons being in the state of Grace to secure their standing, and perpetuate their present condition. For, (a) 1.124 He that endureth unto the end, he [only] shall be saved, (said our Blessed Saviour:) and,* 1.125 (b) 1.126 He that standeth, let him take heed lest he fall: and (c) 1.127 Thou standest by Faith; be* 1.128 not high-minded, but fear: and, (d) 1.129 Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling.* 1.130 (e) 1.131 Hold fast that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 hast, and let no man take the crown from thee. And it was excel∣lent advice; for one Church had (f) 1.132 lost their first love, and was likely also to lose their crown. And S. Paul himself, who had once entred within the veil, and seen unutterable glories, yet was forced to endure hardship, and to fight against his own disobedient appetite, and to do violence to his inclinations, for fear that, whilest he preached to others, himself should become a cast-away. And since we observe in holy story that Adam and Eve fell in Paradise, and the Angels fell in Heaven it self, stumbling at the very jewels which pave the streets of the celestial Jerusalem; and in Christ's family, one man for whom his Lord had prepared a throne turned Devil; and that in the number of the Deacons it is said that one turned Apostate, who yet had been a man full of the Holy Ghost: it will lessen our train, and discompose the gayeties of our pre∣sent confidence, to think that our securities cannot be really distinguished from danger and uncertainties. For every man walks upon two legs: one is firm, invariable, con∣stant and eternal; but the other is his own. God's Promises are the objects of our Faith; but the events and final conditions of our Souls, which is consequent to our du∣ty, can at the best be but the objects of our Hope. And either there must in this be a less certainty, or else Faith and Hope are not two distinct Graces. God's 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and vo∣cation* 1.133 are without repentance; meaning, on God's part: but the very people concern∣ing whom S. Paul used the expression were reprobate and cut off, and in good time shall be called again; in the mean time many single persons perish. There is no condem∣nation* 1.134 to them that are in Christ Jesus. God will look to that, and it will never fail; but then they must secure the following period, and not walk after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. Behold the goodness of God towards thee, (saith S. Paul) if thou continue in* 1.135 his goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And if this be true concerning the whole Church of the Gentiles, to whom the Apostle then made the address, and concerning whose election the decree was publick and manifest, that they might be cut off, and their abode in God's favour was upon condition of their perseverance in the Faith; much more is it true in single persons, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 election in particular is shut up in the abyss, and permitted to the condition of our Faith and Obedience, and the revelations of Dooms-day.

7. Certain it is that God hath given to holy persons the Spirit of adoption, enabling* 1.136 them to cry, Abba, Father, and to account themselves for sons; and by this Spirit we* 1.137 know we dwell in him, and therefore it is called in Scripture the earnest of the Spirit:* 1.138 though at its first mission, and when the Apostle wrote and used this appellative, the Holy Ghost was of greater signification, and a more visible earnest and endearment of their hopes, than it is to most of us since. For the visible sending of the Holy Ghost up∣on many Believers in gifts, signs and prodigies, was infinite argument to make them expect events as great beyond that as that was beyond the common gifts of men: just as Miracles and Prophecy, which are gifts of the Holy Ghost, were arguments of proba∣tion for the whole Doctrine of Christianity. And this being a mighty verification of the great Promise, the promise of the Father, was an apt instrument to raise their hopes and confidences concerning those other Promises which Jesus made, the promi∣ses of Immortality and eternal life, of which the present miraculous Graces of the Holy Spirit were an earnest, and in the nature of a contracting peny: and still also the Holy Ghost, though in another manner, is an earnest of the great price of the heavenly calling, the rewards of Heaven; though not so visible and apparent as at first, yet as certain and demonstrative where it is discerned or where it is believed, as it is and ought to be in every person who does any part of his duty, because by the Spirit we do it, and without him we cannot. And since we either feel or believe the presence and gifts of the Holy Ghost to holy purposes, (for whom we receive voluntarily, we cannot casily receive without a knowledge of his reception) we cannot but entertain him as an argument of greater good hereafter, and an earnest-peny of the perfection of

the present Grace, that is, of the rewards of Glory; Glory and Grace differing no otherwise, than as an earnest in part of payment does from the whole price, the price of our high calling. So that the Spirit is an earnest, not because he always signifies to us that we are actually in the state of Grace, but by way of argument or reflexion; we know we do belong to God when we receive his Spirit; (and all Christian people have received him, if they were rightly baptized and confirmed) I say, we know by that testimony that we belong to God, that is, we are the people with whom God hath made a Covenant, to whom he hath promised and intends greater blessings, to which the present gifts of the Spirit are in order. But all this is conditional, and is not an im∣mediate testimony of the certainty and future event; but of the event as it is possibly future, and may (without our fault) be reduced to act as certainly as it is promised, or as the earnest is given in hand. And this the Spirit of God oftentimes tells us in secret visitations and publick testimonies: and this is that which S. Paul calls,* 1.139 tasting of the heavenly gift, and partaking of the Holy Ghost, and tasting of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. But yet some that have done so have fallen away, and have quenched the Spirit, and have given back the earnest of the Spirit, and contracted new relations, and God hath been their Father no longer, for they have done the works of the Devil. So that if new Converts be uncertain of their present state, old Christians are not absolutely certain they shall persevere. They are as sure of it as they can be of future acts of theirs which God hath permitted to their own power. But this certainty cannot exclude all fear, till their Charity be perfect; only according to the strength of their habits, so is the confidence of their abodes in Grace.

8. Beyond this, some holy persons have degrees of perswasion superadded as Lar∣gesses and acts of grace, God loving to bless one degree of Grace with another, till it comes to a Confirmation in Grace, which is a state of Salvation directly opposite to Obduration; and as this is irremediable and irrecoverable, so is the other inamissible: as God never saves a person obdurate and obstinately impenitent, so he never loses a* 1.140 man whom he hath confirmed in grace, whom he [so] loves, he loves unto the end; and to others indeed he offers his persevering love, but they will not entertain it with a persevering duty, they will not be beloved unto the end. But I insert this caution, that every man that is in this condition of a confirmed Grace does not always know it; but sometimes God draws aside the curtains of peace, and shews him his throne, and visits him with irradiations of glory, and sends him a little star to stand over his dwelling, and then again covers it with a cloud. It is certain concerning some per∣sons, that they shall never fall, and that God will not permit them to the danger or probability of it; to such it is morally impossible: but these are but few, and them∣selves know it not as they know a demonstrative proposition, but as they see the Sun, sometimes breaking from a cloud very brightly, but all day long giving necessary and sufficient light.

9. Concerning the multitude of Believers this discourse is not pertinent, for they only take their own accounts by the imperfections of their own duty blended with the mercies of God: the cloud gives light on one side, and is dark upon the other; and sometimes a bright ray peeps through the fringes of a shower, and immediately hides it self, that we might be humble and diligent, striving forwards and looking upwards, endeavouring our duty and longing after Heaven, working out our Salvation with fear and trembling, and in good time our calling and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 may be assured, when we first ac∣cording to the precept of the Apostle, use all diligence. S. Paul, when he writ his first* 1.141 Epistle to the Corinthians, was more fearful of being reprobate, and therefore he used exteriour arts of mortification. But when he writ to the Romans, which was a good while after, we find him more confident of his final condition, perswaded that neither* 1.142 height, nor depth, Angel, nor principality, nor power could separate him from the love of God in Jesus Christ: and when he grew to his latter end, when he wrote to S. Timothy,* 1.143 he was more confident yet, and declared that now a crown of rightcousness was certain∣ly laid up for him, for now he had sought the fight, and finished his course, the time of his departure was at hand. Henceforth he knew no more fear; his love was perfect as this state would permit, and that cast out all fear. According to this precedent if we reckon our securities, we are not likely to be reproved by any words of Scripture, or by the condition of humane infirmity. But when the confidence out-runs our growth in Grace, it is it self a sin; though when the confidence is equal with the Grace, it is of it self no regular and universal duty, but a blessing and a reward indulged by special dispensation, and in order to personal necessities or accidental

purposes. For only so much hope is simply necessary as excludes despair, and encou∣rages our duty, and glorifies God, and entertains his mercy; but that the hope should be without fear is not given but to the highest Faith, and the most excellent Charity, and to habitual, ratified and confirmed Christians, and to them also with some variety. The summ is this: All that are in the state of beginners and imperfection have a condi∣tional Certainty, changeable and fallible in respect of us, (for we meddle not with what it is in God's secret purposes;) changeable, I say, as their wills and resolutions. They that are grown towards perfection have more reason to be confident, and many times are so: but still although the strength of the habits of Grace adds degrees of mo∣ral certainty to their expectation, yet it is but as their condition is, hopeful and promi∣sing, and of a moral determination. But to those few to whom God hath given confir∣mation in Grace, he hath also given a certainty of condition, and therefore if that be re∣vealed to them, their perswasions are certain and infallible. If it be not revealed to them, their condition is in it self certain, but their perswasion is not so; but in the highest kind of Hope, an anchor of the Soul sure and stedfast.

The PRAYER.

O Eternal God, whose counsels are in the great deep, and thy ways past finding out; thou hast built our Faith upon thy Promises, our Hopes upon thy Goodness, and hast descri∣bed our paths between the waters of comfort and the dry barren land of our own duties and af∣fections: we acknowledge that all our comforts derive from thee, and to our selves we owe all our shame and confusions and degrees of desperation. Give us the assistances of the Holy Ghost to help us in performing our duty, and give us those comforts and visitations of the Holy Ghost which thou in thy 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and eternal wisdom knowest most apt and expedient to encourage our duties, to entertain our hopes, to alleviate our sadnesses, to refresh our spirits, and to endure our abode and constant endeavours in the strictnesses of Religion and Sanctity. Lead us, dearest God, from Grace to Grace, from imperfection to strength, from acts to habits, from habits to confirmation in Grace, that we may also pass into the regions of comfort, receiving the earnest of the Spirit, and the adoption of Sons; till by such a signature we be consigned to glory, and enter into the possession of the inheritance which we expect in the Kingdom of thy Son, and in the fruition of the felicities of thee, O gracious Father, God Eternal.

Amen.

SECT. XIV. Of the Third Year of the Preaching of JESUS.

[illustration]

Five loaves satisfy so many Thousands.

Mat: 14. 19. And he took the five loaves and the two fishes and looking up to Heaven he blessed and brake, and gave the loaves to his Disciples, and the Disciples to the Multitude. 20. And they did all eat and were filled, and they took up the fragments, that remayned twelve baskets. 21. And they that had eaten, were about five Thousand men, beside women and Children.

[illustration]

Lazarus at the rich glutton's gate.

Luk: 16. 19. There was a certain rich man which was Clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously everey day. 20. And there was a certain Begger, named Lazarus, which was layd at his gate, full of sores. 25. And in Hell he lift up his eyes being in Torments, and seeth Abraham a far off, and Lazarus in his Bosome.

1. BUT Jesus knowing of the death of the Baptist, Herod's jealousie, and the envy of the Pharisees, retired into a desert place beyond the Lake toge∣ther with his Apostles: For the people pressed so upon them, they had not leisure to eat. But neither there could he be hid, but great multitudes flocked thither also, to whom he preached many things. And afterwards, because there were no villages in the neighbourhood, lest they should faint in their return to their houses, he caused them to sit down upon the grass, and with five loaves of barley and two small fishes he satisfied five thousand men, besides women and children, and caused the Di∣sciples to gather up the fragments, which being amassed together filled twelve baskets. Which Miracles had so much proportion to the understanding, and met so happily with the affections of the people, that they were convinced that this was the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 who was to come into the world, and had a purpose to have taken him by force, and made him a King.

2. But he, that left his Father's Kingdom to take upon him the miseries and infeli∣cities of the world, fled from the offers of a Kingdom, and their tumultuary election, as from an enemy; and therefore sending his Disciples to the ship before towards Beth∣saida, he ran into the mountains to hide himself till the multitude should scatter to their several habitations; he in the mean time taking the opportunity of that retirement for the advantage of his Prayers. But when the Apostles were far engaged in the Deep, a great tempest arose, with which they were pressed to the extremity of danger and the last refuges, labouring in sadness and hopelesness, till the fourth watch of the night, when in the midst of their fears and labours Jesus comes walk∣ing on the sea, and appeared to them, which turned their fears into affrightments;

for they supposed it had been a spirit: but he appeased their fears with his presence, and manifestation who he was; which yet they desired to have proved to them by a sign. For Simon Peter said unto him, Master, if it be thou, command me to come to thee on the waters. The Lord did so; and Peter, throwing himself upon the confidence of his Master's power and providence, came out of the ship, and his fear began to weigh him down, and he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Jesus took him by the hand, reproved the timorousness of his Faith, and went with him into the ship: where when they had wor∣shipped him, and admired the Divinity of his Power and Person, they presently came into the land of Genesareth, the ship arriving at the Port immediately; and all that were sick or possessed with unclean spirits were brought to him, and as many as touched the bor∣der of his garment were made whole.

3. By this time they whom Jesus had left on the other side of the Lake had come as far as Capernaum to seek him, wondring that he was there before them: but upon the occasion of their so diligent inquisition Jesus observes to them,

That it was not the Divinity of the Miracle that provoked their zeal, but the satisfaction they had in the loaves, a carnal complacency in their meal; and upon that intimation speaks of ce∣lestial bread, the divine nutriment of souls; and then discourses of the mysterious and symbolical manducation of Christ himself, affirming that he himself was the bread of life that came down from Heaven, that he would give his Disciples his flesh to eat and his bloud to drink, and all this should be for the life of the World, to nourish unto life eternal; so that without it a happy eternity could not be obtained.

Upon this dis∣course* 1.144 divers of his Disciples (amongst whom S. Mark the Evangelist is said to be one, though he was afterwards recalled by Simon Peter) for sook him, being scandalized by their literal and carnal understanding of those words of Jesus, which he intended in a spiritual sence. For the words that he spake were not profitable in the sence of flesh and bloud, but they are spirit, and they are life, himself being the Expounder, who best knew his own meaning.

4. When Jesus saw this great defection of his Disciples from him, he turned him to the twelve Apostles, and asked if they also would go away. Simon Peter answered, Lord, whither shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life: And we believe and are sure thou art that CHRIST, the Son of the living God. Although this publick confession was made by Peter in the name and confidence of the other Apostles, yet Jesus told them, that even amongst the twelve there was one Devil; meaning Judas Iscariot, who after∣wards betrayed him. This he told them Prophetically, that they might perceive the sad accidents which afterwards happened did not invade and surprize him in the dis∣advantages of ignorance or improvision, but came by his own knowledge and provi∣dence.

5. Then came to him the Pharisees, and some Scribes which came from Jerusalem and Galilee, (for Jesus would not go to Judaea, because the Jews laid wait to kill him) and quarrelled with him about certain impertinent, unnecessary Rites, derived to them not by Divine sanction, but ordinances of man; such as were washing their hands oft when they eat, baptizing cups and platters, and washing tables and beds; which ceremonies the Apostles of Jesus did not observe, but attended diligently to the simplicity and spiritu∣al Holiness of their Master's Doctrine. But, in return to their vain demands, Jesus gave them a sharp reproof for prosecuting these and many other traditions to the discoun∣tenance of Divine Precepts; and in particular they taught men to give to the Corban, and refused to supply the necessity of their parents, thinking it to be Religion, though they neglected Piety and Charity. And again he thunders out woes and sadnesses against their impieties, for being curious of minutes, and punctual in rites and ceremo∣nials, but most negligent and incurious of Judgment and the love of God; for their Pride, for their Hypocrisie, for their imposing burthens upon others which themselves helped not to support; for taking away the key of knowledge from the people, ob∣structing the passages to Heaven; for approving the acts of their Fathers in persecuting the Prophets. But for the Question it self concerning Washings, Jesus taught the people that no outward impurity did stain the Soul in the sight of God, but all pollu∣tion is from within, from the corruption of the heart, and impure thoughts, unchast desires, and unholy purposes, and that Charity is the best purifier in the world.

6. And thence Jesus departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and entred into a house, that he might not be known. The diligence of a Mother's love, and sorrow and necessi∣ty, found him out in his retirement; for a Syrophoenician woman came and be sought him that he would cast the Devil out of her daughter. But Jesus discoursed to her by way of discomfort and rejection of her, for her Nation's sake. But the seeming denial did but

enkindle her desires, and made her importunity more bold and undeniable; she begged but some crums that fell from the childrens table, but one instance of favour to her daugh∣ter, which he poured forth without measure upon the sons and daughters of Israel, Jesus was pleased with her zeal and discretion, and pitied her daughter's infelicity, and dismissed her with saying, The Devil was gone out of her Daughter.

7. But Jesus stayed not long here, but returning to the Sea of Galilee through the midst of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, they brought unto him a man deaf and dumb, whom Jesus cured by touching his tongue, and putting his fingers in his ears: which caused the people to give a large te∣stimony in approbation of all his actions. And they followed him unto a mountain, bringing to him multitudes of diseased people, and he healed them all. But because the people had followed him three days, and had nothing to eat, Jesus in pity to their need resolved to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 them once more at the charge of a Miracle: therefore taking seven 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and a few small fishes, he blessed them, and satisfied four thousand men, besides wo∣men and children. And there remained seven baskets full of broken bread and fish. From whence Jesus departed by ship to the coasts of Mageddon and Dalmanutha, whither the Pharisees and Sadduces came, seeking of him a sign. But Jesus rejected their impertinent and captious demand, knowing they did it to ill purposes and with disaffection; re∣proving them, that they discerned the face of the sky, and the prognosticks of fair or foul weather, but not the signs of the times of the Son of man. However, since they had neglected so great demonstrations of Miracles, gracious Discourses, holy Laws and Pro∣phecies, they must expect no other sign but the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Prophet Jonas; meaning, the Resurrection of his Body after three days burial: and so he dismissed the impertinent inquisitors.

8. And passing again over the Lake, as his Disciples were solicitous because they had forgot to take bread, he gave them caution to beware of the leven of the Pharisees and Sad∣duces, and the leven of Herod; meaning, the Hypocrisie and vanities of the one, and the Heresie of the other. For Herod's leven was the pretence that he was the Messias, which the Sect of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 did earnestly and spitefully promote. And after this 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of themselves by the way, they came together to Bethsaida, where Jesus cured a blind man with a collyrium of spittle, salutary as Balsam or the purest Eye∣bright, when his divine benediction once had hallowed it. But Jesus staid not there, but departing thence into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, out of Herod's power, (for it was in Philip's jurisdiction) after he had prayed with his Disciples, he enquired what opinion the world had of him, and whom they reported him to be. They answered, Some say thou art John the Baptist, some that thou art Elias, or Jeremias, or one of the Prophets: for in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 especially the Sect of the Pharisees was mightily disseminated, whose opi∣nion it was, that the Souls of dead men according to their several merits did transmi∣grate into other bodies of very perfect and excellent persons. And therefore in all this variety none hit upon the right, or fansied him to be a distinct person from the ancients; but although they differed in the assignation of his name, yet generally they agreed it was the Soul of a departed Prophet which had passed into another Body. But Jesus asked the Apostles their opinion, and Peter, in the name of all the rest, made an open and confident Confession, Thou art CHRIST, the Son of the living God.

9. This Confession Jesus not only confirmed as true, but as revealed by God, and of fundamental necessity: for after the blessing of Peter's person, upon allusion of Peter's name, Jesus said, that upon this Rock [ the article of Peter's Confession] he would build his Church, promising to it assistances even to perpetuity, insomuch that the gates of hell, that is, persecution and death and the grave, should never prevail against it: adding withall a promise to Peter, in behalf of all the rest, as he had made a Confession for them all, that he would give unto him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, so that whatso∣ever he should bind on earth should be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever he should loose on earth should be loosed in Heaven; a power which he never communicated before or since, but to their successors; greater than the large Charter of Nature and the donative of Creation, in which all the creatures under Heaven were made subject to Man's Em∣pire, but till now Heaven it self was never subordinate to humane ministration.

10. And now the days from hence forward to the Death of Jesus we must reckon to be like the Vigils or Eves of his Passion; for now he began and often did ingeminate those sad predictions of his unhandsome usage he should shortly find, that he 〈◊〉〈◊〉 be rejected of the Elders, and chief Priests, and Scribes, and suffer many things at Jerusalem, and be killed, and be raised up the third day. But Peter, hearing that sad discourse so con∣trary to his hopes, which he had blended with temporal expectances, (for he had learned the Doctrine of Christ's Advent, but not the mystery of the Cross) in great and

mistaken civility took Jesus aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But Jesus full of zeal against so soft and humane admo∣nition, that savoured nothing of God or of abstracted immaterial considerations, chid Peter bitterly; Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me. And calling his Disciples to him, told them a second part of a sad doctrine, that not only himself, but all they also must suffer. For when the Head was to be crowned with thorns, if the Members were wrapped in softnesses, it was an unhansome undecency, and a disunion too near an antipathy; and therefore who ever will be the Disciple of Jesus must take up his Cross, deny himself and his own fonder appetites, and trace his Master's foot-steps marked out with bloud that he shed for our Redemption and restitution. And that there be no escape from the participation of Christ's suffering, Jesus added this Dilem∣ma; He that will save his life shall lose it; and he that will lose it shall save it to eternity. Which part soever we chuse, there is a life to be lost: but as the first are foolish to the extremest misery, that will lose their Souls to gain the World; so they are most wise and fortunate that will give their lives for him; because when the Son of Man shall come in his own glory, and his Father's, and of his Angels, he shall reward every man according to his works. This discourse Jesus concluded with a Prophecy, that some standing in that presence should not die till they saw the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.

11. Of the greater glories of which, in due time to be revealed, Jesus after eight days gave a bright and excellent probation. For, taking with him Peter and James and John, he went up into the mountain Tabor to pray; and while he prayed, he was transfigured before them, and his face did shine like the Sun, and his garments were white and 〈◊〉〈◊〉. And there appeared talking with him Moses and Elias gloriously, speaking of the decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem, which glory these Apostles, after they had awaked from sleep, did behold. And the Interlocutors with Jesus having finished their embassy of death (which they delivered in forms of glory representing the excellencies of the re∣ward, together with the sharpness of the passage and interval) departed, leaving the Apostles full of fear, and wonder, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉, insomuch that Peter talked he knew not what, but nothing amiss, something Prophetical, saying, Master, it is good to be here; 〈◊〉〈◊〉 us build three tabernacles. And some devout persons in memory of the mystery did* 1.145 〈◊〉〈◊〉 three Churches in the same place in after-Ages. But after the departure of those attendent Saints, a cloud incircled Jesus and the Disciples, and a voice came from the ex∣cellent glory, This is my beloved Son, hear him. The cloud quickly disappeared, and freed the Disciples from the fear it had put them in. So they attended Jesus, and de∣scended from the mountain, being commanded silence, which they observed till the Resur∣rection.

12. The next day came to Jesus a man praying in behalf of his son, Lunatick and sore troubled with a Devil, who sought oft to destroy him in fire and water, that Jesus would be pleased to deliver him. For his Apostles tried, and could not, by reason of the want* 1.146 of Faith; for this Grace, if it be true, though in a less degree, is of power to remove mountains, to pluck up trees by the roots, and to give them solid foundation in the wa∣ters. And Jesus rebuked the Devil, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 departed out of him from that very hour. Thence Jesus departed privately into Galilee, and in his journey repeated those sadnes∣ses of his approaching Passion: Which so afflicted the spirits of the Disciples, that they durst no more provoke him to discourse, lest he should take occasion to interweave something of that unpleasant argument with it. For sad and disconsolate persons use to create comsorts to themselves by fiction of fancy, and use arts of avocation to remove displeasure from them, and stratagems to remove it from their presence, by removing it from their apprehensions, thinking the incommodity of it is then taken away when they have lost the sense.

13. When Jesus was now come to Capernaum, the exactors of rates came to Simon Peter,* 1.147 asking him if his Master paid the accustomed imposition, viz. a sicle or didrachm, the fourth part of an ounce of silver, which was the tribute which the Lord imposed upon all the sons of Israel from twenty years old and above, to pay for redemption and propiti∣ation, and for the use of the Tabernacle. When Peter came into the house, Jesus know∣ing the message that he was big with, prevented him, by asking him, Of whom do the Kings of the Nations take tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter answered, Of strangers. Then said Jesus, then are the children free; meaning, that since the Gen∣tile Kings do not exact tribute of their sons, neither will God of his. And therefore this Pension to be paid for the use of the Tabernacle, for the service of God, for the re∣demption of their Souls, was not to be paid by him, who was the Son of God, but by strangers. Yet to avoid offence, he sent Peter a-fishing, and provided

a fish with two didrachms of silver in it, which he commanded Peter to pay for them two.

14. But when the Disciples were together with Jesus in the house, he asked them what they discoursed of upon the way; for they had fallen upon an ambitious and mistaken quar∣rel, which of them should be greatest in their Master's Kingdom, which they still did dream should be an external and secular Royalty, full of fancy and honour. But the Master was diligent to check their forwardness, establishing a rule for Clerical deport∣ment; He that will be greatest among you, let him be your Minister: so supposing a greater and a lesser, a Minister and a person to be ministred unto, but dividing the grandeur of the Person from the greatness of Office, (that the higher the imployment is, the more humble should be the man;) because in Spiritual prelation it is not as in Secular pomps, where the Dominion is despotick, the Coercion bloudy, the Dictates 〈◊〉〈◊〉, the Laws externally compulsory, and the Titles arrogant and vain; and all the advantages are so passed upon the Person, that making that first to be splendid, it pas∣ses from the Person to the subjects, who in abstracted essences do not easily apprehend Regalities in veneration, but as they are subjected in persons made excellent by such su∣perstructures of Majesty: But in Dignities Ecelesiastical the Dominion is paternal, the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 perswasive and argumentative, the Coercion by censures immaterial, by cession and consent, by denial of benefits, by the interest of vertues, and the efficacy of hopes, and impresses upon the spirit; the Laws are full of admonition and Sermon; the Titles of honour monitors of duty, and memorials of labour and offices; and all the advantages, which from the Office usually pass upon the Person, are to be devested by the humility of the man; and when they are of greatest veneration they are abstracted excellencies and immaterial, not passing through the Person to the people, and reslect∣ed to his lustre, but transmitted by his labour and ministery, and give him honour for his labour's sake, (which is his personal excellency) not for his honour and title, which is either a derivative from Christ, or from the constitution of pious persons, estimating and valuing the relatives of Religion.

15. Then Jesus taketh a little child, and setteth him in the midst, propounding him by way of Emblem a pattern of Humility and Simplicity, without the mixtures of Am∣bition or caitive distempers; such infant candour and low liness of spirit being the ne∣cessary port through which we must pass, if we will enter into the Courts of Heaven. But as a current of wholsome waters breaking from its restraint runs out in a succession of waters, and every preceding draught draws out the next: so were the Discourses of Jesus excellent and opportune, creating occasions for others, that the whole doctrine of the Gospel and the entire will of the Father might be communicated upon design; even the chances of words and actions being made regular and orderly by Divine Pro∣vidence. For from the instance of Humility in the symbol and Hieroglyphick of the child, Jesus discourses of

the care God takes of little children, whether naturally or spiritually such; the danger of doing them scandal and offences; the care and power of their Angels guardian; of the necessity in the event that Scandals should arise, and of the great woe and infelicity of those persons who were the active ministers of such offences.

16. But if in the traverses of our life discontents and injuries be done, Jesus teaches* 1.148 how the injured person should demean himself: First, reprove the offending party pri∣vately; if he repent, forgive him for ever with a mercy as unwearied and as multipli∣ed as his repentance. For the servant to whom his Lord had forgiven 10000 talents, because he refused to forgive his fellow-servant 100 pence, was delivered to the* 1.149 tormentors, till he should pay that debt which his Lord once forgave, till the servant's impiety forced him to repent his donative and remission. But if he refuses the charity of private correction, let him be reproved before a few witnesses: and in case he be still incorrigible, let him be brought to the tribunal of the Church; against whose advices if he shall kick, let him feel her power, and be cut off from the communion of Saints, becoming a Pagan or a Publican. And to make that the Church shall not have a dead and ineffectual hand in her animadversions, Jesus pro∣mises to all the Apostles, what before he promised to Peter, a power of binding and loo∣sing on earth, and that it should be ratified in Heaven what they shall so dispose on earth with an unerring key.

17. But John interrupted him, telling him of a stranger that cast out Devils in the name of Jesus, but because he was not of the family, he had forbidden him. To this Jesus replied, that he should in no wise have forbidden him, for in all reason he would do veneration to that person whose Name he saw to be energetical and triumphant over Devils, and in whose name it is almost necessary that man should believe; who used it as an instrument of ejection of impure spirits. Then Jesus proceeded in his excellent Sermon and union of discourses, adding holy Precepts

concerning offences which a man might do to himself; in which case he is to be severe, though most gentle to others. For in his own case he must shew no mercy, but abscission: for it it better to cut off the offending hand or foot, or extinguish the offending eye, rather than upon the support of a troublesome soot, and by the light of an offending eye, walk into ruine and a sad eternity, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

And so Je∣sus ended this chain of excellent Discourses.

18. About this time was the Jews Feast of Tabernacles, whither Jesus went up as it were in secret, and passing through Samaria he found the inhabitants of a little vil∣lage so inhospitable, as to refuse to give him entertainment; which so provoked the intemperate zeal of James and John, that they would fain have called for fire to consume them, even as Elias did. But Jesus rebuked the furies of their anger, teaching them to distinguish the spirit of Christianity from the ungentleness of the decretory zeal of Eli∣as. For since the Son of man came with a purpose to seek and save what was lost, it was but an indiscreet temerity suddenly upon the lightest umbrages of displeasure to destroy a man, whose redemption cost the effusion of the dearest bloud from the heart of Jesus. But contrariwise Jesus does a Miracle upon the ten Leprous persons which came to him from the neighbourhood, crying out with sad exclamations for help. But Jesus sent them to the Priest to offer for their cleansing. Thither they went, and but one only re∣turned to give thanks, and he a stranger, who with a loud voice glorified God, and with humble adoration worshipped, and gave thanks to Jesus.

19. When Jesus had finished his journey, and was now come to Jerusalem, for the first days he was undiscerned in publick conventions, but heard of the various opinions of men concerning him: some saying he was a good man, others, that he 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the people; and the Pharisees sought for him to do him a mischief. But when they despaired of finding him in the midst of the Feast and the people, he made Sermons openly in the midst of the Temple; whom when he had convinced by the variety and divinity of his Miracles and Discourses, they gave the greatest testimony in the world of humane weakness, and how prevalent a prejudice is above the confidence and conviction of a demonstration. For a proverb, a mistake, an error in matter of circumstance did in their understandings outweigh multitudes of Miracles and arguments; and because Christ was of Galilee, because they knew whence he was, because of the Proverb, that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Galilee comes no Prophet, because the Rulers did not believe in him, these outweigh∣ed the demonstrations of his mercy, and his power, and Divinity. But yet very many believed on him; and no man durst lay hands to take him; for as yet his time was not come, in which he meant to give himself up to the power of the Jews: and therefore when the Pharisees sent Officers to seise him, they also became his Disciples, being them∣selves surprised by the excellency of his Doctrine.

20. After this Jesus went to the mount of Olivet on the East of Jerusalem, and the next day returned again into the Temple, where the Scribes and Pharisees brought him a woman taken in the act of Adultery, tempting him to give sentence, that they might accuse him of severity or intermedling if he condemned her, or of remisness and popularity if he did acquit her. But Jesus found out an expedient for their difficulty, and changed the Scene, by bidding the innocent person among them cast the first stone at the Adulteress; and then stooping down to give them fair occasion to withdraw, he wrote upon the ground with his finger, whilest they left the woman and her crime to a more private censure: Jesus was left alone, and the woman in the midst; whom Jesus dismissed, charging her to sin no more. And a while after Jesus begins again to discourse to them,

of his Mission from the Father, of his Crucifixion and exaltation from the earth, of the reward of Belie∣vers, of the excellency of Truth, of spiritual Liberty and Relations, who are the sons of Abraham, and who the children of the Devil, of his own eternal generation, of the desire of Abraham to see his day.

In which Sermon he continued, adding still new excellencies, and confuting their malicious and vainer calumnies, till they, that they also might 〈◊〉〈◊〉 him, took up stones to cast at him; but he went out of the Temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

21. But in his passage he met a man who had been born blind: and after he had discoursed cursorily of the cause of that Blindness, it being a misery not sent as a pu∣nishment to his own or his parents sin, but as an occasion to make publick the glory of God; he, to manifest that himself was the light of the World in all sences, said it now, and proved it by a Miracle: for sitting down he made clay of spittle, and anointing the eyes of the blind man, bid him go wash in Siloam; which was a Pool of limpid water* 1.150 which God sent at the Prayer of Isaiah the Prophet, a little before his death, to satis∣fie the necessities of his people oppressed with thirst and a strict siege, and it stood at the foot of the mount Sion, and gave its water at first by returns and periods, always to the Jews, but not to the enemies. And those intermitted springings were still con∣tinued, but only a Pool was made from the frequent effluxes. The blind man went, and washed, and returned seeing; and was incessantly vexed by the Pharisees, to tell them the manner and circumstances of the cure: and when the man had averred the truth, and named his Physician, giving him a pious and charitable testimony, the Pharisees, because they could not force him to disavow his good opinion of Jesus, cast him out of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉. But Jesus meeting him received him into the Church, told him he was CHRIST; and the man became again enlightned, and he believed, and wor∣shipped. But the Pharisees blasphemed: for such was the dispensation of the Divine mysteries, that the blind should see, and they which think they see clearly should be∣come blind, because they had not the excuse of ignorance to lessen or take off the sin, but in the midst of light they shut their eyes, and doted upon darkness, and therefore did their sin remain.

22. But Jesus continued his Sermon among the Pharisees, insinuating reprehensions in his dogmatical discourses, which like light shined and discovered error. For by dis∣coursing

the properties of a good Shepherd, and the lawful way of intromission, he proved them to be thieves and robbers, because they refused to enter in by Jesus, who is the door of the sheep; and upon the same ground reproved all those false Christs which before him usurped the title of Messias, and proved his own vocation and of∣fice by an argument which no other shepherd would use, because he laid down his life for his sheep: others would take the fleece and eat the flesh, but none but himself would die for his sheep; but he would first die, and then gather his sheep together into one fold, (intimating the calling of the Gentiles;) to which purpose he was enabled by his Father to lay down his life, and to take it up; and had also endeared them to his Father, that they should be preserved unto eternal life, and no power should be able to take them out of his hand, or the hand of his Father: for because Jesus was united to the Father, the Father's care preserved the Son's flocks.

23. But the Jews, to requite him for his so divine Sermons, betook themselves to their old argument, they took up stones again to cast at him, pretending he had blasphe∣med: but Jesus proved it to be no blasphemy to call himself the son of God, because they to whom the Word of God came are in Scripture called Gods. But nothing could satisfie them, whose temporal interest was concerned not to consent to such Doctrine which would save their souls by ruining their temporal concernments. But when they sought again to take him, Jesus escaped out of their hands, and went away beyond Jordan, where John at first baptized: which gave the people occasion to remember that John did no Miracle, but this man does many, and John, whom all men did revere and highly account of for his Office and Sanctity, gave testimony to Jesus. And many believed on him there.

24. After this, Jesus, knowing that the harvest was great, and as yet the labourers had been few, sent out seventy two of his Disciples with the like commission as formerly the 12. Apostles, that they might go before to those places whither himself meant to come. Of which number were the Seven, whom afterwards the Apostles set over the Wi∣dows,* 1.151 and Matthias, Mark, and some say Luke, Justus, Barnabas, Apelles, Rufus, Niger, Cephas, (not Peter) Thaddaeus, Aristion, and John. The rest of the names* 1.152 could not be recovered by the best diligence of Eusebius and Epiphanius. But when they returned from their journey, they rejoyced greatly in the legation and power, and Jesus also rejoyced in spirit, giving glory to God, that he had made his revelations to babes and the more imperfect 〈◊〉〈◊〉; like the lowest Valleys which receive from Heaven the greatest flouds of rain and blessings, and stand thick with corn and flowers, when the Mountains are unfruitful in their height and greatness.

25. And now a Doctor of the Law came to Jesus, asking him a Question of the greatest consideration that a wise man could ask, or a Prophet answer; Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus referred him to the Scriptures, and declared

the way to Heaven to be this only, to love the Lord with all our powers and faculties, and our neighbour as our self. But when the Lawyer being captious made a scruple in a smooth rush, asking what is meant by Neighbour: Jesus told him, by a Parable of a Traveller fallen into the hands of robbers, and neglected by a Priest and by a Levite, but relieved by a Samaritan, that no distance of Countrey or Religion destroys the re∣lation of Neighbourhood; but every person with whom we converse in peace and charity is that Neighbour whom we are to love as our selves.

26. Jesus having departed from Jerusalem upon the forementioned danger, came to a village called Bethany, where Martha making great and busie preparation for his entertainment, to express her joy and her affections to his person, desired Jesus to dis∣miss her Sister Mary from his feet, who sate there feasting her self with the viands and sweetnesses of his Doctrine, incurious of the provisions for entertainment. But Jesus commended her choice; and though he did not expresly disrepute Martha's Civility, yet he preferred Mary's Religion and Sanctity of affections. In this time (because the night drew on, in which no man could work) Jesus hastened to do his Father's business, and to pour out whole cataracts of holy Lessons, like the fruitful Nilus swelling over the banks, and filling all the trenches, to make a plenty of corn and fruits great as the inundation. Jesus therefore teaches his Disciples

that Form of Prayer the second time which we call the Lord's Prayer: teaches them assiduity and indefatigable importunity in Pray∣er, by a Parable of an importunate Neighbour borrowing loaves at midnight, and a troublesome Widow who forced an unjust Judge to do her right by her clamorous and hourly addresses: encourages them to pray, by consideration of the Divine goodness and fatherly affection, far more indulgent to his Sons than natural Fathers are to their dearest issue; and adds a gracious promise of success to them that pray. He reproves Pharisaical ostentation; arms his Disciples against the fear of men and the terrors of Persecution, which can arrive but to the incommodities of the Body; teaches the fear of God, who is Lord of the whole Man, and can accurse the Soul as well as pu∣nish the Body. He refuses to divide the inheritance between two Brethren, as not having competent power to become Lord in temporal jurisdictions. He preaches against Covetousness, and the placing felicities in worldly possessions, by a Parable of a rich man, whose riches were too big for his barns, and big enough for his Soul, and he ran over into voluptuousness, and stupid complacencies in his perishing goods: he was snatched from their possession, and his Soul taken from him in the vi∣olence of a rapid and hasty sickness in the space of one night. Discourses of divine Providence and care over us all, and descending even as low as grass. He exhorts to Alms-deeds, to Watchfulness, and preparation against the sudden and unexpected coming of our Lord to Judgment, or the arrest of death: tells the offices and sedulity of the Clergy, under the Apologue of Stewards and Governours of their Lords hou∣ses; teaches them gentleness and sobriety, and not to do evil upon confidence of their Lord's absence and delay; and teaches the people even of themselves to judge what is right concerning the signs of the coming of the Son of Man. And the end of all these discourses was, that all men should repent, and live good lives, and be saved.

27. At this Sermon there were present some that told him of the Galileans, whose bloud Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. For the Galileans were a sort of people that taught it to be unlawful to pay tribute to strangers, or to pray for the Romans; and because the Jews did both, they refused to communicate in their sacred Rites, and would sacrifice apart: at which Solemnity when Pilate the Roman Deputy had apprehended many of them, he caused them all to be slain, making them to die upon the same Altars. These were of the Province of Judaea, but of the same Opinion with those who taught in Galilee, from whence the Sect had its appellative. But to the story; Jesus made reply, that these external accidents, though they be sad and calamitous, yet they are no arguments of condemnation against the persons of the men, to convince them of a greater guilt than others, upon whom no such visible signatures have been imprinted. The purpose of such chances is, that we should repent, lest we perish in the like judg∣ment.

28. About this time a certain Ruler of a Synagogue renewed the old Question about the observation of the Sabbath, repining at Jesus that he cured a woman that was crook∣ed, loosing her from her infirmity, with which she had been afflicted eighteen years. But Jesus made the man ashamed by an argument from their own practice, who themselves loose an oxe from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him to watering: And by the same argument he also stopt the mouths of the Scribes and Pharisees,

which were open upon him for curing an Hydropick person upon the Sabbath. For Jesus, that he might draw off and separate Christianity from the yoke of Ceremonies by abolishing and taking off the strictest Mosaical Rites, chose to do very many of his Miracles upon the Sabbath, that he might do the work of abrogation and institution both at once; not much unlike the Sabbatical Pool in Judaea, which was dry six* 1.153 days, but gushed out in a full stream upon the Sabbath. For though upon all days Christ was operative and miraculous, yet many reasons did concur and determine him to a more frequent working upon those days of publick ceremony and convention. But going forth from thence he went up and down the Cities of Galilee, re-enforcing the same Doctrine he had formerly taught them, and daily adding new Precepts and cauti∣ons, and prudent insinuations:

advertising of the multitudes of them that perish, and the paucity of them that shall be saved, and that we should strive to enter in at the strait gate; that the way to destruction is broad and plausible, the way to Heaven nice and austere, and few there be that find it: teaches them modesty at Feasts, and enter∣tainments of the poor: discourses of the many excuses and unwillingnesses of persons who were invited to the feast of the Kingdom, the refreshments of the Gospel; and tacitly insinuates the rejection of the Jews, who were the first invited, and the cal∣ling of the Gentiles, who were the persons called in from the high ways and hedges. He reprehends Herod for his subtilty and design to kill him: prophesies that he should die at Jerusalem; and intimates great sadnesses future to them for neglecting this their day of visitation, and for killing the Prophets and the Messengers sent from God.

29. It now grew towards Winter, and the Jews feast of Dedication was at hand; therefore Jesus went up to Jerusalem to the Feast, where he preached in Solomon's Porch, which part of the Temple stood intire from the first ruines: and the end of his Sermon was, that the Jews had like to have stoned him. But retiring from thence he went beyond Jordan, where he taught the people in a most elegant and perswasive Pa∣rable concerning

the mercy of God in accepting Penitents, in the Parable of the Pro∣digal son returning; discourses of the design of the Messias coming into the world to recover erring persons from their sin and danger, in the Apologues of the Lost sheep, and Goat; and under the representment of an Unjust, but prudent, Steward, he taught us so to employ our present opportunities and estates, by laying them out in acts of Mercy and Religion, that when our Souls shall be dismissed from the steward∣ship and custody of our body, we may be entertained in everlasting habitations. He in∣structeth the Pharisees in the question of Divorces, limiting the permissions of Sepa∣rations to the only cause of Fornication: preferreth holy Coelibate before the estate of Marriage, in them to whom the gift of Continency is given in order to the King∣dom of Heaven. He telleth a Story or a Parable (for which, is uncertain) of a Rich man (whom Euthymius out of the tradition of the Hebrews, nameth Nymensis) and Lazarus; the first a voluptuous person, and uncharitable; the other pious, afflict∣ed, sick, and a begger: the first died, and went to Hell; the second to Abraham's bosome: God so ordering the dispensation of good things, that we cannot easily en∣joy two Heavens, nor shall the infelicities of our lives (if we be pious) end other∣wise than in a beatified condition. The Epilogue of which story discovered this truth also, That the ordinary means of Salvation are the express revelations of Scripture, and the ministeries of God's appointment; and whosoever neglects these shall not be supplied with means extraordinary, or if he were, they would be totally ineffe∣ctual.

30. And still the people drew water from the fountains of our Saviour, which stream∣ed out in a full and continual emanation. For adding wave to wave, line to line, pre∣cept upon precept, he

reproved the Fastidiousness of the Pharisee, that came with Eu∣charist to God and contempt to his brother; and commended the Humility of the Publican's address, who came deploring his sins, and with modesty and penance and importunity begged and obtained a mercy. Then he laid hands upon certain young children, and gave them benediction, charging his Apostles to admit infants to him, because to them in person, and to such in embleme and signification, the Kingdom of Heaven does appertain. He instructs a young man in the ways and counsels of perfection, besides the observation of Precepts, by heroical Renunciati∣ons and acts of munificent Charity.

Which discourse because it alighted upon an indisposed and an unfortunate subject, (for the young man was very rich) Jesus dis∣courses

how hard it is for a rich man to be saved; but he expounds himself to mean, they that trust in riches; and however it is a matter of so great temptation,

that it is almost impossible to escape, yet with God nothing is impossible.

But when the Apostles heard the Master bidding the young man sell all, and give to the poor, and follow him, and for his reward promised him a heavenly treasure, Peter, in the name of the rest, began to think that this was their case, and the promise also might concern them: but they asked the Question, What shall we have, who have forsaken all, and followed thee? Jesus answered, that they should sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

31. And Jesus extended this mercy to every Disciple that should forsake either house, or wife, or children, or any thing for his sake and the Gospel's, and that they should receive a hundred fold in this life, by way of comfort and equivalency, and in the world to come thousands of glories and possessions in fruition and redundancy. For they that are last shall be first, and the first shall be last: and the despised people of this world shall reign like Kings, and contempt it self shall swell up into glory, and poverty into an eternal satis∣faction. And these rewards shall not be accounted according to the priviledges of Na∣tions, or priority of vocation, but readiness of mind and obedience, and sedulity of operation after calling: which Jesus taught his Disciples in the Parable of the Labou∣rers in the Vineyard, to whom the Master gave the same reward, though the times of their working were different; as their calling and employment had determined the op∣portunity of their labours.

DISCOURSE XVII. Of Scandal, or Giving and taking Offence.* 1.154

1. A Sad curse being threatned in the Gospel to them who offend any of Christ's little ones, that is, such as are novices and babes in Christianity, it concerns us to learn our duty and perform it, that we may avoid the curse; for, Woe to all them by* 1.155 whom offences come. And although the duty is so plainly explicated and represented in gloss and case by the several Commentaries of S. Paul upon this menace of our Blessed* 1.156 Saviour; yet because our English word Offence, which is commonly used in this Que∣stion* 1.157 * 1.158 of Scandal, is so large and equivocal that it hath made many pretences, and in∣tricated this article to some inconvenience, it is not without good purpose to draw into one body those Propositions which the Masters of Spiritual life have described in the managing of this Question.

2. First, By whatsoever we do our duty to God we cannot directly do offence or give scandal to our Brother; because in such cases where God hath obliged us, he hath al∣so obliged himself to reconcile our duty to the designs of God, to the utility of Souls, and the ends of Charity. And this Proposition is to be extended to our Obedience to the lawful Constitutions of our competent Superiours, in which cases we are to look upon the Commandment, and leave the accidental events to the disposition of that Pro∣vidence who reconciles dissonancies in nature, and concentres all the variety of acci∣dents into his own glory. And whosoever is offended at me for obeying God or God's Vicegerent, is offended at me for doing my duty; and in this there is no more dispute, but whether I shall displease God, or my peevish neighbour. These are such whom the Spirit of God complains of under other representments: They think it strange we run not into the same excess of riot; Their eye is evil because their Master's eye is good; and the abounding of God's grace also may become to them an occasion of falling, and the long-suffering of God the encouragement to sin. In this there is no difficulty: for in what case soever we are bound to obey God or Man, in that case and in that conjunction of circumstances we have nothing permitted to our choice, and have no authority to remit of the right of God or our Superiour. And to comply with our neighbour in such Questions, besides that it cannot serve any purposes of Piety if it declines from Duty in any instance, it is like giving Alms out of the portion of Orphans, or building Ho∣spitals with the money and spoils of Sacriledge. It is pusillanimity, or hypocrisie, or a denying to confess Christ before men, to comply with any man, and to offend God, or omit a Duty. Whatsoever is necessary to be done, and is made so by God, no weak∣ness or peevishness of man can make necessary not to be done. For the matter of Scandal is a duty beneath the prime obligations of Religion.

3. Secondly, But every thing which is used in Religion is not matter of precise Du∣ty, but there are some things which indeed are pious and religious, but dispensable, voluntary, and commutable; such as are voluntary Fasts, exteriour acts of Discipline and Mortification not enjoyned, great degrees of exteriour Worship, Prostration, long Prayers, Vigils: and in these things, although there is not directly a matter of Scan∣dal, yet there may be some prudential considerations in order to Charity and Edifica∣tion. By pious actions I mean either particular pursuances of a general Duty, which are uncommanded in the instance, such as are the minutes and expresses of Alms; or else they are commended, but in the whole kind of them unenjoyned, such as Divines call the Counsels of perfection. In both these cases a man cannot be scandalous. For the man doing in charity and the love of God such actions which are aptly expressive of love, the man (I say) is not uncharitable in his purposes; and the actions themselves being either attempts or proceedings toward Perfection, or else actions of direct Duty, are as innocent in their productions as in themselves, and therefore without the malice of the recipient cannot induce him into sin: and nothing else is Scandal. To do any pious act proceeds from the Spirit of God, and to give Scandal, from the Spirit of Ma∣lice or Indiscretion; and therefore a pious action, whose fountain is love and 〈◊〉〈◊〉, cannot end in Uncharitableness or Imprudence. But because when any man is offend∣ed at what I esteem Piety, there is a question whether the action be pious or no: therefore it concerns him that works to take care that his action be either an act of Du∣ty, though not determined to a certain particular; or else be something 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Scripture, or practised by a holy person there recorded, and no-where reproved; or a practice warranted by such precedents which modest, prudent and religious persons account a sufficient inducement of such particulars: for he that proceeds upon such principles derives the warrant of his actions from beginnings which secure the particu∣lar, and quits the Scandal.

4. This, I say, is a security against the Uncharitableness and the Sin of Scandal; because a zeal of doing pious actions is a zeal according to God: but it is not always a security against the Indiscretion of the Scandal. He that reproves a foolish person in such circumstances that provoke him, or make him impudent or blasphemous, does not give Scandal, and brings no sin upon himself, though he occasioned it in the other: But if it was probable such effects would be consequent to the reprehension, his zeal was imprudent and rash; but so long as it was zeal for God, and in its own matter lawful, it could not be an active or guilty Scandal: but if it be no zeal, and be a design to en∣trap a man's unwariness or passion or shame, and to disgrace the man, by that means or any other to make him sin, then it is directly the offending of our Brother. They that preach'd Christ out of envy intended to do offence to the Apostles: but because they were impregnable, the sin rested in their own bosom, and God wrought his own ends by it. And in this sence they are Scandalous persons who fast for Strife, who pray for Rebel∣lion, who intice simple persons into the snare by colours of Religion. Those very ex∣teriour acts of Piety become an Offence, because they are done to evil purposes, to abuse Proselytes, and to draw away Disciples after them, and make them love the sin, and march under so splendid and fair colours. They who out of strictness and severity of perswasion represent the conditions of the Gospel alike to every person, that is, nicer than Christ described them in all circumstances, and deny such liberties of exteriour de∣sires and complacency which may be reasonably permitted to some men, do very indis∣creetly, and may occasion the alienation of some mens minds from the entertainments of Religion: but this being accidental to the thing it self, and to the purpose of the man, is not the Sin of Scandal, but it is the Indiscretion of Scandal, if by such means he di∣vorces any man's mind from the cohabitation and unions of Religion: and yet if the purpose of the man be to affright weaker and unwise persons, it is a direct Scandal, and one of those ways which the Devil uses toward the peopling of his kingdom; it is a plain laying of a snare to entrap feeble and uninstructed souls.

5. But if the pious action have been formerly joyned with any thing that is truly cri∣minal, with Idolatry, with Superstition, with impious Customs or impure Rites, and by retaining the Piety I give cause to my weak brother to think I approve of the old appendage, and by my reputation invite him to swallow the whole action without dis∣cerning; the case is altered: I am to omit that pious action, if it be not under com∣mand, until I have acquitted it from the suspicion of evil company. But when I have done what in prudence I guess sufficient to thaw the frost of jealousie, & to separate those dissonancies which formerly seemed united, I have done my duty of Charity, by endea∣vouring to free my brother from the snare, and I have done what in Christian prudence I

was obliged, when I have protested against the appendent crime: If afterwards the same person shall entertain the crime upon pretence of my example, who have plainly 〈◊〉〈◊〉 it, he lays the snare for himself, and is glad of the pretence, or will in spite enter into the net, that he might think it reasonable to rail at me. I may not with Christian charity or prudence wear * 1.159 the picture of our Blessed Lord in rings or medals, though with great affection and designs of doing him all the honour that I can, if by such Pictures I invite persons, apt more to follow me than to understand me, to give Divine honour to a Picture: but when I have declared my hatred of Superstitious wor∣shippings, and given my brother warning of the snare which his own mistake or the Devil's malice was preparing for him, I may then without danger signifie my Piety and affections in any civil representments which are not against God's Law, or the Cu∣stoms of the Church, or the analogy of Faith. And there needs no other reason to be given for this Rule than that there is no reason to be given against it: if the nature of the thing be innocent, and the purpose of the man be pious, and he hath used his moral industry to secure his brother against accidental mischances and abuses; his duty in this particular can have no more parts and instances.

6. But it is too crude an assertion to affirm indefinitely, that whatsoever hath been abused to evil or superstitious purposes must presently be abjured, and never entertained for fear of Scandal; for it is certain that the best things have been most abused. Have not some persons used certain verses of the Psalter as an antidote against the Tooth-ach? and carried the blessed Sacrament in pendants about their necks as a charm to counter∣mand Witches? and S. John's Gospel as a spell against wild beasts and wilder untamed spirits? Confession of sins to the Ministers of Religion hath been made an instrument to serve base ends; and so indeed hath all Religion been abused: and some persons have been so receptive of Scandal, that they suspected all Religion to be a mere strata∣gem, because they have observed very many men have used it so. For some natures are like Spunges or Sugar, whose utmost verge if you dip in Wine, it drowns it self by the moisture it sucks up, and is drenched all over, receiving its alteration from with∣in; its own nature did the mischief, and plucks on its own dissolution. And these men are greedy to receive a Scandal, and when it is presented but in small instances, they suck it up to the dissolution of their whole Religion, being glad of a quarrel, that their im∣pieties may not want all excuse. But yet it is certainly very unreasonable to reject ex∣cellent things because they have been abused; as if separable accidents had altered na∣tures and essences, or that they resolve never to forgive the duties for having once fal∣len into the hands of unskilful or malicious persons. Hezekiah took away the brazen Serpent because the people abused it to Idolatry; but the Serpent had long before lost its use: and yet if the people had not been a peevish and refractory and superstitious people, in whose nature it was to take all occasions of Superstition; and farther yet, if the taking away such occasions and opportunities of that Sin in special had not been most agreeable with the designs of God, in forbidding to the people the common use of all Images in the second Commandment, which was given them after the erection of that brazen Statue; Hezekiah possibly would not, or at least had not been bound to have destroyed that monument of an old story and a great blessing, but have sought to separate the abuse from the minds of men, and retained the Image. But in Christiani∣ty, when none of these circumstances occur, where by the greatness and plenty of reve∣lations we are more fully instructed in the ways of Duty, and when the thing it self is pious, and the abuse very separable, it is infinite disparagement to us, or to our Reli∣gion, either that our Religion is not sufficient to cure an abuse, or that we will never part with it, but we must unpardonably reject a good because it had once upon it a crust or spot of leprosie, though since it hath been washed in the waters of Reformation. The Primitive Christians abstained from actions of themselves indifferent, which the unconverted people used, if those actions were symbolical, or adopted into false Reli∣gions, or not well understood by those they were bound to satisfie: But when they had washed off the accrescences of Gentile Superstition, they chose such Rites which their neighbours used, and had designs not imprudent or unhandsome; and they were glad of a Heathen Temple to celebrate the Christian Rites in them, and they made no other change, but that they ejected the Devil, and invited their Lord into the possessi∣on.

7. Thirdly, In things merely indifferent, whose practice is not limited by com∣mand, nor their nature heightned by an appendent Piety, we must use our liberty so as may not offend our Brother, or lead him into a sin directly or indirectly. For Scandal being directly against Charity, it is to be avoided in the same measure and by the same

proportions in which Charity is to be pursued. Now we must so use our selves, that we must cut off a foot, or pluck out an eye, rather than the one should bear us and the other lead us to sin and death; we must rather rescind all the natural and sensual or dearest invitations to Vice, and deny our selves lawful things, than that lawful things should betray us to unlawful actions. And this rule is the measure of Charity: our neighbour's Soul ought to be dearer unto us than any temporal priviledge. It is law∣ful for me to eat herbs, or fish, and to observe an ascetick diet: But if by such austeri∣ties I lead others to a good opinion of Montanism, or the practices of Pythagoras, or to believe flesh to be impure, I must rather alter my diet, than teach him to sin by mista∣king me. S. Paul gave an instance of eating flesh sold in the shambles from the Idol Temples: to eat it in the relation of an Idol-sacrifice is a great sin; but when it is sold in the shambles, the property is altered to them that understand it so. But yet even this Paul would not do, if by so doing he should encourage undiscerning people to eat all meat conveyed from the Temple, and offered to Devils. It is not in every man's head to distinguish formalities, and to make abstractions of purpose from exteriour acts, and to alter their devotions by new relations and respects depending upon intellectual and Metaphysical notions. And therefore it is not safe to do an action which is not lawful, but after the making distinctions, before ignorant and weaker persons, who swallow down the bole and the box that carries it, and never 〈◊〉〈◊〉 their apple, or take the core out. If I by the law of Charity must rather quit my own goods than suffer my brother to perish; much rather must I quit my priviledge, and those superstructures of favour and grace which Christ hath given me beyond my necessities, than wound the spirit and destroy the Soul of a weak man, for whom Christ died. It is an inordinate af∣fection to love my own case, and circumstances of pleasure, before the soul of a Bro∣ther; and such a thing are the priviledges of Christian liberty: for Christ hath taken off from us the restraints which God had laid upon the Jews in meat and Holy-days; but these are but circumstances of grace given us for opportunities, and cheap instances of Charity; we should ill die for our brother, who will not lose a meal to prevent his sin, or change a dish to save his Soul. And if the thing be indifferent to us, yet it ought not to be indifferent to us whether our brother live or die.

8. Fourthly, And yet we must not, to please peevish or froward people, betray our liberty which Christ hath given us. If any man opposes the lawfulness and licence of indifferent actions, or be disturbed at my using my priviledges innocently; in the first case I am bound to use them still, in the second I am not bound to quit them to please him. For in the first instance, he that shall cease to use his liberty, to please him that says his liberty is unlawful, encourages him that says so in his false opinion, and by complying with him gives the Scandal; and he who is angry with me for making use of it, is a person that, it may be, is crept in to spy out and invade my liberty, but not apt to be reduced into sin by that act of mine which he detests, for which he despises me, and so makes my person unapt to be exemplar to him. To be angry with me for doing what Christ hath allowed me, and which is part of the liberty he purchased for me when he took upon himself the form of a servant, is to judge me, and to be unchari∣table to me: and he that does so is beforehand with me, and upon the active part; he does the Scandal to me, and by offering to deprive me of my liberty he makes my way to Heaven narrower and more encumbred than Christ left it, and so places a stumbling∣stone in my way; I put none in his. And if such peevishness and discontent of a Bro∣ther engages me to a new and unimposed yoke, then it were in the power of my ene∣my or any malevolent person to make me never to keep Festival, or never to observe any private Fast, never to be prostrate at my Prayers, nor to do any thing but accord∣ing to his leave, and his humour shall become the rule of my actions; and then my Charity to him shall be the greatest uncharitableness in the world to my self, and his liberty shall be my bondage. Add to this, that such complying and obeying the pee∣vishness of discontented persons is to no end of Charity: for besides that such concessi∣ons never satisfie persons who are unreasonably angry, because by the same reason they may demand more, as they ask this for which they had no reason at all; it also incou∣rages them to be peevish, and gives fewel to the passion, and seeds the wolf, and so en∣courages the sin, and prevents none.

9. Fifthly, For he only gives Scandal who induces his Brother directly or collateral∣ly* 1.160 into sin, as appears by all the discourses in Scripture guiding us in this Duty; and it is called laying a stumbling-block in our Brother's way, a wounding the Conscience of our weak* 1.161 Brother. Thus Balaam was said to lay a Scandal before the sons of Israel, by tempting* 1.162 them to Fornication with the daughters of Moab. Every evil example, or imprudent,* 1.163

sinful and unwary deportment, is a Scandal, because it invites others to do the like leading them by the hand, taking off the strangeness and insolency of the act, which deters many men from entertaining it; and it gives some offers of security to others, that they shall escape as we have done; besides that it is in the nature of all agents, na∣tural and moral, to assimilate either by proper efficiency, or by counsel and moral in∣vitements, others to themselves. But this is a direct Scandal: and such it is to give money to an idle person, who you know will be drunk with it; or to invite an intem∣perate person to an opportunity of excess, who desires it always, but without thee wants it. Indirectly and accidentally, but very criminally, they give Scandal, who in∣troduce persons into a state of life from whence probably they pass into a state of sin: so did the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, who married their daughters to the idolatrous Moabites; and so do they who intrust a Pupil to a vicious Guardian. For although God can preserve children in the midst of flames without scorching; yet if they sindge their hair or scorch their flesh, they that put them in are guilty of the burning. And yet farther, if persons so exposed to danger should escape by miracle, yet they escape not who expose them to the danger. They who threw the Children of the Captivity into the furnace were burnt to death, though the Children were not hurt: and the very offering a per∣son in our trust to a certain or probable danger foreseen and understood, is a likely way to pass sin upon the person so exposed, but a certain way to contract it in our selves; it is directly against Charity, for no man loves a Soul unless he loves its safety, and he cares not to have his child safe that throws him into the fire. Hither are to be reduced all false Doctrines aptly productive of evil life; the Doctrines are scandalous, and the men guilty, if they understand the consequents of their own propositions: or if they think it probable that persons will be led by such Doctrines into evil perswasions, though themselves believe them not to be necessary products of their Opinions, yetthe very publishing such Opinions which ( of themselves not being necessary, or other∣wise very profitable) are apt to be understood, by weak persons at least, to ill ends, is against Charity, and the duty we owe to our Brother's Soul.

10. Sixthly, It is not necessary for ever to abstain from things indifferent to prevent the offending of a Brother, but only till I have taken away that rock against which some did stumble, or have done my endeavour to remove it. In Questions of Religi∣on it is lawful to use primitive and ancient words, at which men have been weakned and seem to stumble, when the objection is cleared, and the ill consequents and suspi∣cion disavowed: and it may be of good use, charity and edification, to speak the lan∣guage of the purest Ages, although that some words were used also in the impurest Ages, and descended along upon changing and declining Articles; when it is rightly explicated in what sence the best men did innocently use them, and the same sence is now protested. But in this case it concerns prudence to see that the benefit be greater than the danger. And the same also is to be said concerning all the actions and parts of Christian liberty. For if after I have removed the unevenness and objection of the ac∣cident, that is, if when I have explained my disrelish to the crime which might possi∣bly be gathered up and taken into practice by my misunderstood example, still any man will stumble and fall, it is a resolution to fall, a love of danger, a peevishness of spirit, a voluntary misunderstanding; it is not a misery in the man more than it is his own fault: and when ever the cause of any sin becomes criminal to the man that sins, it is certain that if the other who was made the occasion did disavow and protest against the crime, the man that sins is the only guilty person both in the effect and cause too; for the other could do no more but use a moral and prudent industry to prevent a being mis-interpreted; and if he were tied to more, he must quit his interest for ever in a perpetual scruple; and it is like taking away all Laws to prevent Disobedience, and making all even to secure the world against the effects of Pride or Stubbornness. I add to this, that since actions indifferent in their own natures are not productive of effects and actions criminal, it is merely by accident that men are abused into a sin; that is, by weakness, by misconceit, by something that either discovers malice or indiscreti∣on; which because the act it self does not of it self, if the man does not voluntarily or by intention, the sin dwells no-where but with the man that entertains it: the man is no longer weak than he is mistaken, and he is not mistaken or abused into the sin by ex∣ample of any man who hath rightly stated his own question, and divorced the suspici∣on of the sin from his action; whatsoever comes after this is not weakness of under∣standing, but strength of passion; and he that is always learning, and never comes to the knowledge of the truth, is something besides a silly man: Men cannot be always * 1.164 babes in Christ without their own fault; they are no longer Christ's little 〈◊〉〈◊〉 than they are* 1.165

inculpably ignorant. For it is but a mantle cast over pride and frowardness, to think our selves able to teach others, and yet pretend Offence and Scandal; to scorn to be in∣structed, and yet complain that we are offended, and led into sin for want of know∣ledge of our Duty. He that understands his Duty is not a person capable of Scandal by things indifferent. And it is certain, that no man can say concerning himself that he is scandalized at another, that is, that he is led into sin by mistake and weakness; for if himself knows it, the mistake is gone: well may the Guides of their Souls complain concerning such persons, that their sin is procured by offending persons or actions; but he that complains concerning himself to the same purpose, pretends ignorance for other ends, and contradicts himself by his complaint and knowledge of his error. The boy was prettily peevish who, when his Father bid him pronounce Thalassius, told him he could not pronounce Thalassius, at the same time speaking the word: just so impotent, weak and undiscerning a person is that, who would forbid me to do an indifferent acti∣on upon pretence that it makes him ignorantly sin; for his saying so confutes his Igno∣rance, and argues him of a worse folly; it is like asking my neighbour, whether such an action be done against my own will.

11. Seventhly, When an action is apt to be mistaken to contrary purposes, it con∣cerns the prudence and charity of a Christian to use such compliance as best cooperates to God's glory, and hath in it the less danger. The Apostles gave an instance in the matter of Circumcision, in which they walked warily, and with variety of design, that they might invite the Gentiles to the easie yoke of Christianity, and yet not deter the Jew by a disrespect of the Law of Moses. And therefore S. Paul circumcised Timo∣thy, because he was among the Jews, and descended from a Jewish parent, and in the instance gave sentence in compliance with the Jewish perswasion, because Timothy might well be accounted for a Jew by birth; unto them the Rites of Moses were for a while permitted: But when Titus was brought upon the scene of a mixt assembly,* 1.166 and was no Jew, but a Greek, to whom Paul had taught they ought not to be circumci∣sed; although some Jews watched what he would do, yet he plainly refused to cir∣cumcise him, chusing rather to leave the Jews angry, than the Gentiles scandalized or led into an opinion that Circumcision was necessary, or that he had taught them other∣wise out of collateral ends, or that now he did so. But when a case of Christian liber∣ty happened to S. Peter, he was not so prudent in his choice, but at the coming of cer∣tain Jews from Jerusalem withdrew himself from the society of the Gentiles; not con∣sidering, that it was worse if the Gentiles, who were invited to Christianity by the sweetness of its liberty and compliance, should fall back, when they that taught them the excellency of Christian liberty durst not stand to it, than if those Jews were displea∣sed at Christianity for admitting Gentiles into its communion, after they had been in∣structed that God had broken down the partition-wall, and made them one sheepfold. It was of greater concernment to God's glory to gain the Gentiles, than to retain the Jews; and yet if it had not, the Apostles were bound to bend to the inclinations of the weaker, rather than be mastered by the wilfulness of the stronger, who had been sufficiently instructed in the articles of Christian liberty, and in the adopting the Gentiles into the Family of God. Thus if it be a question whether I should abate any thing of my external Religion or Ceremonies to satisfie an Heretick or a contentious person, who pretends Scandal to himself, and is indeed of another Perswasion; and at the same time I know that good persons would be weakned at such forbearance, and estranged from the good perswasion and Charity of Communion, which is part of their Duty; it more concerns Charity and the glory of God that I secure the right, than twine about the wrong, wilful and malicious persons. A Prelate must rather fortifie and encourage Obedience, and strengthen Discipline, than by re∣misness toward refractory spirits, and a desire not to seem severe, weaken the hands of consciencious persons by taking away the marks of difference between them that obey and them that obey not: and in all cases when the question is between a friend to be secured from Apostasie, or an enemy to be gained from Indifferency, S. Paul's rule is to be observed, Do good to all, but especially to the houshold of Faith. When the Church in a particular instance cannot be kind to both, she must first love her own children.

12. Eighthly, But when the question is between pleasing and contenting the fan∣cies of a Friend, and the gaining of an Enemy, the greater good of the Enemy is infi∣nitely to be preferred before the satisfying the unnecessary humour of the Friend; and therefore, that we may gain persons of a different Religion, it is lawful to enter∣tain them in their innocent customs, that we may represent our selves charitable

and just, apt to comply in what we can, and yet for no end complying farther than we are permitted. It was a policy of the Devil to abuse Christians to the Rites of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 by imitating the Christian Ceremonies; and the Christians themselves were before∣hand with him in that policy; for they facilitated the reconcilement of Judaism with Christianity by common Rites, and invited the Gentiles to the Christian Churches, because they never violated the Heathen Temples, but loved the men, and imitated their innocent Rites, and only offered to reform their Errors, and hallow their abused purposes: and this, if it had no other contradictory or unhandsome circumstance, gave no offence to other Christians, when they had learned to trust them with the govern∣ment of Ecclesiastical affairs to whom God had committed them, and they all had the same purposes of Religion and Charity. And when there is no objection against this but the furies or greater heats of a mistaken Zeal, the compliance with evil or unbelieving persons, to gain them from their Errors to the ways of Truth and sincerity, is great prudence and great Charity; because it chuses and acts a greater good at no other charge or expence but the discomposing of an intemperate Zeal.

13. Ninthly, We are not bound to intermit a good or a lawful action as soon as any man tells us it is scandalous, (for that may be an easie stratagem to give me laws, and destroy my liberty:) but either when the action is of it self, or by reason of a publick known indisposition of some persons, probably introductive of a sin; or when we know it is so in fact. The other is but affrighting a man; this only is prudent, that my Charity be guided by such rules which determine wise men to actions or omissions respectively. And therefore a light fame is not strong enough to wrest my liberty from me; but a reasonable belief or a certain knowledge, in the taking of which esti∣mate we must neither be too credulous and easie, nor yet ungentle and stubborn, but do according to the actions of wise men and the charities of a Christian. Hither we may refer the rules of abstaining from things which are of evil report. For not every thing which is of good report is to be followed, for then a false opinion, when it is be∣come popular, must be professed for Conscience sake; nor yet every thing that is of bad report is to be avoided, for nothing endured more shame and obloquy than Christi∣anity at its first commencement. But by good report we are to understand such things which are well reported of by good men and wise men, or Scripture, or the consent of Nations. And thus for a woman to marry within the year of mourning is scandalous, because it is of evil report, gives suspicion of lightness or some worse confederacy be∣fore the death of her husband: the thing it self is apt to minister the suspicion, and this we are bound to prevent: And unless the suspicion be malicious, or imprudent and unreasonable, we must conceal our actions from the surprises and deprehensions of suspicion. It was scandalous amongst the old Romans not to marry; among the Chri∣stians for a Clergy-man to marry twice, because it was against an Apostolical Canon: but when it became of ill report for any Christian to marry the second time, because this evil report was begun by the errors of Montanus, and is against a permission of holy Scripture, no Lay-Christian was bound to abstain from a second bed for fear of gi∣ving scandal.

14. Tenthly, The precept of avoiding Scandal concerns the Governours of the Church or State in the making and execution of Laws. For no Law in things indifferent ought to be made to the provocation of the Subject, or against that publick disposition which is in the spirits of men, and will certainly cause perpetual irregularities and Schisms. Before the Law be made, the Superiour must comply with the subject; after it is made, the subject must comply with the Law. But in this the Church hath made fair provisi∣on, accounting no Laws obligatory till the people have accepted them, and given ta∣cite approbation: for Ecclesiastical Canons have their time of probation, and if they become a burthen to the people, or occasion Schisms, Tumults, publick disunion of affections, and jealousies against Authority, the Laws give place, and either fix not when they are not first approved, or disappear by desuetude. And in the execution of Laws no less care is to be taken; for many cases occur in which the Laws can be re∣scued from being a snare to mens Consciences by no other way but by dispensation, and slacking of the Discipline as to certain particulars. Mercy and Sacrifice, the Letter and the Spirit, the words and the intention, the general case and the particular exception, the present disposition and the former state of things, are oftentimes so repugnant, and of such contradictory interests, that there is no stumbling-block more troublesome or dangerous than a severe literal and rigorous exacting of Laws in all cases. But when Stubbornness or a Contentious spirit, when Rebellion and Pride, when secular

Interest or ease and Licenciousness set men up against the Laws, the Laws then are upon the defensive, and ought not to give place: It is ill to cure particular Disobedience by re∣moving a Constitution decreed by publick wisdom for a general good. When the evil occasioned by the Law is greater than the good designed, or than the good which will come by it in the present constitution of things, and the evil can by no other remedy be healed, it concerns the Law-giver's charity to take off such positive Constitutions which in the authority are merely humane, and in the matter indifferent, and evil in the event. The summ of this whole duty I shall chuse to represent in the words of an excellent person, S. Jerome:

We must, for the avoiding of Scandal, quit everything which may be omitted without prejudice to the threefold truth, of Life, of Justice, and Doctrine:

meaning, that what is not expresly commanded by God or our Supe∣riours, or what is not expresly commended as an act of Piety and Perfection, or what is not an obligation of Justice, that is, in which the interest of a third person, or else our own Christian liberty, is not totally concerned, all that is to be given in sacrifice to Mercy, and to be made matter of Edification and Charity, but not of Scandal, that is, of danger, and sin, and falling, to our neighbour.

The PRAYER.

O Eternal Jesus, who art made unto us Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption, give us of thy abundant Charity, that we may love the eternal benefit of our 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Soul with a true, diligent and affectionate care and tenderness: Give us a fel∣low-feeling of one another's calamities, a readiness to bear each others burthens, aptness to forbear, wisdom to advise, counsel to direct, and a spirit of meekness and modesty trembling at our 〈◊〉〈◊〉, fearful in our Brother's dangers, and joyful in his restitution and securi∣ties. Lord, let all our actions be pious and prudent, our selves wise as Serpents and inno∣cent as Doves, and our whole life exemplar, and just, and charitable; that we may like Lamps shining in thy Temple serve thee, and enlighten others, and guide them to thy Sanctu∣ary; and that shining clearly and burning zealously, when the Bridegroom shall come to bind up his Jewels, and beautifie his Spouse, and gather his Saints together, we and all thy Christian people knit in a holy fellowship may enter into the joy of our Lord, and partake of the eternal refreshments of the Kingdom of Light and Glory, where thou, O Holy and Eter∣nal Jesu, livest and reignest in the excellencies of a Kingdom, and the infinite durations of Eternity.

Amen.

DISCOURSE XVIII. Of the Causes and Manner of the Divine Judgments.* 1.167

1. GOD's Judgments are like the Writing upon the wall, which was a missive of* 1.168 anger from God upon Belshazzar; it came upon an errand of Revenge, and yet was writ in so dark characters that none could read it but a Prophet. When-ever God speaks from Heaven, he would have us to understand his meaning; and if he de∣clares not his sence in particular signification, yet we understand his meaning well enough, if every voice of God lead us to Repentance. Every sad accident is directed against sin, either to prevent it, or to cure it; to glorifie God, or to humble us; to make us go forth of our selves and to rest upon the centre of all Felicities, that we may derive help from the same hand that smote us. Sin and Punishment are so near relatives, that when God hath marked any person with a sadness or unhandsome accident, men think it warrant enough for their uncharitable censures, and condemn the man whom God hath smitten, making God the executioner of our uncertain or ungentle sentences. Whether sinned, this man, or his parents, that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 was born blind? said the Pharisees to our blessed LORD. Neither this man nor his parents, was the answer: meaning, that God had other ends in that accident to serve; and it was not an effect of wrath, but a

design of mercy both directly and collaterally. God's glory must be seen clearly by oc∣casion of the curing the blind man. But in the present case the answer was something different. Pilate slew the Galileans when they were sacrificing in their Conventicles apart from the Jews. For they first had separated from Obedience and paying Tribute to Caesar; and then from the Church, who disavowed their mutinous and discontented Doctrines. The cause of the one and the other are linked in mutual complications and endearment, and he who despises the one will quickly disobey the other. Presently upon the report of this sad accident the people run to the Judgment-seat, and every man was ready to be accuser and witness and judge upon these poor destroyed people. But Jesus allays their heat, and though he would by no means acquit these persons from deserving death for their denying tribute to Caesar, yet he alters the face of the tribunal, and makes those persons who were so apt to be accusers and judges to act another part, even of guilty persons too, that since they will needs be judging, they might judge themselves; for, Think not these were greater sinners than all the other Galileans, because* 1.169 they suffered such things. I tell you nay, but, except ye repent; ye shall all likewise perish: meaning, that although there was great probability to believe such persons, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 (I mean) and Rebels, to be the greatest sinners of the world, yet themselves, who had designs to destroy the Son of God, had deserved as great damnation. And yet it is observable, that the Holy Jesus only compared the sins of them that suffered with the estate of the other Galileans who suffered not; and that also applies it to the persons present who told the news: to consign this Truth unto us, That when persons consede∣rate in the same crimes are spared from a present Judgment falling upon others of their own society, it is indeed a strong alarm to all to secure them∣selves* 1.170 by Repentance against the hostilities and eruptions of sin; but yet it is no exemption or security to them that escape, to believe themselves persons less sinful: for God sometimes* 1.171 decimates or tithes delinquent persons, and they die for a common crime, according as God hath cast their lot in the decrees of Predestination; and either they that remain are sealed up to a worse calamity, or left within the reserves and mercies of Repen∣tance; for in this there is some variety of determination and undiscerned Provi∣dence.

2. The purpose of our Blessed Saviour is of great use to us in all the traverses and changes, and especially the sad and calamitous accidents, of the world. But in the misfortune of others we are to make other discourses concerning Divine Judgments than when the case is of nearer concernment to our selves. For first, when we see a person come to an* 1.172 unfortunate and untimely death, we must not conclude such a man perishing and miserable to all eternity. It was a sad calamity that fell upon the Man of Judah, that returned to eat bread into the Prophet's house contrary to the word of the Lord: He was abused into the act by a Prophet, and a pretence of a command from God; and whe∣ther he did violence to his own understanding, and believed the man because he was willing, or did it in sincerity, or in what degree of sin or excuse the action might con∣sist, no man there knew: and yet a Lion slew him, and the lying Prophet that abused him escaped and went to his grave in peace. Some persons joyned in* 1.173 society or interest with criminals have perished in the same Judgments; and yet it would be hard to call them equally guilty who in the accident were equally miserable and involved. And they who are not strangers in the affairs of the world cannot but have heard or seen some persons who have lived well and moderately, though not like the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Holocaust, yet like the ashes of Incense, sending up good perfumes, and keeping a constant and slow fire of Piety and Justice, yet have been surprised in the midst of some unusual, unaccu∣stomed irregularity, and died in that sin: A sudden gayety of fortune, a great joy, a violent change, a friend is come, or a marriage-day hath transported some persons to indiscretions and too bold a licence; and the indiscretion hath betrayed them to idle company, and the company to drink, and drink to a fall, and that hath hurri'd them to their grave. And it were a sad sentence to think God would not repute the un∣timely death for a punishment great enough to that deflexion from duty, and judge the man according to the constant tenor of his former life; unless such an act was of malice great enough to outweigh the former habits, and interrupt the whole state

of acceptation and grace. Something like this was the case of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, who espying the tottering Ark went to support it with an unhallowed hand; God smote him, and he died immediately. It were too severe to say his zeal and indiscretion carried him be∣yond a temporal death to the ruines of Eternity. Origen and many others have made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdome of Heaven, and did well after it; but those that did so, and died of the wound, were smitten of God, and died in their folly: and yet it is ra∣ther to be called a sad consequence of their indiscretion, than the express of a final anger from God Almighty. For as God takes off our sins and punishments by parts, remitting to some persons the sentence of death, and inflicting the fine of a temporal loss, or the gentle scourge of a lesser sickness: so also he lays it on by parts, and according to the proper proportions of the man and of the crime; and every transgression and lesser de∣viation from our duty does not drag the Soul to death eternal, but God suffers our Re∣pentance, though imperfect, to have an imperfect effect, knocking off the fetters by de∣grees, and leading us in some cases to a Council, in some to Judgment, and in some to Hell∣fire: but it is not always certain that he who is led to the prison-doors shall there lie entombed; and a Man may by a Judgment be brought to the gates of Hell, and yet those gates shall not prevail against him. This discourse concerns persons whose life is habitu∣ally fair and just, but are surprised in some unhandsome, but less criminal, action, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 or suffer some great Calamity as the instrument of its expiation or a∣mendment.

3. Secondly, But if the person upon whom the Judgment falls be habitually vicious, or the crime of a clamorous nature or deeper tincture; if the man sin a sin unto death, and either meets it, or some other remarkable calamity not so feared as death; provi∣ded we pass no farther than the sentence we see then executed, it is not against Charity or prudence to say, this calamity in its own formality, and by the intention of God, is a Punishment and Judgment. In the favourable cases of honest and just persons our sentence and opinions ought also to be favourable, and in such questions to encline ever to the side of charitable construction, and read other ends of God in the accidents of our neighbour than Revenge or express Wrath. But when the impiety of a person is scanda∣lous and notorious, when it is clamorous and violent, when it is habitual and yet corri∣gible, if we find a sadness and calamity dwelling with such a sinner, especially if tho punishment be spiritual, we read the sentence of God written with his own hand, and it is not 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of opinion, or a pressing into the secrets of Providence, to say the same thing which God hath published to all the world in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of his Spirit. In such cases we are to observe the severity of God, on them that fall severity; and to use those Judgments as instruments of the fear of God, & arguments to hate sin; which we could not well do, but that we must look on them as verifications of God's threatning against great and impenitent sinners. But then if we descend to particulars, we may easily be deceived.

4. For some men are diligent to observe the accidents and chances of Providence up∣on those especially who differ from them in Opinion; and whatever ends God can have, or whatever sins man can have, yet we lay that in fault which we therefore hate because it is most against our interest; the contrary Opinion is our enemy, and we also think God hates it. But such fancies do seldom serve either the ends of Truth or Charity. Pierre Calceon died under the Barber's hand: there wanted not some who said it was a Judge∣ment upon him for condemning to the fire the famous Pucelle* 1.174 of France, who prophesied the expulsion of the English out of the Kingdom. They that thought this believed her to be a Prophetess; but others, that thought her a Witch, were wil∣ling to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 out another conjecture for the sudden death of the Gentleman. Garnier Earl of Gretz kept the Patriarch of Jerusalem from his right in David's Tower and the City, and died within three days; and by Dabert the Patriarch it was called a Judgment up∣on him for his Sacrilege. But the uncertainty of that censure appeared to them who considered that Baldwin (who gave commission to Garnier to withstand the Patriarch) did not die; but Godsrey of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 did die immediately after he had passed the right of the Patriarch: and yet when Baldwin was beaten at Rhamula,* 1.175 some bold People pronounced that then God punished him upon the Patriarch's score, and thought his Sa∣crilege to be the secret cause of his overthrow; and yet his own Pride and Rashness was the more visible, and the Judgment was but a cloud, and passed away quickly into a succeeding Victory. But I instance in a trisle. Certain it is, that God removed the Candlestick from the Levantine Churches because he had a quarrel unto them; for that punishment is never sent upon pure designs of emendation, or for direct

and immediate purposes of the Divine glory, but ever makes reflexion upon the past sin: but when we descend to a judgment of the particulars, God walks so in the dark to us, that it is not discerned upon what ground he smote them. Some say it was be∣cause they dishonoured the eternal Jesus, in denying the procession of the Holy Ghost* 1.176 from the Son. And in this some thought themselves sufficiently assured by a sign from Heaven, because the Greeks lost Constantinople upon Whitsunday, the day of the Festival of the Holy Spirit. The Church of Rome calls the Churches of the Greek Communi∣on Schismatical, and thinks God righted the Roman quarrel when he revenged his own. Some think they were cut off for being Breakers of Images; others think that their zeal against Images was a means they were cut off no sooner: and yet he that shall ob∣serve what innumerable Sects, Heresies and Factions were commenced amongst them, and how they were wanton with Religion, making it serve ambitious and unworthy ends, will see that, besides the ordinary conjectures of interested persons, they had such causes of their ruine which we also now feel heavily incumbent upon our selves. To see God adding eighteen years to the life of Hezekiah upon his Prayer, and yet cutting off the young Son of David begotten in adulterous embraces; to see him rejecting Adoni∣jah, and receiving Solomon to the Kingdom, begotten of the same Mother whose Son God in anger formerly slew; to observe his mercies to Manasses, in accepting him to favour, and continuing the Kingdom to him, and his severity to Zedekiah, in cau∣sing his eyes to be put out; to see him rewarding Nebuchadnezzar with the spoils of Egypt for destroying Tyre, and executing God's severe anger against it, and yet punishing others for being executioners of his wrath upon Jerusalem, even then when he purposed to chastise it; to see 〈◊〉〈◊〉 raised from a Peasant to a Throne, and Pompey from a great Prince reduced to that condition, that a Pupil and an Eunuch passed sentence of death upon him; to see great fortunes fall into the hand of a Fool, and Honourable old persons and Learned men descend to unequal Beggery; to see him strike a stroke with his own hand in the Conversion of Saul, and another quite contrary in the cutting off of Judas, must needs be some restraint to our judgments concerning the general state of those men who lie under the rod; but it proclaims an infinite uncertainty in the particulars, since we see contrary accidents happening to persons guilty of the same crime, or put in the same indispositions. God hath marked all great sins with some sig∣nal and express Judgments, and hath transmitted the records of them, or represented them before our eyes; that is, hath done so in our Age, or it hath been noted to have been done before: and that being sufficient to affright us from those crimes, God hath not thought it expedient to do the same things to all persons in the same cases, having to all persons produced instances and examples of fear by fewer accidents, sufficient to restrain us, but not enough to pass sentence upon the changes of Divine Providence.

5. But sometimes God speaks plainer, and gives us notice what crimes he punishes in others, that we may the rather decline such rocks of offence. If the Crime and the Punishment be symbolical, and have proportion and correspondence of parts, the hand of God strikes the Man, but holds up one finger to point at the Sin. The death of the child of Bathsheba was a plain declaration that the anger of God was upon David for the Adulterous mixture. That Blasphemer whose Tongue was presently struck with an ulcerous tumour, with his tongue declared the glories of God and his own shame. And it was not doubted but God, when he smote the Lady of Dominicus Silvius, the Duke of Venice, with a loathsome and unsavory disease, did intend to chastise a re∣markable vanity of hers in various and costly Perfumes, which she affected in an unrea∣sonable manner, and to very evil purposes. And that famous person, and of excellent* 1.177 learning, Giacchettus of Geneva, being by his Wife found dead in the unlawful embra∣ces of a stranger woman, who also died at the same instant, left an excellent example of God's anger upon the crime, and an evidence that he was then judged for his intempe∣rate Lust. Such are all those punishments which are natural consequents to a Crime: as Dropsies, Redness of eyes, Dissolution of nerves, Apople∣xies,* 1.178 to continual Drunkenness; to intemperate Eating, Short lives and Sudden deaths; to Lust, a Caitive slavish disposi∣tion, and a Foul diseased body; Fire and Sword, and Depo∣pulation* 1.179 of Towns and Villages, the consequents of Ambi∣tion and unjust Wars; Poverty to Prodigality; and all those Judgments which happen upon Cursings and horrid Imprecations, when God is under a Curse called to attest a Lie, and to connive at impudence; or when the Oppressed per∣sons in the bitterness of their souls wish evil and pray for vengeance on their Oppressors;

or that the Church upon just cause inflicts Spiritual censures, and delivers unto Satan, or curses and declares the Divine sentence against sinners, as S. Peter against Ananias and Sapphira, and S. Paul against Elymas, and of old Moses against Pharaoh and his Egypt, (of this nature also was the plague of a withered hand inflicted upon 〈◊〉〈◊〉, for stretching forth his hand to strike the Prophet.) In these and all such instances the off-spring is so like the parent, that it cannot easily be concealed. Sometime the crime is of that nature, that it cries aloud for vengeance, or is threatned with a special kind of punishment, which by the observation and experience of the World hath regu∣larly happened to a certain sort of persons: such as are dissolutions of Estates, the pu∣nishment of Sacrilege; a descending curse upon posterity for four generations, specially threatned to the crime of Idolatry; any plague whatsoever to Oppression; untimely death to Murther; an unthriving estate to the detention of Tithes, or whatsoever is God's portion allotted for the services of Religion: untimely and strange deaths to the Persecutors of Christian Religion: Nero killed himself; Domitian was killed by his servants; Maximinus and Decius were murthered, together with their children; Va∣lerianus imprisoned, flay'd and slain with tortures by Sapor King of Persia; Diocleti∣an perished by his own hand, and his House was burnt with the fate of Sodom and Go∣morrah, with fire from above; Antiochus the President under Aurelian, while Agapetus was in his agony and sufferance of Martyrdom, cried out of a flame within him, and died; Flaccus vomited out his entrails presently after he had caused Gregory Bishop of Spoleto to be slain; and Dioscorus, the father of S. Barbara, accused and betrayed his Daughter to the Hangman's cruelty for being a Christian, and he died by the hand of God by fire from Heaven. These are God's tokens, marks upon the body of insected persons, and declare the malignity of the disease, and bid us all beware of those deter∣mined crimes.

6. Thirdly, But then in these and all other accidents we must first observe from the cause to the effect, and then judge from the effect concerning the nature and the degree of the cause. We cannot conclude, This family is lessened, beggered, or extinct, there∣fore they are guilty of Sacrilege: but thus, They are Sacrilegious, and God hath blot∣ted out their name from among the posterities, therefore this Judgment was an express of God's anger against Sacrilege: the Judgment will not conclude a Sin, but when a Sin infers the Judgment with a legible character and a prompt signification, not to under∣stand God's choice is next to stupidity or carelesness. Arius was known to be a seditious, heretical and dissembling person, and his entrails descended on* 1.180 the earth when he went to cover his feet: it was very suspici∣ous that this was the punishment of those sins which were the worst in him: But he that shall conclude Arius was an Heretick or Seditious, upon no other ground but because his bowels gu∣shed out, begins imprudently, and proceeds uncharitably. But it is considerable, that men do not arise to great crimes on the sudden, but by degrees of carelesness to lesser impieties, and then to clamorous sins: And God is therefore said to punish great crimes or actions of highest malignity, because they are commonly productions from the spirit of Reprobation, they are the highest as∣cents, and suppose a Body of sin. And therefore although the Judgment may be intend∣ed to punish all our sins, yet it is like the Syrian Army, it kills all that are its enemies, but it hath a special commission to fight against none but the King of Israel, because his death would be the dissolution of the Body. And if God humbles a man for his great sin, that is, for those acts which combine and consummate all the rest, possibly the Body of sin may separate, and be apt to be scattered and subdued by single acts and instruments of mortification: and therefore it is but reasonable, in our making use of God's Judg∣ments upon others, to think that God will rather strike at the greatest crimes; not only because they are in themselves of greatest malice and iniquity, but because they are the summe total of the rest, and by being great progressions in the state of sin suppose all the rest included; and we, by proportioning and observing the Judgment to the highest, acknowledge the whole body of sin to lie under the curse, though the greatest only was named, and called upon with the voice of thunder. And yet because it sometimes happens, that upon the violence of a great and new occasion some persons leap into such a sin which in the ordinary course of sinners uses to be the effect of an habitual and growing state, then if a Judgment happens, it is clearly appropriate to that one great crime, which as of it self it is equivalent to a vicious habit, and interrupts the accepta∣tion of all its former contraries, so it meets with a curse, such as usually God chuses for the punishment of a whole body and state of sin. However, in making observa∣tion

upon the expresses of God's anger, we must be careful that we reflect not with any bitterness or scorn upon the person of our calamitous Brother, left we make that to be an evil to him which God intends for his benefit, if the Judgment was medicinal; or that we increase the load, already great enough to sink him beneath his grave, if the Judgment was intended for a final abscission.

7. Fourthly, But if the Judgments descend upon our selves, we are to take another course; not to enquire into particulars to find out the proportions, (for that can only be a design to part with just so much as we must needs) but to mend all that is amiss; for then only we can be secure to remove the Achan, when we keep nothing within us or about us that may provoke God to jealousie or wrath. And that is the proper pro∣duct of holy fear, which God intended should be the first effect of all his Judgments: and of this God is so careful, and yet so kind and provident, that fear might not be produ∣ced always at the expence of a great suffering, that God hath provided for us cer∣tain prologues of Judgment, and keeps us waking with alarms, that so he might reconcile his mercies with our duties. Of this nature are Epidemical diseases, not yet arrived at us, prodigious Tempests, Thunder and loud noises from Heaven; and he that will not fear when God speaks so loud, is not yet made soft with the impresses and per∣petual droppings of Religion. Venerable Bede reports of S. Chad, that if a great gust* 1.181 of Wind suddenly arose, he presently made some holy ejaculation to beg favour of God for all mankind, who might possibly be concerned in the effects of that Wind; but if a Storm succeeded, he fell prostrate to the earth, and grew as violent in Prayer as the Storm was 〈◊〉〈◊〉 at Land or Sea. But if God added Thunder and Lightning, he went to the Church, and there spent all his time during the Tempest in reciting Litanies, Psalms, and other holy Prayers, till it pleased God to restore his favour, and to seem to forget his anger. And the good Bishop added this reason; Because these are the exten∣sions and stretchings forth of God's hand, and yet he did not strike: but he that trembles not when he sees God's arm held forth to strike us, understands neither God's mercies nor his own danger; he neither knows what those horrours were which the People saw from mount Sinai, nor what the glories and amazements shall be at the great day of Judgment. And if this Religious man had seen Tullus Hostilius, the Roman King, and Anastasius, a Christian Emperor, but a reputed Heretick, struck dead with Thunder∣bolts, and their own houses made their urns to keep their ashes in; there could have been no posture humble enough, no Prayers devout enough, no place holy enough, no∣thing sufficiently expressive of his fear, and his humility, and his adoration, and Religi∣on to the almighty and infinite power and glorious mercy of God, sending out his Emis∣saries to denounce war with designs of peace. A great Italian General, seeing the sudden death of Alfonsus Duke of Ferrara, kneeled down instantly, saying, And shall not this sight make me religious? Three and twenty thousand fell in one night in the Assyrian Camp, who were all slain for Fornication. And this so prodigious a Judgement was recorded in Scripture for our example and affrightment, that we should not with such freedom entertain a crime which destroyed so numerous a bo∣dy of men in the darkness of one evening. Fear, and Modesty, and universal Reformation, are the purposes of God's Judgments upon us, or in our neighbour∣hood.

8. Fifthly, Concerning Judgments happening to a Nation or a Church, the consi∣deration is particular, because there are fewer capacities of making sins to become nati∣onal than personal; and therefore if we understand when a sin is National, we may the rather understand the meaning of God's hand when he strikes a People. For National sins grow higher and higher not merely according to the degree of the sin, or the inten∣sion alone, but according to the extension; 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to its being 〈◊〉〈◊〉, so it is pro∣ductive of more or less mischief to a Kingdom. Customary iniquities amongst the People do then amount to the account of National sins, when they are of so universal practice as to take in well-near every particular; such as was* 1.182 that of Sodom, not to leave ten righteous in all the Countrey: and such were the sins of the Old world, who left but eight persons to escape the angry baptism of the Floud. And such was the murmur of the children of Israel, refusing to march up to Canaan at the commandment of God, they all murmured but Caleb and 〈◊〉〈◊〉; and this God in the case of the Amalekites calls the fulfilling of their sins, and a filling up the measure of their iniquities. And hither also I reckon the defection of the Ten Tribes from the House of Judah, and the Samaritan Schism; these caused the to∣tal extirpation of the offending People. For although these sins were personal

and private at first, yet when they come to be universal by diffusion and dissemination, and the good People remaining among them are but like drops of Wine in a Tun of Water, of no consideration with God, save only to the preservation of their own per∣sons;* 1.183 then, although the persons be private, yet all private or singular persons make the Nation. But this hath happened but seldome in Christianity: I think indeed never, except in the case of Mutinies and Rebellion against their lawful Prince, or the attesting violence done in unjust Wars. But God only knows, and no man can say, that any sin is national by diffusion; and therefore in this case we cannot make any certain judgment or advantage to our selves, or very rarely, by observing the changes of Providence upon a People.

9. But the next above this in order to the procuring popular Judgments is publick impunities, the not doing Justice upon Criminals publickly complained of and deman∣ded, especially when the persons interested call for Justice and execution of good Laws, and the Prince's arm is at liberty and in full strength, and there is no contrary reason in the particular instance to make compensation to the publick for the omission, or no care taken to satisfie the particular. Abimelech thought he had reason to be angry with Isaac for saying 〈◊〉〈◊〉 was his Sister; for one of the people might have ly'ne with thy wife, and thou shouldst have brought 〈◊〉〈◊〉 upon us: meaning, that the man should have escaped un∣punished by reason of the mistake, which very impunity he feared might be expounded to be a countenance and encouragement to the sin. But this was no more than his fear. The case of the Benjamites comes home to this present article; for they refused to do ju∣stice upon the men that had ravished and killed the Levite's Concubine; they lost twen∣ty five thousand in battel, their Cities were destroyed, and the whole Tribe almost extinguished. For punishing publick and great acts of injustice is called in Scripture* 1.184 putting away the evil from the land; because to this purpose the sword is put into the Prince's hand, and he bears the sword in vain who ceases to protect his People: and not to punish the evil is a voluntary retention of it, unless a special case intervene, in which the Prince thinks it convenient to give a particular pardon; provided this be not encouragement to others, nor without great reason, big enough to make compensation for the particular omission, and with care to render some other satisfaction to the person injured: in all other cases of impunity, that sin becomes National by forbearing, which in the acting was personal; and it is certain the im∣punity is a spring of universal evils, it is no thank to the publick if the best man be not as bad as the worst.

10. But there is a step beyond this, and of a more publick concernment: such are the Laws of Omri, when a Nation consents to and makes ungodly Statutes; when mischief is established as a Law, then the Nation is engaged to some purpose. When I see the People despise their Governours, scorn and rob and disadvantage the Ministers of Religion, make rude addresses to God, to his Temple, to his Sacraments; I look up∣on it as the insolency of an untaught People, who would as readily do the contrary, if the fear of God and the King were upon them by good Examples, and Precepts, and Laws, and severe executions. And farther yet, when the more publick and exemplar persons are without sense of Religion, without a dread of Majesty, without reverence to the Church, without impresses of Conscience and the tendernesses of a religious fear towards God; as the persons are greater in estimation of Law and in their influ∣ences upon the People, so the score of the Nation advances, and there is more to be paid for in popular Judgments. But when Iniquity or Irreligi∣on* 1.185 is made a Sanction, and either God must be dishonoured, or* 1.186 the Church exauthorated, or her Rites invaded by a Law; then the fortune of the Kingdom is at stake. No sin engages a Nati∣on so much, or is so publick, so solemn iniquity, as is a wicked Law. Therefore it concerns Princes and States to secure the Piety and innocency of their Laws: and if there be any evil Laws, which upon just grounds may be thought productive of God's anger, because a publick misdemeanour cannot be expiated but by a publick act of Repentance, or a publick Calamity, the Laws must either have their edge abated by a desuetude, or be laid asleep by a non-execution, or dismembred by contrary proviso's, or have the sting drawn forth by interpretation, or else by abrogation be quite rescinded. But these are National sins within it self, or within its own Body, by the act of the Body (I mean) diffusive or representative, and they are like the personal sins of men in or against their own bodies in the matter of Sobriety. There are others in the matter of Justice, as the Nation relates to other People communicating in publick Entercourse.

11. For as the Entercourse between man and man in the actions of commutative and distributive Justice is the proper matter of Vertues and Vices personal; so are the Transactions between Nation and Nation against the publick rules of Justice Sins National directly, and in their first original, and answer to Injustice between man and man. Such are commencing War upon unjust titles, Invasion of neighbours territories, Consederacies and aids upon tyrannical interest, Wars against true Religion or Sove∣reignty, Violation of the Laws of nations, which they have consented to as the publick instrument of accord and negotiation, Breach of publick faith, desending Pirates, and the like. When a publick Judgment comes upon a Nation, these things are to be thought upon, that we may not think our selves acquitted by crying out against Swearing and Drunkenness and Cheating in manufactures, which, unless they be of universal disse∣mination, and made national by diffusion, are paid for upon a personal score; and the private infelicities of our lives will either expiate or punish them severely. But while the People mourns for those sins of which their low condition is capable, sins that may produce a popular Fever, or perhaps the Plague, where the misery dwells in Cottages, and the Princes often have indemnity, as it was in the case of David: yet we may not hope to appease a War, to master a Rebellion, to cure the publick Distemperatures of a Kingdom, which threaten not the People only, or the Governours also, but even the Government it self, unless the sins of a more publick capacity be cut off by publick declarations, or other acts of national Justice and Religion. But the duty which con∣cerns us all in such cases is, that every man in every capacity should enquire into himself, and for his own portion of the Calamity, put in his own symbol of Emendation for his particular, and his Prayers for the publick interest: in which it is not safe that any private persons should descend to particular censures of the crimes of Princes and States, no not towards God, unless the matter be notorious and past a question; but it is a sufficient assoilment of this part of his duty, if, when he hath set his own house in order, he would pray with indefinite significations of his charity and care of the pub∣lick, that God would put it into the hearts of all whom it concerns, to endeavour the re∣moval of the sin that hath brought the exterminating Angel upon the Nation. But yet there are sometimes great lines drawn by God in the expresses of his anger in some Judg∣ments upon a Nation; and when the Judgment is of that danger as to invade the very Constitution of a Kingdom, the proportions that Judgments many times keep to their sins intimate that there is some National sin, in which either by diffusion, or repre∣sentation, or in the direct matter of sins, as false Oaths, unjust Wars, wicked Confedera∣cies, or ungodly Laws, the Nation in the publick capacity is delinquent.

12. For as the Nation hath in Sins a capacity distinct from the sins of all the People, inasmuch as the Nation is united in one Head, guarded by a distinct and a higher An∣gel, as Persia by Saint Michael, transacts affairs in a publick right, transmits insluence to all particulars from a common fountain, and hath entercourse with other collective Bodies, who also distinguish from their own particulars: so likewise it hath Punishments distinct from those infelicities which vex particulars, Punishments proportionable to it self and to its own Sins; such as are Change of Governments, of better into worse, of Monarchy into Aristocracy, and so to the lowest ebb of Democracy; Death of Princes, Infant Kings, Forein Invasions, Civil Wars, a disputable Title to the Crown, making a Nation tributary, Conquest by a Foreiner, and, which is worst of all, removing the Candlestick from a People by extinction of the Church, or that which is necessary to its conservation, the several Orders and Ministeries of Religion: and the last hath also pro∣per sins of its own analogy; such as are false Articles in the publick Confessions of a Church, Schism from the Catholick, publick Scandals, a ge∣neral* 1.187 Viciousness of the Clergy, an Indifferency in Religion, without warmth and holy fires of Zeal, and diligent pursuance of all its just and holy interests. Now in these and all parallel cases, when God by Punishments hath probably marked and di∣stinguished the Crime, it concerns publick persons to be the more forward and importu∣nate in consideration of publick Irregularities: and for the private also not to neglect their own particulars; for by that means, although not certainly, yet probably, they may secure themselves from falling in the publick calamity. It is not infallibly sure that holy persons shall not be smitten by the destroying Angel; for God in such deaths hath many ends of mercy, and some of Providence, to serve: but such private and personal emendations and Devotions are the greatest securities of the men against the Judgment, or the evil of it, preserving them in this life, or wasting them over to a better. Thus ma∣ny of the Lord's champions did fall in battel, and the armies of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 did twice

prevail upon the juster People of all Israel; and the Greek Empire hath declined and shrunk under the fortune and power of the Ottoman Family; and the Holy Land, which was twice possessed by Christian Princes, is now in the dominion of unchristened Sara∣cens; and in the production of these alterations many a gallant and pious person suffered the evils of war, and the change of an untimely death.

13. But the way for the whole Nation to proceed in cases of epidemical Diseases, Wars, great Judgments, and popular Calamities, is to do in the publick proportion the same that every man is to do for his private; by publick acts of Justice, Repentance, Fa∣stings, pious Laws, and execution of just and religious Edicts, making peace, quitting of unjust interests, declaring publickly against a Crime, protesting in behalf of the contrary Vertue or Religion: and to this also every man, as he is a member of the body politick, must co-operate; that by a Repentance in diffusion help may come, as well as by a Sin of universal dissemination the Plague was hastened and invited the rather. But in these cases all the work of discerning and pronouncing concerning the cause of the Judgment, as it must be without asperity, and only for designs of correction and emen∣dation, so it must be done by Kings and Prophets, and the assistence of other publick persons, to whom the publick is committed. Josua cast lots upon Achan, and discover∣ed the publick trouble in a private instance; and of old the Prophets had it in commis∣sion to reprove the popular iniquity of Nations, and the consederate sins of Kingdomes; and in this Christianity altered nothing. And when this is done modestly, prudently, humbly and penitently, oftentimes the tables turn immediately, but always in due time; and a great Alteration in a Kingdome becomes the greatest Blessing in the world, and fastens the Church, or the Crown, or the publick Peace, in bands of great conti∣nuance and security; and it may be the next Age shall feel the benefits of our Sufferance and Repentance. And therefore, as we must endeavour to secure it, so we must not be too decretory in the case of others, or disconsolate or diffident in our own, when it may so happen, that all succeeding generations shall see that God pardoned us and loved us even when he smote us. Let us all learn to fear and walk humbly. The Church∣es of Laodicea and the Colossians suffered a great calamity within a little while after the Spirit of God had sent them two Epistles by the ministery of S. Paul; their Cities were buried in an Earthquake: and yet we have reason to think they were Churches beloved of God, and Congregations of holy People.

The PRAYER.

OEternal and powerful God, thou just and righteous Governour of the world, who callest all orders of men by Precepts, Promises and Threatnings, by Mercies and by Judgments, teach us to admire and adore all the Wisdome, the effects and infinite varieties of thy Provi∣dence; and make us to dispose our selves so by Obedience, by Repentance, by all the manners of Holy living, that we may never provoke thee to jealousie, much less to wrath and indignation against us. Keep far from us the Sword of the destroying Angel, and let us never pe∣rish in the publick expresses of thy wrath, in diseases Epidemical, with the furies of War, with calamitous, sudden and horrid Accidents, with unusual Diseases; unless that our so strange fall be more for thy glory and our eternal benefit, and then thy will be done: We beg thy grace, that we may chearfully conform to thy holy will and pleasure. Lord, open our understandings, that we may know the meaning of thy voice, and the signification of thy language, when thou speakest 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Heaven in signs and Judgments; and let a holy fear so soften our spirits, and an intense love so 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and sanctifie our desires, that we may apprehend every intimation of thy pleasure at its first and remotest and most obscure representment, that so we may with Repentance go out to meet thee, and prevent the ex∣presses of thine anger. Let thy restraining grace and the observation of the issues of thy Justice so allay our spirits, that we be not severe and forward in condemning others, nor backward in passing sentence upon our selves. Make us to obey thy voice described in holy Scripture, to tremble at thy voice expressed in wonders and great effects of Providence, to condemn none but our selves, nor to enter into the recesses of thy Sanctuary, and search the forbidden records of Predestination; but that we may read our duty in the pages of Revelation, not in the labels of accidental effects; that thy Judgments may confirm thy Word, and thy Word teach us our Duty, and we by such excellent instruments may enter in and grow up in the ways of Godliness, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

SECT. XV. Of the Accidents happening from the Death of Lazarus, untill the Death and Burial of JESVS.

[illustration]

Bartimeus healed of blindnesse.

Mark. 10. 46. And as he went out of Iericho with his Disciples, and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus sate by the high way begging.

47. And when he heard, that it was Iesus of Nazareth he began to cry out, and say, Iesus thou son of David have mercy on me.

[illustration]

Lazarus raysed from death.

Ioh. 11. 44. And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with gravecloths, and his face was bound about with a napkin, Iesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go.

45. Then Many of the Iewes, which came to Mary, and had seen the things, which Iesus did believed on him.

1. VVHile Jesus was in Galilee, messengers came to him from Martha and her Sister Mary, that he would hasten into Judaea to Bethany, to re∣lieve the sickness and imminent dangers of their Brother Lazarus. But he deferred his going till Lazarus was dead; purposing to give a great probation of his Divinity, Power, and Mission, by a glorious Miracle; and to give God glory, and to receive reflexions of the glory upon himself. For after he had stayed two days, he cal∣led his Disciples to go with him into Judaea, telling them, that Lazarus was dead, but he would raise him out of that sleep of death. But by that time Jesus was arrived at Bethany, he found that Lazarus had been dead four days, and now near to putrefaction. But when Martha and Mary met him, weeping their pious tears for their dead Brother, Jesus suffered the passions of piety and humanity, and wept, distilling that precious li∣quor into the grave of Lazarus, watering the dead plant, that it might spring into a new life, and raise his head above the ground.

2. When Jesus had by his words of comfort and institution strengthened the Faith of the two mourning Sisters, and commanded the stone to be removed from the grave, he made an address of Adoration and Eucharist to his Father, confessing his perpetual pro∣pensity to hear him, and then cried out, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth from his bed of darkness with his night-cloaths on him, whom when the Apostles had unloosed at the command of Jesus, he went to Bethany: and many that were present believed on him; but others wondring and malicious went and told the Pharisees the story of the Miracle, who upon that advice called their great Council, whose great and solemn cognisance was of the greater causes of Prophets, of Kings, and of the holy Law. At this great Assembly it was that Caiaphas, the High Priest, prophesied, that it was expe∣dient one should die for the people. And thence they determined the death of Jesus. But

he, knowing they had passed a decretory sentence against him, retired to the City 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Tribe of Judah near the desart, where he stayed a few days, till the approxima∣tion of the Feast of Easter.

3. Against which Feast when Jesus with his Disciples was going to Jerusalem, he told them the event of the journey would be, that the Jews should deliver him to the Gentiles, that they should scourge him, and mock him, and crucifie him, and the third day he should rise again. After which discourse the Mother of 〈◊〉〈◊〉's Children begg'd of Jesus for her two Sons, that one of them might sit at his right hand, the other at the left, in his Kingdom. For no discourses of his Passion or intimations of the myste∣riousness of his Kingdom could yet put them into right understandings of their conditi∣on. But Jesus, whose heart and thoughts were full of phancy and apprehensions of the neighbour Passion, gave them answer in proportion to his present conceptions and their future condition. For if they desired the honours of his Kingdom, such as they were, they should have them, unless themselves did decline them; they should drink of his Cup, and dip in his Lavatory, and be washed with his baptism, and sit in his Kingdom, if the heavenly Father had prepared it for them; but the donation of that immediately was an issue of Divine election and predestination, and was only competent to them who by holy living and patient suffering put themselves into a disposition of becoming vessels of Election.

4. But as Jesus in this journey came near Jericho, he cures a blind man, who sate begging by the way-side: and espying Zaccheus, the chief of the Publicans, upon a tree, (that he being low of stature might upon that advantage of station see Jesus passing by) he invited himself to his house; who received him with gladness, and repentance of his crimes, purging his Conscience, and filling his heart and house with joy and sanctity; for, immediately upon the arrival of the Master at his house, he offered restitution to all persons whom he had injured, and satisfaction, and half of his remanent estate he gave to the poor, and so gave the fairest entertainment to Jesus, who brought along with him Salvation to his house. There it was that he spake the Parable of the King who concredited divers talents to his servants, and having at his return exacted an account, rewarded them who had improved their bank, and been faithful in their trust, with re∣wards proportionable to their capacity and improvement; but the negligent servant, who had not meliorated his stock, was punished with ablegation and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to outer darkness. And from hence sprang up that dogmatical proposition, which is myste∣rious and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Christianity, To him that hath shall be given; and from him that hath not shall be taken away even what he hath. After this, going forth of Jericho, he cured two blind men upon the way.

5. Six days before Easter Jesus came to Bethany, where he was feasted by Martha and Mary, and accompanied by Lazarus, who sate at the table with Jesus. But Mary brought a pound of Nard* 1.188 Pistick, and, as formerly she had done, again anoints the feet of Jesus, and fills the house with the odour, till God himself smelt thence a savour of a sweet∣smelling sacrifice. But Judas Iscariot, the Thief and the Traitor, repined at the vanity of the expence, (as he pretended) because it might have been sold for three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. But Jesus in his reply taught us, that there is an* 1.189 opportunity for actions of Religion as well as of Charity. Mary did this against the Burial of Jesus, and her Religion was accepted by him, to whose honours the holocaust of love and the oblations of alms-deeds are in their proper seasons direct actions of wor∣ship and duty. But at this meeting there came many Jews to see Lazarus, who was raised from death, as well as to see Jesus: and because by occasion of his Resurrection many of them believed on Jesus, therefore the Pharisees deliberated about putting him to death. But God in his glorious providence was pleased to preserve him as a trumpet of his glo∣ries,* 1.190 and a testimony of the Miracle, thirty years after the death of Jesus.

6. The next day, being the fifth day before the Passeover, Jesus came to the foot of the mount of Olives, and sent his Disciples to Bethphage, a village in the neighbourhood, commanding them to unloose an asse and a colt, and bring them to him, and to tell the owners it was done for the Master's use; and they did so: and when they brought the Asse to Jesus, he rides on him to Jerusalem; and the People, having notice of his approach, took* 1.191 branches of Palm-trees, and went out to meet him, strewing branches and garments in the way, crying out, Hosanna to the son of David: Which was a form of exclamation used to the honour of God, and in great Solemnities, and * 1.192 signifies [Adoration to the

Son of David by the rite of carrying branches;] which when they used in procession about their Altars they used to pray, Lord, save us, Lord, prosper us, which hath occasi∣oned the reddition of Hoschiannah to be, amongst some, that Prayer which they repeat∣ed at the carrying of the Hoschiannah, as if it self did signifie, Lord, save us. But this honour was so great and unusual to be done even to Kings, that the Pharisees, knowing this to be an appropriate manner of address to God, said one to another by way of won∣der, Hear ye what these men say? For they were troubled to hear the People revere him as a God.

7. When Jesus from the mount of Olives beheld Jerusalem, he wept over it, and fore∣told great sadnesses and infelicities futurely contingent to it; which not only happened in the sequel of the story according to the main issues and significations of this Prophe∣cy, but even to minutes and circumstances it was verified. For in the mount of Olives, where Jesus shed tears over perishing Jerusalem, the Romans first pitched their Tents* 1.193 when they came to its final overthrow. From thence descending to the City he went into the Temple, and still the acclamations followed him, till the Pharisees were ready to burst with the noises abroad, and the tumults of envy and scorn within, and by ob∣serving that all their endeavours to suppress his glories were but like clapping their hands to veil the Sun, and that, in despight of all their stratagems, the whole Nation was become Disciple to the glorious Nazarene. And there 〈◊〉〈◊〉 cured certain persons that were blind and lame.

8. But whilest he abode at Jerusalem, certain Greeks, who came to the Feast to worship, made their address to Philip, that they might be brought to Jesus. Philip tells Andrew, and they both tell Jesus; who, having admitted them, discoursed many things concern∣ing his Passion, and then prayed a petition, which is the end of his own Sufferings, and of all humane actions, and the purpose of the whole Creation, Father, glorifie thy Name. To which he was answered by a voice from Heaven, I have both glorified it, and will glorifie it again. But this, nor the whole series of Miracles that he did, the Mer∣cies, the Cures, nor the divine Discourses, could gain the Faith of all the Jews, who were determined by their humane interest; for many of the Rulers who believed on him durst not confess him, because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Then Jesus again exhorted all men

to believe on him, that so they might in the same act believe on God; that they might approach unto the light, and not abide in darkness; that they might obey the commandments of the Father, whose express charge it was, that Jesus should preach this Gospel; and that they might not be judg∣ed at the last Day by the Word which they have rejected, which Word to all its ob∣servers is everlasting life.

After which Sermon retiring to Bethany, he abode there all Night.

9. On the morrow returning to Jerusalem, on the way being hungry he passed by a Fig-tree, where expecting fruit he found none, and cursed the Fig-tree, which by the next day was dried up and withered. Upon occasion of which preternatural event Jesus discoursed of the power of Faith, and its power to produce Miracles. But upon this oc∣casion others, the Disciples of Jesus in after-Ages, have pleased themselves with phan∣cies and imperfect descants, as that he cursed this Tree in mystery and secret intendment,* 1.194 it having been the tree in the eating whose fruit Adam, prevaricating the Divine Law, made an inlet to sin, which brought in death, and the sadnesses of Jesus's Passion. But Jesus having entred the City came into the Temple, and preached the Gospel; and the chief Priests and Scribes questioned his commission, and by what authority he did those things. But Jesus promising to answer them, if they would declare their opinions concerning John's Baptism, which they durst not for fear of displeasing the people, or throwing durt in their own faces, was acquitted of his obligation, by their declining the proposition.

10. But there he reproved the Pharisees and Rulers by the Parable of two Sons;

the first whereof said to his Father, he would not obey, but repented, and did his com∣mand; the second gave good words, but did nothing: meaning, that persons of the greatest improbability were more heartily converted than they whose outside seemed to have appropriated Religion to the labels of their frontlets. He added a Parable of the Vineyard let out to Husbandmen, who killed the servants sent to demand the fruits, and at last the Son himself, that they might invade the inheritance: but made a sad commination to all such who should either stumble at this stone, or on whom this stone should fall.

After which, and some other reprehensions, which he so veiled in Parable that it might not be expounded to be calumny or declamation, although such sharp Sermons had been spoken in the People's hearing, but yet so transparently, that

themselves might see their own iniquity in those modest and just representments, the Pharisees would fain have seised him, but they durst not for the People, but resolved, if they could, to entangle him in his talk; and therefore sent out spies, who should pretend sanctity and veneration of his person, who with a goodly 〈◊〉〈◊〉 preface, that Jesus regarded no man's person, but spake the word of God with much simplicity and justice, desired to know if it were lawful to pay tribute to 〈◊〉〈◊〉, or not. A question which was of great dispute, because of the numerous Sect of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, who denied it, and of the affections of the People, who loved their Money, and their Liberty, and the Privileges of their Nation. And now in all probability he shall fall under the displeasure of the People, or of Caesar. But Jesus called to see a peny; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 it to be superscribed with Caesar's image, with incomparable wisdome he brake their snare, and established an Evangelical proposition for ever, saying, Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

11. Having so excellently and so much to their wonder answered the Pharisees, the Sadduces bring their great objection to him against the Resurrection, by putting case of a Woman married to seven Husbands, and whose Wife should she be in the Resurrection? thinking that to be an impossible state, which ingages upon such seeming incongruities, that a woman should at once be wife to seven men. But Jesus first answered their ob∣jection, telling them, that all those relations whose 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is in the imperfections and passions of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and bloud, and duties here below, shall cease in that state, which is so spiritual, that it is like to the condition of Angels, amongst whom there is no diffe∣rence of sex, no cognations, no genealogies or derivation from one another; and then by a new argument proves the Resurrection, by one of God's appellatives, who did then delight to be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for since God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, unto him even these men are alive; and if so, then either they now exercise acts of life, and therefore shall be restored to their bodies, that their actions may be compleat, and they not remain in a state of imperfection to all eter∣nity; or if they be alive, and yet cease from operation, they shall be much rather raised up to a condition which shall actuate and make perfect their present capacities and dispositions, lest a power and inclination should for ever be in the root, and never rise up to fruit or herbage, and so be an eternal vanity, like an old bud, or an e∣ternal child.

12. After this, the Pharisees being well pleased, not that Jesus spake so excellently, but that the Sadduces were 〈◊〉〈◊〉, came to him, asking, which was the great Com∣mandment, and some other things, more out of curiosity than pious desires of satisfacti∣on. But at last Jesus was pleased to ask them concerning CHRIST, whose son he was. They answered, The Son of David: but he replying, How then doth David call him Lord? [The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, &c.] they had no∣thing to answer. But Jesus then gave his Disciples caution against the Pride, the Hy∣pocrisie, and the Oppression of the Scribes and Pharisees; and commended the poor wi∣dow's oblation of her two mites into the treasury, it being a great love in a little print, for it was all her living. All this was spoken in the Temple, the goodly stones of which when the Apostles beheld with wonder, they being white and firm, twenty cubits in length, twelve in breadth, eight in depth, as Josephus reports, Jesus prophesies the de∣struction* 1.195 of the place: concerning which Prediction when the Apostles, being with him at the mount of Olives, asked him privately concerning the time and the ligns of so sad event, he discoursed largely

of his coming to Judgment against that City, and interweaved Predictions of the universal Judgment of all the world; of which this, though very sad, was but a small adumbration: adding Precepts of Watchfulness, and standing in preparation with hearts filled with grace, our lamps always shining, that when the Bridegroom shall come we may be ready to enter in; which was intended in the Parable of the five wise Virgins:

and concluded his Sermon with a narrative of his Passion, foretelling that within two days he should be crucisied.

13. Jesus descended from the mount, and came to Bethany, and turning into the house of Simon the Leper, Mary 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Magdalen having been reproved by Judas for spend∣ing ointment upon 〈◊〉〈◊〉's 〈◊〉〈◊〉, it being so unaccustomed and large a profusion, thought now to speak her love once more, and trouble no body, and therefore the poured ointment on his sacred head, believing that, being a pompousness of a more accustomed festivity, would be indulged to the expressions of her affection: but now all the Disciples mur∣mured, wondring at the prodigiousness of the woman's Religion, great enough to con∣sume a Province in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of her thankfulness and duty. But Jesus now

also entertained the sincerity of her miraculous love, adding this Prophecy, that where the Gospel should be preached, there also a record of this act should be kept, as a perpetual monument of her Piety, and an attestation of his Divinity, who could foretell future 〈◊〉〈◊〉; Christianity receiving the greatest argument from that which S. Peter calls the surer word of Prophecy, meaning it to be greater than the testimony of Mi∣racles, not easie to be dissembled by impure spirits, and whose efficacy should descend to all Ages: for this Prophecy shall for ever be fulfilling, and, being eve∣ry day verified, does every day preach the Divinity of Christ's 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and of his Insti∣tution.

14. Two days before the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Scribes and Pharisees called a council to contrive crafty ways of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Jesus, they not daring to do it by open violence. Of which meeting when Judas 〈◊〉〈◊〉 had notice, (for those assemblies were publick and noto∣rious) he ran from 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and offered himself to betray his Master to them, if they would give him a considerable reward. They agreed for thirty pieces of silver. Of what value each piece was is uncertain; but their own Nation hath given a rule, that when* 1.196 a piece of silver is named in the Pentateuch it signifies a sicle; if it be named in the Prophets, it signifies a pound; if in the other writings of the Old Testament, it signifies a talent: This therefore being alledged out of the Prophet * 1.197 Jeremy by one of the Evangelists, it is probable the price at which Judas sold his Lord was thirty pound weight of silver; a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 price for the Saviour of the world to be prized at by his undis∣cerning and unworthy Countreymen.

15. The next day was the first day of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 bread, on which it was necessary they should kill the Passeover; therefore Jesus sent Peter and John to the City to a certain man,* 1.198 whom they should 〈◊〉〈◊〉 carrying a pitcher of water to his house; him they should follow, and there prepare the Passeover. They went and found the man in the same circum∣stances, and prepared for Jesus and his Family, who at the even came to celebrate the Passeover. It was the house of John surnamed Mark, which had always been open to this blessed Family, where he was pleased to finish his last Supper, and the mysteri∣ousness of the Vespers of his Passion.

16. When evening was come, Jesus stood with his Disciples and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Paschal Lamb; after which he girt himself with 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and taking a bason washed the feet of his Disciples, not only by the ceremony, but in his discourses, instructing them in the do∣ctrine of Humility, which the Master by his so great 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to his Disciples had made sacred, and imprinted the lesson in lasting characters by making it symboli∣cal. But Peter was unwilling to be washed by his Lord, until he was told he must renounce his part in him unless he were washed; which option being given to Peter, he cried out, Not my feet only, but my hands and my head. But Jesus said the ablution of the feet was sufficient for the purification of the whole man; relating to the custom of those Countreys who used to go to supper immediately from the baths, who there∣fore were sufficiently clean save only on their feet, by reason of the dust contracted in their passage from the baths to the dining-rooms; from which when by the hospitable master of the house they were caused to be cleansed, they needed no more ablution: and by it Jesus, passing from the letter to the spirit, meant, that the body of sin was washed in the baths of Baptism; and afterwards, if we remained in the same state of purity, it was only necessary to purge away the filth contracted in our passage from the Font to the Altar; and then we are clean all over, when the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 state is unaltered, and the little adherencies of imperfection and passions are also washed off.

17. But after the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Paschal Lamb it was the custom of the Nati∣on to sit down to a second Supper, in which they ate herbs and unlevened bread, the Major-domo first dipping his morsel, and then the family; after which the Father brake bread into pieces, and distributed a part to every of the Guests, and first drinking himself, gave to the rest the chalice filled with wine, according to the age and dignity of the person, adding to each distribution a form of benediction proper to the myste∣ry, which was Eucharistical and commemorative of their Deliverance from Egypt. This Supper Jesus being to celebrate, changed the forms of benediction, turned the Ceremony into Mystery, and gave his body and bloud in Sacrament and religious configuration; so instituting the venerable Sacrament which from the time of its

institution is called the Lord's Supper: which rite Jesus commanded the Apostles to per∣petuate in commemoration of him their Lord until his second coming. And this was the first delegation of a perpetual Ministery which Jesus made to his Apostles, in which they were to be succeeded to in all generations of the Church.

18. But Jesus being troubled in spirit told his Apostles that one of them should betray him; which Prediction he made, that they might not be scandalized at the sadness of objection of the Passion, but be confirmed in their belief, seeing so great demonstrati∣on of his wisdom and spirit of Prophecy. The Disciples were all troubled at this 〈◊〉〈◊〉 arrest, looking one on another, and doubting of whom he spake; but they beckned to the be∣loved Disciple, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 on Jesus's breast, that he might ask: for they who knew their own innocency and infirmity were desirous to satisfie their curiosity, and to be rid of their indetermination and their fear. But Jesus being asked gave them a sign, and a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to Judas, commanding him to do what he list speedily; for Jesus was extremely 〈◊〉〈◊〉 till he had drunk the chalice off, and accomplished his mysterious and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Baptism. After Judas received the sop, the Devil entred into him, and Judas went forth immediately, it being now night.

19. When he was gone out, Jesus began his Farewel-Sermon, rarely mixt of sadness and joys, and studded with mysteries as with Emeralds, discoursing

of the glorifi∣cation of God in his Son, and of those glories which the Father had prepared for him; of his sudden departure, and his migration to a place whither they could not come yet, but afterwards they should; meaning, first to death, and then to glory: commanding them to love one another; and foretelling to Peter, (who made con∣sident protests that he would die with his Master) that before the cock should crow twice, he should deny him thrice. But lest he should afflict them with too sad representments of his present condition, he comforts them with the comforts of Faith, with the in∣tendments of his departure to prepare places in Heaven for them, whither they might come by him, who is the way, the truth, and the life; adding a promise in order to their present support and future felicities, that if they should ask of God any thing in his name, they should receive it; and upon condition they would love him, and keep his Commandments, he would pray for the Holy Ghost to come upon them, to supply his room, to furnish them with proportionable comforts, to enable them with great Gifts, to lead them into all truth, and to abide with them for ever. Then arm∣ing them against future Persecutions, giving them divers holy Precepts, discoursing of his emanation from the Father, and of the necessity of his departure, he gave them his blessing, and prayed for them;

and then, having sung a Hymn, which was part of the great Allelujah beginning at the 114 Psalm, [When Israel came out of Egypt] and ending at the 118 inclusively, went forth with his Disciples over the brook 〈◊〉〈◊〉 unto the mount of Olives to a village called Gethsemani, where there was a Garden, into which he en∣tred to pray together with his Disciples.

20. But taking Peter, James and John apart with him about a stone's cast from the rest, he began to be exceeding sorrowful and sad even unto death. For now he 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the ingredi∣ents of his bitter Draught pouring into the Chalice, and the sight was full of horror and amazement; he therefore fell on his face, and prayed, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. In this Prayer he fell into so sad an agony, that the pains inflict∣ed by his Father's wrath and made active by his own apprehension were so great, that* 1.199 a sweat distilled from his sacred body as great and conglobated as drops of 〈◊〉〈◊〉; and God, who heard his Prayer, but would not answer him in kind, sent an Angel to com∣fort him in the sadness, which he was pleased not to take away. But knowing that the drinking this Cup was the great end of his coming into the world, he laid aside all his own interests, and devested himself of the affections of flesh and bloud, willing his Fa∣ther's will; and because his Father commanded, he, in desiance of sense and passion, was desirous to suffer all our pains. But as when two seas meet, the billows 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in ungentle embraces, and make violent noises, till, having wearied themselves in∣to smaller waves and disunited drops, they run quietly into one stream: so did the spirit and nature of Jesus assault each other with disagreeing interests and distinguishing disputations, till the earnestness of the contention was diminished by the demonstrati∣ons of the spirit, and the prevailings of Grace, which the sooner got the victory, be∣cause they were not to contest with an unsanctified or a rebellious nature, but a body of affections which had no strong desires, but of its own preservation: and there∣fore Jesus went thrice, and prayed the same prayer, that, if it were 〈◊〉〈◊〉, the cup might pass from him, and thrice made an act of resignation, and in the intervals came and found his Apostles asleep, gently chiding their incuriousness, and warning them

to watch and pray, that they enter not into temptation; till the time that the Traitor came with a multitude armed with swords and staves from the Priests and Elders of the people to apprehend him.

21. Judas gave them the opportunity of the night, that was all the advantage they had by him, because they durst not seise him by day for fear of the people; and he sig∣nified the person of his Master to the souldiers by a Kiss, and an address of seeming civi∣lity. But when they came towards him, Jesus said, Whom seek ye? They said, JE∣SUS of Nazareth. He said, I am he. But there was a Divinity upon him, that they could not seise him at first: But as a wave climbing of a Rock is beaten back and scatte∣red into members, till falling down it creeps with gentle waftings and kisses the feet of the stony mountain, and so encirles it: so the Souldiers, coming at first with a rude attempt, were twice repelled by the glory of his person, till they falling at his feet were at last admitted to the seisure of his body, having by those involuntary prostrati∣ons confessed his power greater than theirs, and that the lustre and influence of a GOD are greater than the violences and rudenesses of Souldiers. And still they like weak eyes durst not behold the glory of this Sun, till a cloud like a dark veil did inter∣rupt the emissions of his glories; they could not seise upon him, till they had thrown a veil upon his holy face: which although it was a custom of the Easterlings, and of* 1.200 the * 1.201 Roman Empire generally; yet in this case was violence and necessity, because a certain impetuosity and vigorousness of spirit and Divinity issuing from his holy Face made them to take sanctuary in darkness, and to throw a veil over him in that dead time of a sad and dismal night. But Peter, a stout * 1.202 Galilean, bold and zealous, at∣tempted a rescue, and smote a servant of the High Priest, and cut off his ear; but Jesus re∣buked the intemperance of his passion, and commanded him to put up his sword, say∣ing, all they that strike with the sword shall perish with the sword; so putting a bridle up∣on the illegal inflictions and expresses of anger or revenge from an incompetent authori∣ty. But Jesus touched Malchus's ear, and cured it.

22. When Jesus had yielded himself into their power, and was now led away by the chief Priests, Captains of the Temple, Elders of the people, and Souldiers, who all came in combination and covenant to surprize him, his Disciples fled; and John the Evange∣list, who with grief and an over-running phancy had forgot to lay aside his upper gar∣ment, which in Festivals they are used to put on, began to make escape, but being ar∣rested by his linen upon his bare body, was forced to leave that behind him, that him∣self might escape his Master's danger: for now was verified the prophetical saying, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But Peter followed afar off; and the greatness of John's love, when he had mastered the first inconsiderations of his fear, made him to return a while after into the High Priest's Hall.

23. Jesus was first led to Annas, who was the Prince of the Sanhedrim, and had cog∣nizance of Prophets and publick Doctrines; who therefore enquired of Jesus concerning his Disciples and his Discipline: but he answered, that his Doctrine had been publick or popular, that he never taught in Conventicles; and therefore referred him to the te∣stimony of all the people. For which free answer, a servant standing by smote him on the face; and Jesus meekly asked him what evil he had done. But Annas without the Se∣venty Assessors could judge nothing, and therefore sent him bound to Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, President of the Rites of the Temple, as the other High Priest was of the great Council. Thither Peter came, and had admission by the means of another Disciple, supposed to be John, who, having sold his possessions in Galilee to Cai∣aphas, came and dwelt near mount Sion, but was by intervention of that bargain made known to the High Priest, and brought Peter into the house; where when Peter was chal∣lenged three times by the servants to be a Galilean, and of Jesus's family, he denied and forswore it; till Jesus, looking back, re-minded him of his prediction, and the foulness of the crime, and the cock crew; for it was now the second cock-crowing after ten of the clock in the fourth Watch. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly, that he might cleanse his Soul, washing off the foul stains he had contracted in his shameful Perjury and Denying of his Lord. And it is reported of the same holy person, that ever after,* 1.203 when he heard the cock crow, he wept, remembring the old instrument of his Con∣version, and his own unworthiness, for which he never ceased to do actions of sorrow and sharp Repentance.

24. On the morning the Council was to assemble; and whilest Jesus was detained in expectation of it, the servants mocked him, and did all actions of affront and ignoble despite to his Sacred head: and because the question was whether he were a Prophet, they covered his eyes, and smote him in derision, calling on him to prophesie

who smote him. But in the morning, when the high Priests and rulers of the people were as∣sembled, they sought false witness against Jesus, but found none to purpose; they railed boldly, and could prove nothing; they accused vehemently, and the allegations were of such things as were no crimes, and the greatest article which the united diligence of all their malice could pretend was, that he said he would destroy the Temple, and in three days build it up again. But Jesus neither answered this nor any other of their vain∣er allegations; for the witnesses destroyed each others testimony by their disagreeing: till at last Caiaphas, who, to verifie his Prophecy, and to satisfie his Ambition, and to bait his Envy, was furiously determined Jesus should die, adjures him by the living God to say whether he were the CHRIST, the Son of the living God. Jesus knew his design to be an inquisition of death, not of Piety or curiosity; yet, because his hour was now come, openly affirmed it without any expedient to elude the high Priest's malice, or to decline the question.

25. When Caiaphas heard the saying, he accused Jesus of Blasphemy, and pretended an apprehension so tragical, that he over-acted his wonder and feigned 〈◊〉〈◊〉; for he rent his garments, (which was the interjection of the Countrey, and custom of the Nation, but forbidden to the High Priest) and called presently to sentence: and, as it was agreed before-hand, they all condemned him as guilty of death, and as far as they had power inflicted it; for they beat him with their fists, smote him with the palms of their hands, spit upon him, and abused him beyond the licence of enraged 〈◊〉〈◊〉. When Judas heard that they had passed the final and decretory sentence of death upon his Lord, he, who thought not it would have gone so far, repented him to have been an instrument of so damnable a machination, and came and brought the silver which they gave him for hire, threw it in amongst them, and said, I have sinned in betraying the innocent 〈◊〉〈◊〉. But they, incurious of those Hell-torments Judas felt within him, be∣cause their own fires burnt not yet, dismissed him, and upon consultation bought with the money a field to bury strangers in. And Judas went and hanged himself: and the Judgment was made more notorious and eminent by an unusual accident at such deaths, for he so swelled, that he burst, and his bowels gushed out. But the Greek Scholiast and some * 1.204 others report out of Papias, S. John's Scholar, that Judas fell from the Fig-tree on which he hanged, before he was quite dead, and survived his attempt some while, being so sad a spectacle of deformity, and pain, and a prodigious tumour, that his plague was deplorable, and highly miserable, till at last he burst in the very substance of his Trunk, as being extended beyond the possibilities and capacities of nature.

26. But the High Priests had given Jesus over to the secular power, and carried him to Pilate, to be put to death by his sentence and military power: but coming thither, they would not enter into the Judgment-hall because of the Feast, but Pilate met them, and, willing to decline the business, bid them judge him according to their own Law. They replied, it was not lawful for them to put any man to death; meaning, during the seven days of unlevened bread, (as appears in the instance of Herod, who detained Pe∣ter* 1.205 in prison, intending after Easter to bring him out to the people.) And their malice was restless, till the Sentence they had passed were put in execution. Others think∣ing that all the right of inflicting capital punishments was taken from the Nation by the Romans; and * 1.206 Josephus writes, that when Ananias their High Priest had by a Council of the Jews condemned S. James the Brother of our Lord, and put him to death, with∣out the consent of the Roman President, he was deprived of his Priesthood. But because Pilate, who either by common right, or at that time, was the Judge of capital inflicti∣ons, was averse from intermedling in the condemnation of an innocent person, they at∣tempted him with excellent craft; for knowing that Pilate was a great servant of the Roman Greatness, and a hater of the Sect of the Galileans, the High Priest accused Jesus, that he was of that Sect, that he denied paying tribute to 〈◊〉〈◊〉, that he called himself King. Concerning which when Pilate interrogated Jesus, he answered that his Kingdom was not of this world; and Pilate thinking he had nothing to do with the other, came forth again, and gave testimony, that he found nothing worthy of death in Jesus. But hearing that he was a Galilean and of Herod's jurisdiction, Pilate sent him to Herod, who was at Jerusalem at the Feast. And Herod was glad, because he had heard much of him, and since his return from Rome had desired to see him, but could not, by reason of his own avocations, and the ambulatory life of Christ; and now he hoped to see a Miracle done by him, of whom he had heard so many. But the event of this was, that Jesus did there no Miracle; Herod's souldiers set him at* 1.207 nought, and mocked him. And that day Herod was reconciled to Pilate. And Jesus was sent back arrayed in a white and splendid garment: which though possibly it might be

intended for derision, yet was a symbol of Innocence, condemned persons usually being arrayed in blacks. And when Pilate had again examined him, Jesus, meek as a lamb, and as a sheep before the shearers, opened not his mouth; insomuch that Pilate wondred, perceiving the greatest Innocence of the man by not offering to excuse or lessen any thing: for though Pilate had power to release him, or crucifie him, yet his contempt of death was in just proportion to his Innocence; which also Pilate concealed not, but published Jesus's Innocence by Herod's and his own sentence; to the great regret of the Rulers, who, like ravening wolves, thirsted for a draught of bloud, and to devour the morning prey.

27. But Pilate hoped to prevail upon the Rulers by making it a favour from them to Jesus, and an indulgence from him to the Nation, to set him free: for oftentimes even Malice it self is driven out by the Devil of Self-love, and so we may be acknowledged the authors of a safety, we are content to rescue a man even from our own selves. Pi∣late therefore offered that, according to the custom of the Nation, Jesus should be re∣leased for the honour of the present Festival, and as a donative to the people. But the spirit of Malice was here the more prevalent, and they desired that Barabbas, a Mur∣therer, a Thief, and a seditious person, should be exchanged for him. Then Pilate cast∣ing about all ways to acquit Jesus of punishment, and himself of guilt, offered to scourge him, and let him go, hoping that a lesser draught of bloud might stop the furies and ra∣bidness of their passion, without their bursting with a river of his best and vital liquor. But these leeches would not so let go; they cry out, Crucifie him; and to engage him fi∣nally they told him, if he did let this man go, he was no friend to Caesar.

28. But Pilate called for water, and washed his hands, to demonstrate his own unwil∣lingness, and to reject and transmit the guilt upon them, who took it on them as gree∣dily as they sucked the bloud; they cried out, His bloud be on us and our children. As Pilate was going to give sentence, his Wife, being troubled in her dreams, sent, with the earnestness and passion of a woman, that he should have nothing to do with that just Person; but he was engaged: Caesar and Jesus, God and the King, did seem to have different interests; or at least he was threatned into that opinion; and Pilate, though he was satisfied it was but Calumny and Malice, yet he was loth to venture upon his answer at Rome, in case the High Priest should have accused him. For no man knows whether the interest or the mistake of his Judge may cast the sentence; and who-ever is accused strongly is never thought intirely innocent. And therefore, not only against the Divine Laws, but against the Roman too, he condemned an innocent person upon objections notoriously malicious; he adjudged him to a death which was only due to publick Thieves and Homicides, (crimes with which he was not charg'd) upon a pre∣tence of Blasphemy, of which he stood accused, but not convicted, and for which by the Jewish Law he should have been stoned, if found guilty. And this he did put into present execution, against the Tiberian Law, which about twelve years before decreed in* 1.208 favour of condemned persons, that after sentence execution should be deferred ten* 1.209 days.

29. And now was the Holy Lamb to bleed. First therefore Pilate's souldiers array him in a kingly robe, put a reed in his hand for a Sceptre, plait a Crown of thorns and put it on his head, they bow the knee, and mock him, they smite him with his phantastick Sceptre, and in stead of tribute pay him with blows and spittings upon his holy head: and when they had emptied the whole stock of poisonous contempt, they devest him of the robes of mockery, and put him on his own; they lead him to a pillar, and bind him* 1.210 fast, and scourage him with whips, a punishment that Slaves only did use to suffer, (free persons being in certain cases beaten with rods and clubs) that they might add a new* 1.211 scorn to his afflictions, and make his sorrows like their own guilt, vast and mountai∣nous. After which Barabbas being set free, Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified.

30. The Souldiers therefore having framed a Cross sad and heavy, laid it upon Jesus's shoulders, (who, like Isaac, bore the wood with which he was to be sacrificed himself) and they drive him out to Crucifixion, who was scarce able to stand under that load. It is generally supposed that Jesus bore the whole Tree, that is, both the parts of his* 1.212 Cross; but to him that considers it it will seem impossible: and therefore it is more likely, and agreeable to the old manner of crucifying malefactors, that Jesus

only carried the cross part; the body of it being upon the place either already fixed, or prepared for its station. Even that lesser part was grievous and intolerable to his ten∣der, virginal, and weakned body; and when he fainted, they compel Simon a Cyrenian to help him. A great and a mixt multitude followed Jesus to Golgotha, the 〈◊〉〈◊〉-house of the City, and the place of Execution. But the Women wept with bitter exclamati∣ons, and their sadness was increased by the sad predictions Jesus then made of their fu∣ture misery, saying, Ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for your selves and for your children: For the time shall come that men shall say, Blessed are the barren that never bare, and the paps that never gave 〈◊〉〈◊〉; for they shall call on the hills to cover them, and on the mountains to fall upon them, that by a sudden ruine they may escape the ling∣ring calamities of famine and fear, and the horror of a thousand deaths.

31. When Jesus was come to Golgotha, a place in the mount of Calvary, (where, according to the tradition of the (a) 1.213 An∣cients,* 1.214 Adam was buried, and where (b) 1.215 Abraham made an Altar for the sacrifice of his Son) by the piety of his Disciples,* 1.216 and (it is probable) of those good women which did use to minister to him, there was provided wine mingled with myrrh, which among the Levantines is an (c) 1.217 excellent and pleasant mixture, and such as the piety and indulgence of the nations used to administer to condemned persons. But Jesus, who by voluntary susception did chuse to suffer our pains, refused that refreshment which the piety of the women presented to him. The souldiers having stripp'd him, nail'd him to the Cross with * 1.218 four nails, and divided his Mantle into four parts, giving to each souldier a part; but for his Coat, because it would be spoiled if parted, it being weaved without seam, they cast lots for it.

32. Now Pilate had caused a title containing the cause of his death to be superscribed on a Table in Latine, Greek, and Hebrew, the Hebrew being first, the Greek next, and the Latine nearest to the holy body; but all written after the Jewish manner, from the right hand to the left; for so the Title is shewn in the Church of Santa Croce in Rome, the Latin letters being to be read as if it were Hebrew: the reason of which I could never find sufficiently discovered, unless it were to make it more legible to the Jews, who by conversing with the Romans began to understand a little Latine. The title was, JE∣SUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS: But the Pharisees would have it altered, and that he said he was King of the Jews. But Pilate out of wilfulness, or to do despight to the Nation,* 1.219 or in honour to Jesus, whom he knew to be a just person, or being over-ruled by Divine providence, refused to alter it. And there were crucified with Jesus two Thieves, Jesus being in the midst, according to the Prophecy, He was reckoned with the transgressors. Then Je∣sus prayed for his Persecutors; Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But while Jesus was full of pain and charity, and was praying and dying for his Enemies, the Rulers of the Jews mocked him, upbraiding him with the good works he did and the expresses of his power, saying, He saved others, himself he cannot save; others saying, Let him come down from the Cross, if he be the King of the Jews, and we will believe in him: and others, according as their Malice was determined by phancy and occasion, added weight and scorn to his pains; and of the two Malefactors that were crucified with him, one reviled him, saying, If thou be the CHRIST, save thy self and us. And thus far the Devil prevailed, undoing himself in riddle, provoking men to do despite to Christ, and to heighten his Passion out of hatred to him; and yet doing and promo∣ting that which was the ruine of all his own Kingdom and potent mischiefs: like the * 1.220 Jew who in indignation against Mercury threw stones at his Image, and yet was by his Superiour judged idolatrous, that being the manner of doing honour to the Idol among the Gentiles. But then Christ, who had upon the Cross prayed for his enemies, and was heard of God in all that he desired, felt now the beginnings of success. For the other Thief, whom the present pains and circumstances of Jesus's Passion had soft∣ned and made believing, reproved his fellow for not fearing God, confessed that this death happened to them deservedly, but to Jesus causelesly: and then prayed to Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. Which combination of pious acts and miraculous Conversion Jesus entertained with a speedy promise of a very great felicity, promising that upon that very day he should be with him in Paradise.

33. Now there were standing by the Cross the Mother of Jesus and her Sister, and Ma∣ry Magdalen and John. And Jesus being upon his Death-bed, although he had no tem∣poral estate to bestow, yet he would make provision for his Mother, who, being a Widow, and now childless, was likely to be exposed to necessity and want; and therefore he did arrogate John the beloved Disciple into Marie's kindred, making him to be her adopted Son, and her to be his Mother, by fiction of Law: Woman, behold thy son; and, Man, behold thy Mother. And from that time forward John took her home to his own house, which he had near mount Sion, after he had sold his inheritance in Galilee to the High Priest.

34. While these things were doing, the whole frame of Nature seemed to be dissol∣ved and out of order, while their LORD and Creator suffered. For the Sun was so darkened that the Stars appeared; and the Eclipse was prodi∣gious* 1.221 in the manner as well as in degree, because the Moon was not then in Conjunction, but full: and it was noted by Phlegon, the freed man of the Emperor Hadrian, by Lucian out of the Acts of the Gauls, and Dionysius while he was yet a Heathen, excellent Scholars all, great Historians and Phi∣losophers; who also noted the day of the week and hour of the day, agreeing with the circumstances of the Cross. For the Sun hid his head from beholding such a prodigy of sin and sadness, and provided a veil for the nakedness of Jesus, that the women might be present, and himself die, with modesty.

35. The Eclipse and the Passion began at the sixth hour, and endured till the ninth, about which time Jesus, being tormented with the unsufferable load of his Father's wrath due for our sins, and wearied with pains and heaviness, cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? and, as it is thought, repeated the whole two and twentieth Psalm, which is an admirable Narrative of the Passion, full of Prayer and sadness, and description of his pains at first, and of Eucharist and joy and prophecy at the last. But these first words, which it is certain and recorded that he spake, were in a language of it self, or else by reason of distance, not understood, for they thought he had called for Elias to take him down from the Cross. Then Jesus, being in the agonies of a high Fever, said, I thirst. And one ran, and filled a spunge with vinegar, wrapping it with hyssop, and put it on a reed, that he might drink. The Vinegar and the Spunge were in Executions of condemned persons set to stop the too violent issues of bloud, and to prolong the death; but* 1.222 were exhibited to him in scorn; mingled with gall, to make the mixture more horrid and ungentle. But Jesus tasted it only, and refused the draught. And now knowing that the Prophecies were fulfilled, his Father's wrath appeased, and his torments satisfactory, he said, It is finished, and crying with a loud voice, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, he bowed his head, and yielded up his spirit into the hands of God, and died, hast∣ning to his Father's glories. Thus did this glorious Sun set in a sad and clouded West, running speedily to shine in the other world.

36. Then was the veil of the Temple, which separated the secret Mosaick Rites from the eyes of the people, rent in the midst from the top to the bottom; and the Angels, Pre∣sidents* 1.223 of the Temple, called to each other to depart from their seats; and so great an Earthquake happened, that the rocks did rend, the mountains trembled, the graves open∣ed, and the bodies of dead persons arose, walking from their coemeteries to the Holy City, and appeared unto many: and so great apprehensions and amazements happened to them all that stood by, that they departed, smiting their breasts with sorrow and fear: and the Centurion that ministred at the execution said, Certainly this was the Son of God; and he* 1.224 became a Disciple, renouncing his military imployment, and died a Martyr.

37. But because the next day was the Jews Sabbath, and a Paschal Festival besides, the Jews hastened that the bodies should be taken from the Cross; and therefore sent to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to hasten their death by* 1.225 breaking their legs, that * 1.226 before Sun-set they might be taken away, according to the Commandment, and be buried. The souldiers therefore came, and brake the legs of the two Thieves; but espying, and wondring, that Jesus was already dead, they brake not his legs; for the Scripture foretold, that a bone of him should not be broken: but a souldier with his lance pier∣ced his side, and immediately there streamed out two rivulets of Water and Bloud. But the Holy Virgin-Mother, (whose Soul during this whole passion was pier∣ced with a sword and sharper sorrows, though she was supported by the comforts of Faith, and those ho∣ly

Predictions of his Resurrection and future glories, which Mary had laid up in store against this great day of expence) now that she saw her Holy Son had suffered all that our necessities and their malice could require or inflict, caused certain ministers, with whom she joyned, to take her dead Son from the Cross; whose Body when she once got free from the nails she kissed, and embraced with entertainments of the nearest vi∣cinity that could be expressed by a person that was holy and sad, and a Mother weeping for her dead Son.

38. But she was highly satisfied with her own meditations, that now that great Mystery determined by Divine Predestination before the beginning of all Ages was fulfilled in her Son; and the Passion, that must needs be, was accomplished: she* 1.227 therefore first bathes his cold body with her warm tears, and makes clean the surface of the wounds, and delivering a winding napkin to Joseph of Arimathaea, gave to him in charge to enwrap the Body and embalm it, to compose it to the grave, and do it all the rites of Funeral, having first exhorted him to a publick confession of what he was pri∣vately till now: and he obeyed the counsel of so excellent a person, and ventured upon the displeasure of the Jewish Rulers, and went confidently to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him the power of it.

39. Joseph therefore takes the body, binds his face with a napkin, washes the body, anoints it with ointment, enwraps it in a composition of myrrh and aloes, and puts it into a new tomb which he for himself had hewen out of a rock, (it not being lawful among the Jews to interr a condemned person in the common coemeteries:) for all these cir∣cumstances were in the Jews manner of burying. But when the Sun was set, the chief Priests and Pharisees went to Pilate, telling him that Jesus, whilest he was living, foretold 〈◊〉〈◊〉 own resurrection upon the third day; and lest his Disciples should come and steal the body, and say he was risen from the dead, desired that the sepulchre might be secured against the danger of any such imposture. Pilate gave them leave to do their pleasure, even to* 1.228 the satisfaction of their smallest scruples. They therefore sealed the grave, rolled a great stone at the mouth of it, and, as an ancient Tradition says, bound it about with labels of iron, and set a watch of souldiers, as if they had intended to have made it surer than the decrees of Fate, or the never-failing laws of Nature.

Ad SECT. XV. Considerations of some preparatory Accidents before the entrance of JESVS into his Passion.

[illustration]

Christ riding in triumph.

Matth. 21. 7. And they brought y^e Ass. & put on their clothes, & set him thereon; and a very great multitude spread their garments, others cut down branches from y^e trees, & strawed them in y^e way. And the multitude y^t went before, and y^t followed after, cried; Hosannah, etc.

[illustration]

Mary pouring ointment on Christ's head.

Mark. 14. 3. As he sat at meat in the house of Simon y^e leper, there came a woman having an Alabaster-box of ointment very pretious, & poured it on his head. And Jesus said, let hir alone she is come aforehand to anoint my body to y^e burying.

1. HE that hath observed the Story of the Life of Jesus, cannot but see it all the way to be strewed with thorns and sharp-pointed stones; and although by the kisses of his feet they became precious and salutary, yet they procured to him sorrow and disease: it was meat and drink to him to do his Father's will, but it was bread of affli∣ction, and rivers of tears to drink; and for these he thirsted like the earth after the cool stream. For so great was his Perfection, so exact the conformity of his Will, so abso∣lute the subordination of his inferiour Faculties to the infinite love of God, which sate Regent in the Court of his Will and Understanding, that in this election of accidents he never considered the taste, but the goodness, never distinguished sweet from bitter, but Duty and Piety always prepared his table. And therefore now knowing that his time determined by the Father was nigh, he hastened up to Jerusalem; he went before his Disciples, saith S. Mark, and they followed him trembling and amazed; and yet be∣fore that, even then when his brethren observed he had a design of publication of him∣self, he suffered them to go before him, and went up as it were in secret. For so we are in∣vited to Martyrdom, and suffering in a Christian cause by so great an example: the Ho∣ly Jesus is gone before us, and it were a holy contention to strive whose zeal were for∣wardest in the designs of Humiliation and Self-denial; but it were also well, if in do∣ing our selves secular advantage, and promoting our worldly interest, we should fol∣low him, who was ever more distant from receiving honours than from receiving a painful death. Those affections which dwell in sadness, and are married to grief, and lie at the foot of the Cross, and trace the sad steps of Jesus, have the wisdom of recol∣lection,

the tempers of sobriety, and are the best imitations of Jesus, and securities against the levity of a dispersed and a vain spirit. This was intimated by many of the Disciples of Jesus in the days of the Spirit, and when they had tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; for then we find many ambitious of Martyr∣dom, and that have laid stratagems and designs by unusual deaths to get a Crown. The Soul of S. Laurence was so scorched with ardent desires of dying for his Lord, that he accounted the coals of his Gridiron but as a Julip or the aspersion of cold water to refresh his Soul; they were chill as the Alpine snows in respect of the heats of his diviner flames. And if these lesser Stars shine so brightly and burn so warmly, what heat of love may we suppose to have been in the Sun of Righteousness? If they went fast to∣ward the Crown of Martyrdom, yet we know that the Holy Jesus went before them all: no wonder that he cometh forth as a Eridegroom from his chamber, and rejoyceth as a giant to run his course.

2. When the Disciples had overtaken Jesus, he begins to them a sad Homily upon the old Text of Suffering, which he had well nigh for a year together preached upon; but because it was an unpleasing Lesson, so contradictory to those interests upon the hopes of which they had entertained themselves, and spent all their desires, they could by no means understand it: for an understanding prepossessed with a fancy, or an un∣handsome principle, construes all other notions to the sence of the first; and whatso∣ever contradicts it, we think it an objection, and that we are bound to answer it. But now that it concerned Christ to speak so plainly, that his Disciples by what was to hap∣pen within five or six days might not be scandalized, or believe it happened to Jesus without his knowledge and voluntary entertainment, he tells them of his Sufferings to be accomplished in this journey to Jerusalem. And here the Disciples shewed them∣selves to be but men, full of passion and indiscreet affection; and the bold Galilean, S. Peter, took the boldness to dehort his Master from so great an infelicity; and met with a reprehension so great, that neither the Scribes, nor the Pharisees, nor Herod himself ever met with its parallel: Jesus called him Satan; meaning, that no greater contradiction can be offered to the designs of God and his Holy Son, than to disswade us from Suffering. And if we understood how great are the advantages of a suffering condition, we should think all our Daggers gilt, and our pavements strewed with Ro∣ses, and our Halters silken, and the Rack an instrument of pleasure, and be most impa∣tient of those temptations which seduce us into ease, and divorce us from the Cross, as being opposite to our greatest hopes and most perfect desires. But still this humour of S. Peter's imperfection abides amongst us: He that breaks off the yoak of Obedience, and unties the bands of Discipline, and preaches a cheap Religion, and presents Hea∣ven in the midst of flowers, and strews Carpets softer than the Asian luxury in the way, and sets the songs of Sion to the tunes of Persian and lighter airs, and offers great liberty of living, and bondage under affection and sins, and reconciles Eternity with the pre∣sent enjoyment, he shall have his Schools filled with Disciples; but he that preaches the Cross, and the severities of Christianity, and the strictnesses of a holy life, shall have the lot of his Blessed Lord, he shall be thought ill of, and deserted.

3. Our Blessed Lord, five days before his Passion, sent his Disciples to a village to borrow an Asse, that he might ride in triumph to Jerusalem; he had none of his own, but yet he who was so dear to God could not want what was to supply his needs. It may be God hath laid up our portion in the repositories of other men, and means to fur∣nish us from their tables, to feed us from their granaries, and that their wardrobe shall cloath us; for it is all one to him to make a Fish bring us money, or a Crow to bring us meat, or the stable of our neighbour to furnish our needs of Beasts: if he brings it to thy need as thou wantest it, thou hast all the good in the use of the Creature which the owners can receive; and the horse which is lent me in charity does me as much ease, and the bread which is given me in alms feeds me as well, as the other part of it, which the good man that gave me a portion reserved for his own eating, could do to him. And if we would give God leave to make provisions for us in the ways of his own chusing, and not estimate our wants by our manner of receiving, being contented that God by any of his own ways will minister it to us, we should find our cares eased, and our con∣tent encreased, and our thankfulness engaged, and all our moderate desires contented by the satisfaction of our needs. For if God is pleased to feed me by my neighbour's charity, there is no other difference, but that God makes me an occasion of his ghostly good, as he is made the occasion of my temporal; and if we think it disparagement, we may remember that God conveys more good to him by me, than to me by him: and it is a proud impatience to refuse or to be angry with God's provisions, because he hath not observed my circumstances and ceremonies of election.

4. And now begins that great Triumph in which the Holy Jesus was pleased to ex∣alt his Office, and to abase his Person. He rode like a poor man upon an Asse, a beast of burthen and the lowest value, and yet it was not his own; and in that equipage he received the acclamations due to a mighty Prince, to the Son of the eternal King: tel∣ling us, that the smallness of fortune, and the rudeness of exteriour habiliments, and a rough wall, are sometimes the outsides of a great glory; and that when God means to glorifie or do honour to a person, he needs no help from secular advantages. He hides great Riches in Renunciation of the World, and makes great Honour break forth from the clouds of Humility, and Victory to arise from Yielding and the modesty of departing from our interest, and Peace to be the reward of him that suffers all the Ho∣stilities of men and Devils. For Jesus in this great Humility of his gives a great proba∣tion that he was the Messias, and the King of Sion, because no other King entred into those gates riding upon an Asse, and received the honour of Hosannah in that unlikeli∣hood and contradiction of unequal circumstances.

5. The Blessed Jesus had never but two days of triumph in his life; the one was on his 〈◊〉〈◊〉 upon mount Tabor, the other, this his riding into the Holy City. But that it may appear how little were his joys and present exteriour complacencies; in the day of his Transfiguration Moses & Elias appeared to him, telling him what great things he was to suffer; and in this day of his riding to Jerusalem he wet the Palms with a dew sweeter than the moistures upon mount Hermon or the drops of Manna: for, to allay the little warmth of a springing joy, he let down a shower of tears, weep∣ing over undone Jerusalem in the day of his triumph, leaving it disputable whether he felt more joy or sorrow in the acts of love; for he triumphed to consider that the Re∣demption of the world was so near, and wept bitterly that men would not be redeem∣ed; his joy was great to consider that himself was to suffer so great sadness for our good, and his sorrow was very great to consider that we would not entertain that Good that he brought and laid before us by his Passion. He was in figure, as his servant S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 was afterwards in letter and true story, crucified upon Palms: which indeed was* 1.229 the emblem of a Victory; but yet such as had leaves sharp, poinant, and vexatious. However, he entred into Jerusalem dressed in gayeties, which yet he placed under his feet; but with such pomps and solemnities each Family, according to its proportion, was accustomed to bring the Paschal Lamb to be slain for the Passeover: and it was not an undecent ceremony, that the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world should be brought to his slaughter with the acknowledgments of a religious solemnity, because now that real good was to be exhibited to the world which those little Paschal Lambs did but signifie and represent in shadow: and that was the true cause of all the little joy he had.

6. And if we consider what followed, it might seem also to be a design to heighten the dolorousness of his Passion: for to descend from the greatest of worldly honours, from the adoration of a GOD, and the acclamations to a King, to the death of a Slave, and the torments of a Cross, and the dishonours of a condemned Criminal, were so great stoopings and vast changes that they gave height and sense and excellency to each other. This then seemed an excellent glory, but indeed was but an art and instrument of grief: for such is the nature of all our Felicities, they end in sadness, and increase the sting of sorrows, and add moment to them, and cause impatience and uncomfort∣able remembrances; but the griefs of a Christian, whether they be instances of Re∣pentance, or parts of Persecution, or exercises of Patience, end in joy and endless comfort. Thus Jesus, like a Rainbow, half made of the glories of light, and half of the moisture of a cloud, half triumph, and half sorrow, entred into that Town where he had done much good to others, and to himself received nothing but affronts: yet his tenderness encreased upon him, and that very journey, which was Christ's last solemn visit for their recovery, he doubled all the instruments of his Mercy and their Conver∣sion: He rode in triumph, the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sang Hosannah to him, he cured many diseased persons, he wept for them, and pitied them, and sighed out the intimations of a Pray∣er, and did penance for their ingratitude, and stayed all day there, looking about him towards evening, and no man would invite him home, but he was forced to go to Be∣thany, where he was sure of an hospitable entertainment. I think no Christian that reads this but will be full of indignation at the whole City, who for malice or for fear would not or durst not receive their Saviour into their houses; and yet we do worse: for now that he is become our Lord with mightier demonstrations of his eternal power, we suffer him to look round about upon us for months and years together, and possibly never entertain him, till our house is ready to rush upon our heads, and we are going to

unusual and stranger habitations. And yet in the midst of a populous and mutinous City this great King had some good subjects, persons that threw away their own gar∣ments, and laid them at the feet of our Lord; that being devested of their own, they might be re-invested with a robe of his Righteousness, wearing that till it were chang∣ed into a stole of glory: the very ceremony of their reception of the Lord became sym∣bolical to them, and expressive of all our duties.

7. But I consider that the Blessed Jesus had affections not less than infinite towards all mankind; and he who wept upon Jerusalem, who had done so great despight to him, and within five days were to fill up the measure of their iniquities, and do an act which all Ages of the world could never repeat in the same instance, did also in the number of his tears reckon our sins as sad considerations and incentives of his sorrow. And it would well become us to consider what great evil we do, when our actions are such as for which our Blessed Lord did weep. He who was seated in the bosom of Feli∣city, yet he moistened his 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Lawrels upon the day of his Triumph with tears of love and bitter allay. His day of Triumph was a day of Sorrow: and if we would weep for our sins, that instance of sorrow would be a day of triumph and 〈◊〉〈◊〉.

8. From hence the Holy Jesus went to Pethany, where he had another manner of re∣ception than at the Holy City. There he supped; for his goodly day of Triumph had been with him a fasting-day. And Mary Magdalen, who had spent one box of Nard pistick upon our Lord's feet as a sacrifice of Eucharist for her Conversion, now bestowed another in thankfulness for the restitution of her Brother Lazarus to life, and consigned her Lord unto his Burial. And here she met with an evil interpreter: 〈◊〉〈◊〉, an Apostle one of the Lord's own Family, pretended it had been a better Religion to have given it to the poor; but it was Malice, and the spirit either of Envy or Avarice, in him that passed that sentence; for he that sees a pious action well done, and seeks to undervalue it by telling how it might have been better, reproves nothing but his own spirit. For a man may do very well, and God would accept it; though to say he might have done better, is to say only that action was not the most perfect and absolute in its kind: but to be angry at a religious person, and without any other pretence but that he might have done better, is spiritual Envy; for a pious person would have nourished up that infant action by love and praise, till it had grown to the most perfect and intel∣ligent Piety. But the event of that man gave the interpretation of his present purpose; and at the best it could be no other than a rash judgment of the action and intention of a religious, thankful, and holy person. But she found her Lord, who was her 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in this, become her Patron and her Advocate. And hereafter, when we shall find the Devil, the great Accuser of God's Saints, object against the Piety and Religion of holy persons; a cup of cold water shall be accepted unto reward, and a good intention heightned to the value of an exteriour expression, and a piece of gum to the equality of a 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and an action done with great zeal and an intense love be acquitted from all its adherent imperfections; Christ receiving them into himself, and being like the Altar of incense, hallowing the very smoak, and raising it into a flame, and enter∣taining it into the embraces of the firmament and the bosom of Heaven. Christ himself, who is the Judge of our actions, is also the entertainer and object of our Charity and Duty, and the Advocate of our persons.

9. Judas, who declaimed against the woman, made tacite reflexions upon his Lord for suffering it: and indeed every obloquy against any of Christ's servants is looked on as an arrow shot into the heart of Christ himself. And now a Persecution being begun against the Lord within his own Family, another was raised against him from without. For the chief Priests took crafty counsel against Jesus and called a Consistory to contrive how they might destroy him: and here was the greatest representment of the goodness of God and the ingratitude of man that could be practised or understood. How often had Jesus poured forth tears for them? how many sleepless nights had he awaked to do them advantage? how many days had he spent in Homilies and admirable visitations of Mercy and Charity, in casting out Devils, in curing their sick, in correcting their delinquencies, in reducing them to the ways of security and peace, and, that we may use the greatest expression in the world, that is, his own in gathering them as a Hen ga∣thereth her Chickens under her wings, to give them strength, and warmth, and life, and ghostly nourishment? And the chief Priests together with their faction use all arts and watch all opportunities to get Christ, not that they might possess him, but to de∣stroy him; little considering that they extinguish their own eyes, and destroy that spring of life which was intended to them for a blissful immortality.

10. And here it was that the Devil shewed his promptness to furnish every evil-in∣tended person with apt instruments to act the very worst of his intentions: the Devil knew their purposes, and the aptness and proclivity of Judas; and by bringing these together he served their present design, and his own great intendment. The Devil never fails to promote every evil purpose; and, except where God's restaining grace does in∣tervene and interrupt the opportunity, by interposition of different and cross accidents to serve other ends of Providence, no man easily is fond of wickedness, but he shall re∣ceive enough to ruine him. Indeed Nero and Julian, both witty men and powerfull, desired to have been Magicians, and could not: and although possibly the Devil would have corresponded with them, who yet were already his own in all degrees of security; yet God permitted not that, lest they might have understood new ways of doing de∣spight to Martyrs and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Christians. And it concerns us not to tempt God, or in∣vite a forward enemy: for as we are sure the Devil is ready to promote all vicious de∣sires, and bring them out to execution; so we are not sure that God will not permit him; and he that desires to be undone, and cares not to be prevented by God's restraining grace, shall finde his ruine in the folly of his own desires, and become wretched by his own election. Judas, hearing of this Congregation of the Priests, went and offer∣ed to betray his Lord, and made a Covenant, the Price of which was Thirty Pieces of Silver, and he returned.

11. It is not intimated in the History of the Life of Jesus, that Judas had any Malice against the Person of Christ; for when afterwards he saw the matter was to end in the death of his Lord, he repented: but a base and unworthy spirit of Covetousness posses∣sed him; and the reliques of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 for missing the Price of the Ointment which the holy Magdalen had poured upon his feet burnt in his bowels with a secret dark me∣lancholick 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and made an eruption into an act which all ages of the world could ne∣ver parallel. They appointed him for hire thirty pieces, and some say that every piece did in value equal ten ordinary current Deniers; and so Judas was satisfied by receiving the worth of the three hundred pence at which he valued the Nard pistick. But here∣after let no Christian be ashamed to be despised and undervalued; for he will hardly meet so great a reproach as to have so disproportioned a price set upon his life as was up∣on the Holy Jesus. S. Mary 〈◊〉〈◊〉 thought it not good enough to aneal his sacred feet, Judas thought it a sufficient price for his head: for Covetousness aims at base and low purchaces, whilest holy Love is great and comprehensive as the bosome of Heaven, and aims at nothing that is less than infinite. The love of God is a holy fountain, limpid and pure, sweet and salutary, lasting and eternal: the love of Mony is a vertiginous pool sucking all into it to destroy it; it is troubled and uneven, giddy and unsafe, serving no end but its own, and that also in a restless and uneasie motion. The love of God spends it self upon him, to receive again the reflexions of grace and benediction: the love of Mo∣ney spends all its desires upon it sell, to purchase nothing but unsatisfying instruments of exchange, or supernumerary provisions, and ends in dissatisfaction, and emptiness of spi∣rit, and a bitter curse. S. Mary Magdalen was defended by her Lord against calumny, and rewarded with an honourable mention to all Ages of the Church; besides the unction from above, which she shortly after received to consign her to crowns and sceptres: but Judas was described in the Scripture, the Book of life, with the black character of death, he was disgraced to eternal Ages, and presently after acted his own tragedy with a sad and ignoble death.

12. Now, all things being fitted, our Blessed Lord sends two Disciples to prepare the Passeover, that he might fulfill the Law of Moses, and pass from thence to institutions Evangelical, and then fulfill his Sufferings. Christ gave them a sign to guide them to the house, a man bearing a pitcher of water; by which some, that delight in mystical signi∣fications, say was typified the Sacrament of Baptism: meaning, that although by occa∣sion of the Paschal solemnity the holy Eucharist was first instituted, yet it was after∣wards to be applied to practice according to the sence of this accident; only baptized persons were apt suscipients of the other more perfective Rite, as the taking nutriment supposes persons born into the world, and within the common conditions of humane na∣ture. But in the letter it was an instance of the Divine omniscience, who could pro∣nounce concerning accidents at distance as if they were present: and yet also, like the provision of the Colt to ride on, it was an instance of Providence, and security of all God's sons for their portion of temporals. Jesus had not a Lamb of his own, and possi∣bly no money in the bags to buy one: and yet Providence was his guide, and the cha∣rity of a good man was his Proveditore, and he found excellent conveniences in the en∣tertainments of a hospitable good man, as if he had dwelt in Ahab's Ivory-house, and had had the riches of Solomon, and the meat of his houshold.

The PRAYER.

O Holy King of Sion, Eternal Jesus, who with great Humility and infinite Love didst enter into the Holy City, riding upon an Asse, that thou mightest verisie the Predictions of the Prophets, and give example of Meekness and of the gentle and pater∣nal government which the eternal Father laid upon thy shoulders; be pleased, deares̄t Lord, to enter into my Soul with triumph, trampling over all thine enemies: and give me grace to entertain thee with joy and adoration, with abjection of my own desires, with lopping off all my supersluous branches of a temporal condition, and spending them in the offices of Charity and Religion, and devesting my self of all my desires, laying them at thy holy feet, that I may bear the yoke and burthen of the Lord with alacrity, with love, and the wonders of a satisfied and triumphant spirit. Lord, enter in and take possession; and thou, to whose honour the very stones would give testimony, make my sto∣ny heart an instrument of thy praises; let me strew thy way with flowers of Vertue, and the holy Rosary of Christian Graces: and by thy aid and example let us also triumph over all our infirmities and hostilities, and then lay our victories at thy feet, and at last follow thee into thy heavenly Jerusalem with palms in our hands, and joy in our hearts, and eternal acclamations on our lips, rejoycing in thee, and singing Hallelujahs in a hap∣py Eternity to thee, O holy King of Sion, eternal Jesus. Amen.

2.

O Blessed and dear Lord, who wert pleased to permit thy self to be sold to the as∣semblies of evil persons for a vile price by one of thy own servants, for whom thou hadst done so great favours, and hadst designed a crown and a throne to him, and he turned himself into a sooty coal, and entred into the portion of evil Angels; teach us to value thee above all the joys of men, to prize thee at an estimate beyond all the wealth of nature, to buy wisdome, and not to sell it, to part with all that we may enjoy thee: and let no temptation abuse our understandings, no loss vex us into impatience, no fru∣stration of hope fill us with indignation, no pressure of calamitous accidents make us angry at thee the fountain of love and blessing, no Covetousness transport us into the suburbs of Hell and the regions of sin; but make us to love thee as well as ever any creature lo∣ved thee, that we may never burn in any fires but of a holy love, nor sink in any in∣undation but what proceeds from penitential showrs, and suffer no violence but of impla∣cable desires to live with thee, and, when thou callest us, to suffer with thee, and for thee.

3.

LOrd, let me never be betrayed by my self, or any violent accident and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 temptation; let me never be sold for the vile price of temporal gain, or transient pleasure, or a pleasant dream; but since thou hast bought me with a price, even then when thou wert sold thy self, let me never be separated from thy possession. I am thine, bought with a price, Lord, save me; and in the day when thou bindest up thy Jewels remember, Lord, that I cost thee as dear as any, and therefore cast me not into the portion of Judas: but let me walk and dwell and bathe in the field of thy bloud, and pass from hence pure and sanctified into the society of the elect Apostles, receiving my part with them, and my lot in the communications of thy inheritance, O gracious Lord and dearest Saviour Jesus.

Amen.

Considerations upon the Washing of the Disciples Feet by* 1.230 JESUS, and his Sermon of Humility.

[illustration]

He washeth his Disciples feet.

Iohn. 13. 5. After that he powreth water into a baso•• and began to wash the Disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel, wherewith he was girded.

6. Then cometh he to Simon Peter, & Peter saith unto him, Lord doest thou wash my feet?

[illustration]

The Institution of his last Supper.

Mark: 14. 22. And as they did eat, Lesus took bread; & blessed & brake it & gaue to them & said, Take eat, this is my body.

And he took y^e Cup & when he had given thanks he gave it to them & they all dranke of it.

In the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Communion

1. THE Holy JESUS went now to eat his last Paschal Supper, and to finish the work of his Legation, and to fulfill that part of the Law of Moses in every of its smallest and most minute particularities, in which also the actions were significant of spiritual duties: which we may transfer from the letter to the spirit in our own instances, That as JESUS ate the Paschal Lamb with a staff in his Hand, with his Loins girt, with sandals on his Feet, in great haste, with unlevened Bread, and with bitter Herbs; so we also should do all our services according to the signification of these symbols, leaning upon the Cross of JESUS for a staff, and bearing the rod of his Government, with Loins girt with Angeli∣cal Chastity, with shoes on our Feet, that so we may guard and have custody o∣ver our affections, and be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, eating in haste, as becomes persons hungring and thirsting after Righteousness, doing the work of the Lord zealously and fervently, without the leven of Malice and secular in∣terest, with bitter herbs of Self-denial and Mortification of our sensual and inordi∣nate desires. The sence and mystery of the whole act with all its circumstances is, That we obey all the Sanctions of the Divine Law, and that every part of our Re∣ligion be pure and peaceable, chaste and obedient, confident in God and diffident in our selves, frequent and zealous, humble and resigned; just and charitable; and there will not easily be wanting any just circumstance to hallow and conse∣crate the action.

2. When the Holy Jesus had finished his last Mosaic Rite, he descends to give exam∣ple of the first fruit of Evangelical Graces: he rises from Supper, lays aside his garment like a servant, and with all the circumstances of an humble ministery washes the feet of his Disciples, * 1.231 beginning at the first, S. Peter, until he came to Judas the Traitor; that we might in one scheme see a rare conjunction of Charity and Humility, of Self-denial and indifferency, represented by a person glorious and great, their Lord and Master, sad

and troubled. And he chose to wash their * 1.232 feet rather than their head, that he might have the opportunity of a more hum∣ble posture, and a more apt signification of his Charity. Thus God lays every thing aside that he may serve his servants; Hea∣ven stoops to earth, and one abyss calls upon another, and the Miseries of man, which were next to infinite, are excelled by a Mercy equal to the im∣mensity of God. And this washing of their feet, which was an accustomed civility and entertainment of honoured strangers at the beginning of their meal, Christ deferred to the end of the Paschal Supper, that it might be the preparatory to the second, which he intended should be festival to all the world. S. Peter was troubled that the hands of his Lord should wash his servants feet, those hands which had opened the eyes of the blind, and cured lepers, and healed all diseases, and when lift up to Heaven were omnipotent, and could restore life to dead and buried persons; he counted it a great indecency for him to suffer it: but it was no more than was necessary, for they had but lately been earn∣est in dispute for Precedency; and it was of it self so apt to swell into tumour and incon∣venience, that it was not to be cured but by some Prodigy of Example and Miracle of Humility, which the Holy Jesus offered to them in this express, calling them to learn some great Lesson; a Lesson which God descended from Heaven to earth, from riches to poverty, from essential innocence to the disreputation of a sinner, from a Master to a Ser∣vant, to learn us, that is, that we should esteem our selves but just as we are, low, sinful, miserable, needy and unworthy. It seems it is a great thing that man should come to have just and equal thoughts of himself, that God used such powerful arts to transmit this Les∣son, and engrave it in the spirits of men; and if the Receipt fails, we are eternally lost in the mists of vanity, and enter into the condition of those Angels whom Pride transfor∣med and spoiled into the condition of Devils: and upon consideration of this great ex∣ample* 1.233 Guericus a good man cried out, Thou hast overcome, O Lord, thou hast overcome my Pride; this Example hath mastered me; I deliver my self up into thy hands, never to re∣ceive liberty or exaltation but in the condition of thy humblest servant.

3. And to this purpose S. Bernard hath an affectionate and devout consideration, say∣ing,

That some of the Angels as soon as they were created had an ambition to become like God, and to aspire into the Throne which God had appointed to the Holy Jesus in eternal ages. When God created Man, presently the Devil rubbed his Leprosie upon him, and he would needs be like God too, and Satan promised him that he should. As the evil Angels would have been like to God in Power and Majesty, so Man would have been like him in Knowledge, and have imitated the Wisdome of the Eternal Father. But Man had the fate of Gehezi; he would needs have the talent and gar∣ments of Lucifer, and he had also his plague; he lost Paradise for his Pride. And now what might befit the Son of God to do, seeing Man so lost, and God so zealous of his honour? I see (saith he) that by occasion of me the Father loses his Creatures, for they have all aspired to be like me, and are fallen into the greatest infelicities. Be∣hold, I will go towards man in such a form, that whosoever from henceforth would become like me shall be so, and be a gainer by it. And for this cause the Son of God came from Heaven, and made himself a poor humble person, and by all the actions of his life commented upon the present discourse: Learn of me, for I am meek and hum∣ble* 1.234 of heart.

Blessed be that mercy and bounty which moved Almighty God to conde∣scend to that so great appetite we had of being like him; for now 〈◊〉〈◊〉 may be like unto God, but it must be by Humility, of which he hath given us an example powerful as Mi∣racles, and great as our own Pride and Misery.

4. And indeed our Blessed Lord, knowing that Examples are like Maps and perfect Schemes in which the whole Continent may at once be represented to the eye to all the purposes of art and benefit, did in the latter end of his life draw up the dispersions and larger harvest of his Precepts, binding them in the bundle of great Examples, and cast∣ing them into actions as into summs total: for so this act of Washing the feet of his own Ministers, and then dying for them, and for all his enemies, did preach the three great 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Evangelical Perfection with an admirable energy and abbreviature; Humi∣lity, and Charity, and Sufferings, being to Christianity as the Body, and the Soul, and the Spirit are to the whole man. For no man brings a sad Funeral into the theatre to make* 1.235 his spectators merry, nor can well preach Chastity in the impurity of the Bordelli, or per∣swade Temperance when himself is full of wine and luxury, and enters into the baths to boil his undigested meat that he may return to his second supper, and breaths forth im∣pure belchings together with his Homily; a poor Eremite, or a severely-living Philoso∣pher, into whose life his own Precepts have descended, & his Doctrin is mingled with his

Soul, mingles also effect and virtue with Homilies, and incorporates his Doctrine in the hearts of his Disciples. And this the Holy Jesus did in his own person, bearing the bur∣then first upon his own shoulders, that we may with better alacrity undergo what our Blessed Lord bears with us and for us. But that we may the better understand what our Blessed Lord designed to us in this Lecture, let us consider the proper acts of Humi∣lity which integrate the Vertue.

5. The first is, Christ's Humble man thinks meanly of himself: and there is great rea∣son every man should. For his Body is but rottenness and infirmity covered with a fair mantle, a dunghil overcast with snow: and if we consider sadly, that from Trees and Plants come oile, balsam, wine, spices, and aromatick odors, and that from the sinks of our Body no such sweet or salutary emanations are observed, we may at least think it un∣reasonable to boast our Beauty, which is nothing but a clear and well-coloured skin, which every thing in the world can spoil; nor our Strength, which an Ague tames into the infirmities of a child, and in which we are excelled by a Bull; nor any thing of our Body, which is nothing but an unruly servant of the Soul, marked with characters of want and dependence, and begging help from all the elements, and upon a little disturbance growing troublesome to it self by its own impurities. And yet there is no reason in re∣spect of the Soul for any man to exalt himself above his Brother; because all reasonable Souls are equal; and that one is wise, and another is foolish or less learned, is by accident and extrinsick causes: God at first makes all alike; but an indisposed Body, or an mop∣portune Education, or evil Customs superinduce variety and difference. And if God dis∣cerns a man from his Brother by distinction of Gifts, it alters not the case; still the man hath nothing of himself that can call him excellent: it is as if a Wall upon which the Sun reflects should boast it self against another that stands in the shadow. Greater glory is to be paid to God for the discerning Gifts; but to take any of it to our selves, and rise higher than our Brother, or advance our own opinion, is as if a man should be proud of being in debt, and think it the greater excellency that he is charged with heavier and more severe accounts.

6. This act consists not in declamations and forms of Satyre against our selves, saying,* 1.236 I am a miserable sinful creature, I am proud, or covetous, or ignorant. For many men say so that are not willing to be thought so. Neither is Humility a vertue made up of wearing old cloaths, or doing servile and mean imployments by voluntary undertaking, or of sullen gestures, or demiss behaviour, and artifice of lowly expressions: for these may become snares to invite and catch at Honour, and then they are collateral designs of Pride, and direct actions of Hypocrisie. But it consists in a true understanding of our own condition, and a separating our own Nothing from the good we have received, and gi∣ving to God all the glory, and taking to our selves all the shame and dishonour due to our sinful condition. He that thinks himself truly miserable and vilified by sin, hates it per∣fectly; and he that knows himself to be nothing cannot be exalted in himself: and what∣soever is besides these two extremes of a natural Nothing and a superadded Sin, must be those good things we have received, which, because they derive from God, must make all their returns thither. But this act is of greater difficulty in persons pious, full of Gifts and eminent in Graces, who, being fellow-workers together with God, sometimes grow tacitely and without notice given to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in themselves, and with some freer phan∣cy ascribe too much of the good action to their own choice and diligence, and take up their crowns, which lie at the foot of the throne, and set them upon their own heads. For a Sinner to desire to be esteemed a sinner, is no more Humility than it is for the son of a Plow-man to confess his Father; but indeed it is hard for a man to be cried up for a Saint, to walk upon the spire of glory, and to have no adherence or impure mixtures of Vanity grow upon the outside of his heart. All men have not such heads as to walk in great heights without giddiness and unsettled eyes: Lucifer and many Angels walking upon the battlements of Heaven grew top-heavy and fell into the state of Devils; and the Father of the Christian Eremites, S. Antony, was frequently attempted by the Devil,* 1.237 and solicited to vanity, the Devil usually making phantastick noises to be heard before him, Make room for the Saint and Servant of God: But the good man knew Christ's voice to be a low Base of Humility, and that it was the noise of Hell that invited to compla∣cencies and vanity; and therefore took the example of the Apostles, who in the midst of the greatest reputation and spiritual advancements were dead unto the world, and seemed to live in the state of separation. For the true stating our own Question and knowing our selves must needs represent us set in the midst of infinite imperfections, loaden with sins, choaked with the noises of a polluted Conscience, persons fond of trifles, neglecting objects fit for wise men, full of ingratitude, and all such things which in

every man else we look upon as scars and deformities, and which we use to single out, and take one alone as sufficient to disgrace and disrepute all the excellencies of our Neighbour: But if we would esteem them with the same severity in our selves, and remember with how many such objections our little felicities are covered, it would make us charitable in our censures, compassionate and gentle to others, apt to excuse, and as rea∣dy to support their weaknesses, and in all accidents and chances to our selves to be con∣tent and thankful, as knowing the worst of poverty and inconvenience to be a mercy and a splendid fortune in respect of our demerits. I have read, that

when the Duke of Candia had voluntarily entred into the incommodities of a Religious Poverty and re∣tirement, he was one day spied and pitied by a Lord of Italy, who out of tenderness wished him to be more careful and nutritive of his person. The good Duke answered, Sir, be not troubled, and think not that I am ill provided of conveniences, for I send a Harbinger before, who makes my lodgings ready, and takes care that I be royally en∣tertained. The Lord asked him who was his Harbinger. He answered, The knowledge of my self, & the consideration of what I deserve for my sins, which is eternal torments; and when with this knowledge I arrive at my lodging, how unprovided soever I find it, methinks it is ever better than I deserve.

The summe of this Meditation consists in believing, and considering, and reducing to practice those thoughts, that we are nothing of our selves, that we have nothing of our own, that we have received more than ever we can discharge, that we have added innumerable sins, that we can call nothing our own but such things which we are ashamed to own, and such things which are apt to ruine us. If we do nothing contrary to the purpose and hearty perswasion of such thoughts, then we think meanly of our selves. And in order to it, we may make use of this advice, To let no day pass without some sad recollection and memory of somewhat which may put us to confusion and mean opinion of our selves; either call to mind the worst of our sins, or the undiscreetest of our actions, or the greatest of our shame, or the uncivilest of our affronts, any thing to make us descend lower, and kiss the foot of the mountain. And this consideration applied also to every tumour of spirit as soon as it rises may possibly allay it.

7. Secondly, Christ's Humble man bears contumelies evenly and sweetly, and desires not* 1.238 to be honoured by others: He chuses to do those things that deserve honour and a fair name, but then eats not of those fruits himself, but transmits them to the use of others, and the glories of God. This is a certain consequence of the other: for he that truly disesteems himself is content that others should do so too; and he who with some regret and impatience hears himself scorned or undervalued, hath not acquired the grace of Humility. Which Serapion in Cassian noted to a young person, who perpetually accused himself with the greatest semblances of Humility, but was impatient when Serapion reproved him.

Did you hope that I would have praised* 1.239 your Humility, and have reputed you for a Saint? It is a strange perversness to desire others to esteem highly of you for that, in which to your self you seem most unworthy.

He that inquires into the faults of his own actions, requiring* 1.240 them that saw them to tell him in what he did amiss, not to learn the fault, but to engage them to praise it, cozens himself into Pride and makes Hu∣mility the instrument. And a man would be ashamed if he were told that he used stra∣tagems for praise: but so glorious a thing is Humility, that Pride, to hide her own shame, puts on the others vizor; it being more to a proud man's purposes to seem humble than to be so. And such was the Cynick whom Lucian derided, because that one searching his scrip in expectation to have found in it mouldy bread or old rags, he discovered a bale of dice, a box of perfumes, and the picture of his fair Mistress. Carisianus walked in his Gown* 1.241 in the Feast of Saturn, and when all Rome was let loose in wantonness, he put on the long Robe of a Senator, and a severe person; and yet nothing was more lascivious than he. But the Devil Pride prevails sometimes upon the spirit of Lust. Humility neither directly nor by consequence seeks for praise, and suffers it not to rest upon its own pavement, but re∣flects it all upon God, and receives all lessenings and instruments of affront and disgrace, that mingle not with sin or undecencies, more willingly than Panegyricks. When o∣thers have their desires, thou not thine; the sayings of another are esteemed, thine slight∣ed; others ask and obtain, thou beggest and art refused; they are cried up, thou disgra∣ced and hissed at; and while they are imployed, thou art laid by, as fit for nothing; or an unworthy person commands thee and rules thee like a tyrant, he reproves thee, su∣spects thee, reviles thee; canst thou bear this sweetly, and entertain the usage as thy just portion, and as an accident most fit and proper to thy person and condition? Dost

thou not raise Theatres to thy self, and take delight in the suppletories of thy own good opinion, and the flatteries of such whom thou endearest to thee, that their praising thee should heal the wounds of thine honour by an imaginary and phantastick restitution? He that is not content and patient in affronts, hath not yet learned Humility of the Ho∣ly Jesus.

8. Thirdly, As Christ's Humble man is content in affronts, and not greedy of praise; so when it is presented to him, he takes no contentment in it: and if it be easie to want Praise when it is denied, yet it is harder not to be delighted with it when it is offered. But there is much reason that we should put restraints upon our selves, lest if we be praised without desert, we find a greater Judgment of God; or if we have done well and re∣ceived* 1.242 praise for it, we 〈◊〉〈◊〉 all our reward, which God hath deposited for them that re∣ceive not their good things in this life. For as silver is tried in the melter, and gold in the Crucible: so is a man tried by the mouth of him that praises him: that is, he is either cla∣rified from his dross by looking upon the praise as a homily to teach and an instrument to invite his duty; or else, if he be already pure, he is consolidated, strengthned in the sobriety of his spirit, and retires himself closer into the strengths and securities of Humi∣lity. Nay, this step of Humility uses in very holy persons to be enlarged to a delight in affronts and disreputation in the world. Now I begin to be Christ's Disciple, (said 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Martyr, when in his journey to Rome he suffered perpetual revilings and a∣buse.) S. Paul rejoyced in his infirmities and reproach: and all the Apostles at Jeru∣salem went from the tribunal rejoycing that they were esteemed worthy to suffer shame* 1.243 for the name of Jesus. This is an excellent condition and degree of Humility. But I chuse to add one that is less, but in all persons necessary.

9. Fourthly, Christ's Humble man is careful never to speak any thing that may re∣dound to his own praise, unless it be with a design of Charity or Duty, that either God's glory or the profit of his neighbour be concerned in it; but never speaking with a de∣sign to be esteemed learned or honourable. S. Arsenius had been Tutor to three Caesars, Theodosius, Arcadius, and Honorius; but afterwards when he became Religious, no word escaped him that might represent and tell of his former greatness: and it is observable concerning S. Jerome, that although he was of noble extraction, yet in all his own Wri∣tings there is not the smallest intimation of it. This I desire to be understood only to the sence and purposes of Humility, and that we have no designs of vanity and phancy in speaking learnedly, or recounting our exteriour advantages: but if either the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of our brother or the glory of God, if either there be Piety or Charity in the design, it is lawful to publish all those excellencies with which God hath distinguished us from others. The young Marquess of Castilion being to do publick exercise in his course of Philosophy, made it a case of Conscience whether he were bound to dispute his best, fearing lest va∣nity might transport him in the midst of those praises which his Collegiates might give him. It was an excellent consideration in the young Gentleman: but in actions civil and humane, since the danger is not so immediate, and a little complacency becoming the instrument of vertue and encouragement of studies may with like care be referred to God as the giver, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 his praises; he might with more safety have done his utmost, it being in some sense a duty to encourage others, to give account of our Graces and our labours, and all the appendent vanity may quickly be suppressed. A good name may give us opportunity of perswading others to their duty, especially in an Age in which men chuse their Doctrines by the men that preach them: and S. Paul used his liberty when he was zealous for his Corinthian Disciples, but restrained himself when it began to make reflexions upon his own spirit. But although a good name be neces∣sary, and in order to such good ends whither it may serve it is lawful to desire it; yet a great name, and a pompous honour, and secular greatness, hath more danger in it to our selves than ordinarily it can have of benefit to others: and although a man may use the greatest honours to the greatest purposes, yet ordinary persons may not safely desire them; because it will be found very hard to have such mysterious and abstracted consi∣derations, as to separate all our proper interest from the publick end. To which I add this consideration, That the contempt of Honour, and the instant pursuit of Humility, is more effective of the ghostly benefit of others, than Honours and great Dignities can be, unless it be rarely and very accidentally.

10. If we need any new incentives to the practice of this Grace, I can say no more, but that Humility is Truth, and Pride is a Lie; that the one glorifies God, the other dis∣honours him; Humility makes men like Angels, Pride makes Angels to become De∣vils; that Pride is Folly, Humility is the temper of a holy spirit and excellent Wisdom; that Humility is the way to glory, Pride to ruine and confusion: Humility makes Saints

on Earth, Pride undoes them: Humility beatifies the Saints in Heaven, and the Elders throw their Crowns at the foot of the Throne; Pride disgraces a man among all the Societies of Earth: God loves one, and Satan solicits the cause of the other, and promotes his own interest in it most of all. And there is no one Grace in which Christ propounded himself imitable so signally as in this of Meekness and Hu∣mility: for the enforcing of which he undertook the condition of a Servant, and a life of Poverty, and a death of Disgrace; and washed the feet of his Disciples, and even of Judas himself, that his action might be turned into a Sermon to preach this Duty, and to make it as eternal as his own Story.

The PRAYER.

O Holy and Eternal Jesus, who wert pleased to lay aside the Glories and incompre∣hensible Majesty which clothed thy Infinity from before the beginning of Creatures, and didst put on a cloud upon thy Brightness, and wert invested with the impure and im∣perfect broken robe of Humane nature, and didst abate those Splendors which broke through the veil, commanding Devils not to publish thee, and men not to proclaim thy Excellencies, and the Apostles not to reveal those Glories of thine which they discovered incircling thee upon mount Tabor in thy transfiguration, and didst by perpetual Homilies and symbolical mysterious actions, as with deep characters, engrave Humility into the spi∣rits of thy Disciples and the Discipline of Christianity; teach us to approach near to these thy Glories which thou hast so covered with a cloud that we might without amaze∣ment behold thy Excellencies; make us to imitate thy gracious Condescensions; take from us all vanity and phantastick complacencies in our own persons or actions; and when there arises a reputation consequent to the performance of any part of our Duty, make us to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the glory upon thee, suffering nothing to adhere to our own spirits but shame at our own imperfection, and thankfulness to thee for all thy assistences: let us never seek the praise of men from unhandsome actions, from flatteries and unworthy discourses, nor entertain the praise with delight, though it proceed from better principles; but fear and tremble, lest we deserve punishment, or lose a reward which thou hast deposited for all them that seek thy glory, and despise their own, that they may imitate the example of their Lord. Thou, O Lord, didst triumph over Sin and Death; subdue also my proud Understanding and my prouder Affections, and bring me under thy yoak; that I may do thy work, and obey my Superiours, and be a servant of all my brethren in their necessi∣ties, and esteem my self inferiour to all men by a deep sense of my own unworthiness, and in all things may obey thy Laws, and conform to thy precedents, and enter into thine inheritance, O Holy and Eternal Jesus.

Amen.

DISCOURSE XIX. Of the Institution and Reception of the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

1. AS the Sun among the Stars, and Man among the sublunary creatures, is the most eminent and noble, the Prince of the inferiours, and their measure, or their guide: so is this action among all the instances of Religion; it is the most perfect and consummate, it is an union of Mysteries and a consolidation of Duties, it joyns God and Man, and confederates all the Societies of men in mutual complexions, and the enter∣tainments of an excellent Charity; it actually performs all that could be necessary for Man, and it presents to Man as great a thing as God could give; for it is impossible any thing should be greater than himself. And when God gave his Son to the world, it could not be but he should give us all things else: and therefore this Blessed Sacrament is a consigning us to all Felicities, because after a mysterious and ineffable manner we re∣ceive him who is Light and Life, the fountain of Grace, and the sanctifier of our secular comforts, and the author of Holiness and Glory. But as it was at first, so it hath been ever since; Christ came into the world, and the world knew him not: so Christ hath re∣mained in the world by the communications of this Sacrament, and yet he is not rightly understood, and less truly valued. But Christ may say to us as once to the woman of Sa∣maria, Woman, if thou didst know the gift of God, and who it is that speaks to thee, thou wouldst ask him: So if we were so wise, or so fortunate, to know the excellency of this Gift of the Lord, it would fill us full of wonder and adoration, joy and thankfulness, great hopes and actual felicities, making us heirs of glory by the great additions and present increment of Grace.

2. After supper Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and made it to be a heavenly gift: He gave them bread, and told them it was his body; that Body which was broken for the re∣demption of Man, for the Salvation of the world. S. Paul calls it [bread] even after* 1.244 Consecration; The Bread which we break, is it not the communication of the Body of Christ? So that by divine Faith we are taught to express our belief of this Mystery in these words; [The Bread, when it is consecrated and made sacramental, is the Body of our Lord; and the fraction and distribution of it is the communication of that Body which died for us upon the Cross.] He that doubts of either of the parts of this Proposition must either think, Christ was not able to verifie his word, and to make bread by his benedicti∣on to become to us to be his body; or that S. Paul did not well interpret and understand this Mystery, when he called it bread. Christ reconciles them both, calling himself the bread of life: and if we be offended at it, because it is alive, and therefore less apt to be∣come food, we are invited to it because it is bread; and if the Sacrament to others seem less mysterious, because it is bread, we are heightned in our Faith and reverence because it is life: The Bread of the Sacrament is the life of our Soul, and the Body of our Lord is now conveyed to us by being the Bread of the Sacrament. And if we consider how easie it is to Faith, and how impossible it seems to Curiosity, we shall be taught confi∣dence and modesty; a resigning our understanding to the voice of Christ and his Apostles, and yet expressing our own articles as Christ did, in indefinite significations. And possi∣bly it may not well consist with our Duty to be inquisitive into the secrets of the King∣dom, which we see by plain event hath divided the Church almost as much as the Sa∣crament hath united it, and which can only serve the purposes of the School and of evil men, to make Questions for that, and Factions for these, but promote not the ends of a holy life, Obedience, or Charity.

3. Some so observe the literal sence of the words, that they understand them also in a natural: Some so alter them by metaphors and preternatural significations, that they will not understand them at all in a proper. We see it, we feel it, we taste it, and we smell it to be Bread; and by Philosophy we are led into a belief of that substance whose accidents these are, as we are to believe that to be fire which burns and flames and shines: but Christ also affirmed concerning it, This is my Body; and if Faith can create an assent as strong as its object is infallible, or can be as certain in its conclusion as sense is certain in its apprehensions, we must at no hand doubt but that it is Christ's Body. Let

the sence of that be what it will, so that we believe those words, and (whatsoever that sence is which Christ intended) that we no more doubt in our Faith than we do in our Sense; then our Faith is not reproveable. It is hard to do so much vi∣olence to our Sense, as not to think it Bread; but it is more unsafe to do so much violence to our Faith, as not to believe it to be Christ's Body. But it would be con∣sidered, that no interest of Religion, no saying of Christ, no reverence of Opinion, no sacredness of the Mystery is disavowed, if we believe both what we hear and what we see. He that believes it to be Bread, and yet verily to be Christ's Body, is only tied also by implication to believe God's Omnipotence, that he who affirmed it can also ve∣rifie it. And they that are forward to believe the change of substance, can intend no more but that it be believed verily to be the Body of our Lord. And if they think it impossible to reconcile its being Bread with the verity of being Christ's Body, let them remember that themselves are put to more difficulties, and to admit of more Miracles, and to contradict more Sciences, and to refuse the testimony of Sense, in affirming the special man∣ner of Transubstantiation. * 1.245 And therefore it were safer to admit the words in their first sence, in which we shall no more be at war with Reason, nor so much with Sense, and not at all with Faith. And for persons of the contradi∣ctory perswasion, who to avoid the natural sence affirm it only to be figurative, since their design is only to make this Sacrament to be Christ's Body in the sence of Faith, and not of Philosophy, they may remember that its being really present does not hinder but that all that reality may be spiritual; and if it be Christ's Body, so it be not affirmed such in a natural sence and manner, it is still only the ob∣ject of Faith and spirit; and if it be affirmed only to be spiritual, there is then no danger to Faith in admitting the words of Christ's in∣stitution, This is my Body. I suppose it to be a mistake, to think what so∣ever is real must be natural; and it is no less to think spiritual to be only figurative: that's too much, and this is too little. Philosophy and Faith may well be reconciled; and whatsoever objection can invade this union may be cured by modesty. And if we profess we understand not the manner of this Mystery, we say no more but that it is a Mystery; and if it had been necessary we should have construed it into the most latent sence, Christ himself would have given a Clavis, and taught the Church to unlock so great a Secret. Christ said, This is my Body,* 1.246 this is my 〈◊〉〈◊〉: S. Paul said, The bread of blessing that we break is the communication of the body of Christ, and the Chalice which we bless is the communication* 1.247 of the bloud of Christ; and, We are all one body, because we eat of one bread. One proposition as well as the other is the matter of Faith, and the latter of them is also of Sense; one is as literal as the other: and he that distinguishes in his belief, as he may place the impropriety upon which part he please, and either say it is improperly called Bread, or improperly called Christ's Body; so he can have nothing to secure his proposition from errour, or himself from boldness, in decreeing concerning Mysteries against the testimonies of Sense, or beyond the modesty and simplicity of Chri∣stian Faith. Let us love and adore the abyss of Divine Wisdom and Goodness, and enter∣tain the Sacrament with just and holy receptions; and then we shall receive all those fruits of it which an earnest disputer, or a peremptory dogmatizer, whether he happen right or wrong, hath no warrant to expect upon the interest of his Opinion.

4. In the Institution of this Sacrament Christ manifested, first, his Almighty Power, secondly, his infinite Wisdome, and thirdly, his unspeakable Charity. First, his Power is manifest in making the Symbols to be the instruments of conveying himself to the spirit of the Receiver: He nourishes the Soul with Bread, and feeds the Body with a Sacrament; he makes the Body spiritual by his Graces there ministred, and makes the Spirit to be united to his Body by a participation of the Divine nature: In the Sacra∣ment that Body which is reigning in Heaven is exposed upon the Table of blessing; and his Body which was broken for us is now broken again, and yet remains impassible. Every consecrated portion of bread and wine does exhibit Christ intirely to the faithful Receiver; and yet Christ remains one, while he is wholly ministred in 10000 portions. So long as we call these mysterious, and make them intricate to exercise our Faith, and to represent the wonder of the Mystery, and to encrease our Charity; our being in∣quisitive into the abyss can have no evil purposes. God hath instituted the Rite in visi∣ble Symbols, to make the secret Grace as presential and discernible as it might, that by an instrument of Sense our spirits might be accommodated as with an exteriour object to produce an internal act. But it is the prodigy of a miraculous power, by instruments so easie to produce effects so glorious. This then is the object of Wonder and Ado∣ration.

5. Secondly, And this effect of Power does also remark the Divine Wisdome, who hath ordained such Symbols, which not only, like spittle and clay toward the curing blind eyes, proclaim an Almighty Power, but they are apposite and proper to signifie a Duty, and become to us like the Word of Life, and from Bread they turn into a Homily. For therefore our wisest Master hath appointed Bread and Wine, that we may be corporally united to him; that as the Symbols becoming nutriment are turned into the substance of our bodies, so Christ being the food of our Souls should assimilate us, making us partakers of the Divine Nature. It also tells us, that from hence we derive life and holy motion; for in him we live, and move, and have our being. He is the staff of our life, and the light of our eyes, and the strength of our spirit; He is the Viand for our journey, and the antepast of Heaven. And because this holy Mystery was intended to be a Sacrament of Union, that Lesson is morally represented in the Sym∣bols; That as the salutary juice is expressed from many clusters running into one 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and the Bread is a mass made of many grains of Wheat; so we also (as the A∣postie infers from hence, himself observing the analogy) should be one bread and one bodr, because we partake of that one bread. And it were to be wished that from hence also all Christians would understand a signification of another Duty, and that they would 〈◊〉〈◊〉 communicate, as remembring that the Soul may need a frequent ministration, as well as the Body its daily proportion. This consideration of the Divine Wisdome is apt to produce Reverence, Humility, and Submission of our understanding to the im∣mensity of God's unsearchable abysses.

6. Thirdly, But the story of the Love of our dearest Lord is written in largest chara∣cters, who not only was at that instant busie in doing Man the greatest good, even then when man was contriving his death and his dishonour, but contrived to represent his bitter Passion to us without any circumstances of horror, in symbols of pleasure and de∣light; that we may taste and see how gracious our LORD is, who would not transmit the record of his Passion to us in any thing that might trouble us. No Love can be great∣er than that which is so beatifical as to bestow the greatest good; and no Love can be better expressed than that which, although it is productive of the greatest blessings, yet is curious also to observe the smallest circumstances. And not only both these, but many other circumstances and arguments of Love concur in the Holy Sacrament. 1. It is a tenderness of affection that ministers wholsome Physick with arts and instruments of pleasure: And such was the Charity of our Lord, who brings health to us in a golden Chalice; life, not in the bitter drugs of Egypt, but in spirits and quintessences; giving us apples of Paradise, at the same time yielding food and health and pleasure. 2. Love desires to do all good to its beloved object, and that is the greatest love which gives us the greatest blessings: And the Sacrament therefore is the argument of his greatest love; for in it we receive the honey and the honey-comb, the Paschal Lamb with his bitter herbs, Christ with all his griefs, and his Passion with all the salutary effects of it. 3. Love desires to be remembred, and to have his object in perpetual representment: And this Sacrament Christ designed to that purpose, that he, who is not present to our eyes, might always be present to our spirits. 4. Love demands love again, and to de∣sire to be beloved is of it self a great argument of love: And as God cannot give us a greater blessing than his Love, which is himself with an excellency of relation to us

superadded; so what greater demonstration of it can he make to us, than to desire us to love him with as much earnestness and vehemency of desire, as if we were that to him which he is essentially to us, the author of our being and our blessing? 5. And yet to consummate this Love, and represent it to be the greatest and most excellent, the Holy Jesus hath in this Sacrament designed that we should be united in our spirits with him, incorporated to his body, partake of his Divine nature, and communicate in all his Gra∣ces; and Love hath no expression beyond this, that it desires to be united unto its object. So that what Moses said to the men of Israel, What nation is so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things for which we call upon him? we can enlarge in the meditation of this Holy Sacrament: for now the Lord our God calls upon us, not only to be nigh unto him, but to be all one with him; not only as he was in the Incar∣nation, flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone, but also to communicate in spirit, in grace, in nature, in Divinity it self.

7. Upon the strength of the premisses we may sooner take an estimate of the Graces which are conveyed to us in the reception and celebration of this Holy Sacrament and Sacrifice. For as it is a Commemoration and representment of Christ's Death, so it is a commemorative Sacrifice: as we receive the symbols and the mystery, so it is a Sacra∣ment. In both capacities the benefit is next to infinite. First, For whatsoever Christ did at the Institution, the same he commanded the Church to do in remembrance and repeated rites; and himself also does the same thing in Heaven for us, making perpetual Intercession for his Church, the body of his redeemed ones, by representing to his Fa∣ther his death and sacrifice: there he sits a high Priest continually, and offers still the same one perfect sacrifice, that is, still represents it as having been once finished and con∣summate in order to perpetual and never-failing events. And this also his Ministers do on earth, they offer up the same Sacrifice to God, the sacrifice of the Cross, by prayers, and a commemorating rite and representment according to his holy Institution. And as all the effects of Grace and the titles of glory were purchased for us on the Cross, and the actual mysteries of Redemption perfected on earth, but are applied to us and made effectual to single persons and communities of men by Christ's Intercession in Heaven; so also they are promoted by acts of Duty and Religion here on earth, that we may be workers together with God, (as S. Paul expresses it) and in virtue of the eternal and all∣sufficient* 1.248 Sacrifice may offer up our prayers and our duty, and by representing that sa∣crifice may send up together with our prayers an instrument of their graciousness and acceptation. The Funerals of a deceased friend are not only performed at his first in∣terring, but in the monthly minds and anniversary commemorations, and our grief re∣turns upon the fight of a picture, or upon any instance which our dead friend desired us to preserve as his memorial: we celebrate and exhibite the Lora's death in sacrament and symbol: and this is that great express, which when the Church offers to God the Father, it obtains all those blessings which that sacrifice purchased. Themistocles snatch'd up the son of King Admetus, and held him between himself and death, to mitigate the rage of the King, and prevailed accordingly. Our very holding up the Son of God, and representing him to his Father, is the doing an act of mediation 〈◊〉〈◊〉 advantage to our selves in the virtue and efficacy of the Mediatour. As Christ is a Priest in Heaven for ever, and yet does not sacrifice himself afresh, nor yet without a sacrifice could he be a Priest, but by a daily ministration and intercession represents his sacrifice to God, and offers himself as sacrificed: so he does upon earth by the ministery of his servants; he is offered to God, that is, he is by Prayers and the Sacrament represented or offer∣ed up to God as sacrificed, which, in effect, is a celebration of his death, and the ap∣plying it to the present and future necessities of the Church, as we are capable, by a ministery like to his in Heaven. It follows then, that the celebration of this Sa∣crifice be in its proportion * 1.249 an instrument of applying the proper Sacrifice to all the purposes which it first designed; It is ministerially and by application an in∣strument propitiatory, it is Eucharistical, it is an homage, and an act of adoration, and it is impetratory, and obtains for us and for the whole Church all the benefits of the sacrifice, which is now celebrated and applied; that is, As this Rite is the remembrance and ministerial celebration of Christ's sacrifice, so it is destined to do honour to God, to express the homage and duty of his servants, to acknowledge his supreme dominion, to give him thanks and worship, to beg pardon, blessings and supply of all our needs. And its profit is enlarged not only to the persons ce∣lebrating, but to all to whom they design it, according to the nature of Sacrifices and Prayers, and all such solemn actions of Religion.

8. Secondly, If we consider this, not as the act and ministery of Ecclesiastical per∣sons, but as the duty of the whole Church communicating, that is, as it is a 〈◊〉〈◊〉, so it is like the Springs of Eden, from whence issue many Rivers, or the Trees of celestial Jerusalem, bearing various kinds of Fruit. For whatsoever was offered in* 1.250 the Sacrifice, is given in the Sacrament; and whatsoever the Testament bequeaths, the holy Mysteries dispense. 1. He that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 my 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and drinketh my bloud abideth in me, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in him; Christ in his Temple and his resting-place, and the worthy Commu∣nicant is in Sanctuary and a place of protection: and every holy Soul having feasted at his Table may say as S. Paul, * 1.251 〈◊〉〈◊〉 live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. ‖ 1.252 So that to live is Christ: * 1.253 Christ is our life, and he dwells in the body and the spirit of every one that eats Christ's flesh and drinks his bloud. Happy is that man that sits at the Table of Angels, that puts his hand into the dish with the King of all the Creatures, and feeds upon the eternal Son of God, joyning things below with things above, Heaven with Earth, Life with Death, that mortality might be swallowed up of life, and Sin be de∣stroyed by the inhabitation of its greatest Conqueror. And now I need not enumerate any particulars, since the Spirit of God hath ascertained us that Christ enters into our hearts, and takes possession, and abides there; that we are made Temples and celestial mansions; that we are all one with our Judge, and with our Redeemer; that our Creator is bound unto his Creature with bonds of charity which nothing can dissolve, unless our own hands break them; that Man is united with God, and our weakness is fortified by his strength, and our miseries wrapped up in the golden leaves of glory. 2. Hence it follows that the Sacrament is an instrument of reconciling us to God, and taking off the remanent guilt, and stain, and obligations of our sins. This is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 that was shed for you for the remission of sins. For there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And such are all they who worthily eat the flesh of Christ; by recei∣ving him, they more and more receive remission of sins, redemption, sanctification, wisdom, and certain hopes of glory. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 as the Soul touching and united to the flesh of Adam contracts the stain of original misery and imperfection; so much the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 shall the Soul united to the flesh of Christ receive pardon and purity, and all those blessed emanations from our union with the Second Adam. But this is not to be understood, as if the first beginnings of our pardon were in the holy Communion; for then a man might come with his impurities along with him, and lay them on the holy Table, to stain and pollute so bright a presence. No; first, Repentance must 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the ways of the Lord: and in this holy Rite those words of our Lord are verified, He that is justified, let him be justified 〈◊〉〈◊〉, that is, here he may receive the increase of Grace; and as it grows, so sin dies, and we are reconciled by nearer unions and approximations to God.

9. Thirdly, The holy Sacrament is the pledge of Glory and the earnest of Immortality; for when we have received him* 1.254 who hath overcome Death, and henceforth dies no more, he be∣comes to us like the Tree of life in Paradise; and the conse∣crated Symbols are like the seeds of an eternal duration, springing up in us to eternal life, nourishing our spirits with Grace, which is but the prologue and the infancy of Glory, and differs from it only as a Child from a Man. But God first raised up his Son to life, and by giving him to us hath also consigned us to the same state; for our life is hid with Christ in God:

When* 1.255 we lay down and cast aside the impurer robes of flesh, they are then but preparing for glory; and if by the only touch of Christ bodies were redintegrate and restored to na∣tural perfections, how shall not we live for ever who eat his flesh and drink his bloud?

It is the discourse of S. Cyril. Whatsoever the Spirit can convey to the body* 1.256 of the Church, we may expect 〈◊〉〈◊〉 this Sacrament; for as the Spirit is the instrument of life and action, so the bloud of Christ is the conveyance of his Spirit. And let all the mysterious places of holy Scripture concerning the effects of Christ communicated in the* 1.257 blessed Sacrament be drawn together in one Scheme, we cannot but observe, that al∣though they are so expressed as 〈◊〉〈◊〉 their meaning may seem intricate and involved, yet they cannot be drawn to any meaning at all, but it is as glorious in its sense as it is my∣sterious in the expression; and the more intricate they are, the greater is their purpose; no words being apt and proportionate to signifie this spiritual secret, and excellent ef∣fects of the Spirit. A veil is drawn before all these testimonies, because the people were not able to behold the glory which they cover with their curtain; and Christ dwelling in us, and giving us his flesh to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and his bloud to drink, and the hiding of our life with God, and the communication of the body of Christ, and Christ being our life, are such secret glories, that as the fruition of them is the portion of the other world, so also is the

full perception and understanding of them: for therefore God appears to us in a cloud, and his glories in a veil, that we understanding more of it by its concealment than we can by its open face, which is too bright 〈◊〉〈◊〉 our weak eyes, may with more piety also entertain the greatness by these indefinite and mysterious significations, than we can by plain and direct intuitions, which like the Sun in a direct ray enlightens the object, but confounds the organ.

10. I should but in other words describe the same glories, if I should add, That this holy Sacrament does enlighten the spirit of Man, and clarifie it with spiritual discern∣ings; and as he was to the two Disciples at 〈◊〉〈◊〉, so also to other faithful people, Christ is known in the breaking of bread; That it is a great * 1.258 defence against the hostilities of our ghostly enemies, this Holy Bread being like the Cake in 〈◊〉〈◊〉's Camp, overturn∣ing the tents of 〈◊〉〈◊〉; That it is the relief of our sorrows, the antidote and preservative of Souls, the viand of our jour∣ney, the guard and passe-port of our death, the wine of An∣gels;* 1.259 That it is more healthful than Rhubarb, more pleasant than Cassia; That the Betele and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, the * 1.260 Moly or Nepenthe of Pliny, the Lirinon of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, the Balsam of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, the Manna of Israel, the Honey of Jonathan, are but weak expressions to tell us that this is excellent above Art and Nature, and that nothing is good enough in Philosophy to be∣come its 〈◊〉〈◊〉. All these must needs fall very short of those plain words of Christ, This is my Body. The other may become the ecstasies of Piety, the transportation of joy and wonder, and are like the discourse of S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 upon mount Tabor, he was re∣solved to say some great thing, but he knew not what: but when we remember that the Body of our Lord and his Bloud is communicated to us in the Bread and the Chalice of blessing, we must sit down and rest our selves, for this is the mountain of the Lord, and we can go no farther.

11. In the next place it will 〈◊〉〈◊〉 our enquiry to consider how we are to prepare our selves: For at the gate of life a man may meet with death: and although this holy Sacrament be like Manna, in which the obedient find the relishes of Obedience, the chaste of Purity, the meek persons of Content and Humility; yet vicious and corrup∣ted palats find also the gust of death and Coloquintida. The Sybarites invited their wo∣men* 1.261 to their solemn sacrifices a full year before the solemnity, that they might by pre∣vious dispositions and a long foresight 〈◊〉〈◊〉 with gravity and fairer order the celebra∣tion of the rites. And it was a reasonable answer of Pericles, to one that ask'd him why he, being a Philosophical and severe person, came to a wedding trimmed and adorned like a Paranymph; I come adorned to an adorned person, trimmed, to a Bride∣groom. And we also, if we come to the marriage of the Son with the Soul, (which marriage is celebrated in this sacred Mystery) and have not on a wedding garment, shall be cast into outer darkness, the portion of undressed and unprepared souls.

12. For from this Sacrament are excluded all unbaptized persons, and such who lie in a known sin, of which they have not purged themselves by the apt and proper in∣struments of Repentance. For if the Paschal Lamb was not to be eaten but by persons pure and clean according to the sanctifications of the Law; the Son of God can less en∣dure the impurities of the Spirit, than God could 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the uncleannesses of the Law. S. Paul hath given us instruction in this: First, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat: For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not dis∣cerning* 1.262 the Lord's body. That is, although in the Church of Corinth, by reason of the pre∣sent Schism, the publick Discipline of the Church was neglected, and every man per∣mitted to himself; yet even then no man was disobliged from his duty of private Re∣pentance, and holy preparations to the perception of so great a mystery; that the Lord's body may be discerned from common nutriment. Now nothing can so unhallow and desecrate the rite as the remanent affection to a sin, or a crime unrepented of. And Self∣examination is prescribed, not for it self, but in order to abolition of sin and death; for it self is a relative term and an imperfect duty, whose very nature is in order to some∣thing beyond it. And this was in the Primitive Church understood to so much severity, that if a man had relapsed after one publick Repentance into a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 crime, he was never* 1.263 again readmitted to the holy Communion; and the Fathers of the Council of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 call it [a mocking and jesting at the Communion of our Lord, to give it once again af∣ter a Repentance and a relapse, and a second or third postulation.] And indeed we use to make a sport of the greatest instruments of Religion, when we come to them after an habitual vice, whose face we have, it may be, wetted with a tear, and breathed upon

it with a sigh, and abstained from the worst of crimes for two or three days, and come to the Sacrament to be purged, and to take our rise by going a little back from our sin, that afterwards we may leap into it with more violence, and enter into its utmost angle: This is dishonouring the body of our Lord, and deceiving our selves. Christ and Belial cannot cohabit; unless we have left all our sins, and have no fondness of af∣fection towards them, unless we hate them, (which then we shall best know when we leave them, and with complacency entertain their contraries:) then Christ hath washed our feet, and then he invites us to his holy Supper. Hands dipt in bloud, or polluted with unlawful gains, or stained with the spots of flesh, are most unfit to handle the holy body of our Lord, and minister nourishment to the Soul. Christ loves not to enter into the mouth full of cursings, oathes, blasphemies, revilings or evil speakings; and a heart full of vain and vicious thoughts stinks like the lake of Sodom; he finds no rest there, and when he enters he is vexed with the unclean conversation of the impure inhabitants, and flies from thence with the wings of a Dove, that he may retire to pure and whiter habitations. S. Justin Mar∣tyr, reckoning the predispositions required of every faithful* 1.264 soul for the entertainment of his Lord, says, that

it is not* 1.265* 1.266 lawful for any to eat the Eucharist, but to him that is wash∣ed in the laver of regeneration sor the remission of sins, that believes Christ's Doctrine to be true, and that lives accord∣ing* 1.267 to the Discipline of the Holy Jesus.

And therefore S. Ambrose refused to minister the holy Communion to the Emperor Theodostus, till by publick Repentance he had recon∣ciled himself to God and the society of faithsul people, after the furious and cholerick rage and slaughter committed at Thessalonica: And as this act was like to cancellating and a circumvallation of the holy mysteries, and in that sence and so far was a proper duty sor a Prelate, to whose dispensation the rites are commit∣ted; so it was an act of duty to the Emperor, of paternal and tender care, not of pro∣per authority or jurisdiction, which he could not have over his Prince, but yet had a care and the supravision of a Teacher over him, whose Soul S. Ambrose had betrayed, unless he had represented his indisposition to communicate in expressions of Magisterial or Doctoral authority and truth. For this holy Sacrament is a nourishment of spiritual life, and therefore cannot with effect be ministred to them who are in the state of spiri∣tual death; it is giving a Cordial to a dead man; and although the outward rite be ministred, yet the Grace of the Sacrament is not communicated, and therefore it were well that they also abstained from the rite it self. For a * 1.268 fly can boast of as much pri∣viledge as a wicked person can receive from this holy Feast; and oftentimes pays his life sor his access to sorbidden delicacies, as certainly as they.

13. It is more generally thought by the Doctors of the Church, that our Blessed Lord administred the Sacrament to Judas, although he knew he sold him to the Jews. * 1.269 Some others deny it, and suppose Judas departed presently after the sop given him, before he communicated. However it was, Christ, who was Lord of the Sacraments, might dispense it as he pleased; but we must minister and receive it according to the rules he hath since described: but it becomes a precedent to the Church in all suc∣ceeding Ages, although it might also have in it something extraordinary and apter to the first institution; for because the fact of Judas was secret, not yet made notorious, Christ chose rather to admit him into the rites of external Communion, than to sepa∣rate him with an open shame for a fault not yet made open. For our Blessed Lord did not reveal the man and his crime till the very time of ministration, if Judas did com∣municate. But if Judas did not communicate, and that our Blessed Lord gave him the sop at the Paschal Supper, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 at the interval between it and the institution of his own, it is certain that Judas went out as soon as he was discovered, and left this part of Discipline upon record, That when a crime is made publick and noto∣rious, the Governours of the Church, according to their power, are to deny to give the blessed Sacrament, till by Repentance such persons be restored. * 1.270 In pri∣vate sins, or sins not known by solemnities of Law, or evidence of fact, good and bad are entertained in publick communion; and it is not to be accounted

a crime in them that minister it, because they cannot avoid it, or have not competent authority to separate persons, whom the publick act of the Church hath not separated: but if once a publick separation be made, or that the fact is notorious, and the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Law is in such cases already declared, they that come, and he that rejects them not, both pollute the bloud of the everlasting Covenant. And here it is applicable what God spake by the Prophet, * 1.271 If thou wilt separate the precious thing from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth.

But this is wholly a matter of Discipline, arbitrary, and in the power of the Church; nothing in it of Divine commandment, but what belongs to the Communicants them∣selves: For S. Paul reproves them that receive disorderly, but gives no orders to the Corinthian Presbyters to reject any that present themselves. Neither did our Blessed Lord leave any Commandment concerning it, nor hath the holy Scripture given rules or measures concerning its actual reduction to practice; neither who are to be separa∣ted, nor for what offences, nor by what authority, nor who is to be the Judge. And indeed it is a judgment that can only belong to God, who knows the secrets of hearts, the degrees of every sin, the beginnings and portions of Repentance, the sincerity of purposes, by what thoughts and designs men begin to be accepted, who are hypo∣crites, and who are true men. But when many and common men come to judge, they are angry upon trisling mistakes and weak disputes; they call that Sin that angers their Party, or grieves their Interest; they turn Charity into Pride, and Admonition into Tyranny; they set up a tribunal that themselves may sit higher, not that their Bre∣thren may walk more securely: And then concerning sins, in most cases, they are most incompetent 〈◊〉〈◊〉; they do not know all their kinds; they miscall many; they are ignorant of the ingredient and constituent parts and circumstances; they them∣selves make false measures, and give out according to them, when they please; and when they list not, they can change the balance. When the matter is publick, evi∣dent and notorious, the man is to be admonished of his danger by the Minister, but not by him to be forced from it: for the power of the Minister of holy things is but the power of a Preacher and a Counsellor, of a Physician and a Guide; it hath in it no co∣ercion or violence, but what is indulged to it by humane laws and by consent, which may vary as its 〈◊〉〈◊〉.

Add to this, that the Grace of God can begin the work of Repentance in an instant, and in what period or degree of Repentance the holy Communion is to be administred no Law of God declares; which therefore plainly allows it to every period, and leaves no difference, except where the Discipline of the Church and the authority of the Su∣preme power doth intervene. For since we do not find in Scripture that the Apostles did drive from the communion of holy things even those whom they delivered over to Satan or other Censures, we are left to consider that, in the nature of the thing, those who are in the state of weakness and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 have more need of the solemn Prayers of the Church, and therefore, by presenting themselves to the holy Sacrament, ap∣proach towards that Ministery which is the most effectual cure; especially since the ve∣ry presenting themselves is an act of Religion, and therefore supposes an act of Repen∣tance and Faith, and other little introductions to its fair reception: and if they may be prayed for, and prayed with, why they may not also be communicated, which is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the greatest Prayer, is not yet clearly revealed.

This discourse relates only to private Ministery: for when I affirm, that there is no command from Christ to all his Ministers to refuse whom they are pleased to call scanda∣lous or sinners, I intend to defend good people from the tyranny and arbitrary power of those great companies of Ministers, who in so many hundred places would have a Ju∣dicature supreme in Spirituals, which would be more intolerable than if they had in one Province 20000 Judges of life and death. But when the power of separation and interdiction is only in some more eminent and authorized persons, who take publick cognizance of causes by solemnities of Law, and exercise their power but in some rare instances, and then also for the publick interest, in which although they may be 〈◊〉〈◊〉, yet they are the most competent and likely Judges, much of the inconveni∣ence which might otherwise follow is avoided: and then it only remains that they consider, in what cases it can be a competent and a proper infliction upon sinners, to take from them that which is the means and ministery of grace and recovery; whether they have any warrant from Christ, or precedent in the Apostles practice, and how far. As for the sorms and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Primitive Church, they were hugely different, sometimes for one cause sometimes for another. Sometimes whole Churches have been excommunicated; sometimes the criminal and all his houshold for his offence,

as it happened in the Excommunication of Andronicus and Thoas in Synesius, in the year* 1.272 411: sometimes they were absolved and restored by Lay Confessors, sometimes by Emperors, as it happened to Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nice, who were ab∣solved by Constantine from the sentence of Excommunication inflicted by the Nicene Fa∣thers; and a Monk did excommunicate Theodosius the younger. So that in this there* 1.273 can be no certainty to make a measure and a rule. The surest way, most agreeable to the precedents of Scripture and the Analogy of the Gospel, is, that by the word of their proper ministery all sinners should be separate from the holy Communion, that is, threatned by the words of God with damnation, and fearful temporal dangers, if themselves, knowing an unrepented sin, and a remanent affection to sin to be within them, shall dare to profane that Body and Bloud of our Lord by so impure an address. The evil is to themselves, and if the Ministers declare this powerfully, they are ac∣quitted. But concerning other judgments or separations, The Supreme power can forbid all assembling, and therefore can permit them to all, and therefore can deny them or grant them to single persons; and therefore when he by Laws makes sepa∣rations in order to publick benefit they are to be obeyed: but it is not to be endured that single Presbyters should upon vain pretences erect so high a tribunal and tyranny over Consciences.

14. The duty of Preparation, that I here discourse of, is such a Preparation as is a disposition to life: it is not a matter of convenience or advantage, to repent of our sins before the Communion, but it is of absolute necessity, we perish if we neglect it; for we cat 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and Satan enters into us, not Christ. And this Preparation is not the act of a day or a week; but it is a new state of life: no man that is an habitual sinner must come to this Feast, till he hath wholly changed his course of life. And then, according as the actions of infirmity have made 〈◊〉〈◊〉 or greater invasion upon his peace and health, so are the acts of Re∣pentance to be proportioned; in which the greatness of the prevarications, their neighbourhood to death, or their frequent repetition, and the conduct of a Spi∣ritual man, are to give us counsel and determination. When a ravening and hungry Wolf is destitute of prey, he 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the turf, and loads his stomach with the glebe he treads on; but as soon as he finds better food, he vomits up his first load. Our secular and sensual affections are loads of earth upon the Conscience, and when we approach to the Table of the Lord to eat the bread of the elect, and to drink the wine of Angels, we must reject such impure adhesions, that holy persons, being nourished with holy Symbols, may be sanctified and receive the eternal reward of Holiness.

15. But as none must come hither but they that are in the state of Grace, or Charity, and the love of God and their Neighbours, and that the abolition of the state of sin is the necessary preparation, and is the action of years, and was not accepted as suffici∣ent till the expiration of divers years by the Primitive Discipline, and in some cases not till the approach of Death: so there is another Preparation which is of less necessity, which supposes the state of Grace, and that oil is burning in our lamps; but yet it is a preparation of ornament, a trimming up the Soul, a dressing the spirit with degrees and instances of Piety and progresses of perfection: and it consists in setting apart some por∣tion of our time before the Communion, that it be spent in Prayer, in Meditations, in renewing the vows of holy Obedience, in Examining our Consciences, in Mortifying our lesser irregularities, in Devotions and actions of precise Religion, in acts of Faith, of Hope, of Charity, of Zeal and holy desires, in acts of Eucharist or Thanksgiving, of Joy at the approach of so blessed opportunity, and all the acts of Vertue whatsoever, which have indefinite relation to this and to other mysteries; but yet are specially to be exercised upon this occasion, because this is the most perfect of external 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and the most mysterious instrument of sanctification and perfection. There is no time or degree to be determined in this Preparation; but they to whom much is forgiven will love much; and they who 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the excellence and holiness of the Mystery, the glo∣ry of the Guest that comes to inhabit, and the undecency of the closet of their Hearts by reason of the adherencies of impurity, the infinite benefit then designed, and the increase of degrees by the excellence of these previous acts of Holiness, will not be too inquisitive into the necessity of circumstances and measures, but do it heartily, and devoutly, and reverently, and as much as they can, ever esteem∣ing it necessary, that the actions of so great solemnity should by some actions of Piety attending like handmaids be distinguished from common imployments, and remarked for the principal and most solemn of religious actions. The Primitive

Church gave the holy Sacrament to Infants * 1.274 immediately after Baptism, and by that act transmitted this Proposition, That nothing was of absolute necessity ‖ 1.275 but Innocency and purity from sin, and a being in the state of Grace; other acti∣ons of Religion are excellent addition to the dignity of the per∣son and honour of the mystery, but they were such of which Infants were not capable. The summ is this; After the greatest consociation of reli∣gious duties for Preparation, no man can be sufficiently worthy to communicate: let us take care that we be not unworthy, by bringing a guilt with us, or the remanent af∣fection to a sin.

Est gloriosus sanè convictus Die; Sed illi qui invitatur, non qui invisus est.

16. When the happy hour is come in which the Lord vouchsafes to enter into us, and dwell with us, and be united with his servants, we must then do the same acts over again with greater 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & intension; confess the glories of God and thy own unworthi∣ness, praise his mercy with ecstasie of thanksgiving and joy, make oblation of thy self, of all thy faculties and capacities, pray, and read, and meditate, and worship: And that thou mayest more opportunely do all this, rise early to meet the Bridegroom, pray for speci∣al assistance, enter into the assembly of faithful people chearfully, attend there diligent∣ly, demean thy self reverently, and before any other meat or drink receive the Body of thy Saviour with pure hands, with holy intention, with a heart full of joy, and faith, and hope, and wonder, and Eucharist. These things I therefore set down ir∣regularly and without method, because in these actions no rule can be given to all per∣sons; and only such a love and such a Religion in general is to be recommended, which will over-run the banks, and not 〈◊〉〈◊〉 stand confined within the margent of rules and artificial prescriptions. Love and Religion are boundless, and all acts of grace relating to the present Mystery are sit and proportioned entertainments of our Lord. This only remember, that we are by the Mystery of one bread confederated into one body, and the communion of Saints, and that the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, which we then commemorate was de∣signed by our Lord for the benefit of all his Church: Let us be sure to draw all faithful people into the society of the present Blessing, joyning with the holy Man that mini∣sters in prayers and offerings of that Mystery for the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of all sorts of men, of Christ's Catholick Church. And it were also an excellent act of Christian communion, and agreeable to the practice of the Church in all Ages, to make an Oblation to God for the poor; that as we are 〈◊〉〈◊〉 by Christ's body, so we also should 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Christ's body, making such returns as we can, a grain of Frankincense in exchange for a Province, an act of duty and Christian Charity as Eucharistical for the present Grace, that all the body may rejoyce and glory in the Salvation of the Lord.

17. After thou hast received that pledge of immortality and antepast of glory, even the Lord's Body in a mystery, leave not thy Saviour there alone, but attend him with holy thoughts and colloquies of Prayer and Eucharist. It was sometime counted infa∣mous for a woman to entertain a second love, till the body of her dead Husband was dissolved into ashes, and disappeared in the form of a body. And it were well, that* 1.276 so long as the consecrated Symbols remain within us according to common estimate, we should keep the flame bright, and the perfume of an actual Devotion burning, that our Communion be not a transient act, but a permanent and lasting intercourse with our Lord. But in this every man best knows his own opportunities and necessities of* 1.277 diversion. I only commend earnestly to practice, that every Receiver should make a recollection of himself, and the actions of the day, that he improve it to the best ad∣vantage, that he shew unto our Lord all the defects of his house, all his poverty and weaknesses: and this let every man do by such actions and Devotions which he can best attend, and himself by the advice of a Spiritual man finds of best advantage. I would not make the practice of Religion, especially in such irregular instances, to be an art, or a burthen, or a snare to scrupulous persons: What S. Paul said in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Charity, I say also in this; He that sows plentifully shall reap plentifully, and he that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sparingly shall gather at the same rate; let every man do as himself purposeth in his heart. Only it were well in this Sacrament of Love we had some correspondency, and propor∣tionable returns of Charity and religious affections.

18. Some religious persons have moved a Question, Whether it were better to communicate often or seldom: some thinking it more reverence to those holy Myste∣ries to come but seldom; while others say, it is greater Religion or Charity to come

frequently. But I suppose this Question does not differ much from a dispute, Whe∣ther is better to pray often, or to pray seldom? For whatsoever is commonly pretend∣ed against a frequent Communion, may in its proportion object against a solemn Pray∣er; 〈◊〉〈◊〉 affection to a sin, enmity with neighbours, secular avocations to the height of care and trouble: for these either are great undecencies in order to a holy Prayer; or else are direct irregularities, and unhallow the Prayer. And the celebra∣tion of the holy Sacrament is in it self and its own formality a sacred, solemn, and ritu∣al Prayer, in which we invocate God by the Merits of Christ, expressing that adjurati∣on not only in words, but in actual representment and commemoration of his Passion. And if the necessities of the Church were well considered, we should find that a daily Sacrifice of Prayer and a daily Prayer of Sacrifice were no more but what her condition requires: and I would to God the Governours of Churches would take care, that the necessities of Kings and Kingdoms, of Churches and States, were represented to God by the most solemn and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 intercessions; and Christ hath taught us none grea∣ter than the praying in the virtue and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of his Sacrifice. And this is the counsel that the Church received from Ignatius; Haslen frequently to approach the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, the glory of God. For when this is daily celebrated, we break the powers of Satan, who turns all his actions into 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and darts of fire. But this concerns the Ministers of Religion, who living in Communities and Colledges must make Religion the busi∣ness of their lives, and support Kingdoms, and serve the interest of Kings by the pray∣er of a daily sacrifice. And yet in this ministery the Clergy may serve their own ne∣cessary affairs, if the ministration be divided into courses, as it was by the oeconomy and wisdom of Solomon for the Temple.

19. But concerning the Communion of Secular and lay persons, the consideration is something different. * 1.278 S. Austin gave this answer to it: To receive the Sacrament every day I neither praise nor reprove; at least let them receive it every Lord's day. And this he spake to Husbandmen and Merchants. At the first commencement of Christi∣anity, while the fervors Apostolical and the calentures of infant Christendom did last, the whole assembly of faithsul people communicated every day; and this lasted in Rome* 1.279 and Spain until the time of S. Jerome: concerning which diligence he gives the same 〈◊〉〈◊〉 which I now recited from S. Austin; for it suffered inconvenience by reason of* 1.280 a declining Piety, and the intervening of secular interests. But then it came to once a week; and yet that was not every-where strictly observed. But that it be recei∣ved once every fortnight S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 counsels very strongly to Eustochium a holy Virgin; Let the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 confess their sins twice every month, or 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and being fortified with the communion of the Lord's Body, let them manfully fight against the Devil's forces and at∣tempts. A while 〈◊〉〈◊〉 it came to once a month, then once a year, then it fell from that too; till all the Christians in the West were commanded to communicate every Easter by the Decree of a * 1.281 great Council above 500 years since. But the Church of England, finding that too little, hath commanded all her Children to receive thrice every year at least, intending that they should come oftner; but of this she demands an account. For it hath fared with this Sacrament as with other actions of Religion, which have descended 〈◊〉〈◊〉 flames to still fires, from fires to sparks, from sparks to embers, from embers to smoke, from smoke to nothing. And although the publick 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Piety is such, that in this present conjuncture of things it is impossible men should be reduced to a daily Communion; yet that they are to communicate frequent∣ly is so a Duty, that as no excuse but impossibility can make the omission innocent, so the loss and consequent want is infinite and invaluable.

20. For the holy Communion being a remembrance and sacramental repetition of Christ's Passion, and the application of his Sacrifice to us and the whole Catholick Church; as they who seldom communicate delight not to remember the Passion of our Lord, and sin against his very purpose, and one of the designs of institution; so he cares not to receive the benefits of the Sacrifice who so neglects their application, and redu∣cing them to actual profit and 〈◊〉〈◊〉.

Whence came the sanctimony of the pri∣mitive Christians? whence came their strict observation of the Divine Command∣ments? whence was it that they persevered in holy actions with hope and an unwea∣ry diligence? from whence did their despising worldly things come, and living with common possession, and the distributions of an universal Charity? Whence came these and many other excellencies, but from a constant Prayer, and a daily Eucha∣rist? They who every day represented the death of Christ, every day were ready to die for Christ.

It was the discourse of an ancient and excellent person. And if we consider this Sacrament is intended to unite the spirits and affections of the world, and

that it is diffusive and powerful to this purpose, [for we are one body, (saith S. Paul) because we partake of one bread;] possibly we may have reason to say, that the wars of Kingdoms, the animosity of Families, the infinite multitude of Law-suits, the personal hatreds, and the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 want of Charity, which hath made the world miserable and wicked, may in a great degree be attributed to the neglect of this great symbol and in∣strument of Charity. The Chalice of the Sacrament is called by S. Paul, The cup of blessing; and if children need every day to beg blessing of their Parents, if we also thirst not after this Cup of blessing, blessing may be far from us. It is called The communi∣cation of the bloud of Christ; and it is not imaginable that man should love Heaven, or felicity, or his Lord, that desires not perpetually to bathe in that salutary stream, the Bloud of the Holy Jesus, the immaculate Lamb of God.

21. But I find that the religious fears of men are pretended a colour to excuse this Irreligion. Men are wicked, and not prepared, and busie, and full of cares and af∣fairs of the world, and cannot come with due Preparation; and therefore better not come at all: Nay, men are not ashamed to say, they are at 〈◊〉〈◊〉 with certain per∣sons, and therefore cannot come. Concerning those persons who are unprepared be∣cause they are in a state of sin or uncharitableness, it is true, they must not come; but this is so far from excusing their not coming, that they increase their sin, and secure misery to themselves, because they do not lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset them, that they may come to the Marriage-supper. It is as if we should ex∣cuse our selves from the duties of Charity, by saying we are uncharitable; from giving Alms, by saying we are covetous; from Chastity, by saying we are lascivious. To such men it is just that they graze with the Goats, because they refuse to wash their hands, that they may come to the Supper of the Lamb. 2. Concerning those that pretend cares and incumbrances of the world; If their affairs make sin and impure af∣fections to stick upon them, they are in the first consideration: but if their office be ne∣cessary, just, or charitable, they imitate Martha, and chuse the less perfect part, when they neglect the offices of Religion for duties oeconomical. 3. But the other sort have more pretence and fairer vertue in their outside. They suppose, like the Persian Princes, the seldomer such mysterious rites are seen, the more reverence we shall have, and they the more majesty: and they are fearful lest the frequent attrecta∣tion of them should make us less to value the great earnests of our Redemption and Im∣mortality. It is a pious consideration, but not becoming them: For it cannot be that the Sacrament be under-valued by frequent reception, without the great unworthiness of the persons, so turning God's grace into lightness and loathing Manna: nay, it can∣not be without an unworthy communication; for he that receives worthily increases in the love of God and Religion, and the fires of the Altar are apt to kindle our sparks into a slame; and when Christ our Lord enters into us, and we grow weary of him, or less fond of his frequent entrance and perpetual cohabitation, it is an infallible sign we have let his enemy in, or are preparing for it. For this is the difference between secular and spiritual objects: Nothing in this world hath any pleasure in it long beyond the hope of it, for the possession and enjoyment is found so empty, that we grow weary of it; but whatsoever is spiritual, and in order to God, is less before we have it, but in the fruition it swells our desires, and enlarges the appetite, and makes us more re∣ceptive and forward in the entertainment: and therefore those acts of Religion that set us forward in time, and backward in affection, do declare that we have not well done our duty, but have communicated unworthily. So that the mending of our fault will answer the objection. Communicate with more devotion, and repent with grea∣ter contrition, and walk with more caution, and pray more earnestly, and meditate diligently, and receive with reverence and godly fear; and we shall find our affections increase together with the spiritual emolument; ever remembring that pious and wise advice of S. Ambrose, Receive every day, that which may profit thee every day. But* 1.282 he that is not disposed to receive it every day, is not fit to receive it every year.

22. And if after all diligence it be still feared that a man is not well prepared, I must say that it is a scruple, that is, a trouble beyond a doubt and without reason, next to Superstition and the dreams of Religion; and it is nourished by imagining that no duty is accepted, if it be less than perfection, and that God is busied in Heaven, not only to destroy the wicked, and to dash in pieces vessels of dishonour, but to break a brui∣sed reed in pieces, and to cast the smoaking flax into the flames of hell. In opposition to* 1.283 which we must know, that nothing makes us unprepared but an evil Conscience, a state of sin, or a deadly act: but the lesser infirmities of our life, against which we dai∣ly strive, and for which we never have any kindness or affections, are not spots in these

Feasts of Charity, but instruments of Humility, and stronger invitations to come to those Rites which are ordained for 〈◊〉〈◊〉 against infirmities of the Soul, and for the growth of the spirit in the strengths of God. For those other acts of Preparati∣on which precede and accompany the duty, the better and more religiously they are done, they are indeed of more advantage, and honourary to the Sacrament; yet he that comes in the state of Grace, though he takes the opportunity upon a sudden offer, sins not: and in such indefinite duties, whose degrees are not described, it is good counsel to do our best; but it is ill to make them instruments of scruple, as if it were essentially necessary to do that in the greatest height, which is only intended for ad∣vantage and the fairer accommodation of the mystery. But these very acts, if they be esteemed necessary preparations to the Sacrament, are the greatest arguments in the world that it is best to communicate often; because the doing of that which must sup∣pose the exercise of so many Graces, must needs promote the interest of Religion, and dispose strongly to habitual Graces by our frequent and solemn repetition of the acts. It is necessary that every Communicant be first examined concerning the state of his Soul, by himself or his Superiour; and that very Scrutiny is in admirable order towards the reformation of such irregularities which time and temptation, negligence and incuri∣ousness, infirmity or malice have brought into the secret regions of our Will and Un∣derstanding. Now although this Examination be therefore enjoyned, that no man should approach to the holy Table in the state of ruine and reprobation, and that there∣fore it is an act not of direct Preparation, but an enquiry whether we be prepared or no; yet this very Examination will find so many little irregularities, and so many great imperfections, that it will appear the more necessary, to repair the breaches and lesser ruines by such acts of Piety and Religion; because every Communication is in∣tended to be a nearer approach to God, a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 step in Grace, a progress towards glo∣ry, and an instrument of perfection; and therefore upon the stock of our spiritual inte∣rests, for the purchase of a greater hope, and the advantages of a growing Charity, ought to be frequently received. I end with the words of a pious and learned person: It is a vain fear and an imprudent 〈◊〉〈◊〉, that procrastinates and desers going to the Lord* 1.284 that calls them: they deny to go to the fire, pretending they are cold; and refuse Phy∣sick, because they need it.

The PRAYER,

O Blessed and Eternal Jesus, who gavest thy self a Sacrifice for our sins, thy Body for our spiritual food, thy 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to nourish our spirits, and to quench the flames of Hell and Lust, who didst so love us, who were thine enemies, that thou desiredst to reconcile us to thee, and becamest all one with us, that we may live the same life, think the same thoughts, love the same love, and be partakers of thy Resurrection and Immortality; open every window of my Soul, that I may be full of light, and may see the excellency of thy Love, the merits of thy Sacrifice, the bitterness of thy Passion, the glories and virtues of the mysterious Sacra∣ment. Lord, let me ever hunger and thirst after this instrument of Righteousness; let me have no gust or relish of the unsatisfying delights of things below, but let my Soul dwell in thee; let me for ever receive thee spiritually, and very frequently communicate with thee sacramen∣tally, and imitate thy Vertues pionsly and strictly, and dwell in the pleasures of thy house eter∣nally. Lord, thou hast prepared a table for me, against them that trouble me: let that holy Sacrament of the Eucharist be to me a defence and shield, a nourishment and medicine, life and health, a means of sanctification and spiritual growth; that I receiving the body of my dearest Lord may be one with his mystical body, and of the same spirit, united with in∣dissoluble bonds of a strong Faith, and a holy Hope, and a never-failing Charity, that from this veil I may pass into the visions of eternal clarity, from eating thy Body to beholding thy face in the glories of thy everlasting Kingdom, O Blessed and Eternal Jesus.

Amen.

Considerations upon the Accidents happening on the Vespers of the Passion.

[illustration]

The Prayer in the Garden.

Luk: 22. 41. And he was withdrawn from them about a stones cast, & kneeled down & prayed. 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing remove this Cup from me: nevertheless not my will but thine be done. 43 And there appeared an Angel from heaven strengthening him.

[illustration]

Iudas betrayeth Christ:

Mat: 26. 47. And while he yet spake, Lo. Iudas one of the twelue came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief Preists & Elders of the people. 48. Now he that be trayed him gave them a sign saying whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he, hold him fast. 49. And forthwith he came to Iesus and said, Haile Master, and kissed him.

1. WHen Jesus had supped and sang a Hymn, and prayed, and exhorted and com∣forted his Disciples with a Farewell-Sermon, in which he repeated 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of his former Precepts which were now apposite to the present condition, and re-inforced them with proper and pertinent arguments, he went over the brook Cedron, and en∣tred into a Garden, and into the prologue of his Passion; chusing that place for his Agony and satisfactory pains, in which the first scene of humane misery was represent∣ed, and where he might best attend the offices of Devotion preparatory to his Death. Besides this, he therefore departed from the house, that he might give opportunity to his Enemies surprise, and yet not incommodate the good man by whose hospitality they had eaten the Paschal Lamb; so that he went like a Lamb to the slaughter, to the Garden* 1.285 as to a prison, as if by an agreement with his persecutors he had expected their arrest, and stayed there to prevent their farther enquiry. For so great was his desire to pay our* 1.286 Ransom, that himself did assist by a forward patience and active opportunity towards the persecution: teaching us, that by an active zeal and a ready spirit we assist the de∣signs of God's glory, though in our own sufferings and secular infelicities.

2. When he entred the Garden, he left his Disciples at the entrance of it, calling with him only Peter, James and John: he withdrew himself from the rest about a stone's cast, and began to be exceeding heavy. He was not sad till he had called them, (for his sorrow began when he pleased:) which sorrow he also chose to represent to those three who had seen his Transfiguration, the earnest of his future Glory, that they might see of how great glory for our sakes he disrobed himself; and that they also might by the confronting those contradictory accidents observe, that God uses to dispense his com∣forts, the irradiations and emissions of his glory, to be preparatives to those sorrows with which our life must be allayed and seasoned; that none should refuse to partake

of the sufferings of Christ, if either they have already felt his comforts, or hope hereaf∣ter to wear his crown. And it is not ill observed, that S. Peter, being the chief of the Apostles and Doctor of the Circumcision, S. John, being a Virgin, and S. James the first of the Apostles that was martyred, were admitted to Christ's greatest retirements and mysterious secrecies, as being persons of so singular and eminent dispositions, to whom, according to the pious opinion of the Church, especially Coronets are prepa∣red in Heaven, besides the great Crown of rightcousness, which in common shall beauti∣fie the heads of all the Saints; meaning this, that Doctors, Virgins and Martyrs shall receive, even for their very state of life and accidental Graces, more eminent degrees of accidental Glory, like as the Sun, reflecting upon a limpid fountain, receives its rays doubled, without any increment of its proper and natural light.

3. Jesus began to be exceeding sorrowful, to be sore amazed and sad even to death. And because he was now to suffer the pains of our sins, there began his Passion whence our sins spring. From an evil heart and a prevaricating spirit all our sins arise; and in the spirit of Christ began his sorrow, where he truly felt the full value and demerit of Sin, which we think not worthy of a tear or a hearty sigh, but he groaned and fell under the burthen. But therefore he took upon him this sadness, that our imperfect sorrow and contrition might be heightned in his example, and accepted in its union and con∣sederacy with his. And Jesus still designed a farther mercy for us; for he sanctified the passion of Fear, and hallowed natural sadnesses, that we might not think the infe∣licities of our nature and the calamities of our temporal condition to become criminal, so long as they make us not omit a duty, or dispose us to the election of a crime, or force us to swallow a temptation, nor yet to exceed the value of their impulsive cause. He that grieves for the loss of friends, and yet had rather lose all the friends he hath than lose the love of God, hath the sorrow of our Lord for his precedent. And he that fears death, and trembles at its approximation, and yet had rather die again than sin once, hath not sinned in his fear; Christ hath hallowed it, and the necessitous condition of his nature is his excuse. But it were highly to be wished, that in the midst of our caresses and levities of society, in our festivities and triumphal merriments, when we laugh at folly and rejoyce in sin, we would remember that for those very merriments our Blessed Lord felt a bitter sorrow; and not one vain and sinful laughter; but cost the Holy Jesus a sharp pang and throe of Passion.

4. Now that the Holy Jesus began to taste the bitter Cup, he betook him to his great Antidote, which himself, the great Physician of our Souls, prescribed to all the world to cure their calamities, and to make them pass from miseries into vertue, that so they may arrive at glory; he prays to his heavenly Father, he kneels down, and not only so, but falls flat upon the earth, and would in humility and fervent adoration have descended low as the centre; he prays with an intension great as his sorrow, and yet with a dereliction so great, and a conformity to the Divine will so ready, as if it had been the most indifferent thing in the world for him to be delivered to death, or from it: for though his nature did decline death, as that which hath a natural horrour and contradiction to the present interest of its preservation; yet when he looked upon it as his heavenly Father had put it into the order of Redemption of the World, it was that Baptism which he was straitned till he had accomplished. And now there is not in the world any condition of prayer which is essential to the duty, or any circumstances of advantage to its performance, but were concentred in this one instance; Humility of spirit, lowliness of deportment, importunity of desire, a fervent spirit, a lawful mat∣ter, resignation to the will of God, great love, the love of a Son to his Father, (which appellative was the form of his address) perseverance, (he went thrice, and prayed the same prayer.) It was not long, and it was so retired as to have the advantages of a sufficient solitude and opportune recollection; for he was withdrawn from the most of his Disciples: and yet not so alone as to lose the benefit of communion; for Peter and the two Boanerges were near him. Christ in this prayer, which was the most fervent that he ever made on earth, intending to transmit to all the world a precedent of Devotion to be transcribed and imitated; that we should cast all our cares, and empty them in the bosom of God, being content to receive such a portion of our trouble back again, which he assigns us for our spiritual emolument.

5. The Holy Jesus having in a few words poured out torrents of innocent desires, was pleased still to interrupt his Prayer, that he might visit his charge, that little flock which was presently after to be scattered: he was careful of them in the midst of his Agonies; they in his sufferings were fast asleep. He awakens them, gives them com∣mand to watch and pray, that is to be vigilant in the custody of their senses, and obervant

of all accidents, and to pray that they may be strengthened against all incursions of* 1.287 enemies and temptations; and then returns to prayer; and so a third time; his Devo∣tion still encreasing with his sorrow. And when his Prayer was full, and his sorrow come to a great measure, after the third, God sent his Angel to comfort him; and by that act of grace then only expressed, hath taught us to continue our Devotions so long as our needs last. It may be God will not send a Comsorter till the third time, that is, after a long expectation, and a patient 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and a lasting hope: in the inte∣rim God supports us with a secret hand, and in his own time will refresh the spirit with the visitations of his Angels, with the emissions of comfort from the Spirit, the Comforter. And know this also, that the holy Angel, and the Lord of all the An∣gels, stands by every holy person when he prays; and although he draws before his glories the curtain of a cloud, yet in every instant he takes care we shall not perish, and in a just season dissolves the cloud, and makes it to distill in holy dew, and drops sweet as Manna, pleasant as Nard, and wholsome as the breath of Heaven. And such was the consolation which the Holy Jesus received by the ministery of the An∣gel,* 1.288 representing to Christ the Lord of the Angels, how necessary it was that he should die for the glory of God; that in his Passion his Justice, Wisdom, Goodness, Power and Mercy should shine; that unless he died all the World should perish, but his bloud should obtain their pardon; and that it should open the gates of Heaven, repair the ruine of Angels, establish a holy Church, be 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of innumerable adoptive children to his Father, whom himself should make heirs of glory; and that his Passi∣on should soon pass away, his Father hearing and granting his Prayer, that the Cup should pass speedily, though indeed it should pass through him; that it should be at∣tended and followed with a glorious Resurrection, with eternal rest and glory of his Humanity, with the exaltation of his Name, with a supreme dominion over all the world, and that his Father should make him King of Kings, and Prince of the Ca∣tholick Church. These, or whatsoever other comforts the Angel ministred, were such considerations which the Holy Jesus knew, and the Angel knew not but by communication from that God to whose assumed Humanity the Angel spake; yet he was pleased to receive comfort from his servant, just as God receives glory from his creatures, and as he rejoyces in his own works, even* 1.289 because he is good and gracious, and is pleased so to do; and because himself had caused a voluntary sadness to be interposed between the ha∣bitual knowledge and the actual consideration of these discourses; and we feel a pleasure when a friendly hand lays upon our wound the plaister which our selves have made, and applies such instruments and con∣siderations of comfort which we have in notion and an ineffective habit, but cannot reduce them to act, because no man is so apt to be his own comforter; which God hath therefore permitted, that our needs should be the occasion of a mutual Chari∣ty.

6. It was a great season for the Angel's coming, because it was a great necessity which was incumbent upon our Lord; for his sadness and his Agony was so great, mingled and compounded of sorrow and zeal, fear and desire, innocent nature and per∣fect grace, that he sweat drops as great as if the bloud had started through little undis∣cerned fontinels, and outrun the streams and rivers of his Cross. * 1.290 Euthymius and ‖ 1.291 Theophylact say, that the Evangelists use this as a tragical expression of the greatest Ago∣ny, and an unusual sweat, it being usual to call the tears of the greatest sorrow tears of 〈◊〉〈◊〉. But from the beginning of the Church it hath been more generally apprehen∣ded literally, and that some bloud mingled with the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 substance issued from his veins in so great abundance, that they moistened the ground, and bedecked his gar∣ment, which stood like a new firmament studded with stars, portending an approach∣ing storm. Now he came from Bozrah with his garments red and bloudy. And this* 1.292 Agony verified concerning the Holy Jesus those words of David, I am poured out like water, my bones are dispersed, my heart in the midst of my body is like melting wax, saith Justin Martyr. * 1.293 Venerable Bede saith, that the descending of these drops of bloud upon the earth, besides the general purpose, had also a particular relation to the present infirmities of the Apostles, that our Blessed Lord obtained of his Father, by the merits of those holy drops, mercies and special support for them; and that effusion redeemed them from the present participation of death. And S. Austin medi∣tates, that the Body of our Lord all overspread with drops of bloudy sweat did prefigure the future state of Martyrs, and that his Body mystical should be clad in a red garment variegated with the symbols of labour and passion, sweat and

bloud; by which himself was pleased to purifie his Church, and present her to God holy and spotless. What collateral designs and tacite significations might be designed by this mysterious sweat, I know not; certainly it was a sad beginning of a most do∣lorous Passion: and such griefs, which have so violent, permanent and sudden effects upon the body, which is not of a nature symbolical to interiour and immaterial causes, are proclaimed by such marks to be high and violent. We have read of some persons, that the grief and fear of one night hath put a cover of snow upon their heads, as if the labours of thirty years had been extracted, and the quintessence drank off in the passion of that night: but if Nature had been capable of a greater or more prodigious impress of passion than a bloudy sweat, it must needs have happened in this Agony of the Holy Jesus, in which he undertook a grief great enough to make up the imper∣fect Contrition of all the Saints, and to satisfie for the impenitencies of all the world.

7. By this time the Traitor Judas was arrived at Gethsemani, and being in the vi∣cinage of the Garden, Jesus rises from his prayers, and first calls his Disciples from their sleep, and by an Irony seems to give them leave to sleep on, but reproves their drousi∣ness, when danger is so near, and bids them henceforth take their rest; meaning, if they could for danger, which now was indeed come to the Garden-doors. But the Holy Jesus, that it might appear he undertook the Passion with choice and a free ele∣ction, not only refused to flie, but called his Apostles to rise, that they might meet his Murtherers, who came to him with swords and staves, as if they were to surprise a Prince of armed Out-laws, whom without force they could not reduce. So also might Butchers do well to go armed, when they are pleased to be afraid of Lambs, by calling them Lions. Judas only discovered his Master's retirements, and betrayed him to the opportunities of an armed band; for he could not accuse his Master of any word or pri∣vate action, that might render him obnoxious to suspicion or the Law. For such are the rewards of innocence and prudence, that the one secures against sin, the other against suspicion and appearances.

8. The Holy Jesus had accustomed to receive every of his Disciples after absence with entertainment of a Kiss, which was the endearment of persons, and the expressi∣on of the oriental civility: and Judas was confident that his Lord would not reject him, whose feet he had washed at the time when he foretold this event, and therefore had agreed to signifie him by this * 1.294 sign; and did so, beginning war with a Kiss, and breaking the peace of his Lord by the symbol of kindness: which because Jesus entertained with much evenness and charitable expressi∣ons, calling him‖ 1.295 Friend, he gave evidence, that if he re∣tained civilities to his greatest enemies in the very acts of ho∣stility, he hath banquets and crowns and scepters for his friends, that adore him with the kisses of Charity, and love him with the sincerity of an affectionate spirit. But our Blessed Lord, besides his essential sweetness and serenity of spirit, understood well how great benefits himself and all the World were to receive by occasion of that act of Judas: and our greatest enemy does by accident to holy per∣sons the offices of their dearest friends; telling us our faults without a cloak to cover their deformities, but out of malice laying open the circumstances of aggravation, doing us affronts, from whence we have an instrument of our Patience, and restrain∣ing us from scandalous crimes, lest we become a scorn and reproof to them that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 us. And it is none of God's least mercies, that he permits enmities amongst men, that animosities and peevishness may reprove more sharply, and correct with more se∣verity and simplicity, than the gentle hand of friends, who are apter to bind our wounds up, than to discover them and make them smart; but they are to us an excellent probation how friends may best do the offices of friends, if they would take the plainness of enemies in accusing, and still mingle it with the tenderness and good affections of friends. But our Blessed Lord called Judas Friend, as be∣ing the instrument of bringing him to glory, and all the World to pardon, if they would.

9. Jesus himself begins the enquiry, and leads them into their errand, and tells them he was JESUS of Nazareth whom they sought. But this also, which was an answer so gentle, had in it a strength greater than the Eastern wind or the voice of thunder; for God was in that still voice, and it* 1.296 struck them down to the ground. And yet they, and so do we still persist to persecute our Lord, and to provoke the eternal God,

who can with the breath of his mouth, with a word, or a sign, or a thought, reduce us into nothing, or into a worse condition, even an eternal duration of torments, and cohabitation with a never-ending misery. And if we cannot bear a soft answer of the merciful God, how shall we dare to provoke the wrath of the Almighty Judge? But in this instance there was a rare mixture of effects, as there was in Christ of Natures;* 1.297 the voice of a Man, and the power of God. For it is observed by the Doctors of the Primitive Ages, that from the Nativity of our Lord to the day of his Death, the Divi∣nity and Humanity did so communicate in effects, that no great action passed, but it was like the Sun shining through a cloud, or a beauty with a thin veil drawn over it, they gave illustration and testimony to each other. The Holy Jesus was born a tender and a crying Infant; but is adored by the Magi as a King, by the Angels as their GOD. He is circumcised as a Man; but a name is given him to signifie him to be the SAVIOUR of the World. He flies into Egypt like a distressed Child under the conduct of his helpless Parents; but as soon as he enters the Country, the Idols fall down and confess his true Divinity. He is presented in the Temple as the Son of man; but by Simeon and Anna he is celebrated with divine praises for the MESSI∣AS, the SON OF GOD. He is baptized in Jordan as a Sinner; but the Ho∣ly Ghost descending upon him proclaimed him to be the well-beloved of God. He is hungry in the Desart as a Man; but sustained his body without meat and drink for forty days together by the power of his Divinity: There he is tempted of Satan as a weak Man, and the Angels of light minister unto him as their supreme Lord. And now a little before his death, when he was to take upon him all the affronts, miseries and exinanitions of the most miserable, he receives testimonies from above, which are most wonderful: For he was tranfigured upon Mount Tabor, entred triumphantly in∣to Jerusalem, had the acclamations of the people: when he was dying, he darkned the Sun; when he was dead, he opened the sepulchres; when he was fast nailed to the Cross, he made the earth to tremble; now when he suffers himself to be appre∣hended by a guard of Souldiers, he strikes them all to the ground only by replying to their answer, that the words of the Prophet might be verified, Therefore my people shall* 1.298 know my Name; therefore they shall know in that day, that I am he that doth speak, behold it is I.

10. The Souldiers and servants of the Jews having recovered from their fall, and risen by the permission of Jesus, still persisted in their enquiry after him, who was pre∣sent, ready, and desirous to be sacrificed. He therefore permitted himself to be taken, but not his Disciples: for he it was that set them their bounds; and he secured his Apostles to be witnesses of his suffering and his glories; and this work was the Redem∣ption of the world,* 1.299 in which no man could have an active share, he alone was to tread the wine-press; and time enough they should be called to a fellowship of suffer∣ings. But Jesus went to them, and they bound him with cords: and so began our li∣berty and redemption from slavery, and sin, and cursings, and death. But he was bound faster by bands of his own; his Father's Will, and Mercy, Pity of the world, Prophecies, and‖ 1.300 Mysteries, and Love held him fast: and these cords were as strong as death; and the cords which the Souldiers malice put upon his holy hands were but symbols and figures, his own compassion and affection were the morals. But yet he undertook this short restraint and condition of a prisoner, that all sorts of persecution and exteriour calamities might be hallowed by his susception, and these pungent sor∣rows should like bees sting him, and leave their sting behind, that all the sweetness should remain for us. Some melancholick Devotions have from uncertain stories added sad circumstances of the first violence done to our Lord; That they bound him with three cords, and that with so much violence, that they caused bloud to start from his tender hands; That they 〈◊〉〈◊〉 then also upon him with a violence and incivility like that which their Fathers had used towards Hur the brother of Aaron, whom they choaked with impure spittings into his throat, because he refused to consent to the ma∣king a golden Calf. These particulars are not transmitted by certain Records. Cer∣tain it is, they wanted no malice, and now no power; for the Lord had given himself into their hands.

11. S. Peter seeing his Master thus ill used asked, Master, shall we strike with the sword? and before he had his answer cut off the ear of Malchus. Two swords there were in Christ's family, and S. Peter bore one; either because he was to kill the Paschal Lamb, or, according to the custom of the Country, to secure them against beasts of prey, which in that region were frequent, and dangerous in the night. But now he used it in an unlawful war; he had no competent authority, it was against the Ministers

of his lawful Prince, and against our Prince we must not draw a sword for Christ him∣self, himself having forbidden us; as his kingdom is not of this world, so neither were his defences secular: he could have called for many legions of Angels for his guard, if he had so pleased; and we read that one Angel slew 185000 armed men in one night; and therefore it was a vast power which was at the command of our Lord; and he needs not such low auxiliaries as an army of Rebels, or a navy of Pirates, to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 his cause: he first lays the foundation of our happiness in his sufferings, and hath ever since supported Religion by patience and suffering, and in poverty, and all the circumstances and conjunctures of improbable causes. Fighting for Religion is certain to destroy Cha∣rity, but not certain to support Faith. S. Peter therefore may use his keys, but he is commanded to put up his sword; and he did so; and presently he and all his fellows fairly ran away: and yet that course was much the more Christian, for though it had in it much infirmity, yet it had no malice. In the mean time the Lord was pleased to touch the ear of Malchus, and he cured it; adding to the first instance of power, in throwing them to the ground, an act of miraculous mercy, curing the wounds of an enemy made by a friend. But neither did this pierce their callous and obdurate spirits; but they led him in uncouth ways, and through the brook Cedron, in which it is said* 1.301 the ruder souldiers plunged him, and passed upon him all the affronts and rudenesses* 1.302 which an insolent and cruel multitude could think of, to signifie their contempt and their rage. And such is the nature of evil men, who, when they are not softned by the instruments and arguments of Grace, are much hardned by them; such being the purpose of God, that either Grace shall cure sin, or accidentally increase it; that it shall either pardon it, or bring it to greater punishment: for so I have seen healthful medi∣cines abused by the incapacities of a heathless body become fuel to a fever, and increase the distemperature from indisposition to a sharp disease, and from thence to the margent of the grave. But it was otherwise in Saul, whom Jesus threw to the ground with a more angry sound than these persecutors: but Saul rose a Saint, and they persisted De∣vils, and the grace of God distinguished the events.

The PRAYER.

O Holy Jesus, make me by thy example to conform to the will of that Eternal God who is our Father, merciful and gracious, that I may chuse all those accidents which his Pro∣vidence hath actually disposed to me, that I may know no desires but his commands, and his will, and that in all afflictions I may fly thither for mercy, pardon, and support, and may wait for deliverance in such times and manners which the Father hath reserved in his own power, and graciously dispenses according to his infinite wisdom and compassion. Holy Jesus, give me the gift and spirit of Prayer, and do thou by thy gracious intercession supply my igno∣rances and passionate desires and imperfect choices, procuring and giving to me such returns of favour which may support my needs, and serve the ends of Religion and the Spirit, which thy wisdom chuses, and thy Passion hath purchased, and thy grace loves to bestow upon all thy Saints and servants. Amen.

II.

ETernal God, sweetest Jesu, who didst receive Judas with the affection of a Saviour, and sufferedst him to kiss thy cheek, with the serenity and tranquillity of God, and didst per∣mit the souldiers to bind thee, with Patience exemplary to all ages of Martyrs, and didst cure the wound of thy enemy with the Charity of a Parent, and the tenderness of an infinite pity; O kiss me with the kisses of thy mouth, embrace me with the entertainments of a gracious Lord, and let my Soul dwell and feast in thee, who art the repository of eternal sweetness and refreshments. Bind me, O Lord, with those bands which tied thee fast, the chains of Love; that such holy union may dissolve the cords of vanity, and confine the bold pretensions of usurp∣ing Passions, and imprison all extravagancies of an impertinent spirit, and lead Sin captive to the dominion of Grace and sanctified Reason; that I also may imitate all the parts of thy ho∣ly Passion, and may by thy bands get my liberty, by thy kiss enkindle charity, by the touch of thy hand and the breath of thy mouth have all my wounds cured and restored to the integrity of a holy Penitent, and the purities of Innocence, that I may love thee, and please thee, and live with thee for ever, O Holy and sweetest Jesu.

Amen.

Considerations upon the Scourging and other Accidents hap∣pening from the Apprehension till the Crucifixion of JESUS.

[illustration]

Christ brought before the Highpreist.

Iohn. 18: 12. Then the Band and the Captain and the Officers of the Iews took Iesus and bound him. 25. And lead him away to Annas first for he was Father-in-law to Cajaphas, which was Highpreist that same yeare.

[illustration]

Christ arraigned before Herod.

Luk. 23. 7. 8. 11. And assoone as he knew that he be∣longed to Herods jurisdiction, he sent him to He¦rod. 8. And when Herod saw Iesus, he was exceed∣ing glad: 11. And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him againe to Pilate.

1. THE house of Annas stood in the mount Sion, and in the way to the house of Caiaphas; and thither he was led as to the first stage of their triumph for their surprise of a person so feared and desired; and there a naughty person smote the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Jesus upon the face, for saying to Annas that he had made his Doctrine publick, and that all the people were able to give account of it: to whom the Lamb of God 〈◊〉〈◊〉 as much meekness and patience in his answer, as in his answer to Annas he had 〈◊〉〈◊〉 prudence and modesty. For now that they had taken Jesus, they wanted a crime to object against him, and therefore were desirous to snatch occasion from his discourses, to which they resolved to tempt him by questions and affronts: but his answer was general and indefinite, safe and true, enough to acquit his Doctrine from suspicions of secret designs, and yet secure against their present snares; for now himself, who always had the innocence of Doves, was to joyn with it the prudence and wariness of Serpents; not to prevent death, (for that he was resolved to suffer) but that they might be de∣stitute of all apparence of a just cause on his part. Here it was that Judas received his money; and here that holy Face which was designed to be that object in the beholding of which much of the celestial glory doth consist, that Face which the Angels stare up∣on with wonder, like infants at a bright Sun-beam, was smitten extrajudicially by an incompetent person, with circumstances of despight, in the presence of a Judge, in a full assembly, and none reproved the insolency and the cruelty of the affront: for they resolved to use him as they use Wolves and Tigres, with all things that may be de∣structive,

violent and impious: and in this the injury was heightned, because the blow* 1.303 was said to be given by Malchus an Idumaean slave, and therefore a contemptible per∣son; but far more unworthy by his ingratitude, for so he repayed the Holy Jesus for working a Miracle and healing his ear. But so the Scripture was fulfilled; He shall* 1.304 give his body to the smiters, and his cheeks to the nippers, saith the Prophet Isay; and, They shall smite the cheek of the Judge of Israel, saith Micah. And this very circum∣stance of the Passion Lactantius.* 1.305 affirms to have been foretold by the Erythraean Si∣byll. But no meekness or indifferency could engage our Lord not to protest his innocen∣cy:* 1.306 and though following his steps we must walk in the regions of patience, and tran∣quillity, and admirable toleration of injuries; yet we may represent such defences of our selves, which by not resisting the sentence may testifie that our suffering is undeser∣ved: and if our Innocency will not preserve our lives, it will advance our title to a bet∣ter; and every good cause ill judged shall be brought to another tribunal to receive a just and unerring sentence.

2. Annas having suffered this unworthy usage towards a person so excellent, sent him away to Caiphas, who had formerly in a full council resolved he should die; yet* 1.307 now palliating the design with the scheme of a tribunal, they seek out for witnesses, and the witnesses are to seek for allegations; and when they find them, they are to seek for proof, and those proofs were to seek for unity and consent, and nothing was ready for their purposes; but they were forced to use the semblance of a judicial process, that, because they were to make use of Pilate's authority to put him to death, they might perswade Pilate to accept of their examination and conviction without farther enquiry. But such had been the excellency and exemplar Piety and prudence of the life of Jesus, that if they pretended against him questions of their Law, they were not capital in a Roman Court: if they affirmed that he had moved the people to sedition and affected the Kingdom, they saw that all the world would convince them of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 testi∣mony. At last, after many attempts, they accused him for a figurative speech, a trope which they could not understand; which if it had been spoken in a literal sence, and had been acted too according to the letter, had been so far from a fault, that it would have been a prodigy of power; and it had been easier to raise the Temple of Jerusalem, than to raise the temple of his Body. In the mean time, the Lamb of God left his cause to defend it self under the protection of his heavenly Father; not only because himself was determined to die, but because if he had not, those premisses could never have in∣ferred it. But this Silence of the Holy Jesus fulfilled a Prophecy, it made his enemies full of murmur and amazement, it made them to see that he despised the accusations as certain and apparent calumnies; but that himself was fearless of the issue, and in the sence of morality and mysteries taught us not to be too apt to excuse our selves, when the semblance of a fault lies upon us, unless by some other duty we are obliged to our* 1.308 defences; since he who was most innocent, was most silent: and it was expedient, that as the first Adam increased his sin by a vain apology, the silence and sufferance of the second Adam should expiate and reconcile it.

3. But Caiaphas had a reserve, which he knew should do the business in that assem∣bly; he adjured him by God to tell him if he were the CHRIST. The Holy Jesus, being adjured by so sacred a Name, would not now refuse an answer, lest it might not consist with that honour which is due to it, and which he always payed, and that he might neither despise the authority of the High Priest, nor upon so solemn occasion be wanting to that great truth which he came down to earth to perswade to the world. And when three such circumstances concur, it is enough to open our mouths, though we let in death. And so did our Lord, confessed himself to be the CHRIST, the Son of the living God. And this the High Priest was pleased, as the design was laid, to call Blasphemy; and there they voted him to die. Then it was the High Priest rent his cloaths; the veil of the Temple was rent when the Passion was finished, the cloaths of the Priests at the beginning of it: and as that signified the departing of the Syna∣gogue, and laying Religion open; so did the rending the garments of Caiaphas prophetically signifie that the Priesthood* 1.309 should be rent from him, and from the Nation. And thus the personated and theatrical admiration at Jesus became the type of his own punishment, and consigned the Nation to delition: and usually God so dispenses his Judgments, that when men personate the tragedies of others, they really act their own.

4. Whilest these things were acting concerning the Lord, a sad accident happened to his servant Peter: for being engaged in strange and evil company in the midst of

danger, surprised with a question without time to deliberate an answer, to find subter∣fuges, or to fortifie himself, he denied his Lord shamefully, with some boldness at first, and this grew to a licencious confidence, and then to impudence, and denying with perjury, that he knew not his Lord, who yet was known to him as his own heart, and was dearer than his eyes, and for whom he professed but a little before he would die; but did not do so till many years after. But thus he became to us a sad example of humane infirmity; and if* 1.310 the Prince of the Apostles fell so 〈◊〉〈◊〉, it is full of pity, but not to be upbraided, if we see the fall of lesser stars. And yet that we may prevent so great a ruine, we must not mingle with such company who will provoke or scorn us into sin; and if we do, yet we must stand upon our guard that a sudden motion do not surprise us: or if we be arrested, yet let us not enter farther into our sin, like wild beasts intricating themselves by their im∣patience. For there are some who, being ashamed and impatient to have been enga∣ged, take sanctuary in boldness and a shameless abetting it, so running into the dark∣ness of Hell to hide their nakedness. But he also by returning, and rising instantly, be∣came to us a rare example of Penitence; and his not lying long in the crime did facili∣tate this restitution. For the spirit of God being extinguished by our works of dark∣ness, is like a taper, which if, as soon as the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is blown out, it be brought to the fire, it sucks light, and without trouble is re-enkindled; but if it cools into death and stiffness, it requires a longer stay and trouble. The Holy Jesus in the midst of his own sufferings forgat not his servant's danger, but was pleased to look upon him when the Cock crew; and the Cock was the Preacher, and the Look of Jesus was the Grace that made the Sermon effectual: and because he was but newly fallen, and his habitu∣al love of his Master, though interrupted, yet had suffered no natural abatement, he returned with the swiftness of an Eagle to the embraces and primitive affections of his Lord.

5. By this time suppose Sentence given, Caiaphas prejudging all the Sanhedrim; for he first declared Jesus to have spoken Blasphemy, and the fact to be notorious, and then asked their votes; which whoso then should have denied, must have contested the judgment of the High Priest, who by the favour of the Romans was advanced, (Valerius Gratus, who was President of Judaea, having been his Patron) and his Fa∣ction potent, and his malice great, and his heart set upon this business: all which incon∣veniences none of them durst have suffered, unless he had had the confidence greater than of an Apostle at that time. But this Sentence was but like strong dispositions to an enraged fever; he was only declared apt and worthy for death, they had no power at that time to inflict it; but yet they let loose all the fury of mad-men and insolency of wounded smarting souldiers: and although from the time of his being in the house of Annas till the Council met, they had used him with studied indignities; yet now they renewed and doubled the unmercifulness, and their injustice, to so great a height, that their injuries must needs have been greater than his Patience, if his Patience had been less than infinite. For thus Man's Redemption grows up as the load swells which the Holy Jesus bare for us; for these were our portion, and we, having turned the flowers of Paradise into thistles, should for ever have felt their infelicity, had not Jesus paid the debt. But he bearing them upon his tender body with an even and excellent and dis∣passionate spirit, offered up these beginnings of sufferings to his Father, to obtain par∣don even for them that injured him, and for all the World.

6. Judas now seeing that this matter went farther than he intended it, repented of his fact. For although evil persons are in the progress of their iniquity invited on by new arguments, and supported by confidence and a careless spirit: yet when iniquity is come to the height, or so great a proportion that it is apt to produce Despair or an intolerable condition, then the Devil suffers the Conscience to thaw and grow tender; but it is the tenderness of a Bile, it is soreness rather and a new disease; and either it comes when the time of Repentance is past, or leads to some act which shall make the pardon to be impossible: and so it happened here. For Judas, either impatient of the shame or of the sting, was thrust on to despair of pardon, with a violence as hasty and as great as were his needs. And Despair is very often used like the bolts and bars of Hell-gates, it 〈◊〉〈◊〉 upon them that had entred into the suburbs of eternal death by an habitual sin, and it secures them against all retreat. And the Devil is forward enough to bring a man to Repentance, provided it be too late; and Esau wept bitterly and re∣pented him, and the five foolish Virgins lift up their voice aloud when the gates were shut, and in Hell men shall repent to all eternity. But I consider the very great folly

and infelicity of Judas: it was at midnight he received his money in the house of An∣nas, betimes in that morning he repented his bargain; he threw the money back again, but his sin stuck close, and it is thought to a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 eternity. Such is the purchace of Treason and the reward of Covetousness; it is cheap in its offers, momentany in its possession, unsatisfying in the fruition, uncertain in the stay, sudden in its 〈◊〉〈◊〉, horrid in the remembrance, and a ruine, a certain and miserable ruine is in the event. When Judas came in that sad condition, and told his miserable story to them that set him on work, they 〈◊〉〈◊〉 him go away unpitied; he had served their ends in betraying his Lord, and those that hire such servants use to leave them in the disaster, to shame and to sorrow: and so did the Priests, but took the money, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to put it into the treasury, because it was the price* 1.311 of bloud; but they made no scruple to take it from the treasury to buy that bloud. Any thing seems lawful that serves the ends of ambitious and bloudy persons, and then they are scru∣pulous in their cases of Conscience when nothing of Interest does intervene: for evil men make Religion the servant of Interest; and sometimes weak men think that it is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Religion, and suspect that all of it is a design, because many great Politicks make it so. The end of the Tragedy was, that Judas di∣ed with an ignoble death, marked with the circumstances of* 1.312 a horrid Judgment, and perished by the most infamous hands in the world, that is, by his own. Which if it be confron∣ted against the excellent spirit of S. Peter, who did an act as contradictory to his honour and the grace of God as could be easily imagined; yet ta∣king sanctuary in the arms of his Lord, he lodged in his heart for ever, and became an example to all the world of the excellency of the Divine Mercy, and the efficacy of a holy Hope, and a hearty, timely and an operative Repentance.

7. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 now all things were ready for the purpose, the High Priest and all his Coun∣cil go along with the Holy Jesus to the house of Pilate, hoping he would verifie their Sentence, and bring it to execution, that they might 〈◊〉〈◊〉 be rid of their fears, and en∣joy* 1.313 their sin and their reputation quietly. S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉, that the High Priest caused the Holy Jesus to be led with a cord about his neck, and, in memory of that, the Priests for many Ages 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a stole about theirs. But the Jews did it according to the custom of the Nation, to signifie he was condemned to death: they desired Pilate that he would crucifie him, they having 〈◊〉〈◊〉 him worthy. And when Pilate enqui∣red into the particulars, they gave him a general and an indefinite answer; If he were not guilty, we would not have brought him 〈◊〉〈◊〉 thee: they intended not to make Pilate Judge of the cause, but 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of their cruelty. But Pilate had not learned to be guided by an implicite faith of such persons, which he knew to be malicious and vio∣lent; and therefore still called for instances and arguments of their Accusation. And that all the world might see with how great unworthiness they prosecuted the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, they chiefly there accused him of such crimes upon which themselves condemned him not, and which they knew to be false, but yet likely to move Pilate, if he had been passionate or inconsiderate in his sentences; [He offered to make himself a King.] This 〈◊〉〈◊〉 happened at the entry of the Praetorium; for the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, who made no consci∣ence of killing the King of Heaven, made a conscience of the external customs and cere∣monies of their Law, which had in them no interiour sanctity, which were apt to se∣parate them 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Nations, and remark them with characters of Religion and ab∣straction: it would defile them to go to a Roman Forum, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a capital action was to be judged; and yet the effusion of the best bloud in the world was not esteemed against their 〈◊〉〈◊〉: so violent and blind is the spirit of malice, which turns humanity in∣to 〈◊〉〈◊〉, wisdom into craft, diligence into subornation, and Religion into Supersti∣tion.

8. Two other articles they alledged against him: but the first concerned not Pilate, and the second was involved in the third, and therefore he chose to examine him upon this only of his being a King. To which the Holy Jesus answered, that it is true, he was 〈◊〉〈◊〉 King indeed, but not of this world; his Throne is Heaven, the Angels are his Courtiers, and the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Creation are his Subjects: His Regiment is spiritual, his 〈◊〉〈◊〉 are the Courts of Conscience and Church-tribunals, and at Dooms-day the Clouds: The Tribute which he demands are conformity to his Laws, Faith, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and Charity; no other Gabels but the duties of a holy Spirit, and the expresses of a religious Worship, and obedient Will, and a consenting Understanding. And in all this Pilate thought the interest of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 was not invaded. For certain it is, the

Discipline of Jesus confirmed it much, and supported it by the strongest pillars. And here Pilate saw how impertinent and malicious their Accusation was: And we, who declaim against the unjust proceedings of the Jews against our dearest Lord, should do well to take care that we, in accusing any of our Brethren either with malicious pur∣pose, or with an uncharitable circumstance, do not commit the same fault which in them we so hate and accuse. Let no man speak any thing of his neighbourhood but what is true: and yet if a truth be heightned by the biting Rhetorick of a satyrical spi∣rit, extended and drawn forth in circumstances and arts of aggravation, the truth be∣comes a load to the guilty person, is a prejudice to the sentence of the Judge, and hath not so much as the excuse of Zeal, much less the Charity of Christianity. Sufficient to every man is the plain story of his crime; and to excuse as much of it as we can, would better become us, who perish unless we be excused for infinite irregularities. But if we add this also, that we accuse our Brethren 〈◊〉〈◊〉 them that may amend them and reform their error, if we pity their persons and do not hate them, if we seek no∣thing of their disgrace and make not their shame publick, but when the publick is ne∣cessarily concerned or the state of the man's sin requires it; then our accusations are charitable: but if they be not, all such accusations are accepted by Christ with as much displeasure in proportion to the degree of the malice and the proper effect, as was this Acculation of his own person.

9. But Pilate having pronounced Jesus innocent, and perceiving he was a Galilean, sent him to 〈◊〉〈◊〉, as being a more competent person to determine 〈◊〉〈◊〉 one of his own jurisdiction. Herod was glad at the honour done to him and the person brought him, being now desirous to see some Miracle 〈◊〉〈◊〉 before him. But the Holy Jesus spake not one word there, nor did any sign; so to reprove the sottish carelesness of He∣rod, who, living in the place of Jesus's abode, never had seen his person or heard his Sermons. And if we neglect the opportunities of Grace, and refuse to hear the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Christ in the time of mercy and Divine appointment, we may arrive at that state of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in which Christ will refuse to speak one word of comfort to us; and the Homi∣lies of the Gospel shall be dead letters, and the spirit not at all refreshed, nor the Under∣standing instructed, nor the Affections moved, nor the Will determined; but because we have during all our time stopt our ears, in his time God will stop his mouth, and shut up the springs of Grace, that we shall receive no refreshment, or instruction, or pardon, or felicity. Jesus suffered not himself to be moved at the pertinacious ac∣cusations of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, nor the desires of the Tyrant, but persevered in silence, till He∣rod and his servants despised him and dismissed him. For so it became our High Priest, who was to sanctifie all our sufferings, to consecrate affronts and scorn, that we may learn to endure contempt, and to suffer our selves in a religious cause to be despised; and when it happens in any other, to remember that we have our dearest Lord for a precedent of bearing it with admirable simplicity and equanimity of deportment: and it is a mighty stock of Self-love that dwells in our spirits, which makes us of all affli∣ctions most impatient of this. But Jesus endured this despite, and suffered this to be added, that he was exposed in scorn to the boys of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 streets. For 〈◊〉〈◊〉 caused him to be arrayed in white, sent him out to be scorned by the people and hooted at by idle persons, and so remitted him to Pilate. And since that Accident to our Lord, the Church hath not undecently chose to cloath her Priests with Albs or white garments; and it is a symbolical intimation and representment of that part of the Passion and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 which Herod passed upon the Holy Jesus: and this is so far from deserving a re∣proof, that it were to be wished all the children of the Church would imitate all those* 1.314 Graces which Christ exercised when he wore that garment, which she hath taken up in ceremony and thankful memory; that is, in all their actions and sufferings be so estranged from secular arts and mixtures of the world, so intent upon Religion, and active in all its interests, so indifferent to all acts of Providence, so equal in all chances, so patient of every accident, so charitable to enemies, and so undetermined by exteriour events, that nothing may draw us forth from 〈◊〉〈◊〉 severities of our Religion, or entice us from the retirements of a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and sober and patient spirit, or make us to de∣part from the courtesies of Piety, though for such adhesion and pursuit we be esteemed fools, or ignorant, or contemptible.

[illustration]

Iesus is scourged by the Souldiers

Mar: 15: 14. Then Pilate said unto them why what evill hath he done and they cried the more ex∣ceedingly Crucify him.

15 And so Pilate willing to content the People re∣leased Barabbas unto them and delivered Iesus when he had scourged him to be Crucified.

[illustration]

They Crown him with Thornes.

Mat: 27. 28. And they stripped him and put on him a Scarlet robe.

29 And when they had platted a crown of Thornes, they put it upon his head and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him, & mocked him, saying, Hayle King of the Iews.

10. When Pilate had received the Holy Jesus, and found that Herod had sent him back uncondemned, he attempted to rescue him from their malice, by making him a donative and a freed man at the petition of the people. But they preferred a Murtherer and a Rebel, Barabbas, before him; for themselves being Rebels against the King of Heaven, loved to acquit persons criminal in the same kind of sin, rather than their Lord, against whom they took up all the arms which they could receive from violence* 1.315 and perfect malice, desiring to have him crucified who raised the dead, and to have the other 〈◊〉〈◊〉 who destroyed the living. And when Pilate saw they were set upon it, he con∣sented, and delivered him first to be scourged; which the soul∣diers* 1.316 executed with violence and unrelenting hands, opening his virginal body to nakedness, and tearing his tender flesh till the pavement was purpled with a shower of holy bloud. Itis reported in the Ecclesiastical story, that when S. Agnes and* 1.317 S. Barbara, holy Virgins and Martyrs, were stripp'd naked to execution, God, pitying their great shame and trouble to have their nakedness discovered, made for them a veil of light, and sent them to a mo∣dest and desired death. But the Holy Jesus, who chose all sorts of shame and confusi∣on, that by a fulness of suffering he might expiate his Father's anger, and that he might consecrate to our sufferance all kind of affront and passion, endured even the shame of nakedness at the time of his scourging, suffering himself to be devested of his robes, that we might be clothed with that stole he put off: for 〈◊〉〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉〈◊〉 on him the state of sinning Adam, and became naked, that we might 〈◊〉〈◊〉 be 〈◊〉〈◊〉 with Righte∣ousness, and then with Immortality.

11. After they had scourged him without remorse, they clothed him with purple, and crowned him with thorns, and put a cane in his hand for a scepter, and bowed their knees be∣fore him, and saluted him with mockery, with a [Hail King of the Jews,] and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 beat him and spate upon him; and then Pilate brought him forth, and shewed this sad spectacle to the people, hoping this might move them to compassion, who never loved to see a man prosperous, and are always troubled to see the same man in misery. But the Earth, which was cursed for Adam's sake, and was sowed with thorns and thistles,

produced the full harvest of them, and the Second Adam gathered them all, and made garlands of them as ensigns of his Victory which he was now in pursuit of against Sin, the Grave, and Hell. And we also may make our thorns, which are in themselves 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and dolorous, to be a Crown, if we bear 〈◊〉〈◊〉 patiently, and unite them to Christ's Passion, and offer them to his honour, and bear them in his cause, and rejoyce in them for his sake. And indeed, after such a grove of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 growing upon the head of our Lord, to see one of Christ's members soft, delicate and effeminate, is a great indecency, next to this of seeing the Jews use the King of glory with the greatest reproach and in∣famy.

12. But nothing prevailing, nor the Innocence of Jesus, nor his immunity from the sentence of Herod, nor the industry and diligence of Pilate, nor the misery nor the sight of the afflicted Lamb of God, at last (for so God decreed to permit it, and Christ to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 it) Pilate gave sentence of death upon him, having first washed his hands; of which God served his end, to declare the Innocence of his Son, of which in this whole process he was most curious, and suffered not the least probability to adhere to him; yet Pilate served no end of his, nor preserved any thing of his innocence. He that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 upon a Prince, and cries, Saving your honour, you are a Tyrant; and he that strikes a man upon the face, and cries him mercy, and undoes him, and says it was in jest, does just like that person that sins against God, and thinks to be excused by saying it was against his Conscience; that is washing our hands when they are stained in bloud, as if a ceremony of purification were enough to cleanse a soul from the stains of a spiri∣tual impurity. So some refuse not to take any Oath in times of Persecution, and say it obliges not, because it was forced, and done against their wills; as if the doing of it were washed off by protesting against it, whereas the protesting against it declares me criminal, if I rather chuse not death than that which I profess to be a sin. But all the persons which cooperated in this death were in this life consigned to a fearful judgment after it. The Jews took the bloud (which Pilate seemed to wash off) upon themselves and their children, and the bloud of this Paschal Lamb stuck upon their forehead and marked them, not to escape, but to fall under the sword of the destroying Angel, and they perished either by a more hasty death, or shortly after in the extirpation and mise∣rable ruine of their Nation. And Pilate, who had a less share in the crime, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 a black character of a secular Judgment; for not long after he was by Vitellius the Presi∣dent of Syria sent to Rome to answer to the crimes objected against him by the Jews, whom to please he had done so much violence to his Conscience; and by 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sen∣tence he was banished to Vienna, deprived of all his honours, where he lived inglori∣ously, till by impatience of his calamity he killed himself with his own hand. And thus the bloud of Jesus shed for the Salvation of the world became to them a Curse, and that which purifies the Saints stuck to them that shed it, and mingled it not with the tears of Repentance, to be a leprosie loathsome and incurable. So Manna turns to worms, and the wine of Angels to Vineger and Lees, when it is received into impure vessels, or tasted by wanton palats; and the Sun himself produces Rats and Serpents, when it reflects upon the dirt of Nilus.

The PRAYER.

O Holy and immaculate Lamb of God, who wert pleased to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 shame and sorrow, to be brought before tribunals, to be accused maliciously, betrayed treacherously, condemned unjustly, and scourged most 〈◊〉〈◊〉, suffering the most severe and most unhandsome inflictions which could be procured by potent, subtle and extremest malice, and didst 〈◊〉〈◊〉 this out of love greater than the love of Mothers, more affectionate than the tears of joy and pity dropt from the eyes of most passionate women, by these fontinels of bloud issuing forth life and health and pardon upon all thine enemies; teach me to apprehend the baseness of Sin, in proportion to the greatest of those calamities which my sin made it necessary for thee to susfer, that I may hate the cause of thy 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and adore thy mercy, and imitate thy charity, and copy 〈◊〉〈◊〉 thy patience ànd humility, and love thy person to the uttermost extent and degrees of my affe∣ctions. Lord, what am I, that the eternal Son of God should 〈◊〉〈◊〉 one stripe for me? But thy Love is infinite: and how great a misery is it to provoke by sin so great a mercy, and de∣spise so miraculous a goodness, and to do fresh despite to the Son of God? But our sins are in∣numerable, and our infirmities are mighty. Dearest Jesu, pity me, for I am accused by my

own Conscience, and am found guilty; I am stripped naked of my Innocence, and bound fast by Lust, and tormented with stripes and wounds of enraged Appetites. But let thy Innocence excuse me, the robes of thy Righteousness cloath me, thy Bondage set me free, and thy Stripes heal me; that thou being my Advocate, my Physician, my Patron, and my Lord, I may be adopted into the union of thy Merits, and partake of the efficacy of thy Sufferings, and be crowned as thou art, having my sins changed to vertues, and my thorns to rays of glory under thee our Head, in the participations of Eternity, O Holy and immaculate Lamb of God.

Amen.

DISCOURSE XX. Of Death, and the due manner of Preparation to it.

[illustration]

1. THE Holy Spirit of God hath in Scripture revealed to us but one way of pre∣paring to Death, and that is, by a holy life; and there is nothing in all the Book of Life concerning this exercise of address to Death, but such advices which sup∣pose the dying person in a state of Grace. S. James indeed counsels, that in sickness we should send for the Ministers Ecclesiastical, and that they pray over us, and that we* 1.318 confess our sins, and they shall be forgiven; that is, those prayers are of great efficacy for the removing the sickness, and taking off that punishment of sin, and healing them in a certain degree, according to the efficacy of the ministery, and the dispositions or capaci∣ties of the sick person. But we must know that oftentimes universal effects are attri∣buted to partial causes; because by the analogy of Scripture we are taught, that all the body of holy actions and ministeries are to unite in production of the event, and that without that adunation one thing alone cannot operate; but because no one alone does the work, but by an united power, therefore indefinitely the effect is ascribed sometimes to one, sometimes to another, meaning, that one as much as the other, that is, all together, are to work the Pardon and the Grace. But the doctrine of Preparation to Death we are clearest taught in the * 1.319 Parable of the ten Virgins. Those who were wise stood waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom, their Lamps burning; only when the Lord was at hand, at the notice of his coming published, they trimmed their Lamps, and they, so disposed, went forth and met him, and entred with him into his interiour and eternal joys. They whose Lamps did not stand ready before∣hand, expecting the uncertain hour, were shut forth, and bound in darkness. [Watch therefore, so our Lord applies and expounds the Parable, for ye know not the day nor* 1.320 the hour of the coming of the Son of man.] Whenever the arrest of Death seises us, unless before that notice we had Oil in our Vessels, that is, Grace in our hearts, habitual Grace, (for nothing else can reside or dwell there, an act cannot inhabit

or be in a Vessel) it is too late to make preparation. But they who have it, may and must prepare, that is, they must stir the fire, trim the vessel, make it more actual in its exercise and productions, full of ornament, advantages and degrees. And that is all we know from Scripture concerning Preparation.

2. And indeed since all our life we are dying, and this minute in which I now write death divides with me, and hath got the surer part and more certain possession, it is but reasonable that we should always be doing the Offices of Preparation. If to day we were not dying and passing on to our grave, then we might with* 1.321 more safety defer our work till the morrow: But as fewel in a furnace in every degree of its heat and reception of the flame* 1.322 is converting into fire and ashes, and the disposing it to the last mutation is the same work with the last instance of its change: so is the age of every day a beginning of death, and the night composing us to sleep bids us go to our lesser rest; because* 1.323 that night, which is the end of the preceding day, is but a les∣ser death; and whereas now we have died so many days, the last day of our life is but the dying so many more, and when that last day of dying will come we know not. There is nothing then added but the circumstance of Sickness, which also happens many times before; only men are pleased to call that Death which is the end of dying, when we cease to die any more: and therefore to put off our Preparation till that which we call Death, is to put off the work of all our life, till the time comes in which it is to cease and determine.

3. But to accelerate our early endeavour, (besides what hath been formerly consider∣ed upon the proper grounds of Repentance) I here re-inforce the consideration of Death in such circumstances which are apt to engage us upon an early industry. 1. I consider, that no man is sure that he shall not die suddenly; and there∣fore* 1.324 if Heaven be worth securing, it were fit that we should reckon every day the Vespers of death, and therefore that ac∣cording to the usual rites of Religion it be begun and spent with religious offices: And let us consider, that those many persons who are remarked in history to have died suddenly, either were happy by an early Piety, or miserable by a sudden death. And if uncertainty of condition be an abatement of fe∣licity, and spoils the good we possess, no man can be happy but he that hath lived well, that is, who hath secured his condition by an habitual and living Piety. For since God hath not told us we shall not die suddenly is it not certain he intended we should prepare for sudden death, as well as against death cloathed in any other circumstances? Fabius surnamed Pictor was choaked with a Hair in a mess of Milk, Anacreon with a Raisin, Cardinal Colonna with Figs crusted with Ice, Adrian the fourth with a Flie, Drusius Pompeius with a Pear, Domitius Afer, Quin∣tilian's Tutor, with a full Cup, * 1.325 Casimire the Second, King of Polonia, with a Little draught of Wine, Amurath with a Full goblet, Tarquinius Priscus with a Fish-bone. For as soon as a man is born, that which in nature only remains to him is to die; and if we differ in the way or time of our abode, or the manner of our Exit, yet we are even at last: and since it is* 1.326 not determined by a natural cause which way we shall go, or at what age, a wise Man will suppose himself always upon his Death-bed; and such supposition is like making of his Will, he is not the nearer Death for doing it, but he is the readier for it when it comes.

4. Saint Jerome said well, He deserves not the name of a Christian, who will live in that state of life in which he will not die: And indeed it is a great venture to be in an evil state of life, because every minute of it hath a danger; and therefore a successi∣on of actions, in every one of which he may as well perish as escape, is a boldness that hath no mixture of wisdome or probable venture. How many persons have died in the midst of an act of sport, or at a merry meeting? Grimoaldus, a Lombard King, died with shooting of a Pidgeon; Thales the Milesian in the Theatre: Lucia, the sister of Aurelius the Emperor, playing with her little son, was wounded in her breast with a Needle, and died: Benno, Bishop of Adelburg, with great ceremony and joy consecrating S.* 1.327 Michael's Church, was crouded to death by the People; so was the Duke of Saxony at the Inauguration of Albert I. The great Lawyer Baldus, playing with a

little Dog, was bitten upon the lip, instantly grew mad, and perished: Charles the Eighth of France, seeing certain Gentlemen playing at Tenniscourt, swooned, and re∣covered not: Henry II. was killed running at Tilt: Ludovicus Borgia with riding the great Horse: and the old Syracusan, Archimedes, was slain by a rude Souldier as he was making Diagrams in the sand, which was his greatest pleasure. How many Men have died laughing, or in the ecstasies of a great joy? (a) 1.328 Philippides the Comedian, and Dionysius the Tyrant of Sicily, died with joy at the news of a victory: (b) 1.329 Diagoras of Rhodes, and Chilo the Philosopher, expired in the embraces of their sons crowned with an Olympick Lawrel: (c) 1.330 Polycrita Naxia, being saluted the Saviouress of her Countrey; Marcus Juventius, when the Senate decreed him honours; the Emperour (d) 1.331 Conrade the Second, when he triumphed after the conquest of Italy, had a joy bigger than their heart, and their phancy swelled it, till they burst and died. Death can enter in at any door: 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Nice died with excessive laughter; so did the Poet Philemon, being provoked to it only by seeing an Asse eat sigs. And the number of per∣sons* 1.332 who have been found suddenly dead in their beds is so great, that as it inga∣ges many to a more certain and regular devotion for their Compline, so it were well it were pursued to the utmost intention of God; that is, that all the parts of Religion should with zeal and assiduity be entertained and finished, that, as it becomes wise men, we never be surprised with that we are sure will sometime or other happen. A great General in Italy at the sudden death of Alsonsus of Ferrara, and Lodovico 〈◊〉〈◊〉 at the sight of the sad accident upon Henry II. of France now mentioned, turned religious, and they did what God intended in those deaths. It concerns us to be curious of single acti∣ons, because even in those shorter periods we may expire and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 our Graves. But if the state of life be contradictory to our hopes of Heaven, it is like affronting of a Can∣non 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a beleaguer'd Town a month together; it is a contempt of safety, and a ren∣dring all Reason useless and unprofitable: but he only is wise who, having made Death familiar to him by expectation and daily apprehension, does at all instants go forth to meet it. The wise Virgins went forth to meet the Bridegroom, for they were ready. Ex∣cellent* 1.333 therefore is the counsel of the Son of Sirach; Use Physick or ever thou be sick. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Judgment examine thy self, and in the day of visitation thou shalt finde mercy. Humble thy self before then be sick, and in the time of sins shew Repentance. Let no∣thing hinder thee to pay thy 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in due time, and defer not until death to be justified.

5. Secondly, I consider, that it osten happens that in those few days of our last visi∣tation, which many Men design for their Preparation and Repentance, God hath expres∣sed by an exteriour accident, that those persons have deceived themselves and neglected their own Salvation. S. Gregory reports of Chrysaurius, a Gentleman in the Province* 1.334 of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, rich, vicious and witty, lascivious, covetous and proud, that being cast upon his Death-bed he phansied he saw evil spirits coming to arrest him and drag him to Hell. He fell into great agony and trouble, shrieked out, called for his son, who was a very re∣ligious person, flattered him, as willing to have been rescued by any thing: but per∣ceiving his danger increase and grown desperate, he called loud with repeated clamours, Give me respite but till the morrow, and with those words he died, there being no place left 〈◊〉〈◊〉 his Repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears and groans. The same was the case of a drunken Monk, whom Venerable Bede mentions. Upon his* 1.335 Death bed he seemed to see Hell opened, and a place assigned him near to Caiaphas and those who crucified our dearest Lord. The religious persons that stood about his Bed called on him to repent of his sins, to implore the mercies of God, and to trust in Christ: But he answered with reason enough, This is no time to change my life, the sentence is passed upon me, and it is too late. And it is very considerable and sad * 1.336 which Petrus Da∣mianus tells of Gunizo, a sactious and ambitious person, to whom, it is said, the Tempter gave notice of his approaching death: but when any Man preached Repentance to him, out of a strange incuriousness, or the spirit of reprobation, he seemed like a dead and un∣concerned person; in all other discourses he was awake and apt to answer. For God had shut up the gates of Mercy, that no streams should issue forth to quench the flames of Hell; or else had shut up the gates of reception and entertainment, that it should not enter: either God denies to give them pardon when they call, or denies to them a pow∣er to call; they either cannot pray, or God will not answer. Now since these stories are related by Men learned, pious and eminent in their generations, and because they ser∣ved no design but the ends of Piety, and have in them nothing dissonant from revelation or the frequent events of Providence, we may upon their stock consider, that God's Judgements and visible marks being set upon a state of Life, although they happen but seldom in the instances, yet they are of universal purpose and signfica∣tion.

Upon all Murtherers God hath not thrown a thunder-bolt, nor broke all sacrilegi∣ous persons upon the wheel of an inconstant and ebbing estate, nor spoken to every Op∣pressor from Heaven in a voice of thunder, nor cut off all Rebels in the first attempts of insurrection: But because he hath done so to some, we are to look upon those Judgments as Divine accents, and voices of God, threatning all the same crimes with the like e∣vents, and with the ruines of eternity. For though God does not always make the same prologues to death, yet by these few accidents happening to single persons we are to un∣derstand his purposes concerning all in the same condition; it was not the person so much as the estate which God then remarked with so visible characters of his dis∣pleasure.

6. And it seems to me a wonder, that since from all the records of Scripture urging* 1.337 the uncertainty of the day of death, the horrour of the day of Judgment, the severity of God, the dissolution of the world, the certainty of our account, still from all these* 1.338 premisses the Spirit of God makes no other inference, but that we watch, and stand in a readiness, that we live in all holy conversation and godliness, and that there is no one word concerning any other manner of an essentially-necessary Preparation, none but this; yet that there are Doctrines commenced, and Rules prescribed, and Offices set down, and Suppletories invented by Curates of Souls how to prepare a vicious person, and upon his Death-bed to reconcile him to the hopes and promises of Heaven. Con∣cerning which I desire that every person would but enquire, where any one promise is* 1.339 recorded in Scripture concerning such addresses, and what Articles CHRIST hath drawn up between his Father and us concerning a Preparation begun upon our Death-bed: and if he shall find none (as most certainly from Genesis to the Revelation there is not a word concerning it, but very much against it) let him first build his hopes upon this proposition, that A holy life is the onely Preparation to a happy death, and then we can without danger proceed to some other Conside∣rations.

7. When a good man, or a person concerning whom it is not certain he hath lived in habitual Vices, comes to die, there are but two general ways of entercourse with him; the one to keep him from new sins, the other to make some emendati∣ons of the old; the one to fortifie him against special weaknesses and proper tem∣ptations of that estate, and the other to trim his lamp, that by excellent actions he may adorn his spirit, making up the omissions of his life, and supplying the im∣perfections of his estate, that his Soul may return into the hands of its Creator as pure as it can, every degree of perfection being an advantage so great, as that the loss of every the least portion of it cannot be recompensed with all the good of this World. Concerning the first; The Temptations proper to this estate are either Weakness in Faith, Despair, or Presumption: for whatsoever is besides these, as it is the common infelicity of all the several states of life, so they are oftentimes ar∣guments of an ill condition, of immortification of vicious habits, and that he comes not to this combate well prepared; such as are Covetousness, unwillingness to make Restitution, remanent affections to his former Vices, an unresigned spirit, and the like.

8. In the Ecclesiastical story we finde many dying persons mentioned, who have been very much afflicted with some doubts concerning an Article of Faith. S. Gregory in an Epistle he writ to S. Austin instances in the temptation which Fusebius suffered* 1.340 upon his Death-bed. And although sometimes the Devil chuses an Article that is not proper to that state, knowing that every such doubt is well enough for his purpose, be∣cause of the incapacity of the person to suffer long disputes, and of the jealousie and su∣spicion of a dying and weak man, fearing lest every thing should cozen him; yet it is commonly instanced in the Article of the Resurrection, or the state of Separation or re∣union. And it seems to some persons incredible, that from a bed of sickness, a state of misery, a cloud of ignorance, a load of passions, a man should enter into the condition of a perfect understanding, great joy, and an intellectual life, a conversation with An∣gels, a fruition of God; the change is greater than his Reason; and his Faith being in conclusion tottering like the Ark, and ready to fall, seems a Pillar as unsafe and unable to rely on, as a bank of turf in an Earth-quake. Against this a general remedy is pre∣scribed by Spiritual persons; That the sick man should apprehend all changes of per∣swasion which happened to him in his sickness, contradictory to those assents which in his clearest use of Reason he had, to be temptations and arts of the Devil. And he hath reason so to think, when he remembers how many comforts of the Spirit of God, what joys of Religion, what support, what assistences, what strengths he had in the whole course of his former life upon the stock of Faith, & interest of the Doctrin of Christianity.

And since the disbelieving the Promises Evangelical at that* 1.341 time can have no end of advantage, and that all wise men tell him it may have an end to make him lose the title to them, and do him infinite disadvantage; upon the stock of interest and prudence he must reject such fears which cannot help him, but may ruine him. For all the works of Grace which he did upon the hopes of God, and the stock of the Divine revelati∣ons, (if he fails in his hold upon them) are all rendred unpro∣fitable. And it is certain, if there be no such thing as Immor∣tality and Resurrection, he shall lose nothing for believing there is; but if there be, they are lost to him for not believing it.

9. But this is also to be cured by proper arguments. And there is no Christian man but hath within him, and carries about him, demonstrations of the possibility and great instances of the credibility of those great changes, which these tempted per∣sons have no reason to distrust, but because they think them too great, and too good to be true. And here, not only the consideration of the Divine Power and his eternal Goodness is a proper Antidote, but also the observation of what we have already recei∣ved from God. To be raised from nothing to something is a mutation not less than insi∣nite; and from that which we were in our first conception to pass into so perfect and cu∣rious bodies, and to become discursive, sensible, passionate, and reasonable, and next to Angels, is a greater change, than from this state to pass into that excellency and perfecti∣on of it which we expect as the melioration and improvement of the present: for this is but a mutation of degrees, that of substance: this is more sensible, because we have perception in both states; that is of greater distance, because in the first term we were so far distant from what we are, that we could not perceive what then we were, much less desire to be what we now perceive: and yet God did that for us unasked, without any obligation on his part, or merit on ours; much rather then may we be confident of this alteration of accidents and degrees, because God hath obliged himself by promise; he hath disposed us to it by qualities, actions, and habits, which are to the state of Glory as infancy is to manhood, as 〈◊〉〈◊〉 are to excellent discourses, as blossoms are to ripe fruits. And he that hath wrought miracles for us, preserved us in dangers, done strange acts of Providence, sent his Son to take our Nature, made a Virgin to bear a Son, and GOD to become Man, and two Natures to be one individual Person, and all in order to this End of which we doubt, hath given us so many arguments of credibility, that if he had done any more, it would not have been lest in our choice to believe or not believe; and then much of the excellency of our Faith would have been lost. Add to this, that we are not tempted to disbelieve the Roman story, or that Virgil's AEneids, were writ by him, or that we our selves are descended of such Parents; because these things are not only transmitted to us by such testimony which we have no reason to distrust, but 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Tempter cannot serve any end upon us by producing such doubts in us: and therefore since we have greater testimony for every Article of Faith, and to believe it is of so much concernment to us, we may well suspect it to be an artifice of the Devil to rob us of our reward; this proceeding of his being of the same nature with all his other Temptations, which in our life-time like fiery darts he threw into our face, to despoil us of our glory, and blot out the Image of God im∣printed on us.

10. Secondly, If the Devil tempts the sick person to Despair, he who is by God* 1.342 appointed to minister a word of comfort must fortifie his spirit with consideration and representment of the Divine Goodness, manifest in all the expresses of Nature and Grace, of Providence and Revelation; that God never extinguishes the smoaking slax, nor breaks the bruised reed; that a constant and a hearty endeavour is the Sacrifice which God de∣lights in; that in the firmament of Heaven there are little Stars, and they are most in* 1.343 number, and there are but few of the greatest magnitude; that there are children and babes in Christ as well as strong men, and amongst these there are great difference; that the interruptions of the state of Grace by intervening crimes, if they were rescin∣ded by Repentance, they were great danger in the intervall, but served as increment of the Divine Glory, and arguments of care and diligence to us at the restitution. These and many more are then to be urged when the sick person is in danger of being swallow∣ed up with over-much sorrow; and therefore to be insisted on in all like cases as the Phy∣sician gives him Cordials, that we may do charity to him and minister comfort, not be∣cause they are always necessary, even in the midst of great sadnesses and discom∣forts. For we are to secure his love to God, that he acknowledge the Divine Mer∣cy,

that he believe the Article of Remission of sins, that he be thankful to God for the blessings which already he hath received, and that he lay all the load of his discomfort upon himself, and his own incapacities of mercy: and then the sadness may be very great, and his tears clamorous, and his heart broken all in pieces, and his Humility lower than the earth, and his Hope indiscernible; and yet no danger to his final condi∣tion. Despair reflects upon God, and dishonours the infinity of his Mercy: And if the sick person do but confess that God is not at all wanting in his Promises, but ever a∣bounding in his Mercies, and that it is want of the condition on his own part that makes the misery, and that if he had done his duty God would save him; let him be assisted with perpetual prayers, with examples of lapsed and returning sinners, whom the Church celebrates for Saints, such as Mary Magdalen, Mary of Egypt, Asra, Thasis, Pe∣lagia; let it be often inculcated to him, that as God's Mercy is of it self infinite, so its demonstration to us is not determined to any certain period, but hath such latitudes in it and reservations, which as they are apt to restrain too great boldness, so also to be∣come sanctuaries to disconsolate persons; let him be invited to throw himself upon God upon these grounds, that he who is our Judge is also our Advocate and Redeemer, that he knows and pities our infirmities, and that our very hoping in him does indear him, and he will deliver us the rather for our confidence, when it is balanced with reverence and humility: and then all these supernumerary fears are advantagious to more neces∣sary Graces, and do more secure his final condition than they can disturb it.

11. When Saint Arsenius was near his death, he was observed to be very tremulous, sad, weeping and disconsolate. The standers by asked the reason of his fears, wondring that he, having lived in great Sanctity for many years, should not now rejoyce at the going forth of his prison. The good man confessed the fear, and withall said it was no other than he had always born about with him in the days of his pilgrimage; and what he then thought a duty, they had no reason now to call either a fault or a misery. Great sorrows, fears and distrustings of a man's own condition, are oftentimes but abate∣ments of confidence, or a remission of joys and gayeties of spirit; they are but like salutary clouds, dark and fruitful: and if the tempted person be strengthened in a love of God, though he go not farther in his hopes than to believe a possibility of being sa∣ved, than to say, God can save him, if he please, and to pray that he will save him, his condition is a state of Grace, it is like a root in the ground, trod upon, humble and safe, not so fine as the state of flowers; yet that which will spring up in as glorious a Resur∣rection as that which looks fairer, and pleases the sense, and is indeed a blessing, but not a duty.

12. But there is a state of Death-bed which seems to have in it more Question, and to be of nicer consideration, A sick person after a vicious and base life: and if upon whatsoever he can do, you give him hopes of a Pardon, where is your promise to war∣rant it? if you do not give him hopes, do you not drive him to Despair, and ascertain his ruine, to verifie your proposition? To this I answer that Despair is opposed to Hope, and Hope relies upon the Divine Promises; and where there is no Promise, there the Despair is not a sin, but a mere impossibility. The accursed Spirits which are sealed up to the Judgment of the last Day cannot hope; and he that repents not, cannot hope for pardon. And therefore if all which the state of Death-bed can produce be not the duty of Repentance, which is required of necessity to Pardon, it is not in such a person properly to be called Despair, any more than it is Blindness in a stone that it can∣not see: Such a man is not within the capacities of Pardon, and therefore all those acts of exteriour Repentance, and all his sorrow and resolution and tears of emendation, and other preparatives to interiour Repentance, are like oil poured into mortal wounds; they are the care of the Physician; and these are the cautions of the Church, and they are at no hand to be neglected. For if they do not alter the state, they may lessen the judgment, or procure a temporal blessing; and if the person recover, they are excellent beginnings of the state of Grace, and if they be pursued in a happy opportunity, will grow up into Glory.

13. But if it be demanded, whether in such cases the Curate be bound to give Ab∣solution; I can give no other answer but this, that if he lie under the Censure of the Church, the Laws of the Church are to determine the particular, and I know no Church in the World but uses to absolve Death-bed Penitents upon the instances of those acti∣ons of which their present condition is capable; though in the Primitive Ages in some cases they denied it. But if the sick person be under no positive Censure, and is bound only by the guilt of habitual vice, if he desires the Prayers of the Church, she is bound in charity to grant them, to Pray for Pardon to him, and all other Graces in order to

Salvation: and if she absolves the Penitent, towards God it hath no other efficacy but of a solemn Prayer; and therefore it were better that all the charity of the Office were done, and the solemnity omitted; because in the earnest Prayer she co-operates to his Salvation as much as she can, and by omitting the solemnity distinguishes evil livers* 1.344 from holy persons, and walks securely, whilst she refuses to declare him pardoned whom God hath not declared to be so. And possibly that form of Absolution which the Churches of the West now use, being indicative and declaratory of a present Pardon, is for the very form sake not to be used to Death bed Penitents after a vicious life; because if any thing more be intended in the form than a Prayer, the truth of the af∣firmation may be questioned, and an Ecclesiastical person hath no authority to say to such a man, I absolve thee: but if no more be intended but a Prayer, it is better to use a mere Prayer and common form of address, than such words which may countenance unsecure confidences, evil purposes, and worse lives.

14. Thirdly, If the Devil tempts a sick person, who hath lived well, to Presum∣ption, and that he seems full of Confidence and without trouble, the care that is then to be taken is to consider the Disease, and to state the Question right. For at some instants and periods God visits the spirit of a man, and sends the immission of a bright ray into him; and some good men have been so used to apprehensions of the Divine mercy, that they have an habitual chearfulness of spirit and hopes of Salvation. Saint* 1.345 Hierome reports that Hilarion in a Death-bed agony felt some tremblings of heart, till reflecting upon his course of life, he found comforts springing from thence by a proper emanation, and departed chearfully: and Hezekiah represented to God in Prayer the integrity of his life, and made it the instrument of his hope. And nothing of this is to be calied Presumption, provided it be in persons of eminent Sanctity and great expe∣rience, old Disciples, and the more perfect Christians: But because such persons are but seldome and rare, if the same Confidence be observed in persons of common imperfe∣ction and an ordinary life, it is to be corrected and allayed with consideration of the* 1.346 Divine Severity and Justice, and with the strict requisites of a holy life, with the de∣ceit of a man's own heart, with consideration and general remembrances of secret sins, and that the most perfect state of life hath very great needs of mercy, and if the righte∣ous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? And the spirit of the man is to be promoted and helped in the encrease of Contrition, as being the pro∣per deletery to cure the extravagancies of a forward and intemperate spirit.

15. But there is a Presumption commenced upon opinion, relying either upon a per∣swasion of single Predestination, or else (which is worse) upon imaginary securities, that Heaven is to be purchased upon conditions easier than a Day's labour, and that an evil life may be reconciled to Heaven by the intervening of little or single acts of Piety or Repentance. If either of them both have actually produced ill life, to which they are apt, or apt to be abused, the persons are miserable in their condition, and cannot be absolutely remedied by going about to cure the Presumption; that was the cause of all, but now it is the least thing to be considered: his whole state is corrupted, and men will not by any discourses or spiritual arts used on their Death-beds be put into a state of Grace; because then is no time to change the state, and there is no mutation then but by single actions; from good to better a dying man may proceed, but not from the state of Reprobation to the life of Grace. And yet it is good charity to unloose the bonds of Satan, whereby the man is bound and led captive at his will, to take off the Presumption by destroying the cause; and then let the work of Grace be set as forward as it can, and leave the event to God; for nothing else is left possible to be done. But if the sick man be of a good life, and yet have a degree of Confidence beyond his Vertue upon the phancie of Predestination, it is not then a time to rescind his opinion by a di∣rect opposition, but let him be drawn off from the consideration of it by such discourses as are apt to make him humble and penitent; for they are the most apt instruments to secure the condition of the man, and attemper his spirit. These are the great Tempta∣tions incident to the last scene of our lives; and are therefore more particularly suggest∣ed by the Tempter, because they have in them something contrary to the universal ef∣fect of a holy life, and are designs to interpose between the end of the journey and the reception of the crown: and therefore it concerns every man who is in a capacity of re∣ceiving the end of his Faith, the Salvation of his Soul, to lay up in the course of his life something against this great day of expence, that he may be better fortified with the armour of the Spirit against these last assaults of the Devil, that he may not shipwreck in the haven.

16. Eschewing evil is but the one half of our work, we must also do good. And now

in the few remanent days or hours of our life there are certain exercises of Religion which have a special relation to this state, and are therefore of great concernment to be done, that we may make our condition as certain as we can, and our portion of Glory greater, and our Pardon surer, and our Love to increase, and that our former omissi∣ons and breaches be repaired with a condition in some measure proportionable to those great hopes which we then are going to possess. And first, Let the sick person, in the beginning of his sickness, and in every change and great accident of it, make acts of Resignation to God, and intirely submit himself to the Divine will; remembring, that Sickness may, to men properly disposed, do the work of God, and produce the effect of the Spirit, and promote the interest of his Soul, as well as Health, and oftentimes better, as being in it self and by the grace of God apt to make us confess our own im∣potency and dependencies, and to understand our needs of mercy, and the continual influences and supports of Heaven; to withdraw our appetites from things below, to correct the vanities and insolencies of an impertinent spirit, to abate the extravagan∣cies of the flesh, to put our carnal lusts into fetters and disability, to remember us of our state of pilgrimage, that this is our way and our stage of trouble and banishment, and that Heaven is our Countrey: for so Sickness is the trial of our Patience, a fire to purge us, an instructer to teach us, a bridle to restrain us, and a state inferring great necessities of union and adhesions unto God. And as upon these grounds we have the same reason to accept sickness at the hands of God, as to receive Physick from a Physi∣cian; so it is argument of excellent Grace to give God hearty thanks in our Disease, and to accept it chearfully, and with spiritual joy.

17. Some persons create to themselves excuses of discontent, and quarrel not with the pain, but the ill consequents of Sickness, It makes them troublesome to their friends; and consider not that their friends are bound to accept the trouble, as them∣selves to accept the sickness; that to tend the sick is at that time allotted for the por∣tion of their work, and that Charity receives it as a duty, and makes that duty to be a pleasure. And however, if our friends account us a burthen, let us also accept that circumstance of affliction to our selves with the same resignation and indifferency as we entertain its occasion, the Sickness it self; and pray to God to enkindle a flame of Charity in their breasts, and to make them compensation for the charge and trou∣ble we put them to; and then the care is at an end. But others excuse their dis∣content with a more religious colour, and call the disease their trouble and afflicti∣on, because it impedes their other parts of Duty; they cannot preach, or study, or do exteriour assistences of Charity and Alms, or acts of Repentance and Mortificati∣on. But it were well if we could let God proportion out our work, and set our task; let him chuse what vertues we shall specially exercise: and when the will of God de∣termines us, it is more excellent to endure afflictions with patience, equanimity and thankfulness, than to do actions of the most pompous Religion, and laborious or expensive Charity; not only because there is a deliciousness in actions of Religion and choice, which is more agreeable to our spirit than the toleration of sickness can be, which hath great reward, but no present pleasure; but also because our suffering and our imployment is consecrated to us when God chuses it, and there is then no mixture of imperfection or secular interest, as there may be in other actions even of an excellent Religion, when our selves are the chusers. And let us also remember, that God hath not so much need of thy works, as thou hast of Patience, Humility, and Resignation. S. Paul was far a more considerable person than thou canst be, and yet it pleased God to shut him in prison for two years, and in that intervall God secured and promoted the work of the Gospel: and although 〈◊〉〈◊〉 was an excellent Minister, yet God laid a sickness upon him, and even in his disease gave him work enough to do, though not of his own chusing. And therefore fear it not but the ends of Religion or Duty will well enough proceed without thy health; and thy own eternal interest, when God so pleases, shall better be served by Sickness, and the Vertues which it occasions, than by the opportunities of Health, and an ambula∣tory active Charity.

18. When thou art resigned to God, use fair and appointed means for thy Reco∣very; trust not in thy spirit upon any instrument of health; as thou art willing to be disposed by God, so look 〈◊〉〈◊〉 for any event upon the stock of any other cause or principle; be ruled by the Physician and the people appointed to tend thee, that thou neither become troublesome to them, nor give any sign of impatience or a peevish spirit. But this advice only means, that thou do not disobey them out of any evil principle; and yet if Reason be thy guide to chuse any other aid, or sollow any other counsel, use

it temperately, prudently, and charitably. It is not intended for a Duty, that thou shouldst drink Oil in stead of Wine, if thy Minister reach it to thee, as did Saint Ber∣nard; nor that thou shouldst accept a Cake tempered with Linseed-oil in stead of Oil of Olives, as did F. Stephen, mentioned by 〈◊〉〈◊〉: but that thou tolerate the defects of thy servants, and accept the evil accidents of thy disease, or the unsuccessfulness of thy Physician's care, as descending on thee from the hands of God. Asa was noted in Scri∣pture,* 1.347 that in his sickness he sought not to the Lord, but to the Physicians. Lewis the XI. of France was then the miserablest person in his Kingdom, when he made him∣self their servant, courting them with great pensions and rewards, attending to their Rules as Oracles, and from their mouths waited for the sentence of life or death. We are, in these great accidents, especially to look upon God as the disposer of the events, which he very often disposes contrary to the expectation we may have of probable cau∣ses; and sometimes without Physick we recover, and with Physick and excellent appli∣cations we grow worse and worse; and God it is that makes the remedies unprosperous. In all these and all other accidents, if we take care that the sickness of the Body derive not it self into the Soul, nor the pains of one procure impatience of the other, we shall alleviate the burthen, and make it supportable and profitable. And certain it is, if men knew well to bear their sicknesses, humbly towards God, charitably towards our Mi∣nisters, and chearfully in themselves, there were no greater advantage in the world to be received than upon a sick bed; and that alone hath in it the benefits of a Church, of a religious Assembly, of the works of Charity and labour. And since our Soul's eternal well-being depends upon the Charities and Providence and Veracity of God, and we have nothing to show for it but his word and Goodness, and that is infinitely enough; it is but reason we be not more nice and scrupulous about the usage and accommodation of our Body: if we accepta 1.348 at God's hand sadness and driness of affection and spiritual desertion patiently and with indifferency, it is unhandsome to express our selves less sa∣tisfied in the accidents about our body.

19. But if the Sickness proceed to Death, it is a new charge upon our spirits, and God calls for a final and intire Resignation into his hands. And to a person who was of* 1.349 humble affections, and in his life-time of a mortified spirit, accustomed to bear the yoke of the Lord, this is easie, because he looks upon Death not only as the certain condition of Nature, but as a necessary (b) 1.350 transition to a state of Blessedness, as the determination of his sickness, the period of humane inselicities, the last change of condition, the begin∣ning of a new, strange, and excellent life, a security against sin, a freedom from the impor∣tunities of a Tempter, from the tyranny of an imperious Lust, from the rebellion of Con∣cupiscence, from the disturbances and tempests of the Irascible faculty, and from the fondness and childishness of the Concupiscible; and (S. Ambrose says well) the trouble of this life and the dangers are so many, that in respect of them* 1.351 Death is a remedy, and a fair proper object of desires. And we finde that many Saints have prayed for death, that they might* 1.352 not see the Persecutions and great miseries incumbent upon the Church: and if the desire be not out of Impatience, but of Charity, and with resigna∣tion, there is no reason to reprove it. Elias prayed that God would take his life, that* 1.353 he might not see the evils of Ahab and Jezebel, and their vexatious intendments against the Prophets of the Lord. And S. Austin, upon the Incursion of the Vandals into Africa,* 1.354 called his Clergy together, and at their Chapter told them,

he had prayed to God ei∣ther to deliver his People from the present calamity, or grant them patience to bear it, or that he would take him out of the world, that he might not see the miseries of his Diocese; adding, that God had granted him the last: and he presently fell sick, and died in the siege of his own Hippo.

And if Death in many* 1.355 cases be desirable, and for many reasons, it is always to be sub∣mitted to, when God calls. And as it is always a misery to fear death, so it is very often a sin, or the effect of sin. If our love to the world hath fastened our affections here, it is a direct sin: and this is by the son of Sirach noted to be the case of rich and great personages; How bitter, O death, is thy* 1.356 remembrance to a man that is at rest in his possessions! But if it be a fear to perish in the ru∣ines of Eternity, they are not to blame for fearing, but that their own ill lives have pro∣cured the fear. And yet there are persons in the state of Grace, but because they are in great imperfection, have such lawful fears of Death and of entring upon an uncertain Sentence, which must stand eternally irreversible, be it good or bad, that they may with piety and care enough pray David's prayer, O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength, before I go hence, and be no more seen. But in this and in all other cases Death

must be accepted without murmur, though without fear it cannot. A man may pray to be delivered from it; and yet if God will not grant it, he must not go as one hal'd to ex∣ecution: but if with all his imperfect fears he shall throw himself upon God, and accept his sentence as righteous, whether it speak life or death, it is an act of so great excellency, that it may equal the good actions of many succeeding and surviving days; and perad∣venture a longer life will be yet more imperfect, and that God therefore puts a period to it, that thou mayest be taken into a condition more certain, though less eminent. How∣ever, let not the fears of Nature, or the fear of Reason, or the fears of Humility become accidentally criminal by a murmur or a pertinacious contesting against the event, which we cannot hinder, but ought to accept by an election secondary, rational and pious, and upon supposition that God will not alter the sentence passed upon thy temporal life; al∣ways remembring, that in Christian Philosophy Death hath in it an excellency of which the Angels are not capable. For by the necessity of our Nature we are made capable of dying for the Holy Jesus: and next to the privilege of that act, is our willingness to die at his command, which turns necessity into vertue, and nature into grace, and grace to glory.

20. When the sick person is thus disposed, let him begin to trim his wedding-gar∣ment, and dress his Lamp with the repetition of acts of Repentance, perpetually praying to God for pardon of his sins, representing to himself the horror of them, the multitude, the obliquity, being helped by arguments apt to excite Contrition, by repetition of pe∣nitential Psalms and holy Prayers; and he may, by accepting and humbly receiving his sickness at God's hand, transmit it into the condition of an act or effect of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, acknowledging himself by sin to have deserved and procured it, and praying that the punishment of his crimes may be here, and not reserved for the state of Separation, and for ever.

21. But above all single acts of this exercise, we are concerned to see that nothing of other mens Goods stick to us, but let us shake it off as we would a burning coal 〈◊〉〈◊〉 our flesh; for it will destroy us, it will carry a curse with us, and leave a curse behind us. Those who by thy means or importunity have become vicious, exhort to Repentance* 1.357 and holy life; those whom thou hast cozened into crimes, restore to a right understand∣ing; those who are by violence and interest led captive by thee to any undecency, re∣store to their liberty, and encourage to the prosecution of holiness; discover and confess thy fraud and unlawful arts, cease thy violence, and give as many advantages to Vertue as thou hast done to Viciousness. Make recompence for bodily wrongs, such as are wounds, dismembrings and other disabilities: restore every man (as much as thou canst) to that good condition from which thou hast removed him; restore his Fame, give back his Goods, return the Pawn, release 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and take off all unjust invasions or surprises of his Estate, pay Debts, satisfie for thy fraud and injustice as far as thou canst, and as thou canst, and as soon; or this alone is weight enough, no less than a Mil-stone about thy Neck. But if the dying man be of God, and in the state of Grace, that is, if he have lived a holy life, repented seasonably, and have led a just, sober and re∣ligious conversation in any acceptable degree, it is to be supposed he hath no great account to make for unpretended injuries and unjust detentions: for if he had detain∣ed the goods of his neighbour fraudulently or violently without amends, when it is in his power and opportunity to restore, he is not the man we suppose him in this pre∣sent Question: and although in all cases he is bound to restore according to his ability, yet the act is less excellent when it is compelled, and so it seems to be, if he have conti∣nued the injustice till he is forced to quit the purchace. However, if it be not done till then, let it be provided for then. And that I press this duty to pious persons at this time, is only to oblige them to a diligent scrutiny concerning the lesser omissions of this duty in the matter of fame, or lesser debts, or spiritual restitution; or that those unevennesses of account which were but of late transaction may now be regulated; and that whatsoever is undone in this matter, from what principle soever it proceeds, whether of sin, or only of forgetfulness, or of imperfection, may now be made as exact as we can, and are obliged; and that those excuses which made it reasonable and lawful to defer Restitution, as want of opportunity, clearness of ability, and accidental incon∣venience, be now laid aside, and the action be done or provided for in the midst of all objections and inconvenient circumstances, rather than to omit it, and hazard to perform it.

22. Hither also I reckon resolutions and forward purposes of emendation and greater severity, in case God return to us hopes of life; which therefore must be re-inforced, that we may serve the ends of God, and understand all his purposes,

and make use of every opportunity; every sickness laid upon us being with a design of drawing us nearer to God; and even holy purposes are good actions of the Spirit, and Principles of Religion: and though alone they cannot do the work of Grace, or change the state, when they are ineffectual, that is, when either we will not bring them into act, or that God will not let us; yet to a Man already in the state of Grace they are the additions of something good, and are like blowing of coals, which al∣though it can put no life into a dead coal, yet it makes a live coal shine brighter, and burn clearer, and adds to it some accidental degrees of heat.

23. Having thus disposed himself to the peace of God, let him make peace with all those in whom he knows or suspects any minutes of anger, or malice, or displeasure to∣wards him, submitting himself to them with humility whom he unworthily hath dis∣pleased, asking pardon of them who say they are displeased,* 1.358 and offering pardon to them that have displeased him; and then let him crave the peace of Holy Church. For it is all this while to be supposed that he hath used the assistence and prayers, the counsel and the advices of a spiritual man, and that to this purpose he hath opened to him the state of his whole life, and made him to understand what emendations of his faults he hath made, what acts of Repentance he hath done, how lived after his fall and reparation, and that he hath submitted all that he did or undid to the discerning of a holy man, whose office it is to guide his Soul in this a∣gony and last offices. All men cannot have the blessing of a wise and learned Minister, and some die where they can have none at all: yet it were a safer course to do as much of this as we can, and to a competent person, if we can; if we cannot, then to the best we have, according as we judge it to be of spiritual advantage to us: for in this con∣juncture of accidents it concerns us to be sure, if we may, and not to be deceived, where we can avoid it; because we shall never return to life to do this work again. And if af∣ter this entercourse with a Spiritual guide we be reconciled by the solemn prayer of the Church, the prayer of Absolution, it will be of great advantage to us; we depart with our Father's blessing, we die in the actual Communion of the Church, we hear the sen∣tence of God applied after the manner of men, and the promise of Pardon made circum∣stantiate, material, present, and operative upon our spirits, and have our portion of the promise which is recorded by S. James, that if the Elders of the Church pray over a sick* 1.359 person fervently and effectually, (add solemnly) his sins shall be forgiven him, (that is, sup∣posing him to be in a capacity to receive it) because such prayers of such a man are very prevalent.

24. All this is in a spiritual sense washing the hands in innocency, and then let him go to the altar: let him not for any excuse less than impossibility omit to receive the holy Sa∣crament; which the Fathers assembled in the great Nicene* 1.360 Council have taught all the Christian world to call the most necessary provisions for our last journey; which is the memory of that Death by which we hope for life; which is the seed of Immortality and Resurrection of our bodies; which unites our spirit to Christ; which is a great defensative against the hostilities of the Devil; which is the most solemn Pray∣er of the Church, united and made acceptable by the Sacrifice of Christ, which is then represented and exhibited to God; which is the great instrument of spiritual increase and the growth of Grace; which is duty and reward, food and Physick, health and pleasure, deletery and cordial, prayer and thanksgiving, an union of mysteries, the mar∣riage of the Soul, and the perfection of all the Rites of Christianity: dying with the ho∣ly Sacrament in us is a going to God with Christ in our arms, and interposing him be∣tween us and his angry sentence. But then we must be sure that we have done all the duty, without which we cannot communicate worthily. For else Satan comes in the place of Christ, and it is a horrour not less than infinite to appear before God's Tribunal possessed in our Souls with the spirit of darkness. True it is, that by many Laws of the Church the Bishop and the Minister are bound to give the holy Eucharist to every per∣son* 1.361 who in the article or apparent danger of death desires it, provided that he hath sub∣mitted himself to the imposition and counsels of the Bishop or Guide of his Soul, that, in case he recovers, he may be brought to the peace of God and his Church by such steps and degrees of Repentance by which other publick sinners are reconciled. But to this gentleness of Discipline and easiness of Administration those excellent per∣sons who made the Canons thought themselves compelled by the rigour of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉: and because they admitted not lapsed persons to the peace of the Church upon any terms, though never so great, so publick, or so penal a Repentance; there∣fore these not onely remitted them to the exercise and station of Penitents, but

also to the Communion. But the Fathers of the Council of Eliberis denied this favour* 1.362 to persons who after Baptism were Idolaters; either intending this as a great argument to affright persons from so great a crime, or else believing that it was unpardonable after Baptism, a contradiction to that state which we entred into by Baptism and the Covenant Evangelical. However, I desire all learned persons to observe it, and the less learned also to make use of it, that those more ancient* 1.363 Councils of the Church which commanded the holy Commu∣nion to be given to dying persons, meant only such which, ac∣cording to the custome of the Church, were under the conditi∣ons of Repentance, that is, such to whom punishment and Di∣scipline of divers years were injoyned; and if it happened they died in the intervall, before the expiration of their time of reconciliation, then they admitted them to the Communion. Which describes to us the doctrine of those Ages when Religion was purer, and Discipline more severe, and holy life secured by rules of excellent Govern∣ment; that those only were fit to come to that Feast who before their last sickness had finished the Repentance of many years,* 1.364 or at least had undertaken it. I cannot say it was so always, and in all Churches; for as the Disciples grew slack, or mens perswasi∣ons had variety, so they were more ready to grant Repentance as well as Absolution to dying persons: but it was otherwise in the best times, and with severer Prelates. And certainly it were great charity to deny the Communion to persons who have lived vici∣ously till their death; provided it be by competent authority, and done sincerely, pru∣dently; and without temporal interest: to other persons, who have lived good lives, or repented of their bad, though less perfectly, it ought not to be denied, and they less ought to neglect it.

25. But as every man must put himself, so also he must put his house in order, make his Will, if he have an Estate to dispose of; and in that he must be careful to do Justice to every man, and Charity to the poor, according as God hath enabled him: and though Charity is then very late, if it begins not earlier; yet if this be but an act of an ancient habit, it is still more perfect, as it succeeds in time, and superadds to the former stock. And among other acts of Duty let it be remembred, that it is excellent Charity to leave our Will and desires clear, plain and determinate, that contention and Law∣suits may be prevented by the explicate declaration of the Legacies. At last and in all instances and periods of our following days let the former good acts be re∣newed; let God be praised for all his Graces and Blessings of our life, let him be intrea∣ted for Pardon of our sins, let acts of Love and Contrition, of Hope, of Joy, of Humi∣lity be the work of every day which God still permits us, always remembring to ask remission for those sins we remember not. And if the condition of our sickness permits it, let our last breath expire with an act of Love; that* 1.365 it may begin the Charities of Eternity, and, like a Taper burnt to its lowest base, it may go out with a great emission of light, leaving a sweet smell behind us to perfume our Coffin; and that these lights, newly made brighter or trimmed up in our sickness, may shine a∣bout our Herse, that they may become arguments of a pious sadness to our friends, (as the charitable Coats which Dorcas made were to the widows) and exemplar to all those who observed, or shall hear of, our holy life and religious death. But if it shall happen that the disease be productive of evil accidents, as a disturbed phancy, a weakned understanding, wild discoursings, or any deprivation of the use of Rea∣son, it concerns the sick persons, in the happy intervalls of a quiet untroubled spi∣rit, to pray earnestly to God that nothing may pass from him in the rages of a Fe∣ver or worse distemper which may less become his duty, or give scandal, or cause trouble to the persons in attendance: and if he shall also renounce and disclaim all such evil words which his disease may speak, not himself, he shall do the duty of a Christian and a prudent person. And after these 〈◊〉〈◊〉, he may with Pi∣ety and confidence resign his Soul into the hands of God, to be deposited in holy receptacles till the day of restitution of all things; and in the mean time with a quiet spirit descend into that state which is the lot of Caesars, and where all Kings and Con∣querours have laid aside their glories.

The PRAYER.

O Eternal and Holy Jesus, who by Death hast overcome Death, and by thy Passion hast taken out its sting, and made it to become one of the gates of Heaven, and an entrance to Felicity; have mercy upon me now and at the hour of my death: let thy Grace accompany me all the days of my life, that I may by a holy Conversation, and an habitual performance of my Duty, wait for the coming of our Lord, and be ready to enter with thee at whatsoever hour thou shalt come. Lord, let not my death be in any sence unprovided, nor untimely, nor hasty, but after the common manner of men, having in it nothing extraordinary, but an ex∣traordinary Piety, and the manifestation of a great and miraculous Mercy. Let my Senses and Understanding be preserved intire till the last of my days, and grant that I may die the death of the righteous, having first discharged all my obligations of justice, leaving none mise∣rable and unprovided in my departure; but be thou the portion of all my friends and relatives, and let thy blessing descend upon their heads, and abide there, till they shall meet me in the bosom of our Lord. Preserve me ever in the communion and peace of the Church; and bless my Death bed with the opportunity of a holy and a spiritual Guide, with the assistence and guard of Angels, with the perception of the holy Sacrament, with Patience and dereliction of my own 〈◊〉〈◊〉, with a strong Faith, and a firm and humble Hope, with just measures of Re∣pentance, and great treasures of Charity to thee my God, and to all the world; that my Soul in the arms of the Holy Jesus may be deposited with safety and joy, there to expect the reve∣lation of thy Day, and then to partake the glories of thy Kingdom, O Eternal and Holy Jesus.

Amen.

Considerations upon the Crucifixion of the Holy JESUS.

[illustration]

He beareth his Cross

Ioh: 19. 16. 17. And they took Iesus and lead him away:

17. And he bearing his Cross went forth into a place called the place of a Scult; which is called in y^e Hebrew, Golgotha.

[illustration]

They Erect the Crucifixe.

Ioh: 3. 14. 15. And as Moses lifted up the Ser¦pent in y^e wilderness, even so must y^e Son of man be lifted up.

15. That whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but haue eternall life.

1. WHen the Sentence of Death pronounced against the Lord was to be put in ex∣ecution, the Souldiers pulled off the Robe of mockery, the scarlet Mantle, which in jest they put upon him, and put on his own garments. But, as Origen ob∣serves, the Evangelist mentioned not that they took off the Crown of thorns; what might serve their interest they pursue, but nothing of remission or mercy to the afflicted Son of man: but so it became the King of Sufferings; not to lay aside his Imperial thorns, till they were changed into Diadems of Glory. But now Abel is led forth by his brother to be slain. A gay spectacle to satisfie impious eyes, who would not stay behind, but attended and waited upon the hangman to see the Catastrophe of this bloudy Tragedy. But when Piety looks on, she beholds a glorious mystery. Sin* 1.366 laughed to see the King of Heaven and Earth, and the great lover of Souls, in stead of the Scepter of his Kingdom to bear a Tree of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and shame. But Plety wept tears of pity, and knew they would melt into joy, when she should behold that Cross which loaded the shoulders of her Lord afterward sit upon the Scepters, and be engra∣ved and signed upon the Foreheads of Kings.

2. It cannot be thought but the Ministers of Jewish malice used all the circumstan∣ces of affliction which in any case were accustomed towards malefactors and persons to be crucified, and therefore it was that in some old Figures we see our Blessed Lord de∣scribed with a Table appendent to the fringe of his garment, set full of nails and pointed iron; for so sometimes they afflict∣ed* 1.367 persons condemned to that kind of Death, and S. Cyprian affirms that Christ did stick to the wood that he carried, being* 1.368 galled with the iron at his heels, and nailed even before his Cru∣cifixion. But this and the other accidents of his journey and

their malice so crushed his wounded, tender and virginal body, that they were forced to lay the load upon a Cyrenian, fearing that he should die with less shame and smart than they intended him. But so he was pleased to take man unto his aid, not only to represent his own need and the dolorousness of his Passion, but to consign the duty un∣to man, that we must enter into a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Christ's sufferings, taking up the Cross of Martyrdom when God requires us, enduring affronts, being patient under afflicti∣on, loving them that hate us, and being benefactors to our enemies, abstaining from sensual and intemperate delight, forbidding to our selves lawful festivities and recrea∣tions of our weariness, when we have an end of the spirit to serve upon the ruines of the bodie's strength, mortifying our desires, breaking our own will, not seeking our selves, being entirely resigned to God. These are the Cross, and the Nails, and the Spear, and the Whip, and all the instruments of a Christian's Passion. And we may consider, that every man in this world shall in some sence or other bear a Cross, few men escape it, and it is not well with them that do: but they only bear it well that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Christ, and tread in his steps, and bear it for his sake, and walk as he walk∣ed; and he that follows his own desires, when he meets with a cross there, (as it is certain enough he will) bears the cross of his Concupiscence, and that hath no fellow∣ship with the Cross of Christ. By the Precept of bearing the Cross we are not tied to pull evil upon our selves, that we may imitate our Lord in nothing but in being afflicted; or to personate the punitive exercises of Mortification and severe Abstinencies which were eminent in some Saints, and to which they had special assistances, as others had the gift of Chastity, and for which they had special reason, and, as they apprehended, some great necessities: but it is required that we bear our own Cross, so said our dearest Lord. For when the Cross of Christ is laid upon us, and we are called to Martyrdom,* 1.369 then it is our own, because God made it to be our portion: and when by the necessities of our spirit and the rebellion of our body we need exteriour mortifications and acts of self-denial: then also it is our own cross, because our needs have made it so; and so it is when God sends us sickness or any other calamity: what-ever is either an effect of our ghostly needs, or the condition of our temporal estate, it calls for our sufferance, and patience, and equanimity; for therefore Christ hath suffered for us, (saith S. Pe∣ter)* 1.370 leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps, who bore his Cross as long as he could, and when he could no longer, he murmured not, but sank under it; and then he was content to receive such aid, not which he chose himself, but such as was assigned him.

3. Jesus was led out of the gates of Jerusalem, that he might become the sacrifice for* 1.371 persons without the pale, even for all the world: And the daughters of Jerusalem fol∣lowed him with pious tears till they came to Calvary, a place difficult in the ascent, eminent and apt for the publication of shame, a hill of death and dead bones, polluted and impure, and there beheld him stript naked, who cloaths the field with flowers, and all the world with robes, and the whole globe with the canopy of Heaven, and so dress'd, that now every circumstance was a triumph: By his Disgrace he trampled up∣on* 1.372 our Pride; by his Poverty and nakedness he triumphed over our Covetousness and love of riches; and by his Pains chastised the Delicacies of our flesh, and broke in pie∣ces the fetters of Concupiscence. For as soon as Adam was clothed he quitted Para∣dise; and Jesus was made naked, that he might bring us in again. And we also must be despoil'd of all our exteriour adherencies, that we may pass through the regions of duty and divine love to a society of blessed spirits, and a clarified, immortal, and bea∣tified estate.

4. There they nailed Jesus with four nails, fixed his Cross in the ground, which with its fall into the place of its station* 1.373 gave infinite torture by so violent a concussion of the body of* 1.374 our Lord, which rested upon nothing but four great wounds; where he was designed to suffer a long and lingring torment. For Crucifixion, as it was an excellent pain, sharp and passi∣onate, so it was not of quick effect towards taking away the life. S. Andrew was two whole days upon the Cross; and some Martyrs have upon the Cross been rather starved and devoured with birds, than killed with the proper torment of the tree. But Jesus took all his Passion with a vo∣luntary susception, God heightning it to the great degrees of torment supernaturally; and he laid down his life voluntarily, when his Father's wrath was totally appeased to∣wards mankind.

5. Some have phansied that Christ was pleased to take something from every conditi∣on of which Man ever was or shall be possessed; taking Immunity from sin from Adam's state of Innocence, Punishment and misery from the state of Adam fallen, the fulness of Grace from the state of Renovation, and perfect Contemplation of the Divinity and beatifick joys from the state of Comprehension and the blessedness of Heaven; meaning, that the Humanity of our Blessed Saviour did in the sharpest agony of his Passion behold the face of God, and communicate in glory. But I consider that, although the two Natures of Christ were knit by a mysterious union into one Person, yet the Natures still retain their incommunicable properties. Christ as God is not subject to sufferings, as a man he is the subject of miseries; as God he is eternal, as man, mortal and commensu∣rable by time; as God, the supreme Law-giver, as man, most humble and obedient to the Law: and therefore that the Humane nature was united to the Divine, it does not infer that it must in all instances partake of the Divine felicities, which in God are es∣sential, to man communicated without necessity, and by an arbitrary dispensation. Add to this, that some vertues and excellencies were in the Soul of Christ which could not consist with the state of glorified and beatified persons; such as are Humility, Po∣verty of spirit, Hope, Holy desires; all which, having their seat in the Soul, suppose even in the supremest 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a state of pilgrimage, that is, a condition which is im∣perfect, and in order to something beyond its present. For therefore Christ ought to* 1.375 suffer, (saith our Blessed Lord himself) and so enter into his glory. And S. Paul affirms, that we see Jesus made a little lower than the Angels, for the suffering of death, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 with* 1.376 glory and honour. And again, Christ humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,* 1.377 even the death of the Cross: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a Name above every name. Thus his present life was a state of merit and work, and as a reward of it he was crowned with glory and immortality, his Name was exalted, his Kingdom glorified, he was made the Lord of all the Creatures, the first-fruits of the Resurrection, the exemplar of glory, and the Prince and Head of the Catholick Church: and because this was his recompence, and the fruits of his Humility and Obedience, it is certain it was not a necessary consequence and a natural efflux of the personal union of the Godhead with the Humanity. This I discourse to this purpose, that we may not in our esteem lessen the suffering of our dearest Lord by thinking he had the supports of actual Glory in the midst of all his Sufferings. For there is no one minute or ray of Glory but its fruition does outweigh and make us insensible of the greatest calamities, and the spirit of pain, which can be extracted from all the infelici∣ties of this world. True it is, that the greatest beauties in this world are receptive of an allay of sorrow, and nothing can have pleasure in all capacities. The most beauti∣ous feathers of the birds of Paradise, the Estrich, or the Peacock, if put into our throat, are not there so pleasant as to the eye: But the beatifick joys of the least glory of Hea∣ven take away all pain, wipe away all tears from our eyes; and it is not possible that at the same instant the Soul of Jesus should be ravished with Glory, and yet abated with pains grievous and 〈◊〉〈◊〉. On the other side, some say that the Soul of Jesus upon the Cross suffered the pains of Hell, and all the torments of the damned, and that with∣out such sufferings it is not imaginable he should pay the price which God's wrath should demand of us. But the same that reproves the one does also reprehend the other; for the Hope that was the support of the Soul of Jesus, as it confesses an imperfection that is not consistent with the state of Glory, so it excludes the Despair that is the tor∣ment proper to accursed souls. Our dearest Lord suffered the whole condition of Hu∣manity, Sin only excepted, and freed us from Hell with suffering those sad pains, and merited Heaven for his own Humanity, as the Head, and all faithful people, as the Members of his mystical Body. And therefore his life here was only a state of pilgri∣mage, not at all trimmed with beatifick glories. Much less was he ever in the state of Hell, or upon the Cross felt the formal misery and spirit of torment which is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of damned spirits; because it was impossible Christ should despair, and without De∣spair it is impossible there should be a Hell. But this is highly probable, that in the in∣tension of degrees and present anguish the Soul of our Lord might feel a greater load of wrath than is incumbent in every instant upon perishing souls. For all the sadness which may be imagined to be in Hell consists in acts produced from principles that can∣not surpass the force of humane or Angelical nature; but the pain which our Blessed Lord endured for the expiation of our sins was an issue of an united and concentred an∣ger, was received into the heart of God and Man, and was commensurate to the whole latitude of the Grace, Patience and Charity of the Word incarnate.

[illustration]

The Crucisixion.

Mark: 15: 25. Erat autem Hora tertia & crucifixerunt eum.

Mark. 15: 25. And is was the third houre & they crucified him.

[illustration]

The takeing down from the Cross.

Luk. 23: 50 And there was a man named Ioseph, a Counsellour & he was a good man & a lust (y^e same had not consented to y^e counsell & deed of them. 52. This man went unto Pilate & begged y^e Body of Iesus.

53 And he took it down & wrapped it in linen, & layd it in a Sepulehre, that was hewn in stone wherein never man before was layd.

6. And now behold the Priest and the Sacrifice of all the world laid upon the Altar of the Cross, bleeding, and tortured, and dying, to reconcile his Father to us: and he was arrayed with ornaments more glorious than the robes of Aaron. The Crown of Thorns was his Mitre, the Cross his Pastoral staffe, the Nails piercing his hands were in stead of Rings, the ancient ornament of Priests, and his flesh rased and checker'd with blew and bloud in stead of the parti-coloured Robe. But as this object calls for our Devotion, our Love and Eucharist to our dearest Lord; so it must needs irrecon∣cile us to Sin, which in the eye of all the world brought so great shame and pain and amazement upon the Son of God, when he only became engaged by a charitable substi∣tution of himself in our place; and therefore we are assured, by the demonstration of sense and experience, it will bring death and all imaginable miseries as the just expres∣ses of God's indignation and hatred: for to this we may apply the words of our Lord in the prediction of miseries to Jerusalem, If this be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? For it is certain, Christ infinitely pleased his Father even by becoming the person made 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in estimate of Law; and yet so great Charity of our Lord, and the so great love and pleasure of his Father, exempted him not from suffering pains in∣tolerable: and much less shall those escape who provoke and displease God, and despise so great Salvation, which the Holy Jesus hath wrought with the expence of bloud and so precious a life.

7. But here we see a great representation and testimony of the Divine Justice, who was so angry with sin, who had so severely threatned it, who does so essentially hate it, that he would not spare his only Son, when he became a conjunct person, relative to the guilt by undertaking the charges of our Nature. For although God hath set* 1.378 down in holy Scripture the order of his Justice, and the manner of its manifestation,* 1.379 that one Soul shall not perish for the sins of another; yet this is meant for Justice and for Mercy too, that is, he will not curse the Son for the Father's fault, or in any relation whatsoever substitute one person for another to make him involuntarily guilty: But when this shall be desired by a person that cannot finally perish, and does a mercy to the exempt persons, and is a voluntary act of the suscipient, and shall in the event also redound to an infinite good, it is no deflection from the Divine Justice to excuse many

by the affliction of one, who also for that very suffering shall have infinite compensati∣on. We see that for the sin of Cham all his posterity were accursed: the Subjects of David died with the Plague, because their Prince numbred the people: Idolatry is punished in the children of the fourth generation: Saul's seven sons were hanged for breaking the League of Gibeon; and Ahab's sin was punished in his posterity, he esca∣ping, and the evil was brought upon his house in his son's days. In all these cases the evil descended upon persons in near relation to the sinner, and was a punishment to him and a misery to these, and were either chastisements also of their own sins, or if they were not, they served other ends of Providence, and led the afflicted innocent to a condition of recompence accidentally procured by that infliction. But if for such relation's sake and oeconomical and political conjunction, as between Prince and People, the evil may be transmitted from one to another, much rather is it just, when by contract a competent and conjunct person undertakes to quit his relative. Thus when the Hand steals, the Back is whipt; and an evil Eye is punished with a hungry Belly. Treason causes the whole Family to be miserable; and a Sacrilegious Grandfather hath sent a Locust to devour the increase of the Nephews.

8. But in our case it is a voluntary contract, and therefore no Injustice; all parties are voluntary. God is the supreme Lord, and his actions are the measure of Justice: we, who had deserved the punishment, had great reason to desire a Redeemer: and yet Christ, who was to pay the ransome, was more desirous of it than we were, for we asked it not before it was promised and undertaken. But thus we see that Sureties pay* 1.380 the obligation of the principal Debtor, and the Pledges of Contracts have been by the best and wisest Nations slain when the Articles have been broken: The Thessalians slew 250 Pledges; the Romans 300 of the Volsci, and threw the Tarentines from the Tarpei∣an rock. And that it may appear Christ was a person in all sences competent to do this for us, himself * 1.381 testifies that he had power over his own life, to take it up, or lay it down. And therefore as there can be nothing against the most exact justice and reason of Laws and punishments; so it magnifies the Divine Mercy, who removes the punishment from us who of necessity must have sunk under it, and yet makes us to adore his Seve∣rity, who would not forgive us without punishing his Son for us; to consign unto us* 1.382 his perfect hatred against Sin, to conserve the sacredness of his Laws, and to imprint upon us great characters of fear and love. The famous Locrian Zaleucus made a Law, that all Adulterers should lose both their eyes: his son was first unhappily surprised in* 1.383 the crime; and his Father, to keep a temper between the piety and soft spirit of a Pa∣rent, and the justice and severity of a Judge, put out one of his own eyes, and one of his Sons. So God did with us; he made some abatement, that is, as to the person with whom he was angry, but inflicted his anger upon our Redeemer, whom he essen∣tially loved, to secure the dignity of his Sanctions and the sacredness of Obedience; so marrying Justice and Mercy by the intervening of a commutation. Thus David esca∣ped by the death of his Son, God chusing that penalty for the expiation: and Cimon of∣fered himself to prison, to purchase the liberty of his Father Miltiades. It was a filial duty in Cimon, and yet the Law was satisfied. And both these concurred in our great Redeemer. For God, who was the sole Arbitrator, so disposed it, and the eternal Son of God submitted to this way of expiating our crimes, and became an argument of faith and belief of the great Article of Remission of sins, and other its appendent causes and effects and adjuncts; it being wrought by a visible and notorious Passion. It was made an encouragement of Hope; for he that spared not his own Son to reconcile us, will with him give all things else to us so reconciled: and a great endearment of our Duty and Love, as it was a demonstration of his. And in all the changes and traverses of our life he is made to us a great example of all excellent actions and all patient suffer∣ings.

9. In the midst of two Thieves three long hours the holy Jesus hung clothed with pain, agony and dishonour, all of them so eminent and vast, that he who could not but hope, whose Soul was enchased with Divinity, and dwelt in the bosom of God, and in the Cabinet of the mysterious Trinity, yet had a cloud of misery so thick and black drawn before him, that he complained as if God had forsaken him: but this was the pillar of cloud which conducted Israel into Canaan. And as God behind the Cloud supported the Holy Jesus, and stood ready to receive him into the union of his Glories; so his Soul in that great desertion had internal comforts proceeding from consideration of all those excellent persons which should be adopted into the fellowship of his Suffer∣ings, which should imitate his Graces, which should communicate his Glories. And we follow this Cloud to our Country, having Christ for our Guide: and though he

trode the way, leaning upon the Cross, which like the staffe of Egypt pierced his hands; yet it is to us a comfort and support, pleasant to our spirits as the sweetest Canes, strong as the pillars of the earth, and made apt for our use by having been born and made smooth by the hands of our Elder Brother.

10. In the midst of all his torments Jesus only made one Prayer of sorrow to represent his sad condition to his Father; but no accent of murmur, no syllable of anger against his enemies: In stead of that he sent up a holy, charitable and effective Prayer for their forgiveness, and by that Prayer obtained of God that within 55 days 8000 of his ene∣mies were converted. So potent is the prayer of Charity, that it prevails above the malice of men, turning the arts of Satan into the designs of God; and when malice oc∣casions the Prayer, the Prayer becomes an antidote to malice. And by this instance our Blessed Lord consigned that Duty to us which in his Sermons he had preached, That we should forgive our enemies, and pray for them: and by so doing our selves are freed from the stings of anger, and the storms of a revengeful spirit; and we often∣times procure servants to God friends to our selves, and heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.

11. Of the two Thieves that were crucified together with* 1.384 our Lord, the one blasphemed; the other had at that time the greatest Piety in the world, except that of the Blessed Virgin, and particularly had such a Faith, that all the Ages* 1.385 of the Church could never shew the like. For when he saw Christ in the same condemnation with himself, crucisied by the Romans, accused and scorned by the Jews, forsaken by his own Apostles, a dying distressed Man, doing at that time no Miracles to attest his Divinity or Innocence; yet then he confesses him to be a Lord, and a King, and his Saviour: He confessed his own shame and unworthiness, he sub∣mitted to the death of the Cross, and, by his voluntary acceptation and tacite volition of it, made it equivalent to as great a punishment of his own susception; he shewed an incomparable modesty, begging but for a remembrance only, he knew himself so sinful, he durst ask no more; he reproved the other Thief for Blasphemy; he confessed the world to come, and owned Christ publickly, he prayed to him, he hoped in him, and pitied him, shewing an excellent Patience in this sad condition. And in this I consi∣der, that besides the excellency of some of these acts, and the goodness of all, the like occasion for so exemplar Faith never can occur; and until all these things shall in these circumstances meet in any one man, he must not hope for so safe an Exit after an evil life 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the confidence of this example. But now Christ had the key of Paradise in his hand, and God blessed the good Thief with this opportunity of letting him in, who at another time might have waited longer, and been tied to harder conditions. And in∣deed it is very probable that he was much advantaged by the intervening accident of dying at the same time with Christ; there being a natural compassion produced in us to∣wards the partners of our miseries. For Christ was not void of humane passions, though he had in them no imperfection or irregularity, and therefore might be invited by the society of misery, the rather to admit him to participate his joys; and S. Paul proves him to be a merciful high Priest, because he was touched with a feeling of our infirmities: the first expression of which was to this blessed Thief; Christ and he together sate at the Supper of bitter herbs, and Christ payed his symbol, promising that he should that day be together with him in Paradise.

12. By the Cross of Christ stood the Holy Virgin Mother, upon whom old Simeon's Prophecy was now verified: for now she felt a sword passing through her very soul: she* 1.386 stood without clamour and womanish noises, sad, silent, and with a modest grief, deep as the waters of the abysse, but smooth as the face of a pool, full of Love, and Patience, and Sorrow, and Hope. Now she was put to it to make use of all those ex∣cellent discourses her Holy Son had used to build up her spirit, and fortifie it against this day. Now she felt the blessings and strengths of Faith, and she passed from the griefs of the Passion to the expectation of the Resurrection, and she rested in this Death as in a sad remedy; for she knew it reconciled God with all the World. But her Hope drew a veil before her Sorrow; and though her Grief was great enough to swallow her up, yet her Love was greater, and did swallow up her grief. But the Sun also had a veil upon his face, and taught us to draw a curtain before the Passion, which would be the most artificial expression of its greatness, whilest by silence and wonder we confess it great beyond our expression, or, which is all one, great as the burthen and baseness of our sins. And with this veil drawn before the face of Jesus let us suppose him at the gates of Paradise, calling with his last words in a loud voice to have them opened, that the King of glory might come in.

The PRAYER.

O Holy Jesus, who for our sakes didst suffer incomparable anguish and pains commensurate to thy Love, and our Miseries, which were infinite, that thou mightest purchase for 〈◊〉〈◊〉 blessings upon Earth, and an inheritance in Heaven; dispose us by Love, Thankfulness, Humility and Obedience, to receive all the benefit of thy Passion, granting unto us and thy whole Church remission of all our sins, integrity of mind, health of body, competent mainte∣nance, peace in our days, a temperate air, fruitfulness of the earth, unity and integrity of Faith, extirpation of Heresies, reconcilements of Schisms, destruction of all wicked counsels intended against us; and bind the hands of Rapine and Sacriledge, that they may not destroy the vintage, and root up the Vine it self. Multiply thy Blessings upon us, sweetest Jesus, in∣crease in us true Religion, sincere and actual devotion in our Prayers, Patience in troubles, and whatsoever is necessary to our Soul's health, or conducing to thy Glory. Amen.

II.

O Dearest Saviour, I adore thy mercies and thy incomparable love expressed in thy so vo∣luntary susception and affectionate suffering such horrid and sad Tortures, which cannot be remembred without a sad compassion; the waters of bitterness entred into thy Soul, and the storms of Death and thy Father's anger broke thee all in pieces: and what shall I do, who by my sins have so tormented my dearest Lord? what Contrition can be great enough, what tears sufficiently expressive, what hatred and detestation of my crimes can be equal and com∣mensurate to those sad accidents which they have produced? Pity me, O Lord, pity me, dear∣est God, turn those thy merciful eyes towards me, O most merciful Redeemer; for my sins are great, like unto thy Passion, full of sorrow and shame, and a burthen too great for me to bear. Lord, who hast done so much for me, now only speak the word, and thy servant shall be whole: Let thy Wounds heal me, thy Vertues amend me, thy Death quicken me; that I in this life suffering the cross of a sad and salutary Repentance, in the union and merits of thy 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and Passion, may die with thee, and rest with thee, and rise again with thee, and live with thee for ever in the possession of thy Glories, O dearest Saviour Jesus.

Amen.

SECT. XVI. Of the Resurrection and Ascension of JESUS.

[illustration]

The Burial of Iesus.

Mat 27 57 When the even was come there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Jo seph, who also himself was Jesus Disciple, he went to Pilate, & beggd the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Ioseph had taken the body, he wrap∣ped it in a clean linen cloth, & layd it in his own new tomb, which he had hewen out in y^e rock.

[illustration]

The Resurrection of Iesus.

Mat 28 2 And behold there was a great earthquake: for the Angel of the Lord descen∣ded from heaven & came & rolled back y^e stone from the doore, and sate upon it And for feare of him the keepers did shake, & became as dead men. And the Angel sayd unto the woman. Fear not ye, for I know, that ye seek Iesus, that was cru∣cified. He is not here for he is Risen, as he sayd.

1. WHile it was yet early in the morning, upon the first day of the week, Ma∣ry Magdalen and Mary the mother of James and Salome brought sweet spices to the Sepulchre, that they might again embalm the Holy Body; (for the rites of Embalming among the Hebrews used to last forty days) and their love* 1.387 was not satisfied with what Joseph had done. They therefore hastned to the grave; and after they had expended their money, and bought the spices, then begin to consi∣der, who shall remove the stone: but yet they still go on, and their love answers the ob∣jection, not knowing how it should be done, but yet resolving to go through all the difficulties; but never remember or take care to pass the guards of Souldiers. But when they came to the Sepulchre, they found the Guard affrighted and removed, and the stone rolled away; for there had a little before their arrival been a great Earthquake, and an Angel descending from Heaven rolled away the stone, and sate* 1.388 upon it; and for fear of him the guards about the tomb became astonished with fear, and were like dead men: and some of them ran to the High Priests, and told them what happened. But they now resolving to make their iniquity safe and unquestionable by a new crime, hire the Souldiers to tell an incre∣dible and a weak fable, that his Disciples came by night and stole him away: Against which accident the wit of man could give no more security than themselves had made. The women entred into the Sepulchre, and missing the body of Jesus, Mary Magdalen ran to the eleven Apostles, complaining that the body of our Lord was not to be found. Then Peter and John ran as fast as they could to see: for the unexpectedness of the relation, the wonder of the sto∣ry and the sadness of the person moved some affections in them, which were kindled by

the first principles and sparks of Faith, but were not made actual and definite, because the Faith was not raised to a flame: they looked into the Sepulchre, and finding not the body there, they returned. By this time Mary Magdalen was come back, and the women who stayed weeping for their Lord's body saw two Angels sitting in white, the one at the head, and the other at the 〈◊〉〈◊〉; at which unexpected sight they trembled, and bowed themselves: but an Angel bid them not to fear, telling them that Jesus of Naza∣reth, who was crucified, was also risen, and was not there, and called to mind what Je∣sus had told them in Galilee concerning his Crucifixion, and Resurrection the third day.

2. And Mary Magdalen turned her self back, and saw Jesus; but supposing him to be the Gardiner, she said to him, Sir, if thou have born him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. But Jesus said unto her, Mary. Then she knew his voice, and with ecstasie of joy and wonder was ready to have crushed his feet with her imbraces: but he commanded her not to touch him, but go to his Erethren, and say, I ascend unto my Father, and to your Father, to my God, and your God. Mary departed with satisfaction beyond the joys of a victory or a full vintage, and told these things to the Apostles: but the narration seem'd to them as talk of abused and phantastick persons. About the same time Jesus also appeared unto Simon Peter. Towards the declining of the day, two of his Disciples going to Emmans sad, and discoursing of the late occur∣rences, Jesus puts himself into their company, and upbraids their incredulity, and ex∣pounds the Scriptures, that Christ ought to suffer, and rise again the third day, and in the breaking of bread disappeared; and so was known to them by vanishing away, whom pre∣sent they knew not. And instantly they hasten to Jerusalem, and told the Apostles what had happened.

3. And while they were there, that is, the same day at evening, when the Apostles were assembled all save Thomas, secretly for fear of the Jews, the doors being shut, Jesus came and stood in the midst of them. They were exceedingly troubled, supposing it had been a Spirit. But Jesus confuted them by the Philosophy of their senses, by feeling his 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and bones, which spirits have not. For he gave them his benediction, shewing them his hands and his feet. At which sight they rejoyced with exceeding joy, and began to be restored to their indefinite hopes of some future felicity by the returns of their Lord to life: and there he first breathed on them, giving them the holy Ghost, and performing the promise twice made before his death, the promise of the Keys, or of binding and loosing, saying, Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; and whose soever sins ye re∣tain, they are retained. And that was the second part of Clerical power with which Jesus instructed his Disciples, in order to their great Commission of Preaching and Go∣vernment 〈◊〉〈◊〉. These things were told to Thomas, but he believed not, and resolved against the belief of it, unless he might put his finger into his hands, and his hand into his side. Jesus therefore on the Octaves of his Resurrection appeared again to the Apostles met together, and makes demonstration to Thomas, in conviction and re∣proof of his unbelief, promising a special benediction to all succeeding Ages of the Church; for they are such who saw not, and yet have believed.

4. But Jesus at his early appearing had sent an order by the women, that the Di∣sciples should go into 〈◊〉〈◊〉; and they did so after a few days. And Simon Peter be∣ing there went a fishing, and six other of the Apostles with him, to the Sea of Tiberias, where they laboured all night, and caught nothing. Towards the morning Jesus appeared to them, and bad them cast the net on the right side of the ship; which they did, and in∣closed an hundred and fifty three great fishes: by which prodigious draught John the be∣loved Disciple perceived it was the Lord. At which instant Peter threw himself into the Sea, and went to Jesus; and when the rest were come to shore, they din'd with broiled fish. After dinner Jesus, taking care for those scattered sheep which were dis∣persed over the face of the earth, that he might gather them into one Sheepfold under one 〈◊〉〈◊〉, asked Peter, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Peter answered, Yea, Lord, thou that knowest all things knowest that I love thee. Then Jesus said unto him, Feed my Lambs. And Jesus asked him the same question, and gave him the same Precept the second time, and the third time: for it was a considerable and a weighty imployment, upon which Jesus was willing to spend all his endearments and stock of affections that Peter owed him, even upon the care of his little Flock. And after the intrusting of this charge to him, he told him, that the reward he should have in this world should be a sharp and an honourable Martyrdom; and withall checks at Peter's curiosity in busying himself about the temporal accidents of other men, and en∣quiring what should become of John the beloved Disciple. Jesus answered his question

with some sharpness of reprehension, and no satisfaction; If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Then they phansied that he should not die: But they were mista∣ken, for the intimation was expounded and verified by S. John's surviving the destructi∣on of Jerusalem; for after the attempts of persecutors, and the miraculous escape of prepared torments, he died a natural death in a good old age.

5. After this, Jesus having appointed a solemn meeting for all the Brethren that could be collected from the dispersion, and named a certain mountain in 〈◊〉〈◊〉, ap∣peared to five hundred Brethren at once; and this was his most publick and solemn mani∣festation: and while some doubted, Jesus came according to the designation, and spake to the eleven, sent them to preach to all the world Repentance and Remission of sins in his Name, promising to be with them to the end of the world. He appeared also unto James, but at what time is uncertain; save that there is something concerning it in the Gospel of S. Matthew which the Nazarens of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 used, and which it is likely themselves added out of report; for there is nothing of it in our Greek Copies. The words are these:

When the Lord had given the linen in which he was wrapped to the servant of the High Priest, he went and appeared unto James. For James had vowed, after he received the Lord's Supper, that he would eat no bread till he saw the Lord risen from the grave. Then the Lord called for bread, he blessed it and brake it, and gave it to James the Just, and said, My Brother, eat bread, for the Son of man is risen from the sleep of death.

So that by this it should seem to be done upon the day of the Resurrection. But the relation of it by S. Paul puts it between the appearance which he made to the five hundred, and that last to the Apostles when he was to ascend into Heaven. Last of all, when the Apostles were at dinner, he appeared to them, upbraiding their incredulity: and then he opened their understanding, that they might discern the sence of Scripture, and again commanded them to preach the Gospel to all the world, giving them power to do Miracles, to cast out Devils, to cure 〈◊〉〈◊〉; and instituted the Sacrament of Baptism, which he commanded should together with the Sermons of the Gospel be administred to all Nations in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Then he led them into Judaea, and they came to Bethany, and from thence to the mount Olivet; and he commanded them to stay in Jerusalem, till the Holy Ghost, the promise of the Father, should descend upon them, which should be accomplished in few days; and then they should know the times, and the seasons, and all things necessary for their ministration and service, and propagation of the Go∣spel. And while he discoursed many things concerning the Kingdom, behold a Cloud came and parted Jesus from them, and carried him in their sight up into Heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God blessed for ever. Amen.

6. While his Apostles stood gazing up to Heaven, two Angels appeared to them, and told them, that Jesus should come in like manner as he was taken away, viz. with glo∣ry and majesty, and in the clouds, and with the ministry of Angels. Amen. Come, Lord JESUS; come quickly.

Ad SECT. XVI. Considerations upon the Accidents happening in the intervall after the Death of the Holy JESUS, untill his Resurrection.

[illustration]

Jesus and Mary in the Garden.

Joh. 20. 14. 15. 16. Mary turning about saw Jesus standing & knew not y^t it was Jesus, Jesus saith, woman, whom seekest thou? Shee supposing him to be the garidner, saith. sir, if thou have born him hence, tell me, etc. Jesus saith unto her, Mary: she turned her self, and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is Master. Jesus saith unto her, touch me not for, etc. Mary Magdalen came and told the desciples, that she had seen the Lord.

[illustration]

Our Lords Ascension.

Acts. 1. 9. And when he had spoken these things, while they be∣held, he was taken up, & a Cloud received him out of their sight. 10. And while they stedfastly looked toward heaven, behold two men stood by them in white apparell. 11. Which also said, this same Ie∣sus shall so come, as you have seen him go into heaven.

1. THE Holy Jesus promised to the blessed Thief, that he should that day be with him in Paradise; which therefore was certainly a place or state of Blessed∣ness, because it was a promise; and in the society of Jesus, whose penal and affli∣ctive part of his work of Redemption was finished upon the Cross. Our Blessed Lord did not promise he should that day be with him in his Kingdom, for that day it was not opened, and the everlasting doors of those interiour recesses were to be shut till after the Resurrection, that himself was to ascend thither, and make way for all his servants to enter, in the same method in which he went before us. Our Blessed Lord * 1.389 descended into Hell, saith the Creed of the Apostles, from the Sermon of Saint Peter, as he from the words of David, that is, into the state of Separation and common re∣ceptacle of Spirits, according to the style of Scripture. But the name of [Hell] is no-where in Scripture an appellative of the Kingdom of Christ, of the place of final and supreme Glory. But concerning the verification of our Lord's promise to the be∣atified Thief, and his own state of Separation, we must take what light we can from Scripture, and what we can from the Doctrine of the Primi∣tive Church. (a) 1.390 S. Paul had two great Revelations; he was rapt up into Paradise; and he was rapt up into the third Hea∣ven: and these he calls visions & revelations, not one, but divers: for Paradise is distinguished from the Heaven of the blessed, being

it self a receptacle of holy Souls, made illustrious with visitation of Angels, and hap∣py by being a repository for such spirits who at the day of Judgment shall go forth into eternal glory. In the interim Christ hath trod all the paths before us, and* 1.391 this also we must pass through to arrive at the Courts of Heaven. Justin Martyr said it was the doctrine of heretical persons to say that the Souls of the Blessed in∣stantly upon the separation from their Bodies enter into the highest Heaven. And (a) 1.392 Irenaeus makes Heaven and the intermediate receptacle of Souls to be distinct places: both blessed, but hugely differing in degrees. (b) 1.393 Tertullian is dogmatical in the assertion, that till the voice of the great Archangel be heard, and as long as Christ sits at the right hand of his Father making intercession for the Church, so long blessed Souls must expect the assembling of their brethren, the great Congre∣gation of the Church, that they may all pass from their outer courts into the in∣ward tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, to the Throne of God. And as it is certain that no Soul could enter into glory before our Lord 〈◊〉〈◊〉, by whom we hope to have access: so it is most agreeable to the proportion 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the mysteries of our Redemption, that we be∣lieve the entrance into Glory to have been made by our Lord at his glorious Ascension, and that his Soul went not thither before 〈◊〉〈◊〉, to come back again, to be contracted in∣to the span of Humanity, and dwell forty days in his body upon earth. But that he should return from Paradise, that is, from the common receptacle of departed Spi∣rits who died in the love of God, to earth again, had in it no lessening of his con∣dition, since himself in mercy called back Lazarus from thence, and some others also returned to live a life of grace, which in all senses is less than the least of glo∣ries. Sufficient it is to us, that all holy Souls departing go into the hands, that is, into the custody, of our Lord; that(a) 1.394 they rest from their labours; that their works shall follow them, and overtake them too, at the day of Judgment; that they are happy pre∣sently; that they are visited by Angels;(b) 1.395 that God sends, as he pleases, excellent irra∣diations and types of glory to entertain them in their mansions; that their condition is secured: but(c) 1.396 the crown of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is laid up against the great day of Judg∣ment, and then to be produced and given to S. Paul, and to all that love the coming of our Lord; that is, to all who either here in duty, or in their receptacles, with joy and certain hope long for the revelation of that day. At the day of Judgment Christ will(d) 1.397 send the Angels, and they shall gather together the elect from the four winds; and all the refuse of men, evil persons, they shall throw into everlasting burning. Then our Blessed Lord shall call to the elect to enter into the Kingdom, and reject the cursed into the portion of Devils; for whom the fire is but now prepared in the intervall. For(e) 1.398 we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, (saith S. Paul) that every man may receive in his body according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil. Out of the body the reception of the reward is not. And therefore(f) 1.399 S. Peter affirms, that God hath delivered the evil Angels into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto Judgment. And(g) 1.400 S. Jude saith, that the Angels which kept not their first faith, but left their first habi∣tation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great day. And therefore the(h) 1.401 Devils expostulated with our Blessed Saviour, Art thou come to torment us before the time? And the same also he does to evil men, (i) 1.402 reserving the unjust unto the day of Judgment to be pu∣nished. For since the actions which are to be judg'd are the a∣ctions of the whole man, so also must be the Judicature. And our Blessed Saviour intimated this to his Apostles; (k) 1.403 In my Father's house are many mansions: but I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go away, I will come again, and take you unto me; that where I am, there ye may be also. At Christ's Second coming this is to be performed. Many Outer courts, many different places or* 1.404 different states there may be; and yet there is a place whither holy Souls shall arrive at last, which was not then ready for us, and was not to be entred into until the entrance of our Lord had made the preparation: and that is, certainly, the highest Hea∣ven, called by S. Paul the third Heaven; because the other receptacles were ready, and full of holy Souls, Patriarchs and Prophets and holy men of God; concerning whom* 1.405 S. Paul affirms expresly, that the Fathers received not the Promises: God having provi∣ded some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect: Therefore cer∣tain it is that their condition was a state of imperfection, and yet they were placed in Pa∣radise, in Abraham's bosom; and thither Christ went, and the blessed Thief attended

him. And then it was that Christ made their condition better: for though still it be a place of relation in order to something beyond it, yet the term and object of their hope is changed: they sate in the regions of darkness, expecting that great Promise made to Adam and the Patriarchs, the Promise of the Messias; but when he that was promi∣sed came, he preached to the spirits in Prison, he communicated to them the Mysteries of the Gospel, the Secrets of the Kingdom, the things hidden from eternal Ages, and taught them to look up to the glories purchased by his Passion, and made the term of their expectation be his Second coming, and the objects of their hope the glories of the beatifick vision. And although the state of Separation is sometimes in Scripture called 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and sometimes 〈◊〉〈◊〉, (for these words in Scripture are of large significations;) yet it is never called the third 〈◊〉〈◊〉, nor the Hell of the damned: for although con∣cerning it nothing is clearly revealed, or what is their portion till the day of Judg∣ment; yet it is intimated in a Parable, that between good and evil spirits even in the state of Separation there is distance of place: certain it is there is great distance of con∣dition; and as the holy Souls in their regions of light are full of love, joy, hope, and longing for the coming of the great Day, so the accursed do expect it with an insup∣portable amazement, and are presently tormented with apprehensions of the future. Happy are they that through Paradise pass into the Kingdom, who from their highest hope pass to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Charity, from the state of a blessed Separation to the Mer∣cies and* 1.406 gentle Sentence of the day of Judgment, which S. Paul prayed to God to grant 〈◊〉〈◊〉; and more explicitely for the Thessalonians, ‖ 1.407 that their whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus. And I pray God to grant the same to me, and all faithful people whatso∣ever.

2. As soon as the Lord had given up his spirit into the hands of God, the veil of the Temple was rent, the Angels Guardians of the place deserted it, the Rites of Moses were laid open, and the inclosures of the Tabernacle were dispark'd, the earth trembled, the graves were opened, and all the old world and the old Religion were so shaken towards their first Chaos, that if God had not supported the one, and reserved the other for an honourable burial, the earth had left to support her children, and the Synagogue had been thrown out to an inglorious exposition and contempt. But yet in these symbols these were changed from their first condition, and passed into a new dominion; all old things passed away, and all things became new; the Earth and the Heavens were rec∣koned as a new creation, they passed into another kingdom, under Christ their Lord; and as before the creatures were servants of humane necessities, they now become ser∣vants of election, and in order to the ends of Grace, as before of Nature; Christ having now the power to dispose of them in order to his Kingdom, and by the administration of his own Wisdom. And at the instant of these accidents, God so determined the per∣swasions of men, that they referred these Prodigies of the honour to Christ, and took them as testimonies of that truth for the affirmation of which the High Priest had con∣demned our dearest Lord: and although the heart of the Priest rent not, even then* 1.408 when rocks did tear in pieces; yet the people, who saw the Passion, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 their breasts, and returned, and confessed Christ.

3. The graves of the dead were opened at the Death, but the dead boies of the Saints that slept arose not till the Resur∣rection* 1.409 of our Lord; for he was the first fruits, and they fol∣lowed him as instant witnesses, to publish the Resurrection of their Head, which it is possible they declared to those to whom they appeared in the Holy City. And amongst these, the curiosity or pious cre∣dulity of some have supposed Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who therefore were 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to be buried in the Land of Promise, as having some intimation or hope that they might be partakers of the earliest glories of the Messias, in whose 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and distant expectation they lived and died. And this calling up of company from their graves did publish to all the world, not only that the Lord himself was risen, according to his so 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and repeated predictions, but that he meant* 1.410 to raise up all his ser∣vants, and that all who believe in him should be partakers of the Resurrection.

4. When the souldiers observed that Jesus was dead, out of spite and impotent ineffective malice, one of them pierced his holy side with a spear; and the rock be∣ing smitten it gushed out with water and 〈◊〉〈◊〉, streaming forth two Sacraments to re∣fresh the Church, and opening a gate that all his brethren might enter in, and dwell in the heart of God. And so great a love had our Lord, that he suffered his heart to be opened, to shew, as Eve was formed from the side of Adam, so was

the Church to be from the side of her Lord, receiving from thence life and spiritual nu∣triment; which he ministred in so great abundance, and suffered himself to be pierced, that all his bloud did stream over us, until he made the fountain dry, and reserved no∣thing of that by which he knew his Church was to live, and move, and have her being. Thus the stream of Bloud issued out to become a fountain for the Sacrament of the Cha∣lice, and Water gushed out to fill the Fonts of Baptism and Repentance. The Bloud, being the testimony of the Divine Love, calls upon us to die for his love, when he re∣quires it; and the noise of the Water calls upon us to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 our spirits, and present our Conscience to Christ holy and pure, without spot or wrinkle. The Bloud running up∣on us, makes us to be of the cognation and family of God; and the Water quenches the flames of Hell, and the fires of Concupiscence.

5. The friends and Disciples of the Holy Jesus, having devoutly composed his Body to Burial, anointed it, washed it, and condited it with spices and perfumes, laid it in a Sepulchre hewen from a rock in a Garden; which (saith 〈◊〉〈◊〉) was therefore done, to represent, that we were by this death returned to Paradise, and the Gardens of pleasures and Divine favours, from whence by the prevarication of Adam man was expelled. Here he finished the work of his Passion, as he had begun it in a Garden; and the place of sepulchre, being a Rock, serves the ends of pious succeeding Ages: for the place remains in all Changes of government, of Wars, of Earthquakes and ru∣der accidents, to this day, as a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Sepulchre of our dearest Lord, as a sensible and proper confirmation of the perswasions of some persons, and as an enter∣tainment of their pious phancy and religious affections.

6. But now it was that in the dark and undiscerned mansions there was a scene of the greatest joy and the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 horrour represented, which yet was known since the first falling of the morning stars. Those holy souls whom the Prophet Zechary calls prison∣ers* 1.411 of hope, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the lake where there is no water, that is, no constant stream of joy to refresh their present condition, (yet supported with certain showers and gracious visi∣tations from God, and illuminations of their hope) now that they saw their Redeemer come to change their condition, and to improve it into the neighbourhoods of glory and clearer revelations, must needs have the joy of intelligent and beatified understand∣ings, of redeemed captives, of men forgiven after the sentence of death, of men satisfi∣ed after a tedious expectation, enjoying and seeing their Lord, whom for so many Ages they had expected. But the accursed spirits, seeing the darkness of their prison shine with a new light, and their Empire invaded, and their retirements of horrour discove∣red, wondered how a man durst venture thither, or if he were a GOD, how he should come to die. But the Holy Jesus was like that body of light, receiving into himself the reflexion of all the lesser rays of joy which the Patriarchs felt, and being united to his 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of felicity apprehended it yet more glorious. He now felt the effects of his bitter Passion to return upon him in Comforts; every hour of which was abundant recompence for three hours Passion upon the Cross, and became to us a great precedent, to invite us to a toleration of the acts of Repentance, Mortification, and Martyrdom, and that in times of suffering we live upon the stock and expence of Faith, as remembring that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 few moments of infelicity are infinitely paid with every mi∣nute of glory, and yet that the glory which is certainly consequent is so lasting and per∣petual, that it were enough in a lower joy to make amends by its continuation of eter∣nity. And let us but call to mind what thoughts we shall have when we die, or are* 1.412 dead, how we shall then without prejudice consider, that if we had done our duty, the trouble and the affliction would now be past, and nothing remain but pleasures and felicities eternal, and how infinitely happy we shall then be if we have done our duty, and how miserable if not; all the pleasures of sin disappearing, and nothing sur∣viving but a certain and everlasting torment. Let us carry alway the same thoughts with us which must certainly then intervene, and we shall meet the Holy Jesus, and partake of his joys, which over-flowed his holy Soul when he first entred into the pos∣session of those excellent fruits and effects of his Passion.

7. When the third day was come, the Soul of Jesus returned from Paradise, and the visitation of separate spirits, and re-entred into his holy Body, which he by his Di∣vine power did redintegrate, filling his veins with bloud, healing all the wounds, excepting those five of his hands, feet and side, which he reserved as Trophies of his victory, and argument of his Passion. And as he had comforted the Souls of the Fa∣thers with the presence of his Spirit; so now he saw it to be time to bring comfort to his Holy Mother, to re-establish the tottering Faith of his Disciples, to verifie his Pro∣mise, to make demonstration of his Divinity, to lay some superstructures of his Church

upon the foundation of his former Sermons, to instruct them in the mysteries of his Kingdom, to prepare them for the reception of the Holy Ghost: and as he had in his state of Separation triumphed over Hell, so in his Resurrection he set his foot upon Death, and brought it under his dominion; so that although it was not yet destroyed, yet it is made his subject: it hath as yet the condition of the Gibeonites, who were not banished out of the land, but they were made drawers of water and bewers of wood; so is Death made instrumental to Christ's Kingdom, but it abides still, and shall till the day of Judgment, but shall serve the ends of our Lord, and promote the interests of Eternity, and do benefit to the Church.

8. And it is considerable, that our Blessed Lord having told them that after three days he would rise again, yet he shortened the time as much as was possible, that he might verifie his own prediction, and yet make his absence the less troublesome; he rises early in the morning the first day of the week: for so our dearest Lord abbreviates the days of our sorrow, and lengthens the years of our consolation; for he knows that a day of sorrow seems a year, and a year of joy passes like a day; and therefore God les∣sens the one, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the other, to make this perceived, and that supportable. Now the Temple which the Jews destroyed God raised up in six and thirty hours: but this second Temple was more glorious than the first; for now it was clothed with robes of glory, with clarity, agility, and immortality: and though, like Moses descending from the mount, he wore a veil, that the greatness of his splendor might not render him unapt for conversation with his servants; yet the holy Scripture affirms that he was now no more to see corruption; meaning, that now he was separate from the passibi∣lity and affections of humane bodies, and could suffer S. Thomas to thrust his hand into the wound of his side, and his singer into the holes of his hands, without any grief or smart.

9. But although the graciousness and care of the Lord had prevented all diligence, and satisfied all desires, returning to life before the most forward faith could expect him; yet there were three Maries went to the grave so early, that they prevented the rising of the Sun, and though with great obedience they stayed till the end of the Sab∣bath, yet, as soon as that was done, they had other parts of duty and affection, which called with greatest importunity to be speedily satisfied. And if Obedience had not bound the feet of Love, they had gone the day before; but they became to us admi∣rable patterns of Obedience to the Divine Commandments. For though Love were stronger than death, yet Obedience was stronger than Love, and made a rare dispute in the spirits of those holy Women, in which the flesh and the spirit were not the liti∣gants, but the spirit and the spirit; and they resisted each other as the Angel-guardian of the Jews resisted the tutelar Angel of Persia, each striving who should with most love and zeal perform their charge, and God determined. And so he did here too. For the Law of the Sabbath was then a Divine Commandment; and although piety to the dead, and to such a dead, was ready to force their choice to do violence to their will, bearing them up on wings of desire to the grave of the LORD, yet at last they reconciled Love with Obedience. For they had been taught that Love is best expressed in keeping of the Divine Commandments. But now they were at liberty; and sure enough they made use of its first minute: and going so early to seek Christ, they were sure they should find him.

10. The Angels descended Guardians of the Sepulchre; for God sent his guards too, and they affrighted the Watch appointed by Pilate and the Priests: but when the wo∣men came, they spake like comforters, full of sweetness and consolation, laying aside their affrighting glories, as knowing it is the will of their Lord, that they should mi∣nister good to them that love him. But a conversation with Angels could not satisfie them who came to look for the Lord of the Angels, and found him not: and when the Lord was pleased to appear to Mary Magdalen, she was so swallowed up with love and sorrow, that she entred into her joy, and perceived it not; she saw the Lord, and knew him not. For so, from the closets of darkness they that immediately stare upon the Sun perceive not the beauties of the light, and feel nothing but amazement. But the voice of the Lord opened her eyes, and she knew him, and worshipped him, but was denied to touch him, and commanded to tell the Apostles: for therefore God mi∣nisters to us comforts and revelations, not that we may dwell in the sensible fruition of them our selves alone, but that we communicate the grace to others. But when the other women were returned and saw the Lord, then they were all together admitted to the embracement, and to kiss the feet of Jesus. For God hath his opportunities and periods, which at another time he denies; and we must then rejoyce in it, when he vouchsafes it, and submit to his Divine will, when he denies it.

11. These good women had the first fruits of the apparition: for their forward love and the passion of their Religion made greater haste to entertain a Grace, and was a greater endearment of their persons to our Lord, than a more sober, reserved, and less active spirit. This is more safe, but that is religious; this goes to God by the way of understanding, that by the will; this is supported by discourse, that by passions; this is the sobriety of the Apostles, the other was the zeal of the holy women: and because a strong fancy and an earnest passion sixed upon holy objects are the most active and for∣ward instruments of Devotion, as Devotion is of Love, therefore we find God hath made great expressions of his acceptance of such dispositions. And women, and less knowing persons, and tender dispositions, and pliant natures, will make up a greater number in Heaven, than the severe and wary and enquiring people, who sometimes love because they believe, and believe because they can demonstrate, but never be∣lieve because they love. When a great Understanding and a great Affection meet to∣gether, it makes a Saint great like an Apostle; but they do not well who make abate∣ment of their religious passions by the severity of their Understanding. It is no matter by which we are brought to Christ, so we love him and obey him; but if the producti∣on admit of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, that instrument is the most excellent which produces the greatest love: and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 discourse and a sober spirit be in it self the best, yet we do not al∣ways suffer that to be a parent of as great Religion as the good women make their fancy, their softness, and their passion.

12. Our Blessed Lord appeared next to Simon: and though he and John ran forthto∣gether, and S. John outran Simon, although Simon Peter had denied and forsworn his Lord, and S. John never did, and followed him to his Passion and his death; yet Peter had the savour of seeing Jesus first. Which some Spiritual persons understand as a te∣stimony, that penitent 〈◊〉〈◊〉 have accidental eminences and priviledges sometimes 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to them beyond the temporal graces of the just and innocent, as being such who not only 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 against the remanent and inherent evils even of repen∣ted sins, and their aptnesses to relapse; but also because those who are true Penitents, who understand the infiniteness of the Divine mercy, and that for a sinner to pass from* 1.413 death to 〈◊〉〈◊〉, from the state of sin into pardon and the state of Grace, is a greater gift, and a more excellent and improbable mutation, than for a just man to be taken into glory, out of gratitude to God, and indearment 〈◊〉〈◊〉 so great a change, added to a fear of returning to such danger and misery, will re-enforce all their industry, and double their study, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 more diligently, and watch more carefully, and redeem the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and make amends for their omissions, and oppose a good to the former evils, be∣side the duties of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 imployment; and then, commonly, the life of a holy Pe∣nitent is more holy, active, zealous, and impatient of Vice, and more rapacious of Vertue and holy actions, and arises to greater 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Sanctity, than the even and moderate affections of just persons, who (as our Blessed Saviour's expression is) 〈◊〉〈◊〉 no Repentance, that is, no change of state, nothing but a perseverance, and an im∣provement of degrees. There is more joy in heaven before the Angels of God over 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 that 〈◊〉〈◊〉, than 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ninety nine just persons that need it not: for, where sin hath* 1.414 abounded, there doth grace super abound; and that makes joy in Heaven.

13. The Holy Jesus having received the affections of his most passionate Disciples, the women and S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉, puts himself upon the way into the company of two good men going to Emmaus with troubled spirits and a reeling faith, shaking all its upper building, but leaving some of its foundation firm. To them the Lord discourses of the necessity of the Death and Resurrection of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and taught them not to take esti∣mate of the counsels of God by the designs and proportions of man: for God by ways contrary to humane judgment brings to pass the purposes of his eternal Providence. The glories of Christ were not made pompous by humane circumstances; his Kingdom was spiritual: he was to enter into Felicities through the gates of Death; he refused to do Miracles before 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and yet did them before the people; he confuted his ac∣cusers by silence, and did not descend from the Cross, when they offered to believe in him, if he would, but 〈◊〉〈◊〉 them to be perswaded by greater arguments of his power, the miraculous circumstances of his Death, and the glories of his Resurrection; and by walking in the secret paths of Divine election hath commanded us to adore his foot∣steps, to admire and revere his Wisdom, to be satisfied with all the events of Provi∣dence, and to rejoyce in him, if by Afflictions he makes us holy, if by Persecutions he supports and enlarges his Church, if by Death he brings us to life; so we arrive at the communion of his Felicities, we must let him chuse the way; it being sufficient that he is our guide, and our support, and our exceeding great reward. For therefore Christ

preached to the two Disciples going to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the way of the Cross, and the necessity of that passage, that the wisdom of God might be glorified, and the conjectures of man ashamed. But whilest his discourse lasted, they knew him not; but in the breaking of bread he discovered himself. For he turned their meal into a Sacrament, and their dark∣ness to light; and having to his Sermon added the Sacrament, opened all their discern∣ing faculties, the eyes of their body, and their understanding too; to represent to us, that when we are blessed with the opportunities of both those instruments, we want no exteriour assistence to guide us in the way to the knowing and enjoying of our Lord.

14. But the Apparitions which Jesus made were all upon the design of laying the foundation of all Christian Graces; for the begetting and establishing Faith, and an a∣ctive Confidence in their persons, and building them up on the great fundamentals of the Religion. And therefore he appointed a general meeting upon a mountain in Gali∣lee, that the number of witnesses might not only disseminate the same, but establish the Article of the Resurrection; for upon that are built all the hopes of a Christian; and if the dead rise not, then are we of all men most miserable, in quitting the present possessions, and entertaining injuries and affronts without hopes of reparation. But we lay two ga∣ges in several repositories; the Body in the bosome of the earth, the Soul in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of God: and as we here live by Faith, and lay them down with hope; so the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is a restitution of them both, and a state of re-union. And therefore although the glo∣ry of our spirits without the body were joy great enough to make compensation for mere than the troubles of all the world; yet because one shall not be glorified without the o∣ther, they being of themselves incomplete substances, and God having revealed nothing clearly concerning actual and complete felicities till the day of Judgment, when it is promised our bodies shall rise; therefore it is that the Resurrection is the great Ar∣ticle upon which we rely, and which Christ took so much care to prove and ascertain to so many persons, because if that should be disbelieved with which all our felicities are to be received, we have nothing to establish our Faith, or entertain our Hope, or satisfie our desires, or make retribution for that state of secular inconveniences in which, by the necessities of our nature and the humility and patience of our Re∣ligion, we are engaged.

15. But I consider that holy Scripture onely instructs us concerning the life of this world and the life of the Resurrection, the life of Grace and the life of Glory, both in the body, that is, a life of the whole man; and whatsoever is spoken of the Soul, considers it as an essential part of man, relating to his whole constitution, not as it is of it self an intellectual and separate substance; for all its actions which are separate and removed from the body are relative and incomplete. Now because the Soul is an incomplete sub∣stance, and created in relation to the Body, and is but a part of the whole man, if the Bo∣dy were as eternal and incorruptible as the Soul, yet the separation of the one from the o∣ther would be as now it is, that which we call natural death; and supposing that God should preserve the Body for ever, or restore it at the day of Judgment to its full substance and perfect organs, yet the man would be dead for ever, if the Soul for ever should con∣tinue separate from the Body. So that the other life, that is, the state of Resurrection, is a re-uniting Soul and Body. And although in a Philosophical sence the Resurrection, is of the Body, that is, a restitution of our flesh and bloud and bones, and is called Re∣surrection as the entrance into the state of Resurrection may have the denomination of the whole; yet in the sence of Scripture the Resurrection is the restitution of our life, the renovation of the whole man, the state of Re-union; and untill that be, the man is not, but he is dead, and onely his essential parts are deposited and laid up in trust: and therefore whatsoever the Soul does or perceives in its incomplete condition, is but to it as embalming and honourable funerals to the Body, and a safe monument to preserve it in order to a living again; and the felicities of the intervall are wholly in order to the next life. And therefore if there were to be no Resurrection, as these inter∣medial joys should not be at all; so, as they are, they are but relative and incomplete: and therefore all our hopes, all our felicities depend upon the Resurrection; without it we should never be persons, men or women; and then the state of Separation could be nothing but a phantasm, trees ever in blossome, never bearing fruit, corn for ever in the blade, eggs always in the shell, a hope eternal, never to pass into fruition, that is, for ever to be deluded, for ever to be miserable. And therefore it was an elegant ex∣pression* 1.415 of S. Paul, Our life is hid with Christ in God; that is, our life is passed into cu∣stody, the dust of our body is numbred, and the Spirit is refreshed, visited and preserved in celestial mansions: but it is not properly called a Life; for all this while the man is

dead, and shall then live when Christ produces this hidden life at the great day of resti∣tution. But our faith of all this Article is well wrapt up in the words of S. John: Belo∣ved,* 1.416 now we are the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. The middle state is not it which Scripture hath propounded to our Faith, or to our Hope; the reward is then when Christ shall appear: but in the mean time the Soul can converse with God and with Angels, just as the holy Prophets did in their Dreams, in which* 1.417 they received great degrees of favour and revelation. But this is not to be reckoned any more than an entrance or a waiting for the state of our Felicity. And since the glories of Heaven is the great fruit of Election, we may consider that the Body is not predestinate, nor the Soul, alone, but the whole Man; and until the parts embrace again in an essential complexion, it cannot be expected either of them should receive the portion of the predestinate. But the article and the event of future things is rarely set in order by Saint Paul; But ye are come into the mount Sion, and to the City of the living God,* 1.418 the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels, To the general assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, (and then follows, after this general assembly, after the Judge of all appears, [to the spirits of just men made perfect,] that is, re-united to their bodies, and entring into glory. The beginning of the contrary Opinion brought some new practices and appendent perswa∣sions into the Church, or at least promoted them much. For those Doctors who, rece∣ding from the Primitive belief of this Article, taught that the glories of Heaven are ful∣ly communicated to the Souls before the day of Judgment, did also upon that stock teach the Invocation of Saints, whom they believed to be received into glory, and insensibly also brought in the opinion of Purgatory, that the less perfect Souls might be glorified in the time that they assigned them. But the safer opinion and more agreeable to Pi∣ety is that which I have now described from Scripture and the purest Ages of the Church.

16. When Jesus appeared to the Apostles, he gave them his Peace for a Benediction, and when he departed, he left them Peace for a Legacy, and gave them, according to two former promises, the power of making Peace, and reconciling Souls to God by a ministe∣rial act; so conveying his Father's mercy, which himself procured by his Passion, and actuates by his Intercession and the giving of his Grace, that he might comply with our infirmities, and minister to our needs by instruments even and proportionate to our selves; making our brethren the conduits of his Grace, that the excellent effect of the Spirit might not descend upon us, as the Law upon Mount Sinai, in expresses of greatness and terrour, but in earthen vessels, and images of infirmity: so God manifesting his pow∣er in the smalness of the instrument, and descending to our needs, not only in gi∣ving the grace of Pardon, but also in the manner of its ministration. And I meditate upon the greatness of this Mercy, by comparing this Grace of God, and the blessing of the Judgment and Sentence we receive at the hand of the Church, with the Judgment which God makes at the hour of death upon them who have despised this mercy, and neglected all the other parts of their duty. The one is a Judgment of mercy, the other of vengeance: In the one the Devil is the Accuser, and Heaven and earth bear witness; in the other the penitent sinner accuses himself: In that the sinner gets a pardon, in the other he finds no remedy: In that all his good deeds are re∣membred and returned, and his sins are blotted out; in the other all his evil deeds are represented with horrour and a sting, and remain for ever: In the first the sinner changes his state for a state of Grace, and only smarts in some temporal austerities and acts of exteriour mortification; in the second his temporal estate is changed to an eter∣nity of pain: In the first the sinner suffers the shame of one man or one society, which is sweetned by consolation, and homilies of mercy and health; in the latter all his sins are laid open before all the world, and himself confounded in eternal amazement and confusions: In the judgment of the Church the sinner is honoured by all for re∣turning to the bosome of his Mother, and the embraces of his heavenly Father; in the judgment of vengeance he is laughed at by God, and mocked by accursed spirits, and pe∣rishes without pity: In this he is prayed for by none, helped by none, comforted by none, and he makes himself a companion of Devils to everlasting ages; but in the judgment of Repentance and Tribunal of the Church the penitent sinner is prayed for by a whole army of militant Saints, and causes joy to all the Church triumphant. And to establish this Tribunal in the Church, and to transmit pardon to penitent sinners, and a salutary judgment upon the person and the crime, and to appoint Physicians

and Guardians of the Soul, was one of the designs and mercies of the Resurrection of Jesus. And let not any Christian man either by false opinion, or an unbelieving spirit, or an incurious apprehension, undervalue or neglect this ministery, which Christ hath so sa∣credly and solemnly established. Happy is he that dashes his sins against the rock upon which the Church is built, that the Church gathering up the planks and fragments of the shipwreck, and the shivers of the broken heart, may re-unite them, pouring Oil in∣to the wounds made by the blows of sin, and restoring with meekness, gentleness, care, counsel, and authority, persons overtaken in a fault. For that act of Ministery is not in∣effectual which God hath promised shall be ratified in Heaven; and that Authority is not contemptible which the Holy Jesus conveyed by breathing upon his Church the Holy Ghost. But Christ intended that those whom he had made Guides of our Souls, and Judg∣es of our Consciences in order to counsel and ministerial pardon, should also be used by us in all cases of our Souls, and that we go to Heaven the way he hath appointed, that is, by offices and ministeries Ecclesiastical.

17. When our Blessed Lord had so confirmed the Faith of the Church and appointed an Ecclesiastical Ministery, he had but one work more to do upon earth, and that was the Institution of the holy Sacrament of Baptism, which he ordained as a solemn Initia∣tion and mysterious Profession of the Faith upon which the Church is built; making it a solemn Publication of our Profession, the rite of Stipulation or entring Covenant with our Lord, the solemnity of the Paction Evangelical, in which we undertake to be Disciples to the Holy Jesus, that is, to believe his Doctrine, to fear his Threatnings, to rely upon his Promises, and to obey his Commandments all the days of our life: and* 1.419 he for his part actually performs much, and promises more; he takes off all the guilt* 1.420 of our preceding days, purging our Souls, and making them clean as in the day of in∣nocence;* 1.421 promising withall, that if we perform our undertaking, and remain in the* 1.422 state in which he now puts us, he will continually assist us with his* 1.423 Spirit, prevent* 1.424* 1.425 and attend us with his Grace, he will deliver us from the power of the Devil, he will* 1.426 keep our Souls in merciful, joyful and safe custody till the great Day of the Lord, he* 1.427 will then raise our Bodies from the Grave, he will make them to be spiritual and im∣mortal, he will re-unite them to our Souls, and beatifie both Bodies and Souls in his own Kingdom, admitting them into eternal and unspeakable glories. All which that he might verifie and prepare respectively, in the presence of his Disciples he ascended into the bo∣some of God, and the eternal comprehensions of celestial Glory.

The PRAYER.

O Holy and Eternal Jesus, who hast overcome Death, and triumphed over all the powers of Hell, Darkness, Sin, and the Grave, manifesting the truth of thy Promises, the power of thy Divinity, the majesty of thy Person, the rewards of thy Glory, and the mercies and ex∣cellent designs of thy Evangelical Kingdom, by thy glorious and powerful Resurrection; pre∣serve my Soul from eternal death, and make me to rise from the death of Sin, and to live the life of Grace, loving thy Perfections, adoring thy Mercy, pursuing the interest of thy Kingdom, being united to the Church under thee our Head, conforming to thy holy Laws, established in Faith, entertained and confirmed with a modest, humble, and certain Hope, and sanctified by Charity; that I engraving thee in my heart, and submitting to thee in my spirit, and imitating thee in thy glorious example, may be partaker of thy Resurrection, which is my hope and my de∣sire, the support of my Faith, the object of my Joy, and the strength of my Confidence. In thee, Holy Jesus, do I trust: I confess thy Faith, I believe all that thou hast taught; I desire to perform all thy injunctions and my own undertaking: my Soul is in thy hand, do thou support and guide it, and pity my infirmities; and when thou shalt reveal thy great Day, shew to me the mercies and effects of thy Advocation and Intercession and Redemption. Thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my God; for in thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded. Thou art just, thou 〈◊〉〈◊〉 merciful, thou art gracious and compassionate, thou hast done miracles and prodigies of fa∣vour to me and all the world. Let not those great actions and sufferings be ineffective, but make me capable and receptive of thy Mercies, and then I am certain to receive them. I am thine, O save me; thou art mine, O Holy Jesus, O dwell with me for ever, and let me dwell with thee, adoring and praising the eternal glories of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

THE END. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

Notes

• * 1.1

  John 5. 1, &c.
• * 1.2

  Iren. l. 2. c. 10.
• * 1.3

  John 5. 19. &c.
• * 1.4

  Suidas Voc. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.5

  Evangel. Naz. quod S. Hieron. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. in Gracum 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.6

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.7

  〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. advers. 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉.
• * 1.8

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 du 〈…〉〈…〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Omnibus 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 Sedul.
• * 1.9

  Dio hist. Rom. lib. 55.
• * 1.10

  Isa. 35. 4. 5.
• * 1.11

  Luke 7.
• * 1.12

  —〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, Munda suis lacrymis redis, & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Sedul. l. 3.
• * 1.13

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. lib. 13. c. 3. Vide 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 12. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 30. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Thalia.
• * 1.14

  Chap. 61. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.15

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 Discourse of Certainty of Salvation, Num. 3.
• * 1.16

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 incolumem 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Sublatam ex oculis qu eri∣mus invidi.
• * 1.17

  Horat. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 24.
• * 1.18

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 11. 30.
• * 1.19

  1 John 5. 3, 4.
• * 1.20

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Procop. Gothic. 1.
• * 1.21

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.22

  Siquidem Leomdes 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 eum 〈◊〉〈◊〉 im∣buit, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 quoque & jam maximum Regem ab illa institutions puerili sunt 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.23

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 1. c. 1 Wisd. 6. 12, 13, 14.
• * 1.24

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 est facere ist a 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 n. quiete 〈◊〉〈◊〉 est animi? quid 〈◊〉〈◊〉 à laboriosius? 〈◊〉〈◊〉 elementiâ remissius? quid 〈◊〉〈◊〉 nego∣tiosius? Vacat 〈◊〉〈◊〉, libido 〈◊〉〈◊〉 est. Omnium denique virtutum tutela facilior est; vi∣tia magno 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Seneca.
• * 1.25

  In 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 turpitudo; cùm in rectè factis 〈◊〉〈◊〉 labor, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 honest 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.26

  Muson.
• * 1.27

  〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 ad 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 inno∣centiâ 〈◊〉〈◊〉, quàm 〈◊〉〈◊〉â. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. de orat.
• * 1.28

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 namque à nobis 〈◊〉〈◊〉 (〈◊〉〈◊〉) quid 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 a 〈…〉〈…〉, humilitatem, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, sanctitatem, 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 nos, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉? Salvian.
• * 1.29

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.30

  —〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 domûs 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, quòd malè 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Regumest 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Horat. l. 4. od. 12.
• * 1.31

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉, 5. 7.
• * 1.32

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.33

  Malignum hunc 〈◊〉〈◊〉 homi∣nem 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Ego esse 〈◊〉〈◊〉 credo, cui pla∣cet 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Matt. Ep.
• * 1.34

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Jac. 3. 10.
• * 1.35

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Poli. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 M. Cato 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Aul. Gell. l. 13. c. 22. 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 egeo; at ego 〈◊〉〈◊〉, quia 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.36

  Nique mala 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 vulgus putat: 〈◊〉〈◊〉 qui 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉, ac 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉; si illi gravem 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 tolerent, hi 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. Tacit. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 6.
• * 1.37

  —〈◊〉〈◊〉 (fortuna) 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, resigno 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 me involvo: 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 sine dote 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Hor. l. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 29.
• * 1.38

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.39

  Non 〈…〉〈…〉 Mentis, & cur at 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉. Hor. l. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 16.
• * 1.40

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 fortem videris, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Senec. trag.
• * 1.41

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.42

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Zoroast.
• * 1.43

  1 Tim. 6. 10.
• * 1.44

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 perjura patris sides Consortem 〈◊〉〈◊〉 fallat & hespitem, 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 improbae Crescunt divitiae, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 quid semper 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. l. 3. od. 24.
• * 1.45

  —Vel dic, quid refer at intra Naturae fines viventi, jugera 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Mille 〈◊〉〈◊〉—Vt, tibi 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sit 〈◊〉〈◊〉 liquidi non 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, Vel cyatho; & 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Magno de flumine mallem, Quàm 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 fonticulo tantundem 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, Plenior ut si quos delectet copia 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Cum ripa 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 at 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. At qui 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 est 〈◊〉〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉〈◊〉; limo Turbatam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 it aquam, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 in undis. Horat. Serm. l. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Sat. 1.
• * 1.46

  —〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Soph. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.47

  Aleam 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉, ut cum 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 jactu de libertate & de 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Ta∣cit. de mor. Germ.
• * 1.48

  Virtus repulsae 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 honoribus; 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sumit aut ponit 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Arbitrio popularis aurae. Horat. l. 3. od. 2.
• * 1.49

  Virtus laudatur, & alget. Juven.
• * 1.50

  Praecipuam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Majestatis curam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 prospicimus, religiouis indaginem; 〈◊〉〈◊〉 si 〈◊〉〈◊〉 retinere 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 inceptis. Theod. & Valent. in Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.51

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 providentia 〈◊〉〈◊〉 mu∣nus, ut 〈◊〉〈◊〉 magis juva∣rent. 〈◊〉〈◊〉, l. 1. c. 12.
• * 1.52

  Exod. 15. 26.
• * 1.53

  Exod. 23. 25, 26.
• * 1.54

  Psal. 34. 12, 13.
• * 1.55

  Prov. 3. 7, 8.
• * 1.56

  Verse 16, 18.
• * 1.57

  Psal. 90. 10.
• * 1.58

  Num. 23. 10.
• * 1.59

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.60

  Cicero in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1. sic reddit; Mors mea non 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉, ut 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 cum 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.61

  Matt. 10. 39.
• * 1.62

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 6. 2, 3.
• * 1.63

  —〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Philoct.
• * 1.64

  1 Tim. s 4. 8.
• * 1.65

  Matt. 5. 3. &c.
• * 1.66

  Verse 5.
• * 1.67

  Psal. 37. 11.
• * 1.68

  Matt. 4. 4.
• * 1.69

  Deut. 8. 3.
• * 1.70

  Jam. 5. 14, 15.
• * 1.71

  〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 is 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Dominus 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 sciamus esse, 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 praemoriuntur in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, quòd in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in aliena aetate 〈◊〉〈◊〉; dixit S. Hieron. Paulo 〈◊〉〈◊〉 vigeto & pio 〈◊〉〈◊〉, l. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉, 8.
• * 1.72

  Rom. 5. 20.
• * 1.73

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. De 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 apud Thu. cyd.
• * 1.74

  1 Thess. 3. 8.
• * 1.75

  Psal. 37. 22.
• * 1.76

  Prov. 10. 27.
• * 1.77

  Psal. 34. 21.
• * 1.78

  Prov. 19. 16.
• * 1.79

  1 Sam. 26. 10.
• * 1.80

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 omnia 〈…〉〈…〉 & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 incubuit 〈…〉〈…〉 gradum. Horat. l. 1. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. 3.
• (a) 1.81

  In 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 23. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 unitur Deo, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 per vim 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 ultra limitatum 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• (b) 1.82

  Eubulus apud 〈◊〉〈◊〉, l. 7. c. 1. 〈…〉〈…〉: Vnu n 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉; & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, qui 〈…〉〈…〉, &c. 〈…〉〈…〉.
• * 1.83

  Prov. 23. 29, 30.
• * 1.84

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 102. 24.
• * 1.85

  Isa. 57. 1.
• * 1.86

  Lib. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. 1.
• * 1.87

  Panar. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 6.
• * 1.88

  Gen. 11. 28.
• * 1.89

  Jer. 17. 11.
• (a) 1.90

  2 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 13. 20.
• (b) 1.91

  1 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 10. 13.
• (c) 1.92

  2 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 26. 19.
• ‖ 1.93

  2 Kings 16.
• (d) 1.94

  2 Chron. 21. 18.
• * 1.95

  Jer. 28. 16.
• * 1.96

  1 Cor. 11. 30.
• * 1.97

  Jndg. 5. 20.
• * 1.98

  Jer. 10. 2. Gentes 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 dies 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 cum 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 luna 〈◊〉〈◊〉 reputabatur, unde 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 quintas 〈◊〉〈◊〉 suspectas habet. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.99

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 est 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.100

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉—〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉.
• * 1.101

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 21. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.102

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 21.
• * 1.103

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 23.
• * 1.104

  1 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 2. 33.
• * 1.105

  Prov. 21. 21.
• * 1.106

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 sapi∣entiam 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, Lactan, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.107

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.108

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Sophoc. 〈…〉〈…〉 futura prospectant. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ad Constant filium.
• * 1.109

  —Quis 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 ipsam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 si 〈◊〉〈◊〉?
• * 1.110

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 studiorum 〈…〉〈…〉 Tacit.
• * 1.111

  Vide Ciceron. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 2. Lact. l. 3. c. 27. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.112

  Virtusper 〈◊〉〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉〈◊〉 est, quoniam in 〈◊〉〈◊〉, ut dixi, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 ejus est. 〈◊〉〈◊〉, c. 12. Aug. ep. 12.
• * 1.113

  Ad Num. 17.
• * 1.114

  Quod dixit Jesus 72 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Lucae to. v. 20. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 descripta 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉, non tamen ad 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 ad munus Evangelicum & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Alii autem 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 rem 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, sed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 gaudii 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉; ex 〈◊〉〈◊〉 scil. & quando hoc 〈◊〉〈◊〉, aut 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 autem verba signi∣ficent, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 est Doctores 〈◊〉〈◊〉 non 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 72 Discipulos 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉.
• * 1.115

  Ad scelus ab 〈◊〉〈◊〉 votis 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Tacit.
• * 1.116

  —〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 debile vulgus 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 pallor & 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Hine 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. Statins.
• * 1.117

  Futurum 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 spes 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. A. Gellius, l. 14
• * 1.118

  2 Tim. 2. 19.
• * 1.119

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 3. 21, 22.
• * 1.120

  1 John 3 14.
• * 1.121

  1 Cor. 4. 4. Cum 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈…〉〈…〉, Nihil 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sum, &c. q. d. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 a 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 me non 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 ait, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quis 〈◊〉〈◊〉? S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. c. 2. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.122

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 9. 1, 2.
• * 1.123

  Beatus 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, de 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 dubitat. Rem 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 qui au∣dacter 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. S. Hieron.
• (a) 1.124

  Matth. 24. 13.
• * 1.125

  Dan. 4. 27.
• (b) 1.126

  1 Cor. 10. 12.
• (c) 1.127

  Rom. 11. 20.
• * 1.128

  Jocl 2. 14.
• (d) 1.129

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 2. 12.
• * 1.130

  Acts 8. 22.
• (e) 1.131

  Rev. 3. 11.
• (f) 1.132

  Chap. 24.
• * 1.133

  Rom. 11. 29.
• * 1.134

  Rom. 8. 1.
• * 1.135

  Rom. 11. 22.
• * 1.136

  Rom. 8. 15.
• * 1.137

  1 John 4. 13.
• * 1.138

  2 Cor. 1. 22. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 5. v. 5.
• * 1.139

  Heb. 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• * 1.140

  —〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉; Is, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉—
• * 1.141

  1 Cor. 9. 27.
• * 1.142

  Rom. 8. 38.
• * 1.143

  2 Tim. 4. 6, 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• * 1.144

  Epiphan. Hae∣res. 51.
• * 1.145

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, c, 17.
• * 1.146

  〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 aquis, 〈…〉〈…〉 & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.147

  Exod. 30.
• * 1.148

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 qui 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉; qui fe∣cit, 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Tacit.
• * 1.149

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 debitorum qui solvendo non sunt, vid. I 〈◊〉〈◊〉, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. & 6. & 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉. 6. & A. 〈◊〉〈◊〉, 1. 20. c. 1. qui 〈…〉〈…〉 Gellius) 〈…〉〈…〉 ad 〈…〉〈…〉 in leges 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉. Cod. Theod. l. 4. & 7. de exact.
• * 1.150

  Epiphan, de vita & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. c. 7.
• * 1.151

  Epiphan. Pan. l. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1. Eu∣seb. l. 1. c. 12.
• * 1.152

  Papias apud 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 3. c. 33.
• * 1.153

  Joseph. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Jud. l. 7. c. 24.
• * 1.154

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 Num. 3.
• * 1.155

  Matth. 18. 7.
• * 1.156

  Rom. 14.
• * 1.157

  1 Cor. 8.
• * 1.158

  Galat. 2.
• * 1.159

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, contra 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & inanes ceremonias 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & popula∣ris 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.160

  1 Cor. 8. 10, 12 Rom. 14. 21. Matth. 5. 29. & 13. 57.
• * 1.161

  Mark 14. 27 & 6. 3. & 4. 17.
• * 1.162

  Luke 7. 23.
• * 1.163

  John 16. 1.
• * 1.164

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 14. 1.
• * 1.165

  1 Cor. 8. 10, 12
• * 1.166

  Gal. 23, 4, &c.
• * 1.167

  Ad Num. 21. & 27.
• * 1.168

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Solon.
• * 1.169

  Luke 13. 2.
• * 1.170

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.171

  Pius 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 suae gladio, 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 omntbus simul & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 censuram, & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Salvian.
• * 1.172

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 An 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 dixit 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Digni 〈◊〉〈◊〉 trant in 〈…〉〈…〉 ab 〈◊〉〈◊〉 vita, mundati casti∣gatione sibi 〈◊〉〈◊〉 per mortem communem, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Idem ait S. Aug. l. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1. com. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. & Cassian.
• * 1.173

  —〈◊〉〈◊〉 qui 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sacrum Vulgâris arcanae, sub iisdem Sit trabibus, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 mecum Solvat phaselum: 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Di 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Neglectus, incesto 〈◊〉〈◊〉 integrum. Hor. l. 3. ed. 2.
• * 1.174

  Peudula dum 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 capilli, Exspirans Eadit, & gelidâ 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 D. cubat: 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sic pendunt crimina 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Valerand.
• * 1.175

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. A. D. 1100. & 2024.
• * 1.176

  〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.177

  Fulgos. lib. 9. c. 12.
• * 1.178

  Pana tamen praesens, cùm 〈◊〉〈◊〉 deponis 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & crudum pavonem in balnea portas. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 subitae mortes atque 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Juven. Sat. 1.
• * 1.179

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 nimis 〈◊〉〈◊〉 habui, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 vapulo 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Sic luiur juvenis culp 〈◊〉〈◊〉 dolore senis.
• * 1.180

  —Ruit Arius alvo 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 cadens, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 peremptu; Cum Juda 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, qui 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 curvatus obit: nec poena sequestrat Quos par culpa ligat, qui 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 ab ore parant. Hic prodidit, ille diremis Sacrilega de 〈◊〉〈◊〉.—〈◊〉〈◊〉. Christ. apud Baron. T. 3. ad ann. Christ. 336.
• * 1.181

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. Gent. Anglor. l. 3. c. 18.
• * 1.182

  〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 inquinavere, & genus, & 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 In 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 fluxit. Hor. l. 3. od. 6.
• * 1.183

  Ezek. 14. 20.
• * 1.184

  Deut. 17. 12. 19. 13. 19 21. 9, 21. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.185

  —〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 Judex,
• * 1.186

  Et 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 In 〈◊〉〈◊〉: ex quo 〈◊〉〈◊〉 D os 〈◊〉〈◊〉 pactâ 〈◊〉〈◊〉—Hor. l. 3. od. 3.
• * 1.187

  〈…〉〈…〉, but 〈…〉〈…〉. Hor. l. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 6.
• * 1.188

  〈◊〉〈◊〉, id est, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, corrupte, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ex Latinis 〈◊〉〈◊〉 solent 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Vide
• * 1.189

  Erasm. in 14. Marci.
• * 1.190

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.191

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Pindar. vccat 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ramos, Olymp. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 & coronarum 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.192

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 de 〈◊〉〈◊〉. H. b. N. T. c. 19. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 N. T.
• * 1.193

  Joseph. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Jud. 1. 6. c. 3.
• * 1.194

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. ad 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 51.
• * 1.195

  Lib. 14. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. cap. 14.
• * 1.196

  Elias 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉. in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Monta∣nus in 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉.
• * 1.197

  Matth. 27 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 pro 〈◊〉〈◊〉, per 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Nam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 S. Augustini in 〈…〉〈…〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. T. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 ex 〈…〉〈…〉 in 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉, & in N. T. 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 est 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 apud 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.198

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. apud 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 11. Junii. Vide 〈◊〉〈◊〉. in descript. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. n. 6.
• * 1.199

  Quidam ex 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉, ex 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉. tam 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Sic Philippus 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉.
• * 1.200

  S. Hieron. in c. 9. Matt.
• * 1.201

  I, Lictor, ob∣nu••e caput Li∣beratoris Vrbis hujus. Livi.
• * 1.202

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.203

  Arse••••••s in Vitis Pp.
• * 1.204

  Euthym, in 26. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Co∣dren in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Oecu∣men. in c. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Juvencus hist. Evang. l. 4 〈◊〉〈◊〉 de 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Sanct. c. 4.
• * 1.205

  S. Aug. tract. 114. in Joan. Cyril. in Joan. l. 12. c. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 hom. 12. in Joan. Am∣bros. serm. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Calend. Janu∣ar. l. 20.
• * 1.206

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. c. 8.
• * 1.207

  Joseph. l. 16. c. 14. Idem in 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.208

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉, c. 75.
• * 1.209

  Dio Rom. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 57. Sub 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & Druso Coss. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 est codex Epist. Sidonii, qui ait, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 S. C. Tiberiano triginta dierum vitam post sententi∣am 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.210

  Lib. In 〈◊〉〈◊〉, D. d. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.211

  Lib. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. de accus.
• * 1.212

  Lignum trans∣versum 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Je∣sus, scil. Pati∣bulum, ad lo∣cum ubi Crux, scil. lignum oblongum, 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 Plautus, Patibulum 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, & 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 pictores 〈◊〉〈◊〉 pingunt Josum, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 lignum scil. Lipsius tract, de supplicio 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• (a) 1.213

  Tertul. l. 2. contra Marcion. Origen. tract. 35. in Matth. Basil. in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. 5. Athan, de Pass. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Pp. unico 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉, in epist. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Ephes. c. 5. & in c. 27. Matth.
• * 1.214

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Nonnus in Joan.
• (b) 1.215

  S. Aug. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 71. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.216

  Golgotha locus est 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Calvaria quondam, Lingua paterna prior sic illum nomine dixit. Hit 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 esse 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 medium 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉—.
• (c) 1.217

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. hist. l. 14. c. 13 Athenaeus l. 11. c. 30. Si calidum 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 Convenit, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sit sapor indè 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. l. 14.
• * 1.218

  Ego 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 primus qui in 〈…〉〈…〉 bis pedes, bis 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Plaut. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.219

  〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 est, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 le∣cta, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 unâ, 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 recitata, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Provinciae 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Apul. 1. l. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.220

  〈◊〉〈◊〉: 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Vide Dio∣nys. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Rab. R. Mai∣mon.
• * 1.221

  Origen. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. l. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Apolog. Luci∣an. in actis sui Mart. August. ep. 80. ad 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in vita 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 cum dix 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Aut Deus 〈◊〉〈◊〉, aut 〈◊〉〈◊〉 compatitur: & hac de causa 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 aram 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quidam.
• * 1.222

  Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 11. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 con∣glutinant vulnera. Tertul. de Spect. c. 25. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & de 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 in morsus unto∣rum, & spongias 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.223

  S. Hieron. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 150. q. 8.
• * 1.224

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 Metaph. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 16. Octob.
• * 1.225

  In hac ipsa 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 quadam bucca∣rum inanitas est, quâ 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 jugulo, spiritus 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Plin. l. 11. c. 45. Vide Lactant. l. 1. c. 26. Cic. pro 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.226

  Philo de leg. special. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.227

  Metaphr. Au∣gust. 15.
• * 1.228

  Beda 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. cap. 2. Niceph. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 32.
• * 1.229

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 vi∣ctorum, palmae 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 es; ergd Laetus obi, quoniam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 nisi victor 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.230

  Ad Num. 16.
• * 1.231

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.232

  Idcirco pides 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 & ca∣pui; quia in lavandis pidibus, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 est gestus humilitatis, & propinquior signifi∣catio charitatis, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 nos 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 suo a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 nostris. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.233

  〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 sub tam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Dio? S. Bernard.
• * 1.234

  Matt. 11. 29.
• * 1.235

  Turgidus bic 〈◊〉〈◊〉, 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 sul∣phureas 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. Pers. Sat. 3.
• * 1.236

  〈…〉〈…〉 patientia 〈◊〉〈◊〉. S. Hier.
• * 1.237

  S. Hier. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 S. Anton.
• * 1.238

  Ama nesciri & pro ••••hilo reputari. Ger∣son.
• * 1.239

  Appetere de humilitale laudem humilitatis non est virtus, sed subversio. Quid enim perversum magi•• aut indignius, quàm ut indè velu haberi melior, unde tibi videris deterior? S. Bernard.
• * 1.240

  Est qui nequiter humiliat si, & interiora ejus sunt plena dolo. Eccle••. 12. 11.
• * 1.241

  Nil lascivius est Carisiano; In Saturnali∣bus ambulat regatus. Matt.
• * 1.242

  〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 (Da∣vid,) 〈◊〉〈◊〉 aut de his in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & non sunt, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 ju∣dicium 〈◊〉〈◊〉 at; 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 his 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quibus 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉. S. Gieg.
• * 1.243

  Acts 5. 41.
• * 1.244

  1 Cor. 10. 16.
• * 1.245

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 & distributum 〈◊〉〈◊〉 corpus suum 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 est corpus 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, id est, figura 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Figura a, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, non fuisset, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 corpus. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. lib. 4. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. cap. 40. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 si quicquid 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in os, in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 abit, & in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 cibus qui 〈◊〉〈◊〉 per verbum Dei 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 quod 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, &c. & 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉. Origen. in 15. cap. S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Theod. Dial. 2. Idem disput. 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 Christi Naturam conversum iri in Divinam, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. modo quo 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in corpus Christi, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Certè 〈◊〉〈◊〉 scil. 〈◊〉〈◊〉, hoc est, 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Our 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Saviour, who hath called 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Bread and a Vine, hath also honoured the visible Signs with the title and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of his Body and Bloud, not changing their Nature, but adding to Nature Grace. See the Dialog. called the Immoveable. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quae sumi∣nus 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & Sanguinis Christi divina res est. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quod 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 consortes 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉〈◊〉 esse 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 natura 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉; & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Corporis & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Christi in actione 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. P. Gelasius libr. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Non 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 panis, & poculum sanguis; sed quòd 〈◊〉〈◊〉 corporis 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. Facundus. Si n. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quandam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 non 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 quarum sunt sacramenta, omnino sacramenta non essent: ex 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a. 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 actipiunt. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 S. Aug. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 23. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 contr. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Manich. lib. 10. c. 2. Quod ob omnibus 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 est 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, in quo caro Christi post 〈◊〉〈◊〉 per 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. Apud Grauanum de Consecrat. dist. 2. c. 48. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉: virba: Sicut 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, qui 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 est, suo 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Corpus Christi, 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 corporis Christi, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 viz. quod visibile, quod palpabile, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 ipsa 〈◊〉〈◊〉 carnis quae 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 Passio; Mors, Crucifixio, non 〈…〉〈…〉 quod 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 est. * Si 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 vasa 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 est, in quibus non est 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Christi, sed mysterium corporis 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 mag's vasa corporis 〈◊〉〈◊〉, &c. S. Chrysost. Opere imperf. in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. ad Caesarium, in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Pp. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1618. 〈…〉〈…〉 illum sanctificante gratiâ, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 quidem est ab 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Panis, dignus autem 〈◊〉〈◊〉 est 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Corporis appellations, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 natura Panis in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, &c.
• * 1.246

  1 Cor. 10. 16, 17.
• * 1.247

  〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 non 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Panem esse〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 sed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ut 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 corpus Domini, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 fiant unum participans & 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Caro. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 partem aliquam sibi 〈◊〉〈◊〉, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 particips est.
• * 1.248

  2 Cor. 6. 1.
• * 1.249

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 calix, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, ad 〈…〉〈…〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉, ad 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, exsi 〈◊〉〈◊〉. S. Cyp. di 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.250

  John 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.251

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• ‖ 1.252

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.253

  Col. 3. 4.
• * 1.254

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 apud S. Ignat. ep. ad 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. Optar. Milevit. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 6. 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 S. Joh. 6. 54. Qui 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 in novissimo 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.255

  Colos. 3. 3.
• * 1.256

  S. Cyril. Alex. l. 4. in Joh. c. 14. Et Irenae. l. 4. c. 34.
• * 1.257

  Sic & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 percipi∣entia 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 non sunt 〈◊〉〈◊〉, spim 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.258

  〈…〉〈…〉. S. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 quo 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. S. Ambros. Ser. 15. in Psal. 118.
• * 1.259

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Homer.
• * 1.260

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.261

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.262

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 Cor. 11. 28, 29.
• * 1.263

  Concil. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 3.
• * 1.264

  S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 2. de Bapt. c. 3. 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉.
• * 1.265

  S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 6. c. 37. in Luc. 9.
• * 1.266

  Vbique 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 per 〈…〉〈…〉. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 S. Ambros.
• * 1.267

  Si Dux quispiam, si Consul ipse, si qui 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 indigne 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 si ipse pellere non 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, non 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 fieri; 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 Dominicum 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. hom. 83. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.268

  Exta 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 inter 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 om∣nia; In 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Regis 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 visum 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 oscula. Phaedr. Jab. 80.
• * 1.269

  〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 Rom. 5. Const. c. 16. ab Hila∣rio ca. 30. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 l. 3. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. c. 13. a Ruperto Hildebrand. Cenoman. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.270

  〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 quen∣quam 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 consessum, aut in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 seculari 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Judicio 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 convictum. S. Aug. l. 50. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. 50. S. Thomas 3. p. q. 81. a. 2.
• * 1.271

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 15. 19.
• * 1.272

  Synes. ep. 79.
• * 1.273

  Theod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 5. 36. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. tom. 5. A. D. 425. Sect. 16.
• * 1.274

  Clem. Rom. l. 8. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. 20. Concil. Tolet. 1. c. 11. S. Aug, 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 23, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 107. & lib. 4. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉. c. 10.
• ‖ 1.275

  〈…〉〈…〉 quàm 〈◊〉〈◊〉: sed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 de iis 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quos 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & mortalia 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Gennad. l. 3. de Eccl. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. c. 53.
• * 1.276

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 olim actum est, cùm 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉.
• * 1.277

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Philo.
• * 1.278

  Gennadius, c. 54. de Eccl. s. dogmat.
• * 1.279

  Epist. 80. ad Lucinum.
• * 1.280

  〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 vel je∣junare semper, vel semper 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Do∣minicum, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Domini, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, &c. Idem.
• * 1.281

  Concil. Lat.
• * 1.282

  De Sacram, l. 5. c. 4.
• * 1.283

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 accessum sola 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in∣tegrltas facit. S. Chrys.
• * 1.284

  Joan. Gerson in Magnificat.
• * 1.285

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 in hor∣to tanquam in 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.286

  S. Chrys. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 laborem minu∣at 〈◊〉〈◊〉 se 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Theophyl.
• * 1.287

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Luke 22. 44. Extensius ora∣bat, sic Lati∣nus Interpres 〈◊〉〈◊〉: Alii 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 per [〈◊〉〈◊〉.]
• * 1.288

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, sed 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 quae 〈◊〉〈◊〉 non minuit 〈◊〉〈◊〉 magis auxit: 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 est ex 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. non 〈◊〉〈◊〉 dolo∣ris 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Beda in Lucae 22.
• * 1.289

  Cum 〈◊〉〈◊〉, solamen 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 solatur 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. Res miranda! 〈◊〉〈◊〉 dans 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Rex à 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sumit 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Anglus.
• * 1.290

  In c. 24. Mat.
• ‖ 1.291

  In 22. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.292

  Justin, 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Dial, 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Athan 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Beat. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Aug. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 5. de Consecr. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Hier. l. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Heb. Iren. l. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 31. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Idem ai∣unt Dionys. Alex, Aymoni∣us, Epiphan, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.293

  Lib. 6. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.294

  O signum 〈◊〉〈◊〉! O 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 osculo incipitur 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 pacis 〈◊〉〈◊〉 pacis 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Aug. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 12.
• ‖ 1.295

  Si 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Domine, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Amici 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Qu 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 Qui 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉? Hondem. de Passione.
• * 1.296

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.297

  S. Cyril. S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉, &c.
• * 1.298

  Isai. 52. 6.
• * 1.299

  Simovit 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, non 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 so∣lum 〈◊〉〈◊〉 illud & opus salutis 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Reg∣nantis 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & non 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 opus est. S. Cyril.
• ‖ 1.300

  Dominum omnium 〈◊〉〈◊〉, non ar∣ma, 〈◊〉〈◊〉. S. Amb. in Lue 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.301

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 in via 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.302

  Psal. 110. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.303

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 missus 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ab 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.304

  Vida, 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Isa. 50. 6. Micah 5. 1.
• * 1.305

  Lib. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. cap. 18.
• * 1.306

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.307

  Victor in S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.308

  〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉. S. Hieron, in 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.309

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 sua, ostendens 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 manifestans, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 esse 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Origen. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.310

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Capit. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 69. Ieo 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 9. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 pass. Dom. & Euthym, in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.311

  Indè 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 quòd 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 jam condere 〈◊〉〈◊〉, (〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 dare 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, dum 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉—Juvencus 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 4. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.312

  Non 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Judas 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 & 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉, S. Au∣gust. 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉. c. 17.
• * 1.313

  In 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.314

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.315

  S. Aug. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 15. in Joann.
• * 1.316

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 in his Dominus 〈…〉〈…〉 ut 〈…〉〈…〉 columna. 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉. Prudent.
• * 1.317

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 amor. Naz. in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.318

  James 5. 14, &c.
• * 1.319

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 25. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. AEschyl. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.320

  Matt. 25. 13.
• * 1.321

  —〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 Elosculus 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉—
• * 1.322

  —〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Agam.
• * 1.323

  〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉. Quid quasi 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 lux 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, Jam cras 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 hos annoi, & 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉. Sat. 5.
• * 1.324

  Quid 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, nunquam homini 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Navita 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 ultrà Caca 〈◊〉〈◊〉 aliunde 〈◊〉〈◊〉: Miles 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉 Parthus & Italum Robur. Sod 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉. Hor. l. 2. od. 13.
• * 1.325

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. Crom. l. 6. Volaterran. l. 4. c. 22. Cui nasci contigit, 〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊◊〉 Quintil. Divésne, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 natus ab Inacho, Nil interest, an 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & infima 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, sub dio 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Victima nil miserantis 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Omnes 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉—Hor. l. 2. od. 3.
• * 1.326

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.327

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 l. 3. c. 51. Matthiol. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• (a) 1.328

  Plin. l. 7. c. 53.
• (b) 1.329

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• (c) 1.330

  Plut. & Gel. de illust. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• (d) 1.331

  Cuspin.
• * 1.332

  Lotus 〈◊〉〈◊〉 est, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 est 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Mart. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 6.
• * 1.333

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 18. 19, &c.
• * 1.334

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 12. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Evang.
• * 1.335

  L. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 15. hist. Gent. Anglor.
• * 1.336

  Biblioth. Ss. Pp. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 3.
• * 1.337

  Matt. 25. 13. & 24. 42.
• * 1.338

  Mark 13. 33. 2 Pet. 3. 10.
• * 1.339

  —tecum pri∣ùs ergo volut•• Haec animo 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉: galeatum ferò duelli Poeni∣tetmdash;Juven. Sat. 1.
• * 1.340

  De traec•••••••• S. Hieron.
• * 1.341

  In hunc ferè 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 So∣crates, apud Platonem in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Non abs re 〈◊〉〈◊〉 crit 〈◊〉〈◊〉 morthundus, si 〈◊〉〈◊〉 de 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Fidei disserat & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 de siducia compertae verit: tis, at 〈◊〉〈◊〉 (〈◊〉〈◊〉 de Socrate dixit 〈◊〉〈◊〉) de 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉.
• * 1.342

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.343

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.344

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 ab 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 est: 〈◊〉〈◊〉 it. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 qua a 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 & ipsa moriatur. S. Aug. Serm. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Vide 〈◊〉〈◊〉 l. 50. bom l. 41.
• * 1.345

  Egredere, ani∣ma, quid 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 annis 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & jam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ti∣mes? S Hier, in vita 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.346

  Va vita 〈◊〉〈◊〉 laudabili, si sine 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 eam. S. Aug. l. 9. Confess.
• * 1.347

  2 Chron. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 12.
• a 1.348

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.349

  15. Peto, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, suspice coelum; 〈◊〉〈◊〉 enim tibi vita 〈◊〉〈◊〉, sed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Dixit mater 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, in vita Symphor. Serm. in c. 7. Jobi.
• (b) 1.350

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Strabo lib.
• * 1.351

  Hoc homo morte lucratur, nè malum 〈◊〉〈◊〉 esset. Naz.
• * 1.352

  —〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 AEschyl. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.353

  1 King. 19. 4.
• * 1.354

  In vita S. Aug. c. 16.
• * 1.355

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 animum mortis terrore carentem, Qui sp 〈◊〉〈◊〉 vitae 〈◊〉〈◊〉 inter muner a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Naturae, qui ferre queat quoseunque labores, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, cupiat 〈◊〉〈◊〉—Juven.
• * 1.356

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 41. 1.
• * 1.357

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 sunt qui vitam 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 corrum punt, kis qui 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. S. Gre∣ger.
• * 1.358

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.359

  Jam. 6. 14. 15.
• * 1.360

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Conc. Nicen. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 13.
• * 1.361

  Concil. Ni∣cen. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Conc. An∣cyr. c. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Aure∣lian. 2. c. 12.
• * 1.362

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. Elib. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1.
• * 1.363

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Concil. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. c. 13. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Conc. Anc. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 9. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 qui in 〈…〉〈…〉 vacuum 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Conc, Aurel. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 12.
• * 1.364

  Vide Con∣cil. Eliber. c. 46. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 69.
• * 1.365

  —〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 vixisse beatum 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & exacto contentus tempore 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 conviva satur—Hor. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1.
• * 1.366

  S. Aug. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 119. in Joan.
• * 1.367

  O 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 quod 〈…〉〈…〉, si 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉. Plaut, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.368

  〈…〉〈…〉 quod toleras, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉. S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.369

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 16. 24.
• * 1.370

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 Pet. 2. 21.
• * 1.371

  Heb. 13. 13.
• * 1.372

  Athanas. de Pass. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Domini.
• * 1.373

  —〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉—Nonn.
• * 1.374

  Albigenses primi 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 uno 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉, & Virginem Mariam monoculam; 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉: sed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 prior 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 est, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Lucas Tud. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 2. contra Albig.
• * 1.375

  Luke 24. 26. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 vulg. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.376

  Heb. 2. 9.
• * 1.377

  Philip. 2. 8, 9.
• * 1.378

  Deut. 14. 16.
• * 1.379

  Ezek. 18. 2, 3, 4, 5, &c.
• * 1.380

  Livius. Vide l. Si quis 〈◊〉〈◊〉 D. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. & exhib. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 L. Si à 〈◊〉〈◊〉, D. De sidejussori∣bus.
• * 1.381

  John 10. 10.
• * 1.382

  Apud Diodo∣rum Sicul. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.383

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.384

  Latro non simper 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 M 〈◊〉〈◊〉, qui 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ob 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 aliquid contra 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Romanas secerat: alioqui vir suit non omnino malus.
• * 1.385

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 qui viderunt 〈◊〉〈◊〉 mortuos 〈◊〉〈◊〉; credidit 〈◊〉〈◊〉 qui videbat secum in lig∣no 〈◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊〉, quam non 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Christus 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 in Disci∣pulis suis. S. Aug Serm. 144. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.386

  S. Ambros. l. 10. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• * 1.387

  Gen. 50. Tacit. annal. l. 21.
• * 1.388

  Aurora lucis ritulat, Coelum laudibus intonat, Mundus exsultans jubila, Gemens infernus ululat; Cùm Rex ille fortissimus, Mortis consractis viribus, Pede conculcans Tartara, Solvit à poena miseres. Ille qui clausus lapid•• Custoditur sub milite, Triumphans pompâ nobili, Victor surgit de funere. Hymn. Paschal,
• * 1.389

  〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, & ex to 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉.
• (a) 1.390

  —Vbi duat 〈◊◊◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊◊◊〉 (Paulm,) 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 raptum; 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ad 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 ad paradisum. Me∣thodius cont. Origen, apud 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 Moses Barcephas, 〈◊〉〈◊〉. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉; p. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 7.
• * 1.391

  Dial. adv. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• (a) 1.392

  l. 5. c. 3.
• (b) 1.393

  L. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Anima; & de Prae∣script. Idem sentiunt Scrip∣tor 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ad Orthod. q. 76. S. Greg. Naz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 10. S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. hom. 15. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. S. Ambr. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉, Cyrilli 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Epiphan. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. apud S. Hier. Theo∣doretus, The∣ophylactus, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉. passim.
• (a) 1.394

  Revel. 14. 13.
• (b) 1.395

  Just. Mart. 75. inter quaest. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ait, 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 duci à morte ad Paradisum, ubi consuetudo & 〈◊〉〈◊〉 est Angelorum & 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉.
• (c) 1.396

  2 Tim. 4. 8.
• (d) 1.397

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 13. 41. & 24. 31.
• (e) 1.398

  2 Cor. 5. 10. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• (f) 1.399

  2 Pet. 2. 4.
• (g) 1.400

  Jude 6.
• (h) 1.401

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 8. 29
• (i) 1.402

  2 Pet. 2. 9. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 tamen quisquam 〈◊〉〈◊〉 animas post 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 judicari: Nam omnes in una 〈◊〉〈◊〉; custodia 〈◊〉〈◊〉, donec 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 maximus 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 faciat examen. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 7. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 21.
• (k) 1.403

  Joh. 14. 2, 3.
• * 1.404

  Satiabor 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉. Psal, 17. 15.
• * 1.405

  Heb. 11. 40. Irenae. l. 5. adv. Haeres. ad sin. Origen. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 7. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Chrys. hom. 39. in 1 Cor. Theodoret. Theophylact. Oecumenius in 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 11, S. Aug. l. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. c. 14. Victorin. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. in c. 6. Apoc, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Bono mortis, c. 10, & 11.
• * 1.406

  2 Tim. 1. 18.
• ‖ 1.407

  1 Thesl. 5. 23. Vide 〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉, l 5 c. 6. adv. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. ubi 〈◊〉〈◊〉, abs{que} unione corporis, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉〈◊〉, beminem non 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.408

  S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. l. 10. in Lucam.
• * 1.409

  Euseb. Emiss. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 6. de 〈◊〉〈◊〉.—tumulóque 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉, resurgentes 〈◊◊◊〉〈◊◊◊〉 sipulios. Prudent. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.410

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 S. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. & Ch ys, hom. 88. in 27. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.411

  Zech. 9. 11, 12.
• * 1.412

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Musonius apud A. Gellium l. 16. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 1.
• * 1.413

  〈…〉〈…〉.
• * 1.414

  Luke 15. 7.
• * 1.415

  Coloss. 3. 3.
• * 1.416

  John 3. 2.
• * 1.417

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 apud Sextum Empirie.
• * 1.418

  Heb. 12, 22, 23.
• * 1.419

  Mark 16. 16.
• * 1.420

  Act. 2. 38. & 22. 16.
• * 1.421

  Rom. 6. 3, 4.
• * 1.422

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 4. 5, &c.
• * 1.423

  Matt. 28. 20.
• * 1.424

  1 Cor. 12. 13.
• * 1.425

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 2. 12.
• * 1.426

  Galat. 3. 17.
• * 1.427

  1 Per. 3. 21.