Deuout contemplations expressed in two and fortie sermons vpon all ye quadragesimall Gospells written in Spanish by Fr. Ch. de Fonseca Englished by. I. M. of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford

THE EIGHTH SERMON, VP∣ON THE WEDNESDAY AFTER THE FIRST SVN∣DAY IN LENT. (Book 8)

MAT. 12.38.

Accesserunt ad Iesum Scribae & Pharisaei, dicentes, Magister, volumus a te signum videre.

The Scribes and Pharisees came vnto him, saying, Master, wee would see a signe from thee.

A After that famous miracle of him that was possessed with a Deuill, as also of the Deafe, Blind, and Dumbe,* 1.1 and that our Sauiour Christ had with powerfull reasons prooued, That for such a worke as that, was necessarily required a superna∣turall vertue; the Scribes and Pharises came vnto him, who were the grauest persons of that Commonwealth, saying, Master, your person with those of our Religion is in great esteeme; and the wonders and miracles that thou hast wrought amongst vs, hath woon thee a great deale of credit and reputation: but looking well into them, wee haue found this one fault in them, that all of them are wrought vpon ordi∣narie and common things; as in giuing eyes to the Blind, a tongue to the Dumb, dispossessing a Deuill; miracles done as well by others as thy selfe, as our owne Prophets beare witnesse: and seeing thou hast got thee a greater name than they, we would faine see thee doe greater miracles than they; as to stop the Sun in his course, like Ioshuah; to raine downe Manna from Heauen, like Moses; to raise whirle-winds, cloath the aire with clouds, rattle forth thunder, and dart rayes of lightning, as God did when hee came to giue the Law: In a word, Master, wee would haue thee to shew vs a miracle from Heauen. Our Sauiour Christ, who to a syllable knew how to spell this their damnable and deuilish intention, sayd vnto them, O yee accursed and adulterous generation, Seeke yee after signes in Heauen for to discredit those that are done on earth? Account yee these as no∣thing? Are they illusions and impostures with yee? I tell you, yee shall haue no signe giuen yee but that of Ionas; the men of Niniuie shall rise vp in iudgement

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against yee, and condemne yee for a stiffe necked generation, because they repen∣ted at the preaching of Ionas, & behold, a greater than Ionas is here, and ye heare him not, nor are your stonie hearts made malleable with the hammer of his words and workes. The Queene of the South came from the vttermost parts of the earth to heare the wisedome of Salomon; and behold, a greater than Salomon is here, and yee heare him not. Our Sauiour Christ with this answer bung'd vp the mouthes of the Scribes and Pharisees; whilest one of them that was subtil∣ler than the rest, seeking to accuse him of arrogancie, pulling him by the sleeue, told him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speake with thee▪ As if he would haue said, What a deale of pride is this for a Carpen∣ter, and the Ki••seman of a companie of poore Fishermen? But our Sauiour Christ proouing, That true Kindred was contracted rather by the Spirit, than the Flesh, told them, My mother and my brethren are those that doe the will of my Father.

Generatio praua & adultera signum quaerit, &c.

A wicked and adulterous Generation seekes a signe. Though patience in our Saui∣our Christ were a thing so naturall vnto him, yet may it well be wondred at, that to so many iniurious both workes and words, hee made so mild an answere. That Fire should burne, that Snow should coole, that what is heauie should tend downeward, and what is light ascend vpward; that the Sunne should giue light, that Heauen should glad the heart of man, that a Fountaine should flow, it is not much: But that the Sunne, rising for and to all, should denie his light to him that desires it; the Heauen, it's cheerefulnesse and influences; the Fountaine, water to the thirstie; and that our Sauiour Christ, the chiefest of Hierusalem comming vnto him, and with a great deale of respect crauing a signe and miracle of him, that he should make fooles of them, and rid them away for such, it is somewhat strange, and will require a Quaere, why and wherefore he did it.

And this difficultie is made the greater, for that it is an incomparable piece of seruice, to craue and beg any thing of God. The Scripture stileth Prayer, A sweet perfume: And the Church calls it, Scalam petitionum, The Ladder where∣by our Prayers ascend vnto God: And hee that petitions God as he ought, the more hee askes, the more God holds him his friend. And King Ahaz, who would not require any miracle, the Prophet Esay offering him Heauen, Earth, and Hell, condemned him of ill manners, accusing him to haue dealt therein ve∣rie discourteously with God. How comes it then to passe, that the most religi∣ous and grauest kind of People that were in Hierusalem, comming to craue a mi∣racle, our Sauiour should giue them this strange answer, A wicked and adulte∣rous generation seekes a signe, and no signe shall be giuen it, &c.

* 1.2The first reason is, for that they scornefully called him Master, when as they held him to be an Imposter, and one that was possessed with a Deuill. One of the greatest fauours that euer God shewed to his Church, was in giuing our Saui∣our Christ to be it's Master; and the greatnesse of this good, hee particularly (amongst many other) discouered vnto vs in two effects:

The one, in dispelling the darkenesse of our ignorance; For as the light of this materiall Sunne, doth inrich and beautifie the day, bannishing from vs the pitchie darkenesse of the night, to the end, that these our corporall eyes may behold the beautie of the World; so the light of that spirituall Sunne, doth in∣rich and beautifie the day of the new Law, driuing from vs the darkenesse of

the old Law: And therefore those times of the old Testament, were called by the name of Night, Nox praecessit, (i.) The Night is p••st, &c.

The other, for that all Masters whatsoeuer in the World besides, doe not effectually persuade and moue the Will of man; But this Master of ours, doth penetrate with his words, the very innermost parts of the Soule, and the secret corners of the Heart; He mooues it, and persuades it by milde, yet powerfull meanes. Esay, making a promise on Gods behalfe to his people, this Doctor touched both these effects, Dabit tibi Deus panem a••ctum, & aquam breuem, (i.) God will giue thee a little water and a little bread, but much learning,* 1.3 for thou shalt behold thy Master with thine eyes, Erun•• oculi tui videntes praec••p••••rum. And with thy eares shalt thou heare his voice, Et aures tuae audient post ter••a monentis. Who shall bee still admonishing and persuading thee, Haec est via, ambulate in ea, This is the way, walke in it. A little water and a little bread, but much light of lear∣ning; for towards those whom God best loueth, he carries a hard and straight hand, in those good things which concerne the bodie, but showes himself very franke and liberall in those blessings that belong to the Soule. And one dramme of Wisedome, is better than many quintals of Gold. God did applaud Salo∣mons petition, because making slight account of riches, of lordships, and of re∣uenging himselfe vpon his enemies, he did begge Wisedome at his hands: and therefore possessed with this diuine Spirit, hee sayd afterwards;* 1.4 Wis••dome is bet∣ter than the most precious Riches, and whatsoeuer is to bee desired, is not comparable to it. Saint Ierome noteth, that the Prophet sayth, Thou shalt see this thy Master with thy eyes, in regard of those just and right actions, which hee shall alwayes set before thine eyes: And, that thou shalt heare him with thy eares, in regard, that as thou art a sinner, hee shall be still calling thee to repentance, preaching and crying out vnto thee to returne backe from thy euill wayes, shewing thee, that This is the way, walke in it. It is a metaphore borrowed from a Trauailour that hath lost his way amongst woods and rockes, where hee is ready at euerie step to breake his neck; and therefore like a good sheapheard, greeuing to see him thus wilfully to runne on to his destruction, hee calleth out aloud vnto him, telling him, This is the way. In like manner, the World beeing as it were lost, and blinded in the true knowledge of God and his sonne Christ Iesus, set∣ting before vs the way of the Gospell, hee cries out vnto vs, that wee might not goe astray; Haec est via, This is the way. This was a great, and extraordinarie fa∣uour, and the Prophet Ioel giues the paralell thereof to the Church;* 1.5 Filij Syon exaltate, & latamini in Domino D••o vestro, quia dedit vobis Doct••rem iustitiae, (1.) Ex∣alt yee sonnes of Sion, and reioyce in the Lord your God, who hath giuen you a Teacher of Righteousnesse. The Greeke hath it Escas iustitiae, That God hath giuen yee a Ma∣ster that shall bee vnto you, as the verie meate and nourishment of Righteous∣nesse, to feed and preserue your soules; and will restore vnto you the yeares that the Locusts hath eaten, the canker-worme, and the catterpillar, and the pal∣mer-worme, &c. And if in Commonwealths, to haue Masters, and wise and learned Teachers, bee of so inestimable a price, that Aristotle asking the reason, why they had no set stipend or reward, as many other Offices & States had? an∣sweres it thus, Because there could bee no reward answerable to their desert. What then might this Master merit of the World, beeing so singular and lear∣ned a Teacher, in whome were deposited all the treaseres of the Wisedome of God? In regard of this happinesse, our Sauiour Christ sayd, Beati oculi qu•• vi∣dent quae vos vide••is. The Scribes therfore and the Pharisees, comming vnto him, and in a flattering and scorneful manner calling him Master, it is no ma••••aile that

the mildenesse of this Lambe, should be turned into the furie of a Lyon, and that he sayd vnto them, Generatio mala, &c.

Saint Chrysostome sayes, That they went about to flatter him, as they had done at other times, when they spake vnto him by the same name; As when they said, Magister,* 1.6 licet censum dare Caesari? Magister, quod est mandatum magnum in Lege? Magister, quid faciendo, vitam aeternam possidebo? Master, is it lawfull to giue tribute vnto Caesar? Master, which is the great Commandement in the Law? Master, What shall I doe to inherit eternall life? And that our Sauiour being offended, that they should flatter him with their mouths, whom they abhorred in their hearts (beeing like vnto those lewd women, who the lighter they are, the fuller of flatterie) he grew somewhat hot and angrie with them.

But I conceiue the fault of these Scribes and Pharisees was more foule than so: For flatterie vsually carryeth with it a desire to please, and is full of courtesie, which these kind of People neuer expressed towards our Sauiour. And this my suspition is the more augmented by that miracle of that blind man, whom the Scribes (as supreame Iudges) so strictly examined; asking him so often, Who is he that hath healed thee? To whom he answered, My Masters, I haue told yee alreadie, Why are yee so importunate with me? Are ye purposed peraduenture to bee his Disciples? This made my Gentlemen verie angrie; insomuch that they said, Tu Discipulus illius sis, Wee wish thee no worse plague, than that thou maist be his Disciple. So that holding this a kind of curse and malediction, and yet to stile him with the name of Master, must be a stuffe that is made of a cour∣ser thred than Flatterie.* 1.7 Besides, mocking and scorning was a proper and pecu∣liar vice annexed to the Iewes. And Saint Chrysostome doth not terme it onely flatterie, but adulation, and irrision; Verba (inquit) sunt plena adulatione & irrision••. And that Text of Saint Luke fauoureth this opinion, Alij tentantes eum, signum de coelo quaerebant, Others tempting him, required a signe from heauen. Where this word Tentantes implieth much more. And the Author of the imperfect Worke saith, That these Scribes and Pharisees vsed double dealing herein, desiring nothing more, than by this their soothing with him, to discredit our Sauiour Christ; al∣ledging, That those miracles were not so sure and certaine, as to enforce beliefe, or to merit their vndoubted credence: And that they being (as it were) the Suns of that Commonwealth, whom the people did credit and respect next vnder God, they did labour to winne themselues credit in his presence, by disgracing those miracles which our Sauiour had wrought. But our Sauiour hauing re∣course to the honour of his Father, and his owne reputation, could not hold▪ be∣ing so iustly incensed against them, but must needs breake out into these termes with them, A wicked generation, &c. God complained by his Prophets, That the sinnes of his people had quite altered his naturall condition, Let Samaria pe∣rish (saith Osee) because she hath prouoked her God.* 1.8 And anon after he saith the same, of Ephraim; Gods heart being so mild, so gentle, so louing, and so full of com∣passion,* 1.9 the sinnes of Samaria and of Ephraim had prouoked it to bitternes. Iere∣mie in his Lamentations complaineth, Repleuit me amaritudinibus, & inebriauit me absynthio, He hath filled me with bitternesse, he hath made me drunken with Wormwood. Ezechiel stiles the people, Domus exasperans, A House which doth exasperate Gods nature,* 1.10 being so noble, so free, so pittifull. Of Iudas Saint Luke saith, Su∣spensus crepuit medius, He burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowells gushed out. And this was not without some great mysterie, That his vitall spirit should not goe out at his throat, being streightned with the halter, nor through his mouth, for that therewith (though treacherously) he had kist his Sauiour; but out of the

verie heart and bowells of him, for there it was that his hatred lay. And though in other outward things there may be feigning and dissembling; the heart can∣not loue and hate at once. And therefore beeing so many monstrous mis-shapes in the rest of the parts of mans bodie, as two heads, two hands, two feet, and the like; yet did Nature neuer consent that there should be two hearts; onely it is vsed as an embleme to expresse a traitor, who loues with the one,* 1.11 and hates with the other. Woe to them that are of a double heart, saith Salomon. Simeon and Leui had double hearts when they dealt so deceitfully with the Prince of Sichem: And because we might not think that their father had a hand in it, and that they did it by his aduice; at the houre of his death he called them Instruments of cru∣eltie. Ezechiel calls them Foxes, who deuoure the grapes of the Vine, and hide themselues vnder the leaues thereof; [Quafi Vulpes in Deserto, Prophetae tui.] Chrysologus, That they wage warre against Vertue, with Vertue; against Fasting, with Fasting; against Prayer, with Prayer; against Mercie, with Mercie; and against Miracles, by crauing other Miracles. And if it were abhominable before God, that a man should put on womans apparell, and a woman, mans, (as it is in Deutronomie) much worse will it seem in his sight, that the euill man should put on the disguise of him that is good, & that Vice should put on Vertue's cloathes. In Ecclesiasticus God threatneth the Hypocrites,* 1.12 That he wil pull off their maskes and disguises in the midst of all the People; Attende ne reuelet Deus absconsa tua, & in medio Synagogae elidat te. Our Sauiour had a faire occasion offered vnto him for to discredit and disgrace them, and therefore plucking their maskes from off their faces, he said, A wicked and adulterous Generation seeketh a signe, &c.

We would s••e a signe from thee. The second reason is, The insenciblenesse of this people, that amongst so many & such strange miracles, they should (as if all the rest were worth nothing) require other newer and greater miracles. Potest ne quisquam (saith Saint Chrysostome) adeo stolidus inueniri?* 1.13 Can any man bee found so foolish? Nor is that particle Tunc (which is referred to a summe of miracles, which summe can hardly be reduced to a summe) of the least consideration in this place: Tunc, Then, when they should haue kneeled downe before him to haue kissed his feet, and acknowledged how much they were bound vnto him; Tunc, Then, when they should haue seemed to be astonished and wonder-strucken at his miracles; Tunc, Then, when they were to haue beene conuinced, and like Paul to haue fallen into a trance; Then do they obstinatly perseuer in their malice. This holy doctor saith, that Ionas was a type & figure of this so profound a sleep. The tem∣pest driues the sea before it, seeming for feare to runne away from the furie of those fierce and terrible winds; and yet Ionas sleepeth: The waues couer the Clouds, and discouer the bottomlesse Gulfes, striking a terrour both in the Ma∣riners and the passengers, and yet Ionas sleepeth: the sayles and tackling are all to-be rent and torne, the helme broken and lost, and none left to gouerne the Ship, and yet Ionas sleepeth; the maine-mast is split in sunder, a planke is sprung, the Pylots and the Mariners multiplie their prayers to their false Gods, which are painted in the prow of their ship,

Viridesque Deos, quibus aequora curae;

and yet Ionas sleepeth; nay, hee routs and snoarts in securitie, and is not sencible of the great danger he is in. The like effect did Christs comming worke with his people: There was a generall hurrie both in Heauen and Earth, such an In∣quietudo and turbation as was prophecied by the Prophet Haggie, Behold,* 1.14 yet again I will mooue the Heauen and the Earth. And this people hauing with teares & with sighes desired, that they might be so happie as to see their Sauiour, is now fast

asleep. The Dead liue, the Deafe heare, the Blind see, the Lame goe, the stones of the Temple are torne in sunder, the Graues open, the Sun is eclipsed, and the Moone darkened, and this great Ship of the World is tossed to and fro, with the furie of the winds, and yet this people sleepeth; and would to God they were but asleepe: for he that sleepeth, euerie little noyse will awaken him; but these men hauing the eyes of their bodie open, are as blind as any Beetle in those of their soule. They are in condition like vnto those Deuills of whom Iob spea∣keth, Cor eius indurabitur quasi lapis, & extinguetur quasi malleatoris incus: He com∣pares their heart to a stone, and thinking this too short a comparison, (for that the hardest stone is cut and hewne with the Cheesill and Hammer) he compares it to a Smiths Anuile, which the more it is beaten vpon, the harder it growes. And Saint Gregorie hath obserued, That on the Anuile all other mettalls are made soft, are wrought to bee plyable, and are reduced to diuers formes and shapes; but the Anuile it selfe continues still harder and harder. In the said chap∣ter Iob saith, That the bodie of Leuiathan was ioyned and knit together, and that the mettall of his scales was like strong Shields, surely fastned together: Allu∣ding (as it should seeme) to that which Ieremie speaketh of his Children, Dabis eis scutum cordis, &c. Thou shalt giue them, ô Lord, a heart like a shield of Brasse, which shall rebound backe vpon thine own bosome, those shafts that thou shalt shoot against them: for those fauours and those blessings which thou bestowest vpon them, make their hearts the harder; and they are so blinded through their sinnes, that their hearts are become as hard as a Target of yron, to the end that the inspirations of thy holy Spirit may not pierce them through. And if they that are hard de∣serue to be hardly dealt withall, it is not amisse, that our Sauiour should say vnto them, Generatio mala & adultera signum quaerit, A wicked and adulterous genera∣tion seekes after a signe▪ &c.

The third reason discouers it selfe in this word Volumus. What, Will they preferre their owne proper will in the presence of God; beeing, the summe of his Doctrine is, Qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum, He that will follow mee, must denie himselfe? Saint Augustine treateth at large, in his bookes De Ciuitate Dei, That the materialls of Babylon were, their owne proper will. And if these men had not beene too much wedded to their owne will, Ierusalem had flouri∣shed more than al the Cities of the world besides. The greatest affront that for∣mer or future Ages haue seene, or shall see, was that which the Iewes offered to our Sauiour Iesus Christ, judging him more worthie the Gallowes, than Bara∣bas: All which, p••oceeded from their owne proper will. Whom will yee that I should let loose vnto you? It was Pilats proposition vnto them: and when it was left to their owne proper will, (saith Saint Bernard) and that it was left to their choyce, and that the power was now in their hands, In proprium desaeuit authorem, They rage against him that made them. Once when our Sauiour Christ made peti∣tion to his Father in the name of that inferiour portion, Father, if it be possible, let this Cup depart;* 1.15 (as beeing jealous of his owne proper will, he presently had re∣course to his Fathers will) Yet not as I will,* 1.16 but as thou wilt. And in another place, I came downe from heauen, not to doe my owne will, but the will of him that sent me. O sweet Iesu! Thy will conforming it selfe to the will of thy Father, Why shoul∣dest thou bee affraid? It was to teach thee, That if our Sauiour Christ stood in feare of his owne will,* 1.17 (it being impossible for him to will more than what stood with his Fathers will) thou, that doost not conforme thy selfe according to the will of God, it is not much, that thou shouldst be affraid thereof. Seneca saith in one of his Epistles, That the seuerest Rod that we can desire, is, to desire of God,

that he wil fulfil our wil, & our seeking after that good, from which we ought to flie. Hence it commeth to passe, That our owne will is the Leuen of our owne hurt; as also of Gods wrath and displeasure towards vs. And Thomas renders the reason thereof; for, Voluntas in homine est Regina potentiarum h••manarum, Mans Will is the Queene of humane faculties: To whose charge is committed the treating and obtaining of our desired ends; and is so absolute a Soueraigne, that although the Vnderstanding be in it selfe so noble, as nothing more; it speaketh vnto it by memorialls, and representing thereunto the reason of that which shee propoundeth vnto it, in the end she comes to follow her owne liking. And for∣asmuch as Diuine Will is that vniuersall Empresse, against whom none ought to display their Banner; she finds her selfe especially offended, and counts it a kind of high treason, that humane Will should rebel against her, there being no other Wil neither in heauen, nor in earth, more than the Wil of God: And this Lesson we are taught in our Pater noster, Thy Kingdome come; thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heauen. The earth is thy Kingdome, as well as the heauen; and therefore, thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heauen. Now the Scribes and Pharisees grow∣ing into competition with the Will of God, saying Volumus; it is no meruaile, that our Sauiour should say vnto them, Generatio mala & adultera, &c. Gregorie Nissen saith, That as we are all wounded in Paradice, by our Father Adam▪ by that sore poyson of Disobedience, and by the sword of our owne Selfe-will; so are we all healed by our obedience to the Will of God, which is the graue & sepul∣chre (as Climachus hath it) of our proper Will; and this we dayly craue in these words, Thy Will be done. And Petrus Chrysologus doth bewaile the wretched estate of this World, for it's fulnesse of Selfe-loue.

We would see a signe from thee. What? Were not those miracles sufficient which our Sauiour had done alreadie? They might haue satisfied the Vnderstanding, but they could not satisfie the Will. S. Iohn was the Light,* 1.18 and many were chee∣red with it, [Exultauerunt in luce eius;] but the Will stood not affected there∣vnto. And Deutronomie saith,* 1.19 That God wrought great signes and wonders in Aegypt, but the Children of Israell had not a heart to vnderstand them, Et non dedit vobis cor intelligens. Which is all one with that which Dauid deliuereth in somewhat darker words, V••x Domini intercidentis flammam ignis. For God is woont in the fire, to diuide the light from the flame, giuing light to the Vnder∣standing, but not fire to the Will. That therefore now a dayes in the Church there should be so many Sermons, so many Preachers, so much Light, and so lit∣tle Fruit thereof; the reason of it is, That the Vnderstanding is informed, but the Wil is not conformed; the former being contented, but the latter not conuinced. The Deuill did endeauour, that our Sauiour Christ should doe a miracle sine fru∣ctu, to no good in the World, when he lay at him to turne the stones into bread; which might haue amased his Vnderstanding, but not haue abated his Will. And the Scribes and Pharisees, like the Sonnes of such a Father, taking this their Selfe-will from their Sire, place therein their chiefest foelicitie. Gregorie Nissen saith, That when that lasciuious Ladie tooke hold of Iosephs cloake, and kept it still in her hands, and would not let it goe▪ a man would haue thought, that hee might haue escaped from her to his lesse cost: But the Deuill, who had put that Will into her, had likewise put to his helping hand, in making her take hold on his cloake: And against two Deuills, one incarnate, and another spiritual, What can a holy young man doe lesse, than leaue his cloake behind him?

From whence I inferre a conclusion of no small consequence, That one of the greatest things that God had to doe in the World, was to affectionate our

Will. All the actions of our Sauiours life and death had two intents: The one, To redeeme vs from the seruitude and slauerie of the Deuill: The other, To in∣fuse loue into our hearts; I came to set fire on the earth, and what remaines but that it burne? With this double charge of his, which cost him no lesse than his life, and the shedding of his most pretious bloud, he left a free entrance for vs to get into Heauen. And if any man shall aske me, Which was the greater cost of the two? I answer, That our Sauiour found greater difficultie in affectionating vs for Heauen, than in purchasing Heauen for vs, or in conquering the Deuill and Hel: For one onely drop of his bloud was sufficient to do this; but for to affectionate our will, all his bloud in his bodie would scarce suffice. And therefore Saint Cyprian saith, That he was willing to suffer so much, though he might, and that in rigour, haue satisfied with so little. For, though a little might haue serued the turne, for to worke our redemption; yet a little was not enough for to in∣flame our hearts with the fire of his loue. This sence may suit with that saying of Saint Paul, so diuersly commented, Gaudeo in passionibus meis, & adimpleo quae desunt passionum Christi in carne mea.* 1.20 I reioyce in my sufferings for you, and fulfill the rest of the afflictions of Christ, in my Flesh. Why should the Apostle say so? For what can be wanting to those passions of Christ, which were so aboundant and all sufficient? Marry, That wee might make true benefit thereof, and that hee might infuse this affection into our hearts, the Apostle saith, I desire to be dissol∣ued, and to be with Christ.

Volumus a te signum videre, (i.) We would haue a signe from thee, Saint Luke ad∣deth,* 1.21 De coelo, from Heauen; alij tentantes, signum de coelo quaerebant. It is the con∣dition and nature of Hypocrites to be friends and fauourers of Miracles, which make a great noise in the world, but doe little or no good at all. They are Ad∣mirationis magis, quam pietatis; things rather of admiration than pietie. An Hy∣pocrite, will outwardly cloath himselfe with the Camels haire of a Iohn Baptist, with the mortification of a Saint Ierome, and with Penitence it selfe; but be∣cause in the inward man, Charitie is wanting vnto him, his bowels haue no com∣passion▪ but are full of extortion and crueltie. And therefore Saint Paul giueth this caueat vnto vs, and it is a good one, Nemo vos seducat, volens in humilitate, & religione Angelorum, Let no man deceiue you with feigned humilitie, nor a dis∣sembled deuotion, reuealing vnto yee, that they haue had the vision of Angels, and that they appeared thus and thus vnto them; for, if to remooue mountaines from one place to another without Charitie, be but a beating of the Ayre, quasi aerem verberans, or like the sound of bels, which suddenly vanisheth; so likewise these their visions (without charitie) shall be but vaine and idle. Of Antechrist, the Apocalips saith, That hee shall cause fire to come downe from Heauen; and Saint Efrem, that hee shall remooue Islands and mountaines, and that hee shall walke vpon the waues of the Sea, as on drie Land, and that hee shall flie in the Ayre and take no harme; And Rabanus, That hee shall make the fields to brin•• forth flowers in the heart of Winter as if it were in the midst of May; That he shall discouer the bottomelesse beds of the Sea; that hee shall raise vp the dead, and put Nature quite out of her course. But all these shall bee false and lying Prodigies▪ which shall be directed to a kind of vaine and deceitfull admiration. In prodigus, & signis mendacibus (as Saint Paul hath it.) So in like manner, the Hy∣pocrite lyeth, with his countenance, his eyes, his feet, his hands, his mouth, and his apparell. Vendi•• fumum (sayth Chrysologus) & emit applausum, Hee selleth smoake, and bu••es the applause and acclamation of men. Our Sauiour Christ was those waters of Shiloa, which did runne silently along, and did quench the thirst of

those that were ready to die through drought. Which was meant of our Saui∣our, as Epiphanius hath it in his exposition vpon that place of Esay,* 1.22 Pro eo quod abiecit populus iste aquas Siloe, quae currunt cum silentio, Because this people hath refused the waters of Shiloh, that runne softly; now therefore, &c. He was that tree of Life, whose verie leafes did affoord health to all those that were vnder the shaddow thereof. And peraduenture these Pharisees did require signes from Heauen, be∣cause by that benefit which the people did receiue by his miracles here on earth, he carried all the world after him.

We would haue a signe from heauen. What, after so many miracles? These Pha∣risees are the stampe and figure of certaine Consciences, which haue a continual conflict within themselues; or, to speake more properly, they are a Chancerie consisting of Iudges, guiltie persons, and Pleaders, Inuicem se accusantium, & defendentium, (as Saint Paul tels vs) Accusing and excusing one another:* 1.23 Reason is the Iudge, Selfe-will is the guiltie person, and the Pleader is that Worme which accuseth and gnaweth their conscience. And when the guiltie person seeth that the Pleader accuseth him, and that the Iudge condemnes him, though miracles doe abound, yet hee appealeth to some other miracle; like vnto a bad debtour, who when his time of payment is come, craues a longer day. One findes him∣selfe at Death's doore, and sees that he is like to die, and that in all likelihood he is to goe to Hell, for that his ill gotten wealth condemnes him; hee weeps, cries out, makes grieuous lamentation, purposeth, promiseth, and resolueth to amend his life, and to make restitution: God heares him, giues him life and health; and when he sees that he is sound & well, and that his Pleader presseth him to make restitution, he appeales to another miracle. Another findes, that he hath slipt a thousand times, vpon this or that occasion; he knowes his owne weakenesse, and that he cannot looke, but he must lust; and purposing without any ill intention in the world, to entertaine honest conuersation with this and that woman, re∣turnes too day like the Swine, againe to his mire; and too morrow appeales to another miracle. Saint Austen reports in his Confessions, That hee had a great conflict within himselfe; his Will had a purpose to leaue these human delights and pastimes; and when the day of his purpose and promise was come, this Pleader puts him in mind of it, but he appeales to another day. This then was a great part of this peoples fault, that they did complaine, That God did not deale so kindly with them as he was woont, We haue not seene our signes, there is now no Prophet. The greatest of all the Prophets that euer were, or shall bee, came amongst them, and did more miracles than all of them put together; and when they should haue confest themselues to haue beene conuicted with so many mi∣racles, they appeale to another miracle. The Pharisee which inuited our Saui∣our, tooke him to be no Prophet, because he did not diue into the depth of that loathsome and sinnefull brest of Marie Magdalen: If (thought he) hee were a Prophet, hee could not chuse but know what kind of woman this was. But fin∣ding afterwards, that he knew Magdalens heart, and that his own did not beleeue he was a Prophet, he appealed to another miracle.

We would see a signe, &c. To what end serue miracles from Heauen, if thou hast not eyes to behold those that are done on earth? It were better for thee, to craue eyes of God, than miracles. Agar beeing readie to die for thirst in the Desert, shee had water iust before her; but she was so blinded with passion, and her sto∣macke did so swell against her mistresse, that shee did not see it: And God opened her eyes. Saint Chrysostome compareth the Pharisees to a sandie ground, which though it sucke in neuer so much water, yet it still remaines hard and drie. And

albeit God had showred downe such store of miracles vpon them, yet all was as nothing, because they were not disposed to take notice of them, nor to make that good vse of them as they ought to haue done. Hee that goes on his way, musing on this or t'other thing; though many passe along by him, yet in this his melancholly humour, his thoughts being otherwise taken vp, he neither mindes nor sees any thing. Philon compares them to Statua's, because they see things as though they saw them not.* 1.24 Two qualities or especiall properties had those mi∣racles of our Sauiour Christ, by which euerie man might haue knowne them. The first, That they all tended to the profit and benefit of man; Tunc appe∣rientur oculi caecorum, Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, said Esay. Caeci vident, Claudi ambulant, Leprosi mundantur, The Blind see, the Lame walke, and the Lepers are clensed, saith Saint Mathew. Virtus de illo exibat, & sanabat omnes, Vertue went out of him, and healed all, saith Saint Luke. And in our Creed we confesse, Prop∣ter nos, & propter nostram salutem, descendit de Coelis, For vs, and for our saluation, hee descended from Heauen. So that those miracles which hee was to shew heere vpon earth, is a condition and qualitie so notorious of those which were prophecied and foretold of the Messias, that to haue them to come from Heauen, was a thing vnknowne to the learned Doctors of those times. Thou sendest thy seruant on an errand, and saist vnto him, In such a walke thou shalt meet with a man clad in greene, wearing a hat with a feather in it of such and such colours, &c. Now if he should so farre mistake himselfe, as to goe to one that were cloathed all in blacke, and deliuer thy message vnto him, wouldst thou not hold him to be a foole? Saint Austen in his Exposition vpon those words of the seuentiese∣uenth Psalme,* 1.25 Immissiones per Angelos malos, saith, That commonly those signes which direct themselues to ill, are of the Deuill, as those which hee did in de∣stroying Iobs Substance, [Ignis de Coelo cecidit;] as also those which shall bee wrought by Antechrist. But God alwaies directs his miracles to our good.

(1.) 1.26But here by the way it is to be noted, That with the Ill, Ill can doe much, and Good, little. Theodoret in those his Questions vpon Genesis, saith, That when Pharaoh perceiued, that God began his Plagues with such poore things as Flies, he lost a great part of that feare which he had before: but that if he had begun where he left, (which was the death of al the first born) his heart would haue trē∣bled in his breast. The Philistines tooke Armes against the Israelites, thinking with themselues, That God had spent the greatest part of his power in Aegypt. In a word, with the Ill, ill is most powerfull. And, for all the miracles of our Sauiour Christ were directed vnto good,* 1.27 Saint Ambrose saith, Luuriabantur i•• Christo; Nothing would please their palate, but daintie morcells, like little chil∣dren who are cockered vp vnder their mothers wing: or like Gluttons, who when their bellies are full, and cloyed with ordinarie dishes, seeke after nicer and choicer fare, to prouoke their appetite. The Scribes and Pharisees in like manner hauing taken a surfet of those miracles which our Sauior wrought vpo•• earth, would needs out of daintinesse desire miracles from Heauen: which, if they would haue beene bettered by them, he would not haue stucke with them, to haue let them had them either from Heauen or Hell; but hee knew it was to no purpose.

And therefore God, one while as the Authour of Nature, another while as the Authour of Grace, doth euermore abhorre all excesse, except in cases of ne∣cessitie. And he that created all things, In pondere, numero, & mensura, In weigh••, number, and measure, cannot but abhorre all superfluous and vnprofitable things. And this may serue for an instruction to vs, to part with the superfluities of our

House: Quod superest date pauperibus, Giue the remainder of that which is left to the poore. King Achaz ••id ill, for that he would not aske a signe; and the Pharisees did worse, in demanding one from Heauen; the one offended in the lesse, the other, in the more; the one was too backeward, the other, too forward. For God hauing descended downe from Heauen in his owne person, they could not, than this, desire a greater miracle. But they were the sonnes of those fathers, who enioying the bread of Angells, were quickely wearie of it, and long'd for Quailes; insomuch that God was forced to take away their liues from them, be∣cause he knew not how to satisfie their longings.

The second qualitie and propertie of our Sauiours miracles was,(2.) 1.28 That he did them with Empire and command; & ioyning this his Empire with his doctrine, they did cleerely prooue, that he was God, as it is noted by Thomas. Saint Chry∣sostome brings in here a comparison which makes much to the purpose that wee haue in hand: Thou entrest (saith he) into a Pallace, thou knowest not the Prince or Lord thereof; thou espiest one, before whom all the rest stand bare, and rising vp from their seats, obey whatsoeuer hee commandeth: Now when thou seest this, thou canst not be so simple, but thou must needs know that this is their king and chiefe commander. In the Iewes it was not much, that they should doubt whither our Sauior Christ were Lord of heauen & earth, or no; but when they saw that the Winds did obey him, the Waues, the Dead, the Liuing, Heauen, and Earth, and that he did command all creatures with that supreame power and Empire, they might then verie well haue fallen into this reckoning, as to say, This is the Lord of all. The Centurions, though they had no learning, yet did they light vpon this truth, Verè Filius Dei erat iste, This was truly the Sonne of God. The one of them led thereunto, when he saw in what a strange manner the whole world was troubled: The other, when in good manners, with a Domine, Noli vexari, Lord, Trouble not thy selfe, he seemed loath to giue our Sauiour that trou∣ble; saying vnto him, I am but a poore Captaine, an ordinarie Commander, and yet when I lay my commandment vpon my seruants, they obey me; much more reason then is it, that sickenesse should be subiect to thy Empire, &c. And if the inuisible things of God are manifested by the visible, [Sempiterna quoque virtus & diuinitas] and that they which may know him by them, will not glorifie him in them, they shall remaine inexcusable. This was the Scribes and Pharisees case, who saw so many miracles with their owne eyes, &c.

Volumus à te signum de Coelo videre, Wee woul•• see a signe from Heauen.* 1.29 Here like∣wise is their vaine curiositie to be condemned: Some would haue miracles, vt credant; some, vt videant; one, to strengthen his beleefe; another, to please his eye. In both Lawes, the Old, and the New, wee find that God did euermore with his friends shew those his signes and tokens, In rebus naturalibus, In things that were naturall; as in his sending down fire from Heauen vpon Abels Sacrifice, shewing thereby how well he accepted of it; in his promise to Noah, That there should not be a second Floud; Arcum meum ponam in Nubibus, I will put my Bow in the Clouds: To Abraham, when he past his word vnto him, That his posteritie should possesse the promised Land. In the old Testament we read of many signes and tokens: King Ahaz might haue made his choice of miracles,* 1.30 either from Heauen, Earth, or Hell. But in the Law of Grace they were more in number, and greater in qualitie. But hese Pharisees comming vnto him, Saint Marke tells vs, That our Sauiour Christ sighed deepely in his Spirit, and said, Why doth this ge••neration seeke a signe &c. They do•• not deserue it, neither shall it be giuen vnto them; for they doe not desire it for any loue to our Sauiour, or thereby to bee

brought to serue him, but for to entertaine themselues. A royall Merchant wil vnpacke all his wares, & open whatsoeuer he hath in his shop, to him that comes to buy; but to him that shall come only out of curiositie, he will send him away packing,* 1.31 and not trouble himselfe with him. Herod did expect Videre signum ali∣quod ab eo fieri, To see some signe wrought by him. And though our Sauiour might haue freed himselfe by any one miracle whatsoeuer, from a thousand calumnies and affronts; yet would he not bestow so much as a few words vpon him, for he knew it would haue beene but a casting of Pearles amongst Swine.* 1.32 The Phili∣stines did much desire to know, whither or no the God of Israell were the Au∣thor of their miseries; and by the aduice and councell of their Soothsayers, they made a new Cart, and taking two milch Kyne, on whom there had ne∣uer come any yoke, tying the Kyne to the Cart, and setting the Arke of the Te∣stament thereupon, they said, If they go fore-right, vp by the way of it's owne coast, to Bethshemish, it is he that did vs this great euill; but if not, and that they shall turne backe their heads at the lowing of their Calfes, wee shall know then that it was not his hand that smote vs, but it was a chance that hapned vnto vs. The Gouernours of the Philistines followed after them, they beheld with their owne eyes all the signes and tokens that they could desire; they were asto∣nished thereat, yet for all this did they not forsake their Dagon; for they desired those signes more to see, than to beleeue. Saint Paul preaching in Athens, of our Sauiors Death and Resurrection; those that were the best Disputants in their Schooles, and the curiousest Schollers amongst them, came vnto him and told him, Wee much desire to heare and know this new Doctrine which thou prea∣chest:* 1.33 And it is noted in the Text, That Ad nihil aliud vacabant, nisi aut dicere, aut audire aliquid noui, That they gaue themselues to nothing else, but either to tell or to heare some newes; desiring (as it should seeme) to heare and know them, but not to be∣leeue them. Of this stampe are those who onely come to Sermons for curiosi∣tie;* 1.34 some gaping for sharpe and wittie conceits; others, for elegancie of words; others, for the flower and creame (as it were) of the Scripture phrase, and it's prettie allusions and allegories; this is that which their eares itch after; nothing will down with them but quelques-choses, made dishes, and pleasing sauces for the Palate, refusing that wholesome food of Gods Word, and those substantiall morcells of sound Doctrine, which should feed their soules to euerlasting life. A veritate quidem auditum auertent. Saint Austen makes a comparison of a golden Key which opens ill, and of one of wood which opens well: Now to him that hath no other pretension but to open, it were meere follie in him, to seeke after the golden one, when that of wood will doe it better. And in another place, saith this sacred Doctor, That as Pharaoh commanded the male children of Gods People to be killed, but spared the females, that he might thereby weaken them, and bring them vnder; so those Preachers which bestow all their paines in the neat dressing of words,* 1.35 ornaments of wit, and fluentnesse of stile, (not regarding strong arguments, and sound reasons) doe weaken the force of the truth, and bring their Doctrine at last into contempt. Salt in a Preacher is more necessary than Sugar; that which shall season our Soules, rather than that which shal swee∣ten our Palates; that which shall strike home to our hearts, than that which shall onely tickle our eares. And in another place, where he that treateth onely ofcu∣riositie in Doctrine, he auowes him to be in danger of loosing the Faith; because Curiositie is the Mother of Heresie. And likewise in another place hee saith, That that the curious man is like the scripulous man; and that the Accessorie is the Principall, and the Principall the Accessorie; Curiosus ea requiret, quae nihil

ad se pertinet, They afflict themselues with that which importeth them least. And if those that are scrupulous & ful of doubts are condemned for fooles, of force it must follow, that those that are curious inquirers must weare the same Liue∣rie. Auerte oculos tuos à me, qui ipsi me auolar•• fecerunt;* 1.36 If thou shalt goe about to behold God with a curious eye, God will flie away from thee, and thou shalt loose the sight of him. Another Translation hath it, Superuire fecerunt. When men stand staring on the Sunne, the Sunne then growes proud, and shewes his power, blinding those eyes that presse too neere vpon him: And the most of the greatest heresies and errors that haue growne and sprung vp in the Church, haue proceeded from mans too subtle search into Gods secrets. This prying of ours dazeleth the eyes of our vnderstanding, as it had here blinded the judgement of the Scribes and Pharisees.

Volumus signum de Coelo videre, Wee would see a signe from heauen. These Scribes and Pharisees are like vnto those, who condemning Gods prouidence, thinke with themselues, That God hath not ordained conuenient meanes to bring them to Heauen; and therefore goe about to ordaine new Lawes. Iustificata est Sapien∣tia à fi••ijs suis, Wisedome is iusti••ied by her children: Our Sauiour Christ renders it Condemnata, Condemned; The ignorance of the childeren condemneth the wise∣dome of the father. There are some people in the world so querulous and com∣plaining, that they will not sticke to taxe God, for hauing giuen them such an in∣clination, such an estate, such a wife, such parents; and say in their thoughts, o, if God had giuen me another nature, other noblenesse of birth, other more prospe∣rous fortune, How sure should I haue made my saluation? O, if God would haue beene but pleased to haue shewed me some one miracle, or other; This is but a requiring of new signes, and a condemning of those which they haue re∣ceiued from the wisedome of God. Now the wisedome of God supposeth Faith; and Faith, Beleefe; [Oportet discentem credere, He that learneth must beleeue.] So that a heauenly wisedome supposeth a Faith from heauen. This is that light, wherewith in the beginning of the world God did dispell the darkenesse of the Deepe; this is that North-Starre, which discouereth vnto those that saile in the sea of this world, the Hauen of their happinesse; this is that Pillar, which to the children of Light, appeared light; to those of Darknesse, darke: it is that light which must shew you that cleere Sunne, the Son of God, which is light it selfe; in comparison of whose glorious light, the light of miracles is but like the glimpse of a candle.

Volumus à te signum videre, Wee would haue a signe from thee. This word à te, From thee, doth manifest their intention; which was, To reuiue the blasphemie which they had vented before; [In Belzebub Principe Daemoniorum,* 1.37 eijcit Daemo∣nia, In Bulzebub the Prince of Deuils, he casts out Deuils.] Wee desire to see a mira∣cle done by thine owne proper power, performed without the helpe of another, whereof we haue beene jealous, in those thy miracles shewne vpon the Blinde, the Deafe, and the Dumbe. We presume, that of thy selfe thou canst do little; but by the Prince of Deuils, much. This was a diminishing of our Sauiors pow∣er, which is the nature of Enuie, flying, like the Eele, from the cleere water, and seeking after that which is troubled, and muddie. It was the fault of their fore∣fathers, to lessen Gods power, Quoniam percussit petram, & fluxerunt aquae, nun∣quid poterit Deus parare mensam in Deserto? Is it not all one for him, to take water out of the Rocke, and to giue vs bread? In this, his power shall be seene. We are like Martha's Chickens, we desire meat, & they giue vs water. But ô ye fooles, doe not yee know, that the stone beeing strucken, sendeth forth fire, and not

water? And he that can giue you water out of a stone, is able to affoord you bread out of the Aire: But Enuie will draw Branne from the finest Floure. In a word, They were fully resolued not to beleeue in Christ, and yet they went see∣king occasions to excuse their hardnesse of heart. They sought signes from hea∣uen, which (as Saint Hierome hath well obserued) were more subiect to calum∣nie, and easier to be cauelled at; and yet on the other side they did seeke to di∣minish his power, and therefore they say, We would haue from thee, &c.

Of all that hath beene formerly said, I shall inferre this conclusion, and refer it to your Christian consideration; which is, That you would seeke after God with simplicitie and singlenesse of heart; In simplicitate cordis quaerite illum, (saith Wisedome) and then shalt thou alwaies find him propitious and fauourable vnto thee.* 1.38 Et facies vestrae non confundentur; but a false heart shall euermore remaine confounded and ashamed. Bersheba comming to craue a fauour of her sonne Sa∣lomon, she sought to preuent him, with a Non confundas faciem meam, Put me not to the blush.* 1.39 In the Scribes and Pharisees God speakes vnto those sinnefull Chri∣stians who immitate them in their workes; and as the thunders and lightnings of a great Tempest, smiting and wounding the tops of Mountaines, of Pallaces, and of the tallest Cedars; Chrysologus saith, That they abate and correct the cou∣rages of the most desperate and prophanest persons: so, when our Sauior Christ did thunder out these his threatnings against the Pharisees, he sought thereby to reclaime his owne Flocke, to bring them within the Fold, and to saue those Sheepe which are readie to run astray, that they may not be vtterly lost.

Generatio mala & adultera ••ignum quaerit.

A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh a signe. Christ neuer shewed him∣selfe more fierce and angrie, than now; neuer behaued himselfe more stoutly, or shewed more courage, than at this present. Presenting thereby vnto vs, that vpon iust occasions, the mildenesse of a Prince, and the meekenesse of a Prelate, may lawfully let the bed of his Patience (like that of the Riuer) rise and swell, euen to the ouerflowing of the bankes. He that knowes not sometimes how to reprehend, and that sharpely too, shall not onely neglect his owne dutie, but shall wrong others in suffering them to run on in their wickednesse without reproofe. That father knowes ill how to gouerne, who, when his children shall commit any grosse faults, shall, like old Ely, shew himselfe too milde, and out of a foo∣lish pirtie, scarce controll them for it. That Preacher, knowes not what belongs to his calling, who when sinne growes once to an heigth, and men waxe shame∣lesse in committing euill, that doth not raise his hands and voice as high as Hea∣uen, and lay Gods fearfull judgements before them. That Prince, who suffers his subiects to bee ouerbold and sawcie with him, giues them a tacite kind of libertie, to loose all respect and feare towards him. Quiescite ab homine, cuim Spiritus,* 1.40 in naribus est, Cease you from the man whose breath is in his nosthrils, for wher∣in is hee to be esteemed? This is as it were the Epiphonema of all that Chapter of Esay; Where, hauing Prophecied many greatnesses of the Messias, hee aduiseth the Iewes, That they deceiue not themselues with the frailtie of his person; for, though hee shall come in the forme of a seruant, yet he shall bee the true God. And therefore hee concludes that Chapter with this saying: Quiescite ergo ab homine, cuius Spiritus in naribus est. Consider therefore (deerely beloued) that I admonish you, and require you, that when these prophesies shall bee fulfilled, and goe on in their accomplishment, you take heed how you bee offended with that man, whose life consisteth in the breath of his nosthrills; it beeing in that

respect with our Sauiour, as with all other liuing creatures, howbeit in regard of his Diuinitie, He is high and mightie. In this sence, wee may also adde, that the nosthrills are the symbole of anger. And in the Spanish tongue, it is a vsuall phrase to say, Subirse el humo a las narizes, That the smoake went out at his nosthrils. And therefore it is sayd, Take heed of that man that hath his breath in his no∣sthrills. Whereby it is signified, That if hee should once grow angrie with vs, hee would quickely make an end of vs. There was neuer yet any Prophet in the World so holy, nor so soft-spirited, but that somtime or other he did breake foorth into anger. Esay, called the Gouernours of his people, The Princes of Sodome; Saint Iohn Baptist, stiles them Vipers; Saint Chrysostome,* 1.41 the Empresse Eudoxia, Herodias. And our Sauiour Christ, these Scribes,* 1.42 Generatio mala & adultera, A wicked and adulterous generation, &c.

Generatio mala & adultera. An euill generation. Ill,* 1.43 for the ill and inueterated cu∣stom of their Vices. Saint Stephen, Vos semper Spiritui sancto, resistitis; sicut patres ve∣stri, ita & vos, Ye alwayes resist the high God, euen as your fathers, so yee. Dauid,* 1.44 Genera∣tio praua, atque exasperans. Moses, Generatio enim peruersa est, & infideles filij, An vn∣thankefull, hard-hearted, and disloyall generation. Vae semini nequam filijs sceleratis, Woe to the wicked seed. Ezechiel, Generatio tua de terra Canaan,* 1.45 pater tuus Amorrhe∣us, & mater tua Cethea, Thy ofspring is from the land of Canaan, thy Father was an Amorite, thy Mother a Hittite. All these places doe blazon foorth the ill race of that people. For, albeit the herencie of Vice and of Vertue, be not constringitiue, and that there is no such necessitie in it,* 1.46 nor alwayes followes the order of Na∣ture; (for wee see a Dwarfe, begot by a Gyant; a Hare of a Lyon:) nor likewise in the state of Grace; for of a holy Father, sometimes issues an vngracious Son, as Esau, of Isaac; and Absalon of Dauid; yet notwithstanding, if a man bee dis∣cended of a bad race, it is a miracle if hee prooue good. Arbor mala, non potest bonos fructus facere, An euill tree cannot bring foorth good fruit. The Spanish Pro∣uerbe sayth, Bien aya, quien a los suyos parece, Gods blessing be with him, hee is so like his parents; hee suckt his goodnesse with his milke, hee inherited his Fa∣thers vertues. Transgressorem ex vtero vocaui te, (sayth Esay) Thou hast beene a trans∣gressor from the Wombe. Alenhornar, se hazen los panes tuertos, The loaues went away from their first setting into the Ouen. All this is included in these words, Genera∣tio mala, An euill generation.

Adultera. Hee does not note them in this world for children that had beene begotten in adulterie (for this had beene their parents fault and not theirs.) And Aristotle sayth, Ab his, quae a natura insunt, nec laudamur, nec vituperamur, (i.) What∣soeuer is naturally in vs, redounds neither to our praise nor dispraise. Both the ill, & the well born do confesse, Ipse fecit nos, & non ipsi nos, It is God that hath made vs, and not we our selues. For if it had beene in our choice to chuse our owne fathers,* 1.47 wee would haue beene all gentlemen.

Two things, did our Sauiour here pretend to notifie vnto vs.

1 The one, that they had degnerated from the vertue of their forefa∣thers; and for this reason, Dauid calls them strange chldren;* 1.48 Filij alieni menti ti sunt mihi, filij alieni inueter ati sunt. And in another place, Libera me de manu filiorum alienorum, Deliuer mee out of the hands of strange children.* 1.49 They did boast that they had Abraham to their father, Nos patrem habemus Abraham. But Christ giues them the lye, and tells them, Vos ex patre Diabolo estis; For the workes, the thoughts, and the desires, are not of Abraham, but the Deuill.

2 The other, because they had married now the second time with Vntruth, and made a match with false gods, hauing diuorced from them the truth of the

true and euerliuing God. And for the better declaration of this Doctrine, it is to be noted,

First, That the vnderstanding and the truth, haue a kind of marriage between them; Quae sibi sponsam mihi assumere sapientiam, I desired to marry hir, such loue had I vnto hir beauty. And one that Comments vpon these words, sayth, That from the Vnderstanding, and Truth, well vnstorstood, there doth grow a greater vnitie, than there doth arise from betweene the matter and the forme.

Secondly, That betweene the Soule, and God, by the meanes of the Truth of Faith,* 1.50 there is another kind of spirituall marriage made, whereof Ose sayth, De∣sponsabo te mihi in fide, I will marrie thee vnto mee for euer, yea I wil marry thee vnto me in righteousnesse, and in iudgement, and in mercy, and in compassion. I will euen marrie thee (as if this were that wedding-ring, that made all sure) vnto mee in Faithful∣nesse.* 1.51 And this knot is knit so fast, that Saint Paul could say, He that cleaueth vn∣to God, is one spirit with him. And for that the people of the Iewes, had fallen some while into Heresie, another, into Idolatrie, falsely expounding the Law, and forsaking the Fath of God, to follow a Calfe, and Idols: whereof God taxes them euery foote in the Scriptures, stiling them adulterers, harlots children, workers of fornication; so here hee now sayth, Generatio adultera.

Mala & adultera. Euill and adulterous.

First, he sayes Mala, and then Adultera, Tearming them in the first place Ill, in the second, Adulterous. For the ordinarie way to loose faith, is an euill life. But as the vomitting vp of our meate, turneth sometime to our good: so is it now and then in the ridding of our stomacke of Vertue. And in this sence, Saint Ambrose sayd, Profuit mihi Domine quod peccaui, It was well for me ô Lord, that I sinned. For repentance may restore Grace, in a higher degree. But if this weake∣nesse, shall take such violent hold vpon vs, that wee shall fall once to vomiting of bloud, it will goe hard with vs, if not cost vs our liues. In like manner a sinner perseuering in his sinnes, comes at last to loose his Faith. And this is one of the seuerest punishments of Gods Iustice; Whereof Ieremy sayd, Peruenit gladius vs∣que ad animam.* 1.52 Whence Saint Ierome gathereth, that then the sword pierceth to the Soule, when there is no signe of life left in it. In your buildings, the first dan∣ger doth not consist in their sudden falling to ground, but they goe mouldring away by little and little, and decay by degrees: So likewise in this our Spiritual building, the first danger is not the losse of our Faith; nor our first demolishing, our falling into Heresies: but before we come to that, wee goe by little and lit∣tle, first lessening, then loosing our vertues, and heaping sin vpon sin, till at last, Mole ruit sua, all comes tumbling down to our vtter destruction. Saint Paul doth much commend & earnestly recommend vnto vs a good conscience;* 1.53 Quam qui∣dem repellentes, naufragauerunt à fide, Faith grounded vpon an euill conscience, is like a house that is built vpon the sand, which when the waters rise, & the winds blow,* 1.54 is suddenly throwne downe and carried away. Optimum est, gratia stabilire cor, It is an excellent thing, that the heart be established with grace; that when ye shall be set vpon with diuers and sundrie strange Doctrines, yee may stand immooua∣ble, and not be shaken with euerie vaine blast of wind.

Signum non dabitur eis, nisi signum Ionae.

* 1.55A signe shall not bee giuen them, but that of Ionus. Now Ionas his signe was the death and resurrection of our Sauiour: which Austen calls, Signum signorum, & miraculum miraculorum, The signe of signes, and miracle of miracles. And hee that

will not benefit himself by that, What other miracle or signe can he expect shall doe him good? It is much greater than any other vpon earth, by how much the harder it is for one to come out of the heart of the earth, and to bee restored to life after he is once dead; a greater miracle by farre, than that of Ionas his be∣ing spewed out of the Whales bellie. And the said Saint prooueth, that our Sa∣uiour Christ is God and man; man, because hee entred dead into the bowells of the earth; and God, because hee came forth from thence aliue. So that our Sa∣uiour came to grant them much more than they desired: For if they desired mi∣racles from Heauen, at our Sauiours death there appeared fearefull ones vnto them. Athanasius saith, That the Sunne was darkened, in token that all those great and noble acts which God had done, were eclipsed and darkened in this one of our Redemption. Theophilact saith, That our Sauiour after his Resurre∣ction wrought no more miracles; for that to die and rise againe by his own pro∣per power, was the vtmost both of his power and miracles. Iudaei signum petunt,* 1.56 &c. The Iewes require a signe, the Graecians seeke after wisedome; but I preach vnto you the greatest Signe, and the greatest Wisedome in the world, to wit, Christ crucified. Eusebius Emisenus dwelleth much vpon Iacobs wrestling with the Angell, In which conflict Iacob remaining Victor, craueth a blessing of the Conquered. And this is mystically meant of our Sauiour, who representing himselfe in the shape of an Angell, shewed himselfe vpon the Crosse, tortured, torne, and ouercome; yet grew thereby more powerfull and more free hearted for to blesse the world.

No signe shall be giuen them. It is not without a mysterie, that our Sauior saith, No signe shall be giuen. For that signe of his death and resurrection, hee knew would profit them so little, that it was needlesse to giue them any at all. Christ treating of his bloud, saith by Saint Luke, Which for you,* 1.57 and for many shall bee poured out. And by Saint Mathew, Which shall be poured out for all. But many shall not take the benefit of this effusion of his bloud: Some did wash their stoles in the bloud of the Lambe: others said, Sanguis eius super nos, (id est) Let his bloud be vpon vs; accusing themselues herein, to bee guiltie of the shedding of his bloud. And amongst the Faithfull there are many, of whom Saint Paul saith, Reus erit corporis & sanguinis Domini; who receiuing it vnworthily,* 1.58 shall remaine guiltie of this so pretious a Treasure. And in another place, That they shall in∣curre great punishment, which doe defile this bloud, Et sanguinem testamenti pol∣lutum duxerit.

Signum non dabitur ei, nisi signum Ionae, No signe shal be giuen them but that of Ionas. For the miracle of Christs death and resurrection was not to bee denied to any. Saint Thomas protested, That he would not beleeue, vnlesse hee might see the prints of our Sauiours wounds; which being so strange a capitulation, and to outward seeming, so discourteous a proceeding, our Sauiour Christ yeelded vn∣to his request, and made towards him, and made shewe thereof vnto him; for the signes of our Sauiours death and Crosse were neuer yet denied to any.* 1.59 Esay saith, And in that day, the root of Ishai, which shall stand vp for a signe vnto the Peo∣ple, the Nations shall seeke vnto it, and his rest shall be glorious. The Septuagint, and Saint Hierome, read, Et qui stat, The root of Iesse; that is to say, Ille qui stat in sig∣num populorum, congregabit profugos Israel & dispersos Iuda, colligit à quatuor plagi•• terra, He shall set vp a signe to the Nations, and assemble the dispersed of Israell, and ga∣ther the scattered of Iuda from all the foure corners of the world. Hee borrowes the metaphore from a militarie Ensigne, and saith, That Christ our Sauior that suf∣fered on the Crosse, and died for our sinnes, and rose againe for our saluation,

shall gather together those that are dispersed through the foure corners of the earth. Which is all one with that of Saint Iohn, who said, That he was not on∣ly to die for his People, Sed vt Filios Dei qui dispersi erant, congregaret in vnum, But that he might gather together into one, the children of God that were dispersed: Into one, that is, into one Church by Faith.

Signum non dabitur, nisi signum Ionae. God did not graunt vnto them that which they desired;* 1.60 for God will not be propitious in yeelding to our desires, when they are to turne to our owne hurt. Moses desired, that he might see his face, but God told him, Faciem meam, videre non poteris. Hee will not giue, what thou wilt demand, one while because it may cost thee thy life; another while, because God shall no sooner turne his back, but like the children of Israell, thou wilt presently fall adoring the golden Calfe. Saint Paul, did desire freedom from his fetters & those torments which hee indured: But he was told, Thou knowest not what thou askest; for, Virtus, in infirmitate perficitur. In a word, God doth de∣nie vs many things in his Mercie, which he will grant vnto vs in his Anger, as the imperfect Author noteth it.

In corde terrae, tribus diebus, & tribus noctibus.

In the Heart of the Earth, three days and three nights. Beda, and Euthimius, vn∣derstand by the Heart of the earth, the Sepulchre, or Graue of our Sauiour Christ. And many of our Commentators, make this exposition; though others misinterpreting it, inferre from thence, that our Sauiour Christ did not descend to the lower-most partes of the earth (contrarie to that of Saint Paul) denying that Article of our Faith, Descendit ad inferos. Now, in that he ascended, what is it (sayth the same Apostle) but that hee had also descended first into the low∣est parts of the Earth?* 1.61 yet those two interpretations may bee verie well accor∣ded, forasmuch, as that the Bodie remained in the graue, and the Soule descen∣ded Vsque ad inferos. And for the better proofe hereof, it is to bee noted, that it is not spoken of any other that dyed, saue onely of our Sauiour, that hee was in the Heart of the Earth. Besides, it is an vsuall phrase amongst the Hebrewes, to call the Heart the middle part, borowing that metaphore from all other liuing creatures, who haue their heart placed in the midst of the bodie.

Tribus ditbus, & tribus noctibus, Three dayes, and three nights. Our Sauiour Christ was buried about the sixth watch, in the Euening; and rose againe vpon Sun∣day morning. According to which account hee remaineed onely two nights in the graue. Saint Austen, S. Ierome, Beda, and Theophilact, say, That by the figure Sy••ecdoche they are to be taken for three nights and three dayes, taking the part for the whole. But peraduenture the plainer exposition will be this, that wee should vnderstand by three dayes and three nights, three naturall dayes, consi∣sting of twentie fou••e houres apiece: it being an ordinarie phrase amongst the Iewes, to confound the day and the night, making them all one; as it appeareth in Genesis,* 1.62 Exodus, Deutronomie, and in the booke of the Kings. For in very deed, our Sauiour Christ did not continue in the graue three nights, but abode there some part of three naturall dayes.

Viri Niniuitae surgent in Iudicio.

The Men of Niniuie shall rise vp in judgement. Some interpret this threatning to be an effect of justice; others, of mercie: of justice, by charging this people with the repentance of Niniuie. No man will spare his enemie, if he can catch him vpon the hip: The Groome of the Stable that shall play the Rogue and the

Theefe with thee, thou wilt call him to a reckoning euen for his Curry-combe and his Apron, and afterwards turne him out of doores: But of a good Seruant, and one that hath beene faithfull vnto thee, thou wilt take no account at all, his honestie shall excuse him. O yee false Hypocrites, yee Scribes and Pharisees, Why would yee call vengeance vpon your selues, by saying, Let all the bloud of the Righteous come vpon vs; This will make yee pay at last, that which perhaps ye did not thinke yee did owe. To a Sinner, Omnia cooperantur in malum, All things turne to the worst; And therefore all creatures shall rise vp against these wicked and stiffe necked Iewes. The Heauens shall he call from aboue, and the earth, to iudge his People. The Scripture it selfe shall bring in euidence against them, for their in∣gratitude. The Oxe knoweth his Owner; To him that shall not acknowledge Christ and his Church, the Asse shall beare witnesse against him: [Et Asinus pr••sepe do∣mini sui.] To him that shall despise the inspirations of Heauen, the Kyte shall accuse him; C••gnouit miluus tempus suum. To him that shall be carelesse of his eternall good, he shall be tit in the teeth with the Ant, Vade piger ad formicam. To him that is disobedient, the Historie of Ionas shall be alledged against him: but as the Whale swallowed Ionas, but sent him forth again without any harm done vnto him; so our Sauiour Christ was swallowed vp by the Earth, but not to his hurt: and both it and all the Elements acknowledged him to be their Lord and Master; which was more than the Pharisees would doe.

To Saint Chrysostome, this threatning seemeth to be an effect of mercie. For, by proposing vnto them the example of Niniuie, he desires to draw them to re∣pentance. It was another kind of threatning that God vsed towards his people, for worshipping the golden Calfe; Let me goe, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name. Theodoret is of opinion, That this was Gods great mercie towards them: For by that threatning, he set before Moses the wickednesse of the peo∣ple; and did thereby aduise him, that he should make intercession for them, that he might not punish them in his wrath. After that generall deluge and inundati∣on of waters which drowned the whole world, God did set a bow in heauen, and it may be he might haue tooke it in his hand, for to threaten the Earth; But Saint Ambrose hath noted, That to the end that the World should take it as a token of Gods mercie towards them, he made the points or ends of it to touch the earth, that the World might thereby be assured,* 1.63 That Gods Iustice would not shoot any more Arrowes downe from heauen. Tertullian treating vpon that place of the Apocalips, Repent, or else I wil come against thee shortly,* 1.64 and wil remooue thy Candlesticke out of his place, except thou amend; he saith, That so great is the good∣nesse of God, that though hee might with a great deale of reason denie vs his mercie, he doth not only not deny it vs, but he threatneth vs, and also intreateth for vs, to the end that we may accept of this his mercie: for no father can be im∣magined to be halfe so pittifull as he is. Saint Austen crieth out, O Lord, what am I, that thou shouldst command me to loue thee? What am I, that thou shoul∣dest be offended with me? And, Why doost thou threaten me with great mise∣ries, if I doe not loue thee? I am much bound vnto thee for the one, but more for the other: In louing thee, I see how much I get by it; in threatning mee, I see how much reckoning thou makest of me. S. Ephrem discoursing of those of Niniuie, saith, That God had mercie of them, and that he forgaue them their sinnes, Et mendax potius haberi, quam crudelis t••dit, He would rather be held a lyar, than accounted ••ruell.* 1.65

The men of Niniuie shall rise vp in judgement. Some Diuines grant, That the Niniuites in that generall judgement shall be Iudges ouer many that shall be con∣demned

by a judgement of comparison; so, a Niniuite shall condemne a Phari∣see. He did credit a stranger, one that was spewed out of a whales mouth; one that had neuer wrought any miracles, nor had any prophecies in his fauour: but thou (proud Pharisee) didst not beleeue thy naturall Lord, whom his Doctrine, his miracles, heauen, and earth, had declared to be thy Messias, and thy God. This Niniuite fasted, put on sack cloath and ashes; but thou didst not lay aside thy de∣licacies and thy dainties. He made the Beasts of his house to fast; but thou didst not so much as will thy Seruants to abstaine. A Moore shall condemne (in a com∣paratiue kind of judgement) a bad Christian: This Moore entred into his Mes∣quitae with a great deale of respect & reuerence, humbling himselfe on his knee to a thing of nothing; but thou prophanest my Temples, and blasphemest mee to my face. In a word, If the fruits of repentance weigh downe the ballance of eternall punishment, Why should we preferre temporall pleasures before eter∣nall happinesse? but because those Iudges are in that day to sit, Sedebitis super Se∣des duodecim; and the Accusers to stand face to face to the Accused, the sence thereof in this place shall not be ill vnderstood, if we shall say, That they shall condemne them by accusing them: for we likewise commonly say, That the Accuser condemneth him that is guiltie, when by his testimonie hee doth conuince him.

* 1.66Viri Niniuitae. This Citie of Niniuie, Eusebius calls it, Eusebim; Herodo∣tus, Ninus, for that it was bult by Ninus husband to Simiramis, stiled by another name, Assur. It was a Citie, not only the greatest in all the Kingdome of the As∣syrians, but in the whole world. Moses giues it the name of great Citie, De terra inquit illa exiuit Assur, & aedificauit Niniuem, haec est Ciuitas magna: It's great∣nesse appeareth no lesse by that relation which the Prophet maketh of it,* 1.67 Itinere trium dierum; for the circuit of this Citie was a three dayes journey; and that there were in it onely of babes and sucklings, aboue a hundred and twenty thou∣sand soules. The Histories make mention, That the walls thereof were a hun∣dred foot broad, and were fenced with a hundred and twentie strong Towers: Sardanapalus was the last, & thirtie eigth King of that Monarchie, it hauing conti∣nued a thousand three hundred and seuentie seuen yeares.

* 1.68Ionas (according to some Hebrewes) was the sonne of the woman of Sarepta, whom the Prophet Elias raised vp to life: his fathers name was Amithay, of the Tribe of Asser. But more probable is that of Saint Hierome and Saint Austen, That he was of the Tribe of Zabulon, his Countrie Geth, or Pher, the court of one of those Kings whom Ioshuah subdued and slew.* 1.69

God commanded him to goe and preach at Niniuie; for out of his especiall prouidence he had alwayes a care to prouide a Light not onely for the Iews, but also for the Gentiles. And therefore Athanasius saith, That the Law of Moses was a generall Schoole for all the world; and that the Prophets wrought their Reuelations for all the Nations vnder the cope of Heauen; and that to this end, they went themselues abroad in person, and likewise sent their Bookes into di∣uers Kingdomes and Monarchies, as it appeareth by Esay, Ieremie, Ezechiel, Dani∣el, Amos, Sidrac, Misac, and Abednego: out of whose Prophecies, those Phyloso∣phers that were Gentiles stole many sentences: namely those complainers on Gods prouidence are condemned, who crie out in hell, The Sun of vnderstanding rose not vnto vs. Theophilact saith, That God, being the Master of the Gentiles, af∣ter that he had by the light of the Gospel inlightned the world by his Sonne and his Apostles, and Disciples; he prooued thereby, that he was one and the selfe same God both of the Old and the New Testament.

Quia ascendit malitia eius coram me.

For the malice thereof is come vp before me. That which thou art to preach vn∣to them, is, That their sinnes haue mightily mooued my patience. This is the office of a Prophet. To Esay God said, Declare vnto my People their iniquities.* 1.70 To Ieremie, Behold, I haue put my words into thy mouth, that thou maist plucke vp, destroy, &c. To Ezechiel, They whom I send thee to, are stiffe necked, and hard hearted. In a word, God did notifie this Obligation to all the Prophets; whereby all they are condemned, who place their end altogether in curiosities: This is to go a∣bout to seeke out for those that are thirstie, pretious waters, & wines cooled with snow, and put into copper flaggons; Cold water for a thirstie Soule (as Salomon saith.* 1.71) This is, to quench a fire that consumes a whole Citie, with bottles of Rosewa∣ter; it is a going about to open the doore of our breasts with a Key of Gold, when one of Yron (according to that of Saint Austen) is more necessarie: It is as if a Souldier should goe forth to warre with his head curiously combed and cur∣led, with his Ierken perfumed, and other effoeminate gallantries. Like vnto these is that Prophet or Preacher, who with glorious words, flaunting phrases, idle curiosities, and smooth-filed eloquences, shall goe to fight the Lords qua∣rell, against the worlds sinfull Monsters.

That those of Niniuie were great and mightie sinners, it is prooued out of this word Malitia, which doth embrace all kind of sinnes; and much more in∣forced by that word Ascendit; for in the Scripture it is still taken for a great ex∣cesse. De cadaueribus ascendit faetor, The stinke shall come vp out of their bodies,* 1.72 Esay saith it. Superbia tua (saith the booke of Kings) ascendit in aures meas, Come vp into my eares. And here he mentioneth all kind of wickednesse and abhomination; and this word Coram me, Before me, confirmeth as much: For when a sinne doth encrease to that heigth, that it ouertops the heauens, and that it comes to the sight of God, it is then so intollerable, that it is not to be endured.

Surrexit Iomas, vt fugeret.

Ionas rose vp, that he might flie away. Rabbi Rinchi (an Hebrew Doctor) saith, That Fugere doth here inferre, an acceleration, or making of hast; intimating, that Ionas made hast in going to the Hauen at Tharsis, to take his journie towards Niniuie: as also, that the Prophet to whom God speaketh,* 1.73 is so great with child, as it were, and so full of that which God commaunds him, that if hee should withhold the reuelation which God hath put into him, hee would burst with keeping it in. That may be said of him, which Iob speaketh of himselfe, My bellie is like the wine which worketh and hath no vent; and like the new bot∣tles that burst; Therefore will I speake, that I may take breath, &c. Ose complai∣neth, and did sorrow exceedingly, that he had held his peace; Woe is me, that ha∣uing seene the King and Lord of Hosts, I should hold my peace, because I was a man of polluted lips.

Ionas rose vp that he might flie. More plaine is that opinion of Saint Hierome, Nazianzen, Theodoret, Theophilact, and Methodius the Martyr, That Ionas was not so hastie as here before we haue made him; but that he pretended nothing lesse, but sought by all meanes possible, how he might auoyd this journey, and closely conueis his bodie (as it were) from this command of God, by shaping his course another way. Whither it were of dislike, that God should passe ouer his fauors to the Gentiles, and that his owne Countrie should remaine disgraced and rui∣ned; and albeit he happely knew this was to come to passe hereafter: yet hee

would not willingly haue seene it so to succeed in his time: or whither it were in point of honour in his owne person, thinking (if not foreknowing) that God being so mercifull, that he would pardon the Niniuites vpon their first teares, he should then suffer in his reputation, and should be taken for a braine-sicke foole, and that he had exceeded his Commission, and so be mocked and laughed at for his labour.

So that in the end he was fully resolued not to vndergoe the Embassage that was enioyned him; and therefore embarking himselfe, hee thought hee might then goe whither he wolud through the world. This is Saint Hieromes opinion, which the Chaldees Paraphrase doe likewise fauour. Surrexit vt fugeret ad Mare, antequam prophetaret in nomine Domini, He rose vp that he might flie vnto the sea, be∣fore he should prophecie in the name of the Lord.

Some man wil doubt and say, How could so grosse an ignorance sinke into the Prophets brest, as to think to flie ou•• of Gods reach? Confessing with Dauid that large extent of his power, Whither shall I goe from thy Spirit? and whither shall I flie from thy face? if I climbe vp into Heauen, thou art there; if I goe into Hell, thou art likewise there. I answer, That hee had no such kind of conceit in the world, nor any so foule a thought once entered into his immagination: But that which he presumed vpon, was, That in the land of the Gentiles, God would not reueale himselfe, nor communicate the Spirit of Prophecie to his Prophets; and therefore hee was minded to alter his former condition of life, and turne Merchant: For Tharsis was so famous a Port, in regard of the great concourse of Trading that was there, that those your great & huge merchants ships, made onely for burden, were called in the Scripture, by an Antonomasia, or pronomina∣tion,* 1.74 The Ships of Tharshish; whereof Ieremie maketh mention, Ezechiel, the third third booke of the Kings, and the second of Chronicles. The Spirit of Prophecie (it seemed) had not then captiuated his wil: The Lord God hath opened myne eare, and I was not rebellious, neither turned I backe: But might he then if he would? So doth this Ego non contradico seem to inferre. Saint Paul saith to those of Corinth, That the Spirit of Prophecie is subiect to the Prophets. And as Amasias said to the Prophet Amos,* 1.75 Get thee to the Land of Iuda, ô thou Seer, goe, flie thou thither, and there eat thy bread, and prophecie there: but prophecie no more at Betheb, for it is the Kings Chappell, and it is the Kings Court. Ionas there∣fore seeing,* 1.76 that a Prophet was not accepted of in his owne Countrie, would needs turne Merchant.

He got him into a Ship of the Phoenicians, to flie into Tharshish from the presence of the Lord; Et dedit illis naulum, And he paid the fare thereof, and went downe into it. For the Deuill is not contented that a sinner should doe him ser∣uice onely, but that he should giue him money also into the bargaine; which is a strange kind of tyrannie.

The Shippe had scarce beene a while vnder saile, when as a fearefull Tempest arose, which put those that were in the Shippe into extreame perill of their life. And albeit your Pilots, your Mariners, and Shippe-boyes, that are beaten and accustomed to these kind of chances, vsually loose all feare both of windes and waues, nay also of God himselfe; yet now, such was the tempestuousnesse of the weather, & the raging of the Sea, that they called vpon those their gods which were painted in their Ship; Timuerunt nautae, The Mariners feare encreased, iudging this Storme the strangest as euer they saw, accounting it as a miracle.

First of all, Because there was no preceding signe of it; for those that are ex∣perienced Seafaring men, are not onely skilled in knowing those signes of a

storme that are neere at hand, but those that are afarre off; as by the irruptions of the aire, which breaking forth from the concauities and hollow vaults of the Deepe, trouble the waters; the colluctation and wrestling of the winds, the cro∣king of Rauens, the bellowing of Beasts, the playing of Porpeecies, which doe whisper in their eares the storme that is to come vpon them. But this Tempest here came so violently vpon them on the sudden, that there was no foregoing signe to foreshew it.

Secondly, Because (as Rabbi Salomon hath noted it, an Hebrew Doctor, from whom Theodoret and Theophilact had it) there were many ships that had gone out of Tharshish, which they might kenne not farre from them, that had verie faire and cleere weather, and sailed away smoothly, hauing (as they say) a Ladies pas∣sage, so calme was the Sea, and so gentle and temperate their gale of wind. Whereupon they did discreetly argue amongst themselues, that there was some great and notorious sinner in their Ship, against whom the windes and the waues (by Gods especiall appointment) made such cruell warre. He that goes to sea, goes in danger, Qui nauigant mare, &c. Euripides was of opinion, That they could not be truly said to bee either dead or aliue; not dead, because they liue; not aliue, because there was only a poore planke betwixt their death and their life. And the Sinner haleth his halter after him, and if God did not defend him, the Sea would not endure him. The Slaue that flies from his Master, all the seruants of the house make hue and crie after him; they follow him, crying, Stop him, stop him: and if that will not serue the turne, his Master sends Horsemen after him, who pursue him, and apprehend him. All the whole house of Heauen make hue and crie after Ionas, Angells, Saints, Friends, holy inspirations, make pursuit after him, as they vse to doe after other rebellious sinners: But that will not serue the turn; whereupon he sends these his Horsmen after him, the winds, the waues, the ship-boyes, and mariners; they take him and cast him into the dungeon of the Whales bellie.

Miserunt vasa, They cast forth their Vessels, &c. This word Vasa is taken for the wares, the weapons, the Masts, the sailes, and other instruments belonging to a Ship; Vasa Domus, Vasa Bellica, Vasa Nauis, and the like. In that Tempest which Saint Luke mentioneth in the Acts of the Apostles, wherein Saint Paul suffered so many dayes, he saith,* 1.77 That the verie cords and tacklings in the ship were cast ouer boord, Armamenta Nauis proiecerunt: So now, whither it were to lighten the Ship, or to appease the anger of their Gods, whom they thought were to be appeased with gifts, or that they were subiect to these passions of choller and couetousnesse, &c. And as now the Faithfull haue recourse in their shipwracks to prayers and promises; so was it now with these Infidels, and not to this alone, but to the offering vp of Iewells of great price and value.

Ionas was got him down into the bottome of the Ship; whither he had with∣drawne himselfe thither out of his sorrow, or to auoid the noyse of their shreeks and out-cries, or for feare of the thunder & lightning, or not to behold the fu∣rie and rage of the waues and the winds, I cannot tel you: but because feare and heauinesse commonly causeth sleepe, Ionas was fallen now so sound asleepe, that neither his owne proper perill, nor the lamentable clamours of others, could ••wake him.

Quid tu sopore deprimeris; Surge & inuoca Deum tuum.

What meanest thou, ô Sleeper, awake and call vpon thy God. They that came down ••o the Pumpe, lighted vpon Ionas, and awaking him, said vnto him by way of

admiration, Is it possible that a man should sleepe in the middest of such a terri∣ble Tempest? The cries and lamentations of all seeke to appease the furie of the winds, and doost thou sleepe? The Sea-Gods are affraid, and the Fishes retyre themselues into their holes in the deepe, and doost thou sleep? Arise for shame, and call vpon thy God, since others call vpon theirs. Whither it were that they did presume that Ionas was some Saint, (which they might gather from his mo∣destie, and his Prophet-like attyre) or whither they had heard of the great won∣ders done by his God; (for many were the things that were spoken of him among the Gentiles, which were meruailous in their eyes) I leaue it to the con∣struction of the Discreet.

Mittamu•• sortes, Let vs cast lots. They whispered amongst themselues, That sure there was some notable villaine, some wicked person, among the passengers, for whose sake the gods had shewed themselues so angrie against this their ship, and those that went in her; for one euil man that is vpheld and maintained in his lewd courses, and is fauoured and protected by those with whom hee liues and conuerses, is able to destroy a Citie, and to corrupt a whole Commonaltie, if he bee not corrected and punished in time.* 1.78 According to that of Ezechiel, Corrue•••• fulcientes Aegyptum, They also that maintaine Aegypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come downe. Euerie one then said to his companion, Let vs cast Lots, Et sciamus quare hoc malum sit nobis, That we may know for whose cause this euill is vpon vs; or (as the Hebrew hath it) In cuius nam hoc malum nobis, Let vs know who is in the fault why we doe all thus suffer. They therefore cast lots, not once alone, but againe and againe; for the Lot falling still vpon one, it was an especial effect of Gods prouidence, and a great token, that hee would discouer him tha•• was faultie.

It therefore falling still vpon Ionas, the Mariners and the rest that were in the ship, laid hands on him, and (as Saint Hierome hath noted it) made him this short, but discreet interrogation, What is thy occupation, and whence commest tho••▪ Which is thy Countrie, and of what People art thou? Touching his Office, his voyage, and his Countrie, the Prophet of his owne accord, without beeing 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to the torment, confessed all vnto them: he told them he was an Hebrew, and that he sought to flie from the God of Israel, who had made the Sea and the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Land; and that this was the cause of this their furious tempest, and fierce storme. Then said they vnto him, What shall we doe vnto thee, that the sea may be calme vnto vs? (for the sea wrought, and was troublous.)

Mittite me in mare, Take me and cast me into the sea, so shal the sea be calme vnto you: for I know,* 1.79 that for my sake this great tempest is vpon you. This was no desperation in Ionas, nor any desire to hasten his owne death; but that he might not pers•••••• any longer in offending his God, whereof he was now sorie, and earnestly repe••••ted him of the errour he had committed. If I liue (thought he with himselfe•• shall fall tomorrow into the like follie againe. And therefore let no man pre••sume that it shall be better with him tomorrow,* 1.80 than it was yesterday, or the other day before: and though a man may purpose amendment to himselfe, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 desire it, yet is it no wisedome to presume thereupon. Hence it ariseth, that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 multiplication of yeares doth but multiplie our greater condemnation.

Remigabant viri, &c. The men rowed to bring the Ship to land. They sough•• 〈◊〉〈◊〉 saue the life of Ionas with the danger of their owne liues; and despising 〈◊〉〈◊〉 owne proper perill, they tooke care of another mans good; which is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 most that a godly man can doe. The seuentie Interpreters indeere it 〈◊〉〈◊〉 thing more, saying, Vi•••• facieba••t, They did (as it were) offer violence to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉

and so, rowing and praying, remigando & ••rando, they said, O Lord, if this man be so odious in thine eyes, thou maist strike him dead with a sudden plague, or with a blast of thy breath: and if thou art not willing that hee should not now die, doe not punish vs for him, saue not him, to kill vs. Ne pereamus in anima vi∣ri istius, Let not vs perish for this mans life. But the more they stroue in rowing and in praying, the waues began to swell the more, and the winds grew stiffer and stiffer; Mare intumescebat super eos, The sea wrought exceeding high, and was troublous against them. Thereupon, they made a deuout prayer vnto God, entreating him that he would not impute vnto them the death of that Prophet: O Lord, (sayd they) thou hast made our armes the instruments of thy Iustice; and whereas it is thy pleasure, that wee should throw him into the Sea, thou mightest, if thou wouldst, haue giuen him some other kind of death: This iudgement which we execute vpon him, we haue done it out of his owne confession, & by the casting of Lots; but if perchance we haue herein erred,* 1.81 by taking away the life of the Innocent, permit not his bloud to be vpon our heads, since thou mayst so easily (if thou wilt) manifest his innocencie. Well might our Sauiour Christ condemne the Pharisees, by these poore Mariners and Ship-boyes, since they did demurre so much, and cast so many doubts with themselues, concerning the offence of a Fugitiue, that had alreadie confest himselfe faultie: Whereas these Scribes and Pharisees did rashly and inconsiderately sentence him to death, whom the Hea∣uen and the Earth had pronounced and published to be innocent; crying out with a full mouth, Sanguis eius super nos.

Tulerunt Ionam, So they tooke vp Ionas, &c. Saint Hierome doth much weigh the courtesie and respect wherewith they tooke vp Ionas, Quasi cum obsequio & honore portantes, Bearing him as it were with a great deale of obsequiousnesse and honour, vpon their shoulders, because he had made so humble a confession, by acknowlege∣ment of his fault, and for that, that he had thus voluntarily offered himselfe vp vnto death: They did reuerence him as a Saint, and lifting vp that weight in their armes, which the sea could not beare, they had scarce throwne him ouer∣boord, but the sea ceased from her raging, resting satisfied with this Sacrifice, and giuing it as a sure signe and token vnto them, that it did not pretend this it's furie, to any but Ionas. The Mariners after they had cast him into the Sea, sought (as an antient Doctor saith) to take him vp againe, and to saue his life; but then the waues began to rise and rage afresh, insomuch that they were forced to let him alone: it being a wonder, to see Seafaring men, who are generally pitti∣lesse, to take such pittie and compassion of him.

Stetit Mare, The sea grew calme on the sudden, and the weather grew ••aire and cleere: & as the tempest came suddenly vpon them, without any preuening dis∣positions; so did this calme and faire weather at sea come vpon them in an in∣stant, before euer they were aware of it; which was a notable proofe and argu∣ment vnto them, that this Tempest was miraculous.

Gods prouidence had before hand prouided a Whale readie to receiue Ionas; and when as he thought he should haue beene swallowed vp in the Deepe, and that the waters should enter into his soule, crying out in his meditations, Pelagus ••peruit me, vestes terr•• concluserunt me, The ••••ouds compassed mee about, all thy surges and all thy waues passed ouer me, &c. Then did the Whale open his mouth, then when in his affliction he cried vnto the Lord: I am cast away out of thy sight, the waters compassed me about vnto the soule, the depth closed mee round about, and the weeds were wrapped about my head; then, euen then did the Whale open his mouth, and swallowing him vp whole into his bellie, defended

him from the jawes of death. Ionas being herein like vnto a delinquent whom the Gaoler takes into his custodie,* 1.82 to secure his person. Iob saith, That God hath girt in the sea on the one side with mountaines and valleys, Circumdedit illud ter∣minis suis; and on the other side with sand, Posuit arenam terminum Maris. And as Ionas was shut vp in the Whales bellie, as in a prison; so was the Whale inclo∣sed in that prison of the Sea. Nunquid Mare ego sum, aut Caete? Am I a Sea, or a Whale fish, that thou keepest mee in ward? Now if God had both before and behind, on this side, and that side, pitcht so many nets for Ionas, hee could ver••e hardly escape him, his flying could not saue him; but in this Whales maw, con∣trarie to all the lawes of Nature, God maintaines and preserues his life. If the stomacke of a Whale will digest an anchor of Yron, (as Tertullian tells vs) it must then of force consume Ionas; and if instead of aire, he drawes in water, he must necessarily be choaked. But he that deliuered Daniel from the hungrie mouths of Lyons, and those three children from the flames of the firie Furnace; it is not much, that hee should conserue Ionas in the deepest and darkest dungeon that euer liuing man was clapt vp in. The wonder was, that though himself were prisoner, yet he had left vnto him so free an vnderstanding, that hee was able to make so elegant an oration to God, out of so foule a Pulpit.

The Prophet did dwell vpon this great miracle which God had vsed towards him, and did recouer so much strength and confidence, that he stucke not to say, Rursus videbo templum sanctum tuum, Yet will I looke againe toward thy holy temple, I liue in good hope, not onely to see my selfe freed out of this loathsome Gaole, but to humble my selfe on my knee in thy holy Temple, giuing thee thankes for the great mercie and fauour which thou hast shewed towards me: For the pre∣sent I will make this sluttish corner my Oratorie, assuring my selfe, that from thence my prayers shall be acceptable vnto thee; who, like some great Prince or Monarch of the world, is respected in any place whatsoeuer of thy jurisdi∣ction: so that there is no doubt, that any thy poorest vassall whatsoeuer, may bee heard by thee. The Children of Babylon were heard from the Furnace; Da∣niel from the Lyons Den; Iob from the Dunghill; Dauid from amiddest the Thornes and Bushes: And so I make no question but I shall be, from the bow∣ells of this Beast, In omni loco dominationis eius, benedic anima mea Domino, O my soule, blesse the Lord in euerie place of his power.

These three dayes Ionas spent in prayer, at the end whereof, God comman∣ded the Whale to cast out Ionas vpon the Coast of Niniuy.* 1.83 And the Whale obay∣ing his Empire, crost the Seas many Leagues, and there threw the Prophet forth vpon drie Land, though full of froathie slime, and vnctuous stuffe, free from the horror of that deepe and darkesome dungeon. From hence did the Gentiles faigne those their fabulous tales of Hercules beeing swallowed vp by another Whale; of Arion, playing on his harpe, riding on the backe of a Dolphine. For, (as it is noted by Clemens Alexandrinus, and Saint Basil) the Heathen Philo∣sophers did steale these truths from vs; founding thereupon their falshoods: And giuing credit to their lyes, they did not beleeue our truths. Many of the Niniuites, comming downe to the shoare-side, were strucken with admiration, to see such a monstrous, strange, prodigious man; and the fame thereof flying to the Citie, before they were affrighted with the sad news that hee brought, they stood astonished at the strangenesse of the case; which questionlesse was a great cause; that they did afterwards harken vnto him, and giue creditto what he said. In the end, taking this for his Theame; Adhuc quadraginta dies, & Niniue s••••∣uertetur; ••et forty dayes, and Niniuie shall bee ouerthrowne. Not threatning onely

the ruine of the Citie, but also of the Towers, Walls, Pallaces, Citizens, Children, Women, and Old men, euen to the very beasts of the field; so great was the feare that entred into all their breasts, that without any fur∣ther Miracles, laying their beleefe vpon the Prophet, they presently gaue beginning to that their great repentance, which was the strangest that euer was yet heard of.

The King layd aside his purple roabes, and his rich and costly clothes, the throan of his Greatnesse & Maiestie, and couered himselfe with sacke-cloth, and ••ate in ashes, causing his clothes of State to bee pulled downe, his walls of his pallace to be left naked of their hangings of cloth of Gold, and other pee∣ces of Arras, beeing no lesse curious than glorious. For Sardanapalus, was one of the loosest, and most licentious men, that hee had not his like in all the World. The like did all the great Officers of his Pallace, the Princes, and Wealthyest men of his Citie, as also all the faire and beautifull Ladies. And there was a Proclamation presently made through all Niniuie, (by the Councell of the King, and his Nobles) with expresse charge, That neither man, nor beast, bul∣locke, nor sheep, should tast any thing, neither feed, nor drinke water; but that man and beast should put on sack-cloth, and cry mightily vnto God. To the end, that the bellowing of their bulls, the bleating of their sheepe & goats, the how∣ling of their dogs, the teares of their children, the sighes & lamentations of their mothers, might mooue Heauen to take pitie of them. And aboue all, they did cry out most grieuously for their sinnes. For albeit, they are offences towards God, yet are they miseries vnto man; and as, quatenus peccata, so farre foorth as they are sinnes, they prouoke and stirre vp Gods Iustice against vs; So, qua∣tenus, they are miseriae, as they are miseries vnto vs, they incline and mooue our good God to take mercie & compassion of vs. The same reason which wrought God to destroy the World, the same likewise mooued him neuer to destroy it more. Cogitatio hominis prona est ad malum, Mans thoughts are pro••e vnto euill. One while hee considers it, as an offence vnto God; another while, as a miserie inci∣dent to man. The word Zagar, signifies Vociferatio, A crying out aloude,* 1.84 as when a Citie is set on fire, and in danger to be burnt. Some perhaps may con∣ceiue that this was too strict a commaund, to inioyne this punishment vpon dumbe beasts, and poore little infants, that had not yet offended. But first of all, they did therein pretend to incline Gods mercy towards them. Secondly, to mooue the more repentance, by a common sorrow. Thirdly, as at the funeralls of Princes, and Generals, not onely the principall and meaner persons mourne in blackes, but their horses weare the like liuery of sorrow, their drummes beat hoarse, couered with blacke Cypres, their auncients are trailed along on the ground, their swords and their lances with their points the contrary way;* 1.85 in to∣ken that both the horses, the drums, the auncients, and the armes, haue lost their Master: so likewise did the case stand with the Citie of Niniuie, &c.

Ionas put Niniuie to such a strict penance, and sorrow for their sinnes, that it did appease the wrath of God towards them. The Prophet presumed it should be destroyed; and therefore Ionas went out of the Citie, and sate on the East side thereof, and there made him a booth, and sate vnder it in the shadow, till he might see what should bee done in the Citie. Thinking perhaps with himselfe, that God would not now make an end of the Citie all at once, but that he would destroy a great part thereof; as he did in the adoration of the golden Calfe, when as pardoning the people, hee slew a great number of them. Now God had pre∣pared a Gourd for Ionas, and made it to come vp ouer him, that it might bee a

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shadow ouer his head, and deliuer him from his griefe. Other Authors, giue it other names. But the strangenesse of it was, that it grew vp all in a day. The Prophet was exceeding glad to see himselfe so wel sheltred by this Gourd, from the heat of the Sunne, which did shrewdly scortch him; Laborauerat enim, It vexed him verie sore: So that before it went verie ill with him; and his ioy was so much the more encreased, for that he saw God had such a care to cherish and make much of him; Sure (thought he) he makes no small account of me, that vseth me thus kindly. But God shortly after prepared a worme, which smote the Gourd that it withered; Et percussit Sol super caput Iona, & astuabat, The Sunne beat vpon the head of Ionas, and he fainted. Who could haue the patience to endure this? Was it the Sun, or was it fire, that should thus prouoke him to cry out, Me∣lius est mihi mori, quam viuere, It is better for me to die than to liue. But God repre∣hended Ionas for this desperate speech of his; Putas ne bene irasceris Iona? How n••w Ionas, What's the matter with thee? Doost thou well to bee angrie for the Gourd? Doost thou find thy selfe grieued, that I haue made this Gourd to wither, which came vp in a night, and perished in a night; and wilt thou not suffer me to be sen∣cible of the destruction of this so great a Citie, wherein there are sixescore thou∣sand persons which cannot discerne betwixt the right hand and the left? Doth it touch thee, that thou art not esteemed in thine owne Countrie? And wilt thou not pittie Niniuie, whom thou hast drawne by thy preaching vnto them, to repentance? Niniuie yeelded vnto thee at the first words of thy voyce; but Iuda still stands out obstinately in her malice against my calling vpon her. And therefore at the day of judgement, the men of Niniuie shall condemne them for a stiffe necked generation, and a hard hearted People; seeing they without any miracles were conuerted, and turned vnto me at the preaching of one poore ••••∣nas, Et ecce plus quam Ionas hîc, And behold a greater than Ionas here. Hierusalem seeing so many miracles, perseuereth in her incredulitie; and therefore Niniuie shall stand, and Hierusalem shall be destroyed. At the day of judgement thou shalt stand confounded and ashamed, that a barbarous, ignorant, and vnbeleeuing Nation (which is a great disgrace to a man of honor) that one that is so farre in∣feriour to thee, should come to be so farre preferred before thee: As those Ci∣ties where most of our Sauiours great workes were done, were vpbraided by him, because they repented not; pronouncing a woe to Chorazin, and a woe to Bethsaida:* 1.86 For if (saith he) the great workes which were done in you, had been done in Tyrus and Sydon, they had repented long agone in Sacke-cloath and Ashes.

Regina Austri.

The Queene of the South shall rise in judgement, &c. Some man may say, The historie of Niniuie was sole, and without example in the world; it 〈◊〉〈◊〉 not it's fellow. For which cause, he sets downe another example of the Queen of the South, of whom there is mention made in the third of the Kings, and in the second of Chronicles.* 1.87 The Queene of the South came from Morol, (an Isl•••••• of Aethyopia, as Origen, Saint Hierome, Saint Austen, Anselmus, and Iosephus, saith) and onely to heare the wisedome of Salomon; Et ecce, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 quam Salomon hîc, And behold a greater here than Salomon. It was much, that the barbarous people of Niniuie should beleeue Ionas, who sought after them, and not they af∣ter him: But much more is it, that an Aethyopian Queene should seeke after •• King, to hir so great trouble and cost. Ecce plus quam Salomon hîc. When the Prea∣cher is of that great power and authoritie, that he both sayes and does; the little

fruit that they reap thereby, is euermore attributed to the hardnesse of the hea∣rer. And that he might teach this People this lesson, he saith, Ecce, plus quam Sa∣lomon hîc, Behold, a greater than Salomon is here. He was greater than Ionas; for if he were obeyed by the Niniuites, our Sauiour had obeysance done him by all the Elements: if Ionas had a grace in his deliuerie, and spake with a spirit, it was our Sauiour that gaue it him: if Ionas did inlighten a Citie, our Sauiour did illu∣minate the whole world: if Ionas did preach bloud; threatnings, and death, our Sauiour did publish our saluation, life, and hope of Heauen. He was better than Salomon; for his wisedome was humane and earthly; but that of our Sauiour, diuine and heauenly: Salomon neuer wrought any miracles; but those of our Sauiour were without number. In a word, betweene the Queene of the South and the Pharisees, betweene our Sauiour and Salomon, there is a great antithesis and contrarietie: The Queene was a Barbarian, and ignorant; they, Doctours, and learned in the Lawes; she, wonderfull desirous to heare a man; they, loath to heare a God; she offered to Salomon great gifts; they to our Sauiour vinegar and gall; shee did so wonder at Salomons wisedome, that she said, Fame had be∣lied him, and that Report came too short of his praise; but they made so slight account of our Sauiours words and workes, that they require new miracles at his hands: but this their cauelling with him, shal occasion their condemnation. To conclude, The principal things that Niniuie shal charge them with, are two.

The first, The speedinesse of their repentance, and the hast that they made to turne vnto God: For (as Saint Chrysostome hath noted it) in three dayes Ionas ef∣fected that in Niniuie,* 1.88 which our Sauiour could not bring to passe in thirty yeres and vpward. Saint Ambrose, That they who deferre their repentance till the houre of their death, ought not to bee denied the Sacraments, if they desire them; but I dare not be so bold (saith the said Father) to warrant them their sal∣uation. Rahab had scarce put the Spies out of her window, but that she present∣ly hung out that coloured string, the token that was giuen her for the safeguard of her life. Philon takes into consideration, that exceeding great hast which the Aegyptians made to rid their Countrie of the children of Israell; they held it no wisedome, to deferre their departure one minute of an houre longer, (if they could so soone haue freed themselues from them) considering in what great dan∣ger they were of loosing their liues. Much lesse discretion is it, to defer the re∣pentance of our sinnes from day to day, considering how dayly we are in perill of perishing in Hell.

The second, The greatnesse, sharpenesse, and rigour of their Repentance, not onely in the men, but in the women, children, and cattell: They thought with themselues, That fortie dayes of sorow were too little, and too few for so many yeares of sinning; and therefore they did striue all that they could, that the ex∣tremitie of their punishment might make amends for that long time wherin they had offended. Lanabo per singulas noctes lectum meum, i. I will euerie night wash my Couch with my tears. Chrys. saith, Culpā fuisse vnius noctis, lachrimas multorum, That it was but one nights sinne, but many nights teares. Amplius laua me, O Lord, wash me yet a little more, that I may be cleane. Now was he clensed; but ill assured of this his cleannesse, &c. For the washing out of the staines and spots of our sinnes, one la••••r, one rinsing, one bucking is not sufficient, no, though we haue neuer so much sope and ashes to scoure them cleane, and bear out our hearts vpon the blocke of our sencelesse soules: it must (ô Lord) be the water of that immense and migh∣tie sea of thy Mercie; that, and nothing but that, can doe it. And therefore, Haue mercie vpon me, ô God, according to thy great mercie.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The wicked behauiour of the Pharises towards Christ.
• * 1.2

  Reasons why our Sauiour thus answe∣red the Pha∣rises.

  The benefits in hauing Christ our maister.
• * 1.3

  Esay 30.
• * 1.4

  Sap. 8.
• * 1.5

  Ioel 2.
• * 1.6

  Mat. 22. Luke 18. Luke 20.
• * 1.7

  Scorning, a Vice peculiar to the Iewes.
• * 1.8

  Ose 14.
• * 1.9

  Lament. 3.
• * 1.10

  Acts 1.
• * 1.11

  Eccle. 2.
• * 1.12

  Eccle. 2.
• * 1.13

  The hardnes of a sinfull Heart.
• * 1.14

  Hagi. ••.
• * 1.15

  Mat. 26.
• * 1.16

  Iohn 6.
• * 1.17

  Not more pernicious to himselfe.
• * 1.18

  Iohn 5.
• * 1.19

  Deut. 21. Nothing more profita∣ble to Man, than the o∣beying of Gods Will.
• * 1.20

  Coloss. 1.
• * 1.21

  Hypocrites great fauorers of Miracles.
• * 1.22

  Esay 8.
• * 1.23

  Rom. 2
• * 1.24

  The nature of Christs Miracles.
• * 1.25

  The difference betwixt Christs mira∣cles, and the Deuills.
• (1.) 1.26

  Those of Christ aime at our Good.
• * 1.27

  Mans wan∣tounesse in matter of Re∣ligion.
• (2.) 1.28

  They are done imparitiuely and with a kind of empire and cōmand.
• * 1.29

  Why mira∣cles should be desired.
• * 1.30

  More fre∣quent in the time of Grace than vnder the Law. Marke 8.
• * 1.31

  Luke 23.
• * 1.32

  1. Kings 6.
• * 1.33

  Acts 17.
• * 1.34

  Curious hea∣rers reproued.
• * 1.35

  Sermons should be seasoned more with Salt, than Sugar.
• * 1.36

  Cant. 6.
• * 1.37

  The Nature of Enuie.
• * 1.38

  P••al. 33.
• * 1.39

  3. K••ngs 2.
• * 1.40

  Esay 2.
• * 1.41

  Esay 1.
• * 1.42

  Mat 3.
• * 1.43

  Acts 7.
• * 1.44

  Psal. 78.
• * 1.45

  Esay 1. Ezech. 16.
• * 1.46

  Vertue is not Hereditarie.
• * 1.47

  Psal. 99.
• * 1.48

  Psal. 49. Psal. 143.
• * 1.49

  Mat. 3.
• * 1.50

  Os••. 2.
• * 1.51

  Ezech. 16. Ier. 3. Esay. ••7.
• * 1.52

  Sin vndermi∣neth the Soule by degrees.
• * 1.53

  1. Tim. 1.
• * 1.54

  Heb. 13.
• * 1.55

  Christs resur∣rection the greatest Mi∣racle.
• * 1.56

  1. Cor. 1.
• * 1.57

  Luke 22. Math. 26.
• * 1.58

  1. Cor. 1••.
• * 1.59

  Esay. 13.
• * 1.60

  God doth not alwaies grant our desires, and why.
• * 1.61

  Ephes. 4.9.
• * 1.62

  Gen. 7. Exod. 24. Deut. 9. 1. Reg. 30. ••. Reg. 19.
• * 1.63

  Gen. 9.
• * 1.64

  Apoc. 2.
• * 1.65

  How the Ni∣niuites shall rise vp in iudgement against vs.
• * 1.66

  The greatnes of Niniue.
• * 1.67

  Gen. 10.
• * 1.68

  Ionas from whence des∣cended.
• * 1.69

  Iosh. 11.
• * 1.70

  Esay 1. Hier. 1.
• * 1.71

  Prou. 25.
• * 1.72

  Esay 34. 2. Kings 19.
• * 1.73

  Reasons mouing Ionas to flie.
• * 1.74

  Ier. 10. Ezech. 27. ••. Kings 11. 2. Chron. 9. Esay 50.
• * 1.75

  Amos 7.12.
• * 1.76

  The Deuills tyranny ouer his followers.
• * 1.77

  Acts 17.
• * 1.78

  Ezech. ••0.
• * 1.79

  Why Ionas would be cast into the Sea.
• * 1.80

  Long life an enlargement of Sinne.
• * 1.81

  In casting a man away, no delay too long.
• * 1.82

  Iob. 7.
• * 1.83

  In all aduer∣sities our pra¦ctice must be Prayer.
• * 1.84

  The Nini∣uites repen∣tance.
• * 1.85

  Gen. 6. Gen. 8.
• * 1.86

  Math. 11.
• * 1.87

  1. Kings 10. 2. Chron. 9.
• * 1.88

  Ionas effect∣ed more in three dayes then our Sa∣uiour did in thirty yeares. Repentance, not to be de∣ferred.