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 TWELFTH SERMON, VPON THE MVNDAY AFTER THE SECOND SVN∣DAY IN LENT. (Book 12)

IOHN 8.21.

Ego vado, & quaeretis me.

I goe my way, and yee shall seeke me.

THe Scribes and Pharisees were offended at the fauour which,* 1.1 in affront of their authoritie, our Sauiour had shewne to the Adul∣teresse, saying, Let him that is among you without sinne, cast the first stone at her. They had made some threatning offers (as men that thought themselues much wronged by him) to take away his life; but because his houre was not yet come, no man laid hands on him. Whereupon our Sauiour said vnto them, Ego vado, Why seeke yee thus after my life, I goe my way, I am he, whom willingly, and of myne owne accord offer my selfe vnto death; your armes were not strong enough to hold me, if it were in my desire to make resistance: but when I am dead yee shall seeke mee. For the Iewes vsed continually to cal for their Messias, and did earnestly long af∣ter him, expecting then his comming, when as hee was alreadie come: and for that this hope of theirs was hopelesse, he saies vnto them, Yee shall die in your sinnes, your death shall differ much from mine, for I shall goe one way, and you another; Whither I goe, yee cannot come. Your inferiour Ministers did presume, That our Sauiour out of a desperate humour would needs liue among the Gen∣tiles, as hee that goes to Morocco to turne Moore; the Pharisees, they thought that he would goe destroy himselfe; What meaneth this man to say, Whither I goe, yee cannot come? Will he kill himselfe? Vnto which vnmannerly speech our Sauiour replied, Yee are from beneath, I am from aboue; yee are of this world, I am not of this world; I haue told yee alreadie, That except ye beleeue that I am he, yee shall die in your sinnes, not onely in that of incredulitie, but in

all those other which ye shall commit: for without faith in him, who I am, there is no remission of sinnes▪ &c.

* 1.2I goe my way, and yee shall seeke me. This phrase of speech our Sauior Christ did often vse, to shew, That hee died meerely out of his owne proper will and pleasure. O Lord (said Abraham) I shall be verie willing to die without leauing any children behind me, seeing that thou wilt haue it so. Eusebius Emisenus to this purpose expoundeth those words which our Sauior vttered on the Crosse to his father, In manus tuas, Domine, commendo Spiritum meum, Into thy hands, ô Lord, I commend my Spirit: Now Commendare is all one with Ponere; I put not, ô Lord, my soule into the hands of death, nor into those of my enemies; for neither their whips, nor their thorns, nor their nayl••, nor their speare, were able to take my life from me, if I had not bin willing to surrender it vp into thy hands. Seneca saith, That a benefit consists not so much in the thing that is giuen, as the good will where∣with it is giuen. And therfore when the gift is small, the greatnesse of it must be measured according to the goodnesse of the will. The death of our Sauiour Christ was the greatest benefit that euer the world enioyed, but the willingnesse wherewith he laid downe his life for vs was farre greater, Maiorem Charitatem, &c. Greater loue hath no man, than this, that a man layes downe his life for his friend.

But heare now the wofullest, the heauiest, and most lamentable case that can possibly fall within the compasse of thy imagination; to wit, That the death of his Sonne, which God promised to the world as a Sea of mercies, as a Heauen of hopes, as a ransome of our slauerie, and as a reparation of all our miseries, he should now giue it as a threatning to this wretched and vnfortunate Nation: and how taking his leaue of his Disciples, in that Sermon of his last Supper, with tender teares trickling down his eyes, and with a great many other kind demon∣strations of his loue, hee should make such large promises vnto them after his death; one of the chiefest whereof was, Let not your heart be troubled; for although I go from you,* 1.3 yet shall I still remain with you; Lo, I am with you till the end of the world: yet he should say now to the Pharisees, Ego vado, & quaeretis me, I depart away from you, neuer to see you more. O, what a cruell blow was this! O, what a sad departure is this! how comfortlesse, and how hard to be endured? If from him that is dangerously sicke the Physition shall goe his way, who is able to cure him; if from the Thirstie the Fountaine shall flie from his lips, what is able to quench his thirst; if from the Blind, the light; from the child, his father; from the wife, her husband; from the souldier, his captaine; and from the scholler, his master shall be taken away; of whom shall they seeke helpe? Turne not away thy face,* 1.4 neither decline from thy seruant. Iob held Hell lesse fearefull than Gods displea∣sure; O, that thou wouldst hide me (saith he) in the graue, that thou wouldest keepe me secret vntill thy wrath be past. But Dauid held it the greater harme of the two, that God should hide his face from him, Though thou beest angrie with me, yet turne not thy face from me. The same Iob saith, Why doost thou hide thy face, this is to vse me as an enemie. Iacob wrestling with God, although hee saw hee was displeased,* 1.5 yet hee would not let him goe till hee had blest him. O Lord, I will endure thine anger, but not thine absence. By way of Hyper∣bole S. Paul said to those of Ephesus, Yee were without Christ, and without God in this world: Weighing therein verie well with himselfe, what the world is, and what God is.

What then, shall this his departure be eternall? It goes hard with vs, when God shal threaten his going away, and we shall not haue the heart to entreat him to stay. Ieremie lamenting his misfortunes, one while in the name of his people,

that were carried away captiues into Babylon; another while in his own proper person, as one that lay fast fettered in yrons, making a relation of his sorrowes goes adding griefe vnto griefe; He did put me in a darke Dungeon, he did shut mee vp as in a graue amongst the Dead, He hath enclosed my wayes with hewen stone; hee hath shut his windowes against me, hee hath not left mee a loope-hole to looke out; hee hath clapt gyues and shackles on my feet; I put vp a Petition vnto him, And he would not hearken vnto my prayer. Yet notwithstanding all this, doe you but aske the Prophet, Whither God had then a purpose to destroy him? and he will tell you, That it was the least of his thought: No, these were the stripes of a father, that loues his child better than he loues himselfe; who beats him, but with teares in his owne eyes. If God then be so good and louing a fa∣ther vnto vs, that he falls a weeping when hee giues vs but a few jerkes, & those with a gentle hand; How can he desire our eternall punishment? The Lord will not vtterly cast vs off. That God should for euer take his leaue of thee, the fault must be in thee, not in God; Can God take away his kindnesse for euer? How can hee shut the gates of his house against thee, who is still knocking at the doores of thy house? Non in perpetuum triturabis triturans, saith Esay, If God doe thresh thee as with a flaile, it is not because hee takes delight to bruise thee with his threshing of thee, but that he may seuer the corne from the chaffe, &c. This our Sauiours threatning is full of mercie, full of loue; for he would neuer haue said so often to the Iewes, Ego vado, if hee had not desired that they should haue said againe vnto him, Do not thou go from vs. If it be our Sauiours delight, to be amongst the children of men, how can hee take pleasure in departing eternally from vs.

Et quaeretis me, (i.) And yee shall seeke me. This second threatning is more fearefull than the former; Yee shall seeke mee, but yee shall not find me. In the pursuit of any kind of good whatsoeuer, hard is that mans happe, who seeks and finds not; who calls, and receiues no answer; who sues & obtains not; who liues in hope, but sees no end of his hopes. Our Sauior Christ lookt for a Figge on the Figge tree, and because he found none there,* 1.6 his displeasure was such, that he laid a seuere curse vpon it. Amongst those many feares of the ge∣nerall judgement, Saint Iohn in his Apocalyps saith, Man shall seeke after death,* 1.7 and shall not find it, though those find it too, that neuer seeke after it. This is a great vnhappinesse; but when the businesse is betwixt God and vs, it is a far more miserable misfortune, to seeke him, and not to find him: not onely because they sometimes find him, who seeke not after him, [Inuentus sum à non quaerenti∣bus me, I am found of those that seeke me not;] but also because any other good whatsotuer, a man may hate & abhor as a thing that is ill; Vae, qui dicitis bonum, m••lum, Wo be to you that call good, euill; he that despaires of life, desires death, and counts it as a good. But who can hate God, who doth naturally desire our hap∣pinesse? But this miserie yee draw vpon your selues, who by abhorring me, and persecuting me (saith Saint Augustine) as an enemie of God, are driuen to seeke vnto God, calling hourely vpon him for your Messias, with great anguish of heart, and with teares in your eyes: but because yee haue refused that happinesse which offered it selfe vnto you, and entred within your gates, but was reiected; groping the walls like blind men at noone day, yee looke after a new occasion of happinesse: but by how much the more yee shall desire a new Messias, by so much the more shall yee persecute me, and those which shall preach my Name throughout the world. And by how much the more yee shall persecute me, so much the longer shall your errour remaine with yee, and ye shall continue in this your wilfull stubbornenesse, till yee die in your sinnes.

Hence I inferre, how dangerous a thing an errour is, especially in point of our saluation; how dangerous, an ill performed Confession, yet by vs reputed for good; how dangerous, a secure, but vnsound conscience; how dangerous for a man to erre in his account in the beginning; how dangerous, highly to offend God, and yet thinke that therein wee doe him good seruice. A Moore killeth a Christian, and hee thinkes that hee hath pleased God verie well in so doing: A Schismaticke throwes downe Images, breakes glasse windowes, and defaces all carued faces, and thinkes that he shewes therein a great deale of zealous respect and reuerence vnto God: The Iew hates the name of Christ, and persecuteth him that takes it in his mouth; And he thinks that he doth an acceptable thing in Gods sight. O, what a fearefull affronting of his errour will it be to the Moore, how shamefully will hee see himselfe cosined, when he shall behold his Mahomet bur∣ning in Hell flames? To the Iew, to see Christ our Sauiour come with the Ma∣jestie and glorie of God, to iudge the taunts and scoffes, and other cruelties which they vsed towards him? To the Heretickes, to see the Saints whom they haue burned, to sit as Assistants at their condemnation? Then will they cry out when it will be too late, Erau••mus in via veritatis, We haue erred in the way of truth. And if a man shall then see, that hee hath lost fiftie yeares of good workes, of Prayers, Almes, Fastings, wherewith he thought to gaine and merit Heauen; O, how lamentable will that losse appeare, when hee shall find that by them hee hath treasured vp more wrath against the day of vengeance, more sorrow and more torment in Hell?

Quaeretis me, Yee shall seeke me. In the former Chapter hee added, Non inu••∣nietis, Yee shall not find me. Ieremie hath the same; and the reasons thereof are two:

The first, Because he that seeketh sloathfully & carelessely, sildome or neuer findeth. From the time that our Sauiour Christ was borne, hee condemned this their sloathfulnesse. The Kings came from the East to seeke him; but the Pha∣risees would not step a foot out of doores to looke after him, not hauing the light of one single Starre, but of a thousand Prophecies. In lapide luteo lapidatu•• est piger, stercore bonum lapidatus est piger: The Greeke letter makes the sence more plaine; for in stead of Lapidatus, it reads Comparatus. A sloathfull man is compa∣red to a durtie stone, or to the dung of an Oxe; vnderstanding by these two, any kind of loathsome filthinesse whatsoeuer, which the hand of man will auoyd to touch, which if it doe touch, it is besmeered and fouled therewith. The sloath∣full man is no lesse odious; for he that shall giue himselfe ouer vnto sloath, shall be bemired in his wealth or in his honour, and shal haue cause all the days of his life to weepe and complaine.

* 1.8Two signes the Scripture sets downe of him that seekes God truly:

The one, That hee seekes as earnestly to serue him, as others desire to offend him. The Spirit that dwelleth in you, lusteth to enuie. The Spirit is here taken in the better sence, as appeareth by the Greeke Translation, as also by that which fol∣loweth, But he giueth more grace. He saith then, That the holy Ghost doth put enuie into our brests, binding euerie Soule to labour for his saluation with enuie. Saint Paul saith, Spiritus sanctus postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabilibus; That is, He makes vs to desire it with groanes.* 1.9 So likewise, he makes vs to desire our sal∣uation with enuie; that wee should haue the enuie of the worldly minded man, and the care of the Theefe, when hee goes about his thefts and his robberies. The beastly Epicure hotly pursues his filthie pleasures; the reuengeful man, his reuenge. Demosthenes did enuie a Smith that was his neighbour, for that he rose vp so early to so base and foule an Occupation. The Theefe watcheth all night

to take a purse vpon the highway; the Wanton waits nights and dayes at his mi∣stresses window; the reuengefull man will not slumber nor sleepe: with the like care art thou to seeke after God.

The other signe, If when thou seekest God thou meetest not with rest & qui∣etnesse, it is a signe that thou hast not yet found him. As the Needle rests in the North, so our Soule rests in God; Fecisti ••os Domine ad te, & inquietum est cor no∣strum, donec veniamus ad ••e, We cannot haue our perfect rest and quiet in this life; but he that doth enioy the same, he hath it from God, it comes from him. But when our heart is troubled, suffering continuall perturbations, like the Needle in the Compasse, till it be turned towards the North; it is no good signe, that wee haue found God as we should.

The second reason of thy not finding God, is, because thou doost not seeke him when he is to be found. Esay preaching before Manasses, said, Seeke yee the Lord while hee may bee found, call yee vpon him while hee is neere:* 1.10 but this peruerse King, as the Hebrewes report it, did calumniate this his doctrine; alledging, That it was a great error in him, to say, that God could not at any time be found, being that Moses had said, What Nation is there so great,* 1.11 that hath their Gods so nigh vnto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call vpon him for? But the truth is, That as there is a time for all things, [Omnia tempus habent] so is there a time likewise to find God, and a time not to find him: the time that wee liue heere vpon Earth, is no ill time for to find him. For though in the Ages of man there is one time better than another, none is so desperate and hopelesse but that he may bee found therein; and of all the whole life of man it may bee verified, Omnis qui quaerit, inuenit, Euerie one finds that seekes.

At the point of death it is no good time to seeke him; not that hee that shall then truly seeke after him shall not find him; but because it is a hard matter at that verie instant to performe true repentance, as wee haue elsewhere declared. And therefore the Scripture so often cries out vnto vs, That yet while it is day we should hearken vnto him, lest the night of death should suddenly ouertake vs. What saith Eccl. Ante mortem confiteri, i. Confesse before thou die. S. Austen ex∣pounds this place of confession of our sinnes. And because no man should hope to do it in the time of his sicknesse, when paines & diuers other accidents diuert the Soule; Eccles. addeth, Viuus & sanus, &c.* 1.12 Confesse thy selfe whilest thou art healthie and sound, not when thou art halfe dead; and therein shalt thou doe two notable things:

The one, Thou shalt praise God.

The other, Thou shalt glorie in his mercies.

After death, is a desperate time; for then the doore is shut to Confession, to Repentance, to Intercessions, and to pardon: A mortuo, quasi nihil perijt confessio, Saint Augustine reads it, Quasi non sit; the Greeke letter, Tanquam à non existente. When a mans life ends, there is an end of all remedies: And therefore Salomon said, That a liuing Dog was better than a dead Lyon: And Ieremie,* 1.13 Giue glorie to the Lord your God, before he cause darkenesse, and before your feet stumble vpon the darke mountaines; and while yee looke for light, yee turne it into the shadow of death, and make it grosse darkenesse.

A third reason why we doe not find God, is, because wee doe not perseuer in seeking him: And therefore it is said, Yee shall seeke me, and shall not find me. S Au∣sten sayes, That the Iewes did seeke after God three manner of wayes:

One, By hoping after another Messias.

Another, By persecuting him both in his life and in his death: For that pier∣cing of his bodie with a Speare, did plainely proue now that he was dead, what

hatred they bore to him while he was aliue.

The third, when they being besieged by Titus and Vespasian, calling to mind, that he had foretold them, there should not be one stone left vpon another in Ie∣rusalem, many of them returned to our Sauiour Christ, and sought after him; but with a very poore & weake purpose: They did inherit this euil condition of their forefathers, and grandfathers of old, who did neuer seeke God, but when hee scourged them soundly for their sins: And when that storme was past, and their peace made, they fell afresh to their former rebellions. There are few men so past grace, which doe not sometimes sigh for Heauen. But the mischiefe of it is, that these our sighes are quickly ouerblowne, they doe not last with vs. In the darkest night, there are some lightnings which breake through the clouds and cleare the ayre; but in the end the darkenesse preuaileth. In your duskiest & cloudiest daies, the Sun is woont to rush through the foggiest & thickest clouds; but new cloudes arising, the Sunne retires himselfe and pulls in his head. Saul by spurts did dart foorth many beames of light, acknowledging that Dauid had done him many reall courtesies, and that he had repayed him euill for good, and had a purpose with himselfe vpon fits to fauor him, and to honour him; But the foggy clouds and mystie vapours of Enuy increasing more and more vpon him, these light flashes were turned into darkenesse. Balaam, when King Balack sent vnto him to curse Gods people, had verie good purposes and desires for a while within him; He consulted with God in that businesse, and knowing that it was his wil, that he should not go, dispatched those his messengers. And the King sen∣ding others vnto him, he told them, That he would not go to that end, if hee would giue him his house full of gold. Doubtlesse, these were good intensi∣ons, had he continued still in the same mind. But the clouds of couetousnesse did ouercast this light of his vnderstanding with so grosse a darkenesse, that neither the Angel which stood before him with a naked sword in the way, nor his beast which spake vnto him, and turned aside, could keepe him backe.

In peccato vestro moriemini.

Yee shall dye in your sinne. There are great indeerings in the holy Scripture, of the grieuousnesse of sinne, and the hurt that comes thereby. Anselmus sayth, That he had rather fry without sin in the flames of Hel, than with sin, inioy Hea∣uen. Hee might well say so, in regard of Hel. For although Saint Austen saith, That one drop of the water of Paradise shall be sufficient to quench the flames of Hell,* 1.14 yet shall it not be able to wash away the foulnesse of sinne. Helias desired of God, that he might dye vnder the Iuniper tree; and yet he would not be rid of his life by Iezabell, in regard of the sinne that tyrannicall Queen should haue committed: so that euen in his mortall enemy, so great an ill seemed intollerable vnto him.

In Scripture, sinne is a cypher of all possible infelicitie and misfortune tha•• can befall a man. Saint Paul sayth, That God made his Sonne sinne. Him who knew no sinne, hee made sinne for vs. For discharging vpon him the tempest of his wrath, he made him of all other men the most miserable. Nouissimum vir••rum. Iacob would not let Beniamin goe downe with his brethren to Aegypt (Ioseph de∣siring to haue it so) though Reuben had offered two of his owne sons as pledges for his safe return,* 1.15 & to the end that the good old man should haue the best secu∣ritie he could giue him; Reuben sayd, If he returne not, Ero peccati reus; I will be content to be condemned to all possible miseries whatsoeuer. The like Ber∣sabe was willing to say, when she thought the raigne of her sonne Salomon should

be troubled. Shall I and my sonne Salomon bee counted Offenders? Shall wee bee the out-casts of the world, and be layd open to the vtmost of miserie? The rea∣son of all this harme, is, For that all possible ill, that can be imagined, is reduced vnto sinne, as to it's Center. Make a muster of all the enemies of Man, as Death, the Deuill, the World, & the Flesh; & not any one of them, nay not all of them together haue any the least power to hurt vs without sinne. And therefore in our Lords prayer, silencing all other our enemies, only we beg of God, that he would free vs from sinne. But deliuer vs from euill. Which, howbeit some doe vnder∣stand it to be spoken of the Deuill, yet (as Saint Austen sayth) he can but barke, he cannot bite. Onely sinne is able to doe both.

To this so great a hurt, may be added another that is farre greater.* 1.16 Which is obstinacie in sinne. Iob painting out this euill, sayth, That the sinner taketh plea∣sure therein, and that it seemeth sweet vnto him, it is as pellets of Sugar to him vnder his tongue; He first delights in the companie of sinne, then hee mar∣ries himselfe vnto her, and at last, leaues her not till death them depart. Parcet illi, & non derelinquet. The seuentie read it, Non parcet illi, & non derelinquet, hee will excuse no occasion, no diligence, no trouble. His desire thereof is insatia∣ble. There is no kind of sinne (be it of Sloath, or Reuenge, or Couetousnesse) that is continually beating vpon our actions. But our thoughts are euermore hammering of wickednesse, like the Smith, that giues a hundred blowes vpon his Anuill, and two vpon his yron; or like the Barbar, that makes more snips in the ayre, than on the haire.

The Pharisees did crucifie our Sauiour Christ but once,* 1.17 in the verie deed and act of his death; but in their desires, & in their thoughts, they had crucified him a thousand times.

But that we may giue the obstinacie of this people, it's full qualification, we must make a briefe recapitulation of those meanes, which God vsed for to mol∣lifie their hardnesse.

First of all; he tooke it to his charge to cure it with his Doctrine, his Miracles, and the Prophecies of their Prophets. Well, this would doe no good with them, and many dyed in this their obstinacie. Next, he comes amongst them in his owne person, taking vpon him the name and office of a Phisition, Purgatio∣nem peccatorum faciens, Making a purge for sinne. He was willing to haue mini∣stred Phisicke to the Iewes, and with the sweet and comfortable syrrop of his Word, to haue eased them of their griefes, and to haue cured all the infirmities of their bodies; as the sicke of the Palsey for eight and thirtie yeares together, the Blind that were borne blind, and such as were possessed with Deuils, and the like; Being willing also to haue cleansed their soules from all kind of vnclean∣nesse: But at last hee was faine to giue them ouer, their diseases were growne so desperate, remitting them ad hospitalium incurabilium, as men without hope of recouerie. For, as in the body, there are some sickenesses so mortall, that though the sicke bee capable of health, yet the malignity of the humour, ma∣keth the Phisition to despaire therof: So likewise in the soule, there are some diseases so mortall, that through the great malignity of them, and the sharpenesse of the humour, the heauenly Physition is out of heart of helping them, and quite discouraged from doing any good vpon them. And therefore sayth, Yee shall dye in your sinne. Ieremie maketh mention, that certaine Angells comming by Gods appointment to cure Babylon, after that they had applyed many medi∣cines vnto her, they sayd, Wee would haue healed Babylon, but shee is not healed,* 1.18 let vs therefore forsake her, and euery one goe his way from her. Lo, the Lord of

Angells himselfe, and of all the Hosts of Heauen, comes vnto them, offers to cure them, by applying the Medicines of his Word and his Miracles; but they refuse to bee holpen, and so he leaues them amongst the Catalogue of the Incurable.

Secondly, The prayer which Christ made for them vpon the Crosse, was a strange meanes; and though he then conuerted a Theefe, yet could he not con∣uert a Pharisee. Saint Stephen made the like prayer, Lay not this sinne, ô Lord, vnto their charge, Let not the sinne ofthis people be a sinne vnto death. In a word, the bloud of our Sauiour Christ softneth the hardnesse of stones, but mollifieth not the hearts of the Iewes.

Thirdly, an occasion once lost, as it is seldome or neuer recouered, so is it or∣dinarily bewailed. Horace saith of Vertue, That hee that inioyes it, esteemes it not; but hauing lost it, enuies it. Of Herod, Iosephus reporteth, That he caused his wife to be put to death vpon a false accusation, and she was scarce cold, but that he pined away for her. Alexander killed Clitus, and wept ouer him when he had done. Athens exiled Socrates, & afterwards repenting themselues there∣of, they erected his Statua, and banished his Accusers. Abimelec banished Isaac out of his Countrie, and afterwards went to seeke for him, &c. Humane and diuine Histories are full of this truth: onely in the brests of the Pharisees this remorse and pittie could find no place: but hauing lost in Christ our Sauior, the happiest occasion that euer the world inioyed; yet such and so great was this their wilfull obstinacie, that they were so farre from weeping or bewailing ei∣ther his or their owne losse, that if they could catch him now againe aliue, they would crucifie him anew.

Great obstinacies, great stiffenesse and stubbornenesse doth the Scripture men∣tion;* 1.19 as that of the Gyants, which built the Tower of Babell; that of Pharaoh, whom so many seuerall plagues could not vnharden; that of Saul, Ieroboam, An∣tiochus, & Herod Ascalonita; that of Elah and of Zimri, who went into the pallace of the Kings house, and burnt the Kings house ouer him with fire, and died. But none was like vnto that of this people, for their hardnes of heart hath now con∣tinued aboue 1600 yeares.

Aboue all these harmes, there is one that is yet greater than the rest, which is this present threatning, Yee shall die in your sinne. Of all disasters that may befall vs, this is not only greater, but the summe of all the rest. How many businesses offer themselues vnto men in this life, though they bee of Empires and Monar∣chies, which will be but as it were accessorie vnto them, and not much trouble them, whither they succeed well or ill? But this is so precise a one, and so neces∣sarie, that he that loseth it, loseth all; and not onely all present good, but the fu∣ture hope of euer recouering it againe. Saint Paul writing to those of Corinth, comes vpon them with an Obsecro, vt vestrum negotium agatis, i. I beseech you mind your owne businesse; your owne businesse, by an Antonomasia; for all the rest are aliena, others. Seneca in an Epistle that he writeth to Lucilius, saith, That a man spendeth part of his life in doing ill, and the greater part in vnprofitable things; and all his life, in not looking well what he doth: As, he that prayes without at∣tention; he that reads with a diuerted mind: if he would haue spoke like a Chri∣stian, he might haue put them in mind of many, who spend all their life, or the greatest part thereof, by placing their thoughts vpon their end. At this marke did Dauid aime in many of his prayers.* 1.20 Cassiodorus thus expoundeth that place of the fortie ninth Psalme, The iniquitie of my heeles shall compasse mee about. The head is Principium hominis, the verie life and first beginning of man; and the heele

is taken for the end and finall dissolution of man: And he saith, That his greatest care was the continuall remembrance of his end. He repeateth the like in many other of his Psalmes, Exurge Domine, ne repellas in finem, Arise Lord, put vs not off to the end. Vsque quo Domine obliuisceris me? How long wilt thou forget me, to the end? Lord let me know my end: I euer, ô Lord, had an eye to the perill and danger of my end. Take me not away in the middest of my dayes; for that is not a fit time for a mans end. In a word, true happinesse or vnhappiness consists in it's arriuall at it's Ha∣uen; for it little importeth, to haue escaped this or that storme, vnlesse we come to land safely. It is not sufficient for a man to haue spent a great deale of money in a Law suit, vnlesse hee haue sentence on his side. It is the euening that com∣mendeth the day, and our end that crowneth our actions, &c.

In peccato vestro moriemini.

Yee shall die in your sinne. We are not ignorant, that God reuealed to many of his Saints their predestination, as to Marie Magdalen, and his Apostles; but to none their reprobation, lest the infallibilitie ofthis reuelation should thrust them into desperation. And these words, Yee shall die in your sinne,* 1.21 seemeth to bee a plaine prophecie, that this people were to die in their sinne. I answer,* 1.22 That this cannot be a reuelation, for two reasons:

The one, Because the Pharisees did not beleeue; and in not giuing credit to our Sauiour Christ in the truth that hee vttered for their good, it is likely they would not beleeue those that he deliuered for their hurt.

The other, For that our Sauiour Christ repeating the verie selfe same propo∣sition, made it conditionall, Vnlesse yee beleeue, yee shall die in your sinne; which was as it were a declaration of the former.

In a word, Two were those things which our Sauiour Christ pretended:

One, That they might beleeue, and not die in their sinne.

The other, That they who now treated with him should die in their sinne:* 1.23 but so, that Christ our Sauiour should not be the cause of their damnation, but their owne incredulitie. For that which is spoken of before it come to passe, it is therfore spoken of, because it shal come to passe; but it shal not therfore come to passe, because it is spoken of: For the Diuine prescience or foreknowledge, though it aduise that which shall come to passe, yet it imposeth not any necessi∣tie that it shall come to passe. Saint Peter therefore did not denie Christ, because our Sauiour told him, that he should denie him. So that diuine knowledge not deceiuing it selfe in that which it prophecieth, imposeth no such necessitie that it should succeed, nor is it to be said to be the cause thereof.* 1.24 Say not thou it is through the Lord that I fell away; for thou oughtest not to doe the things that hee hateth. Say not thou, He hath caused me to erre; for he hath no need of the sinfull man: so that he there prooueth, that God is not the author of our sins, nor are our ig∣norances to be attributed vnto him. The Greeke instead of Abest, there reads Defeci; as inferring, That God is not the cause that I haue failed in that which I ought to haue done; for God abhorring sinne, I ought not to commit it. Saint Augustine reads, Ne dicas propter Deum recessi, &c. Say not, I went backe because of the Lord, hee supplanted mee; for God hath no need of wicked men. Suting with that of Saint Iames, Let no man when hee is tempted, say hee is tempted of God, &c. And yet it is said by Ezechiel, Ego decepi Prophetam, I haue deceiued the Prophet. And by Saint Paul, Tradidit Deus illos in reprobum sensum,* 1.25 God hath deliuered them vp to a re∣probate sence. It is not to be said, That God doth it, but permits it: As a captaine, who absenting himselfe from his Armie, depriuing them of his fauour, permit∣teth

them to bee ouercome. Saint Augustine telleth vs, That when the Scrip∣ture saith, That man is deceiued by God, or his heart hardned; God is the cause of the poena, but not of the culpa: of the punishment, but not of the sinne. Insipientia enim hominis violat vias eius, (i.) The follie of a man is that which peruerts his wayes. In one place the Scripture saith, Deus Mortem non fecit, God made not Death; In another,* 1.26 That Death and Life come from God: implying, That God is not the Authour of Death, but that hee permits it in him that deserues it. That Iudge that condemnes a theefe vnto death, this death is not to be imputed to the judge, but to the thefts of the Theefe. God desires not any mans fall, or his death; for as God is happy without the just, so is he also without the wicked. The book of Wisedome treating, That God did not make death, nor delighteth in the destru∣ction of the liuing; renders two reasons thereof:

The one, That he hauing created all things that they might haue their bee∣ing, he takes no pleasure that they should not be: For what Artificer takes plea∣sure to see the workes of his hands perish?

The other, Sanabiles fecit Nationes orbis Terrarum; The Greeke reads Sal••∣tares fecit Generationes orbis Terrarum, All things that God created, hee created with health and soundnesse, and in a good and perfect state. Et non est in illis me∣dicamentum exterminij; The Greeke word which answers to Medicamentum, may be taken in a good or an euill sence, either for Physicke, or for Poyson: And here it is taken in the worser sence, and implyeth thus much, That God did not create the Poyson of perdition for the generations of Mankind, (inferred in this word Exterminij) nor did God create perdition in the rest of the creatures. The Interlinearie here vnderstands Sinne, which ba∣nisheth and excludeth man from God, wherby he is vndone, and reduced to nothing. From which finall destruction God deliuer vs, &c.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Without Faith in Christ, no remission of sinne. Iohn 8.7.
• * 1.2

  Iohn 16. Mat. 2.
• * 1.3

  Christs go∣ing from vs, the greatest Curse.
• * 1.4

  Iob 14.13.
• * 1.5

  Gen. 32.
• * 1.6

  Math. 21.
• * 1.7

  Kindnes neg¦lected, turnes to hatred.
• * 1.8

  Signes wher∣by to know whether wee seeke God truly. Iames 4.5.
• * 1.9

  A godly kind of Enuie.
• * 1.10

  Esay 55.
• * 1.11

  Deut. 4.7.
• * 1.12

  Confession of sinne when to be made.
• * 1.13

  Eccle. 9. Ier. 13.
• * 1.14

  The foulnes of Sinne.
• * 1.15

  Gen. 43.
• * 1.16

  Obstinacie in sin, neuer to be cured.
• * 1.17

  Sin, desirous to doe more than it is able.
• * 1.18

  Esay 51.
• * 1.19

  The hard∣heartednesse of the Iewes without a pa∣rallell. 3. Kings. 16
• * 1.20

  Psal. 49.5.
• * 1.21

  Ob.
• * 1.22

  Sol.
• * 1.23

  Gods presci∣ence not the cause of mans Reprobation.
• * 1.24

  Eccl. 15.11.12.
• * 1.25

  Romans 1.
• * 1.26

  Wis. 1.