Of the love of our only Lord and Saviour, Iesus Christ: Both that which he beareth to vs; and that also which we are obliged to beare to him. Declared by the principall mysteries of the life, and death of our Lord; as they are deluiered [sic] to vs in Holy Scripture. With a preface, or introduction to the discourse.

Of the great Loue which our Lord Iesus shewed to mankind in the Vocation of his Aposiles.

CHAP. 27.

IT is not strāge that God should shew him∣selfe like God; nor consequently, that in all the actions of Christ our Lord (who as man was Gods most excellent instrument) his so∣ueraigne power, and wisedome, and goodnes should much appeare. This is true in them all; & especially is it so, in this of the Vocatiō of his Apostles, wherin he doth admirably declare, quòd disponat omnia suauiter, & pertingat à fine vsque ad finē, fortiter. That he disposeth of all things sweetly, & yet reacheth, from one end to the other, with a hand of strength. His(a) 1.1 busines in this world, was to redeeme it, by his pretious bloud; the me∣rit wherof was to be applied to mens soules by faith, and loue; and that was to be rooted in them, by the preaching of his doctrine, & the administration of such Sacraments, as he came to institute, in that Church which he meant to plant. And because himselfe was to returne to his Father, and the reconciliation of man∣kind to God, was to contynue in acting, till the end of the world; he resolued vpon orday∣ning and sending Ambassadours into it, for that purpose.* 1.2 As Saint Paul affirmed after∣ward: Pro Christo ergo legatione fungimur &c. We Apostles and all Apostolicall men, are Ambassadours sent into the world, by Christ our Lord, for the recon∣ciliation of it to God.

The Hypostaticall Vnion, wherby the Di∣uinity of the second person of the B. Trinity was vnited to the humanity of Christ our Lord, gaue him power to doe what, and when he would. And he might haue called his Apostles either in his infancy, or afterward by only inuisible inspirations; or els, as foone as he meant to appeare in the office of teach∣ing. But to giue vs example how to carry our selues in all our actions, and especially in such as concerne the glory of God, and the good of soules; he would not enter vpon this busines, till himselfe had visibly beene bapti∣zed, and auowed by a voyce from heauen, to be the welbeloued sonne of God, in reward of that deepe humility, which he exercised by such an act as that. He also differred, to call them instantly after he was baptized; because at the first, they would not haue been fit, to accom∣pany him in such austerity, as he resolued to endure, in the desert. Whereby he also gaue vs a lesson, both to vse prudence and charity, when we haue cause to serue our selues of o∣thers. He was neuer in any danger of being distracted from God, in any one moment of his life; neither yet was he in doubt, but that he should call his Apostles in such sort, as would be most agreable to the diuine will; but yet, before he would vndertake it,* 1.3 he retyred him∣selfe into a mountaine all alone. And that blessed soule, spent the whole night in prayer, and(b) 1.4 therby he gaue vs an example, how in all things we were to haue recourse to God,

by that most holy exercise, as the means, wher∣by we might both get light for our vnderstan∣ding, and heate and strength, towards the ac∣cōplishing of his most holy will, by the obe∣dience of ours.

The same Lord God, who was the Creator of man, would needs also be his Re∣deemer. And for as much as he, had made him, & did well discerne all the windings and tur∣nings of his soule; he was able with admirable facility; & felicity to guid him according to his nature. With that skil he proceeded in the Voca∣tiō of his Apostles; some of whom he called by himselfe, and some were brought by others, whome formerly himselfe had called. Some he drew to him, by the force of some short & single speach; and others, by discourse, or dia∣logue, of greater length. And of S. Peeter it is said; in holy Scripture, that when S. Andrew had brought him to our Lord, he looked vpon him, which is not said of any other.* 1.5 Intuitus autem eum Iesus, dixit, Tu es Sinion, filius Ionae, tu vocaberis Caephas, quod interpretatur Petrus. Thou art Symon the sonne of Ionas, thou shalt be called Cae∣phas, which is, by interpretation Peter.* 1.6 Which word in Syriacke (and that was the language with our Lord did speake, and the only lan∣guage with S. Peter vnderstood at that tyme) doth signify aswel a Rocke as the name of a mā. And the word Intuitus est, doth implye that our Lord did enuisage, and looke in earnest manner, vpon his face. Which I hope we shall not thinke, but to haue bene, both done and

sayd, vpon some reason of great mistery; es∣pecially since we see, that he bespeakes him for the office of being a Rocke, wherupon next to himself, he would build his Church. In cō∣formity of which diuine purpose he affoarded him many most particular fauours; he cured his mother(1) 1.7 in law, in his house; he(2) 1.8 would needs teach men out of his ship; and (to omit those passa∣ges of holy Scripture, wherby(3) 1.9 he inuested him with that highest dignity in his Church, in expresse termes) he(4) 1.10 fetcht a miraculous tribute, out of the fishes belly, which he paid, not only for himselfe, but for S. Peter also, as for the heire of his house.

It had bene easy for him, to haue im∣ployed Angells in that ministery, to which he vouchsafed to depute S. Peter, & the rest of the Apostles; but the(c) 1.11 sweetnes of his prouidēce, did exact, that men, should gouerne men. The Angells who were impeccable, would neuer haue bene so attractiue of sinners to pē∣nance; for we should haue feared to approach to such humility & purity as theirs, with such frailty, and pride as ours. But our Lord was pleased to gouerne vs by men, who were ob∣noxious to our infirmities. That so, by the ex∣perience of what had passed in their ovvne soules, they might haue the more compassion of ours; and so we might also vvith the more probability of successe, aspire to their practise of vertue. And they, in the meane tyme, were to absolue vs, not only for once, or for an hundred or a thousand tymes; but for as often,

as we should sinne, if we grew afterward to be indeed truly penitent.

But yet, at least, since he would needs dispatch the great busines of gayning soules, by the meanes of mortall creatures, a man would haue thought (according to all dicta∣men of humain reason) that he should haue chosen, the most worthy, and well qualified persons aliue. Either for nobility and power, out of the Citty of Rome, which was the Em∣presse of the world; or out of the Prouinces of Greece, which was the Seminary of all mo∣rality and learning; or out of the citty of Hie∣rusalem, which the opinion of sanctity, & the maiesty of Religious rites, did easily outstrip all other places. But(d) 1.12 he, who afterward did condemne the pride, & pleasure of the world, vpon the Crosse; had before, in the choice of his Apostles, both confounded all discourse of flesh and bloud; and withall, he tooke care to magnify the attributes wherof I spake be∣fore, of his power, his wisedome, and his goodnes. By choosing (as S. Paul affirmeth) the meane things of the world, to confound the noble; the weake, to cō∣found the strong; and the things which scarse were thought to haue any substance, or being at all, to con∣found other things which seemed, as it were, to beard and braue the vvorld.

It is true, that he admitted of some few learned men for his Disciples, as Gamaliel, and Nathanael. And of some fevv, vvho vvere rich, and noble, as Lazarus, Nicodemus, and Ioseph of Arimathia; that so he might not seeme, to dis∣daine

nobility, and learning; but yet his A∣postles in a manner, vvere all, obscure, and poore, vnlearned men. Both because such persons are vvont to goe more vvillingly af∣ter the call of Gods holy inspirations; and partly also, yea and chiefely, to make the vvorld cōfesse, that vvhen it should see vvhole Prouinces subdued to the faith of Christ our Lord, by the preaching of his doctrine, out of such ignorāt mouthes as theirs vvere knovvne to be; it might be obliged to impute the same to no other cause, but the omnipotēt povver, of God the Father, the infinite vvisedome of God the sonne, vvho is Christ our Lord, and the inexhausted goodnes of God, the holy Ghost, vvhich was able to doe such vvon∣ders, by such weake instruments.

Novv that(e) 1.13 vvhich vvas heere fulfil∣led, in the person of the rude Apostles, vnder the lavv of grace; vvas punctually prefigured vnder the vvriten lavv, in the person of Moy∣ses, vvho vvas but a sheepheard, and a stam∣merer, and so could haue no grace, or guift of speech. But, Virtus Dei in infirmitate perficitur; The strength and power of God is perfected and pro∣claymed in the weakenes of man. And Moyses, could not be so vntovvard, either in fortune, or na∣ture, for the busines which God imployed him in; but the same God, could, vvith ease, doe those wōderfull things, by his meanes, which he designed, for the deliuery of his people, from the seruitude of Pharao. And this he wrought aftervvard in a more admirable mā∣ner,

by the ministery of his poore Apostles; in freing soules from the tyranny of the spiri∣tuall Pharao, which is the deuill.

The rebellious Angells, and our fraile forefather Adam, were grounded at the first, in great priuiledges both of grace, and nature; but through disobedience and pride, they all fell headlong downe. The Angells to hell, & Adam into a deepe darke hole, full of infirmi∣ty, and worldly care. But the Apostles, had their foundation, and first beginning in po∣uerty, ignorance, and simplicity; and in fine, in a being nothing of themselues. And now as the pride of the former, was abased; so the humility of these latter (as we shall see in the Chapter following) was exalted by the holy and mighty hand of God; whose name be e∣uer blessed, for the glory which he giues him∣selfe, by his owne goodnes.

Notes

• (a) 1.1

  The end of the Incarna∣tion and Passion of Christ our Lord.
• * 1.2

  2. Cor. 5.
• * 1.3

  Luc. 6.
• (b) 1.4

  The soueraig∣ne excel∣lency and vse of prayer.
• * 1.5

  Ioan. 2.
• * 1.6

  Ibid.
• (1) 1.7

  Luc. 4.
• (2) 1.8

  Luc. 5.
• (3) 1.9

  Matt. 16. Ioan. 21.
• (4) 1.10

  Matt. 17.
• (c) 1.11

  The sweet prouiden∣ce of our Lord.
• (d) 1.12

  Why our Lord made not choyce of the noble, wise, or learned men of the world for con∣uersion therof. 1. Cor. 1.
• (e) 1.13

  How Moyses, in some res∣pect, was an extract of the A∣postles 2. Cor. 2.