Ch~p~~~tt. 2. jj..,CO"!itng unto "jldtt.S'. Book LV. 363 that they were directed herein by Divine providence, declaring plainly againft them– felves, that Chri!l: lhould rnher have been abfolved as an mnocent, than condemned ·as a malefactor. ---But to leave thefe myfteries, the meanmg of He~od was not fo much to declare his excellency, or innocency, as hiS folly, or !imphctty; cenarnly he accounted him for no other than a very fool, and ideot, a palling !Jmple man. Ti1e Philofophers (fayes Terw//ian ) drew him in their piEinres, attired by Herod, li/,s " fool, with long affcs ears, his nflils rluckfd off, and a_book tn hH hand, &c, Oh 1)1arveiJous madnef~ 1 oh the ftrange mt!l:akes of men! m Ius ltfe ttme they account Jf!w a Mat.,,. '9· glmton, a drink!r of wine, acompanion of ji1mers : a blafphem~r, a foreerer, and one that Mork '· 7·. cajl out devils through Beiz.<bub Pri:'ceof devils.: yea, and onet?at {,imf:lfwaopojfejJed Mjo~;,;:·~4· with a devil. And now towards hJS death he IS bound as a tluef, he ts !truckm the 4 houfe of Caiphao as an arrogant and faucy fellow, he is accUCed before the Sanhedrim of blafphemy; he is brought before Pilate as a malefactor, a mover of [edition, a feducer, a rebel, and as one that afpired to the Kingdom; he is tranfmitted unto Herod as aJugler to /hew tricks; and now in the clofe of all he is accounted, of Herod and his men of war, as a fool, an ideot, a bruir, not bavin!( ihe underftauding of a man. But foft Herod; is Cbri!\ therefore afool, becaufe be Is !ilent? and ayr thou wife, becaufe of thy many words, and many queftions? Solomon a wifer man tllli'nHerod, is of another mind: In the wmltitudeof words tlnre wanteth 110t jin, but ~e that Pcov. ro: t9• refraineth hi.< lips is wife. Again, he that hath kpowledge (parerh'hi.s IVords, aiiC} t! m,an l?rov, 17· '7• of underjfanding u of t1 cool (pmt ; even a fool•when he holde~h hu peace u counted wife:, >8. and he that flmtteth hi.< lips i< ejleemedaman of under)landing. Ah poor Herod, confult thefe was, and then tell me who i• the fool ,? what? thou that fpeakeft many word!, and que!Honefl about maoy things whkh in .time will turn to thy greattr condemnation . or Chri!l Jefus that was deeply !ilent to t_he worlds eternarfalvation? Paul was ~f another fpirit, and o~ another judgment concerni.ng Cbrif\, in him was f0•wledge; nor is that all, in whom was w,i(dqm and ' k_nowl<dge; nor' is that:all, in him were trcajims and all mafures of wifd9m, ~~d knowled~e; In him are 'ftda/1 the col. ,, 3, treajims of wi(dom and kfiowledge; and yet that IS not all I,Jett,her, not only IS wtfdom in him, but he is wifd•m it felf (for that is his naine and ·title in the book of Proverbs) and yet by Herod and his Courtiers he is reckoned, .arrayed;- apd derided as a meerlimple man. . .. ;b . · 2. They difmift him; in this pol\ure they fent him away again (o.J'ilate, to all their former deri!ion they added.this, that now he was expofed in fcorn tO the boyes of the !lreets. Herodwould not be content that he and his meo of war only lhould fet himat naught~ but be fends him away through the·more publick, and eminent ftreets of [eru· falcm, mhts whtte ga~ment, to he [corned by the people; to be hooted at by idle per– fons ; And now was fulfilled thel'rophelie of ~brill, l ,WM d,qerijion tQ, all mY-Pioplc, and thcir(ongalltheday. . ·. L,m. 3,I4• Of this let us make fome ufe. Was the e~ernal Word of God, and the uncreated V'Ji wifdom of the Father r,epuied a fool?· nq wonder if we fu!fet?ithoufands of,•re~¥6aches; e. Weare"!ade a fpefl:acleuritotheworld, andt~ Angels,andtomen; weare'fools.'f'o'r Chrijf's 1 Cor: 4. 9 , fakff, fatrb the ApofHe.---we are made".,u the filth of the'w•rid, and·are-the off-fcouring 10. 13. of all things unto thi.s day. Chrifiians mufi 'wear the badge and livery tlf Je(us Chrift; we cannot expect ~o fare better than our Mafier, why then lhould we defpond? I never knew Chnfitans mbetter heart, than wh~n they were !tiled by tl!C name of Fttritans, Precifians, Hypocrites, Forrnalift•, or the like. .• · • · ' · ' ... . z · Let us not judg~ of. men and their worth by th~iP out!ide garme~ts .~ wifdom may b~, and often \S clad m tbe coat of a fool. As beggarly bottles ott-nmes hold rich wmes, fo poor robe> contain fometiines many precious foul~; in right judgment we fhould look only to the mind, and foul, and in!ide of aman, yea, to the hidden man of · the heart: and for our fdves, we G 1 ould look to the inwaYd, and not to tbe outward adormng: men, and women efpeciaUy have rules for this, Tour adornin~ let it not be I? that outrvard odorning, of plating the hair, and of we~ring of Gold,_ or of p~tting on of ap1 et. l· 3 ' 4 • pare/;, bM let tt be tn the hzdden man of the heart, m that whzch u not corruptible. Oh what ts '.tfor a man to be,cloathed in gold, whiles his foul is wretched, andmiferable, and poor, and blmd, and naf<!d? Nn 3. Let
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=