279 / 1254
Sermon
8.
~nd
FAsTING.
magnanimity
that was in the
FAthers
ofour
faith
; (The
ApoJJ!e
beares themwimelfe,
that
to theirp01vers,
nay, and
beyond thetrpowerschey
fhewed themfdves willmg;) any ,
cor.l.
j;
never fo poore
fmit
would not content us. But we, neither to our power,nor a great
dealc fl
10
rc ofit, cndevour our fdves : any never fo lleight, and llender will fcrve us
\vell enough.
.
.
.
. •·
Iwonderwhatwcthinke~
Doewethmhtopoll: GoD offw1thany, 1tsk1lsnot
\vhat
fmit?
with
rvind-fals,
with
worme-.eatenjfrejft?
E
s
AY_
n
s
fowre grapes?
Is
R •·
l!fay.p;
" 1 ES
rotten figges?
Nodung
c~mesarmlfe
..H0ld
weHmJ
m
fo vtle account, as any
!O<em.,...,;
is good enough for
Him;
it is well WlthHtm, 1fHe get any
~.
t.Malachnells
us
othe~-
Mal.r.B.
wle,Thathe holdsit ingreatfcorne:
b1ds
usgoe offer frech frzuts
t~o11r
Prmce:
and fee1f
He willtake it well. Zachary
tells us fo ltkew.fe:
Agoodly prtce(Calth
he)
they value mee
zoe. u.
7
j';
at. Goodly fmit,
is it not, thcyprefent me
with~
Nay (Cure) we mull:
havedignostoo.
-
SiJtJJe worth
there would be.
. Is' there any other way
eo
take our
dignos
by? Compared with
thelt1Jice
o~
Go
o;
·
Notfo:
NorwiththegreatHer~esofournature;
Notfone1ther. Nor
(md<:!cd)
aretheyfaid
worthy,
ofeither ofthefe; bur
how~
Only!
fmits tvorthy ofrepentance:
that is,fuch as may well befeeme perfons,as be truly
pemtent.
Referred notto ought,
but
to
repentance
it felfe. Laying by
ftn,as
it is an
averjion
from an
injimt~g_ood:
(For,
foit is
infinite
; admitS no
meafrere
or
degree;)
but,-
con~dermg
lt, as1t
IS
a
conver.
wnrothecre<tterc,
and that more or lelfe: fo, it falls within compaffe ofmore or lelfc:
worthy.
Say I this
of
my felfe
~
Saith not GoDs
Law
the lame
fectend#m mcnJNram
.t:fli-
Leviq.
,~;
mationemque delifli,
and
pro menJurapeccati
i
Is it not·
a
claufe there, repeated more
.·
than
once
Ifthere be a
meafrtre
ofthe one, fo is there
ofrhc~ther
: Ifan
analogic
of~::~~:~.
faith, ofrepentanceroo,
why
not~
And,co that,we to applyourfclves,mthe
magii
or
· · –
mimls dignos
ofour
fruits.
This is once :
Repent~tnce
may be
too much,
one may goe
toof.me in it: That, will be granted
(I
know.) And, iftoo much,' then
too little
;and
we may fall
too
j1
1
erttheotherway _(that, I am Cure of.) Which part we 1hould offend
on(tochoofe)
iy••
m
<i)"vd•1"'"Wlllfoonetea~hus,
thatuwouldbeehom6.· rather,
with the
more
then with
theleff'e.
In the
Corinthian's
cafe there it was
too much;
hee
>Cor.
i,:;;
was in dangerto
befwallowed
"P
with{orrow. In Miriam'sca[e
againe, it
wasJoolitt!e:
N -
Fov,
though fl1ewerenght
p1mtent
for her
folly
committed, yet becaufe the
qua!tt;
of
um.~~·'f·
her
offence
required a large and more
worthy repentance,
1hewas
Jbut out oftlie hojt
yet
fevcn dayes longer,and rhen,and not before, received to pardon.
Ifthere be
anultro~
and a
cztra,rhen
IS
there a
temu:
[f
too m11ch
and
too little,
then is there
a
frefftcit
,enough. ,
And, that, is the
dignos
we feeke for.
. ,
Bur who fl1all tell us, this tenunvhat it-is
~
Who {hall fay
S~efficit
?
I thinkeJt
is
·:
~
not bdho f.1y Jt to om felves ;
~t
is not Cafe, that, We are like enough to give eare
.
to
propztuu cflotzbz,
to fpareand favom our felves, and to thinke_that
worthy,
that
~s
Mat, ,
1 , ,
3 ;
nor ·to d1fm1lfe the matter With
a
doe no morefo,
never to follow Jt to fenterace. Or,1f
, ,· ·
we
doe, torepnvc
our felvcs, and ll:ay the
·execution.
lt
hatb been held no way·fafe ,,
.
for us, to make our owne
a/Jelfwent :
and as
fafe
a wa)7 as could bee, would
ever
~ce r~kcnfor
thefoule.
Bmer,fome other
body
doe it: and, who fhaU that'other
bo~
ybee~
.
.
,,
,
h
In the
Law,every
man was not tefrto himfelfe.
Theoffiringforfln
(~vhich
wasto
~-em
a
frrmof repentance)lt
was rated cvcr,ever taxed,:l"ly:J by the Priell:. AccoiF-
.
.
10 gtohisordering, fo invent: he made theefiimate, -how much was enough, \vhar
twt.pf,
would ferve. And here now, in Saint
John's
time (whichwas the
interval!
or palfage
as~twere,
between the
Law
and the
Gojjell;)
atthe
ba'p·tifmeof John
they knew not
w
at to doe,rhey were not fowell skilled;
to
Saint
Iohn,they
come with their
qt~idfa·
Pcm:'
1
"'?
What lhall
we
do~
And what fl1all we
doe~
All-three
on~
after another, the
Lulq.t~: ,~·
reo team
rh
s
Id"
-
O
[
'
e
ou
ters'
the
Common fort
; and they·had all their anfwers
feverally :
••·
~e ~\wereferved
not all:
Several!kinds offin
require feverall forts of
fruit.
And,
~het
t
elGofPell,
there (wef.Ce)fonheCO>·inthian,SaintPaulfaid
Sllfjicitvirohuic:
- c
".
"'
mt~e>"
enough,
thisfl1all ferve : bis"confciencemay be
qui~t,
I rell:ore him to
~
2'·':--•'
Z 3
the