Nothing mote perniciousto the firft Sunday inLent. Seríiá.8. Man, thanhis owneWill. if y that he wil fulfil ourwil,&our feeking after that good,from which we ought to flie. Hence it commeth to paffe,That our owne will is the Leuenofour owne hurt , as alfo of Gods wrath and difpleafuretowards vs. And Thomot renders the reafon thereof; for Volunt tc in bomine eft Regina petentiarum humanarum, Mans Will is the Beeneofhumanefaculties : Towhotè charge is committed the treatingand obtainingof our defired ends ; and is fo abfolute aSoueraigne,that although theVnderftanding be in it felfefo noble,as nothing more ; it ipeaketh vnto it bymeniorialls, and reprefenting thereunto the reafonof that which Thee propoundeth vnto it, in theend the comes to follow her owne liking. And for- afmuch as DiuineWill isthatvniuerfall Empreffe, againft whomnone ought to difplay their Banner ; fhe findsher felfe efpecially offended, and counts it akind of high treafon,that humaneWill fhould rebelagainft her,there beingnoother Wil neither inheauen,nor inearth,more than theWil ofGod: Andthis Leffon we arc taught in our Pater- nofler,Thy Kingdomecome ; thyWillbe done in earth,aa it is inhearten. The earth is thyKingdome,as well as the heauen; andtherefore,thy Will be done in earrh,as it is inheauen. Nowthe Scribes and Pharifees grow- ing into competition with the Will of God,faying Volumau ; it is nomeruaile, that our Saui our fhould fayvnto them, Generatiomala,- adultera,&c. Gregorie Nile')faith,That aswe areall wounded inParadice, byour Father Adam,by that fore poyfonof Difobedience and by thefwordofour owne Selfe-will;foare we allhealed by ourobedience ro the Will ofGod, which is thegraue & fepul- chre (as Clinsachwbath it) of our proper Will ;and this we dayly crane in thefe words , Thy Willbe done. And Petra( Chry[logiat doth bewaile the wretched eftate of this World , for it's fulneffe of Sclfe-loue. We atouldfe afagnefrom thee.What r Werenot thofemiracles fufficientwhich our Sauiour had done alreadie e Theymighthaue fatisfied the Vnderftanding, but they couldnot fatisfie the Will. S.lohnwas theLighr,and many were chee- redwith it, [Exultaueruntin limefins ; ] but the Will ftood not affeEted there- vnto. AndDeastronomic faith, That Godwrought great lignes and wonders in robaa s. Deut. sr. /Egypt, but the Children of Ifraellhadnotaheartrovnderftandthem, Et non Nothing dedit vobis corintelligent. Which isall one with that which Dauid deliuereth in fomewhat darker words, voxDomini intercidentieflammam ignis. For God is woont in the fire,to diuidethe light from the flame, giuing lightto the Vnder- blo pMnta. thanthco- belting of (landing, but not fire to the Will. That therefore now a dayes in the Church there should be fo many Sermons, fomany Preachers, fo muchLight,andfo lit. tie Fruit thereof; the reafonofitis,That theVnderftanding is informed,but the Gods Win. \Vil is not conformed;the former beingcontented,butthelatternotconuinced. TheDeuill didendeauour, that our SauiourChrift fhoulddoeamiraclefanefru- tlutonogood in theWorld, whenhe lay at him to turnethe (tones into bread ; which might haueamafed his Vnderftanding, but not haueabated hisWill.And theScribes and Pharifees like the Sonnes of fuch a Father, takingthis their Seife-will from theirSire, place therein their chiefeft foelicitie. GregorioNifn faith, That when that lafciuious Ladietookeholdof rofepht cloake, and kept it í{i11in herhands, andwould notlet itgoe,a manwould haue thought, that bee might haue efcaped fromher tohis leffe colt : Butthe Deuill,who had put that Will into her, had likewife put to hishelping hand, in makingher takehold on his cloake : And againfttwo Deuills,one incarnate, andanother fpiritual, What can aholyyoungman doe leffe, than leauehis cloakebehindhimt From whence I inferre a conclufionof no (mallconfequence, That one of the greateft things that God had to doe in theWorld, wasto affectionate our Will.
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