IPrefumption thebane ofmans foulc. the fecond Sondayiii Lent. Ser.16. pent at leifure. The Sinner hecomplainesof the fhortnefleofhis life; 21ósnati firkflatim defiuimuseji,Wearenofoonerborne,butrieearecutdown'andgone. The righteous mancomplaines,That hispilgrimage heerevponEarth is too long ; Neumihi,yuia incolatua metaprolongatua ell. But the truth is, That thou makeft thy lifeshort, bybeing forgetful! of theend forwhich itwas giuen thee. God gaue it thee to gaine Heaucn, and thoumifpendeft it in worldly bufinefïes ; fo thatthough lifebe little,the Ioffe is much. IfThou beeft borne tobe rich , ho- nourable, andmuch made of thouwouldit thinke the yearesof thy life to bee buta few, in regardof thegreat delire that thou hafttoenioy thofe thyearthly bleffings : Butif thoubeeft bornefor Heauen,Whowill faythat hewants time (though heliuebut a few yeares) toprepare himfelfe for that journey.Fromthe Cradlemanyyoung innocent Babeshaue been' bornevp to Heauen , and yet their yeares areneuer awhit the leffe,but themore. And fome, themore yeres theyhaue,the more is their hurt: For,that day(faithS.Gregory)thou muff reckon amongft thofe ofthy life,whichthoufoundefl did makefor thy Souleshealth. He wenttofraud . Not to forget his Vine, for thatwas alwayes before his eys;but forto thewthe greattruft Sc confidencethat hehadin thefehis Farmers and Renters, and tooblige them thereby the more vntohim : For that lord that trufts little, ticsamanthe lefl. When God had deliuered ouèrParadife vnto Adam,and quietly feared himin the peaceablepoffeffionofit, it is Paid, That he forthwith vanifhed and went his way. Hee that is Matter ofan eftate háth not his eye continually vpon his feruants , for that would fauour more ofa tyrant than a matter. That husband that alwayes ftayes at home, and neuer goes outofhis houle, is extreame wearifometohis wife ; but if hebegin once to miftrufther,peraduenture thewill not iticke togiue him suitcanfe fo to doe. That Prelat which is alwayes gagging and pricking the fidesofhis fub- ieEts, is an intollerableburthen : And Dauid himfelfe complaines thereof, lay- ing, Impofaiflihominem fuperCapita noflra. Saint Luke and Saint (Mathew cite twoParables, ofMailers that did recommend to their feruants the charge of theirhouleandoftheir wealth ; and fay, Thatprefently thereupon theyabfen- ted themfclues,and went into farre and remote Countries. Elquefiamucho,obligamucho;Hethat trufteth much, obligeth much. lofeph held himfelfe fo much boundvntohis mailer, in thathetrufted himwithall that hehad ; that hefaid,beingtemptedbyhisMiffreffe, &omodopoffumpeccare con- tra Dominant meum, How canIpronefttchavillain to my Maher, as to wronghim inhis Loue, whohath loued mefo well t Saint Paul writes toTimothie, That he thought himfelfe exceedinglybound totheferuice ofour Sauiour Iefus Chrift, that he hadordainedhim aPreacher,and an Apoftle, and aTeacher oftheGen- tiles, inFaith andveritie ; and thathe had trufted him with theminiftrie andde- fenceof his Church, beingthat hehadperfecutedandblalphemed himhereto- fore. YoungTobias Paidvnto the Angell Raphael, Albeit I fhould fpend all my life in thy feruice, yet thould I not fatisfie that obligation which I haueto ferue thee. Thefe are therefpeetsofnoble brefts ; andhe that(hall thinke vpon thefe things truly,mayconfider with himfelfe, howmuch greater benefits & fauours he hath receiued from Gods hands. He went intoafore countrie. Hegot him away to1-kauen, where ( for the loue which he bearesto his Vine) hethinkes himfelfea franger. The Difciples whichwenttoEmaus laidvnto him, Tufolue peregrimu in Ieruf lem ? Art thou on- lya //rangerin Ierufalem ? Wherein they fpake truer than they were aware of; calling himby thename ofStranger, when as hee was now glorified : For,as Y 3 long 217 Trutt is euer the fureft rye. Luke. r9. Math. i,. i.Tim. z. y.
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