Sinners are flaues to the r anon. the fecondSunday inLent. Ser.t6. Thouhaft made themfubieEt to their finites, theycan doe no more thanwhat Gnnefnallcommand them to doe : Ifit bid them kill,they flail kill ; iffteale they(hall fteale. In a word, Sinne is their Lord,and theyare Sinnes flaues. And therefore the Scripture termeth thofe that are great Sinners, Vendidos, Men that are fould oiler vnto finne. Efay puts this namevpon Achab,lamfouldtoftnne:and thofe whodenied God, his Law,or their Countrie, & did take part with thofe their enemies that were Infidells ; the firft booke of the c titacabees regiftreth themforSlaws that had f uldthemfelues suer vntofinne. The like faith Saint Pàul of thofe who remaine captiucs to the Deuill, and that follow after his will ; A quocaptiuitenemuradipfusvaluatatem. Out of whole fnare wee muff come td amendment,and not bufferour felues tobe takenofhim at his will. Andthe Inheritancefhall be ours . The Sinner fumming vp his wickedneffe, thinkes he hath made a iuft andgood account : So, PharaohpurfuingGods Peo- ple, made this Purereckoning with himfelfe 5 Perfguar, Twillfollow them, take them, andfpoyle them,andmy Soule /hall haue it'sdefsre vponthem.So did itfare with thefe Farmers,they had callvp their reckoning, and madefull account that the Inheritance fhouldbetheirs : They haddeftroyed his People, hisTemple, his Vineyard, his Syon,hisProphecies, his Miracles, his Priefihood, his Arke, his Authoritie, and his Glorie; What could they well doe more, tomake them- ['clues Lords of all a But,Conuerteturdolor einein caput eine ; They (hall beeouer taken in their owne wickedneffe, and this mifchiefe fhall light vpontheir owne heads. Et eyeeerunt eumextra Vineam. And they 4 himout of thevineyard . They caft him out of' the Vineyard and flewhim. Saint Chryfofiomefaith, Thattheycaft him outof the Vineyard, that his blondmight not defile it:Vfrnghim herein likeaLeaper; whichwas no more thanwas prophecied by Efay, Stand apart, come notnrereme,for Iam holier than thou. The Lewes were fodaintie, that whenWas repentedhimofwhat he had done, and returned them theirmonyagain, they wouldnone of it ; It isnot lawful!firvstoput thismoney into the Treafurie ,becaufeit is, the price ofblond. Aed theydid not onely expreffe their hypocrifiein this particular; but they would not likewife enter intothe Pratorium,orCommon- Councell houle, That they might not bedefiledwithhis companie. And here in thisplace, They raft himout of the vineyard; but the Diuine prouidence,which did with amore efpeciall hand guide that a&ion, did foorderthe bufrneffe, that the bloud of our Sauiour Iefus Chrift fhould be fliedoutofthe Vineyard, becaufeit fhouldnot hinder the de- ftruEtion and defolation thatwas to come vpon that wretched & accurfed City. For,if lerufalemfhould hauebeene befprinkledwiththebloud of this Lambe, the Angel would haue paffbyir,andthe Roman power fhouldnot hauebin able tohaue ruined it andlaid it leuell with the ground. Theycaft himlikewifeout oftheVineyard,for toinrich the Landofthe Gen- tiles ; hisblond, which fpakebetter things than that ofAbel,being fliedin their fauour, and for theirgood. Theglorious DoEtor Saint Ambrafefaith, That the Field whichCaine drew out Abel into,was badandbarrenground; it being Gods pleafure that that place fhouldbe vnfruitfull,whereinthat blondlhould be flied that was tocrie for vengeance. But for the blond of our molt bleffed Sauiour and Redeemer,Iefus Chrift; howbeit it feIlamong (tones; yet becaufeit fpake betterwords than that ofAbel, as alfo for that from the Croffehe poured down his benediEtion vpon it, they loft theirbarrenneffe. Saint Augafiine faith, That Z as 265 r.Mac.i. :. Tip. s. Sinnersare shall, taken in their owne Snares. Why the blood of Chris' was not flied in the Vineyard EA/ 6$. S Math. 2r.-6.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=