No good,whichwe efteeme not more thanGod, the fupreme good. Sonday in Lent. Stir, 25. fhould hauefaid , If thou wilt not bellow vponmet thebleflingsof the earth, . keepe tholeof heaueu to thy felfe ; if Imay notenioy the pleasures &delights of thisworld, letvertue andgooduefle for =pea begging, Icare not for it. Many makevfeof Godas they doeof aFelt, to defend them from the Sunne andtheraine, which heats and ftormes being ouerpaft , they hang it vpagainft thewall; feruing Godas many feruants feruetheir Matters not to much for loue,as gaine. And this arifethfrom hence, that theyknow no other good faue that which their fences let before them, and this is the marke whereat they !hoot. And hence it followeth,that in thepredicament ofthofe things that aregood, God ofall other is the molt difefteemed,andleaft accounted of. Accordingto that of Saint vluguf rne, amniadiligimru , amnia aanan:xs, & fetus whir villa eft Dew. For the good of this life, men will doe much more thanthey will for God ; they will goe I knownot howmany leagues, forceby fea,othersby land, for thefe temporall refpects, but will fcarce !titre afoot out of doores for Gods feruice. Iftheywould but takehalle that paines for their faluation,asthey doe fortheir damnation, they would all of thembe SaintedinHeauen. Our of the pleafure that fume take inhunting, they care not whither theyeat ornofor two orthree days together ; but itgoes again[ their ftomacks to fall but one day for Gods fake. Out ofthe delight that tometake inplay,or in rounding the !freers, they will fcarce flcepe in thirtie nightsone after another ; but will not watch one inhumbling themfelues vpon their knees,and praying vnto God Forthefe worldlyvanities theywill not í'ticke toimpawne their wholeeftate, but itgoes againftthe haire withthem, tofpend fomuch as one poore Royal! in Gods fer- uice. VponaPrince, orthe PrincesFauourite, theywill makeno bonesrobe- flow force great andcoftly Prefent, but grudge tooffer vp to God a poore hun. get-namedLambe. Ofthefe kindofmen c.Malachie mach complaìneth, Yee offer the lame andthe ficke, and yee fnuffeat it whenyee haue done, and thinke yee hauebeene attoogreat charges withGod, as if the wortsofyour Flocke were not goodenough for him. Caligulagaue to therepairingof the Wallsof Rome fixe thousandSextercios, which ate fifteene thousand Crownes ; andvp- on oneofhis Miftreffes hee bellowed as many Sextercios to buy her a Kittle, making his Whore equals incoft with the Commonwealth: Tibrflipeccaui, malum coram :efeci : Thefewords ofDauid are diuerfly commented ; but one ofthe fences vpon that place is this, OLord I haue onelyoffended thee, againft thee onlyhaue I finned, thee onely I defpifed ; Iwas careful thatthe peo- ple might not come tothe knowledge of thismy fume, and that it might be hid fromYri ushis houle; Iwas more fearefull of mens eyes, than I was of thine, which are br ghter than the Sunne. And hereunto didthat holy King Dauidal- lude in his 48 Pfalme, Wherefore /heuld r[care in the 'still dayes, when ¡ni. guitie 'hailcompaffe meabeut,asat myneholes?That fnnnewhich hemade leafs tee - koningof andcall behind him as it were at his heeles,were thofecords that did molt wring him. It was an old Prouerbe , oculushabet inIdea ; that which bee fhouldhaue mademoft reckoning of, heput it vnderthe foieof his fhooe : but God, whom hee fiwuld haue efteemed about all, him hee made leali ac- countof. When relies lifted vpbit eyes andfan+, Vic. Saint MathewandSaint markeboth fay, Thathe went, together withhisDifciples,into aßarke, and that hee croft ouer tothe Defert whichwas on theother fide fthe Riuer,and the peoplethat followed him, takingnoticeof thevoyagethathewas tomake, whither it were that 431 Ma:ach.r. No labouror colt morete- dious toman, thanthat which is be flowed vpon Religion. 1
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=