Fallefriends where. unto compared. the fourth Sunday inLent. Sèr.3ó: 509 Ghee haddone him byfreeing his life froma trcafon that was plotted agaiiift him ; butvlliserus hadquite forgot it. But God is fo faire from forgetting fuch feruices, that he vfeth toaffumevnto himfelfeaname from the feruice that theydoe him : he laidvnto laceb, lam theGodofBethelwhere thon anxeintedfl the Piller,where thou vawedfla row -untome. Correfponding with that of Malachie, Scriptes ell liber monumenticorameo, Antsabookeofrememhrance waswritten.Ano- nother letter hathit Recordationtr, agreeing.with the common Tranflation. ourfriend Lazarusfleepeth,&c. What aftrangekindof thing is this, that La- zarus being deadfhould find friends e For it isthe courfe oftheworld, to hold him our friend that hues inplentie, profperitie, andenioyeshis health ;but not that a ficke man, nay a dead man,fhouldfinda friend, &c. lob made it his com- plaint, Myfriends and familiaracquaintancefarfoakeme,andwouldnot looke uponme inmymilrte : And hedrawes his comparifon oftheir fudden departure, from thofe downefallsof water in theWinter, which glide awaywithall the fpeed that may be. Salomon compares them to a rotten tooth, anda wearie foot. The Harlot is likewife the hierogliphyckeof farefriends ; wholeembraces andkif- fesare likethofeof. iudas, for money : your aicke-filuer is likewifea fimbole ofthe fame, which forfakeththe gold in the Chrifoll ; there are all of them things that faile in the time of need. TheWorld bath not any one thing wher- of it ismorevnmindfull, than theDead ; obliuioni datsrsfim, tampon mortuusà corde, O,that the Dead ibould he forgotten by that heartwhichgaue it life ! and that he fhould be forgotten by his friend, whoplaced him in honour and in ri- ches. Inaword, by howmuchthe more miferieincreafeth in the world,byfo much the morefriendfhipdecreafeth.SaintChryfofiaatte faith,Thatthebeft friend that euer was,afcendedvp vntoHeauen. Saint cí4ugufline, That a friend is like aPhyfition that loues the Patient , and hates his difeale ; but if Death come betwixt him andhome, his skill is at an end ; forhe thatcanrecouer health,can- not recouerlife : this is onely referuedfor our Sauiour Chrift, who is medica- mentous vita, immortalitatisgratia. This PhyfitionRilesLazarso,hls friend, in health, in fckeneffe, and indeath. Manus elm tornatiles. That Artificer which leuelshis workeby his eye, commonlygoes crookedly to worke, andcommits many difproportions ; buthe that workes in a wheele as Turners doe, or in a Preffe as yourPrinters, keepes a continuall eueneffe and equalitie, in frckenefl'e and inhealth, inprofperitie andaduerfitie, inWinter and inSommer; and fuch anArtifanwas our Sauiour Chriftin all his actions. ourfriendLazarusfleepeth, &c. It is anordinarie Language in Scripture, to call Death,Steepe; whither it bethe deathof the foule,or the bodie. To him that was dead in the foule, Saint Paul faith, vlrifethouthatfleepefl,ec. Some finners arefo foundafleepe, thatneither lights, loud calling nor ¡hogging of them canawakenthem ; Percuffifor, & nondoluerunt, l fmote them,and theygrieued not. Saint ...ilugaflineconfeffethofhirnfelfj,Thathe lay long in thisLerhargy; anddefcending tovices inparticuler, he faith, That God calling vponyour Theeues; fortohaue them tomake reftitution ;vpon your reuengefull natures, that they,fhould not feeke reuenge ;atidvponyour Senfualifts,that they lhould leaue off thistheir beaftlycourfe of life : fomeofthem anfwer,That theycan- not ; others, That they dare not. Other Sinners there are that heare God in theirfleepe,taking their dreames tobe reuelations ;confideringwith thernfelues, That God is woont to (peak a in dreames and invifions ; For Gad feaketh once or twice in dreamer andvifionsofthe night, whenfleepefallethvpoirmen,and they fleepe vpon theirbeds, then he opencth the cares ofmen by the correétioris which Vu 3 he Gen.9 t.tj: Ma/acb.3.16. Death,whi ther temporali orfpirituall, called a Sleep, & that fitly. iob.33,
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