Thebenefit of Light the fourthSonday in Lent. Ser. ;t. Theone,The libertie and life of theAdultteffe; for the freeingof whofne; hedifcouered the fecret inns of heraccufèrs , leauingthem not onely amafed and afhamed, butagrieued andoffended : andit feemeth that he anfwers to this their complaint,Ego/ion Laxmandi. Of force the Lightmuft driue away Da. k- neffe,anddifcouer tnofe fecrets whichare hiddenvnderthecloakeofthe night: This isthe argument of that Parable, No man ltgbtetha candle, andputteth tt vn- der abajhell, batfts it ona candlrJIrcke,tbat st maygiutlight toallthat are to the houle. My Father did not fendthis Torch into the worldto put itvnder a bufheli,and therefore you neednotto be foangrie,or thinke youare wronged. Oneofthe fearefulleft accidents that euer was or (hall be feene, was, That the Light corn - ming into the world, andall other creatures remainingfo rap't with fudden joy at this fo richa treafure, Man only fhouldPhut his eyesagainst his owngood,gi- uing Teremie Tuft caufeto crie out, Standallotsflied,ôyee Heattens,at this, That the Thirftie fhould defpife the Fountainsof the watersof Life, and that the Blind fhould miflike the Light. Whofoeuer (faithSaint Bernard) hadbut feene our Sauiours teares, fighs, and fufferings, andall for our finnes, and to redeems vs from damnation , would haue fworne, nonewes couldbee fo welcome as the Comm ingof this Sunneof Righteoufneflè,to illuminate the world,and to ligh- ten thofe that fate in darkeneflè. ButasyourQiaile rages when the Sunne ri- feth ; and,as Pliniefaith ofthe Athlantes, That theycurie it with a thoufandcur- fes, becaufe it parcheth andburns vp theirgrasfe ; and as thofe(faith lob) that fifhforWhales,dde curfethe day ; and as bee that isafleepeis offended when the light awakes him, andas weake& infirme eyes cannot indure thebeanies of theSunne 5 fo thefe Pharifees were offended andgrew veriehot and angrie, that the glorious Light of our Sauiour Chrift shoulddifcouertheir fines. Somemanperhapsmayaskeence this hatredgrowes ! Saint John refolues W it thus, As in the naturali orld amongft birder and beafts there aremany that cannot indurethe light ofthe day,&comming in the night out of their canes & holes,feeketheirfood in darkenes,according to theProphet,They jeeke itfrom God,Butwhen the Sun begins to peepforth,he (huts them vp in their dennes,and makes themaffraid tofhow their heads : fo inthe Morali World,therearechil- dren ofdarkenesand ofthe night,which cannotabide the lightof the day, That their AFlions may not becalled into gaellion. The-night is the inners cloake ; The Light, the Heraldthat proclaimesall humaneAltions;& fuchare thefe ofthere men, that theyhaue not the face to come abroad,or toftand inthe light. And therefore whileft our Sauior Chrift was-writingon the ground with his finger the fins ofthofe that accufed theAdultereffe, they fneaked thence,and fhrunke awayoneby one, vnmpoll vnam. It feemeth a thing impoflible, that the Light beeing fo lonely and fo ami- able, fo faire andfo beautifull,that any man fhould hate andabhorre it,andcurie and damne it tothe pitof Hell. But it fhould feeme (methinkes) mtich more impoffible, that this LightbeeingGod himfelfe, that mans eye fhouldfind any thing in ir,that may draw onadiflikeand hatred thereunto. But Saint Johnpon- dering thediftafted palat ofa finner,faith,They lowedDarkencffemore than Light. And the booke of Wifedome renders the reafon thereof, Docnot youmar- uaile that we fhouldabhorre it, feeingthat the Light dothdifcouer vnto vs the fouleneffe of our hues, the treafons andtrecheries of our hearts andbofomes, whichwee feekingto coucr with the nightsmantle, it propofèth vs to the open viewof the world,and to the fhameof theday, ocuheradulteri (faith Job) 0/fir- :tat caliginem, The eye of theadultererwaitethfor the twilight. They ¿gge thrlugb X x a bones 519 The reafon why tome hate and fhuane it lohn6. fob. so.
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