Haue ye no Regard? &c.

TO cease this Complaint, and to graunt this Request: we are to Re­gard: and that we may Regard, we are to Consider the paines of his Passion. Which, that we may reckon no easie com­mon The parties to whom. matter of light moment, to doe, or not doe, as we list: First, a generall stay is made O all ye that passe by the way, Consi­der. of all passengers, this day. For (as it were from his Crosse) doth our Sauiour addresse this his speech to them that goe to and fro, the day of his Passion, without so much as entertaining a thought, or vouchsafing a looke that way. O vos qui transitis! ô you that passe by the way, stay and Consider. To them frameth he this speech, that passe by: To them, and to them all. O vos omnes, qui transitis, ô all ye that passe by the way, stay and Consider.

Which very stay of his, sheweth it to bee [Page] some important matter, in that it is, of all. For, as for some to be stayed, and those the greater some, there may be reason; the most part of those that goe thus to and fro, may well intend it, they haue litle els to doe. But to except none, not some speciall Persons, is hard. What know wee their haste? Their occasions may be such, & so vrgent, as they cannot stay. Well, what haste, what busi­nesse soeuer, passe not by, stay though. As much to say, as, Bee they neuer so great, your occasions; they are not, they cannot be so great as this: How vrgent soeuer, this is more, and more to be intended. The Re­gard of this, is worthy the staying of a iour­ney. It is worth the Considering of those, that haue neuer so great affaires in hand. So materiall is this sight in his accompt; which serueth to shew the exigence of this duetie. But as for this point it needeth not to be stood vpon to vs here at this time: we are not going by, we need not to be stayed; wee haue stayed all other our affaires, to come hither, and here we are all present be­fore God, to haue it set before vs, that wee [Page] may consider it. Thither then let vs come.

That which we are called to behold and Sorow. consider, is his Sorow: And Sorow is a thing, which of it selfe Nature enclineth vs to be­hold, as being our selues in the bodie which Herb. 13. 3. may bee one day in the like sorowfull case. Therefore wil euery good eye turne it selfe, and looke vpon them that lye in distresse. 1. Behold. Those two in the Gospel, that passed by the Luke 10. 32. wounded man, before they passed by him, (though they helped him not as the Samari­tane did) yet they looked vpon him as hee lay. But this partie here, lieth not, he is lift vp, as the Serpent in the wildernes, that vn­lesse Ioh. 3. 14 we turne our eyes away purposely, we can neither will nor chuse, but behold him.

But because to Behold, and not to Consi­der, Acts 1. 11. is but to gaze; And gazing the Angel blameth in the Apostles themselues, wee must doe both: both Behold, and Consider: 2. Consider. looke vpon, with the eye of the Body, that is, Beholde; and looke into with the eye of the Mind, that is, Cosider. So saith the Pro­phet here. And the very same doeth the A­postle Hebr. 12. 23. aduise vs to do, First, [...], to looke [Page] vpon him, (that is, to Behold) and then [...], to thinke vpon him, that is, to Con­sider his Sorow: Sorow sure would be con­sidered.

Now then, because as the qualitie of the The quali­tie, If euer the like. Sorow is, accordingly it would be conside­red, (for if it be but a common Sorow, the lesse will serue, but if it be some special, some very heauy case, the more would be allowed it: for proportionably with the suffering, the consideration is to arise:) To raise our consideration to the full, and to eleuate it to the highest point, there is vpon this Sorow set a Si fuerit sicut, a note of highest eminen­cie: for Si fuerit sicut, are words that haue life in them, & are able to quicken our con­sideration, if it bee not quite dead: For, by them we are prouoked, as it were, to Consi­der, and considering, to see whether euer any Sicut may be found, to set by it, whe­ther euer any like it.

For if neuer any, Our nature is, to regard things exceeding rare and strange; and such as the like whereof is not els to bee seene. Vpon this point then, there is a Case made, [Page] As if he should say, If euer the like, Regard not this; But if neuer any, Be like your selues in other things, and vouchsafe this, (if not your chiefest,) yet some Regard.

To enter then this Comparison, and to In the three parts of his Sorrow. shew it for such. That, are we to doe, three sundry wayes: For three sundry wayes, in three sundry words, are these Sufferings of his here expressed: all three within the com­passe of the Verse.

The first is [...] Mac-ob (which we reade 1. Sorow,) taken from a wound or stripe, as all doe agree.

The second is [...] Gholel we reade Done 2. to me, taken from a word that signifieth Mel­ting in a fornace; as S. Hierom noteth out of the Chaldaee (who so translateth it.)

The third is [...] Hoga where we reade 3. Afflicted, from a word which importeth Renting off, or bereauing. The old Latine turneth it, Vindemiauit me, As a Vine whose fruit is all plucked off. The Greeke with Theodoret, [...] as a Vine or tree, whose leaues are all beaten off, and it left na­ked and bare.

[Page] In these three are comprised his Suffe­rings, Wounded, Melted, & Bereft, leafe and fruit, (that is) all maner of comfort.

Of all that is poenal, or can be suffred, the 1. Of the qua­litie. cōmon diuision is, Sensus, & Damni, Griefe for that we feele, or, for that we forgo. For that we feele, in the two former, Wounded in First of the qualitie of his Passion. body, Melted in Soule: For that we forgoe, in the last; Bereft all, left neither fruit, nor so much as a leafe to hang on him.

According to these three, To consider 1. Poena sensus in the Body. his Sufferings, & to begin first with the first. The paines of his Body, his wounds and his stripes.

Our very eye will soone tell vs, No place was left in his Body, where he might bee smitten, & was not. His Skin and flesh rent with the whips & scourges, His hands and feet wounded with the nailes, His head with the thornes, His very Heart with the speare point; All his sences, all his parts loden with whatsoeuer wit or malice could inuent. His blessed Body giuen as an Anuile to bee beaten vpon, with the violent handes of those barbarous miscreants, til they brought [Page] him into this case, of Si fuerit sicut. For, Pi­lates Iohn 19. 5. ( Ecce Homo!) His shewing him with an Ecce, as if he should say, Behold, looke if euer you saw the like ruefull spectacle. This very shewing of his, sheweth plainely, hee was then come into a wofull plight; So wo­full, as Pilate verily beleeued, his very sight so pitifull, as, it would haue moued the har­dest heart of them all to haue relented, and said, This is ynough, we desire no more. And this for the wounds of his Body, (for on this we stand not.)

In this one peraduenture some Sicut may 2. Poena sensus in the Soule. be found, in the Paines of the Body: but in the second, the Sorrow of the Soule, I am sure, none. And indeede, the Paine of the Body is but the Body of Paine: the very soule of Sorow and Paine, is the soules Sor­row and Paine. Giue me any griefe, saue the Syra. 15. 57. griefe of the minde, saith the Wiseman. For (saith Salomon) the spirit of a man wilsustain Prou. 18. 14. all his other infirmities, but a wounded spirit, who can beare? And of this, this of his Soule, I dare make a Case, Si fuerit sicut.

He began to be troubled in Soule, saith S. Iohn 12. 27. [Page] Iohn: To be in an agonie, saith S. Luke: To be Luke 22. 44. in anguish of minde and deepe distresse, saith S. Marke. To haue his Soule round about on Mark. 14. 35. euery side inuironed with Sorow, and that, Sorow to the death, Here is trouble, anguish, Matt. 26. 38. agonie, sorow and deadly sorow: but it must be such, as neuer the like; So it was too.

The aestimate whereof we may take from the second word, of Melting, that is, from his sweat in the Garden; strange and the Luk. 22. 44. like whereof was neuer heard or seene.

No maner violence offred him in Body; no man touching him, or being neere him, in a colde night (for they were faine to haue a fire within doores) lying abroad in the ayre, and vpon the colde earth, to be all of a sweat, and that Sweat to be Blood; and not as they call it, Diaphoreticus, a thinne faint Sweat; but Grumosus, of great Drops, and those, so many, so plenteous, as they went through his apparell and all; and through all, streamed to the ground, & that in great abundance; Reade, Enquire, and Consi­der, Si fuerit sudor sicut sudor iste. If euer there were Sweat like this Sweat of his? Ne­uer [Page] the like Sweat certainely, and therefore neuer the like Sorrow. Our translation is, Done vnto me: but we said, the word proper­ly signifieth (and so S. Hierome & the Chal­dey Paraphrast read it) Melted me. And tru­ly it should seeme by this fearefull Sweat of his, hee was neere some fornace, the feeling whereof, was able to cast him into that Sweat, and to turne his Sweat into drops of Blood. And sure it was so: For see, euen in the very next wordes of all to this verse, he Verse 13. complaineth of it, Ignem misit in ossibus me is, That a fire was sent into his bones which melted him, and made that bloody Sweat to distill from him. That houre, what his fee­lings were, it is dangerous to define: wee know them not, we may be too bold to de­termine of them. To very good purpose it was, that the ancient Fathers of the Greeke Church in their Liturgie, after they haue re­counted all the particular Paines as they are set downe in his Passion, and by all, and by euery one of them, called for mercy; doe, af­ter all, shut vp all with his, [...], By thine vn­knowen [Page] Sorowes and Sufferings felt by thee, but not distinctly knowen by vs, haue mercy vpon vs and saue vs.

Now, though this suffice not, nothing neere; yet let it suffice, (the time being short) for his paines of Body and Soule: for those of the Body, it may be some may haue endured the like: but the sorrowes of his Soule are vnknowen sorowes: & for them, none euer haue, euer haue, or euer shall suf­fer the like; the like, or neere the like in any degree.

And now to the third. It was said before, 3 Poena Dam­ni. To be in distresse, such distresse as this was, & to find none to comfort, nay not so much as to regard him, is all that can be sayd, to make his sorow a Non sicut. Comfort is it, by which in the midst of all our sorowes, we are Confortati, that is, strengthened & made the better able to beare them all out. And who is there, euen the poorest creature a­mong vs, but in some degree findeth some cōfort, or some regard at some bodies hāds? For if that be not left, the state of that partie is here in the third word said to be like the [Page] tree, whose leaues and whose sruit are all beaten off quite, and it selfe left bare and na­ked both or the one and of the other.

And such was our Sauiours case in these 1 Leaues. his Sorowes this day, and that so, as what is left the meanest of the sons of men, was not left him: Not a leafe. Not a leafe! Leaues I 1 Withered leaues. may wel call all humane Comforts and Re­gards, where of he was then left cleane deso­late. 1. His owne, they among whom he had gone about all his life long, healing them, teaching them, feeding them, doing them all the good he could, it is they that cry, Not him, no, but Barabbas rather; Away Iohn 18. 40 and 19.15. Mat. 27. 25. Mar. 15. 29.36. with him, his blood bee vpon vs and our chil­dren. It is they that in the middest of his so­rowes, shake their head at him and cry, Ah thou wretch: they that in his most disconso­late estate & cry, Eli, Eli, in most barbarous maner deride him, and say, Stay, and you shal see Elias come presently and take him downe. And this was their Regard.

But these were but withered leaues. They 2 Greene leaues. then that on earth were neerest him of all, the greenest leaues & likest to hang on, and [Page] to giue him some shade: euen of them, some bought and sold him, others denied & for­swore him, but all fel away & forsooke him. [...] (saith Theodoret) not a leafe left.

But, leaues are but leaues, and so are all 2 Fruit. earthly stayes. The fruit then, the true fruit of the Vine indeed, the true comfort in all heauinesse, is Desuper, from aboue, is diuine consolation. But Vindemiauit me, (saith the Latine text) euen that was in this his Sorow, this day, bereft him too. And that was his most sorowfull complaint of all others: not that his friends vpon earth, but that his Fa­ther from heauen had forsaken him, that neither heauen nor earth yeelded him any regard; but that betweene the passioned powers of his soule, and whatsoeuer might any waies refresh him, there was a Trauerse drawen, & he left in the estate of a weather­beaten tree, all desolate and forlorne. Eui­dent, too euident, by that his most dreadful crie, which at once moued all the powers in heauen and earth, My God, my God, why hast Mat. 27. 46. thou forsaken me? Weigh well that crie, con­sider it well, and tell me, Sifuerit clamor si­cut [Page] clamor iste, If euer there were crie, like to that of his: Neuer the like crie, and there­fore neuer the like sorow.

It is strange, very strange, that of none of the Martyrs the like can be read; who yet endured most exquisite paines in their Mar­tyrdomes; yet wee see with what courage, with what chearefulnes, how euen singing they are reported to haue passed through their torments. Will ye know the reason? S Augustine setteth it downe, Martyres non eripuit, sed nunquid deseruit? He deliuered not his Martyrs, but did he forsake them? He deliuered not their bodies, but he for­sooke not their soules, but distilled into thē the dew of his heauenly comfort; an abun­dant supply for all they could endure. Not so here, Vindemiauit me (saith the Prophet) Dereliquisti me (sayeth hee himselfe:) No comfort, no supply at all.

Leo it is that first said it, (and all antiqui­tie allow of it,) Non soluit Vnionem, sed sub­traxit visionē. The Vnion was not dissolued; True, but the beames, the influence was re­strained, and for any comfort from thence, [Page] his Soule was, euen as a scorched heath ground, without so much as any drop of dew of Diuine comfort: as a naked tree, no fruit to refresh him within, no lease to giue him shadow without: The power of dark­nesse let loose to afflict him: the influence of comfort, restrained to relieue him. It is a Non sicut this, It cannot be expressed as it should, and as other things may; In silence we may admire it, but all our words wil not reach it. And though to draw it so farre as some doe, is little better then blasphemie; Yet on the other side, to shrinke it so short, as other some doe, cannot be but with dero­gation to his loue, who to kindle our loue and louing Regard, would come to a Non sicut in his suffering: For, so it was, and so we must allow it to be. This in respect of his Passion. Dolor.

Now in respect of his Person, Dolor meus. Secondly of the qualitie of his Per­son. Wherof, if it please you to take a view, euen of the Person thus wounded, thus afflicted and forsaken, you shall then haue a perfect Non sicut. And in deed, the Person is here a weighty circumstance, it is thrice repeated, [Page] Meus, Mihi, Me. And we may not leaue it out. For, as is the Person, so is the Passion; and any one, euen the very least degree of wrong or disgrace, offered to a Person of excellencie, is more then a hundreth times more, to one of meane conditiō: So weigh­tie is the circumstance of the Person. Consi­der then, how great the Person was; And I rest fully assured, here may we boldly chal­lenge, and say, Si fuerit sicut.

Ecce Homo, saith Pilate first, A man he 1. Ioh. 19. 5 is, as we are: and were he but a man, Nay, were he not a man, but some poore dumbe creature, it were great ruth to see him so handled, as he was.

A man, saith Pilate, and a Iust man, saith 2. Matt. 27. 19. Pilates wife. Haue thou nothing to doe with that Iust man. And that is one degree fur­ther. For though we pitie the punishment euen of male factours themselues: yet euer, most compassion we haue of them that suf­fer, and be innocent. And he was Innocent: Luke 23. 14. & 15. Iohn 14. 30. Pilate, and Herode, and the Prince of this world, his very enemies, being his Iudges.

Now, among the Innocent, the more 3 [Page] Noble the Person, the more heauie the spe­ctacle: and neuer doe our bowels earne so much, as ouer such. Alas, alas for that no­ble Iere. 22. 18. Prince, (sayeth this Prophet,) (the stile of mourning for the death of a great Per­sonage.) And, he that suffereth here, is such, euen a principall Person among the sonnes of men, of the race Royall, descended from Kings; Pilate stiled him so in his Title, and Ioh. 19. 22. he would not alter it.

Three degrees. But, yet we are not at 4. our true Quantus. For he is yet more: More, then the highest of the sonnes of men: for he is THE SONNE OF THE MOST HIGH GOD. Pilate saw no further, but Ioh. 19.5 Mar. 15. 39. Ecce Homo; The Centurion did, Verè Fi­lius Dei erat hic. Now truely this was the Sonne of God. And here, all wordes for­sake vs, and euery tongue becommeth speechlesse.

We haue no way to expresse it, but à Mi­nore ad Maius. (Thus,) Of this booke, the booke of Lamentations, one speciall occasi­on was, the death of King Iosias; But be­hold, a greater then Iosias is here.

[Page] Of King Iosias (as a speciall reason of C.4.20. mourning) the Prophet saith, Spiritus oris nostri, Christus Domini, The very breath of our nosethrils, The Lords Anointed; (for so are all good Kings in their Subiects ac­compts) He is gone. But behold, here is not Christus Domini, but Christus Dominus, The Lords Christ, but the Lord Christ himselfe: And that, not comming to an Honourable death in battaile, as Iosias did, But, to a most vile reprochfull death, the death of ma­lefactors in the highest degree. And not slaine outright, as Iosias was: but mangled and massacred in most pitifull strange ma­ner; wounded in body, wounded in Spirit, left vtterly desolate. O consider this well, and confesse the Case is truely put, Si fuerit Dolor sicut Dolor meus. Neuer, neuer the like Person: And if, as the Person is, the Passion be, Neuer the like Passion to his.

It is truely affirmed, that any one, euen the least drop of Blood, euen the least pain, yea of the body onely, of this so great a Per­son; any Dolor with this Meus, had bene e­nough to make a Non sicut of it. That is [Page] enough, but that is not all: for adde now the three other degrees; Adde to this Person, those Wounds, that Sweat, and that Cry, and put all together: And, I make no manner question, the like was not, shall not, cannot euer be. It is farre aboue all that euer were, or can be. Abyssus est: Men may drowsily heare it, and coldly affect it: But Principa­lities and Powers, stand abashed at it. And for the Quality, both of the Passion & of the Person, That Neuer the like; thus much.

NOw to proceed to the Cause, and 2. Of the cause. to consider it: for without it, we shall haue but halfe a Regard, and scarse that. In deed, set the Cause aside, and the Passion (as rare as it is,) is yet but a dul and heauy sight: we list not much looke vp­on spectacles of that kind, though neuer so strange: they fill vs ful of pensiue thoughts, and make vs Melancholique; and so doeth this, till vpon examination of the Cause, we finde it toucheth vs neere; And so neere so [Page] many wayes, as we cannot chuse, but haue some Regard of it.

What was done to Him we see. Let there 1. GOD. now be a Quaest of Inquirie, to finde who was the doer of it. Who? who, but the Power of darkenesse, wicked Pilate, bloo­dy Caiaphas, the enuious Priests, the barba­rous Souldiers? None of these are retur­ned here. We are too low, by a great deale, if we thinke to finde it among men. Quae fecit mihi Deus. It was God that did it. An houre of that day was the houre of the Luke 22. 53. Power of darkenesse: but the whole day it selfe, is said here plainely, was the day of the wrath of God. God was a doer in it; Where­with God hath afflicted me.

God afflicteth some in Mercy: and o­thers Gods wrath. in wrath. This was in his wrath. In his wrath God is not alike to all; Some he afflicteth in his more gentle and milde: o­thers in his fierce wrath. This was in the very fiercenesse of his wrath. His Suffe­rings, his Sweate, and Cry, shew as much; They could not come, but from a wrath, Si fuerit sicut, (For we are not past Non [Page] sicut, no not here in this part: it followeth vs still, and will not leaue vs in any point, not to the end.)

The Cause then in God, was wrath. 2. Sinne. What caused this wrath? God is not wroth, but with sinne; Nor grieuously wroth, but with grieuous sinne. And in CHRIST there was no grieuous sinne, Nay, no sinne Not his. at all. God did it, (the text is plaine.) And in his fierce wrath he did it. For what cause? For, God forbid God should doe as did Ioh. 18. 22. Annas the high Priest, cause him to be smit­ten without cause. God forbid (saith Abra­ham) the Iudge of the world should doe Gen. 18. 25. wrong to any. To any, but specially to his owne Sonne: That his Sonne, of whom with thundring voyce from Heauen, he te­stifieth all his ioy and delight were in Him, in him onely he was wel pleased. And how then could his wrath waxe hot, to doe all this vnto him?

There is no way to preserue Gods Iustice, and Christs Innocency both, but to say as the Angel said of him to the Prophet Dani­el, Dan. 9. 26. The Messias shall be slaine, [...] ve-en lo, [Page] shalbe slaine, but not for himselfe. Not for himselfe? for whom then? for some others. Other mens He tooke vpon him the person of others; and so doing, Iustice may haue her course and proceede.

Pity it is to see a man pay that he neuer tooke: but if he will become a Surety, if he will take on him the person of the Debtor, so he must. Pity to see a sillie poore Lambe lie bleeding to death; but if it must be a Sa­crifice, (such is the nature of a sacrifice) so it must. And so Christ, though without sinne in himselfe, yet as a Suretie, as a Sacrifice, may iustly suffer for others, if he will take vpon him their persons; and so, God may iustly giue way to his wrath against him.

And who be those others? The Prophet Ours. Esay telleth vs, and telleth it vs seuen times ouer for failing, He tooke vpon him our infir­mities, Esa. 53. 4, 5, 6. and bare our maladies: He was woun­ded for our iniquities, and broken for our trans­gressions. The chastisement of our peace was vpon him, and with his stripes were we healed. All wee as sheepe were gone astray, and turned euery man to his owne way: and the Lord hath [Page] layd vpon him the iniquities of vs all. All, all, euen those, that passe to and fro, and for all this, Regard neither him nor his Passion.

The short is: It was wee, that for our sinnes, our many, great, and grieuous sins, ( Si fuerint sicut, the like whereof neuer were) should haue swet this Sweat, and haue cry­ed this Cry; should haue bene smitten with these sorrowes by the fierce wrath of God, had not he stepped betweene the blow and vs, and latched it in his owne body and soule, euen the dint of the fiercenesse of the wrath of God. O the Non sicut of our sins, that could not otherwise be answered!

To returne then a true verdict. It is we, (we wretched sinners that we are) that are to be found the principals in this acte; and those on whom wee seeke to shift it, to de­riue it from our selues, Pilate and Caiaphas and the rest, but instrumentall causes onely. And it is not the executioner that killeth the man properly, (that is, They:) No, nor the Iudge, (which is God in this case:) one­ly sinne, Solum peccatum homicida est, Sinne onely is the murtherer, (to say the trueth;) [Page] and our sinnes the murtherers of the Sonne of God: and the Non sicut of them, the true cause of the Non sicut both of Gods wrath, and of his sorowfull sufferings.

Which bringeth home this our text to vs, euen into our owne bosomes; and appli­eth it most effectually, to mee that speake, and to you that heare, to euery one of vs; and that with the Prophet Nathans appli­cation, Tu es homo, Thou art the Man, euen 2. Sam. 12.7. thou, for whom God in his fierce wrath thus afflicted him. Sinne then was the cause on our part, why we, or some other for vs.

But yet, what was the cause why Hee on 3 Loue of vs. his part? what was that that mooued him thus to become our Suretie, and to take vp­on him our debt and danger? that mooued him thus to lay downe his Soule, a sacrifice for our sinne? Sure, Oblatus est quia voluit, faith Esay againe, Offered he was for no o­ther Esa. 53.7. cause, but because he would: For vn­lesse he would, he needed not: Needed not, for any necessitie of Iustice; for no Lambe was euer more innocent: Nor for a­ny necessitie of constraint; For twelue legi­ons [Page] of Angels were ready at his command: But, because he would.

And why would hee? No reason can be giuen, but, because hee Regarded vs: (Marke that reason.) And what were we? Verily, vtterly vnworthy euen his least re­gard; not worth the taking vp, not worth Rom. 5. 8 the looking after: Cum inimici essemus, (saith the Apostle) we were his enemies when he did it; without all desert before, and with­out all regard after he had done and suffe­red all this for vs: and yet hee would Re­gard vs, that so little regard him. For when he saw vs (a sort of forlorne sinners) Non priùs natos, quàm damnatos, Damned as fast as borne, as being by nature children Eph. 2. 3. of wrath, and yet still heaping vp wrath a­gainst the day of wrath, by the errours of Rom. 2. 5 our life, till the time of our passing hence: and then the fierce wrath of God, ready to ouerwhelme vs, and to make vs endure the terrour & torments of a neuer dying death, (another Non sicut yet) When (I say) he saw vs in this case, hee was mooued with compassion ouer vs, and vndertooke all this [Page] for vs. Euen then, in his loue he regarded vs, and so regarded vs, that he regarded not himselfe, to regard vs.

Bernard sayth most truely, Dilexistime Domine, magis qudm te, quando mori voluisti prome: In suffring all this for vs, thou shew­edst (Lord) that wee were more deare to thee, that thou regardest vs more, then thine owne selfe: And shall this Regard finde no regard at our hands?

It was Sinne then, and the hainousnesse of Sinne in vs, that prouoked wrath and the fiercenesse of his wrath in God: It was loue, and the greatnes of his loue in Christ, that caused him to suffer these Sorrowes, and the grieuousnes of these Sorrowes, and all for our sakes.

And indeed, but onely to testifie the Non sicut of this his Loue, all this needed not, that was done to him. One, any one, euen the very least of all the paines hee endu­red, had bene ynough; ynough, in respect of the Meus: ynough, in respect of the Non sicut of his Person. For that which setteth the high price on this Sacrifice, is this; That [Page] he which offereth it vnto God, is God. But, if little had bene suffered, little would the Loue haue bene thought, that suffered so little; and as little Regard would haue bene had of it. To awake our Regard then, or to leaue vs excuselesse, if we continue regard­lesse; all this he bare for vs: that he might as truely make a Case of Si fuerit Amor, si­cut Amormeus, as he did before, of Si fuerit Dolor, sicut Dolormeus. We say we will Re­gard Loue; if we will, here it is to Regard.

So haue we the Causes all three: Wrath in God: Sinne in our selues: Loue in Him.

Yet haue we not all we should. For, what Our bene­fite by it. Perteines it not to vs? of all this? What good? Cuibono? That, that is it indeed that we will Regard, if any thing: as being matter of Benefit, the one­ly thing in a manner the world regardeth, which bringeth vs about to the very first words againe. For, the very first words which we reade, Haue ye no regard? are in the Originall, [...] lo alechem, which the Seuentie turne (word for word) [...]; and the Latine likewise, Nonne ad vos pertinet? Perteines it not to you, that you [Page] Regard it no better? For these two, Per­teining, and Regarding, are folded one in another, and goe together so commonly, as one is taken often for the other. Then to be sure to bring vs to Regard, he vrgeth this, Perteines not all this to you? Is it not for your good? Is not the benefit yours? Mat­ters of benefite, they perteine to you, and without them, Loue, and all the rest, may pertaine to whom they will.

Consider then, the inestimable benefite that groweth vnto you, from this incompa­rable Loue. It is not impertinent this; E­uen this; That to vs hereby, all is turned about cleane contrary: That by his Stripes, we are healed: by his Sweat, we refreshed: By his forsaking, wee receiued to Grace: That this day, to Him the day of the fierce­nesse of Gods wrath: is to vs the Day of the fulnesse of Gods fauour, (as the Apostle 2. Cor. 6. 2. colleth it) A day of Saluation. In respect of that hee suffered, (I denie not) an euill day: a day of heauinesse: But, in respect of that, which He, by it hath obtained for vs: It is, (as we truely call it,) A good Day, a [Page] Day of Ioy and Iubilee. For it doeth not onely ridde vs of that wrath, which pertai­ned to vs for our Sinnes: but, further it ma­keth that pertaine to vs, whereto we had no maner of right at all.

For, not onely by his death, as by the death of our sacrifice; by the blood of his Crosse, as by the blood of the Paschal Lambe, the Destroyer passeth ouer vs, and Exod. 12. 15. we shall not perish: But also by his death, as by the death of our High Priest (for hee Num. 15. 28. is Priest and Sacrifice both) we are restored from our exile, euen to our former forfei­ted estate in the lande of Promise. Or ra­ther (as the Apostle sayeth) Non sicut deli­ctum, sic donum: Not to the same estate, Rom. 8. 15. but to one nothing like it: (that is) One farre better, then the estate our sinnes berest vs: For they depriued vs of Paradise, a place on earth: but by the purchase of his Blood, wee are entitled to a farre higher, euen the kingdom of Heauen: & his blood, not one­ly the blood of Remission to acquite vs of Matt. 26. 28. our sinnes; but the blood of the Testament too, to bequeath vs, and giue vs estate, in [Page] that heauenly inheritance.

Now whatsoeuer else, this (I am sure) is a Non sicut: as that which the eye, by all it can see; the eare, by all it can heare; the heart, by all it can conceiue, cannot patterne it, or set the like by it. Pertaines not this vn­to vs neither? Is not this worth the regard? Sure if any thing be worthy the regard, this is most worthy of our very worthiest and best Regard.

Thus haue we considered and seene, not The recapi­tulation of all. so much as in this sight we might or should, but as much as the time will giue vs leaue. And now, lay all these before you, (euery one of them a Non sicut of it self) the paines of his Body, esteemed by Pilates Ecce; the sorrowes of his Soule, by his sweate in the Garden; the comfortlesse estate of his Sor­rowes, by his crie on the Crosse: And with these, his Person, as being the Sonne of the great and eternall God. Then ioyne to these, the Cause: In God, his fierce wrath: In vs, our heinous sinnes deseruing it: In him, his exceeding great Loue, both suffe­ring that for vs which we had deserued; and [Page] procuring for vs, that wee could neuer de­serue: making that to appertaine to him­selfe, which of right pertained to vs; and making that pertaine to vs, which pertained to him onely, and not to vs at all, but by his meanes alone. And after their view in se­uerall, lay them all together, so many Non sicuts into one, and tell me, if his Complaint bee not Iust, and his Request most Reaso­nable.

Yes sure, his Complaint is Iust, Haue ye 1. The Com­plaint. The matter Iust. no Regard? None? and yet neuer the like? None? and it pertaines vnto you? No Re­gard? As if it were some common ordinary matter, and the like neuer was? No Regard? As if it concern'd you not a whit, and it tou­cheth you so neere? As if hee should say: Rare things you regard, yea though they no wayes pertaine to you; this is exceeding rare, and will you not regard it? Againe, things that neerely touch you, you regard, though they be not rare at all; this toucheth you exceeding neere, euen as neere as your soule toucheth you, and will you not yet regard it? will neither of these by it selfe, [Page] mooue you? will not both these together mooue you? what will mooue you? will Pitie? Here is Distresse, Neuer the like: will Duetie? heere is a Person, neuer the like: will Feare? here is wrath, neuer the like: will Remorse? heere are sinnes, neuer the like: will Kindnesse? heere is Loue, neuer the like: will Bountie? heere are Benefits, neuer the like: will all these? heere they be all, all aboue any Sicut, all in the highest de­gree.

Truely the Complaint is Iust, it may The maner earnest. mooue vs: it wanteth no reason, it may mooue: and it wanteth no affection in the deliuerie of it to vs, on his part to mooue vs. Sure it mooued him exceeding much: for among all the deadly sorrowes of his most bitter Passion, This, euen this seemeth to bee his greatest of all, and that which did most affect him, euen the griefe of the slen­der reckoning most men haue it in; as little respecting him, as if he had done, or suffe­red nothing at all for them. For loe, of all the sharpe paines he endureth, he complai­neth not: but of this he complaineth, of No [Page] Regard: That, which grieueth him most, that, which most he moaneth, is this. It is strange, he should be in paines, such paines as neuer any was, and not complaine him­selfe of them, But, of want of Regard onely. Strange, he should not make request, ô De­liuer me, or Relieue me: But onely, ô Con­sider and Regard me. In effect, as if he said, None, no deliuerance, no reliefe do I seeke: Regard I seeke. And all that I suffer, I am content with it,: I regard it not: I suffer most willingly, if this I may finde at your hands, Regard.

Truely, This so passionate a Complaint The regard of the Crea­tures of it. may mooue vs; it mooued all but vs: For most strange of all it is, that all the Creatures in heauen and earth, seemed to heare this his mournefull Complaint, & in their kind, to shew their Regard of it: The Sunne in heauen shrinking in his light; the earth trembling vnder it; the very stones clea­uing in sunder, as if they had sense and Sympathie of it: and sinfull men onely, not mooued with it. And yet it was not for the Creatures, this was done to Him, to [Page] them it pertaineth not: But for vs it was, and to vs it doeth; And shall wee not yet Regard it? Shall the Creature, and not we? Shall we not?

If we doe not, it may pertaine to vs, but The bene­fite, if. wee pertaine not to it: It pertaines to all, but all pertaine not to it. None pertaine to it, but they that take benefite by it; and none take benefite by it, no more then by the brasen Serpent, but they that fixe their eye on it. Behold, Consider, and Regard it: the profite, the benefite is lost without Regard.

If we doe not, as this was a day of Gods The perill, if not. fierce wrath against him, onely for regard­ing vs; so there is another day comming, and it will quickly bee heere, a day of like fierce wrath against vs, for not regarding Psal. 90. 11. him. And who regardeth the power of this wrath? Hee that doeth, will surely Regard this.

In that day, there is not the most carelesse of vs all, but shall cry as they did in the Go­spel, Domine, non ad te pertinet, si perimus? Mark. 4. 38. Pertaines it not to thee, Carest thou not that [Page] we perish? Then would we be glad to per­taine to him, and his Passion. Pertaines it to vs then, and pertaines it not now? Sure now it must, if then it shall.

Then, to giue end to his Complaint, let 2 The Re­quest. Haue some Regard. vs graunt him his Request, and Regard his Passion. Let the Rarenesse of it: The Neerenesse to vs: Let Pitie, or Duety: Feare, or Remorse: Loue, or Bountie. Any of them, or all of them. Let the Iustnesse of his Complaint: Let his affectionate maner of Complaining of this, and onely this. Let the shame of the Creatures Regard: Let our Profit, or our Perill. Let some thing preuaile with vs, to haue it in some Regard.

Some Regard! Verily, as his sufferings, I Our best Regard. his Loue, our good by them are: so should our Regard bee, a Non sicut too, That is, a Regard of these, and of nothing in compa­rison of these. It should be so: For with the benefit, euer the Regard should arise.

But God helpe vs poore sinners, and bee mercifull vnto vs. Our Regard is a Non si­cut, indeed: but it is backward, & in a con­trary sense; That is, no where so shallow, so [Page] short, or so soone done. It should be other­wise, it should haue our deepest considera­tion, this; and our highest Regard.

But if that cannot be had, (our nature is 2. At least, some Re­gard. so heauy, and flesh and blood so dull of ap­prehension in Spirituall things,) yet at least­wise some Regard. Some, I say: The more the better; But in any wise some. And not as here, no Regard, none at all: Some wayes to shew, wee make accompt of it, to with­draw our selues, to void our minds of other matters, to set this before vs, to thinke vpon it, to thanke him for it; to Regard him, and stay and see, whether he will regard vs, or no. Sure he wil, and we shal feele our hearts pricked with sorow, by consideration of the Act. 2. 37 cause in vs, our Sinne: And againe, warme within vs, by consideration of the cause in him, his Loue; till by some motion of Grace Luke 24. 32. he answere vs, and shew, that our Regard is accepted of him. And this, as at all other times, (for no day is amisse, but at all times, 3 This day specially. some time to be taken for this duety) so spe­cially on this day; this Day which we hold holy to the memorie of his Passion, this [Page] Day to doe it; to make this Day, the Day of Gods wrath and Christes Suffering, a Day to vs of serious consideration and Regard of them both.

It is kindly to consider Opus diei, in die suo, The worke of the Day, in the Day it was wrought: and this day it was wrought. This Day therefore, whatsoeuer our businesse be, to lay them aside a little; whatsoeuer our haste, yet to stay a little, and to spend a few thoughts in calling to minde and taking to Regard, what this Day the Sonne of God did and suffered for vs: and all for this end, that what he was then, wee might not be; and what he is now, we might be for euer.

Which, Almighty God graunt we may all doe, more or lesse, euen euery one of vs, according to the seuerall measures of his grace in vs, &c.