MAn never yet invented more waies to damn himself, then God hath done to save him; nor was he ever varied into more shapes of sinne, then his Saviour hath been of mercy: For as before his incarnation the Israelites had a cloud to usher them, and God was in that could; Moses had a flame to becken to him, and God was in that flame; Elias had a voice to call to him, and God was in that voice: so after he was incarnate, when he became one of us (sinne alone excepted, which makes us not of him) as if to have been man alone, was not enough, he ransacks the whole Inventory of his Creatures, puts on all shapes to gaine a Soule: To the [Page 2] Traveller, he calls, I am the way; To the benighted, he shews, he is the light; To the Stranger, he opens himself, I am the dore: Looke for him among the Plants, you shall find him a vine; Search for him in the flock, the Baptist points him to you, Behold the Lamb! or if Meta­phors be but verball transfigurings, track him his Pa­rables, which are more reall; if you meet there with a Sower, Christ is that Sower; if you heare of a Bride­groome, he is that Bridegroome; if you see the man that brings back his lost sheep in triumph, he is that man: or if you find a woman, that calls her friends to joy with her, Rejoice, for I have found the piece which I had lost; know that that piece is thy Soule, those friends are the Angels, he is that woman too; For of that Parable, this Text is the morall, the meaning of the Parable, Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth.

That Parables are pictures, Athanasius tells us, but withall, such pictures as have their velamina, their sha­dows, their curtaines diaphanous enough for the eye of faith to look through; but not for the eye of unbelief or ignorance. For as Saint Hierome counselled a Roman Matron, to keep her young Daughter from reading of the Canticles, ne anima non intelligens vulneraretur, lest the Soule that understood not the spirituall sense, should perish in the literall; or as those Images, which the Pa­pists call, Idiotarum libros, the Lay-mens books, being misunderstood doe prove the Fooles Idolatry: so these Images, (for Parables are but the Images of things) did not so much instruct, as abuse the eyes of them that saw them, untill our Saviour drew the curtaine; They had heard of a sheep that had gone astray, of a piece of silver that was lost: that both again were found, that friends [Page 3] were call'd to rejoice for both. But what this was to them, what share they had either in this joy or that reco­very, they had not heard till he that made their eares ap­plied it to their hearts with an [...], Likewise I say unto you, I that came to heale that which was woun­ded, to bind up that which was broken, to save that which was lost; I, that have left the ninety nine in the Desert, all the Angels in heaven (for so the Fathers in­terpret it) to find out one wanderer; I say unto you, to you Sinners, that come neer to heare me; to you Pharisees, that murmure, because these Sinners come so neer mee; to you that know not what the value of a Soule is, what musick is in the groans, or what beauty is in the teares of a sad convert, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth.

The authority of the Speaker must win some credit to this Argument, for so far distant is Heaven from Earth, so rare the commerce between them, that unlesse God bring the intelligence himself from thence, man will not believe; Let the Separatist boast of his private spirit that hath revealed it, or the Bishop of Rome cite his infallible Chaire; every one is not wax enough to take impression at this: But if our Saviour set his divine seale on; if we once find his [...], his ipse dico, I say unto you, then let him that hath eares, hear; no Oracle ever spake like this, truth, to the truth incarnate: Be not therefore troubled either with the contrariety of passions in these words, that sorrow should beget joy, or the disparity of the persons, that Angels should rejoice for Sinners, or the inequality of the extent, many Angels for one Sinner: for Christ hath spoke it, and we are to believe it.

First, that there is joy, though we know not what it is.

Next, there is a ubi, a place where, of this joy, though it be not here.

Last of all, there is a quare too, a why, a reason, a cause of this joy, for one Sinner that repenteth.

But first of that joy it self; for velut solatium erit, saith Tertullian, disserere de illo, quo frui non datur, Sick men may talk of health, and why not I of joy? As in sorrow the heart is contracted and straitned, so in joy the pas­sages are inlarged, the cordiall spirits scattered, the heart it self runs out, 'tis so dilated, which makes Aristotle say, that joy is, as it were, the letting of the heart out: But if they that feel no joy cannot define it, nor they that feel it, keep it in their hearts; nor he that wants a heart judge of it, who shall then resolve us what joy is? or where we shal find a thing to this name? For, examine first the joy of a proud man, lies it not in the breath of others, a thin ca­binet of aire which every man hath a key to, but himself? Let but them above him agree not to think him great, or wise, or noble; Let but his fellow wormes forbeare to honour him; he that holds the plough shall not change joies with him. Or look on the joy of the voluptuous: doth not sorrow often wait so close as to tread upon the heels of it? Have you not heard the Epicure cry, ô his gowt! even at that time, when he hath been feeding his disease with riot? Were not the Israelites struck with meat between their teeth? and was not Zimri slaine in the imbraces of his Cosby? Besides, to share in all the good that is under the Sun is at the best but indolence, a privation of grief; it is not joy; or if we wil needs strain higher for a word for it, it is but an acquiescence, saith Scaliger, a kind of resting of the mind, it is not joy: he were a strange Chymist you would think, that when a drop of Wine were cast into the Sea; durst undertake out of that vast Element to extract the spirits of that one drop of Wine, and say, here they are: Nor shall I conceive him [Page 5] an easier Artisan, that can out of the Sea of his ordinary hourly discontents, extract this drop of joy, and shew it to me. The truth is, we know not what it is, because we seek not for it where we should: Copernicus that thought the Earth moved, and the Heavens stood still, was not yet so mad as either to look for Trees in Heaven, or for Stars upon the ground; yet we, in our search for joy, doe as mad things as this comes to: for what would you imagine if you should see a man knock at a Grave-stone for a Companion, or go down into a Charnel-house to make merry: if you did not pronounce him directly frantick, you would guesse surely that he had mistook the place: and the like doe I of you, saith Saint Austin, Qui quaeritis gaudium in loco non suo, who look for joy either in the honours or pleasures of this life, or what ever else is not the proper sphere of it.

But suppose there were such a thing on earth as joy, that the Philosophers stone, the Northwest passage, and that, were found out together; yet there remains another dis­quisition: for, where shal we have a lodging for it? where a breast capable to entertain it? in the heart of the sinfull man? no, God himself hath barr'd that dore against it: for, gaudere non est impiis, as we find it denounced in the Prophesie of Esay, there is no peace, no joy to the wicked; they cannot rejoice, they may perchance drown their grief in wine, or drive away their discontents with company, they may reprieve their soules for a time from melan­choly, but the fits of a constant Ague, or the flowings of the Tide come not more duly, then it returnes againe; Shifting of the place will not serve the turne, unlesse we can shift our selves; for, post equitem s [...]det atra cura, like the Rats that followed the German Bishop, thy sad thoughts will after thee: Draw the curtains of thy bed, [Page 6] yet they wil lie with thee; shut the dore of thy closet, yet they wil come in unto thee: For the truth is, saith S. Ber­nard, Intus est quem fugis, Every ill man hath his enemy within him, his owne heart calls to him; as his did in the vision, ego tibi horum sum causa, I am the cause of all this trouble unto thee: Thou hast made me ill, I will not leave thee quiet.

No joy then to the wicked: but shall we knock at more innocent dores to see if there it harbours? were the Pro­phets in the Old Testament acquainted with it? the A­postles in the New? or shall we inquire of innocence it self, the Saviour of us all? But he will inquire of us a­gain, as he did in the 1. of the Lam. O all ye that passe by, not was there ever joy, but was there ever sorrow like my sorrow? But you will say perhaps, though he himselfe were the son of sorrow, yet he bid his followers joy in the 5. of Mat. [...] rejoice; or as if that had been too little, [...], be exceeding glad: True, but it was in their reproaches: So Saint Paul had his joy, but it was in his af­flictions: the Martyrs had their joy, but it was in their bitter sufferings. The few notes they heard of joy were but like the breakings of an Eccho, a word or two they heard, but not a sentence; or like a Ring of Bels in a high wind, they heard some imperfect sounds of it, but they could not heare the Lesson.

Yet mistake me not, I would not have you hang down your heads at this, or because the Earth is not your Hea­ven, therefore to make it your Hell: For as gold keeps the name in the lease as well as in the wedge, in the coine as in the bullion; or as he that sees a beame or two shine through the crevice of a wall, may say he sees the Sun­shine, as well as he that walks abroad; so neither are we so destitute of all comfort, but we may say, there is a [Page 7] leafe of joy, the Tinfoile of it here, there are some few glimpses that shine in upon us: but for the ful, the solid, the jubilating joy, looke for it no longer in this valley of teares: There is joy, but not here; true joy, but not yet: You that sow in teares, be certain you shall reap in joy: But be as certain to tarry till the harvest, you must stay, no remedy, till Heaven be your dwelling, till the Angels be your Partners, incorruption your change, im­mortality your garment: for the earth is not the place, dull flesh is not the subject of it. Find it we shall, yet not in the presence of Men, but of the Angels. Thus ha­ving shewn you the negative, where joy is not: My next venture (if it prove not a desperate one) shall be to shew you where [...]is, [...], in the presence of Angels.

He that comes out of a dark Room into the Sunshine, shall be sure to find his eyes dazeled: What then wil be­come of us, whose eyes ( Aristotle could say) were tan­quam Noctuae ad solem? how shall we look on this joy of Angels? shall we think of the place they live in, or the Company they enjoy, or the Anthems which they sing, when one Seraphin eccho's to another, or when in a full Quire they sound together their everlasting Halle­lujahs? or if we can lift up our thoughts so high, shall we think again, how they see the divine face of God? how they joy in that Mirror? how they exult in that bea­tifick vision? what fulnesse? what torrents of pleasure in such a sight? such a sight, saith Saint Austin, S. Aust. de Spir. & Lit. c. 55. that if the damned Spirits could but see a glimps of it, that very glimps for that time would infuse such joy into them as to take away the sense of all their paine: such a sight that the reflected rayes of it, even in this life, gives us that [...], that Saint John speaks of, 1 Ioh. 1.7. that commu­nion [Page 8] with God himself. What then can we conceive of those glorious Creatures, that see not God, either by glimps, or by reflexion, but stand under the direct beams, that have a full and eternall fight of him that see him [...], face to face, that heare him even with eare to mouth, that are acquainted with the very whispers of the Trinity. But whither am I caried? sooner shall a Sparrow drink up the Sea, or a Moale heave the whole Earth out of the Center, then the heart of man swell to that bignesse, as to be able to compre­hend his joy.

Yet as Fathers use to acquaint their Heires with their estates, before they meane they shall possesse them; so, be not angry, ô my God, that we have looked a far off into those joies which with thy Angels we one day shall inherit: For though they be of the elder Family, and we like yonger Brothers, weare about us a body of flesh, for a note of difference, yet this heraldry is not to last alwaies; for thou hast told us, ô my Saviour, that even that diffe­rence shall be took away, that we shall be [...], e­quall to the Angels, aequalitate gratiae, though not natu­rae, saith Aquinas, in an equality of grace, though not of nature.

Nor shall we offend to inlarge this meditation further, to conceive as some of the Fathers did, that as the An­gels fell from severall Hierarchies, some from being Seraphins, some Cherubins, some Thrones, some out of higher Seats, some out of lower: so on that great Day, when God shall distribute his glory among us, we may opine at least, that into those severall Hierarchies we shall be assumed: for, among the rest, Origen was con­fidently perswaded, Quod si earum virium esset ut vince­ret Luciferum, Luciferi solium in coelo obtineret, that had [Page 9] he been of strength enough to have overcome Lucifer in temptation that was once the chief of Angels, God would have given him Lucifers seat in Heaven: I con­fesse were this heavenly Court, like the Court of earthly Princes, (where he that is beneath bites at the heel of him that is above him; and he that is above treads on the mouth that bites him) this might breed rather envy, or hate, or any thing, but joy: But so farre are those blessed Spirits from envying us for this, that there shall be a time when, some Men shall be higher then some Angels, yet even for this there is joy in the presence of Angels.

But the Schoole hath wel distinguished a double joy in Angels, either essentiall, or accidentall; their essentiall joy consists in the vision of the Deity, their accidental, in the conversion of us Sinners; the one is alwaies at full Sea, it neither ebbs nor flowes, but the other occasional­ly receives either increase, or diminution: For as S. Hie­rome is of the mind, that Angelus Nomen est officii, non naturae, to be an Angel is a name of office, not of nature, (in essence they are Spirits, but in office only Angels) so in that office they accumulate their joy accordingly, as in our protection their success is answerable to their care: It was well thought on therefore by the Church of Eng­land to design a Collect in the Liturgie, wherein we pray, In festum Mich: that the Angels which alwaies doe God service in Heaven, may by his appointment defend us on Earth: not that we are to belie their presence, as that Jesuite did, who hath blushed to print unto the world, that at the Bohemian o­verthrow, there was visibly seen a troop of Angels to fight on the Emperours part against them; but what Angel joy'd, think you, when that lie was made? yet on the other side, we are not to deny them to be our Guardi­ans, [Page 10] whether one to one, or more to one, since their acci­dentall joy doth ordinarily arise from thence, even from that imployment.

Well, but doe the Angels joy at the conversion of a Sinner? therefore they know it, must needs follow (for the will moves not till the understanding sets it going) ult: actus intellectus primus est voluntatis. But that there­fore by their evening knowledge; or their morning, as the Schoole distinguisheth, or that therefore in Verbo tanquam speculo, in the face of God as in a glasse, all An­gels necessarily know the thoughts of all; this will not follow, though all the Jesuites drive it. No? say they, But suppose there were a glasse of crystall made so large that whatsoever were done in all the corners of the world might be reflected by it; should not he that saw that glasse discern as well all that passed under the Sun? just such a glasse is God unto his Angels; but I doubt the metall of this argument, for a touch or two will break it. Pius à Ponte m. 1. p. q. 12. r. 8. dub. 15. First, some of their own men deny, that the Deity can either properly, or by way of Metaphor, be term'd a Glasse, or next, suppose it may, yet not a natu­rall Glasse, that represents all that is before it: but a vo­luntary, such a one as shews, non quantum relucet, saith S. Austin, but quantum voluerit, not all that shines within it: but more or lesse, when, or how, or to whom he plea­seth. God is infinite, whom the Angels see, but the man­ner is finite, by which they see: Besides, God knows the inward thoughts, the secret glances of the Soul, but the Angels doe not know them: God knows as well what shall be, as what is, but the Angels doe not so: God knowes the determinate day, resolved on in his Councels, when the Heavens shall be gathered together as a scrole, the Sun shall lose his light, the Graves open, [Page 11] and the dead rise up to judgment, but of that day or howre knows no man else, no, not the Angels: What then is be­come of the Jesuits Crystall? if it reflect all, why not this? or if not all, why doe they urge it? But to leave them to their vitrea fracta: The Angels know the con­version of a Sinner; true, but not alwaies, nor all An­gels: They know it, not onely by outward signes, but sometimes by discovery of our hearts too. But how? by way of leave, by way of dispensation? For none ever denied, but God imparts to them, when he pleaseth, the conversion of whom he pleaseth: There is knowledge, or else there were no joy in the presence of the Angels.

To conclude this, when God therefore by repentance shall call thee to him, when he shall performe that won­der in thee, which Saint Chrysostome saith, is greater then to create a world, to justifie thee a sinner; when he shall seal thy pardon to thee, with the bloud of his son Christ Jesus, doubt not but on that day, God hath revealed this to his Angels, that there is a new joy among them, a full confort in Heaven, that the Holy Ghost is busie to set new Anthems, the holy Angels as busie in the sing­ing of them.

And thus we descend to the last part of the Text, the [why] of the joy. There is joy over one sinner that re­penteth. In the which words, we must make a new dis­covery: First, of the object in generall, a Sinner. Next of the quality of the Sinner, the Sinner that repenteth. Last of all, of the indefinite fingularity, for one Sinner, implying as much as for any one Sinner that repenteth.

It was a strange errour in Lactantius, so learned a Fa­ther, being deceived by the Translation of the Septua­gint, in the second of the sixt of Genesis, to think that those sons of God, that fell in love with the daughters of [Page 12] men, because they were faire, were the Angels: For be­sides other absurdities, were all the beauty of the Hea­vens transferr'd into the face of a vitious sinful Woman, certainly no Angel could have joy in her; and S. Austine gives the reason of it: For their joy extends no further (saith he) then the works of God: but Peccator non est inter opera Dei, a Sinner is no work of God. Look in the first Chapter of Genesis, you shall not find him in the whole Catalogue of his Creatures; as he is Man, he is Gods work, true; but as he is sinfull man, he is his own work: see him in the pure Robe of originall Righteous­nesse, he is Gods work; but look on him in the dressings of his owne vanity, he is his owne worke, or if not his owne, I am sure the Devils: no argument then of joy here, no Ditty for such an Antheme.

For doe but consider with thy self ô sinner, think of it seriously, the Angels that were by, when God stampt his Image on thee, when he wash'd thee in Baptisme as clean as the untouch'd snow, when he married thee to his son Christ Jesus, made thee a temple of his holy Spirit, how can they either know or joy in thee, when that image is rased out that innocence polluted, that contract violated, that temple turn'd into a sink of filth, into a den of Serpents: How wil they look, think you, when God the Father turnes away his face, God the Son cries out, thou hast crucified him again, thou hast pierced him with thy oaths, spit on him with thy lust, wounded him with thy malice, when God the Holy Ghost shall leave thee, either to a fluctuating, unquiet, or (which is worse) to a sear'd, a stupified conscience? which of those blessed Spirits can then take joy in thee? shall not the ill Angels rather give thee their Plaudite?

Come, say those damned Spirits, let us see this Creature, [Page 13] that was made to fill up our seats in Heaven; this Creature that was the Angels joy, and his Gods delight, see where he is fallen, how deep, how dangerously fallen, how still he lies in his foule sins, without any motion left, any sense of grace: Ecce (say they) factus est tanquam unus è nobis, behold he is become like one of us. But Mentimini mali Dae­mones, (a devout Father answers them) ye were liers all from the beginning; so are ye now: For, though a Sin­ner be fallen, though fallen into the depth of sinne, he is not become like one of you: For, you fell, nullo ten­tante, without a Tempter, damn'd are you therefore, nullo reparante, without a Saviour. But this fall'n sinner you thus tread upon, alterius militiâ cecidit, alterius meritis resurget, he fell by anothers malice, and shall rise by anothers merit. They were some of the black crue that helped to throw him downe; the Son of God, shall help him up again: For though sinne hath been his poyson, yet repentance may be his antidote; though his sins have made the Devil sport, yet his repentance may breed his Angels joy: A sinner is no good prospect, but at the sight of a repentant sinner Heaven opens all her windows; the Text is warrant enough for such a Do­ctrine, for there is joy in heaven over one sinner that re­penteth.

Not for a sinner then, but for a repentant sinner; not for him that hardens himself in sinne, but for the sen­sible, melting, bleeding sinner; but he that would draw repentance to the life, that would make such a resem­blance of her, as the Angels might delight in; let him look that he fit her with two faces, on the one side a mourning dejected countenance, looking sadly back on the sinnes she hath committed, on the other side a more cheerfull lively aspect, looking forwards on new reso­lutions; [Page 14] for there is beauty in both, in the sad as in the cheerfull: God too will look on both, or not at all.

As for the sadder look, though Andreas Vega, a Spa­nish Writer, doted so much upon it, that he is censured by his owne friend Bellarmine for maintaining that the sorrow of the heart for sinne was of so high a value, that he that conceived that sorrow as he ought, needed no formall explicite purpose of amendment; though I con­fesse this melancholy Frier went too farre, yet let not any therefore deceive himself or incline so far to the o­ther side, as to think the way to Heaven is strew'd with Roses, that he can leap out of the state of sinne into the favour of his God without so much as a single teare or sigh: No, as it cost thy Saviour more to redeem thy soule, so it must cost thee more to apply that redempti­on to thee. Saint Ambrose therefore calls Repen­tance, Laboriosum Baptismum, a laborious, a painfull Baptisme, a Baptisme in Marah, in the waters of Bit­terness: For we must as wel Flere commissa, as Flenda non committere, as well deplore the ill we have done, as not doe againe the ill we have deplored. It is true indeed, what Saint Bernard saith, non si te excories potes satis­facere, should we weep our selves blind, kneele our selves cripples, should we flea the skinne from this wretched body of ours, all could not satisfie for sinne: But our joy is, that Christ hath already done it; his bloud hath fully satisfied for the whole world: yet withall, there lies a Condition on every Sinner, vel hic flere, vel in futur [...], a condition that cannot be avoided, either to mourne here, or in the world to come; either to indure now a sorrow that shall have end, or to en­dure then a sorrow that shall have none. But mistake me not, I doe not counsell you to a sullen, continued, [Page 15] unintermitted melancholy: but yet pardon me if I would have you throughly sensible of your sinnes when you have done them; for without sorrow on the earth, I am confident there is no joy in Heaven: There is no Sin­ner that repenteth.

But Saint Austine makes the Question, Which were more bound to God, he that should be preserved ever innocent, or he that were converted to be truly peni­tent? and he resolves it thus, Innocens majora, poenitens magis debet, extensively the innocent owes more, in­tensively the Penitent: Innocence a Jewell of higher price in the substance, but Repentance of greater value in the workmanship; so much of greater value, that in the 7 verse of this Chapter, it is proclaimed, that there is more joy for one repentant Sinner, then for ninety nine that needed no repentance: but Saint Paul gives a reason for it, when he saith, that where sinne hath abounded, there grace hath much more abounded. So that I dare say, that God looks neither on the heaven of heavens, nor on the purest Seraphin, with such content, such joy, as on a heart well wrought, a heart either carved, or cut, or inlaid with sorrows, where grief hath been as witty in punishing, as pleasure was before in sinning; a heart still under the Hammer, and broken into a thousand pieces: O how busie is thy Saviour at such a sight, watching thy sighs, and numbring thy teares, gathering up the severall pieces of thy broken heart; as if they were so many scattered Diamonds! how gently he handles them, how curiously he reunites them, like a rich watch tooke asunder to be made the cleaner, and set together againe.

But doth any doubt, when his heart is thus broken, whether this care will be taken for it, or no? is he loath [Page 16] to venture on so bitter a Receipt without his Physitians oath? why, God will sweare rather then thy Soule shall waver: for, look in the 33 of Ezekiel, the 11 verse, Vivo, inquit Dominus: As I live (saith the Lord) I take no delight in the death of a Sinner: Turne ye, turne ye from your evill waies: for why will ye die, ye house of Israel? Could any thing be spoken more passionately? He pro­tests, he exhorts, he expostulates; why then doe we doubt? will he not save us when we repent, that hath threatned not to save us, unlesse we repent? Cyprian. Ser: de Coena. Non patitur contriti cordis Holocaustum repulsam, Saint Cyprian had learned so much of holy David, Psal. 51. A broken heart, O God, thou wilt not (or as some Translations render it, thou shalt not) despise: no, we have him safe in his own fetters, en­tangled to us in his owne promises, if we repent, he will, he must forgive us, for he neither will, nor can deceive us: Let every one of us therefore make that confession as Saint Austine did, O Domine si non sum dignus oculos orando ad coelum levare, at sum dignus oculos plorando cae­care, though I am not worthy O God to lift up my eyes in praying, yet I am sure, I am worthy to weare out my eyes in weeping: Though I can plead no innocence, yet I would fain plead repentance; that as my sins have caused the sorrows of thy Sonne, so my sorrows might cause the rejoicing of thy Angels.

I would go on, but me thinks I heare some troubled Soule thus call to me, You tell me heavenly things of this repentance, what power a religious sorrow hath, that the Lizard doth not gaze more earnestly on him that sleeps, nor the Dolphin on the Mariner, then the Angels doe on a weeping Sinner; nay, that God himself is pleased with such a sight; that he suffers all his anger to be washed away in such a showre: Credo Domine, I [Page 17] believe this O my God, but wretch as I am, I cannot sorrow: He that should tell me, that all the joies of heaven were to be bought for one single teare, how could he comfort me, that could not shed that teare? when my eyes are dried up, like the parch'd earth in Sum­mer, my very heart turn'd Marble, what Moses shall I call to to strike this rock for water? But stay, be not dis­couraged who ever thou art: the Mother of Peter Lom­bard, it seems, was in as great a strait as this, when ha­ving transgressed her vow of continency, she told her Confessor plainly, that when she saw what a Sonne she had brought forth, she could not repent, that she had sinned in having him: A hard condition! but her Confessor sadly answer'd her, Dole faltem quod dolere non possis, be sorry at least that thou canst not sorry: and the like must I say to thee O troubled Sinner; if thou find'st but so much impression made as to grieve really, that thou canst not grieve, know that thou art already come to a degree of that which thou grievest thou art not come to; know againe that it is the beginning of that thaw, which at last will dissolve thy very heart to water.

Six times Elias his Servant look'd towards the Sea, before he could see any thing; the seventh time he saw but a Cloud no bigger then his hand, yet that Cloud within few howres covered the Heaven with darknesse, and the Earth with raine: just so may be thy case, when thou art praying to thy God as Calebs Daughter did un­to her Father, Dedisti mihi terram aridam, da etiam irri­guam, thou hast hitherto made me the owner of a drie, a barren heart, but give me now some springs of water, some feeling at least, some sorrow for my sins, though at six times bending of thy knees, God doth not grant it thee, though at the seventh there appeare but one small [Page 16] [...] [Page 17] [...] [Page 18] drop swimming in thy eyes; yet be not discomforted, that drop may prove a showre, or if not suddenly, yet in the meane time the Angels begin their joy in that; for, as the least piece of a broken glasse may serve to re­flect the face that is before it; so from that small drop, that spot of sorrow, there is a reflexion made of thy re­pentance; and as there is a full joy for the totall, the full conversion of a Sinner, so there is a proportion, a mea­sure of joy for one teare, nay for one desire of a teare of any one Sinner that repenteth.

But stay, you must remember I told you repentance had two faces, not onely a sad one that look'd back, but a cheerfull, that looks forward on new resolutions: for, as in diseases, it is not enough to purge, to sweat, to bleed, unlesse we keep a stricter diet after it: so neither are tears, nor sighes, nor a broken heart sufficient, unlesse we forbear to commit again the sin we sorrowed for: for, however Bellarmine be pleased to censure Luther for o­vermagnifying that saying, Poenitentia optima, nova vita, the best repentance is a new life; yet in the practise of it we shall all find, that though contrition may begin our peace with God, yet a new life must crowne it; though teares may soften the wax for pardon, yet a resolute a­mendment must set to the seale; you therefore that have recovered out of the contagion of any particular bo­some sinne, let me beseech you, as ever you would have the Angels joy for you, not to leane, or listen, or incline againe to the opportunities, the occasions that have be­trayed you, to cast off all inducements to sinne, to hate even the garment that is spotted by the flesh; for who, having scap'd the plague, would not burne the clothes he wore when he was infected? Be not like those plane­tary, unsteady Penitents, who having discharged their [Page 19] sinne this day in the eares of their God; take it up again the next day in the Armes of a Sinner: as if God were bound to set no end of pardoning, because they are wilfull to set no end of sinning: Hoccine poenitere? is this to repent? can the Angels joy at this? no: as there are no rests, no stops, no pauses in their intermitted An­themes; so they look too there should be no digressi­ons, no breakings off in thy repentance. If then any of thy former sinnes will needs knock unseasonably at the dore of thy heart for entrance, answer them, as the Spouse in the Canticles, I have put off my clothes, how should I put them on? I have washt my feet, how should I de­file them? I have put off my sinnes, why should I resume them? I am reconcil'd to my God, why should I offend him? O what triumphs doth he cause above that thus answers his temptations here! what shouts, what peales, what Jubilees of joy, even for one such sinner that repenteth!

We are now come to the last particular, For one Sin­ner: but what for one? yes even for one; for could it be supposed, saith Saint Austine, that there were but one lost Soule in the whole world, suppose it were onely thine; yet thy Saviour, thy Jesus would have come in­to the world, he would have suffered all that he did suf­fer; those scornes, those buffetings, that passion, and that death for that one soule of thine: If God then would have died for a single Sinner, may it not become the Angels to joy for him, whom their God would die for? Of the ten Leopers whom Christ had cured, there was but one turn'd back to thank him, yet there was joy in Heaven even for that one; of the many She-sinners in Jerusalem there was but one Mary Magdalene that wash'd her Saviours feet with teares, yet there was joy in Heaven even for that one. Should there want one string [Page 20] to a lute, the musick would not be full; or one linke to a chaine, the chaine would be imperfect; or one rege­nerate soule to the number of the elect, Heaven would not be satisfied: why then doth not every one of us strive to make up that number? how long shall God expect for one sinner to make towards him? when shall his holy Angels spie so much as a promising cloud in thine eyes, that thy teares are comming to a setled reso­lution in thy heart that thy life is changed? what shall I say more? Let there be but one among you that shall reckon his conversion from this day, God the Father shall blesse the memory of this day for ever, for he shall gaine a son: God the Son with his owne bloud shall give it a red letter in his Kalender, for he shall gaine a Brother: God the Holy Ghost shall sanctifie it, for he shall gaine a Temple: or if this be not loud enough, all the glorious Angels shall at this instant shout for joy, even for that one Sinner that repenteth. Who then would not thus make holy-day in heaven? who would not feast the Trinity? or who would not joy the Angels? begin therefore your repentance early: Begin it now, since this is the onely way to fill up the number of those Angels that expect you, when in stead of having your sorrows, the burthen of their songs, you shall become the fellow-singers of their Anthemes. Amen.