Anglican

A Sermon of Persevering in Patience, Repentance, and Hu- miliation, in time of Afflictions,
Preached before the Lords of the Parlia- ment, at the last Generall Fast, upon Ash- wednesday, the 18. day of February 1628. At the Collegiat Church of S. Peter in Westminster.
By the Right Honourable, and Right Reverend Father in God, Iohn, Lord Bi- shop of Lincolne, Deanne of the sayd Church.
London.  1628.

Iob. 42. 12.

The Lord blessed the latter end of Job, more than his beginning.

Gregorie observes in his a Morals, that those vertues which God hath taught us, at the last, by an united Example in the New, hee had taught us before, by severall Examples in the Old Testament. To shew unto us, that, as Claudian sayd of Stilicon,

a Lib. 27. cap. 5. b Claud. in laudem Stiliconis. lib. 1.

—— b sparguntur in omnes,
In te mista fluunt
.

Those veines of Vertues distinguish’t in the Patriarckes, as in severall members a are conjoyned in Christ, as the common head, and what Christ teacheth in the New Testament by one whole, & united, the Patriarckes preach unto us in the Old, by many broken, and divided examples. Hence we are taught (before the Law written) but one lesson, for the most part, from any one man. As Innocencie onely from b Abel, Religion from c Enoch, Hope from d Noah, Obedience from e Abraham, Wedlocke-keeping from f Isaack, doing good for evill from g Joseph, Meekenesse from h Moses, Courage from i Josuah, and Patience in Calamities from holy Job. And this most Christian Vertue of Patience, in great afflictions, though we heare of it, in all this Booke, yet doe wee learne to follow it in this Chapter onely. For as this holy Man, Si non flagellaretur, non agnosceretur, (as k Gregory notes) had never beene knowne, if he had not beene afflicted in the body of the Booke; so say I, that hee had never beene taken up for imitation by any man, encompassed with flesh and blood, if he had not been rewarded in the end of the Booke. It is not the love of Affliction, (a l most unwelcome guest to this Nature of ours) but the ἀπογελεσμα, and issue of a godly mans Affliction, to wit, a Blessing upon the latter end, which teacheth us to fast, and pray in time of Affliction. And so (say the Grammarians) that a Reward is called Pretium, quasi Praeitium, it must goe before, at least in our m faith, and beliefe, or else our Patience in Afflictions never comes after.

a Incarnatus enim Dominus in semetipso, omne quod nobis imperavit ostendit; ut quod praecepto diceret, Exemplo suaderet. Greg. Mor. lib. 1. cap. 5. b 1. Iohan. 3. 12. c Genes. 5. 22. d Genes. 7. 5. e Genes. 22. 3. f Genes. 26. 7. g Gen. 42. 24. & 25. h Num. 12. 3. i Joshuah. 1. 5. & 6. f Genes. 26. 7. k Moral. l. 2. c. 2. Aperta namque alijs virtutis exempla non daret, si ipse sine tentatione remaneret, l Ἀλγῶ τῇ νόσῳ καὶ χαίρω· οὐχ ὅτι ἀλγῶ, ἀλλ’ ὅτι τοῦ καρτερ- εῖν τοῖς ἄλοις εἰμὶ διδάσκαλος. Naz. Epist. 69. Naturale est, mali sui fine gaudere. Senec. m Εἰ γὰρ καὶ χρηστὸς ὁ νέος ζυγὸς, καὶ τὸ φορτίον ἐλαφρὸν, ὥσπερ ἀκούεις, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα τοῦτο καὶ τὴν ἀντίδοσιν, πολλῷ τῆς ἐνταῦθα κακοπαθείας οὖσαν δαψιλεστέραν. Naz, Orat. 42.

ANd upon this consideration, was this Booke first translated by a Moses out of Syriacke into Hebrew, not to teach the Children of Israel (who were yet in b Aegypt) to suffer Afflictions, but to teach them c comfort, and hope of deliverance from their Afflictions. And afterward, this very selfe same Booke was read to the Christians, in the Primitive Church, not onely in this time of d Lent, and publique Sorrow, but withall, upon each severall occasion of any sudden mishap, or private sorrow, Pro consolatione, & spe liberationis, for their praesent comfort, and hope of deliverance, as Origen writes.

a Interpretata autem sunt (ex Syrorum linguâ) à viro illo magno, Mose, &c. Origen. l. 1. in Iob Quâ Idumaea regio utitur, & quam Iobus Idumaeus loquutus est. Hier. in Prolog. a, b In Aegypto scil. illum Moses ex Syro in Hebraeum transtulit. Orig. l. 1. in Iob. c Et ut bonam rem, remunerationem Domini, quam Iobo post tolerantiam largitus est, audientes etium ipsi liberationem sperarent, & beneficentìam beatae mercedis laborium suorum spectarent. Orig. ib. d Similiter & in conventu Ecclesiae, in diebus sanctis legitur Passio Iob, in diebus Iejunij, in diebus Abstinentiae &c. in diebus, in quibus in Iejunio, & Abstinentiâ sanctam Iesu Christi Passionem sectantur, &c. Ibid. Iob enim interpretatur dolens. Greg. Mor. lib. 1. c. 5. & Mor. 17. c. 1.

ANd this is the reason, that I have also, according to the Praesidents of Antiquitie, chosen a peice of the same Booke, for my Text, at this time. It is a time of Lent, or publique Sorrow, over all, or the greatest part of the a Christian World, wherein men doe use to humble themselves, by Fasting, Prayer, Repentance, and all manner of Devotion, for their sinnes against God.

a Τὴν Τεσσαρακοστὴν μὴ ἐξουθενεῖτε μίμησιν γὰρ περιέχει τῆς τοῦ κυρίου πολιτείας. Ignat. Epist. 5. ad Philippens.

ANd surely if we consider (with Saint a Hierome) the infinite number of those men, of all sorts, and callings, qui saeculo magis vacant, quam Deo, who spend more time in the service of the World, than in the service of their God, and never dreame of Fasting, and Prayer, but when this Season of the yeare doth call upon them, wee shall finde, that this standing Fast was most profitably instituted by the Church, b Commonefactionis gratiâ, to call upon the backward, as Chemnitius; c Ad cessatores excitandos, to spurre them onward, that lagge behinde, as Cassander writes.

a Ieiunia autem, & congregationes inter dies, propter eos, à viris prudentibus constitutos, qui magis saeculo vacant, quam Deo: nec possunt, immo nolunt toto vitae suae tempore, in Ecclesiâ congregari, &c. Hieron. lib. 2. in 4. c. ad Galat. b Exam: Concil. Trident: parte 4. Ordinis, & commone factionis gratiâ instituta est Quadragesima. c Stata tempora, ut tardos, & cessantes tanquam calcaribus, & stimulis ad abstinentiam excitarent. G. Cassand defens: libelli de officio pij viri.

BEing therefore to offer up unto God, in sorrow, and repentance, these 36. dayes ( a the whole time of our cleane Lent) either as the Tyth of our dayes, as S. b Bernard, or as the Tyth of the yeare, as c Aquinas, or as the Tyth of our life, as d Gerson, or as the Tole, and Tribute of all that wee are, as e Cassianus thinkes; Wee cannot doe it in better tuned meditations, than in these Sorrowes, and Comforts of the Booke of Job.

a Quadragesima propriè dicta. Bellarm. l. 2. de bon. oper. c. 16. rat. 6. 36 dies Decimae sunt, & 4. dies additi pro Primitijs. Alardus Gazaeus Annot. in Cassian. b De Iejunio serm. 3. c Dum enim per 360 dies Annus ducitur, nos autem per 36. dies affligimur, qui sunt jejunabiles in 6. Septimanis Quadragesimae, quasi anni nostri Decimas Deo damus. Aquin. 2 a. 2ae. q. 147. Art. 5. ex Gregor. d Gers. Hom. 1. in Quadrages: & Bellarm de bon. oper. l. 2. c. 16. e Fortasse ipsa Decimatio rectè, quasi ab usu telonei, Quadragesimae nomen accepit. Ita enim illa publica vulgò vocabatur Exactio; Ex qua tanta lucri portio Regis commodis deputatur, quantum & à nobis à Rege omnium saeculorum, pro usu vitae nostrae legitimum Quadragesimae vectigal exigitur. Cassian. Collat. 21.

AGaine, it is a time of our Private, or Nationall Sorrow, wherein this little world of ours, the Church, and State of this Kingdome doe cast themselves downe before their God, in true Compunction, and contrition of heart, because of their departing from their God, in life, and Conversation, and of Gods departing from them, in his wonted Benediction.

a Serm. 3. de Ieiunio. b Orat. in sacr. Baptism. c Serm. 3. de Ieiunio. e Meritò etiam nunc in diebus Passionis, in diebus Sanctificationis, in diebus Iejunij Beati Iob Passio legitur, meditatur, atq, scrutatur. Origen. l. 1. in Iob.

NOw all the Comfort of this Booke (for upon the Comfort I principally insist) is put off to this Chapter, and all the Comforts of this Chapter Epitomiz’d in this Verse, and all the quint-essence of this Verse couched in the beginning of the Verse, which I have read unto you. Where, notwithstanding the miseries, which Job endured, yet when his Faith was once discerned, his latter end became more blessed; The Lord blessed the latter end of Job, more than his beginning.

I Have heretofore, some yeares sithence, dealt with this Verse, as God did with Job in this verse, given some blessing upon the latter end thereof, but none as yet on the beginning, which shall be the Subject of this praesent Discourse. The beginning of this verse I may fitly terme the Reward of an afflicted Christian; For that Job was ante Evangelia Evangelicus, as a Julian the Pelagian doth wittily terme him, a Christian man long before Christ, is acknowledged by all the b Fathers. And that Christian vertues are really rewarded, ex promisso, though not ex commisso, by way of promise, though not of contract, is truely taught by c Peter Lombard, and the Schoolemen. Heere then have you the Reward of Christian patience in Adversity, invested with foure severall Circumstances.

a O virum ante Evangelia Evangelicum, & Apostolorum ante Apostolica praecepta Discipulum. Julian. Celan. Ep. l. ad Demetriadem virg. de instit. virg. Salmeron, & others make S. Hierome Authour of the Booke, but unjustly. b Chrys. tom. 1. Hom. de Iob, & Abraham. Origen. l. 1. in Iob. Hieron. in epist. In eo divinitùs provisum, ut alios inter Gentes sciremus Fideles. Aug. de Civ. Dei, l. 18. c. 47 c Sed, ut mihi videtur, hoc verbum, Debet, verenum habet; Multiplicom enim, & involutam continct intelligentiam, nec Deo propriè competit, qui non est Debitor nobis, nisi fortè ex Promisso, nos verò ei Debitores sumus ex Commisso. Lom. l. 1 dist. 43 Habent praemia spiritualia, & corporalia in hâc vitâ, & post hanc vitam, idque ex gratuitâ Promissione divinâ, &c. lit in hanc sententiam Nostri etiam à vocabulo Meriti non abhorrent. Chemnit. Exam. Conc. Trid. c. de Meritis Operum.

BEginne we therefore with the Efficient cause, and let us take our rise at the Magazin, and Treasury, where Christian Patience, and forbearance is usually rewarded, which is the Lords blessing; The Lord Blessed. Dicere Dei est facere, saith S. a Augustine, Gods saying is operation, and doing; For Dixit, & factum est, hee spoke but the word, and it was done, as it is in the b Psalm. And as his saying is his doing: so his Benediction, or saying of some good, is his doing of some good; or (to speake properly) his augmenting, & superadding of some good; For as the first blessing, that ever fell from God, was a Crescite, & multiplicamini, a kinde of increasing, and multiplying, Gen. 1. 22: So ever since, Cum Dominus nobis Benedicit, nos crescimus, Gods Blessing of us, is an encreasing of us, saith c S. Augustine in his Commentary upon the 66. Psalme. And so the d Rabbins define Gods Blessings to be תספי תכה an Addition of some good. And Chemnitius notes, that temporall Blessings are ever expressed in the old Testament, by the Verbe יסף which signifies to Adde, or as our Saviour translates it προστίθεμαι, to adde over and above, Mat. 6. 33. And so in this place, over and above the e treasures of the spirit, wherewith the mind of this holy man was highly enriched, the Lord heaped upon him, and added unto him, these temporall Blessings; The Lord Blessed. From the nature therefore of the Lords Blessing in this place, I will borrow some five severall Observations, which I hope your Lordships shall not hold impertinent to this portion of Scripture.

a Libr. Expos. Ep. ad Rom. imperfect. Sic Moller. in Ps. 3. 9. quia Dicto absolvit negotium. Ambros. 1. Hexam. b Ps. 32. 9. c Ut abundare ab undis, ita Berecha, 1. affluentia à Bereca, fonte, seu piscina. Lorin. in ps. 20. v. s. d Apud Chemnit. in Harm. e Divitias Cordis. Aug. in ps. 103. a In diluvio aquarum multarum ad eum non approximabunt. Ps. 31. 6. i. adversitatum. Lorinus in loc. b Ps. 43. 10. c Esay. 9. 21.

SEcondly, if Gods outward blessings bee onely an over-adding, though our heavenly Father should (as sometimes he doth) close up his hands, and adde none of these outward blessings, yet were our Patience in time of a Adversity sufficiently rewarded in its owne selfe. So this holy man in my Text, before this outward blessing, Intus dives erat, was rich enough with his inward blessings, as b Saint Bernard writes. And had hee received no other wreath at all, yet Patientiae munere coronabatur, He was sufficiently adorned with his Crowne of Patience, saith S. c Gregorie. And yet every Patience will not serve our turne; for to have a carelesse, and brawnie soule, relying wholy upon imaginarie suppositions, as that there is no providence at all, as the Epicures in d Tullie, or if it be, that it fall no lower than the Sphaere of the Moone, as Aristotle in e Epiphanius, or if it vouchsafe to descend to the Earth, it relates unto none but two or three Favorites, as some in f Isidorus Pelusiota are of opinion, would proove but a raw, and naked blessing: So likewise that Paper-patience of the Philosophers, begotten either by former praemeditations, or by a continuall habite of suffering, or some opinion of fatall necessitie, or lastly by an abandoning of all naturall affections, is but a thinne, and bare shelter, for a man to repose himselfe, in the stormes of Adversitie. But that patient enduring of the child of God, we now speake of, when the faithfull soule staies her selfe upon Gods g providence, and upon an assured resolution of an happy issue in his good time, passeth in the meane while, in all securitie through the sharpe pikes of woes, and miseries, is such an admirable endowment, and portion of the spirit, as that it was reward, and blessing enough, though the Lord had no otherwise blessed the end of Job.

a Istaec interpretatio non insinuat ambiguitatem, vel incertitudinem promissionis, sed quia Deus his modis, & sua bona voluntate, solet suos consolari, liberando, mitigando, confirmando, salvando. Chemnic. in Harm. b In Cantic. O divitiae interiores, quò sur non accedit. Aug. in Ps. 55. c In Moral. d De natura Deorum, l 3. Ita Plinius. Irridendum verò, agere curam rerum humanarum illud, quicquid est, summum. Anne tam tristi, atque multiplici mysterio non pollui credamus, dubitemusque? Plin. hist. nat. l. 2. c 7. e Adversus haeres. Ita eius Commentator in 12. Metaph. & quidam apud Isid. Pelusiot. Αλλοι δὲ προνοσῖν μἦν ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐπουρανίων. l. 4. ep. 99. f Αλλοὶ δε καὶ τῶν ἐπιγείων μὲν, οὐ πάντων δὲ, ἀλλοὶ καὶ βασιλιέων, καὶ άρχόντων. Is. Pelus: l. 4. ep. 99. Non simus tam fatui adulatores Dei, ut dum providentiam eius ad ima detrudimus, in nos ipsos iniuriosi simus, &c. Hier. in Hab. obelisconotatus à Danaeo in 1. Sent. dist. 39. Non tamen numerus vel apum, vel culicum, vel eiusmodi est per se praeordinatus à Deo. Tho. p. 1. q. 7. g Providentia inter Christianos, ut janua in domo, quam nemo, nisi ebrius ignorat. Lyra, seu Glossar. in Repli. ad Burg. in fine Gloss. Interlin. a Foris pauper es, sed intus dives. Divitias tecum portas, quas non amitteres, etiamsi de naufragio nudus exires. Aug. in Ps. c. 6. Nostrae enim facultates, & aurum Christus est; Ad hunc accedito, & veris divitijs abundabis. Baron. Lippel. tom. 2. b Ergo tales, quando humiliantur, nolite putare miseros. Erratis, nescientes, quid intus habeant. Ex vobis conijcitis, qui mundum diligitis, quia vos, cum talia perditis, miseri remanetis. Prorsus nolite hoc putare; Habent intus quo gaude. ant. Aug. in Ps. 30. c In Ps. 30. d Τί οὖν ὁ Θεός, Βουλόμενος δεῖξαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐπὶ μισθῷ θεραπεύουσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἅγιοι, περιεῖλεν αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐπορίαν ἅπασαν, καὶ πενίᾳ παρέδωκε, καὶ νοσήματι χαλεπῷ περιπεσεῖν συνεχώρησεν. Chrys. ad pop. Antioc. Hom. 1. e Dices, feram mala, & reddet mihi Deus, ut Iob; Iam non est Patientia, sed Avaritia. Aug. ad Catech. l. 1. f Spiritualia bona attribuimus dextrae, sinistrae vero carnalia.
—— Haec vera Philosophia. Haec deniq gratia, & misericordia Dei in servos suos, & respectus in Electos, ut in illorum sinistram quidem velut dissimulans dextrae semper studiosus Protector assistat.
Bern. serm. 7 in Ps. Qui habitat.
g Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit. Vide te foris pauperem, intus divitem. Aug. in Ps. 30.

THirdly, when wee consider this blessing to bee a super-adding, wee may observe, that God sometimes, besides these inward a Jewels of the minde, Faith, Hope, Patience, and the like, which wee survaied but even now, doth heape upon his servants (even in the time of the Gospell) these outward favours, and blessings also, and that for many reasons. First, Ne b malae putentur, lest Riches otherwise, and the like outward Blessings of God, may be thought to bee evill; Evill in themselves, saith S. Augustine in his Commentaries upon the 66. Psalme. Secondly, lest the Godly, compassed with flesh, and blood, should boggle at the Religion, Worship, and Service of God, if these outward blessings were thus monopolized to the wicked onely, saith the same c Father in his 1. B. ad Catechumenos. Thirdly, d because these temporall blessings are expedient, and necessary to set many of the Vertues a going, as Charitie, Almes-giving, and the like. In which consideration Aristotle is not so justly taxed by S. e Gregory Nazianzen, for making riches necessary for some of the Vertues, Because they are out of all quaestion, Bonum unde facias bonum, a Good without which we cannot doe good, saith S. Augustine in his 5. Sermon De verbis Domini. Fourthly, God many times addes these temporall, because men are not able to take such exact notice, as they should, of those spirituall blessings, wherewith the Elect are f inwardly adorned; As here, what God did for Job, g fecit ut ostenderet hominibus, hee did it onely that men might observe it, saith S. Augustine in his 1. B. ad Catechumenos. For these reasons, and the like, Almighty God (besides the riches of the Spirit) rewards many times the long suffering of his Servants, with an Amalthaea’s horne, of these outward blessings; especially those, that hee knowes will h use them aright. Those, that (with i Job) can never eate their morsels alone, but must have the Fatherlesse taste thereof. Those, that cannot endure the poore without covering, but warme them continually with the fleece of their sheepe. Those, who suffer not the Strangers to lodge in the streete, but open their doores to the Travailers, &c. These, beside these spirituall, shall be crowned also with temporall blessings, as the Lord here blessed the end of Job. And so much of the third Observation.

a Sit nomen Domini benedictum. Istae gemmae laudis Dei unde sunt? Aug. in Psal. 30. Patrimonium Fidei in corde. Id. in Psal. 123. b Divitiae ne malae putentur, dantur bonis, ne summae, malis. Aug. in Ps. 123. c Ne infirmos animos ob dilationem mercedis subeat poenitentia, contempsisse praesentia. Ambros. de Abraham. l. 5. c. 3. Πρὼ τὸ εὖ λέγειν, ἐυλογία. οἱ πόλλοι tales laudant, & admirantur, quibus Deus benedicit. Isidor. Pelus. l. 4. Ep. 161. d Qu. Nam quaero abs te, si tibi persuadeatur aliter cum multis charissimis tuis te in studio sapientiae non posse vivere, nisi amplares aliqua familiarìs, necessitates nostras sustinere posset, nonne desiderabis divitias, & optabis? Resp. Assentior. Aug. soliloq. lib. 1. e ἐκεῖνο δ’ οὐκ ἔτι μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ταπεινῶς, ὅτι καὶ τὴν ἔξωθεν εὐετηρίαν προστίθησιν, ὡς, εἰ τύχοι πένης τις ὤν. &c. Naz. ep. 64. f Quia aliàs videre non poteramus occultam eius coronam. Aug. l. 1. ad Catech. Boni latent, quia bonum ipsorum in occulto est. Et tam merita eorum sunt in abscondito constituta, quam praemia. Aug. Sentent. 201. g Fecit haec Dominus, ut ostenderet hominibus, nam ipse servo suo maiora in coelo servavit. Idem ib. h Audiant haec divites, audiant haec pauperes, quem admodum hic beatus vir in divitijs suis, & foelicitate benignus dispensator extuit divitiarum, & in tentatione paupertatis patientèr, & fortitèr toleravit. Aug. de Temp. serm. 225. Ο Αβραἀμ πλούσιος ἧν, καὶ ὁ Ίὼ6 πλούσιος ἧν καὶ ού μόνον οὐδὲν ἀπὸ τοΰ πλούτου παρεβλάβησαν, ἀλλὰ καἰ μειζόνως εὐδοκίμηααν. Τίνος ἔνεκεν καὶ διὰ τί; Ὅτι ούκ εἰς οἰκείαν ἀπόλαυσιν μόνον τούτῳ ἐκέχρηντο, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἂλλων παραμυθίαν, καὶ τὰς τῶν δεομένων διορθούμενοι πενίας, &c. Chrys. in Gen. Hom. 66. i Iob. 31. 17. & 31. 20.

FOurthly, if these temporall blessings are blessings of the Lord, those Cloister conceits of the Monckes, and Fryers, are meerely ridiculous, a that God loves none, but the poore, & needy, & hath praepared the Kingdome of heaven for the beggar onely, as some Maison de Dieu, or great Hospital. Salomon tels us another Story, that the rich, and the poore meet together, and the Lord is the maker of them all. Prov. 22. 2. verse.  And S. b Augustine, together with S. c Ambrose, observe, in many passages of their writings, that the Holy Ghost hath plac’t, of purpose, Lazarus, that was so poore, in the bosome of Abraham, that was so rich, Luc. 16. 22. to teach us, that both rich, and poore, noble, and ignoble, if they be indenizon’d by faith in the Kingdome of Grace, have an aequall interest in the kingdome of Glory. I will conclude this point with that passage in d Cassiodorus, Si pauper superbiat, non est Dei pauper, & si locuples humilitatem diligat, non est saeculi dives: voluntates enim talium sunt inspiciendae, non Nomina, If a poore man bee sturdie, and stubborne, he is none of Gods poore men, and if the rich man, bee lowly, and humble, hee is no worldly rich man, for in such you must not marke so much their outward styles, and denominations, as their inward habits, and dispositions. And so much for this fourth Observation.

a Sed ait mihi quisq Mendicus, debilitate fessus, pannis obsitus, fame languidus, Mihi debetur regnum Coelorum, Ego enim similis sum illi Lazaro, Nostrum genus est, cui debetur regnum Coelorum, non illi generi, qui induuntur purpurâ, & bysso. Audi ergo me de hoc, quod proposuisti, Domine Pauper. Noli contemnere divites misericordes, divites humiles, & ut citius dicam, quod paulo ante dixi, divites pauperos noli contemnere O Pauper. Aug. serm. de Temp. 110. b Serm. 110. de Temp. in Ps. 66. c Ju 16. Luc. l. 1. de Abrah. & alibi. d In Ps 30. Dives, qui talis est, ut contemnat in se, quicquid illud est, unde instari superbia solet, pauper est Dei. Aug. sent. 149. Da mihi Zachaeum habentem magnas divitias, staturâ brevem, animo breviorem. Aug. serm. 110. de Temp. Si enim dives factus est humilis, quantò magis pauper debet esse humilis? Idem ib. a Sapient. 8. 1. b Aug.saepius in libris de Civ. Dei. c In 2. sent. dist. 23.sent. dist. 23. d In locum. e Apud Mercerum. Adde quod Rabbi Selamoh suprà alicubi non ita ad inopiam fuisse redactum, ut vulgò putatur, Iobum scribit, ex veterum Hebraeorum sententiâ. Pecora quidem, & bona, quae erant in agris amisisse eum tradit Scriptura, sed nummorum eum, & veterarum facultatum non fecisse alioqui iacturam; Nec id Scriptura memorat. Mercerus. f Adhibuerunt subventionis remedium. Aquinas in Iob. 42. lection. 1. Donaria in eum collata credimus, ut saepe divitibus, & amicis munera donari solent, non tam ad ditandum, quam ad eas demerendes. Uti magnus vir & Oriente toto celeberrimus erat. Mercerus ex Rabbin. Tanquam Xenia. Augustinus Steuchus. Tanquam obsequij Symbola. Franc. Iunius. g קשיתח A peice of money, or a lamb. Αργυρίον, Act. 7. 16. but centum agni. Gen. 33. 19. It signifieth both. A peece of money stamp’t with the image of a Lambe. Pecunia à pecore sive pecude. Plin. hist. nat. lib. 18. c. 3. Varro de l. Latin. l. 4. Gellius de noctib. Att. l. 11. h Usque hodie inter caetera ornamenta mulierum solent aurei circuli in os ex fronte pendere, & imminere naribus. Hier. in Ezech. 16. 12.

NOw I come to the Second part of my Text, the common, and generall subject of this reward, which relates to a person, by name Job; The Lord blessed Job. Of him I will say, as a Velleius Paterculus did of another, Neque nihil, neque omnia dicenda sunt, somewhat I must, and all I may not here speake; For those ordinary Quaestions, concerning Job; as whether he was descended from b Cain, c Abraham, d Nachor, or e Esau, whether he lived in the time of f Jacob, or of g Moses, or of the h Judges or of the i Babylonian, or the k Aegyptian Captivity; whether this Booke was penn’d by one of his l Friends, or one of the m Prophets, or some n Rabbin of Babylon, or by Salomon, or by his o owne selfe, or by p Moses, or by both, (as q Origen thinkes) these doubts are no more interessed in this peice of Scripture, than in any other part of the whole Booke; and to passe, in despight of all Logicque, the whole history of Job through one little Text, like a Camell through the eye of a Needle, were to drive out Myndo’s once more, at one of her gates, as Diogenes was wont to say. I will only touch the two ordinary Quaestions in all Artes, and Sciences, An fuit? Quis fuit? First, whether Job was a man, and, if that appeare, what kinde of man hee was, that was so blessed. For the first, as Lucian says in Dion Chrysostomus, and our late Chronologers write of the Trojans, that they fought 10. yeares in defence of r Helen, when then they had no more but her withered Carcasse, or bare picture, her selfe being in Aegypt, or dead long before: So the s Rabbins of old, and many t writers of latter times, will have here nothing, but the picture of Job, A lesson, an Idea, a Patterne, a Repraesentation, and a perfect example of the reward of Patience, and of true magnanimitie in great afflictions; But this phantasie, and Chymaera is easily refuted, out of bookes Canonicall, Ecclesiasticall, prophane, and reason it selfe. For the first, Ezech. 14. 14. Though Noah, Job, and Daniel were in it, &c. Now Noah, and Daniel were no Phantasies, Repraesentations, or imaginations of men, and therefore no more was Job. Againe, James 5. 10. 11. we are turn’d over to the Prophets, and Job, to take out lessons, and patternes της κακοπαθείας, καὶ ὑπομονῆς of Patience, and long suffering in those adversities, which it shall please God to send upon us; Now the Prophets were no Idea’s, conceptions, or Repraesentations of men, and consequently, no more was Job. Secondly, for Ecclesiasticall historie, we will take the booke of Tobias, commended for antiquitie by S. u Jerome, and S. v Augustine, Where in the second Chapter, and the fifteenth verse in the Latine, though not in any Greeke Copie, that ever I saw, or (I beleeve) is extant, Tobias is compared to holy Job; Now Tobias is there set out for a reall, and an Individuall man, and consequently, so was Job. Thirdly, for prophane histories, we have Aristaeus a Jew, that brings Job for a Patterne τῆς διψυχίας, of long suffering, and patience, as Eusebius cites him in his ninth Booke de praeparatione Evangelica: And w Averroes that famous Philosopher, and Jobs owne Countryman, that points him out, for a Patterne of magnanimity, in his Commentaries upon the fourth Booke of Aristotles Ethiques. Lastly, for Reason, I will goe no further than the first words of this x Booke. Erat vir, saith the Holy Ghost, Hee was a man, and therefore I cannot beleeve that he was no man, but a Morall vertue, or a Lecture of the same, which is likewise the Collection of y Origen, and z S. Chrysostome.

a De Mithridat. Hist. lib. 1. b R. Shelamo Ben Iarchi apud Tostatum in Gen. 22. Ph. Presbyter in Iob. Comest. Hist. scholast. c. 58. in Genes. c Scripturae quintum ab Abraham facit ipsum. Chrys. Hom. 2. de patientia Iob. & Orig. l. 1. in Iob. d Hebraei narrant eum de Nachor stirpe generatum. Hieron. ep. 126. e Communis opinio, praecipuè Patrum, & Scriptorum Ecclesiast. Pererius in Genes. 36. Disp. 2. f Aequalem Iacobo probant ex Philone Rupertus in Gen. l. 8. & Tostatus in 1. Paral. c. 1. g Synthronon Mosi facit Sul. Severus Hist. Sacr. l. 1. Hier. in Tradit. Heb. in c. 22. Gen. h Gregor. in Iob in principio. i Anabaptist. apud Sixt. Senens. & alij Rabbini apud Mercerum Praefat. in Iob. k Adrich. in Chronic. Anno 2235. Genebr. in Chron. An. 2239. l Quidam ap. Author. Catonae in Iob. m Isidor. 6. Etym. c. 2. n Rabbini ap. Mercer. Praefat. in Iob. Naz. Orat. ad Iulian. & Nicetas in eum loc. o Gregor. in princ. Suidas in verbo Iob. Sententia verissima. Albert. M. ap. Pinedam. p Orig. l. 1. in Iob. Hoc autem, sicut & caetera de Creatione, Moses à Deo accepit. q Initio l. 1. in Iob. r Hecubae aetate aequalem. Lucian. lib. 2. de vera Histor. Raptam ante initium regni Thesei. Scalig. l. 3. Canon Isag. ob longaevitatem, dicta, Immortalem Helenam. Servius in 2. Aeneid. Troiae fuisse fictio Homerica, ἐς τὴν ἐποποιίην εὐπρεπὴς. Herod. in Euterp. Menelaus vero, εἴδωλον ἐκ τῆς Τροίας ἔχων· ὅ τε πόλεμος συνεστήκει περὶ εἰδώλου τὰ δέκα ἔτη. Dion Chrysost. orat. 11. Cuius amplexus ψυχρὸν εκχύλισμα. Lycophr. in Cassandra. See History of the World. lib 2. c. 14. par. 3. s R. Moses Ben Maymon. Iob tantum parabolam esse putat, ad exponendum opiniones hominum de providentia. Mercer. praefat. in Iob. t Tragico-comaedia Hebraeorum. Anabaptistae apud Sixtum Senens. lib. 8. haeres. 10. Est veluti fabulae argumentum, ad proponendum patientiae Exemplum. Luth. lib. de libris Vet. & Neu. Testam. ut citatur à Bellarm. l. 1. de verbo Dei. c. 5. Liber iste Lutheri supposititius est, Franc. Junius in 1. Tom. Bellarm. u Praef. in Iob. v Dom. 15. post. Trin. serm. 1. w Citatus ab Augustino Steucho praefatione in Iob, & à Pererio in 16. Gen. x Iob. 1. 1. y L. 1. in Iob. z Hom. 1. de Abraham. & Iob. a Preached at Abthorp before K. James of blessed memory, in the yeere 1617. b Si privatus esset, cur publicè loqueretur? Tacit. hist. l. 4. de Muciano. c Vers. 6. 7. 8. d Plus quàm civilia agitare. Annal. 3. Id est maiora, quàm Civem decet. L. D’Orleans in 1. Annal. e Prius in multis, & districtis percunctationibus humiliari curavit, & sic parare vitam benedictioni. Bern. sup. Cantic. serm. 34. a An Rex fuerit, solum invenio Cajetanum de re non valdè dubiá dubitantem. Pineda in c. 1. v. 1. καὶ οὗτοι οἱ βασι- λεῖς οἱ βασιλεύσαντες ἐν ᾿Εδώμ, ἧς καὶ αὐτὸς ἦρξε χώρας. Septuagint. in fine cap. 42. Rex Idumaeorum. Isid. l. de vitâ, & morte Sanctorum. Praeerat solus Regioni Ussitarum cum imperio. Caesar, Dial. 3. Rex Arabiae.  Gaud. Brixianus praefat. in script. Dux de genere Esau. Prosp. de Promiss. p. 1. c. 22. b Moral. 1. c Fortitèr colluctatus est Diabolus, sed fortiss. Athletam Dei superare non potuit. Aug. serm. 225. de Temp. Ανδρεῖος Ιὼβ, καὶ τοὶ πᾶαν ἐπέλθων ἀρετην. Isid. Pelus l. 4. ep. 114. ̓Ιώβ, ὁ μέγας ὄντως ἐκει̂νος καὶ γενναι̂ος τη̂ς ἀληθείας ἀγωνιστής. Suidas in verbo Iob. d Hom. de patient. Iob. e Diabolus parietem perforavit, sed thesaurum auferre non potuit, thesaurum dico non auri, & argenti, sed Fidem iusti. Aug. serm. 225. de Temp. f Pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum eius. Psalm. 115. 15. Pretiosa, quòd non permittat illorum vitam, atq salutem inimicis quasi flocci venalem, nisi pro ingenti quodam pretio, & bono sua Ecclesiae: sic sanè neq vult suum iustum affligi, nisi ingens quoddam, & publicum bonum suae Ecclesiae inde eliciat. Illud aut: est patientiae exemplum. Pineda praefat. in Iob. c. 6. g Hanc tentationem ideo permisit Dominus evenire illo, ut posteris daretur Exemplum patientiae eius. Tob. 2. 15. Pietatis exempla sunt videq nobis proposita, & tanta multitudo, ut nubem densitate exaequent. Theodor. in Hebr. 12. 1. Super ill. νέφος μαρτύρων ἵναδἰ ὑπομονῆς τρέχωμεν. In.v & Christus passus est, ὑμῖν ὑπολιμπάνων ὑπογραμμὸν. 1. Pet. 2. 21. Et Christus factus est homo, ut exhiberetur homini, & qui videretur ab homine, & quem homo sequeretur. Aug. h Adversa latentem virtutem, & fortitudinem ostendunt, ut eam spectatares imitentur. Propter huc Dominus accendit Iobum instar facis, ut luceat omnibus in Orbe terrarum. Caesarius dial. 3.Ο πρω̂τος ἀνοίξας τὸ γυμνικὸν ἐκει̂νο καὶ παγκόσμιον στάδιον. Suidas in verbo Iob. i Gen. 12. 12. Ἄλλος μὲν γὰρ ἄλλο τι τῶν παλαιῶν, ἢ τῶν νέων κατωρθω- κέναι πιστεύεται, ὡς ἕκαστος ἔτυχεν ἐκ Θεοῦ χάριτός τινος ἠξιωμένος. Ἰώβ, τὸ ἐν τοῖς πάθεσι καρτερι- κὸν, καὶ ἀνάλωτον. Μωσῆς καὶ Δαβὶδ, τὸ πρᾶον. Σαμουὴλ τὸ χρηματίσαι, βλέπων τὰ ἔμπροσθεν. Gr. Naz. Orat. 19. k Num. 12. 3. l Ps. 88. 21. m Neq enim solum peculiare Iobi bonum, sed commune suae Ecclesiae solatium, & commodum Deus spectat in affligendo quolibet iusto. Pineda Praefat. in Iob. c. 6. In hac virtute exemplar opinatissimum. Bern. serm. 2. de Convers. Pauli. Athletam in certamen impellit erecta victori statua. Armigerum in praelium provocat decreta fortibus gloria. Quis autem tam strenuus, & fortis, ut beatus Iob? Chrys. serm. in Iob, & Abraham.

a L. 7. de institut. Virg. Et ideò laudatio eius non in Exordio, sed in Fine est. b In Christianis non laudantur initia, sed finis. Hier. in Regul. Monach. cap. de Poenit. Απὸ γὰρ τοΰ τέλους ἀεὶ τὰ πράγματα κρίνεται. Chrys. in Illud, Saulus adhuc. serm. 47. c Dignitas est Subiecti, affatus meruisse Dominantis. Cassiod. lib. 8. c. 4.

THe latter end onely. For as S. a Bernard wittily makes the Allusion, Patientia, & perseverantia, Patience in Affliction, Repentance, and perseverance unto the end, are fellow-partners indeed in the Lords harvest, and yet though the b former endure the burthen, the latter onely receives the blessing; Because, as S. Augustin observes in his seaventeenth Booke De Civitate Dei, and fifth Chapter, Non in quo medio, sed in quibus extremis, every man, and every Societie, and state of men, is cursed, or blessed, not as they suffer in the middle, but as they speed in the end; The Lord blessed the end of Job. The Schoolmen make of this Perseverance unto the end (which some late Divines had rather fasten with a rope of sands to the libertie of our will, than with a chaine of Adamant to Gods steddie, & immoveable Grace, and goodnesse) not any one particular vertue, but c conditionem annexam cuilibet virtuti, saith Bonaventure upon the third of the sentences, a condition implied in every vertue, this being Dei Donum, quo caetera servantur dona, saith S. d Augustine, Gods rare, and speciall gift, which praeserves, and maintaines his other gifts; For although (as the Apostle tels us) πᾶσα δόσις ἀγαθὴ καὶ πᾶν δώρημα, the vertues, that adorne a Christian soule, e doe every one of them claime kindred of Almighty God, f et Deus est in utroque parente, and descend from him both in the one, and the other line, yet this perseverance unto the latter end, is Unica filia, saith S. g Bernard, his onely daughter, and heire, which carries all away; Cum enim omnes virtutes currant in stadio, sola perseverantia accipit bravium, saith S. h Augustine, when all the vertues, Patience, Repentance, and Humiliation have run the race, none but this Perseverance to the latter end, can get the Cuppe, I meane the Cuppe of the Lords blessings; The Lord blessed the latter end of Job. Our Saviour promised a table in heaven, not to those, that heard him, or to those, that followed him, saith S. i Chrysost. but to those onely, Qui permanserunt, who continued with him. Luc. 22. 28. And he once provided a Table on earth, to those onely, Qui perseverarunt, who persevered with him, Mat. 5. 32. to teach us, that both these Tables, that is, the blessings of the Heaven, and the blessings of the Earth, are provided for them, and them onely, which continue, and persevere in their Repentance, & Devotions, to the latter end. If a sacrifice be offered unto God, hee likes it not, unlesse it come entire, cum cauda, with his latter end, saith k Gregorie. If his Priests be annointed with holy oyle, it must be in extremis, in their outmost parts, and latter ends, saith S. Cyrill. If the Sonne of man appeare unto l John, he doth it vestitus podêre, in a long garment downe to his latter end, as Aquinas observes; And all to teach us, that if we looke for a blessing upon any of these Graces, which the holy Ghost hath stirred in us, to wit, Faith, Repentance, sorrow for our sinnes, and the like, we must cherish, and praeserve them to the latter end, for of those the Lord blesseth onely the m latter end. Our great Assemblies, of late, have begun very well with the Generall Devotions of Fasting, and Prayer. Who so prophane as to deny it? But out alas, Lachrymâ nihil citiùs arescit, as n the famous Orator was wont to say, Nothing dries up faster than a publique teare; It seldome continues moist a whole day. o Faction, Ambition, and private ends, by separating a Good King from a Good people, a good People from a good King, and so both King, and People (for the time) from the wonted benedictions of a good, and gracious God, have hitherto praevented that world of blessings, which is readie to fall upon a devout perseverance to the latter end; For, say what you will, of all our humbling, and Repenting, the Lord blesseth but the p latter end. And because these Blessings ever fall upon the latter end, Sathan is ever fighting against the latter end; For, as the K. of Syria commanded those 32. Captaines to fight against neither small, nor great, save onely against the K. of Israel, 1 King. 22. 31: So the Deuill commands his leading, and master-Temptations, not to fight against any, small, or great vertue, not to fight against any of Gods Graces whatsoever, save onely against this perseverance in true Repentance, unto the latter end, quam solam virtutum novit coronari, saith S. q Bernard, upon the which vertue onely, hee knoweth very well, the Crowne must fall, the Crowne of all Blessings temporall and r aeternall, as here, The Lord blessed the latter end of Job.

a Bern. libello, qui vocatur 8. puncta. b τοΰ τέλους τὰ παρε- λθόντα ἀποκρύψαν- τος, καὶ τοὐς ἀθλητἀς πἀλιν, κἂν μυρία πρότερον ἡττηθῶσι, τὴν δὲ περὶ τοΰ στεφάνου πάλην κρατήσωσιν, οὐκ ἀποστεροΰμεν τῶν ἐγκωμίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ διὰ τὰ πρότερα. Chrys. in Illud, Saulus adhuc Serm. 47. c Perseverantia generalis circuit omnem virtutem. Gul. Parisiens. Summâ de Virtutibus, parte 3. Tract. de Fortitud. c. 3. Vide Aquin. 1a. 2ae. Qu. 5^. Art. 3. d De bono Perseverantiae. l. 2. Hanc totius probitatis unicam, fidamque custodem custodni à vobis firmiter hortor. Bern. Ep. 129. e Iam. 1. 17. f Metamorph. lib. 12. g Perseverantia est summi Regis filia, virtutumq fructus, & consummatio. Bern. Ep. 129. h Lib. 2. de bono Persever. Multorum est incipere, paucorum finite; sola tamen Perseverantia coronabitur, sola accipiet bravium: nulla sine labore virtus, & ad magna praemia non pervenitur, nisi per magnos labores. Bern. l. octo puncta. i Hom. 10. ad Pop. Antioch. k Caudam Hostiae in Altari offerre praecipimur, ut videl: omne bonum, quod incipimus, perseveranti sine compleamus. Benè igitur coepta cunctis diebus agenda sunt, ut ipsa victoria manu Constantiae teneatur. Greg. 1. Mor. c. 40. l Apoc. 1. 13. m Tolle perseverantiam, nec Obsequium mercedem habet, nec Beneficium gratiam, nec laudem Fortitudo. Bern. Ep. 129. n Cic. ad Heren. l. 2. o Ποῦ τοί νυν αν […] τῶν αυτῶς, φοβεῖ… τους θεοις, πάλιν δὴ αυτῶν κατα. φρονεῖν, καὶ θυειν μεν ὑπὲρ ἐυσεβειας, δυ νεβεῖν δὴ διά τῶν χειρίςαν; Liban. Declamat. 2. Ulyssi. p Et nunc quid restat charissimi, nisi ut admone- amini de perseverantia, quae sola meretur viris gloriam, coronam virtutibus. Bern. Ep. 129. q Studete itaq perseverantiae, quae sola virtutum coronatur. Bern. ep 109 Sciens Diabolum soli semper perseverantiae insidiari, quam solam virtutum novit coronari. Bern. ep. 32. Imperfeverans, canis inter duo cornua ad duas coenas simul sonantia, utràq freudatur. Prosp. libello. de dono timoris. r καὶ οὐ διπλασίονα, καθάπερ ὁ Ἰὼβ, ἀλλ’ ἑκατονταπλασίονα ἀπολήψεται κατὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν ζωήν. Chrys. ad Pop Antioch. Hom. 1. a Per hoc nostrum aeternum consequimur Dei aeternum. Ger. in l. c. b Cum enim praemium, quo praemabuntur serm Dei, sit aeternum, id est, quamdiu est Deus: labor, quo homo serim Deo, correspondens suo praemio debet esse perpetuus, id est, quamdiu erit homo. Destruct. Vitior. parte 5. cap. 15. Nunquam vir iusius arbitratur se comprehendisse; Nunquam dicit satis est, sed semper esurit, sititq iustitiam; Ita ut si semper viveret, semper, quantum inse est, iustior esse contenderet. Non enim ad annum, vel ad tempus, instar Mercenarij, sed in aeternum divino se mancipat famulatui Bern. epist. 253. c Videt enim scalam Iacob, & in illam Angelos, ubi nullus residens, nullusve subsistens apparuit, sed vel ascendere, vel descendere videbantur: quo palam daretur intelligi inter profectum, & defectum in hoc statu mortalis vitae nihil medium inveniri, sed ut ipsum corpus nostrum continuè crescere constat, aut decrescere; sic necesse sit & spiritum aut proficere semper, aut deficere. D. Bern. epist. 253.

a Quantum visus superior est auditu, tanto differt ab eo quod prius extitit & hoc quod post modum per flagella prosecit. Greg. Mor. lib. 35. c. 4. Apertè quantum de verbere oreverit indicatur. Ibid. cap. 6 a Vocatur Miles Dei, à Gregor. Hom. 19. in Ezech. γε ἰσχυρὸν, καὶ ἰσχυρότερον ἡ θλῖψις ἐργάζεται, καθάπερ καὶ τὸν μακάριον Ἰὼβ λαμπρότερον ἐποίησαν, καὶ σεμνότερον. Chrys ad pop. Antioch. Hom. 4. Ὁ οὖν Ἰὼβ ἰσχυρὸς ὢν καὶ πρὸ τούτου, ἡνίκα τὰ πάντα ἀπέβαλε, τότε γέγονεν ἰσχυρότερος, καὶ λαμπρὰν ἤρατο κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν νίκην. Chrys. ad pop. Antioch. Hom. 7 b Iob. 19. 25, 26. a παντὸς ἐπαίνου κρείττων. Isidor. Pelus. lib. 3. ep. 11. Nisi enim passus fuisset, fortasse veluti virtutus non landaretur. Chrysost. hom. 4. de patientia Iob. ὁ Ἰὼβ, ἡνίκα μὲν ἦν τὸν πλοῦτον ἅπαντα περιβεβλημένος ἐκεῖνον, οὐκ ἦν κατάδηλος τοῖς πολλοῖς: γυμνωθεὶς τοὺς θεατὰς ἐξέπληξεν ἅπαντας. Id. ad Pop. Ant. hom. 1 οὐκ ῆν οὔτω λαμπρὸς, ὅτε ἁπό τῆς κουρἄς&c. Chrys. Ib. In Iconib. b Serm. 3. de patientia Iob. c Vir ille sanctus in prosperis interrogatur adversis, ut qui notus erat omnipotenti Domino, notus per flagella fieret & nobis. Greg. in Ezech. lib. 2. Hom. 20. d τοτε ἄνθρωπος, καὶ φιλάνθρωπος, ἦν νῦν γίγνvεται φιλόσοφος. Chrys. ad pop. Antioch. Hom. Orig. lib. 1. in Iob. a Hales. part. 3. q 62. m. 1. & 3 Aquin. 2.a. 2.ae. q. 69. art. 3. ad T. 2.a.2 ae. q 9. art 4. in Matt. 5 Biel in 3. sent. d, 34. b In Ps. 34. O lachryma humilis, Tua est potentia, tuum regnum. —– aperis coelum, fugas Diabolum. Iustinian in ligno vitae. cap. 9 Da mihi gratiam lachrymarum, &c. Aug. lib. Med. c. 36. Flere debes, sed recordando Sion. August. in ps. 136 c Apud Gerard. in l. c. d Non poenas damus, sed erudimur. Chrys. Hom. 28. in 1. Cor. Saepe Dei fit providentia, ut qui non cognoverunt Deum in prosperis, cognoscant in adversis, & qui divitijs male sint abusi, ad virtutes penuria corrigantur. Hieron. in 1. Io. 1.

For the use thus in a word, both for the Generall, and the particular Application.

Generally.

FIrst, if a Christian man lie under any temporall losses, of Health, Wealth, Wife, or Childe, let him remember they were the blessings of the Lord, and if hee hath lost these blessings, unlesse by impatience hee a loose the Lord too, the Lord knoweth how to blesse him again, as here, The Lord blessed.

a ἐπειδὴ τὴν εὐσέβε- ιαν οὐκ ἀπέβαλε, πάντα μετὰ πλείονος αὐτῷ ἐπανῆλθε τῆς περιουσίας τὰ πρότε- ρα. Chrys. ad pop. Antioch. hom. 4.

SEcondly, what wicked Cain said of his sinnes, that they were greater than could be forgiven, no Childe of God must thinke of those losses, that they are greater than can be given; For be hee the greatest man in all the Country, as Job was in all the East, a yet if he humble his soule with Prayer, and Repentance, the Lord can blesse him above all his losses, as here, The Lord blessed Job.

a Ἀπώλεσας χρήματα; ἂν μὲν εὐχαριστήσῃς, ἐκέρδανας τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ μείζονα ἐκτήσω τὸν πλοῦτον, τοῦ Θεοῦ πλείω τὴν εὔνοιαν ἐπισπασάμενος. Chrys. hom. 1. ad pop. Antioch.

THirdly, if a Christian man hath expected some time to have his Patience, and Repentance rewarded, and thinkes it now long, ere this blessing fall, let him suspect he is yet in a his nonage, and uncapable of the same; Hee must therefore prolong his patience, and eke out his repentance, and awaite the Lords goodnesse, untill the latter end, and then, without all doubt, the Lord will blesse him, as here, The Lord blessed the latter end of Job.

a καὶ γὰρ σοῦ τοῦ πειραζομένου μᾶλλον αὐτὸς βούλεται σβέσαι τὴν πυρὰν ταύτην, ἀλλ’ ἀναμένει σου τὴν σωτηρίαν. Chrys. ad pop. Antioch. hom. 4.

LAstly, if the reward of his Repentance seeme to be already received, and the outward blessings (for all that) appeare no more, nor (peradventure) so much as in the beginning: yet let the Childe of God take along with him the observation of S. a Augustine, Quamvis arca exinanita sit auro, Cor tamen plenum est fide, though he hath the lesse in his chest, hee hath the more in his heart, Hee hath it in the one, or the other Alloye; If not in the riches of the flesh, yet surely in the riches of the spirit, in Faith, Hope, Patience, and Perseverance, which make him more blessed in his latter end, than it was possible hee should be in his beginning, as here, The Lord blessed the latter end of Job, more than his beginning.

a In Psalm. 66.

And so much by way of use, Generally.

Particularly.

I Would to God my Text were impertinent to my purpose, and that I could make no application at all of the Gall, and wormewood, that praeceded the same. I would the State were nothing neare that estate, that Job is made to bee in the beginning of this Book, & I little doubt a if our Humiliation be cordiall, true, and sincere, but it will be (in a short time) in as good an estate, as he is made to bee in the end of the Booke. I would to God, that no b Sabaeans had slaine our Servants with the edge of the sword, as we read, Job 1. 15. I would to God we could call to remembrance no bands of c Chaldaeans, that had carried away any thing, that was ours, as we reade, Job 1. 17. I would to God that no wind from the wildernesse had blowne down our houses, d those timber houses, that floate on our Seas, and makes us as safe in his Island, as men use to bee in Houses, as we reade was done, Job 1. 19. I would we heard of no mishaps of our e Children, the sacred branches of that Royall Stemme, that might any way relate to that, which we heare of, Job 1. 18. To say little by way of discourse of the principall object of our humiliation at this time, the most deplorable case of our distressed Brethren in the Palatinate, and other places, where, in regard of any free profession of the true Religion, the fire of God seems to have fallen from heaven, and to have f consumed all, as it doth, Job 1. 16. Lastly, to say nothing, how, in these last Parliaments, that should have yeelded her some comfort, this State of ours, by the jealousie, and distraction of her best Friends, had but too much cause to crie out g miserrimi Consolatores, miserable Comforters are ye all; as it is Job 16. 2. These are bitter things indeed, and sore corrosives, I confesse, to the hearts of true Englishmen; And yet for all this (Gods name bee praysed for it) Nondum ad sterquilinium redacti sumus, Our State is not yet brought unto the dunghill; Nondum versa est in cineres Troja; Although wee in our particulars doe this day, by the custome of the Church, which cals it our Ashwednesday, yet the State in generall (Gods name be glorified therefore) doth not lie in Dust, and Ashes; All her Noble parts are strong, and entire; We have a King, who is (as h Velleius said of Cato) Virtuti simillimus, as like Virtue it selfe, as can be partern’d in flesh, and blood; We hauve a wise, religious, and valiant Nobilitie; We have (what ever desperate, and obnoxious persons may whisper to the contrary) a dutifull, zealous, and (as I hope they will ever shew themselves) a respectfull Communaltie; Wee have a knowing, learned, and (the busie medling of some few, in some matters of no substance, excepted) a right venerable Clergie; And therefore let no man laugh at i Davids sackcloth, or mistake our humiliation; The exercise of this day doth not call upon the State to despaire, but onely to repent; Mutatus mutatum inveniet, as S. j Bernard speakes, let it change it selfe, and God will bee praesently changed. There is nothing but our sinning, that keepes off the Blessing, and there is nothing but a k serious, and continued repentance, that can breake off our sinning; A Repentance of some length, that will not fall short, but reach out, as farre as Gods blessing, which falles not upon the beginning of any spirituall Grace, or Vertue, but still upon the latter end, as here, The Lord blessed the latter end of Job, more than his beginning.

a οὐδὲ ἀεὶ θλῖψις, ἀλλ’ ἔσται καὶ ἄνεσις, μόνον ἐὰν ἐν τῇ θλίψει διαπαντὸς εὐχαριστῶμεν τῷ Θεῷ. Chrys. ad pop. Ant. hom. 4. b Diabolus dum subita ad nos perturbatione tentationis irruit, circumspectiones cor- dis inopinate pra- eveniens, quasi ipsos custodes pueros gladio occidit. Greg. Mor. l. 2. c. 24. c Chaldaei interpretantur captivantes. Gregor. in Ezech. hom. 2. d ὡς γὰρ ἡ Πυθία τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις περὶ τὰ Μηδικὰ τεῖχος ξύλινον 2 διδόναι τὸν θεὸν ἔφη, κἀκεῖνοι τὴν χώραν καὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ κτήματα καὶ τὰς οἰκίας ἀφέντες εἰς τὰς ναῦς κατέφυγον ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας, οὕτως ἡμῖν ὁ θεὸς δίδωσι, &c. Plutarch. περὶ τοῦ μὴδεῖν δνείξεσθαι. e Eversa igitur domo mortuntur filij: quia turbata in centatione conscientià ad utilitatem propriae cognitionis, raptim, & in momento temporis obruuntur genitae in corde virtutes. Greg. Mor. l. 2. c. 26. f Ignis Dei dicitur, quia etsi non faciente Deo, tamen patiente dicitur. Greg. Mor. l. 2. c. 24. g Quamvis boni studij, & rectae fuerint intentionis, tamen haec ipsa illorum intentio, eis ad verba prorumpentibus, ante districti Iudicis oculos suborta indiscretione fuscatur. Greg. Mor. l. 3. c. 9. Et bona quidem intentione ad consolandum venerant, sed hoc quod pia mens Deo mundum praetulit, locutio praecipitata vitiavit. Id. Mor. l. 3. c. 10 h Histor. l. 2. i Psal. 68. 12. j Of his owne Ne- phew. Mutatus mutatum invenies: Si agnoscis, ignosco. Fugisti saevum, revertere ad mansuetum. Epist. prima ad Robertum Nepotem. k Δυνατὸς μὲν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἅπαντα λῦσαι σήμερον τὰ δεινά· ἀλλ’ ἕως ἂν ἴδῃ καθαρθέντας ἡμᾶς, ἕως ἂν ἴδῃ γενομένην ἐπιστροφὴν, καὶ μετάνοιαν παγίαν καὶ ἄσειστον, οὐ καταλύει τὴν θλῖψιν. Chrysost. ad popul. Antioch. Hom. 4. a Serm. 1. de Pentecost. b Alicubi. Sic Bern. Ieiuanandum longè amplius à vitijs, quàm à cibis. serm. 3. in Quadrag. Ἂν τὴν τῶν βρωμάτων νηστεύωμεν νηστείαν, παρελθουσῶν τῶν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν παρέρχεται καὶ ἡ νηστεία. Εὰν δὲ ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπεχώμεθα, καὶ τῆς νηστείας παρελθούσης ταύτης, ἐκείνη πάλιν μένει, καὶ διηνεκὴς ἔσται ἐντεῦθεν ἡμῖν ἡ ὠφέλεια. Chrys. ad pop Antioch. Hom. 16. Νηστεῖαι δὲ ἀποχὰς κακῶν μηνύουσιν πάντων ἁπαξαπλῶς, τῶν τε κατ’ ἐνέργειαν καὶ κατὰ λόγον καὶ κατὰ τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτήν.. Clem. Alex. Strom. 16. c Αὐτῷ τοίνυν παραχωρῶμεν τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀπαλλαγῆς τῶν δεινῶν, ἡμεῖς δὲ εὐχώμεθα μόνον, ἡμεῖς ἐν εὐλαβείᾳ ζήσωμεν. Chrys. ad pop. Antioch. Hom. 4.

Which God of his infinite mercy grant, &c.


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