Sermons on Jonah — Archbishop George Abbot

Sermons on Jonah · Archbishop George Abbot

THE VI. LECTVRE.

The chiefe points. 3. Confession of a fact satisfieth men that are doubtfull. 4. Idolaters scoffe at their Idols. 5. We should informe, and reforme our selues by the suffering of others. 9 Sinne is most greeuous in them who hauehave had most teaching. 10. Blind guides displayed. 11. It is a shame to be iustly reproued by a multitude of inferiours. 13. The mariners are vnwilling to shead bloud. 15. Malefactours are to yeeld themselues to death with patience. 16. Good men would not hauehave other punished with them. 17. The question is handled whether any man may lawfully kill himselfe.

Ionah. 1.10.11.12.

Then were the men exceedingly afrayd, and sayd vntounto him, vvhy hast thou done this? (for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.) Then said they vntounto him, vvhat shall vve do vntounto thee, that the sea may be calme vntounto vsus? (for the sea wrought and was troublous.) And he sayd vntounto them, Take me and cast me into the sea: so shall the sea-be calme vntounto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is vponupon you.

THe aunswere of the Prophet to those manifold questions, which were proposed by the mariners, doth include a confession of errour, and wilfull disobedience in himselfe, whereof if there should be made a doubt by any man, it is put out of controuersie, by that which now followeth, that the men knew he fled from the presence of the Lord, because himselfe had told them. This telling was confessing: this affirming to them, was informing against himselfe. These wordes although they be not so placed, yet by order of the narration, are the first wordes of my text, that being set before by an Hysteron Proteron, which should follow after, and that comming after,Vers. 9. which should be before. He said that he was an Hebrew, and feared the God of heauen, as it is in the ninth verse, but yet notwithstanding that he was fled from his presence, as it is in this tenth verse, which when the men had knowne, because himselfe told them, they were exceedingly afrayd, and asked him, why didst thou so? And this I propose, as the order of connexion in these wordes. To shew that he did confesse, were now a needlesse labour. The violence of the tempest, the discouerie by a lot, the examination of the mariners, did wring it out from the Prophet. I hauehave opened that already. And to tell what he did confesse, may in as few wordes be ended, that he fled away from Gods presence, that is, did neglect his seruice, of going to preach at Niniue. I hauehave also handled that, in the third verse of this chapter. The mariners they giuegive credit, to the tale which they had heard, and accordingly do proceed. And so also must I.

2 Some things, are verie slightly attended by men: some things hardly beleeued:Esay. 28.10. therefore precept vponupon precept, and line after line, here a little and there a little, must be doubled and ingeminated, to an obstinate people, that as drop after drop doth pierce the hardest stone, so teaching after teaching may sound the hardest heart, euen of the most flintie nature. To some men saith Seneca remedies are onelyonly to be shewed, Seneca Epistol. 27. Quibusdam remedia monstranda, quibusdam inculcanda sunt.it is inough to point them out, to some other they are to be inculcated, and many times repeated. The ignorant do yeeld apparant proofe of this, when they can verie hardly, be reclaimed from their customes: no perswasions can remoue them. So, although not euer, yet oftentimes the children of such who liue in Popish darkenesse do confirme this doctrine to vsus, who heare and will not heare, who giuegive no kinde of credit, to oft repeated truthes, out of the booke of God. Besides, a supine carelesnesse is generall in all men, so that many things wisely vttered, do breed but small effect▪ because they are little regarded. But here is such a seale set, vponupon the companie of Ionas, as which taketh such impression, that it needeth not to be oft doubled. The wind which blew aboue, the sea which wrought below, did put them past peraduenture, that some thing was amisse: that some great sinne waamsong them. The lot shewed Ionas to be the man, whom iudgement did pursue, and vengeance did so follow. It needed not to be told them oft, that this party had offended.

3 But when the words of the Prophet, had passed against himselfe, and aboue all other signes which might affoord coniecture, his confession was come foorth, to accuse and condemne himselfe, then his hearers had great reason, to know what the matter was. For in such cases as are doubtfull, if any one do speake for himselfe, and vrge his owne condemnation; wisedome and sound aduise, biddeth the auditour make a pause, before that lightly he do beleeue it. For who is he, whom nature hath not taught that lesson, to say the best for himselfe? Againe, in cases of complaint, if another man should accuse, iustice and Christian charity biddeth the hearer make a stay, and not giuegive credit hastily. For if eueryevery thing should be true, which eueryevery one reporteth, what man should not be a diuell? shall not Christ himselfe be a Beelzebub?Matth. 10.25. But when presumptions great and many shall go before, and withall, the offending person shall open himselfe, then sence and reason do teach, that of likelyhood he is guilty.Iudic. 17.1. When Micah brought the siluer, which was stolen away from his mother, and sayd plainly that he had taken it, his mother had great reason to thinke that he was the man. When Rechab and Baanah,2. Sam. 4.8. brought the head of Isboseth the sonne of Saule to Dauid, and professed that they two had slaine him, he tooke it for a truth, and rewarded them thereafter; that is, he destroyed them with the sword. The idle and carelesse seruant,Luc. 19.22. of whom we reade in the Gospell, that he folded vp his talent in a napkin; and hid it in the ground, had this doome for his labour,Luc. 22.71. afterward that he had confessed it, Of thine owne mouth I will iudge thee, ô euill seruant. The Iewes did roau… at this, although they failed in their ground (for Christ did not speake blasphemy) when they could reply vponupon him, vvhat need we any farther vvitnesse? for we our selues hauehave heard it of his owne mouth. The commonnesse of which argument, doth so enter the heart of all, that these mariners enquired no farther, when Ionas had once made his declaration against himselfe. VponUpon a firme perswasion of the truth of all his tale, they fall into great feare, they grow to farther counsell. So that this beleeuing of the Prophet, is the foundation of all that followeth after, which may it please you for order sake, to reduce to these two heads. First, the behauiour of the mariners, and secondly the aunswere of the Prophet. In the former are three circumstances: the great feare wherein they were: their rebuke which they vsed toward him; and their question proposed to him: all which by the Lords permission, I do purpose to touch in order.

Then were the men exceedingly afrayd.

4 These idolatrous heathen, are here taught one lesson more, then they euer learned before, and that is, that there was a God, who in fearefull maner could take vengeance on offenders, and did vse to follow after them as well by sea as by land, in a wonderfull sort: and therefore if their heart did now ake, if all their ioynts did quiuer, if their limmes did shake for feare, and their knees beate together, it was not to be maruelled at, since at this time, they were in triall of wrath aboue them, and wrath vnderunder them, and wrath eueryevery way about them. Before, they had bene vsed to vaine and idoll Gods, whose threates did little mooue them. The knowledge was so light, and the certainty so vncertaine, which the heathen generally had of their Gods, either for their power, or for their bounty, that they feared not to bestow iestes vponupon them, as vponupon their fellowes. Timaeus as Tully sayth,Tullius de Natura Deorum. lib. 2. Adiunxit, mi nimè id esse mirandum, quod Diana cum in parta Olympiadis adesse voluisset, abfuisset domo. is to be commended for his wit, that whereas he had sayd in his history, that the selfe same night wherein Alexander was borne, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was on fire, he added withall, that it was no maruell, for the mistresse thereof was a great way from home, in Macedonia with Olympias, as a mid-wife attending her, who then was in trauell: for that was sayd to be the charge of Diana. The adulteries which we reade in the bookes of Homer, and Ouid, that Iupiter and his fellowes, are sayd to hauehave committed, do shew the high conceipt, and the goodly reuerence, which the Gentiles in old time, did beare to their Painim Gods. They did not onelyonly, saith Saint Austen,Augustin. Epistol. 5. write such matters in their fables, but represented them in their threaters, and played them on their stages, vvhere many times vvere to be seene, plura crimina quam numina, more great faults then good Gods. Yet bewitching superstition had so possessed their soules, that they would after a sort adore somewhat, although they adored it but at their pleasure: no true feare, no due reuerence.

5 The case is altered here: they see that the God of Israel doth cary another sway: no iesting with his Maiesty, no playing with his power: if his seruant do run from him, he can fetch him backe again: if he sleep soundly, he can waken him: if he will not returne in time, he can send such a tempest after him, as will make his bones to shake, and his very marrow to tremble. The lightning and the thunder, the wind and haile and storme, are all at his commandement. Then it is a fearefull matter to fall into his hands, to vndergo his wrath. How then must the conscience of these poore sinners needs worke? If a Prophet were so punished, how should a priuate man be lashed?Luc. 23.31. If it were thus in the greene wood, how should it be in the dry? If one who had that place of honor with his God, as to be employed frō him as a messenger, to so worthy a place as Niniue, yet should for one sin, be endangered with so great a waight of displeasure, what should become of them, who in all likelyhood were polluted with many enormous crimes? If God should meate to them such measure, as he did to Ionas, how doleful & lamentable wold their state be? This is a true effect of the iust consideration of Gods punishments vponupon others. First to know them to be terrible, & with a kind of amasednesse to take full notice of them. Behold saith the Lord to Samuel,2. Sam. 3.11. I will do a thing in Israel, whereof whosoeuer shall heare, his two eares shall tingle. Next to apply it to our selues, & make a benefit of it, by descending into our soules, & sifting of our harts, acknowledging that if God shold deale with vsus in iudgemēt, verily t…t should be our reward,Hieron. in Psal. 93. Solent aliqui dicere, ille qui occisus est, non occideretur nisi fornicator esset, aut aliquod pecca…ū habuisset. which is now befallē vntounto others.

6 It is a perpetual fault, euermore annexed vntounto flesh & bloud, that if any punishment in strange sort, do be fall to our brother, or neighbor, by and by with a precipitate headlong iudgement, we condēne him, as a sinner, if not notorious, yet in some secret maner more grieuous then other mē. Hierome obserueth this (if that worke be S. Hieromes) on the 93. Psalme. Some vse to say, he who is killed had not bene slaine, vnlesse he had bene a fornicatour, or stayned with some grosse sin. He had not bene quelled with the ruine or falling downe of a house, vnlesse he had bene wicked: he had not suffered ship-wracke, vnlesse he had bene profane or a mighty malefactor. But what sayth the Scripture? Psal. 94.21.They shall condemne innocent bloud. The innocent they shall suffer such deaths as well as other. The Sauior of the world doth reprooue this rash conceipt, when he biddeth,Luc. 13.1. that men should not thinke, that those Galileans whose bloud Pilate had mingled with their owne sacrifices, were greater sinners then all other Galileans, or those eighteene, on whom the Tower in Siloam fell, and slue them, were sinners aboue all men that were in Hierusalem: but sayth he vntounto them, I tell you, except ye amend your liues ye shall all likewise perish. Whereas they and we are ready to exorbitate, by looking on other men, he sendeth vsus backe to our selues, that by scanning of our owne wayes, and viewing our owne pathes, we may see that vntounto vsus belongeth shame and confusion. The hand of God vponupon other, should be a glasse to vsus, to see our owne deformity.2. Sam. 24.17. When the Angell destroyed so many of the Israelites with the pestilence, Dauid cryed out, Behold I hauehave sinned, yea I hauehave done wickedly: but these sheepe what hauehave they done? let thine hand I pray thee be against me, and against my fathers house. Dauid tooke all to himselfe, because all the fault was his. We are not free from all, and therefore if we suffer any thing, let vsus beare it with patience. If nothing, let vsus acknowledge that it is the mercy of God, and not the merite of man, that we all are not consumed.

7 And by the smart of other, let vsus feare to offend the Lord. EueryEvery action which was in Christ, should be to vsus an instruction: eueryevery passion which is in other, should bring to vsus information. The Iewes once were the spouse and belo…ed of the Lord, the people whom he embraced, the nation whom he singled out from all the men on earth. Sion was his delight, and Hierusalem was vntounto him, as the apple of his eye. When they began to be wanton, and as the vntamed heyfer, to refuse the yoake of all piety and seruice toward God, his louelove was turned to hatred, and as before he had magnified them beyond all other nations, so afterward he made them vile, and abiect below all other. Their Temple was ruinated, and not one stone left vponupon another; their City was ransacked, their old men died with famine, their young were slaine with the sword, the remnant as accursed, do wander on all the face of the earth, without a king,Roman. 11.17. without Priest, without Prophet. Thus the naturall Oliue branches were broken and cropped off, and we wild ones were graffed in. When we reade this, and feele the sweetnesse of it, are we to presume, and puffe vp our selues by and by? Saint Paule hath taught vsus otherwise, Be not high minded, 20but feare. And in another place,1. Cor. 10.12. Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heede least he fall. As these mariners were fearefull, at our Ionas his example, so ought we in these Iewes to be afraide, and dread Gods iustice.Apoc. 2.1. & 3.1. Those seauen Churches to which Iohn wrote his Epistles, mentioned in the beginning of the Reuelation, and those Cities to which Paule preached, being sometimes great lights and lampes of the East, are now the residence of the Turke, and a sincke of filthy Maumetry. Let vsus stand in awe, least our sinnes plucke on vsus such a iudgement.

8 We aske of newes in France, and enquire of the alterations, which the Low countreyes yeeld. Curiosity for the most part is the cause why we demand such questions. Perhaps we thinke vponupon them, and their troubles sometimes, with a little pity. But there is a farther vse, if our dimme and darke eyes could see it.Ab anno. 1562. When for two and thirty yeares, Fraunce hath bene the very cock-pit, for all Christendome to fight in: when with so many ciuill furies, the inhabitants sheath their swordes one in the bowels of another:Anno. 1573. when for twenty yeares since and more (for so long it is since the States, and the Prince of Orenge with them, did put foorth their supplication, vntounto the king of Spaine Philip the second, which is a declaration to other Christian Princes, of the reasons wherefore they tooke vp armes) an army hath bene continued by the Spaniard, against those Prouinces which now tearme themselues Vnited, so that there is little safety, but what standeth in the sword, or in their walled townes: we might remember our selues, and that with much feare and trembling, that our sinnes hauehave cried for vengeance, as loud as theirs did euer; that our fields are fit for the sickle, not so white vntounto the haruest, as ready dry to the fire, Bernard. de considerat. ad Eugenium. lib. 2. Vide regiones si non sint magis siccae ad ignem, quàm albae ad messem.as Bernard speaketh to Eugenius: that it is but a little labor, for God to reach his hand ouer our narrow seas, and to giuegive vsus a tast of that here in this small Iland, which the Continent hath long felt, and sowerly hath smarted for it. And if he hauehave held his hand, it is his exceeding mercy, whereof we are able to make no recompence: onelyonly our thankfulnesse from the bottome of our hearts, is the best. Such a sober meditation vponupon the afflictions of our neighbours, or those with whom we liue, would put vsus from that iolity, wherein we too much take delight, from the flaunting of this world, and our vnbridled appetites. The losses of others should be our terrour: what is theirs may be ours; if other smart let vsus quake: when Ionas is to be punished, the ship-men are afraid.

And they sayd vntounto him, wherefore hast thou done this?

9 This is the second circumstance, to be thought vponupon here, in the fellow-trauellers of our Prophet, which (as some do vnderstand it) sheweth a kind of wondring, that a man who was an Hebrew, & brought vp in Gods seruice, so familiar with the mysteries, & secrets of such a maister, put in trust with such a charge, as to go and preach at Niniue, should transgresse in so high a degree. If the fault had bene of ignorance,Luc. 12.48. it had bene so much the lighter, and he deserued fewer stripes. But to whom much is cō mitted, of him much is required: he might the more be wondred at.1. Sam. 2.27. God reprocheth it to Eli, that whereas himselfe had appeared vntounto his fathers house, and chose both them and him, to stand before his Altar, & offer vp incense vntounto him, he had kicked against his sacrifice, and honoured his children, more then he did that God who made him. If any men, then the Ministers & Prophets of the Lord,Matth. 5.14. shold respect their solemne dutie. A City set on an hil, is in the sight of al. The Priest is the eye of the body, to guide the steps of other. If darknesse be on the hill, what darknesse is in the vale? if dimnesse be in the eye, how darke is all the body? In the Minister, each knowne fault is reputed for a crime, because he is so conspicuous, and visible to all; euen as a small wound in the face is eminent, and therefore noted. In the countenance of a men,Si vnum radatur supercilium quā propemodum nihil corpori, & quam multum detrabitur pulchritudini? Aug. de Ciu. Dei. li. 11.22. if one eyebrow should be shauen, how little is taken away from the body, but how much from the beauty? They are the words of Saint Austen. Then we should be very carefull, to passe the dayes of our pilgrimage in sincerity and integrity, that we may not be wondered at, by mariners and meane men, why we should do this or that, when we do grossely offend.

10 Among the vnlearned Pastors, & blind guides of the Papacy, transgressiō or iniquity needeth no such wōdring at. Their ignorance answereth for them: for how shold they do any thing but ill,Auēt. de reb. Turcicis, parte. 3. Si praelati isti plebeij essent homines, nem… facile ipsis haram committeret: in isto verò statu, & arae & animae hominum ipsorum fidei creduntur. Buch. Hist. Scotic. lib. 15. Nouitatis nominae offensi cō tenderunt nouū Testamentum nuper à Martino Luthero fuisse scrip…ū ac vetus Testamētū reposcerent. Ioh. Foxus in Histor. Scotic. inter annos. 1540. & 1543. Robert. Step. resp. ad censur. Theolog. Paris. in Prae fat. who neuer learned to do otherwise? If they decline from their duty, and be scandalous vntounto other, and any man should come vponupon thē, as these his companions did vponupon Ionas, Wherfore hauehave you done this? Can you, whose life is spent in reading of the Scriptures, in expounding them to other, in informing the peoples consciences, forget your selues in such manner, as to be notorious sinners? They may put this wondring frō thē, and answer it in a word: you mistake your selfe in vsus: we are not men so expert; the law & the testimony is vntounto vsus as a sealed booke. You should rather maruell at vsus, if we should do any thing otherwise then ill. I shold iudge that this answer, wold well fit those Priests & Prelates, of whom Iohannes Auentinus speaketh, that they are so base and rude, that if they had bene lay men, they should scant hauehave bene counted fit to keepe swine, which notwithstanding in his time, both throughout Germany and all Christendome, had Churches and soules of men committed to their charge and custody. I am sure it had very well agreed to those Scottish Priests, who as Buchanan their owne countrey man reporteth of them, in the late reformation of religion in that kingdome, were so blockish & so blind, that the very name of the New Testament was much offensiue to them: they thought it to be new deuised, and inuented by Martin Luther, and asked for the old againe. Which is the more likely in their ordinary Curates, when we reade of a Bishop of theirs, called the Bishop of Dunkelden, who replied on a Minister, which sayd that he had read the Old and New Testament, I thanke God I neuer knew what the Old and the New Testament was. The very selfe same doth Bobert Stephanus auouch of the Sorbonistes in Paris, who take vponupon them to be men of more admirable learning, and to be Diuines of the deepest. He aduoucheth, that when himselfe had many conflicts and disputations with them, they would tell him that they knew not, what the new Testament was. It is no sin to imagine, that the life of such was like their learning. And if in their often ouersights, it should hauehave bene asked of them, And why do you this, being teachers & disputers, or at least Pastors ouer others, & therefore men of knowledge? of likelyhood these good creatures, would hauehave shaped some worthy answer. I hope that we hauehave none in England, so buried in filthy ignorance: yet my heart oft times doth ake, and my very soule doth tremble, to thinke what guides be ouer soules yet in many places; I say ouer the soules of men, which are the most precious substances, that God hath made vnderunder the heauen, & for the ransoming of which, Christ Iesus came downe from his glory. Sinne hath not yet worne out that vnkind brood, which the Papacy did hatch vp to our nation, and since those dayes Ieroboams Priests,1. Reg. 13.33. the basest of the people (so contrary to our good lawes) hauehave filled not their heads with knowledge, but their hāds with mony, & so hauehave crept into Gods tēple.

11 But I will not pursue this argument. These words here of the sea-men, which to some do seeme a maruell, how a Prophet could fall so fowlly, seeme to other to be an increpation or rebuke vntounto our Ionas. Wherefore hast thou done this? an Hebrew, and a Prophet, and flye away from thy maister? what maruell if vengeance follow thee? what wonder if wrath pursue thee? If it were no more but so, this were a gawling speech to an ingenuous mind, that men of so base behauiour, should come ouer him in this manner, with a true and iust rebuke.Genes. 20.16. It was a shame to Sara (the text sayth that she was reprooued) and no great praise to Abraham, when Abimelech king of Gerar, a man that knew not the Lord, did iustly blame the cō cealing of Sara to be his wife, by which meanes he had like ignorantly to hauehave fallen into adultery. But when sin apparantly is committed, how impudent is that person, which blusheth not to be reproched for it by a multitude? Those in whom the louelove of vertue, and the sound feare of the Lord is, will neuer cease to pray, that God will so guide, and direct their steppes perpetually, that they may not giuegive a iust occasion, to the enemies of the Gospell, or to the haters of their persons, to insultouer their falles: for the malice of spitefull hearts, would be glad to see the slippes of them, whome God doth blesse. Therefore the faithfull do pray so much the more against it, as Dauid doth many times. But the carelesse and disobedient, because they litle feare it, do suddenly fall into it, and so by open wickednesse, draw vponupon themselues open shame: not onelyonly to hauehave as Ionas had, his companions to checke him, but passengers to deride them, and children to nodde their heades at them; yea sometimes taunting Rimes, and broken Ballads on them, peraduenture the executioner, the vilest among ten thousands, with his Rhetoricke for to scorne them.

12 God appoynteth this, as a iudgment for such as are ouer-growne, with a hard skinne ouer their hearts, so that they feare not the pricke of sinne. Yea sometimes he suffereth this rod to fall on his owne children, to whippe them here with shame, so to saue their soules by the bargaine. Perhaps the Iudge, hee shaketh them, and ratleth them vp in austeritie: it may be that penaunce is done, and the wicked triumph vponupon them. At least they with whome they liue, (or else they are exceeding happie men) will hauehave this one cast at them, which these ship-men had at Ionas, Why hauehave you done such a deede? what carelesnesse or forgetfulnesse, or vnthankefulnesse brought you to it? But a greater wo then this, doth oftentimes fall on the wilfull sort of sinners, which indeede feare not the Lord, as vponupon great persecutours, or rebellious bloudy traytours. Their fame is turned into infamie, and they are registred to posterity, as a by-word of the people. The iudgement which doth follow them, euen after they be in graue is, that songs of defa…ation be as Epitaphes on their deathes. Let Bonner and Story and Parrhy, be witnesses in this cause. A good conscience which doth walke with sinceritie, in that calling wherein the Lord hath placed him, doth litle feare these matters.Hieron. in Marc. 14. Ignis sine materia deficit. And if slaunders should arise, yet to him this is the comfort of it, that as fire without wood doth dye, so doth ill speech without iust matter. I note this from the reproofe vsed by these mariners.

What shall we do vntounto thee that the sea may be calme?

13 The third thing which now followeth, is the question which they put to him, or the counsell which they aske of him. The raging of the sea, is not slaked all this time: while the Prophet both slept and waked, while the lot was throwne vponupon him, while that he was examined▪ and made all his confession, the sea wrought and was troublous. The sea wrought and was troublous. Those words because they be againe in the thirteenth verse, I do deferre them thither. But these persons which were in danger, and had their mind on the poynt, that is, to saue their liues, would willingly know the way, how to escape the perill. What shall we do vntounto thee? Hieron. in hunc locum. Interficiemus te? sed cultor…m Domini. Seruabimus? sed Deum fugis. Exposuisti causam morbi, indica sanitatis.This is the doubt saith Hierome. Shall we kill thee? but thou art the seruaunt of the Lord. Shall we saue thee? but thou art a runne-away from thy maister. Thou hast shewed vsus thy disease, shew the remedie how to cure it. A little before he hath this also, That great was he who fled: but greater was he that followed. They dare not deliuer him, they know not how to conceale him. So there is as it seemeth a great wrastling in the minds of these poore men, what they should do, or should not do. They now know that he was a Prophet; a man reuerend in his calling, and therefore they were loath to lay any violent hands vponupon him. They would rather suppose, that he who was so contrite, and had made such an acknowledgement of the fault which he committed, would proceede to let them know the meanes, to escape from drowning.

14 Many gracelesse ones in our dayes, would hauehave taken another course. A runne-away so pursued: a fugitiue so made after: we will soone ease our selues of the feare; we will quickely free our shippe from the daunger: what should so vile a person be roosting in our vessell? Perhaps without many wordes, he might hauehave gone ouer boord; he might hauehave diued vnderunder water: they would neuer hauehave stood to aske, what they should do vntounto him. So much doth the inciuilitie, and barbarous behauiour of our age, passe the manners of rude men in old time. But they had a good remembrancer, to keepe them in moderation, euen their reuerence vntounto God, whose hand they did find vponupon them, as knocking at the doore. On the one side how could they tell, least by sufferance and impunitie toward Ionas, they should incurre the displeasure of the Almightie? And on the other side, how could they tell, least in punishing and taking away his life, the reward which belonged to murtherers, might be layd vponupon them? Ionas for his refusing to go to preach at Niniue, was chased with wrath from heauen. Then what vengeance might befall them, in a greater fault, as in crueltie, and in shedding of his bloud, who neuer had offended them? Thus they feare to spill his life, although they see shew of very fit occasion. They aske aduise of him. The maine note from this place, is the care which men should hauehave, to destroy the life of none, that they should be auerse from bloud, which because it is the full subiect of those verses,Vers. 13. & 14 which follow next after my text, I do deferre it thither. And so I come to the aunswere of Ionas, which is my second part.

And he sayd vntounto them, Take me and cast me into the sea, &c.

15 It seemeth that the Prophet, is now as farre in his penaunce, as possibly he can go. He knew that he had sinned, and Gods wrath must be satisfied with some temporall punishment, and therefore he yeeldeth himselfe with patience, to the very death. Better drowne then dye eternally, better loose his life here, then loose his life elsewhere. He is therefore content, to sustaine the vttermost extremitie. He knew that God was glorifyed, in the execution of iustice, as well as in merciemercy. A lesson which Iosuah did once teach Achan,Iosuah. 7.19. when he willed him to confesse, and giuegive God the glorie: and by a consequent, endure his death with patience. An instruction which we can neuer too much teach to prisoners, and such as are to suffer, by iugdement of law, that they should beare with mildnesse, and quietnesse of behauiour, that which they wilfully hauehave deserued. The conscience of their sinne, the astonishment at their iudgement, the feare of violent death, the shame of such a suffering, is inough to amaze their thoughtes, and ouerwhelme resolution. Whereas on the other side, the putting of them in remembrance, that at one time or another, they must be content to dy, and the vrging that God doth lay such temporall punishments vponupon malefactors, for the sauing of their soules, & the recounting of that benefite, which ariseth from Christs passion, to wit, a pleading before his father, to get pardon for all that be repentaunt, doth settle the disquieted and affrighted mind right well. I would to God that our English were as backeward to transgresse, as in this case they are forward, to satisfie euen with their liues, the extremitie of the lawe, and that in a peaceable & resolued sort. I impute it to nothing, but to the ordinarie passage of the word of God among vsus, which is euerie way able to quiet and settle the penitent sinners heart. Other nations do admire it in our men, as the Italians most of all, and the French, as we may see it obserued,Hēricus Stephan. in Apologia pro Herodoto Gallicè edita Luc. 23.43. in the defence of Henry Stephanus for Herodotus. It sheweth a right firme constancie, and sure hope in Christ Iesus. And as those two brought the theefe, which dyed with Christ into Paradise, so no doubt but that many with vsus, go by execution into heauen, who if they were not recalled by violence and by lawe, would prooue firebrands of hell.

16 I remember the patience of our countrey-men, by the quietnesse of Ionas here, who alone desireth to dye, because he alone had offended in the sinne which now is in question. He would not that other innocent men, should perish by his means. This is the course of Gods children, to hauehave remorse vponupon other, and not to intangle them in their plagues. It is I saith Dauid,2. Sam. 24.17 that hauehave offended, not these sheepe, alas what hauehave they done? But contrariwise the reprobate, if destruction must befall them, would hauehave all other to take part in that their iudgement, that themselues might not be singular. They would hauehave company to hell. If they needes must from hence, they care not if all the world come to ruine, together with their fall. They earnestly desire, that other men should be partakers of their smart. The name of Herode the great, is very odious in this respect, who layd a plot,Ioseph Antiquit. 17.8. that when he dyed, many other might dye with him. And gaue expresse commaundement, that one of eueryevery noble family in his kingdome, should be slaine, that by that meanes, his death might of necessitie be lamented, if not for louelove of him, which the tyrant had no reason to expect, yet for the losse of others. Such are the vnnaturall passions, of cruell and bloudie miscreants. But the blessed sons of God, be of another spirit: they would rather purchase peace to others, by their losses, then hurt others by their errours. Ionas would dye alone, because he alone had offended.

17 Here now is it worth the discoursing, why the Prophet in this manner should vrge, and hasten himselfe to death. Was it, as Arias Montanus thinketh,Arias Montanus commentar. in hunc locum. because yet he is so obstinate, that in no case he will to Niniue, but rather dye in a frowardnesse, then teach them, who afterward should worke harme to his people? No: his confession before handled, doth keepe me from that opinion. I hold him now very carefull to commit no farther sinne. He feeleth the weight of the former, inough & too much on him. Is it then for a fretting indignation, which he beareth vntounto himself, or for hatred of his life, because his consciēce did now pricke him, as the conscience of the wicked vseth to do, when some villanie is cōmitted, as Iudas was pricked in his heart, after his treason practised on our Sauiour, whē he went out male-cōtented, and hanged himselfe in despaire? No: I hold the reason of it to be another matter, as anon I shall shew vntounto you. This had bene a sinne, more fearefull then any that went before. For murthering of himselfe, whereof he had bene guiltie (if for that intent he had spoken it) though other mens hands had done it, is a sin so grieuous, that scāt any is more hainous vntounto the Lord. This sheweth a graund & solemne possession, which Satan hath in a man, a distrust of all Gods louelove, when a man groweth to the summitie of such malice against himselfe, as that naturall affection, and the account to be giuē, of all our deedes vponupon the earth, is quite exiled out of memory. A doctrine which I take to be nothing besides the purpose, if largely it be discoursed of, in the iniquitie of these times, wherin wretchednesse hath so fearefully preuailed in some persons, and almost daily doth preuaile, that they dare to plunge themselues, into this pit of terrible destruction.

18 Our God in his ten commandements, hath set this down for one,Exod. 20.13. Genes. 9.5.6. thou shalt commit no murther. He is so precise vponupon bloud, that he not onelyonly hath sayd, at the hand of a man, euen at the hand of a mans brother, will I require the life of man. And who so sheddeth mans bloud, Numer. 35.31.by man shall his bloud be shed. And, yee shall take no recompence for the life of the murtherer, which is worthy to dye, but he shall be put to death: But the verie Oxe,Exod. 21.28. that goreth a man or woman that he dye, this oxe shall be stoned to death, and his flesh shall not be eaten. He that slue a man vnwillingly at the wood,Deut. 19.5. with an axe flying out of his hand, should loose his life for his labour, if the pursuer did so follow him, as that he ouertooke him, before he came to the city of refuge. This was to make men the more vigilant, that they did no such mischaunces, as we commonly do terme them. But if it were wilfull murther, the offender was to be taken, from the very hornes of the altar,1. Reg. 2.29 and slaine, as Ioab was serued, a man of so noble birth, a man of such seruice before. These are the lawes which were made, concerning the murthering of other men. And doth not the law of God, and the explication of it by Iesus Christ his sonne, originally require of vsus, that all fit things which we owe to other men, should be done by our selues to our selues?Mat. 22.39. Thou oughtest to louelove thy neighbour, but as thou louest thy selfe. The example of thy charitie, is drawne from thy selfe at home. Thy soule, thy preseruation, the good wished to thy selfe, should be the true direction of thy deedes vntounto thy neighbour. But thou must not lay any bloudy and murthering hands vponupon another, therefore much lesse on thy selfe.

19 God hath placed thee in this world, as in a watch or a standing, from whence thou must not stirre thy foote, till he bid thee to remooue. He hath imprinted a most passionate louelove, betweene thy soule and thy body, that they grieue to leaue one another. The mind will hauehave many inuentions, the body will beare many stripes, before that either from other of them, do willingly depart and be dissolued. Wise men hauehave no greater reason of perswasion to induce, that the parting with any friend, or the loosing of the nearest and dearest, must be borne with patience, then that a dearer couple, the nearest that this world hath, that is our soules and our bodies, must depart and flye a sunder. The affection is so entire, the coniunction is so inward, which the one of these hath to the other. God would hauehave our natiuitie to be bitter to our mothers,Erasmus in funere in Colloquijs. that they might louelove vsus the dearer, but he would hauehave our death to be soure vntounto our selues, that we might the more feare to hasten it. And therfore although the spirite may be willing in any man, yet surely the flesh is weake, in the laying downe of the life, for a good conscience, and the Gospell. What one is he, whome Gods spirite hath not in great measure mortified, that feeleth not in himselfe oftentimes, an horrour and a quaking, to thinke of this dissolution, that he who in some sort may yet be called the image of God, should become dust and clay; that the goodliest of those creatures, whome the Almightie hath framed vnderunder the heauen, should prooue a rotten carcasse: that he who hath seene the starres, and beheld the heauen in his beauty, yea hath meditated on the highest, and contemplated on the Trinitie, should be put into a graue, and tumbled into the earth, to be amongst worms and vermin, in darkenesse and corruption: all which a naturall man doth loath, he could wish that it might not be. Now, when our owne hand shall hasten that, which nature doth so far hate, which our heart doth so dislike, which God doth so detest, how wicked is our wickednesse?

20 Egesippus in his third booke of the destruction of Hierusalem,Egesippus de excidio Hierosol. lib. 3. rehearseth a worthy Oration (although in some other words, then I find it in Iosephus himselfe) which Iosephus that great and learned Iewe, made to his souldiers in a caue, where they lay hid, after the losse of the citie Iotapata, which Vespasian the Romane Generall tooke. There his owne men would take no naye, but that they must murther downe one another, whereupon he vseth a speech,Ioseph. de bello Iudaico. lib. 3. Thesaurum nobis optimum dedit, atque inclusum in hoc vase fictili, & consignatum commisit nobis custodiendum. Quis nos admittet ad illa sanctarum animarum consortia? which in my iudgement is most patheticall. The Almighty God hath giuen vntounto vsus our life as a most precious treasure: he hath shut it and sealed it vp, in this earthen vessell, and giuen it vsus to be kept, till that himself do aske for it againe. And were it not a fault now, as on the one side to deny it when he shall require it againe: so on the other side to spill and cast this treasure forth, which was thus committed to vsus, before he do demaund it? And after a few other words he goeth thus forward: If we should kill our selues, who is he that should admit vsus into the company of good soules? Shall it not be sayd to vsus, as once it was sayd to Adam, Where art thou? so where are yee, who contrary to my precept are come where you should not be, because I hauehave not yet loosed you from the bonds of your bodies. This is a Christian speech out of the mouth of a Iewe, which caryeth such matter with it, as is worthy to be reuolued. It was not well with Adam, when he who should hauehave bene in the plaine, was crept into the bushes: his misery then began. And without Gods exceeding merciemercy, whereof no man can presume, nay great and mightie preiudice is to the contrary, it wil be most ill with them, who do aduenture vponupon such deedes: they do rush themselues into torments.

21 Let heathen men be famous for such factes if they will. Let Calanus and his wise Indians, hate to dye a naturall death, but end their dayes by burning themselues in the fire.Curt. lib. 10. Let the scholers of that Philosopher Egesias Cyrenaicus,Tul. Tusc. quaest. lib. 1. so far beleeue their maister, disputing of the immortality of the soule, that to the end that they might be depriued of life, and enioy that spoken of immortality,Tit. Liuius lib. 26. they go home and kill themselues. Let Vibius Virius in Capua, professe that he hath poyson for himselfe, and all his friends, which is able to free thē from the Romanes, from punishment and from shame: and let him drinke and dye. Yea let the younger Cato a man held to be admirably wise,Plutarch. in Catone minore. Cornel. Tac. Annal. l. 15. Senec. epist. 24. & 71. & 82. be a butcher to himselfe, rather then endure to see Caesar, who was then become a Conquerer. Yea let Seneca himselfe, try the maner of Cato his death, although in another sort; after that himself, a Philosopher, a mirrour of heathen wisedome, had so often and so highly commended that deed of Cato, that it was not bloud, but honour which gushed out of his side. Yea let ten thousand more,Virgil. Aenei. 4. Liu. lib. 1. with Dido and Lucretia, be recorded in Gentile stories: yet all these are no warrāts for Christians: we hauehave a better maister, who hath taught vsus a better lesson. That aduersity and bitter afflictiō, must be born with patience: that we must expect Gods end, in misery & calamity, and not hasten the issue in our selues; that true fortitude is in bearing the sorrowes, which are assigned & allotted out for our portion, & that to fly from thē fearefully, is cowardise. Where is valure, but in sustaining the greatest crosses with constancie? and where is timiditie, but in this, to kill thy selfe, that thou mayest be freed from that which doth not like thee?Augustin. de ciuitate Dei. 19.4. What daunting force, saith S. Austen, had those euils which cōstrained Cato, a wise man as they accounted of him, to take that away from himselfe, Sibimet auferre quod hom… est. Ita sibi esse amicus, vt esse se animal, & in hac coniunctione corporis & animae viuere velis. Cyprian de duplici martyrio. Aut infirmitas erat morte quaerens dolorum finem, aut ambitio aut dementia.that he was a man, whereas men say, & that truly, that it is after a sort, the first and greatest speech of nature, that a man should be reconciled to himselfe, and therefore naturally flye death: so be a friend to himselfe, as that earnestly he should desire to be a liuing creature, and to continue in this coniunction of the body and soule. He did not resist, and stand strong against his euils, but indeede fainted as a coward: he sunke vnderunder his burthen. I may conclude of him, and of all that do treade his steps, with that learned man, who wrote the treatise De duplici Martyrio, which is commōly called Cyprians. If we reade that any hauehave killed themselues valiantly, it was either weaknesse which by death did seeke an end of sorrowes, or ambition or madnesse. So farre, in truth, are they off from any iust commendation in Christianitie and Diuinitie.

22 Nay, what if it were held a thing vnlawfull among the very Gentiles? See the Poet Virgils iudgement of it. When Aeneas came downe to hell, as the Poet there doth deuise, he seeth in a seuerall and disiunct place, such as had made away themselues. He maketh their estate to bee so wofull, as that gladly they would do any thing, to be aliue againe.Virgil. Aeneid. 6.

—quàm vellent aethere in alto

Nunc & pauperiem, & duros perferre labores?

How gladly now would they be content to endure pouertie, and take hard paines in the world? Tullius in Somnio Scipionis.See the iudgement of Tully concerning this, in his Somnium Scipionis. When Scipio vponupon the tale of his father, being growne into admiration, of the glorie of men which are dead, asked, What do I then vponupon earth, why hasten I not to dye? his father maketh him answere, with a very diuine speech,Nisi enim cùm Deus is, cuius est templum hoc omne quod conspicis, istis te corporis custodys liberauerit, huc tibi aditus pater… non potest. although he were but a heathen man: No son, thou mayest not hauehave any passage hither, but when that God whose temple all that thou seest, is, shall free thee out of this body. For men are borne to that purpose, and hauehave soules giuen them to that end, (to rest themselues on this earth) which soules they must keepe safely within the ward of their bodies. And they are not to flit from this life without his commaundement, least they should seeme to flye that dutye of a man, which is assigned them by God. I might adde to these, the iudgement of Aristotle in his Ethicks,Aristotel. Ethic. lib. 3.7. where he saith, that to kill a mans selfe for the auoyding of infamie or pouertie, is not the part of a valiant man, but of a coward. But I leue these forraine testimonies.

Hieron▪ in hunc locum.23 Some among the Christians, hauehave thought that maydens, for sauing and preseruing their virginitie inuiolate, might kill themselues. An opinion voyde of any shadow of warrant, out of Gods word.Rom. 3.8. Vide infra in Ionae▪ 4.3. For ought we to do euill, that good may come therby? Shall we aduenture the greater sinne, for the auoyding of a lesse euill? Nay is it a fault in a virgin at all, that she is defloured by force?2. Sam. 13.1. August de ciuitate Dei. lib. 1.19. Tarquinius & Lucretia duo fuerunt & adulteriū vnus admisit. August. lib. 3. contra Cresconiū Grā maticum. Theodorer. in compēdio haereticarum fabularum. Was Tamar to be condemned, because Amnon did defile her? It is consent that maketh iniquitie. Tarquinius and Lucretia were two bodies, saith Saint Austen, but there vvas but one adulterer. I adde no more of that matter. The Donatistes and furious Circumcellions in old time, because they were restrained by the ciuill sword of the Magistrate, from the exercise of their heresies, and keeping of their Conuenticles, would cast themselues from the rockes, and breake their neckes, by the fall, they would drowne and kill themselues. Thereupon Theodoret hath a very pretie narration, concerning them. Many of them on a time, met a young man on the way, and giuing him a sword, commaunded him to wound them, and threatned him that if he would not, they would kill him for refusing. The young man being put vntounto his shifts, told them that he durst not do it, because he had iust cause to feare, that whē some of thē should see their fellowes slaine, the rest would turne on him for doing it, and murther him. But if they would first suffer him, to bind thē all fast and sure, he would tell thē another tale. They liked well of this motion, & in their sencelesse stupiditie, yeelding to be bound, the yong man got good store of rods, & shrewdly swinged them all, & so went his wayes and left them. They imagined, that God did well accept of their murtherings, in this or the like kind, & caried an opinion, that now they were become martyrs of Iesus Christ. Gaudentius their Bishop, writeth in defence of the deedes of these Donatistes,2. Mach. 14.41 & in behalf therof, vrgeth the exāple of Razias in the Machabees, who when he should be slaine, in maintenance of the religiō of the Iewes, to saue himself frō the infidels, first ran vpō his sword. And whē that would not serue the turne, he threw himselfe from a wall, and when all this could not kill him, he ranne to the top of a rocke, and there plucked out his bowels, and threw them among the people. That holy man Saint Austen,August. contra secūdam Gaudētij Epistol. Cyprian. de duplici Martyrio. Non suppliciū sed causa facit Martyrem. the most iudicious of all the fathers comming to answer these things, first disclaimeth them from being Martyrs, They who liue not the liues of Christians, cannot dye the death of Martyrs. And he also vseth that maxime of Cyprian, Not the punishment, but the cause doth make the Martyr. Secondly he sheweth out of the Scripture, that a man in no case should kill himselfe. Thirdly he doth so handle the example of this Razias, that he maketh it to be no warrant, to attempt any such like deede. Heare his reasons.

24 First the Iewes do giuegive no credit vntounto the bookes of the Machabees: they expugne them out of their Canon. Thus Austen himselfe can say, who for want of the Hebrew toung, is sometimes more then an ordinarie friend to the Apocriphall Scripture. Secondly the authour there giueth such testimonie to that deede, as is not sufficient to allow it for currant. He vvas a louer of the Citie, and a man of good report, and therefore was commonly called a father of the Ievves. But heathen men, saith Saint Austen, hauehave gone as farre as this. He offered to spend his bodie for the Religion of the Ievves. So vvould other, saith Saint Austen,Rom. 10.1. who had a zeale as Saint Paule speaketh, but not according to knowledge. Such men as vvere earnest holders of the traditions of the Ievves, but did not accept the Messias. He desired that his bovvels might be restored in the resurrection. But that shall be common to the vvicked as vvell as to the iust. He dyed noblie, saith the authour, but better, saith Saint Austen, if it had bene reported that he dyed humblie. He dyed manfully sayth the authour, and I do not say, quoth Saint Austen, that he did dye vvomanly. Thus he scanneth all the wordes of that narration. Thirdly he addeth, If he had done vvell, he should hauehave done like the seuen brethren, 2. Mach. 7.1.of vvhom vve reade in that booke. He should not hauehave thrust himselfe vponupon death, but whatsoeuer had bene imposed by the persecuting tyrant, he should hauehave endured that vvith patience and humilitie. Wherefore since he could not suffer his humbling amongst his enemies, he shewed himselfe an example, not of wisedome but of folly, not to be imitated of Christs martyrs, but of Donatist circumcellions. This is the round and apparant christian iudgement, of that most learned Father.Iudic. 16.30. He doth aunswere the place of Samson, as anon I shall shew vntounto you. For he also killed himselfe. In the meane time, I may with him lay downe this generall doctrine, that none should spill the bloud, or destroy the life of himselfe, for any cause whatsoeuer, because that is a deed most vnchristian, most damnable, and most wicked.

25 I cannot deny, but Gods merciemercy wherein he is exceedingly rich, doth sometimes shew it selfe, in the very pangs of death.Inter pontē & fontem. That betweene the bridge and the water, betweene the knife and the dying, betweene the rocke and the ground, repentaunce may be suggested to the heart, in a moment or twinckling of an eye, but especially where poyson being taken, doth not kill vponupon the sudden, or where death doth not follow presently, there may be some remembrance. Notwithstanding, who is he that dareth to presume vponupon such mercy? God is louing, but he is iust: he is kind, but he is dreadfull: he liketh not to be tempted. It were folly to breake thy necke, to trie the skill of a bone-setter, to trie the wil of a surgeon. It is monstrous in Diuinity, to preasse vponupon such iniquitie, with hope of that, wherein thou hast such threatnings to the contrary. God would hauehave vsus to lay downe our liues, if need be for his sake, if a tyrant will take them frō vsus; but we must not leape out of thē, for any thing of our owne. Nay we should be so carefull, that we shold not rashly hazard them, or bring them into perill. In forbidding sinne, God vseth to forbid all the inducements, which leade vntounto that sinne. I would that such could remember this, who think that they are not men, vnlesse they make a braule, or enter into a combat,Bernard. ad milites templi. Si in voluntate alterum occidendi te potius occidi contigerit, moreris homicida. for eueryevery fond word or speech. By that meanes they prouoke the Lord, and if they happen to be slaine, they are accessaries to their owne deaths. That which S. Bernard speaketh of iniust warre, is not vnfit to be rehearsed in this place, If in thy fighting, thou hauehave a mind to kill another man, and then art slayne thy selfe, thou dyest a murtherer: if thou preuaile and kill the other, then thou liuest a murtherer. But whether thou liue or dye, be a conquerour or conquered, it is not good to be a murtherer. Theodoret doth commend the good minde of Honorius,Theodor Histor. Eccl. lib. 5.26. sometimes Emperour of Rome, because he tooke quite away out of that Citie, the fightes of the Gladiatores, or sword-players in Rome, wherein to shew sport to other men, and make triall of their manhood, oftentimes they killed one another. I pursue this matter no further, but onelyonly adde this, that howsoeuer an opinion hath preuailed to the cōtrarie, true manhood is not in quarrelling, and brabling for priuate iniuries, but in maintenance of Gods honor, in preseruing thy alleageance to thy Prince, in safegarding of thy countrey, in defending thy selfe from theeues, and such other iust occasions.

26 I forget not my Ionas here, from whom as the originall, this question of doing violence to our selues did arise. Neither do I forget Samson, whome I reserued to this place, because there is some similitude betweene him and our Prophet. In that place which I named before,August. contra secūdam Gaudentij Epistolam. Saint Austen briefly, but yet notably doth determine this deede of Samson. When he plucked downe the house on himselfe, he slue himselfe and his enemies. But the reason of it was, that since he could not escape, because they meant to slay him, he would destroy them also with him, euen the Princes of the Philistines. Neither did he this of himselfe, marke the words of the learned father, but by direction of Gods spirite, vvhichwhich vsed him to do that which otherwise without the strength of that spirit, he could neuer hauehave bene able to do, that was plucke downe the house. The commaundement of that spirite, made this deede to be lawfull, Gen 22.1.as the offering vp of Isaac, was a lawfull deede in Abraham. That vvhichwhich had bene nothing else but madnesse, if God had not commaunded it, when God did bid it, was obedience. So he holdeth this a particular deede, precisely cōmaunded to him, which we may imitate by no meanes, because we hauehave no such warrant.Hieron. in Ezech 46. But Hierome in his Cōmentarie, on the sixe and fortieth of Ezechiel, doth go a little farther, saying that Samson in that deede,Iudic. 16.30. was a figure of Iesus Christ. As Samson slue more at his death, then he did in all his life time, so Christ although while he liued, he gaue many a wound to Satan, by his miracles and his doctrine, yet it was his death and his suffering, that broke the backe of hell, and the verie heart of Satan. These matters may in good sort be applyed to our Prophet. He was assured by that knowledge which he yet retained, notwithstanding his fall, that this punishment was assigned to him by the Lord. This must be the satisfaction, for his great disobedience. Now againe his faith reuiueth, by which he had some foresight, of all Gods purpose ouer him. This was peculiar to our Ionas, by his Propheticall knowledge, and may not be followed by vsus. It is not any protection for vsus, to bid any other throw our selues into the sea.

27 Besides this, I do not doubt, but as Samson was a figure of the Sauiour of the world, so Ionas also was, although not in euerie matter, (as once before I hauehave noted) yet in this his drowning here.Super. Ion. 1.1. Matth. 12.40. Christ himselfe did expound the lying of the Prophet for three dayes in the whales bellye, to be a signe of his owne buriall, and lying in the earth. The death of the Sauiour, was to him a meanes of his buriall: so here the casting out of Ionas, into the sea by the mariners, was the meanes whereby he lay three dayes and three nightes, in the bellye of the whale.Iohn. 19.30. Ionas is willingly drowned here: Christ also there dyeth willingly: he yeelded vp his Ghost; no man could take it from him. Ionas alone must suffer, to saue the rest of the ship: Christ alone did treade the wine-presse, and Christ doth dye alone, to stay his fathers wrath; to saue all his elect. You see that he is an excellent type of Iesus Christ the righteous. But as it is impossible, that comparisons should hold in all things, and there is none who in eueryevery matter may be likened vntounto Christ, because he had no fellowes; he cannot be tryed by his peeres; so there is this one difference, that Ionas when he suffered, was alone in all the fault, and Iesus in his suffering, was onelyonly without all fault, because he was that immaculate lambe,1. Pet. 2.22. in whose mouth was found no guile. When I first looked into this text, which I hauehave now opened vntounto you, I did thinke to hauehave said something farther, in or concerning the person of Christ, whom our Prophet doth represent, I meant to hauehave mentioned his readinesse to dye, that he might redeeme vsus sinners, and so briefly out of the new Testament, to hauehave giuen some comfort amidst all these threates of Ionas. But in handling this last question, matter hath growne vponupon me, and I louelove not to be tedious. I will therefore deferre that, till I come to the fifteenth verse, where the like occasion is againe fitly offered vntounto me. In the meane time, let vsus meditate on the excellent louelove of Christ, who would dye so willingly for vsus, the iust for the vniust, to bring vsus vntounto his kingdome. To the attaining whereof he alwayes further vsus, to whom in the perfection of the Trinitie, be glorie and prayse for euermore.

Sermons on Jonah, Lecture 6

p. 111THE VI. LECTVRE.

THE VI. LECTVRE.