The Mount of Holy Meditation, Tract · Chapter 6
Chap. 6. Of the kinds of meditation; an… firſt of rapt meditation.
I now proceed to treat of the kinds o… meditation;foreign, repentè inventa comparat que compoſitio. Budaeus. foreign, confidentèr animum ad aliquam rem appellere, cum re praeſenti deliberare. Quintil.
Meditation is of two ſorts,
1. There is a rapt meditation which is both ſuddain and occaſionall foreign; a ſuddain invention no compoſed by ſtudy, whereby a min… both pious and ingenious, ſpiritualize… every object about which it is converſant, or meets withall: Thus did ou… Saviour, when he was upon eart… when he called his Diſciples from the nets, he applied that vocation to a ſpirituall ſenſe: Follow me, and I will make you f ſhers of men; they ſhould not alter their Trade, but only change ſome circumſtances of it; as they were fiſhers before, ſo they ſhould be ſtill; but whereas before they caught unreaſonable, now they ſhould catch reaſonable fiſhes; as before with hooks and nets they caught fiſhes for themſelves, ſo now by the net of the Goſpel they ſhould catch men for God: As David that was a ſhepheard, was taken from the ſheep-fold, and from following the Ewes great with young, was brought to feed Jacob, God's people, and Iſrael his inheritance, and though called to be a King was a ſhepheard ſtill, Pſal. 78.70, 71. ſo they called to be Apoſtles, are fiſhers ſtill. When the multitude followed Chriſt for the loaves, he makes a ſpirituall, uſe of it, exhorting them not to labour for the meat that periſheth, Joh. 6.27.but that which endureth to everlaſting life. How often did our Saviour upon a ſuddain teach his hearers by ſimilitudes and parables, and what are his parables, but ſimilies, comparing of things, and explaining of ſpirituall things? So Chriſt compared the Kingdome of Heaven to leaven; to a grain of Muſtard-ſeed; to a Merchant-man; to ten Virgins; to a net caſt into the Sea.
Pet. Mart.A parable, ſaith a good Divine, is nothing elſe but a ſimilitude or example taken from other things to illuſtrate the matter in hand; it is very ordinary for the Spirit of God in Scripture to uſe parables: I will open my mouth in a parable, Pſal. 78.2.Mr Hieron. The Learned ſay, that in a parable there are three things,
Cortex,
Radix,
Fructus.
1. Cortex, the rinde or bark; that is, the words and terms wherein it is delivered.
2. Radix, the root, which is the ſcope to which it driveth.
3. Fructus, the fruit which is to be gathered from it.
When the bark or rinde is well pu… aſide, and the root diſcovered, it wil… ſoon be ſeen what the fruit is that grow… thereon.
1. This way of teaching and illuſtration is very profitable, it is a grea… help to the ſenſes, and from things that are more known, we proceed to things that are leſſe known, ſaith Ariſtotle.Ariſtot.
2. It is profitable likewiſe to the memory, helping us to remember manythings that otherwiſe would be forgotten.
3. It makes things delightfull and pleaſant, it is the beſt way whereby the ignorant are made to underſtand; for it is the eaſieſt, readieſt, and plaineſt manner of inſtructing.
4. It hath a great influence upon the heart, it worketh much upon the affections, for what can quicken the hearts of people more than to hear and ſee? then may we ſay with David; Pſal. 48.8.As we have heard, ſo have we ſeen: we hear by doctrine, we ſee by ſimilitude and example.
Some have ſpoken againſt this manner of meditation and inſtruction, ſaying, that herein we let out our thoughts upon every baſe creature; but I ſay, unleſſe a man will be wilfully blind, this way he will he made to underſtand; and God would not that we ſhould look on earthly things without a holy and ſpirituall application; here each man in his Trade may learn ſomething for his ſalvation.
Art thou a Ploughman, meditate on the Parable of the Sower, Mat. 13. When thou art ploughing up thy ground, and turneſt up the furrows of the earth, this ſhould put thee in mind of ploughing up the fallow ground of thy heart; and when thou art breaking the clods of the earth, remember that God calls for a broken and contrite heart; when thou putteſt thy hand to the Plough, take heed of backſliding; remember that of our Saviour, Luk. 9.61. No man having put his hand to the Plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdome of God; remember Lot's wife: the ſon of Syrach (after Iuniu… his tranſlation) puts a grave queſtion concerning him who holds the Plough, and ſuch perſons who maintain the ſtate of the world;Eccluſ. 28.26. Junius ad loc. the queſtion is, Whereby ſhall a man he made wiſe? At the laſt Verſe of the Chapter in the Latin tranſlation he anſwereth; By nothing, unleſſe he be ſuch a one who will apply his mind and meditation on the Law of the moſt High▪ Woodw. child's …atrimony.The Husbandman in that place, may ſeem to have (as he reads and ſ… pleads his caſe) a diſpenſation for his groſſe ignorance, but it is nothing ſo: That Scripture ſaith, that the holding the Plough, ſhews him the conſtancy of a holy profeſſion, as before I hinted; that his plowing up the ground ſhews him as in a glaſſe the ſoreneſſe of afflictions,Pſal. 129.3. Jer. 4.3. how the wicked plow upon the backs of the righteous, and make long their furrows; and what pains he ſhould take alſo with his own heart, ſo preparing it for the true ſeed, the Word of life; and when he caſteth in the ſeed in the ſeaſon, he might underſtand his own ſeaſon; and look that the ſeed of the Word ſown in his heart riſe up with great increaſe; and as that which thou ſoweſt is not quickned except it die; ſo the body of man after it dies and rots in the earth ſhall riſe again; and he that ſeeth not ſo much in the ſowing and reaping his grain,1 Cor. 15.36 is a fool in the Apoſtles ſenſe: he that thus meditates at the Plough, ſhall never be without a Sermon before him, every furrow being a line or ſentence, and every grain of Corn that he ſoweth a leſſon whence he may learn ſomething of God.
Furthermore art thou a Vine-dreſſer, meditate on that Parable, Luk. 13.7, 8. of a certain man that had a Fig-tree planted in his Vine-yard, and he came and ſought fruit thereon, and found none: By this certain man we muſt underſtand God himſelf, who in many places of Scripture for our capacity and comfort, is compared to a man, to draw them with the cords of a man, and the bands of love, Hoſ. 11.4. whereby he ſignified, that he uſed his people, not like beaſts or ſlaves,Genevenſ. ad loc. but lovingly and kindly, as men do, or ſhould do one to another.
Had a Fig-tree planted in his Vine-yard] that is, had a people whom he had choſen to himſelf, and both planted, pruned, and watered by his Word and Sacraments; by the Vine-yard was meant the Church of the Jews,Iacob de valentia in Cant. 8. or the Land of Iury; and by the Fig-tree, the inhabitants thereof, and people contained therein; and this is no new thing either for the Church in the whole world, or more particularly, for the Church of the Jews to be compared to a Vine-yard, Cant. 8.11. Iſa. 5.1, 7. Yea of God's particular dealing with this people, and planting this Vine, we read Pſal. 80.2. where the Lord ſaith, that God brought a Vine out of Aegypt, caſt out the Heathen, planted it, prepared room for it, and cauſed it to take deep root, ſo that it filled the Land, the hills were covered with the ſhadow of it, and the boughes thereof were like the goodly Cedars; therefore whenſoever thou walkeſt like Adam among the trees of the garden, and beholdeſt the Vine, think of that myſticall union that is between Chriſt and his Church, that he is the Vine, his people the branches, Ioh. 15.5.and that whoſoever abideth in him, and he in him, the ſame bringeth forth much fruit: that the Church of God alſo is a Vine-yard of red wine, Iſa. 27.2, 3.that the Lord doth keep it and water it every moment; and leſt any hurt it, he will keep it night and day.
And as the Church is compared to a Vine-yard; ſo alſo men be compared to trees, as in Iotham's parable, who compareth Abimelech to the bramble, a baſe plant, uſurping authority, when the more noble trees, the Fig-tree, the Olive, and the Vine refuſe it, Iudg. 9.7, 16. men in Scripture are compared to trees; All the trees of the field ſhall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree; i. e. all the people of the world ſhall know. Sometime you ſhall find him compared to the Olive-tree, and his children to the Olive-branches round about his table, Pſal. 128. ſometime to the lofty Cedars of Lebanon; ſometime to the Oaks of Baſan; ſometime to the low ſhrubs in the valley of Suecoth; in a word, the good man is compared to the green tree, and the wicked unto the dry tree.
Again, art thou a traveller in this world; meditate with thy ſelf, how the world is like a forlorn wilderneſſe.
1. Becauſe it is a ſtrange Land, a ſolitary place, a forſaken Countrey, diſertus; ſo that Chriſt ſaith, He is not of this world, nor prayes he for it, Joh. 17.9.
Si recogitemus …pſum magis mundum carcerem eſſe, …xiiſſe nos è carcere intelligemus. Tertul. ad Marcion.2. It is a Land of darkneſſe: This gave Tertullian occaſion to compare the world to a priſon; a priſon is the receptacle of darkneſſe, the Sun darteth no beams there; the world lyes in ignorance, all men are born blind, and if the glorious Sun of righteouſneſſe enlighten them not, they live and die in groſſe darkneſſe.
3. It is like a wilderneſſe, a place full of dangers, full of enemies; the people of Zion cry out, Our perſecutors have laid wait for us in the wilderneſſe, Lam. 4.19. The world is full of ſtinging Serpents, of lying vanities, a filthy deceiver; Chriſt hath foretold that in the world we ſhall have tribulation, Joh. 16.33. How ſhould the meditation hereof make us to ſay with Abraham, I am a ſtranger; and with David, I am a ſtranger with thee as all my fathers were: and not to look for delights in a roaring wilderneſſe; nor for meat where no Corn grows; nor a dwelling houſe or an abiding City where no building is; and though we groan ſometimes under the weight of our travels, yet to acknowledge that the perſecutions of the world are not ſo tragicall as its careſſes are.