writing of God as a mans book may be lost or burnt but it continues irreversibly and inviolably to be performed he who wrote it wants not skill nor will nor power to bring to pass whatever he hath written in it What God hath written he hath written and though sometimes he changeth his denunciations yet never his decrees I am the Lord I change not Mal. 3.6 The strength of Israel is not as man that he should repent 1 Sam. 15.29 His counsell shall stand Prov. 19.22 The Lord hath purposed it who shall disannul it Isai 14.27 The number of those appointed to wrath 1 Thes 5.9 is determined as well materialiter who as formaliter how many they are Gods appointments are peremptory not depending upon the variable will of man as if God had determined certainly concerning none but only as he sees they will beleeve or not beleeve for how sutes it with the wisdome of God so to work as to determine nothing of the end of his work To make man and not to appoint what shall become of him How with the love he bears to his own glory to have creatures more beholding to themselves than their Maker To hear them using this language That we may escape hell if we will we thank God but that wee do wee thank our selves who by the use of our free-will made that possibility beneficiall to our selves OBSERVATIONS 1. Obser 1. Groundless are the exceptions which corrupt mindes raise against the delivering this Doctrine of Reprobation and weak are the calumnies with which they load it Exceptions prevented 1. For the first God cannot be charged with cruelty in any mans Reprobation It is no cruelty in God to deny him grace to whom it is not at all due but an act of just liberty and free power Rom. 9.21 nor can it be cruelty but vindicative justice for God to appoint men to punishment for sinne Rom. 9.22 This will be more clear if we consider Ea gratia quae per communis providentiae administrationem sive sub lege naturae sive sub gratiâ Evangelicâ hominibus vario dimenso dispensatur per hunc praeteritionis actum non adimitur sed potius praesupponitur Synops pur theol p. 290. Deus nunquam indurat nisi habito respectu ad praecedentia peccata Riv. disp that by Reprobation all grace is not denied but onely that grace which is peculiar to the Elect. That which is afforded by the administration of common providence either under the Law of Nature or the dispensation of the Gospell being not taken away God leaves the reprobate to their own free-will under his common providence and in it affords to them those benefits which in the state of innocency were sufficient to salvation and which in this state of corruption especially under the Gospell make men altogether without excuse before God And God never decreed to leave and harden any in sinne but such who by their own free-will leave God harden themselves against his wayes and abuse his abundant mercy extended towards them God never appointed that any should stumble at the word but for their contempt of it From falling into which impiety that the Elect are prevented is to be attributed to the free will or mercy of God extended indeed to them but due to none 2. Nor secondly by decreeing the reprobation of sinners can any conclude that God is the cause of the sins for which the reprobate are damned Deo reprobante non irrogatur a liquid quo homo fit deterior sed tantum non erogatur quo fiat melior Aug. Inter antecedens consequens non intercedit Causalitas Although by reprobation God puts forth no act whereby man is made holy yet neither is any thing done by it whereby a man is made wicked 'T is true sin is a consequent of Gods decree or that which followes upon it as its antecedent but no effect flowing from the decree as its cause It followes not because God gives not that therefore he takes away repentance from sinners and that he throws down because he raises not up The Sun cannot be said to be the cause of darknesse although darknesse necessarily followes the withdrawing of it nor is reprobation the cause of sin Liberalitas Dei quâ conservamur ne cadamus Labilitas nostra quâ cadimus nisi conservâ—mur although sin infallibly follow reprobation It s Gods bounty whereby we are preserved from falling our own unstablenesse whereby we fall unlesse we be preserved Predestination is an effectuall cause in the producing of all salutiferous actions but reprobation is no effectuall cause in the producing of wicked actions and neither the one nor the other implyeth any compulsion or forcing unto actions whether good or evill True it is that God decreed not only privatively and permissively but also with an energeticall working will to be conversant about sinfull actions As 1. That he would give to the sinner at the very time when sinfull actions are committed the power and use of understanding and free will without which hee could not sin And 2. That he would concur ad materialem actionem peccati to the matter of the action it self which otherwise could not come into act or being 3. That he would deny all such means as would have prevented the sinners sinning 4. That he would lay before sinners those occasions and possibly stir up in them those cogitations which he knew they would abuse to the committing of sin 5. That he would so limit and order their sins that they should break forth in no other measure at no other time upon no other persons than hmiself hath fore-appointed 6. That all their sins should turn to his own glory and the good of his Elect but any energeticall operative will of God which so hath a working in sinfull actions as that it is the cause quod talis actio fit cum tali defectu or that it should work the contrariety and repugnancy of the sinners will to the Law of God or that there should be any influence sent into the wils of men from the decree to cause this we utterly deny and disclaim The liberty of the will is not at all extinguished by the decree of God but freely and upon deliberate choice wicked men doe as they doe having not only potentiam in se liberam but liberum usum potentiae and the dominion of free-agents over their actions which ever are the productions of their own frail and defiled free-will The decree of Reprobation never shews it self by any such influx or impression as instills any malicious quality into mans will or forces it unto any malicious action 3. Neither can this Doctrine of Reprobation justly bee charged to be a meanes of driving men to Despair rather granting the truth of this Arminian conceit that all were reprobated who were not foreseen beleeving and persevering with much more dreadful advantage may Satan fasten temptations on poor wretches
lose it shall lose it when he would save it Fear not troubles because he sleeps not that preserves thee but fear sin because he sleeps not that observes thee Account it a greater mercy in all the sinfull agitations of these times that God hath kept thee from being an actor then a misery that God hath made thee a sufferer 3. Obs 3. Psal 37. Psal 91. The people of God are never unsafe If the Lord be the Watchman what though it be an estate a life nay a soul that is the City we should not fear the losse of it The meanest of the people of God stir not out without their life-guard Agnoscit se justè dedisse stultae securitatis poenam est etiam filiis Dei pia securitas Calv. inloc Psal 30.6 1 Pet. 4.19 1 Pet. 2.23 if they wanted there 's not a creature in heaven or earth but would take their part they are the hidden the secret the preserved ones Security is not so great a sin as distrust our Friend being much more able to help then our Foes to hurt What one said sinfully every child of God may say holily I shall never be moved We must commit our selves to God in wel-doing Christ though he committed himself not to man knowing what was in man yet himself living and dying he committed to his Father we do quite contrary Finde out the danger in which God cannot or the time when God did not or the Saint for to him I speak that God hath not kept and then distrust him Say not If worse times yet come what shall I do to be kept Will not he that provided a City of refuge for those that kil'd men finde out a City of refuge for thee when men labour to kil thee for God Hath God so many chambers so many mansions in his house John 14.2 so many hiding places upon the earth his with the fulnesse of it in the earth in heaven and shall his children be shut out Thy work is not to be solicitous how to be kept but how to be fit to be kept labour to be alway in wel-doing then who will harm thee Keep faith and a good conscience keep never a sin allowedly in thy soul do thy part and let God alone with his but this is our busie sinfulnesse we will needs be doing of Gods work and neglect our own 4. Obs 4. A strong engagement lies upon Gods people to endeavour the preservation of Gods honour 'T is true in this case Protection draws allegeance If he be a wall of fire to us our souls and bodies let not us be a rotten hedge when we should defend his Name Servants Ordinances if he be a tower let not us be a tottering wall Let us labour to say Lord he that toucheth thine honour toucheth the apple of mine eye If we look that God should keep us in our we must maintain his cause in its danger 5. Obs 5. The gain-sayers of perseverance are deceived Their doctrine most cleerly as hath been proved opposeth Scripture and most incurably wounds a Christians comfort What joy can we have that our names are written in the book of life if again they may be blotted out The life of our mortall life is the hope of an immortall but how unsteddy a foundation of hope is the stedfastness of our wils nay thus faiths foundation is overturn'd 't is this He that beleeves shall be saved but this opinion saith Some that beleeve shall not be saved for it maintains that some who truly beleeve do not persevere and those which do not persevere shall not be saved it makes the decree of God to depend upon mans most uncertain will Arminians say that beleevers shall persevere if they be not wanting to themselves if they alwayes will persevere But what is this but to say Beleevers shall persevere if they persevere for alwayes to will to persevere and to persevere are all one It s a prodigious errour to hold that God works nothing in us for perseverance the effectuall use whereof depends not upon mans free-will God gives saith an Arminian to persevere if we will but God gives say We †Nobis qui verè Christo insiti sumus talis data est gratia ut non solùm possimus si velimus sed etiam ut velimus in Christo perseverare Aug. de Cor. gra c. 11. 12. Non solùm ut sine isto dono perseverantes esse non possint verum etiam ut per hoc donum non nisi perseverantes sint to will to persevere And how can we pray to God for perseverance the condition wherof depends upon mans will and not upon Gods working Christ promiseth Joh. 14.16 to pray the Father to give his disciples his Spirit which shall abide with them for ever now the cause of the abiding of the Spirit for ever with them is not their will to have the Spirit abide in them but the abiding of the Spirit was the cause of their willingnesse I conclude According to this Arminian errour of falling from grace its possibe that there may not be one elect person for if one finally fall away why may not another and by the same reason why not all and then where 's the Church and to what end is the death of Christ Lastly He that will approve himself a true Obs 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Roh l. 2. c. 21. must shew himself a stedfast Christian All the sanctified are preserved Instability is an argument of insincerity He was never a true friend that ever ceaseth to be a friend What hath levity to do with eternity an inconstant Christian with an eternall reward Not he that cometh first in this race of Christianity is crowned but he that holdeth out to the last All that which is done of any thing is held as nothing as long as any thing remaineth to be done If any one draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10.38 A thatch'd roof sutes not a precious foundation nor a wicked conclusion beautifull beginnings of Christianity Within a while all possibilities of falling will be removed one stile or two more and thou art haply at thy fathers house Difficilius saepiùs inchoare quà m semel perseverare the longer thou continuest the sweeter will be the wayes of God It s harder often to begin then once to persevere Take heed of falling from thy stedfastnesse God preserves us but we our selves must not be negligent Get a sound expecience of the truth thou professest tasting the sweetnesse as well as hearing of its sweetnesse Follow not Religion as some hounds do the game onely for company Love the truth for single not sinister respects Let Christ be sweet for himself Tremble at the very beginnings of sin look upon no sin as light keep a tender conscience as our apparel so our consciences when spotted become neglected Apostacy hath modest beginnings the thickest ice that
rather then another do not judg if thou wouldst not err Before calling we were not only without strength and full of impotency but enemies and full of antipathy we are not holy or willing to be so and therfore called but called and therfore holy Men finde a thing lovely and love it God loves a thing and thereby makes it lovely 2. With as gross an errour are they deluded Obs 2. who make this calling of God to stand in moral perswasions in the perswading power of threatnings exhortations Remonst Col. Hag. p. 260. promises of the word whereby men say they are moved or drawn in a most sutable way to their own nature That God useth the perswasion of precepts and promises c. in his Word Suavis motus in Verbo fortis tractus in Deo 't is granted but that in effectuall vocation he useth no more we deny Illumination of the understanding barely by the word is but naturall and common natural reason being thereby only perfected not spirituallized and with its clearest light apprehending spirituall objects but naturally and all the motions of the Will towards any objects which are so apprehended are but common and carnal motions upon a natural mans understanding of threatnings or promises when his Will puts forth its motions in fear love hope joy hatred toward good or evill all these motions are proportionable to the light of the Understanding which bred them and therfore as they were caused by apprehensions of good or evill to ones self so they amount to no more then naturall propensions to self-preservation But spiritual illumination whereby we see a ravishing beauty and excellency in holiness and apprehend Christ the chiefest of ten thousand valuing every way of God above all the pleasures of sin Internâ ineffabili potestate operantur in cordibus hominum non solùm verae revelationes sed bonae voluntates Aug. cont P. l. 1. c. 24. is joyned with a spiritual motion of the Will towards every way of God in holy a resolution vehemency constancy How can a bare representation of Gods will an objective representation by way of proposall of threatnings promises c. create or work any real effect upon the heart why then are not those that know most most obedient why are not those that have the best gifts in knowing how to represent truths most successfull in their Ministry why are not Satans seducements to evill alwayes more effectuall then the Words perswasion to holiness he both representing sinfull objects Deut. 29.3 4. Joh. 12.37 Neh. 9.29 Joh. 6.36 37. Isa 53.1 and our naturall corruption in understanding and will being on his side How can the bare proposal of an object make a dead a deaf man regard How frequently have morall intreaties been rejected when used by the best of men What is all the outward shining of light to a blind man How is bare morall perswasion that strength which raised up Christ from the dead Ephes 1.19 Or what is it in comparison of that new creation resurrection renovation new birth afforded in effectual vocation Moral swasion only moves objectively and in the strength of the proposal of a good Now as a man is so will any thing that is propounded seem to him so long therfore as a man is naturall and not born again supernatural blessings propounded to him cannot so affect the Will that he should embrace and receive them Istam aliquando gratiam fateatur quâ futurae gloriae magnitudo non solum promittitur verum etiam creditur nec solum revelatur sapientia sed et amatur nec suadetur solum quod bonum est sed persuadetur Aug. but the Will must be wrought upon by a powerfull operation overcome and changed before an offered good can be effectually embraced All the verbal intreaties in the world to a man spiritually dead are but as the rubbing of and putting hot waters into the mouth of one that is naturally dead We are taught therfore to whom to feek for saving benefit in our enjoyment of the word The word is only Gods by way of ordination and His only by way of benediction though he hath not taken away his word from us yet if he take away himself from his word 't wil not profit Whither should we go but to him and how but by him Draw us Lord and we shall follow thee 3. As much over-seen as the former Obs 3. Corvin contr Bogerm p. 263 are they who labour to maintain that Notwithstanding all the power put forth in our effectual vocation there is a liberty in the Will to oppose the work of conversion Joh. Goodwin Yo. Eld. p. 66. even to the frustration and defeature of it Or that Putting all the operations of grace that need to be put into the balance a mans free-will must turn the scales and determine the case whether a man shall be converted or no accept of grace or refuse it But according to this heterodox Position it will follow That not God by his grace but man by his free-wil is the principal cause of his conversion For if God by putting forth all his strength in mans conversion doth no more then afford to the Will a middle kinde of state of indifferency hee concurrs to the act of conversion or to the change of the will from that indiffereny not principally or predominantly but only by way of concomitancy contingently and conditionally namely if the Will please by its naturall power to move from its indifferency so that the Will receives from God the less which is to be put into a middle state of indifferency to convert or not convert and that which is the greater and which determins the act the Will performs of it self And in conversion more must be attributed to mans Wil Si nobis libera quaedam voluntas ex Deo est quae adhuc potest esse bona vel mala bona verò voluntas ex nobis sit melius est id quod à nobis quà m quod ab illo Aug. de pecc mer. rem l. 2. c. 18. then Gods work for None is therefore holy because he may be so if he wil but because he is truly willing to be so onely the former this opinion attributes unto God and the later to free-wil And how can the patrons of this errour ever truly pray to God for the grace of his Spirit what should they pray for sufficient grace to convert if they will no that 's universall and received by the worst Or shall they pray for the good use of that grace Neither for the good use of grace they hold to come from the Wil which must by no means be determined by God but be indifferent whether to convert or not And if God onely gives a power to will to convert but it is alone from the Will to wil to convert it follows that Gods grace affords no more help to John who is converted then
fore-sight of sin Yet that the sight of sin was neither in order of nature or time before Reprobation nor after it but purely evenly and equally accompanying it That Gods decree to permit sin from whence comes prevision of sin and to condemn for sin were not the one subordinate to the other or of a diverse order as if the one were the end and the other the mean but co-ordinate and of one and the same order and means both accommodated to one and the same end God neither condemning that sin may be permitted nor permitting sin that he might condemn but permitting sin and condemning for sin that the glory of his justice might be manifested the glorious manifestation of his justice being not advanced only by permission of or only by condemning for sin but by both joyntly or together according to which apprehension sinne fore-seen could not bee the cause of Reprobation They conceive that God not depending upon any condition in the creature no other way fore-knew the futurition of sin than by his own decree to permit it And they further urge if consideration of sinne were before Gods decree of Reprobation then the decree of permission of sin should have been before the decree of Reprobation and so God should intend the permission of sin before he intended the damnation of man for it and then it would follow in regard that what is first in intention is last in execution that damnaton for sin should be in execution before the permission of sin for which men are damned And this is the Argument oft urged by D. Twiss to which he sometimes adds that whatsoever is first in intention hath the nature of an end in respect of that which followes it but the permission of sin cannot be considered as an end in respect of the damnation of men it being impossible that men should be damned to this end that sin should be permitted And they of this opinion assert that if because God decreed that condemnation shall onely be for sin it followes that sin is a cause of that decree it will also unavoidably follow because God hath decreed that salvation shall onely be in a way of good works that good works are a cause of that decree they conceiving that though good works do not go before salvation with the same efficacity wherein sin goeth before damnation good works being only dispositive causes of the one and sins meritorious causes of the other yet that they go before it Non eadem dispositionis eâ—icacitate sed tamen eodem necessitatis ordine with the same order of necessity And they adde that the Apostle removes both from the election of Jacob and the reprobation of Esau the consideration of all works either good or evill as well in respect of their prevision as actuall existence to the end that he might shew that the purpose of God according to election was not according to works but of him that calleth and so by the same reason that the decree of the reprobation of Esau was not of evill works but of him that cals and leaves whom he will 2. As to Reprobation in regard of the effect or rather consequent thereof the things decreed and willed or as God wills that one thing should be for another It is not doubted albeit Gods eternall volitions or decrees depend not upon any temporall object or causes as the prime motives therunto but that God by his eternall decree ordained that this or that event in the temporall execution shall not follow but upon this or that going before as that in those of years the actuall bestowing of eternall life shall depend upon beleeving repenting and persevering and that the actuall punishing with eternall death shall depend upon finall unbelief and impenitency This is not to make the eternall decrees of Election and Reprobation dependent upon the fore-seen contingent Acts of mans freewill but to make temporall events Acts or Things one to depend conditionally upon another for their being or not being in time And yet 1. The cause of Reprobation in respect of denying of grace external whether in regard of the outward means or internall either common or saving is the will and pleasure of God As it is the meer will and pleasure of God whereby in time men are reprobated from grace was from eternity for as God doth or doth not in time so it he purposeth to do or not to do from all eternity Now that in time the denyall of grace is from the will and pleasure of God is most evident from Scripture which teacheth that God calls to grace and gives the very means of salvation to whomsoever he will Act. 16.7 Mat. 11.24 25 Deut. 29.4 Nulla sunt tam detestanda facinora quae possunt gratiae arceredonum Prosp The Spirit suffered not Paul to preach at Bithynia To you it is given saith Christ to know the mysteries of the Kingdome of heaven and to them it is not given And because it seemed good in his Fathers sight he hid these things from the wise and prudent Tyre and Sidon would have made better use of the means of grace than the Jews yet God bestowed those means not upon the former but up on the later But 2. The cause of Reprobation in regard of Gods denyall of glory is not meerly from Gods will and pleasure but from the pravity and sin of men God in time denyes glory in regard of mens impiety and therefore he purposed to deny it for that Depart from me will Christ say only to the workers of iniquity Mat. 7.23 There shall enter into the new Jerusalem nothing that defileth The unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdome of God And 3. The cause of Reprobation in regard of blindnesse and obduration in sin in this life and eternal damnation in the life to come is from mans impiety God decreed that Condemnation should not be but for sin nor hardning but for preceding rebellion nor that the wages of death should be paid without the work of sin No man is ordained to a just punishment but for some sin but the with-drawing of grace the blindnesse and obduration of sinners are the punishments of preceding sin as appears Rom. 1.27 God gave them up c that they might receive the recompence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of their error which was meet To crown or to damn is an act of judiciary power and proceedeth according to the tenour of the revealed Gospel The eternall dedecree of the damnation of the very Devils was never determined to be executed otherwise than for their own misdeeds 2. This expression of old notes the immutability and unchangeableness of this Ordination the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De rationâ— aeternitatis est immutabilitas Aug. Cons l. 12. c. 15. the immutability of his counsell that which is eternall is unalterable This Ordination is like such a booking and writing down of a thing as shall unfailingly be performed Nor can this book or
consumed by fire Let us love the world as alway about to leave it and delight in the best of earthly enjoyments only as refreshments in our journey not as in the comforts of our country only as things without which we cannot live not as things for which we do live not making them fetters but only using them as furtherances to our place of setlement Wicked Cain was the first that ever built a city and yet even then the Holy Ghost brands him with the name of a Vagabond The godly of old dwelt in tabernacles Heb. 11.9 and the reason was because they looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God To conclude Let the sin of these angels in leaving this habitation make us fear lest we should fall short of it let us be throughly sensible of our misery by nature in being born without a right to it and interest in it Let us speedily get into and constantly keep in the way that leads unto it Christ is that way let us by faith procure him as one who hath purchased it for us by the merit of his obedience and in him let us continue that he may prepare us for it by his spirit of holinesse Let us profitably improve those ordinances which are the gates of heaven let us content our selves with no degree of proficiency by them but proceed from strength to strength till at last we appear before God in this habitation The third branch of this first part of the text containing the sin of these angels is this Wherein this defection of the angels was seen and did consist This is expressed two ways 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gerh. in 2 Pet. 1. Negatively They kept not c. 2. Affirmatively They left their c. EXPLICATION The nature of the subject and indeed the very expressions of the Apostle of not keeping and leaving puts us upon explaining three particulars 1. What was the original cause that these angels made a defection or that they kept not their first estate 2 What was that first sin whereby this defection was made or their first estate not kept 3. In what degree and measure it was made it being here said they kept not their c. but left their own c. 1. For the first 1. God who is infinitely and perfectly good and holy the fountain of all goodnesse and goodnesse it self was not the cause of the sinfull defection of these angels nor had it been justice in God to have condemned them for that which himselfe had caused or to make them fall and then to punish them for falling And whereas it is objected that God might have hindred them from falling therefore he was the cause thereof I answer 1. Not every one who can hinder an evill is accessary to it unlesse he be bound to hinder it but God was not here so bound Angeli homines ex officio debeut Deo Deus nihil debet nisi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quum se ipse obstring it ultro ex promissionibus gratiae Illi ex natur â debent Deo natura debetur ipsa Junius in loc Asserunt malam esse naturā quae immutari nullo modo potest Aug. con 2. ep Pet. Nor oweth he any thing to any of his creatures further then he bindeth himselfe Angels and men are bound to God Ex officio by duty nothing from God is due to them but of his own good will and pleasure when freely and of his own accord he binds himself to them by his promise of grace Angels and men owe to God all they are all they have all they have lost they are debtors to God by nature and even nature it selfe is owing to God 2. Nor secondly Were the angels made to sin as the Manichees fondly and falsly imagined by some first evill cause which as they held was the original and fountain of all sin and whereby a necessity of sinning lay upon creatures from the very being of nature which therefore could not be changed from being evill but was so unavoidably unalterably 3. Nor thirdly Do I conceive that this sin of the angels proceeded from any error or ignorance in their understanding before their sin as if their understanding first judged that to be good which was not and therefore they afterwards sinn'd in willing and embracing that good for this were to make them erroneous before they were unholy miserable before they were sinfull whereas the ignorance of that which ought to be known is a part of sin and all misery is a fruit of sin * Illa ignorantia five error secundùm quem omnis peccans ignorat et errat propriè non est causa peccati sed potius aliquid peccati Peccat enim homo eo ipso quòd ratio pravè judicat Peccat inchoativè sicut consummativè peccat in eo quod voluntas malè eligit Nam omne peccatum quasi duabusillis partibus constat c. Error judicii non est separandus à peccato sed in plena ejus ratione includitur Estius in l. 2. sent dist 22. That ignorance or error saith Estius whereby he who sins is ignorant and erroneous properly is not a cause of sin but something of sin for a man who judgeth amisse sins inchoatively as he whose will chuseth wickedly sins consummatively and compleatly for all sin he saith doth as it were consist and is made up of two parts false judgement and evill election and the error of judgement is not to be separated from sin but to be included in and * Involvitur ignorantia malae electionis sub ipso malae electionis peccato tanquam aliquid ei intrinsecum propriè dicimus omnem qui peccat eo ipso quo peccat errare impropriè autem omnem peccantem ex errore peccare Id. ib. involved under the sin it selfe of evil election as something intrinsecall to it and that every one who sins properly is said to err in that he sins and improperly said to sin by or from error And thus the soundest among the Schoolmen answer the Objection against the possibility of the fal of the angels taken from this ground that every sin proceeds from ignorance which cannot say they be true of the sin of the angels 4. Fourthly I conceive that sin being a defect a privation of good and a want of due rectitude hath not properly any cause whereby it may be said to be effected or made Sin is not a nature or a being for then it should be a creature and appetible every creature desiring it's being and by consequence good Nor yet is it a meer negation of good for then the bare absence of any good belonging to another creature would be a mans sin But sin is a privation of that good which hath been and should be in one Now in regard sin is a privation and defect Let none they are the words of Augustine enquire after the
efficient cause of an evill and sinfull will of this their being not an efficient Nemo quaerat efficientem causam malae voluntatis non enim est efficiens sed deficiens Causas defectionum istarum cum efficientes non sint sed defiicientes velle invenire tale est ac si quisquam velit videre tenebras vel audire silentium quod tamen utrumque nobis notum est neque illud nisi per oculos neque hoc nisi per aures c. Aug. l. 12. d. c. D. c. 7. Vitio depravari nifiex nihilo facta natura non posset per hoc ut natura sit ex eo habet quod à Deo facta est ut autem ab eo à quo facta est deficiat ex hoc quod de nihilo facta est Aug. de civ Dei l. 14. c. 13. Non ex conditione naturae sed ex dono gratiae Aquin. par 1. q. 63. Esti dist 7. § 9. Solum illum actum à rectitudine declinare non contingit cujus regula est ipsa virtus agentis si enim manus artificis esset ipsa regula incisionis nunquam possit artifex nisi rectè lignum incidere sed si rectitudo incisionis sit ab alia re gula contingit incisionem esse rectam vel non rectam Divina autem voluntas sola est regula sui actus quia non ad superiorem finem ordinatur omnis autem voluntas cujustibet creaturae rectitudinem in suo actu non habet nisi secundùm quod regulatur Id. Ib. but onely a deficient cause for to depart from that which is chiefe and highest to that which is lesse and lower is to begin to have an evill and a sinfull will To enquire therefore after the causes of that defection when as they are not efficient but deficient is as if a man would go about to see darknesse or to hear silence both which notwithstanding are known to us the former by the eye the later by the ear and yet not by any species or representation but by the privation thereof darknesse cannot be seen unlesse it be by not seeing nor silence perceived unlesse by not hearing 5 The originall or beginning of the sin of these Angels was the defectibility and mutability of their own will whereby though for the present they willed that which was good and might have willed to have persevered therein yet being mutable they might also will evill and so fall from God Every creature as it s made of nothing may again unlesse sustained by God return to nothing and in that respect it was that the intellectuall creature might make a defection from him who created it and deviate from the rule of divine righteousnesse for as St Augustine observes the being of nature comes from hence that it s made by God the defection of nature from hence that it s made of nothing If there be any creatures therefore which cannot sin they have not this from the condition of nature but from the gift of the grace of God And Aquinas seems to argue rightly that according to the condition of nature none is exempted from a possibility of sinning but only God in regard that sin being the declining of an act from the rectitude of the rule it is onely impossible for that act not to decline from rectitude the rule of which is the very power and will of the agent for as he well illustrates it if the hand of the artificer were the very rule of cutting a piece of timber the artificer could not but cut the wood evenly and rightly but if the rectitude of the cutting be by another an externall rule the cutting may either be right or not right The divine will is onely the rule of his act as not being ordained to any higher end but the will of every creature hath in its act no rectitude but as it is regulated by the will of God which is its ultimate end And hence it is that notwithstanding the nature of the intellectuall creature was good yet evill is said to arise and proceed from it and that Augustine so frequently and others after him assert that evill hath its originall and beginning from that which was good For though evill doth not proceed from good saith Saint Augustine as that good was made by God yet it did proceed from good Vid. l. 1. cont Jul. Pelag. c. 3. as that good was made of nothing and not of God And whereas it is objected against this that a good tree cannot bring forth evill fruit Catholica fides dicit non prolatum esse malum nisi de bono iniquum nisi de justo ex bouis mala orta sunt Et de nup. concup c. 28. Ecce ergo ex bono oritur malum nec fuit omnino unde oriri posset nisi ex bono nec ideo tamen potuit ex bono criri malū quia bonum factum est à Deo sed quia de nihilo factum est non de Deo Vide August in Enchirid. cap. 15. Nec fuit prorsus unde primitus oriretur voluntas mala nisi ex angeli hominis natura bona Esti in l. 2. dist 34. §. 1. therefore evil could not arise from the nature of angels and the angels could not sin of themselves it 's answered by the fore-mentioned Father That though a good tree cannot bring forth evill fruit yet good ground may bring forth evill plants out of the same soil may grow both thorns and vines and though from the good act of the will sin cannot arise yet out of the same nature may sprout and arise a will either good or evill Nor was there any beginning from whence at first a sinful will should arise but from the intellectuall nature which was created good Nor doth this defectibility of the intellectuall creature at all countenance the profane cavils of those who hence would needs inferre That God might have made the world better then he did and that he had done so if he had made the intellectual creature free from all possibility of sinning For 1. It is a Question though perhaps too curious and by some learned among the Schoolmen diversely maintained whether it was possible for any creature to have been made impeccable by nature Johan Major in 2 dist 23. q. Ambr. l. 3. de fid ad Grat. l. c. 2. Vna sola substantia divinitatis quae mori nescit Anima moritur nec angelus immortalis c. in angelis naturae capacitas vitio obnoxia Nec ex immortali natura habet sed ex gratia si se ad vitia non mutat Hierom in 6. Gal. Exceptâ Trinitate omnis creatura etiamsi non peccat tamen potest peccare Aug. cont Max. cap. 12. Jun. in Jud. Creaturarū natura coelestium moripotuit quia peccare potuit Angeli qui non peccaverunt peccare potuerunt Per hoc solus Deus habet immortalitatem quia non cujusquam
that of Achan Tu otiosè spectas otiosè non spectaris Tu spectas curiosè spectaris curiosius Bern. I saw I coveted and took looking upon a woman and lusting after her are put together Mat. 5.26 and we read 2 Pet. 2.14 of eyes full of adultery or the adulteress But willingly neither be nor behold a provocation of sin God will preserve thee in thy wayes not in thy wandrings Dinah was not safe out of the womans orb the house only to see is not sufficient warrant to draw us to the suspected places What wise man will go to an house infected with the Plague only to see the fits of the visited It is good to keep tentation at the staves end and not to let it into the grapple for though possibly we may fight and conquer yet it was our fault that we were put to fight The project of Balaam was too prosperous had the Moabites sent their strongest souldiers to perswade the Israelites to idolatry they had been returned with contempt but as God fetches glory to himself out of the worst actions of men so men often undo themselves by the fairest works of God Thus far of the second particular considerable in this example of Sodom viz. the cause of their punishment the third followes namely the severity of their punishment their suffering the vengeance of everlasting fire The punishment being set out 1. More generally so it s called Vengeance 2. More particulary so it was a vengeance manifested by eternall fire Wherein is considerable 1. By what they were punished by fire 2. In what measure or how long they were punished the fire is Eternall I shall here enquire what we are to understand by this Vengeance Fire here called Eternall EXPLICATION 1. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated Vengeance is of a signification belonging to the proceedings of Courts of Justice and it is taken severall wayes 1. Properly it signifies right or justice in which respect among the Heathens the Goddess of just vengeance Nemesis was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justice or Vengeance Act. 21.4 No doubt say the Barbarians of Paul this man is a murderer whom though he hath escaped the sea Non dubito quin sicut plurimis locis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accipitur pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sic etiam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ponatur hoc loco pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bez. in Act. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comprehendit seriem totam judicii usque ad execuâ—ionem Lorin in Act. 25. yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vengeance suffereth not to live 2. It is taken for the Sentence of damnation given by the Judge as Act. 25.15 where it is said that the chief Priests and Elders desired to have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 judgement against Paul 3. For the punishment it self inflicted after the passing of sentence thus 2 Thes 1.9 the Apostle saith The wicked shall be punished 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and thus it is taken in this place by Jude who fitly expresseth the punishment inflicted by God upon the Sodomites by this word because it was most justly and according to the merit of the offence and offenders executed by the Judge of all the world who is righteous in all he brings upon sinners yea is righteousnesse it selfe whose very judgements even because they are his are just and righteous and as to the case of Sodom and Gomorrha so eminent was the righteousnesse of Gods judiciall proceeding Gen. 18.21 that he would go down to see whether they had done altogether according to the cry of their sin where he speaks after the manner of men who ought not to condemn any before an accurate examination of the cause But of this by occasion of the words judgement and the Great Day much hath been spoken in the foregoing verse For the second the fire wherewith these Sodomites were punish'd They burnt with a threefold fire 1. The fire of lust both sin and punishment They burned in their lust one toward another 1 Cor. 7.9 Rom. 1.27 and God gave them up to uncleannesse and to vile affections 2. The fire which was rained down from heaven upon them His verbis significatur quod preter naturalem rerum cursum miraculum operatus est puniendo iniquos ad differentiam enim naturalium causarum naturali ordine occurentium ad generandum sulphur ig nem idjunctum est illud à Jeho veb Cajetan sic quoque Tostatus Pererius è nostris Calvin Zanch. Muscul Pareus Rivet Gen. 19.24 the remarkablenesse of which punish ment by fire appears in sundry respects It was 1. A miraculous fire besides the course of nature Brimstone to which some add salt and all that vast quantity of fiery matter were never produced by naturall causes God it was who provided the matter for so great a flame the fall wherof also he ordered for time and place Hence it s said that the Lord rained brimstone and fire from the Lord that is by an elegant Hebraism from himselfe the Noune being put in the place of the Pronoune as 1 Sam. 15.22 1 King 8.1 2 Tim. 1.18 c. to shew that the raining there mentioned was not from the strength of naturall causes nor after a naturall manner but immediately from the Lord himself and by the putting forth of his owne omnipotent arme 2. It was an abundant fire of a vast quantity and hence it is said to be rained down it was not a sprinkling but a showre Here were not sparks but flakes sheets of fire rivers of brimstone 3. It was a Sudden fire It came not by degrees when the morning arose or at break of day there were no tydings of destruction till then Lot was in Sodom and yet when the Sun arose Gen. 19.24 Cen. 19.28 fire was rained down and early in the morning Abram beheld the smoak of the country haply the work was done in a quarter of an hour Lam. 4.6 Sodom was overthrown as in a moment 4. It was a tormenting fire The execution by fire hath ever been accounted one of the most afflictive to sense and therefore imposed upon the greatest offenders How great is the torment when the skin is puckerd the sinews crack'd the blood scalded Famine the greatest of punishments is but a kind of fire whereby the naturall moysture is dryed up nay fire lends a resemblance to the torments of hell 5. It was a destructive fire utterly consuming all upon which it fell Gen. 19.25 Deut. 29.23 Cities Inhabitants the plain and all that grew upon it and as Brochardus reports so far as the vapour arising out of lake of Sodom is carried by the wind it makes all places dry and barren destroying all fruits grasse plants and what ever the earth yeilds And so poysonfully is that brimstony lake tainted which is now in the place where Sodom stood that it is called the