faith but this faith ends in fear James the second chapter Damones credunt contremiscunt but a Christian mans faith and belees ends in hope A Christian man beleeves that he may have hope for hope comes by faith as the Apostle sheweth Galatians the fift chapter and the fift verse We by the spirit wait for the hope of righteousnesse through faith and that faith which is the cause of hope doth work by love as the same Apostle 〈◊〉 And love causeth diligence Credendo speramus sperando diligimus qui diligit diligendus est Amb For there is no love without diligence And so necessary is hope that the Apostle makes it a part of our salvation For as Ephesians the second chapter ye are saved by faith so he saith Romans the eighth chapter and the twenty fourth verse we are saved by hope For howsoever it is certain that God is the hope of all men in general as the Prophet calls him the hope of all the ends of the earth and of them that are in the broad sea Psalm the sixty fift so it is as certain there is another hope besides that general which the faithfull conceive for that general hope concerns this present life The Apostle saith if we had no other hope but that we are of all men most miserable the first to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter The hope of all men is spes Dei that he doth save both man and beast Psalm 36. that they shall be delivered from outward danger and shall be both kept by God under the shadow of his wings and when none can minister help then they flying to God shall be safe But he is more specially called the hope of Israel Joel the third chapter and the sixteenth verse that is there is a further hope this is a Christians hope It is true that Christians have a hope in God for defence from trouble in this life as others have and in that sense this their hope is like a brest-plate against the troubles of this life the first epistle to the Thessalonians the fift chapter and the eighth verse and the same hope of theirs for that the troubles of this life are compared to the surges and waves of the Sea is called an Anchor Hebrews the sixt chapter But the Christian mans hope goeth further than that general hope for the Heathen doth say spero dum spiro but when breath is gone the just man hath hope in his death Justus etiam in morte sperat Proverbs the fourteenth chapter and the twenty third verse therefore the Apostle calls a Christian mans hope spem vivam a lively hope as if the other were spes mortua the first epistle of Peter the first chapter and the third verse For whereas the faith of all men doth fail in death the Christians faith doth even then flourish because they are begotten again to a lively hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead It was Davids speech That when he was laid in the grave his flesh should rest in hope Psalm the sixteenth In this life our hope hath a waiting as St. Paul calls it wherein it doth hope for the hope of righteousnesse by Christ Galatians the fift chapter and the fift verse and after this life it hopes for the fruition of the riches of glory that is for Christ himself who is the hope of glory Colossians the first chapter and the twenty seventh verse His hope is not in the shadow of Gods wings only but spes in lumine virtutis as the Prophet speaks Psalme the eighty ninth and the fifteenth verse There is yet one point more and that is a necessary admonition not to confound but keep several these two virtues theological for they be two dis-joyned virtues as the Apostle sheweth the first epistle to the Corinthians the thirteenth chapter Now these three are Faith Hope and Love and whereas we put Hope under Faith all the ancient Fathers have put difference between them of whom Augustine makes four differences First Faith hath for its object the word and promise of God but Hope looks not for a promise but rem promissam we beleeved the promise but hope for the thing promised Secondly of Faith as well evil things as good things are the object for we beleeve the pains of Hell no lesse than the joyes of Heaven but the object of our hope is only for good things as that in this life we shall be partakers of the righteousnesse of Christ and afterward of his glory Thirdly We doe not only beleeve things to come but such as are present and past for things past by faith we apprehend Hebrexs the eleventh chapter and third verse and for things to come we beleeve there shall be a day of Judgement when the Shepheard shall separate the sheep from the goats Matthew the twenty fift chapter but Hope doth only apprehend things to come and not things past Fourthly as Bernard noteth the applying virtue is Hope for this is Vox sidei magna invisibilia reposita sunt 〈◊〉 Deum but Hopes voice is mihi ipsi reperiuntur that is I my self have a part in them Quod sides futurum credit id spes sibi futurum expect at but Charities voice is I am diligent spem apprehends For the use of this virtue whereas in the Scripture there are many sayings which force farre As that as the ground that drinks in rain and bringeth not forth grasse is cursed so the Christian that drinks the water of Gods word and yet brings forth no fruits of faith is in a cursed state Hebrews the sixt chapter Yet to conceive hope because in the same chapter is matter of comfort also so the Apostle saith That by two immutable things whereby it is impossible for God to lye that is his word and oath we have strong consolation Hebrews the sixt chapter and the eighteenth verse As he hath made us great and pretious promises the second epistle of Peter the second chapter so he is a faithfull Creator the first epistle of Peter the fourth chapter And as Sarah confessed He is faithfull that hath promised Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the eleventh verse And as Sarah said so Abraham saith He is able to doe what he promiseth Romans the fourth chapter the twenty first verse And therefore we are to conceive hope and say with the Apostle in the second epistle to Timothie the first chapter I know whom I have beleeved Scio cuicredidi and not only able but willing For of them that come to him he casteth away none John the sixt chapter Secondly Our hope must not be faint but we must have a perfect assurance of hope not a hope halfe full but the full measure of hope as the Apostle sheweth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We must not sail with one sail but with the whole gale of winde that is with a full assurance of hope for to this belongeth that which the Apostle requireth That we be carried
As if he should say my commandement and will shall be the rule and direction of your will and works so in the new Testament St. Paul saith we must not be wise above that which is written 1 Cor. 4. 6. But that we be sober and know and understand according to sobriety which is to prove what every thing is by the perfect will of God Rom. 12. 2.3 This then is the difference between Gods commandements and those which men doe make when men though they be the greatest doe command any thing they therefore doe command things because they be good and lawfull and when we deal with them we therefore obey their Laws so farre forth as the things they command are lawfull and good because their words and commandements have no power to make things good But when we deal with Gods commandements we simply obey all that he willeth because his commandement and word doe make things absolutely good ye though they before may seem to be evill yet after he hath commanded them they are made therefore perfectly good Nos volumus qua bona sunt bona autem sunt quia voluit Deus Gods good will therefore is the best and most beneficiall thing for us and our good and the things he commandeth are the wisest things for us to follow howsoever they seem to corrupt reason and sense which are ill Judges in those matters Thus much then for our application and use that when our actions are agreeable to Gods word and law then they are according to Gods will And therefore we may be sure that it is best for our behoof Nam quo die comederis de eo utique moriturus es Gen. 2. 17. June 22 1591. EVery Law hath in it two principall parts the one containeth the body and tenor of it the other comprehendeth the sanction and penalty Touching the body of the Law we have entrcated already both of the subject and also of the action of it Now therefore we are come to the latter part to consider of the punishment threatned to the breach of it concerning which we say That as there is required necessarily in the Law giver authority and right to command so likewise in him must be a power and ability to correct and punish the transgressors or else his authority is without an edge Both these therefore are seen in the Law-maker by the parts of this Law the one being the directive part serving for direction the other being the corrective part which serveth for execution And every one may be sure that he is subject and under one of these This then is as if Moses had said Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is this Non comedes but his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is this If you will needs eat and 〈◊〉 your will before mine and your lusts before my love then be ye sure of this That in that day thou shalt dye the death for death is the sower and bitter sawce of this sweet meat Rom. 6. 23. Touching the punishment in it self we are to know that in every punishment inflicted for offence there is required Justice to give it in a due proportion that there be an equality between the punishment and offence As in the Law he that will desire another mans Sheep and steal it he in justice is to restore four-fold Again reason and equity requireth that the punishment must be of greater force to 〈◊〉 and discourage from sinne then the sinne must be to perswade and entise us to it Such an equality is in this For because he took liberty to stretch his will and desire further than he should therefore that he should lose the first liberty he had for this is just and equall 〈…〉 etiam poneret modum beneficio and that he that observeth not the manner of using it should lose the right use which he had It is therefore reason and right that either we should Dimittere voluntatem male vivendi aut amittere facultatem bene 〈◊〉 This we say to justifie God because men think that this sinne of eating such a fruit is not a capitall offence and that God was too hard to 〈◊〉 this so sore a punishment on it Touching the second point which is concerning the cause of his death which must not be ascribed to God because the cause is found in our own selves for God saith If you eat you shall die that is you shall be causes and authors of your own death your blood light on your own heads for I am not guilty thereof which we shall the better percive and esteem if we consider that which before I have shewed that Adam was made immortall non necessitate naturae sed vi 〈◊〉 gratiae not by natural necessity but by the priviledge of Gods grace for Adam consisting of contrarie qualities by his own nature they must needs in regard of themselves be the cause of death to them as they were to the beasts But notwithstanding this subjection to mortality and possibility to dye in regard of their nature Gods grace did sustain their bodily life and kept them from death so long as they kept themselves from sinne But now si hence transgression besides the necessity of nature their sinne also did pluck death upon them and was the cause of this curse So long therefore as man kept his first estate he was united to God which was life and had use of the tree of life which then was 〈◊〉 Deo and had this grace to preserve life and by that means so long we had an immunity from death because we were 〈◊〉 with the prop of Gods grace which was the cause of our immortality but when 〈◊〉 did cause that prop to be pulled away which sustained the 〈◊〉 of our nature then we could not choose but dye both by the necessity of nature and desert of our sinne If we had leaned still to the stay of our nature and not trusted so much to our own wills and wisdoms it had gone well with us But this voluntarie forsaking of God and leaning on the broken staffe and reedis stay of our own was the cause of our fall into sinne and so unto death Thus we see God justified in this sentence saying Morieris because he is neither the Author or Cause of Malum naturae which is sinne nor yet of 〈…〉 which is death But man causing both culpam poenam doth both wayes cleer God and condemn us and our selves are proved to be the cause of both 3. Point The kinde of death Now touching the third point which respecteth the kinde of death here threatned for there are several kindes of death Rev. 2. 11. Rev. 20. 6. there is the temporall and eternall the naturall and spirituall the first and second death which of these is here in this punishment threatned St. Augustine answereth that God doth here mean both whatsoever death may be included from the beginning of our life unto the last death all that is here
a condemning of his action because it is a foolish thing to doe that which hath no good reason to be rendred to warrant the doing of it Therefore God divideth the sense into two parts either the reason must be in God or in Abel in God for favouring him or in Abel because favoured of God Now God in the former part hath acquitted himself saying If thou dost well shalt not thou be accepted for behold I am just and will regard thy well doing therefore thou hast no cause to be grieved for that Or else thou shalt be rewarded according to justice and that in bounty and liberality which is by ancient Fathers grounded upon the words of God to Abraham Fear not for I will be thine exceeding great reward Genesis the fifteenth chapter and the first verse that is If thou dost well thou shalt be 〈◊〉 be rewarded for it but if thou dost not well thou hast no cause to be grieved neither for as I am just and will talk with thee one day thou shalt hear of it so yet my justice is full of mercy I intend not presenly to take thee by the throat but give thee space to repent 〈◊〉 shall but lye at thy dore so that not only Gods justice 〈◊〉 herein but his mercy is exceeding great and mixed with justice If God took order that after his sinne committed Cain should 〈◊〉 by and by come to judgement but should have time first to 〈◊〉 himself of it this is matter of comfort that no man should despair by and by when he hath sinned far that God is a 〈…〉 God and would not the death of sinner and therefore giveth him time to repent This sheweth that God gave him no cause of grief There remains that the grief must be conceived against Abel because God so much respected him but so the sense is as if God should say Cain art thou grieved for Abels good and fearest he should grow insolent by the favour I have shewed him and so he should despise and thou shouldst be vile in his eyes If Abel have offended thee why his desire shall be subject to thee but that is no cause why thou shouldst be grieved for he being the Child of grace doth not affect any such manner of superiority as thou fearest but is as modest and as humble as he was before and so thou hast no reason of impatiencie against him And not only that first but this second that God shewed plainly that it is his will that in and by the sin committed no man should lose any priviledge which of right is due to him and which before hee had and every motion in a Superior to sinne doth not discharge him of his authority Which is contrary to that false opinion and censure of them which thinke that even Princes themselves after sinne committed lose all their prerogative and supremacy of government which they had before and that their Subjects are not bound to doe their service any longer to them but that ever after their allegiance shall cease which is false and contrary to all reason and not Gods intent and will here For as in the chapter before after Adam had sinned yet Eve was still subject to him so the same God saith and ratifieth here that Cain though he had thus sinned both against God and his brother yet being the elder and first born and so before Abel so there should be a superiority and dominion that he should still retain by nature And it is Gods assertion that that superiority should be reteined still and that Abel should not seek to be his Superior neither did he That was the prerogative which Cain had before Abel as the elder But to yeeld this obedience hath been the continuall practise of all the Saints and Children of God King Saul was a wicked man yet David rebelled not against him because he knew him to be the Lords annointed so the Prophet Jeremy saith of Nebuchadnezar a wicked King that he will visite the Nation and Kingdome that will not serve him the twenty seventh chapter of Jeremiah and the ninth verse and for the new Testament both Paul and Peter confess the same Paul in the first to Timothy the second chapter and the second verse and Peter in the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the fourteenth verse doe will that duty and allegiance be given to the higher powers not only if they be good but though they be Tyrants and wicked Princes that fear not God And it is it that God saith by Job Job the thirty fourth chapter and the thirtieth verse that by him the Hypocrite reigneth that is for their sinnes God will send wicked Princes and Cain shall bear rule over Abel God doth not only alledg that thus it was but thus he would have it This Government thus by God established in the beginning was by David Jeremy Paul Peter Job and all the rest of the Patriarchs and Saints of God confessed and allowed So that if we regard Abel either in respect of himself or his demeanour towards Cain or we respect Gods goodness herein no just cause can be of grief neither was it Gods will that Abel should resist neither doth he any such thing and so indeed there was no just cause why Cain should fear it or be grieved And this may suffice for the first which I will shut up with this Caveat of instruction 〈◊〉 Our own sinne of malice and envy is cause of our grief that for as much as the grief of malice and envy cannot be 〈◊〉 from God who is just nor from Abel who is mild and modest then it remains that it came from Cain himself whom God repeats four times together in the words of this Text thou and thee and so he must return to his own heart and remember how his own sinne is cause of his grief as God himself speaketh by Isaiah the fourty sixth chapter and the eighth verse Remember thus and be ashamed bring it again to minde you transgressors Note And for the new Testament Luke the fifteenth chapter the prodigall Sonne when he came to himself confessed his own unworthiness and said Father I have sinned which is another main point of Divinity established from the beginning that as God saith Hosea the fifteenth and the ninth perditio tua ex te Israel salus autem ex me so our well doing or ill doing is cause of our regarding or destruction so saith James no man is tempted of God for God cannot be tempted of ill neither doth he tempt any man but every one is tempted of his own concupiscence James the first chapter and the thirteenth verse So that from the first we have this Doctrine that if God be judged he is innocent and if Abel there is no fault in him and to come to Cain he is in all the fault But now if we come about and say it is not meant of the person but of the things that is
sinne then we must proceed another way yet true and very profitable and so say ad te appetitus ejus ejus saith Augustine cujus numquid fratris absit Nay saith he it is appetitus peccati and Augustine doth ground this upon Jeremiah the fifteenth chapter and the ninteenth verse where it is said If thou return and in the same verse ipsi convertantur ad te non tu ad illos and so after Austin St. Jerome saith excellently ne peccatum illi sed ille peccato dominaretur not that sinne might have dominion over him but he over sinne and so in a manner dealt all the ancient Divines It is well known St. Jerome knew the tongues and was well acquainted with the Scriptures and so the sense is more perfect and compleat this way than the other This then is the point of instruction as before by way of praise and threat so here God deals by way of admonition which is brought in by way of supposing an excuse as if one should say I would not 〈◊〉 but I cannot doe otherwise I have no power over my self to rule my self or 〈◊〉 this grief how then can I rule over it that is over sinne But against this supposition of Cain Gods instruction is thus though sin be turned towards him yet God saith he may be Master over it that he needs not yeeld to it as if God should say to Cain I would have thee doe that which my grace offereth unto thee and not that which the concupiscence of sin leads thee to Here are two things propounded First our own state in these words but unto thee his desire shall be subject Secondly our duty what to doe thou 〈◊〉 rule over him For the first I grant it thou canst not live without it for sinne lyeth at the dore knocking and will run in and embrace thee if thou open the dore to it it is not possible but ad te appetitus ejus sinne will be taking hold of thee as it is exactly set down Hebrews the twelfth chapter sinne hangs on fast This is your state saith God and take notice of it but then doe your duty when sinne knocks look that you shut the dore against it when sinne runs to you see you turn your back on it and when it desires let it be in vain and then saith St. Austen surgendo proferendo frustra defatigetur ut tandem mihi proferat discat amplius non surgere and this it is that God would have us to remember to repell sinne by striving against it and not become Slaves to it by serving the lusts of it For as many times as a man refuseth the conversion and turning of the oportunities of sinne it is the redoubling of so many rewards and crowns in the Kingdome of heaven so that I tell you as often I have that it signifies both comfort and exhortation that that which exhorts should comfort and that which comforts should exhort too First for comfort not that any man should think himself forsaken and out of the compass of Gods favour when sinne runs to him for therefore it is called conversion it is the motion that water hath in hollow places that howsoever on hills or steep places it runs down yet in hollow places it staieth such is the nature of sinne As if God should say seeing your nature is such that it is naturally inclined to sinne by the teint and corruption of the poyson of that Serpent which first beguiled your first Parents which every man in his own nature hath sense of yet he feels no more than all the dear Saints of God have felt Therefore that it should not seem strange to any man when he seeth sinne run to him and findes those temptations of sin and motions thereunto for it is no other thing than what is incident to all the first to the Corinthians the tenth chapter and the thirteenth verse No temptation hath taken you but such as is incident to man Now that is our inclination naturall which we cannot avoid here in this life and that is comfort against the objects of sinne that our case is no worse than other mens But withall to this comfort God joyns exhortation that for as much as we shall be continually provoked and assaulted by sinne and sin will run to us and ly at the dore yet we are not to goe and meet it and if not goe meet it we must take heed we draw it not to us with cart-ropes as if it came not fast enough Isaiah the fist chapter and the eighteenth verse and as Ezekiel speaks we may not be as dragons sucking still Ezekiel the fourth chapter and the second verse nor put the stumbling blocks of iniquity before our face Ezekiel the fourth chapter we may not plough for sinne Proverbs the twenty first chapter and the fourth verse as if he should say sinne will come fast enough in the fallow grounds therefore we need not to provoke our selves by pictures lewd songs enterludes and such like means 〈◊〉 draw it to us but to abandon them all It is that which the Apostle exhorts all men to in the second to the Corinthians the eleventh chapter and the twelfth verse to cut off all occasions to sinne observing what that is that provoketh them to sinne and cut that off that we draw not sinne to our selves and so be accessary to sinne and cause of our own woe If the water be comming that we give no passage to it if the coals lye before you spit on it you may but beware you blow it not and if sinne would have passage stop it 〈◊〉 serving sin you be carryed away captive of sinne for of whomsoever a man is overcome his servant he is the second of Peter and the second chapter and his servant you are to whom you obey Romans the sixth and the thirteenth verse Therefore give not your members as weapons of unrighteousness to sinne but give your selves to God This is our duty which we must doe and perform for as the former part is set down for our comfort so this serves for our instruction So there is a comfort in our estate comming by this exhortation and there is exhortation out of the comfort to doe our duty on sinne which shall stand us in great stead in the day of the Lord. Here are four divisions or distinctions First God saith There is sinne in body and sinne in soul there are as well corporall sinnes as mentall and as well actuall as cogitable 〈◊〉 a sinne against man as well as God Secondly Si bene feceris nonne acceptaberis so that God saith plainly he that beareth malice doth not well that is he sinneth against his brother for a man may as well sinne against man as against God for that Gods command is Love thy Brother or Neighbour as thy self therefore a man should not imagine that except he offendeth God he sinneth not That is a second distinction Sinne sleeping
his soul in the thirty eighth chapter of Isaiah and the fifteenth verse And the Apostle saith That the true tokens of Godly sorrow are to be angry to be afraid of himself afterwards and to he revenged of himself for the sinne committed in the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the eleventh verse And Deprecatio poenae that is petition for forgivenesse as The Lord be mercifull to my sinne and forgive me my sinne Secondly God requires justificationem justitiae that is declare that the sentence is past upon us justly as David doth Psalm the fifty first and the fourth verse Against thee only have I sinned that thou mayest be just when thou speakest and clear when thou judgest And this likewise hath two parts First That we think well of God saying with the Prophet in the one hundred and ninteenth Psalm and the seventy fifth verse I know Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou of very faithfulnesse hast afflicted me Secondly To bear quietly and meekly the punishment that he layeth upon us by David's example in the thirty ninth Psalm Tacui Domine quia tu fecisti But as for Cain we see on his part neither promise of repentance nor petition for forgivenesse he confesseth his fault indeed My sinne is greater but it was no true confessi on First That it was too late it should have stood in the ninth verse for A just man will be first in his own cause to accuse himself Proverbs the eighteenth chapter and the seventeenth verse but he denyed it proudly and so was farre from making any promise of repentance Secondly No true confession because without any petition of forgivenesse for he concieved this foolish opinion That his sinne could not be forgiven as if the Womans seed had not Power to break the the Serpents head or the blood of Christ crying for mercy of God did not crie louder than Abels did for justice which the Apostle saith speaketh better things than the blood of Abel Hebrews the twelfth chapter But as for his opinion touching Gods justice both Cain and all others ought with David to acknowledge in every punishment that he layeth upon them Psalm the one hundred and nineteenth and the one hundred and thirty seventh verse Righteous art thou O Lord in all thy judgments They ought to judge themselves worthy to be destroyed Ezekiel the thirty sixt chapter for so did the better Thees Luke the twenty third chapter and the fourty first verse We indeed suffer righteously for we receive things worthy of that we have done but this man hath done nothing amisse But as for Cain he maketh no such acknowledgment of Gods justice in punishing him whereas he should have confessed he was worthily cast out of the earth because he had bereaved the earth of one of her Children killed a man an innocent and not only so but a Saint that he was worthily cast out of Gods presence being defiled with blood even as Joab was pulled from the Altar in the first of Kings the second chapter as if he would pollute the Altar For as the Apostle saith in the first to the Corinthians the fift chapter the reason why the Corinthian was excommunicated was because by a little leaventhe whole lump should be leavened The other was justly punished with a life of sorrow and fear because he had been a cause of sorrow and fear to many yet Cain doth none of all these but insteed of acknowledging Gods justice in regard of his desert he makes it strange and wonders at it Behold but we are taught to think otherwise that how grievous soever God punisheth us yet he dealeth not with us after our deserts Psalm the one hundred and third We must not think strange concerning the fiery triall as if same strange thing were come to us in the first epistle of Peter the fourth chapter and the twelfth verse We must not make an ecce of Gods Judgments as Cain doth for God is wise and albeit the party punished be innocent yet we are to think that God will suffer no punishment to come to him without just cause much more ought we to justifie him when he punisheth a notorious Offender But from this word ecce it appeares that Cain did not so much as conceive a right of Gods justice The second point in justifying Gods Justice is to bear quietly the punishment that he layeth uppon us Levitieus the twenty sixt chapter and the fourty 〈◊〉 verse which Christ calls the taking up of the Cross Matthew the sixteenth chapter for if we bear the 〈◊〉 our iniquitie unwillingly superimponitur non tollitur crux therefore first we must acknowledge in regard of our sinnes that God dealeth more mercifully with us than we deserve Secondly We must bear quietly the punishment laid upon us for out of affliction the godly gather matter of thanks Job having all taken from him saith Job the first chapter benedictum sit momen domini and David Psalm the one hundred sixteenth accipiam calicem salutis he praiseth God for the cup of affliction as well as for the cup of salvation is as thankfull to God for the benefits which he by means of affliction bestoweth upon them against their will as for those that come to them with their will and good liking and this is the perfection that we are to strive unto but if we doe not at all reckon them as benefits yet we must say with Eli in the first of Samuel the third chapter and the eighteenth verse Dominus est faciat quod bonum videtur in oculis suis therefore the Prophet saith of him that is accustomed to bear the yoke from his youth Lamentations the third chapter and the twenty eighth verse sidebit silebit so must we doe and say with David in the second of Samuel the fifteenth chapter and the twenty sixt verse Here am I let him doe to me as seemeth good in his eyes But Cain seemeth not thus to be affected because he is altogether in the enumeration of his punishment it is no quiet bearing but odiosa repetitio If this sinne were so great as he said it was he should have done better to enter into the consideration thereof as David did Psalm the fifty first My sinne is ever before me so he should ever have thought of the grievousness of his sin And touching the party killed First it was a man Secondly his brother Thirdly an innocent Again in regard of himself it was of envy that he killed him not of a sudden but by premeditation after a trecherous manner for he went with him into the fields and there fell upon him his sinne was the greater for that it was an offence to God who had preached a long Sermon to him that it was a grief to Adam and Eve a scandall and offence to all ages who from his example might take a pattern to commit this sinne but Cain takes not this course the 〈◊〉
of his sinne is dispatched in a word My sinne is greater but he takes his punishment in pieces and thinks of it particularly whereupon one saith of Cain and the wicked that the repetition which they make is eorum quae ferunt non quae fecerunt they are generall in their sinne but particular in their punishment For as of the abundanee of the heart the mouth speaketh Matthew the twelfth chapter so we may gather by Cains words that he thinks more of his punishment than of his fault that which offends him stood more in his sight and grieved him more than that which offended God but the godly are of another minde for they will be content to have the punishment remain upon them so that the guilt may be taken away But there is a third point in this repetition which is a perverting of the order which God set down in giving the Sentence God began with the curse ended with casting out of the earth but Cain beginneth with his casting out of the earth wherein he sheweth what is his greatest grief for if a man suffer many pains he will speak of that first which doth most pinch him and complain first of the losse of that thing which he doth most of all affect in that he first complaineth he is cast out from the face of the earth he sheweth he took more care for the face of the earth than the face and presence of God and it grieved him more to be deprived of the good will of men than of the favour of God It is otherwise with the Saints of God for they crie Psalm the seventy third and the twenty fift verse Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none in earth whom I desire besides thee Psalm the 〈◊〉 third Thy kindness is better than life it self and when they come to make composition between heavenly things and earthly we see what David saith in the second of Samuel the fifteenth chapter and the twenty fift verse If I finde favour in Gods sight I will see the Ark again that is the presence of God and makes choice of that as his greatest felicity not to enjoy his Scepter or to be restored to his Wives and Children which earthly men would make most account of so the Apostle Philippians the third chapter and the eighth verse Esteeming all things as dung in respect of Christ. Whereby we see that as Cains punishment grieved him more than his sinne so the earthly part of his punishment offends him more than the heavenly One thing more is to be added that is Cains Commentary or interpretation of Maledictus for he saith that to be cursed is to be cast out from Gods presence The presence or face of God hath reference to the power of God or to his favour from the presence of Gods power knowledge or spirit there is no escaping Psalm the one hundred and thirty ninth If I climb up to heaven 〈◊〉 art there if I goe down to hell thou art there also of which the Prophet saith Jeremiah the twenty third chapter and the twenty fourth verse coelum terram ego 〈◊〉 but that is not his meaning but that he is cast out from the presence of Gods favour so are 〈◊〉 words to be taken to Moses Exodus the tenth chapter and the twenty eighth verse Get thee from me and look thou see my face no more Rsalm the thirty first and the twenty second verse I said in my half I am cast out from thy presence and Psalm the eightieth Turn again O Lord cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved so that we must know that albeit God be present every where with his power yet he is not present with his favour and not only that but it signifieth the place where the favour and grace of God is intailed that is his House and Church of which the Prophet saith Psalm the ninty fift Let us come before his presence or face with thanksgiving When shall I come and appear in the presence of God Psalm the fourty second of which presence Christ saith Matthew the eighteenth chapter When two or three be gathered together I am amongst them and the Apostle in the second to the Corinthians the second chapter In the presence of Jesus Christ forgive I them that is in the Church where God speaketh to us in his word and we again speak to him by prayer so Cains punishment is both spirituall and ecclesiasticall for that he is not only shut out of Gods favour but cast out of the place where the presence of his favour and grace is shewed and the punishment was justly inflicted upon Cain that durst commit so great an offence in the presence and sight of God and when it was committed feared not Gods presence but denyed it as if God knew not of it The second point is Cains admonition wherein the first thing to be observed is how in this repetition it comes to pass that Cain saith whosoever shall finde him will kill him seeing in the sentence there is no mention of death the reason comes from the guiltiness of his conscience severiorum seipso Judicem habet 〈◊〉 whereupon it falleth out that though the Judge absolve yet the party guilty addeth a sentence of condemnation upon himself so doth Cain condemn himself as worthy of death God indeed afterward saith He 〈◊〉 shedeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed Genesis the ninth chapter but seeing Cain 〈◊〉 God hath uttered his opinion of murther that it is a sinne mortall it may be said to him ex ore 〈◊〉 te 〈◊〉 Luke he 〈◊〉 chapter that men may know that wisedome is justified of 〈◊〉 children 〈◊〉 the eleventh chapter so 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 of her children Secondly Where he saith he shall be killed with a 〈◊〉 and bloody death this is secundum dictamen rationis ut 〈…〉 fecit expectes Cain is told by his own conscience that 〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉 murthered Abel so himself must look to be murthered This is that Lex 〈◊〉 written naturally in the hearts of all men which made the bretheren of Joseph to say Genesis the fourty second chapter and the twenty first verse We have sinned against our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear him therefore is all this come upon us By that Law it was just that as Hammon had made Gods people afraid so he himself should fear and be dealt with as he had purposed to deal Esther the seventh chapter and the sixt verse therefore the Prophet saith Isaiah the thirty fift chapter and the first verse Woe be to them that spoile for they shall be spoiled and our Saviour Christ saith agreeably Matthew the seventh chapter With what measure ye meat the same shall be measured to you again Thirdly He saith Omnis qui inveniret there could but one kill him and yet his 〈◊〉 tells him he deserveth to die at the hands
first verse seeing me have so great promises let us cleanse our selves for the Divine effence is incorruptible and it is impossible that corruption should inherit incorruption the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter therefore albeit our outward man corrupteth daily yet we must labour to be renewed in the inner man the second epistle to the Corinthians the fourth chapter But whence is this corruption From lust So saith the Apostle here agreeing with St. James in his first chapter and the fourtâ—… verse Every man is tempted when he is 〈…〉 drawn 〈…〉 own lust The place where this corruption is is the world So St. Peter saith and the first epistle of John and the second chapter There is nothing in the world but concupiscentia oculorum carnis and St. Paul saith They that will be rich in this world fall into many foolish and noysom lusts the first epistle to Timothie the sixt chapter Filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and lust of uncleanness There are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the first verse and the second epistle of Peter the second chapter and the tenth verse but we must keep our selves unspotted of the world as in the first chapter of St. James epistle and hate the garment spotted of the flesh Jude the twenty fift verse For avoiding 〈◊〉 corruption we must know That temptations which come by fair and flattering speeches are not to be resisted but a man must fly from them Heb. 12. 1. There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an imbracing sinne and James the 1. 13. there is a line or bait or angle which you must flye from so shall you be safe If you resist not you will be taken and James the fourth chapter and the seventh verse Resist the Devil but in the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter Fugite fornicationem for it is an embracing sinne the second epistle to Timothy the second chapter Flye lusts of youth There is no other way for by talking and arguing the point is the way to be catched that is seeing the world from without doth corrupt as in the first epistle to the Corinthians the fift chapter A little levan maketh sower the whole lump they that will not avoid it are servants of corruption the second epistle of Peter the second chapter and Jude calls them spots and blots they that will be partakers of these promises must avoid the evil company of such As when Jacobs rods lay before the Ewes they brought forth party coloured Lambs Genesis the thirtieth chapter So that is the effect of evil company And for ill speeches that corrupts good manners in the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter for as Michah the seventh chapter and the third verse there are some that speak out of the corruption of their soul it spreads like a canker and corrupts many the second epistle to Timothy and the second chapter Evil example and bad companie lewd speeches and vain songs are to be avoided if we will avoid corruption For lest that we may know from whence it proceeds he that flies not allurements and provocations cannot avoid them Therefore in Psalm the hundred and nineteenth the Prophet prayeth Turne away mine eyes So for occasions Proverbs the fift chapter Come not neer the harlots house And for the time and opportunity that is carefully to be respected Proverbs the seventh chapter In the twilight the young man was found going to the harlots house and so was corrupted So though neither object nor opportunity be offered yet a man being idle and without exercise may be corrupted for that was the sinne of Sodome Ezekiel the sixteenth chapter and the fourty ninth verse Pride abundance of bread and idlenesse Then a man must never purpose to sinne for so he corrupteth the spirit of his minde nor to let his desire be corrupted He must 〈◊〉 evil company Ephesians the 〈◊〉 chapter have no fellowship with the 〈◊〉 works of darknesse and that is a signe of grace Grace is the motion of the spirit the end of grace is glory He whose reasonable soul doth not purpose to doe evil and his will doth not desire it but shunnes all occasions and opportunity of evil such a one hath a beginning of grace which will not forsake him till it have brought him to glory and made him partaker of the Divine nature Ad hoc ipsum verò vos omni praeterea collato studio adjicite fidei vestrae virtutem c. 2 Pet. 1. 5. THERE is no promise made by God but is with a condition either by way of a restraint with si qui as Romans the eighth chapter and the first verse or of affirmative illi verò or conclusion the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter Therefore secing we have such promises in this place we have both Before promise is made us to be partakers of the divine nature so that we flie the corruption And the Apostle not contenting himself with that doth joyn a second as an affirmative condition Therefore give all diligence to this The first observation from hence is To know how to draw a conclusion from the promise of God For some from the promise of Gods grace did conclude that they might now freely sinne Romans the sixt chapter But the Apostle here dislikes that as also Paul in the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter seeing we have such promises let us consummate our holinesse in the fear of God The cause of so many dissentions in the world is because we are of diverse spirits and gather contrary conclusions as in the first epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter the Apostle from the shortnesse of life draweth this conclusion that men should use the world as if they used it not So from the same there are another sort that conclude thus Seeing we must dye to morrow let us eat and drink the first epistle to the Corinthians and the fifteenth chapter as Romans the sixt chapter because where sinne abounds grace super abounds they conclude let us sinne that grace may abound From the promise of God we may not draw any other conclusion but as here he exhorts therefore let us give all diligence Secondly He sheweth wherein this diligence is to be shewed joyn to your faith virtue First of Diligence and then of the thing wherein it is to be imployed Care or Diligence the Apostle maketh the first part of repentance from ill the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter And it is the same word in both places It is here the God of repentance and the Apostle he makes it the gates of affirmative virtues and a good life the one for taking away sinne the other for bringing in of godlinesse There are many kinds of diligence but this is that a man useth when he makes it tempestiva diligentia when a man having day before him he doth