facilitate the exercise of any of the former graces dispositions or habits such as are health strength beauty and all those other Bonae Corporis as also Bona fortunae Honour Wealth Nobility Reputation and the rest All of these euen those among them which seeme most of all to haue their foundation in Nature or perfection from Art may in some sort bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spirituall gifts in as much as the spirit of God is the first and principall worker of them Nature Art Industrie and all other subsidiary furtherances being but second Agents vnder him and as meanes ordained or as instruments vsed by him for the accomplishing of those ends he hath appointed §. 12. Inferences hence The first And now haue wee found out the iust latitude of the spirituall gifts spoken of in this Chapter and of the manifestation of the spirit in my Text. From whence not to passe without some obseruable inferences for our Edification Wee may here first behold and admire and magnifie the singular loue and care and prouidence of God for and ouer his Church For the building vp whereof hee hath not only furnished it with fit materials men endowed with the faculties of vnderstanding reason will memory affections nor only lent them tooles out of his owne rich store-house his holy Word and sacred Ordinances but as sometimes hee filled a Exod. 35.30 c. Bezaleel and Aholiab with skill and wisedome for the building of the materiall Tabernacle so he hath also from time to time raysed vp seruiceable men and enabled them with a large measure of all needfull gifts and graces to set forward the building and to giue it both strength and beauty A Body if it had not difference and variety of members were rather a lumpe than a body or if hauing such members there were yet no vitall spirits within to enable them to their proper offices it were rather a Corps than a Body but the vigour that is in euery part to doe its office is a certaing euidence and manifestation of a spirit of life within and that maketh it a liuing Organicall body So those actiue gifts graces and abilities which are to be found in the members of the mysticall body of Christ I know not whether of greater variety or vse are a strong manifestation that there is a powerfull Spirit of God within that knitteth the the whole body together and worketh all in all and all in euery part of the body §. 13. The second Secondly though wee haue iust cause to lay it to heart when men of eminent gifts and place in the Church are taken from vs and to lament in theirs our owne and the Churches losse yet wee should possesse our soules in patience and sustaine our selues with this comfort that it is the same God that still hath care ouer his Church and it is the same Head Iesus Christ that still hath influence into his members and it is the same blessed Spirit of God and of Christ that still actuateth and animateth this great mysticall Body And therefore wee may not doubt but this Spirit as he hath hitherto done from the beginning so will still manifest himselfe from time to time vnto the end of the world in raising vp instruments for the seruice of his Church and furnishing them with gifts in some good measure meete for the same more or lesse according as he shall see it expedient for her in her seuerall different estates and conditions giuing a Eph. 4.11 13 some Apostles and some Prophets and some Euangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministerie for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all meete in the vnitie of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Sonne of God vnto a perfect man vnto the measure of the stature of the fulnes of Christ. He hath promised long since who was neuer yet touched with breach of promise that he would b Matth. 28.20 be with his Apostles and their successours alwaies vnto the end of the world §. 14. The third Thirdly where the Spirit of God hath manifested it selfe to any man by the distribution of gifts it is but reason that man should manifest the Spirit that is in him by exercising those gifts in some lawfull Calling And so this manifestation of the Spirit in my text imposeth vpon euery man the Necessity of a Calling Our Apostle in the seuenth of this Epistle ioyneth these two together a Gift and a Calling as things that may not be seuered a 1. Cor. 7.17 As God hath distributed to euery man as the Lord hath called euerie one Where the end of a thing is the vse there the difference cannot be great whether we abuse it or but conceale it The b Math. 25.30 vnprofitable seruant that wrapped vp his Masters talent in a napkin could not haue receiued a much heauier doome had he mispent it O then vp and be doing c Math. 20.6 why stand you all the day idle Doe not say because you heard no voyce that therefore no man hath called you those very gifts you haue receiued are a Reall Call pursuing you with continuall restlesse importunitie till you haue disposed your selues in some honest course of life or other wherein you may be profitable to humane societie by the exercising of some or other of those gifts All the members of the Body haue their proper and distinct offices according as they haue their proper and distinct faculties and from those offices they haue also their proper and distinct names As then in the Body that is indeed no member which cannot call it selfe by any other name than by the common name of a member so in the Church he that cannot stile himselfe by any other name than a Christian doth indeed but vsurp that too If thou sayest thou art of the body I demand then What is thy office in the body If thou hast no office in the body then thou art at the best but Tumor praeter naturam as Physitians call them a scab or botch or wenne or some other monstrous and vnnaturall exerescency vpon the body but certainely thou art no true part and member of the body And if thou art no part of the body how darest thou make challenge to the head by mis-calling thy selfe Christian If thou hast a Gift get a Calling §. 15. The fourth Fourthly we of the Clergy though wee may not ingrosse the Spirit vnto our selues as if none were spirituall persons but oue selues yet the voyce of the World hath long giuen vs the Name of the Spiritualtie after a peculiar sort as if we were spirituall persons in some different singular respect from other men And that not altogether without ground both for the name and thing The very name seemeth to be thus vsed by Saint Paul in the 14. Chapter following where at vers 37 he maketh a Prophet
Dutie with the Reasons and extent therof I was eyes to the blinde and feete was I to the Lame I was a Father to the poore Followeth next the third Duty in these words The cause which I knew not I searched out §. 12. The opening of Of which words some frame the Coherence with the former as if Iob had meant to cleare his Mercy to the poore from suspition of Partiality and iniustice and as if he had said I was a father indeed to the poore pitifull and mercifull to him and ready to shew him any lawfull fauour but yet not so as a Ne crederetur quòd faueret eis nimis in preiudicium iustitiae subditur â—ausam Lyran. hîc in pity to him to forget or peruert Iustice. I was euer carefull before I would either speake or doe for him to bee first assured his cause was right and good and for that purpose if it were doubtfull b Ne fortè motupietatis in discretae condescenderem ei in praeiudicium iustitiae Lyran hîc I searched it out and examined it before I would countenance either him or it Certainely thus to do is agreeable to the rule of Iustice yea and of Mercy too for it is one Rule in shewing Mercy that it be euer done salvis pietate iustitiâ without preiudice done to pietie and iustice And as to this particular the Commandement of God is expresse for it in Exod. 23. c Exod. 23.3 Thou shalt not countenance no not a poore man in his cause Now if we should thus vnderstand the coherence of the words the speciall duty which Magistrates should hence learne would be Indifferency in the administration of Iustice not to make difference of rich or poore far or neare friend or foe one or other but to consider only and barely the equity and right of the cause without any respect of persons or partiall inclination this way or that way This is a very necessarie dutie indeed in a Magistrate of iustice §. 13. The Magistrates third Duty Diligence to search out the truth and I denie not but it may bee gathered without any violence from these very words of my Text though to my apprehension not so much by way of immediate obseruation from the necessitie of any such coherence as by way of consequence from the words themselues otherwise For what need all that care and paines and diligence in searching out the cause if the condition of the person might ouerrule the cause after all that search and were not the iudgement to bee giuen meerely according to the goodnesse or badnesse of the cause without respect had to the person But the speciall dutie which these words seeme most naturally and immediately to impose vpon the Magistrate and let that bee the third obseruation is diligence and patience and care to heare and examine and enquire into the truth of things and into the equitie of mens causes As the Physitian before he prescribe receipt or diet to his patient will first feele the pulse and view the vrine and obserue the temper and changes in the body and bee inquisitiue how the disease began and when and what fits it hath and where and in what manner it holdeth him and enforme himselfe euery other way as fully as he can in the true state of the body that so he may proportion the remedies accordingly without errour so ought euery Magistrate in causes of Iustice before he pronounce sentence or giue his determination whether in matters a Omnia iudicia aut distrabendarum controuersiarum aut puniendorum male ficiorum causâ reperta sunt Cic. pro Cecinna iudiciall or criminall to heare both parties with equall patience to examine witnesses and other euidences aduisedly and throughly to consider and wisely lay together all allegations and circumstances to put in quaeres and doubts vpon the by and vse all possible expedient meanes for the boulting out of the truth that so he may do that which is equall and right without errour §. 14. with some instances A dutie not without both Precept and President in holy Scripture Moses prescribeth it in Deut. 17. in the case of Idolatrie a Deut. 17.2 c. See also Deut. 13.14 If there be found among you one that hath done thus or thus c. and it bee told thee and thou hast heard of it and inquired diligently and behold it bee true and the thing certaine that such abomination is wrought in Israel Then thou shalt bring forth that man c. The offender must be stoned to death and no eye pitie him but it must be done orderly and in a legal course not vpon a bare hearesay but vpon diligent examination and inquisition and vpon such full euidence giuen in as may render the fact certaine so farre as such cases ordinarily are capable of b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. 1. ethic 1. certaintie And the like is againe ordered in Deut 19. in the case of false witnesse c Deut. 19.17 c. Both the men between whom the controuersie is shall stand before the Iudges and the Iudges shall make diligent inquisition c. And in Iudg. 19. in the wronged Leuites case whose Concubine was abused vnto death at Gibeah the Tribes of Israel stirred vp one another to doe iustice vpon the Inhabitants thereof and the method they proposed was this first to d Iudg. 19.30 consider and consult of it and then to giue their opinions But the most famous example in this kind is that of King Salomon in 3. King 3. in the difficult case of the e 3. King 3.16 28. two Mothers Either of them challenged the liuing child with a like eagernesse either of them accused other of the same wrong and with the same allegations neither was there witnesse or other euidence on either part to giue light into the matter yet Salomon by that wisdome which he had obtained from God found a meanes to search out the truth in this difficultie by making as if he would cut the child into halfes and giue either of them one halfe at the mentioning whereof the compassion of the right mother betrayed the falshood of her clamorous competitor And wee reade in the Apocryphall Storie of Susanna how Daniel by f Dan. 13.61 examining the two Elders seuerally and apart found them to differ in one circumstance of their relation and thereby discouered the whole accusation to be false Iudges for this reason were anciently called Cognitores and in approoued Authors g Si iudicas cognosce Sen. in Med. 2.2 Cognoscere is asmuch as to doe the office of a Iudge to teach Iudges that one chiefe point of their care should bee to know the truth For if of priuate men and in things of ordinarie discourse that of Salomon be true h Prou. 18.13 See Sirac 11.7 8. He that answereth a matter before he heareth it it is folly and shame vnto him certainly much more
to destroy to build and to plant Only then be intreated to vse that power God hath giuen you vnto edification and not vnto destruction And now haue I done my message God grant vnto all of vs that by our hearty sorrow and repentance for our sinnes past by our stedfast resolutions of future amendment and by setting our selues faithfully and vprightly in our seuerall places and callings to doe God and the King and our Countrie seruice in beating downe sinne and rooting out sinners wee may by his good grace and mercy obtaine pardon of our sinnes and deliuerance from his wrath and be preserued by his power through faith vnto saluation Now to God the Father the Sonne c. THREE SERMONS AD POPVLVM PREACHED IN THE PARISH CHVRCH of Grantham in the Diocesse and Countie of Lincolne BY ROBERT SAVNDERSON Bachellor in Diuinity and sometimes Fellow of Lincolne Colledge in Oxford PSAL. 25.10 Viae Domini Misericordia Veritas LONDON Printed by R.Y. for R. Dawlman at the Signe of the Bible neere the great Conduit in Fleetstreete 1627. To the Right VVorshipfull and my much honoured Lady the Lady MILDRED SAVNDERSON Wife to Sir NICHOLAS SAVNDERSON Knight and Baronet GOod Madame It is not so much the kinde respect which you haue for many yeares past continually manifested towards me although that might iustly challenge from mee a farre more ample acknowledgement that hath induced mee to present you with these three Sermons as your vnfained loue to Gods truth and Gospell together with your religious care by a holy and vertuous conuersation both to strengthen your owne assurances for the hopes of the life to come and to prouoke those that are sprung from you or liue vnder you by the strength of your example to presse so much the harder towards the same glorious marke by the same gracious courses To the encreasing of which Loue and Care either in you or yours or in any other into whose hands they may chance to come if these poore Meditations shall adde any furtherance I shall haue the lesse cause either to blame the importunitie of those that haue long vrged or to regard the censures of those that shall now mislike the publishing of them The God of power and of peace make them profitable to his Church and preserue your spirit and soule and body blamelesse vnto the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ. Your Ladyships to be commanded in the Lord ROBERT SAVNDERSON Boothby Paynell Linc. 9. Aprill 1627. THE FIRST SERMON At Grantham Linc. 3. Octob. 1620. 3 KINGS 21.29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before mee because hee humbleth himselfe before me I will not bring the euill in his daies but in his sonnes daies will I bring the euill vpon his house THe History of this whole Chapter affoordeth matter of much Varietie and Vse §. 1. The Coherence but no passage in it so much either of Wonder or Comfort as this in the close of the whole both Storie and Chapter That there should bee Mightie-ones sicke with longing after their meaner neighbours vineyeards That there should bee crafty heads to contriue for greedy Great-ones what they vniustly desire That there should be officious Instruments to doe a piece of legall iniustice vpon a Great mans letter That there should bee Knights of the poast to depose any thing though neuer so false in any cause though neuer so bad against any man though neuer so innocent That an honest man cannot bee secure of his life so long as hee hath any thing else a Sic reus ille fere est de quo victoria lucre Esse potest Ouid. de nucâ— worth the losing here is instance in the fâ—re-part of the Chapter of all this in b vers 4. hîc Ahab sickening and c vers 7. Iesabell plotting and the d vers 11. Elders obeying and the e vers 13. Witnesses accusing and poore f vers 13. Naboth suffering But what is there in all this singularly either Strange or Comfortable All is but Oppression Actiue in the rest Passiue in Naboth And what wonder in either of these g Iuven. Satyr 13. stupet haec qui iam post terga reliquit Sexaginta annos himselfe may passe for a wonder if he be of any standing or experience in the world that taketh either of these for a wonder And as for matter of Comfort there is matter indeed but of Detestation in the one of Pity in the other in neither of Comfort §. 2. Argument To passe by other Occurrents also in the later part of the Chapter as That a great Oppressour should hugge himselfe in the cleanly carriage fortunate successe of his damned plots and witty villanies That a weake Prophet should haue heart and face enough to proclaime iudgement against an Oppressing King in the prime of his Iollitie That a bloudy Tyrant should tremble at the voyce of a poore Prophet and the rest some of which wee shall haue occasion to take-in incidentally in our passage along marke we well but this close of the Chapter in the words of my Text and it will bee hard to say whether it containe matter more Strange or more Comfortable Comfortable in that Gods mercy is so exceedingly magnified and such strong assurance giuen to the truely penitent of finding gracious acceptance at the hands of their God when they finde him so apprehensiue of but an outward enforced semblance of Contrition from the hands of an Hypocrite Strange in that Gods Mercy is here magnified euen to the hazzard of other his diuine perfections his Holinesse his Truth his Iustice. For each of these is made in some sort questionable that so his mercy might stand cleare and vnquestioned A rotten-hearted Hypocrite humbleth himselfe outwardly but repenteth not truely and God accepteth him and rewardeth him Here is Gods Mercy in giuing respect to one that ill deserued it but where is his Holinesse the while being a Hab. 1.13 a God of pure eyes that requireth b Psal. 51.6 truth in the inward parts and will not behold iniquitie thus to grace Sin and countenance Hypocrisie A fearefull iudgement is denounced against Ahabs house for his Oppression but vpon his humiliation the sentence at least part of it is reuersed Here is Mercy still in reuoking a sentence of destruction and if somewhat may bee said for his Holinesse too because it was but a temporall and temporary fauour yet where is his Truth the while being a c Tit. 1.2 God that cannot lye and d Iames 1.17 with whom is no variablenesse neither so much as the bare shadow of turning thus to say and vnsay and to alter the thing that is gone out of his lippes A Iudgement is deserued by the Father vpon his humiliation the execution is suspended during his life and lighteth vpon the Sonne Here is yet more Mercy in not striking the Guilty and if somewhat may bee said for Gods Truth too because what
sin Deut. 24 If Israel take vp a Prouerbe of their owne heads d Ezek 18.2 c. Ier. 31.29 The fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge they doe it without cause and they are checked for it The soule that sinneth it shall dye and if any man eate sowre grapes his owne teeth and not anothers for him shall bee set on edge thereby For indeed how can it bee otherwise or who can reasonably thinke that our most gracious God who is so ready to take from vs the guilt of our owne should yet lay vpon vs the guilt of other mens sinnes The only exception to be made in this kinde is that alone satisfactory punishment of our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ not at all for his owne sinnes farre be the impietie from vs so to imagine for e 1. Pet. 2.22 hee did no sinne neither was there any guile found in his mouth but for ours He f Psal. 69.4 Non rapui exsolvebam non peccaui poenas dabam Aug. ibi paied that which he neuer tooke it was g Esay 53.5 for our transgressions that he was wounded and the chasticement of our peace was laid vpon him Yet euen those meritorious sufferings of his may be said in a qualified sense to haue been for his own sinnes although in my iudgement it bee farre better to abstaine from such like speeches as are of ill and suspicious sound though they may bee in some sort defended But how for his owne sins His owne by Commission By no meanes God forbid any man should teach any man should conceiue so the least thought of this were blasphemy but his owne by Imputation Not that hee had sinned and so deserued punishment but that he had h delictorum susceptor non commissor Aug. in Psal. â—8 taken vpon him our sinnes which deserued that punishment As he that vndertaketh for another mans debt maketh it his owne and standeth chargeable with it as if it were his owne personall debt so Christ becomming surety for our sinnes made them i delicta nostra sua delicta secit vt iustitiam suam nostram iustitiam faceret Aug. exp 2. in Psal. 21. his owne and so was punishable for them as if they had beene his owne personall sins k 1. Pet. 2.24 who his owne selfe bare our sinnes in his owne body vpon the tree 1. Pet. 2. That hee was punished for vs who himselfe deserued no punishment it was because l 2. Cor. 5.21 he was made sinne for vs who himself knew no sinne So that I say in some sense the assertion may bee defended vniuersally and without exception but yet I desire rather it might bee thus Christs onely excepted all the Paines and Euills of men are brought vpon them for their owne sinnes These three points then are certaine and it is needfull they should bee well vnderstood and remembred §. 10. The fathers sinnes punished in their children because nothing can be obiected against Gods Iustice in the punishing of sinne which may not bee easily remoued if wee haue recourse to some one or other of these three Certainties and rightly apply them All the three doubts proposed in the beginning haue one and the same resolution answer one and answer all Ahab here sinneth by Oppression and yet the euill must light though not all of it for some part of it fell and was performed vpon Ahab himselfe yet the main of it vpon his sonne Iehoram I will not bring the Euill in his daies but in his sonnes daies will I bring the Euill vpon his house It is not Iehorams case alone it is a thing that often hath and daily doth befall many others In Gen. 9. when Noahs vngracious sonne Ham had discouered his Fathers nakednesse the old man no doubt by Gods speciall inspiration laieth the curse not vpon Ham himselfe but vpon his sonne Canaan a Gen. 9.25 Cursed bee Canaan c. And God ratified the curse by rooting out the posteritie of Canaan first out of the pleasant Land wherein they were seated and then afterwards from the face of the whole earth Ieroboams b 3. King 15.19.30 Idolatrie cut off his posterity from the Kingdome and the c 1. Sam. 2.33 35. wickednesse of Ely his sonnes theirs from the Priesthood of Israel Gehasi with the bribe he took purchased a d 4. King 5.27 leprosie in fee-simple to him and his heires for euer The Iewes for stoning the Prophets of God but most of all for crucifying the Sonne of God brought bloud-guiltinesse not onely vpon themselues but vpon their children also e Mat. 27.25 His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children The wrath of God therefore comming vpon them f 1. Thes. 2.16 to the vtmost and the curse of God abiding vpon their posterity euen vnto this day wherin they still remaine and God knoweth how long they shall a base and despised people scattered almost euery where and euery where hated Instances might bee endlesse both in priuate persons and families and in whole Kingdomes and Countries But it is a needlesse labour to multiply instances in so confessed a point especially God Almighty hauing thus farre declared himselfe and his pleasure herein in the second commandement of the Law that hee will not spare in his g Exod. 20.5 iealousie sometimes to visit the sinnes of fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation There is no question then de facto but so it is § 11. and how this may stand with the Iustice of God the sinnes of the fathers are visited vpon the children but de jure with what right and equity it is so it is as S. Chrysostome speaketh a Chrysost. in Gen hom 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a question famous and much debated The considerations which I finde giuen-in for the resolution of this question b Augustin qu. 42. in Deuter Theophylact in Ioh. 9. Peter 14. in Gen disp 4. Aquin. 1.2 qu. 87.8 Sasb quodlib 3. by those that haue purposely handled it are very many But multitude breedeth confusion and therefore I purpose no more but two only vnto which so many of the rest as are materiall may bee reduced and those two grounded vpon the certainties already declared The former concerneth the Nature of those Punishments which are inflicted vpon the children for the fathers sinnes the later the condition of those children vpon whom such punishments are inflicted As to the first The punishments which God bringeth vsually vpon the children for the fathers sinnes are only temporall and outward punishments §. 12. Consid. 1. such punishments are only temporall not spirituall Some haue beene plagued with infectious diseases as a 4 King 5.27 Gehazies posterity and b 2 Sam. 3.29 Ioabs also if that curse which Dauid pronounced against him tooke effect as it is like it did Some haue come to vntimely and vncomfortable
punishing one for another §. 23. Consid. 3. from the distinction of impulsiue Causes ariseth from a third consideration which is this That the children are punished for the fathers sins or indefinitely any one man for the sins of any other man it ought to be imputed to those sinnes of the fathers or others not as to the causes properly deseruing them but onely as occasioning those punishments It pleaseth God to take occasion from the sinnes of the fathers or of some others to bring vpon their children or those that otherwise belong vnto them in some kind of relation those euills which by their owne corruptions sinnes they haue iustly deserued This distinction of the Cause and Occasion if well heeded both fully acquiteth Gods Iustice and abundantly reconcileth the seeming Contradictions of Scripture in this Argument and therefore it will be worth the while a little to open it §. 24. The Impulsiue Cause what it is There is a kind of Cause de numero efficientium which the learned for distinctions sake call the Impulsiue Cause and it is such a cause as a quae principalem efficientem impellit ad efficiendum Keckerm 1. Syst. Log. 10. moueth and induceth the principall Agent to doe that which it doth For Example A Schoolemaster correcteth a boy with a rod for neglecting his booke Of this correction here are three distinct causes all in the ranke of efficients viz. the Master the Rod and the boyes neglect but each hath its proper causality in a different kind and maner from other The Master is the Cause as the principall Agent that doth it the Rod is the Cause as the Instrument wherewith he doth it and the boyes neglect the impulsiue cause for which he doth it Semblably in this iudgement which befell Iehoram the principall efficient cause and Agent was God as hee is in all other punishments and iudgements b Amos 3.6 shall there be euil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. here he taketh it to himselfe I will bring the euill vpon his house The Instrumental Cause vnder God was c 4. King 9. Iehu whom God raised vp and endued with zeale and power for the execution of that vengeance which he had determined against Ahab and against his house as appeareth in 4. Kings 9. and 10. But now what the true proper Impulsiue cause should be for which he was so punished and which moued God at that time and in that sort to punish him that is the point wherein consisteth the chiefest difficulty in this matter and into which therefore wee are now to enquire viz. whether that were rather his own sinne or his father Ahabs sinne Whether we answer for this or for that we say but the truth in both for both sayings are true §. 25. Two sorts of impulsiue Causes God punished him for his owne and God punished him for his Fathers sinne The difference only this His owne sinnes were the impulsiue cause that deserued the punishment his fathers sinne the impulsiue cause that occasioned it and so indeed vpon the point and respectiuely to the iustice of God rather his own sins were the cause of it than his fathers both because iustice doth especially looke at the desert also because that which deserueth a punishment is more effectually primarily and properly the impulsiue cause of punishing than that which onley occasioneth it The termes whereby Artists expresse these two different kindes of impulsiue causes borrowed from Galen and the Physitians of a See Keckerm 1. Syst. Log. 10. called by Brulif Causa Dispositiua Excitatiua apud Altenst in dict Causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would be excellent and full of satisfaction if they were of easie vnderstanding But for that they are not so especially to such as are not acquainted with the termes and learning of the Schooles I forbeare to vse them and rather than to take the shortest cut ouer hedge and ditch chuse to leade you an easier and plainer way though it 's something about and that by a familiar example §. 26. explained by a familiar example A man hath liued for some good space in reasonable state of health yet by grosse feeding and through continuance of time his body the whilest hath contracted many vitious noisome and malignant humours It happeneth he hath occasion to ride abroad in bad weather taketh wet on his feete or necke getteth cold with it commeth home findeth himselfe not well falleth a shaking first and anon after into a dangerous and lasting feuer Here is a feuer and here are two different causes of it an antecedent cause within the abundance of noisome and crude humours that is a interìores dispositiones quae irritantur ab externis causis Melancthon causa dispositiua Brulifer causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the euident cause ab extra his riding in the wet and taking cold vpon it and that is Galens b Causa externa irritatrix Melancthon causa excitatiua Brulifer causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let vs goe on a little and compare these causes The Physitian is sent for the sicke mans friends they stand about him and in commeth the Physitian among them and enquireth of him and them how he got his feuer They presently giue him such information as they can and the information is both true and sufficient so farre as it reacheth they tell him the one cause the occasionall cause the outward euident cause Alas Sir he rode such a iourney such a time got wet on his feete and tooke cold vpon it and that hath brought him to all this That is all they are able to say to it for other cause they know none But by and by after some suruiew of the state of the Body hee is able to informe them in the other cause the inward and originall cause whereof they were as ignorant before as he was of that other outward one and hee telleth them the cause of the malady is superfluitie of crude and noisome humours rankenesse of bloud abundance of melancholy tough fleame or some other like thing within Now if it be demanded which of these two is rather the cause of his sicknesse The truth is that inward antecedent cause within is the very cause thereof although perhaps it had not bred a feuer at that time if that other outward occasion had not beene For by that inward hidden cause the body was prepared for an ague only there wanted some outward fit accident to stirre and prouoke the humours within and to set them on working And the parties body being so prepared might haue fallen into the same sicknesse by some other accident as well as that as ouer heating himselfe with exercise immoderate watching some distemper or surfeit in diet or the like But neither that nor any of these nor any other such accident could haue cast him into such a Fit if
the humours had not bin ripe and the body thereby prepared to entertaine such a disease So as the bad humours within may rather be said to be the true cause and that cold-taking but the occasion of the Ague the disease it selfe issuing from the hidden cause within and the outward accident being the cause not so much of the disease it selfe why the Ague should take him as why it should take him at that time rather than at another and hold him in that part or in that maner rather than in another §. 27. and applied to the present Argument From this Example we may see in some proportion how our owne sins and other mens concurre as ioynt impulsiue causes of those punishments which God bringeth vpon vs. Our owne sinnes they are the true a Causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 interna antecedens dispositiua hidden antecedent causes which deserue the punishments our fathers sinnes or our gouernours sinnes or our neighbours sins or whatsoeuer other mans sinnes that are visited vpon vs are only the b Causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exterterna irritatrix excitatiua outward euident causes or rather occasions why wee should bee punished at this time and in this thing and in this manner and in this measure and with these circumstances And as in the former Example the Patients friends considered one cause and the Physitian another they the euident and outward he the inward and antecedent cause so respectiuely to Gods Iustice our owne sinnes onely are the causes of our punishments but in respect of his Prouidence and Wisedome our fathers sinnes also or other mens For Iustice looketh vpon the desert onely and so the punishments are euer and onely from our owne personall sinnes as wee learned from our third Certainty but it is Prouidence that ordereth the occasions and the seasons and the other circumstances of GODS punishments Hence may wee learne to reconcile those places of Scripture §. 28. The seeming Contradictions of Scripture which seeme to crosse one another in this Argument In Ezekiel and Ieremy it is said that a Ier. 31.30 Ezek. 18.20 euery man shall be punished for his owne sinnes and that the children shall not beare the iniquitie of the fathers and yet the same Ieremie complaineth as if it were otherwise Lam. 5. b Lam 5.7 Our fathers haue sinned and are not and wee haue borne their iniquities Yea God himselfe proclaimeth otherwise I am c Exod. 20.5 a iealous God visiting the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children Nor only doth he visit the sins of the fathers vpon the children but hee visiteth also the sonnes of Princes vpon their Subiects as d 2. Sam. 24.17 Dauids people were wasted for his sinne in numbring them yea and hee visiteth sometimes the sinnes euen of ordinary priuate men vpon publike societies e Ios. 22.20 Did not Achan the sonne of Zerah commit a trespasse in the accursed thing and wrath sell vpon all the Congregation of Israel and that man perished not alone in his iniquity Now how can all this stand together Yes very well euen as well as in the act of punishing §. 29. how to bee reconciled Gods Iustice and his Wisedome can stand together Marke then wheresoeuer the Scripture ascribeth one mans punishment to another mans sinne it pointeth vs to Gods Wisedome and Prouidence who for good and iust ends maketh choyce of these occasions rather than other sometimes to inflict those punishments vpon men which their owne sinnes haue otherwise abundantly deserued On the contrary wheresoeuer the Scripture giueth all punishments vnto the personall sinnes of the sufferer it pointeth vs to Gods Iustiâ—e which looketh still to the desert and doth not vpon any occasion whatsoeuer inflict punishments but where there are personall sinnes to deserue them so that euery man that is punished in any kinde or vpon any occasion may ioyne with Dauid in that confession of his Psal. 51. a Psal. 51.4 Against thee haue I sinned and done euill in thy sight that thou mightest be iustified in thy sayings and cleare when thou iudgest §. 30. with an exemplary instance thereof Say then an vnconscionable great one by cruell oppression wring as Ahab did here his poorer neighbours vineyeard from him or by countenanced sacriledge geld a Bishopricke of a faire Lordship or Mannor and when he hath done his prodigall heire runne one end of it away in matches drowne another end of it in Tauernes and Tap-houses melt away the rest in lust and beastly sensuality who doth not here see both Gods Iustice in turning him out of that which was so foulely abused by his owne sinnes and his Prouidence withall in fastening the Curse vpon that portion which was so vniustly gotten by his fathers sinnes Euery man is ready to say It was neuer like to prosper it was so ill gotten and so acknowledge the Couetous fathers sinne as occasioning it and yet euery man can say withall It was neuer likely to continue long it was so vainely lauished out and so acknowledge the Prodigall sons sinne as sufficiently deseruing it Thus haue wee heard the maine doubt solued §. 31. The resolution of the â—aine doubt The summe of all is this God punisheth the sonne for the fathers sinne but with temporall punishments not eternall and with those perhaps so as to redound to the fathers punishment in the son Perhaps because the sonne treadeth in his fathers steps perhaps because he possesseth that from his father to which Gods curse adhereth perhaps for other reasons best knowne to God himselfe wherewith he hath not thought meet to acquaint vs but what euer the occasion be or the ends euermore for the sons owne personall sins abundantly deseruing them And the same resolution is to bee giuen to the other two doubts proposed in the beginning §. 32. applied also to the rest to that Why God should punish any one man for another and to the third Why God should punish the lesser offender for the greater In which and all other doubts of like kinde it is enough for the clearing of Gods Iustice to consider that when God doth so they are first only temporall punishments which he so inflicteth and those secondly no more than what the sufferer by his owne sinnes hath most rightfully deserued All those other considerations as that the Prince and People are but one body and so each may feele the smart of others sinnes and stripes that oftentimes wee haue giuen way to other mens sinnes when wee might haue stopped them or consent when wee should haue withstood them or silent allowance when wee should haue checked them or perhaps furtherance when wee should rather haue hindered them that the punishments brought vpon vs for our fathers or other mens sinnes may turne to our great spirituall aduantage in the humbling of our soules the subduing of our corruptions the encreasing of our care the exercising of our graces that
b Exod. 20.5 third scarce euer the fourth generation passe before God visit the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children if hee doe not in the very next generation In his sonnes dayes will I bring the euill vpon his house §. 34. The second Secondly if not onely our owne but our fathers sinnes too may be shall be visited vpon vs how concerneth it vs as to repent for our owne so to lament also the sinnes of our forefathers and in our confessions and supplications to God sometimes to remember them that he may forget them and to set them before his face that hee may cast them behind his backe Wee haue a good precedent for it in our publike Letany Remember not Lord our offences nor the offences of our forefathers A good and a profitable and a needefull prayer it is and those men haue not done well nor justly that haue cauilled at it O that men would be wise according to sobriety and allow but iust interpretations to things aduisedly established rather than busie themselues nodum in scirpo to picke needelesse quarrels where they should not What vnity would it bring to brethren what peace to the Church what ioy to all good and wise men As to this particular God requireth of the Israelites in Leuit. 26. that they should a Leuit. 26.39.40 confesse their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers b Psal. 106.6 Dauid did so and c Ierem. 3.15 Ieremy did so and d Dan. 9.5 Daniel did so in Psal. 106. in Ierem. 3. in Dan. 9. And if Dauid thought it a fit curse to pronounce against Iudas and such as he was in Psal. 109. e Psal. 109.14 Let the wickednesse of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord and let not the sin of his mother be done away why may we not nay how ought we not to pray for the remoueall of this very curse from vs as well as of any other curses The present age is riâ—e of many enormous crying sinnes which call loud for a iudgement vpon the land and if God should bring vpon vs a right heauie one whereat all eares should tingle could wee say other but that it were most iust euen for the sinnes of this present generation But if vnto our owne so many so great God should also adde the sins of our forefathers the bloudshed and tyranny grieuous vnnaturall butcheries in the long times of the ciuill warres and the vniuersall idolatries and superstitions couering the whole land in the longer and darker times of Popery and if as hee sometimes threatned to bring vpon the Iewes of f Math. 23.35.36 that one generation all the righteous bloud that euer was shed vpon the earth from the bloud of the righteous Abel vnto the bloud of Zacharias the sonne of Barachias so hee should bring the sinnes of our Ancestors for many generations past vpon this generation of ours who could be able to abide it Now when the security of the times giue vs but too much cause to feare it and the regions begin to looke white towards the haruest is it not time for vs with all humiliation of Soule and Body to cast downe our selues and with all contention of voyce and spirit to lift vp our prayers and to say Remember not Lord our offences nor the offences of our forefathers neither take thou vengeance of our sinnes Spare vs good Lord spare the people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious bloud and be not angry with vs for euer Spare vs good Lord. §. 35. the third inference Thirdly Since not onely our fathers sinnes and our owne but our Neighbours sinnes too aliquid malum propter vicinum malum but especially the sinnes of Princes and Gouernours a Morat 1. Episâ— 2. delirant reges plectuntur Achiui may bring iudgements vpon vs and enwrap vs in their punishments it should teach euery one of vs to seeke his owne priuate in the common and publike good and to endeauour if but for our owne security from punishment to awaken other from their security in sinne How should wee send vp b â— Tim. 2.1 2. supplications and prayers and intercessions for Kings and for all that are in authority that God would encline their hearts vnto righteous courses and open their eares to wholesome counsells and strengthen their hands to just actions when but a sinfull ouersight in one of them may proue the ouerthrow of many thousands of vs as Dauid but by once numbring his people in the pride of his heart lessened their number at one clap c 2 Sam. 24.15 threescore and ten thousand If d Ios. â—8 10.25 Israel turne their backs vpon their enemies vp Iosuah and make search for the troubler of Israel firret out the thiefe and doe execution vpon him one Achan if but suffered is able to vndoe the whole hoast of Israel what mischiefe might he do if countenanced if allowed The houre I see hath ouertaken me and I must end To wrappe vp all in a word then and conclude Thou that hast power ouer others suffer no sin in them by base conniuence but punish it thou that hast charge of others suffer no sin in them by dull silence but rebuke it thou that hast any interest in or dealing with others suffer no sinne vpon them by easie allowance but distast it thou that hast nothing else yet by thy charitable prayers for them and by constant example to them stop the course of sin in others further the growth of grace in others labour by all meanes as much as in thee lyeth to draw others vnto God lest their sinnes draw Gods iudgements vpon themselues and thee This that thou mayst doe and that I may do and that euery one of vs that feareth God and wisheth well to the Israel of God may doe faithfully and discreetely in our seuerall stations and callings let vs all humbly beseech the Lord the God of all grace and wisedome for his Sonne Iesus sake by his holy spirit to enable vs. To which blessed Trinity one only wise immortall inuisible almighty most gracious and most glorious Lord and God be ascribed by euery one of vs the kingdome the power and the glory both now and for euer Amen THE FOVRTH SERMON In S. Pauls Church London 4. Nov. 1621. 1. COR. 7.24 Brethren let euery man wherein he is called therein abide with God IF flesh and bloud be suffered to make the Glosse §. 1. The Occasion and scope of the Text. it is able to corrupt a right good Text. It easily turneth the doctrine of Gods grace into a Iude 4. wantonnesse and as easily the doctrine of Christian libertie into licenciousnesse These Corinthians being yet but b 1. Cor. 3.1.3.4 Carnall for the point of Liberty consulted it seemeth but too much with this cursed glosse Which taught them to interpret their Calling to the Christian faith as an Exemption