weake efficients that they faint in drinking the strongest liquor That make choyce of iron brasse gold silver wood c. as matter to matte the making of a God But aboue all let them consider whom neither the fumes of siery passion do mist nor sinister respects or preiudices sway downe on either side from the pitch of iust integritie how silly and idle a thing it is to forme a God after the image of man bird or best and that without the meanest life farre from any Deitie or Divinitie except it be by the late Masters of the Mint in the multitude of their moderne miracles but the Lord knowes that these coines and stampes are farre off the purest pathes of veritie Alas how doe they ray and robbe God of his excellencie whiles they robe him in these raggs of rotten relickes But this is the very hate of heauen and in effect the very gate or hie way to hell to giue our selues vnto it as our Summum Bomum or chiefe good Whiles Dagon stands the Philistimes fall downe but when Dagon was fallen before the Arke the Philistimes stood to lift him vp It is iust with God that those which want grace should want wit too it is the power of superstision to turne men into those stockes and stones which they worship Methinkes their vnderstandings and wits should haue waded further if Dagon fall how shall we stand by him If he cannot helpe himselfe what shall he profit vs Yet Idolatry and Superstition are not easily put out of countenance Dagon is vp againe and the next morning the fittest time for devotion the Philistimes hasten their speed and flocke to their Temple to see how Dagon had rested that night vnder his owne Roofe and now behold in kindnesse their God is come to meeto them in the way some peeces parted from the rest salute them vpon the threshold his head and his hands are over-runne their fellowes to tell them that neither his wit nor his power could stand before the true God And now whereas the threshold should haue beene hollowed to the Victor it is consecrated to their beaten God As if it had beene made more holy by his ruine then Gods revenge Therefore God strikes them in their bodies which could not feele themselues stricken in their Idoll Paine must humble them whom shame cannot And now they begin to confesse that Gods hand was sore vpon them and their God Yet they make account of confession as drunkards doe of vomiting the Arke of the God of Israel shall not abide with them Thus wicked men vpon all occasions are glad to bee rid of God but with no patience can part with their siunes And thus the Prophet by running through all the causes Isa 40.18 with 44.12 derides the Heathen by making their gods And then as if they were besotted askes them Haue yee not knowne Haue yee not heard Hath it not beene told you from the beginning Haue yee not vnderstood it from the foundations of the earth It is be that is God which is able to sit vpon he circle of the earth stretch the heavens as a Curtains and spread them as a Tert to dwell in Q. What followes from hence that God is without all causes A. First He is without an efficient or beginning Rev. 1.8 and 3.14 And from hence he is not subiect or obnoxious to the creation or annihilation of any other as are ll creatures yea the very Angels and therefore God is absolutely independent and supreame And here nature and good nature may bring vs to God Reason hath no where either bound or banke to restraine it but at this cause hither will it bring vs and here will it leaue vs. I am the beginning of the creatures sayth Christ therefore God goe by the creatures as workes and they will lead vs to their first efficient and beginning Secondly God is without all matter and therefore most spirituall the lesse matter and the more forme the creatures inioy the more spirituall it makes them By God therefore so pure a spirit are all things nourished with the onely dew of divine benediction but this high way is so plaine that a guide were needlesse Furthermore God being most spirituall is likewise most invisible and impalpable Too subtile for sinew or sight to sease vpon him Luk. 24.39.1 Tim. 1.17 It would present him for a furious and raving Bedlam that should once formalize God to his owne fancies Againe where matter is wanting there common nature is wanting for things communicate as they rise from some common stocke and stemme And because all specialls are contained vnder generalls God wants that too and therefore is properly neither essence or being but an Huperousios or super substantiall being by himselfe one onely in number neither dividing nor devided multiplying or multiplyed The wife is the husband devided and the childe is the father multiplied But God is neither so devided into three neither are three so multiplied from one He is if I may so speake with reverence without all stocke or kine Therefore when we say essence is common and person proper it must be receiued with a graine of salt For the common nature is not distributed into parts as into persons but as common to all so it is one individuall and singular essence in them all and that receiued of each person without parts or passions for matter is the ground of both and where that is wanting they are not to bee found I stay the longer vpon these Negatiues because we re not loosely lightly to slide over the things of God as if they were vulgar and triviall like our owne Thus farre you haue seene God out of the rode and reach of the efficient and matter see him now voyd of forme and end for in them likewise consists power to be The forme in going and comming is the cause of all generation and corruption God therefore being without it is incorruptible and therefore a God immortall and everlasting Psal 102.26.27 Iam. 1.17.1 Tim. 1.17 A choice and refined peece of high Quintessence of wit is that of Papists in their breaden god which yet never Church could distill out of her braines or aspire vnto besides their owne What generation and corruption doe they make of the everlasting bread of heauen Here perhaps might wee finde stuffe enough I will not say to lade an Argosie but to over lade any mans wit in the world to reply vnto It shall suffice vs to thinke of God as God and man as man Christ in heaven and Christ in the Sacrament Now if wee adde further without both matter and forme together then is God neither the whole nor the member of any thing or any wayes to be distributed or defined I meane with perfect definition because he hath no essence diverse from himselfe and therefore the definition and that which it defines are all one so that in God Thees and Theiotees God and the God-head are all one
doings Luk. 10.21 Christ Iesus reioyced in the good pleasure of his Father as the onely cause of revealing or hiding the mysteries of mans saluation Phil. 2.12.13 Worke out your owne saluation with feare and trembling now least wee should follow the Popish dreame of free-will that man could merit life and happinesse if God would but beare halfe the charges we are reduced to a more full cause It is God which worketh in you both to will and to doe we bring not so much as a will disposed for our owne good that is most slauish till grace free it and it is freed by the most free cause which is the good-pleasure of our God Q. What doe you obserue concerning Elohim or the persons A. Two things their cooperation and distinct manner of working the one is necessary in regard of this that they haue the same essence and therefore cannot but co-worke in euery thing the other is likewise as necessary because each person hath his distinct manner of subsisting All operation flowes from their essence cooperation from their vnitie in it and distinct manner from the distinct manner of their subsisting One essence one operation and three being one must needs worke inseparably and one being three must needs worke in a distinct manner Gen. 1.1 In the beginning Elohim made Gen. 2.26 Let vs make Mat. 12.31 Blasphemie is aggrevated in regard of the three persons and against the last it is made vnpardonable because a sinne against the Father is remitted by the action of the Sonne who redeemes from wrath and so is a sinne against the Sonne by the worke of the Spirit who applies the merites of Christ to euery guiltie soule but if the sin be against the holy Ghost all hope is cut off for there is no fourth person to helpe and the worke cannot goe backward for the Spirit workes neither by the Father nor the Sonne and so no meanes of remission is left for this sinne Q. What is the divine co-operation A. Whereby the three persons worke the same thing inseparably Ioh. 5.17.19.21 My father worketh hitherto and I worke whatsoeuer things he doth the same doe I he raiseth and quickneth the dead even so doe I quicken whom I will c. Ioh. 1.3 Nothing was made without the sonne And here wee are to vnderstand the same of the blessed Spirit Q. What is hence to be learned A. That all the persons worke of themselues 1. Ioh. 5.7 Three beare record and yet they are all one in essence in respect whereof they worke from themselues To be and to act is all one in God therefore as each person is God of himselfe so doth he worke of himselfe Q. What will further follow from this A. That there is no preheminence or dignitie in this their co-working For as they are equall in essence so are they equall in their actions Ioh. 14.1 Yee beleeue in God beleeue also in mee Ioh. 16.15 All things that the father hath are mine Ioh. 5.18 It was no sinne for Christ to make himselfe equall with his father in euery worke The same is as true of the Spirit Q. What is the distinct manner of working A. Whereby each person worketh according to the manner of his subsisting Hence it comes to passe that the second person being mentioned with the first it is said Not of him but by him were things made for as the sonne workes from the father so the father workes by the sonne Ioh. 1.3 Col. 1.16.17 Heb. 1.2 The like is to be vnderstood of the Spirit who being from both hath both to worke by him Ioh. 16.13 and doth nothing of himselfe I meane as a person Q. What is the Fathers manner of working A. To worke all things by the Sonne and the holy Ghost 1. Cor. 8.6 One God which is the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him So that the first person workes from himselfe not onely as God but as a person and continues his worke by his sonne Math. 10.20 Ioh. 15.26 1. Cor. 3.10 By the Spirit the Father revealeth teacheth and testifieth and the reason is because they are both from him who worketh of himselfe Q. What from hence A. That the originall and beginning of all things is from the Father For he that is first in subsisting must needs be first in working Hence some manifest notable ignorance in this point who place the worke of the Sonne and the holy Ghost before the action of the Father and that in the greatest and weightiest mystery of our salvation I meane our eternall predestination who placing redemption and application before election set the worke of the second third person before the first for according to their wandering Doctrine they teach that man is redeemed and by faith applied to Christ before he bee elected of God the Father This is cleane contrary to S. Paul Eph. 1.3 to 15. Where election being an originall worke is giuen to the Father who dispenseth the same by his sonne and applies it by his spirit So that the Father doth elect vs before the Sonne redeeme vs or the Spirit sanctifie vs. Read the Bible and you shall finde creation and election more frequently attributed to the first person then either the second or the third And our Creed teacheth vs to call the Father Creator c. Q. What is the Sonnes manner of working A. He worketh from the Father by the holy Ghost Ioh. 5.19 The sonne can doe nothing of himselfe saue that which hee seeth the Father doe c. Ioh. 16.15 The Spirit shall take of mine and shew it vnto you And the reason is the Sonne is from the Father but the holy Ghost is from them both Q. What learne wee hence A. That the dispensaetion of all things is giuen to the Sonne as there is an entrance into euery worke so must there bee a proceeding in it and the Father in all things proceeds by his Sonne as in the revelation declaration of his will Ioh. 1.18 and the execution of all things in himselfe which may prepare for the worke of the spirit in vs. Ioh. 16.17 For till the Father haue done the Sonne can doe nothing neither is it for the Spirit to worke vntill he take it from them both Q. What is the holy Ghosts manner of working A. To worke both from the Father and the Sonne Ioh. 16.13 The Spirit shall not speake or doe any thing of himselfe but whatsoeuer he shall heare from the Father and the Sonne as the two next verses make it plaine And the reason is that he subsisting from them both must needs worke accordingly Q. What followes from hence A. That the consummation of all things is giuen to the holy Ghost who ends the worke of the Father and the Sonne Gen. 1.3 Let there be is rather a word of consummation then commandement The whole worke is carried by word and deed God said the
Life consisting in the moysture of ayre is to be nourished not in the spirit of fire Animall spirits if they were not generated of the vitall and daily restored by them they might liue by their fiery nature as well as starres Let this then be granted that all elementarie soules are either the formall spirits of the ayre or fire and then starres hauing the one and not the other may liue without nourishment The influences of the Starres are as vitall as the animall spirits in man and both comfort and beget life c. Againe their motion shewes they liue for nothing is moued from place to place without it If God and Moses may be heard Phylosophers shall easily haue their mouthes stopped Scripture euery where testifieth of the motion of the Starres Which must either be by counsell or nature or violence or fortune Not by counsell for their motion is regular and alwayes the same and this were sufficient to proue the cause next vnder God to be naturall But the opinion is they are moued by the externall force of Angels as a wheele by a dog or a Crane by walking men I reade indeed that the Angels are ministring spirits for the good of the elect but no where in Gods booke that they turne the wheeles of heaven And againe the light being common to good and bad the good Angels should minister daily as well for reprobates as Gods elect But to still all cackling in this cause let the Text cleare it selfe Gen. 1.14.15.16.17.18 That which God saw to be good answers Gods intention in his motion to his end Therefore the Starres had so much by their creation that they were able to devide giue light rule dayes and nights the which they were vnable to doe without motion God therefore gaue them a power to moue that they might obtaine these ends which if they should assume from any other then God would argue the imperfection of his owne worke It may well be thought they receiue this life in their centers as other things doe in the circumference For being round heat and spirit will most vnite themselues within as in a silver spoone turne the hollow side to the fire and it will be very hot But in plaine bodies heat is receiued in a cleane contrary fashion as in Andyrons where they be round are very cold but where they be plaine they be very hot and will burne soone Starres therefore are round like globes that heat may the better center in them and make them the more actiue and liuely in their motion Why they should neither ascend nor descend is their equall temper with the place where they stay Why they moue round is the actiue spirit and soule that will not suffer them to rest It is said of the Sunne Psal 19.4.5.6 that God hath set him a tabernacle or proper place out of which he cannot goe and yet he comes out of the chambers thereof and in the strength of his motiue spirit reioyceth to runne his race not tumble it as some dreame for running a brest in the fire hee pusheth and shoueth it from him that nothing can be hid from his heat light His circuit is from one end of heaven to another and by his quicke dispatch euery day either drawes a little nearer or goes a little farther off not that at any time he comes nearer the earth but by fleeting a little his chambers he comes sometime in the yeere to dwell more directly over our heads then other He devids night and day euery 24. houres with vs and by running from one point to another the whole yeere And it is as naturall to the Sunne to runne a circuit euery day as another in a whole yeere not that he is pulled contrary wayes by two diverse orbes but that which he doth euery day in part that hee doth wholly and completely in a yeare Now the part and the whole may agree in the same motion and euery dayes race is but a part of the whole yeeres course which the Sunne may as truely keepe in the whole as in the parts and that without all contrary motions But seeing euery man will fancie his owne fiction I leaue this without all further prosecution Q. How many sort of Starres haue we A. Two The greater and the lesser not for quantitie of bodie but qualitie of light for the originall word Meoroth is Makers of light Luminaries shiners And so the Sunne and Moone are greatest as giuing to the earth the greatest quantitie of light How great the Starres are is a coniecture and guesse at the iust proportion of any one yet they are very bigge and it is evident that the Sunne is bigger then the earth by the Eclipses and because it enlightneth more then halfe the earth at once Gen. 1.16 Q. What are the greater A. The Sunne and the Moone These two cast downe the greatest light vpon the face of the earth Genesis 1.16 Psal 104.19 Q. What is the Creation of the Sunne A. Whereby he made it to rule the day c. And it is called the greater light because it darkens all Starres by his shining yea and casts light in the face of them all hence the Moone which hath such a changeable light receiues her splendor from the Sunne according to that face which is opposite to the body of the Sunne for the one halfe of it is ever illuminated and illustrated by the same and in receiuing and casting downe that light seemes to haue spots in her face Gen. 1.16 Psal 19.5.6 Q What is the creation of the Moone A. Whereby it was made to rule the night Gen. 1.16 Yet shee hath the assistence of the Starres for her selfe is often absent in the night Q. What are the lesser lights A. The Starres Gen. 1.16 These carry downe a lesser quantitie of light yet if it were not for them our nights would be palpable darkenesse which is the greatest enemy to the eye for it is a comfortable thing to see the light Eccl. 11.7 Q. When were all these made A. In the fourth day euening and morning succeeding as before in the compasse of 24. houres Gen. 1.19 Q. What is the creation of things with a compound life A. Whereby they were made not onely with a growing and mouing life but also with sense externall and internall the one serving as glasse windowes for the other The first sense which is most necessary is our feeling and is dispersed through the whole body excepting the bones and sinewes Bones are the sustentacles of our bodies and therefore would be painfull to vs if they were tender of feeling The sinewes they are the organs and instruments and carry in them the sensitiue spirits and man is most ticklish where his skin is thinnest With the tips of the fingers Physitians feele their patients as being most sensible of the pulses motion The tangible obiects are heat cold drought and moysture principally secondarily the qualities that hence arise Tast is next
wrought in mans fall yea and from all eternitie for Gods act began before mans And this is safely to be done by our anatomie or resolution of Gods composition in this worke First God did it by his law and speciall government of man Secondly as he did it so had he power to doe it and such a power as neither Devils nor men are able to resist Man might resist the law Math. 23.37 but not the power by which the law worketh for man not the law shall suffer for the irruption and breach of it The law will be sure one way or another to make his part good with the most masterlesse monsters Thirdly as God did it and could doe it so he decreed it to be done and omnipotencie and efficiencie are but two executours no composors of Gods decree and therefore it shall stand infallible in the greatest contingencie It was possible for man to fall or not to fall and his act was contingent so true that it might haue beene false yet the decree was as certaine before as after the event seeing all things are present to God when they are absent to vs. Fourthly as he decreed it so it was done by counsell Ephe. 1.11 both in the scope and plot God had an end in mans fall neitheir was it otherwise executed then himselfe had plotted it The Devils and our first parents together with the Serpent time and place could never haue so met together except God had set it downe so will I haue it acted even to euery circumstance Fiftly It seemed good to his wisedome so to haue it done and no otherwise Pharaoh deales wisely by sinning Exod. 1.10 but God is wise in decreeing how Pharaoh shall sinne Sixtly that which is done by the wisedome of God is good and iust Hence sinne opposite to all good and the enemie of iustice was both good iust not in it selfe but as God decreed it to be a meanes of his glory which it is not by his owne nature for God is clishonoured by it but by accident as God can bring light out of darkenesse good out of evill and life out of death Therefore as God did it it was no sinne euery cause is to be examined by his manner of working Man sinnes by counsell and God by counsell orders it so to be done and in doing workes as much as he willed Lastly as it was good and iust so God willed it but as simply evill he willed it not but did hate the being of it Psal 5.4 Will is the highest step we must stand vpon and thus may we goe downeward by the same staires we came vp God did will nothing but that which was good and iust and so it seemed good to his wisedome by counsell to decree it and by his power to effect it CHAPTER XVIII The effects of the first Sinne. Question VVHat are the effects of Adams transgression Answere Blame and then guilt and punishment Man was blame-worthy for eating against the expresse commandement of his God then was he made guiltie of all the debt and danger that the law contained and by punishment to suffer or satisfie whatsoeuer the law could challenge at our hands Rom. 5.12 One man sinnes there is the blame by it entrance is giuen to death there is our guilt that we haue so intangled our selues in the snares of sinne and death and it runnes over all there is the punishment Q. What is blame A. Gods iust censure of finne Gen. 1.14 Because thou hast done this thou and all thine are accursed The blame is laid vpon our selues and it was a peece of Adams wretchednesse to cast it vpon his good God Gen. 3.12 Wee haue brought vpon our selues the scorne and scourge of all our sinnes Q. What is the guilt A. Whereby they are tyed to vnder goe the punishment Gen. 2.17 In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Blame respecteth vice as prayse vertue and guilt iustice as libertie mercie By the first sinne is evill and naught by the second a debt Wee properly owe nothing to God but loue and dutie yet by forfaiture for non payment of the principall we runne into further arrerages with God and so are bound to a double discharge first of the principall secondly of the forfaiture It is a strange opinion to thinke if wee satisfie for the forfaiture wee are freed from the principall The law is still in force and except Christ pay both for vs we shall never come by a full discharge He suffered to satisfie the forfaiture and obeyed to pay for the principall Our debts are now growne infinite and onely he that is infinite can discharge them We might of our selues haue payed the principal but now like Bank-rupts we haue for ever dis inabled our selues and are not able to pay a penie in the pound for our release God hath a bill a bond or a booke wherein all our debts stand to be seene and must remaine vncancelled and vncrost till all be payed O good God draw the red lines of thy Christs-Crosse yea and the white lines too of his most holy life over the blacke lines yea the best lines of thine owne debt booke Thou seest better then our owne consciences euery peccant act of ours in thought word or deed oh let all our billes and Items in thy booke be cleared crossed and cancelled by the precious bloud of thine owne sonne and our Saviour and suretie He alone is able to expunge cover nullifie abolish wholly to take away the guilt of our defilement and the gall of our punishment In him wee know that thou our Creator wilt pardon all our sinnes debts bearing action against vs or obliging vs to any penaltie Yet not euery hypocrite or profligate professor that liues as he list must looke for this loue Faith is no Pandar to sinne it will make vs both see the vlcer and the washing of it Neither will it leaue vpon vs the slander of Solifidians but will tell the cleansed that he is to goe away and sinne no more It will never bid him drinke and take Tobacco sinne and beleeue get a pardon of the old and a licence for the new It will teach him to turne over a new leafe and learne a better lesson First to see his owne misery secondly the mercy of God thirdly how both will restraine him from all licentious libertie Q. What then is the punishment A. The iust anger of God vpon all that sinne Rom. 2.5.8.9 Heb. 10.31 with Chap. 11.29 Isa 33.14 Q. What Attributes doe here put forth themselues A. His holinesse and that both in his Iustice and Mercie Rom. 2.4.5 It shall well appeare that God will not winke at sinne or giue vnto it the least allowance 1. King 20.42 Ahabs life is to goe for Benadabs this is but a shadow of Gods holinesse If men must wash away bloud with bloud then assuredly God will wash his hands in innocencie and by punishing of sinne free
haue good hearts which vndoubtedly are the worst for these two parts will euer goe together Divine Philosophie will teach vs to referre all our speculations to action yea our very affections Feare in Scripture is ever accompanied with seruice seeing God hath so wedded them together let no man presume vpon any condition to devorce them as Papists doe with a dead faith but their dispensation therein is the dissipation of the truth which will haue seruice and obedience the true probats of faith and feare And as Dalilah said to Sampson How canst thou say thou louest mee when thy heart is not with mee So how can they professe they loue God whose hearts obey him not In the new Testament Religion is distributed into faith and lone 2. Tim. 1.13 Keepe the paterne of wholesome words which thou hast receiued of me in faith and loue Loue springs from faith 1. Tim. 1.5 And faith workes by loue Gal. 5.6 and loue fulfils the law Rom. 13.10 not by action but intention for it is the end of the law 1. Tim. 1.5 God accepting sincere loue for perfect dutie By faith wee are spiritually glued and cimented to God that we may bee one spirituall body with him in which sense it is said He that is glued to the Lord is one spirit 1. Cor. 6.17 Cords will bind so will the cords of loue Hos 11.4 Zach. 11.7 But cords may be vnknitt Nailes will fasten and wee haue the words of the wise as nailes fastned by the masters of the assemblies Eccl. 12.11 but yet nailes may slip or leaue a chinke onely the glew of faith ioynes all close together or rather both these parts will cause vs with full purpose of heart to cleaue vnto the Lord Act. 11.23 The heat of faith and loue will digest this whole Art that it may be distributed into the veines of euery good word and worke These two will make vp a perfect paire of compasses that can truely take the latitude of this Art And first must wee haue faith as the one foote pitcht vpon the Center which is God whiles obedience as the other walkes about in a perfect circle of all good duties The fire of faith and light of life will evince against the gates of hell the vndoubted truth of Religion So that by these sweete and cordiall flames may the soule of euery Christian warme it selfe against all those cold despaires whereunto Satan tempteth Q. What is Faith A. The first part of Religion whereby from knowledge I beleeue in God the first act of faith is passiue in receiuing what God giueth And so layes hold of happinesse workes it not Faith makes iust as the hand makes rich that is filled with the wealth of another or as the Iewellers boxe base in it selfe is made precious for the pearles it containeth Here may wee iustly say it is a poorer and meaner act to beleeue then loue nay rather passion then action for we are first apprehended of God before we apprehend him againe Phil 3.12 This grace is most freely graced that it might the more frankely reflect all vpon God a gaine And because it is the roote of all the rest will teach humilitie exclude boasting like the ful eare of corn that hanges downe the head towards the originall or if any be so graciously exalted and freely favoured aboue his fellowes that his stalke is so stiffe that it beares him vp aboue the rest of his ridge then faith will make him looke vp to heauen aboue not in the thoughts of pride but in the humble vowes of thankefulnesse and say with Mary the Lord hath regarded the low estate of his servant Thus will faith rightly vnderstood teach vs to knead nature in the durt and dust and spoyle our free will of all her proud ragges loading her with reproches and giue all glory to him that sayes he will not giue it vnto another Papists being of late more ashamed then before doe confesse all is giuen but say they is it not all one to pay a summe and haue so much giuen mee as may pay it No doubt Faith receiues a full discharge makes it not We rather by Faith receiue an acquitance sealed in the blood of Christ then the blood of Christ to make our owne workes meritorious which we may offer to God in payment for our selues Eternall life Rom. 6.23 is both merit and mercie we take it as a gift Christ earnes it as wages Ephe. 2.8 Saluation through faith yet not of our selues Here lies the errour of the Papists euen in faith it selfe and euery other good grace of the spirit that our free will hath his intervention and operation betwixt Gods giuing and our taking so that if God will but beare halfe the charges by his co-operation man shall vnder-take to merit his owne glory and fulfill the royall law so abundantly that he shall haue something over and aboue to be very beneficiall and helpefull to his needie neighbours But the way of the law is longer then our pursey hearts and short legges can reach to the end and perfection of it As Constantine sayd to Acesius the Novatian Set vp ladders and climbe to heauen so I to Papists scale heauen by your workes as for vs we haue found another way and that is to ascend vpon Iacobs ladder Wee leaue tuggling and strugling that way to preuaile and fall with Iacob to wrestle with Christ for a blessing And though we goe lymping by our sinnes yet by our conquering Faith wee shall be Princes with God By this therefore the vaunt of Papists must needs avaunt yet further faith in another act will cut the very winde-pipe of our free-will and merit It is wittily sayd of one that faith in regard of his passiue act is rather a beggarly receiver then a deserving worker all our conversion is passiue but see faith in our actiue conversion and you shall see workes a forme too low to come in any such request as to iustifie For what is faith but as the hand of the soule and what is the dutie of the hand but eyther to hold or to worke This hand then holds in the first part of Divinitie and workes in the second Now without all question Iustification is to be taught in our first part and therefore goes before obedience and faith which is as an instrument or hand for to hold Christ to iustification is mightie and operatiue both for sanctification and new obedience Workes therefore are the effects of sanctification and sanctification is the effect of iustification hence is it impossible to be iustified by workes as causes as effects and fruits they may shew it If then the secret apprehension of the closed hand of faith hide what it holdeth see the hand of faith open to iustifie the cause by the evidence of the effects in this sense workes may iustifie and perfect faith as the second part of any Art doth the first Iam. 2.22.24 Papists against the whole order of
the beleife of that which hath beene spoken A. I beleeue in God who is one essence most simple pure and absolute and being essentially indivisible is personally distinguished into the Father Sonne and holy Ghost and is therefore called Vnitie in Trinitie and Trinitie in Vnitie or Vnitrinitie and Trinunitie How to conceiue of this in our prayers and meditations is both the deepest point of all Christianitie and the most necessary so deepe that if wee wade into it wee may easily drowne never finde the bottome so necessary that without it our selues our seruices are prophane irreligious wee are all borne Idolaters naturally prone to fashion God to some forme of our owne Away then with all wicked thoughts and grosse devotions and with Iacob bury all strange gods vnder the oake of Shechem ere we offer to set vp Gods Altar at Bethel without all mentall reservations conceiue of our God purely simply spiritually as of an absolute being without forme without matter without composition yea an infinite without all limits of thoughts Thinke of him as not to be thought of as one whose wisedome is his iustice whose iustice is his power whose power is his mercy and all himselfe Good without qualitie great without quantitie everlasting without time present euery where without place containing all things without extent If this shall giue our devotions any light it is well the least glimpse of this knowledge is worth all the full gleames of humane and earthly skill After this weake direction let vs still study to conceiue aright that we may pray aright and still pray that we may conceiue and meditate more and more that we may doe both And the father sonne and holy Ghost direct vs inable vs that wee may doe all Amen CHAPTER XI Of the workes of Iehovah-Elohim in generall Question HItherto we haue heard of Gods sufficiencie what is his efficiencie Answere That whereby he worketh all things and all in all things 1. Cor. 12.6 It is the same God that worketh all in all Rom. 11.36 Of him for him and through him are all things Deut. 34.4 Act. 14.17 Q. What is here generally to be considered of vs A. Something concerning the essence and something the subsistence Gen. Chap. 1. to the end the word Elohim is vsed aboue 30. times and no other word for God Chap. 2. is vsed Elohim alone to verse 4. and from thence to the end Iehovah Elohim constantly a course I take it not to be paralleled or exemplified in any other portion of Scripture and the reason is good for as long as the workes were in creating the persons obserued each their distinct manner of working and so the holy Ghost vseth a phrase to expresse it as likewise after the worke was done and a seventh day sanctified for rest all the three persons reioyced in the workes of their hands From the 4. verse of Chap. 2. to the end the whole worke being done and repeated againe for the better observation of it and most especially of the true cause Iehovah-Elohim are ever coupled together that we might take notice that creation did manifest one God three persons one God most plainely three persons more obscurely yet not so darkely but if Adam had stood he might haue gathered the same by GODS workemanship both in himselfe and the creatures and that wee that are fallen being not able to read any such matter in the great Booke of the world might obserue it by the little Booke of his word which drawes the Vniverse into two Chapters as into a small map giuing much good counsell in a narrow roome teaching that briefely which Phylosophers haue scarce touched in great Volumes Q. What then concerning the essence A. Has omnipotencie which in nature is before all efficiency yet because we see first by resolution of Gods works which is to goe from the effects to the cause we see Gods omnipotencie by his efficiencie And therefore in the Creed wee beleeue in the Almightie as the maker of heauen and earth From efficiencie and omnipotencie appeares God decree by that his counsell and thence his will or good-pleasure Now his Good-pleasure is the first counsell next and from the one as the cause the other as his manner of working proceeds his decree which is executed by his omnipotencie and efficiencie Eph. 1.11 Will by counsell purposeth or decreeth by omnipotencie to worke all things as he hath set them downe in himselfe Iob 9.4 and 12.13 Prov. 8.14 Where wee read how Gods almightie power is ordered by wisedome Ier. 10.12 He hath made the earth by his power he hath established the world by his wisedome and hath stretched out the heauens by his discretion Ier. 51.15 Q. What is Gods omnipotencie A. Whereby he is able to effect all that he doth yea and whatsoeuer he doth not which is absolutely possible Mat. 19.26 With God all things are possible Math. 3.9 Of very stones to raise vp children to Abraham Phil. 3.21 He is able to subdue all things vnto himselfe Psal 135.6 Whatsoeuer the Lord pleased that did hee both in heauen and in earth in the Seas and all deepe places Mal. 2.15 Did not he make one and yet had he the residue of the spirit to wit to haue created Adam more wiues And here may well appeare the names El and Helion Deut. 9.10.17 Psal 9.2 Dan. 4.17 Christ in the old Testament and also in the new is called The Almightie Isa 9.6 Rev. 1.8 And so the Spirit is called the power of the Highest Luk. 1.35 Q. Why say you absolutely possible is there any thing impossible to God A. Yes All such things as contradict either his owne essence or the nature of things As God cannot lie because he is truth it selfe neither can hee make a body to be in two places at once as the body of Christ to be in heauen and vpon a Popish Altar at once For that implies a contradiction and therefore a lie whereof the Papists and not God are Authors Rom. 3.4 Let God be true and euery man a liar Act. 3.21 Heauen is said to receiue the body of Christ now if it be wholly circumscribed for length breadth and thicknesse in the third heauen it cannot at the same time be circumscribed within the limits of the earth for that which is finite in one place cannot be infinite in two It is onely Gods propertie to be in two places at once neither included nor excluded and therefore if the body of Christ were in heauen and earth at the same instant of time neither included nor excluded it were no more a bodie but a God if they say the omnipotency of God may extend the dimensions of Christs body that it may at the same time fill heauen and earth then is it not in two places at once but in one by continuation if the dimensions of Christs body answere the dimensions of the place it shall be the greatest monster that ever the world dreamed of no not
Mahomet himselfe did dreame hee saw God in a vision so bigge as the Papists haue made Christ Let them neuer flee to Gods omnipotencie to maintaine their I doll vpon the Altar for it contradicts the very nature of a created bodie to be in two or many places at once or extended further then the nature of the creature will beare if Christ had in his body all the 4 elements wholly it could not be extended to fill the third heauen and the earth at once for they are all formally extended to their perfection by God and can fill no greater a place then is vnder the highest heauen Christ therefore hauing but a little part of all these in his body it were beyond a miracle to extend that little further then the whole Againe Christ hauing a glorified body it must not loose proportion now the extension of any one member more then is fit makes a deformitie Theresore the bodie of Christ loosing none of the perfections of nature and receiuing greater perfections of glory must be contained in the third heaven in such a length breadth and thicknesse as is fit for a body So that it neither stands with the power or the wisedome of God to worke such a miracle as the Papists obtrude vpon the world Q. But how can we attribute power to God who is pure act A. It cannot be giuen to God in respect of himselfe but onely of the creatures which may feele his worke which they never felt before The fire alwayes burneth in it selfe yet in regard of this or that combustible matter it is in power to burne that is the matter is in power to feele the act of the fire So God ever acteth or worketh in himselfe Ioh. 5.17 But the creature doth not ever feele it Psal 139.16 All things are said to be done of God long before the creature feeles his worke Hence creation as an action is eternall as a passion in time Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God created the heauen and the earth In regard of heauen and earth creation hath a beginning but in regard of God it hath none Time is the companion of creatures not of the Creator Q. What further appeareth from his omnipotencie and efficiencie together A. His decree which is a definitiue sentence concerning the effecting of all things by his mightie power according to the counsell of his will Whatsoeuer God doth in his efficiency and can doe by his omnipotencie that he decreeth I doe not simply say what he can doe he decreeth for the decree is onely of things to be done his omnipotencie of things to be done or not to be done but thus I reason What he doth that he can doe and what he can doe and doth that he decreeth to be done Ephe. 1.11 According to the purpose of him that worketh all things after the counsell of his will Efficiencie and omnipotencie manifest the decree but it is before them both and a cause of them So that there is nothing either in creation or providence whereof the decree of God is not some wayes a cause yet must we not so much stand poring vpon the decree of God as runne presently to that place in Gods providence which will cleare manifest vnto vs that Gods decree is without all fault The decree of Adams fall went before that part of Gods providence which did gouerne his fall and as providence workes it so God decreed to haue it wrought Q. What attributes appeare by the manifestation of his decree A. Constancie truth and fidelitie for the decree must bee most constant true and faithfull Isa 14.24 As I haue purposed it shall come to passe and what I haue consulted shall stand Vers 27. The Lord hath determined who shall disanull it his hand is stretched out and who shall turne it away Rom. 9.19 Q. What is his constancie in decreeing A. Whereby his decree remaineth constant and vnchangeable Mal. 3.6 I am the Lord which change not and yee sonnes of Iacob are not consumed Isa 46.10 My counsell shall stand and I will doe all my pleasure Rom. 11.29 Heb. 6.17.18 Q. What is his truth A. Whereby he deliuereth nothing but that which he decreeth Truth is properly to pronounce as the thing is but the thing is ever as God pronounceth it to be You stand before me therefore I see you is a good consequence with man but the cleane contrary is true with God God seeth you therefore you stand there For truth is in God before it be in the things and in the things before it can be in me The truth therefore of Gods definitiue sentence is before the existence of any creature or action It is not true that the prescience of God follows the thing done or to be done for then the truth of a thing should be before God decreed it to be As for example God decreed this truth that Adam should fall this thing followes the foreknowledge of God in decreeing it to be so that it followes more directly thus God foresaw that Adam would fall therefore hee fell then on the contrary Adam fell therefore God foresaw it If truth should not more immediately followe the will and counsell of God then the nature of things then should decreed truths be mutable and some-times false but comming immediately from God they are ever delivered as he decreeth them Num. 23.19 Ier. 10.10 Deut. 32.4 Psal 145.17 Dan. 4.34 Rom. 3.4 Tit. 1.2 All which places free God from all possibilitie of lying and make him the Author of all truth Q. What is his fidelitie A. Whereby he effecteth most faithfully whatsoeuer hee hath decreed 1. Ioh. 1.9 He is faithfull and iust to forgiue vs our sinnes Confession is no cause of the remission of sinnes as being after it in nature Yet God hath so decreed to linke things together that he will faithfully as though iustice required it performe remission of sinne to true confession 2. Tim. 2.13 He abideth faithfull and cannot deny himselfe Q. What appeareth by his decree beside these three Attributes A. His counsell for no decree is made without counsell and when Divines say that Gods decree is his eternall counsell they speake improperly for it is a thing wrought by counsell and as the effect shewes the cause so doth the decree of God his counsell For now we goe backward way to bring our selues to the highest cause of all things in which we are to rest without any further inquiry Ephes 1.11 Gods purpose for the effecting of any thing is framed according to the counsell of his will Q. What is his counsell A. It is his deliberation as it were for the best effecting of euery thing that seemeth good in his wisedome and will Act. 4.24 Christ died by the determinate counsell foreknowledge of God but that is the same with the decree for counsell more properly determines then is determined and therefore the new Translation speakes more aptly to doe whatsoeuer thy hand and thy counsell
determined before to be done and that this was the best for the effecting of our saluation appeares Ephe. 1.9 A glorious mystery admired of all that know it Iob 12.13 Counsell and vnderstanding are put together God vnderstands himselfe in all his counsels Prov. 8.14 Counsell is mine and sound wisedome c. Q. God seeth at first what is best what needs hee then to take counsell A. True it is that God with one act of his vnderstanding seeth all things at once and together but while wee behold the things how they are brought to passe by a second cause we ascribe counsell to him and so attribute to his maiestie counsell Psal 139.16 Gods booke is one yet the counsell therein contained is diversely manifested as if many things one after another should come into it Q. What is the scope of Gods counsell A. His glory euery wise man hath an end in his counfell and therefore the wisest cannot be without it Rom. 11.36 Of him and for him are all things Q. What is Gods wisedome A. That Idaea or platforme of working all things most wisely A wise man doth first lay the plot in his head and then frame the worke out of himselfe so Almightie God hath first in himselfe the Idaea or platforme of all things and then accordingly frames his workes out of himselfe and the whole plot is so laid that his end scope in all things may be obtained by it Psal 104.24 How manifold are thy workes in wisedome hast thou made them all When the things are many they are often a distraction vnto man but GOD in regard of the excellency of his wisedome knowes how to plot them all for the prayse and glory of his owne maiestie Q. How is the Idaea or plot of all things in God to be considered of vs A. Two wayes either in regard of himselfe or the creatures in respect of himselfe it is most direct as being in himselfe and from himselfe no wayes reflected or brought backe from the creatures to his minde in respect of the creatures it is most indirect as being but the images and similitudes of that thing which is first in himselfe For this we are to hold as a truth that God first sees himselfe and then out of himselfe all other things either as they are the images and impressions of himselfe or as they dissent and disagree from it Now this last knowledge is by way of opposition as one contrary giues light vnto another evill is knowne by that which is good and falshood by that which is true so that God hath no direct knowledge either of evill or falshood but that which is indirect as they dissent from his truth and goodnesse So that there is no plot of evill first in God then in the creature but it is a thing onely plotted by creatures subiect to sinne and so is knowne of God as opposite to his owne goodnesse Hence it followes that God doth not decree sinne to be as sinne but as in his wisedome he seeth it to haue some respect of good which is accidentall and beside the nature of it First then God sees himselfe secondly by himselfe hee sees all other things thirdly he sees whatsoeuer may be opposite to him-himselfe or that goodnesse hee hath left in his creatures Man sees in a cleane contrary fashion first the thing and by that himselfe as in a glasse I first see the image of my face and then by that my naturall face so the creatures and workes of God being the glasse of my mind I must first eye them and then my selfe Gen. 3.5.6 Adam and Eue would know good and evill as God himselfe doth that is they would first be wise out of themselues and make their owne wills the first rule of their actions and not Gods law and so they came first to know evill by the losse of good Will in God is the first mouer because he makes the thing before he can see it but in man vnderstanding must goe before because hee must see the thing before he can will it Mans first worke is resolution of the action of another but Gods first worke is composition of that which neuer existed before hence man is made for imitation of God but God hath nothing beside himselfe to follow Gen. 1.4.10.12.18.21.25.31 God first made the creature and then he saw it to be good It is admirable to see how God approues of the goodnesse of his creatures particularly and generally particularly he passeth by the earth made the first day the firmament made the second and man the sixt day and giues them no commendation nor approbation because these did not as yet answere the full intention of the Creatour the earth was voyd and without forme the firmament as yet divided not because there were no clouds aboue and man howsoeuer a perfect creature had not as yet done any thing well-pleasing vnto God for in the particular God commends no creature till he see it mouing towards his end and performe that for which he was created But in the conclusion of all he giues this generall approbation of all his workes that they were very good because they fully answered to his direct Idaea or platforme of them so that though some creatures answered not their owne particular ends yet God had his generall end in them all and the plot was sufficient for the glory of his creation Q. What is then the direct plot of Gods wisedome A. Whereby he knowes how to glorifie himselfe out of himselfe for God made not the world to adde any perfection to himselfe he is all-sufficient for his owne happinesse Psal 16.2 O my soule thou hast said vnto the Lord thou art my Lord my goodnesse extendeth not to thee he indeed is our happinesse we can no wayes be his and therefore it must needs follow that God in creating a world intended so to glorifie himselfe in all his creatures as he was before glorified in himselfe now glory is the consequent of vertue and vertue is either intellectuall or morall and therefore God by creation intended the glory of both all the world shewes forth his wisedome and intellectuall vertues onely men and Angels his morall the chiefe whereof are iustice and mercy Q. What is the indirect plot of Gods wisedome A. Whereby he knowing himselfe knowes all other things as farre as they beare any image of himselfe The seale leaues his impression vpon the waxe and so doth the wisedome of God plaine charracters vpon all the creatures Rom. 1.24 His God-head and power are seene by the creation Psal 139.2 God sees Dauids thought a farre off ver 4. A word in his tongue before it be spoken Q. What particulars are there A. As his wisedome respects the creature it is manifold Ephes 3.10 For there is nothing in the creature that his eye sees not Heb. 4.13 All invention iudgement and skill are to be found in him or as we say in Schooles all the intellectuall vertues Q.
their instruments There are the liuing glasses placed in the midst of his visage which bring obiects a farre off to the minde and because they are too tender opticke peeces slie of the most soft and lawny touches they are mightily defended and fenced with hollow bones and with prominent browes and lips And least they should be too much bent on what they ought not they haue peculiar nerues to pull them vpward to God as also to the seat of their rest What a tongue hath God giuen him the instrument not of taste onely but of speech also How sweet and excellent voyces are formed by that loose filme of flesh What an incredible strength is giuen to the weake bones of the iawes What a wonder of so few letters to make infinite words and giue them severall sounds with a distinct articulation and ready signification to the hearers The causes whereof in nature are these The lungs or lights breath to coole the heart and like a paire of bellows thrust out that ayre which they haue receiued and it goes and comes by the wind-pipe which is made rough as it were with ringes to stay the breath it goe not out altogether at the top thereof is a peece of flesh to cover the mouth of it Now in the pipe this noyse comes vp and lies in the almands and makes a resound and is turned vpon the tongue which strikes it against the pallet and teeth and makes an articulate sound cutting in peeces the whole sound either into a letter or clapping diverse together makes syllables and so words and then sentences This articulation is naturall but the appellation of things by names is artificiall and belonging to the Art of Grammar In Babels bablers to stop their proud attempt God meddles neither with hands nor feete but their tongues not pulling them out or loosing their strings or making them speechlesse but by teaching them to say too much A sound of letters befooles the workmen and spoiles the worke I beleeue this confusion was made in turning of letters when they intended to put such letters together God taught them to dispose them contrary as ab ba c. And now poore creatures how long doe wee stay vpon the shell of tongues before wee come to chew the sweet kernell of knowledge Division of tongues hinders any worke and is often a cause why our Sion riseth no faster and though it over-threw old Babel yet doth it build the new Onely I except the clouen and fiery tongues of the Apostles Act. 2.3 The Spirit teaching the Art of Grammar without meanes c. Againe that goodly proportion God set in the face how is it altered with passion as with ioy and sorrow Laughter ariseth from the extension of the heart which sends spirits apace from it selfe and because they are hot fly vpwards and so come to the face that is very full of muscles cold by nature and so contracted yet by the heat comming thither are extended which is the laughter in the face Onely this must further be added that the heat of the head and braine doth sympathize with other parts of the body And therefore the apprehension of a ridiculous obiect sends downe to the heart from the head then back againe to the face Teares arise cleane contrary for the head being stricken with the apprehension of some sorrowfull obiect the heart is smitten too and contracts it selfe and so sends vp those chrystaline humors that are to coole it and are squesed out by contraction of parts and so runne out at the eyes The head stands vpon a comely and tower-like necke most sinewie because smallest I might carry you downe to his feete but my purpose is not to play the Anatomist any further then to giue a little taste of a wonderfull worke All the inward vessels for all offices of life nourishment egestion generation c. no veine sinew artery c. are idle Yet this body compared to the soule what is it but as a clay-wall that encompasseth a treasure as the wooden box of a Ieweller or as a course case to a rich instrument or as a maske to a beautifull face let vs therefore come to his Soule Q. How was the soule created A. Immediately of nothing hence it dies not Man was made last because he was worthiest And the soule was last inspired because more noble then all the rest And the inspiration of it is by creating to infuse and by infusing to create Gen. 2.7 Zech. 12.1 The breath of life was formed within and not without man And though it be little yet is it of great value A little peece of gold containes many peeces of silver one Diamond is of more worth then many Quarries of Stone and one Load-stone hath more vertue then mountaines of earth Q. How then was the soule indued A. With most excellent faculties which either worke vpon the body by Spirits or themselues by reason As the soule works vpon the body by elementary spirits it is possible for man to die but as these by the blessing of God are cherished by wholesome food man againe might not die These spirits are either naturall as hauing ayre predominant in them and they serue for generation and augmentation and nutrition or animall hauing fire predominant in them and they serue for sense or motion now the motiue faculties are either for locall motion whereby the bodie is carried vp and downe or epithumeticall and internall motion whereby the soule is moued with desires or affections especially loue and hatred which are the primatiues of all others whether they be in the concupiscible or irascible facultie as ioy and sorrow in respect of present obiects hope and feare in regard of absent c. Beside these separable faculties and not practised without the bodie the soule hath more eminent and excellent powers and abilities which it is able to vse being separated from the body and they are reasonable whereby he might be the free beginner of his owne action that is a cause by counsell Gen. 2.10 and these faculties are vnderstanding and will And thus you see how God hath giuen vs a Soule to informe our bodies senses to informe our soule faculties to furnish that soule vnderstanding the great surveyer of the secrets of nature and grace by this man seeth what God hath done by this he can admire his works and adore him in what he seeth Here is fancie and invention the master of great workes Memory the great keeper or master of the Rolles of the Soule a power that can make amends for the speed of time and make him leaue his Monuments and Chronicles behind him There is will the Lord-paramount keeping state in the Soule commander of all actions and the elector of all our resolutions Iudgement sits by as the great counsellour of the will affections follow as good servants of both And for the good thereof hath God giuen a body fit to execute his charge so wonderfully disposed as
nothing whereof they needed to be ashamed nor any externall thing wherby they might be anoyed which are the proper ends of apparell viz. to hide our shame and defend vs from externall danger of weather and weaknesse Gen. 2.25 Q. When were they created A. Together with the beasts on the sixt day Gen. 1.31 Thus God leaues them to their conscionable obedience the only way to entaile a comfortable prosperitie vpon themselues and their seed after them if their sinnes strip them not of all their hopes CHAPTER XVI Of Gods Providence Question HItherto of the Creation What is Gods Providence Answere It is that part of Gods efficiencie whereby he provideth for all his creatures even to the least circumstance that haue his being Psal 104.24 with 27. As he hath made them in excellent wisedome so in the same wisedome he provides for them Providence is not to over-see or ouer-looke his workes but to worke and haue an efficiencie in all things Permission to the creature is not a cessation to the Creator but the Lord workes his owne will by euery permission Providence is to minde the creature God never forgetting the workes of his owne hands Hence God may be said to be the soule of the world not informing it essentially as a peece of any creature but by his efficiencie in euery thing Math. 10.29.30 Luke 12.6.7 That which Mathew speakes of the falling of a Sparrow Luke interprets by not forgetting In regard of Providence all things are done by reason not of the creatures for thereof they are ignorant therefore by God The falling of a Sparrow is a proposition and that is made of arguments which are cause and effect all which is reason not of the Sparrow nor of men Angels for they onely analyse it by seeing it done therefore of God alone who makes that reason to hang together in the very fall of a Sparrow or hayre of our heads And here come many errors to be touched First the error of necessitie which is that all things fall out by a fatall destinie There is a certaintie in all things for the counsell of God is infallible but no necessary cause seeing these two in reason are opposed Secondly some goe as wide on the other side that would haue all things governed by fortune and chance as if ignorance in vs were to bee preferred before knowledge and counsell in God A flocke of sheepe stands not in more need of a Shep-herd then the worke doth of God Thirdly others hold a Providence in the great and waightie affayres of the world but none in the lesser and baser workes As if it were not as honorable for God to rule the least as to make them A spire of grasse was his creature and it growes not but by his Providence Fourthly the Providence in Lots is not rightly vnderstood It is as casuall for a lot to fall as an haire from the head and yet the Providence is not equall for beside the reason it hath from God in the cause and effect so disposed by him It hath another in the conclusion that by such a fall such a thing shall be determined which is sometimes miraculous sometimes ordinary but alwayes the conclusion of God Seeing then both the reason in the proposition and event is Gods and not mans it is soberly to be vsed and not vpon euery sleight occasion Chance may bevsed in recreation for casualty is to vs in all things inevitable but not determining chance for that is at our libertie and may follow our consultation A lot and fortune differ as the generall and speciall the generall is incident to all our actions and passing our reason is ordered by God the speciall is incident to those things which are warranted vs of God when we take a casuall thing and applie it by Gods providence to determine some event The first is naturall and ordered by that providence which guides nature to his end and sometimes in wisedome lets it misse his end which is chance falling beside the scope of the second mouer though it hit with the first The other is divine as being a testimony giuen by God in the resolution of lome doubt And here it may well be demanded whether the Lot being a divine testimony would like a divine Oracle ever conclude the same truth I answere the Lot is ever infallible in the conclusion because the reason is Gods and ought not to be iterated for that makes God a lier calling into question whether the Lot conclude by the Providence of God or no. Yet I say in sinnefull iterations where the Lot is ordinary and not extraordinary that in the next fall of the Lot fortune may change and differ from the first yet the conclusion in both be Gods and that as his divine testimony But you will say then Gods Oracle is vncertaine and he may contradict himselfe I answere No. For they are both truthes so determined by the Providence of God and the latter may bee a punishment of mans infidelitie for distrusting God in the former A lot is a cause by fortune and therefore must be referred to some cause by counsell not to men for then might they make by the Lot what conclusions they pleased therefore to God who by his owne counsell makes such a conclusion in so casuall an accident Furthermore it followes not because the matter of Lots is indifferent that therefore it may indifferently be vsed in recreation for it is the forme the matter that giues the especiall essence Things that are simply good or simply evill are not to be determined by Lots for so may wee imbrace good for evill and evill for good It must be of a midle nature to both Hence it is vnlawfull to choose two Magistrates by Lot if both be not equally capable of the place for so shall the Common-wealth be wronged by insufficiencie Fiftly this reproues them that exclude actiue providence from the workes of darknesse I know no providence which acts not the Sunne can worke in a stinking puddle or filthy dung-hill and yet still be pure True it is God permits things when he doth not withstand their actions but to say he permits not hauing any hand in the worke is to deny his providence c. And here is excellent comfort to all Gods children that their afflictions are not let loose at randum but come from an Almightie power guided by a most wise providence and tempered with a fatherly loue This cannot but blunt the edge of all evils to consider that a divine hand is in them all Savage creatures will be smitten by their keepers when they are ready to teare strangers in peeces shall I struggle with him that made and moderates the world when he strikes me Either must I blame the first mouer or discharge the meanes though the men may be iustly blamed I know the agent whatsoever may be the fault of the instrument The dying theefe pardons the executioner and exclaimes on his
giue him so much as he might prevent and prevaile over euery violent temptation god might haue kept Satan from him or in the combat haue giuen him the conquest but it was Gods meaning to try him with the grace of his Creation that now he may see the greater loue of his Creator in putting him vnder a second Adam who prevailed against Satan and in whom all the elect shall be sure of victory Hence learne that since the fall in the hardning of Reprobates as in Pharaoh God neither withdrawes grace for he had none nor with-holds it for he is not bound to giue it Christ is onely a head and fountaine of sauing grace for his elect Angels and men Q. What were the instrumentall causes A. The Serpent and the Woman Gen. 3.1 The Devill to further his temptation vsed visible instruments and plotted by the subtiltie of the one and simplicitie of the other the woefull down fall of Adam and all his posteritie All the Legions of the reprobate Devils entred into one beast to conferre with the woman and by the Poitho and Suada of that viperous tongue crept into the bosome of Eue as it were by all the topicke places in Logicke figures of Rethoricke and other engines of guile deceit till they had brought her into a fooles Paradise with the losse of the earthly and hazzard of the heauenly Q. What is the vnblameable cause A. The commandement of God for had there beene no law there had beene no transgression Rom. 7.7 Gal. 3.22 And here comes in the act of Gods providence in the apostasie of Angels and men A law is giuen by which God will haue them both ruled but of this they make no account for it is the very first thing they begin to contest withall and at length by plaine deniall opposeit The law was giuen to moue man to his dutie even as that Spirit in Ezekiel moued the wheeles Ezek. 1.21 The law was spirituall Rom. 7.14 And placed in the very heart of man and was of a divine nature to haue drawne man to good but the spirit of Satan enters to graple with the law and turne the wheele of the minde in a cleane contrary course to Gods will the law resists but man forsakes his mouer and is turned of Satan the bie way and so the good law of God becomes the savour of death vnto death 2. Cor. 2.16 And that by an opposite motion to his owne nature The tree was a seale both of good and eâ—â—â— and the fruit tasted could leaue a tang of death behind it The law was as able to guide to death as life to life by his free motion to death by his opposition He that runnes against a wall or a tree is throwne backe againe by violence and bruised in peeces by his ownefall and folly or by this comparison may you see the worke of the law by casting Angels and men into hell An earthen pitcher is dashed by a foolish and furious hand against an hard stone wall that the wall breaketh it is not the fault of the wall but rather a commendation all the evill is in the hastie hand that rashly hurles it against so apparent a death and danger so wilfull and witlesse man by the suggestion of Satan in the serpent and woman takes himselfe and of his owne free accord flings or rather flies in the very face of the law and by it is miserably stricken in peeces Doe we not now see how the law makes him shiver and shake even as a vanquished enemie vnder the hands of his Conquerour and how he seeks to ease himselfe of such a governour He might as well haue knocked his head against the stone-walles as his wits to frustrate the power of the law within him A silly shift to stop a little torrent with sodds and turfs will it not breake over with roaring A foolish fancy to stanch bleeding by stopping our nosthrils will it not breake out at the mouth or runne downe the throat into the stomacke A man may with many piles of greene wood smoother and suffocate the fire for a season but when the moysture is mastered the fury of the burning will be more fearefull and the flames and flashes more dreadfull to behold Alas alas how doth euery sinner pile vp the fagots of his future fire and warme the worme in his owne bosome that shall gnaw for ever Conscience shall reade him a lecture euery day because he would not heare the lecture of the law for his eternall good Rom. 7.10.11.12 Q. What followes from hence A. That as the law was the cause of sinne by accident so was God and no otherwise Here was no omnipotencie to constraine man to fulfill the will of his creator here was a law to restraine him from sinne and distresse him in committing it yea and thrust him head-long into all out-rage being once opposed by man Let men rot in their sinnes and they will die quietly but stirre them by the liuely word and sinne will reviue Rom. 7.9 and either kill worse by impenitencie or be more happily killed by repentance Mud in a glasse when it is shaken runnes all over that which before seemed pure and crystall The poyson of the snake whiles he is benummed with cold beareth no danger but warme him and he will hisse and sting The Sea in calme weather is as still and quiet as any river but let the windes once blow and bluster and you shall see nothing but raging storming and foaming out mire and dirt Hos 2.1 When I would haue healed Israel namely by admonitions and rebukes of the word then the iniquitie of Ephraim was discovered c. The law had an intent to saue man but man would not hearken thereunto so that his perdition was of himselfe Q. What secondly may be learned A. That God was no bare permitting or forsaking cause but a working cause even in the fall of man Gen. 3.1 It is Satans first on-set hath God said ye shall not eate c. Like an eare-wig did he wrigle in by sophisticating the holy law of God for he knew well enough he could not get in except he did driue that out which was not done but by a mightie wrestling and wreathing on both sides And Gods worke was first to hold out Satan then in contempt to thrust man vpon his adversary when he left him to cleaue vnto a lyer 1. Sam. 2.30 They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed God in an holy indignation might well reiect them that had so shamefully reiected him and as it were even push man vpon the pikes of his owne punishment It was no ioy to God to see his beloued creature so vilely to cast away himselfe and yet God intended wrought it without all blame not as an author or fautour of mans finne but as a judge casting him in his owne act and taking revenge vpon him for his sinne Q. What will follow in the third place A. How God