his bountifulnesse and patience and long sufferance not knowing that the goodnesse of God leadeth thee to repentance Having spoken of Gods will as it is antecedent and of signe now it followeth to speak of it as it is of good pleasure and of consequent The will of Gods good pleasure is expressed in the 135 Psalme vers 6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven and in earth in the seas and in all deep places This is Gods proper and essentiall will first because it is of the nature of the will to do of pleasure and next because it is most generall and not restrained to any place or person His will of signe is not alwaies done because it is his will for men and not for himself respectively Therefore his precepts are broken his prohibitions slighted his counsels not regarded but his will of good pleasure is above the law of the Medes and Persians this cannot be put by because it is divina 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lastly after that God hath shewed man all his favours by his will of signe and word revealed to which he addeth the effects of his grace expressed by S. Prosper in these seven particulars perswading by exhortations admonishing by examples terrifying by dangers inciting by miracles giving understanding inspiring counsel and lightning the heart with faiths affections When all these are despised and rejected then God proceedeth with his will consequent which is the will of his justice First he would have all men to be saved by his will antecedent but because all men will not consent to this therefore to maintain mans free-will God will not save all in effect but the same will turneth from mercie to justice which before turned from justice to mercie and saith Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels Neither is Gods will altered nor broken because it turneth from mercie to judgement for that it still retaineth its former mercie and man his former resistance to receive it How often saith our Saviour would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens but ye would not If God hath not bound man to one object but given him free-will to turn from object to object according to reasons rule then should God be bound and man free The will of God is wider then all wills all his divine attributes may rest in it his truth his wisdome his justice his mercie his power his pleasure and displeasure yea all the contraries that are in the world are within it and lie under it as life and death sicknesse and health good and evil salvation and damnation and without this there could be no world Notwithstanding though Gods will be never so wide and comprehensive yet it imposeth no necessitie upon mans will because all will by Gods creation is free and if it were not free it were no will Necessitie and will are incompatibilia they cannot stand together Nature and things without will are of a strait disposition therefore for them God hath ordained necessitie and determined them to one thing but mans will because it is the image of Gods will is wide and capacious and therefore he hath provided for it the ocean of contingencie He hath set fire and water before thee saith Ecclesiasticus stretch out thy hand unto which thou wilt Before man is life and death good and evil and whether him liketh shall be given him Now no man can justly complain while all things are set before him and he hath free choice to all Election expelleth necessitie and necessitie thrusteth out election If mans will were not free from necessitie then there could neither be merit nor demerit that is neither reward nor punishment and then the two great streams of Gods bountie and justice should be dried up but now he hath given to man free-will and to maintain this he hath ordained contingencie and added his grace to aid his will that there might be no defect on his part for freedome naturall to good Theologicall is not freedome but stubbornnesse without grace And this grace and goodnesse of God as it ordereth and aideth things naturall to their naturall ends so it ordereth and aideth man to his supernaturall end which is to live with his God in heaven And this goodnesse of grace is like to the vertuous magnet the most remarkable of all stones the guide of the diall and the direction for sea-travell for as the pin and needle of the diall being toucht with it the needle will stand no way but north and south so the heart of man being toucht with Gods grace in his regeneration will stand no way but to heaven-ward And this touch is that which Divines call the habit of charitie alwaies enclining and bending to heaven and heavenly things through all the rubs of the world Though the toucht needle for a while is shaken and justled from its former due station yet as soon as the shaking is over it returneth instantly to the same point right so though the heart be for a time justled either by the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes or the pride of life from its right standing yet as soon as the force is over presently it returneth to its former station to heaven-ward And the onely reason is the touch of Gods goodnesse in the regenerate soul to which above all things mans heart is beholding And this goodnesse proceedeth from the holy Ghost as truth proceedeth from the Sonne of God for as the Sonne is the Fathers essentiall truth so the holy Ghost is the Fathers and the Sonnes essentiall goodnesse And as the holy Ghost is the increate goodnesse of God in himself so love and charitie is the create goodnesse of the holy Ghost in man And untill this be wrought in us by the holy Spirit we may be men and true men but we cannot be good men nor for the kingdome of heaven Therefore S. Augustine saith Sola charitas dividit inter filios regni filios aeternae damnationis So excellent is charitie that God is called by it 1 John 4. 8. God is charitie And so good is it that Divines call it grace per Antonomasiam because it is the principall grace And S. Paul calleth it the greatest The greatest of these is charitie Yea so great is it that no good can be done without it because it is the cause impulsive of every good action You may beleeve without it but then your belief is not good because it wanteth his right end which must proceed from charities election and direction Therefore in this sense S. Paul gives faiths action to charitie It beleeveth all things it hopeth all things c. Why because it enliveneth faith and all other vertues by giving spirit unto them Faith is the candle to charitie and sheweth her light how to work according to Gods word but charitie being the impulse of the
worldly and seek him who is supernaturall happinesse then is conversion wrought and not before Faith converts the minde to God but it is love and charitie that converts the heart and will to God which is the greatest and last conversion because we never seek any thing untill we desire it Our conversion therefore is begun in the minde by faith but this conversion is but half a conversion yea it is no conversion of the whole man except the love of the heart where lieth the greatest apprehension do second and follow it We see salvation by faith but we never obtain it untill we desire and seek it by charities desire Wherefore I conclude that for so much as charitie is the nearest and immediate cause of our conversion of our seeking and finding God therefore this is the most precious grace of God for our good and is the greatest mean and instrument of our justification because justification and conversion to God is all one for God is our righteousnesse but the greatest mean of our apprehending of him is by charitie which layes hold of him in the will and reasonable affection therefore this must be the greatest mean of our justification signified by the Apostle where he speaks of the severall means Now abideth faith hope and charitie but the greatest of these is charity Which demonstration he that preferreth faith before charitie would elude by urging this absurd consequence Ergò rex meliùs terram arabit quà m agricola meliùs calceum faciet quà m sutor quia nobilior est utroque Ergò homo celeriùs curret quà m equus plus oneris portabit quà m elephas quia dignitate superat Ergò angeli meliùs terram illuminabunt quà m sol luna quia praestantiores Then saith he the king should plough better then the husbandman should make shoes better then the shoemaker because he is more noble then them both Then a man should run swifter then a horse should carry a greater burden then an elephant because he excells them in dignitie Then angels should illuminate the earth better then the sunne and moon because they are more excellent But this is nothing but a running from the state of the question because every thing that is greatest and best to his proper object and in proper comparison is not greatest and best to every object and in every comparison But the Apostle here compareth charitie with justifying faith and hope absolutely and in the most excellent way as appeareth in the 31 verse of the 12 chapter beforegoing and it is manifest that the most excellent way is the way of our justification and conversion to God and here he affirmeth this to be the greatest and chiefest and therefore absolutely so it is Again he preferreth faith before charitie because faith is the cause of charitie If he could shew faith to be the efficient cause of it he should say something but when he can prove it to be no more but the disposing and instrumentall cause then by the same argument the ax should be greater and better then the house because it is an instrument used in the preparing of it which argument is absurd But to prove the truth for this noble vertue which none shall be able to overturn because it is founded upon the rock of Gods word I have these arguments 1. God justifieth Rom. 8. 33. God is charitie John 4. 8. Therefore charitie justifieth 2. The fulnesse of God in man is that which justifieth him Charitie is the fulnesse of God in man Ephes. 3. 19. Therefore charitie justifieth him 3. The fulfilling of the law justifieth Rom. 10. 4. Charitie is the fulfilling of the law Rom. 13. 10. Therefore charitie justifieth In the assumption let not the reader understand the power of nature or naturall love but charitie the principall grace of Christ united to faith and hope In the preferring of this vertue S. Gregorie in his 38 homilie upon the Gospel calleth charitie the wedding garment which he that wanted at the great marriage was thrown into utter darknesse His words are these Quid debemus intelligere nuptialem vestem nisi charitatem Intrat enim ad nuptias sed cum nuptiali veste non intrat qui in sancta Ecclesia assistens fidem habet sed charitatem non habet What are we to understand by the wedding garment but charitie For he goeth in to the wedding but not with the wedding garment who being in the holy Church hath faith but hath not charitie He addeth further to this purpose Omnis ergò vestrûm qui in Ecclesia positus Deo credidit jam ad nuptias intravit sed cum nuptiali veste non venit si charitatis gratiam non custodit Therefore every one of you which being placed in the Church hath beleeved in God hath alreadie entred into the marriage but he cometh not with the wedding garment if he doth not preserve the grace of charitie There are many which come into Gods house which is his Church because they have faith to beleeve for this is that which first brings a man to God according to that Heb. 11. 6. He that cometh to God must beleeve that God is yet though they be in Gods house and at his Sonnes wedding for a time when he comes to lift up their heads in his house as it is said Gen. 40. that is to reckon with them they must be thrown out again because as S. Augustine saith Expos. in Epist. Joh. Tract 5. Dilectio sola discernit inter filios Dei filios diaboli Signent se omnes signo crucis Christi respondeant omnes Amen cantent omnes Alleluia baptizentur omnes intrent omnes ecclesias faciant parietes basilicarum non discernuntur filii Dei à filiis diaboli nisi in charitate Onely charitie maketh a difference between the sonnes of God and the sonnes of the devil Let all signe themselves with the signe of Christs crosse let all answer Amen let all sing Alleluia let all be baptized let all go to church let all build churches the sonnes of God are not distinguished from the sonnes of the devil but by charitie They are none of Gods sonnes because they want charitie the robe of Christs righteousnesse and therefore they have no right to the place Further that must be the most excellent grace which joyneth the soul to God but this doth charitie because the Apostle saith 1. Cor. 6. 17. He that cleaveth to the Lord as S. Hierome translateth or he that is joyned to the Lord as our translation hath it which in meaning is all one is one spirit But charitie above all vertues causeth a man to cleave to God because as S. Bernard saith by charitie the soul is as it were married to God and in marriage a man forsakes all other to cleave to his wife and the wife forsakes all other to cleave to her husband according to that rule for marriage in Gen. 2. 24. Therefore shall a man leave
it follows that if the created similitudes be goods appetible then much more God the creatour of them must be good yea the chief good as the fountain of them Now there can be no better similitude for man the image to delight in then God his exemplar and his Sonne by flesh and bloud to him allied Therefore he above all things is of him to be desired Thus from these three great attributes we have the great and infinite God described who in English is called God of good From these three he expresseth himself in the creation of the world his image From his unitie in essence we have our essences to be individuals from his truth we have the perfection of our composition and from his goodnesse we have our end in desires which is the height of our growth so from the beginning we have our beginning and active principle from the truth we have our medium and way to our end and from goodnesse we have the complement of our desires in the end which the School calleth quies in bono Now to shew the good things of God for mans good created he in this life offers to the intellect the contemplation of things intellectuall mathematicall and materiall as the causes and reasons of things by which Solomon spake from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hysope that springeth out of the wall Again he offers to the will the good divided into utile honestum delectabile Utile sheweth the means by which we tend toward things good honestum is that which is good of it self and delectabile is the rest and joy in the good obtained Lastly he offers to the senses their proper and desired objects as fair sights to the eyes harmonies to the eares sweet smells to the nostrills pleasant meats to the taste and smooth things to the touch But as the goodnesse of God thus sheweth it self in this life so it exceedeth all our expectation in the next life where is our last rest and chief good Eye hath not seen nor eare heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him for some of Gods goods are so great and so good that this life though it be good is not capable of them Hitherto of the goodnesse of God in the state of nature now followeth the goodnesse of God in the state of grace And this is principally to be seen in his justice and mercie in redeeming mankinde The goodnesse of Gods justice appeareth in that no mercie could appeare without it for mercie presupposeth miserie and miserie is the pay of justice Where therefore there is no justice there can be no mercie Had not God permitted men and angels to fall neither angels nor men could have been sensible of Gods love the root of goodnesse in keeping some from falling and in saving others after the fall Therefore fit it was for God to make justice his way to shew his mercie by which above all his goodnesse is applauded And these two in the redemption of man the greatest of Gods works are to be observed wherein they met and saluted each other according to the Psalmist Mercie and truth are met together righteousnesse and peace have kissed each other He shewed his justice upon his own Sonne he shewed his mercie in ransoming all mankinde and here is verified Samsons riddle Out of the eater came meat out of the strong came sweetnesse What is more strong and devouring then justice and what is more sweet then mercie God gave his Sonne to death and by this he redeemed the world Mercie kissed justice and justice yeelded her right to mercie Mercie saith S. James rejoyceth or glorieth against judgement In the death of Gods Sonne mercie and justice contended mercie overcame and therefore she triumpheth Now therefore mercie hath the preeminence all the world over yet not without justice as they met at first lest man should runne out of mercies bounds and fall into relapse both therefore because we are saved by both and preserved by both are to be respected of us as our speciall good from God In the next place we are beholding to Gods goodnesse in the 3 graces Faith Hope and Charitie and the Sacraments by which Gods ransome is applied to us By faith God restoreth our understanding by hope he sanctifieth our affections and gives us state of the kingdome of heaven and by charitie he draws us out of our selves and taketh us into himself by making us partakers of the divine nature And the Sacraments are outward means by which God bestoweth on us his inward graces to teach us that grace is not bred in our selves but given to us forinsecus And this goodnesse of God natively proceedeth from his will as thought and truth proceedeth from his minde The one is immanent the other alwaies erumpent Goodnesse is known by its going forth Therefore we call him the good man not which is good to himself within but good to others without Wisdome and truth never come forth but in the companie of goodnesse Therefore the Psalmist saith Mercie and truth are met together When they meet mercie cometh out first and bringeth truth and wisdome with it Now the will of God because it is the supreme dispenser of all things as it is one so it is universall and because it is universall it containeth in it all wills and by consequent all things under it And thus it cometh that with one and the same will he permitteth things most contrarie to be willed and yet his will is still one and the same And it must be so because otherwise the wills of his creatures which are contrarie to his should not move under it but without it and above it and so God should not be omnipotent For though God did not positively or with pleasure will that men and angels should sinne and fall because the Psalmist saith Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickednesse neither shall my evil dwell with thee yet per accidens permissivè according to his order or decree of contingencie he would leave men and angels to themselves to see what they would bring forth And rather then he would violate the order of nature in depriving men of the libertie of their wills which is essentiall to them it pleased his all-swaying providence to suffer evil to be done being he knew how to bring good out of it then to permit none at all And this is ratified from the words of S. Augustine Saluberrimè confitemur quod rectissimè credimus Deum Dominúmque rerum omnium qui creavit omnia bona valde mala ex bonis exoritura esse praescivit scivit magìs ad suam omnipotentissimam bonitatem pertinere etiam de malis benefacere quà m mala esse non sinere ut ostenderet primùm quid possit liberum arbitrium deinde quid possit gratiae suae beneficium justitiaeque judicium
veniunt qui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lectores habeat judicio graves Non praejudicii quos malesana mens Raptos turbine latura per invias Ignotas aliis sibi sit vias Non hîc quae metuat saxa Capharea Erroris scopuli per mare turbidum Incertis animi fluctibus appetens Coelestem trepidus navita patriam Hîc sincera Patrum dogmata veritas Non fucata suis nuda coloribus Hîc Templi decor hîc unica numine Summo relligio digna per improbam Gentis sacrilegae saepius ô scelus Subnervata fidem Non neglecta Fides spreta Scientia Spes calcata trias nobilis inclyta Quin hîc ut decuit regia Charitas Primas obtinuit Caetera non loquar Quae fundata sacris omnia literis Sustentata Patrum munific â manu Felici liber hic praebeat alite Rich. Watson Caio-Gon Ad eos qui Authorem pro novatore sunt habituri NOn nova fert veterum satur at provectior annis Scit veterum facies queis fuit esse nova Idem De conjunctione amoris fidei in Tractatu de charitate piè vindicata QUae bis quina fuêre priùs praecepta feruntur Ad duo lex jubet haec haec facit unus amor Quin ergò quid summa fides cluet una triumphat Servit amor fidei nec comes esse queat Justificat beat una fides facit omnia quid non Credam ego factura haec si siet una fides At fidei nisi juncta foret dilectio fallor Aut haec vana foret si foret ulla fides Quae dum dissociant alii Shelforde beato En tuus in patriam foedere junxit amor In patriam dixi felix Ecclesia nexu Hoc quae per duo sic juncta fit una simul Idem ¶ To the Authour concerning his learned and pious Treatise of Gods house RIch soul and blest for so I dare go on To voice that man whose life 's religion Who fears not to be good gives God his due In this our age and in the Temple too Who scorns these lothsome times and dares learn us To be lesse bold lesse superstitious Not to make God a man joyn heav'n with earth Use him familiarly who gave us birth Nor man a God by following praising such Who neither pray nor preach yet teach they much Lord when I view our Temples which now be Ruin'd by time beauties worst enemie Or rather by neglect crumbling to dust Can I perswade my self or may I trust Those ancient Fathers those pure Saints should then Fables or fruitlesse stories write ev'n when They praise yea blesse their founders and condemne Their puft up Catharists those chair-preaching men Can I conceive S. Pauls expression weak Not like himself when thus I heare him speak Ye are Gods Temples Did th' Apostle mean Our clay-like houses should be kept unclean All cobwebd o're with vices that a lust Should there inhabit and that it should rust The Berill Jasper Amethyst those three Celestiall graces Faith Hope Charitie Or when the Priest the soul must sacrifice A comely Altar should he then despise A pure well furnisht heart must not the place Be hung with well knit vertues where blest grace Resides Yes sure and he whoe're hath done The contrary dilapidation Of that Temple shall to his charge be laid Because his body Gods house thus decayd Now as these walking churches must be drest And purg'd from filth by all as well as Priest So must the other that 's Gods Temple too Though made with hands which carelesly if thou Profane demolish or perhaps abridge That of its honour 't is proud sacriledge Reader no more That God may have his due Turn o're this book and it will teach thee how E. Gower Coll. Jesu Soc. Raptim De hoc opere verè Orthodoxo in Novatores DOgmata qui fingunt novitatis rara supremae Quà m facili applausu nullóque examine cudunt Quin si fortè Patrum sancita ad prela propinquant Dente Theonino lacerant probrisque lacessunt Rodere sic solitus maledictis Zoile castum Relligionis opus calcans mysteria coeli Antiquanda doces veterum monumenta cremanda Tu Shelforde tuum noli curare libellum Novimus hoc omnes te posse problemata sacra Edere non virus malesanae effundere linguae Hinc mea si tantum possint mandata valere I liber invidiâ major victórque triumpha Intimi amoris ergô exoptat R. LONDON A SERMON Shevving How we ought to behave our selves in Gods house PSALME 93. 6. Holinesse becometh thy house O LORD for ever OUt of this Text I must undertake three great tasks The first to shew what Gods house is because this is the subject of my Text. The second to shew what God is because he is the owner of it The third to shew what is that holinesse and behaviour which becometh this house and the owner For the first I must follow holy Scripture in describing of it Gods house began with an Altar as all creatures arise from small seeds built in the place where God appeared to Abraham the father of the faithfull Gen. 12. 7. And the Lord appeared to Abraham and said Unto thy seed will I give this land and there builded he an Altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him In the eighth verse following it is said that he built another and called upon the name of the Lord. With this consent were our churches built where God appeareth to us by his word read and preached Secondly by the Sacrament of the Altar as it is called by the fathers and styled so in our own statute laws in which the sacrifice of our Lord Christ is remembred and represented unto his Father Thirdly by promise of salvation and the kingdome of heaven And lastly by prayer in which God is called on according to that of Isaiah 56. 7. My house shall be called the house of prayer From hence appeareth that the Altar is the principall part of Gods house as being the cause and originall of all the rest Secondly Gods house is described in Gen. 28. by a stone of which in the plurall number an house is made and by a ladder whose top reached up to heaven as Jacob upon the stone dreamed the angels went up and down by it and from thence the Lord spake to Jacob and when Jacob awoke he said This is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven From whence we are taught that seeing Gods house is both Scala coeli and Janua coeli The ladder of heaven and the gate of heaven and that the angels use it therefore we also should use and respect it as the ordinarie and beaten way to that blessed place Thirdly as Gods house is here described by a dream so in Exod. 3. it is described by a vision the second mean of Gods appearing to the holy nation according to that of Joel Your old
56. 7. My house shall be called an house of prayer and our Lord in the Gospel confirmeth it Wherefore if God will heare the prayers of his people in all places then he will heare them sooner and with greater respect in his own house which is specially dedicated to prayer and his service Neither doth this any way derogate from his ubiquity but from his being ubique uniformiter for as his mercy although it is over all his works yet is it not equally in hell and in heaven or the measure of his justice equally poured forth upon saints and angels as upon the children of disobedience so likewise although this be Gods attribute to be every where yet he is not every where alike both in regard of the promise of his especiall presence made in Scripture in such houses consecrated to his name by which they become more especially holy as also because in this house God will heare for the presence of his Sonne For as S. Chrysostome saith Where Christ is in the Eucharist there is no want of angels where such a King is and such princes are there is a heavenly palace nay heaven it self It followeth now to shew what God is and that he is the great owner of this house Great is Gods house but greater is the owner because no house can hold him therefore my Text useth an exclamation which intimateth a great entity Holinesse becometh thy house O Lord God is far greater then his house for he not onely dwelleth in his house but in the hearts of men in the intelligences of angels and in all other creatures And because nothing can contain him he dwelleth in himself most perfectly Of all places the prophet David speaketh Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up to heaven thou art there if I make my bed in the grave thou art there also If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there shall thy hand leade me and thy right hand shall hold me And in Isa. 66. 1. God challengeth the whole world for his house Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool what house will you build for me saith the Lord hath not my hand made all these things Wherefore when we come to worship God in his house we must bring this thought with us to surrender up all our own thoughts of serving him and desire him to ayd us with his holy Spirit And when after this we have done our lowliest service and served him with our best devotions yet we must say Lord we can never serve thee enough because thou art infinite and we uncapable of thy greatnesse and worthinesse Thus farre have I spoken of God and his house but before we enter it it is fit to know our selves and how we are to be qualified for it From the highest to the lowest alas we are all poore creatures At the first originally we were born abroad in the fields our mothers name was the earth and our fathers name was nothing for from nothing God made all his creatures according to that in Heb. 11. 3. So that things which are seen were not made of things which appeare Seeing then we are so poorely descended what shall we do we must go to service we must seek some good house for our preferment The best house in the world is Gods house for he is owner of heaven and earth and able to advance all But what are the orders of this house what will here give content Holinesse becometh thy house O Lord. Would we know what this holinesse is It is no common but a superlative honour it is Gods honour which we call godlinesse and holinesse common honour belongs to all that have Gods image in them but holinesse reflecteth onely upon the high and mighty God For this cause our Saviour hath taught us to say Hallowed which is more then Honoured be thy name according to the Psalme Holy and reverend is his name And this holinesse respective to Gods house consisteth of certain holy offices The first is To adorn and beautifie it fit for his greatnesse as himself gave pattern in beautifying his tabernacle there was gold and silver precious stones silks with all precious colours the most choice woods and all things framed with the best cunning that God inspired Bezaleel and Aholiab and all the wise-hearted of that time Now to prosecute S. Pauls argument if that which was to be done away was glorious much more is that to be glorious which is to remain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Dei domus sort well together comelinesse and holinesse joyn hand with each other Thus saith my Text Holinesse becometh thy house O Lord. This office equity exacteth of us for seeing God hath made the worlds great ornament and our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our little world for our honour and use should not we proportion a due ornament for his house and service A mans house is his state and the greatest men are esteemed by it And according to this Ezra saith Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers which hath put into the kings heart to beautifie the house of our God that is in Jerusalem And the Psalmist saith Worship the Lord in the beauty of holinesse that is to say in the beautified sanctuary or as the Geneva translation expoundeth in the glorious Sanctuary But how are our Sanctuaries about us for the most part beautified If basenesse were not more then want of beauty I would hold my peace One beauty hath beat out another the beauty of preaching which is a beauty too hath preacht away the beauty of holinesse for if men may have a sermon prayer and church-service with the ornaments of Gods house may fit abroad in the cold Alas that the daughters should drive away the mothers Is it not a shame for us to see the houses of knights and gentlemen sweeter kept and better adorned then the houses of the King of heaven To the one one mans means is sufficient to the other the means of a whole town is liable and yet this latter nothing so beautified as the other is is not this a second shame Our Saviour telleth us that in his Fathers house there are many mansions Shall we look for glorious mansions in the kingdome of heaven and will we not prepare comely mansions in the kingdomes of the earth Doth not God challenge us where he challengeth his chosen people Is it time for you to dwell in your cieled houses and this house to lie waste Gods judgement follows Ye looked for much and lo it came to little and when ye brought it home I did blow upon it and why saith the Lord of hosts because of my house that is waste and ye come every man to his own house Therefore the heaven over you stayed it self from dew and the earth stayed
every day twelve measures of floure fourtie sheep and six great pots of wine But eating and drinking are no signes of Gods life which is not supported by means like the life of men and beasts but by its own acting for he is the first mover and the fountain of life to all things living First he moveth himself by begetting his onely Sonne of his own substance and by producing the holy Ghost of the same essence Secondly he moveth his creatures by giving to them life and breath and the order of their wayes according to that of Daniel to Belshazzar And the God in whose hand is thy breath and all thy wayes him hast thou not glorified And because God ever liveth therefore he continually acteth by begetting his Sonne and producing the holy Ghost while he alwaies understandeth himself and alwaies loveth himself And by this acting he continually enlightneth men and angels and enflameth them with love And the image of this continuall motion of God is mans breath and the pulse of his heart but especially his pulse which never ceaseth beating night nor day You may for a time retard and stay breath but by no means you can stay pulse no more may all the devils in hell interrupt the living welfare of Gods saints either in earth or in heaven because the Almighties pulse never leaves beating He is purus continuus actus he alwaies moveth and never ceaseth Therefore the Psalmist saith He that keepeth Israel neither slumbreth nor sleepeth And this life fountain of all lives is that which Philosophers call animam mundi naturam universi according to that of the Poet Spiritus intus alit totósque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem Gods Providence To Gods life allie two other attributes his providence and his power His providence is his foreknowledge by which he provideth for his creatures their ends and the means leading toward them Gods providence is his law by which he governeth his creatures for when he had made all things it was not fit then to leave them to themselves If he should not have made them to some end then he should have lost by his work if he should have provided them an end and no means to go toward it then both he and his creatures should fail wherefore after the creation it is fit that God should execute the law of his providence for the ordering of all things to their ends The end of the inferiour creature is to serve man who is Gods image and the end of man is to serve his Maker for making of him in his own image The order to these ends is to be seen in these three in the order of necessitie in the order of inclination in the order of free-will The order of necessity serves for creatures inanimate which are farthest remote from free-will Of these the Psalmist saith He hath made them an ordinance which none shall passe Thus the fire burneth and the water of necessitie quencheth except for his pleasure he dispenseth with his ordinance The order of inclination instinct is for sensitive creatures because they come nearest to free-will by this the bee gathereth hony and fish serve severall coasts at severall seasons as if they were sent upon a message The order of free-will is for man to which because it is the highest God addeth his speciall grace And by this man travelleth either to his home of happinesse or his home of heavinesse In this order though it be never so free and suggested by a sea of possibilities yet none can outflee Gods providence which the School calleth Fate for that the second cause cannot move out of the first no more then the lower orb can turn above the higher The reason is for that mans will is ordered by contingent objects and God is the commander and orderer of objects and applieth them as he please And thus God by causing a sound to be heard in the eares of Sennacherib of king Tirhakahs coming against him of free-will he brake up his siege against king Hezekiah Thus again by the light of lamps and the sound of trumpets God discomfited the great host of the Midianites Thus also God by leaving the wicked reprobates to their free-wil to grace sufficient and the objects of pleasure covetousnesse and pride for all their free-will power of nature they cannot free themselves from eternall sorrow Lastly thus God by mans free-will by his word and Sacraments and by grace habituall and influent to mans free-will added saveth his faithfull and elect and bringeth them to eternall life And this providence of God concerning mans will thus distinguished first by grace generall to all mankinde added next by meer free-will to which man is left in himself and lastly by grace habituall and effectuall by which onely the godly and elect are moved and governed this I say is answerable to the threefold motion of the heavens the first moving from east to west the next turning contrarie from west to east and the third moving sometimes to the south and sometimes to the north So the first degree of Gods providence moveth all men generally to grace and goodnesse and this is Gods motion onely answering to that of the primum mobile The second contrarie to this is the motion of nature and this is mans onely oppositely crossing God and his grace The third going both waies is the motion of Gods sonnes who are compounded of nature and grace and they move sometime to vertue and goodnesse and sometime to vice and wickednesse Again for the better knowledge of the state of free-will to which many doubts and questions are liable we are to understand that it runneth under two orbs subordinate to Gods providence The first and nearest is the orb of Contingencie the second and more supream is the orb of Fate The orb of Contingencie is decreed of God for the proper element of mans free-will to expatiate in as fishes swim in the water and fowls flie in the aire And were it not for this mans will could not be free but shut up as it were in a prison and so could neither be rewarded nor punished neither move to heaven nor go down to hell no more then the brute beasts which want understanding and the objects of contingencie To shew how man comes to have free-will it shal appeare by these foure particulars First because God hath given to man reason and understanding by which his will is not bound to one object but hath libertie to make a free choice among many Secondly because it hath an orb of contingencies or possibilities to elect in Thirdly whereas God hath made mans will in his own image by which it is capable of a spirituall good or a spirituall evil in this respect God hath given freedome to it by giving it a conscience wherein the rules of nature are written either to excuse it if it do well or to accuse it if