Lordes supper haue yee not houses to eate and to drincke 1. Cor. 11. 22. in So I may say to such meÌ„ if you wil pray alone and pray privatly haue yee not houses and privat places to pray in ought yee not at home and before yee come from home to prepare your selues to remember that going to church you go to appeare before the Lorde to heare his voice for the attaining of faith and to praise him with the congregation And for this cause as a learned painfull teacher in these daies hath writteÌ„ ought M. Perkiâ—s vpon the fourth commandement wee on the Sabboth day to arise early in the morning that wee may prepare our selues to the better sanctifying of that day And this preparation as he saith consisteth in private prayers and taking account of our severall sinnes but no man can be ignorant that privat prayers must be referred to privat places and time convenient For as Salomon saith to all thinges there is an appointed t 〈…〉 Eccle. 3. 1. But if you thinke that the temple or materiall house where we assemble our selues for diuine exercise can make your prayers more holy then your heartes from whence they proceed can make them yee are then indeede super 〈…〉 For the Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in temples built Act. 17. 24. with hâ—â—ds Neither is one place of the earth in respect of the place it selfe more acceptable to him then an other For now the temple at Ierusalem which was called the house of prayer hath an end And as the scriptures affirme you your selues if yee be true Christians are the temple of the liuing god 2. Cor. 6. 16 1. Cor. 6. 19 No place therefore as one father saith doeth sanctifie or make holy the man that is in it but rather the man the place yet for the defence of this evill custome of praying in preposterous maner some say it is a decent order for meÌ„ wheÌ„ they come into the church to kneele downe and pray The coÌ„trary is rather true for it is an affected disorder and betokeneth what of reuerence to the word of God his ordinance for some meÌ„ to be at their own praiers wheÌ„ the whole assembly doth either heare the word or pray otherwise with one accord This is not according to the rule oâ— the Apostle with one mind and with one â—onth to prayse God except they Rom. 15. 6. that wil pray by themselues when time and place serue not therevnto haue another God beside the father of our Lord â—esus Christ Where Luke writeth how the Apostles recemed the holy Ghost vpon the day of Pentecost he saith that then they were all with one Act. 2 1. accord in one place And for this cause hath Christ promised to be in the midst of them that Mat. 18. 20. are gathered together in his name assuring vs of his spirituall presence to be with vs if ther be vnitie of faith Christian concord in our assemblies And this vnitie is when as the Apostle exhorteth all speake one thinge are knit together in one minde and in one iudgment without distentions But for al this some meÌ„ 1. Cor. 1. 10 because they will not seeme to do otherwise then they haue bene accustomed can cavill say that because praier is good it is good to pray alwaies therfore they wil repeate their praiers when they may be seene of meÌ„ and when other men pray not These are like the Heretickes which were called Euchites Euchits or Psalliapistâ—s for that they were woÌ„t to spend much time in praying and to repeate their praiers as it is recorded of them so hastely and with swiâ—tnes of tongue as if God had beene to be serued with lippe labour This is contrarie to the rule of the Apostle Iames which saith let everâ—e man be swifte to heare slow to Iam. 1. 19. speake And the sonne of Sirach saith to the same effect â—e swift to heare good thinges For Eccl. 5. 1â— shall the naturall men of this world be swift ready to hear the couÌ„sel of a lawyer or advocate in some earthly matter shall not Christians be more careful ready to he are the counsell of God which is able to make them wise vnto salvation Yet some will say that when they pray they are carefull to serue GOD and they meane well and therefore they will do it at church and regard no time But as one hath truely said a good meaning doth not excuse an evill act and this we may see to bee most true if wee remember the punishment of Vâ—zah who without doubt meant well in that he put his hand to the arke of God and helde 2 Sam. 6. 6. it because the oxen which drew it did shake it But because he had no warrant from God so to do the Lord smote him that he died in that place And it is probable that Saul meant well in his owne opinion when he spared the fat beasts and the best of the sheepe and of 〈…〉 15. 〈◊〉 the oxen of the Amalekites because he would sacrifice them vnto the Lord. But what saith the oracle of God to him hath the Lorde as ver 22. great pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as when the voice of the Lord is obeyed behold to obey is better then sacrifice and to harken is better then the fat of Rammes Beholde here how acceptable a sacrifice it is to harken to the voice of the Lord. And contrariwise learne of Salomon how abhominable the praier of them is which will pray and wil not heare the law of the Lord he that Pro. 28. 9. turneth away his â—are from hearing the law even his praier shal be abominable Let no man therfore harden his heart and preferre superstition before truth that his praier be not abominable but acceptable beeing offered in due season and proceeding from faith knowledge which is by hearing and hearing by the Rom. 10 17. word of God As the ministery of the newe testament is principally divided into the ministration Act. 6. 4. of the word and praier so in the time of teaching the minister is the mouth of God vnto the people and in the time of publicke praiers he is the mouth of the people to offer their sacrifice to Godâ— and he that despiseth or regardeth not these things despiseth not man but God For these very words of the text if yee heare his voice harden not your harts declare vnto vs that when we heare that doctrine wihâ—h teacheth vs faith in the son of God and repentance from dead workes it is God that speaketh vnto vs by the moâ—th of men and he requireth at our handes that sâ—lâ—ng as it is saâ—a to day that is so long as we may heare the voice of the new couenant of grace we be more neere to heare it then to giue the sacrifice of fooles For ought
In which fortie yeares he overthrew them and made an end of them with their sinnes Fortie daies and fortie nightes was the raine vpon the earth when all the inhabitants Gen. 7. 12. of the old world except Noah and his family were drowned In those fortie daies and fortie nights the Lord wiped away all wickednesse and crueltie wherewith the earth was corrupted Forty daies are limited to the people of Niâ—eveh for repentaunce And in that space they repented for they beleeved God as it is in Ionah and proclaimed a fast and put on sacke-cloath Ion. 3. 4. 5. from the greatest of them even to the least of them And to speake according to naturall observation it is noted in mankinde generally that an * Plin. nat hist lib. 7. in proâ—m infant doth seldome or never laugh before he be fortie daies old Here we may see that man â—ath iust cause to bee alwaies sorie and to mourne for his sinnes which are the cause of all the miseries of this life When God establisheth perfect righteousnes vpon earth forty of daies and nightes are spoken of as when Moses was called from the sight of the people he was with the Lord in mount Sinai forty daies and forty nights Exod. 24 18 34. 28. in which he fasted miraculously that so the law of God which hee was to deliuer vnto the Israâ—lites might receiue the more honor and authority And againe fortie daies and 1. King â—9 〈◊〉 fortie 〈◊〉 E 〈…〉 h at the calling of the Lord continued â—â—sâ—ing because hee was the minister that should restore the law to the former perfection thereof And our saviour Christ is said to haue fasted Maâ— 4. 2. â—uke 4 2. 〈…〉 and fourtie mightes before hee beganne his publique life and preaching The end of which fast o◠〈…〉 le as * Vpon the harmony of the â—â—aÌ„gell Mat. 4. 〈◊〉 M. Câ—lvâ— doeth well obsetue was that it should bee a seale to the doctrine of the Gospell which as it is more glorious then the lawe of Moses so was it to bee adorned with miracles and rate signes And after he had suffered his passion and was â—â—sen againe hee was seene of his Apostles by the spice of forty daies Act. 1. 3. In which fortie daies he confirmed vnto them the verity of his â—uâ—â—ection Thus we see where vnto this number forty is vsually applyed in holy scriptures For as teâ—â—e is a perfect and absolute number and all supe 〈…〉 numbers doe arise either by adding vnto teâ—â—e oâ— els by multiplying of ten so the multiplying of ten in this number forty declareth vnto vs the louing kindnesse and mercy of God who giueth vnto men such space of daies or of yeares either to see the confirmatioÌ„ of his truth and his workes or to amend and turne vnto him before they bee destroied for their sins and transgressions And here we may learne that our departing from iniquity our faith and obedience to the worde of GOD must bee effectuall earnest and vnsamed and wee must persevere in the same not for one day but fortie dayes or fortie yeares that is so long as the LORDE vvill haue vs to remayne in the vvildernesse of this world Nowe the cause why the LORDE was displeased with his people fortie yeares was sinne For the Apostle sayeth vvas hee not displeased vvith them that sinned vvhose carâ—â—â—ses fell in the vvildernesse The roote and beginning of all sinne is the naturall corruption or originall sinne vvherein all menne are vvrapped from their mothers wombe and vvherevvith mankinde hath beene infected euer since the fall of Adam This corruption bringeth foorth fruite vnto death by transgressing the law of God We sinne three maner of waieâ— three maner of waies that is in thought worde and deede according to the wordes of our saviour Christ affirming that those thinges which desile a man come from the heart For out of the hearte saith hee come Mat. 15. 19. eviâ—â— thoughts These are sinnes and defile thâ— whole man Murthers adulteries fornications theftes These are sinnes in deed False testimonies slaunders These are sinnes committed in word And now all these transgressions and every one of them as they are committed of men are called actuall sinnes And they are Three sorts of actuall sinnes of three sortes One is counted a sinne of infirmitie into the which the godly and regenerate men of God doe commonly fall through the weakenesse of the flesh Of this kinde of sinne speaketh Paule when he saith the evill which I vvould not that do I. And Rom 7. 19. 1. 〈◊〉 1. 8. of this Saint Iohn saith If we saie that wee haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs. The second is a sinne of ignorance committed through lacke of knowledge when hee that sinneth knoweth not that he doeth evill Such was the sinne of Paule before his conversion when hee liued a Pharisâ—â— and persecuted the Christians notwithstanding he had zeale and in his life was vnrebukeable Phil. 3. 6. touching the righteousnesse of the law And of this sinne after he was conuerted hee saith I did it ignorantly through vnbeliefe 1. Tim. 1. 13. The third kind of sinne is a sinne of malice or a sinne of disobedience to the trueth of God when they that haue experience of Gods fauour and goodnesse towards them and know his word to be the rule of righteousnesse will not for all that forsake their owne waies to followe it and to obey it Such was the sinne of Saul when he did not 1. Sam. 15 9 obey the wordes of Samuel being commanded to destroy the Amalekites and all that appertained vnto them This sinne of disobedience was the sinne of the children of Israell for the which the Lord was displeased with them fortie yeares who knowing the goodnesse of God to bee more extended towardes them then any other nation of the earth did notwithstanding disobey his voice and tempte him â—enne tymes as the scripture witnesseth Num. 14. â—2 And therefore they were reiected of the Lord that they should not enter into his rest and were punished in the wildernesse with horrible plagues where their carkeises fell for an example and a terrour to all that should haue thereof This sinne of maliciouse frowardnes disobedience to the word of God is of all other most fearefull is therefore called rebellion 1. Sam. 15. 23. wickednes idolatrie compared with the sinne of witchcraft And of this kind of sinne Iohn saith hee that commiteth sinâ—s of 1. 10. 3. 8. 9. the deuill And whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not This is therefore the sinne that we must beware of We see how fearefully it was punished in Gods chosen people And their punishments as Paule witnesseth being written to admonish vs might if they were 1. Cor. 10. 〈◊〉 well weyed terrifie the stubborne froward generation of this age and might moue those that preferre the
clemencie favour you wil accept of it as a mite of a willing minde and vnfained good will And in that I haue therein alleadged other authors beside the holyscriptures I did it of care to haue every truth confirmed in the mouth of approved witnesses I neede not heere speake of your Lordships good desertes I know that a vertuous man loueth not to heare his owne praise for it is better to be a good man indeede then in mens opinion to bee so accompted Wherefore as GOD hath exalted you to honour and dignitie and as a learned young man hath lately written to you hath made you a keeper of many vines and as we see hath wrought in you a notable care vnder her Maiestie to provide for the well-fare of his Church so I beseech him that is Lord of Lordes long to preserue your honour in al safety and to increase in you his giftes of grace to the setting forth of his glory to the continual good of his church finally to your owne eternal comfort through the merits of his sonne Christ Iesus And wheras the world is in danger of eternal perdition as great part through irreligiousnes and atheisme without either knowledge or true feare of God and a great part through affected ignorance and obstinate frowardnesse in Popish customes wee are to pray dayly that it may please God to wake men out of the sleepe of sinne and voluptuous living and by the power of his holy word still to weaken the kingdome of sinne and of Antichrist and to call those that are to bee called to the knowledge of his trueth while it is yet called To day Your Honours most bounden Oratour HVGH ROBERTS THE CONTENTS OR BRIEFE summe of the Lecture vpon the latter part of the third Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrewes set downe in order as followeth 1 The first Lecture vpon the 7. 8. 9. 10. and 11. verses of the authoritie of the word of God of the speciall causes why this scripture being part of one of the Psalmes of David is alleadgeâ— by the Apostlâ— writing to the Hebrewes 2 The second Lecture vpon the 12. and 13. verses of the fruâ—t of an evill heart of mutuall exâ—â—â—tation and of the dectit fullnesse of sinne 3 The third Lecture vpon the 14. verse of faith and of the assurance of salvation and ever lasting felicitie to the true beleevers 4 The fourth Lecture vpon the 15. verses of the necessitie of hearing the word of God how the bardening of the heart is to be vnderstood and of the errour of praying in the church specially in the time of publique 〈◊〉 or of câ—mmon prâ—â—ers 5 The fifth Lecture vpon the 16. and 17 verses of the wickednesse of mâ—ns nature all â—en are naturally bent to idolatrie we must imitate the faithfull though they be but few in number or in one age whom God raiseth vp in all ages to confesse his name of Gods long sufferance bountifulnes towards inners of sinne and the fruit thereof 6 The sixth and last Lecture vpon the 18. and 19. versest of the punishment of theâ— that obey â—â—t the Gospell though for a time they be borne with and liue in a floâ—rishing states what the tokens of Gods iudgâ—ents which befal in the world and wherewith some men are visited should profit vs the word of God is the iudge of men which word is to be obeyed while the day of grace lasteth THE FIRST LECTVRE VPON the wordes of the Prophet David alleadged by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews cha 3. ve 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. of the authority of the word of God and of the speciall causes why this scripture of the Prophet is here alleadged with the application thereof 7 Wherfore as the holy Ghost saith to day if yee will heare his voice 8 Harden not your hearts as in the provocation according to the day of temptation in the wilderâ—esse 9 Where your fathers tempted mee proved mee and saw my workes for â—iâ— yeares long 10 When fore I was grieved with that generation and said they erre ever in their heart neitheâ— haue they knowne my waieâ— 11 Wherefore I sware in my wrat if they shall enter into my rest IN the begining of this chapter men and brethren beloved in Christ the Apostle that was the author of this epistle exhorteth the Hebrewes or Iewes to whom he writeth to consider Christ Iesus the Apostle high Priest as he faith of our profession of Chrstianisme he compareth him with that great and renowned Prophet of God Moses because the lewes did magnisie the remebrance of Moses by whom God had planted and established both the religion civill government of the people of Israel and therfore it is writen of him there arose not a Prophet since in Israel like vnto Moses who the Lord knewe Deut. 34 10 face to face And for this cause in the ninth of Iohn the Iewes stand so precisely vpon the authoritie of Moses and say we be Moses diseiples To 9. 28. 29. we know that God spake with Moses Now to proue that Christ far excelleth Moses in honour and authoritie the Apostle vseth two notable and familiar arguments The one he draweth from a comparison betweene the builder the house which he hâ—th builded Châ—ist is the builder of his spirituall house which is the church Moses was but one part of the building therefore Christ is aboue Moses The other from a comparison betweene the heire or the naturall sonne and the servant of his house Christ is the sonne Moses was but a servant therefore Christ is more honourable then Moses Here vpon the Apostle inferreth thâ—t all the faithfull which professe Christian religion are the house of Christ if they persevere and continue in his grace vnto the end But because without faith it is vnpossible Heb. 11. 6. Row 10. 17 to pleâ—se God and without the hearing of the word of God faith is not attained and without a good heart there cometh no prosite Heb. 42. by hearing Therefore that they which heare the word of God may be effectually ioined to this building of the house of God and that they may be so prepared to heare this word that it may be so prepared to heare this word that it may not be vnto them a favour of death vnto death but of life vnto life the Apostle â—â—leadgeth this scripture out of the Psalmes of David the authoritie whereof Psal 95. he attributeth to the holy Ghost who spake by the Prophets And here we learne that the holy scriptures which we heare or read thought they be named after that Prophet that Apostle or that Evangelist by whom they were ministred or written are not with standing the liuely oracles of God and the very words of the holy Ghost who inspired the Prophets â—nd holy Ghost who inspired the Prophets and holy men and moved theÌ„ to speake as they were taught and directed from aboue according as
the Apostle Peter 2. Pâ—â— 1. 10. 21. witnesleth know this that no prophecie in the scripture is of any private 〈◊〉 for the prophec came not in olde time by the will of 〈◊〉 but hâ—lâ—◠〈◊〉 of God spake as they were mooved by the holy Ghost And likewise when of sinne is by the faithfull pastour collected and preached out of the sacred scriptures we are to teceyue the same and to esteeme of it as if God himselfe did speake vnto vs who then sheweth his face vnto vs so far as we are able to abide it but his glorious voice our fraile nature cladde with sinne and transgression cannot endure to heare without the ministerie of men as it appeareth in the Israelits who say to Moses talke Exod. 20. 19. thou with vs and we will heart but iâ—t not God talke with vs least we die And yet when we are taught by Gods ministers it is the holy Ghost that teacheth vs Of whose wysedome the Apostle saith vvee haue this treasure in earthen vesselles 2. Cor. 4. 7. even heauenly treasure pure and vndesiled for as we see the water of a fountaine when it is put into the earthen vesselles doeth not chaung his nature and qualitie that it had before And the light of the sun though it shine through a window into a darke place doth neverthelesse retaine that vertue operation which it hath from the body of the sun so the ministery of men which are the organes or instruments of the holy Ghost altereth not the nature and propertie neither diminisheth the authoritie of those thinges which they minister VVee must bevvare therefore that vvee giue not the lesse credue to the vvisedome of the holye Ghost because vvee heare it at the mouth of men For it is vvritten God 2. Cor. 4. â— that commaunded the light to shine out of darkenesse is hee vvhich hath shined in the heartes of his Ministers to giue the light of the knowledge of the glorie of GOD in the face of IESUS CHRIST And therefore vvhosoever beleeveth not men teaching as they are taughte of GOD the same beleeveth not the spirite of GOD vvho hath made them able Ministers of his holye vvill revealed in his vvoorde For CHRIST hath given that commission to his true Ministers that hee sayeth of them hee that heareth you heareth Luke 10. 1â— mee and hee that despiseth you despiseth mee Novve seeing that the Canonicall scriptures are the sayings of the holy Ghost who yet speaketh to vs 〈◊〉 oft as we heare them ministred and taughte shall wee not giue greate heede to so great a Doctour that his woordes maye perswade and take place in our heartes to the winninge of the soule for this cause this scripture vvith the rest of that Psalme of Dauid was vsually song among the lewes vppon the sabbath dayes when the church came together that it might stirre them vp to a more attentiue hearing of the law and the Prophetes And so likwise this psalme is wont to be read or song in our chruches in these dayes before the common praires and diuine exercise of the other scriptures as a preparatiue to the estectuall hearing of Gode voice And not to giue place to evill thoughtes and worldly cogitations which are wont to harden mens heartes and to cause manie to depart out of the church as wyse and with as litle knowledge as they came to it To omitte now the particulare handling of these words of the Prophet for they are afterwardes repeated and applied by the Apostle as we shal see in the handling therof let vs here consider three especiall causes why this scripture is here alledged wherof the first is that the Hebrewes might haue no I cause to glorie of their farhers and progenitours after the â—lesh For those their fathers which as they boast of had eaten Mannaâ—â—â— Ioh. 6. 31. the wildernesse tempted God faith the Prophet and therefore he exhorteth their posteritie and all that heare the same worde of saluation which was preached vnto those fathers by Moses not to harden their heart â—s as they did There is nothinge so common in the mouth of vanie and superstitious men as the prayse of their foâ—efathers and of the dayes that are past as if it were inough for vs if we could but follow the example of our fathers neuer examining how they beleeued â—r how they heard the word of God or whether they haue heard it at all And wee thinke that our sins shâ—l not come into iudgment yf wee haue learned them of our fathers But doe we not heare that God faith in the seconde commaundement that he is is a ieâ—ouse God visiting the sinns of Exod 20. 5. the fathers vpon the children vppon the third generation and vppon the fourth of them that hate him that is as a worthie teacher expoundeth Bullinger vpon the second coÌ„maÌ„demeÌ„t it yf the children walke in the crooked stepps of their fathers and thinke that their iniquâ—tie â—hall not be punished because they haue learned it ofâ— their fathers yet God will â—harplye reuenge it in the children although he touched not their fathers when they committed the same iniquitie The people that vvere left from the captivitie of Babilon obiect against the Prophet Ieremiah that vvhen they and their fathers did burne incense vnto the Queene of Ier. 44. 17. 18. heaven and powre out drincke offeringes vnto her they had plentie of victuals and all was well with them But when they left of that service wee haue had say they scarcenesse of all thinges and haue beene consumed by the svvorde and by the famine The Prophete replyeth that because they and their fathers vvith their Kinges and Princes hâ—dde doone such thinges therefore the LORDE coulde no longer forbeare Ier. 44. 20. 21. 22. it but broughte those plagues vpon them And thus doe the frovvarde people of our dayes vvhich vvincke at the lighte deceiue themselues obiecting that our fathers vvhich as they saie vvere of the olde religion had plentie of all thinges and felte no vvant And because they are touched vvith the evilles of these dayes vvhich notwithstandinge are nothing so greate as the obstinacie and vvillfull ignoraunce of this age hath deserved they run into that note of follie vvhy is it that the Eccle. 〈◊〉 12. former daies vvere better then these This hath beene the olde complainte of all ages The heathen * Ovid fastlib I. laudamus veteres sed nostriâ— vtimut annis Poet saith laudamus veteres wee are vvonte to praise the yeares of our forefathers This commeth from the darkenesse of our nature that we iudge foolishlie of those thinges whereof vvee bee ignoraunte according to this saying of a learned teacher because vvee Bishop lewell feele not our fathers evilles therefore wee imagine they had no evil at al. But though it vvere true that our fathers haue had the peace and posperitie of this worlde yet if wee will looke into that age wherein
they lived wee shall finde nothing whereof wee may glorie For indeede it was the Egypte of superstition and spirituall darkenesse and therefore as * Deering vpon the epistle to the Hebr. lect 24. one hath lefte in writing vpon this Epistle to the Hebrewes if wee goe after Baalims vvhich our fathers haue taught vs wee shall bee fedde vvith the wormwoode vvhich our fathers haue leaten Yea let vs assure our selues vvee shall bee beaten vvith more stripes then our fathers if vvee will wittinglie treade in their steppeâ— For as Bulliuger saith if thy forefathers Bulliuget vpon thâ— Apoc. set 35. bad had the like opportunitie vvhich then neglectest vvhat a space vvould they haue runne afore thee And therefore as it shall bee easier for Tyrâ—â— Luke 10. 14. and Sâ—lon at the day of iudgemente then for them that heard Christ and saw his miracles and were not the better therefore so I may say it shall be easier for our forefathers at that day then for them which bring forth no good fruite nor make profession of the trueth beeing preached and made knowne vnto them vvhich hath not beene so revealed to our fathers as it is now to the people of our daies The seconde cause why the Apostle reciteth 2 this scripture of David is that with the example and punishmente of them that tempted and hardened their heartes in the deseâ—te hee mighte terrifie the Hebrevves and make them more carefull to receiue the vvordes of exhortation and to obey the voice of Christ the mediatour of the new testament whose voice as he is greater then Moses so shall they draw vpon them great erpunishment which neglect to heare it The children of Israell of vvhom mention is heere made after they vvere delivered out of Egypt by Moses for al that they had seene the works of God his miracles which he wrought for them in Egypt at the redde sea yet they tempted him in the wildernesse and doubted of his â—goodnesse and providence towardes them and said is the Lord among vs or no because they had not Exod. 17. 7. water at their pleasure This was the provocation which is here mentioned wherewith the Lorde God was tempted in the vvildernes of his own people after that he had delivered theÌ„ out of the hands of their enemies And againe when they should haue gone out of the wildernesse into the land of Canaan to possesse it and to dwell therein where they should haue had rest peace and prosperity yet they beleeved not the worde of God * The chil-dren of Israel are coÌ„manded to goe vp and possesse the land which God had said before them but they say they will sende men to search out the land Deur I. 21. 22. and therefore the Lord sâ—â—ll bearing with them biddeth them len Num. 1â— â—3 how be it the event and issue of their sending declareth that it came from the peopleâ— disobedience to the word of God for the years in which they did bâ—â—râ— their iniquity in the wildernesse are measured with the number or the daies in the which they had searched out the land of Câ—naan Num. 13. 14. 33. 34. but sent twelue men a man out of every tribe of the children of Israell to search the land to know what maner of land it was and whether they might obtaine it or no as if the living God and Lorde of the whole earth which had done so many thinges for them shoulde not nowe bee able to subdue their enemies and to giue them the land according to his promise And when the twelue men returned after fortie daies from searching of the lande and brought with them of the fruite thereof to shewe to all the congregation of the children of Israell tenne of the twelue brought vp an evil report slander vpon the land to these ten men the whole assembly gaue credite and their words to them seemed to bee true And therefore they murmured against Moses and Aaron and would haue made a Num. 14. new captaine to bring them againe vnto Egypt but Ioshua and Caleb two of the twelue that had searched the land al the multitude would haue stoned with stones for the truth sake which these two men reported of the land because they perswaded the people not to rebel against the Lord. Thus the Israelites that came out of Egypt tempted the Lord in the wildernesse and provoked him to anger by following the counsels of their owne harts therefore the Lord saith of theÌ„ as it is in this text they erre â—ver in their hearts and what was then their punishments as I liue saith the Lord I wil surely do vnto you even as ye haue spoken in mine ears Num. 14. 28. 2â— your carkases shall sal in this wildernesse c. And so it came to passe for of the sixe hundreth thousand which came out of Egyptâ— and vvere able to discerne betweene good and evil none but two men Caleb the sonne of Iephiumeth and Ioshua the sonne of Nun which constantly as the scripture saith followed Num. 32. 12 the Lord did enter into the land of Canaan to inhabite it all the rest were consumed in the terrible wildernesse according to the worde of the Lord for Moses saith and the Lord was Num. 32. 13 very angry with Israell and made them wander in the wildernesse fourty yeares vntill all the generation that had done evill in the sighte of the Lorde were consumed And here the text saith therefore I sware in my wrath if they shoulde enter into my rest Where it is said in my wrath we are to vnderstand that God who is a spirite immortal infinite and incomprehensible with whome is 1am 1. 17. no variablenesse neither shadow by turning is not subiect to any of these passions which the scriptures seeme to attribute vnto him as wrath ielousie greefe repentance and the like But these things are figuratiuely applyed to God after the manner of men for our vnderstandinge sake vvhich are not able to conceiue of heavenly things without metaphors allegories â—arables and similitâ—â—es borrowed from earthlie and naturall things which are therefore so much vsed in holy scriptures for ouâ—â— learning And heere by the name of wrath or anger is set foorth the determinate sentence of Gods eternall iustice against sin and disobedience And when it is said that he sware it teacheth vs feare and consirmeth to vs that Gods threatnings fall not to the grounde without Augustine in Psal 95. full effect For as Aurelius Augustine saith vpon this place iurantem hominem debes timere thou oughtest to feare when a man sweareth least for his oths sake he should do that which is * As Herod did Mar. 6. 26. when he caused Iohn Bapsist to be beheaded against his will howe much more saith he oughtest thou to feare when God sweareth who can sware nothing rashlie his oath is a sure confirmation Wheras in deed as another father saith