casts them vp euery day shall the easier cast them vp at the weekes end and he that casts them vp euery weeke shall the easier cast them vp at the yeeres end but hee that lets them runne on from day to day and from weeke to weeke hee shall finde them so perplexe and intricate as that they shall trouble his best braines to bring all ends together The practise of this continued repenatnce is 1 Hearty confession and bewailing of our sins to the Lord. 2 Carefull watchfulnes ouer our harts to keepe out all sinne 3. Strict examination of our selues at the dayes end and so censuring our selues for that we finde amisse with earnest calling on GOD for greater Grace 3 The third degree is renued repentance Repentance 3. Renued repentance Where is oftentimes discontinued interrupted or at least increases not so as it should therefore euer and anone it is in speciall sort to bee renued Now here are two things to be considered The practise and the times of this Repentance 1 The practise of this repentance what it is 1. The practise wherein it consists Ans 1. In performing the duties of Repentance handled before in generall in a greater measure and a more powerfull manner Acts 2. Corin. 7. 11. speaking of this renewed repentance which some call extraordinary repentance Beholde saith the Apostle what care what cleering c. They had care before but now a greater measure and a more watchfull care 2. In a more strickt examination of our selues Examination of our selues is to bee practised dayly but now a stricter and seuerer and that specially for our estate to godward And therefore this narrow search must discouer some secret infirmities before not found out As in reading ouer our owne workes or writings the second or third time wee espye that which we did not before So in the second reuiew of our liues by renued repentance we find out more sinnes then before 3. In a greater measure of contrition and humiliation as in those Israelites drawing buckets of water in a greater plenty of teares deeper sighes and sobbes 2. The times and occasions of this renued repentance 2. The times They are fiue 1. When wee are to performe speciall seruices to God because then wee may feare least our former negligences may come vp in account against vs therefore we must in speciall sort renue our repentance and so seeke vnto God Thus before the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Paul commands a 1. Cor. 11. 31. Gen. 35. 1. 2. c. renuing of our repentance and a fresh iudging and condemning our selues Thus Iakob renued his repentance before he went vp to Bethell and purged his family of the idolls This God also first cals for before our approching into his presence in the duties of his worship wash you make you cleane and then Isay 1. 16. 18. Come and let vs reason together So oft then as an holy seruice is to bee performed to God wee must renue our Repentance 2. When wee seeke for any speciall blessing at the hands of God Because then our sinnes may interpose themselues and so intercept the blessing desired then are wee especially to renue our repentance As when our aduersaries renue the battell against vs wee are to renew our preparation against them so must we doe heere Thus Isaac when he Gen. 24. Gen. 32. 9. sought the blessing of a good wife went out into the fields into some secret corner or other to pray Acts. 1. in speciall manner vnto the Lord. So did Iakob when he sought the mercy of deliuerance from his brother Esau So the election of ministers in the Primitiue Church was done with prayer 3 In speciall afflictions when God corrects our dulnesse and by them as by whetstones seemes to sharpen our repentance and to put an edge vppon our prayers So did Dauid in the rebellion of his son 2. Sam. 15. 26. 30. 2. Chron. 20. Absolom and Iehoshaphat when the Moabites and Ammonites came vp against him And this is that which the Prophet calls for Search your selues Zeph. 2. 1. search your selues before the decree come foorth c. wishing them in that speciall affliction to enter into a speciall examination and search of all their waies 4 In and after our speciall falls and sinnes whether grosse and more palpable or more secret such as are dulnesse coldnesse security Thus Dauid after his two sinnes of adultery and murther in a most speciall sort renued his repentance in his priuate confession to Nathan and his publique confession 2. Sam. 12. 13. Psal 51. to the whole Church Peter after his deniall went out and wept bitterly So when the Church of Ephesus was fallen into coldnesse and security the Lord calls vppon her to remember from whence Reuel 2. 5. shee was fallen to repent and doe her first workes 5. At the time of death Then because the children of God take their farewell of repentance they take also their fill of it they thinke with themselues this is the last act of my repentance it shall be therfore the best And in death Sathans temptations and consciences accusations will be strongest and therefore our preparation against them must bee more then ordinary On the sixt day the Israelites gathered double Manna because none was to bee gathered by the day following the day of rest So because the time after death is a time of rest and Sabbath from repentance therefore then should there bee a double portion of Repentance Euery motion is the swiftest towards the center It is good indeed to see men ioyfull and comfortable in their death but yet withall if we see them not humbled and penitent wee may iustly suspect their ioy Euen the holy Martyrs who exceeded in spirituall ioy and had the greatest cause of ioy that might bee were yet great in their repentance at their death Hezekiah receiuing the sentence of death turned to the wall and prayed and wept sore 2. King 20. Here mark the preposterous course of the world that make death the time of beginning repentance whereas it is indeed onely the time of renuing repentance begunne and practised before in our life-time Obiect But the thiefe on the crosse began to repent but at his death Ans It was a miracle with the glory whereof our Sauiour would honor the ignominy of the crosse We may almost as well expect a second crucifying of Christ as such a second thiefe Christ then triumphing on the crosse did as Princes doe in the triumph of entring into their kingdomes they pardon grosse offences before committed such as they pardon not afterwards CHAP. XVIII Of the motiues to Repentance from the euill it remooues HAuing thus absolued the doctrine of Repentance it will not bee amisse to close vp this Treatise with some perswasiues motiues wherby men may be induced to the practise of it Indeed the bare necessity of it might mooue but such is our dulnesse that
we resort as they Acts 2. 9. 10. 11. did to Ierusalem The Papists pilgrimages thither are absurd because the Acts 2. 9. 10. 11 holinesse is not inherent in the ground and the wals but was only in regard of the worship of God which then was there in speciall manner and now failing it is no longer the holy city The second point is the setting of Christ vpon the pinnacle of the temple Some difference there is amongst Interpreters what it should be It matters not greatly All agree in this that it was a very dangerous place Doct. Marke heere what aduantage there is in places for temptations Sathan had before the aduantage of the place in the desert giuen him by our Lord and Sathan many times takes the aduantage of the place for his temptations heere hee takes it himselfe As heere hee tooke the opportunity of this place and the danger thereof for Christ to stand long vpon it to vrge this temptation of this Cast thy selfe down so doth he still against vs for the better enforcing his temptations against vs. Some places are as dangerous for our soules as the pinnacle of the temple was for the body And when once hee hath gotten vs vpon these pinnacles then it is hard if wee cast not our selues downe As when Peter was in Caiaphas his hall then was he set as it were on the pinnacle of the Temple and how fearefull a fall caught hee So in Ioseph learning in Pharaohs court to sweare by the life of Pharaoh Quest May we not then dwell in such places Ans As for the body we may not bee venturous to goe vpon high steepe and dangerous places without a calling but hauing a calling wee may as Masons and Carpenters doe So for the soule when God cals vs to such places as he did Ioseph Obadiah Nehemiah then we may dwell therin but if no calling take heede then and let Peters example teach vs the danger of Caiaphas his hall Wee that can scarse stand in the firme ground neuer trust wee our feete in slippery ground vnlesse God guide and leade vs into it Thus much of the fitting of the temptation 2. The vttering of his temptation The vttering of it followeth And he sayd vnto him If thou bee the sonne of God Cast thy selfe downe for it is written c. In which words two things to be considered First the sinne whereto he tempts Secondly the arguments whereby he tempts That whereto he tempts is to Cast himselfe downe 1. The sinne whereto he tempteth headlong from the top of the pinnacle Where obserue Doctrin 1 That the Diuell in temptation hath no enforcing power though hee haue a perswading sleight It The Diuell in temptation hath no enforcing power but onley a perswading sleight rests in vs to giue assent Therefore he sayes heere Cast thy selfe downe For indeed else we should not sinne Many fondly excuse themselues and their sinnes by the Diuell but the Diuell could not make thee sinne except thou wert willing And hee hath no power to constraine thy will The Diuell is the father of thy sinne but thine owne concupiscence is the mother And what could the father doe without this mother Euery man is tempted when hee is drawen away by his owne concupiscence and is entised Iam. 1. 14. Iam. 1. 14. Doct. 2 That the Diuels power is limited Hee can bring Christ and set him on the pinnacle hee cannot The Diuels power is limited throw him downe He is a finite creature and cannot doe all things And in those things hee can doe such as was this to throw downe a man standing on the pinnacle of the Temple for euen a childe might haue done this he is curbed and restrained by God So the Lyon 1. King 13. killed the Prophet but 1. King 13. neither touched the asse whereon hee rode nor yet the dead carkasse Three notable evidences of Sathans limited power may we finde in that one history of the man possessed in the region of the Gadarens Luk. 8. 27. First Luk. 8. 27. in that he begges leaue to enter into the swine He that afterwards boasts of that all the world was his and all the kingdomes thereof hath not power so much as ouer a vile swine Secondly we see that as soone as he enters into the swine hee presently carries them headlong into the sea why did hee not so to the man possessed Surely not for any loue hee bare to him more then to the swine for he is a deadly hater of man-kinde He would as willingly haue drowned the man as he did the swine had not God limited him Thirdly his name was Legion there was a whole Legion of Diuels in him Now a Legion in the warres containes aboue six thousand footmen Veget. lib. 2. cap. 6. seauen hundred horse men Now though whole a legion of diuels such an army and host of them in one poore man yet were not able to destroy him nor to do with him as they did with the swine Thus it is also in the rage of Sathans instruments against the Church the spirituall bodie of Christ God suffers his Church to be in their hands as Christs body in Sathans to bee placed as it were on the top of the pinnacle to bee in great danger and as with Dauid but an haires breadth betweene him and death yet then Gods snaffle is put into their mouthes and his hooke into their nostrils as into Esaus and Labans in Iaakobs cause Pilates brag therefore against Christ Knowest thou not that I haue power to crucifie thee Ioh. 19. 10. And Labans to Iaakob Gen. 31. 29. I am able Ioh. 19. 10. Gen. 31. 29. to doe you hurt they were but vaine crakes Sathan himselfe was faine to say to God in Iobs cause stretch out thine hand Vse Heere is comfort then in greatest dangers Doth God take care for oxen saith Paul so may wee say Doth God take care for swine Are wee not much better then they Though the knife bee in the enemies handes ready to cut the throate of Isaac lying bound on the altar yet their hands shall sooner wither with Ieroboams then doe the deede Euen then God will work our deliuerance euen by themselues as heere the Diuell doth not onely not throw Christ downe but carries him safe away from this so tickle and dangerous a place But in the action it selfe of casting downe himselfe It had beene a great sinne in Christ to cast down himself it may be asked what sinne was in it Answ Reason 1 1. There was a manifest hazarding yea throwing away his life against the sixt commandement Life is a most precious gift of God and it ought not to be made so little of as to bee aduentured at Sathans pleasure This is a sinne that Sathan tempts still vnto and often preuailes to offer violence vnto their owne bodies by throwing downe themselues from high places by running to the water to the
Christian say I haue had more griefe in procuring thy displeasure by sinne then the worldlings haue had in the miscarriage of their corne and oyle 2. According to the greatnesse of the Euill must sorrow be proportioned Now of the two Euils the Euill of sinne is farre greater then the Euill of punishment For it is onely sinne that grieues the spirit of God and depriues vs of the fauour of God Affliction and Gods spirit can agree very well Therefore Dauid describing true blessednesse remooues nothing from it but sinne as being that which onely makes vs miserable Surely they the blessed men worke no iniquity And not surely they suffer no aduersitie Psal 119. 3. Sinne therefore being the greatest Euill craues the greatest sorrow 3. The precepts and examples in the Scripture shew as much Though in worldly sorrow baldnesse was forbidden the Iewes yet in sorrow for sinne it was commanded them The Lord calleth vnto mourning c. and vnto baldnesse Isay 22. 13. saith Esay A plaine argument of a greater sorrow expected for sinne then they ought to haue for any outward worldly crosse whatsoeuer Dauid sayes his eyes gushed out with riuers of water for other mens Psal 1 19. sinnes What then did they for his owne Great is that Hyperbole and it argueth an hyperbolicall and excessiue sorrow I caused my bed euery night to swim Psal 6. 6. and not only so but water my pallet that lies beneath my bed with my teares Implying that if his head could containe so much water the griefe of his heart could furnish it In the same sense doe some take that of the repenting Israelites that they drew 1. Sam. 7. water and powred it out before the Lord. And thus doth Zacharie describe the sorrow of true Repentants that euen after plenty of teares and lamentations Zach. 12. in publique yet the fountaine shall runne still in priuate and flow from the Church to the priuate closet euery soule mourning in secret by himselfe And which is strange that the lamentations of one poore woman weeping solitary in her closet shall equall that great mourning of the whole multitude in the valley of Megiddo for the death of Iosiah Farre then are they from Repentance who though they can cry and howle on their beddes when their money their houses their lands are gone what speake I of so great matters The death of a cowe or the losse of a few pigges will pinch them sore And yet their maine and fearefull sins could neuer yet draw so much as one teare from their eyes or fetch one sigh from their hearts Quest 1. Are Teares necessarily required in this sorrow Answ 1. Sometimes want of teares proceeds from abundance of griefe so oppressing the minde that it cannot ease it selfe by weeping As in him that weeping at the death of his friend could not yet weepe at the death of his owne sonne 2. Sometimes the constitution of the body will yeeld no teares The triall heere is the same as in the matter of memory If a man haue a naturall defect in his memory which is the cause hee can remember but very little of a sermon then neither will hee remember much of a tale of a play of worldly matters So if the constitution or complexion deny teares in sorrow for sinne neither will it affoord them in worldly sorrow But as thy ability to remember worldly matters when thou hast none to remember Gods argues no naturall infirmity but a sinnefull corruption of memory so is it heere If thou can weepe plentifully for worldly losses and yet haue dry cheekes for thy sins this is from the corruption of thy heart not from the constitution of thy body Quest 2. May not the childe of God feele more griefe for some worldly crosses then he doth for his sinnes Answ 1. Sorrow may be considered either as it is in the will and so it is nothing but the displeasure and dislike of that which the vnderstanding apprehendeth as euill Or as it is in the sensitiue faculty of the soule common with vs to the beasts In the former way Gods children feele greatest Thom. supplem qu. 4 art 1. Bellar. de poen l. 2. c. 11. sorrow for sinne Their will sanctified and directed by the spirit detests abhors nothing more then to sinne against God But yet all the children of God doe not feele such a sensible stinging smarting griefe for their sinne in the sensitiue faculty as they doe for diuers outward afflictions For the more corporall a thing is the neerer is it and more familiar to the sensitiue faculty and so pinches more there For example in extremity of tooth-ach or in the burning of ones finger there is a more sensible griefe felt then in a lingring feuer or then is sometimes in death it selfe And yet the will guided by right reason dislikes the feuer and death far more then the tooth-ach 2. Greatnesse of griefe may be measured either by the violent intension or by the constant continuance and duration Now that which is wanting to the griefe of Gods children for their sinnes the former way is recompenced and made vp in the latter Their griefe for sinne is not so extreamely violent because of the ioy and comfort of the holy Ghost which they feele in the middest of their heauinesse and yet this ioy doth not any way lessen the displeasure of our wils against sinne though it qualifie the sensible smart nay rather it encreases it For as ioy and delight in learning makes the scholler learne the better so delight in godly sorrow sets vs forward in it but yet as we sayd it mirigates the extremity of passion so that oftentimes the children of God are for the time more violently tormented for their crosses then for their sinnes As Dauid cried out vehemently O Absalom Absalom but not O Vriah Vriah Yet his griefe for Vriahs death was a more setled constant griefe as oftentimes the stillest waters are deepest My sinne is euer before me so was not Absolons death That was soon ouer Iob sayes that he possessed the sins of his youth Iob. 13. 26. euen in his olde age but he sayes not that he possessed the afflictions of his youth Time had worne away those sorrowes for they are but like a sudden dashing tempest but sorrow for sinne is like the still soft but soaking raines that wets to the very rootes The one is like a mighty torrent or land-flood soone dried vp or a blaze of thornes soone extinct the other like a little spring alwayes running or a constant fire holding out the whole day Ob. Wee are bidden reioyce alwayes how then can wee sorrow alwaies for our sinnes Answ 1. These two may well stand together because godly sorrow ministers matter to vs of ioy Let the Repentant alwaies sorrow and reioice Semper doleat poenitens de dolore gaudeat Pro. 14. in and for his sorrow saith Austin As in prophane ioy euen in
the euill that I thought to bring vpon them Thus the Nineuites repentance wrought repentance in God God saw their workes that they turned from their euill wayes and God repented of the euill that hee Ion 3. 10. had said he would doe vnto them and he did it not Thus by their repentance was the threatned sentence reuersed A strange thing as Chrysostome hath noted that the condemned Malefactors repentance should repeale the Iudges sentence and a thing altogether vnvsuall in the Courts of men yet in Gods court repentance doth not onely frustrate Gods owne casting sentence but turnes it into an acquitting sentence doth not onely turne backe the euills to be expected but brings the contrary blessings which could neuer bee expected That murtherous and adulterous marriage betwixt Dauid and Bathsheba how many heauy curses did it threaten yet they seriously repenting all curses turned into blessings Christ came of this marriage and Salomon the eldest sonne thereof was the most eminent man for gifts that euer was and in his posteritie did the kingdome continue for many generations Loe how Repentance was more powerfull to draw downe blessings then murther and adulterie both together with their vnited forces to bring downe curses For this is a certaine rule in all vnlawfull entrances into any Calling that After-Repentance is counteruayleable to a lawfull entrance and both keeps backe the punishments due to vnlawfull entrance and sometimes brings greater blessings of God then a lawfull entrance Wouldest thou then keep backe those plagues thy sinnes haue deserued the way is to repent Repent of thy sinne and God will repent of his plagues Gods anger is often in Scripture compared to fire now looke what power the elementary water hath against fire to quench it when it is beginning to flame and burst out the same vertue is in the water of the teares of Repentance to keep the fire of Gods wrath from breaking out vpon vs in his punishments This is the water that can only preuent the burning of this fire 2 Because sometimes notwithstanding our Repentance 2. Remouing God sees it fit to lay some chastisements vpon vs for the furtherance and increase of our repentance to shew his hatred of sinne and for the example of others as in Dauid punished with the losse of his child after his Repentance for his adulterie and in Ionah throwen into the sea after his repentance for his disobedience therefore though the power of repentance appeare not in keeping backe the affliction that it touch vs not yet appeares the power of it in the taking away of the affliction in due time If my people saith the Lord 2. Chro 7. 14. vpon whom my name is called doe humble themselues and pray and seeke my presence and turne from their 2. Chron. 33. wicked wayes then will I heare in heauen and be mercifull to their sinne and will heale their land After Manassehs repentance had broken the fetters of Sathan and his sinnes it also broke the yrons he was held in in prison And repentance was the same to him that the Angell was to Peter which opened Act. 12. the prison and loosed his fetters Loe the Angelicall vertue of repentance So Ionahs repentance was as a powerfull vomit to the Whale and made him cast him vp safe vpon the land Ionah his repentance was as powerfull as the three childrens faith It ouercame the fire of the whales belly as well as their faith the fire of Nebucadnezzars furnace yea it did not ouercome the fire onely but the water also in the Seas that they could not drowne him So Iob repenting recouered all his losses and receiued double riches and possessions 3. If afflictions still abide with vs and we cannot 3. Sweetning and sanctifying as yet be deliuered yet Repentance is a sweet comforter and so brings a mitigation of our afflictions If it cannot plucke out the poyson yet it shall turne it to wholsome food so that affliction shall be as no affliction and according to the Apostles counsell we shall weep as if we wept not If a man feele 1. Cor. 7. the grace of Repentance in his afflictions so that he can go to God and confesse and bewayle his sinnes calling vpon him for mercy and renewing his couenant with him his affliction shall not so much grieue him as this his repentance shall cheere and reioyce him For to say the truth in all our afflictions it is more our sinne then the affliction that pinches vs. Sinne is a thorne in the flesh which makes but the touch of the finger painfull whereas if that thorne were not the stroake of the whole hand might be endured without any paine Now repentance takes away that thorne that is sinne and so makes our afflictions both easy and comfortable None so meeke quiet patient silent and cheerefull in affliction as the Repentant sinner The more repentance the more ease in afflictions Onely the impaenitent are impatient He that hath two burdens on his backe at once must needs feele more trouble then he that hath onely one Now the impenitent sinner hath two burdens his affliction and his sinne which addes weight to his affliction and layes as it were the hand to presse it downe vpon vs. But the penitent sinner hath but one burden his affliction as for sinne the other burden his repentance hath eased him of it Therefore Dauid prayes Looke on my affliction and trauell and forgiue me my sinne Then is Psal 25. 18. our affliction eased when our sinne is forgiuen which cannot be without repentance for it is sinne onely that exasperates affliction and is as salt and vineger to a sore it is sinne that makes it smart Thus did Dauids repentance ease and sweeten the 2. Sam. 12. affliction of his childes death when by prayer fasting and such like exercises of Repentance he had remooued the cause of affliction his sinne his affliction was not bitter and burdensome but his Repentance inabled him cheerefully to rise vp and refresh himselfe And this is the reason why the children of God as hath been shewed haue alwaies in their afflictions afresh renewed their Repentance that they might if not wholy free themselues from their affliction yet from the stinge and torment of it and might gaine if not deliuerance from yet patience and comfort in it for this is the admirable power of Repentance that it turnes euen crosses into comforts losses into gaines and aduantages as contrarily impaenitent lying in sinne turnes comforts into crosses and helps into hinderances Ionah while he went on impaenitently in his disobedience the ship could not saue him nor all the skill of the Marriners but when he once repented then neither the waters could drowne him nor the heat of the fishes maw consume him When he was in his sinne then the windes the seas and all were against him when in repentance all for and with him the Sea and the Whales belly kept him safer then
vp to the wealthy nation that dwels without care which haue neither gates nor barres but dwell alone And their camels shall be a booty c. Men are neuer so fit a booty for Gods iudgements as when they are without care As generall hardnesse fore-runnes generall iudgments so in particular men their hardnesse goes before destruction See Ieroboams example Hee was reprooued by the Prophet for his idolatry the Altar cleft his hand dried vp and healed againe Any of these might haue cleft his heart and had wrought him to Repentance But yet after this Ieroboam conuerted not but turned againe to his idolatrous 1. King 13. 33 34. courses and continued in his impenitency and what was the issue of all this And this thing turned vnto sinne vnto the house of Ieroboam as who should say all that hee had done before had not turned to sinne had it not beene for this sin of his impenitency But this turned to sinne to his house euen to root it out and destroy it from the face of the earth Balaam hardening his heart against Gods command the Asses rebuke and the Angels sword returnes home by weeping crosse and he that would not returne for the Angels sword was afterward slaine by the sword of the Israelites So was Pharaohs Num. 31. 8. Exod 14. heart hardened to his destruicton in the sea So of the cities of Canaan it is sayd That it came of the Iosh 11. 20 Lord to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle to the iutent they should destroy them vtterly and shew them no mercy but that they should bring them to nought This is made the cause of Gods iudgements vpon Saul Saul died for his transgression against the Lord. Now what was his transgression first hee brake the commandement 1. Chron. 10. 13. 14. of God then he sought and asked counsell of a familiar spirit and last of all which was his sinning sinne after all this hee sought not to the Lord by Repentance therefore the Lord slue him 2. If any impenitent sinner doe escape some 2. Reseruation to worse iudgements temporal iudgements as often he may doth yet his impenitency turnes all his deliuerances but into further curses and iudgements and his deliuerance is a worse iudgement then the iudgements from which he is deliuered for it argues either Gods vtter forsaking of them as desperate patients are giuen ouer by the Physician Why should ye bee smitten any more for yee fall away more and more Or else it Isay 1. 5. argues a reseruation of them for some more fearefull plague If by these former iudgements before specified yee will not be reformed by me but walke stubbornely against me then I will walke stubbornely against you and smite you yet seauen times for your sins So that an impenitent mans preseruation out of one iudgement is but a further reseruation of him to seauen iudgements What mercy or fauour is this nay the mercy is seauen times a greater iudgement C ham was saued from the flood in the Arke but it Gen 9. was for a greater iudgement for his fathers and for Gods curse as good to be drowned as to bee cursed as good to die vnder the waters as to liue vnder a curse Pharaoh escaped many of the former Exod. 14. plagues vnder which the rest of the Aegyptians smarted he was but kept for the sea to be made a prey to the waters Lots wife escaped from Sodom but Gen. 19. Gen. 14. was turned into a pillar of salt The Sodomites were rescued out of the hand of Chedor-laomer but were Gen. 19. after consumed with fire and brimstone from heauen It had beene happy for them if they had bin still captiued slaues vnder Chedor-laomer So true is that of Amos that it is with wicked impenitent Amos 5. 19. sinners as if a man did flie from a Lyon and met with a Beare or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him As also that of Isaiah repeated Isay 24. 18. Ierem. 48 44. by Ieremy He that flyeth from the noyse of the feare shall fall into the pit and hee that comes vp out of the pit shall be taken in the snare Euen as good be in the pit still This is but out of the frying pan into the fire or as Ezekiel speakes out of one fire into Ezek. 15. 7. another fire and the last fire happily like Nebuchadnezzars furnace seauen times hotter then ordinary 3. Thirdly God will euen take pleasure in inflicting Gods delight in iudgement iudgement God indeed delights in mercy but mans impenitency will make him delight in iudgement Heereupon he threatens Loadicea Reuel 3. to vomit her foorth of his mouth if shee still went on impenitently in her luke-warmnesse God signifies by that phrase that hee would take pleasure and delight in their destruction as it giues great ease to the ouer-pressed stomacke to bee disburdened and eased by vomiting Such is that threatning Prou. 1. 24. 25. 26. Because I baue called and yee haue refused I haue stretched out mine hand and none would regard but yee haue despised my counsell and would none of my correction I will also laugh at Risus Dei longa grauiâ—r est ira Dei Quid Deus loquitur cum risu in legas cum luctu Augustin your destruction and mocke when your feare cammeth God is neuer more angry then when hee laughes Gods laughter is an heauier iudgement then his anger for when once hee comes to delight in his anger it is a signe his anger is implacable Wee haue most cause to weepe when God laughes 2. Spirituall euils procured by impenitency 2. Spirituall which are are these 1. Spirituall blindnesse and blockish senslesnesse 1. Spirituall blindnesse further hardnesse and obduration My people would not heare my voyce and Israel would none of mee See what was the punishment that followed vpon it So I gaue them vp to the hardnes of their harts Psal 81. 11. 12 they walked in their own counsels As if he had said Since they will harden their hearts their hearts shall be hardened since they will harden them against my mercy I will harden them in my iustice Thus was Balaam besotted thorough the hardnesse of his heart that hee could not see so much as the Asse did hee rode vpon And the Sodomites were smitten as well with a spirituall as a temporal iudgment of blindnesse So Pharaoh hardening his hart against each plague was also giuen vp to further hardnesse Thus the Apostle seemes to make this the cause of the Gentiles hardnesse of heart because Eph. 4. 18. 19. they being past feeling gaue vp themselues to wantonnesse to worke all vncleannesse with greedinesse So God punished their former hardnesse with further obduration So elsewhere he makes this the cause why they were giuen vp to a reprobate sense and a cauterized conscience