and when man was made and all that God saw all that he had made and loe it was very good as it was with his workes of Creation then so is it and so hath it bene for his preseruing and gouerning of things since so will it be for his bringing things to their set ends alwayes When God lookes vpon all the workes of his prouidence loe they are all good howsoeuer by mans degenerating there is malignitie in the world yet Gods worke in all as he hath a worke in all be things neuer so many and manfold is good If there were defect disorder deformitie or iniquitie in any of Gods workes his words in the 104 Psal touching this matter could not bee true that The glorious Maiestie of GOD shall endure for euer the Lord shall reioyce in his workes But somethings are so small and vile that they seeme vnworthy Gods gteatnesse and excellencie vt vermiculi pulices culices wormes fleas and gnats some things seeme for no vse no end as snow haile and raine into the sea some things are so vnseasonable and excessiue that they rather doe hurt then good as glutts of wette in seede time or haruest and scorching heate and dryeth when grasse should spring and grow Some things are so violent and inordinat that they seeme deadly mischieuous as fire sword famin pestilence shipwracks inundations some strange improbable against all reason preposterous as wicked men to flourish and insolently to beare sway good men to go to wracke and wrongfully to bee kept downe Some so dolorous so beyond all measure miserable that thousands seeme to haue iust cause to with the world rather had neuer beene then one thing should haue befallen that if it had pleased GOD might easily not haue bin viz. Adams fal What good hath man what reioycing what glory hath God by any of these especially the last That God had his hand in all these wee cannot deny but let vs take heede wee be not so weake or so hardie for our lines so much as in a thought to tax GOD in his prouidence for doing any thing amisse in all the world For their satisfaction that are willing to learne we will by Gods helpe giue answeres to the doubts before cast and such answeres as well taken and well applyed may giue resolution to any doubt of this kinde that can be moued Where Dauid beginneth his 148. Psal with O praise the Lord of heauen praise him in the height I pray you note that hee goes on reckoning vp not onely the holiest the likeliest and the most glorious creatures in heauen and earth but euen the verie vnlikeliest that a man could imagine the dragons that seeme and are mischieuous all depths for all that some of them seeme and are to vs bottomlesse fire for all it is felt merciles baile snow and vapours for all they seeme superfluous winde stormes for all they are tumultuous the very beasts and cattle for all they are vnreasonable the creeping worme for all it so contemptible these all fulfill his word that is doe that in their kinde which God by his secret operation inableth and directeth them vnto This men ought to know and acknowledge and not to be ignorantlie nor obstinatlie contentious How can these things praise the Lord Quum ipsorum consideratione laudatur Deus ipsa laudant Deum When by mans due consideration of these thinges God is praised then do these things praise the Lord Vos considerantes dracones when you consider the draḡos take good notice of him that made the dragons and when you doe wonder at the dragons and at the greatnesse of God that maketh the dragons then doe the dragons out of your mouths praise the Lord. Quis disposuit membra pulicis et culicis who hath disposed in order the partes or limmes of the flea gnar they haue their proportion they haue their life their motion they fly death they loue life they seeke after that they delight in they shunne they auoyd that which troubleth them they haue sense they are quick and actiue in a motion that is kinde vnto them Quis disposuit ista quis fecit ista expauescis in minimis lauda magnum who hath made who hath ordered these art thou at thy wits end considering these little creatures O giue praise to the almighty Creator Quifecit Angelum in coelo fecit vermiculum in terra hee that made the Angel in heauen made the little worme on the earth did he make the Angels to creepe vpon the slymie ground or the worms to be glorious in the highest heauens Distribuit sedibus habitatores he hath rightly distributed to inhabitants their dwellings eternall habitations to immortal creatures to corruptible creatures corruptible places Totum attende totum lauda Consider all the order of Gods works thou shalt see cause enough to praise God for all All this most excellently hath S. Augustine vpon the 148. Psal Againe the same godlie and learned father Quare in mare pluit why raines it into the sea Quasi non sint c. as though there be not saith he Gods creatures fishes there which are refreshed cherished with the raine water At quare pisci pluit et mihi nou pluit aliquando why doth it raine to cherish the fish when man lacks rayne sometimes vt cogites that thou mayst think thou art in the world as in a desert in a iourney not at home Vt amarescat tibi haec vita that this present life may grow distastfull vnto thee that thou maist be desirous of the life to come or else that thou beeing a sinner mayest be for thine amendment well corrected But why doe lightning and Thunder beate vpon the mountaines to no purpose and not strike downe the theefe that robbeth there that were some iustice peraduenture God seeketh the conuersion of that theefe Euen thou thy selfe sometimes saith that good father when thou schoolest thy childe doest beate the ground to make him afraide but somtimes God strikes the true man and lets the theefe go what then vndecunque mors pio bona est howsoeuer a good man cometh by his end he dies wel And thou knowest if the wicked man repent not he is reserued for other manner of punishments in an other world and thou little knowest the shame and torments which peraduenture hee shall abide before he goes out of this Quicguid ergo accoidit whatsoeuer therfore happeneth otherwise then we would haue it know that it is not otherwise then God would haue it It is according to his prouidence his order and though we vnderstand not why things are made why this or that is thus and thus done or disposed let vs attribute thus much to the prouidence of God that it is not done without cause nor without good cause so shall we not blaspheme The conclusion is Quum ceperimus disputare when wee beginne to make dispute about the workes of God why this is and why that hee should not haue
done this or that was ill done vbi est laus dei perdisti Halleluiah where is thy praising the Lord thou hast lost thy Hallettuah thy praising the Lord. To this purpose very diuinely one of the most godly and learned of all the fathers S. Augustine vpon the 148. Psalme By this we may perceiue that euen the smallest creatures in their kind magnifie their Creator that that which seemes to the ignorant and inconsiderat needlesse and vnprofitable is indeed necessarie and beneficiall And besides that when God by any meanes taketh away our prouision heer it is to weane vs hence or to chastice vs with want for abusing plentie with warre for abusing peace with sicknesse and weaknesse for abusing health and strength with false friends for abusing true friends with vnkindnesse where we loue well for our ingratitude to him that loueth vs better with crossings in our businesse for our negligence in his seruice and ye any of these or all these are but gentle and louing corrections to his children for their amendment but with the gracelesse and impenitent it is not so let them ruffle it neuer so much for a while bewate their end plague vpon plague remaines for them which they shall not be able to auoide for God faileth not in his vncontrouleable prouidence to see them payd that they haue deserued This perplexed Dauid at the heart as we may read in his 73. Psalme when he saith My feete were almost goue my treadtings had well nigh slipt and why I was grieued at the wicked I do also see the vngodly in such prosperitie and I said then haue I clensed my heart in vaine and washed my hands in innocencie all the day long haue I beene punished and chastened euery morning Yea I had almost said euen as they then should I haue condemned the generation of Gods children then thought I to vnderstand this but it was too hard for me vntill I went into the sanctuarie of God there vnderstood I the end of these men namely how thou doest set them in slipperie places and castest them downe and destroyest them O how suddenly do they consume perish come to a fearfull end That which Dauid learned in Gods sanctuarie that he teacheth vs in this Psalme It is worth the remembring and applying by your selues We read in Genesis a notable worke of Gods prouidence in Ioseph how God brought him to great honor and conforted him on euery side how God prouided him to prouide for old Iacob and all his The meanes vsed were some very meane some very vnlikely and some almost impossible yet all in Gods order direct and by his power effectuall-Who would haue thought that of a boy keeping sheepe in Chanaan one should come to be the chiefest man vnder the King in Aegypt that a dreame or two a thousand to one but so many idle fansies should import and presage matter of such weight consequence and state that brethrens hatred should be the way to brethrens loue that to be bought and solde as a bondslaue into a strange Country to be cast and kept in prison as a malefactor should be the way to libertie to more then libertie to a place of highest honour in the Court in all the Kingdome So God wrought it and ordered it for Ioseph And touching Adams fall and so touching any actual sinne there is Actio and there is Prauitas actionis the action it selfe is not sinne God is the author of the action the deformitie or iniquitie of the action that 's sinne and that God is no author of The godly learned illustrate this familiarly thus The rider causeth the horse to go the horse goeth lame that he goeth the rider is the cause that he goeth deformedly lame that 's of the horse and not of the rider The soule of a man is it that causeth the body to moue The body hath receiued some wound or festers with some old sore it moues it moues deformedly lamely the motion is of the quickning soule the lamenesse is of the wounded or corrupt body But touching the sinne is God no way the author of it No way in the world as it is sinne For first to be able to sinne argues impotency which cannot be found in omnipotencie and to cause to sinne is to bring forth more properly a defect then an effect But God hardened Pharaohs heart not by making it hard that was not but by denying him grace to mollifie his heart which God is not bound to giue him nor any man But answer the Prophets words in the 3. of Amos Shall there be euill in a citie and the Lord hath not done it I answer that this is meant of Malum paenae not culpae of punishments which are iust and which God iustly inflicteth vpon sinners to their smart and griefe not of any euill that is of any offense or fault that God commits or causes any to commit What was Absoloms in cest It was both a sinne and a punishmènt a sinne in Absolom a punishment to Dauid the punishment was iust and of God the incest sinfull shamefull that was Absoloms Take with you this rule in our learning in diuinitie which is a sound rule in this case Cum eiusdem effectus plures sunt causae aliae bonae aliae malae effectus ille respectu bonarum causarum bonus est respectu vitiosarum malus Admit there concurre diuerse causes to one effect that effect in respect of good causes shall be a good effect in respect of vitious causes euill But God at least permitteth sinne as it is sinne or he doth not permit it If he permit it not how can it be If he permit it either he doth it with or against his will If against his will how then is God omnipotent that he cannot stop it If with his will how then is God all goodnesse that he will not stop it If it be neither with nor against his will but that he lets things go neuer heeding them off or on where is his prouidence that workes so carefully and so effectually in all I answer First that Gods will is considered as it is sometimes occulta secret sometimes as it is manifesta reueiled alwayes as it is iusta iust Secondly that sinnes are not measured by the secret will of God at all but by his reueiled will which is his lawe and therfore though we graunt a permission in Gods secret wil of that which is sinne yet God in that willes nothing as sinne for as nothing can be done against his secret will so no sinne is measured by it and therefore nothing is to be called sinne with respect vnto it This beeing certaine then still I say that sinne as it is sinne is not of God But how can any thing be against Gods reuealed will and not bee against his secret will they beeing one as they are diuersly considered to be secret and to be a reuealed are diuerse considerations in one the selfe same respect nothing
deliuer them and the holy ghost in the 1. to the Hebrues teacheth that they are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for their sakes which shall be heires of saluation When they are seene they haue some shape giuen them for the time that they are not seene it is for that they are spirits which are inuisible to men seene to men or vnseene God seeth them and vseth them and they are his mightie meanes to preserue and to destroy The bad Angels and all God vseth to punish sinners and for the tryall sometimes of the best men as of Ioh. Besides Angels ministring spirits God hath the heauenly bodies with their light motion and iufluence which they haue all of God to worke vnder him in the world as in his Prouidence hee hath appointed Moses in the 1. of Genesis and Dauid in the 136 Psal teach vs that God made the Sunne to rule the day the moone and the starres to gouerne the night God himself in the 38 of Ioh testifieth of a set course of the heauens and of a pourefull rule of theirs ouer the earth of the Pleiades and their sweete influence the starres as learned and godly men take it which bring in the spring time Of Orion and the loosing of his bands a starre which bringeth in winter of Mazoroth and their times the 12 signes of guiding Arcturus and his sonnes which are likewise noted to signifie the north starre and those thereabout In the 9. of Ioh wee reade of Gods countermanding those great Rulers of the world the sunne to rise or not and of God his closing vp the starres as vnder a signet Besides the heauens God hath other his creatures too as his effectuall meanes to the maintenance gouernment and ordering of the whole In the 2. of Hosea God saith I will heare the heauens and they shall heare the earth and the earth shall heare the corne the wine and the oyle and they shall heare Israel That is God is the fountaine of all excellencie of power and virtue to the heauens the heauens shed downe their influences into the earth the earth giueth nourishment to the corne iuycé to the wine fatnesse to the oyle all these are to inable and stirre vp man with gladnesse and cheerefunesse to serue vnder God in his prouidence as he hath appointed How men are this way God his meanes may appeare by a viewe of mens states in this land publique and priuat Their gouernment and their maintenance In publique the king in his kingdomes is immediately vnder God ouer the Church and common wealth he exerciseth his soueraigne gouernment assisted by his Council Vnder the King ouer the Church are the Arch bishops and Bishops and the rest of his Maiesties ecclesiasticall gouernours The Common wealth is to be considered as it is in peace or as it may haue warres In warres are noble men especially to be generals men of worth only to be captaines commanders and officers In peace Cities and great Townes are ordinarily gouerned by their Maiors Aldermen and others of the better sorte Countries abroade by the Peeres of the Land the Iudges of the land the Iustices inferior officers vnder them Priuat houses are either for learning or for hous-keeping In societies of learned men the heads and auncients are to gouerne the yonger In those that ave for houskeeping and hospitalitie are the husband and the wife to rule their farnilie children and seruants In great mens houses chiefe officers in their places are to command the rest of the houshold I hus for gouernment Now for maintenance the King is to haue it royally of his subiects the Landlord rightfully of his tenents the Churchmen liberally by the Church liuings the Lawyers and Phisitions duely by their fees the Souldier is to liue on his pay the Merchant by his trafficke the husbandman by his flocke and tillage the crafts man by his hands the seruant by his wages the poore and impotent by almes and beneuolence I cannot remember all but you may see by these how God doth vse men his meanes for gouernment and maintenance one of another The next note is that God worketh immutably first God is immurable himselfe the Holy ghost teacheth it vs in the 1. of Iames With God is no variablenesse nor shadow by turning In his essence he is immutable Malachi 3. I am the Lord I change not In his decrees the 19. of the Prouerbs The Counsil of the Lord shal stand In the execution of his decrees Esai 14. The Lord of hosts hath sworne saying Surely like as I haue purposed so shall it come to passe That nothing shall preuent him or preuaile against him the 27. of the same chap. The Lord of hosts hath determined it and who shall dis mull it and his hand is stretched out and who shall turne it away That this holds not in some places onely but in all againe the same Prophet at the 26. verse of the same 14. chapter This is the counsil that is consulted vpon the whole world and this is the hand stretched out ouer all the nations Now notwithstanding all this that we see the Sunne doth rise and set the Moone doth wax and wane the sea doth ebbe and flowe the yeare hath winter and sommer that weather proues faire and foule grasse greene and withered flowers fresh and fading fruits ripe and rotten that men in their minds prone off and on in their bodies sicke and healthie in their states rich and poore in yeares yong and old All these changes and all else argue not that in God the creator there is mutatio voluntatis but that God doth velle mutationem in creatura God wils the change in the creature The effects may be diuerse yea contrarie though the cause be one The cause of all effects is God in him there is no mutabilitie though multiplicitie of power God determineth second causes So that in respect of God there is no casualtie of effects though there be varietie Whatsoeuer God ordaineth in respect of God is necessarily that that it is it can be no otherwise God worketh immutably in his prouidence The last note touching the manner of Gods working in his prouidence is that he doth all things well nothing ill God commandeth in 1. Cor. 14. That in his house which is his Church All things be done honestly and by order As in the Church so will God haue it in the comon wealth too and as in publique states euen so in priuat houses also In the same chap. 33. ver God is said not to be the author of Confusion In the 9. to the Rom. there is a question asked whether there be vnrighteoushes with God the answer is in the same place God forbid It is true that is in the 11. of Wisdome God hath ordered all things in measure number and weight And it is worthie to be noted which is in the 1. of Gen. and so often repeated at the Creation That God saw that it was good