Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	evil_a	good_a	see_v	2,875	5	3.5208	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01935	Certaine sermons preached upon severall occasions viz. The vvay to prosper. The vvay to be content. The vvay to vvell-doing. A summer sermon. A vvinter sermon. Vnknowne kindnesse. The poore mans hope. By Iohn Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex.	Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to prosper.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to be content.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to well-doing.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Summer sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Winter sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Unknowne kindnesse.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Poore mans hope.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Oracle of God.	1636 (1636)	STC 12071; ESTC S120526	199,234	334

have begun entreate you to beare it contentedly whether you deserve it or deserve it not If thou doest deserve it and that by thy scandalous life thou hast throwne this dirt in thy owne face then be content and be sorry for what thou hast done and God shall repay and make up thy good name againe wee have his owne promise for it by his owne Prophet Zeph. 3. 11. In that day thou shalt not be ashamed for all thy doings wherein thou hast transgressed against me the meaning is that in the day of thy repentance God will take from thee not thy sin onely but thy shame too David by his great sinnes had in a manner quite broken his good name insomuch that his enemies began to insult and make songs upon him to disgrace him utterly yet because he was a penitent man God upon his repentance repayred his good name and he dyed saith the text full of riches and Honour first of Chronicles Chap. ult not of riches onely but of honour too all his dishonour was done away and he left a reverend and renowned name behind him when hee had gotten credit with God hee got credit with men too In a word if thou desirest that others should speake well of thee see thou have a care to doe well unto thy selfe Psal 59. 18. Si benefeceris tibi If thou dost well unto thy selfe men will speake good of thee So that it lies in a mans selfe it is in his own hand to make himselfe a good name or a bad one So long as a man doth well to himself i spends his time well serves his God well leades his life well and husbands his estate well so long he shall be sure to be well thought of and well spoken of but if he doe ill to himselfe take an ill course leade an ill life and follow ill company c. if he be then ill-spoken of he must thanke himselfe and he may say to himselfe as the heart of Apollodorus the tyrant seemed to say to him who dreamed one night that he was steade by the Scythians and that his heart cried unto him out of the Caldron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is I that have brought thee to all this Therefore if thou deservest to be ill-spoken of amend thou thy selfe and God will amend thy name But if thou be ill spoken of and deservest it not though the crosse be great the comfort is the greater for doe but rest contented and God will finde a time to bring thy innocency to light Looke how God doth with secret sinnes to bring them to light that are done in darkenesse so will he doe by secret innocency Iosephs uprightnesse was in secret none saw it or knew it but onely God and himselfe as for his mistresse shee accused him belied and slandered him and was beleeved poore Joseph either pleaded not for himselfe or his plea was not heard nor credited yet God found a time to cleare it and bring it to light so let the world raise what slanders they will looke how hee did with Ioseph so will hee deale with thee for he is a God that changeth not In the meane time doe not take too much to heart the reproches of thy enemies but pray as Austin did plue mihi mitigationes in cor ut patienter tales feram Oh my God showre downe thy gentle appeasings into my heart that I may patiently beare with such men as these Pray I say to God that hee would pacifie thy owne heart and mollifie thy enemies hearts and that 's the way to be Content 4 Mephibosheths case to be crost by perfidious friends and servants I confesse it is a hard case when such as are Viri pacis and Viri panis as the Prophet speakes that eate of a mans bread and professe friendship and love and service to a man when they shall go about to undermine him and worke him out of favour and out of his fortunes too yet the world is full of such Zibaes that care not how they collogue nor whom they slander for their owne private advantage If they see a man to be a cripple as it were that he cannot go to speake for himselfe nor come in place to answer for himselfe and to tell his owne tale he shall be sure to have his tale told for him by some that he little dreamt of that will do him a displeasure and he shall never know who hurt him Thus did Ziba deale with Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 19. 30. yet see how patiently how contentedly that good man put it up when David spake of dividing the land with Ziba Let him take all saith Mephibosheth seeing my Lord the King is come home in peace Here is the voyce of one that is a true servant to his God and a true subject to his King such a man is really content that the devils pioners I meane undermining flatterers should take all they can get and get all they can take either by Hophnies Fleshhooke 1 Sam. 2. or by those Nets and Dragges that the Prophet speakes of Hab. 1. 15. let them hooke hale and drag together the Devill and all as some I thinke will doe A contented man had rather with Mephibosheth loose all part with all and be stript of all he hath so he may but have leave to enjoy the favour of his God the safety of his Soveraigne and the peace of his owne conscience to himselfe Well if it be thy hard hap to be thus abused and undermined by a trecherous Ziba that beares thee faire in hand and secretly endeavours to worke thee out of all yet learne of Mephibosheth to be content though thou goest by the worse and desire of God as David did to stand thy friend in such a case sponde pro servo t●o in bonum Answer for thy servant in the thing that is good Psal 119. 122. as if he had said Lord thou hearest and seest how unjustly I am calumniated and evill spoken of in many places where I am not nor may not come to answer for my selfe therefore Lord doe thou answer for me or stirre up some good body to pleade my cause and speake in my behalfe Subarrha servumtuum so some translate it be surety for thy servant if they will not beleeve mee nor give credit to my words when I speake in my owne defence be thou O Lord a surety for me passe thy word for my truth and sincerity for thou knowest my cause is good Be surety for thy servant in the thing that is good Thus doe see thy cause be good thy conscience cleare thy heart unguilty of the great offence and then commend thy case to God let God alone to answer for thee And that is the way to be Content 5 The Cripples case Ioh. 5. to be crost in ones preferment as he was that lay 38. yeares at the poole of Bethesda waiting for a good houre and still one or other stept in before him and intercepted him of his

from the evill man Tu noli tibi esse malus liberet te Dominus à te c. Be not thou an evill man to thy selfe pray to God to deliver thee from thy selfe being an evill man and of an evill man to make thee a good man that thou maiest not hurt thy selfe and then never feare any hurt that any other evill man can doe thee Wee say Nemo laeditur nisi à seipso No man takes any hurt but he may thanke himselfe his owne sinne is the cause of it were it not for sinne heaven could have no quarrell against us hell could have no power over us our sinnes are they that hurt us they are those that undoe us The Scripture speakes of sinne lying at the doore Gen. 4. 7. If thou dost ill sinne lies at the doore Of all doore keepers in the world sinne is the worst for if that lie at the doore it doth a double mischiefe it keepes Gods blessing out and it lets Gods judgement in therefore if you desire to dwell in saferie and to prosper in your familie let not sinne lie at your doore as long as that lies there without repentance you must never looke to prosper The Scripture speakes of some that are sonnes of Belial and daughters of Belial the sonnes of Eli were sonnes of Bel al Sam. 2. and 1. Hannah saith to Eli Count not thy hand-maid for a daughter of Belial Now a son of Belial is taken generally for one exceedingly wicked the very child of the devill that lives absque jugo without a yoake without any feare of God before his eyes but it seemeth to be derived of Beli which signifies without and jagnal which is to be profitable or to prosper and so Belial noteth such a one as is altogether unprofitable and which cannot shall not prosper If any such be here or if any of you that be here finde your selves to be such that you are unprofitable members of the Common-wealth that you doe cannot prosper in your course of life I will not say yee are sonnes of Belial what have I to doe to judge you onely this let mee advise you that you would consider with your selves what sinne it is that lies at your doores and keepes Gods blessing out Remove but that drive but that a way by a sincere repentance and reformation of life and then there is hope to prosper We see it is the nature of a streame if it be stopt in his course that he cannot make a way in his wonted channell it will turne in upon it selfe and flow backe againe towards the fountaine and to the place it came from so when you finde your selves stopt in your proceedings that you cannot make away into the world so prosperously so succesfully as you desire then doe as the streame doth remeate flow backe reflect recoyle and turne in upon your selves to see where the fault lies what sinne is the cause of it for that 's the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the object or barre that hinders good things from us and when you have turned backe into your selves then turne forward unto your God desire him to pardon and amend you and that 's the way to prosper I have not yet done with this point I beseech you give me leave and I beseech God give mee grace that I may apply it severally and effectually to your soules and consciences for application is the life of all instruction a thing proved is true to all but it is good to none but onely to them to whom it is applied Let me intreat therefore your patient attention yet a little longer and you shall heare what I have to say unto you not in any biting or galling manner I never delighted in that straine but in gentlenesse and mildnesse to teach you how to prosper First you that are tradesmen Shop-keepers Handicrafts-men that have nothing to betake to but what your honest labours and endeavours must helpe you to doe you desire to prosper in your trades and callings then seeke the Lord before you set to worke doe as they doe at Sea that have oculos ad coelum manus ad clavum their hand upon the helme and their eye upon the heaven so when a mans hand is upon his worke and his heart upon his God then is his businesse like to prosper Contrariwise he that sets to his worke before he seekes to his God takes a preposterous course and commonly thrives thereafter You know what Peter confest to Christ Master we have laboured all night and taken nothing and no marvell for Christ was not with him in the Ship as soone as ever hee had gotten Christ immediatly he had good successe Beleeve it brethren except Christ be with a man in his Shop as he was with Peter in his Ship there 's no good to be done in any trade What 's the reason that so many Tradsmen breake and hide their heads and runne away but because they have not sought the Lord nor gotten Christ unto them they first breake with God then breake with men first lose their credits with God and then ' its just with God they should lose their credits with men first leave their honestie then lose their prosperitie if you desire therefore that your dealings should prosper and your trading hold and thrive get Christ into your shops and hee will bring you in Customers hee will blesse your takings hee will uphold you that you shall never breake but if ye expell Christ out of your shops by your wickednesse as Peter out of weakenesse would have had Christ beene gone out of his Ship saying Lord goe from me for I am a sinfull man then farewell all good fortune and never looke to prosper And if you would have Christ to keepe with you to dwell and make his abode with you and so to blesse and prosper you then be sure that you use a good conscience in all your dealings take heede you do not deale with your Customers as the Prophet Amos complaines of the dealers in his time Amos 8. 5. That they made the Ephah small and the Shekle great that is they made the measure little and the price great take heed of that 't is an abomination to the Lord and hee that useth it shall never prosper Remember the saying Iob cap. 8. 5. 6. Seeke the Lord and be upright and he will make the habitation of thy righteousnesse prosperous 3 You that have occasion to travell by land or by water that have any journey to goe that you desire should prosper then seeke to God before you set out of doores take God along with you request his company crave his conduct and guidance pray as Eleazer did Gen. 24. 12. O Lord God of my master Abraham I beseech thee send me good speed this day and God heard him and granted his desire hee sped as well as his heart could wish If thou wouldst be prosperous and speed well be religious and pray well for hee that

his lading but still desires to take in more As a ship may be over laden with gold and silver even unto sinking and yet have compasse and sides enough to hold ten times more so a covetous man though he hath enough to sinke him he never hath enough to satisfie him As a dog may have his stomack cram'd usque ad vomitum till he cast it up againe and yet his appetite is stil unsatisfied for he presently returnes to his vomite againe so a covetous miser though he cramme his chests with gold his garners with corne his deskes with bils and bonds yet his lust is never satisfied his minde is never wearied which makes the Lord even to wonder at it and aske usque quo How long Ther 's no end of a covetous mans desires he never leaves clogging and lading himselfe till he and his load perish together Take heede therefore of ill gotten riches Quia onerant because they load the soule and hinder it in its passage to heaven and in that sence are an enemie to mans contentment 2 Quia corrumpunt because ill-gotten riches corrupt a mans conscience and make him worse than otherwise he would or could be 1 Tim. 6. 9. They that will be rich fall into many temptations snares and lusts which drowne men in perdition and destruction Marke that he doth not say they that are rich for a man may be divinitùs dives divinely rich or rich to God I meane rich and godly too as Moses is said to be divinitus venustus divinely faire or faire to God Act. 7. 20. so the originall hath it Neither is it said They that would be rich if God so pleased to blesse them by just and honest wayes But they saith the Apostle that will be rich that set downe this for their resolution Rich they will be by right or by wrong they are those that corrupt themselves and runne the hazzard of their soules It is the conceit of Tertullian that even Iudas carried himselfe honestly and rightly Vsque ad loculorum officium till he came to carry the Bagge that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Evangelists word is the purse or tongue as it signifieth For Iudas thought as all covetous men doe that the purse is the best tongue a man can use to speak for himselfe upon any occasion when once he came to that to be a master of money he grew into such a devilish humour of covetousnesse that rather than h● would be out of takings he would sell his very Saviour and a faire match he made for as Austin saith Iudas sold his salvation and the Scribes and Pharisees bought their damnation and all for a little money No marvell the Apostle cals the love of money the roote af all evill t is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the matter of money but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the love of money that is the Roote of all evill And why the roote I thinke for two causes 1. Because a roote is of a spreading of a growing nature specially if planted in a fruitful soyle Such is the corrupt heart of man if Satan can but once fasten that wicked roote of covetousnesse in a mans heart water it as he will with suggestions t is wonderful how it wil spread and grow and encrease continually more and more Or secondly some say it is called the Roote because it is with a man as with a tree in winter ther 's sap and life in the roote when ther 's little or none to be seene in the branches So in old and frosty age when other vices and lusts decay then covetousnesse holds life in the roote and a man will be covetous when he hath not strength to be other wayes vitious But why is it called the Roote of all evill for t is not the roote of prodigality ryot c. I take it the meaning is of all gainefull evils if so be that ryot and prodigality were as gainefull evils as basenesse and misery a covetous man would be as inclineable to the one as to the other Labour then to pull up this same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Roote of bitternesse and desire God to plant the sweete and comfortable grace of true contentednesse in your hearts that you may be so farre from being carried away with the love of money that you may account it as the Apostle speakes but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but drosse but dung but offall but filth and garbage in respect of Christ and a good conscience 3. Quia cruciant because they vexe and greeve and paine the soule Our Saviour Christ compares them to thornes thornes you know are painefull things painefull in the piercing but more painefull in the pulling out so are ill-gotten riches painefull in the getting but most painefull in the going out when these thornes come to be pluckt out by the hand of death that a man and his riches must part then is the paine then is the woe for now mens hearts are hardned their consciences seared they have as the Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kinde of hornyhoofe growne over their soules like the brawny hardnesse that growes upon a labourors hands or a travellers feete that makes them insensible of any paine Oh but when death comes to pare off this crustinesse and leaves nothing to stand betwixt a mans soule and his sins then is the anguish of ill-gotten goods when he is searched to the quicke and his life lies a bleeding then let him say whether ungodly riches be not paineful things Zophar gives them a worse Epithet than thornes and likens them to poysons Iob 20. 12. Sugred poysons goe downe pleasantly Oh but when they are downe they gall and gnaw and gripe the very heart-strings asunder if there be not extraordinary remedy So do ill-gotten goods go downe like sugred poysons and so please the palats of covetous men that they cannot forbeare them nor will they Oh but there will come a time of wringing and ruing for all this They say the Italians will give a man a poyson that shall not kill him till a long time after such poysons are ill-gotten riches would you know the reason why they doe not trouble mens consciences now itis because the poyson doth not yet work when God in judgement sets this Poyson a working which they themselves have taken long agoe then as the Prophet Esay saith Chap. 3. 9. Woe be unto your souls for they have rewarded evill to themselves If a man should have a Diamond curiously cut into sharp angles in his body or in his bladder no man would account him a rich man but a miserable and a dead man even such is the state of him that hath swallowed downe the guilt of ill-gotten gaine it will one day torment him more than ever it enriched him so that the pleasure of the one shall never countervaile the paine of the other Take heede therefore and beware of ill-gotten riches Quia cruciant though

well-doing if they have once done a good worke they thinke they have a supersedeas for doing good any more But God loves constancy in well-doing 〈…〉 see 2. Reg. 13. 18 19. how the man of God was wroth with the King of Israel because when he bade him smite upon the ground he smote but thrice and stayed sayth he thou shouldest have smitten five or sixe times then shouldest thou have smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it whereas now thou shalt smite it but thrice So when a man shall doe two or three good deedes and then stay his hand this is not enough to please God then is God pleased when wee proceede and goe on and keepe a constant setled course of weldoing when wee make it as our meat and drinke to doe the will of our heavenly father so that as a healthfull man if hee eate or drinke the lesse one day hee ●ates and drinkes the more another day so should wee if wee serve God the lesse one day serve him the more another day if wee doe the lesse good one day doe the more the next day as an Archer if he shoote amisse one time he will try to mend it the next time so if we have done amisse one day strive to amend it the next day and so continually endeavour to rede●me our times because our dayes be few and evill Doubtlesse it is for this cause that God hath layd such a charge upon us to affirme these things constantly that they might be alwaies fresh in your remembrance and alway constant in our practise You know what is said in the Gospel Blessed is that servant whom his master when he commeth shall finde so doing that is when death or judgement shall come upon a man like a theefe in the night unexpectedly and unawares blessed of God is that man that is found at his prayers or taken in his calling or any waies taken in the act of well-doing but woe to that man or woman that is taken as it were napping in the midst of his sinnes as Balthashar was taken in the midst of his cups Nebushadnezzar in the midst of his pride the old world in the midst of their fleshline to speake the best of it that may be it is much to bee feared that God meanes no good to that parties soule I will close up 〈…〉 with that sweete and comfortable Collect Lord let thy speciall grace now and ever more prevent and follow us and make us continually to be given to all good workes through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen But that is not all I take it 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies rather to affirme strongly ex tote valde as we say to presse it home withall the strength and might we have though you neglect and slight good workes in your practise wee must not slight nor neglect them in our preaching but set them on as the Bee doth her sting with the greatest force and efficacie that possibly we can put to it I know there is as great difference betweene preachers as betwixt an infant and a Gyant drawing the same bow and yet if a Gyant shoote an arrow against a stone wall it pierceth not but reboundeth backe againe with the greater violence so the most happie the most able preacher that lives may shoot as unprofitably I meane preach as unsuccessefully as a weaker teacher if hee meete with people that have stones in their hearts I meane that are untractable and unpliable to any goodnesse unlesse God doe by them as he promised by his prophet Ezech. 11. I will take away your stony hearts and give you a heart of flesh non ●arnale sed carn●um not a fleshly heart but a fleshy hears that is a heart that shall bee as tender as your flesh that the least blow will bee seene upon it and the least pricke of a pin draw blood of it when God hath made this way then shall they feele that the word of God is virga virtutis a rod of strength and power even in the hand of the weakest minister wee see by experience let a little child take a staffe in his hand and strike a man therewith it never troubles him he never complaines of the blow but let a strong man take this child by the hand and strike with the same staffe he that feeles the blow though he see not the party that strooke him can easily conjecture that this was more then a child could doe there was the strength of some man in it In like manner when wee take the word of God into our hands as Gehazi tooke the staffe of Elisha al●● we lay it on but weakely we doe but Verbera●● 〈…〉 beate the ayre or beate your eares that is all that we of our selves can doe but if at any time you feele a blow that lights upon your hearts if you feele a word that toucheth you to the soule beleeve it that stroke came from the hand of God All that we can doe is but as Iohn Baptist speaketh Mat. 3. to lay the Axe to the r●ote of the tree now if a man take an Axe and onely lay it to the roote of a tree it will be long enough ere the tree be cut downe for it is the strength of the arme and the fetching of the blow it is that that wounds it it is that that fells it downe and for that cause I suppose the preaching of the word is called the Arme of God Esa ●3 1. it is not the hand of a preacher but it is the ●rme of God that wounds a sinners heart and makes him fall downe at the foote of God the weakenesse is from us but the strength is all from God who yet hath commanded us not to abate any thing of our owne paines nor to preach his word in any negligent manner but to affirm● and confirme it with all the strength and might that our witt and learning will afford 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith my text These things I will that thou affirme strongly And so from the skirts as it were I come to the body of my text where you have an abridgement of the law and the Gospel the Gospel is doctrina credendorum the law is doctrina agendorum the one teacheth us what wee ought to beleeve the other teacheth what wee ought to doe for the comfort and discharge of our owne soules in the sight of God Here both are knit together Beleeving and doing Law and Gospel Faith and good workes doe in our text as they should doe in our lives even meete and kisse each other Intimating unto us what Gods good pleasure is in this behalfe namely That as many as are of a right faith as many as have beleeved in God should be also of aright conversation should be carefull to maintaine good workes 1. For matter of faith I suppose that of all men living we Protestants are in the right the Faith that we professe and hold is doubtlesse such as is able

unrighteous men from having to doe with him and make choise of one that is right-wise and honest to smite and to reprove him for such a one will doe it sine contumeliâ without disgrace 4 Sine adulatione without flattery without abetting or justifying a man in his evill courses For there is as one hath well observed a twofold Iustification 1 A Iustification of a sinner from his sinnes 2 A Iustification of a sinner in his sinnes the first is an act of Gods mercy the second is an act of mans flattery the former is an happy an blessed thing when God is pleased in mercy to justifie and acquit to discharge and free a guilty soule from the bond and punishment of all his sinnes by the merits and by the bloud and by the Spirit of Iesus Christ The latter is a wofull and accursed thing when a man shall speake good of evill and labour to justifie another mans actions though never so vile and foule it is such a Iustification as without Gods infinite mercy will bring a man to everlasting condemnation and yet such servile spirits there be that for their owne advantage will sooth a man up if hee be rich or great in all his wayes and wickednesse Let him sinne what he will they will not checke him project what he will they will not thwart him say what he will they are ready to second him and let him be what he will they applaud and admire him Oh what amiable friends are these these love a man as the Ravens love his eyes or as Dalilah loved Sampson when she hugged and lulled him in her lap and then cut off his locke which was the onely ligament that tied and fastned him to his God so she did what lay in her even to cut him off from God These are they whom the Prophet termes Caementarios diaboli the devils dawbers Ezech. 13. 10. the comparison stands thus when a man dwels in an old ruinous house the Mason comes and plasters and dawbes it over making the Indweller beleeve that all is well that it is a sound and a solid wall and he may dwell safely in it when the house is indeed ready to fal drop down and smother him Such are they that will not sticke to perswade a man that his case is good to God-ward that he hath no cause to be discontented or ill-conceited of himselfe when there is an ulcisci in promptu as the Apostle speaketh when vengeance is in a readinesse to fall downe and seize upon him Another calls them the devils Vphosters in relation to that Ezech. 13 18. if they see a man leane towards a sinne they will sow a pillow under his arme-hole i sooth him up in his inclination that he sleepe securely in it with as little trouble and unrest as possibly may be These be wofull friends God deliver every good man from having such burs hang on his sleeve from having his head broken with these precious balmes as our Translation reads my text For my part saith David give me a true friend that will smite me as for a flatterer that will smooth me I hate and abhor him give me such a friend as is like those sawces which a man commends with teares in his eyes whose reprehension is like some wholsome potion though it make a man sick for the present it wil purge him do him good for the time to come it be these rough hands as one said of Iacobs that bring us savory meate and carry away the blessing when they have done As David blessed Abigail when she met him and staied him from his evill purpose 1 Sam. 25. 32. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel that hath sent thee to meete mee this day and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from shedding of bloud A flatterer may please a man at the first but a plaine-dealing friend hath his blessing at the last and such a one did David desire to be smitten by because he knew that he would doe it sine adulatione without flatery Lastly if a righteous man smite though he doe it as I have shewed 1 Sine felle without gall 2 Sine publicatione without notice 3 Sine contumeliae without disgrace 4 Sine adulatione without flattery yet which is the maine of all 5 Non sine Deo not without God If David could say of his enemy that cursed him Let him alone for God hath bidden to curse much more safely maist thou say of thy friend that reproves thee let him alone for God hath bidden him to smite And as the Apostle saith of Ministers that God doth entreat you by us so perswade your selves that God doth reprove you by them Doe not therefore resist do not reject good counsell least thou be found to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an opposer a fighter against God For beleeve it if thou dost not hearken to God when hee reproves thee by thy friend thou shalt one day heare him to thy cost when God will reprove thee by himselfe Give eare and tremble at that same tuba terroris as Saint Austin calls it that trumpet of terrour or that terrible trumpet Psal 50. 21. These things hast thou done and I held my peace whereupon thou thoughtest wickedly that I was such a one as thy selfe that is one that seeth evill done and by silence gives consent and takes pleasure in them that doe it But I will reprove thee saith God and set thine sinnes in order before thine eyes Tremble I say at the voice of this Trumpet Thou that wilt neither reprove thy selfe when thou hast done evill nor suffer others by reproofe to doe thee good assure thy selfe there is one above that will reprove thee when hee comes to judge thee who will so marshall and ranke and set thy sinnes in order before thee that thou shalt not be able to answer him to one of a thousand Therefore as Saint Austin desired of God in another case Domine hic ure hic seca ut in posterum sanes Lord cut me and scorch me here that thou maist heale me and cure me hereafter so let thy prayer to God be to the same effect Lord smite me and reprove me here that I may have nothing to answer for nothing to be questioned for when I goe from hence So much briefly for the second generall part of my Text why David did make choise of a Righteous man to smite him The next is 3 Acceptatio fraternae correptionis the well-taking of brotherly reprehension the text saith It shall be a kindnesse But what will the world say if smiting be a kindnesse a man shall be sure to have enough of it if he will take that so kindly he shall not want for kindnesse as this world goes Such kindnesse as this Ananias could afford Saint Paul Acts 23. 2. Smite him on the mouth saith he when he was speaking how he had lived in all good conscience before God

the kindnesse of Pharaohs daughter it was Ieremies case when he was in the dungeon had it not bin for the kindnesse of his speciall friends and it is the case of many a man that is fallen from God into a gulfe into a whirle-poole of sinne that winds and drawes and suckes him in there is no possibility that his soule should scape drowning and death if mercy helpe not out It is said of the Prodigall child Luke 15. 13. that he wasted his substance with riotous living so we read it but the Originall is more significant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is in proper termes He lived unsavingly as much to say as in that course that he tooke hee was a lost man and could not have beene saved had he not reverted and repented as hee did And such an unsaving life doth many a man lead in gluttony and drunkennesse in riot and prophanenesse c. that God cannot keepe his owne truth and save his soule Now he that shall see his friend in such a way of wickednesse that as he said Ipsa sicupiat salus c. if salvation it selfe should come downe from heaven and offer it selfe to such a one he would not hee were not in case to accept it Hee I say that by words of motion can worke upon such a mans heart can bring him to repentance that he may become salvabilis within the compasse and possibilitie of being saved Is not this a kindnesse If you will beleeve S. Iames Chap. 5. ult it is the greatest kindnesse in the world He that conver●●th a sinner from the errour of his way shall save a soule from death and shall hide a multitude of sinnes Therefore as Saul said to the Ziphites when they came and told him where David was 1 Sam. 23. 21. Blessed be ye of the Lord for ye have had compassion upon me So he that hath any grace or but good nature in him will blesse God for such a Minister or neighbour or friend that will shew him the errour of his way that will tell him of his sinnes and take it as a mercie and a kindnesse and a compassion to his soule And so I come in the last place to the exaltation of this kindnesse above all that hath beene spoken It shall be Oleum capitis as the Originall hath it it shall be a soveraigne a precious and an excellent oyle that shall not breake my head When I first tooke this text in hand this seemed unto me a very strange and an uncouth expression if the Prophet had said It shall be a stone that shall not breake my head or a staffe or a club that shall not breake my head c. we had easily understood him but to speake of an oyle or a balme which we know to be so soft so supple so lith and gentle an oyntment that hee should speake of breaking his head with oyle it is strange I confesse it troubled me a while till at length I conceived it might be spoken by contraries as when a Physition gives a patient some pectorall or cordiall and saith Take this it will not hurt you his meaning is it will helpe and doe him good So this oyle shall not breake my head that is it shall heale it being broken by my owne corruption by Satans temptations and by the assention of such as flatter mee in my sinnes But why doth hee mention his head why doth he not say as well It shall not breake my arme or it shall not breake my legges c Answ The head you know is the principall part of man that which is neerest and gives life and influence to all the lower parts if that be broken all the body fares the worse It is a knowne place Matth. 10. Be wise as Serpents Now the wisedome of the Serpent they say consisteth chiefly in this that he will expose his body to any danger take any wound in his body so hee may but save his head because he knowes that his life lies in his head so is Christ our head and all our spirituall life lieth in him and floweth from him therefore our principall care should be what ever bodily danger wee expose our selves unto to hold life in the head hold faith and affiance in Iesus Christ But that is not all I take it when hee saith it ●●all not breake my head his meaning is It shall breake something else about him that shall be better for him as thus It shall not breake my head but it shall breake my heart hee that breakes a mans head doth him an ill office that may endanger his life but hee that breakes his heart with that same hammer that Ieremy speakes of Ier. 23. 29. by the powerfull subduing Word of God doth him a right good office that may be a meanes though Gods blessing to prepare his soule for grace and make him a vessell capable of mercy for Deus Oleum misericordiae non infundit nisi in vas contritum God never powreth the oyle of his mercy but into broken vessels that is into broken hearts that are rent and torne as it were with remorse and sorrow for sinne As God threatned Hos 13. 8. I will rend the kall of their hearts rather than he will suffer sinne to dwell where his throne should be So this smiting is not to breake heads but to breake hearts which is better Or thus It shall not breake my head but it shall breake my sinnes-head or the head of my sinnes as David saith Psal 74. 14. The heads of Dragons are broken in the waters what are these Capita Draconum these heads of Dragons but capitall crimes predominant and master-sinnes that doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speakes that usurpe authority and domineere in the soule and threaten to devoure the conscience if they be not taken down and broken in the waters of repentance in the teares of godly sorrow for sinne Now he that can be a meanes to save his friends head and breake his sinnes head to cherish the one and crush the other Is not this a kindnesse worth acceptation If a man have an enemy that doth him wrong the Apostle counsels him to heape coales of fire upon his head Rom. 12 20. what are these Carbones ardentes these burning coales or coales of fire which the Apostle would have a man heape on his enemies head Surely I thinke he meanes no other then those Rom ● 9. Tribulation and anguish indignation and wrath upon the soule of every one that doth evill upon purpose to vexe his neighbour Now thus stands the case Hee that revengeth his owne quarrell and recompenseth evill for evill hee heapes coales of fire on his owne head that is makes himselfe liable to the just revenge of God but hee that by patient forbearance commits his cause to God and renders good for evill he heapes coales of fire on his enemies head that is he saves himselfe from wrong and transferreth