a non you cry out of the immortall Gods imputing to them the cause of your miseries when indeede your selues are the workers of your owne woe Perditio tua ex te O Israell thou hast fallen by thine own iniquitie Stigias vltrò quaerimus vndas Hos 14 2 Like the Ostrige we do pricke our selues with our owne feathers and we our selues do cause the Shippe to leake where we saile Onely lo this haue I found that God hath made man righteous but they haue sought out many inuentiōs Quare peccas quia nescis c. Eccles 7 31. How comes it to passe saith S. Aug. that thou dost sin because thou art ignorāt it is not so why dost thou sin because thou art cōpelled there is no such matter why dost thou sin because it pleaseth it delighteth thy wicked and corrupted nature Pro. 29.6 In the transgression of a man is his snare Of our owne accorde we run wilfully into the dead-fall of sinne so is it in the 9. Psal and 16 ver The vngodly is trapped how not by God but by the workes of his owne hands The Lord our God is good holy and onely holy so holy that as Iob saith the Angels are vncleane in his sight so pure that his Ministers the Cherubins are of fier most cleare and yet the Cherubins and Ceraphins do couer their faces with their wings as not able to behold the perfect brightnesse of his most pure and vndefiled Maiestie Isa 6.2 Therefore although no action can be done without God and that his power is so in all things that we cannot so much as lift vp our finger without him For in him we liue and moue and haue all our being Yet is not God the cause of any sin Act. 17.28 Gre Naz 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We cannot fasten the least touch of any euill vpon God But so it stands Vna eademque actio tribuitur causae principali instrumentali In one and the selfe-same action there is a double cause First the instrumentall cause mouing then God separated from the instrument yet giuing power of motion to the same Through this double cause of mouing there is a double worke which vnto vs seemeth to be but one For example God as appeareth in the 2. of the Acts and the 23. ver by his determinate counsell and fore knowledge deliuered vp our Sauiour Christ as the principall cause Iudas as the instrumentall cause yet neither is God to be drawne in as a partie in Iudas fault nor Iudas to be excused as furthering the worke of God For God neuer commanded Iudas to deliuer vp Christ nor Iudas in deliuering him had any such intention as to do God seruice in the execution of his will Deus ag it per malos non in malis The wicked are the instruments of God Yet not God the cause of their wickednes God is the cause of the action but not of the euill or qualitie in the action For example A man trauaileth his horse by the way hee is the cause of his going but if his horse halt or haue an ill pace he is not the cause of his ill going A cunning man striketh an instrument with his fingers he is the cause of the sound but if the Instrument be bad or the strings not well chosen he is not the cause of the ill sound The Iron rusteth thou wilt not wite it vpon the Smith Wine sowreth the fault is not in the vintner In the heauens there is a double motion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristoxenus in lib de foram ni bus tibiarum The fixed Starres and the whole Globe of all is carried about with one Sphere and with one motion yet the Planets in themselues haue a wandring and vncertaine course The like we may vsually behould in euerie clocke The greatest and highest wheele moueth and carieth about all the rest yet in this motion some wheeles turne to the right hand others to the left and that by a contrarie course So then it fareth thus with the wicked As hee that hath an euill and corrupted stomake if hee do eate honie it turneth into gall or as if a mans hand be out of ioynte when hee would mooue it one way it turnes an other so wicked and godlesse men whereas the light of nature Gods Spirit and his word leadeth them one way their owne vile inclination their owne concupiscence leadeth them an other Now then what shall we lay is there vnrighteousnes with God doth hee cause vs to commit sin No God forbid wickednesse should be in God or iniquitie in the Almightie Iob 34 10. But as it is said before Euerie man is drawne away by his owne concupiscence and is entised lust when it hath conceiued bringeth forth sinne and sinne when it is finished bringeth forth death Iam. 1 14 Hauing hitherto freed God from all imputation of euill by shewing from whence sinne comes and that God is not the Author of it We do here meete with the Pelagian Heretike who not able to vntie this knotte affirmes that the wicked are reiected for the sins which God foresaw they would cōmit so cōtrariwise the godly preuenting the grace of God by their merits are predestinated and chosen through faith and good workes which God fore-sawe they should doe Making Gods eternall election to depend vpon our faith and vpon our workes whereas cleane contrarie our faith our good workes and all the good that is in vs doth wholy depend vpon Gods free election Ephe. 14 Saint Paule saith directly God hath chosen vs in his sonne Christ before the foundation of the world was If in Christ Assuredly it appeares we were vnworthie in our selues and so Gods election is the cause of our good workes Et causa non est posterior suo effectu the cause it doth neuer follow the effect Pet Lomb The learned Schoole-man makes it plaine Non ideò electus est quis quià talis futurus erat sed ex tali electione talis est factus No man was euer chosen through faith and good workes which God fore-saw that hee should do but the faith and good workes which wee now do proceede from the eternall election which went before 2 Tim 1 9 This doth the Apostle verie plainely set downe God hath saued vs and called vs not according to our workes but according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen to vs through Jesus Christ before the World was Calling Moreouer whom he Predestinated them also he Called AS from the maine Sea wee do strike into some chanell or riuer So from Predestination the great depth of Gods Counsell the Apostle commeth vnto Calling For whereas it hath beene shewed in opening the first point that God of his free mercie did choose some to life and others hath left vnto Perdition In this case if God should neuer Call men if he should neuer offer them grace it might seeme preiudiciall to his mercy
iniurie Fatum ad necessitatem Prouidentia ad sapientiam Praescientia ad intellectum Predestinatio ad voluntatem Refertur Here then we must rest here we must make a full point It is Gods good pleasure it is his will And this one answere it is a bar for all deepe questions either of Predestination Election Destinie or any such like It is Gods good pleasure it is his will His will is the cause of all causes and further we cannot goe Whom this answere doth not contēt S. Gregorie doth answere directly Gregor Mag. in cap. 9. Iob. Qui infactis Dei rationē non videt infirmitatem suam considerans cur non videat rationem videt In the hidden workes of GOD hee that seeth Aug 59. Epist ad Paulinum not a reason if he see his owne infirmitie he seeth a sufficient reason why he should not see Wee conclude them with good Saint Augustine in his 59. Epistle ad Paulinum occulta esse causa potest iniusta esse nō potest Why God hath made choise of some not of others howsoeuer vnto vs the cause be hidden yet vndoubtedly it cānot be vniust This Doctrine briefly set downe and thus plainely appearing that Predestination is the immutable purpose of God whereby he hath made choise of some reiected others according to the pleasure of his owne will It seemeth at the first when men doe commit sin they cannot auoide it as if God had so ordained it Hee hath made choise of some to life others he hath reiected therefore when they sin and follow the course that leadeth vnto death they doe it of necessitie Ecclus 15 20 O God forbid there should be vnrighteousnes in God or iniquitie in the Almightie For God hath commāded no man to doe vngodly neither hath he giuen any man licence to sinne Before we resolue this doubt there ariseth a very notable necessary questiō which in times past hath troubled many wittes Jf God bee not the author of sinne if he be not the cause of mans offending how came sin first to bee how came it in where was the first beginning of it The heathen Philosophers they roued at the matter a far-off The Epicures they said it came in by chance Aristotle his sect they said it was the error of nature Plato came a little neerer and he said it arose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the nature of man Manicheus the hereticke to auoide the former opinions he fained two gods Clemens li 3 recogn Duos affirmauit esse Deos alterum quidem bonum alterum verò malum One he auerred to be the author and first beginner of all good the other the first cause and author of all euill Niceph eccl hist li. 6 cap 3. This opinion went currant a long time allmost three hundred yeares as Nicephorus writeth and the reason was because men neuer looking into the word of truth by the light of nature they could neuer finde from whence sin came That we may fully vnderstand this point verie briefly wee will set downe the lineall discent of sinne Iames. 1 1◠Sin first ariseth frō concupiscence Euery mā is tempted when he is drawne away by his own cōcupisence is enticed All sin all wickednes of this life what soeuer first ariseth from concupiscēce frō our own wicked inclination From whence then comes cōcupiscence That Dauid shewes ex immundo semine Psal 51 5 We are borne in iniquitie wee are conceiued in sin as the originall doth signifie we are all warmed in vnclean bloud If we be all borne in sin by nature corrupt we must ascend higher to our first parents and know bow they came first to sin Adam and Eue as appeareth in the 2. of Genes they first sinned by yeilding cōsent vnto the Diuell they tooke it from Sathan Here thē comes in the maine question how came the diuell first to sin The diuel at the first was created in potestate standi cadendi he had in his first creation a possibility to stand or fall power of continuance that he had frō God possibility of falling that hee had from himself For it is a ground in Diuinity Immucabiliter bonum esse dei proprium est To be immutably good without any change or alteration it is onely proper vnto God therefore had he possibilitie to stander fall S. Augustine also he rendreth an other reason why the diuell created an Angell of light had possibilitie of falling Because saith he at the first he was created of nothing therefore he had in him possibilitie to returne to nothing if so be he did not relie in the goodnes of his Creator if he did not subiect himselfe vnder the power of God To resolue then Sathan at the first was created an Angell of light and had possibilitie to stand or fall but in the 14. of Isaiah the 14. ver Whereas hee saith there I will ascend aboue the height of the clouds I will be like the most high Then did Sathan choose rather to be an absolute nature in himselfe to shake off his alleageance and to abandon the goodnes of God then relying still in God to be established by his power Our Sauiour Christ saith I saw Sathan fall as lightning from heauen the lightning we know is not cast down by any other but it falleth breaketh out of it selfe alone Luc. 10.18 The deuil saith S. Peter was cast down to hel and deliuered vnto chaines of darknes 2 Pet. 2 4 the reason is rendred in the 6. of Iude because when he had possibility to stand or fall hee kept not his first estate Non perstitit 1. Ioh. 3 8 in veritate Iohn the 8.44 He abod not in the truth So then to descend againe The Diuell hee is primitiuus peccator hee was the first offender For he sinneth from the beginning From the Diuell sinne was deriued vnto Adam from Adam to all his posteritie borne of vncleane seede from the corruption of vncleane birth it is secretly conueied to our inclination to concupiscence Thus from the Diuell sin first boyleth vp as out of the maine Sea from him when it comes to Adam it ariseth as out of a spring from this spring it is reserued in nature as in a Conduit from nature conueied to concupiscence as by a pipe from thence doth issue a streame of wickednesse to the Sea againe Now although it bee thus manifest that sin doth proceede from the suggestion of Sathan working with our own concupiscence yet euill and godlesse men they thinke they are tempted of God and when they sin they do not sticke to say God hath so decreed it let him therefore worke his will for who hath euer resisted his will Homer that notable Heathen Poet hee aunswered such men verie fitly in the person of Jupiter speakinge in this sorte Hom. Od 2 pag 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O yee foolish mortall men euer and
and though we did sinne yet it might be thoght our selues could not redresse it For this cause the Apostle commeth from Predestination to Calling that is from Gods determinate counsaile to the meanes which hee hath appointed for our saluation Plut de tranqui animi This Calling is two-fould either outward or inward The outward and generall Calling is by the workes of God and by his word First by his workes This world it is an Vniuersitie or a Colledge wherein there are two Lectures whereof euerie man liuing must be a hearer and a learner The first is the Philosophy lecture concerning Gods workes in the heauens and all his creatures by the which we are taught and dayly Called to know God This is a plaine and easie Lecture written in great Capitall Letters that euerie simple and ignorant man may reade it running The other is the Diuinity Lecture whē we are exēpted frō the first and led on further to know God in his word Both these Lectures they are expressed together in the 19. Ps Frō the 1. ve to the 7. is contained the Philosophy Lecture Psalm 19 1. The Heauēs declare the glory of god the firmamēt sheweth his handie worke Day vnto day vttereth the same and Night vnto night teacheth knowledge there is no speech nor language where their voice is not hard There sound is gone forth through al the earth and their words vnto the endes of the world In them hath he set a Tabernacle for the sunne which cōmeth forth as a bridegrome out of his Chamber reioyceth like a mightie man to run his race His going out is from the ende of the heauen and his compasse is vnto the ends of the same and none is hid from the heate thereof The Diuinitie lecture begins at the seuenth verse and continues to the 11. vers The Law of the Lord is an vnderfiled Law conuerting the soule the testimonie of the Lord is suer and giueth wisedome vnto the simple The statutes of the Lord are right and reioyce the heart The commandement of the Lord is pure and giueth light vnto the eyes The feare of the Lord is cleane and endureth for euer The iudgements of the Lord are truth and righteous altogether More to be desired then gould yea then much fine gould sweeter also then hony and the hony combe Moreouer by thē is thy seruant taught and in keeping of them there is great reward Touching the Philosophie lecture that we are all first Called to know God by his workes it is most apparant For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est Diuinitatis symbolum the world is the glasse of Gods Diuinitie The heathen philosopher saith Deus tangitur in operibus Iamblicus De misteriis God is euen touched in his workes He iumpeth with S Paule Act. 17.27 The heathē by groping might haue found him for doubtlesse hee is not farre from euerie one of vs. Act. 17 17. In the 143. Psalme and the 5. verse the holy Prophet saith thus Psal 143.5 I will muse vpon all thy workes and exercise my selfe in the workes of thy hands Jf a man will profit by this philosophie lecture he must vse meditation For indeede if a man doe rightly consider of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea whereof no reason can be rendred of the certaine course and chang of the Moone with the secret influence of the same the nature of the winde no man knowing whence it commeth nor whether it goeth the hugenesse of the swelling Sea girt in by Gods commandement that it doth not ouerflow the banckes the raging Thunder which makes all the Beasts of the feilde to tremble the fearefull Lightning which in the twinckling of an eye passeth from East to West howe all things keepe their appointed course wherein they were created As we walke abroad in the feilds if we do behould and view the glorie of the Sunne and Moone the beautie of the Starres the sweete Dew distilling Showers greene Pastures pleasant Meddowes cleare Springs thicke Woodes gushing Fountaines the wonderfull increase of Corne Cattle and such like Who is he behoulding these things and seriously meditating vpō this Philosophie lecture but he must needes confesse that God doth Call him being so manifestly taught to know him in his workes And as God is thus seene and taught vnto all the heathen people by his workes in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the frame and composition of this great World so likewise God doth Call vs by his workes in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the little World of man Homo est caelisimulachrum interpres naturae Man he is the picture of the Heauens and the interpreter of Nature Concerning God we acknowledge him to be a spirit concerning the World we haue found it to be a bodie in Man we haue an abridgmēt of both namely of God in regard of his spirit of the World in the composition of the body as though the Creator vpon purpose to set forth a mirror of his workes intended to bring into this one little compasse of Man both the infinitenesse of his owne Nature and the hugenesse of the whole World together As in the World so in the bodie of Man there is a wonderfull mixture of the foure Elementes The Heart placed in the midest as the Earth our centre the Liuer like the Sea frō whence the liuely springs of bloud do flow the Vaines like riuers spredding themselues abroad vnto the vttermost members the Braine which giueth light and vnderstanding placed a loft like the Sunne the Senses set round about like starres for ornament the Countenance of man full of grace and Maiestie striking a terror into all Creatures Such and so wonderfull is God in his power that he is seene in the workemanship of the bodie But if man as it were out of himselfe could behold this bodie receiuing life and entring into the vse of all his motions Ioints mouing so actiuely Sinewes stirring so nimbly Senses vttering their force so sharpely The inward Powers so excellent the Spirit supernaturall Reason so Diuine the Mind Cogitation so quicke and infinite the Vnderstāding so Angelike the Soule aboue all Dei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the engrauen Jmage of the immortall God If man could enter into himselfe and consider rightly of this he must needes be driuen to confesse that God hath Called him by those workes which are most apparant in himselfe Therefore as Saint Paule soundly reasoneth in the 1. to the Romanes and the 20. verse No man can excuse himselfe Neither the Turkes who acknowledge Mahomet their great Prophet nor the Indians that worship the Sun Nor the Egiptians who offer sacrifice to all manner of beasts Neither they nor any other remote and barberous people that do worship strange Idols of their owne inuention none of these can excuse himselfe and say he is not Called because the inuisible things of God his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the