by Saul was after the Lords spirit was taken from him and another evill spirit vexed him so unclean speeches proceed not from the holy Ghost that delighteth in modest termes 2. Again the term of knowledge is used as opposite to passion to teach men that they must dwell with their wives as men of knowledge the first of Peter the third and the seventh verse that they be not like fed horses neighing after their neighbours wives Jeremiah the fift chapter and the eighth verse Afterward The circumstance of time is noted in the word Afterward That is not before he was deprived of Paradise but when he was driven out For the pleasure of marriage is a mortall pleasure For as Christ saith In this world men marry but they that shall be counted worthie of the life to come neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the Angells of God Luke the twentieth chapter The use of marriage is that because men die they should beget sonnes and leave a posterity to stand up after them But the Children of the Resurrection dye as men and therefore he was made to beget Children And for spirituall joy or comfort it is none But postquam spiritus deficit venium ad solatia carnis It is a carnall pleasure For as Cain being cursed out of Gods City built himself a City in the fourth chapter of Genesis As Saul being cast out of the Lords favour would be honoured of man in the first of Samuell fift chapter So Adam being deprived of spirituall comfort and pleasure useth marriage as a carnall pleasure Pâ—…itio For the point of division jointly in these this pair of Bretheren we have a view of all mankinde Adam had more Children but the Holy Ghost contenteth himself to set out mankinde in these two Even as the 〈◊〉 saith of Abraham that he had two sonnes one born after the flesh another after the Spirit Galatians the fourth chapter and the two and twentieth verse So were the sonnes of Adam To Cain are reckoned as his posteritie Henoch Lamech Nimrod Pharaoh and all the wicked To Abell Enoch Noah Shem Abraham Isaac and all the faithfull which is the great partition of mankinde For the holy Scripture setteth out which is Gods City that is Sion and Jerusalem and which is the Devils City by Babylon The one answering to Abell the other to Cain They set out the Devls city by amor sui ad contemptum Dei Gods city by amor Dei usque ad contempium sui Again by Abell is set out those that are in state of grace by Cain they that are in state of nature By the one are set out all them that are born after the flesh by the other such as are born anew and led by the Spirit Galatians chapter the fourth And this partion is made of all mankinde through the world till that last 〈◊〉 which Christ shall make of the Sheepe from the 〈◊〉 in the five and twentieth chapter of Mathew This partition we see in these two For that although they were both of one Father and Mother Contrary natures yet such was the diversitie and 〈◊〉 of their nature and disposition as they fitly represent the diverse state of mankinde The 〈◊〉 is in respect of their names the 〈◊〉 in respect of their works for the one rose up against the other and slew him Cain and Abell why so called The Devills 〈◊〉 in respect of their names is the one is called Cain that is a purchaser or possessioner that is such a one as thought it his 〈◊〉 to enjoy this world and contrariwise misery to lose it and the possessions thereof Abell 〈◊〉 sorrow and vanity But the other Abell that is sorrow and vanity such a one as doth with Salomon account all things in this life vanity and vexation of spirit in the first chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes such a one as hath sorrow by reason of continuall sinnes whereby he offendeth God of them Christ saith in the 〈◊〉 chapter of Matthew Blessed are they that mourne and sorrow for that they are out of their place As the Prophet speaketh in the one hundred thirty seventh Psalm By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembred thee O Sion For Abell was not a City of this world as Cain but was one of those that sought for a City in Heaven that was to come Hebrews the thirteenth and the second verse He is called Abell that is vanitie 1. First in respect of the shortnesse of his life in which regard every man is altogether vanity Psalm the thirty ninth 2. Then in respect of the afflictions of this life in which respect he saith Every man is vanity And therefore they that are of Abell will say We are strangers and sojourners as all our Fathers were Psal. 39. They are such as though they be in the world yet use it as if they used it not the first to the Corinthians the seventh chapter They set not their felicitie in this world as Cain but reckon all things in this world vanity and vexation of spirit and long to be restored to their heavenly Country 2. Contrary works Secondly As they have diverse dispositions so their works are contrary For as the Apostle saith of Ismael and Isaac Gal. 4. He that was borne after the flesh persecuted him that was borne after the Spirit So did Cain persecute Abell as the Apostle witnesseth Joh. 1. 3. that Cain was of that wicked One and slew his Brother Why Cain slew Abell And wherefore slew he him Because his own works were evill and his Brothers good So as their dispositions were diverse their works were contrary So in Cain there is a resemblance of all the persecutors and oppressors that have been in the world The Wicked persecute the Godly by hand and tongue And Abell is a pattern of all the Martyrs that have been slain by the hand of Cain or wounded and persecuted by the tongue of Ismael who by mocking persecuted Isaac in the fourth chapter to the Galatians In these two is fulfilled that envy which God proclaimed between the woman and the Serpent and between their seeds Genesis the third and the fifteenth verse who was not only of the seed of that evill one Joshua the first and the third verse that was of the Serpent and the reason why the name of Cain is set down in the Bible is to shew the performance of that Prophesie Genesis the third and the fifteenth verse and to shew his wrath upon the Vessels of wrath Romans the ninth and the twenty second such as was Cain Cham Pharoah and Nebuchadnezar and all the wicked ones of his Race for the order of their comming into the world as Cain who was first born was worst and Abell the last born was best so it is with all mandkind For as the Apostle saith first commeth that which is naturall and then that which
shall leave a seed behinde him Cain and Abell resemble all mankinde Elect Reprobate as the variety in names so in natures and dispositions Secondly you heard that from this tree doe sprout two branches that is a pair of brethren to whom all mankinde may be reduced from whom both Sion the City of God and Babell the City of Satan take their beginning concerning whom in the variety of their names we observed the variety of their natures the one called Cain that is a possession sets out those people whose felicity is to get and which count it the only misery to lose the things of this life the other called Abell that is vanity doth set out unto us those which reckon all things in this life to be vanity as the Preacher teacheth us to value them thereby we considered what account we made both of the one and the other In the world Cain is called a great Jewell and Abell despised as a thing of naught Second and third Division Now we are come to a second and third division 1 In their Trades For in this verse they are divided by their trades and calling 2. In their Religion in the next by their religion and profession in the service of God both which divisions have their ground the second chapter and the seventh verse Man consists of Body and Soul to fill both Earth and Heaven For where man is said to consist of two parts body and soul the one formed of the dust of the earth the other breathed by God that is to shew that as according to Gods commandement the first chapter of Genesis and the twenty sixt verse He hath a care to fill the earth by bringing forth children so he must be as carefull to fill heaven by a second generation that as he was to till the earth from whence his body was taken chapter the third Mans vocation maintain life and religion a spirituall life So he must imploy his study in Gods service from whence he received his soul his care must be not only to leave behinde him a long generation but semen sanctum Mal. the second chapter as they must have a vocation whereby to maintain naturall life So they must be religious and offer sacrifice that leading a spirituall life here on earth they may obtain eternall life in heaven 1. The naturall life then the spirituall and why But as Cain was first born after the flesh and then Abell So alwaies flesh goeth before the spirit nature before grace as the Apostle witnesseth the first of the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter That is not first which is spirituall but that which is naturall and then that which is spirituall Therefore God was first to feed the Israelites with Manna and to give them water out of the rock the sixteenth chapter of Exodus before they would receive the Law which after was published upon mount Sinai the twentieth chapter of Exodus For as the Apostle sheweth there is a debt due to the flesh Rom. the eight chapter which must be paid before the spirit can with quietnesse attend upon Gods service which being provided for the spirit is the fitter to attend upon Gods worship Children are not to be trained up in idlenesse and why Before we come to their severall vocations we have first to consider in generall that Adam would not have either of his children trained up in idlenesse and therefore he sets not only his younger sonne But to labor in a vocation but even his heir to a trade and occupation knowing that whereas God hath ordained that man shall live by some painfull vocation chapter the third there is a thing that both touched him and his the necessity whereof is such as Job saith Man is born to labor even as a bird to flie the fifth chapter of Job and the seventh verse And as he imployeth in trade as well the eldest as the youngest So Abell the good no lesse then Gain the wicked sonne for the godly have no liberty to live without some honest calling and therefore the Apostle saith Let a man abide in that calling wherein he is called the first of the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the twenty fourth verse If the godly may not live idlely much more ought wicked children to be set to some trade of life The second point to be observed is that there is no sooner mention made of the birth of these two brethren but presently the Holy Ghost setteth down their trade commending unto us from Adams example that which Salomon after teacheth the twenty second chapter of the Prov. Teach a childe in the beginning of his waies and he will not depart from it when he is old Seasonable instruction in youth and why for without seasonable instruction children and youth are but vanity the eleventh chapter of Eccle. and the third verse All are not fit for one and the same calling and why Both these sonnes are not set to one vocation to shew that all men are not fit and meet for one and the same calling for as there is this diversity in the earth out of which man is taken that one part of it is sandy some clay and some gravell And as in the heavenly light there is that diversity which the Apostle speaks of the first of the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the fourty first verse one star differing from another in glory So the like variety appeareth in the dispositions of men in so much as we see all men are not meet for one thing Fourthly from hence we learn that albeit the labors and trades of men be diverse Callings must be such as God alloweth and are serviceable to the Common-wealth and why yet they must be such as both God alloweth and such as are serviceable to the publique wealth we may not say because Cain a reprobate was a husbandman that therefore God dislikes husbandary for God affirmeth of Noah that he was a just and upright man and yet he was an husbandman Genesis the ninth chapter nor that the office of keeping sheep is therefore lawfull in Gods sight because Abell the just was a sheephcard for Juball the sonne of wicked Lamech was the father of them that dwelt in tents and kept Sheep Genesis the fourth chapter and the twentieth verse and yet himself a wicked man the person doth not make the calling lawfull but it must be taken from God himself and be such as God alloweth touching husbandry Christ saith My father is the Husbandman the fifteenth chapter of John and the first verse and you are Gods husbandry saith the Apostle the first of the Corinthians the third chapter and the ninth verse Therefore the calling of an husbandman is allowable for the other calling God himself is called the Shepheard of Israel the eightieth Psalme and the first verse and Christ saith of his Church I have other sheep which I must gather under my government
goe forth on the Sabbath notwithstanding they went forth to make triall though they found none Exodus the sixteenth chapter the twentieth and the twenty seventh verses so Cain would trie whether there were not a plot of ground free from the curse but not finding any such piece of ground he turned himself to handycrafts when husbandry failed He and his Children fall to occupations some work in brass some to make Tents and others to make Organs That is the civill reason of the building of the City The spirituall reason is that fear is the first beginner of Cains City for this place though it were a place of pleasure yet it gives him no rest or security therefore he deviseth to himself a new means to safeguard him from fear that is by building a City and walling it that if the Sonnes of Seth or any that were privie to his fact came against him he might be safe from them As Adam hid himself from Gods presence in his bushes so doth Cain goe about to defend himself with walls Howbeit so it is that a guilty conscience cannot finde any rest or security by any such means but it findes the truth of that which the Apostle saith in the second to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the fifth verse pugnae for is intus terrores And yet by the taking order for the continuance of his name it appeares he had not only fear but a secular desire of fame in the world he contenteth not himself with Adams dwelling but builds a City Adam and his Children dwelt under Trees or some Tents but the Posterity of Cain builds themselves Cities to dwell in For the generall as the beginning of good Lawes is the evill fashions and naughty manners of men so the remedy against fear is Cities that by them people may be safe from wilde beasts and wicked and cruel men more wilde than beasts But as first necessity invented Garments since pride so it is of Cities A City was founded first in regard of fear but since they are become the only places of pride for in the Country where men are imployed in husbandry we see no such pride they content themselves with plain dwelling but in the City all things are for pride That is for the building of the City Touching the Builder we see the beginning of buildings is hominem occidere urbem condere Therefore the Prophets crie out that the faces of the poor are ground for the maintenance of Cities Jeremiah the twenty second chapter and the thirteenth verse Habakkuk the second chapter and the thirteenth verse Micha the third chapter Even as we see Cain that killed his brother is the Builder of this City so there are many like Cain that kill and undoe a great company of young Occupiers to build themselves a City For they content not themselves with their Fathers Houses but build themselves Houses of Cedar Jeremiah the thirty second chapter Secondly Out of the Builder Augustine hath this note that as the building of this City of Enoch by the blood of Abel was a soretelling what kinde of City this should be namely full of cruelty so in as much as Rome was founded by Romulus in the blood of Remus that was a signe that it would be a cruel and bloody City as we see it came to pass that it hath been the chief persecuting City and shed most blood Thirdly We are to speak of the name wherein the itch of Cains vanity breaks forth for in giving this name he saith as much as they doe Genesis the eleventh chapter paremus nobis nomen he seeks to make his posterity famous for it is the course of the world And men think their houses shall continue for ever and therefore call their lands by their names Psalm the fourty ninth and the eleventh verse when they cannot be written in the book of life they seek to be in remembrance of men We see it is in Saul when God took his honor from him he would be honoured of the people in the first of Samuel the fifteenth chapter so that upon these three things in satisfying the flesh in building Cities for the glory of this world and in leaving a name behinde stands all Cains desire But the giving of this name is in one of these two respects First If a man will see what is true dedication let him look upon the worldly minded man for none doe so truly dedicate themselves to the true God as they doe consecrate themselves to the World It is indeed sacra fames for as Christ saith The Children of this world are wiser in their generation than the Children of light Luke the sixteenth chapter Therefore in them we may see the lively example of true dedication Secondly If not that yet for as much as every dedication is the first act for the first thing to be done when a new House is to be built is to dedicate it by great feastings This sheweth that as all the things of this life are but beginnings for as Christ kept the best wine last John the second chapter so the consummation of all things is in Salem which is Gods City But Cains Enoch is nothing but fair shewes of joy and feastings which shall end in mournings Where it is said Cain was building a City and not that he built it it is to teach us that he did but begin it we see the like in the worlds course men are ever building and pulling down they are never at rest but continually in the Land of Nod Nunquam aedificavêrunt as the Preacher saith The soul still desireth but is never satisfied Ecclesiastes the fifth chapter even so Cain is alwayes occupied in building the City but never makes an end but even before he hath done he drops into the grave like the rich man Luke the twelfth chapter that suddenly while he was consulting how to build Barns was taken away These are Cains three waies 〈◊〉 Prolis extruxio Urbis propagatio Nominis the one is the lust of the flesh the other the lust of the eyes the third the pride of life John the second chapter And these are the waies of the world All the desires of worldly men stand in these three to have many Children to build fair houses and to get an honorable name among men Thus far goeth worldly men and no farther as we see not only in Cain but in Nimrod and Pharaoh all whose studdy was in getting Children in building Cities and seeking to make their name famous These are the men of this world from whom the Prophet prayeth to be delivered That have their portion in this life their bellies are filled with hid treasure their Children have enough and leave the rest to their Children and this is all they seek for but the Godly say with the Prophet Psalm the seventeenth and the fourteenth verse But I will seek for thy presence in righteousness that is Seths Enoch and not Cains We have
signification of the word the exercise of prayse and thanksgiving is more effectuall to that purpose But we add also as a speciall part of invocation the blessing of the people which in the sixt chapter of Numbers and the twenty seventh verse is called A putting of the name of God upon the people so say we also of Christian vowes and oathes that the due regard had to the testifying of a truth when a man doth call on the name of God and deliver that which is true that is also a service of invocation whereby we confesse God able to punish us as a Judge if we swear not truly Therefore invocation is of a farre larger compasse than an ordinary man would imagine but especially when we consider it not only in generall but in particular when it is in the prime For if invocation be commanded at the time of publique prayer much more is prayer and invocation commanded at the sacrifice whereof we have an example in Abraham who built an Altar and called upon the name of the Lord Genesis the twelfth chapter and the eighth verse and Psalm the one hundred and sixteenth and the thirteenth verse Calicem 〈◊〉 accipiam invocabo nomen Domini as if he should say then is invocation at the highest when a man hath the cup of salvation in his hand So that there is no part of religion in respect of prayer and the service of God which may not be reduced to invocation That is for the nature of invocation Touching the beginning of it that is not without a scruple for we may ask this question if invocation were not before and whether Adam and Abel did not call upon God They did no doubt But as I told you when I handled verse the twentieth that Jabal was the Father of such as dwell in Tents and have 〈◊〉 and Jubal the Inventer of Musick and Tubal-Cain of Weapons and yet that Cain was an Husbandman and Abel a 〈◊〉 of Sheep and consequently they had the use of the Share and Mattock for tillage which could not be had without some knowledge in Tubal-Cains Trade and yet the invention is ascribed to them for a man is said to begin a thing when no man hath done it before and another may be said to be the Inventer of the same thing in respect of some singular manner of doing it and to bring it to better purpose So it cannot be denyed that Abel was a Shepheard 〈◊〉 had use of Tents and yet Jubal is said to be the 〈◊〉 of them because they were perfected by him So for the other 〈◊〉 In like sort no doubt there was a kinde of 〈◊〉 performed by Adam and Abel but that which is here expressed is 〈◊〉 of some speciall and singular manner of invocation not used before as thus Before 〈◊〉 time every 〈◊〉 in 〈…〉 and called upon a part but in the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 began to come together to serve God then was that publique meeting and congregation performed which Christ speaks of 〈◊〉 the eighteenth chapter and the twentieth verse When two or three be gathered together in my name I will be in the midst Then began the ecclesiasticall worship in the Church Before every man in his own private house but the publique invocation came in with Enosh in whose time there was a publique place dedicated to that end that is there was invocatio templi as well as invocatie coetûs Again we say there was an invocation before that is they prayed as the spirit moved them but a formall invocation with Rites and Ceremonies set down after a speciall manner which we call the Lyturgie or publique service that began with Enosh then began to appear the face of a Church If you ask why this was not done before you shall see it could not for there being but Adam and Abel and then Abel being slain Adam was alone and they that must be the lower part of the Church must be two or three at least Then it must begin in the Family of Seth for it is impossible that this could be till there came a third person which was Enosh And then it pleased God to reveal this manner of invocation For we know the Church consists of parties to govern parties to teach and parres to receive direction To govern and teach are two things but performed now by one then they began to call upon the name of the Lord that was a thing agreeable to naturall sense but before this time it was not so exquisitly done and which is a thing memorable they did this in the midst of a naughty and crooked Nation Philippians the second chapter and the fifteenth verse for now they durst openly professe a publique service of God and invocate his name notwithstanding the wicked seed and especially when they see Abel come to an untimely end that because he called upon God therefore he suffered marryrdome Besides that albeit Enoch built a City and tubal-Tubal-Cain invented armor yet they will follow Abel and professe themselves Seths Children this shews they were endued with a heroicall spirit and had this conceit in the name of God that it should be a strong Tower to defend them that howsoever the gates of hell did expose themselves against them yet they should not be able to prevail A third thing to be noted is that they took upon them this profession and publique aknowledgement of invocaring the name as in the fourth chapter of Isaiah and the first verse Let us be called by thy name and as it is in the ninth chapter of Daniel and the eighteenth verse They would be known to be a people who called upon the name of God they took upon them the profession of a Church and the title to be called Invocators on Gods name whose name was their treasure whose service their delight and whose worship was their glory that is They took upon them to be called Christians and true Worshippers of God against all others of the wicked race which distinction is shewed after when the house and posterity of Cain matched with the Sonnes 〈◊〉 Seth and so began there a medly to be made 〈◊〉 we see what Moses meaneth by bringing these two verses into this chapter viz. that the Godly should not be discouraged as if he had forgot his promises Therefore he ends the chapter with Enosh a godly man to shew first he will have them Worshippers and yet such shall not be without sorrowes and therefore Seths Sonne is called Enosh that is sorrow We have heard what invocation Moses speaks of the nature and manner of it that it contained all the exercises of Christian service and how it began in Enosh after a set manner that this must be done and should continue notwithstanding the wicked seed of Cain doe set themselves so maliciously against it So we see Moses hath brought us to the Roof of the Church for till that time there was no Church but now he hath brought us to a
Genesis and the eighteenth verse 2 In the wrâ—…ten law In the law of nature we see it is first and so it was first in the law of Moses for before he spake of any worship he willed that they should sacrifice unto the Lord their God in the third chapter of Exodus and the eighteenth verse 3. As in the old so in the new So is it the first not only in the old Testament but in the new for the first service performed to Christ the son of God was the oblation of the wisemen in the second chapter of Matthew and the eleventh verse 2. For the generality both offered and why Secondly for the generalitie As mention is first made of oblation so it is said generally that Cain and Abell offered For there is no Religion be it true or false that is without offerings and sacrifices Not only the Jewes had them but the 〈◊〉 also And of them not only such as were godly as it is said of Job that be offered a sacrifice in the first chapter of Job and the fifth verse but even those Gentils that were not regarded of God had their sacrifices as 〈◊〉 had his service altars upon which he offered oxen and rams to God Numbers twenty third Our Christian Altars the Lords Tables And for the Christians that they have alwayes had their offerings is plaine for of them the Apostle saith Nos habemus altare in the thirteenth chapter to the Hibrewes that is as the Jewes had their altars upon which they offered those sacrifices which did praenunciare mortem Domini so the Altar of the Christians is the Lords table whereon they doe anunciare mortem Domini in the first Epistle to the Corinthians the eleventh chapter and the twenty fifth verse As the Jewes Sacrifices were figures so our Sacraments are memorialls of Christs passion in the twenty second chapter of Luke and the nineteenth verse Facite hoc in memoriâ 〈◊〉 2. The kindes of offering Secondly the kindes of their offering are as the Apostle saith in the fifth to the Ephesians and the first verse 1. Oblation An oblation of a sweete smelling savour 2. Sacrifice and a sacrifice which the Hebrewes call Minchah and Zebach and the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latines Oblatio and Sacrificium So the Apostle she weth the division where he saith Preists were appointed to offer up to God on the behalf of the people gifts and Sacrifices for sinne in the fifth chapter to the Hebrews and the first verse These were offered in the Tabernacle in the ninth chapter to the Hebrews and the twelfth verse and had their ground in Cain and Abell after whose example their posterity offered those oblations to God The oblation was a thing offered up whole as it was without alteration But the Sacrifices were changed and consumed with fire Such an oblation was that which Abell offered And therefore the Apostle saith it was a sacrifice in the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews and the fourth verse By faith Abell offered a better sacrifice 2. Kinde of guifts distinguished Which two kindes of gifts or offerings are thus distinguished 1. To please as there are munera placentia such a gift was the Mandrakes which Lea gave to Rachel to please her in the thirtieth chapter of Genesis and the fifteenth verse 2. To pacifie anger And munera placantia to pacifie anger such as Jacob gave Esau when he had offended in the thirty third chapter of Genesis Examples And the brethren of Joseph when they had offended him in the fourty third chapter of Genesis 1. To please Angels offer up praise to God common also to men and why A present of Spices the first kinde of oblation which is to please is common to us with the Angels themselves for they offer up to God praise and thanksgiving because they know God is pleased with them 2. Praises to men to offer guifts to pacifie Gods wrath But the second sort is proper to men only who as they have procured Gods anger by sinning so they are to offer those gifts which may pacifie his wrath 3. The ground and reason why they offered Thirdly the ground and reason why they offered 1. For oblation is first for oblation Albeit God forbad to offer to Idols yet his will is not that we should not offer at all And though we may not offer to God to the end wemight supply his need seeing he is not hungry in the fiftieth Psalme In testimony of thankfulnesse and why Yet he will have us offer in testimony of our thankfulnesse to him as he saith offer to me the sacrifice of thanksgiving So that as a Prince having made a conquest of a City doth distribute it to his subjects at his pleasure yet so as he reserveth to himself a rent or service be it never so little that they may thereby acknowledge that whatsoever they have they hold it of him so God will have us after the example of Cain and Abell in fine dierum On the Sabbath to offer our quit rent to God and why that is on the Sabbath to offer to him our quit-rent we may not come before him empty handed the twenty second chapter of Exodus 1. To acknowledge all we have to have it from him but bring something with us to acknowledge that whatsoever we have we have it from him Not only by a vocall but a reall confession So the people were to bring their first fruits in a basket and to offer to God by the Priest and to make not a vocall but a reall confession of Gods goodnesse and providence for them in the twenty sixt chapter of Deuteronomie As David acknowledged all comes of thy hand Note quod de manu tua accipimus ca damus tibi in the first of the Chronicles the twenty ninth chapter and fourteenth verse Even so as God gives us our spirits in the twelfth chapter of Eccle. 1 To offer in soul spirituall sacrifices We must offer to him spirituall sacrifices in the first of Peter and the second chapter And seeing corpus aptavit nobis in the tenth chapter of the Hebrews And in the fourtieth Psalme 2. In body the 〈◊〉 of our lips We must glorifie him both in our bodies and in our spirits in the first of the Corinthians the sixth chapter that is we must offer up to him the calves of our lips in the fourteenth chapter of Hose that is the sacrifice of praise to God which is the fruit of the lips in the thirteenth chapter of the Hebrews and the fifteenth verse 3. In our substance and why And thirdly it must not be a vocall confession but we must really acknowledge it by offering of our substance to him we must not come emptie handed in the twenty second chapter of Exodus But as we confesse before the Lord that
punishment of sinne in the Margent the sinne it self which is the primarie signification of the word And they that turn it punishment for sinne doe thereby expresse Cain's murmuring against God They that turn it for sinne doe shew Cain's desparation I rather follow that in the Margent viz. that the sense is thus My sinne is greater than can be pardoned First because punishment of sinne Secondly because the Hebrews expound it so Thirdly for that all the old Fathers read it so Fourthly for that there is no mention of the third person Lastly because the full sense is comprehended in the next verse So that we are to take it thus That Cain being examined and hearing the sentence pronounced by God upon him breakes forth into this complaint My sinne is greater than can be forgiven In which words generally wee see a new Cain for no man would imagine that Cain who a little before answered God so presumptuously would submit himself so gently that he which said I know not where my brother is would now upon the sudden confess his fact that he that before was so bold should now become so dejected in the sight of his sinne he that had shewed himself a gyant should so suddenly become a Peasant but it is not Cains case only but the case of all his progenie For Pharaoh that so proudly and boldly said in the fifth chapter of Exodus and the second verse Who is the Lord that I should hear his voice I know not the Lord after doth acknowledge the Lord and submit himself to him in the ninth chapter of Exodus and the twenty seventh verse I have now sinned the Lord is righteous but I and my people are wicked Pray thou to the Lord that there be no more thunders Saul having committed a very grievous transgression against God doth notwithstanding very boldly say to Samuel in the first of Samuel the fifteenth chapter and thirteenth verse I have fulfilled the commandement of the Lord but a litle after verse the thirtieth he submitteth himself I have sinned but honour mee And Judas the perfect example of Cain albeit he had purposed to deliver his Master into the hands of the Scribes and Pharisees is as bold to deny that he had any such intent as any as it is in the twenty sixth chapter of Matthew and the twenty fifth verse but after the deed done we see he is touched with remorse for it and said in the twenty seventh chapter of Matthew and the fourth verse I have sinned betraying the innocent blood This is a strange metamorphosis and it is expedient that we mark this new stile That when a man sees Cain's offering he may say with the Prophet in the fift chapter of Jeremiah and the thirty first verse Quid fiet in novissimo For if our case were as Cains was that no man should stand in our way but presently we might be revenged of him without danger it were a thing to be liked but wee see Cain himself doth not escape unpunished Who would not desire to be in their case of whom Job speakes in the twenty first chapter of Job and the seventh verse If their flourishing estate would hold which live and wax old and grow in wealth their seed is established in his sight and his generation before their eyes But that which maketh their condition miserable is that which followeth in the thirteenth verse They spend their dayes in wealth and suddenly they goe down to the grave The Prophet confesseth he was greatly disquieted at the prosperity of the wicked till he went to the Sanctuarie of God for there he understood their end that they are set in slipperie places Psalm the seventy third So albeit Cain had the dominion over his brother and slew him thinking none would call him to account for it yet wee see at length he acknowledgeth his sinne and affirmeth it to be so great as that it can have no pardon Wherefore if we will judge rightly of Cain whom we have heard before what he was we must not stay there but read on forward and see what he is now For we must judge of the wicked by their deed of them our Saviour Christ saith in the 12. chapter of Matthew Their end is worse than their beginning Before his sin lay still and his condemnation slept And thus it is with the wicked that while they are asleep in sinne they will believe nothing nor give credit to any word of God Wherefore we see a plain example in Lot's sons in law in the nienteenth chapter of Genesis and the fourteenth verse when he told them the Lord would destroy the City he seemed to them to be som jester And when sinne awaketh and damnation sleepeth no longer then it is a matter of earnest it maketh Cain to cry out My sinne is greater than can be pardoned And howsoever Esau contemn his Birth-right yet when he seeks it cannot be had again it maketh him weep bitterly Genesis the twenty fifth chapter and Hebrews the twelfth chapter So that albeit at the first they see not the inconvenience and danger of sinne yet in novissimo Jeremiah the thirtieth chapter and the twenty fourth verse at the last day they shall understand it plainly Touching the words themselves here is a confession though it be faulty for true confession hath prayer joyned with it as the Prophet having made confession of his sinne saith For this cause I prayed Psalm the thirty second And Peter to Simon Magus Pray if the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee in the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and the twenty second verse but this confession hath no prayer and therefore is faulty But to speak so much of it as is good in his confession First he confesseth his sinne not every sinne but his crooked and perverse sinne such as Job speaketh of in his thirty third chapter and the twenty seventh verse I have sinned and perverted righteousness Again in that he saith his sinne is great he sheweth that he felt the weight of it and doth not 〈◊〉 it and make it lesse than it is This confession is well but only for two exceptions that are easily taken against it First that which Chrysostome maketh That it was too late for it should have stood in the eighth verse for as the Wise-man saith in the eighteenth chapter of the Proverbs and the seventeenth verse Justus in principio sermonis accusator sui And as the fathers read in the fourty third chapter of Isaiah and the twenty sixth verse Die tu iniquitates prior ut justificeris for we may not foreslow the time but seek the Lord while he may he found Isaiah the fifty fift chapter Secondly because albeit it be said of repentance Siver a nunquam sera yet si sera rarò vera if it be late it is seldom true And this confession of Cain as it is no true confession for that it was long deferred so chiefly for
from Gods own mouth kils Cain doth deserve a more great punishment But lest any should excuse themselves with ignorance therefore that notice may be taken of Cain God sets a mark upon Cain Signum in Cain fecit Cain insignum This mark gives all men occasion to inquire who he is that so they may be put in minde to hold their hands from off Cain forasmuch as God will not have him to be killed by any man There are two sorts of signes There is Signum in bonum Psalme the eighty sixth sbew us some signe for good Such a signe or mark was the letter 〈◊〉 set in the foreheads of them that 〈◊〉 and cryed for the 〈◊〉 that were done by the which God deliered them from the destruction of the City Ezekiel the ninth chapter and the fourth verse But Cain's mark is Signum in malum The Fathers usually distinguish them into these two Signum annuli such a mark as Christ had set upon him in the sixt chapter of John Him hath God the Father sealed And signum cauterii in the first epistle to Timothie the fourth chapter and the first verse the signe of a brand This figne or mark set upon Cain was outward and visible to the end that he might be discerned from all other men What was Cain's mark Basil 〈◊〉 us when he saith that it is the rednesse of the eyes Proverbs the twenty third chapter and 〈…〉 of the 〈◊〉 such as 〈◊〉 have 〈◊〉 of whom he saith that they put on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But whatsoever it were it is some evident token whereby all 〈◊〉 might see that Cain was not in such good case as he should 〈◊〉 And upon whomsoever God hath set any outward mark it is not in vain But the fetting of marks in the forehead or hands of malefactors hath a ground from Gods practise The use of them is to teach them that albeit they be suffered to live yet they are unworthy of life Such are marks of admonition both to themselves and to others they give occasion to inquire How come these 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 bands Zechary the thirteenth chapter and the sixth verse To the parties themselves such marks 〈◊〉 for conversion that their 〈…〉 with shame Psalm the eighty third for the remembrance of that which they have deserved they may be stirred up to amend their lives and it 〈◊〉 others so to live that they deserve not to be marked in like sort This use the Apostle makes in the second to the Thessalonians the third chapter and the fourteenth verse If any obey not our sayings note him and have no company with him 〈◊〉 he may be ashamed Such marks in others will make men heedfull that they deserve not to be marked To conclude we see Cain is spared but yet so that he carryeth still his sentence and mark Two invisible things of God remain that is his justice and mercy and both that they may move him to repentance but if they prevail not yet he hath a visible sign to admonish him that he repent that so the evill sign may be taken from him and there may be restored to him a 〈◊〉 for good 〈◊〉 is the sign of Gods seal in the second to the 〈◊〉 the seventeenth chapter and the twenty second verse whereby we are 〈…〉 the day of redemption 〈◊〉 the fourth chapter 〈◊〉 〈…〉 to live and so God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he will 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 in 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 may live Genesis the seven 〈…〉 and the eighteenth 〈◊〉 But the promise of this 〈◊〉 life such as 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 obtained was not 〈◊〉 but 〈…〉 the sixt chapter and the second verse The 〈…〉 hath root in 〈◊〉 it standeth in the bruising of the 〈◊〉 head If by life we procure to our selves the death of 〈◊〉 and make our selves partakers of the divine nature then the promise of such a life is to be desired but if life be used as Cain spent his it is better to die without Cains mark than to live with it Egressus itaque est Kajin à facie Jehovae consedit in terra Nodi ad Orientem Hedenem versus Gen. 4. 16. Septemb. 23. 1599. WE now come to the last part of the History of Cain for in this verse we have his departure from the presence of God and in the next his purpose never to return again The contents of this verse are his departure Gods purpose as we have heard both in Cains punishment as also by granting him so much as he required in the last verse was to give Cain space to repent and yet not withstanding we see plainly that is verified in Cain which the Prophet affirmeth Isaiah the twenty sixt chapter and the tenth verse Let mercy be shewed to the wicked yet he will not learn righteousness For Cain instead of using the goodness and patience and long suffering of God as a means to bring him to repentance Hardned his heart and heaped up wrath for himself against the day of wrath Romans the second chapter and the fift verse This departing of Cain stands upon three parts First his removing he went out Secondly terminus a quo that is from the presence of God Thirdly terminus ad quem that is the land of Nod. Touching the first there is a going out upon distrust when a man hath no hope of favour and another upon contempt when a man thinks he shall have no benefit of tarrying Of which the better is that going out which is upon distrust but so could not Cain goe out for as well by Gods mercifull dealing towards Cain before the sentence was pronounced as also by the gracious grant which God made him he might gather that God was well affected towards him For as the wife of Manoah saith Judges the thirteenth chapter and the twenty third verse If the Lord would kill us he would not receive a burnt offering at our hands so God would not have heard Cains request had he not wished him well And therefore Austin upon the words of David Psalm the sixty sixt and twentieth verse saith quamdiu dominus non amovet orationem a se 〈◊〉 non amovet misericordiam a nobis for that yeelding to Cains request touching his life was an invitation to stir up Cain to desire more Therefore Cain should not have gone out so soon as his suit was heard but still have continued praying to God for more and better things as Abraham Genesis the eighteenth chapter hearing that God at his request was contented to spare Sodom for fifties sake prayeth still in the behalf of the City adding one petition after another Which course the Prophet keepeth in his prayer Psalm the fifty first Cast me not from thy presence neither take thy holy spirit from me Though he durst not pray himself being a sinner yet by others as Miriam by Moses Numbers the tweelfth chapter Pharaoh by Moses and Aron Exodus the ninth chapter and the twenty eighth verse so should Cain have done but in as much as
he doth not his case is like the case of Esau Genesis the twenty fift chapter he cared not for his Birth-right no more did Cain take any care for the presence of God but thought it a matter not worthy to be reckoned of Secondly We see that Cain goeth not out against his will nor tarries till God send him out of his presence as he sent Adam and Eve out of Paradise setting a Cherubim to keep the way Genesis the third chapter there was no such execution or warrant from God for Cain but he first casts out himself whereby we see it was an hypocriticall complaint that he made that he was cast out from the presence of God verse the fourteenth in that he goeth out of himself without any violence offered to him A Child will not at the first bidding go out of his Fathers presence though in his anger he threaten him no more should Cain he should have been of Jacobs minde Genesis the thirty second chapter I will not let thee goe till I have a blessing But we see Cain doth of himself voluntarily leave Gods presence which sheweth plainly that the cause of Cains grief was not Gods displeasure but his punishment laid by God upon him and not the spirituall part of his punishent but the earthly Thirdly the casting out of Gods presence was threatned as a punishment and therefore ought to be born patiently but to make poenam excommunicationis crimen apostasiae is a great aggravation of his sinne that is to take occasion by the censure of the Church to bring in Schisme is a grievous aggravation of the offence But as we have seen that Cain was the first Author of heresie for that he thought any thing would serve Gods turn the 〈◊〉 and meanest things were good enough to offer to him whereas Abel offereth the best he could finde so he is the first that brings up Schism and Apostacy for the Sentence is not executed upon him but through an evil heart of unbelief as the Apostle speaks Hebrews the third chapter He doth depart of himself from the living God Soe we have these three things in his departure First It is not upon any just 〈◊〉 It is voluntary Thirdly He departs so as he makes the penalty of his sinne the matter of a greater sinne Secondly Touching his removing to remove of it self is not evill but in regard of the place from whence if with Abraham we depart from a country of Idolatry as from Ur or as Lot from Sodom a City full of all sinne or with the Hebrewes out of a place of vexation and cruelty such a departure is good but to depart from a good place that makes the motion evill but for Cain to depart out of the presence of God is all one as if the sick person should leave the Physitian St. Peter indeed in great astonishment said to Christ exi a 〈…〉 enim sum but after being better advised when Christ said 〈◊〉 ye also goe away his answer is John the sixth chapter and the sixty eighth verse Domine ad quem ibimus tu habes verba 〈◊〉 vitae whereupon Augustine saith Lord if thou 〈◊〉 have me depart from thee shew me such another as thou art otherwise I will not leave thee till thou receive me into thy favour This presence of God was some certain place of Gods appearance as the place whither he went was a country by Paradise called the Land of Nod. Therefore the place whither he went being a locall motion the place from which he departed must needs be likewise locall From this place of Gods presence Cain went out to dwell in the land of Nod. The effect of which words is after set down in one word for the place wherein God appeared to Jacob when he slept was called Bethel Genesis the twenty eighth chapter the same place also is called Penuel Genesis the thirty second chapter and the thirtieth verse so that the place of Gods appearance was some one piece of the earth where the Altar was upon which Cain and Abel offered their sacrifices where God did usually appear Even as we also have an Altar Hebrews the thirteenth chapter where we have Christs presence as he affirmeth that where two or three be gathered together in his name he is present among them Matthew the eighteenth chapter like as they that come together to hear the word are said to be present before God that is in the presence of God Acts the tenth chapter The point that wee are to gather hence for our instruction is That we concieve of the Church and place of Gods presence as we doe of the place of the Princes presence for we reverence such places though the Prince be absent so ought we to reverence the places of Gods presence though we have no visible apparition of his presence for such places are his rest for ever where he promiseth to dwell Psalme the one hundred thirty second They are also his footstoole and therefore are to be reverenced As Psalm the ninty ninth Fall down before his footstool for he is holy Therefore to depart from the Church is to depart from Gods presence no lesse than Cain did But Gods will is we should not depart out of the place of his presence no more than we would out of the presence of his favour and we must make a conscience how we goe out of such places because God is not mocked When men have no religion it is said of them Psalm the fourteenth They call not upon God as for the preaching of the word they count it onus Domini Jeremie the twenty third chapter It is as tedious to them to hear sermons as to carry burthens upon their backs And for the spirituall food offered in the Sacraments it is to them as Manna was to the Israelites A light meat which their soul loatheth Numbers the eleventh chapter And as for the Church and Congregation of the faithfull the opinion that the world hath of them is very mean as the Prophet saith in the thirtieth chapter of Jeremiah This is Sion whom no man seeketh after But they that are so affected towards the service of God and the places of his presence are animales spiritum non habentes as Jude calleth them they have no favour in such things and therefore they care not for them but like Cain doe goe out of them and make no reckoning Of whom the Apostle saith truly in the first epistler of John the second chapter and the ninteenth verse They went out from us yet 〈◊〉 de nobis that is they were not the members of the 〈◊〉 for then they should have selt them when they went For those things that are not members of the body may easily be taken away as the hairs of the head and the nayles but take away any member of the boby and it will be painfull Therefore they that depart willingly from the Church and place of Gods presence are not members but
excrements of the mysticall body The place whither he depaited was The land of Nod. As it is said of Cain that he went out so so also of St. Peter but for a diverse end Peter went out and wept bitierly Matthew the twenty sixt chapter and the last verse but Cain went not out to bewail his sinne as Peter did but to settle himself in some other place Cain's terminus ad quem is he land of Nod which is situate towards the east side of Eden Where in two things First The place it self Secondly The situation For the place it sell There are of the Interpreters that take it to be no certain land from the word Nod which signifieth to wander as if the meaning were that Cain according to the sentence that he should be a 〈◊〉 and exile went out to wander from one place to another But that cannot be in as much as Nod is said to be a land on the east side of Paradise It is further said that being there he built him a City not that he stayed there for he was alwayes removing and fleeting from one place to another It was before the deluge so called of Cain whose state of life was to wander up and down but 〈◊〉 was called Babel And it is said to be castward toward Eden Wherefore by the framing of his journy to that place which carrieth the name of pleasure it appeares that Cain did not settle himself to repentance for then he should have gone into the Valley of Achor Hosea the second chapter Or into the valley of tears Psalme the eighty fourth that is as far from Eden as he could because a place of pleasure is unfit to repent in He that will repent must get him into the wildernesse alone and there bewail his sins He could not goe to Eden for there was an Angel set with a shaking sword to keep the way of the tree of life Genesis the third chapter but toward the east side of Eden So we see Cains purpose was not Gods purpose The purpose of God in allowing unto Cain life was that he might have time to repent But Cains purpose is that he may plant himself on earth and enjoy pleasures These are the wayes to the which there belongeth a woe as the Apostle sheweth Jude the eleventh verse The sinne of pleasure which is Cains sinne The sinne of gain which was Babylon's sinne and the sinne of ambition which was the sinne of Korah These are the three wayes of the world The lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and pride of life in the first of Saint John the second chapter Which are not of the Father but of the world Where it is said he went to the side of Paradise the Holy Ghost giveth us to understand that Cain may 〈◊〉 set himself in some kinde of 〈◊〉 delight but not in Paradise it self that is in no true and sound delight Again Whereas Cain being now fallen from hope of eternall and spirituall things takes his journey to the east we see he is the first of those that are content even for to enjoy the warmnesse of the sunne to leave the presence of God and for to get a little pleasure for a time will forgoe that which is incorruptible and indures for ever Such men are like those whom the Prophet 〈◊〉 in the eighth chapter of Ezekiel and the sixteenth verse having their backs toward the temple and their faces to the sun rising to worship the sunne Even so Cain by leaving Gods presence doth give over eternall things and seeks for temporall And so we see what is Cains error both in departing from Gods presence and in removing to this place Adam and Eve and Seth which then represented the Church were upon the west side of Eden Cain and his crue keeps in the east side that is the wicked have the better part in the things of this life for their portion is in this life Psalme the seventeenth but the portion of the godly is not in the pleasure of this life but in the land of the living where they have laid up for them things which eye hath not seen the ear hath not heard nor mans heart conceived in the first epistle to the Corinthians the second chapter The wicked in their life time receive pleasure but after indure everlasting pain but the godly that sufer affliction in this world shall in the world to come be comforted as it is in the sixteenth chapter of Luke From hence we learn That we must not depart from Gods presence as Cain did without just cause If we doe it must be to bewail our sinnes with bitter tears as St. Peter If we goe from Gods presence we shall finde the land of Nod that is a place that shall afford us no contentation or rest It shall be with us as it was with Agar to whom the Angell said in the sixteenth chapter of Genesis and the eighteenth verse Whence comest thou and whither goost thou So we shall be in continuall motion and never have rest First Because we can never in this wicked world attain to any perfection of pleasure our desires are never satisfied for it is true of all men as one saith quando habent quod voluerunt non habent quod volunt Secondly Because they are all their life in fear of death Hebrews the second chapter We see our state represented in Jonah when he fled from the presence of the Lord he thought he should have come to Tarshish but he found himself in the land of Nod that is of thraldome and misery being tossed on the Sea Jonah the first chapter and the third verse for Gods presence is Seth's land that is a land of foundation it is the Country of Noah for it giveth rest it is the City of Salem that is of peace But if we leave Gods presence we shall not finde any land of foundation rest or peace If as Jeremy willeth We stand upon the old wayes and ask for the good wayes and walk therein Jeremiah the sixt chapter and the sixteenth verse if as Christ bids us We take up the yoke and learn of him we shall 〈…〉 to our souls 〈◊〉 the eleventh chapter but if we 〈…〉 Cains Country we shall have no rest day not night 〈◊〉 the sixteenth chapter and the thirteenth verse As for peace the prophet saith non est pax impiis dicit dominus Isaiah the fifty seventh chapter that is seeing they will depart from Gods 〈◊〉 they 〈…〉 Cains Land for they are as the raging Sea which is 〈…〉 and as the 〈◊〉 in the water never rest but shoot by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wicked of the world we see this working they desire 〈…〉 more For he that 〈◊〉 silver shall not be satisfied with 〈…〉 astes the fifth chapter and the 〈◊〉 they never finde any 〈…〉 cause their desire can never be satisfied Wherefore as Cains Land was Nod so Nimrod Cains Successor had 〈◊〉 for his Country that is confusion and
disorder but Melchisedek who stayed in the presence of God had Salem for his land The reason of this is as Augustine saith because God made the soul of man for himself inquietum est cor nostrum 〈◊〉 requiescit in Deo we may finde the skirts of Eden and obtain some delight for a time in this life but we cannot 〈◊〉 to any perfect pleasute for as the Wise-man saith risus dolore miscetur extrema 〈…〉 occupat Proverbs the fourteenth chapter therefore the Prophet saith Micah 2. 10. surgite non est hîc requies vestra and the Apostle 〈◊〉 with him Hebrewes the thirteenth chapter non habemâ—…s hîc manentem civitatem therefore let us goe out with Christ. Thus the imperfection of our happiness in this life and the continuall fear of death doth take from us all rest and this proceedeth from the want of Gods presence It remaineth then that he which will finde rest doe seek Gods face and presence Psalm the twenty seventh and the eighth verse for seek God and then your soul shall live Psalm the sixty ninth If our departure from the 〈◊〉 of God be not as Cains was that is of contempt yet it is like Judas which went out of distrust The issue of Cains departure was a radious life full of trouble and fear and the going out of Judas was miserie or death Such shall be the issue of those that either of contempt or distrust fall away from God the pleasure that they shall have in this life is but momentary and 〈◊〉 it is 〈◊〉 inquieta voluptas Ecclesiastes the second chapter the desire of that which they want and the fear of death which is alwayes at 〈◊〉 doth not suffer them to take rest therefore if we will have rest we must goe to Peniel and Salem there we shall have both rest and 〈◊〉 and this is done by prayer when we say with David Psalm the fifty first Cast me not from thy presence If of our selves we 〈◊〉 our of his presence we must goe to some valley to 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 〈◊〉 did so we shall be received of God for God being 〈…〉 and majesty is able both to give us our hearts desire and to deliver our souls from death Et cognovit Kajin uxorem suam quae concepit peperit Chanocum quamobrem studebat edificare civitatem vocavit nomen civitatis illius de nomine filit sui Chanoc Gen. 4. 17. Septemb. 30. 1599. ALbeit Cain departed from the presence of God and seated himself in a Land as neer Eden as he could yet his departure is not altogether desperate because he may return again for so both the Prophet in the old Testament sheweth that the Church of the Jewes having departed from her first husband and seeing the invonvenience of it resolved to return again Hosea the second chapter and our Saviour in the New tells us that the Sonne which forsook his Father after when he felt some affliction was glad to come to him again Luke the fifteenth chapter and so may Cain come again for as Eden that is pleasure is the thing that perswades men to depart from their allegiance in the service of God so the place whither they goe that is the Land of Nod being a Land of trouble and unquietness may perswade them to return to God again A fair proffer indeed is made to draw men from Gods presence and to commit sinne in as much as it offereth pleasure but when they have seated themselves a little even as neer Eden as they can they shall finde themselves in the Land of Nod that is they shall feel nothing within but unquietness of conscience and without fear and trouble so as they shall have inducements sufficient to make them return Salomon the pearless example of all those that might have enjoyed pleasure if it had been to be found who was greater than any King that ever was before him set himself to plant himself as neer Eden as he could he denyed his Soul nothing that it desired and yet he confesseth that when he had built him Houses and planted Orchards he found nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit Ecclesiastes the second chapter and the eleventh verse that is his desire was never satisfied and for the attaining of that which he had he endured vexation and trouble As Cain had his arguments perswading him to make triall of the Land of Nod so when he was there his trouble and unquietness were sufficient reasons to make him return to God but we see he had no minde to return for having disjoyned himself from Gods presence he built a City which is a plain argument of not returning as the people in captivity to let them know they shall not return of a long time are commanded to build Houses Jeremiah the twenty ninth chapter and the Children of God were content to dwell in Tents they built not Cities on earth but sought for a City whose builder is God Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the ninth verse which was a plain token that they did not minde to dwell on earth as Freeholders but to continue for a time looking for a City that hath a foundation but Cain not minding to return to God built a City in the land of Nod and this is the complement of his sinne first in departing from Gods presence then in planting himself so as he purposed not to return The parts are three the propagation of Children the building of a City and the denomination of both wherein we see Cain conveyeth to his Sonne the great Joynture of the world to be Henoch of Henoch To have Children is a matter of the flesh to build 〈◊〉 is a matter of the world for the flesh departing from the 〈…〉 in the world The naming of the City after his Sons name is a fruit and effect of the pride of his heart 〈◊〉 like to those that said 〈◊〉 nob is nomen Genesis the eleventh chapter Touching the first we are to insist upon four things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wife Secondly his knowledge Thirdly her conception Fourthly the giving of the name Concerning the Wife of Cain it cannot be otherwise but she was one of the daughters of Adam whose Sonne Cain himself was and for him to take his Sister to be his Wise is a thing unlawfull saving that as Christ sheweth that which of it 〈◊〉 is unlawfull on the Sabbath by necessity is made lawfull nam quod in 〈◊〉 non est necessitas facit licitum as Christ sheweth by the example of David and his men that his 〈◊〉 offended not in pulling the 〈◊〉 of corn on the Sabbath in regard of their necessity Matthew the twelfth chapter no more than David offended when being hungrie he went into the house of God and did eat the 〈◊〉 bread which none may eat but the Priests in the first of Samuel the twenty first chapter That which was Davids case at Nob is Cains case in the land of Nod. A man may not
take the sword and revenge his own quarrel but in case of necessity when there is none to defend it is lawfull to use the Sword for his defence It is not lawfull originally for Cain to make his 〈◊〉 his Wife as the Fathers prove Genesis the 2. chapter and the 4. verse so where God saith therefore shall a man leave his Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife his meaning is he will not have friendship kept within one Familie but will have men so to marry that 〈◊〉 Families may be linked together in love Again where both in Genesis the second chapter and Matthew the ninteenth chapter it is said they two shall be one flesh that is not true where Brother and Sister are joyned together for they are one flesh already in as much as they are born of the 〈…〉 Therefore where there is unity of blood between such 〈◊〉 is no lawfull marrying but necessity is without law and therefore Cain is dispensed withall because necessity caused him Touching the mixture of Brother and Sister it is 〈◊〉 to the Lord and his soul abhorrs it Leviticus the 〈◊〉 chapter and the twenty third verse but if this kinde of copulation were originally lawfull it would not be so abhominable that he would punish it in such sort Besides we see this is a thing so unlawfull that John Baptist chooseth rather to hazard his life than he will suffer this sinne unreproved which he would not have done but that it was originally unlawfull for Herod to have his Brothers Wife Matthew the fourteenth chapter For the knowledge Cain had with his wife we see that as Adam when he was cast out of Paradise knew his Wife so Cain being departed from Gods presence to a Land of trouble and disquietness having lost spirituall comforts seeks for rest in carnall delights For the procreation of Children as Sarah speaks Genesis the eighteenth chapter is an act of pleasure which albeit it be lawfull for Adam a repentant sinner yet not for Cain being in that state that he was for in the time of repentance the Bridegroom must come forth of his Camber and the Bride out of her Bedchamber Joel the second chapter and the sixteenth verse and they that are married may not so give themselves over to the flesh but that upon speciall cause sometime they give themselves to prayer and fasting in the first to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the fifth verse but Cain standing as he did at this time transgresseth the Command of God And yet touching the third point Gods goodness appeareth herein that for all that he so blesseth 〈◊〉 which was unlawfull that she conceiveth It was in Gods hand and his sinne deserved it that she should have been barren for Jeremiah the twenty second chapter in the second of Samuel the sixteenth chapter the sinne of Jeconiah and Michal is the cause of their barrenness Therefore in Gods justice it is a due punishment to all sorts not to have Children but yet as he brings light out of darkness so to shew he can of evill Parents bring forth good Children he gives Cain issue as he brought good Ezekiah out of Achan and Josia out of Ammon For this cause he gives the wicked Children as also in this regard to shew that he is able to break the Serpents head not one way only by killing sinne in men but by making them examples of his justice as in Pharaoh Romans the ninth chapter For this cause have I stirred them up even as we see the bodies of Malefactors are given to Chyrurgeons for Anatomies that in them men may see the state of our bodies and so it may be for the good of others For as it were inconvenient that evill Parents should only have evill Children because by this means evill would be infinite so it is as inconvenient that good Parents should have none but good Children for so that which is of grace would be ascribed to nature And so we see that albeit the act be unlawfull and the seed stolne yet being cast into the ground we see God so blesseth it that it is fruitfull The fourth point is that Cain called his Sons name Enoch the meaning whereof is a dedication or consecration and this gives hope as if there were some goodness remaining in Cain for those things that are built to be dedicated are Altars and Churches things for Gods use as Noah built an Altar and offered burnt offerings Genesis the eighth chapter but that which Cain built is no Altar but a City and we know Cities and Towns are dedicated to the world and the consecration that he makes is to no God except he make the world his God Philippians the third chapter his position is that gain is godliness in the first to Timothy the fourth chapter and therein he bestowes his service But after we have another Enoch so truly called Genesis the fift chapter the Son of Seth who did not depart from Gods presence as this Enoch did but consecrated himself to God and became a Preacher of righteousness who as well by his preaching as by uttering the censure of excommunication behold the Lord commeth with a thousand of Angels as Jude speaks dedicated himself to the Church but the first work that Cains Enoch sets himself about is the world This is the difference between Cains Henoch and Seths Henoch the one builds a City on earth the other seeks for a City from above whose builder is God So that there is no hope of Cains return he consecrates his Sonne and City but it is to the wrong God if to any Secondly Touching the building of the City which is a matter respecting the world before wee come to that we must know there was now a great distance of yeeres betweene the time that Cain knew his wife and the time that hee built the City for hee built not the City only for himselfe his wife and childe but was now grown to bee so great a number that hee must have a City to place his posterity in for God respecting mankinde rather then the sinne of man made the seede sowne plentifull They that came of Abraham Isaac and Jacob came but to twelve and in few yeeres of those twelve came seventy five and for the increase of mankinde Hee makes the barren families like a flock of sheepe as it is in the hundred and seventh Psalme Therefore when Cain was grown to so great a multitude he built him a City It is true of Cain which the Apostle affirmeth Hebrews the third chapter No man departs from God but by an evil heart of unbelief So Cain thinks that albeit God hath cursed that part of the earth where Adam was yet it may be the Land toward the Sun rising may be better and therefore he makes triall like the Isrealites which being forbidden to keep any of the Manna till morning for all that would trie whether it would be full of worms and being forbidden to
not here saith the Apostle any abiding City Hebrews the thirteenth chapter and the fourteenth verse that is true for albeit we have Cities yet they continue not therefore we seek for a City of Gods building Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the ninth verse and not a City built by Cain This is a point of examination for it is to be considered whether a man in the course of his life reach any further than these three If he goe no farther in the practise of his life but to get Children to build Cities and fair Houses and to get a name he is in the way of Cain But if with the other Enoch we continue still in Gods presence then we doe well Cain having life granted for repentance mispends it in building of a City and such like vanities And as there is a woe to him so woe to them that like him mispend their time which God giveth them for repentance Jude the eleventh verse Cain is in a place of torment where he cryeth woe that he mispent his time so vainly and therefore we must beware by his example for this is the use we are to make of Cain and the Reprobate that when we see what is their end we beware that we walk not in their waies that we mispend not our time in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and vanity of buildings and seeking the glory and honor of this world because to all such there belongs a woe no less than to Cain as it is in the epistle of Jude Deinde Chanacho natus est Hirad Hirad genuit Mechujaëlem Machujaël verò genuit Methuschaëlem Methuschaël genuit Lemecum Assumpsit autem sibi Lemec uxores duas Gen. 4. 18.19 〈◊〉 9. 1599. IN these two verses we have two points to consider the one is a journey which the Holy Ghost undertaketh the other is the end of that journey In the journey Moses begins to set down the Pedigrees of Cain and the end of that journey is the story of Lameoh wherein it may justly be inquired First why any mention is made in Scripture of the Reprobate Secondly why it makes mention of the generation of Cain before the generation of Seth For the first It is a matter of absolute necessity that the Scripture should make mention of the ungodly and reprobate for whereas God proclaimed enmitie between the Serpents seed and the seed of the Woman Genesis the third chapter and the eleventh verse it was his will that it should appear in the world how the one was an enemie to the other therefore it is called liber bellorum domini Joshua the tenth chapter The life of man is called militia super terram Job the seventh chapter and the Church is called the Church militant haec est patientia Sanctorum Revelations the fourteenth chapter and the twelfth verse to shew that the godly have enemies in this world whereby their patience is tried Secondly why mention is made first of the pedigree of Cain there is sufficient reason to be given that is In as much as the wicked are called the men of this world Psalm the seventeenth and the Children of this generation Luke the 〈◊〉 chapter and the eighteenth verse it is reason they should be first remembred in this world for that they shall not be mentioned any where else they only have their interest in this life but in the morning the righteous have the dominion Psalm the fourty ninth and the fourteenth verse that is in the life to come 〈◊〉 shall be first made of the godly and therefore Christ before he speaks of 〈◊〉 the wicked saith first Metthew the twenty fifth chapter Venite benedicti patris mei that is in regard of the persons and for sinne it self as the Philosopher saith ad meminem ante venit mens bona quim animus malus every man is first possessed with an evill minde before he can have a good minde as the Apostle saith in the first to the Corinthians the the fifteenth chapter and the fourty fift verse That is not first which is spirituall but that which is naturall We are all by nature first the Children of wrath Ephesians the second chapter and belong to the posterity of Cain before we can be partakers of grace and therefore it is good reason that in Scripture our state by nature be first spoken of before our state by grace that the Law should goe before the Gospel the seed of the Serpent before the blessed feed of the Woman Thirdly It may be demanded why this passage is made to the story of Lamech next after the story of Cain the reason is for that it is Gods will to bring sinne to a head For as in Adam we saw the poyson of the Serpent and the infection of it in Cain so here is a new infection For as there is a spirit that lusteth after envy James the fourth chapter which made Cain kill his brother so in Lamech we see that spirit which Jude speaks of verse the seventh that is a spirit that longeth after strange flesh which he she wed in taking two Wives That is there is an unclean spirit as well as an 〈◊〉 spirit whereas there are two parts of the will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Cain the angry part was infected with the Serpents poyson his heart was inflamed with a desire of revenge Now in Lamech we see this infection goeth lower even to his reins and stirs him up to lust There are but two temprations Deuteronomie the thirty third chapter and the eighth verse which the Hebrews call meribah and Massah which the Apostle termeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hebrews the third chapter the one is the temptation unto contention and revenge where with Cain was infected of which the Apostle saith James the fourth chapter and the first verse From 〈◊〉 are warres and contentions among you are they not from your lusts The other is the temptation of concupisence which poisoned Lamech In the Gospel we have them both that is spiritas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke the eighth chapter and the second verse Christ healeth certain women possessed with malignant and envious spirits and Luke the eleventh chapter The unclean spirit departing out of a man walketh in dry places The malicious spirit she wed his poyson in Cain by the temptation of meribah and now Lamech is infected with the unclean spirit and yeelding to the temptation of 〈◊〉 And in these two Reprobates infected with these two kindes of temptations the Holy Ghost sheweth the perfection of sinne For sanctification hath two parts First That we possesse our vessels in holiness which is an exposition to the uncleaness of Lamech and in the first to the Thessalonians the fourth chapter and the sixt verse that no man oppresse or tread down his brother which opposeth it self against the spirit of Cain who trod down his brother and violently slew him Charity and
with Enoshes invocation with respect partly to Seth his Father and partly to Enoch Cains Sonne As Cain and Seth matches so doe Enoch and Enosh On the behalf of Seth we say that Moses having laid a foundation which was posuit deus in this verse he adds roof for invocation is not made till the Temple be finished and so in these two verses he comprehends the state of the Church In the first is the promise of God in the second the name of God In which two is contained the duty of the whole worship of God On the other side that there might be a counterpoise and opposition between the contrary parties as Seth is opposed to Cain so Enosh stands against Enoch For as we see there was a City built on the one side so on the other side there must be something built for the defence of the seed of the Godly There must be some fence for Seth and his seed as Cain and Enoch had theirs Therefore here is that which is called turris fortissima Proverbs the eighteenth chapter that is nomen domini and it stands in opposition not only against him but against all the rest to counterpoise Jabal Jubal and Tubal Cain First against the wealth that Jabal brought in here is the fear of the Lord as Abraham Genesis the twentieth chapter whereof the Prophet saith Isaiah the thirty third chapter and the sixt verse Timor Domini the saurus Secondly Against the pleasures and delights of Jubals invention of musick we have another pleasure in the Psalmes Psalm the sixty third My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfull lips Thirdly Against the strength and power of Tubal Cain that deviseth weapons for warr we have another kinde of armor Psalm the twentieth Illi in curribus in equis nos autem in nomine domini dei nostri invocabimus So we see that which is ascribed to Enosh doth answer not only Enoch but all the rest As on the one side in respect of Seth when we read that God gave him a seed we shewed that it was a holy seed that he was the first that called on the name of the Lord so on the other side in respect of Enosh and Enoch as we see a City so a Church as in Enoch a state civill so in Enosh a state ecclesiasticall as there we had a company of men that placed their vocation in things of this life so here we have another company whose vocation is an invocation that is to adore and call upon the name of the Lord. As if Moses should say by way of apologie that they were not a seed alone but there is another seed and as Cains posterity boasted themselves in earthly matters so Seths seed was imployed in the service of God which Moses opposeth against Enoch and the rest For when as the Prophet speaks there is more spent in the making of Mattocks and Swords that is a state civill but when more time and pains is bestowed in the safegard and protection of the Church than upon Lawyers and that shewes a state ecclesiasticall This shall suffice for the dependance of this verse I come to the verse it self consisting of two parts First the birth and name of Enosh Secondly the invocation of the name of the Lord. First the name Enosh signifies a man according to the four words in the holy tongue and it gives us to understand thus much that the conceipt of the Holy Ghost is that that party that hath sense of God and his worship and of spirituall things as the invocation of the name of God is to be called a man otherwise he is like a beast Psalm the fourty ninth and no man for that the God of heaven should receive no more honour and service from men than from bruit beasts it is too unreasonable seeing God hath endued man with reason and therefore that which offereth it self here is that Enosh from his invocation of the name of the Lord took his manhood that thereby it appeared that he was a man and not a bruit beast But as he signifies a man so not every man but as Adam is a person taken out of the molde of the earth so Enosh is a name pertaining to humility and signifies a person that is lowly The one was manipulus terrae the other cumulus miseriae so that there is a name from the molde whereof man is made and into which he is cast the consideration whereof is able to take down our pride or if not that of Adam The other name Enosh whereby we see that this man that is made of the molde of the earth is subject to so many miseries sicknesses sorrowes and calamities For the occasion of this name giving there was a kinde of emulation between the one side and the other as on the one side the one called his Sonne Enoch so the other Enosh the one Irad the other Jerad the one Mehujael the other Methushael which was done in this respect to shew that another manner of contemplation occupies the heads of the Children of God then the terrestriall dedication of the seed of the wicked But especially this was done in respect of the Prophesie to shew how Seth did see that the Serpent slept not but was hewing out a crosse and calamities for the Godly and that Enoch had built a City and walls against the Church and tubal-Tubal-Cain had invented weapons of warr and prepared armor against Seth. Therefore as Genesis the tenth chapter and the twenty fift verse Eber calls his Sonnes name Peleg because the division of the earth was in his dayes so here Seths Son is called Enosh in respect of the crosses and tribulations that the Sonnes of men are subject unto and that is one mysterie that the Fathers make of this place that none should imagine Seth to be without his Enosh that upon the godly the surges of the Sea shall arise but not overwhelm them and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against them Matthew the sixteenth chapter but that he that grounds himself upon the worship of God by true invocation shall be immoveable and yet not without persecutions And that is the first point that to Seth is born Enosh The reason why God sends crosses and afflictions to men is to try them whether they be rooted and grounded in faith Colossians the second chapter and the twenty seventh verse and as in the first to the Corinthians the eleventh chapter and the ninteenth verse He suffers heresies that they which are approved may be known as also because if men were not sometime perplexed and prest down with afflictions so as neither reason can releive them nor the hand of flesh able to deliver them when they cannot help themselves but as past hope of remedy they may ascribe their deliverance to God and not to their own counsels or force Secondly That it hangs well together that this
hath no doubt a seed that is the wicked which are his Children which are alwaies at warre with the seed of the Church As the seed of Serpents doth prove to be Serpents so for that wicked men are the seed of the old Serpent Christ calls them Serpents Matthew the twenty third chapter and because Judas was the child of the Devil therefore Christ calleth him a Devil John the sixth chapter the seventieth verse The reason why the wicked are called Serpents is because they stop their cares like Serpents and will not hear the voyce of the 〈◊〉 salm the fifty eighth because they sharpen their tongues like Serpents and hide Adders poyson under their lips Psalm the hundred and fourtieth that is blaspheme God and speak evil of men So 〈◊〉 as the Elect are the seed of the woman spiritual so the wicked and 〈◊〉 are the cursed seed of the spiritual Serpent And God pronounceth that there shall be perpetual hostility between them There is a corrupt seed Isaiah the first chapter and the fourth verse The other a holy seed Isaiah the sixth chapter and the thirteenth verse Our Saviour expounds the good seed to be the children of the kingdome and the cockle to be the children of the world Matthew the thirteenth chapter and the thirty eighth verse The Apostle compares the children of God and the children of the Devil together the first epistle of John the third chapter and the tenth verse between these is that perpetual enmity that is here spoken of The same is between the Church of God Acts the twentieth chapter and the Synagoue of Sathan Apocalyps the twenty ninth chapter between the two Cities the Citie of God whose foundation is upon the holy hill Psalm the eighty seventh and great Babylon Psalm the hundred thirty seventh and Apocalyps the eighteenth chapter between the two Camps or Tents whereof the Prophet speaks that is the Tabernacles of the Lord God of Hostes and the Tents of the ungodly Psalm the eighty fourth This enmity is within every one of us as Peter speaks Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage warre against the soul the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the eleventh verse We wrestle not with flesh and blood but with spiritual wickednesse Ephesians the sixth chapter therefore he saith The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual and mighty through God to overthrow strong holds the second epistle to the Corinthians the tenth chapter and the fourth verse And the thing that God aimeth at is that there be not only an enmity between these two Cities and Camps but that this enmity be perpetual and send at the least to the killing of sinne and to the vanquishing of Sathan So soon as this Sentence was given there was enmity between Cain the seed of the Serpent who was of the evil one the first epistle of John the third chapter and the twelfth verse and Abel who was spiritually be gotten by the Church of the seed of the world Genesis the fourth chapter Ismael and Isaac the one being born after the flesh the other after the spirit persecuted one another Galatians the fourth chapter He that was of the Serpents seed mocked and derided the seed of the woman Genesis the twenty first chapter and the ninth verse Jacob and Esau being divers seeds the one hated the other and vowed to kill the other Genesis the twenty seventh chapter and the fourty first verse Lastly This enmity was practised between the Church of God Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the Synagogue of Sathan Apocalyps the nineteenth chapter Of these spiritual Combats the Scripture hath many examples and therefore it is called The book of the warres of the Lord Numbers the twenty first chapter and the fourteenth verse The Serpent deserved to have been utterly destroyed and God who calleth things that were not as if they were Romans the fourth chapter and the seventeenth verse was able to have destroyed him at least to have chained him up that he might not trouble his servants as he will at the last day Apocalyps the twentieth chapter and the tenth verse but the Councel of God in suffering him still to practise his malice against us is for our good that we should be still exercised and kept in a warre for as Christ saith What thanks is it Luke the sixth chapter and thirty second verse and what praise is it to obtain eternal life the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the twentieth verse unlesse in this life we doe somthing towards it The Apostle saith No man is crowned except he strive aright the second epistle to Timothy the second chapter and the fifth verse Therefore God hath appointed us an enemy that is the Devil whom we must continually fight with If we resist his allurements by pleasure and his terrors in oppressing us with crosses we shall at the length be crowned with the crown of life and then he will according to his promise tread down Sathan under our foot so that he shall not trouble us any more Romans the sixteenth chapter and the twentieth verse But in the mean time he is opposed against us by the wise Councel of God as an enemy that we should continually strive against him As this is a threatning to the Devil so it is a promise in respect of us and that a promise of grace to be shewed us that are of the seed or the woman without which grace we cannot strive with the Serpent nor once conceive any desire to resist him And therefore if we have any desire to resist the Devil and his temptations it is not of any natural power of our selves but the grace of Gods spirit working in us who saith I will put enmity between thy seed and the woman Whereupon whereas the Apostle saith that by reason of the continual rebellion that is between the flesh and the spirit we cannot doe that we would Galatians the fifth chapter and the seventeenth verse Augustine saith that yet we are bound to thank God that he gives us his spirit to stirre us up to the resisting of the flesh and the corrupt lusts thereof for hereby he perform his promise which he makes in this place And except we had the grace of his spirit it were impossible for us but that we should be at agreement with the flesh and like well of the temptations thereof for naturally we are given to make league with bell and death Isaiah the twenty ninth chapter and the fifteenth verse to be friends with our 〈◊〉 and worldly lusts which doe still solicite and perswade us to break Gods Commandement and Law And if by the special grace of God he work in us some dislike of our flesh and the corruption thereof for a time yet this is not perpetual and though it did continue perpetually yet it is not 〈◊〉 mortal and to the death for we never labour to kill sinne and to 〈◊〉 the old man utterly but all that