his wife The second is his eating Inordinate Consent Touching the first The giving eare to the voyce of his wife it is nothing unlesse it bee accompanied with another circumstance hee may heare the voyce of his wife if shee speak that is reason and so the superior may heare the voice of the inferior In the second of the Kings the fift chapter and thirteenth verse the Master must hear the voyce of the Servant in reason If the Prophet saith Naamans servant to Naaman had commanded thee a great thing wouldst thou not have done it how much rather when hee saith to thee but this Wash and be cleane and there Naaman heard the voyce of his servant so that licet audire vocem 〈◊〉 the words of reason are to be heard from our Inferiour be it Wife Child or Servant for reason ruleth all out of the mouth of whomsoever it commeth but we must not hear words noysome and of wicked desire but when they are brutish senseless and of foolish desire we must not hear them but above all not words contrary to Gods word for vox dei praecipiens commanded him not to eat vox uxor is disuadens perswaded the contrary yet he heard the voice rather of his Wife than of God so the fault is disobedience to God which is not alone but is accompanied with another fault called Ignavia negligence carelesness not regarding Gods Commandement This laying the bridle carelesly on the neck is to be subject to her voice that was subject to him and by such negligence was drawn to transgression the 〈◊〉 act It was no excuse to Joab that he had Davids letters to murther Urias as it is 2 Sam. 11. 14. nor Solomons Idolatry was not to be excused because he was perswaded thereunto by his Wives It is a great offence non contristari mortiferas delitias not to be sorry for deadly delight The pleasing voice of Eve was no excuse to Adams breach of Gods Commandements 2. The disordered Act. The other branch is the disordered act of Adam which is a second degree of sinne for to have heard the voice of his Wife and there to have stayed and not to have sinned had been worthy commendation to have remembred the voice of God and not regarded the voice of Eve had been commendable before he heareth the voice of God but here he obeyeth the voice of Eve Out of this act of sinne the Fathers gather two Circumstances the first is that the voice of God might easily have been obeyed Of all the trees in the Garden thou maist eat de illâ arbore of that one tree alone thou shalt not eat in such plenty one might have been forborn so that great was the disobedience when so small a matter commanded by God was not obeyed by Man according to that of St. Austin upon this place Magna est iniquitas ubi non magna obediendi difficultas here is great ingratitude not to for bear this one having all other in aboundance The Second Circumstance in this act of sin is to doe it though charge were given before to the contrary with pain of death in the 17. of the former Chapter It was otherwise with Paul 2 Cor. 15. he remembreth their obedience to be with fear and trembling Not death shall separate Paul from his obedience but Adam was disobedient though death were denounced disobedient to death so that the aggravating the act is the contempt of Gods denouncing of death and punishment So much may suffice of the Fault The Punishment or Penaltie Now touching the Punishment Cursed is the earth for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the dayes of thy life c. I consider this Punishment of Adam after two sorts either as a Sentence or as a Law Now we will speak of it only as a Sentence hereafter by Gods patience we will handle the other as a Law Herein we will consider the proportion of that Fault with the Punishment with the Fault and with the Act it self In the Sentence are two Punishments The first cursed be the earth for thy sake c. The second in the sweat of labour shalt thou eat thy bread till thou return to dust for dust thou art and to it shalt thou return The one part of the Punishment is a hard life the other a corruption by death In Proportion As Eves so Adams punishment is in proportion First his desire was unlawfull and the Act was sin for according to 1. of St. James 15. When lust conceiveth it bringeth forth sinne and sinne when it is finished bringeth forth death Eves lust made her sinne and she was punished Adams neglect to suffer an Inferiour to prevail against God is punished with labour for labour is poena ignaviae and Mans ingratitude to God is punishment with the Earths ingratitude to Man he was disobedient the earth shall be unfruitfull he offended in meat and he is punished in his meat the earth that should feed him is cursed for him he offended in unkindness active he is punished with unkindness passive he dealt unkindly with God he shall suffer the earths unkindness Eve her punishment was in bringing forth life Mans is in bringing forth living to maintain and nourish life which is a great difficulty both have their pain labour and sorrow Hers is in intension great but for a few houres his is great in extension to indure all the dayes of his life And so much generally of the Punishment In his meat Now in particular the first part of mans Punishment is in his meat Men must needs have whereof to eate for life without living and maintenance will not be preserved there is not only a bringing forth of Children but there are also curae oeconomicae houshould cares meat and cloathing must of necessity be had according to that of the Wise man Preacher 6. 7. all the labour of man is for his mouth and the 16. of the Proverbs and the 26. is to like purpose he must eat and the hearb of the field must be his meat fuell must maintain the fire and meat must maintain life Adam came of the earth and must live by the earth the earth that was his Mother must be his Nurse and from thence mankinde must be maintained even all the meanest and the Monarch for as it is Preacher 5. 8. the aboundance of the earth is over all the King consisteth by the field that is tilled The hearb of the field bread was the only sustenance of the Patriarchs before the Flood but after the waters had taken away by over much moisture the strength that was in hearbs and bread God gave them then other meats drinks of strength in the 9. Chapter of this Book 20. Noah planted Vineyards and drunk the wine thereof But that Adam is here to 〈◊〉 is the hearb of the field and the bread of his own labour These two wereable to strengthen mans hart as it is said
must be by an excrement bread is the interest of thy continuall labour this is the yoke of the sins of Adam God in punishing the Israelites will remember the land which he gave them Leviticus 26. 42. and they must suffer the punishment of their iniquitie yea when you shall remember your own wickedness yee shall judge your selves worthy destruction for your iniquitie in the thirty sixth of Ezekiel and the thirty first Paul in the first of the Corinthians the ninth and the fifteenth saith it were better for him to die than not to doe his duty The use of the Scripture Now this sentence upon Adam hath this use for us spinae tribuli the thorns and thistles when we walk in the field speak to us as Gods book doth and make us a Sermon telling they should not have grown there but for us the earth should not have been cursed with barreness but for our wickedness if the thorn prick or the nettle sting thee it will say hoc propter te I was first brought and still I grow to make thee remember thy obedience so that the very nettle that is good for nothing shall put thee in mind of thy 〈◊〉 Be not angrie with the earth if it be barren for it will say it was so non propter se sed propter te To conclude this point well saith a Father we must have not only sensum poenae in corpore the feeling of punishment in our body but sensum irae divinae in mente the seeling of Gods wrath in our soul. But now not to leave you plunged in despair with consideration of grievous punishment in a word I will touch the alay of this punishment be comforted though God be just yet he is mercifull non est Crux sine Christo hast thou a Cross then hast thou Christ to comfort thee Mercies in this Sentence are five God hath left five signes of his mercie in this sentence which the ancient Fathers term vestigia miserantis gratiae impressions of Gods mercifull favour 1. The first is non dixit maledictus tu cursed be thou as he said to the Serpent but terra maledicta cursed be the earth the nature that sinned is not cursed nor is it like Cains curse in the fourth Chapter and eleventh verse for there is he cursed from the earth but here the earth of which Adam was made not Adam himself was cursed 2. Secondly he is punished but with a little labour to his great sinne with a watry drops of sweat and the sweat is but an easie sweat of the face not like Christs sweat in his prayer the twenty second of Luke the fourty fourth verse which was like drops of blood trickling down to the ground 3. Thirdly God might have suffered the earth to have been fruitless let man have laboured never so much but that man for all his sinne yet with his labour shall make the earth fruitfull in my opinion is a great mercy which I ground out of the one hundred twenty eighth Psalme when thou eatest the labour of thy hands saith David thou shalt be blessed It is a blessing when the Wife is fruitfull as the Vine upon the house side when thy Children are as the Olive plants about thy Table and it is a blessing that yet with labour the earth shall bring forth fruit It is a comfort that your labour shall not be in vain as St. Paul speaketh the first to the Corinthians the fifteenth and the fifty eighth God in mercy sendeth rain to water the earth what to doe Isaiah telleth you in his 55. chapter and 10. verse to give not only bread to the eater but even seed to the sower It is a comfort when we sowe that we shall reap he that soweth eareth reapeth thresheth doth it in hope the first to the Corinthians the ninth chapter and tenth verse God giveth bread to the hungry and the seed to further increase by labour dat acquisitum that thou hast gained through thy labor 4. Fourthly it is a great mercie to call it panis taus thy bread thou shalt eat of thy own bread this is mercy I say to terme that mans which is Gods Lastly this labour hath a date and an end it hath tempus refrigerii upon the amending your lives God will put away your sinnes and a time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord Acts 3. 19. Let this be lastly your comfort that though you labour long yet you shall have a resting after your labour In sudore vultûs tui vescitor cibo donec revertaris in human cum ex eâ desumptus fueris nam pulvis es inpulverem revertêris Gen. 3. 19. October 〈◊〉 1598. NOw are we to handle the other part of Adams Sentence and punishment The ground and nature of the Sentence and in the Sentence we are to consider the ground of it and the nature or form of it Disobedience is the ground of this sentence and this Sentence is made even a Law for according to that of Paul Romans 6. 2. The Law of life which is in Christ Jesus hath freed me from the Law of sinne and of death so that sinne is the cause of death Hence sprung the Pelagian heresie condemned by the Councell of Carthage Concil Carth. 7. That said that though we sinned yet we were freed though we lived never so dissolutely yet we were saved After Christs comming death was not the reward of sinne but mark what St. James in his first chapter and thirteenth verse saith When lust hath conceived it 〈◊〉 forth sinne and sinne when it is finished bringeth forth death and St. Paul in the fifth to the Romans the nineteenth and the twenty first saith Death That as by one mans disohedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many were made righteous and further That as sinne reigned unto death so grace by righteousnese might reign to eternall life Truth it is that through sin came death and that death hath rule over all Adam at the first by sinne brought death the last Adam by obedience brought everlasting life and as Paul in the first to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the twenty sixth verse saith That the last enemie that Christ should destroy was death for as it is in the same chapter As in Adam all die so in Christ all shall be made alive and the very wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life saith Paul in the sixth to the Romans and the twenty third verse The nature and form of sinne Touching the nature and form of the sinne God is not cause of sinne God is not the agent in sinne but the cause of sinne is only from Adam himself And according to that of the Wise man in his first chapter and thirteenth verse Adam and sin cause of death God hath not made death neither hath he pleasure in the
destruction of the living and in the eighteenth of Ezekiel and the twenty third God hath no desire that the wicked should die but if even the wicked return from his waies he shall live so that Adam and his sinne was the cause of death death was made by him for God is the God of life It was the sinne of Nineveh that made God to threaten destruction to Nineveh within fourty dayes but when as it is in the third of Jonah and the eighth they returned by repentance from their evill waies God shewed mercie and they were not destroyed Adam he forsook God of himself and so he brought death to himself So long as he shewed his obedience unto God the other Creatures were obedient unto him there was no enmity between him and the other Creatures in time of obedience he was not in danger of death God breathed into Adam life Adam brought death The Prophet in the 104. Psalme 29. saith If thou take away their breath they return to their dust so that life is Gods but dust is their own ground and they have their moisture and when that moisture is dried up and taken away it turneth to dust ex argillâ fabricavit hominem Deus Job in his tenth chapter and ninth verse saith to God Remember that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me to dust again for if the moisture of the grace of God be taken away what are we but dust The Heavens send down the dew from above to moisten the Earth Isaiah 45. 8. It is the spirit of God that giveth the moisture to beliefe John 7. 39. If that be taken away we are but dust Thus farre of it as a Sentence A Law Now of this as of a Law To dust shalt thou return First touching the certainty of it in these words to dust thou shalt return of the uncertainty when donec untill There are those that escape the first part of this punishment of Adam that live not in the sweat of their face qui non vivunt ex labore sudoris there are those that live at ease and yet fare daintily that have aboundance and take no pains that lie upon their Beds as the door turneth upon his hinges Proverbs 26. 14. But though they escape that part of the Sentence this part takes hold of all for all must die this is universall this is certain Statutum est it is a Statute and a Law that all must die from the first to the last Adam the fift to the Romans the fifteenth David himself saith of himself in regard of mortalitie of the body Psalme the twenty second and the sixth I am a worm and not a man We have comfort in Jesus Christ to live for ever this was it that Jesus said that John should not die the twenty first of John and the twenty third and by him we look for the resurection of the body This it was that made Job in his nineteenth chapter and twenty sixth verse to say That though after my skin wormes destroy this body yet shall I see God in my flesh A universall Law Touching the extent of this that it is universall to all to die it is plain not to be denied for as it is in the eighty ninth Psame and the fourty eighth verse What man liveth and shall not see death shall he deliver his soul from the grave Though God hath said to Kings and Princes and Judges of the earth yee are Gods and Children of the Almighty yet yee shall die as men and fall like others Psalme the eighty second and the seventh laquei mortis the snares of death compass about the Godly their body goeth to the grave but their soul returneth to rest Psalme the one hundred sixth and the seventh verse and as it is in the second of the Preacher and the sixteenth The wise man dieth as well as the fool Look what sentence is given upon man falls upon the rest of the Creatures for man is the great Count-palatine of the world and the chief mover in the Sphear as he moveth all are moved and the Elements and Birds and Beasts were subject to Mans change his disobedience made all disobedient and out of order yea as the Wise-man saith in the nineteenth of Ecclesiast and the fifth All the living know assuredly they shall die So much for the certainty to all Uncertainty Donec untill Now of the uncertainty of the time donec untill which is verie uncertain Isaack though he were old and neer his death yet in the twenty seventh of Genesis and the second he said senex sum diem mortis nescio I am now old and know not the day of my death The men of this world have their Portion in this life there are the gates of death as David speaketh and laquei mortis the snares of death This time cannot be discerned it is nighest us when we think our selves most secure For when the rich man had layed up store for many years and said to his soul take thou thy rest even then came it hâc nocte this night thou shalt die Death is pronounced upon all but a flaming fire and vengeance belongeth only to the ungodly the second to the Thessalonians the first chapter and the eighth and ninth verses Mercy in death Now touching the mittigation of this death in this sentence of death for as the Wise-man speaketh in the seventh chapter and the seventeenth verse The vengeance of the wicked is fire and 〈◊〉 this bitterness must be alayed for as Bernard saith non est crux sine Christo non est punctio sine unctione there is no cross without comfort no punishment without ointment The fear of death Christ delivereth them from the fear of death that is Gods anger that all their life were subject to bondage the second to the Hebrews and the fifteenth The hope of life so then the fear of death must be alayed with the hope of life For though the wicked be cast off for his malice yet the righteous hath hope in his death the fourteenth of the Proverbs and the thirty second This is joy to us even in death that Christ will change this vile body that it may be fashioned like his glorious body the third to the Philipians and the twenty first and according to the fourteenth of the Revelations and the thirteenth their hope is with a blessing beati mortui qui in domino moriuntur blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their laboures Now in the verie words of the Sentence are implied two sorts of this delay Donec implieth an end of labour Donec implieth that they shall labour untill then untill implieth no eternity there is a consummation of labour there is end of labour and an assurance of rest the blessed rest from their labours tempus est refrigerii there is a time of refreshing the third of the Acts and the
with a groane and by all lawes of Nations the husband is above the wife Touching the particulars of the Text. Her Sorrow First hee will greatly increase her sorrowes besides the sorrowes in conception and bringing forth children her sorrow is afterwards increased many a woman breedeth and beareth her owne sorrow she may beare her childe to misery if shee see it beg it increaseth her sorrow shee may beare it to execution as wee have too many lamentable examples but the sorrow of a mother is much more increased if it live so wickedly that shee beare it to hell fire For the sorrow of Child-bearing in the Psalmes and throughout the Prophets the greatest sorrow is compared to a womans laboring with childe which is so great that many a one dyeth of it as did Rachell Gen. 25. 18. never was childe borne without pain according to that old verse Nascitur haud sine vae fuerit qui filius Evae But here God sheweth even in judgement his mercy for shee sinned in soule is punished but in body and that punishment is temporary though the sinne deserved death eternall and which is further there is a blessing even in this Sentence for to have children though with pain is a great blessing and by the ancient Fathers is called the blessing of the womb and brests and barrennesse of woman is held a greater sorrow and payne than to have children with much griefe and payne for when the childe is once borne the payne is forgotten but barrennesse is to her a continual grief in the 30 of Genesis vers 1. When Rachell saw shee was barren and Leah fruitfull shee envied her sister and so great was her desire of children that unlesse shee had children shee would die So it is a Sentence of Justice mingled with Lenity the punishment is not with rig or but with indulgence it is tanquam fraenum non flagellum as a bridle rather to check than a scourge to bruise it is but a chastizing of sinne in Eve non est quasi Coluber as a Serpent to sting but an easie correction Her subjection The second part of her punishment is That shee shall bee subject to her Husband and there is mercy in this also for the best are of opinion that in time of integritie there was order and subordination for order is the mother of perfection The two ends of marriage here is a subordination of affections the womans to the husbands and of occonomicall government for generation and cohabitation are the two ends of marriage and in both shee is to bee ruled by her husband some idle-headed fellowes gather hence That seeing women are to bee subject to men therefore men ought not to bee subject to women but marke hee saith viro tuo to thy husband Touching the Rule of Women now the rule of women as in most Common-wealths hath beene allowed even so in Scripture for Candace Queene of the cast and Sabaes Queene are commended nay it is Gods owne Law Numb 27. 8. That if a man die without a sonne his inheritance shall fall to his daughter then the daughter of a King is not barred government which is her inheritance but oeconomicall subjection here is chiefly understood that made Sara call her husband Lord. In the first of Ester you see Vasbti the Queene punished because shee would not obey Ahashuerus the great King of Persia a great Monarch shee came not when hee sent for her advice was taken how shee should bee punished for her disobedience this offence was not only against the King but by example against the Princes and People for in the seventeenth verse of that Chapter This example among other women shall make them despise their husbands and therefore a solemne Sentence was pronounced against her That shee should bee divorced and deposed the end of which Decree was as appeareth in the end of that Chapter That all the women through that huge Monarchy should doe their husbands honor both great and small and further the King sent forth his Letters to every People after their language That every man should beare rale in his own house Esther her selfe was example of this who worshipped with reverence her King shee must bee subject unto man in regard of her weakenesse and infirmities as Paul speaketh in the Corinthians Woman is not her selfe her own for at marriage she giveth not her self but is given to her husband by a man and after marriage shee loseth her own name and beareth her husbands bee the husband wise or simple hee must beare rule over her for subjection is the condition of all Wives to all Husbands Abigaiell in the first chapter of Samuel and the twenty fith verse must as well obey Naball her husband as David even of Religion this obedience is this is the Mercy that though hee shall rule her yet they both shall rule their houshold hee shall rule her not as a King his subject or a Lord his slave not in feare but in love Adamo verò dixit Quia auscultavisti voci uxoris tuae comedisti de fructu arboris illius quo interdixeram tibi dicendo ne comedas ex isto maledicta esto terra propter te cum dolore comedito proventum ejus omnibus diebus vitae tuae Eaque spinam carduum proferto tihi tu verò comedito herbam agri In sudore vultûs tui vescitor cibo donec revertaris in humum cum ex eâ desumptus fueris nam pulvis es in pulverem reverteris Gen 3. 17.18.19 Septemb. 17. 1598. SAint Chrisostome writing upon this place saith sedet Judex non surgit God who is the Judge sitteth still and riseth not Adams punishment he continueth his Court and giveâ—h not over till he hath given judgement upon all the offenders This is as it were the third O yes saith that Father upon Adams offence which sentence is conteined in the 17. 18. and 19. verfes In the Sentence upon Adam two things In which sentence are conteined two parts the one is the fault contained in the beginning of this verse the other is the penaltie contained in the end of the 17. vorse to the end of the 19. verse First the Fault Secondly the Penalty Of both these in generall these are the proceedings of God whence the rule and patern of all Justice is grounded for God goeth here to sentence upon a cause because thou hast heard the voice of thy Wife and eaten the forbidden fruit and upon a Cause not alledged by an Accuser but confessed by the Offender the 12. verse before so that in justice God will say to Adam ex ore tuo te judico I will judge thee even out of thine own mouth thou evill Servant Luke 19. 22. In the sentence two things Particularly In the fault are two parts or branches first there is an inordinate consent the other a disordinate act The first is the hearing the voyce of
nineteenth They that live in ease are weary of it Salomon in the first of the Kings the eleventh chapter and the fourth verse died in his age Abraham in the twenty fifth of Genesis and the eighth yeelded the spirit and died a good age Death is a resting from Labour and from sinne and death is not only a resting from labour but from sinne also Paul in the seventh to the Romans and the twenty fourth desireth to be delivered from the body of sinne which he calleth the body of death The holy Fathers on that place but this difference that the Martyrs desire to die that they might not sinne the Malefactors because they have sinned A delaying of the punishment The other part of the delay is the chiefest which is the consideration that there is an exemption of death from the best part of man a qualifying of the punishment A bodily punishment for the soul and body both offended but the body only is punished the soul mans better part is free that is not touched He saith not here thou shalt die the death but thou shalt return to dust for as it is in the third of the Preacher and the twentieth all 〈◊〉 of the dust and all shall return to dust It is the body only that returneth to dust but the soul returneth to God that gave it Mans heavenly part shall be free from this sentence The Soul immortall the head of man his soul which is neerest God shall be safe though his heel be bruised The earthly part shall return to that it was but the heavenly 〈…〉 still the immortality If Christ be in us the body is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life for righteousness sake the eighth of the Romans and the tenth This then giveth comfort in death that though the body die the soul shall live for ever This gave comfort to Adam that he had thus well escaped Hevah the Mother of the living that in the very next verse he calleth his Wife with joy Hevah which is the Mother not of the dead but of the living for Hevah is mater viventium In the twentieth of Luke the thirty seventh and thirty eighth verses The Lord is Deus viventium The Lord is called the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacob yet is he not the God of the dead but of the living for all live unto him yet then the Patriarchs were dead but though the Grave had their body God had their soul the Patriarchs died their soul lives the third of Exodus the sixth to be compared with the former place for after death they were not dead but removed to another state of life God will bring his again from the depth of the Sea Psalme the sixty eight and the twenty second The first death so the godly shall suffer the first death Revelations the twenty first and the eighth expoundeth that place But the wicked and the accursed shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death The second death the first death is the death of all the first death only is the death of Saints but the second death is the death of sinners Davids soul is delivered from the sword Psalme the twenty second and the twenty first but death seedeth 〈◊〉 upon the wicked as sheep feed upon a Common and as their life was without repentance so their death shall be without end the godly wish for death to rest from their labours the wicked wish for death that live in torment which is great Revelations 9. 6. The gates of death are mentioned in the Psalmes and in the seventh of the Proverbs and the twenty seventh Penetralia mortis the Chambers of death The wicked live not only in the Gates in the Courts in the Chambers of death but even in the Dungeon of death in the twenty third Psalme and the fourth verse and in the seventh of the Romans the twenty fourth are to be delayed in the one is mention of umbra mortis in the other corpus mortis they are to be delayed with the 9. of Marke the 1. where it is said that some there are that shall not taste of death till they have seen the Kingdome of God come with power So that the first death takes hold of the gody but the second death toucheth them not For they that be faithfull unto death shall be crowned with a crown of life Revel 2. 10. and in the 11. verse the godly that overcome shall not be hurt of the second death Isaiah 26. 19. Death naturall and eternall they are subject to the naturall death but free from the eternall death This is their comfort in the first death to have deliverie from the second death Resurrection By the resurrection of the dead to life is a second return for by the first return the body returneth from dust to dust but the second is from dust to glorie Return which is a return not of the soul but of the body also according to that of Job This body of flesh shall be covered with immortalitie and according to that of Hosea the 13. Chapter and the 14. verse The godly shall be redeemed from the power of the grave and death and according to that place of the Prophecie Christ will be the death of death it self but most plain of all is that of the 1. of the Revelations the 18. spoken of Christ That he is alive but was dead but now he is alive for evermore and he hath the keyes of hell and of death This then doth alay and qualifie the bitterness of this sentence The use hereof is diverse to learn Hence now may we gather use to our selves in these five things 1. Humility The first is though it be bitter yet it is wholsome the first use is taken out of pulvis es Learn hence unde es from whence thou art thou art but of a clod be not proud thou treadest upon that thou art made let that put thee in minde of humilitie boast not of thy honour for thy honour is in the dust There is nothing in the grave whither thou goest Preacher 9. 11. Quid ergo attollis cervicem in pulverem reversuram this is a means to learn humility learn of your selves what you are and then be humble Austin saith that the time will come to give an account to God of thy doings remember thy own frailty and be not proud for God knoweth whereof we be made he remembreth we are but dust Psal. 103. 14. 2. To regard things of this life as dust The second use is out of pulvis in pulverem dust to dust We must remember whither we are to goe we are now dust but sub alienâ formâ in the likeness of flesh but we shall be dust in the likeness of dust it self our flesh of dust shall be turned into dust and according to that of
verse Fourthly he breaks the bond of nature for the party murthered is his brother and so he becommeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Romans the first chapter Fiftly he feares not to kill him though he know it will be to the great grief of Adam and Eve his Parents wherein he deals worle than Esau who would not utter his hatred against Jacob till the dayes of mourning for his Father were past Genesis the twenty seventh chapter Sixtly it was not done ex irae impetu but ex odii habitu and against such the Prophet prayeth be not mercifull to such as sinne of malicious wickedness psalm the fifty ninth Seventhly his hatred was not open Cloaked hatred under colour of friendship but cloaked and hidden under a shew of love which makes it more grievous It was not mine enemie that did me this dishonour for then I could have born it It was not mine adversary that exalted himself against me for I would have hid my self but it was thou my companion my guid and familiar friend therefore let death seiz upon him Psalm the fifty fifth and the twelfth thirteenth and fifteenth verses Eighthly this sinne is committed after Gods admonition who had uied all means to draw him to repentance Ninthly not only being admonished but seeing his Father made an example of Gods wrath whom he saw daily labouring and moyling in the earth for his disobedience to God Tenthly that which makes Cains sinne out of reason sinfull Romans the seventh is the cause not for any offence that Abel had committed but for doing his duty in Gods service as the Apostle noteth in the first epistle of John the third chapter and the twelfth verse Wherefore slew he him because his own works were evil and his brothers good Cain Patriarch of hypocrites and persecutors of the Godly As before he was the Patriarch of all hypocrites so here Cain is the Patriarch of all persecuting Tyrants for that he slew his brother for no other cause but for well doing and for this good sacrifice whereby he pleased God Abel the first righteous Martyr And as Abel is said to be the first of all righteous men Matthew the twenty third chapter and the twenty fifth verse so here we see him the first Martyr wherein we see the works of the Devill who is a mutherer from the beginning John the eighth chapter and the fourty fourth verse Anger conceived hatred is murther of the soul. for he did not only murther our first 〈◊〉 in Paradise but he makes Cain a mutherer first of his own soul by conceiving hatred against his brother and purposing his death and then by killing the body of his brother Envy the meanes As this is the effect of the Devill so he makes the sinne of envy the means of which sinne the Wise-man saith Proverbs the twenty seventh chapter and the fourth verse Who can stand before envy there is no way but death with them that are envyed Examples The Bretheren of Joseph were content with nothing but the death of their brother but that two of them did withstand it Genesis the thirty seventh chapter It was envy that made the Scribes and Pharisees crucifie Christ Matthew the twenty seventh chapter Of hatred 〈◊〉 murther We see how Cain proceeded against his brother from envie to anger from anger to hatred and from it to murther these degrees must be observed Note that we may avoid them in our selves because there is no man but may sall as well as Cain except the grace of God doe stay him To conclude It is a necessary point that we consider aright of of this matter for the Prophet complaineth in the fifty seventh chapter of Isaiah and the first verse The righteous perisheth and no man considereth it So it is a fault if we do not consider the death of righteous Abel The Wiseman complaineth in the seventh chapter of Ecclesiastes and the seventeenth verse In the dayes of my vanity I have seen a good man punished in his justice and a wicked man continue longer in his malice This was Abel's case but when a man shall consider that death was at the first inflicted upon sinne because it is the wages of sin Romans the sixt chapter and the last verse and that 〈◊〉 is the means by which death entred into the world Romans the fift chapter and yet that Abel a righteous man is the first that drank of this Cup in the old Testament as John Baptist was in the new it will make him say Hoc est onus Jehovae as it is in the twenty third chapter of Jeremiah and the thirty fourth verse and hic est durus sermo John the sixt chapter The Apostle saith Godlinesse hath promises both in this life and the life to come in the first epistle to Timothie the fourth chapter and the eighth verse and among the promises of this life long life is one in the sixt chapter to the Ephesians and the third verse which God promiseth to them that honour their Superiors On the other side God threatneth that the blood thirsty and deceitfull man shall not live out half his dayes Psalm the fifty fift And yet Cain lived long and Abel a godly man dyed soon Therefore when we see the righteous dye quickly and the wicked live long we must take heed we stumble not at Gods doings but justifie God and acknowledge that he is just and true and every man a lyar Psalm the fifty first Romans the third chapter Therefore to make this point plain it is true long life is promised as a blessing of God which he promiseth to the observers of his command but withall we must know there are certain causes wherein this rule holdeth not true that the dutifull and holy man shall live long in this world The exceptions are First in respect of the parties themselves to whom this blessing is promised It is with a Godly man as with the fruit of trees if after it is once ripe it besuffered to continue on the trees it will be rotten so it is with good men in this world And therefore the Wiseman saith of Enoch that because he lived amongst sinners God translated him and he took him away least wickednesse should alter his understanding and deceit beguile his minde Sapi. the fourth chapter In such a case it is not a benefit but a detriment for a man to live long And there is no man but in such a respect will be content that God shall break promise with him Secondly Another exception is in respect of the punishment of sinne If a party that pleaseth God should by living long become miserable he would not think long life a blessing and therefore God in mercy took away good Josiah that he should not see the miseries that were to come upon the Jews by the captivitie in the second booke of Chronicles and the thirty fourth chapter this favour he vouchsafed to that godly King