sentences but relie vpon the establishment of Gods purpose in the whole booke which is that he hates putting away If the euidence pressed by thine owne pressures heighthned by thine owne deiections exalted by thine owne sinking grow strong against thee that thou canst not quench the iealousie nor deuest the scruple of such a Diuorce doe but consider who should occasion who should enduce it It must be God or thy selfe Though the Iewes put away their wiues not onely for the wiues fault but for the husbands frowardnesse thou hast had too good experience of Gods patience to charge him with that If it be done it is thy fault and if thou acknowledge that it is not done for it is neuer done so irreuocably but the confessing of the fault cancels and auoydes it Releeue thy selfe by reflecting vpon some of those circumstances Essentiall circumstances which were required in their bills of Diuorce and without which those bills were voyde and see if those be in thine for though wee haue not these circumstances in that place of Scripture where Diuorce is permitted yet in the ordinarie practise of the Iewes abroad and in the bookes of formes and precedents which their Rabbins haue collected wee haue them expressed They are many and many impertinent wee will but name and but a few such as best admit application and most conduce to the triall of thy case First a man might not produce a bill written in priuate in the husbands bed-chamber but he must goe to a Scribe to a publique Notary to an authorizd Officer Vbi iste libellus Where is this bill of thy Diuorce Thou must not looke for it in Gods bed-chamber in his vnreueal'd Decrees in heauen but in his publique Records his Scriptures If from thence thou pretend to produce any thing that conuinces thy sad soule goe to them to whom God hath committed the dispensation thereof and there thou mayest receiue consolation when thine owne priuate misinterpretation might misleade thee Againe the wife how guilty so euer in her owne conscience might not take her selfe to be put away except the husband had expresly giuen her a Bill of Diuorce Hath thy Husband thy God done so Vbi est libellus Consider the bill that is the booke of God and see if it be not full of such protestations Viuo ego As I liue saith the Lord I would not the death of any sinner nor the departing of any soule So also these bills must be well testified with vnreproachable witnesses Vbi iste libellus Hath thy bill such witnesses who be they Inordinate deiection of spirit irreligious sadnesse Iealousie of the anger distrustfulnesse of the mercy diffidence in the promises of the Gospell Are these witnesses to be heard against God God calls heauen and earth to witnesse that hee hath offered thee thy choise of life or death but that he hath thrust death vpon thee there is no witnesse Thy conscience is a thousand witnesses It is that thou hast committed a thousand sinnes and it is that thou hast receiued a thousand blessings but of an eternall decree of thy diuorce thy conscience thus misinformd can be no witnesse for thou wast not call'd to the making of those decrees Those Bills were also to be authentically seald Vbi iste Libellus Hath thy imaginary Bill of Diuorce and euerlasting seperation from GOD any Seale from him GOD hath giuen thee Seales of his Mercie in both his Sacraments Seales in White and Seales in Redde Waxe Seales in the participation of the candor and innocencie of his Sonne in thy Baptisme and Seales in the participation of his Body and Bloud in the other But Seales of Reprobation at first or of irreuocable Separation now there are none from GOD No Calamitie not Temporall no not Spirituall No Darkenesse in the Vnderstanding no Scruple in the Conscience no Perplexitie in the resolution Not a Sodaine Death not a Shamefull Death not a stupide not a raging Death must bee to thy selfe by the way or may bee to vs who may see thine Ende an Euidence a Seale of Eternall Reprobation or of finall Seperation Almightie God blesse vs all from all these in our selues but his blessed Spirit blesse vs to from making any of these when hee in his vnsearchable wayes to his vnsearchable endes shall suffer them to fall vpon any other seales of such Seperation in them Though wee may not enlardge our selues to far in these Circumstances another was That the Names of the Parties must bee set downe and of both the Parties Parents and those to the third Generation The Sonne and Daughter of such and such and such Vbi iste Libellus Findst thou in thy Bill the three Descents the three Generations if we may so say of thy God A Holy Ghost proceeding from a Sonne And a Sonne begottâ—en by a Father Findest thou the God of thy Consolation the God of thy Redemption the God of thy Creation and canst thou produce a God of Diuorce of Separation out of these Findest thou thine own three Descents as thou wast the Son of Dust of Nothing And the Sonne of Adam reduced to nothing And then the Sonne of God in Christ in whom thou art all things and canst thou thinke that that GOD who married thee in the honse of dust and marryed thee in the house of infirmitie and Diuorcd thee not then hee made thee not no Creature nor hee made thee not no Man hauing now marryed thee in the House of Power and of Peace in the body of his Sonne the Church will now Diuorce thee Lastly to ende this consideration of Diuorces If the Bill were interlinde or blotted or dropt the Bill was voyd Vbi Libellus What place of Scripture soeuer thou pretend that place is enterlinde enterlinde by the Spirit of God himselfe with Conditions and Limitations and Prouisions If thou repent If thou returne and that enterlining destroies the Bill Looke also if this Bill be not dropt vpon and blotted The venim of the Serpent is dropt vpon it The Wormwood of thy Desperation is dropt vpon it The Gall of thy Melancholly is dropt vpon it and that voydes the Bill If thou canst not discerne these drops before drop vpon it nowe Drop the teares of true compunction drop the bloud of thy Sauiour and that voyds the Bill And through that Spectacle the bloud of thy Sauiour looke vpon that Bill and thou shalt see that that Bill was nayld to the Crosse when he was naylde and torne when his body was torne and that hath cancelld the bill Oppresse not thy selfe with what GOD may doe of his absolute power God hath no where told thee that hee hath done any such thing as an ouertender Conscience may mis-imagine from this Metaphore of Diuorcing nor from the other which beggs leaue for one word by way of Conclusion Selling away Which of my Creditors is it to whom I haue sold you As Christ in his Parable comprehends all excuses and all backwardnesses in
God can call vp Damps Vapors from below and powre down putride defluxions from aboue and bid them meet and condense into a plague a plague that shall not be onely vncureable vncontrollable vnexorable but vndisputable vnexaminable vnquestionable A plague that shall not onely not admit a remedy when it is come but not giue a reason how it did come If God had not set a marke vpon Cain euery Man any Man any thing might haue killd him Hee apprehended that of himselfe and was afraid when we know of none by name in the world but his Father and Mother But as Saint Heirome exalts this consideration Cains owne Consciēnce tells him Catharma sum Anathema sum I am the plague of the world and I must dye to deliuer it Catharma sum I am a separated Vagabond not an Anachorit shut vp betweene two walls but shut out from all Anathema sum As long as the Cherubim and the fiery Sword is at the Gate Adam cannot returne to Paradise as long as the Testimonies of GODS anger lye at the dore of the Conscience no man can returne to peace there If God sell away a Man giue him away giue way to him by withdrawing his Prouidence he shall but neede as the Prophet sayes Sibilare Muscam to hisse to whisper for the Fly for the Bee for the Hornet for Forraigne Incumbrances nay hee shall not neede to hisse to whisper for them for at home Locusts shall swarme in his Gardens and Frogs in his bed-chamber hailstones as big as talents as they are measured in the Reuelation shall breake as well the couerd and the armd as the bare naked head as well the Mytred and the Turband the crownd head that lifts it selfe vp against GOD lyes open to him as his that must not put on his Hat as his that hath no Hat to put on when as that head which being exalted here submits itselfe to that GOD that exalted it GOD shall crowne with multiplied crownes here and hauing so crownd that head with Crownes here hee shall crowne those crownes with the Head of all Christ Iesus and all that is his hereafter If God sell vs away to punishments for sinne it is thus but if God sell vs to sinne for punishment it is worse For when God by the Prophet offered Dauid his choise of three Executioners warre famine and pestilence if all these three had taken hold of him it had not beene so heauy as when God had sold him ouer giuen him away into the hands of an Executioner in his owne bosome The studying and the plotting of the prosecution of his sinne When God made Murther in the death of Vriah his Bayliffe to attach Dauid for his Adultery And made Blasphemy in the triumphant Armie of the Gentils his Bayliffe to attache Dauid for his Murther And then made impenitence and a long sencelesnes in his sinne his Bayliffe to attach Dauid for that blasphemy then was Dauid sold vnder a dangerous sub-hastation then lay Dauid vnder a heauie Execution Let me fall into the hands of God and not of Man sayes Dauid Betweene God and Man in this case there may be some kinde of comparison But would any sinner say Let me fall into the hands of the Deuill and not of Man rather into more sins then some punishments Dauid himselfe could not conceiue a more vehement prayer and imprecation vpon his and his Gods Enemies then that Add Iniquity to their Iniquity Nor hath the Holy Ghost any where exprest a more vehement commination then that vpon Ierusalem as the vulgat reades that place Iniquitatem Iniquitatem Iniquitatem ponam eam Which is not Gods multiplying of punishments for sin but his multiplying of sin it selfe vpon them till he had made them all Iniquity all sin For this is in a great part that which the Apostle calls Gods giuing ouer to a reprobate sence to mistake false and miserable comforts for true comforts to mollifie and asswage the anguish of one sinne by doing another to maintaine prodigality by Vsury or Extortion to ouercome the inordinate deiections of spirit with a false cheerefulnesse and encantation from strong drinke In one word as the wise man expresses it to call great plagues peace To smother sinne from the eye of the world or to slumber the eye of our owne conscience from the sight of sinne by interposing more sinnes And farther we carrie not this first Metaphor of the Holy Ghost Venditi estis You are sold for for the deeper impression he presses it with another Dimissa est for your transgressions your Mother is put away And here in the way we consider first Dimissam animam Gods putting away of the Daughter of any particular soule And his putting away of such a soule is his leauing of that soule to it selfe when God will not come so neere louing it as to hate it nor giue it so much peace as to trouble it For as long as God punishes me hee giues me Phisick if he draw his knife it is but to prune his Vine and if hee draw blood it is but to rectifie a distemper If God breake my bones it is but to set them strayter And if hee bruse me in a Morter it is but that I might exhale and breath vp a sweet sauor in his nosethrils I am his handy-worke and if one hand be vnder me let the other lye as heauie as he shall be pleased to lay it vpon me let God handle me how he will so hee cast mee not out of his hands I had rather God frownd vpon mee then not looke vpon me and I had rather God pursued mee then left mee to my selfe It is the heighth of his indignation O people laden with iniquity why should ye be smitten any more Why should I study your recouery any longer Vox est animi non habentis in promptu quid statuat et desperantis salutem When God sayes so sayes S. Basil he is as a Father who had tried all wayes to reduce his sonne and fayld in all and then leaues him to his owne desperate wayes This is the worst that God doth say we may say that God can say which he sayes in Ezech. Auferam zelum My iealousie shall depart from thee and I will he quiet and be no more angry God is most angry when hee lets not vs know that hee is so And then Refuse siluer shall men call thee because the Lord hath reiected thee sayes the Prophet Though thou mayest haue some tincture of a precious mettall fortune power valour wisedome yet Refuse siluer shalt thou be and more Refuse mettall shall men call thee for Men are often worse then men dare call them because the Lord hath reiected thee Cain cryes our that his punishment is greater then hee can beare and what 's the waight This From thy Face shall I be hid It is not that GOD would not looke graciously vpon him but that GOD
neuer brought backe the ten Tribes from their dispersion T is true in a whole and entire body GOD neuer brought them backe but in many faire and Noble Peeces they came when Iudah came for from that place of Ezra where there is an entire number in grosse exhibited of all that returnd from Babylon and then the particular Numbers also exhibited of the Tribes and families that returnd because those particular Numbers doe not make vp the generall Number by many thousands the Hebrew Rabbins argue fairely and conclude probably that those Supernumerary thousands which are inuolued in the generall Number and are not compris'd in the particulars were such as from the other ten Tribes in the returne of Iudah adher'd to Iudah who are so often said neuer to haue return'd because in a body Magistracy of their own otherwise then as they incorporated them selues in Iudah they neuer returnd but God neuer put them away so but that he offred them returne and in a great part effected it I knowe how friuolous a tale that is That Saint Gregorie drew Tratans soule out of Hell after it was there and I know how groundlesse an opinion it is that is ascrib'd to Origen that at last the Deuill shall be sau'd but if they could perswade mee one halfe that Traian or that the Deuill came to Repentance in hell I should not be hard in beleeuing the other halfe that they might be deliuered out of hell What meane you sayes God Almighty that yee vse this Prouerbe The Fathers haue eate soure herbes and the childrens teeth are set on edge Doe ye meane that because your Fathers haue sinn'd you must perish Why neither his parents haue sinn'd nor hee sayes Christ of the Man borne blinde but all is that the worke of God might he made manifest Neither haue thy parents sinn'd nor thou thy selfe sinn'd so as that there should be a necessity in thy perishing but that thereby there might be the greater manifestation of Gods mercie that where sinne hath abounded grace might abound much more If therefore thy tender Conscience and thy startling Soule mis-imagine the hearing of that voice Depart thou sinner a voyce of Diuorce a voyce that bidds thee goe Say thou with Peter to his and thy Sauiour Domine quo Ibimus Lord whither shall I goe thou hast the Word of Eternall life and wee beleeue and are sure that thou art that Christ the Sonne of the liuing God And that Christ the Sonne of the liuing GOD will call thee backe and call backe his owne VVord and finde Error holy Error occasion of repenting his owne proceeding in his Bill of Diuorce to which purpose hee calls vpon thee here to produce that Bill Vbi iste libellus Where is the Bill c. First then Vbi libellus where is this Bill vpon what doe yee ground this ielousie and suspition in God that hee should Diuorce you First it is in the Originall Sepher that which is called a Bill is a Booke It must bee GODS whole Booke and not a fewe mis-vnderstood Sentences out of that Booke that must try thee Thou must not presse heauily to thine owne damnation euery such Sentence Stipendium peccati Mors est That the reward of sinne is death Nor the Impossibile est That it is impossible for him that falls after Grace to bee renewd That which must try thee is the whole Booke the tenor and purpose the Scope and intention of GOD in his Scriptures His Booke is a Testament and in the Testament the Testator is dead and dead for thee And would that GOD that would dye for thee Diuorce thee His Booke is Euangelium Gospell and Gospell is good tydings a gracious Messadge And would God pretend to send thee a gracious Messadge and send thee a Diuorce GOD is Loue and the Holy Ghost is amorous in his Metaphors euerie where his Scriptures abound with the notions of Loue of Spouse and Husband and Marriadge Songs and Marriadge Supper and Marriadge-Bedde But for words of Separation and Diuorce of Spirituall Diuorce for euer of any soule formerly taken in Marriadge this very word Diuorce is but twice read in the Scriptures once in this Text and heere God dis-auowes it For when hee sayes Where is the Bill hee meanes there is no such Bill And the other place is that which wee mentioned before when after they had done all GOD calld Israel all together backe and effectually in a faire part and his principall purpose in that Diuorce of Israel was to intimidate and warne her Sister Iudah from the like prouocations Surely a good Spirit mooued our last Translators of the Bible to depart from all Translations which were before them in reading that place of Malachi thus The Lord the God of Israel saith that hee hates putting away Whereas all other Translations both Vulgat and Vulgar And in Vulgar and in Holy Tongues The Septuagint the Chalde all read that place thus If a man hate her let him put her away which induced a facility of diuorces our Translators thought it more conformable to the Originall and to the wayes of God to read it thus The Lord the God of Israel saith that hee hates putting away Euery where in the Scriptures we meet with Gods venites in euery Prophets mouth inuitations to come vnto God There is a venite de circuitu Come though you come from compassing the Earth which is Satans perambulation though you haue walkd in his wayes yet come vnto God There is a Venite non habentes Come and buy though you haue no money though you haue no Merits of your own come and dilate your measures and fill them according to that dilatation with the merits of Christ Iesus There is a venite et reuertimini Come though your comming be but a returning be not ashamed of comming though your returning be a confessing of a former running away come in a repentance though you cannot come in an innocencie There is a Venite consolamini How heauie so euer the fetters of your owne sinnes or the chaines of Gods iudgements lye vpon you come and receiue ease here change your yoke for an easier if you cannot deuest it There is a venite consulite If you finde it hard to come or if you finde an easinesse to fall backe though you doe come come to consult with God how you may come so as you may stay when you are come Nay there is a venite arguite Come and reason with God argne plead dispute expostulate with God come vpon any conditions The venite is multiplied infinite inuitations to come but the Ite maledicti Depart ye accursed is but once heard from Gods mouth and that not in this world neither as long as wee are in this world God hates putting away And therefore God calls for the bill and God calls the bill a booke that thou mightst not vexe thy soule with mistaken