Ieroboams SONNES DECEASE A FVNERALL SERMON ON PART OF 1 KINGS 14.17 BY Thomas Gataker B. of D. and Pastor of Rotherhith LONDON Printed by IOHN HAVILAND 1627. TO MY LOVING FRIENDS AND COSENS Mr. NICOLAS CRISPE And Mris. ANNE CRISPE his Wife GOod Cosens I know not well what should moue either others to be so importunate with you or you with me for the making of this preached at the late buriall of your little one more publike Somewhat it seemeth you heard therein handled that you either had not at all before heard or not deliuered which is more likely in that manner as then it was And if it may bring any further light than hath formerly beene giuen to the clearing either of that point so eargerly opposed by the Pelagians of sinne and the guilt thereof in Infants or of that other doubt rather so much debated by many concerning the iustice and equity of Gods proceedings in the punishing of Parents in posterity and may either in that regard or any other way be vsefull either to your selues or others it is enough Let it howsoeuer remaine as a pledge of my continued loue and affection to that Family which since my first acquaintance with and alliance to I haue found so much comfort in and receiued so much kindnesse from and vpon which desiring God to continue and multiply his graces and mercies I take leaue and rest Yours euer in the Lord Iesus Thomas Gataker Ieroboams SONNES DECEASE 1 KING 14.17 The Childe died IT was foretold by Gods Prophet of this Childe that it should die And the Prophet you see proued a true Prophet For saith my Text the Childe died Now howsoeuer a Childes death may seeme a matter of no great moment yet the Death of Children and more especially the Death of this Childe being duely considered may well afford much matter of good vse The Childe was Ieroboams a good Sonne of a bad Father for his Parents sinne by God smitten before with sicknesse and now with Death The storie briefly is this Ieroboam King of the Ten Tribes rent from Salomons house had out of a wicked worldly policie put downe Gods true worship within his Territorie and set vp Idolatrie in the roome of it For this the wrath of God being incensed against him the Lord smote with sicknesse a childe he had which it seemeth was right deere vnto him Hereupon the Queene his mother out of a motherly affection to her childe desirous to know what was like to become of it with the aduice of her husband also repaireth to one Ahias a Prophet of God who had sometime foretold her husband being then but Salomons seruant that he should succeed his Soueraigne in part of his Soueraigntie But because she thought shee should be no welcome guest to him she disguised her selfe that she might not be knowne Howbeit the Prophet vnderstanding from God who shee was told her he had heauie tidings from God for her That her husbands house should be vtterly destroyed God would sweepe it away as a man sweepeth away doung till none of it be left Those of his stocke that died in the Citie should bee eaten with dogs and those that died in the field should bee deuoured by the fowles This alone of all the rest should die in his bed be laid in his graue and mourning made for him because some good things were found in him he had a good heart to God as a childe might haue And as the Prophet foretold her so accordingly it fell out For no sooner was the Queene his mother returned but euen as shee set foot vpon the threshold of the Kings house The childe died Now from this childes death thus considered diuers points of Instruction readily offer themselues vnto vs Some generall Some speciall I will pitch vpon two of either The two Generall points shall be Points Generall 2 the former that euen Children are tainted with sinne Points Generall 1 the latter that Death is euer at our doores Point Generall 2 For the former that euen Children are tainted with Sinne We hence deduce it in that Point Generall 1 they are subiect to death For Death is the wages of sinne And For sinne it is that the body dies And Death came in by sinne And Because all haue sinned therefore all die Sinne and Death are as Needle and Threed the one entring before is a meanes to draw on the other nor would the one follow if the other went not before Before Sinne was there was no death nor shall there be any when sinne shall be no more It is apparant therefore that euen Children are not free from sinne in that they are subiect vnto death That which may also in few words be further confirmed vnto vs By their Birth By their new-birth 1. By their birth or their off-spring They come of sinnefull persons of parents stained with Reason 1 sinne And who can draw a cleane thing out of tha that is vncleane how can faire water come from a filthy spring Yea euen the Children of faithfull and sanctified parents howsoeuer for the comfort of those that haue them taken hence in their nonage they are by vertue of their parents copie and Gods gratious entaile within the compasse of his couenant it running in those termes I will bee thy God and the God of thy seed and the promise therefore is made not to them onely but to their Children too and they are in that regard said in some sort to be holy If the root bee holy the sprigs also be holy and cleane Els were your children vncleane but now they bee cleane And there is good hope therefore of the saluation of such and much more comfort too when they haue receiued also the seale of the same Yet certaine it is that euen the children of the faithfull also as Dauid who confesseth as much by himselfe Euen bred in iniquitie and borne in sinne are of themselues as deepely tainted with this corruption as any For that procreation being but a naturall act the parents thereby can passe no more to their issue than what they had naturally themselues So the circumcised father bred an vncircumcised sonne and corne though it bee neuer so curiously seuered and clensed from the straw by threshing from the chaffe by winnowing yet commeth vp againe if it be sowne with both as before 2. By their new-birth For children should not Reason 2 need either regeneration or baptisme the Sacrament of it were they not before euen by their first breeding defiled and polluted with sinne For nothing can spiritually pollute or defile but it onely Bernard speaking of those words of the Apostle We were by nature children of wrath euen as well as the rest We are saith he by nature
yet there is no negatiue signes of it ordinarily howsoeuer Simeon and some others haue had some extraordinarily giuen them such as may shew that as yet it shall not be A man cannot say I am young and therefore I shall not die yet for he may be taken away in his youth A man cannot say I am strong and therefore I shall not die yet for with the sudden stroake of an apoplexie may hee be strucke downe in his chiefe strength A man cannot say I am healthie and therefore I shall not die yet For there needs no long sicknesse yea no sicknesse at all to deliuer a man vp to death As a man may die well before he be old so may hee well die also and yet neuer be sicke Since that death therefore lieth in wait for vs as well in youth as in age it behoueth young as well as old to be prepared for it 3. Are young children also subiect to death Let those whom God hath blessed with children then Vse 3 hence bee admonished to apply themselues betimes to worke good things into them since that they know not how soone they may bee taken away from them That if it shall please God to call for their children while they are but young yet away from them they may with the more comfort part with them when they may bee able to say of them as it is said of the childe spoken of in my Text As young as they were yet there were good things in them some seeds and sparks of grace began to appeare in them Wee are wont to be troubled when God taketh them away from vs if we haue not beene so carefull as wee thinke wee should haue beene in something concerning the health of their bodies But we haue more cause to be troubled when our hearts shall tell vs that wee haue beene negligent and retchlesse about them in such things as concerned the state and welfare of their soules 4. Are our children thus subiect to death and we Vse 4 know not how soone they may bee taken away from vs Then as the Apostle speaketh in the like case Let those that haue children be as if they had them not Not that Parents should not loue and affect their children they are commanded so to doe and they are worse I say not than heathen but than bruit beasts that doe otherwise and it is well made a note therefore of men giuen vp to a reprobate minde and cast behinde euen the gouernment of nature as well as the guidance of grace to be deuoid of naturall affection But that they should not so set and fasten their affections vpon them that they should be vnwilling to part from them when God shall please to call for them from whom formerly they receiued them and who hath therefore best right and title to them So therfore must thou labour to haue thy children and endeuour to stand so affected in regard of them that if God should call for thine Isaak thy darling from thee Take thine onely sonne saith he Isaak thy Sonne that thou louest thou maist be willing to offer him to God with thine owne hands If he call for one of many as he of Athens when Alcibiades a young gallant came reuelling into his house as hee sate with some strangers at supper and tooke away the one halfe of his plate and his guests stormed and tooke on at it he told them he had dealt kindly that hee less them the other halâ—â—â— that he tooke not all when all was his so repine not thou for that that is gone but be thankfull to God for those that be left he that taketh one might as well if he would haue tooke all and it is his mercie if he leaue thee any Yea labour to bee like Iob to be affected as he was When God tooke not one of them but all his children at once from him The Lord saith he hath giuen and the Lord hath taken Now blest bee his name Hee parteth with them as one would doe with a nurse childe that the parents of it had sent for home againe And indeed to speake as the truth is wee are but as foster fathers and nursing mothers to those children that God blesseth vs here with their true Father indeed is aboue in Heauen So therefore should we esteeme of them as of children by God put to nurse to vs whom therfore when he shall see good to call for them home from vs we should be as willing to returne to him as wee would a nurse childe though we loued it as our owne to the parents of it when they should send for it the rather knowing that they shall be and doe better with him than they haue done or can doe with vs. And thus much for the two generall points that from hence we obserue Wee passe now to the speciall which shall bee these two that The good goe oft before the bad and that The good die oft-times for the bad For the former howsoeuer we might hence obserue that The good goe as well as the bad Yet passing by that for the present as hauing handled it on the like occasion elsewhere the point that I purpose now to insist on shall be this that The good goe oft before the bad That they die not onely as well as they but they die oft euen before them So the Prophet telleth vs that The righteous perish and good men are taken away when the wicked meanewhile are left behinde still And the Psalmist complaineth that the godly were taken away so fast that there was scarce one good man left Helpe Lord saith he for there is not a godly man left the faithfull are failed from among the children of men But there is a world of wicked ones left still The wicked saith he walke on euerie side Here we see to goe no further Ieroboams good sonne taken away when his vngodly father and his wicked brethren with the rest of that prophane and irreligious family still remaine Now this God thus disposeth Sometime in iudgement and Sometime in mercie Reason 1 1. In iudgement sometime For Iudgement beginneth at Gods house The cup of Gods wrath is sent first to Ierusalem she beginneth to the rest of it The mortalitie at Corinth seized vpon the Beleeuers there for their abuse of the Sacrament sâ—â—it some of them and swepe away other some of them when many an Infidell escaped and went scot-free the whiles The fruit tree is oft pared and pruned and trimmed while the brier standeth by it vnstirred and vntoucht till it come at length to be fâ—â—â—od at once for the fire The stormie shower and raine lighteth first on the high bils and hauing washed them then runneth downe to the vale and there setleth with all the filth in the bottome 2. In
men among vs and how iust cause of griefe and sorrow is giuen vs when it seemeth good to God to take any such from vs. There goeth a prop or shore of our state away when any such goeth How would we be grieued if we should haue newes brought of some one of the Kings ships lost or cast away at sea and that not without cause for our shipping is the strength of our state they are as we terme them our woodden wals And no lesse cause haue we to mourne when we lose a good man such an one especially as is in eminent place with vs since that such are indeed as he said sometime of his warlike citizens the best wals and bulwarks of our state But leaue wee this and passe on to the last Branch which is that Children suffer oft for their Parents That Children I say as well good as bad suffer oft-times at Gods hand for their Parents offences God punisheth the one ofttimes in the other So punished he Pharao by the death of his first-borne for his obstinate refusall to dismisse his people So he punished Dauid by the decease of the childe begotten in adulterie for that enormious act of his And so Ieroboam here for his idolatrie by the losse of a sonne that no doubt to him was verie deere Yea it is that that God threatneth as well in the sanction of the second precept as oft also elsewhere that he will visit that is punish the iniquitie of parents vpon their posteritie and that not vnto one or two alone but euen to three or foure descents So not Canaan onely was cursed for his Father Chams offence and all Achans family destroyed for his fault but the leprosie of Naaman for Giezies falshood stucke by him and his posteritie so long as any of them lasted The reason of this course that God taketh oft-times in punishing of the transgressions of parents by paines inflicted vpon their children is Reason 1 1. Because Children are part of their parents possessions It is reported of a Persian Emperour Artaxerxes the Long-handed that for such faults of his Nobles and Chieftaines as their haire had wont to bee pulled their head-tire or turbants should bee openly so vsed and for such offences as their bodies had wont to be beaten their robes should publikely be scourged which was deemed to them no small disgrace And in like manner saith Theodoret speaking of the plague of leprosie in mens houses and garments doth God deale with men when they offend themselues God punisheth them not in their persons alwayes but ofttimes in their possessions in their goods and chattels in their worldly estate And if in their possessions no maruell if in their children to being part of their possessions as is euident by the commission giuen and granted to Satan concerning power ouer Iobs possessions which comprehended his children as well as his chattels as appeareth by the execution of it 2. Yea children are not part onely of their parents Reason 2 possessions but they are part in some sort of the parents themselues or of one and the same bodie at least with them As the Subiects and the Soueraigne make ioyntly one body politicke and the losse of the subiects therefore is a punishment to the Soueraigne and God doth sometime punish the Soueraigne so witnesse Dauid in the subiect So the Father and the whole family make both as one body and euill befalling any of them is a punishment to him especially befalling one so neere as a childe Haue mercie on mee Lord saith the mother My daughter is distracted her daughters paines were a punishment to her and God doth oft punish the father or master so witnesse Abimelech in his family and those that be of it He doth as the Physitian that openeth a veine in the arme or it may be in the foot either for some disease in the head For so he let Pharao bloud in the right arme when hee smote his first borne for his fault so he let Dauid bloud in the feet that is in his subiects for they are the feet that the Soueraigne standeth vpon for his offence But how may some say doth this stand with Gods iustice to punish one for another Or how can threatning to punish sinne so in posteritie stand with that which God himselfe enacteth elsewhere that the childe shall not suffer for his fathers offence or with his answer to the people that had gotten vp a bad prouerb The fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge thereby meaning that Their fathers had sinned and they suffered that the soule that sinneth should it selfe die the death and not one suffer for another This question hath not a little troubled many both old and new Writers and that place in the Law hath verie much puzzled many yea the most of the Ancients beside others which in that regard they haue laboured Some of them to diuert by allegoricall interpretations Some to auoid by ouer-violent forced expositions Some to salue by strange and needlesse shifts Some of thē I say expound the words allegorically Euasion 1 Either of Satan and his sonnes all wicked ones Exposition 1 whom God punisheth here that they may not be damned with him hereafter reseruing the Deuill their Father to the last day of doome Or of degrees of sin in the soule making the first Exposition 2 motions of sin the Father the consent to sin the son the act of it the grand childe and obstinacy or glorying in it the great grand-childe that God spareth men oft for the first and second but striketh home when sinne is come to her height in the two last But to frame allegories thus without need or ground is but to wrong the Text to peruert the purpose of Gods spirit and to make God himselfe speak that that he neuer therein meant nor intended Others take the words literally but expound them either nothing agreeably or euen directly contrary Euasion 2 to the intent of Gods spirit in them Some not of punishing sinnes vpon such descents but of deferring and putting off the punishment of Exposition 3 sinne to such a descent as a matter not of wrath and iudgement but of mercy rather and patience which some of them also in particular apply to the Iewish people either in the first generation punished after their departure out of Egypt for all their idolatries during that whole time committed or else as some other captiued in the third and destroyed in the fourth age of the world Now howsoeuer it be true indeed that God in mercy sometime deferreth iudgement from the Fathers daies to the Sons as he did in Ahab yea and in Ieroboam too for his stocke was not so destroyed as