Conscience in the Iudge Right so if in many things Gods proceedings hold not proportion with those characters of Iustice and Equitie which our weake and carnall reason would expresse wee must thence inferre our owne ignorance not his iniustice And that so much the rather because those matters of Law are such as fall within the comprehension of ordinary reason whereas the wayes of God are farre remoued out of our sight and aduanced aboue our reach and besides an earthly Iudge is subiect to misprision mis-information partiality corruption and sundrie infirmities that may vitiate his proceedings whereas no such thing can possibly fall vpon the diuine Nature Dauid hath taught vs in the Psalme that c Psal. 36.6 the righteousnesse of God is as the great mountaines and his iudgements as the great deepe A great mountaine is eath to bee seene a man that will but open his eyes cannot ouerlooke it but who can see into the bottome of the Sea or finde out what is done in the depths thereof Whatsoeuer wee doe then let vs beware wee measure not d Esay 55.8.9 his wayes by our wayes nor his workes by our workes howsoeuer they seeme to swerue from the rules of our wayes and workes yet still e Psal. 145.17 the Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his workes Though we cannot fathom the deepes of his iudgements for f Ioh. 4.11 the Well is deepe and wee haue not wherewithall to draw yet let the assurance of the righteousnesse of all his proceedings stand firme and manifest as the mountaines which can neither be remoued nor hid but stand fast rooted for euermore This wee must rest vpon as a certaine Truth howsoeuer whomsoeuer whensoeuer God punisheth he is neuer vniust The second Certainty §. 4. The second Certainty concerning temporall To speake of Punishments properly no temporall euill is simply and de toto genere a punishment By temporall euills I vnderstand all the penall euils of this life that doe or may befall vs from our bodily conception to our bodily deaths inclusivè hunger cold nakednesse sicknesses infirmities discontents reproaches pouerty imprisonments losses crosses distresses death and the rest in a word all that a Eccles. 1.13 sore trauell which God hath giuen to the sonnes of man to be exercised therewith and that b Sirac 40.1 heauy yoke which is vpon the sonnes of Adam from the day that they goe out of their mothers wombe till the day that they returne to the mother of all things I say none of all these are properly and de toto genere to bee accounted punishments For to make a thing simply and properly and formally a Punishment there are required these three conditions 1. that it bee painefull and grieuous to suffer 2. that it be inflicted for some fault 3. that it bee inuoluntary and against the sufferers will That which hath but the first of these three conditions may be called after a sort and truely too Malum Poenae a kinde of Punishment But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and properly that Euill only is a Punishment wherein the whole three conditions concurre Now these temporall Euills though they haue the two first conditions all of them being grieuous to suffer all of them being inflicted for sinne yet in the third condition they faile because they are not inuoluntary simply and perpetually and de suo genere inuoluntary to omit also a kinde of failing in the second condition not but that they are euer inflicted for some sinne deseruing them but for that there are withall other ends and reasons for which they are inflicted and wherunto they are intended besides and aboue the punishment of the offence It may not bee gainesaid indeed but these things are inuoluntary sometimes in the particular and especially to some men euen the least of them but simply and vniuersally such they are not since by other-some men the greatest of them are willingly and cheerefully not only suffered but desired Not but that they are grieuous to the best It must needes bee some griefe as to the Merchant to see his rich lading cast ouer-board and to the Patient to haue an old festered sore searched and sindged so to the Christian to haue Gods correcting hand lye heauy vpon him in some temporall affliction The Apostle telleth vs plainely c Heb. 12.11 No affliction for the present is ioyous but grieuous But inuoluntary it is no more in him than those other things are in them As therefore the Merchant though it pittie his heart to see so much wealth irrecouerably lost yet getteth the best helpe and vseth the best speede he can to empty the vessell of them for the sauing of his life and as the Patient though d est planè quasi saeuitia medicina de scalpâ—llâ— Non tamen secari ideirco malum quia dolores vtiles affert vlulans ille gemens mugiens inter manus medici postmodum easdem mercede cumulabit Tertullian in Scorp cap. 5. hee smart when the wound is dressed yet thanketh and seeth the Surgion for his paynes in hope of future ease so the Christian though these temporall euills somewhat trouble him yet he is willing to them and he is cheerefull vnder them and he acknowledgeth Gods goodnesse in them and returneth him thankes for them because hee knoweth they are sent for his future good and that they will at the last e Heb 12.11 yeeld them the peaceable fruite of righteousnesse when they shall haue beene sufficiently exercised therby See f Act. 5.41 Peter and Iohn reioycing when they suffered for the name of Iesus and S t Paul so farre from fearing that g Phil. 1.23 hee longed after his disolution and the blessed Martyrs running to a faggot as to a feast Verily Gods children see great good in these things which others account euills and therefore they take them not as bare punishments sent to afflict them but as glorious tryalls to exercise them as gracious corrections to humble them as precious receipts to purge and recouer and restore and strengthen them So that it is not any of the temporall evills of this life §. 5. and Eternall punishments but much rather the euerlasting paines of hell wherein the just reward and punishment of sinne properly and especially consisteth a Rom. 6.23 The wages of sinne is Death the proper wages of sinne eternall death For so the Antithesis in that place giueth it to be vnderstood viz. of such a death as is opposed to Eternall life and that is Eternall Death The wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is Eternall life Rom. 6. By the distribution of those Eternall punishments then wee are rather to judge of Gods righteousnesse in recompencing sinners than by the dispensation of these temporall euills It was a stumbling blocke to the b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marmoreo tumulo Licinus jacet at Cato paruo Pompeius nullo
it will proue to be if it set vs vpon any sinfull or vnwarranted meanes indeed no good intention but a bad For granted it must be that the Intention of any end doth virtually include the meanes as in a Syllogisme the Premises doe the Conclusion No more then can the choice of ill meanes proceed from a good intention than can a false Conclusion be inferred from true Premises and that is impossible From which ground it is that the a Greg. lib. 28. Moral cap. 13. Euseb. Emiss hom 26. and others Fathers and other Diuines doe oftentimes argue from the intention to the action and from the goodnesse of the one to the goodnesse of both to that purpose applying those speeches of our Sauiour in the twelfth and in the sixth of Matthew b Math. 12.33 Either make the tree good and his fruit good or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt And c Math. 6.22.23 if thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be euill thy whole body shall be full of darknesse The light of the body is the eye of the worke the intention No maruell when the eye is euill if the whole body bee darke and when the intention is euill if the whole worke be naught That which deceiueth most men in iudging of good or bad intentions is that they take the end and the intention for one and the same thing betwixt which two there is a spacious difference For the end is the thing propter quid for which we work that whereat we aime in working and so hath rationem causae finalis but the intention is the cause à qua from which we worke that which setteth vs on working and so hath rationem causae efficientis Now betweene these two kindes of causes the finall and the efficient there is not only a great difference but euen a repugnancie in such sort as that it is impossible they should at any time cöincidere which some other kindes of causes may doe It is therefore an error to thinke that if the end bee good the intention of that end must needs be good for there may as well be d Sed videte ne fortè non sit verè oculus simplex qui falletur Bernard de praecept dispensat a bad intention of a good end as a bad desire of a good obiect Whatsoeuer the end be we intend it is certaine that intention cannot be good which putteth vs vpon the choice of euill meanes §. 24. The first Inference against the Church of Rome Me thinkes the Church of Rome should blush if her forehead dyed red with the blood of Gods Saints were capable of any tincture of shame at the discouery of her manifold impostures in counterfeiting of Reliques in coyning of Miracles in compiling of Legends in gelding of good Authors by expurgatory Indexes in iuggling with Magistrates by lewd Equiuocations c. Practices warrantable by no pretence Yet in their account but a Sancta Hypocrisis was Dominicus his word piae fraudes for so they terme them no lesse ridiculously than falsly for the one word contradicteth the other But what doe I speake of these but petty things in comparison of those her lowder impieties breaking couenants of truce and peace dissoluing of lawfull and dispensing for vnlawfull marriages assoyling Subiects from their Oaths and Allegiance plotting Treasons and practising Rebellions excommunicating and dethroning Kings arbitrary disposing of Kingdomes stabbing and murthering of Princes warranting vniust inuasions and blowing vp Parliament houses For all which and diuers other foule attempts their Catholique defence is the aduancement forsooth of the Catholique Cause Like his in the Poet b Horat. lib. 1. Epist. 1. Quocunque modo rem is their Resolution by right or wrong c Gaudeo siue per veritatem siue per occasionem Romanae Ecclesiae dignitatem extolli Ioseph Stephanus de Osc. ped in Epist. ad lect the State of the Papacie must be vpheld That is their vnum necessarium and if heauen fauour not rather than faile helpe must be had from hell to keepe Antichrist in his throne But let them passe and touch neerer home §. 25. The second Inference against a vulgar error There are God knoweth many Ignorants abroad in the world some of them so vnreasonable as to thinke they haue sufficiently non-plus't any reprouer if being admonished of something ill done they haue but returned this poore reply Is it not better to do so than to do worse But alasse what necessitie of doing either so or worse when Gods law bindeth thee from both a Iam. 2.10.11 He that said Doe not commit adultery said also Do not kill and he that said Doe not steale said also Doe not lie If then thou lie or kill or doe any other sinne though thou thinkest thereby to auoide stealth or adultery or some other sinne yet thou art become a transgressour of the Law and by offending in one point of it guilty of all It is but a poore choyce when a man is desperately resolued to cast himselfe away whether hee should rather hang or drowne or stab or pine himselfe to death there may be more horror more paine more lingring in one than another but they all come to one period and determine in the same point death is the issue of them all And it can be but a slender comfort for a man that will needes thrust himselfe into the mouth of hell by sinning wilfully that he is damned rather for lying than for stealing or whoring or killing or some greater crime Damnation is the wages of them all Murther can but hang a man and without fauour Petty-Larceny will hang a man too The greatest sinnes can but damne a man and without Gods mercie the smallest will damne a man too But what wil some reply In case two sinnes be propounded may I not doe the lesser to auoide the greater Otherwise must I not of necessitie doe the greater The answer is short and easie If two sinnes bee propounded doe neither Emalis minimum holdeth as you heard and yet not alwayes neither in euils of Paine But that is no Rule for euils of sinne Here the safer Rule is è malis nollum And the reason is sound from the Principle wee haue in hand If wee may not doe any euill to procure a positiue good certainely b Eâdem doctrinâ quâ horremus facere mala vt eueniant bona horrere debemus facere mala vt euitemus peiora Euitare enim peiora multò minus bonum est quà m euenire bonum Cajetan hic much lesse may wee doe one euill to auoide or preuent another But what if both cannot bee auoyded §. 26. The obiection from the seeming case of perplexitie remoued but that one must needes be done In such a straite may I not chuse the lesser To thee I say againe as before Chuse neither To the Case I
Credimus esse Deos Vario See Plat. de leg Cic. 3. de Nat. deor Senec. de prouid Aug. 3. de lib. arb 2. Menand apud Stob. Serm. 104. heathen to see good men oppressed and vice prosper it made them doubt some whether there were a God or no others nothing better whether a prouidence or no. But what maruell if they stumbled who had no right knowledge either of God or of his prouidence when Iob and Dauid and other the deare children of God haue beene much puzzled with it Dauid confesseth in Psal. 73. that c Psal. 73.23 his feete had welnigh slipped when hee saw the prosperity of the wicked and certainty downe he had beene had hee not happily stepped d Ibid. 17. into the Sanctuary of God and there vnderstood the end of these men Temporall euills though they be sometimes punishments of sinne yet they are not euer sent as punishments because sometimes they haue other ends and vses and are ordinabilia in melius and secondly they are neuer the onely punishments of sinne because there are greater and more lasting punishments reserued for sinners after this life of which there is no other vse or end but to punish since they are not ordinabilie in melius If we will make these temporall euills the measure whereby to judge of the Iustice of God wee cannot secure our selues from erring dangerously Gods purposes in the dispensation of these vnto particular men being vnsearchable But those euerlasting punishments are they wherein Gods Iustice shall be manifested to euery eye in due time at that last day which is therefore called by S t Paul Rom. 2. e Rom 2.5 the day of wrath and of the reuelation of the righteous iudgment of God Implying that howsoeuer God is just in all his iudgements and acts of prouidence euen vpon earth yet the Counsells and Purposes of God in these things are often secret and past our finding out but at the last great day when f Ibid. 6. he shall render to euery man according to his workes his euerlasting recompence then his vengeance shall manifest his wrath and the righteousnesse of his iudgement shall be reuealed to euery eye in the condigne punishment of vnreconciled sinners That is the second Certainety Temporall euills are not alwayes nor simply nor properly the punishments for sinne If any man shall be yet vnsatisfied §. 6. the third certainety that all Euills of Paine and desire to haue Gods Iustice somewhat farther cleared euen in the disposing of these temporall things although it be neither safe nor possible for vs to search farre into particulars yet some generall satisfaction we may haue from a third Certainety and that is this Euery euill of Paine whatsoeuer it be or howsoeuer considered which is brought vpon any man is brought vpon him euermore for sinne yea and that also for his owne personall sinne Euery branch of this assertion would be well marked I say first Euery Euill of Paine whatsoeuer it be whether naturall defects and infirmities in soule or body or outward afflictions in goods friends or good name whether inward distresses of an afflicted or terrours of an affrighted conscience whether temporall or eternall Death whether euills of this life or after it or whatsoeuer other euill it be that is any way greiuous to any man euery such euill is for sinne §. 7. â—owsoeuer considered I Say secondly euery euill of paine howsoeuer considered whether formally and sub ratione poenae as the proper effect of Gods vengeance and wrath against sinne or as a fatherly correction and chasticement to nurture vs for some past sinne or as a medicinall preseruatiue to strengthen vs against some future sinne or as a clogging chaine to keepe vnder and disable vs from some outward worke of sinne or as a fit matter and obiect whereon to exercise our Christian graces of faith charity patience humility and the rest or as an occasion giuen and taken by Almighty God for the greater manifestation of the glory of his Wisedome and Power and Goodnesse in the remoueal of it or as an act of Exemplary iustice for the admonition and terrour of others or for whatsoeuer other end purpose or respect it be inflicted §. 8. are for the siâ—ne I say thirdly Euery such euill of paine is brought vpon vs for sinne There may be other ends there may be other occasions there may be other vses of such Euills but still the originall Cause of them all is sinne a Psal. 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sinne It was not for any b Ioh. 9.2.3 extraordinary notorious sinnes either of the blinde man himselfe or of his parents aboue other men that he was borne blinde Our Sauiour Christ acquitteth them of that Ioh. 9. in answer to his Disciples who were but too forward as God knoweth most men are to iudge the worst Our Sauiours answer there neuer intended other but that still the true cause deseruing that blindenesse was his and his parents sinne but his purpose was to instruct his Disciples that that infirmitie was not laid vpon him rather than vpon another man meerely for that reason because he or his parents had deserued it more than other men but for some farther ends which God had in it in his secret and euerlasting purpose and namely this among the rest that the workes of God might be manifest in him and the Godhead of the sonne made glorious in his miraculous cure As in Nature the intention of the c see Arist. 2. Phys. End doth not ouerthrow but rather suppose the necessity of the Matter so is it in the workes of God and the dispensations of his wonderfull prouidence It is from Gods Mercy ordering them to those Ends he hath purposed that his punishments are good but it is withall from our sinnes deseruing them as the Cause that they are iust euen as the raine that falleth vpon the earth whether it moisten it kindly and make it fruitfull or whether it choake and slocken and drowne it yet still had its beginning from the vapours which the earth it selfe sent vp All those Euills which fall so daily and thicke vpon vs from heauen whether to warne vs or to plague vs are but arrowes which our selues first shot vp against heauen and now drop downe againe with doubled force vpon our heads Omnis poena propter culpam all Euills of paine are for the euills of sinne §. 9. of the sufferer I say fourthly All such Euils are for our owne sins The Scriptures are plaine a 1 Pet. 1.17 God iudgeth euery man according to his own workes b Gal. 6.5 Euery man shall beare his owne burden c. God hath enioyned it as a Law for Magistrates wherein they haue also his example to lead them that c Deut. 24.16 not the fathers for the children nor the children for the fathers but euery man should be put to death for his own