THE DESTRVCTION OF SODOME A SERMON PREACHED at a publicke Fast before the honourable Assembly of the Commons House of Parliament At St. MARGARETS Church in Westminster By IOHN HARRIS Preacher there Feb. 18. 1628. LONDON Printed by H. L. and R. Y. for G. Lathum dwelling in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Bishops head THE DESTRVCTION Of SODOME GEN. 19. 24. Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen ABout fiue hundred yeares after Christ when the Romans vast Dominion began to decline there was great affliction and trouble thoroughout the world plagues and famines and warres and earth-quakes and other euils conspir'd together to vexe all places so that the people of God euery where both in the Greeke and Latine Churches fearing their turne might be next to come vnder the scourge had formes of holy Prayers composed by their Prelates which the Greeke Church termed Litanies the Latine Rogations to be spoken often into the eares of the Lord of heauen and earth to preuent imminent iudgements so godlily wise were the Christians of old time that those calamities which they knew being present all people would bewaile with teares being absent they laboured by their prayers to keep away And if I take not my marke amisse that 's the intention of this meeting Gods troupes of afflictions as holy Iob cals them are abroad in the Christian world making hauocke of men and countries and wee conscious to our selues that our sinnes deserue to haue them come and to encampe about our tabernacles are met here together to make prayers to our God to keepe them away from vs and to set a greater edge vpon our deuotion and the more to testifie our humiliation to the World and to Angels a Fast is proclaimed which is to bee obserued by vs in a strict manner all the time is to bee spent in confession of sinnes in bitter lamentations in deiection and humiliation for transgressions in abstinence from meates and drinkes and all other corporall delights that may cheare the heart and so hinder it from being truely sorrowfull and afflicted in almes deedes and visiting the sicke in mourning and weeping for angring God and in crying mightily vnto the Lord to diuert iudgements approaching And to helpe to these exercises of repentance the Word of God must be preached the sinnes of a Nation must bee ript vp Gods iudgements against sinne must be denounced for nothing doth further more to humiliation and compunction than a serious consideration how infinitely iniquity doth anger God and how seuerely he hath and doth and will punish it It was the course which God himselfe directed the Prophet Ieremiah to runne when Israel and Iudah were vpon the point of destruction This word came vnto Ieremiah from the Lord saying Take thee a roule of a booke and write therein all the words that I haue spoken vnto thee against Israel and against Iudah and against all the Nations from the day I spake vnto thee from the dayes of king Iosiah euen vnto this day it may be that the house of Iudah will heare all the euill which I purpose to doe vnto them that they may returne euery man from his euill way that I may forgiue their iniquity and their sinne And in that roule of the booke the Rabbins say was written the booke of Lamentations in which booke Ieremiah the Prophet doth in a most mournfull Elegie lament the miserable condition which Ierusalem because of sinne was to come vnto I haue resolued to follow that tract to speake vnto you of a people whose damnable impiety brought vpon them such a misery the relation whereof may make all that worke vnrighteousnesse with greedinesse to tremble to heare it and so to abhorre and auoide crying sinnes lest they should proue likewise their ruine and confusion Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen You may please to obserue in the Text these particulars 1. An act It rained 2. The agent The Lord rained from the Lord Dominus Filius pluit à Domino Patre The Lord the Sonne rained from the Lord the Father that interpretation is giuen of the words at a Councell held at Ierusalem in the time of Constantius the Emperour 3. The matter it rained Brimstone and fire The Lord rained from the Lord brimstone and fire 4. The place from whence it rained Out of Heauen The Lord rained from the Lord brimstone and fire out of Heauen Super impium populum Gehennam misit è Coelo The Lord from the Lord sent vpon a wicked people Hell out of Heauen 5. The patients vpon whom it rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah in the Text Vpon Sodome and Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim in Deut. 29. 23. Vpon Sodome Gomorrah Admah Zeboim and Segor in lib. 1. St. Aug. de mirab Script Vpon all the plaine vpon all the inhabitants of the Cities vpon that which grew vpon the ground in Gen. 19. 25. 6. The time when it rained Then Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen The time administreth occasion to discourse of the Agents longanimity and of the Patients iniquity The act and the materials giue way to treate of Gods seuerity and of Sodome and Gomorrah's misery Thus then wee will proceed Gods grace assisting First speake of Gods clemency and of Sodom and Gomorrah's impiety Secondly declare Gods fury and Sodom and Gomorrah's calamity Thirdly conclude with an application of such vses as may be made by the story First of Gods clemency and of Sodome and Gomorrah's impiety There is not a greater antipathy betwixt any two natures in the world than there is betwixt the nature of God and sinne You may sooner reconcile fire and water heate and cold light and darknesse than God and Mammon Christ and Belial the holy Ghost and Dagon God hates sinne wheresoeuer he findes it be it in Heauen or Earth in Men or Angels in Elect or Reprobates Indeed his Mercy his sweet blessed Mercy to which mankinde hath beene euer much bound neuer ceaseth solliciting him to treat Adams children with all the fauour hee may and like to an importunate suitor neuer giueth ouer crauing of him vntill he make her a promise that hee will not execute the fiercenesse of his anger otherwise the world should heare oftner from him than it doth Howsoeuer though mercy doth much with God yet mercy doth not all iustice may bee heard if the suspension of iudgement worke no remorse in sinners hearts to take pitie vpon their owne soules and to please God iustice will procure that God shall render indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish vpon euery soule of man that doth euill to the Iew first and also to the Gentile Misericordia Deo attribuitur secundum effectum non secundum passionis affectum Mercy is attributed vnto God according to the effect
not according to the affect of the passion it doth neuer transport him beyond himselfe neither causeth it him vtterly to stop his eares to his iustice when it pleadeth for indignation T is euident in holy Writ that Mercy is potent with God hath a great hand with him hee will heare her mediating for the most notorious malefactors in the world if hee can discerne in them any hope of amendment How long did he protract Sodom's ruine and what courses did hee take to reclaime them sent Lot to preach to them stirr'd vp foure Kings to make warre vpon them gaue them victory ouer them and when they had taken the people and were carrying of them into captiuity prest Abraham out to rescue them who diuided himselfe against them he and his seruants by night and smote them and pursued them vnto Hoba which is on the left hand of Damascus and he brought backe all the goods and also brought againe his brother Lot and his goods and the women also and the people Yea when their sinnes cryed out for brimstone flames wrath was gone out from God and he had dispatched his ministring spirits to goe downe and see whether they had done altogether according to the cry of it which came vp vnto him Hee protected vnto Abraham if hee could finde ten righteous men there he would not destroy them for tens sake Gods goodnesse towards them doth surpasse all oratorie to expresse all cogitation to thinke he would haue spared them vpon any tolerable termes they might haue made their peace vpon any indifferent conditions God I say tooke no delight in their desolation At last when hee saw that no preaching no warre no captiuity no redemption from captiuity could beget any piety among them Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen Their sinnes were insufferable not ordinarie but great very great transgressions they did prouoke the iustice of God from the greatest of them to the littlest of them they did euen against nature and common reason agree to bee wicked they were not onely sinners drawne to iniquitie by the strong incitations of nature but they were wicked industriously wicked willingly wicked like to the house of Iacob they deuised iniquity vpon their beddes and when the morning was light they practis'd it They were scelerum principes inuentores prime offendors and inuentors of new villanies they tooke delight in damn'd transgressions their greatest glory was in the greatest iniquity and they were then most merry when the God of Abraham was most angry I reade of a people in Picenum that were called Nequi nates Wicked ones à soli iniquitate saith the Geographer from the naughtinesse of their soile the men of Sodome are call'd wicked ones from the iniquity of their manners The men of Sodome were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly Pride a sinne that made of Angels Diuels as Prosper saith a sinne that is fore-runner to destruction as Solomon shewes Humility goeth before honour and a haughty spirit before a fall A sinne of which they that are guilty haue God alwayes at their backes to take vengeance of them for it as Seneca hath it Sequitur superbos vltor à tergo Deus was in high esteem among them excessiue they were aboue measure a mortall iniquity Diues epulo est Parochianus Diabolo A rich Epicure is a Parishioner to the Diuell The higher men feede the more outragious the bloud boiles and the harder taske it is to resist concupiscence Iesurun waxed fat and kicked thou art waxen fat thou art growne thicke thou art couered with fatnesse then hee forsooke God which made him and lightly esteemed the rocke of his saluation Idlenesse likewise a sinne capitall by the lawes of Draco A sin that teacheth much euill A sinne that choaketh vertue nourisheth pride frameth a life fit onely for hell fire a sinne the whole vniuersity of things cries downe abounded among them whereas all other creatures were perpetually in action trees growing waters flowing birds flying oxen plowing spheares mouing the men of Sodome like to standing ponds like to Sodomes Salt-pits stunke for lacke of motion The poore they did contemne a crying sinne Negatur gutta qui negauit micam A droppe of water is denied to Diues to coole his tongue being in hell in torments who denied a crumme from off his table to Lazarus to allay his hunger liuing on earth in pleasures These were sinnes which the earth it selfe could no longer endure hearken and I will shew you greater abominations than these Masculine beastiality A sinne none but a Diuell come out of Hell in the likenesse of a man dares to commit a sinne enough to defile the tongue that talkes of it a sinne of which if a man were sure neither God nor man did know of it yet the turpitude of it should bee motiue enough to make a reasonable creature disdaine it was as allowable among them by custome as any other act in other Common-wealths is by law Nay Peccabant publicabant They did sinne and not for shame hide it but with ostentation they did publish it t is manifest Gods rehearsing Iudahs sinnes saith They declare their sinnes as Sodome did to doe euill and to reioyce at it t is a desperate iniquity deplorata nequitia a lamentable wickednesse for men to sinne and to take pastime in it to anger the powers of Heauen and to ioy in it to set their soules burning in the flames of sinne as Nero set Rome on fire and to behold them with affectation like raging waues of the sea for men to some out their owne shame good Lord that euer the children of women should bee so transcendently wicked it was impossible for any but incarnate Diuels to excell them in wickednesse Furthermore there was publicke liberty of sinning each man gaue his consent for the allowance of villany no man accusing or condemning or correcting or deploring the iniquities that were among them Onely Lot perswadeth I pray you Brethren doe not so wickedly and they frump him for it This one fellow came in to soiourne and hee will needes bee a Iudge There was such a habit of filthinesse that vnrighteousnesse was reputed for righteousnesse and the gainsayer of vncleannesse was blamed more than the actour Their Magistrates that had regall power neuer interposed their authoritie to bridle them in their beastly desires And my beloued that is a daring sinne when the Magistrates that should bee to the people like gods to imitate shall be euery iot as wicked as the multitudes Inferiores sunt superiorum simiae Inferiours they are the apes of superiours whereby it commeth to passe that those which are called to high places in the world eyther carry many to destruction with themselues or bring many into the way of saluation with themselues as Fulgentius saith
wrought this act and that the fire issued out of the earth which consumed these cities but Strabo vnderstood not the Scriptures nor the power of God he is but a prophane author and we are not to credit his report Wee haue Moses and the Prophets and we must heare them and they say The Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen Fearfull raine Tertullian saith that the City called Vulsinium in Italy was destroyed with fire from heauen Histories say that in the yeare of our Lord 717. when the Arabians and Saracens lay at the siege of Constantinople fiery haile fell from heauen and burnt their Nauie In Exodus 9. 24. It rained haile and fire mingled with the haile very grieuous such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a Nation Here it rained brimstone and fire mingled with the brimstone very grieuous such as there was none in all the world since it was a world From whence came it from the Lord out of heauen Indeed the Philosophers say there is an element of fire aboue and though the elementary fire bee of its owne nature vncapable to moue downward vnlesse it be forced as also vncapable of voracity vnlesse a consuming faculty be supernaturally added to it yet wee know God can and it may be at this time did indue that simple fire with those qualities to make the miracle the greater Iobs cattell and his seruants were burnt with fire from Heauen the fire of God So likewise fire came downe from heauen at Eliah's call and burnt the two Captaines and their fifties But there are no veines of brimstone aloft what though it may be God borrowed brimstone of the earth it may be he did command the Sunne to exhale vp some to intermingle with his potion which he administred to diseased Sodome it may be he turned ayre into brimstone as hee did water into wine Whatsoeuer fire it was simple or compound and wheresoeuer he had the brimstone it matters not much to dispute sure I am it was the Lords doing raine it he did and though it be maruellous in our eyes because supernaturall the Heauens not vsing to poure downe brimstone drops yet to him it was no more difficult to say to the brimstone Burne thou Sodome than to say to the snow Be thou vpon the earth Alas what became of the inhabitants What became of them naught became of them they were all euery mothers childe fried in brimstone flames a terrible iudgement take it into your consideration and wonder at it The same morning the sunne did arise in his wonted manner deckt all the plaine of Iordan with his glorious raies and before it was climb'd vp to the meridian tota rogus regio est Sodome is all in a flame her citizens bee all in a fire her soile is poyson'd with sulphur her vines and oliue trees bee blasted with filthy fume the earth yawn'd and denounced the ruines of the buildings that were not of combustible matter together with the ashes of the inhabitants those that whilere did boile in lust doe now boile with fire God meeteth their strange lust with strange fire quencheth the heate of their concupiscence with the heate of brimstone fils their swallowes that were accustomed to bee fill'd with sauorie meates with stifling smoke consumeth all their bodies their goods their cattell yea their whole territory with a shoure of fire from heauen Infamem vitam famosa poena consumit A famous punishment finisheth an infamous life Some were smitten with blindnesse and rather run into than from the scorching flames Others no sooner cry Fire fire but their tongues burne with fire to stop their clamour A third scuds out of the City and a sheete of fire like to a swift Herauld maketh after him arrests him and executeth the will of God vpon him Some leape into the water hoping thereby to be rescued from the fire because of the naturall contrariety that is betwixt those two elements and as in the Egyptian plagues I shall now tell you a wonder fire and water were made friends together for that day the fire had power in the water forgetting his owne vertue and the water forgot her owne quenching nature In one streete the hote tiles spring from off the flaming roofes braining those that passed vnder in another lane the scalding lead drops downe out of the gutters and lights vpon the hairy scalph of such as had gone on in their wickednesse Here is a hideous noise heard with the downefals of houses there is a piteous cry to be heard made by people sorely tormented in that flame The heauens thunder fearfully the lightning flasheth dismally the brimstone burnes inquenchably the people shreek vniuersally the cattell bellow miserably God is angry terribly because they had sinn'd abominably The flakes of fire like Sampsons foxes with fire-brands at their tailes in the fields of Philistia scoure thorough the fields of Sodom and Gomorrah and the adiacent Cities and burne vp the standing corne with the vineyards and oliues For all this Gods anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still As Christ cursed the fig-tree and said Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for euer so God cursed the land of Sodome and said Let neuer inhabitant dwell in thee more henceforward for euer the children were burnt with their parents that not a remnant of the bloud of Sodomites might remaine Iosephus writes that all that huge Army which Pharaoh led forth against the Israelites consisting of 50000. horsemen and 200000. footmen was so vtterly defeated that there was not one left aliue to carry home newes of the ouerthrow and the Psalmist iustifieth it The waters couered their enemies there was not one of them left A fearfull destruction that not one should be able to come off of such a multitude yet t was not like this of Sodomes though they lost many of their people yet there were more Egyptians left behinde Proletarij to increase and multiply here was an vtter extirpation an euerlasting extinction of the whole race of Sodomites The nurse burnt with the childe at her breast the mother melted with her babe in her belly the father fryed with his posterity in his loynes young men were dissolued to ashes young maidens were consumed to cinders and not one only of a sort but all of euery sort all that gaue sucke all that were great with childe all that had beene that were or might be fit for procreation of both sexes male and female of all ages young and old dyed in that dreadfull fire Quos vna impietas prophanauit vna sententia deleuit So saith St. Ambrose of those that perished by the floud and so say I of those that perished by this fire For all this Gods anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still