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heart_n	harden_v	let_v	pharaoh_n	4,715	5	11.0616	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B02843	An antidote against the erroneous, or rather blasphemous, opinions of some people in this our corrupt age; concerning the true and real cause of man's falling into those gross and notorious sins, which do commonly prove his eternal ruine. : Made plain in a short discourse, being the substance of two sermons upon the 12, 14, 15. verses of the 1st chap. of St. James. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, &c. / By Samuel D'Assigny, a well-wisher to the Church of England's prosperity.	D'Assigny, Samuel, b. 1673 or 4	1698 (1698)	Wing D286; ESTC R171689	15,649	17

rather than upon Micah'● or an● other Prophets of mine And let the fall of Ahab be at R●●●●th G●●●●d rather than at any other place And in this Battle with the King of A●●t●● rather than at any other time Thus when the Matter is thei● own God giveth the Fashoning and Ordering thereof in some sort touching the Persons time and place and other the like particulars I hope Re●der by this time you are sufficiently convinc'd that in the Actions of sinful Men there is more to be deem'd of God than his bare permission for doubtless he hath his will therein mistake me not I beseech you I mean not Vo●●ntaetem Appr ba●●onis His will 〈◊〉 Approbation as if the Lord did either Allure Counsell or Compel unto Evil But I m●an Volunt●tem Providentiae His Provident W●●● whereby the Lord doth order and govern sinful Actions in applying them to better ends then the Offend●●s are aware off For God saith the Pr●phet is of pure ●●es and can be●●ld n W●●k●dness his Soul hateth and abhorteth Sin His Law to this ve●● day curseth and condemneth Sin his hands have smitten and scour●●● S●n He hath thrown down Angels from Leaven pla●●d M●n upon E ●th ●●●●●rted whe●● Ki●●doms destroyed whole ●●●ies and Corporations and not spared his own Son Christ Jesus w●il● he appeared in the ●●militude of sinful Flesh He hath drow●ed the World with a Flood of Waters already and will ●er aster consume it wit● Fire 〈…〉 of Sin He hath threatned Tribu●●tion An●●ish and D●●●● unto a● the Workers of Iniquity and that Sentence of his shaft fraud more Stable than all the Marble Pillars upon Earth and endure longer than the days of Heaven If then his Indignation against Sin be such Who can accuse him to be the Author of it Let God then be true and let all Men be Lyars let God be just and let all Men be sinners Let him be justified in 〈…〉 and p●●● in his sayings and then let all his a●●●s●●s vanish and 〈◊〉 away like the foam upon the Waters But as 〈◊〉 those that 〈◊〉 〈…〉 the Lord let them stand fast as M●nat 〈◊〉 which 〈…〉 by 〈…〉 ●●t them stand fast in Love fast in Faith 〈…〉 in ●●ve that they keep his Commandments 〈…〉 not from Grace fast in hope that they despair 〈…〉 in ●●●●●ance that they ●ha● one day enjoy the Rivers of plea●●●● in the Kingdom of Heaven for evermore And now I am come to the first argument whi●h the Apostle produceth here to prove the former propositions which 〈◊〉 immediately drawn from the purity of God's Divine Nature being partly Negative and partly Affirmative First Negative And therein the Apostle denyeth God to be tempted with evil Secondly Afirmative And therein he averreth that he tempted no man I shall begin first with the Negative part God cannot be tempted with evil As if the Apostle should have said here God is in nature so pure that he cannot be stained in Will so stable that he cannot be moved in Wisdom so wise that he cannot be deceived and in Liberty so free that he cannot be compelled unto Evil He is Light and there is no Darkness either of Error or Ignorance in him He is goodness and there is no evil of sin which can contaminate or defile his divine Nature He is good 〈◊〉 ext●●●se in himself and without himself in himself as being the Father of all Goodness for there is no goodness upon Earth but what is derived from him In which sense our Savour saith there is none good but God He is ipsa ●●mit●● Goodness it self his Nature is Goodness and from him as from an Ocean flow all the streams of Goodness into the World He is exceeding good without himself I mean unto all his Creatures in general whether you consider him in his Creation or in his Preservation of them 1. In his Creation there was not a Work that passed his fingers without the approbation of his Jugdment Behold it was good and very good and God saw that it was good Gen. 1.10 2. In his Preservation For he opened his hands and filleth all things living with his Blessings the whole Earth is full of his Goodness saith the Psalmist and his Mercies are over all his Works He is also exceeding good unto his chosen unto his Israel unto those that are of a pure heart Psal 73.1 Do you distrust of his righteousness Ask as proud and ●●●●ate a ●●●ner as ever trans●●essed P●areah by name and he will tell you that the Lord is righteous though he and his people were wicked Exod. 9.27 Ask but the m●●●ers of humane Wisdom and they will inform you in this be●●●● 〈…〉 of him 〈…〉 no ●●ans is unjust but as 〈…〉 A 〈…〉 the Question why the Gods do good Answereth himself N●●●● 〈◊〉 their Nature is the cause they neither take nor do wrong they neither give nor have mischief in them I am come now to the second ●●●●rmative part viz. As he is in Nature so pure that 〈…〉 tempted himself so likewise tempteth he no man 〈…〉 doth not pe●●●●de men unto sin not does ●e approve of it when 〈…〉 For 〈◊〉 art ●ot a God that 〈…〉 saith the Prophet 〈◊〉 ● 4 ●eather shall 〈…〉 with 〈◊〉 T●● go●●sh shall not stand in 〈◊〉 sight 〈◊〉 ●●●●st all them that 〈…〉 If then God neither move men unto sin nor command it when it is committed nor assist the committers of it because his Nature is so good that he can neither tempt nor he tempted unto evil in no wise then certainly is he the Author of Sins For ●eus ●ui borus ●st saith P●●●●● mal●rum causa dici non ●●●●st And it is an excellent speech which St. A●s●●● hath to this purpose Fi●●i non potest 〈◊〉 〈…〉 a peccatis s●●gi●●r 〈◊〉 cum in peccata decidatur It cannot be that men should ●●ll or be driven into sin by him through whom they have their Resurrection from sin for surely if he did truly and properly throw them down he would never be so willing to raise them up Many have been restrained and held up by God's Grace that they might not fall into disparate 〈◊〉 but none have been by him occasion'd to fall for he tempteth no man unto ●●●l Doth God tempt no man unto evil why then may some say do the Scriptures seem to speak so plainly to this purpose why is it said of God Exod. 4.21 I will harden Pharoah 's heart that he shall not let the People go And Exod. 7.22 we read that Pharoah's heart was harden'd neither did he hearken unto them as the Lord had said And Rom. 1.24 it is said of the Gentiles that the Lord delivered them up unto a reprobate sense Nay the Prophet Jeremiah chargeth God to his face in the 4th Chap at the 10th Verse Then said I ah Lord God! surely thou deceiv'd this People and Jerusalem saying ye shall have Peace whereas the Sword reacheth unto the Soul And the Lord

himself in plainer terms taketh it upon himself Ezek. 14.9 If the Prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing I the Lord have deceived that Prophet And in the 2d Chap. 2 Epist to the Thess at the 11th Verse God shall send them strong Delusions that they should believe a lye If so how doth our Apostle speak a truth here when he saith God tempteth no man unto evil For the better explication of these mysterious Expressions and withal to make it appear unto you how God shall be just and ●●t bath the natures and workers of such wickedness shall be asham'd before him Take I beseech you seriously these two things into your Christian consideration First That in all the Scriptures before alledged th●re is 〈◊〉 made of some precedent Iniquity in those ungracious Persons wh●●● God so dealeth with deserving and procuring the hand of God t●● heavily upon them Hath God hardned Pharoah surely ●●●●●●h ha●d●●● himself Exod. 8 32. Du●ities oft Hominum peccatum O 〈…〉 s●●th 〈◊〉 so it was with this Obstinate Sinner saith S. A●g●●●● D●●● 〈…〉 Ju●●●●●●●ys● 〈◊〉 per l●●erum a●b●trium God hardned 〈◊〉 by his just Judgment but Pharoah first hardned himself by his 〈◊〉 free Wi●l Did he give over the Gentiles to a reprobate Sense Filthiness not to be 〈◊〉 of Look into the 〈◊〉 of the Rom. at 27 and you shall find the Apostle there to Answer in God's behalf that it was a Recommence or Reward of their former Errors or because they chan●●d the truth of God into a lye worship'd the Creature more than the Creator and turn'd the Glory of an incorruptible God into the Image of a corruptible Man and wherefore were they misled with strong delusions but because they received not the love of the Truth that they might be saved Thus God as a just Judge seeing the Heart of Man to be wholly bent upon Wickedness doth inflict upon him the Spiritual Punishment of induration slumber blindness or the like punishment I say for when Sin is plagn'd with Sin as it is many times in the Wisdom of God whereby he governeth the World then it is not Peccatum but Judicium not Sin but Judgment Thus St. A●gustin speaking of the hardning of Pharoah's Heart he thus concludeth God indeed did incline 〈◊〉 will of Phar●●h being Evil of it self in this Sin but it was by his Just and Secret Judgment D●●● non est Author Pe●cati ut est Peccatum sed ut est ●●●●a P●●●at God i● n●t the Author of Sin as it is Sin but as it is the punishment of those former Sins which we have so presumptuously committed 〈◊〉 his Divine Majesty But 2dly The second thing which I would 〈◊〉 you to consider is this That whatsoever God doth in the Action of Sin●ing as in hardning of Pharoah's Heart or any other the like Judgments he doth it not by infusing any Wickedness into their hearts 〈◊〉 infused no Wickedness into the Heart of Pharoah there was Infidelity Obstinacy and Rebellion before God did any thing in the matter as it evidently appears by that Speech of his unto Moses and A●●●● Exod. 5.2 Who is the Lord th●● I should hear his Voice and let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go Thus Reader as this Doctrine hath been sufficiently proved suffer the Instructions I beseech thee arising from thence to be effectually enforced In the first place then if God be not the mover unto evil or the author of sin as the Apostle here affirmeth then let no man attribute his sin unto God by saying God moved me to do thus or thus For perditio tua ex t● O Israel thy sin is of thy self and thou art the cause of thy own ruine We cannot but be sensible that it is a great wickedness of this present Age too too heathenish to impute the fault when they have sinned unto the Stars and Planets by saying they were born under a Malignant Planet and that the Stars had fore-signed their going awry But to this St. Austin answers and saith that the Grace of God doth not only excell all the Stars and Planets in Heaven but also controlleth the very Angels and Devils in Hell And if you look into the 10th Chap. of Jeremiah at the 2d Verse you shall not only find this judicial Astrology to be condemned as a heathenish invention but also the People of God to be forewarned that they should not relye upon such vain signs and constellations 2dly Others there be which stick not at this only but reach more immediately at God himself by saying God would have it thus and thus and if God would not I could not have done it for who can resist his power Thus when they have spilt the blood of the innocent like water upon the ground defiled their Neighbours beds and provok'd Heaven with many presumtuous sins as Rapes Robberies Murthers Treasons and the like they will spue out a Blasphemy against God himself by countenancing their sins under his authority and by pleading that they have done but the will of God in committing such wickedness against him 'T is true but it is a will against his will that because they did not value or regard that which God had publickly enjoyned them they should do another thing which he had privately determined and he that fulfilleth the will of God in this manner or rather the will of God is fulfilled upon him will certainly without timely and unfeigned repentance perish unto all Eternity I am now come to the second Argument which the Apostle produceth here to prove his former proposition which is drawn from the corruption of Man 's own Nature arising out of these words but every Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed As if the Apostle should have said here but every Mans falling into any Sin comes from himself his own Treacherous sensual Appetite suggests and tenders him some sensitive carnal baits and so consequently by them draws him out or his Course and entices him unto Sin God then is neither the Mover not the Author nor the perfecter of any evil Action that proceeds partly from our own Corruption and partly from the suggestions of Satan for our Natures being through the ●ail of ou● first Parents corrupted our desires are defiled and being defiled rebel against the rules and dictates of right Reason and so hu●●y u●on headlong unto all uncleanness to draw iniquity with cords of Vanity and sin as it were with Cart-ropes Now what shall we ●ay that God is the cause of this Original Corruption ●●●●ly no But every Man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own ●ust and enticed God placed Man at first in a perfect state of happiness of innocently and integrity for he made him pure in his Body pure in his Soul and pure in the 〈…〉 Soul 1. For his Body though it was formed out of the Dust yet we must consider that

The Preface Christian Reader HAving not in all my few labours and studies either heard of or met with any entire Treatise of this kind or nature and daily perceiving the Spirit of Dissention beyond Measure Operating amongst the generality of Mankind so that if it were possible he would beguile and seduce the very Elect I thought fit therefore upon a serious Consideration to endeavour to put a stop to the malicious Project of the Devil who is incessantly striving to draw men headlong into Eternal Perdition with himself especially by insinuating into them some blasphemous thoughts of the Almighty according to that which you 'll find mention'd in the following Discourse viz. That he has appointed some on purpose as it were for the endless Torments of Hell as well as others for the Enjoyment of Everlasting Bliss and that they being so voluntarily predestinated if they did use all imaginable means there can be no hopes or possibility of a repeal which in my opinion is a very great Blasphemy to think of so Wise and Merciful a God as ours is who did not only vouchsafe to send his only begotten Son Christ Jesus to be a Propitiatory Sacrifice for all our Sins but has left his plain written Word whereby if Men had but Grace to Read and Practice it they might be easily convinced of such wicked Imaginations He has also granted a Redemption and Deliverance from all Sins whatsoever except that against the Holy Ghost provided that Men will timely and sincerely perform the Conditions upon which they are pr●mised My Courteous Reader I shall not here trouble my self with a second Exposition but if you please diligently to peruse the following Treatise I hope through God's Grace you 'll find full satisfaction concerning the whole Point Besides you will find many other wicked conceits about the same Matter and all of them singly opposed and confuted by the plain Word of God Therefore I shall not here take time to reckon them up in their Order neither will I recommend it to the protection of any particular Person presuming that it may be material enough in it self to Challenge a Patronage from all those that are any way concerned for the Interest and Honour of their Maker Now my Christian Reader I have no more to add for the better offering of it to thy kind acceptation but only this seasonable Admonition viz. Be not too curious too inquisitive in searching after those things which God is not pleased to Communicate to any humane Capacity according to that excellent Maxim in Philosophy quae supra nos nihil ad nos But yet above all be careful and diligent to know and understand those things which especially belong to thy Spiritual and Eternal Welfare always remembring that no Man can be too circumspect in a business of so great a Moment which that you and I and all may do God of his infinite Mercy grant c. Farewel S. D. An Antidote against the Erroneous or rather Blasphemous Opinions of some People in this our Corrupt Age c. James 1st 13 14 15. Verses Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with Evil neither tempteth he any Man But every Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Lust and entic●d Then when Lust hath conceived it bringeth Sin and Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death ALthough all Scripture are inspired by one and the same Spirit of Truth yet have they an accidental difference according to the Nature of the Pen-men that did first indite them some being of a higher others of a lower Style some hard and intricate others more plain and easie to be understood And this I presume it was that occasioned St. Gregory to compare some Scriptures unto Jacob's hasty Rods which were partly peeled and partly covered others unto Acab's house of Ivory which was without any covering at all The Scripture which I have now mentioned unto you is of the former sort hard and difficult to be understood It craveth therefore your best attention whilst it is interpreted and your chiefest affection when it is applyed I will first briefly and plainly as I can lay down the general heads and afterwards come unto the particulars 1. We have here a full and compleat proposition viz. That God is not the mover unto evil nor the author of Sin Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God 2. The Apostle confirms and strengthens this proposition by two Arguments in the following Words The first whereof is drawn from the of God's divine Nature and is partly Negative and partly Affirmative 1. Negative He cannot be tempted with Evil. 2. Affirmative He tempteth no Man 2. The second Argument is drawn from the Corruption of Man 's own Nature arising out of the verse following where the Apostle setteth down the true and efficient Cause of Sin which is our own concupiscence and desire For every man is tempted when he is drawn by his own Lust and enticed And in the next place by a kind of gradation he proceeds further to shew us our Corruption in semine in germire in fructu in the seed in the bud in the fruit In the seed there is concupiscentia titillans pleasing concupiscence in the bud there is concupiscentia provocans willing concupiscence and in the fruit there is concupiscentia proveniens actual concupiscence And then follows the effect which this bitter Root doth produce and that is Death When Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin being finished bringeth forth Death and Destruction both to Body and Soul These are parts that I chiefly design to insist upon that I may thereby vindicate the Honour and Justice of God from the Blasphemous thoughts of wicked and obstinate People This Proposition is the first point that God is not the Mover unto Evil nor the Author of Sin A point I must needs confess very hard and intricate if rightly weighed and considered and if we take it in its full latitude it will bring us to understand if it were possible to be comprehended how far God hath a hand in the actions of sinning A point so high as the highest Heavens and dwelleth in Light as unsearchable as God himself covered with a Curtain of Sacred secresy which shall never be drawn aside for who is able to apprehend that hath his habitation here upon Earth and his dwellings amongst us Mortals how far the Council of God goeth in ordering and disposing of sinful actions The Manichees were here driven to such a strait that they fram'd two Gods unto themselves to the end that they might acquit one from being accessary unto Evil. 1. They called a good God the Father of Christ and the Author of the New Testament But the other they surmised to be Evil and the Author of the Old And this they say was he who is said to have hardened Pharoah's heart to bid Shemei curse David

and lastly to have delivered the Gentiles unto a reprobate sense Rom. 1.24 But alas foolish men they were deceived for the Apostle tells us plainly Eph. 4.6 That there is but one Lord and one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all And St. James saith here in the Text that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that cannot be moved or tempted unto Evil But I will leave this Error of theirs and c●me nearer unto our selves There is a great Error about this point and I suppose it to be in two extreams The 1st is of those who maliciously ch●r●e God to be the Author o● Sin these are the sensual Libertines of our Age who rub their Filthiness and Licentiousness upon God's Purity 2dly The others are those who think that God doth only suffer and permit 〈◊〉 and so they make him like a King sitting upon a Scaffold to behold a Stratagem or as if his G●dhead were bound up and restrained like Sarr●●●'s Arms that he could not use it Either of th●se Opini●ns do seem r●ally to deny the Godhead it self the one destroying the Goodness and Divin● Justice of the Deity in that they charge God to be the author of Sin The other his Omnipotence and Providence in that they bereave him of a great part of his Honour The latter of these positions is very true that God doth permit sin and sound and Catholick enough if more were added unto it as you shall find in the explication of the point in hand But the other is filled to the brim with monstrous Impiety for if the very damned Spirits in Hell might be heard to speak against God what could they say to deprave him more than this Indeed the very best of us all no doubt have sinned and that most presumptuously too and have most highly violated the Sacred Laws of our Maker But that God caused us so to do is I say a most damnable and reprobate Thought that any Vessel of Clay can conceive of his Maker who is absolutely good and neither is nor can be tempted with evil And yet our Adversaries the Papists have not stuck to father the birth of this prodigious Monster upon our Church it self by affirming that we maintain it as a point of Doctrine that God is the Mover unto evil and so consequently the Author of sin I say our Church never affirm'd it and to redeem a thousand Deaths if more were due unto our sins we would not 'T is true this we say that whatsoever hath substance being and perfection in the action of sin God is the Author of it because it is good and proceedeth from him in whom we live and move and have our being Acts 17.28 Our life our motion our being is from God he is Anima Mundi the very Life and Soul of the World A Poet of the Gentiles did first deliver it but now an Apostle of ours hath ratified it and sanctified it for a truth Our Life is God's whether we live to him as we ought to do or to the Lusts of the Flesh or after the pleasure of the God of this World the Prince of Darkness Our Motion is his whether we lift up our hands to Prayer or to Murther or to Stealth or any other Out-rage Our Essence is also God's the nature being and substance of man of reprobate Angels and others are from him and his good Creatures for he made all thin●s good and not evil So that still I say God thus s●r is a worker in Temptation or may be said to have a hand in Sinnin● for in sin you must know there is a positive and peccative port nature and corruption action and defect now God is the Author of the former but not of the latter As for Example in the striking of a jarring and untuned Instrument the playing and singering is from the Person but the jarring discord is in the Instrument So God is the Author of every acti●n but not of wickedness in any action But would you see it yet more plain by an example out of the Book of God then let Cain be the man Gen. 4.5 we read that because Cain's Sacrifice was rejected and his Brother 's accepted he was exceeding wrath his countenance fell and he had a purpose to slay his Brother Now Cain could never have thought of the death of Abel his eyes could never have seen any offensive thing in his accepted Sacrifice nor his heart have prosecuted with desire nor his hands have executed with power so unnatural a fact if God had not given him strength and activity to have used the service of all these faculties To think to desire to move the parts of the Body are the good Creatures of God and therein consisteth the action of God But to turn these gifts of God unto so wicked and vile a purpose as to murther his Brother was the sin of Cain himself the fault of the action proper to him alone And so in all our motions and actions God hath a hand in them as far as they are righteous and good but as they are evil and sinful they chiefly proceed from the impure fountains of our hearts for God can no way be touch'd with evil 2. God may be said to move unto Evil per p●ivationem gratiae suae by withdrawing his Grace and in this sence saith St. Chrisostome God is said to give over unto a reprobate sence to harden to blind to tempt unto evil Non quod haec a Deo siunt quippè cùm a pr●pria hominis m●lit●a provenient sed quià Deo justè homines deserente haec illis contingunt Not that these things are done by God himself for they proceed from the malice of men but because while he doth fully forsake men for their obstinacy and rebellion against him these things do commonly overtake them And to the same purpose is that of St. Austin Indurare dicitur Deus quèm mollire noluerit God is said to harden whom he will not mollisie Et ex●ae care quem illummare noluerit and to blind them whom he will not illuminate so he hardned Pharoah's heart and blinded the false Prophets Neither may we here arraign God of injustice because it is lawful for him to do what he pleaseth with his own He hath power over his Clay to make of it at his pleasure either in Judgement a vessel of Dishonour or in Mercy a Vessel of Honour And the Clay may not say to the Potter why hast thou made me thus or thus 3. God may be said to move unto evil by offering occasions and objects to try whether a Man will sin or not As for Example A Master suspecting his Servant to be false and thievish lays something of considerable value in his way to try if he will steal it which if he does the Master having found his theft will not only expose him to the world for a Rogue and Deceiver but will for ever

after suspect his fidelity and trust now this Tryal is no sin in the Master altho' the theft be a great one in the Servant Even so it is with God we must not fasion my injustice on him because he tryeth and proveth us by occasions and objects for they are things good in themselves tho' we pervert them unto evil ends M●ses wrought many signs and wonders in the Land of Egypt which were good in themselves and yet proved as means to harden Pharoah's heart not so intended by God but so perverted by his malicious temper Thus we see that the Wicked and Blasphemous Opinions of those who make God to be the Author of sin and so charge him with our impieties are absolutely false for he is not evil himself neither tempteth he any Man unto evil I come now to the second Opinion viz. of those who make God to be the only sufferer and permitter of evil which I confess is but an Error of humanity many offending herein rather through infirmity than malice They speak a truth of God when they acknowledge his permission of sin but not the whole truth because they think he only permitteth it and so they make him an idle spectator of all our actions But for our sure proceeding herein let us take along with us these three Notes viz. That God doth praescire permittere ordinare peccatum foresee permit and dispose of the sinful actions of Men. 1. He foreseeth sin he foresaw the iniquity of Esau long before his being and the sentence of reprobation was denounced against him before he had done either g od or evil Rom. 9.11 He foretold the infidelity of the Jews saith St. Austine and their malicious purpose in complotting the Death of the Son of God What of that praedixit non fecit he only foretold it but did not work it Vidit ab aeterno saith Lipsius sed vidit non coegit scivit non sanxit praedixit non praescripsit He saw it from all Eternity but he only saw it enforced it not knew it decreed it not foretold it prescribed it not 2. As the Lord foreseeth sin and yet is not the author of evil so he permitteth sin to be done in the World He suffered the Amorites to go on in their wickedness and telleth Abraham that it was not yet full Gen. 15.16 He suffered Shemei to curse David as we read in the 16th Chap. 2d Book of Samuel I omit several other places of Scripture of less importance because it is so true that it needs no proof for there is nothing visibly or sensibly done within the compass of the whole World which is not either commanded or tollerated from the Court of the highest Emperor He suffers his own Children to be tempted that they may not be exalted above measure and that they may know the Power of the Lord and the proof of his Armour And thus he suffers the wicked also to go on in their wickedness that their Condemnation may be greater 3. As he foreseeth and permitteth evil so he ordereth and disposeth of it as seemeth best to his Godly Wisdom ●or as he is a most 〈◊〉 Creator of good Natures so he is a most righteous disposer of the evil wi●●s and siaful actions of Mankind Look upon that unnatural sin in selling Joseph into Egypt and you shall see it there so plainly delivered that no man need to doubt I wi●l not take time to recite the whole History the words which especially make for our present purpose are these in the 45th Chap. C●n. 8th Verse It was not you that sent me hither but God and at the 50th Chap. of the same Book and 20th Verse Ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good t● bring to pass as it is this day to save much People alive Observe they thought evil God disposeth it unto good their minds were wholly bent with malice and envy towards their Brother whilst God's providence was working how to serve them in a famine and to save much People alive Thus you see that the Lord doth not only foresee and permit evil to be done in the World but in the very doing of it his Providence is busy how to order and dispose of it that he may bring it to some good Event I will now join all these three together viz. The Pre-science the Permission and Providence of God in the action of sinning and so couch them under one Example and that shall be in the seducement and fall of Ahab as we have it in the 22d Chap. of the first Book of Kings at the 19th Verse It is a place I must needs confess that hath been strongly urg'd to tax God of injustice for it seems God did not only permit the false Spirits to seduce Ahab but giveth encouragement also saying thou shalt prevail adding a commandment go forth and likewise allowing of the form of acting in the matter do so Now that you may know how innocent God is in an action of such a prejudice observe well the circumstances of the place and the thing intended the thing designed was that Ahab should fall at Ramoth Gilead and concerning the means inquiry was made who should entice Ahab because it was not in the nature of God himself to effect it therefore that which he doth he doth by a false Spirit one of Satan's Band and Retinue But observe also God infuseth no mischief into the Spirit he comes furnished of himself for when one said thus and another thus he proffered his service saying I will entice him when God demanded the means he invented the practice I will be saith he a false Spirit in the mouth of his Prophets Now what were these Prophets of Ahab they were a faithless Generation whose guile it was either for reward or ●avour of the King to say they had dreamed when it was not so and that the Lord had said it when he never spake it so you s●e there is h●th Malice in the Spirit and falshood in the Prophets before God had any hand in the Matter Therefore what doth the Lord therein Wh●● he sitteth upon the Throne as the Judg and Moderator of the whole Action He Commandeth the Attendance of all the Army of Heaven on the Right Hand and on the Left both clean and unclean Spirits are in Subj●ction unto him He giveth leave then unto the Spirit who without his permis●ion is unable to do any thing Thou ●hal ●nt●●● saith be and then he giveth the Success which all the Devils in Hell c●uld n●● effect if he would have resisted it Therefore saith he th●● shal prev●●t and then he biddeth him go and he goes run and he ru●s And ●●●●ly he disposeth the Course do so i. e. do so and no more than so which is us much as if he had said since thou hast Malice to bestow Extend it upon Ahab rather than upon Je●●phaphat and falshood to infuse power it forth upon the four hundred Prophets of Ahab