wherein for Elohe hatzebaoth the God of Sabaoth they haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God Almighty Whence is that rule of Saint Hierome to Damasus Epist 142. We are to know that wheresoeuer the Seuentie Interpreters haue expressed Dominum virtutum and Dominum omnipotentem the Lord of Hosts and the Lord Almighty there in the Hebrew it is Dominus Sabaoth which is by Aquila's interpretation Dominus militiarum the Lord of Hosts The Lord of Hosts by Aquila's interpretation is God the Almighty by the interpretation of the Septuagint Well Elohe hatzebaoth the God of Sabaoth Be he with the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or bee hee with the Latines Dominus or Deus virtutum or Militiarum or Exercituum all will be well expressed in our language with one title The Lord or God of Hosts But what are these Hosts whereof God is the Lord There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an host of Heauen Act. 7.42 And what that is Saint Hierome expoundeth to the noble Lady Algasia Epist 151. quaest 10. The Host of Heauen is not only the Sunne and Moone and glistring Starres but also the whole multitude of Angels and their armies called in Hebrew Sabaoth which is in Latine Virtutum or Exercituum Hispalensis for this host of Heauen doth reckon vp in the place aboue alleaged Angels Arch-angels Principalities and Powers and all the Orders of the armies celestiall of whom God is the Lord. For they are all vnder him and subiect to his soueraigntie It is true what those Ancients haue said of the Host of Heauen True it is that the Angels are of this armie Micaiah tels King Ahab so 1 King 22.19 I saw the Lord sitting on his Throne and all the Host of Heauen standing by him on his right hand and on his left There the Host of Heauen are the Angels who attend the Lord to put in execution whatsoeuer he shall command At the birth of Iesus Christ our Sauiour the Angell that appeared vnto the shepherds had with him a multitude of the Heauenly Host Luke 2.13 and that multitude was of Angels and they were by likelihood created in the first day with the Heauens because those sonnes of God did shout for ioy when God laid and fastned the foundations of the earth Iob 38.7 These the sonnes of God the Angels Bartas 1 day 1. Weeke sweetly described by the Nightingale of France to be The sacred Tutors of the Saints the Guard Of Gods elect the Pursuiuants prepar'd To execute the counsailes of the Highest The Heauenly courtiers to their King the nighest Gods glorious Heralds Heauens swift Harbengers Twixt Heauen and earth the true Interpreters these the Sonnes of God the Angels are of the glorious Host of Heauen So are the Starres the Sun the Moone the goodly furniture of the visible Heauens they are all of the Heauenly host So shall you finde them called Deut. 4.19 The Sun the Moone and the Starres euen all the Host of Heauen Of this host of Heauen it is prophecied Esai 34.4 All the Host of Heauen shall be dissolued and the Heauens shall be rowled together as a scroll and all their host shall fall downe as the leafe-falleth off from the Vine and as a falling figge from the fig-tree As for the Starres they in their courses fought against Sisera Iudg. 5.20 The Sunne and the Moone stood still the Sunne vpon Gibeon the Moone in the valley of Ajalon till the people of Israel had auenged themselues vpon their enemies the Amorites Ios 10.12 The Sunne the Moone the Starres all the twinkling spangles of the firmament you see are of Gods host Nor is Gâ—ds host only of Celestiall creatures but also of all other creatures in the world In the second Chapter of Genesis v. 1. where it is said the heauens and the earth were finished and all the host of them by all the hast of them we are to vnderstand all creatures in the Earth and Heauens which stand as an armie seruants to the Lord Psal 119.91 Esay 45.12 and are by him commâ—nded That all things are Gods seruants is auowed Psal 119.91 The Heauen and Earth continue to this day according to the ordinances of the Lord for they are all his seruants Heauen and earth and all things therein contained Continue safe sound and sure euen to this day wherein we liue and so shall doe to the worlds end by the ordinance and appointment of God for all are his seruants all creatures yeeld obedience to him as seruants to their masters They are all by him commanded For thus saith the Lord Esai 45.12 I haue made the earth and created man vpon it I euen my hands haue stretched out the Heauens and all their host haue I commanded The innumerable Hosts of creatures both in Heauen and Earth are all by God commanded Now from this which hath hitherto beene deliuered the reason is plaine why this title of God Elobe hatzebaoth the God of Sabaoth or the God of Hosts is by our Prophet added to the two former appellations Adonai Iehouih the Lord God It is the more liuely to set forth his rule dominion and soueraigntie ouer all It sheweth that as an armie or an Host of souldiers obeyeth their Emperour or commander so all things all creatures celestiall terrestriall and infernall are of Gods host and doe yeeld vnto him as to their Emperour and commander all obedience They all stand readie in martiall order and battell-ray prest to doe whatsoeuer God willeth and therefore is the Lord God the Gâ—d of Sabaoth or the God of Hosts From this consideration that our Lord God is the God of Hosts we are taught the feare of so great a Maiestie For who is he that will not feare him by whom he shall finde himselfe to be beset and compassed about with very many and potent armies aboue beneath before behinde on the one hand and on the other that there can be no euasion no escaping from him Our God is the God of Hosts Man sinfull man how shall he consist if God once arme his hosts against him The feare of God will be his surest refuge Feare him and all his Hosts shall be on your side and fight for you Feare him and both flouds and rocks shall feare you all winds shall blow you happinesse ship wracks shal auoid the place where your foot treadeth as to the apples of Gods own eies so shall all his creatures yeeld to you reuerence they shal not dare to approach the channell where your way lyeth Hills shal fall downe mountaines shall be cast into the sea but who so feareth the Lord he shall neuer miscary This feare of the Lord will both land your ships in an happy hauen and after your trauels vpon the earth will harbour your soules in his euerlasting Kingdome And thus much be spoken of the first thing obserued in this Mandate euen the Giuer
light in great measure readily to conceiue what God would haue reuealed and faithfully to publish it according to the will of God S. p De Genesi ad literam lib. 11. cap. 33. Austen enquiring how God spake with Adam and Eue writeth to this purpose It may be God talked with them as he talketh with his Angels by some q Jntrinsecus infabilibus modis internall and secret meanes as by giuing light to their minds and vnderstandings or it may be he talked with them by his creature which God vseth to doe two manner of waies either by some vision to men in a trance so he talked with Peter Act. 10. or else by presenting some shape and semblance to bodily senses So God by his Angels talked with Abraham Gen. 18. and with Lot Gen. 19. S. r Expos Moral lib. 28. incap â—8 â—â— Iob cap. 2. Gregory most accurately handleth this question to this sense God speaketh two manner of wayes 1. By himselfe as when he speaketh to the heart by the inward inspiration of the holy Spirit After which sense we must vnderstand that which we read Act. 8.29 The spirit said vnto Philip go neere and ioyne thy selfe to yonder chariot that is Philip was inwardly moued to draw neare and ioyne himselfe to the chariot wherein the Aethiopian Eunuch sate and read the Prophecie of Esay The like words we finde Act. 10.19 The spirit said vnto Peter Behold three men seeke thee the meaning is the same Peter was inwardly moued by the holy Spirit to depart from Ioppa and to goe to Caesarea to preach vnto the Gentiles to Cornelius and his company Where we may note thus much for our comforts that whensoeuer we are inwardly moued and doe feele our hearts touched with an earnest desire either to make our priuate requests vnto God or to come to the place of publike prayer or to heare a sermon we may be assured that the Holy Spirit God by himselfe speakes vnto vs. 2 God speaketh to vs by his creatures Angelicall and other and that in diuers manners 1 In word only as when no forme is seene but a voice only is heard as Iohn 12.28 when Christ prayed Father glorifie thy name immediately there came a voice from heauen I both haue glorified it and will glorifie it againe 1 In deed only as when no voice is heard but some semblance only is obiected to the senses S. Gregory for illustration of this second way of Gods speaking by his creatures bringeth for example the vision of Ezechiel 1.4 He saw a whirlewind come out of the North with a great cloud and fire wrapped about it and in the middest of the fire the likenesse of Amber All this hee saw but you heare no mention of any voice Here was res sine verbo a deed but no voice 3 Both in word and deed as when there is both a voice heard and also some semblance obiected to the senses as happened vnto Adam presently after his fall Hee heard the voice of the Lord walking in the Garden Gen. 3.8 4 By shapes presented to the inward eyes of our hearts So Iacob in his dreame saw a ladder reach from earth to heauen Gen. 28.12 So Peter in a trance saw a vessell descend from heauen Act. 10.11 So Paul in a vision saw a man of Macedonia standing by him Act. 16.9 6 By shapes presented to our bodily eyes So Abraham saw the three men that stood by him in the plaine of Mamre Gen. 18.2 And Lot saw the two Angels that came to Sodome Gen. 19.1 6 By Celestiall substances So at Christs baptisme a Å¿ Matth. 3.17 voice was heard out of a cloud as also at his t Matth. 17.5 transfiguration vpon the mount This is my beloued son c. By Celestiall substances I doe here vnderstand not only the Heauens with the workes therein but also fire the highest of the elements and the Aire next vnto it togeher with the winds and Clouds 7. By Terrestriall substances So God to reproue the dulnesse of Balaam enabled Balaams owne Asse to speak Num. 22.28 8 Both by Celestiall and Terrestriall substances as when God appeared vnto Moses in a flame of fire out of the middest of a bush Exod. 3.2 You see now how God of old at sundry times and in diuers manners did speake to man either by himselfe or by his creatures and by his creatures many wayes sometimes in word sometimes in deed sometimes in both word and deed sometimes in sleepings sometimes in watchings sometimes by Celestiall substances sometime by Terrestriall sometimes by both Celestiall and Terrestriall To make some vse of this doctrine let vs consider whether God doth not now speke vnto vs as of old he did to our forefathers We shal finde that now also he speaketh vnto vs by himselfe whensoeuer by the inspiration of his holy Spirit he moueth our hearts to religious and pure thoughts and also by his creatures sometime by fire when he consumeth our dwelling houses sometime by thunder when he throweth downe our strong holds sometime by heat sometime by drouth sometime by noysome worms Locusts and Caterpillers when he takes from vs the staffe of bread sometime by plagues when in a few months he taketh from vs many thousands of our brethren and sometime by enemies when he impouerisheth vs by warre All these and whatsoeuer other like these are Gods voices and doe call vs to tepentance But as when there came a voice from heauen to Christ Ioh. 12.28 the people that stood by and heard would not be perswaded that it was Gods voice some of them saying that it thundred others that an Angell spake so we howsoeuer God layes his hand vpon vs by fire by thunder by famine by pestilence by war or otherwise we will not be perswaded that God speakes vnto vs we will rather attribute these things to nature to the heauens to starres and planets to the malice of enemies to chance and the like As peruerse as we are there is a voice of God which we cannot but acknowledge to be his and at this time to be directed vnto vs. Mention of it is made Heb. 1.2 In these last dayes God hath spoken to vs by his sonne The Gospell of Christ is the voice of God It is the voice of God the rule of all instruction the first stone to be laid in the whole building that cloud by day that pillar by night whereby all our actions are to be guided This Gospell of Christ and voice of God cals vs now to obedience O the crookednesse of our vile natures Our stiffe necks will not bend God speaketh vnto vs by his Ministers to walke in the old way the good way but we answer like them Ier. 6.16 We will not walke therein He speaketh to vs by his watchmen to take heed to the sound of the trumpet but we answer like them Ier. 6.17 We will not take heed Turne vs good Lord vnto thee and wee shall bee
beloued able to make vs if grace be in vs to be wary and to take heed that we bee not ouertaken with three transgressions and with foure It is a very dangerous thing to adde sin to sin This is done h Perkins Cas Consc three manner of wayes 1 By committing one sin in the necke of another 2 By falling often into the same sin 3 By lying in sinne without repentance Here we must remember that we are not simply condemned for our particular sins but for our continuance and residence in them Our sins committed doe make vs worthy of damnation but our liuing and abiding in them without repentancei s the thing that brings damnation Great is the i D. King B. of London in Ion. Lect. 31. strength that sin gathereth by growing and going forwards The growth of sin k In Amos 1.3 fol. 43 c. Albertus Magnus shadoweth in marshalling the order of sinning first is peccatum cogitationis next loquutionis thirdly operis then desperationis The beginning of sinne is inward an euill thought it hasteth out into an euill word then followeth the wicked worke what is the end of all Desperation waited on by finall impenitency Tom. 5 pag. 93. E. This growth of sin S. Hierome plainly expresseth The first step is cogitare quae mala sunt a wicked thought the next cogitationibus adquiescere peruâ—rsis to like well of wicked thoughts the third quod mente decreueris opere complere to put that in action which thou hast wickedly imagined What is the end of all Non agere poenitentiam in suo sibi câ—mplacere delicto euen impenitencie and a delight or pleasure to doe naughtily Hugo the Cardinall in sins proceeding noteth In Psal 7.4 5. Persequatur per suggestiones CoÌ„prehendat pâ—r consensum Conculcet per actum gloriam meam in puluâ—rem deducet per consuetudinem 1 Suggestion 2 Consent 3 Action 4 Custome and pleasure therein Suggestion is from the Deuill who casteth into our hearts impure and vngodly thoughts the rest are from our selues such is the corruption of our nature we readily consent to the Deuils motion what he moues vs to we act accordingly we take pleasure in it and make it our custome This Custome is not onely a graue to bury our soules in but a great stone also rolled to the mouth of it to keepe them downe for euer I say no more to this point but beseech you for Gods sake to bee wary and heedfull that you be not ouertaken with three transgressions and with foure You haue now my propounded doctrine and the first vse to be made of it My doctrine was Three transgressions and foure that is Many sins doe plucke downe from heauen the most certaine wrath and vengeance of God vpon the sinners The first vse is to make vs wary and heedfull that we bee not ouertaken with three transgressions and with foure A second vse is to moue vs to a serious contemplation of the wonderfull patience of Almighty God who did so graciously forbeare to punish those Syrians of Damascus till they had prouoked him to displeasure by three transgressions and by foure God is mercifull and gracious long-suffering and of great goodnesse He cryeth vnto the fooles See Serm. 5. vpon Hebr. 10. pag. 76. King vpon Ion. Lect. 31. pag 420. and are not we such foolâ—s Prou. 1.22 O ye foolish how long will yee loue foolishnesse Hee cryeth vnto the faithlesse and is our faith liuing Matt. 17.17 O generation faithlesse and crooked how long now shall I suffer you He cryeth vnto the Iewes and are not we as bad as the Iewes Matth 23 37. O Ierusalem Ierusalem how often He dressed his vineyard with the best and kindliest husbandry that his heart could inuent Esai 5.2 afterward he looked for fruit he requ red it not the first houre but tarrying the full time hee looked that it should bring forth grapes in the autumne and time of vintage He waiteth for the fruit of his l Lâ—k 13 6. fig-tree three yeares and is contented to be entreated that digging and dunging and expectation a fourth yeare may bee bestowed vpon it Exod. 34.6 Thus we see Gods patience is wonderfull He is mercifull gracious long suffering and of great goodnesse Yet may wee not hereon presume Our safest way shall be to rise at the first call if we defer our obedience to the second call we may be preuented Then may God iustly say to vs as he said vnto the Iewes Esai 65.12 I called and ye did not answer I spake and yee heard not And albeit some fall seuen times a day and rise againe albeit to some sinners it pleaseth the Lord to iterate his sufferance yet may not we take encouragement thereby to iterate our misdoings We know that God punished his Angels in heauen for one breach See Lect. 12. p. 135. King vpon Ioh. Lect. 31. pag 421. Adam for one morsell Miriam for one slander Moses for one angry word Achan for one sacrilege Ezechias for once shewing his treasures to the Embassadours of Babel Iosias for once going to warre without asking counsell of the Lord and Ananias and Sapphira for once lying to the holy Ghost Esai 59.1 Is the Lords hand now shortned that he cannot be as speedy and quicke in auenging himselfe vpon vs for our offences Farre be it from vs so to thinke God is not slacke in comming as some count slacknesse He maketh the clouds his Chariots Psa 18.11 Reuâ—l 22.12 he rideth vpon the Cherubins he flieth with the wings of the wind and so he commeth and commeth quickly and his reward is with him to giue to euery one according as his workes shall be THE Seuenth Lecture AMOS 1.3 Because they haue threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron THis is the third part of this Prophecie the description of that great sin by which the Syrians so much offended Let vs first examine the words Gilead Gilead or Galaad or Galeed in holy Scripture is sometime a hill sometime a citie and sometime a Region or country A hill Gen. 31. So named as appeareth verse 47. of the heape of stones which was made thereon as a witnesse of the league betweene Iacob and Laban for Gilead is interpreted an a Aceruus testimonii heape of witnesse This mountaine Gilead is the b Adrichom greatest of all beyond Iordan it is in length 50. miles and as it is continued and runneth along it receiueth diuers names From Arnon to the city Cedar it is called Galaad then to Bozra it is named Seir afterward Hermon and so reaching to Damascus it is ioyned to Libanus and therefore as S. * Comment in hunc locum Hierom saith in the 22. of Ier. verse 6. Lebanon is called the head or beginning of Galeed Gilead or Galaad or Galeed is also a city built vpon mount Gilead as S. Hierome witnesseth Here was borne and buried the valiant
Philistines had offended but once or a second time I should haue beene fauourable vnto them and should haue recalled them into the right way that so they might be conuerted and escape my punishments but now whereas they doe daily heape transgression vpon transgression and find no end of sinning I haue hardned my face against them and will not suffer them to be conuerted but indurate and obstinate as they are I will vtterly destroy them For three transgressions of Azzah and for foure The doctrine is Many sinnes doe plucke downe from heauen the most certaine wrath and vengeance of God vpon the sinners See my sixth Serm. on Hos 10. God is of pure eies and beholdeth not iniquity he hath laid righteousnesse to the rule and weighed his iustice in a ballance The sentence is passed forth and must stand vncontroulable euen as long as Sun Moone Tribulation and anguish vpon euery soule that doth euill the soule that sinneth it shall bee punished God makes it good by an oath Deut. 32.41 that he will what his glittering sword his hand shall take hold on iudgement to execute vengeance vpon sinners His soule hateth and abhorreth sin his Law curseth and condemneth sin his hand smiteth and scourgeth sin Sin was his motiue to cast downe Angels into Hell to thrust Adam out of Paradise to turne Cities into ashes to ruinate nations to torment his owne bowels in the similitude of sinfull flesh Because of sinne he drowned the old world and because of sinne ere long will burne this Thus doe many sins plucke downe from heauen the more certaine wrath and vengeance of God vpon the sinners One vse of this doctrine is to teach vs heedfulnesse in all our waies that we doe not by our many sinnes prouoke Almighty God to high displeasure A second vse it to moue vs to a serious contemplation of the wonderfull patience of Almighty God who did so graciously forbeare these Philistines of Azzah till by three and foure transgressions by their many sins they had prouoked him to indignation It 's true our God is a good God a gracious God a mercifull God a God of wonderfull patience yet may not wee thereby take encouragement to goe on in our euill doings See my sixth Lecture pag. 70. The Lord who punished his Angels in Heauen for one breach Adam for one morsell Miriam for one slander Moses for one angry word Achan for one sacrilege Ezechias for once shewing his treasures to the Embassadors of Babel Iosias for once going to warre without asking counsell of the Lord and Ananias with his wife Sapphira for once lying to the holy Ghost out of doubt will not spare vs if wee shall persist to make a trade of sinning day after day heaping iniquity vpon iniquity to the fulfilling of our sinnes If so we doe it shall be with vs as the Apostle speaketh 1 Thes 2.16 The wrath of God must come on vs to the vtmost Now therefore as the Elect of God holy and beloued let vs walke in loue euen as Christ hath loued vs. As for the works of the flesh cast we them far from vs adultery fornication vncleannesse wantonnes hatred debate emulation wrath contentions enuy drunkennes gluttony and such like for which the wrath of God commeth vpon the children of disobedience let them not once be named among vs as it becommeth Saints But the fruits of the Spirit let vs wholly delight in them hauing laid vp in the treasury of our memories this lesson Three transgressions and soure Many sinnes doe pluck downe from heauen the most certaine wrath and vengeance of God vpon the sinners It followeth Because they carried away prisoners the whole captiuity to shut them vp in Edom These words are the third part of this Prophecie and do containe that same grieuous sin by which God was prouoked to come against the men of Azzah and the rest of the Philistines in iudgement the sinne of cruelty rigour vnmercifulnesse hardnesse of heart They carried away prisoners the whole captiuity to shut them vp in Edom Here the abstract is put for the concrete captiuity for captiues or persons in captiuity as Psal 68.18 Thou hast led captiuity captiue The whole captiuity It 's well translated for the sense the word in the originall signifieth absolute perfect and compleat By this whole captiuity the holy Spirit meaneth an absolute perfect and compleat captiuity meram captiuitatem apertam atque manifestam saith Arias Montanus a captiuity indeed open and manifest such a captiuity saith Caluin as wherein they spared not either women or children or the aged they tooke no pity no compassion vpon either sex or age but all of all sorts male and female young and old they carried away prisoners What was their end and purpose in so doing Euen to shut them vp in Edom that is to sell them for bondslaues vnto the Idumaeans In Edom Esau Iacobs brother and Isaacks son by his wife a Gen. 25.21 Rebâ—kah for selling his birthright for a messe of b Vers 30. red broth was surnamed Edom and of him lineally descended the Edomites or Idumaeans Gen. 36.43 Of this posterity of Esau or Edom the land which they inhabited was called the land of Edom or Idumaea and it was a southerne prouince of the land of promise diuided as c Theatr. Terra Sancta Adriehom and d Obseruat lib. 14. cap. 13. Drusius haue obserued out of Iosephus his fifth book of the Iewish antiquities into two parts Idumaeam Superiorem and Inferiorem the higher and the lower Idumaea The higher wherein were two of the cities mentioned in my Text Gaza and Askelon in the diuision of the land of Canaan fell to the lot of the Tribe of Iudah The lower Idumaea commonly known by the name of Idumaea fell to the lot of the Tribe of Simeon and this lower Idumaea I take to be the Idumaea in my Text. Esau pursued Iacob with a deadly hate so did the posterity of Esau the posterity of Iacob the Edomites were euermore most maliciously bent against the Israelites Here then appeareth the hainousnes of that sin wherwith the Philistines are charged It was the sin of cruelty in a very high degree It is a cruell deed to carry away any one from his natiue Country but him that is so carried away to sell to his mortall enemy this is a cruelty than which there cannot be a greater Such was the sin of those Philistines the inhabitants of Azzah They sold whether the Iewes or the Israelites the posterity of Iacob and seruants of the liuing God to their professed enemies the Edomites with this policy that being carried farre from their owne country they should liue in eternall slauery and bondage without hope euer to returne home againe This very crime of cruelty is in the Prophecie of Ioel also Ch. 3.6 laid to the charge of these Philistines The children of Iudah and the children of Ierusalem haue ye sold to the Grecians
vpon vs. All and euery of these true Christians will patiently vndergoe For they with their sharp-sighted eie of faith doe clearely see the Hand of God in euery of their molestations and in great contentment they take vp the words of patient Iob Chap. 2.10 Shall wee receiue good at the hand of God and not receiue euill Here let euery afflicted soule examine it selfe how it is affected with the affliction vnder which it groaneth If you esteeme of your afflictions as of God his fatherly chastisements and so endure them blessed are ye Of this blessednesse Saint Iames Chap. 1.12 doth assure you Blessed is the man that endureth tentation for when he is tried he shall receiue the crowne of life which the Lord hath promised to them that loue him Againe is it true Is there no safe being in City or Country from the hand of God when he is disposed to punish A second vse of this doctrine is to admonish vs that we labour aboue all things to obtaine Gods fauour and to abide in it so shall we be safe from the feare of euill Now for the obtaining of Gods fauour we must doe foure things We must 1. Humble our selues before God 2. Beleeue in Christ 3. Repent of our sinnes 4. Performe new obedience vnto God The time will not suffer me to enlarge these points Humiliation faith in Christ repentance and a new life these foure will be vnto you as Iacobs ladder was vnto the Angels Of that ladder you may reade Gen. 28.12 that it stood vpon the earth the top of it did reach to heauen and the Angells of God went vp it So may you by these foure Humiliation Faith Repentance and Newnesse of life as it were by so many steps and rounds of a ladder climbe vp to heauen Here you haue no continuing Citie you are but strangers and pilgrims on the earth your countrey is aboue the Celestiall Ierusalem there let your hearts be As for the afflictions vexations tribulation miseries and crosses wherewith this mortall life of yours is seasoned let them be your ioy They are sure pledges of Gods loue vnto you Euen so saith the Spirit Hebr. 12.6 Whom the Lord loueth he chastneth and he scourgeth euery sonne that he receiueth Thirdly is it true Is there no safe being in citie or countrie from the hand of God when he is disposed to punish A third vse of this doctrine is for the terrour of such as lie wallowing in the filthinesse of their sins Many there are wicked wretches who if God shall for a time deferre the punishments due vnto their sinnes are ready to thinke that God takes no notice of their sinnes These say in their heart there is no God Against these is made that challenge Psal 50.21 I hold my tongue and thâ—u thoughtest me like thy selfe I the Lord who see the secrets of all hearts I hold my tongue I did not by my iudgements punish thee for the wickednesse of thy steps I hold my tongue and thou thoughtest me like thy selfe thou thoughtest I tooke pleasure in wickednesse as thou doest but thou shalt finde and feele the contrary Strange are the effects wrought in the wicked by the mercies and long suffering of God thereby they grow worse and worse obdurate and hardned in their sinnes Yet let them be aduised for they day will come and it comes apace wherein they shall feele the heauinesse of that hand which here was turned against Ekron I will turne my hand to Ekron It followeth And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish The Philistines had their beginning from Casluchim a grand-childe of Chane the accursed issue of Noah as appeareth Gen. 10.14 They were seated in a part of the Land of Canaan the west part that which bordereth vpon the great Sea the Sea commonly called the Mediterranean Their Country was called by Ptolemee and others Palaestina and by the Greeks Phoenicia It was a part of that countrey which once was called Terra promissionis the Land of promise but now Terra Sancta the Holy Land The inhabitants in our Prophets time were professed enemies to Almighty God and his beloued Israel They thought themselues safe from ruine through the strength of their fiue Dukedomes Azzah Ashdod Ashkelon Gath and Ekron But vaine and foolish are the thoughts which possesse the wicked When the God of all truth shall giue his word for a matter shal man presume to doubt of the euent Here God sets his word vpon it that there shall be an vtter ouerthrow not onely of Azzah Ashdod Ashkelon and Ekron but of Gath also and all the villages belonging thereunto for the remnant of the Philistines shall perish saith the Lord God Ait Dominus Iehouth saith the Lord God This is the conclusion of this prophecie and it redoubleth its authoritie and credit Authoritie and credit sufficient it hath from its very front verse 6. Thus saith the Lord it is here redoubled saith the Lord God Saith the Lord God hath the Lord God said it and r 〈◊〉 23 19. shall he not doe it hath he spoken it and shall he not accomplish it The Lord Iehouâ—h the strength of Israel is not as man that he should lye not as the sonne of man that he should repent All his words yea all the titles of his words are Yea and Amen Å¿ Matth. 5.18 Heauen and earth shall perish before one iot or one tittle of his word shall escape vnfulfilled Dominus Iehouth the Lord hath said it that the remnant of the Philistines shall perish Out of doubt then must it come to passe And so is it The first blow which the Philistines receiued towards their ouerthrow after this prophecie was giuen them aboue three-score yeares after by Ezechius that good King of Iudah of whom the Prophet Esay Chap. 14.29 foretelleth the Philistines that he should be vnto them as a Cockatrice and a fiery â—â—ring Serpent This Ezechius smote the Philistines vnto Azzah and the coasts thereof from the watch-tower vnto the defensed Citie This is plaine 2 King 18.8 A second blow was giuen by Tartan one of the Captaines of Sennacherib or Sargon King of Assyria who came vp against Ashdod and tooke it This is plaine Esay 20.1 A third blow was giuen them by Pharaoh Neco and hee smote Azzah Ashkelon and other places This is it which the Prophet Ieremy saith Chap. 47.5 Baldnesse is come vpon Azzah Ashkelon is cut vp with the rest of their valleys In a word God hath from time to time raised vp his men of war in due time to extirpate and raze out the Philistines from the face of the earth that according to the tenour of this Prophecy there might be no remnant of them The remnant of the Philistines shall perish Here may we obserue a difference in Gods punishments he punisheth the reprobate and he punisheth his elect but differently the reprobate to their vtter excision and extirpation not so the elect For of them there is vpon the
Sar and Sarra in Eunius Poenos Sarrâ oriundos he notes the Carthaginians to haue their beginning from Sarra which is Tyrus Tyrus was a very ancient Citie it was saith Drusius Vetustissimarum vrbrum parcus as it were the mother of very old Cities Plinie Nâ—◠〈◊〉 lib. 5. â— p. 19. saith that out of Tyrus came the founders and first inhabiters not only of Carthage but also of Leptis Vtica and Gades the Citie well knowne to our moderne Nâ—uigators by the name of Calis Malis and of late yeares conquered by some worthies of our English Nation The ancient glory of this Citie Tyrus is blazed abroad to the whole world by Ezechiel Chap. 27. Glorious was Tyrus 1. For her situation 2. For her riches 3. For the frame and beauty of her building 4. For her shipping 5. For her power in martiall affaires 6. For her merchandizing 7. For her great esteeme and report with forraine nations The Prophet Esay in like sort blazeth out her glory Chap. 23.7 8. He saith of her that her antiquity is of ancient dayes that shee is the crowne of the Sea that her merchants are Princes and her chapmen the Nobles of the world So glorious a Citie was this Tyrus Here shee is accused of disloyaltie to the God of heauen in the very same words wherein Damascus and Azzah are formerly accused Damascus vers 3. and Azzah vers 6. For three tran gressions of Tyrus and for foure And the Lords protestation vpon this accusation is the same I will not turne to it It is aâ—â—f the Lord had thus said If the inhabitants of Tyrus had offended but once or a second time I should haue beene fauourable to them and would haue recalled them into the right way that so they might be conuerted and escape my punishments but now for as much as they doe daily heape transgression vpon transgression and make no end of sinning I haue hardned my face against them and will not suffer them to be conuerted but indurate and obstinate as they are I will vtterly destroy them Albertus Magnus vnderstandeth by these three transgressions three sorts of sinnes peccatum in voluntate peccatum in consensu peccatum in opere sinne in will sinne in consent and sinne in action and by the fourth transgression he vnderstandeth cordis indurationem induration and hardnesse of heart which he defineth to be pertinaciam permanendi in peccato a pertinacie or stubborne resolution to perseuere in sin wherein the sinner lieth wallowing void of shame and all liking of goodnesse I doe rather approue Wincklemans iudgement who by these three and foure transgressions of Tyrus vnderstandeth pride disdaine luxuriousnesse of meats and drinkes costlinesse of garments wanton lusts and other like sinnes incident to Mart Townes and Townes of great trade That such were the sinnes of Tyrus witnesse that her sharpe and grieuous reprehension Ezech. 28. For these three and foure many transgressions and sinnes the Lord protesteth against Tyrus I will not turne to it I will take no pitie on them but will doe vnto them according to their workes For three transgressions of Tyrus and foure c. Here are you to be remembred of a doctrine more than once heretofore commended to your Christian considerations Many sinnes doe plucke downe from heauen the most certaine wrath and vengeance of God vpon the sinners God is pure of eies and beholdeth not iniquity Hee hath laid righteousnesse to the rule and weighed his iustice in a ballance The sentence is passed forth and must stand vncontrolable euen as long as Sun and Moone Tribulation and anguish vpon euery soule that doth euill The soule that sinneth it shall bee punished God makes it good by an oath Deut. 32.41 That he will whet his glittering sword and his hand shall take hold on iugdement to execute vengeance for sin His soule hateth and abhorreth sinne his law curseth and condemneth sinne his hand smiteth and scourgeth sin Sinne was his motiue to cast downe Angels into Hell to thrust Adam out of Paradise to turne Cities into ashes to ruinate nations to torment his owne bowels in the similitude of sinfull flesh Because of sinne he drowned the old world and because of sinne ere long will burne this Thus doe many sinne plucke downe from Heauen the most certaine wrath and vengeance of God vpon the sinners One vse of this doctrine was to teach vs heedfulnesse in all our waies that wee doe not by our many sinnes prouoke Almighty God to high displeasure A second vse was to moue vs to a serious contemplation of the wonderfull patience of Almighty God who did so graciously forbeare these Tyrians till by three and foure transgressions by their many sinnes they had prouoked him to indignaon These things I haue heretofore laboured to lay vnto your hearts Now followeth the third part of this prophecie wherein you haue the declaration of that grieuous sinne by which the Tyrians so highly offended the sinne of vnmercifulnesse and cruelty expressed in two branches 1 They shut vp the whole captiuitie in Edom. 2 They remembred not the brotherly couenant 1 They shut vp the whole captiuity in Edom The exposition of these words I haue formerly deliuered vnto you in my twelfth Lecture and my meditations vpon the 6. verse There the Philistines are condemned for carrying away prisoners the whole captiuity to shut them vp in Edom and here are the Tyrians condemned for shutting the whole captiuity in Edom. The sin seemeth to be the same in both the Philistines and the Tyrians Both did shut vp the whole captiuity in Edom that is as Ioel chap. 3.6 speaketh they both did sell away the children of Iudah and the children of Ierusalem vnto the Grecians that they might send them farre from their borders God his peculiar inheritance his owne seed and seruants the children of Iudah and Ierusalem were by the cruell and hard-hearted Philistines and Tyrians mancipated and sold away forbond slaues to the Grecians dwelling farre off that with them they might liue in perpetuall seruitude and slauery without all hope of liberty or redemption Arias Montanus noteth a difference betwixt that sinne of the Philistines and this of the Tyrians The Philistines carried away prisoners the whole captiuity to shut them vp in Edom. They did as they thought but what they might doe lawfully by the law of nations The Iewes were their captiues and prisoners conquered by a strong hand in open hostility and for this respect they shut them vp in Edom they sold them to the Grecians to be by them transported to the Idumaeans But these Tyrians had no such pretence of excuse They did not with a strong hand in open hostility conquer the Iews so take them prisoners but did surprise them by deceit and trecherie as they lay at Tyrus for trafficke and entercourse of merchandise and thus surprised they shut them vp in Edom they sold them to the Grecians to be by them transported to the Idumaeans farre from their
vs e Vers 28. turne away from all the transgressions that we haue committed so shall we surely liue we shall not die And this we will the sooner endeuour to doe if we imprint in our hearts my propounded doctrine It is proper to the Lord to execute vengeance vpon the wicked for their sinnes Thus much of the first vse which was to lesson vs to looke heedfully to our feet that we walke not in the way of sinners to partake with them in their sinnes I proceed Is it true Is it proper to God to execute vengeance vpon the wicked for their sinnes Here then in the second place we are admonished not to intermeddle in the Lords office It is his office to execute vengeance We therefore may not interpose our selues If a brother a neighbour or a stranger hath done vs any wrong we must forgiue him and must leaue reuengement to God to whom it appertaineth We must leaue reuengement to God to whom it appertaineth and forgiue our enemies What Forgiue our enemies How can flesh and bloud endure it Well it should be endured and many reasons there are to induce vs to so Christian an office The first is The forgiuenesse of our owne sinnes Whereof thus saith our Sauiour Luk. 6.37 Forgiue and you shall be forgiuen f Pet. de Palu serm aestiu en nr in Dom. 22. Trin. Ideo libenter debemus dimittere paruum vt Deus dimittat nobis magnum we ought willingly to forgiue vnto our neighbour a small matter that God may forgiue vs our great offences Looke what grace and indulgence we shew vnto our neighbours the like will God shew vnto vs. What else is said Luk. 6.38 With what measure you mete with the same shall it be measured to you againe Whereof I cannot giue a plainer exposition than in our Sauiours words Matth. 6.14 15. If yee doe forgiue men their trespasses your heauenly Father will also forgiue you But if yee doe not forgiue men their trespasses no more will your Father forgiue you your trespasses A second reason why we should forgiue our enemies is that when we make our prayers vnto God we our selues may be heard For God heareth not the prayers of such as doe abide in rancour and will not forgiue their enemies It is well said of an g Augustin Ancient Qui non vult dimittere fratri suo non speret orationis effectum Whosoeuer he be that will not forgiue his brother let him not hope for any good successe in his prayer h Ambros Another saith Si iniuriam non dimittis quae tibi facta est orationem pro te non facis sed maledictionem super te inducis If thou forgiue not the iniury which thy neighbour hath done thee when thou prayest thou makest not any prayer for thy selfe but doest bring a malediction or curse vpon thy selfe The most absolute and excellent platforme of prayer that euer was made and is by the maker thereof our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ commended vnto vs for our daily vse confirmeth this point vnto vs. The fifth petition therein is that God would be pleased to forgiue vs our trespasses as we forgiue them that trespasse against vs. Wherefore as in all sincerity we desire our selues to be looked vpon with the eyes of grace and mercy from heauen without any fraud or hollownesse or dissimulation in the Lord so are we taught by that clause our selues to deale with others so truly so honestly so heartily so sincerely and vnfainedly forgiuing euer as we may boldly say So Lord doe thou to mee as I to others Now if these hearts of ours be so sturdy and strong in their corruption as that they will not relent and yeeld to forgiue such as haue trespassed against vs how can we looke that our prayers should take effect A third reason why we should forgiue our enemies is that our good workes may be acceptable vnto God Let a man euery day doe as many good workes as there are Stars in Heauen yet as long as in heart he beareth hatred to his enemie God will not accept any one of them Munus non acceptatur nisi antè discordia ab animo pellatur saith Gregory thy gift is no waies acceptable vnto God vnlesse thy heart be first freed from discord Let no man circumuent himselfe seduce himselfe deceiue himselfe i August serm 5. de S. Stephino Whosoeuer hateth but one man in the whole world whaâ—soeuer he offereth to God in Good workes all will be lost Witnesse S. Paul 1 Cor. 13.3 Though I feed the poore with all my goods and though I giue my body that I be burned and haue not loue it profiteth me nothing If then wee would haue our good workes pleasing vnto God wee must be reconciled to our neighbours Our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ so aduiseth vs Matth. 5.24 Goe thy way first be reconciled to thy brother then come and offer thy gift A fourth reason why we should forgiue our enemies is that our soules may liue for by hatred and rancour wee slay our soules Saint Iohn Epist 1. Chap. 3. vers 15. auoweth it that he whosoeuer hateth his brother is a man-slayer Homicida est scilicet propriae animae saith k Pet. de Pal. vbi supra one he is a murtherer of his owne soule An exposition not absolutely to be disallowed for as much as it followeth in the same verse Yee know that no man-slayer hath eternall life abiding in him The life of the soule is loue therefore he that loueth not is dead So saith the same blessed Apostle Ep. 1. Chap. 3. vers 14. Hee that loueth not his brother abideth in death And greater is the dammage by the losse of one soule than of a thousand bodies The whole world in respect of one soule is not to be esteemed This is proued by our Sauiours question Mark 8.36 What shall it profit a man though he should win the whole world if he lose his owne soule A fift reason why we should loue our enemies is the reioycing of Saints and Angels To loue our enemies is an infallible signe of our conuersion Now wee know by Luk. 15.7 that there shall be ioy in Heauen for one sinner that conuerteth and vers the 10. That there is ioy in the presence of the Angels of God for one sinner that conuerteth Thus whether we respect the reioycing of Saints and Angels or the life of our soules or the acceptance of our good workes or the fruit of our prayers or the forgiuenesse of our sins wee must loue our enemies after S. Stephen his example Act. 7.60 Lord lay not this sin to their charge after S. Paul his example 1 Cor. 4.12 13. We are reuiled and yet we blesse we are persecuted and suffer it we are euill spoken of and we pray after Christs example Luk. 23.34 Father forgiue them for they know not what they doe Adde hereto Christs Commandement Mat. 5.44 Loue your enemies
Zimi Chaldaeu Syris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certè hoc fine sâ—â— gâ—lari Dei O. M. prouidentâ—â factum nâ—n est Ego existimo illo significari nomen Dei in quatuor mundi plagis decantandum esse in all tongues and languages generally consisteth of foure letters More they speake of it You haue heard it before Iehouah b Deut. 10 17. God of Gods and Lord of Lords a God c Eccles 43.29 most wonderfull very d Deut. 10.17 great mighty and terrible a God that e Eccles 43.31 cannot either bee conceiued in thought or expressed by word f Aug. Soliloq cap. 24. of whom all the Angels in heauen doe stand in feare whom all dominations and g Reuel 5.11 thrones doe adore at whose presence all powers doe shake A God in greatnesse infinite in h August meditat c. 21. goodnesse souereigne in wisâ—ome wonderfull in power Almighty in coursailes terrible in iudgements righteous in cogitations secret in works holy in mercy rich in promise true alway the same eternall euerlasting immortall vnchangeable Such is the Lord from whom our Prophet Amos here deriueth authority to his Prophecie Thus saith the Lord. Hath the Lord said and shall he not doe accordingly hath hee spoken it and shall he not accomplish it Balaam confesseth vnto Balak Num. 23.19 God is not as man that he should lie nor as the sonne of man that he should repent Indeed saith Samuel 1 Sam. 15.29 The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent for he is not as man that he should repent All his words yea all the tittlâ—s of his words are Yea and Amen Verily saith our Sauiour Matth. 5 18. Heauen and earth shall perish before one iot or one tittle of Gods word shall â—scape vnfulfilled Thus saith the Lord Amos is here a patterne to vs that are Preachers of the word of saluation Wee must euer come vnto you with Thus saith the Lord in our mouthes we may not speake either the imaginations of our owne braines or the vaine perswasions of our owne hearts We must sincerely preach vnto you Gods gracious word without all corruption or deprauing of the same This is it whereto S. Peter exhorteth vs 1 Epist cha 4.11 If any man speake let him speake as the word of God For if we yea if an Angell from heauen shall preach otherwise vnto you than from the Lords owne mouth speaking in his holy Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let him be acccursed let him be had in execration This note beloued doth also concerne you that are the auditors and hearers of Gods word For if wee the Preachers thereof must alwaies come vnto you with Thus saith the Lord then are you to heare vs with reuerence and attention And this for the authority of him that speaketh It is not you that speake saith our Sauiour Iesus Christ to his blessed Apostles Matth. 10.20 but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you And againe Luk. 10.16 He that heareth you heareth me S. Paul commendeth the Thessalonians 1 Epist chap. 2.13 for that when they receiued of the Apostles of Christ the word of the preaching of God they receiued it not as the word of men but as it was indeed as the word of God Well therefore did S. Iames chap. 1.21 thus to exhort the Iewes Receiue with meekenesse the word that is grafted in you which is able to saue your soules God spake vnto Israel in a vision by night Gen. 46.2 and said Iacob Iacob Iacob answered I am here He was prest and ready with all reuerent attention to heare what his God should say vnto him and to follow the same with all faithfull obedience Such readinesse well becommeth euery childe of God euen at this day in the Church where God speaketh Thus must he thinke within himselfe It is thine ordinance O Lord by thy word preached to instruct me concerning thy holy will I am here Lord in all humble feare to heare thy blessed pleasure what this day it shall please thee to put in the mouth of the Preacher to deliuer vnto me I am here speake on Lord thy seruant heareth If a Prince or some great man of this world shall speake vnto you you will attend and giue eare vnto him with your best diligence how much more then ought yee so to doe when the King of Heauen and Lord of the earth calleth vpon you by his ministers Thus farre by occasion of the preface Thus saith the Lord. For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for foure Whether these children of Ammon were distinguished from the Ammonites as Drusius would proue 2 Chron. 20.1 and as R. Dauid anoweth filii Ammon unsquam vocantur Ammonitae the children of Ammon are no where called Ammonites I hold it needlesse to dispute in this place It is out of doubt that these children of Ammon or Ammonites did lincally descend from Ben-ammi who was Lots sonne begotten in incest vpon his younger daughter Gen. 19.38 Lot was Abrahams brothers sonne Gen. 14.12 Whereby it is euident that the posterity of them both the children of Israel and the children of Ammon the Israelites and the Ammonites were linked together by affinity and alliance The more to blame were those Ammonites without all respect of kindred to exercise such cruelty as they did against the Israelites for which cause Almighty God here sent his blessed Prophet to thunder out his threats against them For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for foure In the front of this Prophecie you haue the generall accusation of these children of Ammon For three transgressions and for foure Three of these transgressions if you will beleeue Albertus Magnus are Cruelty Anarice and persecution the fourth is an obstinate pertinacie a constant stubbornnesse euer to dwell in those sinnes Againe three of these transgressions are a coueting of other mens goods an vnlawfull seeking for those things that are not our owne and a hardnesse of heart to retaine them so sought for the fourth is the vnsatiable desire of a couetous man Many are the expositions of the learned vpon these words three and foure transgressions The most naturall proper and significant I take to be if by three and foure a finite and certaine number you vnderstand a number infinite and vncertaine God as often as he will forgiueth though we sin ten thousand times It is but a custome of the Scripture thus to speake God waiteth for vs twice and thrice that is a long time to see if we will returne from our euill waies vnto repentance but the fourth time that is at length when he seeth vs persist in our impenitency he reproueth vs casteth vs away and leaueth vs in our sinnes Thus haue you the generall accusation of the children of Ammon for their many sinnes for which the Lords protestation against them followeth I will not turne to it These words are diuersly rendred by expositors by the author of the vulgar Latine
Let vs rather make our humble conâ—ession with King Nabuchodonosor Dan. 4.34 35. that the Most High liueth for euer that his power is an euerlasting power and his Kingdome from generation to generation that all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing to him that according to his will he worketh in the armie of Heauen and in the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand nor say vnto him what doest thou None can stay his hand This is it which before I noted namely that It is neither care nor policie that can stay Gods reuengefull hand when hee bringeth fire in it as here it is threatned vnto Rabbah I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah Thus farre by occasion of my first Doctrine which was It is not the greatnes of a citie that can be a safeguard vnto it if Gods vnappeasable wrath breake out against it for its sins And it was grounded vpon these words I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah It is further added of this fire that it shall deuoure the palaces of Râ—bbah Which branch repeated in each of the precedent prophecies as vers 4 7 10 12. hath formerly yeelded vs this Doctrine God depriueth vs of a great blessing when he taketh from vs our dwelling houses This truth is experimentally made good vnto vs by the great commoditie or contentment that commeth to euerie one of vs by our dwelling houses The vse whereof is to teach vs 1. To be humbled before Almightie God whensoeuer it shall please him by water by fire by wind by lightning by thunder by earthquakes or otherwise to ouerthrow our dwelling houses 2. Since we peaceably enioy our dwelling houses to vse them for the furtherance of Gods glory 3. To render all hearty thankes vnto Almighty God for the comfortable vse we haue of our dwelling-houses Thus farre of the commination or denuntiation of iudgement as it is set downe in generall The speciall circumstances whereby it is further notified or illustrated doe concerne partly the punishment and partly the punished Concerning the punishment it is full of terrour and speedy First full of terrour in these words With shouting in the day of battell With shouting in classico saith Brentius cum clangore saith Drusius that is with the sound or noise of Trumpets The Septuagint doe reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vulgar Latine in vlulatu Mercer cum vociferatione Gualter cum clamore Caluin cum clamore vel Iubilo that is with a cry with a great cry with a vociferation with a shout such as souldiers doe make when on a sudden they surprise a Citie In the day of battell in die belli The like phrase we haue Psal 78.9 where it is said of the children of Ephraim that being armed and shooting with the bow they turned backe in die belli in the day of battell Dauid confesseth Psal 140.7 O Lord God the strength of my saluation thou hast couered my head in die belli in the day of battell Salomon saith Prou. 21.31 The horse is prepared in diem belli against the day of battell So here the Lord threatneth against Rabbah a shouting mâ—â—ie belli in the day of battell This day of battell is that day of warre and time of trouble mentioned by Iob chap. 38.23 We see now the purpose of our Prophet in vsing these words With shouting in the day of battell It is to proclaime warre against Rabbah the chiefe citie of the Ammonites and consâ—quently against their whole kingdome This proclamation is more plainly deliuered Ierem. 49.2 Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will cause a noise of warre to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites and it shall be a desolate heape and her daughters shall be burnt with fire From this proclamation of warre made by our Prophet Amos as in the Lords owne words saying I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah and it shall deuoure the palaces thereof with shouting in the day of battell wee may take this lesson God sendeth warre vpon a Land for the sinnes of a people For proofe of this truth let vs looke into the word of truth In the 26. of Leuit. vers 25. thus saith the Lord vnto Israel If yee walke stubbornly against me and will not obey me then I will send a sword vpon you that shall auenge the quarrell of my couenant And Ierem. 5.15 vnto the house of Israel thus saith the Lord Loe I will bring a Nation vpon you from farre You heare the Lord speaking in his owne person I will send I will bring as here I will kindle Will you any other witnesse Then heare what Moses telleth the Israelites Deut. 28.49 The Lord shall bring a nation vpon you from farre from the end of the world flying as an Eagle a nation whose tongue thou shalt not vnderstand a nation of a fierce countenance which will not regard the person of the old nor haue compassion on the young the same shall eat the fruit of thy cattell and the fruit of thy land vntill thou be destroyed and he shall leaue thee neither wheat nor wine nor oile nor the increase of thy kine nor the flockes of thy sheepe vntill he haue brought thee to nought By this speech of Moses we plainly see that warre and all the euills of warre are from the Lord that warre is r Cominaeus Hist lib. 1. cap. 3. one of the accomplishments of Gods iudgements and that it is sent by God vpon a Land for the sinnes of the people as my doctrine goeth Let vs now make some vse of it Is it true beloued Doth God send warre vpon a Land for the sinnes of a people How then can we looke that the happy peace which we now enioy should be continued among vs sith by our daily sinning wee prouoke Almightie God vnto displeasure Let the consideration hereof lead vs to repentance Repentance the gift of God the ioy of Angels the salue of sinnes the hauen of sinners let vs possesse it in our hearts The Angels of heauen need it not because they sinne not the Deuills in Hell care not for it for their iudgement is sealed It only appertaineth to the sonnes of men and therefore let vs the sons of men possesse it in our hearts that is let vs truly and vnfainedly forsake our old sinnes and turne vnto the Lord our God so shall this blessed peace and all other good things be continued among vs. But if we will persist in our euill wayes not regarding what the Lord shall speake vnto vs either in his holy Word or by his faithfull Ministers we may expect the portion of these Ammonites that God should kindle a fire in our Rabbahs our best fenced cities which shall deuoure the palaces thereof with shouting in the dâ—y of battell Thus much of the terrour of this iudgement Now followeth the speed in the next circumstance With a tempest in the day of the whirle-wind Suiting hereto
Syntagm Disput Sedan loc 2. De origine sacrae Scripturae §. 32. pag. 17. Telenus tels mee of a champion of that side as farre forward as he who saith Melius consultum fuisse Ecclesiae si nulla vnquam extitisset Scriptura that had there neuer beene any Scripture the Church had beene better prouided for then now it is Sedens in coelis ridet there 's a God in heauen that hath these wicked impes in derision vpon whom for their taunts contumelies and reprcches against his sacred word hee will one day poure out his full viols of wrath then will he crush them with his scepâ—er of iron and breake them in pieces like potters vessâ—ls You haue the fiâ—st vse A second followeth Is the liuing and immortall God the author of holy Scripture Heere then is a lesson for vs whom God hat set a part to be Preachers and Expounders of his will We must handle his sacred Scripture as his holy word wee must euer come vnto you as my Prophet heere did to the Israelites with Thus saith the Lord in our mouthes Wee may not speake either the imagination of our owne braines or the vaine perswasions of our own hearts We must sincerely preach vnto you Gods gracious word without all corruption or deprauing of the same To this S Peter well exhorteth vs in his 1. Epist and chap. 4.11 If any man speake let him speake as the word of God For if wee yea if an Angell from Heauen shall preach otherwise vnto you then from the Lords own mouth speaking in his holy word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be accursed let him be had in execration The third vse of this doctrine is peculiar vnto you Beloued who are auditors and hearers of the word Is the liuing and immortall God the author of holy Scripture Then Beloued it is your part to heare vs with attention and reuerence whensoeuer wee stand before you to expound Gods holy Scripture S. Paul commendeth the Thessalonians Epist 1. chap. 2.13 For that whensoeuer they receiued of the Apostles of Christ the word of the preaching of God they receiued it not as the word of men but as it was indeede the word of God In like sort if you receiue it it will saue your soules It is able so to doe S. Iames shall bee your pledge chap. 1.21 Receiue it therefore with meeknesse that by it your soules may liue God spake vnto Israel in a vision by night and sayd Gen. 46.2 Iaacob Iaacob Iaacob answered I am heere He was prest and ready with all reuerent attention to heare what his God would say vnto him and to follow the same with all faithfull obedience Such readinesse well becommeth euery childe of God at this day in the Church where God speaketh Thus must hee thinke within himselfe It is thine ordinance ô Lord by thy word preached to instruct me concerning thy holy will I am heere Lord in all humble feare to heare thy blessed pleasure what this day thou wilt put into the mouth of the Preacher to deliuer vnto me I am heere speake on Lord thy seruant heareth If a Prince of this world or some great man shall speake vnto you you will attend and giue eare vnto him with all diligence how much more then ought yee so to doe when the King of Heauen and Lord of the Earth the liuing and immortall God calleth vpon you by his Ministers What remaineth but that you suffer a word of Exhortation It shall bee short in S. Pauls words Coloss 3.16 Holy and beloued as the elect of God let the word of God dwell plenteously in you in all wisdome This word of God it is his most royall and celestiall Testament it is the oracle of his heauenly Sanctuarie it is the only key vnto vs of his reuealed counsels it is milke from his sacred breasts the earnest and pledge of his fauor to his Church the light of our feete the ioy of our hearts the breath of our nostrils the pillar of our faith the anchor of our hope the ground of our loue the euidence of our future blessednes Let this word of God dwell plenteously in you in all wisdom So shall your wayes by it be clensed and your selues made cleane Yet a very litle while he that shall come will come will not tarry euen our Lord Iesus Christ who finding your wayes clensed and your selues made cleane by his sacred word will in his due time translate you from this valley of teares into Ierusalem which is aboue the most glorious Citie of God There shall this corruptible put on incorruption and our mortalitie shall be swallowed vp of life Euen so be it THE II. LECTVRE AMOS 2.1 2 3. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Moab and for foure I will not turne to it because it burnt the bones of the King of Edom into lime Therefore will I send a fire vpon Moab and it shall devoure the pallaces of Kirioth and Moab shall dye with tumult with shouting and with the sound of a trumpet And I will cut off the Iudge out of the midst thereof and will slay all the Princes thereof with him saith the Lord. IN the former Sermon I handled the Preface The Prophecie is now to be spoken vnto The first part therein is The accusation of Moab in these words For three transgressions of Moab and for foure Where we are to consider 1. Who are accused 2. For what they are accused The accused are the Moabites and they are accused of many breaches of the Law of God First of the accused Moab was one of the sonnes of Lot begotten in incest vpon his eldest daughter Gen. 19.37 From him by lineall descent came these Moabites a people inhabiting that part of the East which is commonly knowne by the name of Coelesyria but was formerly the possession of the Amorites These Moabites like their brethren the Ammonites were professed enemies to the people of God and did euermore very grieuously afflict and vex them In which respect they were for euer by God his singular commandment excluded from the Church Gods commandement is expressed Deut. 23.3 The Ammonites and the Moabites shall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord. And it s repeated Nehem. 13.1 The Ammonites and the Moabites shall not enter into the Congregation of God Thus haue you the accused euen the Moabites the posteritie of Moab who was Lots sonne inhabitants of Coelesyria and borderers vpon the Holy Land the possession of the Israelites Now what are they accused of Of many breaches of Gods law in these words For three and foure transgressions This phrase we met with fiue times in the former chapter and haue heard it diuersly expounded The most naturall proper and significant exposition commended to you was by three and foure a finite and certaine number to vnderstand many a number infinite vncertaine For three transgressions of Moab and for foure that is for many transgressions of the
32.41 that hee will whet his glittering sword and his hand shall take hold on iudgement to execute vengeance for sinne His soule hateth and abhorreth sinne his law curseth and condemneth sinne his hand smiteth and scourgeth sinne Sinne was his motiue to cast Angels out of Heauen to thrust Adam out of Paradise to turne Cities into ashes to ruinate Nations to torment his owne bowels in the similitude of sinnefull flesh Sinne made him heretofore to drowne the olde world and sinne will make him hereafter to burne this So true is my doctrine Many sinnes doe prouoke Almighty God to lay his punishments vpon vs. Let vs now make some vse of this doctrine Doe many sinnes cause Almighty God to punish vs First we are hence taught at what time soeuer God shall lay his rod vpon vs to seeke the true cause thereof in our selues Malorum omnium nostrorum causa peccatum est saith S. Austin Serm. 139. de Tempore The cause of all euill is within vs it is sinne within vs. It is impiety to imagine that God will punish vs without a cause Non pateremur nisi mereremur saith that good Father We should not vndergoe any crosse or disturbance vnlesse wee deserued it Wherefore let vs euery one of vs in particular when God commeth neere to vs in iudgement to touch either our estates with want or our callings with disgrace or our bodies with sicknes or our soules with heauines let vs haue recourse to the sinnes within vs which haue deserued this and turne we to the Lord our God Water teares sorrow repentance will better satisfie him pacifie him mooue him alter him then whatsoeuer vengeance or plagues or bloud or death Let vs enter into a due consideration of our corruptions our transgressions our sinnes wherewith as with a heauy burden wee are laden and returne wee to the Lord our God adulterers murtherers idolaters the sacrilegious the ambitious the couetous drunkards railers lyars the blasphemous swearers forswearers all who by any their euill wayes prouoke God to the execution of his iustice must take part in this conuersion Let no man draw backe let not the heinousnesse of our fore-passed sinnes deterre vs or keepe vs from so holy a course I dare affirme with S. Austin Serm. 181. de Tempore Non nocent peccata praeterita si non placent praesentia Sinnes past hurt not if sins present please not Let vs euen now at this present in detestation of sinne resolue to sinne willingly no more and our sinnes past shall neuer hurt vs. O let not this vse slip out of our minds When God his heauy hand is vpon vs in any crosse or tribulation seeke wee out the cause of it in our selues in our sinnes A second vse followeth and it is to stirre vs vp to a serious contemplation of the wonderfull patience of Almighty God who did so graciously forbeare those inhabitants of Iudah till by their three transgressions and by their foure they had prouoked God vnto displeasure The holy Scriptures are frequent in proclaiming God to be mercifull and gracious and long-suffering and of great goodnesse Hee cryeth to the foolish Prou. 1.22 O ye foolish how long will ye loue foolishnesse He cryeth to the faithlesse Math. 17.17 O generation faithlesse and crooked how long now shall I suffer you He cryeth to Ierusalem Matth. 23.37 O Ierusalem Ierusalem how often What could the Lord haue done more vnto his vineyard then he had done vnto it He dressed it with the best and kindliest husbandry that his heart could inuent as appeareth Esa 5.2 Such carefull dressing could not but deserue fruit This fruit he required not at the first houre but tarried for it the full time euen till the autumne and time of vintage if then it failed did it not deserue to be eaten vp Looke into the 13. of Luke vers 6. There shall you see the Lord wayting three yeeres for the fruit of his fig-tree yea and content that digging and dunging and expectation a fourth yeere may bee bestowed vpon it Doubtlesse God is mercifull and gracious and long suffering and of great goodnesse Heereof Beloued we haue great experience We haue our three transgressions and our foure too as Iudah had Our manifold sinnes our sins of omission and our sinnes of commission our sinnes of ignorance and our sinnes of wilfulnesse our sinnes of infirmity and our sinnes of presumption doe they not day by day impudently and sawcily presse into the presence of Gods Maiesty to procure his vengeance against vs And yet wee must needes confesse it God is good and patient towards vs. Beloued let vs not abuse so great goodnes and patience of our God Though some fall seauen times a day and rise againe though to some sinners it pleaseth God to iterate his sufferance as vpon vs hither to he hath done yet should not we herevpon presume to iterate our misdoings For we well know that Almighty God punished his p Ioh. 8.44 Iâ—d 6. 2 Pet. 2.4 Angels in heauen for one breach q Gen. 3.17 Adam for one morsell r Num. 12.10 Miriam for one slander Å¿ Deut. 32.52 Moses for one angry word t Iosh 7.24 25. Achan for one sacrilege u Esai 35.2 Ezechias for once shewing his treasures to the Embassadors of Babel x 2. ChroÌ„ 35.22 Iosias for once going to warre without asking counsell of the Lord and y Act. 5.5 c. Ananias and Saphira for once lying to the Holy Ghost God is now as able as euer he was euen for one transgression to cut vs of but if he patiently forbeare vs till by three and foure transgressions by our many sinnes we grieue the Holy Spirit of that Sacred Maiestie shall we thinke as some impiously doe that God takes no notice of the sinnes which we commit or cares not for them Far let all such conceit be from any Christian heart Let vs rather confesse the truth that God by such his forbearance doth lead vs to repentance for as much as it is impossible that God should be and not see should see and not regard should regard and not punish should punish and not proportion his punishments to our sinnes I grant that the iustice of God goeth on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 slowly and in order but for the most part it recompenseth the slacknes of iudgement with the heauinesse thereof It keepes the rule full well to render for ripe sinnes ripe plagues for great sinnes great plagues for grieuous sins grieuous plagues The rule in the Scholes is thus deliuered Culpam poena sequitur euery sinne hath a due punishment attending it God is without exception iust and therefore Grauitas supplicij grauitatem peccati denotat grieuous punishments wheresoeuer God shall lay them doe argue grieuous sins of those places and persons Let no man then that groaneth vnder any crosse affliction or tribulation complaine of his hard hap or ill fortune all such visitations are from God and for our
In a word God hath giuen vs our soules and our bodies all the faculties of the one all the members of the other all to doe him seruice but we haue imployed all to his dishonor Dearely beloued what shall we doe The best aduise I can giue is that which Christ giueth his Spouse in the Canticles chap. 6.13 Returne returne O Shulamite returne returne that we may behold thee I thus paraphrase it Returne O my Spouse daughter of Ierusalem returne returne to me returne to thy selfe returne to thy former feeling of my Grace returne that both my sâ—lfe and all the companie of Angels may see thee and reioyce in thee This Spouse of Christ is the mother of vs all the holy Catholique Church in whose bosome we are nourished Take we then the aduise giuen vnto her for an aduise vnto our selues Returne we from our euill wayes returne we from our three and foure transgressions returne we from all our sinnes returne we to the Lord our God that both he and all the companie of Angels may see vs and reioyce in vs. Mutet vitam qui vult accipere vitam saith S. Augustine Serm. 1. de tempore if wee will enioy the blessed life of Heauen we must change our wicked life on earth If we will not change it but will still beare about vs whorish lookes theeuish faces proud hearts couetous thoughts malicious mindes lustfull eyes slandering tongues bloody hands and drunken desires from which God Almightie defend vs all our portion must bee the accursed death of Hell God will not turne away his punishments from vs Thus far of the generall accusation of Israel and the Lords protestation against them in those words For three transgressions of Israel and for foure I will not turne away the punishment thereof It followeth Because they sold the righteous for siluer and the poore for a paire of shoes Here beginneth the rehersall of those grieuous sinnes which made a separation betweene God and Israel In these words two sinnes are specified Crueltie and Couetousnes Their Cruelty I note in selling of the righteous and the poore their Couetousnes in as much as they did it for siluer and for a paire of shoes I take the words in their order They sold the righteous for siluer A man may be said to be righteous either by imputation or by vertue or by comparison or by course of law The righteous man by imputation is he whom Habakkuk speaketh of chap. 2.4 The iust shall liue by his faith There the iust or righteous man is he to whom the Lord imputeth not his sinnes which he hath committed The righteous man by vertue is he whom Dauid speaketh of Psal 11.3 If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous doe There the righteous man is he whom we call virum bonum a good man The righteous man by comparison is he whom Habakkuk speaketh of chap. 1.13 Wherefore holdest thou thy tongue when the wicked deuoureth the man that is more righteous then he There the righteous man is he that is the lesse wicked the Iewes though wicked are yet called righteous in comparison of the Chaldaeans who were more wicked The righteous man by course of law is he whom Esay speaketh of chap. 5.23 Wo vnto them which iustifie the wicked for reward and take away the righteousnesse of the righteous from him There the righteous is he that hath a righteous cause and this is the righteous man in my text whom the Israelites are said to haue sold for siluer They sold the righteous for siluer For siluer that is for money The like phrase we haue in Micah chap. 3.11 where it is said of the Prophets of Israel they diuine for siluer that is they diuine only for monyes sake For monyes sake to condemne the righteous it is ingens piaculum it is a very heynous offence not to be purged without deepe satisfaction And therefore in the forecited place of Esai chap. 5.23 a woe is denounced to such offenders Salomon saith they are an abomination to the Lord Prou. 17.15 He that iustifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the iust euen they both are abomination to the Lord. I may not now enlarge my notes You vnderstand what it is to sell the righteous for siluer It is to to take away the righteousnes of the righteous from him and that is to be hired by money bribes or rewards to giue sentence against the man whose cause is iust and righteous They sold the righteous for siluer and the poore for a paire of shoes By the poore here we may vnderstand the cause of the poore as in Amos 5.12 They afflict the iust they take a bribe and they turne aside the poore in the gate They turne aside the poore in the gate that is they turne the poore man out of his right they ouerthrow the poore mans cause in iudgement Againe by the poore here we may vnderstand the man that is in miserie the man that is vnworthily afflicted the man that is tossed turmoiled grieuously disquieted by some mighty wicked man This poore man the Israelites did sell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say the Septuagint pro calciamentis saith the Vulgar Latin they sold him for shoes The word in the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the duall number It signifieth two shoes Our new English translation well rendereth it A paire of shoes They sold the poore for a paire of shoes If they sold some bought Such buyers we finde Amos 6.8 They tooke order to buy the needie for siluer and the poore for a paire of shoes There they are bought here they are sold and all for a paire of shoes For a paire of shoes It is a prouerbiall speech a speech fit to be vsed if we would signifie a thing to be litle or nothing worth of small estimation of vile price The like prouerbiall speech we haue Prou. 28.21 There it is said of the man that respecteth persons that he will transgresse for a peece of bread For a peece of bread that is for the vilest gift for the basest commoditie In which sence Cato said once to Coelius frusto panis conduci potest vel vt taceat vel vt loquatur A man may hire him with a peece of bread either to speake or to hold his peace We now vnderstand what our Prophet meaneth in these words They sold the righteous for siluer and the poore for a paire of shoes They The Israelites the * Micah 3.11 heads of Israel the Iudges of Israel they sold they circumvented they beguiled they betrayed the righteous him whose cause was righteous and iust they sold the righteous for siluer for money for a bribe for a reward and they sold the poore the needy man the man afflicted or his honest cause for a paire of shoes for a morsell of bread for any base commoditie for a trifle They sold the righteous for siluer and the poore for a paire of shoes Here the Iudges of Israel are
taxed for Crueltie and Couetousnesse for Cruelty because they sold the righteous and the poore for Couetousnes because they sold them for siluer and for a paire of shoes The lesson which we may take from hence is this Cruelty and Couetousnes in Iudges and Magistrates are two of the sinnes for which God bringeth States to ruine You see it plaine in my text God would not turne away his punishments from Israel because of the Cruelty and Couetousnes in the Iudges of Israel These sins are most eminent in Iudges and Magistrates but are reproveable in all sorts of men The Cruell and the Couetous be they of whatsoeuer rancke in a Common wealth they are very burdensome to God himselfe God himselfe in this chapter vers 13. cryes out against them Behold I am pressed vnder you as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaues The time will not suffer me to inlarge my meditations vpon the discouerie of these two sinnes Cruelty and Couetousnes I shall haue occasion to meete with them againe in the beginning of the next verse where they are amplified and may hope for the benefit of your new attention For the present let vs be admonished that we suffer not our selues to be ouercome of these or any other sins Sinne It produceth very sad and dolefull effects It blindeth our vnderstanding while it taketh from vs the supernaturall light of diuine grace it staineth and defileth our consciences with its filthinesse it accuseth vs before the Lord of grieuous iniuries done against his Maiestie it impouerisheth vs when it spoiles vs of all spirituall good it dishonoreth vs when it diffameth vs in the sight of the Angels and the whole Court of Heauen it holdeth vs captiue and depriueth vs of all liberty of well-doing it bindeth vs with the chaines of euill custome and brings vs within the danger of falling daily from bad to worse vulnerat nos in bonis naturalibus occidit in gratuitis saith Cornelius Mussus B. of Bitonto it woundeth vs in all the good faculties of our nature and slayeth vs in the free graces wherewith God hath beautified our soules You see dearely beloued in the Lord you see what a tyrant Sinne is It stoppeth vp the fountaines of Grace and hindereth the streames of heauenly comfort from comming to vs. Yet yet our life is nothing but a trade of sinning In vs in our flesh there dwelleth no good Day by day yea many times a day we transgresse Gods holy Commandements we heape sinne vpon sinne and repent not What remaineth but that we powre forth our prayers to Almightie God that he will be pleased to giue vs true repentance for the wickednes of our fore-passed liues and in his good time to loose vs from this bodie of sinne and to couple vs to himselfe in Heauen where we may with the whole multitude of Saints sing vnto him an Halleluiah Blessing saluation honor glory and power be vnto him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lambe for euer and euer Euen so be it THE IX LECTVRE AMOS 2.7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poore and turne aside the way of the meeke and a man and his father will goe in to the same maide to profane my holy Name And they lay themselues downe vpon clothes laid to pledge by euery Altar and they drinke the wine of the condemned in the house of their God OF those grieuous sinnes with which the people of Israel are in this Chapter charged two were touched in the former verse their Crueltie and their Couetousnesse They sold the righteous and the poore this was Crueltie they sold them for siluer and for a paire of shoes this was Couetousnesse Now in the beginning of this 7. verse are those two sinnes amplified Their Couetousnesse thus They were neuer satisfied till they had cast downe the righteous and the poore to the dust of the earth Their Crueltie thus They were not content thus to haue exhausted and spoyled them but did also conspire against and gape after their liues for They panted after the dust of the earth on the head of the poore Before we take a further view of these sinnes Crueltie and Couetousnesse let vs for a while examine the words themselues They may seeme to be very intricate and perplexed by the diuersitie of the readings The word in the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Septuagint do render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that tread vnder foote vpon the dust of the earth the heads of the poore The Vulgar Latin hath Qui conterunt that breake or bruise vpon the dust of the earth the heads of the poore The Chaldee Paraphrast hath Qui contemnunt who despise as it were the dust of the earth the heads of the poore But these expresse the sense they render not the word For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifieth to fetch winde to draw breath and by a metaphor to swallow downe to sup vp to deuoure or earnestly feruently and with pleasure to desire to doe any thing By this phrase then our Prophet giueth vs to vnderstand that the Israelites the rich and the mighty among them did with delight behold the dust of the earth vpon the heads of the poore that to them it was a pleasure to see the poore by vniust exactors oppressed throwne to the ground trodden vnder foote Which sense our English Bibles seeme to point at The Geneva Bible hath They gape ouer the head of the poore in the dust of the earth The late Church Bible They gape for breath ouer the head of the poore in the dust of the earth or They presse vpon the head or They tread vpon the head of the poore in the dust of the earth The new translation That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poore This varietie varieth not the sense Howsoeuer for the the first word we read They gape or gape for breath or presse or tread or pant ouer on or vpon the head of the poore yet is not the sense varied The mention of the dust of the earth keepeth that entire The dust of the earth Old a Drusius Obseruat lib. 15. cap. 5. Samaeus in b Cap. 44. Ioseph Ben-Gorion tells vs of an ancient custome among the Hebrewes concerning such as were impleaded or arraigned before their Iudges They were to stand at the barre in mourning attire with dust vpon their heads If â—â— that custome our Prophet here alludeth as Drusius thinketh then are the Magisâ—â—ates of Israel here nipped and checked for selling the cause of the poore to their rich aduersaries thereby making to themselues vnlawfull and excessiue gaine and lucre The dust of the earth on the head of the poore The casting of dust or earth vpon the head was of old and long time a ceremonie whereby men in sad and dolefull plight were wont to expresse their griefe Mention is made of it Iosh 7.6 There it is said that
those blessings wherewith God had blessed them Foure are heere mentioned One is the ruine of the Amorites set downe verse 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them whose height was like the height of the Cedars and he was strong as the Okes yet I destroyed his fruit from aboue and his rootes from beneath The second is their deliuerance from the seruitude of Egypt ver 10. Also I brought you vp from the land of Egypt The third is their safe passage through the desert touched in the same verse I led you fortie yeares through the wildernesse And why so but to possesse the land of the Amorite These were three great blessings yet were they but temporall The fourth passeth It is spirituall ver 11. I raysed vp of your sonnes for Prophets and of your young men for Nazarites The confirmation of all followeth in the same verse Is it not euen thus O yee children of Israel sayth the Lord Say O yee children of Israel Haue I not done so and so for you Haue I not destroyed the Amorite for your sake Haue I not freed you from your Egyptian yoke Haue I not guided you through the desert Haue I not giuen you Prophets and Nazarites of your owne sonnes and of your owne yong men for your instruction in the true seruice and worship of your God Is it euen thus O yee children of Israel saith the Lord You haue now the scope of my Prophet and the summe of this Scripture My present discourse must begin with the first mentioned benefit bestowed by God vpon that people It is the ruine of the Amorites for their sake thus expressed ver 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them c. Herein I commend vnto you three principall parts The first hath a generall touch of the ruine of the Amorites Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them The second hath a description of that people They are described from their stature and from their valour Each is set forth vnto vs by way of comparison their stature or tallnesse by the Cedar their valour or strength by the Oke Their height was like the height of the Cedars and hee was strong as the Okes. The third hath a particular explication or amplification of their ruine It was not any gentle stripe that they receiued not any light incision not any small wound but it was their extermination their contrition their vniuersall ouerthrow their vtter ruine Their roote and fruit Princes and subiects Parents and children yong and old were all brought to nought Yet I destroyed his fruit from aboue and his rootes from beneath Of the first of these three parts at this time It hath a generall touch of the ruine of the Amorites Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them Yet The Hebrew letter is Vau it is most vsually put for a Et. And It is here so rendred by Leo Iuda by Calvin by Gualter by Brentius and by Drusius The b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuagint the author of the c Autem Vulgar Latine and Vatablus doe translate it But. d Quamvis Tremellius and the e Licet Translator of the Chaldee Paraphrase haue Although Our English Bible hath Yet Be it either And or Although or But or Yet it varieth not the meaning of the holy Ghost The meaning of the holy Ghost is by this enumeration of Gods benefits vpon Israel to taxe Israel of Ingratitude God showred downe his benefits vpon them yet they returned no thankes So much is here enforced by this particle Yet to this sense Notwithstanding all the good I haue done vnto Israell whether for their temporall or for their spirituall estate for their temporall by destroying the Amorite before them by freeing them from their seruitude in Egypt and by guiding them through the wildernesse and for their spirituall estate by giuing vnto them Prophets euen of their owne sonnes yet Israell f Hos 11.7 my people Israell haue g Hos 13.6 forgotten me Crueltie Couetousnesse Oppression False dealing Filthie lusts Incest Idolatrie Riot and Excesse these are the fruits wherwith they repay me Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them Here we are to take out a lesson against Vnthankefulnesse It is this Vnthankefulnesse is a sinne very odious in the sight of God This truth you will acknowledge to be very euident and out of question if you will be pleased to consider three things The First is that God doth seriously forbid Vnthankefulnesse The Second is that he doth seuerely reprehend it The Third is that he doth dulie punish it First God forbiddeth vnthankefulnesse It is forbidden Deut. 6.12 Take heed that thou forget not the Lord thy God when thou art full h Deut. 6.10 When the Lord thy God shall haue brought thee into the land which he sware vnto thy Fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Iacob to giue thee and shall haue giuen thee great and goodly Citties which thou buildest not i Vâ—â—s 11. And houses full of all good things which thou filledst not and Wells diâ—gâ—d which thou diggedst not vineyards oliue trees planted which thou plantedst not k Deut. 8.10.11.12 when thou hast eaten and be full l Deut. 6.12 Then beware lest thou forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage Take heed that thou be not vnthankefull Secondly God reprehendeth vnthankfulnesse He reprehendeth it in the Iewes Esa 1.2 I haue nourished I haue brought vp children but they haue rebelled against me He reprehendeth it in the Gentiles Rom. 1.21 There are the Gentiles sayd to be without excuse Because when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were they thankefull Hee reprehendeth it in the proud Christian 1. Cor. 4.7 The proud Christian he boasteth of his dignitie of his good workes of his merits Vnthankfull man what hast thou that thou hast not receiued And if thou hast receiued it why doest thou glory why boasteth thou as if thou hadst not receiued It is a reprehension of Vnthankfulnesse which you haue Mat. 25 26. There the seruant that receiued of his Master one Talent to be employed to the best aduantage and employed it not is thus checked Thou wicked and slothfull seruant thou knowest that I reape where I sowed not and gather where I haue not strawed Thou oughtest therefore to haue put my money to the exchangers I may not passe by Iesus his censure which he giueth of the Leapers Luk. 17.17 It is a reprehension of their Vnthankfulnesse Tenne were clensed onely one and he a Samaritane returned to giue thankes It drew from Iesus this expostulation Were there not ten clensed but where are the nine Let me recall you to review that reproofe of Vnthankefulnesse Esa 1.2 How begins it Heare ô men hearken ô Angels No. A greater Auditorie must yeeld attention Heare ô Heauens and hearken ô earth Why What is the matter I haue nourished and brought vp children
against that great Armada and inuincible Nauie that was prouided for our ouerthrow but I may not now stand vpon amplifications It s out of doubt the wind the creature of the Lord is the Lords weapon wherewith sometimes he reuengeth the wicked and disobedient Euery other creature of the Lord hath his place to fight the Lords battels against the disobedient To auenge Gods quarrell against the disobedient the Heauen that is ouer our heads shall become as brasse and the earth that is vnder vs as yron Deut. 28.23 Heauen and earth shall fight for him m Levit. 26 22. Ezech. 5.17 Wild beasts euill beasts all the beasts of the field shall fight for him Esay 56.9 Euery feathered fowle shall fight for him Ezech. 39.17 The silliest of creatures etiam vermes pulices muscae araneae sayth n Summa Theol. part 2. Tit. 4 â—ap 2 §. 1. Antoninus wormes and fleas and flyes and spiders shall all fight for him So true is that which in the second place I affirmed God punisheth disobedience per impugnationem orbis by setting the world against man Thirdly God punisheth disobedience per privationem Numinis by depriuing man of the vision of God This appeareth by the seueritie of that sentence which the Iudge of all flesh the Iudge of quicke and dead shall at the last day pronounce against the Reprobate for their disobedience to Gods holy Lawes and Commaundements The sentence is expressed Mat. 25.41 Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Deuill and his Angels Depart from me There is preuatio numinis a separation from the face of God an exclusion from the beatificall and blessed vision of God Depart from me ye cursed Cursed are yee and therefore depart Cursed because yee haue not obeyed the Law of the Lord Cursed because yee haue contemptuously reiected the holy Gospell Cursed because ye haue trodden vnder foote the sweete grace of God freely offered vnto you Cursed because yee haue beene so farre from relieuing the weake and poore members of Christ as that yee haue rather oppressed and crushed them with wrong violence Cursed are yee and therefore depart Depart from me yee Cursed into euerlasting fire Behold the torment where into the disobedient shall be cast and the infinitie of it It s fire and fire euerlasting But why fire Are there not other kinds of punishments in Hell Yes there are Dionysius the Carthusian in his third Novissimum art 6. reckoneth vp eleuen kinds the Centuriators in their first Centurie lib. 1. cap. 4. nine kinds Durandus de S. Porciano in 4. Sent. Dist 50. qu. 1. diuerse kinds Why then doth the Iudge in pronouncing the sentence of the damned speake onely of fire Caietane saith it is propter supplicij vehementiam for the vehemencie of the punishment because of all the punishments in Hell that shall torment the bodie the fire is the sharpest So saith o Jn Mat. 25. qu. 403. Abulensis In afflictivis nihil est nobis tam terribile quam ignis of things that may afflict our bodies there is nothing so terrible vnto vs as fire So Durandus in the place now cited § 9. Of all the punishments in Hell wherewith the bodie shall be tormented the punishment of fire is the greatest quia quod est magis activum est magis afflictivum the more actiue any thing is the more it tormenteth but the fire is maximè activus and therefore maximè afflictivus the fire is the most actiue and therefore it most of all tormenteth For this cause when other punishments are in Scripture passed ouer with silence the sole punishment of fire is expressed because in it as in the greatest of all all other punishments are vnderstood Depart from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Deuill and his Angels Prepared of God the Father by his eternall decree of absolute reprobation Prepared for the Deuill and his Angels God from euerlasting determined concerning such Angels as should fall not to confirme them in good but to turne them out of heauen and to exclude them from eternall beatitude together with their head prince the Deuill The Deuill and his Angels Horrenda societas Such shall be the companions of the cursed and damned after this life ended I must draw towards an end Dearely beloued you haue hitherto heard concerning Disobedience that it is a foule sin that God curseth it and doth punish it that he punisheth it first per afflictionem corporis by laying affliction vpon man in his bodie secondly per impugnationem orbis by setting the whole world against him and thirdly per privationem numinis by depriuing him of the beatificall and blessed vision of God which of all the punishments of Hell is farre the greatest farre greater then the punishment of fire What now remaineth for vs but that we labour to eschew and to flie from so damnable a sinne and to embrace the contrary vertue due obedience to the holy will of God Let not the pleasures of sinne the lusts of the flesh the riches the snares the cares of this world nor any transitorie delight that may tickle man for an houre but will wound him for euer let not all these nor any one of these inuolue vs in the gulfe of disobedience against the holy Gospell of Christ and the eternall will of God But thinke wee oh thinke we euer that there is a Heauen a God a Iesus a Kingdome of glorie a societie of Angels a communion of Saints ioy peace and happinesse and an eternitie of all these and striue we with all humilitie and obedience to the attainement of these so shall God in this world shower downe vpon vs his blessings in abundance and after this life ended he shall transplant vs to his Heauenly Paradise There shall this corruptible put on incorruption and our mortalitie shall bee swallowed vp of life THE XVIII LECTVRE AMOS 2.12 But yee gaue the Nazirites wine to drinke and commanded the Prophets saying Prophesie not THat these words are an exprobation an vpbraiding or twiting of Israel with the foulenesse of their ingratitude I signified in my last exercise out of this place I then obserued in the words a double ouersight in the Israelites the first was that they solicited the Nazirites to breake their vow the second that they hindred the Prophets in the execution of their holy function The first in these words Yee gaue the Nazirites wine to drinke The second in these Yee commanded the Prophets saying Prophesie not Of the first then Now of the second My method shall be first to take a view of the words then to examine the matter conteined in them The words are Yee commanded the Prophets saying Prophesie not Yee commanded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is in Pihel from the roote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it signifieth to giue in charge to will to command If it be ioyned in construction with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it
are likewise vanished But may he not be accounted of for somewhat that is about him for his riches for his munition and weapons of defence for his honour and the reputation he holdeth in the state wherein thou liuest No no. For what cares the Almightie for these The Psalmist was not ill aduised Psal 146.3 Where he thus aduiseth vs Put not your trust in Princes nor in any sonne of man in whom there is no helpe his breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth in that very day his thoughts perish See man here pictured and drawne forth in liuely colours Put not your trust in Princes not in Princes Why Is not their authoritie and pre-eminence here exceeding great Yes But they are sonnes of men Well Be it so The sonnes of men are creatures not farre inferiour to the Angels True But there is no helpe in them no helpe in them Why so Their breath goeth forth They dye What if they dye Is there no place for them in Heauen among the starres No they returne to their earth there to participate with rottennesse and corruption What if corruption be in their flesh may not their intendments and deuises be canonized and kept for eternitie No they may not For in that very day their thoughts perish their thoughts are as transitorie as their bodies and come to nought And therefore put not your trust in them not in Princes nor in any son of man Wherein then shall we put our trust Euen in the Lord our God To this trust in the Lord we are inuited Psal 118.8 9. It is botter to trust in the Lord then to put confidence in man It is better to trust in the Lord then to put confidence in Princes Is one better then the other Why then both may be good and it may be good to put confidence in man Not so You may not take the word better in this place to be so spoken For if you put any confidence in man you rob God of his glory which to doe can neuer be good I therefore thus expound the words It is better by infinite degrees absolutely and simply better to trust in the Lord to trust stedfastly in him alone then to put any confidence any manner of trust or confidence in man of what estate or dignity soeuer he be though he be of the rancke of Princes who haue all the power and authoritie in the world It s euery way better to trust in the Lord then to trust in such euer good to trust in the Lord but neuer good to trust in man Trust we in the Lord and blessed shall we be but cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme the Lord himselfe hath said it Ierem. 17.5 Now therefore O Lord since thou hast from hence taught vs that from the ayd of man there is no safetie to be expected neither from him that is of an expedite and agile bodie nor from the strong man nor from the mightie man nor from the bow-man nor from the swift of foote nor from the horseman nor from the couragious among the mightie nor from any thing else that is in man or about him giue vs grace we beseech thee that in thee alone wee may place all our hope and confidence In thee alone our God and Father of mercies doe we trust and doe thou according to the multitude of thy compassions looke vpon vs. Heare the supplications of vs thy poore seruants liuing far as banished men in a sauage Countrey Protect wee beseech thee and keepe our soules among the many dangers of this mortall life and bring vs by the conduct of thy gracious fauour into that thy sacred habitation and seate of eternall glory Grant this vnto vs most deare Father for thy best beloued Sonne Iesus Christ his sake FINIS A Table of such particulars as are contained in this Commentarie A Abraham his mild speech to Lot 29 Accesse to God 347 No accident in God 114 Adam 287. 360 Adulterie 148 Adulterers 148 Naturall Affection 28 Affliction 254 Alexander the sixth 157 An Altar of earth 169 of stone of Holocausts ibid. There was but one Altar 169 The Altar a tipe of Christ 170 Popish Altars 171 none such in the Primitiue Church ibid. Our Altar now not materiall 172 It is our heart 177 The Ammonites enemies to the people of God 18 Excluded from that Church 18 The Amorite 214 Destroied ibid. Amorites they were tale and strong 226 They were destroied 236 Amos. 307 Amos why he first prophecied against Forreine nations 2. 47 Antaeus 226 Antiochus 149 Antonius Caracalla ibid. Arias 344 Asaphel 343 Aspasia 149 Assurance of our faith 7. Atalanta 343 Atheists denying God and his truth 12 B Men of Base estate comforted 45 Beast worshipped for Gods 247 Beautie 229 Behold 322 Benefits the order of Gods Benefits Not obserued 242 We must remember Gods Benefits 252 The Bible the greatest treasure 54 The Bible must be had ibid. The Bible to be read ibid. Men Blaspheme God 152 Gods name Blasphemed 150 Our Bodies a sacrifice 174 The goods of our Bodies must be offered ibid. The Bond of bloud 28 of christianity ibid The greatest Bond betweene men ibid A Broken spirit 176 D. Bucknham 89 The Buriall of the dead 27 C Cain 360. 361 Camilla 343 A Calumniator 138 A Calumnie ibid. Carioth 33 Cedars 223 They grow high ibid. Cerijoth 33 We haue beene Chastised of God 42 Christ our altar 170 His benefits towards vs. ibid His death and passion ibid A Christian in name 106 A Christian who ibid The Church of God 253 A Citie not safe against God by munition c. 35 Consanguinitie 27 Contempt 64 Contempt of the law of the Lord. 67 Contempt may be a sinne and not 65 Couetousnesse 133 The causes of our Crosses is sinne 60 Crueltie 23. 133 Crueltie against the dead 25 Crueltie displeaseth God 23. 37 D Darius 98. 149 The naturall man in Darknesse 86 Dauid chosen king 230 Dauid George 89 The Day of the Lord. 134. 371 Crueltie towards the Dead 25 Buriall of the Dead 27 Death of 4. sorts 36 Death terrible 37 Death considered in a double respect 38 Death to be feared of whom 39 Death welcome to the penitent 38. 40 Of three things no Definition 112 The Denying of a contrary is somtime an affirmation 70 All must once Die 36. 37 Disobedience 74. 77. 289. 292 Dispensations Popish 155 Doggs thankfull 207 Draw nigh to God 347 A Drunkard 182. 286 described 182 Drunkennes the effects of it ibid c. Our Dwelling houses a blessing vnto vs. 35 E Eagle swifter then Eagles 224 The Edomites descended from Abraham 22 Egypt 345. 250 Where situate 245. The Egyptians superstitious 246 Their Gods ibid. Their crueltie 251 The Israelites brought vp from the land of Egypt 244. 245 Eliab Iesse his eldest sonne 228 liked by Samuell 229. 230 faire of countenance and of goodly stature 229 refused 230 No Escaping from God 342 Etham 255
of God negligently shall bee no lesse guiltie than hee that by his owne negligence shall suffer the Bodie of Christ to fall vpon the ground And therefore with what solicitude and care wee take heed that no part of Christs bodie which is giuen to vs by the Minister doe fall vnto the ground with the like wee should take heed that no part of Gods word that is offered vnto vs by the Preacher doe either by our wandering thoughts or our irreuerent talking fall from out our hearts and perish But say this solicitude and care be wanting in vs what then Then the danger is our very prayers will be an abomination to the Lord. So saith the holy Ghost Prou. 28.9 He that turneth away his eare from hearing the Law euen his prayer shall bee an abomination where by turning away the care from hearing hee meaneth not onely the open contemning and despising of the word of God but also euery negligent carelesse and vnprofitable hearing thereof And so it is true Hee that turneth away his eare from hearing the Law his prayer shall be an abomination to the Lord the Lord will loath and abhorre the prayer he maketh and will not heare him There is yet a further danger of our negligent hearing and that is the losse of the word of God from among vs. Negligent hearing deserues no lesse for it is a rebellion against God and God will tye the tongues of his seruants that they shall not preach his Word to such So tyed hee the tongue of Ezeckiel chap. 3.26 O sonne of man I will make thy tongue cleaue to the roofe of thy mouth that thou shalt bee dumbe and shall not be to this people a reprouer for they are a rebellious house Whereupon Great Gregorie Propter maâ—â—â— auditores bonis sermo doctoribus tollitur for ill hearers God sometimes stoppeth the mouthes of good teachers So stopped hee the mouth of Saint Paul that hee should not teach in Ierusalem Act. 22.18 Make haste and get thee quickly out of Hierusalem for they will not receiue thy testimonie concerning mee The Apostles that would haue preached in Asia could not for the Spirit would not suffer them Act. 16.7 Christ forbids vs dare sanctum canibus Matth. 7.6 Giue not that which is holy vnto dogges neither cast yee your pearles before swine Who are those dogges who these swine but men liuing in incurable impietie without all hope of amendment and wallowing in the mire of vnbridled luxurie who if they vouchsafe to come to this Watch-tower of the Lord to heare the sound of the Trumpet they giue eare but negligently but vnprofitably but contemptuously Such are they whom this inhibition concerneth Giue not that which is holy vnto dogges neither cast yee your pearles before swine For what is this holy thing that wee must not giue vnto them what these pearles but veritatis mysteria the mysteries of truth inclosed within the profunditie of the Scriptures as pearles within shell-fishes These holy mysteries be kept backe from them that will be negligent vnprofitable and contemptuous hearers And thus you see you are to giue eare with reuerence to the preaching of the word of God for the dangers sake of him that heareth negligently You will now in the third place be perswaded to the performance of this dutie for the profits sake of him that heareth diligently Here is a three-fold profit for him 1. His heart hereby shall be softned 2. It shall be sweetned 3. It shall be cleansed Enarrat 1. Dom. 5. post Trin. pag. 237. That the preaching of the Word softeneth the heart Petrus de Palude would proue by the confession of the Spouse Cant. 5.6 Anima mea liquefacta est vt dilectus locutus est As soone as my beloued spake as soone as I heard the voice of my Sauiour my soule euen melted But fitter to our purpose is the example of Ahab 1 King 21. Elias comes vnto him with the word of God in his mouth In the place where dogges licked the bloud of Naboth shall dogges licke thy bloud euen thine O King vers 19. and vers 21. I will bring euill vpon thee and will take away thy posteritie all thy posteritie Ahab hereupon rents his cloathes puts sack-cloth vpon his flesh and lyes therein fasteth and goeth comfortlesse vers 27. See you not the heart of Ahab humbled his hard heart softened by the word of God In the second Chapter of the booke of Iudges a Messenger of the Lord comes vp from Gilgal to Bochim with words of reproofe against the people of Israel and saith I made you to goe vp out of Aegypt and haue brou ht you vnto the Land which I sware vnto your Fathers and I said I will neuer breake my couenant with you and yee shall make no league with the inhabitants of this Land you shall throw downe their Altars but yee haue not obeyed my voice why haue yee done this This was the word of God vnto them they heard it and cryed out and wept Their hearts were humbled their hard hearts were softened This is it that the Lord hath said Ierem. 23.29 Is not my sword like fire and like a hammer that breaketh the rocke in peeces Yes Lord thy Word is like fire and like a hammer that breaketh the rocke in peeces It mollifieth and softeneth the hard stonie and flintie heart A second profit that the Word preached bringeth vnto vs is that it sweetneth the heart For the word of God is Manna habens in se omne delectamentum saporis it is as the Celestiall Manna that Angells food that bread from Heauen Wisd 16.20 very pleasant and well gusted Dauid esteemes is to be sweeter than Hony and the dropping of the hony-combe Psalm 19.10 And Psal 119.103 out of the admiration thereof hee saith O how sweet are thy words vnto my taste yea sweeter are they than Hony to my mouth Fauâ— mellis verba composita Prou. 16.24 Faire pleasant and well composed words are as an Hony-combe sweet to the soule and health to the bones Quae verba composita dulcia sunt si tua non sunt So Claudius Aquauiua in his Meditations vpon the 119. Psalme What faire what pleasant what wellcomposed words are sweet Lord if thine bee not Thy words Lord de melle coeli mellea de lumine tuo luminosa animam non dulcorant modò sed dulcedine inebriant Thy words Lord sweet as is the Hony of Heauen and full of light through thy light doe not only sweeten the soule but doe euen inebriate it with sweetnesse The third profit that the Word preached bringeth vnto vs is that it cleanseth the heart It maketh cleane the heart according to that saying of Christ Iohn 15.3 Now yee are cleane through the Word which I haue spoken vnto you Cleane are yee Non propter baptismum quo loti estis Not for the Baptisme wherewith you haue beene baptised sed propter verbum quod locutus sum vobis but for the
Sublimitas Profundum God he is Length Breadth Height and Depth He is Length for his Eternity Breadth for his Charity Height for his Maiestie Depth for his Wisdome Length He is for his Eternity Dan. 7.9 Esay 57.15 Psal 90.2 He is the Ancient of dayes and inhabiteth Eternitie Before the Mountaines were brought forth or euer the earth and the world were formed euen from euerlasting to euerlasting He is God Breadth he is for his Charitie for his Loue. Wisd 11.24 He loueth all the things that are and abhorreth nothing which he hath made Neither would he haue made any thing if he had hated it He maketh his Sunne to rise on the euill and the good Matth. 5.45 and sendeth raine on the iust and on the vniust The Gulfe or rather the Sea of this Loue of God is exceeding broad Height He is for his Maiesty His Maiesty Prou. 25.28 it is inestimable He that searcheth into it shall surely be oppressed with the glory thereof From the glory of this Maiestie in the day of the Lord of Hosts when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth Esay 2.19 20. will the proud man the loftie man euery wicked man seeke to hide himselfe in the clefts of the rockes Psal 72.19 and in the caues of the earth but all in vaine for all the earth shall be filled with his Maiesty In regard of this his Maiesty He is * Gen. 14.18 Iob 31.28 Psal 7.18 9◠2. c. Psal 147.5 often in holy Scripture stiled Altissimus the most high So for his Maiesty he is Height Depth he is for his wisdome His wisdome it is infinite there is no end thereof It is inuariable incomprehensible ineffable Finding no fit words to expresse it with I betake my selfe to the Apostles exclamation Rom. 11.33 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God! How vnsearchable are his iudgements and his wayes past finding out Thus farre of my first generall the Reuealor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adonai Iehouih the Lord God The Lord God will doe nothing but he reuealeth his secret to his seruants the Prophets He will doe nothing The originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lo jahaseh dabar he will not doe a word A word in the Hebrew tongue signifieth sometimes any thing or matter that is either said or done In the 18. of Exodus vers 16. Moses in his reply to Iethro his Father in law saith when they haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dabar a word they come vnto me and I iudge betweene them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dabar a word with the Greekes it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a controuersie with the old Latine Interpreter it is Disceptatio a contention with Tremelius it is Negotium a businesse with our late English Translators it is a matter So Moses saith in effect thus much If there happen any businesse or matter of controuersie or contention betweene a man and his neighbour they come vnto me and I iudge betweene them In the 24. of Exodus vers 14. Moses with his Minister Iosuah going vp to the Mount of God saith vnto the Elders Tary yee here for vs vntill we come againe vnto you and behold Aaron and Hur are with you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mi bahal debarim who so is a master of words let him come vnto them And here words with the Greekes are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a iudgement or controuersie with the old interpreter quastio a question in our now English they are matters if any man haue any matters to doe The meaning is who so hath any question or controuersie let him come vnto Aaron and Hur for a resolution In the 39. of Esay vers 2. it is recorded of Hezechiah King of Iudah that when Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan King of Babylon had sent messengers to visit him and to congratulate his recouery Hee was glad of them and shewed them the house of his precious things the siluer and the gold and the spices and the precious oyntment and all the house of his armour and all that was found in his treasures It is added in the end of the verse Lo hajah dabar there was not a word in his house nor in all his dominions that Hezechiah shewed them not Not a word A word for a thing according to the custome of the Hebrew It is Saint Hieroms note vpon the place It is well rendred in our new Bibles There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominions that Hezechiah shewed them not This Hebrew custome of putting verbum pro re a word for a thing frequent in the old hath place likewise in the New Testament In the first of Luke vers 37. The Angell Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary that with God no word shall be impossible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no word His meaning is with God no thing shall be impossible In the same Chapter vers 65. The Euangelist hauing set downe what had passed concerning Elizabeth and her husband Zacharias saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all these words were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Iudaea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all these words that is all these things were dinulged and made knowne In the second of Luke vers 15. When the Angels who related to the shepherds Christs Natiuitie were gone away from them into Heauen the shepherds said one to another Let vs now goe euen vnto Bethlehem and see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this word that is come to passe which the Lord hath made knowne vnto vs. This word that is this thing this whole businesse whereof wee haue heard by the Angels It is the Hebraisme which I haue hitherto obserued whereby that I may speake as Logicians doe the Abstract is put for the Concret taken either actiuely or passiuely as Verbum pro re dictâ a word for a thing that is spoken of Or to speake as a Rhetorician would it is Metonymia adiuncti the Adiunct is put for the Subiect Still it is Verbum pro re a word for the thing or matter whereof the speech is So it is in this text of mine Surely the Lord God non faciet verbum he will not doe a word that is he will doe no thing no such thing as the verse before speaketh of no euill of paine punishment or affliction He will doe no such thing but hee reuealeth his secret to his seruants the Prophets He reuealeth his secret I am come to my second generall concerning the thing reuealed it is the secret of the Lord. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sodh◠his secret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say the Septuagint translated Eruditionem suam his instruction or chastisement Saint Hierome expounds it Correptionem suam the Interlinearie Glosse Correctionem suam his reproofe or correction Theodotio no ill Interpreter of old turned it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his counsell and Drusius seeth no cause why it may
a Prophet or a Priest the Priest Exod. 28.30 that hath in the brest-plate of iudgemement the Vrim and the Thummim Againe God speaketh vnto men by a voice either sensible or spirituall if with a sensiblâ— voice then he striketh the outward eares if with a spirituall then the inward as well the left eare which is the Phantasie as the right which is the Vnderstanding Thirdly God speaketh vnto men either sleeping or waking So Serarius Quaest 1. in cap. 1. Ioshuae What the ancient Fathers haue thought of this point touching God his speaking vnto man I haue long since deliuered out of this place in my third Lecture vpon the first Chapter of this Prophecie What was Saint Basils opinion what Saint Augustines what Saint Gregories you then heard Later Writers haue reduced all the speakings of God to two heads Deeds and Words Christophorus à Castro vpon the first of Zachary Et factis loquitur Deus verbis God speaketh both by Deeds and by words Franciscus Ribera vpon the same Chapter Deus ita rebus vt verbis loquitur God speaketh as well by things as by words A learned and a very orthodox Diuine Dauid Pareus in his Commentary vpon Genesis at the third Chapter well liking of Saint Gregories opinion thus resolueth vpon the point God speaketh either by himselfe or by some Angelicall creature By himselfe God speaketh when by the sole force of internall inspiration the heart is opened or God speaketh by himselfe when the heart is taught concerning the word of God without words or syllables This speech of God is sine strepitu sermo a speech without any noise It pierceth our eares and yet hath no sound Such was the speech of God vnto the Apostles at what time they were filled with the Holy Ghost Act. 2.2 Suddenly there came a sound from Heauen as of a rushing mightie wind and it fillâ—d all the house where they were sitting and there appeared vnto them clouen tongues like as of fire and it suâ—e vpon each of them Per ignem quidem Dominus apparuit sed persemet ipsum locutionem interius fecit By the fire indeed God appeared but by himselfe he spake in secret within to the heart of the Apostles Neither was that fire God nor was that sound God but God by those outward things the fire and the sound Expressit hoc quod interiùs gessit hee shewed what he did within and that he spake to the heart Those outward things the fire and the sound were only for signification to shew that the Apostles hearts were taught by an inuisible fire and a voice without a sound Foris fuit ignis qui apparuit sed intùs qui scientiam dedit the fire that appear'd was without but the fire that gaue them knowledge was within So may you iudge of the sound the sound that was heard was without but the sound that smote their hearts was within So Gods speech is a speech to the heart without words without a sound Such was that speech to Philip Act. 8.29 Goe neere and ioyne thy selfe to yonder Chariot It was the Spirit said so to Philip Bede expounds it of inward speech In corde spiritus Philippo loquebatur The Spirit said to Philip in his heart The Spirit of God may then be said to speake vnto vs when by a secret or hidden power it intimateth vnto our hearts what we are to doe The Spirit said vnto Philip that is Philip was by the Spirit of God inwardly moued to draw neere and ioyne himselfe to the Chariot wherein that Aethiopian Eunuch sate reading the Prophesie of Esay A like speech was that to Peter Act. 10.19 Behold three men seeke thee It was the Spirit said so to Peter And here Bede In mente haec ab spiritu non in aure carnis audiuit Peter heard these words from the Spirit in mente in his vnderstanding non in aure carnis not by his fleshly eare The Spirit said vnto Peter that is Peter was by the Spirit of God inwardly moued to depart from Ioppa and goe to Caesarea to preach to the Gentiles to Cornelius and his company From this inward speaking of God by his holy Spirit in the hearts of men without either words or sound we may note thus much for our present comfort that whensoeuer wee are inwardly moued and doe feele our hearts touched with an earnest desire either to offer vp our priuate requests to God or to come to the place of publike prayer or to heare the preaching of the word or to receiue the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist or to doe any good worke we may be assured that God by his holy Spirit God by himselfe speaketh vnto vs. Thus you see how God speaketh vnto vs by himselfe Hee speaketh vnto vs also by his creatures By his creatures Angelicall and others And he doth it after diuers manners 1 Verbis by words By words only as when nothing is seene but a voice onely is heard as Ioh. 12.28 When Christ prayed Father glorifie thy name immediatly there came a voice from Heauen saying I haue both glorified it and will glorifie it againe Here was Vox Patris the voice of God the Father yet ministerio Angelorum formata it was formed by the ministery of Angels 2 God speaketh Rebus by things By things onely as when no voice is heard but some thing onely is obiected to the senses An example of this kind of Gods speaking is that vision of Ezechiel chap. 1.4 He saw a whirle-wind come out of the North with a great cloud and a fire infolding it selfe and in the middest of the fire the colour of Amber All this he saw but here is no mention of any voice at all And yet the Prophet saith Omninò fuit verbum Iehouae ad Ezechielem the Word of the Lord came expresly vnto Ezechiel The word of the Lord came and I looked and behold a whirlewind Here was res sine verbo a thing but no voice 3 God speaketh Verbis simul rebus both by words and things as when there is both a voice heard and also some thing obiected to the senses So He spake to Adam presently after his fall when he heard the voice of God walking in the Garden and saying Adam where art thou Gen. 3.8 4 God speaketh Imaginibus cordis oculis extensis by some images shapes or semblances exhibited to our inward eyes the eyes of our hearts So Iacob in his dreame saw a ladder set vpon the earth the top whereof reached to Heauen and the Angels of God ascended and descended on it Gen. 28.12 So Peter in a trance saw Heauen opened and a certaine vessell descending vnto him as it had beene a great sheet knit at the foure corners and let downe to the earth wherein were all manner of foure footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowles of the aire Act. 10.10 So Paul in a vision in the night saw a man of Macedonia standing by
him and praying his helpe Come ouer into Macedonia and helpe vs Act. 16.9 5 God speaketh imaginibus ante corporeos oculos ad tempus ex aëre assumptis he speaketh by some images shapes or semblances for a time assumed from the aire and exhibited to our bodily eies So he spake to Abraham in the plaines of Mâ—â—â—re Gen. 18.2 Three men saith the Text stood by Abraham yet were they not three men that stood by him but three Angels in the shape of men with true bodies for the time palpable and tractable bodies for the time One of the three more eminent than the rest to whom Abraham did reuerence aboue the rest with whom he talked calling him Lord vers 3. who is also called Iehouah vers 17. was Christ the second person in the Trinity And so God spake vnto Lot by Angels in the likenesse of men Gen. 19. Two Angels they were vers 1. Men they are called vers 10. Angels and yet men Angels in nature and men in their habit By them God spake to Lot of the destruction of Sodome 6 God speaketh Coelestibus substantijs by celestiall substances By Celestiall substances I meane not onely the Heauens with the workes therein but also the two superiour elements the fire and the aire So at the Baptisme of Christ Dâ— nube vox sonuit a voice was heard out of a cloud as it was also at his transfiguration vpon the mount This is my beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased 7 God speaketh terrenis substantijs by terrestriall substances So to reproue the dulnesse of Balaam In ore Asina humana verba formauit he enabled Balaams owne Asse to speake Num. 22.28 Saint Peter 2 Ep. 2.16 thus deliuers it The dumbe beast speaking with mans voice forbade the madnesse of the Prophet Once more God speaketh simul terrenis coelestibus substantijs both by terrestriall and celestiall substances as when he spake to Moses in a flame of fire out of the middest of a bush Exod. 3.2.4 The fire I call the celestiall the bush the terrestriall substance Last of all God speaketh by his Angels when Secretâ eorum praesentiâ by a secret presence of theirs he infuseth the power of his influence to the hearts of men and thus may you vnderstand that Zach. 1.9 Angelus qui loquebatur in me the Angell of the Lord that spake in me said vnto me The Angell that spake in me to my heart And thus you see how God of old at sundry times and in diuers manners did speake to man He spake either by himselfe or by his Creatures By his Creatures many waies sometimes by words sometimes by things sometimes by both words and things sometimes by shapes exhibited to the eyes of the heart sometimes by apparitions to the eyes of the body sometime by celestiall substances sometimes by terrestriall sometimes by both celestiall and terrestriall and last of all by some secret presence of an Angell within man to the heart of man Thus from time to time hath God beene vsed to speake Now fâ—lloweth the sequell of his speech Quis non prophetabiâ— Who can but prophesie If the Lord God hath spoken frendent quasi Leunculas grinding his teeth as a lusty young Lion against his people euen ready to be deuoured Quis non prophetabit What Prophet is there that dares containe himselfe from prophesying that dares keepe silence from denouncing the reuengefull threats of God The Lord God hath spoken Quis non prophetabit Who will not prophesie Who will not Anselmus Laudunensis the Author of the Interlineary Glosse saith Panci viri sunt few such men there are Hugo Cardinalis Nullus vel rarus est There is not a man or scarse a man that dares hold his peace if God bid him prophesie Moses may goe about to excuse himselfe that hee bee not sent to Pharaoh Exod. 4.10 O my Lord I am not eloquent but am slow of speech and of a slow tongue I pray thee send some other but his excuses will not be receiued Esay 6.5 Esay may complaine Woe is me I am vndone because I am a man of polluted lips yet so he cannot put off his commission Ierem. 1.6 7. Ieremy may cry out Ah Lord God behold I cannot speake for I am a childe Yet must he follow his calling Say not saith the Lord I am a childe for thou shalt goe to all that I shall send thee and whatsoeuer I command thee thou shalt speake Ezech. 3.7 Ezechiel is sent vnto a people stiffe of forehead and hard of heart a people that would not hearken vnto him by whom he might well feare to lose his life yet might he not withdraw himselfe Behold saith the Lord I haue made thy face strong against their faces and thy forehead strong against their foreheads As an Adamant harder than flint haue I made thy forehead Feare them not neither be dismaied at their lookes though they be a rebellious house Amos 7.14 Amos this our Amos now our Prophet Amos once no Prophet nor a Prophets sonne but an heardman and a gatherer of Sycomore fruit taken by the Lord as he was following the flocke receiues his commission from the Lord Goe Prophesie vnto my people Israel So he goeth and prophesieth The Lord God hath spoken who can but prophesie Who can but prophesie The obseruation is The office of prophesying when God enioyneth it is not to be declined The proposition holds true as well of the Prophets of the New Testament as of the Old The Prophets of the New Testament are the Ministers thereof who though they haue not the gift of prediction to foretell things to come yet are they called Prophets Mat. 10.41 He that receiueth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receiue a Prophets reward Prophets they are called First because their function sacred and Ecclesiasticall is in place and stead of the Propheticall office of the Old Testament Secondly because their office is to expound and interpret the writings of the Prophets Thirdly because they are to preach what is written in the Scriptures of the Prophets of the day of iudgement of the rewards of good men and of the torments prepared for the wicked in the life to come Of such Prophets speaketh Gregory 2. part Pastoralis Curae cap. 4. Prophetae in sacro eloquio nonnunquam Doctores vocantur qui dum fugitiua esse praesentia indicant quae futura sunt manifestant Doctors or teachers are oftentimes in holy language called Prophets because while they declare things present to be fugitiue and transitory they doe manifest the things that are to come Thus are Doctors or Teachers the Ministers of the New Testament Prophets in their kind and the obseruation euen now made concerning the office of prophesying reacheth them The office of the Ministery of the Word when God sendeth is not to be declined It s not to be declined He that hath once begunne to runne in this race must runne on