at first and who hath restored all things and redeemed his People to God by his blood out of every kindred and Tongue and People and Nation If with the Apostle John Rev. 5.11 12 13. We behold and hear the voyce of many Angels round about the Throne and the Beasts and the Elders the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voyce Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing And every Creature in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth and in the Sea saying Blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever If God had his Sabbath to celebrate his work of Creation good reason Christ should have his Sabbath wherein we should commemorate his work of Redemption And now this being the Lords day and our Christian Sabbath let us do the duty of the day in the season thereof Bless the Lord O our Souls and all that is within us bless his Holy Name Forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all our iniquities who redeemeth our life from destruction who crowneth us with loving kindnesses and tender mercies Psal 103.1 2 3 4. U II I shall conclude all with a few words of Exhortation When God looked upon his works did he see every thing very good 1. Then let us not cavil or carp at any of all God's works Wo to him that striveth with his Maker Let the Potsherd strive with the Potsherds of the Earth Let 's not blame or find fault with God for any of all his works either of Creation or Providence for God hath made all things well and he hath made every thing beautiful in his season If any of God's Creatures or Providences prove evil and hurtful to us let 's blame our selves let 's blame our sins For Sin that it might appear Sin worketh death in us by that which is good Rom. 7. 2. Let 's admire and adore God Let 's bless and praise and magnify him for ever for all his goodness For his goodness is in and over all his works Let 's have high thoughts of God and low of our selves And this is the use the Prophet David makes of this Doctrine Psal 8.147 148 149 150. Yea this is the use which God himself would have Job make of it when he preached upon part of this Text in the 38 39 40 41. Chapters of the Book of Job And let us say with the Psalmist Ps 103. when we take a survey of Gods works Bless the Lord ye his Angels who excel in strength ye Ministers of his that do his pleasure Bless the Lord all his Works in all places of his Dominion every one of us Bless the Lord O my Soul 3. Let 's learn good from the Creatures God would have us go to school to the Creatures to learn many good Lessons from them He would have the Sluggard go to the industrious Ant to consider her ways and be wise Those who are ignorant of God their Lord and feeder are reproved by the bruit Creatures For the Oxe knows his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib Those who do not or cannot discern the times and seasons even the times of their Visitation the Prophet would that we go to the Stork the Crane and the Swallow for all these know their appointed seasons And because Christians and Ministers especially are sent out in the World as Sheep among Wolves Christ would have them to be as wise as Serpents and innocent as Doves Last of all did God look upon daily and at the end of the sixth day again review all his works Did he examine judge and find them all very good Let us go and do likewise let us imitate God we cannot have a better precedent or example to follow Let us every evening look back upon the works of the day and at the end of the week upon the works of the week Let 's examine and judge them This has been the practice of many precious Saints as the Lord Harington Mr. Herbert Palmer and others Yea some such thing as this viz. calling himself to an account at night for what had passed him in the day Seneca tells of himself These examples we shall do well if we follow so as they followed God himself This is a right method to proceed from good to very good to have all good but our latter work better than our former But because that in many things we offend all whil'st we are in this World here upon Earth let us look for and long after that place and state I mean for Heaven when we shall be made like unto God and our works like his works When from day to day and Sabbath to Sabbath even to all eternity we may look upon every thing that we have done and behold it shall be very good The END of the first Sermon Proverb 20.10 The righteous Man regardeth the life of his Beast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ACcording to the Hebrew 'tis A righteous Man knows that is regardeth taketh care of the life of his Beast If on the one hand we consider the great commendations which the Holy Scriptures give of diverse of the bruit and unreasonable Creatures together with God's great care of and cost about them himself and his charge and laws to Men concerning them And on the other hand compare therewith Men's vilifying disregarding abusing of them It may seem not unreasonable nor unprofitable to bestow one lecture about them namely for this end to instruct and teach Men who have a right to use them how to use them aright to make them good Lords to those good Servants As he that rules over tnen must be just so he that is Lord over these bruit Creatures must not be cruel towards them As God will require the life of a Man of the Beast that slayeth him Gen. 9.5 Ex. 21.29 the Beast shall be put to death So will God call Men to accompt for the lives of their Beasts if they be cruel unto them For my own part I would not when my Lord cometh be found causelesly or cruelly beating or misusing these my Servants and my fellow Servants From the words we may observe 1. That Man hath a Right and Title to the Beasts of the Earth and that not only in common but each Man hath a particular Right and Propriety in them The righteous Man regardeth the life of his Beast 2. That a good or righteous Man is good or merciful to his Beast 3. That unrighteous or wicked Men are unmerciful or cruel to their Beasts I. Psal 8.6 7. Of the First God the soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth the Maker of Man and Beast hath made him Lord over the Beasts he hath put them all under his hand or under his feet Gen. 1.25.26 28. He that made the Beast of the Earth
Man the Beasts and other living Creatures for food but yet with this condition provided always they did not eat Membriun de vivo not like salvage Beasts tear and eat of living Creatures whiles the life was in them but that they should first kill them and pour out their blood before they eat them Arise kill and eat Kill first and then eat Nor were they at liberty in all things as to their cooking or dressing of them Thou shalt not seeth a Kid in his Mothers milk God most wise most merciful would have his People not only abhominate all cruelty to the bruit Creatures but even to abstain from all appearance of it And that he might teach them mercy by his own example that they might be merciful to the bruit Creatures as their Father in Heaven is merciful He ordained them to be offered up upon his Altar but not till they were first slain and their blood in which their life is was poured out at the foot of it God would have no Sacrifice no not of a Beast to be burnt alive upon his Altar Accordingly a good Man who is the Child of God and Image of God the work of his Heavenly Father he will do he will be mild gentle merciful not only to Brethren Neighbours and Strangers but even to the bruit Creatures so saith the Text A good Man a righteous Man is merciful to his Beast 1. He takes care of the life of his Beasts Curat animam jumenti sui Vatablus in providing food convenient for them He gives them their meat in due Season They do not wander for lack of meat nor low or complain for lack of sodder What God gives him sor them that they gather from his hand If God send a Drought and the Fire burn up or devour the Pastures of the Wilderness so that the Beasts groan and the heards of Cattel are perplexed because they have no Pasture the righteous Man their Lord and Master sympathizeth with them is grieved for them and modo suo as God for his People so he for his Cattel in all their afflictions he is afflicted and therefore when the Beasts cry unto him 't is not in the power of his hand to help them what doth he but stretch out his arms and cry unto God for As 't is Joel 1.19 O Lord to thee will I cry for the Fire hath devoured the Pastures of the Wilderness 2. A good or a righteous Man provides Physick for them I mean Remedies for them means to cure them when they are amiss He doth what he can to prevent or else to remove their sicknesses ails and maladies It was a great sin in Pharaoh that he mattered not the threatning and so did not prevent by letting Israel go the grievous murrain on the Cattel in the Field upon the Horses upon the Asses upon the Camels Exod. 9.3 upon the Oxen and upon the Sheep 3. A good Man provides Harbour for his Cattel according to their condition against the weather We read of Jacob that as he built himself an House Gen. 33.17 so he made Booths for his Cattel Yea when God threatned a grievous hail upon Egypt he commanded them to send and gather the Cattel that were in the Field lest they should be slain with the hail and the Scripture tells us He that feared the Word of the Lord amongst the Servants of Pharaoh Exod. 9.18 19 20 made his Servants and his Cattel flee into the Houses and he that regarded not the Word of the Lord left his Servants and his Cattel in the Field 4. As a good Man takes care for Food Physick and Harbour for his Cattel so he hath a care not to overwork them He doth not load or ride or drive them beyond what they are able to bear Hear how careful and tender Jacob was not only of his Children Gen. 33.13 14 but also of his Cattel My Lord saith he to his Brother Esau knows that the Children are tender and the Flocks and Herds with young are with me and if Men should overdrive them one day all the Flock will dy Let My Lord I pray thee pass over before his Servant and I will lead on softly according as the Cattel that goes before me and the Children are able to endure c. 5. He takes care that the weak and tame Beasts be Kept and Defended from the violence of the strong wild and ravenous 1 Sam. 17.34 35. So David when he kept his Fathers Sheep in defence of a Lamb or a Kid slew a Lyon and a Bear 6. He seeks them brings them Home when they have gone astray and have lost themselves So much may be learnt from the Parable Luke 15.4 where we read that he that hath 100 Sheep if he lose one will leave the 99 in the Wilderness and go after that which was lost until he find it and when he hath found it lays it on his shoulders rejoycing A good Shepheard will gather his Lambs with his arm will carry them in his bosom and will gently lead those that are with young when they are out of the way and gone astray unto the Fold and to the Flock Even Saul himself when he found a Kingdom 1 Sam 9 20 was busied in seeking his Fathers Asses that were lost 7. When he is necessitated to kill them he pitties them and doth that office in mercy He was a Tyrant that said he would make his Enemy ut sentiat se mori that he might feel or be sensible of dying And he is but little better that shall torment the poor Beasts when he puts them to death A good Man doth not delight in slaying the Beasts nor doth he seek or use ways to torment them 'T is to the commendation of Mr. Fox that wrote the Book of Martyrs F. H. Book 9. pag. 105. what I read of him in Mr. Fuller namely that he did not use to pass the Slaughter-houses without some sense grief or trouble of mind Macellum ipsum ubi mactantur etiam pecudes vix praetereo quin tacito quodam doloris sensu mens refugiat If the Question then should be what say we to hunting of wild Beasts Is this cruelty And may not a good Man delight in such sport or recreation I answer that some of the Ancients held it unlawful S. Hierom observes that a Hunter is never taken in a good sense In Mich. l. 2. c. 5. and that Ismael and Esau are Hunters There 's a saying also of S. Austin on the 102. Psalm alledged against it Qui venatoribus donant non homini donant sed arti nequissimae nam si homo esset venator non esset non donares honor as in eo vitium non naturam But on the other side the reverend and learned Mr. Perkins allows for recreation the hunting of wild Beasts alledging that place Take us the Foxes Cant. 2.15 the little Foxes that spoil the Vines And another late Writer of
mouth was how might they complain and say Wherefore hast thou smitten me it may be not these three times only but these three-score times Although many Men live on the labour and sweat of their Beasts yet they care not in their rage and fury to slay them to spill their blood Well may the whole Creation groan wayting to be delivered from this bondage unto corrupt and cruel Men. How many unreasonable and cruel Masters are there which are like Pharao's Taskmasters to the Israelites who required brick and gave them no straw who demand of their Beasts to labour to travel to work and allow them no meat or not meat sufficient How do Men load their Beasts more than they are able to bear and drive them faster than they are able well to go and if they stumble fall down or stand still how are these their Servants beaten when the fault is in their cruel Task masters I confess I have often wished that some law might be made for the ease of these poor Beasts even to bind their Masters to their good behaviour towards them Good reason I think there is as that he that steals his Neighbours Beast should be punished so that he that slays his own Beast making it a sacrifice to his passion madness or folly should not escape unpunished Hence we may be informed that although in our days the Use I calling of Shepherds and Herdsmen c. be mean and contemptible yet they are lawful and commendable Callings The Angels of Heaven though they are above us both in nature and office yet they are our Ministers and Servants to keep us in all our ways Psal 91. Heb. 1.14 to minister to them that are Heirs of Salvation And so Men though they be above and Lords of these Creatures yet may they attend on them look to them and provide for them Job 1. As the riches of the Ancients consisted mostly in their Cattel so their imployment was mostly about them The Patriarchs were Keepers of Sheep and they bred up their Sons and Daughters to the same Calling And Saul lost nothing by seeking his Fathers Asses for he found a Kingdom whiles he was seeking of them And David was taken from following the Ews great with young and anointed King over Israel God himself appeared to Moses in the Bush whiles he was feeding Jethro's Flock when he was a Shepherd and not when he was in Pharao's Court and he made him King in Jesurun And not only the Poët calls the King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Shepherd of the People but the holy Prophets also do the like Yea God himself in Scripture is called a Shepherd Hear O thou Shepherd of Israel thou that leadest Joseph like a Flock And our blessed Saviour as he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords so is he also called the good the great and chief Shepherd Therefore if there be any Shepherds c. that hear me this day let them go away comforted and incouraged to go on in their callings therein abide with God Consider that David was beloved of God and pleased God not only when he had a Crown and Scepter and led his People Israel but also when he had his Scrip and Shepherds Crook when he followed the Ews great with young Art thou a Shepherd thou art not a foot the farther off from being a Sheep of Christ from Christ's fold Often think whiles you are keeping your Flocks by day or watching them by night how the glad Tidings of Salvation the News of Christ's Bâ—rth was brought by a multitude of the Heavenly Host the Angels of Heaven to the Shepherds whilst they were keeping their Flocks by night saying and singing Glory be to God in the highest Behold we bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all People Luke 2. for unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Use II 2. Then let us shew our selves good Men righteous Men let 's be merciful no ways cruel and unmerciful to the bruit Creatures considering 1 Hereby we shall shew our selves merciful as our Father which is in Heaven is merciful For as he made Man and Beast Psal 36.5 and is the Owner of them Psal 50. so he preserveth Man and Beast He provides food convenient for them Grass for the Cattel for meat and Water for them to drink Water in abundance Psal 104.10 11. so that the wild Asses the most thirsty Creatures may quench their thirst 2 God would that no Man should do them wrong He reproved Balaam for the Asse's sake Jude the dumb Ass speaking with Mans voice rebuked the madness of the Prophet Jumentum Balaami semel in omnes aetates os aperuit ut illo suo sermone damnaret omnem in muta jumenta saevitiam Ct. in Prov. 12.10 The Ass opened his mouth once to teach all Generations to abhor cruelty to the dumb Creatures Yea 3 'T is the will of God that we should be so far from hurting or misusing cruelly our own Beasts that he commands us to be friendly to our Enemies Oxen or Asses if we find them fallen under their burden we are to help them up Ex. 23.5 4 And as God made the Sabbath that thy Oxe and thy Ass might rest as well as thou So he dispenseth with the bodily rest of the Sabbath to shew mercy to the bruit Creatures It is lawful to loose the Oxe or Ass from the Stall on the Sabbath-day and to lead them to water c. So that not only the Priests in the Temple break the Sabbath and are guiltles in slaying and offering up the Beasts in Sacrifice but Herdsmen and Shepherds and those that are Keepers of Cattel that attend upon them although they break the outward rest of the Sabbath yet are they guiltles blameles in so doing for the preservation of the health or lives of their Cattel and in this case God will have Mercy rather than Sacrifice We may omit for a time or give over praying to save the life of a Beast Acts 20 as St. Paul did his preaching to save the life of a Man of Eutychus Further 5 When God would drown the World for the Sin of Man and only save eight Persons alive he took care also to preserve alive by miracle in the Ark the bruit Creatures as well as Men and Women 6 And after the Flood God was pleased to make a Covenant with the Beasts of the Field c. as well as with Man Gen. 9. That he would drown the World no more 7 Afterwards when God spared the great City of Niniveh he is pleased graciously and mercifully to take notice of the abundance of Cattel in it that must have perished in the destruction of the City and he speaks of this as a reason or motive to spare the City Jonah 4. If it should be objected Doth God take care for Oxen Hath not God