that saw themselues in an euill case but they knew not how to helpe it While he is thus ruminating of this hard bargaine Gad tarries for an answer and now impatient of further delay demands a speedy resolution Verse 13. that hee may returne an answer to him that sent him Thus then at the length out of the abundant sorrow of his heart his trembling lips and tongue vtter these or the like words of passion Oh man of God pray for me vnto the Lord that if it be possible this pride of my heart may be forgiuen me Oh carry God my sighes and teares perhaps that sweet incense may appease him Present vnto my louing God my straitned soule and see if that will satisfie him tell him my soule cries out of the grate of misery for grace and mercy My sinne hath so ingaged my soule vnto God that my heart is broken and such a sacrifice my God will not despise But here the Seer interrupts him Dauid now leaue off passion and arme thy selfe with patience The decree of God is set down and God will neuer grant decree vpon decree the sentence is past and may not be reuersed thy sinne was great Note so must be thy punishment As no counsell though of thy friend could diuert thee from the one so no prayer though neuer so carnest shall auert from thee the other Herein was Gad a faithfull messenger but a miserable comforter The diuell ought Israel a spight and now he hath payed it them When Nathan told Dauid of his adultery and murder hee presently absolues him vpon his repentance The Lord hath put away thy sinne Why may not Gad say as much Hath God forgotten to be gracious Oh but if we well remember the child borne of that adulterous bed dyed for Dauids sinne and hath God forgotten to be iust Thus is Dauid still in a great strait Had hee beene now numbring of his dayes he had applyed his heart to wisedome but now in numbring the people his heart gaue way to folly Now not only is he brought to the Logicians dilemma but indeed to Trilemma as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vsed in war cast it any way and still one poynt lies vpward obuious to the face and hurtfull to the foote Now I conceiue your iudicious apprehensions ready to forestall me and already to conceiue a Doctrine which I shall propound as a true borne Childe lawfully begotten from Dauids case and my premised discourse Doct. That it is a farre easier matter to yeeld to sinne then to answere for it Sampson was bound with seuen greene cordes and hee brake them from his armes like a third Dauid is now tyed with one twist of a threefold cord and cannot get loose I haue heard and read of some Noctambulones that haue left their beds in their sleepe and haue clombe vp such daungerous places that waking they could scarse tell how to get downe againe So fares it with the wilfull sonnes of men who being lulled asleepe in sinne questionlesse dreame of great security but when their slumber is past when the word or their conscience shall awake them then their voyce is the voyce of Dauid Angustior It may be sayde of Sinne as the Poets sayd of Venus Laeta venire Venus tristis abire solet For sinne still presents to men vtile iucundum or honestum which being by and by apprehended Sathan suggests man consents and both their fingers itch till the fear be wrought which being once effected the pleasure of sinne lasting but for a season is withdrawne and gone Sathan deales as Ammon did by Thamar thrusts him out bolts the doore and takes no notice of the poore sinner Then is poore man left to himselfe and hath no company but a wounded conscience and then hee finds himselfe in a strange perplexity in a wonderfull strait And what I now beloued say concerning one sinner I say of all When neither the voyce of reason can reuoke them the bridle of Religion restraine them nor the checke of conscience moue them they that in the heat of sinne will bee like Dauid vsing the vtmost of their liberty shall in the height of punishment find themselues like Dauid in a great strait But that I may not seeme to want proofe within the confines of my Text fixe we but our eies on Dauid T is a braue thing to number the people it was indeed so is a Waspe a pretty thing to see too but it beares a sting in the taile So is Sinne Mulier formosa supernè outwardly and vpwardly faire but desinit in piscem whatsoeuer the premises or the promises of sinne may be the Sinner may in the end say to it as dying Agrippa did to his dogge Abi hinc in malam rem qui perdidisti animam meam See here what Dauids numbring or practice in Arithmetique came too Addition of sinne Substraction of liberty Multiplication of sorrow Diuision like the diuision of Reuben euen great thoughts of heart It is the manner of Worldlings to deale in sin as Prodigals doe in expences spend and call and neuer mind the reckoning no nor their generall estate till pouertie come vpon them like an armed man And thus the sinner multiplies his transgressions neuer minding the fearefull euent and dire Catastrophe of his wickednesse when as indeed he should like the wise builder sit downe and casts vp his reckoning But Satan like a cunning Sophister sets the best side forward separates the end from the meanes as if Sinne and sorrow were of no acquaintance and did not vse to kisse each other S. Iohn did eate the booke which the Angell gaue him in his mouth it was as sweet as honey but in his belly as bitter as gall But he that swallowes the bait which Satan giues him shal find the pleasures of sinne to last but for a season and in the end bitternesse bitternesse Eue saw the apple that it was faire to the eye but after could haue wished that she had neuer seene it The Foxe mentioned by Horace got easily into the Garner of corne but hauing eaten his fill could not so soone get out The hunters horne debts liuely embleme is easily entred but hard in the egresse A man falling downe with the tyde may easily shoot the bridge but to returne against the streame hic labor hoc opus est Facilis descensus Auerni Iunenal Diues may slip into hell and misery without either spoiling his purple garments or pinching his well-fed belly But then there is magnum Chaos not a wall but a world of seperation betwixt him and happinesse The vnthrifty Tradesman that makes the Tauerne his shop the Play-house his Exchange gaming his traffique and whores his customers when need and debt en-Counter him and his former follies like Spiders poison him that he breaks then and not till then is hee made sensible of his owne misery then his letters certifie his friends and his tongue cries out to his Creditors I am in
TO THE RIGHT VVORSHIPFVLL Mr MAIOR of the City of Couentry and the rest Worshipfull Aldermen and Sheriffes of that INCORPORATION S. B. wisheth encrease of grace in this life and assurance of glory in the life to come RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL WHen I first deliuered that small Treatise by word of mouth it was the farthest part of my thought euer to aduenture the exposall of it to the view of any as considering mine owne weaknes and the worlds peeuishnesse But it fared with this Sermon as with a Meteor which being gently drawne vp by the kindly heate of the Sunne resides for a time in the Ayre and hath there indeed a beeing but shineth not till kindled by the Antiperistasis and circumstant cold of the ayre So this my Labour receiuing some warmth and beeing by the gentle breath and vndeserued approbation of some was not yet seene of the world vntill it tooke fire by some who being at the deliuery of it circumstant did in their causlesse and vndeserued humours giue such cold entertainment vnto both it and me that I was by the vulgar reported to bee taken by the great Fleet or at the least shrewdly encountred Whereupon I thought it fit for mine owne defence and satisfaction of others that the things before demisla per aurem should be now oculis subiect a fidelibus that what was before in the aire and in the eare should now be in the eye that the Christian Reader may iudge whether it deserued reproofe or censure yea or no and whether herein I haue laboured to keepe a good conscience toward God and men I appeale to the iudgements of them who being cleare of any thing against which I might seeme to inueigh are fittest and the onely competent Iudges in this kind Your Worships can I trust beare me witnesse that I neuer amongst you for these many years haue shewed my selfe any way to be of a factious and a turbulent spirit but haue alwaies laboured and prayed for the peace of Ierusalem and hope to prosper the better because I loue her Now when these forenamed passages had caused me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 willing nilling for my owne safeguard to adiudge this poore booke to be prest although I might haue seemed wise in choice of some greater patronage I thought fittest to appropriate some part of my labours to this place where I was borne brought vp and haue spent my dayes euer since I was called first to the Ministery and so much the rather in regard of your vndeserued loues which I can neyther deny nor conceale lest I should be iniurious and also your godly and religious dispositions wherein this City doth equall without flattery be it spoken the most ciuilly gouerned or most eminently religious places of this Kingdome Such as it is it pleades in my name and I in the name of Truth that it may finde acceptance with your Worships and as many as loue the truth and if in any thing I shall be blamed I will not bee so presumptuous as with Pilate to say What I haue written I haue written but as the Ecclesiasticall Historian If I haue done well it is that which I desired but if slenderly and meanly it is that which I could attaine vnto If hereby any taking paines to reade is shall reape any benefit it shall be a full satisfaction for my labour and the comfort of my heart Now the God of loue and peace multiply his blessings vpon this City that it may be happy in gouernment holy in profession the true member of the mysticall body of Christ partaking the promises of godlinesse euen those of this life and of the life to come Euen so be it Lord Iesus Amen Amen Your Worships in all Christian duties to be commanded Samuel Buggs DAVIDS STRAIT 2 SAM 24.14 And Dauid said vnto Gad I am in a great strait THere is a two-fold euill whereunto all the sonnes of Adam are subiect as long as they liue in these houses of Clay malum culpae and malum poenae an euill of sin and an euill of punishment Semblable whereunto the whole duty of man is comprised in these two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a patient bearing of the euill of affliction and a conscionable forbearing the euill of sinne In this actiue and passiue life as all other Saints and Seruants of God so Dauid a man after his owne heart was much exercised wherein hee so carried himselfe that much praise and renown did accrew both to his worthy person and holy profession In the passiue part of his life Qui hominum patientior aut qui tolerantior Meeke as a Doue in persecution mild as a Lambe in prosecution of his hate-worthy enemies especially toward Saul when God had put him into his hands hee was so farre from touching his person as that hee was content to sit downe with much wrong and bee the sole patient of vndeserued hatred Iames 3.2 But for the actiue part as In many things we offend all 2 Sam. 11.4 12.9 so Dauid himselfe was faulty in two maine matters for being made King of his hopes hee offended in the matter of Vriah the Hittite whom he wronged in his second selfe defiling his wife and after in his owne selfe betraying his life slaying him with the sword of the children of Ammon And now againe is mentioned to make vp his sinnes a number a second sinne of numbring the people from which sinne because by disswasion he would not be hindred wrath was gone out from God and he could not be helped Gad the Seer was sent in the morning vnto him to propound a hard and yet necessary choice of three and those most fearfull euils 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Famine for three yeares Warre for three months Pestilence for three daies By these fearfull punishments as by thunder Dauid being awaked from his security and from the wine of selfe-conceipt 1 Chron. 21.1 wherewith Satan had before intoxicated him hearing this terrible embassage opens his eyes and seeing three such furies of Hell aduancing towards him cries out in the anguish and bitternesse of a perplexed soule I am in a great strait Which few words though may seeme at the first sight hard as the rocke in the wildernesse yet haue I discouered flowing thereout as from Eden foure seuerall streames wherein a Christian may wash like Naaman and bee cleansed or like the blind man and returne seeing prouided that wash both hands and head to giue attention and yeeld practice to the remarkable points herein contained 1 Quo peccato incidit How Dauid came into this strait 2 Quo animo apprehenderit How he conceiued of this strait 3 Quâ patientiâ pertulerit How he bare this strait 4 Quâ prudentiâ cuaserit How he gate out of this strait The first is for admonition the second for instruction the third for imitation the fourth for consolation Euery of them being compounded by your Christian wisedome as by the Art of the
cunning Apothecarie may either serue as an Antidote to preuent sinne or a Cordiall to such as haue surfetted on the sowre grape of Sinne. This text is then a fit place for a Preacher of Repentance for here is much water wherein if I shall wade but shallow it is not that I feare to wet my feet for to doe any good I am yours as you are Christs but I haue iust cause to feare that either some stormes of your molested patience or my fainting heart through mine owne weaknesse may sinke both me and my poore meditations to the bottome How Dauid fell into this straite Some there haue beene who as they were ignorant of the worlds originall Phys 1. so also of the rule and gouernment of the same and did therefore father many particular passages vpon fatall necessity But Aristotle and the rest which followed Etiam comite ratione did soundly confute and worthily explode this their error as finding a necessity of the dependance of all effects vpon some certaine causes which yet they being but flesh and blood discerned onely to be naturall But we who haue the true prospectiue glasse of the word of God may easily discerne though a farre off a supreme power guiding and ruling all particular occurrences whatsoeuer Mat. 10.29 to the fall of a sparrow from the house or a haire from our heads which as it hath an interest in all things so also in this strait of Dauid that as Iacob speakes Gen. 28.16 The Lord is in this place and I knew it not so the Lord had a hand in this strait though men be not aware of it For warre I know it is oftentimes the cursed issue of boundlesse ambition as it was in Alexander Vnus Pellaeo iuueni non sufficit orbis Aestuat infaelix angusto limite mundi Iuu Sat. 10. Or as in the Romanes that they might be rerum Domini or as in the proud race of Ottoman now aduancing his Moony standards in Polonia Or else it may bee conceiued by the seed of couetousnesse as in Pyrrhus the Epyrote Philip of Macedon to grow rich by the spoile of others as though God and Nature had giuen them the impropriation of all Or else this fire may bee begotten by collision of slint and steele as in Simeon and Leuy to reuenge the rape of Dinah Gen. 34.25 1 Sam. 15. or as in Saul who smote the Amalekites for a former iniurie proffered to the wandring Israelites But at this time there was no warre in hand or if there had the arme of Israel and his bow was so strong that had Almighty God stood but as an indifferent spectator the glory could not in all probability haue departed from Israel For Famine it may proceed from the supine negligence of a people who had rather begge then labour yea almost sterue then labour and so liue idlely quasi per se daret omnia tellus Ouid. or else when some shall labour and others eate the labours of their hands Iudg. 6.11 When Gideons wheat without hiding shall feed Midian or the Chaldaeans and Sabaeans spoile Iob of his Cattell and prouision Iob 1.15.17 Or by the horrible gluttony drunkennesse and excesse of the time by prodigious prodigall vsage of the good creatures of God Acts 11.28 as it came to passe in the daies of Claudius Caesar of whom Xiphiline reports that he was wont indulgere cōuiuiis effusissimè But there was now no Famine In vita Claudii that for the Gibeonites being staied by attonement as appeares Cap. 2 1. The land now gaue her increase and abounding as it did with milke and honey might bee a sufficient Cornucopia to relieue all the families of Israel So that neither nature on the one side nor men on the other were like to be the cause of this strait this by way of probability Pestilence when I consider this last plague and punishment although there may be some naturall reason of it giuen yet this comming so suddenly without any preuious disposition of aire or bodies I cannot but conclude that it was an immediate arrow shot from Gods quiuer Verè opus et digitus Dei Amos 3.6 Nor could this kind of euill haue beene in the City if the Lord himselfe had not wrought it This makes the measure of Dauids sorrow before pressed downe now to runne ouer when he apprehends not onely the Starres of heauen to fight against him Iudg. 5.20 as they did against Sisera but euen the Lord of heauen with his owne hand and stretched out arme Hee whose valour whilome laughed at the sterne visage of Goliah feare and trembling is now come vpon him and sorrow as vpon a woman in trauaile with an enemie hee might fight or from him flee but now seeing it is God with whom he cannot fight from whom he cannot flee Now he is in a great strait But shall not the Iudge of all the world doe right Gen. 18.25 Indeed in Gods eternall predestination and election no man ought to enquire as why Iacob is loued and Esau hated Rom. 9.13 because the Potter may doe with the clay as he listeth But if the question be made in this particular it shall fully appeare that God sought no quarrell against Dauid nor sought occasion to deuoure or wast the sheepe of his pasture Ios 7.13 Why was Israel discomfitted at Ai was there not an execrable thing amongst them Why did both wind and water conspire the wracke of Ionah was not he profugus Ion. 1.12 a run-away from God Pone poenam supponis culpam For surely the mercy of God being so great in pardoning sinne when it is committed may fully perswade vs that he will neuer punish till it be committed Propter me haec tempestas saith Ionah Ionah 1.12 Propter me haec pestis may Dauid say vntill man be actor of sinne God is neuer author of punishment Iudg. 16.30 Os 13.9 The Philistims house fals not vpon Sampson vnlesse his owne hands pull it downe Israels destruction is not but of her selfe Non tellus cymbam tellurem cymba reliquit For as Adam had not beene mortall had he not beene sinfull no more should his posterity euer smart but by the sore of sinne When sinne is finished if we haue not occasion to glorifie Gods mercy in pardoning vs we shall be compelled to acknowledge his iustice in punishing vs. Theorem 1. Hence obserue that preuious sinne is alwaies the cause of subsequent misery yea it is proprium omni soli though not semper to haue sinne the prodromus the fore-runner of iudgement and the onely prologue to the said Tragedy of one man or the generall ruine of many Had not Dauid numbred Israel Gad had not threatned it God had not punished it The Heathen themselues could so farre iustifie their supposed gods in this kind as to confesse that when sinne preuailed not before Hor. Carm. lib. 1. Od. 3.
Macies noua febrium Terris incubuit cohors Semotique priùs tarda necessitas Lethi corripuit gradum Had not the old world swomme in security and Epicurisme Gen. 6.13 they had not floated in that generall deluge Gen. 18.20 Had not Sodome beene tainted with so filthy sinnes they had not felt so fierie a punishment Luke 19.42.43 Had Ierusalem seene the day of their visitation it had not seene the day of desolation Had not Dauid committed some great sinne hee had neuer beene in this great strait When Pilate heard the people cry out to haue Christ crucified Mat. 27.23 hee asketh in the audience of them all What euill hath he done So reason and equity may heere demand in Dauids behalfe Quid mali admisit Why will God thus vexe and perplexe at the heart a man after his owne heart the Text answers hereunto verse 1. Dauid had numbred the people Numbring of people was vsed in ancient time by Sergius Tullus the Romane Liu. Aul. Gel. lib. 10. to know how many were fit for warre and the age amongst them was from 17. to 46. and in dangerous times till 50. and our Sauiour Christ commendeth a wise King who will forecast whether he be able to meet his enemy or not Beside Luke 14 31. they were numbred by Moses Exod. 38. and againe Numb 1. why might not then an action repeated by Moses and daily practised by other Princes be as lawfull for Dauid Shall Dauid fight Gods battailes and not know the strength of his army or goe in and out before a people and not know the number of them and thus the verdict of flesh and blood returnes ignoramus We find no fault at all in this man But stay a while fond opinion and take this in charge That a thing lawfull nay good in it selfe may in the manner or end of doing become vnlawfull and so a sinne For Omne quod non licet est peccatum Prayer is commanded and best if it be done in a corner that no man may see it Mat. 6.2 but if in the corners of the street that all men may see it is abhominable Almes are commended yet the noyse of a trumpet blowne before them drownes all their worth and leaues them splendida peccata and no better Are things so good so soone turned bad How then are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things of themselues neyther good nor bad Fasting is good if it be done to tame the flesh and bring it in subiection but if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee admixed to be seene of men it is hypocrisie If a man out of the weaknesse of his iudgement shall refuse a ceremony or gesture as fearing to wound his soule by committing idolatry I pitty his case his action being tolerable but if any stiffe-necked or stiffe-hammed Schismaticke shall doe it out of opposition to the order and discipline of the Church his holy singularity is no better then stubbornnes and deep hypocrisie Dauids case Herein then Dauid failed First it was needlesse hauing no warre in hand Secondly it was a curious crotchet ideò numeratur vt numeretur onely to know Thirdly it sauoured of pride to glory in the number of the people which three circumstances being weighed in the ballance of the Sanctuary proued in Gods estimation and Dauids owne confession verse 10. a sinne a wickednesse an exceeding folly nor could hee charge God iustly of any iniustice for bringing of him into this great strait Thus wee see that came not by fate but from God it came not vniustly but for sinne and this sinne by name was numbring of the people Now the manner of Dauids falling into this strait stands like a pillar of Salt for our remembrance and instruction and he that runneth may plainly reade this for his obseruation Doctr. That a faire Saint may fall into a foule sinne nor can the best man carry himselfe so equally with God but that sometimes by sinne he fals into his lurch and becomes liable to punishment For Dauids part were not his heart so candide as to confesse the truth we may deale with him obsignatis tabulis namely Gods faithfull Register the holy Scripture which doth charge and challenge him of a former and a fouler sinne in the matter of Vriah the Hittite 1 Sam. 11. whose blood like the blood of Abel the innocent could witnesse against him But what need we any further witnesse seeing we haue heard of his owne mouth in that poenitentiary Psal 51. wherein he sheds many teares for shedding of onely this mans blood But lest I should by one Swallow to proue a Summer and for one mans sinne to condemne the generation of the iust although I desire not to vncouer the shame of the Saints yet fith all things are writen for our instruction 1 Cor. 10.11 giue me leaue to shew some spots and moales which haue been no small blemish to their perfection Amongst the twelue there was but one Iudas one sonne of perdition but one that burst his bowels with a fall but none of the rest escaped without a fall To omit the ambition of Zebedees sonnes Marke 10.37 Iohn 20.25 the incredulity of Thomas the doubting of the two Disciples come wee to the Papists master-peece their Dominicall letter of the Apostles Peter is reproued for tempting his Master Mat. 16.22 recorded for denying him Mat. 26.70 and all the Disciples seeing their Master apprehended in the Garden for feare forsooke him and fled Mat. 26.56 Nor was this Leprosie a new disease in the Apostles time or like Ionahs goord come vp in a night but if wee shall vse the Historians optich glasse we shall discouer a farre off as in a Landsceipe Gen. 9.21 Noah lye drunken in his Tent and naked too did not his good sonnes Sem and Iapheth couer him Immersus aquâ vino mergitur Neither did any lesse happen to Lot whose righteous soule was vexed at the vncleane conuersation of the Sodomites 2. Pet. 2.7 the onely man thought worthy to be pluckt out of the fire of Sodome Intactus igne vrit libidine and his drunkennesse committed a sinne Gen. 19.36 which had there beene one righteous man in Sodome his soule would tremble to haue committed it To call the life or wisedome of Salomon in question in mee it were but folly and yet no more then he committed who by the multitude of his Dalilahs suffered his heart to bee stolne away from God Lorinus praef in Act. Tenorius Archbishop of Toledo making question whether Salomon was saued or damned caused his picture to be drawne in his Chappell halfe in heauen and halfe in hell this was about his state of glory But should my rude pencill delineate him in the state of grace I would both picture him and all the rest of Gods people halfe in heauen and halfe in earth in heauen by reason of their holy and heauenly conuersation in heauen by reason of their
assurance of glory and saluation but on earth by reason of that body of sinne and death which they carry about them hauing the flesh pressing with continuall fight and oppressing with often conquest When Nebuchadnezzar made choice of some of the children of the Captiuity to stand before him he commanded to bring such as were of the Kings seed and of the Princes well fauoured and without blemish Si verbis audacia detur giue me leaue to apply this God the King of heauen hath out of his meere mercy chosen out of Satans captiuity some to stand before him they are of the Kings seed and of the Princes sonnes of God and brethren of Christ Iesus 1. Cant. 15. faire they are and pleasant the chiefe among ten thousand Free from the vsuall deformities but onely they are sometimes troubled with the falling sicknesse witnesse the examples before mentioned and the fall of Dauid into this great strait not that the Protoplastes of our spirituall feature and perfection were the cause of this but euen that originall sinne and corruption which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and coeuterine with vs pluckes vs by the heele as Iacob did Esau and pinches them as the Angell did Iacob in the thigh Gen. 2.25.26 that they neuer claw off this halting so long as they liue in these houses of clay I learned this lesson of Salomon that God made man vpright but he sought many inuentions Adam was taught a tricke by the Diuell to lose his happinesse and Dauid who was before at large is now taught by Satan and brought by him into this strait Now although by such enormities of the Saints there cannot but accrew dishonour to God shame and scandall to their profession and euill example to the infecting of others Yet Almighty God who brought light out of darknesse life out of death can also bring good out of euill and like a wise Architect can so dispose of euery peece except those for the fire as to build a glorious Temple for the Holy Ghost First hereby is laid the foundation of humility in the hearts of men The aduenturous Christian when he heares of the two Tables of Gods Commandements Iudg. 16.3 Mat 19.20 and 25.25 thinkes he can carry them as easily as Sampson did the gates of Azzah and say Lord thou hast thine owne all these haue I kept from my youth But finding at the length like Sampson that his strength is but as other mens he is stricken as low as the Center and shrinks to an Acome in his owne conceipt Now being brought to this ebbe he is a good foundation for God to build vpon now growing conscious of his owne infirmities like Peter walking vpon the water he cries Master saue me now hee will no more of his owne strength but onely of the grace of God which is onely sufficient for him The Swans of Thames and Po beholding with a retorted neck their goodly feathers thinke themselues Rarae aues in terris but when their blacke legs and feete are become the obiects of their sight then they find that they are nigris Cygnis simillimae So when men behold their liues in what they are commendable or tolerable the Pharisee himselfe is not more proud then they but when they looke into the glasse of the Law of God then goes the hand to the breast and the word from the mouth O God be mercifull vnto me a sinner Luke 18. The liues of the best men that liue vpon earth are like Nebuchadnezzars image hauing feet of clay as well as a head of gold Here then is Schola scala coeli a Schoole to teach a neare way and a ladder to helpe vp the best way to heauen O happy daughter of so vnhappy a mother Now Nathan may bee heard if he reproue Now Saint Peter may catch fish when the water is troubled Dauid before by Sathan drawne beside himselfe is now by Sin driuen out of him selfe As much I conceiue of Peter that his faint heart was now become an humble heart and though Petrus was Petra yet like the rocke in the wildernesse he yeelded abundance of water which makes me giue the more credence to Clemens Romanus affirming of him that hee spent euery morning in weeping vntill his eyes were dimme with weeping and deepe furrowes were plowed in his face with teares tam vi quam saepe cadendo Oh that it may euer be seene that if in the seruice of God the Saints misse the first Lesson of integritie they be sure to reade and learne the second Lesson of humility Magis enim Deo placet humilitas ex malè factis quà m superbia ex benè factis He that exalteth himselfe in his good deeds shall be humbled but hee that shall humble himselfe for his euill deeds shall be exalted This falling of the Saints into sinne though casuall and vnusuall doth worke in them a cautelous and carefull carriage in the sequell of their liues danger is the adequate obiect of feare and warinesse and sinne being an auersion of the creature from the Creator the dangerous and miserable effects thereof cannot but deterre and affright the once entangled soule from any relaps or recidiuation into the same Ictus piscis sapit The children of God who by Sathans malice and ouer-reaching policie are brought into Sinne and by Gods mercy brought out of it againe do passe the remainder of their time and worke out their saluation in feare and trembling The Turks now inhabiting in that sometimes citie of Ierusalem Timberl trauel hauing an old Prophecy that the Citie shall be retaken at the same place where before it was assaulted and conquered haue in and neare that place immured all passage and preuented all probability of entring in like manner if Sathan our mortall enemie haue heretofore made assault vpon our soules and like a strong man entred and spoiled vs if at the priuie dore of our hearts by sinfull imaginations let vs be sure to keepe our hearts with all diligence If at the too too open dore of our lippes by filthy communication Ps 141.3 let vs set a watch before our mouth and keepe the doore of our lips If he shall enter by our eares which often prooue carelesse Centinels by admitting and entertaining idle talke filthy and corrupt communication lying or slanderous reports rather become like deafe men and heare not then euer that raging and malicious enemy shall foyle vs at the like aduantage While thornes and weeds are suffered to couer the face of the sluggards garden they must needes be an hinderance to the increase and growth of either pleasant flower or profitable hearbe Stella 1. in Luc. but if thence transplanted they are placed in the hedge they serue to fence the garden that the beasts of the field annoy it not So while Sinne is suffered to haue roote in the heart of man no increase of good no hearbe of grace can be expected as our Sauiour applies it in
the Parable wherein the thornes are said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now if these thorny and soule-wounding sin be remoued from the heart and affection and placed in the memory it will proue in some sort good to Gods children to haue sinned for hauing felt the chastisement by rods they will tremble to thinke vpon Scorpions and finding Sathan so cruelly tyrannizing vpon a small sinne so vnfaithfull in a little they will be loath to trust so bad a Counsellour or for a great matter commit their soules to so bad a Steward Can we thinke but Dauid was now growne more cautelous or that if he had againe his former freedome that Satan should againe so haue inueigled him Surely the bought wisedome of the Saints proues good if not the best Oh that we could be made so wise by our sins and the fruits of them as by one to auoid many by smaller to auoid greater by the pinch of a weesel to auoid the pawes of a Lyon 2 Tim. 2.7 Consider here what I say and the Lord giue vs vnderstanding in things Vse Salomon passing by the field of the Sluggard obserued nettles and thornes vpon the face of it and he learned instruction here is multiplicity of learning What came you hither to learne humility then behold what thou art without the preuenting grace of God or if charity iudge here of thy falling neighbour as subiect to infirmity or if further instruction Phil. 2.12 for the remainder of thy dayes learne here to walke wisely and worke out thy saluation with feare and trembling S. Paul 1 Cor. 1.20 glorying in Gods mercy and power demands Where now is the Scribe where now is the disputer of this world And hoping that I may glory likewise in the truth of this proposed and proued Theorem I demand where now is the Papist where the Pelagian what is become of the Saints perfection in this life This heresie was bred in North-Wales there was this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first hatcht afterward bred vp at West-Babylon Pestifero vomuit coluber sermone Britannus Whereunto I may adde Pestifero docuit coluber sermone Quirinus For the Church of Rome hauing lickt vp the vomit of this Arch-hereticke as the Poets are fained to haue done Homers haue spit forth the same againe to the infection of many a soule Grant we to the Church of Rome a thing which they can neuer euince that Peter was head of the Church as Pilate said to the Iewes Behold your King so say I to them Behold your Peter if his faults and falls were not like vnto other mens Surely the foundation of the Church being thus shaken and the vaile of the Temple rent asunder I may easily coniecture what betides the rest if the case goe thus with the greene tree what shall become of the dry tree What cost Peter so many teares what was the cause of this strait of Dauid was perfection then God is vniust No it was imperfection let God be iust and the Church of Rome a lyar Dangerous then and damnable is their opinion causing men so much to dreame of perfection that they neuer labour for it procul hinc If we maintaine the bond-woman wee must keepe her son if we maintaine perfection then also merits and not onely that but another monstrous bastard with sixe fingers on a hand workes of supererogation certainly for perfection of Romish Iesuites thus much and no more will I euer grant that they are perfect in the Popish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 absolute Machiauilians absolute traytors monsters of men and matches for the Diuell I grant them also to be meritorious but for all the paines they haue taken in our English vineyard their wages haue beene such as that the Hangman hath beene their pay-master Gretserus Yea but the Pope saith Gretserus must needs be holy Si non sanctitate propriâ sanctitate tamen officii and so taller by head and shoulders then his fellowes But if deposition plucke this stoole from vnder him where lies his Holinesse then Sure their knowledge is no more then other mens all knowing but in part Indeed some Popes knowledge was not in part Alphons de Castro for Alphonsus de Castro affirmes that some of them knew nothing at all Their sanctification no more then others for though Alexander the sixt were holy by vertue of his office yet as he was Alexander he gaue his soule to the diuell and so by the Schoole-mens helpe was damned with a distinction Whatsoeuer the pride of the Church of Rome may conceiue or their insolency dare maintaine God let me euer be a member of that Church while I haue any being which though reformed in other things may seeme deformed in this that it acknowledgeth no particular member of it to be exempt from humane frailty and though not subiect to the dominion of sinne yet falling many times vnder sinnes vsurped gouernment and haue daily need to be renewed by repentance Holy Dauid though in the generall course of his life a man with whom God was wel pleased suo laborat naeuo and the best that liues may semel in anno nay septies in die fall into a great sinne and so by the iust iudgement of God into a great strait I conclude this Theorem with this corollary That if all the diuine and admirable gifts and graces of Gods holy Spirit as wisdome knowledge sanctification c. were doubled vpon the head of one man be he no more then a man may sinne of weaknesse though not of wickednesse and offend as grieuously though not so frequently as his brethren Thus haue we seene Dauids entrance into this strait now see we the nature of it and the manner how he apprehends it How Dauid apprehended it As all misery and sorrow of it selfe is grieuous vnto flesh and blood so some aboue the rest by the iust iudgement of God is more heauy and grieuous then other and doth more perplexe the mind of man Principally these two 1 For the matter if it be such as is intollerable 2 For the manner if it be such as is ineuitable Iaacobs seruice of seuen yeares for Rachel was ineuitable yet being but a seruice and such a seruice it was tolerable Israels seruitude in the iron fornace was intolerable yet in regard of Gods promise to visit them it proued euitable But the things here propounded to Dauid in their nature were 1. intolerable Famine Sword Pestilence Secondly God that propounded them makes them ineuitable Chuse one Dauid is onely left happy in this that though he cannot chuse but hee must haue one yet hee may chuse which one he will haue That we may the better apprehend the Strait of Dauid Apoc. 6. I will briefely open three Seales where wee shall see the three Furies which Gad the Seer presents to Dauid to take a hard and haplesse choise of either of them First comes Famine riding vpon a pale Horse killing with hunger and with death Sometimes
clad in a roabe of immoderate raine and showers drowning the worlds plenty and the earths prouision Sometimes bearing on her shoulders heauens of brasse and treading vnder her feete the earth of iron Sometimes attended with Caterpillers innumerable to eat vp the fruits of the earth Pale and leane she is more then the picture of death Mors in illa as well as mors in olla and which is more genus miserabile lethi When God who giues to man the breath of life shall denie bread to maintaine life when Winter shall be turned into Summer and Summer into Winter Psal 127.2 when a man shall rise earlie and eate the bread of carefulnesse and at night be to care for his bread when men shall Sow much and bring in little Hag. 1.6 when the haruest shall be little and the labourers many when one shall plant another water and God shall denie increase is not this a great Strait And yet all these are but initia dolorum Ah my Lord now thinkes Dauid shall these eyes behold my poore Israel running and whining like dogs Psal 59 and cannot be satisfied Shall I see cleannesse of teeth and leannesse of body in all my Land Can I endure to see an Asses head sold for 80. pieces of siluer and a cab of doues doung for 20 pieces Shall I see a birth-right bidden for a messe of pottage and will not be taken Shall I behold my poore people like Pharaohs leane kine Shall I heare them crie Oh giue vs bread or we perish for hunger Shall I see mothers re-womb and re-entomb the fruit of their body for want of food Three yeeres Famine haue we felt already and a second siege will turn flesh and bloud into skinne and bone my people must become meat for wormes as hauing none for themselues This punishment is greater then can be borne This is too great a Strait The second Seale being opened forth comes Warre riding vpon a red Horse and he vnbridled A time when all things are carried by force of Armes and not of Reason A time wherein Pyrrhus regards not the aged head of Priam nor yet the sacred Altar whereto he flies A time wherein old Iacobs head is sent with sorrow to the graue and that not sine caede vulnere A time wherin Rachel may weepe for her children and will not be comforted because they are not A time Paradoxall vnto nature wherein Parents burie their Children A time when men must either fight and so runne vpon a sodaine death or flie and so lead a tedious life A time of out-cries of Fathers for their Children their liuely images when Widowes weepe for their second selues their husbands when Orphanes lament the losse of Parents their onely stayes when old men are comfortlesse widdowes helplesse children haplesse men women and children all hopelesse Dauid himselfe had been a Man of warre from his youth and had been eye-witnesse of the lamentable euents of Warre 1. Sam. 17. That he feared it not witnesse two hundred foreskinnes of the Philistines witnesse the fall of Goliah witnesse the sons of Ammon whom he put vnder axes sawes and harrowes Wheresoeuer he marched death and destruction mustered in his face Saul hath slaine a thousand but Dauid his ten thousand this was Vox populi and very true Well then thinkes Dauid I will fight three months with the proudest enemie that dare set foot vpō the land of Israel thus hauing thought he speakes Nay but Gad replies Dauid thou must not fight but flie three months Now then he is in a wonderfull Strait now his troubled soule cannot but presage much euill He vsed to pursue Psal 18.42 and now must he be pursued He did 〈◊〉 his enemies as small as the dust before the wind and now he must flie as dust before the wind If it were for a day hee might the better beare it though the Sunne should stand still to lengthen that day Ios 10. but three months will make the streetes of Ierusalem streame with bloud the people made a heape of dead bodies and the Citie a heape of stones God despited the people destroyed the Temple defiled Oh then I cannot endure this wondrous Strait Pone tertium O man of God let mee heare the third euill that though I haue done wickedly I may chuse wisely The third Seale being opened Pestilence issues forth vpon a blacke Horse killing with sicknesse and death This seemes to be the fairest choice as proceeding from the immediate hand of God and being but for three dayes and so shortest of continuance But yet it is a grieuous punishment Storehouses may serue against a Famine Dauids Citie wals or if not those his liuing walls his Souldiers his Worthies may meet his enemies in the gate but Pestilence flieth by night and killeth at noone day One cries Oh my brother come not nigh me for I am infected Another barr'd in by command shut vp by sicknesse and worse pend in by sorow cries out at a window O my Father O my brother either now breathing their last or by this time dead Some going if any so dare to the sad funerall of their friends before they returne to their owne home finde their long home O bellum Dei contrà homines The house may shield men and cattell from the hayle flight may saue from the Sword soiourning in another country may preserue from Famine but in this contagion at home our houses stifles vs abroad the ayre infects vs. Behold now beloued Dauids Strait If I should say no more oft his subiect this Citie knowes what kind of misery it is Etenim pars magna fuit How was it almost made desolate and her marchandize whilome like that of Tyrus almost decayed When hee that had walkt by night was in more feare to haue met the dead then the liuing A wofull time when there shall be more neede to weede the pauement then to mend it more cries of the Vespillo Who is here dead then of the Trades-man What doe ye lacke O time of desolation dulnesse and discontent Now I beseech you againe haue a regard of Dauids Strait and consider if euer sorrow were like vnto his sorrow wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the day of his wrath Lam. 1.12 Neuer could the irons enter so neare to the soule of Ioseph as this sorrow to the heart of Dauid See we now these three things propounded as Salomon said of the pleasures of the world Vanitie of vanities and all is vanitie so may Dauid say of the fruit of sinne death of deaths and all is death Saint Paul was in a wonderfull Strait betwixt two life and death Dauid is betwixt three and each is death Famin a pinching death Warre a cruell death Pestilence a noysome death Surely a most wonderfull Strait Now in the next place that which is vltimus aerumnae cumulus 2. Ineuitable and makes Dauid absolutely miserable that now he is like the Israelites
a wonderfull strait Had that wealth-famous Croesus had any more then an after-wit he had not in his extremity needed to cry Oh Solon Solon Had the Mariners beene ruled by Paul Acts 27.21 they had saued the wracke of their ship and the losse of the wheat As Martha said to Iesus Lord if thou hadst beene here my brother had not died so may I say of this and the like case had Prometheus beene there a wisedome to foresee and foresight to preuent neither would any men at other time or Dauid at this time haue fallen into this great strait Oh how the denunciation of Gods iudgements doth amaze and perplexe the soules of Gods seruants when they find no expiation or atonement for sinne Call me now no more Dauid beloued call me no more happy but hated What hard hap had Dauid that Gad the Seer was not a Pope If some Christian especially Antichristian Prince should haue the conscience to be troubled or wounded for such a sinne as this a Romish Bishop though neither Prophet nor Seer would haue taught him a tricke to haue auoided this strait Gad had no Commission to pardon but to tell Dauid of his sinne But now Omnia Romae vaenalia ipsa etiam venia est vaenalis Gad would not free Dauid for an Altar built in the flowre of Araunah the Iebusite Rome will nullifie a sinne and deifie a deuill for a contribution to a Iesuite and what Such a sinne as numbring the people Nay murder adultery incest rebellion and what not Surely then a Subsidie of Peter-pence throughout all the Land of Iudaea would haue freed them from this punishment If this be so that pradons are so frequent I must intreat his Holinesse to pardon me one thing namely in that I condemne and abhorre the sowre leauen of the Church of Rome and lest for want of iudgement and experience of their iugling my tongue may be thought no slaunder let any man with sounder iudgement and mature deliberation perpend their practices and hee shall ex vngue leonem make an easie coniecture that all their Religion is superstition their practices cleanly cosenage deepe hypocrisie and horrible abhomination My senses now tell me that many heare this and my Conscience tels me that I care not who hears it what is seated in my heart were it written in my forehead I vow that I haue lost the vse of that hand that should euer wipe it out and let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth if vpon iust occasion I spare or feare to tell the Church of Rome of their monstrous enormities and their strong delusions wherewith they fill the Popes coffers with gold their Clergy with glory and the vnderstanding world with wonder Durst Gad blesse when God did curse or pronounce peace when God proclaimed warre but this is the impiety of that man of sinne to exalt himselfe not onely as Lusifer to make his seat with the most high but to make his Apostolicall seat aboue Christ and to exalt himselfe aboue all that is called God Ego Rex meus argued in the proud Cardinall little pollicy but Ego Deus meus argues in that Romish Prelate but little piety If euer any man grow weary of that Christian liberty wherein Christ Iesus hath placed him I wish him no other seruitude then a Romish yoake or if any man will cancell his sense and reason so farre as to be ruled by them I dare pawne my hand that too much learning will neuer make him mad I conclude this point with a Tridentine phrase * Forma Tridentina Materia Angelicana Whosoeuer shall beleeue that the Pope of Rome hath any more power of pardoning sinnes but onely ministeriall that is where God hath first pardoned and giuen warrant by his word to haue it pronounced by the Minister Anathema esto The position is true according to our doctrine the conclusion shall bee theirs that made it I hope not for ours but rather for their owne vse Concerning the point thus much Fumo pereant qui fumum vendunt S. Peters keyes are now abused by popish pick locks if these men belong to God I beseech him pardon them effectually for pardoning so many for so much to so little purpose The third generall point How Dauid tooke it Quantapatiētia pertulit When Gad had brought this message to Dauid in the morning next his heart we cannot but thinke that he tooke it much to heart but yet he so demeaned himselfe that though the message was grieuous yet the messenger was welcome He deales not like the impious sonne of Nebat 1. Reg. 13.4.1 Reg. 22.8 to bid lay hands vpon the Prophet nor doth he hate him as Ahab did Michaiah because he prophecied euill and not good but considers him as the voice of a crier and the messenger of the high GOD not imputing so much to Gad as the troubling of Israel And though Dauid was not Timon-like to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as desirous to see misery and mortality amongst men yet he thought this word though harsh of it selfe to bee good as being the word of the Lord he neither can nor will challenge God as vniust nor the Prophet as vnfaithfull in his message but to shew himselfe a man after Gods owne heart in saying nothing hee seemes to consent vnto God as Eli did 1. Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good O iust God O faithfull Gad O patient Dauid Now could I wish that this patient spirit of Dauid were doubled vpon all the sinfull sonnes of this generation who are so farre from patient hearing of Gods iudgements denounced that their eares are grated if not stopt at the Rehearsall Sermon of their sinnes Surely if reprofe vexe them to the heart as it did Ahab tydings of iudgement will break their necks 1. Sam. 4.18 as it fared with olde Eli. Is it not from hence that men are of that impatient and gun powder humour because they loue not to heare of their faults Is it not hence that the Ministers of God are so much discouraged Is it not hence that like Ionah men had rather turne mariners then Ministers Without any further question hence comes impenitence euen from impatience hence custome and obduration in Sin hence in a word comes that which a religious soule cannot but see the Land deserueth to mourn for Some Seers are so choakt with a Church and a Steeple that they cannot of all other language pronounce Sinne in a Patron Some dare not aduenture to displease a great one yea whosoeuer shall dare like Tarquin to strike at the heads of the tallest poppies 1. Sam. 15. or like Samuel at the head of Agag at their greatest sin shal in the wise censure of some be thought to babble beside his Text or be enrolled in the blacke booke neuer to haue fauour at their hands A true Aristotelian will neuer wonder at the irregular motion of the
Orbes if the Intelligences faile in their mouing office nor can I wonder at the inordinate actions of this sublunarie world when Gods Intelligencers dare not tell Israel of her sinne Isa 58.1 and Iudah of her transgressions Now if I durst aduenture I could put some into a wonderfull Strait and bring some soules before the iustice of God whom the opinion of the world hath openly quitt Should I say that Simon Magus is turned a great Patron of Benefices amongst vs and that his bosome-seruant Quid dabis were a disposer of Liuings I know not how this Age would take it Should I say that some gallants weare Vicars cloathes or spend the Clergies bookes in yellow ruffes they may perhaps haue pepper in the nose as well as Cloues in their bands Or should I condemne the generall Apostacie of the world from that good estate and plight wherein our Fathers haue knowne it some Stoicall Athenian may iustly as his wisedome thinketh aske what will this babbler say If they or any of them will needes know then this I say and yet not I but others whose shooe latchets I am not worthy to loose that for the particular sinne of Sacriledge all that is so gotten is aurum Tholossanum and that all the bread at such Patrons tables are cheat loaues And for the generall estate of the whole world as one sayd bitterly of Rome probabilius est strui nouam quam emendare antiquam more like to haue a new Rome built then the old to be amended so I say of the world that it is more probable sooner to see it changed in substance then in manners in regard that so farre as I see the world is likely sooner to cease to be then to be wicked and hence is nostri mundi calamitas that men had rather ten times commit one sinne then once heare of ten sinnes Dauid tooke all in good part that Gad spake though it were neuer so harsh and blamed none but himselfe for being brought into this Strait I would that all that heare me this day were herein not almost but altogether such as Dauid then would Herod heare the reproofe of Iohn Baptist gladly then would euery man so heare the word as to amend his life according to the word then would God be honoured his Ministers comforted and the World well amended But if the dease Adder will not heare when wee charme the world with zeale and discretion happily vnited then the Lord commands to cry aloud and spare not to lift vp our voyces like a trumpet Luk. 18.1 and to deale as that oppressed widow moue them with vncessant preaching and to be bolde as Lyons in Gods cause Let Peter tell Simon Magus plainely Act. 8.23 Acts 13.10 that he is in the gall of bitternesse and the bond of iniquitie Let Paul tell Elymas the sorcerer that he is the child of the diuell if he be full of all wickednesse We must learne of Gad not spare to speake though we spare to speed And all godly and conscionable hearers must learne of Dauid to heare with quietnes to beare with patience and to mend with willingnes As Dauid chides not with Gad so he quarrels not with God and though as our Prouerb goes losers must haue leaue to speake yet hee though I suppose his heart waxed hote within him neuer spake with his lips to iustifie himselfe Psal 39. Thus might his Pharifaicall thoughts haue suggested Ah my Lord I haue a long time gone in and out before this thy people O Lord thou knowest that I loue thee and haue with all my heart sticken to thy testimonies I haue had so great a care of my wayes as not to offend in my tongue O thou Lord good and gracious full of mercy and compassion is thy mercy cleane forgotten or shall all the former passage of my life be too little to expiate one small sinne Thou madest proffer of mercy to fiue Cities for ten righteous and wilt thou not spare one man for one sinne Thou that pardonest such a number of sinnes to thy people wilt thou not pardon such a sinne as numbring of the people Thus might Dauid seem to haue pleaded for himselfe Apud Linium Tullus an interpreter of the Law hauing pleaded for the life of Horatius who had murdered his Sister and not preuailing the Father of this Horatius demands of the Romans whether they could lead his sonne to death but his owne demerits and valiant acts would euen giue a dumbe shew to haue his life saued So might humane iudgement had it now beene Aduocate haue pleaded for Dauid but it would not haue preuailed nor haue beene a sufficient baile to haue freed Dauid from this vnsuspected Sinne and vnexpected sorrow Now he that hath an eare to heare a heart to consider and a memory to remember cannot in sense but heare in reason he must vnderstand and vnlesse he will forget himselfe remember this for his instruction Doctr. That the waight of mans merit is not sufficient by many graines to counterpoise the burden of one wilfull sinne if God be extreame to enter into iudgement with the Sonnes of men though they be such as are indeed the Sonnes of God How faire soeuer the preceedent part of their liues haue been both in their publique and priuate callings yet that great King of heauen who can espie one man amongst many without a wedding garment can in his omniscience and may and doth often in his iustice enter into iudgement for the commission of one sinne especially if wilfull as was this of Dauid as we see in the Church of Ephesus Reu. 2.2 though laudable for her workes her labour her patience and perseuerance yet there is a something that God hath against her for which he will remoue the Candlesticke out of his place except she repent Many plankes well pind and calkt make the Ship to float one and but one leake will sincke it One wound may strike Goliah dead as well as three and twenty did Caesar Sam. 17. Sueton. Iudg. 16.18 One Dalilah will doe Sampson as much spight as all the Philistims One wheele broken spoiles all the whole clocke One veines bleeding will let out the vitall spirits as well as more One flie will spoile a whole boxe of ointment 1 Reg. 49. One hearb Colloquintida spoiles all the pottage One Apple lost Adam the pleasant Paradise 1 Sam. 14.27 One licke of honey endangered the life of Ionathan One Achan was a trouble to all Israel Ios 7.25 One Ionah if faulty Ionah 17. is lading too heauy for a whole Shippe And one sinne is enough to procure Gods anger and too much for a man to commit Reason Now that God may not be challenged of any iniustice as though hee would easily picke a quarrell with men Iam. 2.10 heare what S. Iames auerreth That he that failes in one point is guilty of all A stone cast into the midst of the
water troubles euery part of the water euen to the very banke But I speake not this as if any man hauing committed one sinne should in a desperate moode aduenture the committing of more because when he hath done all he can but be found guilty and so punished God forbid that any man should heare like Malchus with his left eare only But this is my drift if it were possible to deterre and affright the hearer from countenancing or giuing the least entertainment to the least sinne whatsoeuer or the least motion of that sinne As it was spoken in another case Ex pessimo genere ne catulus quidem educandus So I say in regard of the purity of God who can abide no sin and his iustice which may punish euery sin let vs not giue way to any sin And if God thus take account of one sinne let vs take heed of all sinne as being accomptable for in Gods sight One sinne a small sinne in mans iudgement may procure and prouoke God to send a heauy iudgement Secondly we may here obserue the impartiall hand of God may not Dauid be spared for a sinne true it is veniam laeso numine nullus habet Conijah if he offend though he were the Signet on Gods right hand Ier. 22.24 God will cut him off Neuer was any sinne committed but must be punished either in the sinner or in the Sauiour and though it be quoad aeternam poenam pardoned and punished in the Saniour yet it stands with the iustice of God temporally to punish a little sinne in a great Saint yea one onely sinne though in his owne children Dauid is noted but for one sinne before and for that one his one child borne in adulterie died Which kind of proceeding in almighty God though it may seeme harsh and bitter as the waters of Marah yet hence it doth receiue its dulcoration in that it proceeds from a blessed trinity of attributes in almighty God his iustice his holinesse his wisedome Iustice punishing one sinne his holinesse brooking no sinne his wisedome preuenting many sinnes all concurring in one act of punishing His Holinesse that holy holy holy Lord God of Sabaoth requires holy thoughts holy words holy actions and therefore any thing that is vnholy must needs grieue his holy spirit and that not only in Cain Saul Iudas Iulian c. vessels of wrath and sonnes of perdition but also in the vessels of honor the heyres of grace nay further taking indeed the matter more hainously at their hands As we reade of Caesar who of so many wounds giuen him at his death complained of none but of Brutus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and thou my son So for Ierusalem to play the harlot the holy City become a cage of vncleant birds he will neuer endure As one good motion and inclination in the young Man made Christ begin to loue him Mat. 19. and the sparkes of goodnesse shining were wel-pleasing vnto him though the young man were not right So on the contrary one euill admitted and perpetrated by a child of God makes God in his holinesse dislike and distaste though not absolutely and finally the person yet the sinne by whomsoeuer committed nor can there bee any peace betwixt a righteous God and a wretched sinner His wisedome who seeing sinne the daughter of impunity and the fruitfull mother of such a damned brood doth principiis obstare killing this Cockatrice in the egge and preuenting this dangerous and farre-creeping fire before it run too farre and rage too sore dealing as a wise father with his child who breakes him of his vntoward disposition before it grow to a setled habit men are of that disposition which God complaines of Psal 50.15 These things hast thou done and I held my peace and thou thoughtst I was euen such a one as thy selfe and therefore it followes I will reprooue thee and set before thy face in order the things that thou hast done If hee should not aurem vellere and make his iudgements the remora's of sinne either the God of Iacob would be thought not to regard it or the reuenging arme to be shortened or else that God laying aside his holinesse did in part begin to approue those of which his soule hath said heretofore I hate them The least of which three gaps being layd open the Gadarens Swine ranne not so fast and headlong into the Sea as men would poast and precipitate themselues to the bottomlesse gulfe of Hell His Iustice who though he loue his Saints with an Eternall loue yet is not bound to the tolleration of the least nor the conniuencie at any sinne but on Gods part that he may declare his iustice and on their parts that they are Sonnes and not bastards Heb. 12.8 doth afflict correct and chastise them and though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a finall and destroying punishment be properly the portion of the wicked yet his iudgements 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for instruction and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for warning and example are no more often then iustly let loose vpon his owne Children and albeit God hath promised to spare them yet hee will but spare as a man doth his Sonne not to free from a fatherly correction but from scourges and whips which are onely for the backs of fooles and wounds which are for the hairie scalpes of such as goe on in their wickednesse Psal 68.21 So then his holinesse his iustice and his wisdome being the mouing causes of this action we must in such a case with Iob lay our hand vpon our mouth and with old Eli rest contented It is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good Now if iudgement beginne at the house of God 1. Pet. 4.17.18 Psal 130.3 and if the righteous shall not be spared what shall become of them what shall be their end that obey not the Gospell of God Psal 116.15 If thou Lord be extreame to marke what is done amisse yea by thy Saints so deare and pretious in thine eyes yea the very apples of thine eyes Oh what a fearefull expectation is it of iudgement and fierce indignation Heb. 10.27 which shall destroy the aduersaries of God If Dauid fell into this great strait for one Sinne what shall be done to Edom Moab and Tyrus Amos 1.9.12 2.2 for three transgressions and for foure but fire a destroying fire which shall consume Teman of the Edomites Kerioth of the Moabites and the walls of Tyrus If Dauid be auenged seuen-fold surely the vngodly that drinke in sinne like water and draw iniquitie with cordes of vanity shall be auenged seuenty times seuen fold If this be done to a green tree what shall be done to a drie tree Consider and I beseech you againe consider and remember this you that forget God you whose liues are nothing but a continuall rebellion and grieuing of the spirit of God To you I speake quorum etiam laudabilis vita damnabilis est si
cum Dauide conferatur those whose most laudable part of their liues are odious if any way paralleld with Dauid If no sighes or teares or prayers could expiate his sin or diuert Gods iustly conceiued displeasure I say to them and yet not I but the spirit of God himself that albeit they shall hide themselues in dens Reu. 6.15 and in the rocks of the mountains that neither rocks nor mountaines though they should fall vpon them shal be able to hide them from the face of him that sitteth vpon the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe If the meditation of this were seated in the hearts of vngodly and wicked men although no son-like yet euen a slauish feare would curbe and bridle the vntamed colts of the world when they shall consider how in euery sin they doe but heape vp wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 and reuelation of the righteous iudgement of God This being duly considered he that is vniust would scarse continue vniust still nor he that is filthy to be filthy still But hee that is holy would be holy still De libero arbitrio lib. 3. cap. 15 he that is righteous would be righteous still For as Augustine Qui non reddit Deo faciendo quod debet reddet ei patiendo quod debet Whoso doth not what he should shall suffer what he would not But lest while I keepe Dauid in this strait I should runne too much at large I come now in the last place to the bailing of this prisoner out of the tedious little-ease and to shew vnto you in the fourth circumstance propounded how he freed himself and with how much wisedom Qua prudentia euaserit Redimit se sapiens captum quam queat minimo When Iulian was opposed by the hand of heauen he was so obdurate in his Sinne that Vicisti Gelilaee and his bloud came out together this was horrible obstinacie 1. Sam. 31 4. When Saul was in a Strait he fell on his owne sword and dyed that was desperation 2. Chron. 28.22 When Ahaz felt the hand of God he sinned more and more this was flat rebellion Plutarch None of these courses like or please Dauid but as Theseus in the Labyrinth gate out by the helpe of Ariadnes Clew so Dauid by the guidance and direction of the Spirit of God and by spirituall Wisedome freed himselfe from this great Strait Some Hebrewes imagine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the last word of Gad in propounding gaue Dauid some hint and direction for his choyce because the same word Dabhar with some changing of points signifieth the Pestilence which in Gads speech signifieth indeed onely What word shall I carry him that sent me Dr Willet in locum and this by a reuerend and learned Diuine of our owne is worthily refused because Dauid was a prudent and wise man and needed not any direction for such a choyce But now Dauid being hard put to it thinkes with himselfe As I haue done foolishly in committing the sin I would faine deale wisely in the choyce of the punishment As hee that is immured within some high wall will make choyce of the lowest part to leape ouer Thus then he resolues I am indeede straited Lupum auribus â—eneo Now as ex duobus malis minus so ex tribus minimum est eligendum If I choose Warre I feare many enemies to offend me now melius est timere vnum quam multos If I choose Pestilence I feare but one If I choose Famine the poore will pay for it If Warre the weakest go to the walls Now Gad I am resolued tell the Lord that sent thee this is my answere Let vs now fall into the hands of God for his mercies are great and not into the hands of men In which choyce we cannot but obserue first Dauids Charitie secondly his Piety thirdly his Wisedome Charity Oftentimes yea and too often delirunt Reges plectuntur Achiui Dauid had now offended these poore sheepe of Israel what had they done Hee offers himselfe and his fathers house verse 17. for a peace offering but sith it is commune malum by Gods immutable decree he chooseth that euill wherein hee may be socius doloris willing indeed to beare a part in this doleful Tragedy neuer desiring like the Mariners to scape a generall danger in a cock-boat Act. 27.30 but offering himselfe to be a sharer in the present danger by chusing an euill which doth aequo pede pulsare pauperum tabernas Regumque turres We read of Cardinall Albert Ioh. Petit. hist Netherlands Iuven. Sat. 10. that at Newport battaile in Flaunders hee forsooke his armie and fled to Brussels and of Xerxes that he fledde vix vna naue cruentis fluctibus c. but Dauid more charitablie stayes the brunt and equals his weale or woe with his subiects whom his Sinne had brought to this extremitie His Pietie Warre would without resistance haue prooued but a massacre and this now French-tricke would haue made the field a shambles and turned the flourishing cities of Israel into Golgotha a place of skulls and into Aceld ama a field of bloud And the insulting enemie would haue spread their banners in defiance of the Lord this would haue cut Dauid to the heart to haue seene not onely the place of his honour made a reproach but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his own honor into shame for though his enemies had beene but the rod of Gods furie they would haue ascribed their victory to the power and mercy of their gods as once the Philistims did to Dagon and so haue robbed God of the honour due vnto his Name which Dauid most deerely tendring Iud. 16.24 chose rather to haue God the auenger of his own quarrell then to haue the daughters of the vncircumcised either reuell in the ruins of Israel or take away the glory of God which he will giue to none other His Wisedome not grounding his choyce vpon Sands as a foolish builder or vpon stat pro ratione voluntas like an vntuterd moralist nor yet vpon a bare Theorie or contemplation as the naturalist but vpon a setled and grounded experience of the mercies of God Which he knowes so well that his knowledge doth apprehend them and his tongue dare boldly pronounce them that his mercies are great or as the Originall in the discrete quantity they are many Nor doth hee choose to fall into the hands of God because his iudgements are few but because his mercies are many Note But why now speakes Dauid of Gods mercies when God is now bent to punish and it seemes hath forgotten to be gracious Because that God in the very act of administring iustice and punishing his children doth shew and set forth no small measure of his goodnesse and mercy If any shall demaund as Nicodemus in another case how can these things be doe but see and you shall vnderstand doe but obserue and you will consent
That the motto of the most afflicted soule may be The mercies of our God are great The rather for these reasons following In the act of punishing God punisheth a little and pardoneth a great deale not suiting his plagues according to our deserts for then wee should be consumed but as a louing and mercifull Creditor when the debtor owes an hundred bids him take his pen and write fiftie or at the most foure score nay indeede not taking so much as fiue in the hundred of his debtors cutting off onely the hemme of our garment or the skirt of our rayment when we owe vnto him our soules as forfeit by reason of our transgression Any sinne committed against our infinite God deserues an infinite punishment If God therefore shall abate eternitie and send vs punishment is not his mercy great If when we deserue many stripes he giues vs but stripes is not his mercy great for man in this kind would haue had the vtmost farthing In the end of punishing farre is it from God to ayme at the destruction of his people nay hee aymes at their instruction that they might learne to keepe his Statutes and Commandements And whereas an enemie would funditus delere nocentem that his name Esa 55.8 nor the name of Israel might be had no more in remembrance Gods wayes are not as mens wayes God indeede sometimes destroyes the body that he may saue the soule he punisheth his children with the world that they may not be condemned with the world Others take vengeance out of hatred God out of his loue Castigans non quod odio habeat sed quod amet The originall of this action being so farre different must of necessitie suppose a contrary end A great Armada preuailing kills vp all A Powder-treason vndiscouered blowes vp all Ab vno intenditur ruina ab altero doctrina God meanes good man meanes mischiefe In the manner of punishing Gods mercies are great Albeit the iustice of God be mooued and his patience prouoked and though with men Laesa patientia vertitur in furorem Patience prouoked turnes to furie and yet not furor breuis a short furie but an irreconcileable hatred Yet God though offended will not alwaies be chiding Psal 103.9 neither keepeth he his anger for euer yea although he whet his sword and bend his bow and make ready his arrowes yet a poore soule may haue a present appeale a Deo irato ad Deum placatum being so appeasable and facile vnto such as shall vpon the bended knees of their soules sue out grace and pardon by renouncing of their sinnes and relying vpon his great mercies Nay the Lord himselfe of himselfe in this present plague without any intreaty to the comfort of penitent sinners I speake it did commaund the destroying Angell to hold his hand as grieuing to see the misery of his people and that so soon that Dauid had not time to offer any sacrifice propitiatorie but at the ceasing of the plague a free-will offering gratulatory for the remouall of so heauy a iudgement In this very punishment the Lord is more then iustifiable in all his wayes and holy in all his works and had he now decreed that whatsoeuer was left of the famine the sword should destroy and whatsoeuer was left of the sword the pestilence should destroy and so haue sent althose three furies of hell at once to haue assailed Israel what cursed Atheist durst haue said or thought but the Lord is iuste but now hehold him also mercifull he opens but one Seale sends but one punishment Nor is that positiuely set downe or cald out by name to enter combat with Israel but left arbitrary to Dauid Chuse one It is much if beggers may be chusers more if sinners Traian intending the death of Seneca bade him make choyce of the manner of his death Traian was cruell in his decree though kind in such a proffer God not cruell but mercifull vnto all his workes makes Dauid heere pronounce the sentence of iudgement Chuse one Is not heere great mercy Now Seneca in his wisedome chose the easiest to bleed to death in a bath and Dauid now hauing considered the mercies of God great of themselues but yet greater if compared with the mercies of men chuseth to fall into the hands of God who is iust and mercifull in the act of punishment gracious and mercifull in the end of punishment patient and merciful in his manner of punishment and lastly exceeding mercifull in this very punishment As the great mercies of God may iustly prouoke our admiration so Dauids wise choyce may be iustified as Christ did that of Mary he chose the better part Luk. 10.42 to fall into Gods hands whose mercies are great Can we now but wonder at Dauids choyce when all things considered ipsa iustitia Dei sit misericordia Foolish and vnfortunate was the ingresse into this sinne but most prudent and happy the euasion out of it Obiect But how was it so happy seeing the Apostle to affright from Sinne determines and defines It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God Heb. 10.31 After that I haue serued necessity in the reconciling these two places I must obey the time Thus then briefely Resp 1 Two things must here be considered First of what maner of sinne and sinners the Apostle speaketh Willet vbi supra namely of those that tread vnder foote the Sonne of God that count the bloud of the Couenant wherewith he was sanctified an vnholy thing and haue despited the spirit of grace as appeareth verse 29. But Dauids case and theirs are not alike his was a Sinne but of a child of God it was a Sinne but of infirmity Theirs are Sinnes but Sinnes of reprobates theirs are Sinnes but of that nature that the first is intolerable the second is like vnto it abhominable and the third as Christ the truth it selfe hath pronounced impardonable either in this world or in the world to come That is sauing Bellarmines patience they shall not haue any sense or feeling of pardon in this world Explic. locus Mat. 12.32 or benefite of remission of sinnes in the world to come or as our Church in shorter termes neuer Here then is the case It is one case to appeare before a temporal Iudge as a malefactor in wrong or violence to my neighbour which may be answered and auoyded by some legall meanes or if not the punishment may extend to losse of goods or good name and not touch life It is another case when a man shall appeare as guilty of that roaring sin of Treason against his Soueraigne a monstrous sinne worthy ten thousand deaths if a malefactor had so many liues what a wofull and fearefull case is this So it is one thing to sinne and another thing to sinne with so high an hand and herein it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God The Apostle speakes not of