Conscience in the Iudge Right so if in many things Gods proceedings hold not proportion with those characters of Iustice and Equitie which our weake and carnall reason would expresse wee must thence inferre our owne ignorance not his iniustice And that so much the rather because those matters of Law are such as fall within the comprehension of ordinary reason whereas the wayes of God are farre remoued out of our sight and aduanced aboue our reach and besides an earthly Iudge is subiect to misprision mis-information partiality corruption and sundrie infirmities that may vitiate his proceedings whereas no such thing can possibly fall vpon the diuine Nature Dauid hath taught vs in the Psalme that c Psal. 36.6 the righteousnesse of God is as the great mountaines and his iudgements as the great deepe A great mountaine is eath to bee seene a man that will but open his eyes cannot ouerlooke it but who can see into the bottome of the Sea or finde out what is done in the depths thereof Whatsoeuer wee doe then let vs beware wee measure not d Esay 55.8.9 his wayes by our wayes nor his workes by our workes howsoeuer they seeme to swerue from the rules of our wayes and workes yet still e Psal. 145.17 the Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his workes Though we cannot fathom the deepes of his iudgements for f Ioh. 4.11 the Well is deepe and wee haue not wherewithall to draw yet let the assurance of the righteousnesse of all his proceedings stand firme and manifest as the mountaines which can neither be remoued nor hid but stand fast rooted for euermore This wee must rest vpon as a certaine Truth howsoeuer whomsoeuer whensoeuer God punisheth he is neuer vniust The second Certainty §. 4. The second Certainty concerning temporall To speake of Punishments properly no temporall euill is simply and de toto genere a punishment By temporall euills I vnderstand all the penall euils of this life that doe or may befall vs from our bodily conception to our bodily deaths inclusivè hunger cold nakednesse sicknesses infirmities discontents reproaches pouerty imprisonments losses crosses distresses death and the rest in a word all that a Eccles. 1.13 sore trauell which God hath giuen to the sonnes of man to be exercised therewith and that b Sirac 40.1 heauy yoke which is vpon the sonnes of Adam from the day that they goe out of their mothers wombe till the day that they returne to the mother of all things I say none of all these are properly and de toto genere to bee accounted punishments For to make a thing simply and properly and formally a Punishment there are required these three conditions 1. that it bee painefull and grieuous to suffer 2. that it be inflicted for some fault 3. that it bee inuoluntary and against the sufferers will That which hath but the first of these three conditions may be called after a sort and truely too Malum Poenae a kinde of Punishment But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and properly that Euill only is a Punishment wherein the whole three conditions concurre Now these temporall Euills though they haue the two first conditions all of them being grieuous to suffer all of them being inflicted for sinne yet in the third condition they faile because they are not inuoluntary simply and perpetually and de suo genere inuoluntary to omit also a kinde of failing in the second condition not but that they are euer inflicted for some sinne deseruing them but for that there are withall other ends and reasons for which they are inflicted and wherunto they are intended besides and aboue the punishment of the offence It may not bee gainesaid indeed but these things are inuoluntary sometimes in the particular and especially to some men euen the least of them but simply and vniuersally such they are not since by other-some men the greatest of them are willingly and cheerefully not only suffered but desired Not but that they are grieuous to the best It must needes bee some griefe as to the Merchant to see his rich lading cast ouer-board and to the Patient to haue an old festered sore searched and sindged so to the Christian to haue Gods correcting hand lye heauy vpon him in some temporall affliction The Apostle telleth vs plainely c Heb. 12.11 No affliction for the present is ioyous but grieuous But inuoluntary it is no more in him than those other things are in them As therefore the Merchant though it pittie his heart to see so much wealth irrecouerably lost yet getteth the best helpe and vseth the best speede he can to empty the vessell of them for the sauing of his life and as the Patient though d est planè quasi saeuitia medicina de scalpâ—llâ— Non tamen secari ideirco malum quia dolores vtiles affert vlulans ille gemens mugiens inter manus medici postmodum easdem mercede cumulabit Tertullian in Scorp cap. 5. hee smart when the wound is dressed yet thanketh and seeth the Surgion for his paynes in hope of future ease so the Christian though these temporall euills somewhat trouble him yet he is willing to them and he is cheerefull vnder them and he acknowledgeth Gods goodnesse in them and returneth him thankes for them because hee knoweth they are sent for his future good and that they will at the last e Heb 12.11 yeeld them the peaceable fruite of righteousnesse when they shall haue beene sufficiently exercised therby See f Act. 5.41 Peter and Iohn reioycing when they suffered for the name of Iesus and S t Paul so farre from fearing that g Phil. 1.23 hee longed after his disolution and the blessed Martyrs running to a faggot as to a feast Verily Gods children see great good in these things which others account euills and therefore they take them not as bare punishments sent to afflict them but as glorious tryalls to exercise them as gracious corrections to humble them as precious receipts to purge and recouer and restore and strengthen them So that it is not any of the temporall evills of this life §. 5. and Eternall punishments but much rather the euerlasting paines of hell wherein the just reward and punishment of sinne properly and especially consisteth a Rom. 6.23 The wages of sinne is Death the proper wages of sinne eternall death For so the Antithesis in that place giueth it to be vnderstood viz. of such a death as is opposed to Eternall life and that is Eternall Death The wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is Eternall life Rom. 6. By the distribution of those Eternall punishments then wee are rather to judge of Gods righteousnesse in recompencing sinners than by the dispensation of these temporall euills It was a stumbling blocke to the b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marmoreo tumulo Licinus jacet at Cato paruo Pompeius nullo
Credimus esse Deos Vario See Plat. de leg Cic. 3. de Nat. deor Senec. de prouid Aug. 3. de lib. arb 2. Menand apud Stob. Serm. 104. heathen to see good men oppressed and vice prosper it made them doubt some whether there were a God or no others nothing better whether a prouidence or no. But what maruell if they stumbled who had no right knowledge either of God or of his prouidence when Iob and Dauid and other the deare children of God haue beene much puzzled with it Dauid confesseth in Psal. 73. that c Psal. 73.23 his feete had welnigh slipped when hee saw the prosperity of the wicked and certainty downe he had beene had hee not happily stepped d Ibid. 17. into the Sanctuary of God and there vnderstood the end of these men Temporall euills though they be sometimes punishments of sinne yet they are not euer sent as punishments because sometimes they haue other ends and vses and are ordinabilia in melius and secondly they are neuer the onely punishments of sinne because there are greater and more lasting punishments reserued for sinners after this life of which there is no other vse or end but to punish since they are not ordinabilie in melius If we will make these temporall euills the measure whereby to judge of the Iustice of God wee cannot secure our selues from erring dangerously Gods purposes in the dispensation of these vnto particular men being vnsearchable But those euerlasting punishments are they wherein Gods Iustice shall be manifested to euery eye in due time at that last day which is therefore called by S t Paul Rom. 2. e Rom 2.5 the day of wrath and of the reuelation of the righteous iudgment of God Implying that howsoeuer God is just in all his iudgements and acts of prouidence euen vpon earth yet the Counsells and Purposes of God in these things are often secret and past our finding out but at the last great day when f Ibid. 6. he shall render to euery man according to his workes his euerlasting recompence then his vengeance shall manifest his wrath and the righteousnesse of his iudgement shall be reuealed to euery eye in the condigne punishment of vnreconciled sinners That is the second Certainety Temporall euills are not alwayes nor simply nor properly the punishments for sinne If any man shall be yet vnsatisfied §. 6. the third certainety that all Euills of Paine and desire to haue Gods Iustice somewhat farther cleared euen in the disposing of these temporall things although it be neither safe nor possible for vs to search farre into particulars yet some generall satisfaction we may haue from a third Certainety and that is this Euery euill of Paine whatsoeuer it be or howsoeuer considered which is brought vpon any man is brought vpon him euermore for sinne yea and that also for his owne personall sinne Euery branch of this assertion would be well marked I say first Euery Euill of Paine whatsoeuer it be whether naturall defects and infirmities in soule or body or outward afflictions in goods friends or good name whether inward distresses of an afflicted or terrours of an affrighted conscience whether temporall or eternall Death whether euills of this life or after it or whatsoeuer other euill it be that is any way greiuous to any man euery such euill is for sinne §. 7. â—owsoeuer considered I Say secondly euery euill of paine howsoeuer considered whether formally and sub ratione poenae as the proper effect of Gods vengeance and wrath against sinne or as a fatherly correction and chasticement to nurture vs for some past sinne or as a medicinall preseruatiue to strengthen vs against some future sinne or as a clogging chaine to keepe vnder and disable vs from some outward worke of sinne or as a fit matter and obiect whereon to exercise our Christian graces of faith charity patience humility and the rest or as an occasion giuen and taken by Almighty God for the greater manifestation of the glory of his Wisedome and Power and Goodnesse in the remoueal of it or as an act of Exemplary iustice for the admonition and terrour of others or for whatsoeuer other end purpose or respect it be inflicted §. 8. are for the siâ—ne I say thirdly Euery such euill of paine is brought vpon vs for sinne There may be other ends there may be other occasions there may be other vses of such Euills but still the originall Cause of them all is sinne a Psal. 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sinne It was not for any b Ioh. 9.2.3 extraordinary notorious sinnes either of the blinde man himselfe or of his parents aboue other men that he was borne blinde Our Sauiour Christ acquitteth them of that Ioh. 9. in answer to his Disciples who were but too forward as God knoweth most men are to iudge the worst Our Sauiours answer there neuer intended other but that still the true cause deseruing that blindenesse was his and his parents sinne but his purpose was to instruct his Disciples that that infirmitie was not laid vpon him rather than vpon another man meerely for that reason because he or his parents had deserued it more than other men but for some farther ends which God had in it in his secret and euerlasting purpose and namely this among the rest that the workes of God might be manifest in him and the Godhead of the sonne made glorious in his miraculous cure As in Nature the intention of the c see Arist. 2. Phys. End doth not ouerthrow but rather suppose the necessity of the Matter so is it in the workes of God and the dispensations of his wonderfull prouidence It is from Gods Mercy ordering them to those Ends he hath purposed that his punishments are good but it is withall from our sinnes deseruing them as the Cause that they are iust euen as the raine that falleth vpon the earth whether it moisten it kindly and make it fruitfull or whether it choake and slocken and drowne it yet still had its beginning from the vapours which the earth it selfe sent vp All those Euills which fall so daily and thicke vpon vs from heauen whether to warne vs or to plague vs are but arrowes which our selues first shot vp against heauen and now drop downe againe with doubled force vpon our heads Omnis poena propter culpam all Euills of paine are for the euills of sinne §. 9. of the sufferer I say fourthly All such Euils are for our owne sins The Scriptures are plaine a 1 Pet. 1.17 God iudgeth euery man according to his own workes b Gal. 6.5 Euery man shall beare his owne burden c. God hath enioyned it as a Law for Magistrates wherein they haue also his example to lead them that c Deut. 24.16 not the fathers for the children nor the children for the fathers but euery man should be put to death for his own
the mischiefe of it the Sinne in the Doer the Iniurie to the Sufferer the Mischiefe to the Common-wealth Euerie false report raised in iudgement besides that it is a lye and euerie lye is a sinne against the truth a Wisd. 1.11 slaying the soule of him that maketh it and b Apoc 22.15 excluding him from heauen and binding him ouer vnto c Apoc. 21.8 the second death it is also a pernicious lye and that is the worst sort of lyes and so a sinne both against Charitie and Iustice. Which who so committeth let him neuer looke to d Psal. 15.1.3 dwell in the Tabernacle of God or to rest vpon his holy Mountaine God hauing threatned Psal. 50. to take speciall knowledge of this sinne and though hee seeme for a time to dissemble it yet at last to reproue the bold offender to his face e Psal. 50.19 21. Thou fatest and spakest against thy brother yea and hast slandered thine owne mothers sonne These things hast thou done and I held my tongue and thou thoughtest wickedly that I was euen such a one as thy selfe but I will reproue thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done §. 14. 2. from the Wrong And as for the Iniurie done hereby to the grieued partie it is incomparable If a man haue his house broken or his purse taken from him by the high way or sustaine anie wrong or losse in his person goods or state otherwise by fraud or violence or casualtie he may possibly eyther by good fortune heare of his owne againe and recouer it or he may haue restitution and satisfaction made him by those that wronged him or by his good industry and prouidence he may liue to see that losse repaired and be in as good state as before But hee that hath his Name and Credite and Reputation causlesly called into question sustaineth a losse by so much greater than anie theft by how much a Pro. 21.1 a good name is better than great riches A man may out-weare other iniuries or out-liue them but a defamed person no acquittall from the Iudge no satisfaction from the Accuser no following endeuours in himselfe can so restore in integrum but that when the wound is healed hee shall yet carrie the markes and the scarres of it to his dying day §. 15. 3. from the mischiefes Great also are the mischiefes that hence redound to the Common-wealth When no innocencie can protect an honest quiet man but euerie busie base fellow that oweth him a spite shall be able to fetch him into the Courts draw him from the necessary charge of his family and duties of his calling to an vnnecessarie expence of money and time torture him with endlesse delayes and expose him to the pillage of euerie hungrie officer It is one of the grieuances God had against Ierusalem and as hee calleth them abhominations for which hee threatneth to iudge her Ezek. 22. Viri detractores inte a Ezek. 22.9 In thee are men that carrie tales to shedde bloud Beware then all you whose businesse or lot it is at this Assises or hereafter may be to be Plaintiffs §. 16. An exhortation to auoid the fault Accusers Informers or anie way Parties in anie Court of Iustice this or other Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall that you suffer not the guilt of this prohibition to cleaue vnto your consciences If you shall hereafter be raisers of false reports the words you haue heard this day shall make you inexcusable another You are by what hath beene presently spoken disabled euerlastingly from pleading anie Ignorance eyther Facti or Iuris as hauing been instructed both what it is and how great a fault it is to raise a false report Resolue therefore if you be free neuer to enter into anie action or suite wherein you cannot proceede with comfort nor come off without iniustice or if alreadie engaged to make as good speedie an end as you can of a bad matter and to desist from farther prosecution Let that golden rule commended by the wisest a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Stob. serm 2. Idque per praeconem cum aliquem emendavet dici iubebat Quod tibi fieri non vis alteri ne feceris Quam sententiam vsqueadeo dilexit vt in Palatio in publicis operibus praescribi iuberet de Alex. severo Lamprid. in Alex. Heathens as a fundamentall Principle of morall and ciuill Iustice yea and proposed by our blessed Sauiour himselfe as a full abridgement of the b Matt. 7.12 Law and Prophets be euer in your eye and euer before your thoughts to measure out all your actions and accusations and proceedings thereby euen to doe so to other men and no otherwise than as you could be content or in right reason should be content they should doe to you and yours if their case were yours Could anie of you take it well at your neighbours hand should he seeke your life or liuelyhood by suggesting against you things which you neuer had so much as the thought to do or bring you into a pecke of troubles by wresting your wordes and actions wherein you meant nothing but well to a dangerous construction or follow the Law vpon you as if hee would not leaue you worth a groate for euerie pettie trespasse scarce worth halfe the money or fetch you ouer the hip vpon a branch of some blinde vncouth and pretermitted Statute He that should deale thus with you and yours I know what would be said and thought Griper Knaue Villaine Diuell incarnate all this much more would be too little for him Well I say no more but this Quod tibi fieri non vis c. Doe as you would be done too There is your generall Rule §. 17. and the Causes thereof But for more particular direction if any man desire it since in euery euill one good step to soundnesse is to haue discouered the right cause thereof I know not what better course to prescribe for the preuenting of this sinne of sycophancy and false accusation than for euery man carefully to avoyd the inducing causes thereof and the occasions of those causes There are God knoweth in this present wicked world to euery kinde of euill inducements but too too many To this of false accusation therefore it is not vnlikely but there may be more yet we may obserue that there are foure things which are the most ordinary and frequent causes thereof viz. Malice Obsequiousnesse Couerture and Couetousnesse The first is Malice §. 18. which are 1. Malice Which in some men if I may bee allowed to call them men being indeede rather Monsters is vniuersall They loue no body glad when they can doe any man any mischiefe in any matter neuer at so good quiet as when they are most vnquiet It seemeth Dauid met with some such men that were a Psal. 120.6.7 enemies to peace when hee spake to them of peace they
work but without any hearty affection to him God giueth them the outward benefit but without any hearty affection to them For want of which hearty affection on both sides it commeth to passe that neither is the outward worke truely acceptable to him nor the outward benefit truely profitable to them A third reason of Gods thus graciously dealing euen with Hypocrites may be assigned with reference to his owne deare Children and chosen for whose good especially next vnder his owne glory all the passages of his diuine prouidence both vpon them and others are disposed in such sort as they are as for whose comfort this manner of proceeding maketh very much and sundry wayes as I shall by and by touch in the Inferences from this Obseruation §. 26. And inferences thence whereunto I now come because it is time I should draw towards a Conclusion And first by what hath bin already said a way is opened for the clearing of Gods Holinesse in these his proceedings If sometimes he temporally reward Hypocrites it is not either for their owne or for their workes sake as if he either accepted their Persons or approued their Obedience No it is but Lex Talionis he dealeth with them as they deale with him They doe him but eye-seruice and he giueth them but eye-wages Indeede God can neither be deceiued nor deceiue yet as they would deceiue God in their seruice with such obedience as falleth short of true obedience so they are deceiued in their pay from him with such blessings as fall short of true blessings And all this may well stand with Gods both Iustice and Holinesse Secondly it appeareth from the premises that Gods thus dealing with wicked and vnsanctified men in thus rewarding their outward good things giueth no warrant nor strength at all eyther to that Popish corrupt doctrine of Meritum congrui in deseruing the first grace by the right vse of Naturalls or to that rotten principle and foundation of the whole frame of Arminianisme Facienti quod in se est Deus non potest non debet denegare gratiam We know God rewards his owne true and spirituall graces in vs with increase of those graces here and with glory hereafter wee see God rewardeth euen false and outward seeming graces naturall and morall good things with outward and temporall fauours And all this is most agreeable to his infinite both Iustice and Mercy and may stand with the infinite Puritie and Holinesse of his nature But this were rather to make God an vniust and vnholy God to binde him to reward the outward and sinfull workes of Hypocrites for the best naturall or morall workes without Grace are but such with true sauing Grace and inward sanctification Other Inferences and vses more might bee added as viz. thirdly for our Imitation by Gods example to take knowledge of and to commend and to cherish euen in wicked men those naturall or morall parts that are eminent in them and whatsoeuer good thing they doe in outward actuall conformity to the reuealed will and law of God And fourthly for Exhortation to such as doe not yet finde any comfortable assurance that their obedience and good workes are true and sincere yet to goe on and not to grow wearie of well-doing knowing that their labour is not altogether in vaine in as much as their workes though perhaps done in Hypocrisie shall procure them temporall blessings here and some abatement withall I adde that by the way of stripes and euerlasting punishment hereafter But I passe by all these and the like Vses and commend but one more vnto you and that is it which I named before as one Reason of the point obserued viz. the Comfort of Gods deare children and seruants and that sundry waies §. 27. especially for Comfort to the Godly 1. against the prosperitie of the wicked First here is comfort for them against a Temptation which often assaulteth them and that with much violence and danger arising from the sense and obseruation of the prosperitie and flourishing estate of the wicked in this world We may see in the Psalmes and elsewhere how frequently and strongly a Psal. 37. 73 Dauid and b Iob 21.7 c. Iob and c Ier. 12.1 c. Ieremie and other godly ones were assailed with this temptation For thy instruction then and to arme thee against this so common and vniuersall a temptation if thou shalt see fooles on horsebacke vngodly ones laden with wealth with honour with ease Hypocrites blessed with the fat of the earth and the dew of heauen and abundance of all the comforts of this life yet bee not thou discomforted at it or disquieted with it d Psal. 37.1 doe not fre◠thy selfe because of the vngodly neither bee thou enuious at euill doers Thou expectest for thine inward Obedience an vnproportionable reward in the life to come doe not therefore grudge their outward Obedience a proportionable reward in this life Some good things or other thou maiest thinke there are in them for which God bestoweth those outward blessings vpon them But consider withall that as they haue their reward here so they haue all their reward here and whatsoeuer their present prosperitie bee yet the time will come and that ere long be when e Iob 8.13 the hope of the Hypocrite shall wither and f Psal. 37.38 the end of the wicked shall be cut off §. 28. 2. against temporall afflictions Againe here is a second Comfort for the godly against temporall afflictions and it ariseth thus As Gods loue and fauour goeth not alwaies with those temporall benefits hee bestoweth so on the other side Gods wrath and displeasure goeth not alwaies with those temporall afflictions he inflicteth For as he rewardeth those few good things that are in euill men with these temporall benefits for whom yet in his Iustice hee reserueth eternall damnation as the due wages by that Iustice of their grace-lesse impenitency so hee punisheth those remnants of sinne that are in Godly men with these temporall afflictions for whom yet in his mercy hee reserueth Eternall saluation as the due wages yet by that mercy onely of their Faith and Repentance and holy Obedience As Abraham said to the rich glutton in the Parable Luke 16. a Luk. 16.25 Sonne remember that thou in thy life time receiuedst thy good things likewise Lazarus euill things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented As if he had said If thou hadst any thing good in thee remember thou hast thy reward in earth already and now there remaineth for thee nothing but the full punishment of thine vngodlines there in Hell but as for Lazarus hee hath had the chasticement of his infirmities on earth already and now remaineth for him nothing but the full reward of his godlinesse here in Heauen Thus the meditation of this Doctrine yeeldeth good Comfort against temporall afflictions Here is yet a third Comfort and that of the
sin Deut. 24 If Israel take vp a Prouerbe of their owne heads d Ezek 18.2 c. Ier. 31.29 The fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge they doe it without cause and they are checked for it The soule that sinneth it shall dye and if any man eate sowre grapes his owne teeth and not anothers for him shall bee set on edge thereby For indeed how can it bee otherwise or who can reasonably thinke that our most gracious God who is so ready to take from vs the guilt of our owne should yet lay vpon vs the guilt of other mens sinnes The only exception to be made in this kinde is that alone satisfactory punishment of our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ not at all for his owne sinnes farre be the impietie from vs so to imagine for e 1. Pet. 2.22 hee did no sinne neither was there any guile found in his mouth but for ours He f Psal. 69.4 Non rapui exsolvebam non peccaui poenas dabam Aug. ibi paied that which he neuer tooke it was g Esay 53.5 for our transgressions that he was wounded and the chasticement of our peace was laid vpon him Yet euen those meritorious sufferings of his may be said in a qualified sense to haue been for his own sinnes although in my iudgement it bee farre better to abstaine from such like speeches as are of ill and suspicious sound though they may bee in some sort defended But how for his owne sins His owne by Commission By no meanes God forbid any man should teach any man should conceiue so the least thought of this were blasphemy but his owne by Imputation Not that hee had sinned and so deserued punishment but that he had h delictorum susceptor non commissor Aug. in Psal. â—8 taken vpon him our sinnes which deserued that punishment As he that vndertaketh for another mans debt maketh it his owne and standeth chargeable with it as if it were his owne personall debt so Christ becomming surety for our sinnes made them i delicta nostra sua delicta secit vt iustitiam suam nostram iustitiam faceret Aug. exp 2. in Psal. 21. his owne and so was punishable for them as if they had beene his owne personall sins k 1. Pet. 2.24 who his owne selfe bare our sinnes in his owne body vpon the tree 1. Pet. 2. That hee was punished for vs who himselfe deserued no punishment it was because l 2. Cor. 5.21 he was made sinne for vs who himself knew no sinne So that I say in some sense the assertion may bee defended vniuersally and without exception but yet I desire rather it might bee thus Christs onely excepted all the Paines and Euills of men are brought vpon them for their owne sinnes These three points then are certaine and it is needfull they should bee well vnderstood and remembred §. 10. The fathers sinnes punished in their children because nothing can be obiected against Gods Iustice in the punishing of sinne which may not bee easily remoued if wee haue recourse to some one or other of these three Certainties and rightly apply them All the three doubts proposed in the beginning haue one and the same resolution answer one and answer all Ahab here sinneth by Oppression and yet the euill must light though not all of it for some part of it fell and was performed vpon Ahab himselfe yet the main of it vpon his sonne Iehoram I will not bring the Euill in his daies but in his sonnes daies will I bring the Euill vpon his house It is not Iehorams case alone it is a thing that often hath and daily doth befall many others In Gen. 9. when Noahs vngracious sonne Ham had discouered his Fathers nakednesse the old man no doubt by Gods speciall inspiration laieth the curse not vpon Ham himselfe but vpon his sonne Canaan a Gen. 9.25 Cursed bee Canaan c. And God ratified the curse by rooting out the posteritie of Canaan first out of the pleasant Land wherein they were seated and then afterwards from the face of the whole earth Ieroboams b 3. King 15.19.30 Idolatrie cut off his posterity from the Kingdome and the c 1. Sam. 2.33 35. wickednesse of Ely his sonnes theirs from the Priesthood of Israel Gehasi with the bribe he took purchased a d 4. King 5.27 leprosie in fee-simple to him and his heires for euer The Iewes for stoning the Prophets of God but most of all for crucifying the Sonne of God brought bloud-guiltinesse not onely vpon themselues but vpon their children also e Mat. 27.25 His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children The wrath of God therefore comming vpon them f 1. Thes. 2.16 to the vtmost and the curse of God abiding vpon their posterity euen vnto this day wherin they still remaine and God knoweth how long they shall a base and despised people scattered almost euery where and euery where hated Instances might bee endlesse both in priuate persons and families and in whole Kingdomes and Countries But it is a needlesse labour to multiply instances in so confessed a point especially God Almighty hauing thus farre declared himselfe and his pleasure herein in the second commandement of the Law that hee will not spare in his g Exod. 20.5 iealousie sometimes to visit the sinnes of fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation There is no question then de facto but so it is § 11. and how this may stand with the Iustice of God the sinnes of the fathers are visited vpon the children but de jure with what right and equity it is so it is as S. Chrysostome speaketh a Chrysost. in Gen hom 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a question famous and much debated The considerations which I finde giuen-in for the resolution of this question b Augustin qu. 42. in Deuter Theophylact in Ioh. 9. Peter 14. in Gen disp 4. Aquin. 1.2 qu. 87.8 Sasb quodlib 3. by those that haue purposely handled it are very many But multitude breedeth confusion and therefore I purpose no more but two only vnto which so many of the rest as are materiall may bee reduced and those two grounded vpon the certainties already declared The former concerneth the Nature of those Punishments which are inflicted vpon the children for the fathers sinnes the later the condition of those children vpon whom such punishments are inflicted As to the first The punishments which God bringeth vsually vpon the children for the fathers sinnes are only temporall and outward punishments §. 12. Consid. 1. such punishments are only temporall not spirituall Some haue beene plagued with infectious diseases as a 4 King 5.27 Gehazies posterity and b 2 Sam. 3.29 Ioabs also if that curse which Dauid pronounced against him tooke effect as it is like it did Some haue come to vntimely and vncomfortable