ãâ¦ã all and also ãâã in such simplicity of words and yet hath such a ãâã and majestle in every phrase that Eusebius faith well of it ãâã ãâã ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã for so we see that God approveth all the names which Adam giveth to the Creatures saying that as the man called them so should their ãâã and so continue to the worlds end Now we are come from this generall consideration of his tongue and language to consider of the names in particular which he gave Touching it I will give you but a taste of a few because it were infinite to reckon all the excellent significant and most fit names of the Creatures which he gave Adam having first severed the Beasts from the Fowls as being distinct in nature among all the Beasts he seeing a Horse he knew that God had made him for man to ride and trundle upon for his case and better speed doth therefore at the first sight according to the nature of him give this name which in ãâã signifieth a swift Runner So seeing the Sheep and knowing that God had made them to beare wooll to cloath and keep warm he by and by calleth him the man clothier An Asse he nameth the mase Porter because he knew his nature was to carry mens burdens c. So for the Fowls he seeing the Eagle to be the Prince and chief of Birds giveth him a name of the noblenesse of his nature The Peacock he calleth a pround Bird of that inward property of pride which he knew to be in him The Stork he calleth the gratefull loving or pitifull bird for the dutifull care and kindnesse which he hath of his Damme So for creeping things he calleth the Serpent by the name of subtilnesse or deceivablenesse which knowledge of his dangerous nature might have made him beware and take heed of him The Locust hath his name of going out in swarms The Bee hath his name given him of his artificiall cunning workmanship with which God hath naturally indued him in making his Combes of honey and waxe By all which Adams great wisdome and insight into the nature of things is seen because the name doth so fitly answer the nature of things And thus much of the execution of the Decree concerning the denomination of Creatures Now we are come to the ãâã of this Writ which is set down in these words He found not a meet help for him Touching which we may observe that he returneth not the answer of this that he had given meet names to all the Creatures by which they should be called for ever But letting this passe he saith that He could not finde a meet help for Man which sheweth indeed that this was the most chief and principall end of the assembling the Creatures before him that he might finde a help and fit companion for him if any were for not finding argueth a seeking and seeking argueth a desire to have a companion like him and that desire argueth a want which want made him to seek diligently but he could not finde therefore here he returneth Non est inventus This is then q.d. somewhat Adam found by search and seeking namely the divers natures and qualities of good Creatures which were made for his good But yet because they were all bruitish and unreasonable he refused them all to be his mate for in Adam God had placed naturally not only appetitus socii sed etiam similitudinis that is to be one of his own kinde nature and disposition but he found none as yet This confession of his want doth argue there this conclusion of his desire to God as Augustine saith ãâã simile non est simile ergo Domine fac simile Vocavissetque Adam nominibus pecudem quamlibet volucrem Coeli omnemque bestiam agri non aderat Adamo auxilium commodum Gen. 1. 20. Octob. 19. 1591. I Shewed that the Precept was directed to the Beasts and Fowl to come before man Gods Lieutenant whereby he was invested with honour and supremacie above the beasts here Gods generation in the 4. verse is named by man This verse standeth upon the execution and return of the Precept directed to man which commandement as I told you stood upon two parts Seeing and Calling The Hebrews in their tongue call themselves not only men of speculation but also men of utterance and practise adduxit ut videret vocaret It is received as approved in divinity that in Adam are two estates First out of the fourth verse of this Chapter that though God be Pater generationis yet Adam is Pater generatorum the father of the World as in the 20. verse of the next Chapter Hevah had her name for that she was Mater cunctorum viventium Adam pater contemplationis And secondly hence they say he is called Pater contemplationis for by the Divines both ancient and new there are in Adam two perfections the one of Minde and Understanding the other of his Will the one is gratia gratis dats the other is aceepta the one concerneth his Wisdome the other his Justice Hence they gather his Wisdome by the knowledge of natures to give apt names and his Justice out of the last verse of the first Chapter God bash made man righteous but they have sought many inventions saith the Wiseman Preach 7. 29. that is God made mans minde without corruption in the beginning his will was free his thoughts strait his understanding without questions The multitude of Quarists and Quomodists of those that make doubts and questions come from the Devill who saith in the beginning of the third Chapter cur praecepit vobis Deus ut non comederitis Wisdome in contemplation and utterance Tertulltan saith well that the knowledge of man standeth either in scientiis mutis as in contemplation in videre or in scientiis disertis that is in utterance in vocare that is as the School-men say in the science of Reals and Nominals For the first which is to weigh in silence Paul in 1 Cor. 13. 2. saith There is a knowledge of ãâã and of Mysterie Adam as it were induced with a propheticall spirit in the 23. verse said that she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh being before in an heavie sleep There was in Adam a science of Mysteries in that he was made in Gods Image the 26. of the first Chapter and by his obedience he knew the Mysterie of the tree of life which was his erernall reward as it is in the end of the 22. verse of the next Chapter Now last for the knowledge of The knowledge of Adam in naural Philosophie Philosophie it was in Adam The knowledge of wisdom is as gold of the Creation as of silver this of nature and of names as pearl Of Salomon Great was the knowledge of Salomon in natural Philosophie who spake of the nature of Trees of Beasts and of Fowls 1 Kings 4 33. Of Moses And Moses he was
regard of this life that of the twenty ninth chapter and one and twentith verse is that of this life my terme is ended Zathaca this name belongeth to all females in respect of this life for all bring forth life though to die It only this life were here regarded the ancient Fathers that came from her though they lived long yet they died and have long layn dead and in regard of the length of their death shee might have beene called the mother of the dead therefore this name is understood of the other life which is eternall for after death they had hope of another life David in the twenty seventh Psalme and the thirteenth verse Should have sainted but that hee beleeved to see the goodnesse of God in the land of the living And in the hundred forty second Psalme and the fifth verse hee had his portion and hope in the land of the living God is the God not of the dead but of the living the two and twentith of Mathew and the thirty second verse Now where there is a Commandement or Promise of life there is meant eternall life Hee that doeth the Commandements shall live not a mortall but an immortall life the Covenant of life to the Priests and People in the Leviticall law is that life That was it that made Job in his ninteenth chapter and twenty fifth verse to assure himselfe that his Redeemer lived and so should hee but most plainly speaketh Christ himselfe the eleventh of John and the twenty fifth verse of himselfe that hee is life and hee that beleeveth in him though hee mere dead yet shall hee live and in the very nature of the word it selfe is a double being the one temporall the other permanent which is expressed in the originall by difference of one letter Hagab and Havah all have the common life but there are those that are strangers from the life of God the fourth of the Ephesians and the eighteenth verse and there are those to whom God is life and length of dayes the thirtith of Deuteronomie and the twentith verse so that not by consequence but by the very essence of this name is meant life eternall God hath his booke where hee writeth the living the thirty second chapter of Exodus and the thirty second verse there is a booke of life the sixty ninth Psalme and the twenty ninth verse God promiseth to give to him that overcommeth to eate of the Tree of Life the second of the Revelations and the seventh verse and the ancient Fathers upon that place non dedit corollam sed coronam vitae he gave a crown of life which is life for ever There is a mysterie also in the qualitie of the name which is comprehended in the word it selfe which is a bringing of good news and glad tidings as are cold waters to comfort the thirstie so is good news from a farre Country the twenty fifth chapter of the Proverbs and the twenty fifth verse When Jacob heard that Joseph his sonne was yet alive in a farre and strange Countrey and that they had brought him Chariots these tydings revived Jacob that was in age the fourty fifth chapter and the twenty seventh verse this name of life is even as a name of joyfull tydings If in matters of this life it bee so then much more in things spirituall after wee have sinned and deserved punishment then absolution and remission is a joying of a mans heart and there is joy in this name that word is life vita est ex verbo man at the first was made a living soule the seventh of the former chapter In the sixth of Saint Johns Gospell the sixty third verse The words Christ spake are spirit and life and againe in the sixty eighth verse of the same chapter Peter saith to him thou hast the words of eternall life It is observed by the Greeke Fathers that the seventy Interpreters did put downe Hevah under the same letter Evangelium which is good tydings this word is the abstract of the eternall word In the first to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the forty fifth verse the first man Adam was a living soule the last Adam was a quickning Spirit a living Soule is in it selfe a quickning Spirit is unto others in the word was life the first of Saint Johns Gospell and the fourth verse and in the first Epistle of Saint John the first chapter and the first verse Christ was the word of life and life it selfe verbum vitae vita hence wee receive Grace here and hereafter And herein is the manifestation of the Trinitie given in this very name of Evah The mysterie of salvation was known to Adam before hee gave the name God hath given to his sonne power over all flesh that hee should give eternall life to all them that beleeve in him the seventeenth of Saint John and the first verse The Promise of Christ was in this that the seede of the woman should breake the Serpents head not the seede of man but of woman therefore hee still keepeth his owne name but changeth her name from ãâã to Evah saying with himselfe I am Adam still from mee is nothing but earth but from the Promise made by God to the woman hee giveth her the name of Hevah and from Hevah hee giveth life to the end of the world for the Fathers gather out of the first of the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the one and twentith verse That by Adam came death hee is pater morientium but by the Promise of Christ in this name shee is mater viventium the mother of the living for by Christ wee live and hee is therefurrection of the dead the ancient writers observe that Adam was ãâã in pulverem reversurus hee was dust and to dust hee should returne that is of his owne nature but by Hevah is promise of Grace and though wee as by nature die with Adam yet God will raise ãâã up by Jesus Christ the second to the Corinthians the fourth chapter and the thirteenth verse It is hee that rayseth the needy out of the dust according to the hundred and thirteenth Psalme and the seventh verse this is it that made Paule the second to the Galathians and the twentith verse to say That I live yet not I but Christ that liveth in mee and in that I now live in the flesh vivo in fide fiilii viri the just liveth by faith and shall live the life of Grace shee is here then called the mother of that life set this verse aside wee have no memorie that the promise before made was of eternall life hence then is a fountaine of life which was by transgression the originall of death for shee transgressed and thereby came death but God brings light out of darknesse and life out of death But what is faith without ãâã even nothing for faith worketh by charitie the fist to the Galathians and the sixth verse then as from hence
by Saul was after the Lords spirit was taken from him and another evill spirit vexed him so unclean speeches proceed not from the holy Ghost that delighteth in modest termes 2. Again the term of knowledge is used as opposite to passion to teach men that they must dwell with their wives as men of knowledge the first of Peter the third and the seventh verse that they be not like fed horses neighing after their neighbours wives Jeremiah the fift chapter and the eighth verse Afterward The circumstance of time is noted in the word Afterward That is not before he was deprived of Paradise but when he was driven out For the pleasure of marriage is a mortall pleasure For as Christ saith In this world men marry but they that shall be counted worthie of the life to come neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the Angells of God Luke the twentieth chapter The use of marriage is that because men die they should beget sonnes and leave a posterity to stand up after them But the Children of the Resurrection dye as men and therefore he was made to beget Children And for spirituall joy or comfort it is none But postquam spiritus deficit venium ad solatia carnis It is a carnall pleasure For as Cain being cursed out of Gods City built himself a City in the fourth chapter of Genesis As Saul being cast out of the Lords favour would be honoured of man in the first of Samuell fift chapter So Adam being deprived of spirituall comfort and pleasure useth marriage as a carnall pleasure Pââ¦itio For the point of division jointly in these this pair of Bretheren we have a view of all mankinde Adam had more Children but the Holy Ghost contenteth himself to set out mankinde in these two Even as the ãâã saith of Abraham that he had two sonnes one born after the flesh another after the Spirit Galatians the fourth chapter and the two and twentieth verse So were the sonnes of Adam To Cain are reckoned as his posteritie Henoch Lamech Nimrod Pharaoh and all the wicked To Abell Enoch Noah Shem Abraham Isaac and all the faithfull which is the great partition of mankinde For the holy Scripture setteth out which is Gods City that is Sion and Jerusalem and which is the Devils City by Babylon The one answering to Abell the other to Cain They set out the Devls city by amor sui ad contemptum Dei Gods city by amor Dei usque ad contempium sui Again by Abell is set out those that are in state of grace by Cain they that are in state of nature By the one are set out all them that are born after the flesh by the other such as are born anew and led by the Spirit Galatians chapter the fourth And this partion is made of all mankinde through the world till that last ãâã which Christ shall make of the Sheepe from the ãâã in the five and twentieth chapter of Mathew This partition we see in these two For that although they were both of one Father and Mother Contrary natures yet such was the diversitie and ãâã of their nature and disposition as they fitly represent the diverse state of mankinde The ãâã is in respect of their names the ãâã in respect of their works for the one rose up against the other and slew him Cain and Abell why so called The Devills ãâã in respect of their names is the one is called Cain that is a purchaser or possessioner that is such a one as thought it his ãâã to enjoy this world and contrariwise misery to lose it and the possessions thereof Abell ãâã sorrow and vanity But the other Abell that is sorrow and vanity such a one as doth with Salomon account all things in this life vanity and vexation of spirit in the first chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes such a one as hath sorrow by reason of continuall sinnes whereby he offendeth God of them Christ saith in the ãâã chapter of Matthew Blessed are they that mourne and sorrow for that they are out of their place As the Prophet speaketh in the one hundred thirty seventh Psalm By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembred thee O Sion For Abell was not a City of this world as Cain but was one of those that sought for a City in Heaven that was to come Hebrews the thirteenth and the second verse He is called Abell that is vanitie 1. First in respect of the shortnesse of his life in which regard every man is altogether vanity Psalm the thirty ninth 2. Then in respect of the afflictions of this life in which respect he saith Every man is vanity And therefore they that are of Abell will say We are strangers and sojourners as all our Fathers were Psal. 39. They are such as though they be in the world yet use it as if they used it not the first to the Corinthians the seventh chapter They set not their felicitie in this world as Cain but reckon all things in this world vanity and vexation of spirit and long to be restored to their heavenly Country 2. Contrary works Secondly As they have diverse dispositions so their works are contrary For as the Apostle saith of Ismael and Isaac Gal. 4. He that was borne after the flesh persecuted him that was borne after the Spirit So did Cain persecute Abell as the Apostle witnesseth Joh. 1. 3. that Cain was of that wicked One and slew his Brother Why Cain slew Abell And wherefore slew he him Because his own works were evill and his Brothers good So as their dispositions were diverse their works were contrary So in Cain there is a resemblance of all the persecutors and oppressors that have been in the world The Wicked persecute the Godly by hand and tongue And Abell is a pattern of all the Martyrs that have been slain by the hand of Cain or wounded and persecuted by the tongue of Ismael who by mocking persecuted Isaac in the fourth chapter to the Galatians In these two is fulfilled that envy which God proclaimed between the woman and the Serpent and between their seeds Genesis the third and the fifteenth verse who was not only of the seed of that evill one Joshua the first and the third verse that was of the Serpent and the reason why the name of Cain is set down in the Bible is to shew the performance of that Prophesie Genesis the third and the fifteenth verse and to shew his wrath upon the Vessels of wrath Romans the ninth and the twenty second such as was Cain Cham Pharoah and Nebuchadnezar and all the wicked ones of his Race for the order of their comming into the world as Cain who was first born was worst and Abell the last born was best so it is with all mandkind For as the Apostle saith first commeth that which is naturall and then that which
second in this verse ut si peccasset poeniteat The first speech was as the Apostle speaks in the first to the Corinthians the tenth chapter qui stat videat ne cadat but now that he is fallen he speaks again ut resurgat poeniteat Jeremiah the eighth chapter and the fourth verse Shall they fall and not arise both which effects of Gods goodness the Prophet noteth in these words Psalm the one hundred and fourty fifth and the fourteenth verse Note The Lord upholdeth them that are ready to fall and lifteth up them that are down Gods mercy Secondly his long suffering appeares in that post tot scelera after that he hath sinned both against God and himself very grievously and against his Brother yet God ceaseth not to call him to repentance and whereas the Lord saith For three transgressions and for four I will not turn Amos the first chapter and the sixt verse yet when Cain hath sinned not three or four times but five or six and addeth transgression to transgression yet still he continueth to be mercfull to him if he would accept of it as Job sheweth God speaketh once and twice and man seeth it not in dreams and visions of the night then he opens their eares by correcting them Loe all those things will God work twice or thrice with a man that he may turn back his soul from the pit Job the thirty third chapter and the twenty ninth verse Thirdly to long suffering we may add patience in that God speaks to him non increpando sed interrogando medici instar potius quam judicis and so we see Gods intent in asking the question is an intent of mercy that by his goodnesse long suffering and patience he might have drawn Cain to repentance had he not in the hardness of his heart heaped up wrath for himself against the day of wrath Romans the second chapter Secondly for Gods justice shewed in this Question the advised proceeding of God in the matter of Cain and Abel is a pattern for all Judges how to proceed in judgment namely that albeit they know the party accused be guilty of the fact yet they may not proceed against him till they have made him confesse the fact which was the purpose of God with Cain for so he dealt with our first Parents in that first judgment He knew Adam had eaten of the tree and yet he asketh Hast thou eaten in the third chapter so he dealt with Sarah Genesis the eighteenth chapter and the fifteenth verse Secondly from Gods example they are taught to proceed with favour not with a headlong and furious spirit but with the spirit of meekness as Joshua with Achan Joshua the seventh My Sonne give the Lord glory and confess so the Apostle willeth Galatians the sixt chapter If any be overtaken restore him in spiritu ãâã Thirdly from hence they have a good ground to make inquiry and examinafor the shedder of blood not only upon the finding of a dead body but if the party be missing as God for that Abel was not present examineth Cain where he is and what is become of him Now followeth Cains Answer wherein first generally two things offer themselves The ãâã of sinne First the nature of sinne is set out unto us which is to draw men from one sinne to another for so Cain was drawn from hypocrisie to envy from envy to murther from murther to hardness of heart and so to defend and excuse his sinneThis the Prophet calleth a twisting of sinne when he saith of sins that they weave the spiders web Isaiah the fiftly ninth chapter and the fifth verse sinne is like fire-bushes or thorns that are folden one within another Nahum the first chapter and the tenth verse it is like the disease called the canker which fretteth in the first to Timothy the second chapter even so sinne maketh men to proceed unto more ungodliness and to goe from one sinne to another Of this we have a plain example in Cain and not in him only but even in David the the Servant of God who after he yeelded to one sinne stayed not there but proceeded to the committing of another in the second of Samuel and the eleventh chapter Secondly we are to consider the hiding of sinne that it is such a thing as desires to be concealed and not to be disclosed So it was with Adam in the matters of concupiscence and in Cain in the matter of revenge both ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã lust and wrath are such things as we would have concealed and not come to the hearing of all men Note that is we have in us not only sinfull souls but guilefull spirits Psalm the thirty second Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and in whose soul there is no guil The Prophets meaning is that we doe not only sinne against God but we would beguile God in hiding our sinnes from him if it were possible as if we were other manner of persons than indeed we be and as if we were altogether free from those sinnes which God seeth we have committed Therefore we are to know that as confession is the dore to repentance Hiding of sinne shutteth the dore of repentance so the hiding of sinne is the damming up of the dore of repentance for ãâã we will have favour at Gods hand we must confesse our sinnes but if we say we have no sinne we deceive our selvse whereby we see that sinne is a thing to be avoided Secondly that it is unlawfull in that whosoever committeth sinne doth that which he dare not avouch or acknowledge for the Apostle saith Romans the fourteenth chapter Blessed is he which doth not allow in his act that which he covers for many allow and approve of that in their actions which in word they dare not but condemn They which commit murther as Cain or adultery whether it be lust of revenge or the lust of uncleanness howsoever they yeeld to it in the practises of their life yet they cannot justifie it by word of mouth be they never so wicked whether they will or no their consciences will make them confesse they have done that they ought not to have done Adam and Eve made a confession of their fault though it were with excusing themselves by laying the fault one upon another but in Cain we finde not only an excusing of it but an obstinate denying of it In which regard his sinne is of a greater last and scantling than Adam's and hereby he ãâã himself not to be of Adam but ex maligno illo John the third chapter and the twelfth verse Of the Answer there are three parts First Abnegatio veritatis in these words I know not Secondly Abnegatio charitatis in that he denyeth that he is his Brothers keeper Thirdly Abnegatio humilitatis in that without all modesty he answereth by a question Am I my Brothers keeper For the first In saying he knoweth
Thirdly In this proceeding of Gods councell and wisedome if neither of these take place that neither Cain himself nor others are the better for this mitigation yet as the Woman said in the second of Samuel the fourteenth chapter that albeit one of her Sons had slain the other yet she would not be deprived of him that was alive for that she was willing that her husbands name and ãâã should continue upon earth so it stood with Adam he had two Sonnes whereof the one was the bane of the other and albeit Cain deserved to die presently yet God doth not so consider the greatness of his sinne that he will forget the nature of man which himself had created and therefore as well to preserve mankinde as to shew that godly posterity is not hereditarie he suffers Cain yet to live For as Adam had a Cain so from Cain who was that evill one in the first epistle of John the third chapter Gods purpose was to derive such as should pertain to the Covenant Of one and the same Parents Gods will is one shall be born after the flesh another after the spirit and he that is born after the flesh shall persecute him that is born after the spirit Galatians the fourth chapter and the twenty ninth verse As we say of his wisedome so it stands not with Gods justice that whosoever findes a Malefactor shall kill him for God doth plainly expresse his will that a Murtherer being worthy of death in himself for all that shall not be murthered of every one Therefore God saith whosoever shall presume of himself to kill Cain though it be with this pretence that he is a murtherer shall be punished seven fold for it is not in every mans power ãâ¦ã If any man have committed a crime the Judge shall see whether he be worthy of death and as the Judge shall judge him so shall he be punished Deuteronomie the twenty ãâã chapter Exodus the twenty second chapter The Magistrate being Gods Ordinance Romans the thirteenth chapter hath power to put a murther to death for he hath the Sword committed unto him for that end But he that taketh up the Sword shall perish by the Sword Matthew the twenty sixt chapter For if every one that findeth a mans ãâã might kill him it would soon root out all mankinde And that this inconvenience should not fall out God takes order that every man shall not doe that to Cain which Cain hath done to Abel no man may kill a Murtherer unless he have authority committed unto him for that end That is for his sparing The second point is for the punishment of him that transgresseth thus that is he shall be punished seven fold It is strange that be which kills a murtherer shall have a more grievous punishment than he The number of seven is numerus complens hebdomidem therefore by the ãâã punishment Gods meaning is that he will lay a compleat and consummate punishment upon such a party but howsoever it seem strange yet it is justice for that as God will not have him spared whom he condemns to death as Saul spared Agag in the first of Samuel the fifteenth chapter nor let him goe whom he hath appointed to die in the first of Kings the twentieth chapter and the fourty second verse so it is a grievous sinne to kill him whom God will have spared and this is it which makes the sin of such a party grievous besides the consideration of Gods wrath against them that doe addere afflictiones afflicto Zechariah the first chapter and the fifteenth verse God saith he will be ãâã with ãâã that help forward the affliction of them with whom he was a little angry and therefore such a one shall not escape but before plagued and the Prophet saith the Lord will not judge and condemn a man twice for one fault Nahum the first chapter and the ninth verse Such a man committeth a sinne more grievous than Cains sinne in two respects First Cain transgressed only the Law of nature written in his heart but the other transgresseth not only the naturall Law but Gods express Command who gave order that no man should of himself presume to kill Cain Secondly It is more grievous in that he maketh Cains example a warrant to commit murther but God saith he must not doe so for if a man seeing Cain punished for his sinne shall notwithstanding sinne as he hath done he addeth to his transgression and must therefore have a greater punishment than Cain From those two parts already handled we may gather that to those that sit as Judges in Gods place there is left a power of life and death a power to crucifie and a power to let loose as Pilate said to Christ John the 19th chapter verse the tenth that they have power both to mittigate and to abrogate the punishment of Offenders For the first David was fain of necessity to forbear Joab being himself weak and old and to delay his punishment when he had murthered Abner and Amasa men more righteous and better than he till Salomon his sonne was established in the first of Kings and the second chapter But the reason why Cain's punishment is delayed is not any forbearance of necessity but because the lengthning of his punishment is a better means to restrain men from the like sinne than if he had at once been punished with death For this cause the Prophet saith Psalm the fifty ninth and the eleventh verse Slay them not least my people forget it but scatter them abroad by thy power It is magis ad bonum publicum that the Offenders be spared If Cains life had been presently taken away it might have been doubted whether Cain had ever committed any such sinne or no or if they did beleeve it yet they might soon forget the punishment laid upon him therefore God thought it better he should be spared that others seeing Cain live in continuall miserie might take occasion to inquire what he hath done that understanding the cause of his miserie they may be warned to avoid his sinne Secondly From hence is grounded the aggravation of punishments so that where thest is ordinarily punished with four fold restitution Exodus the twenty second chapter He that stealeth a poor mans sheep that hath no more is by Davids judgment the child of death in the second book of Samuel the twelfth chapter he that finneth upon contempt of Gods command and not of any necessity as he that gathereth sticks upon the Sabbath day Numbers the fifteenth chapter such a one is more grievously to be punished When the party offended will have a man spared then to kill him contrary to his command is a sinne that deserves extraordinary punishment for mensura peccati is that which brings us unto plagarum modus Deuteronomie the the twenty fifth chapter and the second verse Cain being warned from the law of nature kills his Brother and therefore deserves punishment but he that being warned
not here saith the Apostle any abiding City Hebrews the thirteenth chapter and the fourteenth verse that is true for albeit we have Cities yet they continue not therefore we seek for a City of Gods building Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the ninth verse and not a City built by Cain This is a point of examination for it is to be considered whether a man in the course of his life reach any further than these three If he goe no farther in the practise of his life but to get Children to build Cities and fair Houses and to get a name he is in the way of Cain But if with the other Enoch we continue still in Gods presence then we doe well Cain having life granted for repentance mispends it in building of a City and such like vanities And as there is a woe to him so woe to them that like him mispend their time which God giveth them for repentance Jude the eleventh verse Cain is in a place of torment where he cryeth woe that he mispent his time so vainly and therefore we must beware by his example for this is the use we are to make of Cain and the Reprobate that when we see what is their end we beware that we walk not in their waies that we mispend not our time in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and vanity of buildings and seeking the glory and honor of this world because to all such there belongs a woe no less than to Cain as it is in the epistle of Jude Deinde Chanacho natus est Hirad Hirad genuit Mechujaëlem Machujaël verò genuit Methuschaëlem Methuschaël genuit Lemecum Assumpsit autem sibi Lemec uxores duas Gen. 4. 18.19 ãâã 9. 1599. IN these two verses we have two points to consider the one is a journey which the Holy Ghost undertaketh the other is the end of that journey In the journey Moses begins to set down the Pedigrees of Cain and the end of that journey is the story of Lameoh wherein it may justly be inquired First why any mention is made in Scripture of the Reprobate Secondly why it makes mention of the generation of Cain before the generation of Seth For the first It is a matter of absolute necessity that the Scripture should make mention of the ungodly and reprobate for whereas God proclaimed enmitie between the Serpents seed and the seed of the Woman Genesis the third chapter and the eleventh verse it was his will that it should appear in the world how the one was an enemie to the other therefore it is called liber bellorum domini Joshua the tenth chapter The life of man is called militia super terram Job the seventh chapter and the Church is called the Church militant haec est patientia Sanctorum Revelations the fourteenth chapter and the twelfth verse to shew that the godly have enemies in this world whereby their patience is tried Secondly why mention is made first of the pedigree of Cain there is sufficient reason to be given that is In as much as the wicked are called the men of this world Psalm the seventeenth and the Children of this generation Luke the ãâã chapter and the eighteenth verse it is reason they should be first remembred in this world for that they shall not be mentioned any where else they only have their interest in this life but in the morning the righteous have the dominion Psalm the fourty ninth and the fourteenth verse that is in the life to come ãâã shall be first made of the godly and therefore Christ before he speaks of ãâã the wicked saith first Metthew the twenty fifth chapter Venite benedicti patris mei that is in regard of the persons and for sinne it self as the Philosopher saith ad meminem ante venit mens bona quim animus malus every man is first possessed with an evill minde before he can have a good minde as the Apostle saith in the first to the Corinthians the the fifteenth chapter and the fourty fift verse That is not first which is spirituall but that which is naturall We are all by nature first the Children of wrath Ephesians the second chapter and belong to the posterity of Cain before we can be partakers of grace and therefore it is good reason that in Scripture our state by nature be first spoken of before our state by grace that the Law should goe before the Gospel the seed of the Serpent before the blessed feed of the Woman Thirdly It may be demanded why this passage is made to the story of Lamech next after the story of Cain the reason is for that it is Gods will to bring sinne to a head For as in Adam we saw the poyson of the Serpent and the infection of it in Cain so here is a new infection For as there is a spirit that lusteth after envy James the fourth chapter which made Cain kill his brother so in Lamech we see that spirit which Jude speaks of verse the seventh that is a spirit that longeth after strange flesh which he she wed in taking two Wives That is there is an unclean spirit as well as an ãâã spirit whereas there are two parts of the will ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Cain the angry part was infected with the Serpents poyson his heart was inflamed with a desire of revenge Now in Lamech we see this infection goeth lower even to his reins and stirs him up to lust There are but two temprations Deuteronomie the thirty third chapter and the eighth verse which the Hebrews call meribah and Massah which the Apostle termeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hebrews the third chapter the one is the temptation unto contention and revenge where with Cain was infected of which the Apostle saith James the fourth chapter and the first verse From ãâã are warres and contentions among you are they not from your lusts The other is the temptation of concupisence which poisoned Lamech In the Gospel we have them both that is spiritas ãâã ãâã Luke the eighth chapter and the second verse Christ healeth certain women possessed with malignant and envious spirits and Luke the eleventh chapter The unclean spirit departing out of a man walketh in dry places The malicious spirit she wed his poyson in Cain by the temptation of meribah and now Lamech is infected with the unclean spirit and yeelding to the temptation of ãâã And in these two Reprobates infected with these two kindes of temptations the Holy Ghost sheweth the perfection of sinne For sanctification hath two parts First That we possesse our vessels in holiness which is an exposition to the uncleaness of Lamech and in the first to the Thessalonians the fourth chapter and the sixt verse that no man oppresse or tread down his brother which opposeth it self against the spirit of Cain who trod down his brother and violently slew him Charity and
the Kingdome which he had usurped began to meddle in Religion and to set up two Calves saying Behold your Gods in the first of Kings the twelfth chapter so Irad calls his Sonne Mehujael First what thing is God such a one as saith with Pharaoh Who is the Lord Exodus the fift chapter that is that cared not for God And as Abraham when he came to Gerar said Surely forasmuch as the feare of God is not in this place they will kill me Genesis the twentieth chapter so Mehujael that cared not for God begets Methujhael that is a desparate fellow that cares not for death and his Sonne is Lamech that is a violent fellow a persecutor and an oppressor one that spoileth and treadeth down every man On the other side as Cain hath Irad one that would exalt himself to be Lord so Seth hath Jerad one that is content to goe down for Mehujael a contemner of God among the Children of God there was Mahalaleel id est anuncians or laudans deum a religious person that would praise God For Methushael among the godly there was Methushelah whose name tells us death is triumphing because it is the reward of sinne and hath a worm that dieth not and a fire that is never quenched For Lamech the wicked he is the seventh from Adam as Enoch the Sonne of Seth but this Enoch being the seventh respects things that pertain to the seventh day wherein Lamech is given to oppression This Enoch prophesied an excommunication against sinners that did wickedly spake proudly saying The Lord commeth with thousands of his Saints to give judgement against them as it is in the fourteenth verse of the epistle of Jude and we shall not see any in the Scripture that spake so proudly as this Lamech for he not only brags of his sinne but contemns Gods threatnings and saith he will kill any that come to him therefore this excommunication concerns him for as Seths Enoch walked with God so Lamech that comes of Cain walked after the spirit of the world In the story of Lamech there are two things to be observed First his overflowing lust Secondly his contempt of God and the punishment which God threatned The excesse of his lust stands in this that he took two Wives Where we are to note that he is the first that durst vaunt of poligamie he is primus sacrilegus nuptiarum for in so doing first he did violate the institution of God which is A man shall forsake Father and Mother and cleave ãâã his Wife Genesis the second chapter and the twenty fourth verse not to his Wives and they two shall be one flesh not three in one flesh Secondly His taking of two Wives is a violating of humane custome for he is in the seventh generation from Adam Adam had but one Wife no more had Cain nor the rest but Lamech treading all custome under foot takes two wherein it is plain that a breach is made of the primitive custome for as Christ saith Matthew the ninteenth chapter non sic fuit abinitio Thirdly Marriage is a mysterie Ephesians the fift chapter and the thirty second verse for God commends unto us a sacred thing in marriage that is the spirituall and holy conjunction of Christ with the Church In which regard persons in that state should not exceed in lust but possesse their Vessels in holiness in the first to the Thessalonians the fourth chapter and the fourth and fift verses and not in the lust of concupiscence As Lamech sinneth against the institution of marriage in these three respects so in regard of the ends of the same which are three First To be a remedy against fornication in the first to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the second verse but Lamechs two Wives were an allurement to it rather and no remedy against it for every man must have ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the first to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the third verse therefore if he have Wives it is an allurement to lust Secondly The end of marriage is propagation of Children that there may be not only a seed but semen sanctum Malachie the second chapter For that cause he made Adam but one Wife whereas he had spirit enough and might have made him more but he sought a holy seed therefore if any seek seed by more Wives it is not a holy seed but semen nequam semen corruptem Isaiah the first chapter Thirdly The end is for mutuall help but to have more Wives at once the one is a hindrance and no help so were Rachel and Leah to Jacob Genesis the twenty ninth so were Annah and Peniah to Elkanah in the first of Samuel the first chapter Assumpsit autem sibi Lemec uxores duas prioris nomen fuit Hada nomen secundae Tzilla Peperitque Hada Jabalum hic fuit autor habitantium in tentoriis pecuariae Nomenque fratris ejus fuit Jubal hic fuit autor omnium tractantium citharam organon Tzilla verò ipsa quoque peperit Thubal-Kajinum qui erudivit omnem fabrum aerarium ferrarium sororemque Thubal-Kajini Nahamam Gen. 4. 19.20.21.22 Decemb. 16. 1599. IN which verses is set down first the Marriage and after the Race and Ofspring of Lamech The former point verse the ninteenth the latter in the three verses following Concerning the Marriage of Lamech we have already made an entrance into it besides that which hath been already said If we will know what to reckon of this second Wife which Lamech took the Holy Ghost doth set it out unto us in her name For even in the names of holy Scripture as we have heard is engraven most excellent divinitic His second Wifes name was Zillah which hath relation to his first for it signifies her shadow but truth and shadowes are opposite and therefore the Holy Ghost by this name tells us a second Wife is no true Wife but a false and that in such a marriage there is not the body and substance of Gods Ordinance but only a shadow of it as our Saviour Christ said to the Woman that had five Husbands John the fourth chapter and the eighteenth verse He whom thou now hast is not thy Husband And the sentence and judgment of the Hebrew Writers is that where Lamechs former Wifes name is Adah taken from a word that signifies an open assembly and the second Zillah that is a shadow or secret place it is to teach us that Lamech had his former Wife only for a shew but he kept Zillah in secret places to satisfie his unclean lust privily Now because we see this evill act of Lamech hath not so much as a good pretence it is so much the worse and that he wanted a good pretence we shall finde if we inquire what moved him to break out so farre contrary to the Ordinance of God in the Creation who therefore created Adam but one Wife to teach him he might not have more at once
of the Apostle in taking arguments from the Sacrament is double First to perswade Christians to cleanness of life which he doth in the first to the Corinthians the tenth chapter Ye cannot be partakers of the Lords table and the table of Devils Secondly bending him self here against Schismes and contentions that were amongst the Corinthians he takes another argument from the nature of this Sacrament to exhort them to the unity of the spirit that for as much as they all are partakers of one Sacrament and drank all of one spirit therefore they should seek to be at unity and concord with themselves The Apostle sheweth this to be a good consequence from the beginning of the chapter and we see an example of this kinde of argument in the ninth chapter of Luke where the Disciples say Master we saw one cast out Devils in thy name and we forbade him because he followeth not us And this Apostle saith in the first epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter that because they were divided so that some were Pauls some of Apollo therefore they were no true Christians Thus we see that as from the Sacrament of cleanness he exhorts them to cleanness of life so from the Sacrament of unity he moves them to love and concord and tells them they ought to avoid dissention To perswade unto unity and love nothing is more effectuall than the consideration of the naturall body which although it have many members diverse in quality situation and use so as the one is more noble than the other yet they grudge not one at another For the foot doth not say because I am not the hand I am not of the body nor the eare because I am not the eye I am not of the body in the first to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the fifteenth verse neither doe they contemn one another For the eye which is the most excellent member doth not say to the hand I have no need of thee nor the head to the foot I have no need of you in the first to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the twenty first verse but contrariwise there is a sympathy and fellow feeling So as if one member be grieved all the rest are grieved and if one be honored all the rest rejoyce with it verse the twenty sixt so if men could be perswaded that they are one body there would not be such divisions and dissentions in the World as there are for howsoever they be diverse in respect of nature Some Jewes some Grecians as also in respect of estate some bond some free as the Apostle here speaks yet their diversities are not greater than those which we see between the members of the body naturall And now the Apostle goes about to perswade them they are one body and therefore ought to be at unity which he doth thus That body which hath one beginning and one nourishment is one body But all the faithfull have one beginning in the fountain of regeneration that is in baptisme and are all nourished with one nourishment for they are all baptized into one body by one spirit and all made to drink of one spirit therefore they are all one body and consequently should live in unity one with another In regard of which unity which the body hath not only with Christ her head but with the members among themselves the Apostle calleth the body Christ in the first to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the twelfth verse Now to come to the consideration of these things our way is First to set down the necessity of being of this body Secondly the means how we come to be of this body that is by the spirit Thirdly that the spirit is the means so as withall baptisme and drinking is required that is our incorporation into the body of Christ which is his Church is both by the spirit and by baptisme For the obtaining of the spirit two things are to be practised First that we have a thirsting desire after the spirit Secondly that we ask it of God by prayer First For the necessity of our incorporation whereas the Psalmist saith Psalm the eighty ninth God hath not made all men for nought we must first set down this that there is a necessity that some should be faved for it falls not into a man that is wise to doe any thing in vain much less may we think that God the fountain of wisedome will suffer all men to perish and therefore that there are some elected and chosen out to be saved Secondly and therefore our speciall aim should be to be of that number but scattering renting and dividing is an enemie to safty and they that will be safe must be recollected and gathered together under some head It that which made Moses pray to God to set a rule over his people and that the congregation of the Lord should not be as sheep which have no Shepheard Numbers the twenty seventh chapter and the sixteenth verse When Christ saw the multitude he had compassion on them because they were dispersed scattered abroad as sheep having no Shepheard Matthew the ninth chapter and the thirty sixt verse and not only so but Christ did that that he might gather together in one the Children of God which were scattered John the eleventh chapter and the fifty second verse Thirdly before Christ had a body and before he was manifested in the flesh the Congregation was called a Synagogue because it was then sufficient for them to be gathered together sub uno pastore though they were not ruled by one spirit But now they must be not only under one Shepheard but must all be one body and that not a dead Carkasse but a living body such a body that liveth not by a soul but by a spirit for that is the difference that the Apostle makes between Adam and Christ in the first to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter The first man Adam was made a living soul but the second Adam was made a quickning spirit This quickning spirit is it by which the mysticall body of Christ liveth which goeth through the body and giveth life to every member This is a mysticall incorporation and is spiritually to be conceived and the union between Christ and his mystically body is so straight that speaking of it he saith Acts the ninth chapter Why persecutest thou me and the Apostle understanding the Church calleth it Christ in the first to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the twelfth verse then he that will be saved must not be a part but be gathered and that into the body of Christ because Christ is only the Saviour of his body Salvator corporis Ephesians the fift chapter and the twenty third verse So that if a man be out of the body and be not a member of Christs body he cannot be saved and so Christ himself tells us John the fifteenth chapter If the branch abide not in the vine it cannot bear
Corinthians the eleventh chapter and the twenty seventh verse among other miseries rekoneth cold and nakedness and as it is in the fifth of the Lamentations and the tenth the Prophet speaketh heat maketh the skin black as an oven so these clothes defended the skin from the offence of all weather For in nature every one nourisheth and cherisheth his own flesh the fifth to the Ephesians and the twenty nineth he nourisheth his belly with meat and cherisheth his back with clothes We doe account our selves debters to the flesh the eighth to the Romans and the twelfth These two are meant by things needfull for the body the second of St. James Epistle and the sixteenth but as it is in the thirteenth of the Romans and the fourteenth Put you on the Lord Jesus and take no thought for the flesh facere non perficere were vain to make a Creature and not to preserv it God will not but here we must learn to take heed that we make it a defence for necessity and not an offence for superfluity the first of James and the twenty first 4. Of Skins The fourth point is that this apparell was made of skins Herein are two things to be learned first that they were skins of beasts and then that the beasts were destroyed the beast was made to be destroyed but man was to be regarded they must die that man may be preserved from death God hath greater regard of us than of all the beasts we are of more value than many Sparrowes the tenth of Matthew and the thirty first he is allowed here to kill beasts for his apparrell and after to make their Tents of skins God hath given us more understanding than the beasts and more wisedome than the fowles of Heaven the thirty fifth of Job and the eleventh The second thing is the quality of the apparrell which is the first that God gave to Man which they weare for his liverie they are coverings of great frugality they are unlike unto ours which are for shew and not for durance It had been as easie for God to have made them of Silk and of Wool But God regarded not the gorgeous shew This simplicity of apparrell confoundeth the multiplicity of apparrell in these daies which they may well call a world of apparrell The gorgeous attire of the daughters of Zion the third of Isaiah and the sixteenth shall be altered to beggerie so that they shall discover their secret parts Here apparrell was made for the body but we make apparrell for apparrell vail upon vail the frugality confoundeth the riotousness and madness of apparrell and this simplicity our sumptuosness we are ashamed of Adams attire but Adam would be ashamed of us and our prodigality This apparrell was without pride Christ commandeth us not to care for our body what to eat or to put on in the sixth of Matthew and the twenty fifth the body is better than rayment but now mens apparrell is much more worth than the body for as farre as earth is from heaven so farre doe we differ in apparrell from the ancient world and now men consume their daies in vanity as it is in the 78. Psalme and the 33 before plainness was sufficient but now cutting and imbroiderie and needle-work on both sides nothing will suffice Esau for his belly sold his birth-right in the twelfth of the Hebrews and the sixteenth Achan for a little costly apparrell lost his soul in the seventh of Joshua the twenty first and with his ãâã he went to Hell it was a goodly Babylonish garment the simplicity of apparel was from Paradise but the pride of apparel seemeth by that place to be from Babylon The sumptuousnesse of apparel leadeth men into sundrie tentations the first to Timothie the sixth and the eight verse this is it that makes men to be lovers of themselves as it is in the second to Timothie the third chapter It draweth men to extortion but say rich apparel be worn without extortion or oppression or ill means yet it busieth the minde with vain thoughts and hindereth charitable works for often that too is bestowed upon vanitie which might better be bestowed in charity 5. Adam was content The fifth point and last is Adam looked not scornfully upon his apparel but was content with it which few of his posterity are for still though it be never so well yet one way or other they still mislike that is the first Secondly We must think well of such as weare such simple skinnes and not account vilie of them for having such apparel For those that went up and down in Sheeps skins and Goats skins were such quibus non dignus erat mundus of whom the world was not worthy the eleventh to the Hebrews the thirty seventh But he in the sixteenth of St. Luke the tenth verse that fared daintily that was elothed in purple and fine linnnen every day for all this he was not worthy of the world Salomon in his Canticles saith That the Kings daughter is beautifull within God respecteth the inward heart more than the outward shew the glory of apparel of gold or such like But if the hid man of the heart be uncorrupt and a spirit of humility before God is a thing much more set by the first of Peter the third chapter and the fourth verse Now we desire to be like golden sepulchres if the out side be gorgeous we care not how foul and filthy the inside is well therefore say the Fathers that nimia cura corporis ducit incuriam animae too much care of the body causeth the carelesnesse of the soul. Secondly They came hereby into Gods favour by wearing his liverie they became his servants and so of his houshold They are of the Princes house to whom he giveth bread and cloathing the third of Esay and the sixt verse If they were Gods servants then God was their Master and so it is said the sixt to the Ephesians the ninth that the Master of us all is in Heaven Out of these five clauses for things corporal we learn that out devising without Gods making cannot stand but is vain that God regardeth us more than all the beasts he had made he preserveth our life though by their death hence we may learn frugalitie and to flie vanity we may learn contentment and hate of pride hence we may learn that apparel was first instituted to cover lust not to provoke it Spiritual use And further than these literal points we may gather not only a bodily use but also a spiritual instruction He might have taken the hair of the Cammel or the wooll of the Sheep but the covering him with skinnes doth teach him humility to exalt him to glorie hence then may we gather matter of repentance and of humilitie hereby he hath to deject him in four regards the first is That by sinne he lay open in that he was after thus covered it put him in minde of his sinne though
we were like to perish till he provided for us so we must give him a present even the first fruits of that we have acknowledging that all came from him in the twenty sixt chapter of Deuteronomie The ground of our oblation is to testifie so as the ground of our oblation 1. our thankfulness is the testifying of our thankfulnesse 2 our subjection to God Another end is the testifying and acknowledging of our subjection to God that as he gave us our souls so we confesse we ought to bestow our souls on God And that we shall doe if when our own reason cannot attain to see how that should be just which he requireth 1. to give and subject our souls to God yet we be content to make our souls subject to him and to bring them into the obedience of Christ in the second of the Corinthians and the tenth chapter If as we have grieved the spirit of God with our sinnes so we be content to grieve our souls and to break them with sorrow which is a sacrifice to God in the fifty first Psalme and the seventeenth verse 2. to subject our bodies to God Secondly as we have received our bodies from God so we must make them subject to God by abating the desires which our flesh delighteth in that we may delight in that which God requireth and that we be content to impoverish the body to chasten it and bring it under by fasting in the first of the Corinthians and the ninth chapter From both soul and body our mouths must shew forth Gods praise that it may be more fit for his service we must not only acknowledge in our soul that we owe our selves both soul and body to God but we must open our lips and shew forth his praise with our mouthes in the fifty first Psalme 3. We must honour God with our substance And lastly we must honor God with our substance in the third chapter of the Proverbs And not content our selves with the oblation of the lips as a sacrifice that cost us nothing in the second of Samuell and the twenty fourth chapter The sacrifice also hath two grounds The sacrifice also hath two grounds 1. The confession of our sins aud why First The confession of our sinnes for in that the poor Lamb or other beast whatsoever hath his throat cut what is it else but a confession that what the Lamb suffereth the same we our selves deserved to suffer As the Lamb dieth so we deserve the death both of body and soul And as the Lamb was burnt to ashes so we deserved to be burnt in the lake of sire and brimstone in the twentieth of the Apocal. and the tenth verie For sine effusione sanguinis non est peccatorum remissio in the ninth chapter of the Hebrews And so in that the poor beast hath his blood poured out we doe thereby confesse that we cannot have remission of sinnes without the shedding of blood if we seek it in our selves 2 The confession of our faith in Christ which maketh the other perfect and why But there is a second ground of the sacrifice and that is the confession of our faith which maketh all the other confessions perfect for how is it possible that a Lamb should be worth a Man and that the death of an unreasonable creature should be a sufficient satisfaction for the sinnes of a reasoable soul the Apostle saith It is impossible that the blood of Lambs and Goats should take away sinnes in the tenth chapter of the Hebrews and the fourth verse It cost more to redeem souls then so vise a price or the price of the most pretious things in the world in the fourty ninth Psalme Christ the Lamb slain by whose blood we have remission of sinnes and why Therefore the reason why they offered sacrifice was to make confession of their faith in Christ whom they confessed to be the Lamb of God slain from the beginning of the world by whose blood we have remission of sinnes So the Lambe which Abel offered in the fourth chapter of Genesis which Esay foresaw should stand before his shearrer in the fifty third of Isaiah whom John Baptist pointed at John the first chapter and the twenty ninth verse Ecce Agnus Dei is Christ the Son of God slain from the beginning of the world to take away sinnes Apoc. the thirteenth chapter And in the blood of that Lambe are the sinnes of the whole world purged as it is in the first Epistle of St. John the first chapter and the seventh verse 4. The warrant whereby they offered oblations and sacrifice Fourthly The warrant whereby they offered their oblation and sacrifices was not any expresse command of God in the Scripture and God only knoweth what kinde of service best pleaseth him and of themselves they were not to devise any thing 1. Adam was instructed by God and they by Adam but they were taught by Adam and Adam was instructed by God As Adam had experience that God was able to bring light out of darknesse so he taught Adam by his spirit that as by the tree of life he would give life so by death he would give life For as in the Sacrifices of the Law the Jews were taught that out of death God would give them life We by our Sacraments so now in our Sacraments Christians are assured that by the death of Christ whereof the Supper is a commemoration the faithfull obtain life Made known 1. By the light of nature The meanes whereby God made this known to them was first the light of nature That they had offended God which told them that seeing so many infirmities and sicknesses lay upon them it was for that they had offended som body 2. That they owe thankfulness for all they had to be acknowledged in heart word and works Secondly that all they possessed was from some superior power to whom they ought to be both thankfull and dutifull and to acknowledge both these in words as well as in heart and to expresse this subjection by works that is by offering somthing to God 2. For the confession of faith no reason or light of nature taught but by Gods spirit But as for confession of faith no reason of man no light of nature that could apprehend that but as Christ saith in the sixteenth of Matthew it was the Revelation of Gods Spirit which taught them that Christ the Lambe of God should be offered as a Sacrifice for sinne of which all the sacrifices that went before were types Concerning Cain and Abell we are to observe two points First what they had in common Secondly what severally All both poor and rich must offer For the first As we learn that all must offer both in the Law in the thirtieth chapter of Exodus for God will have his offering be we rich or poor and in the Gospell where Christ alloweth
of the Offerer hath a great priviledge for be the work never so excellent if it come not from a person qualified in such fort as God may take liking it is to no purpose The same words I have sinned used by David in the second of Samuel and the twelfth chapter pleased God but in Judas were not respected Matthew the twenty seventh chapter so for prayer both the Pharisees and Publicans went to one place for one purpose but the one departed justified rather than the other Luke the eighteenth for the Sacraments Simon magus was baptized and never the better but Saul and the Jailor were baptized and obtained remission of sinnes the eighth of the Acts and the sixteenth verse so Judas was partaker of the Supper with the other Apostles but he only was an unworthy partaker The reason is If the fruit be good we must make the tree good also Matthew the twelfth It cannot be good fruit that commeth of an evill tree The same work of mercy done by an Heretick and prophane person is not respected but in a Christian is highly accounted with God God is no respecter of persons but looks upon the heart not that God respects persons for he looks not as man looks but he looks on the heart the first of Samuel the sixteenth chapter and the seventh verse and regards no mans person Matthew the twenty second chapter for if he should respect one more than another then he should regard Cain rather being the first born But yet there is something in the person of Abel which made him more respected than Cain and that is that which God respects in mens persons Jeremiah the fifth and the third verse occuli tui respiciunt fidem and the Apostle saith that it was by faith that Abels offering had the preheminence the eleventh to the Hebrews and the fourth verse And respects faith that hath relation to Gods promise which faith because it had relation to the word of God was accepted of God for Abel beleeved the word of God uttered Genesis the third and the ãâã touching the blessed seed that should break the Serpents head and give an entrance into Paradise which was kept with a shaking sword This word of God is a great and pretious promise the second to Peter and the first chapter which Abel respected more than all things besides in the earth as David saith of Gods word that it was the joy of his heart Psalm the hundred and ninteenth and the one hundred and eleventh so because Abel so much respected the word and promise of God that it was the only joy of his heart therefore God had a speciall respect to him more than to Cain as his name did signifie vanity All things to be counted vanity in respect of God and his Word so he counted himself and all the world nothing but vanity and gave not himself to vanity Proverbs the thirtieth chapter and the eighth verse As David saith Psalm the seventy third and the twenty fifth verse Whom have I in heaven in comparison of thee and there is nothing on earth which I desire besides thee so Abel had this account of God that he desired nothing on earth in respect of God and his word Touching his Oblation if there be an unfained faith the first to Timothy the first chapter and the fifth verse then there is a fained and counterfeit faith Abel's faith true and visible by works but that we may know that Abels faith was a true faith and not fained we see it had opus fidei the first to the Thessalonians the first chapter and the third verse It was a visible faith for he shemed his faith by his works James the second and the eighteenth that is by the effects of faith proceeding from it for as there is spiritus fidei the second to the Corinthians and the fourth chapter so it hath a body and in that regard the faith of our Father Abraham is said to have steps wherein we must walk Romans the fourth and the twefth verse but a spirit hath no steps That which proved Abrahams faith to be true and nufained was the work of faith which he performed of which it is said obtulit Abrahamus filium Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the seventeenth verse and the same thing proves Abels faith to be a true faith Hebrews the eleventh and the fourth verse fide obtulit Abel For Imitation and the offering faith is that faith which is commended to our imitation Steps of Abel's faith The steps of faith which were in Abraham and Abell are 1. Gratitude First Gratitude whereby we offer a little of that we have in thankfulnesse to God from whom we acknowledge all to be received 2. The act of Obedience Secondly the act of Obedience when by yeelding fomething of that we have we acknowledge our selves ready to lose all we have for his sake that gave us all 3. The act of Humilitie Thirdly the act of Humility when by offering a lambe to God we confesse thereby that we our selves deserved to suffer that which the poor beast suffereth and such an act of faith God respecteth ad quem respicio ad humilem in the fixty fixt of Isaiah 4. The act of Hope and perswasion Fourthly the act of Hope and perswasion when being perswaded that the death of a corruptible beast is no just recompence for the life of man we hope to be saved and cleansed from our sinnes in the blood of Christ the lambe of God which was signified by Abel's lambe These acts are the steps of the faith of Abel and Abraham and God there looketh upon such as testifie their faith by these effects The faith of the Elect ever shewed these effects And that we should bring this faith and these oblations we are to consider that such hath been the faith of Gods servants from the beginning Before the flood Abel's offering was in faith after the flood Noah in faith offered Genesis the eighth chapter and the twentieth verse In the time of the law God gave charge that both poor and rich should offer Exodus the thirtieth chapter and the fifteenth verse During the Tabernacle which was carryed hither and ãâã Exodus the thirty fift chapter God commanded whosoever was of a willing heart let him bring an offering When the Temple was up David prayeth to God O Lord the people have offered to thee willingly with joy accept it therefore and keepe this for ever in the purpose and thought of their hearts that they may still offer the first booke of Chronicles and the twenty ninth chapter After the Gospell they brought all that they had and laid it at the feet of the Apostles in the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Not only the rich were to offer as it is in the one and ãâã chapter of Exodus but the poor that could not bring jewels were to offer Camels hair to the
as thou usest to doe unto those that love thy name And to imitate We must imitate them that by faith have pleased God we must have both the faith and offerings of Abel and Abraham and unto these we must add that our offerings come not from us agre in fine dierum but that they be primitiae they may not be the leanest of our sheep but the fattest The offerings of Wordlings but if we examine the faith and offerings of the world we shall finde the greatest part goe the way of Cain they offer in sine dierum and without any choice the vilest things they have and many are worse than Cain for whereas he offered many desire such a Religion wherein they may come before God with empty hands they would offer a sacrifice that cost them nothing the second of Samuel the twenty fourth chapter and the twenty fourth verse the first to the Corinthians the ninth chapter and there is another degree of men that content themselves with pirituall scrifices some will be content to add vitulos labiorum that is not only conceive som good meditations for a time but hear a Sermon praise God with a Psalm but as for a real oblation they bring none But this was not Abels faith his was an offering faith if we will be saved as he was we must bring his faith to God and shew the effects of it Fides and obtulit must not be severed for that is abomination Examination of offerings If our offerings be in fine dierum if they be the meanest things we have then they are ãâã sera rejectionis oblationes We must consider and ballance that which we offer to God with that which we offer to our bellie whom wee make our God as it is in the third chapter to the Philippians and that we offer to our backs in the first Epistle to Timothie the second chapter and the ninth verse in costly apparell If therefore we have been slack and unwilling to offer to God Note we must henceforth offer more franckly and pray that God would continue this purpose in our hearts to offer to him in the first book of Chronicles the twenty ninth chapter and the ãâã verse because this is a savour and smelleth well and is acceptable to God Philippians the fourth chapter and the seventeenth verse If we will have the true faith it must be that faith that doth worke by love in the fift chapter to the Galatians and the sixt verse that it be like Abrahams faith which did cooperare operibus in the second of James and the twenty second verse and such a faith as hath joyned to it love and all other virtues in the second of Peter the first chapter and the second and third verses For where there is great faith there will be great sacrifices and oblations in the eighth chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians Qnapropter accensa est ira Kajini valde cecidit vultus ejus Gen 4 5. May 6. 1599. IN which words as we see the originall taint and corruption that came into our nature by the disobedience of man breaketh forth for here originall sinne sheweth it self first in Cain in whom we see that verified which the Apostle affirmeth of all men that there is a spirit in us that lusteth after envy in the fourth chapter of James and the fift verse For here the envy of Cain is manifest in that he is angry because God did approve Abel's sacrifice and respected not his This envic and malice of his proceeded from the Devill who is called the envious man Matthew the thirteenth chapter and the nineteenth verse for that he soweth envy and all other vices in the hearts of men There went another sinne before envy For where Abels sacrifice was done in faith and therefore respected we have shewed that Cain offered only to please men and consequently whatsoever he did was hypocrisie which albeit it goe before his envy yet it is only in the heart But the first sinne that shewed it self outwardly was his malice and envy against his brother where we are to note the proceeding of sinne Envy beginneth with Hypocrisie First He began with hypocrisie within Hatred followeth and then follows hatred and envy without Breach of faith to God causeth breach of charity to men for if shipwrack be made of faith towards God charity towards men will not long be unbroken If the end of the promise which is faith in the blessed seed of the Woman be not regarded the end of the commandement which is love in the first epistle to Timothie the first chapter and the fift verse will little be respected For as Saint John saith This command we have from him That he which loveth God should love his brother also But he which loveth not his brother which he seeth how shall he love God which he hath not seen the first epistle of John and the fouth chapter In the words themselves there are two things expressed First a heavinesse or anger conceived Secondly the abating of his countenance that is Cains sinne in an inward imposthume and an outward jaundise But in the first we are to marke It is not said he was displeased or angrie but wrath and exceeding wrath the inward infection was come to a suppuration It was not envy only but also hatred which made him proceed to the murthering of his brother the first epistle of John the third chapter Note The heart heavie it is distempered If we inquire why he was heavy We shall finde that to be for that his heart was distempered either against God or his brother either against him that did respect or against him that was respected Heavinesse the first fruit of sinne The first passion or affection of our nature mentioned in Scripture as we see is heavinesse which is the first fruit of sinne and of it self is neither to be condemned nor commended for ex peccam ãâã tristitia And as the worm cats out the timber wherein it was bred so sadnesse being bred of sinne is the bane of sinne for there are two sorrows in the second epistle to the Corinthians and the second chapter Tristitia secundum Deum tristitia secundum seculum The Godly sorrow is commendable for it brings forth repentance but the worldly sorrow causeth nothing but death and eternall destruction If Cain was sorry because he offered not his sacrifice in faith as Abel did he is not to be blamed but his sorrow was a worldly sorrow and therefore to be condemned As the King said to Nehemlah Why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sick this is nothing but sorrow of heart Nehemiah the second chapter and the second verse So where we see Cain heavy and his countenance cast down we may gather that he is disquieted and sorrowfull for ãâã and charity whose property is to think the best the first epistle to
countenance The other of the countenance Why is thy countenance cast down Concerning both which in that God knoweth no cause of Cain's sorrow it is plaine that it was an evill sorrow for God alloweth not that sorrow for which we cannot give a reason Note A reason to be given of our sorrow and actions And as God will come one day to ask an account of our works so we must every one give a reason of our actions in the fourteenth chapter to the Romans and the twelfth verse and in the first cpistle of Peter the fifth chapter But if we be not able to give a reason of those things which we doe then are we as bruitish as unreasonable beasts God teacheth man more than the beasts of the earth giveth him more wisdome than the fowles of heaven Job the thirty fifth chapter verse the eleventh Therefore man ought to doe God more service than they Therfore the Prophet saith in the thirty second Psalm Be not like horse and mule that have no under standing We are as the Apostle speaks men of understanding in the first to the Corinthians and the tenth chapter such as ought to doe nothing but what they can give a reason for Therefore the word is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the second verse and the service that God requireth of us is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the twelfth chapter to the Romans and the second verse and they that doe otherwise are not only evill but absurd and unreasonable men in the second to the Thessalonians the third chapter and the second verse All kinde of sin is unreasonable As God sets this brand upon all kinde of sinne that is unreasonable Chiefly hatred so chiefly the sinne of Cain for his hatred towards Abel was not for evill but for good In naturall reason we are to love good things and hate evill but where he hated his brother because his works were good and his own evill the first epistle of John the third ãâã and the twelfth verse it appeares that his sinne was bruitish and unreasonable which unreasonable kinde of dealing the holy Ghost expresseth Is thine eye evill because his is good Matthew the twentieth chapter and the fifteenth verse We must make account for gestures of our bodies Secondly for his countenance God will have an account of the gestures of our bodies for as they were both created and redeemed by God so we must glorifie God both in body and spirit the first to the Corinthians the sixth chapter and the twentieth verse God alloweth no affection that is causless and therefore condemneth unadvised anger as a sinne Matthew the fifth chapter which was Cains sinne The second motive is If thou doe well shalt not thou be rewarded and accepted where in he wills us to look not only to the ground and cause of our actions but to the end of them as if God should say if reason cannot move you to hate sinne yet let affection move Affections Hope Fear Now there are two chief affections which move the life both of man and beast that is hope and feare first God moves with the hope of reward If thou doe well shalt thou not beeaccepted then with the fear of punishment but If thou doe evill sinne lyeth at the dore By the first question Gods meaning is Am I such a one as doe not regard well doings All Scripture affirmeth that God tendreth goodnesse dicite justo quia bene erit merces so saith Jehosaphat to the Judges in the ãâ¦ã Isa. Be of good courage and ãâã it for the Lord will bee with the good the second booke of the Chronicles and the ninteenth chapter with whom the Apostle agreeth Be stedfast and unmoveable quia labor vestra non erit inanis in Domino as it is in the first of the Corinthians and the fifteenth chapter and the conclusion of the whole Scripture is Behold I come shortly and my reward is with mee the two and twentith chapter of the Revelations and the second verse If our love were perfect it would cast out feare and wee should not neede to bee drawne to doe well with hope of reward but because there is great imperfection on both parts during this life therefore wee have neede to bee stirred up to doe well with the one and terrified from doing evill with the other The reason why David hearkned to Gods statutes was propter retributionem Psalme the hundred and ninteenth Moses was contented to suffer adversity with Gods people for that hee looked to the recompence of reward Hebrewes the eleventh chapter so that it is Gods will we should take notice of this word of comfort that if wee doe well wee shall bee accepted The word Neshah used in the originall hath two significations both to reward and to forgive as it is in the thirty second Psalme Blessed are they whose intquities are forgiven the first sense hath reference to the fourth verse where it is said God had respect to Abel and his sacrifice And for the other sense thou shalt be forgiven It is agreeable to the Scripture which teacheth us that to ridd our selves of sinne wee must breake off iniquity with right dealing Daniel the fourth chapter and mercy Joel the second chapter and the thirteenth verse sanctifie a fast call an Assembly then shall the Lord bee mercifull and Peter to Simon Magus Pray to God if so bee the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee Acts the eighth chapter and the twenty second verse But Abel did well and that was ãâã rewarded in this life for his brother killed him he was not rewarded here therefore it followeth he was rewarded in the life to come For God is not unrighteous to forget the labour of our love Hebrews the sixth chapter and the tenth verse though God forget us on earth yet we shall be remembred in heaven It is a righteous thing with God to recompence them which are troubled with rest when the Lord Jesus shall shew himself from heaven the second to the Thessalonians the first chapter and the sixt and seventh verses So that the second motive to drive us from sinne is that it deprives us of the reward and sets us out of the hope of Gods favour In which case we must practise the counsell of the holy Ghost Apocal. the second memor esto unde cecider is resipisce The third motive is that if thou doe not well sinne lyeth at the dore which is the corrective part as if God should say though neither reason can move nor hope of good yet let this move us that sin doth not only deprive us of God but brings eternal destruction si bonus non infructuosê si malus non impunè for God takes order that neither good shall be unrewarded nor evill unpunished sinne shall not only deprive us of our hope and shut us out of heaven but lock us fast
the Carinthians the sixt chapter and the first verse If wee receive not this grace in vain or if we be wanting to it by falling away from the grace of God in the twelfth chapter to the Hebrews and the fifteenth verse then shall we be able to have dominion over sinne As this is true and cannot be denyed that God hath shut up all under sinne to have mercie over all so he will pour out his spirit upon all flesh in the second of Joel and the twenty eighth verse What spirit The spirit of grace and prayer in the twelfth chapter of Zechariah that is Psalm the ãâã and the ãâã verse He faileth none that seeke him and call upon him that is he offereth grace to all if they put it not away from them by strength of which grace they may resist sinne and bear rule over it Then we must goe to Christ and as he saith in the sixth chapter of John and the thirty seventh verse venientem ad me non ãâã wee offering to him our prayers he will not be wanting to ãâ¦ã us that when sinne comes to us which is occursus poccati ãâ¦ã ad Christum we must nunne to Christ the seed of the Woman As the seed of the spirituall Serpent is sinne so God hath made it here saying Sinne lyeth at the dore so the seed of the woman is Chist to whom we must have recourse for help and say as the spouse doth in the first chapter of the Canticles and the third and fourth verses Trahe nos nam curremus ad te We will run to those persons in whom we feel the sent of their oyntments such as shall be able to give us good counsell instruction Albeit it is certain we shall not need to run to Christ for he saith Revelations the third chapter verse the twentieth Ecce sto ad ostium pulso it is but to open the dore and let him in When sinne lyeth at the dore Christ lyeth there too so that it is but to open to him when he knocketh and sinne will away For let Gideon arise and his enemies will fly So will sinne fly if Christ come and we shall come safe out of our dores if we let Christ in To conclude Then seeing we see our estate by nature and what Gods will is who hath left us a means whereby we may bear rule over sinne we must take notice of it that is run to the promised seed of the woman It is needfull that we know the sense of dominion that is that we have a sense of those contrary sollicitations to sinne as Paul saith I delight in the Law of God touching the inward man but I have another Law in the seventh to the Romans and the twenty second verse There is a continuall combat and strife between the flesh and spirit the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh the fifth chapter to the Galatians and the seventeenth verse When we cannot tell what sinne is nor what be the effects and fruits of it and how it solliciteth and desireth when it reigns we are ready to meet it and runne as fast to sinne as sinne cometh to us and that is dangerous Therefore we must take notice of his conflict and know that between the heel and the head this conflict shall for ever be Genesis the third chapter and the fifteenth verse and every man shall have either peccatum habitans vel occurrens but which shall have dominion whether flesh or spirit nature or grace it is excellently said by Salomon in the sixteenth chapter of the Proverhs He that ruleth his own minde and lusts hath a greater victorie than he that winneth a City for they that winne Cities are oftentimes slaves to their own lusts and a small appetite overcometh them This is not the conquest here spoken of but the masterie over our sensualitie is it that God meaneth and he that overcommeth it shall receive a crown at Gods hand as the Apostle saith I have fought a good fight hence forth is layed up for me a crown in the second epistle to Timothie and the fourth chapter Now every man is not in case to goe into the field to encounter with his enemie and to winne Cities but every Christian is in state to strive against his own lusts and to fight with sinne which is the Serpents seed There must be a bruising between the heel of Adams seed and the Serpents head this combat we must all undergoe whereof we have matter of comfort if wee overcome in this conflict and also of instruction and admonition that seeing God mislikes sinne promising reward to them that doe well and threatning them that doe evill saying that sinne lyeth at the dore that as one day shall come when this condition shall be as between the Creditor and Debtor between the Judge and malefactor But withall he sheweth that howsoever our nature be inclined to sinne yet as Gods conclusion to Cain is that sinne shall not get dominion over him but he shall rule over it by grace offered to him so if we by prayer be earnest Suitors to God for grace and take hold of it being offered we shall be conquerors over sinne in Christ and bear rule and in the end we shall obtein the reward promised which is eternall happiness in the Kingdome of heaven Post colloquebatur Kajin cum Hebelo fratre suo evenit autem quum essent in agro ut insurgens Kajin in Hebelum fratrem suum interficeret eum Gen. 4. 8. July 29. 1599. HItherto we have heard Gods Sermon preached to Cain and in this verse is set down the successe and effect that it took and it sheweth that it was in vain in regard of the effect for which it was preached though it were uttered by God The end of hearing Gods word For the end both of this and all others is that the Auditors might be drawn to repentance but we see that Cain becommeth more obdurate and hardened in his sinne And where the end of hearing the word is that sinne might not have dominion over us but we bear rule over it we see Cain is not the better for Gods Sermon but like Ahab sells him to be the bond-slave of sinne Not to harden our hearts Now in the hearing of Gods word the chifest matter required at our hands is That we harden not our hearts Psalm the ninety fifth but if a man be of Cains minde if he shall harden his heart as ãâã Exodus the eighth chapter and the fifteenth verse If he shall say the word that thou hast spoken to us we will not hear it but will doe whatsoever goeth out of our mouth Jeremiah the fourty fourth chapter and the seventeenth verse In such Gods word taketh no effect Now it is plain why Cain was not moved at the word preached by God for there is no means ordained by God more effectuall to work repentance than the word of
not where his Brother is that is a lye with two additions First Mendacium impium In that he lyeth not to man but to God in the fifth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and the fourth verse The Wise-man saith of Kings which are but mortall men in the sixteenth chapter of the Proverbs and the thirteenth verse Righteous lips are the delight of Kings and the King loveth him that speaketh right things Then much lesse can God which is the King immortall away with lyes for lying lips are an abhomination to the Lord in the twelfth chapter of the Proverbs and the twenty second verse Hee knoweth all things and his Majesty is greater than all the Kings of the earth Therefore Salomon prayeth in the thirtieth chapter of the Proverbs Take from me vanity and lyes Secondly As it is impious and ungodly so it is foolish in that we seek by ly es to blinde Gods eyes To whom the darknesse is no darknesse but all is light Psalm the one hunded thirty ninth For the Wise-man saith the 14. of the Proverbs and the 22. Errat omnis qui facit iniquitatem that ignorance and wickednesse are twinnes and inseparable companions ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Cain sheweth his folly in that he believeth the Devill the Father of lyes that he may conceal his fact from God soe as he shall not know of it Secondly because God might object upon his deniall thou wast seen goe into the fields with thy Brother since which time he was not seen he prevents this objection and justifieth his lye and withall defends his sinne for he saith he is not his Brothers keeper that is he denieth that he is to take care of any but himself We are to have care of our Bretheren in three respects That position of Cain is false for he was to have a care of his Brother First if he had been but a man Secondly in that he was his Brother Thirdly for that he was his inferiour committed to his government The law of humanity would teach him to be carefull of Abel in regard of the first The law of naturall affection or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã will inforce him to respect his Brother And in that he was his inferior made subject to him the law of nature will inforce him to have a regard of him being ãâã to his trust This is the law of nature saith Chist in the seventh chapter of Matthew That what we would have men doe to us we doe the same to them for that is the Law and Prophets If our neighbours oxe goe astray or fall down under his burthen Gods will is we succour him Deuteronomie the twenty second chapter Much more are we to have a tender regard of men because they are our own flesh from whom we may not hide our compassion in the fifty eighth chapter of Isaiah But if that will not move Cain yet let naturall affection provoke him to take care of Abel because he is his Brother issued out of the loynes of Adam as he himself was Thirdly he is to take care of him because he is under his government Secondly As Cains position is false so is it wicked For if all men should take care only for themselves and not for others it would be the dissolution of all societie But the law of nature willeth that the members of the body have the same care one for another as they have severally any one for it self in the first epistle to the Corinthians and the twelfth chapter The law of the Church is Nemo quae sua sunt quaer at sed quisquis quae alterius in the first to the Corinthians the tenth chapter and the twenty fourth verse Which rule as it concerneth all men generally so especially it toucheth those that doe dominari as Cain whose duty non praeesse solum sed prodesse As one private man may not renounce the care that he is to have of another privat man so much lesse may a publique person lay aside the care of a private man Jeroboam had no care of the people though they perished in death in the 13. of Hosea and the 2. verse And when Judas came to the High Priest and confessed his fault They as if they were to care for none but themselves answered What is that to us Looke thou to it in the twenty seventh chapter of Matthew they were perswaded they were not bound to take any notice of his state These were steps of Cains sinne and grievous sinnes Thirdly we are to consider the manner of his answer which is not a simple deniall of his duty but an unmodest speech Am I my Brothers keeper as if he shhold say Am I bound to take care of my Brother In this answer we see that Cain to his former sinnes of lying and malice adds the sinne of pride and presumption Of which the Prophet saith Be not mercifull to them that offend of malicious wickedness which sinne whosoever committeth cannot be clear from the great sinne which is irremediable as David saith Keep thy servant from presumptuous sinnes so shall I be clear from the great sinne Psalm the nineteenth and the fourteenth verse The instruction that we are to gather hence is that wee avoid the wayes of Cain if we will escape his curses in the eleventh verse of the epistle of Jude He was carried with a lying spirit in the first of Kings and the twenty second chapter and ãâã may not seek to beguile God as he did as if we would hide our sinnes from him Secondly There is spiritus malignus in the first epistle of John the third chapter and the twelfth verse the malicious spirit which perswaded Cain that he was not bound to take care for his Brother Wee must take heed of that spirit like wise Thirdly Wee must be ware of the haughty and proud spirit which made him answer God so immodestly we must learn to bee humble for as the Wise-man saith pride is the forerunner of destruction Wee must ãâã before our selves the example of Abrahams humility who acknowledged him selt to be but dust and ashes in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis And with Job say I will repent in sack cloth and ashes for if wee in humilitie confesse our sinnes God is mercifull and just to forgive us our sinnes in the first epistle of John the first chapter and the seventh verse Wee must instead of the lying spirit possesse our selves with the spirit of truth for the malicious spirit we must have the spirit of charity and for pride put on the spirit of humilitie Dixit verò Deus Quid fecisti ecce vocem sanguinum fratris tui me ab ipsâ humo inclamantium Gen. 4. 10. Aug. 19. 1599. IN which words is set down Cains conviction for howsoever he might imagine he was escaped by that bold utterance of a known lye and untruth yet he was deceived as all they shall be decieved that having
of his sinne is dispatched in a word My sinne is greater but he takes his punishment in pieces and thinks of it particularly whereupon one saith of Cain and the wicked that the repetition which they make is eorum quae ferunt non quae fecerunt they are generall in their sinne but particular in their punishment For as of the abundanee of the heart the mouth speaketh Matthew the twelfth chapter so we may gather by Cains words that he thinks more of his punishment than of his fault that which offends him stood more in his sight and grieved him more than that which offended God but the godly are of another minde for they will be content to have the punishment remain upon them so that the guilt may be taken away But there is a third point in this repetition which is a perverting of the order which God set down in giving the Sentence God began with the curse ended with casting out of the earth but Cain beginneth with his casting out of the earth wherein he sheweth what is his greatest grief for if a man suffer many pains he will speak of that first which doth most pinch him and complain first of the losse of that thing which he doth most of all affect in that he first complaineth he is cast out from the face of the earth he sheweth he took more care for the face of the earth than the face and presence of God and it grieved him more to be deprived of the good will of men than of the favour of God It is otherwise with the Saints of God for they crie Psalm the seventy third and the twenty fift verse Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none in earth whom I desire besides thee Psalm the ãâã third Thy kindness is better than life it self and when they come to make composition between heavenly things and earthly we see what David saith in the second of Samuel the fifteenth chapter and the twenty fift verse If I finde favour in Gods sight I will see the Ark again that is the presence of God and makes choice of that as his greatest felicity not to enjoy his Scepter or to be restored to his Wives and Children which earthly men would make most account of so the Apostle Philippians the third chapter and the eighth verse Esteeming all things as dung in respect of Christ. Whereby we see that as Cains punishment grieved him more than his sinne so the earthly part of his punishment offends him more than the heavenly One thing more is to be added that is Cains Commentary or interpretation of Maledictus for he saith that to be cursed is to be cast out from Gods presence The presence or face of God hath reference to the power of God or to his favour from the presence of Gods power knowledge or spirit there is no escaping Psalm the one hundred and thirty ninth If I climb up to heaven ãâã art there if I goe down to hell thou art there also of which the Prophet saith Jeremiah the twenty third chapter and the twenty fourth verse coelum terram ego ãâã but that is not his meaning but that he is cast out from the presence of Gods favour so are ãâã words to be taken to Moses Exodus the tenth chapter and the twenty eighth verse Get thee from me and look thou see my face no more Rsalm the thirty first and the twenty second verse I said in my half I am cast out from thy presence and Psalm the eightieth Turn again O Lord cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved so that we must know that albeit God be present every where with his power yet he is not present with his favour and not only that but it signifieth the place where the favour and grace of God is intailed that is his House and Church of which the Prophet saith Psalm the ninty fift Let us come before his presence or face with thanksgiving When shall I come and appear in the presence of God Psalm the fourty second of which presence Christ saith Matthew the eighteenth chapter When two or three be gathered together I am amongst them and the Apostle in the second to the Corinthians the second chapter In the presence of Jesus Christ forgive I them that is in the Church where God speaketh to us in his word and we again speak to him by prayer so Cains punishment is both spirituall and ecclesiasticall for that he is not only shut out of Gods favour but cast out of the place where the presence of his favour and grace is shewed and the punishment was justly inflicted upon Cain that durst commit so great an offence in the presence and sight of God and when it was committed feared not Gods presence but denyed it as if God knew not of it The second point is Cains admonition wherein the first thing to be observed is how in this repetition it comes to pass that Cain saith whosoever shall finde him will kill him seeing in the sentence there is no mention of death the reason comes from the guiltiness of his conscience severiorum seipso Judicem habet ãâã whereupon it falleth out that though the Judge absolve yet the party guilty addeth a sentence of condemnation upon himself so doth Cain condemn himself as worthy of death God indeed afterward saith He ãâã shedeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed Genesis the ninth chapter but seeing Cain ãâã God hath uttered his opinion of murther that it is a sinne mortall it may be said to him ex ore ãâã te ãâã Luke he ãâã chapter that men may know that wisedome is justified of ãâã children ãâã the eleventh chapter so ãâã is ãâã of her children Secondly Where he saith he shall be killed with a ãâã and bloody death this is secundum dictamen rationis ut ãâ¦ã fecit expectes Cain is told by his own conscience that ãâã he ãâã murthered Abel so himself must look to be murthered This is that Lex ãâã written naturally in the hearts of all men which made the bretheren of Joseph to say Genesis the fourty second chapter and the twenty first verse We have sinned against our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear him therefore is all this come upon us By that Law it was just that as Hammon had made Gods people afraid so he himself should fear and be dealt with as he had purposed to deal Esther the seventh chapter and the sixt verse therefore the Prophet saith Isaiah the thirty fift chapter and the first verse Woe be to them that spoile for they shall be spoiled and our Saviour Christ saith agreeably Matthew the seventh chapter With what measure ye meat the same shall be measured to you again Thirdly He saith Omnis qui inveniret there could but one kill him and yet his ãâã tells him he deserveth to die at the hands
hear so they cried and he would not hear them Yet not withstanding we see God is content to hear Cain's petition and by his example to set down a pattern unto others that the sentence being pronounced and the party condemned yet he is to be allowed to speak Secondly That God having heard Cain wonder at his punishment as if it were not proportionable to his sinne hearing him odiously recounting and remembring his punishment where he should have thought upon his sinne and transposing Gods order in that he complaineth for that he is cast out of the earth before he speaks of his casting out of Gods favour hearing him shew plainly that he was more grieved at the penalty inflicted upon him than the fault committed by him and at the earthly part of his punishment more than the spirituall whereas upon his own confession God might justly have said Luke the fourteenth chapter ex ore tuo judico as thou confessest thy self unworthy to live so whosoever shall finde ãâã shall kill thee yet he is not only content to hear but also to consider the voyce of his prayer Psalm the sixty sixt and the seventeenth verse Thirdly We set that God granteth his suit for whereas Cains request is that the sentence may not presently be executed so that whosoever meeteth him shall kill him God saith I will take order that thy life shall not presently be taken from thee but I will reprieve thee to further repentance Wherein we see as Augustine noteth quod nunquam deo sine spe supplicatur in as much as Cain a man condemned hath obtained to be heard of God It is verified which David saith Psalm the ninth and the tenth verse Thou Lord never failest them that seek thee and that which our Siviour Christ saith John the sixt chapter eum qui ad me venit non ejiciam for as not only here we see a reprobate hath his request granted but wicked Abab that sold himself to work wickedness for that he humbled himself escaped the evill which the Lord purposed to bring upon him in the first of Kings the twenty first chapter and whereas Cains life is spared it is an argument that if Cain had asked more God would have granted it It was but Angustia mentis his minde and understanding could not conceive what to ask besides the benefit of this present life It was not the narrowness of Gods mercy for had he asked more more should have been granted him for God affirmeth of his liberality Psalm the eighty first Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it Therefore by that term of expecting Isaiah the third chapter and hearkning Jeremiah the eighth chapter The meaning of the prophet is that God is willing and ready to give more if men will sue to him In the mean time we see in these words a mitigation of Cains fear whereby we are taught that God mitigateth the punishment of those that are dejected though he taketh it not away for that which the Prophet affirmeth Psalm the sixty fift That God is the hope of all the ends of the world is no otherwise verified of those that are out of the covenant but in respect only of the mitigation of their punishment For albeit those that pertain not to the covenant have not their punishment taken away yet it may be mitigated So Christ saith of Tyre and Sidon that their estate shall be easier and their punishment more remisse in the day of Judgment Matthew the eleventh chapter and the Servant that of ignorance committeth things worthy of stripes albeit he be not beaten with many stripes as he that knew his Masters will and sinneth yet he shall not escape unbeaten Luke the twelfth chapter and the fourty eighth verse The grant consists of two parts The word or command of God touching him that shall kill Cain and the mark which he sets upon Cain that he may be known from all other men For by these two God sets down an order for the preservation of mans life For the first Where God saith not whosoever killeth any man but whosoever killeth Cain that hath the form of a pardon Secondly That no man should kill him wittingly he saith he shall be punished seven fold Thirdly For that no man should ignorantly kill him God setteth a mark upon Cain whereby he may be known from all other men In the Command which God giveth we have to consider his Pardon and the Penalty threatned to him ãâã wittingly kills Cain In the pardon or mitigation of the sentence the Councell of God doth first respect Cain himself for if God had presently swept away Cain upon the sentence pronounced he could not have repented but in giving Cain a long life upon earth that he should not presently be taken away but live gemens tremens it might at length come into Cains minde wrastling with sorrow and fear to say with the Church in the second chapter of Hosea I will return to my first husband for as it is usuall with the people of God after many afflictions to conclude upon repentance It was the case of the lost childe in the fifteenth chapter of Luke for a time he bare out the miserie which he had brought upon himself but at the last he is faint and saith redibo ad patrem so Gods purpose in delaying the execution of his sentence upon Cain was that by a long and tedious life he might be brought to repentance For that is it which Ambrose saith that when long life is granted to a man as it was to Hezekiab Isaiah the thirty eighth chapter the reason is ut vita sit mors peccati but if insteed of funus peccati it be foenus peccati if instead of burying sinne we put it out to increase then life is nothing else but thesaurisatio irae dei in diem irae Romans the second chapter This is the first part to be considered in Gods councell that himself may be the better Secondly in sparing Cain God hath a respect of others for there is not simplex contritio Serpentis but aliquando conteritur Serpens ad pernitiem aliquando at theriacam that is to make treakle Though the Serpents head be not so bruised that he dye of it yet so as of it wholesome medicines may be made for the healing of others though themselves be not healed for the Apostle saith there is in us a spirit that lusteth to envy as well as in Cain James the fourth chapter and the fift verse and therefore we have need to have his example before our eyes to keep us from his sinne for his shedding of blood is to us insteed of a bath to wash our footsteps in Psalm the fifty eighth that is in this sparing there is not only a use to Cain himself to amend but though he doe not yet his example may cause others to amend seeing how God doth punish Cains sinne with a miserable life that contains nothing but fear and grief
from Gods own mouth kils Cain doth deserve a more great punishment But lest any should excuse themselves with ignorance therefore that notice may be taken of Cain God sets a mark upon Cain Signum in Cain fecit Cain insignum This mark gives all men occasion to inquire who he is that so they may be put in minde to hold their hands from off Cain forasmuch as God will not have him to be killed by any man There are two sorts of signes There is Signum in bonum Psalme the eighty sixth sbew us some signe for good Such a signe or mark was the letter ãâã set in the foreheads of them that ãâã and cryed for the ãâã that were done by the which God deliered them from the destruction of the City Ezekiel the ninth chapter and the fourth verse But Cain's mark is Signum in malum The Fathers usually distinguish them into these two Signum annuli such a mark as Christ had set upon him in the sixt chapter of John Him hath God the Father sealed And signum cauterii in the first epistle to Timothie the fourth chapter and the first verse the signe of a brand This figne or mark set upon Cain was outward and visible to the end that he might be discerned from all other men What was Cain's mark Basil ãâã us when he saith that it is the rednesse of the eyes Proverbs the twenty third chapter and ãâ¦ã of the ãâã such as ãâã have ãâã of whom he saith that they put on ãâã ãâã But whatsoever it were it is some evident token whereby all ãâã might see that Cain was not in such good case as he should ãâã And upon whomsoever God hath set any outward mark it is not in vain But the fetting of marks in the forehead or hands of malefactors hath a ground from Gods practise The use of them is to teach them that albeit they be suffered to live yet they are unworthy of life Such are marks of admonition both to themselves and to others they give occasion to inquire How come these ãâã in ãâã bands Zechary the thirteenth chapter and the sixth verse To the parties themselves such marks ãâã for conversion that their ãâ¦ã with shame Psalm the eighty third for the remembrance of that which they have deserved they may be stirred up to amend their lives and it ãâã others so to live that they deserve not to be marked in like sort This use the Apostle makes in the second to the Thessalonians the third chapter and the fourteenth verse If any obey not our sayings note him and have no company with him ãâã he may be ashamed Such marks in others will make men heedfull that they deserve not to be marked To conclude we see Cain is spared but yet so that he carryeth still his sentence and mark Two invisible things of God remain that is his justice and mercy and both that they may move him to repentance but if they prevail not yet he hath a visible sign to admonish him that he repent that so the evill sign may be taken from him and there may be restored to him a ãâã for good ãâã is the sign of Gods seal in the second to the ãâã the seventeenth chapter and the twenty second verse whereby we are ãâ¦ã the day of redemption ãâã the fourth chapter ãâã ãâ¦ã to live and so God ãâã ãâã he will ãâã his ãâã in ãâ¦ã of ãâ¦ã may live Genesis the seven ãâ¦ã and the eighteenth ãâã But the promise of this ãâã life such as ãâã and ãâã obtained was not ãâã but ãâ¦ã the sixt chapter and the second verse The ãâ¦ã hath root in ãâã it standeth in the bruising of the ãâã head If by life we procure to our selves the death of ãâã and make our selves partakers of the divine nature then the promise of such a life is to be desired but if life be used as Cain spent his it is better to die without Cains mark than to live with it Egressus itaque est Kajin à facie Jehovae consedit in terra Nodi ad Orientem Hedenem versus Gen. 4. 16. Septemb. 23. 1599. WE now come to the last part of the History of Cain for in this verse we have his departure from the presence of God and in the next his purpose never to return again The contents of this verse are his departure Gods purpose as we have heard both in Cains punishment as also by granting him so much as he required in the last verse was to give Cain space to repent and yet not withstanding we see plainly that is verified in Cain which the Prophet affirmeth Isaiah the twenty sixt chapter and the tenth verse Let mercy be shewed to the wicked yet he will not learn righteousness For Cain instead of using the goodness and patience and long suffering of God as a means to bring him to repentance Hardned his heart and heaped up wrath for himself against the day of wrath Romans the second chapter and the fift verse This departing of Cain stands upon three parts First his removing he went out Secondly terminus a quo that is from the presence of God Thirdly terminus ad quem that is the land of Nod. Touching the first there is a going out upon distrust when a man hath no hope of favour and another upon contempt when a man thinks he shall have no benefit of tarrying Of which the better is that going out which is upon distrust but so could not Cain goe out for as well by Gods mercifull dealing towards Cain before the sentence was pronounced as also by the gracious grant which God made him he might gather that God was well affected towards him For as the wife of Manoah saith Judges the thirteenth chapter and the twenty third verse If the Lord would kill us he would not receive a burnt offering at our hands so God would not have heard Cains request had he not wished him well And therefore Austin upon the words of David Psalm the sixty sixt and twentieth verse saith quamdiu dominus non amovet orationem a se ãâã non amovet misericordiam a nobis for that yeelding to Cains request touching his life was an invitation to stir up Cain to desire more Therefore Cain should not have gone out so soon as his suit was heard but still have continued praying to God for more and better things as Abraham Genesis the eighteenth chapter hearing that God at his request was contented to spare Sodom for fifties sake prayeth still in the behalf of the City adding one petition after another Which course the Prophet keepeth in his prayer Psalm the fifty first Cast me not from thy presence neither take thy holy spirit from me Though he durst not pray himself being a sinner yet by others as Miriam by Moses Numbers the tweelfth chapter Pharaoh by Moses and Aron Exodus the ninth chapter and the twenty eighth verse so should Cain have done but in as much as
disorder but Melchisedek who stayed in the presence of God had Salem for his land The reason of this is as Augustine saith because God made the soul of man for himself inquietum est cor nostrum ãâã requiescit in Deo we may finde the skirts of Eden and obtain some delight for a time in this life but we cannot ãâã to any perfect pleasute for as the Wise-man saith risus dolore miscetur extrema ãâ¦ã occupat Proverbs the fourteenth chapter therefore the Prophet saith Micah 2. 10. surgite non est hîc requies vestra and the Apostle ãâã with him Hebrewes the thirteenth chapter non habemââ¦s hîc manentem civitatem therefore let us goe out with Christ. Thus the imperfection of our happiness in this life and the continuall fear of death doth take from us all rest and this proceedeth from the want of Gods presence It remaineth then that he which will finde rest doe seek Gods face and presence Psalm the twenty seventh and the eighth verse for seek God and then your soul shall live Psalm the sixty ninth If our departure from the ãâã of God be not as Cains was that is of contempt yet it is like Judas which went out of distrust The issue of Cains departure was a radious life full of trouble and fear and the going out of Judas was miserie or death Such shall be the issue of those that either of contempt or distrust fall away from God the pleasure that they shall have in this life is but momentary and ãâã it is ãâã inquieta voluptas Ecclesiastes the second chapter the desire of that which they want and the fear of death which is alwayes at ãâã doth not suffer them to take rest therefore if we will have rest we must goe to Peniel and Salem there we shall have both rest and ãâã and this is done by prayer when we say with David Psalm the fifty first Cast me not from thy presence If of our selves we ãâã our of his presence we must goe to some valley to ãâã and ãâ¦ã ãâã did so we shall be received of God for God being ãâ¦ã and majesty is able both to give us our hearts desire and to deliver our souls from death Et cognovit Kajin uxorem suam quae concepit peperit Chanocum quamobrem studebat edificare civitatem vocavit nomen civitatis illius de nomine filit sui Chanoc Gen. 4. 17. Septemb. 30. 1599. ALbeit Cain departed from the presence of God and seated himself in a Land as neer Eden as he could yet his departure is not altogether desperate because he may return again for so both the Prophet in the old Testament sheweth that the Church of the Jewes having departed from her first husband and seeing the invonvenience of it resolved to return again Hosea the second chapter and our Saviour in the New tells us that the Sonne which forsook his Father after when he felt some affliction was glad to come to him again Luke the fifteenth chapter and so may Cain come again for as Eden that is pleasure is the thing that perswades men to depart from their allegiance in the service of God so the place whither they goe that is the Land of Nod being a Land of trouble and unquietness may perswade them to return to God again A fair proffer indeed is made to draw men from Gods presence and to commit sinne in as much as it offereth pleasure but when they have seated themselves a little even as neer Eden as they can they shall finde themselves in the Land of Nod that is they shall feel nothing within but unquietness of conscience and without fear and trouble so as they shall have inducements sufficient to make them return Salomon the pearless example of all those that might have enjoyed pleasure if it had been to be found who was greater than any King that ever was before him set himself to plant himself as neer Eden as he could he denyed his Soul nothing that it desired and yet he confesseth that when he had built him Houses and planted Orchards he found nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit Ecclesiastes the second chapter and the eleventh verse that is his desire was never satisfied and for the attaining of that which he had he endured vexation and trouble As Cain had his arguments perswading him to make triall of the Land of Nod so when he was there his trouble and unquietness were sufficient reasons to make him return to God but we see he had no minde to return for having disjoyned himself from Gods presence he built a City which is a plain argument of not returning as the people in captivity to let them know they shall not return of a long time are commanded to build Houses Jeremiah the twenty ninth chapter and the Children of God were content to dwell in Tents they built not Cities on earth but sought for a City whose builder is God Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the ninth verse which was a plain token that they did not minde to dwell on earth as Freeholders but to continue for a time looking for a City that hath a foundation but Cain not minding to return to God built a City in the land of Nod and this is the complement of his sinne first in departing from Gods presence then in planting himself so as he purposed not to return The parts are three the propagation of Children the building of a City and the denomination of both wherein we see Cain conveyeth to his Sonne the great Joynture of the world to be Henoch of Henoch To have Children is a matter of the flesh to build ãâã is a matter of the world for the flesh departing from the ãâ¦ã in the world The naming of the City after his Sons name is a fruit and effect of the pride of his heart ãâã like to those that said ãâã nob is nomen Genesis the eleventh chapter Touching the first we are to insist upon four things ãâã ãâã wife Secondly his knowledge Thirdly her conception Fourthly the giving of the name Concerning the Wife of Cain it cannot be otherwise but she was one of the daughters of Adam whose Sonne Cain himself was and for him to take his Sister to be his Wise is a thing unlawfull saving that as Christ sheweth that which of it ãâã is unlawfull on the Sabbath by necessity is made lawfull nam quod in ãâã non est necessitas facit licitum as Christ sheweth by the example of David and his men that his ãâã offended not in pulling the ãâã of corn on the Sabbath in regard of their necessity Matthew the twelfth chapter no more than David offended when being hungrie he went into the house of God and did eat the ãâã bread which none may eat but the Priests in the first of Samuel the twenty first chapter That which was Davids case at Nob is Cains case in the land of Nod. A man may not
ãâã and we shall see that ãâã man ãâ¦ã himself to this present World can have more ãâ¦ã ãâã Secondly For Gods hand and ãâã in ãâ¦ã ãâã Children this ground is to be laid that these ãâ¦ã are from God for Jubals invention ãâ¦ã from God ãâ¦ã butter of Kine and ãâã of Sheep with ãâã of Lamb ãâ¦ã in Basham He gives the grain of wheat and ãâ¦ã of ãâ¦ã the thirty second chapter and the four ãâã and for making of ãâã of ãâã It is God that ãâã songs in the night Job the thirty fist chapter and the ãâ¦ã For Tubal-Cains invention of ãâã of warr It is the Lord that teachet hour hands to ãâã and our ãâã to ãâ¦ã the ãâã and the fourth ãâã These inventions are all ãâã God whereby we see it is not with God as ãâã said to Isaas his Father Genesis the twenty seventh chapter Hast thou but one ãâã God hath for the Sonnes of men ãâã only heavenly blessings that ãâã the life to come but even such as pertain to the ãâ¦ã In his lest hand he hath riches and worldly honour but in his ãâã hand ãâã and ãâã life Proverbs the third ãâ¦ã the fix teenth ãâã he hath not only donum ãâã but ãâ¦ã James the first ãâã and the ãâã verse ãâã in temporall things as well as spirituall to ãâã upon ãâ¦ã we fed God saith Exodus the thirty first chapter ãâã his ãâã into ãâã and Aholiab so as they were able ãâã work in the ãâã so all mechanicall arts are to be ascribed to ãâ¦ã that was for ãâã Tabernacle So Hir ãâã was ãâã with the ãâã to work in ãâã for the Temple in the second book of Chronicles the ãâã chapter and the fourteenth verse These ãâã came from the ãâã of counsell and understanding The second thing to be observed is Gods ãâ¦ã herein that he ãâã to the wicked good ãâã pertaining to this life as Christ ãâã He suffers ãâ¦ã to shine ãâã the godly and ãâã Matthew the fist chapter so he bestowes temporall ãâã upon the posterity of Cain as well as upon the Children of ãâã and this they obtain of God gratiae gratis datae but not ãâ¦ã Secondly His mercy appeares herein that he ãâã gives ãâã a supply of those blessings which their sinnes ãâã them of Thirdly His ãâã in ãâã order that the world ãâã be furnished with things necessary for this present ãâã By ãâã of ãâã world Psalm the seventeenth And that they which have ãâã themselves to the things of this world should have ãâã excellency in things ãâ¦ã the same above the Godly as the ãâã est of worldly men in this ãâã so their ãâã stands in earthly things and the godly ãâ¦ã in respect of ãâã For the ãâã of ãâ¦ã are ãâã in their ãâ¦ã the Children of light Luke the tenth chapter but come to things that pertain to the other life there they that seem to be most childish in things of this life goe far beyond the Philosophers of whom the Apostle saith in the first to the Corinthians the second chapter The naturall man perceiveth not the things of the spirit of God But he hath hid them from the wise and prudent of this world and revealed them to babes Matthew the eleventh chapter and the twenty fift verse Fourthly We are to consider the equity of Gods dealing in recording these things in his own book which is the Library of the Holy Ghost These things are enrolled by an honourable name that is the name of a Father shewing plainly that they which bring forth actions that are profitable no less are to be counted Fathers than they that bring forth Children and that they ought accordingly to be honoured and reverenced as Fathers The ancient Fathers make a question Whether these men were the inventors of these things first It is certain that Cain being an husbandman had use of iron workes as the Coulter and Share and albeit he did invent iron tools fit for his purpose yet that which is ascribed to Tubal-Cain was excultio expolitio that is the perfecting of that work which Cain had begun Abel was a shepheard and could not but have use of tents but yet the perfecting of that cunning in that kinde is ãâã to Jubal Mahalallel was one that used to praise God as his name signifieth which he could not doe without some kinde of musick and therefore in as much as he was farre ancienter than Lamech it follows there was musick before Jubal invented Instruments and Organs This distinction therefore must be held in this point which the School men make that the one is quoad modum simplicis the other quoad modum singularis And therefore in as much as Jabal-Jubal and Tubal Cain are called Fathers of these arts which were in use long before them it is plaine that not only the first inventors of any art are to be honoured but even they also that add any excellencie or perfection to any thing which they professe To draw to an end Lamech being thus blessed of God in things naturall and pertaining to this life ought to be thankfull to God Jacob when God gave him a sonne called his name Judah saying I will praise the Lord Genesis the twenty ninth chapter but he is so farre from praising God that he speakes hard things against God If Cain be avenged seven times then Lamech seventy times seven fold And for men he was so cruel against them that he said no man should stirre against him He would kill a man in his rage Therefore he called his third sonne Tubal Cain that is another Cain as if he would have the name of Cain remembred which God would have buryed All these mercies moved not Lamech to any amendment but as it is in the twenty sixth chapter of Isaiah Let mercy be shewed to the wicked yet will he doe wickedly so did Lamech And albeit these things which they invented tended to the benefit of men yet they were to their own destruction Hypocrites can discern the face of the sky but cannot discern the signe or the times Matthew the sixteenth chapter The Heathen by the works of God attained to a knowledge of God but were not the better for it because they did not worship him as God Romans the first chapter so in as much as they imploy not that ãâã of ãâã which God gave them to his glory it will be to their destruction As we are to have a right estimation of those things where with God blessed them outwardly so we must beware that having the like blessings we be not as they They desired to be mighty men on earth and men of renoune Genesis the sixth chapter that was the end of their desire and they were so but as Christ saith accepêrunt mercedem suam Lamech as he desired proved a mighty man and so did his posterity but when all is done when the men of this world as Lamech have Children at their ãâã fire Psalm the seventeenth yet they lye in hell
are taken away There are two natures in a Cole that is the Cole it selfe which is a dead thing and the burning nature and heate that it hath which setteth out first Christs humane nature which is dead in it selfe And then his divine nature containing the burning force of that is represented in this burning Cole So the element of bread and wine is a dead thing in it selfe but through the grace of Gods spirit infused into it hath a power to heate our Soules for the elements in the Supper have an earthly and a heavenly part Secondly that Christ is to bee understood by this burning Cole wee may safely gather because his love to his Church is presented with fire Cantit the eighth chapter and the sixth verse It is said of Christs love the Coles thereof are fiery Coles and a vehement flame such as cannot be quenched with any water nor the floods drown it even so all the calamities and miseries that Christ suffered and endured for our sakes which were poured upon him as water could not quench the love that he bare us Thirdly quia non solum ardet ipse sed alios accendit so saith John the Baptist of him There cometh one after me that shall Baptize with the holy-Ghost and with fire as it is in the third chapter of Luke the sixteenth verse therefore the graces of the holy-Ghost are also represented by fire Acts 3. the union whereof hath a double representation First it is signified by water in Baptisme for sinne that is derived ãâã us from another being as a ãâã may be washed away with water and therefore the Propher saith there is a fountaine opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of ãâã for sinne and ãâã Zach. the thirteenth chapter and the first verse therefore ãâã said to Saul bee Baptized and wash away thy sinnes Acts the twenty second Chapter and the sixteenth verse that is meant of originall sinne and the corruption of our nature by which wee are guilty of the wrath of God but because through the whol course of our life sinne by custome groweth more to be strong and to stick fast in our nature so as no water can take it away therefore ãâã Grace of God is set out by fire as having a power and force to burn ãâã sinne for by custome sinne is bred and setled in our nature and is ãâã drosse that must be tryed and purged by fire so the holy Ghost speaketh of actuall sinnes the first of Isaiah and the twenty fift verse and the sixt ter of Jeremiah and the thirttieh verse Ezech. the twenty second chapter and the eighteenth verse The house of Israel is to mee as drosse that is by custome of sinne and in regard of this kinde of sinne there needs not only water to wash away the corruption of our nature and the qualitie thereof but fire to purge the actuall sins that proceed from the same The sinnes of Commission came by reason of the force of concupiscence and from the lusts that boyle out of our corrupt nature and the grace that takes them away is the grace of water in Baptisme but the sinnes of omission proceede of the coldnesse and negligence of our nature to doe good such as was in the Church of Laodicea Rev. the third chapter and the fifteenth verse and therefore such sinnes must bee taken away with the fiery Grace of God Secondly for the quality of the Cole it is not only a burning Cole but taken from the Altar to teach us that our zeale must bee ãâã and come from the spirit of God The fires that are appointed by earthly Judges to terrifie malefactors from offending may draw a skinne over the spirituall wounds of their Soules so as for feare they will eschue and sorbeare to sinne but it is the fire of the Altar and the inward Graces of Gods spirit that taketh away the corruption and healeth the wound therefore as in the Law God tooke ãâã there should ever bee fire on the Altar Leviticus the sixt chapter and the ninth verse so for the sinner that is contrite and sory for his sinne there is alwaies fire in the Church to burne up the Sacrifice of his contrition and repentance even that fire of Christs Sacrifice The love which hee shewed unto us in dying for our sinnes is set ãâã unto us most lively in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood unto which wee must come often that from the one wee may fetch the purging of our sinnes as the Apostle speaks and from the other qualifying power si in luce John the first chapter the seventh verse wherefore as by the mercy of God we have a fountain of water alwaies flowing to take away originall sinne so there is in the Church fire alwaies burning to cleanse our actuall transgressions for if the Cole taken from the Altar had a power to take away the Prophets sinne much more the body and blood of Christ which is offered in the Sacrament If the hem of Christs garment can heale the ninth chapter of Matthew and the twentith verse much more the touching of Christ himselfe shall procure health to our soules here we have not somthing that hath touched the Sacrifice but the Sacrifice it self to take away our sins Secondly the Application The application of this Cole is by a Seraphin for it is an office more fit for Angells than men to concurre with God for taking away sinne but for that it pleaseth God to use the service of men in this behalfe they are in Scripture called Angells Job the thirty fifth chapter and the twenty third verse Malachi the second and the seventh verse The Priests lips preserve knowledge for hee is the Angell of the Lord of Hosts and the Pastors of the seven Churches in Asia are called Angells Apoc. the first chapter and the first verse for the same office that is here executed by an Angell is committed to the sonnes of men to whom as the Apostle speaks Hee hath committed the ministery of reconciliation 2 Cor. the fift chapter and the eighteenth verse to whom hee hath given this power that whose sinnes soever they remit on earth shall bee remitted in heaven the twentith chapter of Saint John and the twenty fift verse So when Nathan who was but a man had said to David etiam Jehova transtulit peccatum ãâã the second booke of Samuel the twelfth chapter and the thirteenth verse it was as availeable as if an Angell had spoken to him And when Peter tells the Jewes that if they amend their lives and turn their sinnes shall be done away their sinne was taken away no lesse than the Prophets was when the Angell touched his lips Acts the third chapter and the ninteenth verse for not hee that holds the Cole but it is the Cole it selfe that takes away sinne and so long as the thing is the same wherewith wee are touched it skills not who doth hold it but wee
nature so with his name He is wonderfull Counsellor the mighty God the Prince of Peace Isaiah the ninth chapter Thirdly With his miracles For he raiseth the dead and quickneth whom he will no lesse than the Father John the fift chapter and the twenty first verse Fourthly Because exception was taken against his miracles For they said that he did them by Belzebub Matthew the twelfth chapter therefore he is further sealed with a voyce from Heaven saying This is he in whom I am well pleased heare ye him Matthew the seventeenth chapter not only whom he commands but where he promiseth to refresh them that come to him Matthew the eleventh chapter Fiftly He hath sealed him with the spirit The spirit of the Lord is upon me Luke the fourth chapter And that not only rests John the third chapter the three and thirtieth and four and thirtieth verses content with receiving the spirit for himself but with a power to give it to his So that by his intercession with God the Father He sent down the spirit upon the Apostles Acts the second chapter Being thus sealed by God he is able to nourish us by his flesh crucified for us unto eternall life if he give us grace to lay hold of it by faith Dixit igitur eis Videte cavete ab avaritia nec enim cujusquam vita ex iis quae ipsi suppetunt in eo sita est ut redundet Luke 12. 15. Novemb. 26. 1598. HERE Christ gives two commandements to covetous men First To discern and see the sinne of covetousnesse Secondly To beware of it Against the latter of them as against every other Commandement the corrupt nature of man makes two questions First of Rebellion Why should we beware Secondly of Ignorance How shall we beware The former question is resolved three wayes First We must beware of it because the sinne of ãâã is hardly avoided the desire of having aboundance is so rooted in the hearts of all men Secondly Because as it is hardly avoided so it is a sinne very hainous in Gods fight being committed howsoever we perswade our ãâã that those sinnes are the least that are naturally planted in us Thirdly Because whereas men may repent for other sinned they can hardly repent of this For other immoderate desires doe cease by two means either ãâã they are satisfied or else when death doth approach ãâã doth yield to neither of these means for the more that riches increase the more doth his covetous desire increase and the ãâã that death is the more doth a covetous man imbrace his riches and still covet more Touching the second question Though we be perswaded that we ought to avoid this sinne yet we know not how How to avoid ãâã and therefore we ask How shall we avoid it The word of God appoints ãâã three means First Trust in God Secondly Prayer against the sinne Thirdly Meditations concerning the same The first means Trust in God First it is a good way for the avoiding of ãâã to trust in God for that is a thing that the heart of a covetous man will not set himself against He will in no wise follow the counsell of the Philosopher which teacheth That to avoid covetousnesse a man must give himself to the actions of prodigality he would rather hear how he might get money than how to spend that he hath But if he be advised to put his trust in God he will not be against that as a thing which is not so contrary to his sinne as prodigality But this means doth the Scripture inculcate Trust not in uncertain riches the first epistle to Timothy and the sixt chapter If riches increase set not your hearts upon them Psalm the sixty second Riches avail not in the day of ãâã ãâã nam per det in die ira Proverbs the eleventh chapter and the fourth verse Let not the rich man glory in his riches ãâã the ninth chapter and the twenty third verse As the Scripture exhorts us not to trust in riches so it sets forth examples of them that in vain put their trust therein For this is the man that took not God for his strength but trusted in the multitude of his riches Psalme the fifty second But of confidence in God it speaketh thus It is better to ãâã in the Lord than to put confidence in man Psalm one hundred eighteen O Lord of hosts blessed is the man that putteth his trust in ãâ¦ã the eighty fourth Our father 's trusted in thee and thou didest deliver them Psalme the twenty second and the fourth verse The ãâã shall hunger but such ãâã trust in the Lord shall want ãâã good things ãâã the thirty fourth and the tenth verse A horse is ãâã thing to ãâ¦ã man but the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him and trust in ãâã Psalme the thirty third and the seventeenth verse To deliver their souls from death and to feed them in the time of ãâã After that a man hath admitted this opinion which is so confirmed by Scripture then there is cause to perswade him for the ãâã gives two commands in the first to Timothy the sixt chapter and the seventeenth verse Charge the rich of this world not to trust in ãâ¦ã but in the living God and to distributs To ãâã them That the cause why men doe not distribute is for want of trust in God They could be content to sow good works but they look up and fear a cloud of poverty will come upon them and they shall want themselves which would not be if they did trust in God but men give more trust to the uncertainty of riches than to the certainty of Gods promise To help this error our Saviour saith Care ãâã for your heavenly Father knoweth that you need all these things Matthew the sixt chapter and the thirty second verse And the Apostle saith Let your conversation be without ãâã for God ãâã said I will not leave thee nor for sake thee Hebrews the thirteenth chapter and the fift verse If we were perswaded that he that seeks to obtain Gods favour by doing good works layeth up a better ãâã for the time to come than he that heaps up riches the first epistle to Timothy the sixt chapter and the nineteenth verse it would make us use this means for the avoiding of ãâã For be a man never so rich in this world and never so honourable yet his glorie shall not goe with him Psalm the fourty ninth and the seventeenth verse But their works follow them opera ãâ¦ã Apoc the fourteenth chapter and the thirteenth verse Therefore it were good for us rather to respect and provide for the time to come And as it is good for the life to come so for this life present For a little that the righteous hath is better than great riches of the ungodly Psalme the thirty seventh and the sixteenth verse And Godlinesse hath promise of this life and that which is
Christ which wee should chiefly desire to see is that joyfull day of his birth whereof the Angels brought word a day of great joy to all the people that this day is born a Saviour Luke the second chapter In the desire it self we are to consider two things First the Degree Secondly the Manner of this Desire First for the Degree It is noted in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is leaped for joy of that day in regard of the great benefit which should come unto the world by Christs birth Which joy the babe John Baptist expressed who before he was borne leaped in his Mothers womb Luke the first chapter and the fourty first verse The joyfull desire here mentioned is as St. Peter speaks a joy unspeakable and glorious the first epistle of Peter and the eighteenth chapter To teach us that the day of Christs comming in the flesh is a day most of all to be desired and a matter of the greatest joy that can be Secondly For the Manner of this Desire It was a desire joyned with trust and confidence without which our desire is in vain be it never so hot Abrahams desire of seeing Christs day was joyned with hope that he should see it which he so much desired The Creatures desire to see the day of their redemption for they groan Romans the eighth chapter but this desire is without hope These desires are both to be seen in Jacob For when his sonnes being sent from Joseph told him that Joseph was alive and was Governor in the land of Egypt his heart wavered Then he had a desire to see Joseph but it was not joyned with hope for he beleeved them not But when they told him Josephs words and shewed him the Chariots that were sent for to bring him then he had a desire with hope and his spirit revived within him Genesis the fourty fift chapter and the twenty sixt verse The hope that he conceived of seeing him whom he desired to see made him rejoyce Touching the Reason of this desire he had sufficient matter of present joy for he was exceeding rich in Cattel and Silver and Gold Genesis the thirteenth chapter and the second verse Why then doth he long after a joy to come The reason is though God had blessed him with aboundance of temporal blessings yet he considered a day would come when his present joy should be taken from him John the sixteenth chapter Therefore he desires a joy that had a foundation that is not earthly but heavenly joyes Hebrews the eleventh chapter Such as should not be taken from him John the sixteenth chapter and the twenty second verse as Job knew that his Redeemer lived Job the nineteenth chapter So Abrabam desired a Redeemer and such a one he had For thus saith the Lord which redeemeth Abraham Isaiah the fourty ninth chapter and the twenty second verse That might redeem his soul from Hell Psalm the fourty ninth And his body out of the dust of death Psalm the twenty second for he confessed himself to be both dust and ashes Genesis the eighteenth chapter Dust in regard of his nature and therefore subject to corruption but ashes in regard of his sinnes by which he is subject to everlasting condemnation in respect of both he desired a Redeemer that might deliver both his body from death and his soul from destruction that might say revertite silii Psalm the ninetieth and the third verse He considered he needed a Redeemer for his soul and body that he might not be dust and ashes and therefore exceedingly desired one that would deliver his soul from being ashes and his body from the dust Secondly It is said of Abraham that he saw Christs day the notice of Gods eternal mercie herein was Abrahams desire by whose example all that will see Christ must first desire the sight of him as he did Et desiderium sit eum spectare Though Abraham did not actually see Christ in the flesh yet he had a desire which was all one as if he had seen him with bodily eyes For if the concupiscence only of evill be sinne though the act follow not then desire of that which is good is accepted albeit it be not actually performed therefore Nehemiah prayeth Hearken to thy servants that desire to fear thy name Nehemiah the first chapter and the eleventh verse The very hungring and thirsting after righteousnesse is effectual to blessednesse Matthew the fift chapter When we can say with David Coepit anima me a desider are justitias tuas Psalm the hundred and nineteenth We desire to be more desirous of it as a thing acceptable before God and though our soul desire not yet the want of it is our woe and the fainting of our joyes while we say When wilt thou comfort us Psalme the hundred and nineteenth Those are as the bruised reed and smoaking flax which he will not quench Isaiah the fourty second chapter That which Abraham did see was Christs day which is true in what sense soever we take it He saw the day of his Deity Genesis the eighteenth chapter the second and third verses when seeing three men he ran to meet them and bowed himself to the ground saying Lord which was a vision of the Trinity Secondly For the day of his death and passion he saw that too Genesis the twenty second chapter and the fourteenth verse when Abraham making the great promise of his obedience by sacrificing his sonne upon mount Moriah when after Christ was crucified said In mane ãâã provideat Dominus though he take not my sonne Isaac yet will he take one of my seed that shall be the sonne of Abraham Thirdly He saw the day of Christs nativity when he said to his servant Put thy hand under my ãâã and ãâã by the Lord God of Heaven and God of the earth ãâã the ãâã fourth ãâã and the twenty third verse Quod ãâ¦ã ad ãâ¦ã saith ãâã but it was to shew that the seed in whom all ãâã should be blessed should come out of his loins and take flesh of him for he took the seed of Abraham Hebrews the second chapter So Abraham saw all the dayes of Christ. But secondly We are to inquire in what ãâã he saw this day For which point we must know he saw not Christs day ãâã Simeon whose eyes did behold ãâã salvation Luke the second chapter nor as ãâã to whom Christ saith ãâã are the eyes that see the things which ãâã see Luke the tenth chapter that is with bodily eyes which many ãâã and Kings could not see So Abrahams outward man ãâã not see Christs dayes but he ãâã it in the ãâã man Romans the ãâã chapter He saw it spiritually with the eyes of ãâ¦ã Ephesians the first chapter and the eighteenth verse And ãâã the eyes of faith which ãâã the ãâã things not ãâ¦ã the ãâ¦ã By which things invisible to the eyes of the body are made visible to the eye of the minde by the eye of
populus Dei Abrahami quia Deisunt protectiones terrae valde excelsus est Psal. 47. 10. Januar. 7. 1598. IT is a prophecie of the manifesting of Christ to the Gentils and of the gathering of them into the flock of Christ which is the third of the three benefits which we celebrate in the great solemnity of Christs birth and is called by the Fathers the Churches holi-day for Christ is the head to his Church and the Church is his body and the fullnesse of him that filleth ãâã in all things Ephesians the first chapter and the twenty third verse ãâã signifie unto us that Christ is an unperfect head till all the body consisting both of Jews and Gentils be gathered to him Christ had a Church before his nativity which was the Synagogue of the Jews but he had not a Church of the Gentils till he was come in the flesh Presently after his birth some of the Gentils which came from the East were called to be as it were Proctors to the rest of the Gentils before which time they were not incorporated into the Church of Christ which is his body Ephesians the third chapter and the sixt verse Neither is it said only of a few of the Gentils or as Christ saith A scattering of the Gentils John the seventh chapter and the thirty fift verse But the whole company of the Gentils or as the Apostle speaks That the fulnesse of the Gentils should come in to be of Christs Church Romans the eleventh chapter and the twenty fift verse Not a few of the common people but the Kings and Princes of the people And this is Christs second nativity For as he was first born at Bethlehem of his mother the Virgin so he hath another birth foretold by the Prophet Psalm the eighty seventh and the third fourth verses I will think of ãâã and Babiton behold Palestina Tyrus and Ethiopia loe there is he borne not at Sion only but among the Gentils he shall be manifested to be the God of the Gentils as well as Jews In those words we have first a Prophecie Secondly A Reason rendred In the first we have to consider First The calling of the People Secondly Of the Princes of the people First touching the God of Abraham it is Christ whose day Abraham desired to see and in seeing whereof he did so much rejoyce John the eight chapter that is not only the day of his birth which he saw as we learn by the oath which he caused his servant to take Genesis the twenty fourth chapter but also the day of his passion which he saw long agoe and rejoyced in seeing of it when he said to his sonne Isaac in the mount The Lord will provide a sacrifice Hic providebit Dominus Genesis the twenty second chapter and the eighth verse Secondly The People of the God of Abraham are his children and posterity not only they that are the seed of Abraham comming out of his loyns and are the children of the flesh Romans the ninth chapter the eighth verse but the children of the promise for if they that come out of Abrahams loyns were only his children then the Agarins the Turks and Ismaelites should be the people of God but in Isaac shall thy seed be called They that lay hold of the promise by faith They that are of the faith are the children of Abraham Galatians the third chapter and the seventh verse That have the same spirit of faith the second epistle to the Corinthians the fourth chapter that Abraham had As the Apostle saith He is not a Jew that is one outward but a Jew inward is the true Jew Romans the second chapter the twenty eighth verse They that worship the Messias by beleeving in him with the faith of Abraham they are Abrahams children and the people of ãâã God which thing John Baptist affirmeth Matthew the third chapter God can of stones raise up children to Abraham So the Gentils which worshipped stones and therefore were like unto them Psalm the hundred and fifteenth were notwithstanding raised up to be children to Abraham Concerning which joyning of the Gentils to the Church of Christ which is the bringing of them into one flock John the tenth chapter and the sixteenth verse The ingraffing of them into the true Olive Romans the eleventh chapter And the incorporating of them into his body Ephesians the third chapter That we which are sinners of the Gentils Galatians the second chapter might have hope God hath from time to time left recorded in his word that this should come to passe And because under two or three witnesses every matter is established ãâã the nineteenth chapter and the fifteenth verse therefore before the Law we have chosen three proofs First Noah saith God shall perswade Japheth to dwell in the tents of Shem Genesis the ninth chapter and the twenty seventh verse Secondly In semine ãâã omnes gentes benedicentur Genesis the twenty second chapter And which ãâã the people shall be gathered to him Genesis the fourty ninth chapter and the tenth verse Again in the time of the Law three testimonies First of Moses Deateronomy the thirty second chapter alleged by St. Paul Romans the fifteenth chapter and the tenth verse Rejoyce ye Gentils with his people Secondly Of ãâã Numbers the twenty fourth chapter and the seventeenth verse There shall come a starre of Jacob and shall bring under all the sonnes of ãâã that is all wicked Thirdly Job who though he were a Gentile yet being a member of the Church of Christ did by a true faith confesse I know that my Redeemer liveth Job the nineteenth chapter After the Law and before the second temple the Prophet saith In the name of God Isalah the fourty ninth chapter and the fixt verse It is a small thing Hosea the first chapter and the sixt verse I will call them a people that is no people applyed by Paul Romans the ninth chapter And Joel the second chapter I will poure my spirit upon all flesh alleged by the Apostle Acts the second chapter and Romans the tenth chapter After the second Temple Agga veniet defideratus cunctis gentibus Hagga the second chapter Great people and mighty Nations shall come to seek the Lord they shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a ãâã and say we will goe with you Zacherie the eighth chapter and the twenty third verse And from the rising of the Sonns to the going down my name is great among the Gentils ãâã the first chapter and the eleventh verse This God hath from all times revealed That the gate of faith should be opened to the Gentils to enter into the flock of Christ. This was shewed by Abrahams matching with Keturah a Gentile by Mosos matching himself with Zipporah a Midianite and Gentile by Salomon matching with Pharaohs daughter as in the Genealogie of Christs birth Salomon is matched with Rahab Booz with Ruth to signifie that Christ should save both
the fruit thereof then is God able as well to give such a power to the Creatures of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament that albeit they are dead of themselves to convey into us the life of grace even as the tree of life did prolong natural life for so saith Christ John the sixth chapter and the fifty third verse Except ye eat the flesh of the sonne of man and drink his blood ye have no lifein you Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life he that eateth me shall live by me And he that ãâã of his body shall live for ever There is no life but in God first ãâ¦ã the thirtieth chapter ipse enim est vita mea and he committeth life to the sonne Therefore it is said There is a River of water of life proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb Apocalyps the ãâã second chapter and the first verse And as the Father hath life in himself so he hath given to the Sonne to have life in himself John the fift chapter and the twenty sixt verse And as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickneth them so the sonne quickneth whom he will John the fift chapter and the twenty first verse God being the fountain of life draws life to his sonne as into a Cistern from whence we draw life therefore it is said of the wisdome of God that is Christ that he is a tree of life Proverbs the third chapter and the eighteenth verse of whom it is now said in ipso er at vita John the fourteenth chapter and therefore he calls himself this life John the fourteenth chapter This is the Cistern of life to give life to them that are dead in original sinne by the sprinkling of his blood in ãâã And when they are dead in actual sinnes he gives new life to them that are ãâã of his body and blood in the Sacrament of the Supper In this Sacrament Christ hath provided a tree of life of graces against the death of sinne whereof they must be partakers that will eat of the tree of life which Christ here promiseth So that whereas the Wiseman saith Fructus justi est lignum vitae Proverbs the eleventh chapter and the thirtieth verse The seed of this tree is here sown and bringeth forth the root of a better tree for as grace is the root of glory so glory is the fruit of grace Here in this life the root of grace is planted in us and brings forth the fruits of righteousnesse that in the life to come it may make us partakers of the tree of glory and to assure us of this life we are sealed with the holy spirit of promise as the earnest of our inheritance Ephesians the first chapter and the thirteenth verse and the second epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter and the twenty second verse That albeit we are fallen and can be overcome of finne yet if we fight better and doe the first works we shall be partakers of the life of glory The kernel of grace is planted in us by the participation of the body and blood of Christ of which kernel commeth a tree which bringeth forth the fruits of holinesse and righteousnes in our whole life Which God will in due time reward with the Crown of life and glory in the world to come Cupimus autem ut unusquisque vestrûm idem studium ad finem usque ostendat ad certam spei persuasionem Hebr. 6. 11. August 24. 1599. AS in the old testament the Prophetisse Deborah in the service of the Children of Isha against Jabin doth specially praise God for the willingnesse of the people Judges the fift chapter so here the Apostle commendeth the Hebrews for the work and labour of their love in that they spared no cost in shewing themselves good Christians Now the crown of our rejoycing is the summe of our desire and therefore as there Deborah desireth to have the promptnesse and readinesse continued in the people so the Apostle wisheth that all the Hebrews as they have been carefull to practise the fruits of faith so should they still shew further diligence in that behalf The special drift of the Apostle is to shew that the Christians comfort standeth in the perfection of their hope The Apostle Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the first verse maketh their hope for to be the definition of faith For though matters Historical and Dogmatical pertain to faith yet chiefly faith hath hope for its object for as Augustine Credimus non ut credamus sed ãâã speremus therefore the Apostle saith the end of all Scripture is that we may have hope Romans the fifteenth chapter and the fourth verse and that which he affirmeth in the first epistle to the Corinthians the ninth chapter That he which planteth planteth in hope is as much true in all actions the ground whereof is the hope we conceive of some benefit for he that soweth soweth in hope he that saileth saileth in hope and he that marrieth doth it in hope that his estate will be bettered thereby For sure it is that it is but a comfortlesse thing to beleeve that there is everlasting joy and glory laid up in Heaven except a man be perswaded that he shall be partaker of it Exanguis res fides sine spe quia spes fidei exanguis est Amb. And as hope is the blood of faith as the Prophet saith Isaiah the thirtieth chapter and the fifteenth verse In quietnesse and in confidence shall be your strength so hope is that which whets diligence and therefore the Prophet saith in the second book of the Chronicles the fifteenth chapter and the seventeenth verse Be strong and let not your hands be weak for your work shall have an end And in the new Testament the Apostle saith Be stedfast and immovable knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord Quod labor vester non erit inanis in Domino the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the fifty eighth verse So nothing is more to be desired than to have hope in the evil day and the means of this hope is to shew forth diligence But for the easier intreatie of the contents of this verse the points which the Apostle holdeth are first That we are not only to beleeve but also to hope Secondly Not with a feeble or faint hope but with the fulnesse of hope Thirdly This hope must not be for an hour as Christ speaketh of St. John John the fift chapter but continuing to the end Then for the means of this hope his request is First That Diligence be used Secondly This Diligence must be shewed forth For the first point the Apostles desire is That they should hope for that which they beleeve wherein standeth the real difference that is between the faith of the Devils and men reprobate and the faith of the Children of God for even to the Devils the Apostle ascribes
the eighth chapter If we will come ãâã we must not be ãâã but diligent and watchfull We must use both attention Luke the twenty first chapter Take ãâã to your ãâã and contention Luke the thirteenth chapter Strive to enter Therefore the Prophet saith Psalm the thirty seventh Hope in the Lord and ãâã doing good there is both hope and diligence The Apostle saith We have great and ãâ¦ã made us the second epistle of Peter the first chapter and the ãâã verse That is our hope but we must be diligent adding to our hope virtue to virtue knowledge and these if we be without we ãâ¦ã of the promises which ãâã with ãâã the fift chapter That faith worketh by ãâã And he that hath this ãâ¦ã himself the first epistle of John the third chapter and the third ãâã Job ãâã did perfectly hope was not negligent as he ãâã ãâ¦ã in eum Job the thirteenth chapter and the ãâã verse so he sheweth his carefulnesse Veritas omnia opera ãâã Job the ninth chapter Paul that said He was sure of the love of God Romans the eighth chapter doth not cease to be diligent lest he should be vexed first epistle to the Corinthians the ninth chapter The same Paul saith Philippians the third chapter and the tenth verse I forget that which is behinde and indeavor towards that which is before This is that which concludes this point i. seeing faith sheweth it is possible to attain to Heaven though it be hard we must use diligence which may make it a thing possible Not that we are sufficient of our selves as from our selves to think any good or to use any diligence to bring this to passe for all our sufficiencie is of God the second epistle to the Corintbians the third chapter And therefore the Apostle when he had said I labored more than they all correcteth himself yet not I but the grace of God within me the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the tenth verse He did not say before It was I that persecuted the Church but the sinne that dwelleth within me but ascribes that wholly to himself But if we doe any good thing we must wholly ascribe that to God who by his spirit doth give us grace and ability to doe it And therefore whosoever feel themselves to receive grace the second epistle to the Corinthians and the sixt chapter and be indued with virtue from above Luke the twenty fourth chapter they must take heed they be not wanting to that grace and heare it in vain but having grace from God we must labour to make that possible which faith sheweth to be possible Secondly They must ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã make it apparent there is a secret diligence but that which the Apostle requireth is an ostensive diligence For as James saith Ostende mihi fidem ex operibus James the second chapter and eighth verse So the Apostles meaning is I care not for the concealed diligence let me see it appear by your outward conversation For if the Heathen being indued with the light of Nature only did shew the work of the Law written in their hearts by doing moral virtues Romans the second chapter much more ought Christians that are indued with grace from above to shew forth this diligence that it may be visible to the world The Apostle shews there are two hopes Spes internae dulcedinis extremae operationis the one is concealed and inward the other is apparent and to be seen The inward hope bringeth this to passe That the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts Rom. 5. 5. and therefore is to be likened This hope doth likewise effect this That we have the spirit of God bearing witnesse to our spirits that we are the Chrildren of God Rom. 8. It is as it were absconditum Manna Apoc. the second chapter which doth inwardly feed our souls But howsoever this be good yet not without danger for as the Apostle sheweth there are that have been lightned with knowledge and have tasted of the Heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy Ghost and have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come and yet fall away Hebrews the sixt chapter and the fourth verse Therefore he calls not for this diligence but will have them make it evident which he expresseth in these words that it be the same diligence which is the third point Wherein he teacheth in what this demonstrative diligence standeth that is as the former verse sheweth in the work and labour of love and in ministring to the Saints that is the doing of works of charity makes the oftensive diligence Whereby he teacheth that this oftensive or demonstrative diligence is the touch stone of our hope as the Apostle saith The works of love are the touchstone of faith for true faith worketh by love Galatians the fift chapter This diligence cannot deceive us of which our Saviour Christ saith John the fift chapter They that have done good shall come forth into ãâã life and the comfortable sentence pronounced by the Judge at the ãâã day upon all those that have shewed forth this diligence in doing the works of mercy shall be Come ye blessed possesse the kingdome prepared for ãâã Matthew the twenty fift chapter It ãâã not to say to a brother or sister that is naked and destitute of daily food Depart in peace warm your selves fill your bellies but the inward compassion must shew it self outwardly by giving them those things which are needfull to the body James the second chapter and the fifteenth verse Therefore the Apostle Peter willeth them that are perswaded of the great and pretious promises that are made them not to stay there but make their election sure to them by this oftensive diligence that to their faith they add virtue to virtue knowledge which if they doe they shall never fail the second epistle of Peter the first chapter And the Apostle St. John saith Hereby we know that we are translated from death unto life because we love the brethren and that not in word and tongue only but in deed and truth the first epistle of John the third chapter and the fourteenth verse God to assure us of his mercifull promises in Christ is said not only to have sealed us but also to have given us the earnest of the spirit into our hearts the second epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter and the twenty second verse The concealed diligence is as the earnest which a man puts in his purse but the oftensive diligence is like to a seal which may be shewed to all men for as Christ witnesseth Our lights must so shine before all men that the wicked and ungodly by seeing our good works may take occasion to glorifie God and be converted Matthew the fift chapter If we use diligence and shew forth our diligence in doing those works of love we shall attain to hope and that not faint or
feeble but of full measure even the full assurance of hope which shall not be for a time or an hour and so fail but it shall continue even to the end Et factum est praelium in Coelo Michael Angeli ejus praeliati sunt cum Dracone Draco pugnabat Angeli ejus Sed hi non praevaluerunt neque locus eorum ampliùs inventus est in Coelo Apoc. 12. 7.8 Septemb. 29. 1599. AS the Christian Religion is not a Religion of Angels for we doe not adore them with divine honour Colossians the second chapter and the eighteenth verse and though we offer to worship them yet they will not admit of it Apocalyps the twenty second chapter and the ninth verse so on the other side it is not a Religion of Saduces that hold there is no Angels nor spirit Acts the twenty third chapter and the eighth verse but it doth acknowledge that such blessed spirits there be and that God hath erected a ladder that reacheth up to Heaven by which the Angels of God goe up and down to convey Gods blessings to men Genesis the twenty eighth chapter And therefore by all means it opposeth it self against the opinion of those that seek to remove this ladder as if there were no duty to be performed by them towards us For in thankfulnesse to God for this benefit that the Angels have a care of us the Church have thought it good weighing both the one extremity of superstition which Moses compareth to drunkennesse and the other extremity of prophanenesse which he likeneth to thirst Deuteronomie the twenty ninth chapter and the nineteenth verse to keep this Feast And indeed if we consider that those glorious spirits who have the continual fruition of Gods presence Matthew the eighteenth chapter and the tenth verse In whose presence is the fulnesse of all jay Psalm the sixteenth can be content to abandon that place of this felicity to come down and perform duties to the sonnes of men namely to take charge of us and keep us from danger Psalm the ninetie first and the eleventh verse to be as ministring spirits for their sakes that shall be heirs of salvation Hebrews the first chapter This cannot but be reckoned a special favour Secondly Especially if we goe a degree further and consider that they leave their assistance in Gods presence where is all glorie and happinesse to Minister to us that dwell in houses of clay Job the fourth chapter and that for our nobility must derive our selves into corruption and worms Job the seventeenth chapter and the fourteenth verse that such holy spirits should come down upon such sinfull spirits such glorious spirits should Minister to such vile bodies this gives us further cause to remember this benefit Thirdly The manner of this Ministry may be a special motive to stir us up to thankfulnesse This ministry and service done to us is as farre as any can reach that is usque ad consilium fideli auxilium For ãâã and ãâã we see Jacob ãâã an Angel of God gave him direction what to doe Genesis the thirty first chapter and the eleventh verse So an Angel came forth to teach Daniel to give him knowledge and understanding Daniel the ninth chapter and the twenty second verse And this very book contains nothing else but that which Christ revealed to his servant John by an Angel Apocalyps the first chapter and the first verse that is for matter of counsel And for matter of help there is between Angels and Men ãâã sociale a holy league indeed whereby they binde themselves that for our ãâã they may wage warre not only with men but with wicked ãâã That they doe continually defend us the Prophet teacheth ãâã the thirty fourth The Angels of the Lord pitch their tents ãâ¦ã this fear him whereof we have a plain example in the second of the Kings the sixt chapter and the seventeenth verse For the offensive part of help which they perform to men it is plain that as they defend us from danger so they shew themselves enemies not only to men that seek our hurt but to evil Angels That the Angels are enemies to men that are an enemie to the Elect and Church of God we see it plainly affirmed Psalm the thirty fift and the sixt verse The Angel of the Lord persecuteth them whereof an example in the Egyptians that were enemies to Gods people among whom God sent an Angel to destroy the first born in every house ãâã the twelfth chapter and Isaiah the thirty seventh chapter where an Angel is sent in the behalf of Ezekiah to destroy the host of Senacherib who was an enemie to Gods people And in this place we see offensive ãâã in the behalf of Angels against the wicked Angels ãâã David had relation in those words Psalm the ninty first and the thirteenth verse Thou shalt walk upon the Lyon and Adder the young Lyon and the Dragon thou shalt tread under foot Wherefore that spirits of such excellencie shall defend us against both wicked men and Angels this is a benefit to be remembred with all thankfullnesse to God and likewise we are to congratulate them that are made by God of such power as Melchizadeck did gratulate Abraham after he had ãâã the five Kings Genesis the fourteenth chapter and blessed God ãâ¦ã his enemies into his hands and as the servants of ãâã did congratulate David when he saw that the Army ãâã before ãâã the second book of Samuel the eighth chapter and the ãâ¦ã So that these congratulations of these blessed ãâã above all our thankfulnesse to God that hath appointed us such helps is the ground and cause of this solemnity The words divide themselves into two ãâã First the ãâã Secondly the Victory or Conquest Concerning the former we are first to consider the ãâã Combatent and then the fight In the Conquest we are also to ãâã two degrees For it is said not only That he had not the ãâã for then he had been of an even hand and might have ãâ¦ã but that the Dragon and his Angels were so farre from ãâã and getting the Victory of Michael and his Angels that they ãâã the foyl so that their place was not found any more in Heaven Touching the persons that waged this battail they are on the one side Michael and his Angels On the other side the Dragon and his Angels Wherein the first thing is what we must conceive concerning Michael It is sure the Church of God upon many and weighty reasons doth not favour the opinion of those that make Christ to be Michael Michael Daniel the tenth chapter and the thirteenth verse is said to be one of the first Princes or Rulers which is to be understood of some principal Angel and not of Christ who is set up above all Princes and is not to be reckoned among them being the Prince of Princes and Lord of Lords And the Annotation of those that hold this opinion sheweth that
child and the woman to be in his Throne the Angels are ready to fight for them In that it is said The Dragon prevailed not it may be gathered that for all that he might begin again but where it is added And their place could no more be found in Heaven thereby we learn that Michael and his Angels set upon the Dragon and his Angels and drave them out of Heaven That which ariseth from hence on our parts is of two sorts First The thankfulnesse we are bound continually to render to God that we are of such regard in his sight that in Heaven they fight for us the elect angels with the evil angels Michael with the Dragon and his companie It is that which Christ tells us Luke the eleventh chapter When the strong men keep the Palace all things are in peace but then comes a stronger c. Man is even in the estimation of the Devil a Palace howsoever we by our sinnes make our selves a Hogstie therefore both Christ and the Devil esteeming so highly of us we may not esteem basely of our selves The angels have charge not only to keep us Psalm the ninty first but to wage battail about us and therefore it is plain the soul of man is no mean thing The Angels as we see are ready to enter field with the Dragon and his Angels Neither doth Heaven only take this care of us but the Earth also is ready to help us and openeth her mouth and swalloweth up the flood which the Dragon casts out of his mouth Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the sixteenth verse Therefore if they have such care of us it is reason we should have care of our selves if they take such care for man that is but earth then ought we for Heaven to be carefull If no man be crowned no not the Angels themselves except they strive aright the second epistle to Timothy the second chapter no more shall we be crowned unlesse we be as carefull of our selves as the Angels If the Angels were so busie to defend the earth we must be more diligent to fight for Heaven Again here we see that to come to Heaven is a matter of fight and wrastling Ephesians the sixt chapter If we look upon Christ and the Apostles we will say it is Lucta a wrastling but if upon common Christians it is but Ludus a pastime and sport And he that stirrs up this warre and conflict is not dead howsoever he was put to the worst but only driven out of Heaven That battail which was in Heaven among the Angels is come down to men on earth and now the Dragon fights with the womans seed and therefore it imports the womans seed to fight with him For the warre we have is not only with flesh and blood that is with our own passions and affections which is the philosophical warre though we must fight with them also because fleshly lusts fight against the spirit the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the eleventh verse But our wrastling is chiefly with the spirits with spiritual wickednesse in heavenly places Ephesians the sixt chapter And what is this enemy the Dragon foolish and weak after his conquest had over finne No he is the old Serpent therefore full of experience These enemies or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ephesians the sixt chapter therefore they want no power But are they discouraged upon this overthrow No but he is the more fierce and his wrath kindled knowing his time is but short Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the twelfth verse Then seeing we have such an enemy we must strive rightly if we will be crowned si place at Corona place at studium we must take the more heed to our selves because as Gregory saith Magis est fortis nostrâ negligentiâ quà m ãâã potentiâ Secondly As we give God thanks that he makes this account of us so are we to thank him that he hath created and commanded such excellent spirits to fight for us and to pray that they which have thus fought for us in Heaven may in earth fight with us to help us that as they have cast him out of Heaven so ãâ¦ã come him in earth We are to thank God that we which by our sinnes have made our selves like the beasts that perish ãâã the ãâã shall be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Luke the twentieth chapter and to ãâã that we may drive the Dragon into the bottomlesse ãâã Thirdly we are to take heed that we provoke not the Angels with our misdeeds Exodus the twenty third chapter and twenty first verse nor alienate them from us with the wicked words of our mouths Ecclesiastes the fift chapter and the fift verse If we suffer our selves to sinne by filthy words and speeches we make them turn their favour from us When we come into the Church we must come with a due regard and reverence propter Angelos the first epistle to the Corinthians the eleventh chapter for by rude and uncomely behaviour in the Congregation and by suffering our mouths to utter offensive speeches we offend the Angels and deprive our selves of their favour so as they will not care for our safeguard But if as the Angel tells Danil Daniel the tenth chapter and the twelfth verse We set our hearts to understand and to humble our selves by fasting before God that may draw their affection towards us for repentance is that which doth minister joy to the Angels in Heaven Luke the fifteenth chapter Lastly By this means though we obtain not such a perfect conquest over the Dragon as the Angels did yet we shall attain to the first degree though we cannot drive him out of earth as they did out of Heaven yet we shall obtain thus much That he shall not prevail against us no more than he did against them We see it in Paul though he fought never so much yet he could not avoid it but sinne would dwell in him Romans the seventh chapter but this victory he obtained that it did not reign in his natural body Romans the sixt chapter Though till our corruption be dissolved we shall not drive him out we shall so be armed That he shall not prevail against us We must indeavor our selves that by thankfulnesse to him for vouchsafing to us this help and by intercession to continue the same we may still resist the Dragon not suffering our selves to take the soyl howsoever we cannot utterly drive him out And in this respect when we shall be like the Angels then shall we tread Satan under our feet then shall the Dragon be bound in chains and cast into the bottomlesse pit so shall we have a final conquest over him Now we must labour to ãâã to the first degree of the Angels victory and so shall we be crowned Quicquid dat mihi Pater ad me veniet eum qui venit ad me nequaquam ejecerim foras John 6. 37. Octob 7. 1559. THE words are Christs and are
both agreeable to the action we have in hand and also a good dependance upon that wherein we have been heretofore conversant But that these words are to be applyed to the holy ãâã and Sacrament of the Lords Supper appears for that before he calls himself the bread of life verse the thirty fift The bread from Heaven verse the fourty first The living bread verse the fifty first and all along this chapter there is nothing spoken of Christ but as he is the matter of this Sacrament and therefore these words are to be understood of the holy Eucharist And so these words as they yeeld comfort to the commers perswading them that they are of those whom God the Father hath given to Christ so no lesse comfort is reached to them here for that they understand from Christs own mouth That if they come to him they shall not be cast out but received of him so as none shall be able to take them out of his hands John the tenth chapter and the twenty eighth verse On the other side They that come not may know from hence that as they are not in the number of the Fathers Donatives that is such as are given to Christ but are the portion of Satan For they shall be cast out into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Apocalyps the twenty first chapter and the eighth verse And into utter darknesse where is weeping and gnashing of teeth Matthew the eighth chapter and the twelfth verse Touching the dependance his words have with that part of Scripture which we usually have held when we spake of Cains departure from Gods presence we heard that he did set himself as neer Eden as he could be that he was content for a little trifling pleasure that shortly fadeth to forgoe Gods presence where is pleasure for evermore that for a little worldly gain with Balaam he gives over all godlinesse which is the true gain and that not he but the whole world through ambition as Lords doe seek the worlds honor with the losse of the honor and favour of God Being thus departed from God we heard he came to a Land called Nod that is a Land of unquietnesse and troubles both in respect of the inward disquietness of his soul by continual fear the outward vanities of the whole world where he found that having forsaken God with whom is fulnesse of joy he could not have his desire satisfied by any pleasure that the world could afford But we left not Cain there but heard that the end of that journey was woe as it shall be the end of all those that walk in Cains way Jude the eleventh verse And for that there is none but may fall into the same way it concerns every man to think how being departed from the presence of God he may come back to Christ and especially that he watch his opportunity to come at such a time as Christ will not cast him out And that is taught us here in these words where Christ saith That whosoever commeth to him as he is the bread of life he shall not be cast forth But we must watch this opportunity for there are two wenite's Come to me all ye Matthew the eleventh chapter that have departed from me to receive worldly pleasures and gain The other Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome Matthew the twenty fift chapter and the thirty fourth verse But he that will have his part in this latter venite must have his part also in the first He must come again to Christ by repentance else he cannot come to be partaker of the heavenly Kingdome In these words of Christ we have three persons First Pater dans Secondly Homo veniens Thirdly Christus non ejiciens Whereof the two former parts be the Condition the third person belongeth to the Promise The Condition stands in The Fathers giving and our comming The Promise is Christs not casting out Touching which parts joyntly we are to observe these That every one by experience sindes that the state of sinners live they never so pleasantly is but as Cain called his sonne Chanoch that is a good beginning For the mid'st of that state is unquietnesse and the end everlasting death Which being considered it will make every man willing to come again to God if there be any hope they shall be received In regard of our selves as St Paul speaketh of her that departed from her husband the first cpistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the eleventh verse so it were just that in as much as we have willingly forsaken God and departed from him preserring transitory and earthly delights before his favour he should say Qui discedit discedat that being once gone from him he should not receive usagain But here we are to admire the goodnesse and mercy of God and Christ that instead of a revenger and punisher he is a mercifull receiver that where in Justice Christ might be a rock of offence to such as depart from him he will be a rock of refuge to them that he is so farre from casting out if they come that he is content to seek such as are lost Luke the nineteenth chapter and the tenth verse That he sends and sends again that they should come back Matthew the twenty second chapter That he stands at the dore knocking Apocalyps the third chapter And saith Come to us all ye Matthew the eleventh chapter So there is no doubt but Christ will receive them that come to him For as the ancient Fathers note If when he comes to us we cast not him out neither will he cast us out when we come to him And that no unworthinesse by means of any filth either of body or soul doth keep him from us we see for bodily uncleannesse he was content to be received by Simon the leper Mark the fourteenth chapter and the third verse And in regard of spiritual pollution howsoever a man know himself to be a sinner that is to have an unclean soul yet not to despair because Christ by the confession of his enemies is such a one as doth not only receive sinners but eats with them Luke the fifteenth chapter and the third verse yea he not only ãâã them that deserve to be cast out as unworthy to inher it s he Kingdom the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter and the ninth verse but doth also wash sanctifie and justifie them in his ãâã name and by the spirit of God The Condition on our part was That we come the meaning where of if we look into the ancient Fathers upon the thirty fift verse He that commeth to me is some externall part of Gods worship for so they expound it by the Apostles words Romanes the tenth chapter If thou beleeve in thy heart and confesse with thy mouth for ãâã eving is the affection of the heart but confession is outward in the conversation of life as some are said to deny God
Father This doth distinguish true Christians from Counterfeits which say I know not whether the Father doe give me to Christ and therefore I will not come but to such Christ answers Matthew the eighteenth chapter and the fourteenth verse Non est volunt as patris ãâ¦ã de pusillis illis pereat De pusillis dixit saith Augustine non de ãâã Christ meaneth not such as are little in respect of the world but but little in their own eyes that are not possessed with a spiritual pride of their own righteousnesse as though they need not now to come another time will serve It was the opinion of ãâã Acts the twenty fourth chapter When I have convenient leasure I will ãâã for thee So they think another time will be more fit than the ãâã oceasion and so Christ must wait upon them they may not wait upon Christ. But as the Pharisees despised the counsel of God and would not be baptized by John Luke the seventh chapter and the thirtieth verse so doe these despise the counsel of Christ against themselves whose purpose happily was even at this time to have received them But because they despised his counsel that happeneth to them which besell Saul whom Samuel tels That if he had kept the Lords commandement he had now established his kingdome for ever upon Israel the first book of Samuel the thirteenth chapter and the thirteenth verse but for that he despised the oportunity now it is removed to another And of them that come it may be they will come but with Cains spirit not caring how or what ãâã they give to God But they must come as given of the Father and not tanquam ab hominibus ãâã they may not come like him that sate down at the Marriage without awedding ãâ¦ã the twenty second chapter Who so commeth in that ãâã as he shall not be received for that he is not given of the Father so he shall be ãâã out into utter darknesse Thirdly The promise is They that come after this manner shall not be cast out Which is set out earnestly by Christ with a ãâã negation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is never at no hand This ãâ¦ã for Christ doth performe it and ãâ¦ã when the ãâã saith ãâã for sakest not them that seeke ãâ¦ã the ãâã the meaning is they not only ãâã God but with him ãâã joyes and glory ãâã So he that comes to Christ is ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã out but received to be a member of ãâã my ãâã body ãâã partaker of the divine nature the second ãâã of ãâã ãâã chapter and the fourth verse What is meant by being ãâ¦ã appears by the ãâã out of the dry branch that bringeth forth no ãâã John the ãâã chapter which is to be cast ãâã the fire by the ãâã that ãâ¦ã and is cast out Matthew the fift chapter by the bad fish caught in the net which is cast away Matthew the thirteenth chapter and the fourty eight verse This casting out is a degree to that casting into utter darknesse which Christ speaketh of There is a second for as that is out of the Church as John the ninth chapter and the thirty fourth verse of whom Christ saith Mark the fourth chapter and the eleventh verse but to them which are without the first epistle to the Corinthians the fift chapter and the twelfth verse What have ye to doe with them that are without that is the Heathen And this is nothing but a disposition to the second for as that is to be cast out of the Kingdome of Heaven of which Apocalyps the twenty second chapter and the fifteenth verse for as autem er ant canes and to be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone where their smoak shall ascend for ever where the worm never dyeth and the fire is never quenched where they shall wish for death and death shall flie from them This is the state of them that are cast out But Christ promiseth That who so commeth to him being given shall not be cast out but shall be quit from death and damnation He doth not only receive them and eat with them but receives them into that union that is inter alitum alimentum that is to be one with him which is a greater union than is either between brother and brother or between man and wife for herein is that verified That we are received to be partakers of the Divine nature by partaking whereof he is in us and we in him we and Christ are made one we receive him and he receives us So that as God cannot hate Christ so he cannot but love us being ingraffed into him Thus it comes to passe that we are not cast out but are made partakers of all the good things of Christ who saith to him that comes to him Luke the fifteenth chapter Omnia nostra tua sunt and Matthew the fifteenth chapter Intra in gaudium Domini that is the chief point in this promise As for them that come not to Christ howsoever they deserve to be cast out yet Christ doth not cast them out but they cast out themselves in as much as they sever themselves from this Sacrament which is the holy of holiest and from the memorial of his loving kindness He that commeth not to the Lords Supper sets himself in the state of the Heathen which albeit they have a kinde of prayer and a knowledg no lesse than we yet come not so farre as to celebrate this Sacrament He is in no better state than the Jews and Turks which albeit they beleeve the creation of the world and the last Judgment yet acknowledge not Christ nor come to him tanquam panis vitae But they must come to the Lords Supper if they will be bidden to the Lambs Supper Neither may they defer to come at their own pleasure for it may be now is the time that Christ will receive them and if they neglect the opportunity they shall be cast out as Saul was in the first book of Samuel the thirteenth chapter It remains that we stirre up in ourselves a willingnesse to come For to come is a voluntary action as Christ tells us John the fift chapter Vos non vultis venire adme nam qui venit ideò venit quia voluit venire unlesse we be as willing to come as Christ is to receive all is nothing Matthew the twenty third chapter and thirty seventh verse Quoties volui noluistis How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a Hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not Therefore we must beware of removing this willingnesse from our selves To this end we must continually pray that Christ will work in us this willingnesse that the Father will draw us by his spirit and say with Peter Matthew the fourteenth chapter and the twenty eight verse Domine mitte me ad te venire let me be in numero pusillorum non timentium one of those little ones that
willingly will come as often as they may and not like those that swell with pride and say another time will serve as well as now as Davids servants said to Naball in the first book of Samuel the twenty fift chapter We come now in a good time for thou makest a feast and art in case to relieve us another time peradventure thou wilt not be so prepared So men ought to take the opportunity and to say in their selves Now is the time of the celebration of Gods mercy and loving kindnesse Now we receive Christ and therefore there is great hope that if we come he will receive us Now we celebrate the memory of his death when he was content to receive the thief that came unto him and therefore it is most likely that he will receive us if we come to him But if we come not now happily we shall not be received when we would It is Christs will That they which are given him of the Father be with him where he is and may behold his glory John the seventeenth chapter and the twenty fourth verse Therefore it stands us upon to come to Christ that he may receive us to be one with him in the life of grace and partakers with him in his Kingdom of glory Qui verò haec audierunt compuncti sunt corde dixerunt ad Petrum ac reliquos Apostolos Quid faciemus viri fratres Petrus autem ait ad eos Resipiscite c. Act. 2. 37. April 12. 1600. OUR Saviour Christ promised Peter Acts the fift chapter to make him a fisher of men and ãâã the thirteenth chapter That the ãâ¦ã of Heaven is like a ãâ¦ã which catcheth fish of all ãâ¦ã The first casting forth of this act and ãâ¦ã draught that Peter had is by ãâ¦ã these verses And the draught which he made was ãâ¦ã souls verse the fourty first If we ãâã of what ãâã They were ãâã souls of them that killed the Sonne of God and ãâ¦ã the spirit of God whom they ãâã ãâã the ãâ¦ã holy Ghost to ãâã verse the ãâ¦ã These men are full of new ãâã Which when we advisedly consider it cannot but be matter First Of great comfort Teaching us that albeit we be great sinners as the Jews that put the sonne of God to death yet there is a quid faciemus what to doe that is a hope of remission of sinnes Secondly Of instruction touching the means That if we repent and be pricked in heart with the consideration of our sinnes as they were we shall attain this mercie which they received First St. Luke sets down the Sermon of Peter Secondly The sruit and effect of it As the Sermon it self propounds the death and Resurrection of Christ so in the effect that followed of it we see the means how we are made partakers of his death and Resurrection and that is set down in these two verses which contain a question and an answer In the question is to be observed First the cause of it that is the compunction of their hearts Secondly the cause of that compunction and that was the hearing of Peters Sermon Touching this effect which Peters Sermon wrought in the hearts of his hearers it is compuncti sunt corde Wherein note two things First the work it self Secondly the part wherein of the work it self it is said they were pricked Wherein first we are to observe That the first work of the spirit and operation of the word is compunction of heart howbeit the word being the word of glad tidings and comfort it is strange it should have any such operation but that Christ hath foretold the same John the sixteenth chapter When the comforter comes he shall reprove the world of sinne Now reproof is a thing that enters into the heart as Proverbs the twelfth chapter and the eighteenth verse There is that speaketh words like the prickings of a sword and as Christ gave warning before hand so now when the holy Ghost was given we see that Peters hearers are reproved and pricked in their consciences that they dealt so cruelly with Christ. As this ãâã the Elect of God so there is another spirit called by the same name of pricking ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Romans the eleventh chapter and the eighth verse that is the spirit of slumber which shews it self upon those that shall not be saved Touching the manner of this operation we see it is not a tickling or itching but a pricking and that no light one but such as pearced deeply into their hearts and caused them to cry Whereby we see it is not the speaking of fair words saying with the false Prophets Jeremiah the twenty third chapter The Lord hath said ye shall have peace it is not that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Romans the sixteenth chapter and the eighteenth verse that makes this effect but this speaking The part wherein this work was wrought was the heart as Luke the twenty fourth chapter they burned in their hearts and ãâã the second chapter and the fourteenth verse I will speak to their hearts So it was ãâã of the eares in the second ãâã to Timot hie the ãâã chapter or of the brain that they felt but a ãâã of the very ãâã and so should we be affected at the hearing of the word As ãâ¦ã is pricked in the flesh is disquieted till he have remedy so should the consideration of our sinnes disquiet us and make us seek for cure This is our duty from their example and it is a good signe of distinction to shew us whether we be of the number of those that shall be saved whether of the good fish that shall be gathered together or the bad fish that shall be cast out Matthew the thirteenth chapter and the fourty eighth verse So if we pertain to God we shall feel this pricking at our hearts after we have heard the word The cause of this compunction is his auditis that is they had heard a speech of St. Peter which did disquiet them till they asked counsel of Peter and the rest The word of God of its own nature hath no such operation for the Patriarch Job saith Job the twenty third chapter It was agreeable to him as his appointedfood And David Psalm the nineteenth saith The Commanaements of the Lordrejoyceth the heart and is sweeter than the honey and the honey-combe But yet it hath this effect in regard that it meeteth with that which is an enemy to our Salvation that is sinne the deputy of ãâã as the word is Gods ãâã Without the Law sinne is dead but when the Commandement came sinne revived Romans the seventh chapter and the eighth verse for sinne is a sting the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter which lyeth dead so long as it is not reproved But when it is reproved by the commandement of God then it reviveth and stings the heart it makes men have a conscience of sinne Hebrews the tenth chapter and when sinne is
disquieted the heart also wherein it resteth is disquieted For the words of the wise are as goads and pricks Ecclesiastes the twelfth chapter and Matthew the fift chapter as salt and mustard seed Matthew the thirteenth chapter as wine To a putrified sore Luke the tenth chapter So that whether we respect the old or new Testament we see the words have this ãâã to disquiet sinne especially such words as Peter spake to his Auditors out of the Prophet Joel where he sheweth that as Christ hath a day of resurrection which is past whereby he gave his Apostles those gifts of the spirit so he hath another day which is the featfull and great day of Judgement when the word of the Rulers shall not be enough for them that have killed the Lord of life though they promised to serve them harmlesse Matthew the twenty eighth chapter For here they shall give an account of their cruelty to Christ. And thirdly whereas he moveth them to repentance First In this consideration of the day of Judgement Secondly of the sinne they committed that they slue and crucified Christ Thirdl of the grievousnesse of their sinne that he was the sonne of God whom they dealt thus with and every sinne hath a sting but especially ãâã For the remembrance of it stings the conscience so as it cannot be quiet Now in that they not only committed murther but murthered such a one as was both a holy and just one Acts the third ãâã and the blessed sonne of God this could not but ãâã their hearts as we see the remembrance of the day of Judgement is such a thing as made Felix tremble Acts the twenty fourth chapter And when we hear of the Judgement to come it should bring out of us these questions Jeremiah the eighth chapter and the sixt verse Quid feci and Isaiah the fifty seventh chapter and the fourth verse Cui ãâã upon whom have you gaped To consider not only the sinne we have committed but the person against whom that it is God of all ãâã stie and power And Matthew the twenty first chapter Quid faciam that is he considers of the Judgments of God which belong to us For these so grievous sinnes these are means to prick our hearts at the hearing of the word But yet we say though the word of God hath this nature yet except the work of the spirit doe concur with the word the conscience is seared the first epistle to Timothy and the fourth chapter and cannot be touched with any thing The soul is possessed with the gangrene that is without life and feeling so that it hath no sense be it pricked never so deeply the second ãâã to Timothie the first chapter but he that feels himself pricked in heart for his sinnes may assure himself his conscience is not feared but both a heart of flesh easily to be touched with sorrow for sinne and that his soul is not dead in sinne but liveth spiritually In the Question we have to observe First that this compunction made him speak for as the Wise-man saith Qui pungit cor educit sermonem So here when they were pricked they said Men and Brethren as if the holy ãâã should say if a man say nothing after he is pricked it is nature compunction For if when men are moved inwardly with a feeling of their sinnes for all that they say nothing nor seek direction of them that are skilfull they doe smother and detein the truth Romans the first chapter Secondly We must observe what they said and that was Quid faciemus what shall we doe A first the People then the ãâã and after the Publicans said to S John the ãâã Luke the third chapter which is the second thing to be noted that as true compunction is not dumb so not ãâã but would be doing somthing they say not What shall we say but What shall we doe Quid faciemus as if the same spirit which pricked their hearts had also taught them that something must be done The like question did St. Paul make being pricked Domine quid vis me facere Acts the ninth chapter and the sixt verse So the Angel said to Cornelius Goe to Joppa and Simon shall tell thee what thou oughtest to doe Acts the tenth chapter So said the Jayler to the Apostles Acts the sixteenth chapter What shall I doe that I may be saved I and my houshold and that I may be rid of the pricking of my conscience For as compunction must not be silant so neither must it be idle or unfruitfull in the knowledg of the Lord the second epistle of Peter the first chapter Thirdly Observe after what manner they said What shall we doe and that was not as Cain and Judas said Genesis the fourth chapter and Matthew the twenty seventh chapter Their what to doe Quid faciemus was a note of desparation Nor as the P arisees said desparately in their sury and rage What shall we doe John the eleventh chapter If such have their sinnes laid before them their hearts will not be pricked but cleave asunder as they to whom St. Stephen ãâã Acts the eighth chapter The heart may be cast down with too much grief so as a man shall say with Cain My sinne is greater than can be forgiven or else moved with malice and be pricked so as they will prick again as they that being pricked with the reproof of the Prophet ãâã Let us sting him with our tongues as he hath stung our hearts Jeremiah the eighteenth chapter and the eighteenth verse for this is the effect which the word of God hath in many that are wicked But that which Peters Auditors say is spoken in heavinesse and a desire to have sinne that doth disquiet them that which the Apostle calleth the sin that doth so easily beset us ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hebrews the twelfth and the first verse taken from them This their heavinesse makes them conformable to Christ and therefore is commendable in them For it is Gods will that such as shall be saved be made ãâã to the Image of his sonne Romans the eighth chapter and the twenty ninth verse for Christ was pierced not only with a bodily spear in his side but with grief of soul And as he suffered of compassion over us so we must suffer in compassion with him Out of that which the ancient Fathers observe in Sorrow we have five things to note First That something may be done as a remedy against sinne For albeit we have sinned never ãâ¦ã yet there is hope tamen adhuc spes est Esdras the tenth chapter and the second verse there is hope of some means to be used which if it be done as Ezechiel the eighteenth chapter privata vestra non ãâ¦ã Domine scandalum Secondly By that which they say is to be gathered that as something may be done so it ought to be done that the terror of minde being removed we may be assured of the favour and grace of
God Thirdly They shew they are ready to doe it not like those of whom the Prophet saith I know when I have shewed you what you should doe you will not doe it Jeremiah the fourty third But these are ready to doe whatsoever shall be appointed as a remedy for them Fourthly As they are ready ãâ¦ã they confesse their ignorance that of themselves they know not how to rid themselves from sinne As the ãâã said Acts the ãâã chapter How can I understand without an Interpreter Fiftly They seek to Peter and the other ãâã because God had lately ãâã them with the grace of his spirit and consequently were skilfull and could tell them what to doe and therefore they are bound ãâã commit themselves to them as to their Physitian to doe whatsoever they shall ãâã be for the cure of their souls So that if there be any that being in ãâã of ãâã doe for all that either think that nothing can or that nothing ought to be done but shall say desparately Jeremiah the eighteenth chapter or as if it were not needfull to be done shall ãâã to ãâã if or think they know well enough what to doe without ãâã contrary to the Apostles opinion in the first epistle to the ãâã the twelfth chapter Are all Apostles For though first we say ãâã We ãâã we all have knowledge the first epistle to the ãâã the eighth chapter and the first verse yet after he saith every one hath not knowledge and therefore must ask counsell of those that can give it or else shall refuse to be directed by such as doe know therefore are not like to be eased of the sting of conscience but shall for ever have the worm of conscience gnawing them and ever be disquieted The Apostles answer to this question is in the fifty eighth verse Resipiscite c. that is there is something to be done which is an argument of the great Mercy of God and the virtue and power of the Sacrifice of Christ notwithstanding the greatnesse of their sinnes Here are two things set down First By way of precept Repent and be baptized Secondly Things by Christs promises Yee shall have your sinnes forgiven and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost First Peter prescribes them what to doe and so shewes that their ãâã are remitted which is a signe of Gods great mercy though their sinnes were grievous For he that shall offend his better a man of some credit can hardly hope for pardon much losse if he offend the Prince or some noble Person But these offend the Majesty of God himself which doth farre exceed the Majesty of earthly Princes For of Christ the elect Sonne of God they said in the twenty sixth chapter of Matthew His blood be upon us and they wrought despight to the Spirit of Grace Hebrews the tenth chapter when they blaspheme the Holy Ghost accusing them of drunkennesse which were inspired with the Holy Spirit Acts the second chapter and the thirteenth verse Yet the Apostle telleth these grievous sinners there is hope of forgivenesse that to them which are yet scarce cold from the slaughter of the Sonne of God there is a remedy to help them Wherein the Apostle followeth the rule which Christ had before given the Apostles in the twenty fourth chapter of Luke To preach repentance and remission of sinnes to mankinde beginning at Jerusalem If the doctrine of remission of sinnes be first to be preached to them among whom Christ was crucified much more to the ends of the world and that likes us well But secondly He tells us what we must doe he saith not you shall live to doe nothing but repent and be baptized It is not enough to be pricked in the heart for sinne past but we must doe something And he speaks first by way of precept Repent and that is rest not in that passive part but know that when you are pricked in your hearts repentance must be shewed in your life Wherewithall he sheweth that compunction is not repentance for here to these that were already pricked he saith Repent and ãâã the thirty first chapter After I converted I repented so in the third chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Repent and turn that your sinnes may be done away so it was given in charge to St. Paul Acts the twenty sixth chapter Repent and turne and doe workes worthy of eternall life So these men shewed forth these workes for as followeth they were devout and liberall distributing to all as they had need the principall actions either removing of the ill that is sinne which did disquiet their consciences or the positive benefit that is the gift of the Holy Ghost which should work in them the fruits of the spirit meeknesse patience Galatians 5. and be unto them an earnest and pledge of their Redemption and Salvation in the second epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter and the fifth verse Ephesians the first chapter and the thirteenth verse Tum alter ad alterum dixerunt Nonne cor nostrum ardebat in nobis dum loqueretur nobis in via dum adaperiret nobis Stripturas Luke 24. 32. April 20. 1600. WHICH is another or second passion that commeth unto men at the preaching of the word for as Acts the second chapter and the thirty seventh verse there were some that suffered a pricking at the heart upon the hearing of the word so here are others that suffer an inflaming or burding in the heart For if we look in verse the twenty first these two disciples with whom Christ travelled were dead in spirit and cold in faith before the word was spoken for they confessed nos autem ãâã But after our Saviour Christ had spoken with them and opened the Scriptures their hope revived and their hearts waxed warme Which as it is a fruit and effect of the word in the hearts of the hearers so is it a ãâã signe and argument of the efficacy and operation of Christ which he ãâã in the ministry of the word as the ãâã speakes in the second ãâã to the ãâã and the thirteenth chapter ãâ¦ã in me ãâ¦ã so when we feel this burning in our hearts it is a great comfort to us and a signe that Christ speakes in ãâã and we must in such a case pray to God that he will establish in ãâ¦ã things ãâã he bath begun Psalm the sixty eighth if it work ãâ¦ã effect in us we must suspect our selves and pray that we may have a ãâ¦ã of the word when wee hear ãâã that whereas ãâã ãâã ãâ¦ã the second chapter of the Acts of the ãâã had a pricking at ãâã hearts and those of Christ fels a ãâã we may be in the number of those hearers and not of those of whom the ãâ¦ã in the sixth chapter of ãâã and the ãâã verse ãâ¦ã eyes but see not eares but such as are heavy and ãâ¦ã heart so as though they ãâã yet they ãâ¦ã ãâã ãâ¦ã not converi and be ãâã Which is a
ãâ¦ã pronounced and executed upon the ãâ¦ã as Christ sheweth in the thirteenth chapter of ãâã ãâ¦ã eighth chapter of Lake And the ãâã both ãâ¦ã the twelfth chapter of John and ãâ¦ã in ãâ¦ã of the Acts of the ãâã to conclude ãâ¦ã this as a reason whyther ãâ¦ã not ãâ¦ã had blinded their eyes and hardned their hearts Lest they should see ãâã their eyes and understand with their hearts and convert and be healed The other effect of the word was said to be a pricking this is a beginning For as the Preacher ascribes a prick or point to the word when he saith The words of the wise are tanquam acuta stimuli Ecclesiastes the twelfth chapter So here we see there are certain sparks of fire in the word which will soon kindle a fire in the hearts of the hearers The pricking is referred to fear as Psalm the hundred and nineteenth Confringe cor ãâã timore tuo the warming is an effect of hope and love as Canticles the eighth chapter and the sixt verse where love is compared to fire that hath ardent coals that burn so as much water cannot quench them that is As there are some Scriptures that intreat of the wrath of God that lay mens sinnes before their eyes and tells them of the terrible and great day of the Lord when they shall be rewarded all according to their works and so breeds a fear in the hearts of the hearers as Acts the fift chapter and the eleventh verse and prick them verse the thirty seventh unlesse their hearts be stonie and their flesh a dead flesh So on the other side some Scriptures set forth the goodnesse of God and his gracious promises as when Christ ãâã the two ãâã Ought not Christ to suffer these things and to enter into glory verse the twenty sixth which shews the love of God the Father in giving his sonne to suffer for us and the love of the sonne in being given for us for no man hath greater love than this to dye for his friend John the fifteenth chapter and the great reward that God hath for his children which is the hope of glory assuring them that as Christ is entred into glory so we shall be with him And such Scripture will stirre up in the ãâã both affection of love and hope wherewith as with coals or sparks of fire their hearts are wounded And those several parts of Scripture are tempered according to the nature of the hearers or auditors for there are some that scoffe and deride and blaspheme the holy spirit of God Acts the second chapter and the thirteenth verse And ro such the threatnings and judgements of God must be laid before them as Peter doth But here we have Auditors of such nature that ãâã such as did not mock and sit in the Chair of Scorners but were ãâã in spirit and were of a faint heart which confesse we were in hope that this was he that should have delivered Israel but now our hope is faint and we quake and to such the opening of Gods love and of his great and ãâã promises is expedient In this verse we have to consider First The manner of uttering of these words for they say not Our hearts ãâã but ask the question Did not our hearts Secondly The ãâã of the verse which consists of three parts First the part wherein this effect was wrought Cor nostrum Secondly A passion or work a burning Thirdly The time when he talked with us First For the manner Did not our hearts burne Of which kinde of negative speaking there are two examples in Scripture First it is a more vehement affirmation than if a man should only affirm a truth as where Christ saith before Ought not Christ to suffer these things and to enter into glory as if he should say he ought without doubt for when the matter is questionable we use to speak affirmatively but in a plain case that is evident and out of doubt then we ask a question negatively as Doth not the Sunne shine as if one should say It is cleere We see it doth So here they knew well before Christ spake to them their hearts were cold and their hope was saint and dead but now remembring that while Christ spake to them they selt their hearts warm within them they ask Did not our hearts burn as if they should say doubtlesse we felt a heat and burning within us Another use of this negative question is asked out of Christs deed Luke the seventeenth chapter Were there not ten cleansed he marvelled what was become of the other nine This admiration serves to tax and to reprehend the unthankfulnesse of those nine which returned not to praise God And seeing the Disciples ask the Question Did not our hearts burn as if they should say seeing we felt our hearts burn within us why did we not know that it was Christ the Sonne of God that spake to us Surely it is not the work of a man to touch the heart but God only and seeing our hearts were touched thus doubtlesse it was Christ that spake to us Which shewes that at the present time that Christ spake to them they felt him not but when Christ was gone out of their sight then they remembred that their hearts felt this heat within them for by Jacob's experience we learn that God may be in a place and we not know of it for so he confesseth in the twenty eighth chapter of Genesis and the sixth verse God was here and I was not aware and in the ninth chapter of Job and the eleventh verse He will be by me and I shall not see him and in the thirteenth chapter of John Quid ego faciam tu nescis nunc scies autem posthac that is hereafter yee shall feel your hearts moved So the attention of these two Disciples was so great and they were in such an extasie that they observed no such thing for the present while he spake they perceived it not till Christ had made an end and was taken from them For as there are things that appear and are not as visards and maskes which make a shew of that which is not so there are things that appear not and yet are as the spirits and souls of men which are invisible There was one that boasted of that he had not that was the false Prophet that said to Michaiah in the first book of Kings the twenty second chapter It is impossible that the spirit of the Lord shauld goe from me to thee And in the first epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter there is one that with more modesty and coldnesse saith I think I have the spirit of God and he had it indeed The wisest that ever was of men saith There is not in me the understanding of a man Proverbs the thirtieth chapter and the second verse And Caiaphas that understood as little as any as if he only understood all said Vos planè nihil intelligitis
John the eleventh chapter and the fourty ninth verse Touching the substance of the question and the first part First The part wherein that which Christ spake did work is the heart which is the commander of man for as the word comes our of the heart bonus homo ex bono thesauro cordis sui Luke the sixth chapter so if it have its right course it goeth to the heart for there be three wards and locks to be opened that the sound of Gods word may enter that is the eare Psalm the fourtieth Mine eare hast thou opened which is the gate of wisedome Secondly the understanding to conceive what is heard of which it is said here Their eyes were opened Luke the twenty fourth chapter and the thirty first verse that is oculi mentis Ephesians the first chapter and the eighteenth verse Thirdly the heart as Lydia's heart was opened by the Lord Acts the sixteenth chapter Many are present but hear not attentively what is said others hear but understand not and some have both these degrees and yet have not their hearts opened and so it is to no purpose that is spoken Though we hear and understand yet if the heart be not touched with it it is but verbum aerium it is mans word and not Gods for the property of Gods word is to pierce to the heart and marrow And to the dividing of the soul Hebrews the fourth chapter and the twelfth verse Therefore by the eare man may examine his own heart for unless he feel himself touched inwardly with the word his hearing is in vain And this is the service wich God rejects Isaiah the twenty ninth chapter and the thirteenth verse Matthew the fifteench chapter and the eighth verse populus labiis me honerat so if either we bring our eares alone or both eares and eyes both hearken and conceive yet so long as this is true of us that our heart is departed from God If the heart be not affected with the preaching of the word it is in vain For the profitable hearer is he that with an honest and good heart receiveth the word of God Which is the immortall seed that bringeth forth much fruit Luke the eighth chapter Secondly the work wrought in the heart is a burning or kindling as we shewed There is a double compunction First when a man being pricked in heart falls into a rage as they that heard Stephen Acts the seventh chapter Secondly when being prickt they seek for ease and comfort as in the second chapter of the Acts and the thirty seventh verse So there is a double fire For as there is a fire from the Altar which touched the prophets mouth Esay the sixt chapter so fire from Topheth Isaiah the thirtieth chapter there are firie tongues that fell upon the Apostes But they came from heaven Acts the second chapter but there are firie tongues that are set on fire of hell James the third chapter it is the fire from the Altar and the firie tongues from heaven that causeth the burning in the heart of such as hear aright and not the fire of Topheth For as the Devill with his hot Iron doth cauterise and sear the consciences of some so the fire of Gods spirit doth warm the hearts of others so as they heare the word of God with profit As there are wicked whose tongues and words are like pricks and swords Proverbs the twelfth chapter so there are others whose tongues are like hot Juniper coals Psalm the one hundred and twentieth which slanders others For the Devill that ãâã of man Matthew the thirteenth chapter ãâã up this fire in the hearts of men but this fire must be distinguished from that fire which Christ came to bring upon earth ãâã the twelfth chapter As this compunction was of saith and the other of fear so here the good fire proceeds from love and hope the effect of the other is desperate raging and hatred The true fire is from the spirit as it is in the sixt chapter of John Verba mea spiritus sunt vita for where there is spirit there is a heat and Christs words being spirituall doe warm the hearts of the hearers the Scriptures being inspired by the spirit of God cannot but work this heat in mens hearts besides God saith of his word Jeremiah the twenty third chapter and the twenty ninth verse meum verbum ignis est it is fire no man can deny it for whether we respect the Law it is ignta lex Deuteronomie the thirty third chapter and the second verse the word of prophesie is firie for the Prophet could not prophesie till the coal taken from the Altar had touched his lips Isaiah the sixt chapter and of the Gospel which Christ preached he saith ãâã mittere in terram quod volo misi ut ardeat Luke the twelfth chapter and the fourty ninth verse and after his ascention he gave order that the firie tongues should come upon the Apostles that their word might be a firie word that might kindle in the hearts of the hearers Now the word of God is therefore called fire because the quality of fire is most actuall for as some note that albeit many things be hid from the Sun Yet there is nothing hid from the heat thereof for it pierceth into all parts of the world Psalm the ninteenth so the word of God is such and mighty in operation and sharper than any two edged sword and entreth through Hebrews the fourth chapter For as the fire consumeth all things and turneth it into fire so doth the word of God turn the affections of man into word and not the word into affection As the word it self is fire so the motions which it stirreth up in the heart are firie and servent as the Apostle sheweth in the twelfth chapter to the Romans and the eleventh verse Ferventes spiritu Fervencie proceeds of two affections The one is hope in the twelfth verse that where before their hope was cold now it rejoyceth and revives verse the twenty first the other is of love which makes them compell him Luke the twenty fourth chapter to tarry with them verse the twenty ninth thus the word inflames their hearts with love and revives their spirits so as their hope is revived and by working these two affections in them he changeth them that there is not only fire but constancy in the word verba ignea faciunt igneos characteres so as where ink may be blotted out the stamp of the firie word of God continues for ever and is durable But the word hath a double operation against sinne First like water because with it the spot which comes from without is taken away Secondly as fire because ãâã rust must be burnt out so the inward corruption of our nature must be eaten out and consumed with the word therefore the Prophet compares his preaching to melting and founding Jeremiah the sixt chapter where he complains the bellowes are burnt the
Except a man be born again of water ãâã John the sixt chapter unlesse ye eate the flesh and drink the blood of Christ ye have no life in you ãâã these conditions and for these uses are we commanded to drink of the same spirit If we drink the blood of Christ we shall drink the spirit of life which it gives and so shall we live by him John the sixt chapter and the fifty seventh verse Christ shall live in us ãâã the second chapter There are that doe not potare in eundem spiritum Water of it self is not able to purge from original corruption without the spirit and Potus vappa sine spiritu The flesh ãâã nothing it is the spirit that gives life John the sixt chapter The word it self preached ãâã not unlesse God giveth increase the first epistle to the ãâã the third chapter nay this spiritual food kills some for they eat and drink their own damnation the first epistle to the Corinthians the eleventh chapter Therefore if we will drink the spirit it is required First That he thirst after spiritual things no lesse than after worldly things John the seventh chapter Si quis sitit ad me veniat bibat vers the thirty seventh Secondly He must pray for the spirit ãâã God giveth his spirit to them that ask it Lake the eleventh chapter So while Jesus was baptized and prayed the Heavens opened and the holy Ghost came down upon him Luke the third chapter and the ãâã verse We must both ãâã after the spirit and pray for it else we cannot have it But if we come non sitientes omnino without any sense of our own want or come only with a form of Godlinesse the second epistle to Timothy the third chapter and the fift verse we may drink the outward object but not the spirit for they that come thus pray not to God to be made partakers of the spirit as of the object And to this we may add as a reason of our unprofitable drinking how can we ãâã the spirit seeing we sow only to the flesh Galatians the ãâã chapter In as much as we sow no spiritual works we cannot be partakers of the spirit These are the means to obtain the spirit Then when we have drunk we must examine our selves whether we have drunk the spirit which we shall know thus A drink and potion is either for recovery of health or for comfort or refreshing If we finde that the blood of Christ hath purged our consciences from dead works Hebrews the ninth chapter and that we mortifie the deeds of the flesh by the spirit Romans the eighth chapter then have we drunk of the same spirit If we ãâã the power of sinne abated in ãâã and the will of sinne by this Sacrament then have we drunk the spirit Secondly For refreshing which is the other use of drinking as Psalm the seventy eighth and the sixty fift verse The Lord arose out of sleep as a ãâã refreshed with wine there comes courage to a man by drinking of the spirit so as he hath a desire to spiritual drink Ephesians the fift chapter Be not drunk with wine but be filled with the spirit Now they call the holy Ghost new wine Acts the second chapter these men are filled with new wine For indeed as the one so the other gives greater alacrity and cheerfulnesse In respect of these two effects it is termed the holy spirit of God and therefore First He that having drunk findes in his soul a comfortable anointment the first epistle of John the second chapter the seal of the spirit Ephesians the first chapter and the thirteenth verse and the earnest the second epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter and the twentieth verse he hath a signe that he hath drunk the spirit But these sensualiter are not enough they may deceive us there were that eat and drank in Christs presence but he told them I know you not Luke the thirteenth chapter Therefore to the comfort of the spirit we must add the holy spirit and see what operation he hath we must see if we can finde sanctificationis spiritum the second epistle to the Thessalonians the second chapter and the fruits of the spirit wrought in us after we have drunk Galatians the fift chapter and the twenty second verse whether we be transformed by the same spirit the second to the Corinthians the third chapter Thus we see the Apostle in this place against the spirit that lusteth after envy and contention James the fourth chapter useth the Sacrament of unity to perswade men to unity and love and against the unclean spirit he useth the Sacrament of cleannesse as in the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an Harlot By the effects that the spirit worketh in us we may know whether we have the spirit for we are not only made partakers of Christs body in Baptism but of the spirit in the Lords Supper If we cleave to the Lord Christ we are made one spirit the first epistle to the ãâã the sixt chapter Whereupon this ensueth That as he and his Father are one so are we one with Christ and consequently being one with him we can want no happinesse for his will is That we should be with him where he is and behold his glory John the seventeenth chapter and the twenty fourth verse Ex eo quòd maxima illa nobis ac pretiosa promissa donavit c. 2 Pet. 1. 4. A Scripture applyed to this time wherein we solemnize the memory of his taking of our nature as we have here a promise of being partakers of his and it conteins as all other Scriptures of comfort a Covenant between God and us That which is performed on Gods part is That he hath made us most great and pretious promises The condition on our partie is That we eschue the corruption that is in the world through lust In the former part there is a thing freely bestowed on us Secondly That is a promise Thirdly The promise is That we shall be partakers of the divine nature Concerning which A promise being once past is no more a free thing but becomes a debt and in justice is to be performed in which respect the Apostle saith in the second epistle to Timothy the fourth chapter There is laid up for me a crown of righteousnesse which the Lord the just judge shall render to me and hence the Prophet is bold to challenge God with his promise Psalme the hundred and nineteenth Perform thy promise wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust and therefore Augustine saith Redde quod non accepisti sed quod premisisti Promises doe affect two wayes because they stand upon two points First The party promising Secondly The thing promised If it were the promise of a man it were to be doubred of for all men are lyars Psalm the hundred and sixteenth They
either promise that which they cannot perform as being weak as Psalm the twenty first and the tenth verse or which they will not perform as Naball in the first book of Samuel and the twenty fist chapter But if we can finde one that is both able and willing to keep his promise that is a great kindnesse not to be distrusted And such a one is God who of his own goodnesse is become indebted to us by making us most great and pretious promises he is true of his word for he is Deus mentiri nesciens Titus the first chapter he cannot lye And for his power and ability Apud eum non erit impossibile omne verbum Luke the first chapter And for his willingnesse the Angels testifie of it that there is in God good milk towards men even the same which he heares to Christ his own Sonne of whom he ãâã from heaven in the third chapter of Luke This is my ãâã Sonne ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Secondly For the thing promised Though it be God that ãâã yet if the thing promised be a matter of no great value wee respect it the lesse but this is a great and most ãâã promise Now that is pretious for which a man will give any thing as for a pearle a man will sell all that he hath to composse it Matthew the thirteenth chapter and what will ãâã a man give for the ransome of his soul the whole world nay a thousand of worlds is little enough to give for it Matthew the sixteenth chapter and the sixteenth verse So then this promise is pretious in respect of the thing promised Secondly It is pretious in regard that it cost dearly For wee are bought not with corruptible things as silver and gold ãâã with the ãâã blood of Christ in the first epistle of Peter the first chapter and the eighteenth verse Thirdly It is a pretious promise in this respect because our blessednesse here promised stands not only in having our sinnes forgiven or in being made righteous that is not the thing we are ãâã with or to be with God which was the desire of our first Parents Genesis the third chapter and of Lucifer Isaiah the fourteenth chapter ero similis ãâã but it stands herein that we shall be made partakers of the Divine nature and enjoy those things ãâã eye bath not seen c. in the first epistle to the ãâã the second chapter and the third verse he doth not promise that we shall be partakers of Gods glory joy and felicity as ãâã sonnes would have been Matthew the twenty first chapter but ãâã of his nature That as we are subject to sicknesse death and all crosses by being partakers of the nature of the first Adam so we shall be partakers of glory joy and ãâã And being partakers of the second Adam as the branches receive life from the vine John the fifteenth chapter so it shall be between Christ and us he will derive his benefits to us As the ãâã is holy so wee that are branches ãâ¦ã shall be ãâã Romans the eleventh chapter and the sixteenth verse As we partake of the miseries of the first Adam so of the joy and ãâã of the second Adam As we have been partakers of the ãâã so of ãâ¦ã in the first epistle to the ãâã and the fifteenth chapter Fourthly If we consider from how base estate we to whom this promise is made are ãâã not only from the nature of ãâã Psalm the fourty ninth Of wormes and ãâ¦ã 17. and which is more base from being the Children of wrath ãâã the second chapter and Children of the Devil Acts the thirteenth chapter to be partakers of the divine nature that will ãâã to be a ãâã promise containing matter of so great comfort whereby that is by the knowledge of God that hath called us to glory and ãâã or by whom that is by Christ taking knowledge of him as in the fifty third chapter of Isaiah My ãâ¦ã by his knowledge shall ãâã many and in the seventeenth chapter of John and the third verse This is eternall life to know thee and Jesus Christ. The Heathen and Turkes are not capable of this pretious promise because they take no notice of Christ It is a promise made to Christians for because they are partakers of flesh and blood He also took part with them Hebrews the second chapter As Christ took part of our nature so he makes us partakers of his It is the Christian only that beleeves this and therefore he is capable of this so pretious promise for albeit Christ were man yet it pleased God that the fulnesse of the God head should dwell in him bodily Colossians the second chapter and the ninth verse and as he is in us by his humanity so are we in him in respect of his Divinity God partakes with Christ because of his Divine nature and man partakes with Christ in as much as he hath assumed our humane nature He is partaker of our humane nature for he is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone Ephesians the fifth chapter and we by his Spirit are partakers of his Divine nature for in the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixth chapter He that cleaveth to the Lord is one spirit Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us by the spirit which he hath given us in the first epistle of St. John the fourth chapter and the thirieenth verse Christ imputeth his nature two wayes First by regeneration in Baptisin for except ye be born again of water and the holy Ghost John the third chapter Secondly by eating and drinking in the Sacrament In which respect the Apostle saith that we must bibere spiritum the first epistle to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the thirteenth verse In this life we must seek for Gods grace and glory and he hath promised to give both Psalm the eighty fourth and then we shall Intrare in gaudium Domini Matthew the twenty fift chapter and so we shall be alwaies with him the first epistle to the Thessalonians the fourth chapter and see him as he is the first epistle of John the third chapter and the first verse that is be partakers of his divine nature and which goes beyond all he shall not be glory in one and joy in another and immortality in a third but he shall be omnia in omnibus the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the twenty eighth verse Now the promise is with a restraint nobis qui that is to us which eschue the corruption The like we have in John the third chapter and the sixteenth verse ut omnes qui credant and Matthew the eleventh chapter Come to me omnes qui And great reason it is that if we will have God to perform his promise to us we keep the condition on our part towards him so the Apostle disputes in the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the
first verse seeing me have so great promises let us cleanse our selves for the Divine effence is incorruptible and it is impossible that corruption should inherit incorruption the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter therefore albeit our outward man corrupteth daily yet we must labour to be renewed in the inner man the second epistle to the Corinthians the fourth chapter But whence is this corruption From lust So saith the Apostle here agreeing with St. James in his first chapter and the fourtâ⦠verse Every man is tempted when he is ãâ¦ã drawn ãâ¦ã own lust The place where this corruption is is the world So St. Peter saith and the first epistle of John and the second chapter There is nothing in the world but concupiscentia oculorum carnis and St. Paul saith They that will be rich in this world fall into many foolish and noysom lusts the first epistle to Timothie the sixt chapter Filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and lust of uncleanness There are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the first verse and the second epistle of Peter the second chapter and the tenth verse but we must keep our selves unspotted of the world as in the first chapter of St. James epistle and hate the garment spotted of the flesh Jude the twenty fift verse For avoiding ãâã corruption we must know That temptations which come by fair and flattering speeches are not to be resisted but a man must fly from them Heb. 12. 1. There is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an imbracing sinne and James the 1. 13. there is a line or bait or angle which you must flye from so shall you be safe If you resist not you will be taken and James the fourth chapter and the seventh verse Resist the Devil but in the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter Fugite fornicationem for it is an embracing sinne the second epistle to Timothy the second chapter Flye lusts of youth There is no other way for by talking and arguing the point is the way to be catched that is seeing the world from without doth corrupt as in the first epistle to the Corinthians the fift chapter A little levan maketh sower the whole lump they that will not avoid it are servants of corruption the second epistle of Peter the second chapter and Jude calls them spots and blots they that will be partakers of these promises must avoid the evil company of such As when Jacobs rods lay before the Ewes they brought forth party coloured Lambs Genesis the thirtieth chapter So that is the effect of evil company And for ill speeches that corrupts good manners in the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter for as Michah the seventh chapter and the third verse there are some that speak out of the corruption of their soul it spreads like a canker and corrupts many the second epistle to Timothy and the second chapter Evil example and bad companie lewd speeches and vain songs are to be avoided if we will avoid corruption For lest that we may know from whence it proceeds he that flies not allurements and provocations cannot avoid them Therefore in Psalm the hundred and nineteenth the Prophet prayeth Turne away mine eyes So for occasions Proverbs the fift chapter Come not neer the harlots house And for the time and opportunity that is carefully to be respected Proverbs the seventh chapter In the twilight the young man was found going to the harlots house and so was corrupted So though neither object nor opportunity be offered yet a man being idle and without exercise may be corrupted for that was the sinne of Sodome Ezekiel the sixteenth chapter and the fourty ninth verse Pride abundance of bread and idlenesse Then a man must never purpose to sinne for so he corrupteth the spirit of his minde nor to let his desire be corrupted He must ãâã evil company Ephesians the ãâã chapter have no fellowship with the ãâã works of darknesse and that is a signe of grace Grace is the motion of the spirit the end of grace is glory He whose reasonable soul doth not purpose to doe evil and his will doth not desire it but shunnes all occasions and opportunity of evil such a one hath a beginning of grace which will not forsake him till it have brought him to glory and made him partaker of the Divine nature Ad hoc ipsum verò vos omni praeterea collato studio adjicite fidei vestrae virtutem c. 2 Pet. 1. 5. THERE is no promise made by God but is with a condition either by way of a restraint with si qui as Romans the eighth chapter and the first verse or of affirmative illi verò or conclusion the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter Therefore secing we have such promises in this place we have both Before promise is made us to be partakers of the divine nature so that we flie the corruption And the Apostle not contenting himself with that doth joyn a second as an affirmative condition Therefore give all diligence to this The first observation from hence is To know how to draw a conclusion from the promise of God For some from the promise of Gods grace did conclude that they might now freely sinne Romans the sixt chapter But the Apostle here dislikes that as also Paul in the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter seeing we have such promises let us consummate our holinesse in the fear of God The cause of so many dissentions in the world is because we are of diverse spirits and gather contrary conclusions as in the first epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter the Apostle from the shortnesse of life draweth this conclusion that men should use the world as if they used it not So from the same there are another sort that conclude thus Seeing we must dye to morrow let us eat and drink the first epistle to the Corinthians and the fifteenth chapter as Romans the sixt chapter because where sinne abounds grace super abounds they conclude let us sinne that grace may abound From the promise of God we may not draw any other conclusion but as here he exhorts therefore let us give all diligence Secondly He sheweth wherein this diligence is to be shewed joyn to your faith virtue First of Diligence and then of the thing wherein it is to be imployed Care or Diligence the Apostle maketh the first part of repentance from ill the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter And it is the same word in both places It is here the God of repentance and the Apostle he makes it the gates of affirmative virtues and a good life the one for taking away sinne the other for bringing in of godlinesse There are many kinds of diligence but this is that a man useth when he makes it tempestiva diligentia when a man having day before him he doth
not put off till the end ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Psalm the hundred and nineteenth I made haste and prolonged not to keep thy commandements and in the third chapter looking for and hasting to the comming of the day of the Lord. As we must look for it so make haste to meet him joyfully Now we know the nature of it we will consider the degree of it in the word all not some kinde of care or indeavor but all diligence Seeing we have great and pretious promises in the higiest degree let our diligence be in the highest degree Men must not perswade themselves it is an easie matter to be a good Christian but a thing wherein all care and diligence is to be shewed and he had the spirit of God to direct him He layeth upon us no other burdens then necessary commandements Acts the fifteenth chapter and the eighteenth verse Our Saviour Christ by crying often Watch and pray Mark the thirteenth chapter Take heed Luke the thirteenth chapter Strive to enter into the streight gate Matthew the seventh chapter Labour not for the meat that perisheth John the sixt chapter calling entrance into life as hard as for a camel to passe through the eye of a needle Luke the sixteenth chapter shews men may not think but it requires all diligence and contention If the preservation of mans body cannot be without caring for apparel and meat And if humane nature be decayed and will not be repaired without cost there must be care and diligence to keep a good dyet then our union and incorporation into the Deitie is no matter of ease We must use diligence both in ceasing from evil and following good and that in as good degree as we can for when we have done what we can yet it is true in the first epistle of Peter the fourth chapter justus vix servabitur Unto which we add thirdly that the word give here used is very effectual It is used two wayes It is to bring in a thing with an opposition as if the Apostle said Heretofore ye have shewed great diligence in vanities ye can watch spend your time and money Shew the like diligence in following good The other is a sense used in the sixt chapter to the Galatians and in Judes epistle that if Hereticks cannot get in they will creep in craftily in the next chapter he saith Privily bringing in heresies and the same Jude verse the fourth So here it is brought in by imitation We must be as carefull to possesse our selves with good as the wicked are to joyn vice to vice It is Christs advise Luke the sixteenth chapter The children of light to be as wise as they of the world This joyning is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It hath a plain expression in the 68. Psalm The singers went before the players went after This procession in order of a Quier is the true motion signified by this word It is used by the Apostle speaking of the body in the fourth chapter to the Ephesians and the second to the Colossians and the nineteenth verse This coupling of one bone with another thus orderly marching or training he calls by the same name Such a thing the Apostle exhorts unto here From hence we learn that Christianity or Religion is as a Quier consisting of many veins or a body of many parts It is not a thing stancing of one virtue they that have learned Christ truly Ephesians the fourth chapter have learned first to put off the old man and then to put on the new And so the Apostle reckoning up as a great train of virtues as Peter doth here and St. Peter saith verse the ninth They that conceive not so of Christianity are blinde and cannot see afarre off When in the Scripture we finde any main matter of weight said upon one virtue we must take a part for the whole it is but one virtue of the train As there are many parts of repentance the second epistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter so the Apostle gives a compleat harnesse standing of seven several parts Ephesians the sixt chapter As they that are partakers of the Divine nature are a body compact of many joynts and sinnews so the divine spirit is not one alone but as the ancient Fathers define the eleventh verse of the seventh chapter of Isaiah and the fourth chapter of the Apocalyps Secondly This is not promiscuè confusedly but orderly as in a Quier one begins another follows This multitude of virtues is Acies ordinata Canticles the sixt chapter like the marching of Soldiers for it comes from God who is the God of order and not of confusion Thirdly All at once doe not break out but there is a successive bringing in one of the other In that order there are degrees First Faith Secondly Virtue Thirdly Knowledge The number of virtues be eight as eight parts of repentance in the second epistle to the Corinth ans the seventh chapter Those contain our separation from the Devils nature As the other are our union with Gods nature which are usually compared to those eight steps in Ezekiel the fourtieth chapter from the thirty first to the fourty first verse they are our assents whereby we approach to the Altar so the promises of blessednesse which our Saviour speaketh of are eight Matthew the fift chapter Another thing to be observed is That of these eight there are four pair for to a theologicall virtue is added ever more a moral Faith knowledge godlinesse and charity are theologicall to evey one of these there is a moral virtue To come to the particulars we shall observe that faith begins and charity ends as Galatians the fift chapter fides per charitatem operatur So in Peter faith works till it come to love He that will come to God must beleeve Hebrews the eleventh chapter but that is nothing without love 1 Cor. 13. Love is the bond of perfection Colossians the third chapter Above all have love which is the chain of perfection Faith is a most pretibus thing so he saith verse 1. And it hath this honor to be the root and foundation of all as Colossians 2. grounded in faith it is the ground of all vertue it is Choragus the first that leadeth the dance Men hope to receive the end of faith and that is the salvation of souls the first epistle of Peter the first chapter then faith is the beginning of it To this truth we must add another truth that as it is the first so but a part and not as the world would have it to be all Because faith commeth by hearing Romans the tenth chapter the world is all set on hearing but in the first epistle to the Corinthians and the twelfth chap. the body is not all an eare Faith is but a part and that an eighth part As here we have warrant from St. Peter it is the first ergo we must begin at it but not to stand there but goe further
As it is choragi so epicorigia that is not so compleat of it self but something is to be joyned to it For faith St. Peter the fittest to take instruction from who shewed the failing and wavering of his faith when Christ asked him Lovest thou me he answered Thou knowest that I love thee John the twenty first chapter But how knew he it when he denyed him before a poor Damosel Matthew the twenty sixt chapter And in respect of Christ Luke the twenty second chapter and the thirty second verse I have prayed for thy faith Christs promise and his own experince may perswade us he knew the nature of faith And this is an infallible mark of time faith that it hath joyned virtue and is taught of the Law of God and true faith doth not abrogate the Law nay Romans the third chapter the Law is established by faith Faith must bring in virtue by the hand So in that great chapter of faith having gone through all he faith They chused rather to suffer than to enjoy pleasures of sinne Hebrews the eleventh chapter Paul saith true faith operatur ãâã per charitatem So Peter here and James the second chapter and the twenty second verse it doth cooperari that is the figne James gives of faith In the first epistle of John the fift chapter the figne of true faith is it overcomes not only the Devil but the world and the pleasures riches honors of the world as in Hebrews the eleventh chapter It is the same signe that Hebrews eleventh chapter and the fourth verse shewed it self in Moses when he refused to be the sonne of Pharaohs daughter And Jude in the twentieth verse saith If it be true faith it is fides sanctificans So they all agree Paul saith Faith must work rightcousnesse Peter It must bring virtue in by the hand John It must overcome the world and Jude saith It is a sanctifying faith not locked up in a mans conscience So that it is no true faith which virtue follows not Adjicite fidei vestrae virtutem virtuti verò notitiam 2 Pet. 1. 5. THE Apostles minde is to shew That the life of a Christian is no single thing but a Quire or Dance and the beginning of the train is faith For if we must be elevated to be partakers of the Divine nature as verse the first it must be a divine thing that must effect this and the first divine thing is divina veritas the same which the Prophets in all ages have described to us Which divine truth we apprehend by faith Now because there may be deceipt in our faith we must take heed that it be not a rotten faith There is fides ficta the first epistle to Timothy the first chapter and the fift verse Faith feigned and a dead faith James the second chapter There is a vile faith as well as a like pretious faith And that we may separate the pretious from the vile Jeremiah the fifteenth chapter And if we will know which is the pretious faith for which Christ prayed in Luke the twenty second chapter it is not that which is alone but which is accompanied with other virtues It must not be totum integrale or Alpha and Omega but like a Quire wherein are diverse parts faith is but a part and the eighth part of Christianity This company is not added ad ornatum but for necessity therefore he exhorts Give all diligence and he that hath not these is blinde To proceed If faith be not all what is that company he speaketh of The first is Virtue A word which the Scripture hath taken from Philosophers whereof all their books are full and albeit we must beware that no man spoile us through Philosophie Colossians the second chapter yet we may not contemne it We are called to glory and virtue verse the third and Philippians the fourth chapter and the eighth verse If any virtue It is not to be taken generally for so it contains all It comprehends not moral virtues more than theological but a more special thing By Virtue is not meant an honest life nor faith but virtue is used either for an active power as in the first epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter and the twenty fourth verse or some notable effect as Galatians the third chapter and the fift verse It is used either in opposition to weaknesse as in the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the fourty third verse and the second epistle to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the ninth verse Virtus mea perficitur in infirmitate or in opposition to fear as in the second epistle to Timothie the first chapter and the seventh verse Not the spirit of fear but of power By Virtue is meant that acrimena sinapis as Christ speaketh If you had faith but as a grain of mustard-seed this is that must be added to faith then shall that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the first epistle of John the third chapter and second verse be accomplished in us then we shall say with Christ in the fift chapter of St. Johns Gospel My Father worketh and so doe I and in the first epistle to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter The Holy Ghost worketh all in all Faith hath no act but the act of assent but the true faith is operative Which power of working is called by Peter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by Paul in the first epistle to the Corinthians the fourth chapter The spirit of faith The life and work of faith with power ãâã fidei in virtute the second epistle to the Thessalonians the first chapter and the eleventh verse St. Paul saith in the first epistle to the Corinthians the fourth chapter and the twentieth verse You shall perceive non sermone sed virtute not only a power to talk well but to work they have a form of faith but doe ãâã virtutem the second epistle to Timothy the third chapter and the fift verse As it betokens a power of doing well so an ability of induring adversity depends on this virtue For want of this Peter foll asleep Matthew the twenty sixt chapter He came afar off when Christ was apprehended and was afraid of a poor Maid So it was with Peter having nothing but faith but when he joyned with his faith virtue then that was fulfilled Luke the twenty fourth chapter and the fourty ninth verse He is indued with power from above Induemini virtute ex alto When he received the power of the holy Ghost Acts the first chapter and the eighth verse then he was bold Acts the fift chapter and the twenty ninth verse The Apostle calls it strength in the inner man Ephesians the third chapter and the sixteenth verse If a man fear death his strength is small Proverbs the twenty fourth chapter and the tenth verse By this virtue Moses feared not ãâã the eleventh chapter and the twenty third verse As there is modica
carnall and are not spirituall Temperance will make men depart from the flesh and grow spirituall and so be like the ãâã nature To Temperance hee exhorts to add Patience the first voice of this quire which the Apostle reckons among the fruits of the Spirit Galathians the fift chapter and the twenty third verse for three reasons as the Philosophers observe to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã there is next adjoyned ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to the effective part is joyned courage For as is observed from John the first chapter and the thirteenth verse not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man There are in man two wills the will of the flesh and the manly will for God having planted in the Soule desire to follow good there followes courage to remove whatsoever shall hinder our desire and as wee have a virtue to moderate our concupiscence or sensuality so here is Patience against our courage Secondly what makes a man intemperate but ãâã as Genesis the twenty fift chapter Esau must needes die except hee have the meat hee desires therefore ãâã is a virtue necessarily required in the faithfull the sixteenth chapter of the Proverbs and the ninteenth chapter of the Revelations Haec est sides patientia Sanctorum The third reason of the dependance is ãâã vincit qui patitur Intemperance and Impatience are the great Conquerors of the world the one being the Nurse of Phisitians the other of Lawyers And as we have had a virtue to conquer intemperance so it followes by good order next that wee have the virtue against impatience As the one sort are said to bee clothed in white that is the innocency of the Godly Apocalyps the seventh chapter and the ninteenth verse so others by Patience have made their garments purple in the blood of the Lamb Apocalyps the ninteenth chapter Secondly when wee know what to doe wee must not be drawn from it by any terror For as the devill to alure us to sinne joyns dulce malum so to keepe us from good hee joynes bitter with that which is good He joynes to ãâã labour and disgrace that by them hee may keepe us from it Labour is a thing our nature cannot away with durum pati the object of this virtue is tribulation as Romans the twelfth chapter bee patient in tribulation a virtue that becommeth Saints Apocalys the ninteenth chapter haec est fides patientia Sanctorum For the originall of tribulation men doe not feare the evils of the life to come and therefore God is faine to send them crosses while they live which must bee borne patiently as Micah the seventh chapter portabo iram Domini quia peccavi Secondly they are sent for tryall of our faith ut tollet ferro rubiginem addat ãâã puritatem That was the cause of Jobs trouble to try his faith The use of this virtue in respect of men is as Matthew the fift chapter If they smite thee on the one cheeke to turne the other If they take way thy coate let them have thy cloak also If men reproach ye as David was to beare it as hee did the second of Samuel and the sixteenth chapter to endure the spoyling of our goods as Hebrewes the twelfth chapter In such cases it is the perfection of the Saints while they live here to possesse their Souls with Patienee as it is in Saint Luke the one and twentith chapter For the use the Apostle makes of this virtue patience is needfull for the avoiding of corruption Give not place to the Devil by suffering the Sunne to goe down upon thy wrath Ephesians the fourth chapter For men in their impatience utter the corruption of their hearts Michah the seventh chapter Secondly It makes them like God as John the third chapter and the first verse for there is nothing in God more divine than patience this virtue he shewed to the old world which he endured so long the first epistle of Peter the third chapter and to the new world the second epistle of Peter and the third chapter He is not slack but patient to all and would have all repent The same is the affection of the Sonne of God towards his Church What did Moses admire Exodus the third chapter to see the bush a fire and not burn but videt rubum ardentem Even so now the faithfull shall drink deadly poyson and it shall not hurt them as Christ promiseth Mark the sixteenth chapter that is the evil tongues of the wicked which are as the poyson of Asps as Psalm the hundred and fourtieth The Apostles exhortation is James the first chapter and the fourth verse Be patient that ye may be intire and perfect and as the first epistle of Peter the fift chapter If ye suffer but a little God shall make you perfect And Christs advise is To bring forth fruit in patience Luke 8. Tolerantiae pietatem pietati verò fraternum amorem fraterno verò amori charitatem 2 Pet. 1. 7. IN the first of these three verses the Apostle makes his first conjunction of Faith Teaching that as we must be of a sound belief so of a virtuous life The second of Knowledge not to be drawn from a virtuous life by any deceits Of Temperance against allurements And Patience against terrors and troubles all these are moral virtues And to these he joynes in the third verse the threefold train of Godlinesse Brotherly love and Charity all which are theological virtues For as Christ exhorteth not only to doe good to them from whom we receive good Luke the sixt chapter and the thirty third verse which be the virtues of kindnesse that the Heathen practised but to add Christian virtues Doing good to them that hurt us and as Matthew the sixt chapter Our righteousnesse must exceed the righteousnesse of Scribes and Pharisees So theological virtues doe not exclude moral but as the Apostle shews we ãâã beside moral virtues ãâã these theological Faith doth not abolish but establish the Law so Romans the third chapter the Gospel requires of a Christian both will virtues and theological In the course of the world we finde it otherwise the civil man will shew himself temperate and patient but makes little account of religious virtues Others as Jude the first verse will seem to be religious by hearing and discoursing of the word and by certain religious terms but neglect those moral duties According to the first table they are religious but neglect the duty of the second Therefore for the Civil man albeit moral virtues are the perfection of this life yet if he look higher to the great and pretious promises of being partaker of the divine nature his moral virtues cannot raise him up so high as those virtues of Christianity that must doe that And for them that stop at the moral duties of the second Table and content themselves with a shewing religion by theological virtues If any man seem to be religious
in such sort his religion is vain except he add moral James the first chapter and the twenty sixt verse That he refrain his tongue and keep himself unspotted Secondly For the order or method of the Apostle There is an order not only of things productive one of another but that are adductive And having already gone through the powers of the soul that is Reason Affection and Corruption and prescribed internal virtues Knowledge Temperance and Patience Now he comes to the outward man and shews That to God who is above us is due Godlinesse to them that are neer us that is Christians and spiritual brethren that have one Father Brotherly love and to them that are farre off that is all men Charity Godlinesse is required in respect of the divine nature Brotherly love in respect of the familiarity or Church which are the houshold of Faith that is kindnesse to be shewed to Christians Thirdly Charity is a duty to be extended to all both Jews and ãâã as well as to Christians For as John the first chapter and the thirteenth verse there is the will of the flesh and the will of man whereunto Temperance and Patience have respect So there is the will of God too and that is it that Godlinesse takes hold of The want of Patience to bear made Peter to deny Christ And therefore first he must be patient and next after will follow Godlinesse All that will live godly must suffer affliction the second epistle to Timothy the third chapter So when we are armed with patience we are fit to hear of Godlinesse So it was with Peter and the rest of whom it is reported that having this virtue ibant gaudentes Acts the fift chapter having first planted patience godlinesse follows by good consequence Thirdly Godlinesse is that virtue whereby we are affected towards God as the worldly mans is to wordlinesse or the fleshly man to carnal pleasure Cornelius is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Acts the tenth chapter and Acts the seventeenth chapter and the twenty third verse it is used for the worship of God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã If we ask as Elias to whom God is God One hath his belly for his God Philippians the third chapter such a one was Esau therefore called a prophane person Hebrews the twelfth chapter Others have no other godlinesse but gain as the first epistle to Timothy the sixt chapter and the fift verse such were they that were content to retain Diana's religion for their gain Acts the nineteenth chapter When we are as carefully affected to God as worldly men are to the world and carnal men to the flesh then we have Godlinesse But to consider of this how deeply Godlinesse is joyned we carry up our thoughts to God as to the chief truth to him that is the fountain of all goodnesse and joyes We are ãâã that he is the highest wisdome that knows all our actions and the highest power that can minister deliverance to their troubles that he is a regarder of them that seek him and a severe punisher of such as contemn him This inward affection is Godlinesse and this inward affection and perswafion of God is the mystery of Godlinesse the first epistle to Timothy the third chapter and the truth that is according to godlinesse Titus the first chapter and the first verse But as we must have this inward conceit so we must professe godlinesse the first epistle to Timothy the second chapter and the tenth verse For as in the first Commandement of the Law we must serve God in the truth of the spirit so in the second Commandement in the service of the body in the third with the blessing of the mouth we must blesse and praise God that is we must professe our ãâã at all times and all occasions not only privately ãâã publiquely in the fourth Commandement that is intirely by all the parts of the body even with the tongue which is our ãâã especially on the day of our publique profession not only to ãâ¦ã opinion of God but as the Church calls us Come Les ãâã fall down before the Lord Psalm the ninety fift not only to say with the Apostle Romans the seventh chapter I serve God in my spirit but Ephesians the third chapter I bow my knees to God the Eather And ãâã to worship God by vocal prayer I will praise him with my mouth Psalm the sixtieth Hast thou faith babe ãâã te Romans the fourteenth chapter and the twenty second verse So if thou have an inward conceit of God have it with thy self but withall thou must professe it ãâã The visard of Godlinesse must be plucked off and the power shewed We must exercise and ãâã godlinesse the first epistle to Timothy the fift chapter and the sixt verse There must be godlinesse of life the second epistle to Timothy the third chapter All that will live godly Cornelius was godly for he ãâã his godlinesse by giving almes and praying to God Acts the tenth chaptor By his exercise of godlinesse he shewed the power of godlinesse working in him and that is the chiefest thing For ãâã are spiritual sacrifices the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and to them we must add that which the Prophet calls ãâ¦ã Hosea the fourteenth chapter without which we are not truly godly And to both these there was added a sacrifice of the ãâã this spiritual ãâã is a broken and contrite heart Psalm the ãâã first to that is to be added Psalm the thirty second I ãâ¦ã my ãâã that ãâã an outward profession and vocal confession an ãâ¦ã of the body And lastly the ãâã of ãâã ãâã sixt chapter I will have mercy and not sacrifice Not to give good words as James the second chapter God be merciful but the real mercy Hebrews the thirteenth chapter to distribute and to doe good forget not for with such sacrifice God is well pleased Thus shall we approve our selves to be godly as also if we say with David Psalm the twenty sixt I have loved the habitation of the just If we account the Sabbaths our delight Isaiah the fifty eighth chapter If we esteem of places and times of godlinesse aright and cleave to the persons that ãâã godlinesse as Acts the seventeenth chapter and the thirty fourth verse Dionysius and Damar is they that doe so shew Godlinesse The second Virtue is love of brethren For as in the Law he goes from the first Table to the second so here having noted what is due to God he prescribes us duties to be performed unto men So the Gospel as well as the Law commands both purity and charity and we must take the ground of our love ex fonte puritatis God makes his Sunne to rise upon the just and unjust Matthew the fist chapter So must we shew not only brotherly love to Christians but charity to all men Which brotherly love is not to be extended to natural brethren as Matthew the twelfth chapter My brothers
the furnace and cast them up in the ãâã and they caused a stink And David in his sicknesse saith Psalm the thirty second His moisture was like the draught in Summer Therefore in the plague of Leprosie Leviticus the thirteenth chapter and the fourty fift verse the Leper was to have his mouth shut up David in that great ãâã spoken of in the first book of Chronicles the twenty first chapter and the thirtieth verse would have gone to ãâã but be found he should not feared with the Angel Therefore the servant of God saith Proverbs the fourteenth chapter A wise man ãâã the plague and shunneth it but the foolish goeth on still But these are not the only causes For besides ãâã there is some divine thing to be considered for there is no ãâã but a spirit belongs to it as Luke the thirteenth chapter and the eleventh verse a spirit of infirmity So are we to conceive that besides natural causes there is some spiritual of the sicknesse as ãâ¦ã twelfth chapter a destroying Angel So in Davids plague in the second book of Samuel the twenty fourth chapter And ãâã the thirty seventh chapter and the thirty sixt verse the Angel went forth and slue And Apocalyps the sixteenth chapter and the ãâã verse The Angels poured out the Vials of the wrath of God and there fell a noysome sore So it is Gods hand that brings in these plagues The cause stands on two parts First Gods wrath ãâã which all evil things proceed For affliction commeth not from the earth Job the fift chapter and the sixt verse They are sparks of his anger And he is not angry with the waters that they should drown ãâã the third chapter nor with the aire that it should corrupt but for these things commeth the wrath of God that is for our sinnes ãâã the fift chapter He doth but make a way to his wrath and then the earth ãâã up the ãâ¦ã Psalm the seventy eighth The sinnes of the people are the cause of Gods wrath Peccata morum goe before peccata humorum There is first corruption of the soul Michah ãâã first chapter and the third verse All flesh had corrupted their ãâã Genesis the sixt chapter So there is infection in mens wayes before the streets be infected There is plaga animae the plague in the soul before it appear in the body It is sinne that bringeth sicknesse and death Romans the sixt chapter So they are both joyned Psalm the thirty eighth and the third verse There is no rest in my bones because of my sinne Therefore it is our sinne and infection of the soul that must be looked into If it were some outward cause only it could not be but the plague should stay ãâã there is so great store of means Jeremiah the eighth chapter Is there no balme in Gilead But he saith Jeremiah the fourty sixt chapter and the eleventh verse Frustra multiplicas medicanda sinne being not taken away physick will doe ãâã good First the corruption of manners must be holpen and then bodily help will follow Psalm the fourty first Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee And that course our Saviour keeps Matthew the ninth chapter first he saith Thy sinne is forgiven and then Take up thy bed and walk These sinnes he calls inventions Inventions please us greatly and all new things our new omnia better than old Manna Numbers the eleventh chapter But if it be our own inventions then we goe a whoring after it Such is the delight we take in it verse the thirty ninth Our first Parents were of this minde so proud they would not take a rule of life from God but would sicut Dii Genesis the third chapter They set up to themselves graven Images Exodus the ãâã chapter They have Dii alieni such as their Fathers had Not when men living otherwise then God ãâ¦ã I shall have peace Deuteromie the twenty ninth chapter and the ãâã verse These webbs that we weave our selves and these eggs that we hatch Isaiah the fifty ninth chapter are our confusion and ãâã God and great reason For Exodus the fifteenth chapter and the twenty sixt verse he saith If thou ãâ¦ã to my ãâã I will lay no disease Ego Dominus ãâã But if we follow our own inventions we can look for nothing but diseases quid tibi praecipio haec ãâ¦ã Deuteronomie the twelfth chapter ãâã men will be ãâã than ãâã that was Sauls rebellion he would not destroy all as God commanded he was wiser than so But what were these inventions It is said verse the twenty eighth They joyned themselves to Baal ãâã Numbers the twenty fift chapter that is the sinne of whoring and fornication and that impudently before the congregation committed by Zimry and Cosby It was the adoring of an abhominable Idoll a sinne so grievous as it is said many years after ãâã not enough of the sinne of Peor Joshuah the twenty second chapter it is a sinne that will not be cleansed at the first And we see daily the sinne of uncleannesse ends with a plague that is infectious For the Cure It is certain As there are natural causes so natural cures of this Diseise ãâã as some Writers doe hold had this Disease and used not only prayer but a plaister by the Prophets direction Isaiah the fifty eighth chapter But as the cause of the plague is not only natural so here is used a spiritual remedy that is in as much as contrary curantur contrariis viis If the provoking of Gods anger be the Cause of the plague the appeasing of it by prayer must be the Remedy The two remedies are out of the double sense of the word which signifieth prayer and punishing Prayer is an appeaser of Gods wrath not only in other points but in this Numbers the twenty fift chapter They all wept and prayed And David in the second book of Samuel the twenty fourth chapter and the seventeenth verse fled to this remedy I have sinned but these sheep what have they done And Hezekiah being infected with the plague turned himself to the wall Isaiah the thirty eighth chapter And in Salomons prayer the first of the Kings and the eighth chapter where plagues or corrupt agues shall hop here then in heaven And there is a good proportion between this remedy and the disease For if there be a corrupt smell the way to take it away is by the good smell of incense or perfume So as our sinne doth give an evil savour and stink in Gods nostrils so the spiritual incense will remove it and that incense is prayer Psalm the fourty first Therefore the prayers of the Saints are called odours Apocalyps the fift chapter But it must be prayer qualified in two sorts First Phinehas prayer that is the prayer of the Priest So David had Gad to pray for him Hezekiah had Isaiah Lift thou up thy prayer Isaiah the thirty eighth chapter The Corinthians had Gad to pray for them the
because he of all others began with the beginning of all John the first chapter This order we see he took of Moses who first telleth of things past from the Creation till his death and foretelleth of things which were to come to passe in the latter end and which the new Testament doth say is fulfilled The knowledge of both these things past and to come God promised to shew to his Church and after it must we seek Isaiah the fourty first chapter and the twenty second verse and these secrets are no where so fully shewed as by Moses in this book If then we intend to get knowledge and with that key to open Heaven dores and to see the glorious Majestie of God let us take this book in hand which hath in it both leaves at large both the knowledge of the Creation of all Gods works and the knowledge of the wisdome and the true word of God But some may demand What will become of Christ and of his Gospel all this while that we are meditating of Moses and Gods works I answer That if Moses did not testifie and teach us of Christ we would account the time lost which we spend in reading him Philippians the third chapter and the eighth verse and we would leave Moses learning that we might only finde Christ. But St. Paul doth assure us Acts the third chapter and the eighteenth verse that all the Prophets from the beginning of the world did speak of him and among all the Prophets it is said We have found him of whom Moses spake John the first chapter and the fourty fift verse even Jesus the sonne of Joseph And more plainly Christ saith John the fift chapter and the fourty sixth verse Moses doth write and testifie of me And this we shall see plainly in all his books to be true both in evident and direct Prophesies and also in dark and mysticall types and figures The second question is touching Moses himself How he being but a man could come to the knowledge of such secret things which were hidden from other natural men besides being supernatural and beyond mens reach I answer As we cannot have knowledg of a strange Country where we never were but by report or by Letter or relation sent from some which dwell therein so we can have no notice or certain knowledge of God and his kingdome unlesse God first by his letter written make relation thereof to us Has quidem literas dedit Deus Moses attulit God was the writer Moses the Messenger of these holy Writts many things no doubt were taught by instruction and received by tradition from the Patriarchs before as wee see in the fift chapter of Genesis and the twenty ninth verse for so Lamech knew from his fathers that the Earth was accursed by God as it is in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis and the twenty seventh verse Abraham knew from his Ancestors that he was made of dust and ashes Adam leaving it to his posterity as Abraham did teach his family that God revealed to him Genesis the eighteenth chapter and the ninteenth verse But though many things came to knowledge by this meanes yet de eo tempore scribere de quo non erat is a strange matter some may say but wee answer that this was done either knowing it by that pattern which hee saw in the Mount or else by the voice and spirit of God speaking and talking with him to teach him the so things that is hee must needs come by it by the Eye that is by vision or else by the Eare that is by Revelation For as all Scriptures came by inspiration the first of Peter and the first chapter so ãâã this booke of Moses who writ it not of his own privat motion but by the heavenly direction of the spirit of God And therefore Moses might say as Daniel did Daniel the second chapter and the twenty eighth verse It is not I that can reveal secrets but there is a God of Heaven which declareth them Moses was but the pen of that God did speak If any then shall move that question Matthew the twenty first chapter and the twenty fift verse The Doctrine of Moses whether it is from Heaven or of men We answer That it is of God and from Heaven ãâ¦ã hereby appear because he was so publickly and manifestly ãâã with God and had often and long company and conference with him all Israel seeing him to goe up to the Lord. If any object that Heathens have pretended as much of their Laws and ãâã they have delivered Moses is able to ãâã him self from ãâ¦ã because this thing was not done in a ãâã but in the view and before the face of all Israel and that not in a Cave or Den as they but in the top of Mount ãâã which made that ãâã of all Israel ãâã his time ever made any doubt or question ãâã but still ãâã him the servant of God ãâ¦ã he called them ãâã and rebellious men Deuteronomie the ninth chapter and the ninth verse And as none durst call his truth in question so they which resisted as Korah and Dathan did were grievously punished by the hand of God And so were Appian and Julian plagued for their blasphemy which scoff and deride these holy Books For so saith Moses to his accusers Numbers the sixteenth chapter the twenty eigth and twenty ninth verses Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to speak these words if these dye not the death of all men c. Another reason to prove that his writings came from Heaven is his Rod and the miracles which God caused him to doe to confirm these things which he spake and wrote which miracles even the Heathen Chronicles doe confesse to this day Last of all Mens writings and books savour of passions and imperfections incident to men Moses is not of self-love partial to himself nor vain-glorious seeking any praise For in his writing he spareth not his own Father Exodus the thirty second chapter and the twenty seventh verse he spareth not Idolatry in his brother nor his sister Cozbies fault no nor his own fault of unbelief for which he confesseth that he could not enter into the promised Land Deuteronomie the thirty second chapter Seeing then all that is of the flesh and earth is flesh and savoureth earthly things this sheweth that Moses writing came from Gods spirit For Moses in all the warres he waged and in all the Laws he wrote he never ascribeth any thing but to the glory of God which gave them by his means exhorting to nothing but this That by holy obedience we should seek his praise The conclusion therefore must be this That seeing it is the infallible word of God sent from Heaven and not invented by men Why doe we not then with all reverence hear him and with all diligence beleeve him as a Prophet sent from God especially seeing it is threatned concerning him by name That whosoever
to the woman and her seed Here the wisdom of God doth observe a wonderfull proportion between the Devils fault and the punishment Before his evil speaking was rewarded with curse his Pride with creeping his Lust with loathsome feeding on the dust and here that visor and shew of friendship whereby he tempted our first Parents to transgresse Gods Commandement is taken away by open hostility He made a great shew of love and good will to Adam and Eve and as one saith howsoever he were indeed a cruel adversary yet he pretended himself in outward shew to be a faithfull Counsellor But this preposterous agreement of theirs with Hell and death Isaiah the twenty ninth chapter is broken off by God himself who instead of the Devils love fained saith I will put open enmity between thee and the woman By the successe which our Parents had of the Devils fained good will it is easie to be seen that no temptation is so dangerous as that which is offered by way of compassion and friendship and therefore when Peter said to Christ in Matthew the sixteenth chapter and the twenty second verse Master pitie thy self Christs answer was Get thee behinde me Sathan and therefore God useth to plague such preposterous loves and wicked agreements with deadly hatred So God punished the ãâã of Abimlech and the men of Sichem with bitter hatred for he sent an evil spirit between them which made them break their promise made to Abimelech Judges the ninth chapter and the twenty third verse The end of the preposterous love which Ammon bare to Thamar was such as his hatred wherewith he hated her after was greater than ever his love was the second book of Samuel the thirteenth chapter and the fifteenth verse So Judas having made a wicked compact with the high-Priests and Scribes to betray Christ into their hands was rejected of them after What is that to us Look thou to that Matthew the twenty seventh chapter Touching the enmity between the Serpent and the woman three things are here set down by God First that it shall be personall between thee and the woman Secondly it shall be mortal enmity such as shall never be forgotten but the Posterity shall continue it between thy seed and hers Thirdly it shall be a mortal and deadly hatred the woman and her seed shall break the Serpents head Further when God saith not only that thus it shall be but that he himself will be the Author of this enmity as he saith I will put we are to consider two things First That God himself is the ruler and stirrer up of our inward affections that he is not only the searcher of our hearts Acts the first chapter but the turner of mens hearts Proverbs the twenty first chapter for so he turned the Kings heart toward Esther and gave her favour with him Esther the fift chapter When a mans wayes please the Lord he will turn the hearts of his enemies so that they shall be his friends Proverbs the sixteenth chapter and the seventh verse Thus he turneth mens mindes both in good and evil things When the Serpent and our Parents conspired together in that which was evil God turned their hearts and made them hate one another So when all People and Nations that were escaped our of the flood conspired to build a Tower God himself counfounded and scattered them Genesis the eleventh chapter So as he is the God of peace in good things so in evil things he will be the God of discord and therefore he saith I came to send a sword on earth Matthew 10. Secondly As by these words he sheweth that all our affections are in his hand so he teacheth us that where he proclaimeth enmity we ought not to compound or make any peace Because God saith I will put enmity between the Serpent and the seed of the woman therefore we must not make any league with the Devil sinne the world or our own lusts but wrestle or be at warre with them continually The persons between whom this enmity is proclaimed is the Serpent and the Woman which must first be literally understood of the visible Serpent for that Creature of all other doth strike a terror into man when he seeth him so that presently man is inflamed with hatred against the Serpent Here this question ariseth Whether this antipathy that is naturally between Man and the Serpent were before the Curse or only after The answer is That there was a hatred between them from the beginning as of the Wolf with the Lamb and the Lyon Isaiah the eleventh chapter and Isaiah the sixty seventh chapter but this hatred did not shew it self between them but was stayed with the same grace by which man should have been preserved from death if he had not sinned There is an antipathy between the body of man and fire so as the one is apt to destroy the other as by grace this was stayed in the three Children that were call into the furnace Daniel the ninth chapter Water would naturally drown the body of man being heavy but by grace nature is stayed as when Peter walked upon the water Matthew the fourteenth chapter And the Lyon is a beast given to devour being naturally hatefull but when Daniel was cast into the Lyons den God by his grace preserved the Prophet so as the Lyons had no power of him Daniel the sixt chapter So the hatred that is in man toward the Serpent naturally did not shew it self in the Creation as it doth now that man is fallen from his Innocencie The same is also verified in the invisible Serpent if we compare spirituall things with spirituall in the first epistle to the Corinthians the second chapter For though Adams wife were in regard of sin rather the mother of the dead than of the living as she is called in the third chapter of Genesis and the twentieth verse yet for the hope of life which God doth offer unto us in this feed Adam calleth her not amisse The mother of the living for that she was a resemblance of the Church within All that will be pertakers of Salvation must be born anew to lead a spirituall life For in the twelfth chapter of the Apocalyps the Church is compared to a woman with Child and the Devil to a Dragon persecuting the woman to shew the spirituall enmity that is between the Devill and the faithfull between whom God doth here forerell there shall be perpetuall hostility The seed of the woman principally and by way of eminency is Christ as St. Paul expounds it in the third chapter to the Galatians and the Church which is called Christ in the first epistle to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the twelfth verse doth by the preaching of the word conceive a spirituall seed and travail till she have brought forth Galatians the fourth chapter and the old Serpent of whom Christ faith in the eighth chapter of St. John You are of your father the Devil
hath no doubt a seed that is the wicked which are his Children which are alwaies at warre with the seed of the Church As the seed of Serpents doth prove to be Serpents so for that wicked men are the seed of the old Serpent Christ calls them Serpents Matthew the twenty third chapter and because Judas was the child of the Devil therefore Christ calleth him a Devil John the sixth chapter the seventieth verse The reason why the wicked are called Serpents is because they stop their cares like Serpents and will not hear the voyce of the ãâã salm the fifty eighth because they sharpen their tongues like Serpents and hide Adders poyson under their lips Psalm the hundred and fourtieth that is blaspheme God and speak evil of men So ãâã as the Elect are the seed of the woman spiritual so the wicked and ãâã are the cursed seed of the spiritual Serpent And God pronounceth that there shall be perpetual hostility between them There is a corrupt seed Isaiah the first chapter and the fourth verse The other a holy seed Isaiah the sixth chapter and the thirteenth verse Our Saviour expounds the good seed to be the children of the kingdome and the cockle to be the children of the world Matthew the thirteenth chapter and the thirty eighth verse The Apostle compares the children of God and the children of the Devil together the first epistle of John the third chapter and the tenth verse between these is that perpetual enmity that is here spoken of The same is between the Church of God Acts the twentieth chapter and the Synagoue of Sathan Apocalyps the twenty ninth chapter between the two Cities the Citie of God whose foundation is upon the holy hill Psalm the eighty seventh and great Babylon Psalm the hundred thirty seventh and Apocalyps the eighteenth chapter between the two Camps or Tents whereof the Prophet speaks that is the Tabernacles of the Lord God of Hostes and the Tents of the ungodly Psalm the eighty fourth This enmity is within every one of us as Peter speaks Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage warre against the soul the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the eleventh verse We wrestle not with flesh and blood but with spiritual wickednesse Ephesians the sixth chapter therefore he saith The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual and mighty through God to overthrow strong holds the second epistle to the Corinthians the tenth chapter and the fourth verse And the thing that God aimeth at is that there be not only an enmity between these two Cities and Camps but that this enmity be perpetual and send at the least to the killing of sinne and to the vanquishing of Sathan So soon as this Sentence was given there was enmity between Cain the seed of the Serpent who was of the evil one the first epistle of John the third chapter and the twelfth verse and Abel who was spiritually be gotten by the Church of the seed of the world Genesis the fourth chapter Ismael and Isaac the one being born after the flesh the other after the spirit persecuted one another Galatians the fourth chapter He that was of the Serpents seed mocked and derided the seed of the woman Genesis the twenty first chapter and the ninth verse Jacob and Esau being divers seeds the one hated the other and vowed to kill the other Genesis the twenty seventh chapter and the fourty first verse Lastly This enmity was practised between the Church of God Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the Synagogue of Sathan Apocalyps the nineteenth chapter Of these spiritual Combats the Scripture hath many examples and therefore it is called The book of the warres of the Lord Numbers the twenty first chapter and the fourteenth verse The Serpent deserved to have been utterly destroyed and God who calleth things that were not as if they were Romans the fourth chapter and the seventeenth verse was able to have destroyed him at least to have chained him up that he might not trouble his servants as he will at the last day Apocalyps the twentieth chapter and the tenth verse but the Councel of God in suffering him still to practise his malice against us is for our good that we should be still exercised and kept in a warre for as Christ saith What thanks is it Luke the sixth chapter and thirty second verse and what praise is it to obtain eternal life the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the twentieth verse unlesse in this life we doe somthing towards it The Apostle saith No man is crowned except he strive aright the second epistle to Timothy the second chapter and the fifth verse Therefore God hath appointed us an enemy that is the Devil whom we must continually fight with If we resist his allurements by pleasure and his terrors in oppressing us with crosses we shall at the length be crowned with the crown of life and then he will according to his promise tread down Sathan under our foot so that he shall not trouble us any more Romans the sixteenth chapter and the twentieth verse But in the mean time he is opposed against us by the wise Councel of God as an enemy that we should continually strive against him As this is a threatning to the Devil so it is a promise in respect of us and that a promise of grace to be shewed us that are of the seed or the woman without which grace we cannot strive with the Serpent nor once conceive any desire to resist him And therefore if we have any desire to resist the Devil and his temptations it is not of any natural power of our selves but the grace of Gods spirit working in us who saith I will put enmity between thy seed and the woman Whereupon whereas the Apostle saith that by reason of the continual rebellion that is between the flesh and the spirit we cannot doe that we would Galatians the fifth chapter and the seventeenth verse Augustine saith that yet we are bound to thank God that he gives us his spirit to stirre us up to the resisting of the flesh and the corrupt lusts thereof for hereby he perform his promise which he makes in this place And except we had the grace of his spirit it were impossible for us but that we should be at agreement with the flesh and like well of the temptations thereof for naturally we are given to make league with bell and death Isaiah the twenty ninth chapter and the fifteenth verse to be friends with our ãâã and worldly lusts which doe still solicite and perswade us to break Gods Commandement and Law And if by the special grace of God he work in us some dislike of our flesh and the corruption thereof for a time yet this is not perpetual and though it did continue perpetually yet it is not ãâã mortal and to the death for we never labour to kill sinne and to ãâã the old man utterly but all that
and welfare of Church and State to which he was carried by s Scias me ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pacis semper studiosum fuisse Idem in Kesp ad Epist. 1. Petr. Molinaeâ p. 172. nature as well as by designe and that he meant the same Faction or Sect of Preachers to whom his beloved King James was so deservedly severe as being alwaies infested by them will undeniably appear to every intelligent and honest Reader who will t Conser opusc p. 39. 40. ut p. 31. 33. cum p. 165. 166. seq compare that Latin Sermon with his three Epistles to learned Moulin What the admired Bishop Andrews and the judicious Mr. Hooker and many other wise men of the age last past did only feare and foresee we the first of their Posterity have liv'd to feel I mean the lamentable effects which are wont to follow I say not the liberty but the licentiousnesse of the Pulpit What comes too late to be prevented may yet in time be capable of some redresse Be our condition never so ill we cannot hope to make it better by meerly despairing of our Amendment What I have hitherto premised concerning the nature of our Disease is not intended to deject or afflict any Reader but only to make him the more attentive to what is offer'd in this Volume at least as one means of Cure and Restauration Where there are too many Sermons I apprehend there are too few And the more numerous they are who preach up Heresie and Schisme and Disobedience the greater number is needfull to preach them down The more unruly and vain * Tât 1. 10. Talkers especially they of the Circumcision the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã doe â Vers. 11. subvert whole Houses and teach things which they ought not for filthy lucres fake the more need have we of such as hold * Vers. 9. 11. fast the faithfull word and are able by sound Doctrin both to exhort and to convince and to stop the mouths of Gainsayers The greater plenty there is of them * 1 Tim. 4. 1.2 who depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and Doctrins of Devils speaking lyes in Hypocrisie having their Conscience seared with an hot iron The more must They be needs wanted who are â Vers 6.7.13.15.16 good Ministers of Christ nourished up in the words of Faith and good Doctrin refusing prophane and old Wives Fables giving attendance unto Reading and Meditation and continuing in both that they may save themselves and them that hear them By how much the more we doe abound with such as * 2 Tim. 3. 6 7.8 creep into Houses leading captive silly Women ever learning but never learned such as like Jannes and Jambres resist the Truth The greater abundance there ought to be of such as â Vers. 14. 17. continue in the things which they have learned and been assured of knowing of whom they have learned them and are throughly furnished unto all good works The more there are of those * 2 Tim. 4. 3.4 itching and prurient Eares who cannot endure sound Doctrine but heap to themselves Teachers who have as prurient and itching Tongues and turn away their attentions from aged Truth unto newly devised Fables and Conceipts after the Mode By so much the greater is the necessity of such as are knowing and stable men holding â 2 Tim. 1. 13 fast the form of sound words and preaching according to the * Rom. 12 6. Analogie of Faith teaching the People to walk in the â Jer. 6. 16. old and the good way that walking therein they may finde rest unto their Souls In a word The more Interpreters there are who have a Luk. 11. 52 taken away the Key of knowledge neither entring in themselves nor suffering others to enter in by so much the more we stand in need of all those faithfull * 1 Cor. 4. 1.2 and able * 1 Cor. 4. 1.2 Stewards who may b Prov. 2. 12. deliver us from the way of the evil Man from the man that speaketh froward things Now if ever any Bishop since the Apostles own Times was both a faithfull and able Steward rightly using the Key of knowledge religiously opening the Mysteries of God bringing c Mat. 13. 52 forth out of his Treasures things new and old If ever any Pastor took d Act. 20. 28 1 Tim 4. 16. carefull heed unto himself and to his Flock over which the holy-Ghost had made him Overseer e 2 Tim. 4. 5. watching in all things enduring afflictions doing the work of an Evangelist and making full proof of his Ministerie If ever any f 2 Tim. 2. 15 Workman needed not to be ashamed as rightly dividing the word of Truth and venting nothing out of the Pulpit but what is g ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Tim. 5. 17. est Ser monem elaborare Authore nostro Judice in Conc. ad Cl. p. 32 elaborate and exact If ever any Preacher had both Urim and Thummim the former in his words and the later in his example h Tit. 2. 8. unreprovable in his Doctrin and k 1 Tim. 3. 2. Tit. 1. 7. unblamable in his life The most admired Bishop Andrews may passe for one of those l Tit. 2. 7. Patterns in whom these Lines of perfection were all concenter'd And this I say so much the rather because I finde him to have the honour of being hated and * Correp Corr. p. 190. 206. 208. snarl'd at by a late profane and sawcy Scribler who as if he were willing to kill the dead and pluck a glorified Saint out of the Land of the m Psal. 27. 13 Living hath not only attempted to sullie the Name and the Writings of this Great Author but hath publickly malign'd his very imparadised Soul too He hath not only defam'd his Doctrin as Atheological irrational and worse than that of Arminius which in the judgement of the Accuser is no small crime nor hath he only reproach't him by a most odious comparison with one exceedingly below him whom yet he presumeth to prefer as far before him for sooth in sanctity but by an unchristian insinuation would make his Reader to believe That Bishop Andrews was the worse for being Bishop Andrews that Dr. Andrews was more a Saint than the Lord Bishop of Winchester and by consequence that his last dayes were very unhappily his worst too But since the Author of such profanenesse is very sufficiently stigmatiz'd by avowing himself in print the Author of it I shall not in a preface say more than this That the great n 1 Pet. 2. 25 Bishop of our Souls was far worse dealt with and in the later part of his life was called a Wine-bibber a Glutton a p Mat. 26. 65 Mar. 2. 7. Blasphemer a Demoniack How consummate a Divine how exact a Preacher how acute a Disputant how judicious a
as molten glasse Job 37. 18. and they shall dissolve and melt again in the last day 2 Pet. 3. 10 11 12. so that in this depth of water is conteined the matter whereof the high heavens were made St. Austine calleth it inordinatum mensitatem aquarum that is a disordered for they had no limit or bound nor any order or course in them they were without any shore Psal. 104. 6 9. for they were above the mountains and prevailed over all untill God did limit them and set them their bounds Pro. 8. 27. which they should not passe to cover the earth yea and also God limitted the upper waters and bounded them in Clouds Job 26. 8. so that the Clouds break not he also made doors and barrs for the Sea below Job 38. 10 11. and said thus farre you shall come and no further Touching their first disorderly motion it is set down Psal 93. 3 4. the flood did rage horribly and they did lift up their waves but now God hath set them a most orderly and profitable and necessary course eundo redeundo Psal. 104. 10. of ebbing and flowing by course and recourse of times and tides These deeps had a face nay as the word signifieth it had two faces in which the Philosophers doe easily consent and agree with him for all know that this globe hath a double hemisphere yea one half sphere is the upper face of the earth and the other is the nether face of the earth now he telleth us that then the darknesse was over both faces of the earth and waters and not as it is now for when it is dark night with us it is bright day with the Antipodes which are as the nether face of the earth but then it convered all with obscure darknesse 3. Thirdly As for darknesse we are not to conceive any otherwise of it then to be only a privation defect and absence of light which then wanted for as one faith tenebrae erant id ãâã non erat lux So that by the negative he sheweth that there was a privation of light not that this privation followed the habite as if there had been light but that the darknesse was first over all before there was any light made 45 Esay 7. it was said that God created darknesse but that was by denying unto things light for herein appeared Gods power in that as he made something of nothing so God brought ãâã out of darknesse 1 Cor. 4 5. Psal. 18. 11. God came down and darknesse was under his feet he made it his pavillion round about him to cover the brightnesse of his person Psal. 36. 6. God and his works are as tenebrae Abyssus like the great gulph therefore we must not curiously prye and question about him and his matters As God made the darknesse for some use and purpose for himself to be his pavillion Psal. 18. 11. so in respect of us he made them to speciall use Psal. 104. 23. he made darknesse that it may be night which is a time for all things to take their rest in so that as the day was made for labour so this for rest because quod caret alterna requiae durabile non est And God hath made it for a third use to the rebellious Spirits and Divels and to wicked men namely to reserve them in utter darknesse unto the great day Jude 4 5 6. So God made it to be a pavillion for himself a couch for us and a torment to the wicked Tum dixit Deus esto lux Gen. 1. 3 verse MOses having before described the primative State of the world how God made it of nothing and then endowed it with an aptnesse to receive a better form he doth in this verse unto the 11. proceed to a three fold work of distinction separating and sequestring orderly one part from the other to avoid confusion The first was of the light from darknesse which was the first dayes work The second of the celestiall and superior parts of the heavens from the inferior bodies below Thirdly the earth and dry land from the waters and having performed this inward perfection as it is called Chap. 2 verse 1. he proceedeth afterward to the outward adorning of them three and so finisheth the work This verse hath in it the first work of distinction for whereas before it was a blinde lump wrapped up in Clouds of waters as in his Clouds and swadled with darknesse as with a ãâã as Job faith now God took off from it his swadling ãâã and clothed it with his own garments Psal. 104. 2. that is endowed it with light Fiat lux er at lux In shewing thereof we are to consider two things First the precept and mandate of God Fiat lux Secondly the execution thereof for the performance Et er at lux In the first two things are to be observed First the authority from whence the mandate came Dixit Deus Secondly the tenor and contents of the precept Fiat lux First touching the authority of the precept we see it was God that said it dicere autem faith ãâã eft verbum proferre whereout we gather two observations 1. The mouth of the Lord from whence this spirit before and this word came 2. Of this word from whence this work came Touching the first it were absurde to say that God should speak after the manner of men with an audible sound of words for it were in vain and to no end to speak when there were none to hear therefore this is that which we must conceive of it that when God speaketh to us in his word he doth it as it were in our dialect that is so as we may understand what he meaneth for if he should speak properly of himself we are not able to comprehend the manner of his works therefore as the Holy Ghost taketh a name and title from a Dove so doth God ãâã borrow his manner of doing from a Prince which is the greatest thing we can conceive for what is in our conceit more forceable to the speedy execution and through dispatch of a thing then a Princes streight commandement and mandate which on a sodain can cause whole Armies of men to be ready at his pleasure Men doe unfold and manifest their walls and counsells in all matters by word of their mouthes Sicut voluntas sermo ejus it a natura opus ejus faith one his word is his will and all the frame of nature is his work proceeding therefrom Wherefore in that it is said God spake it is meant that he plainly revealed and meant to declare his will This uttering and revealing the will is after two sorts which the two Hebrew words doe signifie First when a man by a secret discourse doth reason or speak in his heart which doth reason off the audible sound of words Preach 2. 3. I in my heart purposed with my self so the fool spake in his heart that he durst not utter by
good we must not call light darkness nor good evill Esay 5. 16. Secondly In regard of the light of grace we see as Job saith that there are some which are Lucifugae which fly and hate the light such Creatures are unclean Levit. 11. 19. 30. as Batts and Owles among birds Moules and Rats among Beasts they are odious to all men so among places Dungeons and darksome Roomes are odious also And as this is so in things natural so in things spiritual lucifugae actiones are of the like evill nature and odious to God and good men because both such men and their doings have an opposition to light and the author of light They come from darkness of the minde that is ignorance and unbelief and they are begotten by the Prince of darkness the Divell Ephes. 6. 12. and in the end they goe to utter darkness and therefore they are called the works of darkness Rom. 13. 12. And so no marveil though they love darkness and hate light if any cannot abide the light of Gods word to be reproved by it as Herctiques and Hypocrites such dig deep pits to hide their Counsells Esay 29 15. because they see the light is to them evill and as the shadow of death Job 24. 17. The emptiness of good things and the bottomlesnesse of ill things and the deformity of both proceedeth and commeth from darknesse and was inclosed in it as we have seen in it And so spiritually is all found in the ignorance of the truth Ephes. 4. 18 19. either the blindness of mens mindes which is natural or else that which is wilfull when men doe wittingly winke and will not see the light Wherefore we see God made light first before any other good And so our selves must receive spiritual light of knowledge before he will give us any better grace The third sort of men are catchers and fault finders with Gods Creatures such which think to know how Gods works which now are good might have been farre better as if God might have done well to have craved their counsell and help but Gods works both in particular and general are so good and perfect that they could not be mended Wherefore if the light seem ill for us we must confesse and acknowledge that the fault is not in Gods work but in the illnesse and infirmity of our eyes and understanding If the Word seem evil to us know that it seemeth so to us because we and our works are evil and therefore cannot abide the light John 3. 20. Wherefore to conclude that which God hath called and sealed up to be good let no man presume to call and count to be evill Act. 10. 15. For a work belongeth to such which call that is good evill and evill things good and darknesse light Esay 5. 20. But if we love the light of nature and praise God for it Psalm 148. 5 6. And if we love the spirituall light of grace in his word and glorifie and praise God for it 1 Pet. 2. 9. that hath called us out of darknesse into his marveilous light then God will at last reward us with his light of glory and bring us to that inaccessible light wherein he dwelleth which is the father of lights unto which no man can attain unlesse Christ the light of the World bring him and therefore let us pray that the father for his sonnes sake will make a way for us by his spirit of light to which three persons in unity be all praise and glory for ever Amen Et distinctionem fecit Deus inter hanc lucem tenebras Gen 1. 4. verse THere was in the first verse nothing before God made something of nothing after which at the first we saw it to be a ãâã dark heap without any good form or ability to receive any better But after followed the impregnation and indowment which God gave by which the things first created had a faculty and power given to receive this form which now they have Fourthly ensued the essence and being of all creatures they were prepared by the Spirit and perfected by the word of God where we considered first the essence and being of light and then the nature of it And lastly of all the goodnesse of the light both in regard of the presence of God who in his counsell thought it to be good and also after the creation by his approbation allowed the use and continuance of it unto us Now followeth the distinction and dividing which giveth yet a degree of perfection to the former light more than it had before for at the first he gave light such a being which should prodire in actum and not every being but a speciall good being which is a degree further of order and distinction against disorder and confusion to be in all respects laudible and that not every good being but that which is more an ordered and distinguished and comely good being which work of all other is the perfection of Creation as we shall see in the rest for things though they be never so good in them selves as St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 14. 7. of another thing in the like case yet they cannot be discerned of men to be so neither are they meet for any good use of men unlesse they have a certain distinction and order Order Therefore order is as some say very goodnesse of goodnesse it self for there are many good things which doe cease from being good to us yea become hurtfull being without the rank order and degree either of their set and distinct place or time As fire though it be good in the Chimney yet it is not good nay it is very evill in the top of the house Fire is very good in the Winter to warm us but in the Summer it is not so good but shunned of men So the light not being tempered and proportioned orderly but being any degree too-bright it hurteth and blindeth our eyes that we cannot see Act. 22.6 11. Excellens objectum corrumpit sensum So the fire being in any degree too fierce and too hot in the Chimney and Winter that is not moderated and ordered in a good degree it doth us no good Wherefore we see that a set and a distinct order must be observed in good things both touching the place time and degree And that the contrarie inordination deordination or want of order in these things which is called Babell hereafter that is a confusion maketh things to cease from being good to us which in their own nature are very good It was necessary therefore that God should proceed to this work of distinction as he in wisdome doth This then is as if Moses had said the light was good for else extingueret non distingueret Deus si non esset bonum he would not else have distinguished it but dashed it in peeces and destroyed it again Therefore because it was good he separated it and set it apart from darknesse by it self
Host and Army of the nether Heavens and the Starres are the Hostes of God which inhabite and are in Garrison in the second Heavens and the Hosts of Heavenly Souldiers Saints and Angells are the Armies of the third Heavens Luke 2. 13. which Heaven is called solum gloriae for Heaven is his throne it is called the habitation of Gods holinesse Esay 63. 15. And God is described by this place Matth. 5. 34. Deus qui sedet in Coelum Psal. 121. 2. so his place is in the third and highest Heavens and from thence cometh the true winde and spirit John 3. 8. and the true rain and dew and water of Grace and life John 4 14. and from thence discended the true bread of life John 6. 32. and the oyle of joy and all good things spirituall whatsoever and from thence we are to look for them Thus we may consider of Heaven though we might here rather know and learn the way thither then curiously to search what it is which we cannot finde nor comprehend 1 Cor. 2. 7. I come to the two other Heavens because this place teacheth and warranteth us only but of these two Touching the second Heaven this we finde that it is a glorious body Exod. 24. 10. though it consisteth of and by the waters as St. Peter saith 2 Pet. 3. 5. as in the water we see no diversity or variety yet in the bodie of the Heavens there is great variety for it is as it is in natural things In a kernel we can perceive no variety but yet it bringeth a tree forth which hath great variety as a body of wood bark leaves blossoms and fruit and by this incarnation we have participation of those graces Heb. 10. 20. and he calleth all to him to buy these waters John 7. 38. 39. and by his spirit he will power them into our souls Rom. 5. 5. Water of Meditation and of these waters the Patriarchs and we tasted 1 Cor. 10. 3. and by these waters of Grace we have passage and navigation from Earth to Heaven Act. 2. 17. 18. by our waters we can passe from one Country to another Waters of Grace These waters of Grace are contained in the clouds of the Law the preaching thereof doth drop gratious words as the dew Deut. 32. 2. and therefore the wiseman saith that the lipps of instruction are a well-spring of life so the preaching and ministery of Gods word is the clouds and bottels which hold this water Therefore Acts 14. 3. and Acts 20. 32. Gods word is called verbum gratiae which doth contain heavenly grace as the clouds doe water which by the inluence of Gods spirit is made aqua vitae vivificans John 6. 35. for the word is as seed but the spirit giveth life and so that is made effectuall in us and we made fruitfull unto God and as a sweet ground whom God hath blessed Gen. 26. 12. Now as God in the name of Heaven holdeth up the finger as it were and saith here is waters to be had and looked for so the same word of God which made the Heavens must give these waters from thence and therefore they which want wisdome and knowledge let them ask and seek them of God Jam. 1. 5. 17. The bucket by which we must draw this water is a true faith Esay 12. 2 3. Prov. 12 17. 19. and then our souls became like a well watred garden Jer. 31. 12. This water it yeeldeth for meditation There is also profitable matter to learn for ãâã For as we see God doth here we must expresse the like in our actions that we may be like unto God First When we have received our light of knowledge we are taught by the order of Creation that the next course in regeneration is to extenuate our earthly affections and to sublime and elevate and to lift up our mindes to Heaven Phil. 3. 20. So St. Paul willeth us Col. 3. 2. this is the laying up of treasures in Heaven Matth. 6. 20. we must think on Jerusalem which is above if we will be free Citizens in it Gal 4. 26. Secondly for the division As there is a Heaven and Earth the two parts of the world so is there in man two parts correspondent the earthly Adam made of the dust and the spirit and soul which God gave ãâã 12. 7. which is called the Heavenly Adam 1 Cor. 15. 47. 48. God will first say let be a separation our souls must be separated from earth earthly and carnall things as we said before and ascend And as all earthly things which make for the flesh are brought into a narrow compasse of the Earth which is but a prick in a circle whereas God hath reserved the large spatious roome of the Heavens for our souls so must we bring our carking cares of this life into a narrow room of our hearts and let the whole compasse of our souls and thoughts be filled with the study and care of the Kingdome of God Thirdly As the part of waters which ascended became a Firmament and are most sure and immutable unto the end of the World so must our souls having begun in the spirit ascend to Heaven be constant firm and immutable to the end of our lives and never end in the flesh Gal. 3. 3. nor fall to the Earth as those starres did Rev. 6. 13. for it it is the part of a foolish and wicked man that is mutable and wavering Prov. we must not be Rubenites Gen. 49. weak and inconstant as water for a just mans heart is firm and shall not shrink nor be moved but ãâã his ãâã in God Psal. And this is the part of Martyrs for though they are by nature weak and fearfull and as waters yet by Gods grace are made as the Firmament more sure against all Gods enimies than a wall of brasse Matter of thankfullnesse The last use is for matter of thankfullnesse and gratefullnesse with which we will close up all For we see that when the Earth sendeth up but a thin and a small myst the Clouds requite it by powring down showers So Cursus Dei gratiae dependet in recursu nostrarum gratiarum actionis for as the Clouds will send no more rain if the Earth will send up no vapours nor breathe up any mists so only Gods Graces will discend into our Souls when our gratefullnesse doth from thence ascend up to God for then they cease distilling down on us when we leave off to be thankfull Wherefore let us be thankfull for Coelo aëreo for without the benefit and purenesse of it we cannot breathe and live Psal. 65. and let us be thankfull pro Coelo aethereo for the comfortable and sweet influence of the starres because the Earth hath no power to bring fruit without the virtue of the Heavens And lastly Let us ãâã thankfull pro Coelo Coelorum or Coelo Coelesti that is for the third Heavens for as we must praise God for
tend to honour and excellency this work of ours sheweth our own basenesse that we are but fimus and limus the creeping worm called in Hebrew Adama hath alliance with Adam which man who is but a worm as saith Job he confesseth himself to be vile Job 39. 37. In the 22. Jeremy 29. the prophet exclameth saying O Terra Terra Terra Adam or Man is not every kinde of Earth he is not sandy but of a serviceable and profitable gleeb for he is for Gods especial use and made to his own likenesse In Gods temple there was no tymber but of fruitfull trees aliquid Deus creavit exnihilo hîc ex infimo maximum at homo malus otiosus ex aliquo facit nihil Though David were an holy man yet did he see corruption Acts 13. 36. For man is of the Earth earthly and born mortal subject to corruption Galen the Heathen saith that the Anatomy of a man is Hymnus Dei He saith to the Epicure take an hundred year to work but one part of a man and thou canst not mend it for in man God hath been so absolutely a work-man that nothing in him may be mended Miranda fecit pro homine sedmagis miranda in homine I will praise thee O Lord saith David Psal. 139. 14. for I am wondrously made 3. The form of Man Thirdly The form of man in our Image juxta similitudinem nostram though man be de terra in terra yet he is not propter terram God created his former Creatures secundum speciem suam according to their kinde God createth man secundum similitudinem suam Man is Microcosmos so say the Heathen but divinity saith he is Imago Dei in omnibus Creaturis vestigia sunt Dei sed in homine non solùm sua vestigia sed imago sua Est enim non solum opus sed imago Dei Miscen upon this place saith upon Imago Dei that in una hac voce innumer as habemus voces Who fo sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed the reason is this for in the image of God hath he made man Gen. 9. 6. So there is no exchange of mens souls in imagine sua we are created without blemish Now when Adam was an hundred and thirty yeers old he begat a childe in his own likenesse after his image chap. 5. 3. that was blemished by his sinne Our perfection in the image of God is esse constmiles filio Dei for we are predestinate to he made like the image of his Sonne that he might be the first born of many Brethren Rom. 8. 29. We are changed into the same Image from glory to glory 2 Cor. 3. 18. Perfect felicity is the Image of God virtue is the way to this felicity sinne deformeth this Image in us Here is Imago similitudo Similitudo Similitudo is the genus and comprehends both similitudo is as a union in quality here it is added as a perfection to the Image the lineaments hereof by the Fathers are said to be first The essence of the soul is in the body in omni unaquaque parte as God is in the world â Secondly the soul is immortal God is so Thirdly there is a triple power of the soul Understanding Memory and Free-will Understanding is every where in Heaven in Earth in the deep on this side and beyond the Seas there is an ubiquitie of the soul as of Gods presence every where Memory the infinitenesse thereof is as that of God who is without limitation quae est haec immensa hominum capacitas saith a Father the will and conscience cannot be bound but it is free to think so God what him pleaseth that can he doe God by his power createth man and make h a natural World And Man likewise maketh artificialem mundum as ships for carriage temples for service lights and candles as artificial starres creavit etiam homo alteram quasi naturam Imago Dei nata creata There is a primitive Image which is Imago nata that is of Christ the Sonne of God Imago autem creata Dei is of man Christ is the Image of the invisible God the first born of every Creature Coloss. 1. 15. Zeleb in the original tongue is nata Imago quae est Christi Tohar creata Imago quae est Adami In the Redemption Christ made himself as our Image Man planted may fall so did Adam but being replanted by Christ he cannot fall The first man Adam was made a living soul the last man Adam was made a quickning spirit 2 Cor. 15. 45. ad similitudinem nostram Imago Dei est omnium hominum similitudo autem est paucorum the one is the bare face the other is the robe royal the one we have by essence the other by virtue the one by nature the other by grace We ought to put off the old man with his works and put on the new man which his renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that created him Colloss 3. 10. and love is the bond of perfectnesse so that knowledge is recommended in the Image and love in the likenesse which two are as the Urim and Thummim of the Law Our soul is as a glasse to behold his virtues and humble precepts Luke 6. 27. In his similitude to be as he is as farre as we may Hence have we a thankfull remembrance that he will crown us with glory everlasting if we finne not against nature and draw on instead of his similitude larvam Demonis the visor of the Devil but put on the new man which after God is created unto righteousnesse and ãâ¦ã and give not place unto the Devil Ephes. 4. 24. We have in us Earth in regard of the body and Heaven in regard of the soul in the one is time in the other eternity Christ calleth the Gospel The Gospel of every Creature Mark 16. 15. Ambrose saith posuit Deus in homine Terram Coelum non ut Terra mergat Coelum sed ut Coelum elevet Terram totum hoc est ãâã se assimulare Deo Let thy inward thoughts and outward conversation be good and agreeable for this is the end of all Fear God and keep his commandements this is the whole duty of a man for God will bring every work with every secret thing unto Judgment whether it be good or evil Ecclesiastes 12. 13. 4. The end of mans creation to rule other creatures After God hath crowned man with knowledge and love in the latter part of this verse he giveth him a Scepter and maketh him Vicegerent over the Sea the Aire the Earth over all the fishes fowls beasts and creeping things therein bidding him to rule over them He brought before man the beasts and fowls he had created to whom Adam gave their names Gen. 2. 19. The Image is of perfection the Similitude is in wisdome in knowledge in the Sonne in love in the Holy Ghost
shall you rule Even as it is in the text Over the fishes of the Sea by the Angle Christ bids Peter cast in his angle and take the fish Matth. 17. 27. Or by the net Christ also bid Peter let down his net to make a draught Luke 5. 4. Angling and fishing are to man both for profit and for pleasure And over the fowl of Heaven By Fowling by Hawking by power or by policie either killing them with arrows or taking them in pits or by snares as in Prov. 7. 23. the 20. Joshua 13. God for the Ravens and for the young birds prepareth their meat Job 39. 3. So that the fowls and birds are to man for service for solace and their notes of musick And over every beast This is indeed a large Charta de foresta We are permitted and authorized hereby to hunt the wild beasts of the forest and being hunted to eate the flesh thereof Levit. 17. 13. Thou mayest eat flesh even what soever thy heart desireth Even as the Roe buck and the Hart is eaten so shalt thou eat it Deut. 12. 22 23. There they were permitted the eating of all kinde of flesh they might before eat the flesh of that they had hunted as of the Roe-buck and of the Hart. It was caro justitiae which they got by hunting it was dainty meat unto the Hunter for unto the hungry soul every thing is sweet Prov. 27. 7. The Hunter had his snares Psal. 91. 3. The Hound hunteth the Deer both are serviceable unto man there is pleasure in the hunting and chasing the game is for meat when it is pulled down We have rule over Horses and Doggs who serve us though not to feed us The Dogge defendeth our flocks from the Wolfe our houses from theeves our bodies from injurie the swiftnesse of the Horse helpeth our slownesse the Elephant in battel helpeth our weaknesse the Sheep help our nakednesse cloathing us with their wooll the Oxe plougheth the ground to give us bread and eateth grasse to be our food he giveth his hide to shoe us and every thing that moveth in the Earth is for man We finde great goodnesse many wayes in the Bee and in the Silk-worm God saw man feeleth the goodnesse of those things God hath created So that subjicite terram is the tenor of all Law a giving possession of inheritance and dominamini is a rule and dominion given to man over the utensils the riches of the Sea Land and Aire A spiritual Analogie There is here also observed by the Fathers a spiritual Analogie in dominamini In man there is a spirit and a soul in him there is also Earth the cares of the body ought to be lesse than those of the soul est enim anima in homine coelum corpus autem coenum saith Basil non sit coenum coelo superius sed sit coelum coeno superius Let the soul have dominion over the body and the concupiscence thereof the body is earthly given to lust anger envie pride Here they admonish us to subdue these beastly affections and to tame the savagenesse of our corrupt nature The whole nature of beasts and of birds and of creeping things and things of the Sea is tamed and hath been tamed of the nature of man but the tongue can no man tame it is an unruly evill full of deadly poyson this place doe they allege out of the 3. James 8. And as James saith that the tongue should be tamed from evil speaking malicious slandering back-byilng lying and dissembling so say they and that very well that all the brutish affections ought to be tamed and subdued that so the soul might reign in the body and the body be subject to the soul. Praeterea dixit Deus Ecce dedi vobis omnes Herbas sementantes semen quae sunt in superficie totius Terrae omnesque Arbores in quibus est Fructus arboreus sementantes semen vestrae ad comedendum erunt c. Gen. 1. 29,30,31 Februar 11. 1590. THIS is Gods third speech of this sixth day concerning man The first in the 26. verse is of his power in creating him The second dixit in the 28. verse is of his providence in preserving mankinde This third speech is Gods further care for the nourishment of them whom he hath created and by propagation preserved In the 30. verse God sheweth his love to man having before given unto man the beasts of the field yet he giveth to his beasts their meat The last verse is the closing up of the sixth day Mans meat The Argument of the 29 verse is for provision for mans meat An Objection Here ariseth a question made by some Man in the estate of his innocency was immortall what need had man then of any meat The Answer True it is that Adam was created immortal yet having a possibility to be immortal Thereupon the School-men say there is a double immortality posse non mori fuit Adami mori non posse est Dei for Christ only who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords hath this immortality 1 Tim. 6. 16. which is bestowed upon us by way of reward through Christ our Saviour whereby our nature is ingrasted in the divine nature of the second immortality for the first man Adam was made a living soul and the last Adam was made a quickning spirit that is bringing us from Heaven the spirit of life the first was of the Earth earthly the second of the Heaven heavenly 1 Cor. 15. 45. Adam was created with a possibility of immortality the part immortal of mans creation was from God but through mans disobedience and ambition when he did eat of the forbidden fruit of good and evill God shut him out of the garden of Eden lest he should take also of the tree of life and eat and live for ever chap. 3. 22. whereby Adam was deprived of life for it was said in the 2. chap. 17. When in that day he did eat of the forbidden fruit he should dye the death So that by mans disobedience man became mortal who before in the state of his innocencie had a possibility of immortality for then he had the Image of God perfectly but by sinne came death per peccatum mors and so by mans transgression Gods Image was defaced for by one man sinne entred into the World and death by sinne and so death went over all men by this Adams sinne even Babes were subject to death though they had no actuall sinne Rom. 3. 12. And life came to Mankinde through one that is Christ Jesus As by the offence of one the fault came on all men to condemnation so by the justifying of one the grace abounded to all men to the justification of life the 18. of the foresaid chapter For by him this mortall must put on immortality this corruptible incorruption for Christ swallowed up death in victorie saying Death where is thy sting Hell where is thy victorie 1 Cor.
himself potes hoc agere sed hoc non est opus tuum that is thou mayst doe this but this is not the thing that thou chiefly commest into the world to doe for that is to be obedient to the good pleasure of almighty God and to doe his will Wherefore we must not stay alwaies in Havilah making that our journeys end for if we doe we shall never come to Paradise But we must passe through Havilah speedily and make haste to Paradise and there make our aboade and bestow our selves principally in the contemplation of his works and the doing of his will And thus much for the use of Divinity Nomen verò fluvii secundi est Gichon hic est qui alluit totam Regionem Cuschi Et nomen tertii fluvii Chiddekel hic est qui labitur ad Orientem Assyriam versus Fluvius autem quartus est Euphrates Gen. 2. 13.14 June 12. 1591. THese verses are the parting of the plot of Paradise and the perfecting of the parting of these Rivers as yet remaineth St. Augustine saith well that matters of spiritual instruction in the Scriptures are as the crop of Wheat or Herbs of the field to be gathered and the Histories of the Bible are as the plat in which it is sowed or as the pasture in which they grow The Chronologie Cronographie and Topographie setting down the places times and persons are as the lanes waies and bridges by which we passe and repasse to and fro one to another and there can be no orderly passage or conveyance without these To dwell altogether in these things is as if a man should consume his time bestow his studie and spend his labour wholly in mending of high wayes and bridges and to let alone the care and labour which is more needfull in husbanding the arrable land and pasture ground And whereas in prophane Stories many doe spend whole leaves and long volumes in these circumstances we may see the holy Spirit useth very briefly in a few lines to knit up all such things as are necessarie to that purpose Here in these two verses he ãâã us of the three other Rivers whereof the two first are as the former described both by name and also by the Coast which they doc passe by 2 River Touching the first we read that this River which is here called Gihon is called of the Heathen Writers Araxes Naharses and Narsines yet they found that the primitive name was Gihon This River was called fluvius Eunuchius for as Kings delighted and took pleasure in Eunuches so all took great pleasure and delight in this River for the water thereof was very clear and therefore delightfull to the eye Epiphanius faith that it was sweet to drink and ãâã of and last of all by reason that it grew into so many Rivers it became also shallow and therefore running swift and shallow made by that means a murmurring noise and rushing and therefore was called fluvius abruptus ãâã and so was pleasant to the eare the nature of which River was once a year about harvest time to break out and overflow whereby it refreshed the Countrie languishing with heat Sirah 24. 32. Touching the Coast It compasseth the Land of Havilah where by compassing is meant that it marched or ran through the Countrie for so the ãâã are said to compasse the Wildernesse Joshuah 15. 1. and the Scribes Matth. 23. 15. to compasse Sea and Land that is to passe or travell through or by it 3 River The third river Hiddekell As the former two names were significant so are these though the first name of these remained among the Hebrews yet the Heathen Writers call it Tygris and indeed the River hath both these names given for one reason Hiddekell in Hebrew signifieth an arrow and a Tygre is the swiftest of Beasts so that of the strong forcible and swift motion of it it hath the name This River hath a head of it self and passeth along by the old Cities Ninivie and others Gen. 10. 11. and it joyneth it self to the River Pishon neer the famous citie Tesipho and so runne into one stream together into the gulf of Persia. For the Coast of it He saith it runneth Eastward for on that side is the Land of Assyria which was called the Land of Nodd before the flood Gen. 4. 16. And after that Assur Chams sonne came thither it was called Assyria Gen. 10. 22. 4 River The fourth River is called Euphrates only he speaketh of the name of this and leaveth out the bounds and coasts of it the reason of this is because that River runneth through the mid'st of Paradise and so it could not coast and also because it was so well known that it needed not any other description Gen. 15. 18. it was a bound to the Holy-Land for God promised that they should possesse so farre which was performed and effected in Salomons dayes 1 King 4. 21. This River entreth into Babilon which was builded over this River and passeth by Massasha and this River is spoken of last as the greatest and therefore by an excellencie is called the great River the fignification of it plentifull a fruitfull or plentifull River Solinus saith that when this River doth overflow the Land the slyme of it passeth all the dunging and earing which Husband-men can use and because it is too rank with it they are fain to use the water of Tygris to wash that slyme away and so to make it lesse fruitfull Paradise they say had his name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the well watering of it and of the pleasure joy and ãâã that came to it thereby Jeremy 51. 63. Rev. 16. 12. Notwithstanding all these commodities and pleasures of these Rivers when men abused the places to sinne and abhomination God threatned his wrath and vengeance on these Nations and Lands and as before he extended his benefits of his free mercy so then he powred out his wrath in just Judgements And this may suffice for the Rivers because we may not stand more than needs in mending high-wayes and bridges Concerning these four Rivers we have said of the ground of Paradise that it brought fourth all fruits which could be desired of any ground So say we of the waters which God had so ordered that nothing was to be desired of waters but that the pleasure and delight thereof might be found in one of these Rivers If we compare them together in some of them was deepnesse in others shallownesse in some swiftnesse in some slownesse some pleasurable others navigable the one of them far and fruitfull the other lean and yet profitable Salomon saith Preach 4. 12. If a man be bound with a threefold cord it cannot easily be broken wherefore seeing God hath bound us with fourfold benefits yea with many fold blessings what a sinne it is to break asunder those bands by transgression and unthankfullnesse Paradise it self thus is inclosed with four goodly Rivers and hath
estate for it is a great point of wisedome so to distinguish the natures of Gods Creatures as to give them fit and proper names expressing their natures he knew as it appeareth not only rerum Idola but also was able to give verborum idiomata that is such a propriety of words and names to each severall thing whereby their divers natures and qualities might be discerned The man therefore gave names to all the Cattell c. The reason of the Mandate or Writ as we have heard was partly to honour man as Gods Lievtenant on earth and as Lord of all his Creatures and partly to express the great and singular wisedome and knowledge which God then had induced him withall The Content of which was to call a generall muster and assembly of all his Creatures before Adam that a survey might be made to see whether any meet help for man might be found to avoyd solitariness because it was not good for him to be alone and it was Gods purpose at this solemne meeting and Parliament to invest man into his dominion and to declare him to be their Lord by giving them names Now in this verse is first contained the execution of the Writ shewing all was so and then in the latter end of the verse is set down the retorn of the Writ in these words he found not a meet help for him As the Commandement had 2. parts namely the considering their natures and giving them names so hath all wise men distinguished by all the ancient Hebrews calling some men of profound judgement and deepe knowledge and others men of eloquence and excellent judgement and utterance Both which gifts of God hardly are found together in any one man ãâã are given ro divers diversly as it pleaseth the Giver But to Adam at the first both were given in a full and perfect measure and both of them are here gounded upon Gods allowance as being lawfull and good and also upon Gods Commandement as a thing most agreeable to the nature of man namely to spend his time in study for the increase of knowledge and in declaration of his knowledge to others by wise sentences and words for to this end God made man animal rationis orationis particeps with which no other earthly creature is endowed therefore the ancient Fathers have noted in Adam's two estates the one to be pater viventium the other to bee pater scientium that is The Father and teacher of all knowledge for as Tubal is said to be the father and author of Musick Gen. 4. 21. so may Adam be said to bee pater Theologiae Philosophiae Gramaticae Rhetoricae c. hee was the first that practised Contemplation and the first that practised Eloquution by that excellent light of nature which God had given him and the first as here wee see that gave proper sit and significant names and words to expresse the natures of things and hee was not only the father of all the liberal Sciences but also of all mechanical Arts Gen. 3. 19. pater agriculturae c. by all which wee briefly see the perfection of his minde and the excellency of his gifts with which hee was endowed So that Adam then must needes bee granted to bee the first and the chiefest Author of all Knowledge and Learning that ever since in all ages of the world hath beene among men for from him it was derived and spread abroad among his posterity into all parts of the world for Adam's knowledge both of Divinity and all other natural things was derived to the house of Sheth and from him to Noah and so conveyed to the house of Sem and after remained amongst the sonnes of Heber Gen. 10. 21. and from thence was kept and continued in Abraham's family which were called the Children of the East Gen. 52. 6. from which East parts of the world this Knowledge and Learning which was first in Adam was spread abroad among the learned men of Egypt Acts 7. 22. In which learning of the AEgyptians Moses was trayned up and therefore was prepared not only by the instrument of God's spirit but also by the known received truth of the knowledge of these points in all the world to set down unto us these things of our fore-Fathers in the beginning of the world and it may appeare by this that Adam was worthy to be counted the Father of all knowledge and learning because herein is seen the perfection thereof in him for to name all good creatures so infinite in number and so divers in kinde and that to give to every one of them a distinct name and yet so fit and proper to them according to their natures as that God would not change nor ãâã them but say so shall they be called this argueth in him an absolute perfection of knowledge which hath not since been had As he was the Father of knowledge within so was he of utterance and expressing it by words because we say that he was the first Linguist that was in the world and indeed intelligence and utterance have very neer affinity and friendship as the Latine words shew for Ratio and Oratio doe sound alike and in Greek the word doth signifie not only the act of contemplation for knowledge but also the act of utterance for speech and conference by which it is made known for the one is verbum ãâ¦ã the other verbum ore ãâã and is agreed upon by all learned men that the Hebrew tongue is the originall tongue and most ancient by which Adam expressed his minde Hebrew the the ancient language and therefore it is called of many the holy ãâã for this tongue went from Adam to Noah from Noah to ãâã and from thence ãâã is manifested that it continued as the general tongue and language in all the whole world untill the confusion of ãâã Eusebius ãâ¦ã doth prove this most plainly and ãâã that the ãâã tongue was the first and most ancient from the beginding and that which Adam here used in ãâã names to all the Greatures for he of purpose here confuteth the ãâã which doe affirm that all knowledge language and learning are derived from Chaldea which he first disproveth by the letters of the Alphabet And that the Greek tongue was derived from the ãâ¦ã proveth because ãâã and ãâã which Greek words signifie their men of learning and knowledge are words plainly derived from the ãâã from ãâã they doe borrow their ãâã and original As therefore ãâã knowledge and wisdome being ãâã is most perfect and absolute so is this tongue and language of ãâã which Adam ãâ¦ã rich and sufficient of it ãâã For whereas all other tongues even the Greek doe shew their beggerlinesse and argue and she ãâã imperfection in this that they borrow words and ãâã from their senior tongues and because they are sain to make ãâ¦ã pounds to expresse their minds but this Hebrew and holy ãâã on the other side borrow ãâã not of any tongue
man Thus much for the framing of our Judgments Now of the practise which we will divide into the precedents before Marriage the duties in Marriage and the dissolution of Marriage Before our marriage must be deliberation First touching the precedents we are not to enter into it unadvisedly but with deliberation and to seek with Adam for a meet help which if we cannot finde then to commit our selves to God which we may gather out of Gods speeches who said faciamus and not siat And again Adam slept while she was framed by God Generall deliberation This deliberation is generall whether it be good to marry at all or else it is speciall whether it be good to marry such or such a person For the first God seeth it is not good for man to be alone Good is not taken there as I told you heretofore for opposite to evill but to inconvenient and the good of convenience is gathered by the circumstance against both the extremes the one is the forbidding to marry 1 Tim. 4. 3. The other extreme is for that they saw the daughters of men to be fair they took Wives according to their own lust and liking chap. 6. 2. The one of the circumstances is grounded upon the person the other upon the time for as it is in the Preacher 3. 5. there is a time to embraee and a time to be farre off from embracing I suppose saith Paul 1. Cor. 7. 26. it is good to be single for the present necessitie in time of affliction Yet in Malachi 2. 14. the Prophet calleth the wife uxor faederis the wife of thy covenant from whom at no time thou must goe to cleave to another but as thou must continue in obedience to God during thy life Psalm 146. 2. so thou must cleave to thy wife so long as you both shall live It is not trouble that must break the bond of marriage It is not age nor sickness must part them Rebekah when Isaac was old provided meat for him such as he loved she forsook not Isaac in his age Genesis 27. 9. and in sickness Amnon knew Tamar would visit him and cherish him the 2. of Sam. 13. 6. nothing may part them but for Fornication and Adulterie At touching the circumstance of the persons there are some that cannot be married saith Christ Matthew 19. 12. for some faith he are chaste from their Mothers bellie who are say the Fathers borne chaste by some incurable disease and are unable to marrie and there be some that be made chaste by men such as are gelded and cut and some are chaste which have made themselves chaste for the Kingdome of Heaven that is to whom God hath given thgift of continencie and ãâã as Paul expoundeth it 1 Cor. 7. 7. yet as Paul speaketh in the 28. verse If thou take a wife thou sennest not If a Virgin marrie she sinneth not such as are married have trouble in the flesh as wordly cares of their Children and of their Families they are troublea with a prick in the flesh Adams cleaving to Eve must be a way and means to cleave the faster unto God to cleave unto the Lord without separation as it is in 1 Cor. 7. 35. Now there are two spirits which would withdraw us from this conjunction the one is of the world the world and the cares thereof the other of Fornication There be those that seek their own and regard not that is Christs Philip. 2. 21. And the spirit of fornication will not suffer them to know the Lord Osee 5. 4. And lest that man should be exalted over much there was given to man a prick in the flesh 2 Cor. 12. 7. So that as Paul saith 1 Cor. 7. 38. He that giveth his daughter in marriage doth well but he that giveth her not to marriage doth better for that through mans ãâã not by gods institution Marriage bringeth cares and troubles So that St. Pauls bonum It is not good to touch a Woman and Moses bonum here It is not good for Man to be alone in regard of divers ãâã may both take place and by good deliberation If I can ãâã it is good to be alone If I cannot to avoid fornication it is good to ãâã But if we doe conclude with Moses It is not good to be alone it is good to marrie We must then not resolve to be as a dog as it is in Deut. 23. 18. God commandeth not to bring the hire of a whore nor the price of a dog that is an Whoremonger into the house of the Lord. We must resolve to follow Adams example who had but one wife not of wicked Lamech who took two wives chap. 4. 19. and brought in Polygamic first who brake the institution of Paradise that they two should be one flesh And if any might have had Polygamie Adam might above any But yet God took out of Adam but one rib brought unto Adam but one Eve that they two might be one flesh and better and more holy was it to have one than manie wives Two wives are an impediment to unitie it breedeth much dissention in the house and disquiet to the husband as I shewed you in the example of Hannah and Peninnah the two wives of Elkanah 1 Sam. 1. 7. and it breedeth dissention between the seed ãâã them two there was not only dissention between Sarah and Agar but even that Ismael the Childe of the Bond-woman could not agree with Isaac the son of the Free-woman but mocked him chap. 21. 9. The particular deliberation Now touching our particular deliberation ãâã we must have but one to consider what persons are meer and what ãâã meet this is for our choice and our refusall First we are to seek a meet match and if we cannot finde such an one then we are to pray for one at the hands of God not to say I will make to may self a meet help not to perswade in himself to be any such abilitie but recommending our selves to God to fall asleep with Adam that is to lodge up our own senses and affections not to follow the example of those in chap. 6. 2. who seeing the daughters of men to be fair took them wives of all they liked not such as God appointed for such wives shall be as snares to their husbands Saul he gave his daughter Micholl to deceive David 1 Sam. 18. 21. Adam the father of Mankinde and Abraham the Father of the Faithfull recommended themselves to God in this matter as in chap. 24. 12. the servant of Abraham that went to finde a wife for Isaac prayed God to send him good successe And in the 63. verse Isaac was at prayer in the field when he beheld his wife comming with Camels In the 27. chap. 20. when Isaac asked his ãâã How he had found him meate so quickly Jacob answered because the Lord thy God brought it to my hand And if we trust in the Lord he will bring a
heat nor the cold but after the fall they were passible and then they made them garments Nakednesse opposite to Ornamentum Again Nakednesse is taken against ornament with costly apparel which is to please the eye as it is aâ large described in Esay 3. 18 c. But Adam and Eve needed not the beauty of apparel they needed not the silk of the silk-worm nor the wool of Sheep not the skins of rare beasts nor any cloth of gold nor any needle work the softest raiment and the richest apparel would have been no grace but a disgrace to Adam in Paradise he was naked and yet the robe of righteousnesse was his attire when Christ was transfigured upon the mount Thabor his face did shine as the Sunne and his clothes were white as the light Matthew 17. 2. Christ was bright as the Sunne For that Adam and Eve were conversant with God they had that brightnesse which passed the glorie of the richest apparel their brightnesse was like the shining of the Sunne if the Sunne were covered with velvet it were no grace but a blemish to the Sunne and if Adam had been adorned in rich attire it would have disgraced the bright shining beams of his innocence And though that Adam by his disobedience lost this his brightnesse and we also lost it by his transgression innocencie and the robe of righteousnesse was their garment but after they were apparelled with shame But by Christ Jesus we look to be restored to the first state of Paradise to be covered with the robe of righteousnesse Esay 61. 10. then this corruptible body shall put on incorruption and this mortall shall put on immortality 1 Cor. 15. 53. then shall the just men shine as the Sunne in the Kingdome of their Father Matthew 13. 43. then shall our beauty be without blemish our minde shall be upright our glorie unspeakable Then as it in Esay 24. 23. the Moon shall be abashed and the Sunne ashamed when God shall reign in Sion and glorie shall be before his Saints Why Man created naked For what cause they were created naked and were not clothed The Fathers answer that there is a resemblance between nakednesse and innocencie Nakednesse is to be bare from outward clothing Innocencie is to be bare from inward naughtinesse and there is a resemblance between deceit and a covering or mask there be those that have a shew of Godlinesse yet have they denied the power thereof 2 Tim. 3. 5. there be those that cover their deceit with the hood of ãâã as Peter speaketh and with the cloak of shame as Paul speaketh in 2 Cor. 4. 2. they cover their craftinesse Let then our minds and thoughts be innocent let them be naked from all kinde of wickednesse for as Paul speaketh in Hebrews 4. 13. God discerneth the thoughts and intents of the heart neither is there any Creature which is not manifest in his sight all things are naked and open to his eyes Innocencie to Adam and Eve was a glorious garment the robe of righteousnesse was their attire the man that went down from Jerusalem to Jericho in Luke 10. 30. and fell among theeves was robbed of rayment and was wounded to death which is the case of Mankinde after the fall was restored by the tender compassion of Christ the true Samaritane to be apparelled in the glorie and rayment of righteousnesse They were not ãâã The second thing is the state of the soul they were not ashamed they were not confounded their soul was not troubled In Revel 19. 8. the wite of the Lamb which is the Church shall be arrayed in pure fine limaen and the fine linnen is the righteousnesse of the Saints their thoughts were honest their soul at rest but the disquiet of the soul is by passions and perturbations Yet God at the first did create in Adam and Eve affections as in ãâã 5. 22. Love joy peace long suffering gentlenesse meeknesse temperance which are the fruits of the spirit Adam had joy and love which were his ãâã affections and as the train to wait upon his original righteousnesse but the corosive affections which are in Man is shame grief ãâã c. which are the fruits of the Divell and of the flesh these ãâã the Divels Sergeants to arrest Man God himself after the ãâã would have these to be in us to punish us and to tyrannize over us As the Jebusites which were in Jerusalem as a scourge to them the which was called the Citie of the Jebusites Joshah 23. 7. and 18. 28. shame and sinne doe scourge us with whips not heard their stripes are worse than of an iron scourge as a Father saith well peccata nos surdo vulnere verberant The original hath and they were not confounded So long as sinne hath shame in his cheeks ãâã is counted a virtue to be ãâã in Paradise was accounted to be an evill and the least evill it is now If this small blemish shame were not to be found in Paradise then greater offences were not for shame is called primitiae peccati the first fruit of sinne and after shame came fear as it is in chap. 3. 8. and after fear sorrow seized upon Man This word of confounding is taken from a troubled vessel where the lees being stirred doe ãâã up to the top and shame we see bringeth a great part of the blood of the heart to the face When Adam and Eve had transgressed they then were ashamed and covered their shame chap. 3. 7. and men cover their faces that are ashamed after shame seized upon man his peace was dishonored his bleslednesse was taken away if a man now be innocent we doe say he is not ashamed and thus and that very well the School-men doe reason If the steps of sinne as shame be not found in man then the fruits of sinne are not in him the fruit of sinne is shame and the end thereof is death as it is in Romans 6. 21. see Proverbs 28. 14. that after shame a man hardneth his heart and becommeth shamelesse but after that comes punishment Esay 24. Shame fear sorrow are the Divels Livery it is the Divell that doth cloath Man with shame as with a garment But innocencie and righteousnesse are Gods plants God made Man without sinne without shame Now of these two joyntly They were naked and yet they were not ashamed They wanted shame he saith not and he felt no want of apparel And Austin saith well upon these words of Moses Non laudat ãâã sed innocentiam mentis for in that he was not ashamed he was innocent and he that sinneth not hath noe cause to be ashamed and now if a man have committed a fault and shameth not we call him impudent But if he be innocent and shameth not we say not that he is impudent but that he is couragious and confident for the wicked flyeth when none pursueth but the righteous are bold and confident as a Lyon Proverbs 28. 1.
Church which professeth his name By this means then the Devill became not only envious but also an enemy to mankind and to effect the plot of his mischief which he had imagined Moses telleth us that he doth use the means and Instrument of a Serpent which was the subtillest beast of the field of which we shall have occasion to speak the next time Serpens autem erat astutus astutior quâvis bestiâ agri quam fecerat Jehova Deus Gen. 3. 1. THe persons which concurred in this temptation I shewed were of two sorts first the Tempter and then the Tempted The persons tempting are of two sorts the one plainly expressed by name to be the Serpent the other necessarily implied and to be understood namely the old Serpent which is called the Devill and Satan the destroyer and deceiver of mankinde Rev. 12. 9. so that we must conceive in this place that Satanus hic est personatus Serpens est inspiratus the Devill is in the shape of a Serpent and the Serpent is possessed with the Devill for we know that Serpents cannot speak and reason therefore it must needs be somewhat in him Herein then we see the disposition of evill and damnable Spirits who being fallen into miserie doe seek to draw all others into the same calamity in the which they are wrapped and plunged for the Devill will not only perire but also perdere and therefore as we see doth use all forcible means to bring it to pass But because he knew that he should never bring about the destruction of man so long as man should be united and tied fast to God in love and duty obeying his will therefore first of all he laboureth most subtilly to untie the knot by dissolving the Law and Commandement of God through the transgression of man and thus much of the chief actor in this temptation which is the Devill Now we come to the second person which is the means and instrument which he used for this purpose namely the Serpent Touching which we shall see that the ancient Philosophers and wise men of the world may seem to have had some knowledg for they call the evill Spirit the Serpentine Devill and a hellish Fury in the form and shape of a Serpent as if they had had some notice that he made choice of this Creature especially above other to doe the greatest mischiefto man In considering of the entrance of the Devill possessing the Serpent we must needs know that if the Devill will needs tempt Adam unto evill then he must of necessity doe it either with some inward suggestion or motion within or else by some externall temptation and allurement without But the Devill knew that Adam then in that estate of innocency had no evill concupiscence or corruption within by which he might fasten any ill motion or suggestion for his lust and affections were not as tinder that is were not apt to take any spark of the Devills temptations as ours are for we are not only as tinder very prone to take evill but as Gun-powder which with every spark is wholy enflamed and violently is carried away with the desire of evill his soul was not yet poysoned with the corruption of sinne as ours are therefore he saw that then there was no time nor place to assault him with inward temptations or perswasions to make him doe evill and therefore useth some sensible and ex ternall allurements to besiege him without To this end therefore he must needs appear in some visible and sensible shape and resemblance and that must either be in some form and shape suteable agreeable to Adams nature or else in some other apparition and form unlike him if he had appeared in some ugly and loathsome shape like to himself he knew that though he could not be terrified with fear being innocent and therefore without fear yet Adam and Eve would have contemned such an instrument and not have suffered him to have set abroach his assaults for which cause his policy and devise was to cover himself with a fairer mask and vizard that he may seem better and more beautifull then he was indeed Object But why did he not choose a better shape then of this Serpent Resp. I answer that no doubt his will was good for he would have fashioned himself into an Angell of light or have put on him the shape of a grave and sage Prophet as he did in deceiving Saul 1 Sam. 28. 13. But it must not be as the Devill will have it but as it pleaseth God to appoint and permit him And the fathers doe think that almighty God of set purpose did allot him this creature and restrain him all other for these two respects first thereby to punish the pride and the ambitious nature of the Devill that he might see and all the world perceive to what this sinne of pride had brought him because he which a little before was so vainglorious as to presume to exalt him in Gods throne and be as God is now cast down in most vile and miserable sort basely and contemptibly crawling upon the ground and being as the abject and most hated worm on the earth that so all men might see and consider what pride and ambitious vain glory will bring them unto but the Devills malice and envy towards man being now greater than his pride was before therefore it is no matter how vile and base the instrument and means be so it will serve his turn he will refuse nothing no not the Serpent if by his means he might bring man to the same condemnation and wrath in which he is already plunged The other respect they think was that the temptation of Satan might be more easie for Adam to resist and withstand for who would not think it most easie for Adam and Eve being so wise and excellent and furnished with all graces of Gods spirit to espie and contemn such ill counsell which would have him withdraw his allegiance and duty to God his gracious Creator especially being solicited thereto by so vile and base a creature as a Serpent is Who would not think it impossible that a weak worm should prevaile agaist Adam in the prime and excellency of his strength Again the very name of the Serpent which Adam according to his wisdome gave unto him might have given him a caveat and warning to sulpect the fly ãâã and subtilty of his nature for as Sathans name is by interpretation Tempter so in Hebrew Serpentare is as much in signification as Tentare and therefore such as are ãâã and eggers on of men to doe evill are in that tongue called Serpentes for their flynesse and craft because as Salomon saith Prov. 30. 19. A Serpents way can hardly be discerned So that Adam had a greater ãâã age of the Devill in this and might have taken such warning hereby as one would think it should have been easie for him to resist and overcome
fruit which would make us as Gods when he knew that it would be as poison to our bodies and make us damned Devils Now this following of the Devills counsell and advise in this place is so much the worse in Adam and so much the more to be condemned because twice before he had followed it with ill success and saw he was deceived which might have been a double caveat and fair warning to him now to beware but as he had followed the Devils counsell twice before in practise and deed so we shall see him to follow it twice hereafter in word For first of all touching his word and speech the Devill teacheth him a peece of his Sophistry teaching him that he must needs answer to put non causam pro causa And secondly in the other place he teacheth him a peece also of the Devils Rhetorick which is called translatio criminis a laying the fault upon another and so shifting it from himself outward covering and inward dissembling hath a very good correspondence and therefore hypocrisie is compared to a Cloak or masking Hood Job saith 31. 33. If I hide my sinne as Adam did concealing my sinne in my bosom will not God finde it out and punish it But Adam being bewitched and infatuated by the Devill that spirit of error had learned to make choice rather to strive with Gods justice than to appeal to his mercy for favour and grace whereas by confessing he might have had pardon he by defending it brought himself the more deeply into judgment and his sin the more into question and triall By confessing his sinne Christ would have been his advocate to plead for his pardon but by defending and justifying it he made him to be a Proctor to plead against him and Judge to give sentence against him whereas by confessing his disease God would have been his Physitian to heal him he è contra by taking on himself to heal his own sickness made himself and his disease more grievous and more desparare But let us come to see how he seeketh a quia and an ergo that is a good reason and argument to defend and justific his deed Let us I say come to the particulars of his answer and see the strength and validitie of his reasons for if it be good and justifiable it will hold the proof and the examination will doe it no hurt Concerning which first we know it in corrupt policy that it is good alwayes to begin a lye with a truth or at least with great likelyhood of verity that so the lye may after run more currant and goe more roundly away therefore at the first in the forefront of his answer he places indeed a manifest and known truth that he heard Gods voice and the second also is truly said that nothing might be suspected namely that he was afraid In which two truths confessed the Fathers doe say are contained the first and second degrees which by Gods Decree should have been the two chief inducements to move men to repentance and therefore in that he was not moved to submission and confession of his fault thereby they gather that this part of his confession also is against himself therefore these two evasions are nothing but to make against his cause The second excuse is of decencie and ãâã or comelinesse as who should say I saw it a shamefull thing and very unmeet and undecent to appear before thee being naked and therefore I hid my self in which he doth make his thought and imagination a rule to measure Gods estimation and judgement by as if that which he thinketh inconvenient and uncomely God must think and esteem to be unseemly and unmeet also The Prophet Samuell saith 16. 7. 1 Sam. 16. 7. That God seeth not as man seeth neither are our thoughts his thoughts he is not moved with the like passions that we are for Job in sterquilinio was more pretious and amiable in the eyes of God and more acceptable to his minde quà m Heredes in solio as a Father saith and the reason is because he looketh to that holiness which is within and accepteth a man thereafter and regardeth not the outward estate of the body whether he be ãâã or in poor aparrel as men of corrupt judgment doe Jam 2. 3. 4. therefore Adams thought and conceit of his bodily nakedness which seemed unseemly to him ought not to be taken as a rule to measure Gods thoughts and to prove and determine what is undecent and unreverent in the eyes and judgment of God touching the outward things for seeing that nakedness is factum dei it cannot simply displease him or be detestable in his sight for he saw all that he had made was passing good nothing to be ashamed of as undecent therefore it is certain that if this had been all the matter which he pretendeth he might have boldly for all his nakedness have presented himself without shame or fear before God for as I have shewed that nakedness of their bodies in which they were made and which they enjoyed being innocent was no matter of blushing but of beauty no blemish or undecencie but an ornament glory to them as the nakedness of the Sun and Moon is such a glory and beauty to them that if any should put upon these glorious bodies a Cloak of velvet or Cloth of gold it would be so farre from beautifying them that it were a blemish and disgrace undecent for them and this is the hope and expectation of the Sonnes of God one day to enjoy that happy estate again in which they shall want no bodily garments to cover them but shall all shine in glory as the Sun in the skie Thus we see that this quia and ergo will not stand it is not Gods art or workmanship nor his voice that made him feare flie or hide but somewhat else which he had done and committed whatsoever it be which God will bring to light and make apparent hereafter Now let us come to the consequence here set down ergo abdidi for which we shall perceive that this is no good or right reason or consequence which he should have inferred uppon the premisses for thus he should have concluded I was afraid and naked and fled for conscience of my sinne therefore I confess humbly my sinnes before thee and doe crave pardon for them Thou diddest open mine eyes that I saw my sinne and thou openedst mine eares by feare that I knew thy judgment ergo now also open my mouth that I may confess humbly and open my heart that I may repent truly for it thus he should have made his consequence I heard thy presence with majesty comming ergo I prepared my self to meet my Lord right humbly confessing my finnes that I might have found pardon this was Jacobs resolution and conclusion in policie Gen. 32. 7. when he heard that Esau came against him he feared and was troubled and therefore used all means preparing
no more favor hath God forgotten to be mercifull no doubt God will shew the mercy that hee found in his misery or if with the Prophet Jer. 47. 6. we fay Oh thou sword of the Lord how long will it bee ere thou cease turne again into thy scabbard rest and be still no doubt God will be mercifull And for the Cherubyms the Cherubyms that covered the two ends of the mercy seate in Exodus the 25. chapter and the 18. verse were Cherebims of protection that covered with their wings the Mercy-seat And in Ezekiel 28. it is said That the king of Tyrus had been in Eden the garden of God and verse 14. That he was the ãâã Cherub that covereth it was a Cherubym of protection They no doubt that accompanied the Lamb Revel 14. were Angells and Cherubyms singing and harping for joy and these Cherubyms that here are appointed with fire and sword if it please God to be mercifull may turne their shape and lay downe the Sword for if Gods wrath be appeased no wrath is executed as in the case of David and of Jerusalem and of Ninivie where God stayed the hand of his Angell and his wrath ceased for God giveth power to Angells in Heaven and Princes on the Earth and all the shields of the world belong unto God Psal. 47. so that if he be appeased they yeeld their power and if God will have mercy upon man and will say deliver him that he goe not downe the pit for I have received a reconciliation then shall he be restored to his former state Job 33. 24. Upon mans repentance God will deliver his soule from destruction and if here God were once reconciled the sword should be taken away from the Angell and he should put it up into his sheath and man should recover his former state and the Angell shall become an Angell of mercy like the Cherubyms Exod. 25. ãâã covered with their wings the mercy seat or Propitiatory Now the meanes of reconciliation is a Propitiatory sacrifice for Sacrifice is the way of Reconciliation When Abraham with his offering of his sonne had pleased God the Angell stayed Abrahams knife and he found favor with God chap. 22. After David by his sinne had procured the punishment of his people he repented him of his sinne ond offered him up a burnt offering and a peace offering and then the Lord answered him by fire from heaven upon the Altar of burnt-Offering and when the Lords wrath was appeased the Angell sheathed up his Sword 1 Cron. 21. 26. and here if in Adams Case Gods wrath be appeased and he reconciled the Angell will lay down his firySword and flamma quae ardet gladius qui mactat the fire that should burne shall be extinguished and the sword that should slay shall be sheathed and by a Sacrifice Gods wrath shall be appeased for Exod. 12. chapter Where God seeth the blood upon the ãâã of their houses God and his Angell will passe over their houses and plague nor destruction shall not fall upon them the token of blood shall be a reconciliation of Gods favor and the Angell passed by This brings us to the great Propitiatorie Sacrifice the like whereof never was in the world in the which is not the blood of Lambs Goats or beasts but the blood of the immaculat Lamb Jesus Christ Gods sonne and mans Saviour who offered his pretious blood for the sinnes of us all who was the only and all sufficient Sacrifice to apapease the wrath of God and reconcile man to his Love this Sacrifice drew the alliance of Men with Angels made a reconciliation with God and restored man to the tree of life and the Paradise of God and the Angels shall rejoyce and be glad at this reconciliation and that Christ was exalted the eleventh of the Revelations and the fifteenth verse And the seventh place the Fathers doe alledge that this place is a poynting even unto the Gospell that in the fencing thus of Paradise it was foretold that one should come that through his obedience should remove the armed Cherubyms and give unto mankinde a passage into Paradise and this they ground upon the first of Ezechiell and the tenth verse and upon the tenth of Ezechiell and the fourteenth verse and the fourth of the Revelations and the seventh verse they agree that there were foure Cherubyms in the first of Ezechiell and the tenth verse they had the face of a Man the similitude of the face of an Oxe of a Lyon and of an Eagle and in the tenth of Ezekiell and the fourteenth verse one had the face of a Cherubym the other of a Man of a Lyon and of an Eagle and for the Cherubyms in the fourth of the Revelations and the seventh verse The one was like a Lyon the other like an Oxe the third like a Man the last like an Eagle and these foure beasts in the Revelation theydoe referre unto the foure Evangelists But the other places and this also they doe referre unto the four principall acts of Christ in our reconcillation They doe apply the face of the Man to Christs nativitie who was borne man of a pure virgin The face of the Oxe to his passion who resembled his death to the death of an Oxe sacrificed for the sinnes of the People and the face of the Lyon to his Resurrection who thereby triumphed over death even he that was a Lyon of the Tribe of Judah And lastly they compare the face of the Eagle to his glorious ascention whereby he mounted like an Eagle above an Eagles pitch only to reconcile us unto Gods favor And if the Sacrifice of Christ be applyed unto us then doth it appease Gods wrath to us David applyeth Nathans rebuke to himselfe after all his sorrow and acknowledgment of his sinne in the one and fiftith Psalme with deepe and hearty repentance he sheweth that the Sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit and a broken heart he despiseth not and if with David in the fourth Psalme and the fist verse We examine our owne heart and offer the Sacrifices of righteousnesse and trust in the Lord this application of our Sacrifice to this Sacrifice is by our hearty repentance and then shall the Sacrifice of Christ Jesus be unto us a reconciliation and a propitiatory Sacrifice even to us that are penitent for hee that mourneth and sorroweth for his sinnes that repenteth from his heart of his former wickednesse shall be sure to have a part of this blessed Sacrifice once offered for all upon the Crosse And this is Pauls Sacrifice in the twelfth to the Romans and the first verse offer upyour bodies a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable serving of God these then that sacrifice their Soules and Bodies by Repentance shall be assured to have a part in Christs sacrifice If thy eye offend pull it out the ninth of Marke and the fourty seventh verse apply by thy repentance Christs passion
in all diligence and in your love to us so see that ye abound in these graces also Respexitque Jehova ad Hebelum ad munus ejus Ad Kajinum verò ad munus ejus non respexit Gen 4. 4.5 April 29. 1599. WHich words contein the acceptation of the service of Cain and Abel with God which is the matter of greatest moment and which putteth the greatest difference between them and all the world and is a pattern of the distinction which is between the godly and the wicked begun in this life and perfected in the great day of the Lord when he shall set Abell and histure Worshippers on his right hand and Cain and his false Worshippers on the left In the denomination of the name which Eve gave her first Son I told you what is the worlds censure viz. that Cain is a name of great price in the judgment of the world but as for Abell that is a name of great contempt and such as Abell was are persons of no account but here we see Gods censure upon them both is otherwise for as the Apostle saith He that praiseth himself is not allowed but he which God praiseth the second to the Corinthians the tenth and the eighteenth verse so Cain that was so precious in the eyes of the world is of no account with God but Abel which was of no reckoning with men but despised as a thing of nought he is highly accounted with God for he hath respect to his oblaion but as for Cain and his oblation he respected them not So we see that as on the one side God makes the stone that was refused to be the head stone of the corner Psalm the one hundred and eighteenth and the twenty second verse so on the other side we see it true in Cain and Abel which Christ affirmeth in the sixteenth of Luke and the fifteenth verse that which is high in the account of man is abominable with God The words contain two points first Gods regard to Abel and his offering secondly his want of regard towards Cain and his oblation first that we may understand what is meant by regarding respicere is not only aspicere for God beheld Cain and his offering no less than Abel God seeth all things be they never so private he seeth Sarah when she laugheth behinde the Tent door Genesis the eighteenth and the twelfth verse whether we flie up to heaven or lie down in hell he is present with us we cannot goe from his spirit nor flye from his presence Psalm the one hundred and thirty ninth and the seventeenth and eighteenth verses but respicere is when one likes a thing so well that he looks on it again as we behold those things that we love God seeth all things and all present when he loves he beholds with an amiable look for ubi amor ibi oculus so God beheld Abel and his offering with an amiable look as not contenting himself to look once upon it The example of a Nurse Isaiah 66. 12. which gracious respect of God is set out by a loving regard that a Nurse hath to the Child when she beareth it on her lap Isaiah the sixty sixt and the twelfth verse Of the next oblation offer this which Noah offered to God it is said that the Lord smelled a savor of rest the eighth chapter of Genesis and the one and twentieth verse by which smelling and by this seeing and beholding with the eye is meant nothing else but that God received them in good part and therefore the Paraphrast expoundeth these words suscepit Dominus which exposition is grounded upon the words of the Prophet Malachy the first chapter and the eighth verse the offering is no more regarded nor received acceptably in his hands On the other side the Lord beheld Cain and his offering but he suffered not his eye to stay upon it for hee did not allow of it Testified by visible signs this acceptation the Fathers say was testified by a visible signe and they ground this opinion upon the word for the Apostle saith the eleventh chapter to the Hebrewes and the fourth verse God bears Abel witnesse that hee was just for it was usuall with God to testifie his liking of the service of his servants by outward and visible testimonies Leviticus the ninth chapter and the twenty fourth verse there came fire from the Lord and wasted Aarons burnt offering to shew that hee allowed it so hee approved Gedeons Sacrifice Judges the sixth chapter and the one and twentieth verse when the Angell touching the flesh with the end of his staffe caused fire to come forth and consume the flesh whereby hee knew that his offering pleased God So when Salomon had ended his Prayer fire came downe from heaven and consumed his Sacrifice and Oblation the second of the Chronicles the seventh chapter and the first verse but it is plain in the first of the Kings the eighteenth chapter and the twenty fourth verse By fire The God that answereth by fire let him bee God saith Elias to shew that the true God doth by outward tokens testifie who bee his true worshippers But to come in particular to Abels Oblation Gods liking is upon two things upon the Person and then upon the Gift for non ex seipsis placent munera sed ex offerentibus and St. Augustine non ex muneribus Abel sed ex Abel muner a placuerunt And St. Ambrose priùs is qui dabat quam ea quae ãâã placuerunt so the person hath the first place but he respected not the person only nam ne vanae putentur oblationes it is not said he had respect to Abel and not to his offering but respexit ad Abelem munera that is not to Abel alone but to him and his gift The person must first be pleasing to God before his gift be accepted the person must first please before the gift can be accepted but as he respects the person so will he have the gift withall and therefore God that said I will have no Bullock out of thy house nor Goats out of thy folds saith gather my Saints together that make a Covenant with me with Sacrifice the fiftieth Psalm and the fifth verse and where he saith thou desirest no sacrifice he means God chiefly respects the persons of men that they be such as may please him otherwise all their oblations are to no purpose but when they are so qualified that they can offer to him a contrite and a broken heart then God will accept of their Sacrifices which they offer upon his Altar the fifty first Psalm and the ninteenth verse non est detrahendum oblationis sed adjiciendum ãâã as Abel offered by faith the eleventh to the Hebrews and the fourth verse so we may not take away obtulit but joyn fides with it so shall our oblations please when our persons are by faith in Christ reconciled to him the person
because his heart ãâã at the hearing of the booke of the Lawe and did not harden his heart as Cain Thirdly in respect of God of whom August saith God bestoweth on some men the blessing of long life because he will be known to be the Author of it But lest we should think there is no other life but this therefore he taketh the blessing of long life from some of his servants to shew that there is another life wherein they shall be partakers of the promises for if God doe not reward the godly in this life doubtlesse it standeth with his justice to reward them in the world to come God will try the patience of his servants and the obedience of them that keep his commandements Apoc. the fourteenth chapter and the twelfth verse he will have it appear that we are not mercenaries and hirelings that serve him for temporall benefits The Children of God are not such as Satan thought Job to be that is one that would not serve God for nought and God to shew that Job served him without any such respect of present reward took away all that he had and so made the patence of that holy man appear So Abel served not God for a temporall reward he was as willing to sacrifice himself as the lambe which he offered so is it with all godly Saints The Apostle St. Paul cared not for his life so he might finish his course with joy Acts the twentieth chapter Note Gods favour better than life They esteeme more of Gods favour than of life Psalm the sixty third And therefore Abel said with himself I will rather forgoe my life than not offer to God such a sacrifice as should please him Whereby we see Gods end in depriving of the godly of outward blessings that it is to try their patience and though they dye yet death is to them no losse but advantage as it is in the first chapter to the Philippians For if Abel for long life on earth have eternall life in heaven he hath no wrong done him if for a life of vanity as Abel's was God give him a life of verity he hath no injury offered him But God performeth his promise of long life much better than if he suffered them to continue long in the flesh for no man liveth so long but his life shall have an end nihil est longum quod finem habet If in stead of vanity and sorrow he have happinesse and glorie he hath no cause to complain Besides the Righteous though they dye never so soon yet they shall be had in everlasting remembrance as it is in the one hundred twelfth Psalm And the memoriall of the just is blessed in the tenth chapter of the Proverbs No man but would wish to be in Abels case to enjoy everlasting happinesse in heaven and to be praised of men on earth If the husbandman bruise the grape on purpose to make wine for the comfort of the people they have no cause to complain of his dealing so we are not to murmur at Abel's death that being a righteous man yet he enjoyeth not the promise of long life for he is made our example as the Apostle saith in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews Abel defunctus loquitur But what is that which he speaketh Noli aemulari That which Abel saith is Fret not thy self because thou enjoyest not the outward blessings which the wicked have It was my case saith Abel I served God carefully yet I lived not long upon the earth I offered unto God of the fattest of my sheep whereby God was pleased and yet was for that and for no other cause hated of the world Propter ãâã non solum odium fratris sustinui sed etiam mortem as I have done so doe you This is the juice that is given us to drink out of the example of righteous Abel Quamobrem dixit Jehova Kajino Vbi est Hebel frater tuus qui dixit Non novi An custos ego sum fratris mei Gen. 4. 9. August 12. 1599. THat the death of Gods Saints is pretious in his sight Psalm the one hundred and sixteenth and the fifteenth verse it appeares as by many other arguments so by this that he maketh inquisition for their blood Psalm the ninth for at this verse God begins to hold a judgment concerning the wicked and unnaturall fact of Cain in murthering Abel which judgment is continued to the sixteenth verse for the ninth conteins an Inquiry or Examination the tenth a Conviction of Cain the eleventh and twelfth the Sentence is pronounced upon him in the thirteenth and fourteenth he is permitted to say what he can for himself in the fifteenth is set down his repriving or mitigation of his punishment But before we proceed we must call to minde that this is the second judgment which God held The first was held upon our Parents in Paradise Genesis the third chapter This second is held upon Cain out of Paradise from whence we gather that albeit man was now cast out of Paradise yet not out of the compass of Gods providence for as the Apostle saith Though we beleeve not yet he is faithfull and cannot deny himself in the second to Timothy and the second chapter so whether we be in Gods favour or out of it yet his providence extendeth to us which providence of God hath appeared in nothing so much as in the discoverie of blood Cain not out of the reach of Gods providence for albeit Cain were out of Paradise yet he was not out of the reach of Gods providence so far but God knew well the murther which he committed and therefore calls him to account for it and many such testimonies doth God daily shew of his providence in the discovery of bloodshed which make men confess verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth Psalm the fifty eighth Secondly from hence we are to note that whereas the first Judgment in Paradise was for an offence committed immediately against God himself and this for an offence done to man so his will is that justice shall proceed not only for trespasses done against himself but when we offend one against another Note Therefore in the Commandements of the Law God hath allowed one Table to himself and another to man to teach us that he will call us to account not only for the breach of faith towards himself as he did Adam and Eve but for breach of charity one man towards another as Cain for the sinne he committed against his brother The point it self is a citation or conventing of Cain by God before his Judgment Seat not by any secret or inward working of his spirit which is the usuall way whereby God worketh repentance in mens hearts but with his own audible voice from heaven Out of which is offered both matter of comfort to Gods Saints which are the posteritie of Abel by imitation and also matter of terror to the
chastity are a full comprehension of the duty of sanctification which God willeth us to perform And as Cains sinne stands first in the story so it is first in nature for a Child before he be able to speak one word will by his sower face shew that he hath a revenging spirit But in this story of Lamech we must observe a farther thing for it standeth upon two parts First in the ninteenth verse is shewed not only that he was infected with a spirit of uncleanness but also verse the twenty third a contemptuous and insolent spirit which is a degree beyond Cain for there he braggeth of his sinne and contemneth God and his Judgments as if he should not be revenged of him for it For when a sinner is not only possessed and infected with malice and envy in his heart and with lust in his reins but braggs of his sin in contempt of God and his Judgments then he is at the height of sinne Peccator cum in profundum venerit contemnit Thus where there are but three faculties of the soul all are corrupted by the infection of the Serpent as for reason it was corrupted in Adam when the Serpent perswaded him that he should be like God and the angry part was corrupted in Cain when he was stirred up to kill his Brother without all cause Thirdly the will and the coveting part was corrupted in Lamech so as neither the bond of nature nor the will of God which is a spirituall bond could keep in order but he will shew his uncleanness When not only Adam looseth faith and Cain charity but Lamech chastity then is sinne at the height In the first verse there is a genealogie of four discents wherein there is no matter of great edification Howbeit as when mens Fields and Closes are laid out all must not be taken up for pasture but a little way must be left whereby every man may pass to his own ground so in the Scripture there must be a passage from one storie to another And as in the body for that there are a great many lymbs and parts they must of necessity be compacted one with another by the help of the sinews so both in prophane Writers and in the Scripture many things are set down to shew the dependance that one story hath with another which otherwise would not seem so necessary Even so the shewing how Cain is joyned with Lamech which is done in this verse is very necessary Secondly There is a farther matter in this heaping of names besides the continuance of the story for it would have seemed strange that the Scripture doth make mention of Lamech and his wicked course unless it were withall shewed from whence he came But in setting down that Lamech is of the posterity of wicked Cain no man will marvell that he doe expresse the manners of Cains Besides that we may not think that this heaping of words is vain for as the Fathers note there is no name in Scripture without profitable consideration for howsoever men that deal in woods and base mettals care not to let chips and parings fall from them yet as they that work in gold and Silver will not lose the least parings The like is to be done in reading the word For it is pure as silver that hath been purified seven times Psalm the twelfth More to be desired than gold Psalm the ninteenth therefore we must have this conceit of it that whatsoever seemeth to be superfluous in the word of God hath great value both for faith and life For Isidor saith est in nominibus sacris sua theologia and as Jerome saith in nominibus sacrae Scripturae insculpuntur mysteria Therefore the Apostle saith That the Sonne of God is more excellent than the Angels in as much as he hath a more excellent name than they Hebrews the first chapter and the fourth verse so when the blinde man is sent to wash himself in Shilo John the ninth chapter and the seventh verse The word signifying sent importeth that he could not be purified by that water unless he was sent so in the names of holy Scripture we see as Jerome saith there are ingraven mysteries Now we give names to our Children ad placitum but in the old Testament the Fathers gave names of set purpose with great advise so we see Eve giveth a reason why she called her Sonne Cain Genesis the fourth chapter and the first verse so is there a reason of Seths name Genesis the fourth chapter and the twenty fift verse of Noah the Sonne of Lamech Genesis the fift chapter and the twenty ninth verse of Isaack and Jacob and all the Patriarches The reason why they had this regard in giving of names are reduced to two First in those that are the Children of the godly their names are a kinde of Prophesie concerning the disposition of the Childe which choice of names their Fathers made for that being endued with the spirit of God they foresaw the disposition of their Children On the other side the wicked and the reprobate cannot prophesie yet their names are specula paternae affectionis as the names of godly Children are prophesies puerilis indolis That it is thus in these names we shall observe an encounter made between the seed of Cain and the seed of Seth which as they were of a contrary disposition so gave their Children contrary names Cain called his Sonne Enoch that is dedicated to the pleasure of the world but Seths Sonne is called Enosh that is sorrowfull Genesis the fift chapter On the one side there was Cain on the other Kenan Irad on the one side Jerad on the other Methushael and Methushelah by which names the seed and posterity of godly Sheth shew a contrary affection and such as differeth from the wicked and the seed of Cain as appeareth by the signification of their names Touching the opposition that appeares to be between the generation of Seth and the posteritie of Cain Enochs name who was Cains Sonne signifieth dedication and there is one of the Children of God called by the same name Genesis the fifth chapter and the ninteenth verse but Seths Enoch as Jude saith was the seventh from Adam verse the fourteenth that is one dedicated to the seventh or Sabbath day one that gave himself wholly to the service and worship of God but Cains Enoch was the first and next to Cain that is one dedicated to the first day which is a working day to shew that he was one that gave himself to the affaires of this life that sought to be mighty on earth And this difference of affection holds to this day for all men are followers either of the first or second Enoch The next of Cain is called Irad that is Lord of a City the same that Herod signifieth wherein we see his ambitious spirit that he was such a one as sought to be great in the world And as Jeroboam when he was not able to maintain
which assurance we are likewise to gather to our selves in this ãâã that as surely as we corporally doe taste of the bread and wine so sure it is that we spiritually feed on the body and blood of Christ which is communicated unto us by these elements as the Apostle ãâã in the first to the ãâã the tenth chapter and the fifteenth verse that the bread broken is the communion of the body of Christ that the cup blessed is the communion of his blood that by partaking of this spirituall food we may be fed to eternall life Thirdly this act was performed with speed the Ceraphin came flying with wings and being ãâã he hath a present effectuall power to take away his sinne for a little before he that cried out that he was in woefull case verse the ãâã Vae mibi by and by being touched and revived with comfort of forgivenesse saith Ecce ego mitte me in the eighth verse whereby we learn that the touching with the coal thus taken from the Altar and the participating of the body and blood of Christ hath a power not only to purge and heale the sore of our nature but that it giveth a ãâã to serve God more cheerfully and carefully than we did before ãâã us serventes spiritu servent in spirit Rom. the twelfth and the ãâã verse so that we care for nothing nor count our live ãâ¦ã that ãâã may finish our course with joy Acts the twentieth and the twenty fourth verse The summe of all is that seeing it is a fearfull thing to appear in the presence of Gods Majesty and knowing that one day we must all appear before his tribunall seat and throne of glory we do ãâã with the Prophet that albeit we have lived never so upright a life yet if we have beene silent when we should have spoken to his glory if we have omitted never so little a duty which we ought to have performed for all that our case is miserable untill it please God by the burning coale of his Altar and by the sacrifice of Christs body offered up for us upon the crosse to take away our sinnes And that if we ãâã humble our selves before God and acknowledge our sinnes then our sinnes shall be purged by the death of Christ and by partaking of the sacrament of his bodie and blood the rather because in the sacrament we doe touch the sacrifice it self whereas the Prophets sinne was taken away with that which did but touch the sacrifice Then after the receiving of this sacrament we must take a view of our selves whether we can say Nonne cor ãâ¦ã in nobis Did not our heart burn within us Luke the twenty fourth chapter and the thirty second verse because in this sacrament we finde a fire of Christs love towards us And whether we finde in our selves that willingnesse to serve God aright which was in the Prophet in the eighth verse Behold send me Ecce mitte me As in regard of our misery we made the confession of sinfull men so having experience of Gods mercie in taking away our sinnes we must make the confession of Angels crying Holy holy holy Lord God of Hosts Lastly We must not only shew forth the heat of our love to our needy and poor Brethren by doing the works of mercy but even to our enemies as both Salomon and the Apostle teach If thine enemie hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink for so thou shalt heap ãâã of fire upon his head Proverbs the twenty fift chapter and the twenty first verse and Romans the twelfth chapter and the ninteenth verse For so as thouarta burning coale in thy self so thou shalt kindle in him the coals of devotion to God and of love to thy self Attendite ne justitiam vestram exerceatis coram hominibus ut spectemini ab eis alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum qui est in Coelis Matth. 6. 1. Octob. 15. 1598. THE drift of our Saviour in these words is to separate that which is vile from the pretious Jeremiah the fifteenth chapter to sever the tare of vain glory from the good corne of righteousnesse and mercie But as Christ gives charge That while his Disciples laboured to gather away the tares they should beware that they pluck not up the good corne Matthew the thirteenth chapter So while we labour to pluck up the tares of vain glorious intentions we must take heed that we doe not withall pluck up the good corne of good works for heretofore the good seed of the Doctrine of good works was not so soon taught but presently the Devil sowed in mens hearts the wicked opinion of merit of works as tares among good corne And while men laboured to take away the opinion of merits then he takes away out of mens hearts the care of works In the counsel of Christ two things are to be noted First the corn must be sowed take heed ye doe good works Secondly the ãâã must be plucked up but doe them not to be seen We must doe righteousness both privatly in our own consciences and publiquely before men as the Apostle sheweth Provide for things honest before all men Romans the twelfth chapter But the tares are to be avoided that is to be seen ut videamini where we have a command First Christ will not have us doe good works to this end to be seen Secondly That we may not we must take heed as if he should say My will is ye shall not give almes to this end to be seen Thirdly That ye may avoid this fault ye must take heed Whereby he signifieth that to doe almes to this end to purchase praise to our selves is a hurtfull thing And to avoid this fault is a matter of great difficul y. For the first point Christ saith When ye give almes doe not blow a trumpet when ye fast or pray let not all the world know of it neither let the end be ut videamini Touching which we are to know that our good works are not worse in themselves for being seen but are the better even as the goodnesse of a colour stands in the lightnesse of it so our good works are more commended if they be known And they of themselves desire the light as Christ sheweth in John the third chapter and the twenty first verse But such is our corruption that if we think our works are known we with our pride doe corrupt them For as pride is the way to dry up the fountain of Gods grace as James saith God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble James the fourth chapter So the sight of good works is a means to overthrow our humility The Pharisees knew this full well which purposing to tempt Christ covered their hooks with praise Seeing we know that thou art a teacher come from God and regardest no man tell us is it lawfull Matthew the twenty second chapter But Christ to teach us what a dangerous thing it
St. Paul found in the work of his Ministerie was to plant faith and to perswade men that we are justified before God by Faith in Christ without the works of the Law But St. Peter and St. James met with them that received the doctrine of Faith fast ãâã but altogether neglected good Works But because both ãâã necessary therefore St. Paul ãâã all his epistles joynes the ãâã of Faith with the doctrine of Works This is a faithfull saying and to be avouched That they which beleeve in God be carefull to shew forth good works Titus the third chapter and the eighth verse Therefore with the doctrine of the Grace of God he joynes the doctrine of the carefull bringing forth of good works Titus the second chapter and the 12. verse The saving grace of God hath appeared and teacheth us to deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this world The doctrine of Grace is not rightly apprehended untill we admit of the Doctrine of good works Wilt thou know O man that Faith is dead without works Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offred his sonne Isaac James the second chapter and the twentieth verse Therefore St. Peter saith That is no true faith which is not accompanied with virtue and godlinesse of life It is true that good works have no power to work justification because they doe not contain a perfect righteousnesse And in as much as they are imperfect there belongs the curse of God unto them Cursed is he that continueth not in all things Galatians the third chapter Good works a token of justification So farre are they from justifying but yet they are tokens of justification Genesis the fourth chapter Respexit Deus ad Abelem ad oblationem suam God first looked upon his person and then upon his sacrifice For before the person be justified his works are not accepted in Gods sight The best works if they proceed not of Faith are sinne Romans the fourteenth chapter Our Saviour saith No branch can bring forth fruit of it self except it abide in the Vine John the fifteenth chapter Therefore if we doe any good works they proceed from our incision and ingraffing into Christ by whom they are made acceptable to God Paul saith Abraham was justified by faith before works not when he was circumcised but when he was uncircumcised Romans the fourth chapter and the tenth verse But James saith Abraham our Father was justified by Works James the second chapter and the twenty first verse To reconcile the Apostles we must know that the power of Justification which in Paul is effective But that which James speaketh of is declarative It was Abrahams Faith that made him righteous and his works did only declare him to be justified Therefore Paul saith That albeit good works have no power to justifie yet they are good and profitable for men Titus the third chapter For they declare our justification which is by faith and by them we make our selves sure of our calling and election the second epistle of Peter the first chapter and the tenth verse In these two verses Peter delivers two things First A Rule by which we may examine our selves Secondly An application of the same Seeing we have such a good Rule to try whether we be elected and called let us study by the practise of these virtues to assure our selves of our calling and election Two things commend this Rule which the holy Ghost sets down First That it is Regula negativa For having said before affirmatively If these things be in you and abound they will make you that you shall not be idle nor unfruitfull in the knowledge of Christ. Now he speaks negatively But if you have them not you are blinde which is more than if he had contented himself with his affirmative speech For as the tree in the Garden was called Arbor scientiae boni Genesis the second chapter though directly it brings us to the knowledge of nothing but evill because Adam knew not what a good thing it was to be obedient till he felt the smart of his disobedience So we doe perceive the goodnesse of things by the want of them better than by the enjoying of them The benefit of possessing the graces of Gods spirit doth not so much move us as the want of them Therefore the Apostle saith If ye care not for being fruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ yet let this perswade you to practise all these virtues for that if you be without them you are blinde And as no man knoweth what a benefit it is to have sight so well as a blinde man that wants it so it is with them that practise not these virtues Secondly That it is a universal Rule Whosoever hath not these things For our nature is inclined to take exception against good rules As John Baptist when he willed all men to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance Nor as the Jews not to say We have Abraham to our Father Matthew the third chapter It is our corruption as the Apostle faith to think that we shall escape the plagues of God for these sinnes which we condemn in others Romans the second chapter Therefore our Saviour prevented that exception when speaking to his Disciples he said Quod vobis dico omnibus dico Mark the thirteenth chapter Even so Peter saith Whosoever wants these virtues whatsoever occasion he pretends for the want of them he is blinde and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sinnes But to speak more particularly of this Rule two things make us secure in the matter of our Salvation which notwithstanding We should work out with fear and trembling Philippians the second chapter and the twelfth verse The one is our Knowledge We are ready to say with Job I know that my Redeemer liveth Job the nineteenth chapter But unlesse we perform somthing else it shall be in vain to make this allegation Have not we prophecied in thy name Matthew the seventh chapter The other cause of confidence and carelesnesse is the opinion we have that it makes no matter how we live The blood of Christ doth purge me from all sinne the epistle of John the first chapter and the seventh verse To these two the holy Ghost opposeth two things First Doe we think we know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent Yea but he that knoweth not these virtues is blinde and knoweth nothing Secondly Doe we think we need not to be carefull of holinesse of life because we are purged by Christs blood But except we be carefull to walk in newnesse of life we have forgotten that we were purged from our old sinnes For the first point That he that hath not these virtues is blinde we are to know That albeit there be no opposition between knowledge and wickednesse of life because all that know Gods will doe not practise it yet there is a necessary dependance
lead is consumed in the fire the Founder melteth in vain for the wicked are not taken away as if he should say we have done all we can and yet the rust of sinne doth not depart from them for we have the wicked heart of lust and concupiscence burning in us and in that regard the word is as water to quench it And again we are slow and cold in affliction and have need to be quickned in which regard the word is fire So men are frozen in their dregs Zephaniah the first chapter and the twelfth verse that cold must be dissolved by the heat of Gods word Such a passion was in these to whom Christ said You slow of heart Luke the twenty fourth chapter and the twenty fift verse This coldness is driven away by the fire of Gods word But although the word be never so sharp yet it pricks not unless the heart be fleshie so the fault may be in the word sometime if it be not firie The preaching of the word is like the striking of fire for unless there be tinder to receive the sparks it is to no purpose how ãâã soever ye strike fire so the preaching of the word worketh not except the heart be prepared Oile is combustible and we must pray that our hearts may be annointed with the oyle of Gods spirit in the first epistle of St. John the second chapter When the word which is fire and the grace of Gods spirit as tinder doe concurre then the heart is warmed As there must be preparation before hand to the end it may have this effect so meditation after My heart was hot within me and while I thus mused the fire kindled Psalm the thirty ninth and the third verse If there be devotion before and meditation after upon that which we have heard then the fire is kindled This heat how small soever it be though it be but as smoaking flax God will not quench it Isaiah the fourty second chapter for it will serve to kindle a fire in the heart Thirdly The time when this was wrought in their hearts was cum loqueretur aperuit ipsis Scriptur as Whereby we see Christ had this power to touch the hearts of his hearers not only in the Synagogues but now when they conferred privately together in the way This was ordinary not only in Christs preaching but to his Apostles for while Peter spake unto them the holy Ghost fell on them all Acts the tenth chapter and the fourty fourth verse But we must practise private conference and instruct one another by the way as Christ did for that was given by commandement Deuteronomie the sixt chapter And a promise is made by God I will instruct thee in the way Psalm the thirty second But Christ did not only speak but also open the Scriptures that is the words which he spake were not vain words or the words of the east winde Job the fifteenth chapter The Scriptures must be opened and the key to open them is the key of knowledge Luke the eleventh chapter without which key they cannot be opened There are unlearned and unskilfull men that goe about to open the Scriptures but they doe but pick the lock they take not the right course for it cannot be opened without the key of knowledge He that will open the Scriptures must be like Apollo who spake fervently and taught exactly diligently the things which pertained to the Lord Acts the eighteenth chapter and the twenty fifth verse The Prophet asketh not only whom he shall teach but whom he shall teach to understand not only quem ãâã but quem ãâã scientiam Isaiah the twenty eighth chapter and the ninth verse He must be a man of knowledge that must teach he must not only be a Doctor but a fit Teacher Therefore Christ promiseth to his Apostles not only a mouth but wisedome Dabo vobis ãâã saplentiam Luke the twenty first chapter and the fifteenth verse And therefore it is recorded of them that when they had received the Holy Ghost they did not only ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but also ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is speak great and weighty sentences Acts the second chapter and the fourth verse And again unto these is committed the key of ãâã which ãâã and no man openeth and openeth and no man ãâ¦ã the third chapter and the seventh verse Then the force of Gods word must needs pierce very farre when both the Preacher speaks and openeth the Scriptures with the key of knowledge and of David and the hearer prepares himself by receiving direction of Gods Spirit to enlighten his understanding and open his heart then doth the word shew forth its efficacy Therefore when we have heard the word we must examine our selves and ask Did not our hearts burn There are three degrees of operation in Gods word Contrition when the heart is broken Psalm the fifty first Comfort when it is rent in two pieces Joel the second chapter Compunction when it is pricked only Acts the second chapter The first is the perfection The second is a degree under it And the last and lowest degree is Compunction which we see was not rejected in Peter hearers So for this second effect named in this text That which is recorded of Josiah at the hearing of the Law in the second of Chronicles the 34. chapter and the 27. verse Liquefactum est cor Josia this melting is the highest degree The next to that is that which is reported of these two Disciples ardebat cor nostrum But though it neither melt nor burn yet if it smoake the promise that we have from God is in the fourty second chapter of Isaiah and the third verse and in the twelfth chapter of Matthew and the twentieth verse Linum ãâã non extinguet Deus The smoaking flax God will not quench ãâ¦ã igne salietur Every man must be salted with fire Mark the ninth chapter and the fourty ninth verse If we will have God to accept of us we must be sacrifices and sacrifices must be seasoned with fire Therefore when we hear the word we must indeavour to have a Censer of fire in us so as wee feel the word if not to melt our hearts neither to burn yet to smoak As without ãâã we shall all ãâã Luke the fifteenth chapter so this burning of heart is so necessary as except wee suffer the fire from Heaven to work in our hearts wee shall suffer the fire of Hell that is of ãâã which ãâã for ever Etenim per unum Spiritum nos omnes in unum corpus baptizati sumus Judaei Graeci servi liberi omnes potati sumus in unum Spiritum 1 Cor. 12. 13. Novemb. 2. 1600. WHICH words And have all been made to drink of one spirit cannot have any other reference but to the Sacrament of the Body Blood of Christ which he calls the Cup of blessing the 1. to the Corinthians the 10. chapter The end