God can call vp Damps Vapors from below and powre down putride defluxions from aboue and bid them meet and condense into a plague a plague that shall not be onely vncureable vncontrollable vnexorable but vndisputable vnexaminable vnquestionable A plague that shall not onely not admit a remedy when it is come but not giue a reason how it did come If God had not set a marke vpon Cain euery Man any Man any thing might haue killd him Hee apprehended that of himselfe and was afraid when we know of none by name in the world but his Father and Mother But as Saint Heirome exalts this consideration Cains owne Consciēnce tells him Catharma sum Anathema sum I am the plague of the world and I must dye to deliuer it Catharma sum I am a separated Vagabond not an Anachorit shut vp betweene two walls but shut out from all Anathema sum As long as the Cherubim and the fiery Sword is at the Gate Adam cannot returne to Paradise as long as the Testimonies of GODS anger lye at the dore of the Conscience no man can returne to peace there If God sell away a Man giue him away giue way to him by withdrawing his Prouidence he shall but neede as the Prophet sayes Sibilare Muscam to hisse to whisper for the Fly for the Bee for the Hornet for Forraigne Incumbrances nay hee shall not neede to hisse to whisper for them for at home Locusts shall swarme in his Gardens and Frogs in his bed-chamber hailstones as big as talents as they are measured in the Reuelation shall breake as well the couerd and the armd as the bare naked head as well the Mytred and the Turband the crownd head that lifts it selfe vp against GOD lyes open to him as his that must not put on his Hat as his that hath no Hat to put on when as that head which being exalted here submits itselfe to that GOD that exalted it GOD shall crowne with multiplied crownes here and hauing so crownd that head with Crownes here hee shall crowne those crownes with the Head of all Christ Iesus and all that is his hereafter If God sell vs away to punishments for sinne it is thus but if God sell vs to sinne for punishment it is worse For when God by the Prophet offered Dauid his choise of three Executioners warre famine and pestilence if all these three had taken hold of him it had not beene so heauy as when God had sold him ouer giuen him away into the hands of an Executioner in his owne bosome The studying and the plotting of the prosecution of his sinne When God made Murther in the death of Vriah his Bayliffe to attach Dauid for his Adultery And made Blasphemy in the triumphant Armie of the Gentils his Bayliffe to attache Dauid for his Murther And then made impenitence and a long sencelesnes in his sinne his Bayliffe to attach Dauid for that blasphemy then was Dauid sold vnder a dangerous sub-hastation then lay Dauid vnder a heauie Execution Let me fall into the hands of God and not of Man sayes Dauid Betweene God and Man in this case there may be some kinde of comparison But would any sinner say Let me fall into the hands of the Deuill and not of Man rather into more sins then some punishments Dauid himselfe could not conceiue a more vehement prayer and imprecation vpon his and his Gods Enemies then that Add Iniquity to their Iniquity Nor hath the Holy Ghost any where exprest a more vehement commination then that vpon Ierusalem as the vulgat reades that place Iniquitatem Iniquitatem Iniquitatem ponam eam Which is not Gods multiplying of punishments for sin but his multiplying of sin it selfe vpon them till he had made them all Iniquity all sin For this is in a great part that which the Apostle calls Gods giuing ouer to a reprobate sence to mistake false and miserable comforts for true comforts to mollifie and asswage the anguish of one sinne by doing another to maintaine prodigality by Vsury or Extortion to ouercome the inordinate deiections of spirit with a false cheerefulnesse and encantation from strong drinke In one word as the wise man expresses it to call great plagues peace To smother sinne from the eye of the world or to slumber the eye of our owne conscience from the sight of sinne by interposing more sinnes And farther we carrie not this first Metaphor of the Holy Ghost Venditi estis You are sold for for the deeper impression he presses it with another Dimissa est for your transgressions your Mother is put away And here in the way we consider first Dimissam animam Gods putting away of the Daughter of any particular soule And his putting away of such a soule is his leauing of that soule to it selfe when God will not come so neere louing it as to hate it nor giue it so much peace as to trouble it For as long as God punishes me hee giues me Phisick if he draw his knife it is but to prune his Vine and if hee draw blood it is but to rectifie a distemper If God breake my bones it is but to set them strayter And if hee bruse me in a Morter it is but that I might exhale and breath vp a sweet sauor in his nosethrils I am his handy-worke and if one hand be vnder me let the other lye as heauie as he shall be pleased to lay it vpon me let God handle me how he will so hee cast mee not out of his hands I had rather God frownd vpon mee then not looke vpon me and I had rather God pursued mee then left mee to my selfe It is the heighth of his indignation O people laden with iniquity why should ye be smitten any more Why should I study your recouery any longer Vox est animi non habentis in promptu quid statuat et desperantis salutem When God sayes so sayes S. Basil he is as a Father who had tried all wayes to reduce his sonne and fayld in all and then leaues him to his owne desperate wayes This is the worst that God doth say we may say that God can say which he sayes in Ezech. Auferam zelum My iealousie shall depart from thee and I will he quiet and be no more angry God is most angry when hee lets not vs know that hee is so And then Refuse siluer shall men call thee because the Lord hath reiected thee sayes the Prophet Though thou mayest haue some tincture of a precious mettall fortune power valour wisedome yet Refuse siluer shalt thou be and more Refuse mettall shall men call thee for Men are often worse then men dare call them because the Lord hath reiected thee Cain cryes our that his punishment is greater then hee can beare and what 's the waight This From thy Face shall I be hid It is not that GOD would not looke graciously vpon him but that GOD
would not looke at all vpon him Infinite and infinitely desperate are the effects of Gods putting away a soule but we wait vpon the Holy Ghosts farther enlargement of this consideration Dimissa Mater for the Childrens transgressions the Mother is put away This Mother is the Church that Church to whose breasts GOD hath applyed that Soule and Gods putting away of this Mother is as it was in the Daughter his leauing her to her selfe So these imaginary Churches that will receiue no light from Antiquitie nor Primitiue formes GOD leaues to themselues and they crumble into Conuenticles And that Church which will needes be the Forme to all Churches God leaues to her selfe to her owne Traditions and Shee swells into tumors and vlcers and blisters And when any Church is thus left to her selfe deuested of the Spirit of GOD then follow heauie Symptomes and Accidents That which is forbidden in the Law That Men that haue blemishes offer the Bread of our God Men blemished in their Opinions in their Doctrine blemishd in their Lifes in their Conuersation are admitted to Sacrifice at Gods Altar Then followes that which is complaind of in Ieroboams time The lowest of the People and whosoeuer will shall bee made Priests Contemptible men shall bee made Priests and so the Priesthood shall bee made Contemptible Then followes that which the Prophet Ose sayes The Prophet shall be a Foole and the Spirituall Man madde Madde as Saint Hierome translates that word Arreptitius possest possest with an aery spirit of ambition and an Earthly Spirit of Seruilitie And a watrie Spirit of Irresolution and dispossest of the true Spirit of Holy fire the Zeale of the exaltation of Gods glory There is a Curse in remoouing but the Canâ—lesticke That the Light shall not bee in that eminency and euidence that becomes it but that some faint shadowes some Corner Disguises some Temporizings some Modifications must be admitted There is a heauier Curse in weakning the Eye of the beholder when as this Prophet sayes God shall make hearts fatt and eares deafe and eyes blinde There shall bee Light but you shall not see by it there shall be good Preaching but you shall not profit by it But the greatest Curse of all is in putting out the Light when GOD blinds the Teachers themselues For If the light that is in thee bee darkenesse how great is that darkenesse This is that Potestas tenebrarum when power is put into their hands who are possest with this darkenesse And this is that Procella tenebrarum The storme of darkenesse The blackenesse of Darkenesse as we Translate it when darkenes power and passion meete in one Man And to these fearefull heights may the sinnes of the Children bring the Mother That that Church which now enioyes so aboundantly Truth and Vnitie may bee poysoned with Heresie and wounded with Schisme and yet GOD bee free from all imputation of Tyranny And so wee haue done with all those peeces which constitute our First Part Gods Dischardge His Mercy in his Ecce that hee warnes vs of his Iudgements before they fall And his Iustice in his Proceeding though after wee bee solde cheape by Adam to Originall sinne So Saint Paul sayes He was sold vnder sinne And Cheaper by our selues to actuall sinnes for Nothing for Priuations So the Prophet told Ahab that hee was sold to sinne God also Sell vs away Cast vs away To Punishments for sinnes So hee did the Israelites and then to sinnes for punishments So hee did Dauid and so hee did Ierusalem and though hee come to a Diuorce of Daughter and Mother of our Soules in particular and the Church it selfe in generall Wee are descended to our second part Mans discharge That not disputing what God of his absolute power might doe nor what by his vnreueald Decree hee hath done God hath not allowd me nor thee nor any to conclude against our selues a necessity of perishing May this seeme an impertinent part in a Court To suspect that any here are too much afraid of God or too much deiected with the sense of their sinnes or his iudgements Are sinnes of presumption rather to be feared here then sinnes of desperation It hath a faire probability But all the Lent wee prepare Men for the Sacrament And as Casuists we say Sacramentum articulus Mortis aequiparantur We consider a Man at the Sacrament as at his death-bed and vpon our Death-beds wee are likelyer to be attempted with sinnes of Deiection then of presumption And so though in a Court if you will be content to thinke of a death-bed in a Court and God hath taken wayes to awaken those thoughts in you it may be pertinent and seasonable to establish you now against those deiections and diffidences which may offer at you then T is true then there may be a selling there may be a putting away but hath not God reserued to himselfe a power of reuocation in both in all cases Audisti repudium Crede coniugium Is sweetly and safely said by St. Ambrose As often as thy thoughts fall vpon a fearefulnesse of a Diuorce from thy God establish thy selfe with that comfort of a Mariage to thy God for the words of his Contracts are Sponsabo te mihi in aeternum There can be no Diuorce imagined if there were not a mariage and if there be a mariage With God there can be no Diuorce for sponsat in aeternum hee marries for euer Can God doe so forsake for euer The Crowe went out of the Arke and came no more The Doue went and came againe and came with an Oliue branch God may absent himselfe that he may be sought but hee comes againe and with the Oliue of peace Zion said The Lord hath forsaken mee and my Lord hath forgotten me Why will Zion say so sayes God Can Zion say My Lord my Lord hath forgotten mee Can shee remember that GOD is hers and not thinke that shee is his Can shee remember him and thinke that hee hath forgotten her Can Zion retaine her bowels of piety and thinke that GOD is disembowelled of his GOD calls her not to Nationall examples to how low conditions hee came in the behalfe of Sodome what he did for Nineue what he did for Zion her selfe in Aegipt but hee carries her home to her owne breast and her owne Cradle and onely askes her that question Can a Mother forget her sucking Childe And hee stayes not her answere nor assures himselfe of a good answere from her but adds himselfe Yes a Mother may forget her sucking Childe yet I will not forget thee Can GOD doe it Did GOD euer doe it Did he euer put away without possibility of reassuming when where whom Israel the ten Tribes Yet euen to them sayes Ieremy After they had done all this GOD said turne vnto me and they would not turne And then God put her away and sent her a bill of Diuorce and neuer re-assumd her
neuer brought backe the ten Tribes from their dispersion T is true in a whole and entire body GOD neuer brought them backe but in many faire and Noble Peeces they came when Iudah came for from that place of Ezra where there is an entire number in grosse exhibited of all that returnd from Babylon and then the particular Numbers also exhibited of the Tribes and families that returnd because those particular Numbers doe not make vp the generall Number by many thousands the Hebrew Rabbins argue fairely and conclude probably that those Supernumerary thousands which are inuolued in the generall Number and are not compris'd in the particulars were such as from the other ten Tribes in the returne of Iudah adher'd to Iudah who are so often said neuer to haue return'd because in a body Magistracy of their own otherwise then as they incorporated them selues in Iudah they neuer returnd but God neuer put them away so but that he offred them returne and in a great part effected it I knowe how friuolous a tale that is That Saint Gregorie drew Tratans soule out of Hell after it was there and I know how groundlesse an opinion it is that is ascrib'd to Origen that at last the Deuill shall be sau'd but if they could perswade mee one halfe that Traian or that the Deuill came to Repentance in hell I should not be hard in beleeuing the other halfe that they might be deliuered out of hell What meane you sayes God Almighty that yee vse this Prouerbe The Fathers haue eate soure herbes and the childrens teeth are set on edge Doe ye meane that because your Fathers haue sinn'd you must perish Why neither his parents haue sinn'd nor hee sayes Christ of the Man borne blinde but all is that the worke of God might he made manifest Neither haue thy parents sinn'd nor thou thy selfe sinn'd so as that there should be a necessity in thy perishing but that thereby there might be the greater manifestation of Gods mercie that where sinne hath abounded grace might abound much more If therefore thy tender Conscience and thy startling Soule mis-imagine the hearing of that voice Depart thou sinner a voyce of Diuorce a voyce that bidds thee goe Say thou with Peter to his and thy Sauiour Domine quo Ibimus Lord whither shall I goe thou hast the Word of Eternall life and wee beleeue and are sure that thou art that Christ the Sonne of the liuing God And that Christ the Sonne of the liuing GOD will call thee backe and call backe his owne VVord and finde Error holy Error occasion of repenting his owne proceeding in his Bill of Diuorce to which purpose hee calls vpon thee here to produce that Bill Vbi iste libellus Where is the Bill c. First then Vbi libellus where is this Bill vpon what doe yee ground this ielousie and suspition in God that hee should Diuorce you First it is in the Originall Sepher that which is called a Bill is a Booke It must bee GODS whole Booke and not a fewe mis-vnderstood Sentences out of that Booke that must try thee Thou must not presse heauily to thine owne damnation euery such Sentence Stipendium peccati Mors est That the reward of sinne is death Nor the Impossibile est That it is impossible for him that falls after Grace to bee renewd That which must try thee is the whole Booke the tenor and purpose the Scope and intention of GOD in his Scriptures His Booke is a Testament and in the Testament the Testator is dead and dead for thee And would that GOD that would dye for thee Diuorce thee His Booke is Euangelium Gospell and Gospell is good tydings a gracious Messadge And would God pretend to send thee a gracious Messadge and send thee a Diuorce GOD is Loue and the Holy Ghost is amorous in his Metaphors euerie where his Scriptures abound with the notions of Loue of Spouse and Husband and Marriadge Songs and Marriadge Supper and Marriadge-Bedde But for words of Separation and Diuorce of Spirituall Diuorce for euer of any soule formerly taken in Marriadge this very word Diuorce is but twice read in the Scriptures once in this Text and heere God dis-auowes it For when hee sayes Where is the Bill hee meanes there is no such Bill And the other place is that which wee mentioned before when after they had done all GOD calld Israel all together backe and effectually in a faire part and his principall purpose in that Diuorce of Israel was to intimidate and warne her Sister Iudah from the like prouocations Surely a good Spirit mooued our last Translators of the Bible to depart from all Translations which were before them in reading that place of Malachi thus The Lord the God of Israel saith that hee hates putting away Whereas all other Translations both Vulgat and Vulgar And in Vulgar and in Holy Tongues The Septuagint the Chalde all read that place thus If a man hate her let him put her away which induced a facility of diuorces our Translators thought it more conformable to the Originall and to the wayes of God to read it thus The Lord the God of Israel saith that hee hates putting away Euery where in the Scriptures we meet with Gods venites in euery Prophets mouth inuitations to come vnto God There is a venite de circuitu Come though you come from compassing the Earth which is Satans perambulation though you haue walkd in his wayes yet come vnto God There is a Venite non habentes Come and buy though you haue no money though you haue no Merits of your own come and dilate your measures and fill them according to that dilatation with the merits of Christ Iesus There is a venite et reuertimini Come though your comming be but a returning be not ashamed of comming though your returning be a confessing of a former running away come in a repentance though you cannot come in an innocencie There is a Venite consolamini How heauie so euer the fetters of your owne sinnes or the chaines of Gods iudgements lye vpon you come and receiue ease here change your yoke for an easier if you cannot deuest it There is a venite consulite If you finde it hard to come or if you finde an easinesse to fall backe though you doe come come to consult with God how you may come so as you may stay when you are come Nay there is a venite arguite Come and reason with God argne plead dispute expostulate with God come vpon any conditions The venite is multiplied infinite inuitations to come but the Ite maledicti Depart ye accursed is but once heard from Gods mouth and that not in this world neither as long as wee are in this world God hates putting away And therefore God calls for the bill and God calls the bill a booke that thou mightst not vexe thy soule with mistaken
the following of him in those two Marriage and Purchasing for one had bought Land and stocke and another had married a Wife So God expresses his loue to Man in these two too Hee hath married vs he hath bought vs that so he might take in all dispositions and worke vpon Vxorious Men men soupled and entendred with Matrimoniall loue and vpon worldly men men kneaded and plaistred with earthly loue Hee hath Married vs hee will not Diuorse He hath bought vs he will not sell For who can giue so much as he payd Doe yee thus requite the Lord O yee foolish people Is not he your Father that hath bought you And will you suspect your Father Yes sayes this Disconsolate Soule Fathers might sell their Children and my Father my GOD hath sold me T is true Fathers might sell their Children Amongst the Gentiles they might for matter of Law for matter of Fact their Bookes are full of Euidence Amongst the Iewes they might till a Iubile redeemd them Amongst the Christians they might and for euer Saint Ambrose found the World in possession of that vnnaturall Custome and lamented it Vidi miserabile spectaculum sayes he liberos haeredes calamitatis qui nec participes successionis The Children sayes hee inherit the Calamity but not the Lands of their Fathers when they were solde to maintaine them who had wastefully sold that which was to maintaine them all And Saint Ambrose induces the Creditor making his Claime Mea nutriti pecunia This Childe was nourced and brought vp with my Money and belongs to mee Constantine found this and amended it enacted and constituted that it should be no more done and canst thou imagine such a hard-heartednes in GOD as Saint Ambrose should neede to lament or Constantin neede to correct Quis Creditor sayes GOD Which of my Creditors is it to whom I haue sold you As in the Bill of Diuorce so in this bill of sale we aske who should occasion it A Father might sell for his Sonnes fault or for his owne necessitie but in no other case If thou say it is done for thy fault it is not done that implies a Confession and a Repentance and that auoydes all but if thou imagine a sale for thy Fathers necessitie Quis Creditor sayes hee Which of my Creditors c. Adam brought GOD in Debt to Death to Satan to Hell in Iustice GOD ought all mankinde to them but then at one payment hee payd more in the death of his Sonne Christ Iesus And now Quis Creditor The word indeed is originally Nashah and Nashah is an Vsurer and so Saint Ambrose reades this place Quis Faenerator To what Vsurer am I so indebted as that I neede sell thee Let it be so That the principall debt was all Mankinde pursue your Vsurious Computations that euery seuen yeares doubles and then redoubles your Debt and what a Debt might this bee in allmost 4000. yeare from Adam to Christ and 1000 from Christ to vs yet when all this is multiplied infinitely it was infinitly ouerpayd if but one drop of the bloud of the Sonne of God had bene payd and the Sonne of God bled out his Soule and then Quis Creditor may God well say Which of those Vsurers is it to whom I need sell thee God may lend thee out euen to Satan suffer thee to bee his Bayliffe and his Instrument to the vexation of others So hee lent out Saint Paul to the Scribes and Pharises to serue them in their Persecutions So God may lend thee out God may Let thee out for a time to them that shall plough and harrow thee fell and cleaue thee and reserue to himselfe but a little Rent a little glory in thy Patience So hee Let out Iob euen to Satan himselfe so God may Let thee out GOD may Mortgage thee to a sixe Months Feuer or to a longer debility So he Mortgaged Hezekias God may lay thee waste and Pull vp thy Fences extinguish their Power or withdrawe their Loue vpon whom thou hast establishd thy dependance So he layd Dauid wast when hee withdrewe his Childrens obedience from him so God may lay thee waste God may Let out all his time in thee in this World and reserue to himselfe only a last yeare a last day a last minute suffer thee in vnrepented sinnes to the last gaspe so God let out the good Thiefe God is Lord of all that thou hast and art and then Dominium potestas est tum vtendi tum abutendi He that is Lord Owner Proprietary may doe with that which is his what he will But God will not cannot deuest his Dominion nor fell thee so as not to reserue a Power and a Will to Redeeme thee if thou wouldst be redeem'd For howsoeuer hee seeme to thee to haue sold thee to Sinne to Sadnesse to Sickenesse to Superstition for these be the Ismaelits these be the Midianite Merchants that buy vp our Iosephs our soules though he seeme to sell his present estate hee will not sell Reuersions his future title to thee by a future Repentance hee will not fell But whensoeuer thou shalt grow due to him by a new and a true repentance hee shall re-assume thee into his bed and his bosome no bill of Diuorce and re-enter thee into his Reuenue and his Audit No bill of sale shall stand vp to thy preiudice but thy deiected spirit shall be raised from thy consternation to a holy cheerefulnesse and a peacefull alacritie and no tentation shall offer a reply to this question which GOD makes to establish thy Conscience vbi libellus Where is the Bill of thy Mothers Diuorcement c. FINIS Errat Pag. 13. l. 24. for retractions read retractations pa. 32. l. 14 for Herbs read Grupes Psalm 62.12 Diuisio Part. 1. Ecce Psal. 11.2 Origen Esay 63 10 Lam. 2.4 Gen 4.10 Numb 16. vers 4. verse 5. verse 12. verse 14. verse 21 verse 25 verse 29. verse 31 Venditi ab Adam Rom. 7.14 A Nobis 42.19 Rom. 6 21. Iob. 24.15 A Deo Vendit paenis Vendit peccato Psa. 69.27 Ezech 21.26 Sap. 14 2â— Dimissa anima Esa. 1.5 Basil. 16.42 Ier. 6. â—0 Dimissa Mater Leuit. 21. 16. 1 King 22. â—3 9.7 Apoc. 2.5 Math. 6.23 Luke 22 â—3 Iude 13. Part. 2. Esay 49.14 Ezeck 18.2 Iohn 9.2 Libellus Ier. 3.8 2.16 Iob 3. 11. Esay Ose. 6.1 Esay Esay Esay 1.18 Deut. 24. Quis Creditor Luke 14.18 Deut 32.30 Gen. 37.27