the meanest office the conveiance of the smoak And yet it is the highest part of the building and overtops the whole frame And as a Feather is a light substance and of little or no worth save onely in estimation and yet placed above the head Just so the most wicked and unworthy amongst men are exalted and advanced to the highest pitch of earthly dignity (q) Minut. Foelix Octavius pa. 15. ut in pluribus nescias utrum sit corumi detestanda pravitas an optanda foelicitas said Minutius Foelix That it is hard to say for the greater part whether a man should rather detest their impiety or envie their felicity There is a double Abyssus or unfadomable depth in religion 1. The depths of predestination or God's eternal decrees and counsels 2. And the depths of his temporal providence in the administration of the world whereof this is one the growth of these Tares the outward prosperity of the wicked And may justly moue us to take the Apostles exclamation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth And if we will give credit to St. Austin (r) Revera nullum mare tam profundum est quam est cogitatio rei ut mali floreant boni laborent Nihil tam altum ubi naufâ—agat omnis insidelis Aug. in Psal 91. there is no se a so deep as to dive into the serious consideration of the flourishing state of sinners and the calamitous condition of the Saints And in this sea every unbeliever makes ship wrack This was it that caused many to turn downright Atheists and to say in their hearts there is no God Others to prove gross Idolaters and to imagine a plurality and a multiplicity of Gods A good and a bad And that the Book of Exodus was no part of Canonical Writ nor inspired by a good God for that it makes report of the misery of the Israelites in the wilderness (Å¿) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leontius de Sanctis It is not the part property of a good God to bring his people out of Egypt and to afflict and correct them after their deliverance Yea this was it that well neer tript up the heels of David though a strong a stout Saint And so far nonplu'st and posed holy Jeremy that he was very earnest to enter the lists of disputation with God himself Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper why are all they in wealth that rebelliously transgress Jer. 12.1 Here the Israelites make the Bricks and the Egyptians dwell in the Houses David is in want and Nabal abounds Sion is Babylons Captive what hath God nothing in fore for Joseph but the sticks for Isaiah but a saw will not Elish adorn the Chariot better then the Juniper Tree will not John Bâ—â—tists Head become a Crown as well as a platter But mull his head be needs tript oft with Herodias heels what may we inser from hence but the positive conclusion of the Psalmist Psal 58.11 Vveril there is a reward for the righteous in the life to come when God will render them good measure pressed down shaken together and running over into their bosome Luke 6.38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good measure for the nature of the reward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pressed down for the matter like unto corn in a Bushel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shaken together for the manner of it even as corn which couches so much the closer for the shaking whereof Husbandmen are very careful in the delivery of their corn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 running over for the measure as a vessel that is brim full runs over 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into their bosome that so they shall be experimentally sensible in their own hearts of God's bounty in their retribution What other inference can any man draw out of the former premises But that there is such a reward for the righteous And that the present prosperity and felicity of the wicked as it is temporal for the nature so it is but temporary for duration Though the Tares grow yea overgrow the good corn yet it is but until the Harvest And that is the fifth point that naturally and necessarily follows and treads upon the heels of the former 5. The Fifth Proposition The time and term of the flourishing estate of the wicked untill the harvest which is both a note of determination and termination Till then it doth not end before Till then it doth not continue after What this Harvest is our blessed Saviour the best Expositor of his own Text resolves us in the Sequel of the Chapter The Harvest is the end of the world verse 39. which is here compared to a Harvest and that in Three respects 1. Propter Segetis desectionem 2. Propter Segetis collectionem 3. Propter Segetis Trituram 1. For the cutting down of the corn 2. For the gathering in of the corn 3. For the threshing out of the corn And this threefold resemblance betwixt the Harvest and the end of the world sets forth unto us a double and different estate of the godly and the wicked A double state of the godly and wicked 1. The one of utter ruine and destruction of the wicked under the similitude of the cutting down and threshing out of corn who shall then be cut down with a sharp sickle of his just vengeance and beaten in pieces as corn that is threshed by the instruments of indignation 2. The other of quiet repose and rest the safety and security of the godly under the Parable of gathering in of corn who in this Harvest shall be gathered out of the world and gathered into their Fathers House the repository of Heaven wherein there are many mansions even as corn in the time of Harvest is gathered into the Barn As therefore there is a confused mixture a cohabitation an equal or rather an unequal growth of Tares wheat in the field of the world So shall there be a general Harvest of good bad at the end of it That law which God established with Noah after the flood as an unchangeable a perpetual ordinance in the course of nature Seed time and Harvest shall not cease so long as the earth remaineth Gen. 8.22 The very self-same law hath God enacted with the sons of men touching the dispensation of his justice in the distribution of rewards and punishments There shall be a Harvest for both and that proportionable to the different nature and quality of the seed wherein whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap He that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption And he that sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting Gal. 6.7 Hail then ye servants of the Lord cheer up your drooping and dismayed spirits lift up your hands that hang down and your weak knees ye that now eat bread of affliction and drink the water of affliction with Micaiah that eat ashes for bread and mingle your
portion by the eternal decree of Gods election and choice being only Aliquorum it can neither consist nor yet be conceived or imagined without a refusal That same negative Act of Praeterition or Reprobation God freely denying grace and justly passing over the remainder Thus Saint Paul restraines to a definitive number Rom. 8.30 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whom be predestinate them also he called Quos praescivit saith the Apostle so that it is Electio personarùm non qualitatum An absolute no respective decree either grounded or occasioned by any motive condition in the object of foreseen faith and perseverance Nor is it an universal or general election which is quite repugnant to the nature Quos praescivit saith the Text Hos non alios those alone and no other as Augustine toucheth upon the place Secondly In the meritorious Efficacy of Christs Redemption the Church is separated unto holiness in the meritorious Efficacy of Christs Redemption who though he gave himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a ransom for all men 1 Tim. 2.6 A propitiation for the sins of the whole world 1 John 2.2 if we take an estimate of the greatness of the price and sufficiency of his death and passion Yet doth he lay down his life for his sheep and hath purchased the Church with his own blood Acts 20.28 in respect of the force and efficacy of his death and the property of redemption Poculum immortalitatis habet equidem in se ut prosit omnibus sed si non bibit non proficit saith Prosper excellently And did all men drink of the blood of Christ then should they have eternal life John 6.5 Thirdly the Church is separated from the world in the actual vocation and conversion In the actual vocation and conversion for though God imbraced and clasped it in the arms of his mercy from all Eternity And loved it with an everlasting love Jer. 3.3 by way of benevolence Yet neither doth the purpose of Election which is an immanent act in God confer ought upon the partie that is predestinate nor the vertues of Christs Redemption avail any whit to the justification and acceptation of the person Nor doth God respect and tender the Church with the love of complacency and contentment until he be pleased actually to call it out of the power of darkness into his marvellous light And hereby it becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 populus evocatus a people called out from amidst the sons of men by the powerful attraction and energy of the spirit and by the subordinate ministry of the Word and Sacraments In all these respects the Church is Holy by Separation Secondly this Temple and Church is holy in the Consecration In the Consecration being dedicate to God by baptism which though it be no Physical instrument that conveies grace by any natural force efficacy yet is it signum figillum both by representation and assurance doth establish and confirm it And as many as are baptized into Christ have put on Christ Gal. 3.27 And from hence arose that antient custom in the Primitive Church of clothing the baptized with white apparel Fulgentes animas vestis quoque candida signat Lactantius Who were therefore stiled Candidati the Sunday after Easter whereon this Sacrament of Baptism was solemnly administr'd for the whole year took the denomination of Dominica in albis and was term'd White Sunday that so both the name of the day the bright colour of their garments might clearly signifie set forth the unspotted innocency of their profession the spiritual purity of their conversation Thus is the Church holy by consecration Thirdly it is holy in the practical use and exercise In the Practical use and exercise The reverent hearing of the Word the devout administration of the blessed Sacraments And above all affectionate fervent Prayer This is the service of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereunto his house is assigned and dedicated in a special manner My house shall be called the House of Prayer for all people Isa 56.7 And this is it which Christens the publick places of God's worship and gives the name unto Temples Not Concionatoria nor Sacramentaria but Oratoria houses of request and prayer As being a primary action which by an elegant Synecdoche compriseth all other religious duties that are ordered to it and derive and borrow from it a plentiful increase Thus is the Temple the Church of God in the general and each private Christian in particular the house of Prayer who prays not onely openly in the outward Temple but secretly in the (r) Vis in Temple orare de scendi in reipsum August inward Temple of his own heart And as the consecration of Temples is evermore solemnized with prayer so is every living Temple hereby dedicate unto God It was so with Saul upon the point of his conversion For behold he prayeth faith God to Ananias Act. 9.10 To ascertain him of the truth It is so with all others whose invocation and calling upon the name of God immediatly follows God's vocation effectual calling of them This is the threefold holiness of the Temple The separation The consecration The practical use and exercise These are the several limbs and members of the point like unto those dry bones in Ezekiels vision which though they are knit together by their several Sinewes yet are they not covered with flesh and skin as otherwise they might if the time would permit And least these dry bones should be utterly void of life give me leave but once more to prophesie unto them and breath a little upon them by the spirit of Application And is the Temple of God holy The Application away then with the vainglorious vaunt of Corah and his complices All the congregation of the Lord is holy every one of them and the Lord is among them Numb 16.2 These indeed are the presumptuous speeches of the sons of Corah I mean some of our own Tribe there is no distinction betwixt Elect and Reprobate Tros Tyriusque illis nullo discrimine habentur There is no certainty of grace no assurance of salvation Nemo ante obitum foelix Beleeve them who list As is the good so is the sinner And yet saith the text expresly The Temple of God is holy But who is this holy Temple Quod vos estis so it follows in the Text ye of the Clergy in a peculiar manner who serve at Gods Altar Be ye clean that carrie the vessel of the Lord Isa 52.11 Ye are not only the Temple but the Priests of the Temple and should have ingraven as it were upon your foreheads with the High Priest under the Law Holiness unto the Lord. And as he that hath called you and that not only ad salutem but officium as he is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.15 2. The Temple of God is holy quod vos estis Ye of
bad They both grow alike 5 The Time and Term of the flourishing estate of the wicked It is but until the Harvest And this until is both a Note of Determination and Termination Till then It doth not end before Till then it doth not continue after 6. The true and proper reason of the being growth and continuance of the Wicked And that is Christ's sufferance and toleration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suffer both to grow together until the harvest I shall take them up as they lay in order And first of the first 1. The first Proposition The different nature of good and bad resembled by Wheat and Tares The purblind world judgeth all things amisse and observes no inequality or disparity among the sons of men Homo homini quid praestat stulto intelligens quid interest say they with him in the comedie What difference in point of excellency betwixt one man and another But if we consult with the Oracle of God that resolves us to the contrary The righteous is more Excellent then his neighbour Prov. 12.26 And iâ— there be any creature of greater transcendency then the rest it seems to illustrate their dignity by way of similitude and comparison As being the Lillie among Flower The Dove among Fowls Gold among Meâ—tals And wheat among grain both for the worth and weight of it A fit Emblem of the Faithful who are the chief and choice of men even as Wheat beareth the greatest price and value among grain And the worth of the faithful appears in their weight in in regard of their stedfastness and stability their constancy and continuance which are no way moved much less removed with the gusts and blasts of temptation Even as Wheat which is a ponderous and a heavy substance is not carried away with the force and violence of the wind (d) Cyprian de unit Eccles Sect. 8. Nemo putet bonos de Ecclesia posse discedere Triticum non rap t ventus saith St. Cyprian But as for the ungodly they are as Tares or blasted Ears Tares for their emptiness whose heart is utterly destitute of grace and goodness even as blasted Eares have no inward pith nor substance no food nor foison in them and Tares be for their lightness (e) Avoleâ—t quantum volent Paleae levis fidei quocunque afflatu tentationum eo purior massa frumenti in horrea domini reponetur Tertul. de Praeser adver Haeret. Inanes Paleae Cypr. ibid. Paleae levis fidei as Tertullian stileth them and so subject to fly away being hurried to and fro with every puff of wind The Southern wind of favour and preferment which blowes upon them with a gentle and pleasing blast and though in it self it be but an evil wind yet in their opinion it blows them to good The blustering and boisterous North winds of trial and persecution Each of these winds whether it blows from the North or South doth easily carry away these light and empty Tares out of the Church And those our Saviour he sets forth under the similitude of Tares or blasted Eares in the Parable of the Text. And that in opposition to the Wheat thereby importing their unprofitable and worthless nature Such is the difference betwixt good and bad as betwixt Wheat and Tares 2. The impurity and imperfection of the visible Church The second Proposition consisting of good and bad even as the same field contains both Wheat and Tares The name of the Church is no univocal word wherein there is an agreement both of Name and Nature but an aequivocal voice where things of a most different nature communicate in the same name I speak not this of the Jesuites who in respect of their execrable doctrine of their mental reservations and aequivocations are fitly stiled aequivocal Christians But of the external members of the visible Church the greater part whereof are only commended by the titular profession of Christianity as an empty sign and shadow and yet want the thing signified and are utterly destitute of the substance And as the name of the Church is no univocal but aequivocal voice so the Church it self is no Homogeneal but an Heterogeneal body not like unto the similar parts of men Blood Spirits or the like each portion whereof is suitable and agreeable to the whole But resembling the organical parts as a Leg or Arm which consists of Skin Flesh Bones and Marrow And these far different from each other There are three several places in the world Heaven Hell and Earth In Heaven above there are none but perfectly good the blessed society of Saints and Angels In Hell beneath none but irrecoverably wicked the cursed crue of damned spirits But the visible Church upon Earth is a middle place and state betwixt both a confused mixture and medley both of good and bad like unto Noahs Ark wherein were cooped up both clean and unclean beasts A wide drag-net that closes not only profitable fish but worthless weeds and beggery A common Inne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a receptacle for all commers A great House which affords vessels of gold and silver and some other of wood and earth 2 Tim. 2.20 A Barn or threshing Floor where corn and chaff lie covered in the same heap Mot. 3.12 And here in the Text A vast and open Field that brings forth Wheat and Tares And as it was said of Hantbals Army Colluvies omnium gentium So is the visible Church a promiscuous Company and Congregation a rabble and a rapsody of all sorts corrupt Hereticks who deprave the verity of the faith supercilious and factious Schismaticks that deprive and destrâ—y the unity of the Church disguised and masked Hypocrits meer Scepticks in their opinion Hybrides in their profession Amphibia in their conversation like unto those flying fishes in America that live sometimes in the water and sometimes in the air and are ill accepted in both places the ravenous fishes being ready to devour them below and the Sea fowls continually beating them above And last of all men openly profane and vicious (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat Epist ad Magnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat ibid. Ignatius reduces the several sorts of men in the visible Church to two Heads and observes the same difference among men that is to be found in coyn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereof some is true and sound such as can endure the Touch the other is false and counterfeit Holy men are God's coyn that bear his image and superscrip ion But as for proâ—â—ne and wicked men they are adulterate deceitful and corrupt â—oyn that are minted and stamped by the Divel It is St. Chrysoâ—â—omes observation upon the 23. of Saint Matthâ—w that there is somewhat bred and born in every creature that wasts and consumes the substance The soundest Timber engenders worms the finest Garments give life to Moths The most wholesome Herbs bring forth small flies that fret them in pieces Neither fares it otherwise
a full and foul mouth as Solifidians and Nullifidians and to brand our Religion with that odious nickname Calva Calvini sides The bald faith of Calvin This they affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a bare and â—ald head and therein shew that they have not so much as one hair of honest men An impudent and shameless calumny purposely devised by him who is a lyar and the Father of it and most opprobriously and injuriously obtruded upon the Protestant party and reformed Churches The sounder part whereof (*) Sicut substantia sundamentum est omnium accidentium sic fides omnium virtutum donorum Bâ—navent Serm. de Sanclis Ex fide crumpurt â—â—ra opâ— a. Luther reverences Faith as a spiritual Dorcas that is full of good works with which it is evermore attended and accompanied as individual and inseparable companions And in case works be wanting they make no other account and reckoning of such a kind of Faith then a bare name without a thing a sign without a thing signified a shadow without a substance a body without a soul A dead faith as St. James makes out the comparison Jam. 2.26 For as the Body without the Spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also A meer Sceleton and carkass of it Faith indeed is a more inward and radical grace of a spiritual nature without flesh and bones as our Saviour concludes of every spirit But good works are Fides incarnata as Luther stiles them Faith manifested in the flesh which may be seen and felt of others And in this sense though somewhat beside it divers of the Ancients expound those words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.46 That is not first which is spiritual but that which is carnal referring it to faith and works and preferring works before it Not to enter the list of a comparison which of them should be the greater a question that sometimes happened amongst Christ's Disciples and yet a little to illustrate the matter by a similitude Faith is as the inward wheels of a Clock that move it and make it go Works are as the Hand or Fingen of the Dial which though it be no cause of motion yet is it an evident sign how the Clock goes within and outwardly points forth the hour of the day to the Traveller in the streets Thus is Faith discerned and descried by our Works Secondly To improve and encrease grace working is necessary for the improvement of grace received which though free y given yet must it be encreased by our pains and industry in renewing and repeating the several acts of it Even as the sire that came down from Heaven upon the Altar yet being once kindled it was maintained by the addition of new wood and fuel (k) Concil Nicen 1 part 2. cap. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though we receive grace without labour at the first yet can we not preserve it without labour say the blessed Fathers of the first Nicene Councel Thirdly To attain and gain salvation working is necessary for the attaining of salvation as a condition of an obligation as motion unto rest as the way to the end of the journey and the means unto the end For as in nature there can be no passage from one entream to another but by a middle that intervenes and comes between and so unites and joins them together No more can we be translated from a state of corruption to a state of happiness but by working as the means We must not look to commence in Heaven per saltâ—â—m to skip and leap into it neither nature nor grace allow it The greater part of the world would have glory without grace and happiness without holiness like to the Roman Dictator Sylla that had rather be sirnamed Foelix then Pius Fain would men receive the wages and yet not do the work but in vain and to no end For life eternal is resembled by a Crown which they alone wear that run yea so run that they may obtain And as the old Romans gave the obsidional Crown to him that had delivered a City from the siege of the enemy and that made of the grass and flowers of the besieged City Even so doth God reward men according to their works and sets them as a Crown upon their head Let this be granted as an undoubted truth that salvation is a reward yet such a reward as issues out of meer bounty and liberality no wages or due debt Nor is it given Propter factum sed pacium not for the worthiness of the deed done but by a (k) Bona opera non sunt causa rogni sed via regnandi Bernard de Liber Arbit promissory obligation and engagement by way of covenant working is the means whereby not the cause why we come to salvation and though it be stiled our salvation yet is it as Faith and Repentance are termed ours being in us but not of us and actions and passions denominate the subject and not the cause God only is the efficient cause and author and man the proper subject or object of it For though works be never so necessary in themselves both in regard of their presence and instrumental efficiency as a condition means and way ordained by God that we should walk in yet must we not set so high a rate upon them as if they were a suficient price for Heaven any way adaquate and equivalent in proportion to the recompence of reward This alone is fitly compared to the penny in the Gospel and money as the wise man speaks answers all things and is the measure and rule of all but is not to be bought and sold at all It was the sacrilegious errour of Simon Magus to conceive that the gift of God might be purchased with money and it hath a spice of his sin and may so pass for a kind of spiritual Simony to think that salvation which is the gift of God may be procured with our labour The Papists indeed have coined a counterfeit and base money of merit to buy Heaven withall and though it hath none of Gods image and superscription yet would they give that unto God which is none of Gods as if they were to truck and chaffer and barter with him by way of merchandise and to deal with him upon the strictest terms of commutative justice Hear them speak in their own language Opera bona mercatura regni coelestis saith Bellarmine Heaven is as due to good works as Hell to bad So Andradius Coster the Rhemists on the New Testament Let Andrew Vega that proud Jesuite as the foreman of the Jury give in the Verdict for all the rest Gratis non accipiam He will rather lose it then take it as a free gift Nor do the Papists offend more on the right hand then the * Canisius lib. 1. de corrupt verbi Dei cap. 10. Flaccians and the rigid Lutherans on the left who decree them as unnecessary as hurtful as
drink with weeping after the manner of David Ye that now sow in tears shall reap in joy ye that now go forth weeping and it matters not though the seed time be somewhat moist so the Harvest prove dry and carry precious seed shall return with joy and bring your sheaves with you Psal 126.5.6 What though the light of God shines bright and cleer upon the forehead and about the Tabernacle of the wicked while ye in the mean time are hanged up like Bottles in the smoak and cast into by-corners like the shreds of a a broken pot They sing to the Lute and see their children dance before them whereas your hearts are heavy in your bodies as lead your sighs beat as thick as a swift pulse and water your couch with your tears They wash their paths in butter and their Tables are full furnished day by day But earth and ashes are your bread yet comfort your selves ye seed of the righteous with the setled expectation of a Harvest wherein ye shall rejoyce according to the joy of Harvest as the Prophet Isaiah speaks yea comfort ye comfort ye your hearts against the Fret of the ungodly the present prosperity of the wicked Learn to laugh them to scorn after the example of the most high for that you see that their day is coming Psal 37.13 when it shall be verified of them which the Prophet affirms of Babylon Jer. 51.33 The daughter of Babel is like a threshing floor The time of her threshing is come yet a little while and the time of her Harvest shall come It is Gregories speech in his morals upon Job occasioned by an elegant and exact description of the happiness of the ungodly Job 21. from the 6. to the 13. verse (t) Greg. in Job O Job bene enumer asti vitam impiorum dic finem quaeso Thou hast set forth to the life the life of the wicked Tell us I pray thee what is their end And he supplies and furnisheth himself with an answer out of the next words They spend their days in wealth and suddenly they go down into the Grave v. 13. If any propound and move the like question that have hitherto heard of the growth of these Tares and are pensive and disconsolate at the hearing of it dic finem quaeso what is the end of these Tares and what abides them in time of Harvest let such take their answer from the mouth of Christ in the words after the Text. And in time of Harvest I wil say to the reapers Gather ye fâ—râ— the Tares and bind them in sheaves to burn them This is their end An end without end and so I am fallen upon the Sixt and last point 6. The Sixth Proposition The true and proper reason of the being growth and continuance of the wicked and that is Christ's rance and toleration Suffer both to grow together This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or suffer hath a double reference 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or suffer hath a double reference First to Christ the Housholder or owner of the field who utters the words Suffer and therein presents himself as a precedent and pattern for their imitation Secondly the servants of the Housholder who complained of the springing up of the Tares Master sowed â— thou not good seed in thy field from whence then hath it Tares ver 23. And so it serves as a rule of instruction to suffer them after his example First this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or suffer hath reference to Christ the Housholder First to Christ the Housholder or owner of the field The will of God is as single and simple as his nature yet is it expressed and signified by general signs as both Lombard and Aquinas teach 1. His precept councel and operation in respect of good 2. His prohibition and permission of Evil So that sufferance is an act of God's will concerning sin which he neither commands nor counsels nor brings to passe But prohibits and yet gives way to both at once Of all the mysteries of Religion Praecipit ac prohibet permittit consulit implet there is none more intricate and involved There is not a more vexed question and disquisition than that which respects Gods concourse in sinful actions wherein there is equal danger of running into each extreme either by laying an attainder upon divine justice who is purity and holiness it self and is not a God that loveth wickedness as David speaks Psal 5.4 as if he were any way guilty or accessory to our sins or by charging and challenging of Gods providence as if he were a bare spectator and over-seer who by his All-seeing Eye did only foresee things to come but by any active power did no way interpose and intermeddle in our affairs And the reconciling of both these together the clearing Gods Justice and Providence in this particular is a point of no less difficulty than importance And this one word in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or suffer doth compromise the difference and as an indifferent Vmpire or Moderator equally determines and states the question for both attributes For first Christ suffers these Tares not involuntarily or against his will which would argue either ignorance or impotency and want of power but in a voluntary and willing manner concurring as an universal cause to the sustentation of the creature to the natural being of their sinful actions though not to the moral defect and sinfulness And yet ordering their sins to his own ends the manifestation of his glory both of his Justice and Mercy by his over-ruling and all-disposing providence Secondly though Christ suffers yet he only suffers the children of the wicked he doth not inwardly excite and move them unto sin not outwardly prescribe and command it in his word not operatively effect or work nor approve and allow it being once committed All which are so many arguments of the holiness of his nature and the exquisiteness of his Justice Christ suffers the Tares willingly and therein gives testimony to his Providence but he only suffers he is not the Author that shews his Justice If then we desire and seek resolution in the point touching the proper and direct cause of evil we shall not find it like unto the River Nilus the head whereof could not be discovered Nor need we rack and torture our thoughts with Saint Austin in a busie and too too curious inquisition which moved him to turn Manichee But we may resolve it into the liberty of mans will as the only impulsive and effcient cause of his own sin void indeed of any inward principle of corcuption and endowed with sufficiency of gifts and abilities to resist temptation and yet mutable in his state and condition into the wily subtilty and spiteful malice of the Devil as the procatartical and moving cause outwardly inviting and inveagling him with his suggestions And into the free pormission of the will of God leaving man in the hand