Malice as Ananias his lye Acts 5. 9. Not repented of but sin unrepented of as the two Theeves are Examples 10. Not sin confessed but covered and smothered Prov. 28. 13. Lastly Sin forsaken never damns sin not forsaken ever damns Prov. 28. 13. Ezek. 18. 21. Manasseh an example of the one Pharaoh of the other 1. We must distinguish of Righteousness 1. There is a Legal and Evangelical Righteousness 2. A Righteousness before God and before men Before God there is none Righteous according to the strictness of the Law But Zachary Elizabeth Abel and Lot and all truly godly are called and counted righteous by an Evangelical righteousness while they endeavour to fulfil all righteousness though in many things fall short But though they dare not plead their righteousness before God in whose Eyes the Heavens are not pure yet can they before men say Ye are witnesses and God also how holily and justly and unblamably 1 Thess 3. Po. we have had our Conversation among you Whose Oxe or Asse have I taken or whom have I defrauded There are sins Quotidianae Incursionis as Tertullian calls them some over-sights which the best are not free from but bewail and they consist with Grace But there are other gross sins Vastantia Conscientiam which make foul work with Conscience and denominate a man unrighteous in a high measure these shut out of Heaven 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. A third Doctrine much abused to strengthen Doct. 3. Christ died for Sinners men in sin is That Christ dyed to save Sinners which is the most comfortable Doctrine in all the Bible a saying worthy of all acceptation and due consideration But what use doth the presumptuous Sinner make of it Then saith he shall I do well enough though I live in sin for I can't out-sin the Merits of Christ's Blood which is said to cleanse from all sin And thus would he make Christ the Minister and Maintainer of sin as if he came not to destroy the Works of the Devil but to Patronize 1 John 3. 8. them But if thou wilt understand know That Jesus Christ came not to save us in and with but from our sins Matth. 1. 21. that is from the practice love and dominion of sin He gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity and to Tit. 2. 14. purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good Works Every word of which Text speaks life to the Sinner but death to his sin Christ came indeed to reconcile God and the Sinner not the Sinner and Sin He pulls down the partition-wall between God and the Believer but sets up a partition-wall between the Believer and his Sin But many deal with Christ said a worthy Dr. Hall Bishop as some do with their Prince or some great noble man they care not how much they take up and how far they run in debt and when payment should be made they get a Protection to elude the course of Justice So do many fly to Christ for his Protection saith he and this is a common cheat 4. There is no Doctrine more abused then Doct. 4. We are saved by grace that of free grace That we are saved by Grace not Merit The Scripture ascribeth all to Grace we are justified by Grace Rom. 3. 28. Saved by Grace not Works Ephes 2. 8. Where Sin aboundeth Grace superaboundeth Rom. 4. 20. Hence the Libertine assumeth I will rely on the Grace of God and not doubt of Salvation though I am such a Sinner The Apostle easily foresaw that such an Antinomian and Antievangelian Inference would be made by some ungodly ones as Jude calls them who would turn grace into wantonness therefore doth twice obviate and refute it in one Chapter Rom. 6. 1. Shall we continue in Sin that Grace may abound And verse 15. Shall we sin because we are not under the Law but under Grace And knocks down both with the same short answer of defiance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God forbid Shall Grace act against it self and destroy Grace shall gratia gratis data become Ingratum faciens 1. These do quite and clean corrupt the Doctrine of Grace which teacheth to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Tit. 2. 11. 2. These do pervert the use of Grace set down Rom. 6. 14. Sin shall not have dominion over you because ye are not under the Law but under Grace 3. These frustrate the main end of Grace which is set down Rom. 5. ult That as Sin hath reigned unto Death Grace might reign by Righteousness to eternal life To abuse Grace is the greatest Sin imaginable and to despight the Spirit of Grace is the Sin unpardonable Heb. 10. 29. And if any are ungodly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in God's Black-Book as destined to condemnation Jude verse 4. they are such as turn the Grace of God into wantonness A fifth Doctrine much abused is That Doct. 5. That we are saved by Faith we are justified and saved by Faith alone which is most true and consonant to Scripture Rom. 3. 28. Gal. 2. 16. Ephes 2. 8. I will therefore believe saith the careless Christian and then hope I shall do well enough though I have no good works which I hear are excluded in those fore-cited Scriptures in the matter of Justification But know O vain man That Faith and Works are only opposed in the matter of Justification but are never separated and parted As the Eye and Ear are opposed in the matter of seeing the Eye only sees not the Ear but where God gives Eyes he gives Ears also So to whom Grace is given to believe it is given to obey Faith is not an idle but active and operative Grace It works by love Gal. 5. 6. Is of a heart purifying nature Acts 15. 9. It unites the Soul to Christ so that Christ is said to dwell in the Soul by Faith Ephes 3. 16. And to live in the Soul Gal. 2. 20. The right Epithete of true Faith is most holy Faith Jude verse 20. His right property is sanctifying Acts 26. 28. True Faith is never solitary but attended and known by her good many Companions Vertue 2 Pet. 1. 5. Love Ephes 1. 15. Fear Heb. 11. 7. Repentance Mark 1. 15. Righteousness 2 Tim. 2. 22. Obedience Heb. 11. 8. Patience Heb. 6. 12. Sanctification 2 Thess 2. 13. Good Works Tit. 3. 8. Her Exercises are holy Duties Therefore we read of the Prayer of Faith James 5. 15. Living by Faith Heb. 11. 28. Walking by Faith 2 Cor. 5. 7. And as to our spiritual warfare it is of singular use we read of the fight of Faith 1 Tim. 6. 22. Resisting the Devil quenching his fiery Darts overcoming the World and all by Faith So that such know little of the nature of Faith who dream that Faith hath nothing to do but to look on a Promise and sit still Faith hath Promises Conditions Precepts Threats
account Heb. 11. 7. Lot Elias Micaiah Jeremy and our Saviour were all singular in their times But is it not better to be saved alone or with a few as Noah Lot and Rahab then to perish with a multitude Was not Joash more happy that he was preserved 2 Kings 11. 2 3. when the whole Family was cut off and rescued by a strange providence and reserved for a Kingdom then if he had undergone the same lot with the whole Royal Race 11. There are in the next that think to 11. The Law of the Land 1 Tim. 1. 8. shelter themselves under the protection of the Law of the Land And the Law is good as the Apostle saith if a man use it lawfully And for our Laws we have cause to bless God that we have so many good and wholsome Laws and to bless the King that we enjoy the benefit of them But yet the legal Christian is not the right Christian Now there are two sorts of men that shrowd themselves under the wing of the Law First One saith I do what the Law of the Land requireth living peaceably and conformably thereunto then what hath any man to say to me I answer Though Man hath not God may It is impossible said that learned Casuist that Bishop Sanderson de Leg. the Laws of Men should command whatsoever is to be done and forbid whatsoever Hum. Prâ—lect 6. is to be avoided That is the peculiar Prerogative and Perfection of the Divine Law Besides the Laws of men saith he never pretend to the government of the Thoughts Heart Spirit and inside of the man in which lies the chief both of Grace and Sin Vertue and Vice which the Law of God doth principally take notice of The Adequate object of the good Subjects Obedience is the Law of the Land but the Adequate object and measure of the good Christians Obedience is the Law of God And therefore though the Subjects conformity to the Laws of men absolve him in humane Courts and procure him the common benefit of the King's Peace yet it is conformity to the Law of God which procures spiritual peace of Conscience before God So that if you enquire in a civil and political sense Vir bonis est quis Who is the good man The answer is Qui consulta patrum qui Leges juraque servat He that observes the Laws and Edicts of the King and State where he lives but if in a religious sense Qui consulta Dei He that as Zachary and Elizabeth walketh in all the Ordinances Luke 1. 6. and Righteousness of the Law of God without rebuke 2. There is another sort of men when charged with rigor and hard dealing with their Neighbours men of a perverse and contentious spirit are ready to make their defence I do but what the Law will bear me out in who can blame me for following the Law and taking what advantage the Law will give me my Neighbour shall have Law and Justice at my hands and what he can recover by Law But we have a common saying Summum jus summa injuria Extremity is extreme hard Extreme right is extreme unrighteousness We Christians have a Command That our moderation should be made known to all men Phil. 4. 5. We are to be a Law to our selves above the Laws of Men under the Law of God Consider Christian if the Lord should say to thee and me you shall have Law and Justice what you can claim by the Law and no more Both you and I were eternally undone Remember with what Mat. 7. 2. measure thou metest it shall be measured to thee again And he shall have Judgment Jam. 2. 13. without Mercy who hath shewed no Mercy And mercy both in God and all good men should triumph over Judgment Do not thou therefore take thy Fellow-Servant by the Throat for the hundred pence when thou lyest obnoxious to the Justice of God for ten thousand Talents as it is in the Parable least he for thy extremity deal in just extremity with thee and cast thee into Mat. 18. 34. Prison till thou shalt satisfie for the whole Debt 12. Another sort of men make this excuse It is my own and I may do what I please with that It is my own and may I not do with my own what I will what hath any man to do with me in such case This is the excusative plea of two contrary kinds of men 1. The Prodigal saith If I spend high and make all away what is that to any man I may do with my own as I think good So saith the Miser If I keep all in my Chest and live below my state what is that to any man All is Ours say both I say neither Nothing is ours Nor are we our selves our own saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. 19. h. e. at our own arbitrary dispose no nor yet our States we are Stewards and Fiduciaries The Silver and Gold is mine saith Hag. 2. 8. Hos 2. 9. the Lord Thy Wooll Flax Wine Oyl mine Nabal was as much Fool as Churl when he talked so much of his Bread his Cheese his Victuals none must taste of his Cheer but himself and his own Domesticks The Law of Men will question neither the Prodigal or Miser God will The Lord will enquire what good thou hast done with thy State There are two Questions that all whom God hath given Estates to should study to make a good Answer to 1. The one is How camest thou by it was it by honest labour and conscientious diligence in thy Calling and God's blessing therewith Then much good may thy State do thee and much good mayst thou do with it But if by sycophantizing as Zacheus call'd it by bribery extortion grinding the face of the Poor false Weights and Measures detaining the Labourers Hire or Servants Wages racking Tenants c. Thy State is not thy own nor did God give it thee Thou hast Achan's accursed wedge in thy Tent This is aes Alienum Thou must restore with Zacheus if thou wouldst have Salvation come to thy house The next question is How thou hast kept or employed thy Talent The Miser thinks he is safe enough he got it hardly and keeps it charily makes no idle expences nothing spent in Taverns Cards or Dice or costly Entertainments But he keeps what he hath got and increaseth it daily as if this was the only Talent that God would call him to an account of Thy State is not yet thine till thou hast as well the Use as the Possession Quo mihi fortunas si non conceditur uti Hor. of it The rich Miser is not so properly said to have his Estate as his State possesseth and enslaveth him Habet nummos non habet ipsum We say Fire and Water are bad Masters Gold and Silver are worse they sink the Soul in destruction and perdition The Miser is the greatest monster in the World no
yea all God's Word to look to It hath Sins Corruptions Assaults Temptations to look after and resist It hath God and good Works and the life of Christ Heaven and heavenly-mindedness to look after To Faiths charge and over-sight all Graces Love Repentance Obedience Fear Patience Humility c. all Duties Prayer Praise Thankfulness are committed She the Queen they her Train she the Mother they the Daughters They all rise up and call her blessed and she as the good Mother of the Family giveth to them their appointed task of Employment and seeth that none of them be idle 6. The Doctrine of the Saints Imperfections Doct. 6. Of the Saints Imperfections goes a great way with many and themselves will make the use to excuse their Enormities Every one the very best have their failings none is perfect all the Saints had their Imperfections But thou mayst read much of their Perfections also if thou hast a mind to it Noah Abraham Job Asa and many others were perfect the Scripture witnesseth Paul saith All true Christians must endeavour after it Phil. 3. It is commended Matth. 5. 48. Exhorted too 2 Cor. 13. 11. Prayed for Heb. 13. 21. 1 Pet. 8. 10. We must therefore distinguish of Perfection 1. There was an Original Perfection Eccles 7. 29. God made man perfect This was but is not 2. There will be a future perfection when we shall come to be among the Spirits of the just made perfect Heb. 12. 23. This is not but shall be 3. There is a legal Perfection such as the Law requires This was in Christ Heb. 5. 9. But is not to be found in any since the Fall Heb. 7. 19. 4. There is an imaginary Perfection self-reputed such was in Tyrus Ezek. 27. 3. 28. 12. 15. And in Laodicea Rev. 3. Of this there is too much But 5. There is an Evangelical Perfection and this is that which we should seek after And this is 1. Imputative as there is an imputed Righteousness whereby Believers are made perfect by Christ's Righteousness imputed to them Ezek. 16. 14. Thy Beauty was perfect through my Comeliness which I had put upon thee This is our best Perfection and properly so called thus every one that is perfect shall be as his Master and Saviour Luke 6. 40. By this Job and other godly persons were reputed perfect Job 1. 1. 2. There is a Comparative Perfection Thus Noah Gen. 6. 9. was perfect in his Generations thou he had no absolute perfection yet compare him with other men he might go for a perfect man He did so out-shine them as the Stars compared with the Sun are no Lights at all but compared with the other parts of Heaven and much more with the clods of the Earth are glorious Lights 3. There is a perfection of parts an Inchoative Perfection which is yet incomplete but in a way to a complete perfection and shall come to be perfected Phil. 1. 5. Col. 1. 28. Ephes 4. 12 13. 4. As there is a perfection of Parts so of Hearts which next to that imputed is our best and we may take greatest comfort in 1 Chron. 28. 9. Thus was David and Asa perfect 1 Kings 11. 4. 2 Chron. 15. 17. 5. There is a perfection of way that wherein the godly set themselves to walk though sometimes they slack their pace and walk not so evenly in it Psal 119. 7. 101. 2. 6. 6. There is a Perfection of Desires and Endeavours a restless pursuit of perfection forgetting what is behind and pressing forward to the mark Phil. 3. 12 13. And herein stands the best of our perfection here below Now to apply this to thee who pleadest the Saints Imperfections to justifie thy sinful and lazy courses See here are many Perfections and thou hast never a one of them unless the Laodicean self-conceited perfection therefore no Saint sure Excuse not thy self by their Imperfections any more except thou dost strive to out-go them at least to equal them 7. Another Doctrine grounded on the Doct. 7. We are not under the Law but under Grace Scripture Rom. 6. 14. That we are not under the Law but under Grace is much abused If not under the Law saith the Libertine why should I trouble my self to keep it or be troubled if I break it Understand therefore what that means we are not under the Law 1. It is understood of Believers and such as are true Converts that they are not under the Law that is the irritation of the Law so as to be more irritated and incited by the curb and restraint which the Law lays upon us not to lust to lust the rather as we are apt to desire what is forbidden as the Apostle is supposed to speak of himself while unregenerate Rom. 7. 7 8. But we are under Grace which checketh and stoppeth that rebellious inclination and the irritation of the Law 2. That we are not under the Curse of the Law Gal. 3. 13. but under Grace which hath translated the Curse from us to Christ who was made a Curse for us 3. Nor under the justification of the Law as well as the Curse or Condemnation as sometimes Adam was before his Fall who was to look for his justification and acceptance from his observation of the Law he being then under the Covenant of Works the Covenant of Grace not being spoken of till after the Fall In which respect Believers are now said to be dead to the Law that they might Rom. 7. live unto God 4. Nor are Believers under the rigor of the Law so as that they cannot Gal. 2. 19. stand right in God's sight if they come not up to the strict terms of the Law when through infirmity they fail but we are under a more easie Yoke Grace doth mitigate and dispense with the summum jus the rigor and severity of it Rom. 3. 20. Gal. 2. 16. 5. Nor are Believers under the Coaction of the Law the Law is not made for the Righteous in this sense so as either to condemn or compel him but he is under Grace which prompts and puts him on out of a spirit of love and a willing mind to a chearful Obedience But because the Apostle saith We are not under the Law but under Grace would you make the Law and Grace to jar And the Doctrine of Grace and Practice of Sin to agree The Apostle bids defiance to such an impious Inference and in a sort disdains to give an Answer to this Objection Rom. 6. 14 15. but with abhorrence crys out God forbid And elsewhere positively affirmeth That he never intended his Doctrine of Grace should make void the Law but establish it to make it abide in â—ull force and vertue Another Doctrine and Scripture abused Doct. 8. That we are to try all things is That we are to try all things 1 Thess 5. 21. Hence saith the vain uâ—stable man I may go into all Companies any Meeting be present at any
fallen too Well might the ancient Israelite weep who had seen the former Temple in Ezra 3. 12. its glory to see so mean a one now like to succeed in the room of it Well might Israel bewail the change in Rehoboam's dayes from what it was in Solomons when Wisdom and Justice sate in the Throne and now folly was set in high degree weakness and wilfulness ruled and misruled and lost all The golden age and 2 Chron. 12. 10. sheilds of Solomon turned into brazen Well might Job bemone his condition so much altered he had sate chief among Princes and was now all alone upon a Dunghill a Companion of Owls and Worms and Job 30. 29. 1â— 14. Vermin his Associates Well might Nebuchadnezzar have lamented could a Beast speak who had commanded the Empire of the World now driven from the Throne and grazing among Bruits I may take up the words of the Lamentation and say What shall I take to witness for thee what shall I liken to thee Thy breach is great like Lam. 2. 13. the Sea who can heal thee Where is man's Wisdom now have they no understanding Psal 14. 4. to call Light Darkness and Darkness Light and what is become of his Conscience now that when he is called from Sin to Duty Repentance Faith Obedience he flies from all by and to Excuses Woe to the World because of Offences was Mat. 18. 7. once said And woe to the World because of Excuses They are the sin of the World of the Church of all of every one When we are called off from sin we make Excuses when to confess sin Excuses when to Duty we put off with Excuses when to believe we make Excuses when the highest Grace is tendred we make all void by Excuses Nothing but Excuses Excuses none so young so ignorant but is skilled in them none so poor but is stored with them none so good but one time or other hath had one none so bad but hath many of them I have named an hundred in this Discourse and another may come after and find an hundred more and yet leave gleanings to them that come after us both few good Excuses but store of bad from self others God Satan any thing every thing Let us take a short Survey 1. When we are called to avoid sin or break it off how do we shrug and shrink When the Lord cryes out to Lot Hast thou escape for thy life linger not how do we cry loath to depart as the Sluggard out of his Bed When the Lord calls as Jonathan 1 Sam. 20. 38. to his Lad make speed hast stay not Cito longe tarde as we say of the Pestilence we invert it and say Tarde prope cito we should fly from Sin speedily fly far off from it return slowly or never We remove slowly loath to part with it as Jacob with Benjamin Cry out for it as Micah Judg. 18. 14. for his gods go along as far as we can or dare as Phaltiel did to Michal his wife from whom he was to be divorced and 2 Sam. 3. 15. can't part without tears and in stead of going far we do as Hagar sit down within a bow shoot loath to see sin die and return Gen. 21. 16. to it again as soon what means this bleating else Oh not so my Lord Is it not a little one a venial sin If I never do worse I hope I may do well enough I have tasted but a little of this Honey and must I die for it Have not others done as bad or worse and yet done well I have Examples multitude great ones some that go for good men my Leaders I hope my place calling quality profession common custom may excuse me beside I live civilly and peaceably and do what the Law will bear me out in 2. Again when men are dealt with to confess and acknowledge their sin what ado is here how long was Samuel ere he could get Saul speak that hard and unpleasing word Peccavi how many shifts and evasions first I have done my duty as far as I thought my self bound I am not in fault at all we sometimes deny the fact as Gehazi sometimes extenuate it It was my ignorance saith one It is my nature another an ill custom I have got a third I was not my self A fourth I was in drink in passion in hast anger or in fear Or but in jest say others my zeal good meaning Conscience must excuse me say others I had passed my word made a Vow bound my self under an Oath and Curse and what would you have me do my Credit and Honour lay at stake my Shame was prevented Profit advanced my Calling followed such benefit to my self or friend procured Besides the matter was not so great and was but once nor had I any ill intention in the earth I should have been singular and I know not what if I had done otherwise and made scruple I am civil painful peaceable pay every one his own and if I never do worse I make no question 3. If we can't but yield it to be a sin then have we other Excuses Let others look to it I am faultless it was their doings not mine I was a Child and must do what my Father bad me a Servant and must keep my Masters Secrets and do his Commands I had my dependance on my Superiors and must comply with their will I had Commands to encourage me Promises to allure Threats to terrifie me Examples to draw me Friends and Companions to importune me how could I refuse Besides what some scrupulous persons more precise then wise make such a matter of is the custom of the Time Place Country and Company that I converse with God help if so few as some men say should be saved and the way to Heaven should be so narrow 4. When we are pressed to repent of Sin and forsake it how do we still Conscience and justifie our selves Are we not all Sinners have not the best their infirmities There is no perfection in this life sometimes we cast it upon Satan he dogged me sometimes upon God he denied me the Grace gave me not his Spirit or ought me a shame 5. When called upon to more seriousness and amendment of life we are ready to plead God's great Mercy gracious Promises Christ's Merits the Doctrines of free Grace justification by Faith remission of Sins imputed Righteousness and our purposes of Repentance hereafter 6. When excited to holiness we plead the disrepute Holiness is in the inconveniences we may meet with the Aspersions cast upon the Godly the Afflictions and Tryals they meet with the difficulties in the way of Salvation the scandalous Lives of some Preachers the foul Miscarriages of some Professors and one great Observation above all the rest the quiet and peaceable end that some great Sinners have made 7. When we are warned to take heed of security and slothfulness some
Abominations that attend it as so many Familiars or Evil Spirits dancing about the Cup. We may say with the Prophet Every Table is full of Vomit and every Bed full of uncleanness Esaâ— 2â— 8. Hâ—s 4. â—1 Whoredom Wine and new Wine hath taken away Englands heart and glory This with other sins hath filled the Cup of our Iniquities and caused the Lord in his just Judgment to give us that Cup of Trembling to drink of Pestilence Fire Sword hath been the portion of our Cuo Yet thou seest it not and saist with Solomon's Drunkard When I awake I will to it again Prov. 23. ult Joel 1. 5. Awake ye Drunkards weep and howl all ye drinkers of Wine saith the Prophet And consider how many fearful Woes are pronounced against this beastly Sin of Drunkenness There is one Woe Isa 5. 11. another Isa 5. 22. a third Isa 28. 1. a fourth Habak 2. 15. Besides many in the New Testament Matth. 24 49 50 51. 1 Cor. 6. 10. Gal. 5. 21. Woe upon Woe The Drunkard hath one Woe upon his Face Prov. 23. 29. Who hath woe who hath sorrows but he Another in his State Prov. 23. 21. Another on his ragged back ibid. Another all over his Body Diseases Aches Cramps Gout c. bred by this Distemper Another worse upon his Heart and Understanding Hos 4. 11. And the worst of all yet behind 1 Cor. 6. 10. Gal. 5. 21. There 's a Woe for the morning-Drunkard Isa 5. 11. A Woe for the afternoon and Evening-Drunkard Isa 5. 11. A Woe for the merry Drunkard Isa 5. 12. A Woe for the mad Drunkard Prov. 23. 29. the quarrelling Drunkard A Woe for the red-faced Drunkard ibid. A Woe for the babling Drunkard ibid. A Woe for the wanton and unclean Drunkard Prov. 23. 33. A Woe for the fighting Drunkard Matth. 24. 29. A Woe for the mighty Drunkard Isa 5. 22. A Woe for the Master Drunkard Habak 2. 15 16. Yea a Woe for the common Drunkard and for all the knot of Drunkards 1 Cor. 6. 10. 7. The like Excuse is made by the next I was in Passion who saith Though I was not in Drink yet I was not my self I was in Passion Iâ—a fuâ—or breviâ— est Hor. And indeed what is Passion but a dry Drunkenness and short Madness and doth as much disturb Reason as Wine or Phrensie for the time This was all the Plea those Sons of Jacob made for their barbarous cruelty towards the Shechemites They thought themselves excusable for their Passion and their Passion for the Provocation Should he deal with our Sister as Gen. 34. 30 31. with an Harlot But what said their Father to it Me have you troubled nothing ever so much troubled me in my life you have made me to stink and my Religion too Neither did he onely testifie his detestation of the Fact when it was fresh but thought of it the longest day of his life and on his Death-bed when he called his Sons together to receive each of them a Fathers Blessing he bequeaths this Legacy to those two Brethren Simeon and Levi are Brethren Gen. 49. 5 6 7. in Evil Instruments of Cruelty are in their Habitation Cursed be their wrath for it was cruel and their anger for it was fierce c. And it is recorded of Theodosius a godly Emperor when he had commanded Sozomen l. 7. c. 24. a cruel Execution upon the Citizens of Thessalonica for an affront given him that St. Ambrose would not admit him to enter into the Church doors or come to the Lords Table till he had done Penance and acknowledged the Error of his Passion A wise man will watch over his Passion and learn of Socrates who said once to his Servant offending Were I not angry I should strike thee 8. A third comes and makes the same 8 It was done â—n my Châ—ldhood Plea â—oo and saith I was not my self neither was but young a Child in comparison and did as a Child And Childhood and Youth are Vanity and must have a time to sow their Wild Oats But hath not God written bitter things against many for the sins of their youth Two and Joâ— 13. 26. 2 Kings 2. 23. forty Children paid dear for their Childish Impiety and deriding the Prophet being torn in pieces by two Bears Job and David smarted sore for their sins in youth Pâ—â—l 27 7. Job 20 7. And Zophar tells us excellently how such sins will come home to a man in his age and lie down with him in his sick bed and break his very Bones as those Bruises that are taken in Youth are felt usually in Age. And he that shall read St. Austin's Confessions and see how oft in many Chapters Conf l 2. c. 5. 6 7 8 9. he is up with a Piece of Waggery as we would call it robbing an Orchard of some green Apples and with what Circumstances he doth aggravate it and arraign himself for it how he doth lament it and beg pardon at the hands of God will I hope learn not to allow in himself or in his Children any Childish miscarriages I and my Companions rose in the Night saith he stole Apples more than they could tell what to do withal no very pleasant Apples neither nor did he it for want but wantonness nulla causa malitiae nisi malitia and how merry they were and how much they laughed when they had done all which he doth punctually set down and particularly bewail 9. Another begs your Excuse for he â— Hâ—â— goâ—d Nâ—tâ—â—e hath no other fault in all the world but that he is of so good a nature Thus must all be excused first or last One excused himself but even now from his Ill Nature and now a Good Nature is the onely crime He is of so good a nature that he can say nâ— body nay he is no mans foe but his own speak him but fair and you may have his very heart But I say then 1. How comes he to say God may Or is he no body with him Rehobâ—am and Zedekiah the first and last Kings of Judah were two such good-natured men and the one lost ten Tribes by his good nature the other all Rehoboam could not find in his heart to say the Youngsters nay he was so tender-hearted as he is said 2 Chron. 13. 7. And the other spake it out in plain English to his Lords and Courtiers desiring him to secure Jeremy or put him to death I leave him to you for the King is not he that can Jer. 38. 4. do any thing against you Yet both of these could say God nay Rehoboam could say the wise Grandees of State nay And Zedekiah could say Jeremy the Prophet nay with whom he had many a Conference 2. You may have his heart you say if you speak him fair you need but to hold up your Finger he will do what you would have him A mighty good nature sure
strait when of three Judgments thou must chuse one but never in such a strait as now Repentance had been thy onely Remedy Thou consultedst shame to thy House and that which thou didst contrive to smother it made it break out at the House top and proclaimed it in the sight of the Sun How well had it been with thee if thou hadst knocked down the first rise of the Tentation with thy Daughter Tamars detestation As for me whither shall I cause 2 Sam. 13. 13. my shame to go Thou hadst then prevented those Tragical Calamities that after befel thee and thy Family Yet alas how ordinary is it for men to seek to cover shame with sin and to hide a less run into a greater sin which will be sure to find them out and lay them open at last As in case of Robbery to conceal the Theft Murder is committed and often after one Murder committed a second or a third follows as if Blood could be covered with Blood And in the case of Bastardy how dreadful yet how ordinary is it for the unnatural Parents set on by the instigation of the Devil to lay violent hands on their own innocent Births Thereby making that sin which was bad enough before yet pardonable now a crimson sin and unpardonable Many Publicans and Harlots have repented and found mercy but Blood is a crying sin and calls for Vengeance Murderer is the Devils first Title John 8. 44. But with what fearful aggravations is this Infanticidium murder of Infants over-charged above any other almost Murder of any kind is dreadful but wilful and deliberate much more The casual murder might the wilful might not be pardoned But to murder an Innocent Numb 35. 31. that could never wrong any what barbarous Inhumanity this And if any in the world may be called Innocents Infants most properly Yet to do this with thy own hands who art the Father or Mother and oughtest by the Law of Nature to preserve thy Young Tygres and Bears will rise up against thee and condemn thee This is an act of so deep a dye that no words can set it out with horror enough An act not onely barbarous and inhumane but an unnatural and in a good sense I may call it an unbruitish act This worse than thy former sin Thy Fornication was a bruitish this a devilish act Yet alas how doth Satan hurry on these poor Creatures from sin to sin bearing them in hand this is the onely way for security and secresie Whereas this is that which makes all break out and that with a vengeance too The onely way had been to flie to that fountain opened for sin and uncleanness Zach. 13. 1. and to go into the lowest Form of humble Penitents as did that noted sinful Creature once who had not the confidence to look Christ in the face but came behind him and not presuming to touch his head washed his feet with her penitential tears the best Pattern in the world for such Offenders who had such acceptance that her Saviour said to her Her Luke 7. 3. 8. sins that were many were forgiven her This is the onely way All other ways and deeds of darkness will be brought to light and then the shame thou wouldest avoid will come home with a double measure of guilt and horror Oh that all such would well consider that fearful Woe denounced against such sin-coverings Isa 30. 1 2. Woe to the rebellious Children saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me and cover with a covering but not of my Spirit that they may add sin to sin This dreadful Woe will certainly pursue and overtake such kind of Offenders of whose Practice it is so lively a description 1. After such foul sins of Murder Whoredom c. there is nothing but taking counsel and devising how to keep it close They consult with Flesh and Blood consult with Sin and Satan They take counsel but not of me saith the Lord. 2. They cover with a Covering That is all which is desired not a Cure but a Cover not a Pardon but a palliating and cloaking of Sin This way is thought of and that way and a Covering they must have but not of my Spirit of the evil Spirit therefore it must needs be So 3. They add sin to sin which is the third thing noted and worst of all They enquire not how lawful but will it cover shame That is all they look after Sin is nothing with them and sin upon sin and wrath upon wrath their onely business is how to keep off shame Those two Harlots 1 Kings 3. were Saints to these Miscreants who both strove for the living Child neither would own the dead Child 17. There be divers others who think 17. It was not my act but others they need no Excuse as first He who says It was not his act but others But hadst thou no hand in it at all by Counsel Consent or Privity Thou maist be the Principal when others are the Actors Was not he charged with the Blood of Vriah who was at that time many a Mile off not slain by his hand but by the hand of the Children of Ammon There be many 2 Sam. 12. 9. ways whereby men may be guilty of other mens sins eight the principal are comprised in that old Distich Consulo Praecipio Consentio Provoco Laudo Non retego culpam non punio non reprehendo Counsel Command Consent Provoke Commend Not publish punish or not reprehend 1. Counsel Thus was Jonadab foully guilty of the deflowring of Tamar when 2 Sam. 13. 5. he gave Amnon those Instructions how to accomplish his Incestuous Lust 2. Command Thus Absolom guilty of Amnon's Blood who gave Command to 2 Sam. 13. 28. his Servants to set upon him and assassinate him at his Table Have not I commanded you 3. Consent Thus Saul guilty of the Blood of Steven though he cast not one Acts 8. 1. stone at him onely held the Garments of them who did it 4. Provoke Thus the Blood of Naboth is charged on Jezabel and all the Villanies 1 Kings â— 25. of Ahab because she stirred him up and egged him on 5. Commend They that forsake the Law praise the wicked but such as keep the Law contend with them Prov. 28. 4. They who commend and approve an evil fact whether before or post factum are equally guilty Had not old Jacob shewed his detestation of his Sons cruelty and perfidiousness towards the Shechemites he had been as faulty as they 6. Not to publish or discover The Counsel-keeper is as bad as the Counsel-giver If a Soul sin and hear the voyce of swearing and is a witness whether he have seen or otherwise known of it if he do not utter it he shall bear his iniquity Lev. 5. 1. By this means Joseph when a Youth of seventeen Gen. 37. 2. years of age cleared himself of his Brethrens faults by bringing to his Father
the Flock of Jacob if there were one not spotted it was none of his Laban's were all white Cattle The Lord had one Son only without Sin not one not him without smart Sufferings They who are now in their white Robes Rev. 7. 14. were once in their blacks and had waded through great Tribulations St. Chrysostome once was invited to a Marriage and was to go through a foul Lane but as he was going met a Malefactor going through the High-Street to his Execution whence he had this pious meditation How much better is it to go through the worse way if to a Feast then the fair to Execution Non qua sed quo said he No matter what way we go to Heaven so we get but thither Through many Tribulations was ever wont to be the way to Heaven Acts 14. 22. 11. But I fear saith one I have committed 11. Fear I have committed the sin against the Holy Ghost the Sin against the Holy Ghost and then what place for Faith or Hope It is like the Sin of Elie's House not to be purged by any Burnt-Offering or Sacrifice But dost thou fear indeed The more there is of that fear the less of this danger Such as fall into that sin are Leviathan like without fear Job 41. 33. Past feeling Eph. 4. 18. Have Eyes but see not Ears but hear not Sin but tremble not Know therefore that every sin even the most heinous and grievous is not the sin against the Holy Ghost otherwise Manasseh had been in it not all sin of Ignorance though pursued with greatest Violence otherwise Paul's had been it nor any sin against Knowledge faln into through surprise and infirmity and after repented otherwise Peter's had been it But if Paul had had Peter's knowledge of Christ or Peter Paul's rage against Christ both had had a sad account to make He that shall attentively read and compare those two places Heb. 6. 4 5. with Heb. 10. 26 27 28 29. will understand the better what this Sin against the Holy Ghost is and what Ingredients are in it 1. There must be Knowledge and Illumination in the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven It is not a sin of Ignorance 2. There is a sinning wilfully It is not every sin of Infirmity or relapse into a former sin 3. There is in it a falling away not every slip or stepping aside not every fouler sin bewailed and broken off but an absolute falling off 4. All these with a studied and professed opposition to Christ and his Grace and Spirit Thence they are said to Crucifie Christ again and put him to more shame as if he had not suffered enough before and to despight the Spirit of Grace So that lay all these together this cannot be thy case oh poor mournful distressed doubting and complaining Christian who dost lament mourn faint pant hunger thirst fear grieve which they never do who fall away as is here described but are given once to impenitency and obdurateness of spirit There are four kinds of Falls which may befal the Child of God each worse then other The first and lightest is that in our daily combate by reason of the sin that dwells in them they do what they would Rom. 7. 18. not and cannot do what they would but daily fall short In which respect we are none of Gal. 5. 17. us Supralapsarians but Sublapsarians and Relapsarians too This is but like the fall of a mist in Winter the Sun breaks out and a fair day follows The second is Gal. 6. 1. When a good man is overtaken with some more notable miscarriage as were they who dissembled in the business of Judâ—izing Gal. 2. 14. They did not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 walk strait these did Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 restore This is as a fall whereby a Leg is put out of joynt yet set again and all is well Let him that is free from these two take a Ladder as Constantine said to Acesius the Novatian and go Socr. l. 1. c. 7. to Heaven alone For in many things we sin all Jam. 3. 2. The third is more sad when a Believer falls into some fouler sin as did David and Peter into sins wasting Conscience This like the fall of Eutichus from the third loft dead for the present but after recovered by a Miracle of Mercy The fourth is a kind of Apostasy or insensible decay an abatement or loss of first love and may be never comes to former strength and liveliness or to regain their former peace Thus as David in his age grew cold and needed an Abishag to lie in 1 Kings 1. 3. his Bosome his natural heat being abated So his Sons spiritual heat abated by reason of the many Abishags that lay in his bosome and though he was beloved of his God yet did his Sun set in a Cloud This like the fall of the hair in old age waxeth thinner and thinner though life remains nature is not so strong and vigorous as formerly But there are four worse kinds of falls peculiar to wicked men The first proves final but is not total at first but sensim sine sensu by little and little Thus the thorny ground miscarried This like Elie's 1 Sam. 4. 18. fall backward to the breaking of his Neck The second Is a total and final but not voluntary at first but are beaten out of heart as the stony ground by tribulation arising This like the fall of Sisera he fell down Jud. 5. 27. dead with his nail sticking in his Temples The third A more fearful a total final voluntary and deliberate yet not malitious fall Thus Demas is supposed to fall who of a Disciple or Teacher formerly is said afterwards to have become a Priest in an Idol-Temple at Thessalonica so Dorotheus Esther 6. 13. Reports This fall is like the fall of Haman when they thus begin to fall no hopes of Recovery 4. Yet is there a worse The fourth is as the opening of the fourth Seal where appears Rev. 6. 8. the pale Horse and Death upon his back and Hell following a total final voluntary deliberate and malitious falling away Such was the fall of Simon Magus Hymenaeus Alexander Julian c. Upon such a fall the Gulph is fixed the Decree gone out Nulla retrorsum no renewing such to Repentance This fall is like the fall of Jerichoes walls which fell down flat Josh 6. 20. with a Curse annexed against Rebuilding or of Judas who falling head long burst asunder in the midst and all his Bowels gushed out or if you will as the fall of Lucifer himself who from an Angel of Light is become a Prince of Darkness This last onely is the Sin against the Holy Ghost upon which I have therefore the longer insisted from which they are far enough that are oft so much affrighted who are more afraid then there is cause when their case is at most but as Paul's Peter's David's
as good a man as he I 'le carry no Coals If with my Inferior I may tread on him make him know I am his Betters my Servant shall know I am his Master my Wife that I am Head c. 6. This is a great Murderer and guilty of much Bloud If I am affronted saith the Gallant I will draw or send a Challenge If challenged I will not so Vn-man and Vn-Gentleman my self as not to fight him To lose the repute of a Christian one that feareth God and the guilt of Bloud is no disparagement but to lose the reputation of a Gentleman or indeed a Lamech that were a perpetual Gen. 4. disgrace If any wrong me should I not hate him if he provoke me strike him and lay him at my foot If abuse me may I not revenge my self and do to him as he hath done to me never be reconciled to him again as I hate to be false to my Friend but shall love him as much as he loves me so I will not be false to my self but hate an Enemy as much as he hateth me 7. This is the great Adulterer and Mother of Whoredoms If I commit Adultery David if Incest Lot may Excuse me If I have committed Fornication it is a Venial Sin many of the Fools of Israel have done so before me I am not the first nor shall be the last if I talk at random and speak scurrilously it is but to make my self and others merry and words are but wind if I have a wanton Eye or lustful Thoughts Thoughts are free what hath any to do with them 8. The Eighth Commandement is wholly taken away by Excuses If I steal better so then starve If I be false to my Master said the unjust Steward Luk. 16. Blame me not if I desire to live I have nothing to live upon but my Wits better so than dig or beg or be cashiered If I rack my Tenants may I not make the best of my own If I over-reach in Bargaining Caveat Emptor may I not sell my Commodity as dear as I can If I spend all it is but my own if I hoard up all lend spend give nothing may I not please my self If I have an advantage against my Neighbour and take it vexing him with troublesome Suits in Law the Law not I am to be blamed If I commit Sacriledge the Church hath enough and too much already It is but a piece of a Babylonish Garment given to the Church in times of blind Superstition If I pay not my Tythes the Parson comes easily enough by his Living Thus is there no Eighth Commandement 9. For the Ninth we may say Excuses were a Lyar from the beginning and abode not in the truth and yet pleads for all manner of untruths If I tell an untruth the Jesting Lye doth no man harm the Officious Lye doth a deal of good to my Friend The Excusatory Lye hideth a fault and saveth anger yea the pernitious defaming Lye will have somewhat to defend it self I have now cryed Quit with him he reviled me and I have reviled him if slander it was my Enemy If I take up an ill Report and spread it you have it as I had it I was not the Author of it yea if I make Oath to a false Charge it is but what is put in my mouth and others will second it Thus is there no Ninth Commandement left neither Lastly as for Coveting what Excuses have men ready to justifie any thing If my Neighbour hath Field or Tenement that lyeth convenient for me why may I not seek to add House to House and Field to Field by fair means if it may be as Ahab to Naboth or else out him by Law and dispossess him if that will not do as did Jezabel by a Wile and Quirk in the Law or play the Sycophant and forge some cavilling Accusation to pick a hole in his Coat as sometimes Zacheus had done or by flattering Insinuations undermine him as Ziba did Mephibosheth or if I envy repine at or maligne my Neighbours good what hath any to do with that Thus have Excuses made void the whole Law and not left one unviolated 2. As Excuses are such capital offenders against the Law they are as much against the Gospel too endangering the frustrating of Gods Counsel slighting the offers and tenders of Grace as those in the Parable Luke 14. 18. Thereby receiving the Grace of God in vain or turning it into wantonness or slipping the season and opportunity of the day of Grace as if he that out of Grace stretcheth out his hand all the day long were bound to stretch it out all their life long to a rebellious and gainsaying people 2. Are as injurious to Christ slighting his Person and Kingly power because his Visage so marred Outside so mean Parentage so low Followers so inconsiderable his Precepts so pure Yoke so strict Cross Mat. 11. 6. so heavy and ignominious that he goes for a blessed man that was or is not offended in him They cast him out of the Vineyard and had a reason for it then the Inheritance was their own They take Mat. 21 38. away his Life and have a Law and great Reason of State for it to prevent the Roman subjugation Excuses have banished the Gospel because it brings a Religion and Laws different from former Customs Acts 16. 21. have made the Jews to stumble at the imputed Righteousness of Christ Ro. 10. 23. having a Legal Righteousness of their own have emboldened the Papists to joyn other Mediators with Christ as the Blessed Virgin and their Patron Saints to mingle the Bloud of Christ with that of Martyrs their own Merits Pardons Pennances Satisfactions all to Corroborate but indeed to Invalidate the alone all-sufficient Satisfaction of Christ Excuses have corrupted the Doctrine of Grace laid down Tit. 2. 11 12. Perverted the use of Grace Rom. 5. 22. that Grace should reign by Righteousness have made Christ the Patron and Minister of Sin Gal. 2. 17. because he came to save Sinners in a word have subverted the whole Gospel perverting the Doctrines of Justification Faith Repentance Remission of Sins to encourage men to sin and presume with the greater security 3. Excuses have sinned against the Holy Ghost sighting and putting by his Motions Excitations Convictions as did Felix not regarding his present first second reiterated Knocks Calls Invitations but perswading themselves the Spirit will come again at their pleasure when they are old sick or dying as Sampson once thought he would go shake and rouze up himself as in former times but wist not Judg. 16. 20. that the Spirit of the Lord was departed from him 3. Excuses are of so evil and malignant aspect that they have turned all things unto Sin that they have had to do with increasing to more ungodliness making ill use of Gods Decrees Ezek. 33. 10. Of Gods Providences as Adam the Woman whom thou gavest me Gods Patience
out all our Sins so is Gods promise Ezek. 18. 21. Now where there is a removal blotting out and remission of Sin there needs no more Excuse or covering of Sin when sin is pardoned it is therefore said to be covered Psal 32. 1. Blessed is he whose iniquity is forgiven and whose sin is covered blessed is he to whom the Lord imputeth not sin c. All these Blessings came upon the truly penitent And therefore there is no more need of Excuses where there is no Sin Repentance is the best Excuse Apology or clearing of our selves as the Apostle calls it 2 Cor. 7. 11. Beza renders it Excusatio and so is the signification of the word grammatically it procures a Pardon which no other Plea or Apology can and that gives a Covering which all the Excuses in the world can never do Of other Coverings that may be said which the Prophet speaks Ezek. 30. 1. They cover with a Covering but not of my Spirit adding sin to sin add Excuses to Excuses and you add Sin to Sin He that so covereth Prov. 28. 13. his sins shall never prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy you will cover and God will discover But true Repentance is a great Cover-sin This was the way which David took for clearing himself and to have his Sin covered he confessed repented cryed out I have sinned 2 Sam. 12. 13. done foolishly wickedly and the Prophet said The Lord hath taken away thy sin thou shalt not die Not guilty is the worst Plea we can make at Gods Tribunal and to stand upon our Innocency Because thou sayest I am Innocent I will plead with thee Jer. 2. 35. Job durst not stand to this plea If I am righteous said Job 9. 15. he I would not answer God so but make my supplication as an humble Delinquent to my Judge our best way of speeding in Gods Court contrary to what of man's is to sue in forma pauperis in forma peccatoris If I should wash my self in Snow water saith Job again and make v. 30. 31. my Hands never so clean yet thou shalt plunge me in the Ditch and make my Clothes to abhor me my Excuses with which I would cover my Sin would leave me in a worse pickle of pollution That vile Shimei sped better at Davids hands upon 2 Sam. 19. 19 20. his speedy and humbe submission and acknowledgement of his offences then either the innocent Amalekite that brought 2 Sam. 1. 15. 2 Sam. 4. 12. Saul's Crown or those perfidious Brethren that brought Ishbosheths Head when the one knew himself to be an offender and the three last thought they had merited and looked for a reward The penitent Prodigal had better Entertainment at the Fathers hands that cryed out Father I have sinned then the elder Brother that pleaded he had never offended Judahs Ingenuous confession of the miscarriage what shall we say or how can we clear our selves the Fact is apparent God hath brought our Sins to light we are all thy Servants c. so wrought upon Josephs Bowels that he could not speak one rough word more but fell to embracing and comforting them 3. In the third place because both Obedience and Repentance are defective our next Remove is to fly to the bloud of Christ by Faith and this three-fold Cord will be sure to hold fast the Anchor of thy Soul This is the only safe remove to trust to and this gives a supersedeas to all other Excuses Repentance is a good Cover-sin in some cases and goes a great way but the Bloud of Christ is all in all when all is 1 Joh. 1. 7. 9. done to cover and take away Sin it cleanseth us from all unrighteousness It was not all sorrow and contrition but the offenders highing and flying to the City of Refuge and abiding there which Num. 35. 25. did Excuse and secure him from the hands of the Avenger And the death of the High Priest did fully acquit him from his Crime Christ is our great and only Excuse-maker our only Advocate and Mediator and if be he our Apologist we shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without Excuse in a good sense Who is he that will contend with me saith the penitent and believing Soul flying to Christ He is near that Justifieth me who Esay 50. 8 is he that will condemn Christ hath died c. and he maketh Intercession for us and his Intercession is above all the Pleas we can make for our selves Benjamin came off better by Judahs interceding for him and Nabal by Abigals then if either had spoken the best they could in their own behalf This made the Apostle desire to be found in Christ not in his own righteousness The Righteousness of Phil. 3. 9. Christ if we speak properly is the only Cover-sin and his Bloud the only Expiation and his Intercession our best plea and defence and true Faith our best Title and Claim By him all that believe are Justified there 's our safety from all which we could not be Justified by the Law Acts 13. 39. And to this give all the Prophets Act. 10. 43 witness that whosoever believeth in him shall receive forgiveness of Sins and where Remission is granted there is no more need of Excuses Christ saith to the troubled Soul that is perplexed to think what answer to make as to Mary Magdalen mourning why weepest thou what troubleth thee is it any want He saith as the good old man to the Levite that knew not where to Lodge Peace be to thee let Judg. 19. 20. all thy wants be upon me Is it Debt He hath undertaken and speaks to his Father in thy behalf as Paul for Onesimus If he Philem. 6. 18. bath wronged or oweth any thing put that on my account Is it Sin He saith in thy behalf interceding for thee as Abigal to David Vpon me upon me let this Iniquity be charged He was made Sin for us 2 Cor. 5. 21. Is it the Fathers Wrath and Curse thou fearest as Jacob did his Fathers He satisfieth thee in the words of Rebecka to her Son Fear not upon me be the Curse Gen. 27. 13. only obey my voice Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law having been made a Curse for us Gal 3. 13. 4. The fourth and last way to make sure against all sorry and beggarly Excuses is to furnish thy self with solid substantial and unexceptible Excuses such as can't be excepted against such as the Servants of God of old were wont to repel any motion to sin or diversion from duty by whereof I shall instance in five out of the Old Testament and as many out of the New And the first is that known one of Joseph when thou art sollicited to any base and sinful act resist it with this How can I do this great wickedness and sin against Gen. 39. 9. God 2. Get Tamars Excuse when
thy Excuse is our Reproach and leaves us without Excuse Here is a Pattern for you Youths that are all for Play and Sports remember your Saviour in the morning of his Youth before he was yet entred into the Teens when but twelve Years old was found not in the streets among Play-fellows but in the Temple among the grave Doctors nor as a spectator of them or Gazer on the Structure and Ornaments of the Temple but an attentive Auditor and as a great Proficient was able both to propound and answer with so much understanding as was admirable about matters of Religion Learn thou the way to the Temple and the place where the Teachers meet to reverence and attend to them that thy profiting may appear by thy understanding and answers and enable thy self for holy Conference Here is an Example also for Gentlemen and those of highest Birth your High born Lord was not found among his Kinsfolks and Friends as if his Business was to pay Civilities to friends and acquaintance to give and receive Visits and Treatments which is all the account some can give of their time spending nor was he ever found in the Tavern or Theater but now and after constantly in the Temple But alas how many are there whom you may seek long enough ere you find them in the Temple in the Tavern every day at the Temple seldom at the Theater they never miss among they Players among the Doctors or Teachers seldom specially expressing any reverence or devotion but as if they came rather to scoff than learn But let such consider seriously can they say if asked what makest thou here I am about my Fathers Business Yea this may be an Example to all men to attend their Callings and to mind the Business which God sets them to do Minister Verbi es hoc age was famous Perkins's Motto that wheresoever thou art found thou mayst be found so doing And this will be thy best discharge I must be about my Fathers Business 2. We must obey God rather than men is a just Excuse when God commands one thing and man another as was the case of the Apostles Peter and John when Acts 5. 28 29. they returned that answer to the High Priests Charge of Preaching no more in the Name of Christ But be sure the thing thou stickest at be so indeed and not in thy Imagination lest whilst thou sufferest for not obeying man thou mayst also sin in disobeying God too whose Command is Superiours should be obeyed in all Lawfull things 3. That was an excellent Excuse which Saint Paul made being in Bonds pursued by many enraged Enemies and charged with heavy Crimes Men and Brethren Act. â—3 1. I have lived in all good Conscience and that before God to this day The only Excuse in the world Saint Bernard calls it Perfecta absoluta cuique Testimonium Conscientiae suae Saint Peter calls it the answer of a 1 Pet. 3. 21. good Conscience Saint Paul had as many heavy Adversaries as ever man had had as many grievous Crimes laid to his charge as the great Incendiary and Pest in the State and an Haeresiarcha Arch Heretick in the Church a mover of Sedition and a Ring-leader of the new Sect of the Nazarens alias Christians or true Believers as Tertullus laid to his charge yet stands he like a Brazen Wall and as easily acquits himself of all their Accusations as he did once his Hand of the Viper which he shook off with this I have lived in all good Conscience before God An accusing Conscience is the worst Accuser and the Excusing Conscience the best Excuser Exercise thy self therefore in this Art of Christianity to have alway a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards man Act. 24. 16. If thou hast God and a good Conscience on thy side thou needest not care who is against thee thou hast Compurgators enough it will be with thee as it was with that famous Cato who had many Accusers and many Tryals but quoties accusatus toties absolutus it was said of him he had as many Judicial Absolutions as he had unjust Accusations and so came off ever with honour 4. See if thou canst make the same Apostles Excuse or Excuses Rom. 7. from verse 14. to the end When in the Review of thy spiritual state thou seest so much for which to condemn or abhor thy self as that thou fallest short of the Law that spiritual thou carnal short in thy performances the good I would I do not that thou art pestered with such a depraved nature that when thou wouldst do good evil is still present c. see if thou canst find the same temper of a gracious Spirit under these conflicts in three respects which was in him 1. As to Evil. 2. As to Good 3. As to the Law prescribing good forbidding Evil. 1. As to Evil canst thou say That there is no Evil thou dost allow thy self in v. 15. 2. No beloved Sin The Evil which I hate v. 15. 3. No voluntary wilful Sin That which I would not v. 16. and. 19. 2. As to good 1. though I fail in doing I fail not in desiring in indeavouring My will is good though performance poor to will is present with me though how to perform what is good in such a manner as I would I find not 2. Of all good he saith It is that he loves it is the good he would v. 19. 3. As to the Law prescribing Good and forbidding Evil canst thou say as he did 1. That the Law is holy and the Commandement holy just and good v. 12. A wicked man will say the Commandement is holy and just it may be too holy and too just but how to call it good he can hardly tell it doth so meet with him and cross his Lusts 2. Canst thou say thou consentest and subscribest to the Equity and Purity of the Law v. 16. I consent to the Law that it is good I tell you it is a gracious Heart that can say so I like not the Law the worse for its strictness and purity I find no fault with Gods holy Law all the fault I find is with my own unholy Heart I wish not for a better Law but a better Heart 3. And canst thou say further Thou delightest in the Law of God and in thy Inner Man v. 22. That thou dost heartily close with that though it make against thee and command more and better obedience then thou dost perform and reprove and threaten Sin I say this is a fair conflicting man's Excuse and doth clear thee from being a Hypocrite The fift and last Excuse and that which is simply and absolutely the best and fittest for us in our frail and imperfect estate to fly unto with which I shall conclude this Discourse and with which I heartily wish thou and I may conclude our Lives is to fly to Christ This is our ultimum refugium our last refuge when all
Heaven shall hear of me I will perish repenting believing praying so as never any man did yet Thou hast at least as good ground to encourage thee to pray and hope as Nineveh had who when under such Comminations and Threats of destruction at hand said Who knows but if we repent cry to God mightily and reform throughly the Lord Jonah 3. 8 9. will repent and have mercy on us that we perish not CHAP. IX The Causes and Reasons of Excuses THus have I wearied the Reader and my self too in seeking to hunt out this subtile Soul-Deceiver out of his Subtersuges and Lurking-holes If we could catch those Foxes that marr our Vines and bind this Destroyer of our Country as they call'd Sampson it were time well spent We will sit down now and see if we can discover the Reasons of those so many and various Excuses Them we shall reduce to two heads 1. Enquiring the Causes whence they come 2. The Ends why they are taken up 1. For the first If we enquire whence Causes of Excuses they come it will lead us back as far as Original Sin there then thence they had their Original They came in with the first Sin As Satan was a Destroyer and Murderer from the beginning and abode not in the Truth so was this Sin a Deceiver 1. Man's Fall Causa prima and Lyer from the beginning when Integrity went out Excuses came in An old Date and memorable Year Primo mundi The first year of the Conquest Anno libertatis deperditae The first year of man's slavery under Satan And as with a Conqueror many new Usages are brought in so is it here God made man upright there was none of these in his prime Constitution but man faln sought Eccl. 7. ult out many Inventions This was Causa prima The first Cause There and then did this Black Art commence which ever since the Children of men have studied and improved The ancientest Art or Science in the World and most practised Young and Old Learned and Unlearned all verst in it no need of these in Integrity He that Joh. 3. 20 21. doth good cometh to the light but he that doth evil flyeth it lest his deeds should be made manifest Then did Adam and Eve lay their heads together to cover their Bodies with Fig-leaves and their Sin with Excuses The harmless Fowls of the Air build their Nests on the tops of Trees in the sight of the Sun but the Beasts of Prey have their Dens Caves and Holes wherein they hide themselves and steal not out but in the dark 2. The second is near akin A primà 2. A Prima orta Our Corruption by the Fall Jam. 1. 13. orta Original Corruption Peccatum Originatum flowing thence hath filled the World with Excuses ever since Now is man led aside of himself and enticed now is every Imagination of the Heart evil from his youth And man busieth himself about Gen. 6. 5. these two Imaginations chiefly 1. How to devise and contrive Evil. 2. How to conceal and cover it As the Fox and Badger first earth themselves under ground then do what they can to stop up the mouths of their Dens that they may not be discovered Thus doth man busie his Brains night and day how to defend Sin and to prove Darkness to be Light 3. Nor could the World be so full of 3. Causae assistentes 1. Priacipal Satan Excuses as it is if there were not some assisting Causes to set them forward Of which there be two sorts The one Principal viz. Satan and he to be sure is never far off to lend his assistance And hence you may see with wonder how prompt and ready some are at this Art as if they had been trained up in Loyola's School that you may know whose Children and Schollars they are by their Language and Evasions He that is the Father of the Lyer is the Father of the Excuse-maker He that taught man to lye taught him to make an Excuse He that taught Eve to entice and Adam to sin taught both to make excuses The Devil first put into Judas heart to betray his Master then taught him to wipe his mouth and say Is it I He first taught Ananias to tempt the Holy Ghost then puts Acts 5. a lye in his mouth to excuse it Know therefore Man or Child when thou tellest a lye to make an excuse the Devils stands at thy Elbow Speak the truth and shame the Devil 2. The second and less principal is Man 2. Secondary Father Master or what ever other It is not possible else that many so young should be so dexterous and ready at this Art if they had not been taught Parents sometimes put a lye into the Childs mouth and bid him say He is not at home Thus the High Priests instructed the Souldiers to say Christ was stollen out of his Sepulchre Mat. 28. 13 while they slept and they would take it upon them Profound Casuists the Jesuits Predecessors who have since so improved See the mystery of Jesuitism this Art to such a perfection that they must be acknowledged the only Masters of it who can find a cover for every Dish and an excuse for every Sin 4. There be other Causes Concomitant 4. Deficient causes 1. Not considering God's Omniscience which I may call Causae deficientes Deficient or defective Causes 1. Want of due sense and consideration of God's Omniscience Omniprescence Purity and his other Perfections of searching the Heart weighing the Spirit that he is a strict Observer of all our Actions a severe Discoverer Detecter and Detester of all Deceit and that will bring to light all the hidden works of Darkness otherwise they would stop and say Will not God find this out They consider not saith the Lord that I remember all Hos 7. 2. their wayes how their own doings have beset them about they are before my face They forget how he fetcht out Adam out of his Thicket and singled out Achan from the Croud Jacob knew his Fathers sight was bad and the Wife of Jeroboam that Ahijah's 1 Kings 14. 4. Eyes were set or he would not have been so bold to deceive his Father or she to disguise her self to amuse the Prophet Had Gehazi known his Masters spirit had gone along with him and that he should have been so immediately examined and taken tripping in his Tale he would have let Naaman and his two Bags alone If the Prophet knew what the King of Syria did in his Bed-Chamber The Lord that revealed that to him knows all thou dost in the Chambers of thy Imagery He compasseth thy Bed and thy Path knoweth Psal 139. 3. thy down-lying and up-rising and is throughly acquainted with all thy ways 2. A second deficient Cause is Men consider 2. Or the extent of the Law not the latitude extent purity and spiritualness of God's Law That it requireth truth
and sincerity in the Worship Service and Obedience which we do perform to to God The word of God is quick and Heb. 4. 12. powerful piercing to the dividing of the Soul and Spirit and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the Heart Now did men believe and were sensible of the quick and lively Power the Majesty and Authority of the Word and did remember those Rules to walk with God and be upright In all our wayes to acknowledge him That whatsoever we do we should do it as to the Lord and not to Men and Col. 3. â—3 withall consider That by this word we shall be judged in the last day It is not possible Joh. 12. 48. they should study such shifts and flatter themselves in them for there would be no more need of them then for the man that doth well to hide his head and fly from the light when he can make out his Joh. 3. 21. works to be wrought in God 3. Very few have heard the sound of the last 3. Or the day of Judgment Mal. 3. 17. Trumpet sounding in their Ears nor do they believe there is a Book of Remembrance written before God And that a dreadful day of account is coming when these Books shall be brought forth and that Rev. 20. 12. then God will set all in order before the Sons of men with all the circumstances of their evil Actions and then bring every Secret to light and reward all according to their Works For did they so it is not possible there would be so much base dealing and wickedness in the World making Lyes their Refuge as if they had made an Agreement with Hell and a Covenant with Death But there is a world of Atheism in Christendom and of Infidels among Christians that seek â—o dig deep to hide their Counsel from the Lord and their Works are in the dark and they say Who sâ—eth us and who knoweth us They turn things up side-down saith the Prophet turn a fair side outward and a Esay 29. 15 16. foul side inward 4. In the fourth place There is little 4. Want of Conscience of that we call Conscience in the World and the want of it is a main deficient or efficient I may say of Excuses There is much talk of Conscience every where but where is it to be found almost Right Conscience is Cordis scientia saith Bernard Or cum Deo scientia say others not Scientia simplicis Intelligentiae as I may say a bare speculation but an active practical and uniform Concurrence of Breast and Brain of Profession with Practise yea of Man with God when words deeds agree with the heart and the heart with God But alas there is much of Science in the World little of Conscience much Head-knowledge little Heart-knowledge much studying men little minding of God Were there more of this in the World there would neither be carrying on of Designs nor studying Excuses but Acts 24. 16. a serious and sincere endeavour to be without offence both before God and before men 2. For the ends which Excuses are 2. Ends of Excuses made use of 1. Many fly to them as we say For shame of the World and Speech of 1. To avoid shame the People as did they who took up stones to throw at Christ who pleadâ—d They did it not for any of the goods works John 10. 33. he had done that had been too bad but for Blasphemy Better a bad excuse then none at all People woud have cryed Shame on them it they had not covered their Malice with some plausible pretence So again when Pilate urged his Accusers for Reason Reason as they cryed out to him for Justice Justice why what Evil hath he done I find no faule in him They would have been thought inexcusable if they could not have said We have a Law and by our Law he ought to die But none could they name that he had ever violated So whâ—n the Scribes and Pharisees never John 19. 6 7. left persâ—cuting Christ John Baptist and the Apostles and all that were better then themselves People would have cryed shame on them for their Impiety But when they could say You see we Reverence the true Prophets Moses Samuel Jeremy Daniel c. We Celebrate their Memorials garnish their Sepulchres and for those Mat. 23. 30. good men we lament their loss Had we been in our Fathers dayes we would have Sainted â—ot Slain them But Jesus and the Baptist we know not whence they are The one hath a Devil the other is a Wine-Bibber a Samaritan Heretick a Mover of Sedition and what not So that now they must not be thought any wayes ill affected to true Piety but honoured as the Piâ—lars of the Church the zealous Asserters of Truth Unity and Order and the only Sappressors of Heresie Schism Fâ—ction Sedition and Novelty Just so do the Papists St. Peter St. Paul St. Lawrence c. we keep dayes in their Memory preserve their Reliques pray to them honour them with a kind of Worship shew more Piety towards them then all you Protestants do But if Luther Calvin Cranmer Ridley c. teach the very same Doctrine that Peter and Paul they shall be Anathematized or burnt to Ashes if they can light of them 2. A second end Is to gain a repute of 2. To gain a Repute of Religion Religion And such is the luster and beauty of Religion that though few affect the power of it yet all court the Name and are ambitious of the Reputation of it Thus Machiavel instructs his Prince to put on the Vizor of one Religious yet to scruple nothing mean while whereby he may more enlarge his Dominion or drive on his Designs Thus those very Jews again John 10. 33. make their defence We stone thee not for any Cures or other good Works wrought or thy shews of Sanctimony but thy Blasphemy and Arrogance To make thy self the Son of God and equal to God we cannot bear Very pious Souls Though many have been so wicked as to do it none ever was so weak as to own it that they hated Piety and Virtue for its own sake A fair Pretence is fittest to cover so foul a Disposition Those that hated and cast out their Brethren of old as the Prophet said for owning the Name of God no other Crime yet said Let God be magnified Esay 65. 5. All was done out of zeal to God's Glory and the Churches Peace What do the Papists and other Persecutors pretend less 3. A third end Is to stop the mouth 3. To stop the mouth of conscience of Conscience and still its Clamors Conscience would lead the man an unquiet life and would be clamorous if he had not somewhat to pretend Therefore some grave shews of Religion some form of Godliness some Sins forborn some good Works done some Duties performed must bribe Conscience to let