as euer in pulling downe houses and setting vp hedges in vnpeopling townes and creating beggars in racking the backes and grinding the faces of the poore how dwelleth the loue of God how dwelleth the spirit of compassion in these men Are these eyes to the blinde feet to the lame and fathers to the poore as Iob was I know your hearts cannot but rise in detestation of these things at the verie mentioning of them But what would you say if as it was said to Ezechiel so I should bid you d Ezech. 8.6.13.15 turne againe and behold yet greater and yet greater abominations of the lamentable oppressions of the poore by them and their instruments who stand bound in all conscience and in regard of their places to protect them from the iniuries and oppressions of others But I forbeare to doe that and chuse rather out of one passage in the Prophet Amos to giue you some short intimation both of the faults and of the reason of my forbearance It is in Amos 5.12 13. I know your manifold transgressions and your e Amos 5.12 13. mightie sinnes they afflict the iust they take a bribe and they turne aside the poore in the gate from their right Therefore the prudent shall keepe silence in that time fortia peccata vulg ibi for it is an euill time And as for searching out the truth in mens causes which is the third Duetie first those Sycophants deserue a rebuke who by false accusations and cunningly deuised tales f Pindar Olymp ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of purpose inuolue the truth of things to set a faire colour vpon a bad matter or to take away the righteousnesse of the innocent from him And yet how manie are there such as these in most of our Courts of iustice Informing and promoting and pettifogging make-bates Now it were a lamentable thing if these men should be known and yet suffered but what if countenanced and encouraged and vnderhand maintained by the Magistrates of those Courts of purpose to bring Moulter to their owne Mills Secondly since Magistrates must be content for they are but men and cannot be euery where at once in many things to see with other mens eyes and to heare with other mens eares and to proceed vpon information those men deserue a rebuke who being by their office to ripen causes for iudgement and to facilitate the Magistrates care and paines for inquisition doe yet eyther for feare or fauour or negligence or a fee keepe backe true and necessarie informations or else for spight or gaine clogge the Courts with false or trifling ones But most of all the Magistrates themselues deserue a rebuke if eyther they be hastie to acquite a man vpon his owne bare deniall or protestation for si inficiari sufficiet ecquis erit nocens as the g Delphidius Orator contra Numerium apud Ammian Marcell l. 18. Oratour pleaded before Iulian the Emperour if a deniall may serue the turne none shall be guiltie or if hastie to condemne a man vpon anothers bare accusation for si accusasse sufficiet ecquis erit innocens as the Emperour excellently replied vpon that Oratour if an accusation may serue the turne none shall bee innocent or if they suffer themselues to bee possest with preiudice and not keepe one eare open as they write of Alexander the Great for the contrarie partie that they may stand indifferent till the truth be throughly canvassed or if to keepe causes long in their hands they eyther delay to search the truth out that they may know it or to decide the cause according to the truth when they haue found it And as for Courage to execute iustice which is the last Duty what need we trouble our selues to seeke out the causes when wee see the effect so daily and plainly before our eyes whether it be through his owne cowardise or inconstancy that he keepeth off or that a faire word whistleth him off or that a great mans letter staveth him off or that his owne guilty conscience doggeth him off or that his hands are manacled with a bribe that he cannot fasten or whatsoeuer other matter there is in it sure we are the Magistrate too often letteth the wicked carry away the spoile without breaking a law of him or so much as offering to picke his teeth It was not wel in Dauids time and yet Dauid a Godly King when complainingly he asked the Question h Psalm 94.16 who will stand vp with me against the euill doers It was not well in Salomons time and yet Salomon a peaceable King when i Eccl. 4.1 considering the Oppressions that were done vnder the Sunne hee saw that on the side of the oppressours there was power but as for the oppressed they had no comforter Wee liue vnder the happy gouernment of a godly and peaceable King Gods holy Name bee blessed for it and yet God knoweth and we all know it is not much better now nay God grant it be not generally euen much worse §. 26. The third Inference for Exhortatiō Receiue now in the last place and as the third and last inference a word of Exhortation and it shall be but a word You whom God hath called to any honour or office appertaining to iustice as you tender the glory of God and the good of the Commonwealth as you tender the honour of the King and the prosperity of the Kingdome as you tender the peace and tranquillity of your selues and neighbours as you tender the comfort of your own consciences and the saluation of your owne soules set your selues throughly and cheerfully and constantly and conscionably to discharge with faithfulnesse all those duties which belong vnto you in your seuerall stations and callings and to aduance to the vtmost of your power the due administration and execution of Iustice. Doe not decline those burdens which cleaue to the honours you sustaine Doe not poast off those businesses from your selues to others which you should rather do than they or at least may as well do as they Stand vp with the Zeale of a Psal. 106.30 Phinees by executing iudgment helpe to turne away those heauie plagues which God hath already begun to bring vpon vs and to preuent those yet heauier ones which hauing so rightly deserued wee haue all iust cause to feare Breathe flesh life into the languishing lawes by mature and seuere and discreete execution Put on righteousnesse as a garment and cloathe your selues with iudgement as with a robe and diademe Among so many Oppressions as in these euill daies are done vnder the Sunne to whom should the fatherlesse and the widow and the wronged complain but to you whence seek for reliefe but from you Bee not you wanting to their necessities Let your eyes be open vnto their miseries and your eares open vnto their cryes and your hands open vnto their wants Giue friendly Counsell to those that stand need of your Direction affoord conuenient helpe
Agents in euery and therefore euen in sinfull actions Gods h Rom. 9.11.15.18 c. free election of those whom hee purposeth to saue of his owne grace without any motiues in or from themselues The immutabilitie of Gods i Ioh. 13.1 Rom. 11.29 5.9.10 8.35.38.39 Loue Grace towards the Saints and their certaine perseuerance therein vnto Saluation The k Rom. 3.28 Iustification of sinners by the imputed righteousnesse of Christ apprehended and applyed vnto them by a liuely faith without the works of the Law These are sound and true and comfortable and profitable and necessary doctrines And yet that impudent Strumpet of Rome hath the forehead I will not say to slander my Text alloweth more to blaspheme God and his Truth and the Ministers thereof for teaching them Bellarmine Gretser Maldonate the Iesuites but none more than our owne English Fugitiues Bristow Stapleton Parsons Kellison and all the rabble of those Romish hell-hounds freely spend their mouthes in barking against vs as if we made God the author of sinne as if wee would haue men sinne and be damned by a Stoicall fatall necessitie sinne whether they will or no and be damned whether they deserue it or no as if wee opened a gappe to all licenciousnesse and prophanenesse let men beleeue it is no matter how they liue heauen is their owne cock-sure as if we cryed downe good workes condemned charity Slanders loud and false yet easily blowne away with one single word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These imputations vpon vs and our doctrine are vniust but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let them that thus mis-report vs know that without repentance their damnation will be iust §. 8. With the Causes It would be time not ill spent to discouer the grounds of this obseruation and to presse the vses of it something fully But because my ayme lyeth another way I can but point at them and passe If seldome Truth scape vnslandered maruell not the reasons are euident On Gods part on Mans part on the Diuels part God suffereth Man rayseth the Diuel furthereth these slanders against the Truth To begin ordine retrogrado to take them backwards First on the Diuels part a kinde of Contrariety and Antipathie betwixt him and it Hee being the a Ioh. 8.44 Father of lies and b Eph. 6.12 Prince of darknesse cannot away with the Truth and with the Light and therefore casteth vp slanders as Fogs and Mists against the Truth to belie it and against the Light to darken it Secondly on mans part And that partly in the Vnderstanding when the iudgement either of it selfe weake or else weakened through precipitancie preiudice or otherwise is deceiued with fallacies instead of substance and mistaketh seeming inferences for necessary and naturall deductions Partly in the Will when men of corrupt mindes set themselues purposely against the knowne truth and out of malicious wilfulnesse against the strong testimonie of their owne hearts slander it that so they may disgrace it and them that professe it Partly in the Affections when men ouercome by carnall affections are content to cheate their owne soules by giuing such constructions to Gods Truth as will for requital giue largest allowance to their practices and so rather chuse to crooken the Rule to their own bent than to leuell themselues and their affections and liues according to the Rule Thirdly on Gods part who suffereth his owne Truth to be slandered and mistaken Partly in his Iustice as a fearefull Iudgement c 2 Thess. 2.10.11.12 vpon wicked ones whereby their hard hearts become yet more hardened and their most iust condemnation yet more iust Partly in his Goodnesse as a powerfull fiery triall of true Doctors whose constancie and sinceritie is the more d 1 Cor. 11.19 approued with him and the more eminent with men if they e Ioh. 10.12 flie not when the Wolfe commeth but keepe their standing and stoutly maintaine Gods truth when it is deepliest slandered and hotliest opposed And partly in his Wisedome as a rich occasion for those whom hee hath gifted for it f 2 Tim. 1.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to awaken their zeale to quicken vp their industrie to muster vp their abilities to scowre vp their spirituall armour which else through dis-vse might gather rust for the defence and for the rescue of that g 1 Tim. 6.20 2 Tim. 1.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that precious truth whereof they are depositaries wherewith he hath entrusted them §. 9. and Corollaries thereof These are the Grounds The Vses for instruction briefly are to teach and admonish euery one of vs that wee be not either first so wickedly malicious as without apparant cause to rayse any slander or secondly so foolishly credulous as without seuere examination to beleeue any slander or thirdly so basely timorous as to flinch from any part of Gods truth for any slander But I must not insist This from the slander §. 10. OBSER IV. Euery slander Obserue fourthly how peremptorie the Apostle is in his censure against the slanderers or abusers of holy truths Whose damnation is iust a Ambrosius Lyra Piscator Pareus c. Some vnderstand it with reference to the Slanderers As we be slanderously reported and as some affirme that wee say Whose damnation is iust that is their damnation is iust who thus vniustly slander vs. b Chrysostomus Caietanus Erasmus c. Others vnderstand it with reference to that vngodly resosolution Let vs doe euill that good may come whose damnation is iust that is their damnation is iust for the euill they doe who aduenture to doe any euill vnder whatsoeuer pretence of good to come of it Both expositions are good and I rather embrace both than preferre either I euer held it a kinde of honest spirituall thrift where there are two senses giuen of one place both agreeable to the Analogie of Faith and Manners both so indifferently appliable to the words and scope of the place as that it is hard to say which was rather intended though there was but one intended yet to make vse of both And so will we Take it the first way and the slanderer may reade his doome in it Here is his wages and his portion and the meed and reward of his slander Damnation And it is a iust reward He condemneth Gods truth vniustly God condemneth him iustly for it Whose damnation is iust If we be countable and wee are countable at the day of Iudgement for c Math. 12.36 euery idle word we speake though neither in it selfe false nor yet hurtfull and preiudiciall vnto others what lesse than damnation can they expect that with much falshood for the thing it selfe and infinite preiudice in respect of others blaspheme God and his holy Truth But if it be done of purpose §. 11. Whether malicious and in malice to despight the Truth and the Professors thereof I scarce know whether there
which it may be more conuenient to conceale than to teach some diuine truths at some times and in some places But yet as the Case is here proposed §. 33. and in what he may not if it bee a truth questioned about which Gods people are much distracted in their opinions much mistaken by some through error in iudgement much abused by sinfull especially publike practice occasioning Scandals and offences among brethren likely to be ouerwhelmed with custome or multitude of those that thinke or doe against it and bee otherwise of materiall importance I take it the Omission of it vpon seasonable opportunitie is a grieuous sinne and not colourable by any pretence Beloued the Minister is not to come into the Pulpit as a Fencer vpon the stage to play his prize and to make a faire a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 9.26 flourish against sinne Here he could haue it and there hee could haue it but hath it no where but rather as a Captaine into the Field to bend his forces especially against the strongest troupes of the enemy and to squander and breake thorow the thickest rankes and to driue at the b Fight neither with small nor great saue onely with the King of Israel 3 King 22.31 fairest It is not enough for a Prophet to c Esay 58.1 cry aloud and to lift vp his voyce like a trumpet and to tell Iudah and Israel of sinnes and of transgressions at large but if he would whet them vp to the battell he must giue a more d If the trumpet giue an vncertaine sound who shall prepare himselfe to the battell 1 Cor. 14.8 certaine sound he must tell Iudah of her sins and Israel of her transgressions If there be in Damascus or Moab or Ammon or Tyrus or Iudah or Israel e Amos 1. 2. three transgressions or foure more eminent than the rest it is fit they that are sent to Damascus and Moab and Ammon and Tyrus and Iudah and Israel should make them heare of those three or foure more than all the rest Sinnes and Errors when they begin to get head and heart must be handled roughly Silence in such a case is a kinde of flattery and it is f Penè idem est fidem nolle asserere negare Fulgent lib. 1. ad Thrasim cap. 1. Sicut incauta locutio in errorem pertrahit ita indiscretum filentium in errore relinquit Greg. in Moral almost all one when sinnes grow outragious to hold our peace at them and to cry Peace Peace vnto them Our Apostle in Act. 20. would not haue held himselfe sufficiently discharged from the guilt of other mens blood if he had shunned as occasion was offered to haue declared vnto them g Act. 20.26 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euen the whole counsell of God §. 34. A more particular Application in defence of the former Sermon In my Application of this Instance and Case blame me not if I do it with some reference to my selfe Being heretofore by appointment as now againe I was to prouide my selfe for this place against such a meeting as this is as in my conscience I then thought it needfull for me I deliuered my minde and I dare say the Truth too for substance something freely touching the Ceremonies and Constitutions of our Church And I haue now also with like freedome shewed the vnlawfulnesse of the late disorderly attempts in this towne and that from the ground of my present Text. I was then blamed for that I thinke vniustly for I do not yet see what I should retract of that I then deliuered and it is not vnlikely I shall be blamed againe for this vnlesse I preuent it You haue heard now already both heretofore that to iudge any mans heart and at this time that to slander any truth are without repentance sinnes iustly damnable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that offend either in the one or the other their damnation is iust To preserue therefore both you from the Sinne and my selfe from the Blame consider I pray you with Reason and Charity what I shall say You that are our hearers know not with what hearts we speake vnto you that is onely knowne to our owne hearts and to a 1 Ioh 3.20 God who is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things That which you are to looke at and to regard is with what b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 17.11 Non requiritur quis vel qualis praedicet sed quid praedicet Distinct. 19. Secundùm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. in Charmide truth we speake vnto you So long as what wee preach is true and agreeable to Gods Word and right reason you are not vpon I know not what light surmizes or suspicions to iudge with what spirits or with what dispositions of heart wee preach Whether we c Phil. 1.15 16.17.18 preach Christ of enuie and strife or of good will whether sincerely or of contention whether in pretence or in truth it is our owne good or hurt we must answer for that and at our perill be it if we doe not looke to that But what is that to you Notwithstanding euery way so long as it is Christ and his truth which are preached it is your part therein to reioyce If an d Gal. 1.8.9 Angel from heauen should preach any vntruth vnto you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let him bee accursed but if the very Diuell of hell should preach the truth he must be heard and beleeued and obeyed So long as e Math. 23.2.3 Scribes and Pharisees hold them to Moses's Text Doctrine let them bee as damned f Woe vnto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites Math. 23.13 14 c. Hypocrites as Scribes and Phrisees can be yet all whatsoeuer they bid you obserue that you are to obserue do Let mee then demand Did I euer deliuer any vntruth It had beene well done then to haue shewne it that I might haue acknowledged and retracted it Did I speake nothing but the truth with what conscience then could any that heard me say as yet I heare some did That I preached factiously That I came to cast bones among them That I might haue chosen a fitter Text That I might haue had as much thankes to haue kept away For Faction I hate it my desire and ayme next after the good of your soules was aboue all the Peace of the Church and the Vnity of Brethren For casting bones if that must needs be the phrase they were cast in these parts long before my comming by that great enemy to peace and vnity and busie sower of discord the Diuell otherwise I should not haue found at my first comming such snarling about them and such g Gal. 5.15 biting and deuouring one another as I did My endeuour was rather to haue gathered vp the bones and to haue taken away the matter of difference I meane the errour in iudgement about and
is it true of publike Magistrates and in matters of iustice and iudgement by how much the men are of better note and the things of greater moment But in difficult and intricate businesses couered with darknesse and obscuritie and perplexed with many windings and turnings and cunning and craftie conueiances to find a faire issue out and to spie light at a narrow hole and by wisedome and diligence to rip vp a foule matter and search a cause to the bottome and make a discouerie of all is a thing worthy the labour and a thing that will adde to the honour I say not onely of inferiour Gouernours but euen of the supreme Magistrate the King i Prou. 25.2 It is the glory of God to conceale a thing but the honour of Kings is to search out a matter §. 15. and reasons thereof To vnderstand the necessitie of this dutie consider First that as sometimes Democritus said the truth lyeth a Cic. 1. Acad. quaest in fine Inuoluta veritas in alto latet Sen. 7. de benefic 1. in profundo and in abdito darke and deepe as in the bottome of a pit and it will aske some time yea and cunning too to find it out and bring it to light Secondly that through fauour faction enuie greedinesse ambition and otherwise innocency it selfe is often laden with false accusations You may obserue in the Scriptures how b 3. King 21.13 Naboth c Ierem. 37.13 Ieremie d Act. 24.5 25.7 Saint Paul and others and you may see by too much experience in these wretched times how many men of faire and honest conuersation haue been accused and troubled without cause which if the Magistrate by diligent inquisition doe not either preuent or helpe to the vtmost of his endeauour hee may soone vnawares wrap himself in the guilt of innocent blood Thirdly that informations are for the most part partiall euery man making the best of his owne tale and he cannot but often e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menand apud Stob. serm 44. erre in iudgement that is easily carried away with the first tale and doth not suspend till he haue heard both parties alike Herein f 2. Sam. 16.3.4 Dauid failed when vpon Ziba's false information he passed a hastie and iniurious decree against Mephibosheth Salomon saith g Prov. 18.17 He that is first in his owne tale seemeth righteous but then his neighbour commeth and searcheth him out Prou. 18. as wee say commonly One tale is good till another bee told Fourthly that if in all other things hastinesse and precipitancy be hurtfull then especially matters of iustice would not bee hudled vp hand ouer-head but handled with mature h Take heede what you doe 2. Chron. 19.6 deliberation and iust and diligent disquisition i Senec. l. 2. de Ira c. 23. Cunctari iudicantem decet imo oportet saith Seneca he that is to iudge it is fitt he should nay it is necessary he should proceed with conuenient leisure Who iudgeth otherwise and without this due search hee doth not Iudge but ghesse The good Magistrate had need of patience to heare and of diligence to search of prudence to search out whatsoeuer may make for the discouery of the truth in an intricate and difficult cause The cause which I knew not I searched out That is the Magistrates third Duty there yet remaineth a fourth in these words I brake the iawes of the wicked and plucked the spoile out of his teeth §. 16. The opening of Wherein Iob alludeth to rauenous and saluage beasts beasts of prey that lye in waite for the smaler Cattell and when they once catch them in their pawes fasten their teeth vpon them and teare them in pieces and deuoure them Such Lyons and Wolfes and Beares and Tygers are the greedy a Qui pote plus vrget pisces vt saepè minutos Magnu comest vt aues enecat accipiter Varro in Margopoli factus praeda maiori minor Sen. in Hippol. act 2. great ones of this world who are euer rauening after the estates the liuelihoods of their meaner neighbours snatching and biting and deuouring and at length eating them vp and consuming them Iob here speaketh of Dentes Molares Teeth and Iawes and hee meaneth the same thing by both Power abused to oppression But if any will be so curiously subtle as to distinguish them thus he may doe it Dentes they are the long a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a cuert sharpe teeth the foreteeth b Psal. 57.4 Dentes eorum arma sagittae saith Dauid Their teeth are speares and arrowes Molares à molendo so called from grinding they are the great double teeth the iaw-teeth Those are the Biters these the Grinders these and those together Oppressours of all sorts Vsurers and prouling officers and sly Merchants and arrant Informers and such kinde of extortioners as sell time and trucke for expedition and snatch and catch at petty aduantages these vse their teeth most these are Bìters The first and I know not whether or no the worst sort of them in the holy Hebrew tongue hath his name from biting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naschak that is to bite and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neschek that is Vsury Besides these Biters there are Grinders too men whose teeth are Lapides Molares as the ouer and the nether mill-stone Depopulators and racking Landlords and such great ones as by heauie pressures and burdens and sore bargaines breake the backes of those they deale withall These first by little and little c Esay 3 15. grinde the faces of the poore as small as dust and powder and when they haue done at length d Psalm 14.4 eate them vp one after another as it were bread as the Holy Ghost hath painted them out vnder those very phrases Now how the Magistrate should deale with these grinders and biters Iob here teacheth him he should break their iawes and plucke the spoyle out of their teeth that is quell and crush the mighty Oppressour and e Eripite nos ex faucibus eoâ—uÌ„ quorum crudelitas Crass. apud Cic. 1. dâ— Oratore deliuer the Oppressed from his iniuries For to breake the iaw or the cheeke bone or the teeth is in Scripture phrase as much as to abate the pride and suppresse the power and curbe the insolency of those that vse their might to ouerbeare right So Dauid saith in the third Psalme that God had saued him by f Psal. 3.7 smiting his enemies vpon the cheeke bone and breaking the teeth of the vngodly And in Psalme 58. he desireth God to g Psalm 58.6 See also Prou. 30.14 Ioel 1.6 breake the teeth of the wicked in their mouthes and to breake out the great teeth of those young Lyons In which place it is obseruable that as Iob here he speaketh both of Dentes and Molares teeth and great teeth and those wicked great ones according as Iob
other eight Sermons also now first published as well as to those two That the particular Contents of each Sermon are so placed in the Margent after this note § in the beginning of euery Section or Paragraph that the Reader with running ouer the Margent onely may haue a briefe and summarie abstract of the seuerall Sermons God blesse them all to thy Instruction and Comfort Amen THE FIRST SERMON At a Visitation at Boston Linc. 17. April 1619. ROM 14.3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him that eateth not iudge him that eateth IT cannot be auoided §. 1. The occasion so long as there is or Weakenesse on earth or Malice in hell but that scandals will arise and differences will grow in the Church of God What through want of Iudgement in some of Ingenuity in others of Charity in almost all occasions God knoweth of offence are too soone both giuen and taken whilest men are apt to quarrell at trifles and to maintaine differences euen about indifferent things The Primitiue Romane Church was not a little afflicted with this disease For the remedying whereof S. Paul spendeth this whole Chapter The Occasion this In Rome there liued in the Apostles times manie Iewes of whom as well as of the Gentiles diuers were conuerted a Acts 28.24 to the Christian Faith by the preaching of the Gospel Now of these new Conuerts some better instructed than others as touching the cessation of legall Ceremonies made no difference of Meats or of Dayes but vsed their lawfull Christian libertie in them both as things in their owne nature meerly indifferent Whereas others not so throughly b De nouo conuersus de lege Catholica minùs sufficienâ—er instructus Lyra. catechized as they still made difference for Conscience sake both of Meats accounting them Cleane or Vncleane and of dayes accounting them holy or seruile according as they stood vnder the Leuiticall Law These later S. Paul calleth c Verse 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weake in the Faith those former then must by the law of Opposition be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 15.1 §. 2. Scope Strong in the Faith It would haue become both the one sort and the other notwithstanding they differed in their priuat iudgements yet to haue preserued the coÌ„mon peace of the Church and laboured the a 2. Cor. 10.8 edification not the ruine one of another the strong by affoording faithfull instruction to the consciences of the weak and the weake by allowing fauourable construction to the actions of the strong But whilest either measured other by themselues neither one nor other did b Gal 2.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as our Apostle elsewhere speaketh Walke vprightly according to the truth of the Gospell Faults and offences there were on all hands The Strong faultie in Contemning the Weake the Weake faultie in Condemning the Strong The strong proudly scorned the weake as silly and superstitious for making scruple at some such things as themselues firmely beleeued were lawfull The weake rashly censured the strong as prophane and irreligious for aduenturing on some such things as themselues deeply suspected were vnlawfull The blessed Apostle desirous all things should be done in the Church in loue and c 1. Cor. 14.26 vnto edification d Caietan in locum aequa lance and e Bulling in locum eodem charitatis moderamine as Interpreters speake taketh vpon him to arbitrate and to mediate in the businesse and like a iust vmpire f Iob 9.33 layeth his hand vpon both parties vnpartially sheweth them their seuerall ouersights and beginneth to draw them to a faire and an honourable composition as thus The Strong hee shall remit somewhat of his superciliousnesse in dis-esteeming and despising the Weake and the Weake hee shall abate somewhat of his edge and acrimonie in iudging and condemning the Strong If the parties will stand to this order it will prooue a blessed agreement for so shall brotherly loue be maintained Scandals shall bee remoued the Christian Church shall bee edified and Gods name shall be glorified This is the scope of my Text and of the whole Chapter In the three first Verses wherof there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 §. 3. Coherence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the first Verse the Proposall of a generall Doctrine as touching the vsage of weake ones with whom the Church is so to deale as that it neither giue offence to nor take offence at the weakenesse of any Him that is weake in the Faith receiue you but not to doubtfull disputations Next there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the second Verse a Declaration of the former generall proposall by instancing in a particular case touching the difference of Meates There is one man strong in the Faith hee is infallibly resolued there is no meate a Verse 14. vncleane of it selfe or if receiued with thankefulnesse and sobrietie b 1. Cor. 10.23 vnlawfull and because hee knoweth he standeth vpon a sure ground c Vers. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee is confident he may eate any thing and he vseth his libertie accordingly eating indifferently d 1. Cor. 10.27 of all that is set before him making no question for conscience sake One man beleeueth he may eate all things There is another man Weake in the Faith hee standeth yet vnresolued and doubtfull whether some kinds of Meates as namely those forbidden in the Law be cleane or he is rather carried with a strong suspition that they are vncleane out of which timorousnesse of iudgement hee chuseth to forbeare those meates and contenteth himselfe with the fruites of the earth Another who is weake eateth Hearbs This is Species Facti this the Case Now the Question is in this Case what is to bee done for the auoidance of scandall and the maintenance of Christian Charitie And this question my Text resolueth in this third Verse wherein is contained 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saint Pauls iudgement or his counsell rather and aduice vpon the Case Let not him that eateth despise c. The remainder of the Verse and of the Chapter being spent in giuing reasons of the iudgement in this and another like case concerning the difference and obseruation of Dayes I haue made choyce to intreat at this time of Saint Pauls aduice §. 4. and Diuision of the Text. as vsefull for this place and auditorie and the present assembly Which aduice as the Parties and the Faults are is also twofold The Parties two He that eateth that is the Strong and he that eateth not that is the Weake The Faults likewise two The Strong mans fault that 's a Litterally setting at naught so it is translated Luk. 23.11 and the Latine translation which Tertull. followed readeth here fitly to the Greek Qui manducat ne nullificet non manducantem Tertul. de
Dutie with the Reasons and extent therof I was eyes to the blinde and feete was I to the Lame I was a Father to the poore Followeth next the third Duty in these words The cause which I knew not I searched out §. 12. The opening of Of which words some frame the Coherence with the former as if Iob had meant to cleare his Mercy to the poore from suspition of Partiality and iniustice and as if he had said I was a father indeed to the poore pitifull and mercifull to him and ready to shew him any lawfull fauour but yet not so as a Ne crederetur quòd faueret eis nimis in preiudicium iustitiae subditur â—ausam Lyran. hîc in pity to him to forget or peruert Iustice. I was euer carefull before I would either speake or doe for him to bee first assured his cause was right and good and for that purpose if it were doubtfull b Ne fortè motupietatis in discretae condescenderem ei in praeiudicium iustitiae Lyran hîc I searched it out and examined it before I would countenance either him or it Certainely thus to do is agreeable to the rule of Iustice yea and of Mercy too for it is one Rule in shewing Mercy that it be euer done salvis pietate iustitiâ without preiudice done to pietie and iustice And as to this particular the Commandement of God is expresse for it in Exod. 23. c Exod. 23.3 Thou shalt not countenance no not a poore man in his cause Now if we should thus vnderstand the coherence of the words the speciall duty which Magistrates should hence learne would be Indifferency in the administration of Iustice not to make difference of rich or poore far or neare friend or foe one or other but to consider only and barely the equity and right of the cause without any respect of persons or partiall inclination this way or that way This is a very necessarie dutie indeed in a Magistrate of iustice §. 13. The Magistrates third Duty Diligence to search out the truth and I denie not but it may bee gathered without any violence from these very words of my Text though to my apprehension not so much by way of immediate obseruation from the necessitie of any such coherence as by way of consequence from the words themselues otherwise For what need all that care and paines and diligence in searching out the cause if the condition of the person might ouerrule the cause after all that search and were not the iudgement to bee giuen meerely according to the goodnesse or badnesse of the cause without respect had to the person But the speciall dutie which these words seeme most naturally and immediately to impose vpon the Magistrate and let that bee the third obseruation is diligence and patience and care to heare and examine and enquire into the truth of things and into the equitie of mens causes As the Physitian before he prescribe receipt or diet to his patient will first feele the pulse and view the vrine and obserue the temper and changes in the body and bee inquisitiue how the disease began and when and what fits it hath and where and in what manner it holdeth him and enforme himselfe euery other way as fully as he can in the true state of the body that so he may proportion the remedies accordingly without errour so ought euery Magistrate in causes of Iustice before he pronounce sentence or giue his determination whether in matters a Omnia iudicia aut distrabendarum controuersiarum aut puniendorum male ficiorum causâ reperta sunt Cic. pro Cecinna iudiciall or criminall to heare both parties with equall patience to examine witnesses and other euidences aduisedly and throughly to consider and wisely lay together all allegations and circumstances to put in quaeres and doubts vpon the by and vse all possible expedient meanes for the boulting out of the truth that so he may do that which is equall and right without errour §. 14. with some instances A dutie not without both Precept and President in holy Scripture Moses prescribeth it in Deut. 17. in the case of Idolatrie a Deut. 17.2 c. See also Deut. 13.14 If there be found among you one that hath done thus or thus c. and it bee told thee and thou hast heard of it and inquired diligently and behold it bee true and the thing certaine that such abomination is wrought in Israel Then thou shalt bring forth that man c. The offender must be stoned to death and no eye pitie him but it must be done orderly and in a legal course not vpon a bare hearesay but vpon diligent examination and inquisition and vpon such full euidence giuen in as may render the fact certaine so farre as such cases ordinarily are capable of b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist. 1. ethic 1. certaintie And the like is againe ordered in Deut 19. in the case of false witnesse c Deut. 19.17 c. Both the men between whom the controuersie is shall stand before the Iudges and the Iudges shall make diligent inquisition c. And in Iudg. 19. in the wronged Leuites case whose Concubine was abused vnto death at Gibeah the Tribes of Israel stirred vp one another to doe iustice vpon the Inhabitants thereof and the method they proposed was this first to d Iudg. 19.30 consider and consult of it and then to giue their opinions But the most famous example in this kind is that of King Salomon in 3. King 3. in the difficult case of the e 3. King 3.16 28. two Mothers Either of them challenged the liuing child with a like eagernesse either of them accused other of the same wrong and with the same allegations neither was there witnesse or other euidence on either part to giue light into the matter yet Salomon by that wisdome which he had obtained from God found a meanes to search out the truth in this difficultie by making as if he would cut the child into halfes and giue either of them one halfe at the mentioning whereof the compassion of the right mother betrayed the falshood of her clamorous competitor And wee reade in the Apocryphall Storie of Susanna how Daniel by f Dan. 13.61 examining the two Elders seuerally and apart found them to differ in one circumstance of their relation and thereby discouered the whole accusation to be false Iudges for this reason were anciently called Cognitores and in approoued Authors g Si iudicas cognosce Sen. in Med. 2.2 Cognoscere is asmuch as to doe the office of a Iudge to teach Iudges that one chiefe point of their care should bee to know the truth For if of priuate men and in things of ordinarie discourse that of Salomon be true h Prou. 18.13 See Sirac 11.7 8. He that answereth a matter before he heareth it it is folly and shame vnto him certainly much more
larger portion than any of the rest by how much it is more diffused Not concluded within the narrow bounds of any one but as the blood in the body temperately spread throughout all the parts and members thereof Which commeth to passe not so much from the immediate construction of the words though there haue not wanted d Lyran. hîc Expositors to fit the words to such construction as from that generall inspection and if I may so speake superintendency which the Iudge or Magistrate ought to haue ouer the carryage of all those other inferiour ones A great part of whose duty it is to obserue how the rest doe theirs and to finde them out and checke and punish them as they deserue when they transgresse So that with your patience Honourable Worshipfull and dearely Beloued I haue allowance from my Text if the time would as well allow it to speake vnto you of fiue things Whereof the first concerneth the Accuser the second the Witnesse the third the Iurer the fourth the Lawyer and the fift the Officer and euery one of them the Magistrate Iudge and Iusticer But hauing no purpose to exceed the houre as I must needs doe if I should speake to all these to any purpose whilest I speake to the first only I shall desire the rest to make application to themselues so farre as it may concerne them of euery materiall passage which they may easily doe and with very little change for the most part only if they bee willing To our first Rule then which concerneth the Accuser and the Iudge §. 7. The Accusers duty not to raise a false report in the first words of the Text Thou shalt not raise a false report The Originall a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verbe signifieth to take vp as if we should reade it b H. A. hîc Thou shalt not take vp a false report And it is a word of larger comprehension than most Translatours haue expressed it The full meaning is c Old English translation hîc Consentiendo vel loquendo Gloss. Interlin hîc Ne falsi rumoris author vela ad iutor esto Iun. in annot Thou shalt not haue to doe with any false report neither by d raising it as the Author nor by spreading it as the Reporter nor by receiuing as an Approuer But the first fault is in the Raiser and therefore our translations haue done well to retaine that rather in the Text yet allowing the Receiuer a place in the Margent Now false reports may bee raised of our brethren by vniust slaunders detractions bachbitings whisperings as well out of the course of iudgements as in it And the Equitie of this Rule reacheth euen to those extraiudiciall Calumnies also But for that I am not now to speake of extraiudiciall Calumny so much as of that quae versatur in forâ— in iudiciis those false suggestions and informations which are giuen into the Courts as more proper both to the scope of my Text and the occasion of this present meeting Conceiue the words for the present as spoken especially or at least wise as not improperly applyable to the Accuser But the Accuser taken e Accusatorem pro omni actâ—re petitore appello Cic. in partit Orat. at large for any person that impleadeth another in iure publico vel priuato in causes either ciuill or criminall and these againe either capitall or penall No not the Accusee or Defendant excepted who although hee cannot bee called in strict propriety of speech an Accuser yet if when he is iustly accused he seeke to defend himselfe by false vniust or impertinent allegations he is in our present intendment to bee taken as an Accuser and as the Raiser or Taker vp of a false Report §. 8. which may be done 1. by Fiction But when is a Report false or what is it to rayse such a report and how is it done As wee may conceiue of Falshood in a threefold notion namely as it is opposed not onely vnto Truth first but secondly also vnto Ingenuitie and thirdly vnto Equitie also accordingly false reports may bee raysed three wayes The first and grossed way is when we Struunt de proâ—rio calumnias innocentiae Bern. lib. 1. de Consid. prope finem faine deuise something of our owne heads to lay against our brother without any foundation at all or ground of truth creating as it were a tale ex nihilo As it is in the Psalme b Psal. 35.11 They layed to my charge things that I neuer did and as Nehemiah sent word to Sanballat c Nehem 6.8 There are no such things as thou sayest but thou faignest them of thine owne heart d Cis. act 2. in Verâ— lib. 3. Crimen domesticum vernaculum a meere deucie such as was that of Iezabels instruments against e 3 King 21.10 Naboth which cost him his life and that of Zibah against f 2 Sam. 1â— 3 Mephibosheth which had almost cost him all hee had This first kinde of Report is false as deuoyd of Truth The second way which was so frequently vsed among the Romane Accusers §. 9. 2. by Aggrauation that a Non vtar istâ acculatoriâ consueâ—udine c. Cic. Act. 2. in Verr. lib. 5. custome had made it not only excusable but b quae quoniam accusatorio more iure sunt facta reprehendere non puslumus Cic. pro Flacâ—o allowable and is at this day of too frequent vse both in priuate and publicke calumniations is when vpon some small ground of truth we run descant at pleasure in our informations interweaving manie vntruths among or peruerting the speeches and actions of our aduersaries to make their matters ill when they are not or otherwise aggrauating them to make them seeme worse than they are As tidings came to Dauid when Amnon only was slaine that c 2. Sam. 13.30 Absolon had killed all the Kings sonnes It is an easie and a common thing by misconstruction to d They daiâ—y wrest my words Psal 56.5 Nihil est Quin mele narrando possit deprauarior Terent. in Phoâ—mi depraue whatsoeuer is most innocently done or spoken The Ammonistish Courtiers dealt so with Dauid when he sent e 3 Sam. 10.2 Ambassadours to Hanun in kindnesse they informed the King as if hee had indeed sent Spyes to discouer the strength of the Citie and Land And the f Nehe. 6.6.7 Ezr. 4.12 Iewes enemies dealt so with those that of deuotion repaired the Temple and the wall of Ierusalem aduertising the State as if their purpose had beene to fortifie themselues for a Rebellion Yea and the malicious Iewes dealt so with Christ himselfe taking hold of some words of his about the destroying and building of the Temple which he vnderstood of the g Ioh. 2 19-21 Temple of his bodie and so h Matth. 26.61 wresting them to the fabricke of the Materiall Temple as to
desire endeauour of performing that Obedience we haue couenanted yet are they to be embraced euen by such of vs with a reuerend feare and trembling at our owne vnworthinesse But as for the vncleane and filthy and polluted those b Math. 6.6 Swine and Dogs that delight in sinne and disobedience and euery abomination they may set their hearts at rest for these matters they haue neither part nor fellowship in any of the sweet promises of God Let dirty c 2. Pet. 2.22 Swine wallow in their owne filth these rich d Math. 6.6 pearles are not for them they are too precious let hungry e 2 Pet. 2.2 Dogs glut themselues with their owne vomite the f Math. 15.26 Childrens bread is not for them it is too delicious Let him that will be filthy g Reu. 22.11 be filthy still the promises of God are holy things and belong to none but those that are holy and desire to be holy still For our selues in a word let vs hope that a promise being left vs if with faith and obedience and patience we waite for it we shall in due time receiue it but withall h Heb. 4.1 let vs feare as the Apostle exhorteth Heb. 4. lest a promise being left vs through disobedience or vnbeliefe any of vs should seeme to come short of it §. 19. The opening of the Thus much of the former thing proposed the mignifying of Gods Mercy and the clearing of his Truth in the reuocation and suspension of of threatned iudgements by occasion of these words I will not bring the Evill There is yet a Circumstance remaining of this generall part of my Text which would not be forgotten it is the extent of time for the suspending of the iudge I will not bring the Euill in his dayes Something I would speake of it too by your patience it shall not be much because the season is sharpe I haue not much sand to spend I will not bring the evill in his dayes The iudgement denounced against Ahabs house was in the end executed vpon it as appeareth in the sequele of the story and especially from those words of Iehu who was himselfe the instrument raised vp by the Lord and vsed for that execution in 4. King 10. a 4 King 10.10 know that there shal fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab for the Lord hath done that which he spake by his seruant Eliah Which were enough if there were nothing else to be said to iustifie Gods Truth in this one particular That which Ahab gained by his humiliation was only the deferring of it for his time I will not bring the euill in his dayes As if God had said This wretched king hath prouoked me and pulled down a curse from me vpon his house which it were but iust to bring vpon him and it without farther delay yet because he made not a scoffe at my Prophet but tooke my words something to heart and was humbled by them he shall not say but I will deale mercifully with him and beyond his merit as ill as he deserueth it I will doe him this fauour I will not bring the euill that is determined against his house in his dayes The thing I would obserue hence is That § 20. 5. Obseruation that though it be some griefe to foresee the euils to come when God hath determined a iudgement vpon any people family or place it is his great mercy to vs if he doe not let vs liue to see it It cannot but be a great griefe I say not now to a religious but euen to any soule that hath not quite cast off all naturall affection to forethinke and foreknow the future calamities of his countrey and kindred a Herodot in Polyh Valer. Max. 9.13 Xerxes could not forbeare weeping beholding his huge army that followed him onely to thinke that within some few scores of yeares so many thousands of proper men would be all dead and rotten and yet that a thing that must needes haue happened by the necessitie of nature if no sad accident or common calamitie should hasten the accomplishment of it The declination of a Common-wealth and the funerall of a Kingdome foreseene in the generall corruption of manners and decay of discipline the most certaine symptomes of a tottering State haue fetched teares from the eyes and bloud from the hearts of heathen men zealously affected to their Countrey How much more griefe then must it needes be to them that acknowledge the true God not onely to foreknow the extraordinary plagues and miseries and calamities which shall befall their posteritie but also to fore-read in them Gods fierce wrath and heauie displeasure and bitter vengeance against their owne sinnes and the sinnes of their posterity Our blessed Sauiour though himselfe without sinne and so no way accessory to the procuring of the euills that should ensue could not yet but b Luk. 19.41 weepe ouer the City of Ierusalem when he beheld the present securitie and the future ruine thereof §. 21. yet it is some happinesse to be taken away before they come A griefe it is then to know these things shall happen but some happinesse withall and to be acknowledged as a great fauour from God to be assured that we shall neuer see them It is no small Mercy in him it is no small Comfort to vs if either hee take vs away before his iudgements come or keepe his iudgements away till we be gone When God had told Abraham in Gen. 15. that his a Gen. 15.13 15. seede should be a stranger in a land that was not theirs meaning Egypt where they should be kept vnder and afflicted 400. yeares lest the good Patriarch should haue beene swallowed vp with griefe at it hee comforteth him as with a promise of their glorious deliuerance at the last so with a promise also of prosperitie to his owne person and for his owne time But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace shalt be buryed in a good old age vers 15. In Esay 39. when Hezekiah heard from the mouth of the Prophet Esaiah that all the b Esay 39 6.-8 treasures in the Lords house in the Kings house should be carried into Babylon and that his sonnes whom he should beget should be taken away and made Eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon he submitted himself as it became him to do to the sentence of God and comforted himselfe with this that yet there should be peace and truth in his dayes vers 8. In 4. King 22. when Huldah had prophesied of the c 4. King 2.16 20. euill that God would bring vpon the City of Ierusalem and the whole land of Iudah in the name of the Lord shee pronounceth this as a courtesie from the Lord vnto good King Iosiah Because thy heart was tender and thou hast humbled thy selfe Behold therefore
and call vpon him daily for mercy vpon the land and that e Ezek 9.4 weepe and mourne in secret and vpon their beds for your abominations whom you hate and despise and persecute and defame and account as the very scumme of the people and the refuse and off-scouring of all things to whom yet you owe your preseruation Surely if it were not for some godly Iehoshaphat or other whose f 4. King 3.14 presence God regardeth among you if it were not for some zealous Moses or other that g Psal. 106.23 standeth in the gap for you Gods wrath had entred in vpon you long ere this as a mighty breach of water and as an ouerflowing deluge ouerwhelmed you and you had beene swept away as with the h Esay 14.23 besome of destruction and deuoured as stubble before the fire It is i Iob 22.30 the innocent that deliuereth the land and repriueth it from destruction when the sentence of desolation is pronounced against it and it is deliuered by the purenesse of his hands O the goodnesse of our God! that would haue spared the fiue Cities of the salt sea if among so many thousands of beastly filthy persons there had been found but k Gen. 18.32 ten righteous ones and that was for each city but two persons nay that would haue pardoned Ierusalem if in all the Ier. 5.1 streetes and broad places thereof replenished with a world of Idolaters and Swearers and Adulterers and Oppressours there had bin found but one single man that executed iudgement and sought the truth from his heart But on the madnesse of the men of this foolish world withall who seek to doe them most mischiefe of all others who of all others do them most good thirsting most after their destruction who are the chiefest instruments of their preseruation Oh foolish and mad world if thou hadst but wit enough yet yet to hugge and to make much of that little flocke the hostages of thy peace and the earnest of thy tranquillity if thou wouldest but m Luke 19.42 know euen thou at least in this thy day the things that belong vnto thy peace Thou art yet happy that God hath a remnant in thee and if thou knewest how to make vse of this happinesse at least in this thy day by honouring their persons by procuring their safety and welfare by following their examples by praying for their continuance thou mightest be still and more and euer happy But if these things that belong vnto thy peace bee now hidden from thine eyes if these men that prolong thy peace and prorogue thy destruction bee now despised in thy heart in this day of thy peace God is iust Thou knowest not how soone they may be taken from thee and though he doe not bring the euill vpon thee in their daies when they are gone thou knowest not how soone vengeance may ouertake thee and n Psal. 50.22 then shall he teare thee in pieces and there shall be none left to deliuer thee I haue now done §. 26. the Conclusion Beseech wee God the Father of mercies for his deare sonne Iesus Christ his sake to shed his Holy Spirit into our hearts that by his good blessing vpon vs that which hath beene presently deliuered agreeably to his holy truth and word may take roote downewards in our hearts and bring forth fruite vpwards in our liues and conuersations and so to assist vs euer with his grace that we may with humble confidence lay hold on his mercies with cheerefull reuerence tremble at his iudgements by vnfained repentance turne from vs what he hath threatned and by vnwearied Obedience assure vnto vs what he hath promised To which Holy Father Sonne and Spirit three persons and c. At Grantham Linc. 19. Iun. 1621. THE THIRD SERMON 3 KINGS 21.29 I will not bring the euill in his dayes but in his sonnes dayes will I bring the euill vpon his house §. 1. The doubts proposed I Come now this third time to entreate of this Scripture and by Gods helpe to finish it Of the three parts whereof heretofore propounded viz. 1. Ahabs Humiliation 2. the Suspension of his iudgement for life 3. and the Deuolution of it vpon Iehoram the two former hauing beene already handled the last only now remaineth to bee considered of In the prosecution whereof as heretofore wee haue cleared Gods Holinesse and Truth so wee shall be now occasioned to cleare his Iustice from such imputations as might seeme to lye vpon it from this Act. And that in three respects accordingly as Iehoram who standeth here punishable for Ahabs sinne may be considered in a threefold reference to Ahab that is to say either relatè as the sonne of Ahab or disparatè as another man from Ahab or comparatè as a man a 4 King 3.2 not altogether so bad as Ahab Now what b Quisquam est hominum qui fuisse illum Iouem Deum credat tà m iniustū tam impium nec mortulium saltem constituta seruantem apud quos nefas haberetur magnum alterum pro altero plect◠aliena delicta aliorum ceruicibus vindicari Arnob. contr Gent. lib. 7. Iustice first to punish the sonne for the father or indeed secondly any one man for another but most of all thirdly the lesser offender for the greater It is not a matter of so much difficulty §. 2. for resolution whereof as at the first appearance it seemeth to cleere these doubts if all things thereto appertaining bee duly and distinctly considered The greatest trouble will bee the things being of more variety than hardnesse to sort them in such manner as that we may therein proceed orderly and without confusion Euermore we know Certainties must rule Vncertainties and cleare truths doubtfull it will bee therefore expedient for vs for the better guiding of our iudgements first to lay downe some Certainties and then afterwards by them to measure out fit resolutions to the doubts and then lastly from the premises to raise some few instructions for our vse The first Certainty then §. 3. the first Certaintie and a maine one is this Howsoeuer things appeare to vs yet God neither is nor can be vniust as not in any other thing so neither in his punishments a Rom. 3.5.6 Is God vnrighteous that taketh vengeance God forbid for then how shall God iudge the world b Gen. 18.25 shall not the Iudge of all the earth doe right Indeed the reasons of his Iustice oftentimes may bee oftentimes are vnknowne to vs but they neuer are they neuer can be vnrighteous in him If in a deepe point of Law a learned discreete Iudge should vpon sufficient grounds giue sentence flat contrary to what an ordinary by-slander would thinke reason as many times it falleth out it is not for the grieued party to complaine of iniustice done him hee should rather impute what is done to want of skill in himselfe than of
from the duties of all other Callings as if their spirituall freedome in Christ had cancelled ipso facto all former obligations whether of Nature or Ciuility The Husband would put away his wife the seruant dis-respect his master euery other man breake the bonds of relation to euery other man and all vnder this pretence and vpon this ground that Christ hath made them free In this passage of the Chapter the Apostle occasionally correcteth this errour principally indeed as the present Argument led him in the particular of Marriage but with a farther more vniuersal extent to all outward states and conditions of life The summe of his Doctrine this He that is yoaked with a wife must not put her away but count her worthy of all loue he that is bound to a master must not despise him but count him worthy of all honour euery other man that is tyed in any relation to any other man must not neglect him but count him worthy of all good offices and ciuill respects sutable to his place and person though Shee or He or that other be Infidels and Vnbeleeuers The Christian Calling doth not at all preiudice much lesse ouerthrow it rather establisheth and strengtheneth those interests that arise from naturall relations or from voluntary contracts either domesticall or ciuill betwixt Man and Man The generall rule to this effect he conceiueth in the forme of an Exhortation that euery man notwithstanding his calling vnto liberty in Christ abide in that station wherein God hath placed him containe himselfe within the bounds thereof and cheerefully contentedly vndergoe the duties that belong therto vers 17. As God hath distributed to euery man as the Lord hath called euery one so let him walke And lest this Exhortation as it fareth with most other especially such as come in but vpon c Ex incidenti dat documentum generale Lyran. ad vers 17. the by as this doth should be slenderly regarded the more fully to d Quod vt plenè commendet reiterat Ambros in 1. Cor. cap. 37. commend it to their consideration practise he repeateth it once againe vers 20. Let euery man abide in the same calling wherein he was called And now againe once more in the words of this verse concluding therewith the whole discourse into which he had digressed Brethren let euery man wherin he is called therin abide with God From which words §. 2. The Pertinency I desire it may be no preiudice to my present discourse if I take occasion to entreat at this time of a very needefull argument viz. concerning the Necessity Choyce and Vse of particular Callings Which whilest I doe if any shall blame me for shaking hands with my Text let such know First that it will not be very charitably done to passe a hard censure vpon anothers labour no nor yet very prouidently for their owne good to slight a profitable truth for some little seeming impertinency Secondly that the points proposed are indeede not impertinent the last of them which supposeth also the other two being the very substance of this Exhortation and all of them such as may without much violence be drawne from the very words themselues at leastwise if we may be allowed the liberty which is but reasonable to take-in also the other two verses the 17. and the 20. in sense and for substance all one with this as anon in the seuerall handling of them will in parr appeare But howsoeuer Thirdly which S. Bernard deemed a sufficient Apology for himselfe in a case of like nature a Nouerint me nâ—n â—à m inâ—endisse exponere Euangelium quà m ex Euangelio sumere occasionem loquendi quod loqui delectabat Bernard super Messus est Nouerint me non tam intendisse c. let them know that in my choyce of this Scripture my purpose was not so much to binde my self to the strict exposition of the Apostolicall Text as to take occasion there-from to deliuer what I desired to speake and judged expedient for you to heare concerning 1. the Necessity 2. the Choyce and 3. the Vse of particular Callings §. 3. and Needfulnesse of the Points Points if euer needefull to bee taught and knowne certainly in these dayes most Wherein some habituated in idlenesse will not betake themselues to any Calling like a heauy jade that is good at bit and nought else These would bee soundly spurred vp and whipped on end Othersome through weakenesse doe not make a good choyce of a fit Calling like a young vnbroken thing that hath mettall and is free but is euer wrying the wrong way These would be fairely checkt turned into the right way and guided with a steddy skilfull hand A third sort and I thinke the greatest through vnsettlednesse or discontentednesse or other vntoward humour walke not soberly and vprightly and orderly in their Calling like an vnruly Coult that will ouer hedge and ditch no ground will hold him no fence turne him These would be well fettered and side-hanckled for leaping The first sort are to be taught the Necessity of a Calling the second to be directed for the Choyce of their Calling the third to be bounded and limitted in the Exercise of their Calling Of which three in their order and of the First first the Necessity of a Calling §. 4. The Generall and the Particular Calling The Scriptures speake of two kinds of Vocations or Callings the one ad Foedus the other ad Munus The vsuall knowne termes are the Generall and the Particular Calling Vocatio ad Foedus or the Generall Calling is that wherewith God calleth vs either outwardly in the ministery of his Word or inwardly by the efficacy of his Spirit or iointly by both to the faith and obedience of the Gospell and to the embracing of the Couenant of grace and of mercy and saluation by Iesus Christ. Which is therefore termed the Generall Calling not for that it is of larger extent than the other but because the thing whereunto we are thus called is one and the same and common to all that are called The same duties and the same promises and euery way the same conditions Here is no difference in regard of Persons but a Eph. 4.4.5 one Lord one faith one baptisme one body and one spirit euen as we are all called in one hope of our Calling That 's the Generall Calling Vocatio ad Munus or our Particular Calling is that wherewith God enableth vs and directeth vs and putteth vs on to some speciall course and condition of life wherein to employ our selues and to exercise the gifts he hath bestowed vpon vs to his glory and the benefit of our selues and others And it is therefore termed a Particular Calling not as if it concerned not all in generall for wee shall proue the contrary anon but because the thing whereunto men are thus called is not one and the same to all but differenced with much variety according to the