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A18917
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An epistle discoursing vpon the present pestilence Teaching what it is, and how the people of God should carrie themselues towards God and their neighbour therein. Reprinted with some additions. By Henoch Clapham.
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Clapham, Henoch.
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1603
(1603)
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STC 5339; ESTC S115088
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13,894
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26
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AN EPISTLE DISCOVRSING vpon the present Pestilence Teaching what it is and how the people of God should carrie themselues towards God and their Neighbour therein Reprinted with some Additions By Henoch Clapham LONDON Printed by T. C. for the Widow Newbery and are to be sold at her shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Ball. 1603. TO THE RIGHT Worshipfull Sir Baptist Hickes Knight all necessarie sauing gifts from aboue GOod Sir before I returned last into England I did publish a certaine Epistle wherein I noted how certaine amongst vs had laide the groundes of Brownisme while theyr zeale beyond knowledge had laboured our Churches reformation That comming into the hands of some of them here in and about the Citie they welcomed me home with an aduisement giuen to some theyr disciples that I should neither be heard Preach nor priuatly conferred with nor haue any of my bookes read of them Theyr reason was that Cl. would bring people to all the corruptions of the English Church and finally to Romes church But when there was some extraordinary cause of opposing to Romish platformes let the Traytor W. Wat. speake of his conscience if the Accused did not rather oppose to such wickednes then his Accusers As they bgun to malice without grounde for now they shame to meddle with theyr dombe Presbyterie and halfe faced Deaconry with some other things not to be maintained so they haue not therewith stinted the bitternesse of their spirits but now must please them whom otherwise But some will say that meate and drinke Chirurgene and Phisicke helpeth and doth good to many who neuer call vpon the name of the Lord specially in the name of Christ Iesus I answere The liuing God is a Sauiour of all men specially of them that beleeue His mercie is vpon all the creatures Not the vilest Barbarian but he suffreth his comfortable Sunne and Ayre to shine and breath vpon When the mercies of God are called into question euery mouth shall be stopped But howsoeuer he is a Sauiour of all men yet he hath a speciall saluation for the faithfull as S. Paul teacheth Timothie Howsoeuer he affordeth blessings to all yet in a speciall forme he blesseth the Beleeuer For as they call for his sauing fauour in the vse of all his creatures so they haue it in their much and little in their health and sicknesse in their life and death These vse the Creature with assurance of a peculiar blessing when the other eate drinke and apply it with a peculiar curse Now we are not to labour for the temporary blessing sauced onely with a common mercie for then we goe no further then the dogge in his eating of grasse for easing his stomacke but to labour with the Lord by prayer for his speciall blessing our conscence in the vse of these creatures leauing the issue tempotarie to his will which is holy in all things A true Christian walketh thus in common diet and vsuall infirmities how much more doth it stand him in hand to looke to his carriage towards God in respect of this Pest or Pestilence A theists meere Naturians and other ignorant persons do hold it to be a natural disease proceeding from naturall causes onely as from corruption of ayre caused by vnseasonable Planets aboue or else from carrionly stinking smelles here belowe Who while they looke not higher then the earth or not higher then the Planets do sticke in the Creature forgetting the Creator called the Lord of hostes who commaunds or forbids sends out or stayes the course and operation of creatures and corruptions As God is the Lord of Hostes so Hee maketh a flaming fire his ministers sometimes for consuming sometimes for preseruing For by it Nebuchadnezzers executioners were destroyed when the three young Nobles of Iudah were in midst thereof preserued Addition expository and Apologeticall to the first Section GAlenistes So called of Galen a Gréek Heathen Physitian This kind of Plague or Pestilence is of him tearmed Loimos respecting onely Bodies bursting out in corruption which may be cause sometimes of corrupting other bodies specially such as are inclinable to and capable of such corruption And this is it that some Christians vnderstand when they say that the Pestilence is as a Candle and bodies as strawe some wet some dry more or lesse capable of taking fire And this is true but not all the truth nor yet in the first sence which is Diuine whereof I shall speake somewhat after To stick therfore in this consideration is to speake rather after the manner of Naturalls then of Diuines And who dare speake rather after the maner of man then after the vncontrowlable forme of the Holy Ghost The dead creature can giue to him no life Because the dead creature cannot of it selfe vinifie the bodie therefore the Christian is taught to looke vp to God the Author of life who as he hath promised to euerie Belieuer the thing that is good calling for it by prayer so such a praying belieuer ought to expect the veritie of his promise séeing he is faithfull that hath promised for Godlines is profitable to all things which hath promise of the life present and of that is to come 1 Tim. 4 8. without Godlines many are partakers of some Spiritual and all sorts of Corporall giuings without diuine direct promise and therefore such giuings do finally turne into bitternes vexation of spirit and the iust heaping vp of iudgement SECTION II. THe word Plague is originally a Greeke word for Plege it is termed in Reuelation 16. 9. and of the Latines Plaga in English valuing a blowe or stripe Which as it may haue a more generall vse so it is not applyed to this particular disease of the Pest otherwise then because it is a blowe or stripe inflicted on mankind By whom By God although mediately by spirit or corruption or both The language of God Adam in the old Testament doth terme it Deber as in Exod. 3. 3. Deu. 28 21. Psal 91. 36 2. Sam 24. 13. of Dabar to speake whether it be a speech of life or death And so it is termed I doubt not because it is an effect of the Lords Word for sinne according to his threatning in Deut. 28. 21. Let the word be so considered in the two sacred languages of the old and new Testament and the Plague is no other maladie then a speciall blowe inflicted on mankinde for sinne I speake not of it as it seizeth on beasts seeing it commeth to them by Mankindes sinne Sinne is the cause why the Lord according to his word smiteth Mankind whether corruption be in the way or not Doth God send out a Spirit to smite as Dauids people in 2. Sam. 24. were smit by a good Angell but Iob before with a bad the Spirit smiteth not but vpon the Lords word smite or touch in which respect it is called Negagn in Psal 91. 10. of Nagagn to touch Although the terme Negagn may well
in them a right continuing faith and continuing repentance And therewithall checking his children for doubting the lesser hauing faith in him for the greater Addition to the fourth Section THere is in belieuers so dying a want of faith That is some want in faith S. Iames willing vs in she want of knowledge to haue our recourse vnto God in prayer he telleth vs that we must not waner for if we do he concludeth that we are not to thinke that we shall receiue any thing of the Lord. From whence I gather that lack of faith is cause we are denied any thing necessarie our life here Some will obiect There is some want of faith some doubting some wauering in the best child of God therefore none can assure himselfe of receiuing any good of God whether corporall or spirituall I answere it is one thing what we ought to do another thing what we do Secondly it is enioyned vs in Leuit. 26. and in Deut. 28. that as we would haue blessings temporary and auoid cursings temporarie we should obey the commaundements and the best are found daily to breake the commaundements haue they therefore no assurance of blessing If they looke into the measure of obedience literall or spirituall as it is in themselues only they haue cause to looke for no good thing This want then in all things is to driue them vnto the Lord by Christ Iesus in all things Obiection God will not exact such obedience such faith except we could so obey so belieue Answere The Romanists indéede say so but they and others must remember that it is equall for him so to exact séeing as we were set out of his hands in Adam we were enabled so to belieue and obey Thirdly as there is no promise of God but it is deliuered vnder condition and there is no condition kept fullie of our part and therefore no flesh that may be able to reioyce in Gods sight so it pleaseth him sometimes not to impute the want in faith and obedience to his children for if he should we could not breath one day but to accept them as Perfect and iust Iob. 1. 1. 8. Ezek. 14. 20. Luke 1. 6. Otherwise S. Iames should leaue vs litle or no hope of receiuing any thing of God by prayer Fourthly in case of temporary blessings it pleaseth God to giue an extraordinarie strength of faith by the which deuils and mountaines of difficulties are often remoued so well as vnto his children he besides giueth an extraordinarie strength of faith for Eternalls called of the Apostle to the Colossians Plerophoria with allusion to a Ship carried with a full sayle To say that the 91. Psalme speaketh only of a spirituall plague To say that the legall promises and menaces are only spirituall is to teach a doctrine that the Auncient church was neuer acquainted with nor yet any moderne writer that I know of Let such a b c diuines go reade Tremellius and Fr. Iunius their notes on Psal. 91. and of the rest that on the fift verse A pauore nocturno id est ab vllis apertis occullis internis externis corporeis aut spiritualibus malis vllo vnquam tempore wherein they teach that the promise is of deliuerance from any euils open hid internall externall corporall or spirituall It is not because they haue any promise Here I speake of the wicked in generall Shewing plainely that they had a faith in God Héere I speake of some certaine wicked Héere some say I speake contraries first because I teach that the wicked haue no such promise secondly that some such haue a faith or beliefe in God touching such deliuerance I see a diuerse thing in these wicked-ones but no contrary thing deliuered That they haue no promise of hauing good by so much as a bit of bread my maleuolent brethren graunt that some of them haue beliefe in God for temporary blessings yea and sometimes of eternall happines who can doubt except all wicked should alwayes dispaire of all things If I had said they haue iustifying or sauing faith I had spoken contraries séeing promises of this life and that to come is made directlie and properlie vnto them What kind of faith I spoke of it may appeare when I terme it a bragging faith that is a presumptuous beliefe without any ground of promise These that come to our Sauiour in the last day saying Haue we not prophecied in thy name cast out Deuils c. had they no faith touching temporaries T is very sillie They had as Schollers vsually speake a temporarie faith and perswasion and my writing can no way entend any other And thus men crow before the victorie That temporary repentance of Ahab Manasses c. A great quarell ariseth from the poore word Manasses that I should number him with the temporarie repentant If they had not liked the word they might easily haue wiped it out and so haue kept peace with the booke That I vnderstand so of his repentance obserue what I haue to say In the 2. King 21. the historie of his life and death is set downe and no speech of any repentance And thereto is annexed that Amon his sonne did euill in the sight of the Lord as did his father Manasses And Amon is neither there nor elsewhere noted repentant but caried out of the world in iudgement This connexure of Father and Sonne causeth me to thinke that the repentance spoken of in 2. Chron. 33. in which respect he is preferred to his sonne to haue bene of the Prophets then held but as temporarie and fitted to time If it be a good argument of Salomons true repentance that Rehoboam and his people are said to haue walked three yeares in the way of Dauid and Salomon 2. Chron. 11. 17. for that Salomon should not so haue bene matched with Dauid if he had not died well to the Church-ward as did Dauid if I say that be good for prouing his true repentance then I sée not why Manasses his repentance may not be held as no true repentance when he comes to be so conioyned with Amon that neuer truly repented to the Church-ward I say to the Church-ward because it is possible for a man to vnsatisfie the Church yet of God be saued as also to dye innocent to the Church-ward yet of God condemned for some secret abhomination vnrepented of But if any hereafter will logomachein contend and wage warre about a word it is not my purpose easily to follow them SECTION V. FAmine sword and pestilence are a Trinitie of punishments prepared of the Lord for consuming a people that haue sinned against him 2. Sam. 24. 12 13. S. Iohn in the opening of the fourth Seale doth number them thus Sword Hunger and Death the Sword â—leying Famine staruing the Pestilence effecting death but death with a witnes as the most readie destroyer Dauid being put to his choise doth distinguish them into two sorts the first being a Fall into the