bonum est conjugium sed ramen jugum Ambros The bonds of Wedlock are good yet they are bonds still matrimony is good but yet it is a yoke Object 2. Paul saith It were good for a man not to touch a woman therefore saith Hierom It is evil to touch a woman for good and evil are contrary one to another Resp Our Apostle doth not use a word contrary to evil as it is a vice Paulus modestè deterreta nuptiis nòn tanquam à remalâ sed tanquam ab onerosa molesta aliud est admittere carnis turpitudinem aliud habere carnis tribulationem illud est criminis facere hoc laboris pati August but as it 's an inconvenience as Bishop Juell well observeth out of Austin Paul in a modest manner withdraweth men from marriage not as from a thing evil and unlawfull but as from a thing troublesom and burdensom It 's one thing to commit filthinesse of the flesh and another thing to endure or abide trouble in the flesh the one is to commit a fault the other is to suffer a punishment The Spirit of God noteth to us a singular commendation of Anna the daughter of Phanuel that she lived well a maid a wife and a widow to signifie that neither virginity marriage nor widowhood in themselves are either pleasing or displeasing to God they being all appointed by him yea allowed and approved of him We are all born single and have liberty so to continue Marriage is God's ordinance and all may use it that please God also is the Author of widowhood by taking away husbands or wives therefore in it self it 's neither simply good to live single nor simply evil to marry There were some things wherein man needed the help of woman even in the state of innocency before his fall viz. to be his companion as also to bring forth and bring up children and to increase the world and increase the Species These ends remain still for this is the only means God hath appointed to fill the earth with inhabitants and Heaven with Saints And we read Genes 24. ult That Isaac went in to Rebekah his wife and was comforted after the death of his mother Now besides these two ancient ends before the fall there be two other ends that God hath appointed since the fall 1. The chief and principal a remedy against incontinency 1 Cor. 7.1 To avoid fornication let every man have his wife and every woman her own husband saith the Apostle The reason hereof he giveth vers 9. Because it is better to marry than to burn Marriage is honourable among all men Heb. 13.4 Yea its lawfull for Ministers to marry notwithstanding what the Papists say to the contrary We read that the Priests and the Prophets in the Old Testament were married as Moses Aaron Samuel Isaiah and Zachariah the father of John Baptist in the New yea even Peter himself was married for it 's said Mat. 8.14 That his wives mother was sick of a fever And Philip both an Evangelist and a Deacon had four daughters Act. 21.8 and that Ministers may have wives its plain 1 Tim. 3.2 A Bishop must be unreprovable the husband of one wife that it was ancient for Pastors to marry appeareth by a saying of Polycrates son of Gregory Nazianzen who affirmed that he was the eighth Bishop of Ephesus that had succeeded without intermission ex majoribus Episcopis and in Austin's time there was a Decree of the third Councel of Carthage That Bishops and Ministers children might not marry with any Infidel Heretick or Schismatick 2. Euseb Eccles Hist l. 5. c. 25. Bucan loc com 12. An. 421. God hath made woman to be a helper to man viz. to help him bear about the troubles of this world and mannage his temporal estate by ordering and disposing wisely such things as belong to her charge whereof Solomon speaketh Prov. 14.1 Every wise woman buildeth her house but the foolish plucketh it down with her hand And Prov. 31.11 he saith She must be such a one as the heart of her husband may safely trust to so that he shall have no need of spoil one that will do him good and not evil all the dayes of his life Now it is God that by a special Providence bringeth man and wife together Memorable is that Providence of God upon the prayer of Abraham's servant to shew him the Damsel that was to be a wife to his Master's son Gen. 24. And when Isaac went out into the field in the evening of the day to pray and to meditate Gods Providence so ordered it he should there meet with Rebekah where he went to meet and converse with God He lifted up his eyes and saw the Camels coming Moses flying from the Court of Pharaoh into the Land of Midian being weary with travelling not knowing whither to go he is constrained to repose himself near a Well expecting like a flower scorcht with the Sunne some gentle gale of wind and some drop of dew from the hand and bosom of Divine Providence As he was in this expectation he saw seven daughters of the Prince of Midian coming to water their flocks Exod. 2. But when these illustrious Shepherdesses had drawn water for this end some Shepherds that followed them drave them away taking some of it to water their own flocks Moses not being able to endure such an indignity took upon himself the just quarrel of these Virgins and having chased away these presumptuous persons he himself drew water out of this Well and watered their flock which was the occasion that Revel their Father being advertised of what had passed sent for him and married him to one of his daughters named Zipporah who bare unto him two sons God's Providence is seen in bringing every man his mate though they live never so farre asunder this being well considered will comfort them against all troubles and hinderances that shall by any means be raised up against them A godly Divine observeth Greenham's Treatise of Contract That it is Satans work to bring men and women to doubt of this and when once they yeeld to it what strife and trouble doth he work betwixt them For whence ariseth that impatience of spirit that we see to be in many that murmuring chiding cursed speeches and much unquietnesse doth it not come of this because they have not a reverend perswasion that the Lord in his Providence as by his own hand joyned them in that near bond and conjunction together It were well our Saviour were invited to all weddings as he was to Cana in Galilee the wine of true comforts and blessings should never then be wanting Christ honoured that first ordinance of God with his presence and his first miracle CHAP. XXIV Sect. 1. Of the special Providence of God toward the godly in afflicting them An Objection answered God's ends in afflicting them I Shall now treat of the special Providence of God toward the
when they repent not The truth is God never altereth his eternall Counsell but alwayes performeth whatsoever he purposeth Deus mutat sententiam consilium Gregor lib. 20. Mor. 2. both for substance and circumstance but it pleaseth him to use such phrases stooping to our capacity and expressing himself in such words and termes as we best understand Thus when a judgment is denounced and not executed it is called repentance being indeed but the effect thereof and indeed there never was an intendment that it should be executed for in the threatning against Niniveh there was this secret condition included though not expressed viz. that Niniveh should be destroyed within the time limited unlesse they repented which they doing the threatning fell and the City stood Of this nature was that speech of God to Abimelech Thou art but a dead man God is not changeable nor can he change for his nature is not subject to mutation but the order of things may alter according to the course of his Divine Providence Hieron in Dan. 5. viz. unlesse he restored Abraham's wife again Gen. 20.3 Item That of Isaiah to Hezekiah Isa 38.1 Thou shalt die and not live that is in course of nature Thou art but a dead man Yet the Text tells us that after he had praied to God and wept such was the power of the God of nature as he lengthened his life and added to his daies fifteen years v. 5. whence it appeareth that these speeches be not absolute but conditionall and so was this threatning of Niniveh CHAP. XXVIII Divers Objections against this Doctrine of Providence answered Objection 1. answered BUt against this Doctrine of Providence divers Objections may be made which to remove will be very necessary Some things fall out by chance therefore all things are not guided and governed by divine Providence For proof of the Antecedent Solomon tells us That the Race is not alwaies to the swift nor the battell to the strong nor bread to the wise nor riches to men of understanding nor favour to men of skill but Time and Chance happeneth to them all Eccl. 9.11 It is said also Luk. 10.31 By chance there came a certain Priest that way So Ruth 2.3 it was Ruth's hap to light on the field of Boaz. Resp. In respect of us things may be said sometime to fall by Chance because we neither know nor can we render a reason of them as in the former examples But in regard of God there can be none who knoweth ordereth disposeth guideth and governeth all things by his Providence Alas Chance is nothing for nothing cometh to passe without an order from above 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jul. Scalig. exercit p. 188. And it is wisely noted by a Learned man Nature bringeth forth that which we wrongfully call Chance because it often cometh unexpected We read 1 King 22.34 that a certain man of the King of Syria's Souldiers drew a bow at adventure or in his simplicity or ignorantly peradventure not seeing Ahab King of Israel at least not thinking it would be his hap to hit him but God so guided the arrow as it gave him his deadly wound to fullfill the prophecy and prediction of Michaiah Mr. Perkins Mr Perkins in Symbol tells us There is Chance respectu nostri in respect of us but not meer chance God hath set the time to all a man's successes and changes Time as Mr. Cotten hath well noted is sometime put for the variety of conditions of good and evill that befall men Cotten in Ecclesiast 9. as Psal 31.15 Our times are in Gods hand Now when these Times and Changes come no meanes that the Creature can use can prevail to withstand Jerem. 46.17 Cfau nòn respectu Dei qui omnia scit gubernat sed sacerdotis qui nil tale praevidit ita casus admitti potest respectu nostri qui rerum causas ignoramus Junius Tremel in Luk. 10. Chance or occurrence cometh to all sorts of men that is some occurrence injected by the providence of God and when it is said that the Priest came by Chance that way Luk. 10.31 the meaning is by Chance not in respect of God who knoweth and governeth all things but of the Priest who foresaw no such thing and so Chance may be admitted in respect of us who are ignorant of the causes of things So Ruth R. Barnard on Ruth though she went at unawares making choice of no place yet she lighted well by Gods providence It is not therefore unlawfull to speak thus according to men It happened it chanced or it was my hap so that we understand thereby that which hapned beyond our purpose and expectation but yet guided by Gods hand and providence as a Learned man hath observed and also that we know and hold no meer Chance as the Heathen have imagined without the hand of God acknowledged therein as the Idolatrous Priest and Diviners of the Philistines once speake 1 Sam. 6.9 alwayes excepting in manifest cases where the apparent hand of God is seen Quae fiunt praeter naturam nòn fortuitò sed casu fieri dicuntur Arist Physic 2. ca. 6. for that was the errour of the Philistines What in the judgment of men could more happen by Chance then that when Abraham would have sacrificed his Son Isaac a Ram in that solitary place should be behind him caught in a thicket by the hornes Gen. 22.13 Herus è domesticis duos herilis consilij ignaros diversis viis ad eundem locum omnino mittit hic alterum alteri occurrere casus est nòn Domino sed servis Ita thesaurum reperiri à paupere fossore casus est quidem illi pauperculo sed non Deo qui opes illì ideò recondi voluit ut eas hic ipse mercenarius eo loci fossurus reperirer ditesceret nòn casu sed paterna Dei providentiâ Drexel de conform volunt lib. 5. cap. 6. yet this came to passe by the singular providence of God and when Isaac said before to his father Behold the fire and the wood but where is the Lamb for a buont Offering Abraham answered My Son God will provide himself a Lamb for a burnt Offering vers 8. It might be thought likewise that to have happened by chance that the daughter of Pharaoh should come down to wash her self at the same bank of the river where the little Ark floted wherein Moses was but hereby Gods providence ordered it that Moses should be preserved that in after times he might conduct his chosen people out of the Land of Aegypt It might likewise have been attributed to Chance that Saul should come into the Cave on the sides whereof David and his men lay hid but God's providence so ordered it that by this meanes the righteousnesse and innocency of David and the unrighteousnesse of Saul might be the more manifested unto all that were present CHAP. XXIX Objection second answered in five
Some have pictured her without feet having only hands and wings like the finnes of Fishes others picture her standing upon a stone as round as a Bowl voluble and turning she is represented as having with her a rasour bearing in her right hand the stern of a Ship in her left hand the horn of abundance By the rasour they would give us to understand that she can at her pleasure cut off our happinesse by the stern on her right hand that the course of our life is under her government by the horn of abundance in her left hand that all our plenty is from her by the Ball Wheel Roller or Stone that she is very prone to volubility and change Fortune hath her name from turning it cannot stand long in one case But this grosse Idolatry of the Heathen giving the glory due to the most high God to their base abominations we that professe our selves Christians must utterly renounce We ascribe this honour to the Lord of Hosts and to him alone and to no other do we attribute the Sovereignty Dominion and Government of the whole world Basil saith of Fortune That it is an Heathenish device and ought not so much as once to be named among Christians It is a denial of providence And Ursinus saith All the grounds of Religion are shaken in pieces if Providence be denied St Augustine Nòn Deam aliquam sed tantum fortuitum rerum eventum in externis vel bonis vel malis August Retract lib. 1. cap. 1. in the beginning of his Retractations confesseth with grief and sorrow That himself in his younger years had too often used the word Fortune And yet he cleareth himself from superstition by expounding his meaning saying That he never understood thereby Deam aliquam any Goddesse or Divine Power Calvin instit l. 1. c. 16. Fortuna ex hominum quaestu facta est Dea. Publ. Mimus Fortunam casum Ethnicorum esse voces quarum significatione piorum mentes occupari minimè deceat Basil Quaenam est illa mulier quae velut coeca atque insana super lapide quodam rotundo consistere videtur Fortuna illa vocatur Ea nòn solum coeca sed insana quoque surda est Cebes Thebanus in Tabula Quod Scriptura utitur hoc vocabulo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. bona Fortuna nòn hìnc imaginari licet Fortunam numen esse sed accipi pro rebus fortuitis quae fortuitò videntur accidere etsi aliae earum causae occultae divinitùs dantur vel fortè haec verba 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 retinebat Lea Jacobi uxorex antiqua forma loquendi apud Gentes usurpata August Quaest de Genes 91. Fortune is a word without substance begotten by a fond conceit brought forth with fading breath no sooner come but gone That which is Fortune to the Servant is none to the Master that which is Fortune to the Child is none to the Father that which is Fortune to the Fool is none to the Wife So that take away Ignorance and her daughter Chance will be quite banished Ral. Walker Treat de provid He said truly which said Sunt qui in Fortunae tam casibus omnia ponunt Juvenal Sat. 13. Et nullum credunt mundum rectore moveri There are which Fortune say by chance all things doth guide And therein do the Ruler of the world deride See the blindnesse of men concerning Fortune they accuse Fortune of injustice but they believe in her power they blame her as a blind dispencer of her gifts but they extoll her as the onely disposer of worldly goods they say she is inconstant full of levity and of no assurance yet in all attempts whether of Warre or Peace they pray for themselves and wish to their friends above all other things good Fortune So blindly are men led to thinke all things to be ruled of that which of it self is nothing Geo. More Demonstrat but only a casual event of things in externals either in things good or evil Yet he saith That he was very sorry that he had so often used the word because he saw corrupt custom had so farre prevailed as it was much abused and he feared lest his example might be some occasion thereof as Calvin hath observed Where the wise All-seeing God is attended as the Ruler of all there is no place for that blind Idol for so they pictured Fortune Struth Observ Cent. 2. This sheweth the nature of our God that he is most wise Cor. 2. knowing all things now it is the property of wisdom to govern all things in a good order and to direct them to a certain end and that he is most good ordering all things to the best most powerfull being every where present to these purposes Therefore Hagar when the Lord supplieth the want of her self and her sonne she giveth him the titles of videntis viventis as him that liveth and seeth his people in all their afflictions An Heathen could say Lucan 9. Jupiter est quodcunque vides quocunque moveris Estque Dei sedes nisi terra pontus aer Et Coelum Virtus Thine eye thou canst not turn nor move thy foot abroad The Earth the Sea the Air is but the seat of God So Heaven and Power also No man can turn away from God no place is without the view of his eye and the authority of his presence the wisdom of God is sufficiently manifested in the creating preserving and governing the world and all things therein contained he hath disposed all things in number weight and measure Was it not wonderfull wisdom so to frame all creatures as that they should keep their continual and indefatigable course without alteration ever since the time of their Creation till their dissolution He hath so placed all the Elements that they are not noxious to one another he hath so tempered them in the creature as is best for the preservation of them he hath so ordered heat and cold drought and moisture as best fitteth the seasons of the years the situations of places and constitutions of mens bodies he causeth the Earth to hang as it were in a pair of balances no man knoweth how by his mighty power sustaining it he causeth the Heavens to run round about the Earth once in four and twenty hours by the motion of the Primum mobile he hath placed the celestial creatures viz. the Sun Moon and the Stars as that they exhale from the Earth things hurtfull and with their sweet influences cheer and comfort these sublunary things This proveth the Deity of Christ Cor. 3. it being proper to God to create and to conserve For so doth he Col. 1.16 All things were made by him and proceed from him as from their efficient cause all things were made for him and are referred to his glory as the final cause all things consist in him and as at first they were created ad esse so still they are continued in