the woman hath threee names in the Scripture as well as man The first is the generall name in respect of the Sex Gen. 1. 27. by which they are called male and female which is given as he is the Stock and she is the Storehouse of all mankinde The second is Adams matter and Eves mold which in him is the name of his and in her is the name of her fruitfulness that she is the mother of all living Creatures The third is the honorable name given in marriage which is Ish and Ishah man and woman which signifieth the dignity to which God exalted them both And this may suffice of their names Idcirco relicturus est vir patrem suum matrem suam ad haerebit uxori suae erúntque in carnem unam Gen. 2. 24. 30. Octob 1491. IN these words God the Author of matrimony setteth out a Law and Statute to all the posterity of Adam to observe concerning the matter of marriage and Adam is here instead of the Clerk to proclaim it unto all which Ordinance of almighty God our Saviour Christ in Matth. 19. 4. sheweth and avoucheth to be the only pattern and plat-forme for all married men for ever to look unto for saith he this is the originall Canon and the Rule to be observed utrum ab initio fuit sic And if we mark the contents of this Rule we shall perceive that it is Gods will that the conjunction of man and wife shall be so neer and dear and the knot of 〈◊〉 so surely knit that rather they should dissolve and break asunder all knots of frendship and bonds of propinquity than either wilfully to untie or violently to break it asunder by separation or divorce after the knot and covenant be once lawfully and solemnly made before God and his Church So that this is made a perpetuall Law not for Adam only and specially but for all Adam's posterity in generall For we see that it respecteth not so much Adam as us which follow him because God doth not direct his speech in the second person as saying thou shalt c. But indifferently to all mankinde as is more apparent thus because Adam and Eve cannot be said to have left father and mother therefore it properly concerneth them which afterwards should have father mother as all his sonnes and posterity had we see then there are two parts of this Law here set down the one is that married folks shall leave all other the other is that they shall cleave fast and inseparably each to other the bond and chain of naturall affection which bindeth fast the parents and children is wonderfull strong and neer and therefore the heathen doe call it vinculum Adamantinum an Adamant chain more strong than Iron we see this love and naturall affection is very great and forcible even in dumb creatures which are led thereto only by the instinct of nature wherefore if it should not be in men indued with reason Moses would have such stoned to death Deut. And Salomon prophecieth of such 〈◊〉 children Prov. 30. 17. That the Crowes of the Valley shall pull out their eyes yet notwithstanding this bond of naturall affection being so great and strong God saith that he would have married folks rather violate and break that then break this bond wherewith man and wife is united and tied together not that God would simply tollerate and alow any breach of duty between parents and children but only in respect of cleaving to his wife and the wife to her husband wherefore we must know and beware that we doe not think it lawfull for us being once married so to forsake our parents which brought us forth and bred us up as to set light by them and not to regard them as many unnaturall children doe under this pretence for to take away that savage and brutish disobedience Quod hoc non extinguit affectionem sed ordinat This freeth us not from our duty which Gods Law and the Law of nature bindeth us unto but it teacheth us how to dispose it aright that is how to cleave to our parents in duty as we 〈◊〉 and how to be united to our wives in love as we ought also By this then appeareth that it is Gods will that the link of love between married folks should exceed in strength and measure if it be possible even the naturall bond of love and affection that is between parents and their children and there may be rendred sufficient reason why it ought so to be first because his wife was made of the very true and reall flesh and bone indeed but children doe come only of the seed of the fathers and blood of their mothers so that it may truely be said that the wife is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone but their children are only flesh and bone of his seed and blood Again children are only the fruit of their loyns which is farther from the heart than the wife which is of the ribs which is most neer and therefore most deer to the heart Lastly because men doe love their children tanquam aliquid sui but they love their wives tanquam semetipsum Ephes. 5. 28. Seeing therefore self love is the greatest and most perfect love we conclude also that that marriage love must be neerest and most like it by the ordinance of God for our use this doth seem to give us a caveat touching the evill and shamefull divorce and separation of man and wife which are too rife now a daies for if so be that Gods knot of marriage should be so surely knit that it must not be broken for our deer parents sake but of the two choose rather to forsake them then no doubt it is not his will that for every sleight and trifling cause and occasion they should sue divorces and forsake one another for this is the divinity which our Saviour Christ doth gather out of this place Mark 10. 4. And thus much of the first part Now touching the other part of the position we are to consider two points first the union and conjunction of their hearts in love which is called their cleaving together The other is the union and combination of their bodies expressed in these words they shall be both one flesh the first is called of some conjunctio mentis the other is copulatio carnis both which are ordeined of God as holy and good for the first we see that this unity of minde by unfeined love and affection is called vinculum perfectionis Colos. 3. 14. So that this spirituall love is the best glue to make them cleave together without separation For so indeed this word signifieth glue or a kinde of glueing and sodering together wherefore as two things are by glue or soder united and made but one so by love ought man and wife which sheweth amor conjugalis must be reciprocus respecting and taking hold of both sides alike as glue doth There must be
keeping Gods Garden and Gods people the Church and Common wealth David being a King was content to be serviceable to all 〈◊〉 13. 22. Therefore it may beseem us which labour in the Church and Commonwealth not only operari but also servire for there are many which will be busie and take more pains than they have thanks for because they will be Commanders and prescribers and platformers but they will take no pains to minister or doe service and to be obedient which is meet for them according to their 〈◊〉 places and when every one is a Master workman and will not be subject or ordered by others in their labour it commeth to passe that Gods Vineyard is often spoyled wherefore our labour must be imployed by way of service in humility Now for these two as they are joyned and 〈◊〉 together 〈◊〉 operari are good companions for as the contrary vices are the two things on which a sluggard casteth over his bed Pro. 26. 14. So Moses setteth these two as the two hinges on which laborious and industrious men doe move These two doe goe together after three sorts First there is a service in respect of good and evill 〈◊〉 to labour and procure good to a thing or to drive away evill from it that is to preserve it from evill and in these two is expressed the property of a City Psal. 127. 1. First it is commodionsly built then there is a carefull watch set over it 〈◊〉 keep it from all danger and hurt 1 Cor. 12. 21. there is a comparison between the members the head and the eye are profitable to custodire the hand and the foot for all the body in operation so some in the Church and Commonwealth have their function in custodiendo standing in a 〈◊〉 to defend though they 〈◊〉 not as others doe and we must know that Custodes as Magistrates Ministers c. though their function be not in 〈◊〉 yet if they 〈◊〉 not idle in it the 〈◊〉 of their heart is as great and painfull as the 〈◊〉 of the brows to others The second is this operari which is the 〈◊〉 or rather the bringer in 〈◊〉 is the Steward or Auditor to 〈…〉 and to give a just account of that which the other brings in The Heathen 〈…〉 he that will not keep is worse than Judas for he could not abide perditio haec for which Christ did not mislike him nay Christ himself would not have the Fragments lost John 6. 12. So that as operari condemneth idlenesse and negligence so doth custodire condemn waste and ryot for these two vices profusion and negligence doe goe together Prov. 18. 9. as the two virtues Working and Keeping are brethren and goe together like friends The third and last is that of Ambrose That though labour and work faileth a men yet keeping holdeth out and lasteth as long as we live Therefore custodire is called Muria virtutum the pickle of virtue and in keeping we must persevere continue and hold out to the end for that is the chiefest virtue Matth. 24. 13. The Philosophers call it virtus virtutum Thus we have seen our unde to teach us humility our quo to teach us thankfullnesse and our ut to learn us carefullnesse and dilligence in our calling and this is our translation and prelation whereby we are taught to keep in minde our two duties of operari and custodire and this may serve for the comprehension of our first duty in Paradise Interdixitque Jebova Deus Homini dicendo De fructu quidem omnis arboris hujus horti liberè comedes Gen. 2. 16. June 17 1591. YOu remember I made it plain that there was two parts of mans Calling and Vocation in Paradise and a double duty injoyned him done in the time of his innocencie The first is labour in an earthly vocation about things belonging to this life The other spirituall imploying the duties of his soul respecting the life to come The one humane which is our Art and Occupation in our several vocations The 〈◊〉 is called divine by performing our duties and service unto God our Creator which here is expressed and remaineth to be handled We are content to labour and to doe our duty in the ground because we doe see the fruit thereof Now if that be good then our labour in Religion and in the service of God is a more profitable duty than that of the ground for the fruit thereof is eternall life we must not therefore be only Agricolae sed 〈◊〉 and labour to serve God What is this commandement and our duty prescribed When we have taken away the shell and driven off the husk from it we shall see that it is true obedience obedientia autem est sola virtutum as one saith nulla est obedientia nisi humilium so that obedience in humility containeth in it the summe of all virtues else This is the first speech and dialogue that God had with man from the beginning As therefore hitherto God hath opened only his hand to fill Adams hands with his blessings his mouth with laughter and his heart with joy So now God openeth his mouth to shew what shall be his reciprocall duty for all his benefits and what duty he requireth of him It is not said before that God spake touching the delivery of the former duty because it was no need for the very light of reason might teach him the law of honest labour and industry for the avoiding of idlenesse in every estate But this Law and duty of obedience is supernatural and therefore besides the instinct of nature it was requisite that God should viva voce instruct him therein as a thing not within the reach of fleshly reason to know how we should serve God aright This is the reason then why God spake now and said Numb 12. 6. God is said to speak three waies by vision dream or mouth to mouth and this last was the speciallest favour and grace so to speak If Moses then stood so highly in Gods favour that he delivered his minde by word of mouth face to face then no doubt did God much more speak after this familiar sort to Adam now because he was much more in the favour of God then any of his sinfull seed were which the ancient Fathers doe apparently gather also by the 3. of Gen. 8. for in that it is said that Adam heard God walk in his own presence in the Garden and heard also his voyce speaking to him they conclude that God did before sinne appear to man in a 〈◊〉 shape and speak to him as we read the Angells did to many afterwards As God in Paradise spake to Adam so did he alwaies both in the old and new Testament make known his will and reveale our duty in Religion touching his worship by the word of his mouth The Prophets therefore had this for the warrant of their Prophecies Os Domini loquntum est and the Apostles
farre forth as it necessarily pertained unto them but as for the other kind which deserveth not the name of Ignorance but Nescience it is a not knowing of things needlesse and impertinent to our duty that is of superfluous and curious points which belong not to us and this is that holy and godly Ignorance which is said to bee even in the Angels of heaven and in the Son of God as he is man 24. Matt. 36. and of such things Christ saith to his disciples vestrum non est haec scire 1. Acts. 7. Therefore this is no sinne or defect in them though we grant it to be in them yea it rather well agreeth with the holy estate of innocency not to know needlesse points of curious knowledg But now to the answer In which wee may observe divers steppes and degrees by which shee descended to him untill at last shee came even to him in opinion and consented to him And the first descent is because shee being a woman and therefore the weaker would notwithstanding without the helpe and counsell of her husband take upon her to dispute and reason with the devill which is most deceitfull for if she had given no answere the devill should have had no advantage but by her answer to this question she gave him som holdfast by which his temptation might somwhat fasten on her It had beene her wisest course to have stopped her eares and not to have vouchsafed him the hearing but if shee would needs hear the Serpents talk yet she might have set a watch before the door of her lips Psal. 141. 3. and so condemned his speech as not worthy the answering Si enim aut non audiverat aut nil dixerat saith one bene esset but seeing she must needs fit him an answer she should have done well to fetch an answer from her Husband and to say I will goe to him which heard God speak that thing which you doubt of he can better answer and resolve you in this point than I can for if Paul would not permit a Woman to speak in the Church but to be silent then much less would he suffer Women to dispute and keep Probleme with the Devill for their duty is to learn of their Husband at home if they doubt but she according to the nature of Women will not answer per aliam they think themselves able to answer alone and therefore let us see the tenor and contents of her answer which we see is a rehearsall and repetition of Gods Commandement Genesis 2. 16. 17. but yet so faintly and coldly set down that the Devill might easily perceive that his temptation had begun to corrupt her minde for first in that she is able to say Gods Commandement without book the Devill took this hold against her that she did not sinne upon ignorance but wilfully against her knowledge which proveth that she did it presumptuosly which augmenteth her sinne that so he may well say to her ex ore tuo te judicabo If we look into the particulars of her answer we shall see it stand upon two points the first is Gods graunt the 2. verse the other is Gods restraint the 3. verse by both which we may see that Eve simply and plainly instructeth the Serpent as her friend in all the whole will and counsell of God first she setteth down Gods goodness and liberality and in expressing it she doth extenuate and lessen the greatness thereof but when she cometh to the restraint she doth so amplifie and enlarge that that the Devill might easily perceive she received the one not thankfully as she should nor yet was well pleased but murmured as much misliking the other whereas she should have said God is not bound to us either by duty or desert to give us any thing yet of his gracious goodness he hath freely permitted us the use of the trees of the Garden which are many in number and in variety divers and choise therefor he is not durus avarus pater as thou wouldst have us to think but he is bonus benignus and therefore we will thankfully keep this easie Commandement Thus the consideration of his bounty and free goodness should have been a prick to stirr her up to thankfull obedience but her unthankfull minde which regardeth not his goodness was a preparation to disobedience Thus we see what her answer should have been to have stopped the Devills mouth but she did not so therefore we are now to consider what she did say and what answer she gave unto him De fructu quidem arborum hujus horti comedemus At de fructu arboris istius quae eft in horto hoc dixit Deus Ne comedatis ex isto neque attingatis eum ne moriamini Gen. 3. 2.3 Novemb. 18. 1591. WE have considered the temptation both on the Serpents part and also on the Womans behalf and we have seen what occasions she offered unto him before he could doe her any hurt Touching which it is our part to learn to beware by her hurt and evill quia as one saith Ruinae praecedentium sunt cautiones sequentium Therefore God hath set down the manner of the fall of our first Parents ut illorum pathemata nobis essent mathemata for all is written for our instruction 1 Cor. 10. 11. Now for the better observation of her answer we shall see it doth consist of two parts the first is Gods permission in the 2. verse the other is Gods prohibition in the 3. verse for the first we have seen that the Woman had just occasion to amplifie Gods loving and most liberall dealing with them but she clean contrary being tickled by the Serpents speech doth 〈◊〉 it as if it had been a matter of very small regard and therefore in a word lightly passeth it over making a very sleight and slender confession of Gods goodness in so much as we may well say that it is oratio magis querelae quam 〈◊〉 rather complaining at Gods hardness then giving thanks for his goodness Now for the prohibition in the 3. verse because she doth enlarge it we must stand longer upon it It 〈◊〉 therefore partly on the restraint of the Commandement and partly on the penalty thereof which we will handle severally where good will and willingness is there every duty commanded will seem very easie and then we are ready to doe it but è contra when any doe injoyn us any duty whom we fancy not nor esteem as a friend by and by want of good will maketh us cavell with the difficulty and hardness thereof Therefore this making so much adoe and so many circumstances of the restraint as if it were a heavy burden an uneasie yoke doth plainly bewray an ill willing minde and murmuring against God the Commander To this end as being malecontent she nameth not the tree as God did but describeth it by the place where it standeth quasi pigeret nominare quia non liceret
teach us that he is our per quem and must be our propter quem in all our actions therefore as it is he per quem sumus so we must make here his glorie and praise the end of all our thoughts words actions or devises whatsoever Psal. 96. 5. Elohim is said to make all and therefore we must with praise tell it out among the Heathen So there we are taught to remember him in our youth as our Creator to knit our selves and our wills to him as our Governor and in trembling to fear him as our Judge for he commeth to judge the world in truth Psal. 96. 13. for if we shall amend our lives we shall rejoyce and wish for his comming as we rejoyce and praise him for our making and this is the perfection of a Christian man contremiscere when we think how wonderfully God hath made us and with joy and gladness say with David Psal. 119. 52. I remembred thy judgements of old and received comfort and as we know that in him and by him we live move and have our being Acts 17. 28. so we must live move and breath only for him that is so farre forth as may make for his glorie that at last we may with joy commend our souls to him as to a faithfull Creator 1 Pet. 4. vers 19. 4 Point The fourth point was the things made namely Heaven and Earth which comprehended all in them that one being the upper bound above and the other below between both which are all The use is that if we look upward we see Heaven if we cast our eyes down the earth will be seen for our eyes and light are given to see both which two if we ask them they will tell us Job 12. 7. If we will not ask them yet they will preach and declare Gods glorie Psal. 19. 1. that not once a week but night and day not for an hour in the night or day but continually though their preaching doe not trouble our ears being dumb yet they cry aloud and though they speak not English yet their voyce is intelligible to all Nations and Languages in the world wherefore seeing they still cry aloud and tell us of the Creator that he made all these for us it is required of us that we be ready with our tribute and homage which is to yeild due and continuall praise and thanksgiving to God for them for heaven and Earth have a fellow feeling of the good and evill which either we doe or God doth for us Esay 39. 1. and they rejoyce with us when we doe or have any good done to us And so when we offend God in paying our duty Jer. 2. 12. then it is enough to make heaven and earth stand still and be amazed and astonished at it because we forget God and our duty Thus doth our sinne and ungratefullness overthrow and prevent and stain the whole course and order of Nature Jer. 12. 4. so there is a concurrent of them with us in honoring serving and praising the Creator both of them and us Therefore it is our duty and part to give heedfull care to those preachers which preach God without the Church alwayes in silence and so give our duty and tribute to serve and praise God with them amongst his Saints here that we may be glorified with them in Heaven that we may praise and magnifie him with his Creatures in earth that we may be glorified with his Saints in Heaven quod faciat Deus per Christam Terra autem erat res informis inanis tenebraeque erant in superficie abyssi Gen. 1. 2. verse THE former verse was delivered to us an abstract of the whole work of Gods Creation now lest we should think that when he mentioned Heaven and Earth before he should mean that all things in Heaven and Earth were made in the very moment of the beginning even as we see them now therefore Moses 〈◊〉 haste to tell us that though at the beginning and first moment God made quecunque nunc sunt yet he made them not qualia nunc sunt but did that in six distinctions of severall times It had been as easie to him to have created all things even in the perfection and order they are in a moment and instant and in that beautifull form in which they present themselves now to our eyes But it pleased God though in power he could doc it yet in wisdome to proceed after these three degrees mentioned before First to create the beginning both of all times and of all things as the matter and beginning of all superior bodies and the beginning of all inferior bodies of nothing After the work of creation followeth the work of distinction from this 2. verse to the 11. And lastly ensueth the work of persection with beauty to adorn all his works and to finish them which is from the 11 verse to the 16. It pleased God thus to proceed in this work as well that he might shew himself to be the God of order as also to discover to us the mysterie of the Trinity in the three properties of the three persons which appear in the Creation For all was made by his Power which is the property of God the Father By his Wisedome which is the property of God the Sonne by which all things were orderly disposed and distinguished And by the riches of his Goodness which is the property of the holy Ghost by which all things were adorned and made perfect these three properties are remembred in the Revel 5. 12. and Acts 17. 28. We live by his power we and all things move in this order by his wisdome and we have this our being by his grace and goodness by his power we are taught to acknowledge him to be our beginning and originall ex quo sumus by his wisdome we acknowledge him to be the upholder per quem sumus by his goodness we confess him to be the Chief propter quod sumus For considering his goodness we and all Creatures must endeavor to doe all that we can for him and his praise and honour All which three are plainly and orderly set in the 11. Rom. 36. God also took this orderly proceeding partly that we entring into the meditation of Gods works might by this means have as it were a thread to direct us orderly therein for by this means we come to know this difference between Creatum ordinatum ornatum esse as the Hebrews say by this means we shall know not only the beginning and being of all things but also how orderly and excellently all things were made in this Creation And thus much of the reasons of this course of Gods proceeding in this work Moses having therefore in the first verse set down the materials of the World and all in them now to the 11. verse he sheweth the work of distinction And after the work of adorning and perfecting all But first of all he handleth
and all that might be attained unto by bodily labor and work and not to seek for blessednesse in the six dayes work but only in the blessing of the seventh day given by his word which is above and beyond all that is in the Creatures But the other reason is more sensible which is because every one of the six dayes brought his reall blessing with it Of which Jobs wife had skill Benedictus Deus in donis suis Job 3. 9. Which is Oses blessednesse Benedictus dominus quo ditati sumus But the world hath no feeling of St. Pauls blessings which are spirituall who saith blessed be God which made us rich in all spirituall riches in Christ. Wherefore that we may know that we have more cause to blesse God for his spirituall blessings given unto us on the Sabbath day by his word then for his temporall blessings which we receive at other times by his Creatures therefore did he specially blesse this seventh day for God knoweth we are easily brought to say blessed be God and blessed be this day in which we receive temporall blessings and that place we will call the valley of blessing 2 Cro. 20. 26. And on the other side we think that day a cursed day as Job did in which we receive evills Job 3. 8. But seeing all true and eternall blessings doe follow and shine from the blessing of this day it is indeed to be esteemed a blessed day Object But I will ask Whether the other dayes were not also blessed Resp. Yes every one of them as we may see Gen. 1. chap. had his Benedixit which though they were temporall yet they have a very good Analogy and fit proportion with the spirituall blessings of this day of this day for as we have a natural good use of the goodnesse of the Creatures on the six dayes by their blessings given them So here on the Sabath we have a spiritual use of the Creatures For as the temporal and corporal use of the six dayes is ad cultum corporis so this spiritual use of the seventh day is ad cultum animae that so having blessings provided both for body and soul we may by both kindes of blessings come unto God in whose presence is the fullnesse of joy and blessednesse for ever Psal. 70. 4. Touching the blessing of the Sabath We say that thing is blessed of God to which God vouchsafeth some peculiar or special favour So Isaac is called Benedictus Domini Gen. 26. 12. because God shewed him such special favours It was the strife between Esau and Jacob because of the blessing that is the superiority Gen. 27. 37. What maketh the Sabath the chief day in the week Therefore this day having the special blessing is by it made the head and chief day of the week The honor which is given to this day is holinesse which is expressed by sanctifying or hallowing which consisteth in two things The first is Levit. 20. 26. which is separation or setting it apart from common and prophane uses to the which they were or might be applyed before before which they were called things common and prophane So was this day first a common and an ordinary day like to all the other ordinary dayes yea it might be thought to us before a waste emptie day bringing no good with it to us but now being set apart the day which the builders would refuse by this is made the head and chief day of building for as a man being set a a part to be a Magistrate is thereby made above ordinarie men so is this day now among other dayes being set a part by Gods word As the separation of it from prophane uses is the first part so consequently ensueth for the sanctifying of any thing the appropriation of it to Gods holy uses to the which he hath appointed it Levit. 27. 28. as the sanctified Instruments of the Temple must not serve to any other uses but to that holy use and purpose in the Temple for which they were made If we then so use this day and separate it from prophane things to holy exercises it will be a blessed day to us for Gods blessing given to this day is a real blessing and will cause us to grow in holinesse here and by it to blessedness in the life to come For this must needs be granted that he which 〈◊〉 it blessed it for some body if for some body then for himself or for some other but he made it not for himself for he is God for ever and ever blessed And as St. Paul saith Omnia munda mundis Titus 1. 15. so we may say Omnia sunt sancta sanctis and therefore all things being holy to him which is holiest of all it is sure that he sanctified it not for himself Then it followeth that it must needs be either for Man or for some other Creature but not for any other Creature because they themselves were all blessed and sanctified for us and our sakes so saith Christ Sabatum erat propter hominem non homo propter 〈◊〉 Now we come to the counsell of God in the institution of the Sabath the Psalmist saith 111. 2 3 4. That the works of God are great and to be sought out of all them which have pleasure in them And again That God hath so wrought his marvellous works that they ought to be had in remembrance It is Gods will and counsel therefore in these works first that we should have a remembrance of them and not to forget his benefits in them for he made them that we should not only have a corporal use of them but a spiritual use also as David had Psal. 143. 5. Recogitavi or recordatus sum omnia opera tua that is it should be our delight and pleasure to call to minde again and again his bounty and magnificence in his works that blessing him for these benefits we may be blessed of him for ever in the world to come Thus we see the dependence of this work and the counsel of God therein to the end that this counsell of God may prosper and succeed well that we may have fit occasion to call to minde his works to blesse him for it and to be blessed of him It was requisite and necessarie that God should take order to appoint a time in which setting aside all other worldly duties of our calling we should only and wholly as much as our weak nature can suffer apply our selves to this Christian duty of meditation and serving God which here is set down to be the seventh day in which circumstance of time we have four things to consider 1. First That some day or time must be appointed to that end 2. Secondly That it should be a day or time certain 3. Thirdly That the certain time should be in a certain number of dayes which the Fathers call taxatio temporis 4. Fourthly That it should be the seventh day
given us but one day of the seven to work in for our own commodity it had been more than he had owed us it had not been given of duty but of his largesse and liberality But now seeing he hath not given us one or two or every other day for our businesse but the whole six and reserved but one of the seven for himself to be served in this is so equall that none can complain or think to be hardly dealt withall If any man shall now be so sacrilegious having six dayes given him freely as to take from him that hath but one reserved to himself it is intollerable injury and not to be excused and as David saith 2 Samuell 12. 5. he may well be called the Child of death The fourth and last point is taxatio diei As the World had the knowledge of the former three points so this point standeth upon very good and sufficient reason for seeing that the day is or deined in remembrance of this work and benefit of Creation for that is the end why the Turks and Jews did celebrate holy-dayes in them to remember some notable work and benefit therefore it is reason that God should make choise of such a day in which the benefit might be best remembred And of all the dayes in the week we shall see the seventh day to be the fittest to retain and keep in memory the commendation of this benefit and work of Creation When God had performed this great work of Creation he took order also because it was the greatest benefit which as yet the World had or knew of that the seventh day should be alwaies had in remembrance because he had fully perfected all the work in it and the very same reason which made the Jews Sabath on the seventh day doth now also move Christians to keep it on the first day in the week for it is Gods will that the lesser benefit should surcease and give place to the greater Jer. 23. 7. and that the benefit of Creation as the lesser should yeeld and give place to the work of Redemption which is the greater benefit When Christ cometh we shall not then extoll and magnifie the deliverance out of Egypt but that shall cease and not be counted the greatest benefit But we shall talk of Christs work and deliverance from Hell and Satan So the day of Creation must give place to the day of Redemption Wherefore the Apostles after Christs Ascention changed the seventh day unto the first day of the week which we shall see is most fit to keep in memory this greatest work and benefit of Redemption as Athanasius and Ambrose doe hold and prove Because if B were the Dominical letter when Christ was borne his Nativity was on the first day of the week his Resurrection Apparition of the Holy-Ghost and Ascention was also on the first day in the week And also the first day is most fit to retain in minde the restauration of the World So it is not unmeet to remember the Creation which was begun the first day And besides all this it may serve as the fittest time to cause us to remember the benefit of glorification for seeing our Inheritance is in light Coll. 1. 12. And God made light the first day to come out of darknesse 2 Cor. 4. 6. Gen. 1. 3. therefore it is most fit to put us in minde of that also We will beginne the next time where we now leave And you remember the last time according to the division we then made we spake somewhat of the institution and observation or use of the Sabath The former being implyed in the word blessing the other in the word sanctifying Touching which we say with the ancient Fathers that quodlibet officium Dei est beneficium nostrum Therefore Adam having received so many benefits of God was bound by necessarie duty to performe some service to God for them which every day in part he should have done as duty required But some one day he ought wholly to apply all the powers of his minde and all the parts and members of his body about it alone Wherefore we have shewed 1. first That there must be some one day or time set a part to the solemne intending of the work and worship of God 2. Secondly That it ought to be some certain day 3. Thirdly That God measuring out his vectigal temporis the tribute of time due to him did assigne it to be once in seven dayes which revolution of seven hath a special use both in things natural and in things spiritual for in Religion as in seven dayes is the Sabath so in the feast of the seventh moneth is the feast of the Tabernacle or the feast of weeks 4. The last point is a positive day and time namely the seventh day which God chose as most fit for his work Touching which the Jews themselves did not so much stand in the strict limitation of the set day For they held That if a man by sleep or 〈◊〉 knew nor certainly which was the seventh day it was not a matter absolutely necessary so that he kept one day of the seven To this end therefore of worshipping God he would have us make a truce with the World And as Augustine saith we must have a vacation from the works of our Vocation And as Christ would have us Luke 10. 42. we must lay aside Martha's part that not being troubled with many things we might attend to Mary's part The better for separating our selves from worldly things and dedicating our selves to heavenly things is the ground of this institution Sabatum Ptradisi and this is the end and observation of the Sabath of Paradise Sinai But the Sabath of Sinai had three other accessory ends added to this 1. The first is Politicall set down Exod. 23. 12. 2. The second is Theicall or Ceremoniall which Ceremonies are excellently well divided thus 1. Some closures or fences Some were appointed as closures or fences to inclose and defend or aid the Law Ceremonies of Sinay as the sixth Precept had this Ceremonie for his fence That men should eat no blood to signifie 〈◊〉 them how greatly they should abhor murder 2. Rudiments to the Gospell The other Types or Ceremonies were rudiments and instructions leading us darkly as by Riddles and 〈◊〉 to some necessary points of the Gospel So the Ceremonie of the Saboth taught us a double Lesson and Document the one of a benefit already past and exhibited as of the Creation done on the seventh day The other of a benefit to be exhibited hereafter and perfected also on the seventh day that is the work of Redemption and Regeneration So now the promised Saviour being come that Ceremony of the set seventh day 〈◊〉 and the first day in the week is in its stead There was also another Ceremonie Heb. 4. 9. and that taught us to rest from finne in this life and
at the good pleasure of Almighty God Therefore being delivered into the dominion and 〈◊〉 of the Messengers and Ministers of death by and by he was subject to the Guives and Manacles of death which doe seize upon all parts of our bodies for sinne Morbi enim sunt laquei mortis which is we are held sure untill we die also the Ministers and Servants which ever since that sentence was denounced doe attend upon us to our end are cares and sorrows within labours and travails without which seizing on us doe make our deaths as sure as if we were already dead for we cannot escape it therefore saith David Psal. 89. 48. Quis homo vivit non videbit mortem for all of us have sorrow which is primogenitus mortis Job 18. 13. the same day 〈◊〉 brought it forth Gen. 3. and we have and feel daily the forerunners of death which are diseases which make our bodies even in this life 〈◊〉 mortis a body of death Rom. 8. 10. Wherefore we may be sure that death it self will come most certainly though the time be uncertain for it is a debt which must be paid we must all dye Heb. 9. 27. when the time is come that God hath appointed Dixerat autem Jehovah Deus non est bonum esse hominem solum faciam ei auxilium commodum ipsi Gen. 2. 18. Octob. 1â— 1591. THe Prophet Esay 51. 1. exhorteth the Church of God after this manner Look back saith he 〈◊〉 the stone out of which yee were 〈◊〉 and to the 〈…〉 of which you were digged By which he 〈◊〉 the Church of God that there is a very necessary and profitable consideration to be made out of the historie of Abraham and 〈◊〉 and their lives as it is expressed in the Scriptures So may we say of the historie of Adam and Eve our first Grandfather and Mother for they are more properly indeed to be termed the first stone out of whom all mankinde were hewn and the pit out of whose womb we all were digged and taken And so much more profitable is this 〈◊〉 and the explication thereof because St. Paul faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the creation of Eve and her marriage is 〈…〉 shewing us the mysterie of Christ the second Adam and his 〈◊〉 to the Church which was his Eve taken out of his side I told you that from the 6. verse of this Chapter to the end of it is 〈◊〉 a Commentary upon the 27. verse of the first Chapter where Moses in one word dispatched the Creation of Man and Woman saying 〈…〉 which he so briefly passed over there because he purposed in this Chapter 〈…〉 a more large and ample discourse thereof We have heard of the Creation of Adam in the former part of this Chapter hitherto which is nothing else but a 〈◊〉 upon these words of the first Chapter 〈…〉 Now therefore we 〈◊〉 to the explaning of the other part which is 〈…〉 which he performeth from this verse to the end of the Chapter Two principâ—… points In all which verses the Fathers say than there are but two principall points to be considered the first is The 〈◊〉 of the woman the other The 〈◊〉 and marriage of her to the Man Touching the creation and 〈◊〉 of Eve it 〈◊〉 partly a deliberation and then the work of creation 〈◊〉 self the 〈◊〉 is in these words 〈…〉 〈◊〉 which containeth also two parts first the 〈◊〉 in this 〈◊〉 verse and then the occasion of it in the verses 〈…〉 But before we 〈◊〉 of the consultation 〈◊〉 first consider 〈◊〉 coherence with that which 〈◊〉 before which is 〈…〉 After the Almighty God had 〈◊〉 the 〈…〉 which is his Church by the 〈◊〉 made 〈◊〉 God and man Now in the next place he 〈◊〉 to 〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 estate 〈◊〉 which is of 〈…〉 by the duty of Man and Wife in Marriage By which God would 〈…〉 know that by his will and ordinance all men next after our 〈◊〉 to Almighty God which is first are bound to have a most speciall care and regard of their duties in that other society which is this If they be Husbands their next care must be of their duty to their Wives if Children of their duty to their Parents if Servants of their duty to their Masters for these duties of the private Families in the Common-wealth are next in honour and reverence to the divine duties which we own in the houshold of Faith which is in the Church unto God for this society is lege ipsa antiqua as one saith and therefore we must give more honour and reverence unto it Now for the summe and scope of this verse we will divide it into two parts first into Gods Dixit and secondly into the tenor of his speech which is Non est bonum c. and first briefly of dixit Deus because we often heard of it before we must note that qui dicendo facit verbo facit which teacheth us to give honour to Christ the second person in Trinity who is the word of God of whom all things are made and ordained John 1. 3. Secondly touching this Dixit which we see by it and other singular prerogatives herein given to Mankinde which we may add to all the former For in the creation of other Creatures God used only the word of authority fiat but here he useth the word of his good will and pleasure which is faciam Before he ever directed his speech to that which was not Gen. 1. 3. saying fiat lux when there was then no light but all darknesse But now he reflecteth his speech to himself as it were consulting with deliberation about this work in that the Contents of his speech in touching the good and happinesse of Man in foreseeing what is not good for him in providing that which is best for him we doe not only see his care over us above other Creatures but also we are taught to acknowledge how well and reverendly we ought to esteem this ordinance of marriage for God knew that many speeches and reproaches would arise among men against this work which God had in hand of making Woman Some by way of jest and merriment to disgrace that sex and others in contempt to dispraise them calling them necessarie evills c. therefore God saw it needfull to expresse the absolute good which cometh to Man by Woman as being so necessarie that we cannot be well without them for seeing we cannot deny but that God that doth best know what we want and what is good doth affirm that it is good for us to have Eve made and that it were evill for us to be alone without her therefore that we preâ—ume not foolishly in jest nor earnest to contradict and crosse Gods will The tenor or content of the Consultation standeth upon two parts The first is a reason or cause which moved God to make Eve in these words Non est bonum c. The other is his purpose
sociable to us nor be serviceable to us but only at our table for meat wherefore they being as it were of another world and of another nature and disposition divers from ours they could not be meet for our company and therefore in vain had it been to have called them into this solemn assembly of earthly creatures God is said then to bring all these creatures before man therefore they came not at mans call nor yet of their own accord but by the speciall commandement of almighty God And indeed without Gods powerfull commission we may come to them for they will not come to us or if they come it is to doe us hurt or to make us affraid of them Job 39. 12. This word then of God which brought them together is not an audible word Sed vox in silentia as Job saith Job 4. 16. And it is called Gods whistle Esay 7. 18. for if he call yea if he doe but hisse and whistle for innumerable Caterpillars and Froggs they will speedily come in swarms to doe his will Psal. 105. 34. Thus we see that verbum illud quod produxit idem adduxit haec omnia Adamo By which words we may observe that God doth also now invest man into his rule and dominion over all the creatures by bringing them before him as their Lord to doe their homage unto him for it was the like custome in Israell when any was annointed King that all Israell should suddenly come together before him that they might know and acknowledge him to be their ruler 1 Sam. 10. 17. Such a like thing is here for all creatures by Gods appointment doe as it were meet at a Parliament by generall consent to annoint man to be their King Now in the next place we must consider the end why this solemn assembly was made the principall thing indeed is to discover to Adam that amongst all the creatures which were yet made there was not one meet and worthy enough to be his companion as it may appear in the 20 verse But withall there is besides it a second subordinate end which is that man should give names to all creatures and to see how Adam would call them by which we see that God loveth not dumb shews and will not have Adam idle in beholding his creatures but would have him to exercise that wisdome which God had given him in giving them names for it is said to be a wise part by the outward sight and view of things to be led to an inward and wise consideration thereby by which he might learn instruction so will God have him too while he looketh over them first to be led to a wise consideration of the natures of the things that he seeth and then to give fit names to them according to their divers natures which by sight he perceiveth which we have seen to be the very order that God useth Gen. 1. 4. So soon as he saw the light presently he is said to consider of it namely that the nature of it was good and therefore presently proceedeth to give it a fit name agreeable to the nature which he saw to be in it In the first God doth establish in man as a meet thing for that reasonable creature the speculative part of wisdome which is the duty of meditation study and contemplation which is expressed by the word seeing for so the prophers were called in the old times Seers of this 1 Sam. 9. 9. And again we must know that this speculation by study and reason looking into the nature of things is not only lawfull and allowable in divine matters which is the studie of divinity but also in the generall study of naturall Philosophy by which we may look into the nature of all the creatures which God hath made which is by nothing else but by meditation to call them to minde and then as having them before us wisely to consider of their natures and names so David did confesse That he did often meditate of all the works of Gods hand Psal. 143. 5. Another point that Adam was not only enjoyned to see and consider of their natures and names but also to utter in words and in names the things which in his wisdome he had conceived of them by which God doth as it were untie the string of his tongue and open his mouth that by speech and audible and sensible words he might shew and utter his wise conceipts for the communicating of that knowledge which was in him unto all others after him to this end therefore God made him a tongue as well as eyes that his wisdome and learning should not be buried in his breast but might be expressed for the good of others by which also we doe see the approbation commendation and allowance of two other notable Arts and Sciences given unto man namely Grammer and Rhetotick by which our mouths are opened to utter knowledge aright God cannot abide that men should misname things as to call things which are good by evill names or to call evill good Esay 5. 20. Therefore God will have him take a speciall view of all things first and then afterwards to name them First therefore we must have knowledge by studie and contemplation before we take upon us to professe it by eloquution But now a dayes it is not as it was at the beginning for we take upon us to be 〈◊〉 professors and preachers of knowledge before ever we studie we attain to the knowledge and understanding of that which we professe to teach This authority which man hath to give names to all creatures doth first argue his sovereignty and his supremacy over them all Psal. 49. 11. For there David saith when men have houses and lands of their own then they take upon them as having most right to call them after their owne name that is to give them what names they please to impose So doth God himself reason 45 Esay 4. I have called them by my own name therefore they are mine It was God's course in 17. Gen. 5. when Abram had vowed his subjection to God by the Sacrament of Circumcision and given himselfe to bee his servant then God to shew his authority over him gave him a new name calling him Abraham So was it the custome of kings and princes having by force of arms made any subject unto them to shew their soveraignty over them they used to alter their names and call them by names of their own inventing as we may read 2 Kings 23. 24. for of Eliakim is called Joakim and Mateniah is called Zedekias 2 Kings 24. 17. So here God having made all things subject to man and him the Lord and Ruler over them Psal. 8. to declare that royall prerogative which he had he giveth him also leave and authority to give them what names he pleaseth and so they for ever should be called Which also doth argue the great and rare wisedome and knowledge which Adam had in this happy
and waking A third distinction is peccatum cubans and vigilans that is sinne sleeping and lying still and sinne waking that is the temptation of sinne before and while it is committed and then the remorse after The fourth and last distinction is that which 〈◊〉 a difference between the Children of God and of the Devill between the reprobate and the regenerate that in the godly there is peccatum 〈◊〉 but not dominans sin ruleth but reigneth not from hence is grounded that which the Prophet saith in the nineteenth Psalm Keep thy servant from presumptuous sinnes and in the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm Direct my steps that no iniquitie have dominion over me so the Apostle in the sixth chapter to the Romans Let not sinne reigne in your mortall bodies yet he confesseth in the seventh chapter to the Romans that sinne dwelleth in him By which we may see plainly what it meaneth for sinne would command a mans body his eye foot and hand yea set all the parts of his body a work about that it 〈◊〉 But that party when sinne biddeth him 〈◊〉 and goe 〈◊〉 still when sinne biddeth him stretch out his hand can clasp it close when sinne biddeth him delight his eye can shut it close when sinne biddeth take to heart and one doth with sighs shake it off he that when sin commeth running shutteth the dore against it avoideth all provocations in such a one there is peccatum currens but not dominans That is for the division and the difference between these two sorts of persons But secondly we have a main foundation which the ancient Fathers and Doctors ground upon the thirteene verses of the third chapter where God useth the same words to the woman that he useth to Cain here Why hast thou done this And the Woman said The Serpent beguiled me It sheweth that the proceding of Cains sinne was as the first sinne was for the Serpent first shewed her the fruit and she did eat and then after she shewed it to Adam and it pleasing his sight he likewise did eat This is the proceeding of sinne from the Serpent to Eve from her to Adam and so here the presuming of reason in Cain contrary to reason was as that in Eve and Adam and therefore as after God said to the woman Thy desire shall be subject to thy husbands and he shall rule over thee so here he saith Cain shall bear rule over sin and the same shall befall in mans sensuality that is his lusts and concupiscence which befell his uper part which is his reason alluring him and drawing him to sinne Therefore they call the understanding and reason which is the uper part of the soul Adam and the lower part that is the affection Eve The desire and pleasure of sinne that is the apple and sinne is as the Serpent As this is grounded upon the speech of God so is it upon the similitude and manner of sinne whereby man is caught as a fish with the bait in the first chapter of James for reason taketh the bait first Such a proceeding is in all sinne and there is no other temptation to sinne now then there was in the beginning to Adam and Eve Thus much for our state and duty arising by way of instruction and exhortation to behave our selves so as sinne get not the rule over us I come now to the last in these words But thou shalt bear rule over it Wherein we ask How shall this be fulfilled can we give to nature that power and freewill nay it is plain we cannot neither is Gods intent so to doe for we are not able of our selves as from our selves to think a good thought as it is in the second to the Corinthians the third chapter and the third verse for we have all been as an unclean thing all our righteousnesse is like a filthy cloth in the sixty fourth chapter of Isaiah and the sixth verse so that he that hath no more in him than the strength of nature is as he that followeth the steps of an harlot whose case is like to the oxe that goeth to the slaughter as it is in the seventh chapter of the Proverbs Therefore it is not to be desired neither is it in our strength to doe it for where God saith Tee shall rule over it Is our strength able to doe thus No. Further as Moses said in the 30. of Deuteronomie and the 14. that Gods meaning in giving him the Law was not that he could doe it or should of himself but it was verbum fidei the word was as near to thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart to doe it This word is the word of promise as Paul expoundeth it in the tenth chapter to the Romans The means to rule sinne is as near thee as sinne is Say not in thy heart who shall goe up into heaven the means is the word of faith which assureth thee of Christ the promised seed who shall for thee break the head of the Serpent as it is in the third chapter of Genesis and give thee the victorie over sinne for else this doctrine had been false if that promise had not gone before then there is Christ without whom we can doe nothing but sinne as himself speaketh Sine me nihil potestis facere in the fifteenth chapter of John the fifth verse It is he that giveth repentance in the second 〈◊〉 to Timothie the second chapter by whom they come 〈◊〉 amendment 〈◊〉 of the snare of the Devill And therefore as the Apostle saith Wee must be strong in the Lord that we may be able to resist in the sixth chapter to the Ephesians For we are able to doe all things in him that strengthneth us as it is in the fourth chapter to the Philippians that is by the strength of his grace enabling us For the performance whereof we must sue to him and begge it at his hands by prayer And that is the meaning of the words that we should ire ad Dominum ut in Domino dominemur 〈◊〉 must goe to him that hath trod upon the bead os the Serpent and overcome the power of Hell Sinne and Death and he shall tread down Sat an under 〈◊〉 feet in the sixteenth chapter to the Romans and the twentieth verse In the one hunderd and tenth Psalme He shall bear rule over his enemies then he may justly bid us bear rule over sinne seeing he is both able and milling to help us There is no man hath set it down more excellently than St. Gregory who saith Justus Deus instat praecepto quia cùm instat ptaecepto praecurrit auxilio so that if a man can remember what Christ hath done how that he which hath broken the Serpents head will give us power to bear rule over sinne as he is able so will he if we be earnest suitors to him for 〈◊〉 give us grace and strength whereby to resist temptations of sinne So saith the Apostle in the second to
not where his Brother is that is a lye with two additions First Mendacium impium In that he lyeth not to man but to God in the fifth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and the fourth verse The Wise-man saith of Kings which are but mortall men in the sixteenth chapter of the Proverbs and the thirteenth verse Righteous lips are the delight of Kings and the King loveth him that speaketh right things Then much lesse can God which is the King immortall away with lyes for lying lips are an abhomination to the Lord in the twelfth chapter of the Proverbs and the twenty second verse Hee knoweth all things and his Majesty is greater than all the Kings of the earth Therefore Salomon prayeth in the thirtieth chapter of the Proverbs Take from me vanity and lyes Secondly As it is impious and ungodly so it is foolish in that we seek by ly es to blinde Gods eyes To whom the darknesse is no darknesse but all is light Psalm the one hunded thirty ninth For the Wise-man saith the 14. of the Proverbs and the 22. Errat omnis qui facit iniquitatem that ignorance and wickednesse are twinnes and inseparable companions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cain sheweth his folly in that he believeth the Devill the Father of lyes that he may conceal his fact from God soe as he shall not know of it Secondly because God might object upon his deniall thou wast seen goe into the fields with thy Brother since which time he was not seen he prevents this objection and justifieth his lye and withall defends his sinne for he saith he is not his Brothers keeper that is he denieth that he is to take care of any but himself We are to have care of our Bretheren in three respects That position of Cain is false for he was to have a care of his Brother First if he had been but a man Secondly in that he was his Brother Thirdly for that he was his inferiour committed to his government The law of humanity would teach him to be carefull of Abel in regard of the first The law of naturall affection or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will inforce him to respect his Brother And in that he was his inferior made subject to him the law of nature will inforce him to have a regard of him being 〈◊〉 to his trust This is the law of nature saith Chist in the seventh chapter of Matthew That what we would have men doe to us we doe the same to them for that is the Law and Prophets If our neighbours oxe goe astray or fall down under his burthen Gods will is we succour him Deuteronomie the twenty second chapter Much more are we to have a tender regard of men because they are our own flesh from whom we may not hide our compassion in the fifty eighth chapter of Isaiah But if that will not move Cain yet let naturall affection provoke him to take care of Abel because he is his Brother issued out of the loynes of Adam as he himself was Thirdly he is to take care of him because he is under his government Secondly As Cains position is false so is it wicked For if all men should take care only for themselves and not for others it would be the dissolution of all societie But the law of nature willeth that the members of the body have the same care one for another as they have severally any one for it self in the first epistle to the Corinthians and the twelfth chapter The law of the Church is Nemo quae sua sunt quaer at sed quisquis quae alterius in the first to the Corinthians the tenth chapter and the twenty fourth verse Which rule as it concerneth all men generally so especially it toucheth those that doe dominari as Cain whose duty non praeesse solum sed prodesse As one private man may not renounce the care that he is to have of another privat man so much lesse may a publique person lay aside the care of a private man Jeroboam had no care of the people though they perished in death in the 13. of Hosea and the 2. verse And when Judas came to the High Priest and confessed his fault They as if they were to care for none but themselves answered What is that to us Looke thou to it in the twenty seventh chapter of Matthew they were perswaded they were not bound to take any notice of his state These were steps of Cains sinne and grievous sinnes Thirdly we are to consider the manner of his answer which is not a simple deniall of his duty but an unmodest speech Am I my Brothers keeper as if he shhold say Am I bound to take care of my Brother In this answer we see that Cain to his former sinnes of lying and malice adds the sinne of pride and presumption Of which the Prophet saith Be not mercifull to them that offend of malicious wickedness which sinne whosoever committeth cannot be clear from the great sinne which is irremediable as David saith Keep thy servant from presumptuous sinnes so shall I be clear from the great sinne Psalm the nineteenth and the fourteenth verse The instruction that we are to gather hence is that wee avoid the wayes of Cain if we will escape his curses in the eleventh verse of the epistle of Jude He was carried with a lying spirit in the first of Kings and the twenty second chapter and 〈◊〉 may not seek to beguile God as he did as if we would hide our sinnes from him Secondly There is spiritus malignus in the first epistle of John the third chapter and the twelfth verse the malicious spirit which perswaded Cain that he was not bound to take care for his Brother Wee must take heed of that spirit like wise Thirdly Wee must be ware of the haughty and proud spirit which made him answer God so immodestly we must learn to bee humble for as the Wise-man saith pride is the forerunner of destruction Wee must 〈◊〉 before our selves the example of Abrahams humility who acknowledged him selt to be but dust and ashes in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis And with Job say I will repent in sack cloth and ashes for if wee in humilitie confesse our sinnes God is mercifull and just to forgive us our sinnes in the first epistle of John the first chapter and the seventh verse Wee must instead of the lying spirit possesse our selves with the spirit of truth for the malicious spirit we must have the spirit of charity and for pride put on the spirit of humilitie Dixit verò Deus Quid fecisti ecce vocem sanguinum fratris tui me ab ipsâ humo inclamantium Gen. 4. 10. Aug. 19. 1599. IN which words is set down Cains conviction for howsoever he might imagine he was escaped by that bold utterance of a known lye and untruth yet he was deceived as all they shall be decieved that having
chastity are a full comprehension of the duty of sanctification which God willeth us to perform And as Cains sinne stands first in the story so it is first in nature for a Child before he be able to speak one word will by his sower face shew that he hath a revenging spirit But in this story of Lamech we must observe a farther thing for it standeth upon two parts First in the ninteenth verse is shewed not only that he was infected with a spirit of uncleanness but also verse the twenty third a contemptuous and insolent spirit which is a degree beyond Cain for there he braggeth of his sinne and contemneth God and his Judgments as if he should not be revenged of him for it For when a sinner is not only possessed and infected with malice and envy in his heart and with lust in his reins but braggs of his sin in contempt of God and his Judgments then he is at the height of sinne Peccator cum in profundum venerit contemnit Thus where there are but three faculties of the soul all are corrupted by the infection of the Serpent as for reason it was corrupted in Adam when the Serpent perswaded him that he should be like God and the angry part was corrupted in Cain when he was stirred up to kill his Brother without all cause Thirdly the will and the coveting part was corrupted in Lamech so as neither the bond of nature nor the will of God which is a spirituall bond could keep in order but he will shew his uncleanness When not only Adam looseth faith and Cain charity but Lamech chastity then is sinne at the height In the first verse there is a genealogie of four discents wherein there is no matter of great edification Howbeit as when mens Fields and Closes are laid out all must not be taken up for pasture but a little way must be left whereby every man may pass to his own ground so in the Scripture there must be a passage from one storie to another And as in the body for that there are a great many lymbs and parts they must of necessity be compacted one with another by the help of the sinews so both in prophane Writers and in the Scripture many things are set down to shew the dependance that one story hath with another which otherwise would not seem so necessary Even so the shewing how Cain is joyned with Lamech which is done in this verse is very necessary Secondly There is a farther matter in this heaping of names besides the continuance of the story for it would have seemed strange that the Scripture doth make mention of Lamech and his wicked course unless it were withall shewed from whence he came But in setting down that Lamech is of the posterity of wicked Cain no man will marvell that he doe expresse the manners of Cains Besides that we may not think that this heaping of words is vain for as the Fathers note there is no name in Scripture without profitable consideration for howsoever men that deal in woods and base mettals care not to let chips and parings fall from them yet as they that work in gold and Silver will not lose the least parings The like is to be done in reading the word For it is pure as silver that hath been purified seven times Psalm the twelfth More to be desired than gold Psalm the ninteenth therefore we must have this conceit of it that whatsoever seemeth to be superfluous in the word of God hath great value both for faith and life For Isidor saith est in nominibus sacris sua theologia and as Jerome saith in nominibus sacrae Scripturae insculpuntur mysteria Therefore the Apostle saith That the Sonne of God is more excellent than the Angels in as much as he hath a more excellent name than they Hebrews the first chapter and the fourth verse so when the blinde man is sent to wash himself in Shilo John the ninth chapter and the seventh verse The word signifying sent importeth that he could not be purified by that water unless he was sent so in the names of holy Scripture we see as Jerome saith there are ingraven mysteries Now we give names to our Children ad placitum but in the old Testament the Fathers gave names of set purpose with great advise so we see Eve giveth a reason why she called her Sonne Cain Genesis the fourth chapter and the first verse so is there a reason of Seths name Genesis the fourth chapter and the twenty fift verse of Noah the Sonne of Lamech Genesis the fift chapter and the twenty ninth verse of Isaack and Jacob and all the Patriarches The reason why they had this regard in giving of names are reduced to two First in those that are the Children of the godly their names are a kinde of Prophesie concerning the disposition of the Childe which choice of names their Fathers made for that being endued with the spirit of God they foresaw the disposition of their Children On the other side the wicked and the reprobate cannot prophesie yet their names are specula paternae affectionis as the names of godly Children are prophesies puerilis indolis That it is thus in these names we shall observe an encounter made between the seed of Cain and the seed of Seth which as they were of a contrary disposition so gave their Children contrary names Cain called his Sonne Enoch that is dedicated to the pleasure of the world but Seths Sonne is called Enosh that is sorrowfull Genesis the fift chapter On the one side there was Cain on the other Kenan Irad on the one side Jerad on the other Methushael and Methushelah by which names the seed and posterity of godly Sheth shew a contrary affection and such as differeth from the wicked and the seed of Cain as appeareth by the signification of their names Touching the opposition that appeares to be between the generation of Seth and the posteritie of Cain Enochs name who was Cains Sonne signifieth dedication and there is one of the Children of God called by the same name Genesis the fifth chapter and the ninteenth verse but Seths Enoch as Jude saith was the seventh from Adam verse the fourteenth that is one dedicated to the seventh or Sabbath day one that gave himself wholly to the service and worship of God but Cains Enoch was the first and next to Cain that is one dedicated to the first day which is a working day to shew that he was one that gave himself to the affaires of this life that sought to be mighty on earth And this difference of affection holds to this day for all men are followers either of the first or second Enoch The next of Cain is called Irad that is Lord of a City the same that Herod signifieth wherein we see his ambitious spirit that he was such a one as sought to be great in the world And as Jeroboam when he was not able to maintain
carnall and are not spirituall Temperance will make men depart from the flesh and grow spirituall and so be like the 〈◊〉 nature To Temperance hee exhorts to add Patience the first voice of this quire which the Apostle reckons among the fruits of the Spirit Galathians the fift chapter and the twenty third verse for three reasons as the Philosophers observe to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is next adjoyned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the effective part is joyned courage For as is observed from John the first chapter and the thirteenth verse not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man There are in man two wills the will of the flesh and the manly will for God having planted in the Soule desire to follow good there followes courage to remove whatsoever shall hinder our desire and as wee have a virtue to moderate our concupiscence or sensuality so here is Patience against our courage Secondly what makes a man intemperate but 〈◊〉 as Genesis the twenty fift chapter Esau must needes die except hee have the meat hee desires therefore 〈◊〉 is a virtue necessarily required in the faithfull the sixteenth chapter of the Proverbs and the ninteenth chapter of the Revelations Haec est sides patientia Sanctorum The third reason of the dependance is 〈◊〉 vincit qui patitur Intemperance and Impatience are the great Conquerors of the world the one being the Nurse of Phisitians the other of Lawyers And as we have had a virtue to conquer intemperance so it followes by good order next that wee have the virtue against impatience As the one sort are said to bee clothed in white that is the innocency of the Godly Apocalyps the seventh chapter and the ninteenth verse so others by Patience have made their garments purple in the blood of the Lamb Apocalyps the ninteenth chapter Secondly when wee know what to doe wee must not be drawn from it by any terror For as the devill to alure us to sinne joyns dulce malum so to keepe us from good hee joynes bitter with that which is good He joynes to 〈◊〉 labour and disgrace that by them hee may keepe us from it Labour is a thing our nature cannot away with durum pati the object of this virtue is tribulation as Romans the twelfth chapter bee patient in tribulation a virtue that becommeth Saints Apocalys the ninteenth chapter haec est fides patientia Sanctorum For the originall of tribulation men doe not feare the evils of the life to come and therefore God is faine to send them crosses while they live which must bee borne patiently as Micah the seventh chapter portabo iram Domini quia peccavi Secondly they are sent for tryall of our faith ut tollet ferro rubiginem addat 〈◊〉 puritatem That was the cause of Jobs trouble to try his faith The use of this virtue in respect of men is as Matthew the fift chapter If they smite thee on the one cheeke to turne the other If they take way thy coate let them have thy cloak also If men reproach ye as David was to beare it as hee did the second of Samuel and the sixteenth chapter to endure the spoyling of our goods as Hebrewes the twelfth chapter In such cases it is the perfection of the Saints while they live here to possesse their Souls with Patienee as it is in Saint Luke the one and twentith chapter For the use the Apostle makes of this virtue patience is needfull for the avoiding of corruption Give not place to the Devil by suffering the Sunne to goe down upon thy wrath Ephesians the fourth chapter For men in their impatience utter the corruption of their hearts Michah the seventh chapter Secondly It makes them like God as John the third chapter and the first verse for there is nothing in God more divine than patience this virtue he shewed to the old world which he endured so long the first epistle of Peter the third chapter and to the new world the second epistle of Peter and the third chapter He is not slack but patient to all and would have all repent The same is the affection of the Sonne of God towards his Church What did Moses admire Exodus the third chapter to see the bush a fire and not burn but videt rubum ardentem Even so now the faithfull shall drink deadly poyson and it shall not hurt them as Christ promiseth Mark the sixteenth chapter that is the evil tongues of the wicked which are as the poyson of Asps as Psalm the hundred and fourtieth The Apostles exhortation is James the first chapter and the fourth verse Be patient that ye may be intire and perfect and as the first epistle of Peter the fift chapter If ye suffer but a little God shall make you perfect And Christs advise is To bring forth fruit in patience Luke 8. Tolerantiae pietatem pietati verò fraternum amorem fraterno verò amori charitatem 2 Pet. 1. 7. IN the first of these three verses the Apostle makes his first conjunction of Faith Teaching that as we must be of a sound belief so of a virtuous life The second of Knowledge not to be drawn from a virtuous life by any deceits Of Temperance against allurements And Patience against terrors and troubles all these are moral virtues And to these he joynes in the third verse the threefold train of Godlinesse Brotherly love and Charity all which are theological virtues For as Christ exhorteth not only to doe good to them from whom we receive good Luke the sixt chapter and the thirty third verse which be the virtues of kindnesse that the Heathen practised but to add Christian virtues Doing good to them that hurt us and as Matthew the sixt chapter Our righteousnesse must exceed the righteousnesse of Scribes and Pharisees So theological virtues doe not exclude moral but as the Apostle shews we 〈◊〉 beside moral virtues 〈◊〉 these theological Faith doth not abolish but establish the Law so Romans the third chapter the Gospel requires of a Christian both will virtues and theological In the course of the world we finde it otherwise the civil man will shew himself temperate and patient but makes little account of religious virtues Others as Jude the first verse will seem to be religious by hearing and discoursing of the word and by certain religious terms but neglect those moral duties According to the first table they are religious but neglect the duty of the second Therefore for the Civil man albeit moral virtues are the perfection of this life yet if he look higher to the great and pretious promises of being partaker of the divine nature his moral virtues cannot raise him up so high as those virtues of Christianity that must doe that And for them that stop at the moral duties of the second Table and content themselves with a shewing religion by theological virtues If any man seem to be religious
verse they say Angells were created yesterday as it were the next day before after David saith in the hundred fourty eighth Psalm and the second verse Praise ye him in the high places he saith first Praise him all his Angells In six dayes the Lord made the Heaven and the Earth and all that in them are in making Heaven he made all things as Angels in the Heaven Exodus the twentieth chapter As Hell hath been prepared of old so the Devill hath been a murtherer from the beginning John the eighth chapter and the fourty fourth verse It hath been questioned whether the fall of Angels was the first or second day Secondly They say there is no mention made of goodnesse because division was in the second day and therefore no goodnesse but notwithstanding the division there is a union In the dayes of Peleg the earth was divided the tenth chapter and the twenty fift verse At the building of Babel was the division of tongues which was confusion the eleventh chapter and the ninth verse This division of the second day is of things of diverse natures therefore good Likewise they say there is no mention of good because that was made that day namely the divided waters the upper and nether waters were the deluge and destruction of the world afterward But by them he punished mans wickednesse and the worlds sinfulnesse but to give to give to each his reward and desert to the godly glory to the wicked punishment this his Justice is full of Goodnesse Num 〈…〉 is Infâ—…stis say the Papists yet Matrimonium eft binorum So litarinesse is not good which God perceiving he made to man an helper the twenty eighth verse of the next chapter We say in a Proverb Secâ—… omnia sunt prospera yet it was said dies secundâ—… was infâ—…stus But it was Jeroms blemish who is not to be excused for who is blamelesse for he that first devised that opinion did first strangle it Division signifieth as well conformity as confusion and where reward is for desert that is good All that God made was very good the thirty first verse of this chapter The action of goodnesse is suspended the number is suspended till both be perfected which is after in the third day in the which day you shall finde goodnesse twice when the second day as the Seâ— was perfected the day was pâ—…ed but the work was ended This I doe take in the course of 〈◊〉 reason Et fuit ita Nam produxit terra herbulas herbas sementantes semen in species suas arbores edentes fructum in quibus semen suum est in species suas vidit Deus id esse bonum Sic fuit vespera fuit mane diei tertii Gen. 1. 11.12.13 Place this in pag 72 after the Sermon upon Gen. 1. 11 WE have heard of Gods Decree commanding and the returne executing it and his censure approving that is made which in every dayes work is set down in these three phrases fiat erat sic bonum erat Of this third dayes work we have handled before we have heard the first part namely Gods word commanding the Earth to bud forth hearbs and seeds and trees c. now it remaineth to speak of the other two And first of the return and execution And it was so For the Earth according to every 〈◊〉 and title of Gods word fulfilled Gods will and brought forth all sorts of hearbs and trees and buds and fruits and seeds leaving nothing undone which was commanded Touching which besides the obedience of this Element in executing Gods Decree we note a special Certificate under Gods hand as it were for the discharge of this Creature in the dispatch of his work and that without delay with all haste and speed Which reproveth not only our disobedience to God but also our dulnesse and slownesse in doing any thing which God commands For with us it is one thing to doe a thing and another to doe it willingly and quickly with expedition and speed For when God doth command any thing we put it off with this delay erit sic it shall be so hereafter when we can finde leisure and fit time It can seldom be said in the present tense erat sic it was performed without delay For we are as Salomons debtors which bid God stay till tomorrow or the next day Proverbs the third chapter before he can finde leisure to pay this debt and duty of obedience Secondly In that the return in the end of the eleventh verse was erat sic it was so two things are to be noted out of the nature of the word First a congruity of the performance answerable to the commandement in every point for here is specified just so much done as was required nothing too much or too little to teach us that our obedience must be such We must not deficere in necessariis nec abundare in superfluis The other point is for continuance or perpetuity for the word signifieth that it was so surely and firmly done as if it had a sure basis or foundation for continuance that it might never fail we see it holdeth and endureth ad hunc usque diem our eyes and experience seeing that it is 〈◊〉 The last thing we gather by opposition That Gods word was the cause and is that hearbs and trees doe bear fruits and trees So è contra it is the same word of God saying Let not the Earth nor the trees bear which is the cause of 〈◊〉 and want If for our sinne they fail any year ab ejus 〈…〉 interdicto 〈◊〉 If therefore we disobey Gods 〈…〉 be our punishment That his word shall 〈◊〉 the Earth to 〈◊〉 encrease and to deny us his fruits The second part is the censure and approbation of God saying that it was good I said before there are 〈◊〉 sorts of good 〈◊〉 honestum secondly utile thirdly 〈◊〉 each of which we shall see in the earth and the fruits thereof For honesty and moral good we see it is gratefull to the owner or 〈◊〉 which laboureth therein faithfully and gratefully repaying and requiting his 〈◊〉 and labour thereon For profit it veeldeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both for man and beast and so necessarily good is it in this 〈◊〉 that without it the King cannot live Ecclesiastes the fift chapter and the eighth verse For pleasure and delight either of the eye to behold it or of the taste to relieve it it is most delicious and delightfull Milk Wine and Oyle Wheat and all other grain which are both for variety and necessity we receive by Gods 〈◊〉 from the fruit and increase of the earth and trees And therefore is every way good Postea dixit Deus Abundè progignunto aquae reptilia animantia volucres volanto supra terram superficiem versus expansi Coelorum Gen 1. 20. Place this in the beginning of pag. 84. THIS verse and the three following 〈◊〉 contain in them the first dayes work by which both the