on a Tree This curse of God Christ was willing to undergo to free us from the eternall curse of God which mans sinne had deserved Esa 53.3 4. Esay 53.3 4.5 10. He is despised and rejected of men Vir dolorum a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief c. Surely he hath born our grief and carryed our sorrows c. Vers 5. Hee was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed And Verse 10. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sinne in this sense he was made sinne for us and thus became Author of Salvation to all that obey him Heb. 5.9 Heb. 5.9 But not every one who walk according to their own lusts and then tell of Christ of the merits of Christ the mercies of Christ and the like have Christ often in their mouthes but seldome in their mindes often in their words but seldome in their workes such walk not as they have Christ for an example but as enemies to the Crosse of Christ 2. As he was willing so likewise he was able to undergo the punishment for us Thou hast laid help upon one that is mighty so he did indeed when he laid it upon Christ Acts 2.24 Acts 2.24 It was not possible that he should be holden of the pains of death Iohn 2.19 Iohn 2.19 Solvite templum hoc c. Destroy this Temple and in three dayes I will raise it up again for I have power I have abilitie and strength so to do Iohn 10.18 Iohn 10.28 Potestatem habeo deponendi eam potestatem habeo rusus eam assumendi I have power to lay down my life and I have power to take it up again 3. And lastly hoc praesupposito this being praesupposed that man should not be saved except Gods infinite justice was satisfied and actually in the fulnesse of time was to bee done then none but one of an infinite value as was his Son could have made this satisfaction or have paid this price no meer Creature Man or Angel could have done it So that being brought to this point though Christ was innocent yet was it thought fitting in the wisdome of his Father that he should suffer Rom. 3.25 Rom. 3.25 God hath set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Secondly though the Creature was innocent and kept that station wherein God had set it and placed it and was not Created in any gift of reason by which it was inabled to receive conceive or obey any positive Law yet was God an absolute Lord over it and having neither determined nor made any absolute promise to the contrary might dispose of it as he in his great and over-ruling Wisdome thought fitting and God having given it to man for a Possession in the state of innocency when man sinned God as you have heard did not onely punish the person that offended but his Possession also and being absolute Lord over the Creature he was not bound to conserve it in that integrity in which he first created it but as it was subject to mutability in it self so likewise might he change it as in his wisdome he would And though the Creature as we have heard had not propensity to be changed from the better to the worse yet the soveraign Lord of it can be touched with no injustice in making this change and as the creature was punished and made subject to vanity for the sin of man so man is in some sort punished by the Creatures some of them runne wilde live out of his compasse will not obey him other some obey him but by constraint unwillingly others rise up against him to destroy him some by venome and some by violence many times God arms the Creature against man to revenge himself of his disobedience and how often have we instance of this in the Book of God yea even by insensible Creatures as the Elements either Fire Water Earth or Ayr by Fire as Genes 19.24 Gen. 19.24 Brimstone and Fire were rained upon Sodome and Gomorrah Gen. 7.4 out of Heaven By Water Gen. 7.4 I will cause it to raine upon the earth forty dayes and forty nights and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from the face of the earth By the Earth Numb 16.32 Num. 16.32 33. The Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their Houses and all the men that appertained to Korah and all their Goods and Verse 33. the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the Congregation By the Ayre corrupted Deut. 28.22 Deut. 28.22 where amongst other Plagues God threatned to plague the disobedient Israelites with Blastings Aere corrupto as the Vulgar reads it with corrupt Aire Thus we see how by all the Elements God can punish man If we take a short view of the sensible Creatures that are made subject to vanity by reason of the sinne of man we shall finde them to appear in a great number letting passe the noisome qualities of divers Herbs and Plants that God hath often armed with vengeance to punish man whose sinne occasioned the bringing of them within the common course of corruption First let us begin with the Lion which is accounted the King of the Beasts of the field and stoutest of any When David let me say in carmine lugubri or in his Elegies for Saul and Ionathan would much magnifie them he said 2 Sam. 1.23 2 Sam. 1.23 that they were Leonibus fortiores stronger then Lions 2 Sam. 17.10 1 Sam. 17.10 when Hushai would set out the valiant among the souldiers of Absolon he saith And he also which is valiant whose heart is as the heart of a Lion c. By these God hath punished man whom he once made Lord over them 1 Kings 13.24 1 Kings 13.24 a Lyon met the disobedient Prophet and slew him 2 Kings 17.25 2 Kings 17.25 when the King of Babylon had carryed the Israelites Captives and had sent the Gentiles into their Possessions so it was in the beginning of their dwelling there that they feared not the Lord therefore the Lord sent Lions among them which slew some of them So that the Idolatrous Gentiles felt the smart of Gods revenging Hand within his Land as well as did the Idolatrous Jews and ignorance of worshipping the true God proved no shelter to save them from his stroke These instances are remarkable out of the holy Story how many more might I adde out of humane Stories written by men of great judgement and credit to shew how God in other ages hath done the like Sebast Munst in Cosmogr de terris Asiae Majoris lib. 5. in ipsa calce Sebastian Munster in his Cosmographie writing de terris Asiae Majoris tells us of the City of Sana and the Countries thereabout and that in the Inlands more remote
he may bestow it upon other parts of the world then onely those which that Doctor names And howsoever many Individuals of every species have and shall perish so likewise have parts of the Elements perished though not the tota so the species of severall Creatures shall continue as long as the Elements that now are shall and why then by the gift of immortalitie may not these species continue of which many Individualls have perished as well as the Elements from whom parts have so much and so often perished His fifth Those Creatures that shall be delivered shall be glorified and immediately passe from their corruptible estate into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God but the unreasonable Creature not thus Ergo. I answer To be glorified properly is incident to the rationall Creature he onely shall enter into the glory of God in the third Heaven and have the Image of God perfectly renewed in him Secondly the Creature may come into the glorious libertie of the Sons of God and yet be not thus glorified but sutable to its nature immortalized dono gratuito as we have heard and have an Analogie to glorified bodies Again where he saith they fall into corruption and their life and spirit is extinguished with them c. true to all that shall not be renewed this shall come to passe but whether God shall not renew the species of them is adhuc sub judice and to affirm he shall not is but to begge the question and to conclude that for a certaintie which is in controversie And whereas he renders this reason why the Heavens and earth shall rather be restored then the rest of the Creatures namely because they have been from the beginning to the ending subject to vanitie after man had sinned but other Creatures that succeed by generation but a while I answer this had been some reason against the Individuals of the species but against the species none for the species of the Creatures have been as long subject to vanity as they though not their successive individualls His sixth If any such Creatures restored then either the same that were before or some other of the same kinde newly created But neither of these Ergo. I answer this will fall to be handled in the fourth and last ranke of Creatures but in all probabilty not those that are already perished in individualls Secondly we say they shall have a renovation or restauration not a new Creation for substance but shall be renewed in their qualities state and condition as we have heard before His seventh and last Argument produced against the most generally received opinion is this Nulla promissio facta est there is no promise made for the restitution of any such Creatures as there is for Heaven and Earth Ergò they shall not be restored To this I answer that there is a promise as I conceive in generall though not so particularly as for Heaven and Earth For this I conceive a promise as also do many others in that the Scripture saith the Creature shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption Rom. 8.21 into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God and before the Creature was made subject to vanity But Heaven Earth and man were not all the Creatures that were made subject to vanity Peter Martyr to the same purpose in 8. P. Martyr in Rom. 8. ad Rom. quamvis enim Scriptura harum Creaturarum mentionem seorsim expresse non fecerit satis tamen est quod in genere Creaturas restaurandas significaverit nequè unquà m quicquà m exceperit saith he Although the Scripture make no mention of the Creatures severally and expressely as it doth of Heaven and Earth yet its sufficient that it hath signified that the Creatures shall be restored in generall or indefinitly neither any where hath it made any exception Thus have you seen the Arguments and reasons of that laborious and learned Divine answered upon which reasons and Arguments he dissented as much following Bucan from the most generally received opinion Let us now come to the fourth and last ranke of the Creatures the Heavens the Earth and Mankinde this last ranke many of the School-Divines fall upon which Peter Martyr also mentions in oct ad Rom. thus P. Mart. in 8. ad Rom. Scholastici saith he putant homine qui praecipua est pars Orbis terrarum renovato etiam Creaturas esse restituendas quae sententia verissima est colligitur enim ex dictis Pauli quòd autem ad partes attinet tantum Coelum Elementa hominum corpora putant esse relinquenda The Schoole-men saith he do suppose that man who is the chiefe part of the world being renewed the rest of the Creatures also shall be restored which sentence is most true for it s gathered from the sayings of Saint Paul but concerning what Creatures they think that Heaven the Elements and the bodies of men shall be restored for they thinke that not the Earth onely but also the rest of the Elements shall remain Beda indeed saith glossa in 2. Beda in gloss in 2 Pet. ult Pet. last quòdignis duo ex toto consumet duo verò in meliorem restituet faciem c. that the fire shall totally consume two of the Elements and renue or purifie other two Others thinke quod manebunt omnia quoad substantiam sed mutabuntur quoad imperfectionem sed duo retinebunt propriam formam substantialem scilicet Aer Terra sed in igne aqua non remanebit forma substantialis sed ad formam Coeli commutabuntur sic tria Elementa Ignis Aer Aqua dicentur Coelum quamvis Aer retineat eandem formam substantialem quam nunc etiam habet quia et nunc etiam Coelum dicitur c. That all the Elements shall remaine for substance but shall be changed from their imperfection but yet two of them that is to say the Aire and Earth shall retain their own substantiall forme but in the fire and water that substantiall forme shall not remaine but shall be changed into the forme of Heaven and so three of the Elements Fire Aire and Water shall be called Heaven although one of these that is to say the Aire may retaine the same substantiall forme which now it hath and because now the Aire is called Heaven And this they would collect from Apoc. 21. Apoc. 21.1 1. because mention is made onely of Heaven and earth but others reject this opinion because say they repugnat Philosophiae quòd corpora inferiora sint in potentia ad formam coeli cum materiam non habent ejusmodi this is repugnant to Philosophie that bodies sublunary should be in capacity to be informed by the forme of Heaven when as they are not of the same matter with the Heavens for so Aristotelians as you have heard It may also resist Theologie in the most generally received opinion for if two of the foure Elements
that perished lib. 20 de civitate Dei cap. 24. and those were the Aereal Heavens or the regions of it To which I answer that the comparison in Peter is not between the Heavens that then perished and these that now are being indeed for substance still the same but between the world that then was 2 Pet. 3.6 is qui tum erat mundus 2 Pet. 3.6 that is as Beza well hath it Beza in loc aspectabilis ille terrae decor quaecunque animantia in terra degebant iis duntaxat exceptis quae in arca erant inclusa nec enim aquae in coelos redundarunt imò ne ipsa quidam terrae substantia periit sed futurae conflagrationis longe alia erit ratio ideò coelum terram id est rerum universitatem distinctè nominavit in proximo versu that visible comelinesse of the earth and whatsoever living Creatures then was upon it except onely those that were shut up in the Ark neither did the Waters then reach unto the Heavens yea not so much as the very substance of the earth perished But the matter shall be farre otherwise about burning of the world by fire therefore in the next Verse he distinctly named the Heaven and the earth that is the whole world to which the forenamed world was opposed And Beda by the Elements understands all the four Elements Beda in verba yet thinks two onely shall utterly perish that is Fire and Water and other two remain renewed that is the Air and earth called the new Heavens and the new Earth Yet what hath been said against this before shall suffice neither doth this plâ—â—se the Pontificians Others thinke onely three here meant Water Earth Aire because they cannot see how the Element of fire should be consumed by fire To which I would answer with Aquin in suplem ad 3. Aquin in supplem ad 3. part sum qu. 74. art 3. partem summarum qu. 74. art 3. respond ad 1. having shewn that the fire that shall burn the world shal be of the same species with ours he adds non tamen est idem numero notwithstanding it s not the same in all respects with ours And we see saith he that in two fires of the same species one may destroy the other major scilicet minorem the greater the lesse consumendo materiam by consuming the matter of it c. Again loco quo supra Respond ad secundum Loco quo supra Resp ad 2. the fire that shall burn and purge the world shall not have its calefactive power ex principiis essentialibus sed ex divina virâ—ute vel operatione out of its own essentiall Principles as usually it hath but from the Divine power or operation of God in it as his Instrument inabled from him to produce this effect And actio instrumenti magis manifestat virtutem moventis quà m virtutem moti the action of the Instrument rather manifests the power and efficacie of the Mover of it or Worker by it then of it self and the fire which God shall stirre up to purge the world shall have such efficacie in it from him that it shall work beyond the ordinary course of nature and shall be able to melt the Elements and that with fervent heat as S. Peter speaks yet non ad eorum funditus consumptionem sed solum usque ad eorum purgationem not to the totall or utterly abolishing of their substance but to the purging of them from their grosser attracted qualities Neither will that of Gregory hold Greg. magnus who saith in tantum accendet ignis Judicii in quantum ascenderunt aquae diluvii the fire shall burn as high towards heaven as the waters of the Flood ascended but that should be no higher than fifteen Cubits above the high Mountains which would not extend to the melting of all the Elements much lesse to the burning of the Sphaericall Heavens Dr. Willet qu. 29. in 8. Dr Willet qu. 29. in 8. ad Rom. ad Rom. there is not any visible thing that had a beginning but shall also have an ending In which he saith truth and for which the Psalmist will warrant him Psal 102.25 26. Psal 102.25.26 The Heavens are the works of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt indure they all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed If any visible thing should escape change these were likest but not these must escape And Heavens are here taken as opposed to the Earth as Gen. 2.1 Gen. 2.1 Thus the Heavens and the earth were finished and all the Host of them Psal 8 3 Psa 8.3 When I consider thy Heavens the work of thy Fingers the Moon and the Starres which thou hast ordained Even these heavens in which are the Moon and the Starres shall perish shall be burned with fire Thus much briefely for the former point that Aethereall Heavens shall burn as well as the Aereall But as we have seen what Heavens shall burn let us a little consider what Heaven shall not burn When I say the Aethereall heavens I mean the Sydereall and all the sphaericalls under the highest or third heaven as the primum mobile and the coelum crystallinum c. but the third heaven I mean not which is the Seat of the Blessed and which was a Creature created the first day Gen. 1.1 Gen. 2.4 Gen. 1.1 and Gen. 2.4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth Heb. 11.10 when they were created Heb. 11.10 Abraham looked for a Citie which hath Foundations whose Builder and Maker is God This Heaven is corpus supremum immobile incorruptibile amplissimum ac totum lucidum c. First it is a body and a substance though most subtile for that in which bodies are contained its necessarie that that should be corporeall for inter locatum locum inter contentum continens there must be aliqua proportio some proportion between the things contained and the thing containing Now the bodie of Christ is alreadie in the highest heaven and ours shall be howsoever the bodies of Enoch and Eliah now be Secondly quicquid est apertibile est corpus But so was the highest heaven Acts 7.56 Acts 7.56 otherwise Stephen had not seen Christ standing at the right Hand of God if that Heaven had not been opened for howsoever I know that some think there was nulla scissura in coelis no division at all in the Heavens and that miraculum non fuit in coelis sed in Stephani oculis not in the opening of the Heavens but in the eyes of Stephen Others that he saw this in a Vision c. or mentall contemplation not with bodily eyes yet Gual hom 55. in Act. saith Gualter Hom. 55. in Acta Ego haec illi revera visibiliter apparuisse nec mentis duntaxat contemplationi objecta fuisse intelligo I do
31. the Flax and the Barley were smitten Esa â—8 46 47. Psalm 78.46 47. reflecting upon these Passages He gave also their increase unto the Caterpiller and their labour unto the Locusts he destroyed their Vines with Hail and their Sycomore Trees with Frost Amos 4.9 I have smitten you with blasting and Mildew Amos 4.9 when your Gardens and your Vineyards c. increased the Palmer-Worme devoured them Zeph. 1.3 Zeph. 1.3 I will consume man and beast I will consume the Fowls of Heaven Gen. 19.25 and the Fishes of the Sea c. Genes 19.25 when Gods anger was kindled against Sodome not onely man that offended but the senslesse Creatures were also punished by reason of his sinne he overthrew those Cities and all the Plain and all the Inhabitants of the Cities and that which grew upon the ground so that when man seeth this punishment upon his Possession upon his Lands Fruits and Goods he may say properly as David did metaphorically 2 Sam. last 17. 2 Sam. last 17. Lord I have sinned and I have done wickedly but as for these Sheep yea and these Lands these Fruits these goods quid fecerunt what have they done Yet we see that for our disobedience that were Lords they that were servants were also made subject to vanitie Hactenus de Creatura ejus subjugatione Thus much then of the Creature and its subjugation or being subject to vanitie And now are we to fall upon the way how it was subjugated but before we come to that we are to observe the aversnesse from or the unwillingnesse to this subjugation found in the Creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non volens not willing the Creature was not willing to it Tertul. Beza Invite as Tertullian it was non sua sponte as Beza not of its own accord Paraeus that is non ex nativa propensione as Paraeus not of any naturall propensitie to it Cicer. lib. 1. Offic. for as Cicero observed lib. 1. Officiorum Generi animalium omni est natura tributum ut se vitam corpusque tacatur It s naturall to every Creature to preserve its own being in nature and Scaliger contra Cardanum exercit Scal. de sub lit Exerc. 12. sect 3. 12. sect 3. Nam quae natura consumit sua principia What Creature is there in nature that would give way to destroy its own Principles The naturall Philosopher tells us that Omnis creatura naturali inclinatione fertur ad suipsius conservationem Every Creature is carryed on with a naturall inclination to its self-preservation therefore no marvell that the Apostle expresseth it with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non sua sponte Not of its own will or accord Ex pede Herculem or ex ungue Leonem as we say Let us guesse at the whole series of the Creature by some particulars We see by daily expeperience that the sensible or irrationall Creature is not willing to corruption neither the Fowls of Heaven nor the Fishes of the Sea nor the Beasts of the Earth but are a verse from it and resist it to the utmost of their skill and cunning the very Elements are not willing to yeeld to forcible corruption for when the fire would lick up the water or the water would quench the fire you know there is pugna or a great strife between them one of them quoad posse sui quanti resisting the other as not willing to be corrupted or forcibly changed from its nature and one reason as the learned know why the guttae pluviales or dropps of rain do fall down figuâ—â— rotunda in a round form is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propter incolumitatem for the more safetie of their nature and greater strength to passe through the Ayre undissipated as naturall Philosophie teacheth Secondly we see how the Creature tends ad centrum tanquam ad locum proprium praeservationis as to the proper place of its preservation thus leviâ— do tendere sursum gravia deorsum tanquam ad locum proprium et naturalem et ubi illis sit optime light things move upward as fire smoak and the like heavie things downward as Stones Earth Brasse Iron Lead and such like mixed bodies because that 's their naturall place and such as agrees the best with the preservation of their nature and when they are detained elsewhere it is a violent detension so that it is supposed if an hole could be digged thorow the Bodie of the earth as it is thorow the Nave of a Wheel and a Milstone cast done by it that it would not rest untill it came at the Center having nullum impedimentum or corpus crassum interpositum having no impediment in its motion or grosse body to interpose it and the Center yea and though that by violence of the motion or gathering strength in its continuance it should exceed the Center yet would it not rest untill it reverted to its proper place Thirdly observe the sensible Creature if it be sick or weak or in danger of corruption or of resolving into its Principles by instinct of nature it hath appetition of such things as will help it or of such places as will secure it Look but upon the Swallow and wilde Bees Flies and such like which in the extremity and unmercifull season of the stormy and sturdy Winter appears yet have they an appetition by nature to Caverns and Holes where they preserve their Beeing untill the tender-hearted and gentle Spring invite them to appear the Dog by instinct of nature knows how to give himselfe a Vomit and some Physitians write man first learned this point of Physick from his practice The Fowls can scowre themselves by gravell the Cattell by licking up of Mould The Salmon wounded by his present return to the salt waters which exsiccate and drie up his wound but if he want opportunity to return or be detained in the fresh Streams by Nets lying in his way in the Summer season by great and high locks built in the water or the like and grow weak upon his wound the ingluvious Eels no sooner discern an imbecilitie in him but presently they fall upon him bite him tosse him and tugge him out of his very Skinne and devour him And this I have seen and observed with mine own eyes at a place called the Force in the River of Kent neare unto the House of Sir Henry Bellingham and not farre from the Town of Kendall in Westmerland and therefore dare more confidently report it yet when many such things are reported to be in nature from the credit of learned men the ignorant beleeve them not because themselves have not seen them Plutarch in Grillo Origanum Plutarch in his Moralls in Gryllo writes of the Swallows Vt quando Viperam adederunt supermandant origanum When they have eaten or fed upon a Viper presently they eat wilde Marjorane and this delayes the Poison and quis instituit Hierundines who saith he did teach
made subject to vanity because of man sinning so should they also be freed by reason of mans freedome yea and not onely so but also brought into this glorious liberty ut gloriam filiorum Dei cumulet atquè illustret as Paraeus Paraeus in loc that thereby he may add to and more illustrate the glorious liberty of them which liberty of glory shal be so great as that for their sakes these shall be set at liberty also I close with the judgment of those which is also related by Estius who say that they shall be delivered in imitationem gloriosae libertatis filiorum Dei vel ad exemplum to an estate imitating the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God For as their glorious liberty exempts them from any more corruption toil misery or the like so likewise shall their deliverance exempt them so that it may be called deliverance into their glorious liberty because it shall be a liberty suting to their nature or analogically a glorious liberty as the liberty of glory properly is sutable to the rationall nature of the Children of God As the liberty of the glory of Gods sonnes shall exempt them from the fore-named vanities so also shall their libertie exempt them so that thus they may be said to be delivered into the libertie of the glory of the sons of God though not into the glory of their libertie properly and eminently so called as you have also heard Thus by the help of that good hand of God upon me I have finished this fift and last Point also which is all I promised in the Frontispiece of this Work And if I may have leave to speak without prejudice experience hath taught me thus much that it is opus arduum ac dificile hard in its selfe and painfull to me and troubleous what it might have bin to great wits I dispute not only I dare avouch it for a speculation worthy of such Two things more there are upon which I would gladly expresse my thoughts as being appendices or pertaining to the fore-going Argument The former what Heavens they are which are to be burnt and purified by fire The second which I conceive more difficult which as yet I have not seen clear satisfaction in is this in what sense righteousnesse may be said to dwell in the new Heaven and in the new Earth which God shall make The former question I move because I find divers of the Pontifician Divines binding too much upon Aristotle in his dispute against Plato and upon Gregory the great that hold stiffely that the Coelum Aereum not Aethereum is it that shall be burned with Fire the Airie Heaven not the Sidereall Sphaericall or that above the Element of Fire because this they conceive to have bin more corrupted then the other for this Aereall Heaven Bellar. tom 3. lib. 6. de Amiss gratiae cap. 3. not the Aethereall you have Bellarm. pleading Tom. 3. lib. 6. de amissionè gratiae c. cap. 3. Nequè enim de Coelo sidereo sed de Aereo sermo est Estius in 2 Pet. cap. 3. Estiê° in 2 Pet. cap. 3. Aqu. in 2 Pet. cap. 3. Aquinas in eundem locum who also fore-seeing the objection of Heavens whereas the Aire is but an Heaven answers that by the Heavens in Peter is meant the Aire et dicitur Aer Coeli pluraliter propter diversas regiones Coeli Aerei propter ejus plura hemisphaeria And the Air is called heavens in the Plurall number because of the divers Regions of it and because it hath more Hemisphers in it than one as naturall Philosophie teacheth yet in Scripture we read but of three Heavens 1. The Coelum Aereum Matth. 6.26 as Mat. 6.26 Volatilia Coeli the Fowls of the Aire 2. Coelum Aethereum or the Heavens sidereall above the Element of Fire Deut. 17.3 Deut. 17.3 or any of the host of Heaven 3. Coelum altissimum or sublimissimum or beatarum sedium the highest Heaven or seat of the blessed Esa 66.1 Coelum ipsum mihi solium Isa 66.1 Heaven it self is my Throne Now the sidereall Heaven is often called Coeli or Heavens in the Plurall number as Matth. 3.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 3.16 et aperti sunt ei Coeli and the Heavens were opened to him Thus Acts 7. Acts 7.56 56. Stephen saw the Heavens opened Psal 8.1 Psal 8.1 who hast set thy glory above the Heavens Psal 19.1 Psal 19.1 The Heavens declare the glory of God c. The highest Heaven above all these is called Coelum tertium 2 Cor. 12.2 the third Heaven 2 Cor. 12.2 this is Gods division of the Heavens who made them Now for as much as I remember the Coelum aereum or Airie Heaven is still called Coelum in the singular number when it stands in oposition to the rest Matth. 6.26 Psa 104.12 as Matth. 6.26 and Psal 104.12 Volatilia Coeli the Fowls of Heaven 1 Kings 18.45 1 Kings 18.45 the Heaven was black with clouds Levit. 26.19 and Levit. 26.19 your Heaven c. and not Heavens And though it be true that Philosophers do place the meteora aquosa as nubes c. the watery meteors in medio Aere in the middle region of the Air such meteors as are the Clouds c. and so might be called Heaven in regard of that region yet that region which is infimus Aer the lowest region in which the Birds do fly is also called Heaven c. but the Scripture terms but the totum corpus Aereum by the name of Heaven for as farre as I can remember therefore when Heavens are mentioned somewhat more then the Aire onely is to be understood Again both the fore-named regions may be termed Heaven because they are partes similares ejusdem Aeris or Coeli Aerei simular parts of the same Aereall Heaven and therefore receive eandem denominationem cum toto the same denomination with the whole Secondly Saint Peter speaking of the world to be destroyed by fire makes a difference between the Heavens and the Elements whereof the Aire is one 2 Peter 3.10 2 Pet. 3.10 the Heavens shall passe away with a great noise or with a great hissing and then it followes The Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also with the works that are therein shall be burnt up Where we see a plaine difference made between the Heavens as one thing and the Elements as another Aquin in loc Estius in loc neither can the skill of Aquinas or Estius upon this place by all their evasions avoid it The former by saying that since the world was destroyed by water Aer erat spissior c. the Aire was thicker and therefore stood need of purging as the other did not The latter by considering with Augustine that a comparison is here made between the Heavens that now are Aug lib 20. de civit Dei cap. 24. and those
Creature to vanitie a little more in some particulars The Earth we know is cursed for our sakes or for sin in Adam Gen. 3.17 Thorns and Thistles that was to bring out unto us Maledicta sit terra propter te Cursed is the earth for thy sake Thorns and Thistles shall it bring out unto thee It is smitten with barrennesse as the Psalmist speaks A fruitfull land makes he barren for the wickednesse of those that dwell therein It s made also subject to corruption and destruction for howsoever Salomon saith That the earth abides forever Eccles 1.4 Eccles 1.4 his meaning is not that it abides for ever sub statu jam habito in that state and condition it s now in for that is contrary to S. Peter 2 Pet. 3.10 2 Pet. 3.10 Terra et quae in ea sunt opera exurentur The earth with the works therein shall be burnt up Iunius reads it in seculum for a long time which comparatively may be said to be for ever in respect of many other Creatures that are of much lesse continuance And as for the Air See Psa 78.69 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in seculum Iunius Leolâ—m it s often distempered by contagious or filthy vapours extremitie of cold or burning heat darkned by Clouds moistened by Rain and the like The Seas are tumbled and tossed to and and fro with vehement windes and tempests Ovid. lib. 1. Trist eleg 2. Ovid. lib. 1. Trist Eleg. 2. Me miserum quanti montes volvuntur aquarum Iam jam tacturos sidera summa putes I would English it as near as I could out of the words of the Prophet Psal 107.25 Psa 107.25 26 26. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy winde which lifteth up the Waves thereof they mount up to Heaven Then the Poet addes Iam jam tacturos tartara nigra putes the Prophet thus They go down again to the depth c. The Sunne Moon and Starres are forced to serve the sonnes of Belial and such as are prophane men are subject to extraordinary Ecclipses and darknesses and at the comming of Christ at that great and fearfull day Matth. 24.29 Matth. 24.29 The Sunne shall be darkned and the Moon shall not give her light and the Starres shall fall from Heaven and the Powers of heaven shall be shaken and then the Creature that was made subject to vanitie shall be delivered from it The sublunary both by Land and Sea are subject to corruptions diseases and infirmities death and many changes are taken and destroyed not onely for necessitie and the relief of man but for superfluitie and needlesse pomp and vanitie so that no wonder if the Creature groan and desire to be freed from this slavery under which it was cast by mans disobedience Of which hereafter But seeing that the Air is become troubled the Heavens darkned the Earth barren the Sea incumbred the sensible Creature diseased weakned and often changed in its severall Individualls this should humble man when he considers that for his sinne all this miserie mutability and vanity befell all these Creatures all that God brought to him put him in possession of and made him Lord over for his disobedience to the Creator of both came this misery upon the Creatures yea over those Flocks that he is Owner of His Sheep perish by the rott his greater Cattell by the Murrain and many the like diseases his Fruits are tainted and unserviceable the Springs become cold the Harvests unseasonable the Clouds drie or without water or else weep and wash the face of the Earth and often thus do disadvantage the Inhabitants thereof Secondly see the odiousnesse of sinne in that God did not onely punish man the Creature that offended but such other Creatures also as were made for mans use to refresh his Senses feed his Body be his Servants in obeying that Dominion which God gave him over them and in punishing the Creatures and mans Possession by which he should be relieved he also by consequent punisheth man You have heard how he makes a Land that is fruitfull become barren for the wickednesse of the Owners And I fear with S. Augustine that many grieve for the barrennesse of their Lands more then for the barrennesse of their lives yea and are more sensible of the losse of their Cattell then of the losse of Gods countenance it takes a deeper impression in them they are more stirred and moved at it and indeed many of them may say as Laban did of his Idols Gen. 31.30 Gen. 31.30 their gods are gone or as Iudah said of Iacob Gen. 44.30 Gen. 44.30 anima illius hujus animae devincta est His life is bound up in the Lads life so their mundane life may be said to be bound up in the life and increase of their Goods if these die or decay their life is vexed in them and they crie out bitterly and say they are undone utterly as though the arm of the Lord were shortned and as though it were not easie with the Lord to make a poor man rich again Prov. 10.22 Proverbs 10.22 Benedictio Domini facit divites The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and though they labour to regain or restore what they lost with tears as Esau did his Birth-right Heb. 12.17 Heb. 12.17 yet can they not say to the God of Jacob as Esau did to his father Isaac Gen. 27.38 Gen. 27.38 An benedictio unica tibi est Pater mi Hast thou but one Blessing O my Father So hath but God one way or means to bestow the Blessing of Goods upon men Happy were men if they could considerately say with Iob Iob. 1.21 Iob 1.21 Naked came I out of my Mothers womb and naked shall I return thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. The Sabeans Chaldeans Fire and Winde had taken away yet they did it but instrumentally God permitted this and had a hand of Providence in it so should man conceive of his losses and crosses he should labour to see Gods hand in them and be humbled and consider that God can do to him as to Ioseph when evill was intended against him God turned it to good Gen. last 20. Genes last 20. And of this odiousnesse of sinne by which Possessions come to be punished as well as Persons and the Owners of them we may see Gen. 7.21 Expiravit itaque omnis caro And all flesh died that moved upon the earth Gen. 6.17 for so the Lord had threatned Genes 6.17 And Exod. 9.3 Exod. 9.3 the hand of the Lord was upon the Cattell of the Aegyptians that were in the field upon the Horses upon the Asses upon the Camels upon the Oxen and upon the Sheep a grievous Murrain light upon them Exod 9.25 And Exodus 9.25 the Hail smote every Herb of the field and brake every Tree of the field And Verse 31. Vers
the first-born or first of their strength was thus destroyed throughout all Egypt in every house such a hideous Cry was made that Pharaoh started out of his Bed on the night time and finding his sonne his first-born to whom he intended his Crown to be dead he wanted no affrighting seeing Gods Arrow strike into his house yea to hitt the chief Member of it next to himself he was afraid lest the next Arrow might hitt himself Jam tua res agitur paries dum proximus ardet you know who spoke it When the next house is on fire its high time to look to our own Now Pharaoh needed no more intreatie he was willing to let the people flock and all go Now not onely men but vvomen and children must go also and not onely they but Flock and Herd and what they would so they would be gone before Egypt was totally destroyed for they were afraid that if they were not let go the rest of the Egyptians would also be destroyed And now might an Israelite have had a Furlong from Pharaoh upon reasonable terms to have passed all his Scouts and Guards Yet because the Devill could not be content to lose Pharaoh no more than Pharaoh could lose Israel therefore he stirres up Pharaoh to pursue And Salomon hath it Prov. 29.1 He that being often reproved Prov. 29. and hardeneth his neck shall be destroyed suddenly and that without remedy And was it with him with his army any otherwise even when he presumed that Israel was in his Jawes and when he thought they had missed their vvay in the vvildernesse and were Man Woman and Childe at his mercie Goods Cattell and all they borrowed of the Egyptians and all they had then vvas he the nearest his fearfull ruine Exod. 14.2 3. God bid Mosâ—s speak to the Children of Israel that they should turn and Encamp before Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the Sea over-against Baal-zephon c. divertant let them turne aside as Iunius and Tremelius read Iunius Trem. Exod. 13.17 God gives a reason for it Chap. 13. Verse 17. God set them not through the way of the Land of the Philistines although that was near for God said Lest the People repent when they see Warre and they return to Egypt So he that could work without means would use means to keep them forward R versi sunt as the Vulgar they turned again yea Aliquantulum versus Egyptum a little towards Egypt as Lyra hath it as though they had meant to have either come back again into Egypt or else wandred in the Desart they knew not whâ—tâ—er For being before Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the Sea Iosephus over against Baal-zephon Iosâ—phus observes that they had ex uno latere mare ex alio montem magnum asperrimum They had the Sea on the one hand and a great and steep Mountain upon the other and had no way to passe on drie land but that way that Pharaoh was comming against them with his Army And instead of è regione Phiaiâ—oth Iunius Versio c. as the Vulgar over-against Pi-hahiroth Iunius reads ante fauces Montium Chirotharum before the narrow passages or straits between the Mountains of Pi-hahiroth or before between Migdol and the Sea over-against Baal-zephon What manner of place that was Pharaoh explanes in the next Verse which God foretold he would use or inwardly so say think in his minde They are intangled in the Land the Wildernesse hath shut them in or Coarctati sunt in terra as the Vulgar they are straitned or shut up in the Land Or irretiti as others They are insnared in the strait places in the Wildernesse amongst the steep and high Hills and are kept in on the other hand by the Sea For thus had Pharaoh gotten intelligence by his Scouts and Spies and therefore made haste to the prey little questioning but that all was his own But Exod. 14.24 25. Exod. 14.24 25. In the Morning Watch the Lord looked unto the Host of the Egyptians through the Pillar of Fire and of the Coud and troubled the Host of the Egyptians This Cloud and Fire is that mentioned before Verses 19 20. Verses 19 20. which came from before them to behinde them to guard them from the Egyptians The morning Watch was the three last hours of the night as saith the Geneva Note and how he troubled the Host of the Egyptians we see Verse 25. He took off their Chariot Wheels so that they drave them heavily I do not think that the Spoaks and Wheels were onely clogged with much tough thick and tenacious heavie Clay which stuck to them as some do that indeed would retard them but that was not all the Text saith He took off their Chariot Wheels Iunius Ablatesquerotis as Iunius and their Wheels being taken away subvertit rotas curruum as the Vulgar He overthrew their Chariot Wheels Vulg. versio so that they had much trouble in the driving of their Chariots If he did but onely take them off it would be a great trouble and stay in their March in putting them on again and who knowes how often God might take them off for that is not expressed in the Text. But it may be objected if the Wheels were taken off how could they drive at all Osiander answers Lucas Osiand Rotis momento vel detractis vel confractis currus everterentur The Wheels being removed or in a moment broken the Chariots would soon be overturned It may be when God took them off they were made more unserviceable then before broken or bruised so that they could but drive them slowly God did by this means so retard their motion that they could make no great haste after the Israelites And Psal 77.17 18. Psal 77.17 18 the Clouds powred out water the Skies sent out a sound thine Arrows also went abroad The voice of thy thunder was in the Heaven the lightnings lightned the world the earth trembled and shook so that the Egyptians said Let us flie from the face of Israel for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians so that they would presently have retreated which when the Lord saw he caused Moses to strike the waters again and so drowned them before they could have time to return Lyra in loc But Lyra notes that this was after the Israelites were gotten out of the compasse of the Sea to the drie Land on the Sea shore or much before them that the waters should not hurt them for when Pharaoh and his Host first entered the Sea Filii Israel jam essent multum elongati à litore The Children of Israel had then passed on a great distance from that Shoar on which Pharaoh entred jam enim Israelitae alveum maris egressi erant et versabantur in continenti as Osiander Lucas Osiand Now the Isralites were gotten out of the channell and bottom of the Sea and remained on the continent And I might
restored And for further illustration of this place that in Esa 60.19 Esa 60.19 may come up to helpe us the Sunn shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightnesse shall the Moon give light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory Which place must first be conceived as the learned observe of that great light and prosperity that shall be in the Church under the state of the new Testament when both Jews and Gentiles were to have the knowledge of the everliving God and when the knowledge of the true God should be spread over the earth as the waters cover the Sea but then the aeternity and perfection of this excellency was to be compleated when God should make new Heavens and a new Earth in those glorious Mansions where a farre more glorious light then the Sunn of the firmament shall shine and whereas then there shall be dies unus perpetuus nox nulla one perpetuall day and no night at all that light and excellency that shall shine and flow out to the sonns of God in the state of the new Testament both in spirituall knowledge and divine graces is but as a glimpse of their glory and excellency which shal be compleated in the life to come And some Divines I find who call this their excellency under the state of the new Testament whether for time we referre it to the primative or Apostolique Church as some or to the middle times as others or to the latter times as a third or to all these from Christs time to the last in their severall degrees and in times when the Church had her Lucida intervalla her halcion dayes or dayes of free professing of the Gospel not in her times of the storme beating by generall persecutions or darkning by the clouds of affliction as a fourth this their spirituall excellency I say under the state of the new Testament they call typum a type or figure or resemblance of that excellency and glorious estate of the Sonns of God in the life to come wherein the excellency of their estate shall fully appeare so that the Prophets sometimes make a transition from the one to the other and promise to the Church in its compleat estate in regard of sanctity and freedome from sinne those things that shall in their height and perfection be obtained in the state of glory which you have heard in this life may be resembled or shadowed out 1 Cor. 13.9 1 Cor. 13.9 10. For we know in part and prophesie in part but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away And he adds in the 11. and 12. Verses when I was a child I spake as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things for now we see through a glasse darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known We know in part parum enim ex multo cognoscimus Versio Syriac per Trem. as the Syriacke version by Tremelius for we know but a little of much we know but here after an imperfect manner in comparison of what we shall know there Our knowledge here is but compared to Childhood in regard of a perfect and well instructed man The knowledge of a Child is but small even so small and weake is our knowledge in this life in comparison of what we shall have in the life to come Here we discern Divine truths more darkely there we shall discerne them more clearly and fully And where it is here said that we know in part Non est sensus doctrinam salutis nos tantum ex parte non integram habere proinde revelationibus aut traditionibus aliis opus esse Nequaquam sed est collatio praesentis et futuri status circa cognitionem Dei et rerum divinarum Etenim summa hujus vitae scientia nihil est ad futuram perfectionem collata Paraeus in loc as Paraeus hath it This is not the meaning of the words as though the doctrine of salvation were but had of us in part and not wholly and that therfore we should stand in need of other revelations or traditions to make it out not so but collation or comparing of our estate in this life present with that which is to come cōcerning the knowledge of God and Divine things For the chiefest knowledge that we have in this life is nothing in comparison of that perfection we shall attain unto in the life that is to come We prophesie but in part in comparison of the excellent light clearnesse of judgement in Divine mysteries that we shall attaine unto then for when that which is perfect shall come then that which is imperfect shal be done away not corruptivè or destructivè but absorptivè ac perfectivè not quite abolished corrupted or destroyed but swallowed up into that knowledge which is more excellent and more perfected even as childhood is swallowed up of youth or youth into a perfect man or as Chrysostom gives it Chrysost in verb. Non abolebitur scientia ut nulla sit sed desinet esse imperfecta this knowledge which we now have in part shall not be absolutely abolished that it be none at all but it shall cease to be imperfect Even as that knowledge which a man hath in any liberall Art or Science when he is but Bachellour in Arts and when he knowes them but in part is not totally abolished when he proceeds to be Master in them but swallowed up into greater knowledge and perfected so our knowledge in part or imperfect knowledge of Divine mysteries in this life of that excellent and perfect knowledge in the next life Now vve see but as in a Glasse more darkly then more clearly And as in a Glasse the nudae species rerum apparentium as the naturall Philosophers speak the nudae species or likenesses of things are but to be seen not the things themselves Here we see Gods vvisdome in his Works his power his excellencie here vve know that his Son vvas incarnate that he made all things of nothing and the like but this vve know not perfectly till vve shall see God himself face to face and know as vve are known namely of God himself 1 Iohn 3.2 for 1 Iohn 3.2 We shall see him as he is non comprehendendo totam essentiam sed conspiciendo per modum ineffabilem habendo imaginem Dei perfectè renovatam labemque omnem totaliter deletam ac deperditam not by comprehending his whole Essence for that is beyond the sphaere of the abilitie of any Created and finite nature but by the beholding of him after an ineffable manner having the Image of God perfectly renewed in us and all spott or contagion of sinne totally taken away from us and destroyed for untill then we cannot
think that these things appeared unto him visible in very deed and were not onely represented to the contemplation of his minde Damas lib. 2. orth fid cap. 6. Again Damascene lib. 2. orthodoxae fidei cap. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Coelum est ambitus visibilium invisibilium creaturarum Heaven is the compasse or circuit both of visible and invisible Creatures Keckermannus lib. 2. Kecker lib. 2. Syst Phys cap 1. Systematis Physici cap 1 Spiritus non potest corpora ambire concludere A Spirit cannot compasse about or shut up bodies within it This is that which the Philosophers call Coelum Empyraeum which is suprema excellentissima illa Coelorum series Thronus gloriae divinae domicilium electorum Angelorum atque hominum as the same Author lib. 2. cap. 5. de partibus Coeli Idem Auth. lib. quo supra cap. 5. This is the highest and most excellent order of the Heavens or rank of them the Throne of Gods glorie and the abiding place of the elect Angels and men And presently after he calls it partem corporis coelestis part of the bodie of Heaven See the like from Augustine lib. 22. de Civitate Dei cap. 4. Aug. lib 22. de civit Dei cap. 4 shewing Coelum beatorum esse corporeum the heaven of the blessed to be corporeall This is called coelum coelorum the Heaven of Heavens Deut. 10.14 Deut. 10.14 and is farre above all other Heavens Ephes 4.10 that is above all the sphaericalls This is immobile ac incorruptibile immoveable as seated above the primum mobile and is the place of ease and rest of Gods Elect. Incorruptible as having no privation to concomitate that most pure pleasant and exquisite matter of it or no contrarietie of qualities to make opposition or corruption in it full of light also and therefore is called of the Graecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ob plurimum splendorem aut plurimam lucem because of the abundance of light that is there farre above that of fire Some do think that Aristotle had a glympse of this Arist lib. 1. de coelo cap. 9. because 1 lib. de Coelo cap. 9. he mentions quaedam entia collocata supra mundum ac Coelum eaquè immutabilia et impatibilia beatissimam vitam sempiterno aevo degentia c. certain beings placed above the visible Heaven and visible world being immutable and impassible living there for ever a most blessed and contenting life yea and some also do think that the ancient Poets had learned somewhat concerning it when they so often speak of the Mansions of their gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they had such shining and glorious Mansions full of light But of this no more save only that we may conceive that it is the most ample of the Heavens and yet cannot contain its Maker 1 Kings 8.27 The Heaven nor heaven of Heavens cannot contain him I now come to the latter point how righteousnesse can be said to dwell in the new Heavens that he shall make and the new Earth For this passage hath matter worth inquiry in it Some interpreters do with such places as travellers do with deeps or boggs in high-wayes when they come at them they wisely passe by them or say little to the openings of them to give the reader satisfaction Others that note some-what yet come not home to the mark Others perceiving this have taken up more resolution and I much doubt if they have not over shott the marke To let passe those of the first ranke For the second I will mention Musculus Musc in loc in the which nullum peccatum nulla injustitia locum habebit no sinne no unrighteousnesse shall have any dwelling in them which is true but the text seemes to aime at some what more as not onely negatively not to dwell but positively for righteousnesse to dwell in them Bullin in loc Bullinger thinks per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or alterationem that justitia is put for justi righteousnesse for righteous men this we grant for two Reasons First because righteousnesse as inherent is a quality and therefore cannot be supposed without some subject Secondly because the new Heavens and Earth are subjecta insensibilia insensible subjects and therefore not inherently capable of such qualities therefore some other subject and what but just men but how these can be said to dwell in the new Heavens which are sydereall and in the new Earth is more difficult to conceive Dr. Willet qu. 34. Dr. Willet qu. 24. in 8. ad Rom. in Oct. ad Rom. is bold to affirme that though the Heavens onely are now the seat of the blessed soules yet both the new Heavens and the new Earth shall be then the habitation of the righteous and so righteousnesse may be said to dwell in them for which opinion he quotes Bucan loc 39. qu. 17. Bucan loc 39. qu. 17. by which Author he is much ledd in this point as also Origen in Matth. 5.5 the meeke shall inherit the Earth not this visible Earth but the other which eye hath not seen his reason is because he there speaks of a blessednesse which is not to be found in this Earth Psa 114.16 he might also have alledged Psal 114.16 the Heaven even the Heavens are the Lords but the Earth hath he given to the children of men But to this last Bellarmine answers truely and herein agrees with our Orthodox Divines lib. 6. de amissione gratiae cap. 3. he gave the Earth to the children of men Bellarm lib. 6. de Amist grat cap. 3. dum mortales sunt et egent Aere ad respirationem et fructibus terrae ad alimentum whilst they were mortall and stood in need of Aire to breath in and nourishment from the earth to live upon For the other that the meeke shall inherit the Earth we know it may befall them in this life as a temporall blessing though not without some intermixture of disturbance this place seemes to me to have bin taken from Psal 37.11 the spirit of God being pleased to make use of it again by the Evangilist But the meeke shall inherite the Earth and delight themselves in the abundance of peace And verse 9. Evill doers shall be cut off but those that waite upon the Lord they shall inherite the Earth whereupon Calvin notes the Antithesis between the two members Calv. in loc the wicked that shall be cut off and the Godly that waite upon God to be delivered from under the Crosse he assignes the haereditary right of the earth so to them that intellgit sic victuros ut Dei benedictio ad mortem eos usque prosequatur he understands they shall so live that the blessing of God shall follow them even unto their death this then he understands of a temporall inheritance when they are mortall And though they be often driven from place to place in the Earth in hac