Heauen In HABAKKVK the stones and timber of the King of Babylons house built with blood doe cry Finally Iames 5. in St IAMES the wages of the hireling kept from him doe cry and come into the eares of the Lord of Hosts Cap. 6. And as sinnes so iudgements haue a Voyce MICAH hath a notable place The voice of the Lord cryeth vnto the Citie the Man of Wisdome will see thy name heare ye the rod and who hath appointed it And the Lord is sayd to make his iudgement to be heard from Heauen When then GOD saith I was deafe and dumbe he meaneth that though the cry of the sin were loud yet he did not heare it he was deafe neither did they heare from him though there was iust cause he was dumbe In these two points stands the Patience of GOD. Where-hence we learne that when we are free from plagues we must not conclude that we are without sinnes crying sinnes The cause of our peace is often times not our owne innocencie but GODS patience it is not because our sinnes hold their tongues but GODS iudgments hold theirs notwithstanding our guilt he is silent And here appeareth a great difference between God and Men Men are as soone moued as they are prouoked few can hold their hands scarce any their tongues so sensible are we of wrongs and so reuengefull according to our power Not so GOD it is one of the characters of his Nature to be long suffering euen when he is grieuously offended he can hold his Tongue not onely his Hands Behold an euidence hereof in this Penitent whose incestuous life GOD hath forborne so many yeeres though he might haue rewarded him according to his deserts when he first fell into this foule offence yet hath GOD lent him many yeeres and expected his repentance But what vse doe men make of GODS patience Surely the Iewes did but verifie the old saying veterem ferendo iniuriam inuit as nouam the more GOD forbeares the worse we waxe GOD holds his peace that we might speake is deafe that we might heare Rom. c. 2. but enormous sinners make vse of neither they abuse the patience and long suffering of God and like IESABEL though GOD giue space to repent they repent not Reuel 2 21. We should heare our sinnes that GOD might not heare them we should heare them speaking to the eare of our Consciences whereinto if they did enter they would not ascend higher into the eares of GOD. And seeing GOD is dumbe that we might speake we should speake to GOD by repentance and then GOD would not speake vnto vs by vengance according to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 11.31 If we did iudge our selues we should not be iudged of the Lord. But what doth the Iewe He grosly abuseth this patience of GOD in stead of so hearing and speaking he thinketh that God is like vnto himselfe Behold the world turned vpside downe GOD made man after his owne Image and see man would faine square GOD after his Image whereas the creature should resemble the Creator the Creator is drawne to resemble the creature An absurd conceit is it in reason how much more in Religion When 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is turned into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Patterne into the Exemplification but yet might it be excused if so be man were vnderstood as he was made of GOD for we vse in Diuinitie out of the obseruation which we make in the nature of man to draw descriptions of the nature of GOD because whatsoeuer is in the effect is but much more emminently in the efficient so we talke of the Truth the Righteousnesse and Holinesse of GOD guessing at them by those sparkes of vertue which appeare in man But the conceit of these men is not so good for thus must the words be knit Thou thoughtest that I was like vnto thee which hast done these things and such a thee is a sinfull thee so that GOD is not onely resembled vnto man but vnto a sinfull man outragious blasphemie It was a great sinne which ADAM committed when he affected to be like vnto GOD though it were in an holy attribute the attribute of his Knowledge How fearefull a sin then is it not onely to debase GOD to be like vnto men but also to be like vnto him in a hellish Attribute the Attribute of sinne There are three steps of Atheisme Psal 94.7 It begins with Tush God doth not see and is there vnderstanding in the Highest It goeth on to Tush God doth not care Scilicet is superis labor est ea cura quietos solicitat The Lord will doe neither good nor euill as the Prophet speaketh It commeth at length to We account the proud blessed Malach. 3.15 and they that tempt God are exalted Of these Atheists the first turne God into an Idol giuing him eyes that see not and eares that heare not The second make him an idle or carelesse God as if he did onely looke on and leaue euerie man to shift for himselfe The last doe plainly turne God into the Diuel for their blasphemie is not onely priuatiue denying GOD to be what indeed he is but also positiue fastning vpon GOD what is cleane opposite to his Nature so that it is not without cause that our vulgar English hath Thou thoughtest wickedly for it is a most wicked thought We must then take heed how we entertaine sinne seeing we shall grow worse and worse by degrees There are inborne principles of honestie and pietie which are sensibly felt when we first fall to sinne the further we goe the lesse are they felt and when we grow senslesse of them then fall we to apologize for sin and there can be no stronger apologie then to make GOD our consort for it is a principle stampt in our nature That God is the soueraigne good whatsoeuer then is either from him or in him must needs be good so that if a wicked man can make GOD either the Author or Patterne of his sinne he need no sayrer colour nor stronger argument wherewith to resolue either himselfe or others that bitter is sweet darknesse light death life and good euill And the Diuel knoweth that we will sinne securely when we are resolued that by sinne we doe GOD good seruice he that reads the stories of the Heathen gods shall find that one of the greatest prouocations that the world hath had vnto sinne hath beene the worship of such gods as their owne Poets describe theirs to be stained with all kind of sinnes The Fathers that wrot against them IVSTIN MARTYR CLEMENS ALEXANDRINVS EVSEBIVS LACTANTINS ARNOBIVS and Saint AVSTIN insist much vpon this point when they defend Christian Religion against the Gentile And who can tell whether GOD in this place doth not taxe such Gentilisme in the Iew And intimate that their Idolatry was a cause of their impuritie for it is plaine in the Prophets that they worshipped Idols of all Nations You
Good Lawes and good men are like vnto a Vine that beareth grapes yeelding pleasant liquour to cheere both GOD and men But a Vine must haue a prop or else it will fall to the ground and there all the grapes will rot Of the Lawes wee doe quickly perceiue that same of the Poet true Mores trahunt leges in potestatem sui euerie man would bee a Law vnto himselfe a Law of vnrighteousnesse and as for good men the better they are the worse they should fare they should not bee thought worthie to breathe but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it neuer appeares how powerfull a law is till a law is in the hands of a good Iudge then all stand in awe of it and good men if they haue a sunctuarie to betake themselues vnto and a good Iudge is such a sanctuarie dare boldly professe and practise goodnesse wherefore what in Aeschilus is said of Atlas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that may bee affirmed of good Iudges on whose shoulders the Pillars of the Church and Common weale doe rest They beare them vp So we translate but the word is more significant it is borrowed from architecture and hath reference to Mesharim that is gone before a terme of the same art also and imports that a Iudge so soone as euer hee hath applyed his rule and findes a Pillar to incline he falleth to setting of it straight no lesse than a good surgeon must a good Iudge iustissimas facere luxationum compositiones neuer leaue mouing of the bone till hee hath set it in his iust place no more must a Iudge leaue reforming of a person till hee is come into good order No doubt but it will fall out that as in setting of a ioynt the patient will bee impatient so austere reformation will bee impugned with much murmuring for exitium suum mali pronâ cupiditate desiderant yet must you haue a Lions heart which is commended in a good Surgeon or Physitian and as Iulius Firmicus spake to Magistrates so doe I vnto you Subuenite miseris libertate pereuntibus melius est vt liberetis inuitos quà m vt volentibus concedatis exitium and you shall finde the saying of Salomon true in the end that hee that reproues a man shall finde more thankes at the last than hee that flattereth him with his lippes and they will say with Saint Bernard Homil. 55. in Cantic Bonum indicium quod me illi districto diuinoque subducit Wee haue good cause saith Saint Austine to thanke GOD that himselfe doth not strike so soone as wee sinne but expects our repentance and thereunto calleth vs by many meanes and no small one is the tribunall of the Iudge hee hath the rectifying of all crooked Pillars to set them straight yea and keepe them straight also the awe wherein they must stand of you must make euerie man carefull to keepe his place and if you faile wee haue iust cause to feare Ne collapsa ruant subductis tecta Columnis For if the light bee darkenesse how great is that darkenesse and if the salt bee vnsauorie wherewith shall it bee seasoned and what will become of the Common weale if our eyes see that which Salomons did vnder the Sunne The place of iudgement that wickednesse was there and the place of righteousnesse that iniquitie was there It is much euill that the State shall fare so ill but it is an euill that must bee feared by you for a Iudge is guiltie of whatsouer hee might and did not reforme and your account will bee the heauier the more you suffer to scape vnpunished Wherefore seeing GOD hath done you this honour to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for I told you that you are a part of the politique person of the King yea as CHRIST is lapis angularis the corner stone of the Church so you are also of the Common weale falsifie not your names faile not the Pillars beare out and vp both Lawes and good men deliuer him that suffereth wrong from the hand of the Oppressour and be not faint hearted when you sit in iudgement be as a Father vnto the fatherlesse and in stead of a Husband vnto their Mother so shall you bee the sonnes of the most high and he shall loue you more than your mother doth Eccles 4. The last point is that which calleth for your attention to euerie of these former points Selah I told you it is the character of a remarkeable sentence There bee diuerse coniectures at the meaning of this word but the likeliest is that which iudgeth of it by the matter whereunto the Holy Ghost commonly doth apply it Some take it intensiuely as if it did note a superlatiue degree some protensiuely as if it did note a perpetuitie of time I will ioyne both surely this sentence is such as you cannot thinke vpon it eyther too much or too long yea euerie branch of it deserues a constant deepe meditation Your person doth for it represents the King yea GOD himselfe and deserues not that a Selah your office you are the common measure of all mens causes and ouer-rule all mens partialitie deferues not that a Selah your assemblies are sacred many waies sacred how can you looke on them without a Selah and that which you enquire after in them what is it but vprightnesse how conformable they are in their liues vnto the Lawes surely that deserues a Selah but when you finde how much men haue gone astray and swarued from that euen rule that will raise your Selah to a higher pitch Finally the benefit expected from you to set right what is awry doth deserue the highest Selah there is not an ordinarie point in the text therefore must you entertaine it with more than an ordinarie regard I must end The summe of all is Iudges are sacred persons trusted with the allowed standard of the Common weale to call the people to it and by it to examine their liues that finding how farre they haue declined they may set and keep all vpright O Lord that hast vouchsafed this honour vnto men and art pleased that such trust should bee reposed in them giue them grace to tender their honour in beeing carefull of their charge Blesse this sacred Assembly that all triacts therein may passe now teach vs Surely first discreetly to distinguish times then to solemnize extraordinarie times religiously These two points are amplified throughout the whole Psalme but wee haue a good taste of them in those words that now I haue read vnto you Here we shall learne first to distinguish times All times are not alike there are nights aswell as there are dayes the time here remembred is a day a remarkable day it hath the two markes of a Festiuall set vpon it To the making of a Festiuall two things must concurre Operatio diuina Recognitio humana there must be some extraordinarie worke of God done thereon and man must make a speciall acknowledgement thereof Both these are euident in my text
Soule and we serue euery one his seuerall Lusts so that though we consist of a Soule and a Body yet the Scripture calleth vs carnall as if so be we had no Spirits In our worldly state euerie man laboureth to range himselfe with the best and we account them base that being of noble blood affect not the companie of their equals but in our spirituall state we are not sensible hereof we are not ambitious but base euerie one stoopes below himself and loues to grouell rather then stand vpright we loue comming downe But this comming downe is not all the euill of our fall it is accompanied with a bruise our nature by it doth not onely become more base but more feeble also for euerie sinne giueth a wound it impayreth grace in euerie power our vnderstanding groweth more dimme our will more impotent and our affections lesse capable of controwle Sinnes are like rebels that not onely reuolt but also keep castle against their Soueraigne whence they are not easily remoued euerie mans experience yeelds profe hereof and warrants this truth that sin doth not onely disgrace but also disable a sinner But sinnes are not all equall and therefore produce not all equall effects the Stoicks paradoxe is long since condemned and whether we looke to that wherein we sinne our dutie to GOD or our Neighbor or that wherewith we sinne I meane the degrees of our wills that concurre in our acts we shall find great odds and confesse that one sinne is greater then another and that all fals are not alike whether we look to the disgrace of the person or the weakning of our nature Not to goe from my Text or rather from this present occasion Incontinencie hath diuers degrees Fornication Adulterie Incest all communicate in Incontinencie but so that Adulterie is worse then Fornication and Incest worse then Adulterie Fornication violateth the good order that should be betweene single persons through vnruly Lusts Adulterie addeth thereunto a confusion of Families and taketh away the distinction of Heires and Inheritance but Incest moreouer abolisheth the reuerence which is ingraued by nature to forbid that persons whom nature hath made so neere should one vncouer the others shame as speaketh the Law and not onely that but adds that for such incontinencie the Land did spue out the Canaanites Leuit. 18. So that when you come to consider your fall you must consider not onely the nature but also the degree of it and your repentance must be answerable vnto your fall looke how farre you haue debased your selfe so farre must you be humbled and be afflicted with sorrow as deeply as you haue wounded your selfe with sinne Thus much you are taught in that your sinne is a fall But it must farther be learned whence these fals come and we find in the Text the occasions and causes of them The occasions are implyed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a stumbling at some thing that lyeth in our way we are apt to fall by nature because we are mutable but we doe not commonly fall except some occasion be giuen And the world is full of occasions The Diuell hath euerie where his stumbling blocks he knoweth whether our corrupt nature bendeth and worketh accordingly he hath a wedge of gold for couetous ACHAN a crowne for ambitious AESOLON a DINA for SHECHEM finally he knoweth what will worke our affections and our dispositions with that he plyeth and with that he wooeth our consent to sinne and these things the Scripture cals stumbling blocks and are the occasions of fals We all walke in the middest of them and are to take good heed vnto them but yet so that we doe not conceiue otherwise of them then they are strong motiues they are but they are but motiues perswade they may compell they cannot therefore they are not enough to giue a fall except the true cause be added to the occasion and we may not so dwell on the occasion as not to looke forward to the true cause we may otherwise blame others while we should be blaming of our selues and we are too apt to excuse our selues by making others guilty of our faults But we must passe on from the occasion to the cause and the cause will tell vs who doth most deserue the blame The cause appeareth in these words If a man be ouertaken whereon St HIEROME giueth a good note Praeuentio dici non potest cum quid praemeditatò fit so that this phrase importeth a difference of sinners whereof some fall through malice some through frailtie Through malice they fall in whom the principles of conscience are corrupt who wittingly and willingly commit sinne with greedinesse neither before the fact feeling any reluctancy neither after the fact conceiuing any sorrow Esay 5. these account euill good and good euill light darknesse and darknesse light sweet sower and sower sweet these are not within the compasse of my Text for they are not ouertaken This phrase reacheth onely those which sinne Dum aut latet veritas aut compellit infirmitas as BEDE speaketh either they are sophistically circumuented or vnawares transported and so take a fall We should weigh the validitie of the perswasions and bethinke our selues what we doe before we set our selues a doing we should enquire what GODS Law doth forbid or allow before we giue or withhold our assent But our affections vsually outstep our discretion and bring either false or rash intelligence whereupon we yeeld and slip verie often dum latet veritas for want of making diligentenquirie but more often dum vincit infirmitas while we are too indulgent to our affections And indeed howsoeuer in errors of Faith and mistakes of truth those that are without the Church or being within are not Orthodoxe Rom. 1. become vaine in their ratiocination as the Apostle speeketh and their ignorance is apparantly the child of negligence Yet in the default of manners and breach of the morall Law we haue little colour of ignorance all the blame lyeth vpon the impotencie of our affections the thiefe the drunkard the lyer the blasphemer all must yeeld that they knew what they should doe but obeyed their corrupt lusts in doing the contrarie And no other plea hath this incestuous person though her tongue should be silent yet her teares doe speake that this is her plea for the sacrifice of her broken and contrite heart sacrificed for that which she hath done testifieth that she knoweth well that she hath done amisse but did it being ouertaken for sorrow after a fact is the iudgement that the penitent passeth vpon his own fact in weeping for it she doth condemne it Our lesson is that we must be watchfull ouer occasions lest by them we become causes of our owne fall and if we sinne GOD grant vs grace to sorrow lest otherwise as we displease so we dispise GOD Such despisers are not to be accounted in the number of those that are ouertaken and so they