good is not in us for as the Wiseman saith A man may well purpose a thing in his heart but the answer of the tongue commeth from the Lord Prov. 16.1 Whereof we have often experience They that have the office of teaching in the Church albeit they do before-hand prepare what to say yet when it comes to the point are not able to deliver their mind in such sort as they had purposed as on the other side when God doth assist them with his spirit they are inabled on a sudden to deliver that which they had not intended to speake Fifthly as the ability of effecting was attributed to God so is the will Phil. 2.14 Sixthly for understanding the Apostle saith The naturall man perceiveth not the things that are of the spirit of God 1 Cor. 2. For the wisedome of the flesh is enmity with God Rom. 8.7 Seventhly the power of thinking the thing that is pleasing to God is not in us so farre are we from understanding or desiring it as the Apostle in this place testifieth And therefore where the Prophet speaketh generally of all men Psal 94. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men that they are but vaine the Apostle affirmeth that to be true of the wise men of the world that are endued onely with the wisedome of the world and the flesh that their thoughts are vaine also 1 Cor. 3.19 20. Secondly that we should not thinke that the want of abilitie standeth onely in matters of difficulty and weight the Apostle saith not we are unable to thinke any weighty thing but even that without the speciall grace of Gods spirit we cannot thinke any thing So Augustine understandeth Christs words Joh. 15. where he saith not Nihil magnum difficile but sine me nihil potestis facere This is true in naturall things for we are not able to prolong our owne life one moment the actions of our life are not of our selves but from God in whom we live move and have our beeing Act. 17. Therefore upon those words of Christs Ego à meipso non possum facere quicquam nisi quod video Patrem I of my selfe can do nothing but what I see my Father doe c. Joh. 5.9 Augustine saith Ei tribuit quicquid fecit à quo est ipse qui facit But the insufficiencie of which the Apostle speaketh is not in things naturall but in the ministration of the Spirit So he saith that God of his speciall grace hath made them able Ministers of the new Testament not of the letter but of the spirit his meaning is that no endeavour of men can endue us with the grace of repentance with faith hope and Christian charity except the inward working of Gods spirit As the Apostle speakes of the gift of tongues of the understanding of secrets and of all knowledge without charity Nihil miht prodest 1 Cor. 14. So all our endeavours are unprofitable to us unlesse God by his spirit do co-operate with us for He that â—abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit Joh. 15.5 that is the fruit of righteousnesse the end whereof is eternall life Rom. 6.22 Thirdly the persons whom he chargeth with this want of ability are not the common sort of naturall men that are not yet regenerate by Gods spirit 1 Cor. 2. but he speakes of himselfe and his fellow-Apostles So these words are an answer to that question 2 Cor. 2.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto these things who is sufficient he answereth himselfe Not we for we are not able of our selves to think a good thought much lesse are we fit of our selves to be meanes by whom God should manifest the favour of his knowledge in every place So that which Christ spake Joh. 15. he spake it to his Disciples who albeit they were more excellent persons then the rest of the people yet he telleth them Sine me nihil potestis facere The negative being generall we may make a very good use of it If the Apostles of Christ were unable how much more are we If Jacob say I am unworthy of the least of thy blessings Gen. 32. If John Baptist say I am not worthy Mat. 3. If S. Paul confesse I am not worthy to be called an Apostle 1 Cor. 15. much more may we say with the Prodigall sonne that had spent all I am not worthy to be called thy sonne Luk. 15. and with the Centurion I am not worthy thou shouldest come under my roofe Mat. 8. The reason of this want of ability is for that the nature of men cannot performe that which the Apostle speakes of neither as it is in an estate decayed through the fall of Adam and that generall corruption that he hath brought into the whole race of mankind nor as it is restored to the highest degree of perfection that the first man had at the beginning Adam himselfe when he was yet perfect could not attaine to this for he was but a living soule the second Adam was a quickning spirit 1 Cor. 15. And it is not in the power of nature to elevate and lift it selfe up to conceive hope of being partakers of the blessednesse of the life to come to hope to be made partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. and of the heavenly substance if men hope for any such thing it is the spirit of God that raiseth them up to it As the water can rise no higher then nature will give it leave and as the fire giveth heat onely within a certaine compasse so the Perfection which Adam had was in certaine compasse the light of nature that he had did not reach so high as to stirre him up to the hope of the blessednesse to come that was without the compasse of nature and comes by the supernaturall working of grace As we are corrupt it never commeth into our minds to hope for the felicity of the life to come for all the thoughts of mans heart are onely evill and that all the day long Gen. 6. That is true which the Apostle witnesseth of the Gentiles Rom. 2.13 That they by nature do the things of the Law if we understand it of morall duties for the very light of nature doth guide us to the doing of them But as the Prophet saith Ps 16.2 My goodnesse doth not extend to thee So whatsoever good thing we doe by the direction of naturall reason it is without all respect of God except he enlighten us before Therefore in our regeneration not onely the corruption of our will is healed but a certaine divine sparke of fire and zeale of Gods Spirit is infused into us by which we are holpen to do those duties of piety which otherwise naturally we have no power to do Now followes the qualification of this generall negative sentence For where the Apostle hath said We are not able to thinke any thing of our selves the Scripture recordeth divers good purposes that came into the hearts of Gods servants The Lord
munda mundis holy things to them that are holy and cleane things to them that are cleane so here Sanctis sancta To them that are holy holy things Therefore we must sanctifie our selves or else we are not capable the reasons are 1. The receiving of a cleane thing into an uncleane maketh the cleane uncleane 2. Out of Luke 5.37 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No man putteth new Wine into old Bottles else the new wine will burst the Bottels and be spilled and the Bottles shall perish Keepe not a proportion betweene the Bottles and Wine they will both be lost so if there be not a proportion betweene the hearer and the thing that is heard it shall be both the condemnation of the hearer and frustration of the word Every man is not able though willing unlesse he be prepared every bottle is not for new Wine Tempus praeparationis The time of praeparation The time to prepare here is two daies Sanctifie them to day and to morrow that they may be ready the third day 1 Sam. 14.18 And Saul said to Ahiah bring hither the Arke of God for the Arke of God at that time was with the children of Israel and while Saul talked with the Priest the noise that was in the host of the Philistins spread further abroad and increased therefore Saul said to the Priest withdraw thine hand Saul here being to encounter with his enemies tooke the Ephod and would fall to prayers before the battell but vers 19. hearing that his enemies were at hand straight layd aside the Ephod left off praying and fell to set his people in aray fearing least he should lose time in praying so his preparation was in vaine But it appeared afterward that he played the foole for doing so For that time that is bestowed in prayer is never lost yea it is the best time that can be bestowed And this care must be in us alwaies so it is Gods will we should doe Deut. 5.29 O that there were such a heart in them to feare me and keepe all my Commandements alwaies that it might goe well with them and with their children for ever The Lords wish is that the people had such an heart alwaies to feare him c. This sanctification here to them was in a ceremony 1 Cor. 10.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come And there is no ceremonie but it hath his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 equity to the which we are all bound The garments of the old Testament or Law were Vestimentum stola id est the inward garment and the outward To this seemeth John to have an allusion Revel 7.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lambe And Paul 2 Cor. 7.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit We must make us cleane both in the flesh and in the spirit We shall best see how to make our selves cleane by knowing how we came foule that when we are once washed we may keepe our selves cleane still And the meanes be two The first principall Secondly an under meanes As in a garment there is either the internall pollution namely the moth or the externall namely spots aspersiones and besprinklings so in us 1. If a man touch a dead body or any one that hath an issue by the very touch he is uncleane Levit. 15. Wholy of that matter de pollutione as de intrinseca Levit. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propria Levit. 15. Haec est pollutio carnis externa ab extrinseco à societate aliorum This is that pollution we receive of the world of evill example of evill company pollution externall Levit. 13.2 If a man hath an issue of his owne flesh Haec est pollutio Spiritus interna à fluxu proprio This is that uncleannesse that is within us that is concupiscence The knowledge being blind and leading the will to corruption had need of washing both defile us 2 Cor. 6.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sumus templa Spiritus We are the temples of the spirit Augustine on that place saith Quisque Christianus Templum est in Templo templum in domo templum domi foris ubique semper templum ambulans Every Christian is a Temple in a Temple a Temple in the house a Temple at home a Temple abroad in every place at all times a walking Temple And Revel 21.27 Nihil inquinatum ingredietur in illud c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie but they which are written in the Lambs booke of life Therefore we must make us cleane that other things may be cleane unto us Sic munda sed mundis So things are cleane but to the cleane But if we be once cleane we must take heed least we after touch pitch againe Syrach He that washeth himselfe after he hath touched a dead course and toucheth it againe is defiled We must not be like the dogge that returneth to his vomit nor the Sow that walloweth againe in the mire Modus purgandi The manner of purging 1. By the blood of Christ Therefore we must be continuall clensers of our selves But how may we wash our selves Mundamur primo per baptismum flaminis we are cleansed first by the baptisme of fire that is the spirit August Balneum autem nobis erectum balneum sanguinis sui Now a bath is prepared for us even the bath of his blood We are bathed in the blood of Christ And this is that whereby our aspersions and blemishes are washed away of this bath the water in Baptisme is a representation And not onely that but baptismus flaminis the baptisme of fire goeth with it Baptismus aquae flaminis that will purge cleere i. the Spirit of God which remaineth with us to the Worlds end Baptisme of water of fire and wherewith we are every day baptised So doth the Spirit of God abridge our concupiscences daily There is another meanes set down yet all one with this for you may purge either with Nitre or with the Fullers earth Iohn 15.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mundi estis propter sermonem quem audivistis 2. By the word Now ye are cleane through the word which I have spoken unto you The daily hearing of God by the mouth of man If we will compare it with water it is like the Fullers earth wherewith the Spirit scoureth us correcting us and comforting us By the outward washing they meane the washing of the body and he that cleanseth not that is not onely beneath a Scribe or Pharisee for he maketh cleane the outside of the Platter but is worse
and suiters unto him And not only this glory but also a double glory returneth to God by it so the action is so much the more to be commended to us and so much the more to be esteemed of us for both this when we acknowledge that we have it not from our selves but from him this is great magnifying of Gods bounty as also when we have received thanksgiving i. that homage that we do to him that is a thing that he maketh most account of Psal 50.15 when he hath given commandement to call upon him in the time of trouble and hath made promise that he will heare So I will heare thee and thou shalt praise mee But more excellently in Psal 107. it is five times repeated and it is the keep of the song he entreating of five sorts of men that are especially bound to God 1. those that goe astray in the wildernesse out of the way and find no City to dwell in 2. Those that are at the point of death and escape 3. Those that are delivered from prison and from the sentence of death 4. Those that be saved from the raging of the tempest 5. Those that are delivered from the enemy he saith v. 6. So they cryed unto the Lord in their trouble then commeth performance of promise and he delivered them from their distresse and then last O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men For when as the prayer of the poore afflicted is heard then seeing both the humble mind by the having of his request granted is raised up and beginneth to be glad Psal 34.3 and secondly forasmuch as sinners when they see the fulfilling of their prayers and forgivenesse of sins granted them Ps 51.13 are converted and thirdly Psal 107.42 that the mouth of sin may be stopped all these three waies there doth still glory returne to God Then if it be so necessary and God without it is defrauded of much honour it imposeth on us a necessity diligently to consider of it and to practise it in regard of Gods glory so in regard of our selves thus Luk. 18.1 Christ being in exhortation sheweth his Apostles by a parable that they ought to pray alwaies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not to faint for the which end he that never did any superfluous thing being as the Apostles call him our Advocate 1 Joh. 2.2 it is said Luk. 11.2 hee hath indited us a forme of prayer In the use whereof that commeth first to mind that Chrysostome hath in his 1. booke de orando Deum out of Dan. 6.10 that death of hody being set before his eyes on this onely condition to abstaine from prayer 30. dayes tanquam si as if the forbearing from it for that time could be the death of the soule so he was content rather to hazzard his life then not to performe his daily custome As in that respect in Numb 28.3 8. there is set downe by way of figure that God requireth of the Israelites as a necessary thing beside the hallowing of the Sabbath a morning and evening Sacrifice What this in truth is it is expounded Ps 141.2 the lifting up of his hands he compareth to the morning and evening sacrifice as the first is burning of incense so the morning prayer is nothing else but as an incense that goeth up into the nostrils of God the lifting up of his hands in the evening is the true evening sacrifice of the Christians If a man should read what the fathers have written in this point as Cyprian on the Lords prayer Gregory in his booke of Prayer Austin ad Probam c. he shal rather see them spent in perswading the necessity then in teaching the manner to performe it that being an especiall meanes to performe it to thinke it so necessary They call it Clavim diei et seram noctis the key that openeth the day and the barre that shutteth in the night Chysostome calleth it signaculum diei the seale of the day Out of 1 Tim. 4.5 where the use of the creatures be noysome without blessing by prayer and thanksgiving and out of Mat. 14.19 and out of Mat. 26.26 Christs prayer before supper and Mat. 26.30 his last seale and the end of his supper was hymno dicto after an hymne it having beene no new thing but the outward practise having continued so from the dayes of Abraham as the Jewes record their manner remaining that the chiefe of the family taketh first the bread and with that delivereth prayer and then breaketh it as the last thing he taketh is the cup and then he delivereth the second blessing this being so holy an use as that it was used generally in the whole Church from this generall custome of the Church Christ translated it to his owne supper In Eph. 6.18 for the necessity of it as head foot breast were armed before by the Apostle there being no place to put it in yet in all cases and times he recommendeth it unto us Prayer goeth through out all things which the Fathers call armaturam armaturae the very armour of armour without which all the armour we put on beside is of no greater strength then if we were naked as in regard of the necessity of the spirituall enemies they call it flag ellum Daemonum a scourge for the Devills Athanasius standeth very stiffe on this assertion that at the bare Psal 68.1 Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered c. but hearty recitall of the 68. Psal v. 1. it is a verse that makes all the devils of hell to quake and as Maximus another of the Fathers commendeth the 1. v. of the 70. Psal to be that which as an instrument or meanes he found alwayes effectuall to deliver him from any temptation Jam. 5.13 when he will commend it he taketh no other course to shew the great strength that it hath for as in hope it saw nothing of it selfe to be performed but that which was impossible to us was possible per alium by another so there being the same in Prayer It hath its force in miracles it is the more to be esteemed That in Jam. 5.17 is nothing but a certaine miracle wrought in the aire by prayer that the Prophet Elias shut up the middle region that no raine could come downe for three yeares and an halfe If we desire to see it in other elements we may see it in fire by the same Elias 2 King 1.10 at his call fire descended from heaven and devoured the Captaine with his 50. men and in the earth Psal 106.17 at the prayer of Moses the earth opened and swallowed up Corah Dathan and Abiram with their Companies In Water Exod. 14.16 the division of the red sea And we see the performance of it from Gods behalfe not in elements onely but also as Josh 10.12 it hath an efficacle on the heaven it selfe at the prayer of
curse of God whose maledicere est malefacere is due to this sinne of disobedience for it is a very reproachfull thing to God to account his Commandements as the servant Matth. 25.24 I knew that thou wast an hard man reaping where thou sowedst not A signe of this the Rainebow which doth not only mind us of the covenant but of the generall deluge wherby God punished the disobedience of the old world the performance sheweth what effect it wrought in God but especially Rom. 5.19 the cause of death is properly ascribed to this sinne of disobedience Bernard and that disobedience is the cause of our death our daily experience telleth us Quotidie experimur quotidie enim morimur and God saith by that a man sinneth he shall be punâ—shed so that as we withdraw our obedâ—ence from God so Rom 8.20 the creatures they shall withdraw their obedience from us and that is attributed to this cause And not that onely during this life we have not onely without us but we finde a disobedience in our selves Rom. 7.23 the 2. lawes in us in which the affections will not be subject to reason and reason cannot have any government over them because we disobey our Creator More particularly by Psal 119.32 the way of obedience is the path of his Commandements Deut. 5.32 from which way we have a division of wayes a way to the right hand and a way to the left hand Preach 10.2 the heart of a wise man is on his right hand but the heart of a foole on his lest from that place the Fathers fetch this interpretation It is said that the heart of the wiseman is on his right hand there is probabilis inobedientia a disobedience that is not voyd of some probable pretence and such was Sauls here in Gilgal his answer might seeme reasonable but that it is not it that God commanded which we should ever make our rule and not the guidance of our owne reason and into this fall the opposites of those before not subjecting our selves to heare and follow the giving eare to the voyce of our owne reason and of the world and of mingling them all these wayes leade ad dexiram to the right hand The way whereby we are led into the left-hand way we may count their folly that have no probability that 2 Thes 3.2 are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wicked and absurdly wicked insomuch as the course of life they take beareth no colour but whosoever shall looke upon it shall presently see it debauched with out all colour or excuse The manner is opposed to Readily Phil. 2.14 that their obedience must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without murmurings and disputings As in obedience so in disobedience the two exorbitations and the manner disordered Murmuring was alwayes almost the fault of the Israelites for making of dialogues and asking of causes Why for this cause rather then for that and why now rather then at another time as Luther saith well of the sect of the Quaeristae they will goe with Why in infinitum Both these are to be removed and under these you may include the fault of them in Matth. 22.5 or more plaine Luke 14.18 they fell all at once to make excuses The Angels yeeld no reasons why they should not obey nor excuse nor murmure The last thing is in the degree the degrees be two 1. neglect 2. contempt Neglect Matth. 22.12 he that came in negligently without his wedding garment 2. in the same place vers 5. of those that set themselves to excuses and refused to come contempt This rule Austin giveth of them both Neglectus ubique culpabilis contempius ubique damnabilis Neglect is alway blameable but contempt is alway damnable The meanes Heb. 11. that being in a good way they gave over all possibility and yeelded themselves wholly to God 1. The speciall to this is the consideration of the good service that God hath had of his Saints before-time and how they had great offers in the world as Moses Ioseph Esay c. if they had listed to have followed and heard the oblocutor but they were resolute that nothing should draw them from God this is the first 2. Our Saviour Christ his example may be as a second as he was man Et subjectus est â—llis quibusâ—llis pauperi fabro foeminae Luke 2.51 he went to Nazareth and was subject to them Bernards question upon these words Who are they that the Sonne of God should be subject unto them faber foemina a Carpenter and a Woman as he was God or rather as he was Christ God and man Heb. 5.8 where it is said that though he were the Sonne of God yet learned he obedience and indeede by his obedience to the Crosse he recovered the world And if any will make exception and say that we are not able to match with him or with the Saints of God 3. Then we may take for the third example the state and course of all creatures Matth. 8.27 the 2. unruliest creatures the Wind and Sea obey the word of Christ What fellow is this cui venti mare obediunt that even the winds and the seas obey him Take all the creatures the heavens the elements c. there should be no manner of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 disorder in them were it not that onely man hath broken it and so hath put himselfe and all other creatures out of order and this their obedience they have beene ready to give over i. they have obeyed against their owne course at Gods will as the Sunne standing still at Ioshuahs commandement whereas it is his nature to move continually and the fire not burning the three children and Dan. 6. the Lions refraining from devouring of Daniel the earth moving being of her owne nature immovable so that they are not onely audientes verbo divino but also obedientes hearers of the word but obeyers which is the very true and perfect obedience to obey in giving over our owne nature That if any man be disobedient he is therefore disobedient because it cannot be conveniently performed 4. Another may be taken from the nature of our obedience for naturall reason saith where there is one duty there are at the least two extremes and of the obedience of sinne is multiplicior then the obedience of God It is truly said of the Heathen man negligentia plus laborat quam diligentia idlenesse is more toyle then imployment and so we may say of every vertue the adulterous man laboureth more then the chaste and the covetous man more then the well contented man 5. Now as this is true that there is such equity in the Commandement as if there were no reward yet without reward we should obey it yet which may be the 5. there is so great reward annexed unto it that though there were more difficulty and lesse equity yet it were justly to be performed in regard of the greatnesse of the
other And it must necessarily stand here the next cannot stand before for we are made partakers of wedlocke goods and good name by being first and they cannot be without life therefore it must necessarily stand before Omnis iniquitas mentitur sibi 2. Another reason that is in the last Commandement the ground of it was a conceit of himselfe omnis iniquitas mentitur sibi all wickednesse deceives it selfe We shall see that the very consequence of sinne came from that originall as the first murther was Gen. 4. of innocent Abell and vers 5. the beginning of it was because Caine thought his brother had a dignity and 1 Iohn 3.12 he saith plainely hee did therefore kill his brother because he was better then he his brothers workes were good and his naught And againe we see Gen. 27.41 Esaues anger brast out into threatnings of the death of his brother for his prerogative for taking away his blessing And Gen. 37.4 because the rest of the children of Iacob saw that Ioseph was more made of then they therefore they hated him exceedingly and afteward vers 9. when he came to tell them his dreame that he should be a Ruler over them and that his father and mother should worship him it is said their hatred exceeded yet more And generally the conceit of our selves that nothing ought to thwart us or that we deserve to have facilitatâ—m actionis nostrae our doing well entertained this maketh us when we are crossed 1 King 21.4 doe as Ahab did because he could not have his desire of the Vineyards presently he was exceeding wroth and after fell to murther True it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that as divers well note the power in the minde that is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fervour of spirit proceedeth alwayes of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 desire from our desire and these affections are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vigorous faculties for so the Divines Yee see in naturall things when as fire doth know his place to be above it hath a desire to be there and it hath a quality given it that is lightnesse to go up now if it be hindered in his course it hath a second quality which is heate and that will make it way if it be able to burne through it will scorch and snatch and would remove it if it had strength and thereby doth make plaine that the nature of it is so to doe Fire in the soule Such a thing is in the soule of man for God having given us light to know what we are to doe he giveth us also a desire to doe it so we make towards it we go up then hath he given us that part of the minde which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that is answerable to the lightnesse of the fire so in this he hath given us answerable to calor heat our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 called of heat Then in good matters we are by the zeale of it to remove whatsoever will hinder us in the course of godlinesse Now because Ira which is the first motion is vindex laesae concupiscentiae an avenger of a wronged desire 〈◊〉 index laesae concupiscentiae for which cause that being the first hinderer there is naturally ebullitio sanguinis a boyling of the bloud and after that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ire a desire of removing the impediment Now this we are to understand that as there be some affections as envie that doe sonare malum sound evill as soone as a man heareth them he hateth them so anger is none of these for it faileth not in the object but it faileth two wayes 1. in the cause 2. in the quantity Eph. 4.26 a distinction Irascimini nolite peccare be ye angry and sinne not Then belike there is an anger which is not sinne and the sinne commeth not in respect of the object or effection it selfe which is indeterminate but when we are angry either for no cause or for a light cause or if we be angry for a just cause we keepe no measure in it but our anger groweth too great To be moved with indignity is very good and a vertue called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indignation Ira per zâ—lum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when a man doth see that it ought not to be done and is angry if it be done if it be not for Gods glory or the good estate of the Church this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and ira per zelum indignation and anger kindled by zeale and is called ira spiritus sancti a holy anger Iohn 2.17 It was our Saviour Christs anger and of Elias and the other called ira per vitium or ira carnis a vitious and carnall anger thererefore we must looke to these two conditions 1. Matth. 5.22 he that is angry with his brother 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without a cause c How to be angry it must be for a cause 2. That it be intra modum within measure as Rom. 12.19 not avenging but giving place to wrath not resisting it i. suppressing it Resiste irae si potes resist anger as much as possible When the affection is not thus ruled by reason and is not affectus ancilla the hand-maid of passion but falleth out otherwise then is it that the Apostle saith Heb. 12.15 radix omnis amaritudinis or venenum Serpentis the roote of all bitternesse or the venome of the Serpent that is in us and infecteth our nature Gradus irae â—i nosae fucius Now of this as was said before there is first this sinfull wrath the spawne of these vices that Iames reckoneth up And this poyson is either at the first rising in us or it is Suppuratio vitii an impostume or inward rankling of it and then 1. Suppuratio vitii if it be against a Superiour it is called a grudge if against an equall a rancor if against an inferiour it is disdaine And the grudge if it continue a little longer it will grow to an impostume of envie and rancor to hatred and disdain to contempt After they will breake out and they have two issues An impostum of envie 1. In the tongue 2. In the countenance 1. That that breaketh out at the tongue they call Spuma vitii 1. Spuma vitii the foame or froath of the vice which if it be to our Superiours they call susurrus whisperings detractings and to our equall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contentious speeches railing brawling c. and to the inferiour taunts scoffs and reproaches 2. Now when it breaketh out into the eyes it is called Icterus vitii 2. Icterus vitii the jaundis the jaundise of sinne We shall know it to a Superiour per obliquos oculos by a squint eye to an equall it will be over all the face it will be pale sweate he will foame at the mouth and to an inferiour per
no cruelty to cut it off Because as was said in the beginning and it is a most true rule Melius est us periat unus quam unitas it is better that one perish then unity should be broken And as we see in a common fire that a house that hath taken fire so long as there is hope that it may be saved they deale with water but when there is no hope and it bringeth danger to the next houses about they pull it down extinguit incendium ruina that the fall thereof may quench the fire thus we see it in the naturall body so likewise in the civill Deut. 19.10 20. 13.11 In the 10. he will have them tollere homicidam ut malum tollatur ab Israele to cut off the man-slayer that evill may be taken away from Israel and that a double malum a double evill there is the wrath of God upon the whole land because if any part shed innocent bloud and the land that is the whole looke not to it Impunity magna venefica to make other do the like And a second malum a 2. evill vers 10. is the multiplying of it 1. Impunity because it is magna venefica a great Witch to make other men doe the like therefore Deut. 19.20 13.11 that men may see and heare and feare and the like evill may be no more committed They shall not onely avoide his wrath and multiplying of murther tollere malum ex Israele but take away evill also from Israel So consequently if bloud be shed in this respect as Moses saith Exod. 32.29 it is not a polluting but a consecrating of the hands Ps 101. vers ult the Prophet David saith his common morning exercise after prayer should be this that he would cut off all the wicked from the Lords City Prov. 20.26 There is the wise Kings study or this shall bee his study how to scatter the wicked or to make the wheele goe over them For as it was found in the establishing of the Magistrate that it was Caines City that made Seth to make himselfe a City and not only that but there were also sundry of Caines spirit that came in among the seed of Seth therefore heed was to be had to them as Ezek. 34.18.21 to the Hee Goates to the Rammes and to the fat sheepe for they would push at the leane sheepe with their hornes and as the Heathen man saith Tam necesse est it is as needfull that there should be qui arceant homines such as may restraine men from outward invasion quā necessariae sunt palpebrae oculis as the eye-lids are needfull for the eyes for they keepe out outward injuries and that that would hurt the eyes and the sight from hurting it self for else it would disperse it self too much therefore expedient it is that prius sanguis funderetur ne plus sanguinis funderetur that bloud be first shed lest more bloud afterwards should be shed How this may bee done it is manifest that bloud may be shed Gen. 9.6 and Matth. 26.52 Qui gladium acceperit gladio peribit he that taketh the sword shall perish with the sword and the sword Rom. 13.4 is given to one who is there called Gods Minister and to the Magistrate to whom he hath delivered it not to bear it in vain and consequently in deed in effect no man sheddeth any bloud if it be lawfully shed For as we say it is not the sword that killeth and sheddeth mans bloud so neither doth the Magistrate the Minister of it nor the Judge but the chiefe cause doth it for quod est organum utenti id est minister jubenti what the toole is to him that useth it such is the Officer to him that commandeth him Now Iubens est Deus the Commander is God for we blame not the sword neither must we the minister but we must have recourse to God The Magistrates Writ Now then for the Magistrates use of it as we say that the Sheriffes and under-Officers rule is they must doe nothing but ex praescripto by a Writ and when it doth come downe for execution then they must doe it and not else so certainely the Prince he must have a Writ too from God else he is not to execute Now Gods Writ or Prescript in this behalfe we have Exod. 23.7 for there is said there is a Countermand that no innocent man should have his bloud shed If any doe it I will not spare the wicked man saith the Lord. And Abigail 1 Sam. 25.29 doth well set it out The soule of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God and the soule of thine enemies shall the Lord cast out Whoso is a man of bloud and liveth to the disquieting of the society that hee should maintaine his soule shall be throwne our as out of a sling And 1 King 1.52 he saith there according to his Writ If he will bee a worthy man and a faithfull subject there shall not a haire fall from his head but if he will be seditious he shall surely die So then wee see that a Prince may not execute the innocent and when he doth so 1 King 21.8.13 Naboth an innocent man is put to death by the King then the King is a murtherer he is Rex homicida for he is so called by the Prophet Elisha 2 King 6.32 See I pray you this murtherers sonne and 2 Chron. 24.25 when Ioas fell violently on Zachariah an innocent Prophet for telling him the truth it is said that God revenged this murther and stirred up his owne servants against him to kill him And for this cause because he had murthered the children of Ichoidah the Priest As on this behalfe we must not execute the innocent so on the other side Deut. 19.13 non miseraberis non parcet oculus tuus thou shalt not have mercie upon him neither shall thine eye pitie him there is an irrevocable Writ that whosoever is a murtherer must die Then the question Whether any one that is a murtherer may be any way afterwards executed And therein there are three points necessary to be considered The first wee call Iudicium perversum unrighteous judgement That those that are innocent are put to death and those that are nocent are spared But a just man must not be killed and an unjust man must not be spared The second Iudicium usurpatum judgement usurped Every man must be kept in his limits Rom. 14.4 Quis i◠es qui judicas alienum servum Who art thou that judgest another mans servant Others subjects that pertaine not to our Prince If further then jus gentium against the law of armes any be executed it is usurped The third we finde Deut. 19.18 Diligentissimè inquisiveris thou shalt make diligent inquisition without triall he must be sons damna tus condemned against law Acts 23.35 Claudius Lysias would have Pauls accusers come before him And Iohn 18.27 the wicked
a more setled braine Job 31.27 Such places are for the wisest and sagest men Saint Paul stood not there but yet he could have stood there for he had the tricke or skill of it as himselfe confesseth Phil. 4.12 I can be abased and I can abound c. Now come we to the Temptation it selfe which hath three generall heads First the ball of wilde-fire which is to consume his faith Secondly the dart Cast thy selfe downe which is to pierce the soule Thirdly he tempereth the head of his dart with some stronger metall which is Scriptum est I. First Si filius Dei es This is a great moate in the devils eye he useth the same terme in the former temptation and here he is up with it againe And all is to this end that by often bringing it into question whether he be the Sonne of God he may at last make it out of question or doubt that we are not the Sonnes of God that by and from Si sis he may bring it to Ne sis and so we may be like himselfe For to this end is all his compassing of Sea and Land to make one Proselyte like himselfe according to the endeavour of the Pharisees Matth. 23.15 who did in like sort and when he is made yee make him twofold more the childe of hell than your selves As on the other side Christ would have us the Sonnes of God like him But see what a dexterity the devill hath in making things serve for his purpose he maketh one selfe-same thing serve for two severall yea contrary purposes What a goodly grace he hath in the first Temptation He useth it there to procure us to desparation He maketh it here to serve for presumption But indeed there be two manner of Si es or Ifs the one is a questioning or doubting Si as If thou be the Sonne of God shew us a signe Marke 8.12 Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole Mat. 8.2 The other is a plaine affirmation as Phil. 3.11 If by any meanes I might attaine to the resurrection of the dead where we are sure he made no doubt thereof So here the devill saith If thou be the Sonne of God as I now grant indeed I was in some doubt but now I confesse thou art I am of that voyces minde that deonounced thee so at thy Baptisme The devill in the former temptation came out like a malecontent or a murmurer here he comes like a flattering parasite he will pinguare caput ejus oleo make his head even swim in the oyle of ostentation But though it be not the same temptation yet it is the same devill in both places For both by the one and the other he seeketh the downfall and destruction of man and though his two Ifs be contrary in themselves yet are they both also contrary to the will and Word of God for he would not in any case we should distrust him neither would he that at any time we should cast our selves downe And therefore hath he caused battlements to be made on every house top that none might be slaine with falling downe Deut. 22.8 Now he would have him shew himselfe thereby to be the Sonne of God for he is now in the sight of all Jerusalem It is said that Christ comes now to put to a sparke of fire that is of faith and that his will was it might burne and be maintained The devill on the other side labours by all meanes possible to quench and put it out and seeing water would not doe it in the former temptation he goeth now about to see if he can make the very oyle it selfe to put it out even that very thing whereby it was to be maintained as indeed it will if we powre out too great a quantity Or if he cannot quench it either with water or oyle he will see if he can blow it up with gun-powder As seeing the water of distrust will not extinguish his faith but that he would trust in God he endeavoureth now by Scriptures that magnifie the providence of God and the confidence we are to put in him to set him as farre gone in the other extreame by presuming or trusting too much that so the fire which before he would have quenched may now so flame out as not to keepe it selfe within the chimney but to set the whole house on fire This is the ball of wilde-fire of this second Temptation and so both we see tend to the consuming and nullifying of our faith II. The dart it selfe is Cast thy selfe downe which consisteth of two points First the casting downe Secondly that he himselfe was to cast downe himselfe For the first it is generall the neglect of ordinary meanes as here Whereas the ordinary way was downe the staires he would have him leape or throw himselfe over the Battlements And here a man may see to what end the devils halting commeth he brings a man up by little and little to some high place that so he may send him at once with his head downward All the preferments that he bestoweth on a man is not to any other intent but that he may doe as the devill himselfe did who being on high did cast himselfe downe and so be like him John 8.23 that is from beneath not from above who fell from heaven like lightning Luk. 10.18 So that howsoever in outward shew he may seem to befriend us yet this is inward intention and scope As the Edomites in time of the prosperity of the Israelites pretended great good will to them but in the day of their great calamity they were they that cryed Downe with them downe with them Psal 137.7 Gods manner is when he meaneth to exalt a man he will first humble him and make him low Matth. 23.12 The devils manner is we see cleane contrary Esay 14.14 to lift them up to the clouds that he may bring them downe to the grave yea to the lowest grave Psal 86.13 He carryeth them the higher to throw them downe with the greater violence He lifteth up Adam with a conceit to be like God to the very top of perfection to the intent he might be like the beast that perisheth Psal 49.20 The second hath some matter of comfort the devill is here a sutor to him to doe it himselfe Why doth not the devill cast him downe First it was not in his power or if he had yet would not that have served his turne then there had beene no sinne of presumption in it There must be two persons that must concurre in our downefall well may the devill induce and move us to it but unlesse we our selves be consenting and cast our selves downe there can be no down-fall to hurt us For as Chrysostome saith Nemo laeditur nisi à seipso so Nullum praecipitium nisi voluntarium The devill did not cram Eve with the forbidden fruite but when she saw it she tooke it and eate it Gen. 3.6 So the devill when
know was a melancholy place and in no wise fit for this temptation so neither was the Pinacle for besides that it might have hindred the working of this temptation being the Pinacle of the Temple the prospect was not good enough For though it were high yet there were divers hils about Jerusalem which would have hindred the sight of many things And though Sion were a Mountaine yet in respect of Mount Hermon and Libanus it is said to be a little one Psal 42.6 And Psal 68.16 Basan is said to be the great Hill Therefore as God chose a convenient Hill both for heighth and neemesse where Moses might behold the whole Land of Canaan Deut. 32.49 So here the devill chose an exceeding high Mountaine where a high minde might best take view and comtemplate such where his horizon might be as spacious as was possible and where his sight might not be hindred by any meane object III. Thirdly he sets before his eyes all the kingdomes of the earth There is nothing so soone enticed and led away as the eye it is the Broker betweene the heart and all wicked lusts that be in the world And therefore it was great folly in Hezechias to shew his robes and treasure Esay 39.2 as he was told by the Prophet it stirred up such coales of desire in them that saw them as could not be quenched till they had fetcht away all that he had and all that his Ancestors had laid up even till that day It is the wisdome that is used now adayes when men would have one thing for another to shew the thing they would so exchange as the buyer sheweth his money and the seller his wares in the best manner that he can each to entice the other by the eye to the desire of the heart It is the devils ancient sleight he would not goe about to perswade the matter in words till he might withall present the thing to the eye So he dealt with Eve Gen. 3.6 First he shewed her how pleasant the fruite was and the woman saw it So the cause of the deluge was Gen. 6.2 that the Sonnes of God saw the beauty of the Daughters of men Achabs seeing of Naboths vineyard 1 King 21.2 for that it lay neere his house was the cause of all the mischiefe that followed This same foolish vanity of apparell whereof I have given so often warning out of this place comes from hence I saw a fine Babilonish garment and desiring it I tooke it saith Achan Joshu 7.11 So the seeing of the bribe blindeth the eyes of the Judge Deut. 16.19 So still the sight of the eye allureth the heart to desire The Heathen man therefore wished that vertue and honesty might as well be seene with bodily eyes for then he thinketh that Admirabiles amores excitarent suo So if we could as well see that which God hath for us as that the devill here offereth us we would not regard the devils largesse Moses and the other Patriarchs saw him which is invisible which had provided a better thing for them Therefore he refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter Heb. 11.27 And to enjoy the pleasure of sinne But you are not so to take it as though it were a thing simply ill to behold such things or to looke on a cup-boord of plate or to stand on a Pinacle it is dangerous but no sinne especially it is unfit for an unstayed and an ungoverned eye Therefore Lot and his wife were forbidden to looke backe at the destruction of Sodome Gen. 19.17 To Abraham it was left at large without any restraint for that he was a man of better ruled affections For as there must be one without to take view and to entice so must there be one within to hearken to it and to condiscend Be sure of that within that it be upright and then thou mayest the better looke with that which is without But ever be wary for the tinder of thy nature will soone take fire Job said Chap. 31.1 He made a covenant with his eyes why then should he thinke on a maid and that he had not beene deceyved by a woman vers 9. and that his heart had not walked after his eyes vers 7. Paul knew how to use want and how to use abundance or plenty how poverty both to be full and to be hungry he had stayed affections Phil. 4.12 IV. Omnia Regna This was no small offer but even all the wealth and honour that may be two such things as are most vehemently desired of all men So that as Jerome saith Prae auri sacra fame nihil sacrum The desire thereof also is so unsatiable that it is like the dropsie which the more liquor is ministred to it the more it thirsteth it is perpetuall and unnaturall The lesse time a man hath to live and so needes the lesse the more he covets to abound These two doe never waxe old of all vices gray haires doe never grow on these This is the baite the devill laid for Christ and layes for youth and mindes lasciviously given he layes a baite on live flesh to cholericke natures he ministreth matters that may encrease their wrath for melancholy he laies baites of envy and so for every one according to their naturall inclinations and humours such baites as may entice them soonest Which if he can get them once to swallow his hooke that is within it will hold them sure enough and by his line he will draw them to him when he list so that he cares not to let them play with the line then though hee goe to twenty Sermons it is no matter with an Apple he caught Adam and Eve and all their posterity Well we must be as children weaned from this world though it bring weeping with it Psal 131.2 Gen. 27.38 When Eve was Lady and Mistresse of all the world yet because there was a Godship a higher degree than hers she was not content Princes because they can goe no higher by any earthly dignity aspire to be gods and so would be accounted as was said to Herod that it was the voyce of God and not of Man But as they that are above can abide to have no equals but will be alone by themselves so they that be below can abide no superiours As when Saul was chosen by lot from amongst the Israelites to be King over them some wicked men said There is a goodly wise King nay I would I were King I would they might come to me for Justice 1 Sam. 10.27 2 Sam. 15.4 Every one hath this conceit of himselfe that he is worthier to beare rule than they which are in authority not so much as the silly Fur-bush but it thought it selfe a fit person to make a King Judg. 9.15 and the Thistle would have the Cedars daughter marryed to his sonne 1 King 14.9 The Spider a silly poysonfull thing will yet be in the top of the Kings Palaces Prov. 30.28 The Gourd starts