no man ordinarily desires to seem but good Now if it be a thing so desireable even by their testimonie who want goodnes to appear good how much more to be so in deed what is the emptie shadow to the solid body To shut up this Head As the shadow follows the body so doth the name and fame of good true goodnes with equally-mynded men And in stead of a thousand compasses of devise which men fetch about to obteyn the name of good and vertuous this one short and right-on way of being good indeed would serv the turn for the procureing it from all indifferent and wise judges The most compendious way to this honour is that in truth a man be as he would be accounted sayth the Heathen how much more ought Christians who are perswaded of Gods providence in ordering this and all his other blessings upon themselvs and others thus both to say and think and proceed accordingly And look what recompence of honour or other reward this playn and homely uprightnes which of all other vertues Laudatur alget is denyed from men God who seeth and loveth it will plenteously supply Blessed are the perfit in way who walk in the Law of Iehovah To chuse the right way of Gods law first and then to walk uprightly in it is to be guided by Gods own spirit to heaven CHAP. LII Of Sin and punishment from God WHatsoever swarveth from the law of God written in the table of the heart or of stone whether in our nature or actions eyther in the not being of that which should be or being of that which should not be which two are alwayes joyned together in originall sin and oftens in actuall is sin and evill yea the greatest yea the onely evill indeed Sin is worse then the divell as having made him evill whom God made good yea then all punishments yea then hell it self which God prepared and made and is therefore good to punish sin and sinners by And accordingly it was godlily sayd of one that if sin and hell were set before him the one on the one side and the other on the other that he must needs go through the one of them he would rayther enter upon hell then sin But blessed be God who will assuredly keep them from hell whose hearts are so set to keep themselvs from sin by his grace This sin is incident onely to reasonable creatures God the creator being above sin and unreasonable creatures beneath it For the disorders in bruit beasts they are not sin in them to whom there is no law but punishments of mans sin against God who hath subjected them to vanitie thereby to testifie how greatly he is offended at mans for whom at first he made them and all other creatures in a more excellent state The case of children is otherwise as being reasonable creatures made after Gods image in Adam and having the law written in their hearts as a subject capable both of good and evill which bruits are not Although sin be onely in reasonable creatures yet is it a most unreasonable thing otherwise it were not sin save as it crosses true reason eyther by lust against reason or shew of reason against truth So for particular enormities the more unreasonable the more sinfull as lusts against nature adulterie in a maryed person pryde in a mean prodigalitie in a needy covetousnes in him that abounds in riches prophanenes in a preacher and so of all other vices All sins save that first of Adam and mens very last are both sins in themselvs and effects of former sin and causes of latter and that not onely by Gods just though severe judgment in punishing one by another but oft times also by a kinde of naturall and necessarie coherence and affinitie Sometimes one sin brings on an other by provoking unto it as rash anger unto strife sometimes to back it as Peters denying of Christ did his after forswearing him sometimes to conceal it as all other evils draw on lying and theft murther many times sometimes to mainteyn it as pride doth covetousnes and oppression and sometimes to countenance it that it be not disgraced as Herods rash oath drew after it the beheading of Iohn the Baptist And of these commonly a lesser draws on a greater as lesser sticks set the greater on fire So also by those degrees of iniquitie do men proceed in one and the same particular enormitie in which as in a chayn drawing from heaven to hell each link moveth his next from the one and smaller end to the other greater First there is in a man concupiscence by which he is drawn away from God unto whom he ought to cleave with the whole heart And having once let goe his hold on him the true and unchangeable good he is forthwith seazed by some appearing and counterfeyt good and thereby entised as the byrd by falling on the ground is taken in the sâ—are from which whilst she held aloft she was free Vpon this inveigled affection and deceaved judgment thereby comes consent of will to have or do the thing which is evill called by the Apostle the conception of lust which that it may bring forth sin in outward act and exequution wants nothing but opportunitie This sin perfited by a continued course therein without repentance brings forth death unavoydably He therefore that begins to do evill or to forsake that which is good in the affection of his heart is like him that puts his feet into a pit and lets the hold of his hands go and without Gods gratious hand catching hold of him can never stay till he come to the bottom of the pit of perdition And no marvayl of this progresse in evill seeing everie sin how small soever in degree hath joyned with it the contempt of God As therefore the safest way against the flame is to quench the spark by which it may be kindled so against this fire of hell to quench betymes the spark of concupiscence and lust This is done partly by withdrawing from it the occasions and incitements of and unto sin which are as fewell for nourishing it as if it be the lust of anger and revenge not to give ear to words of provocation but to be as a deaf man that hearâ— not If of uncleanenes not to look upon a mayd If of drunckennes or excesse that way not to look upon the wine when it is red c. The second help is by smothering the corruption in the beginning which as fire if it have no vent goes out but getting passage breaks out into a flame Lastly as water fires contrarie quencheth it so do the spirituall means of grace as prayer meditation upon Gods word and the like quench by degrees the sparks of sin and fire of hell The greatnes of the sin is not alwayes to be esteemed by the thing done For as much crookednes may be found in a small line so may
by this he doth whatsoever he pleaseth in the Heavens and in the Earth The former will which stands in commanding promiseing and the like may be and is too oft resisted and made ineffectuall by men this latter neuer possibly except men be stronger then God By it his power availeth to make things to be which were not to continue them that are to work all good and to order all evill unto good And as the works of Gods power according to his will are manifold so hath he wrought them all in wisdom For notwithstanding both the absolutenesse of his will and infinitenesse of his power in regard whereof one saith It is more becoming God to ascribe any power to him then to make him impotent yet is he neither wilfull in willing nor unwealdy in working By his wisdom he not onely eternally and infallibly knoweth himself and all Creatures that are or can be and what either he or they or both together will do or can do and that upon supposition of whatsoever can be supposed but both willeth and doth in time himself what he willeth and doth it also for good cause and to good purpose and accordingly either on the one side hinders or on the other sustains effects and orders everie motion of everie Creature By exerciseing these Attributes God worketh all his works whether immediate by himself alone or mediate by the creatures which he useth of all kindes and everie one according to his kinde whether good or evill reasonable or without reason By Gods works I mean all things whatsoever are in the World or haue any being and existence In nature For He hath made the whole World and all things therein In him we live and move and have our being He giveth all to all things And of him and through him and for him are all things As he gives being unto all things that are by communicateing the effects of his being with them so is there nothing either so casuall in regard of men as that he directs it not or so voluntarie as that he determines it not Nothing so firm but he sustains it nor so small but he regards it nor so great but he rules it nor so evill but he over-rules it Neither can any of the works of God possibly be other then verie good and righteous seeing they are all wrought by the exerciseing of his holy will divine power and godly wisdom And if a simple man ow the honour to him that is of greater wisdom and understanding then himself to think upon occasion that the other hath reason for that which he speaks or does though he in his shallownes cannot reach unto it how much more do all men and Angels ow this honour unto God to beleev alwaies that whatsoever he saith is true and whatsoever he doth good and righteous though they discern not the reason of it Some of the works of God are such as we can rather admire at them then discern of them Some again are such as at which proud flesh is ready to repine and murmur Amongst the works of Gods most wise and powerfull providence upon bodily things it is most admirable that the Heavenly bodies the Sun Moon and Starres should by their influence and operation have such power and effects upon the bodies here below as to change order and dispose the Ayer Earth and Water with all things framed and compounded of them as they appear to do by Scripture sence and experience Yet if we consider besides the two greatest lights and most powerfull agents the Sun and Moon the numberlesse number of the Stars their huge greatnesse the varietie and excellencie of vertues wherewith they are furnished far above the most precious Pearls or any earthly quintessence and with all these the infinite power and wisdom of him that made and constituted them it will not seem incredible unto us that the least suddainest naturall change in the Ayer Water or other Elementarie bodies should be wrought by the position and disposition of the Stars and Celestiall bodies Neither doth this at all diminish or detract from the honour of the Lord in governing the World but rather amplifieth it as it ads to the honour of the skilfull Artificer so at the first to frame his Clock or other work of like curious deuise as that the severall parts should constantly move and order ech other in infinite varietie he as the Maker and first Mover moveing and ordering all Where yet this difference must alwaies be minded that the Artisan leavs his work being once framed to it self but God by continuall influx preservs and orders both the being and motions of all Creatures Here also we except both unnaturall accidents and specially supernaturall miraculous events which are as it were so many particular creations by the immediate hand of God In them that are made partakers of the grace of God the remainders of corrupt reason is readiest to rise up at the work of Gods providence in the prosperitie of the way of the wicked and workers of iniquitie especially if they themselvs be pressed with any singular afflictions as we may see in David Ieremy and other But the same men of God who were in their persons present exampls of humain frailtie do in their writeings by the Holy Ghost affoard us matter sufficient for Divine comfort and direction As first that before we come to plead with God how his works are righteous we know and acknowledg them all to be righteous that so we may learn how and wherein their righteousnesse consists Secondly that God is both as good to those whom he loves in their afflictions as in their prosperitie and as wroth with his enemies in their momentarie prosperitie as if his rod were already upon their backs Thirdly that he hath appointed a day in which he will right whatsoever seemeth crooked in the mean while and will fully and for ever recompence both the good and evill In the expectation of which day and of the work of the Lord in it we should satisfie our selvs for the present and suspend our thoughts till the manifestation of his righteous Iudgment therein In them that desire to establish mans righteousnesse rather then Gods either righteousnesse or power fleshly reason is most apt to quarrell partly that work of Gods mercie by which he freely justifies a sinner and partly those his just dispensations upon which followeth the Creatures sin and miserie for sin But for the former It stands not with the riches of Gods mercie and grace whereof he would make full manifestation in the justifying of sinners to borrow any thing of mans merit but well becomes his bountie freely to bestow both the gift and hand to receav it For the latter It must be considered that Gods work so far as it is his is good as well in the sinfull doings or miserable sufferings of men as in their most holy and happy estate The
wherein men make a will of God which is not and so a God willing which is not or els in an act of worship in it self though neither professed nor judged such by him that performs it Such mens actions reprove both their intention in heart and profession in word and can not be excused by either from Idolatrous This sin in Gods people is usually compared by the Holy Ghost to the whoredom of a Wife and Gods anger at it to the Husbands jealousie in that case And as Adulterie most directly impeacheth the mariage bond and so procures the Bill of Divorce so doth Idolatry the Churches Covenant with the Lord and provokes to sequestration from him Yet herein two rules must be held The former that not onely speciall Idolatry but even all or any other wickednesse with profane obstinacie adjoyned separates from God Secondly that all sin whatsoever is founded upon a kind of Idolatry In sins of omission we acknowledg not God for our God as we ought in doing what he commands In sins of commission we make some other thing our God as our riches if we trust to them as to God or our belly if for it we do what God forbids the doing of CAP. XII Of Heresie and Schism IT is an ancient and receaved saying that Heresie ariseth from want of Faith and Schism from want of Love which also hath its truth being rightly understood Yet if we mark we shall find the Scriptures to speak something otherwise of both the one and other then men commonly understand We usually call obstinate Errour in the foundation Heresie but the Scriptures many times seem rather to place it in the peruersnesse of the will and affections whether the matter be great or small then in the errour of the judgment the word also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying any election or choise of will which a man makes or Sect which he followeth whether good or bad whether in matters of greater or smaller moment Besides men are oftens accounted Heretiques with greater sin through want of charitie in the Iudges then in the judged through defect of Faith Of old some have been branded for Heretiques for holding Antipodes others for holding the originall of the Soul by traduction others for thinking that Marie the Mother of Christ had other Children by her Husband Ioseph the first being a certain truth and the second a Philosophicall doubt and the third though an errour yet neither against foundation nor post of the Scriptures building As there are certain Elements and foundations of the Oracles of God and of Christian Faith which must first be layed and upon which other truths are to be built so must not the foundation be confounded with the wals or roof nor errours lightly be made fundamentall or unavoidably damnable Yea who can say with how little and unperfit Faith in Christ both for degree and parts God both can and doth save the sincere in heart Whose Salvation depends not upon the perfection of the Instrument Faith but of the Object Christ. As on the contrarie there are some vulgar and common errours though lesse severely censured which are apparently damnable as by name for a man to beleev and expect mercie from God and salvation by Christ though going on in affected ignorance of or prophane disobedience to Gods Commandments And for Schism The Scriptures note it as sometimes made from the Church but most commonly in it From it by the ten Trybes sequestring themselvs from Iudah and Ierusalem the onely place where the Lord had promised to dwell by his solemn Church presence and after Christ by certain of the Hebrews forsaking the assemblies of the Christians The former was from the onely true instituted and ministeriall Church in the World which was then one individuall and not many as now and that by Idolatry The latter from all Christian Churches and persons by totall defection from Christ himself The other Schisms mentioned were made in the Church either through the carnall lusts bearing two great sway of envie strife and uncharitablenesse whilst the stronger despised the weaker and the weaker judged the stronger or by Heresie and prophanenesse of manners of which the Apostles Peter Iude and Iohn speak That which is commonly called Schism ariseth if it be affected from the conceipt of Faith and want of Love but may fall out upon simple errour of judgment or scrupulositie of conscience By occasion whereof a person may seqester himself eyther in or from some particular Church in some inferior courses of religion from them towards whom he yet bears much more true and hearty Christian affection then the most of them do who unite with them therein And if onely an uncharitable heart make an uncharitable person before God and a proud heart a proud person then he who upon due examination and certain knowledg of his heart findes and feels the same truly disposed to union with all Christians so far as possibly he can see it lawfull though through errour or frailtie he may step aside into some by-path that way yet hath that person a Supersedeas from the Lord in his bosom securing him from being attached for a schismaticall person and so found in the Court of Heaven what blame soever he may bear from men upon Earth or correction from God for his failing upon infirmitie therein No man can endure to be withdrawn from nor easily dissented from by another in his way of Religion in which above all other things he makes account that he himself draws nearest unto God Therefore to do this causlesly for not the seperation but the cause makes the Schismatick though out of errour or scrupulositie is evill more to do it out of wantonnesse of mind or lust to contend or affectation of singularitie most of all to do it out of proud contempt or cruell revenge against others CAP. XIII Of Truth and Falshood TRuth is either naturall or morall Naturall Truth stands first in the conveniencie and agreement of the notions of the mind with the thing conceaved and secondly of the means of manifesting it especially speech with the thing to be manifested Morall Truth stands in the conveniencie and agreement of a person with himself namely of his heart with his tongue and speech The same consideration is to be had of Truths contrarie in its kind which is Falshood Whereupon also it comes that a man may sin and speak falsly not onely in speaking that which he knows or may know to be false for what end soever he speak it yea though it be that he may not deceav but also in speaking that which is true in it self if he know it not that he might or so as he may deceav by it All truth by whomsoever spoken is of God and of his Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth in some its manner and degree of working Whereupon it followeth that nothing true in right reason and sound Phylosophy
oftens indangers the verie quenching of that spark of naturall desire to become wise which God hath kindled in all mens breasts in bodily and beastly sensualities Hereupon it was that Plato judged the Cyrenians by reason of their prosperous estate uncapable of any good information and constitution of a Common-wealth by good Laws Man is in honour and understandeth not he is like the beasts that perish and not understanding he perisheth like the beasts and worse Few of great state in the world are humainly fewer Divinely wise The knowing to do good and the not doing it is sin not because it is known but because it is not practised as meat undigested hurts the body not because it is taken into the stomach but because it is not by concoction turned into good nourishment Papists call ignorance the mother of devotion and so make reckning that if they the multitude especially be ignorant enough they are devout enough But the Phylosopher though a Heathen who thought all sin to come of ignorance shot nearer the mark then those left-handed Christians And in truth where the reasonable faculties of understanding and will come to work the will therefore wills or nills a thing because it is judged good or bad in the particular by the practicall understanding whose office it is to direct the will in its choyse For example Peter though knowing and judging it in thesi and in the generall better to confesse Christ then to deny him yet being in the High-priests Hall and in the midst of his enemies thought it in that particular place and case and state of things better to deny his Master then to confesse him better I mean not in regard of that good which we call honest and vertuous but profitable and commodious for his present peace He neither would nor could have chosen the denying of him but as a good apparent and in shew Ignorance is not alwayes blame-worthy but then onely when we are ignorant of that which we should know Yea not onely some ignorance but which is more even some errour is in a sort commendable as when we judg of men whose hearts we know not by the outward appearances which they make though they be inwardly and in truth nothing lesse So Philip charitably and Christianly judged Simon Magus a true beleever and accordingly baptized him though in truth he then were and soon after appeared to be in the gall of bitternesse and bond of iniquitie In some other cases ignorance though it justifie not wholy yet excuses a fayling in part and that more or lesse as the thing whereof we are ignorant either is more or lesse necessarie to be known of us or can be known more or lesse easily and thus the Servant that knows not his Masters will and commits things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with fewer On the contrarie there is an ignorance which both shews and makes the ignorant culpable of greater judgment And that is either affected or inflicted Affected when a man either of purpose shuts his eyes lest he should take knowledg of the sin which he loves and is loath to forsake or purposely neglects the use of the means of attaining to knowledg or doth the things upon which ignorance cannot but follow as in making himself drunken or fills the eyes of the minde with the dust of wilfull prejudice and partialitie Inflicted when God to recompence former disobedience gives men up to a minde void of judgment in the things discernable by the verie light of Nature Thus not to know nor do the will of our Master deservs double stripes CAP. XV. Of Simplicitie and Craftinesse SImple persons are prone to suspect that all wise men are craftie and craftie mates to despise all honest men as simple and silly The simplenesse of the former makes them suspitious and the naughtinesse of the latter causeth them to measure other mens shoes by their own last and to conceipt that none are honest but for want of wit to deceav But both experience and reason teach that craftinesse and deceipt argue men to be conscious of their own imbecillitie and weaknesse one way or other which makes them Hare-like to trust to the double and turn rather then to the right on course And so many of shallow wits improving throughly their skill to deceav prove their crafts-masters that way shewing that craft and fraudulencie stand more in the wills then wits of men I ad that as David by seeming besides himself deceaved Achish so many make advantage of their simplenesse to deceav the more easily For appearing simple they are unsuspected and though they be taken something tardi yet if the matter be not verie foul men are readie in compassion of their weaknesse rather to ascribe it to their want of wit then of honestie And as this of simple appearance is one so are their other singular engines of deceipt specially if they fall into the hands of such as know how to use them The first is the shew and appearance of honestie especially of Religion and therefore the preamble of the whorish woman for the inveighling of the simple youth was that she had her peace-offrings upon her and had paid her vowes And indeed what good heart would suspect him of unfaithfulnesse with men that seems entire with God and to walk under the conscience of his presence and judgment A second is flatterie by which even wise men are made fools and led as it were by the lip By this the Divel brought ouâ— first Parents in Paradise into a fools Paradise by beating them in hand that in following his counsell they were in a way to become as Gods A third is the mingling of some truth with falshood and matter of deceipt as hucksters do their wares good with bad that so impostures may not be discerned by being viewed alone The last is to keep touch in smaller things that thereby men may take their opportunitie with more both ease and advantage to deceav in greater as is said of Fabius Maximus The safest way not to be deceaved by others specially to our Spirituall prejudice is not to deceav our selvs which till we do no other can deceav us Hence is it that God in his Word so oftens warns us that we be not deceaved and that we deceav not our selvs and our own Souls But and if we either put out our own eyes with our finger through passion or prejudice or willingly wink at dangers which we might foresee who will pittie us if we fall into the ditch of deceipt which others dig for us Whilst craftie men deceav others they themselvs though they little consider it are most deceaved by Satan whose instruments they are fitted for his hand purposes And what avails it the ravenous bird to devour that which belongs not to her if therewith she her self be taken by the leg in the Fowlers snare Besides even
with application to the present state of things is not to hold decorum but hath an appearance more oratour then preacher-like We are never simply to desire crosses because they are naturall evils nor to abhor from them because we know they work together with our election calling justification and sanctification for our good Not as causes thereof as the forenamed are for the effects of sin cannot be the causes of righteousnes or happines nor yet as means properly as are the word sacraments prayer and examples of good men but onely as occasions capable of sanctification to our use which sins properly are not as having no good in them as such whereas afflictions have a morall good in them as they are of God and by him inflicted Though to speak of crosses most properly God sanctifies us to them in giving us grace to make a right use of them And considering how it is both good for us to be afflicted and that God hath promised that no good thing shall be lacking to them that fear him we are thus to make account that God afflicts us as he doth not onely in justice for sin but in faythfulnes also that is both in mercy and in truth of promise and must accordingly confesse with the man of God I know O Lord that thy judgments are righteous and that thou in faithfulnes hast afflicted me and so must learn to take our severall crosses at Gods hands not onely patiently but thankfully We have cause to thank our selvs and our sins that wholesom things both for body and soul are for the most part bitter and greivous to our nature and to thank God that makes afflictions bitter-sweets by turning deserved curses into fatherly corrections to us It is commonly receaved for truth that in all adversitie the greatest miserie is sometimes to have been happy But we must here use a distinction If we onely respect the time in which we are in miserie apart from the former time we are both more sensible of our present miserie by remembring our former happines and also more tender and delicate and so lesse able to bear it But if we consider our whole life together then the lesse time we are afflicted the lesse our afflictions are in that respect and so must be mynded of us It is not nothing that God hath given us to passe over some part of our dayes in peace and with comfort neyther must we be so unthankfull as to account it no benefit because it is past but we must contrarywise something quiet ourselvs in our present affliction with the remembrance of Gods goodnes in our former peace as did our example of patience who in the extreamitie of his present distresse sayd shall we receav good at the hand of God and shall we not receav evill Reason teacheth this except in a case when God lifts up a man on high that he may the more violently through him down how much more fayth which perswades the godly mans heart that the Lord loves him as well as much in his after afflicted estate as he did before in his prosperous as the gold-smith esteems his gold as much though melting in the furnace as glittering in the shop and that the same God will both give patience and strength of fayth according to the tryall and encrease of strength if he encrease the affliction as also full deliverance in due time He will redeem Israel from all his trouble As even good men perform their whole duetie to God with some corruption mingled among so God promiseth and performeth accordingly the good things of this life with exception of the crosse and tribulation If we could amend the one God would leav out the other The Lord who tryed Abraham in his son Isaak whom he loved and the rich young man in his riches which he loved knows well in what veyn to strike a man that the blood may follow The more we love any earthly thing we are the more in danger to be crossed in or about it Not that God envyes our delights as one man often envyes anothers but eyther because we do or lest we should surfet in affections towards it Most men are moved too much with their own miseryes in this world melting in them as wax in the sun so as they are unapt to hold any impression eyther of fayth or reason but are too litle moved with other mens calamities not affoarding them so much as a compassionate affection Yet may and doth the contrary extream of over pittying others also prevayl with some Against both which it is good to consider that eyther we and they reap spirituall benefit by our afflictions or no. If the former that may and ought to moderate the greif If not there is cause of greater greif for after greater afflictions to come upon us and them A man may much encrease or lessen a crosse by the course which he suffers his mynde to run in it seeing all crosses have some conveniencies joyned with them as all commodities have some discommodities If a man set his thoughts a work upon the inconveniencies and discommodityes alone which are in it he shall heap sorrow upon sorrow But if on the contrary he draw into consideration such conveniencyes as usually fall in with their contraryes he shall alwaies finde some matter of ease and sometimes that meat comes out of the eater and that which at first seemed a crosse is rayther a benefit It is a most dangerous thing for any to deem his afflictions extraordinarie least by so doing he prejudice himself against ordinary comforts which we should with readynes and thankfulnes embrace and not look for angels from heaven to comfort us or for manna from heaven to feed us CHAP. XXXIIII Of Injuries AN Injurie say the Lawyers is whatsoever is not done justly In one and the same act may be found both sin against God and injurie against man And therefore in cases of wrong done either by violence or deceit the offender under the law was bound both to make restitution to the wronged and also to bring his trespas offering to the priest to make an atonement for him before the Lord. Sometimes the sin is taken away and the iniurie remayns as when the person which hath wronged another truly repents but is not able to make satisfaction Sometimes on the other side the injurie is taken away and the sin remayns viz. when the offender makes satisfaction by compulsion or for shame but repents not before God Sometimes both are taken away and sometimes neyther as both or neyther satisfaction to men and repentance towards God is performed Between the injurying and offending of a man there is this difference that we may injurie him that is altogether ignorant of it but can offend onely him that takes knowledg of some evil in truth or appearance done by us whether with injury or not The more power any hath to