second in this verse ut si peccasset poeniteat The first speech was as the Apostle speaks in the first to the Corinthians the tenth chapter qui stat videat ne cadat but now that he is fallen he speaks again ut resurgat poeniteat Jeremiah the eighth chapter and the fourth verse Shall they fall and not arise both which effects of Gods goodness the Prophet noteth in these words Psalm the one hundred and fourty fifth and the fourteenth verse Note The Lord upholdeth them that are ready to fall and lifteth up them that are down Gods mercy Secondly his long suffering appeares in that post tot scelera after that he hath sinned both against God and himself very grievously and against his Brother yet God ceaseth not to call him to repentance and whereas the Lord saith For three transgressions and for four I will not turn Amos the first chapter and the sixt verse yet when Cain hath sinned not three or four times but five or six and addeth transgression to transgression yet still he continueth to be mercfull to him if he would accept of it as Job sheweth God speaketh once and twice and man seeth it not in dreams and visions of the night then he opens their eares by correcting them Loe all those things will God work twice or thrice with a man that he may turn back his soul from the pit Job the thirty third chapter and the twenty ninth verse Thirdly to long suffering we may add patience in that God speaks to him non increpando sed interrogando medici instar potius quam judicis and so we see Gods intent in asking the question is an intent of mercy that by his goodnesse long suffering and patience he might have drawn Cain to repentance had he not in the hardness of his heart heaped up wrath for himself against the day of wrath Romans the second chapter Secondly for Gods justice shewed in this Question the advised proceeding of God in the matter of Cain and Abel is a pattern for all Judges how to proceed in judgment namely that albeit they know the party accused be guilty of the fact yet they may not proceed against him till they have made him confesse the fact which was the purpose of God with Cain for so he dealt with our first Parents in that first judgment He knew Adam had eaten of the tree and yet he asketh Hast thou eaten in the third chapter so he dealt with Sarah Genesis the eighteenth chapter and the fifteenth verse Secondly from Gods example they are taught to proceed with favour not with a headlong and furious spirit but with the spirit of meekness as Joshua with Achan Joshua the seventh My Sonne give the Lord glory and confess so the Apostle willeth Galatians the sixt chapter If any be overtaken restore him in spiritu 〈◊〉 Thirdly from hence they have a good ground to make inquiry and examinafor the shedder of blood not only upon the finding of a dead body but if the party be missing as God for that Abel was not present examineth Cain where he is and what is become of him Now followeth Cains Answer wherein first generally two things offer themselves The 〈◊〉 of sinne First the nature of sinne is set out unto us which is to draw men from one sinne to another for so Cain was drawn from hypocrisie to envy from envy to murther from murther to hardness of heart and so to defend and excuse his sinneThis the Prophet calleth a twisting of sinne when he saith of sins that they weave the spiders web Isaiah the fiftly ninth chapter and the fifth verse sinne is like fire-bushes or thorns that are folden one within another Nahum the first chapter and the tenth verse it is like the disease called the canker which fretteth in the first to Timothy the second chapter even so sinne maketh men to proceed unto more ungodliness and to goe from one sinne to another Of this we have a plain example in Cain and not in him only but even in David the the Servant of God who after he yeelded to one sinne stayed not there but proceeded to the committing of another in the second of Samuel and the eleventh chapter Secondly we are to consider the hiding of sinne that it is such a thing as desires to be concealed and not to be disclosed So it was with Adam in the matters of concupiscence and in Cain in the matter of revenge both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lust and wrath are such things as we would have concealed and not come to the hearing of all men Note that is we have in us not only sinfull souls but guilefull spirits Psalm the thirty second Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and in whose soul there is no guil The Prophets meaning is that we doe not only sinne against God but we would beguile God in hiding our sinnes from him if it were possible as if we were other manner of persons than indeed we be and as if we were altogether free from those sinnes which God seeth we have committed Therefore we are to know that as confession is the dore to repentance Hiding of sinne shutteth the dore of repentance so the hiding of sinne is the damming up of the dore of repentance for 〈◊〉 we will have favour at Gods hand we must confesse our sinnes but if we say we have no sinne we deceive our selvse whereby we see that sinne is a thing to be avoided Secondly that it is unlawfull in that whosoever committeth sinne doth that which he dare not avouch or acknowledge for the Apostle saith Romans the fourteenth chapter Blessed is he which doth not allow in his act that which he covers for many allow and approve of that in their actions which in word they dare not but condemn They which commit murther as Cain or adultery whether it be lust of revenge or the lust of uncleanness howsoever they yeeld to it in the practises of their life yet they cannot justifie it by word of mouth be they never so wicked whether they will or no their consciences will make them confesse they have done that they ought not to have done Adam and Eve made a confession of their fault though it were with excusing themselves by laying the fault one upon another but in Cain we finde not only an excusing of it but an obstinate denying of it In which regard his sinne is of a greater last and scantling than Adam's and hereby he 〈◊〉 himself not to be of Adam but ex maligno illo John the third chapter and the twelfth verse Of the Answer there are three parts First Abnegatio veritatis in these words I know not Secondly Abnegatio charitatis in that he denyeth that he is his Brothers keeper Thirdly Abnegatio humilitatis in that without all modesty he answereth by a question Am I my Brothers keeper For the first In saying he knoweth
begin naturally a communionibus but there is nothing with which all things doe more commonly communicate than the light of the Son ergo it is first for it is the communication of Heaven because all the Starres doe borrow their light of it and we see by it on earth it is oculus noster by which we see and it is their Cresset to light all them There are some which will have a reason of Gods works and would know how it could be that light should be first made and four daies after the Sunne to be made which was the cause of it But to these I answer that their absurd doubt doth argue small skill in Philosophy for they speak as if the light were an affection and quality only of the Sunne for we see that the fire on earth the meteors and lightnings in heaven the scales of Fishes and a dark wood have also light in them And what doth give light to these I answer not the Sunne But admit the same were the cause of light yet we see that many things have their proceeding in nature before things on which they have after their dependance As all agree that the livor in a man hath the precedence in nature and yet after it hath his dependance on the heart as his chief for though the light hath now his dependance on the Sunne yet then it had his precedence And as Christ was long before he took the body of Flesh so was the light a certain time before it took and was joyned to the body of the Sunne Again we may say that though the Sunne was not created now yet the substance of the Sunne was now made and so we may understand lux for corpus lucidum which after was perfected Last of all this of St. Basill will overthrow their doubt For if a man will grant to God that he made all things without matter of nothing then we must also grant that he can make light without the Sunne for God doth not depend upon ordinary means he is not bound and tyed to the Sunne that by the means thereof light should shew for he can give light without it three dayes by miracle at the beginning and will for ever give light without the Sunne after the end of the world The Hebrews spake of three Creations 1. De nihilo 2. In nihilo 3. Super nihilum All things were of nothing the light was in nothing the earth hanged upon nothing Job 26. 7. Tell me saith Job on what the earth dependeth and I will tell thee on what the light then did depend for it was miraculously giving light without Sunne A word of the second point Job telleth that it is a probleme and a hard question to know from whence the light is Job 38. 19. and in the 24. verse That it is more than mans wisdome to answer it for the very light is darknesse and ignorance to us for all that reason can conceive of it is this that either it must needs be a substance or else 〈◊〉 substantiae that is flowing or proceeding from a substance as a quality or affection of it if it be a substance it must be a spirituall or a corporall substance a spirituall substance it cannot be for it affecteth a bodily substance bodily it cannot be for the motion of it is a moment for with a flash it lighteneth all and also if it were then it must be granted that two bodies are in one place as the ayre and the light at one instant but indeed as they say of the Element that they are next kinne and affinity to accidents so we may say of light Preach 11. 5. there is a light of knowledge and a light of comfort The execution of the Precept The execution of the Precept was of the nature of the Preceptor and Commander 2 Cor. 4. 6. For as by his word he made the Whale bring Jonas safe to land so here he caused light to come out of darkness Rom. 4. 17. calling things that were not as if they were as the motion of the lightning is that is in an instant with celerity comming from the East to the West Luke 17. 24. so was the Creation of it for the facility of making it we know that no work is impossible to God Luke 1. 37. For as casie as it is for man to speak any thing so casie it is for God to doe any thing God 's dictum factum is all one and alike to him Wherefore we may conclude with David that Gods word runneth swiftly to the performance and execution of his Will It is easily and speedily done There is matter to be learned to lead us to good motions But of this hereafter Viditque Deus Lucem illam bonam esse Gen. 1. 4 vers THE meaning of this is That as we have seen Gods wisdome and power in the execution of his Will so now we may see the goodness and mercy of God in the confirmation and approbation of the light which he 〈…〉 allowing it as good for our use Job 28. 3. 〈…〉 God gave not the light to the Moon but to us that the light might arise to us The reference that this verse hath with that which goeth before is this God made things before and here Moses sheweth the quality of it that it was even in Gods judgement very good and perfect that is as the Philosophers say God in all his works limiteth together bonum ens for all that he maketh is passing well made The difference between Gods works and ours which sheweth the difference between Gods works and ours For it is our manner so we doe a thing that God willeth or that we purpose it is no matter we care not how it be done But here God teacheth us by his example that we should in attempting any thing have a speciall care that it be good and welldone Also it is usuall with us that the thing we make in haste is as we say canis festinans that is it is rudely and blindely done and therefore that which a man will doe well he taketh great pains and leasure about it because it is a hard and difficult matter to doe a thing well but God doth and can doe things well and perfectly well with ease with quick dispatch even in a moment with great facility and celerity and yet we see he confirmeth it to be very good in these words Two parts the View and Confirmation to be good Therefore there are two parts First the view which God taketh in beholding the light Secondly his testimony affirming and confirming it to be good The View Touching the first As before we haveheard of Gods speaking so here now we are to consider of Gods seeing Touching both which Moses by Gods spirit is taught to speak after the manner of men in our phrase and dialect that it might be to our capacity for he cannot speak to us as to spirituall but as to
these sensible and visible Heavens so must we for these invisible and incomprehensible Heavens which we enjoy only by hope and faith for seeing we know that he created them to be a dwelling place for his Saints John 14. 2. we must not only praise God with thankfull hearts for it but also prepare our souls that we may be meet to be received into them with the wise Virgins evermore praising him for that although he hath not made us Haeredes regalis mansionis here on Earth yet he hath called us to have mansionem in regno Coelorum which he send us which hath purchased it for us cui honos gloria in seculum Postea dixit Deus confluant aquae istae quae sub hoc Coelo sunt in locum unum conspicua sit arida fuit ita Gen. 1. 9. THE action of the second day was suspended as I told you the last time and in some sort left undone and unperfect by reason that the Prophet delayed and deferred the approbation of the Heavens untill he should shew us what should become of the nether waters then separated wherefore having declared how the upper waters being lift up were stretched and spread abroad and made a Firmament now he sheweth how the nether waters below were gathered together to make the Seas and withall he sheweth us the Earth which as St. Ambrose saith lay as a wrack in the middest and bottom of the waters was by Gods word drawn up and brought to light and made profitable for man and beast For after the swadling bands of darknesse were removed and the disordered course of waters well ordered and disposed then the eye of Gods providence from which nothing is hid beholdeth the Earth which was covered and swallowed up in the deep Psal. 104. 6. and so he delivereth it of his goodnesse both from the outward impediments of the waters which kept it from the sight of the light and also from the inward and naturall inconvenience of emptinesse by which it was unmect for any living thing to dwell on it which mercy of God because it sheweth it self to Earth we are earth dust and ashes therefore it doth so much the more neerly teach and concern us though light was made and the firmament framed yet both these parts of the world and the world it self was unperfect untill the Earth was discovered Therefore Moses telleth us that God did as it were make haste and speedily passe over the first and second day that he might the sooner come to the Earth which in the next place he frameth partly to shew that he is not bound to any course or frame in building his house as to descend orderly from the cealing of Heaven down to the foundation of the Earth and partly to manifest his spirituall care and providence that he hath for the Earth and earthly things indeed as the Prophet telleth us Esay 45. 18. God made not the Earth in vain but to this end that it might be habitable but it passeth our capacities to think that God would put it to so honourable a use as to be the place on which he would set his chief delight But whereas we would think that God being in Heaven would not abase himself to vouchsafe to look down on the Earth in this miserable and desolate case yet now this third day being come in which the Earth should be made and perfected we see God adorneth this work with a double Precept with two actions and a double approbation to shew his speciall care and delight he had in this work for here is twice dixit Deus and twice fecit and twice dixit Deus bonum esse which repetition of redoubling we only see when there is another revolution and another third day in which God made man of the Earth to be the perfection of the Earth as it was the perfection of the world Therefore we see that though the Heavens were his own habitation and the Earth he meant to give and bestow on men 〈◊〉 115. 16. yet he seemeth to have lesse care and regard of Heaven than of Earth and to bestow as it were double pains and cost on our habitation over he did upon his own which is our great comfort that God rewardeth and esteemeth or respecteth so much this Earth 4 Parts In this dayes work we are to consider four parts each doubled First two Decrees then two Actions performed Thirdly by two accomplishments Fourthly by two approbations On the Earth we see two actions necessarily performed First the emptying and removing of that it should not have which was the outward impediment of a huge number of waters which hindred the sight of it and ability to be inhabited The second the delivering and removing from it his nether and inward inconvenience of emptinesse being void of all things meet for habitation and replenishing it with store and variety of Plants and Herbs c. And so having removed the outward and inward impediment Tohu Tobohu which it had within and without he finished the work of God getteth out a severall warrant to remove both inconveniences to this end that it be habitable and stored with necessaries for them that dwell therein The parts are the Decree and the Action the giving out of the Decree is to be considered in this word Dixit the tenor of the Decree is durable First for the removing of the waters Secondly for the appearing of the Earth The third and last place setteth down the accomplishment of it Touching the giving out of the Decree to omit the things before rehearsed I will deliver these three points First the giving out of it in regard of God Secondly touching the word Thirdly of the number 1. For the first Seeing Abraham maketh it a great matter Gen. 18. 27. that Earth should seem to speak to God we may think it a wonder and a strange thing that God should so abase himself as it were to behold much more to vouchsafe to speak to this rude and poor Creature which lay in worse and baser case than any other for whereas other Creatures in their imperfection had but one inconvenience we see this had two without and within Wherefore if we make this a matter of inquiry the Scriptures shew us this reason that it is Gods usuall custome and nature and delight to shew his goodnesse especially in exalting things humble and most base and to lift the poor out of the mire Job 5. 11. It is a known thing that God Humilibus dat gratiam Pro. 3. 34. which all the Apostles also teach wherefore the Earth being the lowest and basest and most poor and humble doth God of his grace and goodnesse choose to give it this grace and to exalt it thus The Prophet telleth us that God had made choise to dwell in two places Habitat aut in aeternitate or else habitat in humilitate that is he will no where dwell but either in the high Heavens
store for profit and 〈◊〉 for nothing is good in respect of God which is only speciosum videnti nisi sit commodum utenti therefore God would make it as well profitable as pleasant both for man and beast Psal. 104. 14. and prepare and make all things ready and fit for life before he made living things Which course we see usuall and agreeable to nature for God provideth still breasts full of milk before the Child be born And it is the manner and course of men in the world before they will come to dwell in and possesse a house they will first lay in their provision and necessaries for houshold A good Pater Familias So doth God deale in this place He first taketh order for our diet and fare the Flower of Meale for Bread and the Grape for the Winepresse out of the Herbe and the Plant Ose 9. 2. which Moses calleth Deut. 32. 14. the fat of the Wheat and the blood of the Grape thus he provideth for men in the Herbs and the Plants and for beasts he took order in that he left for Hay and for Pasture and Grasse of the fields Psal. 104. 14. and clean and good Provender for them Esay 30. 24. All which he did that we might be kindled with the love of God which hath been so carefull and provident for us The Decree Touching the Decree it containeth three parts First the Decree it self Secondly the Complement of it and it was so Thirdly the Censure of God in his liking and approbation that it is good Of the first of these at this time Wherein first of his speaking again When we shall consider the virtue and force of Gods dixit whereby he made and furnished all things It must teach us not despicere terras not to look downward and depend on the Earth for food nor yet suspicere stellas that is not gaze on the starres to trust in them for fruitfull increase but it teacheth us to passe beyond all these and know that all these blessings of the Earth come from God and his word which saith Let the Earth bear forth and it was so non produxit terra antequam dixit Deus producat terra for the nature of the Earth was at first empty in the second degree dry and cold which are mortiferae qualitates and will rather kill than quicken and keep any seed herb or plant But notwithstanding all this if God call for a plenty and say Let the Earth bear though there be no man to till the ground no seed in the ground no starres to give influence no means now ordeined to cause it yet it will bring forth fruit in aboundance For at this time Adhuc Adam fuit Adama that is Agricola fuit adhuc ager man was earth and yet in the dust heap therefore man was not the cause that the Earth did bear fruit neither were the Heavens and Starres any cause for they were not as yet made for the Sunne Moon and all the Stars are Juniors to the Herbs and Plants and the very Grasse and Flower of the field Ancients to them all quid ergo aspiras astra saith one to starre-gazers These plants and herbs are the influence and starres and beams shooting out of the earth as the Heavens hereafter have starres in them It is strange that Theophrastus which never knew Moses writing doth yet acknowledge this That the earth brought forth all fruits meet for man and beast before any living Creatures were on the earth If then the fruits of the earth are not from any earthly cause not from the earth it self nor from man nor from the starres we must needs conclude that they come from this dixit Deus by the blessing of his word willing it to be done the truth of which God hath sealed and signed up to us by two reasons the first St. Paul pleadeth 1 Cor. 15. 36. The second part is the Censure of approbation saying that it was good In the Preach 5. 8. the wise man being a King doth confesse that the fruitfullness of the earth is so necessarily good that no man no not the King himself can live or continue but must miserably pine and perish without his fruit and therefore St. James 5. 7. the Apostle calleth them the precious fruits of the Earth for which we wait as the hope of our life There are three goods as I told you before honestum utile jucundum each of which contain in them a double goodnesse All which three pair of several goodnesses we shall see in the earth Bonum honestum as a virtue morall which respecteth true justice equity and faithfulnesse and on the other side benignity goodnesse mercy and liberality which we shall see in the earth Bonum jucundum In that good which is called jucundum there is one speciall prerogative to delight and please the senses as to be fair and sightly to the eye sweet to the smell pleasant to the taste delightfull to the eare So there is multiplicity of delight Bonum utile For Bonum utile there is utile ferrum which we cannot be without which is durum telum and will break through walls Bonum honestum The other that is Bonum honestum is such a profit which we may be without but yet not conveniently For the first moral goodnesse though properly it pertaineth to men yet here it may be applyed to the earth and a pattern of it may be seen there For touching truth and fidelity Commit any seed into the earth it is more sure and trusty to keep it than man therefore the Husbandman having sowed his seed sleepeth securely without doubt or distrust Mark 4. 26. knowing that he dealeth with a most true just and faithfull Creature which will safely depositum servare and in due time repay and deliver his charge and that not barely in the same measure that it received it but that which is the second point it will repay besides the principall great increase very bountifully with great liberallity Psal. 72. 16. A handfull of Corn shall be sown on the hills and it shall bring forth a croppe Esay Every Corn saith Christ Matth. 13. 8. commeth up and bringeth his advantage some thirty some sixty some an hundred folde every one will be manifold Gen. 26. 12. So had Abraham and Jacob an hundred folde increase and this increase and gain it speedily returneth for it is not dealt withall as Usurers custome is that is we take in bonds and obligations but without constraint or exaction of its own goodnesse and liberality it giveth more though it be fructum indebitum that is more than it oweth us to repay any but Userers will not stand to mens gratefull return of recompence but will binde men before they lend that they may be sure of their harvest before hand but we need not deal so cruelly with the Earth for it will liberally give us if we shall thankfully praise God the maker of
his hand and vengeance which are thus afraid at the sound of his steps and voice But if Adam and Eve doe and needs will 〈…〉 will they 〈◊〉 surely from the presence of God and is not God their only life joy comfort hope and help in this miserie see then by the craft of Sathan and sinne they are willed to 〈◊〉 from their life health liberty and hope of all the good they have that so the Devill might be sure that they should perish in their sin To conclude we see into what miserie man is fallen for a little vain pleasure of sinne which lasted but the space while the apple was chewed in their mouthes but that vain short delight being vanished and gone now remain their extreme miseries for ever except the mercy of God provide a remedy For first we see it brought on them nakedness and shame Secondly blindness and senselesness that they could not see their shame and sin Thirdly the worme of conscience when they saw it for as a garment breedeth a moth which will destroy it so doth sinne breed his gnawing worm which will torment and destroy sinners Fourthly when it was seen it brought on them confusion of face without Fiftly a horrible feare and trembling of the heart within Sixtly to avoid and cover it it taught them the folly and fondness of vain hypocrisie with figge leaves to cover it Seventhly and lastly it brake out into a desparate madness and frenzie in that sinne and Sathan perswaded them that they must flie from God and hide themselves from him as without hope of his mercy And therefore we see now that they had lodged themselves in the brakes and thickets of the shrubs and bushes but all in vain as we shall see hereafter for that which they had made their Castle and Covert to lodge hide and keep themselves safe God maketh to be as it were their Goal and Prison out of which he will bring them to judgement and to the Barre to be araigned as we shall see in the next verse Inclamavit autem Jehova Deus Adamum dixit ei Vbi es Gen. 3. 9. Februry 1. 1591. THE whole course of Gods proceeding in this judgment is called by the Fathers Spectaculum clementiae divinae dementiae humanae a spectacle and clear view on the one side of the loving kindness of God and on the other part of the foolish blindness of man All this verse as the ancient Writers term it is as the voice of an Archangell crying before the first Judgment 1 Thess. 4. 16. for as at the last day of generall judgment shall first an Archangell be sent out with a voice of a Trumpet to scite and summon all flesh to arise out of their graves in which sinne hath hid and lodged them till then So we see at the first Judgment of man before God beginneth he first sendeth out a voice calling and crying to Adam and Eve to arise out of their prison and to appear before God to receive according to their deserts and works for God did usually use the voice and ministerie of Angels by whom he did commonly speak unto men as Gen. 16. 8. God spake unto Agar by the voice of an Angel and that voice by which God spake was the voice of an Angell Deut. 5. 22. 26. and that also John 12. 28. 29. And the reason why God speaketh to men by the ministerie of Angels is because his voice is not proportionable to our hearing and weak eares it is farre above our reach and therefore he speaketh by Angels framing their voice more fit and agreeable to our nature and thus generally of the words of this verse More particularly we are to observe two parts first that God did call to Adam Secondly the effect or contents of his calling The first is a proclamation the other the tenor and substance thereof The matter and contents of his calling is judiciall but as Gods song over is as well of mercy as of judgment Psal 101. 1. and his works of bountifulness as of severity and justice Rom. 11. 22. so will we proceed in the handling and declaring of this his speech first shewing his mercie therein and then speaking of them as they declare and set out his severity and justice Touching his mercy which he remembreth in judgement the matter thereof here contained is two sold First as Gods mercy hath been seen in these four points In sparing them In making them see their sinne In sending his Messengers to them And in comming himself to them First point So this is the first point and a degree of mercie above and beyond all in that as he came so he 〈…〉 to speak and talk with him which I doubt not to make the fist degree and step of further mercy These things considered that every use and action of God doth set out a new mercy unto man is a verifying of the gracious saying of our Saviour Christ Matth. 23. 37. quoties te congregare volui ut gallina pullos suos sed noluisti And this is a fault in Adam that he did not first goe to seek the Lord and crie to him ubi estu domine rather than God should come to him and say ubi es Adam or when he had perceived that God was walking towards him first This is his second fault that he did not prepare himself with fear and humility to meet the Lord and fall down low before his foot-stool for Shemey in policie saw it best when he had offended David and heard that he was comming into his Country again first to make haste to runne and meet him with submission and humility that so he might procure grace and pardon as indeed he did 2 Sam. 19. 19. 20. but Adam insteed of crying to God as David did de profundis doth betake himself to flying and therefore God as a friend pittying his estate doth pursue and follow him in his flight and speaketh to him in his silence and so preventeth him every way that he may be saved And all this is done to him to set down to us that men might be moved hereby to say as David doth I will sing of the loving kindness and mercy of the Lord my tongue shall ever be talking of his praise Psal. 149. 1. and that we might consess with thankfulness that his mercie is above all his works Psal. 59. 16. The second generall point is the tenor and contents of the voice and proclamation where we must note that this question ubi es is not vox ignorantis sed increpantis tamen clementis Dei For the tenor of the words doth savor much of mercy for when God had found Adam all hid he breaketh not out into the cruell and bitter invective as Shemei did 2 Sam. 16. 7. Come forth come forth thou murtherer and wicked one c. Which severe voice man deserved and God in mercy might have justly used but God according to his goodnesse
ninth verse he is brought forth of his Goal and arraigned having his indictment and accusation laid against him and he is permitted to speak for himself in the tenth verse he pleadeth not guilty alledging reasons why in the eleventh verse God traverseth the cause by joyning issue with him and in the twelfth verse we have seen his confession and his allegation why sentence should not proceed against him Now in this the other party guilty which was accused before is brought to her triall in which for the Judicials and manner of proceeding the generall intent of God is not only to convent before him a Malefactor but not to give over untill he hath found out the principall that is to finde who hath been chief in the trespass and as some say to make diligent search whose hand was deepest and most 〈◊〉 in this offence In Physick we are taught to search to the bottom and goe to the Core In Logick we are taught to bring and reduce every thing that is said or reasoned upon unto the principall action or rule by which it is scanned In Divinitie it is a point especially materiall as our Saviour Christ saith to goe to the beginning and first institution of things to see how it was then And this is Gods course in judgment to find out the principall and chiefe cause of evill things which are committed The way and manner of finding this out is by inquirie and by way of interrogations ministring interrogations unto him for all crimes and sinnes being works of darkness and therefore as much as may be hid and concealed from apearing in the light and sight of men therefore the praise and labor of a Judge is to finde and search it out that being brought to light ill works may be reproved the third of John and the twenty first verse For this cause this duty is enjoyned by God to all Judges after two waies the thirteenth of Deuteronomie and the fourteenth verse ut perscrutarentur interrogarent that by search and diligent inquirie the truth might be boulted out It is the course to be taken in the case of murder the twenty first of Deuteronomie and the fourth verse In the case of adultry the fisth of Numbers and the fourteenth verse In the matter of theft the twenty second chapter of Exodus and the eighth verse 1 Reg. 8. 31. And it is the course which may be holden in any Crime or Cause whatsoever that upon good and sufficient presumptions and detections they may proceed to inquire diligently and the party called in question is bound to make answer to purge and cleanse himself which is suspected or accused for this is the ground and foundation on which God frameth his action against Eve Adam saith that thou his wife diddest intice perswade him to eate thereof The question therefore which I demande of thee is why hast thou done this And this is that to which she is bound to answer Now if we looke to her answer which she maketh unto the interrogatorie propounded to her we shall see it very frivolous for God asketh quare and she answereth to quis Some think that it was for fear or shame or else as others say for the defect of a right and a true cause For well may one alledge the tempter and occasion which moved or sollicited us to sin but otherwise no right or proper cause of sin can be assigned But howsoever it is we must take her answer as it is First we see that she is not mute or silent but knoweth how to shape an ill answer and to make an excuse as well as her husband God saith in the fiftieth Psalme and the one and twentieth verse because I held my tongue and envyed no more against mens sin therefore the Devill hare Eve in hand that Adams excuse went for good payment and put God to silence as if it had been so full an answer to God as that he could say no more against him and therefore seeing that held so well he perswadeth the woman to take the same course for we shall perceive that both her and her answer are so like as if they had been framed in one forge for the like pride we see in both which will not seem so ill as they are but doe lay the fault upon another to excuse themselves Secondly the method and form of answering is alike and even the same in both their answers but the substance and matter of the excuse is not one and the same for Adams excuse was his wife Eve but her excuse is the Serpent so that if we compare Adams answer and Eves together we shall see in what they agree and wherein they differ both of their confessions are extort and indirect both are maimed and unperfect and neither of them can plainly say peccavi c. Usus Out of which we learn that both these came from one Schoolmaster Sathan the Author Accuser and Procter of all sinne and he doth mankind more hurt when he is an Advocate and Proctor giving us counsel how to defend and excuse our sinne than when he is an accuser accusing us of sin to God the Judge of all because when the Devill is only an accuser against us Christ will be our Advocate to plead our cause for us and an Intercessor and Mediator for us to his Father and he being on our side we need not fear though he Devill be against us But if we entertain the Devill for our Proctor Christ will be a 〈◊〉 Judge against us to condemne us and oppose himself to the Devill Therefore the Devill careth not what excuse we alledge though they lay the blame of their sinne upon him he is content to beare it rather than they should confesse their sin plainly and make Christ their Advocate To cover and conceale sinne is a double sinne and not to confesse it plainly is partly pride and presumption or else servile fear and dispaire fearing lest they should confesse all to God as though he had not goodnesse or mercy enough to forgive them or else they conceale it of pride presuming that God cannot see and finde out that which they dissemble and hide from the eyes of men So we see that it is a compound sinne though the woman be in impari sexu yet she is pari superbiâ as proud as he and as farre dead in hiding and dissembling sinne as he and as well able to say for herself as he A difference of Confessing finnes thus pride maketh men ashamed to confesse or else so to confesse that one may see a plain difference between the confession of a proud and a poor humble sinner between the confession of the good and faithfull and the evill Infidells Between Sauls confession and Davids Sauls confession smelleth of pride in the first booke of Samuell fifteenth and the thirtieth verse Peccavi saith he sed honora me That is he would so confesse his sin that he might keepe
his too much safe in not taking pains to withstand her is labour and travail wherein is observed a very just analogie between the sinne and the punishment I come now to the particular sentence against the Serpent wherein before we can intreat of it there are two questions to be handled First when he speaks of a Serpent we ask What Serpent because there is a visible Creature called a Serpent but so also there an old Serpent which is the Devill or Satan Apoc. 12. that is a spirituall and mysticall Serpent as well as a naturall and bodily Serpent and the Sentence is against both and as it is certain according to the letter all cannot be meant of the one so neither can it be meant of the other therefore as the ancient Fathers teach it is mystically and not literally meant of both for as it is said that the Devill eats no dust so for the other Serpent we say not that the seed of the Woman shall bruise his head therefore is it to be referred to both the naturall Serpent as well as the other as our Saviour Christ John 3. 14. by the elevating of the Serpent in the wildernesse shews there is another Serpent to be lift up that is the Sonne of Man By our Saviours warrant that this stretcheth as to the spirituall Serpent called Satanas so to the naturall Serpent also In the second place we inquire Whether it were in Justice that that Serpent should be punished in so much as being a bruitish Creature without understanding he could not understand that which he was set about by the Devill The answer is That it was great Justice as to punish sinne it self so the instrument all cause of it For the Creatures being created for the benefit and service of Man when it became a cause adjuvant in the destruction and overthrow of Man so as he loseth the blessings and becomes subject to the curse in this case it was but Justice to punish that Creature It will better appear of like importance the righteousnesse of which dealing is in the Law for Exod. 21. 28. God saith If an Oxe gore a Man that he dye the Oxe shall dye And the reason of man doth accord to it and Levit. 20. 15. If a man lye with a beast the beast shall be slain But that which the ancient Fathers stand most upon is this That the body of Man the arms and other parts and joynts of the body are nothing but the instruments of sinne as the Apostle speaks Rom. 6. 13. The members of the body are but weapons of unrighteousnesse We make no question but the body may be whipt or burned the eares and hands may be cut off howbeit the sinne is in the soul and the body the soul being gone out of it can doe no such act therefore the Sentence against the Instrument is according to Gods Law therefore God himself gave order that the golden Calf should be burnt to ashes Deut. 9. 21. there was a Sentence executed against a thing not only void of reason but without sense But more fully to our purpose is the judgement executed by Ezechia upon the brasen Serpent 2 Reg. 18. 4. If that sentence might be pronounced upon that Serpent that healed those that looked upon it then without question this sentence may be executed upon the naturall Serpent that was the Devills instrument to work mans destruction the rather if we add hereto that God had an intent not only to punish the Serpent but to make him an exemplary and visible chastisement that he remaining so the horror of him might strike into mans minde how he is punished and that thereby they might be put in minde to take heed that they be not the instruments and occasioners of sinne for here we see that they that are occasioners and helpers in any sinne are subject to the sentence of Justice And that may suffice concerning the outward Serpent for so the other which the Prophet calls the crooked Serpent Isay 27. and St. John calls the old Serpent Apoc. 12. there can no question be but that the sentence may justly and must reach to him that it is agreeable to equity and great reason in as much as it was he that spake in the Serpent that Qui in Serpente loquitur cum Serpente maledicatur saith Augustine and he doth receive it in that order because in the habit of a Serpent he presumed this as 1 Sam. 28. where the spirit that appeared in the likenesse of Samuell was called by the name of Samuell after the same manner the Devill making his apparition in the likenesse of a Serpent carries that name still In the Sentence it self we have to consider two things that is the Reason and the Punishment the reason comprehended in these words because thou hast done this therefore the punishment or Sentence followeth thou art cursed wherein there is yet another thing to be noted before the particular handling of it because in comparing this verse with the verses following we shall see a diverse course holden for there to the Woman and Man God saith Quare fecisti hoc alowing them their tryall and examination for the justifying of themselves before he proceeded to give sentence But no manner of tryall is allowed to the Serpent but saith he Quia fecisti hoc thou art cursed he is not permitted to come to his answer the reason is plain for if we take it spoken to the natural Serpent he being void both of reason and speech could render no reason he comes only under the cause instrumentall and for the other there was no reason of a reason either to be rendred by him or to be demanded of him for he was before condemned as the Fathers have noted Isay 14. 14. and out of the sixth verse of Judes Epistle And consequently being in the state of a Rebell was condemned already and so was not to have the benefit of the Law as Paul saith Rom. 2. 12. They that sinne without the Law shall perish without the Law as on the other side it is just ut qui sub lege peccat sub lege pereat but there is no reason that the benefit of Justice should extend to Rebels that are lawlesse and therefore in Militarie affairs we see that Military Law executeth such without sentence Again God knew that that which was committed by man and Woman came not by themselves but by the malice of the Devil and therefore he ordeined that they should have more favour and have their tryall that they to whom the malice of the Devil had been prejudicial to them the goodnesse and mercy of God should be beneficiall that they might be saved by the goodnesse of God that had been cast away by the envie of the Devill and therefore saith Augustine he seeks them out when they fled from him and not only so but he gives them a time to repent and a time of answer because there was in them hope of
that it was a confession without any petition or prayer for pardon and he made no prayer because he had no hope and no hope for that he wanted faith We must therefore beware that we deferre not our confession and repentance but speedily return to God for that is the cause that he bears with us he might presently consume us after we have sinned but he spareth us for repentance as the Prophet speaketh in the thirtieth chapter of Isaiah Expectat Deus ut miseriatur and his mercy is extended to all sinners upon condition of repentance Albeit Nebuchadnezzar were a grievous sinner yet the Prophet telleth him in the fourth chapter of Daniel if he break off his sinnes by righteous dealing and his iniquities by mercy to the poor Erit sanatio erroris And the Prophet to them that had given themselves to Idolatrie saith If you turn your iniquitie shall not be to your destruction Ezekiel the eighteenth chapter and the thirtieth verse Therefore the Godly man saith Wee have trespassed against God wee have taken strange wayes yet now there is hope in Israel for this Exodus the tenth chapter and second verse Which is a point very materiall for if hope of mercy and forgivenesse be cut off sinners will fall into their case that said desperatly in the eighteenth chapter of Jeremiah and the twelfth verse We will walk in the stubbornesse of our hearts or else as the Apostle speaketh They will be swallowed up of too much heavinesse in the first epistle to the Corinthians the second chapter that is without hope of mercy men fall into desperate hardness of heart or into desperate fear sorrow so as they cannot be comforted And this is it which the Devill desires to the end he may bring this to pass As in the beginning he took exception against one tree charged God with niggardliness envy albeit he could not charge God for all the trees of the Garden in the third chapter of Genesis and the fift verse so albeit it be impossible for the Devill to perswade Cain that God will not forgive sinnes because in as much as if God be extream to mark what is done 〈◊〉 and enter into judgement no man can be justified in his sight Psalm the one hundered and thirtieth and Psalm the one hundred fourty third therefore he must needs forgive sinnes unlesse he will shew that he hath made all men for nought Psalm the eighty ninth yet he tels him that howsoever sinnes may be forgiven yet Cain's sinne cannot be pardoned He tels Cain that a 〈◊〉 there of his Brother and such a one as denyeth the deed with such presumptuous and proud answers cannot have pardon But the error of Cain stands herein not that he is perswaded that his sin is great for murther no doubt is a great sinne but that he thinketh it so great as it could not be pardoned as if Gods mercy were not great enough for his sinne were it never so great Cain's error then as we see is Major iniquitas quà m propitiatio Which error God doth most of all detest First for that it doth prejudice his Power as if he that is Almighty were not able to pardon the sinnes of wicked men Secondly It doth prejudice his truth for God affirmeth of himself That he forgiveth iniquity transgression and sinne Exodus the thirty fourth chapter and the seventh verse which is the sinne that Cain speaketh of here The Prophet saith of God in the one hundred and thirtieth Psalme He shall deliver Israel from all his sinnes He hath shut up all under sinne that he may have mercy over all Romans the eleventh chapter And as he came into the world to save sinners so primos peecatorum in the first epistle to Timothie the first chapter and the sixteenth verse This Cain could not be ignorant of having heard of the promise which God made That the seed of the woman should break the Serpents head that is as we have shewed the head and chief sinne that the Devill can infect the soul of man withall Thirdly This error doth derogate from his goodnesse which makes it more odious to God for Gods mercy hath a preeminece above his justice Psalme the one hundred fourty fifth his mercy is above all his workes And as the Apostle saith in the second chapter of James Mercy triumpheth over Justice Therefore the sin against Gods Mercy is more grievous Again It is the more odious in Gods eyes because it takes from him the Glory of his Mercy which is essentiall and naturall in God for his Justice groweth out of man and he is said to be just not so much in regard of himself as in respect of his dealing towards men in that he rewardeth the good and punisheth the bad But as for Mercy it is naturally in him and a part of his Essence But his Justice commeth from without for when men provoke him by their sinnes then he saith Isaiah the twenty eighth chapter and the seventeenth verse Judgment will I lay to the rule and righteousness to the ballance Therefore if we conceive of God as a hard Lord whereas we see he is ready to forgive ten thousand talents to his Servants Matthew the eighteenth chapter or think him to be a hard Father whereas he is most kinde to naughty and unthrifty Sons Luke the fifteenth chapter We doe derogate against his mercie and goodness who in respect of his naturall inclination to mercy is called mercy Psalm the fifty ninth and the seventeenth verse wherefore as the Apostle said to the Jewes Acts the thirteenth chapter and the fourty sixt verse Seeing you have put the word of God from you and judged your selves unworthy of eternall life so if any man by taking an 〈◊〉 opinion of Gods mercy doe put it from him and judge himself unworthy of mercy there is no hope that he shall ever obtain forgiveness but he must either fall into that desparare hardness of heart that is mentioned Jeremiah the eighteenth chapter or else be continually tormented with a wounded spirit Proverbs the eighteenth chapter and be swallowed up of heaviness in the second to the Corinthians the second chapter Touching Cains conceit it is certain if his sinne cannot be pardoned it is either in regard of the sinne it self or of Gods justice but neither of these are any such hindrance that they ought to draw us to that which Cain saith Touching sinne it is not a thing impossible to obtain pardon for it First Because sinne is the work of a Creature which is finite and therefore can doe nothing but that which is finite But God is infinite and of his greatness there is no end psalm the one hundred and fourty sift And therefore look how much God is greater than man so great is his power to thew mercy and consequently it is not possible that his mercy should be overcome of our sinne and miserie Secondly peccatum hominis est infirmitas hominis that is sinne
both agreeable to the action we have in hand and also a good dependance upon that wherein we have been heretofore conversant But that these words are to be applyed to the holy 〈◊〉 and Sacrament of the Lords Supper appears for that before he calls himself the bread of life verse the thirty fift The bread from Heaven verse the fourty first The living bread verse the fifty first and all along this chapter there is nothing spoken of Christ but as he is the matter of this Sacrament and therefore these words are to be understood of the holy Eucharist And so these words as they yeeld comfort to the commers perswading them that they are of those whom God the Father hath given to Christ so no lesse comfort is reached to them here for that they understand from Christs own mouth That if they come to him they shall not be cast out but received of him so as none shall be able to take them out of his hands John the tenth chapter and the twenty eighth verse On the other side They that come not may know from hence that as they are not in the number of the Fathers Donatives that is such as are given to Christ but are the portion of Satan For they shall be cast out into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Apocalyps the twenty first chapter and the eighth verse And into utter darknesse where is weeping and gnashing of teeth Matthew the eighth chapter and the twelfth verse Touching the dependance his words have with that part of Scripture which we usually have held when we spake of Cains departure from Gods presence we heard that he did set himself as neer Eden as he could be that he was content for a little trifling pleasure that shortly fadeth to forgoe Gods presence where is pleasure for evermore that for a little worldly gain with Balaam he gives over all godlinesse which is the true gain and that not he but the whole world through ambition as Lords doe seek the worlds honor with the losse of the honor and favour of God Being thus departed from God we heard he came to a Land called Nod that is a Land of unquietnesse and troubles both in respect of the inward disquietness of his soul by continual fear the outward vanities of the whole world where he found that having forsaken God with whom is fulnesse of joy he could not have his desire satisfied by any pleasure that the world could afford But we left not Cain there but heard that the end of that journey was woe as it shall be the end of all those that walk in Cains way Jude the eleventh verse And for that there is none but may fall into the same way it concerns every man to think how being departed from the presence of God he may come back to Christ and especially that he watch his opportunity to come at such a time as Christ will not cast him out And that is taught us here in these words where Christ saith That whosoever commeth to him as he is the bread of life he shall not be cast forth But we must watch this opportunity for there are two wenite's Come to me all ye Matthew the eleventh chapter that have departed from me to receive worldly pleasures and gain The other Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome Matthew the twenty fift chapter and the thirty fourth verse But he that will have his part in this latter venite must have his part also in the first He must come again to Christ by repentance else he cannot come to be partaker of the heavenly Kingdome In these words of Christ we have three persons First Pater dans Secondly Homo veniens Thirdly Christus non ejiciens Whereof the two former parts be the Condition the third person belongeth to the Promise The Condition stands in The Fathers giving and our comming The Promise is Christs not casting out Touching which parts joyntly we are to observe these That every one by experience sindes that the state of sinners live they never so pleasantly is but as Cain called his sonne Chanoch that is a good beginning For the mid'st of that state is unquietnesse and the end everlasting death Which being considered it will make every man willing to come again to God if there be any hope they shall be received In regard of our selves as St Paul speaketh of her that departed from her husband the first cpistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the eleventh verse so it were just that in as much as we have willingly forsaken God and departed from him preserring transitory and earthly delights before his favour he should say Qui discedit discedat that being once gone from him he should not receive usagain But here we are to admire the goodnesse and mercy of God and Christ that instead of a revenger and punisher he is a mercifull receiver that where in Justice Christ might be a rock of offence to such as depart from him he will be a rock of refuge to them that he is so farre from casting out if they come that he is content to seek such as are lost Luke the nineteenth chapter and the tenth verse That he sends and sends again that they should come back Matthew the twenty second chapter That he stands at the dore knocking Apocalyps the third chapter And saith Come to us all ye Matthew the eleventh chapter So there is no doubt but Christ will receive them that come to him For as the ancient Fathers note If when he comes to us we cast not him out neither will he cast us out when we come to him And that no unworthinesse by means of any filth either of body or soul doth keep him from us we see for bodily uncleannesse he was content to be received by Simon the leper Mark the fourteenth chapter and the third verse And in regard of spiritual pollution howsoever a man know himself to be a sinner that is to have an unclean soul yet not to despair because Christ by the confession of his enemies is such a one as doth not only receive sinners but eats with them Luke the fifteenth chapter and the third verse yea he not only 〈◊〉 them that deserve to be cast out as unworthy to inher it s he Kingdom the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter and the ninth verse but doth also wash sanctifie and justifie them in his 〈◊〉 name and by the spirit of God The Condition on our part was That we come the meaning where of if we look into the ancient Fathers upon the thirty fift verse He that commeth to me is some externall part of Gods worship for so they expound it by the Apostles words Romanes the tenth chapter If thou beleeve in thy heart and confesse with thy mouth for 〈◊〉 eving is the affection of the heart but confession is outward in the conversation of life as some are said to deny God
in their works 〈◊〉 the first chapter and the sixteenth verse There are diverse sorts of comming First We are said to come to Christ in Baptisme Mark the tenth chapter Sinete parvalos venire ad me Secondly In Prayer for as Augustine saith Preeibus non passibus iter ad Deum Thirdly In the hearing of the word so many reforced and came to Christ Luke the fifteenth chapter and the first verse And we likewise come to Christ when we come to hear his Ministers for he that heareth him heareth us Luke the tenth chapter Fourthly By Repentance as Luke the fifteenth chapter I will goe to my Father But Christ receiveth none of these but that we come to him as he is panis vitae when we come to Christ as he offers himself in the Sacrament to be the lively food of our souls when we come to the same and doe it in the remembrance of his death And there is reason why both we should come to Christ and he should receive us comming First There is reason we should come to Christ in regard of our sinnes already past For we have need of a Sacrifice both in respect of the grinding and upbraiding of our consciences for the sinnes we have committed and by reason of the punishment we have deserved by them This sacrifice we are put in minde of in this Sacrament That Christ hath offered himself to God an 〈◊〉 and sacrifice of a sweet smelling favour wherein we have planted in our hearts the passive grace of God for the 〈◊〉 of our consciences against sinne past by the taking of the cup of Salvation which makes us say 〈◊〉 into thy rest O my soul Psalm the hundred and sixteenth and for the turning away of deserved punishment as the blood of the Paschal Lamb sprinkled upon the dores saved the 〈◊〉 from destroying Exodus the the twelfth chapter So in this true passover we receive the blood of the immaculate Lamb Christ to assure us of peace with God and to deliver us from the destroying Angel As the Heathen had their Altar whereon they offered to their gods so we have an Altar that is the Lords Table where we celebiate the remembrance of that obiation once made by Christ Hebrews the thirteenth chapter and the twelfth verse In respect of sinne to come likewise we have need to come to Christ for thereby there is wrought in us active grace whereby we are enabled to resist sinne For the endowing of our 〈◊〉 with much strength Psalm the hundred thirty eighth and with much power from above is here performed unto us that come aright Luke the twenty fourth chapter And therefore the 〈◊〉 would have us to 〈◊〉 our hearts with grace the spiritual food and not with meat 〈◊〉 the thirteenth chapter For by this means we shall be made 〈◊〉 both to indure the 〈◊〉 of sinne and to be 〈◊〉 over 〈◊〉 and our own corruptions Thirdly For that the eating of the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 and the drinking of the blood is a pledge of our 〈◊〉 up at the 〈◊〉 day verse the fifty fourth and that after this 〈◊〉 we which come to the Lords Supper shall be invited to the supper of the Lamb of which it is said Apocalyps the nineteenth chapter and the ninth verse blessed are they which are called to the Lambs supper Again it is reason Christ should receive us in two sorts First In respect of the communicants or commers for there is no man ever in better state and more disposed to be received than at the celebration of this Sacrament If a contrite spirit for sinne can set a man in state to be received of Christ man is most contrite and broken in heart at this time If Christ will then receive us when he may dwell in our hearts by faith Ephesians the third chapter at this time is our faith at the highest for when we have the body and blood of Christ in our hands then it makes us say with Thomas John the twentieth chapter Domine mi Deus mi If prayer made with 〈◊〉 and confidence may move Christ at any time to receive we never have more confidence in prayer than at that time then is the love of God most of all shed in our hearts by the holy Ghost Romans the fift chapter and the fift verse by which we are received not only to give for no man is to appear empty but also to forgive as Christ willeth That remembring our brethren hath ought against us we leave our gift and be reconciled Matthew the fift chapter If at any one time more than other Christ be more ready to receive then is he maximè receptivus Secondly In respect of the action it self which is a memorial of that sacrifice which he offered at his death to God for sins Then he received the thief that said Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome Luke the twenty third chapter Then he prayed for his 〈◊〉 Father forgive them Therefore there is a great congruity that now much more he must be carefull to us and receive us when we celebrate the remembrance of his goodnesse and mercie But the chief point is that in the Sacrament Christ himself is received and therefore it is very fit that he which is to be received be ready to receive them that come to him The second Condition is touching the Fathers gift All that my Father giveth Which is a limitation For as many pressed upon Christ but there was but one that tou hed that was the woman healed of her issue of blood Luke the eight chapter and the fourty fift verse so many come to the Lords Table but to the end they may be received they must be known by this mark he must be datus à Patre tractus doctus John the sixt chapter the fourty fourth and fourty fift verses There are that are dati ab hominibus or as the Apostle speaks the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the thirteenth verse ab human â ordinatione that is the most part come not being given or drawn of the Father but compelled by man Their fear is taught by mens precepts Matthew the fifteenth chapter and Isaiah the twenty ninth chapter Again there are that have a shew of Godlinesse the first epistle to Timothie the third chapter Such come not upon any motion of Gods spirit that they feel in themselves but for fashions sake They will not be seen to refuse the order of the Church but doe as others doe but they that are given to Christ of God are such as come of conscience knowing they ought to performe this duty of thankfulnesse to God such as hunger and thirst after the right cousnesse of Christ the spiritual food of their souls in conscience of their own unworthinesse and ill deservings and therefore seek for righteousnesse in him with as great desire as for bodily food they that come with such an earnest inclination as given and drawn of the