or a Mevius because he is not so obseruant in euery quantity of euery syllable in an Hexamiter Saphicke or Iambique verse yea or to conclude it with a homely simily as though a well metald nimble footed horse should bee accounted a stumbler when he stumbles but very seldome perhaps but once or twice in a dayes riding though hee seldome fall downe right or if he do by accident vpon some stone or slip-shod yet neuerthelesse speedily recouers himselfe againe without any great dammage to his master and lookes better to his feet euer after Sure hee were as the horse without vnderstanding that would make those conclusions Saint Iames makes the application In many things we sinne all t Iames 3.2 and saith holy Iob u Iob 4.18 The Lord hath found folly in Angels how much more in the sons of men yea Adam sinned in the state of integrity * Gen. 3. how much more wee in the state of corruption Oh Lord if thou shouldest be seuere to marke what is done amisse oh who may abide it who can answer thee one for a thousand x Iob 9.2 3. not I but abhorre my selfe in sackcloth and ashes y Iob 42.6 2 King 20. Dauid a man after thine owne heart had his frailties yea Ezekiah an excellent instrument of thy glory after thou hadst humbled him on the bed of sicknesse raised him when there was but a step betwixt him and death did too soone forget thee and thy mercies that so mercifully so mindfully remembred him yea and after that wrath came vpon him and Iudah and Ierusalem for his pride and was remoued vpon his humiliation as though his sore had beene but skinned ouer superficially healed and ranckling at the bottome it breakes out againe in the very same place and leaues a second a greater scarre then the former for in the same pride of heart 2 Chron. 32. as the originall of another prouocation he shewes his treasury to the Ambassadour of the King of Babel as an vnaduised Traueller shewes his purse or vaunts his gold to a greedy thiefe Oh Lord what is man saith Dauid that thou art mindfull of him z Psal 8.4 Nay Lord what is man if thou beest not mindfull of him what is man when he is vnmindfull of thee forgetfull of thy mercies not fearing thy iudgements Oh what is the little Chicken or Goseling that regardlesse of the clocke or the wings of the dam wanders alone till the Puttocke or the Hen-arrow swaps and deuoures it What is the Lambe or silly Sheepe that straggling from the rest of the flocke or from the eye and rod of the Shepheard eats Rot-grasse falls into the ditch as leaping into forbidden pastures or is seized vpon by the fangs of the Dog or the wiles of the wilde Dog-Fox Oh who is he but may say with thy seruant Dauid in some particulars Lord I haue done very foolishly now I beseech thee forgiue the sinne of thy seruant a 2 Sam. 24.10 Oh I am in a great strait but let mee fall into thy hands not into the hands of men not into the mouthes of men for mans mercies are cruelties Secondly from hence also let the Nouations * De istis Nouatianis cum eorū haresibus vide fusius apud Funcciū fol. 103 Euseb lib. 6. cap. 43. Epiphanium Philastrium Magd. Cent 3. p. 99 586. in Tom. 2. Concil pag. 227. Catharists Anabaptists and all perfectists that dreame of any absolute perfection here in this life in any Church or in any member of the Church militant stay their precipitate haste and wait Gods leasure seeke it not per saltum by such high and hasty leapes but come to it gradatim as Graduates to their Academicall graces by degrees they may haue golden dreames of perfection in earth but neuer attaine it till they be triumphant in heauen SECT 2. Cordials of consolations to be applyed to the sorrowfull sinner THirdly from hence also let me whet the exhortation of the Apostle that if any man sinne of frailty let him be restored with the spirit of meeknesse b Gal. 6.1 as wee would be willing to improue our best skill to the setting and ioynting of a bone that is broke to asswage the paines of the Gout Stone Stranguary Tooth-ache of any friend neighbour brother by any oyles vnctions lenitiues or any good meanes we could vse so much more in charity and Christianity let vs labour the reioyning and reioynting against of a member of Christ that by sinne is broken for a time from the visible Church the body of Christ Similies Oh if we would pluck a horse or an oxe out of a ditch * Cadit Asinus est qui subleuat cadit anima non est qui subleuat c. or to help vp an ouerloaden pack horse from the ouer-whelming pressure of his loade vnder which he lies and grones how much more mercy should wee shew to the soule of our brother grieuing and groning vnder the insupportable burthen of sinne which lies so sadding vpon the conscience as the Liuer vpon the Heart in the disease called the Nightmare * Ephialtes that the poore patient can neither stirre hand nor foot but lye and cry and dye in the distresse of despaire vnlesse helpe be afforded Oh that we were ready chiefly those that haue the tongue of the learned Esay 50.4 to speake a word to the weary in due season that with that good Samaritan wee would poure in the oyle and wine of spirituall consolations Luke 10.30 31 32 33. into those that are sinne-wounded falling into the hands of these Thieues and Pyrates of the soule the Flesh the World the Deuill Oh that we were as willing to improue our best Talents to administer heauenly comforts out of the Treasury and Fountaine of all comforts the Booke of God as Seneca Plutarch Boetius our late Lipsius and others In libris de Consolatione haue beene ready to prescribe Morall and Philosophicall comforts in all humane crosses Oh this mourning with those that mourne c Rom. 12.15 1 Thess 5.14 this sympathizing with one anothers miseries as the members d 1 Cor. 12.26 1 Cor. 13.1 2 3 of one body the head that feels the grieuance of the foot the heart that feeles the dolours of the hand this bearing one anothers burthen as it is commanded by the Apostle so it is an excellent point and part of Christianity it is a notable expression and intimation of loue which is the bond of perfection the very vigour and life and soule of a Christian the exercise and improuing to the best of euery grace without which a Christian is but key-cold or at best but luke-warme and his gifts and talents of learning knowledge wisedome zeale vnused nor imployed to the edification and instruction of the ignorant the consolation especially of the weake and weary Christian the erection and lifting vp of the deiected and drooping soule
both towards God and man withall setting downe the mother and originall of this and other her hell-bred daughters that which as Augustine said of concupiscence is a sinne it selfe and the cause and root of other sinnes euen that sinne which as God first punished in Angells i Iude ver 6. and Man k Gen. 3.5.23 he still abhominates and abhorres into that sinne Ezekiah falls with that sinne he is leauened and his other Graces in part and for a time poysoned and that is pride of heart the bane of vertue the mother nurse and midwife of vice l In superbiam lege Patres invehentes praecipue Bernardum ser 3. de resurr Augustin serm 19. serm 31. in Psal 19. Hieron in Marcum Gregor in Morral Hugo lib. 2. de anima Isodor lib. 3. de summo bono Cassiod in Psal 18. et in Psal 147. ver 25. the Colioquintida in the best broth the soiler of the best Iewels the most lustrous perfections of men eminent in the Magistracy or Ministery the most preiudiciall to Gods glory the best agent and factor for Satan the greatest Enemy and opposite to God the greatest curbe and crosse for doing good to those whose Talents might otherwayes gainfully be imployed euen this pearle grew on Ezekias eye this leprosie like Gehezies cleaues to his flesh nay like poyson it was infixed in his marrow and bones nay it had searched all his veines and got to his very heart for the Text saith further his heart was lifted vp and this pride of heart as fruirfull in other sinnes daily generate as from a fruitfull wombe like a liuer or lungs inwardly corrupted breakes out as into other blaines and biles and vlcerous sores so into this great swelling grieuous plague-sore or Carbuncle of Ingratitude Thirdly in the same verse vshering my Text as very neare a kinred closely combined euen hanging together as Burrs or Bells which ring all one peale wee haue as Ezekiahs sinne so his sorrow as his fault so his whipp or rod as his transgression so his castigation as that wherein he deficiently sinned so that which he deseruedly suffered nay his suffering like Iacob comes after this Esau of his sinne takes close hold on it as it were by the heele * Hosea 12.3 Deut. 28. Leuit. 26. Amos 1. Psal 11. Mal. 4. Apoc. 28. ver 25. to ouerthrow and supplant it for it is said therefore euen because of his pride of heart and her proud daughter Ingratitude euen therefore as the meritorious or deseruing cause there was wrath vpon him and vpon the Inhabitants of Iudah and Ierusalem Plainely demonstrating the Lord the Author of the euill of punishment as man the Author of the euill of sinning Fourthly here in my Text we haue the clearing again of Ezekiahs Sun the dissipating of the congealed and gathered cloud ready to fall on him and his people in a shower of vengeance the calming of the threatned Tempest that hung visibly ouer his head as the fruit of his Faith the honour of his humiliation the acceptable sacrifice of the stooping of his haughtie heart wrath came neither vpon him nor his subiects in his dayes verse 26. To giue to euery one of these premised parts a little more luster by amplification or a soule as it were to the bodies of them by explication ere we come to the speciall parts and particulars of Ezekiahs humiliation in which I intend chiefly and mainly to insist Euery one of these in which Ezekiah was either an Agent or a Patient afford vs speciall and principall matter of meditation and obseruable consideration For first in Ezekiahs sinne we haue a patterne of mans sinning misery Secondly in Ezekiahs castigation a demonstration of Gods iust and strict seuerity Thirdly in his humiliation the force and fruit of Gods all-sauing grace Fourthly in the remouall of his rod vpon his renued repentance a plaine and perspicuous argument of Gods all-sauing mercy To inlarge euery one of these a little more perspicuously CHAP. II. SECT 1. Of mans sinning misery FIrst I say in Ezekiah we haue a president of mans sinning misery euery man in his Glasse may see and perceiue himselfe his owne estate what he is what his power and ability is in himselfe from himselfe without a superior continuall eye of grace watching ouer him hand of grace corroborating and strengthning him alas what is the best man liuing if the Lord leaue him to himself neuer so little in a tryall of temptation from Satan as he did Dauid when in the pride of his heart hee numbred his people l 2 Sam. 14.1 1 Chr. 21.1.2 or in a tryall of probation from himselfe as he did Ezekiah when in the like pride in a vaine ostentation he shewed his Treasures to the Ambassadors of the King of Babell m 2 Chr. 32 3â— oh what can the best man doe though regenerated by the Spirit sanctified by grace renued according to the heauenly Image cast in a new mould made a new creature adorned with the best iewells of sanctified graces but in such spirituall desertions for a time left to Sathans winnowing and to the corruptions of his owne heart yeelding to his trecherous flesh that domestique enemy betraying but faile in that which is good fall into that which is euill our condition in that reference and relation wee haue vnto God being significantly expressed by that reference which the trauellers staffe hath vnto his hand the weanling child in his first footing to the hold of the mother or the Nurse the Vine or the Hop vnto his vpholding prop for if the Lord vphold vs by his preuenting grace and his assisting Spirit we stand like the house built vpon the rock Mat. 7.24.25.26 as the Castle built vpon the mynes of Marble not to bee vndermined as the cliffes and rockes in the maine Ocean or vpon the shore against all the surging waues and boisterous billowes and raging windes of sathanicall temptations and suggestions but if we bee left in any triall or temptation to our selues as was Peter Satan desiring to winnow vs n Luk. 22.31 v. 60. we fall like the house that is built vpon the sand or the ruinous tottering building in an earthquake euen Ezekiah himselfe here though adorned with many Graces though tyed and obliged to the Lord with the golden cords of many and manifold blessings priuiledges and prerogatiues aboue most of the sonnes of men in his time hauing receiued a peculiar and speciall mercy euen new and fresh bleeding in his memory his restauration and miraculous restitution to desired health in a great and daingerous sicknesse repriued for a long Lease of life euen after his summons yea sentence of expected death euen this Ezekiah forgets God his Sauiour too soone is not so mindfull of his mercy as he ought to bee nor so thankfull as the Lord desired or as the beneficence required SECT 2. The different effects of prosperity and aduersity SEcondly in Ezekiah see
a fourefold speciall reference and relation 1. To himselfe permitting 2. To his seruants sinning 3. To his Saints that yet stand 4. To the wicked that stumble All which being considered first wee shall with more caution looke to our selues secondly with more charity censure our brethren thirdly with lesse carnality reioice in their infirmities fourthly with more deuotion glorifie God First I say the Lord in the sinnes of the elect hath a speciall reference to his owne glory that glory of his to which as to a center euery thing tends * Ioshuah 7.19 Psal 12.1 Mat. 6.9 Iohn 9.24 Acts 3.12 12.23 1 Cor. 6.20 10.31 Philip. 1.20 c. in heauen earth and hell shines as the bright starres in the darkest night yea as the Sunne through the clouds of the sinnes of his Saints he brings good out of euill light out of darknes and this as I said is the glory of his mercy in pardoning vpon their repentance oh this mercy of his which is his chiefe attribute in which he most delighteth * De hac diuina misericordia lege fusius apud Gregor Moral lib. 2. Bernard Ser. 88. that shines amongst the rest as the Sunne amongst the Planets that is eleuate aboue his truth as the heauens aboue the clouds (u) Psal 103.11 12. that triumpheth and reioyceth ouer Iustice Euen this Mercy that is ouer all the Lords workes is most resplendent in the sinnes of his Saints in pardoning vpon their humiliation sinnes great for quantity hainous for qualitie many for number crying for nature crimson and bloody in hue and colour x Esa 1.16 17 18. Ezek. 18.21 Mic. 7.18 Ioel 2.13 Exod. 34.6 Psal 86.111.112.145 as many of these formerly enumerated oh not onely the skill but the good will of our blest Physitian is wondrously magnified the vertue of his Balmes of Gilead the vigour of his mercies mithridate deseruedly extolled that is able and willing euen with application of his owne blood as the Pellican y Alciat in Emblem for her young to cure great gastly and vlcerous wounds to pacifie and settle distressed consciences yea euen to reuiue those that were seemingly dead in sinnes and trespasses And sure if there were no sinners on earth where should be the chiefe exercise of the Lords mercie Yea if his Saints should not sinne for we know the Reprobates neuer taste of his sealing assuring sauing sanctifying mercie vnlesse with the out-lip or the tip of a finger they neuer drinke of the fountaines of Shiloh those are onely open for Iudah z Zachar. 13.1 and Ierusalem if there were none wounded what need were there of any skilfull Surgeon and if there were none sicke and diseased what occasion were there either of the practice or praise of the most exquisite Physitian What should we regard either the knowledge or vse of the most excellent drugs and simples in nature What reckoning should we make of the most exquisite extractions the most vigorous quintessence of herbs plants mineralls c. And if there were no sinners no sinnes committed by the Saints the Lord should want the greatest power and praise of his mercy which is chiefly exercised where sinning misery is the obiect and therefore as the Lord hath daily exercise of his prouidence euen to this day and of his wisedome in the gubernation and gouernment of the world in disposing of all actions euents causes effects contraries contrarieties euils good creatures animate inanimate reasonable vnreasonable to excellent ends and vses as hee doth still inuisibly in the soules and consciences visibly vpon the bodies goods good names and families of Atheists swearers drunkards riotous and profane persons exercise his iustice so in pardoning couering concealing passing by the sinnes and culpabilities of his seruants vpon their confessing godly sorrowing returning conditions to which grace is annexed he doth daily exercise his mercy and will to the end of the world SECT 2. The Saints much bettered by their sinnes SEcondly euen the Saints themselues are bettered by their sinnes for if all things according to the Apostles consolation a Rom. 8.28 worke together for the good of those that loue God as all the Planets worke together by their influence euen the malignant as well as good and benigne for the benefit of these sublunaries b Couper in loc as all the simples in some compounded Physicke euen bitter Aloes as well as Honey worke together for the health of the Patient then why not sinne Sure as an exquisite Physitian or Apothecary that out of venomous Toads Aspes Nutes Cicutaes c. * He that reads Gesner de quadrupedibus de Serpentibus c. Dioscorides and Dodonius Herbals shall see there is some medicinable extractions from the worst of Animals or Vegitables extracts an Antidote against poyson and out of stinking despicable foot-trodden weedes drawes some excellent and soueraigne waters from their leaues and roots for very vsefull cures in inward and outward diseases so the wise God euen out of the worst the vilest the most scandalous transgessions of his seruants can effect his owne gracious ends can both heale them of all their present sores preuent their future diseases and make them more healthfull and stronger then euer yea as experience shewes in some and as the Apostle plainly delineates in the renewed repentance of the Corinthians c 2 Cor. 7.11 the Saints come out of the bed of their sinnes as Ezekiah out of his sicke bed d 2 King 20. Esay 38. more humble more holy more pious more penitent as the Eagle that is wearied comes out of the water into which she dips her wings e Plin. with a stronger flight with a more surging ascent towards heauen then euer with greater care to please God to walke before him as a wrong wandring Traueller with a more heedfull attention stronger desires to runne the right the strait the straight way to Sion once returning right from his bemoned wandring with a greater hatred and indignation against sinne as a man against an impostor or deceiuer that hath deceiued him as Sampson against Dalilah or any other penitent person against a harlot that hath betrayed him with greater feare to offend for hereafter like the burnt child that dreads the fire or feares the water out of which it hath beene extract and saued from drowning Yea more zealous then euer for God desirous to restore that glory againe to God by all meanes by priuate or publike confessing f Iosh 7.19 as the nature of the offence shall require that was taken away by scandalous sinning and thus are the Saints bettered by their sinnes God perhaps suffering them once foully to fall that they may rise for euer * Periissemus nisi periissemus O amici inquit olim Themostocles post exilium As those that are Bell-founders deale with their old iarring Bels the Lord breakes them in pieces by contrition and godly sorrow melts them anew in
are but as candles set vnder a bushell as talents wrapt in a napkin or buried in the ground or as Gold rusty and imprisoned in the Misers purse yea but as tinckling Cymballs SECT 3. The vnwarrantable strictnesse and stearnnesse of some indiscreetly zealous censured VVHat then shall we say to those that thinke themselues something that hold their penny good siluer as they say that haue a name like the Church of Sardis to be aliue e Reu. 3.1 yet shew as much loue as there is fire in a dead coale How many be there that after their brethren be falne through frailty in any sinne though once whilst they stood more eminent in place and grace then themselues yet when their Sunne is something clouded and eclipst they stand aloofe off them as Iobs friends did from distressed Iob f Iob 2.12 13. they keepe a distance from them as the proud Pharisee g Luke 18.11 in the Temple from the penitent Publican they say as it is in the Prophet Come not neere me for I am holier then ye they wonder at them as at Arabian monsters they looke at gaze at them as an amazed Deere they view them wistly as a man looks through his fingers at something they looke at them with astonishment as men looke at the Sunne or the Moone when it is eclipsed or at a faire house when it is set on fire and how euer perhaps they are not so gracelesse as the Babylonians to triumph ouer captiued Israel h Psal 137.3 and to say as the Edomites and as Dauids enemies There there so would we haue it there goes the game as the profaner sort iubilize and reioyce yet they will ho wt and showt in detestation not onely of the sinne which is tolerable but of the person * Odi peccatum non personam vitium non vitum which is vnwarrantable and vncharitable As the lesser birds fly and cry after the hated Hawke and Owle they will not come in his company though he be both willing and desirous to giue all satisfaction possible to the scandalized Church both publicke and priuate they fly his house his abode his presence as if he had the plague sore nay as some haue tried the stearne inhumanity and almost Scythian and barbarous cruelty of some indiscreet austere zealists as though they were hewen our of Caucasus and had drunke the milke of Tygers they are as wonderously grieued and exasperated that any good man or great man of place giue them countenance good look or good word or houseroome as the Pharisees were grieued and vexed that our Sauiour Christ feasted with Matthew the Tole-gatherer i Mat. 9.11 and lodged with Zacheus k Luke 19 7. and eate and drunke with Publicanes and Sinners yea if he be such an one that hath beene imployed in the Ministery and hath any way transgressed * As the Darby Minister who wrote The vnburthening of a loaden soule though neuer so seriously repented they maruell how he dare be so bold and impudent as to be seens in a Pulpit though his zeale and desire to doe good and to bring glory to God after his peace made with God bee more feruent then euer it was as though Dauids practice were no president either for a penitent preacher or professor where hee desires the Lord to restore vnto him the ioy of his saluation and then would hee teach Gods wayes vnto the wicked and sinners should be conuerted vnto him l Psal 51.12 13. though it seemes they either know not or acknowledge not any such Text but especially for any comfort or consolation by word writing conuersing conference that a distressed soule gets now a dayes from most men chiefly from some that would bee counted most strict in some places it is as oyle got out of a stone or water out of a flint it is such as Iudas got of the Scribes and Pharisees m Mat. 27.3 4. vnlesse this bee all the cold comfort grauatis addere grauamina to adde burthen to burthen griefe to griefe affliction to affliction when one is downe as the Italian prouerbe and practize is * Prescribed by the Florentin◠Matchauill to set their foot vpon their neckes too many alas know where the shooe pincheth and wrings them in this kind that too iustly may complaine of their Swallow friends that fly from them in the winter of affliction and as Dauid said of his kinsfolkes and acquaintance stand a loofe off from them as he in the heathen cryes Oh friends no friends * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to expostulate a little this case with those that I here iustly taxe in this culpable cariage towards some that are falne SECT 4. The restitution and restauration of the repenting sinner perswaded FIrst Is here any expression and demonstration of loue which who wants is destitute of euery sauing grace can there be a fire without heat a Sun without light a liuing soule without motion or loue without action motion or manifestation if it be at all this loue saith one it is actiue or else it is not n Amor si sit magna operatur Greg. Secondly is this according to the precept of the Apostle that commands the incestuous Corinthian to bee comforted after his deiection least hee bee swallowed vp too much of sorrow o 2 Cor. 2.6 7. Thirdly is it any thing consonant to the Apostles practice who himselfe comforted commended and encouraged the Corinthians by a Consolatory letter after their godly sorrowing with enumerated effects 2 Cor. 7 8 9 10 c. Fourthly is this consonant to the precept of Christ himselfe that we should bee mercifull as our heauenly Father is mercifull p Luke 6.36 threatning iudgement mercilesse to them that shew no mercy q Iam. 2. v. 13. Now are nor the chiefe and principall mercies spirituall is not a sinne-burthened-soule a greater obiect of mercie to bee relieued then the feeding of a hungry cloathing of a naked visiting of a diseased body * Multo misericordius operatur qui circa animas infirmorū quam erga corporum agrotantium qui panem esurientibus tribuit Augustin et Bern. serm 4. Fiftly did not our Sauiour Christ himselfe not onely inuite and excite r Mat. 11.28 but euery where receiue and graciously entertaine repenting sinners ſ Luke 15.1 euen publicans harlots t Mat. 8.11 Luke 7. when they came vnto him as appeares in many passages in the Gospell Now shall hee entertaine such vpon their humiliation and shall wee disdaine them shall hee accept them as the head and shall the Church his body reiect them shall he open his armes to imbrace thm and shall his members shut their hands and their hearts too against them and open their mouths to deiect them to disgrace them Strange to see the head moue one way and the body another Sixtly is it not Christs precept I will not say an Euangelicall counsell but
shewing them to bee but men subiected to a sinning condition but yet as the Schooles well distinguish they cannot fall away totally and finally as old Pelagianisme * Confuted by Austine Ierome Prosper Bradwarden and by the three CouÌ„cels of Meleuitan Affricke and Orange and new Arminianisme seeme to auerre against the Scriptures d Psal 37.23 24 Psal 94.18 145.14 Pro. 3.26 Esay 26.3 Esay 40.11 46.3.10 2 Thes 3.3 Phil. 4.7 Iohn 10.28 1 Pet. 1.5 2 Tim. 4 18. c. and Orthodoxe e Lege in hanc rem apud Patres Iustin q. 23. q. 98 Jreneum lib. 5. adueâ—sus haereses pag. 550. ad pag. 558. 564. lib. 2. cap. 47. ClemeÌ„t Paedog lib. 1. c. 5. fol. 19. c. 6. folio 20 23. lib 3 c 6 p. 48. Tertul. de Praescrip c. 2. pag. 161 162 de Corona c. 9. p 156 Hilarium in Ps 120 pag. 287 in Psal 128 p. 301 Can. 6. in Matth. pag. 155. Ambr. in Ps 50. in Rom. 8. v. 29 30 apud modernos Marlorat in Ps 51.125 in Ioh. 4.14 Aret in 2 Tim. 2.19 Zanchium de perseu tom 7. pag. 91. ad pag. 174. Kymidont de praedest p. 318. to 333. Diuinity they may indeed fall fearfully who are elected vnto life not onely before their conuersion as Paul Manasses Mary Magdalen c. Augustine Cyprian Luther c. with others who laid long in persecution bloodshed vncleannesse Necromancy idolatry c. and other sins but euen after their conuersion they may haue fearfull relapses as had Dauid Peter Sampson Salomon this our Ezekiah but yet they cannot fall finally and irrecouerably they may indeed in their fall be sore crusht as perplext in soule in conscience in spirit they may breake an arme or a ioynt lose their credit for a time and estimation not onely with the world with whom they warre but with the Church too which is as their vnioynting from the communion of Saints the members of Christ till they be knit and right set and ioynted againe by repentance but yet their fall is not to precipitation to neck-breake as are the falls of the reprobate they wander indeed out of the way and goe astray like lost sheepe yet they returne home againe to the Bishop of their soules their good Shepheard that hath giuen his life for them and bought them with a price euen his owne blood hee seekes them as the woman did the lost groat hee findes them and brings them home on his shoulders to the sheepfold of his Church and this hee doth many wayes to prosecute the Metaphor 1. Either he whistles and speakes to them in the more secret voice and inspiration of his Spirit Meanes which the Lord vseth as a spirituall Shepheard to call home his sheepe by repenting which haue wandred by sinning or else in the audible voice of his word he sends some Gad some Nathan to cry some harsh message in their eares or to blow a Trumpet set vp a flag of defiance against their sinnes denounce wrath so wakening them out of their warme nests rousing and raising them out of their pleasing dreames and slumbers as he did Dauid f 2 Sam. 12. 2 Sam. 24. c. 2. Or else he sends his dogs after them to fetch them in to bring them home and these Shepheards dogs are either outward crosses and afflictions as pouerty sicknes diseases as we may see in the returne of the Prodigall Child whipt home to his Fathers house by outward miseries g Luke 15.15 c. or aboue all by infamy ignominy calumnies reproaches which are as it were the barkings bitings of the Doegs i Vt Doeg in Dauidem 1 Sam 12. the dogs of the world he brings many stragling sheepe apace euen running home to the flocke these dogs are to the elect in respect of their sinnes as the dogs of that rich Churle to Lazarus though sore against their wills they licke whole their sores k Luke 16.21 they heale their sins Or else there is another dog which is more bloody fangd then the rest with a more hideous barking and more daingerous biting sets vpon the sheepe and that is this dog of Conscience which how ere when the elect sinne this Mastiue seemes to be muzzled or lye quietly asleepe at the doore l Of this lethargicall quiet Conscience see the B. Abrenethy his Booke call'd The Physicke of the Soule chap. 8. p. 103. or the pleasant sop of present pleasure or profit be giuen to this Cerberus that he may bee quiet and fawne for a time yet when the sinne is committed and the eyes of the sinner opened the nature quality fruits and effects of the sinne discerned then this Mastiue seemes to bee vnmuzzled hee awakes out of his charmed sleepe as a madde dog indeed bawles and barks at the sinner as at a fellonious thiefe gnawes and mangles the very inwards of his soule as the Wolfe that eates within the flesh m De stimulis furiis Conscientiae plurima exempla testimonia lege apud Ambros lib. 7. ep 44. in epistola ad Constantinum August in Psal 31. Pezelium in Gen. cap. 37. pag. 714. cap. 42. pag. 794. Luther in Gen. cap. 43. p. 652. in cap. 45. p. 671. Patritium lib. 5. de Regno tit 8. p. 313. cum Strigellio in Ethicis Aristot lib. 1. pag. 794. cap. 45. pag. 835. pursues him as the slouth-hound sometimes more closely yet continually sometimes more furiously with open mouth n Hinc vulpina conscientia apud Hugon lib. 2. de anima cap. 15. Hinc etiam illud Isodori lib. 2. Soliloq nunquam sâ—curus reus animus Plura lege apud Senecam Epistola 43. Epistola 88. Tacitum 4. Annalium Ciceron pro Client pro Milon Lipsium in politicis lib. 1. cap. 5. as the Hound doth the Deere or Hare from thicket to thicket lets him haue no rest like that Acteon in the fable till the distressed sinner flye to the true shelter and sanctuary the mercy of God in Iesus Christ till like the pursued Deere hee take soile in the troubled Poole of Bethasda the Lauer of true repentance till he there lose and shake off this Cerberus till he be athirst after the liuing God o Psal 42.1 2. and after his mercy as the Deere that is imbost thirsts after the riuers of water yea till the poore soule intreat the great Master of the family to take vp and take off this Mastiue and chaine him vp there is no rest to the soule of this sinner and this Dog the Lord sets instantly vpon Dauid when after the numbring of his people at the returne of Ioab his heart smote him p 2 Sam. 24.10 and this smiting of the heart like the smiting of Moses on the Rocke q Exod. 17.6 that brought out waters produced these excellent parts of repentance contrition r Psal 6.6 confession Å¿ Psal 51.4 aggrauation
12 13. life to murtherous Cain b Gen. 4.15 euen in wrath and anger so the bitterest and worst things euen the corrections for sins come to his own children as mercies Wee read indeed of the plagues of Aegypt c Exod 7. Exod. 8. Chap 9 10. of Sodom d Hos 11.8 Amos 4.11 of Moab e Amos 1. Chap. 2. per totum of Edom of Damascus and of the burthens of other sinfull nations and people but neuer of the plagues of Dauid Ezekiah Iosiah c. the botches of Aegypt f Exod. 9 10. the Emerods g 1 Sam. 5. of the Philistines the death of Pharaohs first borne h Exod 12.29 the murren of his cattell i Exod. 9.19 the frogges in his chamber k Exod 8 6. were indeed reall Plagues prologues and proems were these externalls to plagues eternall but the gout l 2 Châ— 16.12 in Asaes seet Iacobs touch in the hollow of his 〈◊〉 m Gen 32.25 Ezekiahs sicknesse n 2 Kings 20. and here the occasion of his 〈◊〉 â—on was onely a paternall castigation Oh that we with patience and contentation could drinke the bitterest cup which the Lord brewes for vs and sends to vs for our soules safety in our haughty hearts humiliation SECT 6. Mercy mixt with Iustice BEsides in searching the point narrower we see further in this castigation that the Lord euen in Iustice remembers Mercy yea his mercy triumphes ouer iustice as the oyle swimmes aboue the water as we see here that this wrath vpon Ezekiah was the iust desert of his ingratefull pride or proud ingratitude here was Iustice inflicting yet this correction as it tended so it ended in his humiliation which was physicall to his indangered soule here was Mercy So to adde moe instances Manasses the sonne of this Ezekiah for his many and manifold prouocations of the Almightie by his idolatries witchcrafts charmings sorceries murthers massacres of the Saints was iustly depriued of his Crowne imprisoned by the King of Ashur yron fetters put vpon his feet manacles on his hands here was Iustice yet this sharpe physicke so bitter to the flesh was wholesome and medicionable to his soule for in his tribulation he prayed to the Lord and humbled himselfe greatly before the God of his fathers and the Lord was intreated of him here was Mercy So in the first sin that euer was committed Adam eating of the Tree prohibited was questioned strictly examined conuicted sentenced to eate his bread in the sweat of his browes till hee returned to his dust n Gen. 3.19 including all miseries in life and mortalitie in death o Pezelius Rimgius in locum here waâ— Iustice but yet euen then though his flesh was corrected the instrument of sin yeâ— his soule was secured of saluation in the promised Messias the seed of the woman should breake and bruise the head of the Serpent p vers 15. here was Mercy So the woman being first in the transgression was deepest in affliction for her sorrows were threatned to bee great q v. 16. in the production of Children and now by al the propagating daughters of Eue are tryed so great that Imagination can no more but expresse them here was Iustice for her fact yet saith our Sauiour himselfe the eternall Truth as soone as euer a man-childe is borne into the world shee forgets in a manner her former griefes their delights swallow vp their dolors here was Mercy Oh wondrous mixture of Mercy and Iustice none knowes the paines of a childbearing woman but she that is perturient here is Iustice to that sinning sexe yet withall none knowes the loue of a mother as she that is a mother here is Mercy This course the Lord holds still God crosses vs in our sinfull and for our sinfull courses as the Angel withstands Balaam Å¿ Numb 22.26 in his poasting for preferment yet these crosses like that scabbe in the brest which the Romane receiued by his fighting enemy in stead of killing t Apud Plutarchum as that Surgeon who breaking a Gentlemans head cured him of the headachs D. Cotta against Emperickes curing his Impostume curbing crossing yea curing our corruptions demoÌ„strate as plainly a Mercy in the vse and end as Iustice in inflicting our deserued crosses Oh that we could with our hearts and tongues from our words and workes blesse and praise the Lord as in all the rest of his glorious attributes so especially that wee could glorifie him in his Mercy and Iustice his two attributes in which he most delighteth most exerciseth amongst the sonnes of men and to which all things in heauen and earth doe tend as to their Center Oh that with Dauids heart and spirit we could resolue to sing of Mercy and Iustice not politicall oeconomicall as he in that Psalme u Psal 101.1 but as they are Attributes in God essentiall in which he is most glorified of Angels and men Oh that wee could see with spirituall eyes how not onely in the redemption of the world by Christ but euen in the gubernation and gouernment of the world yea euen in proceeding with seuerall indiuiduall men which philosophy calls so many Microcosmes * See the allusions twixt man this Microcosme the world this Megacosme apud Alliedium in Theol. natural or little worlds but chiefly in his dealings with his elected ones Iustice and Mercie meet together righteousnesse and truth imbrace and kisse each other CHAP. XI NOw from sailing thus long in Ezekiahs sorrowes launcing into that Ocean of matter his deepe and serious humiliation we now at last bring the Penitent to his port and hauen to inioy his calme and reape the fruit of his renewed repentance neuer to bee repented of in comming you see by degrees as we at first laid them downe to this fourth and last maine and materiall point which the Text affords omitting all the circumstantiall and that is the remouall of wrath or the repriuall of Ezekiah and the inhabitants of Iudah and Ierusalem from the wrath that in some measure begunne to be exercised vpon them but vpon their humiliations stinted and ceased so that it came not fully vpon them in the dayes of Ezekiah for so indeed may as I thinke the Text and Context be reconciled the one saying that wrath was vpon Ezekiah and vpon Iudah and Ierusalem the other that the wrath of the Lord came not vpon them in the dayes of Ezekiah humiliation being interuenient betwixt wrath denounced and in part kindled and the full flaming or execution of wrath that was threatned Num. 16. humiliation like Moses and Aaron in the behalfe of Israel standing in the way or stopping in the gap betwixt wrath in part begunne that it should not be wholly and fully executed In which memorable and worthy act and effect of sound and sauing humiliation so worthily performed by Ezekiah and his subiects we may as men on the quiet
vide Maldonatum in Lucam cap. 19. Secondly by this meanes of humiliation all great personages shew their gratitude thankfulnesse vnto God in thus honouring him who hath honoured them yea they take the wisest and the safest course to continue and perpetuate their honours to themselues and their houses and posterity for as pride hath beene the ruine and demolition of many great families g Vide exempla supra allegata so humiliation hath beene their proppe and vpholder in withholding and diuerting from them such Iudgements as their sinnes or the sinnes of their predecessors haue deserued Thirdly as they by their humiliation bring glory vnto God and good to themselues so they bring much good to others much benefit accrewes to the soule of an inferiour by the humiliation of a superiour and that both by their example for imitation h Regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis as also in Gods acceptation First for imitation the example of great ones as it is forceable in vtramque partem both towards the better towards the worse as their ill example confirmes the inferiours in sinne so their good example conformes them to good their example saith to the common people chiefly to their dependants their families obseruers as Abimelec i Iudg. 9.48 and Gideon in another case to their souldiers as yee see me doe so doe you or as S. Paul once to those he writes vnto Be ye followers of mee nay they will follow If Ioshua serue the Lord hee can giue that same testimony of his house l Ioshua 24.15 if the Centurion be a religious man one that feareth God his seruants and souldiers will bee obsequious and obedient both to God and him m Ma◠8.8.9 if Esther fast pray her handmaides will be found ioyning with her n Ester 4.16 yea if the King of Niniuie humble himselfe then his nobles will be humbled too if his Nobles then the common people if the common people then the very beasts o Ionas 3.7 yea if as it is in my Text that Ezekiah the King bee humbled then not onely his Peeres and the Elders of his people who conioyned in such a case with Dauid but euen the inhabitants the vulgar sort the commons of Iudah and Ierusalem are humbled likewise Oh the Adamantine force of example the blessed president of great persons is as the first mouer in the heauens or as the first wheele in a clock after whose motion all the rest moue it is as the Captaine that precedes his following souldiers and giues the first onset as the bell-weather that goes before the flocke as the henne that clocks the chickens after her Secondly great good it brings in Gods acceptation for as the Lord visits the sinnes of great ones sometime euen vpon their seed as Sauls sonnes were hanged vp for the sinne of Saul and Ieroboams Idolatry as also Gideons moulten image were the ruines of their house p Propter parentum scelera grassantur poena publicae in totas familias in multis instant Simon Pauli Domin 2 post Trinit Strig in 2 Sam. 9. 1 Reg 20. 2 Reg 1◠in vno peccato periurij Jnslat Pencerus in Lect. Cron. die 6 Feb. an 1574. cum Aeliano lib. 14. Diodoro Siculo l. 6. antiq in posteritate Saulis Iasonis Zedechiae Senacharebi Philippi Macedonis aliorum somtimes vpon the whole land or nation as wrath came vpon Iudah c. both in the dayes of Dauid and in the daies of Ezekiah for the sins of their Kings so Ezekiah is no sooner humbled but wrath is remoued Dauid and the Elders of Israel no sooner fall downe before the Lord in sackcloth and ashes but the destroying Angel set a worke by God at the command of the Lord of Angels puts vp his sword the deuouring plague sweepes not a man away moe as indeed when we make an end of sinning God makes an end of smiting when the child is whipt cryes and asketh pardon and promiseth amendment the rod is throwne away or broken or burnt the child is taken vp in the fathers armes set on his knee and kist and the teares wiped away from his eyes Fourthly great ones vsually liue in great sinnes either as they haue greater temptations Sathan shooting euer at the fairest markes or moe allurements and prouocations for the pleasing of corrupted nature and delighting the flesh moe obiects of vanity greater meanes to effect their ends how euer sinister moe Sycophants and Parasites to charme and lull them a sleepe in security q That flattery hath euer been the bane of Kings read Camerar in oper Succisivis c. 90. p. 448. Patritium de regno l. 7. tit 8. pag. 458. l. 5. tit 5. p. 229. Instant in Caligula Galba Alexandro Tiberio Dionysio few by redargution or admonition that will or dare offer to shake them to awake them so they had need since their sinnes are also scored chalked vp as the rest of a greater measure of humiliation for sinne their salue had need answer their sore else they are like at last to smart Reu. 6.16 Lastly the example of Dauid is remarkable when the Lord in a mercifull Iustice or Iust mercie sends to Dauid after hee had numbred the people this option or choyce that he should chuse him whether he would fly before his enemies in warre or endure the famine for 3. three yeares or the plague and pestilence for 3. dayes he makes choyce of the last why so not onely for the maine cause as hee reueales because the mercies of God are great but as some note because as hee had beene an occasion of euill to the people by his sinne he would beare part of the burthen for in warre though his subiects had smarted it is likely he would haue escaped by flight or by strong holds in some castles or fortifications or in dearth and famine had there beene one pecke of corne in the land it is likely he should haue had part his part like the Lyons part in the Fable r Apud Aesopum in all probability shold haue been best but frō the plague there was no euasion the arrow of the Almightie might haue hit him as soon as the meanest in his Kingdome Besides in this choise he aimed also at the good of his people for had war come vpon them they would haue trusted in their sheild and target in their sword and bow and the strength of Israel had famine beene sent the poorer sort and Mechanickes perhaps had felt the chiefest smart the richer sort and monied men would either haue sent for corne into other Countryes as Iacob into Aegypt ſ Act. 7.12 or fled thither as Naomi into the Land of Moab t Ruth 1.6 they would haue changed their places as did Abraham u Gen. 12.10 and Isaac * Gen. 26.1 in the like cases but now in the plague and pestilence there is no euasion no