Iudas of Galilee his Sect of whom we read Act. 5. 37. This man as Gamaliel in that place relates rose up that is in our language did rebell in the daies of the taxe enioyned about the time of our Saviours birth and drew much people after him and though he perished and all even as many as obeyed him were dispersed yet his sect or opinions died not with him for as Iosephus that great Iewish Antiquary tels us hee left two sonnes which maintained his doctrine after his death and these Galileans here mentioned were it seemes their disciples and their crime mutiny or attempt of rebellion With what intentions the relaters of these newes did interrupt our Saviour in his serious discourse unto his auditors hee best knew However res ipsa includebat dolum With what intention soever they came unto him the relation it selfe before such a multitude was captious Such as would have put a man but ordinarily wise either to silence or upon an exigence If he should have held his peace this had been a disparagement to the opinion which the people had of his wisdome and if he were disposed to reply there seemes a necessity laid upon him either of censuring these Galileans for notorious transgressors or of taxing Pilat of extraordinary cruelty to condemne these miserable men after such dreadfull execution especially before their country-men for such were most of his Auditors Galileans many of them perhaps their kinsemen had beene odious To have taxed Pilates person of cruelty or this his present fact of iniustice had beene dangerous for it was an act of state And whatsoever private edge or spleene this Roman deputy had against these Galileans that was sure to bee backt by publique supreame Authority As for Pilates person place or fact that our Saviour such was his wisdome meddles not with hee neither approves nor disallowes it That these Galileans were grievous transgressors did iustly deserve what they suffered hee denyes not But that they were more hainous sinners than any other Galileans which had not suffered the like punishment that hee firmely denyes in the 2. v. Iesus answering said unto them suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except yee repent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye shall all likewise perish This speech is directed to his ordinary Auditors who for the most part were Galileans and our Saviour at the time when this newes was brought him was not in Iudea nor in Pilates jurisdiction but in Galilee or Peria which both belonged to Herods Soveraigntie But these newes-mongers were not Galileans but inhabitants of Ierusalem and for this reason he takes occasion to put them in mind of as fearefull an accident which had fallen out though not so lately yet within their memory in Ierusalem admonishing the inhabitants thereof to make better use of it than hitherto they had done v. 4. or those eighteene upon whom the towre in Siloe fell and slew them thinke yee that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Ierusalem I tell you nay but except yee repent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yee shall all likewise perish This ingeminate verdict of our Saviour first against the Galileans secondly against the inhabitants of Ierusalem as most other of his solemne sentences if wee had the grace wit or will to weigh them aright admit a double sence or importance and require a twofold consideration The one as they are propheticall and of more speciall use The other as they are morall and of generall use Wee are in the first place to consider these words now read unto you as they are propheticall For unlesse we have a true scale of them as they lye under this observation wee shall take their morall meaning either too wide or too streight and shall continually wander from the meaning of the Holy Ghost in the particular application of them But some haply will demand what matter of prophecy or of prophecy befitting the Prince of Prophets thus emphatically to utter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is in no case as you thinke of these Galileans or inhabitants of Ierusalem but unlesse one and other of you repent yee shall all likewise perish Every ordinary minister of Gods word may and ought to preach this doctrine dayly to his Auditors unlesse they be much better than in most places they are For such for the most part both Priest and people are that unlesse they do repent they shall dye not the death of the body only but of the soule Yea but many thus dye which do not perish and many may perish and yet not perish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the same manner that those Galileans whose bloud Pilat mingled with their sacrifices or those eighteene of Ierusalem upon whom the tower of Siloe fell and slew them Now our Saviours meaning is that as the end of these few particular men was exemplary and disastrous so should the end of the Galilean nation and of the inhabitants of Ierusalem without repentance be a spectacle astonishment to all the nations of the earth which should see heare read of it And to foretell this nationall disaster so long before was matter of prophecie well befitting the Prince of Prophets A true document that he had the spirit of prophecie not by measures or minute portions but most full and entire that he was not only vates futurorum or praeteritorum but certus interpres praesentium For unto all these points the spirit of Divine prophecie doth respectively reach Moses did declare himselfe to be as true a Prophet in setting downe the history of the creation and the lives of the Patriarks as in foretelling what should befall their posterity So did Daniel in retriving Nebuchadnezar's dreame which had out flowne his owne memory as in giving the undoubted interpretation of it Our Saviour in this place declares himselfe to bee vates praeteritorum in his most infallible recounting that sad accident in Ierusalem without a remembrancer or any record of it then extant For however the thing it selfe was well known to the inhabitants of Ierusalem yet hee did not preach upon carantoes The ground of this his heavenly discourse was not vox populi but his owne infallible knowledge of both these disasters And both of them were extraordinary signes or forewarnings unto the Iewish nation and in particular to the inhabitants of the Province of Galilee and city of Ierusalem Yet signes or forewarnings whose interpretations none besides the Prince of Prophets could then have given And his interpretation of them is in briefe this that Galilee should bee the prime seat of that bloody warre and Ierusalem the centre of all those unparalled calamities whereat the generall signes of the time and these two particular disasters mentioned in my text directly point and would strike home without speedy repentance That both these sad accidents were such as the Latines
grievous punishment than wee or others are but before this day it is not Christian-like it is not safe to say or thinke that this man is a more grievous sinner than wee our selves are for than this man deserves to be more grievously plagued than wee our selves or others whom wee thinke well of so long as either they or wee have one houres space left for repentance To judge of the measure of any mans sinnes by the manner of his punishments here on earth or to determine of his future estate by his present death or disaster is to usurpe or trench upon Christ Iesus his royall prerogative which to prejudice by word or sentence interlocutory which to preoccupate by any peremptory or censorious thought is more than a praemunire a branch of high treason or rebellion against him Besides this exception which cleerely infringes the former allegations for judging of the cause by the effect or measuring mens sinnes by the manner of their visible punishments many positive reasons there be which might perswade us that our most good and gracious God without impeachment unto his unchangeable mercy and justice may and often doth in this life shew extraordinary mercy to extraordinary sinners and recompence ordinary sinners men not so sinfull as the best of us account our selves to be with extraordinary punishments in this life Both parts of this allegation may bee proved by instance and by rule by examples of Scripture and by reason grounded on Scripture First because such as have beene extraordinary sinners have obtained extraordinary mercy There was not an honest matron or unmarried woman in in the land of Iudea or Galilee but would have taken it for a defamation to have beene compared to Mary Magdalen Shee was a notorious sinner in that notorious sinne of wantonnesse and uncleanenesse and yet obtained greater mercy than any woman of her time besides the blessed Virgin Mary for shee was endowed with an extraordinary measure of that excellent gift of love and charity Our Saviour gives her this testimony that shee loved much And the reason why shee loved much was because many sinnes and those of the worst kind of sinnes were forgiven her Here was mercy two wayes extraordinary First in that shee had many such sinnes foregiven her Secondly in that shee loved much For this extraordinary measure of love through the same goodnesse of God by which it was given her was to have an extraordinary reward Againe what disciple or Apostle of our Saviour was there which might not have upbraided Peter with extraordinary ingratitude which is the height of sinne for denying his Lord and master three severall times expressely and in a manner judicially And yet for all this Gods mercy and gratious favour towards him was extraordinary even in respect of other disciples and Apostles the disciple whom Iesus loved only excepted Paul for a long time was a blaspheamer of the evangelicall truth a more furious persecutor of such as followed the waies of life then the Prince of his tribe King Saul had beene of righteous David And yet this man from a notorious sinner from a persecuting Saul was changed into a zealous Paul became a valiant champion for the faith more zealous in maintaining it than hee had beene furious in persecuting such as professed it And this suddaine and extraordinary change was wrought by the extraordinary mercy of God But doe not these and the like instances or examples of Gods extraordinary mercy favour and bounty towards extraordinary and notorious sinners no way prejudice or impeach the unchangeable mercy of God or his impartiall dealing with men No for the extraordinary mercy which hee shewed did not extend to them only but to all extraordinary sinners in the like kind unto the worlds end His extraordinary mercy and favour unto Mary Magdalen was as a pledge of his mercy and favour to all like sinners of her sexe so they would by true repentance accept and embrace his mercy and favour manifested unto her If any which heare or read of his mercy exhibited to her doe finally perish their perdition is from themselues If any truely repent their salvation and repentance by which they become immediatly capable of salvation is from the Lord. Gods extraordinary mercy unro Peter who had in a manner made shipwrack of his faith was as secunda tabula post naufragium as a planck or mast cast out after shipwrack not only for his succour but for the succour of all the Iewish nation which had denied the Lord that bought them As many of this nation as after Peters conversion were converted and saved their conversion and salvation was meerely from the Lord as many of them as perished did therefore perish because they did not repent as Peter did and they did therefore not repent because they did not lay Gods mercies towards him and to their country-men converted by him to their hearts That extraordinary mercy againe which God exhibited unto Paul yeelds the assurance of faith a sure anchor of hope to all persecutors of the Church whether Heathens Turkes or Infidels that there is plenteous redemption with God in Christ mercy plenteous to worke repentance in them and by repentance compleat redemption of body and soule As many of Turkes or other infidels as doe not repent and by their not repentance perish their perdition or not repentance is from themselues Not the saluation only but the repentance of such as doe repent is meerely from God and this God our Lord who is rich in mercy towards all did worke repentance in Mary Magdalene in Saint Peter and Saint Paul by meanes and motiues extraordinary that all such sinners as they were might belieue and knowe that no sinners are excluded from possibility of repentance in this life but that the mercy which he shewed to them by meanes extraordinary is daily exhibited by meanes ordinary that is by the administration of the word and sacraments vnto all that doe not wilfully exclude themselues The second point proposed was that God doth award extraordinary visible punishments vnto ordinary sinners without impeachment to his vnchangeable justice or to that ingraffed notion which all Christians haue of his unpartiall dealing with the sonnes of men It was an extraordinary visitation wherewith he visited the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and their territories 1. Sam. 6. 19. for he smote of the people fiftie thousand threescore and tenne men because they had looked into the Arke of the Lord. It was likewise an extraordinary punishment upon Vzzah who being but a Leuite did touch the Arke of the Lord. 2. Sam. 6. 6. For he was smitten with suddaine death from which kinde of punishment all of us doe pray or ought to pray that the Lord would deliuer us But may wee therefore conclude that these men of Bethshemesh were sinners above all the men of Iudah or that Vzzah was a more grievous sinner than any Levite of his age on whom the Lord did not shew like punishments God
no warning either from the sonne of God or by the calamities of their brethren Now if any amongst us be as great hypocrites as they were they bee as grievous sinners as guilty of Christs bloudy death and liable to as grievous punishments either in this life or in the life to come as they were A Pharisaicall hypocrite none can be unlesse his soule bee so wedded to some branches as hee conceives them of holy doctrine or zeale to Gods word that he would rather suffer his soule and body to be dissolved then be divorced from his opinions That will not be ready as opportunity serves to persecute all such even unto death as will not comply with him or maintaine his faction And this kind of hypocrisie alwaies presupposeth some other sinnes which breed it alwaies include some other sins or errors which feed and strengthen it That error which breeds hypocrisie is a zealous desire to be extreamly contrary in all or most points unto them whom they undoubtedly know to contradict the truth as well in some opinions as practises Satan may instill other erroneous opinions into his scholars and yet must be inforced to play the sophister before hee can draw them to admit of his intended conclusions that is lewd or wicked practises but if he can once insinuate immature perswasions or strong presumptions of their irreversible estate in Gods favour hee needs no help of Sophistry to inferre his intended conclusions This antecedent being swallowed hee can inforce the conclusion by good Logicke by rules of reason more cleere then any Syllogisme can make it then any philosophicall or mathematicall demonstration For it is an unquestionable rule of reason presupposed to all rules of Syllogisme◠or argumentations that an universall negative may bee simply converted as if no man can be a stone then no stone can be a man the rule is as firme in divinity that if no hypocrite no envious or uncharitable man can enter into the Kingdome of heaven then no man that must enter into the Kingdome of heaven that is irreversibly ordained to eternall life can bee an hypocrite can be an envious or uncharitable man Whence againe it will cleerely follow that if the former opinions concerning mens personall or nationall irreversible estate in Gods favour have possessed mens soules and braines before its due time albeit they doe the selfe same things that rebels doe that hypocrites that envious or uncharitable men doe yet so long as this opinion stands unshaken they can never suspect themselves to be rebellious to be hypocrites or uncharitable That which indeed and in the language of the holy ghost is rebellion will bee favourably interpreted to be the liberty of concience in defence of Gods lawes envy hatred and uncharitablenesse towards men will goe current for zeale towards God and true religion To illustrate or confirme these observations touching the originall Symptomes of pharisaicall hypocrisie by the example practice of these Iewes according to the order in which they have been now proposed The first originall was in the overprising of the rigid reformation of their forefathers prophanesse Their father 's worshipped stocks and stones the images or statues of heathen Gods these latter sought to bee so extreamly contrary to the heathen or to the practises of 〈◊〉 forefathers in this particular that they would 〈…〉 any civill use of pictures and their unrelenting zeale to maintaine this rigid reformation was the originall of that rebellion wherein they perished after they had continued it seventy yeares more or lesse For Herod the great having erected a golden eagle upon the wals of the Temple not with purpose to have it adored but in testimony of his gratitude and alleageance to the Roman Emperour some of their Rabbins or great masters did teach their schollars to deface it though they dyed for it and death in this holy quarrell was accounted Martyrdome Afterwards they were pressed to admit a statue of the Roman emperour in their Temple but not urged as I take it to adore it And this did blow the coales of former dissention and was the originall of that finall rebellion under Nero. Now if they had not apprehended this rebellion as an holy warre or had not affected to become Martyrs in defence of true religion they might easily have deprecated this eye-sore or grievance at the Roman deputies hands as the wiser sort of them sometimes had done But howsoever these latter Iewes almost from the time of their returne from Babilon did increase the measure of their forefathers grosser sinnes by too nice and rigid reformation of them and added pharisaicall hypocrisie unto them as a new disease of the soule scarce heard of before yet this hypocrisy though epidemicall to this Nation had not the strength to bring forth that monster of uncharitablenesse which did portend the ruine of this mighty people untill they were invaded by the Romans For from the time that this Nation was brought into subjection by Pompey the great their Church-governours did allow and appoint dayly sacrifices to be offered for the peace and tranquillity of the Roman empire and security of the emperours But a little before the fulfilling of this prophecy in my text there arose a sect which did condemne this custome after an hundred yeares continuance as unlawfull as contrary to the Law of God as a pollution of the Temple And it is a point observable by such as read the history of Iosephus that of all the iregularities or prodigious villanies committed in the Temple during the time of the siege as the tumultuous deposition of their high Priests and murther of them and others of better place the faction surnamed by themselves the Zealous were the chiefe Authors and a betters The fruit of this their blind and misguided zeale was to misinterpret the murther of their brethren which would not comply with them in their furious projects to bee the best service the only sacrifice then left to offer unto God for the daily sacrifice of beasts did cease for want of provision they having plenty or sufficiency of nothing but of famine Now to parallel the sinnes of our Nation of this present generation specially with the sinnes of the latter Iewes As for sinnes against the second table no man of unpartiall understanding or experience can deny that wee farre exceed them unlesse it bee for murther only disobedience to parents to magistrates adultery fornication theft false witnesse-bearing and coveting their neighbours goods are farre more rife amongst us then they were or could be amongst them at least in the practice The keene edge of some few give us occasion to conjecture what the bloudy issue of misguided zeale would be could it once get as strong a back as it had in these Iewes when there was no King in Israel or in that Anarchy wherein every one did that which was pleasing in his owne eyes Againe no man not surprized with a Iewish slumber but may cleerly see how