Commentary on 2 Peter, Commentary on 2 Peter volume 1 · Chapter 2 · Verse 5 (1 of 3)

Commentary on 2 Peter · Commentary on 2 Peter volume 1 · Chapter 2 · Verse 5 (1 of 3)

p. 534VER. 5. And ſpared not the old world, but ſaved Noah the eighth perſon, a Preacher of righteouſneſſe; bringing in the floud upon the world of the ungodly.

THis is the Apoſtles ſecond exemplary argument againſt the indemnity of … his firſt inſtance was, how it ſped in heaven; now he expreſſeth the miſchiefe it did upon earth: after the expulſion of Angels, the ſubmerſion of terr… creatures. The firſt Iudgement tooke hold on altitude, this prevailes againſt multitude: for ſublimitie, they were Angels: for univerſalitie, this is a whole world There God uſed his owne immediate power, in the dejection of thoſe revolting ſp… rits: here is the ſame offended power working by a mediate inſtrument. The A… gels were above the elements, therefore no element was exerciſed in their puniſhment: here is element againſt element, water againſt earth: that man, who was … elements compoſed, and by elements preſerved, might alſo by elements be deſtroyed. When man forſakes his owne end, which is to glorifie his Maker: the creatures alſo forſake their (leſſe principall) end, which is to ſerve man their maſter The Elements rebell againſt man, when man rebells againſt God: becoming a trator to his Creator, they owe him no more ſervice: but in ſtead of ſerving him, they ſerve God againſt him.

Deepe calleth unto deepe at the noiſe of the water-ſpoutes: Pſal. 42.7. the del…ge of ſinnes called for a deluge of waters: deepe iniquity, for deepe calamitie. The world was growne ſo fowle, that God ſaw it was high time to waſh it: yea ſo was the … cleaneſſe dyed in graine, that when the polluters were waſhed away, the poll… ſtuck on ſtill: as the plague cleaves to the houſe, even when the infecter of it is dea…. And as a ſordid cloth lies long a ſoaking before it be clenſed: ſo deepely had imp… tie ſiz'd it ſelfe into the earth, that God ſaw it meete to ſteepe it long under the waters; even an hundred and fifty dayes, Gen. 7.

Gods bleſſing did not more multiply, than Satans curſe: there came a Creſ… & multiplicamini from them both. God ſpake it to his creatures, men: Satan … his creatures, mens ſinnes. Mankinde began but with one: yet he that ſaw the fir… p. 527…an lived to ſee the earth peopled with a world of men. Men grew not halfe ſo faſt …s ſinnes; As they were encreaſed, ſo they ſinned againſt me, Hoſ 4.7. One man could …one multiply a thouſand ſinnes, never man had ſo many children. So that ſtill …e number of tranſgreſſions exceeded the number of perſons: when the earth was …arce ſprinkled with men, the whole world was filled with ſins. So that the top …f the conſpiracie bore up to heaven, and carried ill newes to the Maker of all. Whereat offended, he ſent downe a watry meſſenger of deſtruction: which as it …me from heaven, ſo ſwelled up back againe to heaven; with tydings, that Gods …ſtice was now glorified on them, whoſe mercy would not be glorified by them …he corruption of the world is not leſſe now, yea more: it is paſt all pu…ging by wa…r, therefore hath God reſerved it to fire. OnelyOnly as the Arke did ſave Noah in the …y of water, ſo Chriſt will preſerve us in the day of fire.

And ſpared not the old world, &c.] Here is a double act; of Iuſtice, of Mercy; …at of Iuſtice on a whole world, the other of Mercy upon eight perſons. It is of…n, Poena paucorum, terror omnium; God doth ſtrike few, to ſave many: here hee …ikes many and ſaves few. His judgements are ſometimes particular, that his …ercy may be generall: here his Iudgements are generall, and his Mercy particular. …o the whole may be diſtinguiſhed into the

Vengeance; Spared not the old world.

Deliverance, Saved Noah the eight perſon,

In the vengeance or execution of wrath conſider, the

Matter paſſive, Sinfull world.

Inſtrument executive, The Floud.

The ſubject ſuffering is deſcribed, by the

Vniverſality, the whole World.

Antiquity, the Old World.

Impiety, the Vngodly World.

For the penall inſtrument let us meditate;

1. Whence it proceeded.

2. How farre it prevailed.

3. How long it continued.

In the deliverance are two ſpeciall things, the

Maner implied, by the Arke.

Number expreſſed, Eight Perſons.

Thus are our meditations fetch'd a great way backward, that our ſoules may … ſet ſomewhat further forward: let us conſider the old world, that we may be…me the better for it in the new. Hiſtory is delightfull to all, and gives us meanes … travell former times: that we may in ſome ſort know what is done before us, …ough wee cannot ſee what ſhall be done after us. In all this plentifull diſcourſe, …ur good apprehenſion muſt be my beſt perſwaſion; your capacity, my oratory. …cure we our ſelves firſt in the Arke, and then lanch into this Ocean of water: th… …irit of God direct us in our voyage, and bring our ſoules to the haven of eter…l peace.

To begin with the uengeance, God was angry with the whole world becauſe ſin: neither was this a ſlight or eaſie wrath; but a fire long a kindling. It repen…h mee that I made man: here is a diſpleaſure indeed, when the Lord ſhall repent … owne worke.aa1 Theſ. 2.16.1 Thess 2:16 The wrath of God came upon them to the uttermoſt. foreign, that is, …h an one as conſumes either totally or finally. The wrath of God is either in re…ution or execution. In reſolution, it is either ſuppreſſed in his boſome, or ex…eſſed in his threatning. In execution, it is either temporall in body, or ſpirituall …oule: as Peter ſaid; Behold two ſwordes, or rather one ſword with two edges. This foreign The wrath: God hath armies of afflictions, but if the wicked ſcape them all, … ſame Great wrath will ſurpriſe them. Neither muſt wee thinke here God ſub… to paſſions: what be affections in us, are perfections in him. But lippientibus p. 536etiam ſingularis lucerna numeroſa eſt: to the pur-blinde one candle ſeemes many. As God is ſaid to have an arme, becauſe the arme is the inſtrument of our power: … eye, becauſe he diſcernes all things: a foote becauſe he is preſent every where, &c. And that he will preſerve unharmed, is called thebbZach. 2.8.Zech 2:8 Apple of his eye. His eſſenti… ſubſtance is called his Soule. Am. 6.8. Benepheſho, by his life, or ſoule, that's by himſelfe. And Pſal. 11.5. Wicked men his ſoule hateth. Thus he is ſaid to be a… gry, and to repent. But as man repents by retracting his purpoſe, ſo God by cha…ging his ſentence. When GOD is ſaid to alter his will, that he becomes offended with the man, with whom he was formerly pleaſed. Ille potius quam ipſe mutatur: the man is changed not the Lord.Auguſt. He repents not as man does, for he cannot de… and erre as man does. He is not angry, but all his actions proceed from a per… love of vertue, and hate of vice. We cannot properly Grieve the Spirit, nor C… cifie Chriſt: but our ſinnes doe all that is poſſible to it; and ſo much as in us …, we bring melancholly into heaven, that Court of joy. If the King loſe a ſubject … is ſo much the weaker: take a drop from the Ocean it hath the leſſe: but what… the loſſe of thee or thy harlot to God; he is never the poorer nor are they mu… But when he repents of all the generation of men, this ſhewes ſinne to be exceed… hainous. In a word, mans is a paſſive repentance; Gods is an operative repentance. Let this teach us.

1. To glorifie God, leſt he repent that he made us.ccPſal. 139.14.Ps 139:14 I am fearefully and … derfully made; (all Gods workes are admirable, man wonderfully wonderfull) …avellous are thy workes, and that my ſoule knoweth right well. What infers he o… … this? Therefore I will praiſe thee. If we will not praiſe him that made us, will … not repent that he made us? Oh that we knew what the Saints doe in heaven, … how the ſweetneſſe of that doth ſwallow up all earthly pleaſures: they ſing h… and glory to the Lord: why? Becauſe he hath created all things. When we behold … exquiſite peece of worke; we preſently enquire after him that made it, purpoſely … commend his skill: and there is no greater diſgrace to an artiſt, than having perfected a famous worke, to finde it neglected, no man minding it, or ſo much as caſti… an eye upon it. All the workes of God are conſiderable, and man is bound to th… contemplation. Pſal. 8.3 When I conſider the heavens, &c. I ſay, What is man? … admires the heavens, but his admiration reflects upon man; Quis homo? There … no workeman, but would have his inſtruments uſed, and uſed to that purpoſe i… which they were made. The Cutler hath made thee a knife; to cut thy own me…, not thy neighbours throat. If thou like the envious man will keep… thy … in thy hand, and ſwallow thy meate whole: or like the foole, cut anothers me… and thy owne fingers: this is to abuſe that inſtrument, and pervert the end … which it was framed. Man is ſet like a little world in the midſt of the great … glorifie God; this is the ſcope and end of his Creation. If he ſhall apply himſ… to proud deſires, baſe deſignes, covetous courſes; here Gods meaning is miſ-… derſtood, his worke miſ-applied. He is created for the ſervice of God, if be ca… not be wrought and brought to that, he ſhall be beaten in peeces. As the Po… turnes and workes a peece of clay; frames it for ſuch a veſſell; it will not doe; … tries to make another faſhion of it, yet it fadgeth not: till at laſt, after many … trials, he daſheth it againſt the walles. Gods ſpirit will not alway ſtrive with … world, more than it did with that: but if we ſtill ſtrive againſt him, let us ſee wh… the end ſhall have the worſt of it. Arioſto going through the ſtreets, and hea… … Potter baſely ſing his odes; tooke a cudgell and broke his pots; anſwering … complaint: Thou haſt marr'd my verſes, and I have marr'd thy veſſels. If … abuſe Gods creatures, he will ſpoile our pleaſures.

2 Let us repent of our ſinning, leſt God repent of our making. O that for … of a little ſorrow, we ſhould hazard the loſſe of ſuch a joy, as the delight of our C… ator. When we ſinne, we give him cauſe to grieve at our doing, but while we c… tinue impenitent, we give him cauſe to grieve at our being. Shall our Maker rep… … p. 537wee are, and wee not repent that wee are ſo evill? Did hee not make us of …hing? and is hee not able to reduce us to nothing, to worſe than nothing; yet doe we provoke him, and put him to it by our rebellions? Repentance is a …ee of continuall uſe, becauſe ſinne is a thing of continuall practiſe. It is better …ng to the houſe of mourning, than of mirth; ſaith Salomon; more expedient for … ſoules health: through his owne experience, he taught us this expedience. In …e we patch our clothes, in repentance we rend them in pieces. It unmakes a …n that which ſinne made him; whereas impenitence keepes him for ever the ſame. …ey that lived unconverted ſinners on earth, remaine the ſame in hell.eeIoh. 10.8.John 10:8 All that …e before me are theeves and robbers: in congruitie of ſpeech he ſhould have ſaid, …e theeves; yes, not onelyonly were, but Are ſo ſtill. Saul is ſtill a homicide, you can… ſay ſo of David, that he is ſtill an adulterer; becauſe he repented, and by that … tenewed.

Our repentance is ſaid Pacare Deum, to appeaſe God: now appeaſing preſuppo… anger, and Gods anger is two fold; Iudicis & Patris. As he is a Iudge, offen… with his enemies, and this wrath is onelyonly appeaſed by Chriſt. As he is a Father, … ſo our repentance may pleaſe him in Chriſt: not Ratione ſubjecti, in reſpect of ſelves; but Ratione Principij, Gods Spirit. Thus our repentance through Chriſt … pacifie his paternall wrath. This is an excellent remedy, but not ſo eaſy: the …g of Niniveh and his people put on ſackcloth, and faſted: yet but,ffIoh. 3.9.John 3:9 Who can tell …ether the Lord will turne to merciemercy: we are not ſure of it, it may be ſo, but Who …tell. Though the Iewes rent their hearts, yet it is but Quis novit, ggIoel. 2.14.Joel 2:14Who knoweth …ether God will returne? Though they gnaw their tongues for paines, yethhRev. 16.10.Rev 16:10 they …nt not of their deeds: ſo hard a taske is repentance.

Neither is repentance without amendment, any more than continuall pumping …hout mending the leake. The bird fighting with the ſerpent, ever anon flew to …erbe, which was her medicine, and cured her of the poiſon: but at laſt, the hearbe …ng waſted, the bird dyed. Repentance is that herbe, which while opportunity …s, will helpe the poiſon of ſinne: but that once gone, and it will not be ever pre… to preſumtptuous ſinners, what remanies but periſhing. The medicine is made … the wound, not the wound for the medicine. The argument of our liberty is …entance: the bonds of ſervitude are broken with a broken heart Auditúrne vox …uris, Is the mourning voice of that Dove, the Holy Ghoſt, heard in thy boſome? …moſthenes would not plead for his client, till he cryed to him; and then anſwered … ſorrow, now I feele thy cauſe: let our penitent contrition cry unto Chriſt, and …n he will plead for us.

God ſpared not the old world. Thus in generall, now more ſpecially to the parts. …ld hath diverſe ſignifications: it is taken. 1 For this whole viſible engine,1 Ioh. 2.16.1 John 2:16 the …icke of all things contained under heaven and earth. 2 For the vicious and …erable condition of it, contracted by ſin, and inherent in all things.2 Cor. 5.19.2 Cor 5:19 3 For the …leſt and moſt excellent part of it, man and thus ſomtimes only for the Saints; …d was in Chriſt, reconciling the world to himſelfe. Commonly for the wicked,1 Ioh. 5.19.1 John 5:19 … whole world lyes in wickedneſſe. So the world is oppoſed generally, vel numero …atorum, vel numero electorum. The firſt circumſtance we light upon, is the uni…ſality of this deſtruction, which ſeiſeth on a whole world. Wherin the anſwer …hree queſtions may ſatisfy us.

Why the creatures were puniſhed with mans ruine, that were not guilty of …s ſinne. This was juſt with God. 1 Becauſe they were all made for mans uſe, … therefore man ſuffers in their loſſe. Terra propter hominem producta, terra propter …inem maledicta. As a foule traitor being executed, hath his houſe fired, his very …d harrowed with brambles, and ſowen with ſtones. 2 Seeing they were made … mans uſe, he being taken away, they were of no further uſe.Chryſ. The generall being …ne, the army periſheth: the head being cut off, the members die. 3 Such was … greatneſſe of ſin, that it brought deſtruction, not only upon the ſinner, but on p. 538all that belonged to him. 4 Becauſe brutiſh men had abuſed the creatures by t… filthy riot and exceſſe; therefore God ſaw it juſt to puniſh the Inſtrument wit… principall:Rom. 8.20.Rom 8:20 ſo that there is not a Creature, which is not Subject to ſome vanity. … that requites his Princes favours with treaſon, not onelyonly ſuffers in his owne perſ… but every thing about him feeles the ſmart. His followers are ſuſpected, his … … rits diſgraced, his children diſinherited, his friends diſcomforted, his houſe … all things droope with him, his gardens are over-run with weedes, his orchy… lie uncouth, man and beaſt is made ſenſible of his judgment. Adam, that was … holding to God for his very ſelfe, apoſtating into treaſon; his houſe grew out of … ſhion to him, his pleaſures were turned to thornes, the armes of his nob… were defaced: and he that was made a Maſter of living bodies, breaking his all… ance with God, became deſpiſed of his owne ſervants: ſome of them ſhaking of … yoke of our goverment, when we ſhooke off our makers. Eſpecially the greateſt, … the ſmalleſt of them: the greateſt, as Lions, Tygers, Panthers, are hardly … but the leaſt, as bees and gnats, not at all. In a generall deſtruction when the ene… triumphs, not only men, women and children loſe their lives: but the houſes … fired, the trees cut downe, the walls raſed, the horſes ſlaine in fight, the cattell … in the ſtalls:1 Sam. 15.13.1 Sam 15:13 as Saul had his charge for Amalek; Spare neither man nor beaſt. … there not rottes of cattell, and murraines of beaſts, ſo well as mortalities of m… In a ſpoiling warre or plague, who remaines to fill the empty cribbe or marg… Doe they not ſuffer with their Maſters? Doe not the very beaſts of the rich fate… better for the proſperity of their owners: whereas the poore mans cattell partake … the poore mans want?

I doe not thinke that all manner of creatures periſhed in the waters; for be… them preſerved in the Arke the fiſh eſcaped, Gen. 7.22. The Rabbins conc… that the fiſh alſo periſhed, growing hot in the flood, as in a caldron; but Moſes … fines this deſtruction to things on the dry land. The fiſhes were ſpared. 1 M… … not ſo abuſed them, as the other kinds: and herein our ſinfulneſſe exceeds theirs; … not onelyonly the delicacies of the land, but neither can the rarities of the ſea ſatisfie … riot. They were then more ſeparate from mans ſin, therefore from his puniſh… But in the fiery deluge, to ſhew that even thither our exceſſe hath reached, the … fiſhes ſhall not eſcape. 2 They lived in that element wherewith God purpoſed … overthrow the world: ſo that the ſame thing that was ordained in ruin am, for … verſion, was to them in tutelam, rather for preſervation. 3 They were not p… kers of the earth, now the earth was curſed, not the ſea: becauſe Adam did unlaw… eate the fruite of the earth, not of the ſea. 4 Such was the good pleaſure of C… that among other creatures he would then ſpare the fiſhes: then I ſay, for at … times he hath bothaaHoſ. 4.3.Hos 4:3 threatned andbbPſal. 105.29.Ps 105:29 deſtroyed them alſo; he ſlew their fiſh.

Further from the number of thoſe preſerved in the Arke, divines have pro… bly exempted. 1 thoſe Amphibia, creatures that live as well in the water, as on … Land; as otters, ſea-wolves, water-ſerpents, and water-fowles. 2 Such as co… corruption, and doe not breed by generation; as wormes of dung, mothes of p… fied hearbs &c. 3 Such as are of a mixt kind, ingendred by male & female of d… kinds; as the Mule commeth of the Horſe and Aſſe: theſe needed not come in… … Arke,Aug. Sed parentes eorum ibi fuiſſe ſufficit; it was enough that the breeders of … were there. Some of the Rabbins have conceited, that the ſeeds of hearbs … plants were kept in the Arke; but they might by Gods providence grow in the … under the waters; as did the Olive which the dove found at the ſinking of the … Yea ſome of them more ridiculouſly, amongſt the living things preſerved, … thruſt in the ſpirits of the aire to the Arke. But neither are they male and fe… nor ſubject to the ſubmerſion of waters; and it were better for man to have … kinde deſtroyed than conſerved. For the Phenix, amongſt many ambiguit… … yeeld to their perſwaſion, who thinke there is none; and that by the diſagree… of her moſt juſtifying reporters. For her countrey, ſome make her of Ar… p. 539others of India. For her life, ſome five hundred yeares, others ſix hundred ſixty. …r her death ſome ſay ſhee ſings and dyes; other, that motu alarum, with the mo…n of her wings ſhe ſets her neſt afire. Pliny, and Pompon. Mela write, that of her …es comes a worme, and of the worme another Phenix: which takes the bones of …e old Phenix with her neſt, and carries it to Heliopolis, the Citie of the Sun in …gypt; there laying it on the altar, and ſolemnizing the Funerall. But who would …t ſmile at the non-ſenſe of this fixion? For if the Phenix be burnt to aſhes, where … her bones left for this tranſportation? But on, ſay they; and what creature is …thout ſex, among Beaſts, Fiſhes, or Foules? Gods (Increaſe and multiply) had … a vaine and ſuperfluous charge to her. If there were but one before, then cer…nly that periſhed in the Floud; for none were preſerved in the Arke but by paires …d couples. So that if formerly but one, now conſequently there is none. The …ing of S. Ambroſe is objected: Phaenix cum mortua ſit, reviviſcit: ſolos non cre…us homines reſuſcitari. We anſwer, he doth not deliver his opinion, that the …enix being dead reviveth: but Ex conceſsis, by that which the heathen affirmed, … of their owne grounds, he proves the Reſurrection which they denied. Let not …s firſt queſtion paſſe without a double meditation.

It inſtructs our underſtanding what the horror of ſin is, whoſe contagion hath in…ted all the creatures that belong to us. Curſed be the earth for thy ſake: the earth …u treadeſt on, the earth meriting no curſe, the earth made before thee, made for …e, and thou made of it; curſed be this earth for thy ſake. Quid meruiſtis oves, what …e the poore creatures done? We are not content with their rule, without their …ne: though they be ad uſum & eſum noſtrum; yet we tyrannize over them, and … ſcarce ſatisfied with their ſpoile. O that the guilty ſhould thus dare to domi…re over the innocent; and hold himſelfe more abſolute lord over his beaſt, than … thinkes God over himſelfe! He that ſhewes no mercy to his beaſt, (which yet …not his creature, but bought with his money) teacheth God how to deale with …, who is his creature, and bought with his Sonnes bloud. The Prophets, when … Lord hath beene angry, and the plague heavy, and no excuſe for the peoples …quity; not knowing what to ſay for themſelves, aſhamed in their owne name to …ve pardon: have put him in minde of the bruit creatures. How doe the beaſts grone, Ier. 4.6. Ioel. 1.18.Jer 4:6Joel 1:18…. Not that God is more reſpective of beaſts, than of men; Hath God care of Ox… But when men become bruiter than beaſts, God will pitty beaſts ſooner than …n. The penitent Ninivites impoſed a faſt upon their very flocks and heards with …mſelves. Hath God care of beaſts, or have beaſts care of God?Ion. 3.7.Jonah 3:7 Are they not …hout religion, yea, without reaſon? O pardon repentance, a greater abſurdity …n this! It was a glaſſe to reflect their owne eſtate: the bellowing of halfe fami…d cattell, puts them in minde how themſelves ought to be ſtarved. Such an uſe …s of the Leviticall Sacrifices: to ſee them ſlaine, their bloud exhauſted, their fleſh …nt to aſhes; might well ſtrike them at heart with the ſurvey of their owne de…rits. It teacheth the young Lion obedience; when he ſees the dog whom he loves … playes withall, cudgell'd before him. When the Princes garment is beaten, he …ne conceives himſelfe blame-worthy by that repreſentation. The moane and …ery of the dumbe thing ſchooles us, as ſtripes on our garments, to tell us we have …ts in that bargaine. That which wants reaſon is puniſhed: that we who have rea… might be humbled. Beſtialior quàm ipſa beſtia eſt homo ratione vigens, & non rati… vivens. We are little better than beaſts, if we finde no other uſe of beaſts, than …erve our owne riot: they may teach us as well as ſerve us: the looking-glaſſe …n inſenſible thing, yet it reflects to a man his owne forme. This is the firſt …on.

It alſo informes us to moderate our affections, and not to ſurfet on this world …ich we have made ſo corrupt by our ſins. What creature is there, on which our …iety hath not ſtuck ſome blemiſh? what doe we uſe, whereon we read not en… …ven the characters of our owne obliquities? Our apparrell is but the cover of p. 540our ſhame: by our braveſt accoutrements, we may take meaſure of our delinqui… ments. Adam was more glorious without raiment, than all his poſterity can be … it: neither can the glory we ſeeke in our clothing, conceale or countervaile the i… nominy that came by our ſinning. For our meate, is not our life maintained by … death of other creatures? Our preſervation, by their deſtruction: ſin brought … neceſſity; without that no creature ſhould have loſt his life to become our fo… This was not from the Creation, creatures were not made to this end. Innoce… would have preſerved all to a higher and more excellent uſe. We ſhould have … meate farre ſweeter; and ſuch as ſhould hauehave coſt no creature the life. Let my … thus meditate; this creature dieth not for it ſelfe, but for me; not for it's owne f… but mine: if I had my deſert, I ſhould rather dye than it. Do we not read, our … ming and ſordid luſts in the infected aire? Our blaſphemies in the blemiſhed Moo… Glimmering Stars, and bluſhing Sun? Our oppreſſions in the harrowed and wo… ded earth? Our impieties in the groning of all creatures? If a rich man ſho… heape all his wealth together, and then ſet his houſe on fire; hath he cauſe of joy … ſee this? There is an ataxie and diſorder in all the world wrought by our ſins: … trees muſt fall under the wounding axe, the bowels of the earth be rent, to buil… a dwelling: and ſhall not this move us? Can we glory in our ſhame? with that i… ſulting Monarch, This is my Babel. We had a better manſion, once, without … of this violence; Paradiſe. Thus as he that rifled the poore ſcholler, rob'd ten me… once: he having borrowed of one his horſe, of another his ſpurres, &c. O… when Eſops jay was ſtript of her brave plumes, there were twenty birds undone, … had lent her their feathers. So when death deprives man of his life, he finds ma… creatures to have ſpent their blouds and beings towards his maintenance. Our co… fort be it, that our Patent is renewed in Chriſt; the ſecond Adam regetting … the former had loſt. And he that was content to become a creature, and to proo… his bloud to us; thinkes now no creature too deere for us. For his ſake they … our ſervants, let us become his ſervants: to us the uſe, to him the thankes and glory for ever.

Queſt. 2. Gen. 7.19.Gen 7:19In the next place we are to examine, whether no other creatures eſcaped the … luge, beſides the fore-excepted. The waters prevailed, untill all the high hils that … under the whole heaven were covered. Yes, ſaith Cajetan, thoſe under the airy heave… nay, ſaith Moſes, under the whole heaven. Some have wrangled about the mo… taines: as Athao in Macidonea, ſo high, that it caſteth the ſhadow to Myri… towne in Lemnos, eighty ſix miles off. Atlas is ſaid to have a top higher than … cloudes: and Tabor, to riſe up thirty furlongs: Caucaſus to be lightened with … Sun above,Ioſeph. when daylight is ſhut in below. But Moſes affirmes expreſly, that … theſe high mountaines were ſurmounted, and covered by the waters. Cajeta… e… cepts the mountaine of Paradiſe from this inundation: but where doth he find … Paradiſe was ſituate on a mountaine?Gen. 2.10.Gen 2:10 Out of Eden went a River to water the G… den; but Rivers doe not uſe to run upon hils. His vaine feare was, leſt then E… ſhould have beene drowned in the floud, whom he ſuppoſeth to be in Paradiſe. … indeed Enoch was taken up into heaven, a higher Paradiſe; where no floud … reach him.

Bellarmine thinkes that all the mountaines were not over flowen, but onelyonly … where the wicked dwelt. And Ioſephus reports a hill in Armenia, where all … fled thither for ſuccour, were ſaved from the deluge. But what ſpeake we of f… taſticall dreames, againſt evident ſcriptures? Thus the Hebrewes fable, that Og … King of Baſhan, who lived till Moſes his time, was one of thoſe Gyants before … floud. When I read in Pliny of a Gyants body found in Crete, forty ſix Cub… length; I beleeve it, as I doe the Ballad of Gargantua. The waters being fif… Cubites above the greateſt mountaines, thoſe Gyants muſt needs be of incre… height, that eſcaped.

But then ſay they, the floud ſeemed to aſcend unto the middle region of … p. 541a…re: for it was ſo many cubits higher than the mountaines, and ſom mountaine tops …ſcend to the middle region, yea above the clouds. As Olympus, which Zinagoras by …athematicall inſtruments found to be ten ſtadia high: inſomuch that the aſhes re…aining of the ſacrifices, are neither diſperſed by the wind, nor diſſolved by the …ine. So the waters ſhould ſeeme to riſe higher, than the place where the raine is … gendred. Anſw. The report of Olympus is found to be untrue,Ludovicus Vives. by the teſtimony …f Philadelphius, who went up the hill on purpoſe to make experiment. Beſides, no …ill is above foure miles in height: and the middle region is at leaſt 50 miles from …e earth. Againe, diverſe inhabited thoſe places, who are ſaid to live halfe as long …gaine as other men. This ſhewed it to be a wholſome ſcite for aire, which could …ot be the middle region, full of clouds and foggy miſtes.

The Concluſion then goes ſtrong for the univerſality: a whole world periſhed, …ve onelyonly what the Arke preſerved. The day of vengeance is come, the gueſts are …ſtred their wodden caſtle, the doore of the Arke ſhut, and the windowes of heaven …pened. Now thoſe deriders, ſeeing the violence of the waters; ſome riſing up, …her comming downe, both joyning their forces to drowne the earth: come wa…ng middle-deepe; and bitterly crying out for ſafety in that veſſell floating, which …ey had flowted in making. But now they are juſtly rejected, and find no roome in …ods merciemercy, whoſe word could find no roome in their hearts. Others hope to …x-run the deſtruction; and being clambred up to the tops of the higheſt mountains, …ey looke downe upon the waters with ſome tranſient flattery of hope. Still the …aters riſe, and their hills appeare to them like floating Ilands: they give many a …oke when the heavens will cleare up; and thoſe bottels of raine be exhauſted. O …ow would one houres Sun-ſhine have cheared their hearts! And yet ſuppoſe it …ould ceaſe ſpouting downe, where was the proviſion which ſhould keepe life and …ule together; till the chanels of the ſea, veins and hollow ventricles of the earth, …ould ſucke up that inundation? The beaſts & fowles hovering in thoſe mountains, …ere rather ready to prey upon their carcaſes, than become their food: hunger will …ake thoſe devourers of men, which before yeelded to be devoured by men. There …ere Wolves howling, Dogs barking, Lions roaring, Owles ſcreeching, Cranes …attering, Serpents hiſſing; men, women, children crying; all in one forlorne place.

Still their death comes neerer, and overtakes the refuges of their confidence. …hen from the drowning hills they clime up to the higheſt trees, and there with …leneſſe and horror behold their threatning death which they would ſtrive to avoid, …d know they cannot. From the tops of all they deſcry afarre off the Arke floating … the waves: and now looke on that with envy, which they formerly beheld with …orne: curſing their impenitent hearts, which God muſt needs kill ere he could …aken.

But in vaine they flee, whom God purſues: there is no mountaine ſo high but … hand can reach it: no depth ſo low, but his eye ſees it, and power rules it. There … no way to ſcape him, but by comming to him. Fugimus à manu vindictae, cùm …urrimus ad manum miſericordiae. At laſt their deſtruction ſurpriſeth them, poore …iſerable creatures, halfe dead with feare and hunger, and now wholly dead with …ater. Loe here the ful conqueſt of Iuſtice, and the whole world overwhelmed …ith an univerſall ruine. God hath fetched backe againe all that life, which he had …ven to his unworthy creatures: and the world was reduced to that forme wherin it …od in the third day of the Creation; Waters being over the face of the whole earth.

Let this …ontemplation bee uſefull to us: the ſeaſon of repentance is before …e beginning of vengeance: but if Iudgment be gone out, men cry too late. While …e Goſpell moves us, the doores of the Arke are open: if we now neglect it, we …y ſeeke it with teares, and not find it. MercieMercy to impenitence, would be injury … Iuſtice. Let every ſoule take this very time to redeeme the time: for hee is ſo fu…ive, that he will not tarry the pleading of his owne cauſe.

Laſtly, we are to examine, Queſt. 3 how in all this the righteouſneſſe of God may be p. 542juſtified. What, all the world? might it not have bene ſatisfied with a family, a… the monſtrous children of Lamech? Or with a City, as Sodome? Or with a Co… trey, as Canaan? Or with a fourth part of the world, as Europe? but all? Becauſe a mans garden, that hath beene fruitfull, is ove… …n with cankers; will he therefo… deſtroy it?Luk. 13.8.Luke 13:8 Doth not God threaten only the Barren Tree, ſuch a one as cumbers … ground: not the whole vineyard. The husbandman feeles not all his greene and … ripe corne, becauſe ſome weeds are growne up in it: yea Chriſt himſelfe forbid… with a Sinite creſcere. Mat. 13.30.Matt 13:30Nor becauſe a mans ſervants have abuſed his houſe, and le… ſluttiſhly noiſome, will he therefore ſtrait pull it downe: but rather ſee it cle… and air'd, the rubbiſh ſwept out, and the uncleanneſſe waſhed away. The Lord … no more here; he puniſheth the defilers with due deſtruction, waſheth and ſcowre… this great houſe of the world, but then lets it ſtand: he makes it cleane, he doth … make it nothing. But to cleare this point, two ſubordinate queſtions muſt … ſcanned.

1 Whether all that were temporally deſtroyed, alſo everlaſtingly periſhed. … ſo, then Abraham could object,aaGen. 18.25.Gen 18:25 Farre be it from thee to deſtroy the righteous … the wicked: ſhall not the Iudge of all the earth doe right? Shall Infants and innoce… ſhare in the ſame confuſion with obſtinates? 1 Some ſay, that all were tempor… puniſhed, that they might be eternally ſaved: as S^t Ierome of the Sodomites, … received in this life their full puniſhments. But if Rreprobates might ſcape thus, … would not be ſo full. 2 Some extenuate their ſinne, as Cajetan; that they were … wholly void of faith, but beleeved not Noah in this particular. But it is not ſaf… … man to extenuate, what the Lord does aggravate: that the wholebbGen. 6.11.12Gen 6:11Gen 6:12 earth was … with violence, and all fleſh had corrupted his way. They were not only full of inc… dulity, but foule with all manner of impiety. 3 Others ſay, that they were conde… ned to hell, yet redeemed thence by Chriſts deſcenſion: whocc1 Pet 3.19.20.1 Pet 3:191 Pet 3:20 Went and preach… the ſpirits in priſon, which were diſobedient in the dayes of Noah. Thus the Pontif… ans have conceited, that Plato at Chriſts Preaching in hell, beleeved; and was … many others, delivered: as the ſoule of Falconilla, by the prayers of S^t Tecl…, … Traians at the interceſſion of Gregory. But theſe imaginations croſſe Gods denominations, who hath interpoſed addLuk. 16.26.Luke 16:26 great gulfe: their worme never dieth, and o… … hell there is no redemption. 4 Others, that they were not caſt into hell, but ma… of them into Purgatory, and from thence delivered by Chriſts deſcending. B… anſwere both theſe errors, ſo falſely grounded on the Apoſtles words. … quickned in ſpirit, he went &c. Chriſts ſoule could not be ſaid to be quickned, for … ſoule never died: therefore by his ſoule he did not preach either in hell or Purgatory. Chriſt hath two ſpirits; one as man, another as God: ſo the holy Ghoſt … called the ſpirit of Chriſt. But the ſpirit here is properly neither of theſe, but … Divine power: by which he preached in Noah, in all the Prophets before him, … the Apoſtles after him. But if it be not meant of Purgatory, what is then this P… ſon? Auguſtine ſayes, this priſon was the Body: and the men were called ſpi… from the better part; mens cujuſque, is eſt quiſque: but we ſeldome find living … called Spirits. Montanus ſayes, this Priſon was the Arke; but then there had be… in the priſon too few ſpirits, for in the Arke were but eight. Some will have … priſon to be Ignorance, according to that Prophecie of Chriſt; that he was … preacheeEſa. 61.1.Isa 61:1 Liberties to the Captives, and the opening of the priſon to them that are … But to thoſe Chriſt could not be ſaid to preach in ſpirit, but in Perſon. Some … have this priſon, the Grave: but then ſoules ſhould lie in graves by that conſequ… Others, to be hell: and that is indeed a priſon, without light, without liberty, … out comfort. Let us keepe our ſelves free men, and beware of multiplying our del… that we be never caſt into this priſon. But certainly there is no Preaching in … becauſe there is no repenting in hell.ffPſal. …8.11.Ps 8:11 Shall thy loving kindneſſe be declared in hell … To conclude, the Scripture never called the receptacle of beleeving ſoules a pri… to thinke therefore, that firſt they were condemned, and afterward redeemed, i… p. 543point of contradiction. The ſame Chriſt that came in his fleſh, and preached the …oſpell to the world; came to them in the dayes of Noah by his Spirit, and in …ah preached repentance to thoſe unbeleevers: who becauſe they repented not, but …ntinued in diſobedience, are now damned ſpirits in hell. This I take to be the true …ſe and orthodoxe expoſition.

Charity may ſeeme to except from everlaſting ruine, Innocents and Ignorants. …nocents, as Infants, that were not capable of faith and repentance. Ignorants ſuch … did not here of the forewarned vengeance. The one could not beleeve for want … diſcretion: the other, not be called unbeleevers if they had no premonition: on …eſe our charity hopes there was mercy. In the firſt judgment, when the Angels …l: in the laſt judgment, when Chriſt ſhall come; onelyonly the elect ſhall be ſaved, …d onelyonly the Reprobate condemned. In this middle and intervenient judgment, …c ſoli electi conſervantur, nec ſoli reprobi ſuffocantur: ſome were preſerved, that were …t elected, as Cham, curſed of his father: ſo we thinke, ſome were drowned, which … were ſaved. Our probable reaſons ten.

1 It is not likely that the whole poſterity of Methuſhalem and Henoch, and of …er holy Patriarchs, were condemned: for the Lord hath promiſed to be good to … children for their Fathers ſakes.

Howſoever they beleeved not Noah at the firſt, but thought him a fantaſticall fel…w: yet when they ſaw the event anſwering his prediction, and death climbing up to …eir lateſt refuges; their ſoules might be humbled to repentance. Many having learned …t godlines in on dais miſery, which many yeares proſperity could not teach them.

… The Apoſtle reſemblesgg1 Pet. 3.21.1 Pet 3:21 Baptiſme to the Arke but as all dying without Baptiſme, … not damned, ſo neither all that were without the Arke, eternally periſhed. They …ght be drowned in the deluge on earth, yet eſcape the abyſſe of hell.

4 If God had meant to deſtroy their ſoules with the confuſion of their bodies, he …uld not ſo have lingered the execution. It washhGen. 7.4.Gen 7:4 Fourty dayes a comming, wheras …od could have dſpatched it in foure houres: that by degrees their hearts might be …tned with ſorrowes, as the earth was ſoaked with waters.

But if they repented, why is it not recorded in Scripture? So neither is Adams …pentance, nor Salomons: it expreſſely ſayes they ſinned, not expreſſely they re…ted: though of their repentance their is no queſtion to be made. But it is con…led to deterre us from the like rebellion, leaſt it become ſo doubtfull of our con…ſion. But if they did repent, why then were they not ſaved from the deluge? Be…uſe they repented not in time, at Noahs preaching. Repentance is never too late to …e the ſoule, but it may be too late to deliver the body.

Let us repent betimes, before the Iudgment come: for if it be once come, we …y ſave our ſoules, but our bodies muſt periſh. They that were even a kinne to …ah, becauſe they repented not at the preaching of Noah, could not be ſaved with …ah: but loſing this opportunity, they too late wiſh themſelves in the Arke: al… mercy ſhall never be denyed to true repentance, yet ſpeed well their ſoules, they …ſt loſe their lives. When the Lord ſtrikes a City with his Peſtilence, many ſin…s begin then to relent, and bleed in contrition for their offences: this ſhall happily …liver them from hel and the wrath of God: yet this exempts them not from death … that plague. Men commonly feare Gods temporall blowes, more than his eter…l: yet of both they neglect the antidote and prevention. This will make him …ke, if not home. A wiſe man will not be drunke, if only for the head-ake: nor a …od man ſin, if only to avoid the heart-ake. If we have not repented ſo early, but … he will puniſh us: yet let us not repent ſo late, but that he may ſave us.

2 How was this juſt, to puniſh the Infants and Innocents for the ſinnes of their …ents? Doth not God ſay,iiEzek. 18.20.Ezek 18:20 The ſonne ſhall not beare the iniquitie of the father? …th not he not make this to the inraged Prophet, an argument of ſparing Niniveh; … many thouſand little ones,kkIon. 4.11.Jonah 4:11 That cannot diſcerne betweene their right hand and …r left? That cannot ſpeake, cannot helpe themſelves; that ſticke to their mothers p. 544breſts, as apples to the tree; if you plucke them away, they periſh. Is this … babes welcome into the world, the milke to feed them; when they cry, to quiet the… with death? Is this the nurſing of their tender and ungrowen limbes, to wrap the… up in waves of ſwadling clouts, and to rocke them aſleepe with pitileſſe deſtruction? Whoſe eares can endure the lamentable and confuſed cry of ſo many infants, … not cry for company? The Midwives of Aegypt had more mercy; Ph… daughter was moved to take up weeping Moſes. It is the property of a cruell Na… on,llDeut. 28 50.Deut 28:50 Not to ſhew favour to the little ones. When the Prophet foretold Hazael of … crueltie,mm2 King. 8.13.2 Kgs 8:13 in daſhing infants againſt the ſtones; he asked, if he thought him a D… ſo brutiſh he held ſuch a villaine: men have more yeares and ſinnes, but what … infants done? The Scripture hath many circumlocutions of their ignorance … ſimplicity.nnDeut. 20.14.Deut 20:14 God gave a ſpeciall charge concerning them, in the bloudieſt vic…y of warre, unleſſe for ſome nations which he had accurſed. Chriſt tooke them … his armes, bleſſed them, and placed one in the midſt; propoſing them as pa… for the imitation of riper yeares. Whoſe eyes can behold the ſhrinking of their … members at every pull of griefe, their limbes ſprawling on the ground, their … ſcorched with heat, as a ſcroll of parchment, or ſinking on the waters, without per…

Thus juſtly concerning little ones, doth God expoſtulate with men, but … may not thus expoſtulate with God: for to him alone they are not innocent. Ma… rule is to puniſh him only that offends; andooDeut. 24.16.Deut 24:16 not to put the children to death for … fathers. Yet ſo farre as afflictions goe untouching life, children oft ſuffer for th… parents; being deprived of liberty, goods, honours; as in caſes of treaſon. T… Lord threatens to viſite the ſinnes of the fathers upon the children,ppExod. 20.5.Exod 20:5 even unto … fourth generation. So long, that (by the courſe of nature) their parents may li… ſee their wickedneſſe plagued in their poſterity: yet if the ſonne repent, the ſ… God hath promiſed that hee ſhall ſcape. And howſoever this judgement be not … wayes verified, yet it is enough to terrifie us all. But it never miſſeth, where the parents ſinnes are become the childrens by imitation. They are then called their Fathers ſinnes; becauſe they were by their age the Founders, by their example … Teachers, and in their owne perſons the beginners of thoſe ſins. As it is com…ly ſaid; We may know what houſe ſuch come of, by ſome tricks of their Anceſtors.

Iew and Gentile have excepted againſt the Divine Iuſtice for this. Bio… tooke on againſt the gods, that the parents demerits were devolved and tranſlated upo… the progenie: which he ſcornefully matched, as if a Phyſitian for the fathers … eaſe ſhould miniſter phyſicke to the ſonne. The Iewes had ſuch an ungracious proverbe;qqIer. 31.29.Jer 31:29 The fathers have eaten a ſowre grape, and the childrens teeth are ſet on … But the Lord anſwers them,rrHoſ. 2.2.Hos 2:2 Plead with your mother: for the husband may … fully put away his proſtituted wife, and her adulterous brood, becauſe they are … of his children?ſſEzek. 18.4.Ezek 18:4 All ſoules are mine, the ſoule of the father, and the ſoule of the ſonne mine. If it were as Horace ſung to his friend; Delicta majorem immeritus l…: … who can ſay, My heart is cleane? Is it poſſible to be borne Morians, and to have … of their tawny and ſwarthy complexions? Againe, is it not juſt with God to p… our fond indulgence, in the very object of our idolatry? Wee hope theſe you… plants ſhall ſuccour us with their fruits, when we are growen ſapleſſe: but doth a… the ſtaffe we ſo nouriſh to beare us, become often a cudgell to beat us? Devil … ſed the wicked both wayes; in their Deſcent,ttPſal. 109.10.Ps 109:10 Let his children be vagabonds, and … their bread in deſolate places. In their Aſcent, Let the iniquitie of his father be … remembrance, Verſ. 14.and let not the ſinne of his mother bee blotted out. We have ſeene … bloud of the Church exhauſted by ſacrilegious parents, required at the hands … their poſterity with ruine: God ſo curſing their generations, that we might reade … nature and quality of the ſinne, in the viſible characters of the puniſhments. T… whole world was ſo foule, that the very fruit of their bodies (without contrac… of actuall ſins) ſeemed odious to God: and in his Iuſtice he puniſhed thoſe innoce… babes with a death temporall, whom he migh yet deliver from the wrath …

p. 545But ſome haply were not ſo hainous tranſgreſſours, but would have belee…d had they beene informed; Why ſhould they ſuffer? They had all ſinne enough … drowne them in one deepe, if ſome found the mercy to ſave them from the other …epe. God doth not puniſh many for the ſinnes of ſome; but all men are ſinners. …lthough one be not principall in reſpect of the fact preſently enquired; as David …as in numbring the people: yet none fall but for their owne offending. He may be …ceſſary in conſenting, or concealing: if he be neither principall nor acceſſary in …at, yet hee may bee culpable in a thouſand others; ſecret, perhaps to men, but …owne to God. The Serpent hath a ſting, though he doth not alwayes put if forth: …d man hath malice, though he ſhew it not.

Who then can ſay, I have paid the things that I never tooke? Ionah is the of…der, the whole ſhip is in danger: but he that had not ſinned with the Prophet, …d ſinned in ſomewhat elſe. They had all offended at ſundry times, what wrong …t if they were all whipped at once? Here is all the difference; their faults had ſe…rall places, their puniſhment ſhall have but one. All Iſrael ſmarts with David, … for Davids, but their owne diſobedience. The Lord need not beat his braines, … breake his ſleepe, to invent an accuſation againſt us. We have no thought, word, …orke, but yeelds him cauſe and matter enough. It cannot be denied, but the ſins … ſever in our conceits, according to the diſtance of time or place; ſome of old, …me late; ſome in one quarter of the world, ſome in another: theſe the knowledge … God unites, and viewes all at once. In France one hath followed incontinence; …ay not that Countrey-diſeaſe overtake him in England for it? A young man is a …uptuous rioter, ſhall not his old-age rue it? Will any time or place exempt him …m diſeaſes incident to that ſinne? Thou art the ſame perſon ſtill, unleſſe repen…ce have made thee new.

It is true that ſome are more noxious than others; as Bias ſaid to a ſavage crew a dangerous ſtorme, when they cried to their gods; Silete, ne vos hâc dii navigare …tiant; Doe not ſpeake ſo lowd, leſt the gods ſhould heare you. Intimating them wicked, that is, was the hazard of a worſe vengeance to have them taken notice … But the beſt of all have ſinnes enough; and Optimus ille eſt qui minimis urgetur; …eeves are brought out of divers quarters, have treſpaſſed at ſundry times, com…ed ſeverall offences: yet are all impriſoned in one Gaole, puniſhed in one day, …nged upon one and the ſame tree. A company of men makes a body, and the …ole body is puniſhed for the fault of one member: The tongue talkes treaſon, the …ole man is plagued for it. In felony (which is Contrectatio rei alienae invito domi… animo furandi, as the Law defines it) the hand only takes, and beares away: but … feet are clapt in iron, the belly pinched with famine, the bones lye hard, and the …ke is in danger. The eye may before, and a veine pricked in the arme to cure it. …e hoofe of the beaſt is tender and weake; the top of the horne annointed for re…dy. Beſides, God hath ſeverall intentions in one Iudgement. The principall he …gues, the ſame puniſhment ſhall teach a ſecond obedience, trie the patience of a …d, prevent ſome grievous ſin in a fourth, humble another, call home another to …ce and repentance. In all, he judgeth ſome, bettereth others, honoureth himſelfe, … gets glory to his bleſſed Name. But to conclude the generalitie of this ruine.

Vniverſall ſin brings univerſall puniſhment: Quot in culpa, tot in pana. If all … be corrupted, all fleſh muſt be deſtroyed. Finde me one juſt man in the Citie, …h God,uuIer. 5.1.Jer 5:1 and I will ſpare it. How great had bin this mercy, if there had not bin …enerall apoſtacy? Sodome had bin ſpared for ten, Ieruſalem for one; and yet he …ght rather have looked for ten in Ieruſalem, than for one in Sodome. By ſwearing, … they breake out,xxHoſ. 4.2. Verſ. 3.Hos 4:2 till bloud toucheth bloud: their ſins were rounded into a ring, …roome for piety to get in amongſt them. Therefore the whole land ſhall mourne, … every one therein languiſh: univerſally wicked, univerſally puniſhed. If the …d ſhould make ſuch a judiciall ſcrutiny, and ſtrict inquiſition for ſinners, asyy2 King. 10.23.2 Kgs 10:23 Ie… did for true worſhippers, who could plead not guilty? Lactantius reports a prophecie p. 546of Sibylla; The Fiſhers hooke ſhall take the Romane Empire. If they meane b… the Empire, all the ſoules in the Empire; I could wiſh that Saint Peters … caught and brought more to heaven than it hath. But if by Empire they … the imperiall dignity, titles, priviledges, honours, and royall auguſt…ity; I could … for their owne ſakes (that now uſurpe that office) they had caught leſſe tha… … have. For when the Majeſty of a Prince came in, the piety of a Prieſt went …. But will you heare the Hook that hath caught them and all; the hook of covetouſneſſe, baited with riches. Doubtleſſe there are ſome elect, otherwiſe the w… could not ſtand: but major pars vincit meliorem, the greater part drownes the be… part. Is the feare of God amongſt men? Who would aske ſuch a queſtion? But if … feare God; we will ſerve him: if we love him, we will obey him: Now the queſt… growes bitterer & bitterer; from wormewood to gall. The devout man is even … ted out of his holineſſe, and zeale counted an irregularity. Hypocriſie is the wo… apparell, malice his diet, pride his wife, greedineſſe his dog: and thus he ſo… himſelfe in a wilfull rebellion. We have all run into a Praemunire againſt our … Soveraigne, and deſerve confiſcation of all we have, of all wee are.

But I am willing to leave this ſpittle of incurable ſinners: for who can en… to looke long upon ulcers? Therefore to touch at Methodum medendi: the way … cure univerſall wickedneſſe, is by univerſall repentance. We may perceive … willing God is to ſave us: for all this while, Dum non ceſſavimus a ſcelere, Deus o… ſavit a verbere; We forbore not ſinning, yet he forbore plaguing. None can be … bad as God is good. Sin raigning in men is a tyrant, Satans poſſeſſing them, wo… Chriſt threw them out both. Man may be will to forgive a mite, the Lord a … on: three hundred pence, and ten thouſand tallents, are all one to his mercy. Satan hopes well of our ſins, but let Chriſt hope better of our repentance. Tent… … ſuſtentat iſte. Let us all diſappoint Satan, and anſwer the gracious mercy of our Redeemer. He made us in the world, he made us not for the world, but chuſe us before the world, and came himſelfe into the world, to call us out of the world, that … might not periſh with the world, but live after the world, in a bleſſed and glorious world, his owne immortall kingdome in heaven. This for the univerſality, the … the antiquity of it.

The old World.] Old? It rather ſeemed to be the young world, and this … old: according to Davids prophecie;aaPſal. 102.26.Ps 102:26 They ſhall wax old as doth a garment. A … of twenty is young: he of eighty, old. The world of a thouſand yeeres ſtanding … young in reſpect of the ſame world growne up to five thouſand yeeres. The more time upon the back, the more aged a thing is. That then ſeemed to be the wo… infancy, this the veterity: that the non-age, this the dotage. The world then bro… forth Gyants; now in compariſon, dwarfes: and it is the youth of a woman, … makes her beare the goodlier children. In agebb2 Eſdr. 5.54. The wombe faileth, and brings … of a leſſe ſtatute.

Old is like Ianus, and lookes two waies: to the time longè praeteritum, and … futurum; long ſince paſſed, and long hence to come. SO Olim among the La… extends both to paſt and future times. That which hath bin, is called Old; as … old: that which ſhall be hereafter, is ſaid in older dayes, Pſa. 102. It is uſed … wayes verſe 25. Of old thou haſt laid the foundation of the earth; where old ſi… fies a thing done long agoe, verſe 26. They ſhall wax old like a garment; … old is a quality hereafter to be fulfilled. If we take the World in reſpect of the … ter and ſtructure of it; that was the young world, this is the old. If for the … who are daily borne into it, that was the old world, this is the young. This is … cleere, as that the child is younger than the father. From thoſe that were in the Ac… is the whole world of men deſcended: therefore it is ſo called the Old world. Wh… gives us three obſervations.

1 That Antiquity, if found in impiety, is no priviledge of impunity. Inde… arguments of commendation are often derived from ancientneſſe; and men … p. 547love the things, wherewith time hath made them long acquainted. It com…endeth Rivers, as in Deborahs ſong;ccIudg. 5.21.Judg 5:21 That ancient River, the River Kiſhon. It com…endeth Cuſtomes;ddPro 22.28.Prov 22:28 Remove not the ancient land-marke, which thy fathers have ſet. It …ommendeth Friends;eePro. 27.10.Prov 27:10 Thy owne friend and thy fathers friend, forſake not; ffEccl. 9.10.Eccl 9:10Forſake … an old friend, for the new is not comparable to him. It commendeth Wine;ggLuke 5.39.Luke 5:39 No man …ving drunke old wine deſireth new: for he ſaith, the old is better. It commendeth an …heritance;hh1 Kin. 21.3.1 Kgs 21:3 The Lord forbid that I ſhould give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. … commendeth Wiſdome;ii1 Kin. 12.8.1 Kgs 12:8 Rehoboam forſooke the counſell of the old men, and that …ned to his ruine. Concilia Senum, haſtae juvenum. It commendeth Truth, Id ve… quod prius. kkEccl. 39.1.Sir 39:1Seeke out the wiſdome of the ancient: andllIer. 6.16.Jer 6:16 Enquire for the old way. … commendeth ſervice in the Field; as Clitus to Alexander; deſpiſeſt thou the …ouldiers of thy father Philip? Haſt thou forgotten, that unleſſe this old Atharius …nd called back the young men refuſing to fight, we had yet ſtuck at Halicarnaſſus.

Yet if Age be blended with naughtineſſe, the older the worſe. An old Ri… without water quencheth not our thirſt. An old Cuſtome without warrant of …odneſſe, is as authenticall for practiſe, as an old totterd garment is for handſome…ſſe, or an old cough for wholeſomeneſſe. An old friend, that hath loſt his ho…ſty, is worſe than an old picture that hath loſt the colour. Old wine no man com…ends; when it is turned to vineger; let them take it that like it. An old houſe is no … harbour, when it is ready to fall on the inhabiters head. An old man that hath …ſt his experience, is like a boulter: much good flower hath grone thorow it, but …ere is nothing left in it but branne.mmIob. 32.7.Job 32:7 Dayes ſhould ſpeake, and multitude of yeeres …uld teach wiſdome, ſaith Elihu. But geat men are not alwayes wiſe, neither do the aged …derſtand judgement. Gravity ſhould ſpeake firſt, but if it ſpeake worſt, better hold …e peace.nnEccl. 4.13.Eccl 4:13 Better is a poore and wiſe child, than an old and fooliſh King. Who will no …ore be admoniſhed. If an old man ſpeak lies with the ſame confidence, that knowen …ths; and ſo vehemently praiſe former cuſtomes, that are ridiculous; and teach …e younger as ſcornefully, as he would doe a dog to fetch; here age hath loſt the …edite. The hoary head is only thenooPro. 16.31.Prov 16:31 A crowne of glory, when it is found in the …ay of Righteouſneſſe.

Cuſtome is a ſecond nature, an Old habit is not eaſely forgotten. Natura non …itur repentinas mutationes, ſay Phyſicians: nature endures no ſuddaine alterations. …herefore for a man Conſeneſcere cum vitiis, to grow old with his errors, is to bee …ad to all vertues. And he will find it as hard to become good, as to reenter the …ombe, and be new borne. And Old Dog bites ſore, an Old ulcer is hardly cured, …d an old vice within a degree of impoſſible to be amended. Age therefore hath no …viledge; look backe uponppIer. 7.12.Jer 7:12 Shiloh ſaith God. Shilohs antiquity could not coun…ance Shilohs iniquity. Indeed with us, gray haires require reverence, though …xed with ſome infirmities;qqLevit. 19.32.Lev 19:32 Thou ſhalt honour the face of the old man, and feare thy …d. And they are wretched dayes, when Puer tumul tuabitur in ſenem; rrEſa. 3.5.Isa 3:5the child …ll behave himſelfe proudly againſt the ancient. Yet no wounder, if the children de…e the parents; when the parents deſpiſe God. That world might ſay to the Lord, Eſau to Iſaac; ſſGen. 27.32.Gen 27:32I am thy firſt borne. Aetate primus, impietate ſummus. Like a tree …rew crooked from the firſt planting, no art could ſtraiten it, therefore the axe …ſt hew it downe. But whether we the younger children, or that world the eldeſt, … and Lamech the firſt borne; all have ſinned, and all muſt have periſhed, but for … ſufferings of the firſt begotten of God.

2 In this glaſſe we may behold the ſtate of the world before us. Even the for… times abounded with ſins: they had their aberrations and delirements as well …e. It is the faſhion of people to admire former dayes.ttEccl. 7.10.Eccl 7:10 Laudamus veteres, What …e cauſe that the former dayes were better than theſe? But Salomon taxeth that en…y of folly. Becauſe we feele not our forefathers evils, therefore we think they … no evils at all The deluge of Popery in this land is ſtill commended by divers …me-affected, Rome-infected ſpirits. Why? O then men lived neighbourly together, p. 548without quarrels and ſuits of contention. Did they ſo, and is the Goſpell the cauſe why men doe not ſo now? Is it not the Goſpell of peace, teaching us to love others as our ſelves? Shall men be litigious furies, and lay the fault on God… mercies? Hath the Lord opened our eyes for no other purpoſe, but to ſee to ſc… and wound one another? But then were men merry and joviall, and not tro…bled with melancholy cares? If they rejoyced in Dolio, non in Domino, in their riches and not in their graces; it was a mirth for the Devill. If it were in the Lord, … the Goſpell ſad us?uuPſal. 19.8.Ps 19:8 The Statutes of the Lord rejoyce the heart. Is any mirth like the meditation of our peace made by Chriſt? Cannot wee anſwer the join… world (as the grave Muſician being called into company, that ſang wanton ca…, and expoſtulated why he did not beare his part) I am as merry as they that ſ… … is God that puts xxPſal. 4.7.Ps 4:7more gladneſſe in our hearts, than all their abundance can fill … withall. Shall men bait of their mirth, becauſe God is neare them in his favour? Or a man be afraid to walke abroad, becauſe it is faire weather?

Pleaſure is not gone, when ſinne is gone: it is not Iſaac which is ſacrificed, th… is,Auguſt. our Laughter and mirth; but the Ramme, that is, the bruitiſhneſſe of it. Yea, … ther let us count it our chiefeſt delight, that we have loſt our former delight. Becauſe our fore-fathers ſate uncontrollably at the Pot; and had Prieſts without … vertue, than to take up differences at the Ale-houſe; were thoſe the better ti… But then, ſay they, was more plenty of all things, to demonſtrate that God loved … Corne was cheape, and men were charitable, they kept good houſes: and well ſ… the Religion that made us fare ſo well. Deo gratias, qui nos ſatias, &c. As if God had no better bleſſings in ſtore for us, than Acornes. This was the argument of t… apoſtate Iewes,yyIer. 44.17.Jer 44:17 Wee had plentie of victualls, and were well, when we burnt in… the Queene of heaven: But ſince we ceaſed that ſacrifice, we have wanted all things. Part of their reaſons ſtrength they fetch from Antiquity, Thus did our Fathers: … from their owne proſperity, Thus ſped we. But how eaſily doth the Prophet … and diſſolve this ridiculous Sophiſtrie!Verſ. 22. Therefore, for this cauſe, is your Land a … lation, and a curſe without an inhabitant. Did this bring you a bleſſing? No, … a curſe and ruine. Our Fathers beſtowed their Cakes on the Queene of Hea…, but did not the King of Heaven plague them for it? Say hee fed their bodies w… Quailes, did he not put leanneſſe into their ſoules? Shall we call Nabals Sheepe-… ring a bleſſing? All their ſuperſtitious peace was no better than the very Revels of Bacchus, and an holy-day to the Devill. Shall we ſeek Chriſt no further than amo… theaaIoh. 6.26.John 6:26 Loaves? IESVS was in the ſhip, yet Panem non habemus, bbMatth. 16.7.Matt 16:7Wee h… bread: IESVS was at the Marriage, yet Vinum non habemus, ccIoh. 2.3.John 2:3We want wine. W… may want bread and wine, and yet have Chriſts company. If food faile, it … becauſe Manna is to come. If Wine be abſent, yet Grace and Salvation is pre… If God take away Fleſh, and give Manna: deny Sunne and Moone, and giveddRev. 21.23.Rev 21:23 H… ſelfe, hee does us no wrong. As the Iſraelites repined for a King, when the L… was their King: ſo our Anceſtours refuſed Chriſt for their Head, and choſe … Pope. But God anſwered, Dedi in furore, eeHoſ. 13.11.Hos 13:11I gave them an Head in mine … He fulfilled on them what was written; this Head tooke away their fields and v… yards, andff1 Sam. 8.13, &c.1 Sam 8:13 gave them to his ſervants, Monkes and Friers: he tooke away the … of their ſheepe and ſeed, and put their goodlieſt young men to his worke; and made t… all his Servants: that they were forced to crie out, becauſe of their King which they … choſen. Such have they found their Romiſh Heads; that like ill Phyſitians, … purged away the good humours, and left the bad behinde them.

Loe now the praiſe of Antiquity, when it hath ſwarved from the rule of Piety… Where is now the validity of that Pontifician argument, concerning the ancien… of their Church? This plea might the Iewes ſtill make; We are the ſonnes of … ham: but Chriſt told them of another Father. As much ſay the Turkes, We … the ſonnes of Abraham by Sara, ſo called Saracens: but they were none of … ſonnes. It hath beene un-anſwerably proved, that the fundamentall Heads of … p. 549preſent Romiſh faith, had their ſeverall births; ſome two hundred, ſome foure hun…red, ſome eight hundred, ſome a thouſand, ſome a thouſand and foure hundred …eares after Chriſt. But ſay they were old; yet wanting the warrant of ſacred …ruth, they are no better an argument of purity, than the old world was of innocen…e. Conſuetudo longa ſine veritate, vetustas erroris eſt: Truth is not to be rejected,Chryſoſt. …or meere novelty: for old truths may come newly to light, and God is not tied to …is times for the gift of illumination. Yet is this the foundation, whereon they reare …eit Babel, their Bable; whoſe top muſt reach up to the firmament, and command …f Earth only, but Heaven it ſelfe: and thus they meaneggGen. 11.4.Gen 11:4 Celebrare nomen ſuum, ne …ſsipentur: The world was good when God framed it, muſt it therefore be good …hen he drowned it? Iſaac was ſtrong when he married Rebecca, muſt he therefore …taine the ſame corporall ſtrength when he bleſſed Iacob? The Cathedrall Church …f Saint Paul two hundred yeares agoe, might haply be in good caſe, may it not …erefore now want reparation? The Church of Rome was pure when Paul plan…d it; muſt it now be ſo when Antichriſt hath corrupted it? Shew us the ſame in…grity that Rome then had, and we are of the ſame faith that Rome then was. O…erwiſe, not how old a thing is, but how good it is, ſhould be the enquiry of Chri…tians. The Old man is corrupted and loſt; hee muſt become New that will …e ſaved.

3 If that was an Old world, how old is it now? Have not the acceſſion of ſo ma… hundred yeares made it ſomewhat weaker? Yes, Rerum atque hominum nunc ſunt …crementa: The world is ſicke at the heart; not only in ſome ſuperfluities, as warts …d ſwellings, but in the integrall and eſſentiall parts. The Aire like a prodigious …other, produceth ſtrange and abortive births. She was lately delivered of a bur…ng childe, a portentfull Comet: which divers have tooke the altitude of, but God …ely knowes what it meant. The Springs, in ſtead of nouriſhing the young Plants, …ove ſepulchers to bury them. Nature is ſo prepoſterous, as if her braines were …n'd, and ſhe knew not what ſhe did. But the God of Nature knowes, and tells us … theſe tokens, that the world is old. As a tree, it was greene in the Spring, yellow Summer, white in the Autumne, is now ſtarke and cold in the Winter of his age. … man which is the little world, ſo the world which is a great man, had his Infan…, Youth, Middle-age, Old-age. From Adam to Noah was the worlds Infancie:Aug. …m Noah to Abraham, the Childhood: from Abraham to David, the Youth: from …vid to the Captivitie, the Middle-age: from that to Chriſt, the Old-age: from …, to the end of all things, the Dotage.

God hath made mans life ſhorter, that his ſinnes might be fewer. From nine …ndred, it is fallen to ſeventie; and how few ſee halfe thoſe! Methuſhalem lived … one day to God; he ſaw not a thouſand yeares, which with God is as one day: … we ſcarce live one houre in reſpect of his day. Of nine hundred and ſixty, our …htie is but as the twelfth part. If a man live to the tenth part of Methuſhalems age, …is a childe againe, when the light is ſent to his windowes, and the glaſſes there …mbred cannot receive it: when the hollow receptacles of ſounds are ſhut up: … the faltring diſcourſe is interrupted with harſh parentheſes, coughes: Wee are …w old in as ſhort time, as they were ſcarce paſt children:hhIob 8.9.Job 8:9 We are but of yesterday. …d as our lives are abridged from a fadome to a ſpan, ſo are our bodies contracted. …en the age was long, the proportion was great: that a man could grapple with a …ge beaſt on ſome termes of equality: as Sampſon coped with a Lion, David with …are, and came off with victory. Theſe were bred in the worlds prime and youth…eſſe; we now in the withered and decrepite age. We are ſcarce the ſhadowes of …fore-fathers, whether in length or ſtrength of life, whether in ſtature or force …ature. We are not ſooner growen up to be men, but ſtraight we are none; death …es ſo quicke a riddance of us, as it will doe of all things. The worlds ſtomacke …g old, is weake of retention; and the crudities of ſinne are ſo hard of digeſtion, … the veſſell muſt ſoone bee broken. Magiſtrates are the armes of the world, p. 550Counſellers the braines, Lawyers the tongues, the Rich the ſtomachs, the poore the backes, Merchants the feete, Officers the hands, and Divines the hearts. Now there is a generall corruption in all theſe, (Let it not be underſtood de ſingulis g… rum, ſed de generibus ſingulorum; not all of every kind, but every kind of all) this epidemicall diſtemper witneſſeth it is Old, and neare the diſſolution.

Now the greater the corruption, the vaſter the deſtruction. Some thinke the the Igneum diluvium, fiery deluge ſhall deſcend no higher than did the watery; It may be the earth ſhall be burn'd; that is the worſt gueſt at the table, the common ſewer of all other creatures: but ſhall Calum tranſire, the heavens paſſe away? It may be Coelum aëreum, the airy heaven; but ſhall Sydereum, ſtellatum, the ſtarry heaven, whe… God hath printed ſuch figures of his glory? yes, Coelum, elementum, Terra, when Ig… ubique ferox ruptis regnabit habenis. The former deluge is called the worlds wi…, the next the worlds ſummer. The one was frigido elemento, with a cold and … element: the other ſhall be calido, with an element hot and dry. But what then … become of the Saints? they ſhall be delivered out of all; walking like thoſe that ſervants in the midſt of that great furnace, the burning world, and not be ſcorc…, becauſe there is one among them, to deliver them,iiDan. 3.25.Dan 3:25 The Sonne of God, their R…d… mer. But ſhall all quite periſh? no, there is rather a mutation, than an aboli… of their ſubſtance.kkPſal. 102.27.Ps 102:27 Thou ſhalt change them, and they ſhall be changed: changed, … aboliſhed. Tranſit mundus & concupiſcentia egus; the concupiſcence ſhall paſſe, nor the eſſence: Figura non natura. In the altering of an old garment, we deſtroy it not, … trimme it, refreſh it, and make it ſeeme new. They paſſe, they do not periſh: … droſſe is purged, the metall ſtayes. The corrupt quality ſhall bee renewed, … all things reſtored to that originall beauty wherein they were created.ll1 Pet. 4.7.1 Pet 4:7 The … all things is at hand: an end of us, an end of our dayes, an end of our waies, an … of our thoughts. Qui ab univerſalitate te excipit, te decipit. If a man could ſay … Iobs meſſenger, Ego ſolus aufugi, I alone am eſcaped, it were ſomewhat; or might find an Arke with Noah. But there is no Arke to defend from that heate, but … the boſome of Ieſus Chriſt.mmPſal. 119.96Ps 119:96 I have ſeene an end of all perfection: if perfection … earth have an end, imperfection cannot long continue. una dies dabit exitum, e…. There ſhall be an end of our eating, an end of our building, an end of our cove… ſcraping, an end of our workes, and end of our ſelves, but no end of our ſoules: an… if we be found in the faith, no end of our bleſſedneſſe, for then begins a w… without end. Of theſe three obſervations, I deſire to make three application.

1 Let us turne good with all the ſpeede we can, for how farre off ſoever the ge… rall end may be, our particular, end is neere. I know that long life was Gods … miſe to his ſervants: but when long life ceaſeth to be proſperous, it ceaſeth to … his promiſe. He ſhortens our life. 1 That we be not aflicted with evils; the right… are preventednnEſa. 57.1.Isa 57:1 of the evill to come. 2 That we be not infected with evils, cor… by the times, as Ioſeph was caught with the Aegytptian oath. 3 Their me… lives though they die: Diſceſſus volito viva per ora virûm. If the good name… preſerved, a man is alive though he be dead. 4 If God take away temporall, … gives eternall life for it, there is no hurt done us. He that promiſed ten piec… ſilver, and gives ten pieces of gold, breakes no promiſe. When Herod pro… halfe his kingdome, if he had given it all, he had broke no promiſe. Gods pro… ſhall ſtand, when the mines of India ſhall faile. All mens lives are ſhort, why … I thinke mine long?ooLam. 4.18.Lam 4:18 Our end is neare, our dayes be fulfilled, for our end is come.

O then let not the end of our dayes, and the ſtrength of our ſins, come … together. It is ſaid of S^t Chryſoſtome, that Nihil finivit praeter peccatum, he ma… … end of nothing but of ſin. Let it not be ſaid of us, Omnia finivimus praeter pecca… that wee have put an end to all things except our ſinnes. A man hath be… build, hee would faine end: begun to travell, hee would faine come to … joureneys end: Commenced a ſuite, hee deſires an end. Before all, let us … to end our ſins: if we end them by repentance, though the end of our lives … p. 551… end of our other buſineſſes, we ſhall never find cauſe of ſorrow. It is a ſaying Schooles, Ex malis praemiſsis ſequitur non bona concluſio: From evill ſeeds come …ll plants.pp1 Cor. 15.43.1 Cor 15:43 The body is ſowen in diſhonour, it is raiſed in glory. If we would reape a …rious body, let us ſow a gracious body. Let us not be of their number, Quorum … eſt interitus: Whoſe end is a deſtruction without end. Let repentance make an … of our ſinnes, before death make an end of our dayes; and then our end is not …perly an end, but a better beginning. Seeing the world muſt be changed, let us … have corrupted it, firſt change our ſelves. If fire muſt purge the elements, let us that celeſtiall fire of the Spirit to purge us. That when all the droſſe and fecu…ie of the world ſhall be on a light fire, we may be found pure, and preſented …re at the appearing of IESUS CHRIST.

2 As this teacheth all this old world, ſo it ſpecially directs it ſelfe to all that be …n the world. I know that age is ſubject to infirmities, and hath endangered … Saints to a relapſe. If all muſt once erre, errour falls leſſe unhappily in youth, … image. Covetouſneſſe, pettiſhneſſe, ſluggiſhneſſe, pride, are incident to old …res. This David knew, when he prayed ſo earneſtly;qqPſal. 71.9.18.Ps 71:9Ps 71:18 Caſt me not off in the time …ld-age, forſake me not when I am gray-headed. Some ſtrive to keepe themſelves …n any need of that prayer; either by artificiall tinctures, dying their haires into …er colours. So though they cannot make white blacke, yet they can make it ap…re blacke. They ſtudy Colorare capillos mendacio, as a Father ſpeakes. Or by …d and wanton luſts they prevent the baldneſſe of age, and leave themſelves not ſo …ch as one haire of an honeſt man.

Apoſtacie in old-age is fearefull: He that climbes almoſt to the top of a Tower, … ſlipping backe, hath the greater fall. The patient almoſt recovered, is more …dly ſicke by a relapſe. There were Starres ſtrucke from Heaven by the Dragons …; they had better never have pearched ſo high. The place where the Iſraelites … into that great folly with the daughters of Moab, was in the Plaine, within the …ſpect of the holy Land: they ſaw their Inheritance, and yet fell ſhort of it. So …tched is it for old men to fall, neare to their very entry of heaven.2 Sam. 2.2 Sam 2 As old Eli …is Indulgence; old Iudah in his Inceſt; old David with Bethſhabe; rr2 Chron. 16.12.2 Chr 16:12Gen. 38.Gen 38old Aſa …ting in the Phyſitians more than in God; and old Salomon built the High-places. …e have walkedſſEzek. 28.14.Ezek 28:14 like Cherubs in the middeſt of the ſtones of fire, yet beene caſt as …hane out of Gods mountaine. Thus the Sea-man paſſeth all the Maine, and ſuffers …cke in the Haven. The corne often promiſeth a plenteous Harveſt in the blade, ſhrinkes in the eare. You have trees loaden with bloſſomes, yet in the ſeaſon of …ectation, no fruit. A Comedie that holds well many Scenes, and goes lamely …in the laſt Act, findes no applauſe.ttLuke 17.32.Luke 17:32 Remember Lots wife: thinke on that pillar …alt, that it may ſeaſon thee.