Two Sermons for the Direction for Christian Carriage — Thomas Gataker

Two Sermons for the Direction for Christian Carriage · Thomas Gataker

NOAES OBEDIENCE.

HEBREWES▪ 11. 7.

By Faith NOA being warned of God of things as yet not seene, moued with Feare, prepared an Arke for the sauing of his Household, &c.

THis parcell of Scripture containethMatter. a briefe Summe of a Story related more at large by Moses in his aGenes. 6.first Booke and sixt Chapter, concerning the Patriarke NOA, bGenes. 5. 28, 29. Tertius ab Enoch, qui septimus ab Adam inclusivè. Iud. 14.the tenth from Adam, and as Basil of Seleucia well tearmeth him, cforeign. Basil. Sel. hō. 6. foreign. Gre. Naz. epitaph. patr.a second Adam, the Father of all mankind since the Floud, of all that are at this day in the world, or that shal be to the worlds end.

The effect and substance whereof is this, AnSumme. act of NOAES obedience, together with theDistribut. 1. grounds and the fruits or effects of it.Parts 3. Part 1. Act of obedience. Part 2. Grounds 3. Part 3. Effects 3.

1. His act of obedience, the building of the Arke.

The grounds of his so doing:

Without, Gods warning;

Within, his Faith, and his feare.

3. The fruits and effects thereof, good or bad; Good, in regard of him and his; the sauing of them temporally, of himselfe also eternally: Bad, in regard of others; the condemning of the wicked world.

Or thus:Distribut. 2. Part 1. Gods warning Part 2. Fruits 3. Part 3. Effects 3.

1. Gods warning, NOA being warned of God, &c.

2. The fruit of it in NOA; and that threefold; Faith, Feare, and Care.

3. The effect of this his faithfull, awfull, and carefull cariage; and that also three-fold; thereby, Hee saued his Houshold: Hee condemned the World: He became inheritor of the righteousnesse that is by Faith.

For the first of them, Gods warning: NOAPart 1. being warned of God.

How this was done is not expressed. And it is in vaine therefore for vsus to enquire. For cQuid enim opus est, ut hujusmodi cū discrimine definiantur, quando sine crimine nesciuntur? Aug. enchirid. c. 59.to what end should such things be with danger determined, as without danger of sinne wee may well be ignorant of? saith Augustine.

OnelyOnly thus much wee finde, that when the whole world was ouer-growne with wickednesse; (dGen. 6. 12. All flesh had corrupted their waies:) And the Church of God it selfe was growne to a generall Apostasie, by eGen. 6. 2, 4.the falling away of the Sonnes of God; not the fforeign. Sept. Filij Deorum. Aquila.Angels, (as gTertull. de habit. mul. & de cult. foem. ex prophetia Enochi: cujus fragmentum extat in notis Ios. Scalig. ad Eusebij Chronol. Quorū commentum refellunt Chrys. in Gen. hom. 22. Basil. Sel. hom. 6. August. de civit. l. 15. c. 22, 23. & in Gen. quaest. 3. Theod. q. l. 1. q. 47.Tertullian out of the forged Enoch, and hPhilo de gigant. Ioseph. antiq. l. 1. c. 4. Iustin. in apolog. utraque. Iren. l. 4. c. 70. Athenag. legat. Clem. Alex. strom. l. 3. & 5. & paedag. l. 3. c. 2. Euseb. praepar. l. 5. c. 4. & l. 7. c. 8. Method. de resurr. Sulpit. hist. sacr. l. 1. Lactat. instit. l. 2. c. 15. Ambr. de Noe c. 5. & de Virgin. l. 1.some others, though the iIob 1. 6. & 2. 1. & 38. 7. Contra quam Chrysost. hom. 22. in Gen. foreign; & Basil. Sel. hom. 6. foreign.Angels also be in some places so tearmed) and much lesse Deuils (as *Fr. Georg. probl. tom. 1. & Paul. Burg. addit. ad l. yr.some other hauehave absurdly conceited;) nor †Chald. Par. & Mercer.the Sonnes of Gods, that is, Princes and Potentates (though in Scripture “Psal. 82. 6.sometime so called;) but kBasil. Sel. Chrysost. Theodoret. & alij.the posteritie of Seth, matching with the daughters lHominum, i. secundum hominem viventium. Aug. de civit. l. 15. c. 8.of Men, and so contracting affinitie with Caines cursed race, which proued the ruine of the whole world: mGen. 6. 6.It repented God that hee had made man, that is, nGen. 6. 7.hee purposed to destroy man, whom before hee had made; for such is Gods repentance, a oMutatio rei, non Dei; effectus, non affectus; facti, non consilij. Aug. confess. l. 1. c. 4. & civit. l. 15▪ c. 25. & ad Simplic. l. 2. q. 2.change not of his will, but of his worke; pAliud est mutare voluntatem; aliud velle mutationem. Aquin. Sum. p. 1. q. 19. a. 7.repentance with Man is a change of the will; repentance with God is the willing of a change.

Now this his purpose and resolution did qGen. 6. 13.God impart vntounto NOA, to wit, that rGen. 6. 3.at the end of one hundred and twentie yeeres, (that was the vtmost stint and limit set sforeign. Basil. Sel. hom. 5. Anni illi ad poenitentiam dati, non vitae mortalium constituti. Hieron. quaest. in Gen.for mans repentance and t1 Petr. 3. 20. Patientia Dei 120 annos duraevit, in quibus arca confiebat. Ex Zohar Brought concent.Gods patience; not the list or sise of mans life for future times, as uIoseph. antiq. l. 1. c. 4. Lactant. instit. l. 2. c. 14. Diodor. Tars. Rupert. & Tostat. in Gen. Iac. de Vorag. de Sanct. 283. & alij.some vainely hauehave imagined, contrary xUt docent ex Gen. 11. 13, 15, 17, 19. Aug. de civit. l. 15. c. 24. Et Hieron. quaest. in Gen.to the euident truth of storie) he would bring in a deluge, that should drowne vp and destroy the whole world. And therefore yGen. 6. 14.willed NOA in the meane space to make such a Vessell, according to the patterne then prescribed him, as for bulke and bignesse was neuer the like seene or heard of before or since, not for the sauing of him and his alone, (which a farre lesser would hauehave done) but zHinc scitè Basil. Sel. hom. 6. de Arca. foreign. Et Noam idem appellat, foreign. homil. 5. foreign. Greg Naz. s…elit. 1. Sed & Aug. Arcam appellat, Reliquiarum humani generis promptuarium. de Civit. l. 15. c. 26. Et Greg. Naz. epitaph. Basil. foreign.for the preseruing of the seed of all liuing creatures.

And this was the warning that the Apostle speaketh of in this place.

Out of which Gods dealing with NOA, andPoint 1. the World that then was, obserue we this point, that

God seldome sendeth any extraordinary great or generall iudgement on Person or People, but hee giueth vsually some warning of it before.

aAmos 3. 6, 7.There is bLam. 3. 37, 38.no euill in the Citie, saith the Prophet Amos, that God hath not done. And the Lord will doe nothing▪ but he will reueale it to his seruants the Prophets. He cHosh. 6. 5. Mortem per prophetas comminando. Hieron. in Hosh. Ierem. 18. 7. Admovendo propheticae comminationis secures. Ruffin. ibid.cutteth men downe first commonly by the mouth of his Messengers, the Ministers of his Word, ere he cut them off by the hand of the Ministers, and executioners of his wrath.

There were two famous destructions of Ierusalem and the Iewish Nation; the former by the Chaldeans, the latter by the Romanes; and warning was giuen before of both; by d2 Chron. 36. 12, 15. Ier. 24. 8, 9, 10. & 25. 10, 11Ieremie, and other the Prophets of God of the one; and (to omit all other warnings reported by eIoseph. belli Iud. l. 7. c. 12. Et Euseb. hist. eccles. l. 3. c. 8.Iosephus the Iew, that then liued,) by our Sauiour fLuc. 19. 43, 44. & 21. 6, 20, 24. & 23. 28, 29.Christ the Sonne of God himselfe, of the other.

And there are two generall Destructions of the whole World; the one past by Water, the other future by Fire. gAqua propter ardorem libidinis. Ignis propter teporem charitatis. Ludolf. de vita Christ. l. 2. c. 87. Et Petr. Reginald. specul. fin. retrib. part. 1. poen. 5.Water, say some, for the heat of lust hGenes. 6. 2.that then was, and Fire, for the coldnesse of Charitie iMatth. 24. 12.that shall be (though that may seeme somewhat too curious:) And good warning hath beene giuen of both. For of the former, kGen. 6. 12.God, you see here, gaue warning to NOA, and by NOA to the World; For NOA, saith S. Peter, was lPraeco justitiae. 2 Pet. 2. 5.a Preacher of Righteousnesse: Yea the very building of the Arke, such a peece as it was, was mforeign. Basil. Sel. hom. 5.a proclaiming of the Floud, and a preaching of repentance: NOA in making of the Arke did, as Basil speaketh, nforeign. Ibid.preach without preaching. EueryEvery stroke that was strucke, eueryevery naile that was driuen in the framing of it, was a fore-telling of the Floud, and *foreign. Greg. Naz. in Basil. foreign. Idem in Maccab.a reall Sermon of repentance. And of the latter both oMatth. 24. 27, 30. & 25. 31, 46.Christ himselfe, and his Apostles p1 Thess. 5. 2. 2 Thess. 1. 7, 8.Saint Paul and q2 Pet. 3. 10.Saint Peter hauehave in their Sermons and writings giuen warning.

Now this God doth, partly in regard of those that are in mercy to be saued, and partly in regardReasons 2. of those that doe deseruedly perish.Reason 1.

In regard of those that are to be saued, rNon vult populū suum inopin…tu opprin…e.that they may not be surprised vnawares; because he s2 Pet. 3. 9. Ezek. 33. 11.would not hauehave them to perish, but to repent and be saued. And therefore tforeign. Basil. Sel. homil. 5.hee threatneth before Redire mavult quā perire. Guil. Malmesb. gest. Ang. l. 2. cap. 10. Redire nos sibi, non perire desiderat. Petr. Chrysol. serm. 167. Errantes mavult emē dare quàm perdere. Ruffin. hist. l. 2. c. 22. foreign. Basil. Sel. homil. 21. Suffundere mavult sanguinem quàm effundere. Tertul. apolog.he smiteth: yea uMinatur ne caedat; cedit, ne occidat, &c. Aug. Conf. l. 2. c. 2. foreign. Chrysost. in Gen. hom. 22.he threatneth, saith Augustine, that hee may not smite; and hee smiteth that hee may not slay; and hee slayeth some sometime temporally, xVt poena paucorum salus sit omniū. Salv. de Provid. l. 2.that others may not bee destroyed eternally; that y1 Cor. 11. 32.being chastened in the world, they may not bee condemned with the world.

In regard of those that perish, the obstinate wicked, to make them the more inexcusable: aNe dicant non praedictum sibi.that they may not say, but that they had faire warning giuen them before, if they would hauehave taken it. bMatth. 24. 14.This Gospell, saith our Sauiour, shall before the worlds end be preached to all Nations throughout the world, to be a witnesse against them.

And the vse of this point (to omit all others) may be two-fold vntounto vsus;Reason 2.

To commend vntounto vsus Gods patience:Vses.

To prouoke vsus to repentance.

First, to commend vntounto vsus Gods patience, yeaVse 1. *foreign. Basil. Sel. hom. 11.his merciemercy and his goodnesse. Who though heCōmendation. might smite iustly without more adoe, so soone as men sinne, (the generall warnings that the light of Nature, and the very letter of the Law afford are sufficient) yet he doth not proceed ordinarily to any extraordinary iudgement, but hee giueth many faire warnings of it before-hand. A signe that cforeign; Basil. Sel. hom. 11. Ei foreign. Chrysost. in Gen. hom. 22.hee desireth not to doe that that he threatneth, if he were not by mans obstinacie vrged thereunto.

For dProfessa perdunt odia vindictae locū. Sen. Med. act. 2.Professed hatred, we say, taketh away opportunitie of reuenge. eDatum▪ est negotium peragendae necis Cl. Pompeiano, qui ingressus ad Cō modū districto gladio in haec verba prorumpens, Hunc tibi pugionem Senatus mit…it; detexit facinus fa…uus, nec implevit. Ael. Lamprid. in Commod.A conspiracie against Commodus was frustrate by the folly of one that should hauehave executed it, but would needs tell him what hee was to doe ere he did it. fforeign. Chrysost. in Psal. 7.Those that minde mischiefe therefore are not wont to giuegive warning. g2 Sam. 13. 22, 28.Absolom spake neither good nor bad to his brother Ammon, but watched his time only, and then tooke it. hClamaret▪tantum feriturū se, sivellet ferire? Aug. in Psal. 44.Nor would God, saith Augustine, proclaime thus what he is about to doe, if he were desirous to doe it. But iEzek. 3. 18. foreign. Chrysost. tom. 6. serm. 87. foreign. Idem in Psal. 7. foreign. Ibid. Ineffabilis Dei clementi. … poenas minatur, ne poenas inferat. Theodoret. in Ezech. 7. Tristia minatur, ne in nos tristia invehat. Idem in Ion. 3.he threatneth destruction, that he may not destroy; as by the Prophet Ezekiel himselfe implieth: And as in the Niniuites it is apparant, who by *foreign. Basil. Sel. hom. 11. foreign. Greg. Naz▪ apolog.being threatned with destruction, were saued from being indeed destroyed.

It is not therefore for want either of euill desert on our part, or of good cause and iust ground, yea or power on Gods part, that he holdeth his hand from smiting so soone as wee sinne, and in this manner giueth warning before hee smite, kEsai. 59. 1. Num. 11. 23.His hand is not weakned, that hee cannot strike vsus, nor his arme shortned, that he cannot reach vsus. lNon ille potentiā perdidit, sed patientiam exercet. Aug. de verb. Ap. 35.He hath not lost his power; but hee exerciseth his patience: saith Augustine. mPatientiam exercet suam, dum poenitentiam expectat …uam. Ibid.He exerciseth his patience, while he expecteth our repentance.

And so passe we to the second vse.

Where to passe by, onelyonly pointing at it in aVse 2. Imitation. word, that vse that might bee made hereof for Imitation, that as God dealeth with vsus, so should we also deale with others; we should not be, as too many are, A word, we say, and a blow; or, No word, and a stab. For nMatth. 18. 21, 22, 26-33.shall God be so patient; and man so impatient? shall God beare with vsus, and not we beare with our brethren? No: oMatth. 18. 15, 16, 17. Luk. 13. 7, 8, 9. & 17. 3, 4.If thy brother wrong thee, saith our Sauiour, goe and tell him of it betweene him and thee; and if he heare thee not so, take two or three with thee; if hee will not heare them neither, then acquaint the Church with it: and if hee refuse to heare the voice of the Church too, then mayst thou, and not before, carrie thy selfe toward him, and take such course with him▪ as▪ with an Heathen or a Publican, such as theyVse 3. Exhortation. then were, thou mightest.

But to keepe to that that we principally now intend. As this commendeth vntounto vsus Gods patience, so it should prouoke vsus to repentance; since that by it pAct. 17. 29, 30.God calleth vsus thereunto. qRom. 2. 4.The patience, goodnesse, and long-suffering of God, leadeth thee to repentance, saith the Apostle. That is r2 Pet. 3. 9. Ad hoc parcitur homini ut convertatur, & nō sit qui damnetur. Aug. de verb. Dom. 1. Venturum se praedicat, ut cùm venerit, quos damnet non inveniat. Greg. in Euang. 37.the end that God aimeth at in it: and that is s2 Pet. 3. 13.the vse that wee should make of it.

Doth God giuegive warning of any generall Iudgement? And who seeth not that he so doth at the present? To say nothing of ought at home, decay of trade, likelihood of dearth, and the like: Cast we our eyes abroad into foraine parts almost on eueryevery side of vsus, and see if the fire of Gods wrath be not gone out alreadie, and hath taken hold of our neighbours houses, yea and burnt diuers, and not a few of them, downe to the ground: And tTune tua res agitur, paries cùm proximus ardet. foreign. Chrysost. …. 6. serm. 77.it concerneth vsus, as wee say, not them alone, to looke to it, when our neighbours houses are on fire. These are reall warnings, and very sensible ones, if wee be not stupid and senselesse.

Doth God then giuegive warning? Let vsus take it when he giueth it. uAmos 4. 12.Therefore I will doe *Quid sit factur▪, tacet, ut dum ad singula poenarum genera pendent incerti, poenitentiam agant, ne inferat quae minatur. Hieron.this vntounto thee, saith the Lord by Amos. And because I will doe this vntounto thee; therefore prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. Let vsus prepare to meet him, that is comming towards vsus, before he come at vsus. Let vsus, according to xLuk. 14. 32.our Sauiours counsell, dispatch Messengers (yMittamus preces & lachrymas cordis legatos. Cyprian. lib. 4. ep. 4. our praiers and teares, saith Cyprian) to meet him on the way, while he is yet afarre off, and make an attonement with him, ere his wrath breake in vponupon vsus. Let vsus zCurrat poenitentia, ne praecurrat sententia. Petr. Chrysolog. serm. 167.make all haste by speedie and vnfained repentance to preuent the heauie doome and sentence of death.

Otherwise, let vsus assure our selues, that though aExod. 34. 6, 7. Patientiae Deus longae, non aeternae.Gods patience last long, yet it will not be euerlasting. Though b2 Chron. 36. 15, 16, 17. Ierem. 44. 22.he beare with vsus for a long time, yet he will not alwaies forbeare vsus. Yea, cFuror sit laesa saepius patientia. P. Syr. foreign. Greg. Naz. orat. 18.Patience ouer-much prouoked is wont to turne, not into wrath, but into rage. And it is dSubitò tollitur, qui diu toleratur. Greg. m…r. l. 35. c. 3. Psal. 50. 22.a iust thing with God to take those away without further warning, that would not take warning when it was giuen.

NOA▪ tooke warning here, and was saued; the World would not take warning, and was suddenly destroyed.

And so we come to consider the fruit of this warning in regard of NOA; what effect it had with him▪

This diuine warning therefore wrought inPart 2. Effects 3. NOA, Faith, Feare▪ and Care; or Gods warning wrought Faith, Faith Feare, Feare Care.

Gods warning, I say, wrought Faith in NOA;Effect 1. Faith. (by Faith, saith the Apostle▪ NOA fore▪warned of God, &c.) not the habite of Faith▪ which hee had before, but a renewed act of it▪ NOA beleeued this, when no body but himselfe would beleeue it; yea when he was counted▪ no doubt, generally a doating foole for his labour.

And this his Faith is commended by a circumstanceObiect. of the warning giuen▪ or the thing forewarned. Of things as yet vnseene▪ All warnings are generally of things not seene▪ For what need any be warned of that that themselues see? But this was of a thing an hundred and twenty yeeres off; such as there was no signe or shew at all to be seene of, such as no print or footstep of was at all yet; such as neither by outward sense, nor naturall reason could be apprehended or coniectured; a thing most vnlikely, improbable, incredible, yea *foreign. Basil. Sel. hom. 23. foreign Chrysost. in Gen. hom. 47.in nature impossible.Point 2.

Where obserue wee the nature and propertie of true Faith to apprehend things vnseene, to beleeue vponupon Gods bare word, things not vnlikely only and improbable, but euen incredible, yea and in some sort also impossible.

eHebr. 11. 1.Faith, saith this our Apostle, is the euidence of things not seene, and the ground of things hoped for. And to Thomas, saith our Sauiour, fIohn 20. 29.Thomas, thou beleeuest, because thou hast seene. But, Blessed are those g1 Pet. 1. 8.that beleeue and see not. And yet Thomas he beleeued also more than hee saw: (for hNon hoc credidit, quod vidit: sed al… ud vidit, aliud credidit. Vidit enim hominem, & credidit Deum. Aug. in Ioan. 79. Et Greg. in Euang. hom. 26.hee saw one thing, saith Augustine, and he beleeued another thing:) but blessed are they that beleeue, though they see nothing at all. For, as iRom. 8. 24.the hope that is seene, saith the Apostle, is no hope: so that Faith (kHebr. 11. 1. the ground of Hope) that is seene (that is, the obiect whereof is seene) is (to speake properly) lQuod videtur, sciri potius quàm credi dicitur. Greg. in Euang. 32. Qu… etenim apparent, ja… fidem non habent, sed agnitionē. Ibid. 26.no faith. mIbi fides non habet meritum, ubi ratio humana praebet experimentum. Greg. in Euang. 26. Et Bern. de bon. deser. Sed tunc fides esse dignoscitur, quando id creditur, quod non videtur. Bern. in Cant. 76.Faith is of no vse or force, saith Gregorie, there, where outward sense▪ yea or naturall reason, is able to enforme vsus of ought. nQuae virtus fidei nisi lateret quod credimus? merces autem fidei videre quod credidimus antequam videremus. Aug. in Psal. 109. Ideò credere debemus quae non videmus, ut videre mereamur quae credimus. Hugo Victor. de fid. invis. c. 1.It is the efficacie of faith to beleeue what wee see not; the reward of faith it shall be, to see what wee beleeue: when wee shall come to walke, as the Apostle speaketh, o2 Cor. 5. 7. 1 Cor. 13. 12, 13. 1 Iohn 3. 2.not by faith, but by sight.

Who almost would beleeue, that the fire of pM^r Bradshaw on this place.Gods wrath should be kindled already, and yet not breake forth till an hundred and twentie yeeres after? who would beleeue that the whole world should be drowned, and qforeign. Basil. Sel. homil. 6.returne againe to that Chaos wherein it lay buried rGen. 1. 2.at the first, before sGen. 1. 9.sea and land were distinguished and seuered either from other? If God should hauehave sent NOA but into England, supposing it to hauehave beene then as now it is, to foretell the Inhabitants of this Iland, that within a few yeeres their whole Countrey should be swallowed vp of the sea, would not most men hauehave deemed it a thing altogether impossible? yet did NOA beleeue it vponupon Gods bare word, not concerning some one Iland, a little patch of the world, no more to the maine Continent, than a small pond or poole to the maine Ocean, but concerning the whole world; and accordingly it came to passe.

Somewhat the like wee may obserue in the King of Nineueh and his people. There commeth Ionas a Iew, *foreign. Basil. Sel. hom. 11.a meere stranger among them, and telleth them, that not within an hundred yeeres, but tIon. 3. 4.within uIta veritas Hebr. Ita etiam Aquila, Theodot. Symmach. Hieron. & Vulg. Origen. item in Ier. hom. 5. Chrysost. ad pop. Ant. homil. 80. si interpreti fides, Sept. tamen, Adhuc tres dies. Atque ita etiam Basil. Sel. homil. 11. Chrysost. in Gen. homil. 24. in Psal. 7. in 1 Cor. bō. 15. in Eph. hom. 10. tom. 6. hom. 43. & 78. & 87. & Aug. homil. 2. Iustin. dissert. cum Tryph. habet 43. Origen. in Num. hom. 16. Tres, …ive ut Hebraei, 40 dies. Frustra conciliare conantur Aug. in Gen. q. 169. & de Civit. l. 18. c. 44. Leo Castr. de translat. c. 24. Et Canus. loc. commun. l. 11. c. 5. Graeca versio proculdubio vitiosa est.fortie daies Niniueh the greatest, the strongest, the chiefe, the head Citie of the whole world, a great part whereof the King thereof then commanded, should be vtterly destroyed. Had Ionas come to London, and there preached the like some fortnight or three weekes before that Powder-plot was to hauehave beene executed, who would hauehave beleeued it? or thought it a thing credible, yea or possible almost? And yet wee know well how neere wee were to an vtter subuersion, if God in mercy had not preuented mans malice. But xIon. 3. 5, 6.the Nineuites, as well Prince as People, though they saw no preparation towards, no enemie at hand, no likelihood of any sudden inuasion, or of subuersion by other meanes, taking Ionas, as he was indeed, for a Prophet of God, beleeued him on his word, and yItaque s…itè Aug. de civit. l. 21. c. 24. & in Psal. 50. Nineven & eversam esse, quia conversa cepit esse quod ante non erat, nec subversam tamen, quia non per. jt.by their repentance and humiliation, preuented that which otherwise had beene.

Adde we but one Example more; and that shall be of the Prophet Ieremies confident cariage in this kinde: He had foretold that aIerem. 34, 2.Ierusalem should be sacked by the Chaldeans. And the Chaldeans accordingly came and begirt it. But the Iewes thus besieged send to Aegypt for succour. And the King of Aegypt commeth with a great force, raiseth the siege, and releeueth the Citie. Hereupon began the false Prophets to triumph and insult ouer Ieremie, as if he were taken now with the manner, and detected of falsehood, as one that had fore-told that that was not like to be effected. But the Prophet telleth them confidently, relying on Gods word, That bIerem. 37. 10.though they had smitten the Chaldeans, and left not one of them aliue, yet should those very slaine men rise vp out of their tents, and set fire vponupon that Citie.

And the Reason hereof is, because Faith restethReason. Props 2. & relieth vponupon two immouable Props, Gods abilitie, and his fidelitie, his might, and his truth.

First, vponupon his abilitie, might and power; (thatProp 1. was the ground of cRom. 4. 21. Hebr. 11. 19.Abrahams Faith, dRom. 4. 11, 12.the Father of the faithfull) able to bring the most vnlikely things that are to passe in an instant. For eMatth. 19. 26. Mark. 10. 27.many things are impossible with man: but fMark. 9. 23. & 14. 36. Luk. 1. 37.nothing is impossible, yea gIerem. 32. 17, 27. Planè nihil Deo difficile. Tertull. ad Prax.nothing▪ difficult with him: nothing but hee can doe, and doe with ease, hCui voluisse fecisse est. Ambr. de bon. mort. cap. 12. Psal. 115. 3. & 135. 6. foreign. Clem. Alex. protrept. Simul. n. ac cogitavit, perficit quod cogitavit, & simul ac voluit, & cogitat hoc quod voluit, & tunc volens cùm cogitat. Iren. l. …. 6.whose word is his will, and his will his worke; who as iQui dixit & facta …. Psal▪ 148. 5. & 33. 6. Deu… … totus foreign, quod cogitat hoc loquitur, & quod …. …. l. 2. c. 48. foreign. Basil. Sel. hom. 1.with a word of his mouth hee made all things of nothing, so kPsal. 104. 29.with a blast of his breath is able to bring all things againe vntounto nothing▪Prop 2.

For *Omne verbum. Luc. 1. 37. quin quàm facilè possunt homines loqui quod volunt, etiam quad … possunt, … fac…, … incomparabiliter facilius valet Deus opere implere, quicquid illi verbo valent expri…re …. de temp. 11.worke is as easie as word with him; who can doe any thing more easily than any can say it. There is “Multum interest inter loqui & facere, sed apud homines, … apud Deum. Ibid.much difference betweene saying and doing, saith Bernard; but with man; not with God.

Secondly, vponupon his …, his truth▪ his veracitie, (the maine prop of lHebr. 11. 11.Saraes Faith.) mRom. 3. 4.Let God be true, saith the Apostle▪ and all men liers; nNon est homo verax, nisi in quo loquitur Deus, Aug. in Psalm. 108.all that speake without him, or not from him▪ saith Augustine: God therefore is true: yea, he is a God of truth. And not only oforeign Psalm. 31. 5.Deus veritatis, a God of Truth; but pforeign Ier…. 10. 10.Deus veritas, God Truth, qIohn 14. 6.Truth it selfe: And being Truth it selfe, rTit. …. … ▪hee cannot lie, s2 …. 2. 13.nor deny himselfe▪ … cap. 7.It were a want of abilitie to be able to do so. uMatth. 5. 18.Though heauen and earth should passe away, (saith our Sauiour) yet shall no one iot or tittle of his word passe away, vntill it bee all out, euerie whit of it fulfilled.

Now this then should admonish vsus to imitateVse 1. Admonition. faithful NOA our father herein, if we desire to be his children, as well after the Faith, as we are after the Flesh: to take warning when God giues it; giuegive credit to Gods threatnings, though we see them not seconded with any outward effect yet.

And surely, if wee ought to take notice with NOA, of such Iudgements as Gods word alone giueth warning of, though xNec vola, nec vestigium apparet. Varro taphe Menip.no print or foot-step of them be to be seene otherwise; how much more when we hauehave such euident and apparent *Prov. …. 3. & 27. 12.signes, euen to outward sense of some storme cōming toward vsus, as we cannot but see, vnlesse we be of those of whom Bernard saith, That yFestucā qu…runt, unde oculis sibi eruant. …. deser.they seake strawes to put out their eyes withall; or of whom Iustine Martyr saith▪ That zC…sis oculis … foreign. Iustin. Mart.they winke wilfully, that they may not see what is comming toward them, when some vnsauoury potion is ministred to them, which they are content, though it goe against the stomacke with them, to take.

Yea hereby may we trie the efficacie of our Vse …. Examination.Faith, if we can beleeue God on his bare word, when we see no likelihood of performance.

As for his promises, when wee dare trust himPromises. on his word for the performance of them: not trust him, as we say, only so farre as we see him; trust him no further than we can see our selues; that is, not to trust him at all; it is Quid magni est credere quod vide…, & … … gare oculu fidē ▪ quid … …eretur? Bern. in Cant. 76.to trust our eyes, and not him: nor to trust him onelyonly when we hauehave bforeign. Theophylact. epist. 26.his pledge or his pawne: that is, not to trust him neither; it is cQuod mihi non credi…, - Credis cauliculis ar…erihusque meis. Martial. l. 12. ep. 25.… his …, and not him: But to trust him on his word, euen then when dAct. 7. 5.he seemeth to goe from, or *foreign; Chrysost. in Gen. 47.against his Word; as when Gen. 22. 1, 2.he bade Abraham stay Isaak, by whom he looked fGen. 12. 2. & 15. 5. & …1. 12. & 22. 17.to hauehave issue for number, a… the stars of the ski…, and as the sands by the sea-shore▪ to beleeue that gIo…. 13. 15, 16.God will saue vsus, when he seemeth about to slay vsus; that hHebr. 12. 5, 6.he loueth vsus, when he … on vsus, and maketh little shew of louelove to vsus; that iIohn▪ 16. 3…. Matth. 27. 46.he stayeth and bideth by vsus, when he seemeth to hauehave forsaken v… ▪ that he k…. …. 14, 15, 16.remembreth vsus then, when he seemeth to forget vsus; that lPsalm. 31. 22. & 40. 17. foreign. Greg. Naz. in Cy…. foreign. Caeserius ap…d … epist. 59.he regardeth vsus and looketh after vsus, when he seemeth to neglect vsus; that hee will bring vsus vp, Mica 7. 20.yea he is euen then bringing vsus on to heauen, when he seemeth to thr…st vsus downe to hell; that Ezek. 18. 5.he will make good all his gracious promises made to his … and seruants for their safetie and deliuerance▪ though we see not how he should: this is the strength and efficacie of Faith indeed▪

So for his …, God hath▪ … … lyThreatnings. said, that, … The Soule that …neth shall …e the Death. And, pPsal. 6…. 21.God will … the head of his Enemies, and the hairie scalpe of eueryevery one that goeth on obstinately in his s…tine▪ But because we see not this oft-times instantly effected (many wicked ones qPsal. 73. 5, 4.liue merrily, and … easily; and so seeme to scape the scourge here; for rProv. 14. 13, 10. quod proxima nesciat uxor. Pers. 3.what they feele inwardly, none is aware but themselues.) Therefore many imagine that God will be better than his word: they thinke these things are spoken onelyonly sIn terrorē emissa: & sperandum magis de clementia, quàm timendum de justitia. Girald. Cambr. topogr. Hibern. part. 3. c. 31.to fright men, and to keepe them in awe: they cannot beleeue that God will euer doe, what they see him not now doe. tEccles. 8. 11.Because sentence against an euill worke is not out of hand executed: therefore is the heart of the sonnes of men uforeign. Basil. Sél. hom. 5. Sic enim legend…, contra quam in Vulgatis nullo sensu.wholly bent to doe euill, saith Solomon. Here is the worke of faith then, to beleeue that, that there is no likelihood of by ought that can be discerned for the present. But, xEccles. 8. 12, 13.though the wicked, saith Solomon, liue an hundreth yeeres, and passe them all ouer in pleasure, (though it be as many yeeres almost to it, as it was here to the Floud, and as little likelihood to see to of the one as of the other,) yet I know that it shall not goe well with the wicked.

It is one point of mans misery, saith the Heathen man, aboue other of the creatures, that yHom… futuri solus torquetur metu. Sen. epist.Man alone is vexed with care, and griefe, and thought, and feare for the future. But it is a maine point of mans eminencie, say I, *Mutum animal sensu comprehendit praesentia, &c. Tempus futurum ad muta non pertinet. Sen. ep. 124.aboue other creatures, and of Christian men aboue other men, that they are not zforeign. Greg. Naz. stelit. 1. Mancipi… praesentium.all for the present, but aEccles. 2. 14.they hauehave their eyes in their forehead, to foresee future euils. And as the bDescription of the world, cap. of China and Cathaia.Chineses vse to say of themselues, that all other Nations in the world see but with one eye, they onelyonly with two: So naturall men hauehave but one eye, the carnall eye of naturall reason; that can pierce no further than the light of nature reacheth: but Christian men hauehave two, the cforeign. Basil. Sel. hom. 23. foreign. Idem homil. 31.spirituall eye of faith also, (for the one putteth not out the other) whereby they are enabled to foresee future euils, euen such also as no sense or reason is able to apprehend.

And hereby may we try the efficacie of our faith, if euen then we beleeue these things, when there is no sight or shew at all of them; which it is better for vsus to beleeue now, when it may be for our benefit, than by wofull experience to be taught the truth of them hereafter, when it shall be too late for vsus to beleeue that which we shall not then heare from others, or see in others, but feele and sustaine sensibly our selues.

But because all will say they beleeue thus;Effect 2. Feare. come we to the touchstone, to the triall. How did NOAES faith appeare? or wherein was it shewed? His Faith bred Feare. By faith-moued with feare. As he beleeued the thing told him by God to be true; so he feared the issue, he expected the euent of it with feare. And by this his disposition he teacheth vsus what the nature of true faith is, that in such cases as this was, dFides facit formidinem. Tertull. ad Marc. Quādo incipit quis credere, incipit timere. Si cepit credere, cepit & timere. Bern. mod. viv. c. 4.Faith breedeth Feare.Point 3.

There are two ordinarie attendants of faith, faith of future things I meane, and those such as may concerne vsus either directly or indirectly, Hope and Feare. And true faith hath euer one of these twaine attending on it, according to the nature of the thing apprehended by it. If it be a good thing that faith apprehendeth, it expecteth it with hope; if an euill thing, with feare. If it be a promise that Faith layeth hold on, it breedeth hope: if it be a threatning that Faith fastneth on, it worketh Feare.

Yea these two affections, Credulitie and Timiditie, Faith and Feare, doe mutually and enterchangeably succeed either other, produce either other. Faith breedeth Feare, and Feare breedeth Faith. Credulitie maketh men timorous: and Timiditie maketh men credulous. dCredula res timor est, quod de amore Ovid▪ epist. 6.Feare is very credulous, and suspitious, ePessimus in dubiss augur timor. Stat. Theb▪ l. 3. Sed malus interpres rerum metus omne trahebat Augurium pejore via. - Claud. bell. Gild. Ad tristē partem strenua est suspicio. P. Syr. Prona est timori semper in pejus fides. Sen. Herc. sur. 2.readie to incline to the worse side, and to fasten vponupon eueryevery shadow and least shew of that that it surmiseth. And as Timiditie is credulous, so Credulitie is as timorous, enforcing the minde to hang in continuall suspence and expectation of those euils that it apprehendeth as imminent. VponUpon Michaes Prophecie fIerem. 26. 19.Ezechias beleeued, and he feared. And vponupon Ionaes preaching gIon. 3. 5.the Nineuites beleeued God and feared.

Nor indeed can it be otherwise: For what is hforeign. Aristot. ethic. l. 3. c. 6. foreign. Idem rhet. l. 2. c. 5. Perturbatis five aegritudo ex opinione & expectatione mali impendentis. Cic. Tuscul. l. 3.Feare, but an expectation of some euill impendent. As hope an expectation of good, so feare of euill. But that man that beleeueth the truth of Gods threatnings, cannot but expect the euils threatned in them; and so feare consequently before Gods face, proportionably in some sort to the euill expected. Which if *foreign. Aristot. ibid.the anger or enmitie of a mortall man of any might worke in those that know or apprehend him to be such: how much more must the wrath of God reuealed needs worke the same in a farre greater measure in those that beleeue his power to be such as it is?

Againe, a meere naturall man cannot but feareReason 2. that euill that hee apprehendeth †foreign. Aristot. rhet. l. 2. c. 5. foreign. Ibid.to be neare at hand, yea that he seeth full before his face. But i2 Cor. 4. 18. Fides vides. Habet enim & fides oculos suos, quibus & ea videt, quae nondum videntur. Aug. epist. 222. Etsi nō vidisti eum; sed vidisti eum, quia credidisti ei: vidisti eu…oculis interioribus. Ambr. ep. 9.true Faith hath an eye; And this eye of Faith maketh things vnseene, seene; ( kHebr. …. 27.Moses saw him by Faith, that cannot be seene: And lMe… videtur quae non videntur, quàm quae videtur. Ambrde sacr. l. 1▪ c. 2.Better, saith Ambrose, are those things seene that are not seene, but beleeued only, than those things that are seene:) mQuia rerum absentium praesens est fides. Aug. de Trin. l. 13. c. 1.things absent present, (as is nAct. 3. 21. Quomodo tenebo absentem? Quomodo in coelū manū mittam, ut ibi sedentē teneā? Fidē mitte, & tenuisti. Parentes tui tenuerunt carne: tu tene corde. Habes Christ… in praesenti per fidē, &c. Aug. in Ioan. 50. Quomodo tangeret, cum ad Patrem ascendissēt, nisi fidei profectu, & mentis ascensu. Idem ep. 89.Christs bodie to our Faith, though it be now in heauen, and as far from vsus, as heauen and earth are distant either from other:) and “foreign. Basil. Sel. homil. 23.things a farre off neare at hand: oIohn 8. 56. Abr. quomodo dominicum vidisse diem nisi credendo credendus est? Ipsum credere quodammodo jam videre est. Bern. de temp. 17.Abraham aboue a thousand (yea two thousand) yeeres before with this eye of Faith saw Christs day, as present, and reioyced: and NOA in like manner by the same eye of Faith saw the Worlds destruction as present, aboue an hundred yeeres before the Floud, that caused it, came, and feared.

The reason is in a word: Faith hath it from God, to whom all things are present; for there is no pPrius & posterius.former and latter, first or last qOmnia semel & simul videt, quorum nullum est quod non semper videt. Aug. de Trin. l. 15. c. 14. Deo in conspectu praesto simul sunt universa, praesentia, praetenta, futura. Ibid. cap. 7.with him. And hauing them from him, rFides enim velut quoddam aeternitatis exemplar, praeterita simul, ac praesentia, ac futura sinu quodam vastissimo comprehendit, ut nihil ei praetereat, nihil pereat, nihil praeeat. Bern. de temp. 17.shee apprehendeth them in some sort as they are with him, on whose word alone, or principally at least, shee beleeueth them.

The vse of which point may be, First of all toVse 1. Information. informe vsus, what the reason is why there is so little feare in the world, of God, and of his Iudgements. Neuer more wickednesse abroad in the world: neuer iuster cause to expect some generall iudgement. And yet neuer more securitie; neuer lesse feare; *Quasi securos esse sola esset securitas.as if it were the only meanes of securitie or of safetie for men to be secure. Whereas saith that worthy Bishop Grosthed well in one of his Epistles yet vnprinted, sSola istic securitas est nunquam esse securum. R…b. Grosthed. epist. 65. Non cito ruina perit is, qui ruinam praetimet. P. Syr. Prov. 28. 14.It is our best and surest securitie, for vsus neuer to be secure.

But what is the reason hereof? Surely therefore so little feare, because so little †Quod non credit quis, non movet eum ad sperandum vel timendū. Beda in axiom.Faith. The generall want of feare argueth a generall want of Faith. Therefore neuer more securitie, because neuer lesse faith. Our Sauiour himselfe intimateth as much. He telleth of tMath. 24. 6, 7, 8.a world of troubles, ouer and beside a uMatth. 24. 12. 2 Tim. 3. 1-5.world of wickednesse, that should be toward the worlds end. And yet withall that xMath. 24. 37, 38, 39.it should then be, as before the Floud it had beene, when men yforeign. Quod plus est, quam comedebant & bibebant. Matth. 24. 38.gaue themselues wholly to eating and drinking, building and planting, making merry and marrying: and as they did nothing else, so zforeign. Matth. 24. 39.they minded nought else, till the Floud came in suddenly and swept them all away at once. a1 Thess. 5. 3.They shall crie, Peace, Peace, and all is well; saith the Apostle, vntill sudden destruction surprise them, as paines and pangs doe a woman with childe, taken before her reckoning be out. And the reason hereof our Sauiour secretly doth elsewhere imply, when he saith, bLuk. 18. 8.The Sonne of Man when he commeth, shall he finde Faith vponupon earth? As if scarce any Faith should be found in the world at the worlds end: and the most therefore should make but a mocke of the last Iudgement, as c2 Pet. 3. 3, 4. Iude 18.Saint Peter also fore-telleth.

Yea this generall securitie and want of feare,Vse 2. Conuiction. sheweth that euen the greatest part of those that professe themselues Christians, hauehave not so much Faith as many damned ones, d1 King. 21. 27.Ahab, eMatth. 27. 3, 5.Iudas and others, hauehave had; nay, not so much Faith as the Deuils themselues hauehave; For fIam. 2. 19.the Deuils, saith Saint Iames, beleeue and tremble: which they would also doe, if they beleeued but as they did. If they had no more but euen the Historical faith, it could not but worke in them the seruile Feare. And how can they looke to scape hell, that come short herein of those that be already in hell: that are worse in this regard than Ahab, though an hypocrite, though a reprobate, worse than Iudas himselfe, though gIohn 6. 70.a Deuill incarnate; yea worse herein than those damned Spirits, than the Deuils themselues. And hQuanta damnatio à damnatis damnari? Autor de fingul. cleric.what a fearefull estate is it to be condemned of those, that either are or shall themselues be damned?

Secondly, This may serue to shew a differenceVse 3. Distinction. betweene Gods Children and worldly men, together with the ground of it.

When warning is giuen of Gods Iudgements, as here there was, iMalach. 3. 16, 17.They feare least, whom they most concerne; and they feare most, whom they least concerne. They feare most, that hauehave least cause to feare; and they feare least, that hauehave most cause to feare. He feared here that was to be saued; when they feared not that were to be destroyed. Gods children oft-times feare for them, when they feare not for themselues. As for matter of griefe, DAVID saith of himselfe, kPsal. 119. 148.I beheld the transgressors and was grieued, to see how they brake thy Law: And, lPsal. 119. 136.Mine eyes run downe with streames of water, because men keepe not thy Statutes. He was grieued for them, when they were not grieued for themselues; yea hee sorrowed, with m2 Cor. 12. 21.Paul, for them and their sinnes, because they sorrowed not for them themselues. nSi doles, condoleo; si non doles, doleo tamen: & boc doleo magis, quo tu minus doles. Bern. de consid l. 1.If you be sorie, saith Bernard, I am sorie with you; if you be not, I am sorie for you: and the more sory for you, the lesse sory you are your selfe. And indeed, oGemend▪ est valdè qui non gemit. Greg. in Euang. hō. 36.Hee is most to be bewailed, saith Gregory, that bewaileth himselfe least. p1 Cor. 12. 26. Membro dolenti membra reliqua condolent.In the naturall Body the paine of one limbe causeth paine to all his fellow limbes: but in the spirituall Bodie politique, not the paine only of a limbe, but qDe non dolente caetera grauius dolent.the want of paine in a limbe, is a meanes of paine to the fellow-members. So for matter of feare; rPsal. 119. 53. Timeo, ne non timeas, vel parum timeas. Bern. ep. 87.Feare, saith hee, is fallen vponupon mee, for the wicked, because they forsake thy Law. And, when sPs. 119. 119, 120.Thou takest away the wicked of the earth like drosse: My flesh t- acta securae quoque Horrenda menti. - Sen. Herc. fur. 3. 2.trembleth for feare of thee, and I am afraid of thy Iudgements. DAVID feareth for them, when they feare not themselues: their very securitie maketh him fearefull.

But what might be the cause hereof? mayReason. … some say. The uAristot. ethic. Nicom. l. 3. c. 8.Heathen man himselfe pointed at it of old. There are, saith he, two kindes xforeign.of Bastardly Fortitude, of Counterfeit Courage, and those arising from two contrary causes; the one yforeign.from Skill and Knowledge, the other zforeign. Greg. Naz. de eutax.from Ignorance. The former is, when men seeme forward, where others apprehend danger and are fearefull, because they know there is no such danger in the matter as others deeme, or if there be any, they can tell how by some sleight to auoid it. The latter is, when men are forward and foole-hardie, and free from all feare, because they are not apprehensiue of the danger that they are in: aforeign. Aristot. ibid.like men drunke, that dread nought, because they want wit to discerne ought, or like *foreign. Chrysost. tom. 6. serm. 43.children, that feare not the fire or the candleflame, till they hauehave beene senged with it, and feele the smart of it; or like the sauage bHuld. Smidel. in itinerar.Americans, that would presse vponupon the mouth of the Musket, because they knew not the vse and the force of it. Of this latter is the securitie and the hardinesse of the worldly wicked in these cases. It is with them, as with cMatth. 24. 19.children in a siege; Their parents feare for them, when they feare nothing themselues; yea the parents feare for them more than for themselues: they could shift well enough, it may bee, for themselues, but they know not how to saue them, or how to escape with them, which without them, it may be, they might. The sucking childe lieth in the cradle, not once dreaming of any danger; and the parents feare and care is all for it.

Thirdly, hereby may we examine our Faith, Vse 4.whether it be sound and sincere or no.Examination. Triall 1.

First, If it worke vponupon the affections. If it worke in vsus, louelove or hatred, ioy or griefe, hope or feare, according to the nature of the obiect, the qualitie of the thing apprehended. For that faith or knowledge that swimmeth only in the braine, but sinketh not downe into the heart, that consisteth only in speculation, and proceedeth no further, doth not at all pierce into, or worke vponupon the affections, it is no sound knowledge, no true faith; it is but as the glittring of a glow-worme, a light without heat.

Why, saith Bernard, doth Salomon say, That dProv. 1. 7. & 9. 10.the feare of God is the beginning of wisdome; when as Knowledge and Faith goe both before Feare? Because, saith he, there is eInstructio doctos reddit; affectio sapientes. Ibi instruimur; sed hîc afficimur. Ibi in auditorio docentem Magistram Sapientiam audimus; hîc & suscipimus. Bern. in Cant. 23.no true wisdome in either, vnlesse they doe worke in a man this Feare. *Sol non omnes quibus lucet, etiam calefacit: Sic fapientia multos quos docet quid sit faciendum, non continuò accendit ad faciendum. Ibid.The Sunne, saith hee, affordeth light to many, whom it imparteth no heat to. And it is not the light of it, but the heat, that quickeneth, and maketh fertile and fruitfull. †Aliud est multas divitias scire, aliud & possidere; nec notitia divitem facit sed possessio: sic aliud est nosse Deū, aliud timere; nec cognitio sapientem, sed timor facit, quia & afficit. Ibid. Vera demum ea est scientia, quae afficit. Greg. mor. l. 23. c. 17.It is one thing to know wherein wealth consisteth, and another thing to hauehave it; and it is not the knowing of it, but the hauing of it that maketh a man rich and wealthy: So it is one thing to know God, and another thing to feare God; and it is not the knowledge of him, but the feare of him; and the knowledge of him so farre forth, as it bringeth vsus to the feare of him, as a mans skill so farre forth as it is a meanes to bring wealth to him, that maketh a man wise and happie. And that knowledge or faith therefore, that worketh not in this manner vponupon the affections, is but fUmbra & larua fidei, non fides.a liuelesse shadow, a dead counterfeit of Faith.

Secondly, if it make vsus stand in awe of GodTriall 2. and his Iudgements; which he inflicteth oft vponupon others, euen to keepe vsus in awe. So g2 Sam. 6. 7, 9.when God smote Vzza in DAVIDS sight, DAVID (it is said) feared God exceedingly that day. He feared him before, but exceedingly then: that roused vp, renewed, and made his feare more fresh. And hAct. 5. 5, 10, 11.when Ananias and Sapphira were so suddenly slaine, feare came vponupon the whole Church, and vponupon all those, not that saw it onelyonly, but that heard of it.

This is the nature of true Faith, to worke in mens hearts, not a presumptuous securitie, and a regardlesnesse of God, but an awfull feare, a reuerent dread, a trembling at his Maiestie, when he giueth but warning of Iudgements to come; and much more then iEsai. 26. 9.when his Iudgements are already abroad in the world. kPsal. 119. 120.My flesh trembleth, saith DAVID, for feare of thee, and I am (euen heartily) afraid of thy Iudgements. And surely if it be the property of the childe of God lEsai. 66. 2. Habb. 3. 16.to tremble at his word: m2 King. 22. 19.Iosias heart melted againe for feare at the hearing of the Law: how much more at his worke, at his rod, at his scourge, at the shaking of his sword? What awefull childe will not tremble to see his father take the rod in hand, and it be but to correct some seruant therewith? much more if it be to scourge one of his brethren. To feare any euill is naturall: to be afraid of Gods anger is a worke euen of grace too. And *foreign. Naz. in Nyssen.Nothing more fearefull, saith Nazianzen, than not to feare it.

Neither let any here obiect vntounto me that ofObiection. the Psalmist, nPsal. 112. 7.He shall not be afraid of any euill tidings: for his heart is fixed, and beleeueth in the Lord.

For the very first words of that selfe-sameException. Psalme are, oPsal. 112. 1.Blessed is the man that feareth God. So that He that is not afraid so, yet doth feare. Some “foreign. Basil. Sel. homil. 21. Degeneres animos timor arguit. Virg. Aeneid. l. 4.feare argueth a want of faith: and a want of faith appeareth by the want of some feare.

There is great difference betweene a distrustfull Matth. 8. 26.feare and an awefull dread. pIohn 14. 1. Esai. 7. 4, 9.Faith quellethFides famem non formidat. Hieron. ad Hel. od. and killeth, and expelleth the one: it breedeth, feedeth, fostereth, and cherisheth the other.Matth. 6. 30.

And we shall doe well to obserue how theSolution. Distinction. Holy Ghost therefore oft ioyneth these two together: qPsal. 33. 18.The eye of the Lord is vponupon them that feare him, and that hope or trust (for hope and trust are in effect here, as oft†Ierem. 17. 7. Psal. 146. 5. else-where; the same) in his mercy. And againe, rPsal. 147. 11.The Lords delight is in them that feare him, and that hope▪ or trust in his mercy.

In which places, as it is well obserued by Augustine, that the Psalmist sCùm dixisset, Timentes, adjecit, Sperantes.hauing said, that feare him, he addeth withall, and that trust or hope in him; to exclude the former feare. For, saith he, tNunquid enim sic timetur Deus, quo modo & latro? nam & latro timetur, & bestia timetur, &c. Si times latronem, ab alio speras auxilium, & non ab eo quem times: qui sic timet, poscit auxilium ab eo quem non timet, adversus eum quem timet, &c. Aug. in Psal. 146.Men feare a theefe, or a wilde beast, in one manner; and children feare their parents in another manner. Men feare the one, so as they flie from them; good children the other, so as they seeke to them. And in the latter manner, not in the former, ought men to feare God. Wicked men and damned spirits feare him so, as *Mark. 1. 24.they flie from him: Gods children so feare him, as that yet they sue and seeke to him: If they seeme to flie from him, it is but to flie to him; they flie but from his Iustice to his MercieMercy: as he that appealed sometime uMachetas quidā Macedo. Plut. in apophth.from Philip to Philip, from Philip sleeping to Philip awaked: So doe xVis ab illo fugere? ad ipsum fuge. Vis fugere ab irato? fuge ad placatum. Aug. ibid. & in Ps. 30. & in 1. Ioan. 6.they flie from God to God, from God in iustice angrie with them, to the same God in merciemercy pacified and appeased towards them.

So againe on the other side doth Bernard well obserue, that yDicturus, Sperantes, praemisit, Timentes. Bern. in Ps. Qui habitat, serm. 1.being to say, that hope in him, he saith first, that feare him. For, saith he well, there are foure… sorts of men: zSunt qui non sperant: sunt qui desperant: sunt qui frustra & maniter; sunt qui bene & utiliter sperant. Ib.some hope not, some despaire, some hope in vaine, and some hope aright.

The first sort is of those that aNeque timent, neque sperant.neither hope Sort 1.nor feare; neither hope for Gods mercy, nor feare Gods wrath; it is all one to them, whether God be angrie or not angrie, whether he be pleased or displeased with them.

The second sort is of those that bTiment, sed non sperant. Qui sperat & non timet, negligens est: qui timet, & non sperat, depressus est. Aug. ad fratr. erem. 10.feare, but hope Sort 2.not; they feare Gods wrath, but they hope not in his merciemercy: they hauehave both their eyes fixed on the wrath and iustice of God, neither eye on his merciemercy or goodnesse, and so come to be swallowed vp with despaire.

The third sort is of those cSperant, sed non timent.that hope, but feare Sort 3.not; they hope in his merciemercy, but they feare not his wrath; they hauehave both eyes fixed on Gods merciemercy, neither of them on his wrath; and dIta de Dei misericordia sibi blandiuntur, ut à peccatis suis non emendentur. Bern. ibid.so presuming on his merciemercy, but hauing no regard to his wrath, they take libertie to themselues to lie and liue in sinne, without any remorse of conscience or repentance for the same. But they hope in vaine, their faith is no faith, but a fancie, a presuming without promise, hauing no warrant from Gods word. A faith not in God, but in such eSpectrū Dei loco substitutum. Calvin. instit. l. 1. c. 14.an I doll as they hauehave framed to themselues, moulded out of their owne fancie, and set in Gods stead, a God made all of merciemercy, hauing no anger at all; a farre other manner of God, than Gods word hath described to vsus, or rather than the true God fExod. 20. 5, 6. & 34. 6, 7.hath described himselfe to vsus in his word. And if their Faith be so bad, their Hope can be no better; that being of necessitie the foundation of this.Sort 4.

The fourth sort is of those that both gEt timent, & sperant. Perseverent in te pariter timer & fiducia; spes & metus. Bern. mod. viv. c. 4. Et idem epist. 87. Timere volo te & nō timere; praesumere, & non praesumere: timere ut poeniteas, non timere ut praesumas: porrò praesumere ne diffid…s, non praesumere ne orpescas.hope and feare: So hope in Gods merciemercy, as that they stand in awe yet of his wrath: as they cast the one eye on the one, so they fixe the other eye vponupon the other. And these are those that hope well and profitably, that trust to good purpose in Gods merciemercy.

The first of them neither hope nor feare; the second feare, but hope not; the third hope, but feare not; the fourth hope and feare.

The first regard neither Gods wrath, nor his merciemercy; the second regard his wrath, and not his merciemercy; the third regard his mercy, and not his wrath; the fourth regard both his mercy, and his wrath. Yea their very faith that reposeth it selfe on his merciemercy, maketh them regardful also of his wrath. And hereby therefore may wee trie our faith, whether it be sound and sincere or no, if it make vsus stand in awe of him whom wee seeme to beleeue and to trust in, especially then, when either he executeth, or *foreign. Aristot. rhet. l. 2. c. 5.giueth warning of Iudgement. Which if it doe not, it is not true Faith, nor such Faith as NOA here had. They are hSoli fil…j irae irā non sentiunt. Bern. epist. 256.… Children of God, no other than Children of wrath, faith Bernard, that feare not Gods wrath, that stand not in awe of his Iudgements.

Yea lastly, Let this admonish vsus, to labour to hauehave this Feare wrought in vsus: whereby we may feare with NOA, and other of the faithfull, when God giueth warning of his Iudgements, that we may not feele them when they come: iHabb. 3. 16.When I heard it, saith Habbakuk, my belly shooke, and my lips Vse 5. Admonition.quaked; rottennesse seased vponupon my bones, and I trembled at my very heart; that I might rest in the day of trouble. kforeign. Chrysost. tom. 6. serm. 87. Tanto minus eam (sententiam divinam) sentietis in examine, quanto nunc auditis formidolosiꝰ in praedicatione. Greg. in E…mg. hom. 36. But they that tremble not in hearing, shall be crushed to peeces in feeling. Bradford of repent.The fearing of them now, is the onelyonly meanes to preuent the feeling of them then. And the more now we feare them, the lesse shall we need then to feare them. He that feareth Gods word, shall not feele his Rod. He that feareth before it come, shall the lesse need to feare when it commeth. Feare lTimere debemus, ut non timeamus-Timendum ad auditum, ne timeamus ad aspectian. Venturū timeamus, ut cùm venerit, non timidi sed securi videam…s. Timendus est enim, ne timeatur. Greg. in Euang. 26. Timeat qui ducit modò vit… …n fine, quo possit in illa die habere securitatem sine fine. Aug. de verb. Dom. 1. Discat timere, qui timere non vult. Discat ad tempus esse solicitus, qui vult semper esse securus. Idem de temp. 214.wee must therefore, saith Gregory well, that we may not feare: feare when we heare it, that we may not feare when we see it: Feare with an awefull and childe-like feare now, that wee may not feare with a distrustfull and seruile feare then. For m…runt tune securi, qui modo non sunt securi: Etiteram tunc timebunt, qui modo timere nolunt. Aug. de verb. Dom. 39those that feare most now shall hauehave least cause to feare then, because they shall then be safe; and nHocipsum vehementer timere debes, quia nihil times. Aug. de temp. 214.those that feare least now, shall feare most then; as oforeign Arist. eth. l. 3. c 8. ….those become most fearefull, that out of ignorance were most forward, when they come to see and know the danger that they are in, which they apprehended not before.

NOA feared the Floud before it came; andThe wicked feare not before affliction, and then they feare too much: the godly feare before it commeth, & then their feare ceaseth▪ For impiety triumpheth in prosperitie, trembleth in aduersitie: Piety trembleth in prosperitie, triumpheth in aduersitie. when it came, was in the Arke safe and secure, free from feare of any danger to him or his by it. The wicked World feared it not, because they beleeued it not, till they saw it, and then were their hearts drowned and ouerwhelmed with feare and despaire, *foreign. Greg. Naz. stelit. 2. Si quod ab homine timetur malum, eo perinde dum expectatur, quasi venisset urgetur: & quicquid ne patiatur timet, jam metu patitur. Sen. epist. 7 4. Perit ante vulnus pavore confusus, cui spiritumrapuit timor. Sen. Herc. fur. 4.before their bodies were ouerwhelmed and destroyed with the Floud.

But, feare God! may some say. Why? who doth not feare him? We might rather say with the Psalmist, pPsal. 25. 12. & 90. 11.Who is he that doth feare him? Implying the number of those to be very small that indeed sincerely so doe.Greenham part 2. c. 27. §. 5.

But since that the feare of God seemeth so common, and eueryevery one will lay claime to it, come we againe to the triall. Wherein appeared NOAES Feare, but in his carefull obedience, in his diligent endeuour to preuent the peril, though not yet approaching, not yet apparent? Moued with feare, saith the Apostle, he prepared the Arke Effect 3.for the sauing of him and his.

In which Act of his obserue we, both his Obedience Act.to Gods will and word, and his Care toObedience. preuent the perill.

First his Obedience to Gods will and word. God biddeth NOA goe and make such a Vessel to saue him and his from a Floud, that should drowne vp the whole World. Alas, if he should doe it, eueryevery one would but qforeign. Basil. Sel. homil. 5.laugh at him for his labour: as no doubt of it full many did. They would thinke him no wiser than rHolinsheds Chrō. in Henry 8. anno 1524.the Prior of Saint Bartholomewes here among vsus, who vponupon a vaine prediction of an idle and addle-headed Astrologer, went and built him an house at Harow on the Hill, to secure himselfe from a supposed Floud, that that Astrologer had foretold. As Lots sonnes in law, when their wiues Father told them of a showre of fire and brimstone that should come and destroy all Sodome, sGenes. 19. 14.they thought that either he mocked but and dalied; or else that he doated and was strangely deluded. So saith Basil of NOA, when he told the World of a Floud that should swallow vp the whole World, and set himselfe thereupon about the building of an Arke, of such strange forme and bulke, a worke of so great toile and charge, to saue himselfe and his houshold in, tforeign. Basil. Sel. hom. 5.they thought the poore old man doated, he had dreamed, not, as we say, of a drie Summer, but of a wet Winter, he was drowned in a deepe melancholy, and would be soused and drowned in his own sweat with moiling and toiling about such a building, before they should bee ouer-flowen with, or drowned in any deluge. But all this NOA contemned, and notwithstanding all this, hee went not about only, but through with that that God had enioyned.

From which Cariage of NOA we may learne this instruction, that

True Faith and Feare will make a man contemnePoint 4. worldly mens scoffes; and notwithstanding them, doe any thing that God shall enioyne.

We might for the further proofe of this point, muster vp a multitude of Examples: uGen. 12. 1, 4. Hebr. 11. 8.Abrahams leauing his owne Countrey and Kindred, to wander vp and downe hee knew not whither himselfe, in hope of an inheritance that xAct. 7. 5. Hebr. 11. 9.he neuer had as long as he liued: and yGen. 17. 23, 24.the causing of himselfe to be Circumcised, when hee was almost an hundred yeere old, together with his young sonne, and the rest of his family, a thing that was neuer heard of before, and such as would of any naturall conceit be deemed not zHinc Verpi, & Apellae (ut quidā volunt) etiam per irrisionem Iudaei dicti.ridiculous only, but most vndecent: King a2 Sam. 6. 16, 20.DAVIDS dancing before the Arke, for which Micol derided him: The Prophet bEsai. 20. 2.Esaies going naked (though not so naked as many imagine,) cAbsque cilicio, i. tegumento villos…, quo Prophetae ferè utebantur. Iun. ex Zech. 13. 4. Visantur Drus. observ. l. 14. c. 14. & Fuller. miscell. l. 2. c. 11.without his vpper garment, his propheticall habit, and without shooes on his feet: dIer. 19. …, 10, 11.Ieremies breaking of a bottle for the confirmation of his Prophecie: his eIer. 27. 2. & 28. 10.wearing of a woodden yoake, and going vp and downe with it about his neck: And fIer. 27. 2, 3, 4.his making of yoakes and fetters, and sending them with such strange messages to foraine Princes, and those Infidels, by the hands of their owne Embassadours: gEzek. 4. 1, 2, 3.Ezekiels laying siege-to a modell of the Citie, vponupon a tyle or a table, and making batterie against it, and placing an iron pan betweene him and it: hEzek. 4. 4, 5.His lying and sleeping vponupon his left side alone, for a long time together: iEzek. 4. 9, 10.His making and eating bread of corne and pulse of all sorts mingled together, (meat fitter for beasts, than for any man to feed on,) and kEzek. 4. 12, 15.baking it with cow-sherds in the open and publike view of his people; euen of those that desired nothing more than matter to laugh and leere at him: lEzek. 5. 1, 2, 3, 4.The cutting of his haire, diuiding it by weight, burning in the fire a third part, smiting with a knife another third, and scattering another third abroad into the winde; then taking a few of them and binding them vp, and yet of them againe, pulling some out againe and throwing them into the fire: mEzek. 12. 3-7.The carrying out of his housholdstuffe on his shoulders, thorow a hole digged in the wall, by day-light, and remouing it himselfe from place to place, while a multitude of all sorts should stand by and looke on. And, to passe by all others, Hoshe as nHosh. 1. 2, 3. Liveleus videatur in not. ad Hosh.marrying first of a light houswife, a common harlot; and after oHosh. 3. 1, 2.one that had beene false to her former husband; pHosh. 1. 4, 6, 9.imposing strange names on the children that hee had by them: these, I say, and many other beside these might be alledged: but I hasten; and this of NOA may well counteruaile them all; a worke of so great difficultie, that would take vp so much time, be so long a doing, require so much trauaile, and so infinite expence, and all done for the preuenting of so vnlikely a danger: Many, no doubt, would flocke about him out of all quarters to see it: many would be continually gazing vponupon him, when he should be at worke about it: many a broad iest, many a bitter scoffe would be broken vponupon him. No man would be thought euer to hauehave taken more paines to begger himselfe, or to hauehave beene at more cost, out of a vaine feare of miserie, to make himselfe miserable. But all these difficulties, and all the disgrace it might bring with it, NOAES Faith and his Feare ouercame.

And no maruaile.

For first, true Faith it is of qRom. 5. 1, 5. & 8. 37. 1 Iohn 4. 4. & 5. 4.a couragious, ofReason 1. an vndaunted, of an vnconquerable Nature. That which hath made men contemne fire and fagot; no maruaile if it make them contemne the blasts of mens breath; which are no more able"Dan. 7. 2. Una Eurusque, Notus que ruunt, creber que procellis Africus▪ Virg. Aeneid. 1. rPsal. 125. 1, 2. & 78. 69.to shake a well grounded Faith, than *S. Ward of Conscience.the windes are able to stirre the earth, though they should all at once blow vponupon it, and assault it from all points.Reason 2.

And againe, sTimor timori cedit majori minor.the greater Feare euer expelleth the lesse. tTimor timore, ut clavꝰ clavo pellitur. Quomodo Cic. Tusc. l. 4. & ex Cic. Hierō. ad Rust. Solent amorem veterem amore novo, quasi clavum clavo, pellere. foreign. Pollux l. 9. c. 7. Sed & Antiphanes pari modo, foreign - Athen. dipnosoph. l. 2. Et Alcaeus ibid. l. 10. foreign.One Feare frighteth away another, as one naile is wont to driue out another. uMatth. 10. 28. Luk. 12. 4, 5.Feare not them, that is, men; but feare him, that is, God, saith our Sauiour: as if the Feare of the one would chase away all Feare of the other. And, xEsai. 8. 12, 13. Sirac. 34. 16.Feare not their feare, but let the Lord of hosts be your feare, saith the Prophet. yProv. 28. 1. Qui timet Deum, nihil timet praeter eum. Origen. in Levit. 16. Qui Deum timet, seculi potestates non timet. Idem in Rom. l. 3. Repleat vos spiritus timoris Dei, & timor alienus in vobis locum non habebit. Bern. in Psal. 90. foreign. Synes. epist. 2.He that feareth him, saith Origen, feareth nothing but him. That feare will soone displace and dispossesse all other feares. zEsai. 51. 7, 8, 12, 13. foreign. Chrysost. tom▪ 6. serm. 43. Quod & aptissima è re nata sunilitudine cō firmat Ibid.He that feareth the wrath of the almightie and euerliuing God, will set light by the reproach or the rebuke of any mortall man, yea of a whole world of them, as wee see NOA here did.

In like manner ought it to bee with eueryevery one of vsus. Wee must bee content to doe as God biddeth vsus, and not refuse to yeeld toVse 1. Admonition. ought that hee shall enioyne vsus, though wee shall be but befooled and laughed at for our labour.

The Casuists say, that aNon peccat, qui legem bumanā non servat, ut pro stulto non habeatur. Martin. Navarr. enchir. c. 27. sect. 283.a man may lawfully breake an humane Constitution concerning a matter otherwise meerely indifferent, when for obseruing of it he shall bebut counted a foole and derided for his labour. But no such pretence will excuse vsus from the doing of ought that God requireth of vsus. *Mark. 8. 38.Hee that is ashamed of mee and my word, (that is, of what I enioyne him) faith our Sauiour, before this wicked and “foreign.bastardy generation, him will the Sonne of Man be ashamed of, when he commeth in his glory, and his holy Angels with him. We must not thinke much therefore to be bPsalm. 69. 7. 2 Sam. 6. 21, 22.derided and counted fooles for his sake: wee should esteeme it rather, as the Apostles sometimes did, euen a grace to be disgraced for him. cAct. 5. 41. foreign. elegantissimum oxymorum. Casaub. not. in N. T. O quantis obedientiae viribus nitun…ur, qui gaudent pro Christo ad Conciliū trabi, dignitatem ducunt pro eo caedi, gloriam reputant pro eo mori? quibus vilitas sublimitas, contumelia gloria, patientia victoria, mirabili mirabilitate videntur. Bern. de grad. obed. Ita Hier. ad Helvid. Gloriae mihi futura convicia tua &c.They went away from the Councell, saith the Holy Ghost, reioycing, that they were vouchsafed the dignitie to be dishonoured for Christs sake.

Nor is this admonition and exhortation needlesse in our times, wherein the carefull going about the building of the spirituall Arke, exposeth men, if not so much and so openly as the making of the materiall Arke did NOA, yet too freely and too frequently, to the mockes and scoffes of prophane people.

dNoli erubescere Christianum profiteri te &c. Aug. in Psal. 30.Be not ashamed, saith Augustine, of thy Christian profession. Be not ashamed of it? will some say. It seemeth a needlesse admonition. eTam pauci non Christiani remanserunt, ut eis magis objiciatur quia Christiani nō sunt, quàm ipsi audeant aliquibus objicere, quia Christiani sunt.There are so few now that are not Christians, that if a man be not one, he shall rather be noted and pointed at. But for all that, saith he, fTamen dico vobis, incipe, quicun que me audis, vivere quomodo Christianus, & vide si non tibi objiciatur & à Christianis, sed nomine, non vita, non moribus. Aug. ibid. Non deerunt & Christiani, qui prohibeant Christianè vivere. Idem de tem. 52. Turba ipsa quae cum Domino est, clamantes prohibet. Matth. 20. 31. i. Bonos Christianos, verè studiesos, volentes facere in Euangelio scripta Dei praecepta, Christiani mali & tepidi prohibent. Idem de verb. Dom. 18.trie it when thou wilt, and thou shalt finde my words true. Doe but striue to liue according to the rules of Christianitie; and see if thou be not derided and scoffed at for it by those, that are Christians in Name, but not in deed. And the like may be said truly of these times of ours, wherein tPsalm. 14. 6. Non modò pietatis virtutem amisimus, sed nec speciem retinemus. Bern. apolog. ad Gu…elm. Abb. Ipsa religio in opprobrium venit. Idem Bern. epist. 117.Religion is growne to be, as Bernard sometime complained, not a matter of forme, but a matter of scorne: uforeign. Luk. 6. 15. qui & foreign Matth. 10. 4. & Marc. 3. 18. non à patria, sed ab Hebr. radice foreign quod foreign significat. Ang. Canin. de Voc. N. T.Simon Zelotes is become an odious Name; profession of Pietie is accounted Pharisaisme, scrupulositie, and hypocrisie; “Timor Domini simplicitas reputatur, …e dicam, fatuitas. Bern. de consid. l. 4.the feare of God esteemed folly; & … religious cariage made commonly matter of reproch. †Dicā quod multi mecū experti sunt. Cùm Christianus quis ceperit benè vivere, fervere bonis operibus, …undum contemnere, reprehensores patitur & contradictores frigidos Christianos. Quid insanis? aiunt. Nimius es. Nunquid alij non sunt Christiani? Ista stultitia est, dementia ē, &c. Aug. de verb. Dom. 18.If a man liue somewhat more strictly than the looser sortx A nostris omnia fermè religiosa ridentur. Salvian. de provid. l. 7. doe, though not so strictly neither as his Christian profession requireth of him, (for euen the best and the forwardest hauehave their failings, and come farre short of what they should) y1 Pet. 4. 4. Virū circumspectum, & amicū propriae conscientiae calumniantur hypocritā. Bern. de consid. l. 4.he shall not scape to hauehave those opprobrious rearmes and titles fastened on him, of a Precisian, a Puritane, and the like, by those that affect loosenesse, and zWisd. 2. 12-16. foreign. Dion. Chrys. orat. 72.account the strictnesse of others a reall controlling of their cariage. If he be conuersant in Gods word, and diligent in frequenting the ministery of it; he is a Bible-bearer, and a gadder vp and downe after Sermons. If he aEccl. 9. 2.make conscience of an oath, and will reproue others when they sweare; he is a superstitious fellow, too straitlaced, more nice than wise. If hee will not swill and swagger, drinke healths and play the goodfellow, goe for company to a Brothel-house, or *Non vult ire spectatū: frenat concupiscentiam suā, ne pergat ad theatrū, &c. Aug▪ de verb. Dom. 18.to a Play-house, bTheatrū propriè sacrarium Veneris est, arx omnium turpitudinum, disciplina libidinum, impudicitiae consistorium; ubi nihil probatur, quàm quod alibi non probatut; ita summa gratia ejus de spurcitia plurimum concinnata est, quod si nobis omnis impudicitia execranda est, cur liceat audire quae loqui non licet? cur liceat videre, quae facere flagitium est? cur quae ore prolata communicant hominem, ea per oculos & aures admissa non videantur hominē communicare, cùm spiritui appareant aures & oculi, nec possit mundus praestari, cujus apparitores inquinantur? Tertull. de spectac. Spectacula vel cruenta vel turpia. Ubi exempla …iunt, quae jam esse facinora destiterunt; & adulterium discitur dum videtur. Quî potest esse qui spectat vel pudicus, vel integer? Cyprian. ad Donat. Nihil tam damnosum est bonis moribus quàm in spectaculo aliquo desidere. Sen. ep. 7. … semina praebent Nequitiae. Ovid. trist. l. 2.little better, the very seminaries and nurseries of all filthinesse and prophanenesse; he is a man altogether vnsociable, of a melancholy disposition, little better than a lunaticke, as cMatth. 11. 18.they said sometime of Iohn the Baptist. If he wil beare an euil word, & put vp a supposed wrong, not stab or challenge at least any one that shall giuegive him the lie, nor be readie to right himselfe by priuate reuenge; he is a coward, a meacock, baseminded, a man of no courage, one of God Almighties fooles, at the least and the best. dforeign. Plut. de audiend.These and the like censures must a man make account to vndergoe, euen among Christians, if he be carefull of vpholding and maintaining his Christian profession, and of making good what in his Baptisme he bound himselfe vntounto.

But as the Heathen man, Socrates, sometime said, That eStultus videri, quo beatus sis, velis. Socrates apud Sen. ep. 71.a man must be content to be accounted a Foole, that he may be happie; so wee must make account and be content to beare this, and much more than this, if euer wee hope or looke to be happie, and to come vntounto heauen.

Yea if wee beleeue and feare, (which herebyVse 2. Examination. also wee may trie whether we doe or no, as we would seeme and professe all to doe) our very Faith and fDicat Martyr ininatori stans homo ante hominem, Non timeo, quia timeo, &c. Aug. de Sanct. 14.Feare will make vsus set light by such paper-shot, and cary vsus on thorow the pikes, not of euill tongues, but of the eagerest opposition that either Satan himselfe, or any limbe of his shall be able to make against vsus to turne vsus out of the good waies of God; wee will neuer a whit feare or regard the one, if wee doe throughly feare the other.

gTimeamꝰ, ut non timeamus. Timeamus prudenter, ne timeamus inaniter. Aug. de sanct. 14.Let vsus feare, saith Augustine, that wee may not feare. Let vsus feare wisely, that we may not feare foolishly: That we may not feare Man, with hMartyres timendo non timuerunt: quia Deum timendo homines contempserunt. Ibid.the blessed Martyrs of Christ, let vsus feare God. Yea▪ iNe timeamus ut non timeamus.let vsus not feare, say I, that we may not feare. kIllud vide, ne timendo magis timere cogare. Cic. epist. fam. l. 11. ep. 20.Let vsus not feare now, lest we feare much more hereafter. Let vsus not feare the scoffes of men now, lest we feele the wrath of God hereafter. Better it is for vsus to be mocked for doing good, than to be damned for not doing it. Let vsus not be lforeign. Chrys. tom. 6. serm. 43. Pueri lucernam non timent, laruam timent.like Children therefore, that feare an vgly vizard, that cannot hurt them, but feare not the fire, that may scorch them: feare the blasts of mans breath, and not feare the fire of Gods wrath. *foreign. Greg. Naz. in Nyss.Let vsus only feare this, how we feare man or ought more than God. For †foreign. Idem in Maccab.there is nothing indeed fearefull but that; “foreign. Idem de pace 1.nothing at least so fearefull as it. Our not fearing the one now, may preuent the terrour of the other; as on the other side, the fearing of the one, though not worthy our feare, if we giuegive way to it, mProv. 29. 25.will assuredly procure the other. He that nPsal. 53. 5.feareth now, where there is no cause to feare, oProv. 10. 24.shall another day hauehave iust cause to feare, when his vaine feare shall hauehave betrayed him to things truely fearefull.

pPinner of Catechis.He is a foole, we say, that will be laughed out of his coat: but he were a double foole, that would be laughed out of his skinne; that would hazard the losse of his soule, and of his eternall saluation, because hee is loth to be laughed at, to quit himselfe of the mockes and scoffes of prophane persons. Yea vndoubtedly if we doe in deed and truth beleeue the truth of Gods word, and stand with holy NOA here in awe of his wrath: *Praesentia spernis, qui futura metuit. Minut. Octav. Praesentia speruit opprebria, qui futura … tuit supplicia.we will neuer giuegive ouer our godly courses for such windie stuffe as this is; our very feare it selfe will not suffer vsus, though we would.

And so passe we to the second thing thatCare. wee obserued in this Act of NOA, to wit, his Care to preuent the euill imminent; together with that point of Instruction which thence may be gathered, that

“Tim…r … & solli…itum facit. Bern. n…od. viv. c. 4.Feare breedeth Care.

As qFides facit formidinem: formido facit solicitudinem. Tertull. ad Marc.Faith breedeth Feare, so Feare breedeth Point 5.Care. NOA, as hee beleeued and feared, so hee was carefull with all speed to vse all good meanes for the preuenting of the perill that otherwise would hauehave beene. So Iacob, when rGenes. 32. 6.he heard of his brother Esaus comming against him with foure hundred men after him, sGenes. 32. 7, 8, 9, 22, 23.being sore afraid of him, was carefull of vsing all meanes, either for the pacifying of his wrath, or the sauing of his family, some part of them at least, from his furie. So the Aegyptians, when tExod. 9. 18, 19.Moses had giuen warning of such a storme to come as would destroy all that were found abroad in the fields, uExod. 9. 20.so many of them as beleeued and feared the word of God tooke warning, and caused both their seruants and their cattell to take and keepe house for the preuenting of that perill.

Nor can it in reason be otherwise. WhereReason 1. Faith hath wrought Feare, Feare cannot but worke Care. Where the head hath wrought vponupon the heart▪ there the heart cannot but worke vponupon the hand▪ And xCorpus, sive Corpor, ut olim loquebantur, quasi Cordis por, i. puer, sive …; … forma, quâ Marcipor, Quintipor, &c. Camer. problem.the hand is euer at the hearts command, ready to its vtmost ability to execute whatsoeuer the heart exacteth of it.

Againe, where there is a feare of euill,Reason 2. there is a desire also to escape euill; (for yforeign ▪ Aristot. ethic Nicom l. 1. c. 1. & pol. l. 1. c. 1. Omne animal se diligit. Naturà sua quisque sibi car▪ est. Ab interitu natura abhorret. Hinc ingenita cuique curasui; metus mortis, fuga mali, &c. Cic. de fin. l. 5. Cura▪ fui …nte omnia cunctis inest animalibus: nec inseritur, sed innascitir. Simul autem conciliatur saluti suae quidque, & quae juvant, illa petit, l…sara formidans refugit. Sen. ep. 124.eueryevery thing naturally affecteth it owne good) and a desire proportionable to the feare: and where a desire▪ to escape euill, an endeuour to vse all meanes of escape: and ^z an endeuour likewise proportionable to that desire. Where there is a strong perswasion then, and apprehension of some great euill impendent, there cannot but be a great measure of feare: and where so great feare▪ no lesse vehement a desire of escape; and where such vehement desire, *Qui sic timet, nihil negligit. Bern. in Cant. 47. foreign. Aristot. rhet. l. 2. 6. 5.a most earnest and carefull endeuour of preuenting, if by any meanes it may be, that euill.

Adde wee hereunto that Faith, as it maketh things absent present, and things farre off as at hand; and so maketh men to beReason 3. affected with euils, as are by God, or from God, reuealed to them, though yet absent, or farre off, yet as if they were present, and at hand: So it maketh them as carefull instantly, without longer delay, to betake them to such courses, as for the preuenting and auoiding of those euils are deemed requisite, which to the eye of their faith are as imminent, or as present.

And lastly, That no affection is more aTimore nihil validius, nihil vehementius. Bern. de divers. 12. Metus cum venit, rarum habet somnus locū. P. Syr. Rapit enim somnos pavor. Sen. Herc.vigilant,Reason 4. more violent, more forcible than feare, either to curbe and restraine men of what otherwise they would, or to vrge and constraine them to what otherwise they are vnwilling vntounto.

bGen. 32. 7, 23.Iacob could not rest all night long, when he feared Esaus approach: nor cIudg. 16. 19, 20.Sampson longer repose himselfe on Dalilaes lap, when hee heard once that the Philistines were vponupon him. Temptations of Feare are esteemed the most dRes est imperios… timor. Martial. l. 11. ep. 59.violent. And eContracta per metum irrita obligatio est. Althus. dicaeolog. l. 1. c. 118. §. 15.in humane lawes there is a nullitie therfore held of actions extorted and wrung from men by feare: because in such case a man is held not to be a free man, to hauehave no power or command in some sort of himselfe. The feare of Gods wrath therefore in these cases, where it is fresh in the soule, cannot but fOmnem formido somnolentiam excutit.shake off all securitie, cut off all carelesnesse, banish and abandon all slothfull and retchlesse delay, and cCave…is s… pav… bis. Rom. 1…. 21.vrge and enforce to all speedy and diligent vsage of those meanes, whereby it may be pacified, and the euill preuented that may accrue from it.

Now hereby try wee our Faith againe, yeaVse 1. Examination Application. and our Feare too. Compare wee NOA and our selues together; and see how contrary hee and wee are either to other: yea see how like wee are in these dayes … to the world that then was, than to him, as dMatth. 24. 37, 38, 39.our S…iour himselfe also fore…old that it would be.

Consider his carefulnesse. God speakethCompar. 1. thus to NOA; eGen. 6. 3, 13, 14.An hundred and twenty yeeres hence will I bring in a Floud that shall drowne the whole world: and therefore if then wilt be then saued, goe thy way out of hand, and build thee such an Arke as I shall shew thee. And this God told NOA, when he was about some fiue hundred yeere old; for fO…nes. 7. 6.six hundred yeere old hee was when the Floud came. So that NOA might well hauehave thought thus with himselfe; I am fiue hundred yeere old already, and it will be yet an hundred and vpward before the Floud come; Why? I may well be either dead and r…tten in my graue before that time, or at least-wise very neere the end of my dayes. And who would goe t…ile and …ile so about building of a vessell of such bulke and bignesse, to prolong his life so short a time? Or else, It was an hundred and twenty yeere yet to it; and what neede he then go… in all haste about it? hee might goe and take his pleasure for this hundreth yeere, and then set vponupon it some twenty … ten yeere before, and get more helpe then and disp…th it the sooner. But NOA did not, he could not, he durst not deferre the doing of it, but gGenes. 6. 22. & 7. 5.went instantly in hand with it.

On the other side see our carelesnesse. God foret…eth vsus that a second generall destruction shall come▪ not by water▪ but h2 Pet. 3. 7. Adam pradixit geminum, foreign. Ioseph. antiq. l. 1. 6. 3. Ab isto No… Deu… …, … ill… … …jusdē …. Brough▪by fire, the … element of the twaine; *foreign. Sybill. …rac. l. 4. Et ibid. foreign. Iustin. apolog. Et cataclysmum factum, & deflagrationem futuram Sibylla vaticinata est. Lactant. de ira Dei, cap. 23. foreign. Sybill. in airostich. apud Euseb. in vita Constant. Decidet è coelis ignisque & sulphuris amnis. Exuret terras … …polumque. Apud Aug. de civit. Dei l. 18. c. 23. Stoici omnia inflammanda, iterum que futura asseruerunt. Athenag. de resurr. Hinc annus ille maximus, cujus hyems summa est Calaclysmus sive diluvio, aestas Ecpyrosts, i. mundi incendium: (unde & foreign dicta. Ex Menipp. conviv. Athen. dipnoseph. l. 14 Nam his alternis temporibus mundus tum exignescere, tum exaquescere videtur. Censorin. de nat. die c. 18. foreign. Tragicus apud Clem. strom. l. 5. & Euseb. praepar. lib. 13. cap. 13. Essè quoque in satis reminiscitur affore tempus, Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia coeli Ardeat, & mundi moles operos… laboret. Ovid. met. l. 1. Communis mundo superest rogus, olsibus astra Mixturus &c. Lucan. bell. Phars. l. 1. Aqua & ignis terrenis dominantur. Ex his ortus & interitus est. Quandocunque placuere res novae mundo, sic in nos mare emittitur, ut desuper fervor ignis, cùm aliud genus exitij placuit. Cùm enim fatalis dies dil…vij venerit, aestus solutus legibus fine modo strtur, ratione eadem qua conflagratio futura est. Alterutrum fit, cùm Deo visam ordiri meliora, vetera finire. Sen. quaest. nat. l. 3. c. 27, 28. Cùm tempus advenerit, quo se mundus renovaturus extinguat, ignibus vastis torrebit, incendet que mortalia &c. Idem ad Marc. c. 26. Euenturum putant S…i, ut ad extremum mundus omnis ignescat. Cic. de nat. De…r. l. 2. & ardoré deflagret. Idem Acad. lib. 4. De Stoicis idem Numenius apud Euseb. Sed & de Epicareit Minutius in Octavio.which euen Heathen also hauehave taken notice of: and that none then shall be saued but those that hauehave i1 Petr. 2. 5.a spirituall Temple or Sanctuary built in their soules, kEphes. 2. 22.an house for his Spirit to inhabite, as hard and difficult a peece of worke, as euer the making of the Arke was. As NOA before he could goe about that building, hee must first fell his wood, saw out his planckes, hew out his timber, &c. So before we can raise this spirituall building, we must pull downe l2 Cor. 10. 4, 5.an old frame, an erection m1 Iohn 3. 8.of the Deuils rearing, that standeth where it must stand, and rid the place of the rubbish and remainders of it: Now this requireth much toile and labour, and will take vsus vp much time: And yet wee deferre and put off all, and thinke wee shall hauehave time enough for it hereafter, though nPsal. 90. 9.none of vsus are like to liue neare … hundred▪ yeeres, none sure to liue halfe an hundred houres to an end. And what would we do, or how would we liue, if wee were sure that wee should not die, ere an hundred yeeres were expired and had past ouer our heads, when wee hauehave no care to prouide for the preuenting of this perill, being oNihil ne in totū quidem diem certi est▪ Sen. ad Polyb. c. 29. Nihil in diem, nihil in horam promittitur. Idem ad Marc. c. 10.not sure of a day, not of an houre?

Againe, God gaue NOA warning by wordCompar. 2. only of … euils, wherof no print or foot-step was to be seene at the present. And NOA is striken with feare, & prepareth presently to preuent it. God giueth vsus warning not by word only, but by deed, by euident arguments of his wrath alreadie broke forth, and burning vp our brethren almost on eueryevery side of vsus. And yet pPsal. 90. 11.who layeth it to heart, or prepareth to preuent the euill that so euidently appeareth to approach?

Now what is the reason of such difference both in the one kinde and in the other? (NOA so carefull, and we so carelesse:) but that he beleeued and feared; and we doe not? What else was it, that made Lots Sonnes▪ in law stay still in Sodome, though they were told what would become of it? What else, that made some of those Aegyptians so carelesse, as to leaue men and beasts abroad, when Moses had giuen warning of the storme that should come? But that qGenes. 19. 9.the one beleeued not Lots word; rExod. 9. 21.the other feared not the Lords word: the one beleeued not, and therefore feared not; and the other feared not, because they beleeued not? neither of both cared, because neither of both feared. And what else is it that maketh men stay still in their sinne, and make no prouision to preuent Gods wrath, both reuealed in his word,Vse 2. Conuiction. “Rom. 1. 18.and manifested in his worke; but that they beleeue not the one, they dread not the other?

And this may conuince multitudes, euen of professed Christians, to hauehave neither Faith nor Feare. sHeu, vivunt homines, tanquā mors nulla sequatur; Et velut infernus fabula vana foret.They liue so securely, so carelesly, as if there were neither heauen nor hell: they prepare no more to meet God, when in wrath he seemeth to approach, then as if tEsai. 5. 18, 19.they cared not whether he came or no▪

Yet should wee aske any of these, whether they beleeued the word of God or no, whether they feared the wrath of God or no? they would answer, they did; and be angrie that any man should make doubt of it: they should be uQui pudorē amisit; bestia par est, qui timorein, bestiâ pejor est. Bern. de divers. 12.worse than beasts▪ no better than flat Atheists, if they did not. But, xPsal. 36. 1. foreign. Clem. Alex. paedag. l. 1. c. 9. Timor enim Domini expellit peccatū. Sirac. 1. 26. sive quod jam admissū est, sive quodtentat intrare; illud poenitendo, hoc resistēdo. Bern▪ de divers. 8.the wickednesse of the wicked man assureth me, saith the Psalmist, that there is no feare of God before his eyes. And the loose and dissolute, the secure and carelesse courses of such euidently shew, whatsoeuer▪ they may say, that there is neither Faith, nor feare of God in them, that they neither beleeue his Word, nor stand in awe of his wrath, they durst not for their liues doe so as they doe, if they did. *Si timetis, quare non cavetis? Aug. de discipl. Christ. c. 2. Cur Sodomam incolitis ruituri jam ruituram? Cur citò non fugitis perituri rem periturā? Misocosin. contempt. mund.If you feare, saith Augustine, how is it that you take no more care? yGen. 32. 23.Could Iacob sleepe quietly, when hee vnderstood of Esaus approach? Or zIudg. 16. 20.durst Sampson for all his strength and stontnesse lie still, when he heard that the Philistines were vponupon him? Much lesse durst any man, or could any man, that feared Gods wrath, lie sleeping in sinne, when warning were giuen of Gods wrath, or while (it is the state of eueryevery impenitent person, had hee a spirituall eye to discerne it) the blacke clouds of his vengeance readie to seize on him, hung continually ouer his head. Say what thou wilt therefore, whosoeuer thou art that so liuest, diddest thou feare God▪ as thou pretendest and professest to doe, aVigilabis, si time…is. Aug. de …. Ap. …8. Et tu vigilares, si timores.thou couldest not liue so securely, thou durst not liue so loosely; thou durst as well eat thy nailes off, as we say, as doe many things that daily thou doest; bTimor torporem excussit & nolentibus. Nec tutu… patitur esse securum pav…r.thy very feare would not let thee, it would not suffer thee to rest: it would be as a thorne at thy heart, and a spurre at thy side, to rouse thee and awake thee, and to keepe thee from rest, till thou hadst procured thine owne safetie▪ and to vrge and enforce thee to all speedie, carefull, and industrious endeuour, whereby the same might be effected.

Well, to winde vp all in a word: Let vsus all beConclusion. like NOA; take warning when God giueth it; Beleeue what hee …; feare before his face, especially when we see signes of his wrath, as we doe pregnant ones at this present; vse all care and endeuour to …uert his▪ wrath, and to preuent the perill, when▪ we perceiue i… to approach. That can no way be done but by repentance of our sinnes, reformation of our liues, and alteration of our sinfull and secure courses. This course therefore let eueryevery one of vsus take without further delay; and pray that others also may doe the like. It may be that God hearing the prayers, seeing the teares, and regarding the repentance of some few, may be moued to shew merciemercy on the whole, though the generalitie remaine still vnreformed. cAct. 27. 24.All his fellow passengers their liues were bestowed vponupon Paul. dGen. 18. 32.Sodome had beene saued, if but ten onelyonly had so done in it; eIerem. 5. 1.Ierusalem, if but one alone. Or if the Lord be so peremptorily bent to destroy, and to bring in some generall iudgement, that fIerem. 15. 1.though Moses and Samuel should sue for a people, they should not preuaile with him, gEzech. 14. 14, 16, 20.though NOA, Daniel and Iob were among them, they should not saue sonne nor daughter, (not so much as was saued in the Floud,) but themselues single only: yet shall we, by so doing, with NOA build an Arke, at least, for our selues, and our owne soules. We shall be marked out for saluation, as hEzech. 9. 4.those were that the Prophet speaketh of, in the generall destruction. And one of these three shall vndoubtedly befall vsus: Either wee shall be iEsai. 57. 1.taken away, with k2 King. 22. 20.Iosias, before the euill come, and depart hence, to be laid vp with our Fathers, in peace. Or, with lIerem. 15. 21. & 40. 4.Ieremie, mIerem. 45. 5.Baruch, and nIer. 39. 18.Ebed-melech, we shall hauehave our liues giuen vsus for a prey: for o2 Pet. 2. 9.the Lord knoweth euen in generall iudgements how to saue his: Or our afflictions, shall be seasoned, sweetned, and sanctified vntounto vsus; and pTametsi non bonum, tamen in bonum▪ Aug. de temp.though of themselues not good, yet shall they be turned to our good; and our decease, if wee doe perish in them, shall be but a meanes of translating vsus, from qforeign. Euripid.a wretched and a miserable life here; (where rQuid est diu vivere, nisi diu torqueri. Aug. de temp. 113.to liue long, is but to be long in paine, and where sforeign, &c. Greg. Naz. epitaph. Caesar. Diu vivendo multa quae non visvides. P. Syr.by liuing long, we are constrained not to heare and see only, but to suffer; nor to endure only, but to doe many things that willingly we would not;) to a more happie, comfortable, and blessed life elsewhere; wherein tApoc. 7. 17. & 21. 4. foreign. Sophocl. foreign. Euripid.we shall neuer so much as see or heare of misery any more.

FINIS.

End of the text · Thomas Gataker, Two Sermons for the Direction for Christian Carriage (1623)

Two Sermons for the Direction for Christian Carriage, Sermon 2

p. 81NOAES OBEDIENCE.

NOAES OBEDIENCE.