A Model of Divinity, Chapter 17
CHAPTER XVII. Of Mans Apoſtaſie.
Queſtion.
VVHat is the Apoſtaſie?
Anſwere.
That fall of the Creature from the government of God, or his obedience therevnto, in ſo much that as now he ſtandeth, he cannot pleaſe God, but diſpleaſe him continually. Gen. 3.6. and 6.5. Iſa. 59.2. Gal. 3.10. Marke where man fell, not in his conſervation, for his being and action are continued: but government, his action ſwarving from the line of Gods law, and it was nothing, but (as it were) the turning of the wheele the contrary way, ſo that now the whole man is exorbitant in his courſes, and altogether oppoſite to his government: like Iobs wild Aſſe in the deſert, or as Amos his Horſe that will runne vponupon the rockes. Amos 6.12.
Q. Of whom was this Apoſtaſie?
A. Of ſome Angels, and of all men in the firſt man. Iud: ver. 6. Gen. 3.6. Rom. 3.10. Ioh. 8.44. angels and men were governed in their firſt fall, God ſending the one to try the other. Man was to try the Angels, whether they would at Gods command miniſter for his good; and they againe man, whether he would liſten more to Gods law, or their rebellion.
Q. What are the things to be obſerved in this Apoſtaſie?
A. The transgreſſion and the propagation of it. Rom. 5.12. By one man ſinne entred into the world. Here is the head or ſpring, one man, the ſtreame or flood, ſinne, the channell, entred, the ſea or Ocean into which it fell, the world. Rom. 5.18.19.
Q. What is the tranſgreſſion?
A. The eating of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge, of good and evill. Gen. 2.17. which was a great offence, both in regard of God, his law, and Sacrament. He was bound to louelove God aboue all; who gaue him the vſe of all trees, onelyonly he forbids him this, even as he loued him not to eate thereof. Againe, the rule of good and evill was the whole law of mans life. And therefore here was not a partiall, but an vniverſall breach of all the branches of obedience. And laſtly, he in contempt of God, and his goodneſſe, plucked off the ſeale of the covenant, for God placed that tree with the other in the very midſt of the Garden, as a viſible ſigne and Sacrament of his obedience. Man was changeably good, and therefore as he was to hauehave a Sacrament, to ſeale his conſtant eſtate in goodneſſe, if he perſiſted and continued in the louelove of God, which was the tree of life: ſo, on the contrary, if he ſhould leaue off to ſerue God, then ſhould he hauehave ſealed vntounto him the aſſurance of his change from good to evill; and this was by the tree of the knowledge of good and evill. Thus it pleaſed God to deale with man, either in regard of obedience, or diſobedience. Bleſſed be God, wee hauehave a better tree of life, to ſeale our perfect obedience in another: and two Sacraments to put vsus out of all danger of death: God ſealing our ſalvation for his owne names ſake.
Q. What things are to be obſerved therein?
A. Two; The cauſes thereof, and the effects. Gen. 2.17. Ezek. 18.2. Rom. 6.23. Sinne and death are as in ſeparable in the cauſe, as fire and burning; death is a neceſſary conſequent of ſuch a cauſe.
Q. How many ſorts of cauſes be there?
A. Two, the one, blameable and guiltie, the other, blameleſſe and guiltleſſe. The law and ſinne, as well s the law and obedience worke together, though in a diſtinct manner; for, of obedience the law is the principall cauſe, but of ſinne an accidentall, as working beſide his owne ſcope and maine drift, which is to ſavour nothing but life, and alſo as a contrary to ſinne; hence a ſinner ſtands in violent oppoſition to the law, and they ſtriue the more, becauſe the one is readie to hinder the others act; as bankes, or flood-gates ſtaying the ſtreame, make it either burſt them downe, or elſe ſwell over them: and doe we not ſee how all ſuch as are bent vponupon any villany, are more exaſperated by diſſwaſion, then if they were let alone? Pharaoh is better to Iſrael, whiles they willingly obey, then when Moſes and Aaron come to preach their deliuerance; then as a beaſt he turnes madde with baiting. And ſo all the Martyrs ſhould hauehave had the Heathen Emperours better tutors then tyrants, if they had not provoked them by oppoſition of their wickedneſſe. Nay, doe we not ſee how the beſt mindes, when they are troubled, yeeld inconſiderate motions; as water that is violently ſtirred, ſends vp bubbles? Rom. 7.11.11.13.
Q. How many be the cauſes blameable?
A. Two; The principall, and miniſteriall: the Devill a chiefe agent in mans apoſtaſie, abuſed the Serpent, and the woman, as his inſtruments, to ſeduce man. Gen. 3.2. Cor. 11.3. Satans policie was to take the ſubtill Serpent, and ſimple Woman, to defeat man of his happineſſe, as now he doth the Ieſuites, and females, to draw men to Antichriſt.
Q. What are the principall cauſes?
A. The Devill, and Man: though Eue was firſt in the motion, yet was Adam principall in the action; for he is firſt called to the barre, to anſwere the tranſgreſſion. Gen. 3.9. 1. Tim. 2.13.14. Firſt, he was the head of his wife, and therefore it was his ſinne, that he gaue her no better inſtruction. Secondly, the Covenant of life was made principally with him, and therefore it is ſaid, that when he had eaten, both their eyes were open. Gen. 3.7. She did eate before her husband, and ſinned perſonally: but when he did eate with her, then they both ſaw, that they, and all their poſteritie were accurſed. Thirdly, It is probable, that Adam ſtood by all the time of the diſputation, and therefore his ſinne was the greater, that he rebuked not the Serpent, and reſcued his wife from all ſuch ſuggeſtions: or if he was abſent, (whereof the Text makes no mention) then ſhould he ſhew himſelfe a weaker veſſell then his wife, who had all the bad Angels (in one craftie beaſt) to ſet vponupon her: whereas he had onelyonly one weake woman in his pureſt integritie to overthrow him. Neither could his affection then to his wife be ſo prepoſterous, as are now of corrupt naturaliſts, who are blinded in louelove. His louelove to his wife was created pure, and therefore except his iudgement had beene firſt perverted, as it was in his wife, he could not ſo eaſily hauehave conſented, of meere affection to his wife. I cannot beleeue, but that the Devils in the Serpent, did as well tempt Adam as Eue, though firſt they began with her, as a further meanes of inticing him. The text ſayes not, that Eue went to ſeeke her husband; but that ſhee tooke, and gaue to her husband with her, &c. Geneſis 3.6.
Q. How were the Devils the cauſe of it?
A. They were by creation good, and appointed of God to be mans keepers, yet of their owne accord, and free will they diſdained and contemned their ſtanding with God. Iud. ver. 6. and became proud, rebellious, and abominable lyers, and blaſphemers of God, and of malice and hatred of man, became ſeducers and murtherers of him. Ioh. 4.44. It may well be diſputed, whether the Angels were Apoſtataes in heaven, or Paradiſe. If I may ſhew my iudgement, and leaue it as a probable opinion, it is this. The third heaven is a place of puritie, and abſolute felicitie, and therfore cannot for a moment, or inſtant of time, be the ſubiect of any pollution, or miſery. If ſinne had ever beene in heaven, the place ſhould hauehave beene polluted by it. The very earth was ſtained with the ſinne of his proper inhabitant: and ſo ſhould heaven, if the proper and peculiar inhabitants had there ſinned: but ſuch was the wiſe providence of Almightie God, that at once he would giuegive a iuſt occaſion of triall, of the Angels in their obedience, and ſaue heaven from all polution, which he then, and now, and ever preſerues moſt pure for his elect, both Angels and men. The occaſion was giuen in their miniſtration to man, not the celebration of Gods glory in heauen, that they might ſee more fitting their place then the other: but ſhall wee the moſt excellent of Gods creatures, ſtoop ſo low as to become mans ſervants, and ſubiect our ſelues to ourinferiours, &c? Let vsus thinke of a courſe to ſubvert his eſtate, and bring him out of grace and favour with his creator; ſo ſhall we according to our excellencie, Lord it over him. So that here might very well be a conioyned Apoſtaſie in the ruine of them both. O bleſſed God, how farre is thy decree from all ſtaine of ſin, and yet how full of Mercy and Iuſtice? Thou wouldſt not try all thy Angels, ſome thou keptſt at home, whiles others fell in miniſtring abroad. And all this, that thy ſonne might be exalted, neither Angel or man ever prevailing without him. Rev. 12.6.7. They that fight vnderunder this head; are all ſaued; if they warre vnderunder their owne power they cannot but periſh. The good angels were but lookers on till a Meſſias was promiſed, and then are they all miniſtering ſpirits for the good of their fellow heires of ſalvation. Heb. 1.14. Who can ſay blacke is the eye of Gods providence, intending to glorifie his Iuſtice in the condemnation of ſome Angels, and ſome men, when he might hauehave executed all? Let vsus all ſing with the ſweet Singer of Iſrael. Pſal. 119.137. Righteous art thou, O Lord, and vpright are thy iudgement.
Q. How was man a cauſe thereof?
A. By the abuſe of Gods law, and his owne free will, being ſeduced by Satan, and induced into ſinne by the ſtrength of his temptation, ſubtiltie of his ſuggeſtion, and is owne free reception of both, voluntarily harkning thereunto, contrary to Gods commandement, when being aſſiſted thereby, he might eaſily hauehave reſiſted the ſame. Gen. 3.6. Man was made a moſt free beginner of his owne action, neither did God withdraw, or with-hold any neceſſary grace from him; he gaue him ſufficient not to ſinne, neither was he bound to giuegive him ſo much as he might prevent, and prevaile over eueryevery violent temptation god might hauehave kept Satan from him, or in the combat hauehave giuen him the conqueſt: but it was Gods meaning to try him with the grace of his Creation: that now he may ſee the greater louelove of his Creator, in putting him vnderunder a ſecond Adam, who prevailed againſt Satan, and in whom all the elect ſhall be ſure of victory. Hence learne, that ſince the fall, in the hardning of Reprobates, as in Pharaoh, God neither withdrawes grace, for he had none; nor with-holds it, for he is not bound to giuegive it: Chriſt is onelyonly a head and fountaine of ſauing grace, for his elect Angels and men.
Q. What were the inſtrumentall cauſes?
A. The Serpent, and the Woman. Gen. 3.1. The Devill to further his temptation, vſed viſible inſtruments, and plotted by the ſubtiltie of the one, and ſimplicitie of the other, the woefull down fall of Adam, and all his poſteritie. All the Legions of the reprobate Devils entred into one beaſt, to conferre with the woman, and by the Poitho and Suada of that viperous tongue, crept into the boſome of Eue, as it were, by all the topicke places in Logicke, figures of Rethoricke, and other engines of guile & deceit, till they had brought her into a fooles Paradiſe, with the loſſe of the earthly, and hazzard of the heauenly.
Q. What is the vnblameable cauſe?
A. The commandement of God, for had there beene no law there had beene no tranſgreſſion. Rom. 7.7. Gal. 3.22. And here comes in the act of Gods providence in the apoſtaſie of Angels and men. A law is giuen, by which God will hauehave them both ruled, but of this they make no account; for it is the very firſt thing they begin to conteſt withall, and at length by plaine deniall oppoſeit. The law was giuen to moue man to his dutie, even as that Spirit in Ezekiel moued the wheeles. Ezek. 1.21. The law was ſpirituall. Rom. 7.14. And placed in the very heart of man, and was of a divine nature, to hauehave drawne man to good; but the ſpirit of Satan enters to graple with the law, and turne the wheele of the minde in a cleane contrary courſe to Gods will: the law reſiſts, but man forſakes his mouer, and is turned of Satan the bie way; and ſo the good law of God becomes the ſavour of death vntounto death. 2. Cor. 2.16. And that by an oppoſite motion to his owne nature. The tree was a ſeale, both of good and e…, and the fruit taſted could leaue a tang of death behind it. The law was as able to guide to death, as life; to life by his free motion, to death by his oppoſition. He that runnes againſt a wall, or a tree, is throwne backe againe by violence, and bruiſed in peeces by his ownefall and folly: or by this compariſon may you ſee the worke of the law, by caſting Angels and men into hell. An earthen pitcher is daſhed by a fooliſh and furious hand againſt an hard ſtone wall: that the wall breaketh it, is not the fault of the wall, but rather a commendation; all the evill is in the haſtie hand that raſhly hurles it againſt ſo apparent a death and danger: ſo wilfull and witleſſe man by the ſuggeſtion of Satan in the ſerpent and woman, takes himſelfe, and of his owne free accord flings, or rather flies in the very face of the law, and by it is miſerably ſtricken in peeces Doe we not now ſee how the law makes him ſhiver and ſhake, even as a vanquiſhed enemie vnderunder the hands of his Conquerour, and how he ſeeks to eaſe himſelfe of ſuch a governour? He might as well hauehave knocked his head againſt the ſtone-walles, as his wits to fruſtrate the power of the law within him. A ſilly ſhift to ſtop a little torrent with ſodds and turfs, will it not breake over with roaring? A fooliſh fancy to ſtanch bleeding, by ſtopping our noſthrils, will it not breake out at the mouth, or runne downe the throat into the ſtomacke? A man may with many piles of greene wood ſmoother and ſuffocate the fire for a ſeaſon, but when the moyſture is maſtered, the fury of the burning will be more fearefull, and the flames and flaſhes, more dreadfull to behold. Alas, alas, how doth eueryevery ſinner pile vp the fagots of his future fire, and warme the worme in his owne boſome, that ſhall gnaw for ever? Conſcience ſhall reade him a lecture eueryevery day, becauſe he would not heare the lecture of the law for his eternall good. Rom. 7.10.11.12.
Q. What followes from hence?
A. That as the law was the cauſe of ſinne by accident, ſo was God, and no otherwiſe. Here was no omnipotencie to conſtraine man to fulfill the will of his creator; here was a law to reſtraine him from ſinne, and diſtreſſe him in committing it, yea, and thruſt him head-long into all out-rage, being once oppoſed by man. Let men rot in their ſinnes, and they will die quietly: but ſtirre them by the liuely word, and ſinne will reviue. Rom. 7.9. and either kill worſe by impenitencie, or be more happily killed by repentance. Mud in a glaſſe, when it is ſhaken, runnes all over that which before ſeemed pure and cryſtall. The poyſon of the ſnake, whiles he is benummed with cold beareth no danger, but warme him, and he will hiſſe and ſting. The Sea in calme weather is as ſtill and quiet as any river; but let the windes once blow and bluſter, and you ſhall ſee nothing but raging, ſtorming, and foaming out mire and dirt. Hoſ. 2.1. When I would hauehave healed Iſrael; namely by admonitions and rebukes of the word, then the iniquitie of Ephraim was diſcovered, &c. The law had an intent to ſaue man; but man would not hearken thereunto, ſo that his perdition was of himſelfe.
Q. What ſecondly may be learned?
A. That God was no bare permitting, or forſaking cauſe, but a working cauſe, even in the fall of man. Gen. 3.1. It is Satans firſt on-ſet, hath God ſaid ye ſhall not eate, &c. Like an earewig did he wrigle in by ſophiſticating the holy law of God; for he knew well enough he could not get in except he did driue that out, which was not done, but by a mightie wreſtling, and wreathing on both ſides. And Gods worke was firſt to hold out Satan, then in contempt to thruſt man vponupon his adverſary, when he left him to cleaue vntounto a lyer. 1. Sam. 2.30. They that deſpiſe me ſhall be lightly eſteemed. God in an holy indignation might well reiect them that had ſo ſhamefully reiected him; and (as it were) even puſh man vponupon the pikes of his owne puniſhment. It was no ioy to God, to ſee his beloued creature, ſo vilely to caſt away himſelfe; and yet God intended, & wrought it without all blame, not as an author, or fautour of mans finne, but as a judge, caſting him in his owne act, and taking revenge vponupon him for his ſinne.
Q. What will follow in the third place?
A. How God wrought in mans fall, yea, and from all eternitie, for Gods act began before mans. And this is ſafely to be done by our anatomie, or reſolution of Gods compoſition in this worke. Firſt, God did it by his law, and ſpeciall government of man. Secondly, as he did it, ſo had he power to doe it, and ſuch a power, as neither Devils nor men are able to reſiſt. Man might reſiſt the law. Math. 23.37. but not the power, by which the law worketh; for man, not the law, ſhall ſuffer for the irruption, and breach of it. The law will be ſure, one way, or another, to make his part good, with the moſt maſterleſſe monſters. Thirdly, as God did it, and could doe it, ſo he decreed it to be done, and omnipotencie and efficiencie, are but two executours, no compoſors of Gods decree, and therefore it ſhall ſtand infallible in the greateſt contingencie. It was poſſible for man to fall, or not to fall, and his act was contingent, ſo true that it might hauehave beene falſe, yet the decree was as certaine before as after the event, ſeeing all things are preſent to God, when they are abſent to vsus. Fourthly, as he decreed it, ſo it was done by counſell. Ephe. 1.11. both in the ſcope, and plot. God had an end in mans fall, neitheir was it otherwiſe executed then himſelfe had plotted it. The Devils, and our firſt parents, together with the Serpent, time, and place, could never hauehave ſo met together, except God had ſet it downe, ſo will I hauehave it acted, even to eueryevery circumſtance. Fiftly, It ſeemed good to his wiſedome ſo to hauehave it done, and no otherwiſe. Pharaoh deales wiſely by ſinning. Exod. 1.10. but God is wiſe in decreeing how Pharaoh ſhall ſinne. Sixtly, that which is done by the wiſedome of God, is good and iuſt. Hence ſinne, oppoſite to all good, and the enemie of iuſtice, was both good & iuſt, not in it ſelfe, but as God decreed it to be a meanes of his glory, which it is not by his owne nature, for God is cliſhonoured by it: but by accident, as God can bring light out of darkeneſſe, good out of evill, and life out of death. Therefore as God did it, it was no ſinne, eueryevery cauſe is to be examined by his manner of working. Man ſinnes by counſell, and God by counſell orders it ſo to be done, and in doing workes as much as he willed. Laſtly, as it was good and iuſt, ſo God willed it, but as ſimply evill, he willed it not, but did hate the being of it. Pſal. 5.4. Will is the higheſt ſtep we muſt ſtand vponupon, and thus may we goe downeward, by the ſame ſtaires we came vp. God did will nothing but that which was good and iuſt, and ſo it ſeemed good to his wiſedome, by counſell to decree it, and by his power to effect it.