The Young Mans Warning-Piece, Postscript – Imprimatur
A Poſt-ſcript to the Reader of this Warning peece, of the uſe of Examples.
GOod Reader ſtay a while: thou haſt not yet done. I have for thy good, ſet before thee an old Rule, and new examples: and of the abuſe of examples I am not ignorant. Some looke upon them ſo as to imitate them, be they never ſo bad. As Auguſtus a learned Prince, filled his Empire with Schollers: ſo Tiberius, a diſſembling Prince, with diſſemblers: Iulian, an Apoſtate Prince, with Apoſtates: and Jeroboham a Calviſh Prince, with Idolaters. Others looke upon them ſo, as to hate the perſons as well as the ſins. Every fearefull accident, either in the life or death of men, ſpeakes to them the language of damnation.
Howſoever they be abuſed, I am ſure it is moſt fit, yea excellent, to have the white booke of Gods mercies, and the blacke Booke of judgements, alwayes before our eyes. The abuſe doth not take away the uſe no more than the Spartans ſhewed themſelves wiſe in rooting out their Vines, becauſe their people abuſed their Wine to drunkenneſſe.
I am ſure wee have the example of GOD Himſelfe, who would not ſilence the patternes both of ſinne, and judgement, of thoſe hee dearely loved. And if we be verſed in his Booke, wee may obſerve, that he hath beene pleaſed to make many uſes of ſuch examples. Sometimes by them hee doth threaten,Vſes of examples. 1. To threaten▪ Deut. 24 9. Ioſh. 22.20. 1 Sam. 6.6. Remember what the Lord did unto Myriam. Did not Acham the ſonne of Zerah commit a treſpaſſe in the accurſed thing? Wherefore doe you harden your hearts as the Aegyptians and Pharaoh? If yee doe as they have done, yee ſhall bee puniſhed as they have beene.2. To reproach Iudg. 10.17. Sometimes by them hee doth reproach unthankefull people. Did not I deliver you from the Aegyptians and from the Amorites, from the children of Amon, and from the Philiſtims? O my people, remember what Balack King of Moab conſulted, Mic. 6▪5.and what Balaam the ſonne of Beor anſwered from Shittim to Gilgal. Are yee not aſhamed to offend ſuch a GOD as I, who have neither beene a barren Wilderneſſe, nor a dry Land?3. To comfort. Sometimes by them he comforteth and ſtrengtheneth the hands of the weak, Thine eyes have ſeene all that the Lord your God hath done unto theſe two Kings. Deut. 3.21.This your trouble is as the waters of Noah to mee: Eſa. 54.9.as I have ſaid, they ſhall no more goe over the Earth: ſo, nor your afflictions ſhall overwhelme you. Will you be diſmaied in any trouble, or caſt off your confidence, as if Gods hand were tyed up now more than in thoſe dayes? Sometimes by them hee doth maintaine great points of godlineſſe.4. To maintaine truth. Iam. 2.21. Rom.4.2, 3. Was not Abraham our Father justified by workes? Not to glory in before God: for Abraham beleeved God, and it was counted to him for righteouſneſſe: but to make him ſtand out againſt the blaſphemies of the world, the accuſations of Conſcience, and the upbraidings of a dead faith. And will not yee who muſt bee the children of Abraham, or periſh, walke in the way of ſo worthy a Father?5. To diſſwade from vice. 1 Cor. 10.7, 8, 9, &c. Exo. 32.6. Num. 25.9. Num. 21 6. Numb. 14.37. Sometimes by them hee doth diſſwade from vice. Bee not Idolaters as were ſome of them. Let us not commit fornication as ſome of them did, and fell in one day three and twenty thouſand. Let us not tempt Christ, as ſome of them alſo tempted, and were deſtroyed of Serpents. Neither murmure as ſome of them murmured, and were deſtroyed of the deſtroyer. if yee goe on in ſuch a way, and will not be diſſwaded, yee will meet with the ſame plagues which they have found, or worſe.6. To forewarne. 2 Cor. 11.3. Sometimes by them he gives promonition and caution. I feare leaſt by any meanes, as the Serpent beguiled Eve through his ſubtilty, ſo your mindes ſhould bee corrupted from the ſimplicity that is in Chriſt. Will yee not take heed leſt leſſe policy make you to fall, as Eve fell, which was full of bitterneſſe to her and hers?
Why examples are of ſuch uſe. foreign. Iam. 1.2 3.All this uſe and more hath our good God made of examples, not onelyonly becauſe like leaking Veſſels we are apt daily to runne out, and to forget our faſhion which we ſaw in the Glaſſe, if it be not ſtill repreſented to us: but alſo becauſe of the ſingular profit of examples. For as they profit a world of people, they being like a burning Beacon giving light before men; and being like fire whereat we may give light to thouſands of Candles: ſo doe they laſt long and hold out to the worlds end, as the poore Widowes mites, and Lots Wifes tranſmutation.
Neither is it in vaine that GOD hath taken ſuch a courſe as this.A threefold benefit by examples. It is all for our good, that wee may know how to uſe examples according to their ſeverall natures. But among the reſt you may reape a threefold benefit by them.1. Obſervation. Firſt, an Obſervation of the cuſtomes and uſages of the Church and enemies of it. This will bee an adjument to wiſdome, which is ordinarily attaineable by experience of our owne dayes, and memory of others. Next an Illuſtration of the faith,2. Illuſtration and manners of others, what ever they be. For examples doe not make faith and manners, but give patternes of Gods rules, for the more Expedite practiſe of them. And laſtly,3. Declaration of providence. The world doth not make this benefit. a declaration of Gods ordinary providence in his acts of wiſedome, goodneſſe, mercy, juſtice, and the like.
From theſe two uſes the world doth, moſtly, too farre wander. For want of the firſt, the Church is many times filled with Schiſmes, and diſorders. For want of the ſecond, faith and manners are not ſo cleared, and examples are taken up as neceſſary Lawes, which onelyonly ſhew a lawfulneſſe where the rule of Scripture doth not oppoſe. For want of the third, God paſſeth by, and wee know it not. Let him bee never ſo wiſe, by the neglect of the example, we admire it not. Let him be never ſo good, by the neglect of the example, we love it not. Let him be never ſo mercifull, by the neglect of the example, we imbrace it not. Let him be never ſo juſt, by the neglect of the example, wee doe not feare and tremble, and avoide the rockes of ſinne: and hence it is that I have beene induced to propound theſe examples unto you alſo.
How men doe make uſe of examples of Iuſtice.It may bee that ſometimes men doe obſerve the way of GOD in the whirewind of juſtice: but either they are willing to thinke it not ſo great as it is; or to judge it to reach further than our good God intendeth it. If men do think the firſt, it is becauſe they would flatter themſelves in like ſinnes. Loth they are to thinke that God ſhould puniſh that which they love; or that danger ſhould happen to them who have done as they meane to doe ſtill. If men judge the ſecond, it is becauſe they want charity, and judgement in the wayes of God.
Sometimes GOD gives an example of his juſtice which begins here,And how they ſhould from the ſeveral waies of Gods ſhewing Iuſtice. and continues for ever and ever: as in many of the drowned firſt world, and roaſted Sodomites. God never made mee ſo skilfull in his Throne buſineſſe, as to define peremptorily, that every ſuckling and infant of thoſe miſerable ones were caſt into the bottomeleſſe hell. Hee onelyonly ſayes that the floud did ſweepe them away, and they were burned with fire and brimſtone, and there leaves us to leave the reſt to GOD. They were not in the Arke indeed, nor was Iob in the viſible Church, as Iſaac and the reſt of the Patriarchs were, yet might the All-eye looke upon them as he pleaſed, and judge, or ſpare.
Sometimes God gives an example of his juſtice which dies here, and (for ought wee know) may end in glory. Thus we are ſaid to bee judged that wee might not bee condemned by the world. 1 Cor. 11.32.No man will judge Ioſiah or Ionathan for their untimely deaths. They died in peace, though they died in warre; in peace with God, in warre with men. Nor will they reſolvedly reprobate the ſoules of Er, and Onan, Nadab, and Abihu, Ananias, and Saphira, or their likes. Their ſins were great, and grievous, yea damnable, and therefore GOD brought fearefull judgements upon them: and as hee hath ſaid, ſo hath hee done,Pſal. 55.23. bloudy and deceitfull men ſhall not live out halfe their dayes. But for their ſoules, and how farre his juſtice extended to them, is among the ſecrets of his government, and paſt our cognizance. It is an old leſſon never to bee forgotten,Deut. 29.29 That ſecret things belong to the Lord our God, but thoſe things that are revealed, to us, and to our children for ever.
But what is all this to our examples in this Warning-peece?The Application of the uſe of examples to this Warning-peece. If you apply it aright you ſhall know how to uſe them to your good. Bee ſure therefore to ſee Gods hand in both, and his anger againſt ſin in both; without that, ſuch judgings could not ordinarily come into the world. Bee ſure alſo not to extend GODS juſtice further than what you ſee or heare. Thus farre God hath gone, goe you no further. Cannot GOD take up his people and whippe them ſoundly for ſinne, but preſently the raſh world muſt cry out, They are baſtards, and not f…r GODS reſt?
Indeed you ſee or heare that one of them had a debauched and wicked life. God ſaw it, and thruſt him downe to the gates of hell, and ſo he did fearefully judge him in this world. Yet withall hee had ſuch remorſe, confeſſion, ſelfe condemnation, deſire of others good, and of his owne (though with deſpaire,) that God hath given us reaſons of charity to his ſoule, and kept the rule of certainty to himſelfe onelyonly. Notwithſtanding, let no man of ſuch a courſe preſume; God comes as a ſwift witneſſe againſt ſuch, and will make his ſword drunke with their bloud.Pſal. 68 21. For hee will wound the hairy ſcalpe of every one that goes on ſtill in wickedneſſe.
You ſee alſo, or heare, that the other of them had a great deale better life. It is true alſo, that (thus much being confeſſed) hee cloſed too long and too much with the world, as all that knew him well, complained. He was alſo unthankfull to a pariſh who had beene loving to a poore father of his (in a free gift of a good maintenance from them,) when hee would not bee perſwaded (both befor the ſetling of any Will, and before the ſetling of his laſt) to give a poore pittance out of his great eſtate to that loving Pariſh for pious uſes, hee having no children of his owne. God ſaw this too, and whipt him to the purpoſe, before hee went hence and was no more ſeene.
Would not GOD have an irreligious world ſee how neneceſſary it is to breake off a wicked life by Repentance, Dan. 4.27.and how uſefull to honour GOD with our riches? Prov. 3.9.It would make a good mans heart to bleed, that the world ſhould have a ſecond floud of ſinne by ſome, and that, by others, pious and publike workes ſhould bee neglected, oppoſed and grumbled at, as if mens riches were their owne, and they might doe with them what they liſt, as if they were gods. Shall private perſons and affaires (not worth a dunghill to the buſineſſes of GOD) bee the onelyonly object of bounty and munificence? If in ſuch a caſe GOD withdraw his countenance and frowne, is it not worthy our notice? Let God bee GOD, and doe his owne worke, in ſparing their ſoules for ever as hee pleaſeth: yet let him ſhew us examples too of what wee ought to doe, or what wee ſhall ſuffer. For if wee doe not amend (for ought I know) he may, and will doe according to our patternes, take away our comforts here, and our comforts for ever and ever, which is infinitely more:
I ſhut up all in a word. Looke upon your examples and feare and tremble. If they have found GOD thus angry who have beene overtaken by indulged, and over powring infirmities, how will he look upon you if ye neglect, and ſcorn, after ſuch warnings? Yet look upon them ſo, as you leave not Charitie behinde. Yee may have hope to conceive well of them (who were judged in this world,) becauſe yee knew not their hearts. Yee can have no hope to conceive well of your ſelves in ſo doing, becauſe yee know your owne hearts better. You are apt in excuſing ſome to flatter your ſelves, and in accuſing others to juſtifie your ſelves too farre. Neither of theſe can doe well in the day of your account, which I deſire may bee comfortable unto you in the day of our LORD IESUS CHRIST.
1 Cor. 10.11.
All theſe things happened unto them for enſamples: and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.
FINIS.
Imprimater.
Thomas Weekes, Cap, Domest. Epiſ. Lond.
End of the text · Robert Abbot, The Young Mans Warning-Piece (1639)