Twenty-One Sermons on Amos 2, Collection of lectures · Lecture 7
THE VII. LECTVRE.
AMOS 2.5.
But I will send a fire vponupon Iudah, and it shall deuoure the palaces of Ierusalem.
THree former Sermons hauehave caried me past the preface, and the three first parts of this prophecie against Iudah: the fourth, which is the Commination, or Denuntiation of the iudgements of the Lord against Iudah and Ierusalem, remaineth to be the subiect of this my present discourse.
But I will send a fire &c.
These words are no strangers to you. You hauehave met with them fiue times in the first Chapter, and once before in this. Their exposition, their diuision, the Doctrines issuing from them, the Vses and applications of the Doctrines, hauehave diuers times from out this place sounded in your eares. Yet now, (the order, obserued by the Holy Spirit in deliuering this prophecie, so requiring it) they are once more to be commended to your religious attentions.
May it please you therefore to obserue with me three circumstances. Quis, Quomodo, & Qui.
1. Quis comminatur: Who it is, that threatneth to punish. It is the Lord. For, Thus saith the Lord, I will send.
2. Quomodo puniet: How, and by what meanes hee will punish. The letter of my text is for fire. I will send a fire.
3. Qui puniendi: Who are to be punished: And they are the inhabitants of the Kingdome of Iudah, and the chiefe Citie thereof, Ierusalem. I will send a fire vponupon Iudah, and it shall deuoure the palaces of Ierusalem.
In the precedent prophecies the comminations were against the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites, all Gentiles and strangers to God; but this commination against the Iewes, Gods owne friends, and children. I will send a fire vponupon Iudah.]
I] WhoaAmos 4.13. forme the mountaines, and create the winde, and declare to man what is his thought, and make the morning darknes, and tread vponupon the high places of the earth; I will send. I, whobIob 12.14. breake downe, and it cannot be built againe; who shuts vp a man, and there can be no opening; I will send. I, whocPsal. 3.3.9. speakes, and it is done, who commands, and it standeth fast. I will send a fire vponupon Iudah, and it shall deuoure the palaces of Ierusalem.
This fire, which the Lord sendeth vponupon Iudah, is not so much a fire properly taken, as a fire in a figuratiue vnderstanding. It betokeneth that desolation, which was to betide the kingdome of Iudah, and the chiefest Citie thereof, Ierusalem, from hostile invasion. I will send a fire.
This commination began to be fulfilled in the dayes of Zedechias, King of Iudah. The historie is very memorable; and is briefly yet diligently described in the 2. Chron. 36. and in the 2. Kings 25. and Ierem. 39. & 52. In those places you may read, howd2. King. 25.1. Nabuchadnezzar King of Babylon, came against Ierusalem, pitched against it, besieged it, tooke it. You may read how heevers. 6. tooke King Zedechiah prisoner, slew his sonnes before his face, put out the Kings owne eyes, bound him with brasen fetters, and carried him away to Babylon: you may read, howfvers. 8. Nebuzaradan, Captaine of the guard, and chiefe Marshall to the King of Babylon dealt with Ierusalem. Heg2. Chro. 36.19. 2. Reg. 25.9. brake downe the wall thereof, and burnt with fire the house of the Lord, the Kings house, eueryevery great mans house, all the houses, and palaces there. Say now; did it not fall out to Iudah and Ierusalem, according to this commination? I will send a fire vponupon Iudah and it shall deuoure the pallaces of Ierusalem.
This desolation being thus wrought vponupon Iudah, and Ierusalem, by the Chaldees; the Iewes, such as escaped from the sword, were carried away to Babylon, where they liued in seruitude and bondage, to the Kings of Babylon forh1. Chro. 36.21. threescore, and ten yeares. This was that famous deportation, commonly stiled the Captiuitie of Babylon, from which vntounto CHRIST are numbred, (Matth. 1.) fourteene generations. When the yeares of this captiuitie were expired, and the Monarchie of Persia was setled vponupon King Cyrus, King Cyrus stirred vp by the Lord, made a proclamation, whereby he permitted the Iewes to returne into their country, and toiE…ra 1.3. reedifie the Temple of the Lord at Ierusalem.
The Iewes now returned from their captiuitie, wherein they liued threescore and ten yeares, without a King, without a Prince, without a sacrifice, without an Image, without an Ephod, without Teraphim, (as it is witnessed, Hos. 3.4.) could not but with much ioy, and great alacritie, vnderunder the gouernment of their new Prince,kEzra 3.2. Zerubbabel, sonne of Shealtiel, and their new High-Priest, Iesbuah, sonne of Iozadak, betake themselues to the building againe of the Lords house in Ierusalem.
The building was begun; it proceeded; but was soone hindred, by the decree oflEzra 4.23, 24. & 1. Esar. 2.30. Artaxerxes, King of Persia. So the worke of the house of God at Ierusalem, mEzra 4.24. & 1. Esar. 2.30.ceased for some ten yeares, till the second yeare of the raigne of Darius [sonne of Histaspes] King of Persia: by whose graciousnEzra 6.8. decree for the aduancement of the building, the building was againe set on foote, and so diligently attended, that in theovers. 15. sixth yeare of the raigne of the same King, King Darius, it was finished; as it is deliuered, Ezra 6.15. Thus was the house of God, the Temple of the Lord in Ierusalem, afterpIohan. 2.20. 46. yeares consummate, and dedicated.
Now once againe was the Lord of hostes iealous of Ierusalem, and for Sion, qZach. 1.14. & 8.2.with a great iealousie: now againe wererZach. 8.4, 5. old men, and old women, to dwell in Ierusalem, and boyes, and girles to play in the streets thereof: now againe was Ierusalem to be calledsZach. 8.3. a Citie of truth, the mountaine of the Lord of Hostes, the holy mountaine; and the Iewes, which in former times weretZach. 8.13. a curse among the heathen, now became a blessing: now againe were theyuZach 8.8. the people of the Lord, and the Lord was their God, in truth, and in righteousnesse. Thus were the people of Iudah, through God his speciall goodnes, blessed with ioy and enlargment: for so much we finde registred, Zach. 8.
What did the people of Iudah, for so many streames of Gods bounty deriued vponupon them, render vntounto the Lord their God? Did they (as meete was)xPs. 116.13, 14. take vp the cup of saluation? did they call vponupon the name of the Lord? did they pay their vowes vntounto the Lord? Did they, as they were commanded, Zach. 8.16? did they speake the truth eueryevery man to his neighbour? did they execute the iudgment of truth and peace within their gates? did they imagine no euill in their hearts, one against another? did they louelove no false oathes? What saith the Prophet Malachie to this? He confesseth chap. 2.10, 11. that the people of Iudah dealt treacherously eueryevery one against his brother; that they violated the couenant of their fathers; that they committed abomination in Ierusalem; that they prophaned the holinesse of the Lord; that they married the daughters of a strange God: and chap. 3.5. that they were sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, oppressors: and vers. 7. that euen from the dayes of their fathers they departed from the ordinances of the Lord, and kept them not. Is not enough said against them? Then adde yet further; they corrupted the Law, they contemned the Gospell, they beheaded Iohn Baptist, they crucified Christ, they persecuted the Apostles. Impiety of such an height and eleuation could not but presage a fearefull downefall.
This their downefall is in a figure foretold by the Prophet Zacharie, chap. 11.1, 2. Open thy dores, O Lebanon, that the fire may deuoure thy Cedars. Howle Firre tree, for the Cedar is fallen, howle yee Okes of Bashan, for the forrest of the vintage is come downe. What Zacharie doth in a figure, that doth Christ foretell in words proper and significant, Luk. 19.42. where beholding the Citie of Ierusalem, and weeping ouer it he saith: The dayes shall come vponupon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compasse thee round, and keepe thee in on eueryevery side: and shall lay thee euen with the ground, and thy children with thee, and they shall not leaue in thee one stone vponupon another.
This foreign, this vtter desolation of the Citie Ierusalem, foretold by Zacharie, and by Christ; by the one in a figure, by the other in plaine termes, was brought vponupon that stately Citie by Titus, sonne of Vespasian, after the incarnation of Christ, threescore and eleuen yeares, as Genebrard, threescore and twelue, as Funccius, threescore and thirteen asyPedro Mexia in vitis Imperat. in Vespasiano pag. 126. others, in the second yeare of the Emperor Vespasian. It was besieged for the space of fiue moneths: in which time there passed many assaults, many skirmishes, much slaughter, with wonderfull obstinacie and resolution. The famine meane while afflicting the Citie was such, as no historie can parallell.
When their ordinarie sustenance was spent, the flesh ofzPedro Mexia ibid. horses, asses, dogs, cats, rats, snakes, adders, seemed good vntounto their tasts. When this foode failed, they were driuen to eat euen those things, which vnreasonable creatures will not eat.aFame impellebantur vt vel equorum lora, & suos baltheos, & calceos, & coria cemederent. Pōtan. Bibliothec. Conc. Tom. 4. ad Domin. 10. Trinit. Of their lether; lether bridles, lether girdles, lether shoes, and the like, they made for themselues meate.bFame impellebantur vt comederent sterc…ra beum, & quodcun{que} stercus reperi…batur, illius partum pendus quat…or nummis ve…debatur. Pōt. ibid. Oxe dunge was a precious dish vntounto them. Purgamenta olerum, the shreddings of pot-hearbs cast out, trodden vnderunder foote, and withered, were taken vp againe for nourishment. Miserabilis cibus, esca lachrymabilis: Here was miserable meat,cEgesippus de exeraio Hieros… lym. lib. 5. c. 18. lamentable foode, yet would the childedRaprebant parentibus filij, parentes filijs, & de ipsis fancibus cib… proferebatur. Egesip. ibid. snatch it from his parent, and the parent from his childe, euen from out his iawes. Pleris{que} etiam vomitus esca fuit, saith Egesippus; some to prolong their liues would eat vp that, which others had vomited.
Among many other accidents in this famine at Ierusalem, one is so memorable, that I cannot well passe it ouer. eDe bello Iudaico lib. 7. cap. 18.Iosephus, an eye-witnes of this their miserie, tells vsus of a woman, a mother, Marie, Eleazars daughter, who tooke from her owne brests, her owne childe, a harmelesse suckling, a silly infant, did kill it, and did eat thereof. My author saith; that this vnnaturall mother tooke her tender babe, as it was sucking, from her brest, and thus spake vntounto it.fMiserū te, infans in bello, & fame, & seditione, cui te seruauero? Litle infant, poore wretch, in warre, in famine, in sedition, for whom shall I preserue thee? for whom shall I saue thee aliue? If thou liue, thou must be a slaue to the Romans: but famine preuents thy seruitude; yea and the mutinous Iewes are more cruell, than either the Romans, or the famine Be thou therefore mihi cibus, seditiosis furia, humanae vitae fabula: Be thou meate to me, a furie to the mutinous, and euen a mocke of the life of man. When shee had thus spoken, she embrued her hands in the bloud of her owne sonne; she boyled the dead bodie, and eat the one halfe: the remainder shee reserued for another repaste.
The mutinous Iewes drawne by thegContaminatissimi nidoris odore capti. sent and sauour of this meate, brake into this womans house: they threatned to kill her, vnlesse shee would shew them, where her meate was laid. Shee told them, shee had meat indeed, and had reserued it for her-selfe; notwithstanding, sith they so vrged her, shee would shew it to them. So shee brought them to the reliques of her sonne. At the sight thereof, they shrunke backe with feare, horror, and astonishment. Then the mother, mercilesse mother, with great boldnesse said thus vntounto them: This meate, which you see, is indeede part of my owne sonne: it was my hFacinus meum.deede to kill it: eat yee of it: for I hauehave eaten. Will you be more tender than a woman? more pitifull than a mother? eat yee of it: I hauehave eaten. If you will not eate it, it shall remaine for mee his mother. A mother! No mother, but a monster shee was, that could act such a prodigie.
Well: What with the extremitie of this famine, what with the furie of the sword, what with sicknesse during the time of this warre against Ierusalem, thereiSee Pedro M…xi a in the life f… Ve…pa ian. perished in Ierusalem, and the Prouince adioyning, askIn Chr. …ic. ad An. Do. 73. Eusebius, lLib. 7. cap. 9. Pag. 594.Orosius, andmC…r…ectus & Suctonias apud O…osiam loco citato. other Authors affirme, six hundred thousand men able to beare Armes. But if we will beleeuenDe bello Iudaie lib. 7. cap. 17. Vndecies centum millia. & Euseb. Histor. Ec…les. lib. 3. cap. 7. Iosephus, a Iew, and present at that warre, there died eleuen hundred thousand, or a million, and one hundred thousand. And Iosephus his report is subscribed vntounto byoApud Lipsium n…tis ad Tacitum lib. 5. pag. 539. Zonaras and Iornardes.
Besides these now dead fame, morbo, ferro, partly by famine, partly by sicknesse, partly by the sword, there were taken captiue to the number ofpIos…ph. vbi supra. Cassiodor chronic. Tit…s filtus Vesp…siant Iudea cap tacentum millia capi…iterum publi… v…n…ndedit. Abbas V…sperg. Chr…nic. ad. An 29. Chr. 73. 97. thousand, or as q some one hundred thousand, sould, and dispersed in the wide world.
The Iewes thus dead, and scattered, what became of their glorious cittie Ierusalem? The holy Temple there was burnt, their strong and high wals were throwne downe; all the citie became wast and desolate, and so it remaines to this day. Certainly it is befallen Iudah and Ierusalem, according to this commination in my text: I will send a fire vponupon Iudah, and it shall deuoure the palaces of Ierusalem. Thus farre hauehave you the words of my text expounded. Now to the doctrine.
You hauehave heard Gods iudgments against the kingdome of Iudah, and the glorious Citie Ierusalem denounced in the same words, as his iudgements were against the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites. The Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites, were aliens from the Common wealth of Israell, they were strangers from the couenant of promise; they had no hope, they were without God in the world. But these Iewes, these Inhibitants of Iudah and Ierusalem, were of the Common wealth of Israel: God made his couenant with them; they were not without hope; they were the people of the Lord, and the Lord was their God: yet because they sinned against the Lord, as the forenamed Gentiles did, the Lord was pleased to deale with them, as with the Gentiles; euen to send a fire vponupon Iudah, which hath long since deuoured the palaces of Ierusalem. The doctrine which from hence I commend vntounto you, is; Whosoeuer doe imitate the Heathen in their impieties, they are in the Lords account no better then the Heathen, and shall be punished as the Heathen.
God is absolutely vnpartiall both in mercy, and iudgement, foreign, without respect of persons, hee iudgeth according to eueryevery mans worke, 1. Pet. 1.17. Iew or Gentile, its not materiall; if they be obedient, they shall liue and flourish; if they be rebellious, they shall die & perish. Sundry otherrDeut. 10.17. 2. Chro. 19.7. Iob 34.19. Esai. 11.3. Mat. 22.16. Mar. 12.14. Luc. 20.21. Act. 10.34. Rom. 2.11. Galat. 2.6. Eqhes. 6.9. Coloss. 3.25. places there are in both Testaments, old and new, which I might alledge to shew, that with God there is no respect of persons.
By Persons I meane, not the substance of man, or man himselfe, but his outward qualitie or condition; as Countrey, sex, parentage, wealth, pouertie, nobilitie, wisedome, learning, and the like. According to these, God in iudgement respecteth no man. Whosoeuer he be, Iew, or Gentile, male, or female, poore and rich, bond or free, learned, or vnlearned, that feareth God, and worketh righteousnesse, hee is accepted with God, Act. 10.35. but let Iew, or Gentile, male, or female, poore or rich, bond or free, the learned or vnlearned, worke wickednesse before the Lord, and he shalbe without partialitie punished, Iob 34.19.
Such hath euer beene the practise of the Lord. Lazarus his pouerty did not hinder him from saluation, neither did the rich mans abundance free him from damnation. It was no impeachment to Cornelius, that he was a Gentile, nor immunitie to Iudas, that he was a Iew; Saules throne could not shield him from the wrath of God, neither did Dauids sheepfolds avert from him the blessings of God; Esau was the elder brother, yet God hated him, Iacob was the younger, yet God loued him. Neuer did any perish in obedience, neuer did any prosper in rebellion. Certainely God hath no respect of any mans person, for his outward estate, qualitie, or condition. God spared not the Angels for their excellencie, nor the old world for their multitude; nor Saul for his personage, nor Absolon for his beautie, nor the Iewes for their prerogatiue, nor Ierusalem for her goodly buildings. From this vnpartialitie of God in his workes of iustice, my proposition stands good, Whosoeuer doe imitate the Heathen in their impieties, are in the Lords account no better, then the Heathen, and shall be punished as the Heathen.
Will you a reason hereof? It is because the Lord takes impietie for impietie wheresoeuer he finds it, and for such doth punish it. And he finds it eueryevery where. For the eyes of the Lord s2. Chron. 16.9.runne to and fro throughout the whole earth, and are intProu. 15.3. eueryevery place to behold as well the euill, as the good. His eyes areuIere. 16.17. vponupon all our wayes; he seethxIob 34.21. all our goings, heyIob 31.4. counteth all our steps, no iniquitie iszIere. 16.17. hid from him. This doth the Prophet Ieremie, Chap. 32.19. wall expresse; Thine eyes, O Lord, are open vponupon all the wayes of the sonnes of men, to giuegive eueryevery one acccording to his wayes, and according to the fruit of his doings.
This the very Ethnickes, guided onelyonly by Natures light, hauehave acknowledged. Sybilla in her Oracles could say, foreign, The Almightie and inuisible God, he onelyonly seeth all things, Hesiod could say, foreign, God hath an All-seeing eye. Plautus could say,aCapteivi. Est profecto Deus, qui, quae nos gerimus, audit{que} & videt; Doubtlesse, there is a God, who both heareth and seeth whatsoeuer we doe. AndbMetamorph. lib. 13. Ovid could say, Aspiciunt oculis superimortalia iust…s: There is a God aboue, who hath iust eyes, beholdeth all the doings of mortall men.cThales interregatu…an furta h…minum Deos fallerent: Nec cogi…ata, inq…it. Valer. Mar. lib. 7 cap. 2. & Dioge. Laert. lib. 1. in Thal 5. Thales of Miletum, the wisest of the seauen, being asked, whether mens euill deeds could be kept close from God! No, sayd he, nor their euill thoughts. The Hieroglyphicke, the mysticall, or aenigmaticall letter whereby the Egyptians would hauehave God to be vnderstood, was an eye. And why so? But asdHier…glyph. lib. 33. Pierius saith, because Deus ille optimus maximus, the great God of Heauen, is mundi oculus, the eye of the world.
It may be such was the conceit of that auncienteAugustin. Father, who sayd of God, that he was totus oculus; wholy an eye? He giues his reason, quia omnia videt; because hee feeth all things. All things are to the eies of God foreign naked and opened [seene as well within as without.] So saith the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. 4.13. All the impieties of man, in deed, word, or thought, are manifest vntounto the Lord: he seeth them all, and for impieties will punish them.
Well saithfDe constantiâ lib. 2. cap. 16. Lypsius: Culpae comes, iustissimè poena semper est; Paine is alwayes the companion of a fault. AndgIbid. cap. 14. againe, Cognatum immo innatum omni sceleri, sceleris supplicium; EueryEvery wickednesse brings a punishment with it. As the worke is, so is the pay; if the one be readie, the other is present.hLipsius de constant. lib. 2, c. 13. Neuer did any man foster within his breast a crime, but vengeance was vponupon his backe for it. If there be impietie, there cannot be impunitie. Witnesse the blessed Apostle S. Iames, chap. 1.15. Sinne, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. And S. Paul, Rom. 6.23. The wages of sinne is death. Many are the texts of holy Scripture, which I might alledge to this purpose. I will for this present trouble you but with one. It is, Psal. 34.16. The face of the Lord is against them that doe euill, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
From these now-touched considerations (first that Almightie God in iudgement accepteth no persons; then, that his Al-seeing eye beholdeth whatsoeuer impietie is done, not onelyonly in our workes and words, but also in our most retyred thoughts; thirdly, that in iustice eueryevery impietie is to receiue a due punishment) from these considerations my position stands firme and vnmoueable.
Whosoeuer doe imitate the Heathen in their impieties, they are in the Lords account no better then the Heathen, and shall be punished as the Heathen.
Here let all good Christians be admonished, with their greatest carefulnesse to looke vntounto their wayes, that they walke not in the by-pathes of sinne, to imitate the Heathen in their impieties Qui attrahit ad se culpam, non potest effugera poenam, saythiComment. in Hebr. 12. Hugo Cardinalis. Thinke not that thy prerogatiue of being a Christian can be a shield vntounto thee. Christianus kAugust enchir. ad Laurent. ca. 5.nomine, non opere, A Christian in name not in deed, may be called a Christian, but is no Christian.lBernard Sentent. Christianus as he is haeres nominis Christi, so must he be imitator sanctitatis: A Christian is heire to the name of Christ, and therefore must be a follower of Christ in holinesse. A Christian (sayth S. Austine, if he be the Author of the BookemLib. 1. cap. 6. de vita Christianâ) A Christian is a name of iustice, of goodnesse, of integritie, of patience, of chastitie, of prudence, of humilitie, of courtesie, of innocencie, of pietie. A Christian is he, who is a follower of Christ, who is holy, innocent, vndefiled, vnspotted, in whose brest there is no wickednesse; who hurts no man, but helpeth all. He that can truely say: I hate not mine enemies, I doe good to them that hurt me, I pray for them that persecute me, I doe wrong to no body, I liue iustly with all men, hic Christianus est, he is a Christian.
But, if in the profession of Christianitie, a man liues the life of a Heathen, the name of a Christian shall doe him no pleasure: If he take delight in thenGalat. 5.19. workes of the flesh, in adulterie, fornication, vncleannesse, laciuiousnesse, drunkennesse, hatred, variance, wrath, strife, or any like sinne, God will forsake him, the holy Angels will flie him, the blessed Saints will detest him: the Reprobate shall bee his companie, the Deuils his fellowes, hell his inheritance, his soule a nest of scorpions, his bodie a dungeon of foule spirits; and at last both bodie and soule shal eternally burne in fire vnquencheable.
Wherefore (dearely beloued) suffer a word of exhortation.oEcclus. 21.1.2.3 HaueHave you sinned? Doe so no more. Flee from sinne as from the face of a Serpent. For if you come too neere it, it will bite you: the teeth thereof are as the teeth of a Lyon, slaying the soules of men. So sayth Ecclus chap. 21.2. Flee from sinne as from the face of a Serpent. Sinne? Its like a leauen that will leauen the whole lumpe: Its like a scab, that will infect the whole flocke: Its like a flaming fire, that will burne the whole house: its like a wild Horse, that will cast his rider into hell; its like a wild gourd, that will poyson the whole pott: its like a plague, that will destroy the whole cittie; its like apEcclus. 21.3. two edged sword, the wounds thereof cannot be healed. Flie therefore from sinne, as from the face of a Serpent. And euer remember what befell Iudah and Ierusalem for their sinnes. They despised the Law of the Lord, they kept not his commaundements, their lies caused them to erre, after which their fathers walked; therefore hath the Lord sent a fire vponupon Iudah, which hath deuoured the palaces of Ierusalem.
Thus farre of my first doctrine. A second followeth.
I take it from the condition of Ierusalem. She had faire appellations. She was called the Virgin, and the daughter of Iudah. Lament. 1.15. The daughter of Sion. ver. 6. the cittie, that was great among the nations, and a Princes among the Prouinces. ver. 1. The holy Cittie. Mat. 4.5. The Cittie of the great King. Mat. 5.35. The Lord he chose it, he desired it for his habitation, he said of it: This is my rest for euer, here will I dwell, for I hauehave a delight therein, Psal. 132.14. And yet notwithstanding, Ierusalem is rased from the foundation, shee is vtterly destroyed. It is befallen her according to this commination in my text, I will send a fire vponupon Iudah, which shall deuoure the palaces of Ierusalem. My doctrine is; God will seuerely punish sinne, euen in his dearest children.
This S. Peter avoweth, 1. Epistle 4.17. saying: Iudgement must begin at the house of God, His meaning is, that the punishment and chastisement of sinnes beginneth with the Saints and seruants of God, in whom as it were in a house, or Temple God dwelleth. If they who are most familiar with vsus, do sinne against vsus, we fret and grow discontented. The most familiar with God are his faithfull ones, who fill the house of God, which is his Church. If these sinne against God, can God take it well? He cannot. He will punish euen his faithfull ones. So sayth St Austine, Epist. 122. Ad victorianum; Propter peccata sua etiam sancti flagellantur, the verie Saints of God are scourged for their sinnes. You see my doctrine confirmed; God will seuerely punish sinne euen in his dearest children.
The reason is giuen by S. Austine in his Booke of fiftie Homilies, Homil. 21. because Iustitia est, vt puniat peccatum, it is a part of Gods iustice to punish sinne, a part of his Actiue iustice; So doe the Schooles call the Iustice of God, by which he iudgeth and punisheth offenders. Of this Iustice of God it is said in our English Liturgie: It belongeth to God iustly to punish sinnes. Yea, so doth it belong to God, that God is not iust, vnlesse he punish sinne.
The vse of this doctrine is vrged to vsus by S. Pet. 1. Epist. Chap. 4. vers. 17.18. If God will seuerely punish his owne children for their sinnes; If iudgement must begin at the house of God; what shall become of strange children, children of Belial? What shall be the end of them, that obey not the Gospell of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saued, where shall the vngodly and sinner appeare?
To this purpose is that of our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ Luk. 23.31. If they doe these things to a greene tree, what shall be done to the dry? It is, as if he had said more plainly thus; If God, my Father, suffer me, who am innocent and without sinne, who am like a greene and a fruitfull tree, so grieuously to be afflicted, and to be hewen downe, as if I were a dry tree, how much more will he suffer you, who are sinfull, and rightly compared to dry and barren trees, to be afflicted, and to be hewen downe? The like argument doth the Lord bring against Edom. Ierem. 49.12. Behold they whose iudgement, was not to drinke of the cup, hauehave assuredly drunken, and shalt thou altogether goe vnpunished? Thou shalt goe vnpunished, but thou shalt surely drinke of it.
What shall I more say? Let vsus diligently weigh, what hath alreadie beene sayd. Lay we it to our soules and consciences. We hauehave seene, that the infinite Iustice of God repayeth vengeance for sinne, euen vponupon the heads of his dearest children. The inhabitants of Iudah, Gods inheritance, great Ierusalem, the cittie of God, the glorious temple there, the house of God, for sinnes pollution hauehave beene brought to destruction.
Christ himselfe, the onelyonly begotten sonne of God, the well-beloued sonne of God, he in whom alone God is well pleased, because heq2. Cor. 5.21. serued with our sinnes, and wasrEsai. 53.5. made sinne for vsus, he was wounded for our transgressions; he was broken for our iniquities; his backe was loaden with stripes, his head with shornes, his bodie with crossing, his soule with cursing.
Thus sweete Sauiour hast thou suffered for our rebellions, for our transgressions, for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was vponupon thee, and with thy stripes we are healed. It fell out happily for vsus (beloued) that Christ, who knew no sinne, should be made sinne for vsus, that we, who bore about with vsus, asRom. 6.6. bodie of sin, might be made the righteousnesse of God in him. Being thus by Christ reconciled to God, and washed, and clensed from our sinnes through his precious bloud, take we heed, that it happen not to vsust2. Pet. 2.22. according to the true Prouerbe: The dog is turned to his owne vomit againe, and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire. Let vsus not henceforth beuRom. 6.6. seruants vntounto sinne; let vsus not yeeld our members asxVer. 13. instruments of vnrighteousnesse vntounto sinne. Why should weyHeb. 6.6. crucifie to our selues the sinne of God afresh, and put him to an open shame? Let vsus rather yeeld our selues, our soules, and our bodies, seruants vntounto God; for so, shall ourzRom. 6.22. fruit be in holinesse, and our end euerlasting life. So be it.