committed, unrepented of, though it be long fince, God will waken it in due time. So,looke what he did to David:he had committed a finne in fecret,but the Lord faith,that he wil make his punishments to be open, he will doe it before the Sunne: So if thou haft committed a finne in fecret,take heed left he bring it to light, he will doc to thee as he did to David:and I fay unto thee, that though thou be regenerate,and art one of his cleat; yet if thy cafe be the fame with Davids, he will doe fo to thee,for he is unchangeable. wherein God. There be two cafes, wherein the Lord will not Two cafes, fpare, but bring judgement upon his owne chil-will puni kis dren. Firft,in the cafe of fcandall,as Davids was, for though his first finne was fecret, yet his fecond was publike,and made the first fo too: Therefore, though his finne was forgiven him, GOD tells him,that his punishment should be open,and that the sword should not depart from his house. Secondly,though the finne be not fcandalous, yet if it be unrepented of, Gop will even punish it in his owne children. And as Gop deales with fecret finnes,to bring them to light, fo he will doe with fecret innocencie, on the other fide alfo. As Jofeph, whose uprightnes was in fecret,for none did fee it but himfelfe; as for his Miftreffe, fhee accused him, and was beleeved: yet the Lord brought it to light in due feafon; fo he will doe thine. Let men keepe their credit with GOD, and he will keepe their credit with men; let them raife flanders,or what owne. I In cafe of fcan dall, 2 Impenitence. they will; looke how he did with Iofeph, fo he will deale with thee, for he changeth not. So, on the other fide, looke how the Lord hath dealt with wicked men; looke how the Lord did deale with them that meddled with holy things unreverently, as Nadab,and Abihu,and Vzzah,and, the Bethfbemites; you know that hee destroyed them all,and that with a prefent deftruction: so if thou wilt abuse his Name, abufe his holy things, and come unto the Sacraments with an uncircumcifed heart; he is the fame God ftill,he is as much offended now, and he is as readie to execute his wrath upon thee,as he was then. So looke how he dealt with Saul,with the lewes that came out of Egypt,he fwore in his wrath,that they fhould not enter into his rest: if thou wilt doe the fame that they did,rebell against him as they did, he will fweare in his wrath, that thou Jbalt never enter into his reft. As he paffed his fentence upon Saul, and as he paffeth his fentence upon any; fo he will bring it to paffe, if thy cafe be the fame; for he is unchangeable. So looke how hee did deale in Iohn Baptists time,and make their cafe your owne; Now the axeis laid to the root of the tree, when the Gospel, and the meanes of grace, and the Spring-time of the Word began, because they did not regard it then, they were caft off: the time of their ignorance God regarded not fo much, but then he called upon every one to repent; and because they did not come in then, he deferred not his judgement. That upon which I ground this, you fhall 2.Pet.2.4. fhall find in two places of Scripture. 2 Pet.2.4. If the Lord did fo with the Angels, spared not them, faith hee,hee is the fame God,and therefore hee knowes how to reserve the unjust to the day of judgement, and especially thofe that are uncleane: the ground of it is his unchangeablenesse. The other place is in 2.Cor.1o. You know what he did to the Ifraelites faith he, he will doe the fame to .Cor.10. you: therefore doe you take heed, that you doe not commit fornication, as fome of them committed, and died in the wildernesse,&c. ded. Gods judge. rent in the time,and ments diffe Onely here is this caution diligently to be remembred, which wee muft adde to all this that A Caution adhath beene spoken. It is fure, that when foever it is the fame cafe, hee will doe the same thing: though his judgments are different,the time different, the wayes and meanes different. As for example,he stroke Izzah presently,and fo he did Gehezi, and Nadab, and Abiku; yet to others there may bee a difference in the time: to thefe hee did it presently,to others it may be, hee will doe it many yeeres after. Againe,he stroke them with death, but it may be there is another kinde of judgement referved for thee; as it may bee he will not cut thee off in the act,but will give thee up to hardneffe of heart,or the like. Againe, fo it is in fhewing mercy, for the rule is as true therein alfo: Hee fhewes mercy to fome this way, and to others that way, and hee humbles men after divers maners; fo fome men hee punisheth for their finnes in this life, fome hee referves for another World: Againe, fome Gg3 meanese Simile. Object. Anfw. fome he ftrikes prefently, and fome he forbeares with much patience. And this you must remember in both thefe, that though he doth the fame things,yet he may doe them in a different manner,time, and way:he hath divers judgements,and afflictions: And as there are divers means to attaine to the fame end, as fome may ride, fome goe on foote, and yet all come to one journeys end: fo the judgments and afflictions may bee different,yet the end the fame:this caution therefore being taken in, thou mayst be sure, that the fame judgements that he did execute in formertime, bee is ready to execute them ftill: As hee hath given fome up to open fins,that did negle&t him in fecret, fo he will doe to thee; and as he hath ftriken some men in their fins, fo the fame wrath is gone out against and remaines for thee,if thou doe not repent and turne to him: for the kinds,as whether by fickeneffe, or death, &c. thefe wee cannot determine of; the wayes of God are infinite, and exceeding diverfe,unfearchable, and paft finding out: but though in regard of his particular wayes it doth not alwayes follow,he did thus to this man, therfore he will do the very fame to thee; yet becaufe he did thus to fome,thou mai ft conclude,hee wil doe the fame thing to thee in the fame, or in a different manner. So looke what he hath done to all his Saints: hee hath bleffed them, and heard them. But thou wilt fay, I have prayed, and I am not heard. Ifay to thee, if thy cafe bee the fame, thou thou shalt be heard. To this end are those places: The Lords hand is not shortned, that hee cannot fave, nor his eare heavy,that it cannot heare: This is the fcope of the Prophet; as if God fhould fay, You wonder why you are not heard, that you have not the fame fucceffe in prayer that the Saints have had, why the cafe is not the fame, faith he,they repented,but you doe not; you are mistaken, for you are yet in your finnes; I am as ftrong to helpe you,and as ready, and if I doe it not, it is because the cafe is different: Your finnes have made a feparation betweene me and you. Which implies,that God will heare if the cafe bee the fame. Only remember this, that God may deferre it fomething long before he heares you, yet he will doe it in the end. If unchangeablenese be proper to God onely, (for so you must understand it, proper to him, and common to no other) then learne to know the difference betweene him and the creatures. There be divers branches of this ufe: As, For, firft, The forgetfulneffe of the mutabi- Makes us ex pe& much lity from them. |