A Sermon,
Preached to
the Kings Mtie. At
Whitehall, 24 Febr.
1625.
By Iohn Donne Deane of
Saint Pauls, London.
And now by his Maiestes com-
mandment Published. blank
i
To His Sacred
Maiestie. Most Gratiovs Soveraigne
AMongst Amongst the many
comforts of my
Ministery, to the
embracing wher-
of, Almightie God
was pleased, to
mooue the heart of your Maiesties
blessed Father, of holy memory, to
mooue mine, this is a great one,
That your Maiesty is pleasd some A3 times ii
times, not only to receiue into your
selfe, but to returne, vnto others,
my poore Meditations, and so by
your gracious commandement of
publishing them, to make your selfe
as a Glasse, (when the Sun it selfe
is the Gospell of Christ Jesus) to re-
flect, & cast them vpon your Sub-
iects. It was a Metaphor in which,
your Maiesties Blessed Father
seemd to delight; for in the name
of a Mirroir, a Looking Glasse, he
sometimes presented Himselfe, in
his publique declarations & spee-
ches to his People; and a continu-
ed Metaphor is an Allegory, and
holds in more. So your Maiestie
doth more of the offices of such a
Glasse; You doe that office which
Moses his Glasses did, at the Bra-
zen Sea in the Temple, (for you show iii
show others their spots, and in a
Pious and vnspotted life of your
owne, you show your Subiects
their deficiences) And you doe
the other office of such Glasses,
by this communicating to all, the
beames which your Maiestie re-
ceiud in your selfe. Wee are in
Times when the way to Peace is
Warre, but my Profession leades
not me to those Warres; And wee
are in Times when the Peace of
the Church, may seeme to implore
a kinde of Warre, of Debatements
and Conferences in some points;
but my disposition leades mee not
to that Warre neither. For in this
Sermon, my onely purpose was,
that no By-stander, should bee
hurt, whilest the Fray lasted, with
either Opinion. And that your Maijestie iv
Maiestie accepts it so your selfe, &
so reflects it vpon others, I hum-
bly beseech your Maiestie to ac-
cept also this Sacrifice of Thanks-
giuing, for that, From
Your Sacred Maiesties
humblest Subiect, and
Deuotedst Seruant and
Chapleine.
Iohn Donne. 1
(1)
ESAI. 50.1.
Thus sayth the Lord: Where is the Bill of
your Mothers Diuorcement whom I haue
put away? Or which of my Creditors is it,
to whom I haue sold you? Behold, for your
iniquities haue you sold your selues, and
for your transgressions, is your Mother put
away. ALLAll Lent is Easter Eue;
And though the Eue be
a Fasting day, yet the
Eue is halfe holiday too.
God, by our Ministery,
would so exercise you
in a spirituall Fast, in a sober considerati-
on of sinne, and the sad Consequences
thereof, as that in the Eue you might see
the holy day; in the Lent, your Easter; in the
sight of your sinnes, the cheerefulnesse of
his good will towards you. Nay, in this
Text, hee giues you your Easter before B Lent, 2
(2)
Lent, your Holyday before the Eue; For
first he rayses you to the sense of his good-
nesse, Thus sayth the Lord, where is the bill of
your mothers Diuorcement, whom I haue put
away, Or which of my Creditors is it to whom
I haue sold you? And then, and not till then,
he sinkes you, to the sence of your sinnes,
and the dangers of them, Behold, for your
iniquities you are sold, and for your transgres-
sions, your Mother is put away. And this Rai-
sing, and this Sinking, are his Corks, and his
Leads, by which God enables vs, whom
hee hath made Fishers of Men, to cast out
his nets, and draw in your soules. Hæc dicit Dominus, Thus saith the Lord,
sayes our Prophet here; And, Semel locutus
Deus, duo hæc audiui, Psalm. 62.12 sayes the Prophet Da-
uid, Once spake the Lord, and twice haue I
heard him; In one speach of the Lords, two
instructions, in one peece of his Word,
two directions. Thus saith the Lord, where
is the Bill, &c. And in these words, some
heare him once, some heare him say, That
how desperate soeuer our case be, how ir-
remediable soeuer our state, we our selfes,
and not God, are the cause of that desp-
rate 3
(3)
rate irremediablenesse; some heare him twice, some heare him say, There is no
such matter, there is no such peremptory
Diuorce, there is no such absolute sale,
there is no such desperate irremediablenes
declard to any particular conscience, as is
imagind, but you, any, may returne to
me, when you will, and I will receiue
you. Some Expositors thinke they haue
gone farre inough, when they haue ray-
sed that sense, God is no cause of our peri-
shing, though wee must perish, Others,
(and fairely) carry it thus much farther,
There is no necessitie that any Man, any
this or that Man should perish. Some de-
termine it in this, It is true, your Damna-
tion is vnauoydable, but you must blame
your selfes, Some extend it to this, There
is no such avoidablenes in your damnati-
on, and therefore you may comfort your
selues, Once hath the Lord spoken, and twice
doe we heare him; we heare him once spea-
king for his owne honour, Hee does not
damne vs, if wee bee damned, And wee
heare him againe speaking for our com-
fort, we need not be damnd at all. And B2 there- 4
(4)
therefore, as God hath opened himselfe to
vs, both wayes, let vs open both eares to
him, and from one Text receiue both
Doctrines. Diuisio. You may apprehend the parts easily,
and as easily comprehend them; They are
few, and plaine, & of things agreed by all;
But two; Those, these; Gods dischardge,
and Mans Dischardge; Gods dischardge
from all imputation of tyranny, Behold, for
your sinnes you are sold, and for your transgres-
sions your Mother is put away. And then
Mans dischardge from the necessitie of pe-
rishing, Vbi iste libellus, Where is the Bill of
your mothers diuorcement, whom I haue put a-
way, Or which of my Creditors is it, to whom
I haue sold you? I might iustly haue done
both, and left you without iust cause of
complaint, but yet I haue not done it;
looke to your Bill of Diuorce, and looke to
your bill of sale, and you will find the case
to be otherwise. In each of these two parts,
there will be some particular branches; In
the first, which is Gods discharge, first the
Ecce, Behold, Behold this and this will fall
vpon you; first there is a light showd, there 5
(5)
there is a warning afforded, of those cala-
mities, that will follow, God begins not
at Iudgement, but at Mercie. That Mercy be-
ing despisd, It will come to a selling away,
venditi estis, you are sold, And it will
come to a putting away, Dimissa est, your
Mother is put away; For God may sell vs
to punishments for sinne, that when the
measure of our sinne is full, he shall emp-
tie the measure of this Iudgements vpon vs,
And God may sell vs to sinnes for punish-
ments, God may make future sinnes, the
punishments of former. And here may
be a Diuorce, a putting away, out of Gods
sight and seruice, in any particular soule,
and there may be a putting away of your
Mother, a withdrawing of Gods spirit
from that Church, to whose breasts hee
hath applied you. But if all this be done,
it is not done out of any tyrannicall wan-
tonnesse in God, for, For your iniquities you
are sold, and for your transgressions is your
Mother put away: So God is fully dischargd
in the first part; But, least in the second it
should lye heauy vpon Man, (for, howso-
euer God be dischargd, He does not kill B3 me 6
(6)
me, though I dy, it is but poore comfort
to me, if I must dye, to be told that I haue
killd my selfe) God tells me here, there is
no such necessitie, I need not dye; show
the bill of Diuorce, sayes he, which makes
your case so desperate, and see if I haue
not left you wayes of returning to me,
show the bill of Sale, which makes your
state so irrecouerable, and see if I haue not
left my selfe wayes of redeeming you.
And in these few branches, of these two
parts, I shall exercise your Deuotion, and
holy patience, at this time. Part. 1. First then, for the first branch of the
first part, the Ecce, Ecce. Behold this will fall vpon
you, Vpon those words of Psal. 11.2. Dauid, Ecce in-
tenderunt, Ecce parauerunt, Behold the wicked
haue bent ther bow, and Behold they haue
made ready their arrow, Origen saies, Origen. Ecce an-
tequam vulneremur, monemur, Before our
Enemies hit vs, God giues vs warning, that
they meane to doe so. When God himselfe is
so far incensd against vs, That he is turned
to be our enemy, and to fight against vs, (It
was come to that, Esay 63, 10 in this Prophet) when
he hath bent his how bow against vs, as an Enemy, (It 7
(7)
Lam. 2.4. (It was come to that in the Prophet Iere-
my) yet still he giues vs warning before
hand, and still there comes a lightning be-
fore his thunder: God comes seldome to
that dispatch, a word and a blow, but to
a blow without a word, to an execution
without a warning, neuer. Cain tooke
offence at his brother Abel; The quarrell
was Gods, because he had accepted Abels
Sacrifice; Therefore God ioynes himselfe
to Abels partie; and so the party being too
strong for Cain to subsist, GOD would not
surprise Cain, but he tells him his danger,
Why is thy Countenance cast downe; Gen 4.10. If thou
doest not well, sinne lyes at thy dore: you may
proceed if you will, but if you will needs,
you will loose by it at last. Saul persecutes
Christ in the Christians; Christ meets him
vpon the way, speakes to him, strikes him
to the ground, telles him vocally, and tels
him actually, That he hath vndertaken
too hard a worke, in opposing him: This
which GOD did to Saul reduces him;
that which God did to Cain, wrought
not vpon him; but still GOD went his
owne way in both, to speake before hee strikes, 8
(8)
strikes, to lighten before he thunders, to
warne before he wounds. In Dathan and
Abirams case, Numb. 16. God may seeme to proceede
apace towards Execution, but yet it had
all these pauses in arrest of iudgement,
& these reprieues before Execution. First,
when Moses had information & evidence
of their factious Proceeding, vers. 4. hee falls
not vpon them, but he falls vpon his face
before GOD, and laments, and deprecates
in their behalfe. Hee calls them to a faire
tryall, verse 5. and examination, the next day, To
morrow the Lord will show, who are his, and
are holy; And they sayd, verse 12. we will not come;
And againe, verse 14. (which implies that Moses
cited them againe) we will not come. Then
GOD, vpon their contumacy, when they
would stand mute, and not plead, takes a
resolution, verse 21 to consume them, in a Moment;
And then, Moses & Aaron returne to peti-
tion for thẽ, O God, the God of the spirits of
all flesh, shall one Man sinne, and wilt thou bee
wroth with the whole Congregation;verse 25 And
Moses went vp to them againe, And the
Elders of Israel followed, and all preuaild
not: And then Moses comes to pronounce Iudge- 9
(9)
verse 29. Iudgement, These men shall not dye a common
death, and after, and yet not presently af-
ter that he gaue iudgement, Execution fol-
lowd, The earth opened and swallowd them:
verse 31 but God begun not there; God opened his
Mouth, and Moses his, and Aaron his, and
the Elders theirs, before the Earth opened
hers. It is our case in the Text; For, whe-
ther this Iudgement wrapt vp in the text,
This selling away, and this putting away,
haue relation to the Captiuitie of the Iewes
in Babylon, before Christ, or to the Disper-
tion of the Iewes since Christ, (some Expo-
sitors take it one, some the other way)
still it is of a future thing: The Prophecie
came before the Calamitie, whersoeuer
you pitch it; wheresoeuer you pitch it,
stil there was a lightning before the thun-
der, a word before the blow, a warning
before the wound. In which, as we see,
that God alwaies leaues a latitude, between
his Sentence, and the Execution, (for that
Interim, is Sphæra actiuitatis, the Spheare, in
which our Repentance and his Mercy
moue, and direct themselues in a benigne
aspect, towards one another, so where this C repen- 10
(10)
repentance is deferd, and this Mercie neg-
lected, the execution is so certaine, so infal-
lible, as that, though this in the Text, be in-
tended for a future Iudgement, a future
Captiuitie, a future Dispersion, yet in the
Text it is presented as present, nay, more
then so, as past, and executed alreadie; it is
venditi estis, you are sold, sold alreadie, and
Dimissa Mater, your Mother is put away, put
away already. All gathers and con-centers
it selfe in this, Gods Iudgements and exe-
cutions are not sodaine, there is alwayes
roome for Repentance, and Mercie, but his
Iudgements and Executions are certaine,
there is no roome for Presumption nor
Collusion. Venditi ab
Adam. To pursue then the Holy Ghosts two
Metaphors, of selling away, and putting a-
way, First, venditi estis, sayes our Prophet
to the Iewes, and to all, Behold, you are sold;
And so they were; sold thrice ouer; sold
by Adam first; sold by themselues euery day;
and at last, sold by God. For the first gene-
rall sale by Adam, wee complaine now,
that Land will not sell; that 20. is come
to 15. yeares purchase; but doe wee not take 11
(11)
take too late a Medium, too low a time to
reckon by? How cheape was Land at
first, how cheape were we? what was Pa-
radise sold for? What was Heauen, what
was Mankinde sold for? Immortalitie was
sold and what yeares Purchase was that
worth? Immortalitie is our Eternitie; God
hath another manner of eternitie in him;
He hath a whole eternall day; an eternall
afternoone, and an eternall forenoone too; for
as he shall haue no end, so hee neuer had
beginning; we haue an eternall afternoone in
our immortalitie; we shall no more see an
end, then God hath seene a beginning; and
Millions of yeares, multiplied by Millions,
make not vp a Minute to this Eternitie, this
Immortalitie. When Diues values a droppe
of water at so high a price, what would
he giue for a Riuer? How poore a Clod of
of Earth is a Mannor? how poore an inch,
a Shire? how poore a spanne, a Kingdome?
how poore a pace, the whole World? and
yet how prodigally we sell Paradise, Hea-
uen, Soules, Consciences, Immortalitie, Eter-
nitie, for a few Graines of this Dust? What
had Eue for Heauen; so little, as that the C2Holy 12
(12)
Holy Ghost wil not let vs know, what she
had, not what kinde of Fruite; yet some-
thing Eue had. What had Adam for
Heauen? but a satisfaction that hee had
pleasd an Ill wife, as St. Hierome states his
fault, that he eate that Fruite, Ne contrista-
retur Delicias suas, least he should cast her,
whom he lou’d so much, into an inordi-
nate deiection; but if he satisfied her, and
his owne Vxoriousnesse, any satisfaction is
not nothing. But what had I for Heauen?
Adam sinnd, and I suffer; I forfeited before
I had any Possession, or could claime any
Interest; I had a Punishment, before I had
a being, And God was displeased with me
before I was I; I was built vp scarse 50.
years ago, in my Mothers womb, & I was
cast down, almost 6000. years agoe, in
Adams loynes; I was borne in the last Age of
the world, and dyed in the first. How &
how iustly do we cry out against a Man,
that hath sold a Towne, or sold an Army.
And Adam sold the World. He sold Abra-
ham, and Isaac and Iacob, and all the Patri-
archs, and all the Prophets. He sold Peter,
and Paul, and both their Regiments, both the 13
(13)
the glorious Hemispheres of the World,
The Iewes, and the Gentiles. He sold Euan-
gelists, and Apostles, and Disciples, and the
Disciple whom the Lord loued, & the beloued
Mother of the Lord, her selfe, say what they
will to the contrary. And if Christ had
not prouided for himfelfe, by a miraculous
Generation, Adam had sold him: If Christ
had bene conceiud in Originall sinne, hee
must haue dyed for himselfe, nay, he could
not haue dyed for himselfe, but must haue
needed another Sauiour. It is in that Con-
templation, as hee was descended from
Adam, Rom. 7.14. that St. Paul sayes of himselfe, Ve-
nundatus, I am carnall, sold vnder sinne.
For though St. Augustine, and some others
of the Fathers, doe sometimes take the A-
postle, in that place, to speake of himselfe,
as in the person of a naturall Man, (that e-
uery Man considerd in nature, is sold vnder
sinne, but the Supernaturall, the Sanctified
Man is not so) yet St. Augustine himselfe,
in his latest, and grauest Bookes, and par-
ticularly in his RetractionsRetractations, returnes to
this sense of these words, That no man,
in what measure soeuer Sanctified, can so C3 eman- 14
(14)
emancipate himselfe from that Captiui-
tie, to which Adam hath enthralld him,
but that, as hee is enwrapped in Ori-
ginall sinne, hee is solde vnder sinne. And
both S. Hierome, and S. Ambrose, (both
which, seeme in other places, to goe an
other way, That onely they are sold vnder
sinne, which haue abandond, and prosti-
tuted themselues to particular sinnes,) doe
yet returne to this sense, That because
the Embers, the Spaune, the leauen of Origi-
ginall sinne, remaines, by Adams sale, in the
best, the best are sold vnder sinne. A Nobis. So the Iewes were, and so were we sold
by Adam, to Originall sinne, very cheape;
but in the second sale, as wee are sold to
actuall, and habituall sinnes, by our selues,
cheaper; 42.19. for so, sayes this Prophet, You haue
sold your selues for nothing: Our selues, that is
all our selues; or bodies to intemperance,
and ryot, and licenciousnes, and our soules
to a greedines of sinne; and all this for no-
thing, for sinne it selfe, for which wee sell
our selues, is but a priuation, and priuations
are nothing. Rom. 6 21. What fruit had you of those
things, whereof you are now ashamed, sayes the Apostle 15
(15)
Apostle; here is Barrennesse and shame;
Barrennesse is a priuation of fruit, shame is a
priuation of that confidence, which a good
Conscience administers, and when the A-
postle tells them, they sold themselues for
barrennesse and shame, it was for priuati-
ons, for nothing. Iob. 24.15. The Adulterer waits for the
twy-light, sayes Iob. The Twy-light comes,
& serues his turne; and sin, to night looks
like a Purchase, like a Treasure; but aske
this sinner to morrow, and he hath sold him-
selfe for nothing; for debility in his limnes,
for darkenesse in his vnderstanding, for
emptinesse in his purse, for absence of grace
in his Soule; and Debilitie, and Darkenes,
and emptinesse, and Absence, are priuations,
and priuations are nothing. All the name
of Substance or Treasure that sinne takes, is
that in the Apostle, The saurizastis Iram Dei,
You haue treasurd vp the wrath of God, a-
gainst the day of wrath: And this is a feare-
full priuation, of the grace of God here, and
of the Face of God hereafter; a priuation
so much worse then nothing, as that they
vpon whom it falls, would faine be no-
thing, and cannot. So 16
(16)
A Deo. So then we were sold, so cheape by A-
dam, to Originall, and cheaper by our selues,
to Actuall Sinne, but cheapest of all, when
we come to be sold by God; For he giues
vs away, casts vs away, deliuers vs ouer, to
punishments for sinne, and to sin for punish-
ment; God makes Sinne it selfe his executi-
oner in vs, and future sinnes, are the punish-
ments of former. Vendit
pænis. As some Schoolemasters
haue vsd that Discipline, to correct the
Children of great Persons, whose perso-
nall correction they finde reason to for-
beare, by correcting other Children in
their names, and in their sight, and haue
wrought vpon good Natures, that way, So
did Almightie God correct the Iewes in the
Ægyptians; for the ten plagues of Ægypt,
were as Moses Decem Verba, as the ten
Commandements to Israel, that they should
not prouoke GOD. Euery Iudgement that
falls vpon another, should be a Catechisme
to me. But when this Discipline preuaild
not vpon them, God sold them away, gaue
them away, cast them away, in the tem-
pest, in the whirlewinde, in the inunda-
tion of his indignation, and scatterd them as 17
(17)
as so much dust in a windy day, as so ma-
ny broken strawes vpon a wrought Sea.
With one word, One Fiat, (Let there bee a
world), nay with one thought of God cast
toward it, (for Gods speaking in the Crea-
tion, was but a thinking,) God made all of
Nothing. And is any one rationall Ant, (The
wisest Phylosopher is no more) Is any roa-
ring Lyon, (the most ambitious and de-
uouring Prince is no more) Is any hiue of
Bees, (The wisest Councels, and Parlia-
ments are no more) Is any of these so e-
stabishde-
stablishd, as that, that God who by a word,
by a thought, made them of nothing, can-
not by recalling that word, and with-
drawing that thought, in sequestring his
Prouidence, reduce them to nothing againe?
That Man, that Prince, that State thinks
Past-board Canon-proofe, that thinkes
Power, or Policy a Rampart, when
the Ordinance of God is planted against it.
Nauyes will not keepe off Nauies, if God
be not the Pilot, Nor Walles keepe out
Men, if God be not the Sentinell. If they
could, if wee were walld with a Sea of
fire and brimstone without, and walld D with 18
(18)
with Brasse within, yet we cannot ciel
the Heauens with a roofe of Brasse, but
that God can come downe in Thunder that
way, Nor paue the Earth with a floare of
Brasse, but that God can come vp in Earth-
quakes that way. God can call vp Damps,
& Vapors from below, and powre down
putride defluxions from aboue, and bid
them meet and condense into a plague, a
plague that shall not be onely vncureable,
vncontrollable, vnexorable, but vndispu-
table, vnexaminable, vnquestionable;
A plague that shall not onely not admit a
remedy, when it is come, but not giue a rea-
son how it did come. If God had not set
a marke vpon Cain, euery Man, any Man,
any thing might haue killd him. Hee ap-
prehended that of himselfe, and was a-
fraid, when we know of none, by name,
in the world, but his Father, and Mother:
But, as Saint Heirome exalts this conside-
ration, Cains owne Consciẽnce tells him,
Catharma sum, Anathema sum, I am the
plague of the world, and I must dye, to
deliuer it Catharma sum. I am a separa-
ted Vagabond, not an Anachorit shut vp be- tweene 19
(19)
tweene two walls, but shut out from all,
Anathema sum. As long as the Cherubim,
and the fiery Sword is at the Gate, Adam
cannot returne to Paradise; as long as the
Testimonies of GODS anger lye at the
dore of the Conscience, no man can re-
turne to peace there. If God sell away a
Man, giue him away, giue way to him,
by withdrawing his Prouidence, he shall
but neede (as the Prophet sayes) Sibilare
Muscam, to hisse, to whisper for the Fly, for
the Bee, for the Hornet, for Forraigne In-
cumbrances; nay, hee shall not neede to
hisse, to whisper for them; for at home,
Locusts shall swarme in his Gardens, and
Frogs in his bed-chamber, & hailstones, as big
as talents, (as they are measured in the Re-
uelation) shall breake, as well the couerd,
and the armd, as the bare, & naked head;
as well the Mytred, and the Turband, & the
crownd head, that lifts it selfe vp against
GOD, lyes open to him, as his that must
not put on his Hat, as his that hath no
Hat to put on; when as that head, which
being exalted here, submits itselfe to that
GOD, that exalted it, GOD shall crowne, D2 with 20
(20)
with multiplied crownes here, and ha-
uing so crownd that head with Crownes
here, hee shall crowne those crownes,
with the Head of all, Christ Iesus, and all
that is his, hereafter. Vendit
peccato. If God sell vs away to punishments for
sinne, it is thus, but if God sell vs to sinne for
punishment, it is worse. For, when God,
by the Prophet, offered Dauid, his choise
of three Executioners, warre, famine, and
pestilence, if all these three had taken hold
of him, it had not beene so heauy, as
when God, had sold him ouer, giuen him
away, into the hands of an Executioner in
his owne bosome, The studying and the
plotting of the prosecution of his sinne.
When God made Murther, in the death of
Vriah, his Bayliffe, to attach Dauid for his
Adultery, And made Blasphemy, in the
triumphant Armie of the Gentils, his Bay-
liffe, to attache Dauid for his Murther,
And then made impenitence, and a long
sencelesnes in his sinne, his Bayliffe to at-
tach Dauid, for that blasphemy, then was
Dauid sold, vnder a dangerous sub-hasta-
tion, then lay Dauid vnder a heauie Exe-
cution. 21
(21)
cution. Let me fall into the hands of God, and
not of Man, sayes Dauid; Betweene God
and Man, in this case, there may be some
kinde of comparison, But would any sin-
ner say, Let me fall into the hands of the De-
uill, and not of Man, rather into more sins,
then some punishments. Dauid himselfe
could not conceiue a more vehement
prayer and imprecation, vpon his, and
his Gods Enemies, Psa. 69.27. then that, Add Iniquity
to their Iniquity; Nor hath the Holy Ghost
any where exprest a more vehement
commination, then that vpon Ierusalem,
(as the vulgat reades that place) Iniquita-
tem, Ezech 21.26. Iniquitatem, Iniquitatem ponam eam;
Which is not Gods multiplying of punish-
ments for sin, but his multiplying of sin it
selfe vpon them, till he had made them all
Iniquity, all sin. For this is, (in a great part)
that which the Apostle calls, Gods giuing o-
uer to a reprobate sence; to mistake false, and
miserable comforts for true comforts; to
mollifie and asswage the anguish of one
sinne, by doing another; to maintaine
prodigality, by Vsury, or Extortion; to
ouercome the inordinate deiections of D3 spirit, 22
(22)
spirit, with a false cheerefulnesse and en-
cantation from strong drinke: In one
word, Sap. 14.22. (as the wise man expresses it) to call
great plagues peace; To smother sinne
from the eye of the world, or to slumber
the eye of our owne conscience from the
sight of sinne, by interposing more sinnes.
And farther, we carrie not this first Meta-
phor of the Holy Ghost, Venditi estis, You
are sold, for, for the deeper impression,
he presses it with another, Dimissa est,
for your transgressions, your Mother is put
away. And here in the way, we consider first
Dimissam animam, Dimissa
anima. Gods putting away of
the Daughter, of any particular soule. And
his putting away of such a soule, is his lea-
uing of that soule to it selfe; when God
will not come so neere louing it, as to hate
it, nor giue it so much peace, as to trouble
it. For, as long as God punishes me, hee
giues me Phisick; if he draw his knife, it
is but to prune his Vine, and if hee draw
blood, it is but to rectifie a distemper:
If God breake my bones, it is but to set
them strayter, And if hee bruse me in a Morter 23
(23)
Morter, it is but that I might exhale, and
breath vp a sweet sauor, in his nosethrils:
I am his handy-worke, and if one hand be
vnder me, let the other lye as heauie, as
he shall be pleased to lay it, vpon me; let
God handle me how he will, so hee cast
mee not out of his hands: I had rather
God frownd vpon mee, then not looke
vpon me; and I had rather God pursued
mee, then left mee to my selfe. It is the
heighth of his indignation, Esa. 1.5. O people laden
with iniquity, why should ye be smitten any
more? Why should I study your recouery
any longer? Basil. Vox est animi non habentis in
promptu, quid statuat, et desperantis salutem;
When God sayes so, sayes S. Basil, he is as a
Father who had tried all wayes to reduce
his sonne, and fayld in all, and then leaues
him to his owne desperate wayes; This is
the worst that God doth say, (we may say,
that God can say) which he sayes in 16.42. Ezech.
Auferam zelum, My iealousie shall depart from
thee, and I will hebe quiet, and be no more angry:
God is most angry, when hee lets not vs
know, that hee is so. And then, Ier. 6.30. Refuse
siluer shall men call thee, because the Lord hath 24
(26)
hath reiected thee, sayes the Prophet;
Though thou mayest haue some tincture
of a precious mettall, fortune, power, valour,
wisedome, yet Refuse siluer shalt thou be, and
more, Refuse mettall shall men call thee,
(for Men are often worse, then men
dare call them) because the Lord hath re-
iected thee. Cain cryes out, that his punish-
ment is greater then hee can beare; and
whats the waight? This; From thy
Face shall I be hid; It is not that GOD
would not looke graciously vpon him,
but that GOD would not looke at all
vpon him. Infinite, and infinitely des-
perate are the effects of Gods putting away
a soule; but we wait vpon the Holy Ghosts
farther enlargement of this considerati-
on, Dimissa Mater, for the Childrens
transgressions, the Mother is put away. Dimissa
Mater. This Mother, is the Church; that
Church, to whose breasts GOD
hath applyed that Soule; and Gods put-
ting away of this Mother, is (as it was
in the Daughter) his leauing her to her
selfe. So these imaginary Churches, that
will receiue no light from Antiquitie, nor 25
(25)
nor Primitiue formes, GOD leaues to
themselues, and they crumble into Con-
uenticles: And that Church, which will
needes be the Forme to all Churches, God
leaues to her selfe, to her owne Traditi-
ons, and Shee swells into tumors, and
vlcers, and blisters. And when any
Church is thus left to her selfe, deuested
of the Spirit of GOD, then follow hea-
uie Symptomes, and Accidents; That
which is forbidden in the Leuit. 21. 16. Law, That Men
that haue blemishes, offer the Bread of our
God; Men blemished in their Opinions,
in their Doctrine, blemishd in their Lifes,
in their Conuersation, are admitted to Sa-
crifice at Gods Altar. Then followes
that which is complaind of in Ieroboams
time, 1 King. 22.33 The lowest of the People, and whosoeuer
will, shall bee made Priests; Contemptible
men shall bee made Priests; and so the
Priesthood shall bee made Contemptible.
Then followes that which the Prophet
Ose sayes, 9.7. The Prophet shall be a Foole, and
the Spirituall Man madde; Madde, as Saint
Hierome translates that word, Arreptitius,
possest; possest with an aery spirit of ambition, E and 26
(26)
and an Earthly Spirit of Seruilitie, And a
watrie Spirit of Irresolution, and dispos-
sest of the true Spirit of Holy fire, the
Zeale of the exaltation of Gods glory.
There is a Curse in remoouing but the Can-
dlesticke; Apoc. 2.5. That the Light shall not bee in
that eminency, and euidence, that becomes
it, but that some faint shadowes, some
Corner Disguises, some Tempori-
zings, some Modifications must
be admitted. There is a heauier Curse,
in weakning the Eye of the beholder,
when (as this Prophet sayes) God shall
make hearts fatt, and eares deafe, and eyes
blinde; There shall bee Light, but you
shall not see by it, there shall be good
Preaching, but you shall not profit by it.
But the greatest Curse of all, is in put-
ting out the Light, when GOD blinds
the Teachers themselues: Math. 6.23. For, If the light
that is in thee bee darkenesse, how great is
that darkenesse? Luke 22. 53. This is that Potestas te-
nebrarum, when power is put into their
hands, who are possest with this darke-
nesse. And this is that Procella tenebrarum, Iude 13.
The storme of darkenesse, The blacke-
nesse 27
(27)
nesse of Darkenesse, (as we
Translate it) when darkenes, & power, and passion meete
in one Man. And to these fearefull heights
may the sinnes of the Children bring the
Mother, That that Church, which now
enioyes so aboundantly Truth and Vnitie,
may bee poysoned with Heresie, and
wounded with Schisme, and yet GOD
bee free from all imputation of Tyranny.
And so wee haue done with all those
peeces which constitute our First Part,
Gods Dischardge; His Mercy in his Ecce,
that hee warnes vs of his Iudgements be-
fore they fall; And his Iustice, in his
Proceeding, though after wee bee solde
cheape by Adam, to Originall sinne, (So
Saint Paul sayes, He was sold vnder sinne,)
And Cheaper by our selues, to actuall sinnes,
for Nothing, for Priuations, (So the Prophet
told Ahab that hee was sold to sinne,)
God also Sell vs away, Cast vs away, To
Punishments for sinnes, (So hee did the I-
sraelites,) and then to sinnes for punish-
ments, (So hee did Dauid, and so hee did
Ierusalem,) and though hee come to a
Diuorce, of Daughter and Mother, of our E2 Soules 28
(28)
Soules in particular, and the Church it selfe
in generall. Part. 2. Wee are descended to our second part,
Mans discharge; That, not disputing what
God, of his absolute power might doe, nor
what by his vnreueald Decree hee hath
done, God hath not allowd me, nor thee,
nor any to conclude against our selues, a
necessity of perishing. May this seeme an
impertinent part in a Court? To suspect
that any here, are too much afraid of God;
or too much deiected with the sense of
their sinnes, or his iudgements? Are
sinnes of presumption rather to be feared
here, then sinnes of desperation? It hath a
faire probability. But, all the Lent, wee
prepare Men for the Sacrament. And, as
Casuists, we say, Sacramentum, & articulus
Mortis æquiparantur, We consider a Man,
at the Sacrament, as at his death-bed: and,
vpon our Death-beds, wee are likelyer to
be attempted with sinnes of Deiection,
then of presumption. And so, (though in a
Court,) if you will be content to thinke of
a death-bed in a Court, (and God hath ta-
ken 29
(29)
ken wayes,
to awaken those thoughts in you) it may be pertinent, and seasonable,
to establish you now, against those de-
iections, and diffidences, which may of-
fer at you then. Tis true then, there may
be a selling, there may be a putting away,
but hath not God reserued to himselfe a
power of reuocation in both, in all cases?
Audisti repudium, Crede coniugium, Is sweet-
ly, and safely said by St. Ambrose: As often
as thy thoughts fall vpon a fearefulnesse of a
Diuorce from thy God, establish thy selfe with
that comfort, of a Mariage to thy God; for
the words of his Contracts, are, Sponsabo
te mihi in æternum. There can be no Di-
uorce imagined, if there were not a mari-
age; and if there be a mariage With God,
there can be no Diuorce, for sponsat in æter-
num, hee marries for euer. Can God doe
so, forsake for euer? The Crowe went out
of the Arke, and came no more; The
Doue went, and came againe, and came
with an Oliue branch. God may absent
himselfe, that he may be sought; but hee
comes againe, and with the Oliue of peace.
Zion said, Esay 49.14. The Lord hath forsaken mee, and E3my 30
(30)my Lord hath forgotten me. Why will Zion
say so? sayes God. Can Zion say, My Lord,
my Lord, hath forgotten mee? Can shee re-
member that GOD is hers, and not
thinke that shee is his? Can shee remem-
ber him, and thinke that hee hath forgot-
ten her? Can Zion retaine her bowels of
piety, and thinke that GOD is disem-
bowelled of his? GOD calls her not to
Nationall examples; to how low conditi-
ons hee came, in the behalfe of Sodome;
what he did for Nineue; what he did for
Zion her selfe in Ægipt, but hee carries
her home to her owne breast, and her
owne Cradle, and onely askes her that
question, Can a Mother forget her sucking
Childe? And hee stayes not her answere,
nor assures himselfe of a good answere
from her, but adds himselfe, Yes, a Mother
may forget her sucking Childe, yet I will not
forget thee. Can GOD doe it? Did GOD
euer doe it? Did he euer put away with-
out possibility of re-assuming? when?
where? whom? Israel? the ten Tribes?
Yet euen to them, sayes Ieremy, After they
had done all this, GOD said, turne vnto me, and 31
(31) and they would not turne: And then, God
put her away, and sent her a bill of Diuorce,
and neuer re-assumd her, neuer brought
backe the ten Tribes from their dispersion.
Tis true, in a whole and entire body, GOD
neuer brought them backe, but in many
faire and Noble Peeces, they came when
Iudah came; for, from that place of Ezra,
where there is an entire number in grosse
exhibited of all that returnd from Baby-
lon, and then the particular Numbers also
exhibited, of the Tribes and families that
returnd, because those particular Num-
bers doe not make vp the generall Num-
ber, by many thousands, the Hebrew Rab-
bins argcomeue fairely; and conclude probably,
that those Supernumerary thousands, which
are inuolued in the generall Number, and
are not compris’d in the particulars, were
such, as from the other ten Tribes, in the
returne of Iudah, adher’d to Iudah; who
are so often said neuer to haue return’d, be-
cause in a body, & Magistracy of their own,
otherwise then as they incorporated them
selues in Iudah, they neuer returnd: but God
neuer put them away so, but that he offred them 32
(32)
them returne, and in a great part effected it.
I knowe how friuolous a tale that is,
That Saint Gregorie drew Tratans soule
out of Hell, after it was there; and I
know, how groundlesse an opinion it is,
that is ascrib’d to Origen, that at last, the
Deuill shall be sau’d; but if they could per-
swade mee one halfe, that Traian, or that
the Deuill came to Repentance in hell, I
should not be hard, in beleeuing the o-
ther halfe, that they might be deliuered
out of hell. What meane you, sayes Ezeck. 18.2. God Al-
mighty, that yee, vse this Prouerbe, The Fa-
thers haue eate soure herbesgrapes, and the childrens
teeth are set on edge? Doe ye meane, that
because your Fathers haue sinn’d, you
must perish? Why neither his parents haue
sinn’d, nor hee, sayes Christ, of the Man
borne blinde, Iohn 9.2. but all is, that the worke of
God might hebe made manifest; Neither haue
thy parents sinn’d, nor thou thy selfe sinn’d
so, as that there should be a necessity in
thy perishing, but that thereby there
might be the greater manifestation of
Gods mercie, that where sinne hath abounded,
grace might abound much more. If therefore thy 33
(33)
thy tender Conscience, and thy start-
ling Soule, mis-imagine the hearing of
that voice, Depart thou sinner, a voyce
of Diuorce, a voyce that bidds thee, goe,
Say thou with Peter, to his and thy Sa-
uiour, Domine quo Ibimus? Lord whi-
ther shall I goe? thou hast the Word of
Eternall life, and wee beleeue and are sure,
that thou art that Christ, the Sonne of the
liuing God; And that Christ, the Sonne
of the liuing GOD, will call thee backe,
and call backe his owne VVord, and finde
Error, holy Error, occasion of repenting
his owne proceeding, in his Bill of Di-
uorce; to which purpose hee calls vpon
thee here to produce that Bill, Vbi iste li-
bellus, Where is the Bill, &c. First then, Vbi libellus, Libellus. where is this
Bill, vpon what doe yee ground this ie-
lousie and suspition in God, that hee
should Diuorce you? First, it is in the
Originall, Sepher; that which is called a
Bill, is a Booke; It must bee GODS
whole Booke, and not a fewe mis-vnder-
stood Sentences out of that Booke, that F must 34
(34)
must try thee. Thou must not presse
heauily to thine owne damnation euery
such Sentence, Stipendium peccati Mors est
That the reward of sinne is death; Nor
the Impossibile est, That it is impossible for
him that falls after Grace to bee renewd;
That which must try thee is the whole
Booke, the tenor and purpose, the Scope
and intention of GOD in his Scriptures.
His Booke is a Testament; and in the
Testament, the Testator is dead, and dead
for thee; And would that GOD that
would dye for thee, Diuorce thee? His
Booke is Euangelium, Gospell; and Gos-
pell is good tydings, a gracious Messadge;
And would God pretend to send thee
a gracious Messadge, and send thee a
Diuorce? GOD is Loue, and the Holy
Ghost is amorous in his Metaphors; e-
uerie where his Scriptures abound with
the notions of Loue, of Spouse, and Hus-
band, and Marriadge Songs, and Marriadge
Supper, and Marriadge-Bedde. But for
words of Separation, and Diuorce, of Spi-
rituall Diuorce for euer, of any soule for-
merly 35
(35)
merly taken in Marriadge, this very word Diuorce, is but twice read in the Scrip-
tures; once in this Text; and heere God
dis-auowes it; For when hee sayes,
Where is the Bill, hee meanes there is no
such Bill; And the other place is that
which wee mentioned before, when
after they had done all, Ier. 3.8. GOD calld I-
srael all together backe, and effectually,
in a faire part, and his principall purpose
in that Diuorce of Israel, was to inti-
midate, and warne her Sister Iudah from
the like prouocations. Surely a good
Spirit mooued our last Translators of the
Bible, to depart from all Translations
which were before them, in reading
that place of Malachi thus, 2.16. The Lord
the God of Israel saith, that hee hates
putting away. Whereas all other Tran-
slations, both Vulgat, and Vulgar, And in
Vulgar, and in Holy Tongues, The Sep-
tuagint, the Chalde, all, read that place
thus, If a man hate her, let him put her a-
way, (which induced a facility of di-
uorces) our Translators thought it more F2 confor- 36
(36)
conformable to the Originall, and to the
wayes of God, to read it thus, The Lord
the God of Israel saith, that hee hates putting
away. Euery where in the Scriptures, we
meet with Gods venites, in euery Prophets
mouth, inuitations to come vnto God;
There is a venite de circuitu, Come, though
you come from compassing the Earth,
Iob 3. 11. which is Satans perambulation; though
you haue walkd in his wayes, yet come
vnto God. Esay There is a Venite non habentes,
Come and buy, though you haue no money;
though you haue no Merits of your own,
come, and dilate your measures, and fill
them according to that dilatation, with
the merits of Christ Iesus. There is a ve-
nite et reuertimini, Ose. 6.1. Come, though your
comming be but a returning; be not asha-
med of comming, though your retur-
ning be a confessing of a former running
away; come in a repentance, though you
cannot come in an innocencie; There is a
Venite & consolamini, Esay. How heauie so euer
the fetters of your owne sinnes, or the
chaines of Gods iudgements lye vpon you, 37
(37)
you, come and receiue ease here, change
your yoke, for an easier, if you cannot de-
uest it. There is a venite & consulite, Esay, If
you finde it hard to come, or if you finde
an easinesse to fall backe, though you
doe come, come to consult with God,
how you may come, so, as you may stay,
when you are come. Nay, there is a ve-
nite & arguite, ƎsayEsay 1.18. Come and reason with
God, argneargue, plead, dispute, expostulate with
God, come vpon any conditions: The
venite is multiplied, infinite inuitations
to come; but the Ite maledicti, Depart ye
accursed, is but once heard from Gods
mouth, and that not in this world nei-
ther; as long as wee are in this world,
God hates putting away. And therefore God
calls for the bill, and God calls the bill a
booke, that thou mightst not vexe thy soule,
with mistaken sentences, but relie vpon
the establishment of Gods purpose in the
whole booke, which is that he hates putting
away. If the euidence pressed by thine owne
pressures, heighthned by thine owne de-F3 iections 38
(38)deiectionsiections, exalted by thine owne sinking,
grow strong against thee, that thou canst
not quench the iealousie, nor deuest the
scruple of such a Diuorce, doe but consider,
who should occasion, who should enduce
it; It must be God, or thy selfe: Though
the Iewes put away their wiues, not onely
for the wiues fault, but for the husbands
frowardnesse, thou hast had too good ex-
perience of Gods patience, to charge
him with that: If it be done, it is thy
fault; and if thou acknowledge that, it
is not done; for it is neuer done so irre-
uocably, but the confessing of the fault,
cancels and auoydes it. Releeue thy selfe
by reflecting vpon some of those circum-
stances, Essentiall circumstances, which
were required in their bills of Diuorce,
and without which, those bills were
voyde, and see if those be in thine; for
though wee haue not these circumstances,
in that place of Scripture, Deut. 24. where Diuorce
is permitted, yet in the ordinarie practise
of the Iewes abroad, and in the bookes of
formes and precedents, which their Rab- bins 39
(39)bins haue collected, wee haue them ex-
pressed. They are many, and many im-
pertinent; wee will but name, and but
a few, such as best admit application,
and most conduce to the triall of thy
case. First, a man might not produce a
bill written in priuate, in the husbands
bed-chamber, but he must goe to a Scribe,
to a publique Notary, to an authorizd Offi-
cer. Vbi iste libellus? Where is this bill of
thy Diuorce? Thou must not looke for
it, in Gods bed-chamber, in his vnreueal’d
Decrees in heauen, but in his publique
Records, his Scriptures: If from thence
thou pretend to produce any thing that
conuinces thy sad soule, goe to them, to
whom God hath committed the dispen-
sation thereof, and there thou mayest re-
ceiue consolation, when thine owne pri-
uate misinterpretation might misleade
thee. Againe, the wife, how guilty so
euer in her owne conscience, might not
take her selfe to be put away, except the
husband had expresly giuen her a Bill of
Diuorce; Hath thy Husband; thy God done 40
(40)
done so; Vbi est libellus? Consider the
bill, that is, the booke of God, and see if it be
not full of such protestations, Viuo ego, As I
liue, saith the Lord, I would not the death of
any sinner, nor the departing of any soule.
So also these bills must be well testified,
with vnreproachable witnesses; Vbi iste
libellus? Hath thy bill such witnesses?
who be they? Inordinate deiection of
spirit, irreligious sadnesse; Iealousie of
the anger, distrustfulnesse of the mercy,
diffidence in the promises of the Gospell;
Are these witnesses to be heard against
God? God calls heauen and earth to witnesse,
that hee hath offered thee thy choise of life or
death; but that he hath thrust death vpon
thee, there is no witnesse. Thy conscience
is a thousand witnesses? It is, that thou
hast committed a thousand sinnes; and
it is, that thou hast receiued a thousand
blessings; but of an eternall decree of thy
diuorce, thy conscience, (thus misinformd)
can be no witnesse, for thou wast not
call’d to the making of those decrees.
Those Bills were also to be authentically seal'd: 41
(41)seald: Vbi iste Libellus? Hath thy ima-
ginary Bill of Diuorce, and euerlasting
seperation from GOD, any Seale from
him? GOD hath giuen thee Seales of his
Mercie, in both his Sacraments; Seales
in White, and Seales in Redde Waxe;
Seales in the participation of the can-
dor and innocencie of his Sonne, in thy
Baptisme, and Seales in the participa-
tion of his Body and Bloud, in the other;
But Seales of Reprobation at first, or of
irreuocable Separation now, there are
none from GOD: No Calamitie, not
Temporall, no not Spirituall; No Darke-
nesse in the Vnderstanding, no Scruple
in the Conscience, no Perplexitie in the
resolution; Not a Sodaine Death, not a
Shamefull Death, not a stupide, not a
raging Death, must bee to thy selfe by
the way, or may bee to vs, who may
see thine Ende, an Euidence, a Seale, of
Eternall Reprobation, or of finall Sepera-
tion. Almightie God blesse vs all, from
all these in our selues; but his blessed
Spirit blesse vs to, from making any of G these, 42
(42)
these, when hee, in his vnsearchable
wayes, to his vnsearchable endes, shall
suffer them to fall vpon any other, seales
of such Seperation in them. Though
wee may not enlardge our selues to far,
in these Circumstances, another was,
That the Names of the Parties must bee
set downe, and of both the Parties Pa-
rents, and those to the third Generation;
The Sonne and Daughter of such, and
such, and such. Vbi iste Libellus? Findst
thou in thy Bill, the three Descents, the
three Generations, (if we may so say) of
thy God? A Holy Ghost proceeding from
a Sonne, And a Sonne begotten by a
Father? Findest thou the God of thy
Consolation, the God of thy Redemption,
the God of thy Creation, and canst thou
produce a God of Diuorce, of Separati-
on, out of these? Findest thou thine
own three Descents, as thou wast the Son
of Dust, of Nothing, And the Sonne of A-
dam, reduced to nothing, And then the
Sonne of God in Christ, in whom thou
art all things; and canst thou thinke that 43
(43)
that that GOD who married thee in
the honse of dust, and marryed thee in the
house of infirmitie, and Diuorcd thee
not then, (hee made thee not no Crea-
ture, nor hee made thee not no Man,)
hauing now marryed thee in the House
of Power, and of Peace, in the body of
his Sonne, the Church, will now Diuorce
thee? Lastly, to ende this consideration
of Diuorces, If the Bill were interlinde, or
blotted, or dropt, the Bill was voyd. Vbi
Libellus? What place of Scripture soeuer
thou pretend, that place is enterlinde; en-
terlinde by the Spirit of God himselfe, with
Conditions, and Limitations, and Prouisions,
If thou repent, If thou returne; and that
enterlining destroies the Bill. Looke al-
so if this Bill be not dropt vpon, and blot-
ted; The venim of the Serpent is dropt
vpon it, The Wormwood of thy Despe-
ration, is dropt vpon it, The Gall of thy
Melancholly is dropt vpon it, and that
voydes the Bill. If thou canst not dis-
cerne these drops before, drop vpon it
nowe; Drop the teares of true compun-
G2 ction, 44
(44)
ction, drop the bloud of
thy Sauiour, and that voyds the Bill: And through that
Spectacle, the bloud of thy Sauiour, looke
vpon that Bill, and thou shalt see, that
that Bill was nayld to the Crosse when he
was naylde, and torne when his body
was torne, and that hath cancelld the
bill. Oppresse not thy selfe with what
GOD may doe, of his absolute power,
God hath no where told thee, that hee
hath done any such thing as an ouerten-
der Conscience may mis-imagine, from
this Metaphore of Diuorcing, nor from the
other, (which beggs leaue for one word,
by way of Conclusion) Selling away; Which
of my Creditors is it, to whom I haue sold
you? Quis Cre-
ditor? As Christ in his Parable comprehends
all excuses, and all backwardnesses in the
following of him, in those two, Marri-
age and Purchasing, Luke 14.18. (for one had bought
Land and stocke, and another had mar-
ried a Wife) So God expresses his loue to
Man, in these two too, Hee hath marri-
ed vs, he hath bought vs; that so he might take 45
(45)
take in all dispositions, and worke vpon
Vxorious Men, men soupled and enten-
dred with Matrimoniall loue, and vpon
worldly men, men kneaded and plaistred
with earthly loue: Hee hath Married vs,
hee will not Diuorse, He hath bought vs,
he will not sell; For who can giue so
much as he payd? Deut 32.30. Doe yee thus requite the
Lord, O yee foolish people? Is not he your Fa-
ther that hath bought you? And will you sus-
pect your Father? Yes, sayes this Discon-
solate Soule, Fathers might sell their Chil-
dren; and my Father, my GOD hath
sold me. Tis true, Fathers might sell their
Children; Amongst the Gentiles they
might; for matter of Law, for matter of
Fact, their Bookes are full of Euidence.
Amongst the Iewes they might, till a Iubile
redeemd them. Amongst the Christians
they might, and for euer. Saint Ambrose
found the World in possession of that vn-
naturall Custome, and lamented it: Vidi
miserabile spectaculum, sayes he, liberos hæ-
redes calamitatis, qui nec participes succes-
sionis: The Children, sayes hee, inherit G3 the 46
(46)
the Calamity, but not the Lands of their
Fathers, when they were solde to main-
taine them, who had wastefully sold, that
which was to maintaine them all: And
Saint Ambrose induces the Creditor making
his Claime, Mea nutriti pecunia, This
Childe was nourced, and brought vp
with my Money, and belongs to mee.
Constantine found this, and amended it;
enacted and constituted that it should be
no more done; and canst thou imagine
such a hard-heartednes in GOD, as Saint
Ambrose should neede to lament, or Con-
stantin neede to correct? Quis Creditor,
sayes GOD, Which of my Creditors is it, to
whom I haue sold you? As in the Bill of Diuorce, so in this bill
of sale, we aske who should occasion it?
A Father might sell, for his Sonnes fault,
or for his owne necessitie; but in no other
case. If thou say it is done for thy fault, it
is not done; that implies a Confession,
and a Repentance, and that auoydes all;
but if thou imagine a sale for thy Fathers
necessitie, Quis Creditor, sayes hee, Which of 47
(47)of my Creditors, &c. Adam brought GOD
in Debt, to Death, to Satan, to Hell; in
Iustice, GOD ought all mankinde to them;
but then at one payment hee payd
more, in the death of his Sonne Christ Ie-
sus: And now, Quis Creditor? The word
indeed, is originally Nashah, and Nashah
is an Vsurer; and so Saint Ambrose reades
this place, Quis Fænerator, To what Vsurer
am I so indebted, as that I neede sell thee?
Let it be so, That the principall debt was
all Mankinde; pursue your Vsurious
Computations, that euery seuen yeares
doubles, and then redoubles your Debt,
(and what a Debt might this bee in all-
most 4000. yeare from Adam to Christ,
and 1000 from Christ to vs?) yet when
all this is multiplied infinitely, it was in-
finitly ouerpayd, if but one drop of the
bloud of the Sonne of God had bene payd;
and the Sonne of God bled out his Soule,
and then, Quis Creditor, may God well
say, Which of those Vsurers is it, to whom I
need sell thee? God may lend thee out, e-
uen to Satan; suffer thee to bee his Bay-
liffe 48
(48)
liffe, and his Instrument to the vexation of
others; So hee lent out Saint Paul to the
Scribes and Pharises, to serue them in their
Persecutions; So God may lend thee out.
God may Let thee out for a time, to
them that shall plough and harrow thee,
fell and cleaue thee, and reserue to him-
selfe but a little Rent, a little glory, in
thy Patience; So hee Let out Iob euen
to Satan himselfe; so God may Let thee
out. GOD may Mortgage thee to a sixe
Months Feuer, or to a longer debility;
So he Mortgaged Hezekias. God may lay
thee waste, and Pull vp thy Fences, extin-
guish their Power, or withdrawe their
Loue, vpon whom thou hast establishd
thy dependance; So he layd Dauid wast,
when hee withdrewe his Childrens obe-
dience from him; so God may lay thee
waste. God may Let out all his time in thee
in this World, and reserue to himselfe on-
ly a last yeare, a last day, a last minute; suf-
fer thee in vnrepented sinnes, to the last
gaspe, so God let out the good Thiefe. God
is Lord of all that thou hast and art; and then 49
(49)
then, Dominium potestas est tum vtendi tum
abutendi, He that is Lord, Owner, Proprieta-
ry, may doe with that which is his, what
he will. But God will not, cannot deuest
his Dominion, nor fell thee so, as not to
reserue, a Power, and a Will to Redeeme
thee, if thou wouldst be redeem’d. For,
howsoeuer hee seeme to thee, to haue
sold thee to Sinne, to Sadnesse, to Sicke-
nesse, to Superstition, (for these be the Is-
maelits, these be the Midianite Merchants
Gen. 37.27. that buy vp our Iosephs, our soules) though
he seeme to sell his present estate, hee will
not sell Reuersions; his future title to thee,
by a future Repentance, hee will not sell;
But whensoeuer thou shalt grow due to
him, by a new, and a true repentance, hee
shall re-assume thee, into his bed, and
his bosome, no bill of Diuorce, and re-enter
thee into his Reuenue, and his Audit, No
bill of sale, shall stand vp to thy preiudice,
but thy deiected spirit shall be raised
from thy consternation, to a holy
cheerefulnesse, and a peacefull alacritie,
and no tentation shall offer a reply, to Hthis 50
(50)
this question, which GOD makes to
establish thy Conscience, vbi li-
bellus, Where is the Bill of thy
Mothers Diuorce-
ment, &c. FINIS. Errat. Pag. 13. l. 24. for retractions, read retractations.
pa. 32. l. 14, for Herbs, read Grapes.