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chaften them in the first fe&tion of this chapter.

Now that God hath anfwered him in the second, with decla ration of his purpose to punish the iniquities of the Jews by the Chaldeans, whom God would ftirre up to fight against them, and to prevail: Now in this third section, the Prophet is as much troubled and grieved at their punishment, as he was before at their fin.

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Now he chides as faft, and difputes as hotly against the re miffeneffe and patience of God toward the Chaldæan, as he did before toward the Jew.

Before he pleaded the cause of the glory of Gods Iuftice, in punishing the iniquity of the lews; now he pleads the glory of Gods mercy in fparing them.

The first part was imprecation, this deprecation. And herein the Prophet doth declare his next affection to the Jews; for our of his hatred to their fins he defired their correction; but now out of his love to their Perfons, he prayeth against their punishment, so farre that it may be moderate, as in Ieremies Prayer. Correct us O Lord, yet in thy judgement, not in thy fury left we be confumed and brought to nothing. Which teacheth us that Religion hach the bowels of compaffion; Truly they have no Doctr. true religion that have no mercy.

This is given us in precept with a ficut: Be yee merciful as your Reafon.r. heavenly father is mercifull: there is nothing wherein the image Luk. 6.36 of our God doth more fhine in man, then his mercy, because that is the heavenly nature; the wifedome of God is too high for us, the power of God too great for us, the juftice of God too ftrict for us; all these vertues of the Godhead be out of the reach of our imitation.

The furtheft that our Saviour goeth in the patterne and pre- wifedom. fident of wifedome, is eftote prudentes ut ferpentes, Be yee wife as ferpents. In innocency, Innocentes ut columba be ye innocent as doves, it is not eftote prudentes ut pater vester, Be yee wife as your heavenly father.

Concerning fortitude. The mother of Samuel faith, Non est Fortitude. fortis ficut deus. Sicut leo, Salomon hath it: ficut quercus, A

moshath it.

Concerning Iuftice, let us take the righteous men at their beft, Juftice.

Reafon 2,

Reaf. 3.

& then Iustus fulgebunt ut fol,the righteous fhal shine as the Sun; but to mifericordes ut pater vester. We muft ftrive to imitate him in mercy, that is, the divine nature, because it is fuper omnia opera dei above all the works of God, and that is the humane nature also, because it is called Humanity, and therefore wel becometh the man of God.

2. There is nothing that every one of us doth more ftand in need of then mercy, without which all the frame of nature would shake and diffolve;it is anima mundi the foul of the world, it is the juncture of every limb thereof: it is the garment that hideth our nakedneffe; it is the grave, the fea, that burieth,that fwalloweth all our reputed finnes; it is the taylour to our backs, the cater to our bellies, the foule that quickneth us, the strength that fupporteth us, the grace that saveth us, the power that raifeth us, the glory that crowneth us.

And they that fhew no mercy,shall have none.

3. The confideration of our own infirmities doth plead for our mercy to our delinquent brother, not to make the most of their faults, and fcrue their punishment to the uttermoft; rather to Ga. 6. 1. fave our brethren, and to pull them out of the fire leaft we allo be tempted: for we have many fuits to God for pardon of our own finnes; and therefore by the law of Juftice let us do as we would be done to, that is, follicite the favour of God for our brethren; and although the zeale of Gods glory do put us to it to pray for their correction, that they may be amended, yet confidering how bitter the medicine is that healeth finne, let us entreat the Phyfitian to look but on the corrupt humours in the body of the Church to purge them, to take no more blood from the body thereof then may ftand with the health of the body.

Reaf.4.

4. It is a more eafie fuit to obtain the mercy of God, then to ftirre up his anger; for as he is flow to wrath, and long-fuffering, and when he doth begin to chide, he will not keep his anger continually fo he is rich in mercy, abundant in goodneffe; oleum. fupernatat vino, the oyle fwims above the wine. Chrift his fonne the character of his fathers glory, of his mercy, the true coppie of that ficut Pater vefter qui eft in calis, as Our father which is in heaven;

Of

Of whom Saint Augustine fweetly commenting upon his pa

ter ignofce eis, father forgive them, faith, he left them not quo- De utiler. jufque ejus jam fanguinem poffent bibere credentes quem fuderant pæn 1. 1. favientes, they know how to drink believing, the blood which

they fhed raging, which is called in the Pfalmift Multitudo dulcedinis.

Saint Hilary upon the Parable of the parable in the vineyard faith,..

Ad fpem omne tempus eft liberum,& mercedem non operis fed mi- In Pf, 129 fericordia undecima hora operarii confequuntur.

God loves to be follicited for mercy.

4. Because in the contrary Ionah had a chiding from God him- Reaf. 4. felfe, that he stood more upon the credit of his office, then he did upon the honour of his God that fent him, being fo angry at Gods fparing of Niniveh.

Wherein God himself pleaded the caufe of his own mercy, and justified his fufpenfe of the threatned judgement against Ionah, &c.

David had good caufe to choose to fall into the hands of God, rather then into the hands of men, for with God there is mercy. And had Niniveh been in the hand of fonah, their fafting with fackcloth and repenting, fhould not have cleared nor calmed the ftorme threatned.

God faid,in Niniveh there were more then fix fcore thousand Persons that knew not the right hand from the left : there were a great many more in the nation of the Jews, many alfo that served God with a true heart, many that was not yet com to the height of finning, of whom there was hope:many that had drunk deep already of the Cup of affliction by the fins of others who had thereby provoked God.

Therefore Habakkuk could dó no leffe then ftand in the now, and keep out fome of this wrath.

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To make use of this doctrine, and of the holy example of Use:

this Prophet, let me use the words of the Apoftle to you.

Put on therfore (as the Elect of God,holy and beloved) bowels of Col. 3.12 mercies, kindneffe, humbleneffe of mind, meekneffe, long-fuffering. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man 13. have a quarrell against any man, even as Chrift forgave you, fo allo

do ge

And

And above all things put on charity with the bond of perfectneffe.

As it is a welcome fuit to God, when out of a zeal to his glory you do call upon him for his judgments, to chaften the overgrown finnes of the time in which ye live: fo it is a pleafing interceffion which folliciteth for mercy in Juftice: for the pure juftice of God will endure an allay of mercy, and we fhall have the better intereft in his favour, by how much the more we de fire more fharers in it..

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There be good Authours of opinion, that the Prayer of Stephen, Father forgive them, was no weak means of the Converfion of Saul, who was one ofhis Perfecutors,

The point is moderation, that neither we fhould fo favour high-grown finn ers as not to complain to God of them, nor yer fo delight in their punishment, as not to pray against the whole and full displeasure of God; that neither the zeal of Gods glory do extinguish Chriftian compaffion, nor the tendernes of pity quench the zeal of Gods glory,but that at once we do fhew our obedience to the whole law,that he that loveth God may love his neighbour alfo..

God himfelf directed Abimilech to Abraham to pray for him, and the friends of fob to use Jobs interceffion, because he loves to be entreated to fhew mercy.

And the rich man in hell would not have his brethren come to that place of torment.

Complain then, that is holy paffion; but begge cafie punishment, that is charitable compaffion; the children of God have as many tears to fhed for the punishment of their brethren, as for their finnes.

2. The Parts are two.

1. The Prophets refolution concerning the Church and Common-wealth of the Jews.

2. The Prophets difpute with God.

The first containeth an argument.

The Antecedent: Thou art from everlasting O Lord, my
God, my holy One..

2. The Conclusion; Therefore we shall not die & Lard: thou
haft ordained them for judgement, O mighty God, then haft
ftablished them for correction,

The

The Propofition: That God is eternal and haly, needs no proof to fuch as know God; both are clearly maintained through the whole body of Scripture.

1. The Eternity of God.

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And Abraham planted a grave in Beer fheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.

Gen. 2

133.

Mofes, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thon Pí. 90. 2. badft formed the earth and the world: even from everlasting to everlafting thou art our God...

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Saint Paul, fpeaking of the myftery of the Gospel long kept Rom. 16, fecret; but now is made manifeft, and by the Scriptures of the 26. Prophets, according to the Commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations.

Haft thou not known? haft thou not heard that the everlasting Ifa.40.28. God the Lord, the Creator of the end of the earth, fainteth not? &c. Plato defined God to be eterna mens fibi ad omnem felicita

tem fufficiens, fumme bona, & omnis boni efficiens in natura.

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Neither can we rest in the search of caules, till we come to one fopreme eternal canfe of all things, the Alpha and Omega of o ther things, of himself without Alpha or Omega.

2.The Conclufion from hence iffuing,is: Therefore we shall not die,faith Habakkuk.

For as God is eternal in himfelf, fo is he to his Church, and from the eternity of God doth the eternity of Angels and men derive it felf, for eternity cannot flow from any thing that is not it felfe eternal; and we know that the nature of Angels and men is eternal, both of them being by the eternal God created to abide for ever: the elect Angels and men in eternal glory, the reprobate Angels and men in eternal fhame and pain.

Yet isthe judgement of the reprobate in Scripture called by the names of Death, Deftruction, Perishing,because these be titles of the greatest horrour and difmay, that the heart of man can

conceive.

Now we have two hopes built upon this foundation of Gods eternity, non moriemur.

1. Temporal, that God will ftill referve a remnant of the Jews to return again to the poffeffion of their fathers, and to build again the City and the temple, and to renew the face of a

Church

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