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 [sic] commandment published

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 .

ALL 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 consideration 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 Lent , your Holyday before the Eue ; For first he rayses you to the sense of his goodnesse , 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 transgressions , your Mother is put away . And this Raising , 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 .

Haec dicit Dominus , Thus saith the Lord , sayes our Prophet here ; And , Semel locutus Deus , duo haec audini , Psalm . 62.12 sayes the Prophet Dauid , 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 irremediable soeuer our state , we our selfes , and not God , are the cause of that desperate 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 raysed that sense , God is no cause of our perishing , 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 determine it in this , It is true , your Damnation is vnauoydable , but you must blame your selfes , Some extend it to this , There is no such avoidablenes in your damnation , and therefore you may comfort your selues , Once hath the Lord spoken , and twice doe we heare him ; we heare him once speaking for his owne honour , Hee does not damne vs , if wee bee damned , And wee heare him againe speaking for our comfort , we need not be damnd at all . And 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 transgressions your Mother is put away . And then Mans dischardge from the necessitie of perishing , Vbi iste libellus , 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 ? 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 is a warning afforded , of those calamities , that will follow , God begins not at Iudgement , but at Mercie . That Mercy being 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 emptie the measure of this Iudgements vpon vs , And God may sell vs to sinnes for punishments , 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 wantonnesse 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 , howsoeuer God be dischargd , He does not kill 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 Dauid , Ecce intenderunt , Ecce parauerunt , Behold the wicked haue bent ther bow , Psal. 11.2 . and Behold they haue made ready their arrow , Origen saies , Origen . Ecce antequam 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 against vs , as an Enemy , ( It was come to that in the Prophet Ieremy ) Lam. 2.4 . yet still he giues vs warning before hand , and still there comes a lightning before 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 , 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 petition for them , O God , the God of the spirits of all flesh , verse 25 shall one Man sinne , and wilt thou bee wroth with the whole Congregation ; And Moses went vp to them againe , And the Elders of Israel followed , and all preuaild not : And then Moses comes to pronounce Iudgement , verse 29. These men shall not dye a common death , and after , and yet not presently after that he gaue iudgement , Execution followd , 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 , whether 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 Dispertion of the Iewes since Christ , ( some Expositors 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 thunder , 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 Sphaera actiuitatis , the Spheare , in which our Repentance and his Mercy moue , and direct themselues in a benigne aspect , towards one another , so where this repentance is deferd , and this Mercie neglected , the execution is so certaine , so infallible , as that , though this in the Text , be intended 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 executions 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 away , 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 generall sale by Adam , wee complaine now , that Land will not sell ; that 20. is come to 15. yeares purchase ; but doe wee not take too late a Medium , too low a time to reckon by ? How cheape was Land at first , how cheape were we ? what was Paradise 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 , Heauen , Soules , Consciences , Immortalitie , Eternitie , for a few Graines of this Dust ? What had Eue for Heauen ; so little , as that the Holy Ghost wil not let vs know , what she had , not what kinde of Fruite ; yet something 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 contristaretur Delicias suas , least he should cast her , whom he lou'd so much , into an inordinate 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 Abraham , and Isaac and Iacob , and all the Patriarchs , and all the Prophets . He sold Peter , and Paul , and both their Regiments , both the glorious Hemispheres of the World , The Iewes , and the Gentiles . He sold Euangelists , 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 Contemplation , as hee was descended from Adam , Rom. 7.14 . that St. Paul sayes of himselfe , Venundatus , I am caruall , sold vnder sinne . For though St. Augustine , and some others of the Fathers , doe sometimes take the Apostle , in that place , to speake of himselfe , as in the person of a naturall Man , ( that euery 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 particularly in his Retractions , returnes to this sense of these words , That no man , in what measure soeuer Sanctified , can so emancipate himselfe from that Captiuitie , to which Adam hath enthralld him , but that , as hee is enwrapped in Originall 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 prostituted themselues to particular sinnes , ) doe yet returne to this sense , That because the Embers , the Spaune , the leauen of Origiginall 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 nothing , 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 ; 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 Apostle tells them , they sold themselues for barrennesse and shame , it was for priuations , 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 himselfe 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 , against the day of wrath : And this is a fearefull 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 nothing , and cannot .

A Deo . So then we were sold , so cheape by Adam , 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 punishment ; God makes Sinne it selfe his executioner in vs , and future sinnes , are the punishments of former . Vendit paenis . As some Schoolemasters haue vsd that Discipline , to correct the Children of great Persons , whose personall correction they finde reason to forbeare , 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 Aegyptians ; for the ten plagues of Aegypt , 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 tempest , in the whirlewinde , in the inundation of his indignation , and scatterd them as so much dust in a windy day , as so many 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 Creation , was but a thinking , ) God made all of Nothing . And is any one rationall Ant , ( The wisest Phylosopher is no more ) Is any roaring Lyon , ( the most ambitious and deuouring Prince is no more ) Is any hiue of Bees , ( The wisest Councels , and Parliaments are no more ) Is any of these so estabishd , as that , that God who by a word , by a thought , made them of nothing , cannot by recalling that word , and withdrawing 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 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 Earthquakes 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 vndisputable , vnexaminable , vnquestionable ; A plague that shall not onely not admit a remedy , when it is come , but not giue a reason how it did come . If God had not set a marke vpon Cain , euery Man , any Man , any thing might haue killd him . Hee apprehended that of himselfe , and was afraid , when we know of none , by name , in the world , but his Father , and Mother : But , as Saint Heirome exalts this consideration , Cains owne Conscience 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 separated Vagabond , not an Anachorit shut vp betweene 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 returne 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 Incumbrances ; 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 Reuelation ) 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 , with multiplied crownes here , and hauing 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 Bayliffe , to attache Dauid for his Murther , And then made impenitence , and a long sencelesnes in his sinne , his Bayliffe to attach Dauid , for that blasphemy , then was Dauid sold , vnder a dangerous sub-hastation , then lay Dauid vnder a heauie Execution . 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 sinner say , Let me fall into the hands of the Deuill , 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 ) Iniquitatem , Ezech 21.26 . Iniquitatem , Iniquitatem ponam eam ; Which is not Gods multiplying of punishments 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 ouer 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 spirit , with a false cheerefulnesse and encantation from strong drinke : In one word , Sap. 14 . 2● . ( 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 Metaphor 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 leauing 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 , 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 Ezech. Auferam zelum , 16.42 . My iealousie shall depart from thee , and I will he quiet , and be no more angry : God is most angry , when hee lets not vs know , that hee is so . And then , Refuse siluer shall men call thee , Ier. 6. ●0 . because the Lord 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 reiected thee . Cain cryes our , that his punishment is greater then hee can beare ; and what s 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 desperate are the effects of Gods putting away a soule ; but we wait vpon the Holy Ghosts farther enlargement of this consideration , 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 putting 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 Primitiue formes , GOD leaues to themselues , and they crumble into Conuenticles : And that Church , which will needes be the Forme to all Churches , God leaues to her selfe , to her owne Traditions , 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 heauie Symptomes , and Accidents ; That which is forbidden in the Law , Leuit. 21. 16. 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 Sacrifice at Gods Altar . Then followes that which is complaind of in Ieroboams time , 1 King . 22. ●3 . 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 , and an Earthly Spirit of Seruilitie , And a watrie Spirit of Irresolution , and dispossest of the true Spirit of Holy fire , the Zeale of the exaltation of Gods glory . There is a Curse in remoouing but the Can●lesticke ; 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 Temporizings , 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 putting 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 ●3 . This is that Potestas tenebrarum , when power is put into their hands , who are possest with this darkenesse . And this is that Procella tenebrarum , Iude 13. The storme of darkenesse , The blackenesse 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 before 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 Israelites , ) and then to sinnes for punishments , ( So hee did Dauid , and so hee did Ierusalem , ) and though hee come to a Diuorce , of Daughter and Mother , of our 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 aequiparantur , 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 taken wayes , to awaken those thoughts in you ) it may be pertinent , and seasonable , to establish you now , against those deiections , and diffidences , which may offer at you then . T is 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 sweetly , 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 aeternum . There can be no Diuorce imagined , if there were not a mariage ; and if there be a mariage With God , there can be no Diuorce , for sponsat in aeternum , 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 my Lord hath forgotten me . Why will Zion say so ? sayes God . Can Zion say , My Lord , my Lord , hath forgotten mee ? Can shee remember that GOD is hers , and not thinke that shee is his ? Can shee remember him , and thinke that hee hath forgotten her ? Can Zion retaine her bowels of piety , and thinke that GOD is disembowelled of his ? GOD calls her not to Nationall examples ; to how low conditions hee came , in the behalfe of Sodome ; what he did for Nineue ; what he did for Zion her selfe in Aegipt , 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 without possibility of reassuming ? 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 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 . T is 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 Babylon , and then the particular Numbers also exhibited , of the Tribes and families that returnd , because those particular Numbers doe not make vp the generall Number , by many thousands , the Hebrew Rabbins argue 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 , because 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 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 perswade mee one halfe , that Traian , or that the Deuill came to Repentance in hell , I should not be hard , in beleeuing the other halfe , that they might be deliuered out of hell . What meane you , sayes God Almighty , that yee , vse this Prouerbe , The Fathers haue eate soure herbes , Ezeck. 18.2 . 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 he 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 tender Conscience , and thy startling 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 Sauiour , Domine quo Ibimus ? Lord whither 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 Word , and finde Error , holy Error , occasion of repenting his owne proceeding , in his Bill of Diuorce ; to which purpose hee calls vpon thee here to produce that Bill , Vbi iste libellus , Where is the Bill , &c.

First then , Vbi libellus , Libellus . where is this Bill , vpon what doe yee ground this ielousie 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-vnderstood Sentences out of that Booke , that 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 Gospell 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 ; euerie where his Scriptures abound with the notions of Loue , of Spouse , and Husband , and Marriadge Songs , and Marriadge Supper , and Marriadge-Bedde . But for words of Separation , and Diuorce , of Spirituall Diuorce for euer , of any soule formerly taken in Marriadge , this very word Diuorce , is but twice read in the Scriptures ; 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 Israel all together backe , and effectually , in a faire part , and his principall purpose in that Diuorce of Israel , was to intimidate , 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 Translations , both Vulgat , and Vulgar , And in Vulgar , and in Holy Tongues , The Septuagint , the Chalde , all , read that place thus , If a man hate her , let him put her away , ( which induced a facility of diuorces ) our Translators thought it more 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 venite et reuertimini , Ose. 6.1 . Come , though your comming be but a returning ; be not ashamed of comming , though your returning 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 , come and receiue ease here , change your yoke , for an easier , if you cannot deuest 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 venite & arguite , Esay 1.18 . Come and reason with God , argne , 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 neither ; 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 deiections , 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 experience 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 irreuocably , but the confessing of the fault , cancels and auoydes it . Releeue thy selfe by reflecting vpon some of those circumstances , 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 Rabbins haue collected , wee haue them expressed . They are many , and many impertinent ; 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 Officer . 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 dispensation thereof , and there thou mayest receiue consolation , when thine owne priuate 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 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 seald : Vbi iste Libellus ? Hath thy imaginary 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 candor and innocencie of his Sonne , in thy Baptisme , and Seales in the participation 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 Darkenesse 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 Seperation . Almightie God blesse vs all , from all these in our selues ; but his blessed Spirit blesse vs to , from making any of 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 Parents , 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 begott●en 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 Separation , out of these ? Findest thou thine own three Descents , as thou wast the Son of Dust , of Nothing , And the Sonne of Adam , reduced to nothing , And then the Sonne of God in Christ , in whom thou art all things ; and canst thou thinke that that GOD who married thee in the house of dust , and marryed thee in the house of infirmitie , and Diuorcd thee not then , ( hee made thee not no Creature , 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 ; enterlinde 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 also if this Bill be not dropt vpon , and blotted ; The venim of the Serpent is dropt vpon it , The Wormwood of thy Desperation , is dropt vpon it , The Gall of thy Melancholly is dropt vpon it , and that voydes the Bill . If thou canst not discerne these drops before , drop vpon it nowe ; Drop the teares of true compunction , 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 ouertender 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 Creditor ? As Christ in his Parable comprehends all excuses , and all backwardnesses in the following of him , in those two , Marriage and Purchasing , Luke 14.18 . ( for one had bought Land and stocke , and another had married a Wife ) So God expresses his loue to Man , in these two too , Hee hath married vs , he hath bought vs ; that so he might take in all dispositions , and worke vpon Vxorious Men , men soupled and entendred 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 Father that hath bought you ? And will you suspect your Father ? Yes , sayes this Disconsolate Soule , Fathers might sell their Children ; and my Father , my GOD hath sold me . T is 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 vnnaturall Custome , and lamented it : Vidi miserabile spectaculum , sayes he , liberos haeredes calamitatis , qui nec participes successionis : The Children , sayes hee , inherit the Calamity , but not the Lands of their Fathers , when they were solde to maintaine 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 Constantin 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 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 Iesus : And now , Quis Creditor ? The word indeed , is originally Nashah , and Nashah is an Vsurer ; and so Saint Ambrose reades this place , Quis Faenerator , 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 allmost 4000. yeare from Adam to Christ , and 1000 from Christ to vs ? ) yet when all this is multiplied infinitely , it was infinitly 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 , euen to Satan ; suffer thee to bee his Bayliffe , 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 himselfe 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 , extinguish their Power , or withdrawe their Loue , vpon whom thou hast establishd thy dependance ; So he layd Dauid wast , when hee withdrewe his Childrens obedience from him ; so God may lay thee waste . God may Let out all his time in thee in this World , and reserue to himselfe only a last yeare , a last day , a last minute ; suffer 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 , Dominium potestas est tum vtendi tum abutendi , He that is Lord , Owner , Proprietary , 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 Sickenesse , to Superstition , ( for these be the Ismaelits , 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 fell ; 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 this question , which GOD makes to establish thy Conscience , vbi libellus , Where is the Bill of thy Mothers Diuorcement , &c.

FINIS .