Jude 11 (part 1 of 3)

AT this verse, and so on to the seventeenth, our Apostle prosecutes the thrid part of that second Argument, whereby he puts the Christians upon contending for the faith against Seducers.

That second Argument was taken from the certainty of the destruction of those Seducers; and its prosecuted from the fourth to the seventeenth verse of this Epistle. Pag. 1. Part 2. In the managing whereof (as hath been said before) the Apostle having first set down several examples of Gods wrath upon others in former times, for their sins, from the fourth to the eighth verse. And secondly, Having declared that these Seducers lived in the same sins which God had formerly punish’d in others, from the eight to this eleventh verse.

3. He now thirdly concludes; that these practising their impieties, shall partake of their plagues. And this conclusion he prosecutes throughout this eleventh verse, and forward unto the seventeenth. In the handling of which Conclusion, the Apostle concludes the destruction of these, 1. By propounding, 2. By expounding it. Or 1. By a Denunciation thereof. 2. By a Delineation thereof.

1. By propounding and denouncing thereof, in those words of this eleventh verse, Wo unto them.

2. By an expounding or delineating thereof in the following expressions of this and the other verses, unto the seventeenth; and he expounds it by a mixed description of their sin and misery; And he mixedly describes their sin, and miseries (the effects of their sins) three wayes: Nominat hos tres prae aliis, quia hi tres fuere Dei, fidei, & sanctitatis hostes, ac fideles seducere, & Ecclesiam perdere voluerunt; unde fuerunt Simonis, Gnosticorum, & haereticorum typi & prodromi. Cor. Lapide in loc. 1. From the sutable examples of Cain, Balaam, Core, in this eleventh verse, whom he rather mentions then any others, in regard of their great hurtfulness to the Church by cruelty, seduction and sedition, they being the types and forerunners of these Seducers. 2. From sundry elegant comparisons, ver. 12, 13 3. From the certain and infallible Prophecy of Enoch, propounded and amplified ver. 14, 15, 16.

This eleventh verse then, consists of these two parts.

1. A Denunciation of Wo and Judgment. 2. An Amplification thereof, from the three forementioned examples of Cain, Balaam, Core.

1. The Denunciation of Judgment, in these words, Wo unto them.

EXPLICATION.

It may be demanded, In what sense the words, Wo unto them, are here used, and how to be understood?

The uttering of this word, Wo, denoting in Scripture grievous calamities and miseries, either present or approaching; is used three waies:

1. Vae condolentis, imprecantis, praedicentis. There is vae dolentis, and condolentis; when woe is used as an Exclamation of grief, pity, and commiseration; and then it imports as much as if the Apostle had said, Alas, how am I grieved, (in consideration of their approaching ruine) for these wretched sinners, that are running to their own destruction! and thus the word wo is often taken in Scripture: as Mich. 7.1. where the Church resenting the general corruption of the times, and her smal number, cryes out, Wo is me, for I am as when they have gathered the Summer fruits, as the gleanings of the Vintage. The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men. Thus also the Prophet Isaiah, chap. 24.16. laying to heart the wickedness of the people, and the Judgments which were to follow, expresseth his holy sympathy in these words, Wo unto me, the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, &c. Thus the same Prophet again, chap. 6.5. Then said I, Wo is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, &c. for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts, &c. So Jer. 4.41. and 6.4. Jer. 13.27. and 45.3. Lam. 5.16. Now though it cannot be denyed, but that the faithful do, and ought with holy commiseration to lay to heart the miseries of others; yet I understand not this expression of wo in this place, in this sense; for besides that Jude knew, that these Seducers were ungodly men, and appointed to this condemnation; his scope was not to express his sorrow for them, but to warne the Church of them, by discovering the Judgements of God against them.

2. There is vae imprecantis, a wo of cursing and imprecation, used sometimes by Godly men, against the implacable, and irrecoverable enemies of God. Thus the Prophet Habakkuk utters it against the Caldean, who wasted the Church, Hab. 2.6, 9, 12, 15, 19. Psal. 40, 14, 15 59.14. Thus David Psal. 109.6, 7, 8, 9, &c. prayeth for the destruction of his enemies. That the Apostles had this power of cursing the incurable enemie, of the Church, whose destruction the Lord had extraordinarily revealed to them and that they used it, is very evident; Paul prayeth (2 Tim. 4.14.) that the Lord would reward Alexander the Copper-smith according to his work: And its hard to deny, Non dicit Apostolus ἀποδώσει, reddet; sol ἀποδῴη, reddat: Sunt vota imprceantis, non verba praedicentis. Rivet. in Psal. 40. that Jude in this place doth put forth that power against these Seducers: Sure I am, Paul, Gal. 5.12. prayeth, that the false Teachers might be cut off, who troubled the Church; and he who enabled the Apostles to foreknow the ruine of Seducers certainly, without error, might help them to desire it holily without revenge. And never did either Christ or his Apostles, express so much heavenly vehemency against any, as against those who hindred the eternal salvation of souls; witness the woes eight times repeated by Christ against the Scribes and Pharisees, Matt. 23. As also Pauls carriage towards Elimas the Sorcerer, Acts 13. Some (indeed) of this impious rabble, who were not so obstinate, malicious, and subtle as others, Jude might spare; he desiring the Christians afterward, that on some they should have compassion, putting a difference.

And if it be here demanded, How the Apostle could lawfully say, Wo unto them?

I answer, 1. He expresseth not this wo unto them in respect of his own cause, but the cause of God; not as they were his, but Gods enemies.

2. He directs not his imprecations against persons curable, but incurable; and he might know them to be so by some extraordinary inspiration.

3. His affections herein were not carnal, but Divine and Spiritual, stirred up purly by Zeal to Gods glory, and the safety of the Church. In a word, If this wo here pronounced by Jude, were a wo of imprecation, he was carryed to the uttering thereof by the same Spirit, by which he penned the Epistle.

3. There is a vae praedicentis, a Wo of prediction and denunciation, whereby imminent and impendent evils are foretold and denounced against others; and in this sense its commonly used and uttered in Scripture, Eccles. 4.10. Eccles. 10.16. Isai. 3.9.11. 28.1. 30.1. 31.1. Hos. 9.12.24 Matth. 24.19, and most commonly by the Prophets: Isai. 3.11. Wo unto the wicked, for it shall be ill with them: Isai. 5.8. Wo unto them that joyn house to house, &c. And ver. 11. Wo to them that rise early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink. Matth. 24.19. Wo to them that be with child, and give suck in those dayes, &c. And this sense (though some Learned men exclude not that which was last mentioned) we may safely admit in this place: our Apostle concluding, that undoubtedly they who were as bad as the worst of former sinners in respect of sin, should be as miserable as they were in regard of punishment.

OBSERVATIONS.

1 Spiritual and eternal woes, Obser. 1. are the true woes. To be woful indeed, is to be under the wrath of God. This is the wo here by Jude denounced against, and by God inflicted upon these Seducers. Whatever wo comes without Gods wrath, may have more of weal in it, then of woe. Other woes touch the skin, these the soul. Other woes part between us and our Estates, names, worldly comforts; but these between us and God, in whom is laid up all happiness. How foolish is every sinner to fear the name, the shadow, and not to tremble at the thing, the reality of woe, like the beast, who is more affrighted with the flash of the fire, and the noise of the report which is made in shooting off the Gun, then with the fear of the bullet. Eternal woes come with less noise, and therefore with more neglect then others: They kill, though they do not affright. The fear which Christ commands is of him who kils the soul. Of this more, Part 1 p. 282. What proportion of misery is there between the souls leaving the body, and Gods leaving the soul? Bodily miseries are but opinionative and appearing. There is not a drop of true woe, in a deluge of outward troubles which befal a Saint.

2 Wickedness ends in wo. Observ. 2 Sinners may see nothing but wealth in the commission, but they shall find nothing but wo in the conclusion of sin. Every Lust, though it kisseth, yet betrayes. Rom. 6.21. The end (as the Apostle speaks) is death. Its the truest wisdom to consider, whether, when we find it difficult to overcome the present tentation, it be not more difficult to undergo the following woe. Oh, could we but look upon the blackness of the back of sin, how little should we be allured with the fairness of its face! How far from wisdom will it be for the deluded sinner hereafter to say, I did not think it would have been thus with me, that hell was so hot, that Gods wrath was so heavy! The mirth of every secure sinner, that goes dancing to hell, Amara sint omnia gaudia quibus respondent aeterna supplicia is no better then madness. How bitter should that drop of pleasure be to us, which is answered and overtaken with a sea of pains! There’s no judging of our future, either wo or happiness, by what appears at present. The portion of Gods peoples cup, is to have the best, and of the wickeds, to have the bitterest at the bottom; and yet the top of the cup seemeth to promise the contrary to both.

3. Scripture imprecations and cursings, Observ. 3. must not be drawn to be our examples. We may indeed pray against the wicked practices of others, that God would stop and hinder them; with David, that God would turn the wisdom of Achitophel into foolishness. 2. Its lawful for us to pray for temporal afflictions to befal the wicked, to the end that they being sensible of Gods anger against sin, may be brought to repentance, and so to salvation. But 3. Prayers for the eternal confusion of others, are not absolutely to be put up to God. They who wil imitate the Scripture in imprecations against others, must be sure they imitate those holy men who uttered them, in being led by the same Spirit, both of infallibility, in discerning of mens persons and Estates; and also of purity, or freedom from those corrupt affections wherewith our zeal for Gods glory is ever too much mixed, and therefore to be suspected. This counsel Christ gave his Disciples, Luke 9.55. Matth. 5.44. who asking whether (after the example of Elijah) they should pray that fire might come down from heaven to consume the Samaritanes? q.d. Yours is motion not of zeal, but revenge. Ideo Deum à se expellit, qui illum à proximo avertit; & facit Deo injuriam, quia seipsum judicem constituit, et Deum tortorem. Aug. Ser. 4. de Sanc. were answered by Christ, that they knew not what spirit they were of. Our Masters precept was, Bless them that curse you; yea, bless and curse not: and his pattern left us is 1 Pet. 2.23. set down in these words, When he was reviled, he reviled not again. The time of Prayer (saith Chrysostom] is the time of meekness. And he (saith Augustine) drives away God from himself, who would turn him away from others; he being injurious to God, in making him the Executioner, and himself the Judg.

4. Observ. 4. God warnes of wo, before he sends wo. He takes not sinners at the advantage (as he might) in the act of sin, but he foretels the woe before he inflicts it. He usually cutteth men down by the mouth of his Ministers, Gen. 15.16. Matth. 23.37 before he cuts them off by the hand of Executioners; by the sword of his mouth, before he doth it by the mouth of the sword. Gods method is to give premonition, before he inflicts punishment. The two destructions of Jerusalem by the Caldeans and Romans, came not till foretold by the Prophets and Christ: Of the two general destructions of the world; Gen. 6.3. 2 Pet. 3. the past by water, and the suture by fire, sufficient warning hath been given: God hereby speaks himself gracious, and the wicked inexcusable. He threatneth that he may not smite; and he smiteth that he may not slay; and he slayeth some sometimes temporally, R•v 2.21. that they may not be destroyed eternally. God foretels ruin, that it may be prevented. Jonah’s prophecying of Niniveh’s overthrow, Venturum se praedicat, ut cum venerit, quos damnet non inveniat. Greg was (as Chrysostom saith) a kind of overthrow of the Prophecy. And hereby the wicked are proclaimed inexcusable. They cannot say in their greatest suffering, but that they had premonition. Even the enemies of God shall justifie him when he condemns them. They cannot but excuse God from desire of revenge, the desirers whereof are not wont to give warning. Professa perdunt odia vindictae locum. Sen. Medea. Christians, take heed of turning the denunciations of woe into wantonness. Its neither for want of sin in man, nor strength in God, that in stead of wounding he only warns. His hand is not weakened that it cannot strike; nor his arm shortned that it cannot reach us: He hath not lost his power, but he execiseth his patience, and he exerciseth his patience in expecting our repentance. Non ille potentiam perdidit, sed patientiam exercet. Patientiam exercet suam, dum poenitentiam expectat, tuam. Aug. Let us prepare to meet our God, even when he is coming toward us, before he come at us. Let us dispatch the Messengers of Prayer and Reformation, to meet him, and make peace with him, while he is vet in the way, and afar off. Though Gods patience lasts long, it will not last ever. If we will sin, notwithstanding a wo threatned; we shall be punish’d notwithstanding a mercy promis’d. He who is long a striking, strikes heavy. The longer the child is in the womb, the bigger it is when it comes forth. The longer it is ere wo comes, the bigger will it be when it comes. No mettal so cold as Lead before it is melted, but none more scalding afterward.

5. Ministers must denounce woes against the wicked. Observ. 5. Jude describes the fierceness of Seducers, and exhorts the Christians to compassion; and yet his meekness abolisheth not his zeal. The regard of Gods glory, and the souls of the Saints, drawes forth this severe denunciation against the Enemies of both. He is as bold to foretel their woe, as they to proclaim their wickedness. The like spirit we may behold in the holy men before him: Causam populi apud Deum precibus; causam Dei apud populum gladiis allegavit. Greg. Exod. 32.27. Moses so meek, that, when he was with God, though he pleaded the cause of the people with prayers, yet when he was with the people, he pleaded the cause of God with the sword. The Prophets after him, Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, were cold and calm in their own, but full of heavenly heat in Gods cause. Their denunciations of woes (like lightning which smites the highest Towers) spared not the greatest, if Enemies to God. Prophetical zeal, struck at sin where ever it found it; witness all those numerous threatnings scattered in every leaf of their Prophecies. The Apostles had their rod, as well as the spirit of meekness, and did partake of that spirit which was represented as well by fiery tongues, as the shape of a Dove. Paul strikes Elimas blind, and cursed Alexander. Christ himself, whose mouth (Matth. 5.) was so full of Beatitudes, no less then eight several times, denounceth woes against the Enemies of God. Its the disposition of Saints, to be holily impatient, when Gods glory suffers; and (though never else) then to esteem anger seemly: disgraces against their father, they cannot put up, these injuries they cannot concoct. Their Commission likewise requires this temper, Isaiah 58.1. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voyce like a trumpet, shew my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Jer. 1.7.8. Whatsoever I command thee, that thou shalt speak, be not afraid of their faces. A dumb Dog is good for nothing but the Halter. Though the Children in the house must not be bitten, yet the Thief either without or within, Chrysost. must not be spared; sinful silence and flattery, most oppose a Ministers function. If sinners will be bold, let not Ministers be bashful: The most zealous Ministers, have lived in the worst times; and they who are most hated for their holy vehemency, can better endure the hatred of people for the discharge of duty, then the wrath of God for the neglect thereof: He that reproves, shall have favour at the last both of God and man. And even here a zealous Reprover is honoured, when he is hated; and the cause (saith one) why God makes the world so bitter to the Ministers by sufferings, is because they are no more bitter to the world by Reprehensions. To conclude this, let none, no not the greatest, be angry with Ministers for their faithfulness in reproving: If there were Physicians, or Chyrurgians onely provided for the poor, and not for the rich, the rich would be accounted of all the most miserable; and truly they were much more miserable for their souls, Crudelis est eorum mollities, quibus molesta est nostra vehementia. Calv. in Mat. 13. if they onely were debar’d from reproofs, the Physick of the soul. There is no greater sign of a gracious heart, then to be both holily patient in the taking, and wisely zealous in the giving of a reproof.

2. Thus of the first part of this verse, the denunciation of judgement, Wo unto them. The second followes, the amplification thereof, from three examples, of Cain, Balaam, and Core; and first that of Cain, in these words, They have gone in the way of Cain.

EXPLICATION:

Four things here are to be touched by way of Explanation.

1. Who this Cain was.

2. What his way was.

3. Why its call’d a way.

4. How Seducers are said to go in his way.

1. For the first, the holy story relates (besides the other particulars which I shall note in the second, his way:) 1. His Birth. 2. The imposition of his name.

1. His Birth is described, Gen. 4.1. where its said, that Adam knew Eve his wife, and that she conceived and bare Cain. This Cain was the first-born of the first Parents in the world, and so Elder brother to all the sons of men; and Moses to shew the common and constant way of the multiplication of man-kind, fully declares his generation; Creavit ex terrâ procreavit ex legitimo conjugio. Pareus. Musc. hereby manifesting, that Cain was neither form’d out of the earth, as was Adam; nor of the rib of the man, as was Eve: that he came not of Adam alone, without Eve, nor of Eve alone without Adam; but that there was a conjunction of both: that Adam knowing his wife (a modest expression) she conceived and bare Cain. And withal, in this relation of the Birth of Cain, Moses discovers, that generation (to continue to the worlds end) derives the corruption of our first Parents to all their Posterity, (though generation it self be not culpable, but natural, and by God appointed:) So that whosoever is now naturally begotten, and conceived, hath not a holy and pure nature, (as had our first Parents before they sinned) but a nature depraved and corrupted, as they had after they had sinned: and particularly in relation to Cain, he shewes that Adam, a sinner, and of a corrupt nature, knowing Eve, who was infected also with sin, and she conceiving and bringing forth Cain; its no wonder that this their first-born was of so wicked and corrupted a disposition, since he was conceived and born of the seed of sinful flesh: nor is it to be thought, that Abel an holy man, had his holiness derived to him from his Parents, as if he had not with Cain been conceived in sin; but that by the meer and singular grace of God, he had that integrity bestowed upon him, of which Gain was destitute.

2. For the imposition of Cains name. The word Cain, is derived of Cana, which signifieth a possession; for his Mother Eve giving him that name, said she had gotten, obtained, or possessed a man from the Lord. Its here disputed by learned men, what Eve intends, by saying I have gotten a man (ETH. JEHOVAH, (as we render it) from the Lord: Sundry conceive (in regard the Preposition ETH is commonly a note of the Accusative case) that Eves words are thus to be read, Acquisivi virum Jehovam, I have gotten a man that is the Lord; as if she had thought that this her first-born was that promised seed, the Messiah, which God had promised should break the head of the Serpent, and redeem man-kind from sin and misery: but the Preposition ETH, את Certum est particulam Eth, ut. plurimum esse notam Accusativi casus, quem verba transitiva regunt; sed tamen accipi non raro pro à, ex, de, cum, Praepositionibus: & exempla adfe runt ex scripturâ Grammatici, ubi particula illa juncta verbo intransitivo aut Hithpael, accipitur pro 〈Greek〉, cum Gen. 5.22. Exod. 1.1. pro מן vel abs. Gen. 44 4. Riv. in Gen. Jun. Trem. Rivet. Mercer. is oft in the Scripture, a note of the Ablative, and imports as much as from, with, by, &c. as Gen. 5.22. Enoch walked, ETH ELOHIM, with God. Exod. 1.1. The Children of Israel who came [ETH] with Jacob into Aegypt. Gen. 44.4. When they were gone [ETH HAIR] out of, or from the City, &c. Some there are who take [ETH] here for the note of the Dative ל, and then the meaning of the words is, I have gotten a man to the Lord; that is, who after our death shall (though herein she was mistaken) in our stead, serve and worship the Lord. But the best expound [ETH] (as I said) by with, from, by, &c. and so the meaning is, I have gotten a man σὺν Θεῷ, that is, by the favour, help, and blessing of the Lord, as his gift, by ratifying his blessing of multiplication, Chap. 1.28. and that both blessing my conception of a Child, and also my Child-birth, without the assistance of a Midwife: This may well be the meaning of the place, and Eves thankful acknowledging Gods bounty in giving her a son; as its sutable to those expressions of Scripture, Gen 33.5. Psalm 127.3. where Children are said to be an heritage, and gift of the Lord: so is it agreeable to the carriage of holy persons in other times, who thus have prais’d the Lord for their Children: though Eve (besides the common apprehension and acknowledgement of Gods blessing and bounty herein) probably did expect some extraordinary comfort and relief by this her son, to sweeten that afflicted estate into which they had brought themselves, and particularly, she her husband, and self by sin.

2. For the second, What Jude here intends by the way of Cain?

The word way in Scripture, is frequently mentioned, and is oft used as a Metaphorical expression of a mans course and manner of living, carriage, or conversation in the world, whether good or bad.

1. Good, called the way of the Righteous, Psal. 1.6. The Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous. Prov. 2.20. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men. 2 Chron. 11.17. and 17.3, 20. and 20.32. and 21.12, and 27.6. 1 Sam. 8.3. Samuels sons walked not in the wayes of their-father. So verse 5. 2 Kin. 22.2. Josiah walked in the way of his father David. The good way; Samuel (1 Sam. 12.23.) saith, that he would teach the people the good way. So Jer. 6.16. Nec prece, nec pretio, nec gratiâ, nec periculo nec simultate, à viâ rectâ deduci oportet. Cicer. Rhet. l. 3. Ask for the old paths, where is the good way. Job 22.3. Psalm 101.2.6. The right way. 1 Sam. 12.23. And of these Seducers its said, 2 Pet. 2.15. That they have forsaken the right way. Also its call’d the narrow way, Mat. 7.14. because grievous and unpleasing to the flesh. Also the way of understanding, Prov. 21.16. and Prov. 9.6. Isaiah 40.14. The way of wisdom, Prov. 4.11. The way of peace, Rom. 3.17. The way of Righteousness, Prov. 16.31. Mat. 21.32. The way of light, Job 21.13. The way of holiness, Isa. 35.8. The way of truth, Psal. 119 30. 2 Pet. 2.2. The way of salvation, Acts 16.17.

2. Bad, call’d The way of the wicked, Psal. 1.6. The way of the ungodly shall perish, Prov. 2.12. Prov. 1.15. Prov. 4.14. 1 Kings 8.32. 1 Kin. 15.26. 2 Kin. 8.18. Psal. 146.9. The way of the wicked he turneth upside down, Prov. 4.19. The way of the wicked is as darkness. Prov. 13.15. The way of the transgressors is hard. The way of the Heathen, Jer. 10.2. Acts 14.16. The way of ones own heart, Eccles. 11.9. Isaiah 57.17. An unequal way, Ezek. 18.35, 29. and 33.17. A way that is not good, Psal. 36.5. Prov 16.29. An evil way, Prov. 28.10. Prov. 8.13. The way of a fool, Prov. 12.15. Of the froward, Prov. 22.5. A way of pain or grief, Psalm 139.24. A stubborn way, Judges 2.19. A broad way, Mat. 7.13. A way of darkness, Prov. 2.13. A way not cast up, Jer. 18.15. Under this evil and wicked way, fals the way of Cain, here mentioned by Jude, which is not so largely to be taken, as for the whole sinful course and carriage of Cain, throughout his life, but for some particular course of his, for which in Scripture he is most condemned and punished by God, and in which he was by these Seducers most imitated; Abel obtulit praestantius sacrificium, non id intelligi debet ratione materiae aut quantitatis, sed animi offerentis & fidei. Rivet. in Gen. 4. Ex fide obtulit non solum ex mandato Dei, sed etiam fiduciâ promissio nis; certo statuens non opere operato hujus ritus, se aliquid mercri, sed propter victimum Messiae significatam hac victimá, se recipi in gratiam Dei. Pareus in Gen. and that way might be made up of three principal parts:

1. The way of hypocrisie. Cain indeed offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and perhaps (though some deny it) every way as good and costly (in respect of the outside thereof) as was that of Abel; yet he sacrificed in a faithless hypocritical manner, as is clear from the reason why Abels sacrifice was better, and better accepted with God then Cains; and that reason rendered by the Apostle, Heb. 11. was because Abel offered in faith; by which faith, he offering a better sacrifice, and better accepted, its plain that Cain sacrificed not in faith, he performed a good work, but with a rotten and hypocritical heart; not inspirit and truth worshipping God. The faith of Abel in offering his sacrifice, stood principally in two things: 1. In eying the rule and command of God obediently, who had enjoyned it. 2. In expecting acceptation from God for the Merit, not of his work, but of Christ, who was signified by his sacrifice. Of both these, Cain though sacrificing, was destitute, neither offering because he believed the Command of God was to be obeyed, nor in offering, looking to find acceptance for his Person and performance through Christ; but prophanely, customarily, and proudly doing the thing which God commanded, but disregarding the manner commanded in doing it.

2. A second way of Cain, and that principally (as I conceive) here intended by our Apostle, was the hatred and murder of his brother, ἀδελφοκτονία. 1. He slew a man, herein sinning against the common nature of mankind. 2. He slew one that was his subject, and obedient to him, whom he ought therefore to have defended against all injury and violence. 3. He destroyed not a slave, and a vulgar subject, but his own brother; (and some think that Cain and Abel were twins.) Hoc nomine non simpliciter homicida, aut servicida, fed fratricida. 4. A just and good man, did not slay an unjust and wicked man; but a wicked and ungodly, slew a just and innocent man. 5. He did not slay him for any fault of his, but for his holy and sincere worshipping of the true God. 6. He slew him not stirr’d up by any sudden rage, heat or commotion of mind, or by imprudence; but out of setled hatred and in a way of study to take away his life. 7. This murder was committed by Cain, after God had admonish’d him to take heed of that sin. 8. And after he had made a shew of friendship and reconciliation to his brother, Gen. 4.8. Cain talked (viz friendly and familiarly) with his brother, and then he slew him. Hence this inhumane murder, is that sin for which by the Apostle John, Cain is said to be of that wicked One, 1 Joh. 3.12. In short, First he inwardly hated and envyed his brother, because his sacrifice was better accepted than his own; and then he expressed this hatred, by his cruelty in killing him. His hatred, was murder begun; and his murder, was hatred perfected. He, who cared not how he served God, regarded not how he used his brother. Cain begins with sacrifice, and ends with murder. There were in the whole world but two brothers and the one was a Butcher of the other; Abel was the first Martyr, and Cain the first Murderer: And the same cause, that moved Satan to tempt the first man to destroy himself and his Posterity, moves the second man to destroy the third. Groundless envy! what hurt did Gods accepting of Abel do to Cain? what help against God, rejecting of Cain, could be brought by Abel? It should have been Cains joy to have seen his brother accepted; it should have been his sorrow to have seen that himself deserved a rejection. Could Abel have stayed Gods fire from descending, or should he if he could, reject Gods acceptation, to content a brother? Cain was envious, because God or Abel is not less good: He envied that good in his Brother, which he neglected in himself. In short, Cains envy made him bloody; and indeed (as one aptly expresseth it) such is this fin, that if it eats not anothers, heart it will eat our own.

A third way of Cain, was manifested in the complaining of his Curse: Gen. 4.13 My punishment (saith he) is greater then I can bear. The words in the Original admit of a double reading: Some understand them to be words of despair of mercy, and read them thus, Major est iniquitas mea quam parcere (so Arias,) My sin is greater then that I should ever obtain pardon. Others think they are words aggravating his punishment, and complaining of its severity; and they read them thus, Major est punitio mea quam ut feram, My punishment is greater then I can undergo. And this Interpretation seems to be most favoured by the following words, Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive, &c According to this Interpretation, he doth not so much confess the greatness of his sin, as complain of the grievousness of his punishment; and seems not to be so solicitous of reconciliation with God, as of preservation of his life. 〈Greek〉 Iniquitas, poena iniquitatis. 〈Greek〉 Ferre, remittere: Verbum Nasa frequens est in significatione portandi: fed quia ferre & tolerare, etiam apud Latinos, significationem habent parcendi ideo est in voce ambiguitas. Rivet. in Gen. p. 218. But nothing hinders us from taking the words properly, as words of despair of pardon; for those which follow, may be an exaggeration of his calamity, as if he had said, I am not only (wretch that I am) without hope of pardon from God, but banished also from my dear Parents, and compelled to wander about in the world. And these different Interpretations were occasioned by the different significations of the two words in the Original, Avoni, and Minnese. The former imports both iniquity and the punishment of iniquity. The latter, both taking away or remitting, and also bearing and sustaining. There is no danger in reading the words either way; for as the words allow either reading, so his impatience and despair imply each other; his despair of the taking away of his sin being the true cause of his accounting his punishment greater then could be born (for its sin only that makes punishment heavy:) and the complaining of the intolerableness of the punishment, a true sign of his despair of the pardon of his sin; so that it matters not much which way we take. Its plain, that as he rather accused God of cruelty against himself, then himself of cruelty against his brother; so that he added to the taking away of his brothers life, the denying of Gods nature, in making his own sin greater then Gods Mercy; (horrid, heinous either to speak or think!) In short, hereby Cain shewed that he could keep no mean; From security in sin, he fel into despair after sin.

3. 3 Branch of Explicat. The third thing to be explained is, Why this course of Cain is here called a way? Take it in these following considerations.

1. A way is that wherein there are sundry Passengers. Out of a way Passengers or Travellers are not to be expected, but in a way persons ordinarily pass to and fro. There’s no way of sin, though it be even Cains, but some, yea many traverse it. The worst courses find most imitation. Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat, Matth. 7.13. The way of sin is most trodden and beaten. Sinners go to hell in multitudes; and its as much against their nature to go to hell alone, as to go in the way to heaven at all: They encourage one another in an evil way. They wonder at those who go not with them, and reproach them, thinking them mad for going out of the way, 1 Pet. 4.4. Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.

2. This sinful course is a way, in respect of the expertness of those who walk in it. When men are out of the way, they often understand not where they are and whither they are going; but in a way which they have often beaten, they go on skilfully and expertly: Hence every one is esteemed expert, and believed in his way. He who hath been long used to a way, will undertake to go it blindfold; he knowes every turning, Town, Mark, Miles end. The wicked are witty in sin, Mattr. 7.22. they are workers of iniquity, ἐργαζόμενοι, Curious contrivers of wickedness, wise to do evil; Though to do good they understand not, but are sottish children: When in sin, they are in their Element, and wiser in their generation then the children of light. Put them out of their way, and they are presently at a loss. How left-handed are they in holy duties! how untowardly do they discourse of, and act for God! they are children in understanding.

3. In respect of progressiveness. When a man is in a way, he stands not still, and takes not only one or two, but many steps, goes on step by step. Wicked men proceed in sin; they grow worse and worse; they know where they began, but not where they shall end. Cain proceeded from formality in Gods service, to hatred against his brother; from hatred, to dissimulation; from thence to murder; from thence to despair, &c. His way was made up of several stages. Every step he took left a stronger engagement to go on. The child of God, by the frailty of the flesh, may slip, step into sin; but he doth not stand, go on, keep a course in that way: They are the wicked who stand in the way of sinners. Psal. 1.1. They make a trade of sin. A sinner falls into sin as the fish, the Saint, as a child doth into the water. In the latter sin is, but the former is in sin.

4. In respect of its period and term. The longest way hath an end. The longest course of sin, though of a thousand years continuance, terminates in destruction. The full point of every sinful way is damnation; the end, though not of the worker, yet of the work, is death; that is the wages of sin. The way of sin is broad in the enterance, but its narrow in the conclusion: Prov. 5.5.7.25. Its the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. Foolish sinners, in good duties separate the means from the end, accounting exactness needless: in sinful ways they separate the end from the means, thinking torments fabulous: although Scripture equally prescribes the former, and foretels the latter. Gods method is first to bring into a Wilderness, and then to Canaan; Satan contrarily leads from Canaan into a Wilderness. Gods way is right, and may seem rugged; Satans smooth, but false. Cain never left travelling in his way of Hyprocrisie, Envy, Murder, till it ended in Despair.

4. Branch 4 of Explicat. Fourthly, By way of Explication, we are to enquire; How these Seducers went in this way of Cain?

1. They went in this way of Cain’s formality and hypocrisie. They sacrificed (I mean) partook of the same Ordinances and Priviledges with true Saints; in name, in the skin they were Christians, in the heart, at the core they were unholy; they pretended to the highest pitch of Religion; but all this while (as the Apostle calls them) they were but ungodly men. While they sacrificed outwardly with Cain, they had inwardly the spirits of Cains; like those of whom Saint John speaks, who went out from, but never were truly of us. Their impure life, was a practical confutation of their verbal profession. In words they professed Christ, but in their deeds they denyed him, though the only Lord.

2. They went in the way of Cain, in respect of their hatred and malice against the faithful. None so much envyed and opposed faithful Pastors and Teachers as they did. False Teachers were Pauls standing Antagonists; they were like Jannes and Jambres, who withstood Moses. The Scribes and Pharisees of all others most hated Christ. Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered him. Seducers hate those most, who hurt them most. The faithful Minister, that shines with the light of pure Doctrine, these Theeves most strike at. The Leaders of Gods Army they principally fight against. The Magistrate whom God appointed for the restraining of sin, they bitterly hated and envyed; and it was not for want of poyson, but power, that they did not destroy and pluck up Magistracy by the very roots. These Seducers were likewise murderers with Cain, the worst of Murderers, soul-murderers. Their work was to draw men into perdition. They were deceived and deceiving, blindly leading their blind followers into the ditch of destruction. They denyed him who is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Their sacrificing was with a murderous intent; and though with Cain, who spake most kindly to his brother when he was inwardly most cruel, they utter fair and sweet expressions, yet all was but to deceive the hearts of the simple. Under every bait of good words, there lay the hook of Error and Heresie. They gave their poyson in a gilded cup, and ever came with an hammer and a nail, when they presented butter in a Lordly dish; nor ever were they so much the Ministers of Satan, as when they transformed themselves into Angels of light.

3 They went in the way of Cain, in regard of his complaint and despair. They who walk’d in Cains wickedness, could not escape Cains woe. Jude here denounceth it against them, and tells us, they were before of old ordained to this condemnation; they were beasts, made to be taken; they corrupted themselves; they languish’d and pin’d away in their filthiness. There was a ditch followed their blind-leading: and though the grace of God was turned into lasciviousness by them, and abused as an occasion to sin, yet how glad would they have been in the end, for one drop of those streames of grace, which once they padled in, & trampled under feet? They who formerly taught, that by reason of Grace men might sin; afteward felt, that for want of Grace they and their seduced followers were sure to smart. They who once preach’d nothing but grace, afterward felt nothing but wrath; a just recompence, since with Cain they account the greatest sin in the cōmission so smal, Obser. 1. Abeli nomen inditum fuit a vanitate, ut significaretur humanam conditionem meram esse vanitatem; ideo que Hebraei, Hebel appellant or is halitum qui cito evanescit. Riv. in Gen. Exerc. 42. Qui clarus erat nativitate carnis, & charus existimatione Parentum, respuitur a Deo; & qui habebatur abjectus & nul lius momenti, re spicitur & probatur. Respait igitur Deus primogenitos & omnes eos qui chari sunt parentibus? non colligimus istam consequentiam, sod id annotamus, non morari Deum hasce carnis praerogativas, vel quamcun que aliam excellentiam secularem mag is quam spiritulem. Musc. in Gen. that they need not to fear it; in their after-despairing confession, to finde it so great, that they are not able to undergo it; and besides all this, with Cain, to be marked with infamy and dishonour to all posterity.

OBSERVATIONS.

1. Priviledges of nature commend us not to God. We find not seldom in Scripture, that the eldest child, proves the unholiest. Abel, the younger, was a Saint; Cain, the elder, was a Murderer: Cain excelled Abel in the dignity of Primogeniture, and further, in the expectation of his Parents. Cain, if he were not (as some think) deemed by them to be the promised seed of the woman, and their Saviour; is yet called a possession obtained of God, as one by whom they expected to reap much good and comfort; Abel, according to his name, is deemed unprofitable and vai. And yet he who was so eminent, both for his Birth, and his Parents estimation, is rejected and he who was (saith Musculus) accounted as vain, and nothing worth, and unprofitable, is accepted by God; who though he refuseth not, yet neither receiveth any, for outward Prerogatives: he is no respecter of persons. Jacob the younger was a godly man; and beloved; Esau, the elder, a prophane person, and hated of God. David, the youngest of Jesses sons, was he, who of them all, we find to be according to Gods own heart. Ruben, the eldest son of Jacob, was incestuous, Simeon and Levi cruel and bloody, Judah adulterous; Joseph one of the youngest, onely eminent for sanctity among them all. If the priviledges of nature had been any thing worth, the first-born of the sons of men, had not been a Reprobate; but God will have his grace known to be free: he neither sees nor loves as man doth, because he finds a lovely object; but he of his own free bounty makes a person lovely, and then loves him: with God, the first are often the last, and the last, first. When the Lots were given forth for the chusing of an Apostle, though Joseph called Barsabas, who was sirnamed Justus, was the Brother or near Kinsman of Christ, Ut intelligamus cum qui humano judicio praefertur esse inferiorem apud Deum. Lorin. c. 1. yet the Lot fell upon Matthias. Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many Noble are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise; and weak things of the world, to confound the things that are mighty, &c. 1 Cor. 1.27. Thou hast hid these things (saith Christ to his Father) from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes; for so it seemed good in thy sight. How groundlesly do any conclude that God loves them, from worldly preheminences!

Tis not any gift without us, but something of peculiar grace wrought within us, that can evidence the favour of God toward us: not the first born, but the new born; not the eldest, but the holiest, that may say, I know Lord that thou lovest me. To conclude, Its the duty of those, who have received more favour from God then others, as to acknowledge that God hath done more for them, then for others; so that it was only his meer love, that he did not more for others then them; and to cry up free grace with heart, tongue, pen, life.

2. Though grace may be repaired in our selves, Observ. 2 yet is sin propagated to ours. The clearest grain being sown, sends forth that chaff from which it was fanned. Cain was too like his father in that, wherein both were unlike God. Adam might see his own sinful nature in Cain, not that grace whereby he had laid hold upon the promised seed; nor the fruit of his care in training up his Children in Religion. Before Adam fell, holiness was natural, and sin would have been adventitious; but now since the fall, sin was natural, and holiness adventitious. The corruption of nature, is that Legacy which Adam leaves to every one of his sons: grace is not native, but donative; not by generation, but Regeneration.

After sin, corrupt, mortal Adam, begets a corrupt mortal Cain; for although Adam through the grace of God were renewed by faith and repentance, yet his son naturally begotten of him, was such as his father became by sin. That which is born (saith Christ John 3.6.) of the flesh, is flesh: where the Begetter, and Bearer, Psalm 14.3. Rom. 3.12 Eph. 2.2, 3. are a lump of corruption, the birth is no whit better. When God look’d down upon Adams sons, they were all corrupt, not one who in himself was of a more pure refined condition, or free from a depravedness, and disorder of the whole man. Who can bring a clean thing out of filthiness? Adam begets a son in his own likeness, Gen. 5.3. That which is required to conveying Original sin, is, that a man by true generation do descend from Adam. God at the first set Adam as a publick person, representing the person of all mankind, with this condition, that if he retain’d his integrity, the blessing of multiplication once given, should be sanctified to him for the bringing forth of a Posterity, righteous, and holy like himself; but if he fell away from his obedience, that the blessing should be turned into a curse, and should be a means of multiplying a corrupt and sinful generation. He, who conveyed his nature to his Posterity, conveyed also the pollution thereof. In the first man the person corrupted the nature; in every other man, nature corrupts the person: whosoever is a man by the propagation of Adams nature, is also a sinner by the derivation of Adams corruption. Before we can partake of renovation by grace, we must know our pollution by nature: pride caus’d, and humility should sollow our degenerate estate: the ancient House, the many Descents, the Coat, the Crest of a born Leaper, should not make him proud: happy we, if the corruption derived from the first, drive us to the second Adam: this latter also hath a posterity who bear his Image. The Church comes out of Christs side, in the sleep of his death: Let us labour to be ingrafted into him, to draw from him a Spiritual life, 1 Cor. 15.49. Rom. 5.12, 14 to bear the image of the heavenly, as we have born that of the earthly. Whatsoever the first Adam brought into the world by sin, the second carries out by righteousness. In a word, How due, and sutable a recompence is it for every Parent, to labour to bring their Children into a state of grace by education, whom they have made sinners by propagation!

3. Our expectations in earthly blessings, Observ. 3. often disappoint us. Eve names her eldest son, Cain, a possession, Fallitur auguri• spes bona saept su•. and her second son, Abel, which signifieth vain or unprofitable: she shew’d (as some think) hereby the preposterousness of her affection, and that she esteemed most of the worst: Her Cain (she was not herein unlike carnal Parents among us) was her jewel; her Abel was vain and unprofitable in her thoughts: She who mistook (saith one) the fruit of the Garden, mistook also the fruit of her own Body; her hope deceived her in both. God often crosseth us in those comforts, from which we look for most contentment. He whom Eve called a possession, destroyes the best part of her possession. Absolom, call’d the fathers peace, proved his greatest disturber. If thou makest any earthly enjoyment thy possession, God may make it thy murderer; and that thy trouble, which thou expectest, should be thy rest. If the Lord loves us, he will not suffer us to love any thing more then himself; and its our wisdom, to set our hearts upon nothing, but that which is above the reach of danger and disappointment; and to love nothing much, but what we cannot love excessively.

4. Its the duty of Parents, to be thankful (with Eve) for their children. Children are an heritage of the Lord, Observ. 4. Clavis coeli, sepulchri, cordis, & matricis in manu Dei. and the fruit of the womb is his reward, Psalm 127.3. God will be known to have the Prerogative of opening the heavens, the grave, the heart, and the womb. These are the children (saith Jacob) which God hath given me. Its vile ingratitude to murmur at the numerousness of our offspring; to rejoice when our Cattel multiply, and repine when our children increase: and to despise a Present of Gods preparing and sending, so curious a piece of workmanship, Psal. 139.15. wrought with that incomparable and stupendious Artifice in the lower parts of the earth. Its Heathenish distrustfulness to fear that he who hath provided children for us, will not provide necessaries for them. He who hath given mouths, wil give bread, and often provides better for the poor children, then for the repining parents. The Israelites in the wilderness who with sinful solicitousness, cryed out, that their little ones should be starved for want of food, were themselves destroyed in the wilderness for want of faith, their children mean while being reserved for Canaan. Numb. 14.31 Nor yet is it enough to take our children cheerfully at the hand of God, but to dedicate them to him thankfully, and to part with them contentedly. Men are not born into the world only that the world should not be empty, but that the Church should be increased, and God more served. Prov. 3.9. Gen. 18.19. If we ought to honour God with our dead, much more with our living substance, and to take care that a generation may serve the Lord when we are gone; that as we live (as it were) after our deaths in the persons, so Gods glory may live in the services of our children. Adam instructed his sons, both in the works of their Calling, and in the Worship of God. And for parting with our children; he who gave, or rather lent, or rather put them to nurse to us, may peaceably be permitted to require them again when he pleaseth; and he should never lose a friend of any of us, for calling for his own.

5. Observ. 5. Cains please not God in the performance of holy services. Prov. 28.9. Isai. 1.11, 12, 13, 14. To Cain and his Offering God had not respect. He was in his way of sin, even when he was sacrificing. The Prayer of the wicked is an abomination: God delights not in their services; he demands, Amos 5.21. Isai. 66.3. Who hath required them? he cannot away with them, his soul hates them; they are a trouble to him; he is weary of them, despiseth them; he will not accept, nor smell their Offerings; He that killeth an Ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a Lamb, as if he cut off a dogs neck; he that offereth an Oblation, as if he offered swines blood; he that burneth Incense, as if he blessed an Idol. The wicked perform holy services from an unholy heart. The Spicing and Embalming of a dead Carcass, can put no beauty or value upon it; They who are in the flesh, cannot please God: Rom. 8.8. Matth. 7.18 All the fruit of an evil tree, is evil fruit. The works of natural men, want an holy principle, the Spirit of Christ, the Law of the Spirit of Life. A beast cannot act the things of reason; nor can a man, unless sanctified by the Spirit of God, do any good work. Till a man be ingrafted into Christ, and partake of his fatness, he is but a wild Olive. All the works of unregenerate men, are sin as they come from them: Without the Holy Spirit there is no holiness. Zacheus was too low of himsef to see Jesus, he was fain to go up into a tree: We are too short to reach to any good work; ‘tis above our reach til the Spirit of God lift us up. All the services of a natural man, are but the works of nature. He doth every Spiritual work carnally. John 15.4. Without me (saith Christ) ye can do nothing. All the works of a Christless person, are like the children of a woman never marryed, spurious and illegitimate; they are not done through a power received from Christ.

Wicked men perform no duty to a right end. Phil. 1.11. Their fruits are not fruits to God, Rom. 7.4. As they are not from him, so neither for him. He is neither their principle, nor their end. Zech. 7.5. Vain-glory is the worm that breeds in the best fruit of the wicked. The flame of Jehu’s Zeal was but Kitchin fire, and therefore his Reformation but Murder in the sight of God, Hos. 1.4. The Godly (saith a Learned man) in doing good works, are like the Silk-worm, which hides her self, and is all covered over while she works, within the curious Silk which she works. Her Motto, Operitur dum operatur. At the day of Judgment they know not the good works which they did.

The wickeds outward acts of obedience, are works of disobedience: He doth not what he doth, because God enjoynes it, Cum intuitu voluntatis Divinae. His Sanctification (such as it is) is not endeavoured like that 1 Thes. 4.3. This is the will of God (saith the Apostle) your Sanctification. He proves not what is the good and acceptable will of God, Rom. 12.2. One may do a good work in obedience to his Lusts, and that which God bids him do, because his lust bids him do it. Where there is no Law, there is no transgression; and where no respect to the Law, no obedience.

The best performances of the wicked, are but the gifts of enemies, proceeding not from Love, which is the sawce of every service (making it delightful both to the servant and the Master) and the principle of the Saints obedience. Gal. 5.6. By nature we are enemies, doing our works, not with the affection of a child, but out of bondage. None have been greater enemies to Christ, and his Servants and Service, then many who have been most exact in outside performances; as Paul, who in the midst of his Zeal was a Persecuter.

Lastly, The wicked neither have the guilt of sin taken away from their persons, by the merit of Christ, nor the pollution of it, from their services, by the Intercession of Christ. Ephes. 2 8. Till faith have fastned us to Christ, neither persons nor performances can be acceptable. Good works go not before, but follow Justification. We are not justified by doing good works, but being justified we then do good. Abels person was accepted before his Sacrifice. Works are rather justified by the person of a man, then his person by the works. And its a vain thing to look for Justification from that which thou must first justifie. A man till justified, is a Leper, and every thing he toucheth he maketh unclean to himself. As a smal thing which the righteous hath, is better then the great possessions; so a smal thing that the righteous doth, is better then the greatest performances of the wicked. Till a man takes Christ by faith, his Sacrifices have no golden Censer to perfume them, no Altar to sanctifie them, nothing but his own evil heart to consecrate them upon: Upon which considerations, though a wicked man may do what is good morally in the sight of men, by way of example, or by way Edification to others, &c. yet not Divinely in relation to Religion, or in order to God, so as to please him. And though God sometimes be pleased to reward the works of wicked men, yet do not those works please him. The works of Nebuchadnezzar, Jehu, Ahab, &c. he did (I confess) reward temporally; but alas, it was but temporally. They give him services which please not him, and he Benefits which profit not them. They give him services, but not with their heart; and he them blessings, but not with his heart: and that little he bestowes upon them is not to recompence hypocritical, but to encourage sincere obedience. on Jer. 35.19. God often (as Calvin saith) rewarding the shadow, to shew how the substance of vertue would please him. Wicked men are hence, 1. Cautioned, not to leave holy duties undone. The certainty of their sinning in performing them, must not, Simon Magus was commanded to pray, Acts 8.22 cannot abrogate the Law of God, which enjoynes them. Nor is our duty impaired with our power to serve the Lord. When a thing done is evil, not in its substance, and because it is done, but because of our irregular manner of performing of it, we ought still to do it, notwithstanding the defects cleaving to it. 2 They should likewise hereby be made willing to go out of themselves to Jesus Christ for his spirit and merit. Till Paul saw all that he could do to be but dung and dogs meat, he never could duly esteem the excellency of the knowledg of Christ. Till we account our owne righteousness to be but filthy rags, we shall never esteeme Christs to be a beautiful robe.

6. Observ. 6. Envy is a pernicious, and yet a groundless and foolish wickedness. It was the entrance of Cains way, and the in-let of his murder. It’s a sin that breaks both Tables at once; the first by discontent with God, the latter by injuriousness to man. Who is able to stand before Envy? Cant. 8 6. Calamitas sine remedio est, odis se foelicem. Cypr. lib. de Zelo & Livore Adhuc divitem malicia non descrit, quem jam possidet poena, qui non se ad Lazarum duci postulat, sed ad se Lazarum •ult deduci. Chrysel. Ser. 122. It’s (as jealousie) cruel as the grave: it’s a Calamity without a Remedy. Some understand that request of the rich Glutton, that Lazarus might be sent to him with water to cool his tongue, to proceed from Envy, he desiring rather that Lazarus should be tormented with him, then himself eased by Lazarus; and he craving not that he should be carryed to Lazarus, but that Lazarus should be sent to him. It was the cruelty of Envy that sold innocent Joseph, and that sought the destruction of good David: From Envy it was that the Divel overthrew our first Parents; and by it he puts Cain upon killing his innocent Brother, and the Jewes upon murdering the holyest person in the world. Plainly also doth this Envy of Cain discover the groundlesness of this sin. The fault of Abel was not that he had hurt Cain, Nusquiam melius invidos torqucre poteritis, quàm virtutibus & gloriae serviendo. Aug. Ser. 18. ad frat. in Erem. but that God accepted Abel. Truly is Envy therefore said to be worse then Covetousness: The Covetous is only unwilling to distribute his own goods, but he loves to see others communicate theirs; but the Envious neither will do good himself, nor is willing that others should do so: he is angry that God is so bountiful. Its worse then hatred and anger; for these in desiring the hurt of another, have their rise from the Offence which is offered by him; but Envy hath its rise meerly from its own malignity. Risus abest omnis nisi quem fecere dolores; Successus hominum, carpítque et carpitur una. Suppliciúmque suum est.— And in some respect it’s the worst of all sins; for when the Divel tempts to them, he draws men by the bait of some delight; but the Envious he catcheth without a bait; for Envy is made up of bitterness and vexation. Other mens welfare is the envious mans wound. To him the Vine brings forth Thorns, and the Fig-tree, Thistles. De melioratione deteriorantur, sola miseria invidiâ caret. Nothing but misery pleaseth him, nor is any thing but misery spared by him. Every smile of another, fetcheth a sigh from him. To him bitter things are sweet, and sweet bitter. And whereas the enjoyment of good is unpleasant without a companion, Nuliius rei possessio jucunda sine socio. Senec. One seeing an envious man very sad, said, I know not whether this man hath received some hurt, or another some good. the Envious had rather want any good then that another should share with him. A certain Prince (they say) promised an Envious and a Covetous man, that he would give them whatsoever they desired of him, upon this condition, that he who ask’d last should have twice so much as he who ask’d first: when both were unwilling therefore to ask first, the Prince commands the Envious man to ask in the first place, and his request was, that one of his own eyes might be put out, that so both the other mans eyes might be put out also. Superbia mihi aufert-Deum; invidia proximum, ira meipsum. Hug. de S. Vict. August. in loc. Non illos malos faciendo, sed istis bona quibus mali facillimè pessent invidere, largiendo, incitasse dicitur ad odium. How contrary is Envy to Charity! which without my labour makes all the happiness of another mine own: Hence Envy is said to take away from every man his Neighbour. Its said, Psal. 105.25 that God turned the heart of the Egyptians to hate his people: which God did (as Augustin interprets it) not by making the Egyptians evil, but by bestowing upon the Israelites those good things for which the wicked were ready to envy them.

To conclude, envy is its own punishment; a saw, a scourge, not so much to him upon whom it is set, as to him in whom it is. It’s a moth which breeds in us, and corrupts us. ‘Tis a natural sin, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy. Saints have been overtaken with it; Peter, Joh. 21.20, 21. Joshuah, Numb. 11.29. Qui faucibus invidiae carere desiderat, illam haereditatem appetat, quam numerus possidentium non angustat. Greg. Let us labour against it. To help us herein, let us love such good things which one, yea many may have, without the detriment of others; which may be enjoyed by, & be distributed to every one without diminution: and withal, beat down the love of our selves, and the apprehension of our own Excellency. Could we understand our owne baseness and unworthiness, we should not envy those who are above us, but wonder that any should be below us.

7 There is no measuring of Gods love by outward events. Observ. 7. Wicked Cain stands over bleeding Abel, whose Sacrifice was first accepted, and now himself sacrificed. Death was denounced as a curse for sin, yet behold it first lights upon a Saint. No man knows love or hatred by any thing which befals the outward man We cannot read or understand Gods heart by any thing he dispenseth outwardly with his hand. Eccles. 9.1. He oft suffers an Abel to be killed, in love, and a Cain to survive, in hatred. Prosperity and impunity often slay the sinner, when slaying and death shall benefit the Saint. Worldly enjoyments are given us, that we by them should testifie our love to God; not by them to got assurance of Gods love to us. Oh how slender an evidence of heaven, is that with which, so ordinarily men go to hel! Thou canst only understand that the heart of God is set upon thee, by finding that thine is set upon him. The least dram of Grace is an earnest of heaven. The greatest sum of outward enjoyments amounts not to the least part of payment, or pledg of happiness.

8. Observ. 8. They who are corrupt in their judgment, go in the way of cruelty. Not to intimate what some have said of cruel Cain, that he was the first Heretick; sure I am, he was after the Divel, the first Murderer; and these Seducers were as full of hatred, as they were of Error; They went in the way of Cain. They were cruel to souls, which by their Errors they poisoned and destroyed: cruel to the names and dignities of their Superiors, of whom they speak evil. They were (as the Apostle speaks afterward) ἄγρια κύματα, fierce and raging waves, ver. 13 such as uttered hard speeches, ver. 15. against the Godly, especially Ministers, who opposed them in their way of sin. Not to speak of the cruelty of Idolaters recorded in the Old Testament, as of Pharaoh, Haman, Ahab, Jezabel, Manasseh (not yet converted,) Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus; nor of the Heathenish Emperors, within the first 300 years after Christ (by which Tyrants the Apostles suffered violent death, and whosoever made profession of their Doctrine were cruelly murdered) of Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Antonius Verus, Hadrian, who crucified Ten thousand Christians in one Mount; of the last of the Ten Persecutions, wherein, in the space of one Month, were slain seventeen thousand Martyrs. I say, to pass by these, What lively Expositions upon this Text, and the cruelty of Cain, have the bloody actions of those been, who would have been counted of the Church, nay, the only Church, and friends, and brethren to the members thereof, as Cain was brother to Abel!

I might here relate what Ecclesiastical History mentions concerning the cruelty of the Arian Hereticks, Theod. l. 1. c. 29. their banishing and false accusing of Meletius and Eustatius Bishops of Antioch, and Athanasius of Alexandria: the latter of whom hardly escaped with his life; l. 5. c. 21. Socrat. l. 2. c. 7.16 for the cruel Arians, finding that they could not destroy him by false witness, purposed by violence to tear him in pieces: the banishing and desposing Paulus from Constantinople, by the Arrian Emperor Constantius: and at last, Socrat. l. 4. c. 22 Theod. l. 4. c. 21. Sozom. l 6. c. 19 Vid. Centur. Magd. p. 79. Cent 4. 〈Greek〉 Epist. ad Solit. the cruel murdering of him by the bloody Arians: not to mention with these, the vast number of examples of Arian cruelty, recorded in Ecclesiastical History; Socrates, Theodoret, Sozomen, &c. consent in this, that the Arians banish’d, imprison’d, cruelly whip’d, mock’d, tore with nails, burnt, and exercised the cruellest punishments against the Orthodox; and that they were more cruel against them then the Heathens who Tyranniz’d in those times. Athanasius saith, The inhumanity of the Arians exceeded all expression.

I might likewise mention what Augustin in sundry Epistles relates of the Cain-like cruelty of the Donatists of his time, who pretended to so much Purity, as that they held, that the Church was no where in the world to be found, Epist 50. Quis non Dominus servum suum timere compulsus est: Quis quem libet poterat exigere debitorem! Quorundam oculi extincti sunt. Cujusdam Episcopi manus & lingua praecisa est; taceo crudelissimas coedes. Epist. 68. Conclericos nostros plagis immanissimis quassaverunt. Quendam immaniter coesum, & gurgite coenoso volutatum. &c. Nos fustibus quassant ferróque concidunt. In oculos extinguendos, calcem mixto accto incredibili excogitatione sceseris mittunt Epist. 166.159. Lacerati sunt viri, tractae sunt Matronae, Infantes necati, abacti sunt partus, nulli licuit securum esse in possessionibus suis. Optat. cont. Parl. l. 23. but in that corner of Affrick, wherein themselves dwelt. In his fiftieth Epistle hee tells us, that the Masters stood in fear of their servants that were gone over to the Donatists; that no man durst demand the money which his Debtors owed him, for fear of clubs and fire; the houses of any that offended them, were burnt or pulled down; and they pulled out the eyes of the Ministers, and put them out with Chalk and Vinegar, cut off their hands, pulled out their tougues, cruelly whipt and slew them; and then tumbled them in the mud, and then carryed them about afterward in derision. And though these Sectaries pleaded frequently for toleration and liberty of conscience, yet when under Julian the Apostate, they had gotten power, Who can declare (saith Augustin) what slaughter they made of the Orthodox? All Affrica was filled with blood and desolation; men were rent, Matrons drag’d, Infants slaughtered, women with child miscarryed, none were secure in their houses.

But if ever the spirit of Cain breathed in any since his time, or if ever any wrote after Cains copy in letters of blood, certainly they have been those of the Papacy: how deservedly may their Head and Father the Pope be called a Cain in chief; and is he called the Son of Perdition! as being not only appointed to perdition, but the Author of Perdition and destruction. How evidently is his Antichristian cruelty set forth by being Drunk with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus! Rev. 17.6. Its said by some that There is no day in the year which might not be dedicated to an hundred several Martyrs, whose blood hath been shed by the Papal power. 1. Papal cruelty spareth not, pitieth not any degrees, sex, order, age, condition of men opposing their Religion. Act. & Mon. p. 814. 751 874 710 766 Alphonsus Diazius (another Cain) barbarously killed his own brother John Diazius because he was a Protestant. With what inhumane cruelty have Protestants been compelled to discover for slaughter, their dearest relations, parents, children, brethren, wives, to carry faggots to burn their godly and painful Pastors! and (which might surpass belief among Heathens) children have been constrained to set fire to their own fathers. And Thuanus reports, That a certain woman, having fled to a secret place to shun the rage of her enemies, being drawn out of it by them, was in the sight of her husband shamefully defiled, and then was forced by some of them who ordered her hand, to give her husband his deaths wound with a drawne sword. Horrid was that spectacle, of the child which sprang out of the womb of a woman, burnt at Gernsey, which being saved out of the fire, was by the bloody Executioner cast in again, p. 1864. 1879 because it was a young Heretick. A child of eight years old, was by them scourged to death for Religion, and a boy under twelve years condemned for the six Articles: yea, Popish cruelty forbears not either to bury the quick, p. 816. (as one Marion was condemned to be buryed alive) or to unbury the dead, by violating of their graves, digging out the bodies and burning them; thus they dealt with the bodies of Bucer, Fagius, Wickliff, &c. How frequently hath Papal power made Kings and Princes Wolves and Tygers one against another! and sent forth Cut-throats and Villains with pardons, to stab and poison the Kings and Potentates of the earth! their lives by any Art (they hold) may be taken away, if the Pope hold them excommunicate. Emanuel Sa affirms it lawful for one to kil a King, Latâ sententiâ quisque potest fieri executor. In Aphor. de Rege & Regis Instit. l. 1. c. 6. if the Pope have sentenced him to death, though he be his lawful Prince. But Mariana gives direction how it may be done with the best convenience; He thinks Poison to be the best way; but yet for the more secrecy, Quod si evaserint, instar magnorum Heroum in omni vita suscipiendi: si vero secus accidat, gratam hominibus, gratam superis hostiam cadere, nobili conatu ad omnem posteritatis memoriam illustratos judicamus. Marian. l. 1. de reg. c. 7. that it be cast upon the Saddles, Garments, Chaires of the Prince. And he further tells us, that if they who kill such Kings shall escape, they ought to be looked upon, and received as long as they live, as great and noble Worthies; but if it fall out otherwise, that they lose their lives in the undertaking, that then they are a sweet smelling Sacrifice to God and man, and that their names shall be illustrious to all posterity.

This book of Mariana was approved by the gravest and learnedst of the Jesuites Order, and so with a special Commission from Claudius Aquaviva their General, with their approbations, and other solemn priviledges, it was printed at Toledo and Mentz, and lastly, inserted into the Catalogues of the books of their Order. Its not lawful (saith Bellarmine) for Christians to tolerate an Heretical King, Nonlicet Christianis tolerare regem haereticum, si conetur pertrahere subditos ad suam haresim. Bellar. l. 5. de Rom. Pont. c. 7. Potestas spiritualis debet coercere temporalem omni modo & viâ. Id. l. 5. c. 6 if he labors to draw his subjects to his Heresie; and (saith he) its lawful for the Spiritual power to restrain the Temporal by all means and wayes; and when the Pope hath passed sentence upon a King, then after this publick sentence, they generally affirm it lawful for any to kill a King. So Bellarmine, Gregory de Valentia, Tolet, Suarez, Molina, Lessius, &c.

Nor 2 doth Popish cruelty less discover it self in the numbers, then in the ranks and degrees of those whom they destroy for Religion. These Popish Cains destroy multitudes of Abels. Infamous is the cruelty of that savage Minerius the Popes Champion, in his bloody Enterprise against the Merindolians; he destroy’d twenty and two Townes, and murdered the Inhabitants, whether they resisted or not; and when the men of Merindol flying from his Army, left behind them their tender wives and children, this Popish blood-hound practiced all manner of Villany and Cruelty upon them. The Town of Cabriers, upon condition that he would use no violence against them, was yeilded into his hands, but he falsified his promise, hewing thirty men in pieces in one place; putting forty feeble women, some with child, into a barn full of straw, caused it to be set on fire at the four corners, and such who got out, he caused to be cut in pieces. In this one Town, were thus mercilesly murdered, above a thousand Protestants. To these I might add, the cruel murdering of about eight hundred Protestants in two Townes in Calabria, fourscore whereof had their throats cut one by one, white, way to the Church, Digr. 50. yet so as that every one was left but half dead by the Excutioner: And the French Massacre, wherein in thirty dayes were thirty thousand slaine; Farnesius vowed to ride his horse to the saddle in the blood of Lutherans. not to speak of that incredible effusion of blood which the Spaniards have made among the poor Indians, under pretence of converting them to the faith; they having in the space of forty years slaine Seven and thirty millions of people; famishing in three Months seven thousand children; at one time massacring two thousand Gentlemen; and murdering with such cruelty, that to avoid it, poor men would hang themselves, with their wives and children. Lastly, and principally, this bloudy disposition of Cain discovers it self in the cruel and savage manner of murdering. Minerius (forementioned) cut off the paps of the poor mothers of sucking children, and the children looking for suck from their dead mothers, were starved to death. It hath been their practice to hold men in death so long as they could, Moriatur, ut sentiat se mori. inflicting (as it were) a thousand deaths in one, and making them so to dye, as to perceive themselves to die. Acts Monum. p. 869 805 860 What should I speak of their burning men by piece-meal, and that with Brimstone, pitch, and tar, &c. with barrels of pitch and tar dropping upon their heads? Joannes de Roma, a Monk, having got a commission to examine the Lutherans, used this torment to force them to accuse themselves; He filled boots with boyling grease, and put them upon the legs of those whom he suspected; and tying them backward to a form with their legs hanging down over a soft fire, he examined them.