NO Sooner does a man step out of Gods high-way into the by-paths of wickedness, but he is travelling in the ready road to misery. Sin and punishment like Hypocrates his twins goe hand in hand together; so that as soon as that unprofitable work of wicked­ness is done, the wages of death is ready to be payd it; for as mercy will permit no good deed to go unrewarded, so justice will let no bad deed go unpunish't: And if you trace these bitter streams, you will find their fountain to be but a little above my text; in which you h [...]ve [Page 2] the Judge of heaven and earth managing a legal [...]ss against our first parents for the first breach of his Law, of which they were newly guilty; and that he who is the rule of all justice and equity, might appear most perfect in it him­self, before he sentences the Delinquents he summons them before him to plead to that Inditement which their own consciences had found against them, which is summed up in my Text: in which I might observe; 1. The Judge, the Lord. 2. The prisoner, Adam. 3. His Summons, he was call'd, as it were, to the bar, and by his inditement, where art thou? i. e. in what condition, whether guilty or not? But that my discourse may be the more methodical, I shall ra­ther divide the whole into two parts:

I. Magna vocantis benignitas, the great benignity of the party calling, which appears if you look upon the words in these six senses, of which they are easily capable; viz. As they are either.

• 1. Verba Judicis reum citantis: the words of a Judge to his arraigned prisoner.
• 2. Verba patris filium increpantis: the increpation of a father chiding his son.
• 3. Verba medici conf [...]ssionem morbi extorquere conantis: the words of a Physician, inquiring into the condition of his patient.
• 4. Verba creatoris, creaturae suae sortem commiserantis: the words of a Creator commiserating the condition of his lapsed creature▪
• 5. Verba Prophetae, veritatem conditionis suae indicantis: the prophetical words of the God of truth, declaring to Adam the truth of his condition.
• 6. Verba monitoris, culpam suam in memoriam reducentis: the words of a monitor, putting the offender in mind of his offence.

II. Magna vocati malignitas: the great malignity of the party called: viz. of Adam, who because he offended first, must first be handled.

Now his offence was the eating of the forbidden fruit, which was the cause of his fall from that state of integrity in [Page 3] which God had created him. But perhaps you'l desire that the Apostle Saint Paul may be admitted to plead for him, and that I would take his words into consideration, 1 Tim. 2 14. Adam was not seduced, but the Woman being seduced was in the transgression: and if so, how coms it then to pass that he is charg'd here with delinquency in my text, and that he himself confesses, ver. 12. That the woman gave him of the tree, and he did eat.

For the better reconciliation of which two texts (which are not so unlike, but that they may both be father'd upon the God of truth) consider,

1. That Adam was not seduc'd as was the woman, imme­diately, nor strictly and externally by the fraud and discourse of the Serpent; nor before (as he was created) but after her, and by her.

2. The Apostle does not treat so much of the seduction it self, as of the manner and order of it; so that the wmman who was created last, ver. 13. (saies hee) was seduced first, ver. 14 And this puts us in mind to consider, why it then is, that God laies this charge to him particularly by name, and not rather to her; for he does not say Eve, but Adam w [...]e [...]e art thou? which certainly was because hee was her Husband, and so consequently her head, and her superior: from whence we may deduce these two conclusions: viz.

1. That the quantity of the offence is to be measured (amongst other circumstances) from the quality of the offen­dor.

2. That a superior shall be called to an account not only for his own, but likewise for the offences of those that are under him.

And first, of the former of the two: viz.

That the quantity of the offence, is to be measured (a­mongst o [...]her circumstances) from the quality of the offender: for though Eve had sinned first, yet Adam is summon'd first, though she had first offended, yet was he first blamed, because he was her superior and so should not have followed her, especially when she did not follow the commands of her God.

The greatness of the man is so far from lesning, [...] it augments the greatness of his offence. The higher God has plac'd them, the greater is their fall, and so will their pu­nishment be, for Gods lawes are not like Cobwebs which on­ly catch the lesser flyes; but amongst a multitude of delin­quents, he first takes care to cull out the fattest, and sacrifice them to his justice. Laertius tells us of Diogene, that he complained, that the greater thieves in his time did ordina­rily punish the lesser, and yet secure themselves, that secret thieves condemned open robbers; but when God comes to sit in judgment, he will summon the biggest to the bar first, and make them give an exact account of their misdemeanors, that so their punishment may be as exemplary as their trans­gressions, and that they who went before others in sin, might likewise go before them in suffering.

This then condemns all such corrupt magistrates, who like fishing-rods stand ind [...]fferently straite, when a small fish is to be taken up, but bow and yeild when some grea­ter one is to be hanged and drawn up; not considering that Gods Vicegerents should be like himself, who is not [...], an accepter of persons, but one who will set the sad­dle Acts 10. 34. upon the right horse, punish the rich as well as the poor, the greatest as well as the meanest men.

Examples work more upon most men, then precepts, who read lives more then books; and therefore if they whose carriage should be as a looking-glass for others to dress their lives by, shall represent false things to them, God will quick­ly break them, that others may no longer be the worse for them: If they who should not be a law to others, become a stumbling-block, God will in mercy to others take care to remove them out of the way.

Gods anger is hightned with mens ingratitude, and therefore when they whom he has placed a degree above others, whe­ther in knowledg or dignity shall fall short of others in the practise of godliness, their knowledg being without obedience, and their honour without holiness, will but serve to damn them the more profoundly. In how sad a condition are these men who presuming upon such like priviledges have so grosly [Page 5] abused Gods love, as to side with the first against the se­cond Table of the Decalogue, boasting of their godliness, and yet overlooking the punctilio's of upright dealing, whereas godliness and moral honesty cease to be, by being parted. Cer­tainly those that tread in that path mistake the way to hea­ven; for the business of our salvation does not consist in the keeping of Sabbaths and fasts, in repetition of long pray­ers, in receiving of the monthly Sacrament; I doubt many Hypocrites have done all these, and yet are damned into the bargain; he that does not go on farther, to the ob­servation of the second Table, must sit down on this side heaven: The performance of some part of his duty will never apologize for the neglect of the other, his keeping of fasts will never absolve him from breach of oaths. His frequenting of Sermons will never make sacriledg a ver­tue; his long prayers will fall short of acquitting him from oppression; nor will his configuring to a form of Godliness ever make amends for his cheatings; his parts, places, privi­ledges and preserments, if not accompanied with righteous­ness to his neighbours as well as holiness to his God, will [...]e as so many milstones about his neck to sink him the deeper into the bottomless pit of destruction. If the magistrate [...]hare in the peoples sins, the husband in his wifes, or the ma­ster in his families, they shall likewise be the copartners with [...]hem in their sufferings, and have the precedence then too as well as at other times. Though Adam sinned after, yet [...]as he called to an account before Eve.

And this calls upon me to insist on the second propositi­on, viz.

That a superior offending shall be called to an account, not only for his own, but likewise for the offences of those that are under him.

Because when he is with them in any villany; they do of­fend (as they think) by prescription, and so by prompting, or participating with them, he becomes guilty of their crimes.

Alas! they think themselves priviledged to sin with such Authors, as if the conscienciousness of their duty were unman­nerly [Page 6] (if not saucie) when it gave check-mate to the crimes of their Superiors.

A Magistrate is as it were the Physician of his Subjects, upon whose prescriptions their lives and safeties do depend; if therefore he either administer things that are prejudicial to them, or by his ill example or silence seem to countenance them, their blood may justly be required at his hands: The Physician may easily be guilty of his Patients miscarriage, and if his skill be not answerable to his profession, the more practice he has, the more unhappiness: In him 'tis a greater fault to be accessory to a man's death, than in any other, be­cause it is a breach of trust.

Ʋt in corporibus, sic in imperio, gravissimus est morbus qui Plin. à capite diffunditur: As in the body natural, so likewise in the Politick, those diseases are most dangerous which seize first upon the Head. Superior sibi indulgens peracerbus est in subditos: A Magistrate does not onely hurt himself, but his subjects by his sins; and therefore 'tis but reason that hee who multiplies other mens sufferings, should likewise himself be beaten with many stripes.

When the Judges know not God who plac'd them in au­tority, and understand not his Law, which should be a lant­horn to their feet, and a light to their paths; when they will neither learn what is their office from others, nor yet under­stand it of themselves; then all the foundations of the earth are Psal. 82. 5. out of course (saies David;) all fundamental Laws, all com­mendable customs, all good orders (which are the very basis and foundation of humane societies) are broken: And therefore when they who should establish others, are them­selvs unsetled; when they that like Atlas's should bear up others, shall stoop of themselves, the manifold inconvenien­ces that follow their offence will cry aloud to the offended justice of heaven, to make them drink deep of the vials of his vengeance.

Constantia praecepti est exemplum praecipîentis, nutat­mandatum quod non stabilitur superioris, moribus: The con­firmation of a precept is the example of him that commands it; and the people look upon that Law as null'd and abro­gated [Page 7] which is not to be read in the lives of them who should inforce it, so that their sins being both vicious and scandalous, must needs have a double punishment.

Scarlet crimes are of a double dye, and therefore God will assuredly take the more notice of them. If you whom God has plac'd higher then others, shall offend him more highly then others, how can you flatter your selves with the least hopes of escaping his fury? The fall of Lucifer was the more impardonable, because it was a fall from heaven. Adams sin was the more inexcusable, because 'twas commit­ted by him the then Monarch of this lower world. If Moses the Prince of God's peoplesin, how can be expect to enter into the promised land? If Aaron the Priest (whose life and mouth should speak the same Creed) offend, Gods wrath must needs be incens'd against him. Tantò majus peccatum es­se cognoscitur, quantò major qui peccat habetur. Needs must it grieve our Saviour to be wounded in the house of his friends, and trouble him much to consider, that one of his own A­postles should give the blow. That the brutish Gadarens should esteem their swine above their Saviour is no great wonder; but that they who a [...]e in covenant with him should rather part with him that their sins, is a prodigie; and therefore when they whom he has married to himself in ever­lasting kindness, shall run a whoring after their own inventi­ons, a double punishment will certainly overtake them, and that for a double reason:

1. Because they sin against a greater measure of knowledg than other men: Ignorance may sometimes excuse in part, but knowledge does alwaies aggravate a crime. Weakness cannot mitigate more, than does wilfulness highten an of­fence. They therefore that know their masters will, and do it not: they that have graces, and imploy them not; they that have talents, and improve them not; they that see the right way, and yet will not walk in it, they deserve not more pity, but more punishment than others.

2. Because they sin against a greater measure of mercies than other men, and that speaks their unthankfulness. When God had done so much, that he could not do more for his [Page 8] Vineyard, then certainly for it to bring forth wild grapes, [...] serv'd a curse. To whom much is given, of him will much [...] expected; and to whom much is forgiven, of him will much be required. Where God sowes benefits he expects to reap gratitude, (that's all the return we can make him for his mercies;) and therefore when he misses that obedience which in duty and gratitude we ought to have yielded him, no won­der if he pay us the wages which are due to such disobedient and ingrateful servants as we are. If men abuse the digni­ties and places with which God has intrusted them, to the scandal and prejudice of those that are under them, their punishment shal quickly let them know there is a God above them, who will summon them to give an account of their Stewardship. The Inferiour may first break the ice in sin­ning, but yet if the Superiour follow him, he shall have no other priviledge but to be punisht before him. Eve first tasted of the forbidden fruit, but Adam must first taste of the bitter consequences of it; for behold the great Judge of heaven and earth calls him to the Bar to answer for both; Adam, where art thou?

Applic. The Application of this Doctrine should be in an Use of Caution. Is it so, that a Superiour offending must be call'd to an account not onely for his own, but likewise for the of­fences of those that are under him? then Cavete quid facitis, Take heed what ye do, (remembring that that wit is al­waies better cheap, which is purchased with the fight of other mens punishments, than with the feeling of your own) the higher is your place, the greater will be your fall; and the greater your talents are, the more will you suffer for the mis-imploiment of them. If you who should be like Constan­tine and Theodosius, Scuta Christianorum, the bucklers of those Christian people that are committed to your charge, shall butcher them, in betraying their liberties and persons to the violence and malice of their enemies; if you who are as it were the singers of that hand with which God does rule this part of the world, shall favour some, fear others, and so not judge uprightly, God will certainly sweep you away as he did Nebuchadnezar, with the besome of destruction, till [Page 9] your bodies be brought to their graves, and your souls to hell; and then shall the survivers take up this proverb against Isa. 14. 4. you, as they did against the King of Babylon, and say, How have the oppressors ceast, the golden city ceast? If you who should be the Keepers of the peace both of Church and Sta [...]e, shall be Docti in perturb and â utriusque pace, more rea­dy to make than to hinder such uneven reckonings as fra­ctions are, you may expect that God should give you an ex­act and punctual paiment at last. If you who should lead others in the paths of truth and righteousness, shall either lead them, or be led by them into the by-paths of error and inju­stice, God will summon you to the bar to answer theirs and your own transgressions. Adam was concerned in Eves as well as his own offence, because God gave the Law to him; and he by command to her, as committed to his charge; and therefore when he permitted her not onely to eat herself, but likewise to set his teeth on edge, to taste of the for­bidden fruit, he quickly heard of it on both ears; for im­mediately after God comes to him with an unwelcom sum­mons, saying, Adam, where art thou? Which brings me to the second general part of my Text, viz.

2. Magna vocantis benignitas, The infinite mercy of God, in that he first sought Adam, and call'd him to an ac­count so soon after his transgression; which will appear if you look upon the words in those six senses of which they are capable, viz. as they are

1. Verba Judicis reum citantis, The words of a Judge to his arraigned prisoner. God is not so prone to condemne men as willing to acquit them, and therefore before he sentences Adam, he is willing to call him to the bar, and to examine him what it is that he can say for himself; Adam, where art thou? Though it is impossible for Adam to have done any thing which might escape God's knowledge (he being acquainted with the very secrets of our hearts) Judi­ciario tamen more interrogat Deus à reo id quod planè scit, ut vel hinc discant Judices reum interrogare quod ipsi nesciunt, & Rupertus & Abulensis. se scire praesumunt, ne quem inauditum damnent aut puniant: Yet that his judgment might appear ro be just, he proceeds [Page 10] legally against him, and asks him that which he knew wel enough before, that he might leave Judges a president to ask the prisoner such things which they presum'd to know, but might possibly be ignorant of, and so by an over-hasty judgment might condemn or punish them before they heard them. God was willing to try whether Adam could clear himself of the whole, or excuse himself in part of the crime: so that he chose rather to conceal his knowledge of the fault, then to sentence the Delinquent, before he had given him leave to make his defence. The Divel (that old Serpent) was sentenc'd indeed without any summons, because 'twas impossible that he should either clear his innocence, or make out his repentance. But God deals not so with us, that we might not deal so with one another; for before Adam is sentenced, he is summond to answer for himself, Adam, where art thou? From whence we may draw these two conclusions, viz.

1: That it is a rash and over-hasty judgment to pass sentence upon an arraigned person, before we hear what it is that he can reply to his accusation.

2 That judgment treads upon the heels of a sinner.

Conclu. 1 That it is a rash & over-hasty judgment to, &c. Qui sta­tuit aliquid parta inanditâ alterâ, aquum fecisset si nun­quam statuisset. It were better not to judg at all, then to do it before you lend an equal care to both parties. A judg had need know that man well to whom he trusts both his eares; nor can there be a greater blemish charged upon him, than that he will believe the probable argument of a friend, before the demonstration of an enemy; or that he cannot read any cause but thorow the false spectacles of a favourite; by which means he can never clearly see what it is that the plaintiffe or the prisoner can plead for themselves. Though the tempest were so great that the Ship was likely to be broken, and Jonah declared to be the cause of the dan­ger by the infallible oracle of heaven, yet the Mariners (who are usually in a greater rage then the Sea it self) would Jonah 1. 8. not cast him over board till they had put these questions to him; For whose cause is this evil come upon us? What is [Page 11] thing occupation? whence comest thou? what is thy country? why hast thou done this? what shall we do unto thee?

Quem sors judicaverat cogunt propria voce confiteri, (as tis in the interlineary Gloss;) though the lot had judged him yet they asked him some questions as forc't him to confess it himself, before they put the judgment in execution. Rei inauditi & indefensi tanquam innocentes pereunt. It is as ju­stifiable to condemn an innocent person as one that is guilty before you have heard what defence he is able to make for himself.

Ʋse. Be not so over-hasty therefore as to judg any man or his cause before you have heard ot examined it.

Take heed of being over-curious in observing or over-criti­cal in judging a mote in your brethrens eyes, lest they turn a­gain, & to your greater shame, reprove you for a beam in your own. Consider that charity will never make her conclusions like those of the Syllogisme, to follow the worser part, but the better; nor will she judg men by a few actions (lest the sentence should fall too heavy upon the righteous) but by all, and (as near as she can) square her judgment accor­ding to that straight rule of the Schools, In judicandis aliis, eorum bona certa meliora, certa mala minora; bona dubia certa; dubia mala nulla judicemus. In the judging of o­thers, let us reckon their certain good works to be better than they are; their certain miscarriages to be lesser; if their good deeds be doubtful, let us look upon them as if they were certain; if their offences be doubtful, let us judg them none at all. A doctrine that could never be more seasonably prest than in this age of ours, in which the multitude, like flyes that stick only upon sores, are apt to make even the pre­cious oyntment of a good name unsavory; and such are those who will not be induced to believe that any good thing can come out of Nazareth, I mean that any piety can lodg in such mens breasts as are not of their party; and so being rapt with the pang of a furious and misordered zeal, do judg, censure and condemn them, before ever they hear what e­vidence they are able to produce of a power of godliness working effectually in them beyond the bare form, of which [Page 12] they are perhaps accused. They presume too much of them­selves, who think they are as well acquainted with their bro­thers transgressions as God was with Adam's, and yet he was pleased to hear him before he judged him, to summon him before he sentenc'd him, saying, Adam, where art thou? And thus much for the first inference; the second followes, viz.

2. That judgment treads upon a sinners heels. No sooner had Adam tasted of the forbidden fruit, but God called him to an account for his transgression, saying, Adam, where art thou? Sin is not less old than Adam, and punishment is alto­gether as old as sin; so that after his work is done, a sin­ner seldome tarries long for his wages which is death. God is said to ride upon the wings of the wind, to intimate that it will not be long before he overtake his enemies. The gall of bitterness does immediately succeed the honey of sin; nor do those rivers of unlawful pleasures ever leave running till they are buried in the salt sea of miseries. Sin is like Gunpowder, no sooner toucht with an hot appetite, but it immediately flyes in our faces; so that it is ill fighting for the Divel (as a sinner does) since the presse-money that he gives them is no small punishment, and it will not be long before he pay them to the full; nay the more service his Souldiers do him, the worse it fares with them, for he studies nothing more then how to torment them most; because their Tra­gedy shall never have an Epilogue, he takes care that where old go off, new scenes of miseries shall be ready to take their Cut's. So that sin and suffering are relatives, near akin one to the other; they are but like the two neighbouring links of that chain in which a sinner is bound, the one hangs or borders upon the other, so that he who bears one must bear both. Credas individuo nexu sceleri illigatam poenam, aut inhaerentem calcaneo illius tanquam viperam. Suffering is so firmly entailed upon sinning, that nothing but Gods mer­cy upon our repentance can cut off the entail: For other­wise what Solomon sayes of one holds true of every sin, ori Acts 28. 5. novissimo mordebit, and he that would suffer no harm by it, must with St. Paul [...], shake this viper into the fire, left it pull him into those unquenchable flames out of which there is no escape.

If Adam offend against the law of God, his own con­science will be sure to endite him, and the Judg of hea­ven and earth will call him to the bar, as he did in the language of my Text, Adam where art thou? which may be considered, Secondly, as they are,

2. Verba patris, filium increpantis; the words of a fa­ther, rebuking his son; in which the affection of a fa­ther mitigates the severity of the judg. God is not like that severe Roman, qui exuit patrem, ut consulem ageret, who put off the father that he might put on the Consul; for he does not condemn Adam without any more adoe (as he did the lapsed Angels) but he gives him an op­portunity of repentance, and in tenderness calls him to him after his delinquency, that so he might have an op­pertunity to sue out his pardon: As if he had said; O my son what is become of thy obedience and duty which thou owest to thy father? how prodigal art thou of thy happiness? how quickly hast thou morgag'd that inheri­tance which I so lately setled upon thee in Paradice? how earnestly doest thou endeavour to disinherit thy self and thy posterity? art thou so willing to devest thy self of the title of a son of God, to be stiled a slave of sin? doest thou not foresee the dangerous consequences of this thy disobedience? what will be the end of thy travel­ling on in this road? is it not high time for me now to call thee to an account and to reckon with thee for thy transgressions? how canst thou possibly expect that I should spare thee any longer whilst thou continuest in this perverse course; turn thine eye into thine own brest and see what will become of thee: Adam, where art thou? which may be wound up on this bottom, viz.

Conclus. That the love of a father is never so clearly manifested, as when he can even oblige his children by reproving them.

Dignus patre amor est, quem censura consileat. It is the commendation of a fathers affection, when it can so allay the sowreness of a reproofe that the patient son may not digest it but relish it kindly. Thus did our Sa­viour John 4. 19 [Page 18] Christ oblige the woman of Samaria even by the discovery of her shame; for when he told her of her adultery she made no reply but this; Sir, I perceive thou art a prophet, and immediately ministred unto him.

When the party reproved can perceive that the reproof is the result of the reprovers love, he cannot chuse but be in love with it; for the lashes of a father are better then the kisses of an enemy; reproofs that are thus qualified are like Seneca's poma suaviter aspera, Apples that have a pleasant sowreness in them, and so are more accepta­ble to the best pallates then flattering Sweetings.

Now that we may so correct our brother as not to corrupt him, we must come to him as God here did to Adam in the cool of the day, when his passion is over; and like the King of Bees, bring honey but no sting a­long with us; and this is a lesson chiefly to be learned of them who are termed fathers of their country, which very name carryes clemency along with it.

That so the greater is their power, the lesser may bee their passion. Set Moses's meekness as a pattern before you, and then though you do rebuke men in hatred of their faults, yet you will do it in love and long-suffering, remembring your selves to be his Vicegerents, who has said, That he will visit their iniquities with stripes, never­theless his loving kindness will he not utterly take from Psal. 89. 32, 33. them; And thus did he deal with Adam, whom by a pa­ternal increpation he indeavor'd to move to repentance, saying, Adam, where art thou? which you may look up­on thirdly, as they are

3. Verba medici, confessionem morbi extorquere conantis: the words of a Physician, inquiring into the condition of his patient. He does not condemne, he does not reproach, he does not revile him, but makes a gentle search into his disease, a meek inquiry into the state and condition in which he then was, saying, Adam, where art thou? least the remedy should offend him more than the dis­ease.

Though hee knew well enough where, and in what condition Adam now was, yet was he pleas'd in starting this Quaere to tempt him to confession, and then by an argument drawn from his present desperate condition to seek out for a Saviour, of which he could not but be the [...] sensible how much need he had: as if he should have said, Adam, how dishonorable is that which thou hast lately acted, to me, and how destructive to thy self? Do'st not thou feel an insupportable burthen upon thy shoul­ders? Does not the Law pursue thee for a rebel? Where wilt thou take Sanctuary? There's nothing wanting but execution to make thee irrecoverably miserable: Give me leave to search thy soar, that so at length I may salve it; tell me, how dost thou feel thy self? Adam, where art thou? From whence we may draw this conclusion, Viz.

Conclus. That an hearty and ingenuous confession of our failings to Almighty God, is the best invitation for his mercy to restore and strengthen us.

The confession of our disease makes way for our Phy­sician; which he that neglects, does carelesly sleight his own cure. Ipse sibi denegat curam, qui suam medico non pub­licat causam. It's bad to transgress, but it is worse to deny it; for 'tis a sign that we are not sufficiently a­sham'd of the offence, when we blush to confess it. Pri­mae sanitatis pars, est velle sanari. The first step to health is a desire to obtain it, which cannot be exprest without an acknowledgment of our disease. He that is unwil­ling to discover his wound, is not desirous to part with it: The beggar will freely shew his raggs as the best in­vitation for your charity to relieve him. The Petitioner will neglect no means possible of discovering his grievan­ces, that so his Prince may be the more graciously plea­sad to redress them; The Malefactor must confess his crime, before ever he be capable of a pardon. When a sinner is caught with the Tempters hook, he must (as the fish Scolopendra does its bowels) cast it out again by an humble confession, unless he desire to be further ensuar'd. [Page 16] Non perit qui suum agnoscit errorem, an humble ack [...] ledgment of our sins to God is the onely way to smother them. 'Twas the Prodigals peccavi which mov'd his fa­ther to make him so welcom. The Pharisees Non sum sicut (I am not like other men) stopt the current of God's mercy; but the Publicans Miserere mei (Lord be mer­ciful to me a sinner) open'd it. That therefore God may not impute our sins to us, let us soundly aggravate them to our selvs; for the onely way possible to hide our sins from him, is to lay them open before him, from whom indeed they can never be hid. When he call us to con­fession, we must answer at the first word, if we do expect the benefit of an absolution.

That the Chirurgion might search his Patients sore, and so apply a suitable plaster to it, he bids him open it; and thus did God deal with Adam, saying, Adam, where art thou? which words may, fourthly, be look'd upon as they are,

4. Verba creatoris, creaturae suae sortem commiserantis: The words of a Creator, commiserating the condition of his lapsed creature and so they are Verba dolendi, words of pity; and as much as if he had said, Alas! thou art upon the brink of destruction, thou art become the most sad object that ever eye shall bedew with tears of pity. Thou wert cloathed with innocence, but now art thou naked! What's becom of that image after which I form'd thee? Who has robb'd thee of those gra­ces with which I beautify'd thy soul? What witnesse rises up against thee? Quis test is adest, quis detulit? (who pursues thee? what's the meaning of those blushes, those fig-leavs? I left thee in one place, but I am now to seek thee in another: Whither fliest thou? Adam, where art thou? From whence we may infer,

Conclus. That a just man is alwaies in Gods presence, but a sinner flies from it.

Cain had no sooner stain'd his soul with his brothers Abels blood, but he went out of the presence of the Lord. Adam had no sooner committed the trespass, but he fled [Page 17] for it▪ when he was just and upright, he walkt before God, but now having transgrest he is sought out by God, Adam, where art thou? There is this evil (which indeed is the cause of all other) entailed upon sin, that it makes a sinner as it were a stranger to God; it blo [...]s such out of the book of his remembrance, and when he comes to make up his jewels he casts them aside with a Nescio vos. I know you not, depart from me ye workers of iniquity. Is not sin a strange defacing of the soul, when he that first made it, does not then know it? Desperate must needs be the condition of that creature, of which the creator himself seems to be ignorant; and were there no other Hell this would make it a kind of damnation to be a sin­ner.

Amongst others of Gods names in Hebrew [ Machon] is one (which signifies a place) and therefore the que­stion was most pertinent whereby God enquires of Adam where he was, since he moved not in his proper orbe, since he was not to be found in his right place, Locus e­nim hominis Deus est, extra quem nusquam bene est. He Rupertus. that is not in God (not interested in him) is not in his proper place, and the farther he strayes from him, the nearer does he draw to misery.

Tis a sign he is not where he would be, when God and his conscience or any other messenger, propound this question to him that he did to Adam, saying, Adam where art thou? which may be considered, fifthly, as they are.

5. Verba prophet [...] veritatem conditionis suae indicantîs. The prophetical words of the God of truth declaring to Adam the truth of his condition. Adam where art thou? And so the interrogation is a most keene and vehement form of assertion, whereby God (does not doubt him­self but) labours to certifie Adam of the truth of his condition, viz.

Conclu. That no place could be safe for a sinner; but when he thinks himself most, then indeed is he least secure. There's is no corner can secure or priviledg him from the [Page 22] arrest of Gods judgments, but he who searches all, will find him out in any place, so that he can never be safe till he be at peace with his maker; for there is no peace, sayes my God, to the wicked. Qui in peccato est, in perditione est. He that drinks in iniquity like waters is plunged over head and eares in miseryes; and this was that Doctrine, which God here preacht to Adam so soon after his fall. As if he should have said in other terms. Adam, deceive not thy self with those fig leaves, let the woman no longer beguile thee, nor the serpent both of you; for you have lost your innocency, and in that your happiness. Do you not now see what a cheat the Divel has put upon you? and how by crediting the fa­ther of lyes before the God of truth, you and your po­sterity are fallen into his hands? do you not perceive what a change is wrought in you for the worse: Heu Quantum mutatis ex ipso? I made you, but you have mar'd your selves; consider what I did for you, and how your have undone your self: I left you in a far better con­dition then I now find you; turn your eye into your own brest, and there read the truth of your present condition, let not your heart deceive you, deal impartially with your self, what a strange alteration has a few hours made in thee? Adam where art thou? And thus I am come to the last acception of which the words seem capable, viz. as they are,

6. Verba monitoris culpam suam in memoriam reducen­tis: the words of a monitor putting the offender in mind of his offence; for God does not ask, as if Adams iniquity were hid from his eyes, but that he might lay it open to his own. Compare this former with thy present condition. Qualis ex quali factus? Whats become of the serpents promises and thy vain confidence in them? What Pannick fear is that which has now seized upon thee? Thy flight proclaims thy guilt; thou didst not seek such starting-holes as these during the time of thy innocency; see what a kindness thy sins has done thee to turn thy love into fear, and to teach thee to flye from [Page 23] thy God, whom before thou didst seek will all thy heart; compare thy former happiness with thy present misery, that so thou mayest regain by repentance, what thou hast already lost by disobedience.

Adam where art thou? so that two things may we learn from hence; the one from the matter, the other from the form or manner of this reproof.

God goes but slowly when he goes about to punish, that so the sinner repenting of his sins may escape his judgments; like a tender father he enquires after his pro­digal son, when he had lost and forgot himself, and hav­ing found him puts him in mind of the ruine into which his riot will bring him, and if he will be woo'd to a return, he will meet him half way and embrance him. When the sinful off-spring of Adam do like their fore-fathers run from God, he is pleased in mercy to follow them; and to draw nigh to them, that so they may no longer estrange themselves from him, and to put them in mind of the right way, that so they may no longer run on in their Erroneous courses.

Ʋse 1 1. And has not God sought us thus again and again?

Has not he caused his messengers to sound their woes in our eares before ever he sent them into our bosomes? Was not the sword of vengeance first shak't over our heads, and then sheathed in our bowels? and yet do we continue in our sins with as little regret as formerly? Consider that he is now pleased to allow another opportu­nity of laying to heart the hainousness of our sins; and therefore let us pray unto the Lord that he would give us grace in this our day to mind the things that concern our peace before they be hid from our eyes.

2. And as God dealt with Adam when fallen, so ought Gal. 6. 1. we to do, with our brother when overtaken in an of­fence; [Page 20] for when we see him offend God and do no [...] reprove him for it, we do as much as in us lyes, justify him. In omnibus peccantibus pecco, quando eos quos scio Prosp. de vit. contempt. peccore quadam crudeli, animi malignitate non increpo: It is cruelty and not charity to see your neighbour out of the way, and not to labour presently to reduce him, and that with meekness too, that a rebuke may not be con­strued for a reproach, which that God did to Adam is deducible from the manner of this reproof, it is a gentle one, from whence it follows, in the second place,

When we hate a person, we hate to name him, and therefore when Saul sought David in indignation, he did not say, where is David? but where is the son of Ishai? the Jews did not say, where is Jesus? but where is that fellow? but that God might declare that sin it self should not a­lienate his love from his creature, though Adam had offended him, yet he allowed him his proper name, say­ing, Adam where art thou?

Ʋse And with such gentle terms as these should we treat our erring brethren, lest pinching too hard and not fetch­ing blood we cause their wounds to fester. Quicquid e­nim exacerbat animo dixeris, punientis est impetus noncorrigentis S. August. charitas. Charity is such an enemy to passion that if your rebuke be perceived to have any of that cor­rupt mixture in it; the patient to whom you tender it, will never be induc'd to follow it. A reproof must be handled not like a sword but a lancet, so it must not be the enemy, but the Phisician that does the cure; and twill commend his skill if he can hide the point of it till the smart be over, for then will they reward that as a courtesy which otherwise they might possibly have look't upon as a piece of cruelty. Reproofs candyed over with good words like guilded pills looks pleasantly, are swal­lowed suddenly, and work kindly. Though Adam had provok't God highly, yet was he pleased to give him a [Page 21] fair and gentle summons in the words of my Text, say­ing, Adam, where art thou?

And now to apply the whole, let me beg of you to exa­mine your selvs, whether your own consciences, and your Ministers, have not frequently call'd upon you to behold where you are; whether in a state of grace, or under a sentence of condemnation? whether in the narrow path that leads to life, or the broad road that leads to destructi­on? I wil not throw the first stone at you, your own actions will best acquaint you with your deserts. Consider therefore, could your consciences plead not guilty if you were indicted for dishonoring God, for contemning Christ, for wounding and blaspheming his Holy Spirit? for crumbling his Sion into factions? for calling Religi­on to help out your faulty wares? for citing the name of God to make up weight and measure? for leaving good counsel at the Church where you heard it? for looking upon honesty as the birth-right of fools? for scrambling for your particular interests, and not minding the pub­lick good (as if in the safety of the whole were not contained the good of each individual). Have you not against your own eyes and consciences complied with the publick sins of the times? Have you not eaten out the power of godliness by your corroding and satyrical censures of them that differ from you in forms of worship? and has not that your prejudice like a sullen Porter kept bet­ter company out of your affections than ever it let in?

Whilst others were casting lots for Christs coat, have not you made it your business to divide it? if you have, the weakest-sighted man in the world may read without the help of any other spectacles than your own actions where you are. Into what dregs of times are we fallen, when mens consciences are so seared, their senses so stopt, their foreheads so steel'd, their hearts so hardned, so much carnal byass clapt upon their souls, that all the art & in­dustry which we can use, cannot keep them strait, but they will stil run aside after their own inventions. O that remedies were as easie as complaints! Has not this Iron-age of [Page 22] ours out done all before us in villanies? Were there ever so many the Divels factors amongst us as now, who make it their busines [...] to drive on the interest of hell? [...] ­la [...]l how sensibly do's the deluge of sin prevail over us? Is not Christ again put to open shame, whipt, scorn'd, and crucified; th [...]ugh his person cannot be reacht are not these affronts and injuries put upon his Spouse the Church? Nay farther, do not men please and flatter themselves in these misch [...]efs? and pretend to do God good service in killing his Son? Is it possible that you should stile your selves men after Gods own h [...]art, and yet do what his soul abhorrs? Can Hypocrites, can adulterers, can extortioners, can uncharitable Nabals, can factious disturbers of the peace of Hierusalem ever attain to that height of pre­sumption, as to dream that their names are enroll'd in the catalogue of life? If such as these be Christians, who are Scythins? If these Saints, who are Divels? if these be God's favorites, who are his foes?

Do you think to purchase heaven wi [...]h as much ease as you have done, it may be an opinion of sanctity in your deluded brothers breast? Alas! it is not your hy­pocritical faces, your artificial tears, your long praiers, your civil language, your aguish holiness which takes you by fits, nor is it your frequent attendance in this place that will do it. It is not every one that cries Lord, Lord, who shall presently enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

How ambitious are you to be accounted just and mer­ciful, and yet how unwilling to be so? What severe cen­surers are you of your own crimes in other mens persons, and how negligent of others in your own? What a sin is Drunkenness in the Temple, and yet what a blessing in the Tavern? How loud are you against the sins of the times when before others, and yet how closely do you hug them when you are by your selves? How freely do you spend your censures upon so many of your brethren as without scruple do any of those things which you up­on false grounds have fondly condemned as utterly un­lawful? and yet how angry are you, when upon such [Page 23] just grounds they stile you uncharitable? Have you not first l [...]t your reason, and then your modesty in your sins? act [...]ng upon the open st [...]ge what at first you did but behind the cu [...]tains, and saying in the blindness of your heart, Tush, God does not see it: And therefore does not a para­site find better entertainment amongst you then a Pro­phet? As if you had rather be cozen'd with a flattering li [...], than cur'd with a galling truth. What murmurings, what d [...]contents, what repinings are there continually amongst you?

Did you formerly surfeit upon peace and plenty, that you now nauseate even the best of Gods blessings? Suppose God should not strike off your chariot wheels till you were in the red sea; suppose he should no [...] cu [...]b or check you in this your careere by your ministers, or judgments, what incredible hast would you make into the bottomless pit? But consider in this your day that he does once more stretch for [...]h hi [...] hand to a gain-saying, and rebellious people: He now calls upon you as a Judg, to try whether you can acquit your selves of the whole, or excuse your selves in part of these crimes, these crying sins that are laid to your charge. Does he not some­times cause your consciences to reado you that sentence of condemnation under which you lye, that so if by any means possible he might move you to repentance: Does he not mitigate the severity of a judg with the tenderness of a father, and shew how unwillingly? he is to disinherit you; and how desirous rather that you should return and live. Does he not like a Physician make a search into your disease, the sad condition in which your souls lie? That so having made you sensible of your distemper and dan­ger you may be desirous of a cure. Does he not call to you in pitty, and shew you how you are even upon the brink of destruction, so that there is hardly a hairs breadth between you and misery? Has he not frequently decla­red to you by his prophets, in how unsafe a condition you are, and how much at a losse, if he should call you [...]o an account for your stewardship? Has he not now [Page 24] sent me to tell you that if you knew where you wer [...], in what a sinful, and so miserable condition, your hearts [...] gush out at your eyes in tears of pitty for your selves? Hearken then to this voice (as Adam did to Gods) all ye that have his fear before your eyes, and especially you that are superiors; for your charge is grea­ter then other mens, you have received more talents and so have a greater account to give in the last day; con­sider that you are now in the Church reaping that benefit from us, which we may expect from you when in your counsels; and therefore when ever you sit down to consult, remember the Church and servants of God, that when we kneel down to pray, we may not forget the State and hers.