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for medicine to cure and heale withall; This then was another fault, in that they rather went not to the Tree of mercy Christ Fefus, but to their own Tree of hypocrifie; or why went they not to the live Tree, because that feemeth to be a tree of mercy? Gen. 8. 11. for the Dove bringing a branch of that, fhewed that Gods anger was appeafed, and was a figne of mercy; or elfe why did they not make a covering of that of which the mercy-feat was made? One of the Fathers faith, I have heard indeede, Efay 38. 21. that a cluster of figges had a virtue to cover & heale, but as for the leaves of that tree, they quickly fade and fall away to nothing, Efay 34. 4. or though the fubftance of the leaf could endure, yet the thread wherewith they are fewed together would not hold, but be broken when God doth teare them off, the 13. of Ezekiel, the 20. and the 21. and then where will be their covering which they have made. But of all the rest, the greatest fault of all was, in that they refted quietly and fecurely in this vain covering which they had made, faying pax,pax, tush,all is well enough, we are fafe and neede not feare,and in this secure careletneffe they continued untill the evening: This made St. Augustine lay, I fufpe&t this garment and covering, for it leemeth to be a fit reward for their eating the forbidden fruit, that after they had eaten that fruit, they should have for their labor a handfull of fig-leaves, What fruit bad you of your fin, whereof you are now ashamed? Rom. 6. for God giveth fhame and confufion, and the devill sendeth only a handfull of vanity for all that wee have done, Rom. 11. 8, 9. God fendeth fpiritum compunctionis, and the Devill fendeth a fna e and ftumbling block for the recompence of their fin.

Learne a Parable of the fig tree, faith our Saviour Chrift, Math. 24. 32. which Parable, as the best and ancient writers think, is taken from this here, for by way of Parable they fay, that this fig-Tree which the devill planteth faft by the Tree forbidden, hath two mighty great and mayne armes which grow out of it, each whereof hath divers branches and maine leaves growing thereon. The one is the arme of excufes, whofe leaves are to hide finne and fhame by excufing it, Pfal. 141. 4. The other hath growing on it divers pretences to defend their finne; by making policies to cover it withall.

The firft, chiefe, and principall is, when men will fet a good face and juftifie their ill doing as fonas did, Fo. 4. 9. Doeft thou well to be angry? Yea(faith he) I doe well to be angry at the heart, this is a fig leafe of juftifying and defending his fault.

The fecond is tergiverfatio, Mark 14. 68. when one is challenged and accused of a fault, to feeme ignorant and fimple, and therefore innocent of any fuch matter; I know not what you meane! I heare you nos!

The third is Recriminatio, 1 Reg. 3. 16. that is, To lay the fault on another, as the Harlot being accufed to fmother another womans childe, the thinketh to shift it off this way, Shee hath smothered childe.

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The laft is, tranflatio, when wee confeffe the deede but yet can poft and put it off to another from our felves, as Facobs sonnes did Gen. 37.32. Jofeph is flain, here are his clothes, and it is like that fome wilde beaft hath done it this is a fig-leafe to lay the fault on the innocent; for the other there are fig-leaves of circumstances to excufe finne when we cannot defend it, as the circumftance of place, time and perfon.

For the time, Hufhaye faith 2 Sam.17.1. at this time and occasion it is not good, fo fome will fay at this time, and upon this occafion it is not ill, for the place and perfon they fay though it were evill, if any other had done it, in another place, yet this man doing it here, it is not evill but good and lawfull, there is no vocation or trade of life but hath these fig-leaves of excufe; the Lawyer hath his excufe and pretence faying, This is the Law, wee cannot help it, so did the Jewes, Wee have a Lawe, and by our Lawe hee must dye, there is no remedy, wee cannot doc it; Divinity and Religion have their figleaves and excules to cloak finne. Facobs fonnes pretended circumcifion Gen. 34. 15. Abfolon pretended Sacrifice, 2 Sam.15.8. And Fefabel a Religious faft.

The laft pretence and excuse is, that which is, Rom. 9. 19. to excuse their finne, by faying it was Gods will that I did it, and who could refift or withstand it, as Chrift faith to Nathaniel, Fohn 1. 48. I faw thee under the fig-Tree, fo may it bee faid of us, for it is all our cafe naturally to bee under this vaile of hypocrific, thinking our cafe well being covered therewith, and this Chrift feeth, and findeth us when he cometh to convert us; but Chrift before he went to his paffion, is faid to curfe the fig-Tree, Mark 11. 12.13.14. Maledixit ficui, because it only had but leaves on it, without fruit, to fhew us, that untill the leaves of hypocrifie fall off, and till our figTreebeare fruit, Chrifts paffion will doc us no good.

Gen. 3. 8.

January 29.

1595.

Deinde audiverunt vocem Fehova Dei itantem per hortum ip fum ad ventum illius diei: quare abfcondit fe Adam & uxor ejus à facie Fehova Dei, inter arbores illius horti.

NTIL the cool of the day, that is, untill the Evening, Adam and Eve remained in their covering of figleaves, and fo long God patiently waited expecting their Repentance: Bur wee fee that fo long they ne. ver betooke themselves to God, but all this while yet thought themselves in very good cafe, being secure in their own Covert, which they had made, therefore God muft fhew one mercy more to them,fecing fhame will not excite them, or else they would have perished in their fin.

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God expected patiently all the day long their comming unto him, but they hid themselves all this while, and therefore he vouch safeth to come unto them; Elizabeth said Luke 1. 43. ut veniat ad me mater domini? but how much more then may Adam lay, how is it, usm. how commeth it to pafs, that my Lord himself commeth to me? wherefore all along in this hiftory we may mark and fee, that God in juftice remembreth mercy to miferable men.

A Second confideration of this is, that as fhame is the outward Sergeant which feizeth on the body and flesh appearing in the face, fo fear is the Seargeant of the heart, feizing on the Soul within, and as fhame for his object is feized with ignominie and infamic; so fear hath for his contrarie object danger and doubts of evill, either prefent or imminent, and fhame belongeth and is feen in them only or especially, which have fome grace and ingenuity, and humane difpofition or reasonablenels: for beafts are not faid to blush or be afhamed, for it pertaineth not to unreasonable Creatures. So long as we have any grace, reafon, or hope of humanity and ingenuity, God fecketh to win us by fhame, but when men are become bruitish and as beafts without understanding, then he fendeth them the other Sergeant of fear, which we know is effectuall to move bruit beafts, for the dulleft Affe is moved with fear; thus we fee the different nature of feare and fhame, the one moveth those which Differentia in are ingenious and have grace and wit in them, but the other is fente pudorem & to move those which are bruitish and blockish and of a fervile nature.

Now we will come to the words of this ufe, in which we are to confider two points, the one is in Adams part, the other in Gods behalf, that which concerneth God is fet down in four speciall points.

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Walking, that was the manner of his comming: First, that God came Secondly, that he came walking: Thirdly, that he came with a voice, and was fenfibly heard: And laftly, for the time of his comming, that was in the cool of the day, which is the evening, of which four points: First for the first we must know, That when God is faid to come, to walk or to speak, that Gods fpirit, in the Scripture, ufeth those poor phrafes and manners of delivery for Our weakness and infirmitie, because we cannot otherwise well conceive these things in God, for to speak properly to come to a place which indeed in his own nature is every where, and filleth all places with his prefence, Fer. 23. 24. The Prophet Ifaiah 66. 1. faith the earth is bist hus foot-ftool, and we know that one cannot walk on his ftool, he properly can but ftand on it; therefore fome think to fatisfic this place, that God is faid to have appeared here, and was heard walking and fpeaking, not in his own perfonall presence, but per difpenfationem, fending an Angell, as it were, in his fteed thither: But there are some which doe think that it is not neceffary, and that we need not grant here any fuch extraordinary and visible apparition and presence of God, in any fhipe or refemblance, and that

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that which Mofes faith Deut.4. 15. of Gods appearing in Horeb, may truly be affirmed and avouched of this place, namely,that they only heard a voice, but faw no fhape or vifible likeness, or reprefentation which appeared to their eyes, and therefore that they perceived and knew Gods prefence comming to them, not by the eye feeing any thing, but by the care only hearing a found or voyce; for fo we read that he came and appeared Mofes and Elias, in such a ftrange manner of voice and found, that they might by it know that. no creature but only God the Creator, which could come in fuch a majesticall, and glorious found and in this fente, we may take these words, because it is faid, they heard Gods voice walking, and not that God came vifibly walking; he was heard fpeaking, no: feen walking.

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The fecond point on Gods part is, quod venit Deus ambulando, by which walking is commonly meant, fuch conveying as Judges use when they come to judgment, and to try matters to be judged, Prov. 8. 20, 2. It is faid of Samuell which judged Ifrael, that every goe he walked and went about all places in Ifrael, a Judges doe geer circuits and p rambulations, to Fudge the people, I Sam. 7. 16. So that this in effe&t and fubftance is that which is faid before, and fignified by his comming, namely his purpose to give sentence and to execute juft judgment against their finne.

The third point concerning God, is, that his walking was not in filentio, as Fob faith, but with an audible voyce, Fob 4. 16. and that fuch a voice as Ely heard, 1 Sam. 3. 11. which should make their eares tingle and glow, that it was a terrible and fearfull voice terryfying them for finne.

The fourth and last thing is the time, that is, in fero, in the evening, And therefore doth God wait untill the evening, Efay 30. 18, beCause he would willingly have mercy on them, which rather by right and reafon fhould wait for him; But when we regard not Gods fending, God doth oftentimes wait and tarry fo long before he commeth to Judgment, that his delaying, late tarrying and waiting, fomtimes becommeth offenfive to the godly, and fcandalous to the wicked, for fo the godly cry, Lo how long wilt thou tarry to be revenged of the blood of thy Saints, and the enemies of God doe flander the foot steps of his annointed, Pfal. 89. 51. faying, where is the promife of bis comming? he u long comming. As this therefore is the first regard and acceptation of the time, that God furely and certainly commeth at last, though late in the evening: So the second is the reafon why he commeth then, because temptation and the time of luft and committing of finne is aftus diei, as it were the heat of the day, and then God feeth, that it is no time to come to man, for then all his fenfes and wits are taken up with the heat of luft and concupifcerice, and therefore it is Gods wifdome to choose out this cool time of the day, in which the rage and heat of finfull luft is overpaffed and abated.

That course which Abigail took, 1 Sam. 25. 36. is the course

which God uleth, that is, in the spirit of difcretion, to deal with men when the fit or rage of finne is past, and when their blood is cooled, for it is no medling with a man in his drunken fit or in his fury of heat and rage, because their advisement and fenfes are then taken away, the Prophet Fer. 2. 24. would have us to fee the wifdome and difcretion of men of experience in this cafe, who will not feek to take the wilde Affe when she is lusty and light, for then at that time fhe will fnuffe up the aire proudly and scornfully, and none can turn or tame her, therefore faith he, take her in her moneth, when he is great with young, and then the may eafily be caught and tamed, this must be our wifdome and difcretion, when we fee them rapt and bereft of their senses, to bear and suffer them untill the tempeft be overblown, and the heat of their finne cooled and fomewhat allayed.

Now to the fecond feverall point, which is Adams part, which fheweth the effect which this voice of God wrought in them, and how they demeaned and behaved themselves, when Gods voice came to them, which is fet down in two things. First, They heard it Secondly, They hid themfelves from God, which is amplified after two forts: Firft, That they hid and shrouded themselves in the fhrubs and thickest of the trees Secondly, That they hid themselves from the prefence of God, and this is the effect, which his comming and voice wrought and heard in them, for which (because, between hearing and hiding, there must goc fomething) the writers doc finde out these severall things.

Firft, for the hearing we fay and may fee, that it is a mercy and favor of God, in that he did not only open their eyes being blinde making them fee their foul finne; but also open their cares, being deaf, that they might hear of the danger of their finne, but this is a new counfell, a ftratagem of the Devill, the evill counsellor, to make them flye away at that voice, which should have been the means to have brought them to God again, Peccatum eft fuga, as divines doe fay, therefore the Devill will have them bis fugitivi: having fled from God by finne, now to flye again further from him by despair and there to hide themselves, as who should say, without doubt your God commeth in just and angry mood, to make an end of you for finne, therefore by mine advife hafte and flye away from him; this is the Devils cuftome and comfort, when he hath brought men into finne, as plainly he fheweth himself, 1 Sam. 28. 16. When he had brought Sanl into finne, he faith, why comeft thou to me, feeing God hath forfaken thee? God will furely punish thee as he said, &c. Where he fheweth himself in his right kinde: This is all the comfort we shall finde at his hands, when we have committed finne; for when we have followed his ill counfell, he will fay thus to us, you hear how angry God is, how terrible and fearfull his voice, his fteps towards you and prefence is, wherefore fly, for how will ye be able to abide his hand and vengeance, which are thus afraid at the found of his steps and voice?

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