EpheJan.r,Chap.r. VER.ti. of man could not doe it , did not the will of God give way by his permiffion. I feeTheeves comming to robbe, and ready toenter at fuch adoore,I have power to fhoote the boult and locke it,fo thatthey could not enter ; notwithftanding having company aboutme to takethem at pleafure, I leaveall, that they may freelyenter and take fome booty, thatfo I may come on them, apprehend them, and bring them to their deferved end; in fuch an example, thoughtheunjuft will of thefe men did immediately make this robbery exift, yet I doe make it exift more principally then they, in as muchas they couldnot have done it, had not I Riven way to them ; yet howbeit I am a caufe whythis robbe- ry is committed in thisplace, and at this time, in which I could have withftood,yet am I nocaufe to themof committing it. s. Sin, though it hathan outward difagreement , fuch asmaybe in a creature fromthe Creator ; yet it hath no inward pofitiverepugnancie or contrariancie to Gods nature, fuch as is twixt fireand water: Even as the good created, though it hathan outward agreement with, and re- femblance to the Creator, yet it hath no inward agreement, fuch as is twixt nourifhmenr, anda thing nourifhed,for then fhould the divine na- ture inwardly in it felfe bebetter for the one, and worke for thebeing oftheother, andfo fhould neceffarilywill the one, and nil the other. Againe finne, though as finne, it hath an outward difagreement, and be evill in the nature ofit,yet is it not abfolutely evill to God as it is finne, but to the inftrument finning,in as much as God can make fin as it is fin, ferve todivers goodufes. No wonder then wickedmen can ufe Gods belt thingsto evill. Sin,as fin,Godcan turn toan occafion of his glory;for not permiffion, yut the thing permitted, is it which God doth take occafion hy,to give the promifeoftheMediator. He can ufe fin as fin, for a punifhment,Rem. . iq.Becaufe they didprovoke him by idolatry,hedid punifh themwith giving them up to buggery:Thefe latter finswere not punifhments,'in re- gard they deferved further punifhment&condemnation then the former, yea, a further defection of God : butin regardofcommitting thefeacts themfelvcs : Had Godbyconverfion preventedfurther defertion& con- demnation in oneof thefeidolaters,now come to mafculine filthineffe, his idolatry even in thisad once exercifed, fhould have beene punifhed. The finful refpedt in this fad is more penal thendefertionorpunifhment following after. God may ufefin as fin,forexercifing his children;The cup of fuffering God reacheth us,is to be finfully and injurioufly hand- led ; God wouldhave Chrift not onely dye, but fuller being innocent, an unjuft condemnation,yea, the finfull manner ofaffli king is heavier to Gods children, then the afllidìion it felfe.Befidethat, in many oftheir exercifes,it is not the adwhich doth or could afflidt them, but the fin of thead : not fpeech from Shemei,but finful reviling fpeech was Div-yids exereife. Whereforebeing not abfolutelyevill, but good to God in re- gard ofthe ufeofit, he may ordaine and will it as good, or rather, the good ufeofit. 6. Though Gods will and worke may be in finne, yet it is not alike
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