God's soveraignty displayed from Job 9. 12. : Behold he taketh away, who can hinder him? &c., or, A discourse shewing, that God doth, and may take away from his creatures what hee pleaseth, as to the matter what, the place where, the time when, the means and manner how, and the reasons thereof : with an application of the whole, to the distressed citizens of London, whose houses and goods were lately consumed by the fire : an excitation of them to look to the procuring causes of this fiery tryal, the ends that God aims at in it, with directions how to behave themselves under their losses / by William Gearing ...

SECT. III.

Moreover, it consisteth in a positive malignity, which through sin and the curse of God is now cast upon the whole Creation; the Sun it self worketh de∣liquia, eclipses, it suffereth, it worketh a contrary evil to the good for which it was created: the heat thereof scorch∣eth the earth, and maketh it to become iron under our feet, whose light and heat was created to comfort and cherish the earth, it now scorcheth the crea∣tures, yea man himself: the Ethiopi∣ans are so scorched with it, that for an∣ger they shoot arrows against the Sun. —The Moon, besides her Eclipses and Changes, doth also emit sad influences

on the creatures below, witness the Lunatick, the Paralitick; the Moon cau∣seth many humors in the body to stir: You read in the book of Job of the sweet influences of Pleiades, but these also do sometimes send out their ma∣ligne influences: the ayr is oftentimes very contagious and pestilential, as we have seen by sad experience of late; and yet is manifest in many Towns and Cities, and other lesser places of this Kingdome at this day: Now the ayr scorcheth, then it cooleth; now it is calm, then boisterous: The earth bringeth forth bryars and thorns, and unwholesome weeds, instead of whole∣some fruit. In all living creatures, you shall see how sin hath put into them an hatred, and antipathy, and opposition, the one seeking to destroy each other▪ the curse of vanity hath put the whole Creation out of order: Hence are all those mutations, alterations, corrupti∣ons, and destructions among the crea∣tures, and of the creatures.

Quest. Here it may be demanded, Why doth God inflict this punishment of vanity and corruption on the creature for mans sin, without any fault in the creature?

Resp. 1. It is no injury to the crea∣ture at all. Chrysostome saith well,* 1.1 Ra∣tio aequi & iniqui non ad creaturas in∣animatas transferenda est. The consi∣deration of right and wrong, justice and injustice, is not to be transferred to the creatures void of life, but only to the rational, who were subjects capable of both.

2. Because the creatures were made for man; therefore if man rebelled a∣gainst his Soveraign Lord, they shall suffer for man also. Chrysostome saith, Si propter me factae sint, nihil admitti∣tur injustitiae, si propter me patiantur: If they were made for my use and ser∣vice, there is no injustice if they suffer for me to my shame and vexation; and the reason is, because seeing they were made for the use and service of man, therefore the change to the worse, which is now come upon them, is not their punishment, but a part of the punishment of man.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Chrysost.