A SERMON PREACHED AT PAVLS CROSSE THE 24. OF OCTOBER 1624. BY ROBERT BEDINGFIELD Master of Arts and Student of Christ-Church in Oxford AC OX OXFORD Printed by IOHN LICHFIELD and WILLIAM TVRNER for HENRY CRIPPS 1625. Academiae Cantabrigiensis Liber TO THE RIGHT VVORSHIPFVLL HIS VERY WORTHY VNCLE SIR THOMAS RICHARDSON Knight Serieant at the Law grace and peace be multiplied in CHRIST IESVS SIR LEt mee humblie beg of you that you would bee pleased to take this Sermon into the Sanctuary of your patronage your free and gracious promise to be the Patron of the Author hath imboldened him to intitle you so to his issue The violence of a wet season denied it some Auditors which it might haue had your incouraging command to haue a sight of it the forcible importunity of wel-wishing friends haue pressed it and giuen it readers which I intended it should not haue had I apologize not if it bee better to preach 't is good to print the vnderstanding is not informed nor the will moued alwaies by the Eare but sometimes by the Eye otherwise the suttle Romanists would vnclaspe the Bibles of the Laitie and not denie them to read the Scriptures I know your deuotions and your imploiment God and your Countrie permit you not in the tearme-time to read a long Epistle I conclude therefore with my prayers to almightie God that as he hath indowed you with his more eminent graces and richer gifts so he would put it into the heart of the King to reward them that your Honours may one day ballance your deserts that in the meane time your dwelling may remaine as now it is the oracle of the citie From my study in Christ-Church in Oxford Nouemb. 24. Your most humbly deuoted Seruant and Nephew ROBERT BEDINGFIELD ROMANS 6. VERSE 23. For the Wages of Sinne is Death but the Gift of God is Eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. MY Embassie Right Honourable and the rest Beloued I know not whether it bee fuller of horrour or delight whether it may more amaze or comfort you the first part like the seuere threats of the punishing Law searcheth the wound the latter like the soueraigne balme of the sauing Gospell worketh the cure 't is equally diuided the first woundeth not so deepe but the latter cureth as fast If the wound be vnto death the cure is vnto life If the wages of sinne be death the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. The Text naturally is thus put on sunder there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and there is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The wages of sinne is death there is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord there is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is first malum culpae the offence giuen sinne secondly there is malum poenae the punishment inflicted Death thirdly there is the Iustice and proportion betweene the offence and the punishment it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the stipend the wages fourthly and lastly there is the certainty of the punishment to bee inflicted intimated in the verbe of the present tense it is death The wages of sinne is death In the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is first life opposed vnto death in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commended by his adiunct or duration it is eternall Secondly heere is the meanes of conferring of it on them that receiue it which is not by way of wages as death in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but freely and by gift thirdly heere is the doner hee that bestoweth it GOD. Lastly heere is the Mediator hee through whom and for whose sake it is giuen Iesus Christ our Lord. This is my modell these my parts briefly God hath this day set before you life and death good and euill now that you be not deceiued in your choice giue me leaue to lay them open vnto you first the euill malum delicti malum supplicij the euill of Sinne and the euill of death The wages of sinne is death Man in his Original Primitiue perfectioÌ„ being the Son of God by creation as he summed vp the world in an Epitome so was he a liuing Image of his fathers glory De eo quod de terius potiori insidiari soleat August lib. 2. de Gen. cap. 8. praeter Haereticâ—s â—uius sententiae fuit Lactantius lib. 2. Insâ—itut diuin whom he best copied out in his better part his soule not that it was ex traduce from God not that the Diuinity was rent in two or diuided so that that became part of the Diuine Essence as first Philo the Iew doted and after him the Maniches blasphemed there was no trans-fusion but a creation no identity but a conformity which was not in substance but in quality neither was the soule alone so glorious but the body also which was first made a house for the soule to inhabit and not a prison to suffer in a house indeede made of clay but made by the immediate touch of the God of Heauen a sublunary body yet not waited vpon by corruption a subiect where contrary qualities did reside and yet not a subiect ouer which they might triumph Lastly both soule and body were so vnited and married together that corruption being not able to possesse the parts nor to dissolue the vnion the whole man was immortall and that not by the dowry of grace but by the priuiledge of Nature not supernaturally as were the garments of the Israelites in the Wildernesse or as Austin coniectured concerning Enoch Elias Lib. 1. de peccat meritu remissione cap. 4. but per sequelaÌ„ naturae so that immortality was part of his Nature as well as his nature was euer immortall immortall not absolutely or essentially for so hee had been a God not by creation positiuely for so had he beene a spirit but negatiuely saith the Schoole and conditionally he had the priuiledge posse non mori although he had not the immunity non posse morï as there was a possibility of dying so it was without a necessity I follow not the Sententiaries which follow not their Master but are curiously inquisitiue to know what should become of man if hee had not fallen how he should haue preserued himselfe from Corruption whether by eating of the tree of life or by any other meanes we know no more then our Grandfather Lib. 2. distinct 23. and he saith Lombard Accepit scientiam praeceptum eorum quae facienda erant non accepit praescientiam eorum quae futura erant Wee know not what he should haue eaten to haue preserued his immortality we know what he did eate to lose it Adami homicida gula The eating of the forbidden fruit dismantled and stript our first Parents at once both of their roabes of Righteousnesse and Immortality that first sinne made a breach in the well-ordered Oeconomy
Kings with their damnable revolts so often apostated the whole land and made the Israelites turne Idolaters As all imitate their king so aggrauate his sinne so doe most copie out his Nobles augment their crimes My Lord must haue his followers aswell of his vice as of his person if he leaueth his King at the Chappell dore he turneth not back without his Attendants who if his Honour pleaseth to be Idolatrous wil wait vpon him euen vnto a Masse As the Nobles Peers be so borne so you honoured Lords who iudge the Land you graue Fathers the Elders of the City are so exalted so placed ut bona malaque vestra ad Rempublicam pertineant your vertues and your vices are subiected inhaerent in your persons but by these as the Heauens by their Influences you worke good and euill through the whole Land Better no Iudge in Israel then a corrupt one no Elder then a wicked one the first giueth but liberty the second addeth incouragement to sin you see to eminence of your persons doubleth your crimes and maketh your sinnes as scarlet as your habits I might inlarge my proofe and exhortation with an Apostrophe to the Clergy the liuing Oracles of God to whom ye must resort for counsell Hi si eloquuntur magna non vivunt if their liues cry not downe sin as loud as their tongues they may helpe to build the Arke and perish in the Floud if they that preach the way to Heauen tread the way to Hell Hell must be their portion the number of their followers shall add vnto their tortures From the Clergy I might descend vnto the Gentry from them to euery Oeconomicall Goueruour and Father of his family although I stay there yet let none the meanest here take heart to offend for the sin which the meannesse of his Person lessneth by denying him followers may be aggrauated by other circumstances of the place and manner which I will briefly glance ouer We ascribe no inherent holinesse to any place Bethel may become Bethauen the Temple of God the house of an Idol the seat of Peter the chaire of Antichrist neither doe I know whether the zeale of Christendome was right if they warred for Iewry as for the Holy land yet may we iustifie our consecrated Churches Chappels which being separated for an holy vse may not be profaned if the buyers and sellers will trade in the Temple our SAVIOVR prouideth a whip for them and I would to God the zeale of Authority in imitation of that of our God would whip out the buyers and sellers out of the Temple would whip them either out of the Iles or into the Quier Good God to see how the prophane walkers in the time of diuine seruice when the Quier are chaunting their sacred Anthems and Heauenly Halleluiahs are then polluting the stones with their durty feete when they should weare them with their supplicating knees there are at the same time some praying aboue some blaspheming below and that so loud that God heareth not the prayers for the blasphemy As the Vbi the place so the Quomodo the manner of doing it doth much difference a sinne Mens propositū saith the Law distinguunt maleficia whosoeuer calleth his brother foole is in danger of Hell fire Matth. 5.22 yet doth Paul call his brethren the Galatians fooles and sinneth not Gal. 3.1 He that killeth a man shall surely be put to death Leuit. 24.17 yet he that killeth a man ignorantly whō he hated not before shall flee vnto one of the Cities of refuge and liue Deut. 19.4 5. that which infirmity slippeth must not be censured as that which malice acteth that which is committed out of ignorance is not punished as that which is done out of presumption I am no aduocate for ignorance he who is ignorant let him be ignorant still he who affecteth ignorance let him perish in his ignorance In them that may know it is a sinne in them that may not know it is a punishment for sinne it is to none which ought to know and all ought a priuiledge to sinne yet if it be particularis and not Vniuersalis as the Philosopher facti and not iuris as the Lawyer inuincibilis and not vincibilis as the Master of the sentences it doth excuse à tanto although not à toto it lesneth the offence but taketh it not away it still remaineth a sinne and therefore liable to the punishment of sinne Death which is the second part in my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is a death vnto sinne as well as a death for sinne a death which putteth not Nature in her graue but Vice how shall we being dead to sinne liue therein Rom. 6.2 Death for sinne is either spirituall and of the soule naturall and of the body or eternall both of soule and body Anima est vita habet ipsa suam vitam as the soule is the life of the body so is God the life of the soule The iust doe liue by faith Romans chapter 1. verse 17. Euen by faith in the Sonne of God Galat. chap. 2. v. 20. Who quickneth them with his spirit Eph. 2.5 The body may liue and yet the soule may be dead by which the body liueth there are some long since buried which yet liue such are Abraham Isaac and Iacob for God which is their God is not the God of the dead but of the liuing so there bee now some liuing which haue bin long since dead A widow liuing in pleasure is dead while she liueth the 1 of Timoth. 5. and 6. You that liue in sinne are already in your graues I must therefore bespeake you as sometime Christ did Lazarus Lazare veni for as come you forth of your graues arise from death to life from sinne to newnesse of life but my words want efficacy and my speech hath no power to raise you Christ Iesus therefore speak that vnto your hearts which I doe vnto your eares De eo quod deterius potiori insidiari solcat Where it is in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo the Iew would haue vs read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for saith he Cain had no sooner slaine his brother but he became dead himselfe and Abel being murthered was yet aliue if hee was not how did hee speake how did he speake aloude and cry for vengeance so hee wittily Let the dead bury the dead Matth. 8.22 let them which are spiritually dead bury them which are dead to nature and the solemnity of their funerals being ended let them prouide for their owne interrring which is at hand for mors operata erit mortem the death of the soule will cause the death of the body A death common vnto all it is all mens pilgrimage from the sepulcher to the sepulcher from the graue of the wombe to the graue of the earth all men shall once die for as much as all men haue sinned Heb. 9.27 The instinct of
nature which prompteth euery creature to seeke it 's owne preseruation should teach man not to make loue to death not to wooe his owne destruction although he transgresseth not the Law made against robbers who cutteth his owne purse yet he is guilty of murder who cutteth his owne throat and surely he loueth murder who will act it vpon himselfe and yet such are all sinners whose sinnes are the weapons with which they butcher themselues like Saul and his Armor-bearer they fall and die vpon their owne swords If any sonne of Hippocrates pronounceth it to be preiudiciall to their health the debauched Drunkard will abstaine from his cups and the luxurious Epicure will fast from his dainties how foolish are they who would shunne death and yet worke wickednesse which causeth death There is no other cause of death but sinne where there is no sinne there is no death no death of the body no death of Nature And yet he who had no sinne the Sonne of Righteousnesse had his setting as well as his rising and walked into the West Licet naturae dominus carnis tamen quam susceperat legem non recusauit so that life it selfe dyed yet not necessarily but voluntarily tradidit in mortem animam suam neither was his death penall but expiatory hee was not stung to death by sinne but he stung sinne to death by suffering death he made death to suffer and got the victory by yeelding O death where is thy sting 1 Cor. 15.55.56 O graue where is thy victory the sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law but thankes be vnto God which hath giuen vs victory through our Lord Iesus Christ Christ so deliuered his from death as hee freed them from sinne which he suffered still to dwell in them although not to raigne ouer them The Canaanites remaine in the land to proue the Israelites sinne must inhabite in the regenerate to encrease and try their faith sift them you shall finde them so enlightned that they sit in darkenesse so purged that they must be cleansed their faith is mixed with infidelity their wisedome ioyned with folly and their glory eclipsed with shame to want sinne must be a Christians wish it cannot be his hope otherwise hee that must alwayes here be militant should sometime be triumphant We may be dead to sinne but sinne will not be altogether dead to vs we may cut it off but it will bud againe we may chase it away but it will returne we may quench it but it will flame againe it still approacheth it still entiseth and prouoketh vs it still striueth but it is to encrease our victory at last it must haue the fall and be triumphed ouer so may the tyrant weepe to see himselfe prostrate at the feete of them who were his Captiues Et ad eorum triumphum de quibus diù triumphaverat se veteranus hostis pervenisse deploret Sinne is not so in the Elect as it is in the reprobate these either by habit or resolution or discourse are incorporated into euill and sinne is naturalized in them the other may sometime be surprised by force of passion but their vnderstanding seldome giueth consent the first serue sinne the other giue it only house-roome or if they doe it any seruice 't is as the Israelites serued Pharaoh or as his Gally-slaues serue the Turke by compulsion Damnatum est peccatum si non extinctum Sinne hath lost it's dominion although it be not cast out so death is dis-armed although she be not remoued she hath lost her sting although she keepeth her essence nay she hath lost her essence the forme the life of death is lost and she is but equivocally what she was before As she hath lost her nature so hath she changed her name to die now is but to sleepe to rest or be at peace Death to the Elect is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nyssen stileth it it doth not so much punish as purge and expiate sinne 't is a Snake without her sting a gaole-deliuery an earnest-peny of the resurrection a bridge to passe from corruption to incorruption to be wished of all that wish to goe to Paradise not to be feared at all because it freeth vs from all that is to be feared A curious workeman seeing his Image of brasse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Epiph. in his 2 Booke Aduersus Haereses on which he hath bestowed his Art and industry to be spotted and defaced he putteth it againe into the fire and new casteth it which is not the losse but the perfection of the Image so God after hee had made man a most elegant fabricke seeing him polluted with sinne resolued him againe into dust that he might rise vnspotted When the vessell that the Potter made was marred he made of it another vessell Ier. 18.4 Cannot I doe with you as the Potter with his clay saith the Lord behold as the clay is in the Potters hand so are yee in my hand O ye house of Israel the same chapter and the sixt verse Non interit quisquis victurus moritur This death of Nature is rather a change then a death 't is not finall quem putas interitum secessus est neither is it totall 't is onely of the body death is dieted like the serpent and can eat nothing but dust nay 't is not so much the death of the body Plin. Ep. lib. 2. epist 1. as of the corruption of the body Et mortalitas magis finita est quam vita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isiod Peleus lib. 4. epist 52. Happy Martyrs how their torments pleased them how they kissed the fagot and hug'd the fire as though like Eliah they had gone to heauen in fiery chariots weigh their tortures and reade their constancy you would iudge them to haue beene spirits without flesh if they might seeme to be afflicted because they were heard to pray they must be iudged to haue beene merry in their affliction because they sung Psalmes Their note was the same although their pangs were differenced with the three children in the fiery furnace Hieron Qui inter frigidos flammarum globos hymnos edidêre pro fletibus They wept not out an Elegy as if they had beene preparing for their funerals but they sung and reioyced as if it had beene their birth day and it was their birth day to eternity Blessed Martyres for if they be blessed who die in the Lord blessed must they bee who die for the Lord. God saith to man If thou sinnest thou dyest Gen. 2 but he bespeaketh the Martyr if thou refusest to die August thou sinnest Quod tunc timendum fuerat vt non peccaretur nunc suscipiendum est ne peccetur Death which is the punishment of the Sinner suffer it for Gods sake 't is the glory of the regenerate Et cùm sit mors peccati retributio aliquando impetrat vt nihil retribuatur peccato As the wicked