filthy monster so that they cannot sleepe till such time as they haue giuen it its fill of disobedience and iniquitie when they once thorough some stirring of their conscience come to haue their eyes opened whereby they beginne to perceiue the terriblenesse of this monster they become hatefull and fearefull vnto their owne selues and oftentimes murther themselues hoping thereby to get out of the sight and presence of that grim hellish monster which now they begin to see in themselues whereat they are affrighted as it came to passe with Iudas and many others Now the reasons for which originall sinne or naturall corruption may truly be held to be such an hatefull and deadly monster may besides that which shall be hereafter spoken be taken out of those reasons which we haue already giuen in the opening of the Text wherein wee shewed wherefore this naturall corruption is termed a bodie of death And if so be that it bee a monstrous thing when in a bodie the members are all mishapen and misplaced and moreouer in themselues exceedingly depraued so must this naturall corruption needs be held to be a monstrous thing wherin the vnderstanding which should be gouernour and leader of the will and fleshly lustes and affections not onely lieth subdued vnder them both but also is in it selfe vtterly obscured darkned and the will and affections in themselues altogether peruerted and disordered Furthermore if the death and pollution of body and soule if a deadly broode of all manner of haynous and deadly sinnes nay if eternall death and damnation are most odious and terrible things then this naturall corruption must needes be judged to bee a hatefull and fearefull thing which occasioneth and bringeth forth all these things as was made manifest before in the opening of the Text Wherefore we conclude as wee beganne that the naturall corruption wherein we were all conceiued and borne and which we all brought into the world with vs from our mothers wombe is a most vgly deformed body of death a fearefull and deadly monster Now let vs see what Vse we can make of that which hath beene spoken and in the first place here is great cause of mourning and lamentation even because that although this body of death our naturall corruption which in euery place is knowne by the name of brittle weake and corrupt flesh bee such an abominable and deadly monster as that it deserues and ought to bee of euery one persecuted and hunted euen to death yet is so generally serued and obeyed in the lusts thereof as at this day it is Behold and marke the course of the world and consider well the actions of the most part of men and you shall finde that they tend chiefely to the fulfilling and satisfying the desires of this horrible monster their corrupt flesh to the susteyning and supporting of it and to the giuing it the fill of whatsoeuer it requireth if it will haue men eat till they surfet and drinke till they be drunke you shall find multitudes of them that will doe it although they should eat and drinke vp goods bodies and soule and all if it lusteth after wantonnesse you shall find those that fit and addresse themselues for that also by lurking here and there in corners gazing and staring out at Windowes and doores and frequenting dishonest places or by vsing idle and immodest exercises as lasciuious dauncing wanton sporting amorous songs corrupt and rotten communication stuffed with vaine and vnfruitfull iestes and prophane passages and that vpon the Sabboth day the which although some seeme to obserue and keepe by resting from the workes of their calling and seruing the world yet you shall haue the same men prophane and violate that blessed day which God hath set apart for his own seruice by doing the workes of their corrupt flesh and toyling to serue it in the lustes thereof as in taking their carnall sports and such pas times as their base and sensuall affections shal lead them vnto when they should be best employed in spirituall exercises Wheras if they saw their spirituall estate and were sensible of the wants thereof they would thinke one day too little for them to spend in bewayling their sins miseries in prayer meditation reading and hearing the word of God or if they did but know and duely consider the wonderfull bountifulnesse mercy patience and long-suffering of God who hath so safely protected them so carefully prouided for them and so mercifully spared them notwithstanding their sinnes vnworthinesse they would thinke that time rather too short then too long for them to blesse him and prayse him enough and to spend in godly and sanctified discourse and conference vpon those things which appertaine and tend to Gods glory and their owne mutuall comfort and edification in the knowledge of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ Furthermore how many doe wee see whose daily practise and trade of life is to fulfill and satisfie the lustes and desires of this vile and vgly monster their corrupt flesh in lying deceiuing vsury seeking vnlawfull and vngodly gaines slandering and backbiting their neighbours vndermining for offices and places of dignitie by a thousand vngodly and sinister meanes and deuises and infinite wayes els which would be too long here to be repeated so that it is a thing most lamentable and neuer enough to be bewayled that Man that excellent creature which at first was created to serue the Lord his God in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of his life to his euerlasting comfort should be found to be so base as to sell himselfe to be a slaue and a drudge to his corrupt and sinfull flesh and to serue it in the vile and contemptible lustes and appetites thereof to his euerlasting woe and destruction yea I say that it is a thing altogether lamentable that this bodie of death this pernicious and deadly monster our naturall corruption should be thus diligently obeyed and serued notwithstanding the wages thereof be death eternall both of soule and bodie when in the meane time the seruice of our good and gracious God is vtterly neglected and yet the reward which hee offereth is euerlasting ioy and happinesse In the second place this serues to warne and admonish all the children of men that they take good notice of this cruell and deadly monster which keepes all this quarter in the world and which they all haue brought with themselues into the world When some noysome beast is discouered to be in a Countrey the people of the same are not a little moued therewith how doe they bestirre themselues consult and lay their heads and helpes together to chase it or ensnare it that they might by some meanes bring it to death how shall we then behaue our selues which haue receiued such credible and certaine information that such a pernicious and deadly monster as the corrupt flesh is risen vp amongst men shall we be idle and secure shall wee not bestirre
flesh then beginne they to iustifie themselues and to say we haue all drunke of one cup he that is without sinne let him cast the first stone at me haue I my imperfections Another hath his I am not alone I hope I shall get into heauen as well as another and so they set themselues in equall degree with the true Children of God they themselues being no other then fleshly men and children of the world But thou miserable man which speakest after this manner vnderstandest thou not or wilt thou not vnderstand that there is a great difference betweene hauing the sinfull flesh in one and fighting with it and hauing it in one and louing and seruing it in the lustes thereof Is there no difference betweene chast Ioseph who being set vpon by Potiphars wife and tempted to commit folly ranne away and betweene the light and wanton woman who sought to draw him vnto it Is there no difference betweene a modest and chast Matron who hauing a Ruffian in her house resisteth him striueth against him seeketh by all meanes to driue him out and cryeth out earnestly O wretched woman that I am who shall deliuer me from this wicked villaine and betweene a lasciuious woman which reioyceth and is glad that the Ruffian is in her house which maketh a bed for him and solaceth her selfe with him so is there great difference betweene you which let sin raigne in your mortall bodies that you might obey it in the lusts thereof Rom. 6.12 and betweene the seruants of God which wrestle and fight with it and labour to beat it downe and bring it in subiection 1 Cor. 9 27. Yea there is so great difference marke it well that you with your sinfull flesh shall be cast into Hell where you shall eternally be tormented if in time you repent not where on the contrary side the Children of God shall be freed and deliuered from their sinfull flesh and be exalted into Heauen yea behold there is so great difference betweene you two that the one shall be damned and the other saued the one goe to heauen and the other to hell But although this naturall corruption is not alike in all men yet it is truely in all men and that in the very best as daily experience teacheth for who is there among the most holy and sanctified that liue which feeleth not in himselfe the pricke of the corrupt flesh and findeth not something to be in him which standeth in his way keepeth him from doing the good which he would doe greatly hindering him in the seruice of the most high First this serueth to incite and stirre vp euery one to walke warily and circumspectly seeing that we carry about vs and in vs such a bodie of sinne and of death such a deadly and deceitfull monster as the flattering flesh which alwayes lieth in ambush to entrap the soule and is conspired with the Diuell to bring it vnto destruction Shall we not then stand vpon our gard Shall wee not watch and pray and put on all the Christian Armour of proofe to defend our selues withall how can a poore man escape destruction and condemnation if he looketh not well to himselfe seeing he is so beset on euery side within and without with such dangerous and cruell enemies Admit that a Frontier towne be straightly besieged with a strong Army without and hath within it mutinous souldiers which alwayes seeke their opportunitie to betray and deliuer it ouer into the enemies handes how can such a Towne bee safe if good watch be not kept Must it not of necessitie be wasted and ransacked vnlesse the Citizens doe take more then common care and diligence to secure themselues We see it is bad enough with a Cittie in such a case let it doe the best it can and euen thus standeth it with vs the Diuell runneth round about vs seeking to deuoure our soules the corrupt flesh is within vs readie to betray our soules into his hands how then can wee auoid destruction if we be secure and negligent For this cause sayth the Scripture If the righteous shall scarcely be saned where shall the sinner and vngodly man appeare 1. Pet. 4.18 If that the Apostle Paul was thus troubled and grieued with the sin that cleaued so fast vnto him which was then vpon his guard and stroue manfully with it which had then denied himselfe and made it his continuall practise and trade to beate downe and kill this bodie of sinne 1. Cor. 9.27 What will then become of secure and negligent men that take no more care for their noble and precious soule then as though there were no deceitfull Sathan alwayes seeking his aduantages to enter vpon it nor any corrupt flesh and body of death to kill and putrifie it It shall surely come vnto them as the Apostle sayth when they shall say peace and safetie then shall come vpon them suddaine destruction as the trauayle vpon a woman with childe and they shall not escape 1. Thes 5.3 vnlesse in time they preuent it And it is most certaine that all this securitie which is in worldly and carnall men ariseth onely from this that they neither thinke nor consider that there is a whole kingdome of darknesse and all the power of hell vp in armes for to destroy their soule and a whole bodie of death and of sinne within them which is euermore readie to betray them into the hands of the destroyer this ignorance is the cause and ground of all their securitie for did they but see how mighty and cruell their enemies are and what deadly and poysonous concupiscences they carry in their bosomes they would surely be affrighted and tremble and cry out with the Apostle as if they were in some great exigent O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death Wherefore we must suffer our selues to be admonished euermore to stand vpon our guard to pray to haue God alwayes before our eyes and often to heare read and meditate on his Word and to follow his will reuealed therein those that are subiect to any disease in their bodie as the stone the gout or the like when they beginne to perceiue any signe of their old griefe they presently make their moane and complaine of it and liue more carefully respectiuely auoiding whatsoeuer may further and encrease their disease vsing all meanes to haue it cured so must we also doe for our soules vnlesse by giuing ouer all care of them we brand our selues with the marke of men reprobated and giuen vp of God In the second place this serueth for the iust reproofe of the exceeding great blindnesse and sottishnesse of many worldly and carnall men who because they lead an outward ciuill life among their neighbours paying euery man his owne and defrauding no man of a penny as their manner of speech is are therefore accustomed to iustifie themselues before God and beare themselues in hand that they haue no
as it were receiuing their deaths wound beganne presently to decay being in the first place depriued of that excellent beautie and luster wherewith they were cloathed For at first they were more glorious and beautifull in their bodies then the Lillyes in Paradise but when this filthie pollution had once ouerrunne them then beganne they to be ashamed of their owne bodies and to couer them yea this sinne so wrought vpon them that by reason therof they could not remaine in Paradise but went and hid themselues amongst the trees of the Garden Gen. 3. Such deadly and destroying poyson both to soule and bodie there is in this corruption This naturall corruption is also called a bodie of death because it engendreth and bringeth forth a broode of deadly sinnes Iam. 1.14.15 Which are nothing else but dead workes Heb. 6.1 Dauid hauing committed those two great and haynous sinnes of Adultery and Murther and being greatly humbled and broken in hart for the same went as one would say to seeke out the fountaine by the streame and to enquire how it might come to passe that he should so exceeding foolishly forget himselfe and he findes his naturall corruption to be the originall cause from whence those most hatefull and deadly crimes did proceede Psalme 51.5 Wherefore in this regard with good cause is it termed a bodie of death It is likewise called a body of death because it is destined to euerlasting death as the man in whom it raigneth Rom. 6.23 Euen as Dauid was called a Childe of death not onely because he had killed another but because he himselfe had deserued to die So this corruption is likewise called a bodie of death because it is condemned to die and to death it must goe Colos 3.5 Gal. 5.24 Yea it is a matter of such consequence that what man soeuer doth not in this life begin to kill and crucifie this monster he himselfe shall die eternally As the Apostle sayth Rom 8.13 If you liue after the flesh yee shall die that is to say eternally for wee must all die once Heb 9. ver 27. but if by the spirit yee mortifie the deedes of the bodie that is of this wicked body of sinne which is condemned to die Rom 6.6 yee shall liue Thus then stands it with this naturall corruption this hatefull vgly monster that vnlesse we begin to kill it while we are here it will not onely bring vpon vs the spirituall death of our soules and the temporall death of our bodies but also the eternall death of both whereby we shall perish for euer Yea wee haue all of vs alreadie deserued that we together with our naturall corruption or sinful flesh should be pluckt out of the Land of the liuing and cast into euerlasting darkenesse where is weeping wayling and gnashing of teeth But here in appeareth the wonderfull and vnspeakeable louing kindnesse patience and long suffering of God inviting vs to repentance and saluation in that there is space giuen vs here wherin to repent and crucifie this body of death Therefore it is the greatest madnesse that can be in the world that a poore wretched condemned caytiffe dares be so bold as to put off from day to day his Repentance and the mortifying of the wicked body of his originall corruption which he knowes not in how short a time may bring him into euerlasting perdition Behold these are the reasons for which the Apostle nameth our naturall corruption a bodie of death from whence ariseth this obseruation that the originall corruption wherein wee were all conceiued and borne is a most deformed mishapen bodie of death a monster altogether vgly and fearefull Which is manifest in that it not onely corrupteth and destroyeth soule and bodie but also bringeth them both into euerlasting condemnation vnlesse a course be taken in time as it was plainely proued in the opening of the Text and may also further be gathered out of this that the Apostle himselfe cryeth out so earnestly and complaineth that he is a miserable man because hee was troubled and oppressed therewith For this cause is it that naturall vnregenerate men in whom the corrupt flesh hath the vpperhand are so commonly in the Scriptures compared to most noysome and hurtfull Creatures as Serpents and Vipers Mat 23.33 Lyons Psal 10.9 Beares Pro 28.15 Rauening Wolues Mat 7.15 Wilde Swine Psal 80.13 wilde Asses Iob 1â— 12 Foxes and young Foxes which spoyle and bring to naught euery thing about which they come Cant 2.15 Yea the naturall man is sayd to haue the Diuell to his Father Ioh 8.44 So that a child is not more like to his Father then an vnregenerate man spiritually is to the Diuell and iudge you what a monstrous thing this is that man which was created after Gods owne image should now bee likened vnto those Creatures aforesaid not onely in some respects as God himselfe is vnto some of them but euen in the most odious and hatefull things that are in them and not onely so but in sinne and wickednesse to resemble the Diuell himselfe too therefore the Scripture sayth of carnall men which haue nothing in them but nature that their throte is an open Sepulcher the poyson of Aspes is under their lips their mouth is sull of cursing and bitternesse their feete are swift to shed bloud destruction and calamity are in their wayes as in the way of some deuouring Monster which destroyes and spoyles all things where he passeth or comes For this cause is it that the Saints of GOD whose eyes he hath opened for to see the hatefulnesse of this Monster our naturall corruption which wee all brought with vs into the world from our Mothers wombe had rather die then fulfill the lusts thereof which are alwayes against God and contrary to his holy Commandements Such is the nature of this body of death that it will no longer do any worke of God then it may with profit or pleasure and when eyther of these is crost then farewell obedience If Nabuchadnezzar commands contrary to the Law of God that all men must worship the Golden Image or els be cast into the fiery furnace naturall corruption flesh and bloud will straight way conclude that it is best to obey the King but the Saints of God which know the hatefulnesse of this Monster will rather vndergoe the punishment then giue it his desire If that adulterous woman Potiphars wife should goe about to draw Ioseph to commit folly with her this monster our naturall corruption would presently consent but Ioseph the seruant of God rather then he will doe so will leaue his garment behinde and venture his life too for he knoweth that this body of death is a fearefull vgly monster the lusts whereof are enmitie to God Yea the accursed vnregenerate wretches themselues whose ioy delight and chiefest happines is placed in pleasing their corrupt sinfull flesh and whose onely care and studie is to satisfie the lustes of this vile and