from our Parents Psal. 51. Behold sayth Dauid I was shapen in iniquity and in sinne did my mother conceiue me The originall word is warme me as if the first heate deriued to him were not without contamination I was borne a sinner sayth a Saint It is saide Gen. 5. that Adam begate a sonne in his owne likenesse after his image and called his name Seth. This image and likenesse cannot bee vnderstood of the Soule for this Adam begate not Nor properly and meerely of the Bodies shape so was Cain as like to Adam as Seth of whom it is spoken Nor did that image consist in the piety and purity of Seth Adam could not propagate that to his sonne which hee had not in himselfe vertues are not giuen by birth nor doth grace follow generation but regeneration Neyther is Seth said to bee begotten in the Image of Adam because mankind was continued and preserued in him But it intends that corruption which descended to Adams posterity by naturall propagation The Pelagian error was Peccatum primae transgressionis in alios homines non propagatione sed imitatione transisse that the guilt of the first sinne was deriued to other men not by propagation but by imitation but then could not Adam be said to begette a sonne in his owne image neyther could Death haue seazed on Infants who had not then sinned But all haue sinned Rom. 5. As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sinne so death passed vpon all men for that all haue sinned This title then the sonnes of men puts vs in mind of our originall contamination whereby we stand guilty before God lyable to present and eternall iudgements Dura tremenda refers You will say with the Disciples Ioh. 6. This is an hard saying who can heare it beare it nay be ready to conclude with a sadder inference as the same Disciples after a particular instance Math. 19. Who then can be saued I answere We deriue from the first Adam sinne and death but from the second Adam Grace and Life As we are the sonnes of men our state is wretched as made the sonnes of God blessed It is a peremptory speech 1. Cor. 15. 50. Flesh and bloud cannot inherite the kingdome of God neyther doth corruption inherite incorruption It is a reuiuing comfort in the 6. Chapter of the same Epistle Such wee were but wee are washed but we are sanctified but we are iustified in the name of the Lord Iesus by the spirit of our God The conclusion or inference hereon is most happy Now therefore there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Iesus who walke not after the flesh but after the spirite Wee may liue in the flesh but if after the flesh wee shall die Si voluntati voluptati carnis satissacere conemur If our endeuours bee wholy armed and aymed to content the Flesh but if we bee led by the spirit cum dilectione cum delectatione with loue with delight wee are of the sonnes of men made the sonnes of God It is our happinesse not to bee borne but to bee new borne The first birth kills the second giues life It is not the seed of man in the wombe of our mother but the seed of Grace in the wombe of the Church that makes vs blessed Generation lost vs it must bee regeneration that recouers vs. As the tree falls so it lies and lightly it falls to that side which is most loden with fruites and branches If wee abound most with the fruits of obedience wee shall fall to the right hand life if with wicked actions affections to the left side death It is not then worth the ascription of glory to what wee deriue naturally from man Dauid accepts it as a great dignity to be sonne in law to a King To descend from Potentates and to fetch our pedegree from princes is held mirabile et memorabile decus a dignity not to bee slighted or forgotten But to bee a Monarch Imperium Oceano famam quiterminat astris Whose fame and Empire no lesse bound controules Then the remotest sea and both the Poles Oh this is Celsissima gloria mundi the supremest honour of this world yet Princes are but men saith the Psalmist Put not your trust in Princes nor in the sonne of man in whom there is no helpe His breath goeth forth hee returneth to his earth They may bee high by their calling Princes yet they are but low by their nature sons of men And meerely to bee the sonne of man is to bee corrupt and polluted They are sinfull the sonnes of men weake there is no helpe in them corruptible their breath goeth forth dying they returne to their earth It is registred as an euident praise of Moses his faith that for the rebuke of Christ he refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter There is no ambitiō good in the sons of men but to be adopted the sons of God vnder which degree there is no happines aboue which no cause of aspiring 2. Our Corruptiblenesse is heere also demonstrated A mortall Father cannot beget an immortall sonne If they that brought vs into the world haue gone out of the world themselues we may infallibly conclude our owne following He that may say I haue a man to my Father a woman to my mother in his life may in death with Iob say to Corruption Thou art my Father to the worm Thou art my mother and my sister It hath beene excepted against the iustice of God that the sinne of one man is deuolued to his posteritie and that for the fathers eating sowre grapes the childrens teeth are set on edge according to the Iewish Prouerbe Ier. 31. 29. As if we might say to euery sonne of man as Horace sung to his friend Delicta maiorum immeritus lues Thou being innocent doest suffer for thy nocent superiours This a Philosopher obiected against the gods strangely conferring it as if for the fathers disease physicke should be ministred to the sonne I answere Adam is considered as the roote of mankind that corrupt masse whence can bee deduced no pure thing Can we bee borne Morians without their blacke skins It is possible to haue an Amorite to our father and an Hittite to our mother without participation of their corrupted natures If a man slippe a syense from a hawth orne hee will not looke to gather from it grapes There is not then a sonne of man in the cluster of mankind but eodem modo nodo vinctus victus it is lyable to that common and equall law of death Vnde superbis homo natus satus ortus ab hum◠Proud man forgets Earth was his natiue wombe Whence he was borne and dead the Earth's his Tombe Morieris non quia aegrot as sed quia viuis sayth the Philosopher Thou shalt die oh sonne of man not because thou art sicke but because
heart sayth the Psalmist the locall seate of this madnes when they haue not known the wayes of the Lord. The true obiect of diuine knowledge is God and the Booke wherein we learne him is his Word How shall they scape the rockes that saile without this Compasse when the Frenzy hath turned the edge of common sense frustrated the power of reason and captiuated the regent-house of vnderstanding a man dreades not fire mockes the thunder playes at the holes of Asps thrusts his hand into the mouthes of Lions ignoti nec timor nec amor he knowes not the danger So whiles the supreme Iustice is not knowne nor the auenger of wickednesse vnderstood the vngodly are so madde as to mocke at sinne to play at the brinks of the infernall pitte and to dally with those Aspes Crocodiles the stinging and tormenting spirits to precipitate themselues into that vnquenched fire to fillup the darts of thunder backe againe to the sender and with a thirsty voracity to swallow down the dregs of the wrathfull viall Quid in causa nisi ignorantia what hath thus distempered the heart and put it into this wildnesse that without feare or wit men run into the euident danger of vengeance if not ignorance Aprudent man foreseeth the plague and hideth himselfe but the foolish run madly on and are punished If the Romists were not mad-mē or worse they would neuer set vp ignorance as a Lampe to light men to heauen assuring it for the damme to produce and nurse with her cherishing milke to batten deuotion when it is indeede an originall cause of madnesse the mother of errour and wildnesse making mans way to blisse more vncertaine then Hannibals on the Alpes or a Larkes in the ayre The truth is know to know and be wise know to obey and be happy This is eternall life to know God and his Sonne whom he hath sent Iesus Christ. Labour to vnderstand the Bible lest thou vndergoe the curses in it Lege historiam ne fias historia Saint Paul after the recitation of many fearefull iudgements concludes Now all these things hapned vnto them for ensamples and are written for our admonition c. If wee will not bee admonished by these ensamples wee may become ensamples our selues histories of madnesse to future generations Let the Papists call Ignorance by neuer so tolerable and gentle names it is Ignorance still still cause of madnes If madnes may bring to heauen there is hope for these wilfully ignorant 2. Vnfaithfulnesse Is a sufficient-efficient cause of madnes Faith is the Christian mans reason now on the priuation of reason must needes follow the position of madnes For shall the Creatour of heauen and earth the eternall Iustice and infallible Truth affirme shall he sweare wil you put him to his oath and that by two immutable things the best in heauen and the best on earth will you haue him set his hand to it and write it with his owne finger dare you not yet trust him without a Seale must hee seale it with that bloudy waxe in the impression of death on his Sonne must you haue witnesses three on earth and as many in heauen when the King of Kings might well write Teste meipso and will you not yet beleeue him Is there no credite from your hearts to all these premises promises attestations protestations signes seales Will not these all these signifie certifie satisfie your soules of that vnchangeable truth Surely you are madde haplesly hopelesly mad vnmeasurably out of your spirituall wits Were you as deepely gone in a corporall frenzy I would sigh out your desperate case Hei mihi quod nullis ratio est medicabilis herbis Shall the Lord threaten iudgements woe to him that trembles not Non sapient sentient tamen Hell was not made for nothing The vantguard of that accursed departing rabble the ringleaders of the crew that dance to hell are vnbeleeuers Reuel 21. An vnsetled heart accompanied incredulity If yee will not beleeue surely yee shall not be established Neyther are they that beleeue not gathered within the pale and solde of the Church but wander like straggling goates and wilde beasts on the mountaines and forrests of this world Hereupon through the improuident and incircumspect courses that madde Infidelity keepes the soule stumbles at the Rocke and is broken by that which might haue beene her eternall safety 1. Pet. 2. They that wander from the mounds and bounds of Faith madly inuite dangers to salute them Sub clypeo fidei subsidio virtutis vir tutus But where faith is not our Proctor nor is prouidence our Protector what shall shield vs in the absence of faith Not Solon not Solomon a Wise man among the Gentiles a wiser among the Christians but grow madde in the deficiencie of faith Men see by vnanswerable arguments that the hand of God is too strong for sinners that the least touch of his finger staggers their liues their soules that hee sends his Executioner Death to cal the wicked away and that in a more horrid shape then to others arming him with plague murder distraction destruction and that often with suddennesse they behold that Cadit corpus inde cadauer sepelitur seponitur the body dies and turns to rottennesse they know their owne building to be made of the same loame and dust and therfore lyable to that common and equall law Frequent examples of Gods immediate vengeance are added to the ancient trophees and monumentall ruines of his former desolations spectacles set vp in the vast Theater of this world whereof quocunque sub axe whither soeuer thou turnest thine eyes thou must needes be a spectator Shall we still thinke that solummodò pereunt vt pereant vel vt pereundo alios deterreant they only perish to perish and not to terrifie others threatning the like wretchednes to the like wickednes Surely the iudgements of God should bee like his Thunders Poena ad paucos terror ad omnes Whilest some fall others should feare They that will not take example by others shall giue example to others But we see those that are as ripe in lewdnesse draw long and peaceable breathes neither is it the disposition of a singular power but the contingencie of naturall causes that thus worketh Take heed it is not the leuity but the lenity of God not the weakenesse of his arme but the mercy of his patience that thus forbeareth thee The Lord is not slacke as some count slacknes but is long-suffering to vs-ward c. If this gentle Physicke make thee madder hee hath a darke chamber to put thee in a dungeon is more lightsome and delightsome the Graue bands of darkenesse to restraine thy outrages and potions of brimstone to tame and weaken thy peruersenesse Then will hee demonstrate actually Nemo me impunè lacessit No man shall prouoke me vnpunished Infidelity of Gods iudgements is madnesse vnbeliefe of his mercies hath neuer beene counted lesse What is it
else to refuse the offer of that Lambe which takes away the sinnes of the world and to cut off our selues from that vniuersall promise Moritur Christus pro indigenis pro indignis and spreaders out his armes on the Crosse to embrace both Iew and Gentile Why doth not God giue faith I answere with that Father Non ideo non habet fidem quia Deus non dat sed quiatu non accipis Thou doest not therefore lacke faith because God doth not offer it but because thou wilt not accept it The name of Iesus Christ is sayeth Saint August Nomen sub quo nemini desperandum est A name able to defend vs from desperation But there are many implacable threatnings against out guiltinesse There are none implacable to faith none without reseruation of mercy to repentance Euery conditionall proposition hath two parts the former suspendeth the sentence and is called the antecedent the latter concludeth the sentence and is called the consequent The first Nil ponit in esse As a conditionall promise inferreth nothing but deriueth all force and vertue from the connexion whereof it dependeth So in menaces there is eyther some presupposed cause or after-concession wherein it inferreth a consequence If thou hast sinned if thou doest not repent There is place for remission with God if there be place for repentance in thy owne heart If then distrust of Gods mercy bee not madnesse what is when it causeth a man to breake that league of kindnesse which he oweth to his owne flesh and offers to his hand engines of his owne destruction euermore presenting his mind with halters swords poisons pistolls ponds disquieting the heart with such turbulent and distracting cogitations till it hath adiured the hands to imbrue themselues in their owne bloud to the incurring of a sorer execution from the iustice of God Is he not mad that will giue credite to the Father of lies rather then to the God of Truth when God promiseth to Penitence the wiping away her teares the binding vp her wounds and healing her sores and the deuill denyeth it giuing it for impossible to haue the iustice of God satisfied and thy sinnes pardoned behold darkenes is beleeued rather then light and falshood is preferred to truth Be not thus Lyon-like in your houses and franticke in your hearts mad in your desperate follies to shut vp heauen when the Lord hath opened it to renew that score which he hath wiped and when hee hath pulled you out of the fire to runne into it againe like Tygers to teare and deuoure your owne soules which that bloud of eternall merite hath freed from the Dragon of hell It is not a light and inferior degree of madnes but a diffident and desperate when the Physitian euen He of heauen shall promise helpe to a â—ore and apply playsters of his owne bloud to it the Patient shall thrust his nayles into it and answere nay It shall not be healed This sinne is like that fourth Beast in the 7. of Daniel without distinction of name or kind Dreadfull terrible exceedingly strong and it had great yron teeth c. The Lyon Beare Leopard are tame and gentle in regard of this Beast it is desperate madnes That grinds the poore with his yron teeth and stampes his own heart vnder his malignant feet and dasheth against God himselfe with his hornes of Blasphemie It is then clearer then the day that the darkenes of Infidelity is Phrenzie whether as it hath beene in stanced it be presumptuous against Gods Iustice or desperate against his Mercy For who but a mad-man would hope for impunity to his wilfully-continued sins where he visibly perceiues that peccatum peccanteÌ„ necessitat morti that iniquity giues soule and body lyable to condemnation and obiects them to the vnappeaseable wrath of God And yet who but a mad-man hauing sinned will despayre of forgiuenes when the mercy of God hath allowed a place to repentance Turn and liue sayth the Lord for I haue no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth 3. Refractary and peruerse Affections Make the possessed franticke This is a speeding cause and failes not to distemper the soule whereof it hath gotten mastery There may bee first a sober knowledge that the Patient may say Video meliora I see better things and secondly a faith but such as is incident to deuils proboque I allow of them but thirdly where the whole man is tyrannized ouer by the Regent-house of irrefragable affects deterior a sequor hee concludes his course with I follow the worse Obserue the Philistines crying 1. Sam. 47. God is come into the Campe woe vnto vs c. Yet they settle hearten harden themselues to fight against him Ver. 8. Woe vnto vs who shall deliuer vs out of the hand of these mightie Gods yet verse 9. Bee strong and quit your selues like men O yee Philistines quit your selues like men and fight Twice they behold their Dagon falne down before the Arke yet Dagon must bee their God still and the Arke is only reuerenc'd for a ne noceat How many runne madde of this cause inordinate furious lusts If men could send their vnderstandings like Spyes downe into the Well of their hearts to see what obstructions of sinne haue stopp'd their veines those springs that erst deriued health and comfort to them they should finde that male afficiuntur quia malè afficiunt their madde affects haue bad effects and the euill disposednesse of their soules ariseth from the want of composednesse in their affections The Prophet Ieremy chap. 2. compareth Israel to a swift Dromedary trauersing her wayes and to a wilde Asse vsed to the wildernesse that snuffeth vp the winde at her pleasure Be yee not sayth the Psalmographer as the horse and mule which haue no vnderstanding whose mouth must bee helde in with bit and bridle Men haue vnderstanding not beasts yet when the frenzy of lust ouerwhelmeth their senses wee may take vp the word of the Prophet and powre it on them Euery man is a beast by his own knowledge And therefore man that is in honour and vnderstandeth not is like vnto beasts that perish Did not the bridle of Gods ouer-ruling prouidence giue cohibition to their madnes they would cast off the saddle of reason and kicke nature it selfe in the face This is that which Solomon calles the wickednesse of follie foolishnes and madnesse an actuall deuiation deuitation of the way of righteousnesse a practicall frenzy a rouing wandring vagrant extrauagant course which knowes not which way to flie nor where to light except like a Dorre in a dung-hill an opinion without ground a going without a path a purpose to doe it knowes not what a getting and losing bending and breaking building vp and pulling downe conceyuing a multitude of thoughts with much anxiety and with a sudden neglect scattering them As that woman who being long barren by studying and practising physicke