punishment of Losse or in the punishment of Sense or rather in both The losse of all pleasures and the sense of all paines together doe meet in hell and make it to be hell And the least part of that punishment that is in hell is very great but the other grievous beyond comparison The last is thought the least The punishment of Sense is lesse then that of Losse Denominatio sumitur à principaliori The chiefest Godfather does use to name the child and the principall part of the punishment does name the whole It is not called Sensation from poena sensus but Damnation from poena damni to intimate unto us that the losse of all the happinesse in heaven is a greater unhappinesse then all the wretchednesse besides There may be many now in Hell enduring exquisite tortures that would gladly have them doubled for ten thousand yeeres upon condition then to enjoy the fulnesse of joy in the presence of God and the refreshing pleasures at his right hand for evermore But alas â— It must not be When once the righteous Judge hath said Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire that their accursed Psal 7. 12. Math. 25. 41. departure must be for ever as well as their extremest tortures in that fire Men must beware before then and that we may take heed in time let us take it into our saddest thoughts or rather let us think it far above all humane apprehension rightly to think what it is to lose the fulnesse of joy in the presence of God and the pleasures at his right hand for evermore And in the third place because there is the fulnesse of joy in the presence of God and pleasures at his right hand for evermore therefore let us use our best endeavours that we may get into that presence Summo labore summum bonum assequi necesse est saith Lactan Institut Divin lib. 3. Maximum ens est maximuâ— bonum Pau. Ferrius in Scholas Orthodoxi specimine c. 3. Cum forma Dei sit sua bonitas râ—linquitur ut cum Deus vâ—lt omnia propter se vel ut quando agit propter se ideo agat ut res bonitati suae assimulentur Idem Ibid. Nostros migrantes non amisimus sed praemisimus S. August Epist ad Italicam Lactantius The greatest pains must be employed to obtaine the greatest pleasure Let us place our SummuÌ„ bonuÌ„ where of right we should let us place our happinesse in that presence and let all our aimes all our desires all our endeavours be to enter into it Let the enjoyment of that presence be the ultimate end of all our wishes and let us all be willing to purchase it at any rate The price of it is what the good man is not what the great man has God asks not goods but goodnesse for it He that hath so much of godlinesse or goodnesse in him as to give himselfe to God for it shall not for ever goe without it Let us bestow our selves and service upon the God of Heaven that he may bestow the happinesse of Heaven upon us And in the fourth place because there is the fulnesse of joy in the presence of God and pleasure at his right hand for evermore therefore let us never be cast downe with Heavinesse when any of our dearest friends are lifted up with joy at that happinesse why should their fulnesse of joy fill us with griefe If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I said I goe unto the Father said our Saviour Christ to his Disciples John 14. 28. as much as to say that the felicity of a friend should make us to be merry rather then to mourne And in the fift place because there is the fulnesse of joy c. Nam cum te aeque ac me diligam necesse est ut summum bonuâ— assequi te tanquam me alalterum cupian Bucherius in Epist Paraeneric ad Valerian cognatuÌ„ suum 1 Kings 19. 4. Let us never be unwilling to lay downe this life of Sorrowes our selves for the taking up of that of joyes It is no great Happinesse to live long here nor great unhappinesse to depart ere long from hence Onely they are happy in some measure here that have lived long enough to dy so well that they may live in happinesse for ever after death This present life is no such desirable thing but any man may find sufficient cause to make him willing with Elias to have it taken from him When the Patriarch Jacob had lived here as long and full as well as any here and it may be longer then most and better then any he cast up his account by the help of his best Arithmetick and found that the totall summe would amount to no more then the short Bill of a few evill Dayes Few and evill have the dayes of the yeeres of my life beene said he to Pharaoh Gen. 47. 9. And which of all us here might not give in the same Reckoning if we would but audit our lives The Summa Totalis of Jacobs life was very small so small indeed that he thought it meetest to multiply the same by dayes The Inches of Dayes are the fittest measures for the Hand-breadth of humane life The length of Psal 39. 5. humane life is but one span and every day does shorten that little length at least an Inch. Jacobs life was but of Dayes and the Dayes of Jacobs life were in all but few And all those few Dayes of Jacobs life were evill as he said himselfe few and evill have Gen. 47. 9. they beene And whose life may not be measured by dayes as well as Jacobs And whose dayes of life are not few as few as Jacobs Whose life of Dayes is not short as short as his And whos 's few Dayes of life are not all evill as evill as Jacobs Who can looke upon them and not say truly few and evill have thy been But are all our dayes evill Why then doe we all complaine that they are few Are not a few evill Dayes enough Will any wise man wish for many evill Dayes And againe are all our evill Dayes but few why doe we then complaine that they are evill Who may not beare with a few evill Dayes that expects an Eternity of good Dayes when these few evill Dayes are ended In the last place therefore if we doe beleeve the Truth in the words of the Text if we be perswaded that there is the fulnesse of joy in the presence of God and pleasure at his right hand for evermore then let us never reckon any sufferings to be too many or too great or too long to be endured for the obtaining of those joyes and pleasures that shall endure for ever But let us reckon with S. Paul that the sufferings of this Rom. 8. 18. present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us Indeed no affliction seemeth joyous for the Heb. 12.
such Live ye ever so and so ye shall live for evâ—â— Living without Turning is impossible and Turning without Living is unprofitable Indeed there is no Living without Turning nor any Turning indeed without Livinâ— He that would live must turn himself And he that doâ— turn himself must live too And he shall live that so dâ—â— turn himself Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Reâ—â— facite vivetis saith Montanus Do your endeavours to be Ari. Mont. Bibl. secund Zantiâ— Pagnini interpretationem turned and ye shall live And so Montanus seems to part the Text into a Precept and a Promise First into a Precept of Turning Secondly into a Promise of Living Turn and Live As much as to say Repent and so be reprieved Forsake your sinnes and so save your souls Be but penitent and ye shall be pardoned The last is hinted as a Promise to perswade men to the Performance of the first The Promise commendeth the End the Precept commandeth the Means Life is offered in the Promise as the End and Repentance is required in the Precept as the Meanes He that would obtain the End must use the Means and he that doth use the Means shall obtain the End He that would live must turn himself and he that doth turn himself shall live Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Thus some have taken both parts of the Text as mandatory And others have taken onely the first part to be mandatory and the second to be promissory So that some have taken the last part as an Injunction and some have taken it as an Invitation Some as a Precept and some as a Promise Let us now take it as both As a Precept and as a Promise too As a Precept to live And As a Promise of Life First as a precept of Living after turning And secondly Dr. Donne Seâ—m 7. on the Nativity as a promise after both As a Precept enjoyning the Life of Grace and as a Promise of enjoying the Life of Glory As a Precept requiring a Spiritual life which is the life of life And as a Promise of requiting it with Life Eternal which is as One calls it the Exaltation of Life Spiritual Yea the Promise is not only of enjoying the Life of Glory with the Glory of Life hereafter But of enjoying the Life of Grace here with the Grace of Life here also Turn your selves and live here Turn your selves and live hereafter The promise is of the lesse saâ—vation as well as of the greater and no lesse of the greater then of the lesse Temporal life may be prolonged and Eternal life may be procured by that Turning here required Eternal judgments may be prevented and temporal judgments may be diverted or turned away by turning here according to the Text. Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Wherefore is a Note of Inference and it doth referre the Text to that which goes before it Now here to take in that before it which relateth chiefly to it we must take our rist at the Verse before it And in that we may note two things very considerable 1. An Exhortation 2. An Expostulation The Exhortation is very passionate The Expostulation very compassionate The first in these words Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed and make you a a new heart and a new spirit The second in these words For why will ye die O house of Israel The first is moving but the second urging Expostulatio pungit A zealous Exppostulation doth infuse the spirit of Compunction it hath the quickest touch of any kind of speech it often toucheth to the quick And God himself doth here expostulate the cause with dying Sinners to make them sensible of their dangers and to quicken them in their seeking of deliverance First he exhorts them to forsake their sinnes to save their soules And then seeing his Exhortation to work but little upon them though it were pathetical and paraenetical He falls to expostulate the reason with them For why will ye die As if he should have said If ye will but cast away your sinnes from you ye shall not be cast away for your sinnes But if ye will not ye must If ye will not leave them whilest ye live ye must die for them whether ye will or no and they must leave you when ye die Why will ye die Why will ye As much as to say I must needs demand the reason or ask the cause of you in whom the Provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands and I will doe you no hurt Jer. 25. 6. cause of dying is Ye die because ye will die Why will ye die As much as to say I would not have you die it is not meerly from my will that ye die but from your own Doe not say then that ye must needs die because I will have ye die and that I will have ye die because I will I have no such will I would have you live and therefore have exhorted you and intreated you again and again to turn from your evil wayes the wayes of sinne which are the wayes of death And I have promised to you that if ye will repent iniquity ver 30. shall not be your ruine And my meaning is very sincere and real I will be as good as my promise if ye will be but as good as I desire you And because I see mine Exhortation to be neglected of you therfore do I come thus home unto you with an Expostulation to make you sensible of your fault and folly and to make you see that the cause of death is in your selves in your own wills or rather in your wilfulnesse Ye will die Why will ye die Ye will do that for which ye must die Ye will needs sinne to die for it Ye will not avoid it by resisting the Temptation nor make it void by repenting of it and therefore ye must die for it For the wages of sinne is death I must needs say unto you Why will ye die Why will ye not return and live Why will ye not be perswaded why not intreated why not commanded Why can no means no mercies no promises no threatenings prevail with you Will ye sinne wilfully will ye die sinfully And yet will ye say that it is my will that ye should so doe and so die Ye do that which is quite against my mind against my Word which is my will If ye die then thank your selves for all your sufferings or rather blame your selves for all your sinnes Let this then serve as a Caveat to every Sinner to admonish him to take good heed that he doth not charge God foolishly and falsely with the impulsive and originall cause of his eternal death Nefas est Deo ascribere causas peccatorum ruinarum omnium saith S. Austine It is a funerious crime S. Aug. Resp. ad articulos sibi false impositos to fasten the cause of all evils upon
God himselfe Let no man therefore say that he must needs sin unto death and die in sinne because it is Gods will and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or good Or had I not rather that he should be converted from his evil wayes and live Diodat pleasure that it should be so for God himself doth say the contrary and that with a kind of indignation For saith he have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die and not that he should return from his wayes and live v. 23. His Interrogation does import a vehement Negation In saying Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should dy He sayes as much as I have no pleasure at all that the wicked should die And so he saies very positively in the words before the Text. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth So far he is from taking Nolo mortem morientis quantum ut convertatur vivat Pamelius in Tertull. de Paeniten pleasure in the death of Penitent sinners that the death of Impenitent sinners is no pleasure to him He hath no pleasure in the death of such as dye naturally in their sinnes or for their not repenting of their sinnes before they die I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth If ye dy then the fault 's your own It is your wilfulnesse in sinning or your unwillingnesse to repent you of your sinning Ye will not be perswaded to forsake your sinnes before ye dye and therefore ye must needs die and suffer for their sakes Perditio tua ex te O Israel thy destruction is of thy self saith God Hos 13. 9. The same may be said to any damned soule or dying sinner The Lord is very desirous to clear himself from all aspersions in this particular and therefore does not onely say it but swear it too that he would not the death of the wicked As I live is an Oath and a great one too Yet God himself doth take it to attest this Truth As I live saith the â—cut verum est quod sum vita per essentiam it a verum est quod nolo mortem impii c. Nicho. de Lyra ad locum Psal 89. 35. Gen. 17. 1. Luke 1. 73. Numb 20. 12. Exod. 14. 11. Psal 50. 21. Ezek. 18. 25 29. Psal 78. 19 20 Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked But that the wicked turn from his evill way and live Ezek. 33. 11. For the Lord of life to say As I live is an oath by the life of the Lord. And that is as high an oath as can be invented Had he sworn by his Truth as he doth sometimes or by his Holinesse as he did to David or by his Omnipotencie as he did to Abraham his engagement had been very great But this by his Life is deemed greater for his Truth hath been questioned by divers and so hath his Holinesse and his Almighty Power hath been doubted of by as many But who did ever question his Life Now it is his very Life that he doth engage for the clearing of this Truth As I live saith the Lord c. He is the Living God And he is the God of the Living not of the Dead And therefore would not have the wicked Die Matth. 22. 32. Tertull. l. de Paenit but Live And this he sweareth by his Life that we might believe him Jurat Deus cupit sibi credi saith Tertullian When God doth swear we must believe him for he swears to be believed Ideirco jurat saith St. Hierome ut si non credimus Deo S. Hieron To. 2. Epist 46. promitteâ—â—i credamus saltem pro salute juranti God therefore swears that we may believe him upon his oath when we Magnum est loquâ— domâ—num quanto magis jurare Deum St. August in Psal 49. will not believe him upon his word It is much for God to speak but more to swear By speaking a word he made the World for he did but speak the word and it was made But he that could create the World with a Word could not be credited in the World upon his Word and therefore was forced to binde it with an Oath Now though we doe not believe him upon his Word yet let us believe him upon his Oath We may believe his bare Word for it is the God of Truth Deutr. 32. 4. Isai 65. 16. that speaketh in his Word and it is nothing but the Truth of God which is spoken We will believe an honest man upon his word and shall we not believe the most holy God Durum est It is very hard if we shall not give as much credit to God as we do to an honest man as saith Vincentius very divinely Gen. 3. 4. Durum est cum non tantum tribuamus Deo quantum diabolo Vincent An non hac ratione Deum in animo tuo perstringis mendacii qui verbo quidem dicat te velle servare c. interim tamen licet tu velis in Christum credere ipse tamen nolit Zanch. de natur Dei l. 5. Numb 23. 19. Rom. 3. 4. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Hebr. 6. 18. 1 John 3. 3. Our first Parents believed the father of lyes when he did but say ye shall not surely die And shall not we believe the father of mercies the God of Truth when he does not onely say it but swear it too that he would not have us die He swears that he would not the death of the wicked And shall we still say that he would their death Or that he would have them wicked that so they might die Absit absit God forbid that we should harbour such a thought of our most holy God! The truth is Gods Word in it self is as sure as his Oath for he is not a man that he should lie Let God be true and every man a lyar All his promises are yea and in him amen Heaven and Earth shall passe away but not one tittle of his word shall faile So that for the certainty of what he speaketh there needs no such religious Contestations Yet for our sakes the Oath of God is added to his Word that we might thereby have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strong consolation That we might believe a possibility of repenting And a probability yea an infallibility of Pardon upon our repentance That we might have hopes of life and purge our selves upon our hopes Debile fundamentum fallit opus A weak foundation Nemo potest bene agere paenitentiam nisi qui speraverit indulgentiam St. Ambr. de Paenit dist 1. cap. Nem. fails the building But here is a sure foundation for us to build our hopes upon as high as heaven Dei juramentum eâ—â— fideâ— nostrae fundamentum Gods oath may surely ground us in our holy faith Doth he swear it O then let us believe it O beatos nos quorum causa jurat Deus O miserrimos si nec
life in Christ and with him And hee that layes downe his life for Christ his Saviours sake shall take it up againe for his owne with immortality added to it Let no Man therefore either thinke or say that sufferings are the onely Salaries or the sole rewards that our Saviour Christ vouchsafeth to bestow upon his Souldiers and upon his Servants For never did any Souldier beare armes under the commands of a more Noble Captaine or more excellent Generall Nor can any man serve a better or more generous Master The Proto-Martyr was S. Steven Hee was the first that ever Dorotheus warred under the Banner of Christs Crosse to the losse of life The vaunt-gard was led on by him and hee himselfe did march in the very front to bid the enemy battell and was hee no way rewarded thinke yee Had hee nothing bestowed upon him but onely a volley of stones Did hee lose all salaries Acts 7. 59. with himselfe Oh no! Did hee not rather winne that life which is eternall by losing of his temporall life in that Bed of Honour And has hee not ever since beene invested with the Crowne of Martyrdome And has not that beene ever deemed As soone as he was ordained as though hee were appointed for this purpose stoned to death by them that slew the Lord and for this cause as the first triumphing Martyr of Christ according to his Name hee beareth a Crowne Eusebius l. 2. 1. Acts 7. 55 56. a Crowne of Glory Who ever called that first Brigade of holy Martyrs a forlorne-Hope that was carryed on by his Christian Gallantry and valiant Christianity Yet it was the first Party that faced the foe and gave the Onset Did not the very Heavens open to give Quarter to his Soule when it was beaten from the littler Garison of his Body by a charge of stones They are happy losers that are so beate into Heaven S. Paul was an other valiant Champion for the Lord of Hosts He fought with Beasts at Ephesus after the manner of Men and 1 Cor. 15. 32. Linus Epis de Passione Pauli Dorotheus Eusebius Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 22. overcame them And was there no reward bestowed upon him for fighting his good fight but onely the Romane Axe sharpened with Neronian cruelty Yes hee knew there was laid up for him a Crowne of Righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Judge would give unto him Or had Gods humble servant holy Job no better wages then a Dung-hill and a Pot-sheard for serving in such Paines to such Job 2. 7 8. Poverty with such Patience Pained hee was in his flesh till pined unto skin and bones And poore hee was to a very Proverb Job 2. 10. yet patient to a Miracle And had hee no remuneration Yee shall finde hee had and that a large one too if yee shall consult the vouchee of his sacred and authentick story towards the Job 42. 10 12. conclusion of it God was as free to him as hee had beene faithfull to God Job was not long in Misery before the Lord did manifest his bounty to him through the abundant riches of his Mercy The Crowne of Thornes was put upon our Saviours Head but was soone pulled off againe And his tender Limmes were fastened to the Crosse but could not be made so fast unto it but that they were soon loosed from it The Misery of the Crosse was quickly changed into the Majesty of a Crowne And the Paine of the Thornes into the Pleasure of a Throne The Soule of our Saviour was not left in the Hell of Sufferings Nor shall the Sufferings of Hell be left in any Soule that is our Saviours His Soule was soone translated with His Body unto Blisse and Acts 1. 9. Glory and so shall all the Soules and Bodies that belong to him Hee hath Coronets of Happinesse to Nobilitate the Heads of all his faithfull followers And hee hath Palmes of Victory to Honestate the Hands of all I doe not say the Martyred Army of Nobles But the Noble Army of Martyrs and hath stoles of Holinesse to compleate even all the Host of Heaven Cap aâ—pe The Saints on Earth are all but Viatores way-faring-Men wandering Pilgrims farre from home But the Saints in Heaven are Comprehensores safely arrived at the end of their journey All wee here present for the present are but meere strangers in the midst of danger wee are losing our selves and losing our lives in the Land of the dying But ere long wee may finde our lives and our selves againe in Heaven with the Lord of life being found of him in the Land of the Living If when wee die we be in the Lord of Life our soules are sure to be bound up in the bundle of Life that so when wee live againe we may be sure to finde them in the life of the Lord. Now we have but a dram but a scruple but a graine of happinesse to an ounce to a pound to a thousand weight of heavinesse Now wee have but a drop of joy to an Ocean of sorrow But a moment of ease to an Age of S. August l. solil cap. 35. Paine But then as S. Austine very sweetly in his Soliloquies wee shall have endlesse ease without any paine true happinesse without any heavinesse the greatest measure of felicity without the least of misery the fullest measure of joy that may be without any mixture of griefe Here therefore as S. Gregory the Nazianz. in funere patris Divine adviseth us let us ease our heaviest loads of sufferings and sweeten our bitterest cups of sorrows with the continuall Meditation and constant expectation of the fulnesse of joy in the presence of God and of the pleasure at his right Hand for evermore And thus by this vast circumference of the Suburbs yee may easily gesse that this Text is a City of more then one whole dayes journey Yet can I make but halfe one Sabbath-dayes-journey into the Parts and thorow the Passages of the same And therefore I cannot stand as otherwise I should to shew you all the Remarkables in it I shall only point at the chiefest When that antient Pillar of the Church S. Augustine the Ornament of Hippo had enlarged his City of God into 22 Books hee then confest that all that he had written was but stilla de mari scintilla de fâ—co as a drop to the Ocean or the smallest sparkle to the heape of fire upon the Harth What an unequall proportion then must one Sermon needs hold with such a copious subject as this Ezechiel the Prophet drew forth a lively Portraiture Ezech. 4. 1. of the Earthly Jerusalem within the small compasse of a Tile But this Prophetick Swan of Jordan this unfabled Muse of Syon this Hebrew Syren holy David a Musicall Prophet a Propheticall Musician an inspired Songster the sweete singer of Israel yea Israels sweetest Orpheus hath both sung the Prayses and penned the Portraiture of the
juranti Deo credimus O happy we for whose sake the living God doth swear by his life that he would not our death O most wretched we saith Tertullian if we Tertull. de Paeniten will not believe him when he swears He swears he would not our death but have us live he would and therefore would have us use the means Now turning is the means of living Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Turn your selves These words are altogether Mandatory And the Precept in them hath these two Considerables 1. Who are commanded 2. What is commanded First Who. The word is Plural in the Text And the Mandate in it is indefinite and so must reach unto us all Turn ye even all ye Turn your selves ye that are sinners Ye that Deus definitionem non facit qui misericordiam suam omnibus promisit S. Ambros de Paenit dist 1. must otherwise suffer eternally for your sinnes Turn your selves We are all concerned in the duty here commanded And in that we may consider three particulars 1. The Act. 2. The Object 3. The Time The Act Turne The Object Your selves The Time Presently For the word is in the Imperative Mood and that admits of none but the Present Tense And thus from these words we may inferre these three Conclusions 1. That we must all Turn 2. That we must all Turn our selves 3. That we must all Turn our selves without delay Wherefore turn your selves First of the first we must all turn But what is it to turn By Turning here is meant Repenting In Sinning there is a turning from the Creator and a turning to the Creature And therefore in Repenting there must be a turning from the Creature a returning to the Creator And this Turning is commonly called the Conversion of a Sinner And in this Conversion there are many Turnings The first is the Sinners turning of alâ— sinnes out of himself by a full and clear Confession of them The second is the Agite paenitentram detâ—stando peccatum Nic. de Lyra in locum S. Aug. Ser. 3. de Nat. Dom. Sinners turning from all sinnes so turned out with an utter detestation of them And the third is the Sinners turning or returning unto God with true compunction and contrition for his former turning from him For Paenitentiam certam non facit nisi odium peccati amor Dei saith S. Austine A sinner can never be said to be a true Convert untill he turns his loving of sinne into a loathing of it and his hating of God into a loving of him God hates an obstinate Sinner God accounteth those to be haters of him which continue sinners against him Ex. 20. 5. but loves an humble Penitent And we cannot but love him when we are Penitents though we were haters of him whilest we were Sinners When our repenting of our sinnes hath procured his love to pardon them and his pardoning of our sinnes hath perswaded us to love him then our love unto him must needs provoke us to abhorre even all our sinnes which provoked him to abhorre us and to set our hatred most against those Delilahs or delightful sinnes on which we once most set our hearts Our Hearts are most of Prov. 23. 26. all desired of God And God who is a jealous God in this particular is most jealous of those sins which have been our Darlings for those are most likely to steale away our hearts and turn away our loves from him He loves nothing like our Hearts and wooes us for nothing more then for our loves and therefore hates nothing so much as those insinuating sinnes which will needs be his Corrivals and Competitors in Courting of our Hearts And therefore we to attest the truth of our love to him must from our very Hearts detest those sinnes and scorn to entertain them as beloved Suiters Yea we must even hate them with a perfect batred or we cannot love God with entire love And unless we love him we cannot hope for his love towards us And without his love we cannot live or not so as we would not well not in peace either with him or others or with our selves Sinne is a very Make-bate a common Barattor the grand Boutefeu of Great-Britain and of all the World It is the partition-wall betwixt God and man and betwixt man and man too It is Sinne that hath parted the Church and the Isa 59. 2. Jer. 5. 25. State it is Sinne that hath parted the Soveraign and the Subject the Prince and the People It is Sinne that hath been the Impulsive cause of all our hurtful Combustions Lam. 5. 16. and Sinne it is that is the Impedimental cause of all our hopeful Accommodations Oh Sinne 's the Remora of Reconcilement What evil of Suffering is there now amongst us which the evil of Sinne hath not pulled down upon us Isa 48. 22. 57. 21. It is Sinne that hath been the Traitor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both to the King and to the Kingdome the Troubler of this our Israel Sinne is the grand Malignant the great Delinquent It is Sinne that hurts and hinders the Great and Gravest Councel of the Kingdome What evil hath been acted but Sinne hath had a finger in it Sinne is the all in all for mischiefe It hath been thought by some Polititians that malus Vir may be bonus Cives An evil Man and a good Common-wealths man But believe it upon a plain demonstration A great Sinner can never be a good Subject His sinnes are ever doing of more evil in a Kingdom then he himself is able to do good Whilest the Sinner himself may be fighting for it his sinnes are fighting against him and that When a Kingdome quarrels with it self it is a signe that God hath a quarrel with it When the people of any Country doe sinne against God they do but pick quarrels betwixt God and their Country and God he fights them all by making them to fight each other whilest the sinnes of the divided Parties do ever fight against their own Parties How many on both Parties swear to fight for their own Parties to the best of their powers and policies and drink deep Healths to the greatest Leaders of their Parties with intentions and protestations to be faithful to them whilest their Drinkings and Swearings and other sinnes are very treacherous to themselves and make them as ill as Traitors to their Causes and to their Companions The sinnes of each Party do take part with the other Party against the Sinners and their Parties Yea indeed there would be no such Parties nor any need of such parts-taking but for the sinnes of both Parties O that every Party and every person would look upon their own sinnes as the most malignant party and as the worst of enemies O that every man would take some speedy course to secure himself and all Parties by seeking out of those most dangerous Malignants that are in his own bosome and
is a signal Conquest for a Man of a fiery Spirit to suppresse his Anger It is with Hercules to conquer one of the furies of Hell It was but Inhumanely spoken by Vitellius upon the Death of Otho as he viewed the Carcasses on the place where they fought the Battail O how sweet a perfume is a dead Enemie But it may be Divinely spoken by one that hath Conquered himselfe or Mortified his sinfull affections O what a savor of life unto life is the Death of such a Mortal sinne Such a bosome Enemy The Sinnes of every Man are every Mans greatest Enemies And the Kingdomes greatest Enemies are the greatest sins of the Kingdome I have been ever more afraid of the Sins of this our Nation then of any Souldiers from forreigne Nations Great talking there hath been of Danish Fleets and other Out-landish Forces But we have more cause to fear our Sea-mens sinnes and the sinnes of our owne Land If God be for us who can be against us And he will be for us if our sins be not against him but our Rom. 8. 31. sinnes are all against him and for their sakes he is against us Were it not for them we need not feare any Danish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St Chrysost Nemo leditur nisi à seipso Fleets or Spanish Armados or Turkish Navies nor all the Pyrates and Powers of Hell We have most cause then to be afraid of our selves to feare our owne sinnes Every Man may well pray as some of old were wont to do Ame Domine serva me Lord save me from my selfe In the Common Prayers when the Minister said Give peace in our time O Lord the People were wont to answer Because there is none other that fighteth for us but onely thou O. God A very strange Reply but not more strange then true for true it is that it is God alone that fighteth for us The Devill he fighteth against us The World that fighteth against us And the Flesh as much as either of both So that we our selves are enemies Quo sugiam poenitendo nisi ad ejus misericordiam cujus potestatem contempseram peccando Tertul. to our selves and fight against our selves And so may fitly pray Lord save us from our selves Now there is no way for us to save our selves from our selves but by turning of our selves to him that fighteth for us Wherefore turne your selves But it is not every turning that will serve the turne There is ease indeed to be had by this turning but this turning is not to be had with ease It is not turning with the Time nor turning to the Time that can turne the Time No but our turning of our selves in time from the sinnes of the Time God himselfe will turne unto our side and When a mans wayes please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him Prov. 16. 7. make us all to turne unto one side or rather turne away all this siding would men on all sides but turne themselves to him Wherefore turne your selves And how ever the Times turne this way and that way backward and foreward Yet let not us turn meer Cameleons in Religion as if we had no colour for it but what we borrow of those which are nearest to us Neither let us be turned about like Weather-cocks with every Wind of New Doctrine Let us not turne and turne and turne with every Polypus and every Proteus and every fantastical Changeling which turne to every new Religion Proteo mutabilior Eras Adag untill they have no Religion left to turne unto Turne not with them that are ever turning their old Religions out of themselves untill they have turned all Religion out of themselves and themselves out of all Religion There need but these two moving in our turning of our selves 1. Downwards 2. Vpwards First Downwards by Mortification Secondly Upwards by Vivification Downwards by a Death unto sinne Upwards by a New Birth unto Righteousnesse Downwards by an Humiliation Upwards by a Reformation And if we thus draw nigh to God he will draw nigh to us He will return to us with much Compassion towards our soules if Jam. 4. 8. Zach. 1. 3. we will turne to him with true Compunction for our sinnes He will be displeased with us for our sinnes till we be displeased with our selves for them For he can never take pleasure in us so long as we take pleasure in that which is so displeasing as sinne is unto him But when we are displeased with sinne in our selves then he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menand Hug. Cardin. l. 3 de Myster Ecclesiast pleased with us When we condemne our selves for sinning so against him we save him a labour we prevent him for condemning of us Paenitentia quasipâ—nientia saith Hugo Cardinalis True Penitency is a punishing of sinne in our selves to save our selves from Gods punishments For God will not for ever punish that which hath been once punished Poenitentia est quaedam doloris vindicta puniens in se quod se dolet commisisse St August Poenitentia quasi paenae tentio Guido de Monte Rocherii in Manipulo Curatorum God hath promised Remission of sinne to those that have Contrition for sinne At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his sinne from the bottome of his heart I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance saith the Lord. But observe it well He that hath promised to pardon a sinner at what time soever he doth turne himselfe or truly repent him of his sinnes doth not promise that he shall repent or turne whensoever he will We cannot repent when we would therefore let us repent when we can We are not sure of time hereafter therefore let us take the present Repentance is a due debt and there is no longer day given in the Bond and therefore the payment must be presently And that 's the third Conclusion We must all turn our selves without delay Therefore also now saith the Lord Turne ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning Joel 2. 12. As it is never too late to amend so it is never Nâ—m sera nunquam est ad bonos more 's via Seneca Tragaed 8. too soon to be good Better late then never but the sooner the better They do well that do amend though it be at the very last But they better that amend sooner And they best of all that amend first of all The sooner men be good the easier it is unto them to grow better And the later they amend the harder it is unto them to grow better or continue good At this time there are many who might by this time have been better then they are had they been good but sooner then they were And would by this time have been worse then ever they were had they not grown better then they were untill this time The evill