aforesaid there are two Causes Sinne and the Punishment thereof Obser 1 Sinne is the first principall cause why any is miserable and as it were the seed out of which all misery groweth One might maruaile how men who haue honor wealth health wiues children c. should be miserable But it is easily answered For looke as one though hee were an Earle and neuer so great and happie if hee be but guilty of treason against the King is miserable notwithstanding all his possessions and greatnesse so here had one all the world if sinne lye at his doore and be not pardoned he is wretched Againe were one in such a debt that he is in danger euery houre to bee taken and haled to prison wee would account him wretched But sinne is a debt Forgiue vs our debts Math. 6.12 for which we may be throwne bodies and soules into hell fire were they not pardoned As the cause of sicknesse may bee said to make sicke no lesse then the sicknesse it selfe so the cause of miseries may be said to make vs miserable as well as misery it selfe Obiect Obiect But men feele no such matter in sinne To which I answere That a childe is not bredde and manifestly brought foorth at once the beginning of things vsually is in one time the manifestation in another A man may haue the cause of a sicknesse twenty yeeres within him without feeling himselfe sicke or knowing one fit of sicknes So sinne may be within one as a cause of all misery long before he finde himselfe really and sensibly miserable The reason whereof is double 1. It vseth to yeeld for the present a pleasing delight which breedeth insuing paine in times after following Thus Good-fellowes as wee vse to call them neither feele nor see any hurt in their intemperate courses which please their palate for the present but breed though insensibly the painefull diseases in which they end * Luimus senes quae in inventute peccauimus Intemperancy in youth ordinarily causing sicknesse in age Thus men count it no hurt to runne into bookes setting themselues in debt because it easeth them for the present though it breake their backe in the end 2. Sinne is in a heart that loueth it which makes it no whit grieuous Things in their naturall place are not ponderous A tankard of water is a mans load on land but were he in the bottome of the sea all the water in it would not presse nor burthen him for the waters there are in their proper place and so borne vp that they are not weighty Thus when but the remainders of sinne are in a heart conuerted to God they make it crie out Rom. 7.24 O miserable c. but let neuer so raigning a sinne dwell in a heart vnregenerate it doth not seeme any whit grieuous such a heart is the naturall and proper seate of sinne in which it resteth We see then that sinne is the principall cause of all misery and so it is indeed For punishments could not make a man miserable but for sinne Suppose man had bin made blinde sicke poore and mortall yet if he had no way sinned these defects should not haue hindered the due perfection belonging to him neither should he then haue beene said to be miserable in them The Consideration hereof should stirre vs vp aboue all things Vse to seeke earnestly after the forgiuenesse of our sinnes how well is hee that sleepeth with his * Acquittance Quietus est in his bosome In this regard Gods children haue followed God more for this then for deliuerance from the euils that haue been vpon them Exod. 10.17 Many will say with Pharaoh Lord remoue this plague but this is Jnstare contra symptomata morbo neglecta to let the cause of the sicknesse alone and to seeke onely to asswage the paine of it Many like as Rogues keepe and shew their foares so they glory of their shame and will not be healed Obser 2 The other cause of our miserable estate is the punishment of sinne The particulars whereof as hath beene said if they were not punishments of sinne wee could not bee said properly to be miserable in them for as the shadow followeth the body and as smoake and sparkes proceede from fire so by Gods iust decree from sinne committed spring all kinde of miseries Now these once seazing on vs we then beginne to bee apparantly wretched When a man murthereth or stealeth and by that meanes becomes subiect to death then hee is miserable for then is sowne the seede of his future woe Neuerthelesse say hee go on and be not taken in it and imprisoned men doe not account him nor discerne him as yet to be wretched but let the same person once be taken sentenced and executed and then euery body doth see his case to be wofull for now his misery standeth out of the cause and is actually declared Thus though while men are conscious of sinne onely their misery is not seene yet when Gods Iustice hath inflicted any part of punishment then so farre foorth their misery is openly displaied and set forth to the view of all Vse Let vs then acknowledge in all the punishments that we see so many reall Sermons of our miserable conditions when wee will not obserue it by lesser things God is forced to bring vpon vs greater euils Persons sick of a dead Apoplexie their faculties are not easily awakned and therefore they haue double the quantitie giuen vnto them that others haue Thus if wee be senslesse vnder the euils which lye vpon vs or meete vs any way and will not see our wretchednesse in them wee cannot thinke but that sharper will ouertake vs Leu. 26.23.24 that so our sleepie senses may be awaked QVEST. III. 3. Q. WHat is Sinne A. Euery breach of Gods law 1 Ioh. 3.4 Hauing laid downe summarily the causes of our misery the particular explication of them followeth according to the order of nature in which they were propounded In the Answer which containes a briefe description of sinne obserue 1. That sinne is the breach of Gods law onely 2. That euery breach of Gods Law is sinne To which may bee added deseruing death and making the Offender miserable Obser 1 For the first It is not said That sinne is the breach of Mans law or of the Churches law For those may sometime and in some cases be broken without sin but it is said to be the breach of Gods law which may bee shewed by necessary deduction thus Whatsoeuer is sinne to my Conscience defileth it and subiecteth it to punishment Whatsoeuer defileth it and subiecteth it to punishment must be the breach of some such Law as the Conscience is bound to obserue The reason is because the Conscience cannot be punishable for doing or not doing that which it hath liberty to doe or not to doe That Law which the Conscience is bound to obserue must be the Law of some one which is Superiour to
vse that m 1 Pet. 3.21 interrogatory of a good conscience and say n Rom. 8.33 34. Who shall lay any thing to our charge it is Christ that is dead c. To consider this more particularly Christs death doth free vs first from the guilt of sinne Secondly from the spot or power of it in vs. Thirdly from all other punishment The guilt of sinne is a propertie in it binding vs to pay condigne punishment to the iustice of God This punishment therefore borne of Christ and presented by him for vs it cannot be but that our bond to beare it should be dissolued or that iustice might require againe a thing already discharged Secondly our blot of sin that life of the old Serpent that liuing death of soules is remoued For Christs death must not be considered onely as an exemplarie cause working mortification of sin or as a morall cause by way of meditation but as hauing force obtained by it and issuing out of it which doth by litle and litle abolish sinne euen the spirit which doth mortifie the deeds of the flesh both fruits and roots of corruption Looke as Adam dying a naturall death did kill this naturall life in vs all first making it mortall so as it necessarily must die then at length causing death it selfe so doth the death of this second Adam worke the death of sinne first wounding it in vs with mortalitie such as will bring it certainely to death then vtterly dissoluing it in the end Thirdly and lastly Christs death doth free vs from all other miseries for the cause which did breed and continue these taken away they must needs likewise bee remoued Take away the cause of a sicknes you make the painfull distempers which follow vpon it cease also Discharge once the debt for him who lieth in the Counter and all with one worke you free him from prison and many other greeuances to which by reason of his debt he was held subiect But it may be here obiected Obiect If wee be thus freed from sinne and punishment why are we still in and vnder them Ans Rome was not built in one day Answ because great things are not begun and finished all at once Things are said to bee done when they are so begun that they will certainly bee accomplished in their time Wee are therefore said to be dead in the first Adam because though we liue and see nothing for a time but that we are aliue and aliue like yet that mortalitie is in vs vvhich vvill like a vvorme neuer cease to fret and corrupt vs till vvee come to death it selfe If one hath so vvounded a man that he dye vvithin a yeare and a day vvee say he hath slaine him because hee hath so vvounded him that he vvill certainely dye thus our sin is taken avvay in Christ it being so vvounded that in the end it shall certainly be quite abolished Obiect But hovv is it that vvee die are vve deliuered from that Answ Yea vve are inasmuch as that spirit is in vs vvhich shall at length quicken our mortall bodies Further there is a double deliuering one vvhich keepeth vs from prouing and tasting a thing that is euill another from being hurt and ouercome of it We are not deliuered from death in the first kind but in the second And thus Christ himselfe a Heb. 5.7 is said to haue beene heard and deliuered from that hee feared not that hee did not taste death but in that he vvas not ouercome or hurt by it Wherefore let vs hold to Vse 1 this death euen as the anchor of our soules Let vs looke to Christ lifted vp on his Crosse that vve may find deliuerance from all the stings of sinne and death and other miseries b 1 Kin. 1.50 2.28 as malefactors vnder the Lavv vsed to flie to the hornes of the Altar so let vs all flie to this blessed death c Heb. 12.14 vvhich speaketh better things then the blood of Abel vvhich cryed for reuenge Againe this should encourage vs against death that our Sauiour hath so endured it that he hath taken the sting out of it and freed vs from the feare of it If a sicke body should be afraid to drinke of any thing yet if his Physitian should begin hee would not be afraid to drinke after him Christ hath tasted death and drunke the dregs of it that nothing might remaine for vs but that which is holesome QVEST. VII 7. Q. WHat benefit comes by his righteousnesse and obedience A. The fauour of GOD and eternall happinesse are obtained for vs. A perfect Sauiour must not onely deliuer vs from euill but put vs into a secure possession of all good For blessednesse cannot stand in that good which being here to day may be lost to morrow Christ therefore hath not onely by his suffering deliuered vs from euill but by that voluntary and most gratefull obedience which in suffering he shewed hee hath obtained from the grace of God to account vs and iudge vs in him righteous to life eternall Wee must not thinke Christs sufferings like the sufferings of the damned ones to bee meerely satisfactorie to iustice and to haue no other respect in them no it is a most pleasing obedience which may challenge by couenant all good for vs such an obedience in which was shewed the greatest loue to God and to man that can be comprehended yea the knowledge of it passeth all knowledge Eph. 3.19 Now that which wee get by this obedience is first Gods grace or fauour forgiuing sinne reckoning vs righteous to life Secondly Actuall donation of life it selfe For fauour here is not to bee conceiued of Gods first loue as if hee before haâ—ed vs he was indeed angry with vs but he so loued vs as that he gaue Christ for vs Ioh. 3.16 It is meant therefore of the manifestation or influence of his fauour in conferring â—eally on vs the benefits of iustification and life The sunne of Gods loue was eclipsed till Christs loue towards vs in whom the ioyfull Epiphanie of it began was declared Though God doe iustifie vs out of grace yet his sentence is according to truth and if he pronounce vs iust to the receiuing of life wee must haue some righteousnesse iustifying vs. This cannot be any imperfect righteousnesse in part sinnefull much lesse can he iustifie vs hauing no righteousnesse as a foundation to his sentence therefore it must be a perfect one such we haue none but Christs herein he is an Antitype to that first Adam euen as Iacob now clothed with his eldest brothers apparell did get the blessing so is it with vs hauing put on Christ and his obedience which in effectuall calling wee doe through faith then the Lord doth giue vs the blessing If one doe for mee any such peice of worke which by agreement hath due to it any wages or reward vpon the worke done in my name I haue title to demaund the reward
Nature as now it is marred and defaced through the sinne of man For our Nature may be considered in a fourefold estate First as it was before the Fall by Creation Secondly as it is since the Fall by Sinne Thirdly as it is renued by Grace Fourthly as it shall be perfected by Glory The second estate is here meant Neither can it be otherwise with vs For looke as those that are highest aduanced when they fall they become so much the more wretched as wee see a Ester 7.8.9 14. in Princes Fauorites when they come into disgrace So we in our first Parents made b Ps 8 47. Heb. 2.7 farre aboue all visible Creatures lifted vp by the free grace of God to be Fauorites of the most High when now wee fell from this state could not but become thrice wretched and miserable The better the thing is the worse it is when once it is corrupted The higher any man climeth the lower hee falleth Now our first Parents becomming miserable wee cannot be in better condition the children of Bondslaues can be no better then Slaues what is in the roote will be in the branches and fruite also Obiect Obiect But why doe not men see this their misery Answ Answ 1. Because as the eye of the body looketh to that which is forthright against it and doth not see inward which maketh vs that wee see not our owne face though we behold the faces of others So the eye of our Vnderstanding being cast on things outward neuer obserueth how the matter goeth with it selfe 2. Our Consciences are blinded with ignorance within vs and darknes without Now looke as we cannot see the things in a roome if we want eyes or hauing our sight want a candle or some other light So till God giue vs inward light and hold out the candle of his Law vnto vs wee cannot bee priuie to our owne case in which wee stand 3. Our Iudgement is so corrupted that we take our State to be good when it is quite otherwise Pro. 14.12 There is a way seemeth good the issues whereof are death Looke as an eye bloudshot thinketh euery thing red without it when yet it is not so and looke as Phantasie wanting the guidance of Reason thinketh often that wee are Kings as in dreames we see when it is farre otherwise So wee when our Iudgements want the Wisedome from aboue to guide them iudge our selues in good estate when it is farre otherwise 4. The nature of sinne is to make vs spiritually drunk so that as men in drunkenes know not how it is with them no more doe men in their pure naturall state 5. Because men in their pure naturall condition did neuer know better Hence it is that they thinke themselues in case good enough Should a Nobleman in chiefe fauour with the King be banished into some remote place to liue in ranke of poore Cotagers about him well might he thinke of his misery because he had proued a more excellent estate but should he get posteritie in exile they would thinke their estate as good as their Neighbours yea rest in it as the best that euer they inoyed This may conuince many Vse 1 who flatter themselues and stroke their owne heads as if all were well with them They are as others are they are not the worst They hope to doe as well through Gods mercy as the best Euery man would be loth but his owne penny should proue good siluer Naturally we are giuen to hide our outward blemishes to weare glasse eyes artificiall legges c. yea many loue not to heare the worst of their causes nor yet of their bodily sicknesse with which they are indangered how much more doe men decline from seeing themselues guilty of hell and damnation Vse 2 Also this should teach vs to seeke to get eyes opened and hearts vnueiled for euen as Foulers hide their nets so it is with the Deuill he doth hide our state in sin which is the snare wherein he taketh vs This maketh men go on to hell as beasts to the shambles before their Drouers When we come to be touched in heart for our sin it is a good signe as in men sicke of the Lethargie to returne and haue sense of any griefe is a hopefull token Deus non infundit Oleum miserecordia nisi in cor contritum Bern. Isa 61.1.4 Mat. 11.28 15.24 Act. 2.37 Christ is not sent but vnto those who haue sense of sin neither shall any but those bee refreshed by him where the heart is not plowed vp and broken with this knowledge the seede of the Gospell shall neuer bee sowed Yet we must not thinke that for degree this knowledge is alike in all as if none knew grace till he had felt hellish anguish For as we may let foorth with the pricking of a pinne the matter of some boiles or impostumes as well as with deep launcings and gashings so God can giue a true knowledge and touch of miserie without making such deepe wounds in the Conscience as others feele in their greater humiliation The paine that some women feele in their trauell is nothing to that which othersome doe indure Secondly We must not abide Obser 2 in this our naturall condition The Scripture biddeth vs awake and stand vp from the dead Ephesians 5.14 calleth on vs to returne and repent as on men who are out of the way yea out of themselues There must be in vs a feare of standing in the State wee are in Act. 2.37 and a care to come forth a deniall of our selues and a flying by Faith vnto Christ Nothing will rest in such a state as threatens it destruction Vse for euery thing but sinnefull man seeketh to preserue the being of it selfe Now our condition is such as doth menace vs with eternall perdition If a man fall going hither or thither will he lie still No hee will not rest but with helpe of hand and knee will striue to get vp againe So must wee being fallen by sin into a wretched case we must not lie still but seeke to rise out of it Here are to bee rebuked such whose courses are at peace without indeauour this way Vse Pro. 1.32 ease slayeth the foolish euen as a Sluggard wheeleth in his bedde loath to get vp so do these not seeing their danger whose * Quorum modò mod◠non habent modum by and by lasts till the time of grace be quite expired But let vs labour to come forth taking the present time wee will meete a sicknesse betime labouring to rid our selues of it Heb. 4.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if any thing threaten our name and estate we will indeauour quickely to free the one and the other let vs bee in like manner wise for our soules also QVEST. II. 2. Q. WHat maketh his estate so badde A. Two things Sin and the Punishment thereof Esa 59.2 Rom. 6.23 3.23 Of the miserable estate
stincking place we stop our noses and hast away If an vgly shape present it selfe we shut our eyes and indure not the view of it Thus our soules should with indignation turne from all filthy and abhominable vices QVEST. VII 7. Q. HOw doth this appeare A. Both by the punishment and person against whom it is committed Here are set downe two Considerations by which as by a glasse wee may see the foulenesse of sinne First by the punishment for proportionable to this in greatnesse must the offence bee the reason is because Iustice doth rule and measure the punishment by the offence if that be little the punishment that it assigneth is little if that bee great the punishment is answerable Now if a thing measured forth be long and wide the measure must bee vnderstood to be long and wide also Hence it is that in humane punishments we see the greatnesse of the offence if one be restrained wee gather hee hath done some fault if imprisoned if hanged in chaines or burned still as the punishment increaseth we coniecture the fault to haue been corespondent How foule then must that offence haue beene which the iust and most mercifull God hath punished with so many miseries in this life with death in the end and after with eternall destruction Againe the foulenesse of sinne is clearely discerned by considering the person against whom it is committed For in any good or euill worke the person that doth it or the circumstance of person about whom it is done doth impart to the worke such a respect whereby it deserueth accordingly Let a common man come to me when I send and a small thing doth recompence his paines but let a Doctour of Phisicke come and an Angell is his due the qualitie of his person doth so dignifie his worke and make it of answerable value So it increaseth the merit and desert of euill Let one of the people sinne he is guiltie but lâ—â— the Priest sinne Leu. 4.3.12 c mpared with Leu 4 27. â— 5 his fault iâ— greater and his Sacrifice must be greater And as the circumstance of the person doing increaseth the desert of good or euill So doth the circumstance of the person about whom the worke is conuersant Let a Subiect doe good to any and it well deserueth but doing some speciall seruice to his Prince he deserueth greatly Let him offend any he is guilty but the higher the person offended is the more hainous is the sinne If one reuile or slaunder his equall it is an offence and may beare an action of the case but if a Noble man it is scandalum magnatum deseruing sharper punishment and if the King it is treason and worthy of death Then how foule must that sin be which is a trespasse committed directly against GOD the KING of Kings Vse Let vs then make this vse of all miseries to take a view in them of the foulenesse that is in sinne If wee heare that the Magistrate hath fined one in an hundred pounds if we see one carted and whipped if we see execution done on any presently we gather in what kinde they haue offended When God doth sometimes consume mens substance to nothing making them poore as Iob who sometime were rich when hee doth by paines and griefe lash a man yea grinde him to dust when God taketh men away by violent or naturall death No body riseth to consider either of the power of his wrath or the foulenesse of sinne which hath beene the cause of all this miserie Againe if a childe doe ought against his naturall Parent a Seruant against his Master a Subiect against his Prince we esteeme it as a foule matter but when we lift vp the hand by sinning against God the filthinesse of this is not so apparant QVEST. VIII 8. Q. WHo is that A. Almighty God whose holinesse and iustice are infinite That wee may the better see the foulenesse of sinne it is first generally to be considered viz. That the person against whom we sinne is God Secondly more especially That this God is Almightie and infinite in holinesse and iustice Concerning the first when Dauid had wronged Bathsheba in her chastity and Vriah in his life yet he confesseth that hee had sinned against God alone Psalm 51.4 There may be three things considered in sinne 1. A damage done to our neighbours 2. A trespasse against the authority of some ciuill Court of Iustice 3. A trespasse in the Court of Conscience Now though I iniure my Neighbour yet this is not sinne as it is an iniurie to him but as it is committed against the Law which doth binde my conscience otherwise So a trespasse against the Lawes of some ciuill Court is not a sin precisely in this respect but as in this a higher Law and authoritie binding the Conscience is transgressed Therefore authority may forgiue a ciuill trespasse and the penalty of it which the Law determineth without medling with that sinnefull respect which is in the same default against God For looke as a Theefe taking a true mans purse doth wrong his Neighbour but cannot be said to breake his Neighbours Law but the Kings Law So in euery sin howsoeuer wee may iniury and trespasse against men yet we cannot bee said properly to sinne against them because no Law binding my Conscience is broken but Gods onely which respect giueth being to sinne Vse 1 1. Let vs then confesse our sinnes to God as Dauid did Wounded persons will open their wounds to a Chirurgian who is able to heale them so should we Vse 2 2. Let vs seeke pardon onely from God as he who only hath authority to giue it Popes pardons are cheating commodities no way auailing the distressed Conscience A subiect cannot forgiue a trespasse done against the Law of his Soueraigne no more can any earthly creature that which is done against the Law of that heauenly and supreame power so farre ouer them Obiect Obiect But doe not men forgiue sinnes Answ Answ Yea as ordinary Messingers do fetch vp men we say they fetch them vp in as much as they cary and signifie the Kings writ which doth fetch them vp So Ministers doe forgiue as Gods ordinarie Messengers ex Officio because they bring and apply that word of Gods writ which doth signifie Gods will and pleasure to forgiue 3. Let vs remember in euery Vse 3 sinne whom wee offend When men fall out and quarrell they doe not thinke they meddle with the King yet when they breake the peace they offend against him who is the Keeper of it So in our sinnes against our Neighbour we seldome thinke what measure we offer to God whom wee prouoke by breaking his Law The Deuill doth so keepe vs hoodwinckt that we thinke we loue God as well as any and that we meddle not with him but with those that wronged vs. Now more specially obserue 1. That this doth further discouer the foulenesse of sinne that it is against that God who is Almighty The