are for the most part no sooner confirmed in health and strength but we are ready to summon vp our forces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and giue vp our members as weapons of vnrighteousnesse to sinne as souldiers doe yeeld themselues to their captaines to warre vnder their banner Thus the Israelites when they waxed fat and in good liking spurned with their heele Deut. 32 i5 therefore they forsooke God that made them and regarded not the strong God of their saluation To such the saying of Seneca might fitly be applyed Tutius aegrotassent when they turne this gift of God into wantonnesse and abuse their strength to the powring in of much wine and bearing strong drink And necessary i Tim. 5.6 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the life of sinne is the death of the soule and therefore the widow that gaue her selfe ouer to lustfull pleasures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 her liuing body was but the sepulcher of her dead soule Bern. med But how shall wretched man Cuius conceptio culpa est Who euen in his conception is warmed in vncleane blood through originall contagion Augustine and stayes not there but in a short progresse of time does ponere Adam super Adam by his actuall transgressions being more lame in his soule then this lame man was erewhile in his body bee capable of Christs admonition Can a badde tree bring forth good fruite Doe men gather grapes from thornes or figges from thistles I answer 1. If a mā haue a feruēt desire not to sinne as the prophet Dauid said Oh that I were so vpright that I might keepe thy commaundements and as the Hart brayeth after the water brooks Psal 42.1 so panteth my soule after thee oh Lord Magna pars bonitatis velle fieri bonum it is a great step vnto goodnes to desire to be good Act. 24.16 sc pro Statu viatorum 2. If he haue a constant endeauor not to sinne as Saint Paul had who endeauoured alwayes to keepe a cleare conscience both before God and man and as Zachary Elizabeth are saide to walke in all the ordinances and commaundements of the Lord without reproofe Luc. 1.6 3. If when he sinnes he does it not with a full force but with a reluctation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Il. Rom. 7.19 doing euill but the euill hee would not doe Cum trahit invitum nova vis Then God accepts the will for the deede then is he pronounced blessed because his wickednes is forgiuen and his sinne is couered in which sence Saint Augustine Tum tota lex impletur quando quicquid non fit ignoscitur So from sinne I am led to the punishment of it to terrifie vs from medling with the pleasing baytes thereof which is the third generall part Viz. The commination 3. Part. Herodot Least a worse thing happen vnto thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Great sinnes deserue great punishments The sinne of recidiuation was thought so great that the Nouatians would yeeld no place for repentance to such delinquents grounding their assertion vpon the 6. of the Hebr. and the fourth verse It is impossible that they which were once enlightned if they fall away should bee renewed by repentance whose eyes say they were twice opened whom did our Sauiour rayse the second time from death to life not Lazarus whom hee loued nor the widowes sonne whom hee pityed Howsoeuer their position be hereticall that place being ment not of falling simply into sinne but of falling away from God by a generall and finall apostacie as some of the Iewes had done who after they had giuen vp their names to Christ to fight vnder his banner revolted to Iudaisme renoūcing that part which they might haue had in Christ the sonne of Dauid Yet surely this often relapse into sin is exceeding dangerous Vulnus iteratum sanaetus tarduis August if we argue by way of comparison with those diseases of the body they do for the most part in short time depriue it of life it selfe because by the often assaults of the same diseases nature is tyred and exhausted his strength wholy spent and therefore shee is forced to yeeld vp her hold as not able to hold out any longer againe their violent invasion vpon her Gutta cauat lapidem non vised sepe cadendo So fares it with the soule through the manifolde batteries of the same sinnes the life of grace may be quite extinquished what was the end of that man whose vncleane spirit beeing gone out returned againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the last of that man was worse then the beginning Such was the case of Iulian the Apostate after he had reuolted to paganisme then the Deuill made him his owne Nazian calles him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. contra Iul. 1. then hee plunged him in all those diabolicall arts which those instruments of Satan Porphyrie his associates taught him then he playes the part of a sauage beast against the poore Christians being ioyned with the deuil against God and his Christ dying with that blasphemous scoffe in his mouth Vicisti Galilaee So we reade in the life of Lucian the Atheist after his Apostacie from the Christian profession he falls blasphemously vpon Christ cals him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luciau in Peregrino floutes and scoffes at all religion is angry with himselfe for being so vnaduised as to take that profession vpon him which got him nothing but an elongation of his name from Lucius to Lucianus This sinne therefore of backsliding of returning with the dogge to the vomit and the swine to her wallowing in the mire of sin by how much it exceeds in greatnesse by so much it deserues a greater punishmēt almighty God as that heathen Plato could note Plato in Timaeus it does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alwayes play the Geomitrician not diuiding by lot or by chance but proportioning his punishment to the measure of sinnes He that is angry with his brother vnaduisedly is culpable of iudgement Math. 5.22 Hee that calles him Raca which Theophylact translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be punished by the councell Quiea impuus est in rellig Th. Morus but he that cals him foole shal be punished with hell fyer So in the prophet Amos for three transgressions and for foure that 's for seuen Amos 2.4 a finite for an infinite God will shew no fauour He will not turn vnto Iudah but will send out such a fyer as shall deuoure the pallaces of Ierusalem Vid. Leuit. 16.18.21.24 verses And in Hosea 5. from the 10. ver almighty God follows the pursuit of sinning by a gradation of punishing Iudah was like them that remoued the bounds that is subuerted all order of true religion Ephraim walked after the commandement to wit of Ieroboam which made Israel to sinne therefore will I be to Ephraim as a moath and to the house of Iudah as
13.5 The very Geneua note in 5. Act. 36. Is that in matters which concerne religion wee must not attempt any thing vnder colour of zeale beside our vocation not so much for feare as for conscience sake For in such things plus obligat praeceptum principis praelati quam propria conscientia saies Hales Our conscience in such cases must bee captiuated to lawfull authoritie And therefore the streame of such intensions must beginne at this true fountaine and not issue out of the broken pits of euery mechanicall phansie and inuention Secondly for the meane furthering this intentiō That 's no lesse say they then the Scripture but the Scripture is the Canon by which all our actions should bee squared Arist Rhet. lib. 1. Yet as the Philosoper said of a law politicall though it bee in it selfe most perfect streight the Iudge by his wresting interpretation might make it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peruerse and crooked so may we say of Gods law especially if vnlettered folke haue the interpretatiō therof in their hand to the which is required the greatest art and science If any say the text is plaine the letter apparent S. Nazian answers that Studium litterae est pallium iniquitatis the sticking too much to the letter in generall is the cloake of much impietie Sic. Chiliastae ex Apoc. 20.2 Did not Arrius fall into his haeresie by holding himselfe to the letter Pater maior me Ioh. 4. Did not the Donatists goe about to prooue theirs to be the only true Church by the letter of the text Cant. 1.6 Tell mee where thou feedest and where thou lyest at noone Vti cubas in meridie Alphonsus de Castro in verbo Ecclesia They would prooue from hence Ecclesiam ad solam meridionalem plagam quam ipsi incolebant redactam that the True Church was only to bee found in those Southerne parts which they inhabited but it fared with them as it did with those of whom Salomon Prou. 30. vlt. They that wring their nose fetch out blood which S. Gregorie interprets That they who wring wrest or misinterpret Scripture a thing incident to vnlearned people as appeares in the 2. Pet. 3.16 they bring forth aut haeresim aut phrenesim either an haeresie or a phrensie And therefore the H. Ghost giues an item to such daring Prophets The time shal come that they shall be ashamed of their visions Zach. 13.5 shall say I am no Prophet I am an husbandman man taught me to be an heard man from my youth vp So that this medium cannot bee a rule to them who haue not true and vniuersall knowledge to vse the same Thirdly for the End terminating what is their scope but Innouation A monster in a well established Church breeding more euils then euer did the lake Lerna Vincent conrra haeres In matters of doctrine noue non noua wee may handle the point after a new manner so that wee inferre no new and exorbitant matter but in matter of Church order nec noue nec noua neither noueltie of manner nor of matter ought to be enforced August since ipsa mutatio consuetudinis c. the change of an ancient custome in the Church if it should somewhat helpe by the vtility it would hurt as much or more by the noueltie and therefore primo diuinae legis authoritate c. sayes Vincent First the Word of God written must guide but where that is silent Tunc ecclesiea Catholicae traditio Then the institution tradition of the Church must take place Hence is it that the holy Ghost bids vs not to remooue the auncient bounds which our forefathers haue set Pro. 22.28 teaching by this allegory not to bring innouations into the Church contrary to what wee haue receiued from godly antiquity and there 's a curse annexed to such Innouators He that breaks downe the hedge him shall a serpent bite Eccl. 10.8 the hedge of godly order as well in Church as common-wealth as Lirinensis expounds it him shall Satan the subtile serpent bite This was the case of Donatus first hee breakes downe the hedge by innouation then the serpent bites and stings him on forward to fall into open scisme with Caecilianus the godly Bishop of Carthage his orthodoxal Church Alphonsus de Laistio Postea scisma in haeresim commutauit In the Swinckseldians the Anabaptists Brownists Familists He turned scisme into plaine haeresie and then this gangrene spreads it selfe so farre as the contagion therof hath reached euen to our times This may be the cause why S. Paul does earnestly wish Gal. 5.12 that they were cut off who did disturb the Galatians foreseeing that by the Schismes and dissentions the seamelesse coate of Christ the Embleme of his Church as S. Cyprian hath it might by these meanes bee rent and torne asunder Cyprian de Vast. Ecclesiae These intensions therefore cannot attaine their wished end but according to the saying of Gamaliel because they haue proceeded from man and not from God they haue neuer taken place but receiued Vzzahs doome Perez-Vzzah to bee diuided and scattered euen from our late Queenes regiment vnto this present time and therfore let such Innouators apprehend this admonition 2. Sam. 6.8 Act. 5.38 Sinne no more But if no more then our spirituall resurrection from the graue of sinne must be speedie and constant speedy euen from the present period of time constant to the last point of life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non amplius No more imploies both For the first that it ought to be without delation the bodily Physitian teaches that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hypocrat aphoris 9. lib. 2. the infected parts of the body the more they are cherished the more they are endamaged so fares it with a soule habituated in sinne by a frequent custome in sinning the conscience becomes so seared and the heart so hardned as they will not receiue the soft impression of Gods spirit Consuetudo altera natura it proouing as easie to recouer a dead man in body as a sicke man in soule who is growne into yeares of sinne and so goes on from darknes to darknes vntill hee come to the vtter darkenesse where he findes no other comfort but weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth And as it must bee speedy so must it be constant for Non initia Christianorum sed fines coronantur Bern. because one may begin in the spirit but end in the flesh Arist eth and therfore as in the Olympicke games not the fairest nor the strongest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c but of those which striued they that continued to the end won and wore the garland so in the Christian warfare against our ghostly enemies sin hell Satan if wee continue faithfull vnto the death God will giue vs the crowne of life Sinne no more Reu. 2.10 The admonition is both iust and necessarie Iust for wee
of maladies seazed one mans body tugging hailing him to his long home the Palsie shakes him the crampe pinches him the megrime possesses the head the squinācy seazes the throate the feuer hectique apprehends the whole body Eccl. 12. vntill the keepers of his house begin to tremble and the strong men bow themselues the grinders cease and they that looke out at the windowes wax dimme and the golden ewer and pitcher is broken and then dust returns to dust and the spirit to God that gaue it The best elixor that we can extract out of this miserable condition Rom. 5.12 is that whereas sinne is the mother of all sorrow yea of death it selfe we should for Christs sake set the daughter against the mother by sorrowing a goodly sorrow vnto true repentance so may we haply preuent that tribulation and anguish that hangs ouer euery soule that sinneth at leastwise make death become no death vnto vs but a happy passage to a more happy life 3. From the Commination Least a worse thing happen vnto thee The conclusion is That multiplication of sinne does necessarily inferre multiplication of misery and that in regard of punishment both Temporall and Eternall For the first the Heathen said it Arist Eth. Qui alium ebrius percusserit and that whosoeuer beeing in his cups did strike his fellow should receiue double punishment because his sin was doubled Gen. 18.25 shal man be thus iust and shal not the iudge of all the world doe right yea surely the sentence is already gone out of Gods owne mouth Reward her double according to her works Reu. 18.6 and as much as she hath glorified her selfe liued in pleasure so much giue yea to her sorrow and torment And S. Chrysostome renders a reason on Gods behalfe why he should thus prosecute reuenge vpon refractary sinners Chrysostom in locum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotle Si grauem priorum scelerū paenam dederimus c. If we haue beene formerly chasticed for our faults and no whit bettered wee prepare for our selues the seuerer punishment because wee seeme either Stupidi sencelesse stocks more dull then the Asse who wil hearken to the admonition of the whippe though he be the dullest creature Or else Contemptores contemners of the chastisement of the Lord spurning at Gods punishments as obdurate Pharao did who though admonished by many plagues as so many summons to call him to repentance yet would not relent and let Israel goe and therefore as he multiplied his sinne of obstinacy so God measured out his punishment with greater seuerity Secondly for eternall Math. 16.17 2. Cor. 3.10 when Christ the righteous iudge shal come in the glory of his father then shall hee giue to euery man according to his deedes not onely in quali euill for euill malū paenae for malum culpae sed in quanto the greater euil of punishmēt for the greater euil of sin As it was a paradox with the Stoicks to hold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that all sinnes are equall so is it as great a paradox with vs to hold that the hellish punishment admits no difference or degrees Vnus ignis saies S. Gregory omnes concludet sed non aequaliter omnes comburet One fire shal encompasse the damned crue but shall not worke vpon all alike It shall bee easier for Tyre and Sydon then for Corazin and Bethsaida yet all fowre shall meete in one place Hell The seruant that knowes not his masters will c. shall be beaten with few stripes but he that knowes it and does it not shall suffer many if those barbarous nations shall one day wring their hands and weep waile because they haue knowne so little and practised lesse much more shall we Christians for knowing much to little practise All which may giue aduertisement to two sorts of sinners Desperat ille vt peccet Sperat iste vt peccit Aug. in Psal 144. The first would seeme to despaire of saluation and makes that an encitement to him to take a full draught of the pleasures of this life because they continue but for a season The second rushes vpon all manner of sinne presumption of pardon though he drinke vp iniquity like waters and deuoures sinne with greedines S. Augustine concludes Vtrumque metuendum Es 5.8 the case of both of them is most fearefull because as they draw on iniquity with the cords of vanity and sinne as with cartropes so are they drawne sayes Clemm Alexan. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like staled oxen to the slaughter with cords of their own making treasuring vp vnto themselues wrath against the day of wrath which is all one as if a man should bee euery day gathering of sticks and fewell to make the fire greater wherewith himselfe should be burned Seeing thererefore we are by nature forgetful of Gods benefits Seeing that all kinds of sinne are to be auoided by vs whether against the 1. or 2. table whether small or great whether sinnes of youth age complexion conformitie intension either by a feruent desire setled reluctation or constant endeauor as the onely cause of all woe and misery incident to the nature of man Let vs alwaies be mindfull of God the giuer to render due thanks for all his blessings let vs so demeane our selues in all godly conuersation that though sinne must dwell in our mortall bodies so long as we dwell in this earthly tabernacle yet that it may not raigne in thē to the obeying it in the lusts therof So may we preuent sins attendants affliction of body griefe and anguish of soule yea that last of al punishments eternall death Which that wee may doe Christ Iesus our heauenly Physitian who hath left vnto vs this wholesome prescript of sinning no more grant vnto euery one of vs To whom with the Father and Holy Ghost three Persons in Vnity and one God in Trinity be all prayse and power ascribed now and for euer Amen FINIS
which loueth God should loue his brother also so that an Indulgence cannot salue vp the breach of any part of the morall law which is perpetuall nor a dispensation from any mortall man giue liberty to the least sinne which is against the same And the reason is for that the dispensation against the lawe must be graunted by as great authority as the lawe was first made but the morall lawe grounded on the lawe of nature was founded by the author creatour of nature God himselfe and therfore by him only may it be dispēsed withall which the schoolemen acknowledge in that theologicall axiome Altified Praescripta legis naturalis non sunt dispensabilia But the morall law of God what is it but the law of nature written in tables of stone 2. Quantulumcunque Not onely those monstrous sinnes of the olde world or those crying sinnes of Sodom Gomorrha Niniuie which were so bold and impudent as to aduance themselues before the face of Almighty God Nescio non possumus leue aliquod precatum dicere quod in Dei contemplum admittitur Hieronym Ep. 14. August Ep. 108. but euen small sinnes as wee esteeme them for the small egge of the Cockatrice will in time prooue a deuouring serpent and if the little theeues get once in at the windowes they will soone set open the doores for the great ones to enter and despoyle vs Quid interest sayes S. Augustine vtrum vuo grandi fluctu nauis obruatur c. what skils it whether the shipsuffer wracke from one huge billow that ouerwhelmes her or by some few small leakes which in time sinke her seeing the wages of this little as that great sinne in its owne nature is eternall death Rom. 6.23 2. Qualecunque of what nature quality or condition soeuer the sin be As first whether they be sinnes of age or sinnes of youth Detur aliquid aetati was but a heathen mans diuinity Christ shed his warmest blood for them and requires that they aboue al others should not spare their best yeares in his quarrell and therefore Saint Iohn writes to the young man especially because they are strong and able to beare the burden of the day 1. Ioh. 1. yea Contra assiduum Antiochum generose pugnet emnis aetas As it is rendred out of Nazian For such is Gods husbandry as no season prooues vnseasonable for sowing the seedes of piety sow thy seeds in the morning and in the euening let not thy hand rest 2. Whether sinnes issuing from the temperature of mans body If the cholerick were priuiledged from the praedominancie of that humour to cast forth his sudden flashes of wrath and reuenge Gen. 4.23 Lamec might iustifie the killing a man in his wound and a yong man in his hurt If the sanguine might beguile the time in dalliance in chambering and wantonnesse S. Ambrose had spent his oyle vainely in Dauids Apologie Dictum de Vacia ignavo civc Vacia hic situs est Sen. Ep. Prou. 10. If the flegmatique might bury himselfe quicke in the graue of idlenesse He neede not put it of By a Lyon in the way a Lyon in the streete If the melancholicke might harbour darke and dismall thoughts and bring forth desperate effects discontented Achitophel might make a long letter of himselfe without praeiudice to the letter of Gods Law But nature must bee subdued by grace It beeing the first step into Christianitie to denie our selues and yeeld all subiection to the will of God 3. Whether they bee sinnes of conformitie Rom. 12.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As to pride it with the Spaniard to drinke drunke with the Dutch to be light of promise with the Carthaginian to play the lyer with the Cretensian or the lying Aequiuocator with the Iesuited Romane Punica fides Prouerb For the time was when Regulus would rather returne to Carthage vpon his faith giuen though to the most exquisite torments then to haue slipped away by a mentall elusion Wee are taught in Gods Schoole though Israel play the harlot yet Iudah should not sinne Thus wee reade of the riuer Alphaeus that it conuaies it selfe through the Sea breaking forth to his beloued Arethusa Lucian dialog and yet participates no whit with the seaes brackish humor Thus Lot was found chaste in the midst of Sodom Iob truly religious in the idolatrous land of Vz and many Saints in Caesar Neroes houshold Lastly whether they be sins proceeding from a good intension euen that makes not simply a good action for Bonum est de integra causa sayes Aquinas both beginning meanes and end must bee right or else the whole action will prooue wrong because the least leauen of euill sowres the whole lumpe of goodnesse Take it in Vzzahs staying the Arke ready to fall it was well meant as Hee thought and intended to a good end yet forasmuch as He did it neither authoritatiue being no Priest 2. Sam. 6. nor ex mandato speciali by any speciall command or secret insinuation of Gods Spirit moouing him thereto but his owne appetiue will God slew him in the same place Here then Fines que sunt ad finem debent esse eiusdem generis In ordine ad bonum spirituale for the Popes power in temporals ouer the Lords Annointed to vpholde the Arke of Gods seruice will prooue but ordo inordinatus being neither primatiue in himselfe nor deriuatiue from the true fountaine of all power The first is wisedomes peculiar Per me Reges regnant Prou. 8.15 and it is the Lord that putteth downe the mightie from their seate and therefore Super aspidem basitiscum was as violently rent from Christ by Pope Alexander as iniuriously put vpon the sacred neck of the Emperour by the foote of more then Luciferian pride For the second Christ himselfe had it not qua homo Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo Delegatus nihil facit authoritate propaeia Penormitan my kingdome is not of this world how then can the Pope Vicar that which was neuer committed or transmitted vnto him It remaines that this indirect intension proues a direct vsurpation And here likewise falles their opinion who are so far from vpholding as they bend all their intensions to the pulling down of the Arke of Gods seruice in regard of decent orders comely rites beutiful ceremonies c. Let vs begin with the fountaine from whence these vnhallowed intensions haue their origination we shall finde that to bee an Erroneous conscience spurred on by vnaduised zeale I cal it erroneous quia cōscientia nunquam obligat in virtute propria Aquinas sed in virtute praecepti diuini it binds not by vertue of its own direction but in the vertue strength of Gods commandement but Gods commandement is that all things be done decently and in order and that euery soule bee subiect to the higher powers in things not opposite to the high est power Rom.