and the Grave and so doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Greeks Thirdly Damnation is like to Death in respect of Pain Quid sacient intime familiares quales sunt corpus anima quae ab ipso utero ita jucundissime vixerint The spirit may be willing but the flesh will be loath Manchest Al Mondâ— contemp mortis and Griefe Great are the pangs of Death and great the griefe of Man that 's dying and the griefe and pains of Hell are full as great and greater Fourthly and last Damnation is like to Death in respect of Horrour Death is called the King of feares the most terrible of terribles Nature abhorreth nothing more then Death there is nothing that is known to Man more terrible and therefore is Damnation called Death Indeed Damnation is beyond expression terrible yea beyond all apprehension we want words to expresse it by we want things more hideous to resemble it unto We mis-call it Death but it is not Death indeed The Damned may wish for Death but they must not dye The Damned souls are all immortal they are sent to Hell to live in misery yea to live in misery for ever yea for ever and for ever The expression is as useful as it is usual Mark it well for ever and for ever That which is but once for ever can never have an end But the living and lasting Miseries of Hell are said to be for ever and for ever to make us the more seriously to consider of them This Duplication intimateth thus much to us that when the poore damned soule hath passed a thousand years and ten thousands more and as many thousands more as the nimblest imagination can conceive of and more Millions of Ages more then the best Arithmetician can ever multiply yet then he shall be as if he were newly to begin he hath still and still another for ever to endure miseries This it is that does so aggravate the Misery of Man by his Worldly Merchandize If he must lose his Soul for his gaining of the World his losse is infinite because the Damnation of his Soul is endlesse It is for ever and ever It was the thought of this that caused that Right Reverend Parson of Bethlem Parish devout St Hierome to renounce this present World and retire into a Cell or Cave which he either found or founded in Bethlem lest he should lose his Soule for ever and ever in Hell by gaining the World for a time The feare of endlesse torments turn'd his Cell Dr Willans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Into a Jayle and made his Cave his Hell Propter metum Gehennae tali me carceri emancipaveram as he said himself to Heliodorus That good old Father was wont to be portraied with a young Lyon by his side partly to signifie how fiercely he cryed out against the Schismes and Heresies and other sins of others in his time and partly to signifie that he sometimes roared out for the very disquietnesse of his own heart at the sight of his own sin knowing that if his soule must be lost by them his losse would be intolerable because it would be the losse of an immortal substance A fourth Reason to raise the estimate of the Soul may be taken from the Reason in it It is a Reasonable Soul an Intellectual It is chiefly in respect thereof that we are called Reasonable Creatures Nemes of the Nature of Man cap. 14. Substance The richest Treasure of any that Man as man is entrusted with By this he comes to know himselfe By this he comes to know the way to save himselfe By this he comes to know the worth of this and other things If he loseth this he is but a lost man yea without this he is no man at all And therefore Man should value this above all A fifth Reason may be this that the losing or saving of the whole man depends upon the saving or losing of the soule If the Soule of man be turned into Hell at the first Judgement the whole man must be tumbled thither at the second Judgement But if it be translated to Heaven at the Night of Death the Body also shall have a removal thither at the Morning of the Resurrection It is a preposterous Care in many Great ones in this Multus Corporum Curationi impenditur usus multum huic operae in spem medâ—lae datur Nunquid medicinam anima non mâ—retur Etsi varia corpori auxiliae studio tuendae sanitatis adhibentur sas non est tamen animam velut exclusam jacere quasi neglectam morbis suis intabescere atque unam à propriis remediis exulare immo verè plura animae conserenda sunt si corpori tanta praestantur Nam si râ—cte quidam carnem famulam animam verò dominam esse dixerunt non oportet postâ—riâ—re lâ—co nos dominam ponere ac famulam iniquo jure praeferre Eucherius in Epist Paraenet ad Valerianum World to make great provision for their Bodies here before death and also after it but none at all or very little for their Soules Alas for them Let them provide what Physicians they can to prevent the Death of their Bodies yet are they mortal and so must dye And let them prepare what Tombs they will to preserve them after Death Yet if their soules be sent to Hell to be tormented for their sinnes done in their bodies their bodies must be sure they also shall be sent to suffer with their soules As they sinned together so must they suffer But whatever become of their Bodies after death if their Soules be saved when they die their Bodies also shall be saved at the second coming of our Saviour As they have served him together so shall they be saved together by him The happinesse or unhappinesse of the whole man depends upon the happinesse or unhappinesse of his Soule The sixth and last Reason to perswade this Merchant Totus quidem iste mundus ad unius animae pretium aestimari non potest non enim pro tolo mundo Deus animam suam dare voluit quam pro anima humanae dedit Sublimius ergo animae pretium quae non nisi sanguine Christi redimi potuit c. Agnosce homo quam nobilis est anima tua quam gravia suerunt ejus vulnera pro quibus necesse suit Christum Dominum vulnerari Noli ergo vilipendere animae tuae passionem cui à tanta Majestate tantam vides exhiberi compassionem S. Bern. Medit. Man to prize his Soul above the World may be taken from the consideration of that price which our Saviour paid for the redemption of it And was it not very considerable think you that the Sonne of God the welbeloved Sonne of God the onely begotten Sonne of God equal to the Father in goodnesse and power and glory and majesty should condescend so low as to become a Man a Man of no reputation the very scorn and
was King of Cyprus Titulo Rex insulae animo autem pecuniae miserabile mancipium He was in title the King of the Cyprian-Isle but in truth he was a miserable Bondslave to his Pelf Now what profit is it to gain and increase that mony which begetteth and increaseth misery And if it be so little profit simply to gain the World certainly there is lesse profit in the gaining of it if a man must pay his own Soule for it And this brings us to the second Querie that Hypothetical Question that includes the whole Text What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soule And this Question sets us to consider of the second sort of Wares the Ware Exported concerning which three Circumstances were proposed to be considered 1. The Nature or Quality 2. The Number or Quantity 3. The Relation or Propriety First for the Nature or Quality we may observe that it See Nemesius of the Nature of Man is a Soul Yet not a Vegitative Soule such as is in the Plants Nor yet a Sensitive Soule such as is in Birds and Beasts But a Reasonable Soule such as is in Man such a Soule as makes him to be a Man It is is his Soule his owne Soule I shall It is the soule of man that makes him to be a man See Philip of Mornay's Trunesse of Christian Religion translated by St Phil. Sidney chap. 14. not tell you what Aristotle sayes of the Soule of Man nor yet how other Philosophers use to define it But let me tell you thus much of it that it is an Heavenly Jewell in a Câ—binet of Earth and a Jewel of that worth it is that not all the Diamonds in the World though never so curiously cut and never so artificially set in the richest Rings of the most refined gold may be valued with it though it be cabined in the most deformed lump of Red Earth There be many Reasons in it to raise the estimate of it I 'le name some of them As first it is the Medal of the Almighty The lively Image of the living God Or the Tablet upon which that King of Kings and Lord of Lords hath drawn his owne likenesse Now shall the Image of a Mortall King stamped on the substance of the Earth or the Earthly substance of Gold or Silver make man so to esteem it as to become an Idolater towards it and shall not the Image of the Immortal King of Kings imprinted in his own Workmanship upon the Heavenly substance of Mans soule perswade him far more highly to value that And a second reason why this Merchant Man should inhaunce Dei insignita imagine decorata similitudine St Bern. Medita de digniâ— animae Mens nostra Dei similis c. Gregor Nyss disputat de anima Resurr the price of his Soul may be this because it is a spirit an Immateriall substance It is indeed within the substance of the body but yet without a bodily substance And the more that any substance be spiritualized the more puâ— and precious it is and the more ennobled And the further that any substance be distanced from the nature of a body the nearer it drawes to the Nature of God For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is a Spirit And the spirituality of the Soule does far exalt it above the body as comming nearer to the purity of God who is a Spirit And therefore it is well asserted by St Bernard that the worst of soules in respect of substance is far more excellent then the best of bodies and ought to be valued far above them A third Reason to perswade this Merchant-man to value his Soul at a very dâ—ar rate may be the Immortality of it It is immortal as well as immaterial Indeed man dies at See the Immortality of the soul discoursed of largely and very learnedly by Philip of Mornay Lord of Plâ—ssie in the Truenesse of Christ Religion c. 14. 15. his appointed time but the soul of man does never die By death the whole man is dissolved but the whole of man is not destroyed by death The soul of man doth live when man is dead The soul is doomed at the instant of death either to enjoy everlasting felicity in Heaven or to endure everlasting misery in Hell And that endlesse misery is often called Mors secunda the second death Yet is it not so called that we should think that the Soul doth cease to live in hell but rather â—ecause it ceaseth to enjoy its life The damned Non enim quia solvitur compositum inde etiaÌ„ necessariò consequitur una cum composito dâ—ssolvi id quod compositum non est Greg. Nyssen disput de Anim. Resurr souls in Hell live not there to enjoy life but to endure grief And therefore their life there is said to be no life Simplex vita non est vivere sed valere meerly to live is no life but to live indeed is to enjoy life It is a kind of death for one to live in pain that hath lived at ease It is a kind of death for one to live in prison that hath lived at liberty A kind of death for one to live in penury that hath lived in plenty Those damned Souls that lie imprisoned in Hell do all live there in pain for living here in pleasure their joyes are turned into pains and their life now is worse then death Their Damnation in Hell is like to Death in four respects In damnatione novissima quaÌ„vis homo sentire non desinaâ— tamen quia sensus ipse nec voluptate suavis nec quiete salubris sed doâ—oâ—â— poenalis est non immeritò mors est potius appellaâ—a quam vita S. August and for its likenesse in each respect it is called Death First it is like it for Separation In temporal dâ—ath the Quamvis enim humana anima vâ—raciter immortalis perhibâ—tur habet tamen etiam ipsa mortem suam Soul which gave life to the Body is separated from it So in Damnation the Lord of life which gave life to the Soul is separated from that Mortâ—ae sunt animae hoc est à Deo desertâ— saith S. Austine The damned soules are dead that is forsaken of God For Sicut mors corporis est cum id deserit animâ— ita mors animae est cum eam deserit Deus As it is the death of S. Aug. de Civ Dei l. 13. c. 2. the body when it is forsaken of the soul so it is the death of the soul when it is forsaken of God Sicut enim anima discedente moritur corpus sic anima Deo dâ—sâ—rente mori credenda est Secondly Damnation is like to Death in respect of Place Hell is a place of Darknesse a place that is very disconsolate Primasius super Apocalyp cap. 18. so is the Grave And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sheol with the Hebrews signifiâ—s both Hell
of Water The graines of Sand are very small yet if many of them be put together into a Bag or Sack and laid upon the head or shoulders of a man they will presse him down And the drops of Raine are little by themselves yet when many meet together they may cause an inundation Many small sinnes may be as heavy as one great sinne saith S. Austine S. August Epistol 108. ad Seleusian And he fitly resembles the losse of a Soule to the losse of a Merchants ship upon the Sea Sometimes a Ship is lost by one great Wave that overwhelmes it and sinks it right downe and sometimes a Ship is lost by the Water that leaks in by some breach or breaches in the sides or bottome So some mens soules are lost by the sinnes that sue in through their leaking senses and sometimes they are lost by some great sinne that swells above them and sinks them right downe to the very bottome of perdition such was that grand Rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram and Num. 16. 1 2. 4. 31 32 33. their factious Complices that rose up against Moses and Aaren to pull them downe It was so heynous and so heavy a sinne that it sunk them all to the pit of destruction the very Earth was not able to bear them with that sinne upon them Some other trifled away theirs soules by little and little But these traded theirs away by whole-sale But which way so ever they be sold they are but lost And in both these wayes of selling them there are two things remarkable First the making of the Bargaine Secondly the performing of the Bargaine First the making of it And it may be made two wayes Explicitely or Implicitely that is Formally or by Consequence First Explicitely or Formally when both parties doe capitulate the Conditions and agree upon the Termes Thus Witches and Wizards and all Confederates with the Devil are said to sell their soules unto him Secondly Implicitely or by consequence and this is when the Devil or his Factors come into the Mart of this World and fall to chaffering for Mens Soules by cheapning of them and bidding like Chapmen for them The Devil comes to the Covetous man and asketh him the price of his Soule He comes to the Voluptuous man and asketh him the price of his And he comes to the Ambitious man and asketh him the price of his The price of the Covetous mans is Wealth the price of the Voluptuous mans is Pleasure and the price of the Ambitious mans is Honour The Devil knows their several prizes but knows not how to pay them downe Yet like himselfe he offers all they ask and promiseth in time to pay them all Matth. 4 9. Haec omnia vobis dabo all these things will I give unto you And then for Earnest or in part of payment he puts a penny or a Teston of unlawful gains into the hands of the Covetous man to conclude the Bargaine with him He procures an opportunity of unlawful Pleasure according to the Voluptuous mans desire to conclude the Bargain with him And by a small Bribe he sets the Ambitious man upon the first step to preferment to conclude with him These men cannot be ignorant of the Devils aims they must needs know that what he offers is but in earnest or in part of payment for their souls yet they take his offers or rather are taken with his temptations and what call you this but a striking up of the bargaine Now the bargain being made the performance is expected But here men think to be too cunning for the Devil himself They never intend to perform the bargain they think to put him off by denying of it They intend to put him to prove it by sufficient witnesses which they think he cannot doe before the Judge at the great Assize But alas for them before it comes to that they may be sure to be Arrâ—sted at the Devils Suit by that bold that inexorable that impartial Serjeant Death Executions will be granted out against them and those not of goods onely nor yet of bodies and goods but of goods and bodies and soules And Death's Warrants run very high Non omittas propter ullam libertatem Attach them where-ever thou findest them There are no places in this world that are priviledged from the Arrests of Death When once this Serjeant Death hath arrested their Bodies their Soules must presently be sent to the Barre of Judgement for particular Sentences Then actum erit the matter will be past cure the bargain will be proved against them by credible witnesses For first the Devils payments will be proved by that Coyn of his those peeces of Devillisme found in their possessions at the time of their attachments Those sinnes which the Devil brought to them or them unto will all be witnesses against them Secondly the Day-book of their own Consciences will be produced as a thousand Witnesses against them for there the Debt of Sin is scored up and never can be crossed untill it be expunged by repentance And now shall not the Judge of all the World do right Yes surely and he will give the Devil his due There is no remedy now the bargain must be performed The Devil bought their Souls and he must have them The Devil is the Jailour of Hell and thither the Judge commands them Take them Jailour saith the Judge that is take them Devil and keep them fast till the general Judgement They might have been wiser before but now there is no help for them It is now too late to repent let Merchantmen beware in time then let no man think to cheat the Devil lest he cheats himself Let no man think himself secure in the middest of danger Think not your selves by the African Promontory the Cape of good Hope when ye are very neer the Magillanean Straights Mistake not those unfortunate Caput bouâ— spâ—t Abbots description of the VVorld Islands neer the Molucco's for the very Canaries If you be not yet arrived at Lucians Island of Dreams doe not dream broad-waking do not imagine your soules to be in safe habours when they are in the midst of Hellish Pyrates This World is like a Sea a dangerous Sea and that Arch-Pyrate the Devll and many Scouts from Hell are coasting this Sea of the World from place to place And the Devil can play the Merchant as well as the Pyrate if he cannot take men in the World he will try to take them by it If he cannot surprize them in it he 'le offer it as a prize unto them and many are taken by it Many sell themselves unto him for it and so undoe themselves for ever for they lose their Souls by the sale which are more worth then all the World And so much they must confesse if they ballance the Trade What is a man profited if he shall gaine the whole world and lose his own soule i. e. Ballance the Trade compare and compute
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
crucified with Christ and so broken for sinne neverthelesse I live and so am broken from sinne In the first there is a true Humiliation in the second a reall Reformation In both together there is a present Change of the State of Nature into the State of Grace Yea he is so Changed that he is not himselfe any longer not the man he was but â— new man a new Creature and hence it is that he saith I livâ— 2 Cor. 5. 17. Galat. 6. 15. Yet not I non amplius ego not I any longer not I the same man I was but another Not Saul now but Paul Not a persecutour of the Gospel but a Preacher of it Not an Enemy to the Phil. 3. 18. 2 Cor. 11. 30. Crosse of Christ But a friend unto it A lover of it one that gloryeth in it God forbid that I should glory save in the Crosse of Christ by whom the world is crucified in me and I unto the World Gal. 6. 14. I am crucified with Christ that is baptized into the death of Rom. 6. 3 5 6 7. Christ or planted in the likenesse of his Death which was by crucifixion that the old Man might be crucified with him that the sinne of the body and the Body of sinne might be destroyed that henceforth I might not serve sinne for he that is dead is freed from sinne Neverthelesse I live not the lesse but the more Coloss 2. 12 13 by being quickened with Christ and risen with him through the faith of the operation of God Transplanted in the likenesse of his Rom. 6. 4. 5. Resurrection to walke with him in newnesse of life Now the Rom. 7. 24. Body of Death being thus killed in this holy Apostle and the spirit of his minde being thus renewed hee reckons himselfe to â—e dead indeed unto sinne but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Ephes 4. 23. Rom. 6. 12. Uno verbo dici potect concrucifixus Faber Stapulensis in Examin Lord which in other tearmes hee signifieth saying Christo concrucifixus suâ—â— vivo autem as Montanus has it I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am Crucified with Christ there 's his Mortification or the first pat of his Regeneration and in these words we may observe two Remarkables 1 Exemplum A Patterne  and 2 Exemplatum A Parallel The Patterne is our Saviours Crucifixion The Parallel in S. Pauls concrucifixion Our Saviours Crucifixion was in example to S. Pauls And S. Pauls concrucifixion was in imitation of our Saviours Christ was crucified for Paul and Paul was crucified with Christ and wee should all be crucified with both The crucifixion of our Saviours Body for sinne was a patterne to every one of us as well as to S. Paul that all wee might learne to crucifie the Body of sinne in our selves His dying upon the Christus crucifixuâ— est idaea nostrae mortificationis Climac Crosse for our sinnes should teach us all the Apostles way of dying unto sinne Christs crucifixion is the true Idaea of out mortification and a Christian truly mortified is to the life the likenesse of Christ crucified Christ was crucified for all true Christians and all true Christians are as Paul in this was crucified with Christ Our Saviours crucifixion and S. Pauls concrucifixion were both mysterious both full of Paradoxes and our Saviours Person was as paradoxicall as his Passion They are both the subjects of many and many seeming contradictions In his Person hee was made a very contradiction for sinners and at his Passion hee endured the contradictions of sinners In his Person hee Heb. 12. 3. was the great Creatour himselfe that formed every creature yet was a Creature formed by that Creatour His Body was made of his Mothers substance yet hee it was that made the substance of his Mothers Body of which hee was made Hee was made after the World was what hee was not before the World was made yet was hee still after hee was made what he was before the World was made or hee so in it Hee was begotten before his Mother was borne yet was hee borne of his Mother before hee was begotten of her As old hee was as Daniel 7. 9. John 1. 14. 3. 16. the ancient of dayes his Father that begat him and older hee was then his Virgin Mother that gave birth unto him Begotten hee was of his Father and borne hee was of his Mother yet was hee not begotten by his Father as hee was borne of his Mother not yet borne of his Mother as hee was begotten of his Father He was the onely begotten Sonne of his Father and he was begotten of his Father onely His Father begate him without Virgo Mater utiqâ—e admirabilis singularis a seculo non est auditum quod virgo esset quae pâ—perit Mater esset quae virgo permanfit S. Bernard Ser. 10. Isaiah 9. 6. the office of his Mother And hee was the onely Sonne of his Virgin Mother and the Sonne onely of his Mother as hee was her Sonne and borne of her His Mother did bear him without the office of a Father On his Fathers side hee was God and not Man and on his Mothers side he was Man and not God yet betwixt both hee was both God and Man to mediate betwixt both at his first comming and to arbitrate betwixt both at his second No wonder then it was that his Name was called Wonderfull for every thing in him was full of Wonder and his Passion was as wonderfull as any thing His comming into the world had a world of wonder in it and so had his being in it and his leaving of it did leave as many behind it Hee was crucified yet was not crucified Hee suffered yet did not suffer Hee dyed yet did not die and hee rose againe saith S. Ambrose yet did not rise againe And are not all these S. Ambros de Spirit sancto seeming contradictions Is not every period a very Paradox yet all very orthodox and easie to be unriddled Two Natures were united in that one Person of Christ And Christ endured that in one of his Natures which the other could not endure As Man or in his Manhood he suffered was crucified and dyed and rose from Death But as God or in his Deity he could doe neither Thus the Life and Death of Christ were very mysterious full of mysteries and so are the Life and Death of every mysticall Member of Christ Every true Christian is such a Member and this Vessell of Election our holy Apostle was such a Christian Hee was one that had the characters of Christs sufferings in his mortified Body I beare in my Body the markes of the Lord Iesus saith hee Galat. 6. 17. conformed to the mysticall Head of the Church in sufferings Christo concrucifixus crucified with Christ and his estate now was very Mysterious he was both dead and alive at once Crucified
love and to the Head by faith must needs be sensible of the sufferings of the 1 Cor. 12. 26 27. Head Whereas one member suffers all the members suffer with it by way or sympathy and therefore surely when as the Head suffers which is the fountaine of sense there must needs be a Catholike Compassion in all the Members Those are not living Members of Christs Mysticall Body that do not sympathize with him in the biternesse of his passion The very Remembrance of his grievous sufferings upon the Crosse for their sakes does make make them grieve for his sake And that 's their first Concrucifixion Now the second followes this and is twofold 1. Mysticall 2. Morall And the first of these is in the Sacrament of Baptisme For that Christens a man and makes him a member of Christ So many as are baptized into Christ they put on Christ And they put Galat. 3. 27. on Christ crucified that put him on by baptizme It is into the Death of Christ that they are Baptised And the Death of Christ was upon the Crosse by crucifixion And this laver of Signum est exhibitivum Regeneration the Sacrament of Baptisme does both signe and seale the Benefits of Christs crucifixion to a Christian And from this sacramentall or mysticall concrucifixion must we all derive that concrucifixion which is Morall And the Morall Concrucifixion does Crowne the Mysticall The Sacrament of Baptisme does begin the life of Christianity but it is the Christianity of life that does compleate a Christian and fits him for the Crowne of life Non quaeritur in Christianis S. Gregor l. 28. Moral initium sed finis saith S. Gregory The initiation of Christianity in any man is nothing so remarkable as the consummation of it Alas what is it to begin to be a Christian unlesse a man goes on to the perfection of Christianity I meane what profit is it to be baptized into Christ unlesse a man does live like a Christian Quid enim tibi prodect vocari quod non es nomen usurpare alienum sed si Christianum te esse delectat quae Christianitatis sunt gere S. August de doctrinâ Christianâ What benefit can there be in putting on of Christ by Baptisme unlesse we keepe him on in our lives and weare him in our Conversations Christiani nomen ille frustra sortitur qui Christum minimè imitatur saith S. Austine It s a frivolous thing to be a Nominall and not a Reall Christian to have the Name of a Christian and not be a follower of Christ Christianus à Christo A man is called a Christian from Christ whose follower he professes himselfe to be as those Disciples did which were first called so at Antioch Act. 11. 26. But those men bely A Christo Christiani â—umus â—uncupamur Athan. Orat. 2. contr Arian Gregor Nyss de profes Christianor S. Cypr. de 12. abusionib Greg. Naz. in Orat. funebri de S. Basilio the Name of Christ saith Gregory Nyssen that doe nor make their practice of Christianity to answer their profession of it Nemo Christianus verè dicitur nisi qui Christo moribus pro ut valet coaequatur saith S. Cyprian No man is rightly called a Christian unlesse he followeth Christ in his moralls as neere as he can S. Basil the Great and Gregory the Divine that were like Twinnes of Devotion in the Service of the Church did both rejoyce that they both were and were called Christians The putting on of Christ by Baptisme does give the Name but it is the keeping of him on in our moralls that speakes us Christians indeed It is not enough therefore to be crucified with Christ in Baptisme onely Ecce baptizati sunt homines See saith Saint S. Aug. Ser. 16. de verb. Apost Austine men are baptized and thereby their sinnes be washed away yet still something remaines on their parts to be performed Restat lucta cum carne restat lucta cum diabolo restat lucta cum mundo still there remaineth many Combates to Revel 2. 10. Mysterium hoc geritur in Christianis sacramentaliter efficaciter Sacramentaliter in Baptismo efficaciter in ipsa veteris nostri hominis mortificatione vitae novitate Musculus Dicendo simul cum Christo crucifixus sum Baptismum tecte significat diâ—â—do Vivo autem jam non ego sequemeÌ„ vitae rationeÌ„ significat per quam mortificantur membra S. Chrys in loc be maintained against our Ghostly Enemies the world the flesh and the Devil And indeed every Christian is engaged by his Baptisme to bid defiance unto these and to fight against them under the Banner of Christs Crosse to the utmost of his life We must be faithfull unto Death or never expect the Crowne of life Thus is this Mysterie begun and carried on in all true Christians as Saint Chrysostome hath observed and after him Theophilact and Musculus after both It begins in Baptisme and must be carried on in our lives It is this Morall concrucifixion that God expecteth and rewardeth But this is not easily and quickly finished Hic labor hoc opus it requires our greatest care and diligence to crucifie our selves with Christ in our lives This part of Christianisme is the hardest task that our Master Christ hath imposed upon us as his Disciples It is a worke that must be done so long as we live for that so long as we live we must never thinke we have done it But what is it that makes it so hard to be done there are many things that doe encrease the difficulty of it The first is that innate power or naturall strength that the Body of sinne hath in our Mortall Bodies I delight in the law Semper in nobis dum vivimus peccati Adami noÌ„nullae reliquiae manent Si enim ista semina sic omnino clui possit ut nullae in nobis restarent sordes vitiorum nec Paulus de legâ— membrorum mortisque corpore conquestus fuisset nec nos assidua spiritus renovatione opus haberemus Whitak â—â— 1. li. 8. of God after the inward man saith this Apostle But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the law of sinne which is in my members Rom. 7. 22 23. See here was law against law and members against minde in Paul himselfe The corrupted Principles of Nature opposing the reformed and refined Principles of Grace and somtimes prevailing to the conquering to the captivating of this great Apostle and compelling him to cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver â—â— from the body of this death Rom. 7. 24. Though man be renewed in his mind by the law of Grace or the Grace of the New man yet the Old man is still in him and the old man in him hath the law of Nature or the law of the Members on his side and the
saith our Apostle God forbid ye we establish the Rom 3. 31. law Indeed they that are in Christ and have Christ living in them are not under the law but under Grace But how Not Rom. 6. 14. under the law to seeke for justification by it but yet they are under it to encrease their sanctification by it They are not under the Curse of the law to Condemnation but under the Course of the law they are for Commendation Not under the Rigor of it but under the Rule of it And he can never be a true disciple of Christ that will not be ruled by it He that would live with Christ in Heaven must live with him on Earth first He that would be like him in the life of Glory must be like also in the life of Grace And he that would be so must labour to be like him in his Moralls He that is Crucified with Christ must live like one that is so Crucified like one that is dead to sinne like one that is dead unto himselfe like one that hath Christ living in him and that can never be untill the life of Christ be represented in his life in the manner or morality of it It is this that our Apostle S. August Serm. 13. de verb. Dom. cheifely points at in the Text when he sayes Christ liveth in him Vnumquodque secundùm hoc vivat unde vivit Saith Saint Austine every thing ought to live according to that by which it liveth The Body liveth of the Soule And the Soule liveth of Christ Let both then live according to those things that give them life let the Body live so after the Soule and the Soule so after Christ that both soule and body may live together with Christ for ever hereafter It is from this kinde of life that a man may have hope in death And it is by this kinde of life that a man may assure himselfe that he is dead Death unto sinne is best attested by the life of Grace It was by this that Saint Paul could ascertaine himselfe of his concrucifixion By this it was that he knew himselfe to be a Mortified member of the mysticall body of Christ He found Christ living in him and that made him say that he was crucified with Christ It is no easie matter for a man to be as this Apostle was a Mortified Man Crucified with Christ But easie it is for a Man to know he is so if he be so yet many are mistaken in this matter and take themselves to be so when they are not but the reason is they doe not observe the Manners of a Man concrucified They doe not observe how it was with Christ when he was crucified or with Saint Paul when he was crucified with Christ They doe not enquire whether it be so with themselves When Christ was crucified he was Patient and so was Paul Isal 53. 7. in all his sufferings for Christ when he was concrucified Are all we so Are we patient in tribulations Can we suffer our 1 Pet. 2. 23. losses and crosses with patience When our Saviour was reviled he revlied not againe When he suffered he threatned not but Committed himselfe to him that Judgeth righteously Doe we doe so So did S. Paul Being reviled we blesse saith he and being Persecuted we Suffer it and being defamed we intreate 1 Corinth 4. 12 13. Againe when Christ was crucified he was very pious Are we Luke 23. 34. so He prayed for the pardon of his Persecutors doe we so So did the Protomartyr Saint Steven and so did Paul and Acts 7. 60. so doe all that are conformed to our Crucified Saviour And if we do not so it is a signe we are not crucified with our Saviour Againe when Christ was crucified he left the world He neither reckoned of the Pompe nor of the Glory of it And so it was with Paul when he was crucified with Christ The world Gal. 6. 14. was crucified to him and he unto the world Now is it so with us If it be so the world may fawne upon us but we will not S. Aug. lib. de Salu. doc cap. 16. fancy it and it may frowne upon us but we will not feare it If we be crucified to that and that to us we will not Court it for any Pleasure nor Covet it for any Profit We will not Chrysost in Math. hom 55. flatter it nor yet be flattered by it We will not seeke to win nor suffer our selves to be wonne by the alurements of it With Paul concrucified we will esteeme all worldly things as Phil. 3. 8. dung and drosse in comparison of Christ Againe when Christ was crucified he was a dead Man and Crucifixum esse est mortuum esse Musculus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Photius Ephes 4. 19. so was Paul and a dead man does not sinne he that is crucified with Christ as Paul was is dead indeed unto sinne and alive unto God Though sin it self be not departed yet the life of sin is gone Sin is mortified in him Now how is it with us How is sin now committed by us Doe we still sinne with greedinesse Does sinne still live in us and we still love to live in sinne If so we are not yet concrucified True it is that the old sinnes of Man as well as the old man of sinnes must have a time to dy after they be crucified There will be sinne in any Regenerate Man as long as he liveth though he be never so long concrucified before his death For if we say we have no sinne we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Yet if we be truly Crucified with Christ the love of sinne will abate in us yea our loving will turne into a loathing of it and though we carry sinne every whither about with us yet we will not be carried every whither about with sinne There will appeare the power of godlinesse in us Counter-manding the Commanding power of sinne though it cannot alwayes prevaile The flesh lusteth against the spirit Gal. 5. 17. and the spirit against the flesh and these two are so contrary that a man cannot doe the things that he would There is a continuall See Perkins in his combate of the Flesh and Spirit Combate between the Regenerate and the Unregenerate parts of any Regenerate Person Such a Person is like that mysticall purse that has both old and new coyne in it The first and second Regenetatus duplici constat homine interiore nimirum ut â—xteriore Zanch. Miscellan lib. 3. Adams are both in the old new Man a living dead man a renewed man crucified with Christ and yet alive Such a person was S. Paul a person that had both sin and sanctitie at once A person crucified with Christ and so dying daily unto sin but not quitedead unto it or dead it may be unto many sins but not to all or dead to all it may