called him to the knowledge of his truth What an ease and comfort to liue alwayes free from those blowes and strokes of our spirituall enemie wherewith some of Gods people are wounded almost to death Doubtles the remembrance of such foyles doth bring so much shame and forrow to the hearts and often blushing and palenesse both successiuely to the cheekes of diuers of Gods people that they now account freedome from such blots a thing of more worth then all the riches and honour in the World and wish with all their soules that they had taken any paines and suffered any miserie outward to haue been deliuered from such inward wretchednesse Why should we not be wise before-hand now and by labour win to our selues the comfort of hauing preuented that which if once we should feele we shall wish but all in vaine that we had laboured night and day to preuent 5. Lastly Good esteeme from man much true credit and good esteeme will follow to the Saints of God from the work of mortification both with the houshold of faith and with strangers also The mortified man affects the hearts of all that behold him with admiration and the lesse he couets the credit of men the more he wins it Who is he that seeing a man able to hold downe anger vniustice reuenge lust when strong occasions do prouoke them to work doth not find his soule cleauing to him at once louing and wondring at him Heathen men that haue for their credit sake so farre dissembled mortification as in something a notable fashion to forbeare euill doing haue been more famous for that in after-times then for all their wealth and victories for it is more truly prayse-worthy to be good then great and therefore an high degree of goodnes will more honour a man in the hearts of men then the highest degree of greatnesse The soule will not stoope to other things though the knee doe crouch but the very soule of the highest person that is will euen bow to the name of a man that is excellent in mortification What made Herod honour Iohn Baptist but this that he saw him so thorowly mortified Euery man is inforced by his conscience to esteeme worthily of one whom he sees doing that which he knowes himselfe should doe but finds hee cannot Now euery mans soule in a manner euery mans is conuinced that he should conquer ambition reuenge couetousnesse lust and his experience telles him how little he is able to performe in this businesse wherefore when he sees another euer conquering that sinne whereto himselfe is a perpetuall vassall and of which hee is euer conquered hee strangeth at him and lookes vpon him as vpon some extraordinarie and miraculous person Indeed sinners are many times so transported with the loue of sinne that as Owles hate the light which they cannot looke vpon so they nourish in themselues euen enmitie against these excellencies which they cannot imitate but then when they are out of their mad and drunken fits when they are themselues when they know what they do and say as in the day of affliction of sicknesse of death they cannot but shew themselues to beare more heartie reuerence and vnfained respect to him whom they haue seene carefull and able to mortifie the deedes of the body then to all the rich and mightie men on earth Brethren you might well saue the cost of hanging your backs with ouer-gorgious attire and making so much adoe to trim vp your bodies the carefull fighting against sin and preuailing against it which will follow fighting would doe you more honestie amongst all your neighbours then all the fine cloathes vnder heauen If thou couldest thrust thy selfe into a garment made all of gold and Diamonds and come garnished also King-like with a Crowne and Scepter the hearts of men would not entertaine thee with so much esteeme as if they see thee as it were god-like in ouercomming the sinnes that ouercome the greatest of the sonnes of men A good name is a precious oyntment and a precious iewell which nothing will get so soone or so surely as goodnesse Wherefore fight against sinne that thou mayest haue honour in the consciences of men and some kind of authoritie and command in them as I may say by vertue of this honour CHAP. IV. Shewing the equitie of the dutie WE haue heard how needfull Thirdly from the equitie of the dutie and profitable mortification is let vs see also how equall it is No neede nor profit should draw vs to that which is vnequall but when equitie is ioyned to profit and necessitie then should the worke be done without further delay Now it is most equall that we kill our sinnes whether we consider God or Christ or our selues or sin it selfe For sinne is Gods enemy First for God Hee is our Soueraigne Lord and King and sinne is his most mortall enemie wherefore it is most equall that wee should fight against it for subiects must oppose the enemies of their Prince with al their power The Scripture tels vs Duet 13.6 7 8 9. that if father or mother or brother or sister or kinswoman or friend should goe about to draw a man from God his hand should be first against them to put them to death Now sinnes of all sorts doe seeke to draw vs from God wherefore our eye must not spare them neither must wee fauour them but wee must bee seuere against them and as it were stone them with stones vntill they bee dead It is a most righteous and equal thing that notorious Rebels and malefactors should bee slaine without pitie and lusts are the grossest of all malefactors which doe most prouoke God and oppose themselues against his honour Therefore if we haue any regard of his honour what should we doe but lay hold vpon them and pursue them to the very death Should we spare or forbeare to kill the foes and aduersaries of the Lord our God were not this to make our selues his enemies also 2. Againe hath not our sin slaine Christ Sinne is a murtherer of Christ and shall not we in an holy reuenge be eager against it to kill it If any man haue slaine our Parent or Brother or Sister or Child we thinke it our dutie to follow after him and persecute against him till we haue brought him to a well-deserued end The next of Kin in the Law was alwayes the auenger of bloud and to him it appertained to hunt after the murtherer to bring vpon his head the innocent bloud that hee had shed If therefore we will shew our selues brethren or sisters of Christ or any thing of Kin vnto him we must euen bee auengers of his bloud vpon sinne for for our sinnes was his bloud shed and these are the things that haue slaine him and for which he made his soule a facrifice A thiefe a traytor a murderer ought in all reason to be executed and euery man will thinke it fit to lend his
with troubles and afflictions then the vnmarried The man and woman that ioyne themselues in matrimony shall commonly meete with more aduersitie outward then whilest they continued without Matrimonie The Apostles words are euident hee doth in manner ingage his word affirming and foretelling prophetically Such shall haue trouble in the flesh You must conceiue him to write as a reasonable man to such as were also reasonable and therefore to meane comparatiuely else it were easie to reiect his argument in this wise Paul you dehort vs from marrying not because it is sinne but because we shall find trouble in it why doe you not know that the single life hath also its thornes and briers I doe would Paul answere but my meaning was that this estate doth outwardly bring more trouble for else I had vsed an vnforcible argument and spoken little to the purpose You must therefore conceiue the Apostles meaning to be as hath been said if the state of marriage and of single life be compared together in such respect the former is the more troublous Proofes are needlesse in a manifest and expresse truth but I will shew you the cause why it is so and after stand a little ore largely in describing vnto you the chiefe troubles of marraige Reas The cause then is sinne sinne I say the make-bate betwixt God and man which with-drawing the creature from his loyaltie to the Creator causeth the Creator in iustice to with-draw his fauour from the creature and in stead thereof to pursue him with his curse This curse as it made the frutifull earth to bring forth briers and thornes which else should neuer haue afforded such vnprofitable and hurtfull increase so hath also filled all estates with stirres and confusions as it were brambles Wherefore as any estate doth occasion any person to intermeddle with more businesses and with more persons so is it also molested with more troubles through the vnhappie working of the actuall corruptions of all parties to the annoyance of each other vnreasonably discouering themselues If man had continued in his due loyaltie towards his King and Maker neither Matrimonie nor any other condition of life should haue disquieted him with any the least touch of miserie But justice requireth that Rebels and rebellion bee punished Sinne is the sore sawce that distasteth all our comforts this is like the Colloquintida in the pot of pottage which the Prophets seruants had made that caused the eaters to crie out Death is in the pot This is that stinking weed which dissauours all our sweete flowres This is the imbitterer of all estates bringing forth such and so many disorders in men and women as make them to bring forth trouble each to other In marriage a man is ingaged to more businesses and duties then before occasioned to deale with more humours then before and to stand in need of more things then before so will sinne and corruption shew it selfe more then before and so must he meete with more affliction then before This I speake to free both God the Author of Marriage as also Marriage his ordinance from all manner of blame and accusations For if all the hardnesse wherewith we be molested doe grow from our sinne and our sinne arise from Satans temptation and the abuse of our owne free will as all these things are most vndoubted and certaine why should God be faulted for our miserie seeing hee made vs not miserable til we had made ourselues sinfull And why should any estate of life be blamed for our miserie seeing if wee were not sinners in it we should not reape any miserie from it Take notice then of the true cause of all the cumbers An explication to the point which incumber married people and secondly let mee informe you also at least of some and the chiefe troubles of marriage which you must know that you may expect them and expect them that you may prepare for them and prepare for them that you may not be made impatient by them and by impatiencie make them much more cumbrous then else they need to be These doe all arise from foure maine heads The persons married their children their seruants and their estates of all which a man might spend more then foure dayes in speaking it taking counsell of experience he would borrow a little help of Rhetorick to set out the matters to the full but I will alone touch them and away Euerie man and woman haue their faults those will breede trouble they may bee sicke and that is another trouble one of the two die first and leaue the other behind and that is to some the worst of all troubles In the soules of men there breed vices in their bodies diseases and at last death and the fruit of all these must needs be griefe and sorrow each to other Some men are churlish sowre vnkind some wrathfull passionate and furious some hard miserable and niggardly some wastefull riotous and vnthriftie some vncleane vnsatiable and ranging after other women some suspiciious mistrustfull and iealous of their owne wiues some rash and hare-brain'd some fond and giddie some simple some subtill some idle some toylesome some carking some carelesse yea twentie and twice twentie sinfull and offending dispositions shew themselues in all the sonnes of Adam and what woman can meete with a man in all the world in whom some or other of these disorders doe not dwell Nature and education may hide them out of the way that they shall not bee seene Grace and sanctification may in part subdue them that they shall not reigne but neither nature nor grace shall quite and cleane abolish them that they shall not bee and to obtaine an husband free from all of them yea not subiect to more then one two or three of them it is altogether impossible and as impossible to liue with one that hath them though neuer so much mortified as the state of men on earth can reach and not be troubled exceedingly troubled with them as to go bare-foot vpon a ricke of thornes or furres and not bee pricked and pained with them In like sort some women are proud arrogant and scornefull some violent head-strong and masterfull some sullen and dogged some scolding and snappish some talkatiue some tongue-tied some light some coy some finish some sluttish some ouer-spending some ouer-sparing some lewd and vnchaste some raging and iealous yea an hundred and a thousand faults doe lie hid in the painted box of the bosome of euerie of Euahs daughters Good bringing vp may conceale them good instructions may diminish and good nature for a while may keep them vnder and keepe them secret yea the worke of grace may mortifie quell and ouer-master them but nothing can altogether roote them out so long as flesh and spirit do striue together in one soule that is so long as soule and bodie doe liue together in this life A woman void of some yea diuers of these faults and follies no care
no paines no diligence can helpe a man vnto and from trouble by these faults where they haue a being and a working no wisdome no loue no pietie can altogether free him more then from being stung by the handling of Nettles with naked hands It were good therefore for the woman that is to marrie to put her selfe in mind of these things before-hand and to demand of her selfe in these or the like questions What if mine husband should proue vnkind and disregardfull of me What if hee should bee bitter and ragefull towards me What if hee should rate me with words of disgrace more then euer my Father or Master haue done What if hee should lay vpon me with his vnmanlike fist and that when I seeke to giue him all content Or what if he should strike mee with a more paineful and mischieuous weapon though I gaue him no cause How should I beare railing taunting or cutting termes at his mouth How cruell fierce and causelesse blowes at his hand But yeeld that he proue not so mad and mankind How if it fall out yet that he be carelesse and vnkind What if hee denie me the reasonable libertie which I desire and should enioy and will not suffer me to haue my wil in things conuenient How if he shew me a lowring countenance and an estranged carriage and that also vndeseruedly How if he grumble and grudge at mine expences though farre from being lauish and immoderate What if hee bee toylesome himselfe and put me also to harder labour then euer I endured being a daughter or a seruant What if he thinke much to allow me necessarie helpes and comforts in my weakenesse sicknesses and lying in and be then most vnkind when I need most kindnes because his niggardly humour can beare no charges Or what if he bee diuers and tetchie so that nothing in the world can please him but he will still be brawling chiding and finding fault though I bee as carefull as I can to ekepe my selfe from faults Or what if he proue a voluptuarie a drunkard an epicure spending that riotously and wastefully which were better saued to prouide for me and his children What if he be an haunter of Ale-houses or Tauernes and come home half drunk halfe mad and powre forth all his rage vpon me and my innocent children What if he consume himselfe in sports pastimes and gaming and make vs all beggers by his vnthriftinesse How could I suffer all or any of these troubles in the flesh How tedious How bitter How terrible would they seeme vnto me Or What if out of an hatefull ouer-louingnesse hee make himselfe suspicious of mine honestie and in a furious and blind apprehension of I know not what slender probabilities bee euer vpbraiding mee with being such a mans whore and such a mans whore How keene How cutting How stinging How piercing would these termes be vnto me But ah what if he should become vncleane and filthie giuen to whoredome imbracing the bosome of strangers and bringing home vnto me the feare if not the feeling of loathsome diseases How should I vndergoe this heauie burden which yet I see many compeld to vndergoe without remedie Thus should the woman consider before-hand in her thoughts the euils that may be fall her in marriage So like wise should the husband bethink himselfe in his most serious thoughts What if my wife should proue carelesse and vnhuswifely wanting forecast and skill to make the best of things and so become an hindrance rather then an helper to mine estate What if she bee daintie and lauish and will not content her selfe with mine attire and my fare What if shee bee sluttish and vncleanely and worke loathing in mee by the ill ordering of those things that should giue me most comfort What if she bee froward and snappish and returne my words vnto mee with aduantage What if shee proue a blab and withall inquisitiue so that she will bee ignorant of nothing and yet can keepe no counsell What if she be sullen and sowre and will giue me no good counenance vnlesse she haue her vnreasonable will performed in all things What if she waste my goods in vaine costlinesse of attire and in idle meetings amongst her Goffips What if she be loose and wanton and discredit my family with an euill name What if she be a very harlot and defile my bed and fill mine house with bastards so that I bee faine to breed vp yâ— seed of an adulterer in stead of mine owne off-spring What if she be mischieuously iealous and thinke that I am naught with all I speake to laying whoredome to my charge when I neuer meant it and almost inforce me to bee wicked by putting that into mine head which I neuer dreamt of How should I brooke this life How should I sustaine this burden and vndergoe this trouble to the flesh And this for the vices of the mind whereby many times a bad husband or a bad wife doe vexe and torment their yoke-fellow But if the mind be not infected with these inward diseases yet may the bodie proue weake and sickly and become little lesse trouble some Wherefore of this also should the woman consider well before-hand and so should the man What if mine husband should languish away in paine and sicknesse so that my life must be spent in attending a body still dying and as it were vnder-propping a rotten house alwaies falling What if he lye thus by me groning and tossing many dayes weekes moneths and some yeeres How shal I vndergoe the watching attendance charge griefe discomfort of an husband neither dead nor aliue but betwixt both Or for mine owne part What if breeding be roublesome so that I scarce enioy an healthie day from conception to quickning from quickning to trauel What if bringing forth be so tedious and painefull that I neuer become a mother but by going thorow the torment of an hundred deaths in one besides a long weakenesse after What if God multiply my sorrowes this way and giue me an euill stomacke pale cheekes a wan counenance faint legs and a feeble body liker a carcesse then a liuing woman How shall I beare head-ach heart-ach back-ach stomack-ach etching casting longing loathing quawmes pangs swoundings and twentie deaths a day The husband also should thinke thus How if my wife become infirme and feeble lame impotent powerlesse able neither to got nor keepe to labour nor ouer-fee nor to doe any thing but groane and sigh and hold her sides and keepe her bed to mine excessiue charge and griefe without being any way able to be an help and comfort vnto mee With what patience should I heare her groanes With what quietnesse should I looke vpon her pangs and euen be sicke in her sicknesse But in conclusion death wil approach and diuorce the husband and wife each from other of which either should thinke before it come to either yea before themselues come together How can I tell may the wife say but that
if I be married to this husband hee may leaue me the mother of some children and nwo great with another and sending his soule to heauen giue me alone his cold corpse to put into the earth How shall I doe to see the breath goe out of that beloued body How shall I endure to see those eyes clozed and all those lims and ioynts now vnder the arrest of death How should I beare the desolate name of a widdow of one that had an husband where the crosse is aggrauated by the goodnesse of him whom I haue lost So must the husband thinke What if either in trauaile or otherwise the Lord do take away my deare wife from my side What if she liue with me but a few dayes and then death come and make an irrecouerable separation How shall I behold those cheekes wan those lips black those hands cold that body breathles and liuelesse and fit for none other habitation but that of wormes the darke graue the Kingdome of corruption the territorie of rottennes How shall I lay that beloued body forsaken of the more beloued soule into the bowels and entrals of the all deuouring sepulchre Indeed brethren so farre as I see now adayes men and women can well enough answer to these questions for they can burie and marrie and all in a moneth an hastinesse deseruing to bee deepely censured But if thou loue thine husband if thouloue thy wife how canst thou brooke this finall separation But we goe forward to shew you the troubles you may meete with in respect of children Sometimes barrennesse doth cloze vp the wombe and suffers not the married persons to become parents Sometimes the fruit of the bodie is granted indeed but blasted with sicknesse and with speedy death Sometimes they liue but a few dayes or a few yeeres and then leaue the parent more sorrie for the lesse then glad at the receiuing of them Sometimes they liue to mans age and out-liue the parents but onely to be their parents tormentors and murderers by their euill and lewd conditions so disquieting their hearts that they would count it an aduantage to haue been barren and doe often wish they had laid them in thier graues before euer they had vsed a tongue to speake Many a child puts his mother to after-throes more terrible then those with which shee brought him into the world at first Many a father is in trauaile of his old child that knew not the labour of his first bringing forth Sometimes they proue stubburne sometimes riotous sometimes vncleane sometimes false and sometimes bring themselues to infamous punishments and vntimely deaths Sometimes they belewd before marriage and vexe the parents with beholding a bastard of their names Sometimes they be wilfull inmarriage and wil make their owne foolish choyce against the knowledge or consent of parents Set them to learning they learne nothing but vanitie set them to labour they labour for nothing but to vndoe themselues running away from their Masters it may be also robbing them and hauing runne themselues out of breath come home ragged and miserable but not penitent ready to doe as bad againe and put their parents to extremitie of care so that they are euen distraced and at their wits ends not knowing what course in the world to take with them because both faire meanes and foule meanes haue been vsed and none will auaile Sometimes againe a child seeming towardly so wins away the parents affection that hee giues him almost his whole estate and is content to be at his finding and then loe the monstrous Viper begrudgeth his parents food and attire is wearie of his old age and counts his weakenesse ouer-cumbrous and sticketh not to shew by words and deeds that hee wisheth his death with all his heart then which I think no crosse in a child can be more stinging Thinke of these things you that are or would be married What if you prooue drie Kyes and beare no fruite How could you brooke a life wanting issue the most desireable fruit of marriage Or What if God giue thee children to looke vpon for a weeke or two or to play with for a yeere or two or to be charged withall for a doozen or a score of yeeres and then send death to fetch them to himselfe againe With what quietnese of mind couldst thoui resigne these gifts into the hand of him that gaue them How couldest thou endure to see the sicknesse of thy sonnes or daughters to see them burne toffe tumble waste consume languish and pine away to heare them grone sigh complaine crie out and roare and scritch and fill thine eares with rufull lamentations How canst thou frame thy selfe to see thy branches as it were withering halfe cut off and ready to fall from the body of thy family What shift couldst thou make to burie two three foure halfe a dozen halfe a score sonnes or daughters some at a day some at a weeke some at a yeere some at a dozen some at twentie or more yeeres old Or if thou scape these petit crosses in thy children how couldst thou brooke a stubburne rebellious son or daughter that will interchange words with thee and snap thee vp short and chide faster then thy selfe that will cast vpon thee a leering horse-like contemptuous eye and will stab thy soule with a lowring pouting scornefull looke with a dogged barking answere yea that will steale thy goods from thee and consume it in ill company whores and drunkennesse that wastes all that thou hast gotten and giuen to him and takes such vntamed courses as doe deeply threaten thine heart and eyes with that worse then deadly spectacle to see him one day preaching vpon a ladder with a rope about his necke because such a life can hardly conclude in a better death How wilt thou suffer this corzie of a wicked riotous vngracious vngratefull Viper in thine house who doth nothing else but striue with abominable words and deeds as it were with poysonfull teeth to gnaw out thy verie heart and deuoure thy bowels and entrals for whom thou canst neither eate or sleepe in quiet nor be at home nor abroad in peace a very Absalom that would kill his father to get his Kingdome With what resolution could you parents vnder-goe the burying of a good child or the liuing of a bad But let it be granted that a mans children shall proue at least indifferent and tolerable there is yet another necessarie member of a family which may make the hear of the family ake exceedingly these are seruants of both sexes men and maides Some seruants be idle and slothfull and will doe little some be hollow and deceitefull and will doe nothing but when the gouernours eye is vpon them some be rude and rebellious and will doe what they lust themselues for all their gouernours speeches some bee false and vntrustie and will purloyne their goods if they can some be carelesse and forgetfull and procure exceeding losse by their negligence some
some inward or outward occasions so neither is there likely terror amazement disquietment in the conscience till the lusts of the soule haue disordered it for want of holding them vnder so that as warre abroad is found to be a present remedie against ciuill dissentions of subiects so warre with sinne is the cause of our tranquillitie with our selues When clouds are dispelled the beames of the Sunne will shine comfortably vpon the earth and then the earth is richly garnished with pleasant and profitable herbes so when sinne is chased away the warme beames of Gods fauour doe sweetely refresh the conscience and the conscience so refreshed doth bring forth the sweet and wholesome flowres of vnspeakable consolatiō The Spirit of God wil tell our spirits and our spirits will tell vs that God is our Friend and Father that he loues vs and delights in vs so long as we be haue our selues to sinne as to an enemy hating loathing and resisting it Thus are we most friends to our selues when wee bee most foes with our corruptions And this fighting with sinne will make vs liue quietly also with our neighbours Hee that is busie in finding out and subduing his home-bred corruptions shall haue little or no leasure to take causelesse vnkindnesses to picke needlesse quarrels and to prouoke others against him by iniurious behauiour so shall hee shun the greatest company of iarres and brawles that vse to set men together by the eares Saint Iames saith Iames 4.1 That warres and fightings amongst men doe come from their lusts which war in their members We may if we will deceiue our selues and attribute things to false causes but the Spirit of God that vnderstandeth all things aright and cannot be deceiued points to lust fighting in the members as the most true proper and immediate cause of contentions stirres betwixt man and man Therefore the more any man doth quell subdue vanquish weaken and beate downe these lusts the more calmely shal he passe thorow the sea of the world and the fewer stormes of discord and enmitie shall hee meete withall When souldiers lye idle and are not imployed in marching against the common foe then they mutinie and fall out with each other so when men set not their griefe and hatred and other affections ou worke to make war vpon sin then they quickly take occasion to grieue at each other to sigh one against another to hate one another and to vexe and gawle each other and trouble themselues most of all But souldiers agree among themselues whilest they lend their powers against a common foe so when we haue strongest and hottest warre with the deuill and sinne then doe we nourish most concord with one another Thus shall the soule enioy vnutterable quietnesse euery way within and without from God and from man and one weekes life led in such comfortable and happie concord and amitie with a mans owne soule and all about him is more worth then the lasting of a whole twelue-moneth torne and rent asunder with the ciuill broyles and commotions of a grudging froward and distempered heart Who would not doe that that will make his soule to dwell at rest 3. Againe the studie of mortification Patience and loy in affliction wil inable a man with inconceiueable patience yea and chearefulnesse to beare any affliction that God shal lay vpon him yea to look death it self in the face though it come clothed in neuer so terrible attire and with neuer so terrible weapons for the sting of death and consequently of all crosses is sinne now pull the sting from out of the Serpents mouth or tayle and then there is little feare or danger in incountring her What was the cause that the Apostle Paul was so exceeding quiet and ioyfull in all his calamities but because he had in great measure subdued and was more and more busie in subduing the corrupt lusts of his body knocking it downe 1. Cor. 9. last and bringing it in subiection as himselfe speaketh Hee that holdeth strong fight against the euils of his owne heart out of that peace with God and his owne soule which we said before that he should enioy hath freedome of Spirit to pray vnto God in his afflictions hee can runne boldly to the Throne of grace as hauing allowed nothing within him that should grieue the Spirit of Grace hee can flie to the towre of Gods name as hauing kept himselfe in the pathes of righteousnesse whic those that do know themselues to haue all good allowance to come thither and when a man can freely powre forth his hart before God in crosses then doth he also comfortably enioy God and then the sharpenes of the crosse is gone The thing that makes crosses intolerably bitter so that the soule cannot endure the bitternesse of them is the admixture of the gawle of Gods displeasure so farre as wee are intire and resolute in fighting against sinne our crosses are pure from this admixture and so they be not to himselfe that beares them howsoeuer they may seeme to the lookers on by the hundreth part so tedious and troublesome as that composition would make them So the mortified man gaines this by his trouble in mortification that the Lord will suffer him to escape many troubles and those that he must for his owne good suffer he shall be able to goe vnder with ten times more quietnesse and gladnesse and contentednesse as an whole shoulder beares the same burden with more ease then a sore or swolne shoulder It is therefore a very profitable labour that wee bestow in mortifying the members on earth that is to say in healing the sores and diseases of our soules 4. Thirdly Certaine freedome from grosse sinnes the man that applies the worke of mortification aright shall attaine certaine freedome from foule grosse and scandalous sinnes A sanctified man may assuredly promise to himselfe vpon his constant and diligent endeauours to abate and hold vnder his sinfull affections and dispositions to bee for his whole life long so kept and sustained by God that hee shall not rush into any lothsome palpable disgracefull soule-wasting wickednesse Wee are neuer ouertaken with those kind of euils but vpon our very palpable carelesnesse of mortifying the deeds of our flesh Whilest we do that that God bidsvs to slay sin he holds it vnder according to his promise and it hath not dominion ouer vs neither doth raigne in our mortall bodies so that we are sure enough that sinne shall not bring forth the fruits of shame and reproach vnto vs vntill we begin to be remisse in following Gods directions to purge out the old leauen And Oh what a benefit is this to escape those blemishes and staines wherewith many of Gods children perhaps also of greater strength then ones selfe doe defile and disgrace themselues What a priuiledge is it to be so supported that neuer in all his life he shall runne into any witting enormous presumptuous crime after God hath