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
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
derision of men and the very Outcast of the people That he should take upon him the forme of a Servant and vouchsafe to be a Servant of servants To be mocked of many to be hated of most to be forsaken of all at last Yea more that he should asself the blame and shame and sufferings of all the sinnes of man Of man that was his enemy of man that hated him That he should die for man and die the worst of deaths too the death of the Crosse a painful death a shameful death an hateful death a cursed death And more yet That he should suffer as many Torments of Hell it self as might save man from being tormented for ever Can we think that he the Sonne of God begotten of the Father of Wisdome yea begotten of the Wisdome of the Father should dote on Man to very folly and do and suffer this even all this for a toy for a trifle for a thing of nothing Surely he did highly prize the Soul of man or he would never have done and suffered so much to redeem it Too many there be indeed that make too little reckoning of their Soules For all they do so that adventure the losing of them for the gaining of the World Indeed if man had many Soules the losse of one were not so much as it is now that he hath but one The losse of one is the losse of all of himself and all And that is the second Circumstance concerning this Commodity Exported to be considered The Number or Quantity His one Soul in the singular number When a cunning Merchant hath but a small quantity of some special Commodity he knows then what he hath to doe he makes his price accordingly or rather he knows not what price to make of it he thinks he can never ask enough especially if these five Circumstances be coincident with the smalnesse of the Quantity First if it be such a kind of Commodity as that he may be sure he can get no more of the same kind if he parts with that he hath Secondly if it be such a Commodity as he cannot be without if he desires to have a being such a Commodity as he can neither trade for the World nor subsist in the World without it Thirdly if it be a Commodity received from a Friend and Keep thy soule diligently Deut. 4. 9. such a Friend as he ought to love above the World and that Friend gave it to him to the end that he might keep it for his own endlesse good and for his sake that gave it to him Fourthly if it be such a Commodity as doth exceed all For it cost more to redeem their soules so that he must let that alone for ever Psal 49. 8. What shall he give in exchange Intelligere oportet de anima perdita Jansen prices that can be given by this World for it And lastly if it be a Commodity that cannot be regained by any man that hath parted with it although he would part with all back again that he took for it and give even all that he had before to boot Now all these Circumstances do concurre with the Singularity of the Soul For 1. A man can never get another Soul when his own is lost 2. A man cannot subsist without his Soul he could not be a Man but for his Soul it is Soul that makes him so 3. It was the Lord himself that gave his Soul unto him and for his sake he ought to keep it and he gave it him to keep untill that he should come and take it to himself again 4. It is of worth above the World And lastly nothing in the World can ever redeem it if it be lost or laid to pawn The losse must needs be great And how great soever it be that man that hath lost it must beare all the losse no man can be partner with him because it was his own soul and onely his That 's the third Circumstance to be considered and it is very considerable It is his own Soul Others can have no share with him in the substance of this Commodity thus exported and therefore can they not be sharers with him in his losse of it Others may have their hands in the losse of this Soul and so may be punished with the losse of their own for it yet will their losses no way lessen his His soul was all his own before he parted with it and all the losse must be his own for parting from it A great losse it must needs be unto him It is the losse of his greatest good and with that the losse of all his goods Yet for the gaining of wordly goods too many adventure the losse of their souls Some Merchants have adventured much and have gained more they have adventured with their goods and have saved themselves But others have lost both their goods and themselves by the like adventures Some men have adventured far for the gaining of the World and have come home again to themselves without losing their Souls But others have lost them by adventuring of them Some men lose their Souls by adventuring of them Some others sell them and so lose them And so we are fallen upon the third particular the Merchandise it self or the Negotiating of the Trade And in this negotiating of the Trade there are both gaining losing Gaining of the World and losing of the Soul The gaines are great gain the whole World But the losse is greater and lose his own Soul He that sells his Soul for the whole World makes but an ill bargain for himself He is a loser by the bargain and such a loser that his very soul may be said to be lost though he sells it because he sells it so much under foot There are two Wayes to lose the Soule by selling of it The first by Whole-sale The second by Retaile Men may be said to sell and lose their souls by Whole-sale when they take some great reward of iniquity for them and so Iose them all at once And they may be said to sell them by Retaile when they forfeit and lose them by little and little There are Minuta peccata saith S. Austine peccadillio's little S. August de de Cevit Dei l. 2. cap. 32. sinnes And there are Peccata conscientiam vastantia Conscience-wasting sinnes great offences The Soule may be lost by one of these or it may be lost by a multitude of those It is traded away by Whole-sale when it is lost for one grand offence And it is traded away by Retaile when it is lost for many minute offences St Bernard calls these Venialia S. Bern. de praecep dispen cap. 14. and those greater Criminalia but these Venials are made Mortals when a mortal man allows them in himselfe and himselfe in them and so multiplies them upon that stock of allowance St Austine compares these smaller sinnes to the graines of Sand and to the smallest drops
God himselfe Let no man therefore say that he must needs sin unto death and die in sinne because it is Gods will and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or good Or had I not rather that he should be converted from his evil wayes and live Diodat pleasure that it should be so for God himself doth say the contrary and that with a kind of indignation For saith he have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die and not that he should return from his wayes and live v. 23. His Interrogation does import a vehement Negation In saying Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should dy He sayes as much as I have no pleasure at all that the wicked should die And so he saies very positively in the words before the Text. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth So far he is from taking Nolo mortem morientis quantum ut convertatur vivat Pamelius in Tertull. de Paeniten pleasure in the death of Penitent sinners that the death of Impenitent sinners is no pleasure to him He hath no pleasure in the death of such as dye naturally in their sinnes or for their not repenting of their sinnes before they die I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth If ye dy then the fault 's your own It is your wilfulnesse in sinning or your unwillingnesse to repent you of your sinning Ye will not be perswaded to forsake your sinnes before ye dye and therefore ye must needs die and suffer for their sakes Perditio tua ex te O Israel thy destruction is of thy self saith God Hos 13. 9. The same may be said to any damned soule or dying sinner The Lord is very desirous to clear himself from all aspersions in this particular and therefore does not onely say it but swear it too that he would not the death of the wicked As I live is an Oath and a great one too Yet God himself doth take it to attest this Truth As I live saith the â—cut verum est quod sum vita per essentiam it a verum est quod nolo mortem impii c. Nicho. de Lyra ad locum Psal 89. 35. Gen. 17. 1. Luke 1. 73. Numb 20. 12. Exod. 14. 11. Psal 50. 21. Ezek. 18. 25 29. Psal 78. 19 20 Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked But that the wicked turn from his evill way and live Ezek. 33. 11. For the Lord of life to say As I live is an oath by the life of the Lord. And that is as high an oath as can be invented Had he sworn by his Truth as he doth sometimes or by his Holinesse as he did to David or by his Omnipotencie as he did to Abraham his engagement had been very great But this by his Life is deemed greater for his Truth hath been questioned by divers and so hath his Holinesse and his Almighty Power hath been doubted of by as many But who did ever question his Life Now it is his very Life that he doth engage for the clearing of this Truth As I live saith the Lord c. He is the Living God And he is the God of the Living not of the Dead And therefore would not have the wicked Die Matth. 22. 32. Tertull. l. de Paenit but Live And this he sweareth by his Life that we might believe him Jurat Deus cupit sibi credi saith Tertullian When God doth swear we must believe him for he swears to be believed Ideirco jurat saith St. Hierome ut si non credimus Deo S. Hieron To. 2. Epist 46. promitteâ—â—i credamus saltem pro salute juranti God therefore swears that we may believe him upon his oath when we Magnum est loquâ— domâ—num quanto magis jurare Deum St. August in Psal 49. will not believe him upon his word It is much for God to speak but more to swear By speaking a word he made the World for he did but speak the word and it was made But he that could create the World with a Word could not be credited in the World upon his Word and therefore was forced to binde it with an Oath Now though we doe not believe him upon his Word yet let us believe him upon his Oath We may believe his bare Word for it is the God of Truth Deutr. 32. 4. Isai 65. 16. that speaketh in his Word and it is nothing but the Truth of God which is spoken We will believe an honest man upon his word and shall we not believe the most holy God Durum est It is very hard if we shall not give as much credit to God as we do to an honest man as saith Vincentius very divinely Gen. 3. 4. Durum est cum non tantum tribuamus Deo quantum diabolo Vincent An non hac ratione Deum in animo tuo perstringis mendacii qui verbo quidem dicat te velle servare c. interim tamen licet tu velis in Christum credere ipse tamen nolit Zanch. de natur Dei l. 5. Numb 23. 19. Rom. 3. 4. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Hebr. 6. 18. 1 John 3. 3. Our first Parents believed the father of lyes when he did but say ye shall not surely die And shall not we believe the father of mercies the God of Truth when he does not onely say it but swear it too that he would not have us die He swears that he would not the death of the wicked And shall we still say that he would their death Or that he would have them wicked that so they might die Absit absit God forbid that we should harbour such a thought of our most holy God! The truth is Gods Word in it self is as sure as his Oath for he is not a man that he should lie Let God be true and every man a lyar All his promises are yea and in him amen Heaven and Earth shall passe away but not one tittle of his word shall faile So that for the certainty of what he speaketh there needs no such religious Contestations Yet for our sakes the Oath of God is added to his Word that we might thereby have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strong consolation That we might believe a possibility of repenting And a probability yea an infallibility of Pardon upon our repentance That we might have hopes of life and purge our selves upon our hopes Debile fundamentum fallit opus A weak foundation Nemo potest bene agere paenitentiam nisi qui speraverit indulgentiam St. Ambr. de Paenit dist 1. cap. Nem. fails the building But here is a sure foundation for us to build our hopes upon as high as heaven Dei juramentum eâ—â— fideâ— nostrae fundamentum Gods oath may surely ground us in our holy faith Doth he swear it O then let us believe it O beatos nos quorum causa jurat Deus O miserrimos si nec
bringing them to their tryals before the Bars of Self-examination and Self-Conviction and Self-condemnation That every man would turn out his own sinnes and turn them off and return to the God of peace and mercy that God might turn away his fierce anger from us all and turn his displeasure into love and his controversie with this Nation into a National peace And this he might be perswaded to do for us cou'd we be perswaded by him to turn from all our sinnes and return unto him Wherefore turn your selves This brings the Act unto the Object I would it might also bring the Object to the Act. It hath brought Turning unto you I wish it might as well bring you to Turning Many are busie in turning but it is not of themselves They are turning out and turning off but it is not of their own sinnes There are many and many ill turns done to others in these Times but these are not the turnings in the Text. Our turning must be of our selves Wherefore turn your selves Let us search and try our own wayes and turn again unto the Lord saith the Prophet Jeremy Lam. 3. 40. Let us turn our selves and let us all do so A particular Person by turning of BP Davenant Sermon before the House of Lords Jer. 3. 22. himself unto the Lord may turn away a particular Judgment from himself But when the sinne hath been generall and the suffering be as generall almost as the sinne then the sorrowing for it must be generall There must be a generall Turning at such a time to turn away the Judgment Clergie and Laitie Noble and Ignoble all must turn at such a time When that great Defection was in the Kingdome of Israel and both parties had been sorely punished the lamenting Prophet Jeremy by inspiration bespake both parties to return together Let the Children of Israel and the Children of Judah come together and weeping seek the Lord their God Jerem. 50. 4. And the Prophet Hosea's Exhortation return is general Come let us returne unto the Lord for he hath spoyled us and he will heale us he hath wounded us and he will binde us up againe Hos 6. 1. Then our Turning may be to purpose indeed when it is universal when we all joyne hands hearts and turne as one Man unto the Lord. When every Man turneth one every one turns himself When every wicked man forsakes his owne wayes and every unrighteous man his own imaginations and returne unto the Lord. As the the Prophet Isaiah exhorteth Isa 55. 7. Great complaining there hath been by the Many against all sorts of Magistrates both Supreme and Subordinate Yea the greatest Councel of the Kingdome hath been complained of by many As if all evils were originally from miscarriages in Governours But may not the Many erre in this Matth. 22. 29. not knowing the Scriptures It was the Sinne of David that caused the people to be numbred And it was from Davids numbring of the People that seventy thousands of them were swept away in three dayes space by the plague of Pestilence Yet was it not Davids 1 Chron. 21. 2. 7. 14. sinne but the sinnes of the People that gave the first occasion of that punishment As you may see 2 Sam. 24. 1. And againe the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved Causa causae est causa causati David against them to say go number Israel and Judah When God is angry with a people for their sinnes he suffers their Ruler or Rulers to doe something amisse that so upon the fault of the Magistrate he may take an occasion to punish the multitude And it becomes the people to begin their Complaints where the fault to be complained of began See this point very excellently handled by Mr Rous in his Oil of Scorpions Sect. 14. If the sufferings of Israel were occasioned by Davids sinning And Davids sinning were occasioned by the sinnes of Israel then surely the way for Israel to have turned away their sufferings had been by turning from their finnes Let not us inferiours look above our selves or from our selves for the finding out of faults to be amended but let us look into our selves and amend what there we finde amisse The Hearts of the Governours are in the hands of God and he Prov. 21. 1. They are still in the hand of Gods powerful providence though he permits the Devil to have a hand and power over them Dr Jermin Paraphrastick Meditations upon the Proverbs turnes them as he pleaseth which way he will himselfe When he turnes away their hearts from the People it is a signe that Hearts of the People are turned away from him He is the God of Gods and Lord of Lords He is the Over-ruler of all Rulers and by his disposing it is that they rule for the benefit or for the detriment of the People Now if there by any miscarriages in our Governours the way to win the Lord to set them right unto us is to set our selves right to the Lord. Let us but turne with all our hearts unto the Lord and he will surely turne the Hearts of all our Governours to us and our welfare He will make their Counsels prosperous He will make their designes successful He will turne our storme into a calme our dangers into safety our troubles into tranquility All things Rom. 8. 28. shall work together for good to those that love him Many Men have many enemies in these times And every Mans desires are to get the Victory over his enemies Our greatest Enemies are in our selves our owne sinnes are bosome Enemies And home-bred Enemies are ever most mischievous Above any other Enemies let us therefore labour to get the Victory over our selves Let us never give over combating till we have conquered our own corruptions These are the first and worst of Enemies the Makers and Jam. 4. 1. Pugna ut sit in animo hominis paena peccati est ex primo homine in omnes filios propagata ut qui noluit cum Deo esse unitus esset in semetipso divisus qui imperanti Dom ino noluit esse subjectus sibi ipsirebellis atque contrarius esset Isidorus de Summo bono l. â— cap. 26. Movers of all Enmities From whence come Wars and fightings amongst you Come they not hence even of your Lusts which warre in your Members saith St. James Our unruly affections make us all unruly Our mutinous affections make us so amongst our selves There are Warres within us and they are the incentives of the Warres without us Let us labour to make a peace within us and that 's the way to have a peace without us The way to get the Noblest Victory over all our Enemies is for every Man to get the Victory over himselse Caesar was more commended by Cicero for overcomming his own passions to the yeelding of Pardon to Marcellus then for his greatest Conquests over his other Enemies It
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
be in some degrees but not in all There were still peccata quotidianae incursionis though not peccata pravâ— dispositionis in him sins of infirmity he had and sins of inadvertensie though not of high presumption and deliberation There are two degrees of Morall Concrucifixion non servirâ— peccato and mori peccato not to serve sinne and to dy unto sin The first is possible in this life saith Cajetan but not the second NonduÌ„ mortuus sed fixus est noster vetus homo Our old man is not Cajetan in c. 6 Epist ad Roman yet dead saith he but fixed unto the Crosse he is and so made sure for serving Sin any longer This inchoation of our concrucifixion is very feizible in this life But not the consuÌ„mation of it for that is to be affected rather then effected here From the service of sin we may be free but not from sin it selfe whilest here we live It is one of the hardest things in the World to be truly crucified to the World The Practicalls of Christianity are harder then the Theoreticalls And of all the Practicalls this is one of the hardest I would faine say with Paul that I am crucified with Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world but I cannot saith S. Chrysostome And so said Saint Chrysost in Math. Hom. 55 S. August de docu Spirit S. Bernar. in in Cant. Serm. 72. Austine too And so Saint Bernard Yet these were holy Men Concrucified and such as did even Sequester themselves from this evill World But so sensible they were of their owne infirmities in it that they seemed to themselves uncrucified to it They wanted much of Pauls degree of Mortification and wished as much for it But it would not come with wishing Yea Paul himselfe fell short of that Perfection of it which he wished Indeed he freed himselfe from Servitude to sinne though not without much Labour But with that Labour and much more he could not free himselfe from Sinne. Yet neverthelesse but much the more he strove to be as free as he could from sinne And so must we He did and suffered much to be Concrucified He fasted he prayed he watched he laboured he was in wearinesse and painefulnesse in watchings often in hunger 2 Cor. 11. 27. and thirst in fasting often in cold and nakednesse Yet all that he did and suffered would not doe it alone But it was 1 Cor. 15. 10. by the Grace of God that he was what he was All our Endeavours are but in vaine unlesse that God vouchsafes a blessing to them And all in vaine it is to expect a blessing at his hands unlesse we endeavour with our owne It is by Grace Ephes 2. 5. Phil. 2. 12. 2 Pet. 1. 10. that we may be saved yet must we worke out our owne salvation with feare and trembling And give all diligence to make our calling and Election sure we must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 workers together with God in this most godly worke of Morall Concrucifixion We must endeavour the effecting of it and pray the Father of Mercies to crowne our endeavours with his blessing And the Difficulty of the Worke should make us double our diligence to performe it Difficilia quae pulchra the best things are ever dearely purchased and the best workes hardly perfected Facilis est descensus Averni It is an easie matter to descend to Sanctitatis via ardua est Franciscus de Mendoza in li. 1. Reg. cap. 4. Tom. 2. Mat. 7. 13 14. Hell But very hard to ascend to Heaven Ardua est via virtutis Men may passe in the Broad Way and enter in at the Wide Gate without contending But at the Straite Gate there is no entring without much striving There must be vis impressa a violent force impressed upon a stone or any heavy Body to make it ascend And we must offer a kind of violence to our stony Hearts heavy with loades of sinne or they will never ascend to Heaven-ward It is very difficult indeed to be concrucified but not impossible Consider this Apostle and be encouraged This was as unlikely a man before his Conversion as any here Of all men the Jewes were most unlikely to be converted unto Christ and crucified with him And of all the Jewes the most unlikely were the Rulers And of all the Rulers the most unlikely were the Pharisees Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him John 7. 48. It seemes it was a thing unlikely that any such should ever become his Proselites but unlikely things are brought to passe sometimes and this very thing as unlikely as it was was more then once effected for Nicodemus was converted yet was he a Jew a Ruler a Pharisee A man of the Pharisees a Ruler of the Jews John 3. 1. Acts 22. 3 4 19 20. And Paul was a Jew too and a Pharisee too and a kinde of Ruler at least an unkinde Under-officer he was and very pragmaticall in his Office A new commissioner he was made with power Phil. 3. 5 6. delegated to him to enquire after all sorts of Christians and to persecute them all whether they were men or women A pâ—stilent Acts 24. 5. fellow he was as that Oratour Tertullus called him though not in his sense And a mover of sedition amongst all the Jewes and a Ring leader of tumults against the Church of Christ Hee breathed out Acts 9. 1 2. Acts 8. 3. nothing but threatnings and slaughters against the Disciples of the Lord And fearefull havock it was that he made with the Church yet Lupii â—xuit subito induitque agnum Geor. Abbot Cantua Archie de fuga in perse Linus de Passione Pauli Mat. 3. 9. See Archb. Abbot in his six Questions determin'd at Oxford at the beginning of the 5. De sug â— in persecutione Acts 13. 9. Saul abutens vel abusivum eorum Philo. Interpr Arquirius in Dictionario Theologico Eucherius de Nomin Hebraic 1 Cor. 15. 9. Paulus mirabilis vel electus S. Hieronim Arquirius Theolo Dictio John 22. 27. 1 Tim. 1. 15. Acts 9. 15. Acts 8. 1. Philem. 9. Acts. 13. 7. S. Hieronim de claris Scriptorib this furious Persecutour of those Christians was soon turned to a zealous Preacher of Christianity This Wolf was turned soon into a Lamb yea this crucifier of others was himself even crucified with Christ in his Life and suffered for Christ at his Death Let no Man therefore here exclude himselfe from hopes of Heaven Let none dispaire of his own conversion or concrucifixion God is able of stones to raise up children unto Abraham of hard and stony hearted sinners he can make most tender hearted Christians He can make wheate of tares corn of chaffe floure of braâ— good of evill gold of drosse light of darknesse life of death grace of nature Quidlibet ex quolibet A Paul of a Saul This great Apostle was Saul at first that is Superbus proud and lofty as Pharisees were wont to be But he became a Paul at last that is humilis humble and lowly mirabilis vel minimus so Eucherius Marvellous or the meanest Indeed he deemed himselfe the least of all the Apostles as well as the last not worthy to be an Apostle forasmuch as he had so much opposed the truth of the Gospel And it was marvellous indeed that ever hee proved such an Apostle as he did But see what God can do Those things that arâ— impossible with men are possible with God with him all things arâ— possible Mat. 19. â—6 Then be not faithlesse but believing Of the cheifest of sinners see one of the choycest of Saints of a Vessell of dishonour see now a Vessell of honour vas electionis a chosen vessel Of a young Saul that consented to the stoning of that holy Proto-Martyr S. Steven see now an aged Paul that converted Sâ—rgius Paulus Proconsull of Cyprus and from that changing of him unto Christianity had his own name changed amongst the Christians from Saul to Paul as S. Jerome avoucheth The Name of Paul in the oldest holy language soundeth wonderfull and full of wonder we may be that ever the Man was changed so in Namâ— and Nature But let us more admire the Power of God and godlinesse in Paul that did so change him in himself and yet so keepe him in the change that he might truely say as he did I am Crucified Buxtor Etimol with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ that liveth in me FINIS