nature which prompteth euery creature to seeke it 's owne preseruation should teach man not to make loue to death not to wooe his owne destruction although he transgresseth not the Law made against robbers who cutteth his owne purse yet he is guilty of murder who cutteth his owne throat and surely he loueth murder who will act it vpon himselfe and yet such are all sinners whose sinnes are the weapons with which they butcher themselues like Saul and his Armor-bearer they fall and die vpon their owne swords If any sonne of Hippocrates pronounceth it to be preiudiciall to their health the debauched Drunkard will abstaine from his cups and the luxurious Epicure will fast from his dainties how foolish are they who would shunne death and yet worke wickednesse which causeth death There is no other cause of death but sinne where there is no sinne there is no death no death of the body no death of Nature And yet he who had no sinne the Sonne of Righteousnesse had his setting as well as his rising and walked into the West Licet naturae dominus carnis tamen quam susceperat legem non recusauit so that life it selfe dyed yet not necessarily but voluntarily tradidit in mortem animam suam neither was his death penall but expiatory hee was not stung to death by sinne but he stung sinne to death by suffering death he made death to suffer and got the victory by yeelding O death where is thy sting 1 Cor. 15.55.56 O graue where is thy victory the sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law but thankes be vnto God which hath giuen vs victory through our Lord Iesus Christ Christ so deliuered his from death as hee freed them from sinne which he suffered still to dwell in them although not to raigne ouer them The Canaanites remaine in the land to proue the Israelites sinne must inhabite in the regenerate to encrease and try their faith sift them you shall finde them so enlightned that they sit in darkenesse so purged that they must be cleansed their faith is mixed with infidelity their wisedome ioyned with folly and their glory eclipsed with shame to want sinne must be a Christians wish it cannot be his hope otherwise hee that must alwayes here be militant should sometime be triumphant We may be dead to sinne but sinne will not be altogether dead to vs we may cut it off but it will bud againe we may chase it away but it will returne we may quench it but it will flame againe it still approacheth it still entiseth and prouoketh vs it still striueth but it is to encrease our victory at last it must haue the fall and be triumphed ouer so may the tyrant weepe to see himselfe prostrate at the feete of them who were his Captiues Et ad eorum triumphum de quibus diù triumphaverat se veteranus hostis pervenisse deploret Sinne is not so in the Elect as it is in the reprobate these either by habit or resolution or discourse are incorporated into euill and sinne is naturalized in them the other may sometime be surprised by force of passion but their vnderstanding seldome giueth consent the first serue sinne the other giue it only house-roome or if they doe it any seruice 't is as the Israelites serued Pharaoh or as his Gally-slaues serue the Turke by compulsion Damnatum est peccatum si non extinctum Sinne hath lost it's dominion although it be not cast out so death is dis-armed although she be not remoued she hath lost her sting although she keepeth her essence nay she hath lost her essence the forme the life of death is lost and she is but equivocally what she was before As she hath lost her nature so hath she changed her name to die now is but to sleepe to rest or be at peace Death to the Elect is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nyssen stileth it it doth not so much punish as purge and expiate sinne 't is a Snake without her sting a gaole-deliuery an earnest-peny of the resurrection a bridge to passe from corruption to incorruption to be wished of all that wish to goe to Paradise not to be feared at all because it freeth vs from all that is to be feared A curious workeman seeing his Image of brasse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Epiph. in his 2 Booke Aduersus Haereses on which he hath bestowed his Art and industry to be spotted and defaced he putteth it againe into the fire and new casteth it which is not the losse but the perfection of the Image so God after hee had made man a most elegant fabricke seeing him polluted with sinne resolued him againe into dust that he might rise vnspotted When the vessell that the Potter made was marred he made of it another vessell Ier. 18.4 Cannot I doe with you as the Potter with his clay saith the Lord behold as the clay is in the Potters hand so are yee in my hand O ye house of Israel the same chapter and the sixt verse Non interit quisquis victurus moritur This death of Nature is rather a change then a death 't is not finall quem putas interitum secessus est neither is it totall 't is onely of the body death is dieted like the serpent and can eat nothing but dust nay 't is not so much the death of the body Plin. Ep. lib. 2. epist 1. as of the corruption of the body Et mortalitas magis finita est quam vita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isiod Peleus lib. 4. epist 52. Happy Martyrs how their torments pleased them how they kissed the fagot and hug'd the fire as though like Eliah they had gone to heauen in fiery chariots weigh their tortures and reade their constancy you would iudge them to haue beene spirits without flesh if they might seeme to be afflicted because they were heard to pray they must be iudged to haue beene merry in their affliction because they sung Psalmes Their note was the same although their pangs were differenced with the three children in the fiery furnace Hieron Qui inter frigidos flammarum globos hymnos edidêre pro fletibus They wept not out an Elegy as if they had beene preparing for their funerals but they sung and reioyced as if it had beene their birth day and it was their birth day to eternity Blessed Martyres for if they be blessed who die in the Lord blessed must they bee who die for the Lord. God saith to man If thou sinnest thou dyest Gen. 2 but he bespeaketh the Martyr if thou refusest to die August thou sinnest Quod tunc timendum fuerat vt non peccaretur nunc suscipiendum est ne peccetur Death which is the punishment of the Sinner suffer it for Gods sake 't is the glory of the regenerate Et cùm sit mors peccati retributio aliquando impetrat vt nihil retribuatur peccato As the wicked
Kings with their damnable revolts so often apostated the whole land and made the Israelites turne Idolaters As all imitate their king so aggrauate his sinne so doe most copie out his Nobles augment their crimes My Lord must haue his followers aswell of his vice as of his person if he leaueth his King at the Chappell dore he turneth not back without his Attendants who if his Honour pleaseth to be Idolatrous wil wait vpon him euen vnto a Masse As the Nobles Peers be so borne so you honoured Lords who iudge the Land you graue Fathers the Elders of the City are so exalted so placed ut bona malaque vestra ad Rempublicam pertineant your vertues and your vices are subiected inhaerent in your persons but by these as the Heauens by their Influences you worke good and euill through the whole Land Better no Iudge in Israel then a corrupt one no Elder then a wicked one the first giueth but liberty the second addeth incouragement to sin you see to eminence of your persons doubleth your crimes and maketh your sinnes as scarlet as your habits I might inlarge my proofe and exhortation with an Apostrophe to the Clergy the liuing Oracles of God to whom ye must resort for counsell Hi si eloquuntur magna non vivunt if their liues cry not downe sin as loud as their tongues they may helpe to build the Arke and perish in the Floud if they that preach the way to Heauen tread the way to Hell Hell must be their portion the number of their followers shall add vnto their tortures From the Clergy I might descend vnto the Gentry from them to euery Oeconomicall Goueruour and Father of his family although I stay there yet let none the meanest here take heart to offend for the sin which the meannesse of his Person lessneth by denying him followers may be aggrauated by other circumstances of the place and manner which I will briefly glance ouer We ascribe no inherent holinesse to any place Bethel may become Bethauen the Temple of God the house of an Idol the seat of Peter the chaire of Antichrist neither doe I know whether the zeale of Christendome was right if they warred for Iewry as for the Holy land yet may we iustifie our consecrated Churches Chappels which being separated for an holy vse may not be profaned if the buyers and sellers will trade in the Temple our SAVIOVR prouideth a whip for them and I would to God the zeale of Authority in imitation of that of our God would whip out the buyers and sellers out of the Temple would whip them either out of the Iles or into the Quier Good God to see how the prophane walkers in the time of diuine seruice when the Quier are chaunting their sacred Anthems and Heauenly Halleluiahs are then polluting the stones with their durty feete when they should weare them with their supplicating knees there are at the same time some praying aboue some blaspheming below and that so loud that God heareth not the prayers for the blasphemy As the Vbi the place so the Quomodo the manner of doing it doth much difference a sinne Mens propositū saith the Law distinguunt maleficia whosoeuer calleth his brother foole is in danger of Hell fire Matth. 5.22 yet doth Paul call his brethren the Galatians fooles and sinneth not Gal. 3.1 He that killeth a man shall surely be put to death Leuit. 24.17 yet he that killeth a man ignorantly whō he hated not before shall flee vnto one of the Cities of refuge and liue Deut. 19.4 5. that which infirmity slippeth must not be censured as that which malice acteth that which is committed out of ignorance is not punished as that which is done out of presumption I am no aduocate for ignorance he who is ignorant let him be ignorant still he who affecteth ignorance let him perish in his ignorance In them that may know it is a sinne in them that may not know it is a punishment for sinne it is to none which ought to know and all ought a priuiledge to sinne yet if it be particularis and not Vniuersalis as the Philosopher facti and not iuris as the Lawyer inuincibilis and not vincibilis as the Master of the sentences it doth excuse à tanto although not à toto it lesneth the offence but taketh it not away it still remaineth a sinne and therefore liable to the punishment of sinne Death which is the second part in my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is a death vnto sinne as well as a death for sinne a death which putteth not Nature in her graue but Vice how shall we being dead to sinne liue therein Rom. 6.2 Death for sinne is either spirituall and of the soule naturall and of the body or eternall both of soule and body Anima est vita habet ipsa suam vitam as the soule is the life of the body so is God the life of the soule The iust doe liue by faith Romans chapter 1. verse 17. Euen by faith in the Sonne of God Galat. chap. 2. v. 20. Who quickneth them with his spirit Eph. 2.5 The body may liue and yet the soule may be dead by which the body liueth there are some long since buried which yet liue such are Abraham Isaac and Iacob for God which is their God is not the God of the dead but of the liuing so there bee now some liuing which haue bin long since dead A widow liuing in pleasure is dead while she liueth the 1 of Timoth. 5. and 6. You that liue in sinne are already in your graues I must therefore bespeake you as sometime Christ did Lazarus Lazare veni for as come you forth of your graues arise from death to life from sinne to newnesse of life but my words want efficacy and my speech hath no power to raise you Christ Iesus therefore speak that vnto your hearts which I doe vnto your eares De eo quod deterius potiori insidiari solcat Where it is in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo the Iew would haue vs read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for saith he Cain had no sooner slaine his brother but he became dead himselfe and Abel being murthered was yet aliue if hee was not how did hee speake how did he speake aloude and cry for vengeance so hee wittily Let the dead bury the dead Matth. 8.22 let them which are spiritually dead bury them which are dead to nature and the solemnity of their funerals being ended let them prouide for their owne interrring which is at hand for mors operata erit mortem the death of the soule will cause the death of the body A death common vnto all it is all mens pilgrimage from the sepulcher to the sepulcher from the graue of the wombe to the graue of the earth all men shall once die for as much as all men haue sinned Heb. 9.27 The instinct of
big ones the tares spring vp faster then the corne and they doe it insensibly they steale their growth crescere non videmus sed crevisse yet if this were not so if lesser slips opened not the sluces for greater crimes to flow in if wanton glances were not fore-runners of Fornication nor Fornication a step to Adultery if concupiscence would not winne consent nor consent breake out into Act nor the Act often reiterated beget an habit yet were one and the least of these damnable Flesh and Bloud may dispute the fairest praetexts for sinne yet black wil not be dyed into white The Prince of darknesse when he transformeth himselfe into an Angell of light 't is a iugling and not a change so the workes of darknesse may haue the credit of the deedes of light they can neuer haue the goodnesse 't is in vaine to sow fig-leaues together to couer our deformities let vs distinguish and mitigate colour or qualifie what we can that which is mortall and such is euery sinne will not be made veniall otherwise euery Popish Casuist or Roman Schoolman would make veniall sinnes as fast as their God on earth doth pardō them Possunt excusari à mortali parentes c. Parents putting off as well Nature as Religion cursing their children euen to that height that they wish them with the Diuell sinne but venially so Greg. de Val. 3 Tome 1090 page Qui iudicium facit in re gravi temerarium c. A Iudge iudging rashly be it vpon life and death sinneth but venially Bonacina in his second disputation de peccatis his 3 quaestion puncto 5. Some lying some theft must be veniall when some blasphemy all if it be but chollerick is not mortall Navar in his Manuall page 91. Yet doe these which thus preach impunity for sin brand vs with the slaunder of Libertines The distinction of mortall and veniall vnderstand it aright 't is none of theirs but ours 't is true all sinnes euen of the Elect in foro iustitiae in the rigour of iustice are mortall but in foro misericordiae by the mercy of God they are all veniall legally all are mortall Euangelically all veniall ratione peccatorum they are all mortall ratione peccantium there are none not veniall this is our doctrine in which there is as well consent as truth with them there is no concord for besides some amongst them which altogether deny their vse of the distinction as Gerson and Fisher they cannot agree what this venial sinne should be some will haue it contra consilium others contra praeceptum some state it to be praeter legem not contra legem others graunt it to be against the Law but not against charity which is the end of the Law some thinke it both to be against the Law and to diminish charity one will haue it to be sinne imperfectly by analogy others properly vnivocally you may know 't is Babel they are building by the confusion of their language While we thus proue all sinnes to be mortall we teach not a parity of offences we are so Catholicke that we are not Stoicall all sinnes are mortall therfore all are aequall 't is bad Logicke but calumnies must be prou'd by such sequels Vertues haue their Climax much more vices the School giueth the reason Illae ad unum tendunt haec ab uno ad multas mundi vanitates The person the place the manner are circumstances which both aggrauate extenuate a sinne First the person the person against whom we offend the person who offendeth for the first lesse was the sin of the vsurpers in slaying the seruants then in killing the Heire of the Vineyard far greater was the sin of the Iewes in crucifying the Lord of glory then that of their Fathers in murthering the Prophets he sinneth with a higher hand that transgresseth against the Cōmandements of the first Table then he that offendeth against them of the second Blasphemie of oathes profanation of the Sabbaoth although here by the indulgence of the Law or by the conniuence of the Magistrate they escape the seuerity of discipline shall hereafter be punished with extremity of torture Neither doth the person only distinguish the guilt of the two Tables but maketh degrees of sin against one the same Commandement Homicide Parricide are both murder yet the seuere torture which all Nations inflict vpon the one aboue the other are sufficient euidence of the difference of the crimes All murder is censured is punished with death but death hath not alwaies the same sting when she commeth to torture a Parricide a Rauillac for murthering his King O how she is dressed like a Fury armed with racks with fires with strapadoes with burning pincers pulling off flesh to make wounds with scalding oile pitch rozen to powre into those wounds with horses to disioint rent the body that the malefactour may think himselfe in Hell before he is dead she tormenteth him in a furnace flaming with fire brimstone making vp her tragedie with the banishment of the Parricides parents with pulling down the house where he was borne although she spareth the liues of his brethren sisters vnkles yet must they change their names all the Rauillacs must perish Degrees of punishment are as well after death as in death the tortures of one damned soule are differenced from the pangs of an other he that hath bin more wicked Mar. 23.15 shall be more wretched such shall be the punishment as is the crime which is augmented not only by the person who is offended but by the person also who doth offend Greatnes goodnes should twin together no Monarch hath licence to offend no Prince hath any non-obstante for sin neither yet is the Kings praerogatiue lessened because he may not sin it should be inlarged if he could not sin 'T is the misery of soueraignty that the offence is alwayes as great as the offender the sin as soueraigne as the person a Prince his slips are crimes a moat in his Eye is a beame his blemish is a leprosie 't is the Kings truth in the beginning of his first booke of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the reason is because he doth not so much commit his sin as teach it nec tam delicto nocens est quà m exemplo A Peasants sin presently findeth it's graue is neglected as his person but Monarchs vices are alwaies masculine and beget the like in others Let Nero be ouer-much delighted in stageplaies straight the grauity of the Senat putteth on Buskins Lactant. 5. infiit and acteth a Comedy Mores vitia Regis imitari genus obsequij putatur Many doe thinke it against their allegiance to be holy if their King be profane The People will follow their Prince yea although they forsake their God to doe it whatsoeuer Iosuah their Captaine their King commandeth them that will they doe Iosuah 1.16 Hence is it that the Israëlitish renegado