wicked when it is lightest and it is their plague that they are not plagued Veniet ad faelices sua portio quisquis vidâ—tur dimissus Seneâ— dilatus est These happy worldlings must at last haue their iudgement and their iudgement will be their damnation Our sinnes are our debts vnto God and his iudgements are his debts to our sinnes where God oweth he can he will repay He is not like the Heathen's Iupiter that his Quiuer should be empty that want of thunder-bolts should dis-arme him The Lord of hostes cannot want Souldiers to fight his battels If men of Warre should be lacking he hath an army of Frogges and another of Lice to discomfite and deuoure both Pharaoh and Herod As the wicked doe multiply their transgressions so doth he cumulate his iudgements and washeth away a deluge of sinne with a deluge of water He who is omnipotent is no more powerfull then iust and 't is as certaine that he will as that he can reuenge sometimes his wrath is slow and not vpon the necke of the sinne Num. 25.8 as Phineas slew Zimri and Cosbi in the very act of incontinency yet it alwayes at last ouertaketh it and then as hee hath beene slow to wrath so will he be slow to lay downe his wrath when he hath leaden heeles then hee hath iron hands So that the sinner might wish that the blow came sooner so it came lighter God iudgeth not like man our Courts of Iustice doe censure onely knowne and open Malefactors The Iudge at the last day will punish the most close and secret offenders Heere the hired eloquence of the vnconscionable Aduocate or the false periury of the suborned witnesse sometimes casteth a mist before the eyes of the Iudge that he cannot see sometimes corruption hood-winkes him that he will not see The Iudge at the generall Assise shall be his owne euidence he shall be Iudge and Iury and Witnesses Ipse est qui videt vnde videt Hee â—hat made the eye shall not hee see and he that made â—he heart shall not hee vnderstand And as hee can both see and vnderstand what he will so will hee see and vnderstand what hee can There none may escape heere so few are censured that most are not quaestioned Ille crucem sceleris pretium tulit hic Diadema Heere you may see the petty thiefe whose accusation and that perchance false is but petty larciny with chaines of iron about his feete when the grand-thiefe the state-theife who by fore-stalling ingrossing or by worse means robs the common-wealth hath no chaines but of gold and them about his neck Such are your sacrilegious Lay-Patrons those spirituall robbers and our Iewish oppressing Vsurers The first back't by the authority of the Law begin now to confront the Pulpit to quaestion the zeale of the Priest denouncing Gods iudgements against them and to threaten punishment if they cannot inflict it so that 't is much safer to commit sinne then to reproue it Let them therefore enioy their conquest let them triumph that they may rob God freely At last their punishment will ouer-take them Quis enim laesos impune putabit Esse Deos The Vsurer hath no Law on his side yet doth he praetend some and where he findeth a tolleration there doth the couetous Peny-father conclude an allowance Turne to the Statutes made against this Citty-sinne and you shall finde it tolerated with an inhibition for the Acts which seeme to allow it doe some of them plainely praeface that Gods Law condemneth it And God will one day take an account of his Law and that with farre more terrour then he deliuered it At the deliuery hee did but shew how fearefull hee could be at the execution he will be as fearefull as he shewed to be when he shall be a Iudge he will inflict death which he did but threaten when he was a Law-giuer The day will come as certaine as it is vncertaine when it will come Behold the day commeth which shall burne like an Ouen and all that doe wickedly shall be as stubble and the day that commeth shall burne them vp saith the Lord of Hostes Then shall the malignant spirit which tempted to sinne be a tormenter for sinne Then shall the amazed reprobate stand betweene his sinnes accusinng him and God's Iustice terrifying him below him shall be his punishment aboue him his Iudge and he equally trembling at the horrour of the one and the wrath of the other within him his conscience without him the world shall be on fire Quid metuat qui ad ista non trepidat Who heareth this and yet dareth to sinne what pleasure of tentation can counteruaile this horrour of euent who now is not frighted who would not bee wonne from wickednesse who now is not drawne who could not be before allured vnto repentance let vs therefore accept no obiect but of sorrow let vs because we are fallen by nature hasten to arise by grace that we may turne the sentence from Goe yee cursed into Come yee blessed that death may be changed into life this euerlasting death into eternall life which is the first part in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To haue any conceit of life but good is now as well impious as Stoicall since eternall blisse is compared to it Yet doth this life of glory so farre surpasse the life of nature as the second death is worse then the first Hence it is that many who feare not death feare to die after death and they who are hungry to loose their liues are yet afraid not to find them being lost I should now from this mount as God did from mount Nebo vnto Moyses shew you the land of Canaan and discourse of though not expresse the ioyes of this eternall life Ioyes in number infinite yet are they summed vp in the Beatificall vision and you might see them all could you see God How often hath the deuotion of many not superstitious Pilgrims with wearied paces measured the way from euery climate to Ierusalem who haue recompensed their tedious trauels onely with the sight of the ground which our Sauiour trode and the visitation of the Sepulcher where hee lay how were the wise men rauished with contentment when the starre had brought them to see Christ but in his Cradle when he came to be of age and began to preach in the City Videres referta tecta ac laborantia when he tooke house there was such a crowd that the sicke of the palsie could not get in except the house had bin vnroofed when he iournied from Ierusalem migravit ciuitas the City was dislodged and ran out of the gates The Sicke and all Qui neglecto medentium imperio ad salutem sanitatemque prorepebant Plin. Paneg. So that the concourse of the people made a narrow way to Christ as well as to Heauen The presse was once so great that there was no ground left for Zacheus to stand on for he needed not
of the soule prostrating reason at the feet of sense and enthroning passion in the chaire of reason there was now no longer harmony betweene the flesh and the Spirit the motions of the flesh rebelling against the rules of reason the sterne of reason being neither pliable to the spirit nor the spirit obedient vnto God this disorder bred diseases the summoners and fore-runners of death so that man was presently retrograded into the element of dust of which hee was first composed Death as it was threatned for sinne so was it inflicted vpon sinne The day that thou sinnest thou shalt surely die Gen. 2.17 and the day that hee did eate surely hee did die the Mother and the Daughter Sinne and Death are both of an age he was afterward but a mouing carcase a walking sepulcher Mortuus erat non mortalis as a malefactor is a dead man when he is condemned before he is executed Euery sinne is of the same nature with the first and bringeth death like that indeed it murthereth not with the same extent that was the sinne of nature and therefore the death of nature so that afterward women brought forth children Chrysolog Serm 111. Vindictae ordine non naturae Lucbant peccatum mundi qui mundum non nouerunt parentis sui soluebant poenam cuius vix vitam degustarunt Other sinnes are personall and therefore the destruction of the person be it sinne in the roote or sinne in the branch be it the mother and spawne of sinne inbred pollution or the fruit and haruest of sinne actuall transgression the first hath many branches and all deadly the other hath many Species and all mortall in the first there is participatio culpae imputatio reatus and concupiscentia and all are rewarded with death euen the last which is not onely the cause of sinne and the punishment of sinne but sinne it selfe be it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely where consent is added to lust but where lust is without consent not only actuall concupiscence but habituall naturall and originall not the second motions only or concupiscentia formata as the Schoole speaketh but motus primò primi and that which is informis yea although it preuenteth the vse of reason although it be resisted by the power of the spirit shall the traitor suffer that committeth the Treason and shall the plotter and contriuer escape or shall the last escape punishment because the first will not offend Originall sinne hath not more branches then actuall hath species neither are these lesse fatall then the other whether they be seated in the vnderstanding as the darkenesse of errour concerning God or in the heart and will as our irregular thoughts and exorbitant desires or in our outward members as externall actions whether they be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 trespasses against the rules of Nature not ingrauen in stone but imprinted in the conscience so the Gentiles sinned Rom. 2.14 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 trespasses against the word written 1 Iohn 3.4 so the Iewes offended both these whether they be of omission or commission not onely the obliquity of our actions but our vnlawfull surcease from action not our words but our silence also The Advocate whose lips are sealed vp with a fee of the aduerse party the Priest not whom Authority but sloth hath silenced shall both be rewarded with death and they therefore deserue their wages because they haue not done their worke There is no sin of omission which is not a sinne of commission si non pavisti occidisti he that seeth his neighbours Oxe fall into the pit and helpeth him not out he pusheth him in not to saue a man when we may when we ought in the Court of Conscience is to murther a man If I should reckon vp all sorts of sinne I should commit one against your patience yet could I shew you none whose issue is not death If the Eye but lusteth mors per fenestras if the foot but slippeth praecipitiuÌ„ est there are no staires but fall we must into the pit and wee should downe to the bottome were it not bottomlesse Hee that doth but peeuishly quarrell or maliciously hate murthereth himselfe although he killeth not his Aduersary let the Act be wanting the desire will kill and there may bee man-slaughter where there is no shedding of bloud 'T was a witty speech of one of your auncient Declamators â—ib 1. de Civ 〈◊〉 cap. 19. registred by S. Austin concerning Lucrece being rauished by Tarquin Duo fuêre unus adulterium commisit I know not whether the Act could bee committed without the sinne I am sure the sinne may bee without the Act Et â—pado machâ—â—â—rit and an Eunuch may bee an Adulterer Lesse infirmities as well as great impieties will worke destruction neither is it certaine that Aegypts little flyes were not her greatest plague The least pricke in the least ioint impostumateth the whole flesh but a moate in the Eye blindeth the sight a breach in the wall is the conquest of the enemie and the ruine of the City let vs not weigh our sinnes but number them if they may seeme small wee cannot count them few He that offendeth in one point of the Law is guilty of all Iames 2.10 Sinne like Heresie is of an encroaching nature as one Heresie proueth another so doth one sinne vsher in another the lesser alwayes making roome for the greater Our vncatechised trauailer iourneying into countries superstitious idolatrous at the first is only vncouered and boweth at the meeting of the Hoast 't is not good saith he to giue offence to them which are without then he ventureth to goe to their high places to visit their Churches and Chappels to heare and see their loud blasphemy in their Liturgies and the profane pompe of their ceremonies not that he intendeth a change of his Religion but to purchase a sounder hate of their superstition he no sooner heareth seeth but he liketh and approueth Lastly as a sure pledge of his Apostasie he returneth home and seduceth others The grand Heresies of the Apostate Roman Church which indirectly and by consequence raze and destroy the very foundation of Faith came in by degrees and the first stone for the building of Babel was laide long since Traditions the Mother of all their Heresies had with them their right vse vntill first those which were temporarie and for a season were taught to be permanent and to endure for euer then those which were particular and bound only some one Church were made Catholick generaly to enforce after that without examination humane traditions had the same credit the same Authority that diuine Apotacticall as Apostolicall Lastly all these were made as authenticall as the word written giue the Pope a primacy and he will assume a Principality giue him more honour and he will haue more power As in doctrine so in manners small things neglected grow and become
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