now let vs heare this foolish youngster Father c. and prodigall waster Father sayth he giue mee the portion of the goods that falleth to mee This portion is that gift of reason vnderstanding which God hath imparted vnto vs. As if he had said Father giue me leaue to liue as I list and to doe as I thinke good Heere-hence commeth all the mischiefes and inconuences in the world eyther because men desire to doe what they list or else because men regarde not to liue after Gods will and in his obedience He would be like vnto God to order all thinges according to his pleasure Thys pride and selfe-will is the heginning of all sinne in the world which maketh thē accursed that are thereto addicted He shaketh off his fathers gouernment his own will must stand for a law Selfe-loue ouerthrowes iudgement darkneth sence reason poysoneth the will and hindereth the course of saluation shutting vp all passage thereunto For such men as are so intangled with the loue of themselues neyther know God nor loue theyr neighbour nor seeke after vertue but onely minde those things whereby they may aduaunce themselues gaping for honour and hunting after promotion Free-will doth vnderprop this selfe-loue Freewill which of it selfe is but a weake stay For although by sin our free-will be not vtterlie taken away in naturall and morall actions yet neuerthelesse it remaineth so weake vnable and so defaced in spirituall matters that it cannot resist any temptations But as a ship in the Sea hauing lost her rudder is tossed to and fro with the least blast of wind So this free-will of ours vnlesse it be conformed by repentance and humilitie framed a newe by yeelding our selues to Gods gracious direction for of our selues we are not able so much as to think a good thought it is so crazed and so wauering that it is easilie ouerthrowne by euerie temptation of the flesh the world and the deuill Before the fal of our first parents our free will was perfect inclining to all goodnes but after theyr fall it became subiect to sin and to damnation from the which it could not be deliuered but by the grace of Christ our Sauiour and Redeemer Yet the wil of man hath not altogether lost his force and freedome beeing ruled by deliberation iudgement aduice and consent Without me ye can doe nothing saith Christ Iohn 15. Where our power to doe good is taken away not our free-will The infant hath power to goe but is subiect euery minute to a fall So the weake will of man hath some power and libertie but yet without the helpe grace of God it cannot frame it selfe the right way to the course of a better life to continue in goodnesse no more then a chylde can goe farre without the helpe of his Nurse and guide to stay and to direct him The infant that is falne cannot rise without the helpe of his Nurse and we that are falne into sinne can not rise from sinne our selues neither haue we power to leaue sinne or to embrace the good inspirations of Gods holy Spirit or to refuse and resist the deuils temptations without the speciall grace of God vvhich onely can raise vs and giue vs courage and comfort vnto all godlines The infant although he be ledde by the hand of the Nurse may be vnwilling to go so a sinner may be obstinate and continue in his sinnes although he be directed corrected and punished by Gods hand All euill deedes come through our owne free-vvill but all good purposes come from the inspiration of Gods grace For after the fall of our first Parents vvee were borne the chyldren of vvrath and conceaued in sinne and by the force of our free-will we coulde neyther rise from sinne nor yet fulfull the commaundements of almightie GOD. Nay although wee haue obtained Gods grace and forgiuenes of our sinnes yet are we not of force enough to ouer-come the deuils temptations and to auoyd our fleshly lusts vnlesse by the continuall and dailie helpe of GOD wee be strengthned in the gift of perseuerance to a godly life Wherhence it is manifest that seeing we can doe so little of our owne selues that it is great rashnes too much to presume of our owne strength and to trust to our own wisedom whereby we may think our selues wel able to rule and gouerne our selues through our owne direction This made the prodigall sonne too foolishly and like a chylde that wants discretion to desire to liue according to his owne libertie God draweth not any one against his will to saluation but suffereth the wickked to take theyr owne course The prodigall sonnes father did not hold him beeing willing to depart neyther doth hee inforce him to depart beeing willing to stay The portion of goods which GOD doth giue to euery one is to some eloquence to other-some wisedom or riches or strength or knowledge or place of honor all which wee are giuen most easily to abuse as thys prodigall Sonne spent his portion wastfully And this is worthy to be noted and daily to be seene by common experience that they that haue the best gifts do eyther not vse them at all or else apply them to an euill end not to commend Gods graces in them but to make themselues the more inexcusable And not long after For of our selues we cannot long stand but wee fall quicklie and suddenly as soone as God with-draweth his hand And the deuill sleepeth not but watcheth seeketh all occasions how hee may ouerthrow that man or that vvoman whom he seeth destitute of Gods help and grace the deuill hath some-what to set him aworke vntil he hath brought to passe his owne destruction When our first Parents were left to themselues through the high conceit of ambition they threw themselues downe into great misery vvhile the deuill in the meane time perswaded them to be as Gods When the younger sonne had gathered all together When c. We being fully fraught with Gods gifts either wisedome riches honor strength or the like we begin to take pride and think there shall be no alteration This prodigall son thought himselfe in so good case and so well prouided that no thought of future misery did once enter into his minde as though it were vnpossible that euer he should feele the misery of aduersity thinking no other but that his wealth and prosperous estate should neuer come to an end Hee left his Fathers house trusting to his treasure and to his wit and so begins to dig downe his mountaine which afterward came to à mole-hill Prosperitie abused But marke howe hee lifts himselfe aloft hauing gathered all together Saul being of low degree and in his Fathers house amongst the common sort liued well and commendably but hauing obtained a kingdome hee left the Lord did much wickednes Dauid beeing as yet a shepheard and persecuted by king Saul his life was without blame but when God gaue
him rest frō all his enemies then did he commit adultery and murder Heere wee may learne to take dislike against the riches honours and prosperous estate of this world For for want of wisedome and through negligence great danger commeth at vnawares In the Mountaines of Gilboa King Saul and his sonnes were slaine and in the honours and prosperitie of the world vertue dooth oftentimes take a fall Prosperity at the first shew appeareth most sweet and pleasant but bringeth there-withall great dangers to the soule if they be not wisely preuented In prosperitie therefore thinke of aduersity so the thought of alteration change shal breed wisedome and moderation The pride of prosperitie cast downe this prodigall Son into extreame misery Haman was happy when he was in fauour with the King but in his greatest iolity his destruction vvas then most neere The same fell out to Pharao and Senacharib the one beeing drowned in the Red-sea the other beeing stabd in by his owne sonnes But when this prodigall Sonne had this libertie let vs see what hee did and how hee imployed himselfe He tooke his iourny into a far country Farre away hee thought not himselfe farre enough But who willed him to depart who put him out of the house Into a farre Country His Father sent him out into banishment neyther vvilled him to go out of his house but he himselfe no body denying him of his ovvne accord or rather through his owne lightnesse hee went away and left his Fathers house So the sinner of his owne accord dooth leaue the gouernment of his heauenly Father doth make a voluntary separation Will. refusing the direction of Gods word the counsell of the godly of their faithfull friendes yea spurning against the secret warning of their owne conscience No doubt many about his Father gaue him counsel to the contrary but they could not turne his mind all meanes were assaied but nothing woulde serue the turne nor beate backe the humor of his licentious libertie his stubborne will coulde not be tamed his minde must needes bee fulfilled Vnder this parable the lawlesse affections of many young men are sette downe For this prodigall sonne liueth yet and will do vntill the worlds end But if they wil needs goe and will needes haue their swinge and sway if they will needes run their race they haue theyr time euen such a time that god doth leaue them to themselues For God doth not for sake any till hee be first forsaken And if we will needs goe be it known vnto vs that we runne vpon our manifest hazzard danger For who can tell whether in this disordered course he shal come to mischiefe or to some miserable end or whether God will shew him mercy that he may cal himselfe to better remēbrance As we read Eccles. 11. Reioyce ô young man c. God worketh with those that flie from him diuers wayes eyther by secrete crosses and afflictions or by open punishments miserable ends 1. Tim. 5.24 or els by granting vnto some the gracious gift of repentance Hee runneth far that neuer returnes as indeede many are so desperatly bent that they neuer returne But into this prodigall sonne God poured such abundance of his mercy that it had his issue in plentifull teares and he became a new man And so happy was his conuersion that his Father had great ioy thereof expressing the same in diuers comfortable tokens Out of this example we may gather that the cause of sin is our owne will not God or the deuill yea our owne sinfull flesh how soeuer many can make blind excuses for theyr owne euill life The first beginning of all euill is to turne away from God The children of men saith the Prophet psal 62.9 are deceitfull vpon the weights For in one ballance they put their pleasures and profits in another they place GOD and heauenly considerations making the one to weigh a great deale lighter then the other making more account of earthlie things then of God whom we should loue aboue all with all our hart and with all our soule All that God hath done for thē they consider not and they altogether neglect Your sinnes saith the prophet Esay haue made a separation betwixt you and your God A false ballance is an abhomination vnto god prou 11 1. This prodigall sonne as a man of no experience went rashly to worke Rashnes neyther did he consider what good things hee enioyed in his Fathers house nor what he lost nor yet howe great danger hee did vnder-take He little considered the manifold inconueniences that fall out in this life Hee that is too rash shall afterward repent Man sinneth in hast because hee cannot a little refraine his wilful affection before he do dulie and wisely consider the end of sin the euil successe therof But if we could refraine our selues and not rush on so hastily little considering the danger of our soules vvee would not run on into such head-long sin Therfore Dauid said psal 118. I considered my waies turned my feete vnto thy testimonies The Bethulians were too rash to yeeld themselues to Holofernes if God did not helpe them within fiue daies As oft as thé people of Israell came to Moses before he would giue them an aunswere he asked counsel of God O that we would take this course as oft as the desire of reuenge honour or lust should prouoke our mindes not to giue any of these any aunswere vntill we had asked counsell of god but wee aunswere hastily rashly not considering god nor his commaundements so runne into diuers mischiefes and dangers Iosua rashly beleeuing the Gibeonites was deceaued Good aduisement must goe before good deeds much more before euill deeds The virgine Mary before shee aunswered the Angell did wisely consider what manner of salutation that should be A foolish Nation Deut. 32. without counsel wisedome doth not consider nor forecast their latter end Dauid too hastily beleeuing Sheba his lying tale did great wrong to Mephibosheth contrary to his couenaunt VVhen the woman taken in adultery vvas brought before our sauiour Christ he made a stay before he spake his mind When Achab was throughly bent to warre the prophet Micheas warned him hee should not doe it hee tooke not his warning but the King was one of the first that died nay the onely man and none but he that perished For the King of Aram made proclamation on fight neyther against small nor great saue onely against the King of Israell And when the King was smitten the battel was ended 1. Reg. 22.34.36 So the sinner which is as it were bewitched and too much giuen to any sinne no warning of Preachers nor counsell of friends shall vvithdraw him frō sin or bring him to amendement vntill his owne rod hath made him smart or his own deserued destruction hath made an vtter end of him As also on the contrary side there be bad companions to perswade him
dwell in our soule when he entreth therein by his most powerfull temptations wherfore let them that are once clensed deliuered and freed from him consider what maner of guest they were troubled withall also how crafty a companion hee is which knoweth our frailties how and which way to creep within vs and to recouer a second possession And if the way doe not lie manifestly open for him hee is not to learne howe to vndermine vs. Let vs endeuour therefore that Christ may raigne within vs by his holy Spirit that so all passages may be stopt and that the deuill may not enter nor gette any holdfast of vs. For let his assaults be neuer so fierce and his craft and subtiltie neuer so secrete and vndermining yeâ—â—â—n hee not preuaile against the godlie whom Gods grace dooth alwayes keepe in safety And we knowe that this heauy punishment is denounced and also reserued to the contemners of Gods grace vvhose mindes beeing vtterly darkned all care of godlines beeing trode vnder foote doe wexe more prophane then Infidels heathens So the last state of that man is worse then the first This is the vvofull state of that man or woman who forgetting God and themselues haue yeelded themselues captiues to the deuils slauery And thys falleth out true according to Christ his wordes which hee sapke to the man that had beene diseased eyght and thirtie yeeres and nowe had beene recouered Ioh. 5.14 Sinne no more least a worse thing come vnto thee Sin no more so notoriously or so presumptuously for in one sin God may take thee and punish thee for all and take heed least thou be plagued with som strange punishment as was threatned to the Israelites Leu. 26.18 that they should be punished seuen times more according to their sinnes Deu. 28.59 The Lorde vvill make thy plagues wonderfull and the plagues of thy seede euen great plagues and of long continuance and sore diseases and of long durance Moreouer hee will bring vpon thee all the diseases of Egipt whereof thou wast afraid and they shall cleaue vnto thee The like in a manner hath the prophet Dauid Psal 68.21 God shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairie scalpe of such a one as goeth on still in his wickednes Sinne no more thy former sinnes were blotted out of Gods remembrance through thy repentance why wilt thou set thy sinnes againe before God and renue the remembrance of them that thou maist be punished for the new and the old together Hebr. 3.12 Let vs take heede least there be in anie of vs an euill hart and vnfaithfull to depart away from the liuing God and great neede wee haue to exhort one another daily least we should be hardned through the deceitfulnes of sinne and so be vtterly debarred from entring into Gods rest It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of GOD for hee is a consuming fire Hebr. 12.29 For if vvee finne vvillingly and resolutelie after God hath graunted vs his grace and if we extinguish the same vtterlie there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinne but a fearefull looking for of iudgement accompanied with the distrust of Gods mercy with the trembling fore-thought of eternal condemnation beeing continually vexed with the torment of an euill conscience to be ready to fall into despaire euery howre 1. Tim. 1.9 A worse thing shall fall vpon thee not only in regard of worldly punishments but of euerlasting torments If wee encline vnto wickednes with our hart the Lord will not heare vs. Psalme 66.16 and Psal 125.5 Yea as for such as turne backe vnto theyr owne wickednes the Lord shal lead them forth with euill dooers Reu. 22.14.15 Psal 9.17 The wicked shal be turned into hell and all the people that forget GOD. How miserable this estate is it might be amplified by setting downe what our first estate is by creation and what wee are by nature euen the chyldren of Gods vvrath and displeasure Eph. 2. How we haue been holpen by grace and nowe fallne away by wilfull negligence and being hardned euerie day more and more in sin doe grow to a desperate resolution Most needful therfore is the counsell of the Apostle 1. Thes 5. as wee are willed to reioyce euer-more because God hath done so great things for vs as to deliuer vs from the vncleane Spirit and that God by his goodnes Psal 51.10 hath made vs a cleane hart and renued a right spirit within vs so to pray continually for Gods grace that we may not be ouerthrowne for of our selues we are not able to stand Let vs for this and all other Gods benefits bee still mindfull to giue thanks and especially we are to take heede that we doe not extinguish the good spirit of God quench the force thereof which is the liuelie and vitall spirit of the soule Second falls there are of infirmitie Falls the which the godly are sorry for rise againe by repentance amendement and second falls there are of resolution with the delight of former sin and wickednes in that man or woman whose hart is nowe wholie separated from God and shall neuer rise againe That sick man that hath recouered his health and falleth into his sicknes again the strength of his sicknesse is greater because the power of his nature is weaker so the second time of our falling the deuill taketh more hold and more aduantage and we proue to be more weake to resist partly through the guiltinesse of our conscience condemning vs our sinful nature drawing vs and betraying vs more and more Ecclus. 34.26.27 Hee that washeth himselfe because of a dead body and toucheth it againe what auaileth his washing So is it with a man that fasteth for his sinnes coÌ„mitteth them againe who will heare his prayer or what doth his fasting helpe him We cannot know how farre worse the latter sinnes are then the former vntill vvee know how bad the former are The former deserue the displeasure of God the losle of his fanour surely the second deserue the losse of euerlasting life and eternall punishments in hell When we forsake God and prefer sinne before his seruice and before a holy life then hee leaueth vs to our selues departeth from vs. And as in his presence is the fulnes of all ioyes so in his absence is the miserie and distresse of all vvoes If thou shouldest take into thy house a dishonest foule and sluttish woman and set her at the vpper end of thy table coÌ„maund thy wife to serue and to waite how would shee beare this reprochfull iniury Would she not rightly complaine on thee and had shee not iust cause to forsake thee and thine house Iacob departed from Laban because his countenance was changed towards him WheÌ„ God hath left our soule all the deuils and all the creatures rise vp against it being left desolate voyd and forsaken of Gods help and direction Psal 3.2 According to that in the psalm God