and seruitude of sin we must be made partakers of Iesus Christ for his death is the death of our death and by his wounds are we healed his bloud being the medicine of our soules Esay 53. Heb. 9.14 Now that we may be made partakers of Christ we must beleeue in him for it is faith in him that maketh vs free Ioh 8.31.32.36 Which the Apostle hauing in the verse following our text he thanketh God through our Lord Iesus Christ namely for this that he thorough the Lord Iesus Christ was deliuered from the body of death Therfore thus speaketh Christ of himselfe Ioh 8.36 If the sonne make you free you shall be free indeed thus doth Iohn also testifie euen that wee thorough faith in Christ doe ouercome the world Iohn 15.5 But we finde by experience that the faith of many men consisteth onely in words being nothing els but an idle conceit swimming in their braines for there be many who when they vnderstand that men by faith are made free from their sinnes and blessed doe presently perswade themselues that they also beleeue whereas alas they know not what it is truly to beleeue in the Lord Iesus Christ nor yet what is the nature and vertue of true faith Wherfore let euery one in few words vnderstand that whosoeuer would be found truely to beleeue in Christ must make it appeare that he beleeueth and holdeth for good all the words counsell of Christ consequently must practise the same Ioh 3.36 Luc 6.46 Or els let him know that his faith is nothing worth and that he shall not be saued although he suffers himselfe a thousand times to be perswaded that he shall obtaine saluation and happinesse thorough Iesus Christ For as we know it is not enough for one that would be cured of some perillous disease onely to beleeue that such an expert Phisitian can and will cure him but if he will be holpen he must follow the aduise of the Phisitian and vse the medicines which shal be prescribed vnto him or els he is like to be neuer the better So it is not enough that a man to the end that he might be cured of the body of death by the onely Phisitian of the soule Iesus Christ Mat. 9.12 perswadeth himselfe that Christ can will helpe him but he must also follow the counsell of Christ if he will be cured by him according to that which the holy Scripture so expressely declareth euen that Christ is the author of saluation vnto all that obey Heb. 5.9 In which sense also speaketh Iohn the Baptist most plainly He that beleeueth in the sonne hath eternall life but he that obeyth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Ioh 3.36 From whence it may fully be gathered that that faith which maketh not vs obedient to the sonne is not that faith wherby we can be healed so Iames also confidently affirmeth that that faith is dead and nothing worth which maketh not vs as well followers as beleeuers of the words and will of Christ For it is most certaine that wheresoeuer true faith is there is also the practise endeuour of obedience vnto the will of Christ Now what the will of God is in this that men might thorough our Lord Iesus Christ be deliuered from the body of death very much might be spoken thereof but my purpose is here briefly in a word to touch the most necessary things and so to cōclude because I haue largely handled it in another place and that wretched and sinful man might be deliuered from the body of death through our Lord Iesus Christ the Prince of life be more and more set free from the power of sinne he must practise and endeuour these three things according to the will and counsell of Christ First he must forsake himselfe He that will follow me sayth Christ namely that will be led healed by me let him for sake himselfe Mat. 16.24 that is let him cast away and renounce his owne vnderstanding judgement let him breake himselfe of his owne will and affections let him in nothing yeeld vnto his sinful flesh nor take any care to obey it in the lustes thereof Rom. 13.14 And let him not please or vphold this body of sin by giuing it any of those deadly pernicious things it lusteth after but let him herin circumcise himself let him deale harshly and roughly with this body of sin keeping from it and denying it of euery thing it would haue so shall the strength therof decay for as it was the meat of Christ to do his Fathers will Io 4.4 So is it the nourishment strength of the corrupt flesh to doe against the will of God by committing sin from which we must bridle it if we will kill it Behold this is the counsell of Christ speaking after the manner of a Phisitian who when he taketh a man in hand to cure him requireth of him that by all meanes he would keepe a good dyer refraine to eate those things which nourish feede his disease the which the Christian man must doe that willingly would be cured of the body of death for we find it to be a common and familiar thing that those which be sicke in body doe most desire those things that doe them least good So is it also with men that are sick in soule they euermore desire lust after sinne which is most hurtfull vnto them therfore those that would be cured in their soules must deny themselues according to the prescript rule of Christ yea they must renounce and forsake the whole body of death as the Apostle cryeth out against the whole body of death not only this or that part or member thereof as some doe who to be cured forsake striue against some sins retaining stil other some pleasing beloued ones whereby they become the more incurable continue sick euen vnto the death as the scripture teacheth vs Eze 18.31.32 for although the very best so long as they remaine here are not free from all sinnes yet euery one that would be cured healed of his sinnes must striue and fight against all of them Iob 20.12 But this is very grieuous vnto a naturall and corrupt man to weane his lustes of their desires and to depriue himselfe of those thinges with which his heart is most in loue Oh it is as death vnto sinfull man it is as if he should put out his eye or cut off his hand as Christ himselfe giues vs to vnderstand Mat 5. Neuerthelesse it must be done as he that cannot lye teacheth vs in the same place vers 29.30 And looke by how much the more this body of death that hatefull monster the corrupt flesh doth flatter and embrace vs for to entice vs to serue it in the lustes thereof by so much the more must wee set our selues against it and seeke to subdue it and bring it vnder 1 Cor. 9.27 For
filthy monster so that they cannot sleepe till such time as they haue giuen it its fill of disobedience and iniquitie when they once thorough some stirring of their conscience come to haue their eyes opened whereby they beginne to perceiue the terriblenesse of this monster they become hatefull and fearefull vnto their owne selues and oftentimes murther themselues hoping thereby to get out of the sight and presence of that grim hellish monster which now they begin to see in themselues whereat they are affrighted as it came to passe with Iudas and many others Now the reasons for which originall sinne or naturall corruption may truly be held to be such an hatefull and deadly monster may besides that which shall be hereafter spoken be taken out of those reasons which we haue already giuen in the opening of the Text wherein wee shewed wherefore this naturall corruption is termed a bodie of death And if so be that it bee a monstrous thing when in a bodie the members are all mishapen and misplaced and moreouer in themselues exceedingly depraued so must this naturall corruption needs be held to be a monstrous thing wherin the vnderstanding which should be gouernour and leader of the will and fleshly lustes and affections not onely lieth subdued vnder them both but also is in it selfe vtterly obscured darkned and the will and affections in themselues altogether peruerted and disordered Furthermore if the death and pollution of body and soule if a deadly broode of all manner of haynous and deadly sinnes nay if eternall death and damnation are most odious and terrible things then this naturall corruption must needes be judged to bee a hatefull and fearefull thing which occasioneth and bringeth forth all these things as was made manifest before in the opening of the Text Wherefore we conclude as wee beganne that the naturall corruption wherein we were all conceiued and borne and which we all brought into the world with vs from our mothers wombe is a most vgly deformed body of death a fearefull and deadly monster Now let vs see what Vse we can make of that which hath beene spoken and in the first place here is great cause of mourning and lamentation even because that although this body of death our naturall corruption which in euery place is knowne by the name of brittle weake and corrupt flesh bee such an abominable and deadly monster as that it deserues and ought to bee of euery one persecuted and hunted euen to death yet is so generally serued and obeyed in the lusts thereof as at this day it is Behold and marke the course of the world and consider well the actions of the most part of men and you shall finde that they tend chiefely to the fulfilling and satisfying the desires of this horrible monster their corrupt flesh to the susteyning and supporting of it and to the giuing it the fill of whatsoeuer it requireth if it will haue men eat till they surfet and drinke till they be drunke you shall find multitudes of them that will doe it although they should eat and drinke vp goods bodies and soule and all if it lusteth after wantonnesse you shall find those that fit and addresse themselues for that also by lurking here and there in corners gazing and staring out at Windowes and doores and frequenting dishonest places or by vsing idle and immodest exercises as lasciuious dauncing wanton sporting amorous songs corrupt and rotten communication stuffed with vaine and vnfruitfull iestes and prophane passages and that vpon the Sabboth day the which although some seeme to obserue and keepe by resting from the workes of their calling and seruing the world yet you shall haue the same men prophane and violate that blessed day which God hath set apart for his own seruice by doing the workes of their corrupt flesh and toyling to serue it in the lustes thereof as in taking their carnall sports and such pas times as their base and sensuall affections shal lead them vnto when they should be best employed in spirituall exercises Wheras if they saw their spirituall estate and were sensible of the wants thereof they would thinke one day too little for them to spend in bewayling their sins miseries in prayer meditation reading and hearing the word of God or if they did but know and duely consider the wonderfull bountifulnesse mercy patience and long-suffering of God who hath so safely protected them so carefully prouided for them and so mercifully spared them notwithstanding their sinnes vnworthinesse they would thinke that time rather too short then too long for them to blesse him and prayse him enough and to spend in godly and sanctified discourse and conference vpon those things which appertaine and tend to Gods glory and their owne mutuall comfort and edification in the knowledge of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ Furthermore how many doe wee see whose daily practise and trade of life is to fulfill and satisfie the lustes and desires of this vile and vgly monster their corrupt flesh in lying deceiuing vsury seeking vnlawfull and vngodly gaines slandering and backbiting their neighbours vndermining for offices and places of dignitie by a thousand vngodly and sinister meanes and deuises and infinite wayes els which would be too long here to be repeated so that it is a thing most lamentable and neuer enough to be bewayled that Man that excellent creature which at first was created to serue the Lord his God in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of his life to his euerlasting comfort should be found to be so base as to sell himselfe to be a slaue and a drudge to his corrupt and sinfull flesh and to serue it in the vile and contemptible lustes and appetites thereof to his euerlasting woe and destruction yea I say that it is a thing altogether lamentable that this bodie of death this pernicious and deadly monster our naturall corruption should be thus diligently obeyed and serued notwithstanding the wages thereof be death eternall both of soule and bodie when in the meane time the seruice of our good and gracious God is vtterly neglected and yet the reward which hee offereth is euerlasting ioy and happinesse In the second place this serues to warne and admonish all the children of men that they take good notice of this cruell and deadly monster which keepes all this quarter in the world and which they all haue brought with themselues into the world When some noysome beast is discouered to be in a Countrey the people of the same are not a little moued therewith how doe they bestirre themselues consult and lay their heads and helpes together to chase it or ensnare it that they might by some meanes bring it to death how shall we then behaue our selues which haue receiued such credible and certaine information that such a pernicious and deadly monster as the corrupt flesh is risen vp amongst men shall we be idle and secure shall wee not bestirre
body of death thorough this Prince of life as we should that then we betake our selues vnto a serious and due consideration of the manifold and wonderfull hatefulnesse and vilenesse of our sinnes how miserably the image of God is thereby depraued and defaced in vs how vnfit it maketh vs for the seruice of God how fearefully by it the wrath of God is kindled against vs how thereby wee haue deserued eternall death and damnation and consequently what great neede we haue of the mediation of Iesus Christ and this will make vs aboue all things vnlesse we are dead in sinne seeke our deliuerance from this body of death thorough Iesus Christ our Lord as the Apostle did Now in that the Apostle thus earnestly and aboue all things in the world as here it is manifest wisheth desireth and longeth more and more to be deliuered and freed from the power of sinne and in as much as he elsewhere requireth vs to be his followers from hence ariseth this instruction that it behooueth vs aboue all things in the world with all diligâ—nce to endeuour more and more to be deliuered from the power of sinne We see here in our Text that it is the practise of the Apostle and his example being good we ought to make it our rule This hath euermore beene the opinion and practise of all the seruants of God as it is here the out-cry of the Apostle Who shall deliuer me from this body of death Such is Dauids wish Psal 119.5 O that my way were directed to keepe thy statutes and it hath not onely beene the longing and desire of the seruants of God but also their daily practise and endeuour to attaine vnto it as the Apostle Paul witnesseth of himselfe that he desired in all things to walke honestly Heb. 13.18 Yea that it was his daily occupation his greatest exercise and endeuour to haue alwayes a cleare conscience toward God and towardes men Act. 24.16 And Dauid also testifieth as much of himselfe that he refrained his feete from euery euill way that he might keepe Gods word Psal 119.101 First This must be the endeuour of euery one that will serue God because true Religion and vndefiled before God euen the Father is to visite the widdow and fatherlesse in their aduersitie and to keepe himselfe vnspotted of the world Secondly If so be we were in slauery vnder the Turkes should wee not by all meanes labour for our libertie If we were griped in the clawes of a Lyon should we not desire and striue to come forth If we were in danger of some fearefull fire or ouer-flowing of water should we not make the best speed we could to escape Now the bondage the tyranny the brunt the flood of sinne is worse then the bondage of the Turkes the crueltie of a Lyon or the vnmercifulnesse of fire or water for these fasten onely on the body and but for a short space but the other on the soule and that for euer Therefore vnlesse wee will make it appeare that we be vnbeleeuing contemners and mockers of the Doctrine of heauen and hell and whatsoeuer appertaineth thereunto accounting it as meerely verball and vaine babbling Let vs aboue all things in the world labour and endeuour more and more to be deliuered and freed from the bondage of sinne Vses First Here is matter of mourning and lamentation euen that there are so few that labour and exercise themselues in this notwithstanding it be matter of such necessitie and consequence You shall find men that are plunged vp to the eares in sinne yet neuerthelesse take no paines at all to get out of it yea they are so farre from vsing any diligence of themselues to worke out their libertie and freedome from the bondage of sinne as that they cannot suffer any man to admonish them of their sinnes or to lend them a hand to pluck them out of them being in madnesse and folly like vnto him which being possessed with a deep sleepe and hauing an Adder creeping vpon him is angry and taketh it in ill part when his friend awaketh him to the end that he might auoyd the present danger so truely is it a miserable and lamentable thing and yet common that worldly men which doe lie in wickednesse 1 Ioh. 5.19 as a beast lyeth in hay for so the word there signifieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are so farre from stirring and rousing vp themselues to rise out of their sinnes and to harken vnto the voyce which cryeth awake thou that sleepest stand vp from the dead and Christ shall giue thee light as that they had rather goe seeke some bodie to set a cushin vnder their elbow to the end that they might sleepe the more easily and soundly in their sinnes but it shall be with them as the Lord protesteth Ezech. 13.18.19 Secondly let this moue vs to stirre vp our selues aboue all things according to the manner of the Apostle to labour and endeuour to haue our selues deliuered from the body of death and set free from the power thereof for we see that we are altogether and wholly in the captiuitie and bondage of sinne therefore to endeuour to get our libertie must we preferre before all our workes and especially seeing the glory of our good and gracious God and the eternall well-fare of our owne soules doe stand vpon it yea it is most certaine that whosoeuer setteth not himselfe against his sinnes for to be freed and deliuered from his sinnes shall die in his sinnes Iohn 8.24 For this body of sinne shall peirce him with the venemous and cursed sting thereof which shall bring him not onely to temporall but also to eternall death 1 Cor. 15.56 For as those that die in the Lord are blessed and rest from their labours and enioy eternall happinesse Reuel 14.13 So those that die in their sinnes are certainely accursed and shall haue their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Reuel 21.8 Therefore must wee make it our chiefest worke to get our selues deliuered from the power of sinne vnlesse we be willing thereby to bee brought into eternall condemnation But if we find our selues to bee alreadie truely deliuered from the power of sinne so that it hath no dominion ouer vs howsoeuer it remaineth in vs Rom. 6.12 yet we must with the Apostle Paul earnestly labour and endeuour more and more to be freed from it because the comfort of our souls and the peace of our consciences doe stand vpon it for it is most sure and certaine that we can no further reioyce comfort our selues in our faith and good conscience then we refraine our selues from sinne and endeuour in all things to walke honestly Psal 119.101 Heb. 13.18 Here may some man demand What are we to doe to the end that we may be deliuered from the power of sinne and more and more set free from the bondage thereof To the end that we may be set free from the power
our sinfull flesh is like vnto a wicked Enchantresse which smileth vpon vs when she purposeth to destroy vs the pleasing and delightfull concupiscences thereof are like Ioabs kisses who killed Amasa when he seemed to kisse him 2 Sam 20.9.10 Therefore wee must not fauour and please this monster of sinne but we must in this thing denie our selues and kill our earthly members Col. 3.5 And crucifie our old man Gal. 5.24 If we will liue and be deliuered from the eternall crosse and the eternall death Neither must we shrinke or be afrayd to doe it for the lustes of our flesh which we are to cut off are as rotten members members of the bodie of death cankered and putrified members which if we cut them not off in time will corrupt and destroy our whole man yea and bring vs also into eternall death as the truth it selfe teacheth vs expressely testifying that if we fauour and make much of the members of this body of death that is our sinfull lustes and cut them not off we shall with them be cast into hell where the Worme neuer dyeth and the fire neuer goeth out Mar. 9.44 Secondly the man that would willingly bee more and more deliuered from the body of death thorough Iesus Christ our Lord must not onely denie and forsake himselfe but also with all his affections and the deepest desires of his heart make all possible speede to come vnto Christ that he may be cured of him as he himselfe teacheth namely that all that are wearie and laden must come vnto him and he will ease them Mat. 11.28.29 and Mat. 13.15 He then that would be healed by Christ and deliuered from the bodie of death must giue vp himselfe vnto him to be cured by him euen as a poore patient which hauing long beene possessed with a grieuous disease putteth himselfe into the hands of a skilfull Phisitian which by Gods helpe can cure him to be ruled and handled according vnto his will prescription Now the dyet the phisicke the receipts which Christ the onely Phisitian of the soule prescribeth vnto his patients that I may so speake for their curing are found onely in the holy Scripture Ioh 5.39 which is the Phisick booke wherein are plentifully conteined the words which are life to them that finde them and health vnto their flesh Pro. 4.22 Therefore the poore sinfull man that would haue helpe must order and gouerne himselfe according to the rule and true meaning of the holy Scripture wherein is comprehended the great wisedome of God and all the mysteries of spirituall Phisicke according to which whosoeuer truely frameth and carrieth himselfe shall certainely and vndoubtedly be healed Therefore it is the greatest folly and madnesse in the world and a sinne whereof very many stand guiltie before God that wretched sinfull men should be slacke and negligent to enquire and search after the wisedome and counsell of God and to frame and fashion themselues according vnto it notwithstanding the great wife and mercifull God hath reuealed vnto them in his word which he hath put into our handes how they should walke to the end that they may be healed of the bodie of death but run vnaduisedly after the blind conceipt of their owne head without once rightly considering what the Lord Iesus Christ the onely Phisitian of the soule hath prescribed and deliuered in the holy Scripture for poore soule-sicke man to practise and apply vnto himselfe to the end that he may bee cured yea the great stayne of this sinne of the godlesse children of the world shall neuer be purged from them vnlesse they amend therefore those that would bee deliuered from the body of death thorough our Lord Iesus Christ must so giue themselues vp vnto him to be cured of him as that they diligently search and learne out of his word how they must order and addresse themselues to the end that they may bee healed Thirdly He that would be deliuered from the body of death thorough our Lord Iesus Christ must by all meanes endeuour to beleeue and hold as firme and certaine that he thus denying and giuing vp himselfe vnto Christ shall truely bee deliuered and cured by him this did Christ require in the curing of bodily diseases Marc. 9.23 and else-where teaching vs thereby that this faith is aboue all things necessary and requisite vnto the curing of the mortall disease of our soules it being the Conduit which conueyeth vnto vs vertue from Christ whereby we are healed of our corruptions But the Diuell which setteth vp himselfe as a God of the world laboureth by all his might and pollicie to hinder and stop this for hee will eyther perswade a man that he shall liue and bee saued by his faith and beliefe in Christ when hee liueth in a course of perdition seruing the flesh wherein if he continueth it is not possible that he should be saued Rom. 8.13 or else hee will make him beleeue if he can that his sinnes are so great that he shall not obteine pardon and remission of God when he hath denied himselfe forsaken his sinnes laboureth to be conformed vnto the will of God and is heartily grieued because he cannot performe such obedience vnto him as hee should and as hee would but let vs take heede of both these Rockes let vs not presume of the mercy of God when wee are not fit Objects of mercie standing in open rebellion against God being friendes of sinne and let it also bee farre from vs to thinke that God will not haue mercy vpon vs when wee come vnto him for mercie with true sorrow and griefe because wee haue offended him for it is his glory to haue mercie and to haue respect vnto them that humble themselues but let vs wrestle with our vnbeleiefe and beleeue that thorough the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ wee shall bee saued Act. 15.11 This faith thus being founded not vpon an idle conceipt of our owne braynes but vpon the fore-named groundes the word and councell of Christ wee accordingly endeuouring truely to forsake our selues and to put our selues into his hands to be ruled and gouerned by him This faith I say is mightie and worketh wonders and there is no disease of the soule so mortall or incurable of which wee shall not bee cured if so be wee hold fast and continue in this our true and holy faith following the councell of Christ for then may wee expect the blessing of Christ more and more to bee deliuered from the bodie of death Then shall it bee done vnto vs according to the words of Christ Mathew the fifteenth Chapter and the twentie eyght verse Be it vnto thee as thou wilt Then shall wee be more and more freed from the power of sinne and assured of our Saluation to our great and neuer ending comfort ⸪ Laus honor gloria sole Deo FINIS The connection of the Text with the former verses The summe of the Text. The parts of the Text. Why our naturall
and doest not studie to obey and please them but seekest by the spirit to mortifie and kill them know I say that thou art a childe of God continue therefore in thy spirituall combat fight valiantly and put on all the Christian armour of proofe and let this serue to make thee long and desire to be deliuered from this body of death and to be with Christ and in the meane time be humbled in thy selfe and patient toward thy brother out of the sense of thine owne imperfections and striue not onely against this or that sinne according to the manner of worldly men whereby it appeareth that their heart is not vpright with God but with the Apostle fight against the whole bodie of sinne vsing the meanes that God hath ordained whereby thou mayest ouercome and auoiding all occasions that may make thee fall and so doing be assured in thy selfe that thus to striue against thy naturall corruption is an infallible marke that thou art a Childe of God and a sure ground of vnspeakeable comfort ⸪ ⧠The second Sermon Thirdly How the Apostle lamenteth ouer the bodie of Death The Apostle his lamentation is two-fold first he declareth himselfe therefore to be miserable secondly he wisheth to bee deliuered Of both which wee shall speake by Gods assistance and first of this that the Apostle declareth himselfe to beo miserable because he had the bodie of death in him O miserable man sayth the Apostle who shall deliuer me It is very strange the Apostle lamenteth here after this manner in other places he affirmeth and that confidently that hee reioyced euen in the greatest tribulations 2 Cor. 4.8 c. 2 Cor. 6.4 c. How doth he here then so mournefully complaine Did he speake from his heart when he said O miserable man Was he not then a man blessed of the Lord Was he not then assured of his saluation How commeth it then that he calleth himselfe miserable Without doubt the Apostle speaketh here in good earnest for he was then in a hot skirmish and had little time or cause to dally or lest yea he spake not onely in earnest but also vpon good groundes for the other afflictions wherein hee sayth he did glory and reioyce were outward afflictions wherein in truth hee might well reioyce but here he speaketh as wee haue heard before of his naturall corruption of the sinne that hanged fast vpon him and of the olde man which he began to behold in all the parts and members thereof The which made him lament and complaine in good earnest as being a thing out of which he could draw no comfort at all in which regard he might instly account himselfe to be miserable For this body of death considered in it selfe maketh a man truely wretched and miserable the which may sufficiently be gathered out of the first part of our Text whereunto wee will briefely adde that the body of death in respect of which the Apostle so earnestly complaineth hath these miserable and cursed effects which follow First it defaceth and depraueth the Image of God the which is a thing altogether lamentable and miserable If a man doth breake a leg or an arme how doth he cry out and complaine of his misery What cause then is there of mourning and complaint when the soule of man is broken to peeces and made vnfit for euery good vse When the most noble and eminent of man is â—â—terly depraued and corrupted Wee see that in a mans body when any member is wounded or afflicted with any griefe the more worthie and excellent that member is the greater is both the griefe and danger of the sore prick a man in the arme or the legg with the point of a Needle and he will both feele it complaine of it but pricke him in the apple of his eye and that shall pierce him to the heart and make him cry out If it bee so with the eye of the body how great is the paine and griefe when the eye of the minde is not onely prickt but wholly put out When the most noble and precious soule is wounded and that to death this is it that made the Apostle cry out O miserable man Secondly Man thus depraued in soule by originall corruption is by nature a childe of disobedience and a child of wrath Ephes 2.2.2 That is vnfit for the seruice of God liable to the curse of God both which are miseries beyond comparison First he cannot doe the workes of God for he is as a broken tooth which serueth for no vse at all and as a broken arme wherewith a man cannot worke As soone as a man beginnes to frame himselfe vnto the seruice of God hee findeth his corruption euer to be in his way so that the good that he willingly would doe he cannot doe as he would With this are the children of God greatly moued howsoeuer the children of the world which put not forth their strength to the seruice of God feele no inconuenience herein euen as one that hath a broken legge and lyeth still feeleth not the smart thereof so much as he that is euer assaying to walke and therefore they complaine not neuerthelesse this exceedingly grieueth the seruants of God and they account it as a great misery that they can no better performe their dutie to God Secondly the naturall man is liable to the curse of God Deut. 27.26 He that destroyeth the image of God him will God destroy This is it that did cast many of the Angells out of heauen into hell this droue Adam out of Paradise and maketh all the sonnes of men subiect vnto eternall death and from hence doe arise all the plagues and punishments which are inflicted vpon man now as a man hauing committed murther being come to himselfe accounteth himselfe to be miserable in regard of the offence which maketh him worthie of death although he be neither apprehended nor condemned to die euen so it is with the children of God who notwithstanding that they are deliuered as the Apostle was from the feare of death thorough our Lord Iesus Christ Heb. 2.15 yet because they know that their sinfulnesse causeth God to hide his cheareful countenance from them Esay 59.2 Which is vnto them as bitter as death it selfe therefore they cry out vnfainedly because of this bodie of death O miserable man Now in that the Apostle himselfe which had alreadie in a great measure mortified and subdued this body of death 1 Cor. 9.27 yet neuerthelesse so pitifully complaineth against it whereas there are many thousands that goe frolikely along being neuer touched much lesse troubled therewith yet are as it were wrapped and plunged ouer head and cares in sinne and iniquitie from thence followeth this Doctrine The more sanctified and holy that a man is the more sensible is he of his corruptions and the more troublesome are they vnto him This is manifest in that the Apostle that was none of the