the profanenesse of our mindes we make a sauour of death and as it were a trumpet of debate and sedition to consume each other yea Ioh. 6.66 we see how diuers of Christs disciples went backe from him when hee preached a long sermon touching the sacrament of the supper which is a badge of our friendship with God with our brethren which proceeded not from the sacrament but from their rebellion that their sinne might bee made more sinfull yea such contagion is there in our nature as wee make Christ himselfe the authour and finisher of our hope to bee our condemnation a stone to stumble at and a rocke of offence 1. Pe. 2.8 the cause not being in him who is the light of the world but in our selues making him an occasion of our darkenesse Iohn 3.19 which by this light shall be made in the end farre more sinfull and damnable Since then the power of our corruption is so forcible as it is able to peruert all the meanes ordained for our saluation as to make the commandement of God in his law the promises of God in the Gospell the seales of God in his sacraments and the loue of God in his sonne to be vaine and of no value this must teach vs to humble our selues in the lowest degree in a hatred and detestation of our flesh and sinfull faculties of our soule which are as the poisoned soile that either casts vs or corrupts all the seeds of fruitfulnesse or wholsomenes that we throwen into it whereas our sin being disclosed both by the law and Gospell it is the more to bee hated and abhorred because it turneth the edge and benefit of both these to our destruction For what could the Lord doe more to preserue our first parents in their innocency than to set as it were a double fence about his commandement forbidding not onely the eating of the fruit but the touching of it binding the hands that they should not conuey it to the mouth and yet more hath he done for vs taking vs out of the fire by casting as it were his Sonne in the fire though as if we had neuer beene scorched or else being past sense we carrie still the coles in our bosome and will not haue them quenched with the water of the spirit to newnesse of life But let vs not be so wilfull peruerse so strong headed and stifnecked as not to bee turned into the way by the rod of the law but hauing spent the portion of the flesh and wasted the lusts thereof let vs grow in loue with our fathers house for what fruit can we haue in those things whereof we shall be ashamed or which at length shall bring shame on vs Let vs therfore shake off the sinnes we haue delighted in and then haue we suffered in the flesh and then hath Christ suffered in the flesh for vs which if he haue then is our flesh destroied in vs which if it be then shall we cease from sinne which if we doe then shall we liue after the will of God though not in perfection yet reformable to the perfection of his will and then to vs that are sanctified shall not the law be grieuous nor burdensome as Saint Iohn saith 1. Iohn 5.3 but it shall reioice the heart giuing light to the eies and sweetnesse to the taste as Dauid saith Psal 119.7.8.9.10 God sending his Sonne c. This is the second generall pâ—n spoken of at first namely that what was impossible to the law is made possible in Christ wherein obserue foure things First the person which sendeth Secondly the person which is sent Thirdly the maner how he is sent Fourthly the end of his sending For the first which is God consider the cause mooued him to this mercy not any thing in vs but his owne loue and compassion towards vs as it is expressed Ioh. 3.16 God so loued the world that he sent his sonne and Ezek. 16.3.4 It is said concerning the Church of God that at the beginning she was born and begotten of the heathen her father an Amorite her mother an Hittite at the day of her birth shee had no mid-wife neither was shee washed but remained filthy shee had not so much as a swadling clout to couer her neither did any that passed by pitie her but shee was cast out in the open field lay polluted in her blood ready euery houre to perish In which words the meaning of the holy Ghost is to set forth our vnworthinesse our shame and our nakednesse If now an honorable person shall passe by and open his compassion on her and bring her home and spread his owne skirts ouer her feed her at his owne table make her beautifull and aduance her to great honour whereby she that was despised comes to be beloued of all nations and yet she should againe fall to her pollution and become a common strumpet if notwithstanding this vnthankefulnesse and apostasie he should draw her home againe and renue his former fauours towards her no reason could be giuen of this but the free mercy of him that did it euen so hath God like an honorable person full of all power and riches strength and maiesty mercy compassion seene vs polluted in our bloud before our birth borne of corrupt parents brought forth into a more corrupted place which is this world yet hath he said we shall liue he hath caused vs to bud as the flower of the field yea our time hath beene as the time of loue hee hath spread the skirts of his protection ouer vs entred a couenant with vs and we are become his now for vs to enquire the cause of this we can finde none but his willing loue to haue it so but let vs striue by the fruits of our liues to honor him and with the calues of our lippes to praise him that hath thus aduanced his mercy on vs and let vs not doe the worke of a presumptuous whore either in giuing rewards to the flesh or taking rewards of the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof lest the Lord diminish our ordinary as Ezek 16.27 and feed vs with the blood of wrath and lealousie Againe heere note that the Lord neuer worketh but when it is impossible and the cure desperate in the eies of men for when the Law could not saue vs then rather than hee would want a people and lose the glory of his mercy hee sent his sonne to saue vs. The woman Mar. 5.25 that had her issue of blood twelue yeeres and had spent all her substance among Physitians and auailed not when man could not heale her then Christ did it when he that had beene diseased 38. yeeres and had line long at the poole of Bethesda Ioh. 5.6 and could get none to helpe him in when the water was troubled then did Christ bid him take vp his bed and walke when Ioh. 11.39.42 Lazarus had been in the graue foure daies that it was impossible for man to restore
Apostle saith heere he was freed from the law of sinne for Christs body was not onely crucified for our sinnes our sinnes being the very cause of his crucifying but hee was also crucified to sinne that is to crucifie and kill sinne in vs which are his members so that except we finde the spirit of God daily working and striking at the roote of sinne to weaken it and at the branch of sinne to cut it off at the first blossome we cannot conclude he was crucified for sinne because he is not crucified to sinne in vs so as we must measure the life of Christ in himselfe no further to pertaine to vs then we finde the power of sinne abated in vs. And therefore if we walke after the Prince that ruleth in the aire and that worketh in the children of disobedience and haue our conuersation in the lusts of the flesh then hath not the life of Christ freed vs from the law of sinne and then are we in the state of condemnation if God be not rich in mercy to vs heereafter For howsoeuer the Lord is contented so farre to dispence with the rigour of his iustice as to suffer â—â—e Sunne to shine both vpon the iust and vniust yet doth the Soâ—â—e of righteousnesse neuer arise vpon any that is holden with â—â—e cords of his owne sinne making as Salomon saith Prouerbesâ—â— 12.13 a signe with his eies signifying with his feet and instructing with his fingers to haue those leude things which luâ—ke in his heart countenanced and performed both by himselfe and others by his entisement Let vs therefore labour to haue our spirits raised vp from the dead in the body of Christ or through the life of Christ till when we are not freed from the law of death for so long as we remaine naturall men we are dead both in the punishment of sinne and also in the pollution of sinne of the latter we 〈◊〉 in this life as 2. Cor. 5.15 If one be dead for all then were we all dead The other is reserued for the life to come and is called Reue. 20.14 the second death when carnall and fleshly minded men shall be cast into the lake of fire We must know then that vntil the spirit hath raised vs from the dead we are but dead men though we seeme to liue and so long as we are thus dead we are separated from the grace of God that is the grace of God is dead in vs and we are liuing vnto all sinne and so not freed neither from the law of sin nor of death Our spirits then are said to be raised from the dead two waies First when it reuiueth and renueth that which is dead in vs And secondly when it slaieth and mortifieth that which is quicke in vs that which is dead in vs is the grace and fauour of God that which is quicke in vs is sinne as concupiscence lust sensuality and such like so that till this spring-time come that the grace of God be seene to flower and bud forth in vs our estate is no better then that of the damned soules for as they at the last day shall be separated for euer from the presence of God so as long as we remaine carnall and vnsanctified men we are at this day separated from the fauour of God and as the damned in their separation doe liue in torments for euer being dead in the punishment of sinne so are we carnall men inwardly tormented in conscience for being dead in the pollution of sinne that is we commit those sinnes for which the damned are tormented and in some respects the damned are better then carnall men for they can sinne no more though theâ—â—gnash their teeth and sâ—et at the iustice of God whereas the wicked and vniust doe still commit sin adding sin to sinne whereby heaping the more dishonour vpon God they drawe the heauier condemnation vpon themselues Further where the Apostle saith He was freed from the law of sinne we must not vnderstand it as if there was any law or commandement to sinne but as Rom. 7.11 that sinne tooke an occasion by the commandement to deceiue vs and to slay vs there being accompulsary and an vnchangeable necessity in vs to sinne as long as we are holden of the flesh that will we nill we we cannot but sinne we being by sin deceiued fiue waies First by concupiscence and lust as was Euah Secondly through infidelity Thirdly by blindnesse of iudgment Fourthly by particular ignorance And lastly by the malice of the heart and if the hart come once to be little worth as Salomon â—â—â—â—â—eth Pro. 10.20 and as it is in all carnall men then is the â—â—â—â—â—antiall law of God which otherwise in it selfe is holy iust and righteous to such men but a law of sinne that is sinning the more because the law forbiddeth it and a killing letter as 2. Cor. 3.6 First in respect naturall men are but flesh sold vnder sinne Secondly in respect hee reading it readeth his owne damnation and a seducing letter inticing them therefore to sin because they are restrained from sinne yea to them as Rom. 3.20 it is the power of sinne and as Rom. 4.15 it is the law of wrath and as 2. Cor. 3.15 it is as a vaile laid ouer their hearts to blinde them and as 1. Tim. 1.9 it is said not to be giuen to the righteous but to the disobedient and as Peter calleth it Act. 15.10 a yoake which neither they nor their forefathers were able to beare meaning thereby what it is to the carnall man and what it was then made by the Scribes and Pharisees who preferred the law before Christ which being but a schoole-master to bring vs to him was by them made a master aboue him to teach him 〈◊〉 it is no maruell though to such as would liue by the law without the life which is in Christ that it proue to them a law of sinne and of death for by the law shall neuer any bee iustified but through faith in the life of Christ must we attaine saluation ROM chap. 8. vers â— verse 3 For that that was impossible to the law in as much aâ— it was weake because of the flesh God sending his owne sonne in the similitude of sinfull flesh and for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh HEere the Apostle proceedeth to make the matter formerly deliuered more plaine and easie wherin obserue two materiall points First that he taketh away all the power of the law to saue Secondly that this power is giuen onely to Christ who tooke vpon him not the similitude of flesh but of sinfull flesh to condemne sinne in the flesh by whose grace we are only saued without the workes of the law For the first obserue two things first that it is impossible for any to be saued by fulfilling the Law because none can exactly and perfectly doe it secondly from whence this disabilitie proceedeth not from any defects in the law but from our corrupt nature
proportion betweene the head and the members for wee shall bee carried vp into the highest heauens and wee shall stand before the throne viewing the glorious face of God and hauing the fruition of his blessed presence The greatnesse of this glorie howbeâ—â— it needeth rather meditation then explication yet something shall bee spoken of it that the vaile may bee taken from our eies that wee may sound and faddome in some sort the bottome of Christ his â—ole in his glorie which of our selues we cannot doe no more then the Iewes could into the ministery of Moses This place fitteth with that 2. Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment bringeth vnto vs an euerlasting excellent weight of glory Where consider two things first that betweene these afflictions and that glory there is no comparison in the greatnesse it shall be a weight excellently excellent as the word signifieth whereas afflictions are but for a an houre Secondly the glory shall be more durable in respect of eternity whereas the other are but in this life onely For the first consider it in two degrees first the particular ioy euery child and man of God shall haue in his death and dissolution secondly the exceeding glory he shall be filled with when all things shall be perfect and God shall be all in all The first of these hath two parts first it containeth an absolute immunity and freedome from all infirmities of body and soule according as it is said All teares shall be wiped away for the body shall be free from labour care and such like and the soule shall be free from the suggestions of Sathan by couetousnesse and other corruptions wherewith the best and choisest of Gods seruants in this life are wonderfully assaulted Secondly the bodie sleeping in the earth the soule shall be absolutly sanctified from sinne and liue in the fauour of God so as there shall be added vnto vs a present entrance into the Lords ioy which none can comprehend but they that feele it Luk. 23.43 This in the Scripture is called the entrance into the Paradise of the Lord and Paul 2. Cor. 5.8 desireth to remoue out of the body that in his soule he might be with the Lord Iesus who resteth in such a place as hath in it whatsoeuer may moue either admiration or may giue contentation and is described Reuel 21.4 to be destitute of sorrow crying and paine and to haue the foundation of the wals thereof garnished with all manner of precious stones and to be lightned onely with the glory of God needing neither Sunne nor Moone It is also called Abrahams bosome Luk. 16.22 Ioh. 14.2 Reuel 19.9 the presence with the Lambe the gathering of vs into the companie of innumerable Angels and the mansion house of our Father The second degree of this glory is at the restitution of all things which the Apostle heere speaking of verf. 21. calleth the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God This standeth in two parts first in the resurrection of our bodies when they shall be made incorruptible and glorions and shall neede no naturall prouision nor maintenance for they shall shine as the Sunne and the Sunne shall then be seauentimes brighter then it is The second is that God shall be all in all that is the whole God-head shall immediatly raigne and the humanity of Christ shall more manifestly be subiected which is to the greater glory of it that his god head shall be so great for then there shall be no more office of Christ Iesus to procure any more good to his children but the benefit of the former shall continue for euer for then his enemies shall be all put downe and then the Sonne she ll resigne vp his kingdome to his Father that is all enemies being vanquished and that one enemy Death being abolished he shall raigne no more not that God raigneth not now for he raigneth in the person of his Sonne as Mediator but then his office shall end and he shall raigne onely as God For these are but the daies that the Lord Iesus doth woo vs and maketh loue to vs Reu. 19.7 but then shall the marriage be solemnized and for the better setting foorth of this with all magnificence and greatest state all creatures shal be restored that they may serue and attend at the celebrating of this feast Now for the second part that is the comparison of the glorie and afflictions in respect of continuance we see that no affliction lasteth but for the present but this glory is eternall Gods loue toward vs eternall before the world to predestinate vs eternall after the world to glorifie vs that as the first had no beginning so the last shall haue no end So as wee may consider of two eternities though to speake properly there is but one the first before the creation thesecond after the worlds dissolution Now betweene these two there is a certaine time for the world and a thousand yeeres in respect of eternity is but as one day nay as Moses saith Psal 90.4 A thousand yeeres are but as yesterday that is past 2. Pet. 3.8 So as counting the world fiue thousand yeeres it is but as the length of fiue daies past and of these fiue thousand yeeres what are fourescore which is a great age for any man to liue to and a farre greater time then euer any man was afflicted in It is not much more then a moment no way an hower and therefore these afflictions are no way comparable to the eternity of that glory wee shall haue heereafter not so much as a drop of water to the whole Sea or one graine to all the sand And yet we speake now as if a man should neuer but be afflicted euen from his cradle to his death liuing the full age of a man which neuer befell any In Esay 54.8 is shewed what seuenty yeeres be and by the accompt of the spirit of God himselfe they be but as the least minute for the Lord there saith For a moment in mine anger I hid my face from thee but with euerlasting mercy haue I had compassion on thee and this moment was seuenty yeeres for so long were the Iewes in captiuity Iâ—â— 25.12 So as affliction by this reckoning during the whole yeeres and life of man is but a moment and a great part of this moment is past before we can be said to suffer affliction for it is but a confused kind of paine that children sustaine and againe there was neuer any affliction so great but there was some either intermission or remission either the tormenter was wearied or the whip was wasted or they that were tormented died Now if the glory after our induring of these afflictions should last but so many millions of yeeres as there be starres in the heauens there might yet be some more and easier and equall comparison betweene them because at the last this glory should haue an end but it farre
such a maner as they do not profit by it but onely maketh them the more without excuse because they haue seen the light and yet haue loued darknes more then light And if it be asked why this mercy of the Lord hardneth them and not mollifieth them and why the Lord doth not pull them out of the fire it is because he found them corrupt in Adam But if it be asked why they are appointed to damnation here we stop our mouths and haue refuge to no other cause but to the Lords eternall purpose After the same sort doe we faie of saluation for to such as shall be saued he giueth mercy and maketh this mercy to worke vpon their hearts and finding them falne in Adam he raiseth them vp in Christ but why he doth this is not knowne to any but to himselfe Howbeit in this his purpose to saue vs he hath ordained we should find mercy in Christ by the degrees heere set downe by calling by iusufying by glorifying vs and yet to speake properly this fore knowledge 〈◊〉 God is not the cause of any thing for Adam did not fall because God foresaw iâ— but Adam fell therefore God foresaw it For the second point what is meant by this Like to the iâ—age of his son some expound it that shall be made like and conformable to his crosse which is very comfortable though not 〈◊〉 apt and fit for the place it selfe Heb. 2.10 For if the Prince of the Gentiles was consecrated through afflictions if by this meanes the Sonne himselfe learned obedience as it is Heb. 5.8 much more must we not that we shall be afflicted in the same measure or for the same cause that Christ was for he suffered for our soules and felt the smart for our sins yea and sustained the very wrath of God to his extreme anguish and horror Reu. 19.15 2. Tim. 3.12 but thus far we must resemble him that if we wil liue godly we must suffer persecution Howbeit this likenesse conformitie to Christ his image here spoken of must bee vnderstood of his glorie because of the words that follow mentioning the steps and degrees that lead to this glorie he calleth he iustifieth he glorifieth euen as he did his Son for wee are ordained to the same glory Ioh. 17.22 signified by the praier of Christ for his Apostles and al that should beleeue that his father would loue them with the same loue and crowne them with the same glorie he crowned him which is the most ioyfull message that can come to the eare of a Christan hart to be assured we shal hereafter be lifted vp and aduanced far aboue the third heauen For the third point namely that he is the first begotten among brethren consider three things first how he is our brother secondly what priuiledge he hath being eldest thirdly what priuiledge we haue aboue all other creatures by this brotherhood For the first he became our brother by this that the eternal word of God did assume take vpon himself our flesh Ioh. 1.1.2 that we might be his brethren For as to be a Mediator to God for vs he must haue a diuine humanitie and an humane diuinitie so to make vs brethren that we might haue his spirit could not be but by taking our flesh Betweene God and man euer since our first fall there hath bin enmity such and so great as none can see him and liue for Exod. 24.17 it is said that the sight of the glorie of the Lord euen in the mountaine of Sinai was like a consuming fire Esa 33.14 and as the Prophet Esay speaketh Who shall dwell with euerlasting fire This fire therefore must bee quenched and an entrance must be made for vs to the mount of God which is onely in Christ our elder brother howbeit we are become his brethren not by incarnation nor by his humane nature for then the reprobate should bee his brethren as well as wee for hee partaketh of their flesh as well as of ours But as this brother-hood commeth by the flesh in some respect so principallie by being mystically engrafted naturally into his bodie so as we are one flesh with him euen like man and wife Ephes 5.30 who are so tearmed and called in respect of a speciall and sanctified vnion and fellowship that is betweene them otherwise all men and all women are one flesh So then our brother-hood with Christ commeth not by anie grosse coalition or mixture of our natures but by spirituall regeneration as the Apostle to the Hebrewes said He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified Heb. 2.11 are all one so that we are his brethren not by his flesh simply but because wee are sanctified by his flesh Whereby we learne to reuerence and adore the infinite and euerlasting loue of God toward vs that he would thrust as it were his Sonne out of heauen that he might descend to draw vs thither that he must come downe in such basenesse to be clothed with our nakednesse and to put on our infirmities For the second point which is the priuiledge he hath being eldest obserue that the first begotten vnder the law had two priuiledges first he was the worthiest person secondly he had a double portion As Ruben Gen. 49.3 the eldest of Iacobs sonnes should haue had but that the dignitie of his person was translated to Iuda and the priuiledge of his portion to Ephraim and Manasses This likewise appeareth Deut. 21.17 where it is commanded that the first borne of a mans strength shall haue a double portion for it is his right This then we must allow to Christ who hath two titles giuen him first he is called the first begotten of all creatures Col. 1.15 because he was before anie cerature being from eternitie according to his diuinitie Secondlie he is called the first begotten among the brethren because he was the first in mans nature that God loued after the fall of Adam Heere know that Christ as he is the Sonne-man is the naturall Sonne of God not according to his humanitie but as he is Christ-man for though his humane nature was not taken from God yet as one person being man licèt non ratione humanitatis he is the Sonne of God euen as Mary is said in the Scripture to be the mother of God in respect of the vnion of his person Another priuiledge further Christ hath that hee as sonne of man hath receiued all power from God to iudge the world Ioh. 5.22 The father hath committed all iudgement vnto the Sonne not that his manhood alone shall iudge but Christ God and man shall giue the iudgement euen so wee praie and list vp our hands to the man Christ Iesus not to his man-hood non humanitati sed homini for the humanitie separated from the diuine person of Christ is but a creature Againe Christ as our elder brother is the head of Angels not as God only but as man Heereupon also it is
in a holy conuersation Heere will be obiected since workes are so precisely vrged what say wee to the faith of the theefe vpon the crosse what workes did he and by this example many betray their soules in presuming of the like grace Wee answer that this was a particular priuiledge giuen to that theefe euen as a pardon may bee giuen to a man vpon the gallowes and if any embolden himselfe heereupon perhaps the rope will be his hire and it is not good to put it vpon the Psalme of Miserere and the necke-verse for sometime he proueth no Clarke And for this theefe the Lord neuer did it but to one that none might presume and yet hee did it to one and did saue one in the exigent of his life that none might despaire Secondly this was a worke reserued for the manifestation of the power of the Sonne of God that he should beleeue in his fellow sufferer and desire him to saue him that when the Pharisees denied him to be the Sonne of God yet a poore wretch and a theefe should confesse it Thirdly we must not regard the shortnesse of his confession but consider the time and circumstance when and before whom this confession was made euen then when no man durst defend the innocencie of the Sonne of God when the Pharisees left him when all his Disciples were scattered and when Marie his mother that stood a farre off and knew him to be the Sonne of God and yet spake nothing in his defence whereby she finned against the first table She was his mother and saw him put to death vniustly and yet would not testifie of his innocencie whereby she bore false witnesse against him so sinned against the ninth commaundement being her sonne she did not comfort him vpon the crosse and so sinned against the fift commaundement yet when all these either doubted of his diuinity or despaired the poore theefe did confesse him to be that Christ the Sonne of God who â—â—d Paradise to dispose Lastly know that he was such a wretch that he neuer knew God before and therefore was it no maruell though he committed felonie but as soone as the Lord knockt at his heart first he confesseth Christ to be God and to die an innocent Luk. 23.41 We suffer righteously but this man hath done nothing amisse wherein he wrought a worke of the first table secondly he reprooued his fellow who raned on Christ wherein he wrought a worke of the second table So as this example of the theefe is no warrant to deferre or trifle off our repentance till the last houre for hee wrought as soone as hee was called If therefore the Lord hath offered vnto vs the riches of his mercie let vs in the acceptable time embrace it and not abuse his long suffering by growing more leane and ill-fauoured by these many yeeres wee haue had of religious peace and plentie but let vs returne vnto him while he is in the way before darknesse too fast ouer-grow our soules and before death snatch vs away into the graue For the similitude which is vers 26. obserue onely that it agreeth not in all points for the soule is the cause of the life of the body but so are not good works the cause of faith but only an effect and fruit of it for faith giueth life to good works and faith worketh by loue in the person instified for we must as hath bene said first be good before we can do good and we are made good spiritually by our regeneration in Christ and we being ingrafted into him then we do good so as the meaning only of the Apostle is by this similitude to shew that when a dead man being dead can speake which is impossible then faith which hath no workes and so is but a dead faith shall iustifie and saue vs. 1. IOHN chap. 3. vers 9.10 verse 9 Whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not for his seed remaineth in him neither can he sinne because he is borne of God verse 10 In this are the children of God knowen and the children of the diuell who so doth not righteousnesse is not of God neither he that loueth not his brother THE Apostle in the beginning of this chapter first setteth downe that God the Father by his euerlasting loue in his Sonne hath bestowed vpon the faithfull this priuiledge to be called the sonnes of God in the sonne of God Christ Iesus Secondly that this dignity to bee the sonne of God and so to be called is not to be discerned by the men of the world because they haue not knowen the Sonne hauing not his spirit for spirituall things cannot be discerned by them that haue nothing but fleshly policy Thirdly as this cannot be discerned of the world so it is impossible our selues should sufficiently conceiue of it while we remaine in the tabernacle of this life because there is another glory we expect vers 2. Fourthly he setteth downe an effect inseparable from this adoption As many as are the sonnes of God and haue this hope of future glory they striue to reformation of life not to be equally pure but to bee like pure to the Lord Iesus This hee prooueth first from the institution of the law God neuer ordained the law neither after our creation nor after our redemption but to bee kept and the reason is thus The breach of the law is a disparagement swinge and sinne it perfect strength Thirdly the godly eâ—e said not to sinne be 〈◊〉 he laboureth to walke in all the commandements of the Lord. Now he that walketh in the right way may somtime fall but if hee doe heâ— striueth to regaine it by greater carefulnesse and speedier passageâ— but the wicked goe cleane out of the way as if heauen stood at hell gate Lastly because in the godly there is a combat for there is two men in them in the inward man they would faine please God and by the outward as Saint Paul saith they are made captiue to sinne Rom. 7.23 but in a meere naturall man there is nothing but flesh and so no combat for where all is one there is no diuision and if there be any strife in him it is betweene his conscience and himselfe in iudgement conuincing him that it is sinne and not betweene his conscience and his affection misliking it as it is sinne for this is easily seene by his often relapse into the same sinne Now for the reason hee doth not sinne because the holy Ghost which is the seed of our second birth remaineth in him neither can he sin and this is proued by two places of scripture first Rom. 8.1 where the Apostle proueth these two graces inseparable iustification from sinne and sanctification from sinne thus There is no condemnation to him that liueth a spirituall man this is proued vers 5. by contraries They that liue after the flesh sauour the things of the flesh but he that is borne of God cannot doe so for then