is but short and momentary If any man shall thinke that there is no proportion betwixt a finite time of sinning and an infinite time of punishing Let that man giue a reason of the iustice of man and compare it with the iustice of God VVhy is Theft by the Lawes of Man punished with Death The time of stealing is but short but the punishment is for euer Tollitur de numero viuentium A theefe saith S. Austen is taken from the liuing and shall neuer againe returne to life Therefore though the act be temporall the punishment is eternall Againe by the iustice of Man euery delinquent is prâ—portionably punished according to the quality of the party offended By the Lawes of the Romanes a simple Murderer was crucified but a Parricide was sewed in a sacke with an Ape a Cocke and a Serpent and flung into the Sea that hee might neyther haue the light of the Sun nor a breath of aire nor any to pitty him whilst he was aliue nor a Clod of earth nor a leafe of grasse to couer him nor any other creature to bury him when he was dead By the Law of Iulia an Adulterer was beheaded But by the Law of the twelue Tables an incestuous vestall virgin was buried aliue If then the quality of the person against whom wee sinne doth proportionably increase the quantity of the punishment Man sinning against the infinite maiesty of God deserueth by proportion an infinite torment Goe a little farther Enquire at the barre of Heauen why sinfull soules are harried to eternall sorrowes VVhat did God giue Did he not create man in perfection Did he not giue a power to liue for euer Therefore saith Anselmus Factus est malo dignus aeterno qui inse peremit bonum quo potuit esse aeternus VVas not he worthy by proportion of eternall death who lost in himselfe and by himselfe the power of eternall life Let no bastard-brood of Origen deceiue you with pretence that the immortall worme shall dye that the euerlasting fire shal be quenched You read in the 25. of Matth. 46. The wicked shall goe into euerlasting punishment The righteous into euerlasting life From hence S. Augustine hath most grauely obserued Heere is Death euerlasting Life euerlasting both equall Therefore Aut vtrumque cum fine diuturnum Aut vtrumque sine fine perpetuum You must make either both to haue an End and then no Eternity of Heauen Or both to haue no End and then there is an Eternity of Hell I doubt not therefore but that it is sufficiently cleered by way of explication that the death of the soule of the body of soule and body are the wages of sinne by an act of order of iustice of proportion But as these things are sufficiently cleered so I beseech you suffer them to be effectually enforced For first If the Death of the soule be fearefull and therefore more fearefull because lesse sensible as Physitians speak of Hectique feauers which are neuer discerned perfectly till they kill mortally VVe can behold a Lazar at Diues gate be sensible of his sores VVe can see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mouing rubbish of men as Nazian stiles them and be sensible of their sorrowes But could we behold a Lazarus and Leprous soule whom the dogs of hell will not licke could our eye-balls fasten vpon so loathed an obiect we would exclaime with S. Bernard Si meipsum non inspicio meipsum nescio Si inspicio meipsum ferre non queo If I looke not into my selfe I am like vnto a franticke man that know not my owne madnesse If I looke into my selfe I am like a desperate man that cannot endure 〈◊〉 owne vildnesse VVee may learne from euery Coarse â—hat is buried what the daughters of Israell â—ere to learne from CHRIST crucified Weepe not for mee but weepe for your selues Plangis corpus quod deserit anima Non plangis animam quam deserit Deus Thou dost bewaile a body forsaken of the soule and dost not bewaile the soule forsaken of God S. Austen confesseth that in his youth as many wantons doe hee read the Loue History of Aeneas and Dido with great affection And when he came to the death of Dido hee wept for pure compassion But O me miserum saith the Father I bewailed miserable man that I was the fabulous death of Dido forsaken of Aeneas and did not bewaile the true death of my soule forsaken of her Iesus How many vnhallowed teares are sacrificed to the idolls of our eyes which yet are as dry as Pumises in regard of our soules I will conclude this meditation with S. Austens deuotion Nihil est miserius misero non miserante seipsum Nothing is more miserable then a miserable soule that doth not comprehend her owne misery Againe is the Death of the Body the Wages of sinne This also is a fearefull thing Fearefull in the preparation Fearefull in the separation In the preparation For all our Life is but a consumption vnto Death sorrowes of mind and sicknesses of the body are but the harbengers of the graue Search the Gospell you shall find one blind another deafe another lame One Lazar lying at Diues gate another at the poole of Bethesda a third at the beautifull gate of the Temple You shall find heare a Leaper crying there a woman with an issue of bloud adoring Here the house vntiled by the sicke of the Palsey there the graues haunted by men possessed of Diuells Nescias vtrum apelles vitam mortalem an mortem vitalem VVee cannot saith S. Austen tell what to call our Life whether a Dying Life or a Liuing Death when euery day our houses of clay doe crumble to corruption Bodily Death is Fearefull in the Separation For it is not a Law written in letters of incke but of blood bred in the marrow of our bones and centred in our bowels That skinne for skin and all that man hath for the safegard of his Life Neuer was there a great cry in Aegypt till there was a great slaughter in Aegypt And then Magnus clamor a great cry and Lamentation Neuer was Bethlem in woe vntill Herods sword was bathed in the bloud of infants And then vox audita A voyce was heard in Rama Rachel would not be comforted There was nothing but carousing to the gods of gold siluer in the feasts of Baltazar till the hand-writing appeared vpon the wall but then Mutatus est vultus the Kings countenance was changed his ioynts were dissolued his knees failed his heart fainted The Soule and the Body are olde friends so enchased one into another that they cannot part without sighing Bos bouem requirit saith Hierome If an Oxe doe bellow at the losse of his yoke-fellow questionlesse then there is a naturall and fearefull Horror when the soule is rent from the bodie And yet behold wee are prodigall of our liues to spend them vpon Harlots as the young-man in the Gospell who after his surfetting
A SERMON PREACHED AT MAPPLE-DVRHAM in Oxfordshire AND PVBLISHED at the request of Sir RICHARD BLOVNT By I. B. D. D. and Chapleine in Ordinary to his Maiestie Quoties 〈◊〉 toties iudicamur Hierom. LONDON Printed by T. S. for Iohn Hodgets 1616. ROMANS 6. 23. The wages of Sinne is Death but the gift of God is eternall Life through Iesus Christ our Lord. ALl Scripture commeth from one fountaine which is the spirit of God and therefore all Scripture is fit to perfect the man of God But as in Paradise though there were one Fountaine yet it was diuided into foure Riuers whose waters were diuersly rellished according to the nature of the soile through which they passed Or as in an Instrument of Musike though one winde giue a generall sound yet by the diuersitie of the Pipes and Organs the Tones are varied So the holy Scriptures inspired by one spirit haue an accidentall difference according to the nature of the Pen-men of the facred Scripture Hence is it that Gregorie compared some Scriptures to Iacobs hasle rods partly pilled and partly couered other Scriptures to Achabs house of Iuory without any couering The Scripture that I haue read is of the former sort which craueth your attention whilst it is enterpreted craueth your affection when it is applied And iustly doth it craue both the Holy Ghost ioyning together Ima summis the highest and the lowest things as Leo speaketh The first proposition being of Death The second of Life Death of all things the most terrible Life of all things the most comfortable To leaue an impression in you I will compare them to the two remarkeable Trees in Paradise The first is as the Tree of the knowledge of good euill The second as the Tree of immortalitie The first the experimentall Tree of Death The second as the Sacramentall Tree of Life Both of these haue a double consideration In the tree of death you may consider First the bitter roote which is sinne and the euill fruit which is death the wages of sinne In the tree of life you may consider the sacred roote which is Gods gift and the happy fruit which is eternall life by Iesus Christ our Lord. Sinne the roote of death Death the fruit of sin The gift of God the roote of life Life the fruit of the gift of God are the foure corners of the Alter vpon which at this time we will offer vp our sacrifice vnto God Sinne. The first is Sinne which Saint Iohn doth define to be the breach of Gods law A law so much vrged by the iustice of God that our Sauiour Christ proclaimeth that heauen and earth shall passe away but one iod or title shall in no wise passe from the law til all be fulfilled One Iod which is but a letter amongst the Hebrews as the graine of Mustard seed the least of all letters but one point of a letter From whence the Rabines haue obserued that God changing the name of Sarai to Sara tooke one Iod from her name which that it might not be taken from the Law he added one Iod to Osheah and called him Iehoshuah A Law so vrged that S. Paul repeates the sentence of God in a language of fear trembling Galat. 3. 10. Cursed is euery man that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to doe them VVe are bound we are All bound all to Doe to doe All all to Continue to continue vnder paine of a Curse a curse which implieth a riuer of brimstone and the breath of the Lord to set it on fire This is the sentence of God against Sinne against euery Sinne against the least Sinne whether it be a sinne of Thought or Word or Act or Degree or Delight or Desperation or Omission God hath concluded All Sinne to be the Roote of Death and destruction How iust then is the Complaint of S. Augustine Vaepeccatis hominum quae sola inusitata exhauressimus VVoe to the custome of sinne that taketh away the sense of sinne and causeth vs to feare none but vnusuall monstrous prodigious impieties Common ciuility keepeth many a man from rednesse of the eyes the inheritance of the Drunkard from rottennesse of the bones the leprosie of the Adulterer from Iezabells dogs the sepulcher of the Oppressor But Couetousnesse Pride Enuy Detraction Bribing Flattering Idle-Complementing and Fashioning of our selues to all luxurious ambition and foolish-vanities of the world are now become Free-Denisons of Court of Citty of Country that challengeth the priuiledge of the vnrighteous Iudge neyther to be afraid of the iustice of God nor to be ashamed in the sight of men I doe confesse that there are Essentiall and Accidentall differences of sinnes Some doe grieue some doe resist some doe quench the spirit of God But yet euery sinne in the owne nature hath the sting of a Viper and doth wound vs mortally Take a view and you shall finde that Adam lost Paradise for eating of an Apple Some say it was an Indian figge an entising bait of sweetnesse You shall finde that God drowned the world for Imaginations Gen. 6. 5. You shall finde that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words of feathers dalliances chamberings wantonnes and the scumme of lasciuiousnesse shall make vs giue an account at the day of iudgement Sagitta leuiter volat sed grauiter vulnerat Idle words are as feathered arrowes which flye lightly but wound the soule deeply Yea you shal find that there are sinnes of Gesture Quando cum oculis fabulamur VVhen saith S. Augustine wee speake lewdly with our eies which God so punished in Lots wife that shee is a pillar of Salt vntill this day These sinnes so small in our estimations so familiar to our corruptions so vsuall in our conuersations so glued to our affections they haue poyson in the roote and the fruit of them is death VVe read in Ecclesiasticall history of Cassianus a Schoolemaster of Children and a Scholler and Martyr of Christ who by the commandement of the Tyrant was stabbed to death by his Schollers pen-kniues VVe read in Scripture of Amasa whose bowels were shed out by the sword of Ioab Of Sisâ—raes head gored with a nayle we read of Achaâ— who was wounded in his breast with an arrow VVe read of Christ whose side was pierced with a speare All these did not wound a like deepely but all did wound alike deadly Speares swords arrowes nailes pen-kniues all instruments of the death of the body Deeds swords lookes gestures thoughts all causes of the death of the soule Our sinnes in Scripture are compared vnto sands which are very small considering them seuerally and yet the greatest shippe is easily swallowed vp of quicke-sands There is not a sinne of any nature but is as big as one of Herods wormes which deuoured Herods bowels Noli despicere peccata tua quia parua sunt nam et pluuiarum guttae paruae sunt Despise not Augustine
thy sinnes because they are little for the drops of raine are small and yet they are the bottles of the heauen and the fountaines of the Ocean To conclude this point No sinnes are lesser then the point of those thornes that pierced the head of Christ. Pro quibus abluendis sanguis Christi effusus For the washing away of which Christ shed drops of bloud in the garden and opened the spouts of bloud on the Crosse. So bitter a roote is sinne that it could not be taken away but by the death of our Sauiour And as sinne is a roote so bitter so no better is the fruit which the text calleth Death The wages and guerdon of Iniquity The wages of Sinne is Death Death is the Fruit but death as wages For it is not a singular but a plurall death The least sicknesse in the stomacke paine in the head ache in the tooth consumption in the lungs winde in the belly grauell in the kidneyes are the harbingers of death are the wages of sinne and iniquity But to speake more distinctly Death saith S. Augustine is three-fold First Quando Deus deserit animam volentem VVhen God forsakes the Soule that will be forsaken Secondly Quando anima deserit corpus VVhen the soule forsakes the body that would not be forsaken Thirdly Quando anima nolens tenetur in corpore VVhen the vnwilling soule is manacled to the body The first expressed in the young man Matth. 8. 22. to whom Christ sayd Let the dead burie the dead A strange speach for a man would thinke that the dead were more fit to be buried then to burie But therefore was it deliuered by Christ that euery Christian man may know That a sinners body is but the breathing Sepulchre of a sinners soule The second expressed in Lazarus Iohn 11. 39. Lord by this time he stinketh for he hath bin dead foure daies VVhose body in life is a beautifull caske of Iuory within foure daies after the soules departure is nothing else but a stinking and loathsome carrion The third expressed in Diues Luke 16. 24. Hee prayed to Father Abraham therefore he had a Soule He had a tongue to be cooled therefore he had a Body That wretched man may know that this is euerlasting Death when soule and body are coupled together with euerlasting chaines of sorrow that they may be sensible of their endlesse torment But howsoeuer these three deaths are the wages of sinne yet there is a difference in the manner For the death of the soule is the wages of sinne as an act of order The death of the body as an act of iustice The death of soule and body as an act of proportion First there is order in disorder Mans disorder God doth order You read Exodus 7. 13. that Pharaoh hardned his owne heart before God hardned the hart of Pharaoh Durities est hominis peccatum obduratio iudiciū Dei they are the words of Caluin vpon the third vers which I purposely alledge Hardnesse of heart is mans sinne hardening of the heart is Gods iudgement You read in 1 Sam. 10. 9. 10. that God gaue to Saul an other heart 1 Sam. 15. 26. Samuel said to Saul Thou hast cast away the Lord the Lord hath cast away thee 1 Sam. 16. 14. The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an euill spirit from the Lord troubled him So you see that Saul first resisted Gods spirit before God sent vpon Saul an euill spirit In the very root of Reprobation Adam first sinned and then God punished It is the Conclusion of Augustine which shal conclude this point Ad bonum prior est voluntas Creatoris ad malum prior est voluntas Creaturae Gods will in goodnes is the first efficient Mans wil in wickednes is the first deficient Sinne goes before and Death of the soule followes in order as the wages of sinne Secondly bodily-Bodily-death when the soule is breathed out as it was breathed in when the body which was composed of dust is resolued into dust is the wages of sinne as an act of Iustice. It is the sentence of God Genes 3. Because thou hast harkned to the voyce of thy Wife and hast eaten of the forbidden tree thou shalt returne to dust from whence thou wert taken Because thou hast eaten thou shalt returne to dust Therfore if man had not eaten he should not haue returned to dust Gods power was as sufficient to haue trāslated Adam from Paradise without death as to take vp Elias to heauen in a Chariot of fire Let no Scotist nor Andradian nor Iesuit bewitch you with any Philosophicall speculation as that of Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euery thing that is composed must be resolued Nor with that of Damascen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euerything that is made is subiect to be mard Nor with that of Aristotle that euery body composed of contrary elements disposed into contrary humors must at length haue a naturall date of corruption For S. Paul tels you that death is not the dissoluing of what God created but the wages of sin which man committed VVill you know the reason You see by experience that the same Sun remains in the same substance and indiuiduall circle but all sublunary bodies do continue in succession If then Philosophers giue probable reason of this difference because they say Forma coeli tollit contradictionem materiae The forme of heauen taketh away all contrariety preserues them in an euiternity Shall wee thinke then that Afflatus oris diuini that the breath of Gods owne mouth as Tertullian calls the soule had not a celestiall power in the creation to haue eternally preserued a corruptible body from corruption Againe Diuinity hath made it plaine Genes 2. God created two sorts of trees in Paradise All the common trees in the garden for eating but one celestiall tree for preseruing Reliquae arbores erant alimento arbor vitae erat sacramento The other trees were for aliment the tree of life was for a Sacrament Examine then the cause of naturall death which is the decay of radicall humor If then the eating of the tree of life did not as ordinary meate onely refresh the body but as a Celestiall cordiall did repaire the naturall sappe of the body then no question but the Angells sword that kept our first Parents from the tree of life brought vpon them brought vpon vs Legem moriendi as the Fathers speake the Law of Death and destruction This is Gods iustice when man defaced Gods image in his soule to take away the power of the soule This is Gods iustice when man eates of the forbidden fruit to forbid him to eate of the fruit of Life In the third place the Death of Soule and Body is the Wages of sinne by way of proportion For if any man shall wonder at the seuere iudgement of God that extends his indignation to eternity when the act of euery sinne