a threefold inconvenience of sinfull courses because they who pursue them reape no fruit from them sustaine much losse by them come to an evill end through them for the End The end is taken 1 Either physically 2 Or morally Either for the finall cause or for the finall effect Death is not the finall cause of sin but the finall effect for no man sinneth for death but dieth for sinne Others distinguish of ends which are 1 Intermediate as wealth honour or pleasure 2 Ultimate as happinesse Death say they is not the intermediate end but profit or delight but it is alwayes the ultimate end of sinne unrepented of A third sort make a difference betweene the end 1 Peccantis of the sinner that is the end which the sinner intendeth 2 Peccati of sinne that is the end to which sinne tendeth this distinction seemeth to mee coincident with the first Death say they is not the end of the sinner but of the sinne not the end which the sinner propoundeth to himselfe but the end which his sinne bringeth him unto Withall they acutely observe that the Apostle saith not the end of those men is death but the end Of those things By those things hee understandeth the state of the unregenerate or those sinnes which were rife among the Romanes and are reckoned up chap. 1. which may bee reduced to three heads 1 Impiety against God 2 Iniquity against their neighbours 3 Impurity against their owne body and soule yea and against nature also 1 Impiety with this hee brandeth them vers 21. 2 Iniquity with this hee chargeth them vers 29. 3 Impurity with this hee shameth them vers 24 27. Of those things the end is Death The second death say some for he that hath no part in the first resurrection hath his portion in the second death A double death saith Saint Ambrose à morte enim ad mortem transitur for a sinner from one death passeth to another Others more fully thus The end of those things is death 1 Of your estate by ruine of your fortunes 2 Of your good name by tainting your reputation 3 Of your body by separation from the soule 4 Of your soule by separation from God The most naturall interpretation and most agreeable to this place is That by continuing in a sinfull course all our life wee incurre the sentence penalty and torment of eternall death for that death is meant here which is opposed to eternall life Verse 23. which can bee no other than eternall Yea but is sinne in generall so strong a poyson that the least quantity of it bringeth death and that eternall are all sinnes mortall that is in their owne nature deserving eternall death It seemeth so for hee speaketh indefinitely and without any limitation and as before hee implyed all sinne to bee unfruitfull and shamefull so also now to bee deadly What fruit had ye in those things that is in any of those things whereof ye are now ashamed Now it is certain that the regenerate are ashamed of all sins therefore in like manner it followeth that the end of all sinnes is death For the Apostle here compareth the state of sinne and state of grace in generall and as hee exhorteth to all good workes so hee endevoureth to beat downe all sinne as unfruitfull shamefull and deadly See what will ensue hereupon first that there are no veniall sinnes secondly no pardons for them in purgatory thirdly no fee for pardons If all sinnes are mortall and which all Papists will they nill they must confesse no man is free from all sinne for t Jam. 3. ◠in many things wee offend all saith Saint James and u 1 Joh. 1.10 if we say that we have no sin wee deceive our selves saith Saint John what will become of their Romish doctrines concerning the possibility of fulfilling the law the merit of congruity or condignity and works of supererogation Si nulla peccata venialia nulla venalia if no sinnes are veniall then no sale to bee made of sinnes no utterance of pardons no use of the Church treasury no gold to bee got by the Monks new found Alchymy Yee will say this is but a flourish let us therefore come to the sharpe Mitte hebetes gladios pugnetur acutis The speech of Cornelius Celsus the Physitian is much commended by Bodine Nec aegrotorum morbi nec languentium vulnera dicendi luminibus curantur Soft words cure no wounds wee may say more truely soft words give no wounds and therefore are not for this service of truth against errour and heresie up in armes against her * Hom. Il. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hector truely told Paris that his golden harpe and purfled haire and beautifull painting would stand him in no stead in the x Sen. ep 51. In primo deficit pulvere ille unctus et nitidus field it is not the wrought scabbard but the strong blade nor the bright colour but the sharpe edge of it that helpeth in danger and hurteth the enemy In which regard I hold it fittest to handle schoole points scholastically in tearmes rather significant than elegant and labour more for force of argument than ornaments of speech First then after their plaine method I will explicate the state of the question next meet with the adversaries objections and last of all produce arguments for the truth and make them good against all contrary cavils and frivolous exceptions Sins may bee tearmed veniall or mortall two manner of wayes 1 Either comparatè in comparison of others 2 Or simplicitèr simply and in themselves and that three manner of wayes Either 1 Ex naturâsuâ of their owne nature 2 Ex gratiâ by favour or indulgence 3 Ex eventu in the issue or event Wee deny not but that sinnes may bee tearmed veniall comparatè that is more veniall than others and if not deserving favour and pardon yet lesse deserving punishment than others Secondly veniall ex eventu or in the issue wee acknowledge all the sinnes of the Elect to bee and some sinnes of the Reprobate also or veniall ex gratiâ that is by Gods favour and clemency all the question is whether any sinne of the Elect or Reprobate bee veniall ex suâ naturâ that is such as in its owne nature deserveth not the punishment of death but either no punishment at all or at least temporary onely The reformed Churches generally resolve that all sinnes in their owne nature are mortall the y Bellar. de amis grat stat pec c. 9. Qui dixerit fatue reus erit gehennae ignis ex his tale conficitur argumentum manifestum convitium facit reum gehennae ignis non item subita iracundia c. Romanists will have very many to be veniall Their allegations are chiefly these the first out of Matthew 5.22 Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whosoever shall say to his brother Racha shall bee in
uttered but it may by ignorance be depraved no action of vertue can be so exactly performed but it may through malice be mis-construed It is not more proper to God to bring light out of darknesse peace out of trouble joy out of sorrow and out of sinne the greatest of all evils to extract much good by governing and disposing it to the declaration of his mercy and justice than it is naturall to the Divell and his impes out of the light of truth to endeavour to draw darknesse of errour and out of the best speeches and actions to straine and force out somewhat to maintaine and nourish their corrupt humours and bosome sinnes And what marvell sith even in Paradise amidst the sweetest flowers and wholsomest herbes and plants a Serpent could live and find there something to feed upon Paradise was the seat of mans happinesse the garden of pleasure the soyle of the tree of life seated in the cleerest ayre watered and environed with sweetest rivers enamelled with pleasantest flowers set by God himselfe with the choicest plants and yet was it not free from the serpent which turned the juices of those soveraign and medicinall simples into poyson Aristotle writeth of the Cantharides that they are killed with the sent of the a Arist de mirabil aus cult sweetest and most fragrant oyntments and it is morally verified in those gracelesse hearers to whom the Word which is the b 2. Cor. 2.16 sweet smelling savour of God to life becommeth a savour of death Such hearers the blessed Apostle Saint Paul sharply censureth in this chapter Occas who when hee preached to them salvation by the free grace of Christ hence concluded free liberty of sinne when to the comfort of all that are heavie laden with the burden of sinne he set abroach that heavenly doctrine where sinne abounded there grace superabounded they subsumed Let us therefore continue in sinne that grace may more abound whereas indeed they should have inferred the cleane contrary conclusion thus Grace hath abounded much more to us therefore wee of all men should not continue in sinne because God offereth us so good meanes to escape out of it The dew of heaven hath fallen plentifully upon us therefore wee ought to be most fruitfull in good workes not only because God hath better enabled us to doe them but also in a duty of thankfulnesse wee are to offer him our best service who hath enriched us with the treasures of his grace Therefore to beat them and in them all carnall Gospellers from the former hold St. Paul in this chapter planteth ordnance of many most forcible arguments drawne from three principall heads Analys 1. Christ and his benefits 2. Themselves and their former condition 3. The comparison between a sinfull and a holy course of life and their contrary effects 1 From Christ and his benefits after this manner The effect of grace is to mortifie sinne how then can they who have received a greater measure of grace by the merit of Christs death and buriall continue in sinne How can they that are dead to sinne live therein Whereas they urged grace for liberty of sinne the Apostle from grace enforceth sanctity of life whereas they alledged their redemption for their exemption from all service Saint Paul strongly concludes from so great a benefit a greater tye and obligation to serve the Lord their Redeemer whereas they built a fort of sin with the wood of Christs crosse he maketh an engine of the same wood to overthrow it by grace we are united to Christ and planted in him therefore we must live the life of the root bring forth the fruit of the c Ver. 5. Ver. 6. spirit If we have been planted together in the likenesse of his death wee shall be also in the likenesse of his resurrection knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sinne might be destroyed that henceforth wee should not serve sinne c. 2 From themselves and their former condition thus When yee were free from righteousnesse yee were servants unto sinne now therefore being freed from sinne yee ought to be servants unto righteousnesse As yee d Ver. 18 19. yeelded your members servants of uncleannesse and iniquity unto iniquity so now yeeld your members servants of righteousnesse unto holinesse c. 3 From the comparison between the state of sin and grace thus When you were in the state of sinne you had no profit at all of your workes and you were confounded with shame for them and by them were brought to the very brink of death Coharent but now being in the state of grace you reap fruit here in holinesse the fruit of peace and joy and hereafter you shall reap the fruit of everlasting life and glory Thus you see the scope of the Apostle the occasion and coherence of the words which carry this sense Tell mee Exposit Gen. yee unsettled and unstable Christians who have been delivered from the thraldome of sinne and Satan and have given your names unto Christ and your members as servants unto righteousnesse why goe yee about to enthrall your selves anew to your ghostly enemies or make your selves vassals to your fleshly lusts Observe yee not the heavie judgements of God lighting daily upon presumptuous sinners See yee not before your eyes continuall spectacles of Gods justice and marke yee not in them the fearfull ends of those courses which now yee begin to take againe after yee had long left them Beleeve yee not the words of God e Rom. 2 9. Tribulation and anguish upon every soule that sinneth for hee will f Psal 68.21 wound the hairy scalpe of every one that goeth on in his wickednesse Or if you turne away your eyes from beholding the vialls of wrath daily powred upon sinners and stop your eares that yee may not heare the dreadfull threats which God thundereth out in his Law against such backsliders and relapsers as yee are yet can yee stifle your owne hearts griefe can yee forget the wofull plight into which your former courses brought you when free from righteousnesse yee let loose the reines to all licentiousnesse that yee might worke wickednesse even with greedinesse yee glutted your selves with earthly vanities and tooke a surfeit of sinfull pleasures What gaine did yee not then greedily gape after what preferment did yee not ambitiously seek into what mire of impurity did not yee plunge your selves No sinfull pleasure but yee tooke your fill of no dish of Satan which yee left untouched yet speake the truth between God and your owne conscience what true delight or solid contentment tooke yee in those things I know yee are ashamed to speake of it and I will not wound modest eares to relate it and ought yee not much more to be ashamed to returne with the dogge to his former vomit and with the sow to her wallowing in the mire Your soules have been cleansed by
are his How should hee not know them whom he fore-knew before the world began and wrote their names in the booke of life Apoc. 13.8 Phil. 4.3 With my fellow labourers whose names are in the book of life Exod 28.21 A glorious type whereof was the engraving the names of the twelve Tribes in twelve precious stones with the point of a Diamond never to be razed out To seduce any of the Elect our Saviours a Mat. 24.24 And they shall shew great signes and wonders in so much that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. If supposeth it to be impossible for this were to plucke Christs sheep out of his hand b Joh. 10.28 29 They shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand My Father which gave them 〈◊〉 is greater than all and no man is able to plucke them out of my Fathers hand which none can do All the Elect are those blessed ones on Christs right hand to whom he shall say at the day of Judgement c Mat. 25.34 Come ye blessed of my Father inherite the kingdome prepared for you before the foundation of the world was laid they are the Church of the first borne which are written d Heb. 12.23 in heaven Now although all that yeeld their assent to supernaturall verities revealed in Scripture may not presume that their names are written in the booke of life for Simon Magus beleeved yet was he in e Act. 18.13 23 the gall of bitternesse and bond of iniquity nay the f Jam. 2.19 Divels themselves as St. James teacheth us beleeve who are g Jude 6. reserved in chaines of darknesse unto the judgement of the great day yet they who beleeve in God embrace the promises of the Gospell with the condition of denying of ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and living godly righteously and soberly in this present world and lay fast hold on Christ have no doubt attained that faith which Saint Paul stileth h Tit. 1.1 the faith of Gods Elect and Saint i Act 13.48 15.9 Luke maketh an effect of predestination to eternall life for such a k Rom. 3.28 Joh. 1.12 faith purifieth the heart justifieth before God putteth us into the state of adoption worketh by love and is accompanied with repentance unto life which gifts are never bestowed upon any reprobate if we will beleeve the ancient l Greg. l. 28. in Job c. 6. Extra Ecclesiae mensuras omnes reprobi etiamsi intra fidei limitem esse videantur Aug. cont Pel. l. 1. c 4 de unit eccl c. 23. Hoc donum propâ—ium est eorum qui regnabunt cum Christo Plin. nat hist l. 21. c. 8. Postquam dâ— ficere cuncti flores mâ—defactus aqua reviviscit hybernas coron is facit Fathers The seed of this faith being sown in good ground taketh deepe root downeward in humility and groweth upward in hope and spreadeth abroad by charity and bringeth forth fruits of good workes in great abundance it resembleth the true Amaranthus which after all the flowers are blowne away or drop downe at the fall of the leafe being watered at the root reviveth and serveth to make winter garlands even so a firme and well grounded beliefe after the flowers of open profession of Christ are blown away by the violent blasts of persecution and temptation being moistened with the dew of grace from heaven and the water of penitent teares reviveth againe and flourisheth and furnisheth the Church Christs Spouse as it were with winter garlands unlooked and unhoped for The third pillar The love of God is not more constant than his decrees are certaine nor his decrees more certaine than his promises are faithfull Therefore in the third place I erect for a third pillar to support the doctrine delivered out of this Scripture the promise of perseverance which I need not hew nor square for the building it fitteth of it selfe For it implieth contradiction that they who are endued with the grace of perseverance should utterly fall away from grace Constancy is not constancy if it vary perseverance is not perseverance if it faile And therfore S. m Aug. de bono persev c. 6. Hoc donum suppliciter emereri potest sed cum datum est contumaciter amittti non potest promodo enim potest amitti per quod fit ut non amittatur etiam quod possit amitti Austin acutely determines that this gift may be obtained by humble praier but after what it is given it cannot bee lest by proud contumacy for how should that gift it selfe bee lost which keepeth all other graces from being lost which otherwise might bee lost When I name the gift of perseverance in the state of grace I understand with that holy Father such a gift * Aug. de correp grâ—t c. 12. Non solâ— n ut sine isto dono persevâ—rantes essâ— non possunt verum etiam ut per hoc donuÌ„ non nisi perseverantes sint Gratia qua subventum est infirmitati voluntatis humanae ut indeclinabiliter insuperabiliter ageretur quam vis infirma non deficeret nec adversitate aliqua vinceretur sed quod bonum est invictissimè vellet hoc differere invictissimè nollet not onely without which wee cannot persevere but with which we cannot but persevere Such an heavenly grace whereby the infirmity of mans will is supported in such sort that it is led by the spirit unfailably and unconquerably so that though it be weake yet it never faileth nor is overcome by any temptation but cleaveth most stedfastly to that which is good and cannot by any power bee drawne to forsake it This gift of the faithfull is shadowed out by those similitudes whereto the godly and righteous man in Scripture is compared viz. of a a Psal 1.3 tree planted by the river side whose leafe shall not wither Of the hill of Sion which may not be removed but standeth fast for ever Psal 125.1 Of a b Mat. 7.24 house built upon a rocke Quae Obvia ventorum furiis expostaque ponto Vim cunctam atque minas perfert coelique marisque Ipsa immota manens Upon which though the raine descended and the flouds came and the windes blew and beat on it yet it fell not for it was founded upon a rocke but it is fully plainly and most evidently expressed promised in those words of c Jer. 32.40 Jeremy I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turne away from them to doe them good and I will put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Which Text of the Prophet is by the d Heb. 5.10 Apostle applied to the faithfull under the Gospel and thus expounded by S. Austin e Aug. l. de bono persev c. 2. Timorem dabo in cor ut non recedant quid est aliud quam talis ac tantus
vivificabo impossibile est enim quod Deus semel vivificavit ab eodem ipso vel ab alio occidi I will make alive and I will kill but I will kill and I will make alive for it is impossible that what God once quickneth hee meaneth by spirituall grace should ever be killed or destroyed either by himselfe or any other Saint Cyprian secondeth Origen who will have e Cyp. de simpl prelat Nemo aestimet bonos de Ecclesia posse discedere triticum non rapit ventus nec arborem solidâ radice fundatam procella subvertit no man entertaine any such thought as if good men and true beleevers ever revolted finally from the Church Let no man conceive saith hee that good men can depart from the Church the winde blowes not away the wheat neither doth the storme overthrow a tree sound at root they are like empty chaffe which are scattered away with a whirlewind and weake and rotten trees which are blown down in a tempest Saint Chrysostome joyneth upon the same issue commenting upon the words of Saint Paul by whom also wee have accesse by faith unto this grace wherein we stand thus He saith well the grace wherein wee stand the phrase is worth the noting for such indeed is the nature of Gods grace f Chrys homil in ep ad Rom. c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is stable and constant it hath no end it knowes no period but proceeds alwaies from lesser to greater matters Those whom grace maketh to stand and grow continually cannot fall totally nor finally Saint Ambrose accordeth with Saint Chrysostome in his observation upon the second Epistle to the Corinthians chap. 3.3 The words of Saint Paul are Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with inke but with the Spirit of the living God not in tables of stone but in fleshly tables of the heart St. a Amo Comment in 2. Cor. 3.3 Nunc legem veterem pulsat â—uae pâ—imum data in lapideis tabulis abolita est fractis tabulis sub Mâ—nte à Mose nunc autem lex in animo scribitur hoc est in corde non per calamum sed per spiritum quia fides aeterna res est à spiritu scribitu ut maneâ—t Ambrose his note upon this place is Here hee toucheth upon or striketh at the old Law which first being given in tables of stone is abolished the tables being broken under the Mount by Moses but now the Law is written in the mind not with a quill or pen but by the spirit because faith is an eternall thing it is written by the spirit that it may abide or still continue Saint Austin and Saint Gregory cleerly conclude on our side by excluding all from the number of Christs Disciples and Sonnes of God and Saints whose revolt and apostacy proveth their hypocrisie Saint b Aug de correp grat â— 9. Qui non habent perseveâ— antiam cut non veâ—è Discipuli Christi ita nec verè Filii Dei fueâ—unt etiam quando esse videbantur ita vocabantur Austin speaketh definitively Those who have not the gift of perseverance as they are not truly Christs Disciples so neither were they ever truly the Sonnes of God no not when they seemed to be so And Saint c Greg. moral in Job l. 34. c 13. Aurum quod pravis diaboli persuasioâ—ibus sterni sicut lutum potuerit aurum ante oculos Dei nunquam fuit qui seduci quandoque non reversuri possunt qua iâ—habitam sanctitaté ante oculos hominum videantur amittere sed eam ante oculos Dei nunquam habucrunt Gregory is as peremptory It may saith he peradventure trouble a weake Christian that this Leviathan hath such power that hee can trample gold under his feet like dirt that is subject unto himselfe men shining in the brightnesse of holinesse by defiling them with vices but wee have an answer ready at hand that the gold which by wicked perswasions of the Divell can be laid under his feet like dirt was never gold in the sight of God and they who may be so seduced that they never returne againe may seeme to lose the habit of sanctity before the eyes of men but before the eyes of God they never were endued with any such habit You see with a little blowing what a cleere light the smoaking flaxe in my Text giveth to this Theologicall verity viz. that regenerating grace and justifying faith cannot be utterly lost or totally extinct Feele I beseech you now what warmth it yeeldeth to our cold affections and sometimes benummed consciences and first to our cold affections Is the oyntment of the Spirit so precious that the least drop of it saveth the life of the soule Is the least seed of the Word incorruptible Is the smallest sparke of true charity unquenchable Cannot justifying faith be ever lost nor the state of grace forfeited Why then doe we not strive for this state why doe we not with the rich Merchant in the Gospel sell all that wee have to gaine this pearle of faith When we have got it why doe we not more highly value it in our selves and others Other pearles and precious stones adorne but the body or cover some imperfection in it this beautifieth the soule and covereth all the skarres and deformities therein Other Jewels be they never so rich are but presents for earthly Princes but with this pearle the King of Heaven is taken and it is the price of that Kingdome Other pearles have their estimation from men but men have their estimation from this pearle Other Jewels when they are got may bee lost and that very easily but this Jewell of faith if it bee true and not counterfeit after it is once gotten can never be lost All the thoughts of worldly men are employed all their cares taken up all their time bestowed all their meanes spent in purchasing or some way procuring unto themselves a fortune as they terme it as a beneficiall office or an estate of land of inheritance or lease for terme of yeeres or lives all which are yet subject to a thousand casualties Why do they not rather looke after and labour for the state of grace which is past all hazzard being assured to us by the hand-writing of God and the seale of his Spirit An estate not for terme of yeers but for eternity an estate not of land upon earth but of an inheritance immortall undefiled reserved in heaven an estate which cannot be spoiled or wasted by hostile invasion nor wrung from us by power nor won by law nor morgaged for debt nor impaired by publike calamity nor endangered by change of Princes nor voided by death it selfe S. a Chrysost in c. 5. ad Rom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysostome his eloquence exspatiateth in this field A man saith he hath received rule glory and power here but enjoyeth it not perpetually
keep the other above As Fishermen so likewise the Fishers of men in the draw-net of the Gospel make use both of corke and lead the generall promises like corke beare us up in hope the conditions like lead keep us downe in feare These conditions cannot bee performed without grace therefore all must implore divine aide yet grace performeth them not without the concurrence of our will We must therefore exercise our naturall faculties we must seeke the Kingdome of God we must strive to enter in at the narrow gate wee must search for wisedome as for treasure we must labour for the meat that perisheth not we must stirre up the graces of God in us we must work out our salvation with feare and trembling t Cic. lib. 2. de orat Lepidus lying all along upon the grasse cryed out Utinam hoc esset laborare O that this were to labour and get the mastery so many stretching themselves upon their ivory beds and living at ease in Sion say within themselves Utinam hoc esset militare O that this were to goe in warfare and fight under the crosse but let them not deceive themselves heaven is not got with a wish nor paradise with a song nor pardon with a sigh nor victory with a breath it will cost us many a blow and wound too before we overcome Observ 3 There can be no conquest without a fight nor fight without an enemy who are then our enemies nay rather who are not evill angels men the creatures and our selves angels by suggestions men by seduction and persecution the creatures by presenting baits and provocations and our selves by carnall imaginations lusts and affections fight against the spirit of grace and kingdome of Christ in us Omnes necessarii omnes adversarii Against all these enemies of our peace with God wee hang up a flag of defiance in our crisme and lift up our ensigne when we are crossed in the forehead and proclaime a warre under Christs banner in our renouncing the Divell and all his workes which beginneth at the Font and endeth at our Grave Philip graced his warre against the Phocenses and our Ancestors their exploits against the Saracens for Palaestine with the title of Bellum sacrum the holy Warre but neither of their expeditions and martiall attempts so properly deserved that appellation as this I am now to describe unto you Those warres were for Religion in truth or pretence but this warre is Religion and true Christianity and the weapons of this warfare are no other than holy duties and divine vertues which by some are reduced to three 1. Prayer 2. Fasting 3. Almes-deeds For say they as our enemies are three the Divell the Flesh the World so they tempt us to three vices especially 1. Pride 2. Luxury 3. Avarice Now our strongest weapon 1 Against pride is humble prayer 2 Against luxurie frequent fasting 3 Against avarice charitable almes Howbeit though these are the most usuall and if I may so speake portable armes of a Christian yet there are in his armorie many more and some more forcible than these which St. u Ephes 6.13 14 15 16 17 18 Paul taketh out and gilds over with these sacred attributes the sword of the Spirit the helmet of salvation the shield of faith the breast-plate of righteousnesse the girdle of truth the shooes of preparation of the Gospel of peace As this warre is thus holy in respect of the weapons used in it so much more in respect of the Prince that decreeth it the Heraulds that proclaime it the field where it is fought and the cause for which it is undertaken The Prince who decreeth this warre is the Holy One of Israel the Heraulds that proclaime it are the Ministers of the Gospel the field where the battell is fought is the militant Church the end for which it is undertaken is the advancement of Christs kingdome of grace in us and us in the kingdome of glory The Roman Historians divide their warres into three kinds 1 Externa forreine 2 Civilia civill 3 Servilia servile Forreine against other States Civill against seditious Citizens Servile against mutinous slaves This our warre partaketh of all these three kinds and may be termed both a forrein a civill and a servile warre A forrein in respect of Sathan and his band A civill in respect of the world A servile in respect of the flesh and slavish lusts that warre against the Spirit In other warres some are exempted by their calling as Priests some by their sexe as women some by their yeares as old men and children some by their indisposition of body or minde as sicke and impotent persons not able to beare armes but in this warre it is otherwise none can challenge any priviledge Not Priests for they blow the trumpet and give the onset not children for as soone as they are borne they are enrolled in the Captaines booke and are crosse-signed for this service in baptisme and it may be said of many of them as x Pet. Dam. serm de sanct Vict. Prius vicit quam vincere noscet Damianus spake of St. Victor the confessour He conquered before he could know what it was to conquer and St. Cyprian of martyred infants for Christ in his dayes y Cyp. ep 4. Aetas necdum habilis ad pugnam idonea extitit ad coronam The age which was not yet fit for warre was found worthy to receive a crowne Not women for they fight daily the good fight of faith and many of them are crowned in heaven with white and red garlands white consisting of lillies in token of their chastity and innocent purity red consisting of roses in testimony of their z Cyp. de â—aâ— viâ—g â—ortior 〈◊〉 viâ—is toâ—quenâ— uâ— iâ—veâ—tutor blood shed for the name of Christ Not aged and infirme persons for like Saint * 2 Cor 12 10. Paul when they are weake then they are strong nay when they are weakest then they are strongest when they are weakest in body they are strongest in spirit when they lye on their death-bed and are not able to stirre hand nor foot they grapple with the a 1 Pet. 5.8 roaring Lion that runneth about seeking whom hee may devoure and conquer him by their faith In other warres though the fight last many houres yet in the end either the night or the weather or the victory or the flight on one side parteth the armies and oftentimes necessity enforceth on both sides a truce for a time but this warre admitteth no intermission abideth no peace or truce all yeelding is death and treaties of peace mortall In all other battels hee that killeth conquereth and hee that is slaine is conquered but in this the persecuters who slay are b Cyp. dâ— laps Seâ—â—ciunt toâ—â— toâ—quentibus foâ—â—torâ—s pulsantes laâ—â—ntâ—s unâ—â—las pulsâ—ta lâ—matâ— membra vicerunt conquered and the Martyrs who are slaine and breath out their soules with a triumphant Io Paean in
wretched and miserable and blind and naked Wherefore the Spirit n Ver. 17. counselleth them to buy of him gold tryed in the fire that they may be rich and white raiment that they may be clothed and that the shame of their nakednesse doe not appeare And to annoint their eyes with o Ver. 18. eye-salve that they may see 7. Lastly by the name Thyatira so called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying to runne mad after and spend ones selfe they may bee put in minde of those in Thyatira who ranne awhoring after Jezebel and spent their estates upon her and committed filthinesse with her Cap. 2. Ver. 20. which because the Angel winked at the Spirit sharply reproveth him And to the Angel of the Church in Thyatira write I know thy workes c. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee c. These Verses resemble the branches of the p Apoc. 22.2 tree of life which bare twelve maner of fruits 1. The first I gather from them is the dignity of the Ministers of the Gospel to whom the Son of God writeth stiling them Angels To the Angel of Ephesus of Smyrna c. 2. The second the difference of degrees in the Ministry for the Son of God endorseth his letter not to the inferiour Ministers which were many in each of these Churches but to the Angel in the singular number the Bishop or Super-intendent of the place to whom the government of the Church and ordering Ecclesiasticall affaires chiefly if not onely appertained 3. The third is the glorious majesty and divinity of our Saviour who was before stiled the Sonne of man but is here called the Sonne of God and described with eyes like a flame of fire piercing through the thickest darknesse and with feet like fine brasse walking through the midst of all the Churches and yet no way defiled according to the words of the Prophet the q Hos 14.9 waies of the Lord are undefiled 4. The fourth is mildnesse in just reproofe the physician of our soules who hath cured all our wounds with the smart of his prescribeth the weak Angel of Thyatira but one pill and that a gentle one yet see how he rowles it in sugar I know thy workes and thy love c. Of many faults he mentioneth but a few and of those few insisteth but upon one 5. The fifth is the condition of good workes to which foure things are required faith love service and patience they must be done in faith proceed from the love of God with a desire to doe him service thereby and lastly the performers of them must be constant in them and resolve patiently to endure all crosses and oppositions from men or Satan who seek to stay them in their godly proceedings 6. The sixth is growth in grace or proficiency in godlinesse those who were ever good are best at the last I know thy workes that they are more as the last than at the first 7. The seventh is the state and condition of the Church Militant which at the best is like the Moone at the full in which wee may discerne some blacke spots The sweetest r Eras Adag Omnibus malis punicis putridum granum inest Pomegranet hath some rotten graine the fairest beauty hath a freckle or wrinckle the most orient Ruby a cloud and the most reformed Church in the Christian world hath some deformity in her In ſ James 3.1 many things we offend all and many in all they are but a few against whom the Sonne of God hath but a few things Notwithstanding I have a few things 8. The eighth is the duty of a Magistrate who like a good Gardener is to plucke up noysome weeds by the rootes It is not sufficient for him to doe no evill he must not suffer it the Angel is not here blamed for any sin of commission or omission in himselfe but for the bare permission of evill in others I have somewhat against thee because thou sufferest 9. The ninth is a caution to looke to the weaker sexe for often the Divell maketh of them strong instruments to dispread the poyson of heresie t Hieron ad Ctes Simon Magus heresin condidit Helenae meretricis adjutus auxilio Nicolaus Antiochenus omnium immunditiarum repertor choros duxit foemineos Marcion Romam praemisit mulierem quae decipiendos sibi animos praepararet Simon Magus had his Helena Marcion his femall fore-runner Apelles his Philumena Montanus his Maximilla Donatus his Lucillia Elpidius his Agape Priscillian his Galla Arius the Prince his sister Nicolaus Antiochenus his feminine troupes and quires and all Arch-heretickes some strumpets or other to serve them for midwives when they were in travell with monstrous and mishapen heresies Thou sufferest the woman Jezebel Yet to doe the sexe right I willingly acknowledge with Flacius Illyricus that as the Divell hath used bad women in all times as Brokers to utter his deceitfull and dangerous wares so God hath made choice of many good women to be conduits of saving grace and great instruments of his glory Not to goe out of this City of Thyatira for instance we can produce a Lydia for a Jezebel where the Divell now vented poyson by the impure mouth of Jezebel God poured out before the sweet oyntment of the Gospel by the mouth of Lydia whose u Acts 16.14 heart he opened that shee attended to those things which were spoken of Paul 10. The tenth is an observation concerning the nature of Heresie which fretteth like a canker and if it be not looked to corrupteth the sound members of Christ Thou sufferest the woman Jezebel to seduce my servants 11. The eleventh is a consideration of the odious filthinesse of Idolatry which the Scripture termeth the soules naughtinesse and spirituall fornication To commit fornication 12. The last is a wholsome doctrine concerning the contagion of Idolatry which not only infecteth our bodies and soules but our meates and drinkes also and turneth the food of the body into the poyson of the soule to such as familiarly converse and table with Idolaters and feed upon the reliques of Idols sacrifices And to eate things offered unto Idols And to the Angel of the Church in Thyatira Glorious things are spoken of you O yee Ministers of the Word and Sacraments Yee are stiled Embassadours of the King of Heaven Stewards of the houshold of faith Interpreters of the Oracles of God Dispensers of the mysteries of salvation Keepers of the Seales of grace Yee are the Salt of the earth the Light of the world the Starres of the skie nay the Angels of Heaven To the Angel The Ministers of the Gospel resemble Angels in many things 1. Angels are x Heb. 1.14 ministring spirits and the Preachers of the Gospel are spirituall Ministers 2. Angels according to the derivation of their name in Greeke are y Matth. 11.10 Malac. 3.1 messengers of God and the Ministers of the Gospel are z 1 John
have somewhat against thee that thou sufferest The woman 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 e Com. in Apoc. Ambrosius Ansbertus Richell Dionysius Carthusianus and Hugo Cardinalis translate the word in the Originall uxorem thy wife which is the rather worth the noting in these Popish Interpreters who yet condemne Priests marriage Doubtlesse this Angel was a good Bishop for he is highly commended by our Saviour yet had he his wife by their confession Why therefore may not sacred persons enter into the sacred bands of matrimony Is it because as Pope Sirycius and after him Cardinall Bellarmine bear us in hand conjugall acts and matrimoniall duties stand not with the sanctity of the Priests function Now verily this is a strange thing that marriage according to the doctrine of their Church is a Sacrament conferring grace and yet a disparagement to the most sacred function marriage is a holy Sacrament and yet Priests are bound by a Sacrament that is an oath never to receive it marriage was instituted in Paradise in the state of mans innocencie when the image of God which the Apostle interpreteth to be holinesse and righteousnesse shined most brightly in him and yet it is a cloud nay a blurre to the most holy calling marriage was appointed by God as a speciall remedie against fornication and all uncleannesse and yet is an impeachment to holinesse The Aaronical Priesthood by Gods owne order was to be continued in the line of Aaron by generation not election and yet marriage cannot stand with the holinesse of Priesthood Who of the Patriarkes before the Flood was holier than Enoch who walked with God and was translated that he should not see death of the Prophets under the Law than Ezekiel of the Apostles than St. Peter and Philip and yet of Enoch we read that f Gen. 5.22 he begat sonnes and daughters and Saint g Chrysost in Gen. homil 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysostome bids us take speciall notice of it that the Holy Ghost saith in the same Verse he walked with God and beg at sonnes and daughters to teach us that the bonds of matrimony are no such fetters that they hinder us from walking with God Ezekiels h Ezek 24.16 wife is mentioned in his prophecy and Peters i Mat. 12.14 wives mother in the Gospel and Philips k Acts 21 9. daughters that prophesied in the Acts with whose examples l Clem. strom l. 3. p. 327. ' H 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clemens Alexandrinus mightily confoundeth and convinceth those ancient Heretickes the fore-runners of our Papists who disparaged this holy ordinance of God What saith hee will they blame the Apostles themselves For Peter and Philip begat children Philip also gave his daughters in marriage Neither can our adversaries evade these instances by saying that the Apostles indeed had wives before they were ordained Priests but after they entred into that holy calling forsooke them and had no more commerce with them For m Clem. strom l. 7 p. 529. Arunt B. Petrum cum vidisset uxorem suam duci ad mortem nomine quoque compellâsse ac dixisse Heus tu memento Domini Clemens informeth us that Saint Peters wife kept with him till her death and that when he saw her led to martyrdome he called to her by name and encouraged her saying Remember the Lord. Howbeit the major part of the Expositors take not Jezebel here for the Bishops wife but a disciple of the Nicolaitans who is here named Jezebel because shee resembled Jezebel especially in three particulars 1. As Jezebel brought amongst the Israelites the false worship of the Idoll Baal so this woman laboured to bring into this Church of Thyatira Idolatry and other pernitious errours in doctrine and practice 2. n 2 Kin. 9 22. Jezebel was given to fornication for which vice the Holy Ghost brandeth this woman also 3. Jezebel was a woman of authority and by her place and dignity did countenance and maintaine Idolatry and so it is likely that this was a woman of some place and ranke which she abused to countenance wicked opinions and seduce Gods servants o Hieron de nom Heb. Jezebel in the Hebrew signifieth fluxum sanguinis or stirquilinium an issue of bloud or doung both which were verified in the wife of Ahab whose abominable life and fearfull death yee may see set forth in lively colours in the booke of p 2 Kin. 9.33 ad finem They threw her downe and some of her bloud was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses and he trod her under foot Ver. 37. The carkeis of Jezebel was as doung upon the face of the field Kings to breed in all men and women a detestation of the one by the shame and horrour of the other A lamentable spectacle deare Christians to see the daughter and wife of a King trampled under foot in the dirt and the dogges tearing her flesh and licking up her bloud Shee who spent so much time in dressing and tricking up her selfe at the window is throwne downe headlong out of that window shee that looked so high falls full low and is trod under foot by her servant shee who spilt Naboths innocent bloud in Jezreel expiateth the place with her owne bloud that face on which shee a little before had laid costly colours and oyntments is now besmeared with dirt and stained with her owne bloud that flesh of hers which she pampered with all kindes of delicious meates is now cast to dogges Let them heare this and feare who weare Jezebels colours and tread in her steps who defile themselves with corporall or spirituall fornication who either idolatrize or idolize worship painted images or make themselves such Jezebel was the first we reade of that tooke the pensill out of the hand of her Maker endeavouring to mend his workmanship and what became of her you heard but now And howsoever some of late as they have sowed pillowes under mens elbowes so have tempered colours also for women and made apologies for painting yet all the ancient Fathers condemne it as a foule sinne Saint q Cyp. de hab virg Nonne metuis oro quae talis es ne cum resurrectionis dies venerit artifâ—x tuus te non recognoscat ad sua praemia promissa venientem excludat removeat increpans vigore censoris judicis opus hoc meum non est nec haec imago nostra est cutem falso medicamine polluisti crinem adultero colore mutásti Deum videre non poteris cùm oculi tibi non sint quos Deus fecit sed quos Diabolus infecit Cyprian thus schooles a young Jezebel in his dayes Art not thou afraid saith hee that plaisterest thy face and paintest thy body lest at the day of judgement thy Maker will not know thee but when thou pressest among the rest to receive the promised rewards to his servants will put thee backe saying Who art thou
Cedars stately built and richly furnished with all the rarities which nature or art affoords Why were Jewels and precious Stones and rich metals created but for mans use And what better use can be made of them than to shew forth the glorie of God and the splendour and magnificence of his Vicegerents on earth Certainely they were never made to maintaine the luxurie of private men which is now growne to that excesse especially at Court that the Embassadours of forreine Princes speake as loud of it abroad as the poore cry and wring for it at home Where shall we finde a Paula deserving the commendation which St. q In Epitaph Paul Non in marmora sed lapides vivos Jerome giveth her for laying out her money not upon marble or free-stone but upon those living stones which she knew one day should be turned into gemmes and laid in the foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem Doth not the liberality of most of the wealthy of this age resemble their heart which is hard cold and stony The greatest expence they are at is in building houses of Cedar for themselves by which they are better knowne than their houses by them As the world so the Proverb is turned upside downe it stood thus Non domus Dominum sed Dominus domum but now it is thus overturned Non Dominus domum sed domus Dominum the house gets no credit by the owner but the owner if he have any by the house Ye will thinke when ye come into many of them that ye are fallen into an Egyptian Temple most glorious without but within nothing to be seen but the picture of a Jack an Ape or a Cat or some such contemptible creature as that superstitious Nation worshipped I sharpen my stile the more against this abuse of our age because it is well knowne that the superfluous expence upon the Sepulchres of the dead and the erecting of houses of Cedars for the living farre above I will not say the wealth but above the ranke and worth of those that dwell in them is the cause why the Arke of the Lord lieth yet in many places under the curtaines nay not so well but under the open aire without cover or roofe to keepe out raine and weather If that which hath beene luxuriously cast away in building houses of pleasure and ambitiously if not superstitiously consumed in erecting Statues Obelisques Tombes or Monuments for the dead had beene employed in rearing up houses for Prophets and erecting Temples to the living God the Prophets of God should not need to complaine as now they are constrained against the men of this age in the words of the Prophet Haggai c. 1. ver 4. Yee dwell in sieled houses and the house of the Lord lieth waste or in the like in my text Behold now ye dwell in houses of Cedars and The Arke of the Lord within the Curtaines Before the Sunne rise you see no light but through mists and vapours and shadowes on the earth even so before the Sunne of righteousnesse Christ Jesus arose in the Firmament of his Church there was no light of the Gospell to be seene but through mists and obscure shadowes so the Å¿ Heb. 8.5 10.1 Apostle termeth the types and figures of the old Law among which the Tabernacle and in it the Arke and therein especially the Tables Rod and Pots of Manna shadowed the state of the Christian Church and presented to the eye of faith the principall meanes of salvation under the Gospell which are three 1 The preaching of the Word summarily contained in the two Tables 2 The Sacrament of Christs body and bloud figured by the Manna 3 The exercise of Ecclesiasticall discipline lively set forth by the budding of Aarons rod. As for Baptisme which is the Sacrament of entrance into the Church the type thereof was set at the entrie into the Tabernacle where stood a great Laver in which those that came to worship God after they had put off their clothes bathed themselves as we Christians put off the old man and wash away the corruption of originall sinne in the Font of Baptisme before we are admitted as members into the Christian Church whereunto three sorts of men belong 1 Some that are to be called 2 Others that are already called into it 3 Such as are called out of it into Heaven 1 The first are in the state of nature 2 The second in the state of grace 3 The third in the state of glorie Answerable whereunto God commandeth three spaces or partitions to be made 1 Atrium the outward Court for the people 2 Sanctum the holy place for the ordinarie Priests 3 Sanctum sanctorum the most holy place for the High-Priest to enter once a yeere and shew himselfe to God for the people Which are similitudes of true things For as by the outward Court the Priest went into the holy place and from the holy place into the most holy so from the state of nature the children of God are brought into the state of grace and from the state of grace into the state of glorie If any question these mysticall expositions for the first I referre them to St. t Apoc. 11.2 John who saith expressely that the Court was given to the Gentiles and was not therefore to be mete with a golden reed for the second to St. u 1 Pet. 2.9 Peter who calleth all Christians Priests for whom the holy place was appointed for the third to St. * Heb. 9.24 Paul who openeth the vaile of that figure and sheweth how Christ our High-Priest after his death entered into the holy of holies and there appeared before God for us To these observations of the Tabernacle may be added many the like resemblances betweene the Arke and the Church In the fore-front of the Tabernacle there was the Altar of burnt-offerings and a place of refuge for malefactors who if they could take hold of the hornes of the Altar were safe Christs Crosse is this Altar the hornes whereof whosoever take hold by faith be they never so great malefactors escape Gods vengeance In the Sanctuarie was the mercy seat towards which the Cherubims faces looked to teach us that the Angels of x 1 Pet. 1.12 heaven desire to looke into the mysteries of the Gospell The dimensions of the Arke were small and the limits of the militant Church in comparison of the malignant are narrow The outside of the Arke was covered with skins but the inside was overlaid with gold in like manner the Church hath for the most part no great outward appearance pompe or splendour but yet is alwayes most y Psal 45 13. glorious within The arke when it was taken by the Philistims conquered Dagon and cast him downe on his face even so the Church of Christ when shee is in captivitie and greatest weakenesse in the eye of the world getteth the better of her enemies and is so farre from being diminished by persecution that
faith and repentance unto life giveth charge to his Apostles and their successors to preach the Gospel unto every creature saying ſ Mar. 16.16 Whosoever beleeveth and is baptized shall be saved But here some cast a darke mist which hath caused many to lose their way How say they doe we maintaine that God desireth not the death of a sinner who before all time decreed death for sinne and sinne for death This mist in part is dispelled by distinguishing of three sorts of Gods decrees 1. There is an absolute decree and resolute purpose of God for those things which he determineth shall be 2. There is a decree of mandate or at least a warrant for those things which he desireth should be 3. There is a decree of permission for such things as if he powerfully stop them not will be Of the first kind of decree or will of God wee are to understand those words of the Psalmist Quaecunque voluit fecit Deus Whatsoever t Psal 135.6 God would that hath he done and of our Saviour Father u John 17.24 Rom. 9.19 Ephes 1.5 1 Tim. 2.4 I will that they also whom thou hast given mee be with mee where I am To the second we are to referre those words of the Apostle God would have all men to come to the knowledge of the truth God would that all should come to * 2 Pet. 3.9 repentance and This is the will of God even your x 1 Thes 4.3 sanctification and y Rom. 12.2 Be yee not conformed to this present world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is the acceptable and perfect * John 7.17 will of God In the last acception the Apostle seemeth to take the word will in those words It is better if the z 1 Pet. 3.17 will of God bee so that yee suffer for well doing than for evill doing and Saint Austine where he maintaineth that even those things that are most repugnant to the Law of God and so directly against his revealed will are not besides his will but in some sort fall within the compasse of his decrees The * Encharid ad Laurent c. 100. Hoc ipso quod contra Dei voluntatem fecerunt de ipsis facta est voluntas ejus miro inestabile modo non fit praeter ejus voluntatem quod etiam contra ejus voluntatem fit quia nec fieret nisi sineret nec utique nolens sed volens nec sineret bonus fieri male nisi omnipotens etiam de malo facere posset benè will of God is done by or upon them who seeme to crosse his will after a wonderfull and unspeakable manner that comes not to passe but by Gods will that is his secret decree which is done against his will that is his command For it could not be if he suffered it not neither doth he suffer it against his will but with his will neither would he who it good suffer evill to be but that by his omnipotency he can draw good out of evill The second distinction which much cleereth the point in question is of good things which may be sorted thus 1. Some are good formally good in themselves and by for selves as all divine graces and the salvation of the elect 2. Some things are good suppositively and consequently as warre is good not simply but when without it either the safety or the honour of the state cannot be preserved in like manner executions are nor good simply but upon presupposall of hainous crimes worthy of death in him that is executed especially for the terrour of others No man will say that it is simply good to launce or cut off a joynt yet is it good in case that otherwayes the sore cannot be healed or the sound parts preserved from a gangrene 3. Some things are good occasionally onely or by accident from whom some good may come or be made of them or out of them as treacle of poyson and wholsome pills of such ingredients as are enemies to nature If ye rightly apply these distinctions ye may without great difficulty loosen the knots above tyed the first whereof was whether God decreed sinne originall or actuall Ye may answer according to the former distinctions that he decreed effectually all the good that is joyned with it or may come by it or it may occasion but hee decreed permissively onely the a Al Monim Malum praescivit Deus non praedestinavit Anomy obliquity or malignity thereof he neither doth it nor approveth of it when it is done but only permitteth it and taketh advantage of it for the manifestation of his justice When Fulgentius denieth that God decreeth sinne and the b Concil Araus Ad malum divinâ potestate praedestinatos non modo non dicimus sed etiam siqui sint qui id affirmare ausint cum summâ execratione in eos anathema dicimus Arausican Councell thundereth out an anathema against any that dare maintaine such an impious assertion they are to bee understood of a decree of effecting or commanding or warranting it But when Calvin pleads hard for Adams fall to have not come to passe without a decree from God lest he should make God an idle spectatour of an event of so great consequence we are to interpret his words of a decree of permission of the event and disposing of the fall foreseen by him to the greater manifestation of his justice and mercy Ordinavit saith Junius id est statuit ordinem rei non rem ipsam decrevit To the second question which toucheth the apple of the eye of this Text whether God decreeth the death of any ye may answer briefly that he doth not decree it any way for it selfe as it is the destruction of his creature or a temporall or eternall torment thereof but as it is a manifestation of his justice Here I might take occasion as many doe to dispute divers intricate questions concerning the decrees of God especially of reprobation both absolute and comparative and the acts of it privative and positive whether it depend meerly upon the will of God or passe ex praevisis or propter praevisa peccata upon or for sinnes fore-seen originall or actuall as also concerning the object whether it be homo condendus conditus integer or lapsus whether man considered in fieri as clay or red earth in the hands of God out of which some vessels were to be made to honour some to dishonour or as created of God according to his image before his fall or as fallen in Adam tainted with originall sinne or lastly singular persons considered in the state of infidelity or impenitency and so dying sed b Scotus in 1. sent dist 41. nolo scrutari profundum ne eatur in profundum I will not approach too neere this deep whirle-poole lest with many through giddinesse of braine I fall into it For although I
a fearfull expectation of eternall death I doubt not but that some of you were pricked in heart with this sharp reproofe of sinne which ye heard in the handling of the former Verses and ye resolved forthwith to turne from your evill wayes and walke in the pathes of Gods commandments what remaines but that yee hold on your holy course to the end that ye may winne a garland of the flowers of Paradise Beware of turning out of the way to take up the golden apples which the Divell casteth before you if ye turne never so little aside ye endanger your crowne of glory and hazzard your lives All your former righteousnesse which ye have done shall not be mentioned and in the trespasse that yee have trespassed and in the sinne that ye have sinned in them yee shall dye What a soule and shamefull thing is it with the dogge to returne to your vomit of luxury and with the swine to your wallowing in the mire of sensuall pleasures As in the diseases of the body so also much more of the soule all relapses are dangerous and in some diseases altogether incurable the reason whereof alledged by some learned Physicians is this that when wee first take our bed the malignity of the disease worketh upon corrupt humours in the body which when they are purged and we restored to health if after by any distemper we fall into the same malady the malignity of the disease worketh upon our vitall spirits in like manner the malignity of sinne before our conversion worketh but upon our corrupt nature but after upon the graces of Gods Spirit Remember the possessed man in the Gospel who when the t Luke 11.26 uncleane spirit went out of him returned to his owne home and finding it swept and garnished took seven worse spirits than that which before haunted him and so his last state was worse than his first u John 8.11 Sinne no more saith our Saviour to the impotent man lest a worse thing befall thee * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Improbè Neptunum accusat qui bis naufragium fecit Eras Adag Lysimachus was wont to say that it was impardonable carelesnesse to stumble twice at the same stone The first time we offend we may plead ignorance and over-sight but hee that twice runneth upon the same rocke if hee bee cast away cannot blame his hard chance but his retchlesse folly x Tertul. de poenitent Comparationem videtur egisse qui utrumque cognoverit judicato pronunciasse eum meliorem cujus se rursus esse maluerit Tertullian acutely observeth that he who after his conversion to God and giving his name to Christ falls againe to serve Sathan in any vicious course of life seemeth to have put God and the Divell in the same ballance and having weighed both their services deliberately and upon a settled judgement to have preferred the service of the Divell and pronounced him the better Master of the two whom he the second time chuseth to serve after hee hath made tryall of both To be overtaken with some kind of temptation or other is the lot of all the sonnes of Adam but when God hath delivered us out of the snare of the Divell and we have escaped the danger and undertaken a new course of life and held it for some time then to turne backe to the wiles of sinne and walke of Sathan what is it else than to breake all our former promises and vowes made to God to resist the motions of the Spirit to strive against grace to cast his feare and commandements behind us and presuming upon his gentlenesse and patience to runne desperately upon the point of his glittering sword which hee hath whet and threatned to make it drunke with the bloud of all retchlesse and presumptuous sinners Notwithstanding all these great and fearfull dangers which we incurre by relapses how many turnings doe we make in our way to Heaven how often doe wee slacke our pace how often doe wee unbend our desires nay rather flye backe like a broken bow After wee have made an open confession of our sinnes and a solemne profession of amendment after wee have protested against our former courses and vowed to walke in newnesse of life and taken the holy Sacrament of our Lords blessed body and bloud upon it yet how soone doe we looke backe to Sodome with Lots wife how soone doe we forget that in private which we promised in publike how soone doe we leave the strait pathes of Gods commandements and follow the sent of our former sinfull pleasures After we have eaten the food of Angels we devoure Sathans morsels after we have drunke the bloud of our Redeemer we greedily swill in iniquity like water Wee find in Scripture many desperately sicke yet cured the first time by our Saviour but where doe we reade in all the Gospel of any blind mans eyes twice enlightened of any deafe eares twice opened of any tyed tongue twice loosened of any possessed with Divels twice dispossessed of any dead twice raised No doubt Christ could have done it but we reade not that ever he did it that we should be most carefull to avoid relapses into our former sins the recovery whereof is alwayes most difficult and in some case as the Apostle teacheth us impossible I tremble almost to rehearse his words y Heb. 6.4 5 6 7 8. It is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them againe unto repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Sonne of God afresh and put him to an open shame For the earth which drinketh in the raine that commeth oft upon it and bringeth forth herbes meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God But that which bringeth thornes and bryars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned The z Plin. nat hist l. 9. c. 43. Scolopendra hamo devorato omnia interiora evomit donec hamum egerat deinde resorbet Scolopendra having devoured the bait when shee feeleth the hooke to pricke her casteth up all that is in her belly till shee have got up the hooke but as soone as ever that is out of her bowells she suppeth up all that which before she had cast from her How excellently hath nature in the property of this fish set before our eyes the condition and manner of a sinner who after he hath devoured Sathans morsells feeling the hook in his conscience and being pricked with some remorse rids the stomacke of his soule by confession and never leaveth fasting and praying and sighing and sobbing till the hooke be out and the wound of his conscience healed with the balme of Gilead but that being done resorbet interiora omnia he returneth to his former vomit and greedily