with Christ and yet alive neverthelesse But why should wee thinke it strange to heare of a Man alive and dead at the same time Are not all Men living ever so Is not every Man alwayes dead and living so long as hee is a Man or living Alive naturally and dead spiritually or Qui luxuriatur vivens mortuuâ— est S. Hieron ad matr filiam dead mystically and alive spiritually Dead in sinne and alive in Nature or dead unto sin and alive in Grace When Paul was in the state of Nature hee was both dead and alive hee was alive Naturally but dead spiritually But when he changed the state of Nature for the state of Grace he changed the Natures of his life and death He was dead in sinne before but now dead unto sinne or sinne is dead in him Hee lived as a Naturall Man before but now as a Spirituall He lived in sin before but now Grace lives in him Hee is now dead to himselfe dead to his sinnes but alive to his Saviour living to the Lord of life Crucified with Christ and living to him alive in him Now this his mysticall death is very desirable It is rather to be wished then any kinde of Death that Augustus thought of It is a Death that may be lawfully sought for yea it is a Death that men must pull upon themselves as soon as they can with a holy kinde of violence and the more earnest any man is in doing of it the more he is to be praised for it and more worthy of praise is hee that thus killeth the old Man in himselfe then ever Cleombrotus was or Cato or Lucretia for Plato in Phaedone S. August de Civitate Dei l. 1. ca. 19. 23. killing as they did themselves yea hee deserves no praise that does not thus crucifie himselfe This is an Euthanasy indeed and there can be none without it They never can die well that doe not die thus whilst they live Nor can they ever live well that are not thus dead When Paul was crucified with Christ then hee reckoned himselfe to be alive indeed Christo confixus sum cruci vivo autem jam saith hee as the vulgar translation has it I am crucified with Christ and now I live Jam vivâ— now I live as if hee had not lived indeed till now that hee was thus crucified with Christ As hee liveth after his crucifixion so hee liveth by it Hee that layes downe a Duplex hic est miraculum quòd mortuum vitae restituit quòd per mortem Theophil in locum temporall life for Christs sake shall take up one eternall for it and hee that with Paul does part with an evill life does gaine a good one by it yea hee gaines two good ones by it one here and one hereafter for hee shall raigne with Christ that is crucified with him as well as hee that is crucified for him I am crucified with Christ saith our Apostle Christ was crucified and so was Paul but severall wayes Christ was crucified for Paul but so was not Paul for Christ Yet sanâ— sensu in some sense Paul was crucified for Christ but not so as Christ for Paul Paul was crucified for Christs sake and Christ for Pauls But Christ was crucified for Pauls sinnes so was not Paul for Christs Christ had no sinnes of his owne to demerit any crucifixion in himselfe or in any other for him but so had Paul And Pauls crucifixion was for himselfe rather then his Saviour yet it was of the sinnes in himselfe rather then of himselfe in his sinnes It was a crucifying of sinâ—â— in his mortall Body Not a crucifying of his mortall Body in sinne Christ was crucified for Paul in Body and Paul for Christ Per crucem Christi remotus est à me proprius affectus Aquin. Commenta in locum 1 Cor. 9. 27. in Minde Mente orucifixus sum As Theophilact expounds it In minde I am crucified with Christ In minde with him not in person for him It was not a corporall but a spirituall concrucifixion Yet it was in Body as well as Minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I beate my body downe saith hee and keepe in subjection And this subjection of the Body it selfe was spirituall It was not a crucifixion of flesh but of fleshly-mindednesse It was the suppressing of the Rebellions of Nature not the destroying of Nature it selfe The Nature of his life was altered by it But the Life of his Nature was not utterly abolished for still hee lived for all this kinde of Death This concrucifixion was not to Death but Life There are two kinds of concrucifixions 1. Corporall 2. Spirituall Those two Malefactours that dyed when Christ did upon Luke 23. 33. the Crosse were both crucified with Christ But not as Paul was in the Text for one of the two was never the better for that corporall concrucifixion Hee lost his temporall life upon the Crosse with Christ himselfe yet hee got not Life eternall for it from the Crosse of Christ Alas for him His was a Crosse indeed but none of Christs Hee suffered not for Christs sake but for his owne sinnes and there is seldome Life in such a Death A Crosse may be the Tree of Life unto a Penitent theefe But such Malefactours are seldome truely penitent Indeed the Crosse is vita justorum life to the Righteous but mors infidelium Death to the Wicked saith Cassiodorus The true Believer layes hold of an other a better Life then this present 2 Cor. 5. 1 2. Heb. 11. 35. as hee parts with this But the Infidell loseth this and gets no other for it The wretched and impenitent unbeliever by the Crosse of sufferings or by his sufferings upon the Crosse does lose even all his stock of Life and gaineth nothing The believing penitent loseth little and gaineth much hee parteth with a bad life and receives a better for it But our Apostle loseth nothing and gaineth all He gets a new life without giving the old away But his concrucifixion was of an other kinde It was not corporal but spiritual and such concrucifixions are twofold Primarie and Secondarie Now the first of these is that which every true Believer suffered in the Person of Christ when as Christ suffered in the Person of every true Believer For as all that fell by the sinne of the first Adam did sinne with that Adam in his person and Rom. 5. 12. fell in his Person with him So all that are saved by the sufferings of the second Adam did suffer with him in his person and are so saved with him Christiani omnes unà cum Christo tanquam illius membra in cruce pependerunt All Christians as the Musculus in locum members of Christ did suffer with him upon the Crosse The catholick Head of the Church was fastened to the Crosse and suffered for the whole Mysticall Body and all the mysticall Members that are fastened to the Body by
is a signal Conquest for a Man of a fiery Spirit to suppresse his Anger It is with Hercules to conquer one of the furies of Hell It was but Inhumanely spoken by Vitellius upon the Death of Otho as he viewed the Carcasses on the place where they fought the Battail O how sweet a perfume is a dead Enemie But it may be Divinely spoken by one that hath Conquered himselfe or Mortified his sinfull affections O what a savor of life unto life is the Death of such a Mortal sinne Such a bosome Enemy The Sinnes of every Man are every Mans greatest Enemies And the Kingdomes greatest Enemies are the greatest sins of the Kingdome I have been ever more afraid of the Sins of this our Nation then of any Souldiers from forreigne Nations Great talking there hath been of Danish Fleets and other Out-landish Forces But we have more cause to fear our Sea-mens sinnes and the sinnes of our owne Land If God be for us who can be against us And he will be for us if our sins be not against him but our Rom. 8. 31. sinnes are all against him and for their sakes he is against us Were it not for them we need not feare any Danish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St Chrysost Nemo leditur nisi à seipso Fleets or Spanish Armados or Turkish Navies nor all the Pyrates and Powers of Hell We have most cause then to be afraid of our selves to feare our owne sinnes Every Man may well pray as some of old were wont to do Ame Domine serva me Lord save me from my selfe In the Common Prayers when the Minister said Give peace in our time O Lord the People were wont to answer Because there is none other that fighteth for us but onely thou O. God A very strange Reply but not more strange then true for true it is that it is God alone that fighteth for us The Devill he fighteth against us The World that fighteth against us And the Flesh as much as either of both So that we our selves are enemies Quo sugiam poenitendo nisi ad ejus misericordiam cujus potestatem contempseram peccando Tertul. to our selves and fight against our selves And so may fitly pray Lord save us from our selves Now there is no way for us to save our selves from our selves but by turning of our selves to him that fighteth for us Wherefore turne your selves But it is not every turning that will serve the turne There is ease indeed to be had by this turning but this turning is not to be had with ease It is not turning with the Time nor turning to the Time that can turne the Time No but our turning of our selves in time from the sinnes of the Time God himselfe will turne unto our side and When a mans wayes please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him Prov. 16. 7. make us all to turne unto one side or rather turne away all this siding would men on all sides but turne themselves to him Wherefore turne your selves And how ever the Times turne this way and that way backward and foreward Yet let not us turn meer Cameleons in Religion as if we had no colour for it but what we borrow of those which are nearest to us Neither let us be turned about like Weather-cocks with every Wind of New Doctrine Let us not turne and turne and turne with every Polypus and every Proteus and every fantastical Changeling which turne to every new Religion Proteo mutabilior Eras Adag untill they have no Religion left to turne unto Turne not with them that are ever turning their old Religions out of themselves untill they have turned all Religion out of themselves and themselves out of all Religion There need but these two moving in our turning of our selves 1. Downwards 2. Vpwards First Downwards by Mortification Secondly Upwards by Vivification Downwards by a Death unto sinne Upwards by a New Birth unto Righteousnesse Downwards by an Humiliation Upwards by a Reformation And if we thus draw nigh to God he will draw nigh to us He will return to us with much Compassion towards our soules if Jam. 4. 8. Zach. 1. 3. we will turne to him with true Compunction for our sinnes He will be displeased with us for our sinnes till we be displeased with our selves for them For he can never take pleasure in us so long as we take pleasure in that which is so displeasing as sinne is unto him But when we are displeased with sinne in our selves then he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menand Hug. Cardin. l. 3 de Myster Ecclesiast pleased with us When we condemne our selves for sinning so against him we save him a labour we prevent him for condemning of us Paenitentia quasipâ—nientia saith Hugo Cardinalis True Penitency is a punishing of sinne in our selves to save our selves from Gods punishments For God will not for ever punish that which hath been once punished Poenitentia est quaedam doloris vindicta puniens in se quod se dolet commisisse St August Poenitentia quasi paenae tentio Guido de Monte Rocherii in Manipulo Curatorum God hath promised Remission of sinne to those that have Contrition for sinne At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his sinne from the bottome of his heart I will put all his wickednesse out of my remembrance saith the Lord. But observe it well He that hath promised to pardon a sinner at what time soever he doth turne himselfe or truly repent him of his sinnes doth not promise that he shall repent or turne whensoever he will We cannot repent when we would therefore let us repent when we can We are not sure of time hereafter therefore let us take the present Repentance is a due debt and there is no longer day given in the Bond and therefore the payment must be presently And that 's the third Conclusion We must all turn our selves without delay Therefore also now saith the Lord Turne ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning Joel 2. 12. As it is never too late to amend so it is never Nâ—m sera nunquam est ad bonos more 's via Seneca Tragaed 8. too soon to be good Better late then never but the sooner the better They do well that do amend though it be at the very last But they better that amend sooner And they best of all that amend first of all The sooner men be good the easier it is unto them to grow better And the later they amend the harder it is unto them to grow better or continue good At this time there are many who might by this time have been better then they are had they been good but sooner then they were And would by this time have been worse then ever they were had they not grown better then they were untill this time The evill
Nature of that law is not easily overcome so soone as wee begin to kill or crucifie the old man in our bodies he presently layes the law to us and pleads the law of Nature against us and so makes us very remisse and it may be lay aside our work of morall Concrucifixion There was peccatum habitans sinne dwelling in Rom. 7. 15 16 17 18 19 20. Concupiscentia in renatis est peccatum Daven Determ Quaest pr. Paul himselfe and that sinne made him doe the evill which he hated and made him leave und one the good he greatly desired Such sin there is in every man though he be regenerate and that sinne in him does make his Concrucifixion very difficult The Second thing that greatens the difficulty of it is the Old mans easie Recovering or his speedy Recruting of his forces within us when we thinke we have so farre worsted them as that they must needs yeeld It is storyed of the Giant Antaeus Antaeus gigas ex terrae filiis cum Hercule congrediâ—â—s ut deprehensus est ex telluris tactu vires excrescere Volatera Paralipom Nat. Comes Mytholog l. 7. c. 1. 1 Cor. 15. 47. the sonne of Neptune by the Earth that when ever his strength began to faile him tactu terrae recreabatur it was recruted or renewed by his touching of the Earth And this made it so hard for Hercules to overcome and kill him Natales Comes seekes to verifie this fable by other allusions but it is most true of the Body of sinne which is indeed Terrae filius The sonne of the Earthie part which is in Man The Old man is of the Earth Earthie And sinne is the Sonne of the Old Man and like the Giant Antaeus it reneweth strength by touching of Earth and Earthly things which maketh it so hard a matter for the Body of sinne to be Mortified by us so long as we have our Conversations upon the Earth I remember a story which I have read in Neubrigensis it is Q ippe ex Alienora quondam Francorum Regina susceptis 4 siliis Henricum natu majorem Regni Anglici Ducatus Normanici cum Andegavensi Comitatu successorem relinqâ—cre Richardum vero Aquitaniae Galfridum Britanniae praesicere cogitabat quartum natu minimum Joannem sine terra cognominans c. Gulielm Neubrigen lib. 2. c. 18. of King Henry the Second who having bequeathed no Land of inheritance to John his fourth and youngest Sonne by Queene Elinor surnamed him Johannem sine terra John without Earth or Land to live upon It was his Fathers Pleasure so to deale with him and so to miscall him He wanted such a portion of Earth without him as was given by his Father to his other Brothers but he wanted not his portion of Earth within him He had the inheritance of an earthie part in his Mortall Body derived from the Old man in his Father He was not Johannes sine terra in respect of the body of sinne he was of the Earth Earthy and so is every man living upon the Earth and the Earth within us doth strengthen sinagainst us and makes it very hard for us to crucifie it in us A Third thing that makes our Mortification difficult is the Time that the Old Man in us must have to dye in He must needs dye a lingring death for he must be dying all the dayes of our Naturall life Those two Malefactours that were crucified corporally when Christ was had lingring Deaths yea so long they were in dying that the Souldiers had Orders given them to breake their legs for the hastening of their Deaths And he that begins to crucifie the Old Man in himselfe shall finde him so loath to dye and so long in dying that new violences must be offered to him to make him yeeld The fastening of him to the Crosse does make him sick and the breaking of his legs does make him weak Yet will he not dye so long as the man does live nor wholly yeeld to the spirituall man untill that ye yeelds up his spirit The nature of this mysticall death does differ much from the death of Nature this is mors sine morte a death without death That may be a lingring death sometimes but this is ever a living death a death in life It is Martyrium vivum as Tertullian phraseth it a living Martyrdome a killing of the flesh and a leaving of the man alive Martyrium sine sanguine S. Bern. inter Sententias saith S. Bernard A Martyrdome without any Bloudshed a Mortifying of the Body without killing of it Other Martyrdoms Duo sunt Martyrii genera unum in habitu alterum in actu c. Pâ—imasius in c. 7. in c. 11. Apocalyp Josua 9. 21. Carranza in Sum. Concilior Apostolor Canon 23 24. Concil Nicaen Can. 1. Concil Arelaten Can. 7. are either in Minde or Body this is in both without the destruction of either A man may Mortifie his members with S. Paul without cutting of them off with Origen Gods people the Israelites did not kill those enemies of theirs the Gibeonites but brought them into subjection and made them serviceable And such as are godly people need not destroy their bodies or their affections naturall but subdue them and make them spirituall and serviceable Thus much the Apostle intimated to the Romanes in saying As ye have yeelded your members servants to uncleannesse and to iniquity unto iniquity even so now yeeld your members servants to righteousnesse unto holinesse Rom. 6. 19. Where observe that they still be members and still yours your members and still servants but not still in servitude to the same masters Their masters are newed and so is the manner of their service This Morall Concrucifixion may consist with Naturall Conservation This Mortification is not meant of the Common Death of Man saith Saint Chrysostome and S. Chrys Theophil in locum Quos Deus mortificat affligit postea vivificat Mendoza in lib. 1. Regum Tom. 1. after him Theophilact but of a Death unto sinne And with this Mortification of the Old man there must ever be the Vivification of the New man I am Crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live There is life with Death yea life by it When the Naturall Man beginnes to live then hee beginnes to die and when the Spirituall Man beginnes to die then hee begins to live Mans first Birth leads him unto Death His second lets him into Life Hee is borne at first to die But borne againe to live It is the beginning of Misery to be borne once But the beginning of Felicity to be borne againe The first Birth onely lets man into Naturall life and into that but onely for a time and that time but a short one too But the second Birth does let life into Man and that a Spirituall life and that 's the Pledge and Meanes of life eternall It is the Nature of mans first life to give him onely the
saith our Apostle God forbid ye we establish the Rom 3. 31. law Indeed they that are in Christ and have Christ living in them are not under the law but under Grace But how Not Rom. 6. 14. under the law to seeke for justification by it but yet they are under it to encrease their sanctification by it They are not under the Curse of the law to Condemnation but under the Course of the law they are for Commendation Not under the Rigor of it but under the Rule of it And he can never be a true disciple of Christ that will not be ruled by it He that would live with Christ in Heaven must live with him on Earth first He that would be like him in the life of Glory must be like also in the life of Grace And he that would be so must labour to be like him in his Moralls He that is Crucified with Christ must live like one that is so Crucified like one that is dead to sinne like one that is dead unto himselfe like one that hath Christ living in him and that can never be untill the life of Christ be represented in his life in the manner or morality of it It is this that our Apostle S. August Serm. 13. de verb. Dom. cheifely points at in the Text when he sayes Christ liveth in him Vnumquodque secundùm hoc vivat unde vivit Saith Saint Austine every thing ought to live according to that by which it liveth The Body liveth of the Soule And the Soule liveth of Christ Let both then live according to those things that give them life let the Body live so after the Soule and the Soule so after Christ that both soule and body may live together with Christ for ever hereafter It is from this kinde of life that a man may have hope in death And it is by this kinde of life that a man may assure himselfe that he is dead Death unto sinne is best attested by the life of Grace It was by this that Saint Paul could ascertaine himselfe of his concrucifixion By this it was that he knew himselfe to be a Mortified member of the mysticall body of Christ He found Christ living in him and that made him say that he was crucified with Christ It is no easie matter for a man to be as this Apostle was a Mortified Man Crucified with Christ But easie it is for a Man to know he is so if he be so yet many are mistaken in this matter and take themselves to be so when they are not but the reason is they doe not observe the Manners of a Man concrucified They doe not observe how it was with Christ when he was crucified or with Saint Paul when he was crucified with Christ They doe not enquire whether it be so with themselves When Christ was crucified he was Patient and so was Paul Isal 53. 7. in all his sufferings for Christ when he was concrucified Are all we so Are we patient in tribulations Can we suffer our 1 Pet. 2. 23. losses and crosses with patience When our Saviour was reviled he revlied not againe When he suffered he threatned not but Committed himselfe to him that Judgeth righteously Doe we doe so So did S. Paul Being reviled we blesse saith he and being Persecuted we Suffer it and being defamed we intreate 1 Corinth 4. 12 13. Againe when Christ was crucified he was very pious Are we Luke 23. 34. so He prayed for the pardon of his Persecutors doe we so So did the Protomartyr Saint Steven and so did Paul and Acts 7. 60. so doe all that are conformed to our Crucified Saviour And if we do not so it is a signe we are not crucified with our Saviour Againe when Christ was crucified he left the world He neither reckoned of the Pompe nor of the Glory of it And so it was with Paul when he was crucified with Christ The world Gal. 6. 14. was crucified to him and he unto the world Now is it so with us If it be so the world may fawne upon us but we will not S. Aug. lib. de Salu. doc cap. 16. fancy it and it may frowne upon us but we will not feare it If we be crucified to that and that to us we will not Court it for any Pleasure nor Covet it for any Profit We will not Chrysost in Math. hom 55. flatter it nor yet be flattered by it We will not seeke to win nor suffer our selves to be wonne by the alurements of it With Paul concrucified we will esteeme all worldly things as Phil. 3. 8. dung and drosse in comparison of Christ Againe when Christ was crucified he was a dead Man and Crucifixum esse est mortuum esse Musculus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Photius Ephes 4. 19. so was Paul and a dead man does not sinne he that is crucified with Christ as Paul was is dead indeed unto sinne and alive unto God Though sin it self be not departed yet the life of sin is gone Sin is mortified in him Now how is it with us How is sin now committed by us Doe we still sinne with greedinesse Does sinne still live in us and we still love to live in sinne If so we are not yet concrucified True it is that the old sinnes of Man as well as the old man of sinnes must have a time to dy after they be crucified There will be sinne in any Regenerate Man as long as he liveth though he be never so long concrucified before his death For if we say we have no sinne we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Yet if we be truly Crucified with Christ the love of sinne will abate in us yea our loving will turne into a loathing of it and though we carry sinne every whither about with us yet we will not be carried every whither about with sinne There will appeare the power of godlinesse in us Counter-manding the Commanding power of sinne though it cannot alwayes prevaile The flesh lusteth against the spirit Gal. 5. 17. and the spirit against the flesh and these two are so contrary that a man cannot doe the things that he would There is a continuall See Perkins in his combate of the Flesh and Spirit Combate between the Regenerate and the Unregenerate parts of any Regenerate Person Such a Person is like that mysticall purse that has both old and new coyne in it The first and second Regenetatus duplici constat homine interiore nimirum ut â—xteriore Zanch. Miscellan lib. 3. Adams are both in the old new Man a living dead man a renewed man crucified with Christ and yet alive Such a person was S. Paul a person that had both sin and sanctitie at once A person crucified with Christ and so dying daily unto sin but not quitedead unto it or dead it may be unto many sins but not to all or dead to all it may
are free from want so are they free from warres with all the mischieves that are concomitant and all the miseries that are consequent The Kingdome of glory can never be turned into an Aceldama The field of Blood Mat. 27. 8. John 6. 70 71. Mat. 26. 15. Mat. 26. 3 4. 27. 1. Numb 16. 1 2 3. No forraine enemy can invade it Nor home bred enemy infest the happinesse of it No bedevilled Judas can come there to betray his Lord and Master the King of Kings for halfe a Crowne Nor can any Jewish Elders assemble there to condemne him or conspire against him Moses and Aaron shall never be confronted there by any gain-saying Corahs or mutinous Abirams or complying Dathans or any of their confederates and good King David shall there be free from the 2 Sam. 15. 2 4 5 6 10 12. 16. 5 6 7 23. pride of all ambitious Absolons from the presumption of all seditious Shebas and from the wicked counsells of all contriving Achitophels No cursing Shimeis Nor railing Rabshakehs shall come there to belch infectious gorges forth to poyson the Hearts of any subjects in that Kingdome of glory to confound the glory of that Kingdome into an Anarchie No Polupragmaticall Machiavelians Nor crafty Boute-fewes shall interrupt that Kingdomes endlesse peace No bold Seianus can insinuate into that glorious Presence to corrupt it No malecontented Cataline can lurke there either to traduce the glorious Majesty of the King of Kings or to seduce inferiour Officers Nor is there any War-like Ammunition Magazined there No Civill Warrings can destroy that glorious Kingdome nor can any factious jarrings deface that glorious Church No New-fangled Athenians nor Schismaticall Corinthians can disturbe the unity or destroy the uniformity of that Church No over-mastering Pope nor under-mining Jesuite No New-Church-making Familist nor No-Church-making Atheist can gaine such favour or get such footing there as to eject the setled Saints and worke the ruine of all that Church No ravenous Wolves in Sheepes cloathing can creep by any Posternes gates into that fold to flea or fleece the flock and mistake feeding on them for feeding of them That ancient Hierarchie of Arch. Angels and Angels and other Ministring spirits can never be deemed so superstitious as to demerit an utter Extirpation The Militant Church may be infested with some of these destructive Pests at all times and with all of them at some times But the Church Triumphant is at all times freed from all these Nothing that worketh any abomination can come there and therefore every thing that tendeth towards the grand Abomination of Desolation must needs be for ever exiled thence The glory of all there must last for ever And all in that glory must live for ever Being free from sinne they shall be free from Death from Death spirituall in it from Death temporall by it and from Death eternall for it That presence of the Ever-living God doth set them free from all for ever Here we beginne to die so soone as we begin to live All here are borne to die and many are but borne and die Nascentes morimur finisque ab origine pendet Being born we die as saith Manilius the last of our days does pend upon the first Our Death does hang about us from our Birth We all are bound towards the Womb of ourgreat grandmother the Earth so soone as wee be loosed from our Mothers Wombe Hee that is borne to day is borne to die and is not sure to live an other day But in the glorious presence of God there is no dying they that are there are sure to live for ever free from the sting of Death and from the stroke free from all tendencies unto Death and from all feares of dying When the Naturall Body of a Saint comes there it does become a spirituall Body It is there spiritualized in the manner of subsistence though not in the Nature of the substance It is still a Body though it be spirituall and it is said to be spirituall saith S. Augustine because it there lives the life of a spirit For first like a spirit there it liveth without any hunger without any thirst without feeling pinching cold or parching heat It needs no meate it needs no drinke it needs no summers stuffe nor winters cloath Againe it liveth like a spirit there free from sicknesse free from Aches free from all sorts of Diseases It cannot bee distempered into a Fever nor dissolved into a Flux nor corrupted into Ulcers Againe like a spirit it liveth there without decaying by living long No time can dimme the Eyes or dull the Eares or lame the Legs or feeble the Hands or cripple the Feete or crooke the Back or furrow the Face or disfigure the feature Though it lives Mathusalems age a thousand times over yet it never growes crazie or decrepit or Shrinkes into a Skeleton And lastly like a spirit it is immortall Death can have no more Dominion over it This life it but the shaddow of that 〈◊〉 Suigâ—i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Psal This is but a dying Life a kinde of living Death but that is vera non interitura vita A Life indeed never to end in Death as Victorinus Strigelius very truely Now tell mee who would not gladly live in such a privileged place where that boldest Sargeant Death cannot come to arest such is the Sanctuary of Gods glorious Presence A Liberty indeed free from all kindes of Death and free from unkinde Devills too from Devills infernall and Devills incarnate â—ullus ibi Diaboli metus nullae inâ—idiâ— daemonum Terror gebennae procul Mors neque corporis neque animae sed immortalitatis munere uterque solutus S. Chrysost de reparatione lapsi too No evill Angels can ascend from the bottomelesse pit into that presence to tempt any there to sinne Nor hellish furyes to torment for sinning in times past No Devill of the lower Hell nor any of this wicked World above it can find any entrance thither There is indeed free quarter for Saints but none for Sinners The free Men of that City and all the Denizons of that Kingdome are allwayes freed from all unwellcome troublesome intruders The spirit of Debate and Strife can never thrust the Devills mysterious cloven foote into that presence to set Divisions to cause distractions to bring Seditionum popularium author est Diabolus Vedelius de pruden veter Ecc. lib. 1. c. 2. destruction No carnall pride can ever beget fond fashionists in the streetes of that most holy City Nor spirituall Pride breed up fantasticall factionists in the Houses No hiddeous Blasphemies nor filthy obscenities nor thumping Oaths nor hellish cursings nor peevish censurings are used by any in that presence All prophane and black-mouthed Monsters of Men are exiled for ever from that Society of Saints And so are all insinuating Sycophants and false hearted Pharisees The Devill is never more mischievous then when hee is most cunningly
was King of Cyprus Titulo Rex insulae animo autem pecuniae miserabile mancipium He was in title the King of the Cyprian-Isle but in truth he was a miserable Bondslave to his Pelf Now what profit is it to gain and increase that mony which begetteth and increaseth misery And if it be so little profit simply to gain the World certainly there is lesse profit in the gaining of it if a man must pay his own Soule for it And this brings us to the second Querie that Hypothetical Question that includes the whole Text What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soule And this Question sets us to consider of the second sort of Wares the Ware Exported concerning which three Circumstances were proposed to be considered 1. The Nature or Quality 2. The Number or Quantity 3. The Relation or Propriety First for the Nature or Quality we may observe that it See Nemesius of the Nature of Man is a Soul Yet not a Vegitative Soule such as is in the Plants Nor yet a Sensitive Soule such as is in Birds and Beasts But a Reasonable Soule such as is in Man such a Soule as makes him to be a Man It is is his Soule his owne Soule I shall It is the soule of man that makes him to be a man See Philip of Mornay's Trunesse of Christian Religion translated by St Phil. Sidney chap. 14. not tell you what Aristotle sayes of the Soule of Man nor yet how other Philosophers use to define it But let me tell you thus much of it that it is an Heavenly Jewell in a Câ—binet of Earth and a Jewel of that worth it is that not all the Diamonds in the World though never so curiously cut and never so artificially set in the richest Rings of the most refined gold may be valued with it though it be cabined in the most deformed lump of Red Earth There be many Reasons in it to raise the estimate of it I 'le name some of them As first it is the Medal of the Almighty The lively Image of the living God Or the Tablet upon which that King of Kings and Lord of Lords hath drawn his owne likenesse Now shall the Image of a Mortall King stamped on the substance of the Earth or the Earthly substance of Gold or Silver make man so to esteem it as to become an Idolater towards it and shall not the Image of the Immortal King of Kings imprinted in his own Workmanship upon the Heavenly substance of Mans soule perswade him far more highly to value that And a second reason why this Merchant Man should inhaunce Dei insignita imagine decorata similitudine St Bern. Medita de digniâ— animae Mens nostra Dei similis c. Gregor Nyss disputat de anima Resurr the price of his Soul may be this because it is a spirit an Immateriall substance It is indeed within the substance of the body but yet without a bodily substance And the more that any substance be spiritualized the more puâ— and precious it is and the more ennobled And the further that any substance be distanced from the nature of a body the nearer it drawes to the Nature of God For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is a Spirit And the spirituality of the Soule does far exalt it above the body as comming nearer to the purity of God who is a Spirit And therefore it is well asserted by St Bernard that the worst of soules in respect of substance is far more excellent then the best of bodies and ought to be valued far above them A third Reason to perswade this Merchant-man to value his Soul at a very dâ—ar rate may be the Immortality of it It is immortal as well as immaterial Indeed man dies at See the Immortality of the soul discoursed of largely and very learnedly by Philip of Mornay Lord of Plâ—ssie in the Truenesse of Christ Religion c. 14. 15. his appointed time but the soul of man does never die By death the whole man is dissolved but the whole of man is not destroyed by death The soul of man doth live when man is dead The soul is doomed at the instant of death either to enjoy everlasting felicity in Heaven or to endure everlasting misery in Hell And that endlesse misery is often called Mors secunda the second death Yet is it not so called that we should think that the Soul doth cease to live in hell but rather â—ecause it ceaseth to enjoy its life The damned Non enim quia solvitur compositum inde etiaÌ„ necessariò consequitur una cum composito dâ—ssolvi id quod compositum non est Greg. Nyssen disput de Anim. Resurr souls in Hell live not there to enjoy life but to endure grief And therefore their life there is said to be no life Simplex vita non est vivere sed valere meerly to live is no life but to live indeed is to enjoy life It is a kind of death for one to live in pain that hath lived at ease It is a kind of death for one to live in prison that hath lived at liberty A kind of death for one to live in penury that hath lived in plenty Those damned Souls that lie imprisoned in Hell do all live there in pain for living here in pleasure their joyes are turned into pains and their life now is worse then death Their Damnation in Hell is like to Death in four respects In damnatione novissima quaÌ„vis homo sentire non desinaâ— tamen quia sensus ipse nec voluptate suavis nec quiete salubris sed doâ—oâ—â— poenalis est non immeritò mors est potius appellaâ—a quam vita S. August and for its likenesse in each respect it is called Death First it is like it for Separation In temporal dâ—ath the Quamvis enim humana anima vâ—raciter immortalis perhibâ—tur habet tamen etiam ipsa mortem suam Soul which gave life to the Body is separated from it So in Damnation the Lord of life which gave life to the Soul is separated from that Mortâ—ae sunt animae hoc est à Deo desertâ— saith S. Austine The damned soules are dead that is forsaken of God For Sicut mors corporis est cum id deserit animâ— ita mors animae est cum eam deserit Deus As it is the death of S. Aug. de Civ Dei l. 13. c. 2. the body when it is forsaken of the soul so it is the death of the soul when it is forsaken of God Sicut enim anima discedente moritur corpus sic anima Deo dâ—sâ—rente mori credenda est Secondly Damnation is like to Death in respect of Place Hell is a place of Darknesse a place that is very disconsolate Primasius super Apocalyp cap. 18. so is the Grave And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sheol with the Hebrews signifiâ—s both Hell
to usward Ego ante mortem prae malis sum mortua Eras Some pleasant their lives as if the world should alwayes laugh upon them QuaÌ„vis pâ—jor est mundus cum blanditur quam cum indignatur Manchest Al Mondo's Cont. Mortis Jmmortal Sueton. de vita Tiberii Si salvabor salvabor Si praedestinatus sum nulla peccata poterunt mihi regnum coeloruÌ„ auferrâ— Si praescitus nulla opera mihi illud valebunt conferre Heisterbach l. 1. de memor Hist c. 27. VVe are instruments though not causes of our own salvation VVe bring nothing for it but something to it Nothing worth it but somthing with it Dr. Donne not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance saith S. Peter 2 Epist c. 3. v. 9. Both perishing here and perishing hereafter too may be prevented by repenting here in time Euripides brings in Hecâ—ba crying out amain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iam even dead with the very terrors of deathâ— And many in these evil Times have even killed themselves with the feares of being killed But others are still running neerer unto Death and to Damnation â—oo and yet are further every day then other from thinking of either They think they shall not die as yet and therefore as yet they think not of preparing themselves for death by turning of themselves Yea many live as if they thought they should ever live and therefore never think of turning themselves that they might live for ever Tiberius thought that all things came by destiny and therefore neglected all endeavours to prevent or alter any thing And many are like Tiberius at least in deportments if not in judgments They do not endeavour to turn themselves to turn the times to save their lives either in this present world or that to come Yea some are ready to say as that Italian Ludovicus did If we shall be saved we shall be saved And as that Lantgrave of Thuring did which Heisterbachius writes of If we be elected no sinnes can keep us out of Heaven but if we be reprobate no sorrows can keep us out of Hell This is a most irreligious kind of reasoning This is not the way for men to work out their own salvation with feare and trembling This is not the way to perswade them to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure True it is that all that Man can do is but in vain unlesse that God bestows his blessing on it But all in vain it is for Man to expect a blessing from the hands of God unlesse that he will do what God expecteth at his hands for the procuring of it For God will not do all things all alone for them that will do nothing for themselves with him when he is doing for them When God is working in men and for them then they in him must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 workers together with God In vain it is for men to call to In vain do men call to Heaven for help when they withstand the help of Heaven Many do invoke it and yet do hinder it They require help from others and abandon themselves and by their deeds contrarying their words they shew not to have desired what they have intreated and to have intreated that they might not be heard Malvez Romul Tarq. translated by the Earl of Monmouth Heaven for help if they will not use the help of Heaven which they call for In vain it is for men to have any Talents of Grace if they wiâ—l not put them out to use And they that have them and will not improve them deserve to have them taken away from them By Nature indeed we are all dead in trespasses and sinnes and cannot help our selves But when God by the Spirit of Life hath helped us unto the Life of the Spirit then we like men of spirit must bestir our selves to use his help When God Dr. Love's Watchmans Watchword hath begun with us then we must go on with him when he is turning of us then we together with him must turn our selves And being turned we must live too Turn live An early endeavour is then to purpose when it is put on with an earnest endeavour to persevere But it were better to begin late and hold out unto the end then to begin betimes and be presently weary of well-doing There is a Penny Maâ— 10. 22. Gal. 6. 9. promised to him that comes to labour in the Lords vineyard at the eleventh houre of the day But no Salary promised to him that ends his labour before the day of his life be ended We must go on then as well as begin It is Perseverance that crowns Repentance Turning it is that prepares the way of Living And Living it is that perfects the work of Turning Optima paenitentia nova vita Luther We must do the last as well as the first Indeed we can do neither well unlesse we do both But by doing both we may do well And that we may be sure to do so let us both turn and live Wherefore turn your selves and live ye Fâ—NIS St. PAVL'S CONCRVCIFIXION Preached in two Sermons at Hoxne in the County of SUFFOLK By Edw. Willan M. A. Vicar of Hoxne Galat. 6. 14. God forbid that I should glory save in the Crosse of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the World is crucified to me and I unto the World LONDON Printed for RICHARD ROYSTON at the Angel in Ivie-lane 1651. TO THE VVORSHIPFULL ROBERT STYLE Esq his very Generous and bountifull Patron AND TO THE VVORSHIPFULL NATHANEEL THRUSTON Esq his very Worthy Parishoner VVORTHY SIRS IT was by both your Worships that I was placed in the Pulpit where these two Sermons were preached By the one of you it was that I was perswaded and by the other it was that I was presented to it and therefore by both your Worships may both these Sermons be joyntly and justly claimed I shall not disclaime the right of either to them They were both my Service in that pulpit long agoe upon one of your Sabbaths one of my Working dayes But neither of your Worships ni memini male were that day neere to hear them as they were presented to the care be pleased to let them come so neere unto your Worships now that you may reade them as they are represented to the eye Mine Office doth bind me to live not to my selfe but others It makes me a Servant to all by Common Duty But my place to officiate doth make me by Speciall tyes and Service Sirs Your Worships devoted beadsman and poore Vicar EDVV. WILLAN S. PAULS CONCRUCIFIXION GAL. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ that liveth in me THat we are all alive and here together this Day we see But how many Dayes we shall be here Jam. 4. 13 14. Psal 89. 48. Heb. 9. 27. Moriendum enim certum est sed
id incertum an ipso die Cicero de Senectute Mat. 28. 5 6. Mark 16. 6. Acts 2. 24 25. Rev. 1. 18. Rom. 1. 1. or alive we cannot say And that we shall all die we all know But how many here amongst us all are now both dead and alive together God knowes Indeed S. Paul was so He was both dead and alive indeed and so may some here be But it may be all here are not so Saint Pauls Condition was never Common Our Lord and Saviour dyed once and lived againe But his Servant Paul was dead and alive at once The Lord of life our Saviour Christ was crucified for Paul and lost his life But Paul the Servant of Christ was crucified with Christ his Lord and lived neverthelesse Some men have lived here the lesse by being crucified for Gal. 2. 7. Linus Episcopus de passione Petri. Eusebius Pamphil Ecclesi Histor lib. 2. 25. Christ But others much the more for being crucified with Christ The great Apostle of the Jewes was crucified for Christ and dyed But the great Apostle of the Gentiles was crucified with Christ and lived The Crosse of Christ did bring that one to death but not this other It brought Death to Saint Peter but life unto Saint Paul It can bring life as well as death It giveth life sometimes and sometimes it taketh life away It taketh life away sometimes that it may give it It taketh one away to give another It taketh this away to give a better And sometimes it kills and saves alive together It can doe both at Severall times and it can doe both at once It can doe both to severall men and it can doe both to one It can doe both by severall wayes and it can doe both by one sometimes it bringeth Life with Death and sometimes after Death it bringeth Life With the Death of sinne it brings the Life of Grace And after the Death of Nature it brings the Life of Glory True it is that the End of Life is ever by Death And yet it is as true that Death is not ever at the end of Life The Apostle dyed before his life was ended In the midst of Death a Man may be in Life And in the midst Life a Man may be in Death 1 Cor. 15. 31. I dye dayly sayd this Apostle when as yet he lived He had both Life and Death together in him He was in Death and Life at once A living dead man vivus crucifixus Crucifi'd with Christ and yet alive I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ c. This Text you see is full of turnings The Apostles Conversion is the Subject of it and well may it be the Subject of many conversions to quicken my discourse upon it Would my discourse upon it might quicken as many Conversions by it Now the Chiefe Considerables in it are these two 1. A Contradiction in Seeme 2. A Reconciliation in Substance In the first we have a Riddle Propounded In the Second we have the Riddle Expounded And in both together we may both Read the Riddle and the Reading of the Riddle I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live there 's the Riddle Yet not I but Christ that liveth in me there 's the Reading of the Riddle In the Riddle there are two Remarkables 1. The Mannr of it 2. The Matter in it It is the Manner of it that makes it seem so intricate a Riddle as indeed it is for it is proposed in a seeming Contradiction First the Apostle sayes that he is crucified with Christ and thereby seemes to say as much as that he is not living but dead For Christ was crucified to Death And then he sayes that he is neverthelesse alive and thereby seemes to say and sayes it in more then seemes that he is not dead but living Now thus to say it and to unsay it is to make a contradiction of it at least in seeme It is to speak a Paradox in it And all Paradoxes are admirable Propositions saith the Romane Oratour And this Text for a Paradox is as admirable as any other Every Riddle hath something mysticall in it But this Paradoxicall Riddle is a very mystery Yea whole Armies of Mysteries do keep their Randezvous within the quarters of this grand Paradox I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live And for the Matter in it it could not be more clearely expressed then it is by this very Manner of expression The Subject matter of it is S. Pauls Regeneration And that 's a matter very Mysterious It is mirabile magnum as Musculus calls it a John 3. 1. great Wonder When our Saviour first propounded the Doctrine of Regeneration to Master Nicodemus that great Ruler of the 3. Jewes and Master in Israel 10. it seemed a very Riddle to him and such a Riddle as he neither apprehended nor beleeved And therefore his Reply was not by unriddling but rejecting of it with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How can these things be It did so 9. puzle his Reason and so perplex his Faith that it seemed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thing impossible a thing incredible though it were proposed by Truth it selfe in the plainest Dialect of the Gospell John 14. 6. What would it have done if it had beene lapped up in Aenigmaticall Language like this of Saint Paul How would Rationis humanae in mysteriis regni dei caecitas in Nicodemo apparet cui omnia ista quae de regeneratione proponuntur absurda apparent Theodoricus in Analys Evangel Domin Trinit 1 Cor. 15. 45. it have posed his Mastership had it beene proposed in the Wonderment of a Riddle or seeming contradiction Yet in this Seeming Contradiction we may plainely see the parts of Saint Pauls Conversion and in that the parts of a perfect Regeneration The first part is Mortification The second is Vivification The first is a Death unto Sinne The Second is a New Birth â—nto Sanctimonie The first is the killing of the first Adam The Second is the Quickning of the Second in him I am crucified with Christ there 's his Mortification His Death unto sinne The killing of the first Adam in him Neverthelesse I live there 's his Vivification His New Birth unto Righteousnesse The quickning of the Second Adam I an crucified with Christ there 's his putting off of the Old Man which Ephes 4. 22. is corrupt concerning the former Conversation Neverthelesse I live there 's the putting on of the New-Man which after God â—â— Ephes 4. 24. created in righteousnesse and true holinesse I am crucified 〈◊〉 Christ there 's the Mortifying of the flesh The members upon the Coloss 3. 5. Rom. 8. 13. 4. Earth The deedes of the Body Neverthelesse I live there 's the Quickning of the Spirit The walking after the Spirit The life of righteousnesse by the Spirit for the spirit is life because of righteousnesse Rom. 8. 10. I am
life of Nature But the second life being the life of Grace does give the Grace of life And this life of Grace is the only way unto the life of Glory and to the Glory of that life But first a Man must be crucified before he can be glorified he must die before hee can live and this his dying too must be before his death Hee must be as the Apostle was Dead and alive together Crucified with Christ and yet alive Dead and yet not dead Not dead in trespasses and sinnes and alive in Nature But dead unto sinne and alive in Grace and Nature A live unto God and dead unto the World Like Simon Mat. 19. 27. 2 Tim. 4. 10. Peter that forsooke the World for Christs sake Not like to Demas that forsooke S. Paul to imbrace the present World Like a dead man in the World hee must not doate upon it But live in it as if hee were departed from it Hee must not be like that younger Widdow that our Apostle wrote a warning of unto young Timothy that liveth in pleasure and is dead whilst 1 Tim. 5. 6. she liveth But like our holy Apostle himselfe that lived whilest hee was dead Hee must dy unto sinne before his Naturall Climac in scala Parad i. Death that hee may not dy in sinne when hee must needs dy a Naturall Death If hee suffereth sinne to live in him untill his Naturall Death hee must suffer a Death Eternall for living so in sinne Mans first Birth brings him forth a Sinner his second brings him forth a Saint By his first Birth hee is made what hee was not before his Generation By his Second hee is made againe what hee was not by his First and yet remaineth what hee was His Generation made him a Man His Regeneration makes him more it makes him a good Man a Man of God a Member of Christ This is that that this Apostle intended of himselfe in his state of Regeneration when hee said that hee did live and yet not he I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I. Now this may set our thoughts to the second Generall of the Text the Reading of the Riddle but I must deale with you as those are wont to doe with others that propose hard Riddles to them I must give you a longer time to consider of it then meerely this time of your hearing of it I must give you untill our meeting next in this place which must God willing be in the afternoone then I shall give you the reading of this Riddle but thus much for this Time S. PAULS CONCRUCIFIXION SERMON Second GAL. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ c. I Must beginne this After-noone abruptly as I ended in the Fore-noone lest I end this After-noone abruptly as I doe beginne and I shall beginne this After-noone where I ended in the Fore-noone that this After-noone I may end with this Text where in the Forenoone I did beginne In the Text I observed two Remarkables 1. The Propounding of a Riddle 2. The Expounding of the Riddle In the Fore-noone you heard the Riddle propounded This After-noone you are to heare it expounded The Riddle was propounded in these words I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I live Now it is to be expounded by these words yet not I but Christ that liveth in me Not I but how doe these words Resolve or Reade the Riddle They rather seeme to make an other Riddle or to make the Text like the Prophets Mysticall Vision of a Wheele within a Wheele Here is one seeming contradiction upon an other a Riddle upon a Riddle for first hee sayes I live and then hee sayes not I and so seemes to say and unsay or to contradict himselfe Indeed had hee said no more but yet not I hee had not read the former but made an other But the clausile added in the close discloseth all not I but Christ that liveth in me This like a Key unlocks the Cabinet of the mystery This like an Oedipus unriddles all Like a Clue it guides the Reader thorow the Labyrinth of the Riddle to the Reading of it It shews what life it is that now hee liveth It speakes the change of his life from that of a Naturall man to that of a Christian He liveth now the life of one that is in Christ the Lord of life The life of one that hath the Lord of life Christ Jesus and the life of the Lord now in him not I now but Christ in me Hee cannot now say with the Heathenish Poet Ille ego qui quondam I the same Man that in time past did so and so but with the convert Ego non sum ego I am not I. I live yet not I Not I the same but I an other An other and yet I. I an other Man I a new Man Non amplins ego Not I a meere Man any longer but now a Christian Not I still contrary unto Christ but I a Convert now unto him and so I am not I and yet I am I am still but not still what I was I Acts 23. 6. Phil. 3. 5. Acts 9. 1. 1 Tim. 1. 13. Virgil. Aeneid l. 1. was a Pharisee but now I am not I was an enemy to the Crosse of Christ but now I am not I was a Blasphemer of his most blessed Name sed quantum mutatus ab illo But now how much am I altered from what I was So changed in my selfe I am that I cannot say I am my selfe Yea so unlike I am my selfe that I cannot but say that I am not my selfe It is not I Necesse est ut qui non vivit in se vivat Christus in illo Et hoc est quod â—it Apostolus vivo autem â—am non ego S. Bernard that liveth in my selfe But Christ my Saviour that liveth in mee Hee is not now the Man hee was and yet a Man hee is even as hee was Hee is now a new Man by his second Birth and yet hee is the same Man hee was by his first Hee is a Man still as hee was and still the same Man that hee was and yet hee is an other Man then hee was changed much from what hee was The same Man still in Person hee is and still the same in Parts But in Passions or Affections hee is now an other The same hee is in constitution of Body and in Quantity but in quality of Minde and in conditions hee is an other Man A new Creature It is the same Man that liveth still but he now liveth as an other Man He is not the same in Life His manner of Life is not the same A new Conversation does ever follow a true Conversion This Mutation aimes not at the Transformation of the Man But at the Reformation of his Manners It is not like the Poets Metamorphoses where Jupiter transformes Ovid Metamor lib. 3. Lib. 3. Lib. 4.