sight diuers thousands in one weeke within the compasse of one Citie How many more then in the whole Nation The sweeping Pestilence and other infectious diseases doe come in pursuite after sinfull men and sinfull deedes and flying in at the windowes doe emptie the houses of men and Townes of inhabitants till none bee left to walke in the streetes and trauaile in the high-wayes thereof And neuer yet was there neuer shall there be a sinfull and wicked Nation but one time or other in the fittest season when their sinnes are growne ripe the Lord hath or will dispatch his Messenger riding vpon the pale Horse of Plague together with him that rides on the red Horse of Warre to auenge the quarrell of his Couenant vpon it yea for this also the blacke Horse of Famine is appointed to ioyne himselfe with the other two to make yet a more full riddance and take a more full vengeance Dearth famine and scantnesse want of bread cleanenesse of teeth and emptinesse and the lingring consumption and pining away of the body for want of victuall these tormenting euils doe come on the World to punish the wickednesse of the World The bellies and backes and all the limmes and ioynts of mens bodies must wring and bee pinched for it because all did ioyne together and abuse themselues in committing it Sinne doth sometimes shut vp the bottles of Heauen and make the Sun as it were in an anger to burne vp Corne and Grasse and the necessarie prouision for mans sustenance Sometimes againe it doth open the same bottles ouer-long and causeth the clouds as in a rage to drowne vp the fruits of the earth that men and beasts should feede vpon This also makes the earth it selfe as it were hard-hearted to mankind and euen quite and cleane against her proper disposition to refuse to yeeld her encrease for their vse Neither was there euer a Nation vnder Heauen of what profession soeuer Christian or Heathen but that the Lord hath taken his fit times to discouer his anger against their sinnes by with-holding from them the fruites of Nature and pinching them with scarcitie in stead of abundance And that is often fulfilled which the Psalmist singeth A fruitefull Land is made barren for the transgressions of them that dwell in it Sinne hath slaughtred poysoned starued millions of millions of men and sent to violent and vntimely ends innumerable thousands of reasonable creatures and beasts Sinne turnes loose Fire and Water and Heauen and Earth Sunne and Moone and Beasts and all Creatures and makes them all to fight against Man to destroy him and which is more mischieuous it turnes them loose one vpon another to employ their reason and strength to their mutuall ruine and ouerthrow What was that that drowned the old World burnt vp Sodom and the Cities adioyning consumed the Canaanites out of their good Land laid waste Babel Edom Moab Ammon and all the other Countries yea of Iewrie and Ierusalem too and often to come neerer to our selues the Cities and Countries of this our owne Nation Was it not sinne What I say hath burnt vp so many houses and townes spoiled so much goods and treasure murdered so many men and women and done such vnspeakeable mischiefe in the World But euen this foule loathsome odious and abominable thing which we call sinne the very proper parent and grand-dame of all that euill that all creatures lye vnder For lying and swearing and whoring and murder and fraud and oppression for ignorance and profanenesse for idolatrie and superstition for swearing and cursing and other abominations the God of Heauen hath a quarrell with the men on earth and empties his quiuer of arrowes and sends out all his Hostes and Armies to cut them in pieces fighting against their bodies goods liues soules and all till hee haue spoyled them of al comforts here and sent them to yell and roare and crie and weepe and gnash their teeth in Hell hereafter where their sinnes shall be no longer a griefe vnto him because he hath auenged and as it were comforted himselfe in the execution of his infinite and perfect Iustice vpon them O my Brethren haue we not said enough to make you perceiue that it was not without cause that Dauid made his eyes to gush out riuers and that you should make your eyes doe the like for such a thing as this CHAP. IV. Containing a third reason of the doctrine from the good effects of this mourning Reas 3 BVt let vs goe forward to prouoke you yet with more reasons From the good effects of mourning to this holy and heartie mourning These Riuers of teares doe giue so good content to God and so refresh his soule wearied with sinne to speake after the manner of men that so long as there bee but euen a few of them running his anger cannot waxe hot to burne against a Nation Amongst what people there are found a competent number of men that doe wayle Preserues the Land mourne and lament for the common sinnes this holy exercise of theirs doth as we may speake tye the hands of Gods Iustice for the time that he will not strike that people with great seueritie He is so abundantly pitifull and large in compassion that hee cannot but deferre the execution of his wrath so long as it may possibly stand with righteousnesse to deferre it vpon the feruent and humble petition of his poore seruants that with sad hearts and bended knees doe crie vnto him saying O Lord spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed and O Lord God forgiue and cease wee beseech thee for who shall rayse vp Iacob for he is smal Let sin be as open and great and crying and clamorous as it will yet if there be a conuenient nūber fiftie fortie thirty twentie or perhaps but ten in a Citie that crie and weepe and make bitter lamentation for it none extremitie of publike iudgements likely shall come Seldome doth God breake in vpon a people till there be none or in a manner none left to stand in the gap and when the time approcheth that hee hath a full purpose to doe a fearefull execution on a Land then doth he take away the mourners and deliuer the suruiuours vp to hardnesse of heart and carnall mirth and iollity that so he may haue a ful blow at it when there is none to hinder and without let powre forth all the vials of his wrath when there is none stands vp to deprecate O excellent fruit of lamentation for publike sinnes it gets a repriuall of an whole Towne or Countrie and causeth that the Lord will not suffer his furious indignation to ouerflow So a man is a great benefactor to his Countrie by powring forth his teares in this wise and should not Christians as well as yea more then Heathens shew themselues true louers of their Country But Keepes the soule from infection it doth likewise preserue the mourners selfe from infection of sinne causing that
of his grace resting abundantly assured of his loue and satisfied in it and finding him euer and anon sending messages of kindnesse vnto our soules as a Generall that comes amongst his souldiers when they fight valiantly and hartens them vp with his presence and his speech but if the Lord find vs dealing falsely and treacherously with him entring parley as it were with that Enemie that he doth irreconcileably hate and detest and ready to make a truce with that foe with whom hee would haue no truce taken no not for a moment then doth he cease to speake friendly vnto vs as there is great cause and begins euen to chide and reproue and threaten and send vs tidings of great displeasure And ah what soule can conceiue a more grieuous losse in this world then the losse of the light of his countenance 6. Committing of grosse sinnes But sometimes there followes a farre greater mischiefe namely that he which gaue sinne leaue to get head through carelesnesse is at last so foyled by the wicked lusts of his heart that he falles to commit some grosse and grieuous sinnes very foule very loathsome very disgracefull For you must not thinke that the man regenerate is out of the danger of being ouertaken with hainous offences Indeed whilest hee is earnest in beating downe his vnruly passions though he find trouble yet he enioyes safetie and though his lusts struggle and annoy him yet they cannot breake forth in extremitie but if he once become heedlesse and thinke it too much to be at the paines of continually mortifying them then they raise vp themselues and carrie him captiue and cause him to giue his members as weapons of vnrighteousnesse preuailing so farre at length that if God himselfe did not out of his vnchangeable loue come in to his rescue he would be brought backe againe into Egypt as it were his soule would be quite slaine the life of Grace would bee quite extinguished and hee would returne the second time to bee dead in sinnes And ah what wise man would suffer his sinnes to become so violent as to carrie him into such enormous deeds as Dauid and Salomon and Asa and Vzziah fell into and all for want of mortifying these members A man once sanctified may assure himselfe vpon his faithfull and constant endeauours in mortification that he shall escape such foules but if he grow slacke in this dutie he can expect nothing but to haue his conscience thus wounded Is it not more then needfull for vs to looke to our selues 7. For lastly Sore afflictions to the preuenting of farre greater euils our not-sufficiently mortified lusts will bring vpon vs exceeding sore afflictions because the goodnesse of God is such that he wil not see vs perish by them as we should perish if he did not apply such corosiues to cure them If afflictions come not betwixt neglect of the dutie of mortification will produce the euill effect I last named viz. the perpetrating of some vile and notorious wickednesse sometimes the Lord makes haste to strike vs for the preuenting of such falles but if we be once falne then is there no way of recouerie but by some bitter crosse either inward or outward or most times both wayes So we doe inforce the Lord of necessitie to afflict vs vnlesse we would haue him lose vs quite when we waxe carelesse of seeking to preuaile more and more against sinne A crazie bodie hauing disordered himselfe in diet must needs haue very sicke fits and some sicke-making physicke he must needs take or else death would follow his intemperancie So our weake and crazie soules being brought to strange distempers by our folly in not resisting the sinfull and inordinate dispositions of our soules could neuer be brought again to any tolerable soundnesse if God did not by heauie calamities helpe to purge out those euill humours which we had suffered to pester vp our soules as we may see in Dauid and Asa after their sinnes And certainly the farre greater number of crosses which befall the people of God doe come from hence that their heauenly Father is faine vnlesse hee would see them damned which he will neuer doe by miserie to keepe downe lusts which they might but will not without misery keepe downe by the careful exercise of mortification and to draw them to repentance for those loathsome sinnes which for lacke of mortifying their earthly members they haue falne into and would neuer repent of otherwise so that if we will not bee content to put our selues to the labour of working out our saluation by crucifying the flesh God will put vs to the paines of bearing heauie crosses that shall helpe to crucifie them in a manner whether we will or no. And doe we not see a necessitie of mortification CHAP. III. Shewing the profit of the dutie NOw because necessitie going alone 2. From the good will follow if we doeit doth drag rather then leade and so as an hard and rigorous commander is obeyed indeed but backwardly and against the haire therefore let vs discourse a little of the fruit that will arise from our labour in the worke of Mortification that seeing profit as well as need the difficultie may not hinder vs from doing it euen with chearefulnesse Now the mortifying of the deeds of the flesh will ring with it foure exceeding great and desireable benefits 2. The first is Great peace vnspeakeable peace and quietnesse of soule The heart will be at one with God it selfe and all men so long as it holdeth variance with sinne Hee that is at warre with his lusts shall not be at warre with his Maker If we fight his battailes against our corruptions he will not fight against vs. Nothing causeth the God of Heauen to frowne vpon man but sinne while the World was free from sinne it was also free from all tokens of Gods displeasure therefore it must needs follow that the surest way to keepe our selues in euen termes with God is to be diligent in resisting sinne He is not of so ill a nature as to picke quarrels against vs without a cause himselfe tels vs that he corrects not willingly Lament 3.33 nor of his own accord Sin then being the sole cause of mouing him against vs wee shall bee sure to find him so farre louing towards vs as wee are carefull to preserue our selues from sinning against him which is best and most attained by the studie of mortification so all will bee well aboue our heads in Heauen if we follow Pauls direction Now the conscience is Gods officer and deputie and that that will make him gentle and quiet to vs will make it also quiet and gentle The conscience neuer should and seldome doth rise vp in armes against a man but when he hath giuen leaue to some corruption to grow head-strong for want of opposing it in due season and order As there is no distempered motion in the body till the humours be immoderately stirred by
some inward or outward occasions so neither is there likely terror amazement disquietment in the conscience till the lusts of the soule haue disordered it for want of holding them vnder so that as warre abroad is found to be a present remedie against ciuill dissentions of subiects so warre with sinne is the cause of our tranquillitie with our selues When clouds are dispelled the beames of the Sunne will shine comfortably vpon the earth and then the earth is richly garnished with pleasant and profitable herbes so when sinne is chased away the warme beames of Gods fauour doe sweetely refresh the conscience and the conscience so refreshed doth bring forth the sweet and wholesome flowres of vnspeakable consolatiō The Spirit of God wil tell our spirits and our spirits will tell vs that God is our Friend and Father that he loues vs and delights in vs so long as we be haue our selues to sinne as to an enemy hating loathing and resisting it Thus are we most friends to our selues when wee bee most foes with our corruptions And this fighting with sinne will make vs liue quietly also with our neighbours Hee that is busie in finding out and subduing his home-bred corruptions shall haue little or no leasure to take causelesse vnkindnesses to picke needlesse quarrels and to prouoke others against him by iniurious behauiour so shall hee shun the greatest company of iarres and brawles that vse to set men together by the eares Saint Iames saith Iames 4.1 That warres and fightings amongst men doe come from their lusts which war in their members We may if we will deceiue our selues and attribute things to false causes but the Spirit of God that vnderstandeth all things aright and cannot be deceiued points to lust fighting in the members as the most true proper and immediate cause of contentions stirres betwixt man and man Therefore the more any man doth quell subdue vanquish weaken and beate downe these lusts the more calmely shal he passe thorow the sea of the world and the fewer stormes of discord and enmitie shall hee meete withall When souldiers lye idle and are not imployed in marching against the common foe then they mutinie and fall out with each other so when men set not their griefe and hatred and other affections ou worke to make war vpon sin then they quickly take occasion to grieue at each other to sigh one against another to hate one another and to vexe and gawle each other and trouble themselues most of all But souldiers agree among themselues whilest they lend their powers against a common foe so when we haue strongest and hottest warre with the deuill and sinne then doe we nourish most concord with one another Thus shall the soule enioy vnutterable quietnesse euery way within and without from God and from man and one weekes life led in such comfortable and happie concord and amitie with a mans owne soule and all about him is more worth then the lasting of a whole twelue-moneth torne and rent asunder with the ciuill broyles and commotions of a grudging froward and distempered heart Who would not doe that that will make his soule to dwell at rest 3. Againe the studie of mortification Patience and loy in affliction wil inable a man with inconceiueable patience yea and chearefulnesse to beare any affliction that God shal lay vpon him yea to look death it self in the face though it come clothed in neuer so terrible attire and with neuer so terrible weapons for the sting of death and consequently of all crosses is sinne now pull the sting from out of the Serpents mouth or tayle and then there is little feare or danger in incountring her What was the cause that the Apostle Paul was so exceeding quiet and ioyfull in all his calamities but because he had in great measure subdued and was more and more busie in subduing the corrupt lusts of his body knocking it downe 1. Cor. 9. last and bringing it in subiection as himselfe speaketh Hee that holdeth strong fight against the euils of his owne heart out of that peace with God and his owne soule which we said before that he should enioy hath freedome of Spirit to pray vnto God in his afflictions hee can runne boldly to the Throne of grace as hauing allowed nothing within him that should grieue the Spirit of Grace hee can flie to the towre of Gods name as hauing kept himselfe in the pathes of righteousnesse whic those that do know themselues to haue all good allowance to come thither and when a man can freely powre forth his hart before God in crosses then doth he also comfortably enioy God and then the sharpenes of the crosse is gone The thing that makes crosses intolerably bitter so that the soule cannot endure the bitternesse of them is the admixture of the gawle of Gods displeasure so farre as wee are intire and resolute in fighting against sinne our crosses are pure from this admixture and so they be not to himselfe that beares them howsoeuer they may seeme to the lookers on by the hundreth part so tedious and troublesome as that composition would make them So the mortified man gaines this by his trouble in mortification that the Lord will suffer him to escape many troubles and those that he must for his owne good suffer he shall be able to goe vnder with ten times more quietnesse and gladnesse and contentednesse as an whole shoulder beares the same burden with more ease then a sore or swolne shoulder It is therefore a very profitable labour that wee bestow in mortifying the members on earth that is to say in healing the sores and diseases of our soules 4. Thirdly Certaine freedome from grosse sinnes the man that applies the worke of mortification aright shall attaine certaine freedome from foule grosse and scandalous sinnes A sanctified man may assuredly promise to himselfe vpon his constant and diligent endeauours to abate and hold vnder his sinfull affections and dispositions to bee for his whole life long so kept and sustained by God that hee shall not rush into any lothsome palpable disgracefull soule-wasting wickednesse Wee are neuer ouertaken with those kind of euils but vpon our very palpable carelesnesse of mortifying the deeds of our flesh Whilest we do that that God bidsvs to slay sin he holds it vnder according to his promise and it hath not dominion ouer vs neither doth raigne in our mortall bodies so that we are sure enough that sinne shall not bring forth the fruits of shame and reproach vnto vs vntill we begin to be remisse in following Gods directions to purge out the old leauen And Oh what a benefit is this to escape those blemishes and staines wherewith many of Gods children perhaps also of greater strength then ones selfe doe defile and disgrace themselues What a priuiledge is it to be so supported that neuer in all his life he shall runne into any witting enormous presumptuous crime after God hath
hereafter He that hath begun the worke of mortification so farre as I told you before in speaking of the first degree of it that now those sinnes which once raigned in him are put downe from their regencie and those corruptions that once have was a slaue vnto are now deposed from their throne as it were and doe cease to command in his members as once they did hath much cause to reioyce in the saluation of GOD although hee find these lusts still striuing and labouring to recouer their ancient soueraigntie 2. It is certaine that the Spirit of GOD doth rule in him in whom sinne hath ceased to rule Euerie man is vnder the command of the flesh or of the Spirit euerie man is subiect to the Lord ruling in him by Grace or to the Deuill ruling in him by lust Satan is a verie strong man and our owne lusts are his weapons none can bind this man and cast him out but the Spirit of strength of which Saint Iohn saith Stronger is he that is in vs 1. Iohn 4.4 then hee that is in the world Wherefore if any man that was once vnder the yoke of wrath lust reuenge couetousnesse or any other vile affection doe find now that by feruent prayers to God by the power of the Word in holy meditations applied to him and by vertue of the death of Christ and other like spirituall meanes by him vsed the Lord hath pleased to pull this yoke from off his necke so as now in stead of taking delight in the euill motions of sinne hee is grieued in his soule when such thoughts doe stirre in his soule and ceaseth not to crie to Heauen till he find them beaten backe againe and doth not now yeeld vp himselfe to follow these things with greedinesse but is vsually able to forbeare the palpable practice of sinne and if hee be ouertaken in any grosse manner hee is greatly humbled and abased and recouers himselfe with speedie confession and lamentation and renewing of his resolutions If any man I say doe find the case to stand thus with him hee hath in some measure fought and preuailed and now blessed bee hee of the Lord let him looke vpon the dead bodies of his lusts with much comfort and let him triumph in God that hath conquered for him and let him encourage himselfe still to continue fighting that still his soule may increase in strength as the House of Dauid is said to haue done and his sinnes may grow weaker and weaker as it was said of the House of Saul 3. My Brethren this warre whereinto you are entred must last for terme of life The flesh and Spirit can neuer bee reconciled there is no thinking of any peace but that which will bee worse then dishonourable euen damnable and a sure warre is much rather to be chosen then an vnsure peace much more then a peace which will be surely mischieuous Now by how much the warre will prooue of longer continuance by so much had you need to put on more strength that you may endure and a great part of your strength must grow from your comforts in your good beginnings Wherfore now let euerie true mortified man according to the riddle that Samson once propounded to his companions fetch sweetnesse out of the strong and meate out of the eater let them find an Honie-combe in the carcasse of the Lyon which they haue slaine and goe eating let them I meane take great consolation in the sight of their happie proceedings in this heauenly worke 4. There bee some Worthies of Israel that haue lifted vp their speares against many hundreds as it were and left them all dead in the place the hearts of such doe nto much need to bee wished to take comfort The content they find in perceiuing the strength of sinne so much abated in them is vnspeakeable Dauid was no more full of ioy when hee saw Goliah come tumbling to the ground then are their soules when they looke vpon this slaughter that God hath inabled them to make among their lusts No man is able to set forth in words the ioy that growes to a man who is hard set to by a cruell enemie of whom hee lookes for nothing but death vnlesse hee preuent it by giuing death when hee sees him fall downe wounded and gasping for breath O with what a countenance and cheere did Iael runne to meete Barak and to bring him to the sight of dead Sisera Surely the content of a spirituall man in his spirituall victories when now his sinnes are euen breathing their last as I may so speake is no whit lesse yea it is much more solid then that of such a conquerour Those that haue happily passed the brunt of this battaile and haue their enemies in the flight rather then the conflict are and haue cause to bee the chearefullest of all men they bee like souldiers pursuing their foes with that ioyfull shoute of victorie victorie in their mouthes and they enioy the comfort of their former labour with much thankefulnesse 5. But there are other some that haue not yet attained so much strength nor gotten so much ground against their foes They are now as it were in the verie hottest of the skirmish the bullets flie about their eares as I may so speake and their corruptions are violent within them and doe often with great strength hale them and draw them captiue to the law of sinne which is in their members They do sometimes get the better and beate back euill desires and find themselues mightily resolued to sinne no more at other times euill desires doe mightily afflict them and they are well-neere readie to faint and fall scarce able to retaine their purpose of goodnesse scarcely able to hold out in their resolution of not sinning yea it may bee contrarie to their resolutions pulled by the flesh to do the euill that they hate but then feeling themselues wounded they smart and bleed and struggle with their foe and get vp againe and againe betake themselues to their weapons of prayer and meditation which were almost wrested out of their hands for a time and come crying and mourning before the Throne of Grace begging pardon begging helpe and so againe confirme their Faith and renew their repentance and make vp the breaches of their new obedience These poore Saints like souldiers whose enemies doe yet hold their owne and make strong resistance are often full of feare and care and doubt their hearts often droope and they mistrust sometimes lest they shall bee vanquished rather then ouercome Let mee therefore apply my speech to he encouragement of those that need encouragement I say vnto thee whosoeuer that art in this case that thy case is good and happy and that thou hast much cause of reioycing in God notwithstanding all the trouble and cumber that thou findest with thy sinnes It is a blessed thing and a great and vnspeakeable fauour of God that to what lusts thou didst once do seruice
must not forestall the following Discourse I hope it will cause the good amongstvs to pitie their Mother and to mourne for her that they themselues may reioyce with her in the fruite of their mourning Now I commit thee to the following leaues and them to thee I would thou wouldest reade them I would thou wouldest consider them I would thou wouldest practise them and so wishing thee a much good sorrow as in other cases thou couldst wish thy selfe ioy I leaue thee to his blessing who will accept thy sorrow and remaine A desirer of thy teares William Whately Feb. 19. 1622. CHARITABLE TEARES c. Psal 119.136 Riuers of water runne downe mine eyes because they keepe not thy Testimonies CHAP. I. Opening the Text and shewing and prouing the doctrine viz. that we ought to lay to heat the sinnes of others THE Prophet of God the Author of this most heauenly Psalem inthis part of it proceedeth in his meditations after this order First he makes way to his petitions by professing his diligent care of Gods Law Vers 129 130 131. Secondly he propounds his petitions for mercy Vers 132. direction 133 deliuerance 134. feeling of Gods fauour 135. Lastly hee concludes his petitions with professing his sorrow for other mens sins in these words And this he puts also for a confirmation of his faith to assure himselfe and as one may say to perswade the Lord that hee should speed inhis suites For it is great reason that God should mercifully guide deliuer and comfort him that doth take so hainously the dishonour done to God by other people Wee haue here then to make the griefe of Dauid set out by the quantitie and cause of it The quantitie is expressed in that hyperbolicall phrase Riuers of waters runne downe mine eyes Whereby is meant that his sorrow was very great and withall comstant in that it did shew it selfe by continuall and abundant streames of teares The cause is in these words Because they keepe not thy Law Not wrongs and persecutions against himselfe but sinne and wickednesse against God did procure his great sorrow or if he wept for the molestations and iniuries offered vnto himselfe yet not so much considered in the nature of iniuries as of sinnes Let me therefore at this time be bold to presse vpon you a most needfull and excellent dutie from the example of this holy man we ought to lay to heart the sins of other men viz. Doct. To lay to heart the sins of other men All the seruants of God should imitate this one seruant of God in the cause course quantitie constancy of his sorrowes and set themselues to mourne heartily earnestly daily for the transgressions of others which their eyes doe see and their eares doe heare It should bee a corroziue to our soules and an anguish to our spirlts to behold and know the dishonour that is done vnto our Maker by the offences of our neighbours Euerie good subiect is troubled to see his fellow subiects prooue Rebels neither can any good and dutifull sonne or daughter behold without sorrow the rudenesse or vndutifulnesse of their brethren or sisters nay a seruant that is louing and obedient to his Master is also sorrie at the heart if his fellow-seruants shew themselues stubburne carelesse and disobedient so should it be with the faithfull subiects dutifull children and obedient seruants of the liuing God their very soules should be filled with anguish and their countenances with sadnesse for the rebellion disobedience wickednes of those amongst whom they liue Not alone our owne offences but those of our brethren also should be as a loade and burden vpon our soules Thus it is reported of Lot 2. Pet. 2.8 that hee vexed his righteous soule from day to day with seeing and hearing their vnlawfull deeds speaking of his behauiour when hee dwelt in Sodom The impurities and vncleannesses of those brutish creatures were euen as a racke vnto his soule and he could not looke vpon their foule and lathsome and yet common and vsuall abominations but that it did euen torture and torment his hart no lesse then a racke would hjaue done his body So when Ezra was informed of the sinne of them Ezra 9.2 3 5 6 c. that had returned out of captiuitie hee sits downe confounded and fasts and weepes and mournes and in the agonie of his soule puls off the haire of his owne beard for griefe and at last breakes foorth into a most lamentable and mournefull confession of that sinne This Prophet also had professed before in the 53. verse of this Psalme saying Horror hath taken hold vpon me because of the wicked which forsake thy Law And Ieremiah professeth to the people that if they would not hearken vnto him to amend their liues according to the Word of God which hee should speake and had spoken then his soule should weepe in secret places for their pride Ier. 13.17 yea his eye should weepe sore and run downe with teares The Apostle Paul likewise hearing of the incestuous Corinths abominable crime and the great conniuency of the Church of Corinth towards him did write a letter vnto them about this matter as himselfe saith 2. Cor. 2.4 out of much affliction and angish of heart and with many teares Lo how bitter to the soule of the holy Apostle the tidings of the Corinthian disorders were He that for scourging stocking imprisonment stoneing and all heau persecutions was scarce euer filled with anguish but rather reioyced in the same and seemed to gather new life by the comming on of new miseries is now exceedingly cast downe and put into bitter weeping and lamentation for the wickednesse committed by one of that Church and by the rest tolerated Yea our Sauiour Christ himselfe the best patterne of all holinesse and obedience did looke vpon the Pharises as the Gospell tels vs angerly indeed Mark 3.5 as their peruersenes and wilfulnesse did well deserue but withall mourning for the hardnes of their hearts And it is also obserued of him that comming to Ierusalem he did euen weepe ouer it in great compassion Luk. 19.41 because they had carelestly neglected the day of their visitation You see proofe enough of the point let vs further make it good vnto your soules by cleere and euident reasons to be taken from foure heads First from the graces that ought to be in euery Christian heart which cannot but procure this sorrow Secondly from the nature of sinne which is to be sorrowed for Thirdly from the good effects that will grow from this sorrow And lastly from the euill effects that will follow vpon the want of this sorrow CHAP. II. Containing one reason of the point from the graces which ought to be found in euerie godly man and being found cannot but work this sorrow these are three Loue to God Loue to men Hatred of sinne IT is agreed vpon by all Reasons first from our loue to God that the hearts of Gods
begins in the former Verse and this interrupts by a pertinent digression in the three following Verses and lastly goes on in and finisheth in the fiue next Here then the Apostle is about to make his meaning so manifest in that disswasion from marriage which formerly he had vsed that no occasion of hurt might grow from the mistaking thereof And as in the former Verse he had aduised men neither to be wearie of marriage if they were married nor yet to bee couetous of it if they were loose so here he shewes in what respects he discounselleth it viz. first negatiuely not as a sinne nay he plainely confesseth the lawfulnesse of it saying If thou being a man shalt marry thou sinnest not and if a Virgin marry she sinneth not but secondly affirmatiuely as a matter of more outward and bodily trouble for such saith he shall haue trouble in the flesh but saith he I spare you that is I will not vse more earnestnesse to disswade you from that that most mē are vnwilling to be disswaded from To spare is not to presse them ouer-hard to that whereto they would not bee drawne without some backwardnesse The thing then that the Apostle deliuers in this verse is in effect this That marriage is not to be forborne as a matter sinfull but troublesome and virginitie to be imbraced not as a state of life more holy but alone more easefull and that he disswadeth marriage not as if it were in any sort to bee reputed vnlawfull to marrie but alone because it is commonly attended vpon with more difficulties then single life in which regard also he forbeareth to vrge the forbearance of it any thing earnestly Now wee haue Pauls meaning let vs see what instructions his words will yeeld vs. CHAP. II. Containing the first instruction Doct. 1 ANd first from Pauls so plaine and precise disauowing of any conceite of the vnlawfulnesse of matrimony and endeuouring carefully and expressely to preuent such an opinion we may informe our felues thus much That it behoueth men to take heed of accounting those things sinfull or vnlawfull that bee not so No man must make more faults then God makes Our iudgement should be alwaies so cleare and sound that we might esteeme of things as they be and call that lawfull which is lawfull as well as that wicked which is wicked and as in the tribunall of humane Iustice a guiltlesse man must not bee sentenced as guiltie So at the barre of humane reason a faultlesse action must not bee wrongly burdened with the censure of faultinesse Whosoeuer reades this text will yeeld this point yet wee shall haue it made good by a voyce from Heauen Acts 19.15 viz. that that was spoken to Peter in his trance That that God hath cleansed cal not thou common The Lord had remoued the distinction of meates in regard of conscience to him-ward which was of force vnder the Leuiticall Law That Peter might be informed of this needfull truth whereof he was yet ignorant he is bidden in a Vision wherein all manner of beasts were offered to him being hungry to kill and eate hee refuseth because the things were such as the Law condemned for vncleane and common The voyce tels him the second time that it was not for him to make that common which God had made cleane Loe how the cleannesse or vncleannesse of things is not to bee ordered by mans authoritie no not by the authoritie of Peter himselfe so that a man would wonder how hee that calleth himselfe the successor of Peter should aduenture to do that which to Peter himselfe is prohibited And what was the sinne for which the Pharises are taxed by the Lord Matt. 15.2 c. was it not this that they would needs deeme it a great fault and pollution to eate meate without washing of hands first whereas the Lord in his Law had neuer forbidden such eating The point is vndeniable and needeth no more proofe there is a negatiue superstitiō consisting of Touch not taste not handle not c. that is Do not this and that for feare of offending God and hurting your soule though the Lord haue neuer condemned it as well as an affirmatiue superstition standing in Doe this or do that that you may please God and benefit your soule That wee may be more careful to auoyd the fault of coyning faults let vs consider what euils will insue from such mistaking Reas 1 First by this meanes a man shall vnnecessarily cumber himselfe and by fretting his owne conscience make his life vncomfortable and his soule more vnable to serue God with ioyfulnes in a good conuersation If a seruant put gyues or irons vpon his owne legs he cannot goe forward nimbly in his Masters businesse So if a Christian doe shackle his owne conscience hee cannot with chearefulnesse performe the wil of God in holinesse of liuing For to him that accounts a thing sinfull to him it is sinne as the Apostle faith Rom. 14.14 And so it will often come to passe that if he doe it not he shall sinne in one regard if hee doe it he shall sinne in another regard as being perswaded that it is sinfull Thus doth a man cast himselfe ineuitably vpon a necessitie of sinning and so vpon vnquietnesse perplexitie and much inauoydable miserie to the great trouble not of himselfe alone but of others also with whom he liueth to whom his intangled conscience will not suffer him to performe his duty with loue and readinesse as hee ought to doe Secondly by this meanes a man shall feede his owne self-conceitednesse and cause his heart to bee still swelling bigger and bigger in high imaginations of himselfe and vnlesse the Lord bestow some paines to keepe him downe by diuers aduersities and temptations hee will quickly grow to such a dotage as to bee little lesse then inamored of himself admiring and applauding his owne abilitie to iudge and discerne of things aboue other men whom hee will repute as very dim-sighted or starke blind because they cannot see so farre as he conceits himselfe to see Error in this kinde must needs nourish pride because in not knowing a man thinkes he knowes more then other of his neighbours Thirdly by so mis-taking a man is made apt which is a necessarie consequent of pride to censure other men to thinke hardly of them to condemne them as persons vtterly recklesse and vnconscionable as if they regarded not at all what they did because it stands not with their minds to runne in so narrow a line as himselfe runneth in Thus in Pauls time the men that would not eate were alwaies forward to iudge and condemne those that would eate For when a man out of an erring conscience forbeareth those things in which another vseth his libertie he must either condemne himselfe or another or else leaue another wholly to God self-loue will not suffer men to blame themselues selfe-conceitednesse will not suffer them to referre the matter wholly to God
no maide shall sin in taking a husband Any batchelour may make himselfe a husband any virgin may make her selfe a wife and for the act it selfe no sinne shall be imputed vnto them though for the manner of doing and such common circumstances as cloath all actions they may behaue themselues sinfully Offend not in the manner and circumstances and in the thing it self thou shalt not offend if thou contract matrimony whosoeuer thou be Paul is alwaies of the same minde and therefore saith agreeably in another place Heb. 13.4 Marriage is not alone lawfull but which is more honourable among all men It is not alone such a thing as may be done without sinne but without any the least disparagement nay of the two being well performed it rather winneth more respect then otherwise 1. Tim. 4.1 2. For this cause Paul doth elsewhere condemne the forbidding of marriage as a doctrine of Deuils Neuer any heretikes did forbid marriage vniuersally to all men he must needs therefore point at them who forbid it to some sort of men And if the condemning of marriage be from the Deuill the allowing of it is from God and so haue all sorts of men vniuersally a full allowance from God to take the benefit of this estate Reas 1 Reason is manifest in this point First is it not an ordinance of God instituted for such purposes as doe generally concerne all men The Author of Nature hath appointed this vnion betwixt one man and one woman as for the comfort of themselues and increase of mankind so for the preuenting of inordinate desires and vnlawfull mixtures And seeing there is no sort of men which can be assured otherwise then by this helpe to be freed from those desires more then their neighbours it must needs follow that God would haue it common to all sorts and equally lawfull for all Adam in his best estate when he stood as a common father to all mankind did marrie and by Gods owne appointment did marrie and therefore it must needs be lawfull for any of this posterity to marrie Furthermore this is a most necessarie ordinance of exceeding great vse in the world It is the seminarie of mankind and the nurcerie of the Church Take it away and the world must needs either come to an end within one age or else bee replenished with bastards From this fountaine flow all the cleare streames of legitimate children of whom alone all good and worthie hopes may be intertained from this roote spring forth all the straite and fruitfull branches of an honest and vnblemished posteritie Debarre marriage and you bring the being of the World to a full point yea to a finall conclusion Debarre marriage and you shall haue no families kept no names maintained amongst men but either this great habitation the world must fall for want of lawfull heyres to beasts and birds alone to possesse it or else which is worse be intruded vpon by base and mis-begotten men Wee must haue to World or but a beastly and confused world if marriage were not therefore it must needs be lawfull And let it be taken away from any sort of men and that sort of men will grow by little and little full of filthinesse and vncleannesse and all viciousnesse by being forced to forbeare beyond strength they are driuen to yeeld to corruption beyond measure and in affecting an inattaineable puritie they fall into a most extreme impuritie Salomon saith that to eate too much honey is not good for why it will breed the bitterest choller and to affect too much cleanenesse will breed the foulest vncleannesse for when men cannot marrie be they are forcibly hindred nor cannot containe because they are forcibly tempted they must needs burne at least if not flame forth into all execrable villanies This therefore must be held for certaine No man or woman in any kind or condition of life may bee blamed as sinners because they haue ceased to liue singly CHAP. V. Containing the first vse of the point Vse 1 NOw from this point we haue something to inferre for the vse of the vnmarried To the vnmarried and also of the married To the vnmarried wee haue a double instruction the first is this that he preferre not a sinfull single life before a finlesse marriage as some haue foolishly and filthily done either our of a couetous mind or of a licentious mind or both Many a man looking with an ouer-carnall eye vpon the troubles that attend matrimony considering the many aduersities which doe commonly tread vpon the heeles of this estate wherof also we shal speak at large anon do chuse rather to poison their soules with the deadly poyson of whoredome then to be a little incumbred in this present life But I pray you my brethren be not so ouer-warie for your carnall ease Take not leaue to your selues to liue in frequent pollutions and impurities rather then in honest matrimonie for scare forsooth of those diuers inconueniences with which marriage because of sinne is vsually accompanied Marriage is no sinne whoredome is He that takes a wife offends not God endangers not himselfe to hardnesse of heart and eternall damnation but he which takes an harlot or defileth himselfe with other pollutions both prouokes Gods wrath against himselfe and also casts himselfe into the very pit of hell so much as in him lyeth Wherefore if any mans necessity be such that he cannot restraine his desires nor keepe his wishes within compasse but that in spight of all his earnest endeauours to the contrary they worke and boyle within him let him pray vnto God to make conuenient prouision for him and imbrace marriage with some miserie rather then sweete sinne that is to say deadly poyson because it pleaseth in the taste None inconueniences none incumbrances are answerable to the grieuousnesse of sinne It is Gods wonderfull goodnesse that knowing the temper and disposition of men in this kind hee hath debarred no man from this ordinance but hath allowed them a remedie against sinne which it selfe is no sinne Remember the Apostles saying in this place He that marries sinneth not and compare it with other disorders which men fal into for want of marriage He that commits fornication sinneth he that commits adulterie sinneth hee that defileth himselfe with other more vnnaturall commixtures sinneth yea he that burneth that is to say liues in perpetuall strong and masterfull desires preuailing against all his resolutions and carrying away his will though not his body he also sinneth but he that marrieth doth not sinne Therefore it is better to marry then commit fornication it is better to marry then to commit adultery it is better to marrie then to commit vncleanesse it is better to marrie then to burne it is better to aduenture vpon trouble without sinne then vpon sinne without trouble I speake not this to make any man lesse carefll in striuing against his owne desires and in vsing all vertuous and holy meanes of beating
with troubles and afflictions then the vnmarried The man and woman that ioyne themselues in matrimony shall commonly meete with more aduersitie outward then whilest they continued without Matrimonie The Apostles words are euident hee doth in manner ingage his word affirming and foretelling prophetically Such shall haue trouble in the flesh You must conceiue him to write as a reasonable man to such as were also reasonable and therefore to meane comparatiuely else it were easie to reiect his argument in this wise Paul you dehort vs from marrying not because it is sinne but because we shall find trouble in it why doe you not know that the single life hath also its thornes and briers I doe would Paul answere but my meaning was that this estate doth outwardly bring more trouble for else I had vsed an vnforcible argument and spoken little to the purpose You must therefore conceiue the Apostles meaning to be as hath been said if the state of marriage and of single life be compared together in such respect the former is the more troublous Proofes are needlesse in a manifest and expresse truth but I will shew you the cause why it is so and after stand a little ore largely in describing vnto you the chiefe troubles of marraige Reas The cause then is sinne sinne I say the make-bate betwixt God and man which with-drawing the creature from his loyaltie to the Creator causeth the Creator in iustice to with-draw his fauour from the creature and in stead thereof to pursue him with his curse This curse as it made the frutifull earth to bring forth briers and thornes which else should neuer haue afforded such vnprofitable and hurtfull increase so hath also filled all estates with stirres and confusions as it were brambles Wherefore as any estate doth occasion any person to intermeddle with more businesses and with more persons so is it also molested with more troubles through the vnhappie working of the actuall corruptions of all parties to the annoyance of each other vnreasonably discouering themselues If man had continued in his due loyaltie towards his King and Maker neither Matrimonie nor any other condition of life should haue disquieted him with any the least touch of miserie But justice requireth that Rebels and rebellion bee punished Sinne is the sore sawce that distasteth all our comforts this is like the Colloquintida in the pot of pottage which the Prophets seruants had made that caused the eaters to crie out Death is in the pot This is that stinking weed which dissauours all our sweete flowres This is the imbitterer of all estates bringing forth such and so many disorders in men and women as make them to bring forth trouble each to other In marriage a man is ingaged to more businesses and duties then before occasioned to deale with more humours then before and to stand in need of more things then before so will sinne and corruption shew it selfe more then before and so must he meete with more affliction then before This I speake to free both God the Author of Marriage as also Marriage his ordinance from all manner of blame and accusations For if all the hardnesse wherewith we be molested doe grow from our sinne and our sinne arise from Satans temptation and the abuse of our owne free will as all these things are most vndoubted and certaine why should God be faulted for our miserie seeing hee made vs not miserable til we had made ourselues sinfull And why should any estate of life be blamed for our miserie seeing if wee were not sinners in it we should not reape any miserie from it Take notice then of the true cause of all the cumbers An explication to the point which incumber married people and secondly let mee informe you also at least of some and the chiefe troubles of marriage which you must know that you may expect them and expect them that you may prepare for them and prepare for them that you may not be made impatient by them and by impatiencie make them much more cumbrous then else they need to be These doe all arise from foure maine heads The persons married their children their seruants and their estates of all which a man might spend more then foure dayes in speaking it taking counsell of experience he would borrow a little help of Rhetorick to set out the matters to the full but I will alone touch them and away Euerie man and woman haue their faults those will breede trouble they may bee sicke and that is another trouble one of the two die first and leaue the other behind and that is to some the worst of all troubles In the soules of men there breed vices in their bodies diseases and at last death and the fruit of all these must needs be griefe and sorrow each to other Some men are churlish sowre vnkind some wrathfull passionate and furious some hard miserable and niggardly some wastefull riotous and vnthriftie some vncleane vnsatiable and ranging after other women some suspiciious mistrustfull and iealous of their owne wiues some rash and hare-brain'd some fond and giddie some simple some subtill some idle some toylesome some carking some carelesse yea twentie and twice twentie sinfull and offending dispositions shew themselues in all the sonnes of Adam and what woman can meete with a man in all the world in whom some or other of these disorders doe not dwell Nature and education may hide them out of the way that they shall not bee seene Grace and sanctification may in part subdue them that they shall not reigne but neither nature nor grace shall quite and cleane abolish them that they shall not bee and to obtaine an husband free from all of them yea not subiect to more then one two or three of them it is altogether impossible and as impossible to liue with one that hath them though neuer so much mortified as the state of men on earth can reach and not be troubled exceedingly troubled with them as to go bare-foot vpon a ricke of thornes or furres and not bee pricked and pained with them In like sort some women are proud arrogant and scornefull some violent head-strong and masterfull some sullen and dogged some scolding and snappish some talkatiue some tongue-tied some light some coy some finish some sluttish some ouer-spending some ouer-sparing some lewd and vnchaste some raging and iealous yea an hundred and a thousand faults doe lie hid in the painted box of the bosome of euerie of Euahs daughters Good bringing vp may conceale them good instructions may diminish and good nature for a while may keep them vnder and keepe them secret yea the worke of grace may mortifie quell and ouer-master them but nothing can altogether roote them out so long as flesh and spirit do striue together in one soule that is so long as soule and bodie doe liue together in this life A woman void of some yea diuers of these faults and follies no care
if I be married to this husband hee may leaue me the mother of some children and nwo great with another and sending his soule to heauen giue me alone his cold corpse to put into the earth How shall I doe to see the breath goe out of that beloued body How shall I endure to see those eyes clozed and all those lims and ioynts now vnder the arrest of death How should I beare the desolate name of a widdow of one that had an husband where the crosse is aggrauated by the goodnesse of him whom I haue lost So must the husband thinke What if either in trauaile or otherwise the Lord do take away my deare wife from my side What if she liue with me but a few dayes and then death come and make an irrecouerable separation How shall I behold those cheekes wan those lips black those hands cold that body breathles and liuelesse and fit for none other habitation but that of wormes the darke graue the Kingdome of corruption the territorie of rottennes How shall I lay that beloued body forsaken of the more beloued soule into the bowels and entrals of the all deuouring sepulchre Indeed brethren so farre as I see now adayes men and women can well enough answer to these questions for they can burie and marrie and all in a moneth an hastinesse deseruing to bee deepely censured But if thou loue thine husband if thouloue thy wife how canst thou brooke this finall separation But we goe forward to shew you the troubles you may meete with in respect of children Sometimes barrennesse doth cloze vp the wombe and suffers not the married persons to become parents Sometimes the fruit of the bodie is granted indeed but blasted with sicknesse and with speedy death Sometimes they liue but a few dayes or a few yeeres and then leaue the parent more sorrie for the lesse then glad at the receiuing of them Sometimes they liue to mans age and out-liue the parents but onely to be their parents tormentors and murderers by their euill and lewd conditions so disquieting their hearts that they would count it an aduantage to haue been barren and doe often wish they had laid them in thier graues before euer they had vsed a tongue to speake Many a child puts his mother to after-throes more terrible then those with which shee brought him into the world at first Many a father is in trauaile of his old child that knew not the labour of his first bringing forth Sometimes they proue stubburne sometimes riotous sometimes vncleane sometimes false and sometimes bring themselues to infamous punishments and vntimely deaths Sometimes they belewd before marriage and vexe the parents with beholding a bastard of their names Sometimes they be wilfull inmarriage and wil make their owne foolish choyce against the knowledge or consent of parents Set them to learning they learne nothing but vanitie set them to labour they labour for nothing but to vndoe themselues running away from their Masters it may be also robbing them and hauing runne themselues out of breath come home ragged and miserable but not penitent ready to doe as bad againe and put their parents to extremitie of care so that they are euen distraced and at their wits ends not knowing what course in the world to take with them because both faire meanes and foule meanes haue been vsed and none will auaile Sometimes againe a child seeming towardly so wins away the parents affection that hee giues him almost his whole estate and is content to be at his finding and then loe the monstrous Viper begrudgeth his parents food and attire is wearie of his old age and counts his weakenesse ouer-cumbrous and sticketh not to shew by words and deeds that hee wisheth his death with all his heart then which I think no crosse in a child can be more stinging Thinke of these things you that are or would be married What if you prooue drie Kyes and beare no fruite How could you brooke a life wanting issue the most desireable fruit of marriage Or What if God giue thee children to looke vpon for a weeke or two or to play with for a yeere or two or to be charged withall for a doozen or a score of yeeres and then send death to fetch them to himselfe againe With what quietnese of mind couldst thoui resigne these gifts into the hand of him that gaue them How couldest thou endure to see the sicknesse of thy sonnes or daughters to see them burne toffe tumble waste consume languish and pine away to heare them grone sigh complaine crie out and roare and scritch and fill thine eares with rufull lamentations How canst thou frame thy selfe to see thy branches as it were withering halfe cut off and ready to fall from the body of thy family What shift couldst thou make to burie two three foure halfe a dozen halfe a score sonnes or daughters some at a day some at a weeke some at a yeere some at a dozen some at twentie or more yeeres old Or if thou scape these petit crosses in thy children how couldst thou brooke a stubburne rebellious son or daughter that will interchange words with thee and snap thee vp short and chide faster then thy selfe that will cast vpon thee a leering horse-like contemptuous eye and will stab thy soule with a lowring pouting scornefull looke with a dogged barking answere yea that will steale thy goods from thee and consume it in ill company whores and drunkennesse that wastes all that thou hast gotten and giuen to him and takes such vntamed courses as doe deeply threaten thine heart and eyes with that worse then deadly spectacle to see him one day preaching vpon a ladder with a rope about his necke because such a life can hardly conclude in a better death How wilt thou suffer this corzie of a wicked riotous vngracious vngratefull Viper in thine house who doth nothing else but striue with abominable words and deeds as it were with poysonfull teeth to gnaw out thy verie heart and deuoure thy bowels and entrals for whom thou canst neither eate or sleepe in quiet nor be at home nor abroad in peace a very Absalom that would kill his father to get his Kingdome With what resolution could you parents vnder-goe the burying of a good child or the liuing of a bad But let it be granted that a mans children shall proue at least indifferent and tolerable there is yet another necessarie member of a family which may make the hear of the family ake exceedingly these are seruants of both sexes men and maides Some seruants be idle and slothfull and will doe little some be hollow and deceitefull and will doe nothing but when the gouernours eye is vpon them some be rude and rebellious and will doe what they lust themselues for all their gouernours speeches some bee false and vntrustie and will purloyne their goods if they can some be carelesse and forgetfull and procure exceeding losse by their negligence some
Pearles A vertuous man must needs be as worthie as a vertuous woman The holinesse and good conditions of a companion are ten times more auaileable for the comfort of those with whom he must conuerse then the colour of his skin or stuffing of his purse He or she shal liue worse thē poorely that liueth with a rich Nabal Parents destroy not your children by matching them to miserable riches Young men and women destroy not your selues by seeking a good outside but let both parents and children iudge as God iudgeth and follow his counsell that saith Not the rich not the faire but The righteous is more excellent then his neighbour He takes the best course to gaine content in marriage that chuseth not the finest body the sweetest face the greatest state the largest portion but the holiest heart the richest soule the beautifullest spirit and the most vertuous man or woman This is the foundation of welfare in marriage lay this at first thou canst neuer else reare vp a comfortable building Secondly in other things if with the former it may bee an equall yoke-fellow would be taken of due proportion in state birth age education and the like not much vnder not much ouer but fit and correspondent Those matches doe seldome proue but vncomfortable where this rule is not obserued The rich and noble will likely despise or set light by the poorer and meaner so will younger doe the aged and there is nothing but miserie in marriage if the yoke-fellowes neglect one another Dauid was hardly drawne to be a Kings sonne in Law being himselfe a meane man in Israel His wisdome made him not hastie to ouer-preferre himselfe Disproportioned marriages are seldome made but out of sinister and corrupt intentions and such intentions doe neuer almost faile to bring wretchednesse to such as are led by them God himselfe hath set vs the best coppie of marriage that can be he made Euah meete for Adam shee answered him and hee her in age birth and all things hee shall speed best that followes neerest this first president of Matrimonie Wee cannot haue a wiser counsellour then the Author of all wisdome and he is surely deceiued that thinkes to doe better then God Take therefore a yoke-fellow meet for thee for the agreement of the married folk is the best helpe against all troubles and this is the surest way to procure agreement And so you haue heard the first instruction concerning a discreet entrance to preuent trouble The second follows and that is as necessarie euen to expect trouble and prepare for it When God foretels any thing wee should make account of it Future things are knowne to him that disposeth all things wherefore it is folly to flatter ones selfe with hopes contrarie to his predictions Expectation of an enemie is halfe an arming but suddennesse addes terriblenesse vnto a crosse and makes it insupportable Say then to and within thy selfe I find that God doth leade to marriage and I will follow him but he forewarnes me also of what I shall find in marriage and I will beleeue him I know I shall haue more trouble then before I had but by Gods helpe I will beare it with all quietnesse And Lord seeing this world is a world of trouble and all estates are full of briers now that thou hast called me to Matrimonie giue I beseech thee a willing and able mind to brooke well the aduersities of Matrimonie Most folks runne into marriage as boyes into a crowd to fee some sport neuer forethinking how troublesome it is to stand in a throng and when they be almost pressed to death by the presse of people then doe they crie out and would faine get out if they knew which way Oh saith one if I had knowne before that I should haue met with such a deale of sorrow I would neuer haue married Why thou improuident foole How was it that thou knewest not that before This Scripture was not kept from thee was it The Apostle speaketh plainely enough thou mightest haue read or heard it if thou wouldest thy selfe Such shall haue trouble in the flesh Didst thou neuer reade this Scripture or neuer marke it or neuer beleeue it If thou readdest it not it was thy profanenesse if thou markedst it not it was thine heedlesnesse if thou didst not beleeue it it was thine infidelitie euerie way it was thy folly not to know before what God had told thee before that marriage would bee more full of afflictions then single life Now you that are to marrie rush not thus headlongly into Marriage that you may not afterwards make bootelesse complaints against it Feed not your selues with windie hopes this feeding will breed no strength I hope mine husband will proue a very kind man my wife a very dutifull wife I hope I shall not breed and beare with so much paine and griefe as such and such I hope I shall not haue such weakely and sickly children and so forth Fond body Where bee the grounds of thine hopes Vpon what props are they built To hope without ground is to play the merrie foole No it is better as the Prouerbe hath it to feare the worst that the best may saue it selfe and to arme vp thy selfe in this wise Like enough I shall haue as many crosses as such and such But what if I haue I doe not runne rashly vpon them God leades me my Parents guide me I follow sure directors God will also strengthen mee and by his mighty helpe I will goe chearefully vnder these troubles for why should not I be subiect to the decrees statutes of the King of this world If he will send trouble shall I murmur Shall I faint No I will not but sue to him for strength and stay vpon him for helpe and comfort my selfe in him in all these cumbers Thinke of trouble looke for trouble resolue to bee quiet vnder troubles and pray for strength to bee so and then marrie if thou see good then shall thy troubles exercise and encrease thy patience and other graces not corrupt and ouerthrow them as else they will CHAP. XI Containing one vse to the married Vse 3 WE haue finished our speeches to the single folke To the married Now you that are married heare your part of instructions And first be aduised to take the best course that may be of preuenting so many as may bee preuented of the troubles of marriage I know you will all confesse at first hearing that this is good aduice but straite you will aske further counsell and say How shall I doe this I will therefore shew you the way see that you walke in it The first meanes to preuent the troubles of marriage is this to feare God and walke in his waies This is a common helpe to make all estates comfortable for the blessing of God attendeth them that feare him and comfort attends his blessing The man that feareth God hath this promise from God that his wife shall bee
helping hand to the dispatching of one that hath so many wayes deserued death Sinne is a thiefe for it robs God of his honour and glorie It is a traytor for it striues to thrust God from his regall authoritie and dominion A murtherer for it slew Christ Iesus our elder brother and seekes to slay our owne soules for these be the lusts that fight against our soules as Peter tels vs. What can bee more equall then that wee striue to destroy vtterly and to roote out and make a cleane riddance of so vile a thing as this 3. And for our selues doth not equitie require that a man should faithfully keepe all good and lawfull promises and couenants Now we haue couenanted with God in our Baptisme We haue vowed to forsake sinne to fight against the deuill and all sinfull lusts In that Sacrament we did bind our selues as by a solemne military oath to bee the souldiers of Iesus Christ and to fight vnder his Banner against the Deuill the World and the Flesh Shall we become foresworne periured persons as it were souldiers forsaking their Colors casting down their weapons and running away from their Captaine God forbid Doe we not often renew in the Lords Supper the Couenant wee made in Baptisme It is certainely one part of the dutie whereto we tie ourselues in that holy Sacrament to seeke the death of sinne in vs that procured the death of Christ for vs. Seeing we haue often reiterated our Couenant of God of fighting against these lusts let vs be ashamed to be found breakers of so many and so iust promises Seeing we haue taken Christs liuerie vpon vs and haue giuen our names to him to be souldiers in his Campe it is most fit and equall that we should be true and valiant souldiers manfully resisting his and our enemies the greatest and principallest of which wee know to bee these members vpon earth Let vs therefore arme our selues to this battell and make no peace with the things with which God will neuer bee at peace and abhorre to shew our selues either perfidious and false or timorous and faint-hearted souldiers 4. Last of all let vs consider what sinne is Sinne is an vnreasonable thing and we shall find it most righteous to subdue and destroy it Sinne is a most vile and absurd thing contrarie to all right and to all true reason alluring vs to it selfe with none but false vaine and counterfeit enticements nothing therefore can bee more equall then that a thing so most vnequall be resisted and striuen against with vtter dislike Sinne doth a man no good at all but much harme and mischiese it is like a disease good for nothing but to vexe and torment him in whom it breedeth It allureth vs with shews of profit pleasure credit ease and the like but it is a meere coozener and deceiuer and euermore beguileth vs in the end and we shall vtterly misse of our hopes if we trust to its offers and follow its allurements It will bring vs losse in stead of profit euen the losse of an heauenly Kingdome It will reward vs with torment in stead of pleasure euen with the torment of eternall fire It will requite vs with shame in stead of credit euen with euerlasting reproach and confusion in stead of ease it will procure anguish for tribulation and anguish shall for euer lye vpon the soule of euerie one that worketh wickednesse vpon the Iew first and also vpon the Gentile Can any thing bee thought more equall then that so egregious a coozener so errand a lyer so false a companion that is made all of lyes guile fraud and imposture should bee euen apprehended and hanged vp out of the way as we vse to speake that it may beguile vs no longer CHAP. V. Shewing the certaintie of good successe in fighting against our lusts BVt let vs hasten to an end Fourthly from the certaintie of good successe and consider in the last place what successe we shall bee sure to meete with in this fight if wee arme our selues with a constant resolution to continue fighting and neuer for any feare or any cause to giue ouer We shall lose nothing by mortifying the flesh First we shall lose nothing at all that is worth hauing A man may enioy all lawfull conents profits and pleasures and whatsoeuer is truly needfull to the comfort and welfare of his body mind and state though he follow Gods direction and mortifie these members that are vpon the earth and nothing shall we get by following feeding and nourishing them but that which for the present is idle vaine needlesse superfluous and might better be spared then had and for the time to come also will prooue mischieuous and banefull A man may see well enough without that eye that Christ bids him pull out and cast from him he may well enough walke and liue and performe all actions of life for his benefit without that foote and hand which our Lord doth bid vs to cut off and fling from vs. If it seeme to bring blindnesse lamenesse and maimednesse it is but a conceited and imaginarie lamenesse blindnes and maimednesse that appeareth so to vs and is not as he that is borne a monster with sixe fingers might very well cut off one and yet still haue a perfect hand and better for vse then that that had such superfluitie of members Adam and Euah might haue filled their bellies in Paradise though they had neuer come neere to the tree of Knowledge of Good and Euill God had prouided them store of fruit to please their eye and taste and feed their bodies though they had vtterly forborne that forbidden fruit So doth the Lord allow to the sonnes of Adam sufficient store and varietie of lawfull and warrantable things to enioy so that wee may haue as much good as our soules can wish though we cast from vs all sinfull lusts and refuse to follow the inclinations of them The inordinate affections of our soule are like the vnnaturall desires of the stomake when it longeth for things that are sowre and naught and vnwholesome as it were for raw flesh vnripe fruite or things farre worse then these There is wholesome and necessary food enough in he world though a man should neuer eate dirt and coles as some haue longed after So wee can bee no losers by healing our selues of these diseases of the mind which carry vs after nothing that is worth the hauing if wee did measure things by a well-ordered iudgement 2. But moreouer God will accept our labor to mortifie sinne we shal be sure to find acceptance with God in this our endeauour of mortification though we come farre short of perfection so long as wee doe heartily and sincerely striue to perfection Hee that fights resolutely against sinne with spirituall weapons shall bee accounted a good souldier though he be wounded in the battell and knocked downe and taken prisoner and the Lord will redeeme and ransome him
to say Who can say his heart is free And he shall but deceiue himselfe that saith he hath no sinne CHAP. VII Shewing the naturall meanes of Mortification YOu haue heard how much you must needs do in this matter as also how very much you may doe if you bee not carelesse and slothfull Now let me shew you by what meanes both these degrees must be attained and a godly man must passe forward from the former to the latter The meanes of mortification are of two sorts some naturall some spirituall and both are requisite if wee purpose to kill our lusts the former must make the latter more effectuall and be helpfull to our good successe in them Moderation in things indifferent a meanes of mortifying sin The one is moderation in the vse of naturall delights and contents The other discretion in the shunning of outward occasions of euill though the things in themselues bee not euill 2. For the first hee that is not moderate in things indifferent can neuer preuaile against his lusts to any purpose for at the excesse of these lawfull things doe our naturall corruptions begin to take aduantage and to feed themselues and to gather head He that will hold vnder his lusts therefore and put them to death must bee sparing in meate drinke attire sports and must euen cut himselfe shorter in many of these things then that which he perswadeth himselfe and perhaps also truly that he might lawfully doe euen of purpose to keepe himselfe that hee may not bee brought vnder the power of any thing as the Apostle speaketh We must learne of the Apostle himselfe this meanes for he telleth vs that hee did keepe vnder his body 1. Cor. 6.12 1. Cor. 9. last and bring it in subiection The corruptions of the soule finde great furtherance from the humours of the body as a man doth find from a good and fit toole or instrument we must keep the tooles of sinne dull as I may so speake that sinne it selfe may doe vs lesse harme by its working If the body be still humored and pampered by letting it haue all the ease fine fare gay attire sensuall pleasures and pastimes that it wisheth and that a man can make to appeare lawful and warrantable it will not bee kept in subiection it will not be held in order We are therefore in these thins to call vpon our selues to bee very temperate Be a little more meane in thy garments then thou thinkest it absolutely needfull to be vse a little lesse liberty in games and pastimes then thou conceiuest that in strictnesse of conscience thou oughtest to doe So I say for fare ease sleepe If thou dost not from the vtmost confines of lawfull liberty there is but a small step to the border of vnlawfull delights and soone maist thou be drawn to step that step and when thou hast once transgressed thou shalt finde it hard to come into the right way againe He that goes in a riuer where he knowes that a deepe pit is will not come so close to it as hee may but by keeping himselfe vpon sure ground a good way off will bee sure to saue himselfe from being ouerwhelmed therein It is much more safe in things of this nature to keepe our selues a good deale within compasse then to stand vpon the edge of our liberty as I may so speake By abridging our selues of some thing that we are allowed wee cannot likely receiue any hurt by taking all that is allowed we may soone slip into excesse and well-neere mischiefe our selues and by doing all we may doe so ingage our selues to our affections that they will carry vs away to that wee should not doe Austerenesse is not necessary to mortification moderation is To goe wooll-ward or in haire-cloth is a foolish destroying of the body to go in lesse costly attire then one might is a due keeping vnder of the body To make ones selfe leane and wanne with fasting is to tyrannize ouer ones selfe to fare lesse delicately and eate lesse liberally for the most part then one might is to preuent the aduantages of sinne in the body The hypocrite often doth place all his mortification in being cruel to his body wherfore he keepes no measure this way and because it is a thing much looked after and easily seene it is a fit thing for an hypocrite to beguile both the world and himselfe withall The godly man doth make his abridging of the body a furtherance to the cutting off of his lusts wherefore he is not excessiue in his rigour to his body nor will offer violence to nature but alone deny her that which shee may well spare and scants and mints himselfe in the vse of his liberty not as not knowing it but as knowing how easie it is to abuse it and by abusing to take harme And thus by keeping his body in order hee findes it more easie to keepe the minde in frame also which doth much make vse of and as some thinke follow the temperature of the body And let any man vnder heauen be so wise as to obserue himselfe and he shall finde that vnlesse he deny himselfe some lawfull liberty he shall quickly grow sensuall and sensuality is an enemie to mortification 3. A second naturall meanes of mortification is a careful shunning of the occasions of sin Shunning the occasions of sin necessary to mortification Opportunity of time place company and the like doth greatly incense and prouoke corruption and he that will not for euery man in this matter because it is but naturall can if he will denie himselfe in such things can neuer preuaile against his corruptions He hath not gone yet so farre as nature may goe and how then should he looke to finde the helpe of grace The withdrawing of a mans selfe from these things is a pulling of the fuell from the fire and then it wil surely goe out The aduenturing vpon these things doth blow the coles and administer fuell also and then must sinne of necessity both burne and flame In these occasions the sences haue strong allurements offered vnto them and they be vehement in their workings burying the vnderstanding for a time and captiuating the thoughts to their present pleasing obiects so that a man can thinke of no good thing that may serue to resist bad desires and when the soule is so disarmed how should sinne but preuaile against it He that doth thus hazard himselfe thrusts himselfe out of Gods protection for he walketh not in his owne place therefore he can looke for nothing but ruine Satan assureth himselfe of victorie when hee sees men so carelesse of themselues and so becomes vehement in tempting as hope of successe incourageth euery one to labour and then how soone is a man foyled Indeed the heart hath giuen a secret consent to the desire of euill doing so soone as euer it consents to aduenture vpon the occasions of euill doing and it is but the very guile and dissimulation
it is for a mortall and corrupt man to entertaine a good opinion of himselfe without ground But now let mee bee bold to vse the words of the Apostle in another case let no man deceiue his owne selfe and be not deceiued for God is not mocked How is it then my Brethren Be you mortified men or be you not Know well what this thing is afore you say you are mortified or the contrarie A wanne countenance a look cast downe nicenesse in some externall formes of diuine Seruice a rough censuring of others a busie finding fault with euery man austeritie of carriage and sowre censoriousnesse these are not points of mortification it is the killing of our owne sinnes by the power of the Word of God and Prayer It is to seare our selues and watch ouer our selues with such vigilance till wee haue been able at least to forbeare the practice of grosse faults vsually and the allowance of all it is this I say that is meant by mortification 4. Now let me examine each of your soules in Gods stead What paines hast thou taken and doest thou take against thy secret and most beloued Lusts What Prayers What Meditations What feare What care What watching What abridging of thy selfe What circumspection hast thou vsed to make sinne dye What cost and toyle as it were for without cost and toyle warre can neuer bee maintained hast thou been at in warring against the enemies of God and of thine owne soule Where be thy victories against pride and vaine-glorie against enuie and reuenge against wrath and bitternesse against lust and wantonnesse against worldlinesse and couetousnesse against guile and deceite and the other troope of lusts that doe swarme in the liues of men Shew me some of these sinnes lying dead at thy feete or bleeding and ready to die much mangled and much wounded Where are thy heapes vpon heapes as once Samson said seeing thy weapons are farre sharper then the Iaw-bone of an Asse that hee was driuen to make a weapon of Thou professest to bee a Christian that is to say a fouldier of Iesus Christ our Lord Goe to then if thou wouldest be counted a valiant and a good souldier canst thou say of thy selfe as they sang of Dauid once Saul hath slaine his thousand and Dauid his tenne thousand At least Canst thou bring mee to one Sisera whose head thou hast pierced and made to lye groueling vpon the ground before thee Brethren consider whether you haue done any such spirituall exploit or no and thinke not well of your selues without cause It is not vsing bigge words and making frayes that makes a good souldier but killing the enemies of the Prince What one or more of these mortall foes of God and of thy soule haue lost their liues by thine hands A man may if hee will know whether he haue killed his sins yea or not It is not so ouer-hard to find whether sinne haue receiued its deaths wound by our skilfull and valiant vsing of the spirituall weapons wherewith Christ hath furnished vs or whether it yet doe walke healthily liuely and at libertie within vs. I say this is not so hard a thing to find but that wee may find it if wee will not wittingly beguile our owne selues CHAP. XII Containing the second vse of the point for humiliation of them that haue not performed this dutie at all or not in due measure Vse 1 ANd in the next place The carelesse reproued and humbled so many as haue been negligent in this warfare must suffer themselues to bee reprooued and to bee humbled by reproofe for which purpose you must know that there are two degrees of offending in this matter There are some that haue no care at all to kill sinne but rather striue to saue it from death There are others that haue too little care 2. Among those that goe for good Christians in their owne esteeme there are many that count it enough to keepe themselues from the blame and shame of such crimes as the world condemneth though they neuer warre against the lusts of their heart and the inward corrupt affections of their euill soules and the inordinate motions of their owne minds Alasse this is to take sinne prisoner a little and to keepe it aliue for a ransome this is not to kill it this is far from mortification There are some that content themselues in a few things to walke orderly but for other faults they excuse them and defend them and sooth them and keepe them warme and so fight for sinne and doe not fight against it There bee some that if to ciuill righteousnesse they adde a forme of pietie comming to Church at times appointed receiuing the Sacrament when others doe saying their prayers morning and euening and now and then reading a Chapter in the Bible if I say they doe thus much they count themselues excellent Christians though they neuer did know what it meant to bee in fight against their owne distempered lusts and affections nor euer took any paines in that kind wherein mortification consisteth There are some that if they can outstrip the common sort a little and keepe a course of religious exercises in the families and flocke to heare good Sermons and then bee hot and sharpe against Bishops and Ceremonies and crie out against the faults of the times and blame Magistrates and Ministers and euery mans faults with a great storme of words that then doe count themselues Standerd-Bearers in the Campe of Christians whereas they are not able to shew any sinfull lust and affection mortified in them whereas they neither see nore care to see nor resist the wrath pride enuie bitternes worldlinesse vnmercifulnesse contempt of their brethren and other foule vices wherewith their liues are made to stinke in the nostrils of all that can smell any thing 3. All these my Brethren all these whateuer they may say and dreame of themselues bee vnmortified and voyde of sanctitie And whosoeuer amongst you is such an one we assure him that Christ will neuer acknowledge him for a good seruant nor crowne him as a good souldier Whatsoeuer man he be of what wit and learning soeuer of what tongue and speech soeuer of whatsoeuer forwardnesse in religion otherwise and of whatsoeuer strictnesse in outward matters if the corrupt lusts of his heart lye quiet within him if the foule vices which originall sinne haue planted in him doe liue at peace within his soule and hee neither obserueth nor bewaileth nor subdueth them I dare boldly say that man is but a whited tombe and a painted sepulchre Many men please themselues much because they haue a quarrell to other mens faults but deale blowes as freely that way as thou wilt if thou doe not strike as fiercely at thine owne members thou art no better then Iehu though in thy wrath against others thou shewest as much furie as did Iehu in his marching against Ahab and as much as thou countest it zeale as hee did against Ahabs
Family and Baals Priests 4. But there are some of Gods Saints that fight in this battaile but with a very faint hand pursuing their lusts as Israel did the Philistims 1. Sam. 14.24 when Sauls rash oath had made them almost to starue themselues for hunger as it were with a languishing foote and hand They set against finnes sometimes but not often not continually they doe not count it the maine matter as souldiers doe and let all other things giue place to that they are more eager against the faults of others then against their owne faults though some paines they take this way too They see some corruptions and resist but they are not diligent enough in striuing to find out all their euill inclinations and to set against them I know not how you may better find it then words can expresse it but they fight against many sinnes but by the haules Hence it comes to passe that they doe catch many wounds and breake out diuers times into many such words and deeds that doe both blemish them and vexe them much and yet they cannot take warning but because other things doe diuert them from the studie of mortification they grow slacke and remisse againe Doubtlesse my Brethren he that behaues himselfe coldly in this fight is but a weake Christian whateuer knowledge he haue gotten and whateuer name of forwardnesse he hath attained And sure many that are of great note because they can speake well are yet hereby proued not to be strong men but euen babes in Christ at best for alasse how farre are they from hauing put to death pride passion enuy lust worldinesse and other corruptions yea how much and often doe these sinnes preuaile against them O let vs see our weakenesse in this for not as wee know and can speake so is our goodnesse but as wee can mortifie the members that are vpon the earth It is not brauery of speech that makes a good souldier but the blood of his enemies falling before him 5. Now therefore to both these neglecters of mortification to him that neglects it altogether and to him that neglects it very much let me turne my speech as sharpely as I can but differently according to their different offences To thee that satisfiest thy selfe in keeping sinne a little close or at best a little vnder and to thee that makest a formalitie in Religion thine vtmost mortification and to thee that makest a little flash of heate against those that thou callest the corruptions of the times the highest degree of thy striuing against finne giuing not truce alone but peace to pride vanity earthlines idlenesse bitternesse reuenge and other like sinnes thou art but an errand dissembler I pray thee know it and I pray thee be ashamed of it If thou commest to the Word and it doe not shew thee the foule sinnes of thine heart and make thee striue against them If thou prayest with others or by thy selfe and thy prayers doe not procure light to see and strength to ouercome thine owne inward corruptions beleeue it what-euer thine owne selfe-loue or the false opinion of others may tell thee thou art but an hypocrite O now take it to heart and be grieued and ashamed that thou hast all this while liued in shew a Christian indeed a Gentile in shew a child of God indeed a child of the deuill in a shew an heyre of Heauen indeed an heyre of perdition 6. And all you that haue been somewhat carefull of mortification but that somewhat hath been farre too little and therefore you find your lusts yet verie strong within you because your paines hath not been verie earnest and constant to subdue them I pray heare and receiue reproofe What meane you to deale so foolishly for your selues so vnthankefully with God What meane you to liue liues so vncomfortable and distracted so vnheauenly so vnhonourable when you might gaine comfort settlednes honour and a little heauen to your selues by mortification For the most part your sharpnes vnduly against other men sometimes for these things that be faults and sometimes also for those that be not is the chiefe cause of your remaining so much vnmortified because you fight too much abroad therefore you fight too little at home and lose so much at home What meane you to bee many masters What meane you to be teaching euerie bodie more then you selues What meane you to be prying into your Gouernors your neighbors euery body but your selues and by being busie-bodies in other mens matters as it most times fals out to hinder the thrift of your owne soules Fault-finding abroad is one of the greatest enemies to mending of faults at home Now I say what meane you to deale so foolishly for your selues as to keepe so much adoe about that that lesse if at all concernes you and to bee so remisse in your owne bosomes that your owne sinnes bee as strong as other mens and perhaps stronger though you see them not What to bring water to quench another mans house when thine owne doth burn as fast as his And now why dost thou deale so euill with the Lord they God as not to pursue these enemies to death which hee hath giuen thee to pursue Thy chiefe worke is to mortifie thine owne sinnes Hath God promised thee comfort here and glorie hereafter if thou wilt crucifie thine owne lusts Hath hee called thee to be his child inroled thee into his booke giuen thee the earnest of his Spirit and the pay of some present Ioy in hope and all this to hearten thee in cutting off the members vpon earth and wilt thou be still so carelesse in it O now humble thy selfe before the Lord and be greatly sorry Ioel 2.1 2. that thy lusts bee yet so strong within thee God sent a Prophet to Israel to chide them for that they had not destroyed the Canaanites according to his Commandement by the hand of Moses and they finding themselues guiltie lift vp their voyces and wept and the place from thence was called Bochim that is The place of weepers I come in Gods name to reproue thee for that thou hast not with due care rooted out the euill brood the naturall inhabitants as it were of thine owne euill heart now therefore at leastwise bee humbled and mourne for this thy carelesnesse CHAP. XIII Containing the third vse of the point an exhortation to reforme the former negligence hereafter Vse 3 BVt let it not suffice you to be sorrie for your faults a little for the present Exhortation to more diligence make your humiliation so thorow and sound that it may bring forth reformation All you that baue hitherto gone along in your sins without any care at all to mortifie them now bee intreated to buckle on your harnesse and to learne to fight It will not serue the turne for your soules health that you represse your sinnes from breaking out scandalously to the eye of the World It will not serue the
teares and to wrest and extort them out of your heads by force To weepe a little at a Sermon is nothing to speak of there is a further matter required of you In secret I say in secret when you bee all alone and may more freely doe it then doe it more abundantly or else to doe it here a little by compulsion of earnest words perswasions is little worth and will doe little good I confesse that in meditating these things with my self I found mine eyes great with teares and mine heart within me swolne with sighes and I hope that the vttering of them may haue also power to fill some of your hearts and of your eyes also But ah there is yet a greater and secreter mourning which I call you to He weepes in truth that weepes without witnesse Trepare to the worke Take thou some time this day or some other day to get alone by thy selfe and presse these things vpō thy self that haue bin so earnestly beaten vpō thee in the preaching of the Word and there bowing the knees of thy soule before God begin with an acknowledgment vnto him that now thou confessest this mourning for the publike sins is a duty which he doth iustly require at thine hands which thou hast sinfully neglected heretofore but now art sorrowfull for that neglect and desirous to performe hereafter and then humbly beseech him to thaw by the sweete and warme beames of his Grace this frozen heart of thine and so to smite this rockie soule that it may yeeld forth as once the naturall Rocke did euen Riuers of water Pray him according to his most free and gracious promise to powre vpon thee the Spirit of Grace and supplication and remouing the heart of stone to put within thee in stead of it an hart of flesh that thou mayst now doe what Dauid did and what thy selfe by his example art called vpon by the Ministrie and art accordingly desirous to doe Hauing thus prepared thy selfe Begin to weepe for thine owne sinnes first then set about the worke it selfe and first begin to weepe for thine owne sinnes for assure thy soule it shall be all in vaine for any man to labour to bewaile the faults of others that doth not in the first place bewaile his owne faults Thinke and say thus then to thy selfe in thy meditations Ah what a vile and wretched sinner am I What a Childhood haue I spent What an Youth What a Middle-age And if thou beest come so farre what an Old-age What thoughts haue I harboured in mine heart What words haue I vttered with my tongue What deeds haue I done with mine hand This tongue of mine hath sworne many a vaine passionate and outragious oath This tongue hath cursed and rayled and spoken profanely It hath spoken wantonly and filthily and told many a lye and false tale This hand hath vsed cruelty reuenge and dalliance This heart hath swolne against Gouernours and boyled away in enuy and malice This heart hath been fearelesse and carelesse of God and hath forgotten him and his Word and euen doubted of his Beeing O wretched tongue wretched hand wretched hart O would that I could mourne for all these abominations of my life O that all the teares which euer I wept in all my life for crosses losses wrongs iniuries vnkindnesses and the like were now all vnwept and gathered together at once in mine eyes that I might powre them forth in godly sorrow before the Lord for my sinnes Be thou humbled and cast downe O my soule and be thou troubled within me wallow thy selfe in the dust and tumble thy self in ashes Thou hast offended against thy Maker and sinned against thy Redeemer the holy Sonne of God! Thou hast wronged thy neighbours and hurt thy selfe and deserued damnation and Ah wretch thou hast shewed thy selfe vngracious and vngratefull against that heauenly carefull and tender-hearted Father that gaue his onely Sonne to death to ransome thee What Father euer so louing What child euer so rebellious Why are you drie O mine eyes And why art thou stony O mine heart Why doth sorrow flie from mee And why are teares departed hence O that I could weepe O that I could weepe O that I could euen be melted and dissolued into kindly teares and with blessed Peter weepe bitterly and with godly Marie wash the feete of my Sauiour with my teares Thus striue and take paines with thy self to make thy soule sad for thine owne sinnes first and hauing softned thy selfe somewhat by such endeuours then begin for thy Countrie also and thinke in this sort Ah Lord if I had sinned alone I alone would weepe mine owne teares But I am a man of polluted lips and life and I dwell amongst a people of polluted lips and life Wee haue all gone astray wee all haue done an abominable deed there is none that doth good no not one This Nation this Christian and baptized Nation wherein thy Gospell of truth hath so long shined brightly is yet still for all that a wicked and a sinfull Nation O that thou wouldst please to helpe me mourne for these common sinnes Is not thy Spirit as able to soften a mans heart now as in former times Proy to God to soften the heart Is not an heart of the posteritie of Abraham naturally as hard as one of another off-spring O thou that gauest Dauid store of teares stirre vp in me also the spirit of griefe for the publike sinnes Consider the grieuous sianes of our Land And now begin to represent vnto thy soule the many monstrous crying sinnes that are daily and with impunitie many committed in our Countrie Loose thy thoughts a while in this great Thicket and wildernes of abominations that hath ouer-growne vs and say What could God doe more for a people then he hath done for vs and he looked for Grapes and behold wilde Grapes and for Figs and behold rotten Figs for iudgement and righteousnes and behold sin wickednes What monstrous ignorance and profanenes and hellish Atheisme doth couer the multitude What monstrous pride and idlenesse and fulnes of bread and abominable vncleannesse doe couer the Gentry How full of oathes and blasphemies are the Court the Citie the Townes the Countrie with vs Great men sweare and meane men sweare Ministers sweare and people sweare men sweare and women sweare boyes sweare and girles sweare almost babes and sucklings sweare and if euery oath were but a drop of water it were enough to make a flood to drowne the whole Land withall The Lords Day is euery where violated and profaned The Word and Sacraments are made a very iest and all Gods seruices are turned into a meere customary piece of worke The children are euery where stubburne and rebellious against their parents Much murder and bloodshed is committed and for enuie and malice the Land aboundeth with them whoredome and filthinesse stinkes in euery corner theft oppression vsurie simony sacriledge where shal a
eternall glory in Heauen Name me a man that is noted to haue bewailed the sinnes of others and I will bring you a ground out of Scripture without doubt or question that he is saued so can it not bee said of those that haue mourned for their owne sinnes For in truth the fiercenesse of an euill conscience terrifying the soule with the feare of hell fire may stirre vp such griefe and make an vnsanctified man complaine bitterly that hee hath sinned in such or such a thing as Iudas in betraying innocent blood That naturall affectioÌ„ which we beare vnto our selues may also make vs sorrowfull fort that which we cannot but see will bee harmefull to our selues euen where no grace at all doth dwell But to sorrow for publike offences and for the sinnes of those that are no way neere vnto vs but as the common bands of Humanitie and Christianitie haue vnited them there can bee no motiue at all imagined except the true hatred of sinne and the true loue of God and man which no man can haue but from the Spirit of our Lord Iesus Christ dwelling in him Desperation and horror without Grace may procure teares for ones owne faults nothing but holinesse can procure them for others A man may lament his owne sinnes and not hate them hee cannot lament the common sinnes but out of an hatred of them Wherefore let the people of God make much of these teares and preserue them as it were some hot and comfortable licour for their vse against the day of temptation that when the weake faith shall bee assaulted with manifold obiections it may haue this token of truth to alleage for it selfe against which there can bee none exception and let the people of God endeuour to be frequent in this exercise o mourning for the common sinnes that they may abound in comfort afterwards and be filled with ioy in stead of sorrow for alwaies holy sorrow ends in ioy Wee may not make our selues so carelesse of our spirituall estate as to lose a good dutie but must put al the Graces that God hath giuen vs and the effects of them to the best vse improouing them all to the encrease of our faith in God and our spirituall reioycing in the assurance of his loue It will make vs constant in good duties if wee shall find them to doe vs much good Let these sorrowes be much profitable and comfortable vnto them O Christian soule as indeed they ought and out of these weeping promises gather these gladsome conclusions I am sure I am Gods child I am sure I am a member of the same body that Dauid was a member of I am sure I partake of that Spirit that dwelt in him I am sure that sinne shall not mortally infect me that I shall not bee drowned in the publike Iudgements that God will either spare the Land for the sake of my selfe and other like mourners or at least that himselfe will make prouision for my welfare in the common woes I shall laugh when others are punished for sin because I wept when they committed sinne God will bee my shelter and refuge in the time of trouble and hee will not giue me ouer to the destroyer for often haue I caused and often doe I purpose hereafter to cause that streames of teares shall descend from mine eyes because the sonnes of men doe tread his Statutes vnder-foot I haue not onely wept for mine owne sinnes which feare of shame in the World or damnation in Hell hath made many a dissembler doe I haue not alone wept for the faults of my children and neere friends which also carnall affection hath made many a carnall man to do in some cases I haue not only wept for the faults of others that were harmefull to my selfe and my friends as selfe-loue wil make any man to doe but I haue wept for the generall sinnes of the whole Land for the sinnes of the high and low for the sinnes of strangers that knew mee not and enemies that loue mee not for the sinnes of any of Adams sonnes that I knew to haue sinned because they kept not Gods Precepts Blessed be the Lord that hath made maine heart in such a measure soft and tender I am in his Couenant seeing he hath created an heart of flesh within my body and I am sure that none but a fleshy hart will make the eyes to shed teares for the violation of Gods testimonies by other men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS Errata Page 5. line 20. for fretting reade fettering p. 17. l. 13. f. 1. Corinth r. 1. Chron. p. 23. l. 30. f. be r. because p. 28. l. 5. f. disorder r. disorders ead f. doth r. doe p. 38. l. 22. f. know r. knowing p. 40. l. 1. f. First r. that is p. 51. l. 2. f. lesse r. losse p. 52. l. 15. f. kyes r. trees p. 55. l. 6. f. breake r. brooke p. 56. l. 3. f. common of those r. common Of those l. 8. f. desires Very r. desires very p. 68. l. 18. f. God alone r. God alone p. 70. l. 16. f. Hamar r. Hamor p. 72. l. 9. f. cumber and attend r. cumber attend p. 78. l. 2. f. thou r. you p. 80. l. 5. f. shame r. shun p. 112. l. 19. f. lend r. bend p. 119. l. 22. f. persecute r. prosecute p. 121. l. 2. f. of God r. with God p. 134. l. 13. f. them The one r. them The naturall meanes are two the one p. 164. l. 28. f. selues r. soules p. 170. l. 19. f. haue r. hath p. 176. l. 4. f. workes r. worke p. 204. l. 15 f. thy r the. p. 229. l. 3. f. longer no r. no longer p. â—44 l. 6. f. him r. himselfe p. 251. l. 17. f. vs and euery r. making all faces blacke all knees weake and euery body l. 19. f. houses r. windowes l. 20. f. buyer r. buryer p. 252. l. 24. f. soules r. selues l. 25. f. countries r. Countrie
turne that you cast out such faults from your liues as would scarce be tolerated in Heathens you must fight against all sinnes inward sinnes secret lusts hidden corruptions and those that most men count nothing you must fight against the sinnes that are most deare to you and that you haue loued best and followed most and that Nature makes you most vnwilling and vnable to resist you must fight against the sinnes of your owne age and your owne constitution and your owne estate and your owne condition 2. Now I pray you set to the workes learne of God to know your right enemies and to fight against them Bee not afraid because wee talke of fighting the fight shall be without danger for in this case the onely perill is not to fight In other battailes he that runs away doth often scape better then he that stands to it but in this battaile whosoeuer flyes dyes and hee alone escapeth with life that fights it out to the last It is a noble quarrell to fight for life and libertie against a meere vsurper that hath no manner of title and yet would make you slaues Sin hath none interest to you the Deuill is not your Creator that hee should make himselfe your your Prince and your God These lusts against which we exhort you to fight they are the deuils armies or garrisons by which he holds you downe vnder his most vniust and tyrannical gouernment O rebell rebell against the deuill kill his Garrisons set your selues at libertie Fight against worldlinesse enuie malice pride hypocrisie wantonnesse wrath fight against them resolue that thou wilt neuer bee made a drudge by them as thou hast been that they shall not haue the command of thine heart and thy tongue and thine hand as they haue had but that now through the Grace of God thou wilt cast away all these things How thou shouldest fight I haue shewed thee before remember those directions and vse them and bee happie O that any reasonable man much more any Christian should be so base-minded and of such a seruile disposition as to bee content to make himselfe a slaue to any wicked passion to any sinfull lust to any filthie vice to any of the deputies of the Deuill that rule for him and vnder him What say you men and brethren will you now set in to fight in good earnest against all your sinnes If you will the Lord be with you the Lord assist you the Lord beate downe your foes before you and we blesse you in his Name in whose Name we haue exhorted you If you will not then hardly liue and die in thraldome for euer for without this fight there can be no libertie 3. But now to those that haue been slacke and carelesse in this dutie let mee sound an alarme Numb 10.9 as the Priests with the siluer Trumpets in the Law to reuiue their spirits and put new hart into them that they may with more zeale and better courage addresse themselues to this most honourable warre Now my Brethren giue more diligence to the mortifying of your earthly members and let nothing daunt you or withdraw you from this battaile Remember the words that Ioab spake to Abishai his brother 2. Sam. 10.12 and make vse of them for this purpose Let vs play the men for our People and the Cities of our God and let the Lord doe that this is good in his sight It is not for your Countrey and for your Countrey-men that you fight but for your owne immortall soules that you must play the men and here the battaile is not yours but Gods and the successe is not doubtfull but most certaine Nothing can afford thee more comfort then a constant resolution in this fight nay without such resolution nothing can afford thee true comfort By this thou shalt shew and know thy selfe to bee a true Christian and procure to thy selfe an eternall Crowne of glorie Remember the equitie of the cause the necessitie of the warre the fruit that shall redound from it and the certaine assistance acceptance and reward that God himselfe will afford thee from Heauen That prosperitie that thou hast already met with in this warre hath done thee more good then all the world besides can doe Wouldst thou for a World be in the same seruitude which once thou wast before thou tookest in hand the mortifying of these earthly members More diligence shall bring thee a fuller victorie and a fuller victorie shall bring thee larger consolation 4. All that hot breath which men do spend rather in blasting the names then healing the faults of their Brethren when they are bitter and tart in iudging and condemning them will be no whit at all beneficiall to themselues nay neither themselues nor others are the better for this warring Turne your edge another way and enter freshly into the fight against your owne sinnes and let other men alone Indeed in this warre as in the naturall euery one must bee ready to lend aide by seasonable admonitions vnto his fellow-souldiers also but the maine worke is no make good each his owne standing and to repell the enemies which himselfe is most assailed by What words shall I vse to perswade you to this dutie Your Captaine is Christ Iesus your fellow-souldiers are all the Saints on earth and the Saints in Heauen haue all giuen you an honourable example of fortitude and constancie and your enemies be base Rebels and vile Run-awayes March on then valiantly and vnder such a Captaine with such fellow-souldiers agaist such aduersaries be ready to spend your vtmost endeauours You haue but three enemies that seeke to keepe you out of Heauen and the other two may doe you some trouble but hurt they can doe you none at all if you keep the flesh downe and put to death these members vpon earth All the wicked men on earth and all the wicked Feinds in Hell cannot make vs guiltie of one euil word or one euil thought further then the corrupt flesh within doth take their part and ioyne with their temptations and sollicitaion These be the traytors that betray vs vnto Satan and the World O therefore vse them as traytors pursue them apprehend them execute them And so much for those that in trying themselues shall bee found either wholly or in great part carelesse of this worke CHAP. XIV Containing a consolation and encouragement to those that haue been and are painefull in the dutie of Mortification Vse 4 THere are also some Comfort and incouragement to all truly mortified men I make no question which haue done the office of valiant men and can looke vpon the carcasses of sinnes as Samson did once of the dead Philistims This worke I know well hath prooued painefull to them It is a tedious businesse to fight against the things that corrupt nature loueth so well But as any dutie that God requireth doth stand vs in more labour so shall it affoord vs more comfort here and more blisse