LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

PART IIII.

EZEKIEL XXXIII. 11.

Turn ye, turn ye from your evil wayes, &c.

TO stand out with God, and contend with him all our life long, to try the utmost of his patience, and then in our evening, in the shutting up of our dayes, to bow before him, is not to turn. Nor have we any reason to conceive any hope that a faint con∣fession or sigh should deliver him up to eternity of bliss, whom the swinge of his lusts and a multiply∣ed continued disobedience have carried along with∣out check or controll to his chamber and bed, and to the very mouth of the grave; who delighted himself in evil till he can do no good. De∣lay, if it be not fatall to all, (for we dare not give laws to Gods Mercy) yet we have just reason to fear it is so to those that trust so to God's Mer∣cy as to run on in their evil wayes till the hand of Justice is ready to cut their thread of life, and to set a period to that and their sins together. Turn ye, turn ye, that is, now, that it be not too late. Proceed we now to the second property of Repentance, the Sincerity of our Turn.

This Ingemination in the Text hath more heat in it; for it serveth not onely to hasten our motion and Turn, but to make it true and real and sincere. When God biddeth us turn, he considereth us not as upon a stage, but in his Church, where every thing must be done, not acted; where all is real, nothing in shadow and representation; where we must be holy, as he is holy; perfect, as he is perfect; true, as he is true: where we must behave our selves as in the house of God,* 1.1 which is not pe••gula picto∣ris, a Painters shop, where all is in shew, nothing in truth.* 1.2 Not our gar∣ments, but our hearts must be rent; that as Christ our head was crucified indeed, not in shew or phantasm, as Marcion would have it, so we may present him a wounded soul, a bleeding repentance, a flesh crucified, and so joyn as it were with Christ in a real and sincere putting away and abo∣lishing of sin. God is Truth it self, true and faithful in his promises:* 1.3 If he speak, he doth it; if he command, it shall stand fast: and therefore he hateth a feigned forced, wavering, imaginary Repentance. To come in a visour or disguise before him is an abomination. Nor will he give true joy for feigned sorrow, heaven for a shadow, everlasting happiness for a counterfeit and momentany Turn, and eternity for that which is not, for that which is nothing. And Repentance, if it be not sincere, is

nothing.* 1.4 The holy Father will tell us, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, That which is feigned is not lasting. That which is forced faileth and endeth with that artificial spring that turneth it about, as we see the wheels of a clock move not when the plummet is on the ground, because the begin∣ning of that motion is ab extrà, not from an internal form, but from some violence or art without.* 1.5 Simplex recti cura, multiplex parvi: There is but one true principle of a real, Turn, the fear of God; there may be ve∣ry many of a false one.* 1.6 Martine Luther said that one lie had need of se∣ven more, to draw but an apparency of truth over it, that it may pass under that name: So that which is not sincere is brought in with a troop of at∣tendants like it self, and must be set off with great diligence and art; when that which is true commendeth it self, and needeth no other hand to paint or polish it. What art and labour is required to smooth a wrink∣led brow?* 1.7 What ceremony, what noise, what trumpets, what extermi∣nation of the countenance, what sad looks, what tragical deportment must usher in an Hypocrite? What a penance doth he undergo that will be a Pharisee? How many counterfeit sighs and forced grones, how many fasts, how many sermons must be the prologue•• 〈◊〉〈◊〉 false Turn, to a nomi∣nal Turn? For we may call it turning from our evil wayes, when we do but turn and look about us to secure our selves in them, or to make way to worse. Ahab and Jezabel did so; Absalom did; the Jews did so, Fast to smite with the fist of wickedness,* 1.8 and to make their voice to be heard on high. A false Turn, Wickedness it self may work it: Craft and Cruelty may blow the trumpet in Sion,* 1.9 and sanctifie a fast. A feigned Repentance, Oppression, Policy, Love of the world, Sin it self may beget it, and so ad∣vance and promote it self, and be yet more sinful. And commonly a false Turn maketh the fairest shew, and appeareth in greater glory to a carnal eye then a true one.* 1.10 Ingeniosior ad excogitandum simulatio veri∣tate; Hypocrisie is far more witty, seeketh out more inventions, and many times is more diligent and laborious, then the Truth: because Truth hath but one work, to be what it is, and taketh no care for out∣ward pomp and ostentation, nor cometh forth at any time to be seen, unless it be to propagate it self in others.

Now by this we may judge of our Turn, whether it be right and na∣tural or no. As we may make many a false Turn, so there may be many false springs and principles to set us a turning. Sometimes fear may do it, sometimes Hope, sometimes Policy, and in all the Love of our selves more then of God: And then commonly our Tragedy concludeth in the first scene, nay in the very prologue; our Repentance is at an end in the very first Turn,* 1.11 in the very first shew. Ahab's Repentance was but a flash at the Prophets thunder; Pharaoh's Repentance was driven on with an East-wind, and compast about with locusts; an inconstant, false and desultory Repentance. I cannot better compare it then to motions by water-works: Whilest the water runneth, the devise turneth round, and we have some Story of the Bible presented to our eyes; but when the water is run out, all is at an end, and we see that no more which took our eyes with such variety of action. So it is many times in our Turn, which is no better then a pageant; Whilest the waters of affliction beat upon us, we are in motion, and may present divers actions and signs of true Repentance: Our eyes may gush out with tears; we may hang down our head, and beat our breast; our tongue, our glory may a∣wake; our hands may be stretched out to the poor; we may cry Pec∣cavi, with David, put on sackcloth with Ahab, go for•••• with Peter: But when these waters of bitterness are abated or cease, t••••n our motion fail∣eth, our Turn is at an end, our tears are dried up, our tongue silent, our

hands withered, and it plainly appeareth that our Turn was but artifici∣al, our motion counterfeit, and our Repentance but a kind of puppit-play. Malorum vestigia, quasi in salo posita,* 1.12 fluctuant & prolabuntur saith Hierome: The wicked walk in this world as on the waves of the sea; they make a proffer to go and walk, but soon sink and fall down: Their motion is wavering and inconstant. And he giveth the reason, Funda∣menta fidei solida non habent, They have no sure grounding. Nor doth the love of goodness, but something else, thus startle and disquiet them in evil. Saul's whining at Samuel's reproof,* 1.13 Ahab's mourning and humbling himsef at Elijahs prophesie, Felix trembling at Paul's preaching, were not voluntary and natural motions, but beat out by the hammer. The loss of a kingdome, the destruction of a family, the fear of judge∣ment may drive any Saul to his prayers, cloath any Ahab with sackcloth, and bring motum trepidationis, a fit of trembling, upon any Felix, loose the joynts of any heathen. For, as it is observed that the very Heathen retained some seeds of truth, and although they had no full and perfect sight of it, but saw it at a distance, falsum tamen ab absurdo refutârunt, yet condemned errour and falshood by that absurdity which was visible enough, and written as it were in its very fore-head; so in the most rot∣ten and corrupt hearts there are Divinae veritatis semina, some seeds of saving knowledge, but choked and stifled with the love of vanity and the cares of this world. Hereupon though they do not hate sin, yet the horrour of sin, or that smart which it bringeth along with it, maketh them sometimes turn away, and make a seeming flight from that sin which they cannot hate. What therefore the Philosopher speaketh of Frindship is here very appliable, That friendship is most lasting which hath the best and surest ground, which is built and raised upon Virtue:* 1.14 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the friendship of wicked men is as unconstant and unstable as themselves; for they want that goodness which is the con∣firmation and bond of love. If it rise from Pleasure, that is a thinner vapour then a mans life, and appeareth a less time,* 1.15 and then vanisheth a way; and the friend goeth with it. If you lay it on riches, they have wings,* 1.16 and that love which was tied to them flieth away with them. Nothing can give it a sure and firm being but Piety, which is as lasting as the heavens. Profit and Pleasure and by-respects are but threds of tow; and when these are broken, then they who had but one mind and soul, are two again. And so also it is with us in our converse and walking with our God.* 1.17 His friends we are, if we keep his sayings, if the love of his name be as it were the form and principle that moveth and carrieth us towards him, if we turn in his name: But if we do it upon false grounds, up∣on such motives as will rather change our countenance and gesture then our minds, and make us seeem good for a while to be worse for ever after; if we vomit up our sin to ease our stomach,* 1.18 and then lick it up again; if we turn, that the flying book of curses over∣take us not; we then give him but a single Turn, nay, the sha∣dow of a Turn, for a double call; our Conversion is not sincere and true. There must be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, something to strengthen it, that something will make us like him, that will knit and unite us to him. Our Repentance must be fully formed in our hearts before it speak in sorrow, be powred forth in tears, hang down the head at a fast, and take the penitential habit. Our Turn must be begun and continued by Faith and Obedience, and then we shall not onely be baptized in the tears of our Repentance, but withal receive our Con∣firmation.

And let us thus turn. For first, false Repentance is a sin greater then that I turn from. To make a shew of hatred to that I most love, is to love it still, and make my guilt greater by an additional lie. To seem to be sorry for that I delight in, to forsake that I cleave to, to renounce that I embrace, to turn from that I follow after, maketh my condition in some respects worse then that of the Atheist: For I do not onely de∣ny God, but deny him with a mock, which is a greater sin then not to think of him. If we profess vve turn, and yet run on, vve sin in pro∣fessing that vvhich vve do not, and vve sin in not doing that vvhich vve profess. If vve profess vve do it, vvhy then do vve it not? and if vve do it not, vvhy do vve profess it? A shevv of vvhat I should be accuseth me for not being vvhat I shevv: As vve see the Ape appeareth more de∣formed and ridiculous because it is like a Man; and a Strumpet is never more despicable then in a Matrones stole; as Nazianzene speaketh of wo∣men that paint themselves,* 1.19 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, their beauty sheweth them more deformed, because it is counterfeit. The very heathen could say, Odi homines philosophâ sententia, ignavâ operâ; I hate those men who are Stoicks in word, and Epicures in deed, whose virtue is nothing else but a bare sentence in Philosophy, with some advantage from the gown and beard. Sophocles, who had no more chastity then what he was to thank his old age for, yet could lash and with great bitterness reproch Euripides, and pass this censure upon him, That he was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, very bitter against women in his Tragedies; but more kind then was fitting in his chamber.* 1.20 The Comedian, to make So∣crates ridiculous to the people, bring him upon the stage measuring the leaps of Fleas, and disputing and putting it to the question what part it was they made a noise at; but never thought he had sufficiently exposed him to laughter, till he brought him in discoursing of Virtue, and in his very lecture of Morality stealing a piece of plate. For he knevv nothing could be more absurd then for a Philosopher to play the thief, and then too when he was prescribing the rules of Honesty. Now if the very Pagans by the light of nature could condemn Hypocrisy by their ve∣ry scorn, and deride and hate it; no sentence can be severe enough a∣gainst it in a Christian, because the abuse of goodness is far the greater, by how much the goodness which is abused is more excellent and levelled to a better end. And therefore a formal Penitent is the grossest hypocrite in the world.

Besides this, in the second place, God, who is Truth it self, standeth in extreme opposition to all that is feigned and counterfeit. An Almes with a trumpet, a Fast with a sowr face, Devotion that devoureth wi∣dows houses, do more provoke him to wrath then those vices which these outward formalities seem to cry down. Nothing is more distastful to him then a mixt and compounded Christian, made up of a bended knee and a stiff neck, of an attentive ear and a hollow heart, of a pale coun∣tenance and a rebellious spirit, of fasting and oppression, of hearing and deceit, of Hosanna's and Crucifiges, of cringes, bowings, flatteries, and real disobedience. Absalom's vow, Jehu's sacrifices, Simon Magus his Repentance,* 1.21 Ahab's fast his soul doth hate, or any Devil that putteth on Samuel's mantle. And he so far detesteth the mere outward performance of a religious duty, that when he thundreth from heaven, when he breatheth out his menaces and threatnings on the greatest sinners, the burden is, They shall have their portion with hypocrites. Exod 20.25. we read, Thou shalt not build an altar of hewen stone, nor shalt thou lift up a tool upon it. Why not lift a tool upon it? They used the hatchet, saith Nazianzene, to build the Ark, to frame the staves of Shittim-wood; they

wrought in gold and silver and brass with iron instruments; they put a knife to the throat of the sacrifice; yet here, to lift up a tool upon any stone of the Altar, is to pollute it. And why not pollute the Ark as well as the Altar? The Father giveth the reason, The stones of the Altar were by the providence of God and a kind of miracle found fitted already for that work, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because, saith he,* 1.22 what∣soever is consecrate to God must not borrow from the help of art, must not be artificial, but natural. If we build an altar unto God to sacrifice our selves on, the stones must be naturally fitted, not hewen out by art; not a forced grone, a forced acknowledgment, artificial tears, but such as nature sendeth forth when our grief is true.

To avoid this danger then, let us ask our selves the question, whether we have gone further in our Turn then an Ahab, or an Herode, or a Si∣mon Magus, and even by their feigned Turn learn to make up ours in truth. For did Ahab mourn and put on sackcloth?* 1.23 did Herode hear John Baptist, and hear him gladly? did Simon Magus desire Peter to pray for him, even then when he was in the gall of bitterness? what anxiety, what contrition must perfect my conversion? Si tanti vitrum, quanti margarita? If glass cast such a brightness, what must the lustre of a diamond be? And thus may we make use even of Hypocrisie it self to establish our selves in the truth, make Ahab and Herode arguments and motives to make our Repentance sure. For,* 1.24 as the Philosopher well telleth us that we are not onely beholding to those who accurately handled the points and conclu∣sions in Philosophy, but even to Poets, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, who did light upon them by chance, and but glance upon them by allusion; so may we receive instruction even from these Hypo∣crites, who did repent tanquam aliud agentes, so slightly as if they had some other matter in hand. We must fast and put on sackcloth with Ahab, we must hear the word with Herode, we must beg the prayers of the Church with Simon Magus; but finding we are yet short of a true Turn, we must press forward, and exactly make up this divine science, that our Turn may be real and in good earnest, that it may be finished after his form who calleth so loud after us, that it may be brought about, and approved to him in all sincerity and truth. Thus much of the second property of Repentance.

The third is, It must be poenitentia plena, a total and universal conver∣sion, a Turn from all our evil wayes. If it be not total and universal, it is not true, A great errour there is in our lives, and the greatest part of mankind are taken and pleased and lost in it, To argue and conclude à parte ad totum, to take the part for the whole, and from the slight for∣bearance of some one unlawful act, or the superficial performance of some particular duty, to infer and vainly arrogate to themselves a ha∣tred of all sin, and an universal obedience: as if what Tiberius the Em∣perour was wont to say of his half eaten meats were true of our divided, our parcel and curtailed Repentance, Omnia eadem habere quae totum,* 1.25 E∣very part of it, every motion and inclination to newness of life, had as much in it as the whole body and compass of our Obedience, and there were that mutual agreement and sympathy of duties in a Christian that Physicians say there is of the parts of a living creature, the same sapour and taste in a disposition to goodness that there is in a habit of goodness, as much heat and heartiness in a thought as in a constant and earnest per∣severance, in a Velleity as much activity as in a Will, as much in a Pha∣risees pale countenance as in S. Paul's severe discipline and mortification,* 1.26 and, as Hypocrites speaketh, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the least per∣formance all the parts of our obedience; in a meer approbation, a desire;

in a desire, a will; in a leaving one evil way, a turning from all; and in cutting off but one limb or part, the utter destruction of the whole bo∣dy of sin. And therefore, as if God looked down from heaven, and from thence beheld the children of men, and saw how we turn, one from luxu∣ry to covetousness, another from superstition to profaneness, a third from idols to sacriledge, from one sin to another; or from some one great sin and not from another, from our scandalous, but not from our more do∣mestick,* 1.27 retired and speculative sins; he sendeth forth his voice, and that a mighty voice; TƲRN YE, TƲRN YE; not from one by-path to ano∣ther; not from one sin alone, and not from another also; but turn ye, turn ye so that ye need turn no more, turn ye from all your evil wayes. In corporibus aegris nihil nociturum medici relinquunt,* 1.28 Physicians purge all noxious humours out of sick and crazy bodies: And so doth the great Physician of souls sanctifie and cleanse them, that he may present them to himself,* 1.29 not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that they may be holy and without blemish. To turn from one sin to another, as from Prodigality to Sordedness and love of the world, from extreme to ex∣treme,* 1.30 is to flee from a lion to meet a bear. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Extremities are equalities. Though they are extremes and distant, yet in this they agree, that they are extremes; and though our evil wayes be never so far asunder, yet in this they meet, that they are evil. Superstition doteth, Profaneness is mad; Covetousness gathereth all, Prodigality scattereth all; Rash Anger destroyeth the innocent, foolish Compassion spareth the guilty. We need not ask which is worst, when both are evil; for Sin and Destruction lie at the door of the one as well as of the other. To despise prophesying,* 1.31 and To hear a Sermon as I would a song; Not to hear, and To do nothing else but hear; To worship the walls, and To beat down a Church; To be superstitious, and To be profane, are extremes, which we must equally turn from. Down with Superstition on the one side, and down with Profaneness on the other; down with both, even to the ground. Because some are bad, let not us be worse, and make their sin a motive and inducement to run upon a greater. Because some talk of Merits, let not us be afraid of Good works; because they vow Cha∣stity, let not us pollute our selves; because they vow Poverty, let not us make haste to be rich;* 1.32 because they vow Obedience, let not us speak evil of dignities. It is good to shun one rock, but there is as great danger if we dash upon another. Superstition hath devoured many, but Profane∣ness is a gulf which hath swallowed up more.* 1.33 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Photius in his censure of Theodo∣rus Antiochenus; For that which is opposite to that which is worse is not good: for one evil standeth in opposition to another, and both at their se∣veral distance are contrary to that which is good. Nor can I hope to expiate one sin with another, to make amends for my oppression by my wastful expenses, to satisfy for my bowing to an idole by robbing a Church, for my contemning a Priest by my hearing a Sermon, for my standing in the way of sinners by running into a conventicle;* 1.34 for I am still in the seat of the scornful. This were first to make our selves wor∣thy of death, and then to run to Rome or Geneva for sanctuary; first to be villains and men of Belial, and at last turn from Papists or Schisma∣ticks: In both we are what we should not be; nor are our sins lost in a faction. This were nothing else but to think to remove one disease with another, and to cure the cramp with a Fever. Turn ye, turn ye: Whi∣ther should we turn but to God?* 1.35 In hoc motu convertit se anima ad u∣nitatem & identitatem; in this motion of turning the soul striveth for∣ward through the vanities of the world, through all extremes, through

all that is evil, though the branches of it look contrary wayes, to Unity and Identity, to that Good which is ever like it self, the same in every part of it, and never contrary to it self. We must strive to be one with God, as God is one with us. As he is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, one and the same, in all his commands, not forbidding one sin and permitting another, but his wayes are equal, so must our turn be equal,* 1.36 not from the right hand to the left, not from Superstition to Profaneness, not from Despising of prophe∣sie to Sermon-hypocrisie, not from Uncleanness to Faction, not from Ri∣ot to Rebellion; but a Turn from all extremes, from all evil, a collection and levelling the soul, which before looked divers wayes, and turning her face upon the way of truth, upon God alone. If we turn as we should, if we will answer this earnest and vehement call, we must turn from all our evil wayes. We use to say that there is as great a miracle wrought in our conversion as in the creation of the world: but this is not true in e∣very respect: For Man, though he be a sinner, yet is something, hath an understanding, will, affections to be wrought upon: Yet as it is one con∣dition required in a true miracle, that it be perfect, so that there be not onely a change, but such a change as is absolute and exact, that it may seem to be as it were a new creation; that water which is changed into wine may be no more water, but wine, that the blind man may truly see, the lame man truly walk, and the dead man truly live; So is it in our Turn and conversion; there is a total and perfect change. The Adul∣terer is made an Eunuch for the kingdom of heaven,* 1.37 the Intemperate cometh forth with a knife at his throat, the Revenger kisseth the hand that striketh him. When we turn sin vanisheth, the Old man is dead, and in its place there standeth up a new creature.* 1.38 S. Paul speaking of the works of the flesh (which are nothing but sins) and having given us a ca∣talogue and reckoned up many of them, by which we might know the rest, at last concludeth, Of which I tell you before, as I have also told you often, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Where the Apostle's meaning is not, that they who do all these, or most of these, or many of these, or more then one of these, but they who die possest of any one of these, shall have no place in the kingdom of God and of Christ. For what profit is there to turn from one sin, and not all, when one sin is enough to make us breakers of the whole Law, and so liable to eternal death? It is a conclusion in the Schools, That whosoe∣ver is in the state of any one mortal sin, and turneth not from it, what∣soever he doth, whether pray, or give almes, bow the knee before God, or open his hand to his brother; be it what it will be in it self, never so fair and commendable, it is forthwith blasted and defaced, and it is so far from deserving commendations, that it hath no other wages due to it but death. I cannot say this is true: for so far as any work is agreeable with Reason, so far it must needs be pleasing to the God of Reason; so far as it answereth the Rule, so far is it accepted of him that made it. Nor can I think that Regulus, Fabricius, Cato, and the rest, qui convitium faciunt Christianis, who upbraid and shame many of us Christians, were damned for their justice, integrity, honesty. Hell is no receptacle for men so qualified, were there nothing else to prepare and fit them for that place. But yet most true it is, that if we be induced and beautified with many virtues, yet the habit of one sin is enough to deface them, to draw that night and darkness about them that they shall not be seen, to put them to silence, that they shall have no power to speak or plead for us in the day of tryal. Though they be not sins, not bright and shining sins, (for I cannot see how Darkness it self should shine) yet they shall become utterly unprofitable. They may peradventure lessen the num∣ber

of the stripes,* 1.39 but yet the unrepentant sinner shall be beaten. For what ease can a myriad of virtues do him who is under arrest? Nay, what performance can acquit him who is condemned already? Reason it self standeth up against it, and forbiddeth it. For what obedience is that which answereth but in part, which followeth one precept, and runneth away from another? And then what imperfect monsters should the kingdome of heaven receive? a Liberal man, but not chast; a Tem∣perate man, but not honest; a Zealous man, but not charitable; a great Faster, and a great Impostour; a Beads man, and a Thief; an Apostle and a great Preacher, but a Traytour. Monstrum horrendum, informe! Such a monstrous misshapen Christian cannot stand before him who is a pure and uncompounded Essence, the Same in every thing and every where, One and the same, even Unity it self.

Again, every man is not equally inclined to every sin. This man lo∣veth that which another loatheth: and he who made the Devil fly at the first encounter, may entertain him at the second; he who resisted him in lust, may yield to him in anger; he who will none of his delicates, may fail at his terrours; and he who feared not the roaring of the Lion, may be ensnared by the flattery of the Serpent. For the force of temptations is many times quickned or dulled according to the natural constitutions and several complexions of men, and other outward circumstances, by which they work more coldly or more vehemently upon the will and af∣fections. A man of a dull and torpid disposition is seldom ambitious, and one of a quick and active spirit is seldome idle. The cholerick man is not obnoxious to those evils which melancholy doth hatch, nor the melancholick to those which choler is apt to produce. As hard a mat∣ter it may be for some men to commit some one sin as it is for others to avoid it;* 1.40 as hard a matter for the one Fool in the Gospel to have scat∣tered his goods,* 1.41 as it was for the other Fool, the Prodigal, to have kept them; as hard a matter for some to let loose their anger, as it is for o∣thers to curb and bridle it. Some by their very temper and constitution with ease withstand lust, but must struggle and take pains to keep down anger. Some can stand upright in poverty, but are overthrown by wealth. Some can resist this temptation by slighting it, but must beat and macerate themselves, and use a kind of violence, before they can o∣vercome another, which is more sutable, and flattereth their constituti∣on. And this we may find by those darts we cast at one another, those uncharitable censures we pass. For how doth the Covetous condemn and pity the Prodigal? and how doth the Prodigal loath and scorn the Covetous? How doth the Lukewarm Christian abominate the Schisma∣tick, and the Schismatick call every man Lukewarm, if he be not as mad as himself? How doth this man bless himself, and wonder that any should fall into such or such a sin, when he that committeth it wondreth as much that he should fall into the contrary? The Enemy applieth him∣self to every humour and temper, and having found where every man lieth open to invasion, he striveth to make his battery where we are most assaultable, and entreth with such forces as we are ready to obey; with a Sword, which the Revenger will snatch at; with Riches, which the Co∣vetous will dig for; with a dish of Dainties, which the Glutton will gree∣dily devour. And what bait soever we tast of, we are in his snare. He hath his several darts, and if any one pierce the heart, he is a conquerour. For he knoweth the wages of any one sin unrepented is death.* 1.42 We are indeed ready to flatter and comfort our selves in that sin which best com∣plieth with our humour, evermore to favour and pardon our selves in some sin or other, and to make our obedience to one precept an advocate

to plead for us and hold us up in the breach of another.* 1.43 I am not as o∣ther men are, there are more Pharisees then one that have spoken it. Some sin or other there is, either Profit, or Pleasure, or the like, to which by complexion we are inclined, which we oft dispense with, as willing it should, stay with us: As Augustine confesseth of himself, that when he prayed against Lust, he was not very willing to be heard, and afraid that God would too soon divorce him from his beloved sin. At the same time we would be good, and yet evil; we would partake of life, and yet joyn with that which tendeth unto death; we would be converts, and yet wantons; we would turn from one sin, and yet cleave fast to ano∣ther. Oh let me hug my Mammon, saith the Miser, and I will defy lust. Let me take my fill of love, saith the Wanton, and I will spurn at wealth. Let me wash my feet in the blood of mine enemies, saith the Revenger, and all other pleasure I shall look upon, and loath. I will fast and pray, saith the Ambitious, so they may be wings to carry me to the highest place, where I had rather be then in heaven it self. Every man may be induced to abstain from those sins which either hinder not or promote that to which he is carried by the swing of his natural temper and disposition. Every nation in the times of darkness had its several God, which they wor∣shipped, and neglected others: So every man almost hath his beloved sin, which he cleaveth to; and rather then he will turn from it, he will fling off all respect and familiarity to the rest; he will abstain from evil in this kind, so he make take in the other, which is pleasant to him: he will be for God, so he may be for Baal too: he will not Touch,* 1.44 so he may Tast; he will not look on this forbidden tree, so he may pluck and tast of the other. And this is to sport and please our selves in that evil way which leadeth to death. For what though I scape the Lion,* 1.45 if the Bear tear me in pieces? What it is to lean our hand, and rest upon the forbear∣ance of some sins, if a Serpent bite us? What is to turn from many sins, and yet be familiar with that which will destroy us? Saul, we know,* 1.46 spa∣red many of the Amalekites, when Gods command was to put all to the sword; and the event was, he spared one too many,* 1.47 for one of them was his executioner. God biddeth us destroy the whole body of sin,* 1.48 to leave no sin reigning in our mortal bodies; and if we favour and spare but one, that one, if we turn not from it, will be strong enough to turn us to de∣struction.

Again, it is Obedience onely that commendeth us to God, and that as exact and perfect as the equity of the Gospel requireth; and so every degree of sin is rebellion. God requireth totam voluntatem, the whole will; for indeed where it is not whole, it is not at all, it is not a will: and integram poenitentiam, a solid, entire, universal conversion. True o∣bedience, saith Luther, non transit in genus deliberativum, doth not de∣mur and deliberate: I may add, non transit in genus judiciale, It doth not take upon it self to determine which commandment is to be kept, and which may be omitted; what is to be done, and what to be left undone. For as our Faith is imperfect, if it be not equal to the truth revealed; so is our Obedience imperfect, when it is not equal to the command: and both are unavailable, because in the one we stick at some part of the truth revealed, and in the other come short of the command, and so in the one we distrust God, in the other we oppose him. What is a Sigh, if my Murmuring drown it? What is my Devotion, if my Impatience chill it? What is my Liberality, if my Uncleanness defile it? What are my Prayers, if my partial Obedience turn them into sin? What is a mor∣sel of bread to one poor man, when my Oppression hath eaten up a thousand? What is my Faith, if my Malice make me worse then an Infi∣del?

The voice of Scripture, the language of Obedience is, to keep all the commandments; the language of Repentance, to depart from all ini∣quity. All the Virtues in the world cannot wash off the guilt of one un∣repented sin.* 1.49 Shall I give my first born for my transgression, saith the Pro∣phet, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Shall I bring the merits of one Saint, the supererogations of another, and add to these the trea∣sury of the Church? Shall I bring my Almes, my Devotion, my Tears? All these will vanish at the guilt of one sin, and melt before it as wax be∣fore the Sun. For every sin is, as Seneca speaketh of Alexander's in kill∣ing Callisthenes,* 1.50 crimen aeternum, an everlasting sin, which no virtue of our own but a full complete Repentance can redeem. As oft as it shall be said that Alexander slew so many thousand Persians, it will be replyed he did so, but withal he slew Callisthenes: He slew Darius, it is true; and Callisthenes too: He wan all, as far as the very Ocean, it is true; but he killed Callisthenes. And as oft as we shall fill our minds and flat∣ter our selves with the forbearance of these or those sins, our Conscience will check and take us up, and tell us, But we have continued in this or that beloved sin: And none of all our performances shall make so much to our comfort as one unrepented sin shall to our reproch.

And now because in common esteem One is no number, and we scarce count him guilty of sin who hath but one fault, let us well weigh the danger of any one sin, be it Fornication, Theft, Covetousness, or what∣soever is called sin; and though perhaps we may dread it the less because it is but one, yet we shall find good reason to turn from it, because it is sin. And 1. Every particular sin is of a monstrous aspect, being com∣mitted not onely against the Law written, but against the Law of Na∣ture, which did then characterize the soul when the soul did first inform the body. For though we call those horrid sins unnatural which S. Paul speaketh against Rom. 1. yet in true estimation every sin is so, being a∣gainst our very Reason, which is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the very first law written in our hearts,* 1.51 saith Nazianzene. Sin is an unreasonable thing, nor can it defend it self by discourse or argument. If heaven were to be bought with sin, it were no purchase: for by every evil work I forfeit not onely my Christianity, but my Manhood; I am robbed of my chiefest jewel and I my self am the thief. Who would buy eternity with sin? who would buy immortality upon such loathsome terms? If Christ should have promised heaven upon condition of a wicked life, who would have believed there had been either Christ or heaven? And therefore it is laid as an imputation upon Man, Solum hoc animal naturae fines transgre∣ditur; No Creature breaketh the bounds and limits which Nature hath set but Man: And there is much of truth in it; Man, when he sinneth, is more unbounded and irregular then a Beast. For a Beast followeth the conduct of his natural appetite, but Man leaveth his Reason behind, which should be more powerful, and is as natural to him as his Sense. Man,* 1.52 saith the Prophet David, that understandeth not is like to the beasts that perish. And Man that is like to a beast, is worse then a Beast. No Fox to Herode,* 1.53 no Goat to the Wanton, no Tiger to the Murderer, No Wolf to the Oppressour, no Horseleach to the Covetous. For Beasts follow that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, instinct of nature, by which they are carried to the ob∣ject; but Man maketh Reason, which should come in to rescue him from sin, an instrument of evil; so that his Reason, which was made as a help, as his God on earth, serveth onely to make him more unreasona∣ble. Consider then, though it be but one sin, yet so far it maketh thee like unto a Beast, nay worse then any; though it be but

one, yet it hath a monstrous aspect: and then turn from it.

2. Though it be but one, yet it is very fruitful, and may beget another, nay, multiply it self into a numerous issue, into as many sins as there be hairs of thy head. It is truly said, Omne verum omni vero consonat; There is a kind of agreement and harmony in truths: And the devout School∣man telleth us that the whole Scripture is but one copulative proposition, be∣cause the precepts therein contained are many, and yet but one, many in regard of the diversity of those works that perfect them, yet but one in respect of that root of charity which beginneth them. So peccatum est multiplex & unum; There is a kind of dependency between sins, and a growth in wickedness, one drawing and deriving poyson from another, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Epiphanius speaketh of Heresies,* 1.54 as the Asp doth from the Viper, which being set in opposition to any particular virtue, creepeth on, and multiplieth, and gathereth strength to the endangering of all. And Sin may propagate it self, 1. as an Efficient cause, Removens prohibens, weak∣ening the power of Grace, dimming the light of the Gospel, setting us at a greater distance from the brightness of it, making us more venturous ta∣king off the blush of modestie, which should restrain us. One evil act may dispose us to commit the like, and that may bring on a thousand. 2. As a Material cause. One sin may prepare matter for another; thy Covetous∣ness beget Debate, Debate enrage thee more, and that not end but in Mur∣der. 3. Last of all, as the Final cause. Thou mayest commit Theft for For∣nication, and Fornication for Theft; that thou mayest continue a Tyrant, be more a Tyrant; that thou mayest uphold thy oppression, oppress more; that thou mayest walk on in safety, walk on in the blood of the innocent; that thou mayest be what thou art, be worse then thou art, be worse and worse, till thou art no more. Ambition led Absalom to Conspiracy, Conspi∣racy to open Rebellion, Rebellion to his Fathers Concubines, at last to the oak, where he hung with three darts in his side. Sin, saith Basil, like unto a stone cast into the water, multiplieth by infinite gyres and circles. The sins of our youth hasten us to the sins of our age, and the sins of our age look back upon the follies of our youth. Pride feathereth my Ambition, and Am∣bition swelleth my Pride. Gluttony is a pander to my Lust, and my Lust a steward to my Gluttony. Sins seldom end where they begin, but run on till they be infinite and innumerable. And now this unhappy fruitfulness of Sin may be a strong motive to make me run away from every sin, and fear any one evil spirit, as that which may bring in a Legion. Could I think that when I tell a lie I am in a disposition to betray a kingdom, could I imagin that when I slander my neighbour I am in an aptitude to blas∣pheme God; could I see Luxury in Gluttony, and Incest in Luxury; Strife in Covetousness, and in Strife Murder; in Idleness Theft, and in Theft Sa∣criledge; I should then turn from every evil way, and at the sight of any one sin with fear and trembling cry out, Behold, a troop cometh.

3. But if neither the Monstrosity of Sin, nor the Fruitfulness of Sin mo∣veth us, yet the guilt it bringeth along with it, and the obligation to pu∣nishment may deter us. Sin must needs then be terrible when she cometh with a whip in her hand. Indeed she is never without one, if we could see it. All those heavy judgments which have fallen upon us, and prest us well-neer to nothing, we may impute to what we please, to the madness of the people, to the craft and covetousness of some, and the improvidence of o∣thers, but it was Sin that called them down, &, for ought we know, but one. For one sin, as of Achan, all Israel may be punished. For one Sin, as of David,* 1.55 threescore & ten thousand may fall by the plague. For Jonah's disobedience a tempest may be raised upon all the Mariners in the ship. And what strong∣er wind can there blow then this to drive us every one out of every evil

way? How should this consideration leave a sting behind it, and affect an startle us? It may be my Sacriledge, may the Church-robber say; It may be my Luxury, may the Wanton say; It may be my bold Irreverence in the house of God, may the profane man say; whatsoever sin it is, it may be mine, which hath wrought this desolation on the earth: And then what an Achan, what a Jonah, what a murderer am I? I will confess with A∣chan, build an altar with David, throw Jonah over-board, cast Sin out of my soul, that God may turn from his fierce wrath, and shine once again both upon my Tabernacle and upon the Nation.

4. But, in the last place, if God's anger be not hot enough in his tem∣poral punishments, it will hereafter boyl and reak in a caldron of un∣quenchable fire: He will punish thee eternally for any one sin habitua∣ted in thee, which thou hast not turned from by Repentance. S. Basil maketh the punishment in hell not onely infinite in duration, but in de∣grees and increase; and is of opinion that the pains of the damned are every moment intended and augmented, according as even one sin may spread it self from man to man, from one generation to another, even to the worlds end, by its venemous contagion and ensample. Think we as meanly and slightly of sin as we will, swallow it without fear, live in it without sense, yet thus it may (for ought we can say to the contrary) multiply and increase both it self and our punishment, and this of S. Ba∣sil may be true. My Love of the world may kindle my Anger, my Anger may end in Murder, my Murder may beget a Cain, and Cain a Lamech; and from Cain, by a kind of propagation of Sin, may proceed a bloudy race throughout all generations: and I shall be punished for Cain, and punished for Lamech, and for as many as the contagion of my sin shall reach: and I shall be punished for my own sins, and I shall be punished for my other mens sins, as Father Latimer speaketh; and my punishment shall be every moment infinitely and infinitely multiplyed and increased. A heavy and sad consideration it is, and very answerable and proportio∣nable to this loud and vehement Ingemination, CONVERTIMINI, CON∣VERTIMINI, Turn ye, turn ye, able to turn us, and so to turn us that we may turn from every evil way.

Our Turn, as ye have heard, must be true and sincere; and it must be universal: We must turn with all our heart, and we must turn from all our sins. There is yet one property more required, that it be final, that we hold on unto the end. And without this the other three are lost, the Speediness, the Sincerity, the Universality of our Repentance are of no force. Though it were true 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in respect of its essential parts, and in respect of its latitude and extent, yet it is not true in respect of its latitude and extent, yet it is not true in respect of its duration, unless we turn once for all, and never fall back unto those paths out of which horrour and grief and disdain did drive us. It may work our peace, and reconcile us for a time; but if we fail and fall back, even our Turn, our former Repentance, forsaketh us, and Mercy it self withdraweth, and leaveth us under that wrath which we were fled from. Therefore in our Turn this must go along with us, and continue the motion, the considera∣tion of the great hazard we run when we turn from our evil wayes, and af∣ter turn back again.

For first, as a pardon doth nullifie former sins, so it maketh the sins we commit afterwards more grievous and fatall. It is observed that it is the part of a wise friend etiam leves suspiciones fugere, to shun the least suspicion of offense,* 1.56 nè quod fortuitò fecit, consultò facere videretur, lest what might formerly be imputed to chance or infirmity, may now seem to proceed from wilfulness: So when we turn, and God is

pleased so far to condescend as to take us to his favour, and of ene∣mies not onely make us his servants but call us his friends, it will then especially concern us to abstain from all appearance of evil,* 1.57 to suspect e∣very object as the Devil's lurking-place, in which he lieth in wait to betray us; lest we may seem to have begged pardon of our sins, not out of hatred, but out of love unto them, and to have left our sins for a time to commit them afresh. We are bound now not onely in a bond of common duty, but of gratitude. For God's free favour is numella, as a clog or yoke, to chain and fetter and restrain us from sin, that we commit not that every day for which we must beg pardon every day. A reason of this we may draw from the very Love of God. For the Anger of God in a manner is the effect and product of his Love. He is angry if we sin, because he loved us; he is displeased when we yield to temptations, because he loved us: and his Anger is the hotter, be∣cause his Love was excessive. As the Husband who most affectionate∣ly loveth the wife of his youth,* 1.58 and would have her be as the loving hinde and pleasant roe, but to himself alone, will not allow so much love from her as may be conveyed in a look or glance of an eye; is jealous of her very looks, of her deportment, of her garments, and will have her to behave her self with that modesty and strangeness, ut quisquis videat, metuat accedere, that no man may be so bold as to come so near as to ask the question, or make mention of love; and all because he most affe∣ctionately loveth her: So much, nay, far greater, is the love of God to our souls, which he hath married unto himself, in whom he desireth to dwell and take delight: and so dearly he loveth them, that he will not divide with the World and the Flesh, but is straight in passion if we cast but a favourable look upon that sin by which we first offended him, if we come but near to that which hath the shew of a rival or adversary. But if we let our desires loose, and fall from him, and embrace the next temptation which wooeth us, then he counteth us guilty of spiritual whoredome and adultery; his jealousie is cruel as the grave,* 1.59 and his jea∣lousie, which is an effect of his Love shall smoke against us. First it was Love and Jealousie, lest we might tender our service to strange Gods, cast our affections upon false Riches and deceitful Pleasures; and now we have left Life for Death, preferred that which first wounded us before him that cured us, it is Anger and Indignation, that he should lose us whom he so loved, that we should fling him off who so loved us; that he should create, and then lose us, and afterwards purchase and redeem us, and make us his again, and we should have no understanding, but run back again from him into captivity.

For, in the Second place, as our sins are greater after reconcilement, so if they do not cancel the former pardon, (as some are unwilling to grant) yet they call those sins to remembrance which God cast behind his back. For as good works are destroyed by Sin, and revive again by Repentance, so our evils which are covered by Repentance revive again by Sin. Not onely my Almes are devoured by my Oppression, my Chastity defloured by my Uncleanness, my Fasting lost in my Luxury; but my former sins, which were scattered as a mist before the Sun, re∣turn again, and are a thick cloud between me and the bright and shining mercy of God. Not that there is any mutability in God: No; God doth not repent of his gifts, but we may of our Repentance, and after pardon sin again, and so bring a new guilt upon our souls; and not one∣ly that, but vengeance upon our heads, for the contempt of God's Mercy, and slighting of his former pardon. For nothing can provoke God to anger more then the abuse of his goodness and mercy; nor doth

his wrath burn most violently, then when it is first quencht and allaid with the tears of a sinner, and afterwards kindled again by his sin. Then he that was well pleased to be reconciled, will question and condemn us, and yet make good his promise; he that forgat our sins, will im∣pute our sins, and yet be Truth it self. For remission of sins is a continu∣ed act, and is and remaineth whilst the condition which is required re∣maineth; but when we fail in that, the door of Mercy, which before was wide open unto us, is shut against us. For should God justifie and forgive him who breaketh his Obligation, and returneth to the same place where he stood out against God, and fought against him? Shall he be reconciled to him who will be again his enemy?* 1.60 If the righteous relapse, his righteousness shall not be mentioned; nor shall the wickedness of the wicked be mentioned, if he repent. The change is not in God, but in our selves. Aliter & aliter judicat de homine aliter & aliter disposito; He speaketh in mercy to the penitent, but in anger to the relapsed sin∣ner. The rule of Gods actions is constant, and like himself: And in this particular this is the rule, this his decree, To forgive the penitent, and punish the relapsed sinner. So he forgiveth the sinner when he re∣penteth, and punisheth him when he falleth away. And why should it be put to the question, Whether God revoke his first Pardon? Quid prodest esse, quod esse non prodest? as Tertullian speaketh. If we think he did it not, or cannot do it, yet what profit is it that that should re∣main which doth not profit, nay, which doth aggravate our sin? Or what Pardon is that which may remain firm, when he to whom it was given for his revolt may be turned into hell?* 1.61 When the servant falleth down, the Lord is moved with compassion and looseth him, and forgiveth him the debt: But when he taketh his fellow-servant by the throat, he delivereth him to the tormenters, till he pay the utmost farthing. God is ever like unto him∣self, constant to his rule; and he forgiveth and punisheth for this rea∣son, because he is so, and cannot change. As we beg pardon upon promise, so doth God grant it upon supposition of perseverance. He doth not pardon us our sin that we should sin again. If we break our promise, we our selves make a nullity of the Pardon, make it of as little virtue and power as if it had never been. The Schools tell us that the Sacraments are protestationes fidei, protestations of our faith: So is our Prayer for pardon a protestation and promise of Repentance, which is nothing else but a continued obedience. We pray to God to cast our sins behind his back,* 1.62 with this resolution, to exstirpate them: And upon this condition God sealeth our Pardon: Which we must make a motive, not to sin and fall back, but to lead a new life, and to perform constant obedience. If we turn, and turn back again God may turn his face from us for ever.

Again, in the third place, we have reason to arm our selves against temptation after pardon, because by our relapse we not onely add sin to sin, but are made more inclinable to it, and anon more familiar with it, and so more adverse and backward to acts of piety. For, as Tertullian observeth,* 1.63 Viduitas operiosior virginitate, it is a matter of more difficul∣ty to remain a widow then to keep our virgin; not to tast of pleasure, then, when we have tasted, to forbear: So it is easier to abstain from sin at first, then when we are once engaged, and have tasted of that pleasure which commendeth it. And when we have loathed it for some bitter∣ness it had, for some misery or some disease it brought along with it, and afterwards, when that is forgot, look towards it again, and see nothing but those smiles and allurements which first deceived us, we then like and love it more then we did before it gave us any such distast; and at last can

walk along with it, though Wrath be over our heads, and Death ready to devour us: And what we did before with some reluctancy, we do now with greediness: we did but lap before with some fear and suspici∣on, but now we take it down as the ox doth water. And what an une∣ven and distracted course of life is this! to sin, and upon some distast to repent, and, when that is off, to sin again, and upon some pang that we feel to repent again, and after some ease to meet and joyn with that which hath so pleased, which hath so troubled us! The Stoick hath well obser∣ved, Homines vitam suam amant simul, & oderunt; Some men at once both hate and love themselves: Now they send a divorce to Sin, anon they kiss and embrace it; now they banish it, anon recall it: now they are on the wing for heaven, anon cleaving to the dust; now in their Zenith, by and by in their Nadir. S. Ephrem the Syrian expresseth it by the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, calleth it a falling rise, or a rising fall, a course of life consi∣sting of turning and returning, rising and relapsing, sinning and repenting. Men find it more for their ease deprecari crimen quàm vacare crimine, to ••••g pardon for sin committed then to forbear committing it after; and so they sin, and repent, and sin again; and as solemnly by their sin re∣nounce their repentance, as they do by their repentance recant their sin. We deal with our beloved sin as Maecenas did with his wife, quam,* 1.64 cùm u∣nam habuit, millies duxit, saith Seneca, who had but one, yet married her, and divorced her from him, and then married her again, a thousand times. First we look upon the painted face and countenance of Sin, and are taken as it were with her eye and beauty, and then draw near, and embrace it: But anon the worm gnaweth us, our conscience is loud and trouble∣some, and then we would put it from us. When it flattereth, we are e∣ven sick with love; but when it turneth its worst face towards us, we are weary of it, and have an inclination, a velleity, a weak and feeble de∣sire to shake it off. Our soul loveth it, and lotheth it: we would not, and we will sin, and all upon presumption of that mercy which first gave us ease, upon hope of forgiveness. Quis enim timebit prodigere quod ha∣bebit poste à recuperare? saith Tertullian:* 1.65 For who will be tender and spa∣ring of that which he hopeth to recover though lost never so oft? or be careful of preserving that which he thinketh cannot be irrecoverably lost? So Re∣pentance, which should be the death of Sin, is made the Security of the Sinner; and that which should reconcile us to God, is made a reproch to his Mercy, and contumelious to his Goodness. In brief, that which should make us his friends, maketh us his enemies. We turn and return, we fall and rise, and rise and fall, till at last we fall never to rise again. And this is an ill sign, a sign our Repentance was not true and serious, but, as in an intermitting fever, the disease was still the same,* 1.66 onely the fit was over: or, as in the epilepsie or falling sickness, it is still the same, still in the body, though it do not cast it on the ground. And such a Repentance is not a Repentance, but to be repented of, by turning once for all, ne∣ver to turn again. Or, if it be true, we may say of it what Galen said of his art to those that abuse it, who carry and continue it not to the end, Per∣inde est ac si omnino non esset, It is as if it were not all, nay, it is fatal and deleterial. It was Repentance, it is now an accusation, a witness against us that we would be contra experimenta pertinaces, even against our own experience tast that cup again we found bitter to us, run into that snare out of which we had escaped, & turn back into those evil wayes where we saw Death ready to seize upon us, & so run the hazard of being lost for ever.

These four are the necessary requisites and properties of Repentance. It must be early and sudden, upon the first call. For why should any thing in this world stop and stay us one moment in our journey to a better?

Is not a span of time little enough to pay down for Eternity? It must be true and sincere. For can we hope to bind the God of Truth unto us with a lie? or can a false Turn bring us to that happiness which is real? It must be perfect and exact in every part. For why should we give him less then we should, who will give us more then we can desire? or how can that which is but in part make us shine in perfection of glory? Last of all,* 1.67 it must be constant and permanent. For the crown of life is promised unto him alone who is faithfull unto death. Turn ye, turn ye, now, suddenly; in reality, and not in appearance; Turn ye from all your evil wayes; Turn, never to look back again. This is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the Septuagint render it, to turn for ever, and so to press forward in the wayes of righteousness till we are brought to that place of rest where there is no evil to turn from, but all shall turn to our salvation.

Thus much of the Exhortation, Turn ye, turn ye. The next is the Reason or Expostulation, For why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Notes

• * 1.1

  1 Tim. 3.15.
• * 1.2

  Joel 2.13.
• * 1.3

  ☜ Psal. 33.9.
• * 1.4

  Nazianz. O∣rat. 19.
• * 1.5

  Seneca.
• * 1.6

  Septem menda∣ciis eget menda∣cium unum, ut verum videa∣tur, De In∣dulg.
• * 1.7

  Matth. 6.16.
• * 1.8

  Isa. 58.4.
• * 1.9

  Joel 2.15.
• * 1.10

  Plin. Pane∣gyr.
• * 1.11

  Nemo potest personam diu ferre. Ficta cito in naturam suam recidunt, Sen. 1. de Clem. c. 1.
• * 1.12

  Lib. 2. epist. 10
• * 1.13

  1 Sam. 15.24, 30. 1 Kings 21.27. Acts 24.25.
• * 1.14

  Arist. Eth. 8. c. 8
• * 1.15

  Jam. 4.14.
• * 1.16

  Prov. 23.5.
• * 1.17

  Joh 15.14.
• * 1.18

  Mali non appa∣rent, ut plus liceat maligna∣ri. Bern in Cant 6.6. 2 Pet. 2.22. Zech 5.
• * 1.19

  Orat. 19. A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l 1.2, Aristippus in purpu••a sub magna gravi∣tatis specie ne∣potatur, Tert. Apol. 46. A∣thenaei Deip∣nosoph. l. 13. c. 1.
• * 1.20

  Aristoph. Eu∣polide.
• * 1.21

  Non amat fal∣sum autor ve∣ritatis. Adul∣teriumest apud illum omne quod fingitur, Tert. de Ep. c. 23.
• * 1.22

  Orat. 19.
• * 1.23

  1 Kings 1.27. Mark 6.20. Acts 8.23, 2••.
• * 1.24

  Aristot. Me∣taph. 2.
• * 1.25

  Suet. Tiber. Caes. cap. 34.
• * 1.26

  De locis i•• Homine.
• * 1.27

  Psal. 68.33.
• * 1.28

  Curt. l. 6. c. 3.
• * 1.29

  Eph. 5.26.27.
• * 1.30

  Amos 5.19.
• * 1.31

  1 Thess. 5.20. Ezek. 33.32.
• * 1.32

  Prov. 28.22. 2 Pet. 2.10. Jude 8.
• * 1.33

  Phot cod. 177.
• * 1.34

  Psal. 1.1.
• * 1.35

  Gerson.
• * 1.36

  Ezec. 28.25.
• * 1.37

  Matth. 19.12. Prov. 23.2.
• * 1.38

  Gal. 5.19, 20, 21.
• * 1.39

  Luke 12.47, 48.
• * 1.40

  Luk 12.19, 20.
• * 1.41

  Luke 15.13.
• * 1.42

  Rom. 6.23.
• * 1.43

  Luke 18.11.
• * 1.44

  Col. 2.21.
• * 1.45

  Amos 5.19.
• * 1.46

  1 Sam 15.
• * 1.47

  2 Sam. 1.
• * 1.48

  Rom. 6.6, 12.
• * 1.49

  Mic. 6.7.
• * 1.50

  De Benef.
• * 1.51

  Or. 34.
• * 1.52

  Psal. 49.20.
• * 1.53

  Luke 13.32.
• * 1.54

  Haeres. Basilid.
• * 1.55

  Josh. 7. 2 Sam. 24.
• * 1.56

  Hitr. ad Pam∣mach. & Mar∣cel.
• * 1.57

  1 Thess. 5.22.
• * 1.58

  Prov. 5.19.
• * 1.59

  Cant. 8.4.
• * 1.60

  Ezek. 18.21; 2••.
• * 1.61

  Matth 18.
• * 1.62

  Isa. 38.17.
• * 1.63

  Lib. 1. ad uxo∣rem, c 8.
• * 1.64

  Epist. 114.
• * 1.65

  De pudicitia, c. 9.
• * 1.66

  Gravedinosos quosdam, quos∣dam tormino∣sos dicimus, non quia semper sint, sed quia saepe sint. Tull. Tusc. q. l. 4. De sanitate tuenda.
• * 1.67

  Rev. 2.10.