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.

The Two and Twentieth SERMON. (Book 22)

PART VII.

EZEKIEL XXXIII. 11.

For why will ye die, O house of Israel?

GOD is not vvilling vve should die. He is Goodness it self, and no evil can proceed from him, no not the evil of punishment: For it is his strange work,* 1.1 and rather ours then his, saith Basil. If our sins did not call and cry out for it, he vvould not do it, as delighting rather to see his glory in that image vvhich is like him then in that vvhich is defaced and torn and mangled and novv burning in hell. Ipse te subdidisti poenae; that is the stile of the Imperial Law. His wrath could not kindle, nor Hell burn, till we did blow the coals. We bring our selves under pu∣nishment, and then God striketh, and we die, and are lost for ever. It was his Goodness that made us; and it was his Goodness which made a Law, and made it possible to be kept. And in the same stream of Good∣ness were conveyed unto us sufficient and abundant means, by the right use of which we might be carried on in an even and constant course of o∣bedience to that Law, and so have a clearer knowledge of God, a nearer union with him, a taste of the powers of the world to come,* 1.2 a share and part in that fulness of joy which is at his right hand for evermore. And why then will ye die, O house of Israel?

And indeed why should Israel, why should any of the house of Israel, die? For take it in the letter, for the Jews, take it in the application, for us Christians; take it for the Synagogue, which is the type,* 1.3 or take it for the Church, which is Israel indeed, as the Apostle calleth it, and a strange thing it is, and as full of shame as wonder, that any one should die in the house of Israel, or perish in the Church. Si honoratior est persona,* 1.4 major est peccantis invidia; The malice of sin is proportioned to the person that commits it. It is not so strange a thing to die in the streets of Askelon as in the house of Israel, nor for a Turk or Infidel to be lost as for a Chri∣stian. For though the condition of the person cannot change the species of the sin (for Sin is the same in whomsoever it is) yet it hath not so foul an aspect in one as in another; it crieth not so loud in the dark as in the light. It is most fatal and destructive where there are most means to a∣void it, and most mortal where there is most light to discover its defor∣mity. A wicked Israelite is worse then an Edomite, and a bad Christian

wors•• then a Turk or a Jew. To be in the house of Israel, to be a mem∣ber of the Church, is a great priviledge; but if we honour not this pri∣viledge so far as to make our deportment answerable, even our privi∣ledge it self being abused and forfeited will change its countenance, and accuse and condemn us. We find it as a positive truth laid down in the Schools; and, if it were not in our Books, common Reason would have shewed it us in a character legible enough;* 1.5 Graviùs peccat fidelis quàm in∣fidelis, propter sacramenta fidei, quibus contumeliam facit. Of all Idolaters an Israelite is the worst, and no swine to the unclean Christian; no villain to him, if he be one. For here Sin maketh the deeper tincture and impres∣sion, leaveth a stain not onely on his person but also on his profession, flingeth contumely on the very Sacraments of his faith, and casteth a ble∣mish on his house and family; whereas in an Infidel it hath not so deadly an effect, but is vailed and shadowed by Ignorance, and borroweth some excuse from Infidelity it self.

For first, to speak a word of the house of Israel in the letter, and so to pass from the Synagogue to the Church;* 1.6 The Jews were domestica Dei gens, as Tertullian calleth them, the domestick and peculiar people of God,* 1.7 like Gideon's fleece, full of the dew of Divine benediction, when all the world was dry besides.* 1.8 To them were the oracles given, those oracles which did foretel the Messias, and by which they might more easily know him then the Gentiles.* 1.9 To them pertained the adoption: for they were called the Children of God.* 1.10 They had the Covenant written in Tables of stone, and the giving of the Law, and constitutions, which might link and unite them together into a body and society. They had the service of God, they had their sacrifices, but especially the Paschal Lamb. For that their memory might not let slip his statutes and ordinances, God did even catechize their eyes and make the least ceremony a busie remem∣brancer. Behold a Tabernacle erected, Aaron and his sons appointed, Sacrifices slain, Altars smoking, all so many ocular Sermons. They might behold Aaron and his sons ascending the Temple,* 1.11 laying all their sins upon the head of a sacred Goat, that should carry them out of the City. They might behold him entring the vail with reverence. His garments, his motion,* 1.12 his gesture, all were vocal. Quicquid agebat, quicquid loqueba∣tur, doctrina erat populi, saith S. Hierome; His actions were didactical as well as his doctrine, the Priest himself was a Sermon, and these were as so many antidotes against Death.* 1.13 Our Prophet reproveth them for their capital and mortal sins, adultery, murder, and idolatry; and God had sufficiently instructed and fortified them against these. He forbad Lust, not onely in the Decalogue, but in the Sparrow; Murder in the Vulture and Raven and those birds of prey.* 1.14 Ʋt Israelitae mundarentur, pecora culpata sunt; To sanctifie and cleanse his people, he blameth the beasts as unclean (which they could not be of themselves, because he made them) and layeth a blemish upon his other creatures to keep them undefiled. And to keep out Idolatry, he busied them in those many ceremonies, which he ordained for that end,* 1.15 nè vacaret idololatriae servire, saith Aqui∣nas, that they might not have the least leisure to be Idolaters. So that, to draw up all, they might learn from the Law, they might learn from the Priest, they might learn from the Sacrifice, they might learn from each Ceremony, they might learn from Men, they might learn from Beasts,* 1.16 to turn from their evil wayes: and God might well cry out, What could have been done more that I have not done? and speak to them in his grief and wrath and indignation, Why will ye die, O house of Isreal?

But to pass from the Synagogue to the Church, which excelleth merito fidei & majoris scientiae, in respect of a clearer faith and larger knowledge;

to come to the time of Reformation,* 1.17 in which all things which pertain to the full happiness of Gods people were to be raised to their last height and perfection; to look into the Law of liberty,* 1.18 which letteth us not loose in our own evil wayes, but maketh us most free by restraining and tying us up, and withholding us from those sins which the Law of Moses did not punish: And here Why will ye die? If it were before an obtestation, it is now a bitter sarcasme, as bitter as Death it self. It is improved and dri∣ven home à minori ad majus by the Apostle himself:* 1.19 For if that which should be abolisht was glorious, much more shall that which remaineth, whose fruit is everlasting, be glorious. And again,* 1.20 If they escaped not who refused him who speak on earth, from mount Sinai, by his Angel, how shall we escape,* 1.21 if we turn away from him who spake from heaven by his Son? For the Church is a house, but far more glorious,* 1.22 built upon the foundation of the Apostles & Pro∣phets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner-stone, in whom all the building coupled together groweth into a Temple of the Lord. The whole world be∣sides are but rubbage, as bones scattered at the graves mouth. The Church is compact, knit and united into a house; and in this house is the armoury of God,* 1.23 where are a thousand bucklers and all the weapons of the mighty, to keep off Death, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and the shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of Satan, as they be deliver∣ed into our hands, Eph. 6.16, 17.

And as it is a House, so is it a Familie of Christ;* 1.24 Of whom all the family of heaven and earth is named; Who is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the great Master of the houshold. For as the Pythagorean, fitting and shaping out a Family by his Lute, required 1. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the integrity of all the parts, as it were the set number of the strings; 2. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, an apt composing and joyning them to∣gether, as it were the tuning of the instrument; and lastly, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a skil∣ful touch, which maketh the harmony: So in the Church, if we take it in its latitude, there be Saints, Angels, and Archangels; if we contract it to the Militant (as we usually take it) there be some Apostles,* 1.25 some Pro¦phets, some Pastours and Teachers; there be some to be taught, and some to teach; some to be governed, and some to rule; which maketh up the Integrity of the parts. And then these are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith the A∣postle, coupled and knit together by every joynt, by the bond of Charity,* 1.26 which is the coupling and uniting virtue, as Prosper calleth it,* 1.27 by the unity of faith, by their agreement in holiness, having one faith, one baptisme, one Lord. And at last, every string being toucht in its right place begetteth Harmony, which is delightful both to heaven and earth. For when I name the Church, I do not mean the stones and building (some indeed would bring it down to this, to stand for nothing but the walls) but I sup∣pose a subordination of parts (which was never yet questioned in the Church, but by those who would make it as invisible as their Charity) not the Foot to see, and the Eye to walk, and the Tongue to hear, and the Ear to speak; not all Apostles, not all Prophets, not all Teachers; but,* 1.28 as the Apostle saith it shall be at the resurrection, every man in his own order. For 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Order is our security and safeguard. In a rout every man is a child of death, every throat open to the knife: but when an army is drawn out by art and skill, all hands are active for the victory. Inequality indeed of persons is the ground of disunion and dis∣cord, but Order draweth and worketh advantage out of Inequality it self. When every man keepeth his station, the common Souldier hath hi•• in∣terest in the victory as the well as the Commander: And when we walk orderly every man in his own place, we walk hand in hand to heaven and happiness together. For further yet, in the Church of God there is not onely a Union and an Order, but also, as it is in our Creed, a Communion of

parts. The glorious Angels, as ministring Spirits, are sent to guard us, and no doubt do many and great services for us, though we perceive it not. The blessed Saints departed, though we may not pray for them, yet may pray for us, though we hear it not. And though the Church be scattered in its members through all the parts of the world, yet their hearts meet in the same God. Every man prayeth for himself, and every man prayeth for every man. Quod est omnium, est singulorum; That which is all mens is every mans, and that which is every mans belongeth unto the whole.

For though we cannot speak in those high terms of the Church as the Church of Rome doth of her self, yet we cannot but bless God and count it a great favour and privilege, that we are filii Ecclesiae, as the Father speaketh, children of the Church, and think our selves in a place of safety and advantage, where we may find protection against Death it self. We cannot speak loud with the Cardinal,* 1.29 Si Catholicus quisquam labitur in pec∣catum. If a Catholick fall into a sin, suppose it Theft or Adultery yet in that Church he walketh not in darkness, but may see many helps to salva∣tion, by which he may soon quit himself out of the snare of the Devil. Maternus ei non deest affectus; She is still a Mother even to such Children. Her shops of spiritual comfort lie open;* 1.30 there you may buy wine and milk, Indulgences and absolution, but not without money or money-worth. Be you as sick as you will, and as oft as you will, there is Physick, there are cor∣dials to refresh and restore you. I dare not promise so much in the House of Israel, in the Church of Christ: for I had rather make the Church a school of Virtue then a sanctuary for offenders and wanton sinners. We dare not give it that strength, to carry up our Prayers to the Saints in heaven, or to convey their Merits to us on earth. We cannot work and temper it to that heat, to draw up the blood of Martyrs, or the works of supererogating Christians (who have been such profitable servants that they did more in the service of God then they should) into a common Treasury, and then showre them down in Pardons and Indulgences. But yet though we cannot find this power there (which is a power to do no∣thing) yet we may find strength enough in the Church to keep us from the Moriemini, to save us from Death. Though I cannot suffer for my brother,* 1.31 yet I may bear for him, even bear my brothers burden. Though I cannot merit for him, yet I may work for him. Though I cannot die for him, I may pray for him. Though there be no good in my death, nor profit in my dust,* 1.32 yet there may be in the memory of my good counsel, my advise,* 1.33 my example, which are verae sanctorum reliquiae, saith Cassander, the best and truest reliques of the Saints. And though my death cannot satisfie for him, yet it may catechize him, and teach him how to die, nay, teach him how to overcome Death, that he shall not die for ever. And by this Communion it is that we work Miracles, that in turning the Covetous, turning his bowels in him, we recover a dry hand and a nar∣row heart; in teaching the Ignorant, we give sight to the blind; in set∣ling the inconstant and wavering mind, we cure the palsie. We can well allow of such Miracles as these in the Church, but not of lies. For as there is an invisible union of the Saints with God, so is there of Christians amongst themselves. Which union, though the eye of flesh cannot behold it, yet it must appear and shine and be resplendent in those duties and offices which do attend this union, which are so many hands by which we lift up one another to happiness. As the Head infuseth life and vigour into the whole body, so must the members also anoynt each other with this oyl of gladness. Each member must be active and industrious to ex∣press that virtue without which it cannot be one. Let no man seek his

own, but every man anothers wealth, saith the Apostle. Not seek his own?* 1.34 what more natural to man? or who is nearer to him then he himself? but yet he must not seek his own, but as it may bring advantage to, and promote the good of others; not press forward to the mark, but with his hand stretcht forth to carry on others along with him; not go to heaven, but saving some with fear, and pulling others out of the fire,* 1.35 and gathering up as many as his wisdome and care and zeal toward God and man can take up with him in the way. And this is necessary even in humane so∣cieties and those politick bodies which men build up to themselves for their peace and security. Turpis est pars quae toti suo non convenit; That is a most unnecessary superfluous part or member for which the whole is not the better. Ʋt in sermone literae, saith Augustine, as letters in a word or sentence, so Men are elementa civitatis, the principles and parts which make up the Syntaxis of a Republick: And he that endeavoureth not the advancement of the whole, is a letter too much, fit to be expunged and blotted out. But in the Church, whose maker and builder is God,* 1.36 this is required in the highest degree, especially in those transactions which may enlarge the circuit and glory of it. Here every man must be his own and (under Christ) his brothers Saviour. For as between these two Cities, so between the happiness of the one and the happiness of the other, there is no comparison. As therefore every Bishop in the former ages called himself, Episcopum Catholicae Ecclesiae, a Bishop of the Catholick Church, although he had jurisdiction but over one Diocess, so the care and piety of every particular Christian in respect of its diffusive operation is as Catholick as the Church. Every soul he meeteth with is under his charge, and he is the care of every soul.* 1.37 In saving a soul from death every man is a Priest and a Bishop, although he may neither invade the Pulpit nor as∣cend the Chair. I may be eyes unto him, as it was said of Hobab.* 1.38 I may take him from his errour, and put him into the way of truth. If he fear, I may scatter his fear; if he grieve, I may wipe off his tears; if he pre∣sume, I may teach him to fear; and if he despair, I may lift him up to a lively hope, that neither Fear nor Grief, neither Presumption nor Despair swal∣low him up. Thus may I raise a dead man from the grave, a sinner from his sin; and by that example many may rise with him who are as dead as he: and so by this friendly communication we may transfuse our selves into others, and receive others into our selves, and so run hand in hand from the chambers of Death. And thus far we dare extend the Com∣munion of Saints, place it in a House, a Family, a Society of men called and gathered together by Christ; raise it to the participation of the pri∣vileges and Charters granted by Christ, calling us to the same faith, lead∣ing us by the same rule, filling us with the same grace, endowing us with several gifts, that we may guard and secure each other; and so settle it in those Offices and Duties which Christianity maketh common, and God hath registred in his Church, which is the pillar of truth;* 1.39 where all mens Joyes and Sorrows and Fears and Hopes should be one and the same. And then to die surrounded with all these helps and advantages, of God above ready to help us, of Men like unto our selves prest out as auxilia∣ries to succour and relieve us, of Precepts to guide us, of Promises to en∣courage us, of Heaven even opening it self to receive us, then to die,* 1.40 is to die as fools die, to suffer their hands to be bound, and their feet put in fet∣ters, and to open their breast to the sword. For to die alone is not so grievous, not so imputable, as to die in such company, to die where it is no more but to will it and I might live for ever. Oh how were it to be wisht that we well understood this one Article of our Faith, the Communion of Saints! that we knew to be Vessels to receive the Water of life, and Con∣duits

to convey it! that we would remember that by every sin we bring trouble to a million of Saints, and by our obedience make as many An∣gels merry;* 1.41 that when we spend our portion amongst harlots, we do not onely begger our selves, but rob and spoil our brethren; that when we yield our selves to the enemy, we betray an Army! Oh that we knew what it were to give counsel, and what it were to receive it; what it were to shine upon others, and to walk by their light! Oh that we knew the power and the necessity of a Precept, the riches and glory of a Pro∣mise! that we would consider our selves as men amongst men invited to happiness, invited to the same royal feast! If this were rightly consider∣ed, we should then ask our selves the question, Why should we die? Why sh••uld we die, not in the wilderness amongst beasts, upon our turf or stone, where there is none to help; but in domo Israelis, in a house, and in the house of Israel, where Health and Safety appear in every room and corner? Why should we fall, like Samson, with the house upon us, and so endanger and bruise others with our fall? If I be a string, why should I jarre, and spoil the harmony? If I be a part, why should I be made a schisme from the body? If I be under command, why should I beat my fellow-servants? If a member, why should I walk disorderly in the fami∣ly? Why should I, why should any, die, in the house of Israel?

And now to reassume the Text, Why will ye die, O house of Israel? What a fearful exprobration is it? What can it work in us but shame and con∣fusion of face? Why will ye die? ye that have Christ for your Physician, the Angels for your Ministers, the Saints for your example, the Church a common shop of precious balm and antidotes? ye who are in the House of Israel, where, you may learn from the Priest, learn from the oracles of God, learn from one another, learn from Death it self, not to die? In this House, in this Order, in this Union, in this Communion, in the midst of all these auxiliary troops to fall and miscarry; To have the Light, but not to see it; the bread of Life, but not to tast it; To die with our an∣tidotes about us,* 1.42 to go per port•••• coeli in gehennam, thorow the house of Israel into Tophet, thorow the Church of Christ into hell, may well put God to ask questions, and expostulate, and can argue no less then a stubborn and relentless heart, and not onely a defect but a distast and hatred of that piety, quae una est sapientia in hac domo, which is the one∣ly wisdome and most useful in the house of Israel, which is our best strength against our enemy, Death.

And here to apply this to our selves; Let us compare the state of the house of Israel with the state of the people of this Nation, and Jerusalem with this City,* 1.43 and we may say, What could God have done more for us which he hath not done? Onely his blessings and privileges will rise and swell and exceed on our side, and so make our ingratitude and guilt the great∣er. They had their Priests and Levites, we have our Pastours and Mi∣nisters. They had their Temple and Synagogues, we our Parochial Churches. They had their Sacraments, Circumcision, and the Paschal Lamb;* 1.44 we, Baptism, and the Lords Supper. They had Moses preacht in their Synagogues every Sabbath day; so have we. I speak like a fool; we have more, the Gospel interpreted, or abused, every Sabbath-day, nay, e∣very day of the week; I had almost said, every hour of the day. We are baptized with a Sermon, and we are married with a Sermon, and we are buried with a Sermon. When we take our journey, a Sermon is our farewell; and when we return, it is our welcome home. If we feast, a Sermon is the Grace before it. If we sayl, a Sermon must weigh an∣cor. And if we fight, a Sermon is the alarum to battel. If we rejoyce, we call to the Preacher to pipe to us, that we may dance (for many times

we chuse our Preachers as we do our Musicians, by the ear and phansie, not by judgment. And it must needs be a rare choice which a Woman and Ignorance makes) and such an one is to us as a lovely song of one that hath a very pleasant voice. And if we be in grief, he must turn the key,* 1.45 and change his note, and mourn to as, that we may lament. A Sermon is the grand Sallet, to usher in every dish; like Sosia or Davus in the Co∣medy, scarce any scene or part of our life without it. It is Prologus ga∣leatus, a Prologue that will fit either Comedy or Tragedy, every purpose, every action, every business of our life. In a word; What had the House of Israel which we have not in measure pressed down? They had the favour and countenance of God, they had the blessings of the Basket: So had we, if we could have pinned it, and kept them in, and not plaid the wantons in this light, and so let them fly away from us, that we can but look after them, and sadly say, We had them. They had Temporal blessings; we have Graces and Spiritual endowments, more Light, richer Promises, mo and more gracious Privileges then they. Their administra∣tion was with glory, but ours is more glorious.* 1.46 Glorious things are spoken of this City, glorious things are seen amongst us, able to deceive a Pro∣phet, nay, if it were possible, the very Elect. For he that shall see our outward formality, the earnestness, the demureness, the talkativeness of our looks and behaviour, when we flock and press to Sermons; he that shall hear our noyse and zeal for Religion, our anger and detestation a∣gainst Idolatry, even where it is not; he that shall scarcely hear a word from us which soundeth not as the word of God; he that shall see us such Saints abroad, will little mistrust we come so short of the honesty of the Pagans in our shops and dealings. He that shall see such a promising form of godliness, cannot presently discover the malice, the fraud, the un∣cleanness, the cruelty that lieth wrapt up in it like a Devil in light. He that shall see this in the City, cannot but say of it as the Prophet Samuel did of Eliab, Surely the Lords anointed is here. This is the faithful City;* 1.47 This is the City of the Lord. But God, who seeth not as man seeth, nor looketh on the outward appearance, but on the heart, may account us dead for all these glories, this pageantry, this noise, which to him is but noise, as the found of their trumpet who will not fight his battels, but fall off and run to the enemy, as a song of Sion in a strange land,* 1.48 even in the midst of Babylon. We read in our books that it was a custome amongst the Romanes, when the Emperour was dead, in honour of him to frame his image of wax, and to perform to it all ceremonies of state, as if the image were the living Emperour; The Senate and Ladies attended; the Phy∣sicians resorted to him to feel his pulse, and Doctorally resolved that he grew worse and worse, and could not escape; a Guard watcht him; No∣bles saluted him; his dinner and supper at accustomed hours was served in with water, with sewing and carving and taking away; his Nobles and Gentlemen waited as if he had been alive; there was no ceremony for∣got which State might require. Thus hath been done to a dead carcase; and if we take not heed, our case may be the same. All our outward shews of Churches, of Sermons, of Sacraments, our noyse and ostentati∣on, which should be arguments of life and antidotes against death, may be no more then as funeral rites performed to a carcase, to a Christian, to a City, whose iniquities are loathsome, of an ill-smelling savour to God. The great company of Preachers (whereof every one choseth one ac∣cording to his lusts) may stand about it, and do their duty, but as to an image of wax or a dead carcase: the Bread of life may be served in, and divided to it by art and skill, as every man phansieth; it may be fitted and prepared for every palate when they have no tast nor relish of it, and

receive no more nourishment then they that have been dead long ago. Be not deceived:* 1.49 Benefits are burdens (God loadeth us daily with bene∣fits, saith David) burdens which, if we bear not well and as we should do, will grind us to pieces. All prerogatives are with conditions; and, if the condition be not kept, they turn to scorpions. They either heal, or kill us; they either lift us up to bliss, or throw us down to destructi∣on. There is heaven in a privilege, and there is hell in a privilege; and we make it either to us. We may starve whilst we hang on the breasts of the Church; we may be poisoned with antidotes. Those mouthes that taught us may be opened to accuse us; the many Sermons we have heard may be so many bills against us; the Sacraments may condemn us, the blood of Christ cry loud against us, and our profession, our holy pro∣fession put us to shame.* 1.50 Have I been so long with you, and knowest thou not me, Philip? saith our Saviour. Hast thou had so good a Master, and art thou y••t to learn? Hast thou been so long with me, and deniest thou me, Peter? Hast thou been so long with me, and yet betrayest me, Judas? Hath Christ wrought so many works among us, and do we go about to kill and crucify him? Hath he planted Religion, true Religion, amongst us, and do we go about to dig it up by the roots? Hath the Gospel sound∣ed so long in our ears, and begot nothing but words? words that are de∣ceitful upon the balance? words which are lies? So many Sermons, and so many Atheists? So much Preaching, and so much defrauding? So many breathings and demonstrations of love, and so much malice in the house of Israel? So many Courts of justice, and so much oppression? So ma∣ny Churches, and so few Temples of the Holy Ghost? What? profess Religion, and shame it? cry it up, and smother it in the noise? and for a member of Christ make thy self the head of a faction? What? press on to make thy self better, and make thy self worse? go up to the Temple to pray, and profane it? What? go to Church, and there learn to pull it down? Why, Oh why, will ye thus die, O house of Israel? Oh then let us look about us with a thousand eyes; let us be wise, and consider what we are, and where we are; that we are a House, and so ought, every man, to fill and make good his place, and mutually support each other; that we are a Family, and must be active in those offices which are proper to us, and so with united forces keep Death from entring in; that we are the Israel of God, his chosen people, chosen therefore that we may not cast away our selves;* 1.51 that we are his Church, which is the pillar and ground of truth, a pillar to lean on, that we fall not, and holding out and urging the truth, which is able to save us, that we may not die. We have God's Word to quicken us, his Sacraments to strengthen and confirm us, his Grace to prevent and follow us. We have many helps and huge advan∣tages: And if we look up upon them, and lay hold on them; if we hearken to his Word, resist not his Grace, neither idolize nor profane his Sacra∣ments, but receive them with reverence, as they were instituted in love; if we hear the Church, if we hear one another, if we confirm one ano∣ther,* 1.52 if we watch over our selves and one another, Death shall have, can have, no more dominion over us; we shall not, we cannot die at all; but as many as thus walk in the common light of the house of Israel, peace shall be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

And now we must draw towards a conclusion, and we must conclude and shut up all in nobis ipsis, in our selves. If we die, it is quia volumus, because we will die. For look above us, and there is God, the living God, the God of life, saying to us, Live. Look before us, and there is Death breathing terrour, to drive us from it; shewing us his dart, that we may hold up our buckler. Look about us, and there are armouries

of weapons, treasuries of wisdome, shops of physick, balm and ointments, helps and advantages, pillars and supporters to uphold us, that we may stand, and not fall into the pit, which openeth its mouth, but will shut it again, if we flie from it; which is not, cannot be, is nothing if we do not dig it our selves. The Church exhorteth, instructeth, correcteth: God calleth, inviteth, expostulateth: Death it self threatneth us, that we may not come near: Thus are we compassed about auxiliorum nube, with a cloud of helps and advantages. The Church is loud; Death is terri∣ble; God's Nolo is loud, I will not the death of a sinner,* 1.53 and confirmed with an oath, As he liveth. He would not have us die: And it is plain enough in his lightning and in his thunder, in his expostulations and wish∣es, in his anger, in his grief, in his spreading out his hands, in his admi∣nistration of all means sufficient to protect and guard us from it: And it excludeth all Stoical Fate, all necessity of sinning or dying. There is nothing above us, nothing before us, nothing about us, which can neces∣sitate or bind us over to Death, so that if we die, it is in our volo, in our Will; we die for no other reason but that which is not reason, Quia vo∣lumus, Because we will die.

We have now brought you to the very cell and den of Death, where this monster was framed and fashioned, where it was first conceived, brought forth and nursed up. I have discovered to you the original and beginnings of Sin, whose natural issue is Death, and shut it up in one word, the Will. That which hath so troubled and amused men in all the ages of the Church to find out; that which some have sought in heaven, in the bosome of God, as if his Providence had a hand in it, and others have raked hell, and made the Devil the authour of, who is but a per∣swader and a soliciter to promote it; that which others have tied to the chain of Destiny, whose links are filed by the phansie alone, and made up of air, and so not strong enough to bind men, much less the Gods them∣selves, as it is said; that which many have busied themselves in a painful and unnecessary search to find out, openi••g the windows of Heaven to find it there, running to and fro about the Universe to find it there, and searching Hell it self to discover it, we may discover in our own breasts, in our own heart. The Will is the womb that con∣ceiveth this monster, this viper, which eateth through it, and destroyeth the mother in the birth. For that which is the beginning of action, is the beginning of Sin, and that which is the beginning of Sin, is the cause of Death. In homine quicquid est, sibi proficit, saith Hilary;* 1.54 There is nothing in Man, nothing in the world, which he may not make use of to avoid and prevent Death: And in homine quicquid est, sibi nocet; There is nothing in Man, nothing in the world, which he may not make an occasion and instrument of sin. That which hurteth him may help him. That which circumspection and diligence may make an antidote, neglect and carelesness may turn into poyson. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Basil; As Goodness, so Sin is the work of our Will, not of Necessity. If they were wrought in us against our will, there could be neither good nor evil. I call heaven and earth to witness,* 1.55 said GOD by his servant Moses, I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. And what is it to set it before them, but to put it to themselves, to put it into their own hands, to put it to their choice? Chuse then which you will. The Devil may tempt, the Law occasion sin,* 1.56 the Flesh may be weak, Temptations may shew themselves; but not any of these, not all of these, can bring in a necessity of dying. For the Question or Expo∣stulation doth not run thus, Why are you under a Law? Why are you weak? or, Why are you dead? for reasons may be given for all these, and the

Justice and Wisdome of God will stand up to defend them: But the Que∣stion is, Why will ye die? for which there can be no other reason given but our Will.

And here we must make a stand, and take our rise from this one word, this one syllable, our Will: For upon no larger foundation then this we either build our selves up into a temple of the Lord, or into that tower of Babel and Confusion which God will destroy. We see here all is laid upon the Will: But such is our folly and madness, so full of contradicti∣ons is a wilfull sinner,* 1.57 that though he call Death unto him both with words and works, though he be found guilty, and sentence of death past upon him, yet he cannot be wrought into such a perswasion, That he was ever willing to die.* 1.58 Nolumus nostrum, quia malum agnoscimus; We will not call sin ours, because we know it evil; and so are bold to exonerate and unload our selves upon God himself. It is true, there is light, but we are blind, and cannot see it: There is comfort soundeth every where, but we are deaf and cannot hear it: There is supply at hand, but we are bound and fettered,* 1.59 and can make no use of it: There is balm in Gilead, but we are lame, and have no hand to apply it. We complain of our natu∣ral weakness, of our want of grace and assistance. When we might know the danger we are in, we plead ignorance. When we willingly yield our members servants unto sin,* 1.60 we have learnt to say, We did not do it plenâ voluntate, with full consent and will; and what God hath clothed with Death, we cloath with the fair gloss of a good intention and meaning. We complain of our bodies and of our souls, as if the Wisdome of God had failed in our creation. We would be made after another fashion, that we might be good; and yet when we may be good, we will be evil. And these webs a sick and unsanctified phansie will soon spin out. These are receipts and antidotes of our own tempering, devi∣sed and made use of against the gnawings of conscience: These we study and are ready and expert in, and when Conscience beginneth to open and chide, these are at hand to quiet it and put it to silence: We carry them about for ease and comfort, but to as little purpose as the women in Chrysostom's time bound the coins of Alexander the Great or some part of S. John's Gospel to ease them of the head-ach: For by these re∣ceipts and spells we more envenom our souls, and draw nearer to Death by thinking to fly from it, and are tenfold more the servants of Satan be∣cause we are willing to do him service but not willing to wear his livery. And thus excusando exprobramus, our apologies defame us, our false com∣forts destroy us, and we condemn our selves with an excuse.

To draw then the lines by which we are to pass; we will first take off the Moriemini, the cause of our Death, from our Natural weakness, and from the Deficiency of Grace: For neither can our natural weakness be∣tray, nor can there be such a want of grace as to enfeeble, nor hath Sa∣tan so much power as to force the Will, and so there will be no necessity of dying either in respect of our natural weakness, or in regard of Gods strengthning hand, and withholding his grace. And then in the next place we will shew that neither Ignorance of our duty, nor Regret or Reluctancy of Conscience, nor any Pretense or good Intention can make Sin less sinfull, or our death less voluntary. And so we will bring Death to their doors who have sought it out, who have called it to them, vvho are confederate vvith it, and are vvorthy to be partakers thereof. And

First, Why will ye die, O house of Israel? Why will ye die? vve may per∣haps ansvver: vve are dead already.

—Haeret lateri lethalis arundo.

The poysoned and deadly dart is in our sides. Adam sinned, and vve die. Omnes eramus in illo uno, cum ille unus nos omnes perdidit; We vvere all the loins of that one man Adam, vvhen that one man slevv us all. And this we are too ready to confess, that we are born in sin. Nay, we fall so low as to damn our selves before we were born. This some may do in humility; but most are well content it should be so, well pleased in their pedegree, well pleased to be brought into the world in that filth and uncleanness which God doth hate, and make the unhappiness of their birth an advocate to plead for those pollutions, for those wilfull and be∣loved sins, which they fall into in the remaining part of their life, as be∣ing the proper and natural issues of that Weakness and Impotency with which we were sent into the world. But this is not true in every part. That vveakness, vvhatsoever it is, can dravv no such necessity upon us, nor can be vvrought into an apology for sin, or an excuse for dying. For to include and vvrap up all our actual sin in the folds of original vveak∣ness, is nothing else but to cancel our own debts and obligations,* 1.61 and to put all upon our first parents score, and so make Adam guilty of the sins of the whole world. Our natural and original weakness I will not now call into question, since it hath had such Grandees in our Church, men of great learning and piety, for its nursing Fathers, and that for many centuries of years: but yet I cannot see why it should be made a cloak to cover our other transgressions, or why we should miscarry so of∣ten with an eye cast back upon our first fall, which is made ours but in a∣nother man; nor any reason, though it be a plant watered by the best hands, why men should be so delighted in it, why they should lie down and repose themselves under its shadow; why they should be so willing to be weak, and so unwilling to hear the contrary; why men should take so much pains to make the way to happiness narrower, and the way to death broader then it is; in a word, why we should thus magnifie a temptation, and desparage our selves; why we should make each im∣portunate object as powerful and irresistible as God himself, and our selves as idoles, even nothing in this world.* 1.62 Magna pars humanarum que relarum non injusta modò materiâ sed stulta est; The world is full of com∣plaints and excuses; but the complaints which the world putteth forth are for the most part most unjust, and void of that reason which should present and commend them. For when our souls are pressed down and overcharged with sin, when we feel the gripes and gnawings of our conscience, we commonly lay hold on those remedies which are worse then the disease, and suborn an unseasonable and ill-applied conceit of our own natural weakness (which is more dangerous then the temptation) as an excuse and comfort of our overthrow. We fall, and plead we were weak; and fall more then seven times a day, and hold up the same plea still; till we fall into that place where we shall be muzled and speach∣less, not able to say a word, where our complaints will end in curses, in weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.* 1.63 Omnes nostris vitiis fave∣mus, & quod propriâ facimus voluntate ad naturae referimus necessitatem; We are all tender and favourable to our own sins; and because they pleased us when we committed them, we are unwilling to revile them now, but wipe off as much of their filth as we can, because we resolve to commit them again; and those transgressions which our Lusts conceived and brought forth by the midwifery of our Will, we remove as far as we can, and lay them at the door of Necessity, and are ready to complain of God and Nature it self.

Now this complaint against Nature when we have sinned is most unjust; For God and Nature hath imprinted in our souls those common principles

of goodness, That good is to be embraced, and evil to be abandoned, That we must do to others as we would be done to, those practick notions, those anticipations,* 1.64 as the Stoicks call them, of the mind, and preparations against Sin and Death, which, if we did not wilfully stifle and choke them, might lift up our souls far above those depressions of Self-love and Covetousness, and those evils which destroy us, quae ratio semel in univer∣sum vincit, which Reason with the help of Grace overcometh at once. For Reason doth not onely arm and prepare us against these inrodes and incursions, against these (as we think) so violent assaults, but also, when we are beat to the ground, it checketh and upbraideth us for our fall. Indeed to look down upon our selves, and then lift up our eyes to him from whom cometh our salvation,* 1.65 is both the duty and security of the sons of Adam. And when we watch over our selves, and keep our hearts with diligence, when we strive with our inclination and weakness as well as we do with the temptation,* 1.66 then if we fall, God remembreth whereof we are made, considereth our condition, that we are but men; and though we fail, his mercy endureth for ever. But to think of our weakness, and then to fall; and because we came infirm and diseased into the world to kill our selves;* 1.67 to seek out Death in the errour of our life, to dally and play with danger, to be willing to joyn with the temptation at the first shew and approch, as if we were made for no other end, and then to complain of weakness, is to charge God and Nature foolishly, and not onely to impute our sins to Adam but to God himself. And thus we bank∣rupt our selves, and complain we were born poor; we criple our selves, and then complain we are lame; we deliver up our selves, and fall will∣ingly under the temptation, and then pretend it was a son of Anak, too strong for such grashoppers as we. We delight in sin, we trade in sin, we were brought up in it, and we continue in it, and make it our compa∣nion, our friend, with which we most familiarly converse, and then com∣fort our selves, and cast all the fault on our temper and constitution and the corruption of our nature, and we attribute our full growth in sin to that seed of sin which we should have choked, which had never shot up into the blade, and born such evil fruit, but that we manured and wa∣tered it, and were more then willing that it should grow and multiply. And this though it be a great sin, as being the mother of all those misha∣pen births and monsters which walk about the world, we dress and deck up, and give it a fair and glorious name, and call it Humility; Which is,* 1.68 saith Hilary, the hardest and greatest work of our faith, to which it is so unlike, that it is the greatest enemy it hath, and every day weakneth and disenableth it, that it doth not work by charity, but leaveth us Cap∣tives to the world and sin, which but for this conceit it would easily van∣quish and tread down under our feet. We may call it Humility, but it is Pride, a stubborn and insolent standing out with God that made us upon this foul and unjust pretense That he made us so, humilitas sophistica, saith Petrus Blesensis, the humility of hypocrites, which at once boweth and pusheth out the horn, in which we disgrace and condemn our selves, that we may do what we please, and speak evil of our selves, that we may be worse.* 1.69 Oh wretched men that we are! we groan it out, and there is musick in the sound, which we hear, and delight in, and carry along in our mind, and so become wretched indeed, even those misera∣ble sinners which will ever be so. And shall we call this Humility? If it be,* 1.70 it is, as the Apostle speaketh, a voluntary humility, but in a worse sense. He is the humblest man that doth his duty: For that Humility which is commended to us in Scripture, letteth us up to heaven? this, which is so epidemical, sinketh us into the lowest pit. That Humility

boweth us down with sorrow, this bindeth our hands with sloth; that looketh upon our imperfections past, this maketh way for more to come; that ventureth and condemneth it self, condemneth it self, and ventu∣reth further; this runneth out of the field, and dare not look upon the enemy. Nec mirum, si vincantur, qui jam victi sunt; And it is no mar∣vel they should fall and perish whom their own so low and groundless o∣pinion hath already overthrown.

For first, though I deny not a derived Weakness, and from Adam; though I leave it not after Baptisme as subsistent by it self, or bound to the centre of the earth, with the Manichee, nor washt to nothing in the Font, with others; yet it is easie to deceive our selves, and to think it more contagious then it is, more operative and more destructive then it would be, if we would shake off this conceit, and rowse our selves, and stand up against it. Ignaviâ nostrâ fortis est: It may be it is our sloth and cowardise that maketh it strong. Certainly there must be more force then this hath to make us so wicked as many times we are, and there be more promoters of the kingdom of Darkness in us then that which we brought with us into the world. Lord, what a noise hath Original sin made amongst the sons of Adam? and what ill use hath been made of it? When this Lion roareth, all the Beasts of the forrest tremble, and yet are beasts still. We hear of it, and are astonished, and become worse and worse; and yet there are but few that exactly know what it is. When we are In∣fants, we do not know that we are so, no more then the Tree doth that it grows: Much less can we discover what poyson we brought with us into the world, which (as it is the nature of some kind of poyson) though it have no visible operation for the present, may some years after break forth from the head to the foot in swellings and sores full of corruption, and not be fully purged out to our lives end. Again, in the opening and dawning of our reason we have scarce so much light as to see our selves by, and we understand little more then the rod, which we soon forget, and boldly venture upon the same fault for which we felt it, and should count it a vir∣tue and our bounden duty to do it, but for the smart it bringeth with it, which yet can work in us little conscience of guilt. And then in our riper age our blood runneth in our veins with more heat, and we are active and strong to act over that with some sense and feeling which we learnt but imperfectly in our nonage, which our nurse pratled into us, which ser∣vants read to us with a licentious tongue and wanton behaviour: and ma∣ny times we repeat and express those rudiments and principles of thrift which those who are set over us do commonly first teach, and we shew our selves as perfect in them as those old gray-headed Atheists that taught them. These we take up betimes, Wantonness, Revenge, Love of the world; and being used unto them, they are no burdens: and if at any time they wring us, we have learnt so much at Church as to cast them off upon Adam, to ease our selves with the remembrance of our natural Weak∣ness, though we know not what it is, nor have learnt it half so perfectly as we have done those other lessons, which have no evil in them, as we think, but that which is of ancient extraction, derived from the first evil that was ever seen under the sun. But then in our old age, which is a complication and collection of all sins, as well as diseases, how should a dim eye disco∣ver it in the midst of so many evil habits wreathed and platted one with∣in another, Covetousness wrought in with Luxury, and with Luxury Cruelty, each thwarting and yet friendly complying one with the o∣ther? Can we now say that these sins were thus multiplied and raised to such a height by the power and continued force of that fatal legacy which our first Parents left us? Or was this the best crown

wherewith our mothers crowned us in the day of our conception▪ Can we labour and toyl, can we affect and study sin, can we make it our bu∣siness, our ambition, to walk in our evil wayes, and say that we were put in them from the beginning, and forced forward by the violent hand that first put us in? Indeed the old man, the old sinner is glad to hear of ano∣ther Old man, although he never intendeth to crucifie him, nor well un∣derstandeth what it is, no more then the vulgar do Antichrist, which in their phansie is a Beast,* 1.71 and hath horns. Multitude of years (though Age be talkative) yet many times know no more of this primitive and so much famed evil then they who are but of yesterday.* 1.72 Even they who have been brought up in Nob, in the City and University of Priests, have not all agreed in their discovery of this evil, but have presented it in so many shapes that it will be hard to chuse and say, This is the right, this, this it is. I am sure their opinions are more then the sins can be which Origi∣nal sin doth necessarily bring into act. The Anabaptists in the dayes of our fore fathers called it somnium Augustini,* 1.73 S. Augustine's dream. Some make it a sin, and some a punishment onely, some make it both. Some have made it to be nothing but the want and deprivation of original righ∣teousness, or an habitual aversion and opliquity of the will. Others have made it the image of the Devil. There be that conceive the whole es∣sence of Man to be corrupted. There be that make it an Accident; and there have been that have made it a Substance: and there have not been wanting those who have made it nothing. All agree in this, That there is something in us which we must strive to subdue and keep under. Some call it our Natural inclination, which may be the matter of virtue as well as of vice; others, Original sin, which to yield to is to die, but to curb and restrain, to fight against and conquer it, is the great work and busi∣ness of a Christian. I speak not this to take away our original Weakness, but to take it away from being an excuse: For,

In the second place, our natural Weakness is so far from cxcusing our sin, or making it less voluntary, that we are bound by our very profession to crucifie this old Adam in us,* 1.74 to mortifie our earthly members and lusts, non exercere quod nati sumus, not to be what indeed we are; to be in the body, but out of the body; to tame the wantonness of the Flesh. For did we not for this give up our names unto Christ? were we not bapti∣zed in this Faith? It is my Melancholy, saith the Envious; It is my Cho∣ler, saith the Revenger; It is my Blood, saith the Wanton; It is my Ap∣petite, saith the Glutton: and so every man runneth on in his own wayes, because the wind that driveth him cometh from no other treasu∣ry but himself, no other corner but his corrupt heart. Fructu peccato∣rum utuntur, ipsa subducunt; They are content to reap the fruit and plea∣sure of sin, but withdraw the sin it self, and remove it out of the way. But this is not the right use of our natural Weakness, which may be left in us, but (as all agree) to humble, not disarm us; to shew we are men, weak and impotent in our selves, not to make us proud and rebellious a∣gainst our God, but to set us upon our guard, and make us bestir our selves, and call up all our forces, and send our Prayers as Ambassadours to Heaven for help and succour against this inmate and domestick enemy. The Envious should purge his Melancholy,* 1.75 and rejoyce with them that re∣joyce, and weep with them that weep; the Cholerick bridle his Anger, and make it set before the Sun;* 1.76 the Wanton quench that fire in his Blood, and make himself an eunuch for the kingdome of heaven;* 1.77 the Glutton, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.78 wage war with his Appetite, and set a knife to his throat. If this care were general, if we understood Christianity aright, and did strive and struggle with our selves (the best Contention in the world!)

if we did do an act of justice upon our selves, perform that judicatory part of the Gospel, labour to bind this Old Man in chains,* 1.79 and crucifie the Flesh with the lusts and affections, we should not complain, or rather speak so contentedly, of Adam's fall; not bemone our selves, and yet be pleased well enough in in; not take that doctrine with the left hand which is offered to us with the right, or, as he spake in the Historian, sini∣strâ dextram amputare, cut off our right hand with our left, and by a sini∣ster and unnecessary conceit of our own weakness rob and deprive our selves of that strength which might have defended us from Sin and Death; which now is voluntary, because we cannot derive it from any other foun∣tain then our own Wills. For,

Last of all, be the blemishes in the Understanding and Will, which we are said to receive by Adam's fall, what they may be, either by cer∣tain knowledge or conjecture, yet we shall not die unless we will. And if such we were all, yet now we are washed, now we are sanctified,* 1.80 now we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Leper who is clean∣sed complaineth no more of his disease, but returneth to give thanks. The Blind man who is cured doth not run into the ditch, and impute it to his former blindness, but rejoyceth that he can now see the light, and walk∣eth by the light he seeth. And we cannot without foul ingratitude deny but what we lost in Adam we recovered again in Christ, and that impro∣ved and exalted many degrees. For, Not as the offense,* 1.81 so is also the free gift, saith the Apostle. For as by the offense of one many were made sinners, that is, were under the wrath of God, and so considered as if they had themselves committed that sin, so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous, made so not onely by imputation (That we would have, and nothing else; have sin removed, and be sinners still) but made so, that is, supplyed with all helps and with all strength that is necessary and suffici∣ent to forward and perfect those duties of piety which are required at the hands of a justified person. For do we not magnifie the Gospel from the abundance of light and grace which it affordeth? Do we not count the last Adam stronger then the first?* 1.82 Is not he able to cast down all the strong holds, all the towring imaginations which Flesh and Blood, though tainted in the womb, can set up against him. And therefore, if we be truly (what we profess our selves) Christians, this Weakness cannot hurt us; and if it hurt us, it is because we are not Christians.

To conclude; If in Adam we were all lost, in Christ we are come home and brought nearer to heaven. Et post Jesum Christum, when we have given up our names unto Christ, and profess our selves members of that mystical Body whereof he is the Head, all our complaints of Weakness and disabilitie to move in our several places is vain and unprofitable, and injurious to the Gospel of Christ,* 1.83 which is the power of God unto sal∣vation. And a gross and dangerous errour it is, when we run on and please our selves in our evil wayes, to complain of our hereditary infir∣mities, and the weakness and imperfection of nature. For God may yet breathe his complaints and expostulations against every son of Adam that will not turn. Though you are weak, though you have received a bruise by the fall of your first Parents, yet in me is your strength; and then,* 1.84 Why will ye die, O house of Israel?

We must now remove those other pretenses of Flesh and Blood; But in our next and last Part.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Orat. Quid Deus non sic autor mali.
• * 1.2

  Hebr. 6.5. Psal. 16.12.
• * 1.3

  Rom. 9.6.
• * 1.4

  Salvian. l. 1 de Gub. M.
• * 1.5

  Aquia. 2. 2. q. 10. art. 3.
• * 1.6

  Apol. c. 18.
• * 1.7

  Judg. 6.37, 38.
• * 1.8

  Rom. 3.2.
• * 1.9

  Rom 9.4.
• * 1.10

  Deut. 14.1.
• * 1.11

  Levit. 16.21, 22.
• * 1.12

  Ad Fabiol. de vest. sacerd.
• * 1.13

  v. 25.26.
• * 1.14

  Novatian. de cib. Judaicis.
• * 1.15

  1^a. 1^ae.
• * 1.16

  Isai 5.4.
• * 1.17

  Heb. 9.10.
• * 1.18

  Jam. 1.15.
• * 1.19

  2 Cor. 3.11.
• * 1.20

  Hebr. 12.25.
• * 1.21

  Acts 7.38.
• * 1.22

  Eph. 2.20, 21.
• * 1.23

  Cant. 4.4.
• * 1.24

  Eph. 3.15.
• * 1.25

  Eph. 4.11.
• * 1.26

  Eph. 4.16.
• * 1.27

  Eph. 4.5, 13.
• * 1.28

  1 Cor. 12.29. 1 Cor. 15.23. Naz. Or. 26.
• * 1.29

  Bellarm. prae∣fat. ad Controv.
• * 1.30

  Isa. 55.1.
• * 1.31

  Gal. 6.2.
• * 1.32

  Psal. 30.9.
• * 1.33

  Consult. c. de Relig. 5.
• * 1.34

  1 Cor. 10.24
• * 1.35

  Jud. 23.
• * 1.36

  Heb. 11.10.
• * 1.37

  Jam. 5.20.
• * 1.38

  Numb. 10.31.
• * 1.39

  1 Tim. 3.15.
• * 1.40

  2 Sam 3.33, 34.
• * 1.41

  Luk. 15.13, 30.
• * 1.42

  Quale est de Ecclesiâ Dei in Ecclesiam Dia∣boli tendere de coelo in coenum? Tert. De spect. c. 25. Aug. De Civ. Dei, l. 14. c. 15.
• * 1.43

  Isa. 5.4.
• * 1.44

  Acts 15.21.
• * 1.45

  Ezek. 33.32.
• * 1.46

  2 Cor. 3.7, &c
• * 1.47

  1 Sam. 16.7.
• * 1.48

  psal. 137.3, 4.
• * 1.49

  Psal. 68.19.
• * 1.50

  John 14.9.
• * 1.51

  1 Tim. 3.15.
• * 1.52

  Rom. 6.9. Gal. 7.16.
• * 1.53

  Ezek. 33.11.
• * 1.54

  In Psal. 118
• * 1.55

  Deut. 30.19.
• * 1.56

  Rom. 7.11.
• * 1.57

  Wisd. 1.16.
• * 1.58

  Tert. Apol c. 1.
• * 1.59

  Jer. 8.22.
• * 1.60

  Rom. 6.13, 19.
• * 1.61

  Licentiam u∣surpare prae∣texto necessita∣tis. Tert. De cult. Faemin.
• * 1.62

  Petrarch. 1.3, R. S. c. 1.
• * 1.63

  Hieron. A∣mando.
• * 1.64

  Natura nos ad optimam men∣tem genuit, Quint. l. 12. Inst.
• * 1.65

  Psal. 62.1. & 121.1.
• * 1.66

  Psal. 103.14.
• * 1.67

  Wisd. 1.12.
• * 1.68

  Humilitas ma∣ximum fidei o∣pus, Hil. in Psal. 130.
• * 1.69

  Rom. 7.24.
• * 1.70

  Col. 2.18.
• * 1.71

  Job 32.7.
• * 1.72

  Job 8.9.
• * 1.73

  See Molanct. l. c. de perc.
• * 1.74

  Rom. 6.6. Col. 3.5.
• * 1.75

  Rom. 12.15.
• * 1.76

  Eph. 4.26.
• * 1.77

  Matth. 19.12.
• * 1.78

  Julian. Antio chens. Prov. 23.2.
• * 1.79

  Gal. 5 24.
• * 1.80

  1 Cor. 6.11.
• * 1.81

  Rom. 5.15, 19••
• * 1.82

  2 Cor. 10.4.5.
• * 1.83

  Rom. 1.16.
• * 1.84

  Hos. 13.9.