XXX sermons lately preached at the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalen Milkstreet, London to which is annexed, A sermon preached at the funerall of George Whitmore, Knight, sometime Lord Mayor of the City / by Anthony Farindon.

PART IIII.

EZEKIEL 33.11.

Turne ye, Turne ye from your evill ways. For why, &c.

TO stand out with God, and contend with him all our life long; to try the utmost of his pati∣ence, and then in our Evening, in the shut∣ting up of our Dayes, to bow before him, is not to Turne: nor have we any reason to con∣ceive any Hope; that a faint Confession, or sigh should deliver him up to Eternity of Bliss, whom the swinge of his lusts, and a multiply∣ed continued disobedience have carryed along without checque, or controul to his chamber and Bed, and the very mouth of the Grave; who have delighted themselves in evill, till they can do no good: Delay, if it ben ot fatall to all, (for we dare not give Lawes to Gods Mercy) yet we have just reason to feare; it is so to those that trust to it, and runne on in their Evill wayes, till the hand of justice is rea∣dy to cut their Thread of life, and to set a period to that, and their sinnes together, Turn ye, Turn ye, that is, now: that it be not too late.

The second property, or the Sincerity of our Turn.

This ingemination hath more heat in it, not onely to hasten our motion and turn, but to make it true, and real, and sincere; For when God bids us turn, he considers us not, as upon a stage, but in his Church, where every thing must be done, not acted, where all is real; not 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, which is not pergula pidoris a Painters shop, where all is in shew, nothing in truth; where not the Garments but the heart must be rent; that as Christ our head was crucified indeed, not in shew, or in phan∣tasme (as Marcion would have it) so we might present him a wounded soul, a bleeding Repentance, a flesth crucified, and so joyn, as it were, with Christ in a real and sincere putting away, and abolishing of sin. God is truth it self: True and faithfull in his promises; if he speak he doth it, if he command it shal stand fast, and therefore hateth a feined, forced, wavering, imaginary Repentance, to come in a vizor, or disguise before him, is an abomination; nor will he give true joy for feigned sorrow, Heaven for a sha∣dow; nor everlasting happinesse for a counterfeit, momentary turn, Eternity for that which is not, for that which is nothing: For Repentance if it be not sincere, is nothing. The holy Father will tell us 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, * 1.1 that which is feigned is not lasting; that which is forced failes, and ends, with that artificiall spring that turns it about; as we see the wheels of a clock move not, when the Plummet is on the ground, because the beginning of that motion is ab extrà, not from its internal Form, but from some outward violence, or Art without, simplex recti cura, multiplex pravi, there is but one true principle of a real turn, * 1.2 (the fear of God) there may be very ma∣ny of a false one: as Martin Luther sayd, that one lie had need of seven more, to draw but an apparency of truth over it, that it may passe under that name; so that which is not sincere, is brought in with a troop of attendants like it self, and must be set off with great diligence, and art; when that which is true com∣mends it self, and needs no other hand to paint, or polish it. What art and labor is required to smooth a wrinckled brow? what ceremony? what noise? what trumpets? what extermination of the countenance? what sad looks? what Tragical deport∣ment must usher in an Hypocrite? what a penance doth he un∣dergoe, that will be a Pharisee? how many counterfeit sighs, and forced grones? how many Fasts? how many Sermons must be the prologue to a false turn? to a Nominal turn? for we may call

it turning from our evil wayes; when we do but turn and look a∣bout us, to secure our selves in them; or to make way to worse: Ahab and Jezebel did so: Absolon did so: the Jows did so; * 1.3 Fast to smite with the fist of wickednesse, and to make their voice to be heard on high. A false turn? wickednesse it self may work it; crast and cruelty may blow the trumpet in Sion, and sanctifie afast. A feigned repentance? Opression, policy, the love of the world, sin it self may beget it, and so advance and promote it self, and be yet more sinsul, and commonly a false turn makes the fairest shew, * 1.4 ap∣pears in greater glory to a carnal eye, then a true; ingeniosior ad excogitandum simulatio veritate, for hypocrisie is far more witty, seeks 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 takes no care for outward pomp and ostenta∣tion; nor comes forth at any time to be seen, unlesse it be to pro∣pagate it self in others.

Now by this, we may judge of our turn, whether it be right and natural or no: For as we may make many a false turn, so there may be many false springs, or principles to set us a mourning: sometimes fear may do it; sometimes hope, sometimes policy, and in all the love of our selves, more then of God; and then com∣monly our Tragedy concludes in the first scene; nay in the very prologue; our Repentance is at an end in the very first turn, * 1.5 in the very first shew; Ahabs Repentance, a flash, at the Prophets thunder; Pharaohs Repentance drove on with an East-wind, and compast about with locusts; an inconstant, false, and desultory re∣pentance. I cannot better compare it, then to those motions by water-works: whilest the water runs, the devise turns round, and we have some History 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, and 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 we may present divers actions and signes of true Repentance: Our eyes may gush out with tears; we hang down our head, and beat our breast; our tongue, our glory may awake, and our hands may be stretched out to the poor; we may cry peccavi with David; we may put on sackcloth with Ahab; we may go forth with Peter; but when these waters of bitternesse are abated or cease, then our motion faileth, and our turn is at an end: our tears are dried up, and our tongue silent, and our hands withered, and it plainly appears, that our Turn was but artificiall, * 1.6 our motion counterfeit: and our Repentance, but a kinde of pup∣pit-play: malorum vestigia quasi in Salo posita, fluctuant, & prolabun∣tur, saith Jerom. The wicked walk in this world, as on the waves

of the sea; they make a profer to go and walk, but they soon sink and fall down, their motion is wavering and inconstant, and he gives the reason: Fundamenta fidei solida non habent they have no sure grounding, nor doth the love of goodnesse, but some thing else thus startle and disquiet them in evil; Sauls whining at Sa∣muels reproof: Ahabs mourning and humbling himself at Elijahs Prophesie; Felix trembling at Pauls preaching were not volun∣tary 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 trepicationis a fit of trembling upon any Felix, loose the joynts of any Heathen. For as it is observ'd, 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 refutarunt, yet condemned errour and false∣hood by that absurdity which was visible enough, and written as it were in its very fore-head: so in the most rotten and corrupt hearts there are divinae Ʋeritatis semina, some seeds of saving know∣ledge, but choked and stifled with the love of vanity, and the cares of this world; and though they do not hate sin, yet the horrour of sin, or that smart which it brings along with it, makes them sometimes turn away, and make a seeming flight from that sin which they cannot hate. What therefore the Philosopher speaks of friendship is here very appliable: that friendship is most lasting, which hath the best and furest ground, which is built and raised upon vertue: * 1.7 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the friendship of wicked men is as unconstant, and unstable as themselves: for they want that goodnesse, which is the confirma∣tion and bond of love. If it rise from pleasure, that's a thinner vapour then a mans life, and it appears a lesse time and then va∣nisheth away: and the friend goes with it: if you lay it on riches, they have wings, and that love, which was tied to them flies a∣way with them. Nothing can give it a sure, and firme being, but that piety, which is as lasting as the Heavens: profit and plea∣sure, and by-respects are but threads of towe, and when these are broken, then they, who had but one minde and soul, are two a∣gain: And so also it is with us in our converse and walking with our God; whose friends we are, if we keep his sayings, if the love of his name be, as it were the form and principle, that moves and carries us towards him, if we turn in his Name: but if we do it upon those false grounds, upon such motives, which will ra∣ther change our countenance, and gesture, then our minds, and make us seem good for a while, * 1.8 to be worse for ever after: if we vomit up our sin to ease our stomack, and then lick it up again; if we turn, that the flying book of curses overtake us not; we then give him but a single turn, nay, the shadow of a turn, for a

double call; our Conversion is not Syncere, and True: there must be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, something to strengthen it, that which will make us like him, will knit and unite us to him; our Repentance must be fully sormea in our hearts, before it speak in sorrow, or be powred forth in Teares, or hang down the head at a Fast, before it take the poenitentiall Habit; our Turne must be begun and continued by Faith and Obedience; and then we shall not onely be Baptized in the Teares of our Repentance, but withall receive our Confirma∣tion.

And let us thus Turne: For first, False Repentance is a sinne grea∣ter then that I Turne from; because to make a shew of Hatred to that I most love, is to love it still, and make my guilt greater by an Additionall lye, to seem to be sorry for that, I delight in: to for∣sake that, I cleave to; to renounce that, which I embrace: to Turn from that, which I follow after, which makes our Condition, in some respects, worse than that of the Atheist, For we doe not onely deny God, but deny him with a mock, which is a greater sinne, then not to Think of him. If we Profess we Turne, and yet runne on; we sin in professing that which we do not, and we sin in not doing that which we professe: If we professe we do it, why then doe we it not? and if we doe it not, why doe we profess it? A shew of what I should be, accuseth me, for not being what I shew, as we see the Ape appeares more deformed, and ridiculous, because 'tis like a man, and a Strumpet is never more despicable, then in a Matrons stole; as Nazianzen speaks of Women, that paint themselves, * 1.9 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, their Beauty shews them more deformed, because 'tis Counterfeit. They very heathen could say, Odi homines Philosophâ sententiâ, 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 Gowne and Beard. Sopbocles, who had no more chastity, then what he was to thank his Old Age for, yet could lash, and with great bitter∣ness reproach Euripides, and passe this censure upon him; That he was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that he was very bitter against women in his Tragedies, but more kinde then was fitting, in his Chamber. The Comedians, to make Socrates 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 suffici∣ently exposed him to laughter, till he brought him in discoursing of Virtue, and in his very Lecture of Morality, stealing a peece of Plate: For he knew nothing could be more absurd, then for a Philosopher to play the Thief; and then too when he was prescri∣bing the rules of Honesty. Now, if the very Pagans, by the light of Nature could condemne Hypocrisy by their very scorne, and de∣ride

and hate it; no sentence can be severe enough against it, in a Christian: because the Abuse of Goodnesse is farre the greater, by how much the goodnesse, which is abus'd, is more Excellent, and levell'd 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, stands in extreme opposition to all that is feigned, and counterfeit; An Almes with a Trumpet: a Fast with a sowre face; devotion, that devoures Widows Houses, do more provoke him to wrath, then those vices, which these outward Formalities seem to cry down: Nothing is more distastfull to him, then a mixt, compounded Christian, made up of a bended knee, and a stiff neek; of an atten∣tive care, and a Hollow heart; of a pale Countenance, and a re∣bellious Spirit: of Fasting and Oppression; of Hearing and Deceit: of Cringes, and bowings, and flatteries, and reall disobedience; Ab∣solon's vow, Jehu's sacrifices, Simon Magus his Repentance; Ahab's Fast, * 1.10 his soul doth hate, or any Devil that puts on Samuel's Mantle: and he so farre detests the meere outward performance of a Reli∣gious Duty, that when he thunders from heaven, when he breathes out his menaces and Threatnings on the greatest sinners, The bur∣den is: they shall have their portion with Hypocrites. In the 20. Chapter of Exedas, at the 25. verse we reade. Non ascendet super Altare securis: Thou shalt not build an Altar of Hewen stone, nor shalt thou lift up a Toole upon it: why not lift a Toole upon it? They used the Hatchet saith Nazianzen, to build the Ark, to srame the staves of Chittim wood; they wrought in Gold, and silver, and Brasse, with Iron Instruments, They put a Knife to the Throat of the Sa∣crifice; yet here, to life up a Toole upon any stone of the Altar, is to pollute it; and why not pollute the Arke, as well as the Altar? the Father gives the Reason: The stones of the Altar were by the Providence of God, and a kind of miracle found fitted already for that work, * 1.11 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because, saith he, whatsoever is consecrate to God, must not bor∣row from the help of Art; must not be Artificiall, but Naturall. If we build an Altar unto God, to sacrifice our selves on, the stones must be naturally fitted, not he wen out by Art: not a forced Grone, a forc'd acknowledgement, artificiall Teares, 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 Turne then an Ahab, or an He∣rod, or a Simon Magus, and even by their feigned Turne, learn to make up ours in Truth. For did Ahab mourn, and put on Sackcloth? did Herod heare John Baptist, and heare him gladly? did Simon Magus desire Peter to prya for him, even then, when he was in the

Gall of bitternesse? what anxiety? what contritiion must perfect my conversion? si tanti vitrum, quanti margarita? if glasse cast such a brightnesse, what must the lustre of a diamond be? * 1.12 And thus may we make use, even of hypocrifie it self, to establish our selves in the truth; make Ahab and Herod arguments and mo∣tives to make our Repentance sure: For as the Philosopher well tells us, that we are not onely beholding to those, who accurately handled the points and conclusions in Philosophy, but to those al∣so, and even to Poets 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, who did light upon them by chance; and but glaunce 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 sack∣cloth with Ahab; we must hear the word with Herod, we must beg the prayers of the Church with Simon Magus, but finding we are yet short of a true turn, we must presse forward, and ex∣actly make up this divine science; that our turn may be real, and in good earnest; that it may be finished after his form, who calls 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 property of our Turn; It must be total and Ʋniversal,

The third is: it must be poenitentia plena a total and Uni∣versal conversion, a turn from all our evil wayes. For if it be not total, and Universal, it is not true. A great errour there is in our lives, and the greatest part of mankinde are taken, plea∣sed, and lost in it: to argue and conclude à parte ad totum, to take the part for the whole, and from the slight forbearance of some one unlawful act; from the superficial performance of some particular duty to infer, and vainly arrogate to themselves, a ha∣tred to all, and an universal obedience: as if what Tiberius the Emperor was wont to say, of his Half-eaten-meats, were true of our divided, our parcel, and curtail'd Repentance, * 1.13 Omnia ea∣dem habere, quae totum, every part of it, every motion and incli∣nation to newnesse of life, had as much in it, as the whole body and compasse of our Obedience, and there were that mutual a∣greement, and sympathy of duties in a Christian, as Physitians say there are of the parts of a living Creature: the same sapor and taste in a disposition to Goodness, as in a Habit of goodness; The same Heat and Heartiness in a Thought, as in a constant, and earnest perseverance; in a velleity as much activity, as in a will; as much in a Pharisees pale countenance, as in Saint Pauls severe discipline, * 1.14 and mortification; and as Hippocrates speaks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,

in the least performance all the parts of our o∣bedience, in a meer approbation, a desire; in a desire, a will; in a leaving one evil way, a turning rom all, and cutting off but one limb or part, the utter destruction of the whole body of sinne.

And therefore, as if God did look down from Heaven, and from thence behold the children of men; and then saw how we turn'd, oen from luxury to covertousnesse; another from super∣stition to prophanesse; a third from Idols, to sacriledge; as if he beheld us turning from one sin to another; or from some great sin; not another, from our scandalous, and not from our more Domestick, Retired, and speculative sins; he sends forth his voice, and that a mighty voice, turn ye, turn ye, not from one by-path to another, not from one sin, and not ano∣ther, but turn ye, turn ye, that you need turn no more, turn ye from all your evil wayes: * 1.15 In corporibus aequis nihil nociturum medici relinquunt, Physitians purge out all noxious humours, from sick and crazy bodies; and so doth our great physitian of soules, sanctifie and cleanse them, that he may present them to himself, not having spot or wrinckle, * 1.16 or any such thing; that they may be Hely and without Ble∣mish.

For to turn from one sin to another, from prodigality to sor∣ditude and love of the world, from extreme to extreme is to flee from a Lion to meet a Bear: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: extremities are equalities: * 1.17 though they are extremes and distant, yet in this they agree, that they are extreames, and though our evil wayes be ne∣ver so far asunder, yet in this they meet; that they are evil. Su∣perstition dotes; prophanesse is mad, covetousnesse gathers all; prodigality scatters all; rash anger destroyes the innocent; soo∣lish compassion spares 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, and to hear a Sermon, as I would a song: not to hear, and to do no∣thng else, but hear; to worship the walls, and to beat down a Church; to be superstituious, and to be prophane are extremes, which we must equally turn from, down with superstition on the one side; and down with prophanesse on the other; down with it, even to the ground: Because some are bad, let not us be worse; and make their sin a motive, and inducement to us to run upon a greater, because some talk of merits, be afraid of good works; because they vow chastity, pollute our selves: because they vow poverty, make hast to be rich: because they vow obedience, speak e∣vil 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 prophanesse is a gulph, which hath swallowed up more, * 1.18〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Photius in his censure of Theodorus Antiochenus, for that which is opposite to that which is worst, is not good; for one evil stands in opposition to another, and both at their several distance, are contrary to that which is good; nor can I hope to ex∣pitate one sin with another; to make amends for my Oppression, with my wasteful expences; to satisfie for bowing to an Idol, by robbing a Church, for contemning a Priest, by hearing a Sermon, for standing in the way of sinners, by running into a conventicle; for I am still in the seat of the scornful; this were first to make our selves worthy of death, and then to run to Rome, or Geneva for sanctuary: first to be villaines, and men of Belial, and at last turn Papists or Schismaticks; 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, whither should we turn but to God? In hoc motu convertit se anime adunitatem et identitatem, in this moti∣on of turning, * 1.19 the soul strives forward through the vanities of the world, through all extreames, 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 is never contrary to it self; strives forward to be one with God, as God is one in us; and as he is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 one and the same God in all his commands; not forbidding one sin, and permitting another; as his wayes are equal, so must our turn be equal, not from the right hand to the left, not from superstition, to prophanesse; not from despising of prophesie, to Sermon∣hypocrisy, not from uncleannesse to faction, not from Riot to Rebellion; but a turn from all Extreams, from all evil; a col∣lection and levelling the soul, which before lookt divers wayes, and turning her face upon the way of truth, upon God a∣lone.

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 every 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 condition required in a true miracle, that it be perfect; so that there be not onely a change, but such a change, which is absolute, and exact, that it may seem to be, as it were, a new Creati∣on; that water which is changed into wine, may be no more water, but wine; tht the blind man do 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 Adulterer is made an Eu∣nuch for the kingdom of Heaven; the intemperate comes forth with a knife at his throat; the revenger kisseth the hand that strikes him; when we Turn, sinne vanisheth, the Old man is dead, and in its place, there stands up a new Creature.

In the 15. to Galatians, Saint Paul speaking of the works of the flesh (which are nothing but sins) and having given us a cata∣logue, reckoned up many of them, by which we might know the rest, at last concludes. Of which I tell you before, as I have told you of∣ten, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God: where the Apostles 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 e∣nough to make us breakers of the whole Law, and so liable to e∣ternal death? It is a conclusion in the Schools; that whosoever is in the state of any one mortal sin, and turns not from it, what∣soever he doth, do he pray, or give almes, bow the knee before God, or open his hand to his brother; be it what it will in it self, never so fair and commendable, it is forth with blasted, and de∣faced, and 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 it is agreeable with reason, so far it must needs be pleas∣ing to the God of reason; so far as it answers the rule, so far is it accepted of him, that made it) nor can we think, that Regulus, Fabricius, Cato, and the rest, who do convitium facere Christianis, up∣braid and shame many of us Christians, were damned for their justice, their integrity, their 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 indued and beautified with many vertues, yet the habit of one sin is enough to deface them, to draw that night and darknesse 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 trial: though they be not sins, not bright, and shining sins, (for I cannot see how darknesse it self should shine) yet they shall become utterly unprofitable, they may, peradventure lessen the number of the stripes, but yet the unrepentant sinner shall be beaten. For what ease can a myriad of vertues do him, who is under Arrest? nay, what performance can acquit him, who is condemned already? Reason it self stands up against it, and forbids it: for what obedi∣ence is that, which answers but in part? which follows one pre∣cept, and runs away from another? and then what imperfect

monsters should the kingdome of Heaven receive? a liberall man, but not chast; a Temperate man, but not honest? a Zealous man, but not Charitable, a great Faster, and a great Impostor, a Beads∣man, and a Theese; an Apostle, a great Preacher, and a Traytor? such a Monsterous mishapen Christian cannot stand before him; who is a pure, uncompounded Essence, the same in every Thing, and Every Where; One and the same, even Unity it self.

For againe; every man is not equally inclin'd to every sinne: This man loves that, which another loathes, and he who made the Devil fly at the first Encounter, may entertaine him at a second: he that resisted him in lust, may yeeld to him in Anger: He who will none of his delicates, may fayle at his Terrors, and he that feared not the roaring of the Lyon, may be ensnared by the flattery of the Serpent. For the force of Temptations is many times quickned, or Dull'd according to the Naturall Constitutions, and severall complexions of men, and other outward Circumstances, by which they may work more coldly, or more vehemently upon the will, and Affections. A man of a dull and Torpid disposition is seldom Ambitious; a man of a quick and active Spirit, seldome Idle; the Cholerick man not obnoxious to those evills, which melancholly doth hatch; nor the Melancholick to those, which Choler is apt to produce: As hard a matter it may be for some men to commit some one sinne, as it is for others to avoid it; as hard a matter for the Foole in the Gospel to have scattered his Goods, as it was for the other Foole the Prodigall to have kept them; as hard a matter for some to let loose their Anger, as it is for others to curbe and bridle it: some by their very temper and Constitution, with ease with∣stand lust, but must struggle and take paines to keep down their 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, must use a kind of violence before they can overcome another, which is more sutable, and more flat∣ters their Constitution: And this we may find by those darts, which we cast at one another, those uncharitable Censures we passe: For how do the Covetous condemne and pity the Prodigal? and how doth the Prodigal loath and scorne the Covetous? How doth the Luke-warme Christian abominate the Schismaticque, and the Schismaticque call every man so, 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 commits it, wonders as much, that he should fall into the Contrary? For the Enemy applies him∣self to every Humour, and Temper, and having found where every man lies open to invasion, there strives to make his Battery, where every man is most assaultable, and there enters with such forces,

which we are ready to obey: with a sword, which the Revenger will snatch at; with Riches, which the Covetous will digge for; with a dish of dainties, which the Glutton will greedily devour, and what bait soever we taste of, we are in his Snare; he hath his sever∣all Darts, and if any one pierce the heart, he is a Conqueror: For he knows the wages of any one sinne unrepented, is death. We are indeed, too ready to flatter, and comfort our selves in that sinne, which best complies with our Humour, ever more to favour and Pardon our selves in some sinne or other, and to make our obedi∣ence to one precept an Advocate to plead for us, and hold us up in the breach of another; I am not as other men are, there are more Pharisees then one that have spoke it. Some sinne or other there is, either of Profit, or pleasure, or the like, to which by Complexion we are inclin'd, which we too oft dispense with, as willing it should stay with us (as Austin confesses of himself, that when he prayed against Lust, he was not very willing to be heard, or that God should too soon divorce him from his beloved sinne) At the same time we would be Good, and yet evill; we would partake of life, and yet joyne with that, which tends unto death: we would be con∣verts, and yet wantons; we would Turne from one sin, and yet cleave fast to another. Oh let me Hugg my Mammon, saith the Miser, and Ile defy lust: let me take my fill of love, saith the wanton, and Ile spurn at Wealth: Let me wash my feet in the blood of my enemies, saith the Revenger, and all other pleasure I shall look up∣on, 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 abstaine from those sinnes, which either hinder not, or promote that, to which he is carried by the swindge of this naturall Temper, and dis∣position: And as every Nation (in the times of Darkness) had its severall God, which they worshipt, and neglected others; so every man almost hath his beloved sinne, which he cleaves to, and rather then he will Turne from it, will fling off all respect, and familiarity to the rest; will abstaine from evill in this kind, so he may take in the other, which is pleasant to him; will be for God, so he may be for Baal too; will not Touch, so he may Tast, 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 evill way, which leads to Death; For what though I scape the Lion, if the Beare teare me in peeces? what is it to leane our hand, and rest upon the forbearance of some sinnes, if a Serpent bite us? what is it to Turne from many sinnes, and yet be too familiar with that, which will destroy us? Saul, wee know, spared many of the Amalekites, when Gods command was, to put all to the sword, and the event was; he spared one too ma∣ny, for one of them was his Executioner; God bids us destroy the whole Body of finne, to leave no sinne reigning in our mortall Bodies,

and if we favour and spare but one, that one, if we Turne not from it, will be strong enough to Turne us to Destructi∣on.

For againe; It is Obedience onely, that commends us to God, and that, as exact, and perfect, as the equity of the Gospel requires, and so every degree of sinne is rebellion: God requires totam volunta∣tem, 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, univer∣sall Conversion. True Obedience, saith Luther, non transit in genus deliberativum, doth not demurr and deliberate, I may add, non transit in genus judiciale, doth not take upon it self to determine, which Commandement is to be kept, and which may be omitted; what in it is to be done, and what is to be left undone. For as our Faith is imperfect; if it be not equall to that Truth which is revealed; so is our obedience imperfect, when 'tis not equall to the command, and both are unavailable, because in the one we stick at some part of the Truth reveal'd, and in the other come short of the command; and so in the one distrust God, in the other oppose him: what is a sigh, if my murmuring drown it? what is my Devotion, if my Impati∣ence chill it? what is my Liberality, if my uncleanness defile it? what are my Prayers, if my partiall obedience turne them into sinne? what is a morsell of bread to one poore man, when my op∣pression hath eaten up a Thousand? what is my Faith, if my malice make me worse then an Infidell? The voice of Scripture, the Lan∣guage of Obedience is; to keep all the Commandements; the lan∣guage of Repentance, to depart from all Iniquity. For all the Vir∣tues in the world cannot wash off the guilt of one unrepented sin; Shall I give my first-born for my Transgression, saith the Prophet, the fruit of my body, for the sinne of my soule? shall I bring the merits of one Saint? the supererogations of another? and add to these the Treasure of the Church? shall I bring my Almes, my Devotion, my Teares; all these will vanish at the guilt of one sinne, and melt before it, as the wax before the Sun: for every sinne is, as Seneca speaks of Alexanders, in killing Calisthenes, Crimen aeternum, * 1.20 an ever∣pentance can redeeme; For, as oft as it shall be said, that Alex∣ander slew so many thousand persians, it will be reply'd, he did so, but withall, he slew Calisthenes. He slew Darius, 'tis true, and Ca∣listhenes too: He wan all, as farre as the very Ocean; 'tis true, but he killed Calisthenes; and as oft we shall fill our mindes, and flatter our selves with the forbearance of these, or those sinnes, 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 sinne shall to our Reproach.

And now because in common esteeme, 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 sinne; be it Fornication, Theft or Covetousnesse, or the like, be it whatsoever is called sinne; and though, perhaps, we may dread it the lesse, because it is but one, yet we sahll find good reason to Turne from it, because it is sinne.

And first: Every particular sinne is of a monstrous aspect, being committed not onely against the Law written; but against the Law of Nature, which did then Characterise the soule, when the soule did first enforme the Body: for though we call those horrid sinnes unnaturall, which Saint Paul speaks against in the 1. to the romanes, yet in true estimation, every sin is so, being against our very Reason, which is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, * 1.21 the very first Law, written in our hearts, saith Naz. for sin is an unreasonable Thing, nor can it desend it self by discourse, or argument. If Heaven were to be bought with sin, it were no Purchase, for by every evill work, I forfeit not onely my Christianity, but my manhood; I am robb'd of my chiefest Jewel, and I my self am the Theef. Who would buy eternity with sinne? who would buy Immortallity upon such loathed Termes: If Christ should have promis'd Heaven upon condition of a wicked life, who would have beleeved there had been either Christ or Heaven? And therefore it is laid as an imputation upon man, Solum hoc animal Naturae fines transgreditur, no Creature breaks the bounds and limits which Nature hath set, but Man; and there is much of Truth in it; man, when he sinnes, is more unbounded, and irregular then a Beast. For a Beast follows the conduct of his naturall Appetite, but man leaves his Reason behind, which should be more powerful, and is as naturall to him as his sense. Man, saith the prophet David, that understands not, is like to the Beasts that perish; and Man that is like to a Beast, is worse then he: No Fox to Herod, no Goat to the Wanton; no Tyger to the Murderer; no Wolfe to the Oppressor; no Horse-leech to the Covetous; for Beasts follow that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that instinct of Nature, by which they are carried to the Object; but man makes Reason, which should come in to rescue him from sin, an Instrument of Evill; so that his Reason, which was made as a help; as his God on Earth, serves onely to make him more un∣reasonable. Consider then, though it be but one sinne, yet so farre it makes thee like unto a Beast, nay worse then any; though it be one, yet it hath a monstrous aspect; and then Turne from it.

Secondly: 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 haires of thy head: for as it is truly said, om∣ne

verum, omni vero consonat, there is a kind of agreement, and har∣mony in truthes; and the devout School-man tells us, that the whole Scripture is but one copulative proposition, because the pre∣cepts therein contained are many, and yet one, many in regard of the diversity of those works, that perfect them, but yet one, in re∣spect of that root of charity, which begins them; so peccatum mul∣tiplex, & unum, there is a kinde of dependencie between sins, and a growth in wickednesse, one drawing, and deriving poyson from another 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 as Epiphanius speaks of heresies, * 1.22 as the Asp doth from the Viper, which being set in opposition to any particular vertue, creepeth on, and multiplies, and gathers strength to the endangering of all. And sin may propagate it self; first, as an efficient cause, Removens prohibens, weaking the power of grace, dimming the light of the Gospel, setting us at a greater distance from the brightnesse of it, making us more venturous, taking off our blush of modestty, which should restrain us, one evil act may dispose us to commit the like, and that may bring on a thousand. Secondly, as a material cause; one sin may prepare matter for a∣nother; thy covertousnesse beget debate; debate enrage thee more; and that not end but in murder. Last of all, as the final cause, thou mayest commit theft for fornication, and fornication for theft, that thou mayest continue a Tyrant, be more a Tyrant; that thou mayest uphold thy oppression, oppresse 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 leads Absolon 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. For sin, saith Basil, like unto a stone, that is cast into the water, multiplies it self by infinite Gyres, and Circles; The sins of our youth hasten us to the sins of our age; an the sins of our age look back upon the follies of our youth; pride feathers my ambition, and am∣bition swells my pride, gluttony is a pander to my lust, and my lust a steward to my gluttony: Sins seldom end, where they be∣gin, 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 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 imagine that when I slan∣der my Neighbour, I am in an aptitude to blaspheme God, could I see luxurie in gluttony, and incest in luxurie; strife in covetousness; and in strife murder; in idleness theft, and in theft sacriledge; 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.

But in the Third place, if neither the monstrosity of sin, nor

the fruitfulnesse of sin moves us, yet the guilt it brings along with it, and the obligation to punishment may deter us: For sin must needs then be terrible, when she comes with a whip in her hand: indeed she is never without one, if we could see it; and 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 mad∣nesse of the people, to the craft and covetousnesse of some, and the improvidence of others, but twas sin that called them down, and for ought we know, * 1.23 but one. For one sin as of Achan, all Israel may be punisht; for one sin, as of David, threescore and ten thou∣sand may fall by the plague: For Jonahs disobedience, a Tempest may be raised upon all the Marriners in the ship: and what stron∣ger winde can there blow then this, to drive us every one out of e∣very evil way? how should this consideration leave a sting be∣hinde it, and affect hand startle us? It may be my sacriledge, may the Church-robber, It may be my luxury, may the wanton, It may be my bold irreverence in the House of God; may the prophane 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 Achan; build an altar with David, throw this Jonah over-board, cast this sin out of my soul, that God may turn from his fierce wrath, and shine once a∣gain both upon my Tabernacle, and upon the Nation.

But in the last place; if his anger be not hot enough in his tem∣poral punishments; it will hereafter boyl and reake in a Cauldron of unquenchable fire; he will punish thee eternally for any one sin habituated in thee, which thou hast not turned from by Re∣pentance. Saint Basil makes the punishment not onely infinite in duration, but in degrees, and increase, and was of opinion, that the paines of the damned are every moment intended, and aug∣mented, 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, as we will, (swallow it without fear, live in it with∣out 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 Saint Basil may be true. My love of the world may kindle my an∣ger, my anger may end in murder, my murder may beget a Cain, and Cain a Lamech, and from Cain, by a kinde of propagation of sin, may proceed a blody race throughout all generations; and I shall be punisht for Cain; and punisht for Lameoh; and as many as the contagion of my sin shall reach, and I shall be punished for my own sins; and I shall be pinished for my other mens sins (as Father Latimer speaks), and my punishment shall be every moment infi∣nitely, and infinitely multiplied, and increased; a heavie and sad

consideration it is, and very answerable, and proportionable to this loud and vehement ingemination Convertimini, Convertimini, Turn ye, Turn ye, able to turn us, and so to turn us, that we may turn from every evil way.

The fourth property of our Turn, it must be final, carried on to the end.

Our turn then must be true, and sincere; and it must be univer∣sal; we must turn with all our Heart; and turn from all our sins; there is yet one property more, one thing more required, that it be final, that we hold it on unto the end, for without this the other three are lost; the speedinesse, the sincerity, the universality of our Repen∣tance are of no force, which though it were true 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in re∣spect of its essential parts, and in respect of its latitude and extent, yet is it not true in respect of its duration, unlesse we Turn once for all, and never fall back upon those paths, out of which hor∣rour, 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 forsakes us, and mercy it self withdraws, and leaves us under that wrath, which we were fled from. And therefore in our turn, this must go along with us, and continue the motion; the consideration of the great hazard we run, when we turn from our evil wayes, and then turn back again.

For first, as a pardon doth nullifie former sinnes, so it maketh our sins, which we commit afterwards more grievous, and fatal; and as it is observed; that it is the part of a wise friend etiam leves suspiciones fugere, to shun the least suspicion of offence, * 1.24 ne quod for∣tuito fecit, consultò facere videretur, lest what might formerly be im∣puted to chance or infirmity, may now seem to proceed from wilfulnesse; so when we turn, and God is pleased so far to conde∣scend, as to take us to his favour, and of enemies, not onely make us his servants, but call us his friends; it will then especially con∣cern us, to abstain from all appearance of evil, to suspect every ob∣ject, as the devils lurking place, in which he lies 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 only in a bond of common duty, but of gratitude: for his free favour is Nu∣mella, 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 yeeld to Temptations; because he loved us, and his An∣ger is the hotter, because his love was excessive. As the Husband which most affectionately loves the Wife of his youth, and would have her be as the loving Hinde, and pleasant Roe, * 1.25 but to himself a∣lone, will not allow so much love from her, as may be conveighed in a look, or the 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 ac∣cedere, that no man may be so bold, as to come so neer, as to ask the question, or make mention of love; and all, because he most af∣fectionately loves her: So much, nay, farr greater is the love of God to our soules, which he hath married unto himself, in whom he desires to dwell, and take delight, and so dearly he loves them, that he will not divide with the World and the Flesh; but is straight in Passion, if we cast but a favourable ook, or look friend∣ly upon that sin, by which we first offended him; if we come but neer 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 wooes us, then he counts us guilty of spirituall whoredome, and Adultery; His jealousie is cruel as the Grave, and this Jealousie, which is an effect of his love, shall smoake against us. First, it was Love and Jealousie, lest we might tender cur service to strange gods, cast our Affections upon false Riches, and deceitfull 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 wee should fling him off, who so loved us; That he should create, and then lose us, and afterwards purchase, and redeeme us, and make us his againe, and we should have no understanding, but run back againe from him into Captivity.

For in the Second place; as our sinnes are greater after recon∣cilement, so if they doe not cancell the former Pardon, (as some are unwilling to grant) yet they call those sinnes to remembrance, which God cast behind his back. For as good Works are destroy∣ed by sinne, and revive againe by Repentance, so do our evils, which are covered by Repentance, revive againe by sinne. Not one∣ly my Almes are devoured by oppression, my Chastity defloured by my uncleanness; my Fasting lost in my luxurie; but my former sinnes, which were scattered as mist before the Sun, return again, and are a thick cloud between me, and the bright and shining mer∣cy 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 af∣ter pardon, sinne again, and so bring a new guilt upon our soules; and not onely that, but vengeance upon our Heads, for the con∣tempt

tempt of his Mercy, and slighting of his former pardon. For no∣thing can provoke God to Anger more, then the abuse of his good∣ness and Mercy, nor doth his wrath burn more violently, then when 'tis first quencht, and allaid with the Teares of a sinner, and af∣terwards kindled againe by his sinne. Then he that was well plea∣sed to be reconciled, will question and condemne us, and yet make good his Promise; he that forgat our sinnes, will Impute our sinnes; and yet be Truth it self. For remission of sinnes is a continued Act, and is, and remains, whist the condition which is required, remains, but when we faile in that, the door of Mercy, which before was wide open unto us, is shut against us; for should he Justify, and forgive him, who breaks his Obligation, and returns to the same place, where he stood out against God, and fought against him? shall he be reconciled to him, who will be againe his Enemy? if the righteous relapse, his righteousness shall not be mention'd, * 1.26 nor shall the wickedness of the wicked be mentioned, if hee repent: for the change is not in God, but in our selves: aliter & aliter judi∣cat de homine aliter et aliter disposito, he speaks in Mercy to the Peni∣tent, but in anger to the relapsed sinner: 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 pu∣nish the relapsed Sinner: So hee forgives the sinner when he repents, and punisheth him when he falls away. And why should it be put to the Question, whether God revoke his first Pardon? Quid prodest esse, quod esse non prodest? as Tertull. speakes; if we think he did it not, or cannot doe it; yet what profit is it, that, that should remain, which doth not profit? nay, which doth aggra∣vate our sin? or what Pardon is that, which may remaine firme, when he to whom it was given, for his revolt, may be Turned into Hell? when the Servant falls down, he is moved with Compassion, * 1.27 and looseth him, and forgives him the debt; But when he takes his fellow servant by the Throat, he delivers him to the Tormenters, till he should pay the utmost farthing; because God is ever like unto him∣self, constant to his Rule; and he forgives, and punisheth for this rea∣son, because he is so, and cannot change. For as we begg our Par∣don upon promise, so doth he grant it upon supposition of perseve∣rance; for he doth not pardon us our sinne, that we should sinne again; and if we break our Promise, we cut selves have made a Nul∣lity of the Pardon, or made it of as little Virtue and Power, as if it had never been. For as the Schools tell us, that the Sacraments are Protestationes fidei, the 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 Sinnes behinde his back, with this Resolution, to extirpate them; and upon this Condition, God seales our Pardon, which we must make a motive, not to sinne and fall back, but to a new life, and

Constant obedience; If we Turne, and Turne back againe, he may Turne his face from us for Ever.

Againe, in the Third Place; we have reason to arme our selves against Temptation, after Pardon; because by our relapse, we doe not onely add sin to sin, but we are made more inclinable to it, and anon more familiar with it, and so more averse and backward to the Acts of Piety: * 1.28 for as Tertullian observes, viduitas operosior vir∣ginitate, that it is a matter of more difficulty to remaine a Widow, then to keep our Virgin; not to tast of pleasure, then when we have tasted to forbeare: so it is easier to absteine from sin a first, then when we are once engaged; when we have tasted of that Pleasure which commends it: And then, when we have loath'd it, for some bitterness it had; for some misery, some Disease it brought along with it; and when that's for got, look towards it again, and see no∣thing but those smiles and allurements, which first deceived us; we like and love it more, then we did before it gave us any such di∣stast; 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 wiht greediness, we did but lap before, with some feare and suspition, at last we take it downe, as the Oxe doth water.

And what an uneven, distracted course of life is this: to sin, and upon some distast, to repent, and when that is off, since againe? and upon some pang that we feel, Repent again? and after some ease, meet and joyn with that, which hath so pleased, which hath so troubled us? The Stoick hath well observed, homines vitam suam a∣mant simul, & oderunt; some men at once both hate, and love them∣selves: now they send a divorce to sinne, anon they kisse and em∣brace 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, and by and by in their Nadir; Saint Ephreem the Syrian, expresseth it by the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, calls it a falling rise, or a rising fall, a course of life consisting of Turning, and Returning; in rising and relapsing; in sinning and repenting, because men find it more for their ease, deprecari crimen, quam vacare crimine, to begg Par∣don for sinne committed, then to forbeare committing it after, and so sinne and Repent, and sin againe, and as solemnly, by their sinne renounce their Repentance, as they doe by their Repentance re∣cant their sinne: We deale with our beloved sinne, as Maecenas did with his Wife, * 1.29 quae cum unam habuit, millies duxit, saith Seneca, who had but one, yet married her, and divorced her from him; and then married her againe, a Thousand times: First we look up∣on the painted face, and Countenance of sinne, and are taken as it were with her Eye and Beauty; and wee draw neere, and em∣brace

it; but anon the worm gnaweth us, our conscience is loud and troublesom, and then we would put it from us, when it flat∣ters, we are even sick with love; and when it turns its worst face towards us, we are weary of it, and have an inclination, a vel∣leity, a weak and feeble desire to shake it off: our soul loveth it, and loatheth it, we would not, and we will sin; and all upon pre∣sumption of that mercy, which first gave us ease; upon hope of forgiveness, quis enim timebit prodigere, quod habebit posteà recuperare? * 1.30 for who will be tender and sparing of that, which he hopes to recover, though lost never so oft? or be careful of preserving that, which he thinks cannot be irrecoverably lost? so that 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 reproach to his mercy, and contumelious to his goodness; in brief, that which should make us his friends, makes 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 signe, a signe our Repentance was not true, and serious, but (as in an intermitting fe∣ver) the disease was still the same, onely the fit was over: * 1.31 or as in an Epilepsie, or the falling sickness, it is still the same, is stil in the body, though it do not cast it on the ground, and such a Re∣pentance is not a Repentance, but to be repented of, by turning once for all, never 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 it not, and continue it to the end, perindè est, ac si omnino non esset, it is as if it were not at all, nay, it is fatal and deleterial: It was Repentance, it is now an accusation, a witness against us, that we would be con∣trà experimenta pertinaces, & even against our own experience taste that cup again, which we found bitter to us, and run into that snare, out of which we had escaped, and turn back into those evil wayes, where we saw death ready to seise upon us: and so run the hazard of being lost for ever.

And these four are the necessary requisities, * 1.32 and properties of Repentance; it must be early and sudden; upon the first all: 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 binde the God of Truth unto us with a lie? or can a false Turn bring us to that happinesse which is real? it must be perfect, and exact in every part; for why should we give him lesse 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; it must be constant and permanent; for the crown of life is promised unto him alone, who is faithful 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, and this is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the Septuagint render it, to turn for e∣ver, and so to presse forward in the wayes of righteousnesse, till we are brought to that place of rest, where there is no evil to Turn from; but all shall turn to our Salvation.

Thu much of the exhortation; Turn ye, Turn ye; the next is the Reason or Expostulation. For why will you die, O House of Is∣rael.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Nazianz. or 19
• * 1.2

  Septem men. dacijseget mendacium u∣num, ut verum videatur. Luth. jde Jndul∣gent.
• * 1.3

  Isa. 58.4.
• * 1.4

  Plin. Panegyr.
• * 1.5

  Nemo potest personam diu ferre. Ficta citò in na••urant suam recidunt. Sen. 1. de Clem. c. 1.
• * 1.6

  Hier. l. 2 cp. 10
• * 1.7

  Arist. Eth. 8. c. 8.
• * 1.8

  Mali non appa∣rent, ut plus liceat maligna∣ri. Bern. in Cant. 6.6.
• * 1.9

  Naz. or. 19. A Gel. Noct. Attic. l 1.2. Aristippus in purp urâ sub magnà gravi∣tatis specie ne potatur. Tert. Apol. 46. Athenaei Deip∣nos. l. 13. c. 1. Aristoph, Eu∣polis.
• * 1.10

  Non amat sal∣sum eutor ve∣ritans: Adul∣teriam est apud illum omne quod Fingitur. Tert de Ep. c. 23.
• * 1.11

  Eaz. Orat. 19.
• * 1.12

  Aristot. Metaph. 2.
• * 1.13

  Suet. Tiber. Cas. cap. 34.
• * 1.14

  Hippocrat de locis in Homine
• * 1.15

  Curt. l. 6. c. 3.
• * 1.16

  Eph. 5.26,27.
• * 1.17

  Amos 5.19.
• * 1.18

  Phod. cod. 77
• * 1.19

  Gerson.
• * 1.20

  Sen. de Benef.
• * 1.21

  Naz. or. 34.
• * 1.22

  Epiphan. He∣res. Bastlid.
• * 1.23

  Josh. 7.2. Sam. the last c.
• * 1.24

  Hier. ad pau. mach. & mar∣cel.
• * 1.25

  Prov. 5.19.
• * 1.26

  Ez. 18.21.24.
• * 1.27

  Matth. 18.
• * 1.28

  Tert. l. 1. ad uxorem. c. 8.
• * 1.29

  Sen. ep. 114.
• * 1.30

  Tertul. de pudi∣citia. c. 9.
• * 1.31

  Gravedinosos quosdam, quosdam tor ninosor 〈◊〉〈◊〉 mus, non quia semper, sed quia saepesunt. Tul. Tusc. q. l. 4 Galen: de fa∣nitat. Tuendâ.
• * 1.32

  Concl.