Daniel Sennertus his meditations setting forth a plain method of living holily and dying happily / written originally in Latin, and now translated into English.

CHAP. XVI. That we must guard our minds from Capital Sins.

ALthough a Christian, if he loveth God above all; and his Neigh∣bour as himself, and orders all his Acti∣ons by the love of God, and of his Neighbour, will not easily be tempted to commit any Heinous Crime; yet because sins do easily insinuate them∣selves under the mask of good; and the World, the Flesh, and the Devil do endeavour a thousand ways by al∣lurements, by deceits, or by force, to tempt us from our good purposes and resolutions of living well; it therefore behoves a Christian to arm himself a∣gainst the Assaults of all Capital Sins: For as in War, he that knows the Ene∣my

is near, provideth himself with all necessary Weapons, keeps Watches and Sentinels, that so he may at all times be in a readiness to oppose the Enemy: In like manner it is our Duty, to have always our Spiritual Armour at hand, with which we may resist the Enemies of our Salvation, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil: This is that Warfare by which we overcome the World, and our own selves, and we ought daily to improve our selves in it: Wherefore if Men would but take half the pains in vanquishing their Lusts, and implant∣ing Piety in their Minds, as they do in getting Riches, hunting after Ho∣nours, and resolving nice and intricate Questions, there would be fewer of∣fences in the World, and the exerci∣ses of Vertue would be much more fre∣quent and vigorous amongst Men.

And whereas all that are in the World, are the Lusts of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life; or the love of Pleasures, Riches, and Honours; and those Enormous Sins which arise from hence, as Pride, Co∣vetousness, Luxury, Envy, Anger, En∣mity, and Hatred, and the like: It is therefore the Duty of a Christian dili∣gently

to consider, how he may best fortifie himself against these vices:

And first against Pride: The Christi∣an may easily cure himself of this Evil, by accustoming himself to Humility, and considering how little one Man is better than another: We are born all alike, one wants Meat and Drink as well as another; and all the labour of Man is for his Mouth, and yet the Appetite is not filled; one is sick as well as another, and we all die, and return unto the Earth from whence we were taken: And indeed this conside∣ration alone, that in a short time we must all die, is sufficient to keep us from Pride, and lifting up our selves above our fellows; for should any be∣gin to be high minded, and boast themselves of their Noble Extract, their Beauty, Wisdom, Honours, Rich∣es, and such like gifts of God; let them consider, that in a little while, they must descend into the Grave, and then sure their Haughty Spirits will be brought down and humbled: They must soon leave all their Worldly En∣joyments, and be laid in the dust, and per∣haps be trampled on by those very Men, who before they despised and oppres∣sed:

Why then is dust and ashes proud? Whosoever is proud, let him go to the Vaults and Tombs of the Dead, he will there find no difference; nothing within but stench and rottenness; and let him consider that of the Psalmist; I have seen the Wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green Bay-tree: Yet he passed away, and Lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found: And therefore according to the advice of Tobit: Love thy Brethren, and despise not in thy Heart thy Brethren, for in pride is destruction, and much trouble: This cast Lucifer from Heaven: For God resisteth the Proud, and giveth grace to the Humble. If thou shouldest find any thing in thy self, for which others praise thee, say with the Apostle; by the grace of God, I am what I am, and not unto us O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name, give glory. And, Lord I am not worthy of the least of all thy Mercies: For what hast thou that thou didst not receive? And since thou didst receive from God all that thou hast, it should rather be an occasion to humble thee, than to make thee proud: If you find any thing good

in you, you ought to think that others are better, that so you may keep your self humble; neither shall we be ac∣quitted by our own, but by the Judg∣ment of God, who is oftentimes dis∣pleased with what we like very well; be not too curious in judging others, but rather turn your Eyes on your own self: In judging others, one may easi∣ly mistake, and very often sin: But our labour will not be in vain, if we ex∣amine and judge our selves: Neither is it lawful for the Rich Men of this World, to be proud of their Wealth, and prodigally to spend it after their own Lusts: for they as well as others, are but Stewards of those Riches which God hath committed to their Trust, and the more they have, the more they must give an account of: And thus Holy David prayed when he was dying: All that is in the Heaven and in the Earth is thine: Thine is the Kingdom, and thou art exalted as Head above all: Both Riches and Honour come of thee: And by the Prophet Haggai, God says: The Silver is mine, and the Gold is mine: And if God gives them unto any one, it is not to make them haughty; or that they should spend them prodigally,

but that the poor should be partakers with them; be careful therefore not to be listed up, or abuse thy Riches and power; for a sharp Judgment shall be to them that are in High places: For Mer∣cy will soon pardon the meanest, but mighty Men shall be mightily tormented.

And then against Covetousness, let the Christian Arm himself with this Consideration of Job: Naked came I out of my Mothers Womb, and naked shall I return thither, and with that of Solomon: As he came forth of his Mothers Womb, naked shall he return, to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his la∣bour, which he may carry away in his hand. As also that of St. Paul; we brought nothing into this World, and it is certain we can carry nothing out; let us not vainly deceive our selves with the Rich Man in the Gospel, who said to his Soul: Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, Eat, Drink, and be Merry, least we hear from God the same Sentence as he did; Thou fool, this night shall thy Soul be required of thee, then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Let us therefore always remember the A∣postles Advice; if we have food and rai∣ment,

let us be therewith content: And that of the Psalmist: I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the Righteous forsaken, nor his Seed begging Bread Remember also our Lords Coun∣sel; seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you: No Man can serve two Masters, God and Mammon: Did we but throughly consider how much trou∣ble and danger, and evil too, Riches bring with them, we should not so greedily covet after them: The love and desire of Mony is more vexatious, than the use thereof can be either plea∣sing or profitable; Riches are never got without trouble, and seldom with∣out sinning against, and offending God; they are never kept without Care, nor lost without Sorrow: What good hath the Richest Man in the World from all this Treasures more than this, that he may live upon them? And since our lives are so very short, what need is there for Hoarding up for so many years? At the end of our Lives, the con∣dition of him that hath possessed but little, will not be worse, but better than

his that hath possessed much; for he hath had less trouble whilst he liv'd, and hath a less account to give up when he is dead; what then, O Man, do those things profit thee, which are good for nothing after thou art dead? Nor is there any need to scrape toge∣ther a great deal of wealth, that we may leave an Estate to our Children and Heirs; this indeed seems plausible, and hath deceiv'd many: But who knows what our Heirs shall be, whe∣ther thankful or ungrateful? And it is certain that great Riches left to Chil∣dren, do more often prove the incite∣ments and occasions of Wickedness, than of Virtue: If any one diligently examined, what daily happens in the World, he would find, that very ma∣ny poor Mens Children did raise them∣selves to Wealth and Eminency, and on the contrary, many Rich Mens Chil∣dren did prodigally spend the Estates left them by their Parents, and became miserably poor: In short therefore, godliness with contentment, is great gain.

Another Vice the Christian is to Arm himself against, is Luxury: Now to extinguish these exorbitant and unruly

Lusts and Desires of the Flesh, and to hinder us from treating it with softness and delicacy; let us often consider that a little while hence, our Bodies will be∣come stinking Carkases: For what is our Flesh, how finely soever it be treat∣ed and cloathed, and fed, and pampered, but food for Worms? Luxury chiefly comprehends Lust and Drunkenness.

Against Lust a Christian ought dili∣gently to fortifie himself: The prize of Chastity is of all the most difficult, the Conflict is perpetual, but the Vi∣ctory rare: Remember therefore what St. Paul says: Flee Fornication, every sin that a Man doth is without the Body, but he that committeth Fornication, sin∣neth against his own Body: Our Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost, the Tabernacle into which is received the Holy Body and Blood of Christ: Take therefore the Advice of Ecclesiasticus: Look not round about thee in the Streets of the City, neither wander thou in the Solitary places thereof: Turn away thine Eye from a Beautiful Woman, and look not upon anothers Beauty.

Drunkenness, which is the other part of Luxury, is amongst other Vices

more especially to be avoided, because now a days it is by many thought no sin, but rather accounted praise-worthy, although there be no plague more dan∣gerous to Christianity, and nothing more severely forbid than this: For the Drunkard regardeth not the work of the Lord, neither considers the operations of his Hands: Drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God: Wine and Drunken∣ness, captivates the Heart of Man, so that the Holy Spirit will no longer re∣side in him: It is very dangerous even to be once Drunk: For our Saviour adviseth us to take heed to our selves, least at any time our Hearts be overchar∣ged with Surfeiting and Brunkenness, but to be sober and to watch unto Prayer, because the hour is uncertain when the Son of Man will come; we therefore ought always to keep our selves free from this sin, because we must appear before the Tribunal of Christ, in the same state as we were in at the hour of Death; let every one therefore consider what a terrible thing it would be for a Man whilst he is Drunk, to be taken on a sudden out of the Land of the living, by some unexpected fall, by the Sword, or some other Violence, or by

a fit of an Apoplexy; and withal, let Drunkards consider how many poor Christians there are in the World, who would think themselves happy, if they might have their fill of Bread and small Drink, whilst they so unjustly and lavishly wast the pretious gifts of God; let them beware, least at last it hap∣pens to them, as it did to that Rich Glutton, who when he had fared Sump∣tuously every day, and denied poor Lazarus the crums that fell from his Table, he was buried in Hell, where not so much as a drop of water would be allowed him to cool his Tongue in those infernal flames.

And because Idleness administers the greatest fuel to Luxury; therefore more especially avoid idleness: Be always in∣tent about something or other: Medi∣tate, Read, Write, Pray, Work, or follow diligently the business of your particular Callings; and by these means the love of Pleasures will be more easi∣ly damp'd and exstinguished.

Another sin we are to arm ourselves against, is Envy, which is a divelish Vice, and according to some, was the cause of Satans fall, and which made him endeavour the overthrow of Man∣kind:

Against this let us consider, that all the good things we enjoy, are not from our selves, but are dispenced and distributed amongst us by the great Lord of all, as he sees best: Why then, O Man, shouldst thine Eye be evil, be∣cause he is good and kind to thy Neigh∣bour? It is rather thy Duty, when thou seest all things succeed well with thy Neighbour, to give thanks unto God, and to think that thou art not worthy of such prosperity, or that it would not be profitable unto thee: Why shouldst thou envy another those things he possesseth without thy loss or hurt? When as if he had them not, thou wouldst not have them: Is it not a property of the Devil, when thou art by the just Judgment of God under any Misery or Trouble, to wish that others were miserable also? Lastly, consider what good envy doth; most certainly thou canst not by it, trans∣fer thy Neighbours goods unto thy self: Thou hurtest thy self only; whilst thou breakest thy Heart with Vexation and Languish, thou art only thy own Tormentor and Executioner. After all, the most present Remedy for Envy, is to be Humble, to avoid Pride and Co∣vetousness,

from whence Envy gene∣rally proceeds: For whoever lives con∣tented with his own condition, never envies the Honours and Riches of o∣ther Men.

And to name no more, the Christian ought to fortifie his mind against, An∣ger, Enmity, and Hatred, Slandering, and false accusation, by considering that all the while a Man is out of Charity with his Neighbour, so long he is un∣acceptable to God; insomuch, that such an one under the Old Testament, could offer no Sacrifice to God; and under the New, cannot say that Pray∣er which our Lord hath taught us: For thus our Saviour Admonisheth us, If thou bring thy gift to the Altar, and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy Brother, and then come and offer thy gift: And in the Lords Prayer we Pray; Forgive us our Debts, as we forgive our Debtors, which is farther enforced at the end of the Prayer, by this reason, for if ye for∣give Men their Trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you. Let us

also reflect on those severe words of our Saviour: But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his Brother with∣out a cause, shall be in danger of the Judg∣ment, and whosoever shall say to his Bro∣ther, Raca, shall be in danger of the Coun∣cil, but whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of Hell fire: and in a∣nother place: Love your Enemies, do good to them which hate you: Bless them that Curse you, and pray for them which de∣spitefully use you: — And as ye would that Men should do unto you, do ye also to them likewise, for if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them: — But love ye your Enemies, and do good, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the Children of the Highest, for he is kind unto the unthankful, and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judg not, and ye shall not be Judged, Condemn not, and ye shall not be Condemned, Forgive, and ye shall be Forgiven. The Apostle St. Paul reck∣ons these amongst the works of the Flesh: Hatred, Variance, Emulations, Wrath, Strife, Seditions, Envyings, and such like, and pronounceth, that they which do such things, shall not inherit the

Kingdom of God. And St. John saith, He that loveth not his Brother, abideth in Death: Whosoever hateth his Brother, is a Murderer. We have good reason to bear with the infirmities of others, because there are many things which others must bear with in us: For no one is perfect: You see plainly, that you are not able to bring your self to live accor∣ding to those Rules which you could wish, and why then should you be angry with others, if they do not live just as you would have them? first cast out the Beam out of thine own Eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the Mote out of thy Brothers Eye; let us therefore bear one anothers Burthens, for there is no body without fault.

And then farther let us endeavour to keep our selves from Slandering, and Calumniating of others, by not being too curious in enquiring into the Words, and Actions, and Lives of our Neigh∣bours; for what, O Man, is it to thee, what another says or does? Who art thou, that judgest another Mans Servant? To his own Master, he standeth or falleth. Do thy best, to give a good account of thine own Words and Actions to God; and he also is obliged to render

an account of his to the same God, to whom all things are naked and open; he sees all things under the Sun, and knows what every one thinks and de∣sires, and to what end they direct their Actions; therefore commit all to him, rest contented, and do not disqui∣et thy self with others cares.

The Prayer.

O Lord our most Merciful Fa∣ther, who in thy Son Jesus Christ hath called me to Eternal Life, and forgiven me all my sins, let thy Holy Spirit also direct and rule my heart, that I may daily persevere in a true Repentance, continually strive a∣gainst my sins, and increase more and more in all vertuous and godly living. And for as much as my own strength is not sufficient to contend against so ma∣ny Enemies, and to bring my good pur∣poses to effect, do thou, O Lord stretch forth thy Right Hand to assist me,

least I saint in the Warfare, and Sa∣tan get the Dominion over me.

Thou, O Lord, resistest the Proud, but givest grace to the Humble: The proud in heart is an Abomination to thee, vouchsafe me therefore, O Lord, an humble Spirit, devoid of all High∣mindedness, according to the example of our Blessed Lord, who being in the form of God, humbled himself even to the Death of the Cross, that he might exalt us unto everlasting life: Make me to consider that I am but Dust and Ashes, and have no reason to lift up my self; let me not be proud of those gifts which thou hast bestowed on me, and scornfully despise others, but con∣fess that what ever good is in me, I have received it all from thee.

O Lord, naked came I out of my Mothers Womb, but thou hast bounti∣fully given me, Meat and Drink, Cloathing and Habitation, and all things necessary for the preservation of my

life. Make me to be contented with my Daily Bread, that my mind may never be possess'd with Covetousness: But may remember, that I must go out of this World naked as I came, and therefore may lay up my Treasure in Heaven, which I may enjoy to all Eternity:

And because I know that in me dwel∣leth no good thing, and the Flesh always Lusteth against the Spirit, and is daily enticing me to the pleasures of this World; grant O Lord, that by the assistance of thy Holy Spirit, I may crucifie and mortifie the Flesh with its affections and Lusts, and may live soberly, righteonsly and godly in this present World, and serve thee in pureness of Spirit all the days of my life.

Grant also, that according to thy command and example, we may love one another: Root out of our Hearts all bitterness and malice, that the Sun

may never go down upon our Wrath, but that we may do good to those that hate us, and forgive all that have offended us.

Lord, I beseech thee, take from me Pride, and give me the Spirit of Humi∣lity: Extinguish in me the desires of the Flesh, and inflame my Heart with the love of thee: Cast out of my mind, the fury of anger, and implant therein the gift of Patience; Remove from me the love of Vain-glory, the bitterness of Envy; and bestow on me the sweetness of Charity and Humility, the gift of a meek and quiet Spirit, which is in thy sight of great price.

Notes

• 1 John 2.16.
• Vidi potentes impios Gravique fastu turgidos Virescere instar laureae Amaena propter fluminae. Specto repente, en lubricae Imago nusquam gloriae, Nusquam manens vestigia Cunctis gravis potentiae. Buchanan in Ps. 37.35, 36.
• Tob. 4.13.
• 1 Pet. 5.5.
• 1 Cor. 15.10. Ps. 115.1.
• Gen. 32.10.
• 1 Chr. 29.11.
• Hag. 2.8.
• Wisd. 6.5, 6.
• Job 1.21.
• Eccles. 5.15.
• 1 Tim. 6.7.
• Luke 12.19.
• vers. 20.
• •• Tim. 6.8.
• Puer fui. nunc sum 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Ope destitutum 〈…〉〈…〉 Videre memini, 〈…〉〈…〉 Ejus petentes libe••••••. Buchauan. Ps. 37.25.
• Mat. 6.33.
• 2 Cor. 6.18.
• Cap. 9. v. 7, 8.
• Isa. 5.12.
• 1 Cor. 6.10.
• Mat. 5.23, 24.
• Mat. 6.12.
• vers. 14, 15.
• Mat. 5.22.
• Luk. 6.27.
• verse 28.
• verse 31.
• verse 32.
• verse 35.
• verse 36.
• verse 37.
• Gal. 5.20, 21.
• 1 Joh. 3.14, 15.
• Mat. 7.5.
• Gal. 6.2.
• Rom. 14.4.