Three Treatises, Treatise 2 (2 of 4)
Sixthly▪ consider the War and Rebellion of this sin; I find Rom. 7. 23. Gal. 5. 17. 1. Pet. 2. 11.a Lawin my members warring against the law of my mind. The flesh lusteth against the spirit. Fleshly lusts warre against the soule. Which passages are not so to bee understood, as if when lust doth fight it fights against nothing but the spirit, but yet it may be so dishartned and crush'd, that it shal not alwaies rebell (which is the late, wretched, and ignorant glosse of our new Pelagians, who expressely contrary to the doctrine of S. Paul, and the Articles of the Church of England, with the Harmony of other Reformed Churches, deny the sinfulnes of originall concupiscence, or that it alwayes lusteth against the spirit;) but the meaning of them is, that while wee are in the Militant▪ Church, we shall have hourely experience of this traytor in our bosome; and whensoever we go about any spiritual worke, this evill will be present with us, and fight against us. And this warre is not at a distance, but it is an intimate and close contrariety in the same part, like the combate betweene heate and cold in the same water, no roome nor space to hold a Mediatour, or to entertaine a Treaty, or to shift and evade the conflict. The same souleQuid est hoc monstrum? Imperat animus corpori, & paretur, Imperat animus sibi & resistitur, &c. Aug. confess. lib. 8. c. 9. 10. that commands obedience doth it selfe resist it. In the same minde the wisedome of the flesh which is sensuall and divelish fighting against the wisedome of the spirit which is meeke and peaceable. In the same will a delight in the Law of God, and yet a bias and countermotion to the law of sinne. In the same understanding a light of the Gospell, and yet many relikes of humane principles, and fleshly reasonings; much ignorance of the purity, excellency, and beauty of the wayes of God. In the same heart singlenesse and sensiblenesse of sinne, and yet much secret fraud and prevarication, hardnesse and dis-apprehension of sin and wrath. In the same affections, love of God and love of the World, feare of God and feare of men, trust in God and doubting of his favour. Lord, I beleeve, helpe thou mine unbeliefe, was the cry ofMark. 9 24. the poore man in the Gospell; and such must bee the complaints of the best of us: Lord, I will, helpe thou mine unwillingnesse: Lord, I heare thee, helpe thou my deafenesse; Lord, I remember thee, helpe thou my forgetfulnesse: Lord, I presse towards thee, helpe thou my wearinesse: Lord, I rejoyce in thee, helpe thou my heavinesse: Lord, I desire to have more fellowship with thee, helpe thou my strangenesse: Lord, I love and delight in thy Law, helpe thou my failings. Such tugging is there of either nature to preserve and improve it selfe. Iacob was a man of contention and wrestling from the beginning.Gen. 25. 22, 26. Gen. 27. Gen. 32. 24. Gen. 29. 25. Gen. 31, 36-41 Contention with his brother in the birth, contention for the birth-right, contention with an Angell for the blessing, contention for his wife, and for his wages with Laban. He was a Typicall man, his name was Israel, and he was a patterne to the Israel of God. We must be all men of contention, wrestlers not onelyonly with God in strong and importunate prayers for his blessings, but with our elder brother Esau, with the lusts and frowardnesse of our owne hearts. The Thiefe on the Crosse was a perfect embleme of the sinne of our nature, he was naildLuk. 23. 39. hand and foot, destin'd unto death, utterly disabled from any of his wonted outrages, and yet that only part which was a little loose, flies out in reviling and reproaching Christ: Our old man by the mercy of God is upon aGal. 5. 24. Crosse, destin'd to death, disabled from the exercise of that wonted violence and dominion which it used; and yet so long as there is any life or strength left in him, hee sets it all on worke to revile that blessed spirit which is come so neere him. The more David prevailes the more Saul 1. Sam. 18. 7, 8. & 28. 9. Gen. 38. 28.rageth and persecuteth him. As in the wombe of Tamar there was a strife for precedencie, Zarah thrust out his hand first, and yet Pharez go… fo…th before him: so in a Christian many times the … thru… out the hand, and begins to worke, and presently the flesh growes sturdie and boisterous and gets first into the action. A man sets himselfe to call upon God, lifts up his hand with the skarlet thred, the blood of Christ upon it, is in a sweete preparation to powre out his complaints, his requests, his praises to his father; and ere he is aware, pride ln the excellencie of Gods gifts, or deadnesse, or worldly thoughts intrude themselves, and justle-by Gods spirit, and cast a blemish upon his offring. A man is setting himself to heare Gods word, begins to attend and rellish the things that are spoken as matters which doe in good earnest concerne his peace, begins to see a beauty more then ordinary in Gods service, an excellencie with David in Gods Law, which hee considered not before, resolves hereafter to love, frequent, submit, beleeve, prize it more then he had ever done; presently the flesh sets up her mounds, her reasonings, her perverse disputes, her owne principles, her shame, her worldlinesse, her want of leisure, her secular contentments, and so resists the spirit of God, and rejects his counsell. I have enough already, what needs this zeale, this pressing, this accuratenesse, this violence for heaven? strive wee what wee can, our infirmities will encompasse us, our corruptions will bee about us. But yet Beloved as in a pyramide, the higher you goe the lesse compasse still you finde the body to bee of, and yet not without the curiositie and diligence of him that fram'd it: so in a Christian mans resurrection, and conversation with Christ in heaven, the neerer he comes to Christ, the smaller still his corruptions will bee, and yet not without much spirituall industry and christian art. A Christian is like a flame, the higher it ascends the more thinne, purified and azurie it is, but yet it is a flame in greene wood, that wants perpetuall blowing and encouragement. A man sets himselfe with some good resolution of spirit to set forward the honor in questioning, in discovering, in shaming, in punishing (within the compasse of his owne calling and warrant) the abuses of the times, in countenancing, in rewarding, in abetting and supporting truth & righteousnes: his flesh presently interposeth, his quiet, his security, his relations, his interests, his hopes, his feares, his dependencies, his plausibility, his credit, his profit, his secular provisoes, these blunt his edge, upbraid him with impoliticknes with malecontentednes, with a sullen & cynicall disposition against men and manners, and thus put I know not what ill favor'd colours upon a good face, to make a man out of love with an honest busines. In a word, good is before me, the glory, the service, the waies of God: I see it, but I cannot love it, I love it, but I cannot doe it, I doe it, but I cannot finish it; I will but yet I rebell, I follow, and yet I fall, I presse forward and yet I faint and flagge, I wrestle and yet I halt, I pray and yet I sinne, I fight and yet I am Captive, I crucifie myIn tota anima, & in toto corpore conditorem habeopacis Deum, quis in me seminavit hoc bellum? Aug lib. 5. contr. Iulian. cap. 7. Odi quod sum, non sum quod amo, infelix ego, qui in me venenatu… inimi…ae arbor is gustum … c…ucis ligno digessi Aug. ep. 106. Conflictus licet non sit damnabilis, quia non perficit iniquitat…m, miserabilis tamen, quia non habet pacem. Aug. de Nupt. & concupis. lib 2. cap. 2. lusts, and yet they revile me, I watch my heart, and yet it runnes away from me; God was at first the Author of nothing but peace within me, what envious man hath sowed this warre in my bowels? Let the Apostle answer this question saith Saint Austen, By one man sinne entred into the world. That which I would be I am not, and that which I hate I am; O wretched man, in whom the Crosse of Christ hath not yet worne out the poysonous and bitter tast of that first tree. It is the patheticall complaint of Bonifacius in the same Father. How doth the Apostle even breake with complaining of this rebellious and captivating power of originall concupiscence, foreign, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? though hee were delivered from the damnation, yet hee was not delivered from the miserie of this sinne, which must necessarily arise from the stirrings, and conflicts of it. Though lust in the regenerate bee not damnable, because albeit it bring forth sinne, yet it doth not finish, and consummate it, for it is broken off by repentance, and disabled by the power of Christs spirit, yet it is still miserable, because it disquieteth the spirituall peace and tranquillity of the soule. But there is no great danger in the warre, if the enemie bee either foolish, or weake, or treatable, that either victorie may bee quickly gotten, or some pacifications and compositions concluded. But no such things here.
Seventhly, therefore consider the wisedome, the policies,Rom. 8. 7. Iam. 3. 15. Ier 4. 22. 2 Cor. 10 5. the unsearchablenesse of this sinne. The Scripture cals it The wisedome of the flesh, earthly, sensuall, divellish wisedome, wisedome to doe evill, Reasonings, strong holds, Imaginations, high thoughts; And all this wisedome is emploi'd to Deceive the Soule, therefore is fleshly wisedome calld by Saint Iames Divellish▪ because it hath theIam. 1. 14. 2. Pet. 3. 17. Gen. 3. 13. 1. Tim. 2. 14. I…r. 17. 9. Divels end to Draw away men from God, and to entice, and beguile them. Therefore in Scripture the heart of man is said to bee Deceitfull and unsearchable, and lusts are cald Deceiveable lusts, and the deceitfulnesse of sinne: Eph. 4. 22. 2. Thes. 2. 10. H…b. 3. 13. foreign. Solâ Socordiâ Innocens. Tacit. foreign. Eph. 2. 3. Prov. 25. 3. Hos. 5. 2. Grande profundum est Homo, …uius capillos tu Domine numeratos habes, & tamen capilli eius magis numera…iles sunt, qu…m affectus & motus cordis. Aug. Confess. lib. 4. cap. 16.Saint Paul hath a heape of words to expresse this serpentine quality of sinne by, cogging or cheating, cunning, craftinesse, methods, deceit. Eph. 4▪ 14. But a man may be very wise, & that wisedom look upon none but mischievous and deceitfull ends; and yet for all this no great hurt done by him, because he may be unwilling to take the paines, like him in the historian that was innocent not out of good nature, but meerely out of lazines: Therfore thirdly, this Deceite of sinne is actuated and set on work with very strong desires, and universall lustings, the Apostle cals them not lusts onelyonly, but wills, or resolutions of the flesh and of the minde it selfe. Hence those secret sins which David himselfe was so troubled withall, those swarmes of lusts which the soule forgeth in it selfe as so many Creatures: that which Salomon saith of the Kings heart, is true of that fleshly King in every mans bosome; It is unsearchable, a Gulfe, a Hell of sinnefull profoundnesse. Policies to keepe from good, policies to poison and pervert good, policies to make good unseasonable; policies to bring to evill, policies to keepe in evill, policies to maintaine, justifie, extenuate evill. Policies to make me… rest in false principles, policies to glosse and corrupt true principles, policies on the right hand for superstition and flattering of God with will-worship, policies on the left hand for open profanenes. Infinite are the windings and labyrinths of the heart of man the counsels and projects of the flesh, to establish the Kingdome of sinne in it selfe. It is an argument of one of the grandest consequences in Divinity, this one of the wisdome of the flesh, those wiles and principles that hold up the throne of the Prince of this world. What man is there who will not in profession be ready to spit at the name of Satan, and to defie him and the workes of his Kingdome: and yet what man is there in whose bosome Satan hath not a Counsell-table, a troupe of statists, by whom hee worketh effectually the designes of his owne Kingdome? The more time any man will spend to make himselfe acquainted with himselfe, the more light of Gods Law hee will set up in his heart, the more he will begge of God to reveale the secrets of his evill nature unto him, to make him see that abundance of the hart, That treasure of the hart, that Hell of the heart, that panoplie and magasin of sinne and temptation which is there; the more with the prodigall hee comes unto himselfe, and views that evill heart, that bitter roote which is in him: Certainely the more confusion and silence, and abhorrencie, & condemnation will there be of himself, the more adoration of that boundlesse merciemercy, of that bottomles puritie, which is able to pierce into every corner of so unsearchable a thing, able to clense every hole and dungeon, and to enlarge it into a fit receptacle for the Prince of glory. Notable to this purpose is that place of S. Paul; If all prophesie, and there come in an unbeleever 1. Cor. 14. 24, 25or unlearned man, he is convinc'd of all, he is iudged of all, and thus are the secrets of his hart made manifest, and so falling downe on his face he will worship God. As soone as a man is convinc'd and Iudg'd out of the word, and hath the secret filthinesse of his heart laid open before him, hath his Conscience cut open, and unridg'd by that sacrificing sword, which is a discerner of the very intents of Heb. 4. 12. Rom. 15. 16.the heart; he presently fals downe upon his face in the acknowledgment of his owne unworthinesse, and acknowledgeth all worship to be due to that most patient and mercifull God, that had all the former dayes of his ignorance endured such an uncleane vessell, which was from the very wombe fitted for wrath, and now at last revealed his Gospell of salvation, opened the bowels of Christ for a sanctuarie and refuge against all that vengeance that attendeth, and against all those spirituall enemies which did hunt his soule. When men have their owne evil waies revealed unto them (which is ever doneEzek. 16. 63. Ezek. 36. 31. Luk. 18. 13. by Gods spirit when hee will please to bee pacified with them) then must they needs be confounded, and be loathsome in their owne sight, and never open their mouths any more, nor hold up their faces, or stand before God withEzra 9. 15. their wonted confidences and presumptions. This was the bottome of Davids repentance, That hee was conceiv'd Psal. 51. 4, 5.in sinne, that was not the first time that hee was an adulterer, hee had it in his nature from the very wombe. Men testifie their pride in their looks and fashions, in their eies and tongues, 'tis the deepest, the closest, and yet one of the openest sinnes, as a great Oke that spreadeth much in sight, and yet is very deepe under ground too; But now if men did truly consider what black feete they are which doe hold up these proud plumes, what a stinking roote it is which beares these gawdie flowers, what a sulphury and poisonous soile it is that nourisheth these painted apples, they would beginne a little to new rate themselves. It is nothing but ignorance that keepes men in pride. If to be wise to doe evill, and foolish to doe good, if to take endowments from the hand of God, and to fight against him with them, if to pervert the light of reason and Scripture to plead for sinne, and the purposes of Satan, as lascivious poets use the chast expressions of Virgil, to notifie their fordid and obscene conceits; If to beTertul. de praescrip. advers. Haeretic. c. 39. so wise as to make evill good, and good, evill, light darkenesse, and darknesse light; to distingvish idolatry into religion, superstition into worship, Belial into Christ, bee matters to be proud of, then there is in every mans nature a crop and harvest of just pride. Else wee must all conclude, that hee which glorieth in any thing which is meerely from himselfe, hath chosen nothing to glory in but his owne shame.
Eightly, consider the strength and power of this sinne, to command, to execute, to bring about what ever it hath projected for the advancement of Satans kingdome. It hath the power of a King, It reignes in our members: Rom. 6. 12. Rom. 7. 23.and it hath the strength of a Law, it is a Law in our members; and a Law without strength is no Law: for Lawes are made to binde, and hold men fast; and therefore the Apostle cals lust a Law, because it commands, and holds under all our members to the obedience of it. Therefore wicked men are call'd the Servants of sinne, Iob. 8. 34.and the best of us are Captives, that is, unwilling servants.Rom. 7. 14. Which notes such a strength of sinne, as cannot ex toto be altogether withstood. So much flesh and uncircumcisednesse as a man hath in him, so much disabilitie likewise hath he to withstand sinne.
In the wicked it hath an absolutenesse, an universall and uncontroled power; First, they cannot but sinne, they can doe nothing but sinne; Without faith it is impossible Heb. 11. 6. Tit. 1. 15. 16.to please God; and to the impure and uncleane every thing is uncleane. His mercies cruell, his prayers abomination, his offerings the sacrifice of fooles. Secondly, if they seeme to forsake any sinne, 'tis not of hatred to that, as a sinne (for he that said. Thou shalt not commit adultery, said Iam. 2. 11.also, Thou shalt not kill) but it is because they preferre others before it. A man that hath many concubines may so dote upon some particulars, as that the rest haply may goe untouch'd, or but cursorily saluted; and yet that is no argument of hatred to them, but of preferring the others. So a mans hart may be so takē up with the pursuit of some Herodias, some darling lust, as that others may seeme utterly neglected, and scorn'd; when the truth is, The hart that playes the adulterer with any sin doth indeed hate none. Thirdly, if by the power of the Word they be frighted from the sinne they most love, yet lust will carry them to it againe, as a Sow returneth to the mire, or a man to his wife. Fourthly, if they should be so fir'd and terrified away, that they durst never actually returne againe; yet even then lust will make them wallow in speculatiue uncleannesse, their thoughts, their delights, their sighs, their byas would still hanker the other way. As lust may dog, and pester, and overtake a holy man that hates it, and yet hee hates it still; so the Word may frightand drive a wicked man from the sinne hee loves, and yet still hee loves it. Fifthly, this sinne as it keepes men in love with all sinne, so it keepes men off from all good duties. It is as a chaine upon all our faculties, an iron gate, that keepes out any good thought, or poysons it when it comes in.
In the faithfull themselves likewise it is exceeding strong, by antiperistasis from the Law, to deceive, captivate, sell as a slave, to make him doe that which he hated and allowed not, and not doe that which he would, and lov'd. It may seeme a paradoxe at the first, but it is a certaine truth, Originall sinne is stronger in the faithfull, then those very Graces which they have received. Vnderstand it thus. A man giveth to a prodigall sonne a great portion into his owne hands, and then gives over the care of him, and leaves him to himselfe; iin this Case, though the money of it selfe were sufficient to keepe him in good quality; yet his owne folly, and the Crowes that haunt the carkasse, those sharking companions that cleave to him, will suddenly exhaust a great estate. So if the Lord should give a man a stocke of Grace as much as David or Paul had, and there stop and furnish him with no further supplyes, but give over the care and protection of him, his lusts are so strong and cunning, as they would suddenly exhaust it all, and reduce him to nothing. For this is certaine, that to be preserved from the strength of our owne lusts, we have not onelyonly use of the good graces which God hath given us already (per modum principij inhaerentis) but of a continued support and under propping (per modum principij adsistentis) offoreign. Phil. 1. 19. those daily succours and supplies of the Spirit of Grace, which may goe before us, and leade into all truth, and teach us the way which we are to walk in, which may stil say to our lusts in our bosome, as he did to Satan at the right hand of Iehoiada, The Lord rebuke thee; that mayZech. 3. 2. still whisper in our eares that blessed direction, This is the way, walke in it. Though a man were able to devoure asEsay 30. 21. much at one meale as was spent upon Bel the Idoll, yet he would quickly perish without further supplyes: so though a man should have a great portion of Grace, and then be given over to himselfe, that would not preserve him from falling againe. Grace in us is but like the putting of hot water into cold, it may warme it for the time, but the water will reduce it selfe to its wonted temper, cold is predominant, even when the water scalds with heate, but that which keepes water hot, is the preserving of fire still about it: so it is not the Graces which the best of us receive, if God should there stop, and leave us to them and our selves together, that would overcome sinne in us: but that which preserves us, is his promise of never failing us, of putting under his hand, of renewing Heb. 13. 5. Psal. 37. 24. Lam. 3. 22, 23. Hos. 14. 4. Psal. 23. 6. 1. Pet. 1 5. Iude vers. 24.his mercies daily to us, of healing our back slidings, of following us with his goodnes & mercy all the dayes of our life, of keeping us by his power unto saluation through faith, that same which Fulgentius excellently calls Iuge Auxilium, the daily ayde and supply of Grace. For Grace doth not onelyonly prevent a wicked man to make him righteous, but followes him, least hee become wicked againe, not onelyonly… Impi… ut s…at Iusius, subsequitur Ius…m ne fiat Impius. Pravenit, ut Lumen cons…at, subsequitur ut quod contul…t servet, pravenit elisum ut surgat, subsequitur elevatum ne cadat, &c. Fulg. de praedest. lib. 1. preuent him that is fallen, to rayse him, but follow him after he is risen that he fall not againe. Consider further what a multitude and swarme of lusts and members this body of sinne hath, and how they concurre in the unitie of one body too. For this is worth the nothing, that sometimes they are cald in the singular number aIoh. 1. 29. Rom. 7. 17. Iam. 1. 14.sinne to note their unitie, and conspiration; and sometimes in the plurail number b1. Pet. 2. 11. Eph. 4. 22. Col 3. 5. Eccles. …. 3.lusts and members, to note their multitudes and serviceablenesse for severall purposes. And what can bee stronger then an Army consisting of multitudes of men and weapons, reduc'd all to a wonderfull unitie of mindes, ends and order. So then both in regard of its regall authoritie, of its edicts, and lawes of government, of its multitude of members, and unitie of body, originall sinne must needs be very strong.
Ninthly, consider the madnesse of this sinne. The heart of man, saith Salomon, is full of evill, and madnesse is in his heart while he lives. Insania is a generall word, and hath two kinds or species of madnesse in it; madnesse, or unsoundnesse in passions, which is furor, rage and fiercenes; and madnesse or unsoundnesse in the Intellectuals, which is Amentia, folly, or being out of ones right mind. And both these are in originall sinne.
First, it is full of fiercenesse, rage, precipitancy when ever it sets it selfe on worke; the driving thereof is like2. King. 9. 20. the driving of Iehu, very furious. This disposition the holy Ghost takes notice of often in the nature of wicked men, that they are foreign and foreign, implacable men,Rom. 1. 31. whom no bounds, not limits, nor covenants will restraine,2. Tim. 3. 3, 4. or keepe in order: and againe foreign and foreign, fierce, headstrong, violent, rash, they know not where not when to stop. Therefore the Scripture compares it to a breaking Hos. 4. 2. Hos. 7. 6. Esay 57. 20.forth, or violent eruption, like that of fire out of an Oven, or of mire and dirt out of a raging Sea. Men flattet themselves in their sinnes, and thinke when they have gone thus or thus farre, they will then give over, and stop at their pleasure. Sed modo & modo non habent modum, as Austen said of his counterfeite and hypocriticall promises, sinne can never finde a center to rest in, a fit place to stop at. These are but like the foolish conceits of children, who not being able to discerne the deception of their owne senses, and seeing the Heavens in the Orizon seeme to touch the earth, resolve to goe to the place where they conceive them to meete, and there to handle and play with the Starres; but when they are come thither, they finde the distance to be still the same: so is it with the foolish hearts of men, they conceive, after so much gaine, or honour, or pleasure, I shall have my fill, and wil then give over, but as long as the fountaine within is not stopt, the pursuites of lust will bee as violent at last as at first. As he in the Fable —Expectat dum defluat amnis, at ille Labitur & labetur: So though men thinke, that their lusts will at last grow drie; and they shall easily step over them unto God; yet the truth is, the cutragious desires of men will grow stronger and stronger, even as a river, the farther it goes from the fountaine, doth of ten times spread it self the wider. The heart is strongly set upon its owne sinne, as any Creature is upon its owne motion. They set their heart, Hos. 4. 8. Eccles. 8. 11.saith the Prophet, on their iniquity, the heart of the sonnes of men, saith Salomon, is fully set in them to doe evill. As impossible it is for lust to stop it selfe, as for the Sea to give over swelling, or the fire devouring the matter that is before it. The man possest with a Legion of Divels is a notable Emblem of a mans sinfull nature (for indeed sin makes a man of the Divels blood, yee are the children of your Father the Divell, Ioh. 8. 44.) He is conversant with nothing but death, dead workes, dead companions, death the service, and death the wages. He is full of hideous affections, he cuts and teares his owne soule; the presence of Christ is horrible and affrightfull to him, and if hee worship him▪ 'tis out of terror, and not out of love; his name may well bee called Legion, for the swarmes, the services, the strength, the warre of lusts in the heart: 'Tis a torment to lust to come out of a man, and to a man to be dispossest of his lusts, there will be paine at the parting of sinne, the uncleane spirit will teare when he must come out: but in this principally was he the picture of our evill nature, in that hee was exceeding fierce and untameable,Matth. 8. 28. Mark. 5. 3, 4. no man durst passe by him, no chaines were strong enough to hold him: and this is the character of wicked men, To breake bands and cords asunder, and to bee their owne Psal. 2. 3. Psal. 12. 4.Lords.
Examples of this fiercenesse of nature the Scripture doth give us abundantly. The Iewes are for this propertie compar'd to a swift Drom…dary, or to a wilde Assefull Ier 2. 24. foreign. Clem. Alex. Ier. 8. 6.of desires, that snuffeth up the winde, as the use of Horses is in their lust, and cannot be turned. To a Horse rushing into the battell; 'tis a similitude from the inundation and precipitancy of torrents, that carry downe all beforeHos. 4 16. them. To a backesliding Heiser, whom no bounds can hold, but he will breake forth into a large place, and have roome to traverse his wayes. To a wilde A…se, that goesHos. 8. 9. where his owne will and lust carries him, alone by himselfe, no Rider to gvide him, no bridle to restraine him, no presence of God to direct him, no Law of God to over-rule him, but alone by himselfe, as his owne Lord. With very fiercenesse they did even weary themselves in Esay 57. 10. Ier 9. 5.their way. Notably did this rage shew it selfe in the Sodomites; they reject Lots entreaties, they revile his person, they grow more outragious, and pressed in even toGen. 19. 9. teare open the house. Like where unto was the rage of the Pharisies and Iewes against Christ, when he had fully convinc'd them of their sinne, and his owne innocency, and they could hold dispute to longer with him, they run from arguments to stones and raylings, Thou art a Samaritane and hast a Divell. And elsewhere it is said,Ioh. 8 48, 59. Luk. 6. 11. That they were filled with madnesse at the sight of the Miracles which Christ wrought. Such was the rage of those which stoned Stephen, they g…ashed their teeth, they stopped their eares, they shouted with their voyce, they ran with one accord and stoned him: and Saul, who was one of… 1 them, is said to have breathed out threatnings like a tyred Wolfe (unto which some make the Prophecy of Iacob touching Beniamin, of which Tribe Saul was, to allude)Gen. 4…. …7. Act. …. 3. & 22. 4. & 26. 10, 11. Gal. 1. 13. Act. 17. 5, 6. Act. 19. 28, 29 …4. Act. 22. 22, 23. and elsewhere to have wasted the Churches, and to have dragg'd the Saints into prison, and to have been exceeding mad against them. And such measure himselfe afterwards found, combinations, uprores, assaults, draggings, wrath, clamors, confusions, rushings in, casting off of clothes, throwing of dust into the aire; any thing to expresse rage and madnesse.
But you will say, All these were at the time wicked men, what is that to nature in common? ▪Have the Saints such fierce and intemperate affections too? Surely while we carry our flesh about us, wee carry the seeds of this rage and fury. Simeon and Levi were Patriarches of the Church, and Heads of the Congregations of Israel; yet see how Iacob aggravateth, and curseth their fiercenesse▪ In their anger they slew a man, in their wrath they digge… Gen. 49. 6, ….downe a wall: Cursed be their anger for it was fierce, and their wrath for it was cruell. Peter was a holy man, yet when the windes blew, when the sluces were open, and the water had gotten a little passage, see how it gathers rage; how fierce and mad it growes, even against the evidences of his owne heart, against the conscience of his owne promises, a deniall growes into an oath, and that multiplies into cursings, and damnings of himselfe; for soforeign. Matth. 26. 74. the word imports, an imprecating of Gods wrath, and of separation from the presence and glory of God upon himselfe, if he knew the man. Ionah was a holy Prophet, and one whose rebellion and fiercenesse against God might in reason have been quite tam'd by the Sea and the Whale; yet looke upon him when his nature gets loose, and you shall finde more madnesse and tempest in him, then in the Sea into which he was throwne: Angry, exceeding angry at Gods mercy to Ninivie, and (with a strange uniformitie of passion in a contrary occasion) as angry at Gods severity to the Gourd. That which made Iob, though before full of impaciency in some particularIob 40. 2. 4. fits, to lay his hand on his mouth, and reply no more, which was Gods debatement, and expostulation with him, Ionah regarded not, but reproves, and replyes with much madnesse of heart upon God himselfe, I doe well to Ionah 4. 9.be angry even unto death. So belluine and contumacious are the mindes of men set upon their owne end, that though God himselfe undertake the cause, they will outface his arguments, and stand on their owne defence. Asa was a holy King, his heart was perfect with the Lord 1. King. 15. 14.all his dayes, yet when the Prophet sent from God told him of his folly in entertaining leagve with the Syrians, and depending upon their confederacies, It is said, that 2. Chron. 16. 10he imprisoned the Prophet, and was in a rage, or in a tempestuousnesse against him. Theodosius was a holy and excellentPrinceps Religiosissimus. Hieron. Cle…ens animus, misericors, communis, in omnes hono…ificus. Aurel. Victor. Benesicium se accep…sse putavit, cum rogaretur ignos…ere. Ambros▪ orat. …un. Theodoret. Paulinus. Prince, and amongst all other graces for none more eminent then for lenitie and compassion: yet so farre did his furie kindle, upon occasion of an uproare at Thessalonica, where one of his servants had been slaine, that he commanded an universall massacre without distinction to passe upon the City, where, in a very short space of three houres, there were seven thousand men butchered by the Emperours Edict, and the City fill'd with the blood of Innocents.
And this should teach us to keepe the stricter watch over our owne hearts, since such excellent men as these have fallen, since so many occasions may throw us into the like distemper, since the sinne of our nature is but like a sleeping Lyon, or at best but like a wounded Lion, any thing that awakens and vexeth it begets rage and furie, to be the more circumspect over our selves, and the more jealous of our owne passions, in those particular cases especially, wherein this fi…e is most apt to kindle.
First, when thou art in disputation, engag'd upon a just quarrell to vindicate the truth of God from heresie and distorsion, looke unto thy heart, set a watch over thy tongue, be ware of wild-fi…e in thy zeale, take heed of this…. I…e v 9. madnesse of thi…e evill nature. Much advantage the Divell may get euen by disputations for the truth. When m…n dispute against those that oppose themselves, as the Disciples against the Samaritans, with thunder and fire from heaven, with railing and reviling speeches, such as the Angell durst not give unto Satan himselfe, when men shall forget the Apostles rule to instruct those that oppose 2. Tim. 2▪ 25. Gal. 6. 1.themselves with meeknes, and to restore those that are fallen with the spirit of meeknes. When tongve shalbe sharpned against tongue, and pen poisoned against pen, when pamphlets shall come forth with more teeth to bite, then arguments to convince, when men shall follow an adversarie, as an undisciplin'd Dog his game, with barking and bawling more then with skill or cunning, this is a way to betray the truth, and to doe the Divell service under Gods colours. It is a grave observation which Sulpitius Severus makes of the councel at Ariminum, consisting of foure hundred Bishops whereof eighty were Arians,Exparte nostro…um leguntur Hom…es adolescentes, parum docti, & parum Cau…; ab Ar…anis autem missi senes, …, & … valen…es, ade…que … facile s…periores Sulp. …. lib. 2. and the rest Orthodox; when after much treaty and agitation nothing was concluded but either party kept immoveable to his owne tenent, It was at last resolv'd that the sides should severally dispatch an embassage to the emperour of ten men apiece, who should make relation of their faith and opinions. And here now grew the disadvantage; for saith hee, the Arians sent Aged men, cunning, and able to manage their employment to the best; but on our part, there were young men sent of little learning, and of strong passions who being vex'd and provok'd by the adverse partie, spoild their owne businesse, though farre the better, with imprudent, and intemperate handling.
Secondly, when thou art upon any civill controversie or debate for matter of right, looke unto thy heart, take heed of that seed of madnesse which lies lurking in it, lest upon occasion of lawfull controversie, there breake out rage and revenge upon the persons of one another. It is not for nothing that the Apostle saith, There is utterly a fault amongst you because you goe to Law with one another. 1. Cor. 6. 7. Why? The Apostle doth plainely allow Iudicature, vers. 1. A man may go to law before the Saints, they may iudge small matters and things that pertaine to this life. vers. 2. 3. 4. And for any man from such a place to inferre the unlawfulnesse of sueing to publick justice for his right, is a piece of Anabaptisme and folly justly punished with the losse of his right. What then is that foreign, that Impotency and defect which the Apostle blameth in them? It consisteth in two things, first their going to law before Heathen Iudges, thereby exposing the profession of Christianity to imputations of scisme, divisions, and worldlinesse amongst the enemies of it: In which case rather then put a rub unto the progresse of the Gospell, by giving unreasonable men occasion to censure the truth thereof by their altercations, and making the ministery evill spoken o… by their scandals, they were to suffer and to beare wrong. For those words, Why doe you not rather take wrong, and suffer your selves to bee defrauded, are not a Positive precept as Iulian the Apostate objected scornefully to the Christians, unlesse it be in smaller injuries, which may with more wisedome be borne by patience, then by contention repaid or overcome; but onelyonly a Comparative precept, that a man should rather choose to leave his name, life, estate, goods, interests, utterly unvindicated, then by defending them unavoydably to bring a scandall upon the Crosse of Christ. Secondly, which is to my present purpose, Their going to law, though in itselfe Iust when before competent and fit judges, had yet an accidentall vitiousnesse that by their inadvertencie did breake out of their evill hearts, and cleave unto it, and that was, their litigations ranne from the businesses unto the persons, It brake forth into violence and wrong against one another, much perturbation of minde, revengefull and circumventing projects shew themselves under the colour of legall debatements; Nay saith the Apostle, you doe wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. Such a notable frowardnesse and rage lyes in the natures of men, that without much caution and watchfulnesse it will bee blowne up into a flame even by honest and just contentions.
Thirdly, In Differences upon private conversation, looke to your hearts, give not the raines too much to anger or displeasure, to suspicions or misconstructions of your neighbours person or courses: give not the water passage no not a little. Be Angry, saith the Apostle, but Eph. 4 26.sinne not, let not the sunne goe downe upon your wrath. It is not a Precept; for such Anger as is required of us by wayCameron de Ecclesia, pag. 15. of duty the Sun may safely go down upon; nor is it a pardon for anger whē we fal into it, to take of the inordinatenes of it; but it is a speech by way of concession, or unavoidable supposition. It cannot bee but that the Saints themselves upon severall occasions and provocations will be overtaken with anger, but yet though their infirmity break forth into the passiō, let not pride & self love harden that passion into a habit, let them be wary that the flame grow not upon them to set them on fire, Give no place to the Divell. The longer a man continues in anger, the more roome the Divel hath to get in upon him, & enrage him. Anger is the kernell and seed of malice, if it be let lie long in the heart, that is so fertile a soile, and Satan so diligent a waterer of his owne plants, that it will quickly grow up into a knottie and stubburne hatred. Wee read of hatreds which have runne in the bloud, and have been entaild, Hereditarie malice, as the Historian cals it, Hatreds whichOdia Haereditaria ….—… rebelles seditione rogi. Stat. Liv. have surviv'd the parties, and discover'd themselves in their very funerals, Hatreds which men have bound upon their posterity by oaths, as Hasdrubal took a solemne oath of Hanibal that he should be an irreconcileable enemie to Rome. And what doe all such expressions import, but that there is a boundlesse frenzy in the flesh of men, a fiercenesse which no lawes can tame, and that there is enough of it in the best men, to breake out into implacable affections, if grace, and prayer, and watchfulnesse doe not prevent it.
Fourthly, in Afflictions paines of body, temptations of spirit, abridgement of estate, trials in reputation and favour or the like, looke by all meanes unto thy heart, take heede of these seedes of rage and madnesse which are in thee. Never more time to looke to thy mounds, to repaire thy bulwarks, then when a tempest is upon thy sea. Have you seene a beast breake his teeth upon the chaine that bindes him, or a Dog poure out his revenge upon the stone that did hurt him, then have you seene some darke shadowes of that fiercenesse and furie, that is apt to rise out of the hearts of men when Gods hand lies close upon them. When thou hearest of the strange impatiencie of Ionah at the beating of the Sun upon his head, untoIonah 4. 9. whom yet it was a mercy beyond wonder that he did now see the sunne: when thou hearest of those deepe expostulations of David with God, Hath he forgotten to be Psal 77. 9, 10.gracious? forgotten his promises? forgotten his truth? forgotten his power and mercy? and shut up all his kindenesse in displeasure? When thou hearest of the impatiencies of Iob, a man yet renowned for his patience, expostulatingIam. 5. 11. and charging God, Is it good for the… that thou should'st Iob 10. 3.oppresse? When thou hearest of those deepe curses of …eremie against the day of his birth; of those froward expostulationsIer. 20. 14▪ 18. and debates of the people of Israel with Moses, & of Moses with God, Why hast thou evill entreated Exod. 5. 21, 22.this people, why hast thou sent me? O then reflect upon thy selfe, and be afraid of thine owne evill heart, which is farre more likely to breake out against God then any of those were. And for a remedie or prevention hereof keepe in thy sight the historie of thy sinnes, make them as hainous to thine owne view as they are in their own nature; The way not to rage against afflictions is to know our selves aright, that will make us confesse unto God with Ezra, let our calamities be what they will, That the Lord Ezra. 9. 13.hath punish'd us lesse then our iniquities have deserved. The way to beare the hand of God with patience, and with acceptance, is to confesse our sinnes, and to be humbled for them. If their uncircumcised hearts bee humbled, Levit. 26. 40, 41.and then they accept of the punishment of their iniquities, saith the Lord: noting thus much, that the sight of our sin, and humiliation for it, makes a man willing to submitLam. 3. 39, 40. to Gods chastisements. Wherefore doth a living man complaine, a man for the punishment of his sins? there are three strong reasons together why we ought not to murmur in our afflictions. First, Wee are men, and what an impudence is it for the clay to swell against the potter that form'd it, and complaine why hast thou made me thus. Secondly, wee are sinners, all the punishments wee suffer are our owne, the wages of our iniquities, and what a madnesse is it to complaine against the justice of our Iudge? Thirdly, wee are living men and therefore God hath punished us lesse then our sinnes deserve, for the wages of sinne is death, and what ingratitude is it to repine at mercifull, and moderated punishments? but yet such is the frowardnesse of our nature that wee are very apt thus to murmur; what is the cure and remedy of this evill affection? Let vsus search and try our waies (saith the Church) and turne to the Lord our God; the more wee grow acquainted with our sinnefull estate, and marveilous provocations, with the patience and promises of God, the more we shall justifie God, and waite upon him, the more wee shall judge our selves lesse then the least ofMic. 7 9. Gods mercies and forbearances. I will beare the indignation of the Lord, saith the Church againe in the same case, I will not repine nor murmure at his dealing with me, I will acknowledge that righteousnesse belongeth unto him, and confusion unto me, and the ground of this resolution is the sense of sinne, Because I have sinned against him. I have pressed, and wearied, and grieved, and vexed him with my sinnes, without any zeale or tendernesse of his glory; but he hath visited me in judgement and not in fury, in wrath he hath remembred mercy, and not quite consumed me as he might have done, he hath not dealt with me after my sinnes, nor rewarded me according to mine iniquities, he hath spared me as a sonne when I dealt with him as a traytor, and hee will pleade my cause, and bring me forth to the light, and revenge my quarrell against those which helped forward my affliction.
Thus we see the way not to rage against Afflictions is to understand and be sensible of the foulenesse of our sinnes. Otherwise pride and madnesse will undoubtedly shew themselves in our Afflictions. What desperate and horrible rage did the heart of Pharaoh swell into, when in the middest of those fearefull Iudgements heeExod. 9. 17. 7. 23. hardned his heart, and exalted himselfe against the people of God, and trampled upon them, and did not set his10. 11. heart unto the iudgement, but threatned and drave out M…ses and Aaron from his presence, and pursued them with finall and obdurate malice, through the midst of14. 23. that wonderfull deliverance? The like example we see in that impatient and fretfull reply of Iehoram king of Israel in the great famine: This euill is of the Lord, what should I 2. King. 6. 33.waite for the Lord any longer? If this be all the reward we hauehave for waiting and calling upon God, to what purpose serve our humiliations and fastings? what profitablenesse at all is there in his seruice? Thus we find the hypocrits challenging God for afflicting them, upbraiding him with their humiliations, and the fruitlesnesse of his service: Wherefore hauehave we fasted, and thou seest not? wherefore Esai. 58 3.hauehave wee afflicted our soule and thou takest no knowledge? ye hauehave said it is in vaine to serue God, and what Mal. 3. 14.profit i… it that wee ha…e kept his ordinance, and that wee hauehave walked mourn…fully before the Lord of hoasts, &c? And thus Saul, when hee found himselfe forsaken1. Sam. 28. 6▪ 7. by God, and should hauehave humbled himselfe, and sought his face, he proceeded in a further rage to inquire of the witches which himselfe had commanded to be destroyed.
These things should teach us all to labour with God in prayer, that what ever evill hee sendeth upon us, hee would not suffer his strength and spirit to forsake us, nor giuegive us ouer to the rage and madnesse of our owne nature. O what hearts should men see in themselues, if they would looke upon their owne faces in other mens lives! See …ulian dye with revenge and rage against Christ; Iudas bursting asunder under the weight of Gods wrath; The cursed persecutors *20 Anno Imperij Dioclesiani exacto amb… imperatores cons…ntientibus animis imperio se abdicarunt; publicè pro…itentes se moli negotiorum …: sed apud …os quibus arcana s…i pectoris crede…ant, id ex … sacere se …tebantur. Quia enim ne… Christian…s …, …ec praeconium Christiani nominis extinguere possent; se nec Imperio velle f…ui. …. Tom. 2. De Dio…lesiano & Maximiniano Herculeo.putting of their power, retiring to a priuate life, pining away with vexation, because the Gospell of Christ was too hard for them; Achitophel dispatching himselfe for very madnesse, because his oracle was not beleeved; One despaire, another blaspheme, another wrestle with his affliction as a beast in a snare, till the part swell and rancle, and grow too bigge for the punishment which is upon it; How could not this chuse but make men out of louelove with themselues, and labour to hauehave more holdfast of the Spirit of Christ; that this madnesse of our nature may thereby betained, and our equanimity and moderation made knowne to all men?
Fifthly, and lastly, In the Ministery of the Word, when thy bosome sinne is met with, and the plague of thine owne heart discouer'd, when thou art prick't in thy master veine, when the edge of the sword enters to the quicke sacrificeth thee, crucifieth thy lusts, cuts off thy earthly members, ransackes thy conscience, and shewes thee the inside of thy foule soule; heere by all meanes looke unto thy heart; never so likely a time for madnesse and fierce opposition to set up it selfe, as when a man is driven into a corner and cannot flie. Sinners are all cowards, and cannot indure the brightnesse of Moses face, are not able to abide the scrutinie of the Word, butIer. 2. 27. Ioh. 8. 9. would faine turne their backes upon it; not onelyonly out of scorne, but out of feare too.
Many a sturdy sinner will seeme to contemne the plainenesse and power of the Word, as an illiterate rude foolish thing, to scorne & undervalue the persons, companies, discourses of faithfull Ministers, as of despicable, or supercilious, or schismaticall fellowes: but the truth is (and they in their owne consciences know it too) that though there bee indeede much stoutnesse and contempt, yet there is more cowardice: Scorne is the pretence, but feare is the reason; they cannot indure to bee disquieted and gall'd: as a diseased or wounded horse cu…vets, and pranceth, and is very actiue and impatient; at first sight a man would thinke it pride and metall, but the truth is tis paine and smart that causeth it. Well then sinners are all cowards, and would faine fly, but even cowards themselves, when they are shutin and surrounded, will fight with more fiercenesse then other men, even for very feare. The basest vermin almost that is, when shut out of all his refuges and holes, will trie his strength before he will perish, and leape in the face of his pursuer. And this now is the property of the word to … men in, The Scripture, saith the Apostle, hath shut up all under sinn…. Gal. 3. 22. And we shall ever finde, that the deeper the conviction hath been, the more likewise hath beene the preiudice, and the fiercer the Opposition against the word: see Ier. 5. 5, 12. 6. 10. 43. 1, 2. Nehem. 9. 29, 30. Ioh. 8. 48, 59. Ioh. 11. 47, 53. Act. 5. 33. Act. 6. 10, 11. 7. 54. 57, 58. Ier. 36. 23. 2. Chron. 36. 15, 16, 17. As in the meeting of two contrary streames, if one prevaile not to carry away and over-rule the other, there must needs arise a mighty noyse and rage in the conflict: so is it in the wrestling and strife betweene the Spirit of God in the Word, and the current of a mans owne corruptions; the greater strength and manifestation of the Spirit the Word hath in it, and the fewer corners and chinkes it leaves for sinne to escape at, the more fierce must needes the opposition be, if the word be not prevalent enough to turne the current. Let us therfore beware whatever we do of snuffing or rebelling against the warnings which are giuen us out of the Word. It is hard to kicke against the prickes; there is no overcomming Gods Spirit: a man may fall upon the stone, but hee shall be broken by it; if he be so strong, and lift so hard, as to move the stone, it shall fall upon him, and grinde him to powder. Let us not resolve to baffle the ministers, and to despise their message; (It is a sinne that leaves no remedy for a man,2. Chron. 36. 16 to throw away the physicke, to trample under foote the playster that should heale him) Let us not thinke to blow away the Words of God as if they were but so much empty winde; for the Lord saith that they shall become Ier. …. 13, 14.fire, to devou…e the adversaries; Let us not distinguish Scripture to our owne humours, nor accept or reject Gods Truth as will best▪consist with our owne resolutions; but as it is the power of the Word to CaptivatePsal. 68. 18. 2. Cor. 10. 5. Psal. 119. 128. Act. 3. 2…. even rebelliousthoughts to the obedience of Christ; so let us resolve to accept of every one of Gods righteous Commandements, and to hate every false way, to heare Christ and his Ministers in all things, to answer to Gods severest cals, even then when they make us tremble and doe astonish us, as Saint Paul did, Lord what wilt Act. 9. 6.thou hauehave me to doe? Even when the word affrights thee, yet giuegive this honour to it, not to reject it, nor fly from it, not to smother and suppresse it, but to endure it to search thee, and to submit thy selfe unto it. This is a notable way to abate the Originall madnesse which is in thy heart.
Secondly, as there is furor in madnesse, so there is Amentia too, A distemper in the Intellectuals, as well as in the passions: Every man that is throughly mad is a foole too: And therefore the same originall word is translated in one place madnesse, Luk. 6. 11. and in another place, follie, 2. Tim. 3. 9. Now this distemper is Twofold: for either it is an universall privation and defect of reason; or at least it is an inconsistency, a lubricitie, a slipperinesse of reason. And these are very deepe in the nature of a man, folly is bound up in the heart of a childe, and in spirituall things we are all children.
First, there is an universall ignorance and inconsideratenesse of spirituall things in the nature of man, he takes lesse notice of his condition then the very bruite beasts. The Oxe knoweth his owner, and the Asse his masters crib, Esai. 1. 3.but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. The St…rke in the heavens knoweth her appointed time, and the Ier. 8. 6, 7.Turtle, and the Crane, and the Swallow, but my people Esai. 42. 25.knoweth not the judgement of the Lord. The very dumbe Assereproved the madnesse of the Prophet, as Saint Peter 2. Pet. 2. 16.speakes. And for this reason it is that we shall observe That frequent Apostrophe of God in the Prophets, when he had wearied himselfe with crying to a deafe and re bellious people, he turnes his speech, and pleads before dumbe and inanimate Creatures; Heare, O Heavens, and Esai. 1. 2. Deut. 3… 1. …er 2. 12. Ier. 6 19.give eare, O Earth, nothing so farre from the voyce of the Prophet as the heavens, nothing so dull and impenetrable as the earth, and yet the heavens likelier to heare, the earth likelier to listen and attend, then the obdurate sinners. Heare O ye mountaines the Lords controversie, and ye Mic. 6. 2.strong foundations of the earth. Nothing in the earth so immoveable as the mountaines, nothing in the mountaines so impenetrable as the foundations of the mountaines, and yet these are made more sensible of Gods pleadings and controversies then the people whom it concern'd, The Creatures groane (as the Apostle speakes) under theRom. 8. 21, 22. burden and vanitie of the sinnes of men; and men themselves, upon whom sinne lies with a farre heavier burden, boast, and glory, and rejoyce in it. Of our selves we have no understanding, but are foolish and sottish, as the ProphetIer. 4. 22. speakes, we see nothing but by the light and the understanding which is given unto us, we cannot have so1. Ioh. 5. 20. 2. Cor. 3. 5. much as a right thought of goodnesse. The Apostle doth notably expresse this universall blindnesse which is in our nature, Ephes. 4. 17. 18. Walke not as other Gentiles in the Vanitie of their minde, having the understanding darkned, being alienated from the life of God, or from a godly life, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindnesse of their Hearts. First their minds are vaine; the minde is the Seate of Principles, of supreme, primitive, underivedArist. Eth. lib. 6. truths; but, saith he, their mindes are destitute of all divine and spirituall principles. Secondly, their understanding [foreign] is darkened: The understanding, or Dianoeticall facultie is the seate of Conclusions, and that is unable to deduce from spirituall principles (if there were any in their mindes) such sound and divine conclusions as they are apt to beget: so though they know God (which is a Principle) yet this Principle was vaine in them, for they conceiv'd of his glory basely, by the similitude of foure footed beasts, and creeping things, they conceiv'd him an idle God as the Epicures, or a God subject to fate and necessity as the Stoicks, or a sinfull impu…e God, that by his example made uncleannesses religious, as Saint Cyprian speakes; one way or other they became vaine in their imaginations of him; but secondly though they knew him, yet the conclusions which they deduc'd from that Principle, That he was to be worshipped, &c. were utterly unworthy his majesty, They worshipped him ignorantly, Act. 17. 22, 23.superstitiously, not as became God, they changed Rom. 1. 21, 25.his truth into a lye. Thirdly, suppose their principles to be found, their Conclusions from those principles to be naturall and proper, yet all this is but speculation, they still are without the end of all this, spirituall prudence, their hearts were blinded, the heart is the Seate of knowledge practicall, that by the Principles of the minde and the Conclusions of the understanding doth regulate and measure the Conversation, but that was unable, yea averse from any such knowledge, for they held the truth Rom. 1. 18, 28. 24. 26. 29. 32.of God in unrighteousnesse, they did not like to retaine God in their knowledge, they served the lusts of their owne hearts, were given up to vile affections, were filled with all unrighteousnesse, and had pleasure in evill workers, even when they did things which they knew deserved death, and provoked judgement. This is that universall defect which is in us by nature; and very much of this remaines in the best of us. Here then when we are not able to conceive the Lords purpose in his word, though of it selfe it be all light, when we finde with David that it is too excellent for us, let us learne to bewaile that evill concupiscence of our nature, which still fils our understandings with mists, and puts a vaile before our faces. The whole Booke of God is a pretious Mine full of unsearchableforeign. Basil. in pro. em. lib. de Spiritu Sancto. treasures, and of all wisedome; there is no scoria, no refuse in it, nothing which is not of great moment, and worthy of speciall and particular observation, and therefore much are we still to bewaile the unfaithfulnesse of our memories and understandings, which retaine so little, and understand lesse then they doe retaine. If David were constrain'd to pray Open mine eyes to see more wonders in thy Law, how much more are we to pray so too? If there were a dampe of sinne in Davids heart, that did often make his light dimme, that did make him as abeast in understanding, as himselfe complaines; how much darkenesse then and disproportion is there betweene us and that blessed light? Looke upon Heretiques old and new, Marcions two gods, a good and an evill, Valentinians thirty and odde gods in severall lofts and stories; worshippers of Caine, worshippers of Iudas, worshippers of the Serpent, and a world of the like sottishScripturas … sua diversitate communes. Aug. Ep. 253. Evangelium pertrabunt ad sententiae suae praecipitium. Iustin martyr Epist. ad Zenam. impiecies: nay amongst men that pretend more light, to see the same Scriptures on both sides held, and yet opinions as diametrally contrary as light and darkenesse, one gospell in one place, and another gospell in another, to speake nothing of those foreign and naevi, those blemishes that are in the writings of the most rare and choisest instruments in Gods Church; All these are notable evidences of that radicall blindnesse which is in our nature, and is never here quite removed: for if the light be not seene, it is not for want of evidence, but for want offoreign. Theophil ad Autol. lib. 1. sight.
Secondly, consider the slipperinesse and inconsistencie of naturall reason in spirituall things, it can never stay upon any holy notion: And this is another kinde of madnesse. Mad men will make a hundred relations, but their reason cannot stand still, nor goe through with any, but roves from one thing to another, and joynes together notions of severall subjects like a rope of sand: some few lucid intervals they may haply have, but they quickly returne to their frenzies againe. This is the condition of our nature, let a man enter upon any holy thoughts, the flesh will quickly cast in other suggestions, to make him weary and faint under such unwelcome speculations. Therfore it was that David prayed, Vnite my hart to feare thy name; Keepe it alwayes in the thoughts of the heart of thy servant, &c. This was the businesse of Paul and Barnabas to the Saints, to exhort them that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto God. And hence that phraseAct. 11. 23. of Scripture to ioyne a mans selfe to God, and to lay fast Esay 56. 3. Heb. 6. 18.bold upon him. And this every man that sets about it will finde to bee a very hard worke; It will give every man just cause to cry out against the intrusions of a naughty heart. This is that which makes many mens righteousnesse like the morning Dew; now the Grasse seemes drunken with wetnesse, and an houre after even gapes for drought; now a vow and resolution, anon a relapse and returne againe; now an …are to Christ, presently another open to sinne; now offers and tender of peace, anon retreates and exceptions; now a skirmish with sinne, and presently a truce; like Penelopes Web, wrought in the day, and untwisted in the night.
Tenthly, consider the Indefatigablenesse of this sinne, how unwearied it is in all the mischiefs that it is bent upon. It is said of Satan that he goes about seeking whom hee 1. Pet. 5. 8.may devoure, as it was of Christ▪ That he went about doing good; I thinke wee shall never in the Scripture finde the Divell at a pause, or sitting still like one that were spent and tir'd. But yet I finde that for a season he hath departed, Luk. 4. 13.when hee had such a terrible foyle as put him out of all hope of victory; I finde that hee may bee driven away and put to flight. Resist the Divell and hee Iam. 4. 7.shall flie from you. But now the fleshlie heart of a man will never be made sound a retreate, but sets on indefatigably upon the spirituall part: It is (as I said) like the Thiefe, when it is nail'd and crucified it will still revile, like a wounded woolfe it runnes about to doe mischiefe, or as a tyred Oxe it treads with more weight upon theBos lassus fortiùs figit pedem. Plus Romae negotyfuit cum semiru…d Carthagine, quàm cum integra. Flor. soule. As the Historian said of Carthage that Rome was more troubled with it when it was halfe destroy'd, then when it remain'd whole and entire: so the man that hath in some measure overcome his lusts, will bee farre more sensible of their stirrings and strugglings, then another in whom they rule without disturbance. Wee may observe in some froward men when their causes are tried and prove desperate in right, they will yet still create perverse matters to molest their neighbors, and the more they sinke in the maine, the more clamorous they will be to proceed; as eager gamesters the more they loose, the deeper game they play, and the harder they set to it; so is it with the lusts of men, the more they are subdued, the more rebellious and headstrong will they be so farre as their power goes against the spirit of Christ. Lime is kindled by that which quencheth all other fires, and surely Grace which … other temptations, or at least abateth th…m doth occasionally, and by antiperistasis enrage the flesh, though in regard of exercise and actuall power it dye daylie.
The reason hereof is, First, that which is naturall can foreign. Arist. Ethic. lib. 2. cap. 1. foreign Rhet. lib. 1.never be chang'd, neither is any thing ever tir'd in its naturall motion. The motion of a stone upward growes fainter and fainter because carried by a violent impression, but downeward stronger and stronger because it gathers strength even by sympathie to the place whereunto it moves. Now originall sinne is the corrupt nature of a man, and the motions therefore of it are not violent but altogether naturall, and that naturall motion is set on and made the easier by the impulsions of Satan, as a stone throwne or hurried downeward moves the swifter, because the naturall weight thereof is improv'd by the accessory impression. Who ever knew the Sea give over raging, or a streame grow weary of running? Now the motions of corruption are as naturall as the estuations of the sea, or the course of a river. Though there may be difficulty in fullfilling lusts, there can never be any in the rising and sprouting of lusts: As there may be paines in drawing water out of a Fountaine, but there can be no paines in the waters swelling or rising out of the Fountaine. It is no paines to conceive seede, though it bee to bring it forth in a birth: so in the begetting of sin, there is no paines requir'd for the heart to lust, for thoughts to arise, though the finishing of sinne may bee oftentimes painefull as well as deadly. Originall sinne is call'd by the Aposile a Law in the members, which putteth a byas into them, a forwardnesse, and propension to all evill. Now as a Bowle moves not with any difficultie when it followes the sway of its owne bias, so neither doth the heart in following lusts which are the weights and bias of the fleshlie soule. And therefore the longer any man lives in sinne, the sweeter 'tis to him. Wearinesse, and propension are termes inconsistent. Secondly, Nothing is weary while it workes all De Suo, of it selfe, that which tyres a faculty is the fetching in of subsidiarie spirits, which being exhausted and spent the faculty giveth over working, and is said to be wearie. The eye is never weary with the act of seeing (which is it owne worke) but it is said to bee weary, meerely because of the deficiency of those animall spirits which are from without sent in unto it to assist it in its owne worke, which if they did in the same measure and strength without decay flow to the facultie, it could never be tired in its owne operation. So the locomotive facultie, when the hand worketh, or the foote walketh, would never be wearied in it selfe, if those spirits which are requisite to strengthen it in its exercise did not lessen, and faile, and breath out in the motion. But now our lusts make us flesh all over, in them wee worke all de nostro of our owne; It is as naturall to the heart to lust, as it is to the eye to see, and in this respect more too; for though the Act of seeing bee the eyes alone, yet the eye stands in need of forraine assistance from the heart (which is the forge and seminarie of spirits) to continue the exercise of this Act: But the Heart is wholly within it selfe furnish'd with all the strength and principles of lusting, or if it were not, yet those spirits which the temptations of Satan or the world infuse to assist it, doe never faile nor waste away, but as waters drawne out of a fountaine, the faster they are cald in, the more plentifully they come.
Thirdly, Originall sin is Indefatigable, never wearie of warring, of tempting, of raging, of intruding, of bringing forth, o… polluting all we do, because it is unsatisfied, The Eccles. 1. 8.eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the …are with hearing. It is of vast and infinite desires, and the more it is supplied with that in which it seeketh satisfaction, the more greedy it growes; as naturall motions the longer they continue the swifter they are. A sinner if he should live for ever, would Omnis peccator peccat in su… aeterno. Greg.sin for ever, & never say it is enough. Every imagination, every Creature that is shap'd & form'd in the hart, every purpose, desire, motion, ebullition, is onelyonly evill every Day, saith the text; no period, no stint, Evill from the childhood, Gen. 8. 21. Amama Antibarb. biblic. l 2 p. 403.Ex quo excussus est ex vtero, from the time of breaking forth out of the wombe, as the learned observe from the propriety of the word. Evill comes out of the heart as sparkles do out of the fire, never cease rising while the fire continues. Notably is this insatiablenesse of lust expressed by the Prophet in two excellent similitudes. First,Hab. 2. 5, 6. from Drunkennesse, which makes a man still more greedy, doth not extinguish but enflame the perverse desire; none cal in for wine faster, then they which have had too much before. Secondly, from Hell and the grave, whichEsay 5. 14. Prov. 30. 15, 16. 1. King. 18. 43. have no stint nor measure. The Cloud which the Prophet shewed his servant, was no bigger at first then a hand; after, it grew to cover all the Heavens, and the reason was, it rose out of a Sea: so the sin of man will continually grow and overflow all his life, and the reason is, it hath a Sea of lust continually to supply it. Therfore in the Scripture it isforeign 1. Pet 4. 4. Iude v. 13. Esay 57. 19. foreign. Eph. 4. 19. Rom. 1. 27, 29. call'd an effusion, a rushing out, an aestus, like the foaming or boyling of the Sea, a strange excesse of ryot, unto which, saith the Apostle, wicked men runne: a Greedinesse, a covetous improvement of uncleanenesse, a burning of lust, a fulnesse of all mischiefe. Now from this insatiablenesse of lust must needs follow the indefatigablenesse of it too. When a thing is out of the place of its owne rest, it neuer leaves moving naturally till it have gotten to it; therefore in as much as lust can never carry the hart to any thing which it may rest in, needs must it flutter about, & be alwayes in motion. If there were an infinite space of aire, the motion of a stone in that space (if there were any motion) must needs be infinite, because it would no where have a Center, or middle place to hold it (for there can be no medium where there are no extremes.) Desires are the wings upon which the soule moves, if there be stil things found to entice the desires, and none to satisfie them, no marvell if the soule be stil upon the wing, in perpetual agitation, like the wind which continually whirleth about, or the RiversEccles. 1. 6, 7. which never leave running into the Sea, because they never fill it. But it may be objected, that the Scripture makes mention of the wearinesse which sinne brings upon men, of that impotency of sinning which growes upon them. The Sodomites wearied themselves in their rage against Lot. So the Prophet saith of wicked men, that they weary themselves to commit iniquity. I answer, that these veryIer. 9. 5. places prove the indefatigablenesse of lust, in that it never gives over, even when the instruments thereof are ti…'d. The Israelites were weary of gathering straw, but were the Task-masters weary of exacting it? The members may be weary of serving their law, but is the law of the members weary of quickning or commanding them? Nay, herein is seene the cruell tyranny of lust against us, that it never leaves drawing, enticing, heartning, supplying us for sinne, even when wee are quite wearied in the service of it. Thou wert wearied in thy way, yet saidst Esay 5…. 10.thou not, There is no hope. Thou never didst consider, I have thus long drudg'd in the service of sinne, and have found no fruit, received no such satisfaction as I promis'dRom. 6. 21. my selfe; and therefore why should I weary my selfe any longer? Why should I labour for that which is noEsay 55. 2. bread, and which satisfyeth not? Thou never didst bethinke thy selfe of returning to the right way, but wentest on with wonted madnesse and rage still, though thou foundedst for certaine that there was no profit in thyIer. 2. 11, 12. & 7. 8. Esay 30. 5, 6. Hos. 8▪ 7. evill way, that thou didst sow nothing but winde, and shouldst reape nothing but a whirlewinde. Baalams lust was too swift for his weary beast; when the Asse was frighted, and durst goe no further, yet the Prophet was as unwearied as at the first. Lust is like a furious Rider, never weary of the way, though the poore beast which must serve the Riders turne may quickly bee worne out. Woe to him that lodeth himselfe with thicke clay, saith theHab. 2. 45. Prophet, How long? He may have enough to loade him, he can never have enough to weary him. He may lod… his house, his memory, his bagges, his wits, his time, his conscience; but he can never fill his Hell. He may quickly have enough to sinke him, but hee can never have enough to satisfie him: As a ship may be overladen with Gold or Silver even unto sinking, and yet have compasse and sides enough to hold ten times more: so the heart will quickly be loaded unto sinking, but never filld unto satiety. In one word, wee must in sinne distingvish betweene the Act, and the Concupiscence from whence thatInter vivacitatem & Libidinem. Aug contr. Iul. lib 4. cap. 14. Act ariseth; or in the faculties betweene the Life and the Lust of them, betweene their naturall strength and activitie, and their law of corruption. The livelinesse and strength of the faculties may quickly be wasted, and yet the lust strong still. Sinne in Act hath a concurrence of the powers of the soule, and services of the body, which in their motions may quickly langvish. But yet as the Philosophers say of the soule, though it may seeme tyr'd and spent, and waxen old, because the body in which it resides growes unfit for its service, yet the soule indeed itself Anima non senescit. Scal. de sub. foreign. Arist. de Anim. l. 1 c. 4.doth not grow old, but if it had equall instruments would be as vigorous in the oldest man, as in the youngest: so we may say of sin, though the body may grow weary of adultery, or the mind weary of plodding mischiefe, or the thoughts weary of contriving deceit, yet concupisce…is non senescit, Lust it selfe growes never old nor weary. Nay, as the water when it is stopt in its principall course, yet one way or other where it best may it will make a shift to finde a vent, and to discover it selfe: even so lust in the heart will one way or other, when the minde and faculties, the body and members are quite tyr'd out in the principall service, make a shift to breake forth into some easier vent. When the adultery in the heart hath worne out the body, and spur'd it so long in this uncleane race, that it now sinkes under the burden, and hath no more blood to lose, yet even then it will finde a vent, and such a man will have eyes full of adultery, a tongvefull of adultery, thoughts and speculations full of adultery, a memorie in the review of former lewdnesse full of adultery. The thiefe on the Crosse had as good a will to crucifie Christ, to naile him, and pierce him as any others, but hee was fast enough for doing this; yet his malice will finde a vent into his tongve to revile and raile upon him. Balaams tongve could not execute the office to which hee was hir'd, yet it will have a vent, and shew it selfe in journeying, counselling, and consulting how the people might draw a curse upon themselves. As a dogge may have hisNumb. 31. 16. Mic. 6. 5. stomack cram'd usque ad vomitum, and yet his appetite unsatisfied, for hee presently returnes to his vomit: so though a man may lode and weary himselfe in the acting of sinne, yet lust it selfe is never satisfied, and therefore never wearied.
What a watch then should we keepe over our evill hearts, what paines should wee take by prayer and unweariednesse of spirit to suppresse this enemy? If there were any time wherein the flesh did sit still and sleepe, wherein the water did not runne, and seeke for vent, wee might then haply slacken our care; but since it is ever stirring in us, wee should bee ever stirring against it, and using all meanes to lessen and abate it: since the heart is unwearied in evill, we should not faint, nor be weary of well-doing. Since the heart is so abundant in evill, wee should abound likewise in every good work of the Lord, alwayes considering what advantage this labour will give us against the toyle of sinne: in lust a man wearieth himselfe and hath no hope, but here our labour is not in vaine in the Lord, wee shall reape if wee faint not; and a little glory in heaven, nay a little comfort in earth (though neither one nor other may be called little) will be a most plentifull recompence, pressed downe and running over for any the greatest paines that can bee taken in this spirituall watch. Yee have need of patience, saith the Apostle, to goe through the will of God, to bee in a perpetuall combate and defiance with an enemy that will give no respite nor breathing time. The temptations of Satan, the solicitations of the world are not so many, nor heauie clogs to men in their race, as that to which they are fastned, this weight that presseth downe, this besieging sinne which is ever enticing, clamouring, haling, rebelling, intruding, with love, with strength, with law, with arguments, with importunities calling a man from his right way. From this consideration the Apostle immediately inferres this duty of patience, Lay aside every waight, saith the Apostle, and the sinne that doth so easily beset us, and runne with patience unto the race that is set before us. And we must not cast our eye alwayes to the clog which wee draw, that may much dis-hearten us; but looke unto Iesus, the Author and finisher of our faith, hee that can carry us through all these difficulties, that gives us weapons, that teacheth our hands to warre, and our fingers to fight, that is our Captaine to leade us, and our second, (foreign, our fellow-Combatant) that fighteth against sinne in us by his grace. Looke what hee did, what contradiction hee endured, lest yee bee wearied and faint in your minds; Looke what he promiseth, a victory against our lusts, and a Crowne after our victory. Looke when he commeth, 'tis yet but a little while; The comming of the Lord draweth nigh, the Lord is at hand; Call to him, he is within the voyce of thy prayer, hee will come to strengthen thee; waite upon him, he is within the eye of thy Faith, he will come to reward thee. Looke upon the Cloud of witnesses, those that are now the Church of the first-borne, and have their Palmes in their hands; they all went through the same combate, they were all beset with alike infirmities, they were all men of the same passions with us, let us bee men of the same patience with them.
Now lastly, consider the Propagation of this sinne. Which may therefore well be called an old man, because it dies not, but passeth over from one generation to another; A mans Actuall sinnes are personall, and therefore Intransient, they begin and end in himselfe; but originall sinne is naturall, and therefore with the nature it passeth over from a man to his posteritie. It is an entaile that can never be cut of, it hath held from Adam and will so continue to the worlds end holding al men in an unavoidable service and villanage unto Satan the Prince of this world. In Humane Tenures if a man leave a personall estate to all his children indefinitely, without singling out and designing this portion to one and that to another, though it bee true to say that there is nothing in that estate which any one of the children can lay an entire clayme unto as his owne, but that the rest have joynt interest in it, (for the children, though many in persons, are yet but one proprietarie in regard of right in the estate of their father, till there be a severance made) yet notwithstanding a Partition may be legally procur'd, and there is a kinde of virtuall or fundamentall severance before, which was the ground of that which is afterwards reall and legall: But now in this wretched Inheritance of sin which Adam left to all his posterity, we are to note this mischiefe in the first place, that there is no virtuall partition, but it is left whole to every childe of Adam. All have it, and yet every one hath it all too. Soe that as Philosophers say of the Reasonable soule, That it is whole in the whole, and that it is whole in every part: so wee may say of originall concupiscence, It is Tota in Genere Humano, and Tota in quolibet homine. All in mankinde, and all in every particular man. There is no law of partition for one man to have to him in peculiar the lusts of the eye, another to him the lusts of the tongue, another to him the lusts of the eare, &c. but every man hath eueryevery lust originally as full as all men together have it.