The Doctrine and Practice of Mortification, Chapter 2
Chap. 2. Of the meanes how to find out our naturall condition by a threefold inquiry.
TO begin with the firſt, the deſcription of our naturall corruption, viz. It is called the deeds of the body, as it is with men that goe to warre, the firſt thing that they doe, is to endeavour to find out the enemy: ſo it muſt be in this ſpirituall warfare, wee muſt firſt endeavour to finde out this our ſpirituall and mortall enemy, who hee is: and ſecondly, where he lurkes; and thirdly, how hee ſeekes to fortifie himſelfe.
1 Who this enemy is.1 Who this enemy is; it muſt be hee that contends againſt the ſpirit, and labours to withſtand all the good motions of it, which is called all along in the former part of the chapter the fleſh, and here in this place the body: now the body is ſometimes taken Phyſically for the ſubſtance of the body conſiſting of fleſh and blood; or elſe morally and in a metaphor for ſinne and vice compared to a body; and ſo I conceive it muſt be taken here; for conceive of the body as it is meerly naturall, and ſo it is good, and thoſe effects that do iſſue from it muſt needes be good: again the body in the production of her actions is but the handmaid to the ſoule; and the ſoule is as the great wheele of the clocke,Corpus mortis eſt cuncta peccata: multa enim unum corpus ſūt, ſingula quaſi membra uno authore inventa Ambroſ. vid. locum. Infelix eſt homo hoſpitem ſecum habens peccatum perquod ad illum aditum habet Satanas. Gloſſ. that moves all the inferiour wheels by her motion: now the denomination in propriety of ſpeech comes frō the better part; therefore it muſt be taken here for that naturall corruption, that doth abide in the body and ſoule. So S. Ambroſe on Rom. 7.24. he calls it there, that maſſe of corruption that is inherent in us, is all our ſinne, as it were making up that body of ſinne, that as a body conſiſting of many mēbers, do but make up one intire body; ſo ſin, though it ſpread it ſelf into every part of our bodies to make them members of ſin, & into every faculty of the ſoule to make them weapons of unrighteouſneſſe, yet ſtill it is but one.
Take notice, Vſe 1 how that ſin it makes a man a deformed and a vile creature, that while he carries about him a body having in it naturall life; hee carries another body that hath in it the ſymptomes of death, nay and that will draw the other to the ſame condition with it ſelfe; nay if one ſhould tell you of a monſter that had ſomething in it like a beaſt, ſomething like a ſerpent, nay and ſomething like a devill. This monſtrous birth of ſinne doth containe all that in it, if not more: are not men like the cruelleſt beaſt the Lyon; like the moſt poyſonous creature the ſerpent, nay children of Satan. Iohn 4.44. O that wee could ſee our ſelves as wee are; we would be ready to fly from our ſelves, as Moſes did from his rod, when it became a ſerpent, Exodus 3.4. and to abhorre our ſelves in duſt and aſhes.
2 Where he lodgeth.2 If you enquire where this enemy is, you will hardly beleeve that hee is ſo neere you, nor neere ſo favoured of you as indeed he is, that ſuch a deſperate enemy as this is ſhould lodge in your houſes, feede at your tables, and lye in your boſomes, is not ſo ſtrange as true, nor more true than lamentable. Men in this caſe are like David, who did not ſticke to condemne the injuſtice and cruelty of the man in Nathans parable,2 Sam. 12. that took the Lambe from his poore neighbour when hee had no need, having ſufficient, or rather ſuperfluity of his owne; but alas the good man little thought that all this had been done by himſelfe; even ſo it is with us, when wee heare from the Word, that there is ſuch a thing as a body of death, a heart that is deſperately wicked,Rom. 7.24 Jer. 19 9. and a law of the members that leads men captive to ſinne: it is eaſily granted by them that ſo it is, but yet will they be loath to yeeld,Dolus latet in univerſalibus. or to have ſuch a thought in themſelves, that they are the men: and hence it is that we are like unto ſicke men that complaine of their bed, when the cauſe is in their bones, and of the ſharpneſſe of their phiſicke, when the fault is in themſelves; ſo it is with men in caſe of ſinne, when it lyes on the conſciences of men, and makes them reſtleſſe, they complaine of the condition as too hard and heavie, and of the Word, which is the phyſicke for the ſoule, as too ſharpe and bitter, when as they looke not into the cauſe which is this body of death that lyes in our own boſomes: and as wee ſee not our ſinnes, ſo neither doe wee ſee the danger that we are in; but as it was with Balaam, Numb.though the Angell was before him with his drawne ſword, yet hee ſaw him not, but fals out with the poore Aſſe, as if all the fault had beene in the harmeleſſe beaſt; whereas had not the Aſſe ſtood ſtill Balaam had beene ſlaine, and all this came from his covetous heart, which hee would take no notice of; So men are ready in caſe that ſinne bee charged on them, and even the danger ready to approach, yet do not ſee it, but are ready to quarrell with ſuch as labour to keepe them from it, but howſoever men labour to put their ſinnes one to another, as we toſſe a Ball, and bandy it from one to another, and every man from him, yet let him know, that they goe but herein about a vaine ſhadow, and diſquiet themſelves in vaine; It would bee much better to take Davids counſell,Pſal. 4.4. ſtand in awe and ſinne not, commune with your owne bearts in your bed and be ſtill: or as ſome will have it, and bleede, and that in deed ſhould be our care, that when we have found this enemy which is the diſturber of our peace, wee ſhould enter in our chambers and bewaile our miſerie, if it were poſſible, even with teares of blood.
3. The meanes how luſt doth fortifie it ſelf.Laſtly, how hee ſeekes to fortifie himſelfe, and to this end obſerve, that the fleſh and this corruption is ſuch an enemie as is never out of action; thence it is that God complaines, My people have choſen two evils, they have forſaken me the fountaine of living waters, and hewed them out Ciſternes, broken Ciſternes that will hold no water; So that in this ſinne of man there is a turning from God the chiefeſt good, as the fountaine of all their happineſſe, which is as a living ſpring that never failes; God all-ſufficient who gives grace and glory and every good thing;Pſal. 84.11. Ier. 9.27. Now wee firſt turne our backes on God and not our faces to him, and then fall to theſe empty and broken veſſels, Ciſternes they are, but Ciſternes that hold no great matter;Dulc…ores a fonte bibuntur aquae. nay, broken Ciſternes that will not hold any thing at all; ſo as there is neither ſolidity nor certainty in the comfort that they give, not ſolid and ſweete, becauſe they are from the Ciſterne, and ſmell of the caske: Surely man diſquieteth himſelfe about a vaine ſhadow, Pſal. 39.6.were it not a folly, or rather a madneſſe in a man that ſhould come into an orchard, upon the trees whereof did hang much fruit, ſweet and pleaſant, yet ſhould leave them, and ſeeke to diſquiet himſelfe to gather up the ſhadow: The Philoſopher cals a man Arbor tranſverſa, Luke 10.a tree turned upſide downe; but by ſinne it is, that a man is homo tranſverſus, a man that's quite altered, and goes downeward like the young man from Jeruſalem to Ierico, ſpoliatur, vulneratur, redivivus relinquitur, ſpoyled of his good, wounded, and left halfe dead; So it is here, we in our departure from God to meete this enemy that ſpoyles us of all thoſe ornaments we had, and wee are wounded with the guilt, and the ſtaines of ſinne, and left in ſuch a lamentable condition, as did not that good Samaritan come, our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and powre in the oyle of his owne grace, and the wine of his deareſt blood, we ſhould periſh everlaſtingly.