The Doctrine and Practice of Mortification, Chapter 9
CAP. IX. Shewing thoſe more neare degrees of mortification.
2 NOw I come to thoſe that are more neare degrees of mortification, as you ſee in warre, there is many leſſer aſſaults made before they winne the maine battell; ſo is it in this ſpirirituall conteſtation and contention between the law of the members, and the law of the minde;1 Degree. Heb. 12 4. Gal 5.17. Ʋenit avaritia & vendicat in me ſibi ſedem: jactantiacupit dominari mihi. Superbia vult mihi eſſe Rex, luxuria dicit ego regnabo, ambitto, de. tractio, invidia & iracundia certant in me ipſo & de me ipſo, cujus ego potiſsimum effe videor. Ego quantum valeo reſiſte, renitor quantum ſuvor dominum meum Ieſum reclamo (& paule poſt) dico non habeo regem, niſidominum Ieſum, veni demine, diſperge illos vertute tua & regnabis in me, quia tu es ipſe Rex meus. Ber. him. 4. betweene true grace and corrupt nature.
1. Firſt is in that ſtrong rel…ctancie that the ſpirit maketh againſt the fleſh, ſo as there is very hard ſtrugling who ſhall winne the victory, gravis lucta, (ſaith Saint Bevnard) non contra hoſtes, ſed contra hoſpites, a grievous warre it is, and the greater that it is not againſt enemies but gueſts (howbeit they are in deed ſecret enemies.) The fleſh muſters up all her forces and ſets them in battell aray, which as they are many in number, ſo are they ſtrong and reſolute, every one ambitious of a crown: but now the ſoule it flyeth unto Chriſt as a priſoner of hope, oppreſſed by the enemy unto his ſtrong hold, Zach. 9.12. That as the Jewes would have no King but Caeſar; ſo a Chriſtian will have none to raigne over him but Chriſt, this reluctancie is the greater,in me, quia tu es ipſe Rex mous. Bet. him 4. becauſe that the object of their contention is exceeding weighty, it is as much as a mans ſoule is worth, it is the loſing or winning of a Kingdome; it is not pro finibus not for the bounds, but pro haereditate for the inheritance, and therefore it is, that neither ſide will yeeld to the other: Sathan will not yeeld up his right becauſe they once belongd to him; nor Chriſt will not loſe his right, becauſe hee bought them with a price; hence it is that the Kingdome of Heaven is ſaid to ſuffer violence,Matth. 11.12. and the violent take it by force, there is nothing to be gotten without contention. That you may not bee miſtaken in this buſineſſe of ſo great conſequence, give me leave to lay downe ſome rules to know whether your warre bee a right warre, yea or no; for when our.Luke 13.24. Saviour doth exhort us to ſtrive to enter in at the ſtraite gate, he tels us that many ſhall ſecke to enter and ſhall not be able, ſhewing that all ſtriving will not ſerve your turnes: not every one that ſaith, Matth. 7.21.Lord Lord ſhall inherit the Kingdome of Heaven; thence it, is that Saint Iames tels us that we may aske and not receive becauſe we aske amiſſe, and this was the reaſon why ſuch as ſhall at the end of the world come and ſay, Lord, Math. 7.22.Lord, wee have prophecied in thy name, and in thy name wee have caſt out Devils, and in thy name wee have done many wonderfull workes: why ſuch I ſay ſhould bee rejected becauſe all this was not done in ſincerity, and in a right manner; therefore for the clearing of it, take this rule.
1. They differ in ground, and ſo the quarrell: for howſoever that the I quarrell may be occaſioned from the ſame generall ground in reſpect of the uſe of it,How the naturall & ſpirituall combate differs. namely ſinne,1 In the ground. yet in ſpeciall the one lookes at ſinne as it is ſinne, the other at ſinne as it brings puniſhment after it, the one could hee eſcape the puniſhment would be glad to enjoy his finne, the other is farre more willing to ſuffer than to ſinne: an example of the former you have in Cain, who made no great matter of his ſinne, but indeed his puniſhment was greater than hee could beare, and for the latter you have another example of Ioſeph, who notwithſtanding the wanton ſollicitations hee had from his Miſtreſſe, and withall his owne unmarried condition, and being in the ſtrength of his youthfull yeares, which is moſt licentious, and voluptuous, yet behold hee repells them all with a moſt chaſt, reſolution,Gen. 39. How ſhall I do this great wickedneſſe and ſinne againſt God? He thought not on the puniſhment that would follow, but on the ſinne as the maine thing. It was a good ſpeech of him that ſayd it,Anſelme. that hee had rather be in hell without ſinnes, than in heaven with them on his conſcience; and indeed what comfort could a man have in heaven, ſo long as he had a hell in his conſcience, and on the other ſide, hell would be no hell to him, were his conſcience faire, therefore men ſhould not thinke that all is well, becauſe they ſind ſometimes a troubled, or a trembling ſpirit, for the devills beleeve and tremble, and yet are their ſpirits ſtout enough, and ſtubborne enough againſt God, ſo,Jam 2.19. it may be in men by that conviction that they may have, although it may not be accompanied with any ſound converſion, have you not ſeene many that when they have beene in ſome great ſtraite (as Balaam betweene the vineyards, not knowing which way to turne himſelfe) either under ſome ſad and heavie croſſe, or elſe under ſome preſent perill of death: poore ſoules! how have they quarrelled with their ſinnes, and with themſelves, as though they would never have had any friendſhip with them more: well, deliverance comes, and health comes, behold now the battell is over, they ſhake hands againe with their luſts, and are the ſame men they were; but now if there be a principle of grace in you, that makes your hearts riſe againſt ſinne, then, to ſay no more, goe on and proſper ye valient men, for God is with you.
2 They differ in reſpect of the ſeat of the combate,2 In the ſeate. the naturall combate is,
1 Sometimes nothing but the diſtemper of the body, that is the ſeat of the conflict; a ſicke body doth occaſion a diſtempered and ſicke minde; is it not ſtrange to ſee, what ſtrange effects, that diſtemper of melancholy doth produce, what feares and terrours have they felt at ſometimes, as though they had beene ſcorched in the flames of hell, what joyes, and exultations they have made at another time, as though they had beene rapt up into the third heaven, what conflicts they have ſuppoſed they have paſſed through, yet all is nothing, but the production of a diſtempered body deeply affected with melancholy? Now this differs from the true combate.
1 Firſt, they differ as much as the ſhadow and the ſubſtance one from another: that combate betweene the fleſh and the ſpirit is really true, but that is but imaginary, like as you ſee upon the ſtage, one is a King, another is a Judge, another a ſouldier, which when the action is over, they are no ſuch men; ſo is it in this caſe, all this combate is but a meere ſhew.
2 In a true combate there are ſome ſcarres, ſome thing that ſtickes to him after the battell, and ſome booty is carried away as a teſtimony of his valour, ſo a Chriſtian that hath got ſome ground againſt his enemy, hee hath got ſome ſtrength againſt his luſts, as it was ſaid of the houſe of David and Saul, that Davids houſe did increaſe, and Sauls decreaſe; ſo is it here, grace it gaines ſomething at every combate, now after the combate is over, the melancholy perſon is as he was, there is no alteration, if hee was prophane before, ſo hee is ſtill, or if hee was civill before, he is civill ſtill.
3 They differ in their cure, a diſtempered body is cured with phyſicke, good ayre and temperate diet, but who is hee that can cure a ſicke, and diſtempered ſoule, not all the Phyſitians in the world. Nay, let mee ſpeake a bold word; not all the Angels in heaven, are able by all their wiſdome to helpe a wounded ſpirit; it muſt be no leſſe than the blood of the Lamb of God, that takes away ſin, and heales a ſicke diſtreſſed & deſtempered ſoule.
2 Againe the ſeate of this warre is ſometimes among the paſſions,Num. 13.32. ſo as one ſtandeth in oppoſition to another, Nay as the ſpyes that went to view the land of Canaan; ſaid unto Moſes, that the land they went to ſearch was a land that did eate up the inhabitants of it, ſo it is with our luſts, one luſt is ſo predominant, that it eates up another as you have an example in Herod, who being ambitious, did favour Iohn, Mark. 6. Euſeb. lib. 8. cap. 17.becauſe hee look't at the applauſe of the people (for all held Iohn as a Prophet) yet ſuch was his luſt to Herodias, Libido potias quam iracundia tenebat imperium, & paulo poſt dicit author, quod Chriſtiana continentia neque morte, neque pecunia expugnari poteſt.that for her ſake, hee caſt him into priſon, and afterwards cut off his head. So it is ſayd of Maxontius, that as hee was cruell, ſo was he incontinent, and ſometime his luſt of incontinencie prevailed againſt that of cruelty, as inſtance is given in a Chriſtian Virgin whom hee had attempted to have defiled, in which caſe, ſayth my Author, that his incontinencie got the victory of his fury; but now this warre is not a warre amongſt them, but againſt them all; as they that are Chriſts doe crucifie the fleſh with the affections and luſts:Gal. 5.24. and the truth is, that, when as a man doth ſuffer his luſt to rule, is as if a man ſhould ſuffer his feete to guide his head, or the handmaid to rule over the miſtreſſe; ſo is it in this caſe, for our paſſion ſhould be guided by reaſon, and reaſon rectified by the ſpirit, and then things would goe in a right order, therefore our Apoſtle doth ſhew that the fleſh luſts againſt the ſpirit, not that the fleſh luſts againſt the fleſh, for though the luſts of the fleſh may be at diſcord one with another, it is but like that which was betweene Pilate and Herod, which albeit there was ſome contention betweene them,Luk. 23.12. yet they both joyned together againſt Chriſt; ſo that howſoever it be, that one luſt may in ſome caſes overthrow another, yet they will all conſpire againſt Chriſt.