Let not sinne reigne therefore.

IT is the Parable of Iotham in the ninth of Iudges, [...]. 9. 25. that of all the trees the Bramble (that base hedge creeping [Page 5] shrub) would needs take vpon it to be King. So of all that mans nature is incident vnto, sinne (that base deprauitie of nature) must needs take vpon him to be king, and to reigne in our mortall body. Nay that will not content him, to reigne as a king, but he will make hauocke of all like a tyrant. For Sin is the greatest tyrant that euer the world had.

Other tyrants (though monstrously raging) killed but some persons; Nero killed his mother that bare him, and his Master Seneca that taught him; he burnt the Citie of Rome that was vnder his soueraignty & obeyed him; but these are but petty slaughters in respect of those which sinne makes. For, that spares none; it killed all those that liued before vs, it will kill all vs that are now liuing, and all that euer shall be borne after vs. It is good therefore to keepe our selues free-men, from being slaues to so hauocke-making a Tyrant. Let not sinne reigne there­fore in your mortall bodie, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof.

No man would be willing to serue a Master, how great a Prince soeuer he were, that when his seruant had spent his youthfull yeares, cripled his sturdie limbs, and wasted his plentifull estate in his seruice, and comes for his re­ward, will draw his sword and kill him (surely none would be willing to receiue their pay in such crackt coine:) but sinne dealeth so with vs; when we haue yeelded all the powers and faculties of our-soules, and the members of our bodies, to be commanded by sinne, whats the re­ward he giues vs but death? so saith the Apostle in the last verse of this Chapter:Rom. 6. v. vlt. The wages of sinne is death, but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Those then which neglect the seruice of God, and giue themselues ouer to the tyrannous subiection of sinne, are [Page 6] like the perfidious Iewes, who reiected Christ the giuer of life, [...] 27. 21. and desired Barabas a murderer to be giuen them, Matth. 27. 21. Let vs therefore shake off the murthering yoke of sinne, and by true and heartie repentance send a messenger of defiance vnto it, saying with those citizens in the Gospell,Luke 19. 14. Nolumus hunc regnare super nos; We will not haue this man, we will not haue sinne reigne ouer vs. And as Origen exhorts,Origen. in Epist. [...] Rom. lib. 5. vnusquis (que) pessimum regem regnantem in suâ carne depellat: cap. 6. tom. 2. Let euery man expell this euill king reig­ning in his flesh. Let not sinne reigne therefore in your mor­tall bodie.

Now Kings, as the Politickes teach vs, doe ordinarily

• obtaine their rule two wayes, either by
  • Succession, and so are Kings, as it were, naturally: or
  • Election, and so are Kings a­doptiuely.

but this king sinne, because he would be sure to be king some way, claimes the rule of our mortal body both these wayes, both by succession and election. But his title of succession hath beene found weake long agoe. That in­deed shewes his antiquitie, how Lucifer begot him when he was cast out of heauen. That indeed shewes that hee hath free-hold of inheritance in our mortall body; but truly no Lord to command it, or King to rule it. Elect him not therefore for your King, so you shall preuent him of his kingdome; so you shall keepe him from reig­ning in your mortall body. Let not sinne reigne therefore in your mortall body.

And that you may not elect him, you must know that as there are three things concurring to the election of a politicall King;

• 1 Nomination.
• 2 Consultation.
• 3 Consent or Approbation.

[Page 7] So this spirituall King sinne comes to his kingdome by three steps.Gregor. Mag. Pas [...]or Curae par. 3. admon. 30. tom. 1. For as S. Gregery obserues, there are three de­grees in sin;

• 1 Suggestion, offered by the Deuill.
• 2 Delight, administred by the flesh.
• 3 Consent, yeelded by our reason.

The first, that is, Suggestion, is like to Nomination.

The second, that is, Delight, is like to Consultation.

The third, that is, Consent, is all one with Appr [...]ba­tion.

Suggestion begins sinne, [...] Delight continues, Consent finisheth sinne. Now resist sinne in the beginning, so you shall preuent him of his kingdome, and keepe him from reigning in your mortall body. Let not sinne therefore reigne in your mortall bodie.

When the Deuill profereth his intising suggestions, bid him a [...]aunt Satan, [...] thou shalt not tempt those which belong vnto the Lord thy God. Nay, Saint Chrysostome saith, that euery man of God may say as God himselfe,Matth 4. 7. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, Chrys [...]st. hom. 5. in opere imper [...]. Matth. 4. 7. Quoniam qui hominem Dei tentat, Deum tentat. For he which tempts a man of God, tempts God also. Resist him then wee must in his temptations; and that we may doe to good purpose; for in resisting him, we shall be sure to foile and vanquish him. For the the Deuill is an arrant coward, hee is like a shadow. [...]

If wee be afraid of the Deuill, and fly from him, hee will pursue vs; but if we resist the Deuill, and pursue him, hee will fly from vs.Iames 4▪ 7. Therefore Saint Iames saith, Resist the Deuill, lu [...]. Scalig. de Subtil [...]. 181. [...] and he will [...]ly from thee, Iames 4. 7. The Deuill may well be compared to a tree (whereof Iulius Scaliger ma­keth mention) growing in a Prouince called Pudiseram, to [Page 8] which if a man come, ramos constringit, it shrinkes vp the boughes, as angry and displeased; but when he departs, ramos pandit, it spreads and opens the boughes, as con­tent and pleased againe: So the Deuill, if we be afraid of him, and fly from him, ramos pandit, he vseth all subtilitie he can, to catch vs, and spreads his nets of vanitie to en­snare vs; but if wee take heart-a-grace, and affront him, and meet him in the teeth, ramos constringit, he withdraw­eth himselfe, and vanisheth; as he did when our Sauiour Christ repelled him with Sic scriptum, It is written. Then the Deuill left him, Matth. 4. 11. and Angels came and ministred vnto him, Matth. 4. 11. Christ could haue repelled him by the power of his Deitie, but then we could not haue imitated him, but he quelled him by the Word of God, to teach vs that no weapon is like the Scripture to resist the Deuill; no sword like the Sword of the Spirit, Ephes. 6. 16, 17. no shield like the Shield of faith, whereby we may be able to quench all the fiery darts of Satan, Ephes. 6. 16, 17.

But you will say that the suggestions of the Deuill doe often get possession of our hearts before we are aware! True, he is malicious, sparing none, not Adam in Para­dise, not Christ the Sonne of God in the wildernesse; he is a cunning impostor, and can slily conuey his delusions into our hearts, making himselfe of a deuill seeme a Saint, of a foule fiend of darknesse,2 Cor. 11. 14. a bright Angell of light, 2 Cor. 11. 14. But if hee haue gotten thus much of thee, giue no more place to him, stay here, and thou mayest doe well enough yet: proceed not to the second degree, that is, let not thy flesh be delighted with his suggestions of sinne, and so thou shalt preuent sinne of his kingdome, and keepe it from reigning in thy mortall body. The Deuill may present his suggestions to vs, but vnlesse our flesh [Page 9] with delight entertaine them, they cannot hurt vs: P [...]e­cata non nocent, Greg. Mag. Mo­ral. expo [...]it. in Iob, sib. 16. si non placent; Sinne hurts not, if it please not. Theeues may peepe in at our windowes, but if wee keepe our doores and windowes close shut, and fast bar­red, they cannot hurt vs. So the Deuill may peepe in at the windowes and doores of our hearts, the eies and eares of man; but if wee shut the windowes, and stop those doores of our flesh with the deafe Adder, that they may not harken to the voice of this Charmer, charme be neuer so cunningly, he cannot hurt vs. Let vs tell then our flesh ready to be tickled with delight, that our senses are delu­ded, and that she hatcheth but a viper, which in the end will gnaw asunder the very bowels where she was concei­ced. For the bread the Deuill presents thee, is truely no bread to feed thee, but a stone to smite thee; the fish hee shewes, is truly no fish to nourish thee, but a serpent to bite thee; and the egge he would make thee put thy hope in, will not hatch to proue a bird to delight thee, but a Scorpion to sting thee. Keepe then thy flesh from deligh­ting, and thou shalt keepe these from hutting, and sinne from reigning. Let not sinne reigne therefore in your mor­tall bodie.

But you will say that our flesh is impure, and so may quickly infect vs, and carry vs head-long with delight, as the Deuill carried the swine into the sea. Let it be so; if thou canst but stay here, thou mayest doe reasonable well. Consent not to sinne; let not thy will and reason, thy su­periour, and rationall appetite, yeeld to thy flesh and her delight, thy inferiour and sensitiue app [...]tite. Though the Deuill haue suggested thee, the flesh delighted in it, yet let not thy will consent and yeeld vnto it. For it is con­sent that finisheth sinne, and causeth it to reigne in our [Page 10] mortall body. Iuest peccat [...]m cum delecteris, regnat autem cum consenseris, [...] in [...]. saith Saint Anselme. Sin is then in a man, when he is delighted in it, but it neuer reignes till he hath giuen his full and expresse consent thereto. And Saint Bernard, [...] Par. [...]. Vitios [...]s dico, qui ex voluntate consenti [...], nec re­sistunt, quantum possunt. I call those vitious men which willingly consent to sinne, and resist not what they are able.

But you will say our reason is depraued, and so may easily be deceiued with apparent good, and the sensitiue appetite tainting the rationall, may make the will to fi­nish what Satan suggested, and the flesh lusted after.

O wretched sinner, now thou pressest me too farre! now thou commest too neare the pit! I scarce know what to say vnto thee! But yet that thou mayest not be swal­lowed vp in the gulfe of despaire, there is one vltimum re [...]ugium, one last refuge yet left, that is, that thou accu­stome not thy selfe to sinne. Though the Deuill like the Serpent, haue glided in his suggestions; though thy flesh, like Eua [...], [...]en. 3. haue thought them faire to the eye, and plea­sant to the taste, and delighted in them; though thy will and reason, like Adam, haue beene drawne to consent vn­to them; yet let not Custome, like the riuer Iordan, carry vs as the fish that follow that streame in mare mor [...]am, [...] contra [...]. into the dead sea, and inu [...]e vs to sinne all our life time. There is an axiom in warre, [...]tarch. in A­ [...]heg regum [...]. that, Non licet [...]is pe [...]care; No man must offend twice. Oh that we could abserue it in our Christian warfare in the Church militant, so should we stop the course and habite of sinning; so should we pre­uent sinne of his kingdome, and keepe it from reigning in our mortall bodie.

Saint Augustine therefore addeth a fourth degree of [Page 11] sinne,August. in Ioan. cap. 11. tract. [...]9. [...]. 9. and that is, the vse and custome of sinning. The three first degrees of sinne, may easily be resisted, but if it once come to the fourth, and grow to a custome, it will hardly,Aug. in Psal. 36. if euer, be remoued. Cons [...]t [...]dinem vincere dura pugna; It is hard to ouerthrow a custome, saith the same Father. For custome makes the face impudent, we blush not to sinne, the heart senselesse; we feele not our sinne, our sinne tyrannous, our mortall body is ruled by sinne. For, though sinne it selfe he a tyrant, yet custome will set a sharper edge vpon it. Custome is a monstrous tyrant, it rules both Church and Common-wealth; sta [...] pre ratione volum as; if it be customes pleasure that it must be so, it shall be so, Law will not controule it, sufferance hath made it aboue all law Saint Augustine in his fourth booke, and 24▪ August. de doct. Christ. l. 4 c. 24, tom. 3. Chapter, De doctrinâ Christianâ, tells [...] that the people of Cas [...]ea had an ancient custome, once a yeare for certain dayes together to meet, and diuide themselues into parts, and throw stones one at another, the father not sparing the sonne, nor the sonne the father. Which custome, though it were a most barbarous custome, and yearely the occasion of the slaughter of many men; yet Saint Augustine (whom we count the most learned and eloquent of all the Fathers) found it an exceeding hard matter to disswade them from their custome;Idem. Ibidem. [...]gi quidum granditèr quant [...] valui; I dealt with them (saith [...]e) with all the might and maine I could.

But let vs come home to our selues. It was taken vp for a custome, for Carriers and Drouers, to labour them­selues and their cattell vpon the Lords day. Which cu­stome though it were expresly against the Commande­ment of God, and for aboue sixty yeares together daily cried out against, by zealous Preachers in their P [...]lpits, [Page 12] yet it continued, and looked the Law in the face, till the Parliament made a penall Statute to reforme it.

And if we should come yet nearer, and take a suruey of personall sinnes, we shall finde them by custome and habite made as hard to be cast off, as locall and nationall sinnes. For Consuetudo peccandi tollit sensum peccati. & in alteram naturam vertitur; The custome of sinning quite bereaues vs of all sense and feeling of our sinnes, and is changed into another nature. The common swearer makes it a matter of nothing to thunder out a multitude of [...]oulevgly oathes together; nay the more mouth they giue their oathes, the more gentleman-like grace they thinke their oathes giue them. [...]kg. Confes. l. 2. cap. 3. tom. 1. Like Saint Augustines com­panions of his youth, Tanto gloriantes magis, quant [...] sunt turpes magis; Glorying in that most, whereof, if they had any grace, they should be ashamed most. Nay, I haue knowne some, whom the custome of swearing hath car­ried so head-long to sweare, that they know not when they sweare; so that being reproued for their swearing, they would presently sweare they did not sweare. The common drunkard whilest he swallowes his liquor, is so swallowed himselfe, that no remorse for his sinne appea­reth in him;Ier [...]. 3. 3. he puts on a wh [...]res face, [...]d refuseth to be asha­med, Ierem. 3. 3. He riseth early to p [...]ire in strong drinke, as Esay speaketh. Hee thinkes there is no kindnesse, where there is no drunkennesse, and makes one drunkennesse a medicine to cure the distemper of another, and professeth that nothing but a haire of the same dogge, can allay the distemper of his dog-like appetite. Oh to what an height of impietie doth euill custome bring men. It makes a man, [...] Peccare quasi pecucare; So to sinne, that he degene­rates and becomes a beast in his sinne, as Iunius obserues. [Page 15] I could shew you the like of gluttony and luxurie; so that Pope Iulius the third being by his Physitians, for his health sake,Vergerius in Historiá Spierae. Sladanus. Surius. Crispinus. Bal [...]us, & alii. forbidden porke; missing it one day at his table, gluttony made him reproue his ser [...], and com­mand him to fetch him porke; for (saith hee) I care not what the Physitian saith, I will eat porke in dispight of God himselfe. And Ioannes à Pisa, Archbishop of Bene­uentum, and the Popes N [...]cio for Ve [...]ice, wrote a booke, and printed it, in commendation of that sin, that I trem­ble to name, that sin, for the reigning of which in Sodome, the Lord rained vpon them brimstone and fire from hea­uen and consumed them. But let these examples teach you how hard a thing it is to remoue and alter an euill cu­stome. Can the Aethi [...]pian change his skin, Ier. 13▪ 23. or the Leopard his spots? Euen so may they doe good, that are accustomed to doe euill, saith the Prophet Ier. 13. 23. O then, beloued, if you will preuent sinne of his kingdome, preuent the cu­stome of sinning, so you shall keepe sinne from reigning in your mor [...]all body. Let not sinne reigne therefore &c.

But you must remember, that I told you that this was but vltimum refugium, a last refuge; and a last refuge is to be embraced only, when our case growes desperate. The best and safest way then to suppresse sinne, is to deale with him in the first or second degree thereof: Nay in the very first [...]ustfull motions, we must crush this cockatrice in the shell,Psal. 58. 7. and make out lusts and suggestions like the vntime­ly fruit of a wom [...]n▪ which perish [...]th ere it see the Sunne, Psal. [...]8. 7. For lusts are the lawes of sinne, and if you would not haue sinne reigne ouer you, you must not obey the lawes thereof. Therefore, saith Saint Paul, Let not sinne reigne in your mortall body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof.

So that, as sinne is to be suppressed, so his lawes which [Page 14] are his lusts must not be obeyed. Obey not the lusts thereof. And this leads me by the hand to the second part of my Text: that the lawes of sinne must not be obeyed. Obey not the lusts thereof.

2. Obey not the lusts thereof.

DRaco, the Athenian Law-giuer, made such cruell Lawes, [...]. Gell. Noct. that Solon abrogated them, and Demades the Orator said, [...]. lib. 32. c. 18. that Sanguine non atramento scribebantur: They were written in bloud, not in inke. But wee haue more need to abrogate the lawes of sinne, and it may be more truly said of Lusts these lawes, that they are written in bloud, not in inke. For lusts the lawes of sinne, are not barren lusts, but they are teeming and conceiuing lusts. Lusts, if they be obeyed, bring forth sinne, and sinne fi­nisheth his worke with nothing but death: so saith S. [...]ames; [...]am. 1. 15. When lust hath conceiued, it bringeth forth sinne, and sinne when it is finished bringeth forth death, Iam. 1. 15. And S. Paul saith,Rom. 6. 2 [...]. that The wages of sinne is death, Rom. 6. 23. Lusts, the beginning are deceitfull; sinne, the progresse, hatefull; death, the con [...]lusion, dreadfull. For, six malis praemissis nunquam colligi potest bona conclusio: Out of so ill premises can neuer be gathered a good conclusion. Iesus therefore the sonne of Syrach saith, that we must flie from sinne,Ecclu [...]. 21. 2. tanquam à facie colubri; as from the face of a Serpent; for if thou commest too neere [...], it will bite thee, the teeth thereof are as the teeth of a Lyon, [...]aying the soules of men: Ecclus. 21. 2.

We must flie from sinne, as from the face of a serpent; For, as in the face of a serpent lieth all the danger, be­cause there is the poyson, and the teeth; so in obeying [Page 15] of lusts, which are the faces, and first appearings of sin, we shall swell with the poyson of sin, and be bitten with the teeth of death. Or wee must flie from sinne, [...] from the face of a serpent, that is, from the heads and first lustfull motions of sinne. A serpent hath a head, a taile, and a bodie.Procop. in Exod. Capite immisso totus statim illabitur, And if she get her head into a place, the whole bodie is so glib and [...]u­bricke, that it will quickly enter in after: So in yeelding to lusts, which are the heads of sinne, the whole bodie of sinne will quickly follow after. For lusts, the heads of sinne, though they seeme small, yet they will make no small worke where they enter. They are like young rogues, who getting their heads in at the windowes, creepe in and open the doores for the great theeues to spoile the house. For lusts, the heads of sinne, are not idle heads, but like Iesuites heads, working mischeeuous heads, contriuing treason against the state both of soule and bodie. Lusts will hatch sinne, sinne will produce death, and death will bring a thousand endlesse woes and miseries.

Now our lusts are many, our acts of sinne many, and the deaths produced by sinne and the lusts thereof as many.

Death assayes men a thousand wayes. But death in generall produced by sinne and his lusts, is threefold,

• Viz. Mors
  • 1. Corporis. The death of the bodie.
  • 2. Anima. The death of the soule.
  • 3. Corporis & anima. The death of both.

1.Iohn 11. The death of the bodie. So dead was La [...]arus, Iohn 11.

2. The death of the soule. So dead are such wid­dowes, [Page 16] whereof S. Paul speaketh, 1 Tim. 5. 6. So dead was hee to whom out Sauiour Christ said,1 Tim. 5. 6. Let the dead burie their dead, Matth. 8. 22. follow thou mee, Matth. 8. 22. A strange speech, Let the dead burie their dead. As if the dead had not as much need to be buried themselues, as to burie o­ther dead; and as vnable to burie other dead, as them­selues. But our Sauiour Christ meant it of those which followed sinne, and not him (being via, vita, & veritas; The way, the life, and the truth,) that they were dead alrea­die in their soules;Theophylact. in [...] cap. 7. that in them (as Theophylact speaketh) [...] was [...], their liuing bodies were nothing else but coffins of their dead carrion stincking soules,

3.Luk. 16. 24. The death both of bodie and soule. So was Diues, Luk. 16. He prayed, therefore he had a soule. Hee had a tongue to be cooled, therefore a bodie: He was dead; therefore dead both in bodie and soule. Thus die all they that suffer sinne to reigne in their mortall bodie. Nay, they are not onely dead, but buried while they liue. Their sinnes become their graues: [...] Luc. Tumulusiste mali mo­res; saith S. Ambrose. [...]. tom. 1. Their throat is an open sepulcher; saith the Prophet Dauid, Psal. 14. 5. Psal. 14. 5. Nay, they are not onely dead and buried, but they are dead and buried, and in hell whilst they liue.Ambros. de Bon. [...]. c. vit. tom. 5. Nobiscum videntur vinere, sed sunt in infern [...], saith S. Ambrose, They seeme to liue with vs, but in verie deed they are in hell. For where are pre­sumptuous sinners, but where the Deuill is, that first pre­sumed to sinne? And where is hell, but where the Deuill is, that was without redemption cast out of Heauen? O then my beloued, take heed of going on in wickednesse, nip sinne in the bud, yeeld not obedience to the lusts of sin; Lusts are the iawes of sinne, and the king reignes where his lawes are obeyed. Lusts will goe on to acts; [Page 17] acts will goe on to custome; custome will goe on to the death and destruction both of bodie and soule. For God will wound the hairie scalpe of such as goe on still in their wic­kednesse, Psal. 68. 21. Psal. 68. 21. The sinner goes on in his sinnes, and God goes on to punish their sinnes, sinne followes sinne, and one death followes another. The second death followes the first: the death of the bodie begins, and the death of both bodie and soule followes after. The death of the bodie is, cum anima deserit corpus, when the soule forsakes the bodie, and is by order naturall, sta­tutum est omnibus, Heb. 9. 27. &c. It is decreed for all men once to die, Heb. 9. 27. The death of the soule is, cum animam descrit Deus, when God forsakes the soule, and is by diuine Iu­stice iudiciall;Ezek. 18. 4. the soule that sinneth shall die, Ezech. 18. 4. The death of both bodie and soule is,August. de Ci [...]it. cum anima à Deo deserta, Dei. lib. 13. cap. 2. deserit corpus; when God forsakes the soule, and the soule forsaken of God, forsakes the bodie; and is by equalitie proportionall. For both bodie and soule haue sinned,Cyprian. Epist. lib. 1. epist. 4. therefore they both die, both are punished. Qui i [...]guntur in culpâ, non separantur in poenâ; saith S. Cyprian; Those that are partners in the fault, must also bee part­ners in the punishment for the fault. But yet a man may so die the first, that he may escape the other death: Hee may so die, that he may repaire the ruines of his mortall bodie, and not die for euer.

For as a ruinous house (though the wals bee fallen downe, and the roofe perished) may by reparation be su­stained, and be made more beautifull than at first, so long as the maine and principall posts thereof are kept sound: So this mortall bodie of ours, though it be ruinous, and the fleshy walls falling downe, and the thatch of the roofe thereof decaying with hoatie haires, yet so long as the principall pillars thereof bee not pulled downe (as [Page 18] Samson did the house vpon the Philistins) that is, [...] 16. 29. so long as the members of our bodie (the pillers thereof) are not yeelded, as instruments of vnrighteousnesse vnto sinne, to let sinne reigne; but yeelded, as those that are aliue from the dead, as instruments of righteousnesse vnto God, and sinne suppressed, wee may repaire this mortall bodie, and make it more beautifull than before; Corrup­tion putting on incorruption, [...] and mortalitie putting on immor­talitie; death being swallowed vp in victorie. O death where is thy sting? O hell where is thy victorie? 1 Cor. 15. 44, 45. And this leads me by the hand to the last part of my text, to speake of the kingdome, our mortall bodie, and the re­pairing thereof. Let not sinne reigne therefore in your mor­tall bodie.

3. In your mortall bodie.

ANd here by our mortall bodie, we must not vnder­stand onely our lumpe of flesh, part of man, but to­tum composuum, the whole man, consisting of both bodie and soule. For by a Synecdoche, the part is put for the whole. The whole man, both bodie and soule, haue sinne in them, working their ruine and destruction, therefore the whole man, both bodie and soule, are to be repaired, and we are to labour for their restauration.

I know there is a great dispute betwixt the bodie and soule, each endeuouring to put off the enormitie of sin­ning to the other. The bodie pleads for it selfe; that that is but inanimis truncus. a dead and senslesse trunke, voyd of all action and motion, and so could not sinne, nor ex­ercise any operation, if the soule did not actuate and en­force it. The soule, that pleads for it selfe, that that is pu­rus & simplex spiritus, a pure and simple spirit, voyd of all [Page 19] organs, without eyes to behold vanitie, without hands to commit folly, without feet to follow enormitie, and if the bodie did not detaine it as prisoner, it would mount aloft, to take vp its residence in the place of spirits, and therefore the fault of sinning must needs rest on the bo­die. But the verie truth is, that neither the bodie sinnes without the soule, nor the soule without the bodie, but like Simeon and Leui, Genes. 49. 5. they are brothers and partners in mischiefe, and so tend both to eternall destruction, vn­lesse we wisely endeuour their timely reparation.

Peter Martyr in his Commentarie on the fourth booke of the Kings, Pet. Mart. in 4 Reg c. 4. pag. 215 illustrates this by a prettie Simile. There was (saith he) a master of a family, that committed the custodie of his Orchard to two seruants, one of them lame of his feet, and the other blinde. The lame seruant being taken with the beautie of the apples, told his blinde fellow-seruant, that if he enioyed the vse of his limbes, and could goe as well as he, it should not be long but he would be possessed of some of those apples. The blinde seruant said, he was as desirous of them as himselfe, and if he could but see as well as he, they should not rest long vpon the tree. In the end they agreed to ioyne together: the whole-limb'd blinde man tooke the well-sighted lame man on his shoulders, and so hee reached the apples. Their master comming, and missing his fruit, expostula­ted the matter with them. Each framed his excuse. The blinde man said, he could not haue them, for hee could not see so much as the tree they grew on. The lame man said, he need not be suspected; for it was well knowne he could not climbe, or stand to reach them. But their master perceiuing their craft, how they had both ioyned together, put them as they were, one vpon the shoulders of the other, and punished them both together. So in [Page 20] verie deed, neither the bodie sinnes without the soule, nor the soule without the bodie,Ambros. de fide [...]. c. 5. but corporis animique commu­nis est actus, saith S. Ambrose, It is the common act of both: therefore both bodie and soule tend to death, and if they be not repaired, will fall to vtter ruine and destru­ction. Wherefore as sinne the tyrant must not reigne, nor lusts, the lawes, be obeyed: So our mortall bodie, his kingdome, must not runne to vtter ruine, but be re­paired; corruption must put on incorruption, and mortalitie put on immortalitie.

And the meanes to repaire our mortall bodie is three-fold:

• Viz.
  • 1. Diligent watching.
  • 2. Often fasting.
  • 3. Zealous praying.

Fasting, that's good to repaire the bodie, that though it be cast downe it may be raised againe, [...] Cor. [...]. 27. and not become a cast-away, 1 Cor. 9. 27.

Praying, that's good to repaire the soule, it consecrates it to God, makes the soule the temple and habitation of the euerliuing God.

Watching, that's good for both bodie and soule. By watching, we may see and know when the lusts of sinne doe tempt vs, and so keepe them off and auoyd them. By fasting, wee may so tame our bodies, that concupi­scence shall not delight vs: and by praying, we shall so rectifie our depraued will and reason, that it shall not consent vnto sinne, to obey it in the lusts thereof.

First, we must watch, that sinne enter not into vs. And here we must doe, as is done in besieged cities, keepe the strictest watch, where the places are weakest, and the [Page 21] enemie the most likely to enter. The places where sinne would enter, are three, the heart, the mouth, and the hands. Therefore S. Bernard saith, that euery man must keepe a three-fold watch.

There must be

• Vigilia
  • 1. Cordis
  • 2. Oris
  • 3. Manus
    • super
      • Cogitationes & affectiones.
        Bernard in Seut.
      • Verba.
      • Opera.
  • A Watch of the
    • Heart
    • Mouth
    • Hands
      • ouer our
        • Thoughts and affections.
        • Words and speeches.
        • Workes and actions.

First, we must watch ouer our hearts, that they be not stained and polluted with euill thoughts. For, saith our Sa [...]iour, Matth. 15. 19. Out of the heart proceed euill thoughts, murders, A­dulteries, fernications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies, Mat. 15.Psal. 14. 1. 19. And, the foole said in his heart, there is no God, Psal. 14.Ierem. 17. 9. 1. The heart (saith the Prophet Ieremie) is deceitfull a­boue all things, and desperatly wicked, who can know it? Ier. 17. 9. It is good therefore to follow the counsell of wise Salomon, Keepe thy heart with diligence, for out of it issueth life,Prou. 4. 23. Prou. 4. 23.

Secondly, we must watch ouer our mouthes, that wee speake no euill words: For, saith our Sa [...]iour Christ, By thy words thou shalt be iustified, Matth 12 37. and by thy words thou shalt be condemned, Matth. 12. 37. And the wicked seruant was condemned out of his owne mouth, Luke 19. 12. Luk. 19. 12. For the tongue in vdo est, August. [...]n Psal. 38. [...]om. 8. ideo facile labitur (saith Saint Augustine) is placed in moisture, and therefore is apt to runne ouer to our owne destruction.Ber. de 3. custed. Facilè volat, ideo facilè violat, saith Saint Bernard, It runnes glibly, and offends quickly. Our euill words,Bernard. saith the same Father, are like arrowes, Leui­tèr volant, sed grauitèr vnl [...]erant, The fly lightly, but they [Page 22] wound deeply. Saint Gregory in the fifth of his Moralls,

• saith there are three sorts of men, viz.
  • 1 Some, that let loose both heart and tongue to impietie; they trauell with mischiefe in their heart, that they may vtter and bring it forth with their tongue: Such was Eli­phaz the Temanite to Iob: Though he knew he should grieue him, yet he must speake; Who can with-hold himselfe from speaking?
    Iob 4. 2▪
    Iob 4. 2. Such are the proud vngodly men, which haue said,
    Psal. 12▪ 4.
    with our tongue we will pre­uaile, we are they that ought to speake, who is Lord ouer vs? Psal. 12. 4.
  • 2 Some,
    Gregor. expos. Moral. lib. 5. cap. 12. tom. 1.
    that though their hearts conceiue euill, yet they refraine their lips, they bridle their tongue from speaking euill.
  • 3 Others, that keep a watch ouer both heart and tongue; that so neare as they can, they neither thinke nor speake euill.
    [...]. 39. [...].
    Thus the Prophet Dauid, I said I will looke to my waies that I offend not in my tongue, Psal. 39. 1. I said I will looke to my wayes, that is, my heart, from whence are the wayes to a mans tongue.
    Matth. 12. 32.
    Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, Matth. 12. 32.

And of these three, the last is the pious and godly man, and the surest to keepe sinne from reigning in his mortall bodie. [...] 3. 2. Therefore Saint Iames saith, If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able to bridle the whole bodie, [...] 1 26. Iam. 3. 2. And, if any man seeme to be religious, and bridle not his tongue, that mans religion is in vaine, Iam. 1. 26.

But there are many that esteeme lightly of words; words are (thinke they) but wind, and who doe they hurt? Though in their words they repine and murmure like Co­rah, [Page 23] against Moses; raile like Goliah against Dauid; flatter the State like Ierobeams young Councellers; curse like Shemei; lye like Gehezi; blaspheme like Senacharib, and are as vain-glorious as Herod; yet, so they abstaine from open violence, and pay euery man his owne, they thinke their liues good enough: but these deceiue themselues; Euill words corrupt good manners, 1 Cor. 15. 33. 1 Cor. 15. 33. Where euill words reigne in the mouth, there sinne must needs reigne in the mortall bodie.Ambros. in Eph. cap. 4. 10. n 3. Non credibile est cum bene vi­uere qui male loquitur, saith Saint Ambrose; It cannot be thought that that mans life is good, whose speech is bad. It may more truly be said to him, than it was said to Peter, Thy very speech bewrayes thee, Matth 26. 37. Matth. 26. 73. It stands euery Christian then vpon, to bridle his tongue, to refraine his lips,Prou. 13. 3. to watch ouer his mouth; He that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life, but he that openeth wide his lips, shall haue de­struction, Prou. 13. 3.

And in this watch of our mouths ouer our words, we must obserue three things.

• There must bee
  • 1 Veritas in verbis, truth in our words. For lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
    Prou. 12. 22.
    Prou. 12. 22.
  • 2 Vtilitas in verbis, some profit must redound by our speech. Let no corrupt communica­tion proceed out of your mouth,
    Ephes. 4. 29.
    but that which is good to the vse of edifying, that it may mini­ster grace vnto the hearers, saith Saint Paul, Ephes. 4. 29. For one day we shall giue an account for our corrupt communication, we shall answer for euery idle word that proceedeth out of our mouths. And if you would more distinctly know what an idle word is; Verbum [...]tiosum est quod sine vtili­tate, [Page 14] vel loquentis,
    [...]
    vel audientis profertur; That is an idle word, by speaking of which neither speaker nor hearer is bettered.
  • 3 Parcitas in verbis; A meane and sparing in our speech.
    [...]
    For, saith Salomon, In the mul­titude of words wanteth not sinne, but he that refraineth his lips is wise, Prou. 10. 19. And, A fooles voice is knowne by a multitude of words,
    [...]
    Eccles. 5. 3.

3. There remaines yet the third and last watch, that is, the watch of our hands ouer our workes; wee must watch ouer our workes, that we neither omit that which we should doe; nor commit that which we ought not to doe. And here we must be sure to keepe the most seuere and strictest watch. For there redounds greater disho­nour to God, and more ill examples to men, by the euill acts of our hands, than by the thoughts of our hearts, or the words of our mouths. If it please you therefore to cast the eye of your vnderstanding vpon the Decalogue, vpon the ten Commandements, you shall finde more Commandements forbidding sinne in action, than in the speech, or cogitation. Looke into the first Table; there is one commandement forbidding sinne in the heart, namely, the first, Thou shalt haue no other gods but me. There's another forbidding sin in the tongue, namely the third, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine. But the other two forbid sinne in action. Looke into the second Table, there's one Commandement for­bidding sinne in the heart, namely the tenth, Thou shalt not couet, &c. There's another forbidding sinne in the tongue, namely the ninth, Thou shalt not beare false wit­nesse against thy neighbour. But the other foure forbid sin in action. And hereby we are taught, that if we will keepe [Page 25] sinne from reigning in our mortall bothe, we must watch ouer our hands, to keepe them from acting and commit­ting sinne.Esay 56. 2. For, saith the Prophet Esay, Blessed us the man that keepeth his hand from doing any euill, Esay 56. 2. So that to conclude this point, the first way to suppresse sinne, and keepe it from reigning, is diligent watching. A watching ouer our hearts for our thoughts, [...] a watching ouer our mouths for our words, but chiefly, and most diligently, a watching ouer our hands [...]or our actions.

The second meanes to suppresse sinne, is often fasting.2 Watching is like our besieging of our enemy, [...] but fasting is like the pulling him downe, the spoiling and disarming him. For what are the armes and weapons of sin, where­with he fights against vs, but the members of our mortall body? [...] And how are these armes made to be laid downe? How are they pulled out of this tyrants hand, but by fa­sting? Thus Saint Paul disarmed sinne, suppressed and kept it vnder;1 Cor. 9. 27. I keepe my body vnder (saith he) I keepe it in subiection, left, by any means, when I haue preached vnto [...], I my selfe should be a cast-away, 1 Cor. 9, 27. And in very deed our sins are like those deuils which could not be cast out,Matth. 17. 21. but by prayer and fasting, Matth. 17. 21.

This exercise of fasting produceth three excellent

• effects:
  • 1 Vitia compri [...]i [...]. It allayes the heat of sinne, it tames and pulls downe the lusts of the bodie. Therefore S. Basil calls it,
    Basil. the [...]. 1. [...]. 1.
    [...], A medicine to take away the m [...]lady of sinne.
  • 2 Diabolum fugat. It puts the Deuill to flight. Saint Ambrose saith, that if a Serpent tastes but of fasting spettle,
    Ambros. Exam. lib. 6. c. 4. tom. 1.
    it killeth it: Vides quan [...] vis ieiu [...], vt & sput [...] sue home terre [...]m Serpen­te [...] interficiat & merit [...] spirit [...]em; Yee see the [Page 26] force of fasting, fasting spettle will kill a bodi­ly Serpent, much more the spirituall.
  • 3. Mentem eleuat. It eleuates a mans minde, and makes him apt to be rapt into contemplati­on, and his life here in earth to approach neere in likenesse to the life of the Angels in heauen. Therefore saith Saint Ambrose,
    [...] [...]lia & ieiun. c. 3. tom. 1.
    Quid est enim ieiunium, nisi vitae coelestis image? For what is fasting, but a representation of our heauenly life? Hoc gradu Elias ascendit antequam curru; Elias ascended into heauen by this ladder of fasting,
    Idem, Ibidem.
    before hee ascended in his chariot of fire, saith the same Saint Ambrose.

Bonauenture therefore compares fasting to three

• things.
  • 1 To a little wood vnder a pot.
    [...]. Diat. Salut. tit. 2. c. 6. Opusc. tom. 2.
  • 2 To the nimblenesse of a little bird.
  • 3 To the hollownesse and concauitie of a musi­call instrument.

1. It is like a little wood vnder a pot. For as by with­drawing the wood from vnder the pot, it incontinently ceaseth boyling: So by withdrawing the vsuall store of food from the body, the pride and sustinesse of the flesh is abated.

2. It is like the agility & nimblenesse of a little bird. For as a little bird can easily by flying aloft eschew the snares of the Fowler: Frustra enim iacitur rete ante oculos pennato­rum; In vaine is the snare of the Fowler laid before the bird that can take her wing, Prou. 1. 17. But grosse and fat fowles which cannot fly are taken: So the minde of a temperate and abstinent man may easily, by mounting aloft to hea­uen vpon the wings of his contemplation, eschew the snares of the deceitfull fowler, the Deuill, whilest those which with swine giue themselues ouer to feeding, are carried into a sea of misery.

[Page 27] 3. It is like the hollownesse or concauity of a musicall instrument, For as a Lute or Viall yeeldeth no delightfull and musicall sound, vnlesse the belly thereof be hollow and emptie: So a man, vnlesse his belly be so hollow and emptie that his bones desire not rest, yeeldeth no musi­call and delightfull harmony of prayers and thanksgiuing in the eares of the Lord.

For fasting is not commended of it selfe, ex opere opera­to, of the thing done,Chem [...]it. Exam. Concil. Trident. part. 4. (as Chemnitius saith some Papists teach; though Bellarmine disauowes the opinion) but it is commended ex opere operantis, Bellar. de Bon. operib. in partic. lib. 2. cap. 11. Contro [...]. tom. 4. out of the faith and deuo­tion attending the action. Deuout prayers, diuine eiacu­lations, and heauenly meditations must accompany our fasting. It was a caueat therefore which Saint Hierom gaue to Calantia; Hieron. ad Ca­lant. epist. 14. tom. 1. Ca [...]e, ne si iei [...]nare aut abstinere caeperis te p [...]tes esse sanctam. Hac enim virtus adi [...]ment [...]m est, non perfectio sanctitatis; Beware lest if you begin to fast or abstaine, you presently thinke your selfe holy. For this vertue of absti­nence is but the helpe, not the perfection of sanctitie. We must therefore, to suppresse sinne, and to keepe it from reigning in our mortall body, not only abstain from meat and drinke, but from all vice and impiety; and exercise our selues in acts of deuotion, spend our time in prayer and meditation, releeue the needy, and performe workes of charity.Ambros. in D [...]m. 4. Quadrag. tom. 5. Qui ieiun [...]t à cib [...] & non abstinent à malo, [...] ­les sunt Diabolo, qui non manducat & tamen à malo non cessat, saith Saint Ambrose. They which fast from meat, but ab­staine not from impietie, are like the Deuill, who eats ne­uer, but is wicked euer. Therefore saith Saint Origen, Ie­iuna à mali [...] actibus, Origen. in Leuit. cap. 16. [...]om. 10. tom. 1. abstine à malis sermonibus, conti [...]e te à pes­ [...]is cogitatio [...]bus; Fast from euill actions, abstaine from vaine speech, refraine thy selfe from naughtie cogitati­ons. To our watching then we must ioyne fasting, and to [Page 28] our fasting we must ioyne deuout prayer and holy medi­tation, and this is the third and the last helpe to repaire our mortall body, and to keepe sinne from reigning in it.

Let not sinne therefore reigne in your mortall body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof.

The first helpe, that is, watching, is the besieging of sinne; the second, fasting, is the disarming of sinne; but this last helpe, praying, is the vtter vanquishing and sup­pressing of sinne.Exod. 17. 9. For as Moses lifting vp his hands, Israel preuailed against their enemies, Exod. 17. 9. So let vs lift vp our hearts and hands to God, in humble and heartie prayer, and wee shall preuaile against sinne, and keepe it from reigning in our mortall bodie. The deadly serpent the B. siliske (as Isiodorus, Hispalensis reporteth) is killed by the breath of a Weasell: [...]s [...]od. Hispal. Ae­ [...]imolog. lib. 12. cap. 3. So the breath of a faithfull praying man is able to kill sinne, and driue away the old Serpent the Deuill, who suggesteth vs to sinne, and de­sires that it should reigne in our mortall bodie.

I will reduce all for you into three words, and so con­clude.

Explora.

Deplora.

Implora.

Explora. Let each Christian, to keepe sinne from reig­ning, finde out his sinne by watching▪ Deplore. Let him driue it out when he hath found it, by weeping and fa­sting. Implora. Let him desire the gracious assistance of God, that he may continue this combat, by praying. So shall Sinne, Hell, and Satan be confounded, your mor­tall bodie here be repaired, and after death most glori­ously be crowned.Reuel 2. 10. So saith God, Be thou faithfull, vnto death, and I will giue thee a crowne of life, Re [...]. 2. 10. Thus doing, though wee cannot altogether acquit and cleare [Page 29] our selues of sinne, yet we shall haue but few sinnes, and those few sinnes shall be remissible and pardonable sinnes vnto vs. Not for that they doe merit remission, or are so small that they are vnworthy Gods punishment; but be­cause remission doth follow such sinnes, neither shall they be imputed to vs to our condemnation. Herein we shall be happie, that our sinnes shall not be imputed vn­to vs. For they are not blessed, which haue no sinne; for then no man could be blessed (we are all miserable wret­ched sinners:Psal. 32. 1, 2) but saith the Prophet Dauid, Blessed is he whose vnrighteousnesse i [...] forgiuen, and whose sinne is coue­red. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no sinne, Psal. 32. 1, 2.

So that all men being sinner [...], here is the difference betwixt the sinnes of the wicked and the sinnes of the godly. The sinnes of the wicked are committed with an high hand, they meditate on them in their beds, they commit them with all greedinesse, they draw sinne with cart-ropes, they sinne without repentance; therefore their sinnes are peccata regnantia, sinnes reigning in their mortall bodie, and neuer forgiuen them, but death and hell reignes ouer them; they die the second death, the eternall death, the death both of bodie and soule. But the sinnes of the godly are committed without medita­tion, through infirmitie, they are committed with a relu­ctancie, there's a combat betwixt the flesh and the Spi­rit, they are resisted by watching, they are suppressed and kept vnder by fasting, they are cast out by praying, they are repented of with repent mee neuer to be repented of; therefore their sinnes are [...] sinnes no [...] reigning in their mortall bodie, but by the great mercie of God, in Christ Iesus, forgiuen and not imputed vnto them, so that death hath not full power of them, they [Page 30] die the death of the bodie onely, the first, not the second death,Reuel. 14. 13. and so die in the Lord, and die blessedly. For bles­sed are they which die in the Lord, euen so saith the Spirit, they rest from their labours, and their good works follow them, Reu. 14. 13.

In one word then to conclude all, with a true and liuely faith in Christ Iesus, resist sinne, let it not reigne in your mortall bodie; and then you haue done all which is required to your saluation: then you shall liue happily, die blessedly, be rewarded plentifully, and possesse Hea­uen euerlastingly. Which God of his infinite mercie grant vnto euerie one of vs. To which God the Father, the Creator of all, and hater of sinne; God the Sonne, the Sauiour of all, and Redeemer from the punishment of sinne; God the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier of all, and Purifier from the prauitie of sinne, three Persons, one only wise God, bee ascribed of vs all, all honour, glorie, power, dominion, might, and maiestie, now and for euer­more. AMEN.