leed of the fpirituall Serpent is finne; to God hath made it here, faying, Sinne lyeth at the dore; fo the feed of the woman is Chift, to whom we must have recourfe for help, and fay, as the spouse doth, in the first chapter of the Canticles, and the third and fourth verses, Trahe nos, nam curremus ad te: We will run to thofe perfons, in whom we feel the feat of their oyntments, fuch as fhall be able to give us good counsell & inftruction. Albeit, it is certain we shall not need to run to Chrift, for he faith, Revelations the third chapter,verse the twentieth, Ecce, fto ad oftium & pulfo, it is but to open the dore, and let him in. When finne lyeth at the dore, Chrift lyeth there too, so that it is but to open to him when he knocketh, and finne will away: For let Gideon arife, and his enemies will fly: So will finne fly if Christ come; and we shall come fafe out of our dores, if we let Christ in. To conclude: Then feeing we see our eftate by nature, and what Gods will is, who hath left us a means whereby we may bear rule over finne, we must take notice of it, that is, run to the promised feed of the woman. It is needfull that we know the fenfe of dominion, that is, that we have a fense of those contrary follicitations to finne, as Paul faith, I delight in the Law of God, touching the inwardman, but I have another Law, in the feventh to the Romans, and the twenty fecond verse; There is a continuall combat and ftrife between the flesh and fpirit, the flesh lufting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, the fifth chapter to the Galatians, and the feventeenth verfe. When we cannot tell what finne is, nor what be the effects and fruits of it, and how it folliciteth and defireth,& when it reigns we are ready to meet it, and runne as faft to finne as finne cometh to us, and that is dan, gerous: Therefore we muft take notice of his conflict, and know, that between the heel and the head, this' conflict shall for ever be, Genefis, the third chapter and the fifteenth verse; and every man fhall have either peccatum habitans, vel occurrens, but which fhall have dominion, whether flesh or spirit, nature or grace, it is excellently faid by Salomon, in the fixteenth chapter of the Proverbs, He that ruleth his own minde and lusts, bath a greater victorie than be that winneth a City; for they that winne Cities, are oftentimes flaves to their own lufts, and a small appetite overcome th them, This is not the conqueft here spoken of but the mafterie over our fenfualitie, is it that God meaneth, and he that overcommech it fhall receive a crown at Gods hand, as the Apostle faith, I have fought a good fight hence forth is layed up for me a crown, in the fecond epiftle to Timothie, and the fourth chapter. Now every man is not in cafe to go into the field, to encounter with his enemie, and to winne Cities; but every Chriftian is in ftate to strive against his own lufts, and to fight with finne, which is the Serpents feed: There must be a bruising between the heel of Adams feed, and the Serpents head; this combar we must all undergoe: whereof we have matter of comfort, if wee overcome in this conflict; and alfo of inftruction and admonition, that feeing God miflikes finne, promifing reward to them that doc and the fourth verfe, as if he should fay, finne will come faft cnough in the fallow grounds; therefore we need not to provoke our felves by pictures, lewd fongs, enterludes, and such like means to draw it to us, but to abandon them all: kis that which the Apoftle exhorts all men to; in the fecond to the Corinthians, the eleventh chapter and the tweltch verfe, to cut off all occafions to finne, observing what that is that provoketh them to finne, and cut that off that we draw not finne to our felves, and fo be accessary to finne, and cause of our own woe: If the water be comming, that we give no paffage to it; if the coals lye before you, fpit on it you may, but beware you blow it not, and it finne would have paffage, ftop it, left ferving fin you be carryed away captive of finne; for of whomsoever a man is overcome, his fervant he is, the fecond of Peter and the fecond chapser; and his fervant you are to whom you obey, Romans the fixth and the thirteen h verfe: Therefore give not your members as weapons of unrighteousness to finne, but give your felves to God. This is our duty which we muft doe and perform, for as the former part is fet down for our comfort, fo this ferves for our inftruction; So there is a comfort in our eftate comming by this exhortation, and there is exhortation out of the comfort, to doe our duty on finne, which shall stand us in great ftead in the day of the Lord. Here are four divifions or diftin&tions. First, God faith, There is finne in body,and finne in foul; there are as well corporall finnes as mentall, and as well actuall as cogitable. as well as Secondly, si bene feceris, nonne acceptaberis? fo that God faith. Malice a finne plainly, he that beareth malice doth not well, that is, he finneth against man against his brother, for a man may as well finne against man God as against God, for that Gods command is, Love thy Brother or Neighbour as thy felf; therefore a man should not imagine,that except he offendeth God, he finaeth not. That is a fecond diftinction. A third diftinction is, peccatum cubans and vigilans, that is finne Sinne fleeping fleeping and lying ftill, and finne waking, that is the temptation of and waking. finne before and while it is committed, and then the remorse af ter. The fourth and last distinction, is that which puteth a difference between the Children of God and of the Devill, between the reprobate and the regenerate; that in the godly there is peccatum volans, but not dominans, fin ruleth but reigneth not; from hence is grounded that which the Prophet faith, in the nineteenth Pfalm, Keep thy Servant from prefumptuous finnes, and in the one hundred and nineteenth Pfalm, Direct my steps, that no iniquitie have dominion over me 3 fo the Apostle in the fixth chapter to the Romans, Let not finne reigne in your mortall bodies; yet he confeffeth, in the feventh chapter to the Romans, that finne dwelleth in him: By which we may fee plainly what it meaneth, for finne would command a mans body, his eye, foot and hand, yea, fet all the parts of his body awork, about that it folliciteth But that party when finne biddeth him rife and goe, fir Eee 2 eth > teth ftill; when finne biddeth him ftretch out his hand, can clasp it close; when finne biddeth him delight his eye, can fhut it clofe 5 when finne biddeth take to heart, and one doth with fighs fhake itoff, he that when fin commeth running, fhatteth the dore against it, & avoideth all provocations; in fuch a one, there is peccatum currens but not dominans. That is for the divifion, and the difference between these two forts of perfons. But fecondly, we have a main foundation, which the ancient Fathers and Doctors ground upon the thirteene verses of the third chapter, where God ufeth the fame words to the woman, that he ufeth to Cain here, why haft thou done this? And the Woman faid, The Serpent beguiled me; It fheweth that the proceding of Cains finne, was as the first finne was; for the Serpent firft fhewed her the fruit, and fhe did eat; and then after, the fhewed it to Adam, and it pleasing his fight, he likewife did eat. This is the proceeding of finne, from the Serpentto Eve, from her to Adam, and fo here the prefuming of reafon in Gain, contrary to reason, was as that in Eve and Adam; and therefore, as after God faid to the woman, Thy defire shall be subject to thy husbands,and he shall rule over thee; fo here he faith, Cain shall bear rule over fin,and the fame fhall befall in mans fenfuality,that is, his lufts and concupifcence, which befell his uper part, which is his reason, alluring him and drawing him to finne: Therfore they call the understanding and reafon, which is the uper part of the foul, Adam; and the lower part, that is the affection, Eve. The defire and pleasure of finne, that is the apple, and finne is as the Serpent. As this is grounded upon the fpeech of God; fo is it upon the fimilitude and manner of finne, whereby man is caught as a fish with the bait, in the first chapter of Fames; for reafon taketh the bait firft: Such a proceeding is in all finne, and there is no other tempta tion to finne now then there was in the beginning to Adam and Eve. Thus much for our state and duty arifing by way of instruction and exhortation, to behave our felves fo, as finne get not the rule over us. I come now to the last in these words, But thou shalt bear rule over it: Wherein we ask, How fhall this be fulfilled? can we give to nature that power and freewill? nay, it is plain, we cannot, neither is Gods intent fo to doe, for we are not able of our felves, as from our felves, to think a good thought, as it is in the fecond to the Corinthians, the third chapter, and the third verfe; for we have all been as an unclean thing, all our righteousnesse is like a filthy cloth, in the fixty fourth chapter of Ifaiah,and the fixth verse : fo that he that hath no more in him than the ftrength of nature, is as he that followeth the steps of an barlot, whose cafe is like to the oxe that goeth to the flaughter, as it is in the feventh chapter of the Proverbs. Therefore it is not to be defired, neither is it in our ftrength to doe it, for where God faith, Tee fhall rule over it; Is our ftrength able to doe thus? No. Further as Mofes faid, in the 30. of Deuteronomie, and the 14. that Gods meaning in giving him the Law, was not that he could doe it, or fhould of himself, but it was verbum fidei; the word was as near to thee doe well, and threatning them that doe evill, faying, that finne lyeth at the dore; that as one day fhall come, when this condition fhall be as between the Creditor and Debtor, between the Judge and malefactor: But withall he fheweth, that however our nature be inclined to finne, yet as Gods conclufion to Cain is, that finne fhall not get dominion over him, but he shall rule over it by grace offered to him; fo if we by prayer be earnest Suitors to God for grace, and take hold of it being offered, we fhall be conquerors over finne in Chrift and bear rule, and in the end we shall obtein the reward promised, which is eternall happiness in the Kingdome of heaven. Poft colloquebatur Kajin cum Hebelo fratre fuo evenit autem Gen. 4. 8quum effent in agro, ut infurgens Kajin in Hebelum fratrem Juum interficeret eum. H Itherto we have heard Gods Sermon preached to July 29.1599. effect that it took, and it fheweth that it was in vain, in regard of the effect for which it was preached, though it were uttered by God. For the end both The end of of this and all others is, that the Auditors might be hearing Gods drawn to repentance, but we fee that Cain becommeth more ob- word. durate and hardened in his finne : And where the end of hearing the word is, that finne might not have dominion over us, but we bear rule over it; we see Cain is not the better for Gods Sermon, but like Ahab, tells him to be the bond-flave of finne. Now in the hearing of Gods word, the chifeft matter required at our hands is, That we harden not our hearts, Pfalm the ninety fifth; Not to harden but if a man be of Cains minde, if he shall barden his heart as Pharaoh, our hearts, Exodus the eighth chapter and the fifteenth verse, If he shall fay, the word that thou haft spoken to us, we will not hear it, but will doe whatsoever goeth out of our mouth, Feremiah the fourty-fourth chapter and the leventeenth verle: In fuch Gods word taketh no effect. Now it is plain why Cain was not moved at the word preached by God; for there is no means ordained by God more effectuall to work repentance, than the word of reprehenfion : Then the fhewing of the promise which God maketh to them that doe well, and on the other part, the danger of the threatnings that belong to them that doe evill, and when withall we heare, that albeit finne will fet upon us, yet it shall not prevail against us, but we shall have the maftry over it, if we accept of Gods grace offered to us. Now feeing God laboureth by all these means to drive Cain from finne, and he notwithstanding continues hardened in it; we fee the Prophets words verefied, that God ordereth his works in fuch fort, ་ Heb. 6. Our labour is not in vain in the Lord. Though others profit not. Note, Sermons, but to grow worfe after. fort, That the mouth of wickedness may be stopped, Pfalm the one hnadred and seventh and the fourty fecond verie. God may in this refpe& lay to Cain, and every wicked man, quid debui facere quod non feci? Ifaiah the fifth chapter; so that we are not to accufe God that Cain proved fo wicked, for he is to be justified when he is judged Pfalm the fifty first. The ufe hereof pertains to those that are Preachers of the word, that fecing the Scholar is not above his Master, secing the Meffenger is not greater than he that fent him, we should content our felves, if our preaching have not that fuccefs we wish, fecing Gods Sermon made to Cain did want effect: And yet we see our weakness in the Prophet, who fecing that his pains took no place with his auditors, refolved that he would speak no more in Gods name, Feremiah the twentieth chapter and the ninth verle, but Efag made a better conclufion, Ifaiah the fourty ninth chapter and the fourth verfe, For albeit he confessed, he laboured in vain, and spent his ftrength in vain, yet he will goc on ftill, for that he knew his reward was with God. When God preacheth, and Cain never the better, when Chrift in his firft Sermon could doe no good, we are not to think it ftrange, though our preaching want fuccefs, feeing nothing befalls but what befell God and Chrift, the Prophets and Apostles; for it was St. Pauls cafe also, the fecond to the Corinthians and the fecond chapter, it is better it should want effect being preached, than it should not be preached at all, and better it fhould perishin the cares of the hearers, than in the mouths of fuch as are Ministers. Thus much we have to obferve on Gods part. Now on Cains part we are to note, firft what is Cains way, that It is Cains way taking notice of it, we may labour to avoid it, for the Apoftle faith, not to profit by Woe to them that walk in the way of Cain, Fude the eleventh. Now the way that Cain walked in, was to hear Sermons, but not to profit by them. As he was careless in his facrifice, and thought any thing would ferve to offer to God, fo when God preacheth to him he had no refpe& how he heard, and therefore he had no profit thereby. When God had ufed all means that could be to draw him from finne: First, by fhewing him that it was an abfurd thing to finne, more befeeming a bruit beast than a reasonable man. Secondly, by fhewing him not only that he should by finne deprive himself of God, but procure his own woe, and be brought to account for it. And lastly, by miniftring to him comfort, that from the bleffed feed of the woman, that hath broken the head of the Serpent, he should receive ftrength to fubdue finne; yet for all this he ftops his care lyke the deaf Adder, Pfalm the fifty eighth, and faith with them, Feremiah the fourty fourth and the fixteenth verle, Say what you will, we will doe what pleaseth our felves. This was Cains humor, and this was theirs alfo that heard Feremy: Ezekiel the thirty third chapter and thirty first verse, They come and fit before thee, they hear thy words, but doe them not, but their heart goeth on their covetousness, and runneth upon their worldly affaires. their worldly affaires. Cain was the Patriarch of all fuch, and as they walk in his way, fo they must come to be partakers 1 |