The primitive Christian justified and Jack Presbyter reproved, or, A scripture demonstration, that to be innocent and persecuted is more eligible than to be prosperously wicked delivered in a sermon in the Abby-Church of Bath by William Goulde. Gould, William, d. 1686. 1682 Approx. 57 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 18 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A41707 Wing G1441 ESTC R9434 12418302 ocm 12418302 61785 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A41707) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 61785) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 939:15) The primitive Christian justified and Jack Presbyter reproved, or, A scripture demonstration, that to be innocent and persecuted is more eligible than to be prosperously wicked delivered in a sermon in the Abby-Church of Bath by William Goulde. Gould, William, d. 1686. [6], 28 p. Printed for R. Royston, London : 1682. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Bible. -- O.T. -- Job XXXVI, 21 -- Sermons. Presbyterianism -- Controversial literature. Sermons, English -- 17th century. 2007-09 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-11 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2008-01 Elspeth Healey Sampled and proofread 2008-01 Elspeth Healey Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion THE Primitive Christian JUSTIFIED , AND Jack Presbyter REPROVED ; OR , A Scripture Demonstration , That to be Innocent and Persecuted , is more Eligible than to be Prosperously Wicked . Delivered in a SERMON IN THE Abby-Church of BATH . By WILLIAM GOVLDE . No Flames of Civil Dissentions are more Dangerous , than those which make Religious Pretentions , Grounds of Factions . K. CHARLES the First . LONDON , Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to the King 's Most Sacred MAJESTY . 1682. TO THE READER . THIS Discourse following had never seen the light , if Jack Presbyter would have permitted the Author to be quiet ; the Principle here defended is a plain Truth , justified by our Saviour's life , That an Afflicted , is more Eligible than a Sinful state , which I presume was sound Primitive Doctrine , and will be always so esteemed by the Regular Protestant : Notwithstanding it gave great Distast to the Presbyterian Brotherhood . One Gentleman would have had me Whipt for saying it was Irrational and Irreligious to commit a Sin that Good might come thereof . Another told me I forgot to Preach Jesus Christ and him Crucified ; and yet ( if I mistake not ) he was a man of Sorrows , and acquainted with grief , yet knew no sin , niether was guile found in his mouth . A third Zeal-drunk Monseur Complimented me in the Queens Bath , that Mr. Topham ( a Serjeant at Arms , I think ) was my very good Friend , and desired a Copy of what I delivered , and that if I had any Service to him , he would effectually present it ; my Answer was very sharp , and being publickly known abroad , needs not now be repeated . Hang the Rascal , said a fourth , He Preached for a Cardinals Cap at the coming in of the Pope ; by which you may guess what will become of William Goulde , if these Gentlemen once give Law to the Church and State. But I have however printed it , to shew I dare be honest , and will not be huft out of my Integrity by Noise and Tumult , for I have learned to fear him who can cast body and soul into Eternal torment , more than a Speaker , or a Pope , or the Reprimand of either or both . In this Discourse I affirm and will prove it , that by the Laws of God , by the Principles of the true Protestant Religion , publiquely Professed in the Church of England , the Bill against the Duke of York is not to be Justified , and my Reason is grounded in the Text , It is not lawful to chuse Sin to avoid being Persecuted ; and that Bill which renders a man dead in Law for want of Grace , will bring more Confusion unto a State than it pretends to avoid , and approaches too near the Doctrine of the Conclave , of the Popes power in disposing the Kingdoms of an Heretique . I declare my self as free from Popery , as any Zealot of the Kirk , and in two great Points , the Regall and Episcopal Government , I have a greater Value for these than any Presbyterian or Independent either Rigid or Moderate . He that shall consider how the Jesuitical Party in the Conventicle of Trent , undermined the Power of King and Bishop to give the Jurisdiction of both to their Lord God the Pope , and compare it with the practices of the Covenanting Presbyter against Prince and Bishop , to make them both Truckle under the Lay-Elder-Government , will think it unreasonable to excuse these later , whilst the others are subject to the Penalties of the Act of the 35th . of Queen Elizabeth . If Jack-Presbyter think any Injury done him , I hope the two following Arguments will clear me from his Charge in all moderate Mens Judgment . First , The Votes of Non-Addresses to , or receiving any Messages from the late Martyr'd Monarch , was certainly Cozen-German ( if not more nearly related ) to the Bull of Pope Pius against Queen Elizabeth , be it remembred that those Votes were never recalled , till the King was under the Armed Power of the Independent . Secondly , The Bill against Bishops root and branch , solemnly attending upon the League and Covenant , was as much prejudicial to the Episcopal Government of the Church of England , as any thing said or Acted against that Ancient order , by any Jesuit Papists in the Council aforesaid . Of these two Arguments ( if the Reader dares be Honest and Candid ) he is left to be the Judge between the Presbyterian Brotherhood and William Goulde . JOB xxxvi . 21. Verse . Regard not Iniquity ; for this thou hast Chosen rather than Affliction . TO have the favour to receive Commands , and the Meekness to obey them , is the satisfaction of Angels : and it is hence concluded by Gerson ( the late learned Chancellor of Paris ) that if an Angel were to set out himself in lustre and triumph in a Magnificat , it would be rather in the blessed Virgins stile as a servant of God , than a Prince of so many Myriads of Subjects : would the Scripture allow me that kind of Idolatry , the binding my Faith or obedience to any one infallible earthly Judge or Prince , were it reconcileable to my Creed , it would be certainly with my interest to get into that posture of Obedience ; yet we find Subjection so hard a lesson to the Sons of men , that neither Wrath nor Conscience can prevail with us to obey God , ( or for his sake ) to submit to our lawful Superiours : This is so well understood by wise Princes and States , that they have invented new ways to entertain busie and active Spirits , to keep them from tampering with their publique Laws and Constitutions . The body of a Flea or an Ant , will afford a Vertuoso many choice Observations , demonstrating Problems , solving Phaenomena's and drawing Schemes and Diagrams , may divert your busie Mercurial Witts , from making new Ideas and Platforms for Churches and Kingdoms : the ground of which Aversness is the want of a right understanding of that great principle of our Christian Religion , the going the high-way of the Cross to the Kingdom of heaven ; and hence it comes that Christianity is scandalized by Recusants , Popish and Puritan , who prefer Rebellion before Martyrdom , and so are lyable to Elihu's reprehension for chusing iniquity rather than affliction . I shall summ up the substance of the whole Text into one plain and Genuine Observation , That Sin is neither eligible in its self , nor to be chosen to avoid the suffering of Persecution . Sin I say cannot ( properly taken ) be the object of a rational mans , or true Christians choice ; First , if considered in its self or Consequences ; Secondly , if we look on Sin as opposite to Gods Essence and Attributes ; Thirdly , if we consider it as the transgression of Gods Laws ; Fourthly , as destructive to our own Souls ; Fifthly , as the Original of all the distempers of our Bodies ; and Sixthly , as the occasion of Death in all kinds , Temporal , Spiritual , and Eternal , as Divines distinguish according to the Scriptures ; Lastly , ( which includes the second branch of the Thesis , ) it cannot be the object of a rational choice as put in the ballance with the greatest Pressures , Afflictions and Difficulties . None can deny ( considering the present juncture of Affairs ) but that I have pitched on a seasonable Subject of Discourse , and ( if you will pardon my hasty Conceptions ) I resolve to speak what is very Plain , Innocent , and Honest ; consonant with the primitive rule of Reforming , and preservng Churches recommended by Christ and his Apostles , and their immediate and best Successors . First , Sin is not the object of a Rational man's choice considered either in its self or Consequences . 1. Not with respect to its self , for it is de numero ineligibilium ( as the Schools speak . ) There is no Form nor Beauty in it that we should desire it : Election is the act of the Will , whose adequate object is good ; and so Sin , which is malum in se , evil in its self , cannot be properly said to be elected : hence it comes to pass that such who have not their Senses exercised to discern between Good and Evil , chuse Sin by a mistake , thinking it to be good , putting light for darkness and darkness for light ( Isaiah 5. 20. ) thus Saint Paul ( rather Saul ) before he was Converted , verily thought with himself , that he ought to doe many things against Jesus of Nazareth ; and Christ tells his Disciples , that some that Kill'd them by a mistaken zeal , should think they did an acceptable service unto God : thus Iniquity in practice passeth for Duty , and Error in opinion for Truth , and Evil is chosen sub ratione boni , not for its own sake , but under the notion of being at least seemingly good . Others chuse Sin that good may come thereof , that God may have glory or themselves advantage by it : This was objected against St. Paul and his Doctrine , which in great Disdain he rejected , not as we are slanderously reported , and as some affirm that we say , Let us doe evil , that good may come : whose damnation is just . ( Rom. 3. 8. ) Others chuse evil , to escape Danger by it , elect the evil of Sin to avoid thereby the evil of punishment ; So Demas resolving to sleep in a whole skin and not to be persecuted for Christs sake , forsook St. Paul and imbraced the present world : now in all these three respects , whether Sin be chosen under the notion of good , by a mistake , or that good may come thereof , or that Danger be escaped by it ; each of these single , and much more united , are a clear demonstration that Sin is not eligible for its self . Sin indeed is the worst of any thing that is enemy to God or man , it is very much worse than Hell , not only as its cause or parent , but considered in its self ; for Hell is good for something , even to glorifie God's Justice , but Sin serves only to abuse his grace and goodness ; Hell was of God's making , Sin of the Devil 's ; Nay God made Hell as well to terrifie men from coming there , as to punish the willful intruders into that place of torments : And hence the chief end of Christs taking our flesh , was to save us from our sins , ( our worst kind of enemies : ) Hence in Scripture when God is said to be angry to the highest pitch , the stile runs thus ; I will give him up that is filthy , to be filthy still ; I will choose your delusions , give them over to their iniquities ; so that were there no Hell , 't were in this sense a kind of Damnation to be sinners : Of all sorts of punishments sin it self is the greatest , and so not the proper object in its self of a Rational mans , or true Christians choice . Secondly , As Sin is not to be chosen in and for its self , so neither with respect tothe Consequences thereof . The first and most immediate fruit of Sin is ignorance , man was first tempted by the promise of Knowledge , and fell into darkness by believing the Devil holding forth his new lights ; Adam and Eve knew what was good before the Devil promised them the knowledge of evil , and had they not imbraced this temptation they had continued in their happiness : This knowledge of evil was the introduction of ignorance , the Understanding being baffled , the Will became foolish , and both conspired to ruine each other ; for the Will beginning to love Sin , the Understanding was set on work to commend and advance it , and so became both Factious in approving their new miserable Purchase : for ever since Adam and Eve yielded to the Tempter , who told them they should be as Gods in knowledge , Man hath a double disadvantage ; for the Devil is hence grown more quick-sighted to abuse us , and we the more blind by his opening of our eyes , as is sufficiently manifest by the prevalence of Atheism , and Idolatry in the world , than which nothing can be more ridiculous , occasioned originally by the Fall of our first Parents from their native paradise . A second effect of Sin , is Shame , which is an immediate consequence of all sort of wickedness , what fruit had you then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? Rom. 6. 21. We see the truth of this by a too sad Experience , what Arguments , what Preaching , what Necessity can perswade men to confess their sins , how do men chuse to involve Sin in excuses and denials , in the clouds of Lying and the white Linnen of Hypocrisie , to shew that a mans spirit is amazed and his face confounded when he is dressed of so shameful Disease ? It was the unhappy Patrimony which our first Ancestors bequeathed us , first to Sin , and then to be ashamed of our selves and Actions ; The woman which thou gavest me , said Adam , charging his sin upon God ; The Serpent beguiling me , said Eve , imputing it to the Devil , both betraying the nakedness of their Souls , as well as bodies , and proportionably making Aprons of Excuses as well as Leaves : And you may read the Character of the Parents in the Childrens foreheads , for Shame makes us as backward to reveal our sins as we are forward to confess our Sicknesses , and less desirous to trust God with the diseases of our Souls , than the Physician with those of our Bodies . None will own sin amongst all its acquaintance . If a man pursue Vengeance he will Christen it Justice ; he that hates another mans person pretends enmity to his sins , and the theft of Rachell shelters its self under the modesty of her sex , Genesis 30. 34 , 35. he that designs to play the Devil , first personates the Saint , and Rebells call themselves the people of the Lord ; thus Sacriledge and Schism are a godly thorough Reformation ; popular Fury is Zeal ; Obstinacy against Laws , tenderness of Conscience ; Treason and Nonsence , praying by the Spirit ; to dye in Rebellion , a glorious Martyrdom ; and the madness of the Commons against the King and the Priests , is courage in the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ ; oppression of our brethren Subjects , calls its self a High Court of Justice ; and such as seize our Estates , were the Keepers of our Liberties ; and Doctors , Elders and Deacons , the only Sceptre of Christ ; and ( to avoid Arbitrary Government ) we kneel at the bar of our fellow-Subjects , and are imprison'd for new unheard of Crimes , to preserve our Properties and Privileges : A clear Argument that Sin dares not appear in its own colours , and that Shame is its never failing consequence , and so ineligible in both respects . Absalon's Rebellion was covered over with a fit of Devotion ; one Herod murthers with worshipping the blessed Babe , and another Herod strikes off the Baptists Head , to avoid being perjur'd ; Saul excused his sin by bringing it to the Altar , and the worst of men ( incarnate Devils ) of whom St. Paul speaks , 2 Timoth. 3. chap. from the 2. to the 7. ver . had a form of godliness . Now were Sin an eligible thing , the proper object of a rational Choyce , what need were there of excuses or denials , after the commission of any wickedness , or giving it glorious , or borrowed titles to cover its deformities ? And so Sin is not to be chosen , either for its self , or with respect to its immediate fruits or consequences . Thirdly , Sin is not the object of a rational Mans , or true Christians choice , because every way opposite to all Gods glorious Attributes , and his very Being and Essence : If we consider Gods sovereignty , Sin is Rebellion ; if his Justice , it is Iniquity ; if his Goodness , sin is Unkindness ; If God's holiness and pureness , Sin is defilement : Consider God's holiness as a Rule , Sin is a Transgression ; if as an Excellency , Sin is Deformity : Thus it is contrary to the whole nature of God , and strikes at his Attributes and Essence . As God is every way in himself good , so Sin is evil in its self , and good in no respect ; and as God is to be loved for himself , because the chiefest good , so Sin is to hated for it self . The holy Ghost could not call it by a worse name than its self , as Rom. 7. 13. Sin that it might appear sin , and Sin by the commandment appeared exceeding sinful . Again , God is the great reward of himself , and Sin the punishment of its self , ( Dyametrically opposite . ) We are hereby enemies to God , Coloss . 1. haters of God , Rom. 1. 30. Sin is contrary to the glory of God essential , and manifestative ; it denies the glory due to God , Rom. 1. 21. Titus 1. 16. despiseth and reproacheth his glory , and misimployes it , by giving it to men , to our selves , or to the Devil , ( as they who told our Saviour that he cast out Devils by Belzeebub . ) Sin wrongs God in his very Nature and Being , as Psal . 14. 1. every sinner wisheth there were no God , and saith it in his heart ( as David observeth . ) Upon each of these Heads I might insist very largely , but to avoid trespassing on your patience , I pass to the following particulars . Fourthly , Sin is the transgression of God's Laws , and so not the object of a Christians Choice : In the Law there is a Rectitude , every thing in God's Commands is just , and right , Sin is crookendness : the Law teacheth wisdom , Sin is folly , and the Wicked man a fool , and both in Scripture ( and very frequent in the Proverbs ) made convertible terms : God's Commands are pure , Sin is filthiness , Rom. 7. 12. there is liberty in the Law , James 2. 8. Sin is a bondage , 2 Timothy 2. 26. the keeping of the Law brings a reward , but Sin shame and death , Rom. 6. 22 , 23. but that which aggravates the sinfulness of Sin upon this account is , that it is the transgression of such Laws as are not grievous . 1. Laws reasonable and suitable to our nature , and advantageous to our interest ; 2. Such Laws as the Author of which hath given us sufficient power and strength ( if not wanting to our selves ) for the performance ; 3. Such Laws by obedience to which we arrive at an Eternity of happiness . 1. The Laws of God ( of which Sin is a transgression ) are reasonable , suitable to our Nature , and advantageous to our Interest ; He hath shewed thee O Man , what is good , and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee , but to doe Justice , and love Mercy , and walk humbly with thy God ? This is the summ of the natural Law , that we behave our selves reverently and obediently to the divine Majesty , and justly and Charitably towards men ; and for the better discharge of both , to govern our selves in sensual delights with Temperance and Moderation ; and what is there grievous in all this ? That we inwardly reverence and love God , and express it by external worship and our readiness to obey his will revealed , testifie our dependance on him in all Dangers and Wants , by offering up to him our constant Prayers and Supplications , and acknowledge our obligations by continual Praises and Thanksgivings for all his mercies ; to entertain of God no unworthy thoughts , nor give to others that honour and reverence , which is only sutable to his Excellence and Perfections , carefully to avoid the prophanation of his Name , and take heed of the neglect and contempt of his Worship , or any thing belonging to it ; this is the first part of Natural Religion , the generals of those Duties which every mans reason tells him he owes to God ; and here thus far there is nothing commanded but what agrees very well with the reason of Mankind . As for the six last precepts of the Decalogue relating to the good order and government of our Selves , with respect to our selves , Equals , Inferiours or Superiours ; these are such Laws as tend to our own peace , and the happiness of humane Socieites , and as expounded in Christ's Sermon on the Mount , nothing more can be devised for the welfare of Mankind , by sweetning their Spirits , and allaying their Passions and Animosities . 2. The Author of those Laws ( of which Sin is the Transgression ) hath not left us destitute of Strength or Power for performance ; 't is true , We have Contracted a great deal of Weakness by our wilful Degeneracy from goodness , but that grace which the Gospel offers to us for our Assistance , is sufficient for us ; greater is he that is in us , than he that is in the world , 1 John 4. 4. and if so , then it clearly followeth , that such as apply themselves seriously to Religion , and yield themselves tractable to good Motions , will find the Spirit of God more ready and active for their Incouragement , than the Devil to pull them back ; unless we think God hath given a greater power and a larger commission to the Devil to doe us mischief , than to his holy Spirit and his holy Angels to doe us good , which were Blasphemy to assert , and the calling in question the goodness of God. Some say we cannot keep the Commandments , and its true , of our selves ( as of our selves ) we are not able to think a good thought , much less to doe a good work . ( As of our selves . Note that ) for the same Apostle saith , I can doe all things through Christ that strengtheneth me , and these two must be reconciled , we cannot , and we can keep the Commandments ; that is , we cannot of our selves , but we can , through Christ that strengthens us , and whose grace is never wanting to us , unless we are wanting to our selves : To say we cannot keep the Commandments without adding Saint Paul's Comment ( as of our selves ) I look upon as a Crude position , incourageing Idleness , for God inquestionably offers us an assistance equall to the difficulty of his Commands , or else St. John was in an Error , ( which may not be supposed ) when he tells us that his Commandments are not grievous , ( 1 John 5. 3. ) and grievous they must be , if Gods grace ( we being weak of our selves ) be not sufficient for the performance in such Evangelical measures and degrees as God expects from us . I can doe all things through Christ that strengthens me , Philip. 4. 13. Observe here three things , 1. The strength of Christ is the original and fountain of all ours , 2. The strength of a Christian , derived from Christ , hath a kind of Omnipotence , sufficient for the whole duty of Christians , ( it can doe all things . ) 3. The strength and power thus bestowed , is the work of a Christian , ( the man strengthened by Christ ) I can doe all things : I Paul can ( through Christs strength , and assisted by grace ) keep the Commandments in the Gospel sense . If this be not the Apostles meaning , I must even go to School again to understand English . Through God who strengthens us , we are able to perform what he is able to injoyn ; we can suffer by his Patience , what in his Wisdom he can inslict ; chuse , by his direction what in his goodness he can propose . In short , we can believe his promises and doe his will ; we can resist his enemy and drink his Cup ; but by his Wisdom , and by his Grace , by his Power , and by his Patience ; and if Arminius say more than this , or Calvin less , with submission to better Judgments , the middle way between both extreams , is certainly the safest , and proves God's Commands , the only measure of our Obedience , not to be Grievous ; and consequentially to chuse Sin , which is the transgression of such just and reasonable Laws , must be Irrational and Irreligious . 3 , That Law of which Sin is the Trangression , is such a Law by obedience to which we attain ( through Christ ) Eternal happiness ; and well did David speak upon this account , Thy Commands , O God , are Righteous , and in keeping of them there is great reward , Psal . 19. 11. An exceeding Eternal weight of Glory , such as eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , nor hath entred into the heart of man to conceive , ( as St. Paul speaks ) a happiness that doth silence invention , non-plus Hyperbolies , exceeds all our Conceptions , and Imaginations , and the Oratory of Men , or Angels . Now to chuse Sin , which is the transgression of such Laws as are suitable to our Natures , advantageous both to our Temporal and Eternal Interest ; Laws , Holy , Good and Just in themselves , and not Grievous to us ; to chuse Sin , which is opposite to such Laws as these , is the greatest folly and madness , we hereby degrade our selves from our very Essences , and bid defiance to our understanding ( the candle of the Lord in our own breasts . ) Fifthly , As Sin is not eligible for its self or Consequences , not with respect to Gods Attributes and Essence , nor with reference to his Laws , so not the object of a rational Choice , because it is destructive to our own Souls ; As 1. to the purity of the Soul , ( Sin takes away its beauty . ) 2. to its Dignity , ( so sin casts down the Soul from its Excellency . ) 3. to the Souls Liberty ( Sin makes it a Captive . ) 4. to the strength of the Soul , Ezek. 16. 30. Impotens libido , ( Sin makes us weak , and Impotent . ) 5. to the peace of the Soul , ( ubi peccatum ibi procella , ) there is no peace ( saith my God ) to the wicked ; and Lastly , to the safety and life of the Soul , ( 2 Thessal . 1. 9. ) there are known Topical heads which may be inlarged upon in your private Meditations . Sin is Expoliatio gratuitorum , ( say the Schools ) a stripping of the Soul of all those supernatural Excellencies that God gave men when created after his own image ; and 't is Vulneratio Naturalium , Sin wounds the Soul as to its Naturals and Morals , as well as Spirituals . In short , Sin is the disease of our Souls , and no rational man that knows what Health is , will chuse a sickness , and be in love with a Disease : Sin is as destructive of the Souls health , beauty and safety , as distemper'd Humours defect in any Member , Solution of Parts , or Dislocation of a Joint can be to the Body : An ignorant Mind is equivalent to a blind Eye ; a Will disabled worse than a lame hand ; and vile Affections more ugly than deformed Members ; an evil Conscience is more afflictive than a Cancer in the Breast ; Pining Envy , more vexatious than the knawing of our Stomachs ; the furies of Lust , Rage and Intemperance , are as unnatural Distempers , as Feverish heats , and the insatiable desire after Worldly Wealth ; and Greatness is an Hydropique thirst ; and hence in Scripture the sicknesses and diseases of our Bodies , are used to represent those of our Souls , which he that attentively reads and meditates on , will furnish himself with many Instances of great usefulness and advantage : our First Parents got this disease by eating of an Apple which the Devil had poysoned , and infected all their Posterity with the Venom of it ; Adam fell in Paradise , and all his Off-spring are Mephiboseth's line from their Mothers Womb. Sin now runs in a Blood , and flies higher and higher instead of abating its first Vigour , 't is Morbus epacmasticus , epidemicus & contagiousus ; as Symptoms still heighten , it is a catching and contagious Disease seizing upon those that come near such as are infected with it , Flee from Sin ( Ecclesiasticus 21. 2. ) as from the face of a Serpent , for if thou comest near , it will bite thee , the teeth thereof are as the teeth of a Lyon slaying the Sons of men ; This was the poyson that lay under the teeth of the old Serpent the Devil , when he bit our first Parents : Nay Sin is ( Morbus compositus ) so complicated a Disease , that all other diseases are indeed but the Symptomes of this : Which brings me to the Sixth Particular , That Sin is not only the Souls Sickness , but the sourse and fountain of all the Maladies and Distempers that happen to our Bodies , and so an enemy to Body and Soul at once ; and as so , not the proper object of our Election or Choice : Hast thou a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ? Does thy head ake ? 't is Sin , it may be , Pride , or Self-conceit have distended the membranes of thy Brain . Hast thou an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ? are thine Eyes inflamed ? Sin is the cause thereof ; perhaps thou hast been too vain , in gadding after sinful Objects . Hast thou an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ? — is thy Speech taken from thee ? 't is Sin hath struck thee dumb ; perhaps thy hearkning after Lies , prophane , idle and libidinous Discourses . Hast thou an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ? do thy Loines chasten thee in the night season ? Sin is the occasion ; perhaps thou hast given thy youth and thy strength unto strange women . Hast thou a Volvulus intestinorum , a miserere mei , and forc'd to cry out , Oh my bowels , my bowels , ( as 't is exprest Jer. 14. 19. ) 't is Sin , perhaps thy Gluttony , Ryot , and Debaucheries . Hast thou a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ? — is thy Body turned black and sallow , and thy beauty faded ? 't is probably occasioned by a too great delight and content in admiring the excellency of thy frail Complexion . Hast thou a Paralysis ? is the use of thy Limbs taken from thee ? 't is Sin is the cause ; perhaps thy Hands have been shut to the Poor , or thy Feet swift to shed Blood , or to walk in the paths of ungodliness . Sin therefore is not the object of a rational man's Choice , because it is the Souls Sickness and the sourse of all bodily Distempers and Diseases . Seventhly , Sin is not a sit Object to be elected , because it is the unhappy parent of Temporal , Spiritual and Eternal Death . By Sin , Death entred into the World , Rom. 5. 12. Death is the Child of sin , not of Nature ; Nay , it destroys our Souls as well as our Bodies , The Soul that sinneth shall dye ; the death of Nature and the death of Grace , Sin occasion'd both ; and not only so , but the death that never dies is sins Wages ; 't is Sin keeps in the fire of Hell to all Eternity , that lays on those everlasting torments prepared for the Devil and his Angels ; 't is sin that not only feeds the Worm with our Bodies , but the never-dying worm with our Souls likewise ; it kindles the slames of Lust here in our hearts , and blows the coals in Hell to torment both our bodies and souls to eternal Ages ; and who can dwell with everlasting burnings ? Lastly , Sin is not the object of a rational Man , or good Christians Choice , if put in the ballance with Afflictions , and that is the last Branch of the Thesis , which I laid down at the beginning of my Discourse , occasioned by Elihu's Reprehension of Job , under the notion of chusing wickedness rather than sufferings , and this I shall demonstrate briefly and plainly , and make Application to our selves . My Position is this , without any Equivocation ; it is the property of a good Man to chuse the greatest Affliction before the least Sin , or there is more evil in one sin , than in all whatsoever Suffering . This appears in ten Particulars , 1. Sin separates from God , but Affliction not . 2. Affliction is not , Sin is evil in its self . 3. A sinful state cannot , but an afflicted may consist with the love of God. 4. The evil of Suffering is but momentany , of Sin everlasting . 5. We are called to Suffering , commanded by Christ to take up our Cross , and to follow him , but not called to sin . 6. The end of Suffering is glory , of Sin shame . 7. By suffering we lose some outward good , by Sin the soul . 8. Suffering speaks our conformity to Christ , Sin to the Devils . 9. God is the Author of Affliction , not of Sin ; Lastly , Afflictions may be good if sanctified to us , but not Sins . I shall not observe a strict order , as to every one of these Heads , but single out the chiefest and most useful for a mixt Audience . 1. To chuse Affliction is a hard choice , for Affliction is not good in its self , but however it may be useful to us ; happy is the man that endureth temptations , and chastnings , the Scripture speaks in many places ; but happy is the man that commits Iniquity , hath not the patronage of one single Text : David could say upon tryal , Psal . 119. 71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted , that I might learn thy Statutes ; but he never said , It is good for me that I have sinned , unlearned thy Precepts , or broke thy Commandments : David pleased himself in being afflicted , but not in thinking he had sinned , as is visible enough in his seven Penitential Psalms ; and particularly if we compare the 2 Sam. 10. chap. 11. ver . with Psalm 51. we shall find David reckoning his sins . as the 1 , 2 , 3. greatest punishment in all the World ; David did not first pray , that his House might be delivered from the fury of the Sword , or that his Wives might not be violated before his face , his Children might not be Rebells ; the good man passed by these things as temporal and trivial punishments , but he cries upon his Sins , his Sins , his Sins , three times in a breath , Psal . 51. 1. as so many haunting Devils that disturbed his rest . When Paul , of a Persecutor , became a persecuted Apostle , and was delivered from his sins , he was immediately so ravished with the love of his deliverer , and the joy of his deliverance , that he cared not to be delivered from any misery besides ; he even gloried in tribulation , as very useful both to exercise and feed his patience , as Rom. 5. 3. Acts 21. 13. he was ready , not to be bound only , but dye for the Lord Jesus . Sickness and Plunder , Banishment and Bonds , and every kind of Persecution , are heavy burthens to the Flesh , but light , being wighed in the ballance with the pressures and miseries of Sin and Wickedness ; when God the Father of Spirits afflicts his Sons and Daughters , he doth it that they may be partakers of his Holiness , as Heb. 12. 10 , 11. but Sin is the sting of all afflictions , 't is the suffering as Evil doers that keeps men from being Martyrs , but they are happy who suffer in a good cause , for even hereunto are ye called , because Christ also suffered for us , leaving us an example that we should tread in his steps who did no sin , neither was guile found in his lips . Moses well understood himself when he chose rather to be afflicted with the people of God , than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season , Heb. 11. 25. So the old Martyrs , Will you have a Prison , or deny your Saviour and your Lord ? Will you burn in this fire , or commit that Idolatrous Act ? Will you dye by a Halter , or forsake the Faith ? Oh , say they , give us Prisons , Fires , Axes , Gibbets , Wheels , Lyons , all the Torments invented by Men or Devils , rather than we will comply with Sin and Wickedness . This is a Point necessary in all , but especially these Times , wherein men boast of a Zeal for God , but not according to Knowledge ; and seek to avoid future possible Afflictions by present unlawful Actions : As in the Duke of York's Case , no man that understands the Scriptures , and will not suffer his Reason by passion to be ecclipsed , can believe it lawful by Gods Laws , to bar any man of his Right of Succession to a Crown ( of all temporal Rights , the greatest ) to avoid future probable Inconveniences , in Sacred and Civil Administrations ; nor do I believe that any the framers of this Bill would think it a piece of Justice to have their Children ( or in default of Issue ) their Brethren in the flesh , thus debar'd of their Rights , for different modes of Worship from what is now Legally Established . That which is simply evil , may not for any good be done ; ( the Case we are now upon ) if Saint Paul , or the Holy Ghost ( speaking by him ) understood the Christian Religion , 't is not lawful to tell an officious Lye for the glory of God , as Job 13. 7. Will ye speak wickedly for God ? or talk deceitfully for him ? If not for the glory of God , then not for an inferiour End , not for the saving of a Life , or the peace of a State. Nay , ( as Anselm , Austin , and others observe ) we should rather hazard the Salvation of mankind than commit a sin to save it : If St. Paul say true , ( and 't is hard to say he does not ) Damnation is due to such as do a present evil , upon the prospect of a future good , Rom. 3. 8. Suppose there were Presidents to justifie a Bill of this nature by the Laws of England , shall humane Laws evacuate the Laws of God ? How often hath Jack-Presbyter ( the framer of that Bill ) pleaded that God must be obeyed rather than man , &c. Let him stand to his own Argument , or give a Reason for the why not ? 't is strange to me , that men calling themselves Protestants — can be guilty of such Votes as these , which are disowned by the true Protestant Religion by Law established in this best of Reformed Churches . I am neither Papist nor Popishly affected , but I assert a true Protestant Principle founded on Holy Writ , that Sin is not to be elected if there be no other expedient left to avoid being Persecuted : As for the distinction which some make , that we may not do evil that good may come , that is not for a private good end , but we may for a publique benefit ; I have not so learned Christ , I thank God , and I desie the Jesuitical , and Presbyterian Brotherhood , to give me one Scripture Text , or any one sound Reason to justifie that Distinction aforesaid ; and till that be done , let the lawful Successor be Zealot for the interest either of Kirk , or Conclave ; as I will not reade Mass , nor swallow the Covenant , so I will not Rebell against the Ordinance of God , but leave God to govern his own World , Who restrains the spirit of Princes , and is wonderful among the Kings of the earth . God , who turns the hearts of Kings as the rivers of Water , as it pleaseth himself : the God who remembers mercy in his wrath , and punisheth less than our sins deserved ; and this was the judgment and practice of the Saints and Churches Apostolically Primitive . A Parisian Masacre , a Guiscan League , a Powder Treason , a Covenant Reformation , a Spanish Inquisition House , and an English High Court of Justice , the fighting for Reformation , and bidding Defiance to Heaven , by whom Kings reign ; these are Abominations so scandalous and Antichristian , as do non-plus Hyperbolies , and silence Invention ; and next to these there is scarce any thing more Criminal than the equally sinful and ridiculous Bill against the Succession of his Royal Highness , ( in case he survive the King ) to the Crown and Sceptre of this Nation . I wish the King may out-live his Brother , and put a Period to this Question ; but I believe the framers of that Bill had a farther Design than the Dukes person , and am clearly of opinion , that there is both a Popish Plot , and a Presbyterian one at this time against the Church , or the King , or both in Conjunction , and hath been more or less so , ever since the Reformation ; and I am heartily sorry , that since Papists and Presbyterians call themselves Christians , that by their Seditious Principles and Actions , they should rather seem Proselytes to Mahomet , ( the Victorious ) than to the Humble , Innocent and Persecuted Jesus ; and yet that the latter Saints should be so far insensible of this , as to call all that will not concur with them in their actions , Tantyvies , and Tories , and French Pensioners , is very insolently Ridiculous . 2. Afflictions are the Exercises of our Graces , as Faith , Patience , Humility , and Charity , in which Christ in his life ( who was a man of Sorrows and acquainted with Griefs ) was pleased to be exemplary to us , and we should and ought to look up to this Jesus who endured the Cross , &c. Heb. 12. 2. 't is an excellent Expression of Charles the Martyr to his Son , ( our Sovereign ) this advantage you have above other Princes , that you have begun , and now spent some years in the experience of Troubles , and exercise of Patience , wherein Piety , and all Vertues are commonly better planted to a thriving , as Trees set in Winter , than in the warmth and serenity of Times : He gives instance in David and Rehoboam , the one prepared by many Afflictions for a flourishing Kingdom , the other unsoftned by the unparallel'd prosperity of the Court of Solomon ; and this is indeed the great advantage of Afflictions above earthly Greatness , that this last makes us Proud , and Insolent , and to say , who is the Lord ? and by the other our graces are exercised and increased ; Ye have heard of the patience of Job , saith St. James , but we had never heard of any such thing but for his afflictions , and we have heard of Job , saith , though he kill me , yet will I trust in him ; but this was the fruit of his patience in suffering . St. Stephen's Charity had never been upon Record for our imitation , but for his Persecution . Had the old Army of Martyrs took up Arms against their Emperors ( being Heathens ) instead of being Patient , and Charitable , and Humble , and Meek , like men that understood Christ's Religion , they had neither been Presidents to us , nor found for themselves a place in Heaven . The assaults of Affliction may be terrible , like Sampson's Lyon , but they yield much sweetness to those , who can encounter , and overcome ; who know how to out-live the witherings of their Gourds , without Discontent or Peevishness whilst they may yet converse with God , as the Royal Martyr Charles the First , rarely expresseth it . 3. Afflictions wean us from the World , and bring us nearer to God , and Sin makes us earthly minded , and makes a separation between God and us : The sufferings of the Saints are the summ of Christian Philosophy , they are sent to wean us from the vanities and affections of this World , and create in us strong desires after Heaven , whilst God here treates us rudely , that we may long to be in our Country , where God shall be our Portion , and Angels our Companions , and Christ our perpetual Feast , and never ceasing Joy the entertainment of all injured and patient Sufferers . Oh Death ! how bitter art thou to a man that is at ease and rest in his Possessions ? but he that is uneasy in his Body , and unquiet in his Fortunes , vexed in his Person , and discompos'd in his Designs , who here finds no pleasure or rest , he will be glad and rejoice to fix his heart where he shall have the full of his desires , and what can only make him partaker of real Happiness . As long as the waters of Persecution are upon the earth , ( the Allusion is pardonable I conceive ) so long we dwell in the Ark , but where the Land is dry , the Dove its self will be tempted to a wandring course of life , and never return to her house of safety ; this blessed effect afflictions had upon Job , in making him bid adieu to the World , Naked came I out of my mothers womb , and naked shall I return thither , &c. and the same effect Affliction wrought in the late Martyr'd King of England ( who as he imitated the Piety , so he had the troubles of David ( I shall not want ( saith he ) the heavy and envyed Crowns of this World , when my God hath mercifully crowned and consummated his Graces with glory , and exchang'd the shadows of my earthly Kingdoms among men , for the substance of that heavenly Kingdom with himself . Thus Afflictions wean us from the World and bring us nearer to God , but Sin and the World , are a Kin , and of a blood , and Sin is a departure from God ; the Lord saith to sinners , you are departed and gone , your iniquities have separated between you and your God , as the Prophet Isaiah expresseth it . 4. We are full of Worldly mindedness , adhaesit pavimento , as David spake ; but in another sense , our soul cleaveth to the dust : we all complain the World is naught , and so it is , the whole World lyeth in wickedness , and yet as bad as it is , it finds an entertainment in our hearts proportionably to our outward Prosperities ; the faster Riches , and Honours , and other Vanities increase , the more eagerly we pursue and dote on these Transitory things . 'T is Affliction that takes off their seeming pleasantness , and imbitters the lusciousness of them to our taste ; that we have any apprehension at all of the Vanity of the World , is due to those vexations of Spirit , that are interwoven with it . 5. To be innocent and to be Afflicted , is the body and soul of Christianity its self ; I John your Brother , and partaker of tribulation , and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus , said good St. John. These were the Titles and Ornaments of his profession , that is to say , I John your fellow Christian , for the former descant this is the plain Song . Love is the Soul of Christianity , and the soul of Love is Suffering ; God hath given a single Blessing to other graces , but a double to this ; it is a double kindness we receive at Gods hands , first to be Innocent , and then to be persecuted with Jesus Christ . The Church is like Moses his Bush , when it is all on fire it is not at all consumed , but made full of Miracle , full of Splendor , and full of God ; and unless we can find something that God cannot turn into Joy , if he so please , we have reason , not only with the well instructed Heathens , to be patient under , but ( with St. Paul ) to rejoice exceedingly in Tribulation , not to think a Fiery Tryal strange , but rejoice that we are partakers of Christs Sufferings ; as St. Peter ( Paul's beloved Brother and our fellow Souldier under the banner of the Cross , ) exhorts us , and proportionably his brother James , My Brethren , Count it all joy when ye fall into divers Temptations . Take the Prophets , saith St. James , as an example of Suffering Afflictions ; but Jesus Christ is beyond all these , for he suffered for us , leaving us an example that we should follow his steps . These things considered , is it not a barbarous thing , for a grave Society of men to press their Sovereign wholly to lay aside the Rightful Successor of his Crown , by the Laws of Heaven , which is the doing evil , to commit a known Sin , to secure thereby the Protestant Religion , that is , ( that good may thence come ) or rather that the Zeal-drunk Presbyterian , who prefers Rebellion before Martyrdom , may not run the hazard of shewing himself no Christian , by remonstrating against suffering Persecution ? A Papist cannot be a worse King than a Nero , or Dioclesian , and when St. Paul said we should stand to our Faith , to imagine he intended we should stand to our Arms , is a new and strange Interpretation . But the Mischief is deeper yet , for we cannot Disinherit this Gentleman but by a known Principle of the Court of Rome , That Grace gives a a title to Dominion , and accordingly the Pope disposeth of an Heretick Kingdom , and barrs the Successor , and gives it to another Man of his own nomination , and to the next of the Line , if he be of the Romish Perswasion : and with what Conscience can these men ( mutatis mutandis ) press the King to an imitation of the Pope of Rome , whilst they condemn in this very point his unjust Usurpation ? When St. Paul preached Obedience to the Higher Powers , and the Primitive Christians prayed that the Father might be succeeded by the Son , or the next of the Blood , and Line ; could they be supposed to mean unless he were of this or that Religion , and then it should be lawful to Disinherit them ? He that maintains such a point in a Parliamentary Session , and at the same time calls himself a Christian , is not so well qualified for Westminster as Bedlam . The Doctrine of taking away the Right of Succession came from Rome , the Pope had it from the Devil without question , for St. Peter his pretended Predecessor , taught no such thing , but quite contrary exhorts all Christians ( and so includes the Presbyterian ) to endure the Fiery Tryal , and rejoyce in being partakers of Christs sufferings ; now Christ came to give us an Heavenly , not to take away any mans earthly Crown , and accordingly , as he knew no Sin , so he underwent all sorts of Affliction . He that saith I will not have this man to Reign , because a Papist , or a Puritan ; or saith , this is the Heir , let us by all means bar him of Possession , is a much worse Christian than he that saith , It is the Lord , let him doe as it pleaseth him , I will bear his Indignation because I have sinned against him ; This is the present Question under debate , with reference to the Succession , and not the Fighter for Reformation , but the Patient under God's Correction , is the best Defender of Christ Religion , I can , and will prove against all the Papists and Sectaries in Christendom . I ask the Presbyterian these Questions , and request an Answer to them . 1. Doth the wrath of man work the Righteousness of God ? 2. Doth the Saviour of the World ( who came to save us from Sin , not from Affliction ) stand in need of the sinful man to promote his Religion , or the Interest of his Kingdom ? 3. Did Christ teach us by his Example or Doctrine , to prefer Rebellion before Martyrdom , and is not the contrary Position equal to a Mathematical Demonstration ? 4. Can the Pope in Cathedra , or Pope Populus in Parliament , by voting Evil good , and Good evil , sanctifie an unlawful action done with a good intention ? If these things be so , I require him to prove it , if not , St. Paul's Doctrine will be found Billa vera in the Court of Heaven , That we may not commit a present known Sin to avoid a future probable Persecution , all the Bills , Votes and Resolves of Froward men to the contrary notwithstanding . I understand not the over-looking the lawfulness to pass to the expedience of the thing , for Strafford lost his Head to please the Faction , and then it was Voted on again , by making it no President for the Peers of the Kingdom . Suppose it be his Majesties judgement , and perswasion ( as he hath declared ) that he cannot give consent to the Bill of Exclusion ; Is it either Religion or good Manners ( my Brethren ) to perswade our lawful Sovereign against St. Paul's advice ( which the Presbyterians quote sometimes to serve their own Interest and Turn ) Whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin ? Have not Princes Consciences as well as other men , and may they not as well plead their Judicium discretionis , who are only responsable to the God of Heaven , as any private person , who is , and ought to be accountable both to God and Man. Is it not sufficient for his Majesty to say ( what his Father Exemplified ) better one Man unjustly perish , than the People be displeased , is a fallacious Maxim , especially considering the late King's conclusion hereupon ; I see it a bad exchange to wound a mans own Conscience , thereby to salve State sores , to calm the storms of Popular Discontents , by stirring up a Tempest in a mans own bosome . I hope the Commons of England will never arrive to that Insolence , as to answer with Bradshaw to their Sovereign , your Reasons , Sir , are not to be heard against the Supream Jurisdiction of this Nation ; and yet they have lately huss'd their Brethren , and made them do Penance for being Jury-men , and pay excessive Fees for no crime , under the notion of Abhorrers of Petitioning . And now we are upon the Petitioning point , I remember a passage in Mr. Calamies Sermon Preached in 1645. at Michael Basing-Shaw London , to the Lord Mayor , and his Brethren , when the Solemn League and Covenant was Renued with Prayer and Fasting . You have ( saith Holderforth ) shot one Arrow already , shoot another , and if that miscarry , shoot another ; He that cuts down a Tree , though he cut it not down at the first or second blow , yet the first and second blow , prepare to the speeding blow that cuts it down : You have delivered one Petition , deliver another ; if that miscarry deliver another , the speeding Petition will come at last . That is in plain English , Worry out your Prince with perpetual Noise and Clamours , give him no rest till he submit to your Requests . What this Fellow Preached in 1645. hath been practised for two years past , yet must not I say so , during the sitting of the Commons , for fear of a Reprimand in such language as was never given a Priest by Imperial Princes . But I bless God , I have the spirit of an English man , and my Knees , due to God and the King , shall never be yielded up to Usurpers , come what will , come Hanging , Burning , or any other , or all the Torments that exercised the Patience of the Primitive Christians , and herein I shew my self a Protestant , whose great Principle it is , rather than Sin , to chuse Affliction . FINIS .