wholesome doctrine and verities of them. And, by that means, in this world we fhall have God's defence, favour, and grace, with the unfpeakable folace of peace, and quietnefs of conscience; and after this miferable life we shall enjoy the endless blifs and glory of heaven: which he grant us all, that died for us all, Jefus Chrift, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, be all honour and glory, both now and everlastingly. Amen.

A SER

A

SERMON

OF THE

Mifery of Mankind, and of his Condemnation to Death everlafting, by his own Sin.

THE Holy Ghoft, in writing the holy Scripture, is in nothing more diligent than to pull down man's vainglory and pride, which of all vices is moft univerfally grafted in all mankind, even from the first infection of our first father Adam. And therefore we read in many places of Scripture many notable lessons against this old rooted vice, to teach us the most commendable virtue of humility, how to know ourselves, and to remember what we be of ourselves. In the book of Genefis, Almighty Gen. iii. God giveth us all a title and name in our great grandfather Adam, which ought to warn us all to confider what we be, whereof we be, from whence we came, and whither we fhall, faying thus, In the fweat of thy face fhalt thou eat thy bread, till thou be turned again into the ground: for out of it waft thou taken; in as much as thou art duft, and into duft fhalt thou be turned again. Here (as it were in a glass) we may learn to know ourselves to be but ground, earth, and afhes, and that to earth and afhes we fhall return.

Alfo, the holy patriarch Abraham did well remember this name and title, duft, earth, and afhes, appointed and affigned by God to all mankind: and therefore he calleth himself by that name, when he maketh his earnest prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah. And we read that Judith, Efther, Job, Jeremy, with other holy men and women in Jud. iv. ix. the Old Teftament, did ufe fackcloth, and to caft duft and Job xiii. afhes upon their heads, when they bewailed their finful Jer. vi. xxv.

living.

living. They called and cried to God for help and mercy, with fuch a ceremony of fackcloth, duft, and afhes, that thereby they might declare to the whole world, what an humble and lowly eftimation they had of themselves, and how well they remembered their name and title aforefaid, their vile, corrupt, frail nature, duft, Wifd. vii. earth, and afhes. The Book of Wisdom alfo, willing to pull down our proud ftomachs, moveth us diligently to remember our mortal and earthly generation, which we have all of him that was firft made: and that all men, as well kings as fubjects, come into this world, and go out of the fame, in like fort: that is, as of ourselves, full miferable, as we may daily fee. And Almighty God commanded his prophet Ifaiah to make a proclamation, and Ifaiah xl. cry to the whole world: and Ifaiah afking, What shall I cry? the Lord answered, Cry, that all flesh is grafs, and that all the glory thereof is but as the flower of the field: when the grafs is withered, the flower falleth away, when the wind of the Lord bloweth upon it. The people furely is grafs, the which drieth up, and the flower fadeth away. And the holy man Job, having in himself great experi ence of the miferable and finful eftate of man, doth open the fame to the world in thefe words: Man, faith he, that is born of a woman, living but a fhort time, is full of manifold miferies: he springeth up like a flower, and fadeth again, vanishing away as it were a fhadow, and never continueth in one ftate. And dost thou judge it meet, O Lord, to open thine eyes upon fuch a one, and to bring him to judgment with thee? Who can make him clean, that is conceived of an unclean feed? and all men of their evilnefs, and natural pronenefs, be fo univerfally given to fin, that, as the Scripture faith, God repented that ever he made man. And by fin his indignation was fo much provoked against the world, that he drowned all the Gen. vii. world with Noah's flood, (except Noah' himself, and his little houfhold.) It is not without great caufe that the

Job xiv.

Gen. vi.

Scripture of God doth fo many times call all men here in this world by this word, earth: 0 thou earth, earth, Jer. xxii. earth, faith Jeremiah, hear the word of the Lord. This our right name, calling, and title, earth, earth, earth, pronounced by the prophet, fheweth what we be indeed, by whatsoever other ftyle, title, or dignity, men do call us. Thus he plainly named us, who knoweth beft, both what we be, and what we ought of right to be called. And thus he fetteth us forth, speaking by his faithful Rom. iii. Apoftle St. Paul; All men, Jews and Gentiles, are under

fin: there is none righteous, no not one: There is none that underftandeth, there is none that feeketh after God: they are all gone out of the way, they are all unprofitable; there is none that doth good, no not one: Their throat is an open fepulchre, with their tongues they have used craft and deceit, the poifon of ferpents is under their lips, their mouth is full of curfing and bitterness, their feet are swift to fhed blood deftruction and wretchedness are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. And in another place St. Paul writeth thus, Rom. xi. God hath wrapped all nations in unbelief, that he might have mercy on all. The Scripture fhutteth up all under Gal. iii. fin, that the promise by the faith of Jefus Christ should be given unto them that believe. St. Paul in many places painteth us out in our colours, calling us the chil- Ephef. ii. dren of the wrath of God, when we be born: faying alfo, that we cannot think a good thought of ourselves, much lefs can we fay well, or do well of ourfelves. And the Wife Man faith in the Book of Proverbs, The juft man falleth Prov. xxiv. Seven times a day. The moft tried and approved man Job feared all his works. St. John the Baptift being Lukei. fanctified in his mother's womb, and praised before he was born, being called an angel, and great before the Lord, filled even from his birth with the Holy Ghoft, the preparer of the way for our Saviour Chrift, and commended. of our Saviour Chrift to be more than a prophet, and the greatest that ever was born of a woman: yet he plainly granteth, that he had need to be washed of Chrift: he worthily extolleth and glorifieth his Lord and Master Matth. iii. Chrift, and humbleth himself as unworthy to unbuckle his fhoes, and giveth all honour and glory to God. So doth St. Paul both oft and evidently confefs himfelf, what he was of himself, ever giving (as a moft faithful fervant) all praise to his Mafter and Saviour. So doth bleffed St. John the Evangelift, in the name of himself, and of all other holy men, (be they never so just,) make this open confeffion: If we fay we have no fin, we deceive ourselves, 1 John i. ii. and the truth is not in us: if we acknowledge our fins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our fins, and to cleanfe us from all unrighteousness. If we fay we have not finned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Wherefore the Wife Man, in the book called Ecclefiaftes, maketh this true and general confeffion, There is not one juft man upon Ecclef. vii. the earth, that doth good, and finneth not. And David is Palm li. afhamed of his fin, but not to confefs his fin. How oft, how earnestly, and lamentably doth he defire God's great

mercy

mercy for his great offences, and that God fhould not Pfal. cxliii. enter into judgment with him! And again, how well weigheth this holy man his fins, when he confeffeth, that they be fo many in number, and fo hid, and hard to understand, that it is in a manner impoffible to know, utPfalm xix. ter, or number them? Wherefore, he having a true, earneft, and deep contemplation and confideration of his fins, and yet not coming to the bottom of them, he maketh fupplication to God to forgive him his privy, fecret, hid fins the knowledge of which he cannot attain unto. He weigheth rightly his fins from the original root and fpring-head, perceiving inclinations, provocations, ftirrings, ftingings, buds, branches, dregs, infections, taftes, feelings, and fcents of them to continue in him ftill. Wherefore he faith, Mark, and behold, I was conceived in fins: he faith not fin, but, in the plural number, fins ; forafmuch as out of one, as a fountain, fpring all the reft. Our Saviour Chrift faith, There is none good but Luke xviii. God; and that we can do nothing that is good without him, nor can any man come to the Father but by him. He. Luke xvii. commandeth us all to fay, that we be unprofitable fer

Pfalm li.

Mark x.

John xv.

vants, when we have done all that we can do. He prefer-. Luke xviii. reth the penitent Publican before the proud, holy, and Matt. ix. glorious Pharifee. He calleth himself a Phyfician, but

not to them that, be whole, but to them that be fick, and have need of his falve for their fore. He teacheth us in our prayers to acknowledge ourselves finners, and to afk. righteoufnefs, and deliverance from all evils, at our heavenly Father's hand. He declareth that the fins of our own hearts do defile our own felves. He teacheth that an evil word or thought deferveth condemnation, affirmMatth. xii. ing, that we shall give account for every idle word. He Matth. xv. faith, He came not to fave, but the sheep that were utterly loft and caft away. Therefore few of the proud, just, learned, wife, perfect, and holy Pharifees were faved by him, because they justified themselves by their counterfeit holinefs before men. Wherefore, good people, let us beware of fuch hypocrify, vain-glory, and justifying of ourfelves.

The