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<NAME>Leah Yurasek</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE CORRUPTION OF MINDE.</P>
<P>DESCRIBED.</P>
<P>In a Sermon preached at <HI>Pauls</HI> the 24. day of <HI>June.</HI> 1655.</P>
<P>By RICHARD VINES Preacher of Gods Word at <HI>Laurence-Jury, London.</HI></P>
<BIBL>2 COR. 2. 17.</BIBL>
<Q>We are not as many which corrupt the Word of God, but as of &s;incerity, but as of God &s;peak we in Chri&s;t.</Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Abel Roper</HI> at the <HI>Sun</HI> over again&s;t St. <HI>Dun&s;tans</HI> Church in <HI>Fleet-&s;treet.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>The Corruption of Minde DESCRIBED.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>2 Cor. 11. 3.</BIBL>
<Q>But I fear lest by any meanes as the Serpent beguiled Eve by his &s;ubtilty, &s;o your mindes &s;hould be cor|rupted from the &s;implicity that is in Chri&s;t, or <GAP DESC="foreign"> towards Chri&s;t.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_AS the mother of Chri&s;t truly was, &s;o the Church of Chri&s;t may be truly called <GAP DESC="foreign"> (as <HI>Clem. Alex.</HI> &s;aith) a virgin mother.</P>
<P>The fruitfulne&s;s of her womb to bring forth children unto God.</P>
<P>The fulne&s;s of her brea&s;ts to bring them up un|to God, &s;peak her a mother.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="3">
<P>The &s;implicity of the faith, cha&s;tity of wor&s;hip, &s;incerity of love, integrity of life, &s;peak her a virgin.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t an&s;wers the type of him the high Prie&s;t, <HI>Levit. 21. 14. A widow or a harlot, he &s;hall not take, but he &s;hall take a virgin to wife.</HI></P>
<P>And therefore it is the &s;cope of the Go&s;pel-Mini&s;ters whom God &s;ends (as <HI>Abraham</HI> did his &s;ervant with Commi&s;&s;ion to procure a wife for his &s;on) <GAP DESC="foreign"> to fit and treat a match to e&s;pou&s;e cha&s;te virgins unto Chri&s;t, ver. 2.</P>
<P>Which &s;cope if we do but carry in our eye, and aime at in our Mini&s;tery, we &s;hould avoid the too much u&s;ed folly, and imbrace the &s;ucce&s;sfull foo|li&s;hne&s;s of Go&s;pel-preaching. We may ju&s;tly ask the cau&s;e of our Apo&s;tle his feare, le&s;t this Corin|thian virgin &s;hould become a <HI>Thais;</HI> for unju&s;t &s;u&s;|pition is a kind of &s;lander to cha&s;tity: and the que|&s;tion is, how the Apo&s;tle could &s;ay, I am jealous; for the virgin was not e&s;pou&s;ed to him, but Chri&s;ts Mini&s;ters are but the &s;pokes-men, the <GAP DESC="foreign">, treating for Chri&s;t, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5. 10. they neither &s;owe nor mowe for them&s;elvs, there|fore he takes off the doubt in that expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>I am jealous over you</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, with jealou&s;ie of God.</P>
<P>And he gives the rea&s;on; The fir&s;t <HI>Adams Eve</HI> was corrupted from her virgin righteou&s;ne&s;s, and &s;o may the &s;econd <HI>Adams</HI> e&s;pou&s;ed virgin (the <HI>Co|rinthian</HI> Church) be corrupted from the &s;implici|ty that is in Chri&s;t. <HI>Eve</HI> by the Serpent which was <HI>Satanae leno,</HI> the Devils pander. The Corin|thians
<PB N="3" REF="3"> by &s;uch Preachers as he de&s;cribes to be <GAP DESC="foreign">, 2. <HI>Cor.</HI> 2 17. Corrupters of the Word, as huck&s;ters by their mixtures do <HI>jugulare vinum,</HI> adulterate the viginity of good wine.</P>
<P>In the&s;e words you may con&s;ider two things:</P>
<P N="1">1 The object of the Apo&s;tle his fear.</P>
<P N="2">2 The in&s;tance or example, whence he draws a &s;imilitude, &s;hewing the way and meanes of ac|compli&s;hing that he feares.</P>
<P>1 The thing he feares is the corruption and con&s;tupration of this e&s;pou&s;ed virgin, which cor|ruption he de&s;cribes,</P>
<P N="1">1 By the &s;eat of it, the minde, <GAP DESC="foreign"> le&s;t your mindes be corrupted, for the foul ve&s;&s;ell corrupts the pure&s;t liquor, corruption begins in the minde, as they &s;ay the fi&s;h begins to &s;tink at the head, and we know defluxions from the head corrupt the vitals and lower region.</P>
<P N="2">2 The term <HI>a quo</HI> is the &s;implicity or cha&s;tity that is towards Chri&s;t, which they had before, and which is required in them that are e&s;pou&s;ed to Chri&s;t Je&s;us, who are then corrupted, when they generate and deviate from their &s;implicity of faith and wor&s;hip; for, we cannot &s;ay of any of the&s;e virgins e&s;pou&s;ed to Chri&s;t, as was &s;aid of that vir|gin, the mother of our Lord, that before they came together, &s;he was found to be with child by the holy Gho&s;t.</P>
<P>2 The in&s;tance or example made u&s;e of for de&s;cribing the way of corrupting the minde from the &s;implicity that is in Chri&s;t, is the fir&s;t and an|ciente&s;t
<PB N="4" REF="4"> example in the world, le&s;t by any meanes as the Serpent beguiled <HI>Eve,</HI> &amp;c. This part of the Text contains the <HI>&s;icut</HI> and <HI>&s;ic</HI> the As, So, and there are foure things in it.</P>
<P><HI>As the Serpent,</HI> that is, Satan in his in&s;trument; for the Devil appears not in his own colours, the Serpent doth not alwayes weare the &s;ame &s;lough or skin, the Devil &s;heaths him&s;elf in a fit ca&s;e for his purpo&s;e, for he is <GAP DESC="foreign"> un&s;ociable with man; therefore hath his mini&s;ters, ver. 15. <HI>deceit|ful workers, fal&s;e Apo&s;tles,</HI> and the&s;e in&s;truments he puts on, he tempts the proud by, <HI>ye &s;hall be as Gods,</HI> the &s;en&s;ual by the <HI>promi&s;e, liberty,</HI> &amp; &s;ome by o&s;tentation of holine&s;s; for, there is a <HI>Phari&s;aical,</HI> a <HI>mona&s;ticall,</HI> a <HI>&s;uper&s;titious holine&s;s,</HI> a holine&s;s of mans making, he tempts Chri&s;t by <HI>Peter, Come be|hinde me, Satan.</HI></P>
<P>2 The Serpent beguiled the woman <HI>Eve,</HI> for the woman <HI>by the Serpent,</HI> the man <HI>by the woman,</HI> the &s;tronger by the weaker ve&s;&s;el, the husband by the wife; as the Angler takes the &s;mall fi&s;h by a worm, and then that &s;mall fi&s;h taken doth become a bait for the greater fi&s;h; &s;o it is &s;aid of his agents they lead captive &s;illy women, they <HI>deceive the hearts of the &s;ipmle,</HI> Rom. 16. 18</P>
<P>3 The way of the Serpents deceiving the wo|man, was by corrupting of her minde, &s;ee its the Apo&s;tles ob&s;ervation, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2. 14. that not the man, but the woman was deceived, becau&s;e &s;he be|lieved that God had enviou&s;ly &s;et them in a lower Orbe than they might be in, if they eate of the
<PB N="5" REF="4"> fruit of that tree of knowledge.</P>
<P>4 This deceiving of the woman was by &s;ubtilty, as it appears by many re&s;pects, wherein the &s;erpent prevaricated the words of God, and perverted their meaning, this &s;ubtilty or <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Cogging of the dice is a&s;cribed to deceivers, Eph.</HI> 4. 14.</P>
<P>The &s;um is,</P>
<P>The Go&s;pel-&s;tate of the Church is called a new Creation: <HI>I create a new heavens and a new earth;</HI> in this new creation God hath &s;et forth another <HI>A|dam</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t, out of this <HI>Adam</HI> dying, as out of the fir&s;t &s;leeping, God hath formed a Church, this Church is e&s;pou&s;ed to the Lord Chri&s;t, as <HI>Eve</HI> was to the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> as a cha&s;te virgin, and there are Serpents now, as there was one then, that attempt the corrupting of the virginity of this Church; and therefore &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>But I fear,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>From the fir&s;t part of the text, the thing feared, I take up two Doctrines.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>The &s;implicity that is in Chri&s;t, is to be holden untainted.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>The corruption of the minde is the cau&s;e of devia|tion, or rece&s;s from that &s;implicity.</HI></P>
<P>I begin with the fir&s;t.</P>
<P>The virgin cha&s;tity of the &s;oul e&s;pou&s;ed to Chri&s;t Je&s;us, which loves not to be painted with any <HI>Fucus</HI> of meretricious gaudine&s;s, &s;implene&s;s or &s;implicity in vulgar &s;peech, and &s;ometimes in Scripture &s;ounds towards <HI>fooli&s;h credulity</HI> or want of wit.</P>
<P>But in the true notion of the word it &s;ignifies a
<PB N="6" REF="5"> <HI>freedom</HI> from <HI>compo&s;ition,</HI> and &s;o we call the &s;im|plicity of Gods being, which is without all com|po&s;ition.</P>
<P>Mo&s;t commonly it is a <HI>freedom</HI> from <HI>mixture</HI> of heterogeneal things which might adulterate puri|ty. In Doctrine unlearnedne&s;s, in faith unfai|nedne&s;s in love &s;incerity, in wor&s;hip cha&s;tity, in life and conver&s;ation integrity, do make up that we call &s;implicity of Chri&s;t, which I &s;hall com|dendiate into the&s;e three.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 Simplicity of Doctrine.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 Of Wor&s;hip.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 Of life.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>1 The &s;implicity of Chri&s;t was <HI>per&s;onal;</HI> for be|ing in the form of God, he emptied him&s;elf, and took on him the form of a &s;ervant, <HI>Phil.</HI> 2. 6.</P>
<P><HI>Official,</HI> in the acting of offices of his <HI>Prie&s;t, Pro|phet,</HI> and <HI>King,</HI> in great &s;implicity.</P>
<P>Doctrinal, in the preaching of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>Conver&s;ionall, in the deportment of his life.</P>
<P>But now I &s;peak of the &s;implicity of his Do|ctrine, the Doctrine of the Go&s;pel which is a mi&s;te|ry that exceeds in glory, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3. 9. and which the Angels &s;toop down to pry into, and yet is in con|tempt as fooli&s;hne&s;s with the wi&s;dom of this world that wch is a quinte&s;&s;ence above al clementary lear|ning, and tran&s;cendent above every predicament, hath been entertained with <HI>Stand thou here, or &s;it under my foot&s;tool;</HI> whereas that which the Apo|&s;tle calls vain Philo&s;ophy, and <GAP DESC="foreign">,
<PB N="7" REF="5"> &s;cience fal&s;ly &s;o called, hath been entertained with <HI>Sit thou here in a good place.</HI> The Doctrine of which you are born, is called <GAP DESC="foreign">, incorruptible &s;ad, and which you are nouri&s;hed by, is called <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;incere milk, which denotes &s;implicity. Chri&s;t for righteou&s;ne&s;s, Chri&s;t for a root on whom the branches do live dependingly, for the root <HI>beares</HI> them, and derivingly, for the root <HI>feeds</HI> them is the &s;um of this doctrine.</P>
<P>Here is no mixture of Jewi&s;h rites, as if we would look for Chri&s;t in that manger wherein he lay when he was a babe; the bird is now hatcht, and the egg&s;hel lies empty.</P>
<P>Here is no corrival of mans works to &s;poile this &s;implicity, there remains no place for them, as they are meritorious, for that &s;ets them in the chair of Chri&s;t; nor as they are motives of God to ju&s;tifie, for that &s;ets them in the place of free|grace, nor as conditions of the Covenant, for that &s;ets them in the place of faith, but as they are fruits of holine&s;s, for that &s;ets them in their own place, a&s;&s;igned to them by this Doctrine.</P>
<P>2 Simplicity of wor&s;hip, which is called &s;pirit, and truth <HI>Job.</HI> 4. 23. not Judaicall and &s;hadowi&s;h, not Samaritan &amp; idolatrous, but &s;piritual and inward.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle calls the Jewi&s;h types, which were rich, beggarly Elements, we have them in the rich plainne&s;s of the Go&s;pel. In matter of wor|&s;hip, that of <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> is the truth, and <HI>Socrates</HI> had &s;een it before, <HI>colendus e&s;t quomodo &s;e colendum prae|ceperit,</HI> as him&s;elf hath commanded.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="6">
<P>Tho&s;e that were mint-ma&s;ters of wor&s;hip, u&s;ed to feign corre&s;pondence with &s;ome deity, that un|der that reputation they might vend off their de|vices.</P>
<P>God mu&s;t &s;tamp that wor&s;hip as &s;hall be cur|rant, man is apt to indulge his eye in Gods wor|&s;hip; It's the harde&s;t thing (&s;aith one) to leave our eye and fancie behind us (as <HI>Abraham</HI> did his &s;er|vants, when we go up into the monnt to &s;acrifice.) The &s;piritual part of religion, is the harde&s;t part.</P>
<P>If we look into <HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr,</HI> and &s;ee how the dre&s;&s;e of wor&s;hip was changed, by degrees we &s;hal finde, that it became at length <HI>qua&s;i reductus in Eccle&s;iam Judai&s;mus,</HI> unbecoming the purity of this virgin.</P>
<P>3 The &s;implicity of life; It was an excellent te&s;timoniall &s;ub&s;cribed by the Apo&s;tle his con|&s;cience, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1. 2. that in &s;implicity and godly &s;incerity, we have had our conver&s;ation in this world.</P>
<P>The form of godline&s;s, is but a Mathematicall body, con&s;i&s;ting of lineaments onely: Religion is practicall and alwayes married to hone&s;ty and righteou&s;ne&s;s towards men; religious di&s;hone&s;ty is wor&s;e than a Chri&s;tian married to a Heathen; in the times we live, that &s;aying is too true, <HI>univer|&s;us mundus exercet hi&s;trioniam,</HI> all men almo&s;t di&s;|gui&s;e and act parts.</P>
<P>Men either make it a &s;talking hor&s;e to their own game, a foot&s;tool to their ends, a covert of gold
<PB N="9" REF="6"> for their filthy de&s;ignes, or lodge it onely in the cock-loft of a cold brain, and not in the warme room of affections.</P>
<P>And the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t, is broken into a multiplicity of &s;en&s;es and wayes.</P>
<P>Let this Point for u&s;e recommend to Mini&s;ters and people both the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>1 To the Mini&s;tery; for though this be not a place to teach them, yet it is a place to teach you what to &s;ay, and what to expect of <HI>Archippus, vi|delicet</HI> the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t both in the matter and manner of the delivery of this Doctrine.</P>
<P>1 Simplicity for the matter of the Doctrine, I am not a&s;hamed of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, &s;aith he that had &s;itten at the feet of <HI>Gamaliel;</HI> for (though that of <HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> be true, <GAP DESC="foreign">, All truth &s;poken by <HI>Plato</HI> or <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> is ours, and that which is true in <HI>Phi|lo&s;ophy;</HI> is true al&s;o in every place; yet) it is of the &s;eed of the Word, <HI>quod Chri&s;tus na&s;citur in corde auditorum.</HI></P>
<P>We mu&s;t &s;et bread before hungry &s;ouls, and not be like the School-men, that &s;et men upon gnawing hard &s;tones.</P>
<P>All learning may be &s;pent upon the &s;implicity of the Go&s;pell.</P>
<P>In breaking down &s;trong holds, meeting with &s;ubtilty of mens hearts, rai&s;ing up the dejected Spirit pro&s;trate under &s;in, counter-mining the methods and &s;tratagems of the Devill, and you will finde that the old <HI>Adam</HI> in mens hearts is too hard for young <HI>Melancthon,</HI> and <HI>who is &s;ufficient for the&s;e things?</HI></P>
<PB N="10" REF="7">
<P>2 Simplicity for manner of delivery for painted gla&s;&s;e is more gaudy, but cleer gla&s;s tran&s;mits more light, the rule is to clothe &s;piritual things with &s;piritual words 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2. 13.</P>
<P>Its vain oile that's &s;pent in &s;trong lines, that hang together, as <HI>&s;and without time,</HI> &s;tanding together as letters in the Hebrew, one not touch|ing another.</P>
<P>Let a crucified Chri&s;t be preacht in a crucified Phra&s;e, and though you preach not with embroide|ry of &s;ilver and gold, yet <HI>&s;urge &amp; ambula,</HI> if you make the hearer ari&s;e and walk, its farre the better.</P>
<P>It is not <GAP DESC="foreign">, to divide the Word a right (a word taken from culling up of the &s;acrifices) to &s;hred the intrals into mince meat, or to put the text to death and torment, &s;o as to make the peo|ple eat the fle&s;h with the blood; <HI>Keep the true pat|tern of whol&s;om words.</HI></P>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The People</HEAD>
<P>Are exhorted to hold fa&s;t this threefold &s;impli|city of Chri&s;t in Doctrine wor&s;hip, and conver|&s;ation.</P>
<P>In Doctrine; All Scipture centers in, and looks to Chri&s;t, both Old Te&s;tament and New as the Cherubims to one another, and both to the mer|cy &s;eat; he was then &s;wathed up in types, he is now unvaled in a rich plainnes of the Go&s;pel, tho&s;e precious &s;tones which God promi&s;es to build his Church, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 54. 13. Do all come but to this, All thy children &s;hall be taught of God.</P>
<PB N="11" REF="7">
<P>In wor&s;hip, &s;pirit and truth are better than <HI>Jeru|&s;alem</HI> and this <HI>mountain,</HI> therefore be &s;atisfied in &s;implicity of Go&s;pel-&s;acraments, which as <HI>Duple&s;|&s;is</HI> ob&s;ervs, have been made by men, the port-gates of &s;uper&s;tition and curio&s;ity, becau&s;e the eye hath &s;omewhat to do in them, as corruption began at the tree in Paradi&s;e, and came in by the eye.</P>
<P>In life, that your voice be not onely &s;mooth, and hands rough; for practical holine&s;s is the life of religion, el&s;e we may have golden heads, and feet of clay.</P>
<P>To conclude, let it be our joynt aime, the &s;im|plicity that is in Chri&s;t, and be not too indulgent to your ears, which hath &s;ometime been the vani|ty of hearers of tho&s;e Sermons at <HI>Pauls,</HI> coming hither for Jewels to hang in their ears, rather then for whol&s;om Bread.</P>
<P>Let not the tree of Knowledge be preferred be|fore the tree of life, le&s;t when you come to die, you cry out with <HI>Crae&s;us, Solon, Solon,</HI> who had before time taught him of ble&s;&s;edne&s;s without regard.</P>
<P>There is &s;uch multiplicity of opinions, that mo&s;t men count it impo&s;&s;ible to reduce the &s;warm into one hive, e&s;pecially becau&s;e men u&s;ually lay &s;o much weight, every man upon his own opinion, not con&s;idering that the kingdom of God con&s;i&s;ts not in meat and drink, but righteou&s;ne&s;s and peace and joy in the holy Gho&s;t, <HI>Rom.</HI> 14. 17. Hence it is that one <HI>unchurches</HI> another, and <HI>unchri&s;ts</HI> an|other, <HI>&amp; &s;olos credit habendos e&s;&s;e deos quos ip&s;e colit,</HI> as the Poet anciently leaves the que&s;tion about the bigne&s;s, di&s;tance, motion of the Sun, to Mathe|maticians,
<PB N="10" REF="8"> thou maye&s;t have as much benefit by the Sun, as they that altercare about them.</P>
<P>Above all things lay not the foundation of your communion in the agreement one of another with you in all your private opinions, that's a principle that will divide the Church <HI>in &s;emper divi&s;ibilia,</HI> that makes the foundation of the hou&s;e of the twig of a tree, not of the body.</P>
<P>And peradventure, as there are not two of a hundred of one face, &s;o not of one opinion in all things extrin&s;ecal, nay haply, &s;aith a learned man, not <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>Paul.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Certa &s;unt in paucis,</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Tertullian</HI>) fundamen|tals are few, they that make too many of them, make the fewer Chri&s;tians, if a man hold fa&s;t the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t in Doctrine, wor&s;hip, life; though not admitted into your fellow&s;hip, yet they will be in your Communion through Chri&s;t, whether you will or no.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Doct. 2^d^.</HEAD>
<P><HI>The Corruption of the mind is the cau&s;e of deviati|on, or rece&s;s from the &s;implicity that is in Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>This Point gives occa&s;ion to entreat of the cor|tuption of the minde; the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ometimes &s;ignifies plots, devices, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2. 11 ordinarily the rea&s;onings, apprehen&s;ion, judgement, the leading faculty of the &s;oule, which is the &s;ubject and &s;eat of this corruption.</P>
<P>This is not meant of natural corruption, which
<PB N="11" REF="8"> is a part of original &s;in, for it is the corruption of Go&s;pel-truth formerly received, e&s;pecially do|ctrinall corruption: and therefore the Apo&s;tle ha|ving &s;aid; Chri&s;t, the &s;ame ye&s;terday, to day and for ever; pre&s;ently adds, <HI>Be not carried away by di|vers and &s;trange Doctrines,</HI> Heb. 13. 9.</P>
<P>The Text affords me three things, for the o|opening of this Point.</P>
<P N="1">1 The corruption of minde here feared, is of them that have received the virgin truth; a &s;ad thing that they that blo&s;&s;om &s;o faire, &s;hould be bla&s;ted or cankered; it is not corruption of life he feares, but of minde; many are tainted in their intellectuals, that make a fair &s;hew in morals; the Apo&s;tle prophe&s;ies of a time that will come, <HI>That men will not indure &s;ound doctrine</HI> (they will not imbrace, nay, they will not indure it) <HI>but will turn away their eares from the truth, and be turned to fables,</HI> 2 Tim. 4. 3.</P>
<P N="2">2 This corruption of minde is to be feared, both by Mini&s;ters for the flock, and al&s;o by parents and ma&s;ters, yet there are few, as wofull experience &s;hews us; and therefore young men, and unballa&s;t are negligently &s;uffered without bridle to ru&s;h in|to the infection, as if it was nothing to have the le|pro&s;ie in the head, to make &s;hip wrack of faith, to corrupt the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t to beare that fear|full brand, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3. 8. men of corrupt mindes, reprobate concerning the faith, <HI>The light of the bo|dy</HI> (&s;aith out Saviour) <HI>is the eye.</HI> If that be &s;ingle, the whole body is full of light; if evill, the <GAP DESC="missing" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="14" REF="9"> bed is full of darkne&s;s, the minde is the Pilot or Steer&s;-man, and if we weigh truths at a fal&s;e beame, we may take and mi&s;take the mo&s;t de&s;pe|rate errour for the mo&s;t precious truth.</P>
<P N="3">3 The fir&s;t point or &s;tep of rece&s;s and of devia|tion from the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t, is the corrupti|on of minde, how many &s;tairs do men fall? how many floores high, untill they fall even into Athe|i&s;me, from a zealous profe&s;&s;ion? A reprobate mind is the puni&s;hment of a corrupt mind, <HI>Ro. 1. 28 They did not like to retein God in their knowledge, therefore God gave them over to a reprobate minde:</HI> therefore we had need to keep principles pure; for the cloud, that at fir&s;t &s;howes, but like a mans hand may &s;uddenly over&s;pread the whole heaven.</P>
<P>The cau&s;es of this corruption of minde, are the&s;e and &s;uch like.</P>
<P N="1">1 The minde being the upper region, is corrup|ted from the lower region, pa&s;&s;ions, lu&s;ts, intere&s;ts by ends, do bribe the minde to be advocate for errour, and mi&s;-bia&s;&s;e the judgement; the &s;taffe that is &s;treight of it &s;elf, &s;eems crooked in the wa|ter, by refraction of the &s;pecies, or duplicity of the medium; and we know that our eye or brain is di|&s;tempered by &s;uffu&s;ions of choler, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> from a foule &s;tomack.</P>
<P N="2">2 Ungroundedne&s;s in the truth, betrays the minde to deceit and errour; and empty barne is &s;oon blown down; oh, that our people were &s;o
<PB N="15" REF="9"> ungrounded in Catechi&s;tical doctrine, which is in|deed the rea&s;on, that they are an ea&s;ie prey to all kinde of Sectaries, and do <HI>cedere occupanti</HI> (as I may &s;ay) fall to the fir&s;t occupant.</P>
<P N="3">3 A meer notion, which is like light without heat, a winter-&s;now, a thing without &s;en&s;e, and feeling of any powerfull operation, and work of truth upon the heart is but a &s;lender guard from this corruption of the minde; a man without much adoe recedes from barren notions; he that feels the warmth and power is not ea&s;ily changed; they did not receive the truth with love of the truth, and therefore God gave them up to effi|cacy of errour, 2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2. 10.</P>
<P N="4">4 A &s;atiety or di&s;like of &s;aving doctrine: when novelty is preferred, becau&s;e it's new, and ancient truth, like an old Mini&s;ter, now adayes is le&s;&s;e re|garded; the &s;tomack is crude and quea&s;ie, and &s;o reli&s;hes tra&s;h better then whol&s;ome food.</P>
<P N="5">5 The letting loo&s;e of wilde rea&s;on to di&s;pute out faith; rea&s;on is but a Dwarf, too low to be|hold Chri&s;t, except it climbe into the fig-tree, and go let &s;ober men be content with that which is &s;o frequently &s;aid, <HI>It's written.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6 Pride of knowledge is very dangerous; the an|cient pride is this, and the Apo&s;tle thus expre&s;&s;es it, <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 2. 18. being vainly pufft up in his fle&s;h|ly minde.</P>
<P N="7">7 Un&s;u&s;pitious credulity of others eminent in appearance of holine&s;s, doth at unawares enwrap
<PB N="16" REF="10"> many well meaning men: The Novatians would not admit lap&s;ed men to communion. The Do|nati&s;ts would not beare with mixture in their Churches as they pretended; both the&s;e &s;orts of men did bear a plau&s;ible &s;hew of holine&s;&s;e in their opinions; but God doth not approve a holine&s;&s;e of mans making; for that which is indeed holi|ne&s;&s;e mu&s;t have upon it Gods &s;uper&s;cription.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>U&s;e.</HEAD>
<P>For the U&s;e of this Doctrine, let me be&s;peak you in the words of S. <HI>Peter, Epi&s;t. 2. Cap. 3. Ver&s;. penult. Take heed, lest being led away by the er|rour of the wicked,</HI> (or of lawle&s;&s;e men) <HI>ye fall from your own &s;tedfa&s;tne&s;&s;e.</HI> This Caveat I might en|force upon you from divers Topicks or places; as namely, the dangerou&s;ne&s;&s;e of this di&s;ea&s;e which &s;eizes on the head, from whence (as &s;aith the Greek Proverb) the fi&s;h doth fir&s;t begin to be corrupted, as al&s;o from the ea&s;ine&s;&s;e of being infected, and from the difficulty of the cure: but having &s;poke enough of the fir&s;t of the&s;e, I will onely u&s;e a few words concerning the two latter.</P>
<P N="1">1 It's as ea&s;ie to be infected, as it is for &s;heep to catch the rot by feeding in rotten pa&s;tures; and our experience &s;hews us, that one that angles with &s;uch baits, catches more fi&s;h in a week, than preach|ing of Chri&s;t, and the &s;implicity of him will catch in &s;ome yeers, for errour hath &s;omething in us, as he that gave the rea&s;on for the fa&s;ter growth of
<PB N="17" REF="10"> weeds than &s;weet herbs, &s;aid that the &s;oile was na|turall mother to the one, and but &s;tep-mother to the other.</P>
<P N="2">2 There is no &s;implicity of truth, a multiplici|ty of errour; the &s;treight line between point and point can be but one; the oblique lines, many; therefore it is ea&s;ie to hang upon one tenter-hook or other, that look &s;o many and even contrary wayes.</P>
<P N="3">3 Errour is many times more &s;pecious to our &s;hal|low, proud, corrupt rea&s;on, than the truth of God, who&s;e depths and my&s;teries cannot other|wi&s;e be an&s;wered, then with, <HI>Tu quis es?</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 The mint-ma&s;ters of errour do u&s;ually fa&s;hion their doctrines to fle&s;h-plea&s;ing, and man-plea&s;ing; ye &s;hall not ea&s;ily finde that fal&s;e prophets did preach the burdens of the Lord, but rather as <HI>Peter</HI> ob&s;erves, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2. 19. they promi&s;e liberty, which is &s;o taking a thing, that looking humane|ly, we may wonder that Chri&s;t preaching repen|tance, &s;elf-deniall, the cro&s;&s;e, &s;hould gain any.</P>
<P>So much for the ea&s;ine&s;s of being infected; then next a word for the difficulty of the cure.</P>
<P>1 The cure is difficult, becau&s;e men are hard to be convinced of the &s;in and fal&s;hood, if with zeal &amp; open profe&s;&s;ion they have maintained it; there|fore they in the Council of <HI>Trent</HI> (as the hi&s;tory relates) would hardly be drawn to admit of any
<PB N="18" REF="11"> rece&s;s from their former errours, <HI>ne viderentur er|ra&s;&s;e,</HI> le&s;t they might &s;eem to have erred, and &s;o weaken the credit of all they held before, as the crack made in Ice, u&s;eth to runne further, then where it is fir&s;t made.</P>
<P>But if in puni&s;hment upon them that receive not the truth in love, God do give men up to efficacy of errour, or do otherwi&s;e <HI>recompence their errour,</HI> by delivering them up to vile affecti|ons and lu&s;ts, <HI>Rom.</HI> 1. 27. who &s;hall then pull off that fearfull &s;eal of God, that &s;eals them up in &s;tu|pidity, and under a reprobate minde.</P>
<P>2 Therein men are great lovers of their own fancies; <HI>Amat qui&s;que quod a &s;e repertum e&s;t,</HI> no mother but loves her own babe.</P>
<P>3 A conceit that errors of minde are not &s;in, as morall &s;ins are, but there are di&s;ea&s;es of the head, as well as &s;eated in other parts.</P>
<P>And certainly, the&s;e capitall di&s;tempers do great prejudice to practicall holine&s;s, being like &s;uckers that bear no fruit, but do divert and draw away the &s;ap from the fruit-bearing branches.</P>
<P>So much for the fir&s;t part, the object of the fear, le&s;t the mindes of the <HI>Corinthians</HI> &s;hould be cor|rupted from the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t: the &s;econd part is the re&s;emblance of fal&s;e teachers to the &s;er|pent, and this manner of beguiling <HI>Eve</HI> by &s;ubtil|ty, le&s;t as the &s;erpent, &amp;c.</P>
<P>From which words the Point is obvious.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Doct. 2.</HEAD>
<P><HI>As Eve was beguiled by the &s;ubtilty of the &s;erpent,
<PB N="19" REF="11"> &s;o are mens mindes corrupted by fal&s;e teachers from the &s;implicity of Chri&s;t;</HI> Fal&s;e Doctors; Satanae lenones, <HI>&s;aith one, they are Satans in&s;truments, as the &s;erpent was, the Devil his Pandors, wor&s;ting to the deflowering of Chri&s;ts e&s;pou&s;ed Virgins.</HI></P>
<P>The wi&s;dome of the &s;erpent is commanded and warranted to Gods people, the &s;ubtilty of the &s;erpent is found in the&s;e &s;ubverters of the cha&s;tity of Doctrine; I cannot, I may not &s;pend any time in this point, for I have no &s;and left; onely ob|&s;erve,</P>
<P N="1">1 That the defection, the corruption of men principled with pure doctrine is feared. Go&s;pel|principles are not &s;o much to be &s;canned by curio|&s;itie of rea&s;on, as received in &s;implicity of faith</P>
<P N="2">2 The Apo&s;tle alledges the mo&s;t ancient exam|ple of corruption of minde that is in the world; that which men call <HI>New Light</HI> is many times but &s;ome exploded errour furbi&s;ht up, and old wayes are but acted once again. There is properly no new truth, but there may be new di&s;coveries.</P>
<P N="3">3 What a &s;harp compari&s;on doth he u&s;e to re|&s;emble fal&s;e teachers? unto the devil his fir&s;t in|&s;trument u&s;ed by him; and therefore let no man temeraciou&s;ly &s;ay, <HI>they are holy men,</HI> they aime at more refined degree of holine&s;&s;e then others: for it's no wonder, &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, that if Satan be transformed into an Angel of light, his Mini&s;ters al&s;o be transformed or di&s;gui&s;ed, as the Mini&s;ters of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P N="4"><PB N="20" REF="12">4 The Serpent took <HI>Eve</HI> at the beginning, and &s;ubtilly ravi&s;ht her of her integrity, we mu&s;t look to our &s;elves; it's the u&s;ual time to &s;et upon us in our infancy of knowledge, either to di&s;grace the truth newly brought to light, or to di&s;plant it be|fore it do take root.</P>
<P N="5">5 That corrupters come with &s;ubtilty, and have their &s;lights, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4. 14. they come with good words, <HI>Rom.</HI> 16. 17. they beguile with enti|cing words, <HI>Col.</HI> 2. 4. they &s;peak lies in hypocri&s;ie: 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4. 2. they can wear the rough garment, and &s;heeps cloathing.</P>
<P>Their &s;ubtilty may be ob&s;erved in the Serpen|tine which they imitate.</P>
<P N="1">1 The &s;erpent &s;et upon the weaker &s;ex, and the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, they lead captive &s;illy women.</P>
<P N="2">2 They are &s;ubtil in being mode&s;t at fir&s;t, <HI>mi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> erroris &s;unt verecunda, Hath God &s;aid,</HI> Gen. 3. &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> the &s;erpent, the deceiver begins with <HI>queries</HI> rath<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> then down-right a&s;&s;ertions.</P>
<P N="3">3 They will take their ri&s;e from Gods Word, and rather wre&s;t then deny it, as the &s;erpent here perverted tho&s;e words, <HI>the knowledge of good and evil,</HI> to another &s;en&s;e and meaning.</P>
<P N="4">4 They promi&s;e magnificent and great things, they promi&s;e them liberty, &s;aith <HI>Peter. 2 Pet. 2. 18. Ye &s;hall be as gods,</HI> &s;aith the &s;erpent, what great bub|bles are u&s;ually &s;poken of glory, joy, familiarity with God, &amp;c.</P>
<P N="5">5 They comply with mans pride, with &s;elf, &amp;c. and fit the bait to the fi&s;h. They allure through
<PB N="21" REF="12"> the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h, &amp;c. 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2. 18.</P>
<P N="6">6 They draw a man from practical obedience un|to extrin&s;ecal, and meer empty &s;peculations (for the theorie is plea&s;ant and ea&s;ie, but the truth is bitter</P>
<P N="7">7 They bring points of faith, to thebar &amp; te&s;t of cap|tious rea&s;on: God in the prohibition of this tree, had &s;hewn much arbitrarine&s;s of will, to make probati|on of mans obedience, &amp; therefore they ought not to have been arraigned <HI>coram non Judice,</HI> as neither the cleer points of faith.</P>
<P>The time puls me by the eare, and therefore for clo&s;e, as deceivers have the Serpents &s;ubtilty, &s;o get you the Serpents wi&s;dom, and if I were to pre&s;cribe prophylacticks or pre&s;ervatives I would exhort you, 1 To hold the head, and &s;o to fortifie the vitals from this epidemick infection, <HI>Col.</HI> 2. 19. 2 To pur&s;ue practicall doctrine, &s;olid meat, and let alone the&s;e &s;weet meats; the tree of knowledge is fair to look on, the tree of life better to feed on. 3 Affect not things above the Word, a holine&s;s, a zeal, a knowledge, above what is writ|ten: <HI>Eve</HI> went &s;ome what further then Gods Word gave warrant when &s;he replied, <HI>neither &s;hall ye touch it:</HI> &s;o there are many will &s;ay, This is the holier way, this is the better, not having any Word for it. 4. Avoid the hou&s;e of infection, the Fowlers net, <HI>From &s;uch turn away,</HI> &s;aith the Scripture, if the wo|man will confer with the Serpent; you &s;ee what comes on it, it's the itch and pride after novelties that expo&s;es us to temptations.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="13">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
