The second Meditation for Tuesday: of sin, and what discommodities come by it

HE that committeth sinne, saith the beloued Disciple of Christ,¹ is of the deuill: for the deuill sinneth from the beginning: for this purpose appeared the Sonne of God, that hee might loose the works of the deuill. Sinne is so heauy a burthen, that neyther heauen, nor earth can beare it, but with the Author and worker of it, it descendeth into hell. Euery word, deed, and thought contrary to the lawe of God, according to Saint Augustine, is sinne: which ought, none otherwise thē hell to be eschewed of all them, who aspire to the heauenly kingdome: and that for three causes,² the first of which is, because it displeaseth God: the second, because it pleaseth the deuill: the third, because it is hurtfull, and bringeth many discommodities to man.

First, I say, thou oughtest to eschew sinne, because it exceedingly displeaseth thy Creatour, in which place we are to consider, what God hath done by reason of sinne. No man is ignorant that for sinne God hath destroyed the workes of his owne hands: that for sinne he hath cast Angels out of heauen, disparadiz'd men, and drowned with flood of waters all mankinde, as the booke of Genesis witnesseth. Other Kings and Emperours, that they may reuenge the iniury done vnto them of theyr enemies, doe spoyle and wast their Countries & Dominions: but God subuerted and destroyed his owne kingdome, because sinne had entred into it. Neyther doth God only hate sinne, but all that, which by any manner of way pertaineth vnto sin. Men although the wine hath lost his vertue, doe not therfore cast away the siluer bowles, in which the wine is, but reseruing them, they poure out the wine: but God not onely casteth out sinne, but also together with sinne hurleth downe headlong into the deepest Ocean of hel the vessels, in which it is, which are creatures & reasonable soules, made according to his owne image, and redeemed with his precious blood. Wherupon the wiseman saith: Vngodlines, and an vngodly man are alike hated of God. That most patient man Iob sayth: Thou doest visite me euery morning, ³ and triest me euery moment. Therefore in what should I hope, or wherin should I trust, but in the mere mercy of God, and in the affiance of celestiall grace? For bee it that I dwell amongst honest men, be it that I conuerse and dyet with religious, deuoute, and faythfull friends, be it that I reade holy Bookes, godly Treatises, and sing heauenly Himnes, yet they little, or rather nothing at all profit mee, if the fauour of GOD forsake mee, and leaue me to my nakednes and necessity. Therefore there is none other remedy, but to embrace patience, to deny my selfe, and wholy to yeelde vp and offer my selfe vnto the deuine will and pleasure. There was neuer any man so religeous, who did not sometimes feele himselfe depriued of diuine consolation, and that hee wanted the zeale and feruour of the spirit. There neyther is, nor hath at any time been any Saint, whom temptation hath not sometimes taken holde of. Certainely, hee is not woorthy of that high and sublime contemplation of GOD, who before hath not for the loue of GOD been exercised in sundrie and manifolde tribulations. Almost alwayes the praecedent temptation is woont to bee a token, that comforte is at the doores. Wherefore heauenlie consolation is promised vnto them, that are approoued and tried with temptations, which the Scripture affirmeth, when it is said: To him that ouercommeth, ⁴ will I giue to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middes of the Paradice of God. Wherefore God hath not eyther in heauen, or vpon the earth so deere and faithfull a familier friend, whō he deadly hateth not, if he finde deadly sinne in him. Wherfore albeit Christ loued Saint Peter entirely, yet he had condemned him, if he had died in that sin, when thrice he denied his lord and Maister.

Secondly, Gods hatred to sin heereby also appeareth, that he would haue his onely begotten Sonne dye for the sinnes of men, as Esay testifieth, saying: For the transgression of my people haue I strucken and plagued him. ⁵ And certainly the Sonne of God himselfe, that he might destroy sinne,⁶ deliuered his owne soule into the hands of death, as the same Prophet sayth. Who was euer found boyling with so great wrath against his enemies, who that he might destroy them, slewe his onely Sonne?

Thirdly,⁷ Gods detestation to sinne is heereby also gathered, that he hath persecuted it euen from the beginning of the world, to the end, not in one place, but wheresoeuer he found it. He found it in heauen, and thence he banished it; when he saw it remaining vppon the earth, he came in his owne person, that hee might expell it thence, and at the last in the finall iudgement he will confine & include sinne within the limits and bonds of hell, as in his naturall place, as the Prophet testifieth, saying; And he will cast all our sinnes into the bottome of the Sea. ⁸

Fourthly, how greatly sinne displeaseth God, this similitude argueth:⁹ without all doubt that fault is very odious and abhominable, that causeth a Mother to cast her beloued Sonne into a burning furnace, and not once to assay to take him thence againe: so certainly there must needes be some great matter in it, and exceedingly odious vnto God, for which hee should cast his children into eternall flames, if hee finde sinne in them; whom notwithstanding hee so loued, that hee refused not to dye for them. Thou seest heere ô sinfull soule, how odious and abhominable all sin is vnto God. Wherefore if thou desirest to please God, it is necessary, that thou keepe thy selfe free and clean from sinne, so that it possesse not the least place in thee. For shee shall be accounted a very vnfaythfull woman,¹⁰ who admitteth into her bed an other man besides her husband, but especially, if shee admitte one, that is his enemy, and of whom hee is to expect many discommodities and iniuries: so also vnfaithfull is that soule, which of purpose and willingly giueth place vnto sinne, which Christ our Redeemer the true spouse of our souls hateth so deadly; which wrought him so many discōmodities, so many losses, so many torments, and for which, he was hanged naked vpon the Crosse. Wherfore heere it pleaseth and liketh mee well to imitate that regall Prophet and sweete singer of Israell, and saye: Create in me a cleane hart, ¹¹ ô God, and renue a right spirit within mee.

Wee sayd that the second reason why sinne was to be eschewed,¹² is, because it maketh merry our auntient enemy the deuill: which is gathered by three signes and tokens. The first is, because hee seeketh for nothing in the whole world so industriously: he hunteth not after gold, nor siluer, nor precious stones, but after soules, as it is figured in Genesis, where the King of Sodome sayth in the person of the deuill; Giue mee the soules, ¹³ and take the goods to thy selfe. Saint Gregory affirmeth the same thing:¹⁴ Perswade thy selfe, that the deuill seeketh for none other thing, then to deceaue and destroy soules:¹⁵ for as an Hawke desireth nothing so much, as the hart of that bird, which he pursueth: so the deuill desireth nothing so much as the soule of a sinner.

The second signe, whereby we know that the deuill doth loue sin is the continuall temptation, by which he impugneth and molesteth men, neyther is euer wearied in solliciting man vnto sinne. For there are almost nowe past sixe thousand yeares, in all which time hee hath onely applied himselfe to this study, that he might sinne, and make man to sinne: neyther is he tyred, yea hee daily findeth and inuenteth newe kinds of sinne, hee is still nimbler and busier in his endeuors and temptations, & daily bringeth men into new errours, as wee see in the booke of Iob. For when as God asked him, whence he came? he aunswered: From compassing the earth to and fro, ¹⁶ and from walking in it. Hee is so busied in preferring sinne, that he hath not time to take any rest, as Iob testifieth: They that pierce me through, ¹⁷ saith he, doe not sleepe.

The third signe, that sinne pleaseth the deuill, is, that hee can neuer be satisfied with sin. For although infinit thousands of men haue descended to hell for their impiety and pollution of sinne, of whom the deuill is the ringleader, yet he is not satisfied, but alwayes hungerly, Like a roaring Lyon walketh about, ¹⁸ seeking whom hee may deuoure, as Saint Peter testifieth in his first Epistle generall. He so hungreth and thirsteth, as it is sayd in the booke of Iob, that he drinketh vp the riuer, ¹⁹ and hasteth not: and hee trusteth that hee can draw vp Iorden into his mouth. His mouth is hell, and the riuer that runneth into his hellish mouth are sinners, who with great celerity, as swift riuers, hast into his iawes, whom hee swalloweth vp with great thirst and desire. It is reported in the lifes of the Fathers, that the Prince of deuils did commend and honour one of his traine; yea, commaunded him to sitte in his chayre of estate crowned, because hee had brought a certayne religious man to the sinne of luxurie, whom hee had beene enticing fourty yeeres, and could not bring him to nibble or byte at his bayte.

Therefore mourne and lament ô sinfull soule, verie bitterlie, seeing thou hast so often reioyced thy mortall enemies, by sinning so mortallie to thy greate losse and daunger, and in steede thereof yeeld repentance, and a pure conuersion of heart vnto God, that God and his Angells may in like manner reioyce. For there is ioy in the presence of the Angels of God, ²⁰ for one sinner that conuerteth.

The third principall reason,²¹ for which sinne is to be eschewed, is the great dammage we reape by it. For first by sinne wee are estranged from God, and made his enemies. This is that, which Esay saith: Your iniquities haue seperated betweene you and your God, ²² and your sinnes haue hid his face from you, that he will not heare. If all the blessed Cittizens of that heauenly Country could either sinne, or would sinne, they should fall from heauen into the bottomles depth of hell, and should vtterly loose the amity and friendship, which they haue with God. Heere-vpon Augustine saith:²³ If thy faythfull friend offend thee, thou thinkest him woorthy to be reprehended: howe much more worthy art thou to be blamed, if thou sinnest against almighty God, thy most gracious and mercifull Father?

Secondly, sinne maketh his Author guilty of infernall torments. And because the diuine law doth not much differ from humaine constitutions, that which mans lawe doth to the body, the same Gods lawe inflicteth vpon the soule. Therfore mark how the law of man maketh the transgressor of the Kings commaundement, and the contemner of his royall Maiesty guilty of death; as it is written in Ezra, where it is remembred that King Darius, when he had promulgated his decree as concerning the reedifying of the temple at Ierusalem, added at the end of his letter Pattens: I haue made a decree: ²⁴ That who soeuer shall alter this sentence, the wood shall be pulled downe from his house, and shall be set vp, and he shall be hanged thereon, and his house shall be made a dunghill for this. This wood is our owne consciences. Wee haue the lyke example in Ester,²⁵ where Assuerus commaunded Haman to be hanged. This is the sentence of GOD, which he will pronounce at the last day agaynst them, who shall bee found to haue liued in theyr sinnes; let them be hanged vp in hell.

The third losse is, sinne spoileth man in this lyfe of all spirituall graces, and in the world to come of euerlasting glory: wherefore Salomon saith: Sin maketh men miserable. ²⁶ Neither is a sinner onely miserable, because hee hath not; but also because hee hath lost himselfe, and his liberty: he maketh himselfe the deuills slaue and captiue, neyther can he make any spyrituall gayne, nor doe any thing in this state acceptable vnto God. Neither doth hee liue, albeit his body breath a little.²⁷ For a wicked man, as sayth Boethius, is not aliue, but dead: for by sinne hee hath seperated him-selfe from the light; and is blind. The same testifieth Sophonias:²⁸ They shal walke, sayth hee, as blinde men, because they haue sinned agaynst the Lorde. And Dauid sayth: They haue not knowne nor vnderstoode: ²⁹ they walke in darknesse, all the foundations of the earth are out of square.

Esay in the person of sinners dooth more elegantly set them out in their colours:³⁰ We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as one without eyes: wee stumble at the noone day as in the twilight: we are in solitary places, as dead men. Sinne is the same in the soule,³¹ that rottennes is in an apple: for as that doth corrupt the tast, smell, colour, and the whole beauty of the apple: so sinne doth rob the soule of the dignity of grace, of the report of a good name, and of the comlines of all her beauty. For this cause Esay doth compare sinners to the mire of the streetes.³² Augustine also affirmeth, that a dead dogg doth not stink so filthily in the nosethrils of men, as a sinfull soule doth before God and his Angels. ³³ And the same Father in a certaine Sermon desirous to call a man from the way of sinners, saith: What doth it profit thee, if all thinges be good in thine house, and thou thy selfe be not good? Tell mee, I pray thee, why wouldest thou haue any euil or naughtines in thine actions, thoughts, or desires? & wouldest not haue naughty graine; nor an euill tree, but a good one, a good horse, a good seruant, a good friend, a good child, & a good wife? But why doe I remēber these great matters, when thou wilt not haue a ragged, but a whole garmēt, & to be briefe a good shooe, and not one that is torn? Or tel me of any thing, that thou wishest for, which is naught, or that thou desirest any thing, which is not good? I thinke that thou wouldest not haue a ruinous house, but a good house: and wilt thou onely haue an euill soule? Wherein hast thou offended thy selfe? In what hast thou deserued ill of thy selfe? Wilt thou not haue anie thing euill among thy good things, but only thy selfe? Prefer I pray thee thy life before thy shooes.

All thinges that are obuious vnto thine eies are good, beautifull, and elegant, and thou louest them, and art delighted in them, and howe can it be, that thou thy selfe wilt be euill, vile, impure, and abiect? If all thinges, that are in thine house could speak, they would crie aloude, and say: If thou desirest that wee should bee good, wee also desire a good Maister: and they would exclayme against thee vnto God, and say; O good God, thou hast giuen vnto this man so manie good thinges, and so much wealth, when as hee himselfe is wicked and euill, what doe those thinges profitte hym, which hee hath, when as his vnderstanding is blinded, and he possesseth not the Lord, that bestowed these things vpon him?

The fourth dammage is, that sinne maketh a man a brute beast.³⁴ Therefore Boethius sayth: If thou takest goodnesse from a good man hee shall bee a beast. And Aristotle sayth in his Ethicks, that such a man is worse then a beast. Neyther dooth the holie Scripture dissent from them,³⁵ when it sayth: Man beeing in honour, hath no vnderstanding: but is compared vnthe beasts that perrish.

The fift dammage is, that sin maketh a man the child & seruant of the deuil: hence is that of Iohn:³⁶ He that committeth sin, is of the deuill. And our Lord saith in the Gospell: Yee are of your father the deuill. ³⁷ Therfore ô thou sinner howe vnhappy art thou, that feelest so great losses and dammages? take pitty therefore on thine owne soule, and doe not burden and loade it with sinnes.

These things being thus, remember ô man, and acknowledge these three mayne and huge mischiefes, which sinne bringeth vnto thee, that is, the offending of God, the reioycing of the deuill, and infernall torments. Consider furthermore the noblenes of thy soul, and howe daungerous thy wounds be, which could not be healed but onely by the blood, and woundes of the Sonne of God. Vnlesse the wounds of thy soule had been euerlastingly mortall and deadly, the Son of God, had not died for them. Therefore doe not sleightly prize or lightly weigh the concupiscences of thy soule, which that same supreame Maiesty of God did so greatly and highly account of. Hee aboundantly poured out teares for thee, euery night wash thou thy bed with teares, & water thy couch with continuall contrition. He shed his blood for thee: shed also thine by the daily affliction of thine hart, and continuall tribulation of thy spirit. Doe not regard what thy body desireth, but respect what thy soule willeth: for Saint Gregory sayth: where the body liueth a while in delights, there the soule is tortured with perpetuall torments. And by how much the body is afflicted in this life, by so much the spirit reioyceth in the other. Therefore Saint Augustine admonisheth vs very well: Let vs denie our owne wills for Iesus Christ: for they must once be forsaken: neither doth it please God that for temporall things we should loose eternall blessings. If thou wast permitted certayne yeares to liue in the delights of this flesh, with this cōdition, that afterwards thine eyes should be plucked out, or that thou being depriued of all delicates, shouldest most miserably perrish through hunger and thirst, and wretchedly contend with famine, affliction, & misery, I perswade my self, that thou wouldest neuer wish for such manner of delicats. What I pray thee is this life? In truth it is not the space of one moneth; what doe I say of a moneth? Nay, it is not the space of one houre, not of a minute, no not of a moment, if it bee compared to that eternall beatitude, or to those torments of hell, which haue none ende, and lyke which none can bee thought of.

1, Iohn, 3. ↩
Sinne is to be eschewed for three things. ↩
Iob. 7. ↩
Apoc. 2. ↩
Esay, 53. ↩
Ibidem. ↩
God plagueth and punisheth sinne euery where. ↩
Micah. 7. ↩
A Simily. ↩
A Simily. ↩
Psal. 51. ↩
Sinne maketh the deuil merry. ↩
Gen. 14. ↩
Gregory. ↩
A Simily. ↩
Iob, 1. ↩
Iob, 30. ↩
1, Pet. 5. ↩
Iob, 40. ↩
Luke, 15. ↩
The dammage and hurt that comes to the soule by sinne. ↩
Esay. 59. ↩
Augustine. ↩
Ezra. 6. ↩
Ester, 7. ↩
Prou. 19. ↩
Lib. 3. de consol. Philoso. cap. 1. ↩
Soph. 2. ↩
Psal. 21. ↩
Esay, 59. ↩
A simily. ↩
Esay, 10. ↩
August. Ser. 144. de tempt. ↩
Lib. 4. de consola. Philos. ↩
Psal. 49. ↩
1, Iohn, 3. ↩
Iohn, 8. ↩

Chapter 4 of 12

The second Meditation for Tuesday: of sin, and what discommodities come by it

Footnotes