Beams of divine light breaking forth from several places of holy Scripture, as they…Beames of divine light breaking forth from severall places of holy Scripture, as they…

⁴In the next place, consider that that follows this thraldom and baseness to our lusts:¹ there is a double fruit of it. The one, is uncertain: I mean, for our yielding to our base affections, what get we? The pleasures of sin for a season, a little pleasure, or profit, perhaps not that neither: but if we have it, it is a fading commodity, that goes away quickly; when they are gotten, what are they? vanity; they promise more before we get them, then they perform when we have them. But then, there is another wages, that God in justice hath appointed for it, that is damnation; The wages of sin is death: it cries for wages. When we are under sin we can look for nothing but death; and therefore he joins them together here; the law of sin, and of death; an expectation of eternal misery. This a man hath that is wedded to himself, that hath not learned the first lesson in the Gospel, to deny himself; he is a wretched slave to the Devil, in his best part, and power; his lusts imprison his will and affections; his wit, that should devise how he should be happy for for eternity, it is only a drudge to his base lusts. There are a company of men, that are the shame, and blemish of the Gospel, that set their wits a work only how to devise to ⟨p. 17⟩satisfy their base lusts; and then the issue and conclusion of all this, is eternal misery; and in the mean time, the expectation of misery in terrors of conscience. This is the estate of every man, till he be translated by the Spirit of God to a better condition in Christ, that he spends out his time in a base and miserable thraldom, worse then the thraldom of the Israelites in Egypt, or in Babylon.

⁴In the next place, consider that that followes this thraldome and basenesse to our lusts:¹ there is a double fruite of it. The one, is uncertaine: I meane, for our yeelding to our base affections, what get we? The pleasures of sinne for a season, a little pleasure, or profit, perhaps not that neither: but if we have it, it is a fading commodity, that goes away quickly; when they are gotten, what are they? vanity; they promise more before we get them, then they performe when we have them. But then, there is another wages, that God in justice hath appointed for it, that is damnation; The wages of sinne is death: it cries for wages. When we are under sinne we can looke for nothing but death; and therefore he joyns them together here; the law of sin, and of death; an expectation of eternall misery. This a man hath that is wedded to himselfe, that hath not learned the first lesson in the Gospel, to deny himselfe; he is a wretched slave to the Devill, in his best part, and power; his lusts imprison his will and affections; his wit, that should devise how hee should be happy for for eternitie, it is onely a drudge to his base lusts. There are a company of men, that are the shame, and blemish of the Gospel, that set their wits a worke onely how to devise to