The sermons of Master Henry Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…The sermons of Maister Henrie Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…

Now to speak of them, I will begin where the vices begin, and as I point them out unto you, so I pray you to slay them, as if you had marshal law in your hands to put them to death. By this narration the Apostle showeth the chain of sin, how one sin will draw on another after it, for no sin is so base, that it will go alone, wherefore resist all sins or none, for if you entertain one sin, it will presently draw another after it, and so the whole house will be full of thieves, as Gehezi his pride made him to lye, and Adams fall made him to excuse himself, & Peters denial ⟨p. 347⟩made him swear, and after his swearing, made him curse himself, &c. for the sinner cannot stay after he hath committed one sin, to commit another, nor till he hath come to the bottom, even to the bottom of hell. If I should stand to anatomize and paint out all vices in their kind, I should crave a longer time than is allotted to me, therefore I will briefly touch them.

Now to speake of them, I wil begin where the vices begin, and as I point them out vnto you, so I pray you to slay them, as if you had marshall lawe in your handes to put them to death. By this narration the Apostle sheweth the chaine of sinne, how one sinne will draw on another after it, for no sinne is so base, that it will goe alone, wherefore resist all sinnes or none, for if you entertaine one sinne, it will presently drawe another after it, and so the whole house will be full of theeues, as Gehezi his pride made him to lye, and Adams fall made him to excuse himselfe, & Peters deniall ⟨p. 347⟩made him sweare, and after his swearing, made him curse himselfe, &c. for the sinner cannot staie after he hath committed one sin, to commit another, nor till hee hath come to the bottome, euen to the bottome of hell. If I should stand to anatomize and paint out all vices in their kinde, I should craue a longer time than is allotted to mee, therefore I will briefly touch them.

As huge as the sea is, yet one may taste the saltness of it in a drop, so in one sin you may see how ill favoured all the rest be, for there is no sin but weakeneth the body, shorteneth the life, corrupteth and consumeth the goods, preventeth grace, and maketh us odious to GOD and to Angels. You are given to hate your enemies, these are they, therefore hate them: they keep you from repentance, least you should be saved, wherefore I will show you what is in this box, lest the same go to your eyes and so blind you.