* Luk. 1. 38. ancilla domini Behold the hand-maid of the Lord nay more yet he that was Lord of all became a servant So by Gods own compellation Esay 53. 11. So by his owne profession 4. Matth. 20. 28. and no more in the worlds estimation Philip. 2. 7. enough it is for any man to be reckoned amongst these worthies to be of Gods familie in any Relation but God thinkes it not enough for his Love It is not therefore My servant but My Sonne We that were unworthy to be accounted servants he hath advanced to the honour of Sonnes Not My Servant therefore but My Sonne Nay not my friend this priviledge had Abraham the father of the faithfull Ja. 2. 23. for his faith And the same is promised to Christs disciples upon condition of their obedience Jo. 15. 14. And a great prerogative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laere Diog. do vita c. Ego sensi animam meam animam amici mei unam fuisse animam in duobus corporibus Ang. lib. conf 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ar. lib. 8. 1 th it is to be Gods friend for a friend is alter ego a second selfe and amicorum omnia communia all things are common amongst friends no comfort with-held no secret hid from a friend * Gen. 18. 17. Pet. 1. 4. yet it is not my freind but My Sonne for Gods love which is infinite knows no bounds but extends to the highest degree of kindnesse and calls man now not my Servant not my Freind only but my Sonne To be of Gods Court his servant is much to be of his counsel his Friend is much more but to be partakers of the Divine nature the Sonne of God is most of all of this I may say as Elizabeth in a case not much unlike unde hoc mihi * Luk. 1. 43. whence is this to me that I should be called the Son of God But how the Sonne of God Or what Sonne doth God here meane Not his naturall Son so is none but Christ as God he is both Primogenitus and unigenitus his first-begotten and only-begotten of the same essence consubstantiall coaeternal and coaequal with the father begotten by an unspeakable Generation which we may adore cannot search out for who shall declare his Generation Esay 53. 8. Yea Christ as man by grace of hypostatical or personall union is after a speciall manner the Sonne of God so fore-told to be before he was so Luke 1. 32. That holy thing that shall be borne of thee shall be called the Sonne of God And so declar'd to be when he was so Matth. 3. 17. This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well-plea-sed And thus is none the Sonne of God but only he who both by nature and the union of his person is indeed the very Sonne of God Others there are whom holy Scripture hath honoured with this title Adam he was so by Creation the immediate Sonne of God for God was Father Mother God-Father made him produced him named him Luke 3. The Angels they are so made in Gods image and stiled his Sonnes Psal 89. 6. And so are Kings by Gods owne ordination and special appointment the Sonnes of God Psal 82. 6. I have said ye are Gods and all of you are Children of the most high This title thus taken is a singular prerogative peculiar to some special persons But here we will take it more generally as it is a common title given by God to all the faithfull My Sonne Not by naturall Generation for so is none but Christ as God Not by grace of personall union for so is none but Christ as man Not by immediate creation for so was Adam and the Angels only Nor by Divine Ordination for so are Kings and Princes only But by grace adoption every true beleever is truly the Son of God The faithfull by adoption are filij designati appointed by the Father for the Sons of God Through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus they are filii facti made the Sonnes of God And by the laver of regeneratiō they are filii signati sealed by the Spirit for the Sons of God They are first designed by the Father for heires Then really made and accepted by Christ for Coheyres And finally assured by the holy Ghost of an Inheritance undefiled that fadeth not away reserved for them in the heavens Gods Sonnes the faithfull are before they are so in the purpose of the Vosque si nondum natos jam tamen designatos filios jam credite Chrys Ser. 71. in orat dominum pag. 306. father but not so in his Delight they must declare their predestination by their conversation before they can be admitted into Gods familie there must concurre with the Fathers purpose the purchase of the Sonne and the purging of the holy Ghost when in the Sonne and by the Holy Ghost they are made such as the father purposed they should be then he takes delight in them and ownes them for his Sonnes and not before for it is not the fathers Adoption nor the Sons Redemption that can priviledge the faithfull from being by nature the children of wrath even as others Ephes 2. 3. without righteousnesse holines Innocencie and all right to glory meer carnal men and so by nature must still continue for that which is borne of the flesh is flesh there John 3. 6. must be a new birth they must be borne againe and so made new Creatures before they can become the Sonnes of God and here must not be left out the office of the holy Ghost for as the Sonne of God could not become the Sonne of man so neither can Luke 1. 35. the Sonnes of men become the Sonnes of God without the speciall office and operation of the holy Ghost Jo. 3. this cannot be the worke of flesh and blood which naturally produces it's like carnall and sinfull nor the worke of man for parentes peremptores our parents are our murtherers wee derive from them the contagion of sinne * and Non imitatione sed propagatione with sin an Obligation to eternall death and so saith Saint Austin wee are damnati antequam nati dead in sinne before alive in the world Mans freedome from this wretched condition and translation into the glorious libertie of the Sonnes of God is a worke of Grace Gods entire worke so Saint James Of his owne will Tit. 3. 6. Verbum adveniens aqua dat ei virtutem abluendi Aq. in locum Austin begate he us with the word of Truth cap. 1. 18. with the washing of water by the Word so Saint Paul Eph. 5. 26. Accedit verbum ad elementum fit Sacramentum by the power of the word the Element is made a Sacrament And that water whose common use was to wash the bodie from filth now serves for a holy use to clense the soule from sin to this use God hath ordained it and his Spirit
know that not here but in heaven where their Father is their inheritance is there must their hope be fixed on that their care placed and for these temporall blessings they must cast their care upon God and depend upon his fatherly providence who knows their wants and will supplie them your heavenly Father knoweth whereof you have need saith Christ and Matth. 6. you know it is enough for a father that is of abilitie such an one as is our heavenly Father to know the wants of his Children his owne goodnesse will supplie whatsoever is needfull or convenient It is not then against the honestie and it may well agree with the pietie of a Father such an one as God to owne a wretched if a contrite sinner for his beloved Sonne But all this while this Title seems to determine the Relation to one Sex seems but doth not for God who of the woman requires the dutie will his Justice permit her to be excluded from the Dignitie certainly no! the word is not to be restrained to the sex but extended to so many of the whole kind as truly beleeve whether they be male or female for God is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he maks no difference of sexes ages nations professions degrees estates or conditions of men but he that is Lord of all is rich unto all that call upon him male and female Jew and Gentile young and old rich and poore prince and people bond and free if true beleevers he ownes them all without difference for his Children And yet there is a difference amongst them both in respect of Gods grace towards them and his grace in them they are all beloved but not equally and that Gods grace and favour is more to this then that man is not from Gods final intention which is equall and alike to all his chosen Salvation and Happinesse but as men are said to love more where they conferre more and to favour most where they receive most so God in regard of some outward expressions of love and favour is said to love one more then another and in regard of mens apprehension to some having a greater sense and feeling of his love and favour then others And for his grace that is in them whether for the qualification of their persons or salvation of their soules If wee speake of the former some are better fitted and enabled for the execution of such offices and duties wherewith by their callings they stand charged wherein he that is most faithfull is most highly favoured If we speake of the latter the more grace God worketh in them the more gracious hee is said to be towards them and so the stronger their faith the ferventer their love the more unfained their repentance the more universall their obedience the more sincere their conscience the greater his love unto them the more he is delighted in them and such as in his love he hath gifted above their fellows he usually honoreth above their fellows and according to the excellency of their graces is the eminencie of their places And therefore though all the faithfull be Gods sonnes and in relation to him brethren and he the common Father of all yet for all this it will not become an inferior to affront his superior with a jam sumus ergo pares haile fellow well met for his communitie overthrows not that difference which nature civilitie and Gods owne ordinance hath made betwixt man and woman and one man and another nor will either state or Church or private families admit so absurd a paritie To lay all level no principalitie in the state no Prelacie in the Church no command in families were to ruine all an inconvenience which the seasonable fore-sight of Almightie God hath by his owne blessed Ordinance prevented nor did Christ at his comming unto whom God committed all rule and all Authoritie and Power divest the Princes of the world of that Regal and Soveraigne power wherewith God Per fidem Christi non tollitur or do justitiae sed magis firmatur Aq. prima secundae qu. 104. Art 6 conc hath invested them he abolished it not established it rather And thus though all men be alike in the first Adam made of the same mould And all the faithfull alike in the second Adam the Sonnes of God Yet the Lord for the singular benefit of mankind hath distinguished How son ser hab Oxon. 1602. them in great knowledge and made their wayes and reputations divers some of them he hath blessed and exalted as Kings and Princes Some he hath sanctified and appropriated to himselfe as Priests and Prophets Some he advanceth above their brethren and makes their fathers children bow downe before them and others hee leaves in the common rancke some he hath laden with honours wealth promotions and dignities and others he hath bestowed in meaner callings thus wisely hath God ordered the estate of this present world with the connexion of such variety of parts begetting a harmonie and bringing a perfect soundnesse and sweetnesse to the whole body Where all the strings are of one sound there is no musicke where all the members are alike there is no body but a bulke and even so there is nothing but discord and deformitie where there are not differences of degrees estates and callings of men and where God hath put a difference let man doe so too that mans estimation concurring with Gods ordination every man may be honored and respected according to his place and dignitie The stones in a building are not all of one syze The vessels in an house not proportioned all for one use The members of the body are not all of one fashion or for one office There are many stones in a building many vessels in one house many members in one body and in these many there is varietie not Identitie not many of the same but of divers syzes for divers uses of severall fashions for severall offices and this varietie of parts doth beget an unitie in the whole so we being many concludes St. Paul are one body and in a body composed of multiplicitie and varietie of parts there is more beautie greater safety and this not only in the natural Connexio totius corporis unam sanitatem unam pulchri tudinem Tacit. Leo. Ep. 8. cap. 11. body which is man but in the politicke body the state and in the mysticall body the Church beautified and strengthened with the severall offices orders degrees and callings of men diversly qualified making a distinction amongst men of the same Christian profession for a communitie of Religion induces not a confusion into Christian common wealths but confirmes them rather in peace and good order enjoyning every one by an Apostolical Canon 1. Cor. 7. 20. to abide in that calling wherein he is called propounding no new but perswading a more conscionable use of the old * and if there See Luke cap. 3. verse 10 11 12 13. be any that
a most beautifull Chappell a continuall and visible memento to put you in mind of your daily dutie to the God of heaven And let it not be thought presumption in me that to these I have added this as a helpe to your Devotion and to this mine uncessant prayers for the prospering of your good beginnings And for the welfare and everlasting happinesse of your selfe your vertuous good Lady and whole familie shall never be wanting the hearty desires of Your Worships in the service of CHRIST sincerely devoted JAMES BARKER THE CHRISTIAN SACRIFICE PROVERBS 23. 26. My Sonne give me thine heart THe text is briefe the words few but full * Stilo brevis doctrina uberior c Sal. in Ep. Euch. episscopo for many words need not amongst friends friends in that neer Relation as Father and Sonne the title of Father imports Pauca sunt quae mandat sed salutaria c. Tim. ad ecclesiam cath Authoritie the name of Sonne Obedience and where there is Authoritie and Veleitie Power to command and will to Obey it is but command and it is done but this is an intreatie no command and it cannot be that a father who hath power to command should entreat a Sonne and be said nay this is the easiest request that can be made My Sonne give me thine heart and yet the hardest suite that can be granted for he that gives his Heart gives himselfe and all hee * Aq. prima secundae q. 17. art 9. arg 1. Idem prima secundae q. 38. art 5. resp 3. hath And now whilst God calls for the heart let me intreat the eare your patience and attention that what I shall speak passing from the eare to the heart may set it in a right temper to God-ward may fit and dispose it for such a sacrifice as God accepteth all other Sacrifices without Non bove mactato Caelestia numin a gaudent Ovid. Ep. 19. this are in vaine there is none Gods delight but the heart that he craves My sonne give me thine Heart The words are Salomons and Salomon here speakes not in his owne name but in Gods God by him calls us sonnes and he for God requires our Hearts It is God that confers the Dignitie and God that requires the Dutie and he doth it in the sweetest termes of Relation he comes in love and speaks in the language of a Father My sonne give me thine heart My Sonne saith God and in saying so he teacheth us what we should say for God in suing to us calling us his Sonnes teacheth us in praying to him to call him Our Father and this should serve as a common Rule to all that none in any case dare to approach into Gods presence or mention him without the Addition of his just Titles Reverence and Humilitie best pleases him and becomes us In some cases he admittes Boldnesse in any case detestes Rudenesse at the least aford him what he vouchsafeth us titles of Respect seeing wee are taught to call him Our Father because he calleth us his sonnes My sonne saith God here is his Interest Give me thy heart there is his Request And hard it were that a father should not speed when he entreats his Sonne whatsoever his suit be the Request is reasonable and unreasonable yea more unnaturall were that Sonne to denie that Father any thing to whom he owes all Indeed he were too facile that would entrust his Heart with every one It uses not to be communicated appropriated for the most part to some one or two and those dearest friends for carefull a man is to whom he imparts his heart but from a Father such a one as God nothing should bee with-held that he would have thou must render up when he requests My Sonne give me thine heart This is Gods suite to Man and he preferres his suite by way of Petition and to the Petition he addes a Preface The Preface is a gentle compellation My sonne the Tenour of the Petition Give me thine heart And yet to call this a Petition is not so kindly a Terme a Father to petition his Son Is it not a Precept rather jubet non orat pater the stile of a father is Imperative not optative and the Father that speakes here is in the same moode Biddes but Beseeches too The law that was imperative only presented God unto us as a Lord the Gospel is more mild gentle reveals him as a father when our Lord became our Father then was the rigour turned into Love and in love there is a majestie as well as sweetnesse which not only allures but awes us If still therefore wee call this a Petition it derogates nothing from Gods Authoritie his Petition hath the force of a precept and acquaints us with our dutie as well as his desire call it then still a Petition or what else you will please to call it you shall find it hath a double aspect to God and to Man As it Relates to God it points out his love and Authoritie His Love in owning us for his Sonnes His Authoritie in vouchsafing to become Our Father As it Relates to man it points out his Dignitie his Dutie His Dignitie to be the Sonne of God His Dutie to do what becomes Gods Sonne His Love hath exalted us to the dignity of Sons His Authoritie calles for the Dutie of Sonnes And no share shall we have in the Dignitie except we performe the Dutie our Dutie it is to give God our hearts and then he will give us the Dignitie to become his Sonnes First My Sonne It had not beene much to be called Sonne had not God vouchsafed to become the Father Sonne is but an usuall and ordinary complement of a superior to his inferior Sonne saith Abraham to Dives in Hell But My Sonne comes from the bowels of a Father and a title of great Dignitie it is when God speaks it My Sonne saith God and in saying so he expresses his love and commends our Dignitie Saint John would have all to note this and therefore markes it out with an Ecce 1. John 3. 1. Behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the sonnes of God It is his love his free and unmerited love that hath thus exalted us It is the Lords doing and it is marveilous in our eyes marveilous indeed for a wretched man to become Gods sonne had it been My servant it had beene honour enough for man the greatest Saints were ambitious of no greater title there is Abraham his Servant and Moses his Servant Psal 105. and David in the 116. Psalme ingeminates the title as if he were delighted with it and tooke pleasure to repeat it O Lord saith he truly I am thy servant thy servant and the Sonne of thine hand-maid nay the blessed Virgin who had the honor to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God yet her humilitie lookes no higher then a servant ecce
accompanies his owne Ordinance which whilst the eye is fixed upon the signe the water carries the minde to the consideration and so on in a sweet meditation of the thing signified the blood of Christ by that the Baptist washes the bodie with this the holy Ghost clenseth the soule and this cleansing is a changing also persona tingitur natura mutatur Euseb Emissen de Ep. Hom. 3. and this purgation by the blood of Christ is a preparation for the grace of Christ which upon is infused into the soule so St. Cyprian in expiatum pectus purum desuper se lumen infundit and being then Cyp. lib. 2. ep secunda Donato pag. 69. circa sinem infused it giveth to the powers of the soule their first disposition unto newnesse of life which by frequent acts of vertue is wrought into a habit and so is Christ formed in us tantae molis erat such a do there was this blood and sweat it cost to Redeeme man from slavery and bondage to repaire the decayes of nature to recover the lost heritage and to restore to the Father his lost Sonne And now brethren you see your calling how the sons of Adam are made the sonnes of God here 's an Alteration which the spirituall eye may easily discover First here is a change of our estate and condition when we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the blood of his sonne who by his death overcame death which we had deserved suffered for sinne which we had committed fulfilled Gods law which we had violated satisfied his justice which we had offended appeased his wrath which we had kindled recovered his favor and made our peace and by this means we that were by nature children of wrath by that Grace and favour which Christ hath obtained for us at Gods hands are taken in to be the sonnes of God for so well pleased was he with the obedience of the naturall sonne that for his sake and at his intercession he is pleased to accept us for his sonnes thus Christ became our baile and surety undertooke for us and humbled himselfe to the meanesse of a servant that we might be advanced to the estate of sonnes And that our nature may be fit for that estate there 's a change of that too the change of our estate is ascribed to the Credulitas quae deum spiritum proclamavit de carnis substantia mortali in vitalem spiritus sustantium vos mutavit Chrysol ser 71. 2 Pet. 14. Est in locū riches of Christs merit but this of our nature to the grace of his holy spirit this change is not in substance but in quality and so in quality though not in substance the spirit of God altereth our nature conformes us to the Image of Christ and makes us partakers of the divine nature but mistake not St. Peter for by nature he understands not the essence of God which is appropriated onely to the Trinity of persons and communicated to no man but the divine Attributes of wisdome justice holinesse truth glory and immortallity and in these we have fellowship with the Father and with his sonne Jesus Christ and so are made wise righteous holy mercifull immortal and glorious like God in respect of the qualities not equality our vertues being but a ray of his Son a sparke of his eternall Aq. in 2 Pet. 13. fire a participation of his fulnesse he being an inexhaustible fountaine of grace and goodnesse filleth our frayle vessels secundum modulum nostrum according to their capacity see that what soever grace the holy Ghost effectually worketh in us it is first originally in God and is made ours either by imputation or infusion our nature is corrupt I know that in me saith St. Paul Ro. 7. 18. dwelleth no good thing mans goodnes is not inherent but either impured or imparted and so when God is pleased to participate unto us his own goodnesse there is a change wrought in our nature new light is put into our minds new desires into our affections new obedience into our wils and a sweet conformity into all our actions in this renovation there is no destruction but a conversion no subversion of the old substance but a generation of new qualityes there still remaines the same subject and this alteration of our nature is a transformatiō not a transubstantiaton To this new man there is not wanting a new name and names are given to expresse the nature of things now no name can so fully and so fitly notifie him who is made partaker of the divine nature adopted to the inheritance of glory and immortality in the kingdome of heaven as this of Gods son here then is a change of our names too there are no more termes of hostility between God and man the enmity is now abolished and all such names as carrie in them sorrow shame and misery are done away and a new name that imports comfort glory and felicity is imposed and now we are no more enemies but sonnes now surely this is good newes to heare the father hath found his lost sonne an Angell is not an able and sufficient messenger God him-himselfe bowes the heavens and comes downe ecce novum behold a new thing upon earth Esay 43. 19. This is novum and inauditum a thing never heard of before God in the flesh revealed it heaven and earth God and man reconciled good tidings Blessed be the peace maker God and man made friends good news welcome be he whosoever brings it his lips are gracious and his feet beautifull whose heart doth not leape for joy to heare himselfe by the everlasting Father called my Sonne And this new name must be attended with a Chrys ser 68. in ora Domi. new life qui Dei filium credit actu vita moribus honestate tanto generi respondeat they that professe themselves the Sons of God must be answerable to such honorable compellations this is a high and a heavenly calling and our conversation must be suitable to our calling nec degeneret Cyp. ser 5. de ora Domi. actus noster a spiritu ut qui coelestes spirituales esse caepimus non nisi spiritualia coelestia cogitemus agamus we must looke unto the Rock from whence wee are hewne and beware we degenerate not from that Royall family where into we are admitted but we who call God our Father should be blamelesse and harmelesse the sonnes of God without rebuke Phil. 2. 15. a godly name and a wicked life agree not sinners are hardened and God dishonoured when he that is called a sonne of God behaves himselfe as a servant of sinne it is very fit that every sonne of God should imitate his Matth. 11. heavenly father or if he desire a patern neerer hand let him learn of his elder brother discite à me saith Christ learne of me Frame your lives to his rule and they wil acquit you convince men
and please God whilest he sees his name honored in your conversation their conviction Old things are past behold all things are become new new estate new nature new name new life Estate happy the merit of Christ hath purchased that nature holy the spirit of Christ hath sanctified that name heavenly the love of God hath bestowed that life godly the grace of God hath wrought that happy estate holy nature heavenly name godly life man is now a sonne by grace not unworthy to be own'd of so great a Prolis tanto non in ficienda parenti Father At length I have brought you to the height of Gods love and Mans Dignity Gods Love never so Et quidem deitatis erga nos dignatio tanta est ut scire nequeat quid potissimum imitari debeat creatura utrum quod Deus ad nostram deposuit servit utem an quod nos ad suae divinitatis rapuit dignit at em Pet. Chrys ser 72. manifest as in making us his sonnes the utmost we could hope for was pardon not for preferment but to debase the naturall sonne in making him like us that he might honor us in making us like him is love without measure which we are as unable to conceive as we are unworthy to receive the expression is too meane and low to say it was paternall a it Et sicut omnem ut scriptum est paternitatem in Coelo in terris a scipso volvit nominari fic a nobis patris in se affectum voluit cognosci quid dicam patris imo potius plus quam patris a Sal. di guber dei lib. 4. pag. 121 was more then mothers love and was what himselfe is infinit Man never so dignified who am I and what is my fathers house saith David that I should be Sonne in law to a King what is fraile man that he should be exalted to the dignitie of Gods son called to the hope and invested with some possession of eternall life what a happinesse is this above the rest of mankind who through ignorance and unbeliefe abide still in misery and I would to God he would perswade the hearts of all men to account this their chiefest honour to be Gods sons religion is and ever hath been the honor and safety too of kingdomes familyes and particular persons and this of Gods sonne preferred before the most glorious titles It was the Religious boast of the Emperor Theodosius malo esse membrum Aug. de civi dei l. 5. c. 26. eccelesiae quam caput imperij and in the most magnificent it is an addition to their honor to be Gods sonnes the greatest in the world is nothing if he be lesse the meanest is enough if he be so much and so much is every true beleever for to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sonnes of God even to them that believe on his name Jo. 1. 12. How is it then this priviledge is so sleighted and undervalued of many and carnall alliance and kindred so much stood upon by all men account their carnall pedegrees and if they can reckon a great man of their house how they glory in it whereas there is greater cause of boasting to be of Gods family then to be descended from the loynes of Princes for carnall affinity is but transitory it abideth not Kingdomes and families have their periods and in death there is a dissolution of al kindred after the flesh the mightiest man alive must one day say to corruption thou art my Father Job 17. 14 to the worme thou art my Mother and my Sister but our alliance here by faith death nor the grave hath no power over 1 Cor. 15. 55 and as it is begun on earth by grace in our adoption so shall it not be ended but perfected in heaven by glory in ful fruition when all the adopted sonnes shall be like the naturall sonne and their bodies made conformable to his glorious body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to Phil. 3. 21. subdue all things unto himselfe Many excellent things are spoken of you ye sons of God! but what man lives that dares challenge to himself this priviledg seeing every man is a sinner if a sinner no son for he that is borne of Ro. 3. 23. God sinneth not 1. Jo. 5. 18. how sinneth not sinneth not at all God never gave any such priviledge to the regenerate saith Oecumenius for the Oecumcinus in locū best of Gods Saints speakes in his own name and others If we say we have no sinne we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Wee sinne daily and hourely the best of us but the best of us sinne no otherwise 1 Jo. 1. then Gods children may sinne Not totally with a fulnesse of consent quasi ad peccatum vacantes but over come through infirmity with strength of tentation Nor finally ad mortem they sin not that is sin not untodeath that sin for which the holy Ghost hath said thou shalt not pray In all their sinnes there is still place left for their humiliation and Christs Intercession so still they are innocent from the great offence for although many lesser sins do passe them without their knowledge and many greater sinnes be committed with their knowledge yet in the escape of those lesse and the committing of these greater they are patients not Agents not obedient to the rule of sinne but overmastered by the rage of sinne here is St. Pauls case just Ro. 7. malum quod nolo facio they sinne unwillingly and their unwillingnesse to sinne will appeare in their heavinesse for sinne when the remembrance is grievous unto them the burden intolerable then is the waight not charged on them but laid upon him who hath satisfied Gods justice for it by bearing it on his owne body on the tree for whose sake lesser and unknowne sinnes charitate absconduntur are in charity covered and our greater and well known sins poenitentia abluuntur are by actuall and unfained Bernard repentance purged who then shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth thus the sons of God they are sinners and no sinners No sinners for being justified by faith they have not onely a plenary remission of all sinnes that are passed actually purchased by the blood of Jesus but also a preservation from sinnes to come effectually promised by the spirit of grace But sinners in regard of that inherent corruption which against their wils doth lead them captive into actuall transgressions For as there is semen gratiae a seed of grace in the regenerate which will not suffer them totally to sinne So also there is semen peccatia seed of sin which wil not suffer them wholy to be sanctified Christ by his death indeed hath wholy taken away both reatum suppliciun the guilt and eternal punishment of
sin but he hath not absolutely taken away but noly weakned Concupiscience the root seed of sin which though it be not as grace is an immortall seed 1 Pet. 1. 23. yet it is as graceis a remaining seed 1. Jo. 3. 9. rooted and growing in our nature It is not a condemning not a raigning but a remaining sinne abiding in our flesh and substance must have no place in our liking and affections and so it may sometimes somewhat lessen abate our comfort but can never destroy our happinesse whilest this body of sin is kept from raigning in our sinfull body and brought into subjection by the wholsome discipline of spirituall mortification and then this stimueles carnis this throne the flesh like a Serpent without a sting hath motum morsum non venenum It may stir and bite us cannot hurt nor kill us It may bruise our heele but we shall bruise it's head And thus though we be set in the middest of evill yet God withholdeth not his tender mercyes from us but his loving kindnesse and his truth continually preserveth us Psal 40. 11. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evill worke saith St. Paul and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdome 2 Tim. 4. 18. Sinne it makes no change in God it must in man Gods grace in man makes man to repent of his sinne against God Mans sinne against God makes not God Repent of his grace towards man 1 Man Repents for sinne and his repentance sendes him to the throne of grace to beg pardon for his sinne where we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sinnes 2 God repents not of his grace if man repent of his sinne wherefore that wee may continue in his favour we must come before him like the publican into the Temple with contrition in our heartes and like the lost sonne to his Father with confession in our mouths the Pharisie stood upon his justification the Christian must not confession is the way to absolution and thus although we offend God daily by our sinnes yet is he pleased againe by our repentance he repents not of his grace but is faithfull and just if we confesse he forgives True it is God will not connive at the errors of his children he will be angry with them for their offences as a father with his sonnes and in his anger visit their transgressions with the rod and their iniquities with scourges but can a Father forget can a Mother forget they may I will not saith God Esay 49. 15. he will not take away his loving kindnesse nor suffer his faithfulnesse to faile he hath sworne by his holinesse he will not the foundation of God standeth firme he changeth not but workes a change in man for sinne that his purpose according to election might stand * this is his purpose Ro. 9. 11. he hath declared by his promise he hath confirmed his promise by his word he hath strengthned his word by his Oath he hath sealed all these with the blood of his son he acknowledgeth this his seale by the witnesse of his spirit and his spirit assureth our spirit that notwithstanding our many fraylties we are still sonnes And this he doth not by immediate revelation but by an undeniable conclusion drawne from the revealed word For if when wee were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his sonne much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Ro. 5. 9. for he living to make intercession for us is able to preserve his own mercies in us Thus God against all opposition of sin and Sathan hath exalted us to the dignity of sonnes and if after this advancement through infirmity we fall into sinne shall we account our selves no sonnes because sinners If we be truly humbled for our sins hartily loath them desire to leave them constantly purpose to forsake them to sin no more If we bewail sins past beware of sinnes to come strive against present Corruptions and by humble confession seeke for absolution it argues we ar truely penitent where God sees true repentance he sees no sin By sin we go from God and then he disclames us but by repentance we come againe unto him and whensoever we returne he receives us When the prodigall said I will go unto my Father and say father I have sinned the father upbraides not his former Riot but entertains him as his son this my sonne was dead but is now alive though he had lost the duty of a sonne yet had not God lost the bowels of a Father he retained still his fatherly affection and delict a Ego perdidi quod erat filii ille qd patris est amisit Chry. s 2. 7 de filio prodigo idem ser 3. de filio prodigo 1 Pet. 4. 8. non videt vis amoris love doth cover a multitude of sinnes * it may stand therefore with the honor of a father such an one as God to own sinners for his sons provided they have sorrowed heartily for their sins and then with God they that have sorrowed are as if they had not sinned But may it stand with the piety of a father to leave his children in distresse and to expose them to want misery If God be their father where is his care over them his provision for them or can it be that the sonnes of the highest should not be so wel provided for as the fowles of the ayre and foxes of the field sometimes it so falleth out that God hath a strict hand over his own family concealing from them the good he intendeth to them and withholding from them these present blessings which in a plentifull measure he powreth into the lappes of the men of this world not that he neglecteth his owne whilest he thus regardeth others as if he had forgotten to be gracious and shut up his loving kindnesse in displeasure but by some troubles in this life to make their joyes more full with the assured hope of glory and happinesse in the life to come nor is he wanting to them in the things of this life whereof they have the promise and shall have the possession too when Psal 31. God sees it may be for their good so still as a loving father hee sorts their condition as may be most for their welfare sometimes straightning and sometimes enlarging his hand either in povertie or riches want or plentie sicknesse or health adversitie or prosperitie they have their share both in the evill and good things of this life to let them know that those present evils are not the greatest nor the goods of this life the chiefest but that there are evills to come more to be feared and future good things more to be desired in the patient expectation whereof they must be content to endure the want of some present good and the sense of some present evills It should suffice them to
poore of a contrite spirit and trembleth at his word It must be cor humanum thine heart O man Isay 66. 2. And is mans heart so pretious a Jewell that God should become a suitor for it Moses telleth us that Gen. 6 7. God seeth every imagination of mans heart that it is onely evill continually Jeremie saith that the heart is deceitfull above Jer. 17. 19. all things and desperately wicked who can know it Christ hath taught that out of the heart proceed Mat. 15. 19. evill thoughts murthers adulteris c. Shall such a heart be offered unto God or will the searcher of the heart accept of such an offering he is a God of purer eyes then to behold iniquity neither shall any Matth 5. wickednesse dwell with him our Saviour saith the pure in heart shal only see God take the Apostles Jam. 4. 8. counsell therefore and purifie the heart and that it may be purified deal with it as with gold melt it or if thou canst not melt it breake it for a broken and a contrite Ps 51. 17 heart O Lord thou wilt not despise It is you have heard cor hominis the heart of a man that must be offered but not the pharisaicall heart of the proud man full of hypocrisy nor the wanton heart of the lascivious man full of vanity nor the covetous heart of the worldly man full of iniquity nor the hereticall heart of the malitious man full of obstinacy but the contrite and broken heart of the penitent man full of humility ad hunc respiciam saith God to this man will I have regard Esay 66. 2. and to his offering But this tuum in my text looks neerer home and points out the owner here and the owner here is a sonne It is cor filii thine heart my Sonne and a sonnes heart is a loving and dutyfull heart the servant doth his duty aswell as the sonne but he for feare this for love that constrainedly this most willingly his obedience is not mercinary and arises from love not hire as the dog serves his Master pro osse offa for a bone and a bite but as a sonne his Father in reverence and love It is the loving and tender heart of a sonne that is here required thine heart my Sonne And first my son thine heart tuum that is proprium cor thine own in thine own power and in thine owne possession it must be thus thine If lent to vanity thou must recall it if bound to sin thou must release it if sold to Sathan thou must redeem it thine heart must be released from sinne recalled from vanity and Sathan dispossessed and then when it is purged and purified set at liberty and enlarged and so made thine when none other hath any interest in it or can lay any claim unto it but that it is thine own not enthralled to Sathans tentations not intangled in carnall lusts not distracted with worldly cares when it is no more the heart of a sinner but of a sonne then such it is as God would have thine own heart Againe thine heart my Sonne that is cor unicum simplix one single heart for one man hath but one heart Solomon tels us the fool hath none heart Prov. 17. 16. But David the Father of Salomon sets out the wicked with a heart and a heart Psal 12. 2. in Saint Hieroms translation with a double heart in our allowed translation the context tels us whom he meanes he that doth one thing and intendeth another saith one thing but thinketh another this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sent. Theog man the scripture cryes out upon voe duplici cordi nor will God have any thing to do with him the Prophet discovers him Psal 55. 21. by his faire tongue and false heart the words of his mouth are smoother then butter having warre in his heart Judas like he ushers in his treason with a kisse and like to Joab makes a smiling face and a friendly salute the prologue to a mortall stabbe the double hearted man is dangerous and uncertaine for when his mouth speakes safety his heart speakes ruine and there is one that understandes the language of the heart for that any man hath said in his heart that is hath entertained envious and malicious thoughts against the godly trecherous and rebellious thoughts against Church or State he must be answerable to God for these thoughts for even these thoughts come within the compasse of the lawes transgression of Gods law but not of mans mans law punishes onely the notorious Gods law takes notice of the heart And so God Psal 5. 9. knowes though men do not the thoughts of the heart that their inward parts are very wickednes albeit the mouth be muzled that it dare not speak it and the hands bound that they cannot effect it for when he speakes his thought it is ruine to the godly when shall he dye and his name perish Destruction to the Church down with it down with it even to the ground Desolation to the State come and let us make Hierusalem a heape of stones Thus the malicious or double-hearted man like Esay 5 8. Ps 36. 4. Ps 139. 3. the covetous would be alone upon the earth for mischiefe ever delights to be solitary never considering that God is about his bed and about his paths and espieth out all his wayes God understandeth his thoughts afarre off nor is there a word in his tongue but loe O Lord thou knowest it altogether God sees and abhorres to see a false Heart under a faire Simulata sanctitas duplex iniquitas tongue for this with God is a double sinne the Heart is his delight but it is simplex cor a single heart a Heart without guile and hypocrisie the faithfull are called Doves and innocencie and simplicity are the properties of a Dove and yet for protection from injurie for the prevention of evill and preservation of pietie It is best to take our Saviours counsell and joyne to the Doves Matth. 10. 16. heart the Serpents head for harmlesse simplicitie and Christian policy may well stand together for Christian policy is to true Religiō as sugar to fruit keeps preserves the sent taste and often causes that they who distaste them raw and uncompounded sweetly to relish them thus fairely ordered thy heart for God then and although it be Corsapiens let it be simplex a wise and warie but a single harmlesse heart and the good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God the Lord God of his fathers though he be not clensed according to the purification of the Sanctuary 2. Chron. 30. 19. Lastly here is one propertie more of the Heart it must be totum or integrum thy whole Heart like the true mother of 1 King 14. 8. 2 King 23. 25. 2 Chron. 22. 9. 2. Chron. 31. 21. the child his fatherly affection will not
admit a division It was the commendation of David Josiah Jehosophat and Hezekiah in the old Testament that they sought the Lord with all their heart and it is Christs commandement in the new Testament that we love him with all our Heart for to love God with all the Heart is in effect as much as to give him the Heart but not the whole heart there is something more in the heart then Love for Discretion Perception Consideration and Meditation are affirmed of the Heart And all these are acts of the understanding and God is said to blesse Solomon to give him an understanding heart 1. K. 3. 12. the Heart is said to be the seat ofwisdom so that God in calling for the heart requires the understanding to know him as well as the affections to love him and he hath not the whole heart except he have both I will not dispute whether of the two is more usefull for us or acceptable to him hee requires both we can lack neither nor can the one well subsist without the other and the heart is not perfect where either is wanting Knowledge begetteth Love Love encreaseth knowledge if knowledge preceed not it is a naturall instinct not Love for how can we love God before wee know him It is a true Rule Invisa diligere possumus incognit a nequaquam Aug. apud Amb. de spiera ser 15. ignoti nulla cupido no knowledge no love It is the knowledge of the worth of the object of our love that spurres on the affections the judgement of the understanding goes before and there followeth the election of the will that discernes this chooses the understanding by discourse examines the object and having found it utile jucundum right and good commends it to the will which readily embraceth it under those termes 1. Jo. 4. 7. and so the better wee know God the more we love him and the more we love him the better we know him Love and be wise then the Apostle makes use of one word to signifie both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 3. 2. by this manner of speech giving us to understand that our love to God must not be an irregular passion but a well ordered affection for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the word commeth signifieth the mind or understanding to teach us that our love must not be directly bolted out from the will but must passe by the understanding and have there allowance before it break forth therefore first you must labor to know God and that knowledge will reforme your love love him entirely and that love will inform your knowledge for knowledge without love is vaine knowledge 1 Cor. 8. 2. puffeth up it is love that edifieth had a man all knowledge if he have not love it is nothing 1 Cor. 13. 2 the holy Scripture advanceth it above its fellowes gives the preheminence to it determins all in it as the perfection of all vertues and it is love that moves them all to their proper Acts that maketh faith believe hope rely patience endure temperance abstaine humility submit Yea in love there are two passions desire and feare A desire to please God in all things A feare to offend him in any thing The feare to offend God begets an awfull reverence to his dreadfull name The desire to please him incites to a cheerfull obedience of his heavenly will and the triall of obedience is the performance of our duty the duty here enjoyned is Give God that gives all requires something not by way of requitall or compensation for so man hath nothing to render him for all his benefits but by way of thankfulnesse or gratulation and so it is fit very fit that some present be tendered and given to him that hath given all to us and loe what it is the heart that must be given My Sonne give me thine heart And shall we then call this donum and not debitum our free gift and not our bounden duty Is it not he that hath made us and not we our selves and so he may challenge our hearts as his owne jure creationis by the right of creation as the maker of them It is he that hath redeemed and bought us at a deare rate the life of his Sonne pretio empti estis magno saith St Paul and thus the heart it his jure redemptionis by right of purchase as the Saviour and redeemer of it Besides in Baptisme we devoted ourselves wholy to him and so jure pacti by right of sale or covenant the heart is his and yet he saith give as if it were ours whereas he may justly take it as his owne may but will not he that made thee without thee will not save thee without thee and though Salvation be the free gift of God and a worke of grace yet there must concurre the act of mans will who if he would be saved must worke out his owne Salvation with feare and trembling It is certaine God can by violence take the heart of man but he will have it freely given drawing by faire meanes the will of Qui fecit te sine te nō salvabit te sine te Aust the flesh into conformity to the law of the spirit But doth not he who here saith give in the 4 chapter of this book verse twenty three say keepe thy heart with all dilligence and how can a man do both give and keepe for by a gift there is transitus rei ad alium a thing is made over to another And yet in temporall things we know the same thing may be both given and kept when a man makes over his right to another retayning the use to himselfe for a time but God in this case wil admit of no such reservation nor wil he be content to accept of the heart in reversion he will have it in present the very actuall and reall possession and when once Hieroms trans the heart by faith and obedience is consecrated to God he bids keep it not from him but for him the word is serva * save it for him sell it not to another omni custodia serva with all manner of keepe with watching fasting praying with watching that Sathan with his tentations ensnare it not with fasting that the flesh with it's lusts entangle it not with praying that the world with it's cares distract it not and thus to keep it is absolutely to give it Or if thou wilt not absolutely give it yet da mutuò lend it God bring it to his house and let him have the use of it here It may be the pleasures of Gods house may so affect thine heart that what at first thou didst barely lend afterward thou wilt most cherefully give And even present thy selfe before thy heavenly Plautus in Tri. father with the sonne in the comedy pater adsum impera quod vis neque tibi ero in mora Father command me what thou wilt loe
here I am ready to do thy will and this the heavenly father kindly accepts from his Terent. in And. sonne and with the father in the comedy commendes him for it facis ut te decet cum isthoc quod postulo impero cum gratia Or if thou will not freely give yet lend it God whilest thou art here remember that God is in this place though you know it not and when you come into this place it is with intention to meete your God or else you might aswell keepe away and meet him you must not without your heart that is his Benjamin and his charge is like that of Joseph to his brethren Gen. 43. you shall not see my face except your brother be with you let not us have occasion to say unto you as Isaac to his father Gen. 22. 7. behold the fire and the wood but where is the Lambe for a burnt offering here are your bodyes your eares to heare your knees to bow your tongues to give praise and well it were if in this place these parts were so well disposed but where is the heart for a burnt offering Oh let not your hearts be in your fields in your houses in your shoppes in your coffers running after covetousnesse and vanity when your bodyes are in the Church let no coveteous voluptuous ambitious or malicious thoughts divert your heart from Gods service but lend him your harts whilst here you are Or if it will not be lent yet da pretio sell it him he is so taken with the heart that he will have it at any rate the blessings of this life that which is to come glory immortality yea if it cost the glorious kingdome of heaven the death of Gods naturall son stake but the heart take all Or if thou wilt not dare pretio sell it him nor give it him nor lend it him if neither the exhibition of present blessings nor the promise of future happines can win the heart to the reverence of Gods holy name nor'to the obedience of his heavenly will why then your blood will be upon your owne heads God hath done his part your destruction is from your selves he would but ye would not nay quoties voluit how often would he alluring by his mercyes perswading by his Ministers who in his name and in his stead do second Salomon in his suite for the heart My son give me c. And must God for all this go without the Heart for us it seemes he may but for his own names sake he will not for as he alone is the searcher and knower of the heart so he alone can rule it turne and alter it as it seemeth best to his godly wisdom yet he compels it not perswads it rather so winning are his perswasions that they have the force of a law the most Volunt as non cogit ur stony stout heart cannot stand out when he bids yeeld still it is not compulsion but perswasion monendo movendo with such motions monition he works upon it non compellendo sed suaviter inclinando not violently compelling but sweetly inclining it for when the stiffenesse and stubbornnesse of the Heart rejecteth kindnesse he works it by afflictions punisheth not in anger but in love and Rev. 3. 19. so his punishments are chastisements not judgements levamina non gravamina gracious not grievous or if for the present they be somewhat grievous as no affliction for the time is joyous yet in the event they are gracious working the Heart to Obedience conforming it to Gods will and making it pliable to yeeld when God calls Give me thine heart But if for all this mens Hearts be so stiffe that they will not yeeld then God brings them into great extremities and presses them with manifold necessities that like Noahs Dove to the Arke in the want and weakenesse of other meanes they may fly to him who is totius necessitatis remedium a sure supply of all wants and yet necessities and extremityes may breake the heart not bend it except Gods holy spirit be with it It is the effectuall and lively worker of grace in the heart melting and framing it to such a temper that it becomes obedient to the heavenly calling and when once the Heart is thus wonne then ever after the least signification of Gods heavenly pleasure is a forcible command and every motion from him is a powerfull motive to us resigning our hearts most willingly when he requests so lovingly My sonne give me thine heart And now at last I am come to the last word of mytext Mee mihi mi fili to me my son mihi patri to me thy father thy heavenly Father thy heart to me and here wee have the equitie of his demand which seems at first sight to crosse the law of equity whose rule is suum cuique to give every man his owne how then shall wee think Gods demand equall and just which runs in this stile tuum mihi thine to me Amongst men indeed where the Relation is no higher then betweene neighbour and neighbour the law of equitie is violated when one man usurps that which is anothers for Gods law forbids every man to covet any thing that is his neighbours nor can conveniencie grant a dispensation for the breach of Gods law But betwixt God and Quod homo habet Dei ac domini sui munus est ac per hoc in his quae offeruntur ab homine homo non suum reddit dominus suum recipit Tim. ad Cath. Ecele siam l. 1. pag. 366. man the case is altered for God in justice may require that which is thine to be given to him for nothing thou hast is so thine but that it is Gods also of all thou hast thou hast only the use the right is Gods thou the possessor hee the owner and so in demanding what is thine hee calls but for his owne nor is it against equitie for God to demand what is thine seeing what is thine in keeping is his indeed but against justice for man to refuse to give what in right hee hath no reason to withhold from the true owner and therefore from God to man da mihi tuum give me that which is thine is an equall demand But God hath no need of any thing a man hath all the beasts of the forrest are his and so are the cattell of a thousand hills c. His Ocean needeth not our drop his Alsufficiencie mans wealth mistake not his request is not to supplie his owne necessitie but first that we should make some expressions of our dutie and by presenting him with part of our substance thereby to acknowledge Nemini dubium est quod ea quae dei dono accepimus ad dei cultum referre debeamus Tim. ad Eccl. cath lib. 1. wee hold all from him Secondly to shew our obedience to his blessed ordinance which enioyneth to honour the
Lord with our substance Thirdly for his poore childrens sake whose case hee makes his owne And so if God stand in need of nothing man can give yet Christ doth not Christus merus sed Christus mysticus Not the person of Christ for God hath put all things in subjection under his feete and exalted him to be Lord of all But the bodie of Christ Totus Christus est caput corpus Aust his Church that labours under many wants and God expects the necessities of his Church should be supplied of that which is thine his Temples beautified his Ministers maintained his poore members relieved and what is given to any of these God acknowledges as given to him so that when God becomes a suiter unto man it is not for himselfe but for his Church hee makes his Churches case his owne and when a man gives to his Church he offers to God the time was when the forwardnesse of the giver prevented all suit and then so much was given that now God needs not to turne beggar for his Church give him that which is his owne that which the pietie of former times hath endowed his spouse with and then shee may say as Esau to Jacob I have enough my brother keep that thou hast unto thy selfe Gen. 33. But yet I have not done with tuum mihi thy goods thy body thy life omne tuum all thou hast to God when by that thou hast thou mayst doe him service keepe nothing back But above all that is thine thine heart to God any thing else thou hast God commends into thine hand gives thee libertie to dispose of it Corpus terrae thy body Terram terra tegat daemon peccata resumat mundus res habeat spiritus astra petat to the earth earth it is and to earth it must returne commend it therefore to the consecrated bed of dust to sleepe with it's fathers untill by the last trumpe it be awakened to a joyfull resurrection Bona amicis leave thy goods to thy freinds to the Saints upon earth and such as excell in vertue and forget not to transport a part before thee in pious and charitable uses remember thy freinds in heaven as well as thy kindred upon earth Peccatum Dia bolo thy sinne to Sathan hee was the first suggester of it and a daily tempter to it stop his mouth with a tolle quod tuum est vade let him gaine nought from thee but thy sinne that is his and bid him take his owne and be packing but Cor mihi thy heart for God wee must breath out our soules with David In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit all other parts at times convenient may labour about the things of this life but sur sum corda the Heart must never looke so low heaven is Col. 3. 2. it's hope and her conversation must be as high as her hope where her fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonne Jesus Christ and from this fellowship she must not stray when the eyes are abroad in the world the heart must still be fixed in heaven and let nothing remove it from that station keep it there and it keeps the whole man upright whilst the Heart is devoted to God there is no violence briberie or injustice in the hand no lust covetousnesse or envie in the eye the eare is not open to vanitie or blasphemie there is no Idolatry in the knee no bitternesse or falshood in the tongue no guile in the lippes no impietie to God no injurie to man and this is the blessed fruit of the hearts devotion thy Heart to God then Other Competitors there are for the Heart The world cries Cor mihi give me thine heart and thou shalt have wealth and honors The flesh cries Give it me and thou shalt have ease and pleasures Give it me saith Sathan and thou shalt have all these the riches of the world and the pleasures of the flesh give him but the heart and he will give all how comes hee thus munificent Paracelfus tels us he is but a beggarly spirit and therefore let him not delude the heart with vaine hopes or deceive it with false shewes hee promises all but can give none Matth. 4. suppose him able to make his promise good yet all hee promises even the whole world is not a valuable price for the heart and will any man be so adventerously foolish as to sell upon trust at an under rate and to Sathan too so bad a pay-master the veriest huckster in the world Give it him it is lost for ever but in Gods keeping it is sure enough and this is not all the heart gaines by being devoted to God not safety Domine quia fecisti nos ad te irrequiet ū est cor donec requiescat in te Aug. only but satietie too he fils the heart and contents it to the full cheering it on earth with his grace and crowning it in heaven with his glory even for his Christs Jo. 1. 14. sake whose is the fulnesse of grace and glory to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit three Persons but one LORD GOD Almighty Be ascribed all might majestie and dominion now and for ever Amen FINIS IMPRIMATUR Jan. 26. 1638. GUIL BRAY. Good Reader with thy pen amend the faults escaped in the presse thus ERRATA Page 8. line 5. blot out the. p. 12. l. 20. blot out 4. p. 30. l. 1. read so p. 33. l. 20. r. qui se Dei filium p. 37. l. 6. blot out for p. 38. l. 18. Sonne p. 40. l. 5. r. recount p. 43. l. 7. blot out is not p. 46. l. 23. r. only p. 48. l. 3. r. stimulus p. 52. l. 1. blot out is p. 58. l. 2. r. these p. 60. l. 20. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 62. l. 12. r. too l. 13. blot p. 64. l. 19. r. this p. 67. 19. r. ranke p. 74. l. 2. r. notion p. 83. l. 20. r. gestus p. 84. l. 2. r. the. p. 85. 116. r. corde p. 87 l. 4. adde p. 88. l. 1. r. Holocauitis p. 94. l. 10. r. gald In the margent p. 20. r. dominicam p. 28. r. substantiam p. 36. r. proles p. 37. r. voluit p. 55. r. est non p. 80. r. redun iat p. 89. r. indiget cui unitur p. 112. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉