2. Sam. 10.31 2. Sam. 13.31 of Ioab for Abner and of other Now lest this ceremonie or such like should bee rather of fashion then from the affection of the heart Ioel disclaimes from them as things which the Lord regardeth not if the puritie of the mind and sinceritie of the heart bee absent It is not outward sanctification outward holinesse outward behauiour that the Lord requires but the purifying and purging of the heart from sinne For God seeth not as man seeth 1. Sam. 16.7 Prou. 15.11 man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord beholdeth the heart therefore Wash thy heart O Ierusalem I might here by the way take occasion to fight a battell with hypocrites Hypocrites whom we may compare to boat-men that look one way but row another or like to Mercuries Images that poynt the way to others but thēselues stand still and stirre not one foote or like to stage-players which for an houre or two seeme to be greatstates-men but the play being ended they are as base companions as they were before or like vnto the Carbuncle which hath a shew of fire but no true fire so they a shew of zeale but no true zeale Mat. 23.27 or as those paynted Sepulchers beautified to the eye but within full of rottennesse and corruption These will seeme religious amongst you though not refraine their tongues Iā 1.26 but deceiue their owne hearts whose religion by the iudgement of the Apostle is vaine But to leaue them because my purpose was but to take them by the lap of their garments at this time for a remembrance onely let vs that will bee Christians in deede and sinceritie bee warie that we play not the sophisters with our selues thinking that outward puritie and sinceritie stand for currant in the sight of God It is the purenesse and sanctimonie of the heart onely Our repentance must be nou corporis sed cordis Eiusdem capitis that the Lord requires we may pray with the Pharise Luke 18.11 and kisse Christ with Iudas Mat. 26.49 and offer sacrifice with Cain Gen. 4.3 and fast with Iesabel 1. Kin. 21.9 and humble our selues with Ahab vers 27. and present an Oblation with Ananias Acts 5.2 and lament with the teares of Esau Gen. 27.38 yet all these are nothing if the heart be not onely deuoted and consecrated vnto God Wash thine heart from wickednesse Second instruction Secōdly in that he sayth Wash thine heart from wickednesse wee see howe lothsome a thing it is in the sight of God to haue a wicked heart an heart not sanctified and vpright before him An happie thing were it if wee could bethinke our selues what an enemie we carrie about with vs in our breasts when we haue wickednes in our hearts It is like death Malitia which hauing once seazed vpon the heart all the members of the body are immediatly captiued so let the heart bee wicked and the whole body is wicked for out of the aboundance of the heart the head deuiseth the hand executeth the tongue speaketh the eye seeth the foote walketh I. King 15.30 and euen as wicked Ieroboam made all Israel to sinne so the wicked heart makes the whole body to sinne Therefore should euerie one of vs pray with good King Dauid Psal 50. Create in mee O Lord a cleane heart and renew a right spirit within mee Wee must dislodge our hearts of this great euill and make them the wagons and chariots of the Spirit wherein hee may sit to guide our whole body and the priuiledge which hereby wee shall reape is singular Rō 8.14 for sayth Saint Paul So many as are led by the Spirit are the sonnes of God Now the Lord hath giuen vs our hearts and bodies to bee resting places for the holy Ghost and wherein he should take delight to seate himselfe But alas the Spirit sits in the streetes Iudg. 19 like the Leuit that came from Gybeah and no man receiues it into the house of his heart nay wee choose rather to make them dennes for the diuell store-houses of sinne and euen a Dagon of all iniquitie Should it be thus with Christians God forbid the Lord hath giuen thee a body to bee the temple of the holy Ghost shalt thou now take this body of thine and make it the body of an harlot God forbid the Lord hath giuen thee hands as organs to performe the necessarie actions belonging to thy welfare shalt thou now diuert them to an ill vse and make them instruments of murder violence rapine oppression God forbid the Lord hath giuē thee a tongue an excellent benefit of nature to conuey vnto thy brother the secret conceits of thy mind both for the prayse and glorie of God and for thy profit and benefit in thy trade of life shalt thou now make it a tongue of blasphemie vnchastitie cursing swearing and forswearing God forbid the Lord hath giuen thee eyes to behold his creatures vpō the face of the heauens the superficies of the earth to behold the admirable workes of the almighty in the frame of the world and they are as two lights for without them the whole body should be possessed with darknes now darest thou attempt to make them instrumēts to sollicite the heart with vncleannes or make them windowes of vanity by beholding the beauty of the strange woman nay rather let vs say with Ioh Iob. 31.1 I haue made a couenant with mine eyes not with an vnchaste affectiō to behold a virgin Foedus pepigerā cum oculis meis c. Pro. 23.26 Rom. 12.1 Thus haue you heard that the Lord hath giuen vs an heart that we might as Solomons wisedome requires giue it vnto the Lord againe hee hath giuen vs a body that wee might as Paul requires offer it vp vnto him againe All powers and parts of both hath God giuen vnto vs that wee should dedicate them to him againe but alas wee bestow them vpon Satan sinne and the pleasures of the world Iehu vsed not the temple of Baal more basely then wee vse our hearts making them cabbins of vncleane spirits full of deadly sinnes whereas they should bee vessels of holinesse and honor vnto the Lord. 1. Thes 4.4 Let vs therefore in the Lords feare supplant this bitter roote of wickednesse in our hearts and plant in them the graces of the spirit that the heart may bee as a sweete garden furnished with vertues as with fragrant flowres that hee may say of it as elsewhere hee speakes of Sion Here will I dwell for I haue a delight herein so shal he which created it haue it he that gaue it receiue it againe and he which preserues it in this life may preserue it for euer Thirdly Third instructiō in that he sayth Wash thine heart from wickednesse it giues vs to vnderstand that sinne is a corruption for the word here which the Prophet vseth Laua Ablue is a
slake the thirsty desire thereof and labour to ridde our selues of it for he that hath fewest sins in the day of Iudgement shall find hee hath too many and let vs weigh the Lords cause in our owne ballance that as we thinke we may iustly complaine when the weight and burden of his iudgementes are vpon vs so let vs thinke the Lordes complaint equall when the weight and burthen of our sinne is vpon him Esay 1.14 Secondly Vse 2 this How long is like Cynthius to pull vs by the eare and admonish vs how we spend our time for God wil haue a reckning of euery idle houre that we spend therfore it should teach vs to walke circumspectly as the Apostle speaks Eph. 5.15 redeeming the time that what time soeuer heretofore hath beene ill spent wee may haue an eye to the time to come that it may be well spent for we know not whether we haue fortie dayes respit allotted vnto vs as the Niniuites had but sure an happy thing is it for him that hath time place for repentance and wofull will it be when the whole course of our life is spent in vanitie and profanenesse and in the ende and vpshotte thereof the Angell of God shall answere vs Time shall bee no more Esau had a time when hee might haue repented but being ouerslipt he had no place for repentance Heb. 12.17 though he sought the blessing with teares These times are not allotted for the bodie but for the soule Rom. 13.11 And now is the time not of pleasure or delight but of saluation if euer we will haue it Therefore let tempus vitae be tempus poenitentiae let the time of our life bee the time of our repentance So much for the circumstance of time How long Now it followes How long shall thy wicked thoughtes remaine within thee HE the hath plāted the eare doth not he heare he the hath created the eye doeth not he see the thoughts of the heart Man can but iudge of actions and outward appearances onely but the Lord knoweth the heart Penetrat Deus vsque ad ine timos recessus cordium Psa 139 15. There is nothing hidden from God eyther in heauen or earth or within the reynes and hearts of our bodies or of the lowest destruction but he seeth it with eyes ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne My bones are not hid from thee sayth Dauid though I was made in a secret place and fashioned beneath in the earth And in the 94. Verse 7 Psalme speaking howe the wicked smote the Lords people and troubled his inheritance slewe the widdowe and murthered the fatherlesse it went to his heart to heare them say Non respicit Iah The Lord shall not see it As if their wickednesse could shrowd it selfe from the all-seeing eye of his eternall Deity They are not onely our actions and words that are apparent vnto the Almightie Thoughts but the thoughts of our heart whether they be good or euill Thus the LORD sawe Ierusalems thoughts Wicked and he beheld them wicked according to that of the Prophet The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men Psal 94. that they are but vayne or vanitie it selfe Verse 11 Quod ipsae sunt vanitas traiectio And Gen. 6.5 The Lord sawe the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart euill The thoughts of the heart are like vnto a gadding seruant whē he should employ him selfe to his masters busines at home he runneth and rangeth after his own pleasure so when our thoughts should bee attendant to the heart for the seruice of God they are here and there and abroad after their owne vanities nay many marre them Cogitationes vanitatis sic Cal. super ter as foolish parents doe their wanton children by too much cockering and fauouring of them and by giuing them too much liberty without restraint but suffer them to followe their owne lusts winding themselues so much into fauour with vs that they preuayle so far as from an vnchaste imagination the body is carried into an vnchaste action and from a proud an angry thought comes forth many times a blasphemous othe yea they will vrge and presse vs onward vnto euill wee can no sooner shake off a wicked thought but with the Egyptian flye it will light vpon vs againe Genes 6.14 Therefore as God commanded Noah to pitch the Arke within without that no water should get in so shoulde wee pitch the arkes of our soules that no violent and disordered thoughtes might rush in to oppresse vs or as wee hedge our vineyardes from wilde beastes so shoulde we hedge our heartes with the graces of the Spirite from vnruly and vntamed affections not to giue them the least ground of aduantage but to obserue that heauenly principle of an heathen Poet Principiis obsta Withstand beginnings because they may bee compared to Panthers who haue sweete smelles but deuouring mindes and the conceite of a wicked thought may seeme pleasing and delightsome but in the ende it deuoures like a two edged sworde Captains Mat. 8.9 Wee should bee masters of our thoughts as the Centurion was ouer his seruantes that when wee say to a wicked thought Goe it should depart and when to a good thought Come wee should then embrace it But if with deceyte Ios 9.23 like the Gibeonites they get themselues within vs and like hypocrites fayne themselues otherwise then they are let vs with the hoste of Israel set them to hew wood and to draw water employ them to the seruilest and basest duties or rather slay them out of hand lest the Lord slay vs for they be not the actions or words onely of the oppressour adulterer or proud man that shall be punished but he will scatter the proud or any other whatsoeuer in the imaginations of their hearts Cogitationibus cordis ipsorum Luk. 1.51 for our thoughts wee must come to Iudgement Well the Lord heere deales with Ierusalem as a Physicion with his patients who prescribes such a medicine for their maladies that hee would not any corruption should bee left behind whereby they might either seeme lothsome vnto him or deceyue themselues with a vayne hope of securitie when there is no such matter For what though the whole world had iudged well of Ierusalē or though by any outward ceremonies they had seem'd conformable if still the thoughts of iniquitie had * Pernoctare hospitari murmurare sic enim hebraice significat lingred in their wicked hearts which would haue bene as an inward corruption festering in a woūd and in the end haue brought greater miserie vpon them Where note Instru ∣ ction 1 that when we see any Iudgement ready to fall vpon vs in the matter of our repentance wee must deale with simplicitie and not to dreame of any shift or vayne excuse to beare vs out against any Iudgemēt whatsoeuer we may doe with men yet must we
rather then a good conscience in matters of law Is there no swearing and forswearing no prophanation of the Sabboth amongst vs doe not Absaloms adulteries runne for meriments in our age and haue wee not those fitter for the companie of Sodomites then for the societie of Christians and behold yet and yet greater abominations then these Are these the fruits of the Gospel is this the issue and effect that Gods word hath wrought in vs these fortie yeeres haue we answered the Lords expectation in the smallest measure of obedience as hee hath answered our desires in the greatest measure of his mercies Surely no. Oh beloued what then remaines for such vnprofitable fig-trees Cut them downe cut them downe sayth the Lord burne them in the fire So much for the first poynt the person exhorted and the instruetions thereof Nowe followeth the second poynt namely the thing required Wash thine heart from wickednesse THe Prophet doth here touch Ierusalem to the quicke Quid lauandum Fons vita when hee comes to the heart which as Phisicions say is the fountaine of life it is the first thing that liueth and the last thing that dieth in a man The heart is like an Instrument if it bee in tune and well struug Dulce melos it makes a sweete melody but if it bee out of tune all the parts and powers of minde and body are out of course Or as the stone of Scyros Plin. lib. 36. Cap. 17. if it bee cast whole into the water floteth and swimmeth aloft but if it be parted and diuided it sinketh to the bottome so is it with the heart so long as it bee kept whole and vndistracted why it swims and all things runne currant with it but if broken or diuided it sinketh like lead It may bee compared to the apple of a mans eye which will be troubled with a little moate so is the heart tender of it selfe and will bee disquieted with a rebellious affection or looke euen as a steele-glasse is bright and pure yet the breath of ones mouth will dimme it so is the heart a thing in it selfe bright and pure yet are there many wicked and contagious vapours in the soule that dimme and obscure the integritie thereof When God looked downe from heauen Gen. 6.5 Hee saw the wickednesse of man was great on the earth and did God behold but the earth onely surely yes hee tooke a view of mans heart also and there hee found the heart and not the heart onely but the thoughts of the heart and the imaginations of the thoughts the mother her daughters and their children euill and not onely euill but onely euill and cuil continually Aboue all things sayth the Prophet man hath an vnfaythfull heart as deepe as the deepe sea nothing can sound it as wide as the wide world nothing can contain it as large spacious as hell it self who can find it out If a man possessed as much ground as euer the deuil shewed the son of God frō the high mountaine if hee had the whole world yet could mans heart containe another if he had two worlds in his possessio yet the heart of man would bee casting for a third therefore it is worth the noting that which Philip of Macedō is reported to haue obserued in himselfe when by wrastling he had takē a fal in the sand and seeing the impression of his body therin was thereby as it seemes by his words brought into consideratiō that a smal parcell of groūd in comparison but a spā of earth cōtained his body but the whole world were it much wider thē it is sufficed not his couetous heart Wel whatsoeuer the hart of mā is I leaue vnto God the searcher of all harts to examine whatsoeuer Philip of Macedons couetous heart was the harts of those which in the time of Noah were swept away with the waters of the floud yet here we find Ierusalē hath a wicked hart so wicked that vnlesse it bee purified purged and washed with the waters of repentance destructiō vpon destruction is proclaimed against it verse 20. Wash thine heart from wickednesse Where first of all wee note that our repentance must bee like the repentance of Niniueh it must begin with the King hee must first arise from his throne and throw away his costly robes and couer himselfe with sackcloth and ashes and then proclaime the like to his subiects and inferiors that is to say the heart which sits in the body as a king in his throne and hath all the inferior powers at commaund when Ionas shall denounce iudgemēts and the Lords ministers proclaime repentance it must first rouze and raise vp it selfe and when that begins the inferiour parts are easily brought to order therefore sayth the Prophet Wash thine heart from wickednesse not thy face or thy hands or thy feete or thy vpper garments but thy heart O Ierusalem Simile Our hearts may bee compared to the rudder of a ship or the ballance of a clock the ship wee know is a great and an vntoward vessell and if it bee left to it selfe vpon the seas it runnes to a thousand dangers but let the rudder be well guided and the whole bodie thereof with all that belongs therto is directed without hazard so if the heart go aright it goeth not alone but all the parts and powers of the soule and body immediatly follow in the same safetie euen as a clock Simile if the ballance thereof stirre all the other instruments and weights follow in a good course but if that stand still euerie one of the rest goe out of order so let our hearts moue and step forward in the course of Christianitie all the instruments and members of the body will goe onward likewise but if the heart stayes the body stirres not but standing still is the apter to receiue any corruption Well First instruction the instructions that wee learne from hence are diuers first in that wee must beginne with the heart it teacheth vs that true repentance standeth not in outward behauiour in outward ceremonies or in a ciuill kind of life but it must arise from the heart Wee cannot chase wickednesse from our eyes from our hands from our tongues or from our feete if first it bee not chased from the heart for the eye may bee wicked the hand may bee wicked the tongue may bee wicked and the feete wicked but the heart is the seate of wickednesse it is a fountaine of iniquitie the streames wherof ouer-runne the whole body therefore to good purpose is that of Ioel Vena scin datur cordis Ioel 2.13 Rend your hearts and not your garments and turne to the Lord your God because it was the maner of the ancient times when any were possessed with griefe and discontent to rend their garments manifesting by their outward behauiour their inward sorrow as in the example of Dauid for Saul 2. Sam. 1.11 and for his sonne Absalom
ioyne them in a league of friendship when we haue so done we lay iniquitie vpon sinne wickednes vpon iniquitie rebellion vpon wickednes and transgression vpon rebellion and nothing els but an heauing and heaping vp of confusion vpon confusion Gen. 11.2 as if Nimrod were amongst vs Babel againe to be built the towers wherof might reach vp vnto the starres Well beloued let vs lay the foundation of sinne as low as wee will and build as strongly thereupon as we can as if wee were assured that the hand of Gods iudgements should neuer rase it vp yet no doubt we shall find that it is nowe high time for vs to leaue our sinnes seeing wee see the Lord begins to leaue vs for our sinnes It is nowe high time for vs not to wash our hands with Pilate but our hearts with Ierusalem to chaunge our Morian skinnes to put off our stained and defiled garmentes to entertaine repentance into our soules seeing that euen nowe wee feare the rewarde of our impieties and the portion of iniquitie to bee shared out for vs. If euer before it was needfull surely nowe much more necessitie enforceth and time it is for Abigal if she respect her owne safetie to arise and meete Dauid with a present to appease his wrath 1. Sam. 25. for it seemes hee is now at hand with his sword girded vpon his thigh though not to lade our Asses as she did with two bottles of wine with frailes of raisins and a sheepe readie dressed or such like prouision but to lade our bodies and sinfull carkasses which wee haue vsed as Asses to beare the huge burthen of our sinnes with sackcloth and ashes Saceus ieiunium sunt arma poenitentiae with fasting mourning which are the armour of repentance to withstand his iudgemeÌ„ts Let our eyes be as 2. bottles of wine to cary with vs the teares wherof we may drinke to comfort vs in the assurance of Gods mercies our broken contrite harts as presents which the Lord wil haue respect vnto and receiue kindly at our hands Verse 35. lay his sword downe which he hath taken vp against vs. and bidde vs returne in peace vnto our houses Oh that I could possibly preuaile thus farre with you to possesse your soules with the consideration of this point Though this sodaine oportunitie of repentance were not offred vs yet let vs examine our estate and we shall finde that alas we are not sinners of yesterday we are not newly entred into Satans schole but we are of a great standing for in sinne our mothers conceyued vs in iniquitie they brought vs foorth and wee drewe corruption from their breasts all which as wee haue growne with them so they haue growne with vs. We haue long and ouerlong traced the footesteps of wickednesse and troden the paths of iniustice wee haue tyerd our selues and surfeted our selues with the workes of abomination we are not fallen of ignorance alas as our forefathers which knewe not the Gospell but willingly wilfully haue we brought our selues into the habite of sinne into the nature of sinne into the custome of sin and within the compasse of Gods most fearefull iudgements to seaze vpon soule and body vnto condemnation and not vpon our selues onely but such is the corruption thereof that it hath ouerspred the face of the heauens of the earth and ouerunne all the creatures that euen they for our sin must one day come to iudgement O then how needfull is it that with Ierusalem wee shoulde wash our wicked heartes from this corruption with the teares of repentance that shee might sit in thy heart and with her strong sighes and grones breake the heauens which are hardned against thee and draw downe the Lords louing fauour to thy soule If the infant in the cradle cries for milke if the Lion in the forrest cries for food because they want it how should it moue vs my brethreÌ„ to send vp our cries for the fauour of God because we haue it not The teares of our eyes being shed in true contrition for our sinnes will bee as little messengers to the great and angrie God of heauen and earth to entreate a truce betwixt him and vs his creatures and as gunshotte will batter downe the partition walles of our sinnes and cause his louing countenance to shine vpon our soules Let vs therefore in the feare of God make experience of this and though for the time it may seeme bitter as Aloes vnto the flesh yet is it wholesome and medicinable vnto the soule And looke as it was the manner of ancient times when trouble or heauines befell to any they presently called for women and others who were tender harted and skilful in mourning to cause them mourne the better so we which would faine learne to repent and lament for our sinnes and know not rightly how let vs haue recourse vnto the booke of God and there may we behold the teares standing in Ierusalems eyes and in the eyes of Marie Magdalene 1. Sam. 1 of Anna the wife of Elkanah that their weeping might procure our weeping their griefe prouoke our griefe their passions moue our affections with the like lamentation and sorrow for our sinnes So much for the thing required QuorsuÌ„ being the second point Wash thine heart from wickednes Now followes the third which is the End End That thou mayest besaued J Doubt not Vt salua sis Verses 5.6.7.8 but the trumpet blowne in the land and the crie which said vnto them of Iudah Assemble your selues together get you into stroÌ„g cities and the standard set vp in Sion and the plague threatened to be brought from the North Iuterfector Gentium and the Lion that should come from his den and the Drie wind in the high places of the wildernesse and that suddenly for it should be as a tempest and swift for his horses are lighter then Eagles might easily perswade them of imminent and present danger except they had the hearts of the Leuiathan as strong as stones or as hard as the nether milstone not to receiue any impression or their ioynts tough as Elephants that nothing could â—end them Therefore their danger thâ—eatning such extremitie it was more then time to take some course for their owne safetie The Poet notably describes the feare that Aeneas and they of Troy were in Aenci. 3 and the great speed they made to escape the danger of the Cyclops Praecipites metus acer agit quocunque rudentes Excutere ve t is intendere vela secuÌ„dis When they saw the companie of giants clustring vpon the shore Aetniâ—â— fratres resembling the strength and fortitude of mightie Okes or loftie Cypresse trees that their verie looks threatned destruction it was no time for them of stay but speedily to hoysse vp their sailes Parebiazâ—ntâ— nimbly to betake them to their oares rather then the giants should offer violence to