was good yet worse that good to thee more wicked still But when a Queene a Maid Good and thy friend thou wouldst dispatch The treason that thy blacke heart doth intend dare Hell to match Neyther is it wonder that they exercise thus vpon vs who haue no mercy to their own bowels The short liues of the Popes as it was once of the Emperours in that Seate manifest that by treason the Chayre is got by treason lost It would then bee a good degree toward our health if these dangerous mad-men were shut vp in some strong Bedlam There are many other mad-men whom though I particularly name not in this Catalogue you shall finde in Bedlam I desire not to say all but enough All are not taken into that taming-house in a day it is filled at times If this muster can worke any reformation on these franticke Patients another discouery will not be lost labour You conceiue the nature of the Tenant you may a little better vnderstand his vilenesse if you consider 1. That hee is an vsurper intruding himselfe into Gods freehold which both by creation and re-creation hee may challenge for his owne inheritance If God should aske madnesse as hee did that vnbidden Guest in the Gospell that came to the marriage without his wedding Garment Friend how camest thou hither Eyther like that wretch hee would be mute or els answere Man let me into his heart What a Traytour is man to let into his Landlords house his Landlords enemy 2 That hee doth not pay the rent of Gods house God rich in mercies lends and as it were lets to farme diuers possessions as the graces of the Spirite the vertues of the mind gifts of the Body goods of the world for all these requires no rent but thanksgiuing that we prayse him in heart tongue and conuersation But so long as Madnesse is in any of these Tenements God cannot haue this little rent of his Farme They are mad that think they may enioy Gods blessings without rent or the due payment of an accountant tribute 3. That hee doth suffer Gods Tenement to decay he doth ruinate where hee dwels For the out-houses of our bodies madnesse doth striue eyther to burne them with lust or to drowne them with drunkennesse or to starue them with couetousnesse For the spirituall and inward building the foundation of Gods Tenement in our soule is faith the walles hope the roofe charity Now madnes continually endeuours to raze our foundation to digge through our walles to vncouer our roofe that hauing neyther faith in God nor loue to men our soule may bee without hope exposed to the tempests of the deuill Shall not madnesse account for these dilapidations 4. That he doth imploy the house to base vses It is ill done in a Tenant to a fayre house to make the best roomes stables for his horses stalls for his oxen or styes for his hogges But madnes makes the Memory a stable for malice and reuenge the vnderstanding a dungeon for blindnesse and ignorance the will a vault for hypocrisie and disobedience So the Body which is the Temple of God is made a denne of theeues This is the Tenant Madnesse a sorry inhabitant and vnworthy of so good a lodging as the next point appeares which is 2. The Tenement the heart The Heart is a mansion for God not for madnesse God made it and meant to reserue it to himselfe hee neuer placed such a Tenant in it as the Frenzy of sinne Christ is sayde to haue a fourefold house Anagogicall Allegoricall Corporall Morall 1. The first is the Church triumphant that glorious and euerlasting habitation of his Deity 2. The second is the Church militant wherein hee dwels sacramentally by his holy Ministery 3. The third is Corporall that consecrated wombe of the Virgin wherein he dwell't 9. moneths 4. The last is Mans Heart wherein he hath a mysticall and spirituall abode Christ doth dwell in our hearts by faith and by loue As he loues the gates of Sion more then all the dwellings of Iacob so hee delighteth in the heart of man more then in all Palaces and Pauilions of Princes When an aduersary Tyrant hath taken the chiefe Forte in a Country and driuen out their iust and mercifull Gouernour feare sorrow and expectation of ruine possesseth the inhabitants It can goe no better with the like Nation of Man when Iesus Christ is expelled his habitation the heart and so sauage a Tyrant is admitted to Tenure as madnesse a strong man that will fortifie the Castle and scornes to lose it except strength it selfe the vnresistable grace of Christ layes battery to it But this Theme is scarce cold since I last handled it I must bee forced to leaue the Tenement awhile in the vnmercifull hands of madnesse and inquire if perhaps with any comfort how long this Tenure lasteth 3. The Tenure whiles they liue Alas what gaine wee by searching further into this euidence the more we looke into it the worse we like it Whiles they liue The 1. Tenure of Madnes 2. in the Heart 3. is for terme of life Too long a time for so bad a Tenant But you will say vnto mee as the Disciples to Christ Who then can bee saued Nunquid daturus est Deus regnum coelorum stulâ—is Will God giue the Kingdome of heauen to madmen Feare not all are not mad-men that haue madnesse a Tenant in their heartes but they that haue it for their Landlord It is not my distinction but Saint Pauls Rom. 7. Sinne may dwell nay Sinne will dwell in your hearts let it not raigne there sayth the Apostle It must be a houshold seruant it must not be a King Aliud est habere insaniam aliud haberi ab insania It is one thing to haue madnes another thing for madnesse to haue thee Since it will dwell in thee whiles thou dwelest in the flesh make it a seruant a slaue a drudge Set the Gibeonites to draw water let it make thine eyes laue thy body with repentant teares and to cleaue wood let it rend thy heart with sorrow Keepe that subtill deceiuer with whom thou ignorantly struckst the hand of couenant vnder bit and bridle velle reuelle turne restraine command controll it at thy pleasure Let it neuer be thy Captain thy LaÌ„dlord thy King Though Sinne the Deuils madde dogge hath bitten thee and thou at first beginnest to runne franticke yet apply the plaister of the bloud of Christ to thy sores This shall draw out the venome and grace shall get the mastery of madnesse Bee of good comfort thou shalt not die franticke Encourage thy selfe with a holy violence against thy fleshly lusts intend contend to infeeble and at length to extinguish the force of thy depraued nature Kill madnesse lest madnesse kill thee Bee sensible of the bane that lies in this spirituall frenzy and doe not laughing die Madnesse is at first inimicus blandus a fleering enemy in the
the sonne of man Cuinasci contigit mori restat Who hapned to come into the world must vpon necessity goe out of the world It is no new thing to die since life it self is nothing els but a iourney to death Quicquid ad summum peruenit adexitum properat He that hath climbed to his highest is descending to his lowest All the sonnes of men die not one death for time and manner for the matter and end one death is infallible to all the sonnes of men The corne is somtimes bitten in the spring often trode downe in the blade neuer failes to bee cut vp in the eare when ripe Quisquis queritur hominem mortuum esse queritur hominem fuisse Who laments that a man is dead laments that he was a man When Anaxagoras heard that his son was dead hee answered without astonishment Scio me genuisse mortalem I know that I begate a mortall man It was a good speech that fell from that shame of Philosophie Epictetus Non sum aeternitas sed homo particula vniuersi vt hora diei venire igitur oportet vt horam praeterire vt horam I am not eternity but a man a little part of the whole as an houre is of the day like an houre I came and I must depart like an houre Mors dominos seruis sceptra ligonibus aequat Dissimiles simili conditione ligat Deathes cold imparciall hands are vs'd to strike Princes and Peasants and make both alike Some fruite is plucked violently from the tree some droppes with ripenesse all must fall because the sonnes of men This should teach vs to arme our selues with patience and expectation to encounter Death Saepe debemus mori nec volumus morimur nec volumus Often we ought to prepare for death wee will not at last wee die indeed and wee would not Adam knew all the beasts and called them by their names but his own name hee forgot Adam of earth What bad memories haue wee that forget our owne names and selues that we are the sonnes of men corruptible mortall Incertum est quo loco te mors expectat itaque tu illam omni loco expecta Thou knowest in what place Death looketh for thee therefore do thou looke for him in euery place Watch therefore for you know not what houre your Lord doth come Thus for the Owners 2. The vessell it selfe is the Heart The Heart is Mans principall vessell Wee desire to haue all the implements in our house good but the vessell of chiefest honour principally good Quanm male de te ipse meruisti c. sayth Saint August How mad is that man that would haue all his vessels good but his owne heart Wee would haue a strong nerue a cleare veyne a moderate pulse a good arme a good face a good stomacke onely we care not how euill the heart is the principall of all the rest For howsoeuer the Head be called the Tower of the mind the Throne of Reason the house of wisdom the Treasure of memory the Capitol of iudgement the shoppe of affections yet is the Heart the receptacle of life And Spiritus which they say is Copula animae corporis a vertue vniting the soule and the body if it bee in the Liuer naturall in the Head animal yet is in the Heart vitall It is the member that hath first life in mā and is the last that dies in man and to all the other members giues viuification As man is Microcosmus an abridgement of the world hee hath heauen resembling his soule earth his heart placed in the middest as a center the Liuer is like the sea whence flow the liuely springs of bloud the Braine like the sunne giues the light of vnderstanding and the senses are set round about like the starres The Heart in man is like the roote in a tree the organ or lung-pipe that comes of the left cel of the heart is like the stocke of the tree which diuides it selfe into two parts and thence spreades abroad as it were sprayes and boughes into all the body euen to the arteries of the head The Egyptians haue a conceite that mans growing or declining followes his Heart The Heart of man say they increaseth still till hee come to fifty yeares old euery yeare two drachmes in weight and then decreaseth euery yeare as much till hee come to an hundred and then for want of Heart hee can liue no longer By which consequence none could liue about an 100. yeres which conceyted demonstration hath often proued false But it is a vessell a liuing vessell a vessell of life It is a vessell properly because hollow hollow to keepe heat and for the more facile closing opening It is a spirituall vessell made to containe the holy dewes of grace which make glad the City of God It is euer full eyther with that precious iuyce or with the pernicious liquor of sinne As our Sauiour sayth Math. 15. Out of the heart proceede euill thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witnesse blasphemies Know you not sayth his Apostle that you are the Temple of God and that the Spirite of God dwelleth in you If our Corpus be Templum Domini sure our Cor is Sanctum sanctorum It was the answere of the Oracle to him that would bee instructed what was the best Sacrifice Damedium Lunae solem simul canis iram Giue the halfe Moone the whole Sunne and the dogs anger Which three Characters make Cor the heart The good heart is a receptacle for the whole Trinity and therefore it hath three Angels as if the three Persons of that one Deity would inhabit there The Father made it the Sonne bought the Holy Ghost sanctifies it therfore they all three claime a right in the Heart It hath three cels for the three persons and is but one Heart for one God The world cannot satisfie it a Globe cannot fill a Triangle Onely God can sufficiently content the Heart God is sayth a Father non corticis sed cordis Deus not regarding the rinde of the lippes but the root of the Heart Hence Sathan directs his malicious strength against the Heart The foxe doth gripe the necke the mastiffe flies at the throat and the Ferret nippes the Liuer but the Deuill aymes at the Heart inficere interficere The Heart he desires because he knows God desires it and his ambition still inclines intends his purposes and plots to robbe God of his delight The Heart is the chiefe Tower of life to the body and the spirituall Citadell to the whole man alwayes besieged by a domesticall enemy the Flesh by a ciuill the world by a profest the Deuill Euery perpetrated sinne doth some hurt to the walls but if the Heart be taken the whole Corporation is lost How should Christ enter thy house and suppe with thee when the Chamber is taken vp wherein he would rest the Heart All the faculties of Man follow
sayth the Prouerbe Let the buyer take heed in this let the seller looke to it Make no marte nor market with Sathan Non benè pro multo libertas venditur auro The heart is ill solde what euer the price be Thirdly for the borrower Lend not thy heart in hope of interest lest thou lose the principall Lend him not any implement in thy house any affection in thy heart but to spare the best vessell to such an abuser is no lesse then mad charity Lastly ware the theefe and let his subtilty excite thy more prouident preuention Many a man keepes his goods safe enough from beggers buyers borrowers yet is met withall by theeues Therefore locke vp this vessell with the Key of faith barre it with resolution against sinne guard it with supervisiting diligence and repose it in the bosom of thy Sauiour There it is safe from all obsidious or insidious oppugnations from the reach of fraud or violence Let it not stray from this home lest like Dinah it be defloured If wee keepe this vessell our selues wee indanger the losse Iacob bought Esau's birth-right Satha stole Adams Paradise whiles the tenure was in their owne hands An Apple beguiled the one a messe of pottage the other Trust not thy heart in thine owne custody but lay it vp in heauen with thy treasure Commit it to Him that is the maker and preseruer of men who will lappe it vp with peace and lay it in a bed of ioy where no aduersary power cā inuade it nor theefe break through to steale it 3. The Liquor this vessel holds is euill Euill is double eyther of Sinne or of Punishment the deseruing and retribution the one of mans owne affecting the other of Gods iust inflicting The former is simpliciter malum simply euill of it owne nature the latter but secundum quid in respect of the sufferer being good in regard of Gods glory as an act of his Iustice. For the Euils of our sufferings as not intended here I pretermit Onely when they come we learne hence how to intertaine them in our opinion as our due rewards in our patience as men as Saints that tribulation may as well produce patience as sinne hath procured tribulation Non sentire mala sua non est hominis non ferre non est viri He that feeles not his miseries sensibly is not a man and he that beares them not couragiously is not a Christian. The iuyce in the heart of the sonnes of men is euill all haue corrupted their wayes Solomon speakes not here in indiuiduo this or that sonne of man but generally with an vniuersall extent the sonnes of men And leauing the plurall with the Possessors by a significant salaecisme he names the vessell in the singular the heart not hearts as if all mankind had cor vnum in vnitate malitiae one heart in the vnity of sinne the matter of the vessell being of one polluted lumpe that euery man that hath an hart hath naturally an euill heart Adam had no sooner by his one sinne slaine his posterity but hee begote a sonne that slew his brother Adam was planted by God a good Vine but his Apostasie made all his children sowre grapes Our nature was sowne good behold wee are come vp euill Through whose default ariseth this badnesse God created this vessell good man poyson'd it in the seasoning And being thus distayned in the tender newnesse seruat odorem testa diu it smels of the olde infection till a new iuyce bee put into it or rather it selfe made new As Dauid prayes Create in me oh Lord a cleane heart and renew a right spirit within me GOD made vs good we haue mar'd ourseluesa nd behold wee call on him to make vs good againe Yea euen the vessel thus recreated is not without a tang of the former corruption Paul confesseth in himselfe a body of Death as well as Dauid a natiue vncleannesse The best graine sends forth that chaffe whereof before the sowing it was purged by the fanne Our contracted euill had been the lesse intolerable if we had not been made so perfectly good Hee that made heauen and earth ayre and fire Sunne and Moone all elements all creatures good surely would not make him euill for whom these good things were made How comes he thus bad Deus hominem fecit homo se interfecit In the words of our Royall Preacher Eccles. 7. Loe this onelie I haue found that God hath made man vpright but they haue sought out many inuentions Man was created happy but hee found out trickes to make himselfe miserable And his misery had been lesse if he had neuer beene so blessed the better wee were we are the worse Like the posterity of some profuse or tainted Progenitour wee may tell of the Lands Lordshippes honours titles that were once ours and then sigh out the song fuimus Troes we haue been blessed If the heart were thus good by creation or is thus good by redemption how can it bee the continent of such euill liquour when by the word of His mouth that neuer erred A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruits I answere that saying must be construed in sensu composito a good tree continuing good cannot produce euill fruites The heart borne of God in quanto renatum est not peccat doth not commit sinne so farre as it is borne of GOD. Yet euen in this vessell whiles it walkes on earth are some droppes of the first poyson And so Dat dulces fons vnus aquas qui et praebet amaras The same fountaine sends forth sweet water and bitter though not at the same place as Saint Iames propounds it But Solomon speakes here of the heart as it is generate or degenerate not as regenerate what it is by nature not by grace as it is from the first Adam not from the second It is thus a vessell of euill Sinne was brewed in it hath brewed it into sinne It is strangely I know not how truely reported of a vessell that changeth some kind of liquour put into it into it selfe as fire transformes the fuell into fire But heere the content doth change the continent as some minerall veynes doe the earth that holdes them This euill iuyce turnes the whole heart into euill as water powred vpon snow turnes it to water The wickednesse of man was so great in the earth that it made euery imagination of the thoughts of his heart onely euill continually Here if wee consider the dignity of the vessell the filthinesse of the euill it holds or is rather holden of for non tam tenet quam tenetur the comparison is sufficient to astonish vs. Quà m malè conueniunt vas aureum atrumque venenum Oh! ingrate in considerate man to whom God hath giuen so good a vessell and hee filles it with so euill sappe In a great house there be vessels of honour and vessels of dishonour some for better
his vngodly imps we leaue those vices our harts are not vessels for such liquour If wee should intertaine thē we giue a kind of warrāt to others imitatiō Whiles Polygamie was restrained within Lamechs dores it did but moderate harm but when it once insinuated into Isaac's family it got strength preuailed with great preiudice The habites of vices whiles they dwel in the harts of Belials children are meerly sins but when they haue room giuē thē in the harts of the sons of God they are sins and examples not simply euill deeds but warrants to euill deedes Especially with such despisers and despiters of goodnes who though they loue embrace and resolue to practise euill yet are glad they may doe it by Patronage and goe to hell by example But how can this euill iuyce in our hearts be perceiued what beames of the Sunne euer pearced into that abstruse and secret pauilion The anatomizing of the heart remaines for the worke of that last and great day Rom 2. 16. As no eye can looke into it so let no reason iudge it But our Sauiour answeres Out of the heart proceede actuall sinnes the water may bee close in the fountaine but will bee discerned issuing out The heart cannot so containe the vnruly affections but like headstrong rebels they wil burst out into actions and works are infallible notes of the hart I say not that works determine a man to damnation or blisse the decree of God orders that but works distinguish of a good or bad man The Saints haue sinned but the greatest part of their conuerted life hath beene holy Indeed wee are all subiect to passions because men but let vs order our passions wel because Christiā men And as the skilful Apothecary makes wholesome potions of noysome poysons by a wise melling and allaying them so let vs meete with the intended hurt of our corruptions and turne it to our good It is not a sufficient commendation of a prince to gouerne peaceable and loyall subiects but to subdue or subuert rebels It is the prayse of a Christian to order refractary and wilde affections more then to manage yeelding and plyable ones As therefore it is a prouident policy in Princes when they haue some in too likely suspition for some plotted faction to keepe them downe and to holde them bare that though they retaine the same minds they shall not haue the same meanes to execute their mischiefes so the rebellious spirites impotency giues most security to his Soueraigne whiles Hee sees afarre off what he would doe but knowes neere at hand that 's certainly hee cannot So let thy heart keepe a straight awfull hand ouer thy passions and affections Vt si moueant non remoueant that if they moue thee they may not remoue thee from thy rest A man then sleepes surely securely when hee knowes not that hee will not but that his enemy cannot hurt him Violent is the force and fury of passions ouerbearing a man to those courses which in his sober and collected sense he would abhorre They haue this power to make him a foole that otherwise is not and him that is a foole to appeare so If in strength thou canst not keep out passion yet in wisdom temper it that if notwithstanding the former it comes to whisper in thine eares thine owne weakenes yet it may be hindered by the latter from diuulging it to thy shame Thou seest how excellent and principall a worke it is to manage the heart which indeed manageth all the rest and is powerfull to the carrying away with it selfe the attendance of all the senses who bee as ready at call and as speedy to execution as any seruant the Centurion had wayting onely for a come goe doe from their leader the Heart The eare will not heare where the heart minds not nor the hand relieue where the heart pitties not nor the tongue prayse where the heart loues not All looke listen attend stay vpon the heart as a Captaine to giue the onset The Philosopher sayth It is not the eye that seeth but the heart so it is not the eares that heare but the heart Indeed it sometimes falleth out that a man heares not a great sound or noyse though it be nigh him The reason is his heart is fixed and busily taken vp in some obiect serious in his imagination though perhaps in it selfe vain the eares like faithfull seruants attending their master the heart lose the act of that auditiue Organ by some suspension till the heart hath done with them and giuen them leaue Curious and rare sights able to rauish some with admiration affect not others whiles they stand as open to their view because their eyes are following the heart and doing him seruice about an other matter Hence our feet stumble in a plain path because our eyes which should bee their guides are sent some other way on the hearts errand Bee then all cleane if thou canst but if that happinesse bee denyed on earth yet let thy heart be clean there is then the more hope of the rest 4. The measure of this vessels infection Full. It hath not aspersion nor imbution but impletion It is not a moderate contamination which admitted into comparison with other turpitudes might be exceeded but a transcendent egregious superlatiue matter to which there can be no accession the vessell is full and more then full what can be One vessel may hold more then another but when all are filled the least is as full as the greatest Now Solomon that was no flatterer because a King himselfe without awe of any mortall Superiour because Seruant to the King of Kings put in trust with the registring of his Oracles tels man plainely that 1. his heart not some lesse principal part 2. is euill not good or inclining to goodnesse 3. nay full of euill to the vtmost dramme it containes This describes Man in a degree further then nature left him if I may so speake for wee were borne euill but haue made our selues full of euill There is time required to this perfecting of sinne and making vp the reprobates damnation Iudgement stayes for the Amorites till their wickednesse becomes full and the Iewes are forborne till they haue fulfilled the measure of their fathers Sinne loued delighted accustomed habituated voluntarily violently perpetrated brings this impletion Indeed man quickly fils this vessell of his owne accord let him alone and he needs no helpe to bring himselfe to hell Whiles Gods preuenting grace dooth not fore-stall nor his calling grace conuert man runs on to destruction as the foole laughing to the stockes He sees euill hee likes it he dares it he does it hee liues in it and his heart like an hydropicke stomacke is not quiet till it bee full Whiles the heart like a Cesterne stands perpetually open and the deuill like a Tankerd-bearer neuer rests fetching water from the conduit of hell to fill it and there is
no vent of repentance to empty it how can it chuse but be full of euill The heart is but a little thing one would therefore thinke it might be soone full but the heart holds much therefore one would thinke it could not bee soone full It is a little morsell not able to giue a Kite her breakefast yet it containes as much in desires as the world doth in her integrall parts Neyther if the whole world were giuen to the Pellaean Monarch would he yet say My heart is full my mind is satisfied There must then concurre some co-working accidents to this repletion Satan suggests concupiscence harkens flatters the heart with some perswasion of profite pleasure content the heart assents and sends forth the eye hand foote as instruments of practise lastly sinne comes and that not alone one is intertayned many presse in Mala sunt contigua continua inter se. Then the more men act the more they affect the exit of one sinne is anothers hinte of entrance that the stage of his heart is neuer empty till the tragedy of his soule be done This fulnesse argues a great height of impiety Paul amply deliuered the wickednesse of Elimas Act. 13. O full of all subtilty and all mischiefe thou childe of the Deuil thou enemy of all righteousnesse c. a wretched impletion So is the reprobate estate of the Heathen described Rom. 1. to be filled with all vnrighteousnes fornication couetousnesse c. The same Apostle in the same Epistle speaking of the wicked in the words of the Psalme saith Their mouth is ful of cursing and bitternes Here the heart is full of euill The commander being so filled with iniquity euery member as a Souldier in his place fils it selfe with the desired corruption The eye is full of adultery and lust sayth the Apostle The hand ful of bloud sayth the Prophet The foot full of auersenes the tongue full of curses oathes dissimulations Euery vessell will be full as well as the heart full to the brimme nay running ouer as the vessels at the marriage in Cana though with a contrary liquour And when all are replenished the heart is ready to call as the widow in the 2. of Kings the 4. Bring me yet another vessell that it may be filled This is the precipitation of sinne if God doth not preuent as Sathan doth prouoke it rests not till it bee full Sinful man is euermore carrying a stick to his pyle a talent to his burden more foule water to his cestern more torments to be layde vp in his hell hee ceaseth not without a supernaturall interruption gracious reuocation till his measure be full Thus I haue runne through these 4. circumstances of the Comma or first Point of man obseruing 1. from the Owners their corruptible fragility 2. from the vessel the Hearts excellency 3. from the liquour contained in it the pollution of our natures 4. and lastly from the plenitude the strength and height of Sinne. The summe is 1. the heart 2. of man 3. is full 4. of euill I should now conclude leauing my discourse and you to meditation of it but that you would then say I had fayled in one speciall part of a Physitian that hauing described the malady I prescribe no remedy Since it is not onely expedient to be made experient of our owne estate but to be taught to helpe it Giue me leaue therfore briefly to tel you that some principal intentions to the repaire of your Hearts ruines are these 1. Seeing this vessell is full to empty it 2. Seeing it is foule to wash it 3. Since it hath caught an ill tang to sweeten it 4. And when it is well so to preserue it with these foure vses goe in peace 1. There is first a necessitie that the hart which is full of euill by nature must be emptied by conuersion and replenished with grace or not saued with glory what scuppet haue we then to free the heart of this muddy pollution Loe how happily we fall vpon Repentance God grant Repentance fall vpon vs. The proper engine ordained blessed of God to this purpose is Repentāce a grace without which man can neuer extricate himselfe from the bondage of Satan a grace whereat whē it lights on a sinnefull soule the deuils murmure and vexe themselues in hell and the good Angels reioyce in heauen This is that blessed engine that lightens the hearts of such a burden that Rockes and Mountains and the vast body of the earth layed on a distressed desperate sinner are corkes and fethers to it This is that which makes the eternal wisedome content to admit a forgetfulnesse and to remember our iniquities no more then if they had neuer beene This speakes to Mercy to separate our sinnes from the face of God to binde them vp in heapes and bundels and drowne them in the sea of obliuion This makes Mary Magdalen of a sinner a Saint Zacheus of an extortioner charitable and of a persecuting Saul a professing Paul This is that mourning master that is neuer without good attendants teares of contrition prayers for remission purpose of amended life Behold the office of Repentance shee stands at the dore and offers her louing seruice entertaine me and I will vnlode vnlade thy heart of that euill poyson and were it ful to the brim returne it thee empty If you welcome Repentance knocking at your dore from God it shall knocke at Gods dore of mercy for you It askes of you amendment of God forgiuenesse Receiue it 2. The heart thus emptied of that inueterate corruption should fitly be washed before it bee replenished The olde poyson stickes so fast in the grayne of it that there is onely one thing of validity to make it cleane the bloud of Iesus Christ. It is this that hath bathed all hearts that euer were or shall be receyued into Gods house of glory This bloud clenseth vs from all sin Paul seemes to inferre so much in ioyning to the spirits of iust men made perfect Iesus the Mediatour of the new Couenant and the bloud of sprinckling that speaks better things then the bloud of Abel As if he would proue that it was this bloud which made them iust and perfect In vaine were all repentance without this no teares can wash the heart cleane but those bloudy ones which the side of Christ other parts wept when the speare and nayles gaue them eyes whiles the Sonne of eternall ioy became a Mourner for his brethren Could we mourne like doues bowle like Dragons lament beyond the waylings in the valley of Hadradimmon quid prosunt lacrimae what boots it to weepe where there is no mercy and how can there bee mercy without the bloud of Christ This is that euer-running fountain that sacred Poole of Bethesda which without the mediation of Angels stands perpetually vnforbidden to al faithful visitants Were our Leprosie worse then Naamans here 's
else to refuse the offer of that Lambe which takes away the sinnes of the world and to cut off our selues from that vniuersall promise Moritur Christus pro indigenis pro indignis and spreaders out his armes on the Crosse to embrace both Iew and Gentile Why doth not God giue faith I answere with that Father Non ideo non habet fidem quia Deus non dat sed quiatu non accipis Thou doest not therefore lacke faith because God doth not offer it but because thou wilt not accept it The name of Iesus Christ is sayeth Saint August Nomen sub quo nemini desperandum est A name able to defend vs from desperation But there are many implacable threatnings against out guiltinesse There are none implacable to faith none without reseruation of mercy to repentance Euery conditionall proposition hath two parts the former suspendeth the sentence and is called the antecedent the latter concludeth the sentence and is called the consequent The first Nil ponit in esse As a conditionall promise inferreth nothing but deriueth all force and vertue from the connexion whereof it dependeth So in menaces there is eyther some presupposed cause or after-concession wherein it inferreth a consequence If thou hast sinned if thou doest not repent There is place for remission with God if there be place for repentance in thy owne heart If then distrust of Gods mercy bee not madnesse what is when it causeth a man to breake that league of kindnesse which he oweth to his owne flesh and offers to his hand engines of his owne destruction euermore presenting his mind with halters swords poisons pistolls ponds disquieting the heart with such turbulent and distracting cogitations till it hath adiured the hands to imbrue themselues in their owne bloud to the incurring of a sorer execution from the iustice of God Is he not mad that will giue credite to the Father of lies rather then to the God of Truth when God promiseth to Penitence the wiping away her teares the binding vp her wounds and healing her sores and the deuill denyeth it giuing it for impossible to haue the iustice of God satisfied and thy sinnes pardoned behold darkenes is beleeued rather then light and falshood is preferred to truth Be not thus Lyon-like in your houses and franticke in your hearts mad in your desperate follies to shut vp heauen when the Lord hath opened it to renew that score which he hath wiped and when hee hath pulled you out of the fire to runne into it againe like Tygers to teare and deuoure your owne soules which that bloud of eternall merite hath freed from the Dragon of hell It is not a light and inferior degree of madnes but a diffident and desperate when the Physitian euen He of heauen shall promise helpe to a â—ore and apply playsters of his owne bloud to it the Patient shall thrust his nayles into it and answere nay It shall not be healed This sinne is like that fourth Beast in the 7. of Daniel without distinction of name or kind Dreadfull terrible exceedingly strong and it had great yron teeth c. The Lyon Beare Leopard are tame and gentle in regard of this Beast it is desperate madnes That grinds the poore with his yron teeth and stampes his own heart vnder his malignant feet and dasheth against God himselfe with his hornes of Blasphemie It is then clearer then the day that the darkenes of Infidelity is Phrenzie whether as it hath beene in stanced it be presumptuous against Gods Iustice or desperate against his Mercy For who but a mad-man would hope for impunity to his wilfully-continued sins where he visibly perceiues that peccatum peccanteÌ„ necessitat morti that iniquity giues soule and body lyable to condemnation and obiects them to the vnappeaseable wrath of God And yet who but a mad-man hauing sinned will despayre of forgiuenes when the mercy of God hath allowed a place to repentance Turn and liue sayth the Lord for I haue no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth 3. Refractary and peruerse Affections Make the possessed franticke This is a speeding cause and failes not to distemper the soule whereof it hath gotten mastery There may bee first a sober knowledge that the Patient may say Video meliora I see better things and secondly a faith but such as is incident to deuils proboque I allow of them but thirdly where the whole man is tyrannized ouer by the Regent-house of irrefragable affects deterior a sequor hee concludes his course with I follow the worse Obserue the Philistines crying 1. Sam. 47. God is come into the Campe woe vnto vs c. Yet they settle hearten harden themselues to fight against him Ver. 8. Woe vnto vs who shall deliuer vs out of the hand of these mightie Gods yet verse 9. Bee strong and quit your selues like men O yee Philistines quit your selues like men and fight Twice they behold their Dagon falne down before the Arke yet Dagon must bee their God still and the Arke is only reuerenc'd for a ne noceat How many runne madde of this cause inordinate furious lusts If men could send their vnderstandings like Spyes downe into the Well of their hearts to see what obstructions of sinne haue stopp'd their veines those springs that erst deriued health and comfort to them they should finde that male afficiuntur quia malè afficiunt their madde affects haue bad effects and the euill disposednesse of their soules ariseth from the want of composednesse in their affections The Prophet Ieremy chap. 2. compareth Israel to a swift Dromedary trauersing her wayes and to a wilde Asse vsed to the wildernesse that snuffeth vp the winde at her pleasure Be yee not sayth the Psalmographer as the horse and mule which haue no vnderstanding whose mouth must bee helde in with bit and bridle Men haue vnderstanding not beasts yet when the frenzy of lust ouerwhelmeth their senses wee may take vp the word of the Prophet and powre it on them Euery man is a beast by his own knowledge And therefore man that is in honour and vnderstandeth not is like vnto beasts that perish Did not the bridle of Gods ouer-ruling prouidence giue cohibition to their madnes they would cast off the saddle of reason and kicke nature it selfe in the face This is that which Solomon calles the wickednesse of follie foolishnes and madnesse an actuall deuiation deuitation of the way of righteousnesse a practicall frenzy a rouing wandring vagrant extrauagant course which knowes not which way to flie nor where to light except like a Dorre in a dung-hill an opinion without ground a going without a path a purpose to doe it knowes not what a getting and losing bending and breaking building vp and pulling downe conceyuing a multitude of thoughts with much anxiety and with a sudden neglect scattering them As that woman who being long barren by studying and practising physicke
enwrappe him lead and stone immure him dead his originall mother will at last owne him againe for her naturall childe and triumph ouer him with this insultation hee is in my bowels Psal. 146. Hee returneth to his earth His body returneth not immediately to heauen but to earth nor to earth as a stranger to him or an vnknowne place but to his earth as one of his most familiar friends and of oldest acquaintance To conclude If wee bee sinnefull wee must die if wee bee full of euill and cherish madnesse in our hearts we must to the dead Wee haue sinnes enough to bring vs all to the graue God grant they bee not so violent and full of ominous precipitation that they portend our more sudden ruine Yea they doe portend it but Oh nullum sit in omne pondus But I haue beene so prolixe in the former parts of the Sentence that I must not dwell vpon the Period Hee needs not bee tedious that reades a Lecture of mortality How many in the world since this Sermon begunne haue vndergone experimentall demonstration of this truth This Sentence is but the morall of those spectacles and those spectacles the iustifying examples of this Sentence They are come to their Period before my speech my speech my selfe and all that heare me all that breathe this ayre must follow them It hath beene sayd We liue to die let me a little inuert it Let vs liue to liue Liue the Life of grace that wee may liue the life of glory Then though we must goe to the dead we shal rise from the dead and liue with our God out of the reach of death for euer Amen FINIS 1. Cor. 5. 5. Mal. 4. 2. Luk. 3. 38. Psal. 51. 5. Gen. 5. 3. Rom. 5. 12. Ioh. 6. 60. Math. 19. 23. 1. Cor. 15. 50. 1. Cor. 6. 11. a Rom. 8 1. b Ver. 13. c Ver. 14. d Ioh 3. 3. e 1 Pet. 1. 23. Virg. 2. Aenea Psal. 146. 3. Ioh. 17. 14. Ezek. 18. 2. Sen. Ep. 99. ad Lucil. Sen ibid. Sen. Math. 24. 42. Cor receptaculum vitae Spiritus in iecore naturalis animalis cerebro in vitalis in corde a Psal. 46 4. Math. 15. 19. b 1 Cor. 3. 16. Ambros. Reu. 3. 20 Luke 6. 45. 2 Reg. 20. 13. 2. Sam. 5. 6. Quà m minimo custos munere possit emi Ouid. Amor. Rom. 3. 3. Sen. Psal 51. 10. Rom. 7. Psal. 51. Eccles. 7. 29. Math. 7. 18. 1. Ioh. 3. 9. Iam. 3. 11. Gen. 6. 5. 2. Tim. 2. 20. 1. Cor. 6. 15. Mal. 4. 2. Cant. 5. 2. Reu. 3. 20. Psal. 2. 9. Dan. 5. 2. Reu. 22. 11. Cap. eod â— 4. a Gen. 4. 19. b Gen. 26. 34. 35. Bis peccat qui exemplo peccat Eccl. 12. 14. a Gen. 15. 16. b Math 23. 32. Act. 13. 10. Rom. 1. 29. a Rom. 3. 14. b 2. Pet. 2. 14. c Esa. 1. 15. Ioh. 2. 2. Reg. 4. 2. Luk 15. Reu. 6. 16. 1. Ioh. 1. 7. Heb. 12. 23. 24. Heb. 10. 29. Math. 12. 44. Gal. 5. 24. a 1. Ioh. 3. 3. b 1. Thes. 4. 4. c Iam. 1. 27. d Luke 11. 26. a 1. Cor. 2. 14. b 2. Cor. 4. 4. c Malac. 3. 14. Vet. 15. Rom. 1. 28. Deut. 28. 28. a Psal. 14. 4. b Wisd. 5. 6. Wisd. 13. 1. c Ver. 18. d Wisd. 14. 21. Nescire Deum causa dementiae est a Psal. 95. 10. Prou. 14. 9. Prou. 22. 3. 1. Cor. 10. 11. Reuel 21 8. Esay 7. 9. 1. Pet. 2. 7. 8. 2. Pet 3. 9. Ioh. 1. 29. Aug. Ecclus. 4. 30. Dan. 7. 7. Ezek. 18. 32. 1. Sam. 47. Chap. 5. Ier. 2. 24. Psal. 329. Psal. 49. 20. Eccl. 7. 25. 2. Tim 3. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 5. 6. Bern. Quod bonis operibus insidiatur August Iob. 31. 9. 12. Pro. 6 26. Sen. 1. Cor. 6. 18. Pro. 6. 33. Ioh. 8. 7. 11. Ieâ—on ad Celant Hugo de vita Claustrali Iud. 9. Ambr. Chrys. hom 5. in Math. a Amos. 5. 19. b 1. Reg. 19. 17. Math. 17. 15. c Ver. 16. d Ver. 17. e Ver. 21. Eccl. 7. 7. Esa. 5. 20. Nec Deus est nec homo c. Obad. 4. Ezek. 28. 2. Ver 9. Bez. Epigr. Virg. In praelia trudit nermem Hor. Reu. 21. 27. Erasm. W. sd 1. 11. Psal. 5. 6. Pro. 26. 18. 19. 1. Sam 21. 15. Greg. Eph. 4. 26. Act. 1. 52. Pro 6. 19. Pro. 26. 18. 22. 25. Pro. 26. 17. Ier. 2. 13. Luk. 13. 1. Met. Postil D. Boys vern par pag. 118. The state of the English fugitiues 1. Tim. 4. 5. 1. Pet. 2. 13. 14. 17. Math. 22. 12. Eph. 3. 17. 1. Ioh. 4. 16. Aug. Rom. 7. 16. Rom. 6. 12. Gen. 3. 11. 〈…〉 Act. 26. 24. 1. Sam. 21 13. 1. Pet. 4. 4. Wisd. 54. 5. Rom. 6. Wisd 5. 13. Psal. 146. 4.