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 Simile euen as a clock 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 the instructions that wee learne from hence are diuers First in ∣ struction 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 2. Sam. 10.31 2. Sam. 13.31 of Ioab for Abner and of other Now lest this ceremonie
that is filthie or polluted for our hearts being as sinkes or channels apt to receiue any filth and corruption are to bee purged and scoured with the besome of repentance and washed with the teares of contrition that they may not appeare loathsome vnto God The leprosie of Naaman 2. King 5. a greeuous leprosie Verse 14 yet when hee had washed himselfe seuen times in the waters of Iordan his flesh came againe like the flesh of a little child and he was cleane So likewise wee haue all a more greeuous leprosie then euer Naaman had and are more lothsome in the sight of God then euer he was in the sight of men Esay 1.5 for there is nothing whole within vs but woundes sores and swellings and our hands are full of bloud yea from the crowne of the head to the sole of the foot we are nothing but blemished with iniquitie Esa 1.16 and stained with corruption therefore saith the Prophet Wash you make you cleane wee must with Naaman to the waters of Iordan and there wash our selues seuen times and we shal be cleane Neither must we follow our owne carnall reason for then wee will iudge Pharpar and Abanah riuers of Damascus better then all the waters of Israel but we must take the direction of the man of God and Iordan is the place must doe vs good If we consult with flesh and bloud about the matter of our conuersion and washing away of sinne we shall neuer be cleane but if we follow the aduice of Elisha or any of Gods ministers were pur leprosie worse then Naamans the Assyrian the waters of Iordan would wash it away were our hearts like Ahabs chariot 1. 1. King 22.38 Kings 22. euen embrued with bloud and filthines yet would they be cleane being washed in the poole of Samaria Were we eyther sicke Ioh. 5.3 or blind or halt or withered and had neuer so many diseases or neuer so much distraction in our limmes yet if we wayte for the moouing of the water and step into the poole of Bethesda and there wash our selues we shal be recouered were our sinnes like crimsin Esay 1. yet they shall be as white as snowe and were they as red as scarlet they shall be as white as wooll This is the great benefit that wee shall reape and receiue after our baptisme regeneration in the waters of repentance as Ionas in the waters of the sea wherin being throughly purged washed from our corruptiōs by the bloud of the immaculate Lambe we shall with Ionas receiue a newe commission and be inuested into our former credit and fauour with God For this same corruption of sinne which lyeth in the heart vnwashed away is a bird which as I may say sings two maner of notes or hath two maner of calles It eyther cals to vs or it cals to the Lord when to vs it cals for repētance when to the Lord it cals for vengeance So that though sinne lyeth shrowded full low in our hearts and wickednes be harboured in the secrets of our soules yet is thy sinne like the sinne of Sodome the cry of it is exceeding great for they are so many in number so diuers in nature and differēt in kinde that being in thy heart they are like vnto a sort of fierce Lions and cruell Tygres in a den Beastes of diuers kinds which cannot agree together And therfore if thou labourest not to empty thy selfe of them and open thine care vnto them when they crie and call vnto thee for repentance the Lord will open his eares whē they call to him for vengeance It is lamentable to consider yet it euer hath beene and I thinke it will be that men are possessed with smallest care in matters of greatest danger The infection or corruption of the bodie euerie man will labour to purge wash away but the corruption of the soule the wickednes of the hart no man regards nay after sinne committed as the Prophet fitly notes No man saith What haue I done O miserable wretched mā that I am what haue I done though it be an aspiring kind of wickednes as that of the Niniuites Ionds 1.2 ascending clyming and being feathered with the wings of presumption flies vp into the court of heauen euen daring to shew it selfe in the presence of the most high though it extends to the annoyance of the earth below to the prouocation of the heauons aboue to the punishment of all the creatures in and betweene them both nay though it strikes and strikes with a double hand at the maiestie of God himselfe yet no man sayes What haue I done O Lord beloued a long time haue wee beene acquainted with sinne but can our acquaintance gaine vs no experience of sinne will you euer looke vpon the pleasure and profite that sinne brings vnto you but will you neuer haue an eye to the policie and subtiltie thereof Indeed wee make much of it Easola voluptas solamēque mali Aenei 3 we nourish it in the secrets of our harts and keep it warme in the inwards of our soules wee are as loth to forsake sinne as Iacob was to forsake Beniamin and to depart from iniquitie as Lot was to depart from Sodom but shall we neuer looke into the mischiefe that ensueth of it When shal we once be wise They say that no element is ponderous or waightie in his proper place as for example we feele not the weight of the aire although we liue within the circle and compasse of it Suppose a man should lie in the bottom of the sea it would not offend him with any pressure or burdensome waight although it ill annoyed him otherwise so is it in the estimation of sinne wee liue and wee lie in it but alas wretches that we are we feele not no we feele not the weight and burden thereof how it euen presseth our soules vnto condemnation Sinne is not heauie vnto vs by reason of the inclination of mans will thereunto which greedily doth ingurgitate readily swallow vp a whole sea of abomination It may seeme strange which is written of the nature of thunder that it bruiseth the tree yet breaketh not the bark it cracketh the blade but neuer hurteth the scabbard such a thing is the nature of sin it wil bruise wound the heart but neuer harm the eies or the eares or the hands it wil pearce and afflict the conscience but neuer hurt the outwarde man it is euen a plague vnto the soule yet a pleasure vnto the body Well the time wil not permit to set out sinne as it deserues to acquaint you more with the nature of it although I would to God wee were lesse acquainted with the vse lesse affected with the desire thereof yet so violently are our head-strong affections caried and rauished that we adde sinne to sinne and ioyne them in a league of friendship when we haue so done we lay iniquitie
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 Vse 2 Secondly 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 Instru ∣ ction 1 Where note 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 deale in singlenesse of heart with the Lord for there is neyther thought any shift excuse or