a humane hardening or the hardening of God and the the hardening of man and yet the one of these doeth not harden without the other for God hardeneth not Pharaohs heart but that Pharaohs owne will is the cause of it his hardening proceedeth not from any other but froÌ„ himselfe And therefore the scripture saith that Pharaoh hardeâ—ed his heart Neither for al that Eâ—od 9. 34. doeth Pharaoh harden his owne heart but God doeth it iudicially or according to his secret iudgements for the kings heart is in the hand of the â—ord Pro. 21. 1. But when it is said that God hardeneth the heart we must not so vnderstand it as if God should make that hard which before was softe and tender or of it selfe was not hard For the truth is that all men are borne with a hard heart and darke vnderstanding even with a heart of stone like the Adamant of the which wee haue heard already And for this cause the Lord saith by his Prophet I will take away the stoâ—â—◠〈◊〉 36. 26. heart oâ—â— of your bodie and I will giue you an heart of flesh God therefore is saide to harden the heart when as he denieth his grace and the fire of his holy spirite to molâ—â—fie and soften that which is naturally hard even as when the heat of the fire is denied to the softening of the hard and vntempered waxe This is called of some a prâ—vatiue hardening because God detaineth his grace from men for iust causes which are not knowne to vs. Beside this God hardeneth after an other manner when he doeth not only suffer the heart to remaine in that hardnesle and obduration which it hath by nature but doeth also externally harden it more and more by his ministers For as we may see in 〈◊〉 Pharaoh was made more obstinate hard-hearted by the ministery of Moses and Aaron then he was before hee had heard â—hese men And in these daies we haue too much expetience hereof by seeing vngodly men to become the more froward and malicious the more that they heare Gods worde and are taught by his ministers This is Gods iudicial hardening of the heart whereby in his iust iudgementes hee punisheth the former sinnes of men and for this purpose he commandeth his ministers as it is written Make the heart of this people â—at make their eares heavie Isa 10. shut their eies least they see with their eies and heare with their eares and vnderstande with their hearts and convert that I might heale theÌ„ Here we see how and wherefore God hardeneth the heart Now the humane hardening or the hardening attributed to man himselfe is that which the text that we handle warneth vs to beware of if yee heare his voice harden not your hearts This hardening of the hart is nothing else but a voluntary purpose and intent of man to continue in sinne and not to follow nor obey the doctrine of Gods everlasting trueth howsoeuer it be preached vnto him as hereof we haue examples in king Saule in Iudas in Iuhan the Apostaâ—â— and others ' but specially in Pharach whom the scriptures do set before vs as a notable paterne of a disobedient and hard-hearted man After this maner thhrefore the Israelies in the wildernesle hardened their heartes by grudging and bitter strining against Moses when they wanted water notwithstanding they had the word of the Lord among them This is it Exod. 17. which the Apostle putteth vs in minde of when he saith harden not your hearts as in the pâ—ovâ—â—ation And this is the hardening wherewith man hardeneth his heart even his own perverse will and purpose of sinning wherin he persisteth and so becoÌ„meth the minister of death perdition to his own soule Now the cause of all hardening of the heart is sin and the custome of sinning For Moses saith Phiraoh sinned againe and hardened his hearte Exod. 9. 34. There Pharaohs sinne goeth before the hardening of his heart VVherefore consider how fearefull and dangerous the custome of sinne is it bringeth hardnesse of hearte which denyeth obedience to the worde of God and despiseth his holy ministery and so groweth to fulnesse of sinne the wages whereof is death eternall Let the consideration Rom. 6. 23. of these thinges cause you with feare reverence to hear the Gospel of your salvation and before you come to heare it bee careful as the Apostle exhorteth to cast away euery thing that presseth downe and the sinne that Heb. 12. 1. hangeth so fast on that wheÌ„ the Lord speaketh by the mouth of his messâ—gers you may haue cares to hear hearts to vnderstaÌ„d be in a readmes to heare his voice to say with Samuel speake Lord for thy servaÌ„t heareth Here 1. Sam. 3. 10 we see that as there was a voice hard so there was a readines to hear it Here â—od did speak here man was prepared to heare him But this exaÌ„ple of obedieÌ„ce preparatioÌ„ to heare the Gospell which is more glorious speaketh better thinges then the law is too rare in our age For most men and women though they resort to church and to Christian congregations are yet in the time of divine exercise of the word of God more ready to speake then to heare They are more ready to pray by themselues and to offer vp a sacrifice of their owne superstition then either to heare reading or preaching of the holy scriptures or to consent with one mind to the common praters of the whole church if the time so require yea and some are not content to be thus farre superstitious but wil also giue themselues to read on some praier booke when God speaketh to them out of his booke of life Such blinde devotion of men and private repeating of words out of due time and place must needes be a sacrifice not accepted but reiected of God For it cannot be the fruit of faith because you haue not so learned Christ and whatsoever saith the Apostle is not of faith is sinne Rom. 14. 13 Marke a speciall doctrine of that famous preacher Salomon touching this point take heede to thy foote when thou enterest into the house Eccl. 4. 7. of God and be wore neere to heare then to giue the sacrifice of fooles for they know not that they dâ—â— evill If they know not that they do evil then they do it of ignorance But it is evil saith he and we are taught that Christians must abstaine not onely from evill it selfe but from al appeâ—â—â—nce of evill Yet because nothing is so 1. Thess 5. 22. evill but if it be commonly vsed seemeth to be good and men will needs defend it so to be as in this case some are wont to say that when they giue themselues to pray privatly in the church they doe it that they may be the better prepared to serue God But as the Apostle saith to the Corinthians which came disorderedly to the receiving of the
In which fortie yeares he overthrew them and made an end of them with their sinnes Fortie daies and fortie nightes was the raine vpon the earth when all the inhabitants Gen. 7. 12. of the old world except Noah and his family were drowned In those fortie daies and fortie nights the Lord wiped away all wickednesse and crueltie wherewith the earth was corrupted Forty daies are limited to the people of Niâ—eveh for repentaunce And in that space they repented for they beleeved God as it is in Ionah and proclaimed a fast and put on sacke-cloath Ion. 3. 4. 5. from the greatest of them even to the least of them And to speake according to naturall observation it is noted in mankinde generally that an * Plin. nat hist lib. 7. in proâ—m infant doth seldome or never laugh before he be fortie daies old Here we may see that man â—ath iust cause to bee alwaies sorie and to mourne for his sinnes which are the cause of all the miseries of this life When God establisheth perfect righteousnes vpon earth forty of daies and nightes are spoken of as when Moses was called from the sight of the people he was with the Lord in mount Sinai forty daies and forty nights Exod. 24 18 34. 28. in which he fasted miraculously that so the law of God which hee was to deliuer vnto the Israâ—lites might receiue the more honor and authority And againe fortie daies and 1. King â—9 〈◊〉 fortie 〈◊〉 E 〈…〉 h at the calling of the Lord continued â—â—sâ—ing because hee was the minister that should restore the law to the former perfection thereof And our saviour Christ is said to haue fasted Maâ— 4. 2. â—uke 4 2. 〈…〉 and fourtie mightes before hee beganne his publique life and preaching The end of which fast o◠〈…〉 le as * Vpon the harmony of the â—â—aÌ„gell Mat. 4. 〈◊〉 M. Câ—lvâ— doeth well obsetue was that it should bee a seale to the doctrine of the Gospell which as it is more glorious then the lawe of Moses so was it to bee adorned with miracles and rate signes And after he had suffered his passion and was â—â—sen againe hee was seene of his Apostles by the spice of forty daies Act. 1. 3. In which fortie daies he confirmed vnto them the verity of his â—uâ—â—ection Thus we see where vnto this number forty is vsually applyed in holy scriptures For as teâ—â—e is a perfect and absolute number and all supe 〈…〉 numbers doe arise either by adding vnto teâ—â—e oâ— els by multiplying of ten so the multiplying of ten in this number forty declareth vnto vs the louing kindnesse and mercy of God who giueth vnto men such space of daies or of yeares either to see the confirmatioÌ„ of his truth and his workes or to amend and turne vnto him before they bee destroied for their sins and transgressions And here we may learne that our departing from iniquity our faith and obedience to the worde of GOD must bee effectuall earnest and vnsamed and wee must persevere in the same not for one day but fortie dayes or fortie yeares that is so long as the LORDE vvill haue vs to remayne in the vvildernesse of this world Nowe the cause why the LORDE was displeased with his people fortie yeares was sinne For the Apostle sayeth vvas hee not displeased vvith them that sinned vvhose carâ—â—â—ses fell in the vvildernesse The roote and beginning of all sinne is the naturall corruption or originall sinne vvherein all menne are vvrapped from their mothers wombe and vvherevvith mankinde hath beene infected euer since the fall of Adam This corruption bringeth foorth fruite vnto death by transgressing the law of God We sinne three maner of waieâ— three maner of waies that is in thought worde and deede according to the wordes of our saviour Christ affirming that those thinges which desile a man come from the heart For out of the hearte saith hee come Mat. 15. 19. eviâ—â— thoughts These are sinnes and defile thâ— whole man Murthers adulteries fornications theftes These are sinnes in deed False testimonies slaunders These are sinnes committed in word And now all these transgressions and every one of them as they are committed of men are called actuall sinnes And they are Three sorts of actuall sinnes of three sortes One is counted a sinne of infirmitie into the which the godly and regenerate men of God doe commonly fall through the weakenesse of the flesh Of this kinde of sinne speaketh Paule when he saith the evill which I vvould not that do I. And Rom 7. 19. 1. 〈◊〉 1. 8. of this Saint Iohn saith If we saie that wee haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs. The second is a sinne of ignorance committed through lacke of knowledge when hee that sinneth knoweth not that he doeth evill Such was the sinne of Paule before his conversion when hee liued a Pharisâ—â— and persecuted the Christians notwithstanding he had zeale and in his life was vnrebukeable Phil. 3. 6. touching the righteousnesse of the law And of this sinne after he was conuerted hee saith I did it ignorantly through vnbeliefe 1. Tim. 1. 13. The third kind of sinne is a sinne of malice or a sinne of disobedience to the trueth of God when they that haue experience of Gods fauour and goodnesse towards them and know his word to be the rule of righteousnesse will not for all that forsake their owne waies to followe it and to obey it Such was the sinne of Saul when he did not 1. Sam. 15 9 obey the wordes of Samuel being commanded to destroy the Amalekites and all that appertained vnto them This sinne of disobedience was the sinne of the children of Israell for the which the Lord was displeased with them fortie yeares who knowing the goodnesse of God to bee more extended towardes them then any other nation of the earth did notwithstanding disobey his voice and tempte him â—enne tymes as the scripture witnesseth Num. 14. â—2 And therefore they were reiected of the Lord that they should not enter into his rest and were punished in the wildernesse with horrible plagues where their carkeises fell for an example and a terrour to all that should haue thereof This sinne of maliciouse frowardnes disobedience to the word of God is of all other most fearefull is therefore called rebellion 1. Sam. 15. 23. wickednes idolatrie compared with the sinne of witchcraft And of this kind of sinne Iohn saith hee that commiteth sinâ—s of 1. 10. 3. 8. 9. the deuill And whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not This is therefore the sinne that we must beware of We see how fearefully it was punished in Gods chosen people And their punishments as Paule witnesseth being written to admonish vs might if they were 1. Cor. 10. 〈◊〉 well weyed terrifie the stubborne froward generation of this age and might moue those that preferre the
same Moreouer let no man flatter himselfe thinke that he is safe from Gods iudgmentâ— if he hath noâ— so tempted God as the Israelits did in the wilderâ—es or if he hath not so murmured against his ministers as they did but let him rather coÌ„sider whether his faith and obedience hath bene so tried as theâ—â—s was whether without murmuring distrust he hath gone through the fire water of temptation which they were brought vnto for their triall according as the scripture witnesseth thou shalt remember all the way Deut. 8. 2. which the Lord thy God led thee this fourtie yeare in the wildernes for to humble thee and to proue thee to know what was in thine heart whether thou wouldest keepe his commandements or no. Here we see that the Lord exercised the Israelits with great daungers and many difficulties of the terrible wildernes for to humble them and to know whether with sound and faithfull heartes they would cleaue to him abide his triall If thou hast not then bene exercised with diuers temptations as they were or if thou aâ—t not yet come into the day of triall perswad not thy selfe that all is well with thee because thou standest when none doth sight against thee Say not like the church of the Revel 3. 17 â—aodiceans that thou art rich because thou knowest not thy wretchednes pouertie and that thou hast neede of nothing because thou seest not thy nakednes It is an easie thing to ouercome where theiâ— is no battell to promise to thy selfe the victorie before thou aâ—t tried That lesson of the King of Israel is worthy to be remembred let not him 1. King 10. 11. that gâ—rdâ—th his harâ—es boast himselfe as hee that putteth it of And that of the Apostle is a notable warming let him that thinketh hâ—â— 1. Coâ— 10. 1â— standeth take heede least he fall Thirdly specially let vs here learne that if such sinnes iniquities as are equal to the sinns of the Israelits in the wildernes be not visited with the like plagues as theirs were they shall not therfore escape vnpunished For there is a iudgment to come the Lord hath sworne that the vnfaithfull vnrighteouse which disobey his word shall not enter into his rest This is a sure testimonâ—e that putteth away all doubt for if anoath for Heb 6. 16. confirmation among men be an end of all strifâ— as are the wordes of the Apostle how much more doth it take away al occasioÌ„ of doubting when the Lord almightie bindeth himselfe with an oath The interrogation which the Apostâ—e vseth in these wordes to whom sware hee that they should not enter into his rest doeth more significantly expresse the punishment of not obeying And here is also vsed a figuratiue kind of speech wherby lesse is said theÌ„ 〈◊〉 vnderstood wherby we gather that there are dreadfull punishments ordeined for all obstinate vnbeleeuing sinners For what ensueth from not eÌ„tering into the rest of immortality but to haue thy parte portion with them which are shut out of the citie of â—od what part haue they the holy Ghost declareth in these wordes the fearfull and vnbeleeuing and the abominable Revel â—1 8. murtherers wheremongers sorcerers and idolaters and all â—â—ers shall haue their portion 〈◊〉 the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the seconâ— death This is the wages of sin disobedience although the time of payment be deferred vntill the haruest of this world yet this cuppe of vengeance is prepared for all the workers of iniquitie which shall not enter into rest And therefore as one father saith he that doeth euill ought to feare the more if he be not punished in this world for then hee is to drinke the deeper of Gods wrath in the iudgment to come These things being most true let it not greeue thee that art a true Christian though sinners doe flourish for a time and though thou see the vncleane conuersation of wicked and profane people to abound in the earth and yet in the meane while thou thyselfe doest suffer affliction and art tried with diuerse adueâ—sities Remember for all this that God is good to Israel and the damnation of his enemies sleepeth not It cannot be denied but that many of those sinnes which God in former ages did so 〈…〉 ly punish for an example vnto the world do now reigne in the worlde and yet are 〈◊〉 visited vvith the like seueritie and puniâ—hment because as we reade God hath 〈…〉 a day in the which he will iudge the Acts 1â—â—1 world 〈◊〉 rightousnes And therefore as it is well obseâ—â—ed of Chrysostome many of those sinnes for the which the world was drowned in the dayes of Noah are day he committed in the world yet â—od bringeth not Geâ— 7. â—1 2â— 23. a â—loâ—d to drowne the world as he did then because there is a â—â—ood of wrath ordeined for them in the world to come Many of those sins for the which Sodom Gomorrah were consumed with fire and brimstone from heauen are still practised in the world Gen. 19. 24. 25. and yet the Loâ—d raineth not fire out of heaven to destroy them that do such thinges because he hath appoynted for them the â—iâ—e that â—hall neuer be quenched Many are they which speake against Gods word and persecute his church as Pharaoh did yet Exod. 14. 27. 28. are not choked with the sea water as Pharaoh and his â—eruantes were because the bottomlesse sea of perdition is reserued for them Many do murmur against heauen dislike of Gods ordinaÌ„ce as the Israelits did in the wildernes and yet are not destroyed with firy serpents with other plagues as Num. 21. 5. 6. they were because the worme that neuer dieth shall hereafter torment them Many there be which take bribes giftes vnlawfully as Gehazâ— did yet they are not stâ—ikeÌ„ with the foule disease of leprosie as he was 2 King 5. 27. because they shall be plagued after this life where there shall bee weeping and gnashinge of teeth And againe many do lye dissemble in matters of religion as Ananias Sapphira Act. 5. 5. 10. did and yet are not punished with suden death as they were because death immortall euerlasting waiteth for theÌ„ These thinges are thus applied of * Chrissostom 1 Chrysost in Act. Apo. c. 5. hâ—m 12. for this cause when the Apostle Peter saith that God spared not the angels that had sinned but east them downe into hell that 2 Pet. 2. 4. 5 6. he spared not the old world that he turned the citâ—es of Sodom Gomorah into ashes hee doth not say that God did then with the like punishmeÌ„ts cut of the false teachers of whom he speaketh such as walkâ— like the Sodomits after the flesh in the lâ—st of vncleannesse but he gathereth therby that the Lord knoweth
things nâ—w more theÌ„ a yeere and a halfe agone occasion was giueÌ„ that I could do no lesse then in their owne colour as neere as I wâ—â— able set forth the manifold evills incoÌ„venienceâ—â— of certaine offensiue vnlawful games specialâ—y of 〈◊〉 may poles Which though it be a doctrine not acceptable nor welcome to the world specially to such aâ— be louers of vaine pleasures more thâ—â— louers of God yet must we not for fear of meÌ„ keepe backe those things which may do good These poles sâ—t vp maintained to stand in â—co many places of this lâ—â—d are evident markes of coÌ„tempt of the word of God true godlinesse and therfore â—s we haue alreadie by the late dearth scarcitie of foode that hath bâ—ne by sundrâ—e plagnes straÌ„ge sicknesses tasted of Gods anger against such contempt of his Gospelâ—â— so except as the Propheâ— exhorteth â—sâ— 55. 6. 〈◊〉 seeke the Lord while he may be sound and call vpon him while he is neere it is to be sâ—arâ—a that his wrath wil in greater measure be â—owred out vpoÌ„ the inhabitaÌ„ts of this land to the perpetuallâ—â—â— of them that haue neglected despiseâ— the gratâ—ous time of Gods â—alâ—ng For what can the end of the world which is so set on wickednesse loâ—ke for but blâ—odie warres sudden sorrowes deadly calamâ—â—ies 〈◊〉 that we would iudge our selues that we â—ight not be iudged of the Lord. The magistrate the minister if they do the worke of the Lord either negligently or deceitfully must thinke that other mens blood shall be required at their handes Pray therfore that all which are in authoritie al that haue the charge of mens soules committed vnto them may alwayes be found faithfull and vigilant to resist sinne and offences not fearing nor fauouring the person of any mortall man whose breath is in his nostrelles And pray that we all what calling or condition soeuer we be of may be alwayes mindfull of our vow made in our baptisme to sight against sinne the world the flesh till we become conquerors through Christ Iesus to whoâ— be all prayse dominion for euermore Against fleshly lustes 1. Pet. 2. 11. Deerely beloved I beseech you as strangers and Pilgrims abstaine from fleshly lustes which fight against the soule IN this parcel of scripture which you haue heard this morning as it is vsually read in the church this day the Apostle Peter as an excelleÌ„t instrumeÌ„t of the holy Ghost warneth the Christians of the Iewes of the imminent perill not of theeues nor of violent robbers nor of wilde beasts nor of forraine enemies but of the lustes of their owne flesh which are the more dangerous and the more hard to be avoided because they are inseparable companions of the flesh and nature of man In the former chapter of this epistle exhorting them to holines purity of living he putteth them in Minde that they were not redeemed from their vaine conversation as hee 1. Pet. 1. 18. 19. saith with corruptible things as silver and golde but with the precious bloode of Christ as of a lambe vndefiled and without spot in the consideration wherof they might more clearly see what they were before their calling what they are now being called sanctified in Christ Iesus They must walke therfore in their Christian race to withstand the continualâ—assaults of their spirituall enemies among which the lusles of the flesh are not the least nor the casiest to be subdued for that they fight against the soule so long as this life lasteth and bring forth fruite vnto eternall death Peter directeth this doctrine to theÌ„ which beleeued of his owne nation the Iewes notwithstanding it appertaineth to all Christians which haue obtained the like saith to become the true seede of Abraham For as the beleeuing â—ewes to whom hee writeth this Epistle were at that time strangers scattered among the gentiles had lost the lande of Iudea so as they were ChristiaÌ„s they were also strangers vpon earth and so are all the faithfull what nation of people soeuer they be of albeit that they liue and dwell in their natiue countrie where they were borne and brought vp It behoueth them therfore being strangers to be more circumspect and carefull to resist their enemies these enemies are the lustes of the flesh which fight against the more excellent part of man euen against the soule Here we may learne that man as he hath a body of flesh wherein his soule dwelletâ— is an enemie vnto himselfe This may seeme to bee a strange Paradox or a thing that most men because of the ignoraunce that is in them will not beleeue But the true Christian that walketh not after the flesh but after the spirite findeth and feeleth it to bee true according as it is vvritten I see another lavve in my members Rom. 7. 23. 24. rebelling against the lavve of my minde and leading me captiue vnto the lavve of sinne vvhich is in my members O vvretched man that I am vvho shall deliuer me from the body of this death And the heathen man by the lighte of Socrates nature coulde finde out the true cause of mans wretchednesse vvhereof hee thus speaketh the chiefe cause of all evilles that happen to man is man himselfe for hee through his greedy lustes and desires troubleth both himselfe and all other creatures Chrysostome in a certaine treatise of his Nâ—â—â— lâ—dâ—tur nisi aseipso doeth notablye prooue that no manne is hurt but of himselfe for as he saith hee that hurteth not himselfe can of none be hurt as Kaine sudas Iscartot king Pharaoh such others could not haue perished if the cause of their confusion that is the lusts of their own flesh which prevailed against them had not beene within them And contrary wise Iob Ioseph Daniell the Apostle Paule and al good men could not be hurt though for a time they did suffer and tooke in good worth the spoyling of their goods slaunder imprisonment persecution and al â—â—â—ury at the hands of them which did hurt and yet did to them no hurt because with patience they resisted not giving place to the motions of fleshlie lustes These lusts are those mighty enemies which overthrow the stoutest and the wisest among the sonnes of men King David and Salomon his son with other godly men haue beene grievously wounded herewith But the prowd man is overcome of them as Nebuchadn 〈…〉 r was of his prowd lusts The voluptuous man the drunkard and the vaine glorious in Apparell is overthrowne of his owne lusts as Dives was The covetous man as â—udaâ— was and the wanton fornicatour As if that story be true the vniust Iudges were that condemned chast Susanna Seeing therfore that our flesh is as a strong castl that defendeth so many lustes which fight against the soule as there be diversities of sinnes we are well admonished of the Apostle as strangers pilgrims to looke to our selues and to
Canaan These thinges being so alleadged by the Author of this Epistle to warne the Hebrews and in them all other people to whom the same gospel is revealed to the end that they might heereby receiue instruction to bee the more careful to heare the voice of Christ the prince of all the Prophets and the end of the law to every one that beleeveth Now he proceedeth to applie the exhortation of the Prophet more particularlie according as the time of Godes calling requireth And by this word brethren he declareth his tender affection toward them and the earnest desire that he hath to winne them to Christ Where we are to know in what sense they are called brethran Not according to nature as Iacob and Esau were 4 Soâ—tes of brethren brethren nor â—or consanguinitie sake as all the lewes vvere brethren neither are they called brethren by imitation or for their agreement in evill as Simon and Leui are Gen. 49. 5. called brethren in euill because they hadde consented to slaie a man and in this sense malefactours and vvicked menne imitating one another and consenting to doe evil are brethren But according to trueth the Hebrewes are â—heere called brethren for all the faithfull are brethren by grace It appeareth in many places of this Epistle that much people of the Ievves vvere converted to the Christian faith and had received the doctrine of the Gospell and acknowledged CHRIST IESVS for their Messias And also it is recorded in the Actes of the Apostles that manye thousande levves Act. 21. 20. did beleeue Yet the chiefest of them and for the more part the vvhole nation vvere obstinate and persisted in the blindnesse of their owne hearts and also those that beleeved vvere all zealous of the lavve of Moses retaining with the gospel the Circumcision the sabbath day the purification and other ceremonies of the lawe And therefore as the doctrine of the holy Ghost in this scripture is most forcible to perswade the vnbelieuing to receiue the grace of God in Christ so is it most necessarie to keepe and strengthen the weake members in the sinceritie of the Gospell and to teach them to forsake the ceremonies and earthly rudiments now abrogated and taken away by the death of the Messias Thus we vnderstand that as brethren by grace and indued with Christian faith he exherteth them to be ware of an evill heart of vnbeliefe There is no defection or falling away from the liuiâ—g God where there is not an evill heart And therfore where the Prophet speaketh of the prouoking and apostasie of their fathers in the wildernesse it is added with all they erre ever in their heart There Psal 95. 10. Hebr. 3. 10 is the roote of evill and insidelitie euen the heart The holy Prophet saith the heart is deceitfull and wicked aboue all thinges who can Ier. 17. 9. know it Heere we see that naturally in the heart of man there is nothinge but wickednesse and obduration and this is the cause that the children of men are accustomed to do evill and to delight in sinne For such as the tree is so is the fruit thereof And so long as this obduration possesseth mans heart his voluntarie religion is nothinge but Hypocrisie his outvvarde shewe of obedience is but dissimulation vvhen hee offereth his praiers and intercessions it is but lippe labour like the people which drew neere vnto Christ vvith their mouth and honoured him vvith their but their hearte faith he is farre from 〈◊〉 and therefore they worshipped him it vaine Simon the Sorcerer as it is in the Actes Act. 8. 11. of the Apostles beleeued and was baptised but he was not therefore the better for Peter said to him thine hart is not right in the sight of the Lorde VVherefore if you wil loue the Lorde your God you must loue him with loue out of a pure heart For that is the ende 1. Tim. 15. of his commaundement For the Lord iudgeth not as men doe after the outwarde appearance but as it is written the Lord be holdeth 1. Sam. 16. 7. the heart If the heart be not purged by grace all outwarde holynesse is but as painted sepulchers faire without and foule within or as greene grasse and faire flowres vnder the which lyeth a venimous snake that will sting you to death Christ telleth you that out of the hearte come those things that defile the whole man as evill thoughtes murthers Mat. 15. 19. 20. adulteries fornications theftes false testimonies slaunders and the like And for this cause his Apostle faith purge your heartes yee lam 48. wavering minded For while the heart is not purged there is nothing in man but a vvavering minde and as the same Apostle faith avvavering minded man is vnstable in all his vvaies He is carried from one vanitie to another he selleth himselfe to sinne from miquitie to iniquity Hee is content with Iudas to sell Christ and Christian religion for the gaine of this world and for the pleasures of sinne this is the fruite of an evill heart and vnfaithful which hateth to be reformed and will not obey the voice of the almighty The Prophet Zachariah crieth out against the people that would not heare the law of their God and saith they made their hearts as Zâ—c 7. 12. an adaâ—anâ—â— stone least they shoulde heare the lâ—we c. Their hearts were so farre from beleeving the word of the Lorde that for the hardnesse therof he compareth them to the adamant stone Plin. nat â—ist lib. 37. cap. 4. The adamant as the historiographers doe obserue is the hardest of all other stones It is so hard that no toole can breake it no fire can heate it yea nothing can overcome the hardnesse of this stone or soften it breake it but only the warme blood of the he Goat And surelie the hearts of the children of this world are rightly compared with the harde adamant which naturally are so hardened in sinne that without the dew of grace and the vertue of the bloode of Christ make them soft and renew them all our preaching all our exhorting and dehorting though we had the tongues of men and angels cannot soften nor turne the heart For as it is vvritten that vvhich is crooked can â—o Eccle. 1. 15. man make straight VVee see that the gracious and most powerfull wordes of Christ himselfe did nothing prevaile to winne tho hard hearted Iewes but ratheri hardened them in their contumacie and made them more perverse theÌ„ they were before because the vaile of vnbeliefe was laide over their hearts Beholde how great a roote of wickednes is the obduration and frowardnesse of the heart whence commeth the forsaking of life and health vttered in that desperate sentence against the counsell of the almighty departe from vs for vvee desire not the Iob. 2â— â—4 knowledge of thy waies Neverthelesse although most men haue not the heartes of brethren yet this doctrine must