TWO SERMONS PREACHED IN St. MARIES CHVRCH IN CAMBRIDGE BY ROBERT SHERINGHAM Master of Arts and Fellow of GUNVIL and CAIUS Colledge LONDON Printed by Iames Young and are to be sold by John Williams at the signe of the Crowne in Pauls Church-yard 1645. THE PREFACE TO THE CHRISTIAN READER IT is not any excellence that I suppose to be in mine own labour hath made me expose it to the publique view but the manifold obligations that I owe to God and the Common-wealth My desire is to pay part of a debt and not to set out a Manifesto of mine own merits which I know how meane and small they are The first and greatest debt I owe is to God a debt so impossible to be fully paid that whilst I offer now to pay it but in part I shall make it greater for all that I can render unto the Lord for all his benefits is to endeavour what I can to set forth his glory and when I have done that I shall by such a payment rather encrease my debt then lessen it as doing whatsoever I doe by his grace and assistance Howsoever I shall strive this way to do what I am able when I cannot otherwise labour by encreasing my debt to pay it The glory of God is and I hope shall ever be dearer unto me then my owne life or happinesse were there as many worlds in truth and reality as some Philosophers have conceited in their fancie I had rather performe one Act whereby God might bee glorified then be owner of them all This that I have now done I confesse is not much yet by his own blessing it may in some measure help to set forth his glory and at the last when the fruit and succcesse of all mens labour shall be made manifest be a joy and comfort unto me The second debt I owe is to the Common-wealth whose good profit and advantage all men are bound to promote according as their respective callings and abilities shall make them capable For although our desires be various and spring from many severall Fountains yet they ought all to meet in the main sea of publike profit They which neglect the common good and seek only occasions to spend their time in ease and pleasure are but the superfluities of nature and may seem to be born for no other end but to contradict that received principle that God nature makes nothing in vain The light of the Sunne is ever in action it produceth gold and silver and rich perfumes and makes the whole earth pleasant and fruitfull the light of knowledge ought to inspire us also with the same activities he that makes not the light of knowledge as fruitfull in spirituall as that of the Sun is in naturall productions makes not that gain of knowledge which he should I will therefore endeavour to make my light active which how small and weak soever it be may yet by the gracious assistance of God and his concurrence with it further the spirituall progresse and advancement of some These are the chiefe inducements which together with the invitation of divers friends whereof some desired Copies determining to put them in print without my knowledge moved wee to publish these Sermons not intended by me at the first to bee made publike Many that heard them when they were delivered have professed that they were much wrought upon and affected by them I hope they will have the same influence upon those that read them The faults that are committed in the printing are neither very many nor very materiall yet there are some Some things are set down by way of parenthesis where they ought not In some places divers words are omitted in others mistaken For by reason I could not be present to oversee the Presse my selfe the Composer was forced to guesse at the words where the Copy was blotted and imperfect as it was in many places Yet these mistakes have not in any place that I have observed either depraved the sense or altered it although sometimes they doe a little disfigure the phrase and therefore I have not caused the Errata to be noted at the end For I desire not to seeme curious but have rather endeavoured to avoyde curiositie especially where I have occasion to reprehend the faults of any lest I should seeme to whip them with a posie If thou findest any thing that proveth usefull and profitable unto thee give God the glory to whose protection I will leave thee PSALM 41.4 Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee THese words were uttered by David in the bitterness of his soul after hee had committed the two crying sins of Adultery and Murther For David a man after Gods own heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Psa 50. as S. Chrysostome speaks of him a man that lived as strictly in his kingly palace as in a cloister or monastery fell notwithstanding into notorious and scandalous offences Hee that like an immoveable rock had broken the waves of all temptations was now broken himself In a word David that victorious King whom neither the lion nor the bear nor Goliah himselfe the terrour of a whole army could overcome was conquered by his owne passions wounded by his own lust and brought into that extremity that neither the balm of Gilead nor all the physicians there could heale those wounds But although he sinned yet he continued not long in his apostasie as soon as the prophet Nathan moved him to repentance he confessed his fault began a repentance that ended not til his death There came a traveller saith the prophet Nathan unto the rich man and hee spared to take of his owne flock but took the poor mans lamb and dressed it for the man that was come unto him 2 Sam. 12.4 Sinne is there stiled but a traveller for it was none of his domestick followers Transitus erat non permansio as S. Augustine De doctr Christ lib. 3. cap. 21. hee did but lodge sin for a time hee did not suffer it to dwell with him for ever for as soon as he grew sensible of his own distemper he makes his complaint to God the onely physician of his soule desiring him to restore and heal him If there be any here then that have imitated Davids sins learn also to imitate his repentance Sin came to David but as a traveller God grant it comes but as a traveller to you The parts of my Text are three First here is Designatio partis vulneratae Davids discovery of the wounded part and that was his soule Heal my soule Secondly here is Petitio remedii his prayer and petition for a remedy and that was to be healed Heal my soul Thirdly here is Confessio causae his confession of the cause of those wounds and that was his sin For I have sinned against thee I will begin with the first that is Designatio partis vulneratae his discovery of the wounded part The part that was wounded
if his repentance end where it begun it is a signe his will is not yet healed When good resolutions vanish like the morning-dew and are never put in execution what fruit can they produce but when resolutions and actions like the former and the later rain succeed one another in their due season they cause a fruitfull increase of glory and happinesse and it is an evident signe that the will is wrought upon by grace for that love that springs from grace makes the soule affectionate to God and carefull to abstain from all such actions as offend him When Israel came out of Egypt and the house of Jacob from among the strange people the sea saw that and fled Jordan was driven back Psal 114.1 3. The Israelites departure out of Egypt to worship God in the wildernesse was a type of mans conversion to God by love and the flight of the waters was a type of the flight of sin that follows upon it Ante retrorsum aquae conversae fuerunt nunc retrorsum peccata conversa sunt saith S. Ambrose upon that passage there the waters but here sins are driven backward there the course of the floud was stopped within its channell but here the course of sin is stopped in all the secret passages of the heart And this is the third thing to which Davids petition must be applyed namely to his will But Davids soule is not yet perfectly healed his conscience was wounded too and therefore in the last place this petition must be applied to his conscience Heal my conscience And here the manner of healing is something different from the former grace can heale the staine of sin but it cannot heale the guilt it can sanctifie but it cannot justifie the soule nothing can take away the guilt of sin but forgivenesse of sin but sin being forgiven the obligation to punishment is taken away then the conscience is healed and guilt is turned into innocence fear into gladnesse In the 102. Psalme David laments his own case very passionately My dayes are consumed away like smoak and my bones are burnt up as it were a fire-brand my heart is smitten downe and withered like grasse so that I forget to eat my bread For the voice of my groaning my bones will scarce cleave to my flesh c. In the 103. Psalme hee seems to rejoice as much and breaks forth into elogies of praise Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his holy name Praise the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits What was it that transported him so suddenly from one passion to another If you read the Psalmes you shall soon see the cause his conscience was wounded when hee made the 102. Psalm and healed when he made the 103. Psalm his sins lay heavie upon his soule when hee made the one and were forgiven him when hee made the other As long as the guilt of sin disquieted his conscience not all the glory of his Kingdome nor the pomp of his Court not all the delights of Canaan though a land flowing with milk and honey could content his mind but when his sins were forgiven hee found a sudden alteration that heavinesse that possessed his heart vented it selfe and gave place to joy O Lord my God saith he I cryed unto thee and thou hast healed me Psal 30.2 And what ensued upon this Thou hast turned saith hee afterwards my heavinesse into joy thou hast put off my sack cloth and girded me with gladnesse That contentment of mind that tranquillity of conscience that circle of joy wherewith his soul was girt followed immediately upon the healing of his conscience and forgivenesse of his sins forgivenesse of sin is as proper to heale the guilt of sin as grace to heale the staine In the Scripture to heal sin and to forgive sin are termini aequipollentes termes which signifie the same things and are promiscuously taken the one for the other Return ye back-sliding children and I will heal your back-slidings Jer. 3.22 Here you see to heale their back-slidings is to forgive their sin And so again I have seen his ways and will heale him I will lead him also and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners Isa 57.18 I have seen his wayes and will heale him that is I have seen his sins and will forgive them But was not David healed before hee made this Psalm did not the Prophet Nathan tell him The Lord also hath put away thy sin 2 Sam. 12.13 He did but David being assured by the Prophet desired yet a greater assurance The richest of Gods saints alwayes suspect their owne poverty and think that which they have nothing in respect of that which they have not and of that which they desire to have David was healed the Lord had forgiven him all his sins and yet for all that hee desires still to be healed Let us then learn by Davids example to be thus carefull and solicitous to have our soules healed Pharaoh desired to be delivered from the plagues of Egypt but not from his hardnesse of heart Let us rather desire the last for the wounds of sin are the worst wounds The Scripture hath in many places very artificially painted out the nature of sin but it alwayes borrowes colours from noxious and hurtfull creatures it compares it to the basilisk to the viper to the asp whose poysonous qualities are destructive to the life of men And it hath also in many places allegorically expressed the nature of sin by many deadly diseases by the leprosie by the palsie by the bloudy-flux and sometimes by death it selfe in the abstract By these and many other expressions in the Scripture yee may learn the nature of sin and see how dangerous her wounds are if they be not healed Let us then doe as David did let us seek unto the Lord who is the Physician of our souls hee onely is able by his grace to heale the staine and by his mercy the guilt of our sins The time will not permit mee to enter into the last part of my Text I will therefore conclude all with that of the Prophet Jeremiah Heal us O Lord and we shall be healed save us and we shall be saved for thou art our praise FINIS PSALM 41.4 Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee I Have formerly begun to speak of these words in this place I divided my Text then as you may remember into three parts First here is Designatio partis vulneratae Davids discovery of the wounded part and that was his soul Heal my soul Secondly here is Petitio remedii his prayer and petition for a remedy and that was to be healed Heal my soul Thirdly here is Confessio causae his confession of the cause of those wounds and that was sin for I have sinned against thee I have already spoken of the two first parts where I shewed you the wounds of his soule and the manner how they were to be
healed I come now to speak of the last part which is His confession of the cause of those wounds in these words For I have sinned against thee The right method of healing requires that wee shew the cause of the malady as far as we are able for the cause being removed the effect will cease that David doth here in these last words For I have sinned against thee And this last part of my Text is that which we are chiefly to look upon and to take into consideration For before as I have shewed you hee gave occasion to those that were of the Church to sin to those that were out of it to blaspheme first he commits adultery and after that as if adultery were to be purged by murther or as if Uriah's lost honour had been to be repaired by the losse of his life hee commands him to be unjustly murthered But here you may see him marking out the way to repentance and going himselfe before to direct us For as hee was not ashamed to commit sin so hee was not ashamed to confesse it and to make publick satisfaction to the whole world for my Text and many other places of the Psalmes remaine as it were so many publick registers of his sins hee sighed and wept and lamented day and night and in a word shewed all the marks and tokens of an humble and contrite heart broken with the sense of his sins and the apprehension of Gods anger against them If a gold ring be broken it loseth part of its grace and lustre but if ye set a diamond or a saphyr or a ruby in the broken place it gives a greater lustre then it did before so David by his sins lost part of that grace and lustre that made him shine so brightly in the Church of God but his confession humility repentance and other vertues like so many precious stones set in a gold ring in the place where it was broken hath made him shine brighter after his fall then in his former times of innocence for as his sinnes were great so was his sorrow and repentance and I would to God that all men which have eyes to see the one had eyes also to see the other and could learn not to love that in David which David hated in himselfe This generall confession containeth in it three particular confessions which are the heads I purpose at this time by Gods help to insist upon First here is a confession in respect of the subject Secondly here is a confession in respect of the act Thirdly here is a confession in respect of the object The subject I. The act Have sinned The object Against thee I will begin with the first that is his confession in respect of the subject I have sinned that is I alone not as a partiall and lesse principall cause necessitated and compelled by a cause more active and powerfull then my selfe but by the free and full consent of my will I have so sinned that these sins are properly and onely mine It is the custome of many to excuse themselves and impute their sins to others or at least they will charge others to have had such a causality and influence upon them that they will seeme themselves to be but partiall causes at the most In Solomons time two mothers contended for one child and both of them challenged it to be their owne but when sinne is borne and brought into the world the contention is who shall not have it in this case the true mother would have the child divided as in that the false the Will whose child it is will not acknowledge it for her owne and when shee cannot wholly impose it upon others shee desires at least to have it divided between them Some impute their sins to the Devill and to the violence of his temptations as if hee did forcibly and irresistibly procure them to sin and this is a kind of hereditary disease which we take from our first parents for after Eve had transgressed the commandement of God by eating the forbidden fruit to excuse the matter shee laid the fault upon the Divell The Serpent said shee beguiled me and I did eat But David here useth no such evasions I have sinned saith hee hee condemnes himselfe and not the Divell and yet the Divell sinned as well as David and if Saint Augustines opinion be true the Divell sinned worse then David Lib. 3. de libero arbitrio cap. 10. Gravius est peccatum alteri per invidentiam dolúmque suadere quà m ad peccandum alterius suasione traduci saith hee speaking of the temptations of the Divell But yet David accuseth not the Divell who did only tempt but could not constrain him to sin for all that the Divell can doe is to allure and induce men by morall perswasions hee cannot physically determine their wils to evill hee may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tom. 6. Homil 91. as Saint Chrysostome speaks supplant cozen and deceive a man but he cannot force him to doe evill When the Divell tempted our Saviour Christ in the wildernesse without question hee imployed all the power hee had to make him sin and yet hee could not force him to it nay hee did not so much as offer to make him sin by force for if yee consider all the passages between them yee shall find great Boldnesse great Pride and great Malice in his temptations but no force at all his first temptation as they are writ in order by Saint Luke was this Luke 4.3 If thou be the Son of God command this stone that it be made bread Here is great boldnesse in this temptation What will nothing but a miracle serve the turne Must Christ turn stones into bread to satisfie his curiosity This was a bold request indeed but yet you see hee doth not force his consent but beg it The second temptation after hee had set him upon a mountaine and showne him all the kingdomes of the world was this All this power will I give thee and the glory of them for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I give it if thou therefore wilt worship mee all shall be thine Here is great pride in this temptation a pride greater then that that made him fall from heaven for then hee said Ascendam super excelsa nubis similis ero Altissimo I will ascend above the highest of the clouds I will be like the most High Isa 14.14 but here his pride reacheth a degree higher hee desires to be greater then God and requires of him that hee would fall down and worship him but yet you see here is no force in this temptation If thou wilt worship mee saith hee all shall be thine hee leaves him here to his own free choice if hee will hee may if hee will not hee offers not by any violent assault to make him His third temptation after hee had set him upon the pinnacle of the Temple was this If thou be the
Son of God cast thy selfe down from hence Here is great malice in this temptation for if hee would have cast himselfe down the Divell thought that in all probability hee should perish by the fall but yet you see no force in this temptation Persuadere potest praecipitare non potest saith S. Jerome upon this passage the Divell might perswade him to throw himselfe head-long but could not throw him head-long by force and this is all that the Divell can doe if wee will not cast our selves head-long the Divell cannot For sins are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Cyrill calls them they are plants set by the Will and are not planted by the Divell in the soile where they grow For God hath not onely given a man the government of the world but also the government of himselfe and hath made him so independent in respect of all other creatures that if all the powers of hell should set themselves in opposition against one single man they could not force his Will the Will like Sampson cannot be bound either with ropes or wit hs her liberty sits on her like a coat of male and like the scales of the Leviathan it is impossible to offend her or hurt her by force It is true I confesse that humane nature is corrupted and depraved and cannot without the help of supernaturall grace performe a good action it cannot work out of faith or love which are necessary qualifications required in all that wee doe but yet it is free in evill it is flexible to this or that object and can doe or not doe any naturall action according to the outward substance and matter of it No man is bound to follow the suggestions of the Divell but may follow the dictate of his own reason all that the Divell can doe is by applying his temptations to move the Will to this or that object hee cannot determine or fix her upon it the Will indeed doth usually goe as it is moved by outward objects being wonne with the charmes and delights which it hopes to find in them but yet her election is free in this case and not wrested from her by force There is a difference between men and beasts beasts are carried away with the outward bravery of every object that presents it selfe unto them and cannot refuse their appetite those things which it requireth but men are moved by inward reason as well as by outward objects and may by the help of the one beat back the impulsions of the other Wee must not therefore make the Divell the authour of our sins for his temptations doe onely move but cannot determine the Will to this or that evill The Divell is a suiter to the Will and not her ravisher Non enim cogendo sed suadendo nocet nec extorquet à nobis consensum sed petit saith Saint Augustine the Divell hurts us by perswasion not by constraint and when wee commit a sin hee doth not ravish our consent but sues for it No man is driven by the Divell to desperate courses but goes willingly and of his owne accord the Divell drives no man but makes use onely of our owne corruption to perswade us Secondly there are some that impute their sins to destiny that is to a necessary concatenation of second causes which are so subordinate one to another that all things happen by necessity inferiour causes and amongst them the wils of men being carried and moved irresistibly by their superiour and this force of moving mens wils irresistibly they attribute chiefly to the planets and to severall constellations of the heavens as if men were necessitated to evill by their malignant influences or as if the starres ruled over mens wils as Dionysius over the Syracusians by an arbitrary and tyrannicall kind of government Saint Augustine in his Commentaries upon the 31. Psalme makes mention of some that were of this opinion which did undertake to fore-tell the sins that any man should fall into by looking upon the starres that ruled at his nativity Et dicunt quis quando vel peccet vel bene vivat quando Mars faciat homicidam Venus adulterum they took upon them to declare who should be good or bad when Mars should force a man to commit murther or Venus to commit adultery But David here accuseth not the starres hee clears them and condemns himselfe Uriah might have growne gray-headed in the chaste imbraces of his wife hee might have long enough enjoyed his breath and shee her honour had David done no more but what the influence of the heavens compelled him to for the heavens force no man to sin Had they the conduct of our wils there would not be so many sins committed as there are they would govern us better then wee doe our selves When our Saviour Christ was crucified the sunne and the starres withdrew their light and were ashamed to looke upon the cruelty and ingratitude that was committed by men Can wee think then the starres were the authors of those evils which they blushed to behold Can deeds of darknesse spring from the fountains of light Without doubt the stars are so farre from constraining any to sin against God that they would sooner withdraw their vertue from the world then afford a sinner either light or influence had not God commanded them to shine upon the unjust as well as upon the just Let no man then accuse the starres for their influence is not hurtfull but good they are the cause of all action and motion the spring of joy and delight they shed abroad their vertue through all inferiour bodies and adde strength and vigour to all things living and if at any time they stirre up our inclinations to any excesse or defect yet they offer no violence to the Will but leave her in possession of her full liberty And indeed if the Will were necessitated by the heavens it were in vaine to consult in vaine to search reasons and motives for those acts whereunto wee are violently carryed by destiny In this constraint as there should be no place left for liberty so there could be none for vertue or vice all punishments how equall soever in outward appearance yet in substance and truth should be unjust seeing they could not reach the principall authour of any sin What can be more unjust then that a man should beare the punishments of those sins which are committed by the heavens If the stars be the principall cause of sin the stars should beare the punishment heaven should go to hell and men which are but subordinate instruments whose wils are over-ruled and over-topt by those superiour powers should be dismissed and freed Thirdly there be some that impute their sins to God Saint Augustine in the place before quoted makes mention of those too affirming that there were divers that gave themselves free scope and liberty to sin and then said they committed those sins quia Deus sic voluit because God would have it so
matter of the act and this considered apart by it selfe is neither morally good nor evill The second thing to be considered in every act is the obliquity and defect which accompanies it that is the disorder which is in it which makes it an evill act and which doth as it were set a byas upon it that drawes it awry For the substance and matter of the act God goes along with it hee gives it the free contribution of his help and concourse but for the obliquity and defect of the act to that he doth not contribute at all for it hath no efficient cause but a deficient onely When a lame man goes there are two things in that act his going and his lamenesse his going proceeds from his soule but his lamenesse from some defect in the matter And so it is in evill actions the actions themselves proceed from God as motion proceeds from the soule but the obliquity of the actions proceeds from some defect in men as lamenesse proceeds from some defect in the matter So that Gods concourse to our actions doth not as you see suppose his concourse to the obliquity and defect which is in them the evill of every action is our own though the action it selfe be Gods And this is the first thing wee are to acknowledge when wee make our confession namely that our sins are our own and that wee are not necessitated to commit them by any over-ruling power And so much of the first part of Davids confession which is his confession in respect of the subject I come now to the second which is his confession in respect of the act I have sinned David proceeds here you see to confesse the act Before hee confess'd the efficient cause of his hurt and that was himselfe he goes forward now and confesseth the instrumentall cause and that was sin hee wounded himselfe by sin For I have sinned And in this confession hee layes open the nakednesse of his soule without using vain excuses to defend himselfe For although this confession be delivered in generall terms so that he seems not by it to acknowledge himselfe so notorious and scandalous a sinner as hee was yet if yee read over the whole Psalme and consider it well you shall find that this confession must have reference of necessity to his worst sins namely to those particular and individuall sins of Adultery and Murther and it is generally by Expositors chiefly applyed to them For those sins which this confession hath reference to are those which were publickly knowne and which made him be evill spoken of amongst his enemies as wee may read in the rest of the Psalme now those were chiefly his Adultery and Murther so that though they be not named in expresse termes yet if yee consider the reference my Text hath to other things contained in the Psalme there is enough expressed to make them known And this must wee doe also in our confession it is not enough for us to confesse our sins to be our owne but wee must confesse the act also wee must lay open as far as we are able every particular and individuall sin which wee commit There are two wayes as it hath been observed by some to procure the favour of a Judge in civill Courts and Consistories of justice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either an open confession or else some colourable excuse but in Gods court there is but one of these wayes availeable we may make him propitious and favourable by confessing our sins and relating all circumstances that do aggravate them but not by using colours to extenuate and lessen them they that deny or excuse their sins must look for no favour at the hand of God Behold saith God I will plead with thee because thou saist I have not sinned Jer. 2.35 Behold I will plead with thee that is I will alledge all that I can against thee I will give thee the very extremity and rigour of justice I will prove thee faulty and convince thee to thy face But on the other side if men confesse their sins then is God ready to acquit and pardon them If wee confesse our sins God is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse 1 Joh. 1.9 Now confession is either publick or private publick confession is when the people at a publick congregation confesse their sinnes together or when some Minister of the Church confesseth in the name of all the people and this may be either ordinary or extraordinary ordinary confession is at ordinary times as upon Sabbath or festivall dayes when the people meet together to confesse their sinnes extraordinary confession is when the people meet together at extraordinary times upon speciall emergent occasions and wee have divers examples in the Scripture of both these kinds of confession which I cannot now stay to mention Private confession is when a private man confesseth his sins and it may be done publickly at a solemn assembly or in private before a Minister of the Church or to a friend or before God The first kind of confession was much in use in the primitive times of the Church and it was performed many severall wayes which are frequently mentioned by the Fathers The second kind of confession is exacted by the Church of Rome with great strictnesse and severity and imposed upon mens consciences as a thing absolutely necessary to salvation The third kind of confession hath been alwayes practised by good Christians as a thing conducing to the glory of God The last kind of confession is of absolute necessity and is generally exercised in the Church As for our Church wee allow all these kinds of confession for the first kind of confession which is to be made before a publick assembly our Church in many cases commands it and enjoineth publick and scandalous sinners which cause the Church wherein they live to be evill spoken of to do penance to make an honourable amends and to give a publick testimony of their sorrow and repentance for it For the second kind of confession which is to be made privately before a Minister of the Church wee enjoine it not but yet our Church in some cases counsels it as namely when the conscience is distressed and perplexed and cannot free it selfe from feares and doubts For the third kind of confession that is to be made to a friend it is approved also and commended by our Church and is counselled by the Apostle Saint James who admonisheth the children of God to confesse their sins one to another For the last kind of confession as I said it is of absolute necessity and is taught by our Church as a doctrine fundamentall and necessary to salvation Now if I should speak of all these kinds of confessions first of publick confession both ordinary and extraordinary and then of private confession and all the severall kinds of it if I should speak of the manner how they are to be performed and of
truths as entertain and second his humour but hee that hath the light of grace delights equally in all truths though they seem directly to oppose his profit honour pleasure and all his other desires Hee that hath this supernaturall gift can say like David of all divine truths More to be desired are they then gold yea then much fine gold sweeter also then the honey and the honey-comb Psal 19.10 Whosoever then finds in himselfe this pious affection to faith and to all the truths that it reveales may assure himselfe his vnderstanding is enlightened by grace but hee that finds it not whatsoever hee beleeves his soule was never touched by the influence of this divine light Men doe generally love such things as they possesse themselves they which have faith cannot but love faith it is our Saviour Christs manner of arguing with his disciples If yee were of the world the world would love his own but ye are not of the world therefore the world hateth you John 15.19 The summe and abstract of our Saviours speech is this The world loves not a spirituall profession because spirituall things are none of their owne if spirituall things were their own they would love a spirituall profession So I may argue with others If faith be their owne they cannot but love faith and the truths which it reveales And this is the second thing to which Davids petition must be applyed namely to the understanding Now in the third place this petition must be applyed to the will Heal my will For among all the wounds which the soule hath received there are none greater or more mortall then those that are in the will the wound of Malice is worse then either the wound of Infirmity or of Ignorance and therefore that must be healed before the soule can be in a safe condition The will indeed is in a better case after the affections and vnderstanding be healed then it was before for being an indifferent faculty of it selfe it is moved by the affections and therefore when the affections are healed it hath not such strong provocations to sin and being a blind faculty of it self it receives information from the understanding and therefore when the understanding is healed it hath not such false dictates to make it erre Yet this is not sufficient to heal the will the will hath his proper wound and so must have his proper cure And here the manner of healing is still by supernaturall grace Grace hath heat for the will as well as light for the understanding otherwise it could not heal the soul sufficiently For the Divell hath light but he hath no heat his name is Lucifer which signifies a carrier of light but it had been better for him saith S. Bernard si ignifer magis esset quà m Lucifer Bernard de verb. Isai proph serm 3. if hee had been a carrier of heat rather then a carrier of light light without heat doth him no good to beleeve and not to love doth but increase his misery But grace hath both light and heat light whereby it begets faith in the vnderstanding and heat wherby it begets love in the will and this love is the chiefe of all the vertues the best and most excellent effect of grace I know there are some which give faith the precedency whom I leave to enjoy their opinion for my selfe as in all other things so for my part in spirituall graces I submit my will to Gods will as knowing the least is more then I am worthy of yet my prayers shall alwayes be to have love in the excesse which I will not onely desire above all other spirituall graces but above all them and all the joyes of heaven together Faith is the foundation upon which wee must build our love for how can wee love God as we ought if wee beleeve not in him as wee ought and yet love may exceed faith in dignity as the superstructure may exceed the foundation in rich and costly materials But I intend not to speak of the excellency of love in generall love hath many operations in via whilest we are in the way to heaven besides the healing of the will and it hath many operations in patria when wee are in heaven where the will shall be perfectly healed but all these are out of my Text and shall be out of my discourse I will onely speak of the operation that love hath in healing the will and love when it flowes from grace hath an operation in this respect above all other things for that alone is able to work true repentance in the will to melt it with sorrow for sin to make it flexible and to mollifie that stiffenesse and that hardnesse that is in it Yet as Reason may work upon the affections and upon the vnderstanding so it may work also upon the will but failes as much in healing this as in healing the other faculties There is a naturall repentance which springs from naturall reason for hee that hath received many temporall blessings at the hands of God cannot chuse if hee followes the dictate of right reason but love him and if hee loves him hee cannot but be grieved when hee sins against him for hee that loveth will grieve for the least offence committed against the thing beloved Yet this sorrow that springs from naturall reason is not sufficient to heale the will For first it failes in the cause A naturall man may be sorrowfull for his sins but hee hath not a fountain of sorrow that flowes and streames continually that love that springs from naturall reason is soon extinguished and when the cause ceaseth sorrow that is the effect proceeding from it must needs cease But that love that proceeds from grace is more durable it is able to perpetuate sorrow hee that is endued with this love hath a constant habit of repentance and if at any time hee sins through infirmity his soule becomes immediately an house of mourning an Hadad rimmon a valley of lamentation Secondly It failes in the effect That sorrow that springs from naturall reason cannot convert the will and make it turn from sin a naturall man may be sorrowfull for his sinnes past and have a full resolution to abstain from sin for the time to come but he cannot actuate and performe his resolutions for reason may inable a man to make good resolutions but onely grace can inable him to keep them Now when amendment of life is not joyned with sorrow for sinne it rather makes new wounds then heales the old Qui plangit peccatum iterum committit peccatum quasi si quis laterem lavet crudum quem quantò magis laverit tantò magis lutum fecerit saith Isidore hee that mourneth for his sin and yet ceaseth not to commit sin is like him that washeth a tile stone that is not well burnt which is made more dirty by being often washed Hee that is sorrowfull for sinne and resolves to amend begins well but
making God the first mover and principall actor and themselves onely his under agents in sinning and this indeed hath alwayes been a common custome as Solomon long before St. Augustines time complained The foolishnesse of man saith hee perverteth his way and his soul fretteth against the Lord Prov. 19.3 But David here accuseth not God hee clears him as well as others and indeed it had been the most intolerable and unjust excuse that he could have invented for doe but look upon the world and yee shall see it the summe of perfection it is as a table whereon the divine Wisdome hath expressed many rich inventions and displayed them all in such colours as it is impossible any thing should be more compleat absolute and perfect if there be any disorders or any thing imperfect in it they are the effects of second causes and were not made so by God and if no disorder or no imperfect thing can come from God then surely no sin which is nothing else but disorder and imperfection Let no man then pin his sinnes upon God or thinke within himselfe that God constrained him to sin Say not thou It is through the Lord that I fell away for thou oughtest not to doe that which hee hateth Say not thou Hee hath caused me to erre for hee hath no need of the sinfull man Ecclus 15.11 12. God created not the world because hee wanted a place to be in neither did he create men because hee wanted some to set forth his goodnesse by their praises and others to under-prop his glory by their sins for God was in himselfe before hee created the world and was both the Theater and the Judge of his owne action his owne applause and approbation of himselfe was sufficient to his own happinesse though men had never been created God was as happy before hee made the world as hee hath been since and should be as happy if it were turned into nothing as hee is Let no man therefore think that God hath need of the sinner or that it is hee which procures his fall for whosoever sinneth puls down ruine upon himselfe hee is not Gods instrument but the principall cause of his owne wickednesse Loe this onely have I found saith Solomon that God hath made man upright but they have sought out many inventions Eccles 7.29 David therefore here layes all the fault upon himselfe hee cleares God nay hee cleares all the world I have sinned not God nor the stars nor the Divell but I alone It is onely I that have sinned And this is the first part of Davids confession wherein hee confesseth his sin to be his owne and thus must wee doe too The first thing that wee are to confesse is that our sins are our own wee must not seek to another authour for them nor ascribe them to any predominant cause if our souls be wounded as Davids was the fault is our own Other things may hurt our bodies but they cannot hurt our souls the soule hath an immunity and priviledge in this respect above the body nothing can hurt it but it selfe Therefore now thus saith the Lord the God of hosts the God of Israel Wherefore commit you this great evill against your soules to cut off from you man and woman child and suckling out of Judah to leave you none to remain Jer. 44.7 Wherefore commit you this great evill against your souls The Prophet condemns them here you see as the onely causes of their owne ruine they were the contrivers of their own destruction they committed evill against their own souls and were not subservient instruments to another Let us not then strive to excuse our sins our sins are our owne committed willingly and freely by us and therefore wee must not blame others but our selves Yea our sins are so truly our own that there is nothing in the world so much our owne as they for in respect of all other things wee are stewards not owners the dispensation is ours but not the propriety but our sins are truly ours we are the owners and proprietaries of them Other things are none of ours wee our selves are not our own our bodies and soules are none of ours 1 Cor. 6.19 20. but Gods and hee may dispose of them as hee pleases and when our bodies or souls or any thing that wee possesse are called our owne it is not in respect of an absolute and independent but in respect of a limited and dependent right which we hold under him for we gave not our selves a being but received it of God yea we were so farre from giving our selves a being when wee were not that wee cannot continue our being now wee have it the world hath no lesse need of his assistance now then at the first creation and when it shall have lasted ten thousand yeers it shall be still in its minority it must be no lesse sustained by God when it is old then in its first infancy And as wee our selves are not our owne but Gods so our actions are none of ours but his he co-operates with all his creatures and gives them vertue and strength to performe their actions Had they not a continuall supply and contribution of power and strength from him the starres would lose their light the heavens their influence all things would become naked disarmed and stript of all their qualities all the old elements would be dissolved and in stead of them darknesse silence horror and confusion would be the new elements of the world Wee cannot so much as eat or drink or move or speak without him for in him wee live and move and have our being Acts 17.28 not onely our being but our life and motion that is all our actions are from him Now if we be neither owners of our selves nor of our actions then surely those things which are without us as riches honours and whatsoever else is in the world is none of ours wee cannot call our selves the proprietaries of them But for our sins they are truly our own God hath no right at all in them wee produce them and give them a being of our selves and therefore they are as truely ours as any thing is his which hee created But some perhaps will say that God concurres as well to evill actions as to good and therefore if our good actions must not be imputed to our selves but to God our evill actions ought likewise to be imputed to him To this I answer that God concurreth to evill actions in such a manner as they cannot without injustice be imputed to him It s true when a man sins God assists the sinner and concurres with him in all subservient actions that are requisite to the sin yet the concourse of God is so innocent so pure so void of all malice that no man can without execrable blasphemy call God the authour of that sin For there are two different things to be considered in every evill act the first is the substance and