and to master a malicious vaine spirit Lord doe this for the soule of thy servant take away these distempers and in thy faithfullnesse answer the desires of the soule of thy servant helpe me Lord against the rage of these sinnefull distempers and when the truth of Christ layes battery against a mans heart and that it brings and sets up another frame and disposition of heart the soule lies under the blow and closeth with that truth more of that Lord oh there againe Lord. A man that is troubled with the toothach if the Tooth-drawer apply his instrument and hee find hee hath hold of it hee saith that is it pull it out leave nothing behind So when the soule is under the stroake of strong distemper if hee make conscience of these things when the word comes home to his soule and meetes with that distemper he saith Lord plucke out all of it that I may never see that pride more that I may never see that malice more leave not a stumpe behinde Lord that I may be freed from that cursed distemper of spirit this is the difference betweene a varnished hypocrite and a sound heart a wretched unsound heart it feares least the Word should come home to it it feares the blow when hee seeth it comming hee wisheth he were ridde of the place or the Minister ridde of that point but a sound heart feares least the Word should not come close enough it is conscious to it selfe and knowes and sees I have heard such Sermons and such terrors and such mercies revealed and I am still to this day stubborne to this day rebellious so that I feare nothing will prevaile with mee nothing will get ground against this rebellious spirit of mine I feare the Word will not touch me nor master this rebellious spirit this is somewhat you meane in good earnest that you and your sinne will part it is a fine passage Zach. 13.6 One meetes him and askes him where hadst thou this wound I was wounded in the house of my friend a gracious heart counts the Minister a friendly Minister and a friendly Word that cuts his heart to the quicke and goeth to the coare of his corruptions oh the wound was the wound of a friend it was a friendly reproofe the Minister spake friendly to mee that wounded my corruptions I saw the coare comming why this is somewhat when the soule can wellcome such truths as are for the a wakening of it Secondly as the soule wisheth and wellcomes those particular truths that may awaken and overpower a distemper and leave a contrary grace so it is restlesse before God be pleased for to worke this before it see every corruption mastered and the frame of sinne tottered at a restlesly looking to God and restlesly waiting upon God why when will it once be such a mans heart is broken and such a mans conscience awakened and such a mans spirit brought low and Lord shall nothing prevaile with me He is restlesse in seeking unto the Lord till he see every sinne mastered and every corruption overpowred so that though it be inherent yet it is not regnant The Irish man being malitious and fearefull he never thinkes his enemy killed till he hath cut off his head hee will be sure to make him past recovery so a gracious heart never thinkes his sinnes are slaine till hee see the strength and power thereof subdued in every particular more or lesse till hee see the very bloud and life of his corruptions removed this is that a gracious heart is restlesse and intreats at Gods hand from day to day therefore it is a fine passage Rom. 7.24 Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death marke the weight of his complaint hee doth not say deliver mee from the stroake of sinne or the action of sinne but from the body of sinne there is a body of pride there is a body of malice a body of anger a body of the cursed distempers of a mans soule now a gracious heart is not content to be freed onely from the tongue of pride that hee may not speake proudly but Lord deliver mee from the body of pride from the body of malice from the inward frame of my distempers in a word looke what Haman said concerning Mordecay when hee had all the cappes in the country and all knees bowing to him What availeth this saith he so long as I see Mordecay sit in the Kings gate So saith a gracious heart what availes it me that I am not a theefe or a drunkard or an adulterer if yet this proud heart prevailes this proud heart and carnall confidence of mine will bring my soule into everlasting destruction the soule is restlesse till the Lord looke upon him and deliver him from his corruptions The third thing is this that the soule is content that God shall doe what hee will with his corruptions take them away after what manner hee please though it bee upon the hardest tearmes in the world as it welcomes those truths that may worke as it is restlesse till they doe worke so it is contented that the Lord should worke upon sinne and subdue it upon the hardest tearmes in the world A covetous man if nothing but beggery will loosen his heart from the world then hee will pray the Lord to make him give away all and leave himselfe a beggar so hee may have a liberall heart So if a man bee notable to subdue the pride of his heart a man hath great parts and abilities and hee prankes up himselfe therein if there bee nothing will cure this timpany if nothing will doe the deede unlesse God knock off the wheels and leave him in the dust and make him the off-scouring of the world yet a gratious heart though this be hard saith Lord let mee have an humble heart whatever it costs me this man now is in good earnest content to part with his corruptions For the use of the point wee have first here a matter of lamentation and I know not whether wee are to condemne the evill of the world or mourne for the evill that appeares in the hearts and lives of men but this is sure that if this be the behaviour of a sound heart then there is little soundnesse and uprightnesse in the world not to hover in generall but to pitch upon particulars which is the life of application let me make it appeare in these three particulars this is a bill of inditement and falls heavy and foule upon these three sorts the first is the prophane person the second is the indulgent hypocrite he is very loath to part with his corruptions if this be true if this bee the frame of heart which David expresseth and is in the soule of every good man then judge you I will say nothing but judge you set downe the sentence what doe you thinke of those that are content rather to part with their blood and with their hearts then with their
the second is the great good hee needs and begs and craves to be bestowed upon him grant mee thy Law gratiously In the former againe take notice of two things the first is the nature of the sinne described and it is tearmed the way of lying The second is the affection David had to this sinne he was weary of it and burthened with it was desirous to have it removed from him take it from me and not onely take it but cause it to goe away as the Hebrew phrase carries it it implyes an action upon an action as the Hebrew expresseth it if the way of lying will not goe Lord take it away from the soule of thy servant wee will first come to the first part and passe breefely because it is not the maine thing wee intend but what is meant here by the word way Wee must understand that the passages of a mans Spirit and the practices of a mans life and conversation are said in Scripture to bee a path or way it is compared to a path way when all the power and abilitie of a sinner is spent in travelling and passing from one duty to another from one action and service to another as the body passeth from place to place so the soule of a man goeth from one service to another so that the worke of a man whether touching the soule or his outward actions they are sayd to be a mans way the minde is plotting and the affections stirring and the will choosing and all the parts of the body are acting forth their severall workes this is a way this the Prophet David intimates Psal 119.9 Wherewith shall a young man clense his wayes that is the frame of his heart inwardly and his conversation outwardly and the motions of the heart and thoughts of the minde they are the galleries within doores and all a mans courses and carriages and speeches are the rodes and out-roomes so that by the way is meant nothing but the cursed distemper of a mans heart and the disorder of his life the corruption of a man in regard of his disposition inwardly and his actions outwardly that is the way the Prophet here meaneth Now the point wee are to treate on is this the nature of all sinne is to be deceitfull the course of corruption is deceitfull it is faire in the outside but in the bottome it will couzen and delude all the wayes of sinne are crooked and all the wayes of wickednesse are perverse it is the nature of all sinne in generall and of every sinne in particular to bee counterfeit and deceitfull this the Apostle intimates Ephes 4.22 Put off the old man saith the Text that is corrupt after his deceitfull lusts the lusts of a mans heart will tell him hee lies to his face Now the deceit of sinne is double first it makes a man deceive others corruption in the heart is like rottennesse in the roote of a tree or in the coare of an Apple it withers all the branches if the roote be rotten and if the coare of an Apple be rotten though it bee never so beautifull it will deceive him that buyeth it it will not bee fit for foode to him that hath it so rottennesse in the heart and distempers in the soule it will wither all the shewes of equity and honesty and uprightnesse that formerly were observed Zâ—ba had a deceitfull heart and of a servant hee becomes a false accuser Achitophel had a proud heart and of a Counsellour hee becomes a traytour and David was wonderfully cozoned in him it was thou my familiar that didst eate bread at my table So the covetousnesse of Demas his heart made him fly off from the truth and forsake the fellowship and faith of Saint Paul and leave him in the lurch Paul had some confidence in him but he deceived Paul hee had a covetous heart Secondly it is deceitfull not onely because it deceives others but it deceives the Author himselfe as it makes the sinner deceive others so it deceives the sinner it promises faire and performes nothing in conclusion it hath a faire outside but the issue is nothing at all it promiseth mountaines of riches and ease but when a man lies on his death bed it plagues the soule and rends the heart Obad. 3. Wee shall observe the maine cause of the couzenage of Edom The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee thou that dwellest in the clifts of the rockes that saith who shall bring me downe Because shee was ferced strongly and had men and meanes she lifted up her selfe and said I shall never see desolation the pride of thy heart shall deceive thee no body couzened her but her selfe none deluded her but her owne soule and it is pretty to observe concerning Ionah hee was sent to Niniveh but because hee thought disgrace should befall him hee should proclaime destruction to the city and God would pardon it and so he should be counted a false Prophet this made him take another course now hee goes to Tarsis and enters into a shippe and is gore farre but this pride and policie of his deceived him hee thought hee should have had all quiet and content and ease no the Lord sent a troublesome messenger after Ionah the Winds began to bluster and the Waves beate at last they awake Ionah and Gods anger awoke his conscience and God with great trouble sends him to Niniveh God made him goe downe into the belly of hell and yet made him goe to Niniveh too and does his message too Little did Acâ—n thinke when he tooke the Babilonish garment and the wedge of gold to inrich him all Israel should stone him in the Valley of Achor So Gehezai out of covetousnesse got two suits of raiment but he little thought he had got a suite of leprosie that should cleave to him and his posteritie for ever nay Exod. 1. I will name onely this when Pharaoh was to trade with the children of Israel hee calls his Councell Let us deale wisely he thought all the world was his now but when hee thought to deale wisely his wisedome couzened him for take notice of it which is a thing remarkeable the way he tooke to suppresse them did multiply them for hard labour is the onely way for generation and multiplication and his putting of them to great paines turned to deceit to himselfe so then if sinne promise faire to others and never doth what it pretends if it promise faire to the workers thereof and never performes it then sinne is deceitfull sinne is a lyer you might save mee a labour then me thinkes every man that understands himselfe and hath common sence will make the sence and conclusion faire never beleeve a lyer reason and experience teacheth us this no man will place his confidence in a dissembler that will couzen him this will be the issue of all ungodly courses you that looke after and attend to any sinfull course how ever some promise faire and pretend much glorious
phrase I will doe what I can Lord and doe thou what I cannot but however it is take it away from my soule The Point is this A good heart is in good earnest content to part with any corruption What David did a good man must doe the ground is the same and the worke of grace is the same a good heart is in good earnest content to part with any corruption he doth not put off God with good words and thinke to satisfie God with faire speeches but it is seriously and sadly and in good earnest content to part with any corruption Hee doth not say Lord take away some stile out of the way or take away some logge or impediment in the way of sinning I would not be disparaged and disgraced and troubled in sinning no Lord take away the way of sinning that I may never walke in that way more this was the guise of the soule of the holy man and it is so with every holy man and Hos 14.2 and it was so with the converted Church when their hearts were humbled and they came to seeke the Lord they say take away from us all our iniquitie and receive us graciously they doe not halfe it with God and patch it and peece-meale it but oh take away all iniquitie even the greatest and the least and the dearest take away all Lord not onely the open and the knowne but the secret and the hidden Lord take away all iniquitie and receive us graciously In the old Law the burnt offering was all to be burnt so is it with a sound heart when it offers a whole burnt offering to the Lord of sinne leave not a haire or a hoofe behind but let all be consumed and all over-mastered and subdued so Psal 119.133 Let not any iniquitie have dominion over thy servant markē the generalitie there is none exempted none reserved there is no reservation not one Lord Let no sinne have dominion over me A good heart will not deale with sinne as the people of Israel dealt with the Cananites the Lord commanded them to drive out the Cananites and leave none there but they for their owne profit would not destroy them utterly but made them tributaries but a sound haart will not thus deale with sinne he would have it utterly removed it is a base thing that a man should retribute from his sinnes he will not banish all malice but he will take tribute of malice that hee may vexe those he hath some secret spleene against but this is the course every man should take up we should banish all sinne every Cananite every corruption and not onely not suffer it to dwell with us but not to be among us therefore looke what Haman did against Mordecay hee was not content to kill Mordecay alone but hee hated the whole Nation of the Iewes therefore hee would be at the charge to dispatch the whole nation let but the King send out his decree and hee would be at the charge for the destroying of the Iewes this shewes the malice of the man so it might be with our malice against sinne a man must not onely hate a base beggerly corruption a poore Mordecay that will not profit but the whole nation of corruption abandon that God hath given out his warrant against every corruption therefore be thou at the charge to execute it and set thy selfe against the whole nation of rebellion of heart and distemper of spirit this ought to be the guise and frame of the soule I have done with the proofe of the Point we come now to open the Point when I say the good heart is content to part with any corruption this parting of sinne and the soule appeare in two particulars First hee labours and strives and endeavours to doe what he can himselfe secondly he goes to God to doe that he is not able first for the former the endeavour and strife of a sinner for the parting of his sinne and his soule it appeares in foure particulars in all which we may fully perceive that in the soule of a gracious man there is this resolution to make a breach betweene his soule and his distempers first a sound heart is ready to take the least notice of any thing that is unlawfull it hearkens to any information that may discover any thing to be sinnefull in any measure after any manner this is one argument that the soule is resolved to part with any sinne because it is marvellous ready to heare any thing against sinne that it might part there from a man that doth seriously desire to remove another out of his possession the course whereby hee doth expresse his affection is this he is ready to heare any report and hearken to any relation by any man after any manner that will beare an action against the party and hee will not onely heare it but record it and make his advantage of it that he may remove the man if it be possible out of his possession so it is with a gracious heart when the soule of a faithfull Saint of God is weary of his inmate of the sinfull body of death that hangs about him and would dispossesse it and reforme it were it in his power not onely the dominion of it but the presence of it in his heart any longer hee is ready to hearken to the least information from any occasion from any speech from any action of the meanest Saint of God that appeares in his course and conversation whereby he make it questionable such a course is sinnefull and such a practice unlawful he is very carefull to attend lay his heart levill thereunto nay if his enemy out of malice and spleene and envie shall cast any thing upon him as a matter unlawfull it mill make his heart shake within him and he beginnes to consider I never thought such a course unlawfull and such a practise unwarrantable I see such a man dares not doe it if it be a sinne why should not I reforme it as well as another and if it be not a sinne why should he abridge himselfe of that liberty which is lawfull and the soule will never be quieted till it get sound information what is lawfull and may be performed and what is unlawfull and ought to be avoided this is an argument that hee is willing to part with his corruptions because hee is willing to know what is evill that hee may avoid it Iob 6.24 Teach thou me and I will hold my tongue cause mee to understand wherein I have erred He doth not quarrell with the man that counsells him or wrangle with the man that adviseth him but teach thou me and I will hold my tongue I know not I perceive not but cause me to know informe soundly reprove mee throughly wherein I have done amisse Nay Iob 34.32 it is a sine passage What I know not teach thou me if I have done amisse I will doe so no more he is willing to heare any thing