me and every tongue shall confesse to God And thus what God hath joyned together in his precept let not us separate in our practise serve God with the inward worship of the Heart and with the outward worship of the body also open impietie cannot away with this and secret hypocrisie is glad to heare of that the hypocrite is all for outward pietie the profane for inward sinceritie But it is neither the pretence of inward sinceritie that can justifie outward impietie nor a shew of outward pietie that will excuse inward hypocrisie be not deceived Deus non illuditur God is not mocked but sitteth in heaven to laugh all those to scorne who either by hidden projects or open practise cast scornes upon Religious worship If any man pretend inward sinceritie let him shew it in outward works of pietie men judge of the inward affection by the outward action Or if any stand upon outward pietie before men let them shew it in their inward sinceritie before God who judges the outward action by the inward affection and wee know ô Lord that thy judgement is according to right A mans workes may passe currant and seeme right in foro soli in the judgment of men when as they are nothing so in foro poli in the sight of God for God sees not as man sees he looks not at the outward appearance but at the heart In a dutie performed men see all well but what saith God men cry out a Saint God saies a sinner heaven and earth doe not alwayes agree in their judgements It is our daily prayer that it may be in earth as it is in heaven that it may be and therefore is not the grant of this petition wee must presse that Gods will be done on earth as it is in heaven solemnly and sinceerely too that there be an uniformitie on earth and this uniformitie in conformitie to heaven for what shall it availe a man though the world applaud him if God and his owne heart condemne him It is therefore Saint Pauls advice Gal. 3. 23. Whatsoever ye doe doe it hartily as to the Lord and not unto men And yet wee must not conceit as if God simply condemned the outward action nay he approves it so farre as apparently good he only dislikes this that it is not done heartily with a sincere intention which God finds often wanting in those immediate duties of his worship and service as prayer without attention hearing without meditation fasting without contrition Almes and no compassion knowledg without devotion zeal without discretion repentance without reformation and these deficiencies are rather in their agents then the act which so far as good apparently God approves but dislikes them dislikes them for this because they did bonum non bene that which was good good for the matter but not done in that good seemly manner nor directed to that good end which crowneth all our workes For it is not so much the quid what is done though that must be justifiable and wee must have a warrant for what we doe or else we sinne in what we doe Nor is it the quî the manner of doing and yet wee must have a Rule and Canon for that too or else wee disobey in what we doe and so with Martha make choice of the worser part for Obedience is better then sacrifice For the quid then we must looke up to God who points us to his word and that gives direction for the matter of Gods service For the quî wee must have recourse to the Church who by vertue of that grand Canon of Saint Paul hath power to determine our libertie 1 Cor. 14. 40 for the manner of Gods worship in all the circumstances thereof both for persons places and times for every gesture posture and behaviour for preaching administring praying blessing hearing receiving singing confessing praysing and to dispose of all other accidentals according to decency and good order And now suppose for the matter all done as God hath commanded for the manner all done decently and orderly as the Church hath enjoyned yet as our Saviour said to the man in the Gospell unum tibi deest there is something wanting the intention of the heart that must be right too for it is that which maketh religious exercises performed dutyes of obedience Saint Ambrose limits all to this quantum intendis tantum facis when a man in his intention swerves from that true end to which his worke in hand should tend he looses his interest in the action for men to be of the Pharises cut of whom St. Chrisostome oculi hominum timor eorum oculi hominum amor eorum fearing nothing but the censure of men loving nothing but the praise of men this base popularity is the bane of true piety Omnia fiant let all be done that God hath commanded omnia decenter ordine all decently and in order as the Church hath enjoyned Omnia cordicitûs ex animo al heartily with a pure intention in the feare of God and reverence of holy Church and so all will be done as Saint Paul would have all done Omnia ad edificationem omnia ad 1 Cor. 14. 26 1 C. 10. 31. gloriam Dei All to edification and all to the glory of God It is the heart then that addes a goodnesse to all we say and gives perfection to all we doe in Gods service were mens words like Herods divina oracula the voyce of God and not of men their workes like the Pharisies admiranda spectacula admired of all It availeth nothing at al Act. 12. 22 if their hearts in the meane time be Daemoniorum receptacula replete with guile and iniquity Good words without the Heart is plaine flattery and good workes without the Heart is grosse hypocrisie now God is not so weake to be dilighted with flatering words nor so unwise to be deceived with hypocriticall workes when therefore we draw neere unto God it must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a true Heart voyd of flattery Heb. 10. 22 and hypocrisie he is not delighted with that nor can he be deceived with this he requireth truth in the inward parts the heart is his desire and delight too My Sonne give me thine Heart It is not the Hecatombs of the Gentiles nor yet the Holocaustes of the Jewes but the Heart of the Christian is the Sacrifice God accepteth the heart is the quid the thing required but the cujus whose it is comes now to be scanned the text saith tuum thine heart and thine lookes abroade and relates unto man It is cor hominis the heart of a man not cor belluinum a bruitish and barbarous heart the savage and undomitable heart of a beast but the corrigible gentle and pliable heart of a man such a heart that may be wrought upon not an obdurate stubborne rebellious and impenitent heart this is no fit present for God who hath regard to him that is
THE CHRISTIAN SACRIFICE By James Barker of Whethampstead P Pro 23 26 My sonne giue me thine heart Sacrificium dei cor contritum ct concussum יהוה LONDON printed for Humphry Blunden neare the Rroyall Exchange in Corne hill 1630 To the Right Worshipfull Sir John Garrard Baronet The blessings of this life and that which is to come SIR THe end of mans creation was the service and worship of his maker this after the fall began first in Sacrifice whether by mans election or Gods ordination is not revealed certain it is not without Gods approbation and gracious acceptation for in the universal deluge when an end of all flesh was come before him he made provision for his service by Sacrifice in giving order to Noah to take into the Arke of every clean beast by sevens Gen. 7. 2. This manner of service the light of natural reason did teach the Gentiles and Gods owne blessed ordinance continued amongst the Jews which did serve them as it did others not only as a testimony of their obedience to God and dependance on him but God so appointing as a Type of that most perfect Sacrifice to be offered by Christ on the Crosse this once offered at the last put an end to all that went before and in this one they all expired all Levitical Sacrifices but other sacrifices there are and these the Gospel still retaines there in the law and here in the Gospel oblations in * Oblationes enim illic oblationes autem hic Iraen advers haeres Vali l. 4. c. 34. p. 429. both amongst the people of the Jews in the Church of Christ sacrifices in both they and wee the Jew and the Christian agree in this that God will have Sacrifice those holy offices of pietie to God and charity to man are termed Sacrifices so that I shall not feare to say there is a Christian Sacrifice and yet of this of Christians as of that of Jews how quickly God growes weary if the Heart be wanting The heart is the salt that seasoneth and the incense that perfumeth the sacrifice makes it an odour of a sweet smell acceptable and pleasant unto God and that our Religious service may be a Christian Sacrifice there must concurre with an holy action a devout affection for admit a strict and precise observation of all circumstances in the action if there be a faile in this the labour is but lost in that this is chiefly accepted of God that serving to make a way of discovery for man and for mans sake God takes no notice of this without that dissembling his knowledge of the inmost intentions of the heart seeming not to know what it is impossible he should be ignorant of untill by some outward expressions it be made knowne unto man It is not then the inward affection only that in the Heart God calls for as if he excluded the outward action but the affectionate action to doe what is to be done heartily what is to be done I say for it is not left arbitrarie to the heart to choose what shall be done or left undone admitted or omitted but the action determined in the well-managing thereof is required the sincere intention and dearest affectió of the heart respecting also the ground as well as the end either of which neglected in a duty of Religion makes it an effect of heady zeal not heedie obedience for obedie is a Relative and ever referres to some precept Canon Rule decree constitution or injunction conformity or at least submission whereunto is that wee terme obedience and obedience is better then sacrifice or it is the best sacrifice for hee that obeyeth makes a sacrifice of his own heart and a mans heart is himselfe * Per obedientiam voluntas propria mactatur Greg. in ult mor. Aq. 2. 2. Q. 104. ar 3. resp this is the Christian Sacrifice the project of the ensuing discourse which I have adventred to expose to the view of this censorious age where I must not thinke to speed better then better then my selfe have done before me from the learned I cannot expect that any worke of mine should merrit praise yet doubt not but at their hands I shall find or pitty or pardon of others I shal be censured as every man stands affected but I passe not of their censures so long as in conscience of obedience to God I strive in my calling to edefie his holy Church this is my prime aime And next to this is to tender unto you some token of thankefulnesse for your many favours qui beneficia invenit compedes invenit benefits are of a binding nature and a kindnes received obliges an ingenious nature to requitall but where it exceeds requital the obliged must not come short of acknowledgment a verbal acknowledgement is a poore returne for a reall kindnesse 't is all wee schollars can our wealth is in words and words are swift no sooner loosed from the tongue but lost by the eare they may touch on the fancy by the way but vanish before they recover the understanding here then the pen must assist the tongue and words once spoken after written and published to the more deliberate view of the eye remaine as monuments in the mind where they admit a review untill the judictous be fully informed And herein the disadvantage is mine in stepping from the pulpit to the presse for faults which in transitu are not espied at gase are easily discerned yet here againe is my hope to meet as with indulgent eares so with favourable aspects and then patience and connivence will salve all defects and so mine infirmities will be either not seene or not censured Besides I may say with the Orator causa ago deorum I speake in Gods cause not mine owne and so in his name whose cause I undertake may challenge acceptance And thus much I dare boldly say I have not by wilfull neglect betrayed the cause in hand but have studied omnem movere lapidem and to follow Solomon so far as my wits would serve in his plea for God which howsoever some doe take which doe usually mistake what they doe not understand I am confident of your favorable acceptance whom I know so far a freind to Learning and lover of Religion that what so relishes of either finds kind entertainment with you Go on Noble Sir and season the flower of your yeeres with the timely fruits of grace and vertue You want not encouragements in the way of goodnesse nor need you to looke further then your owne house even to him that immediatly went before you your deceased * Sir John Garrard Knight Baronet bequeathed by his last will to the poore of the parish of Whethamstead 20. l. per annum for ever Father who made you the executor of a large legacy to the poore And left you the heire of a faire estate in Lands and Houses and that which is the chiefest ornament of your mansion house
admit a division It was the commendation of David Josiah Jehosophat and Hezekiah in the old Testament that they sought the Lord with all their heart and it is Christs commandement in the new Testament that we love him with all our Heart for to love God with all the Heart is in effect as much as to give him the Heart but not the whole heart there is something more in the heart then Love for Discretion Perception Consideration and Meditation are affirmed of the Heart And all these are acts of the understanding and God is said to blesse Solomon to give him an understanding heart 1. K. 3. 12. the Heart is said to be the seat ofwisdom so that God in calling for the heart requires the understanding to know him as well as the affections to love him and he hath not the whole heart except he have both I will not dispute whether of the two is more usefull for us or acceptable to him hee requires both we can lack neither nor can the one well subsist without the other and the heart is not perfect where either is wanting Knowledge begetteth Love Love encreaseth knowledge if knowledge preceed not it is a naturall instinct not Love for how can we love God before wee know him It is a true Rule Invisa diligere possumus incognit a nequaquam Aug. apud Amb. de spiera ser 15. ignoti nulla cupido no knowledge no love It is the knowledge of the worth of the object of our love that spurres on the affections the judgement of the understanding goes before and there followeth the election of the will that discernes this chooses the understanding by discourse examines the object and having found it utile jucundum right and good commends it to the will which readily embraceth it under those termes 1. Jo. 4. 7. and so the better wee know God the more we love him and the more we love him the better we know him Love and be wise then the Apostle makes use of one word to signifie both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 3. 2. by this manner of speech giving us to understand that our love to God must not be an irregular passion but a well ordered affection for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the word commeth signifieth the mind or understanding to teach us that our love must not be directly bolted out from the will but must passe by the understanding and have there allowance before it break forth therefore first you must labor to know God and that knowledge will reforme your love love him entirely and that love will inform your knowledge for knowledge without love is vaine knowledge 1 Cor. 8. 2. puffeth up it is love that edifieth had a man all knowledge if he have not love it is nothing 1 Cor. 13. 2 the holy Scripture advanceth it above its fellowes gives the preheminence to it determins all in it as the perfection of all vertues and it is love that moves them all to their proper Acts that maketh faith believe hope rely patience endure temperance abstaine humility submit Yea in love there are two passions desire and feare A desire to please God in all things A feare to offend him in any thing The feare to offend God begets an awfull reverence to his dreadfull name The desire to please him incites to a cheerfull obedience of his heavenly will and the triall of obedience is the performance of our duty the duty here enjoyned is Give God that gives all requires something not by way of requitall or compensation for so man hath nothing to render him for all his benefits but by way of thankfulnesse or gratulation and so it is fit very fit that some present be tendered and given to him that hath given all to us and loe what it is the heart that must be given My Sonne give me thine heart And shall we then call this donum and not debitum our free gift and not our bounden duty Is it not he that hath made us and not we our selves and so he may challenge our hearts as his owne jure creationis by the right of creation as the maker of them It is he that hath redeemed and bought us at a deare rate the life of his Sonne pretio empti estis magno saith St Paul and thus the heart it his jure redemptionis by right of purchase as the Saviour and redeemer of it Besides in Baptisme we devoted ourselves wholy to him and so jure pacti by right of sale or covenant the heart is his and yet he saith give as if it were ours whereas he may justly take it as his owne may but will not he that made thee without thee will not save thee without thee and though Salvation be the free gift of God and a worke of grace yet there must concurre the act of mans will who if he would be saved must worke out his owne Salvation with feare and trembling It is certaine God can by violence take the heart of man but he will have it freely given drawing by faire meanes the will of Qui fecit te sine te nō salvabit te sine te Aust the flesh into conformity to the law of the spirit But doth not he who here saith give in the 4 chapter of this book verse twenty three say keepe thy heart with all dilligence and how can a man do both give and keepe for by a gift there is transitus rei ad alium a thing is made over to another And yet in temporall things we know the same thing may be both given and kept when a man makes over his right to another retayning the use to himselfe for a time but God in this case wil admit of no such reservation nor wil he be content to accept of the heart in reversion he will have it in present the very actuall and reall possession and when once Hieroms trans the heart by faith and obedience is consecrated to God he bids keep it not from him but for him the word is serva * save it for him sell it not to another omni custodia serva with all manner of keepe with watching fasting praying with watching that Sathan with his tentations ensnare it not with fasting that the flesh with it's lusts entangle it not with praying that the world with it's cares distract it not and thus to keep it is absolutely to give it Or if thou wilt not absolutely give it yet da mutuò lend it God bring it to his house and let him have the use of it here It may be the pleasures of Gods house may so affect thine heart that what at first thou didst barely lend afterward thou wilt most cherefully give And even present thy selfe before thy heavenly Plautus in Tri. father with the sonne in the comedy pater adsum impera quod vis neque tibi ero in mora Father command me what thou wilt loe