will repent of the iudgement against us but if we repent not there is no hope to escape either in this world or in the world to come But I come to the duty of the day For the worke of this day fasting is nothing but the outward way yet it is the onely way to repentance do not thinke that you come to heare an ordinary Sermon God expects it at thy hands that thou shouldst examine what thou hast heard whatsoever thou hast heard this day out of this place of thy duty the Lord lookes thou shouldest do it speedily Now is the Axe laid to the root of the tree and therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewen downe and cast into the fire Now why not before now that is now the preaching of the Gospell comes to you now the Lord exhorts you by the danger now he shewes you the way how to repent and to escape the wrath that is to come Now if you doe not repent Gods sword is drawn the Axe is laid to the root of the tree and God wil cut you down Now the Lord he threatneth you these thinges only that you might repent Therefore as God saith in Hosea I will do thus How I will do to you as I have done to them in Ireland I will do to you as I have done to Sodom and Gomorrah And because I will doe thus unto thee prepare to meete thy God oh Israell I am ready to strike and that I may not strike thee Prepare to meete thy God Those men that are our enemies they strike before they give us warning but saith God therefore I will doe thus unto thee and because I will do thus do thou meete me with repentance Psal. 103. ver. 12. Except you returne the Lord is preparing of his arrowes Psal. 103. ver. 12. Why doth he not shoot presently he must bend his bow and draw out his arrowes and tell you of it that you may remember Remember this now now that God cals you all to repentance now if you neglect the practise of it the Axe is laid to the root of the tree But now to come to the point of the act of repentance I will not stand much to shew you what repentance is but to shew you what you are to do As you must not come before the Lord and say Lord we repent us of our sins and mocke God never intending it never doe it upon the perill of his indignation of his wrath that shall burne against you in the world to come Know that these are not vaine words for Repentance there are two parts of it and the Lord doth expect that both should bee performed by us Wee read in the Scripture of repentance for sinne and we read of repentance from sinne So the Apostle to the Corinthians saith thus least my God should humble me before you for there are many that repent not of their abhomination and Acts. 8. 22. Repent therefore of this thy wickednesse Repentance hath two lookes like Ianus with two faces it lookes backward and it lookes forward when it lookes backwards it lookes upon the thing that is done and because that is done cannot be undone therefore it weeps and wailes and greives that thing is done to Gods dishonour which cannot be undone that is repentance when a man looks upon sin rending himselfe and is sorrowfull for what is past that 's but the first part of repentance The second is that that lookes upon sinne with distast it is abhominable unto him It is not hereafter I will not sweare I will not be light wanton I will not be evill but there must be an hatred of all sinne you that love the Lord hate evill there must not be onely a ceasing from the Act of sinne but there must be a reformation of the will and of the heart to the utter obhorring to the utter hating of sinne Concerning the former of these Repentance when it looks upon sinne that is past the sinnes that I have committed that many have not regarded for the fornications that you have committed you must understand that here the worke of Repenting is humiliation But marke it not an humiliation wherein a man is meere passive or is humbled by some great affliction that is fallen upon him The judgement of God may come to a man the stoutest man and humble him but that is not an humiliation of Repentance The humiliation which Repentance brings it is an â—ctive passion the stoutest man that is when Gods hand that hath touched him he will cry and groane and lament and yet he is no penitent for all this but repentance it is an Act I doe my selfe I Act it my self Rend your hearts and not your garments they did rend them with their owne hands so to have a rent heart it must be an Act of my selfe upon my selfe I will not stay till Gods crosse fall upon me crush me but I will labour to take up the Crosse I will doe it by God grace also for as you heard well in the morning nothing but the Holy Ghost can worke this in your hearts yet God doth not worke with us as we doe with a spade The Spirit of God maketh use of nature not as Agent but as a sujbect wherein grace is and if there were not this the spirit could worke without it It is said of our Saviour Christ in the case of Lazarus when he groaned he was troubled if you doe observe the reading in the Margent it is And Iesus troubled himselfe Luke 15. And so in in his other sufferings Phil. 3. 20. He offered himselfe so that this humiliation must bee in obedience Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and he will raise you up so that the Humilitation it must bee a voluntary worke having its originall from Gods spirit That seing there is no other remedy in the world to shew thy hating of it thou wilt take an holy revenge thou wilt breake that stony heart of thine and thou wilt not suffer it to be obdurate against the Lord but howsoever God never doth this against a mans will Heeris the point the humilitation which the sinner hath it is an act of his will Hee doth not onely suffer as those that are strucke by the hand of God so Iudas might have repented but that comes out of a kind heart to Almighty God that it breaks the heart But beloved eâ—e I goe further we will examine wherein this humilitation doth stand Humilitation stands in a generall processe which we make against our selves If we will judge our selves we shall not be judged by him so that this Humiliation is a Iudiciall processe against our selves wee will make our hearts throb wee will make our eyes flow forth into teares when Wee looke backe upon our sinnes committed This is the Humilitation of a penitent sinner so in this case a man comes to summe up all the powers and faculties
was slaine in the law He that offered him was to lay his hand upon the head of the Lambe and confesse his sinnes over him and then the Lambe was slaine Now consider this my swearing my lying my vanity my pride in apparrell and all my sinnes â—ll are laid upon the Lambs head that was never guilty of these vanities the Lambe of God hee was slaine though thou canst not groane for thy sinnes thou canst not weepe for thy sinnes Looke then looke upon Christ he sought God with strange cryes and teares not in regard of the punishment though thou diddest not cry for thy sinnes he had strong cryes and teares Phil 5. And observe the highest crie My God my God why hast thou forsaken me You that thinke sinne to be so small a matter consider your sinne as it lay upon Christ strong cryes you see it cost him Consider him lying graveling upon the ground as it were panting for life sweating blood before his Father crying Father if it be possible take this cup from me As if hee should say if hou wilt shew onely mercie passe by thy judgement all this time with cryes and with strong teares and the third time cryes upon the Crosse My God my God why hast thou forsaken me When all the earth had a blacke Mantle cast over it darkenesse over him that was the light of the World and as great a darkenesse in him his soule was darkened within him To consider these things is able to breake the heart of any man that hath the lest sparke of grace in him But then consider with thy selfe thus What hath sin done to me First it hath defiled thee 1 Cor. 5. 1. He wishes us that wee would keepe our selves from all defilement of body and spirit That which goes into the mouth of a man defiles not a man but that which goes out for from within even out o the heart of man proceedeth evill thoughts Luke 7. 21. 22. Adulterie Fornications Murthers Theft Covetuousnesse Wickednesse Deceit Vncleannesse a wicked eye backbiting pride foolishnesse There is no sinne that thou committest but it bespots thy soule Did you but see the soule of a sinner what dishonour and slaine brings to it it is like a filthy spot in pure white Lawne your sinnes they have made a separation between you and your God They are now in a state of enmitie saith God my soule doth loathe them and their soule doth loath me There is an utter sâ—paration betweene God and us by sinne And after all this comes God and inlarges thee from Satan that possessed thee but the Prince of this world is cast out who is the Prince of the world the Prince that rules in the children of Disobedience And this is the Iudgement which our Saviour brings the Prince of this world but untâ—ll wee bee renewed by repentance still where God comes out the Devill comes in A man is so possest that for his life he hath not the power to resist the least temptation of the Devill but as fast as he tempts he committs sinne and then comes Gods Iudgement you have it in Deut. 28. your sins are a breach of covenant with Almighty God do you think that Covenant breakers breakers of Covenant shall scape They are put amongst the blacke guard in the first of the Romans Adulterers swearers truce-breakers I will send among you plagues the judgements that are not written in this booke Why saith Turtullian Scipturae plenitudinem habent The Scriptures have a fulnesse I have seene an end of all perfection but thy commandements are exceeding large And yet there are unwritten judgements The Scripture which is perfect it doth not containe all the judgements which God will send upon sinners And hence from the consideration of this comes loathing of a mans selfe and a godly sorrow these are the affections we should have when we have produced our faults and the law hath shewne the miserie we are liable to by the committing of them then a man come to abhorre himselfe as Iob saith Therefore I repent and obhorre my selfe in dust and ashes you see this abhorring a mans selfe it is a concomitant of true repentance Those that be in the darke though they be naked they are not ashamed why because they see no light but when the light of Gods Spirit hath discovered to a man his foulenes and his shame then they doe repent and abhorre themselves Ezek. 26. God exhorts them that they should loath themselves as a signe of repentance Shame you know it is a part of the judgement against sin for Daniel the last chapter and the second verse Some shall rise to shame and to everlasting contempt Now when we come to judge ourselves that we be not judged of God we must bring ourselves to this shame And as Ezra when hee came by fasting and repentance to God hee saith I am ashamed to come before thee not for his owne sinnes but for those among whom he was The best fruit that thou canst reape of sinne though it be repented is shame The Prophet Zephaniah saith the wicked know no shame Ier. 6. 15. were they ashamed when they had done these things they were not ashamed neither could they blush when thou hast done these things and considerest them art thou ashamed of them When thou considerest of them betweene God and thy owne conscience dost thou blush You that were not ashamed to commit the sinne now that God hath opened your eyes see whether you can blush and be ashamed before Almighty God for committing these sinnes But then there is sorrow which is the last thing which sorrow must be true and from the heart the inward sorrow it is contrition it is the rending and breaking of the heart when a man is ready to teare himselfe in peeces because that he hath offended so gracious a God that hath done so much for us This is that which the Apostles calls that same sorrow which is according to God 1. Iam. All Israell wept before the Lord suppose there were no Hell no damnation no outward judgement yet as long as there is a God in Heaven I cannot but be sorrow for my sinne and when thou canst doe thus it is an argument thou art a penitent sinner and this is done by fasting and weeping fasting and weeping they are things that are joyned together 1. Sam. 7. 6. It is said that when the Philistims came against them they fasted and powred down water by the Lord that is they made or wept such abundance of teares as if water had beene powred downe and so Iudg. 2. 4. When the Angell came to Bochim and told the people of their sins the people lift up their voice and wept Beloved Beloved doe not our dry eyes this day testifie that we have little sorrow remember that place in Zachary they shall looke upon him whom they have pierced Zach. 12. 10. And they shall lament for him as one mourneth for his onely Son and be sorry for him as one is sorry for his first borne Doft thou weepe for thy son and not for crucifying of thy Saviour It is not set downe that sorrow shall be in them but they shall bee sorrow to shew the greatnesse of it as though they were steeped and soaked in it and such a sorrow as was in the valley of Megiddo when Iosiah died in memory or which Ieremiah wrote his booke of Lamentations And they shall sorrow apart to shew that it is a part that sorrow which is a part it is particularly every man it was not the Iewes speares or sins that did crucifie Christ but thy sins Beloved I must speake now concerning the matter of Fasting and beloved it must be fasting not such a superficiall fasting as we commonly use but fasting of another nature we doe not understand the name of it if you compare Luk. 5. 33. and Mat. 9. 14. Together why doe the Disciples of Iohn the Pharisees fast often but thy Diciples fast not as Saint Mat. hath it but Saint Luk. thus why doe the Diciples of Iohn fast often and pray and the Diciples of the Pharisees also but thine eate and drink he that eates or drinks any thing his fast is done and the least droppe of water thou hast taken it breakes 〈◊〉 shell of thy fasting And it was the Doctrine of the ancient â—â—thers that he that had tasted but a drope of water he had doâ—â— with his fast for that day And this outward fasting must 〈…〉 onely be from anything that is to be eaten but also from all delight let the bridegroome come forth of his chamber that which we know to be lawfull and good yet because it hath a solace in it that ordinance of God it must be forborne any outward kinde of solace that gives content it must be avoided our apparrell the wearing of our best apparrell any thing that may be contrary to the fasting see Ahab when hee fasted hee humbled himselfe and wept and put on sackcloth and went fastly that is he went barefoot now those that goe barefoot cannot but tread very softly Esah 58. 13. Thou shalt not think thy owne thoughts speake thine on words nor doe thy owne Actions The Prophet doth there speak of the Sabboth which was on the tenth day of the seventh Moneth not of the Hebdomate weekly Sabboth the saturday but of the universary Sabboth and the beginning of the Chapter runneth that way Wee have fasted and thou hast not looked upon us that fasting day wherein as some report Adam fell they should not doe any thing This was but the shall of fasting all outward things that can give content to the outward man must be avoided so farre as necessity will brooke it But I see the time is past thus much therefore shall serve for this time FINIS Pag. 1. lin. 8. for but to condemne the world rea but to save the world In a Sermon preached by D. Williams Arch-Bishop of Yorke Obiection Answer
of his soule the will the understandng the conscience the sence it will require all thy power and all thy strength to doe it Thy memory that must draw up the Indenture thou must consider that God will open all when hee comes to judge thee Thou swearest thou hast forgotten it presently but God hath written it in a booke thy conscience shall remember every oath that thou hast sworne every idle word that thou hast spoke you see God Psal. 50. Saith He will set all our sins in order before us he will rub up this dull memory of ours we must draw unto our remembrance the multitude of the sinnes that we have committed against God It is the speech of the Prophet Esah call to your remembrance the sins that you have committed and if you would rubbe up your remembrances and doe as stewards that have a bad memory make it their businesse to cast and account every night what they lay out the day before and so if wee would every day before wee go to bed call our selves to an account how we have spent that day our memories should not be so short wee must know how to set sinne before the sight of Almighty God Briefely thus Looke first in thy owne debt a debt that thou didst commit before thou wast born begin at the highest what was that Doe not you know that many men have beene arrested and undone for debts for which as we say they did never drinke a debt may be owing by the sonne for his Father after that his father is dead thou art in the loynes of Adam if Adam had stood thou shouldest have stood bring he is falne thou fallest with him we all hange upon Adam as the stringe that the Prophet speaks of that as a bunch of keyes hung upon a string when that the string is broken then all the keyes fall downe with him we all hang and with him we all fall the sinne acted by Adams justice imputed unto thee as thou art in his loynes Againe in the second place by reason of this imputation of Adams sinne unto thee thou art deprived of that image in which Thou and Hee were created assoone as ever Adam acted the sinne presently Adam was spoiled His understanding was darkned his will was rebellious his conscience was disordered only heere was the difference Adam was despoyled of it after he had continued long in the world thou assoone as ever soule and body were conjoyned together God considers thee in Adam to have reached forth thy hand to the forbidden fruit and therefore the same thing that befell Adam that he was spoyled of his originall righteousnesse the same befals thee the Prophet David in the 51. Psal. Hee was guilty of murther and adultery yet for all this hee saith he was borne in sinne and doe you not thinke he did it to extenuate his sin and iniquity that he was borne in sinne and concelved in it as if a man should doe me harme because it was naturall unto him hee could not abide me should not I thinke him the more wicked so the sins against God are very haynous the root from whence this adulterie proceeded and this murther came it came from the corruption of his ill nature As we deale with Toades and Foxes and Vermine wee kill and destroy them when they doe no hurt wee thinke they may doe ill because the nature of them is to doe harme so God he findes us such Toades such things even before wee are out of the shell and therefore God may justly deale with us so so that God may take a young Child and cast it into Hell as soone as it is borne If God will doe this for the first sinne Death went over them that did not sinne after the similitude of the transgression of Adam Death went over those that committed no naturall sinne as Adam did Consider this that when we were first borne by reason of the seede oâ— Rebellion that is in us if God had marked us assoone as we came out of the wombe he might justly have committed us to Hell begin with the vanitie of your childhood Consider with yourselves how soone that evill seedes spring forth into fruit Consider how in its rife in a child before you thinke it hath understanding Consider that which comes from Pride frowardnesse wrangling and wantonnesse Looke afterwards when thou commest to thy riper age when thou wast married when thou wast without governement Divide thy life into severall parts all these things may serve to set before us those sinnes that wee have committed not hiding them not concealing them with Adam To play the part of the Kings Attorney not only to bring an evidence of the fact but to shew how hainous and grievous it is And beloved when this hath beene done both in sinnes of commission and which will breake any ones heart to thinke of the sinnes of omission the innumerable good things which God hath commanded me to doe yet I have neglected them nay rather there proceedes words that are so farre from tending to edification that they are corrupt words as the Apostle speakes this I told unto you Thus you must doe the more of those sinnes you put before you the more incited you should shew your selves My sinnes are more then the haires of my head and in another place my sinnes are a burrhen too heavie for me to beare so that this is the part of a penitent sinner to set his sinnes before him and then to desire God to forgive his secret sinnes so draw them before thy heart before Almighty God and condemne them and then God will not condemne thee when wee have done thus this appertaines to the first part wherein I indite my selfe these and these things I have done these and these things God hath committed to me I have received much grace of God in vaine I have abused my Talent and hid it in a napkin these be for the Inditement But then wee must come to the triall when my memorie hath brought them to me and when my understanding hath considered them and weighed them in the ballance of the sanctuary and I consider that they are sinnes to be aggraated not onely by the Law but by the Gospel then my confience presently like a peece overcharged recoyles me backward and I consider the weight of them that they are a burthen to heavie for me to beare Then the soule strikes the heart this is my case considering what the law hath said considering what the Gospel hath said Alasse if I had not commited these sinnes while I was under grace under the Minister of the Gospel when Christ invited me to come unto him when he bids me cast this burthen upon his shoulders and hee would ease me I will not doe it and though that hee comes with peace and with safetie we will not receive him as you heard in the morning set before you the representation of the true Crucifix The lambe of God that