pure heart and a good conscience and faith vnfained I remember God charged the Priest to sanctifie the breast of their shake offering as well as the shoulder of the heaue offering That we might see it is not so much the outward man as the inward wherein he delighteth neither is it enough to beare Christ in the head as Minerua did Iupiter vnlesse we beare him in the heart as Mary did our Sauiour Grauidare potuit grauare non potuit beatam virginem He might well fill her wombe with the glorie of his flesh he could not burden her with trouble of his presence How then will they satisfie this demaund that haue no heart vnto goodnesse The armie Philopoemen is likened vnto a man that hath legs feete but no belly because they wanted money which is the heart of warre so I feare in the Church militant there be diuerse that haue legs and feete but no bellie they haue the legges and the feete of outward conuersation but they want the heart and the belly of inward deuotion Non vitae sed famae negotiatores as Tertul. makes the charachter such as negotiate and trade more for a good name then for a good life for a good report then a good conscience If the Lord will be on the eare who so readie to attend his word and to call for a Sermon If the Lord will be on the tongue who so forward to confesse his name or to speake of Religion till they haue turned Sacramentum in sermonem as Saluianus speakes the sacred vse of his glorious name into vaine babling and the foolish contention of words and trifles But let him call for the heart they are quite blanke either it is losteth the cares of this world or sold to worke deceit and wickednesse Thus haue they a shew of godlinesse but denie the power thereof like fidlers that are more carefull in tuning their instruments then in tuning their liues their tongues are their instruments if they be in tune and the strings thereof well set to faire language and glozing hypocrisie all is well they haue done their parts and dutie I know not whether I may say they haue no heart or a double heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hebricians vse to speake a heart and a heart one for Christ another for Belial one for God another for the Diuell Sure I am they are cardiaci and fall vnder the curse the wise man hath denounced Vae duplici cordi Woe to the double heart for the Lord will not part stakes with any neither hath righteousnesse any communication with vnrighteousnes They are not many hearts but one that he desireth howbeit the conditions thereof be diuerse For it must be a new heart and a cleane heart a sound heart and a broken heart renewed by his word clensed in his bloud sound by the truth of doctrine broken by the contrition of spirit else will he forsake the tabernacle of our body and abhorre both heart and arme which is the second receptacle of our Sauiour Put me vpon thy arme For though Loue precede Faith in order of perfection yet Faith precedes Loue in order of generation did the Prophet begin to speake before the heart waxt hot and the fire was kindled in his breast First beleeue with thy heart then confesse with thy mouth yet so that heart and mouth and hand and arme may go together Good workes ioyned to Faith are as a strong building on a good foundation the building of gold and siluer vpon that ground which is laid of old I meane Christ Iesus Mary had no sooner borne Christ in her wombe and presented him in the Temple but Simeon takes him in his armes and embraceth him ioyfully For we must not be ashamed of our profession but carrie the ensigne of our Sauiour openly before vs that so the vertue and the patience and the meeknesse and the obedience of Christ Iesus may be found in euery part but chiefly in our actions Christ on the heart is like seed on the earth Christ on the arme is like corne on the eare Christ on the heart like a tree planted by the riuers of water Christ on the arme like a tree bringing fruit in time of Autumne and therefore true Religion and vndefiled before God is practicall and operatiue in the workes of mercie To visit the fatherlesse and widowes in aduersitie and to keepe our selues vnspotted of the world If our lips drop hony by the preaching of his word and the sweetnesse of his doctrine it is good and commendable but if our hands drop myrh by the crucifying of him and the mortification of our earthly members by the obedience of Christ and the perfect imitation of Christian holinesse it is most comfortable and heauenly There be that follow the paths of Christ and to vse the words of Saluianus Patentiora faciunt Domini vestigia they make the footsteps of our Sauiour more plaine and easie by the example of their vertue and the euidence of their bountie These be they which beare him in their armes and carrie him as a lampe burning in their hands for the benefit of others Do men gather figs of thornes or grapes of thistles Ye shall know them by their fruite And as Christ said of himselfe interrogate opera aske my workes for they speake of me so may we say of them interrogate opera aske their workes for they speake of them looke not on the face regard not the voice they may haue the voice of Iacob but the hands of Esau enquire of their workes they beare witnesse of them and are the surest markes of euery Christian Auditur cum videtur saith Tertullian A good Philosopher is best heard when hee is seene and a true Christian best knowne by the glasse of his life and the president of his actions It is a good resemblance that ancient Father vsed in his Moralls Alis feriunt vbi opera ostendunt The works of the Saints are as the wings of the Cherubins that touch one another for as they smite one another by their wings so we excite one another by our workes and prouoke as it were to godlinesse of liuing remember then I beseech you the end of your vocation that ye are the workmanship of God created in Christ Iesus to good workes That he gaue his life for you to the end you might be a peculiar to himselfe zealous of good workes die vnto sinne liue vnto righteousnesse cast of the workes of darknesse put on the armour of light that ye may be worthy of the Gospell of Christ and the doctrine of our Sauiour in all things may be honoured Ye are they of whom the Apostle doth trauell in birth that Christ may be formed in you and you transformed into him as well in arme as in heart as well in body as in spirit O let it neuer be said of these blessed armes the armes of your workes as Milo said of his armes the armes of his flesh Hi
blacknesse of our nature the sacred Vnion and Sacramentall coalition of God and man Christ his Church in the cords of loue and the bands of mercie for there is no similitude able to reach the depth hereof shee will euer be in his sight he will euer be in her thoughts shee will be engrauened in the palmes of his hands he will be placed as the signet of her arme Shall I tell you the claime of this interest it is Loue for that was strong as death and cruell as the graue he spared not his life vnto death but gaue it as a ransome for the sinnes of many and sealed it with his bloud crying to her as Galba to his souldiers Ego vester vos mihi I am wholly deuoted vnto you you are wholly deuoted vnto me therefore will hee bee as a seale on her heart and as a signet on her arme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me as a seale on thy heart and as a signet on thy arme The words of the Text are as a sacred armorie where you haue a shield for the hand and a couer for the heart or as an heauenly wardrobe where me thinkes I see the cloake and the ring which Iudah left with Tamar the ratification and assurance of spirituall grace and euerlasting holinesse they hold some Analogie with the offices of state the seale and the signet here is a seale a broad seale for the largenesse of our hearts Put me as a seale on thy heart here is a signet a little signet for the roundnesse of our armes As a signet on thine arme Pauca at salutaria expedita at sancta as we reade in Saluianus short and holy few and wholesome breefe in words and precept but in sence durable and permanent That which I shall punctually distinguish vnto you is first the habit and ornament of the Church that is Christ and his righteousnesse implyed in the affixe of my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me or set me Secondly the Part and the Subiect to be adorned that is the heart and the arme Put me on thy heart and on thine arme Thirdly the figure and semblance that is a seale or a signet Put me as a seale on thy heart and as a signet on thy arme Last of all the superinduction with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Originall which is vpon or the circumposition with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Septuagint which is about Put me as a seale on thy heart and a signet about thine arme All this is gathered and recapitulated in that of Paul to the Romans Put ye on Christ Iesus and take no care for the flesh to satisfie the lusts thereof But more perfectly in the same Apostle to his Corinthians Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your soules for they are his He will be on thy heart by Faith and Truth and inward sanctification he will be on thy arme by loue and holinesse and outward manifestation He will be here and he will be there as a seale or a signet that bearing the markes of Christ Iesus in our bodies wee may be like those thousands of Israel who were sealed in their fore-heads sealed and selected vnto the Lord against the day of our redemption Put him on thy heart for he is the wisedome of God Put him on thy arme for he is the power of God Put him on thy heart for he is the life of thy soule Put him on thy arme for he is the strength of thy flesh Put him on thy heart for he is the onely begotten Sonne of God who liueth in the bosome of his Father Put him on thy arme for he is the mighty Redeemer of the world that sitteth on the right hand of God in the glorie of the Father Put him on thy arme that he may direct thine actions Put him on thy heart that he may settle thy affections Put him as a seale and signet on both that he may know thee for his owne and bind thee to himselfe with an euerlasting couenant Quid enim prodest si Deum gestamus in fronte vitia in animo recondamus as Saint Augustine hath obserued What auailes it to haue God in the fore-head so we treasure vp wickednesse in the conscience If he be on thy heart by studie and meditation he will learne thee knowledge and make thee vnderstand the mysteries of his crosse and the righteousnesse of his kingdome If he be on thine arme for practice and imitation he will order thy goings and make thee delight in the way of truth and the custodie of his precepts If he be as a seale on the doore of thy heart and the posts of thy arme thou shalt not onely escape the punishment of the destroying Angell but exalt thy horne and triumph with the Lord and reioyce exceedingly in the power and glorie of his saluation Thus doth God call vpon vs but it is for our good and comfort There is much pleasure in that we loue though sometime absent but then is our ioy full and there is life in it when that we loue is at hand and present Therefore will he be in oculis in osculis as the signet of our arme for sight and presence as the seale of our hearts for delight and remembrance Put me as a seale on thy heart and as a signet on thine arme Hitherto wee haue lookt vpon the words of the Text as so many coynes of gold siluer I shall now put them in the ballance of the Sanctuarie and take their seuerall value that so I may proceed to my first obseruation Christ and his righteousnesse implyed in the affixe of my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me or set me Some play the Criticks and would haue the Church to speake vnto Christ not Christ to the Church because the affixe is not masculine but of the seminine gender indeed if points and vowels had bene equall with the Originall and not inuented after by the Iewish Rabbins they might deserue hearing but since it is otherwise our safest course is to run with the Fathers I meane Theodoret and the rest who make Christ the spokesman and that for himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me and set me Great and wonderfull is the beautie of the creature such as might bewitch the heart of man with the inchanting cup of deceitfull vanitie but whether yee looke vpon the brightnesse of the starres whether ye behold the glorie of the Angels whether ye consider the treasures of the deepe whether ye admire the power of the elements from the center of the earth to the circle of the heauens there is nothing ought to be as a crowne to vs saue that gracious light which shined to Moses in the bush and sate in the Tabernacle amidst the golden Cherubins It is the word of Christ must be as the iewell of our eares it is the yoke of Christ must be as the chaine of our necks
the foundation of that spirituall building that new Ierusalem which came downe from heauen and is like vnto a Citie that is at vnitie within it selfe Thus you see there is much ground for a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me and that we should rather forsake nets ship with Iames Andrew yea the whole world our selues to boote then not to cleaue to him that is aeternum gaudium the fountaine of life the author of blessednesse the glorie of his Church the honour of Paradise the euerlasting ioy and great reward of men and of Angels that when the Prince of this world shall come we may take vp the words of our Sauiour Venit sed nihil inuenit Indeed he came but he found nothing in me Iohn 14. 30. Yet there be that do more affect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nicephorous writeth in historie The image of Caesar more then of Christ That which theeues may steale and the moathes eate and the rust consume more then him that abides for euer Others like the Gergasens driue him out of their coasts and will not abide he should come neare their houses if once they see him in his distrest members whether blind or lame or sicke or naked they cry with those Diuels in the Gospell Quid tibi nobis fili Dauid What haue we to do with thee ô thou Sonne of Dauid dost thou come to vexe vs and trouble vs before the time Yet there he is and makes profession of it Esuriui it is I that was an hungrie and ye gaue me no meate it is I that was athirst and ye gaue me no drinke it is I that was naked and ye did not cloath me it is I that was in prison and ye did not visit me Here might I knocke at the consciences of many examine what it is they lay to heart Hath not pride shut Christ out of the heart of the vaineglorious Hath not pleasure shut Christ out of the heart of the voluptuous Hath not profit shut Christ out of the heart of the couetous Hath not strife and enuie and contention and diuision quite shut him out of the heart of the turbulent and seditious These are thy Gods ô Israel which lead thee backe into the darknesse of Aegypt Lares Penates those Idol gods that set vp altars in thy heart and rule in the temple of thy body So that Christ may stand at the doore and knocke till his head be full of dew and his lockes with the drops of the night there be few will let him enter crying as he doth in my Text or rather in the Gospell Volucres nidos vulpes foueas the birds haue their nests and the foxes their holes but the Sonne of man hath not whereon to lay his head Yet is there a double place due to him the one without the other within the one on the heart the other on the arme And so I passe from the ornament to the subiect from Christ Iesus the Bishop of our soules to our hearts the sea and palace of his residence Put me on thy heart and put me on thy arme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nyssen writes in the life of Moses heart and arme are emblematicall the one of contemplation the other of action Both due to God and his seruice but first hee calls for the heart like wisedome in the Prouerbs My sonne giue me thy heart If our heart be the seate of loue what is God but loue If our heart be the keepers of our treasure What is God but our treasure he lay in the heart of the earth three dayes when he was abased but now he is exalted let him rest in the earth of our hearts from day to day and from generation to generation Though he be Lord of all and command euery part yet there would he set vp his throne and place the septer of his dominion as in the Metropolis of his Kingdome It is fitly resembled to a Castle which being taken and surprized the whole Citie is forced to yeeld the vnderstanding her intelligence the affections her counfellours the sences her watchmen the members her seruants Yet if the Lord do not keepe the Citie it is all in vaine and therefore saith the Euangelist Intrauit Iesus in Castellum The Lord went into the Castle or intrabit Iesus in Castellum the Lord shall go into the Castle that saluation may be our walls and praise our gates For if Satan get but footing all is lost Ierusalem will be as a heape of stones and the abomination of desolation will light vpon our Citie It was a controuersie betweene Plato and Galen whether the heart or the braine were the seat of life and motion but the Church resolueth determinately that our heart is the receptacle of heauenly grace and spirituall inspiration In the naturall man it liues first and dyes last in the spirituall man it liues first and dyes last Let the eye be darke how great is that darknesse let the heart be dead how great is that deadnesse a goodman bringeth forth good things out of the treasure of his heart an euill man bringeth forth euill things out of the treasure of his heart For as there is life in the heart so out of the heart proceedeth thefts and murders fornications and adulteries the 15. and the 19. of Mathew Be aduised then who it is you place there If Christ knocke let him not stay he alone is that fire which is able to soften thy heart though hard as iron or impenetrable as the adamant and make it like melting waxe in the midst of thy bowels He alone is that bread which is able to fill thy heart the seuerall Angels of that capacious Trigonum with the immensitie of his presence O let him not stand onely in thy forehead by show and profession but call him into thy heart by faith and prayer and deuout acknowledgement and religious inuocation else are ye like those that go into the Sunne not for heate or warmth but to be seene and to be admired shall he cry to these Vulnerasti cor meum thou hast wounded my heart thou hast wounded my heart with one of thine eyes and wilt not thou make answer Paratum est cor meum my heart is readie ô God my heart is ready O the true Isaac and beloued of his Father this is that deare and onely beloued sonne which he will haue thee offer Almes mercie repentance charitie instruction prophesie contrition humiliation or whatsoeuer we can performe without a heart is but as an offering without salt and makes but an hatefull and prodigious sacrifice If the Psalmists reioyce it is in the innocencie of heart If the Apostle exhort it is to simplicitie of heart If the Lord be pleased it is with vprightnesse of heart If the Law be ended and the Gospell established it is in loue from a pure heart and a good conscience The end of the Law is loue from a