the sonne of man Cuinasci contigit mori restat Who hapned to come into the world must vpon necessity goe out of the world It is no new thing to die since life it self is nothing els but a iourney to death Quicquid ad summum peruenit adexitum properat He that hath climbed to his highest is descending to his lowest All the sonnes of men die not one death for time and manner for the matter and end one death is infallible to all the sonnes of men The corne is somtimes bitten in the spring often trode downe in the blade neuer failes to bee cut vp in the eare when ripe Quisquis queritur hominem mortuum esse queritur hominem fuisse Who laments that a man is dead laments that he was a man When Anaxagoras heard that his son was dead hee answered without astonishment Scio me genuisse mortalem I know that I begate a mortall man It was a good speech that fell from that shame of Philosophie Epictetus Non sum aeternitas sed homo particula vniuersi vt hora diei venire igitur oportet vt horam praeterire vt horam I am not eternity but a man a little part of the whole as an houre is of the day like an houre I came and I must depart like an houre Mors dominos seruis sceptra ligonibus aequat Dissimiles simili conditione ligat Deathes cold imparciall hands are vs'd to strike Princes and Peasants and make both alike Some fruite is plucked violently from the tree some droppes with ripenesse all must fall because the sonnes of men This should teach vs to arme our selues with patience and expectation to encounter Death Saepe debemus mori nec volumus morimur nec volumus Often we ought to prepare for death wee will not at last wee die indeed and wee would not Adam knew all the beasts and called them by their names but his own name hee forgot Adam of earth What bad memories haue wee that forget our owne names and selues that we are the sonnes of men corruptible mortall Incertum est quo loco te mors expectat itaque tu illam omni loco expecta Thou knowest in what place Death looketh for thee therefore do thou looke for him in euery place Watch therefore for you know not what houre your Lord doth come Thus for the Owners 2. The vessell it selfe is the Heart The Heart is Mans principall vessell Wee desire to haue all the implements in our house good but the vessell of chiefest honour principally good Quanm male de te ipse meruisti c. sayth Saint August How mad is that man that would haue all his vessels good but his owne heart Wee would haue a strong nerue a cleare veyne a moderate pulse a good arme a good face a good stomacke onely we care not how euill the heart is the principall of all the rest For howsoeuer the Head be called the Tower of the mind the Throne of Reason the house of wisdom the Treasure of memory the Capitol of iudgement the shoppe of affections yet is the Heart the receptacle of life And Spiritus which they say is Copula animae corporis a vertue vniting the soule and the body if it bee in the Liuer naturall in the Head animal yet is in the Heart vitall It is the member that hath first life in mā and is the last that dies in man and to all the other members giues viuification As man is Microcosmus an abridgement of the world hee hath heauen resembling his soule earth his heart placed in the middest as a center the Liuer is like the sea whence flow the liuely springs of bloud the Braine like the sunne giues the light of vnderstanding and the senses are set round about like the starres The Heart in man is like the roote in a tree the organ or lung-pipe that comes of the left cel of the heart is like the stocke of the tree which diuides it selfe into two parts and thence spreades abroad as it were sprayes and boughes into all the body euen to the arteries of the head The Egyptians haue a conceite that mans growing or declining followes his Heart The Heart of man say they increaseth still till hee come to fifty yeares old euery yeare two drachmes in weight and then decreaseth euery yeare as much till hee come to an hundred and then for want of Heart hee can liue no longer By which consequence none could liue about an 100. yeres which conceyted demonstration hath often proued false But it is a vessell a liuing vessell a vessell of life It is a vessell properly because hollow hollow to keepe heat and for the more facile closing opening It is a spirituall vessell made to containe the holy dewes of grace which make glad the City of God It is euer full eyther with that precious iuyce or with the pernicious liquor of sinne As our Sauiour sayth Math. 15. Out of the heart proceede euill thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witnesse blasphemies Know you not sayth his Apostle that you are the Temple of God and that the Spirite of God dwelleth in you If our Corpus be Templum Domini sure our Cor is Sanctum sanctorum It was the answere of the Oracle to him that would bee instructed what was the best Sacrifice Damedium Lunae solem simul canis iram Giue the halfe Moone the whole Sunne and the dogs anger Which three Characters make Cor the heart The good heart is a receptacle for the whole Trinity and therefore it hath three Angels as if the three Persons of that one Deity would inhabit there The Father made it the Sonne bought the Holy Ghost sanctifies it therfore they all three claime a right in the Heart It hath three cels for the three persons and is but one Heart for one God The world cannot satisfie it a Globe cannot fill a Triangle Onely God can sufficiently content the Heart God is sayth a Father non corticis sed cordis Deus not regarding the rinde of the lippes but the root of the Heart Hence Sathan directs his malicious strength against the Heart The foxe doth gripe the necke the mastiffe flies at the throat and the Ferret nippes the Liuer but the Deuill aymes at the Heart inficere interficere The Heart he desires because he knows God desires it and his ambition still inclines intends his purposes and plots to robbe God of his delight The Heart is the chiefe Tower of life to the body and the spirituall Citadell to the whole man alwayes besieged by a domesticall enemy the Flesh by a ciuill the world by a profest the Deuill Euery perpetrated sinne doth some hurt to the walls but if the Heart be taken the whole Corporation is lost How should Christ enter thy house and suppe with thee when the Chamber is taken vp wherein he would rest the Heart All the faculties of Man follow
the Heart as seruants the Mistresse wheeles the poyse or linkes the first end of the chaine When the Sunne riseth all rise beasts from their dennes birds from their nests men from their beds So the Heart leads directs moues the parts of the body and powers of the soule that the mouth speaketh hand worketh eye looketh eare listneth foote walketh all producing good or euill from the good or euil treasure of the heart Therfore the penitent Publican beat his Heart as if he would cal vp that to call vp the rest It is conspicuous then that the heart is the best vessel whereof any sonne of man can boast himselfe possessour and yet prohdolor euen this is corrupted To declare this pollution the next circumstance doth iustly chalenge onely one caueat to our hearts of our Hearts ere we leaue them Since the Heart is the most precious vessell man hath in all his corporall housholde let him haue good regard to it Omni custodia custodi cor tuum Keepe thy heart with all diligence sayth Solomon GOD hath done much for the Heart naturally spiritually For the former He hath placed it in the middest of the body as a Generall in the midst of his Army bulwarck'd it about with brest ribbes backe Lest it should bee too cold the liuer lies not farre off to giue it kindly heate lest too hote the lungs lye by it to blow coole winde vpon it It is the chiefe and therefore should wisely temper all other members by the spleene we are moued to laugh by the gall to be angry by the braine wee feele by the liuer we loue but by the heart we be wise Spiritually hee hath done more for the heart giuing the bloud of his Sonne to clense it soften it sanctifie it when it was full both of hardnesse and turpitude By his omnipotent grace hee vnroosted the Deuill from it who had made it a stable of vncleannesse and now requires it being created new for his own chamber for his owne bed The purified heart is Gods Sacrary his Sanctuary his House his Heauen As Saint August glosseth the first words of the Pater noster Our Father which art in heauen that is in a heart of an heauenly disposition Quà mpropitia dignatio ista that the King of Heauen will vouchsafe to dwell in an earthly Tabernacle The Heart then being so accepted a vessell keepe it at home hauing but one so precious supellectile or moueable part not with it vpon any termes There are foure busie requirers of the Heart besides he that iustly oweth it Beggars Buyers Borrowers Theeues 1 He that begges thy Hart is the Pope and this hee doth not by word of mouth but byletters of commēdations condemnations rather his Seminary factors He begs thy Heart and offers thee nothing for it but crucifixes images c. meere images or shadowes of reward or his blessing at Rome which because it is so farre distant as if it lost all the vertue by the way doth as much good as a candle in Sunshine 2 He that would buy this vessell of vs is the Deuill as one that distrusts to haue it for nothing and therefore set what price thou wilt vpon it hee will eyther pay it or promise it Sathan would faine haue his Iewell-house full of these vessels and thinkes them richer ornaments then the Babylonian Ambassadors thought the treasures of Hezechiah Haman shall haue grace with the King Absolon honour Iezabel reuenge Ammon his lusts satisfied Iudas money Demas the world if they will sell him their Hearts If any man like Ahab sell his heart to such a purchaser let him know that qui emit interimit he doth buy it to butcher it 3 The Flesh is the Borrower and hee would haue this vessell to vse with promise of restoring Let him haue it a while and thou shalt haue it againe but as from an ill neighbour so broken lacerated deformed defaced that though it went forth rich like the Prodigall it returnes home tattered and torne and worne no more like a heart then Michols image on the pillow was like Dauid This Sutour borrowes it of the Citizen till vsury hath made him an Alderman of the Courtier til ambition hath made him noble of the Officer till bribery hath made him master of the Gallant till riot hath made him a beggar of the Luxurious till lust hath filled him with diseases of the Country Churle till couetise hath swelled his barnes of the Epicure till he bee fatted for death and then sends home the heart like a Iade tired with vnreasonable trauell This is that wicked borrower in the Psalme which payeth not againe Thou wouldest not lend thy beast nor the worst vessell in thy house to such a neighbour and wilt thou trust him with thy heart Eyther not lend it or looke not for it againe 4. The World is the Theefe which like Absolon steales away the heart This cunningly insinuates into thy brest beguiling the Watch or Guard which are thy senses and corrupting the seruants which are thy affections The world hath two properties of a Theefe first It comes in the night time when the lights of reason and vnderstanding are darkened and security hath gotten the heart into a slumber This dead sleepe if it doth not find it brings Sunt quoque quae faciunt altos medicamina somnos Vitaque Lethaealumina nocte premunt The world 's a potion who thereof drinkes deepe Shall yeeld his soule to a Lethargicke sleepe 2 It makes no noyse in comming lest the family of our reuiued thoughts wake and our sober knowledge discerne his approch This theefe takes vs as it tooke Demas napping terrifies vs not with noyse of tumultuous troubles and alarum of persecutions but pleasingly giues vs the musicke of gaine and lappes vs warme in the couch of lusts This is the most perillous oppugner of our hearts neyther begger buyer nor borrower could doe much without this theefe It is some respect to the world that makes men eyther giue or sell or lend the vessell of their heart Astus pollentior armis Fraud is more dangerous then force Let vs beware this theefe First turne the begger from thy dore hee is too sawcy in asking thy best moueable wheras beggers shuld not chuse their almes That Pope was yet a little more reasonable that shewed himselfe content with a King of Spaines remuneration The present you sent mee was such as became a King to giue and S. Peter to receyue But da pauperibus the Pope is rich enough Then reiect the buyer set him no price of thy heart for he wil take it of any reckoning He is neere driuen that sels his heart I haue heard of a Iew that would for security of his lent money haue onely assur'd to him a pound of his Christian debters liuing flesh a strange forfeit for default of paying a little money But the Deuill in all his couenants indents for the heart In other bargaines caueat emptor
sayth the Prouerbe Let the buyer take heed in this let the seller looke to it Make no marte nor market with Sathan Non benè pro multo libertas venditur auro The heart is ill solde what euer the price be Thirdly for the borrower Lend not thy heart in hope of interest lest thou lose the principall Lend him not any implement in thy house any affection in thy heart but to spare the best vessell to such an abuser is no lesse then mad charity Lastly ware the theefe and let his subtilty excite thy more prouident preuention Many a man keepes his goods safe enough from beggers buyers borrowers yet is met withall by theeues Therefore locke vp this vessell with the Key of faith barre it with resolution against sinne guard it with supervisiting diligence and repose it in the bosom of thy Sauiour There it is safe from all obsidious or insidious oppugnations from the reach of fraud or violence Let it not stray from this home lest like Dinah it be defloured If wee keepe this vessell our selues wee indanger the losse Iacob bought Esau's birth-right Satha stole Adams Paradise whiles the tenure was in their owne hands An Apple beguiled the one a messe of pottage the other Trust not thy heart in thine owne custody but lay it vp in heauen with thy treasure Commit it to Him that is the maker and preseruer of men who will lappe it vp with peace and lay it in a bed of ioy where no aduersary power cā inuade it nor theefe break through to steale it 3. The Liquor this vessel holds is euill Euill is double eyther of Sinne or of Punishment the deseruing and retribution the one of mans owne affecting the other of Gods iust inflicting The former is simpliciter malum simply euill of it owne nature the latter but secundum quid in respect of the sufferer being good in regard of Gods glory as an act of his Iustice. For the Euils of our sufferings as not intended here I pretermit Onely when they come we learne hence how to intertaine them in our opinion as our due rewards in our patience as men as Saints that tribulation may as well produce patience as sinne hath procured tribulation Non sentire mala sua non est hominis non ferre non est viri He that feeles not his miseries sensibly is not a man and he that beares them not couragiously is not a Christian. The iuyce in the heart of the sonnes of men is euill all haue corrupted their wayes Solomon speakes not here in indiuiduo this or that sonne of man but generally with an vniuersall extent the sonnes of men And leauing the plurall with the Possessors by a significant salaecisme he names the vessell in the singular the heart not hearts as if all mankind had cor vnum in vnitate malitiae one heart in the vnity of sinne the matter of the vessell being of one polluted lumpe that euery man that hath an hart hath naturally an euill heart Adam had no sooner by his one sinne slaine his posterity but hee begote a sonne that slew his brother Adam was planted by God a good Vine but his Apostasie made all his children sowre grapes Our nature was sowne good behold wee are come vp euill Through whose default ariseth this badnesse God created this vessell good man poyson'd it in the seasoning And being thus distayned in the tender newnesse seruat odorem testa diu it smels of the olde infection till a new iuyce bee put into it or rather it selfe made new As Dauid prayes Create in me oh Lord a cleane heart and renew a right spirit within me GOD made vs good we haue mar'd ourseluesa nd behold wee call on him to make vs good againe Yea euen the vessel thus recreated is not without a tang of the former corruption Paul confesseth in himselfe a body of Death as well as Dauid a natiue vncleannesse The best graine sends forth that chaffe whereof before the sowing it was purged by the fanne Our contracted euill had been the lesse intolerable if we had not been made so perfectly good Hee that made heauen and earth ayre and fire Sunne and Moone all elements all creatures good surely would not make him euill for whom these good things were made How comes he thus bad Deus hominem fecit homo se interfecit In the words of our Royall Preacher Eccles. 7. Loe this onelie I haue found that God hath made man vpright but they haue sought out many inuentions Man was created happy but hee found out trickes to make himselfe miserable And his misery had been lesse if he had neuer beene so blessed the better wee were we are the worse Like the posterity of some profuse or tainted Progenitour wee may tell of the Lands Lordshippes honours titles that were once ours and then sigh out the song fuimus Troes we haue been blessed If the heart were thus good by creation or is thus good by redemption how can it bee the continent of such euill liquour when by the word of His mouth that neuer erred A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruits I answere that saying must be construed in sensu composito a good tree continuing good cannot produce euill fruites The heart borne of God in quanto renatum est not peccat doth not commit sinne so farre as it is borne of GOD. Yet euen in this vessell whiles it walkes on earth are some droppes of the first poyson And so Dat dulces fons vnus aquas qui et praebet amaras The same fountaine sends forth sweet water and bitter though not at the same place as Saint Iames propounds it But Solomon speakes here of the heart as it is generate or degenerate not as regenerate what it is by nature not by grace as it is from the first Adam not from the second It is thus a vessell of euill Sinne was brewed in it hath brewed it into sinne It is strangely I know not how truely reported of a vessell that changeth some kind of liquour put into it into it selfe as fire transformes the fuell into fire But heere the content doth change the continent as some minerall veynes doe the earth that holdes them This euill iuyce turnes the whole heart into euill as water powred vpon snow turnes it to water The wickednesse of man was so great in the earth that it made euery imagination of the thoughts of his heart onely euill continually Here if wee consider the dignity of the vessell the filthinesse of the euill it holds or is rather holden of for non tam tenet quam tenetur the comparison is sufficient to astonish vs. Quà m malè conueniunt vas aureum atrumque venenum Oh! ingrate in considerate man to whom God hath giuen so good a vessell and hee filles it with so euill sappe In a great house there be vessels of honour and vessels of dishonour some for better
the true water of Iordan or Poole of Siloam Wash and be cleane Bring your hearts to this Bath yee corrupted Sonnes of men hath God giuen you so precious a Lauer and will you be vncleane still Pray intreat beseech send vp to heauen the cryes of your tongues and hearts for this bloud call vpon the preseruer of men not onely to distill some drops but to wash bathe soake your harts in this bloud Behold the Sonne of God himselfe that shedde this bloud doth intreat God for you the whole Quire of all the Angels Saints in heauen are not wanting Let the meditation of Christs mediation for you giue you encouragement and comfort Happy Sonne of man for whom the Sonne of God supplicates and intercedes What can He request without speed He doth not onely pray for you but euen to you yee sonnes of men Beholde him with the eyes of a Christian faith and hope standing on the battlements of heauen hauing that for his pauement which is our seeling offring his bloud to wash your hearts which he willingly lost for your hearts denying it to none but Wolues Beares and Goates and such reprobate excommunicate apostate spirites that treade it vnder their prophane and luxurious feet esteeming that an vnholy thing wherewith they might haue beene sanctified Come we then come we though sinners if beleeuers and haue our hearts washed 3. All is not done with this vessell when washed Shall wee empty it clense it and so leaue it Did not Satan reenter to the house swept and garnished with seuen worse spirites whiles it was empty Behold then when it is emptied and washed and sweetned it must bee filled againe a vacuity is not allowable It must bee replenished with somewhat eyther euill or good If God bee not present Satan will not be absent When it is euacuated of the works of the flesh it must bee supplyed with the fruits of the Spirit Humility must take vp the roome which pride had in the heart Charitablenesse must steppe into the seate of auarice Loue extrude malice mildnesse anger patience murmuring Sobriety must drie vp the floudes of drunkenesse Continence coole the inflammations of Lust. Peace must quite the head from dissentions Honesty pull off Hypocrisies vizour and Religion put prophanenesse to an irreuocable exile Faith is the hand that must take these Iewels out of Gods treasury to furnish the heart the pipe to conuey the waters of life into these vessels This infusion of goodnesse must follow the effusion of euill God must be let in when Satan is locked out If our former courses and customes like turn'd-away abiects proffer vs their old seruice let vs not know them not own them not giue them intertainement not allow their acquaintance But in a holy pride as now made Courtiers to the King of heauen let vs disdayne the company of our olde play-fellowes opera tenebrarum the works of darknesse Let vs now onely frequent the dore of mercy and the fountaine of grace and let faith a good conscience be neuer out of our society Here 's the supply 4. We haue now done if when our hearts bee thus emptied cleansed supplyed we so keepe them Non minor est virtus c. Nay let me say non minor est gratia For it was Gods preuenting grace that clensed our hearts and it is his subsequent grace that so preserues them That we may truely sing By grace and grace alone All these good works are done Yet haue we not herein a Patent of security and negligence sealed vs as if God would saue vs whiles wee onely stood and look'd on But he that hath this hope purgeth himselfe And wee are charged to keepe and possesse our vessell in sanctification and honour and to liue vnspotted of the world Return not to your former abominations lest your latter end bee worse then your beginning Hath God done so much to make your hearts good and will you frustrate his labours annihilate his fauours vilipend his mercies and reele backe to your former turpitudes God forbid it and the serious deprecation of your owne soules forbid it Yea oh Lord since thou hast dealt so graciously with these frayle vessels of flesh emptied them washed them season'd them supplyed them seale them vp with thy Spirit to the day of redemption and preserue them that the euill one touch them not Grant this Oh Father almighty for thy Christ and our Iesus his sake Amen Mysticall Bedlam OR THE WORLD OF MAD-MEN The second Sermon ECCLESIASTES CAP. 9. VER 3. The heart of the Sonnes of men is full of euill and madnesse is in their heart while they liue and after that they goe to the dead MANS sentence is yet but begunne and you will say a Comma doth not make a perfect Sense Wee are now got to his Colon hauing left his heart full of euill wee come to his madnesse No maruell if when the stomacke is full of strōg wines the head grow drunken The heart being so filled with that pernicious liquor euill becomes drunke with it Sobriety a morall daughter nay Reason the mother is lost he runs mad starke mad This Frenzy possessing not some out-roome but the principall seate the Heart Neyther is it a short madnesse that wee may say of it as the Poet of anger furor breuis est but of long continuance euen during life whiles they liue Other drunkennesse is yet after sleepe sober but this is a perpetuall lunacie Considerable then is 1. the matter 2. the men 3. the time Quid in quo Quamdiu What in whom and how long Madnesse is the matter 2. the place the heart 3. The time whiles they liue The Colon or medium of mans Sentence spends it selfe in the description of A Tenant Madnesse Tenement The Heart Tenure Whiles they liue 1. Madnesse 2. holds the heart 3. during life It is pitty 1. so bad a Tenant 2. hath so long time 3. in so good a house 1. The Tenant Madnesse There is a double madnesse corporall and spirituall The obiect of the former is Reason of the latter Religion That obsesseth the braine this the Heart That expects the helpe of the naturall Physitian this of the Mysticall The difference is this spirituall madnesse may insanire cum ratione cum Religione numquam The morally franticke may be mad with reason neuer with Religion Physitians haue put a difference betwixt Phrenzy and Madnesse imagining madnesse to be onely an infection and perturbation of the formost Cell of the head whereby Imagination is hurt but the Phrenzy to extend further euen to offend the reason and memory and is neuer without a feuer Galen cals it an inflammation of the braines or filmes thereof mixed with a sharpe feuer My purpose needes me not to be curious of this distinction To vnderstand the force of madnesse we must conceiue in the brayne three ventricles as houses assign'd by Physitians for three dwellers Imagination Reason and Memorie
some for baser vses The heart is a vessell of honour sealed consecrated for a receptacle for an habitacle of the graces of GOD. Shall wee take the member of Christ and make it an harlots the vessell of God make it Satans did God infuse into vs so noble a part shal we infuse into it such ignoble stuffe was fraud falshood malice mischiefe adultery idolatry variance variablenes ordayned for the heart or the heart for them when the seat of holinesse is become the seate of hollownesse the house of innocence the house of impudence the place of loue the place of lust the vessell of piety the vessell of prauity the throne of God the court of Satan the heart is become rather a Ielly then an heart Wherein there is a tumultuous promiscuous turbulent throng heap'd and amaz'd together like a wine-drawers stomacke full of Dutch French Spanish Greeke and many country wines enuy lust treason ambition auarice fraud hypocrisie obsessing it and by long tenure pleading prescription that custome being a second nature the heart hath lost the name of heart and is become the nature of that it holds a lumpe of euill It is detestable ingratitude in a Subiect on whom his Soueraigne hath conferred a golden cuppe to imploy it to base vses to make that a wash-potte which should receiue the best wine he drinketh Behold the King of heauen and earth hath giuen thee a rich vessell thy heart wherin though it be a peece of flesh or clay of it selfe hee hath placed the chiefe faculties of thy spirit and his how aduerse to thankefulnesse and his intent is thy practise when thou shalt powre into this Cuppe lees dregges muddy pollutions tetricall poysons the waters of hell wines which the infernall spirits drinke to men taking the heart from him that created it from him that bought it from him that keepes it and bequeathing it in the death of thy soule to him that infects afflicts tempts and torments it making him thy Executour which shall bee thy executioner that hath no more right to it then Herode had to the bed of his sister What iniury what indignity is offered to God when Sathan is gratified with his goods when his best moueable on earth is taken from him giuen to his enemy The heart is flos solis and should open shut with the sunne of righteousnesse To him as the Landlord duplici iure it should stand opē not suffring him to knock for entrance till his lockes bee wette with the dew of heauen Alas how comes it about that hee which is the owner can haue no admission That wee open not the dores of our hearts that the King of glory might enter who will then one day open the dores of heauen that a man of earth may enter Did God erect it as a lodging for his owne Maiesty leauing no window in it for the eye of man so much as to looke into it as if he would keepe it vnder locke key to himselfe as a sacred Challice whereout he would drinke the wine of faith feare grace and obedience wine which himselfe had sent before for his owne supper and must hee bee turn'd forth by his owne Steward and haue his Chamber let out for an Ordinary where sinnes and lusts may securely reuell Will not He that made it one day break it with a rod of yron and dash it in peeces like a Potters vessell Shall the great Belshazzar that Tyrant of Hel sit drinking his wines of abomination and wickednesse in the sacred boules of the Temple the vessels of God the hearts of men without ruine to those that delightfully suffer him was it a thing detestable in the eyes of God to prophane the vessels of the Sanctuary and will he brooke with impunity the hearts of men to be abused to his dishonour Sure his iustice wil punish it if our iniustice doe it The very vessels vnder the Law that had but touched an vncleane thing must be rinced or broken What shall become of the vessels vnder the Gospell ordayned to hold the faith of Christ if they be more then touched polluted with vncleannesse They must eyther be rinced with repentance or broken with vengeance I am willingly led to prolixity in this point Yet in vaine the Preacher amplifies except the hearer applies Shall none of vs in this visitation of hearts aske his owne heart how it doth Perhaps Security will counterfeit the voyce of the heart as Iacob did Esaus hands to supplant it of this blessing saying I am well and stoppe the mouth of diligent scrutinie with a presentment of Omnia benè Take heed the heart of man is deceitfull aboue measure Audebit dissimulare qui audet malefacere He will not sticke to dissemble that dares to do euil Thou needst not rip vp thy brest to see what bloud thy heart holds though thou hast beene vnkind inough to it in thine iniquities behold the beames of the Sun on earth witnes his shining in heauen and the fruits of the Tree declare the goodnes or badnes Non ex folijs non ex floribus sed ex fructibus dignoscitur arbor What is lust in thy heart thou adulterer malice in thine thou enuious vsurie in thine thou couetous hypocrisie in yours yee sons of Gibeon pride in yours yee daughters of Iezabel falshood in yours yee brothers of Ioab and treachery in yours yee friends of Iudas Is this wine fit for the Lords boule or dregs for the Deuil to carouse of Perhaps the sons of Belial will be filthy let them be filthy still Who can helpe them that wil not be saued let them perish Let me turne to you that seeme Christians for you are in the Temple of Christ and I hope come hither to worshippe him with confidence of better successe What should vncleannesse doe in the holy City euill in a heart sanctified to grace seal'd to glory The vessell of euery heart is by nature temperde of the same mould nor is there any let the proud not triumph Quorum praecordia Titan de meliore luto sinxit But though nature knew none grace hath made difference of hearts and the sanctified heart is of a purer mettall then the polluted A little liuing stone in Gods building is worth a whole quarrey in the world One poore mans honest hart is better then many rich euil ones These are dead that 's aliue and a liuing dogge is better then a dead Lion Solomons heart was better then Absolons Iudes then Iudas Simon Peters then Simon Magus his all of one matter clay from the earth but in regard of qualities and Gods acceptance the richest mine and coursest mould haue not such differēce There is with nature grace with flesh faith with humanity Christianity in these hearts How it becoms it such a hart to haue hypocrisie iniustice fraud couetousnes leen in it Let these bitter waters liue in heathen cesterns To the master of maledictiō
his vngodly imps we leaue those vices our harts are not vessels for such liquour If wee should intertaine thē we giue a kind of warrāt to others imitatiō Whiles Polygamie was restrained within Lamechs dores it did but moderate harm but when it once insinuated into Isaac's family it got strength preuailed with great preiudice The habites of vices whiles they dwel in the harts of Belials children are meerly sins but when they haue room giuē thē in the harts of the sons of God they are sins and examples not simply euill deeds but warrants to euill deedes Especially with such despisers and despiters of goodnes who though they loue embrace and resolue to practise euill yet are glad they may doe it by Patronage and goe to hell by example But how can this euill iuyce in our hearts be perceiued what beames of the Sunne euer pearced into that abstruse and secret pauilion The anatomizing of the heart remaines for the worke of that last and great day Rom 2. 16. As no eye can looke into it so let no reason iudge it But our Sauiour answeres Out of the heart proceede actuall sinnes the water may bee close in the fountaine but will bee discerned issuing out The heart cannot so containe the vnruly affections but like headstrong rebels they wil burst out into actions and works are infallible notes of the hart I say not that works determine a man to damnation or blisse the decree of God orders that but works distinguish of a good or bad man The Saints haue sinned but the greatest part of their conuerted life hath beene holy Indeed wee are all subiect to passions because men but let vs order our passions wel because Christiā men And as the skilful Apothecary makes wholesome potions of noysome poysons by a wise melling and allaying them so let vs meete with the intended hurt of our corruptions and turne it to our good It is not a sufficient commendation of a prince to gouerne peaceable and loyall subiects but to subdue or subuert rebels It is the prayse of a Christian to order refractary and wilde affections more then to manage yeelding and plyable ones As therefore it is a prouident policy in Princes when they haue some in too likely suspition for some plotted faction to keepe them downe and to holde them bare that though they retaine the same minds they shall not haue the same meanes to execute their mischiefes so the rebellious spirites impotency giues most security to his Soueraigne whiles Hee sees afarre off what he would doe but knowes neere at hand that 's certainly hee cannot So let thy heart keepe a straight awfull hand ouer thy passions and affections Vt si moueant non remoueant that if they moue thee they may not remoue thee from thy rest A man then sleepes surely securely when hee knowes not that hee will not but that his enemy cannot hurt him Violent is the force and fury of passions ouerbearing a man to those courses which in his sober and collected sense he would abhorre They haue this power to make him a foole that otherwise is not and him that is a foole to appeare so If in strength thou canst not keep out passion yet in wisdom temper it that if notwithstanding the former it comes to whisper in thine eares thine owne weakenes yet it may be hindered by the latter from diuulging it to thy shame Thou seest how excellent and principall a worke it is to manage the heart which indeed manageth all the rest and is powerfull to the carrying away with it selfe the attendance of all the senses who bee as ready at call and as speedy to execution as any seruant the Centurion had wayting onely for a come goe doe from their leader the Heart The eare will not heare where the heart minds not nor the hand relieue where the heart pitties not nor the tongue prayse where the heart loues not All looke listen attend stay vpon the heart as a Captaine to giue the onset The Philosopher sayth It is not the eye that seeth but the heart so it is not the eares that heare but the heart Indeed it sometimes falleth out that a man heares not a great sound or noyse though it be nigh him The reason is his heart is fixed and busily taken vp in some obiect serious in his imagination though perhaps in it selfe vain the eares like faithfull seruants attending their master the heart lose the act of that auditiue Organ by some suspension till the heart hath done with them and giuen them leaue Curious and rare sights able to rauish some with admiration affect not others whiles they stand as open to their view because their eyes are following the heart and doing him seruice about an other matter Hence our feet stumble in a plain path because our eyes which should bee their guides are sent some other way on the hearts errand Bee then all cleane if thou canst but if that happinesse bee denyed on earth yet let thy heart be clean there is then the more hope of the rest 4. The measure of this vessels infection Full. It hath not aspersion nor imbution but impletion It is not a moderate contamination which admitted into comparison with other turpitudes might be exceeded but a transcendent egregious superlatiue matter to which there can be no accession the vessell is full and more then full what can be One vessel may hold more then another but when all are filled the least is as full as the greatest Now Solomon that was no flatterer because a King himselfe without awe of any mortall Superiour because Seruant to the King of Kings put in trust with the registring of his Oracles tels man plainely that 1. his heart not some lesse principal part 2. is euill not good or inclining to goodnesse 3. nay full of euill to the vtmost dramme it containes This describes Man in a degree further then nature left him if I may so speake for wee were borne euill but haue made our selues full of euill There is time required to this perfecting of sinne and making vp the reprobates damnation Iudgement stayes for the Amorites till their wickednesse becomes full and the Iewes are forborne till they haue fulfilled the measure of their fathers Sinne loued delighted accustomed habituated voluntarily violently perpetrated brings this impletion Indeed man quickly fils this vessell of his owne accord let him alone and he needs no helpe to bring himselfe to hell Whiles Gods preuenting grace dooth not fore-stall nor his calling grace conuert man runs on to destruction as the foole laughing to the stockes He sees euill hee likes it he dares it he does it hee liues in it and his heart like an hydropicke stomacke is not quiet till it bee full Whiles the heart like a Cesterne stands perpetually open and the deuill like a Tankerd-bearer neuer rests fetching water from the conduit of hell to fill it and there is
no vent of repentance to empty it how can it chuse but be full of euill The heart is but a little thing one would therefore thinke it might be soone full but the heart holds much therefore one would thinke it could not bee soone full It is a little morsell not able to giue a Kite her breakefast yet it containes as much in desires as the world doth in her integrall parts Neyther if the whole world were giuen to the Pellaean Monarch would he yet say My heart is full my mind is satisfied There must then concurre some co-working accidents to this repletion Satan suggests concupiscence harkens flatters the heart with some perswasion of profite pleasure content the heart assents and sends forth the eye hand foote as instruments of practise lastly sinne comes and that not alone one is intertayned many presse in Mala sunt contigua continua inter se. Then the more men act the more they affect the exit of one sinne is anothers hinte of entrance that the stage of his heart is neuer empty till the tragedy of his soule be done This fulnesse argues a great height of impiety Paul amply deliuered the wickednesse of Elimas Act. 13. O full of all subtilty and all mischiefe thou childe of the Deuil thou enemy of all righteousnesse c. a wretched impletion So is the reprobate estate of the Heathen described Rom. 1. to be filled with all vnrighteousnes fornication couetousnesse c. The same Apostle in the same Epistle speaking of the wicked in the words of the Psalme saith Their mouth is ful of cursing and bitternes Here the heart is full of euill The commander being so filled with iniquity euery member as a Souldier in his place fils it selfe with the desired corruption The eye is full of adultery and lust sayth the Apostle The hand ful of bloud sayth the Prophet The foot full of auersenes the tongue full of curses oathes dissimulations Euery vessell will be full as well as the heart full to the brimme nay running ouer as the vessels at the marriage in Cana though with a contrary liquour And when all are replenished the heart is ready to call as the widow in the 2. of Kings the 4. Bring me yet another vessell that it may be filled This is the precipitation of sinne if God doth not preuent as Sathan doth prouoke it rests not till it bee full Sinful man is euermore carrying a stick to his pyle a talent to his burden more foule water to his cestern more torments to be layde vp in his hell hee ceaseth not without a supernaturall interruption gracious reuocation till his measure be full Thus I haue runne through these 4. circumstances of the Comma or first Point of man obseruing 1. from the Owners their corruptible fragility 2. from the vessel the Hearts excellency 3. from the liquour contained in it the pollution of our natures 4. and lastly from the plenitude the strength and height of Sinne. The summe is 1. the heart 2. of man 3. is full 4. of euill I should now conclude leauing my discourse and you to meditation of it but that you would then say I had fayled in one speciall part of a Physitian that hauing described the malady I prescribe no remedy Since it is not onely expedient to be made experient of our owne estate but to be taught to helpe it Giue me leaue therfore briefly to tel you that some principal intentions to the repaire of your Hearts ruines are these 1. Seeing this vessell is full to empty it 2. Seeing it is foule to wash it 3. Since it hath caught an ill tang to sweeten it 4. And when it is well so to preserue it with these foure vses goe in peace 1. There is first a necessitie that the hart which is full of euill by nature must be emptied by conuersion and replenished with grace or not saued with glory what scuppet haue we then to free the heart of this muddy pollution Loe how happily we fall vpon Repentance God grant Repentance fall vpon vs. The proper engine ordained blessed of God to this purpose is Repentāce a grace without which man can neuer extricate himselfe from the bondage of Satan a grace whereat whē it lights on a sinnefull soule the deuils murmure and vexe themselues in hell and the good Angels reioyce in heauen This is that blessed engine that lightens the hearts of such a burden that Rockes and Mountains and the vast body of the earth layed on a distressed desperate sinner are corkes and fethers to it This is that which makes the eternal wisedome content to admit a forgetfulnesse and to remember our iniquities no more then if they had neuer beene This speakes to Mercy to separate our sinnes from the face of God to binde them vp in heapes and bundels and drowne them in the sea of obliuion This makes Mary Magdalen of a sinner a Saint Zacheus of an extortioner charitable and of a persecuting Saul a professing Paul This is that mourning master that is neuer without good attendants teares of contrition prayers for remission purpose of amended life Behold the office of Repentance shee stands at the dore and offers her louing seruice entertaine me and I will vnlode vnlade thy heart of that euill poyson and were it ful to the brim returne it thee empty If you welcome Repentance knocking at your dore from God it shall knocke at Gods dore of mercy for you It askes of you amendment of God forgiuenesse Receiue it 2. The heart thus emptied of that inueterate corruption should fitly be washed before it bee replenished The olde poyson stickes so fast in the grayne of it that there is onely one thing of validity to make it cleane the bloud of Iesus Christ. It is this that hath bathed all hearts that euer were or shall be receyued into Gods house of glory This bloud clenseth vs from all sin Paul seemes to inferre so much in ioyning to the spirits of iust men made perfect Iesus the Mediatour of the new Couenant and the bloud of sprinckling that speaks better things then the bloud of Abel As if he would proue that it was this bloud which made them iust and perfect In vaine were all repentance without this no teares can wash the heart cleane but those bloudy ones which the side of Christ other parts wept when the speare and nayles gaue them eyes whiles the Sonne of eternall ioy became a Mourner for his brethren Could we mourne like doues bowle like Dragons lament beyond the waylings in the valley of Hadradimmon quid prosunt lacrimae what boots it to weepe where there is no mercy and how can there bee mercy without the bloud of Christ This is that euer-running fountain that sacred Poole of Bethesda which without the mediation of Angels stands perpetually vnforbidden to al faithful visitants Were our Leprosie worse then Naamans here 's
middest dulce venenum sweet poyson at last the Epithets of blandum and dulce being lost it is Scorpio pungens a stinging Serpent Well yet let it sting thee heere that it may not sting thee hereafter Happy is hee that learnes to bee sober by his owne madnesse and concludes from I haue sinned I will not sinne Madnesse may bee in his heart like a Tenant it shall neuer bee like a Tyrant Innocent Adam was naked and knew it not sinnefull Adam was naked and knew it Then comes God hearing his excuse of concealing himselfe deduced from his nakednesse Who tolde thee that thou wast naked Sure his guilt tolde him Wee haue beene mad and are now come to our selues to know our owne madnesse If it be asked who told vs that wee were madde I answere Euen the same grace of Gods Spirite that reclaymed vs from madnesse For the wicked since they loue madnesse be it vnto them and when they will neuer be recollected let them bee mad still But blessed be that God that helped vs praysed bee his holy Name that hath recalled vs. Hee hath in this life freede vs from madnesse as a Tyrant and shal hereafter free vs from it as a Tenant Thus haue you the Mystery of this spirituall Bedlam detected and a crue of Mad-men let out to your view whose house is the world whose bonds are iniquities whose delight is darkenesse whose master is the Deuil for those whom he keepes in this metaphoricall Bedlam without reclayming by the power of the Gospell hee hath ready prouided another materiall locall infernall Bedlam a dungeon not shallower then Hell wherein there is no light of Sunne or Starre no food but speckled Serpents no liberty to straggle but the Patients are bound with euerlasting chaynes and himselfe with his same-suffering spirites doe eternally whip them with roddes of burning steele and yron One houre in this Bedlam will tame the most sauage madde-men that were euer nurst among wolues or suck'd the brests of inhumanity I heare them talke of some irrefragable Rorers creatures not men whom no limits of reason can teddar vp let them take heed lest they become at that day Rorers indeed and rore for the very anguish of their hearts howling like Dragons that haue liued like Tygers Thinke of this Bedlam ye madde-men Eccl. 11. Reioyce O young man in thy youth c. Reioyce nay it were somewhat well if no more then ioy be mad in thy youth tempus insaniendi a time of illimited desire Let thy heart cheare thee and do thou cheare thy hart that thee with lusts thou that with wine and iunkets and walke frantikely inordinately in thy wayes by-wayes wrywayes for the way of truth thou wilt not know and in the sight of thine eyes such tempting and lust-prouoking obiects as those two Sentinels of the body can light vpon or if thou canst not yet bee madder extend thy desires to finde out experimentall madnesse but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into iudgement remember that there is an infernall Bedlam whereunto they that liue and die spiritually-mad-men must be eternally confined He that should now tell the Couetous the Ambitious the Voluptuous c. they are mad-men should appeare to them madde in saying so They rather thinke vs madde as Festus though madde himselfe without learning could tell Paul that Much learning had made him mad But we may answere for our selues as Augustine of Dauids madnesse Insanire videbatur sed regi Achish insanire videbatur Dauid seemed mad but to King Achish Wee are iudged mad-men of none but madde-men because wee runne not with them to the same excesse of riot because wee cut short our affections of their vain delights and drowne not our selues in the whirlepoole of their luxuries but girde repentance to our loynes with resolution they imagine vs franticke They thinke vs mad-men wee know them so And they shall at last despairingly confesse in this lower Bedlam We fooles accounted the godly mans life madnesse and his end to bee without honour Now is hee numbred among the children of God and his lotte is among the Saints Bee wise then in time yee sonnes of men trust not spirituall madnesse lest it bring you to eternall Bedlam From whose iawes when you are once entred bee you neuer so tame you cannot be deliuered 3. The Period Wee haue ended Mans Comma and his Colon but not his Sentence the Period continues and concludes it Wee 1. found his heart full of euill 2. Wee left it full of madnesse 3. Let vs obserue at the shutting vp what will become of it After that they goe to the dead Here 's the end of mans progresse now he betakes himselfe to his Standing-house his Graue The Period is deliuer'd Consequently After that Discessiuely they goe Discensiuely downe to the dead The Summe is Death is the wages of sinne 1. After that they haue nourished euill and madnesse in their hearts this is the successiue not successefull euent and consequence 2. They goe they shall trauell a new iourney take an vnwilling walke not to their medowes gardens tauernes banketting-houses but 3. To the dead a dismall place the habitation of darkenesse and discontent where finesse shall bee turned to filthinesse lustre to obscurity beauty and strength to putrefaction and rottennesse If a man lookes into what life it selfe is hee cannot but finde both by experience of the past and proofe of the present age that hee must die As soon as we are born wee beginne to draw to our end Life it selfe is nothing but a iourney to death There is no day but hath his night no sentence but hath his period no life on earth but hath the death Examine the scope of thy desires and thou shalt perceyue how they hasten to the graue as if death were the gaole prize or principall end which the vanity of humane endeuours runnes at Bee a man in honour in wealth in gouernment he still ambitiously blind languisheth for the time to come the one in hope to enlarge his greatnesse the other his riches the last his dominions Thus they couet the running on of time and age and rest not till they haue concluded their sentence and attayned their Period gone to the dead All men yea all inferiour things must be freed by an end and as the Philosopher answered to the newes of his sonnes death Scio me genâ—â—sse mortalem so God the Father of all may say of euery man liuing Scio me creasse mortalem I haue made a man that hath made himselfe mortal Man is a little world the world a great man if the great man must die how shall the little one scape Hee is made of more brittle and fragile matter then the Sunne and Stars of a lesse substance then the earth water c. Let him make what shew he can with his glorious adornations let rich apparrell disguise him liuing seare-cloths spices balmes