sins so the Ieweâ— disputed well 1ª 5ae 3 ae 2 ae Muk 2.20 when they sayd Who can forgive sinnes but God onely Nor did Christ gaine-say it though he sayd againe The Son of Man hath power to forgive sins for that was by vertue of the Union of the God-head and Manhood into one Person Originally it is in God I and onely too Nor is Quorum remiseritis any Barre Ioh. 20. Whose sinnes yee forgive they are forgiven for the power of the Priest is but a Delegate a ministeriall a dependent power a power to ascertaine us that such a thing is done Sicut in terra sic in Coelo As in Earth so in Heaven It is Primitive Imperiall and Soveraigne in God therefore sayes the Church O God whose nature and property is alwayes It will beare onely too to have mercy and to forgive therefore sayes Daniel To thee ô Lord belongeth mercy Dan. 9. 2 Cor. 1.3 therefore St. Paul calls him The Father of mercy and God of all consolation and so GOD proclaimes himselfe Exod. 3 4. The Lord the Lord God strong gracious mercifull and ready to forgive c. And so King David prayes According to the multitude of thy mercies doe away all mine offences Psal 51.1 In a word sinne is onely directly against God and therefore God onely can directly forgive sinne As David therefore to his Auditory Trust not in wrong robbery nor in my childe of man for there is no helpe in them so I to you trust not in Indulgences nor in Supererogations though the Churches though the Saints they are fallen that you may stand upright goe to God but goe to God in the face of Iesuâ— Christ for as it is Gods property to forgive so it is his property to forgive in Christ GOD lookeâ— graciously upon none but in the face of Iesus Christ And then Ecâ— Agnus Dei qui tollit peccata mundâ— Behold the Lambe of God which take away the sinnes of the world Ioh. 1.29 And secondly 2 a 5 ae 3 ae 2 ae as God onely caâ— forgive sinnes so God certainelâ— doth forgive all sinnes all sinneâ— that men turne from and aske for givenesse for so Christ himself tells us All sinues shall be forgiveâ— save the blasphemy against the Hoâ— Ghost Mark 3.38 Object And shall not that sinne be forgiven how then doth God forgive all sinnes Solut. To answer this you must understand what Christ there speaks of He speaks not De personae Spiritus Of a sinne against the person of the Spirit but Dona Against the graces of the Spirit No sure for God blesse us which of us have not sinned against the person of the Spirit Which of us have not resisted quenched and grieved the Spirit I ô God have mercy upon us and against the Graces of the Spirit too yet not to death we trust â—n God For howsoever the Schooles say The sinne against the Holy Ghost is â—ot a sinne of Ignorance No that 's â—ardonable as St. Pauls was because a man may affect too much knowledge as Adam did nor yet is it a sinne of Infirmity no that 's â—ardonable as St. Peters denyall was because a man may affect too much Soveraignty as the Angels did but a sinne of Malice it is because a man cannot affect too much Love Yet with submission I dare not send any weake conscience to despaire for this for which of us have not sinned when wee have knowne sinne to be sinne and that against the arguments and perswasions of our owne Conscience yes against the motions of Gods Spiritâ— and what is this lesse than a sinne of Malice and God forbid this should bee sinne against the Holy Ghost and unpardonable No sure it is not The sinne against the Holy Ghost that which is impardonable is for all the world like the mad mans sicknesse not that it cannot be cured but because it will not bee cured The Glasseâ— which brings his health he throws against the Physitians head and fights against his owne Cure And such is the sinne against the Holy Ghost when God hath tryed all wayes Judgments Mercies promises and threats and all these are received in vaine and the man will not repent then ah then I say no more but as from all sinne so from this sinne above all sinne Good Lord deliver us Till then blessed bee the Name of God for it there is no sinne against God but may be forgiven No sinne though Tam multa though Tam magna though they be as many as Manasses's more than the sands of the Sea though they be as heavy as King Davids a sore burthen and too heavy for us to â—eare why yet for all this God â—orgave them and why not us surely he will forgive us if wee will â—oe as they did Repent and turne from our wicked wayes For all this Repentance doth or rather intreats God to doe all this you may bee sure on 't so that your Repentance be not like a Planet sometimes iâ— Conjunction with God some times in more sometimes in lesse aspect sometimes in plaine opposition for then you are not forgiven else if your Repentance be fixt be sure on 't so that your Repentance be not like the plague The plague takes one away it may bee to day and then shuts up that house for Moneth when the Moneth is expired within a Weeke and the poore soules hope for liberty the the plague takes away another anâ— shuts up the house for a Monet longer So if your Repentance bâ— onely for fits you may doubt oâ— forgivenesse otherwise if it be steady and constant if you are soâ—ry for what is past and resoluâ— for the time to come and sinne 〈◊〉 more why behold thou art maâ— whole All that I have to say to you more of this is this to beseech you to labour for forgivenesse To be a sinner Oh God a sinner it is the greatest plague that man ever pull'd upon his owne head but to bee a forgiven sinner to have our sinnes forgiven this is a blessing of blessings I this makes a man blessed indeed Ps 32.1 2. For blessed is hee whose unâ—ighteousnesse is forgiven and whose sinne is covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no sinne Many there be that care not so they may have the carnall desires of their hearts but as Abraham â—ayd to God when hee had given him Canaan and many a larger promise Lord what is all this seeing I goe childlesse Gen. 15.2 So say I to them they have children at their desire pleasures at their command â—ches at their becke but what are all these if they want forgivenesse Oh happy oh peaceable forgivenesse let me be as poore as Iob as sicke as Hezechias as hungry as Lazarus I care not so I may have the forgivenesse of my sinnes If you once have this you may be sure the next thing will be The Land will be healed if you seeke the
sincerity or my sincerest thankfulnesse can finde no acceptation I may finde thee elsewhere but especially there my praises may finde acceptation in other places there they shall bee sure of it The high Priest once in the yeare could be found no where but in the Sanctum Sanctorum Thou art my high Priest O sweet Iesus and there I desire to finde thee 2. Not onely in the Quire but also in the body of the Church in the Quire as the Mercy-seate in the Sanctum Sanctorum and in the body of the Church as the Incense-Altar in the middle of the Sanctuary This I finde was sprinkled once every yeere with the blood of the Sacrifice by the High Priest Exo. 30.10 so let me find thee purifying my prayers and my praises with thy Blood else my prayers will be unavaileable before God else my praises will bee unacceptable with God That they may be both availeable and acceptable I offer them in the merits of â—he sweet Incense-Altar Iesus So let me finde thee in my Oblations so let me finde thee in thy Directions so in my service to thee and so in thy Sermon to me And what is the first part of thy Sermon what but this The Sermon Ecce sanus es factus Behold thou art made whole But what needs this Can I forget this Can I ever hold from beholding this When I looke not upon this Ecce and behold it not I am worthy to be and to be called Coece and behold nothing And yet my memory is very brittle very brittle this way An injury I can remember a long time an 〈◊〉 turne or an ill word from my Neighbour from mine enemy Manet alta mente repostum I cannot easily remove it such a thing as this is soundly settled But Benefits how quickly alas doe I forget them Hose 4.6 Psal 106.21 Ps 78.42 The Israelites forgat the Law of God Nay they forgat God that gave them that Law They forgat God their Saviour and the day when he delivered them And my Soule leaks as much as theirs His Day notwithstanding his Memento I forget even that Day which hee commanded to be sanctified whether the seventh or the eighth day or one in seven I prophane them all That day wherein he made me whole from the horrour of Hell by the Resurrection of my Saviour and that Day wherein hee made me whole from my Sicknesse by the restauration of my selfe to my former health And therefore I blesse thy Name for this Ecce and beseech thee to put so much vertue into it as that I may never behold this word Behold but that I may there-withall remember I am made whole I am made whole not I have made my selfe whole or the Physitians have made me whole but I am made whole by thee and blesse thee for it with my whole soule and body in doing what thou commandest me to doe Sinne no more for sinne caused this sicknesse The Precept the stopping my eares at thy Word hath stopped my eares from the quicknesse of hearing and the shutting mine eyes to thy Directions hath taken from mine eyes the quicknesse of seeing My sinnes which weakened my soule in serving thee have weakned my body in serving me And now that I know my sinnes provoked thee to inflict this Sicknesse and weakened me by this sicknesse I will sinne no more not so much for the smart that I feele as for the act that thou forbiddest But Durus hic Sermo and Superbus hic sermo This is a hard Speech from thee ô God for who can beare it and this is a proud speech from me and I cannot doe it and yet I will doe it as I can and beseech thee I may doe it as thou wilt accept though I looke never so narrowly over my selfe all day yet at night I cannot say my Heart is cleane and therefore I beseech thee Cleanse me from my secret faults that my lips may not break out into out ragiousnesse or my hands into wickednesse I beseech thee againe and againe keepe me from presumptuous sinnes and whilst thou dost thus forgive me the one and preserve me from the other I shall so farre observe thy Precept Sinne no more as that a worse thing shall not fall upon me For though I suffer by the hand of thy providence The perswasion though I smart by the common accidents of this life though I am persecuted for righteousnesse sake Haec non durabunt atatem none of these shall last for ever Terminus malorum Mors the Grave will be a Quietus est a bed of rest and Death an end of these miseries But Si amplius peccavero pejus If I sinne againe If I sinne againe presumptuously my miseries will be longer liv'd There is a worme will gnaw upon my Conscience a fire that will never bee quenched a torment that will never be eased a Devill that will never be intreated a Hell that will never give me rest from whence that I may be preserved I beseech thee so to preserve me from sinne as that I may bee preserved into everlasting life through Iesus Christ upon the Altar of whose Crosse I offer thee my thankes and beseech thee to accept them in the sufficiency of whose Merits I desire thee to justifie me that I may pray and call thee as he hath taught me Our Father which art in Heaven c. Meditations upon the Plague IT is I that have sinned Oh Lord 2 Sam. 24.17 it is I c. So sayd King David and he sayd it as a King Is it not too much saucinesse in me the meanest subject to say what the mightiest King sayd It would be so if I did it to emulate it as a King But alas I doe it as a sinner a sinner not like him but a sinner farre greater than himselfe He committed the sinne for which that Plague was sent and who hath provoked God to send this Plague but my selfe or if any man sinnes beare mine company yet what mans sinnes can equall mine Is any man so selfe-confident as I am who so bold so presumptuous as the blind And for Davids selfe-confidence was that plague inflicted and why not this for mine He was the Head of that Common-wealth and am not I the Priest of this Parish The plague was no where then but there and where is it so great as here What Parish about this City compares with this In many Parishes none in some one never a one neare this never a two The two greatest of all doe but equall this in the * For one Weeke number and surely it is for my sinnes this though they are all sinners yet none of them all can say It is I that have sinned It is I but onely I my selfe Their sins alas are but sinnes of Ignorance at worst but sinnes of Negligence but mine are of Knowledge and contempt so I acknowledge my contempt and to the confusion of mine owne face I say it
It is I ô God it is I that have sinned but these sheepe the people of this Parish ô Lord what have they done nothing in comparison of me theirs alas are but infirmities But mine woe is me are impieties they sinne one against another in unrighteousnesse and against other Creatures in intemperatenesse and so I and more I against my GOD in prophanesse O my God forgive them and remove thy heavy hand forbid thy destroying Angell to strike them any more and if thy anger bee not yet appeased set thy hand against mee and my family See here is my selfe and what is as deare to mee as my selfe my wife and children take which of us all or all of us which thou pleasest so thou wilt spare the Parish so thou wilt spare the Citie O spare them and take mee or if as thou wilt spare us all and give them all grace to doe what thou hast given mee grace to promise that I will doe what King David did Reare thee an Altar And this I will no longer put off to doe but I doe it now The Altar of a holy protestation I reare that I will never have any more to doe with sin at the thought of it I will tremble the tentations of it I will resist the company of it I will shun and those particular sins to which I am most subject I will subdue Strengthen mee O Lord to performe this and bee pleased to accept these Sacrifices which upon this Altar I offer Some meales weekly I will purposely misse while the plague lasteth and that I will give to the poore Not a night will I goe to bed but I will water it with teares because it is I that have sinned and yet thou sparest me O spare them all and accept from me these almes and put these teares into thy bottle send us health fill us with grace to doe thy will blesse us all with the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ Amen And David built there an Altar unto the Lord 2 Sam. 24.25 c. And so have I O God I have built an Altar the foundation of it is layd upon the earth and I tremble at mine owne infirmities The top of it reaches unto heaven and I am constant in my resolutions I will meddle no more with sinne not onely with those sinnes which brought this plague but not with any sinne at all Nor doe I this out of presumption or that I promise more than I meane to performe though I know I cannot live and not sinne for I will not live in any sinne And lest the Divell should hereafter suggest falsly that I am as selfe-confident as St. Peter was I do not say I will not as if the power were mine but by thy grace O God I will not That I may not pursue mee continually with thy grace Never cease giving til I cease begging And that I never cease begging let the begging of thy grace bee evermore the beginning of my prayers which prayers as thou hast in some measure heard so I beseech thee accept of what thou hast heard my burnt offerings of a broken heart a contrite Spirit For see O God I breake my heart I sigh I sob I pine I moane and my heart pants after thee the fountaine of living water as the Hart doth after the fountain of water that hee may live Thou hast hunted mee with this Hound the Plague It hath beene on my right hand and there slaine on my left hand and there destroyed behinde me and before mee and not gone empty away and yet it is not blessed be thy name in my dwelling O take it out of my parish take it out of this Citie say to the Angell that destroyes this Citie as thou diddest to that that destroyed the people in Ierusalem It is enough stay thine hand blessed bee thy Name for the Decrease of this weeke Goe on ô God goe on in thy Mercies towards us And as I thinke it not enough to breake my heart unlesse I bruise my Spirit too by denying it those Recreations and potations and comestions that it desires so doe not thou thinke it enough to diminish but distinguish the Plague and I will not onely not diminish but increase those burnt offerings for my passed and these peace offerings for my present and continued sinnes of Repentance Charity and Sincerity of Repentance to thee for my sinnes of Charity to the Poore for thee of Sincerity to both yet not expecting that thou shouldst be intreated for the Land and stay the Plague from the City for this For I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies but that I trust Thou wilt bee intreated in mercy to accept these my sacrifices and stay that thy Iudgement through the merits of him for whose sake thou hast promised to deny nothing that shall be asked according to thy will If it be thy will deliver us from the Plague As it is thy will save our soules or both through Iesus Christ Amen In wose Blessed Name and words c. Resolves and Meditations upon St. Matth. 6. fit for all times especially this of the Plague Matth. 6. Ver. 2 When thou dost thine Almes Ver. 5 When thou dost pray Ver. 16 When thou dost fast Ver. 33 Seek first the kingdome c. UNDER these foure Duties Christ comprises the whole summe of Religion for what doth Religion binde us to doe but to Give to Pray to Fast to Seeke To give to the Poore to pray to God Ver. 16. Whē thou dost Fast Ver. 33. Seeke first the Kingdome c. to fast from sinne alwaies from meate sometimes and to seeke the Kingdome of God first Or it may bee the former three containes all Religion commands and in these three we are to seeke the Kingdome of God If any other thought thrust into our Charity or Prayer or Fasting to thrust them out and onely to entertaine this To seeke the Kingdome of God in these to seeke it and to take it to seeke it in those two as with two eyes of Prayer and Fasting and to take it with that one as with a hand the hand of Charity consists Religion in those three as the worke and that one as the wages or in all foure as the worke and wages for it is a wages and a great reward when we either give Almes or Pray or Fast it is all one to mee for I doe those three for this end or seeke this end in those three Ver. 2. Whē thon dost thine Almes Ver. 5. Whē thou dost pray and doe all foure for no other end but because Christ hath commanded me and those other ends which are subordinate to this It is a Part of thy Sermon ô thou sweet Preacher to thy Hearers and Saviour of thy doers I amongst the rest have heard this Sermon and I with the rest set my selfe to do this Sermon For I doe give Almes I doe Pray I doe Fast and I doe seeke