à cogitationibus meis saith the devout Father Free me and purge me from my sinful cogitations 4. The Law of God is operative not a dead letter but hath an active power to work upon the heart Verbum Dei non est opus sed operans saith S. Ambrose The Spirit of God goes along with it and makes it quick and powerful and sharp and mighty in operation Heb. iii. As in the frame of a mans body under every vein there runs an artery full of spirits so under every vein of Truth in the Scripture there is an artery of Spirit quickning searching discovering citing condemning This discovers the ground of that aversness that is in most men from this blessed Word Why can any other discourses find entertainment rather then this Why It breeds trouble and perplexity It discovers my sin It affrights my conscience makes me out of love with my self and appear ugly These Spectacles are too true for my false eyes Ahab cannot endure to talk with Micaiah nor meet with Elijah they never speak good unto him The generalities of Scripture we can like well enough but when it comes near and begins to close with us we fling away from it Amant veritatem lucentem oderunt redarguentem saith S. Ambrose And that 's the first Consideration Quae occasio Secondly A second Consideration of this perplexity in David is Quae conditio What is the nature and purpose of it And we see it express'd in a vehement and passionate question Quis intelligit Who understands his errours And it may be resolved into these three Expressions 1. It is Vox ignorantis It is the speech of a man who confesses his ignorance he knows not his errours 2. It is Vox admirantis It is the speech of him who sees many errours in himself and suspects more and is astonished at the Consideration of them 3. It is Vox gementis He utters his thoughts with a sighing Accâ—…unt and groans within himself at the sense of them First It is Vox ignorantis He knows not his errours and then it implyes this Observation That the perfect discovery of the errours of our lives is a thing most hard and even impossible The truth of this Observation will appear in these Particulars 1. In the Strength of Davids Affection 2. In the Matter of it 3. In the Grounds 4. In the Consequences 5. In the Uses to be made of it I. The Strength of it David propounds it not by way of bare assertion onely No man can know them but by way of question and that is a form of greater Emphasis and Impression And then he propounds this question not onely to himself or in his own name but puts the question to any let him be what he will yet he must fall short he cannot know them Who can 1. Quis in lege intelligentissimus Let him be never so cunning and skilfull in the Law of God the greatest Rabbi that ever was a second Ezra an exact Scribe in the Law of his God though with Ezekiel and S. Iohn he hath swallowed the Book yet he may run into the commission of some errours that he is not aware of Even the High-Priest himself was to offer for his own ignorances and infirmities Heb. v. â—…ta nihil est in hominibus tutum ne Pontifex quidem saith Origen 2. Quis in conversatione cautissimus Who though never so accurate and watchfull in his conversation can know all his errours Let him keep never so strict a watch over his own heart yet soâ—…e sin will escape him In many things we offend all saith S. Iames Chap. iii. 2. He saith not In many things some of us offend or in a few things all of us offend but in many things we offend all They who are all clean had need wash their feet saith our Saviour To which S. Bernard alluding gives this warning that though we choose our way and pick our path and so avoid mire and dirt yet In bono itinere pulverem colliges in the fairest and cleanest way our feet will gather soil some errours will be committed 3. Quis in examine conscientiae diligentissimus Who though never so frequent and diligent in examining and revising his conscience who ever so communed with his heart and so search'd out his spirit that no sin lay undiscovered They who have daily practised this work of Repentance and have kept a privie watch and search in their hearts are yet fain to return an Ignoramus and though not conscious to themselves of any sin unrepented of yet to make all sure will beg pardon of God for unknown transgressions As men not guilty of any breach of Law to their own knowledge will obtain a general pardon of the King to prevent the worst That 's the first the strength of this Assertion Who doth understand c. II. The matter of this Question Who understands his errors Take it in three Particulars 1. Quis intelligit naturam errorum Who understands the nature of all his actions whether they be erroneous yea or no whether that which he doth be warrantable and good or otherwise Indeed for the main Capital duties those Principia practica and heads of morality and those likewise that are of the nearest and most evident proximity unto them he is hardly a Christian who knows not them but for many particular Cases and Questions of conscience incident to the life of man who can resolve them Some actions indeed are notoriously evil sins of the first magnitude the light of nature reproves them Some of weaker evidence sins of infirmity some not discerned nor known sins of ignorance and incogitancie See them represented in three Parables Luke xv The lost Son The lost Sheep The lost Groat Art thou not as the lost Son Dost thou not break away from God by wilfull rebellion Yet thou mayst be as the lost Sheep and stray away from thy God by a sin of infirmity If not so yet Who hath not been as the lost Groat and his action hath slipt away out of his hand betwixt his fingers as it were by ignorance and incogitancie 2. Quis intelligit numerum errorum Who ever yet kept such a carefull account in his conscience as to register and book down the just number of his sins David who had not sinn'd so frequently as we have done yet when he surveys the number of his sins he gives up this account They are more in number then the hairs of my head mine heart hath failed me to see the swarms and numbers of them Upon which place Saint Augustine devoutly meditates Capilli minuti sunt sed multi saith he David had little sins like as hairs but yet multiplying and increasing as the hairs of his head Thus S. Bernard counsels us In our addresses to God to consider whether we can meet with him with ten thousand sins repented of who comes against us with twenty thousand sins that we never thought of 3. Quis intelligit
all men since Adam Never any but the first Adam in his Innocency could have fulfilled it never any but the second Adam our Lord Iesus did perfectly fulfil it S. Paul tells us of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. viii an impotency nay an impossibility in the Law by reason of sin Indeed when God first gave the Law it was sutable to our strength but sin infeebled us and so the Law proved impossible to us Saint Peter tells us It was a yoke that neither we nor our fathers could bear Act. xv 10. Not onely men in the state of Corruption but the very Saints in the state of Regeneration come short of it Imperfection of grace cannot attain to perfection of obedience The Church of God defended this truth against the Pelagians That the Law of God in the exactness of it no meer man did ever fulfil it There are two Dimensions in the Law 1. The first is maximum quod sic in doing of good how full must that be it must be toto corde with our whole heart 2. The second is minimum quod non in declining from sin how much must that be 't is Non concupisces not so much as to linger or lust after it Consider these two Dimensions and it will make us confess with David I see an end of all perfection but thy law is exceeding large That 's the first 2. Take the Law in the lowest pitch of righteousness yet an unregenerate man cannot obey it He is so far from fulfilling all the Law that he cannot perform the least part of it Some outward Acts a meer natural man may do S. Paul tells us They do by Nature the things written in the Law but look to the spiritual manner of performance so no natural man can obey it in the least and lowest degree of it Every carnal man is reprobate to every good work Tit. i. 10. Love is the fulfilling of the Law Perfect Love fulfills it perfectly imperfect Love doth it imperfectly but without Love there is no performance You may as soon gather Grapes from Thistles as any good work from an unregenerate man Laudo fructum boni operis sed in fide quaero radicem saith S. Augustine If the root be not good which is Faith working by Love the fruit though outwardly specious is inwardly vicious That 's the second 3. Consider the Law in the Evangelical mitigation and abatement of it yet still the Saints of God find difficulty in it A regenerate man is two men That which is spiritual and renew'd in him that readily conforms to the Law of God The spirit is willing saith our Saviour ey but the flesh is weak Nay oftentimes wilful stubborn and resisting A Christian indeed is freed à morte Peccati from the death of sin he hath a new principle of life put into him that disposes him to all holy obedience but yet he is not freed à morbo Peccati from the disease of sin that still hangs upon him and that shrinks away and withdraws it self from this due obedience A Christian hath both Primitias Spiritus the First-fruits of the Spirit they make him Spiritual and withal he hath Reliquias carnis some dregs of flesh in him they make him carnal loth and listless to any holy obedience Thus we see the Law 1. In the highest pitch is impossible to the Saints 2. In the lowest pitch 't is impossible to the unregenerate 3. Even in its moderation 't is difficult to the best in this imperfect state of regeneration But yet 't is most true what the Text affirms Gods Commandments are not grievous His Service is no such hard service as the world accounts it 't is no such toyl and drudgery as carnal men conceive it 'T is a service indeed for why should we be left to a lawless liberty but 't is an ingenuous service Take my yoke upon you saith Christ for my yoke is easie and my burthen is light 'T is Satans policy to stave us off from God with this conceit O he is an hard Master duram servies servitutem farewel comfort and contentment if he be your Master Nay verily Gods servants find no such grievances in this employment which will appear upon these three Considerations 1. In respect of their state and condition 2. In respect of their task and employment 3. In respect of their many encouragements which they meet with in this Service 1. Look upon their state and condition Gods people are not in any base servile condition But 1. They are called unto a state of Liberty and Liberty 't is sweet in it self and sweetens all our employments It matters not so much what we do as upon what terms we do it If as slaves and bondmen that embitters our work and makes it grievous If as free and ingenuous it sweetens our employment And such are all Gods servants You have heard it often His Service is perfect freedome The Law they live under 't is call'd A Law of Liberty Iam. i. 25. Brethren saith S. Paul Gal. v. 13. You are â—…alled unto Liberty Gods servants must be no bond-men The Israelites were not to be slaves for they are my servants saith God Levit. xxv Thus as Solomon made no bond-men of the children of Israel 1 Kings ix 22. but put them into ingenuous services so doth God with his servants 2. As it is a free so it is an honourable Service As we know the greatness of the Master dignifies and ennobles the service that is done unto him 'T is the high Title that the Saints have gloried in that they were Gods servants and belonged to him David gloried more in this that he was Gods servant then that he was Israel's King So Theodosius Behold Lord I am thy servant I am thy servant and the son of thy hand-maid Psal. cxvi He chose to be A door-keeper in Gods house Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy Courts Psal. lxv 4. 'T is an high dignity to be Gods moenial servant 2. Look upon their task and employment you shall find the Service of God 't is no such wearisome service 1. The work which God enjoyns them 't is possible to them Gods Commandments are made possible to a regenerate man All things are possible to him that believes Mark ix I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me Phil. iv 13. Flesh and bloud sees nothing in the Law of God but impossibility like the unbelieving Spies O we cannot conquer the land But Faith and Love like Caleb and Ioshua conceive it may be done and undertake it readily 2. This work is easie I said it even now 3. This work 't is not onely possible and easie but pleasant and delightful A good Christian finds exceeding great pleasure and sweetness in it A just man saith Solomon delights to do justly 't is a joy to him Prov. xxi 15. So a good Christian delights in Piety Thus David
of time was come 2. The second thing remarkable is the very Performance and Accomplishment of it and that is considerable 1. In the causes of this benefit which are three 1. The Author of it God 2. The Actor of it His Son 3. The Assurer of it vers 6. that is the Holy Ghost All three persons of the glorious Trinity as they concurr'd in our Creation so they joyn and meet in the accomplishment of our Redemption 2. In the manner of working and performing this benefit that is remarkable and it is twofold 1. Designando By designing and appointing the Son to do it Emisit God sent him 2. Aptando By fitting and furnishing and accommodating him for the performance of it And there is a double fitness God put upon him 1. Is Aptitudo naturae A fitness of nature he made him Man cloath'd him with our flesh put him into that nature that was fit to work it 2. Is Aptitudo status A fitness of state and condition such as was requisite in him who should work it Made him under the Law put upon him that bond and obligation for us That 's the second thing remarkable the very performance of it 3. The third thing remarkable is the end and fruit of it the good that we gain by it and that is twofold 1. Is Liberatio à malo A freedom from miserie that is the benefit of Redemption That he might redeem us 2. Is Exaltatio ad bonum The advancing of us to happiness by the benefit of adoption That we might receive the adoption of sons First that which is considerable is The time of our Saviour's Incarnation it was in the fulness of time Now this fulness of time is two wayes considerable 1. There is naturalis plenitudo temporis A kind of natural fulness of time when time comes to the full growth when the world was at his ripe and full age at the meridian and noon-tide of the world neither in the nonage and minority nor yet in the old age and decay of the world That 's the natural fulness of time 2. There is constituta plenitudo temporis The set appointed time which God had design'd for this great Work when that appointed time came to the full then Christ was Incarnate sent to redeem 1. Consider it as the natural fulness of time 'T is with the age of the world as it is with the age of a man there is a time of encreasing till he comes to his full growth and then there is a time of decaying and wearing away 'T is so in the course of time The middle 'twixt both 't is the fulness of time and in that Christ came Not in the beginning of time nor yet in the last closure and period and conclusion of time 1. Christ came not in the beginning and morning of the world presently after the fall of Adam but stayed and deferr'd his coming for a season for divers reasons 1. Differendo medicinam aggravavit morbum When the world had sinned God did not presently dispatch our Saviour that the fall and disease of sin might be more observable and so the cure prove more gloriously remarkable Were we presently cured so soon as we complained we should less esteem the danger of our disease The long smart and tediousness of our misery makes us to consider what it is to sin Christ would not go at the first Call to cure Lazarus but stayed three dayes that he might be sick and dye and be buried and putrified that the case of Lazarus might seem more desperate So God let the world lye and continue in that ruine that sin might appear out of measure sinful In the course of nature a wound is sooner given then it can be cured again And in the dispensation of grace God takes longer time for punishing and pardoning then we take for sinning Numb xiv 34. After the number of the dayes each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities even forty years that ye may know my breach of promise The sin of the Spies and People was but forty dayes continuance but they felt the smart of that sin full forty years This course God took with the world Rom. xi 33. God hath shut up all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all first shut them up and imprison'd them before he pardon'd and enlarg'd them Miriam for a word spoken amiss must be shut out of the Camp seven dayes Had her father but spit in her face should she not be ashamed seven dayes The sense of God's displeasure was to abide upon us S. Paul sets out unto us this divine oeconomy Gal. iii. 19. After God had promised Christ many hundred years were spent ere he performed his promise The Law came betwixt and it was added because of transgression till the Seed should come The world was to look for a Saviour but in the mean time the Law was set over them to convince them of sin to make them know it is an evil and a bitter thing to fall away from God and then comes the Saviour 2. Christ came not presently in the beginning of Time that so the perfection of the Church might grow by degrees till it came to the full age and measure of Christ. 'T is the Apostles Similitude vers 1. The Church was first as a child in the minority much time to pass over it till it come to perfection It is compared 1. To a Building that is a leisurely slow work An House or a City it is not built in a day First the Foundation then the Walls then after that lay on the Roof 'T is compared 2. To Husbandry and sowing of Seed 'T is not heri sementis hodie messis to day Seed-time and to morrow Harvest but first the blade then the ear after that the full corn in the ear then comes harvest Mark iv It was sown in Promises sprung up in Prophesies bloom'd in Types and Figures then came the full ear and harvest in Christ's Incarnation The joy of that time is the joy of harvest Esay ix 3. The improvement of the Church it is compared 3. To the growth of a Man Eph. iv Now of all creatures the growth of a Man is most leisurely he comes slowest on to perfection When you put a child to School you place him not in the highest Form enter him not into the deepest mysteries of Learning at first but begin him at lower So God first placed the Church sub lege Naturae trayn'd them up in rudiments reveal'd in a simpler manner then brings in the Paedagogie of Moses sets him to nurture and tutour them in Types and Figures then brings in Christ the great Prophet and Doctor of the Church 3. Christ came not presently in the beginning of Time but stayd and deferred his comming the more to quicken and awaken the expectation of him to put an edge upon the appetite of the Saints and to make them long for him So great a Blessing
of Contrition observe two things 1. Actum 2. Objectum 1. The Act expressed in this word Rent 2. The Object that is specified 1. Affirmative what we must rent that 's the heart 2. Negative what we must not rent Not your garments And this latter object may be resolved into a double sense 1. If we conceive it as Objectum solitarium as divided and sever'd from the renting of the heart So it is Sensus purè negativus a flat negative Rent not your garments Or 2. As Objectum conjunctum Joyn renting of the heart and garments together So it is Sensus comparativus Rent your hearts rather then your garments That 's the first the Exhortation to Contrition 2. The Exhortation to Conversion that follows Return to the Lord your God Return and that implies a Motion And therein observe three things 1. Motum ipsum the kind of Motion it is a Returning 2. Terminum Motus that whereunto we must return that is the Lord. 3. Habitudinem mobilis ad terminum that habitude and relation which guides and byasses us unto the term in the words following Your God And it is twofold For 1. As in all natural Motion so in this there is an attraction in the term and place to which the Motion tends that which draws the Mobile towards it as the heaven doth the fire that 's in the last word God 2. An Impulsive in the Mobile that which carries and disposes the thing moved towards it as levity in the fire that 's exprest in this word Your He is Your God That 's the first main Precept the Precept of Repentance The second follows the Motive to Repentance in these words For he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil And in it consider three things as most observable 1. Speciem Motivi 2. Partes Motivi 3. Gradus Motivi 1. The kind and nature of the Motive It is a Motive and Perswasion drawn from one who is gracious merciful slow to anger of great kindness and repents of the ill All of them invitations of love and favour 1. Contents not himself to put us in mind of our duty We must Return unto the Lord our God So requiring Repentance Sub ratione officii as performance of duty 2. Uses no threatnings intermingles no curses So enforcing Repentance Sub ratione periculi for avoydance of danger But 3. Urges mercy and favour Strange saith Tertullian proemio invitat ad salutem So perswading to Repentance Sub ratione spei Thus we see a loving Father receives his returning Prodigal neither strikes him nor threatens him no nor expostulates Where hast thou rioted and wasted thy time and my goods Uses not an harsh word to him but meets him and kisses him and embraces him and receives him with all loving affection That 's the first thing observable the kind of the Motive 2. Take a view of the several parts of this affectionate Motive contents not himself to open some glimpse of hope and possibility of pardon makes not an offer of some one of his gracious and forgiving Attributes but opens the riches and treasures of his mercies conceals not any hint or hold of comfort thinks all little enough Either 1. To make a full expression of love in Him Or 2. A deep impression of hope in Us enlarges the bowels of his compassion sets out the heighth and breadth and length of his Mercy to us summons up all his Attributes of grace and favour Gracious merciful slow to anger of great kindness he repenteth of the evil That 's the second thing observable The number and parts of the Motive 3. Observe the Degrees of the Motive See how they are all set and purposed to prevent and remove all the fears and discouragements that a timorous guilty Conscience can forecast to it self 1. We are here called upon to present our selves unto the Lord to hope for and expect his love and favour Whose heart will not object that he is not worthy of so great a blessing not having the least desert of the least favour True but he is a gracious God shewing his goodness and compassion freely without desert That 's the first degree He is gracious sine merito But 2. We are not only destitute of any good deservings but our lives have been demeritorious sinful offensive deserving the contrary True but he is merciful and compassionate even against desert That 's the second degree He is merciful contra meritum But 3. We daily provoke him by our rebellions grieving his Spirit increasing his wrath by our offences Yet let not this discourage us he is a patient God forbearing his people He is longanimis a God slow to anger That 's the third degree of the Motive But 4. The cry of our sins hath ascended up to Heaven and called loud in the ears of God he is already offended his wrath is kindled his anger incensed yet despair not he is easie to be entreated he is of great kindness That 's the fourth ascent of the Motive But 5. His wrath hath smoak'd out against us his Prophets have threatned and denouneed his judgments the Decree is come out we are all senteneed to destruction Yet let not this deject us yet there is hope of mercy and forgiveness he will reverse his sentence He repenteth of the evil These are the degrees Then 1. Do thy sins discourage thee Let the offer and invitation of his mercy assure thee 2. Doth the number and variety of thy transgressions dishearten thee Consider in the second place the multitudes of his mercies and let them perswade thee But 3. Doth the measure and heinousness of thy rebellions affright thee Let the degrees and plenty of his Compassions comfort thee These are the Motives First Let us begin with the first part of the Text the duty of Contrition unto which we are exhorted And in it 1. The Act of Contrition is to be observed in this word Soindite Rent And the Observation is shortly thus much That the act and practice of Repentance is no less then a Renting A renting and that naturally implies and inâ—…erts three things 1. Duritiem in objecto Stiffness and obduration in the Object to be wrought upon A sinful heart is stiff and obdurate it needs a rending 2. Difficultatem in actu Hardness and difficulty in the act to be exercised Repentance 't is no slight gentle easie performance No 't is grievous and painful 't is no less then a Renting 3. Vim in agente It requires all the strength and might of him that undertakes it Repentance 't is a renting 1. Durities in objecto That 's the first Inference A sinner not mollified and wrought upon by repentance he is naturally hardned he needs a renting S. Paul puts them both together Rom. ii 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hardness and impenitency they are never asunder Observe those measures and degrees of obduration that the Scripture discerns and describes
in the nature of man Deut. ix 6. They are a people durae cervicis of a stiff neck not yielding to the yoke of due obedience And how hard and stiff the Prophet Isaiah tells us Nervus ferreus cervix tua Isai. xlviii 4. Not onely a sâ—…ew though that be naturally strong enough to resist but nervâ—… ferreus hardned with iron for stronger resistance Nay the heart of man Ezekiel tells us chap. xi 19. is 〈◊〉 lapideâ—… an heart of stone represented and resembled as some conceit it by those Tables of stone where the Law was written And yet all stones are not of the like hardness some more yielding and easily broken ours is the nether milstone and it seems that 's the harder of the two Let the seed of Gods word be cast upon it it rejects it presently Nay harder then Milstones Zech. vii 12. Posuerunt cor ut Adamantem as hard as an Adamant no strength can soften it Nay our hearts are hardeâ—… then the hardest stones which occasioned that witty and devout inversion of Ezekiel's Prophecy I will take away their hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh Nay Lord take away our hearts of flesh and give us hearts of stone The stones rent asunder at the cry of thy Son at the suffering of our Saviour our hearts are never touch'd nor affected with it That 's the first collection our hearts are hardned And that implies two things 1. Durum non sentit An hard heart is heavie and sensless The softest tempers are of quickest apprehension Our brawny hearts are dull'd and stupefied 2. Durum non cedit An hard heart it is not yielding and penetrable of its own disposition not admitting nay repelling and if not over-ruled and mollified by an higher power of it self rejecting any offer of grace That 's the first inference that the act of Renting affords durities in objecto the hardness of our hearts it needs a renting And that brings in the second Observation 2. Difficultatem in actu Hardness and difficulty in the act to be performed Repentance 't is no easie light touch of sorrow or weak impression of grief a sudden qualm of melancholy soon dispelled no 't is deep and piercing 't is a convulsion of the soul a racking and torture of the heart and conscience 't is no less then a renting See with what terms of extremity the Scripture describes it 2 Sam. xxiv 10. 't is a smiting of the heart Acts. ii 37. 't is a pricking of the Conscience nay a wounding of the Spirit Prov. xviii 14. an hewing and cutting off Matth. v. 30. no less then mortifying Coloss. iii. 5. and that the most violent and painfull that can be Gal. v. 24. 't is a crucifying torment Zecharie foretells it Chap. xii 10. They shall mourn as for their onely Son and shall be in bitterness as for their first-born Primo-genitus Uni-genitus The loss of the first-born and onely begotten the sorrow of it but in those that feel it it is inconceiveable Yet the sense of this or any worldly sorrow must be farr exceeded in our penitential sorrow and grief for Sin If not affectivè by stirring up and enforcing our sensual affection yet appretiativè in a judicious disallowance and abomination if not respectu corporalis perturbationis as Aquine expresses it yet ratione spiritualis displicentiae if not in outward bodily vexation yet in thy intellectual and spiritual detestation this grief must be the greatest Indeed so great 't is call'd Contrition Psal. li. 17. A broken and a contrite heart saith David O God thou wilt not despise Not only broken but even to contrition Aliud frangi aliud comminui conteri saith Aristotle in the fourth of his Meteors a thing may be broken or cut in sunder and soon set together and joyned again Contrition breaks all in pieces as Hezekiah the brazen Serpent to dust and powder Had Hezekiah but broken that brazen Serpent into some pieces superstition would have reserv'd a relique or have sodder'd it up and made all whole As they report of some living Serpents cut them only into some few parcels they will grow together again and heal up presently and so do we but slightly divide and cut this Serpent of Sin and not hack and hew it all asunder it will easily re-collect and revive it self Repentance proceeds unto contrition Not a weak attritien onely as some Scholemen and Jesuits would moderate the matter a faint wishing that he had not sinned a slight fit of grieving or some sudden pang No it enters to the dividing of the soul and spirit 't is a renting of the heart-strings My heart saith David Psal. xxii 14. is like melted wax not warm'd or heat onely but burnt and melted in the sense of his sins That 's the second Observation Difficultas in actu Repentance 't is a painfull renting of the heart and soul. And that inferrs 3. Vim in agente It requires a strong violent renting Conceive the strength of it to consist in these particular degrees Repentance requires 1. Vehementiam action is A man that will set upon this main work of repentance he must be all spirit and life Not like Sâ—…ul sparing the life of any of his sins but as zealous Samuel wounding and hewing his sins in pieces The half-mortified civil Moralist will suppress and abate but in no case root out and extinguish sin It may be he will keep under his sins when of delightfull Passions they become turbulent and violent perturbations When his darling Absalom becomes a rebel then he can be content to subdue him but yet Spare the young man for my sake in no case kill him Whereas every valiant Ioab strikes and stabs him to the heart without compassion In this case S. Augustin advises us to handle our sins as Iob did his soars violently and vehemently Non molli linteo sed durissima testa He wiped them not gently with a soft cloth but scrap'd and vext them with an hard potsheard See the strength and violence of this penitential sorrow in repenting David I roared for the disquietness of my soul I have washed my bed with my tears His bed the place of his rest and quiet repose even that 's overflown with flouds of tears Mine eyes pour out rivers of waters because men keep not thy Law If tears of compassion for other mens sins were thus plentifull how did he set ope the floud-gates to his tears of compunction for his own transgressions That 's the first step of this violent repenting it requires Vehementiam actus 2. Frequentia actionis That 's a second degree This renting and breaking of an hard heart requires many and frequent violent impressions all little enough to mollifie the heart In this case it is otherwise with our natural heart then with our sinfull Unico vulnere cor hominis the least prick of a wound kills the heart of man Deep and often stabbings are scarce able to enter into the heart of
garments Renting of garments an usual and allowed Ceremony nay often exacted and required among the Jews Ier. xxâ—…vi 24. At the burning of the Book Iehoiakim and his Princes are charged That they rent not their garments Frequently it was practis'd in sign either of horror and detestation in case of Blasphemy of submission and humiliation upon any Calamity or as an evidence of sorrow and contrition and practice of Repentance And in this respect in the exercise and practice of Repentance we may conceive it either 1. As a real protestation and acknowledgment of our unworthiness by sin of the benefit and comfort of Apparel as fasting is a significant confession that our sins have made us unworthy of the least repast of a morsel of bread Or 2. As others will apprehend it As it is a voluntary stripping and laying our selves open to the stroaks and lashes of Gods wrath and vengeance As it was usual with the Lictores to rent off the clothes of notorious malefactours and we see it practis'd upon Paul and Silas Acts xvi 22. However let the intent and purpose be never so significant yet the Observation out of this negative prohibition is thus much That all outward ceremonious practice of Piety if divided and sever'd from inward Devotion 't is rejected of God without acceptance With the Superstitious Jew rent thy clothes the garments of thy body nay with the frantick Papist rent thy body the garment of thy soul they are both alike to my purpose yet if thy heart be free from compunction these outward Ceremonies though seemingly religious are to God abominable An hypocrite would these outsides of Piety and Devotion serve the turn would be a compleat Christian without exception In Repentance he can command his tongue by prayer and confession his face and countenance in heaviness and dâ—…jection his back with Ahab in wearing sackcloth his belly shall be afflicted with often fastings nay his eyes shall afford plenty of tears but his heart mean-while is as fat as brawn he is an utter stranger to a wounded spirit What is this but to deal with God as Michal with Saul When Saul requires David she sends him a Puppet stufft up with clothes As the Gibeonites with Ioshuah deluding him with worn shoes and ragged apparel in the habit of some travelling Pilgrims when they were borderers hard at hand hoping like Iacoâ—… to lurch away the blessing under the vizar of counterfeit garments At most if with the Patriarchs they can bring a garment rent in pieces and dipp'd in bloud their body lash'd and torn in penance Oh then Ioseph is dead the man surely is mortified Sub istis pietatis 〈◊〉 laâ—…et 〈◊〉 animus valde 〈◊〉 under these outsides and appearances of piety and mortification there harbours too often unsanctified worldly and carnal affections Not that outward Ceremonies and Appearances of our inward devotion are either superfluous or superstitious nay they are helpful and useful rather 1. By way of Expression As solemn Protestations in the face of the Church of that inward Disposition of our inner man 2. By way of Impression These outward signs of sorrow and remorse being duly considered reflect and work upon the heart and conscience as Anthony bringing out the bloudy garment of Câ—…sar inraged himself and his company against his Murderers Ceremonies if accompanied with the heart are useful and acceptable if divided from it sinful and abominable Outsides and Ceremonies they are not fructus but 〈◊〉 as leaves to the tree In infrugifera 〈◊〉 in frugiferâ—… maturitatem Leaves without fruit they bring a Curse Matth. xxi Leaves with fruit they ripen and help forward a seasonable maturity Ceremonies are Garments As Garments to a Body so 〈◊〉 Ceremonies to Religion Garments on a living body they 〈◊〉 and preserve the natural warmth put them on a dead body they never setch life And Ceremonies they help to cherish and increase devotion in a profane dead heart they cannot breed it These garments of religion upon an holy man they are like Christ's garments on his own holy Body they have a 〈◊〉 in them joyned with a profane heart they are Christ's garments on his crucifying Murderers Ceremonies are to Religion as the Body to the Soul A Body quickned and enlivened with the Soul t is comely and amiable and so are Ceremonies with inward Devotion most beautiful But if the soul be departed from the body it becomes presently ghastly and abominable The Lord loaths and rejects a dead carkass of outward Ceremonies without the soul and life of inward Sanctity Those cures prove healthy which are inward and remove the malady from the vital parts that 's dangerous and deadly which being outwardly applied onely smites it in again to the heart and spirits Contrition of the heart that heals inwardly outward Ceremonies Penance c. without the other it strikes and drives the disease inward Non sanat sed tegit doth not cure but heal and skin over our corruption That 's the first sense I observed As Garments are here Objectum solitarium as divided from heart and spirit so it is an absolute Prohibition Rent not your garments But Secondly Take them both together so 't is sensus comparativus rather your hearts then your garments by way of comparison And from this Exposition I deduce this Conclusion That the contrition and sorrow of the heart is more necessary and useful then any outward bodily affliction Repentance must rather work upon the heart then upon the body and outward man And that upon a double ground 1. Ratione majoris indigentiae The Heart needs it more 2. Ratione facilioriis consequentiae Outward Humiliation naturally follows upon inward Contrition 1. I say the Heart needs it more Deepest wounds must have speediest curing the wound of sin is deepest in the heart The body is but the weapon that gives this wound Membra sunt arma saith the Apostle and to inflict penance on the body for the sin of the soul 't is like those Mountebanks that lay the salve to the Weapon not to the Wound Membra sunt arma outward Members they are but the Weapons of Sin the Heart that is the chief Rebel and Plotter of Rebellion Rather stab thine Enemy then hack his Weapon Membra sunt arma the Members are but Weapons the Heart that is the chief Castle and Fortress of Sin 2 Cor. x. 4. Imaginations are called strong Holds The Victory is not ours till the Castle be taken The Body 1. Minùs peccat The Body even when it sins yet is not so sinful as the Heart and Spirit The Heart is the Fountain and Spring of Sin outward Transgressions are but Streams and Rivulets drained from that Head Every thing is more full and compleat in his Principle and Original Light in the Sun Heat in the fire is more intense and vehement then scattered abroad Cast the beam out of thine eye saith our Saviour Matth. vii 5. Oh! si trabs in oâ—…ulo strues in
corde if sin be as a beam in thine eye there is an huge stack piled up in thy heart nay sylva caedua a grown wood whence this beam first grew and sprouted The Body 2. Rariùs peccat It is not so often sinful It may be innocent from outward enormities when thy heart is guilty of inward rebellions The heart acts more in one instant then the outward man can in a long time perform as Basil in his Homilie on Attende tibi ipsi pag. 342. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All men have not outwardly committed all sins but every mans heart hath in it the seed and conception and so is guilty of all Transgressions Whence S. Paul Rom. iii. charges every man with every kind of sin because the original and spawn of all lay bred in the heart And for these the Heart must sue for and obtain pardon as Saint Aug. saith excellently of his own soul Tot sunt ei remissa quot non sunt commissa Or else for these though abortive conceptions 't is liable to judgment As we kill a Serpent for the venom within it though haply it never hurt any by poyson That 's the first reason why the Heart is Principal in this Contrition Ratione majoris indigentiae 2. Ratione facilioris consequentiae Humiliation of the Body naturally follows the Contrition of the Soul but not so on the contrary Thou mayest torture and macerate thy body long enough e're thou mortify thy soul. Remove Objects break off Instruments avoid Occasions yet thy Heart hath a self-sufficiency within it self to commit sin As a Mill 't is Saint Bernard's Similitude if you pour not in Grain and Corn to be grinded yet the Mill stands not still nor stayes but moves and grindes and works upon it self so the Heart of Man hath that restless motion to commit sin that deny it help from without it conceives and practises sin in it self Voluntas ipsa sibi imputatur saith Tertullian nec excusari poterit per illam perficiendi infelicitatem operata quod suum fuerat Outward Reformation neither mortifies nor yet excuses the Heart To which purpose S. Chrysostom sweetly alluding to those words of S. Paul Gal. vi 14. The world is crucified to me and I unto the world observes It is not sufficient to have the world and outward temptations mortified and crucified to us except our hearts be crucified to them If outward instruments and occasions of sin be dead to thee but thy sinful heart alive to them thou wilt long and love and desire and mourn for the World even after it is dead as the surviving Friend did for his dead Acquaintance Sed mortuus mortuum non luget Lay two dead friends together and there is no love or lamentation Thy heart must die unto the World as well as the World be crucified to thee Outward bodily Reformation affects not the soul. In this Case it fares with the body of sin as with the natural body if any outward member be dead or cut off the life and strength runs to another As the Athenian Souldier first grappled with his right hand when he lost that laid hold with his left after that was cut off fastned with his teeth his heart was not wounded So the body of Sin 'till the heart be crucified stop the issue of it in thine hand it breaks out in thine eye if thou pluck that out it will find vent in thy tongue A stab at the heart destroyes all presently Outward Humiliation naturally follows inward Contrition Physicians observe that Passions of the mind oft-times work more strongly on the body then corporal Diseases and so in Divinity Famula in culpa will be Socia in poenitentia The body that attended thee in sin will follow thee in sorrow If the Master mournâ—… the Servant that attends him follows him in black and if thy Soul the principal Mourner in true Repentance if that be sad thy Body the Servant of thy Soul is dejected and heavy Otherwise to injoyn penance to thy Body servâ—…m nay jumentum animae thy bestial and brute part and to solace thy soul is as if the Ninevites should have enjoyned Fasting and Sackcloth to their Beasts and Cattel and Themselves ruffled it in mirth and jollity Repentance observes the same Order in our Regeneration that the Life of Nature doth in our Generation Cor primum vivens When the Heart is formed and enlivened the Hands and Feet and outward man 't is shaped out presently Repentance observes the same Order in our Regeneration that the Life of Glory doth in our Glorification It is radicaliter in corde saith the Scholeman redundanter in corpore It rises in the heart then by a natural flux and redundation shews it self in the body 'T is so in the first motions and quicknings of repentance That 's the second ground why our hearts should rather be affected by Repentance Ratione consequentiae outward Contrition will naturally follow Thus having with Elias observed the former part of repentance Contrition like a mighty strong Wind renting the Rocks listen with patience to that gentle voice wherein the Lord is in the next part of my Text which is Secondly The duty of Conversion Return Without this latter Contrition 't is to no purpose As Luther said well of it It is fuga Dei and fremitus adversus Deum drives us further from God 'T is not every renting that God accepts The contrite heart must be a Sacrifice not any kind of wounding and killing but a religious devout tendring and offering it up unto the Lord. Cain and Iudas and Saul they rent their hearts but did not sacrifice them except to Devils This must be a sacrificing of them to God by a sorrowful conversion not a cruel murdering of them by horror and desperation But the time forbids any further enlargement Here we observe three things 1. Motum 2. Terminum 3. Habitudinem ad terminum First The kind of Motion Repentance 't is a Returning And that implies and inferrs these Observations 1. Return Ergo recessimus à Deo Sin it is a forsaking and fleeing and departing from the Lord. In every sin there is 1. Aversio A man turns his back upon God And then 2. Conversio sets his face towards the prosecution of sin With Cain we go out of the presence of Ged set out selves out of his view and observation As the Prodigal must into a far Country could not swagger and revel in his Father's company A Sinner must either securely put out his own eyes that he see not God or prophanely conceit he can put out God's eyes that He cannot see him Like him who drew the Curtain over his Father's Picture when he sat down to Carding or it is almost impossible to commit sin With Abraham walk before God With Enoch walk with God and keep close to him not take a turn or two and then part with him but walk constantly and converse with him and sin if thou canst In this
of it He that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies That is God the Father he will be the Author of our Resurrection Divers Reasons and Congruities there are for this truth 1. The first Founder of life must be the Repairer and Restorer of it to us As he first breathed life into us so he will send forth his Spirit and renew us and recall us back again The interest he hath in us by our Creation gives him the right to atcheive our Resurrection Iob observed that chap. xiv 14 15. If a man die shall he live again Yes yes Thou shalt call and I will answer thee thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands That hand which created us shall again raise and restore us Mine own I will bring back again Psal. lxviii 22. 2. The soul in death returns to him that gave it It is in his hand and power and custody and so none but he can return it into the body and re-unite it Dives in Hell confessed this truth Father Abraham send Lazarus to my brethren He hath the keys of hell and of death and of all the Chambers of the grave Rev. i. 18. 3. He is the Restorer of life in the Resurrection as being the supreme Disposer of all Rewards and Honours and Retributions As the King is the Fountain of all civil Dignity and Honour and he must dispense it so all the Dispensations of Glory are at his disposal The Preferments in Heaven are given to them for whom they are prepared by the Father Matth. xx 23. Now this Author of our Resurrection is specified not barely by the mention of his name or person but represented under an expression of much hope and assurance He that raised Christ from the dead that gives footing and fastning to our faith that he will raise us also That great work makes our Resurrection possible and hopeful and certain too There are many Praeludia Resurrectionis many miraculous works in Scripture that did sweetly prefigure our Resurrection but none like this of raising Christ. 1. Enoch's Translation that he saw not death Gen. v. 24. God delivered him from the power and possession of death That which was to him Gratia praeveniens shall be to us Gratia subvenieus He who exempted him from death can rescue us 2. Elijah's Rapture and Assumption in a fiery Chariot he likewise was exempted from the necessity of death his exaltation was a type of our resurrection 3. Aaron's Rod a dry dead piece of wood made to bud and flourish and bring forth ripe fruit that argues a possibility that we shall revive and renew our strength again 4. The Garments of the Israelites for forty years though used and worn yet decayed not He who can preserve our Garments from wearing out sure he can preserve our Bodies from perishing 5. The three Children cast into a fiery Furnace yet preserved no smell of fire was upon them that 's a great assurance that the Furnace of the Grave shall restore us to Incorruption 6. Ionas cast up again when the Whale had swallowed him the Prophet slain by the Lion but yet not devoured by him both Praedae suae custodes and hopeful and comfortable Assurances of our Resurrection All these are sweet Resemblances and Arguments of our rising again but none like this He that raised Christ from the dead shall Christ's Resurrection 1. Argues ours possible S. Paul argues strongly from it If Christ be risen again how say some that there is no Resurrection 2. It makes ours probable and easie Death is now vanquish'd by Christs Resurrection When the Prison door is set open it is easie to escape 3. It makes ours necessary If the Head be risen the Members must follow after Christus non potest habere membra damnata The living Head must not be united to dead Members We have seen the Author Thirdly What is the Action He shall quicken our mortal bodies Mortal bodies Why not Our dead bodies That seems to be more Mortuum sounds more then mortale No purposely the Apostle uses this expression in this point of the Resurrection Mortale is a great deal more then â—…ortuum To be raised à Mortalitate is a great deal more then to be raised à Morte It expresses three Excellencies of our Christian Resurrection 1. It frees us à possibilitate mortis it takes away the necessity nay more then so the possibility of death Death shall have no more dominion over us Not onely death shall be swallow'd up in victory 1 Cor. xv but mortality shall be swallow'd up of life 2 Cor. v. 4. Our Resurrection shall be according to the power of an endless life as the Apostle speaks This Resurrection far exceeds the Resurrection of Lazarus and those others in Scripture They were rais'd à morte but not à mortalitate The fit was rather removed then the disease cured 'T is a rule they have Qui comitialem morbum habent nè quidem diebus quibus morbo vacant sani dicuntur They who are troubled with the falling-sickness upon their good dayes are not counted whole Now Mortalitas it is Morbus caducus our Resurrection cures us of that the core of death is consumed the root and fibrae of death all stub'd up Nay our Resurrection sets us in an Immortality beyond that of Adam He was endued with an Immortality but not like this of ours As was his liberty from sin so was his immortality and freedom from death Prima libertas fuit non peccare and so Prima immortalitas was posse non mori He might not have sinned that was his Liberty he might not have died that was his Immortality But the liberty from sin in heaven is Non posse peccare there they cannot sin so is our immortality Non posse mori that we cannot die it takes away possibilitatâ—…m mortis 2. This Expression of quickning our mortal bodies it brings with it a second excellency a freedom from infirmities diseases and weaknesses they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sprowts that grow from this root of death It will free us from all the sad sequels of mortality No infirmity or deformity or indecency no pains or diseases Lame Mephibosheth shall leap blind Isaâ—…c shall see clearly and ulcerous Lazarus shall be whole and sound 3. It brings a third Excellency it will free us à miseria Miseries and afflictions and vexations they are the concomitants of our mortality this resurrection shall exempt us from them too Saint Iohn assures us of it Rev. xxi 4. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying nor any more pain all these are passed by I come Fourthly To the last thing that is the ground and reason of all Because his Spirit dwells in you The inhabitation of God's Spirit that 's the ground of our Resurrection And the force and evidence of this reason may be deduced into these
Religion no impertinent things to them but they were trained up in the knowledge of God and duties of Religion and esteemed it a main part of their duty to be conversant in it The Worship of God is not peculiar to any one sort of men as prophane men think it Let Church-men mind the Duties of the Church let them attend the Worship of God that live by it No Piety is a common duty binding every State Order and Condition of men to a constant performance 2. The season and age of the Church in which this Worship was performed makes it more exemplary 1. It was not in the time and state of Innocency before the Fall but it was after man-kind had sinned and that 's one Condition 2. It was after Christ and his Gospel was promised and preached to man-kind and so for the substance this Worship was Evangelical and instructs us Christians and 3. As it was after the Fall so it was before the Law of Moses not meerly Ritual and Ceremonial and peculiar to one people but practised under the Law of Nature undertaken by these two Patriarchs and so may serve for a direction to all mankind after them 3. This Story 't is the more memorable and worthy of our consideration as carrying with it an intimation of three things observable 1. This Story shews us Antiquitatem Ecclesiae the venerable antiquity and old-age of the Church and Worship of God It appears by this story that Religion is no late upstart invention set up in world by some politick men to keep people in awe as Atheists judg of it We cannot say of it Tempus erat quando non erat From the beginning it was not so No the Church is as old as the World Religion is of the same date and standing with the Creation God imprinted the sense of Religion into the heart of Adam and this print was not fully defaced by his fall And God renewed and restored it soon again established a Church presently instituted a Religion and Worship of himself Of all other sins Atheism is of a later-birth We read of Lust and Cruelty and Bloud-shed soon after the Creation but not of Atheism The Devil could not so soon quench the knowledge of God out of the minds of men No Creation and Religion the World and the Church are both Twins of the same continuance And the one was the end of the other God made the world not only for us to live and labour in but to worship and adore him in it The world was not onely intended to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not a Work-house onely but an House of Prayer That 's the first thing observable 2. This Story shews us Mixturam Ecclesiae the mixed temper and composition of the Church even from the beginning Cain and Abel are here the Church Representative And who were they Indeed both worshippers of God in outward profession but yet Cain was a false-hearted unfound hypocritical man a wicked ungodly man under the mask of Religion Observe as there was never any time when there was not a Church so there was never any Church free from this mixture of good and bad of sound substantial Christians and false-hearted professors Adhuc Arca continet Corvum Columbam Aug. Ep. 145. Clean and unclean birds the Dove and the Raven are both in the Ark and house of God Those holy families of the Patriarchs were so many Churches the speech of S. Paul agrees to them The Church that is in their house yet in these holy Families you may find this mixture of good and bad In Adam's Family there was holy Abel and wicked Cain in Noah's Family there was blessed Sem and cursed Cham in Abraham's Family there was devout Isaac and ungodly Ishmael in Isaac's Family there was religious Iacob and profane Esau yea in Christ's own Family there was a Iudas a Son of perdition In this Net of the Church there are fish good and bad Matth. xiii 47. In this Field of the Church there grows Wheat and Tares Matth. xiii 38. In this Floor of the Church there is good corn and chaff Matth. iii. There must be Agri concretio before there be Messis discretio Aug. We must stay till the day of purging and winnowing comes the day of separation shall sever the Goats from the Sheep till then they feed together in the same Pasture and make up one visible Flock Before that day come he who would be free from the society of wicked men must go out of the Church and out of the world too 3. This Story shews us Discordias Ecclesiae It lets us see the fruits and success of quarrels and discontents that arise about matters of Religion and Worship of God Here are two brothers of a near and dear relation Twins they were as some conceive them both of the same birth and yet see here a discontent arises in point of God's Worship Abel's worship is allowed Cains disallowed by God and that works an alienation in Cain from his brother Abel Yea more then so it works a bitter hatred and opposition it breaks out to murther Difference and dissentions in matters of Religion and Worship of God are of all others most outragious and deadly If the Israelites espy an Altar erected as they conceive against their Altar they arm themselves presently to make a warr with their brethren Iosh. xxii These quarrels will make the Father betray the Son and the Son the Father Brother shall betray brother to death Mark xiii 12. O differences in Religion are of most dangerous consequence What said Moses to Pharaoh Shall we safice the abomination of the Egyptians and will they not stone us Exod. viii 26. When one mans Religion is another mans Abomination it will beget bitter envies and strife and bring confusion and every evil work as S. Iames speaks Chap. iii. 16. For the words themselves they set out unto us a solemn Service and Worship of God performed by these two brethren Cain and Abel And in it observe these two things 1. Is the Performance of the Worship Vers. 3. They both brought their Offerings to the Altar of God then 2. Is the Success of this their service and worship what acceptance it found with God that is expressed in vers 4. and 5. God respected Abels sacrifice but to Cains oblation he gave no regard First The Performance of this Service is considerable 1. In the circumstance of time when it was tendered that 's said to be In process of time 2. 'T is considerable in the substance of their Service I. It was In process of time And this circumstance of time thus expressed admits of a double construction 1. It may be taken indefinitely In process of time that is after many days so some understand it after much time had passed over their heads many revolutions then they sacrificed And so it shews us Lentum progressum Religionis the leisurely slow
his ear unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live So Psal. civ I will sing praise to my God while I have my being my meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. A SERMON ON PSAL. xix 12 13. Who can understand his errours c. THIS Psalm is a pious and devout Meditation of the Prophet David Now Naturalists observe that there be two acts of the soul of hardest performance 1. The act of Reflexion to make the soul look inwards and to recoyl upon it self Motus reflexus it is duplex motus a double motion 2. The act of Meditation to make the soul ascend and look upwards to keep it still upon the wing And therefore the Psalmist to maintain and strengthen his meditation uses an inspection into a threefold Book 1. Is Inspectio libri Creaturae into the book of the creatures Vers. 1. The heavens declare the glory of God c. He looks upon that great Volume of Heaven and Earth and there reads in Capital Letters the Prints and Characters of Gods glory Aliter pictura aliter scriptura placet he gazes not as children upon gaudes in books but reades and meditates and deeply considers them 2. His Meditation ascends higher by a second Inspection and that is Inspectio libri Scripturae verse 7. The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul c. And this Book is more precious then the former The other the Book of the Creature is but as the Inventory of the Goods this of the Scripture is the Evidence and Conveyance and Assurance of all to us In it he sees the riches of Gods wisdom and his precious promises As S. Ambrose observes of Abraham's journals he came out of the land of Chaldea into the land of Promise God bids him look up to the stars and the Chaldeans were great beholders of the stars and firmament but yet Abraham asks In quo cognoscam How shall I know that I shall inherit it He could not gather that by beholding the Creatures the Word of Promise and the Book of the Scripture must give Assurance of that 3. He proceeds further and feeds his Meditation by a third Inspection and that is Inspectio in librum Conscientiae he unclasps that which is the compendium and sum and transcript of the other Book the Book of the Scripture and there dwells upon a serious and sad Meditation Who can understand his errours 1. He looks up to Heaven and wonders as it Who can comprehend the number of the stars Quis intelligit potentiam Who can understand his power 2. He looks into the Scriptures and finds this a more large Book The former is but a shrivelled Scrole to this sacred Volume as Christ compares it Who can understand those sacred Truths and profound Mysteries Who can conceive the Perfection of the Law 3. He looks into his own heart makes a search into his Conscience brings that Book out of the Rubbish as they did the Book of the Law in Iosiah's time who can count and number up the blemishes of his soul who can understand the errours of his life 1. The first Book Convincit it hath a power of Conviction Meditate on it and observe Gods Power or thou art an Atheist 2. The second Book Convertit it hath a power of Conversion Meditate upon it and learn his will and worship out of it or thou art an Infidel 3. The third Book Accusat it hath the power of Accusation Look and meditate upon it and there discover and bewail thy sins or thou art an Hypocrite The Text then contains David's Meditation upon that third Inspection into the Book of his Conscience Wherein we may observe four Particulars 1. An holy Perplexity in the soul of David which makes him cry out Who can understand his errours 2. An holy Redress he seeks in this perplexity O cleanse me from my secret faults 3. An holy Prevention for the time to come Keep thy servant from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me 4. An holy both Resolution and Consolation Then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great Transgression 1. In the first Part we see the nature of Sin it casts a man into Perplexity it breeds gripings and anguishes in the soul and conscience 2. In the second we see the nature of Mercy that pardons and purges and pacifies the conscience that rebukes the storms and brings in a sudden calm into our souls again 3. In the third we see the nature of Grace that prevents keeps us from presumptuous relapses that preserves us so that no wickedness shall have dominion over us 4. In the fourth Part we see the nature of Integrity that gives comfort and consolation that strengthens it self in all good purposes and resolutions And these Particulars represent unto us the whole life of a Christian they set in order the motions of the soul in the beginnings and progress of his conversion 1. What is the first Motion and quickning of life in a Christian Examen Conscientiae a searching out of his sins not a confident stepping into Heaven in a present assurance but a sorrowful penitential perplexity 2. The second Motion in the heart of a Christian is Supplication and Suit for pardon and peace Cleanse me purge me 3. The third Motion is imploring of help Prayer for grace and assistance against Relapses establish me with thy spirit Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins 4. The fourth Motion is Studium integritatis and Gaudium in studio resolutions and endeavours for integrity and all possible innocency and the keeping of a good conscience towards God and man Now put these together and then we may discover three Combinations 1. A Combination of two sorts of Sins not all of the same size and magnitude here are Errores and Contumaciae sins of Infirmity and sins of Presumption sins of a weaker tincture and sins of a double die Lapsus in via and Excursiones extra viam Slips and lapses in the way and voluntary departings and forsakings of the way 2. A Combination of two sorts of Graces here is Gratia purgans and Gratia custodiens 1. Pardoning and purging grace 2. Preserving and protecting grace That is the grace of subvention when we have sinned this the grace of prevention that we may not sin 3. A Combination of two states and conditions of a Christian 1. Purgandus à secretis for sins of Infirmity who can avoid them 2. Custodiendus à contumacibus for sins of Presumption we must not come near them We cannot be free A Culpa from sins of daily Incursion but we may and must be free A Crimine from sins that waste the Conscience and havock Piety The first thing considerable is David's holy Perplexity Who can understand his errours And of it take a double Consideration 1. Quae occasio What 's the occasion of this Perplexity 2. Quae conditio What 's the nature of it
they do not fill with any good nourishment Therefore the Apostle places all in love If any man think that he knows any thing he knows nothing yet as he ought to know but if any man loves God the same is known of him 1 Cor. viii 2 3. That 's worth something And as it is doing not knowing onely so it must be Amor operans not loquens tantum not a love that will vanish into a verbal Profession Such there are of whom S. Iohn speaks He that saith he loves God 't is love and lip-labour both of one value 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. Thou sayst thou lovest God shew me thy love by thy works of love otherwise God rejects it Isai. xxix 13. This people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me but have removed their heart far from me Ye know Dalilahs expostulation with Sampson How canst thou say that thou lovest me and wilt not do this for me that I require No Gods law 't is Objectum practicum 't is the matter not of our knowing or speaking onely but of our doing and practising Religion 't is a practical art serves not to make us the wiser onely but the better also 'T is an holy art of Living well and not of knowing and speaking onely I have lifted up my hands to thy Commandements which I have loved Psal. cxix 48. lifted up his hands not his eyes only saith David and again Verse 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet not to mine eyes onely to gaze and look on it 2. Herein is love that we keep his Commandements It puts another qualification on our love 't is amor reverentialis not a love of equality but a love of subjection and inferiority such a love as the Inferiour bears to his Superiour that hath a power to command him such a love as the Israelites Servant professes to his Master I love my Master and will not leave his service When we hear of loving God we dream of equality and familiarity Oh! God is our friend Christ is our brother we have fellowship with them both and so we think we may carry our selves fellow-like towards them No the Text tells us He is still our Commander and our love we bear to him must be a love joyned with reverence the love of a Son to his Father the love of a Servant to his Master the love of a Subject to his Soveraign lowly and submissive such as is the love of an inferiour to him that is farr above him and superiour to him 3. Herein is love that we keep his Commandements This shews that our love to God must be Amor regulatus a love regulated and restrained to what God commands us The onely matter of religious love and service to God is what he hath required and commanded us to do Id utique Deo dignum quod ipse Deus sibi fatetur acceptum that is onely accepted which God hath prescribed Ye are my friends saith Christ if ye do what I command you Ioh. xv 14. In this case our own inventions are but presumptions and superstitions Hence it is that Love is call'd The Royal Law because God hath appointed in what things we must shew our love to him I told you the love we owe to God 't is not a love of equals but of inferiours and so must be submissive and guided by his will not by our own Indeed for the forwardness and chearfulness of our love so it must be voluntary Nothing is so free as Love Non tantum servire Deo meo debes sed adulari Tertul. But yet for the expressions and performances of it he hath strictly bounded it within the compass of his Commandments Saul thought he had shewed great love in reserving the fat Cattel for Sacrifice But what said Samuel Hath the Lord such pleasure in Sacrifices as when the voice of the Lord is obeyed He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what the Lord requires at thine hands Offer to him not thine Inventions but his own Prescriptions 4. Herein is love that we keep his Commandements This shews our love to God must be Amor extensus universalis our love to God must be intire and universal of as large extent as all Gods Commandments As before ye heard of a Restriction so here we meet with an Extension Love must be the fulfilling of the Law Rom. xiii We must not be partial in the Law of God as Malachi speaks Quod propter Deum fit aequaliter fit The love of God looks at every Commandment and makes conscience of it Thus David professes the intireness of his obedience I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right The least Commandment carries a divine authority with it A good Christian sues not to God 〈◊〉 Naaman to Elisha for a dispensation In this the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 servant this sin I must live in this Commandment 〈◊〉 make bold with What saith S. Iames He that offends in 〈◊〉 is guilty of all Not that the same degree and measure of love and obedience is required in all there is a difference and disproportion There are some Commandements more essential to piety and substantial some but accessory and circumstantial some are the main parts and duties of Religion others but Appurtenances Now where God layes most weight there we must expect most care The love of God 't is called The great Commandment Matth. xxii It must be preferred before the love of any creature But yet the love of God in a due proportion extends it self to every duty it will make us shun every sin 1. The smallest sins This love will keep us not onely from outragious impieties but from smaller transgressions As true love to our friend will with-hold us not onely from doing him a mischief but from doing of him the least displeasure 2. It will make us avoid even secret sins not onely such sins as may dishonour God by a publick scandal but love will not offend the eyes of his Holiness when he sees in secret 3. Love to God will make us avoid our dearest sins most delightful most profitable it will not onely sindg off hairs but cut off our hand That 's the second Particular Proceed we now Thirdly To the last Particular in the Text What is the disposition and inclination that he which loves God finds in himself to Gods Commandments He snuffs not at them as heavy and burthensome impositions accounts not the law of God as an heavy yoke His Commandments are not grievous Indeed in some respects 't is most true Gods Commandments are exceeding heavy There is in them not onely magnum pondus they are weighty and ponderous but they are also magnum onuâ—… heavy and burthensome See the truth of this in three Particulars 1. Take the Law of God at its full height and pitch of perfection so it hath a great difficulty in it yea in a manner an impossibility in it to