and therfore may seeme to import but one thing but Nazianzene doth distinguish them and so doe others both Greeke and Latine Fathers I will not trouble you with repeating of their words thus I conceiue the Heart noteth the soueraigne the Spirit the actiue power of the reasonable soule The Heart then is the soueraigne power for as in a Kingdome there are sundry ministers of State but the Maiesty is in the King so in our litle common weale our senses inward and outward attend and informe but with submission alwayes to the pleasure of the Will so that the Will is as it were a King in the person of man therefore it is that the Scripture maketh so frequent mention of the Heart in points of Morality But the Soueraignty thereof appeareth in two speciall poynts in commanding of the whole man and in seasoning all his workes that it commands appeareth by that receiued Maxime Inclinatio voluntatis est inclinatio totius suppositi let the Will once incline and all the whole person bends with it whether it be to loue or to hate what the will hates the Eye will not indure to behold the Eare to heare of the Tongue to speake of the Feet to goe to the Head to thinke of Finally no power of our Soule or part of our Body will haue to doe therewith except it bee to detest or to destroy it but on the other side what the Heart doth loue the Eye is not satisfied with seeing of it nor the Eare with hearing the Tongue cannot talke enough neither the Hands doe enough for it it will euer be busying our wits and wee can neuer thinke enough thereon such power hath the Will in commanding the seruice of the whole man and so readily doth euery part and power obey wee need not seeke proofe of this truth euery man may be an instance or an example of it vnto himselfe As the Heart hath this commanding power so hath it a seasoning power also it giueth a Moral seasoning vnto all our workes the rule is Actio tantum habet virtut is aut vitij quantum voluntatis looke how farre our Will doth intermedle with our works so farre are they either vertuous or vitious a good Will maketh the worke good and the worke cannot bee good if the Will bee euill wherevpon Nazianzene obserues well that God hath equalized all men in that ability which doth most commend or discommend and that is the ability of the Will hee giueth an instance in Liberality the Widowes mites by the forwardnesse of her Will were made a greaten offering then that which out of their superfluity the rich did offer in greater measure measure of coine but not of Will wee may apply it vnto any other workes of wisedome of strength of learning and whatsoeuer els hee that is lesse able and more willing may bee preferred before him that is better able and lesse willing in doing well and in doing ill men are doomed accordingly this is the soueraignty of the Heart so to command and so to season But as this power is soueraigne so there is another power that is actiue a power that putteth in execution the resolutions of the former power it is here called Spirit our common phrase sheweth that this word noteth an actiue power for wee say that a man is of an excellent spirit a great spirit a high spirit when wee meane that hee is fit for and forward in action and when we meane the contrary wee say that hee is of a quiet a meeke an humble spirit Psal 131. that is as the Psalmist speaketh hee doth not exercise himselfe in great matters which are too high for him that which the Philosophers obserue concerning the concupiscible and the irascible faculties of our soule tends this way for they make the soule actiue in pursuing of her obiects the concupiscible hasting vs to them and the irascible encountring all difficulties that may hinder vs from them so that the soueraigne power resolues not in vaine because of this actiue power that executes so well but certainely were it not for the actiue power the souer aigne power were in vaine God hauing so lincked them we must not seuer them and seing either of them is so necessarie to the other we must desire to haue our Regeneration in them both Out of this which you haue heard you may gather that though our Inward man is named yet the Outward is not excluded because though a part is named yet the whole is meant seeing the whole followeth the condition of these principall parts wee cannot be regenerated in these principall parts but the regeneration will redound vnto the whole man But what is Regeneration of what gifts consists it I told you of holinesse and staydnesse which are meant by cleannesse of the heart and rightnesse of the Spirit where first marke that Regeneration doth not concerne the substance Iohn 3.4 but the qualities of our nature Nicodemus conceiued grossely that thought a man must enter into his mothers wombe and so be borne againe that he may bee new borne and they conceiue as grossely that thinke that Originall sinne is any part of the substance of man wee lost not our being but our well being as the moone in the Eclipse ceaseth not to be a starre but to be a bright shining starre the ayre in the night ceaseth not to be ayre but to be lightsome ayre the earth in the winter is earth still though it be not a flourishing earth finally when we haue lost our health we lose not our bodies though they become but sicke bodies Yet may we not conceiue superficially of Originall sinne it is not as a painting but as a dying of our nature you know that painting is a colour layed on but the Dye is a colour that sincketh in we may wash off or scrape out a painting the body continuing the same but a Dye cannot be so taken out but it sincketh cleane through the wooll or the cloath and the inwards of the stuffe are coloured as well as the outwards The same may bee illustrated by the former similitudes but I will not be so troublesome onely this I obserue that as Illyricus and others haue racked Originall sinne too farre so the Pelagians old and new haue shrunk it too much we shall doe well to keepe the meane and hold the truth It is a corruption that though it be not our substance for that can not stand with the articles of our Creed as the learned haue proued abundantly against Illyricus yet is it throughly incorporated into our substance neither is there any the least particle of our soule and body that is not infected therewith whereupon God passeth his censure The frame of the imaginations of the heart of man is euill Gene. 5.6 that continually from his youth Rom. 7.18 and S. Paul maketh his confession I know that in me that is in my flesh there dwels no good thing therfore when we come
from it so likewise his blotting out is not Gods hauing no record of our sinne but not to vse it as an indictment against vs in iudgement and so because in law Idem est non esse non apparere that whereof no vse is made is figuratiuely said to be blotted out so that the words are not to bee vnderstood absolutely but metonymically and Ruffinus doth well qualifie them with a quasi quasi abscondit faciem suam and quasi delet God so dealeth with a penitent as if his face were hid and as if his booke were razed in regard of the sinfulnesse of his person A second proofe of the possibilitie of King Dauids speeding in his petition may be taken from the ceremoniall Law of Moses wherein Gods presence was figured in the Cloud so Moses calleth it in Exodus now betweene that and the place where the Israelites did sacrifice vnto God there hung a double vaile Cap. 13.21 Cap. 16.10 c. whereby Gods countenance was hid from seeing their imperfections when they humbled themselues penitently at his altar Adde hereunto that the Propitiatorie was betweene Gods face and the Tables of the Couenant which the Israelites entred into with God and by which in iustice God might measure all the passages of their life These are types of greater things Saint Paul calleth Christs flesh a vaile and hee cals him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Propitiatorie Rom. 3.25 And indeed so it is Heb. 10.20 God doth not behold vs but in Christ through the vaile of that flesh that suffered for vs in him that hath cancelled the obligation that was against vs not with the eyes of a righteous Iudge but of a mercifull father And this sense must bee added to the former to make the defence compleate and a Penitent hopefull that hee shall speed of such a prayer I conclude all with a good note of Theodoret who layeth this verse to a former I know mine owne wickednesse my sinne is euer before me thereupon saith hee it followeth well Turnethy face away from my sinne c. if wee fixe our eyes feelingly vpon our sinnes God will turne his eyes from them and God will not keepe them in his booke if Wee record them penitently Wherefore that God may looke off let vs looke on our sinfull selues let vs booke all our misdeeds that God may blot them out so shall we finde him in Christ not a Iudge but a Father his loue shall not suffer him to see that whereof hee cannot be ignorant neither will hee euer indict vs though the Record bee neuer so faire and full that hee hath against vs whereupon wee may with King Dauid pray no lesse hopefully then humbly Turne thy face from our sinnes O Lord and blot out all our offences If thou Lord marke what is done amisse who is able to abide it PSAL. 51. VERS 10. Create in mee a cleane heart O God and renew a right spirit within mee OVr naturall corruption is cured by Grace and grace doth cure it partly by forgining and partly by regenerating of the forgiuenesse you haue heard on the former verse and on this verse you are to heare of the Regeneration And that which you shall heare is first What then Whence it is In opening What it is the Text will leade me to shew you first in what part wee must haue it and secondly of what guifts it consists the part is set downe first in generall it is our inwards wee must haue it within but within wee haue many inwards whereof here are two distinctly exprest and they are two principall ones the Heart and the Spirit whereof the one noteth the soueraigne and the other the actiue power of our soule these are the parts that are to bee regenerated Now the guifts whereof this Regeneration consists are Holinesse and Stayednesse Holinesse of the soueraigne power and of the actiue Stayednesse the first wee haue if our Heart be cleane and the other if our Spirit be right This is Regeneration But whence is it surely from God to him King Dauid seeketh for it Create in me a cleane heart O God As it is fom him so it is no ordinary guift of his it is a Worke of his great Might for it is a Creation Create in mee and of his great Mercy for it is a Renouation Renew in mee our forfeiture maketh vs indebted vnto Gods Mercy renewing not onely to his creating Power These be the particulars which this Text doth occasion me to consider in Regeneration what remaineth but that our Regeneration may be furthered by them wee listen vnto them with a religious eare as they shall be further vnfolded briefly and in their order The first point then is the part wherein wee must haue Regeneration the text saith wee must haue it within S. Ambrose lest we should grossly mistake our corporall inwards for our spirituall tels vs that the inwards here vnderstood are Intelligibilia viscera the reasonable powers of our soule and of them our Sauiour Christ saith in the Gospel â—â—at 15.11 Not that which goeth in but that which commeth out defileth a man now where sinne first began there must Regeneration begin also but sinne began in the inwards Psal 49.20 for Man being in honour had no vnderstanding yea were it not for the vnderstanding a man could not sinne for it is an vndoubted Maxime Bruta non peccant no creature that is deuoid of conscience can contract guilt and it is as true that in whom there is no Reason there can be no Vertue for Reason is the proper subiect of Vertue and because of Vertue therefore of Regeneration which is the roote of all heauenly Vertues see then why King Dauid desireth Regeneration within because there is the proper seate of it And indeed except it begin there well may a man bee an hypocrite Religious he cannot be Mat. 23 27. he will be but like a painted Sepulchre as Christ speaketh that within is full of dead mens bones Liuing Temples of the holy Ghost must bee like the materiall temple of Salomon whereof the the innermost part was the place of Gods residence and therefore was Sanctum Sanctorum the most holy place the next place was Sanctum holy and the rest Sanctuarium partaking of holines though in a lower degree so much lower as it was farther from the place of Gods residence euen so though Regeneration must sanctifie our bodies yet more our soules though it must sanctifie our Vnderstanding yet must it sanctifie our Will much more and that which is most inward must bee sanctified first I conclude this point with Christs admonition giuen to the Pharisees Mundate quod intus â—â—t 23 26. when we desire Regeneration let vs desire to haue it specially in the inward man to haue our reasonable inwards new moulded by grace But what inwards here are two mentioned the Heart and the Spirit these words are often vsed the one for the other
Quo modo how this Sacring was performed it was performed Signo visibili verbo audibili with a visible signe and an audible word The Signe commeth first in the Text we are told what it was and what it ment It was the shape of a Doue and by it was ment the Spirit of God But touching this Signe wee learne here moreouer Vnde and Quo Whence it came where it pitcht whence the Heauens were opened vnto him and the Spirit of God descended where it pitcht the Spirit that descended lighted on Iesus You see what was the Visible signe A visible signe of it selfe is but a dumbe shew it may amaze it cannot instruct therefore it must bee illustrated and it is here illustrated by an audible word the word is called Vox de Caelo a voyce from Heauen and it was fit it should be so for from whence came the vision from thence was the Reuelation for to come the vision was from Heauen therefore the Reuelation thereof also But this is not all that we learne here concerning the word goe on and you shall finde Cuius and de quo who it is that vttereth it and of whom He that vttereth it is not exprest but fairely implied in Filius meus my Sonne Iesus could not be the Sonne but of GOD the Father therefore is it GOD the FATHER that speaketh the word And the word that he speaketh concerneth Iesus it teacheth vs first What he is to God the Father and secondly What he doth for vs. He is neere because the Sonne and deare because his beloued Sonne adde to both the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Sonne that beloued Sonne and then he will prooue neere and deare indeed From him that is so great with God we may not exspect small matters that which hee doth is answerable to that which hee is he doth that which neuer any other person could doe he propitiateth GODS wrath and by him we finde grace in the eyes of GOD These blessings of IESVS are contained in the last words In whom I am well pleased There is one Point more All this commendations that is giuen vnto IESVS referreth to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This this person that is in the middest of you that maketh so little shew and is so little regarded is hee whom I so esteeme and vpon whom depends your soueraigne good I will not you may not for his Humilitie defraud him of his Glory You haue seene a glimpse of the Sacring of Christ though I should not yet the Text would require you to entertaine it with your best regard for the visible signe the audible word both are prefaced with a particle of attention Loe loe the Heauens were opened Loe a voyce from Heauen the word doth summon your eyes your eares to behold to attend these holy Mysteries And I pray GOD so to sanctifie your eyes and your eares that while I take a sunder this Text and shew it you more fully in the parts the blessed Trinitie may vouchsafe by them to instill into you some fructifying drops of our blessed Sauiours heauenly Vnction Amongst the particulars where-into I resolued the Text the first was the circumstance of Time when CHRIST was baptized CHRIST was baptized before he was Sacred hee was receiued into the new Couenant by Baptisme before hee became a dispenser thereof And the Church neuer thought it fit to swarue from so good a Patterne and conferre Holy Orders vpon any that was not first incorporated into the Church Yea it hath alwayes gon for a grounded truth that it is Baptisme that maketh a man capable of other Holy rites and that being vnbaptized he is vncapable of them Secondly the circumstance of Time doth notifie the kinde of grace that was figured in the descension of the Doue he descended not in but after the Act of Baptisme Had hee descended in the Act it might haue beene thought that onely Gratia gratum faciens the grace of regeneration or sanctification had beene represented by the Doue but descending after some farther kind of grace is more ouer intimated What that grace was let vs breifely inquire Some fetch hence the Originall of Confirmation and suppose that Christ the Head confirmed himselfe here vnto his Body the Church So that as in the Church Baptizati recipiunt spiritum sanctum they that are first baptized are after confirmed so CHRIST would be confirmed after hee was baptized There is no doubt but the Right of confirmation is Apostolicall notwithstanding the friuolous exceptions that by some are taken to it and it may passe inter pie credibilia that CHRIST did vouchsafe in his owne person to sanctifie that as hee did many other sacred rites of the Church But yet it may not be denied that ouer and aboue here is ment another kind of grace a grace that is not common to euery member of the Church as the grace of confirmation is but peculiar vnto a publique Person such as CHRIST was now called to be And therefore I call it Sacring grace such a kind of grace seemeth to be intimated by the circumstance of Time The second circumstance is that of Place the Place was where CHRIST stood after he came out of the water that was the banke of Iordan which St. Iohn calleth Bethabara the very name doth containe a Monument of the children of Israels first passage there into the land of Canaan and then the Place is not without a Mysterie the choice thereof giueth vs to vnderstand that the Historie of Iosua was performed in Iesus that the waters of Baptisme were become a passage from earth to Heauen from the condition of Nature to the condition of Grace and that euen while wee liue in this vaile of miserie we are thereby enrolled among the Saints Adde hereunto that Bethabara was now a place of great concourse Hierusalem Iudaea all the Regions about Iordan and all sorts of men resorted thither to be baptized of Iohn and it was meete that so great a worke as CHRISTS Sacring should be performed in a great assembly Yea all the remarkeable manifestations of our Sauiour his Miracles his Sermons his Death c. are noted to haue beene publike they were not as St. Paul obserues to King Agrippa done in a corner the vnbeleeuing Iew or other that doubts or disputes of their truth is by the circumstance of Place conuicted to doe it out of affected ignorance And let this suffice for the circumstance I come to the substance of the Sacring where first wee must see who it is that was sacred Wee finde that it was the same Person that was baptized the Sonne of God clothed with the nature of man Where note that Iesus had two Abilities an Actiue a Passiue one to giue another to receiue the Spirit hee that was able for to giue was contented 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the diuine dispensation and humble condition whereunto for our sakes hee submitted himselfe to receiue the Spirit And indeed
sinne hath abridged what had no bounds it hath brought our life within a short compasse it is measured by dayes and dayes are aâ— the first so the least part of Time which thou hast made And these dayes are not infinite in vaine should a man desire to number that which cannot bee numbred Iacob said his dayes were few Dauid that his were but a span long Saint Iames that no mans life is more lasting then a bubble a man would thinke a litle Arithmeticke would cast vp so small an account a man seemes to need no better a master then a man for what man is he that is ignorant of this principle That man is mortall and that it cannot be long before he returne to dust And yet Moses that was learned in all the sciences of the Aegyptians amongst which Arithmeticke was one desireth to learn this point of Arithmetick onely of thee O Lord why Is it because as Iob speaketh thou hast determined the nuÌ„ber of his dayes Would Moses haue thee reueale to euerie man the moment of his end Such speculations may wel beseeme an Aegyptian an Israelite they doe not beseeme Thy children O Lord know that it is not for them so to know times and seasons which thou keepest in thine owne power and are a secret sealed vp with thee we should not prie into that counting house nor curiously inquire into that summe It is not then a Mathematicall numbring of daies that Moses would be schooled in but a morall he would haue God not simply to teach him to number but to number so and so points out a speciall manner a manner that may bee vsefull for the children of God And indeed our petitions must beare this mark of profitable desires and we should not aske ought of thee but that by which if we speed wee may become the better he that so studieth his mortalitie learnes it as he should and it is onely thou O Lord that takest him out such a lesson But what is the vse O Moses that thou wouldest haue man make of such a knowledge Euen to applie his heart vnto wisedome O happie knowledge by which a man becomes wise for wisedome is the beautie of a reasonable soule God conereated him therewith But sinne hath diuorced the soule and wisedome so that a sinfull man is indeed no better then a foole so the Scripture calleth him and well may it call him so seeing all his carriage is vaine and the vpshot of his endeauours but vexation of spirit But though sinne haue diuorced wisedome and the Soule yet are they not so seuered but they may be reunited and nothing is more powerfull in furthering this vnion then this feeling meditation that wee are mortall For who would not shake hands with the world that knows we must shortly appeare before God Yea who would not prouide for that life which hath no end that seeth that this hastneth so fast vnto an end Finally who would suffer the arrowes of Gods wrath that summon vs vnto Iudgement to passe vnregarded seeing the due regard thereof is able to turne a Tribunall into a Throne of grace Surely affliction if we discerne the hand that infflicts it is the best schoole of wisedome yea of the best sort of wisedome the wisedome of the heart it turneth knowledge into practise and maketh vs more tender hearted then we are quicke sighted it doth not onely discerne that God is a consuming fire but melts at the very sight of him it doth not onely know that Gods word is a hammer but feeleth the force thereof in a broken and contrite spirit it conceiue feares so soone as it heareth threats and is no sooner touched but it is reclaimed And this is Wisedome the true wisedome of a mortall man whose best helpe against mortalitie stands in the awful regard of Gods offended fauour Seeing then O Lord this is the fruit of that desired knowledge and hee is best seene in the length of his dayes that is most humbled with the sense of thy wrath and he needs least to feare death that doth as hee ought most feare thee vouchsafe to bee his master that desireth to bee thy scholler and let grace teach what nature doth not discerne that I moulder into dust because I corrupt my selfe with sinne so shall I bee wearie of my naturall folly that negotiates for death and affect true wisdome that is the Tree of life with this I shall endeauour to furnish not onely my head but my heart also and that which now is the seate of deaâ—h shall then become the receptacle of life that life which beginnes in thy feare which is the onely in-let of euerlasting ioy A Meditation vpon Lament 5. VERSE 21. Turne thou vs vnto thee O Lord and we shall bee turned renew our dayes as of old WEe are mutable and what wonder Seeing we are creatures we cannot know that we were made of nothing but wee must acknowledge that to nothing we may returne againe and indeed thither we hasten if we bee left vnto our selues For marre our selues we can but we cannot mend our selues wee can dedestroy what God hath built but we cannot repaire what we doe destroy Wretched power that is onely able to disinable vs and hath no strength but to enfeeble him whose strength it is I read of Adam the first monument of this vnhappie strength but I may read it in my selfe I as all his sonnes inherit as his nature so this selfe ruining power But when experience hath made me see how valiant I haue been against my selfe inflicting deadly wounds precipitating my person and misguiding my steps I become disconsolate and helplesse in my selfe what then shall I doe To whom then shall I seeke To the fiends of hell that sollicited me to sinne To the worldly vanities by which my lusts were baited Well may they adde to my fall raise mee againe they cannot they will not such euill trees beare no such good fruit and if they did they would rather haue me a companion in their sinne and in their woe then seeke to free mee from or ease me in either of them But happily the good Angels as they are more able so they are more willing to pittie to relieue mee but they behold thy face O Lord and stirre not but when thou sendest them and they only to whom thou sendest can be the better for them these heauenly spirits that attend thy Throne moue not but at thy becke and doe no more then thou commaundest I see then that if I stray it is thou that must fetch me home it is thou Lord that must lift me vp when I am slipt downe to the gates of death and my wounds will be incurable if thou bee not pleased to heale me Thou Lord hast made me know in what case I am and onely canst redresse my wofull case I seeke to thee and to thee onely To thy wisedome I commend my head illighten it shew me thy way thou that of nothing