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A19871
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One of the sermons preached at Westminster the fifth of Aprill, (being the day of the publike fast;) before the Right Honourable Lords of the High Court of Parliament, and set forth by their appointment. By the Bishop of Sarum.
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Davenant, John, ca. 1572-1641.
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1628
(1628)
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STC 6299; ESTC S117129
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22,536
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58
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ONE OF THE SERMONS PREACHED At Westminster The fifth of APRILL being the day of the Publike Fast Before the Right Honourable Lords of the High Court of PARLIAMENT and set forth by their appointment By the Bishop of SARVM LONDON Printed for Richard Badger and are to be sold by Iohn Stempe at his shop at the East end of S. Dunstans Church-yard in Fleet-street 1628. IEREMIE 3.22 the latter part of the Verse Behold wee come vnto thee for thou art the Lord our God SOme wonderfull sight out of all question was heere to be seene or else men neuer durst haue beene so bold as to haue called to the great God of heauen to behold it Some pleasing spectacle out of all doubt was to be exhibited or else the great God of heauen would neuer haue vouchsafed the casting downe of his gratious eye vpon it It was so indeed A wonder aboue all other wonders the stony and rebellious hearts of men suddenly turned into soft and obedient hearts A ioyfull spectacle vnto God aboue all other spectacles runnagate seruants returning vnto the seruice of their Souereigne Lord rebellious children repenting and running as it were into the bosome of their gratious God and louing Father If wee will beleeue him who is Truth it selfe this is the principall if not the onely sight vpon earth which giues contentment and brings ioy vnto Heauen Luke 15.7 vnto the Saints vnto the Angels yea vnto the blessed Trinity it selfe I haue chosen this as a Text fitting the present occasion because we are now doing the very same thing which the Israelites then did For tell me I pray what doe we intend by this solemne generall Assembly or what doe we pretend by this publique Fasting Praying and humbling our selues vnder the hand of Almighty God but this serious protestation Behold we come vnto thee for thou art the Lord our God Bold prophane and wretched men we are if wee deride our Maker and call vnto him that he would out of heauen behold a Sight heere vpon earth when in truth there is no such Sight to bee seene Dutifull holy and happy men we are if God looking downe from heauen behold in vs that which we pretend and he expects Now that we may the better vnderstand what this is let vs come to a particular consideration of the Text which is nothing else but a short and direct answer of Gods people vnto a Proposition which God had made vnto them in the words immediately going before Gods proposition was this O returne yee back sliding children and I will heale your rebellions The Israelites answer hereunto is very punctuall and direct Behold we come vnto thee for thou art the Lord our God In which answer we may obserue these two generall parts 1. A protestation of their sincere obedience Behold wee come vnto thee 2. A declaration of the motiue inducing them thereunto For thou art the Lord our God This protestation consists not of many words and yet it containes many matters of great importance which I will speake of in order as the words shall offer them vnto me 1. The first is the Inward Obedience of their Hearts implied in the word Ecce Behold For howsoeuer the Heart bee not expressely named yet this Ecce calls as it were vpon God to take notice of the secret resolution of their hearts and to behold their obedience in bowing and bending of them vnto his most iust and holy commands In all acceptable obedience vnto God the Heart must be the ringleader if that be wanting the seeming good actions of a Heartlesse Christian are but like the walking or stirring of a liueles body Seneca which affrights many but pleaseth no beholder Omnia honesta opera voluntas inchoat It is the Heart or Will which giues the beginning vnto euery good action and this is it which in the first place the Israelites presented vnto God And surely there was good reason and a iust cause of their so dooing First because their vnfaithfull and stubborne heart was it that had lead them out into open rebellion against God and therefore it was necessarily required that a loyall and obedient heart should also be their Leader in this their Submission and comming in vnto Almighty God Againe whensoeuer God calls vnto a Sinner to returne his meaning is that his heart should first answer vnto the call My Sonne giue me thy heart and Hebrewes the 10.22 Let vs draw neere vnto God with a true heart As good stay behinde as come when God calls and leaue our hearts behinde Last of all it is the Heart vpon which Gods eyes are principally fixed whensoeuer we present our humble seruice vnto him and it is one of his Royall Prerogatiues to be the Discerner of Hearts Wee may therefore well suppose that these Israelites durst neuer haue called God to Behold their comming had not their hearts beene their leaders For they could not be ignorant of that peremptory conclusion If I regard wickednesse in my heart Psal 66.18 the Lord will not heare me Now if any man aske me whence came this admirable change that men of brasen foreheads and iron hearts are so suddenly become men of humble soft and religious hearts all that I can answer is this The same God that had long called vnto them for their hearts had now at length giuen them new hearts and a new spirit Chap. 36. Verse 26. Prosper and had taken the stony heart out of their body as the Prophet Ezekiel speakes Bona voluntas est hominis propria sed Deo inspirante concepta A good will or a good heart is a mans owne when he hath it but it is the diuine inspiration from whence hee hath it Let vs now for a while leaue the consideration of these Israelites and their new hearts and come to consider our owne We all make the same protestation this day of our obedient and penitent hearts which they did Wee all in effect intreate GOD to looke downe from heauen and to Behold this vnfeined and sincere resolution of our Hearts Take heede of drawing neere vnto GOD with your lippes and remoouing your hearts farre from him Be sure of that constant resolution which was in holy Dauid when he made this profession Psal 40. I desire to doe thy good will O my God yea thy law is within my heart Pars prima bonitatis est velle fieri bonum The first part of goodnesse is to haue the Will of beeing good I cannot pierce into your hearts and see your secret intentions and purposes God can and doth and your owne hearts also can and doe take notice of your inward resolutions Hath any man therefore had a filthy lustfull and adulterous heart aske it whether it bee now resolued to keepe it selfe a pure chaste and vndefiled heart Hath any man had a couetous or an ambitious proud heart let him search into it and see whether it now be resolued to renounce the world with
call mee saying My Father and shalt not turne from me He that will needs call God Father and yet will turne away from him in the course of his wicked life If God call him sonne it will be no more to his comfort then when Abraham said to the glutton in hell Sonne Luke 16. Remember that thou in thy life time tookest thy sinnefull pleasures and therefore now thou must be content to vndergoe eternall torments But yet God hath a farther quarrell against these Couenant breakers and that is not only for their hypocrisie but for their plaine treacherie For as if it were not bad enough to forget the Couenant established betwixt God and them they most traiterously account Heb. 10. Verse 29. the bloud of this Couenant as an vnholy thing and make a new confederacy with Gods knowne enemies the world the flesh and the diuell They shame not to boast and brag of this their new league Esay 28.15 We haue made a Couenant with death and with Hell we are at an agreement But let euery man that by vertue of the Couenant calls God his God detest all by pocrisie abhor all treachery and remember that his happinesse depends not vpon the entring into a Couenant with God but vpon the true keeping of the Couenant And for the more effectuall stirring vp of euery man here present to repentance and newnes of life according to the tenor of the Couenant I wil adde this one thing That whatsoeuer our carriage hitherto hath been this very Couenant may assure vs that Our God and Our Father neither will nor can refuse gratiously to accept vs into fauour vpon our submission and amendment He is ingaged by speciall promise 2 Chron. 7.14 If my people among whom my name is called vpon doe humble themselues and turne from their wicked waies then will I heare in heauen and be mercifull to their sinne August and heale their land Promissa haec tua sunt quis falli timeat cum promittu ipsa Veritas These are thy promises O Lord and who needs doubt the performance where Truth it selfe makes the Promise But if any man should doubt whether this Promise be strong enough to binde God to accept the submission of a rebellious seruant yet there is no doubt but his tender fatherly affection is strong enough to make him accept the submission of a Repenting Childe Ier. 3.14 Ephraim is my deare sonne therefore my bowels are troubled for him and I will surely haue compassion vpon him saith the Lord. Let vs therefore now at last come vnto our God with humble lowly and penitent hearts and then wee shall speede no worse then the Prodigall childe did That is our louing Father will haue compassion vpon vs hee will run and fall vpon our neckes Luk. 15.20 hee will kisse vs and put the best Robe euen the rich Robe of his wel-beloued Sonnes righteousnes vpon vs. There remaines the other title of Redemption to be briefly touched in regard whereof the Israelites terme God their God and on the other side God also termeth them his peculiar people And this Redemption was twofold God was called their Strong Redeemer and they were stiled the people whom God had Redeemed in regard of that famous and miraculous deliuerance out of the Egyptian thraldome God esteemed this Temporall and Corporall redemption so great a benefit and so forcible an inducement to Obedience that hee thought it fit to bee ingrauen in the forefront of his ten Commandements Yet this is not it which I purpose now to insist vpon There is therefore another Redemption wrought by the bloudy Passion of the Messias obscurely represented in the Leuiticall Sacrifices more plainly described by the Prophets but most euidently painted out vnto vs by the holy Apostles This is our Spirituall and eternall Redemption whereby we are redeemed out of the lawes of the diuell from eternall Death and Damnation of body and soule which otherwise we must haue vndergone indured world without end Now albeit the Generall Power of this redemption extend it selfe vnto the whole world yet the Declaration Application thereof belongs in speciall manner vnto the Church therefore it is the Church which out of this respect calls God her God and it is likewise the Church which for this cause God owns as his peculiar people This is the Redemption whereof euery member of the church ought with holy Iob to take speciall notice Scio quod Redemptor meus viuit Iob 19. I know that my Redeemer liueth And not onely so but I know that this my Redeemer hath ransomed both my body and soule not with gold or siluer but with his owne precious bloud 1 Cor. 6.20 to the end that being thus Bought with a price I may glorifie him both in body and soule If all which hath beene formerly vrged cannot perswade men to returne to the obedience and seruice of God yet this Motiue that he is Our God and that by Right of Redemption should inforce vs thereunto Our Creation out of nothing was an infinite benefit and ties vs straitly to God our Creator But this our Redemption at such an inestimable price when we were worse then nothing is infinitely greater then that other infinite benefit and ties vs in a more strait band vnto God our Redeemer Our Creation cost God no more but the word speaking Dixit factum est hee said it and hee did it but our redemption was not so easily wrought Multa tulit fecitque Deus sudauit alsit What man so thanklesse that would not for euer acknowledge him for his good Lord and Patron and striue to doe him all acceptable seruice who had but redeemed him from the Turkish slauery and rowing chained in their gallyes How much more then stand we obliged in all duty and seruice vnto our God who hath redeemed vs from beeing the slaues of Sathan from the chaines of darkenesse and euerlasting damnation They haue no sense of this Redemption nor no part as yet in it who are not inflamed thereby to serue God in holinesse and righteousnesse Tit. 2.14 and to become a peculiar people vnto him zealous of good workes But alas where shall God our Redeemer finde such zealous seruants amongst millions of men that confesse and professe themselues to be redeemed with his blood The World and the Flesh haue a world of Seruants at command nay the diuell himselfe is so well attended that Saint Cyprian brings him in thus bragging against our Sauiour Christ and insulting ouer vs silly and sinfull wretches Serm. de Eleemosyna Ego pro istis necsanguinem fudi c. I haue spilt no one drop of bloud for any of these I haue taken no paines to doe them any good nay all my study and paines euer was and euer shall be to bring them to death and eternall damnation Notwithstanding all this Ibid. Tuos tales demonstra mihi Christe O Christ if thou canst shew me so many so busy so painefull so dutifull seruants of thine as I am able to shew vnto thee euery where of mine O what a shame is it vnto vs all that beare the name of Christians Hec dici potuisse non potuisse refelli That such things may truely bee obiected against vs by the diuell and cannot truely be denied or confuted by vs. O what a griefe is it vnto our Lord Christ that a cursed Murtherer should be able to entise away so many seruants from a blessed Redeemer This point should rather be prosecuted with teares then words nothing now remaines but that euery man heere present search into his owne heart and life inquire and finde out his owne proper sinnes turne speedily from his wicked waies and that all of vs say with a ioynt and constant resolution as these Israelites did Behold wee come vnto thee for thou art the Lord our God THat Almighty God who hath this day called vs vnto him by his word draw vs vnto him by the effectuall operation of his holy Spirit that so renouncing the seruice of the World the Flesh and the Diuell and returning vnto the Seruice of our true Lord wee may recouer his fauour here and enioy his euerlasting fauour hereafter Grant this most mercifull Father for the infinite merits of thy wel-beloued Sonne to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be ascribed all Praise Power Maiesty and Dominion this day and for euer Amen FINIS