indeed a repentant confession is in the Scripture called a giuing glory vnto God Finally these broken Spirit and heart are the Sacrifices which God calleth for for he is a Spirit and what can be more sutable vnto him then that which is spirituall therefore euer in the legall hee did ayme at the spirituall as you may gather out of the new Testament the Gospell is set forth in termes of the Law to preach is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to play the Priest Rom. 15.16 the people conuerted are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sacrifice and Oblation the skilfull handling of the Scriptures 2. Tim. 2.15 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rightly to diuide the Word yea Heb. 4. the Word it selfe is by Saint Paul said to bee sharper then any two edged sword or Sacrificers knife piercing euen to the diuiding asunder of the soule and the Spirit the whole passage is full of sacrificing phrases I may not omit one thing wee are called a spirituall Priesthood 1. Pet. 2 5. yea the whole body of the Church is so called a Priest must not bee without his Sacrifice and here are the Sacrifices which God will haue euery one offer euen euery lay man may offer these Sacrifices vnto God We may nay we must offer them but how will God accept them surely very well A broken and a contrite heart God will not despise Men vse to make little account of yea they make themselues sport with those that are broken hearted and of a contrite Spirit that mourne like doues and lament in the bitternesse of their soules Dauid complaineth in his Penitentials yea our Sauiour Christ himselfe in the 22. and other Psalmes that when they were humbled then they were derided And indeed in the iudgement of flesh and bloud these things seeme to be of no value they seeme to be contemptible but he that doth vse them shall finde that he shall neuer be confounded of God Ioel. 2 13. the reason wee haue in Ioel rent your hearts and not your garments c. for the Lord is gratious mercifull long suffering Esay 24. c. he will not breake a bruised reed nor quench smoking flaxe hee that would not despise Ahab in his humiliation nor Manasses will much lesse despise a Mary Magdalene a Saint Peter a Publican verily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he will neuer set them at naught But the word hath in it a Litote more is meant then is exprest God is so farre from despising that he maketh great account thereof I told you that it is vouchsafed the double effect of Sacrifices First it yeeldeth a sweet smell vnto God Luke 15.7 for there is ioy in heauen for one sinner that repenteth yea more ioy then for ninety and nine that need not repentance and in the Prophet Esay 66. to this man will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite Spirit C. 57. and trembleth at my Word Secondly it yeeldeth a smell of rest vnto man for so we read in Esay I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit to reuiue the spirit of the humble and te reuiue the heart of the contrite ones De interiore domo c. 37. Saint Bernard coupleth them both together Animam poenitentiae lachrymis afflictam Spiritus Paracletus libenter consolatur frequenter visitat ad veniae fiduciam plenè reformat Therefore let vs learne of Saint Austin this good lesson Aug. cont 5. Hereses quaeramus lapidem quo percutiatur incredulus percussus quassetur quassatus comminuatur comminutus in puluerem conuertatur conuersus in puluerem compluatur complutus seratur satus ferat fructum non quod igne absumatur sed quod in horreo condatur But I may not dwell longer hereon There are two other notes which I drew the one out of Gods desire of the other out of his delight in these Sacrifices I call them Paradoxes And so indeed they seeme to flesh and blood God requireth a broken a contrite heart and spirit as his Sacrifices then there is a certaine religious man-slaughter And so there is a man may holily kill himselfe breake his heart and crush his spirit as it were to dust Mat. 5.29 but this must be done not corporally but spiritually as elsewhere we are willed to plucke out our offending eyes and cut off our offending hands we must mortifie not our nature but the corruption that cleaueth to our nature such slaying God allowes for indeed it is a quickening life in sinne is death and the death of sinne is life The second Paradoxe is That we neuer please God better then when we please our selues least seeing God doth not despise a broken and a contrite heart for we are full of imperfections of which God would haue vs rid our selues therefore he is glad when he seeth vs play the good Husbands weeding our fields good Physitians purging of our corrupt humours carefull not to foster or fauour ought that may offend him or cause our owne ruine Now this we cannot doe without much disquieting and afflicting of our selues omnis medicina salutaris facit dolorem our corupt nature will repine at such alterations But to draw to an end What our Sauiour Christ said when he went to raise Lazarus this sicknesse is not vnto death that must wee conceiue of all those whom we see to haue broken and contrite hearts Mat. 17. rather as he that was to be dispossest was immediately before the diuell came out miserably torne and turmoyld and euen left for dead vntill Christ put out his hand and raised him vp safe and sound Euen so shall wee feele the greatest conflicts with sin when we are euen ready to be set free by grace Saint Austin setteth himselfe out for an excellent monument hereof in his Confessions Secondly seing God is delighted with this Sacrifice we are forbidden to despaire of our owne vnworthines as to presume of our righteousnes this Text doth warrant vs this comfort when in these fits wee seeme to be furthest from God God bringeth vs then nearest vnto himselfe for this pang is a fore-runner of health but senslesse sinners haue no part in this consolation Thirdly God in this morall seruice hath equalled the rich and the poore hee doth hereby take off their eyes from their worldly estate wherein they differ and sixeth them on that wherein they are equall In these Sacrifices the poore may bee as forward as the rich and if there bee any disaduantage it is on the rich mans side for he thinking that hee hath something to giue besides himselfe doth giue himselfe to God the lesse specially in this kind of seruice which rich men desire not to bee acquainted with God herein taketh downe their pride because he passeth by all their wealth and setteth his estimate vpon humiliation As for the poore that hath nothing to giue but himselfe God
the detestation of sin committed for how can a man more clearely expresse that he doth abhorre his own wickednesse then by so breaking and afflicting of his owne both Heart and Spirit if he make them suffer for it it is an vndoubted signe that hee doth detest it A second thing required is that a man returne to God and that also is insinuated in a broken and contrite heart for seeing it is the hardnesse of heart that did shut God out what is the breaking of the heart but the letting of him in Yea this breaking and contrition being borrowed from the Sacrifice there was no incensio sine ascensione as the corporall so the spirituall fire doth not burne but it doth ascend therefore fitly doth the Holy Ghost call the Altar vpon which the Sacrifices were offered Misbach Gnoloth the Altar of Ascensions that is the Altar of burnt Sacrifices that doe ascend because all such morall worship imports a mans religious disposition to be reconciled vnto God Hitherto we haue spoken of the humiliation of a broken and contrite heart but we haue spoken nothing of the workemaster who it is that can so humble both the Heart and Spirit Hee seemeth not here to be exprest and yet it is fit he be knowen and if we enquire we shall find that there is a double Author The principall one is God It is a good Rule of Saint Austins De fide ad Petr. c. 31. firmiter tene neminem hic posse paenitentiam agere nisi quem Deus illuminauerit gratuità misericordià conuerterit Saint Paul warranteth this Rule the seruant of the Lord must in meeknesse instruct those that are contrary minded 〈◊〉 2.25 and see if God peraduenture will giue them repentance But it is true also that the Heart and the Spirit that is broken and contrite hath a hand in its owne breaking and contrition of it selfe our owne vnderstanding doth discouer our sinne and our owne heart doth melt it selfe vpon the sight thereof yea it would be no vertue of ours were it not produced by our owne reasonable faculties It is true that the Crosse sometimes and sometimes discontent worldly discontent because things goe not with vs as flesh and bloud desireth or spirituall discontent because the worme of Conscience doth bite vs and giueth vs no rest doe oftentimes humble vs but these things make not vp our broken and contrite heart except we be as well actiue as passiue therein As Christ in his so we in our Sacrifices must be Sacerdotes Sacrificium we must be both the thing that is offered and the offerers we must as willingly humble our selues as be deeply humbled But here we must obserue a good Rule of Saint Bernards when we say that this humiliation is from God 〈…〉 Arbiâ—â— and from man from Gods Grace and mans freewill we doe not meane that these are co-ordinate but subordinate Non partim gratia partim liberum arbitrium Grace and freewill doe not share the worke betweene them sed totum singula peragunt each of them doth performe the whole worke Grace doth it wholly freewill doth it wholly sed vt totum in illo sic totum ex illâ As the whole humiliation is immediately wrought by the freewill of man so is the freewill of man inabled thereunto by the Grace of God Grace determineth the wil if not physically at least morally But to conclude this poynt We often read in the Prophets that God doth threaten he will conterere peccatores crush sinners all to pieces Saint Basil telleth vs that there is a remedy against it that is contrition is to be opposed against contrition In â—say 13. if we will humble our selues God will neuer humble vs. I haue dwelt long enough in opening our morall seruice I come now to shew you how it is esteemed Here the first thing that I find is that what was denyed to the ceremoniall is yeelded to the morall seruice First there it was denyed that God doth require that but here it is affirmed that God requireth this for a broken and contrite heart is Gods Sacrifices And see here at first we meere with a rubbe for in corporall Sacrifices a man might not offer that which was broken or bruised Leuit. 22. it should seeme that in spirituall he may But the reconciliation is easie for those Sacrifices did principally note Christ who was without all blemish before he was offered and yet being such he was broken for our sinnes my Text doth not compare man to the Sacrifice before it was offered though we should all striue to be as good as we may when we present our selues to God but the comparison is of man to the sacrifice after it is offered and then it may without fault bee broken yea it is brought thither to the end that it may be broken neither except it be broken is it any Sacrifice But to the maine point I told you there are two propositions in these words the Sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart First That God which careth not for the slaughter of beasts requireth the mortification of men that is the slaughter which he requireth therfore is the name Seuach giuen vnto it which signifieth a beast slaine And this bringeth vs on to another note concerning a broken and a contrite heart and that is Our humiliation is the slaying of the beastiality of our nature And indeed euery lust is a very beast and for them doth the Holy Ghost call men by the name of many beasts sometimes swine sometimes dogges sometimes foxes hee that doth abolish these lusts doth slay so many beasts A second proposition is That one mortification of man is to God insteed of all the sacrificing of Beasts All that were required to reconciliation or all simply surely we may vnderstand it both wayes It may be Sacrifices if it comprehend onely the Expiatorie and Dedicatorie as it doth so farte as God requireth these from vs and accepteth vs in Christ for he requireth no other Expiation of vs then a godly sorrow detesting sinne neither doth he expect any other Dedication then that wee be wholly conuerted vnto God and I shewed you how both these are represented in the broken and contrite heart Will you extend it to all Sacrifices you may Abulens in Exod. Tom 2. p. 131. for all had some reference to Reconciliation euen those which seeme to haue least the Votiue and Eucharisticall for though their principall ends were to acknowledge or obtaine some blessing of or from God yet the manner of the sacrificing so farre as it was common to the Sacrifice for sin did withall deprecate Gods wrath and acknowledge that sinne made the offerer vnworthy as well of that blessing which he had receiued as of that which he begged Which must bee obserued because this broken and contrite heart looketh to the praise of God which Dauid not many verses before promised he would shew forth And
breaking vp the fallow ground of our hearts Ier. 4.3 Hosea 10.12 that they may bee sowen Now you know that they that breake vp their grounds vse the Plough and the Harrow the Plough turneth vp the ground in great clods that is the first breaking of it then commeth the Harrow and turneth those clods into dust that is the second breaking of it and so these two breakings represent corporally what you must spiritually obserue in a broken and contrite heart The very same may fitly bee represented by the second resemblance that is taken from Masonry the Scripture doth often tell vs that sinners haue stony hearts and therefore they must be broken that they may be made fleshy hearts as tender and soft as flesh Now you know that when a Mason or Plaisterer will worke a rough stone into all kinde of shapes at his pleasure he first breaketh him being calcined or otherwise prepared all to pieces and then those pieces he poundeth into dust then that dust with liquor he can worke into a soft substance which will receiue any shape according to the fancy of the Plaisterer Euen so must the Heart and Spirit of a man be hammered by Gods Word Ierem. 23.9 broken and broken againe that so it may be made plyable vnto the wil of God These be faire resemblances and I might insist vpon them and by them illustrate the humiliation of a sinner but I choose rather the resemblance that offereth it selfe in my Text and that is contained in the word Sacrifices In the Temple or Tabernacle there were two Altars one of burnt sacrifice another of Incense the sacrifice of either will fit our purpose That of incense Exod. 30. where God telleth expresly of what spices the perfume should be made he addeth these wordes thou shalt beate some of it very small and put it before the testimony in the Tabernacle of the congregation where I will meete with thee The resemblance is very fit But it is fitter if we take it from the other Altar and indeed it is fit we take it thence for though my text be true of all morall seruice God requireth it God delighteth in it as might bee shewed at large if the time would permit and it were to my purpose yet now haue I to doe with no more then concerneth King Dauids case the reconciliation of a Penitent so much morall worship as answereth to burnt offering and sacrifice whereof you heard in the verse going before now they did belong to the Altar of burnt offerings wherefore there will wee seâ—ke and wee shall find our resemblance For the sacrifices were first cut in pieces that was their breaking secondly being so broken they were burnt into ashes that was a contrition of them a contrition and a breaking which doth most liuely represent the breaking and contrition required in Repentance Looke backe vpon them The Priest that did cut the sacrifice in pieces did as the Iewish Rituals obserue not mangle but ioynt the parts and what should wee doe in our Repentance but orderly take asunder and in our meditations view apart the seuerall powers that are in our soule and not mingle the vnderstanding and the will but seeing each hath his owne defects we must feelingly consider the seuerall defects that are in each power And this is the breaking of the Heart and the Spirit But the parts of the Sacrifice were not onely broken but they were brought to the fire and there they were burnt to ashes and it is not enough for vs in grosse to obserue the defects of the seuerall powers that are in our soule we shall find them intricate and a very Labyrinth wee must hunt out euery lurking sinne and euery particle must beare a part in this humiliation the fire of spirituall affliction must pierce euen vnto the least iot of that which doth partake of corruption otherwise our Heart and Spirit are not as they ought broken and contrite Saint Ambrose conceiueth that these words are meant of Christ And indeed he that doth but read the 53. of Esay which is often alleadged by the Apostles especially Saint Peter shall finde that Christ had a broken and contrite Heart and Spirit indeed the Euangelists doe expresse it in significant words Luke 22 44. Math. 26.38 Mark 14.33 hee was in an agony his soule was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on euery side encompassed with heauinesse euen vnto death he began 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be euen astonished 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to droope to become euen heartlesse the Sacrament what is it but a representation of the humiliation of our Sauiour Christ not in conscience of his owne sinne but for expiation of our pride was Christ pleased to be humbled not onely in body but in soule also And to him must we be conformed for he is the best patterne of a broken and contrite Spirit But marke in these words broken and contrite that euery kind of concussion is not a poenitentiall humiliation Iam 2.19 for the Diuels they feare and tremble when they remember in what case they stand Act. 24.25 and so did Felix tremble when Saint Paul preached of the iudgement to come and how was Pharaoh shaken when he was vnder the plagues of Egypt Daniel 5. Baltazar quiuered and his knees smote together when he saw the hand-writing but their hearts and spirits were made of tough mettall not one of them brake or was contrite but after Gods hand was off they continued whole and wholly the same persons And so if wee doe and it is too common for vs to doe so crie we out neuer so much I haue sinned and God be mercifull vnto me in our danger be it what it may be wee are not humbled as the morall seruice of God requireth As we wound our soules so must we be contented to search those wounds and least they fester Ier. 23.9 Habak 3 16. search them to the bottome we must be contented as throughly to grieue for sinne as to take delight therein But a little farther to wade into this point There are two kinds of Griefe that the Schooles speake of Appretiativus and Intensivus they apply it somwhat vntowardly but here wee may make a good vse of it for our spirituall humiliation must testistifie first at what rate wee doe set the fauour of God and hauing no better thing to wreck our displeasure vpon for the losse therof then our Heart and Spirit we vse them so roughly and choose them for the subiect of humiliation Secondly the breaking and contrition of heart and spirit doe shew that our sorrow is as intensiue as it is appretiatiue as the thing is most deare vnto vs which we afflict so there can be no deeper wounds giuen then those wherwith we afflict it But sorrow is not enough vnto humiliation there are two other things that must goe therewith and are very clearly insinuated in this manner of breaking and contriting our Heart The first is
me Christ in the Gospell Feare not little flocke it is your fathers pleasure to giue you a Kingdome Luke 12.32 As the Text doth amplifie the place from the meanenesse 1 Reg. 8. so doth it the gift from the greatnesse thereof I will fill fill this house with that glory The phrase is allusiue to Gods typicall presence in the former Temple for therein rested the Cloud and it filled all the house all that part of the house which was called the holy place When the second Temple was built there was no such thing God was pleased to reserue it for the truth that he that is the fulnesse of all should fill that Temple And indeede God was neuer more there than when hee was there in Christ if euer hee was then an Oracle to his Church I adde out of Ezechiel cap. 43.12 that by his presence omnis circuitus Templi was made sanctum sanctorum For ought we reade Christ neuer came into that place of the Temple which was called sanctum or sanctum sanctorum the holy place or holiest of holies but this he did being borne that holy thing Luke 1. Dan. 9. and anointed the most holy he made all places of the Temple where he came holy yea and most holy he filled them with the glory of his person and the glory of his function The truth I say filled euen the worst part of the Temple which the type did not But I shall meete with this point in the next Sermon wherefore I will dwell no longer now vpon it This historicall sense which I haue hitherto opened doth present vnto vs a mysticall which I may not neglect God doth not delight in materiall houses built with timber and stone the Temple was but a type of the Church Christs house are you saith St. Paul to the Hebrewes cap. 3. and to the Ephesians cap. 2. he tels vs of the foundation the corner stone Saint Peter 1 Epist 2. sheweth vs that we as liuing stones comming vnto the precious stone Christ make vp a house vnto God So that whatsoeuer blessing is contained in this text belongeth vnto vs and vnto the Temple but in reference vnto vs. A thing to be obserued because the world hath alwaies beene shallow-witted in looking into these intentions of God they haue rested on the types without due reflection vpon themselues whereas God therein would only helpe our memorie and condescend to our infirmitie and that vpon a Principle which preuaileth much with vs which is this Sense is the best informer of our reason and solliciter of our will And did wee make as good vse of it in things belonging to God and our soule as wee doe in things pertaining to the world and concerning our naturall life Christ should not haue beene occasioned to vtter that sentence The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light Well then let vs gather some few such morals as this text will yeelde The first is That where Christ commeth hee bringeth a blessing Iacob did so to Laban Ioseph to Pharaoh Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar There is not a good man that maketh not the place whither he commeth the better for him How much more the chiefe of Saints our Sauiour Christ the very type of him 1 Chro. 13. I meane the Arke made Obed Edoms house to prosper If the shadow wrought so much what good may we expect from the substance it selfe The second morall is That God in Christ taketh vpon him to bee the glorie of the house so that where Christ is there the glorie is The Church of Rome is plentifull in earthly ornaments of their Church and wee are carefull that the Word of God should dwell richly in ours it were well if both were ioyned together I wish we had more of their ornaments and they had more of Christs truth But if they must bee kept asunder through the malice of the Diuell our case is better that haue fewer ornaments and more truth than theirs that haue lesse truth and more ornament For CHRIST is properly the glory of a Church where hee is though it bee in the wildernesse there is glory and there is no glory where he is not though the temple be as goodly as Salomons The third is the particle this this house containes the comfort of poor soules For though in the sense of our meanenesse we haue all reason to say Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come vnder the roofe of my house yet saith the Lord Esay 66. Heauen is my throne and the Earth is my footestoole where is the house that yee build vnto me and where is the place of my rest hath not my hand made all these things saith the Lord But to this man will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my Word And it was the very life of Kings Dauids penitentiall prayer Psal 51. A broken and contrite heart O Lord wilt not thou despise Wherefore I conclude this point with the exhortation of St. Iames Let the brother of low degree reioyce in that he is exalted bee hee neuer so meane a house Christ will not disdaine euen in his glory to come vnto him he will come and bring his glory with him The fourth is That hee will not only bring his glory but fill that house But it is as the soule filleth the body euery part according to his proportion some part is filled as the head some as the hand some as the feete so that euery house may bee full and yet one house containe more than another As it is most behoofefull for vs so doth Christ dispence his grace vnto vs. But this filling may be vnderstood eyther inhaerenter or immanenter in Christ or transeunter and redundanter to vs that is eyther that he which commeth into the house is full of glory or else that the house whereinto hee commeth is by him transformed into glory Take a simile from the Sunne the beames of the Sunne doe fill the ayre and the firmament but you easily perceiue that they doe it in a different fashion they fill the ayre but so that the ayre altereth not in nature but continueth the same onely it is the place wherein the beames of the Sun do appeare But as for the firmament the Sunne sendeth his beames into that so that it maketh many a light body of it many a starre and St. Paul telleth vs 1 Cor. 15.41 that they differ each from the other in glory Christ doth fill our house both waies if you looke to our Iustification he brings glory to vs as the Sunne doth the light vnto the aire the brightnesse whereof doth grace the ayre yet it remaines inherently still in the beames and is not transfused into the substance of the ayre Euen so Christs righteousnesse passeth not out of his person and yet it is the ornament of our person it is inherent in him it is imputed to vs
finde wee haue not lighted vpon that which should giue vs content as we may gather out of the Preachers censure Vanitie of vanities and all is but vanity when wee come to grace there wee rest St. Austine giues the reason of it Fecisti nos Domine propter te irrequietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te and K. Dauid expresseth it most passionately Psal 73. Whom haue I in heauen but thee and there is none vpon earth that I desire besides thee my flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for euer And no wonder for nothing can giue constant content but that which is verum and summum bonum that which is good indeed and is our soueraigne good these are found only in God none finde them but they that partake of him Secondly the same grace that doth sistere appetitum doth also explere as it doth giue vs content in that we desire no other thing so of that only we may haue our fill Other things are not onely worse than that wee principally desire but they are lesse and we therefore doe loath them not because they are not good at all for they are the creatures of God and they are made for our vse but because they beare not proportion vnto our desire when we haue them we finde a great want of something else besides them let a man haue all the riches in the world all the honour yea all the wisedome they will not satisfie him yea let euery power haue his distinct obiect yet they will not satisfie him There is a common obiect that they all desire and which onely can fill them the desire of them all and that is Grace Grace is the fulnesse of God as the Apostle cals it Ephes 3.19 and the Prophesies of grace doe promise fulnesse Ieremie 21. God will not onely prepare a table for vs but our cup shall ouerflow Psal 23. here we hunger and thirst for a time but if grace be our portion we shall be satisfied and we shall be admitted to the tree of life and drinke our fill of the riuers of Gods pleasure But I told you that this which you haue heard is nothing else but a Periphrasis of the Spirit for the filling grace is nothing else but the Holy Ghost This day as we read Acts 2. when hee came he filled and filled not only with the Type but also with the Truth That you may vnderstand this you must obserue that as Christ our Passeouer was sacrificed iust at the time of the legall Passeouer and as he became the first fruits of them that stept rising that very day that the first fruits were offered euen so the Spirit was giuen vpon the very same day when God with his owne mouth pronounced the Law in the hearing of the People the mysterie whereof was this that man can neuer haue the benefit of the Law but by the grace of the Spirit iustifying him by faith and making him a new man But by the Spirit we must vnderstand not only the grace but the person also or else it will neuer fill For as the corne that is sowne is but a small graine but being watered with the dewe of Heauen and comforted with the Sunne it comes to a full eare euen so grace when it beginnes in man it is very scant there must bee some bodie to foster and cherish it that it may come to perfection and that is the Spirit And herein appeares a difference betweene Adam created and Adam restored Adam created was furnished with grace and being so furnished was left to himselfe whereupon he quickely became an vnthrift and brought to nought that portion which he receiued of his heauenly Father but being restored he is better prouided for hee hath the person of the Spirit bestowed vpon him as a liuing roote so that although hee haue his Winters and his Autumne he doth not alwaies spring nor is alwaies loaden with good fruit yet he hath life in the roote which will shute forth againe and he that seemes to be dead will reuiue and like corne that stockes better when it is nipt with frost will afterward beare the more fruit You haue heard the Gift what it is now heare of the Giuer and the Giuer is Christ Christ is the Giuer of the Spirit duplici iure originis meriti in that the Spirit doth proceede from him so he is said to bestow him because ordo ad extra is answerable vnto ordo ad intra He hath also a right by merit he deserued in doing the worke of a Redeemer to haue the bestowing of the Spirit in this later sense must wee vnderstand it in this place and of this sense in the next part of the text And here we must consider the difference betweene the Hebrew of the old Testament and the Greek of the new Accepit dona saith the Psalmist Dedit dona saith the Apostle They are easily reconciled if you marke Christs second power of giuing the Holy Ghost for Accepit quae daret accepit ex merito quae daret ex arbitrio therefore St. Austine saith well Vtroque verbo altero Prophetico Apostolico altero plenissimus sensus redditur The Apostles are the best Commentators vpon the Prophets and when we parallel texts that are found in both wee must not oppose the one to the other but expound the one by the other which we may safely doe because in vtroque est diuini sermonis auctoritas as the same Father speaketh Seeing then Christ receiueth what he giues receiues of his Father what he giues to vs these words must be vnderstood of Christ incarnate as God he could not receiue because he had all things wherefore if he receiue it must be as he became man so indeed he was Christus anointed and his name was as an oyntment poured out Cant. 1. the precious oyntment poured on his head ran downe vnto the very skirts of his cloathing hee was made the Sonne of righteousnesse and became the father of lights precious promises are giuen vnto vs by him and of his fulnesse we all receiue grace for grace Finally we must marke that though hee receiued as he was Incarnate yet he giues as he is God for though Accipere be meriti humani yet Dare is potestatis diuinae though in neither giuing nor taking wee must seuer the person yet must wee in eyther obserue which nature is principally respected As Christ is the giuer of the Spirit so doth he giue him discreetly and vniuersally discreetly for he giues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee keepes a measure in his giuing There is this difference betweene the Head and the Body of the Church the Head hath the Spirit without all measure but the members of the Body haue it in measure neither doth this argue any impotency in Christ the Giuer but his wisedome It is true that as it is in Christs power to giue or not
that we should bow before him the knees of our hearts no lesse then the knees of our bodies when we lift vp our hands vnto GOD we should lift vp our Soules also and our eyes should not behold Heauen but our faith should pierce vnto the Throne of GOD. Finally there is no Ceremoniall Law which should not attend some Morall as the shadow doth the body or the body should the soule the Sonne of SYRACH hath made a whole Chapter that teacheth this Lesson But the Iewes put a sunder what GOD had conioyned Cap. 35 they shewed much zeale for the Ceremoniall but were carelesse of the Morall Law expressed much submission of their bodyes but little deuotion of their Soules and drew neere with their lips but their hearts were farre from God Of this GOD complaineth ESAY 1. and doth passionately vary tearmes to expresse his dislike thereof they solemnized their Feasts and offered Sacrifices and assembled themselues in his House Esay 1 But what saith GOD To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices Who required your presence to tread in my Courts I hate your solemne Feasts The cause of all is Your hands are full of blood In the last of ESAY GOD is much sharper He that killeth an oxe is as if he slew a man Cap. 66. he that sacrificeth a lambe as if he cut off a dogs necke he that offereth an oblation is as if he offered swines blood he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol Marke the Reason They haue chosen their owne wayes and their soule delighted in their owne abominations You see then that in seruing GOD we may offend him grieuously if we seuer those things which he hath coupled for our seruice then will be plaine hypocrisie and Hypocrifie is by a Prouerbe noted to be double iniquitie And iustly is it so noted for therein we do first Interpretatiuè deny that GOD is the Searcher of the heart in that we doe not approue our heart to him Secondly we doe expresly preferre the Diuell before GOD in that we giue the better part I meane our Soule to the Diuell and reserue onely the worser part that is our bodyes for GOD. This should all that present themselues in GODS House seriously thinke on especially you that make shew of a solemne Penitent but such a shew as betrayeth that there is no broken heart within you nor contrite spirit seeing there appeareth so little euidence thereof in the outward man Be you assured that so repenting for sinne you doe but add vnto your sinne you are a transgressor of the Law in regard of your Separation of the Ceremoniall from the Morall Law But there is an other transgression of the Law which is the direct and immediate violation of the Morall part thereof This is the greater sinne and doth more apparently deserue such a name for the former though it be a sinne yet it is a cloaked sinne it maketh some faire shew in the eyes of men how vgly soeuer it is in the eyes of GOD but this walketh vnmasked and appeareth as it is Secondly the former is Malum quia prohibitum euill vpon no other ground but because by a positiue Law it is forbidden it is onely extrinsically euil the other is prohibitum quia malum by no meanes to be done though there were no positiue Law that did forbid it the euill thereof is intrinsicall for it is the violation of the Image of GOD according to which man was made and according to which he should liue In the particular Case that concernes this Penitent GOD that gaue a rationall facultie vnto the soule of man whereby he should order the sensitiue in the vse thereof would haue a man shew himselfe to be better then a beast And how doth a man differ from a beast that hath vnbridled lusts and neglect not onely sacred wedlocke but the degrees of Affinitie and Consanguinitie within which GOD and Nature require that his lusts be stinted This should you that are the Penetent seriously thinke on and measure the grieuousnesse of your sinne by this these things as well the transgression of the Morall as the seperation thereof from the Ceremoniall But the grieuousnesse of sinne is argued not only from what is done but also from the doing of the same Aliud est peccare aliud peccatum facere saith St AVGVSTINE It is one thing to sinne another thing to be giuen ouer to sinne and his distinction is not idle for it is grounded not onely vpon St IOHNS phrase 1 Iohn 3. but also vpon St IAMES his gradation Men are first inticed by their lusts Cap. 1. then lust conceaueth and brings forth sinne and sinne being perfected brings forth death and this perfecting of sinne is properly the doing of sinne All men sinne but they that haue grace take heed of doing sinne feare and shame are both shaken off by those that goe so farre they endeauour not so much as to hide their sinnes Of these Iewes our Psalme saith They sate they spake they ran they wrought euill they consented one with another and were professors of a wicked life And little better is the case of this Penitent who for many yeeres hath openly in the eyes of the world notwithstanding the clamor of many that iustly did detest it liued in abominable Incest which doth much aggrauate his sinne There is a third Aggrauation in my Text taken from the Person that doth commit the sinne Thou hast done these things And the circumstance of the Person doth much improue the foulenesse of a fault No man should sinne against GOD but they that are most bound should forbeare most Now the Iewes had a double Obligation one by Nature the other by the Couenant They were GODS Creatures and GOD vouchsafed to contract with them Not to performe the dutie which we owe especially when we haue solemnly vowed it maketh vs guiltie in a high degree And euerie one within the Church if he doe sinne is so farre guiltie his Vow in Baptisme will presse him no lesse then the Condition of his Nature And this must you that are the Penitent ponder in your Soule that you may answerably hereunto feele the burden of your sinne I doe not amplifie these things without Cause they must be the rather marked because the deeper the Iewe was in guilt the greater was GODS Patience Notwithstanding their double offence their Seperation and Transgression their double Obligation of Nature and Vow their double sinning in that they did not onely act but professe sin yet did GOD hold his peace he proceeded not against them but with great Patience GODS Patience is noted by his Silence the word signifieth to be deafe and dumbe and putteth vs in mind of a double voyce a voyce of sinne and a voyce of Iudgement That sinnes haue a Voyce you may read Gen. 4. where ABELS blood doth cry and in the Storie of Sodome Gen. 18. the voyce of whose sin came vp to
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