Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 24

Twenty-Six Sermons · Sermon 24

p. 322A SERMON Preached at Pauls Croſs to the Lords of the Council, and other Honorable Perſons, 24. Mart. 1616. It being the Anniverſary of the Kings coming to the Crown, and his Majeſty being then gone into Scotland. SERMON XXIIII.

Prov. 22.11.

He that loveth Pureneſs of Heart, for the grace of his Lipps, the King ſhall be his friend.

THat Man that ſaid it was poſſible to carve the faces of all good Kings that ever were, in a Cherry-ſtone, had a ſeditious, and a trayterous meaning in his words. And he that thought it a good deſcription, a good Character of good ſubjects, that they were Populus natus ad ſervitutem, A people diſpoſed to bear any ſlaviſh yoak, had a tyrannical meaning in his words. But in this Text, as in one of thoſe Tables, in which, by changing the ſtation, and the line, you uſe to ſee two pictures, you have a good picture of a good King, and of a good ſubject; for in one line, you ſee ſuch a ſubject, as Loves pureneſs of heart, and hath grace in his lips. In the other line, you ſee the King gracious, yea friendly to ſuch a ſubject, He that loveth pureneſs of heart, for the grace of his lips, the King ſhall be his friend. The ſum of the words, is, that God will make an honeſt man acceptable to the King, for ſome ability, which he ſhall employ to the publike. Him that proceeds ſincerely in a lawful calling, God will bleſs and proſper, and he will ſeal this bleſſing to him, even with that which is his own ſeal, his own image, the favor of the King, He that loveth pureneſs of heart, for the grace of his lips, the King ſhall be his friend.

We will not be curious in placing theſe two pictures, nor conſidering which to conſider firſt. As he that would vow a faſt, till he had found in nature, whether the Egge, or the Hen were firſt in the world, might perchance ſtarve himſelf; ſo that King, or that p. 323ſubject, which would forbear to do their ſeveral duties,Serm. 24. till they had found which of them were moſt neceſſary to one another, might ſtarve one another; for, King and ſubjects are Relatives, and cannot be conſidered in execution of their duties, but together. The greateſt Myſtery in Earth, or Heaven, which is the Trinity, is conveyed to our underſtanding, no other way, then ſo, as they have reference to one another by Relation, as we ſay in the Schools; for, God could not be a father without a Son, nor the Holy Ghoſt Spiratus ſine ſpirante. As in Divinity, ſo in Humanity too, Relations conſtitute one another, King and ſubject come at once and together into conſideration. Neither is it ſo pertinent a conſideration, which of them was made for others ſake, as that they were both made for Gods ſake, and equally bound to advance his glory.

Here in our Text, we finde the ſubjects picture firſt;Diviſio. And his Marks are two; firſt, Pureneſs of Heart, That he be an honeſt Man; And then Grace of lips, that he be good for ſomething; for, by this phraſe, Grace of lips, is expreſſed every ability, to do any office of ſociety for the Publike good. The firſt of theſe, Pureneſs of heart, he muſt love; The other, that is, Grace of lips (that is, other Abilities) he muſt have, but he muſt not be in love with them, nor over-value them. In the Kings picture, the principal marke is, That he ſhall be friendly and gracious; but gracious to him that hath this Grace of lips, to him that hath endeavored, in ſome way, to be of uſe to the Publike; And, not to him neither, for all the grace of his lips, for all his good parts, except he alſo love pureneſs of heart; but, He that loveth pureneſs of heart (There's the foundation) for the grace of his lips (There's the upper-building) the King ſhall be his friend.

In the firſt then, which is this Pureneſs of heart, we are to conſider Rem, ſedem, & Modum; what this Pureneſs is,Part. 1. Puritas. Then where it is to be lodged and fixed, In the heart; and, after that, the way, and means by which this Pureneſs of heart is acquired and preſerved, which is implyed and notified in that Affection, wherewith this pureneſs of heart is to be embraced and entertained, which is love; For, Love is ſo noble, ſo ſoveraign an Affection, as that it is due to very few things, and very few things worthy of it. Love is a Poſſeſſory Affection, it delivers over him that loves into the poſſeſſion of that that he loves; it is a tranſmutatory Affection, it changes him that loves, into the very nature of that that he loves, and he is nothing elſe.

For the firſt, Pureneſs it ſelf; It is carried to a great heighth,Res. for our imitation (God knows, too great for our imitation) when Chriſt bids us be perfect, Mat. 5.48.Matt 5:48even as our father which is in heaven is perfect. As though it had not been perfectneſs enough, to be perfect, as the Son upon earth was perfect; he carries us higher, Be p. 324perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. The Son, upon Earth, Chriſt Jeſus, had all our infirmities, and imperfections upon him, hunger, and wearineſs, and hearty ſorrow to death, and that, which alone is All, Mortality, Death it ſelf. And, though he were Innocence it ſelf, and knew no ſin, yet there was no ſin that he knew not, for, all our ſins were his. He was not onelyonly made Man, and by taking (by Admitting, though not by Committing) our ſins, as well as our nature, ſinful Man; but he was made ſin for our ſakes. And therefore, though he ſay of himſelf, ſicut ego, John 15.10.John 15:10Keep my Commandements, even as I have kept my fathers Commandements, yet ſtill he refers all originally to the Father; and becauſe he was under our infirmities and our iniquities, he never ſays (though he might well have ſaid ſo) ſicut ego, Be pure, be perfect as I am perfect and pure, but ſicut Pater, be pure as your Father in heaven is pure. Hand to hand with the Father, Chriſt diſclaims himſelf,Mat. 26.39.Matt 26:39 diſavows himſelf, Non ſicut ego, Nevertheleſs, not as I will, but as thou wilt, O Father. We are not referr'd for the pattern of our purity (though we might be ſafely) to him that came from heaven, The Son, but to him which is in heaven, The Father. Nor to the Sun which is in heaven (the Sun, that is the pure fountain of all natural light) nor to the Angels which are in heaven, though they be pure in their Nature, and refined by a continual emanation of the beams of glory upon them, from the face of God, but, the Father which is in heaven is made the pattern of our purity; That ſo, when we ſee the exact purity, which we ſhould aim at, and labor for, we might the more ſeriouſly lament, and the more ſtudiouſly endeavor the amendment of that extreme and enormous fouleneſs and impurity, in which we who ſhould be pure, as our Father which is in heaven is pure, exceed the dog that turns to his own vomit again;2 Pet. 2.22.2 Pet 2:22 and the Sow, that was waſhed, to her wallowing in the mire.

Yet there is no foulneſs ſo foul, ſo inexcuſable in the eys of God, nor that ſhall ſo much aggravate our condemnation, as a falſe affectation, and an hypocritical counterfeiting of this Purity. There is a Pureneſs, a cleanneſs imagin'd (rather dream't of) in the Romane Church, by which (as their words are) the ſoul is abſtracted, not onelyonly à Paſsionibus, but â Phantaſmatibus, not onelyonly from paſſions, and perturbations, but from the ordinary way of coming to know any thing; The ſoul (ſay they) of men ſo purified, underſtands no longer, per phantaſmata rerum corporalium; not by having any thing preſented by the fantaſie to the ſenſes, and ſo to the underſtanding, but altogether by a familiar converſation with God, and an immediate revelation from God; whereas Chriſt himſelf contented himſelf with the ordinary way; He was hungry,Mat. 21.20.Matt 21:20 and a fig-tree preſented it ſelf to him upon the way, and he went to it to eat. This is that Pureneſs in the Romane p. 325Church, by which the founder of the laſt Order amongſt them, Philip Nerius, had not onelyonly utterly emptied his heart of the world, but had fill'd it too full of God; for,Congrega. Orator. ſo (ſay they) he was fain to cry ſometimes, Recede ame Domine, O Lord go farther from me, and let me have a leſs portion of thee. But who would be loath to ſink, by being over-fraited with God, or loath to over-ſet, by having ſo much of that winde, the breath of the Spirit of God? Privation of the preſence of God, is Hell; a diminution of it, is a ſtep toward it. Fruition of his preſence is Heaven; and ſhall any Man be afraid of having too much Heaven, too much God? There are many among them, that are over laden, oppreſſed with Biſhropricks and Abbeys, and yet they can bear it and never cry, Retrahe domine, domine Reſume, O Lord withdraw from me, Reſume to thy ſelf ſome of theſe ſuperabundancies; and ſhall we think any of them to be ſo over-fraited and ſurcharg'd with the preſence, and with the grace of God, as to be put to his Recede domine, O Lord withdraw thy ſelf, and leſſen thy grace towards me? This Pureneſs is not in their heart, but in their fantaſie.

We read in the Eccleſiaſtick ſtory of ſuch a kinde of affectation of ſingularity, very early in the primitive Church.Catharſitae. We finde two ſorts of falſe Puritans then; The Cathariſts, and The Cathari. The Cathariſts thought no creatures of God pure, and therefore they brought in ſtrange ceremonial purifications of thoſe Creatures. In which error, they of the Romane Church ſucceed them, in a great part, in their Exorciſmes, and Conſecrations; Particularly in the greateſt matter of all, in the Sacraments. For, the Cathariſts in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour, thought not the bread pure, except it were purified by the aſperſion of ſomething iſſuing from the body of man, not fit to be nam'd here; And ſo, in the Romane Church, they induc'd a uſe of another Excrement in the other Sacrament, They muſt have ſpittle in the Sacrament of Baptiſme. For, in thoſe words of Tertullian, Tertul.In Baptiſmo Daemones reſpuimus, In Baptiſm we Renounce the Devil, they will admit no other interpretation of the Reſpuimus, but that Reſpuere, is ſputo deteſtari, Durantius de citib l. 1.19 n. 30.That we can drive the Devil away, no way, but by ſpitting at him; Their predeceſſors in this, the Cathariſts, thought no Creatures pure, and therefore purified them, by abhominable, and deteſtable ways.

The ſecond ſort of primitive Puritans, the Cathari, Cathari.They thought no men pure but themſelves, and themſelves they thought ſo pure, as to have no ſin; and that therefore they might and ſo did, leave out, as an impertinent clauſe in the Lords prayer, that petition, Dimitte nobis debita noſtra, for, they thought they ought God nothing. In natural things, Monſters have no p. 326propagation; A Monſter does not beget a Monſter. In ſpiritual exceſſes it is otherwiſe; for, for this ſecond kinde of Puritans, that attribute all purity to themſelves, and ſpend all their thoughts upon conſidering others, that weed hath grown ſo far, that whereas thoſe Puritans of the Primitive Church did but refuſe to ſay, Dimitte nobis, Forgive us our treſpaſſes, becauſe they had no ſin, the Puritan Papiſt is come to ſay, Recede a nobis, O Lord ſtand farther off, for I have too much of thee. And whereas the Puritan of the primitive Church did but refuſe one Petition of the Lords prayer, the later puritan amongſt our ſelves hath refuſed the whole Prayer. Towards both theſe ſorts of falſe puritans, Cathariſts, and Cathari, derived down to our time, we acknowledge thoſe words of the Apoſtle to belong,2 Tim. 4.2.2 Tim 4:2 Reprove, Rebuke, Exhort; that is, leave no ſuch means untryed, as may work upon their Underſtandings, and remove their juſt ſcruples; Preach, write, confer; But when that labor hath been beſtow'd, and they fear up their Underſtanding againſt it, ſo that the fault lies not then in the darkneſs of their Underſtanding, but meerly in the perverſneſs of the will, over which faculty other men have no power, towards both theſe ſorts, we acknowledge thoſe other words of the Apoſtle to belong too,Gal. 5.12.Gal 5:12 Utinam abſcindantur, Would to God, they were even cut off that diſquiet you; Cut off, that is, removed from means by which, and from places, in which, they might diſquiet you. Theſe two kinds of falſe Puritans we finde in the Primitive Church; And Satan, who laſts ſtill, makes them laſt ſtill too. But if we ſhall imagine a third ſort of Puritans, and make men afraid of the zeal of the glory of God, make men hard, and inſenſible of thoſe wounds that are inflicted upon Chriſt Jeſus, in blaſphemous oaths, and execrations, make men aſhamed to put a difference between the Sabbath and an ordinary day, and ſo, at laſt make ſin an indifferent matter, If any man liſt to be contentious we have no ſuch cuſtome, 1 Cor. 11.16.1 Cor 11:16neither the Chuch of God. The Church of God encourages them, and aſſiſts them in that ſanctity, that purity, with all thoſe means wherewith Chriſt Jeſus hath truſted her, for the advancement of that purity; and profeſſes that ſhe prefers in her recommendations to God, in her prayers, one Chriſtian truly fervent and zealous, before millions of Lukewarme. OnelyOnly ſhe ſays, in the voice of Chriſt Jeſus her head, Wo be unto you, Mat. 23 25.Matt 23:25if you make clean the outſide of cups and platters, but leave them full of extortion, and exceſs within. Chriſt calls them to whom he ſays that, blinde Phariſees, if they have done ſo; If they think to blinde others, Chriſt calls them blinde. But if their purity conſiſt in ſtudying & practiſing the moſt available means to ſanctification, and in obedience to lawful authority eſtabliſhed according to Gods Ordinance, and in acquieſcence in fundamental doctrines, believed in the ancient Church to be neceſſary to ſalvation, p. 327If they love the peace of conſcience, and the peace of Sion, as Balaam ſaid, Let me dye the death of the righteous, and let my laſt end he like his; So I ſay, let me live the life of a Puritan, Num. 23.10.Num 23:10let the zeal of the houſe of God conſume me, let a holy life, and an humble obedience to the Law, teſtifie my reverence to God in his Church, and in his Magiſtrate: For, this is Saint Pauls Puritan, To have a pure heart (The end of the commandment is love, out of a pure heart) And then to have pure hands (That we may lift up pure hands, 1 Tim. 1.5. 2 8. 3 8.1 Tim 1:51 Tim 1:2without wrath or doubting) And to have pure conſciences (Having the myſtery of faith in pure conſciences.) The heart is the fountain from which my good and holy purpoſes flow; My hand is the execution and Declaration of thoſe good purpoſes, produc'd into the eyes of men; and my conſcience is the teſtification of the Spirit of God with my ſpirit, that I have actually made thoſe declarations, that I have liv'd according to that profeſſion. This is Saint Pauls Puritan, Pure in Heart, pure in Hand, pure in Conſcience; That I do believe I ought to do this; That really I do it; Thar my conſcience tell me after, it was rightly done; for, a man may do good, ill, and go by ill ways, to good ends. And then, if our purity be but comparative and not poſitive, that we onelyonly look how ill other men be, not how good we ſhould be, we ſhall become either Cathariſts, purifying Puritans, quarrelling with men, with States, with Churches, and attempting a purifying of Sacraments, and Ceremonies, Doctrine and Diſcipline, according to our own fancy; Or Cathari, purified puritans, that think they may leave out the Dimitte debita, they need ask no forgiveneſs. And then, Cains major iniquitas (my ſin is too great for God to forgive) is not worſe then this minor iniquitas, Gen. 4.13.Gen 4:13My ſin is too little for God to conſider; I cannot have a pardon, and I do not need a pardon, It is impoſſible for me to get it, and it is unneceſſary for me to ask it, are equal contempts againſt the Majeſty and Mercy of God. But this firſt conſideration (The nature of his pureneſs) enlarges it ſelf by flowing into the ſecond branch of this firſt part, that is, The place where this pureneſs is eſtabliſhed, The Heart: He that loves pureneſs of Heart, the King ſhall be his friend.

Abſolute pureneſs cannot be attained to In via, Locus. Cor.It is reſerved for us In Patria; At home in heaven, not in our journey here, is that pureneſs to be expected. But yet here in the way, there is a degree of it, acceptable to God; of which himſelf ſpeaks, and there it may be had; Bleſſed are the pure in heart (ſo the pureneſs be placed there, all's well) for they ſhall ſee God. Mat. 5.9.Matt 5:9Whether that fight of God be ſpoken De cognitione Dei, of that ſight of God,1 Cor. 13.12.1 Cor 13:12 which we have here▪ In ſpeculo, in a glaſs, in that true glaſs of his own making, his word explicated in the Church; or de viſione Beatifica, of that beatifical viſion of God, which is ſalvation, p. 328howſoever the reward (the ſight of God) in the perfect fruition thereof may be reſerved for the future (They ſhall ſee God) yet they are pure, and they are bleſſed already, Bleſſed are the pure in heart. This pureneſs then muſt be rightly plac'd; for, in many things, the place qualifies and denominates the things; it is not Balſamum if it grew not in Paleſtine. It is not pureneſs, if it grew not in the Heart. The Hypocrite is the miſerableſt of all other; he does God ſervice, and yet is damned. The ſhedding of our blood for God is not a greater ſervice then the winning of ſouls to God; and the Hypocrite many times does that; his outward purity works upon them who cannot know it to be counterfeit, and draws them truely and ſincerely to ſerve God. He does God ſervice, and yet periſhes,1 Reg. 14.10.1 Kgs 14:10 becauſe he does it not from the heart. God ſhall take him away, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. God does not ſay there, that he will take away the dunge, but the man; not that he will take away the Diſſimulation of the Hypocrite, but he will take away the Hypocrite himſelf, as dunge is taken away, till it be all gone, till this Hypocrite be ſwept, not clean, but clean away. If he have a complacency, a joy that he can deceive,Job 20.5.Job 20:5 and can ſeem that which he is not (The joy of the Hypocrite is but for a moment) He hath no true joy at all; his joy is but dunge, and in a moment comes a Cart, and fetches away that dunge, ſweeps away even that falſe joy. Can he hope for more?8.13. (The Hope of the Hypocrite ſhall periſh) If he can conceive ſuch a hope, it ſhall periſh in abortion, and never have life (Their Hope ſhall be as the giving up of the Ghoſt) As ſoon as it is a Hope,11.20. it ſhall be as the giving up of the Ghoſt, and a Cart ſhall carry away that dunge, that Hope. What Cart? firſt, God ſhall diſappoint his Hope of deluding the world; God ſhall diſcover him, and lay him open (That the Hypocrites reign not, 34.30.leſt the people be enſnar'd) And then, when God hath diſcovered him (The innocent ſhall ſtir up himſelf againſt the Hypocrite) that is,17.8. conſider him, obſerve him, and arm himſelf againſt his imaginations. And God ſhall not onelyonly diſcover him to men, but God ſhall diſcover himſelf to him, and make him ſee his future condemnation (Fearfulneſs ſhall ſurprize the Hypocrite. Eſa. 33.14. Job 27.8.Isa 33:14Job 27:8) And then (What is the hope of the Hypocrite, when God taketh away his ſoul) when the Cart comes for the laſt load of dunge, his corrupt, his putrified ſoul, what hope hath the Hypocrite for the next life?

It is not pureneſs then, except it be in the right place, the heart; But where is the heart? The heart is vafrum & inſcrutabile, Deceitful above all things, Jer. 17.9.Jer 17:9and deſperately wieked, who can know it? It is uncertain and unſearchable; And it is ſo, becauſe it purſues thoſe things which are in fluxu, ever in motion. Caſt but a paper into the river, and fix thine eye upon that paper, and binde thine eye to follow that paper whitherſoever the river, or the winde ſhall carry p. 329it, and thou canſt not imagine where thine eye will be to morrow: For, this paper is not addreſſed, as a ſhip, to a certain port, or upon any certain purpoſe, but expos'd to the diſpoſition of the tyde to the rage of the winde, to the wantonneſs of the Eddy, and to innumerable contingencies, till it wear out to nothing. So, if a man ſet his heart (we cannot call it a ſetting) if a man ſuffer his heart to iſſue upon any of theſe fluid and tranſitory things of this world, he ſhall have cor vafrum, & inſcrutabile, He ſhall not know where to finde his own heart. If Riches be this floating paper that his eye is fixed upon, he ſhall not know upon what courſe; If Beauty be this paper, he ſhall not know upon what face; If Honor and preferment be it, he ſhall not know upon what faction his heart will be tranſported a month hence. But, if the heart can fix it ſelf upon that which is fixt, the Almighty and immoveable God, if it can be content to inquire after it ſelf, and take knowledge where it is, and in what way, it will finde the means of cleanſing; And ſo, this ſecond conſideration, The placing of this pureneſs in the heart, enlarges it ſelf alſo into the third branch of this part, which is De Modo, by what means this pureneſs is fix'd in the heart, in which is involved the Affection with which it muſt be embrac'd, Love, He that loveth pureneſs of heart.

Both theſe then are ſetled; Our heart is naturally foul;Modus. And our heart may be cleanſed. But how, is our preſent diſquiſition, Who can bring a clean thing out of filthineſs? There is not one: Job 14.4.Job 14:4Adam foul'd my heart and all yours; nor can we make it clean our ſelves, Who can ſay I have made clean my heart? There is but one way;Prov. 20.9.Prov 20:9 a poor beggarly way, but eaſie and ſure, to ask it of God. And, even to God himſelf it ſeems a hard work to cleanſe this heart; and therefore our prayer muſt be with David, Cor mundum crea, Create, Pſal. 51.12.Ps 51:12O Lord, a pure heart in me. And then comes Gods part, not that Gods part begun but then; for it was his doing, that thou madeſt this prayer; but becauſe it is a work that God does eſpecially delight in, to build upon his own foundations; when he hath diſpoſed thee to pray, and upon that prayer created a new heart in thee, then God works upon that new heart, and By faith purifyes it, Act. 15.9.Acts 15:9enables it to preſerve the pureneſs, as Saint Peter ſpeaks. He had kindled ſome ſparks of this faith in thee, before thou askedſt that new heart; elſe the prayer had not been of faith; but now finding thee obſequious to his beginnings, he fuels this fire, and purifies thee, as Gold and Silver, in all his furnaces; through Believing and Doing, and ſuffering, through faith, and works, and tribulation, we come to this pureneſs of heart. And truely, he that lacks but the laſt, but Tribulation (as fain as we would be without it) lacks one concoction, one refining of this heart.

p. 330But, in this great work, the firſt act is a Renovation, a new heart;Co… Nov…m and the other, That we keep clean that heart by a continual diligence, and vigilancy over all our particular actions. In theſe two conſiſts the whole work of purifying the heart; firſt, an Annihilating of the former heart, which was all ſin; And then a holy ſuperintendency over that new heart, which God vouchſafes to create in us, to keep it as he gives it, clean, pure. It is, in a word, a Deteſtation of former ſins, and a prevention of future. And for the firſt,Chromakus Anno 390. Mundi corde ſunt, qui depoſuere cor peccati; That's the new heart that hath diſſeiſed, expelled the heart of ſin. There is in us a heart of ſin, which muſt be caſt up; for whilſt the heart is under the habits of ſin, we are not onelyonly ſinful, but we are all ſin▪ as it is truly ſaid, that land overflow'd with ſea, is all ſea. And when ſin hath got a heart in us, it will quickly come to be that whole Body of Death, Rom. 7.24.Rom 7:24which Saint Paul complains of, who ſhall deliver me from the Body of this Death? when it is a heart, it will get a Braine; a Brain that ſhall miniſter all Senſe, and Delight in ſin; That's the office of the Brain; A Brain which ſhall ſend for the ſinews and ligaments, to tye ſins together; and pith and marrow to give a ſucculencie, and nouriſhment, even to the bones, to the ſtrength and obduration of ſin; and ſo it ſhall do all thoſe ſervices, and offices for ſin, that the brain does to the natural body. So alſo if ſin get to be a heart, it will get a liver to carry blood and life through all the body of our ſinful actions; That's the office of the liver; And whilſt we diſpute whether the throne and ſeat of the ſoul be in the Heart, or Brain, or Liver, this tyrant ſin will praeoccupate all, and become all; ſo, as that we ſhall finde nothing in us without ſin, nothing in us but ſin, if our heart be poſſeſt, inhabited by it. And if it be true in our natural bodies, that the heart is that part that lives firſt and dyes laſt, it is much truer of this Cor peccati, this heart of ſin; for, this hearty ſinner that hath given his heart to his ſin, doth no more foreſee a Death of that ſin in himſelf, then he remembers the Birth of it; and, becauſe he remembers not, or underſtands not how his ſoul contracted ſin, by coming into his body, he leaves her to the ſame ignorance, how ſhe ſhall diſcharge her ſelf of ſin, when ſhe goes out of that body. But, as his ſin is elder then himſelf (for Adams ſin is his ſin) ſo is it longer liv'd then his body, for it ſhall cleave everlaſtingly to his ſoul too. God asks no more of thee, but, fili da mihi cor, Prov. 23.26.Prov 23:26My ſon give me thy heart; Becauſe when God gave it thee, it was but one heart. But ſince thou haſt made it Cor & cor (as the Prophet ſpeaks) a Heart, and a Heart, a double Heart, give both thy Hearts to God; thy natural weakneſs and diſpoſition to ſin (The inclinations of thy heart)▪ And thy habitual practiſe of ſin, (The obduration of thy heart) cor peccans, and Cor peccati, and he ſhall create a new heart in thee; which is the firſt way of attaining p. 331this pureneſs of heart, to become once in a good ſtate, to have (as it were) paid all thy former debts, and ſo to be the better able to look about thee for the future, for prevention of ſubſequent ſins, which is the other way that we propoſed for attaining this pureneſs, deteſtation of former habits, watchfulneſs upon particular actions.

Till this be done, till this Cor peccati, Peccata Minutiora.this hearty habitualneſs in ſin be deveſted, there is no room, no footing to ſtand and ſweep it; a heart ſo filled with foulneſs will admit no counſel, no reproof. The great Engineir would have undertaken to have removed the World with his Engine, if there had been any place to fix his Engine upon, out of the World; I would undertake, (by Gods bleſſing upon his Ordinance) to cleanſe the fouleſt heart that is, if that Engine which God hath put into my hands might enter into his heart; if there were room for the renouncing Gods Judgements, and for the application of Gods mercies in the merits of Chriſt Jeſus in his heart, they would infallibly work upon him. But he hath petrified his heart in ſin, and then he hath immur'd it, wall'd it with a delight in ſin, and fortified it with a juſtifying of his ſin, and adds daily more and more out-works, by more and more daily ſins; ſo that the denouncing of Judgement, the application of Mercies, Prayers, Sermons, Sacraments, (which are the Engines and Ammunition which God hath put into our hands) though they have a bleſſed and a powerful operation, and produce heavenly effects, where they may have entrance; in this, habitual ſinners can have none. Some things therefore, ſome great things every man muſt depart with, before he can come to the God of pure eyes.Abac. 1.13.Hab 1:13

When the heart is emptied of infidelity, and of thoſe habits of ſin that filled it, when it is come to a diſcontinuance, and a deteſtation of thoſe ſins, then we can better look into every corner, and endeavor to keep it clean; clean in that meaſure, that the God of pure eyes will vouchſafe to look upon it, and the light of his countenance will perfect the work. The diligence required on our part, is a ſerious watchfulneſs and conſideration of our particular actions, how ſmall ſoever. In the Law, whatſoever was unclean to eat, made a man unclean, to touch it, when it was dead. Though the body of ſin have ſo far received a deadly wound in thee, as that thou haſt diſcontinued ſome habitual ſin, ſome long time; yet if thou touch upon the memory of that dead ſin, with delight, thou begetteſt a new childe of ſin.65.20. And as Eſai ſpeaks of a childe, and of a ſinner of an hundred years old, ſo every ſin into which we relapſe, is born an hundred years old; it hath all the age of that ſin, which we had repented and diſcontinued before, upon it; it is born an Adam, in full ſtrength the firſt minute; born a Giant, born a Devil, and poſſeſſes us in an inſtant. Every man may p. 332obſerve, that a ſin of relapſe is ſooner upon him, then the ſame ſin was at the firſt attempting him; at firſt, he had more baſhfulneſs, more tenderneſs, more colluctation againſt the ſin, then upon a relapſe. And therefore in this ſurvey of ſin, thy firſt care muſt be, to take heed of returning top diligently to a remembrance of thoſe delightful ſins which are paſt; for that will endanger new. And in many caſes it is ſafer to do (as God himſelf is ſaid to do) to tie up our ſins in a bundle, and caſt them into the ſea; ſo for us to preſent our ſins in general to God, and to caſt them into the bottomleſs ſea of the infinite mercies of God, in the infinite merits of Chriſt Jeſus; then by an over-diligent enumeration of ſins of ſome kindes, or by too buſie a contemplation of thoſe circumſtances which encreaſed our ſinful delignt then when we committed thoſe ſins, to commit them over again, by a freſh delight in their memory. When thou haſt truly repented them, and God hath forgotten them, do thou forget them too.

The pureneſs and cleanneſs of heart which we muſt love, was evidently repreſented in the old Law, and in the practiſe of the Jews, who took knowledge of ſo many uncleanneſſes; they reckon almoſt fifty ſorts of uncleanneſſes, to which there belonged particular expiations; of which, ſome were hardly to be avoided in ordinary converſation: As to enter into the Courts of Juſtice; for the Jews that led Chriſt into the common Hall, would not enter, leſt they ſhould be defiled.Jo. 18.28.John 18:28 Yea, ſome things defiled them, which it had been unnatural to have left undone; as for the ſon to aſſiſt at his fathers Funeral; and yet even theſe required an expiation: For theſe, though they had not the nature of ſin, but might be expiated, (without any inward ſorrow or repentance) by outward ablutions, by ceremonial waſhings, within a certain time preſcribed by the Law, yet if that time were negligently and inconſiderately overſlipt, then they became ſins, and then they could not be expiated, but by a more ſolemn, and a more coſtly way, by ſacrifice. And even before they came to that, whilſt they were but uncleanneſſes, and not ſins, yet even then they made them incapable of eating the Paſchal Lamb. So careful was God in the Law, and the Jews in their practiſe (for theſe outward things) to preſerve this pureneſs, this cleanneſs, even in things which were not fully ſins. So alſo muſt he that affects this pureneſs of heart, and ſtudies the preſerving of it, ſweep down every cobweb that hangs about it. Scurrile and obſcene language; yea, miſ-interpretable words, ſuch as may bear an ill ſenſe; pleaſureable converſation, and all ſuch little entanglings, which though he think too weak to hold him, yet they foul him. And let him that is ſubject to theſe ſmaller ſins, remember, that as a ſpider builds always where he knows there is moſt acceſs and haunt of flies, ſo the Devil that hath caſt theſe light cobwebs into thy p. 333heart, knows that that heart is made of vanities and levities; and he that gathers into his treaſure whatſoever thou waſt'ſt out of thine, how negligent ſoever thou be, he keeps thy reckoning exactly, and will produce againſt thee at laſt as many laſcivious glaunces as ſhall make up an Adultery, as many covetous wiſhes as ſhall make up a Robery, as many angry words as ſhall make up a Murder; and thou ſhalt have dropt and crumbled away thy ſoul, with as much irrecoverableneſs, as if thou hadſt poured it out all at once; and thy merry ſins, thy laughing ſins, ſhall grow to be crying ſins, even in the ears of God; and though thou drown thy ſoul here, drop after drop, it ſhall not burn ſpark after ſpark, but have all the fire, and all at once, and all eternally, in one intire and intenſe torment. For, as God, for our capacity, is content to be deſcribed as one of us, and to take our paſſions upon him, and be called angry, and ſorry, and the like; ſo is he in this alſo like us, that he takes it worſe to be ſlighted, to be neglected, to be left out, then to be actually injur'd. Our inconſideration, our not thinking of God in our actions, offends him more then our ſins. We know, that in Nature, and in Art, the ſtrongeſt bodies are compact of the leaſt particles, becauſe they ſhut beſt, and lie cloſeſt together; ſo be the ſtrongeſt habits of ſin compact of ſins which in themſelves are leaſt; becauſe they are leaſt perceived, they grow upon us inſenſibly, and they cleave unto us inſeparably. And I ſhould make no doubt of recovering him ſooner that had ſinned long againſt his conſcience, though in a great ſin, then him that had ſinned leſs ſins, without any ſenſe or conſcience of thoſe ſins; for I ſhould ſooner bring the other to a deteſtation of his ſin, then bring this man to a knowledge, that that that he did was ſin. But if thou could'ſt conſider that every ſin is a Crucifying of Chriſt, and every ſin is a precipitation of thy ſelf from a Pinacle; were it a convenient phraſe to ſay, in every little ſin, that thou would'ſt Crucifie Chriſt a little, or break thy neck a little.

Beloved, there is a power in grace, upon thy repentance, to waſh away thy greateſt ſins; that's the true, the proper Phyſick of the ſoul, it is the only means to recover thee. But yet, wert thou not better to make this grace thy diet, then thy phyſick? Wert thou not better to nouriſh thy ſoul with this grace all the way, then to hope to purge thy ſoul with it at laſt? This, as a Diet, the Apoſtle preſcribes thee, Whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. He intends it farther there, Whatſoever you do; and farther then that, in another place, Whatſoever ye do, in deed, 1 Cor. 10.31. Col. 3.17.1 Cor 10:31Col 3:17or in word, do all in the name of the Lord Jeſus. Since there is no action ſo little, but God may be glorified in it, there is no action ſo little, but the Devil may have his end in it too, and may overthrow thee by a tentation, which thou thinkeſt thy ſelf ſtrong enough to leap over. And therefore, if you have not given p. 334over all love of true weights, and true meaſures, weigh and meaſure your particular and indifferent actions, before you do them, and you ſhall ſee, at leaſt, grains of iniquity in them; and then, this advantage will you have, by this preconſideration, and weighing your actions before hand; that when you know there is ſin in that action, and know that nothing can counterpoiſe, nor weigh down ſin, but onelyonly the Blood of Chriſt Jeſus▪ you may know too, that the Blood of Chriſt Jeſus cannot be had before hand. God gives no ſuch non-obſtantes, no ſuch priviledges, no leave to ſin, no pardon for ſin, before it be committed: And therefore, if this premeditation of this action bring thee to ſee that there is ſin in it▪ it muſt neceſſarily put a tenderneſs, a horror, an averſion in thee, from doing that, to which, (being thus done with this preconſideration, and preſumption) the Blood of thy Saviour doth not appertain. To all your other Wares, the baſer and courſer they are, the greater weight and meaſure you are content to give; to the baſeſt of all, to ſin, you give the lighteſt weight, and ſcanteſt meaſure, and you ſupply all with the excuſes of the cuſtom of the time, that the neceſſity of your trade forces you to it, elſe you ſhould be poor, and poorly thought of.

Beloved, God never puts his children to a perplexity; to a neceſſity of doing any ſin, how little ſoever, though for the avoiding of a ſin, as manifold as Adams. It is not a little requeſt to you, to beware of little ſins: It is not a little requeſt, and therefore I make it, in the words of the greateſt to the greateſt, (for they are all one Head and Body) of Chriſt to his Church,Cant. 2.15.Song 2:15 Capite vulpeculas, Take us the little Foxes, for they devour the Vines. It is not a cropping, not a pilling, nor a retarding of the growth of the Vines, but Demoliuntur, as little as thoſe Foxes are, they devour the Vines, they root them out. Thy Soul is not ſo eaſily devoured by that Lion, 1 Pet. 5.8. Apoc. 5.5.1 Pet 5:8Rev 5:5that ſeeks whom he may devour▪ for, ſtill he is put to ſeek, and does not always finde: And thou ſhalt hear his roaring, that is, thou ſhalt diſcern a great ſin; and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah will come in to thy ſuccor, as ſoon as thou calleſt: But take heed that thy Soul be not eaten up with vermin, by thoſe little ſins, which thou thinkſt thou canſt forbear, and give over when thou wilt. God puniſhed the Egyptians moſt, by little things▪ Hailſtones, and Frogs, and Graſhoppers; and Pharaohs Sorcerers,Exod. 8.16.Exod 8:16 which did greater, failed in the leaſt, in Lice. It is true, there is Phyſick for this, Chriſt Jeſus that receives thy greateſt ſins into his Blood, can receive theſe Vermin too into his Bowels, even at laſt; but yet, ſtill make his Grace rather thy Diet, by a daily conſideration before hand, then thy Phyſick at laſt. It is ill to take two Phyſicks at once; bodily, and ghoſtly Phyſick too, upon thy Death-bed. The Apothecary p. 335and the Phyſician do well together; the Apothecary and the Prieſt not ſo well. Conſult with him before, at leaſt, conſult with thine own Conſcience in thoſe little actions, which either their own nature, or the cuſtom of the time, or thy courſe of life, thy calling, and the example of others in thy calling made thee think indifferent: For though it may ſeem a degree of flattery, to preach againſt little ſins in ſuch a City as this, where greater ſins do abound; yet becauſe theſe be the materials and elements of greater ſins, (and it is impoſſible to ſay where a Bowl will lie, that is let fall down a Hill, though it be let never ſo gently out of the hand,) and there is no pureneſs of heart, till even theſe Cobwebs and Crums be ſwept away; He that affects that pureneſs, will conſider well that of St. Auguſtine, Pſal. 24.4.Ps 24:4Intereſt inter rectum corde, & mundum corde; a right heart and a clean heart, is not all one: He may have a right heart, that keeps in the right way, in the profeſſion of the right Religion; but he onelyonly keeps his heart pure, that watches all his ſteps, even in that right way. St. Auguſtine conſiders that queſtion of David, Pſal. 24.3.Ps 24:3Quis aſcendet, and quis ſtabit, Who ſhall aſcend into the Hill of the Lord? and who ſhall ſtand in his holy place? And he applies the anſwer, Innocens manibus, & mundo corde; He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart: Thus, That he that hath clean hands, clean from blood, clean from bribery and oppreſſion, clean from fornication, and ſuch notorious ſins, Aſcendet in montem, He ſhall aſcend into the Hill of the Lord, he ſhall be admitted to all the benefits that the Chriſtian Church can give him; but onelyonly he that hath a pure heart, a care to glorifie God, in a holy watchfulneſs upon all his particular actions, to the excluſion of leſſer ſins, ſtabit, ſhall ſtand ſafe, confident, unſhaken, in his holy place, even in the judgment of God; clean hands juſtifie him to men, a pure heart to God: And therefore this pureneſs of heart, is here wrapped up in the richeſt mantle, in the nobleſt affection, that the nature of man hath, that is, love▪ For this is not onelyonly a contentment, an acquieſcence, a ſatisfaction, a delight in this pureneſs of heart, but love is a holy impatience in being without it, or being in a jealouſie that we are without it; and it is a holy fervor and vehemency in the purſuit of it, and a preferring it before any other thing that can be compared to it: That's love; and therefore it deſerves to be inſiſted upon, now when in our order propoſed at firſt, from the thing it ſelf that is required (pureneſs) and the ſeat, and center of that pureneſs (the heart) and the way of this fixation of this pureneſs in the heart, (deteſtation of former habits of ſins, and prevention of future ſins, in a watchful conſideration of all our actions, before we do them,) We are come to that affection wherewith this ineſtimable pureneſs is to be embraced, love: He that loveth pureneſs of heart.

p. 336Love, in Divinity, is ſuch an attribute, or ſuch a notion, as deſigns to us one perſon in the Trinity; and that perſon who communicates, and applies to us,Amor. the other two perſons, that is, The Holy Ghoſt: So that, as there is no power, but with relation to the Father, nor wiſdom but with relation to the Son, ſo there ſhould be no love but in the Holy Ghoſt, from whom comes this pureneſs of heart, and conſequently the love of it neceſſarily: For, the love of this pureneſs is part of this pureneſs it ſelf, and no man hath it, except he love it. All love which is placed upon lower things, admits ſatiety; but this love of this pureneſs, always grows, always proceeds: It does not onelyonly file off the ruſt of our hearts, in purging us of old habits, but proceeds to a daily poliſhing of the heart, in an exact watchfulneſs, and brings us to that brightneſs,Auguſtine. Ut ipſe videas faciem in corde, & alii videant cor in facie. That thou maiſt ſee thy face in thy heart, and the world may ſee thy heart in thy face; indeed, that to both, both heart and face may be all one: Thou ſhalt be a Looking-glaſs to thy ſelf, and to others too.

Mulieres.The higheſt degree of other love, is the love of woman: Which love, when it is rightly placed upon one woman, it is dignified by the Apoſtle with the higheſt compariſon,Epheſ. 5.25.Eph 5:25 Husbands love your wives, as Chriſt loved his Church: And God himſelf forbad not that this love ſhould be great enough to change natural affection,Gen. 2.24.Gen 2:24 Relinquet patrem, (for this, a man ſhall leave his Father) yea, to change nature it ſelf, caro una, two ſhall be one. Accordingly David expreſſes himſelf ſo, in commemoration of Jonathan, 2 Sam. 1.26.2 Sam 1:26Thy love to me was wonderful, paſsing the love of women: A love above that love, is wonderful. Now, this love between man and woman, doth ſo much confeſs a ſatiety, as that if a woman think to hold a man long, ſhe provides her ſelf ſome other capacity, ſome other title, then meerly as ſhe is a woman: Her wit, and her converſation, muſt continue this love; and ſhe muſt be a wife, a helper; elſe, meerly as a woman, this love muſt neceſſarily have intermiſſions. And therefore St. Jerome notes a cuſtom of his time,Jerome. (perchance prophetically enough of our times too) that to uphold an unlawful love, and make it continue, they uſed to call one another Friend, and Siſter, and Couſen, Ut etiam peccatis induant nomina caritatis, that they might apparel ill affections in good names; and thoſe names of natural and civil love might carry on, and continue a work, which otherwiſe would ſooner have withered. In Parables, and in Mythology, and in the application of Fables, this affection of love, for the often change of ſubjects, is deſcribed to have wings; whereas the true nature of a good love (ſuch as the love of this Text) is a conſtant union. But our love of earthly things is not ſo good as to be volatilis, apt to fly; for it is always groveling p. 337upon the earth, and earthly objects: As in ſpiritual fornications, the Idols are ſaid to have ears and hear not, and eyes and ſee not; ſo in this idolatrous love of the Creature, love hath wings, and flies not; it flies not upward, it never aſcends to the contemplation of the Creator, in the Creature. The Poets afford us but one Man, that in his love flew ſo high as the Moon; Endymion loved the Moon. The ſphear of our loves is ſublunary, upon things naturally inferior to our ſelves.

Let none of this be ſo miſtaken, as though women were thought improper for divine, or for civil converſation: For, they have the ſame ſoul; and of their good uſing the faculties of that ſoul, the Eccleſiaſtick ſtory, and the Martyrologies, give us abundant examples of great things done, and ſuffered by women for the advancement of Gods glory: But yet, as when the woman was taken out of man, God cauſed a heavy ſleep to fall upon man,Gen. 2.22.Gen 2:22 and he ſlept; ſo doth the Devil caſt a heavy ſleep upon him too. When the woman is ſo received into man again, as that ſhe poſſeſſes him, fills him, tranſports him. I know the Fathers are frequent in comparing and paralleling Eve, the Mother of Man, and Mary the Mother of God. But, God forbid any ſhould ſay, That the Virgin Mary concurred to our good, ſo, as Eve did to our ruine. It is ſaid truly, That as by one man ſin entred, and death, Rom. 5.12.Rom 5:12ſo by one man entred life. It may be ſaid, That by one woman ſin entred, and death, (and that rather then by the man; for,1 Tim. 2.14.1 Tim 2:14 Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, was in the tranſgreſsion.) But it cannot be ſaid, in that ſenſe, or that manner, that by one woman innocence entred▪ and life: The Virgin Mary had not the ſame intereſt in our ſalvation, as Eve had in our deſtruction; nothing that ſhe did entred into that treaſure, that ranſom that redeemed us. She, more then any other woman, and many other bleſſed women ſince, have done many things for the advancing of the glory of God, and imitation of others; ſo that they are not unfit for ſpiritual converſation; nor for the civil offices of friendſhip neither, where both tentation at home, and ſcandal abroad, may truly be avoided. I know St. Jerome in that caſe deſpiſed all ſcandal, and all malicious miſ-interpretations of his purpoſe therein, rather then give over perſwading the Lady Paula, to come from Rome, to him, and live at Jeruſalem: But, I know not ſo well, that he did well in ſo doing. A familiar and aſſiduous converſation with women will hardly be without tentation and ſcandal. St. Jerome himſelf apprehended that ſcandal tenderly, and expreſſes it paſſionately; Sceleratum me putant, & omnibus peccatis obrutum. The world takes me for a vicious man, more (ſceleratum) for a wicked, a facinorous man, for this, and obrutum, ſurrounded, overflowed with all ſins: Verſipellem, lubricum, mendacem, ſatanae arte decipientem: They p. 338take me to be a ſlippery fellow, a turn-coat from my profeſſed auſterity, a Lyar, an Impoſtor, a Deceiver; yet, though he diſcerned this ſcandal, and this inconvenience in it, he makes ſhift to eaſe himſelf in this, Nihil aliud mihi objicitur, niſi ſexus meus: They charge me with nothing but my ſex, that I am a man; Et hoc nunquam objicitur, niſi cum Hieroſolymam Paula proficiſcitur, nor that neither, but becauſe this Lady follows me to Jeruſalem.

He proceeds farther, That till he came acquainted in Paulas houſe at Rome, Omnium penè judicio, ſummo ſacerdotio dignus decernebar, every man thought me fit to be Pope; every man thought reverently of him, till he uſed her houſe. St. Jerome would fain have corrected their miſ-interpretations, and ſlackned the ſcandal, as we ſee in that vehement expoſtulation, and unlikelihood of an ill love between him and Paula; Nulla alia me Romae edomare potuit? Was Rome ſo barren, ſo weak, ſo ill furniſhed with inſtruments of tentation, that nothing in Rome it ſelf could ſhake my conſtancy, or retard my auſterity, Niſi lugens, jejuna, ſquallida, fletibus caecata, but a ſad, faſting, ill dreſt woman, blinde with weeping? Et quam manducantem nunquam vidi: A woman, whom (as familiar and domeſtick as I was in her houſe) I could never ſee eat bit of meat. But all this would not quench the fire, the ſcandal grew; he found it even amongſt his brethren, Homines Chriſtiani dicunt, he could not ſay, that onelyonly the enemies of the faith, or his enemies, but they that loved Religion well, and him well, talked dangerouſly and ſuſpiciouſly of it; and yet St. Jerome could not diſpoſe himſelf to forbear that converſation. He overcame the ſenſe of it, with a par pari refertur: I, ſays he, am even with them: Invicem inſanire videmur, they think me mad, and I think them mad: But this is not always a ſafe, nor a charitable way, when he might ſo eaſily have cured both madneſſes. But he perſeveres in it with that reſolution, Saluta Paulam, velit nolit mundus, in Chriſto meam; Remember me to my Paula, let the world ſay what it will, in Chriſt, my Paula: Thus he proceeds; if excuſably in his own behalf, that is the beſt; certainly not exemplarily, not to be followed by others, in caſes of ſo great ſcandal: For there goes not onelyonly a great deal of innocency (which we acknowledge, doubtleſly, to have been between that bleſſed couple) but there muſt go a great deal of neceſſity too, (that is, That Paula could not have been reduced by any other means to the ſervice of God, or continued in it, but by following St. Jerome to Jeruſalem) to juſtifie ſuch a converſation as became ſo ſcandalous. And howſoever, in ſome caſes excuſes might be found, what good Mariner would anchor under a Rock, and lie in danger of beating upon that? What Fiſh would chuſe his food upon a Hook? What Mouſe at a Trap? What man would p. 339mingle Sugar and Rats-bane together, and then truſt his cunning to ſever them again? Why ſhould any man chuſe ſuch company, ſuch converſation, as may miniſter tentation to him, or ſcandal to others?Auguſtine, St. Auguſtine apprehended this danger tenderly, when he gave his reaſon, why he would not have his Mother in the houſe with him, Becauſe, ſays he, though there be no danger of ſcandal in the perſon of my Mother▪ all thoſe women that ſerve my Mother, and that accompany my Mother, and that viſit my Mother, all they are not Mothers to me; and a lawful converſation may come to an unlawful love quickly. We ſee how this love wrought, when it was ſcattered upon many women, (and therefore could not be ſo dangerouſly vehement upon any one) in Solomon, whoſe wife turned away his heart;1 King 11.4. Auguſtine.1 Kgs 11:4 ſo that his heart was not perfect with God. Nec errore putavit Idolis ſerviendum, Solomon never came to think deliberately, that Idolatry was lawful▪ ſed blanditiis foemineis ad illa ſacrificia compulſus, his appliableneſs to women brought him to that ſacriledge. Thus it wrought, even when it was ſcattered upon many, in Solomon; and we ſee how it wrought, when it was collected and contracted upon one object, in Samſon; Judg. 16.6.Judg 16:6Becauſe ſhe was importunate upon him (ſays the Text) and vexed him with her words continually, his ſoul was pained unto the death. Yea, if we go as high as is poſſible, to Adam himſelf, we ſee both St. Auguſtine and St. Jerome expreſs his caſe thus, Adam non tanquam verum loquenti credidit, Adam did not believe Eve, nor was not overcome by her reaſons, when ſhe provoked him to eat the Apple, Sed ſociali neceſsitudini paruit, he was affected with that near intereſt which was between them. And ne contriſtaretur delicias ſuas, leſt by refuſing he ſhould put her, whom he delighted in, to a deſperate ſadneſs, and ſenſe of her ſin, he eat for company. And as the firſt, and the middle times did, ſo without doubt, our own times too, if we ſearch but our ſelves at home, do miniſter examples of this (in a proportion) which neither St. Jerome, nor Solomon, nor Samſon, nor Adam avoided, that an over-tender indulgence towards ſuch women, that for other reſpects they were bound to love, inclined them to do ſuch things, as otherwiſe they would not have done; Natural and civil obligations induced converſation, and converſation tentation, or if not that really, yet ſcandal.

That that we drive to in all this, is this, that if we may not exceed in this love, which is natural, and commanded, much leſs in any other. So that there is nothing in this world left, for this noble and operative affection, Love, to work upon, but this pureneſs of heart. Love it therefore, that thou mayſt ſeek it, love it that thou mayeſt have it; love it that thou mayeſt love it; for (as we ſaid before) it is a part of this pureneſs to love it. Some of p. 340the ancient Fathers, out of their love to it, have put ſo high a price and eſtimation upon it, that they hardly afforded any grace, any pardon to thoſe that ſinned after they had once received this pureneſs in Baptiſm. So that with them, the heart could never be clean again, after it was once foul'd a ſecond time. Our new Romane Chymiſts, Mald…n.on the other ſide, they that can tranſubſtantiate bread into God, they can change any foulneſs into cleaneſs eaſily. They require no more after ſin, but quendam tenuem dolorem internum, A little ſlight inward ſorrow, and that's enough. For, they have provided an eaſier way, then Contrition; for, that which they have induc'd, and call Attrition, is not an affection, qui habet pro ſine Deum, That hath propoſed God, for the mark, that it is directed too; Nec qui indiget divina gratia; but it is ſuch an affection as may be had without any concurrence or aſſiſtance of grace, and is onelyonly Dolor naturalis, Zambran.& ex timore ſervili,, a natural ſorrow, proceeding onelyonly out of a ſervile fear of torment. And yet, a Confeſſion made with this Attrition and no more, is enough for ſalvation, ſay they; and he that hath made a confeſſion with ſuch a diſpoſition as this, This that hath no reference to God, This that hath no ſtrength from his grace, This that hath no motive from the fear of God, ſhall never need to repent any farther for his ſins. Diſpliceri de peccato, Caj…tan.ſed non ſuper omni diſplicibili; This is Attrition, to be diſpleaſed with our ſins, but not more with our ſins, then with any thing elſe; Intendere vitare peccatum, ſed non ſuper omne vitabile, To have a purpoſe to leave a ſin, but not the ſin rather then any thing elſe, this is their Attrition, and this is their enough for ſalvation. A ſigh of the penitent, a word of the Prieſt, makes all clean, and induces an abſolute pureneſs.

Thus ſome of the Ancients went too far, They would pardon no ſin after Baptiſm; Theſe new Men go not far enough▪ They pardon all too eaſily. Old Phyſicians thought all hurts in the heart preſently mortal; Theſe new Phyſitians can pare off ſome of the heart, and give it to Idolatry; for, ſo they ſay, that the worſhip due to God may be given to a creature, ſo it be not Tanquam Deo, as that the Creature is thereby profeſſed to be God; and yet, they confeſs that that worſhip which they give to the creature is idolatry, but, not that Idolatry, ſay they, which is forbidden in the commandment, which is, that that Creature, ſo worſhipped with the worſhip due to God, be alſo believed to be God; and ſo, truely I believe it will be hard to finde any Idolatry in the world; That they that worſhip any thing, in repreſentation of God, do believe adviſedly that repreſentation to be very God. But the true reaſon why no hurt received in the heart can be healed, is, quia palpitat, becauſe it is in perpetual motion. If the heart lay ſtill, as other parts do, ſo that medicinal helps might be applied to it, and admitted by it, there were more hope. Therefore when we lay p. 341ſuch a weight upon the heart, as may ſettle it, fix it, give it a repoſedneſs and acquieſcence, though it do receive ſome wounds, though it be touched with ſome tentations, it may be cured. But is there any ſuch weight as ſhould ſo ſettle the heart, the ſoul of Man? This love of Pureneſs is that weight.Auguſt. Amor eſt pondus animae; ſicut gravitas, Corporis; As the weight of my body makes that ſteady, ſo this love of Pureneſs is the weight and the ballaſt of my ſoul; and this weight ſtays the palpitation, the variation, the deviation of the heart upon other objects; which variation fruſtrates all endeavors to cure it.

The love of this pureneſs is both the ballaſt and the frait, to carry thee ſteadily and richly too, through all ſtorms and tempeſts, ſpiritual and temporal in this life, to the everlaſting Jeruſalem. If you be come to this love, this love of pureneſs of heart, never to lock up your door till you have carried out your duſt; never to ſhut your eyes at night, till you have ſwept your conſcience, and caſt your foulneſs into that infinite ſea of the blood of Chriſt Jeſus, which can contract no foulneſs by it; never to open your eyes in the morning, but that you look out to glorifie God in the riſing of the Sun, and in his other creatures, and in the peace and ſafety of your houſe and family, and the health of your children and ſervants; But, eſpecially to look inward, and conſider, whether you have not that night mingled poyſon with Gods Phyſick, whether you have not mingled ſloth and lazineſs in that which God gave you for reſt and refreſhing; whether you have not mingled licentiouſneſs in that which God gave you for a remedy againſt fornication. And then, when you ſhall have found that ſin hath been awake in you, even when your bodies were aſleep, be ſure you caſt not the Spirit of God into a ſleep in you, when your bodies are awake, but that you proceed vigilantly in your ſeveral wayes, with a fore-knowledge, that there is every where coluber in via, A Snake in the way; in every way that you can take, in every courſe of life, in every calling, there is ſome of the ſeed of the old Serpent preſents it ſelf. And then, if by Gods infallible word, explicated in his Church,Pſal. 119.104.Ps 119:104 which is Lucerna pedibus veſtris (The word is the light, but the Church is the Lanthorne, 2 Sam. 22.29.2 Sam 22:29it preſents and preſerves that light unto you; and though it be ſaid Lucerna Dominus, Apoc. 21.23.Rev 21:23Thou O Lord art my light, God himſelf; And Lucerna Agnus, The Lamb, Chriſt himſelf is your light; And lucerna mandatum, Prov. 6.23. John 5.35.Prov 6:23John 5:35The commandments of God are your light; yet it is alſo ſaid of Iohn Baptiſt, Lucerna ardens, he was a burning and a ſhining light; The Miniſtry of the Goſpel in the Church, is your light) If by the benefit of this light, you conſider every ſtep you make, weigh every action you undertake, this is that love of Pureneſs, that Pondus animae, the ſetling of the heart, that keeps it from evaporating upon tranſitory things, and ſettles it ſo, as that it becomes capable p. 342of that cure, which God, in his Church, in the Abſolution of ſins, and ſeals of Reconciliation, exhibits to it. To recollect and contract that which hath been ſaid, This pureneſs is not a purifying pureneſs, to correct and reform thoſe things that appertain not to us; nor it is not ſuch a purified pureneſs as makes us Canonize our ſelves, and think others Reprobates (for, all this is no pureneſs at all:) neither is it the true pureneſs, if it be not in the heart (for outward good works, not done to good ends, are impure:) nor is this pureneſs of heart acquired by any other means, then by diſcharging the heart in a deteſtation of former habits, and a ſedulous watchfulneſs in preventing future attempts; nor can this pureneſs of heart, though by theſe means attain'd to, be preſerved, but by this noble and incorruptible affection of Love, that puts a true value upon it, and therefore prefers it above all other things. And this was the firſt of the two marks which we found to be upon that perſon that ſhould be capable of the Kings friendſhip, He that loveth pureneſs of heart. And the other is, that he have by honeſt induſtry fitted himſelf, in ſome way, to be of uſe to the publike, delivered in that phraſe, Grace of lips; He that loveth pureneſs of heart (There's his honeſty;) for the Grace of his lips (There's his ſufficiency;) The King ſhall be his friend, There's his reward his preferment.

Gratia labiorum.Ordinarily in Scriptures, where this word lips is not taken naturally, literally, narrowly, for that part of the body, but transferred to a figurative and larger ſenſe, either it ſignifies ſpeaking onelyonly (as in Solomon, As, righteous lips are the delight of Kings, and the King loveth him that ſpeaketh right things (That is, Him, in whoſe Counſels,Prov. 16.13.Prov 16:13 and in whoſe relations he may confide and rely;) or elſe it is enlarged to all manner of expreſſing a mans ability, to do ſervice to that State in which God hath made his ſtation; and by lips, and fruits of lips, is well underſtood the fruit of all his good labors and endeavors. And ſo may thoſe words be well interpreted, With the fruit of a mans mouth ſhall his belly be ſatisfied, and with the encreaſe of his lips ſhall he be filled; 18.20.That is, his honeſt labors in a lawful calling ſhall enrich him. As therefore thoſe words,Verſ. 16. A mans gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men, are not always underſtood of Gifts given in nature of Bribes or gratifications for acceſs to great perſons, but alſo of Gifts given by God to men, that thoſe Gifts and good parts make them acceptable to great perſons; ſo is not Grace of lips to be reſtrained, either to a plauſible and harmonious ſpeaking, appliable to the humor of the hearer (for that's excluded in the firſt part, the root and fountain of all, Pureneſs of heart, for, flattery cannot conſiſt with that) nor to be reſtrained to the good Offices and Abilities of the tongue onelyonly (though they be many;) but this Grace of lips is to be enlarged to all declarations, and expreſſings, and utterings p. 343of an ability to ſerve the Publick; All that is Grace of lips. And in thoſe words of Oſea, We render the Calves of our lips, is neither meant as the Jews ſay,14.13. Thoſe Calves which we have promiſed with our lips, and will pay in ſacrifice, then, when we are reſtor'd to our Land of promiſe again. Nor are thoſe Calves of our lips only reſtrained to the Lip-ſervice of Praiſe, Heb. 14.15.and Prayer, though of them alſo St. Paul underſtand them; but they include all the ſacrifices of the New Teſtament, and all ways by which man can do ſervice to God; ſo here the Grace of lips reaches to all the ways by which a man in civil functions may ſerve the Publick. And this Grace of lips, in ſome proportion, in ſome meaſure, every man is bound in conſcience to procure to himſelf; he is bound to enable himſelf to be uſeful and profitable to the Publick, in ſome courſe, in ſome vocation.

Since even the Angels, which are all Spirit, be yet adminiſtring Spirits, and execute the Commiſſions and Ambaſſages of God, and communicate with men; ſhould man, who is not made all ſoul, but a compoſed creature of body and ſoul, exempt himſelf from doing the offices of mutual ſociety, and upholding that frame in which God is pleaſed to be glorified? Since God himſelf, who ſo many millions of ages contented himſelf with himſelf in Heaven, yet at laſt made this world for his glory; ſhall any man live ſo in it as to contribute nothing towards it? Hath God made this World his Theatre, ut exhibeatur ludus deorum, Plato.that man may repreſent God in his converſation; and wilt thou play no part? But think that thou only waſt made to paſs thy time merrily, and to be the only ſpectator upon this Theatre? Is the world a great and harmonious Organ, where all parts are play'd, and all play parts; and muſt thou only ſit idle and hear it? Is every body elſe made to be a Member, and to do ſome real office for the ſuſtentation of this great Body, this World; and wilt thou only be no member of this Body? Thinkeſt thou that thou waſt made to be Cos Amoris, a Mole in the Face for Ornament, a Man of delight in the World? Becauſe thy wit, thy faſhion, and ſome ſuch nothing as that, hath made thee a delightful and acceptable companion, wilt thou therefore paſs in jeaſt, and be nothing? If thou wilt be no link of Gods Chain, thou muſt have no part in the influence and providence, derived by that, ſucceſſively to us. Since it is for thy fault that God hath curſed the Earth, and that therefore it muſt bring forth Thorns and Thiſtles, wilt not thou ſtoop down, nor endanger the pricking of thy hand, to weed them up? Thinkeſt thou to eat bread, and not ſweat? Haſt thou a prerogative above the common Law of Nature? Or muſt God inſert a particular clauſe of exemption for thy ſake?

Oh get thee then this grace of lips; be fit to be inſerted, and be inſerted into ſome ſociety, and ſome way of doing good to the p. 344Publick. I ſpeak not this to your ſelves, you Senators of London; but as God hath bleſſed you in your ways, and in your Callings, ſo put your children into ways and courſes too, in which God may bleſs them. The dew of Heaven falls upon them that are abroad; Gods bleſſings fall upon them that travel in the world. The Fathers former labors ſhall not excuſe their Sons future idleneſs; as the Father hath, ſo the Son muſt glorifie God, and contribute to the world, in ſome ſetled courſe. And then, as God hath bleſſed thee in the grace of thy lips, in thy endeavors, in thy ſelf, ſo thy ſons ſhall grow up, as the Son of God himſelf did, in grace and favour of God and man. As God hath bleſſed thee in the fruit of thy Cattel, ſo he ſhall bleſs thee in the fruit of thy Body; and as he hath bleſſed thee in the City, ſo he ſhall bleſs thee in the Field, in that Inheritance which thou ſhalt leave to thy Son. Whereas, when children are brought up in ſuch a tenderneſs, and wantonneſs at home, as is too frequent amongſt you in this City, they never come to be of uſe to the State, nor their own Eſtates of any longer uſe to them. That Son that comes to ſay. My Father hath laboured, and therefore I may take mine eaſe, will come to ſay at laſt, My Savior hath ſuffered, and therefore I may take my pleaſure; My Savior hath faſted, and therefore I may riot, My Savior hath wept enough, and therefore I may be merry. But as our Savior requires Cooperarios, that we be fellow-workers with him to make ſure our ſalvation; ſo if your Sons be not Cooperarii, Labourers in ſome courſe of life, to make ſure their Inheritance, though you have been called wiſe in your generation, that is; rich in your own times, yet you will be called fools in your generation too; that is, ignominious and wretched in your poſterity. In a word, he that will be nothing in this world, ſhall be nothing in the next; nor ſhall he have the Communion of Saints there, that will not have the Communion of good men here. As much as he can, he fruſtrates Gods Creation; God produced things of nothing, and he endeavours to bring all to nothing again; and he deſpiſes his own immortality and glorification; for ſince he lives the life of a beaſt, he ſhews that he could be content to die ſo too, & accepit animam in vano, he hath received a ſoul to no purpoſe.

This grace of lips then, this ability to do good to the Publick, we are bound to have; but we are not commanded to love it, as we are the pureneſs of heart; we muſt love to have it, but we muſt not be in love with it when we have it. But ſince the holy Ghoſt hath choſen to expreſs theſe abilities, in this word, Grace of lips, that intimates a duty of utterance, and declaration of thoſe abilities which he hath. Habere te agnoſcere, & ex te nihil habere; To let it appear in the uſe of them, that thou haſt good parts, and to confeſs that thou haſt nothing of thine own; Hoc eſt p. 345nec ingratum eſſe, nec ſuperbum; therein thou art neither unthankful to God, nor proud of thy ſelf. As he that hath no other good parts, but money; and locks up that, or employs it ſo, as that his money feeds upon the Commonwealth, and does not feed it, (that it lies gnawing and ſucking blood, by Uſury, and does not make blood, by ſtirring and walking in Merchandize,) is an unprofitable member in State; ſo he that hath good parts, and ſmothers them, in a retired and uſeleſs life, is inexcuſable in the ſame meaſure. When therefore men retire themſelves into Cloyſters and Monaſteries, when they will not be content with St. Pauls diminution, to be changed from Saul, to Paulus, (which is little) but will go lower then that little, by being called minorites, leſs then little, and lower then that, minims, leaſt of all; and yet finde an order leſs then that, as they have done, nullani, nothing at all, Exore ſuo, out of their own mouths they ſhall be judged; and that which they have made themſelves here, God ſhal make them in the world to come, nullanos, nothing at all. Paulum ſepultae diſtatinertiae celata virtus, It is all one as if he had no grace of lips, if he never have the grace to open his lips; to bury himſelf alive, is as much wrong to the State, as if he kill himſelf. Every man hath a Politick life, as well as a natural life; and he may no more take himſelf away from the world, then he may make himſelf away out of the world. For he that dies ſo, by withdrawing himſelf from his calling, from the labours of mutual ſociety in this life, that man kills himſelf, and God calls him not. Morte morietur, He ſhall die a double death; an Allegorical death here, in his retiring, from his own hand; and a real death from the hand of God hereafter. In this caſe, that Vae ſoli, Wo be unto him that is alone, hath the heavieſt weight with it; when a man lives ſo alone, as that he reſpects no body but himſelf, his own eaſe, and his own ends. For, to ſum up all concerning this part, the Subject, as our principal duty is, Pureneſs of heart towards God, and to love that intirely, earneſtly; ſo the next is the Grace of lips, Ability to ſerve the Publick; which though we be bound not to love it with a pride, we are bound not to ſmother with a retiring. And then for theſe endowments (for being Religious, and ſerviceable to the State). The King ſhall be our friend. Which is our ſecond general part, to which, in our order propoſed, we are now come.

As it is frequent and ordinary in the Scriptures, when the Holy Ghoſt would expreſs a ſuperlative, Rev, nota ſuperlativi.the higheſt degree of any thing, to expreſs it, by adding the name of God to it (as when Saul and his company were in ſuch a dead ſleep, as that David could take his Spear, and pot of water from under his head; It is called Tardemath Jehovah, ſopor Domini, The ſleep of the Lord, The greateſt ſleep that could poſſeſs a man; and ſo in many other p. 346places, fortitudo Domini, and timor Domini, ſignifie the greateſt ſtrength, and the greateſt fear that could fall upon a man) ſo alſo doth the Holy Ghoſt often deſcend from God, to Gods Lieutenant; and as to expreſs ſuperlatives, he does ſometimes uſe the name of God; ſo doth he alſo ſometimes uſe the name of King. For, Reges ſunt ſummi Regis defluxus (ſays that Author, who is ſo antient, that no man can tell when he was, Triſmegiſtus) God is the Sun, and Kings are Beams, and emanations, and influences that flow from him. Such is the manner of the Holy Ghoſt expreſſing himſelf in Eſai. Tyrus ſhall be forgotten ſeventy years, Eſay. 23.15.Isa 23:15according to the years of one King; that is, during the time of any one mans life, how happy and fortunate ſoever. And ſo alſo the miſerable and wretched eſtate of the wicked, is likewiſe expreſſed,Job. 18.14.Job 18:14 His hope ſhall be rooted out of his dwelling, and ſhall drive him to the King of fears; that is, to the greateſt deſpair; ad Regem interituum (ſays the Vulgar) to the greateſt deſtruction that can be conceived. So that in this firſt ſence, Amicitia Regis, the Kings friendſhip that is promiſed here, (The King ſhall be his friend) is a ſuperlative friendſhip, a ſpreading, a delating, an univerſal friendſhip. He that is thus qualified, all the world ſhall love him.

Rex qui fortunatus.So alſo by the name of King, both in the Scriptures, and in Joſephus, and in many more prophane and ſecular Authors, are often deſigned ſuch perſons as were not truly of the rank and quality of Kings; but perſons that lived in plentiful and abundant fortunes, and had all the temporal happineſſes of this life, were called Kings. And in this ſence, the Kings friendſhip that is promiſed here, (The King ſhall be his friend) is utilis amicitia, all ſuch frinds as may do him good. God promiſes, that to men thus endow'd and qualified belongs the love and aſſiſtance that men of plentiful fortunes can give; great Perſons, great in Eſtate, great in Power and Authority, ſhall confer their favours upon ſuch men, and not upon ſuch as only ſerve to ſwell a train, always for oſtentation, ſometimes for ſedition; much leſs ſhall they confer their favours upon ſycophants and buffoons; leaſt of all upon the ſervants of their vices and voluptuouſneſs; but they whom God hath made Kings in that ſence, (Maſters of abundant fortunes) ſhall do good to them only who have this pureneſs of heart, and grace of lips.

Rex Ipſe.But if theſe words be not only intended of the King literally, That he ſhall do good to men thus endowed and qualified, but extended to all men in their proportion, that all that are able ſhould do good to ſuch perſons; yet this Text is principally intended of the King himſelf, and therefore is ſo expreſſed ſingularly and emphatically, The King ſhall be his friend. As God hath appointed it for a particular dignity to his Spouſe, the Church, That Kings ſhall be their foſter-fathers, Eſa. 49.23.Isa 49:23and Queens their nurſes; ſo God hath p. 347deſigned it for a particular happineſs of religious and capable men, that they may ſtand before the King, and hear his wiſdom, as the Queen of Sheba obſerved of the ſervants of Solomon, 1 Reg, 10. 9.and pronounced them happy for that. This then is a happineſs belonging to this pureneſs, and this grace, that the King ſhall not only nor abſolutely rely upon the information of others, and take ſuch a meaſure, and ſuch a character of men, as the good or bad affections of others will preſent unto him; but he ſhall take an immediate knowledge of them himſelf; he ſhall obſerve their love to this pureneſs of heart, and their grace of lips, and ſo become their friend.

Unto which of the Angels ſaid God at any time,Amicus. Thou art my ſon, ſays the Apoſtle? Indeed to none of them;Heb. 1.5.Heb 1:5 it was a name peculiar to Chriſt. Unto what man did God ever ſay, Thou art my friend? only to one, to Abraham; (Iſrael, and Jacob, Eſa. 41.8. 2 Chr. 20.7.Isa 41:82 Chr 20:7and the ſeed of Abraham my friend) Jehoſaphat before this had taken knowledge of this friendſhip between God and Abraham, (Didſt thou not give this Land to the ſeed of Abraham thy friend for ever?) And ſo doth St. James alſo record this friendſhip after, (Abraham believed, and he was called the friend of God.) James 2.23.Jas 2:23God never called any man friend, but him to whom he gave a change of name, and honorable additions. He called him Abraham, a name of dilatation, Patrem multitudinum, a Father of multitudes; he made him able to do good to others; for he did not only ſay, Bleſſed ſhalt thou be, for that might be, bleſſed of others, or bleſſed amongſt others; but it is not Eris Benedictus, but Eris Benedictio, Thou ſhalt be a Bleſſing,Gen. 12.2.Gen 12:2 a Bleſsing to others. I will make thee a bleſſed inſtrument of conveying my Bleſſings to other men. That's Gods friendſhip, and the higheſt preferment that man is capable of in this life, to extend men beyond themſelves, and make them his Inſtruments to others.

Step we a ſtep lower, from God to the King; for as Kings have no example but God, ſo according to that example they are reſerv'd, and ſparing in affording that name of friend to any. For, as moral men have noted, friendſship implies ſome degrees of equality, which cannot ſtand between King and Subject. But this is the encouragement to this loving of pureneſs, and this ſeeking the grace of lips; that this is the true and the only way to that friendſhip of the King, which is intended in the word of this Text. The word is Nagnah; and Nagnah hath ſuch a latitude in the Scriptures, as may well give ſatisfaction to any Subject: For Nagnah ſignifies Amare, to love; and ſo the King ſhall love this man. But we have known caſes in which Kings have been fain to diſguiſe and diſſemble their love, out of a tenderneſs and lothneſs to grieve them whom they have lov'd before; and ſo the King may love this man, and he never the better. Therefore this word Nagnah, ſignifies ſociare, to draw him nearer, to aſſociate him to him, in Counſels, and other p. 348ways, and always to afford him eaſie acceſſes unto him; but we have known caſes too, in which Kings, though they have opened one Cabinet, their Affections, yet they have ſhut up another, their Judgements, and their laſt purpoſes, even from them whom they have drawn near them. For Kings naturally love to be at their liberty; and it is not only a greatneſs, but an eaſe, to be able to diſavow an inſtruction, upon the mis-underſtanding of the Miniſter and Inſtrument. Therefore againſt ſuch intricacies and intanglings, this Dagnah ſignifies Docere, The King ſhall teach him, inform him directly, candidly, ingenuouſly, apertly, without any perplexities or reſervations. And who would not purifie his heart, and add grace to his lips, that he might taſte this friendſhip of the King, to be loved by him; and feel the influences of his affection, to be drawn near him; and made partaker of his conſultations; to be taught by him, and carried all the way with clearneſs, and without danger of miſtaking? And who would not imploy the thoughts of a pure heart, and the praiſes of graceful lips, in thankſgivings to Almighty God, who hath bleſs'd us with ſuch times, as that ſuch Subjects have found ſuch a King!

Neither is this encouragement to this Pureneſs, and this Grace in our Text, only in the benignity of the King, (which yet were a juſt provocation, that the King would conſider ſuch men before others; for all Kings do not always ſo) but it is in his duty, it is in his office; for, (as our Tranſlators have expreſſed it) we ſee it is not ſaid, The King will be; but, The King ſhall be his friend; it is not an arbitrary, but a neceſſary thing. God, in whoſe hands the Kings heart is,Non Arbitrarium. and who only can give Law, and Precept to the King, hath ſaid, The King ſhall be his friend. Neither hath God left the King at that largeneſſe, that he ſhall ſeem to be his friend, and do for him as though he were his friend, but yet not be ſo. Etiam ſimulare Philoſophiam, Philoſophia eſt; It is a degree of wiſdom to ſeem wiſe.Veritas Amicitiae. To be able to hold the world in opinion that one is great with the King, is a degree of greatneſs. And we have ſome Tales, and Apophthegms to that purpoſe; when men have been ſuiters to the King for that favour, that they might bid him but good morrow in his ear, thereby to put impreſſions in the beholders, that they had a familiar intereſt in him. But when the grounds of this Royal friendſhip are true and ſolid, Purenſs of heart, and Grace of lips, the friendſhip muſt be ſo too. And then the ground being good, as it is not ſaid, the King ſhall ſeem to be, but he ſhall be; ſo it is not ſaid, the king ſhall have been, but he ſhall be; he ſhall be ſo ſtill, he ſhall continue this friendſhip; but yet, but ſo long as this Pureneſs and this Grace continues, which produced this friendſhip in him.

Duratio Amicitiae.For all this great frame, the friendſhip of the King, turns upon this little hinge, this particle, this monoſyllable, His; The King p. 333ſhall be His, His friend. And to whom hath that His relation? To him, and him only that hath both Pureneſs of heart, and Grace of lips. Neither truth in Religion, nor abilities to ſerve the Publique, muſt be wanting in him to whom the King ſhall be a friend. For for the firſt, ſincerity in Religion, St. Ambroſe expreſſed that,Ambroſ. Offic. l. 2.22. (and the other too) elegantly; An idoneum putabo qui mihi det conſilium, qui non dat ſibi? Can I think him fit to give me counſel, that mis-counſels himſelf in the higheſt buſineſs, Religion? Mihi eum vacare credam, qui ſibi non vacat? Shall I think that he will ſtudy me, that neglects himſelf? His beſt ſelf? the ſoul it ſelf? And then for his doing good to the Publick,L. 1. 8. Officium ab Efficiendo, & Efficium dicendum, ſays he. He only is fit for an Office, that knows how to execute it; he muſt have pureneſs of heart for his end; for he that propoſes not that end, will make an ill end. And he muſt have this Grace of lips, which implies that civil-wiſwiſdom, which, (as the Philoſopher notes) verſatur circa media perveniendi; He muſt know wherein he may be uſeful and beneficial to others, thankful to God, profitable to others; that's his circumference; and then his centre here, is the love of the King. For theſe deſtroy not one another, Religion and Prudence. As that love which Chriſt bare to St. John, who lay in his boſome, (towards whom Chriſt had certainly other humane and affectionate reſpects, then he had to the reſt) made him not the leſs fit to be an Apoſtle, and an Evangeliſt; nor the great Office of Apoſtleſhip made him not unfit for that love that Chriſt bare him; ſo both theſe endowments, Pureneſs of heart, and Grace of lips, are not only compatible, but neceſſary to him to whom the King ſhall be a friend. And both theſe doth God require, (if we conſider the force of the Original words) when he ſays, Bring ye men of wiſdom, and known among the Tribes, and I will make them Rulers over you. For,Deut 1.13.Deut 1:13 that addition, (known among the Tribes) excludes reſerv'd men, proud and inacceſſible men; though God do not intend there popular men, yet he does intend men acceptable to the people. And when David comes to a luſtration, to a ſifting of his Family, as he ſays, He that walketh in a perfect way, he ſhall ſerve me; expreſſing in that, this Pureneſs; ſo intending to ſpeak of this Grace of lips,Pſal. 101.6.Ps 101:6 which is an ability to be uſeful to others, for which nothing makes a man more unfit then Pride, and harſhneſs, and hardneſs of acceſs, he ſcarce knows how to expreſs himſelf and his indignation againſt ſuch a man; Him (ſays he) that hath a proud look, and a high heart, I cannot; and there he ends abruptly; He does not ſay,v. 5. I cannot work upon him, I cannot mend him, I cannot pardon him, I cannot ſuffer him; but only, I cannot, and no more; I cannot tell what to do with him, I cannot tell what to ſay of him; and therefore I give him over: Him that hath a proud look, and a high heart, I cannot. Whatſoever his grace of lips be, how good ſoever his p. 350parts, he doth not only want the principal part, Pureneſs of heart, but he cannot be a fit inſtrument of that moſt bleſſed union between Prince and Subject, if his proud look, and harſh behavior make him unacceptable to honeſt men. It was (ſays the Orator to the Emperor Theodoſius) Execratio poſtrema, an Execration, and an expreſſing of their indignation, beyond which they could not go, when ſpeaking of Tarquin, Libidine praecipitem, Avaritia caecum, furore vaecordem, crudelitate immanem, vocarunt ſuperbum, They thought it enough to call a man that was licentious, and covetous, and furious, and bloody, proud; Et putaverunt ſufficere convitium, they thought themſelves ſufficiently revenged upon him for all their grievances, and that they had ſaid as much as any Orator in an Invective, any Poet in a Satyr, could ſay, when they had imprinted that name upon his memory, Tarquin the Proud.

To thoſe therefore that have inſinuated themſelves into the friendſhip of the King, without theſe two endowments: If the King hath always Chriſt for his example,Matth. 22.12.Matt 22:12 if he ſay to them, Amice, quomodo intraſti, Friend, how came you in? If you had not this wedding garment on, or if this wedding garment were not your own, but borrowed by an Hypocritical diſſimulation, Amice, quomodo intraſti; though you be never ſo much my friend, in never ſo near place to me, I muſt know how you got in; for, I have but two doors, (indeed, not two doors, but a gate, and a wicket; a greater, and an inferior way.) A religious heart, and uſeful parts; if you have not theſe, if you fear not God, and, if you ſtudy not, (as I do) the welfare of my people; you are not come in at my gate, (that is, Religion) nor at my wicket, (that is, the good of my people:) And therefore, how near ſo ever you be crept, I muſt have a review, an inquiry, to know, quomodo intraſti, how you came in.

But for thoſe which have theſe two endowments, (Religion, and care of the publick) we have the word of the King of Kings, of God himſelf, in the mouth of the wiſeſt King, King Solomon, The King ſhall be his friend: And the King hath Chriſt himſelf ſtill for his example, Who loved them whom he loved to the end: For, as long as the reaſon, upon which he grounds his word, remains,Demeſthenes. Regis verbum Regi Rex eſt, the Kings word, the Kings love, the Kings favor, Regi Rex eſt, is a King upon the King, and bindes him to his word, as well as his ſubjects are bound to him.

To recollect and faſten theſe pieces; theſe be the benefits of this pureneſs of heart, and grace of lips, firſt, That the King ſhall take an immediate and perſonal knowledge of him, and not be miſled by falſe characters, or falſe images of him, by any breath that would blaſt him in the Kings ear. And then, tnat he p. 351ſhall take it to be his Royal Office, and Chriſtian duty to do ſo; that to thoſe men, whom he findes ſo qualified, he ſhall be a friend in all thoſe acceptations of the word in our Text: Amabit, he ſhall love them, impart his affections to them; Sociabit, he ſhall aſſociate them to him, and impart his conſultations unto them: And Sociabit again, He ſhall go along with them, and accompany their labors, and their ſervices, by the ſeal of his countenance, and ratification: And Docebit, He ſhall inſtruct them clearly in his juſt pleaſure, without intangling, or ſnaring them in perplexities, by ambiguous directions. This is the capacity required (to be religious and uſeful;) this is the preferment aſſured, The King ſhall be his friend; and this is the compaſs of our Text.

Now, Beloved, as we are able to interpret ſome places of the Revelation, better then the Fathers could do,Accommodatio ad Diem. becauſe we have ſeen the fulfilling of ſome of the Prophecies of that Book, which they did but conjecture upon; ſo we can interpret and apply this Text by way of accommodation the more uſefully, becauſe we have ſeen theſe things performed by thoſe Princes whom God hath ſet over us. We need not that Edict of the Senate of Rome, Ut ſub titulo gratiarum agendarum; That upon pretence of thanking our Princes, for that which, we ſay, they had done, Boni principes, quae facerent recognoſcerent, Good Princes ſhould take knowledge what they were bound to do, though they had not done ſo yet.

We need not this Circuit, nor this diſguiſe; for, Gods hand hath been abundant towards us, in raiſing Miniſters of State, ſo qualified, and ſo endowed; and ſuch Princes as have faſtned their friendſhips, and conferred their favors upon ſuch perſons. We celebrate, ſeaſonably, opportunely, the thankful acknowledgment of theſe mercies, this day: This day, which God made for us, according to the pattern of his firſt days in the Creation; where, Veſper & mane dies unus, the evening firſt, and then the morning made up the day; for, here the ſaddeſt night, and the joyfulleſt morning, that ever the daughters of this Iſland ſaw, made up this day. Conſider the tears of Richmond this night, and the joys of London, at this place, at this time, in the morning; and we ſhall finde Prophecy even in that ſaying of the Poet, Nocte pluit tota, ſhowers of rain all night, of weeping for our Soveraign; and we would not be comforted, becauſe ſhe was not:Matth. 2.18.Matt 2:18 And yet, redeunt ſpectacula manè, the ſame hearts, the ſame eyes, the ſame hands were all directed upon recognitions, and acclamations of her ſucceſſor, in the morning: And when every one of you in the City were running up and down like Ants with their eggs bigger then themſelves, every man with his bags, to ſeek where to hide them ſafely, Almighty God ſhed down his Spirit p. 352of Unity, and recollecting, and repoſedneſs, and acquieſcence, upon you all. In the death of that Queen, unmatchable, immitable in her ſex; that Queen, worthy, I will not ſay of Neſtors years, I will not ſay of Methuſalems, but worthy of Adams years, if Adam had never faln; in her death we were all under one common flood, and depth of tears. But the Spirit of God moved upon the face of that depth; and God ſaid, Let there be light, and there was light, and God ſaw that that light was good. God took pleaſure, and found a ſavor of reſt, in our peaceful chearfulneſs, and in our joyful and confident apprehenſion of bleſſed days in his Government, whom he had prepared at firſt, and preſerved ſo often for us.

Plinius ad Trajan.As the Rule is true, Cum de Malo principe poſteri tacent, manifeſtum eſt vilem facere praeſentem, when men dare not ſpeak of the vices of a Prince that is dead, it is certain that the Prince that is alive proceeds in the ſame vices; ſo the inverſion of the Rule is true too, Cum de bono principe loquuntur, when men may ſpeak freely of the vertues of a dead Prince, it is an evident argument, that the preſent Prince practiſes the ſame vertues; for, if he did not, he would not love to hear of them. Of her, we may ſay (that which was well ſaid, and therefore it were pity it ſhould not be once truly ſaid, for, ſo it was not, when it was firſt ſaid to the Emperor Iulian) nihil humile, aut abjectum cogitavit, quia novit de ſe ſemper loquendum; ſhe knew the world would talk of her after her death, and therefore ſhe did ſuch things all her life were worthy to be talked of. Of her glorious ſucceſſor, and our gracious Soveraign,Plinus ad Trajan. we may ſay; Oneroſum eſt ſuccedere bono Principi, It would have troubled any king but him, to have come in ſucceſſion, and in compariſon with ſuch a Queen. And in them both we may obſerve the unſearchableneſs of the ways of God; of them both, we may ſay, Dominus fecit, It is the Lord that hath done it, Pſal. 118.23.Ps 118:23and it is wonderful in our eyes: Firſt, That a woman and a maid ſhould have all the wars of Chriſtendom in her contemplation, and govern and ballance them all; And then, That a King, born and bred in a warlike Nation, and ſo accuſtomed to the ſword, as that it had been directed upon his own perſon, in the ſtrength of his age, and in his Infancy, in his Cradle, in his mothers belly, ſhould yet have the bleſſed ſpirit of peace ſo abundantly in him, as that by his Councils, and his authority, he ſhould ſheath all the ſwords of Chriſtendom again. De forti egreſſa dulcedo, ſweetneſs is come out of the ſtrong,Judg. 14.24.Judg 14:24 in a ſtranger manner, then when Sampſon ſaid ſo in his riddle; And howſoever another wiſe King found it true, Anima ſaturata calcab it favum, The perſon that is full deſpiſeth honey, Prov. 27.7.Prov 27:7they that are glutted with the benefits of peace, would faln change for a war; yet the wiſeſt King of all hath pronounced for our King,Mat. 5.9.Matt 5:9 Beati pacifici, Bleſſed are the peace-makers. If ſubjects will not apprehend it with joy here, the King himſelf ſhall p. 353joy hereafter, for, Therefore (ſays that Goſpel) Therefore, becauſe he was a peace-maker, he ſhall be called The childe of God. 2 Tim. 2.12.2 Tim 2:12Though then theſe two great Princes (of whom the one con-regnat Chriſto, reigns now with Chriſt, the other reigns here over us vice Chriſti, for Chriſt, were near in blood, yet thus were they neareſt of kin, quod uterque optimus, That they were both better then any other, and equal to one another. Dignus alter eligi, Plin. de Nerva, & Traja.alter eligere, That ſhe was fitteſt in that fullneſs of years, to be choſen and aſſum'd into heaven; and he fitteſt (as Saint Paul did becauſe it was more behoofeful for his brethren) to chooſe to ſtay upon earth, for our protection, and for our direction; becauſe (as in all Princes it is) vita principis perpetua cenſura, There cannot be a more powerful increpation upon the ſubjects exceſſes, then when they ſee the King deny himſelf thoſe pleaſures which they take.

As then this place, where we all ſtand now,Non Anticipavit. was the Sanctuary whither we all reſorted this day, to receive the aſſurance of our ſafety, in the proclamation of his undoubted title to this Kingdom, ſo let it be our Altar now, where we may ſacrifice our humble thanks to God, firſt, that he always gave the King a juſt, and a religious patience of not attempting a coming into this Kingdom, till God emptied the throne here, by tranſlating that Queen to a throne more glorious. Perchance he was not without tentations from other men to have done otherwiſe. But,Pacatus ad Theodoſ. Ad Principatum per obſequ ium venit, he came to be King by his obedience, his obedience to the law of Nature, and the laws of this Kingdom, to which ſome other King would have diſputed, whether he ſhould have obey'd or no. Cum omnia faceret imperare ut deberet, nihil fecit, ut imperaret; All his Actions, all that he did, ſhew'd him fit for this Crown, and yet he would do nothing to anticipate that Crown.

Next let us pour out our thanks to God,Nen adulatus. that in his entrance he was beholden to no by-religion. The Papiſts could not make him place any hopes upon them, nor the Puritans make him entertain any fears from them; but his God and our God, as he brought him via lactea, by the ſweet way of Peace, that flows with milk and hony, ſo he brought him via Regia, by the direct and plain way, without any deviation or deſcent into ignoble flatteries, or ſervile humoring of any perſons or factions.Non occulte. Which noble, and Chriſtian courage he expreſſed more manifeſtly, when, after that infamous powder treaſon, the intended diſſolution, and conflagration of this ſtate (that plot that even amaz'd and aſtoniſhed the Devil, and ſeem'd a miracle even in hell, that treaſon, which, whoſoever wiſhes might be covered how, is ſorry that it was diſcovered then, whoſoever wiſhes that it might be forgotten, wiſhes that it had proceeded; And therefore let our tongue cleave unto the roof our mouths, if we do not confers his loving p. 354kindneſs before the Lord, and his wonderful works before the Sons of men) Then I ſay, did his Majeſty ſhew this Chriſtian courage of his more manifeſtly, when he ſent the profeſſion of his Religion, The Apology of the Oath of Allegeance, and his opinion of the Romane Antichriſt, in all languages, to all Princes of Chriſtendom. By occaſion of which Book, though there have riſen twenty Rabſhakes, who have rail'd againſt our God in railing againſt our Religion, and twenty Shemeis, who have raiſed againſt the perſon of his ſacred Majeſty (for, I may pronounce that the number of them who have bark'd, and ſnarl'd at that book in writing, is ſcarceleſs then fourty) yet ſcarce one of them all hath undertaken the arguments of that book, but either repeated, and perchance enlarged thoſe things which their own Authors had ſhovel'd together of that ſubject (that is, The Popes Temporal power) or elſe they have bent themſelves maliciouſly, inſolently, ſacrilegiouſly, againſt the perſon to his Majeſty; and the Pope may be Antichriſt ſtill, for any thing they have ſaid to the contrary. It belong'd only to him, whom no earthly King may enter into compariſon with,John 17.12.John 17:12 the King of Heaven, Chriſt Jeſus, to ſay, Thoſe that thou gaveſt me have I kept, and none of them is loſt; And even in him, in Chriſt Jeſus himſelf, that admitted one exception; Judas the childe of perdition was loſt. Our King cannot ſay that none of his Subjects are fled to Rome; but his vigilancy at home hath wrought ſo, as that fewer are gone from our Univerſities thither, in his, then in former times; and his Books abroad have wrought ſo, that much greater, and conſiderable perſons are come to us, then are gone from us. I add that particular, (from our Univerſities) becauſe we ſee, that ſince thoſe men whom our Univerſities had bred, and graduated before they went thither, (of which the number was great, for many years of the Queens time) are worne out amongſt them, and dead; thoſe whom they make up there, whom they have had from their firſt youth there, who have received all their Learning from their beggarly and fragmentary way of Dictates there, and were never grounded in our Schools nor Univerſities, have prov'd but weak maintainers or that cauſe, compar'd with thoſe men of the firſt times.

As Plato ſays of a particular natural body, he that will cure an ill Eye, muſt cure the Head; he that will cure the Head, muſt cure the Body; and he that will cure the Body, muſt cure the Soul; that is, muſt bring the Minde to a temperature, a moderation, an equanimity; ſo in Civil Bodies, in States, Head, and Eye, and Body; Prince, and Council, and People, do all receive their health and welfare from the pureneſs of Religion: And therefore, as the chiefeſt of all, I choſe to inſiſt upon that Bleſſing, That God hath given us a Religious King, and Religious out of his Underſtanding. His other Virtues work upon ſeveral conditions of men; by this Bleſſing, p. 355the whole Body is bleſt. And therefore not only they which have been ſalted with the ſalt of the Court, as it is ſaid of the Kings Servants; but all that are ſalted with the ſalt of the Earth, Ezra 4.24. Matth. 5.13. Mark 9.50.Ezra 4:24Matt 5:13Mark 9:50(as Chriſt calls his Church, his Apoſtles) all that love to have ſalt in themſelves, and peace with one another, all that are ſenſible of the Spiritual life, and growth, and good taſte that they have by the Goſpel, are bound to praiſe him, to magnifie him for ever, that hath vouchſafed us a Religious King, and Religious out of Underſtanding.

Many other happineſſes are rooted in the love of the Subject; and of his confidence in their love, his very abſence from us is an argument to us. His continual abode with us hath been an argument of his love to us; and this long Progreſs of his is an argument of his aſſurance of our loyalty to him. It is an argument alſo of the good habitude and conſtitution to which he hath brought this State, and how little harm they that wiſh ill to it, are able to do,Mamertinus. Maximiano. upon any advantage; Hanc in vobis fiduciam pertimeſcunt; This confidence of his makes his home-enemies more afraid, then his Laws, or his Train'd-Bands; Et contemniſe ſentiunt, cum relinquuntur; When they are left to their own malignity, and to do their worſt, they diſcern in that, how deſpicable and contemptible a party they are. Cum in interiora Imperii ſeceditis, when the King may go ſo far from the heart of his Kingdom, and the enemy be able to make no uſe of his abſence, this makes them ſee the deſperateneſs of their vain imaginations. He is not gone from us; for a Noble part of this Body, (our Nation) is gone with him, and a Royal part of his Body ſtays with us. Neither is the fartheſt place that he goes to, any other then ours, now, when, as the Roman Orator ſaid; Nunc demum juvat orbem terrarum ſpectare depictum, Eumenius.cum in illo nihil videmus alienum; Now it is a comfort to look upon a Map of the World, when we can ſee nothing in it that is not our own; ſo we may ſay, Now it is a pleaſant ſight to look upon a Map of this Iſland, when it is all one. As we had him at firſt, and ſhall have him again, from that Kingdom, where the natural days are longer then ours are, ſo may he have longer days with us, then ever any of our Princes had; and as he hath Immortalitatem propriam ſibi, filium ſibi ſimilem, (as it was ſaid of Conſtantine,) a peculiar immortality, not to die, becauſe he ſhall live in his Son; ſo in the fulneſs of time, and in the accompliſhment of Gods purpoſes upon him, may he have the happineſs of the other Immortality, and peacefully ſurrender all his Crowns in exchange of one, a Crown of immortal glory, which the Lord the righteous Judge lay up for him againſt that day.

To conclude all, and to go the right way from things which we ſee, to things which we ſee not, by conſideration of the King, to the contemplation of God; ſince God hath made us his Tenants of this World, we are bound, not only to pay our Rents, (ſpiritual p. 340duties and ſervices towards him,) but we are bound to reparations too, to contribute our help to ſociety, and ſuch external duties as belong to the maintenance of this world, in which Almighty God hath choſen to be glorified. If we have theſe two, Pureneſs of heart, and Grace of lips, then we do theſe two; we pay our Rent, and we keep the world in reparation; and we ſhall paſs through all thoſe ſteps and gradations,Ambroſ. which St. Ambroſe harmoniouſly, melodiouſly expreſſes, to be ſervi per timorem, to be the ſervants of God, and live in his fear; to be mercinarij per laborem, to be the workmen of God, and labour in his Vineyard; to be filij per lavacrum, to be the ſons of God, and preſerve that Inheritance which was ſealed to us at firſt, in Baptiſm; and laſt of all, Amici per virtutem, by the good uſe of his gifts, the King of Kings ſhall be our friend. That which he ſaid to his Apoſtles, his Spirit ſhall ſay to our ſpirit here, and ſeal it to us for a Covenant of Salt, an everlaſting,John 15.14.John 15:14 an irrevocable Covenant, Henceforth call I you not ſervants, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father, have I made known unto you. And the fruition of this friendſhip, which neither ſlackens in all our life, nor ends at our death, the Lord of Life, for the death of his moſt innocent Son, afford to us all.

Amen.