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<DATE>5-19-08</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>THE SINNE OF Hardne&s;&s;e of Heart: THE Nature, Danger, and Remedy of it.</P>
<P><HI>Opened in a</HI> SERMON, PREACHED TO The Honorable Hou&s;e of Commons, <HI>July</HI> 2<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">. 1648. being the day of their Solemne Monethly Fa&s;t.</P>
<P>By STEPHEN MARSHALL, <HI>B. D.</HI> Mini&s;ter of Gods Word at <HI>Finchingfield</HI> in <HI>E&s;&s;ex.</HI></P>
<P>Publi&s;hed by order of that Hou&s;e.</P>
<Q><BIBL>P&s;alme 95. 7, 8.</BIBL>
<P><HI>To day if you will heare his voyce, harden not your hearts, &amp;c.</HI></P></Q>
<Q><BIBL>Prov. 29. 1.</BIBL>
<P><HI>He that being often reproved hardneth his neck, &s;hall &s;uddenly bee de|&s;troyed, and that without remedy.</HI></P></Q>
<P><HI>London</HI> Printed by <HI>R. Cotes,</HI> for <HI>Stephen Bowtell,</HI> at the Signe of the Bible in Popes-head Alley, 1648.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
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<HEAD><HI>TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL The Lady</HI> Trevor, <HI>Wife to my mo&s;t worthy and approved Friend, Sir</HI> Iohn Trevor.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Madam,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_YOu have been long taught of God, and therefore are not ignorant that &s;pirituall &s;ickne&s;&s;es differ many wayes from bodily, this one is notable, The more any &s;piritu|all di&s;ea&s;e increa&s;eth, the le&s;&s;e it's felt, and the more any &s;oule is &s;en&s;ible of it, the le&s;&s;e power it hath over him; This is found mo&s;t true of the greate&s;t of &s;pi|rituall plagues, the &s;inne of hardne&s;&s;e of heart, none more confident of the goodne&s;&s;e of their heart, then the mo&s;t ob&s;tinate and rebellious &s;inner, where as the mo&s;t tender-hearted Chri&s;tian complaines mo&s;t of hardne&s;&s;e, the &s;pirit that is mo&s;t flexible to God, mo&s;t laments its ob&s;tinacy; <HI>Madam,</HI> I may apply this to your &s;elfe, all &s;uch &s;ervants of God who know and conver&s;e with you can di&s;cerne that God hath in great mea&s;ure taken out of you the heart of &s;tone and given you a heart of fle&s;h, upon the ta<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">les whereof he hath written his holy Law, and that it is your delight to walke with him, to live to him and plea&s;e
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him in all things; yet did I never heare you be&s;tow one good word upon your heart, but rather up|on every occa&s;ion you are declaming again&s;t it, and complaining of its hardne&s;&s;e and ob&s;tinacy. But <HI>Madam</HI> to feele hardne&s;s of heart is &s;oftne&s;s of heart, and did you but cleerly under&s;tand how much the Lord delights in &s;uch a frame of &s;pirit as hee hath given you, you would cea&s;e to bee &s;o &s;u&s;pitious as you are of your owne &s;pirituall condition, and would &s;pend the re&s;t of your dayes rejoycing in your por|tion and &s;erving him without feare: I hope this plaine Sermon may through Gods ble&s;&s;ing bee &s;ome helpe to make you judge more rightly of that grace which God hath &s;o plentifully be&s;towed on you, and to ble&s;&s;e his Name who hath in great mea&s;ure delivered you from this de&s;troyer, even this plague of a hard heart; I humbly pre&s;ent it unto you, as a pledge of my thankefulne&s;&s;e, for all the many and great refre&s;hings I have found in your family, where I have con&s;tantly found your re&s;pect and tenderne&s;&s;e towards mee more like that of a mother then a &s;tranger: The good Lord pardon my unfruitfulne&s;&s;e among you, and requite you and your good husbands love toward me a thou&s;and fold into your bo&s;omes, and multiply his favours upon your whole family, and continue to guide you by his coun&s;ell till you come to his glory.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your La. mo&s;t obliged,
STEPHEN MARSHALL.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
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<HEAD>A SERMON PREACHED TO THE HONORABLE Hou&s;e of COMMONS <HI>upon their &s;olemne Monethly Fa&s;t.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>BEloved in the Lord, &s;ome mi&s;take concerning one of the Preachers that &s;hould have &s;upplied the worke of this day, is the occa&s;ion of my &s;tanding here at this time, at &s;horter warning, then is fit for &s;uch a &s;er|vice, but I have learned to receive encouragement from a call; and therefore without any further Apologie, I be&s;eech you attend to the Word of God, which you &s;hall find written in the</P>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>7. of ZACHARIAH Ver&s;. 12.</BIBL>
<Q><HI>Yea they made their hearts as an Adamant &s;tone, le&s;t they &s;hould heare the Law, and the words which the Lord of ho&s;t hath &s;ent in his &s;pirit, by the former Prophets, there|fore came a great wrath from the Lord of ho&s;ts.</HI></Q>
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<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>_MY Text is part of an an&s;wer to a ca&s;e of con&s;ci|ence, <NOTE PLACE="marg">The Text o|pened, the oc|ca&s;ion, cohe|rence and parts of it.</NOTE> propounded in the beginning of this Chapter, from the fourth Ver&s;. of this Chapter to the end of the next Chapter is contained the full an&s;wer to that ca&s;e of con&s;cience; the ca&s;e of con&s;cience was this; They &s;ent unto the hou&s;e of God,
<PB N="2" REF="4">
<HI>Sherezer,</HI> and <HI>Regem-melech,</HI> and their men, to &s;peak to the Prie&s;t, and to know of him, and of the Prophets whe|ther they &s;hould weep in the fifth moneth, as they had done the&s;e 70. yeers; this was the ca&s;e propounded; now becau&s;e my &s;ubject matter this day mu&s;t very much relate unto this ca&s;e, give me leave a little to open it to you; The Jewes after it had plea&s;ed God to bring upon them the <HI>Babylonian</HI> captivitie, did &s;et apart foure dayes every yeer, which they kept as &s;olemne dayes of humiliation, one of them was in the fifth moneth, another was in the &s;eventh moneth, another was in the tenth moneth, and another was in the fourth moneth, upon the&s;e occa&s;ions: In the tenth moneth did <HI>Nebuchadnezzars</HI> Army, fir&s;t be|leaguer <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> as you'l finde it in the 25. Chapter of the &s;econd book of the <HI>Kings,</HI> that day that <HI>Nebuchadnez|zars</HI> Army fir&s;t &s;at downe before the Citie, did they keep <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 25. 1.</NOTE> a fa&s;ting day all tho&s;e 70. yeers: In the fourth moneth of the yeere following, they broke into the Citie and took <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 25. 3. Ver&s;. 8. Ver&s;. 25.</NOTE> it, the day that the Citie was taken, did they keep as a &s;olemn fa&s;ting day; In the fifth moneth <HI>Nebuzaradan</HI> came and burnt the Temple; the day that the Temple was burnt, did they al&s;o keep as a fa&s;ting day; In the &s;e|venth moneth <HI>Gedaliah,</HI> the &s;onne of <HI>Ahikam,</HI> was kill'd, murder'd by <HI>I&s;hmael,</HI> and all the re&s;t that were left, were &s;catter'd into <HI>Egypt,</HI> and that day likewi&s;e did they keep as a fa&s;ting day; and the&s;e foure dayes they kept three|&s;core and ten yeers; Now the Temple being built againe, at lea&s;t in a good forwardne&s;&s;e, they &s;end to know whether the fa&s;t of the fifth moneth &s;hould continue; concerning the other fa&s;ts they make no mention of them, probably conceiving that the occa&s;ion of tho&s;e fa&s;ts did continue &s;till; but they would know whether the Lord would not have them lay a&s;ide the fa&s;t of the fifth moneth, which was kept in reference to the Temple, becau&s;e the Tem|ple
<PB N="3" REF="4">
was now built, or in a great forwardne&s;&s;e; this ca&s;e of con&s;cience was &s;ent, &s;ome think, by the Jewes that re|main'd &s;till in <HI>Babylon,</HI> that they &s;ent <HI>Sherezer</HI> and <HI>Regem|melech,</HI> and the re&s;t of them, as their Emba&s;&s;adors; others thinke they were &s;ent from all the Jewes, that were return'd from their Captivity, but by whom &s;oever the me&s;&s;age was &s;ent, this was the ca&s;e that I have read to you; Now the Prophet comes to an&s;wer this ca&s;e, and in the an&s;wer hee takes notice of all the foure dayes of fa|&s;ting, though they mention but one of them, becau&s;e they all hung upon one hinge, and the an&s;wer of the Prophet to this ca&s;e, &s;o much of it as is contained in this Chapter is a meere &s;lighting of the ca&s;e propounded; and there are two things wherein the Prophet expre&s;&s;es the Lords contempt of their Emba&s;&s;age, one,</P>
<P>That the Lord tooke no notice of any &s;uch thing; Did you fa&s;t to me? (&s;aith he) you &s;peake of dayes of fa&s;ting, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> that you have kept 70. yeers, did you fa&s;t to mee? Did I either appoint them? or doe I accept them? or have you carried them as you &s;hould doe? the meaning is, you play the hypocrites with mee, you would make a great deale adoe about a &s;olemne Emba&s;&s;age, to have a ca&s;e of con&s;cience determin'd, which is fir&s;t, but a ceremony at the be&s;t, and be&s;ides it is a ceremony of your own inven|ting, and in it you have howled and mourned for your af|flictions, but never tooke notice of your &s;innes, that have cau&s;ed tho&s;e judgements to come upon you; you fa&s;ted &s;ometimes, and fea&s;ted &s;ometimes, but when you have fa|&s;ted, you fa&s;ted not to me, &amp; when you did eate and drink, you did eate and drinke to your &s;elves, and not to mee; that is the fir&s;t, a &s;lighting of it, as a keeping a coile about a trifle, when there were greater matters concerned them which they regarded not.</P>
<P><PB N="4" REF="5">
The &s;econd branch of the Prophets an&s;wer containes <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> the true rea&s;on why all this fa&s;ting of theirs was thus &s;lighted by God that is laid downe, Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>More generally in the 6. Ver&s;e, wherein the Prophet <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> gives them a &s;ound and a &s;harpe reproof, you have wept and mourned, but &s;hould not you rather have took notice of the words, which the Lord did &s;end by the Prophets? <HI>&s;hould ye not heare the words that the Prophets cried in for|mer times, when Ieru&s;alem was inhabited, and the Cities thereof round about her?</HI> there you might have learned the true way, but that you have no whit regarded; you cry for your afflictions, but you are not one whit &s;en&s;ible of tho&s;e &s;innes that have cau&s;ed the&s;e judgements upon you: That is the generall, then &s;econdly,</P>
<P>Hee proceeds more particularly to open this Ulcer of <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> their hypocri&s;ie, and three things there are which he re|members them of, Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>The Lord remembers them of the coun&s;ell that had been given them and their Fathers, how to remove the <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> plagues that lay upon them, (&s;aith hee) Thus &s;peaks the Lord of ho&s;ts (in the 9. Ver&s;e) execute true judgement, and ju&s;tice, &s;hew mercy and compa&s;&s;ion every man to his brother, oppre&s;&s;e not the widow, the fatherle&s;&s;e, nor the &s;tranger, let none of you imagine evill again&s;t his bro|ther in his heart: this was the coun&s;ell which of old was given, how the ruine of <HI>Ieru&s;alem</HI> might have been pre|vented; the exerci&s;e of ju&s;tice, and the exerci&s;e of mercy; indeed the Prophet there in&s;tances onely in two Table duties, but I thinke the rea&s;on is, becau&s;e the Jewes were alwayes very exact in matters of Gods wor&s;hip, &s;ave onely when they fell into Idolatry, and they bore them|&s;elves much upon the duties of the fir&s;t Table; and it is Gods ordinary practi&s;e when hee would di&s;cover the hy|pocri&s;ie
<PB N="5" REF="5">
of men, that are much in holy duties, to fall up|on the duties of the &s;econd Table, wherein they ordinari|ly are carele&s;&s;e, &s;o the Prophet tells them, that had they walked after this manner, this wrath had never come up|on them; but now, which is the &s;econd,</P>
<P>See what di&s;obedience they &s;hewed to this, and this di&s;|obedience <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> is laid downe in the 11. &amp; 12. Ver&s;es: and ag|gravated from the wor&s;t qualitie that di&s;obedience can be accompanied with, that is, wilfulne&s;&s;e and ob&s;tinacy; and this wilfull and ob&s;tinate di&s;obedience of theirs, is laid down in foure Metaphors, but all of them &s;ignifying one and the &s;ame thing, onely the three fir&s;t doe mo&s;t im|mediatly &s;ignifie the outward expre&s;&s;ions of their di&s;obe|dience; and the fourth which is the root of all, di&s;covers the very fountaine whence all their di&s;obedience did &s;pring; Fir&s;t &s;aith he,</P>
<P><HI>They refu&s;ed to hearken,</HI> they were like to a man, that when you would doe an errand to him, flings away from you, and &s;aith plainly, hee will not heare what you &s;ay; Secondly,</P>
<P><HI>They pull away their &s;houlder,</HI> alluding unto a Bea&s;t, a Bullock, that when you would put the yoke upon it, it &s;natches the &s;houlder away, and refu&s;es to bee yok'd by you, nay, &s;aith he,</P>
<P><HI>They &s;topped their eares;</HI> alluding to Adder, that (they &s;ay of it, it) laies one eare again&s;t the ground, and &s;tops the other eare with the taile, that it may not be charmed, or like unto tho&s;e, that when they would plainly let you &s;ee, how much they &s;light what you &s;ay to them, put their finger in their eares, that all may take notice, they will not regard you; But then fourthly, (which is the theame that I purpo&s;e to handle by the Lords a&s;&s;i&s;tance;)</P>
<P>Here is the cau&s;e of all, that is, <HI>they made their hearts
<PB N="6" REF="6">
like an Adamant &s;tone,</HI> yea (&s;aith hee) <HI>they made their hearts like an Adamant &s;tone, that they might not heare the Word that God hath &s;poken;</HI> then followes the third branch, the fruit of their di&s;obedience, <HI>therefore all this wrath is come upon them.</HI> In the&s;e words, here are two things to bee handled; Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>The &s;inne that this people were guilty of; in the&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> words, <HI>they made their hearts like an Adamant &s;tone, that they might not heare the word:</HI> Secondly,</P>
<P>The judgement that this &s;inne brought upon them: <HI>Therefore &s;aith the Lord, it is come to pa&s;&s;e, that as they</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> <HI>would not heare me, I would not heare them; but a great wrath is come upon them, and I have &s;catter'd them among all the Nations, and laid their land de&s;olate.</HI> In their &s;inne, (which is the onely theame I &s;hall in&s;i&s;t upon) you have two things: Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>What their &s;inne was, what the wicked frame of their <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> heart was, <HI>their heart was like an Adamant &s;tone;</HI> Se|condly,</P>
<P>How it came to be &s;o: they made their heart &s;o them|&s;elves; <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> <HI>they made their heart as an Adamant &s;tone:</HI> next open the meaning of this, what is here meant by an Ada|mant &s;tone? the Hebrew word is variou&s;ly interpreted, &s;ome doe render it a flint, &s;ome a &s;tone that will not wa&s;te, many with our new tran&s;lation render it an Adamant, but generally, Criticks doe agree, that it is a &s;tone of the har|de&s;t nature, that will not by any toole bee graven or fa|&s;hioned to any de&s;irable mould: &s;o to make their heart as an Adamant &s;tone, doth plainly meane, they did ex|treamly harden their heart, that is the Engli&s;h of it, they would not heare, they &s;topped their eare, they pull'd a|way their &s;houlder, <HI>yea, they did extreamely harden their hearts:</HI> Here are two things further to be interpreted: Fir&s;t,</P>
<P><PB N="7" REF="6">
What is meant by the heart that is here hardned? And <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> &s;econdly,</P>
<P>What this hardning the heart &s;ignifies. <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE></P>
<P>By heart you know is naturally meant that piece of <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> fle&s;h that is in the body, which they &s;ay, it is <HI>primum vivens,</HI> and <HI>ultimum moriens:</HI> but morally and &s;piritu|ally by the heart is meant the &s;oule, and u&s;ually, the will and the affections are ordinarily in Scripture meant by the heart; &s;o it is here.</P>
<P>What by hardne&s;&s;e, or hardning; Hardning in the na|turall <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> &s;ignification of it, is nothing but the withdrawing of moy&s;ture form any &s;ub&s;tance, whereby the parts come to bee conden&s;ed and made &s;tiffe, &s;o as not to yeeld to the touch; <HI>Durum e&s;t quod non cedit tactui,</HI> that that will not receive any impre&s;&s;ion that is hard: this in a na|turall &s;en&s;e; but in a morall and &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e, to har|den the heart is nothing but to have the will re&s;olutely and unchangeably &s;et upon any purpo&s;e, not to be taken off from their enterpri&s;e by any meanes that can bee u&s;ed to change them, that is to harden the heart; and in the Scripture it is &s;ometimes taken in a good &s;en&s;e, a mans heart may be harden'd in a very gratious manner, &s;o <HI>Eze|kiels</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezekiel 3. 8.</NOTE> was, when the Lord told him, <HI>the hou&s;e of I&s;rael will not hearken to thee, for they are impudent and hard hearted,</HI> but (&s;aith God) <HI>I have made thy face &s;trong again&s;t their faces, and thy forehead &s;trong again&s;t their foreheads,</HI> thou &s;halt bee as impudent as they, <HI>as an Adamant, harder then flint, &amp;c.</HI> thou &s;halt bee as much hardned in good as they in evill, I have given thee that grace; that &s;hall make thee re&s;olute as they: <HI>Paul</HI> was, when they came, and wept, and prayed him hee would not goe to <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>you weep in vaine I'le goe though I die for it;</HI> his heart was hardned: and &s;o
<PB N="8" REF="7">
<HI>Luther;</HI> when his friends would have per&s;waded him not to have gone to <HI>Wormes;</HI> to the di&s;putation there, If all the tiles of the hou&s;es in <HI>Wormes</HI> were Devils, I would goe; that is to have a heart harden'd in a good cau&s;e; but ordinarily in the Scripture, to harden the heart, or to have hardne&s;&s;e of heart, is ordinarily meant in an e|vill &s;en&s;e; hardening in &s;in, hardning again&s;t God: and &s;o my Text hath it plainely, they made their heart as an Adamant &s;tone, that they might not heare the word that God had &s;ent to them: their heart was re&s;olutely, and unchangeably bent to goe on in their wayes, &s;ay or doe what God would, or could to the contrary; that is the &s;in that is here mentioned; now from hence I &s;hall take up this Le&s;&s;on; and it is the onely Le&s;&s;on, which I &s;hall by the Lords a&s;&s;i&s;tance handle this day; and in it take in both the &s;inne, and the judgement together.</P>
<P>That the <HI>&s;inne of hardning the heart again&s;t God, is a cer|tain</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Doct.</NOTE> <HI>forerunner of utter de&s;truction;</HI></P>
<P>They made their heart as hard as an Adament &s;tone, therefore came there a great wrath from God; and there|fore <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hardening the heart, a cer|tain forerunner of de&s;truction.</NOTE> as I called, and they would not an&s;wer, when they cryed I would not an&s;wer, but I have &s;catter'd them: &s;o the Le&s;&s;on is plaine; but before I come to prove it, that <NOTE PLACE="marg">Five di&s;tincti|ons about hardne&s;&s;e of heart, premi&s;ed forth: clearing of this Do|ctrine.</NOTE> it may bee rightly &s;tated, I &s;hall premi&s;e five di&s;tinctions about this &s;inne of hardne&s;&s;e of heart; whereby you will more plainly under&s;tand the Doctrine that I am to make good out of the Scripture; Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>That there is a naturall hardne&s;&s;e of heart, which is the <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> case of all men in the world; Secondly, there is an ac|quired <NOTE PLACE="marg">There is a na|turall hardne&s;&s;e of heart, and there is an ac|quired hard|ne&s;&s;e.</NOTE> hardne&s;&s;e of heart, or a hardne&s;&s;e that man brings upon him&s;elf; There is a naturall hardne&s;&s;e of heart, the
<PB N="9" REF="7">
Scripture is plain in it, that all men in the world, the originall frame of their hearts; is in the Scripture &s;et downe by the expre&s;&s;ion of a heart of &s;tone, in <HI>Ezek.</HI> 11. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 11. 19.</NOTE> when God promi&s;es conver&s;ion, (&s;aith hee). I will take away the heart of &s;tone, that is in them, and give them a heart of fle&s;h; every man and woman in the world, brings the &s;tone of the heart into the world with them; but then Secondly,</P>
<P>There is an acquired hardne&s;&s;e of heart, or a hard|ne&s;&s;e that men bring upon them&s;elves; &s;o my Text &s;aith, they made their hearts hard, and &s;o it is &s;aid of <HI>Zedekiah,</HI> in the 36. of the 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> hee hardned his heart again&s;t God: that is one; Secondly,</P>
<P>Know that there is a graduall or partiall hardne&s;&s;e of <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> heart; when the heart is harden'd but in &s;ome mea&s;ure, <NOTE PLACE="marg">There is a gra|duall or partial hardne&s;s, and there is a to a&s; hardne&s;s.</NOTE> there is &s;ome hardne&s;&s;e in them, and &s;ome &s;oftne&s;&s;e in them, and there is a totall hardening of the heart when the whole fram<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter"> of the heart is given up to hardne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>That there is a graduall, and partiall hardne&s;s of heart, you may &s;ee it in Chri&s;ts own Di&s;ciples, who being new Creatures had a heart of fle&s;h in them, and yet it is &s;aid of them, in <HI>Mark.</HI> 6. 52. They con&s;idered not the mira|cle <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark 6. 52. Mark. 8. 17.</NOTE> of the loaves, becau&s;e their heart was hardned: and in <HI>Mark.</HI> 8. Chri&s;t &s;aith to them, Have ye your hearts yet harden'd? Chri&s;ts own Di&s;ciples had &s;ome degrees of hardne&s;&s;e of heart, but then</P>
<P>There is a hardne&s;&s;e, that is a Totall hardne&s;&s;e; of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 5. 3. Jer. 6. 28.</NOTE> which the Scripture &s;aith, they are all bra&s;&s;e and iron; Thirdly,</P>
<P>There is a hardne&s;&s;e of heart, that is felt; felt by them <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> that are under it; and there is a hardne&s;&s;e of heart that is <NOTE PLACE="marg">There is a hardne&s;s felt and a hardne&s;s unfelt.</NOTE> unfelt.</P>
<P>There is a hardne&s;&s;e that is felt: &s;o the Church &s;aith in
<PB N="10" REF="8">
<HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 63. ver. 1. Ah Lord, why ha&s;t thou harden'd our hearts from thy feare? But <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a 63. 17.</NOTE></P>
<P>There is likewi&s;e a hardne&s;&s;e of heart, that though it lye upon the &s;oule, yet they feele it not; that they are as dead men under it, like <HI>Nabals</HI> heart, that was like a &s;tone, and he tooke no notice of it: and this unfelt hard|ne&s;&s;e of heart, it proceeds &s;ometimes from ignorance, and &s;ometimes from malice; Fourthly, <NOTE PLACE="marg">4.</NOTE></P>
<P>Know that there is a hardne&s;&s;e of heart, that is un|willing, <NOTE PLACE="marg">There is an unwilling hard|ne&s;&s;e a hardne&s;s bemoaned for and &s;triven a|gain&s;t; &amp; there is a willing hardnes, a hard|ne&s;s raigning and delighted in. Ier. 31. 18.</NOTE> bemoaned, lamented, groaned under, look'd up|on as a judgment, as a mi&s;ery; and there is a hardne&s;&s;e of heart that is willing, a willing hardne&s;&s;e, a plea&s;ing hardne&s;&s;e, a raigning hardne&s;&s;e, a hardne&s;&s;e cho&s;en and de|lighted in.</P>
<P>That there is an unwilling, bemoaned hardne&s;&s;e, is plain, in <HI>Ephraims</HI> ca&s;e in <HI>Ier.</HI> 31. who makes this his &s;or|rowfull complaint before God, that his heart was like a Heyfer, like a Bullocke that would not carry Gods yoke, it made him weepe bitterly for it; and &s;o the Church in the forementioned place, of <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 63. O Lord, why are our hearts harden'd from thy fear? &s;hee <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai. 63.</NOTE> look'd upon it as a marvailous great evill, that lay upon them. But then,</P>
<P>There is likewi&s;e a hardne&s;&s;e, that is a plea&s;ing hard|ne&s;&s;e; a hardne&s;&s;e delighted in, a hardne&s;&s;e raigning, a hard|ne&s;&s;e gloried in; that is the hardne&s;&s;e that my Text men|tions: La&s;tly,</P>
<P>Know that there is a hardne&s;&s;e of heart, that is Mans worke, and there is a hardne&s;&s;e of heart that is Gods worke; <NOTE PLACE="marg">5.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">There is a hardne&s;s which is mans work, and there is a judiciary hard|ne&s;s which is Gods work.</NOTE></P>
<P>The hardne&s;&s;e of heart that is Mans worke, are all tho&s;e &s;everall hardne&s;&s;es, that I have &s;poke of hitherto, whether naturall, graduall, felt or unfelt, bemoaned,
<PB N="11" REF="8">
or gloried in, they are all our owne hardne&s;&s;es; But then</P>
<P>There is al&s;o a hardne&s;&s;e which is Gods worke; which is a Judiciary hardne&s;&s;e, a judgement inflicted by God righteou&s;ly upon men; who when they will harden them|&s;elves, God con&s;ents that they &s;hall bee harden'd, and concurs to their hardening; &s;o hee is frequently &s;aid in Scripture, to harden <HI>Pharaohs</HI> heart, and to harden whom hee will: but this &s;ame Judiciary hardne&s;&s;e of heart which is Gods worke, you mu&s;t know it is not by Gods infu&s;ing ob&s;tinacy and and malice into them, that God doth to none: but it &s;tands in the&s;e three things, &s;ometimes,</P>
<P>By taking away from them, or denying them tho&s;e meanes that might make their heart plyable to God: or <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> Secondly,</P>
<P>In ca&s;e they doe injoy the meanes, yet God withhold|ing his ble&s;&s;ing from the meanes: and Thirdly, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE></P>
<P>Permitting them, or &s;o far withdrawing the bridle of <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> his re&s;training grace from them, as to permit them to abu&s;e the meanes that they doe injoy, to their own ruine and further hardening; and thus was <HI>Pharaoh</HI> and his people harden'd by the Mini&s;tery of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron;</HI> and thus were the I&s;raelites harden'd by <HI>I&s;aiahs</HI> Mini&s;tery, as you'le find it in <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 6. the Lord &s;aid to him, Goe <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai. 6. 8, 9.</NOTE> to this people, and make their hearts hard; how was that? Hee &s;hould preach to them, but they &s;hould bee given up to a fat heart, that is, a &s;en&s;le&s;&s;e, and a heavy eare, that is, a heedle&s;&s;e eare; God would give them up to a &s;en&s;le&s;ne&s;&s;e, and heedle&s;ne&s;&s;e, that the more means they enjoy'd, the more de&s;perate and vile their hearts &s;hould grow: now then to draw up all this to my purpo&s;e, the Doctrine that I am to handle, wherein
<PB N="12" REF="9">
I am to &s;hew you, that hardening the heart again&s;t God, is a certain forerunner of de&s;truction; I doe not mean it of that naturall hardne&s;&s;e, that wee all bring into the world, nor of that acquired hardne&s;&s;e, that is found in every man, who hath but lived a while upon earth, nor of that partiall or graduall hardne&s;&s;e, that is in the be&s;t of Gods people, much le&s;&s;e of that felt, bewailed, bemoaned hardne&s;&s;e, that is look'd upon as a heavy judgement, by them that lye under it; though all the&s;e are &s;innes, yet the&s;e are not the &s;innes of my Text; but my Text meanes it of the cho&s;en, voluntary, elected hardne&s;&s;e, the Totall hardne&s;&s;e, the Raigning hardne&s;&s;e, when men doe ob&s;tinately, and willingly &s;trengthen, and make firme their hearts in their &s;infull wayes again&s;t God, and then God in his righteous judgement con|curres, and &s;aith bee it &s;o: when men doe thus harden their hearts again&s;t God, be it a Family, be it a King|dome, be it one, or be they many, this hardening the heart again&s;t God, is a certaine forerunner of utter de|&s;truction; Now you under&s;tand what the Le&s;&s;on is, that <NOTE PLACE="marg">The Doctrine proved.</NOTE> I am to handle, and Fir&s;t, I &s;hall make it good, and plainly demon&s;trate the truth of it, out of the Scripture; and for the proofe turn to three or foure Texts, the one is that knowne &s;ignall Text in <HI>Prov.</HI> 29. 1. read it carefully; Hee <HI>that being often admoni&s;hed, or reproved, hardens his neck; there is</HI> my very Doctrine, that after admonitions hardens his neck; what of him? <HI>Shall &s;ud|dainly bee de&s;troyed, and that without remedy;</HI> weigh all tho&s;e words; Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>What it is that is threatned again&s;t him, hee that be|ing often reproved, hardens his neck, what of him? He <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 29. 1.</NOTE> doth not &s;ay, he &s;hall &s;mart for it, he &s;hall be afflicted, but he &s;hall be <HI>de&s;troyed;</HI> de&s;truction is prepared for him; Secondly,</P>
<P><PB N="13" REF="9">
Hee doth not &s;ay hee is in danger of it, but hee <HI>&s;hall bee</HI> de&s;troyed; it is decreed in heaven, it is &s;et down for him, hee &s;hall peri&s;h; and, Thirdly,</P>
<P>That <HI>&s;uddenly,</HI> hee &s;hall &s;uddenly bee de&s;troyed; the Vi&s;ion of his de&s;truction is not for a long time to come, but his damnation &s;leepeth not, he &s;hall &s;uddenly be de|&s;troyed:</P>
<P>Yea and that <HI>with out remedy;</HI> no power &s;hall re&s;cue him, no mercy &s;hall pardon him, no Mediator &s;hall inter|cede for him, there is no remedy, all the world cannot helpe it, the man that after many reproofes hardens his heart, &s;hall bee de&s;troyed without any remedy; there is a place like it in the 28. of <HI>Proverbs,</HI> the very Chapter <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 28. 14.</NOTE> before it, and the 14. ver&s;e; He is <HI>a ble&s;&s;ed man that feares alwayes,</HI> that is the beginning of the Ver&s;e, he is a ble&s;&s;ed man, hee lives in a ble&s;&s;ed &s;tate, who&s;e heart &s;u&s;pects it &s;elf; O I &s;hall &s;inne, I &s;hall offend God, I &s;hall yeeld to my Corruption; hee is a ble&s;&s;ed man that feares al|wayes, but hee that hardens his heart, hee that dares venture upon ungodly enterprizes, what of him? Hee &s;hall fall into mi&s;chief; &s;ome render it <HI>in malum inpro|vi&s;um,</HI> into unthought of mi&s;chief; hazardous men, hard hearted men, are &s;uddainly before ever they thinke of it, caught: and in 2 <HI>Rom.</HI> 2. 5. the Apo&s;tle there <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2. 5.</NOTE> &s;peakes to &s;uch a hard hearted wretch as my Text meanes: Thou (&s;aith hee) after thy hardne&s;s of heart that cannot repent, trea&s;ure&s;t up unto thy &s;elf, wrath a|gain&s;t the day of wrath; marke yee, the hard heart it is Satans trea&s;ury for &s;in, but it is Gods trea&s;ury for wrath; Satan doth not lay up more wickedne&s;s in a hard heart, then God layes up vengeance in the Cellars of it, trea&s;u|re&s;t up to thy &s;elf wrath again&s;t the day of wrath: &amp; were it needfull I could give you abundance of examples out
<PB N="14" REF="10">
of Gods Word; <HI>Pharaoh</HI> and the <HI>Egyptians</HI> are a famous one; 600000. I&s;raelites in the Wilderne&s;s are another fa|mous example of hardning hearts to ruin, when the hard|ne&s;s of their hearts made them all fall in the Wilderne&s;s; as you have it Epitomized in <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 95. and the latter end of it: and &s;o many more in the Old and New Te&s;ta|ment, that the time will not allow mee to mention, <HI>Iob</HI> hath a pa&s;&s;age may &s;erve for all, in <HI>Iob</HI> 9. 4. &s;aith he, Who over harden'd him&s;elf again&s;t God, and pro&s;per'd? As if he &s;hould have &s;aid, I challenge all the World to bring an example of any one man that ever harden'd his heart again&s;t God, and was not ruin'd by it; that ex|pre&s;&s;ion, <HI>and pro&s;pered,</HI> is but an Affirmative for a Ne|gative; bring me an example of one that carryed away the victory, that was not lo&s;t in the War; but to make it yet more plain to you, bee plea&s;ed to ob&s;erve there are two things meet in this &s;in of hardne&s;s of heart, be&s;ides many <NOTE PLACE="marg">Two things meet in this &s;in, which evi|dently prove that ruine at|tends it.</NOTE> other that might be &s;aid; but I &s;ay there are two things that will demon&s;trate to all the world, that it is a &s;in that mu&s;t bring forth certain judgment: The one is,</P>
<P>In the Nature of it, it is rebellion again&s;t God, it is <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> the trying of it out with God, who&s;e will &s;hall &s;tand; <NOTE PLACE="marg">It is made up of rebellion and not yeeld|ing&punc;</NOTE> for God &s;aith plainly to the harden'd &s;inner, I will have &s;uch a thing done, no (&s;aith the t'other) I will have &s;uch a thing done; but &s;aith God, if I bee God, I'le have it done; &s;aith the t'other, I am re&s;olved it &s;hall bee thus, and hee tries it out: The &s;in of hardne&s;s of heart is made up of <HI>Rebellion</HI> and not <HI>yeelding,</HI> he takes up the bucklers again&s;t God here, I will try, and when hee hath done refu&s;es to lay them down upon a Summons, but will &s;tand it out to the utmo&s;t; Now (Brethren) it is not imaginable, that any thing but ruine &s;hould attend &s;uch an one; <HI>Gamaliels</HI> &s;peech in <HI>Acts</HI> 5. Beware (&s;aith hee) <NOTE PLACE="marg">Act 5. 39.</NOTE>
<PB N="15" REF="10">
left yee bee fighters again&s;t God; The harden'd &s;inner enters into the li&s;ts to contend with God, and then &s;aith <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 44 28.</NOTE> God, if it be come to that it &s;hall be tried, <HI>who&s;e word &s;hall &s;tand, mine or theirs;</HI> God &s;peakes to the very ca&s;e of &s;ome harden'd &s;inners, that &s;aid to the Prophet <HI>Ieremiah</HI> they would do what is good in their eyes: well &s;aith God, you have &s;poken the word, and we will try it out, whether you or I &s;hall carry it; if poor wormes dare enter the lifts and bid defiance to God and refu&s;e to &s;ubmit, they mu&s;t peri&s;h: Secondly, there is this in this &s;inne of hardne&s;&s;e of heart, that,</P>
<P>In the nature of it, it fru&s;trates all the meanes that <NOTE PLACE="marg">It fru&s;trates all meanes of &s;al|vation.</NOTE> &s;hould po&s;&s;ibly &s;erve to &s;ave the &s;oule from ruine; I &s;ay the &s;in of hardne&s;s of heart, in the nature of it, fru&s;trates all tho&s;e means which &s;hould tend to &s;ave the &s;oul from ruine; <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 95. 7, 8. Heb. 3. 8.</NOTE> and therefore you'l find it ordinarily; <HI>If you'l heare Gods voice harden not your heart,</HI> in the 95. <HI>P&s;alme;</HI> &s;o in <HI>He|brewes</HI> 3. 15. <HI>To day if you will heare my voyce, harden not your heart,</HI> as they did in the Wilderne&s;&s;e; and my Text hath it againe, <HI>they made their heart like an Adamant &s;tone, that they might not heare the words that God had &s;aid to them;</HI> &s;o that this is a &s;inne that prevents all tho&s;e Ordinances and meanes, which the Lord hath &s;anctified and appointed for reducing a &s;oule from the wayes of death; and this is noted of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> in the Wilder|ne&s;&s;e, that though they had innumerable miracles and ad|mini&s;trations of all &s;orts, they ate miracles, and dranke miracles, and wore miracles, they had what&s;oever might po&s;&s;ibly doe a people good, all the&s;e were lo&s;t to that people, how? onely becau&s;e of the hardne&s;&s;e of their hearts; and &s;o the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it, in the &s;ixth of <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> the Lord doth by the Prophet, (&s;aith he) <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 12. 40. Acts 19. 9. Prov. 2. 19.</NOTE> harden their heart that they <HI>may never turne and be hea|led:</HI>
<PB N="16" REF="11">
Chri&s;t &s;aith the &s;ame in <HI>Iohn</HI> 12. 40. that this was the rea&s;on, why all the miracles that he had wrought a|mong them, and all the Sermons that he had preached a|mong them, did them no good, becau&s;e their hearts were harden'd: it is like a peece of &s;tone, put into a bottles mouth, though you put it into the bottome of a well, no water gets into it, the &s;topple keeps all out; the &s;inne of hardne&s;&s;e of heart keeps the &s;oule from receiving any good, it is like unto the harlot that <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peakes of, or rather like them that goe in to the harlot, that none of them ever turne to take hold of the wayes of life; &s;o that becau&s;e it is a &s;inne, that is open Rebellion again&s;t God, and it is a &s;inne that in the nature of it, rejecteth all the meanes that might make reconciliation with God, what can bee expected; but the heart that goes on to harden it &s;elfe mu&s;t needs run into utter ruine.</P>
<P>I have one thing more before I come to the Applica|tion, and that is to di&s;cover how this &s;inne of hardne&s;&s;e of heart may be known, the properties of it, that every &s;oule may bee able, when it comes to the Application, to give a right judgement of its owne condition; and here I be|&s;eech you remember, that I doe not come to enquire af|ter hardne&s;&s;e of heart in generall, there is no living man upon earth, but his heart is harden'd; there is no child of God living, but his heart is harden'd, all the &s;infull motions and inclinations that are found in us, they are all the fruits of hardne&s;&s;e of heart; all that rebellion that <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peakes of in the &s;eventh to the <HI>Romans,</HI> a law in the members rebelling again&s;t the law of the mind, and lea|ding of him captive, it is all the fruit of hardne&s;&s;e of heart but all hardne&s;&s;e is not the hardne&s;&s;e of my Text; all <NOTE PLACE="marg">How this de|&s;tructive hard|ne&s;&s;e may be found.</NOTE> hardne&s;&s;e of heart is not de&s;tructive hardne&s;&s;e, is not rui|ning hardne&s;&s;e; hardne&s;&s;e felt, hardne&s;&s;e bemoaned, hard|ne&s;&s;e
<PB N="17" REF="11">
lamented and &s;triven again&s;t is &s;oftne&s;&s;e in Gods e&s;teeme; and is &s;o farre from being a forerunner of ruine, that it is an evidence of &s;alvation; but it is this de&s;troy|ing damning hardne&s;&s;e of heart, that I would enquire the properties of, and &s;et them before you out of the word of God: and there are &s;ix things that I have thought up|on, whereby this de&s;troying damning hardne&s;&s;e of heart doth manife&s;t it &s;elfe, Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>Take that which is mo&s;t u&s;uall in the Scripture, the <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> Lord ordinarily expre&s;&s;es this devilli&s;h hardne&s;s of heart, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Such an hard|ned heart is frequently compared to an untamed Bullock. Deut. 9. 19. 32. 15. Jer. 31. 18. 2 Chron. 36. 13. Nehem. 9. 29. P&s;al. 75. 5. Jer. 7. 26. 17. 23. Exod. 32. 9. 33. 35. Which compa|ri&s;on affords two evidences. If it can po&s;&s;i|ble it will not be yoked.</NOTE> by the compari&s;on of an untamed heifer, of a bullock that refu&s;es to carry the yoke, to draw, or to plow; very often in the booke of God doth the Lord de&s;cribe this hardned &s;inner by the compari&s;on of an untamed heifer, in reference to the yoke: Now in an untamed heifer, there are the&s;e two things remarkable to my purpo&s;e: the one is,</P>
<P>That if it be po&s;&s;ible, it will throw off the yoke that you would put upon it, turning away the neck, rinching the &s;houlder, u&s;ing its &s;trength, and all that it hath, to keepe the yoke that it may not come upon the neck of it: or &s;e|condly,</P>
<P>If you doe get the yoke over the neck, and compell it to be under the yoke, then it pines away, frets and fumes, and bellows, and takes on, but worke it will not; ju&s;t thus is this harden'd heart, God hath two yokes; The one is, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 If by force the yoke bee put upon it, it will fret and pine away but not worke.</NOTE></P>
<P>The yoke of his Commandements, which hee com|mands every &s;oule to take upon its &s;elfe, this yoke, this hardned wretch throwes away with indignation, that you may &s;ay of a harden'd heart in reference to the yoke of obedience, as <HI>Iob</HI> &s;peaks of the Vnicorne, in the 39. of <HI>Iob,</HI> Can&s;t thou intreat him to carry thy yoke and to plow thy ground? can thy faire words per&s;wade him to doe it?
<PB N="18" REF="12">
(&s;aith hee) &s;o doe you thinke any allurements for God, &s;hall make this wretched man carry the yoke of Gods Commandements? no, hee throwes them off, what God would have him doe he will not doe, but then God hath another yoke, that this creature cannot keep off: and that is,</P>
<P>The yoke of correction, the yoke of judgement, and when the Lord puts that yoke upon him, then hee pines away, frets, &s;welters him&s;elfe, and as the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> expre&s;&s;es it, in the 24. of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> You &s;hall not weep, that is, you &s;hall not weep with any godly &s;orrow, but ye &s;hall <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 24. 23.</NOTE> pine away in your iniquities: and the Lord expre&s;ses it in the 51. of <HI>I&s;aiah:</HI> Thy &s;onnes do faint (in the 20. ver&s;e) they are like a Bull caught in a net, full of the fury of the Lord, there thy &s;onnes are fallen, I have yoked them, they would not carry my yoke of obedience, but I have yok'd them with judgement; and how are they under it? there they lie like a Bull in a net, full of the fury of the Lord, yelling and roaring: thus the harden'd heart is like an untamed heifer, the yoke of Gods commandements it will not carry, and the yoke of judgements though it mu&s;t carry, yet it doth not profit by them, but onely pines away by di&s;content under them; This fir&s;t note of a harden'd heart I give onely for your memories &s;ake, be|cau&s;e the matter of it will come in the things that fol|low. And &s;econdly, another property of this harden'd heart that my Text &s;peaks of, is,</P>
<P>That it is an in&s;en&s;ible heart; <HI>Nabals</HI> heart is &s;aid to be <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> like a &s;tone, &s;en&s;ible of nothing, though all belonging to <NOTE PLACE="marg">A hard heart is an un&s;en&s;ible heart.</NOTE> him was like to come to ruine; <HI>Nabals</HI> heart had no &s;en&s;e of any thing, &s;o is this wretch, this wretched creature I am &s;peaking of, let Gods wrath bee threatned to him, though hee lie under it, hee feeles it not; let his owne un|kindne&s;s
<PB N="19" REF="12">
be open'd, he is not &s;en&s;ible of it, let heaven &s;hake over him, let the earth &s;hake under him, let his e&s;tate &s;hake, let his hou&s;e quake, nothing moves him, let death bee ready to &s;hake him, hell ready to devoure him, hee apprehends nothing, hee is like the drunkard that <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peakes of in the 23. of <HI>Proverbs,</HI> that lies a&s;leep <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 23. 34, 35.</NOTE> upon the top of a ma&s;t, <HI>they have beaten mee,</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>but I did not feele it,</HI> they have wounded me, but I did not know it; nothing that the Lord doth to them, or that his word &s;aith to them, makes them &s;en&s;ible of any thing, a harden'd heart is an in&s;en&s;ible heart; that is ano|ther property of it: Thirdly, this harden'd heart of my Text,</P>
<P>Is an impenitent heart indeed, the hardne&s;s of heart is <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> but an aggravation of impenitence, but he is re&s;olutely <NOTE PLACE="marg">A hard heart is an impenitent heart.</NOTE> an impenitent per&s;on, hee is one that goes on in the wayes of &s;inne, and will not bee tooke off from the wayes of &s;inne; A harden'd heart, you may truely &s;ay of it, it is a Rock to God, but it is wax to the Devill; it is inexora|ble to the reque&s;ts of God, but it is mo&s;t yeelding to the allurements of the Devill; Gods &s;eed will not grow in this rock, but the Devils &s;eed growes be&s;t of all there; they obey not the truth but willingly obey unrighteou&s;|ne&s;s, they are &s;tones to God, but wax to the Devill; in|deed to harden the heart, and to goe on re&s;olutely in a way of &s;inning again&s;t God, is al one, take it as the Apo&s;tle expre&s;&s;es it in the &s;econd of the <HI>Romans,</HI> thus, (&s;aith hee) <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2. 5.</NOTE> <HI>after thy hardnes and heart that cannot repent:</HI> a re&s;olute hearted man is like a Blackmore, that cannot change his skin; like a Leopard that cannot change her &s;pots: it is &s;et and bent to goe on in the wayes of &s;inne; that is ano|ther property: Fourthly,</P>
<P>This harden'd heart doth not onely go<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter"> on
<PB N="20" REF="13">
in the wayes of &s;inne, but goes on in them again&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">4.</NOTE> all admonition, and all helpes again&s;t, and meanes to the <NOTE PLACE="marg">A hard heart goes on, not|with&s;tanding all meanes to the contrary.</NOTE> contrary, what&s;oever di&s;pen&s;ation there is from heaven appearing to take him off from his &s;innes, the harden'd heart hath a <HI>non ab&s;tante,</HI> though preached again&s;t, though threatned, though allured by promi&s;es, though terrified by judgements, the harden'd heart is Sermon-proof, is judgement-proofe; <HI>Elies</HI> &s;onnes they were not only wicked, but they hearkned not to the voyce of their Father when hee made them a good Sermon from God, yet becau&s;e God meant to de&s;troy them, hee had given them up to hardne&s;&s;e of heart, the coun&s;ell of their Fa|ther wrought not one whit upon them; &s;o <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith of him in <HI>Proverbs</HI> 29. hee that having been <HI>often repro|ved,</HI> hardens his heart; <HI>Ieremy</HI> compares him to a wild <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ier. 2. 24.</NOTE> A&s;&s;e, <HI>Ier.</HI> 2. all that &s;eek to catch him labour in vaine, <HI>I&s;|rael</HI> had loved &s;trangers, and after them hee would goe, if God in his Word mourne to them they will not weep, if the Word pipe to them they will not dance, if he offer to draw them with cords of love, they will not follow, if by his judgements hee &s;tand in their way, as the Angel did again&s;t <HI>Balaam</HI> with a drawne Sword, yet on they will, like the Smiths Dog, they can &s;leepe when the &s;parkes fly about their eares; hee is like a man in iron, an armed man, &s;trike him with a &s;taffe, cut him with a Sword, all is one, hee hath armour of proof, keeps out both, men who thus goe on are harden'd to de&s;truction: Fiftly,</P>
<P>Another property of this hardned wretch is, that they make but a mocke and &s;corne either of the &s;innes that <NOTE PLACE="marg">5.</NOTE> they walke in, or of any judgements, or plagues that may <NOTE PLACE="marg">A hard heart &s;lights and &s;cornes coun|&s;ells or threat|nings. Gen. 19. 14.</NOTE> betide them for their &s;innes; as it is &s;aid of <HI>Lots</HI> &s;onnes in law, their father told them of their &s;innes, and told them of the judgement, but (&s;aith the Text) hee &s;eemed
<PB N="21" REF="13">
to his &s;onnes in law as one that mock'd: they jeered him, and they thought hee jeered them, they are like the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7. 4.</NOTE> Swine that our Saviour &s;peakes of, throw a pearle before them, they will tread it under their feet; they make a &s;corne of them, tell them of their offences again&s;t God, and of the ruine of their &s;oules, they are like Leviathan that the &s;pirit of God &s;peakes of, in the 41. of <HI>Iob</HI> come <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 41. 24. 27.</NOTE> upon him with &s;peares and &s;words, they are but as &s;tubble to him, and &s;trawes, hee laughs at them, he &s;aies, Aha, like the hor&s;e in the middle of the battle, neighes and laughs at the danger; &s;o when a heart goes on in a har|dened <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 29. 19.</NOTE> way it makes a je&s;t, and a &s;corne of all the evils you can threaten again&s;t him, hee &s;aith, Tu&s;h, I &s;hall have peace though I adde drunkenne&s;&s;e to thir&s;t, the&s;e threat|nings are nothing, this wind &s;hakes not my corne; and I'le adde but one more, and that is,</P>
<P>When the heart goes on in this de&s;tructive way, it doth <NOTE PLACE="marg">6.</NOTE> oppo&s;e and &s;et again&s;t all tho&s;e as enemies who would <NOTE PLACE="marg">A hard heart: oppo&s;eth and &s;ets again&s;t them as ene|mies who would &s;top them in their wicked wayes&punc; Exod. 10. 28.</NOTE> &s;top them in their way; and when once the &s;oule is come to that pa&s;&s;e, then in truth is Satan &s;et upon his throne, then they are the Devils cu&s;hion, or his pillow; and this the harden'd heart ordinarily doth, you may &s;ee it in <HI>Pharaoh;</HI> when <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;till followed him from God, and hee could not be rid of him, then he gave him this an|&s;wer, <HI>come no more to mee,</HI> I'le hang you the next time you come, &s;ee my face no more, if ever thou comme&s;t to mee againe with the&s;e me&s;&s;ages, thou &s;halt die for it; and &s;o likewi&s;e <HI>Amaziah,</HI> you may read of him in 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 25. when he was fallen into the &s;inne of Idolatry, God <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 25. 16.</NOTE> &s;ent a Prophet to him to admoni&s;h him; <HI>Forbeare</HI> (&s;aith the King to him) <HI>who made you of the Kings Councell? hold your tongue, el&s;e you'l be &s;mitten,</HI> then &s;aith the Pro|phet, by this I know that God meanes to de&s;troy thee;
<PB N="22" REF="14">
when they are like unto them our Lord &s;peakes of, in the &s;eventh of <HI>Matthew,</HI> not onely as &s;wine, that trample the pearle under their feet, but like Dogs worry them <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7. 4, 5.</NOTE> that offer to be&s;tow the pretious things upon them: in one word, <HI>David</HI> de&s;cribes them excellently in the 23. Chap. of the &s;econd of <HI>Samuel</HI> about the &s;ixth and &s;eventh ver|&s;es: <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 23. 6.</NOTE> The &s;onnes of <HI>Belial,</HI> that is the hard hearted men of my Text, for a child of <HI>Belial</HI> is a child without a yoke, that will not carry Gods yoke, marke how hee de&s;cribes them, the &s;onnes of <HI>Belial</HI> are like <HI>thornes;</HI> thornes that <HI>may not bee taken with hands, but the man that touches them, mu&s;t be fenced with iron, and the &s;taffe of a &s;peare,</HI> there is no comming neer them; when men are &s;et upon their wayes, that they hate him that reproves in the gate, and declare them&s;elves oppo&s;ite unto all tho&s;e that would bring them in to God; there is the hard heart that my Text mentions, to this pa&s;&s;e was <HI>I&s;rael</HI> and <HI>Iudah</HI> come, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 36. 15, 16.</NOTE> 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 36. 15. <HI>They tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed greatly, and the Lord &s;ent to them by his me&s;&s;engers ri&s;ing early, becau&s;e hee had compa&s;sion on them. But they mocked his me&s;&s;engers, de|&s;pi&s;ed his words, and mi&s;u&s;ed his Prophets, then the wrath of God broke out again&s;t them and there was no remedy:</HI> &s;o that in a word, when men are come to bee &s;tiffe-necked again&s;t God, &s;en&s;ele&s;&s;e, and remor&s;ele&s;&s;e, boldly going on in &s;inne again&s;t all mercies and meanes, and make a &s;corne of &s;inne and judgement, and declare them&s;elves enemies to tho&s;e that would reduce them into a better condition, the&s;e are the men that my text meanes, and that fall under this Character, their damnation &s;leepeth not; I come now to the Application of it; and there are many excellent u&s;es that wee might make of it, three or foure I &s;hall by the Lords helpe communicate at this time; Fir&s;t,</P>
<P><PB N="23" REF="14">
I earne&s;tly intreat you to examine your owne &s;oules, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. Terrour to all who harden them&s;elves again&s;t God.</NOTE> whether none of you fall under this Character; I am a&s;&s;u|red, there is not a &s;oule in this A&s;&s;embly, but hath hard|ne&s;&s;e of heart in him; I &s;hall bee farre from threatning de&s;truction to every &s;oule that is hardhearted, but I de|&s;ire you to examine whether you are not one of the&s;e harden'd &s;inners my text &s;peakes of, the Lord helpe you to looke inwardly and &s;ay, Lord, is not this my ca&s;e? &s;ay once againe, Art not thou re&s;olved to goe on in thy way, what ever come of it? hath not God enlightned thy con&s;cience, that the wayes that thou walke&s;t in, are the wayes that lead to death? art not thou &s;et notwith&s;tan|ding to goe on in that way, though God &s;ometimes fol|low thee with judgements? do&s;t thou not ca&s;t the judge|ments off, if it bee po&s;&s;ible, or lie and vex under them, and yet goe on? hath not God oftentimes in the mini|&s;tery of his word met with thee, in thy wicked wayes, and &s;hew'd thee the evill and the danger of them, and thou re&s;olutely goe&s;t on, that thou ha&s;t made thy heart like a peece of the nether Mil&s;tone, as God &s;aith of Levi|athan's? art thou come to this pa&s;&s;e? heare a word or two from God, thou mi&s;erable wretched man, knowe&s;t thou what thou ha&s;t undertaken? doe&s;t thou under&s;tand that thou ha&s;t &s;ent a challenge to God? doe&s;t thou un|der&s;tand that thou art in defiance with heaven? do&s;t thou under&s;tand (I &s;ay) that the Lord God almighty is entred the li&s;ts again&s;t thee? or wilt thou not under&s;tand it? or now when thou heare&s;t it, do not thy joynts tremble? art thou able to hold u<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter"> the weapons, when hee comes to &s;trike? know thou for certaine, that it is the intere&s;t of God, to de&s;troy all tho&s;e that will trie it out with him, hee would even hereby bee knowne to bee <HI>Iehovah,</HI> in the 40. of <HI>Iob, If thou bee&s;t God</HI> (faith hee) <HI>&s;hew thy &s;elfe;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob 40. 11.</NOTE>
<PB N="24" REF="15">
how? <HI>pluck downe every proud man, aba&s;e them, lay them low, batter them;</HI> bee a&s;&s;ured of it, thou art a lo&s;t man, thou art an unequall match for him, the greate&s;t Kings and Monarchs, the &s;toute&s;t Champions, the &s;tronge&s;t Gi|ants have met with their matches, but the Lord whom thou defye&s;t never met with his match, and I tell thee hee is preparing for thee; God it may be hath not &s;truck yet, but hee is turning his grind&s;tone, hee is &s;harpening his tooles, hee is preparing his arrowes, he hath them ready at the very face of thee, and thou wretched man wilt bee found to bee but as &s;tubble before Gods devou|ring fire, thou art an undone man, who ever thou art, that ha&s;t dared thus to exalt thy &s;elfe again&s;t the Lord, and if any of you that heare this Sermon doe know any who are thus re&s;olutely &s;et to goe on in their wicked wayes, any &s;uch in&s;olent worme which dares thus lift up it &s;elfe again&s;t its Creator, I'le give you that coun&s;ell that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did give to the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> concerning <HI>Korah, Dathan,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 16. 26.</NOTE> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> who were in the like rebellion, that the&s;e men are in, <HI>Get you all of you up from the tents of the&s;e men, le&s;t you peri&s;h with them,</HI> get you up from them, have nothing to doe with them; it is the terrible&s;t thing in the world to bee found to fight again&s;t God: O that you would all examine your owne hearts upon it: Then &s;econdly,</P>
<P>This le&s;&s;on doth to my apprehen&s;ion &s;peake wonder|full <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> &s;adly concerning our poore di&s;tre&s;&s;ed <HI>England</HI> at this <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lament the &s;ad condition of England, our ob&s;tinacy again&s;t God a &s;adder token of ruine then all other judg|ments which lie upon us.</NOTE> day; truely the dangers that this kingdome of <HI>England</HI> is in at this day, are not to be expre&s;s'd; It plea&s;es God that wee are compa&s;s'd round about with mi&s;chiefes, and one depth calls to another, and almo&s;t every day brings up a new cloud, and for ought mortall man can &s;ee, the i&s;&s;ue of blood, which wee hoped had been &s;tanched, is
<PB N="25" REF="15">
like to bee opened again in as dreadfull a manner as ever, yet it was Ships revolted on one &s;ide, others contrary to Leagues and Covenants invading on the other &s;ide, tu|mults in every corner of the Kingdome, that we are all at our wits ends, but (in Gods pre&s;ence I &s;peak it) I feare the threatning of this doctrine more, then I doe all the revolted Ships, then I doe Duke <HI>Hamiltons</HI> army, or all others who by Sea or Land are indeavoring to hurt us. The kingdome, the body of the kingdome of <HI>England</HI> is bra&s;&s;e and iron; let us all, e&s;pecially you that are the re|pre&s;entative body of the kingdome, if wee have any bow|els in us, let us joyne and bemoane it now wee &s;peak of it, God hath &s;teeped <HI>England</HI> in the oyle of mercies, wee are not melted one whit, hee hath ground us under ter|rible judgements, wee are as hard as ever rock was; wee are broken like a flint &s;tone into 100. peeces, and every piece as hard as the whole &s;tone was; goe from one end of the Kingdome to the other (pardon me if I u&s;e the re|ceived expre&s;&s;ions) let men bee Cavaliers or Roundheads, Royali&s;ts or Parliamentiers, give them what &s;tile you wil, all are bra&s;&s;e and iron; the generality of the Kingdome re&s;olutely goes on rebelling again&s;t the Lord God; but goe into any towne, goe into the places of publique re|&s;ort, view the Citie, view the Countries, &s;ee whether men bee not every where &s;et upon mi&s;chiefe and mad|ne&s;&s;e, the Mini&s;tery of the word overborne, bulru&s;hes as able to &s;top a current as all the endeavours of that handfull of men that &s;tand for God, are able to &s;top the inundation of peoples &s;innes, lying, &s;wearing, debawched|ne&s;&s;e, bla&s;phemy, here&s;ie, prophanene&s;&s;e of every kind, almo&s;t all in rebellion again&s;t God, and no man almo&s;t layes it to heart: indeed wee have our monethly Fa&s;ts kept up, but alas, they are brought to a meere formality;
<PB N="26" REF="16">
but &s;o did the&s;e Jewes in the Text, three&s;core yeers and ten together, Fa&s;t after Fa&s;t, but God loathed them, be|cau&s;e they tended the ceremony, and neglected the &s;ub|&s;tance, piety and ju&s;tice, and turning from wicked wayes, and even &s;o doe wee in the meane time like the An|vile grow harder for all the &s;trokes are upon us; &s;urely Gods wrath is great again&s;t us, <HI>Pharaohs</HI> hard heart was a wor&s;e plague then all his other plagues put together, and the ob&s;tinacy and hardne&s;&s;e of heart throughout the land is the greate&s;t plague wee can lie under, and will prove, if infinite mercy prevent it not, the &s;luce or floodgate to let in de&s;truction, let us &s;adly lay the&s;e things to heart, and mourne before him becau&s;e of them, and rather wonder at Gods patience then at our plagues; and certainely, if God go on to lay our plea&s;ant land de&s;olate, and to &s;catter us as with a whirlewind, though now we can lay the cau&s;e of our calamities at one anothers doores, God will make us all know that it was our <HI>ob&s;tinacy of heart again&s;t him</HI> that hath brought ruine upon us; the Lord teach us to Iay it to heart upon this day of our humiliation; Secondly,</P>
<P>Is the &s;inne of hardne&s;&s;e of heart &s;o de&s;troying a &s;inne? <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 2. Therefore a heart of fle&s;h is an excellent grace&punc; 2 Chron. 34. 27. Iob. 23. 16.</NOTE> what cau&s;e then have they to ble&s;&s;e the Lord to whom God hath given a tender, &s;oft heart, a heart of fle&s;h, &s;uch an heart as <HI>Io&s;hua</HI> had, 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 34. <HI>thy heart was tender, and thou did&s;t humble thy &s;elfe;</HI> who can &s;ay with <HI>Iob, God hath made my heart &s;oft;</HI> if any &s;oule in this A&s;&s;embly hath obtain'd a &s;often'd heart, let him know that in that one gift God hath given him the quinte&s;|&s;ence of all the grace of the new Covenant; God made all the new Covenant good in that one promi&s;e, <HI>I will give you a heart of fle&s;h,</HI> to have the heart of &s;tone taken <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezck. 11. 19.</NOTE> away, and to have a fle&s;hy heart in the roome of it, is an unvaluable mercy, God delights to dwell in a hou&s;e thus
<PB N="27" REF="16">
broken, where the floore is &s;oft, where the raine comes in, and you have infinite cau&s;e to prai&s;e God for it: but becau&s;e I would not bee mi&s;taken, I pray you know, that all tenderne&s;&s;e and brokenne&s;&s;e is not that heart of fle&s;h that I meane; There is a naturall tenderne&s;&s;e that &s;ome men have, a compa&s;&s;ionating &s;pirit, &s;o that they can hard|ly &s;ee another in mi&s;ery, but will weepe with him, and yet it may bee their hearts are as hard again&s;t God, as Le|viathans is again&s;t a Speare; and there is another tender|ne&s;&s;e, that is a legall brokenne&s;&s;e, when God it may bee &s;eizes upon the heart with a &s;pirit of trembling, that they are &s;tabbed with the apprehen&s;ions of wrath, and &s;o are like unto <HI>Cain,</HI> that where&s;oever he goes, hee was in the land of <HI>Nod,</HI> that is, in the land of trembling; this trem|bling heart is a cur&s;e threatned, the <HI>Lord &s;hall give thee a</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 28. 65. Levit. 26.</NOTE> <HI>trembling heart, I will &s;end a faintne&s;&s;e into their hearts in the land of their enemies, and the &s;ound of a &s;haking leafe &s;hall cha&s;e them;</HI> I meane neither of the&s;e, but that Evan|gelicall broken heart, that is contrary to the &s;inne of my Text, is nothing but an heart willing to lay downe the bucklers before God, that &s;aith with <HI>Iob,</HI> Lord I have <NOTE PLACE="marg">How &s;uch a heart may be known.</NOTE> done fooli&s;hly, I will doe &s;o no more; the heart that yeelds to God: and that will appeare by the&s;e foure things, one is, that</P>
<P>To &s;uch a heart, the reliques of the hardne&s;&s;e of their hearts is a mo&s;t uncomfortable burden, the &s;tone in their <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">It's a heart complaining of its hardnes.</NOTE> bladder, or the &s;tone in their kidneys, though it afflict their &s;en&s;e more, yet doth not afflict their inward man, their heart, &s;o much as the ob&s;tinacy, and obduratene&s;&s;e, and wretchedne&s;&s;e, that they finde in their owne &s;oule a|gain&s;t God; <HI>O Lord, why ha&s;t thou cau&s;ed us to erre from thy wayes? and harden'd our hearts from thy feare?</HI> &s;o al&s;o <HI>Ephraim</HI> mourned, I have been cha&s;ti&s;ed, <HI>but I am like an
<PB N="28" REF="17">
untamed heifer</HI> that will not carry Gods yoke; a heart that mournes under his hardne&s;&s;e is a tender heart; to feele and complaine of hardne&s;&s;e is &s;oftne&s;&s;e, it's an evi|dent &s;igne that there is underneath a living and quick part upon which this hardne&s;&s;e pre&s;&s;es, el&s;e there would be no complaining of it: Secondly,</P>
<P>It is a heart that the meditation of Gods kindne&s;&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> and its owne unkindne&s;&s;e maketh relent; the thought <NOTE PLACE="marg">It's a heart wrought upon by arguments of love, by Go&s;pel argu|ments.</NOTE> that God &s;hould &s;pare them, pity them, doth mo&s;t affect them: thus the harden'd Jewes in <HI>Zachary,</HI> tho&s;e that had been mo&s;t hard again&s;t God, yet when they look'd upon Chri&s;t whom they had pierced, who came to &s;ave them, they wept like a child; this Lord we have pierced, we have crucified the Lord of life: If any arguments worke at all upon hardned &s;inners, they are &s;uch as the&s;e, <HI>Tophet is prepared for you, you are going to a place of blackne&s;&s;e and darkne&s;&s;e, to a lake burning with fire and brim&s;tone,</HI> where you will waile and gna&s;h your teeth, but arguments taken from Gods love and bowels of mercy doe mo&s;t melt a tender heart, when the Lord had turned and &s;oftned that harlots heart; <HI>Ezek.</HI> 16. this mo&s;t affected her that hee was reconciled to her whom &s;he had broken with her whori&s;h heart, this Evangelicall, fle&s;hly heart relents, and bleeds at the thoughts of Gods kindne&s;&s;e and its owne unkind|ne&s;&s;e; and then thirdly, it appeares in this,</P>
<P>A Go&s;pel-&s;oftned heart is afraid of &s;inne, a very co|ward <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> to any evill, this heart hath not courage enough <NOTE PLACE="marg">A &s;oft heart is afraid to &s;inne.</NOTE> to try the power of Gods di&s;plea&s;ure, <HI>How can I, how dare I doe this wickedne&s;&s;e and &s;inne again&s;t God?</HI> hard hearted <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob. 31. 23.</NOTE> men dare venture upon &s;uch bloody things, but a &s;oftned heart &s;aith with <HI>Iob, de&s;truction from the Almighty is a ter|rour to me, and by rea&s;on of his highne&s;&s;e, I cannot indure; David</HI> who&s;e heart was as a Lion, feared not to incounter <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 28. 14.</NOTE>
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with Lions, Beares, Giants, yet his fle&s;h trembled at any thing which might offend his God; this &s;igne of a gratious tender heart you find, <HI>Prov.</HI> 28. 14. in the oppo&s;ition be|tweene a fearefull heart and a hard heart; <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is the man that feareth alwayes, but hee that hardneth his heart &s;hall fall into evill;</HI> the heart which feareth alwayes is the heart which out of the love of God would not &s;inne, yet out of the con&s;ideration of its owne pronene&s;&s;e to evill &s;u&s;pects it &s;elfe, and feares it &s;hall bee &s;urprized, this frame of &s;pirit is thus oppo&s;ed to a hard heart.</P>
<P>This &s;ame fle&s;hly heart, is a heart upon which Gods &s;eale leaves a print, Gods coun&s;ell I meane, his Word, threatnings, exhortations, or what&s;oever comes from him, leaves a &s;tampe upon him; It is a heart that is wax to God, willing to bee moulded, re&s;ignes up it &s;elfe to bee to God what God would have it to bee, as well as it can; if this heart be at any time drawne into &s;inne when God appeares di&s;plea&s;ed, it &s;aith, <HI>I have done fooli&s;hly, I will do &s;o no more,</HI> it layes downe the Buckler and yeelds to God, Gods argument prevailes with it, and therefore is ordi|narily expre&s;&s;ed by having Gods Law written upon the fle&s;hly Tables of their heart, ea&s;ily moulded to Gods will as much as its frailtie can attaine unto; it &s;aith, Lord I am full of Rebellion, full of di&s;tempers, but I would not beare up armes again&s;t my God, I would yeeld to him, I would follow him; if it bee thus with thee, thou ha&s;t got the grace of the new Covenant, mo&s;t oppo&s;ite to the mo&s;t damnable &s;inne that can bee found among&s;t men; oh forget not to ble&s;&s;e God daily for it: The la&s;t and prin|pall u&s;e I intend is, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 3. Exhortation and direction again&s;t this great &s;inne.</NOTE></P>
<P>For exhortation; becau&s;e this &s;inne of a hard heart is &s;uch a de&s;troying &s;inne, &s;uch a ruining &s;inne, therefore I &s;hall de&s;ire to give you &s;ome helpes how this great evill
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may bee prevented, if wee be not yet come up to it; how it may be cured, if any of us lie under it; And</P>
<P>If the Lord have cured it, how wee may bee pre&s;erved, that wee doe not returne to it: But fir&s;t take a few mo|tives to provoke you to labour and &s;trive again&s;t this cur|&s;ed <NOTE PLACE="marg">Motives to &s;trive again&s;t it.</NOTE> evill of a hard heart: I pray you con&s;ider in the fir&s;t place;</P>
<P>Wee are all hard by nature, not onely a <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> a <HI>Se|nacherib</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> or <HI>Iulian</HI> are hard hearted, but we are all &s;o na|turally; <NOTE PLACE="marg">We are all hard hearted by nature.</NOTE> and that man that hath the &s;tone by nature, if hee bee not wonderfull carefull, it will grow upon him; our whole family are liable to the Stone &s;aies one, therefore I mu&s;t bee wary, I mu&s;t looke to it; and the rather looke to it, becau&s;e it is not an ea&s;ie thing to get hardne&s;&s;e out of a rock; thy heart is a rock, and if thou do&s;t not look to it, thou wilt not get hardne&s;&s;e out of it, it will grow upon thee, and thou knowe&s;t not whither it may come in time; Con&s;ider &s;econdly,</P>
<P>That while thou art under the plague of a hard heart, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> thou art under all the cur&s;es of God, God hardens his <NOTE PLACE="marg">While wee are under it our condition is mi&s;erable.</NOTE> again&s;t thee, while thou hardne&s;t thy heart again&s;t him, none of all thy &s;ervices are accepted, thy per&s;on is rejected; every thing is accur&s;ed, all goes cro&s;&s;e to the &s;oule that is harden'd before God: Con&s;ider thirdly, (for I'le but point at things.)</P>
<P>All that God aimes at, by all his dealings towards thee, <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> is but to bring thee upon thy knees, that thou may&s;t not <NOTE PLACE="marg">All Gods &s;trokes tend to &s;often thee.</NOTE> harden thy &s;elfe again&s;t him; why do&s;t thou thinke hee brings thee to Church to heare? why doth hee give thee leave to &s;peake to him in prayer? why doth hee vi&s;it thee with afflictions? why doth hee powre upon thee &s;o many mercies? what doth every &s;troke thinke thou &s;peake? what doth every di&s;pen&s;ation &s;peake? nothing
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but this, remember the battle, doe &s;o no more, rebell not again&s;t thy God, &s;tand not up again&s;t him, when all that God aimes at is, to give thee quarter, termes, articles of &s;afetie, and honour to thee, doe not &s;tand out to thy ruine; Againe, con&s;ider this,</P>
<P>If thou &s;tand out, it will certainly end ill; I confe&s;&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">4.</NOTE> the greate&s;t Monarchs upon earth have &s;ometimes met <NOTE PLACE="marg">Thou wilt bee ruined if thou &s;tand out.</NOTE> with their match, but the Lord God never yet met with his match; never any body that &s;tood out again&s;t him, that ever made him rai&s;e his &s;iege, if he hath once pitched downe before them, it is in vaine; &s;ome be&s;ieged have fir&s;t eaten Hor&s;e fle&s;h, and afterwards eate Dogs and Cats before they would yeeld, and &s;ometime &s;uccour hath come, but when all is done, a breach will bee made on thee, and thou wilt bee taken; <HI>Gideon</HI> told the Prin|ces of <HI>Succoth</HI> who refu&s;ed his reque&s;t; when hee came backe, hee would teare them with Briars and Thornes of the Wilderne&s;&s;e, and he made his word good; beleeve it, God will teare thee with Briars and Thorns, if thou yeeld not to him; yet know for certaine;</P>
<P>If thou lay downe thy weapons and refu&s;e &s;tan|ding <NOTE PLACE="marg">5.</NOTE> out ob&s;tinately again&s;t God, hee will bee cor|dially <NOTE PLACE="marg">If thou yeeld the quarrell is ended, and thou wilt bee &s;pared.</NOTE> reconciled, all quarrels will bee ended if once thou give over hardning thy heart again&s;t him, his heart will be tender toward thee, the Lord expre&s;&s;es it excellently in the 27. Chap. of <HI>I&s;aiah; who would &s;et Briars and Thornes in battle again&s;t mee?</HI> what man <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 27. 4.</NOTE> would be &s;o mad, to &s;et Briars and Thornes to fight with devouring fire? well, if they will doe it, if they make that choice, <HI>I &s;hall goe thorough them, and burne them up, but</HI> (&s;aith hee) <HI>rather let him lay hold upon my &s;trength, that hee may make peace, and hee &s;hall make peace with me, fury is not in me;</HI> though thou ha&s;t hitherto harden'd thy
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&s;elfe again&s;t him, hee is yet to bee wonne, mercy may yet be found, lay hold upon his &s;trength, &s;ay unto him, <HI>Lord, here I lay downe my weapons, I have been a wretch, a rebell, I have &s;inned, I am guilty,</HI> but I come with my halter about my neck, hee will make peace, hee will grant thee very honorable quarter; <HI>Elihu</HI> &s;ets forth this notably in <HI>Iob</HI> 33. after God hath battered the &s;trong holds of a &s;inner by preaching, by vi&s;ions, by dreames, by correcti|ons and judgements to withdraw man from his &s;infull purpo&s;es, yet if when hee is ready to peri&s;h, when his &s;oule drawes nigh to de&s;truction, hee will but yeeld and call for an interpreter, one of a thou&s;and to &s;hew him righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>Then will God bee gratious to him and de|liver him from going downe to the pit.</HI></P>
<P>To prevent this killing &s;inne, if as yet thou bee not un|der <NOTE PLACE="marg">Meanes how to prevent this &s;inne of hard|ne&s;&s;e of heart.</NOTE> the dominion of it: Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>Beware <HI>le&s;t yee be harden'd through the deceitfulne&s;&s;e of &s;inne;</HI> marke yee, there is a deceitfulne&s;&s;e in &s;inne, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> that will harden men before they are aware; many a man <NOTE PLACE="marg">Take heed of the deceitful|ne&s;&s;e of &s;inne. Heb. 3 12.</NOTE> thinkes thus, <HI>&s;hall I heare armes again&s;t God?</HI> God forbid, I had rather bee &s;truck dead from heaven with a thun|derbolt, then ever harden my heart again&s;t God; this is his thought, but &s;inne cozens him into it, hee is cheated into it, as in our civill troubles, many a man is wrapped into an engagement, that if hee &s;aw the bottome of it, he would die before ever hee would yeeld to it; but when hee is once in, hee knowes not how to get out; &s;o is it here, but beware that &s;inne doe not cozen and harden you through its deceitfulne&s;&s;e; though wee are all hard, yet this killing hardne&s;&s;e comes on by degrees, and the fir&s;t thing that lets it in, is the plea&s;ure that &s;inne brings to the &s;oule, the bewitching plea&s;ure of it, and then a mans thoughts are onely to give him&s;elfe content, but meanes
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no hurt again&s;t God, little thinkes that hee begins to fight again&s;t God, but the plea&s;ure of his &s;inne hath be|witched him, and then that plea&s;ure brings him to repeat it againe and againe, and &s;o to come to a cu&s;tome of it, and afterwards to defend it, and then in the end to come to a direct oppo&s;ition of what ever would take him off from it, thus men are intangled by the deceitfulne&s;&s;e of it; watch therefore again&s;t all the alluring baites of that &s;in|full fle&s;h that dwells in thee: This in generall; but</P>
<P>More particularly there are three &s;innes, that you mu&s;t take marvelous heed of, if you would not be harden'd; <NOTE PLACE="marg">More particu|larly beware</NOTE> the one is,</P>
<P>The &s;inne of unbeleefe, that which brought all the <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Of unbeleef. P&s;al. 9. 5. Heb. 2. 12. 15. 16.</NOTE> <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to their hardne&s;&s;e in the Wilderne&s;&s;e, you have it in the third of the <HI>Hebrewes, If yee will heare my voyce harden not your hearts as your fathers did in the Wilder|ne&s;&s;e,</HI> but how came they to be hardned? the holy Gho&s;t tells you the &s;pring of it in the 16. and 18. Ver&s;es, for &s;ome when they had heard the word provoked him, even they that beleeved not, they would not beleeve God, and &s;o they grew harden'd; therefore the Apo&s;tle exhorts in the &s;ame place to take heed that there be not an evill heart of unbeleefe; when the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were in the Wilderne&s;&s;e, God had made them many promi&s;es, but they did not &s;ee them accompli&s;hed, hee had made many threatnings and they did not alwayes pre&s;ently light upon them, and be|cau&s;e they &s;aw not Gods word pre&s;ently fulfilled, there|fore they beleeved not, and becau&s;e they did not beleeve and re&s;t upon Gods word, therefore their hearts grew hard, &s;en&s;ele&s;&s;e, carele&s;&s;e and bold in &s;inne, and then,</P>
<P>Pride and high thoughts of our &s;elves, are wonderfull hardning evills; nothing upon earth makes a man &s;o de|&s;perate <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Of pride.</NOTE> in the wayes of &s;inne as &s;elf-conceitedne&s;&s;e; and
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therefore in the Scripture very often, the Bullocks &s;tiffe neck, and a proud heart &s;ignifie one and the &s;ame thing, <HI>Lift not up your hornes on high, &s;peak not with a &s;tiffe neck:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 75. 5. Ier. 43. 2.</NOTE> you have a notable example in the 43. of <HI>Ieremiah</HI> of men who ob&s;tinately would go into <HI>Egypt</HI> again&s;t the expre&s;&s;e word of God, and in the 44. Chapter they &s;aid they would do that which was good in their own eyes; but who were they? the Prophet tells us, <HI>they were all the proud men:</HI> And thirdly,</P>
<P>Hypoctiticall and formall attending upon ordinances <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> without attaining the inward power, is one of the greate&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Of hypocriti|call and for|mall perfor|mances of Religious du|ties.</NOTE> hardners in the world; you &s;ee it in the&s;e of my Text, what was it harden'd them all the&s;e three&s;core and ten yeeres? nothing more then their monethly Fa&s;ts, their frequent Fa&s;ts, and their daily prayings to God. The &s;tubborne, hardned and impudent harlot you read of <HI>Prov.</HI> 7. what was it made her &s;o bold in her filthine&s;&s;e that &s;hee will take her fill of love till the morning? why, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 7. 11, &amp;c.</NOTE> this &s;ecured her, <HI>I have had my peace-offerings this day, and paid my vowes,</HI> I have had a day of Fa&s;t, or a day of thank&s;giving, attended upon ordinances; &s;o when men doe performe ordinary holy duties, and re&s;t in the &s;hell of them, they lick them&s;elves whole with them; though I live in &s;uch a &s;inne, yet I pray, I reade &s;o many Chapters every day, I keepe the Fa&s;t as con&s;tantly as any man, I goe to Church, this hardens the heart in a way of &s;inne; this is the fir&s;t direction, beware that you bee not couze|ned into hardne&s;&s;e by the deceit of &s;inne; &s;econdly, ano|ther meanes to prevent hardne&s;&s;e, is,</P>
<P>To beware of the abu&s;e of Gods patience &amp; bounty: The <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> wretched heart of man being prone to be bold in &s;inne by <NOTE PLACE="marg">Abu&s;e of Gods patience of mercy. Eccle&s;s. 8. 11.</NOTE> nature, is made more bold, when it ob&s;erves God lets men alone to take liberty to &s;in again&s;t him; <HI>Solomon</HI> expre&s;&s;es
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this cleerly in the eighth of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes,</HI> Ver&s;. 11. <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> (&s;aith hee) <HI>&s;entence again&s;t an evill one is not pre&s;ently ex|ecuted,</HI> God &s;pares him, what then? <HI>Therefore the heart of the &s;onnes of men is fully &s;et in them to doe evill;</HI> re&s;o|lutely &s;et to goe on in a way of &s;inne, becau&s;e they &s;ee that others &s;cape well enough, as the Souldier when hee fir&s;t goes into the battle, while he is a fre&s;h water Souldier hee feares and trembles, and dares not be where he heares the bullets whizze about, but hee comes off &s;afe, and it may bee of 1000. men not 100. kill'd, then hee growes bold the next time, and in time dare goe upon the Canons mouth; and &s;o Mariners at Sea, at fir&s;t quake, but when they come off &s;torme after &s;torme, they thinke they &s;hall come off &s;till; &s;o the wretched heart of man, ob&s;er|ving Gods patience and indulgence towards &s;infull men, takes libertie to goe on and concludes with that wretched man, <HI>Deut.</HI> 29. who ble&s;&s;eth him&s;elfe and &s;aith, <HI>I &s;hall have</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 29. 19.</NOTE> <HI>peace though I walk after the lu&s;ts of my owne heart, adding drunkenne&s;&s;e to thir&s;t,</HI> hee ble&s;&s;eth him&s;elfe when God cur&s;eth him, but for the Lords &s;ake, watch you again&s;t it, for that is a wofull hardning, when that that &s;hould bring a man to repentance, hardens his heart, and of &s;uch God prote&s;ts hee will not &s;pare them, but the anger and jealou&s;ie of God &s;hall &s;moak again&s;t him, &amp; all the cur&s;es written in the booke of God &s;hall light upon him: And thirdly,</P>
<P>Beware of the examples of others, the common mul|titude <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> going on in any way of &s;inne, e&s;pecially when they <NOTE PLACE="marg">Examples of others.</NOTE> that doe it are great men, and it may bee &s;ome of them good men, this imboldens men in their evill wayes; it is a wonderfull meanes to make them harden'd in &s;in, when they &s;ee the &s;in which they commit is common; &amp; we are prone to thinke there is no danger in that which many
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men, great men, good men practi&s;e; the abominable &s;inne of <HI>Sodome,</HI> the &s;inne for which God de&s;troyed <HI>Sodome,</HI> they &s;ay there is no man almo&s;t in the Ea&s;terne Countries makes any con&s;cience of it, becau&s;e it is a common &s;inne, yet they make con&s;cience of murder, theft, drunkenne&s;&s;e, &amp;c. but becau&s;e this is a common &s;inne they regard it not; the&s;e things I commend unto you to prevent this &s;inne of hardning your hearts: But &s;uppo&s;e the &s;oule be under it, what is then to be done?</P>
<P>If thou bee&s;t under the &s;inne of hardne&s;&s;e of heart, I <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> meane if hardne&s;&s;e reigne in thee, if thou bee come up to <NOTE PLACE="marg">How to cure this &s;inne of hardne&s;&s;e of heart.</NOTE> the heighth of it, I have little hope to doe thee good, yet many have very re&s;olutely gone on, and through Gods mercy have beene cured; and there are two wayes to cure the &s;tone in the heart as well as the &s;tone in the bladder; the one is,</P>
<P>To breake it; the other is,</P>
<P>To di&s;&s;olve it. I &s;hall onely point at them, they can|not bee &s;ufficiently handled in a little peece of a Ser|mon. <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE></P>
<P>If thou would'&s;t have the &s;tone of thy heart broken, then <NOTE PLACE="marg">How to break it.</NOTE> attend upon the&s;e three things; the one is,</P>
<P>Study to bee convinced that this is thy condition, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> &s;earch throughly and re&s;t not untill thou &s;ay feelingly, I, here lies a &s;tone indeed, I am this harden'd wretch, when the Leper was &s;o farre convinced, that he covers his lips, and goes out and cries, I am uncleane, I am uncleane, he was in the way to a cure, &s;o doe thou, &s;tudy to bee con|vinced, Lord <HI>I am like an untamed heifer, I am a hard hearted wretch, my heart is &s;et in me to mi&s;chiefe;</HI> till the Lord convince thee of it, there is no hope that any meanes will ever doe thee good: Secondly,</P>
<P>The ordinances of God, e&s;pecially the preaching of his <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE>
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word, and in it the denunciations and threatnings of wrath and vengeance, they are as a hammer to breake this Rock; <HI>Is not my word a hammer?</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>doe not I</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 23. 29.</NOTE> <HI>breake the rockes?</HI> would'&s;t thou have the &s;tone in thy heart broken? bring it under the bout-hammer of Gods Word, &s;it thee under a plaine and faithfull Mini&s;tery, and apply to <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">hy &s;oule the denunciations of wrath and judge|ment due to thy &s;inne, and pray God to &s;et it home to thy &s;oule; leave not till thy heart &s;ink under the &s;troke of the Word, as the Butcher followes the hard head of the Bullock with blow after blow untill it lie along upon the floore; follow thy heart thus with blow upon blow, read over thy wayes, and thy doings that have not been good, and &s;ay not this will bee a very hard taske, thou had&s;t better doe this then peri&s;h, better turne then burne; and be&s;ides the Word,</P>
<P>Take the judgements or corrections of God, that are upon thee to breake thee; a good &s;hower and a plough <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> together helpes notably to breake the clods in the fields; Ble&s;&s;ed is the man whom God cha&s;ti&s;eth, and teacheth; when God followes thee with corrections, con&s;ider of them, &s;ay thus, God vi&s;its <HI>mee,</HI> my <HI>family,</HI> my <HI>wife,</HI> my <HI>&s;tate,</HI> my <HI>&s;oule,</HI> my <HI>children, &amp;c.</HI> I am never from under the rod, what is the matter? Lord what is it? <HI>Shew mee why thou contende&s;t with mee; Surely; for my iniquity I am &s;mitten, all this is come upon me for my rebellion, O my &s;oule I &s;hall finde it hard &s;triving again&s;t the Lord, I doe but kick again&s;t prickes in the time of adver&s;ity:</HI> con&s;ider, the&s;e are meanes to breake the &s;tone; but</P>
<P>Above all I commend the &s;weet way of cure, by the di&s;&s;olving of it; and that is onely by faith in the blood of <NOTE PLACE="marg">How to di&s;|&s;olve it.</NOTE> Je&s;us Chri&s;t, lay hold upon Chri&s;t by faith: I know not how true it is, but &s;ome &s;ay, the blood of a Goat will in
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time di&s;&s;olve an adamant, but certainly there is a &s;laine Goate, the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who&s;e blood is able to di&s;&s;olve the heart that is like an Adamant; Chri&s;ts blood will turne a heart of &s;tone into a heart of fle&s;h; you &s;ee it in the Jewes, tho&s;e hard hearted wretches, that when they were put in choice, whether they would have Chri&s;t, or <HI>Barabbas,</HI> &s;pared <HI>Barabbas</HI> and crucified Je&s;us; yet the&s;e hard hearted &s;inners when they come to heare from <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 2.</NOTE> <HI>Peter,</HI> that they had crucified the Lord of life who yet was willing to &s;ave them, they cry out, Men and brethren, what &s;hall we doe? crucified the Lord of life! Lord are we guilty of &s;uch a thing again&s;t a Saviour, and in the 12. of <HI>Zachariah,</HI> which place intends the conver&s;ion of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 12 10.</NOTE> the whole nation, <HI>They &s;hall looke upon him, whom they have pierced, and &s;hall weepe, as one weepeth for the lo&s;&s;e of an onely child;</HI> if then thou would'&s;t have thy obdurate heart, thy harden'd heart, if thou woul'd&s;t have it in truth yeeld to God, goe and &s;it thee with <HI>Mary</HI> neer Chri&s;ts Cro&s;&s;e, and heare him &s;ay behold thy Saviour, as he &s;pake to <HI>Mary, behold thy Sonne,</HI> and to <HI>Iohn, behold thy Mother;</HI> &s;o &s;it thou and thinke that thou didde&s;t heare Je&s;us Chri&s;t calling to thee, <HI>Behold thy Saviour,</HI> &s;ee the Sonne of God dying, &s;hedding his blood, that thou mai&s;t not die, and be damned; though thy &s;innes have nail'd mee here, this blood that flowes from me &s;hall wa&s;h thee, and &s;hall keepe thee that thou &s;halt not peri&s;h, looke thus up|on him, this will doe the deed, this will melt thy heart, this will di&s;&s;olve it, &s;o that thou can&s;t not chu&s;e but goe alone and &s;ay, Ah unkind wretch, that ever I &s;hall beare armes again&s;t &s;uch a God! This is the way to di&s;&s;olve the &s;tone, to melt thy heart; I have one thing more; when God hath cur'd it,</P>
<P>Beware that hardne&s;&s;e grow not upon thee againe; <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE>
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though thou drive it away once it will turn againe: Know <NOTE PLACE="marg">How to keep the &s;oftned heart from growing hard againe.</NOTE> all ye people of God, that though a converted man can|not become a rock againe, yet he may become very hard, he may bee frozen as hard as ice; though good ground will never bee a rock, yet good ground may bee very hard <NOTE PLACE="marg">Watch again&s;t hardning, which &s;teales upon us when</NOTE> for want of plowing, and lo&s;e many a &s;ea&s;on, and it mu&s;t be torne, and torne againe before ever it will bee fit for &s;eed againe, thou mai&s;t bee &s;o farre harden'd, as to have cau&s;e to cry out with the Church, <HI>Lord, why is my heart harden'd from thy feare?</HI> therefore when God hath made thy heart tender, and &s;oftned thee, labour to keep it &s;o, watch over thy &s;elfe, that thou doe not depart from it, and to helpe you, remember the&s;e few briefe directi|ons;</P>
<P>Ob&s;erve thy heart very diligently when it growes lazie <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> as the Church did, who when her beloved came, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">We grow lazy.</NOTE> would have come to her, <HI>&s;he had put off her coat, and &s;hee was loth to foule her feet;</HI> when I &s;ay, thou finde&s;t thy heart grow lazie, thou beginne&s;t to harden.</P>
<P>When thou finde&s;t thy appetite gone, that thou do&s;t not reli&s;h the Ordinances of God, and communion with <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Our appetite fails.</NOTE> him, when thou can&s;t turne thy back upon tho&s;e fellow|&s;hips, and communions with God, that heretofore have been more pretious to thee then thy life; or</P>
<P>When thou finde&s;t thy heart growne &s;elfe-conceited, that thou art &s;ome body in thy owne eyes. <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE></P>
<P>When thou growe&s;t petti&s;h, and wayward to them that <NOTE PLACE="marg">Become &s;elfe-conceited.</NOTE> admoni&s;h thee, that thou growe&s;t cholerick, and art im|patient <NOTE PLACE="marg">4.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Or unwilling to be ad|moni&s;hed.</NOTE> to be plainly dealt with, then is thy heart hardned, and looke to thy &s;elfe betimes, let it not grow upon thee; doe as men will doe in other di&s;ea&s;es, <HI>I finde the &s;tone growing upon me, I &s;hall have another terrible fit of it, if I prevent it not, I mu&s;t take a little timely phy&s;ick,</HI> u&s;e the
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meanes before pre&s;cribed both to breake it and di&s;&s;olve it, yea before the&s;e things grow upon thee, u&s;e the&s;e former pre&s;criptions for preventing it, and be very much in pray|er to thy tender hearted Saviour, to keepe thy heart ten|der, he onely can doe it, and he will doe it, if thou &s;eeke to him, and rely &s;trongly upon him to doe it, according to his Covenant of Grace, wherein he hath bound him&s;elf to take away the heart of &s;tone, and to give his people a heart of fle&s;h, u&s;e (I &s;ay again) the&s;e meanes carefully, otherwi&s;e if thou harden thy heart again&s;t God, God will harden his heart again&s;t thee, and he will make thy heart ake, and thy bones quake before thy peace &s;hall be made, the Lord give you to con&s;ider of the&s;e things.</P>
<P>There is another U&s;e of this Le&s;&s;on to the whole king|dom how to prevent our threatned de&s;olation: O how glad would we all be to find &s;ome expedient to &s;ave the king|dom! why, certainly this would doe it, could we think of a way how this Bra&s;&s;e and Iron, this rock of <HI>England</HI> might relent before God, and lay down the Bucklers, that would &s;ave <HI>England,</HI> and nothing el&s;e will doe it; What might be of u&s;e to <HI>England</HI> over and above what is already &s;po|ken, cannot now be delivered, the time being more then &s;pent, nor can my voyce reach <HI>England,</HI> but our prayers may reach Heaven where our tender Lord is; let us there|fore turne what might be &s;poken in a Sermon to <HI>England</HI> into a prayer for <HI>England.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
