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<DATE>2012-01-03</DATE>
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<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1">
<P>A COVRT OF GVARD FOR THE HEART.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>Aug: Mathewes</HI> 1626.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE NOBLE AND FERVENT Louer of Religion, Sir GEORGE HASTINGS, <HI>Knight.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_MEEting with this <HI>Copy</HI> by accide~t, &amp; per u&s;ing it with ob&s;eruation and delight,
<PB REF="3">J found it too worthy to be buried in ob&s;curitie, or co~fined to one priuate &s;tu|dy. And though the reue|rend Author, (who is to me, after much inquiry, &s;till vnknowne) for what cau&s;e I cannot gue&s;&s;e, did omit to ble&s;&s;e the World with &s;o happy a fruit of his Labours; J pre&s;umed to bring it foorth to that light, which otherwi&s;e it was likely neuer to haue &s;eene. &V;pon the hope to make that, which was at
<PB REF="3">fir&s;t good, &s;o much the better, by being more publicke and generall Not that it &s;hall lye ex|po&s;ed to &s;ale on euery Booke-&s;ellers &s;tall, but onely bee commended into the hands of &s;ome fewe noble and worthy <HI>Per|&s;ons.</HI> Among whom, I am principally encoura|ged by the certaine know|ledge of your Zealous affection to &s;uch holy Pieces, and Diuine me|ditations, to Dedicate it
<PB REF="4">and my &s;elfe to the Pa|tronage of your VVor&s;hip not doubting of your gra|cious re&s;pect to &s;o graue a Gue&s;t, and free par|don to</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Wor&s;hips vnworthy Seruant <HI>IOSEPH TAYLOR.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>A COVRT OF <HI>G&V;ARD.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>PROV. 4.23.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>Keepe thy Heart with all dili|gence, for out of it come i&s;&s;ues of Life.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_NOne &s;peakes more feelingly of a &s;torm, then hee that hath &s;uffered Shipwracke; none, of the lo&s;&s;e of innocence, more punctually, then the broken, the decayed, the ban|kerupt &s;inner: for as &s;ome
<PB N="2" REF="5">men that haue vndone them|&s;elues by &s;uites of Law, haue yet got the knowledge ther|by to be good Lawyers; or as other by their many di&s;ea|&s;es haue out of their Apothe|caries bills, made vp a booke of Medicines: &s;o doth the deare experiment of our &s;ins prooue vs good Coun&s;ellors for others, (though by a &s;trange argument) becau&s;e we haue bene ill ones to our &s;elues. There was a time when none kept his heart with le&s;&s;e diligence then <HI>So|lomon</HI> did, when if his wiues had bin made out of his &s;ide, as <HI>Eue</HI> was out of <HI>Adams,</HI> he had bene a mon&s;ter of &s;euen
<PB N="3" REF="5">hundred ribbs at lea&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1. King. 11.3.</NOTE> for &s;o many wiues hee had be&s;ides his Concubines. There was a time when euery wanton eye had a flame for him to &s;inge him&s;elfe by, euery tem|ptation had a picklocke to his bre&s;t to enter in at plea|&s;ure; when his heart was like a &s;hiuered gla&s;&s;e, reflecting &s;o many &s;euerall &s;innes as there was pieces of it; his Cinque ports of &s;en&s;es, vnder an ill guardian, &s;o many inlets for trea&s;on; him&s;elfe a Captiue, though a King, a &s;laue in &s;in, though a Royal one: So that <HI>Tertullian</HI> dur&s;t &s;ay, <HI>Solomon quite lo&s;t that glory which God gaue him.</HI> And Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI>
<PB N="4" REF="6">with as much &s;harpenes, but mingling with it a wi&s;h of pitty, &s;ayth of him, <HI>Hee built God a Temple, but I could wi&s;h, he had not let the Temple of his heart to fall to ruine.</HI> There were not more workmen a|bout the building of the one, then there were foule &s;innes bu&s;ie in de&s;troying of the o|ther: his heart went downe farre fa&s;ter then the Temple ro&s;e, as if God had meant &s;uc|ce&s;siuely in one patterne to haue drawne to the life, the be&s;t of his graces, the wor&s;t of our &s;ins; &s;hewing <HI>Solomon</HI> to the world, like the &s;ame picture with two re&s;emblan|ces; look on him on that &s;ide
<PB N="5" REF="6">where God portrayed him, with his Intellectuals &s;ubli|med aboue his fellowes, you &s;hall find an Angel: &s;tep on the other &s;ide, wher he drew him&s;elfe in his own colours of Idolatry, you &s;hall &s;ee a deuill; For a &s;inner is no bet|ter, St. <HI>Peter</HI> him&s;elfe hauing had that name (the only title of his, which the Pope leaues out) <HI>get thee behinde me Satan.</HI> Let this therefore bee the di&s;|couery of the Speaker, that he that knew what the lo&s;&s;e of a heart was, giues you coun&s;ell cheape, which hee dearely bought. <HI>Keepe thy heart with all diligence for out of it come i&s;&s;ues of life.</HI></P>
<PB N="6" REF="7">
<P>But I mu&s;t not doe <HI>Solomon</HI> that wrong as to gaze on him in his falling, not to ca&s;t a glance on him in his ri&s;ing; be&s;ide, it may be my Text may &s;uffer in it; the coun&s;aile may bee le&s;&s;e welcome if it be thought a condemned Sinner gaue it: Yet we &s;hall find,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 17.6.</NOTE> <HI>Elias</HI> refu|&s;ed not his meate, becau&s;e a Rauen (an vncleane Crea|ture) broght it to him:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal, 1, 8.</NOTE> <HI>Should an Angell preach any other Go&s;|pell then this</HI> (&s;ayth Saint <HI>Paul</HI>) <HI>let him be accur&s;ed;</HI> But, he &s;ayth not, &s;hould the De|uil preach no other then this, Let this Go&s;pel bee accur&s;t? Had <HI>Solomon</HI> at that time
<PB N="7" REF="7">when he bended his knees to the Idoll <HI>A&s;teroth</HI> (which by many of the Learned is thought to haue bin the &s;ta|tue of <HI>Venus,</HI> a fit Goddes for his turne) had he then, I &s;ay, pronounced, that the true God were onely to be hono|red, &s;hould wee retyre our Faith from it becau&s;e an Ido|later &s;poke it? But to what ende is it that <HI>Solomons</HI> &s;innes are &s;hewen in &s;uch a Scarlet, as if the whole &s;ea of Chri&s;ts Pa&s;sion could not wa&s;h it out? Why it needs be thought that hee is damned, who&s;e words, no doubt, haue &s;ent more &s;oules to heauen, then there are letters in them; who
<PB N="8" REF="8">was an immediate Secretary to God, nay, a Royall type of Chri&s;t: he &s;inned indeed, in that he was no type of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> no more was <HI>Ionas</HI> in his fly|ing away from God, or <HI>Sam|&s;on</HI> in being deceiued by <HI>Da|lilah:</HI> yet both types of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> But it troubles the~, that they find it regi&s;tred, hee &s;inned; but they find it no were that he repented. But their Diui|nitie might teach them that in matters of fact, arguments of authoritie drawne from negatiues are but weake; it is not written that he repented, therefore hee did not repent, is but a loo&s;e vngrounded con&s;equence: Where do they
<PB N="9" REF="8">find that <HI>Adam</HI> repented of his &s;in in Paradi&s;e, <HI>Noah</HI> of his Drunkenne&s;&s;e, or <HI>Lot</HI> of his Ince&s;t; are the&s;e therefore in the <HI>black-booke</HI> of the dam|ned? But &s;uppo&s;e it be writ|ten, what action &s;hall <HI>Solomo~</HI> haue again&s;t them for &s;o high an Iniury? I am &s;ure S. <HI>Ierome,</HI> who&s;e credite may waigh down a whole Colledge of Cardinals, though weighty <HI>Bellarmin</HI> makes one again&s;t him, cites a place for it out of <HI>Solomons</HI> him&s;elfe, where the <HI>Septuagint</HI> tran&s;late it out of the originall (though other|wi&s;e rendred in our Engli&s;h) <HI>at la&s;t I repented.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 24.32</NOTE> If this moue not, yet let Gods promi&s;e be
<PB N="10" REF="9">of &s;ome credit, which was made &s;o firme for <HI>Salomon,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 7, 15.</NOTE> <HI>I will be his Father, he &s;hall be my Sonne: if he commit iuiquitie, I will chasten him with the rod of men, But my mercy &s;hall not de|part away from him as I tooke it from</HI> Saul, <HI>whom I put away be|fore thee.</HI> Marke the words, <HI>If he commit iniquity, he would cha|&s;ten him,</HI> but how? <HI>with the rod of Men,</HI> But where in the Scripture, is <HI>the Rod of men</HI> ta|ken for damnation? <HI>He would take his mercy from him;</HI> but how? <HI>not as hee did from Saul</HI> that was a Reprobate; why therefore <HI>Salomon</HI> a repro|bate?</P>
<P>I confe&s;&s;e the Fathers are not
<PB N="11" REF="9">very tender handed in &s;ear|ching the faults of <HI>Solomon;</HI> but he that reades them, may &s;oone finde the rea&s;on was becau&s;e the vulgar Iewes tooke <HI>Solomon</HI> to be Chri&s;t, for the noy&s;ing of him to be the Me&s;sias was the cau&s;e (as &s;ome imagine) the Queene of <HI>Sheba</HI> tooke &s;o long a ior|ney to vi&s;ite him; Therefore S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> well coniectures. <HI>God it may be &s;uffered him to &s;in &s;o fouly, least others &s;hould (in|duced with the rariety of his wi&s;|dome) &s;inne more fowly in be|leeuing him to be God;</HI> But &s;hall we therefore infer God &s;uf|&s;uffered him to be damned? I would not pronou~ce it of the
<PB N="12" REF="10" MS="y">greate&s;t &s;inner that I &s;hould &s;ee dye, though I &s;hould vi&s;i|bly perceiue his &s;ins to couer him like a cloude, as if they would keepe God from loo|king on him, the deuill wai|ting for him, as for a certaine prey, yet I would not pro|nounce it? <HI>The wayes of thy mercies O God, are pa&s;t finding out, more vnknowne then the way of a Ship in the &s;ea, or of an Eagle in the ayre.</HI> Let them &s;hew me how a fla&s;h of Lightening melts the Sword without making any impre&s;sion in the Scabberd: I will &s;hew them as well, how at the in|&s;tant of our death, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> mer|cy more &s;uddaine, and more
<PB N="13" REF="10">penetrating then the Lighte|ning, may melt our hearts in|to repentance, though out|wardly the eyes of the &s;tan|ders by perceiue it not. Of the two then, I dare &s;ay, the Pope offends the le&s;&s;e, be|cau&s;e more charitably in Ca|nonizing them for Saints, who for ought hee knowes are damned, then the&s;e do in damning them, who for ought they know are Saints. But I will no longer tract the vncharitable foot&s;teps of <HI>So|lamo~s</HI> cen&s;urers; more I might &s;ay, to &s;ecure him from their malice, le&s;&s;e I could not. I will leaue them onely with this adui&s;e, To be&s;tow more
<PB N="14" REF="11">time in &s;auing their owne &s;oules; le&s;&s;e, in damning of the &s;oules of others! For <HI>So|lomon</HI> &s;aith not heere, Damne another mans heart with all diligence, but <HI>Keepe thy heart with all diligence, for out of it come i&s;&s;ues of life.</HI></P>
<P>The be&s;t coun&s;el that euer was fro~ the mo&s;t able Coun|&s;ellor that euer was; for we haue already di&s;couered him to bee no le&s;&s;e then <HI>Solomon;</HI> one that leaueled the vneuen wayes of knowledge from the <HI>Caedar of Libanus to the Hi|&s;op that groweth on the wall;</HI> that had traced the Labyrinth of all &s;ecrets without a thred, and left neuer a knot in na|ture
<PB N="15" REF="11" MS="y">to vnty; to whom God him&s;elfe had &s;aid, <HI>There was none like thee before thee, nor &s;hall any ari&s;e after thee that is like thee.</HI> Preferred therefore for his <HI>Wi&s;dome</HI> by <HI>Abulen&s;is,</HI> before <HI>Adam</HI> in his Originall perfection: nay (that which toucheth vs more nere) one that exactly knewe the true value of a heart, a&s;well by the lo&s;&s;e, as by the enioying. He it is giues you the aduice, as a &s;hort exact drawne out of the large coppy of his ex|perience, <HI>Keepe thy heart with all diligence:</HI> nor onely &s;o, he pre&s;cribs not as ignorant <HI>Em|piricks</HI> giue Phi&s;ick, take this, but ask me not why; or as
<PB N="16" REF="12"><HI>Tyrants</HI> giue Lawes, obey this, my will is my rea&s;on: For he hath a <HI>quia</HI> for you, as well as a <HI>quid,</HI> a why, a&s;well as a what, <HI>For out of it come i&s;|&s;ues of life.</HI> Thy <HI>Heart</HI> there|fore is a Iewell, thy Body the Cabinet, the Guardian thy Selfe; the Watch, <HI>all dili|gence;</HI> the motiue of all, <HI>Life Keepe thy heart with all dili|gence, for out of it come i&s;&s;ues of life.</HI></P>
<P>The fir&s;t &s;uruey &s;hal be of the <HI>Iewell,</HI> a Iewell of Gods own cutting; he that only La|pidary, if you marke the fa|&s;hion of it; you may ea&s;ily find it, large and open to|wards heauen, but angular
<PB N="17" REF="12">and narrow, and &s;hut vp to|wards the earth. Aske the Philo&s;opher what the <HI>Heart</HI> is, he will tell you, <HI>It is the fountaine of life, the furnace of heate, and centre of the bloud:</HI> But aske the Diuine, and you &s;hal heare, <HI>It is a Ray, a Spark an Image of the Diuinitie;</HI> It is the &s;oule it &s;elfe in St. <HI>Pauls</HI> la~guage,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 10.10.</NOTE> <HI>With the heart man be|leeus vnto righteou&s;nes. Make the heart of this thy people fat</HI> (&s;aith the Prophet <HI>E&s;aiah</HI>) but why?<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 6.10</NOTE> <HI>Le&s;t they vnder&s;tand with the heart.</HI> So that as St. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> ob|&s;erues, The Court hath gott the attribute of the Queene that dwells in it, the Queene the name of her Court, the
<PB N="18" REF="13"><HI>Heart,</HI> the attributes of the <HI>Soule;</HI> the <HI>Soule</HI> in exchange, the name, the title of the <HI>Heart.</HI> To keepe therefore thy <HI>Heart,</HI> is as much, as to keepe thy <HI>Soule,:</HI> Nay, Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> will tell you, <HI>That to keepe your Heart is as much as to keepe thy God.</HI> For doe but open thy &s;euerall Clo&s;et there, and there you &s;hall find a ne&s;t of Iewels invol|ued and &s;hut vp one within another. Open thy <HI>Heart,</HI> thou &s;halt find thy <HI>Soule</HI> there; open thy <HI>Soule,</HI> thou &s;halt meet thy <HI>Spirit</HI> there <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> vnfold thy <HI>Spirit,</HI> thou &s;hal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;ee thy <HI>Faith;</HI> vnlocke thy <HI>Faith,</HI> and thy <HI>God</HI> will &s;hew
<PB N="19" REF="13" MS="y">him&s;elfe. St. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> therefore iu&s;tly cryeth out vnto vs, <HI>Con|temne not O man, this miracle within thee, doe not vndervalue the heart which God hath &s;o in|richt.</HI> What madne&s;&s;e is it to think meanly of your <HI>Soules,</HI> which the Deuil e&s;teemes &s;o precious. He wageth warre again&s;t God him&s;elfe, he ob|&s;erues, he watcheth, he com|pa&s;&s;eth the world to gaine one heart. If thou wilt not take &s;ome care to keep, what the deuill be&s;towes &s;o much to gaine, mu&s;t it not follow that thou thinke&s;t far <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> of thy &s;elfe then the deuill doth?</P>
<P>If nothing el&s;e will teach
<PB N="20" REF="14">thee the value of they heart, know it is the onely gla&s;&s;e that God delights to look<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> in, it is a letter written by him&s;elfe to him&s;elfe, as wel directed to God, as &s;ent from him; the In&s;cription his, the Super&s;cription his: It is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> Sacrifice, his Altar, and his Temple, it is a Sterling piece of Gods owne Coine, a Medall on which he &s;tampe his Image, and in that &s;tampe thou may&s;t read thy value.</P>
<P>I haue &s;aid enough, but no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> all, yet did euer any affirme the &s;hadow to be worth the &s;ub&s;tance, or the Picture worth the face of him it re|pre&s;enteth. Yet St. <HI>Augu&s;tin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI>
<PB N="21" REF="14">hath a &s;train aboue this, with &s;o exact compleatne&s;&s;e was our Redemption accompli|&s;hed, <HI>God laying downe at &s;take his &s;oule, for the &s;oule of man that was forfeited, as if the &s;oule of a &s;inner were worth the &s;oule of his God.</HI> Bold words, holy Father, <HI>the &s;oule of a &s;in|ner worth the life of his God:</HI> worth tho&s;e <HI>&s;tripes,</HI> tho&s;e <HI>buf|fetings,</HI> tho&s;e <HI>riuers of bloud,</HI> that <HI>Pa&s;sion,</HI> nay that <HI>Death?</HI> Had not the lea&s;t droppe, or the ea&s;ie&s;t groane of Chri&s;t, beene ran&s;ome enough for more worlds, then there were euer men from <HI>Adam</HI> to this houre. Had not the very act of de&s;cending from
<PB N="22" REF="15">his Glory into the bo&s;ome of the Virgin merited as much. Yet &s;uch was the will of our ble&s;&s;ed Sauiour, that could it bee &s;uppo&s;ed there were but one lo&s;t &s;oule in al the world, imagine it were onely thine, yet he would haue come into the world, &amp; would haue &s;uf|fered all tho&s;e torments, to haue &s;aued that one Soule of thine, for Chri&s;t dyed as much for one as for all; in the &s;hare of his Pa&s;sion as in the enioying of the Sunne|&s;hine; All hath all, euery one hath all. I can goe no higher in the valuing of this Iewell; it &s;hall be my wi&s;h that none here euer goe lower in the e|&s;teeme of it. St. <HI>Cyprian</HI> was
<PB N="23" REF="15">of the minde, <HI>That if the mea|ne&s;t or the poore&s;t man among&s;t vs did but knowe how noble his heart were, what honours, digni|ties, and priuiledges it had, hee would &s;corne as much to di&s;honor it with &s;inne, as a great Prince would doe to pilfer for his din|ner.</HI> For do but thinke with your &s;elues, what haue your deare, your familiar &s;innes in them, worth a heart that <HI>God</HI> hath dyed for: before you part with it, looke vpon it; a Prodigall will do &s;o much for his money, though hee throw it away afterward: &s;ee what you change, &s;ee for what, ob&s;erue from whom you take it, to whom you
<PB N="24" REF="16">giue it, remember what &s;or|rowes it mu&s;t &s;uffer, if you part wath it. When you haue done this, St. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> lets you loo&s;e, <HI>Sinne if thou can&s;t who|ere thou art, for either thou art already an incarnate Deuill, or by this thou &s;halt ouercome the Deuill.</HI> Thus let me leaue this Iewell a while in tru&s;t with your eares, till I haue found a Cabinet for it, which is my next <HI>Search, thy heart.</HI></P>
<P>Soules once &s;eperated needs no looking too, but while they are here vnited, they are neither without their Pri|&s;ons, nor their Guardians: <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith, <HI>The&s;e pillars of bones that wee &s;ee couered with
<PB N="25" REF="16">fle&s;h, &s;pread ouer with Nerues and vaines, the Face, the Bre&s;t and Hands, make vp but one Fabricke of a Pri&s;on, to keepe the vnruly Heart in: Pri&s;on and Pri&s;oner both at a time;</HI> For &s;aith <HI>Tertullian, As &s;oone as the pri&s;on is made, the pri&s;o|ner is in.</HI> But <HI>Epictetus</HI> will not grant the body a name of &s;o much &s;trength as a Pri&s;on, with him it goes for no more then a <HI>China di&s;h, an artificiall durt,</HI> or <HI>Clay neatly made vp. Plautus</HI> the <HI>Comaedian</HI> hath an other &s;traine for it, he calles man the <HI>Salt&s;eller of his owne &s;oule.</HI> But as it is a defence which women v&s;e, when it is vrged to them, why there
<PB N="26" REF="17">&s;hould be left in Story, more arguments of the malice of their Sex then of men: to an|&s;wer that, the rea&s;on is, Be|cau&s;e men are the writers of tho&s;e Stories, not women: So wee may v&s;e the like in the&s;e titles, of di&s;paragement of the body, That the Soule was the Inuentor of them, not the Body. But whether a <HI>Pri&s;on,</HI> or a <HI>Chinadi&s;h,</HI> or a <HI>Salt&s;eller,</HI> or what el&s;e they plea&s;e to call this outward frame of ours, it mu&s;t needs be the only Casket of this Ie|well which we haue &s;o high|ly pri&s;ed: nor &s;hal we le&s;&s;e in a proportion e&s;teem the <HI>Ca&s;|kee</HI> the the <HI>Iewel Teroul</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Far be it that God &s;hould for euer
<PB N="27" REF="17">for&s;ake that Body which was the Diuine work of his own hand, the Ma&s;ter-peece of his Art, the Viall of his breath, the Heyre of his bounty, the Prie&s;t of his religion,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 8.16.17.</NOTE> <HI>the Souldier of his te&s;timony the Si&s;ter of his Chri&s;t:</HI> If <HI>Tertullian</HI> weigh to lieghly Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> Words in the Scales: <HI>Know ye not that yeare the Teple of God, that the Spirit of God dweleth in you? If any Man defile the Temple of God, him &s;hall God de+&s;troy, for the Temple of God is ho+ly, which Temple you are.</HI> It was &s;coffe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> put vpon <HI>Galba,</HI> a <HI>Ro|mane</HI> of better wit then face, that <HI>Galbas</HI> neat wit had a foul dwelling; But the Chri+&s;tian needs not feare any &s;uch
<PB N="28" REF="18">by-word, for Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> &s;ayth, <HI>That the Fle&s;h of a Lea|per is as fayre to God, as his that is bath'd in Milke and Spices;</HI> Nor can a good Soule euer complaine iu&s;tly of an ill lod|ging for though the walles of this thy Hou&s;e of Fle&s;h totter with a Pal&s;ay, though they flame about thee with a Feauer, or fall to ruine with old Age, though thou art be|come an entire Ho&s;pitall of all Di&s;ea&s;es within thy &s;elfe, yet as long as thou ha&s;t not parted with this Iewell of <HI>Solomons,</HI> if neyther thy eyes haue pauned it to Lu&s;t, nor thy eares morgaged it to Va|nity, nor thy will &s;old it our
<PB N="29" REF="18">right to pre&s;umptuous &amp; to raigning Sinnes: If it be thine owne Heart in thine owne Body (for to alienate one, is to make away both, for let none thinke he can giue a|way his Body to his Sinnes, and keepe his Soule for his God) but if both be thine, be a&s;&s;ured God will keepe both of them thine, &amp; will make vp the defects of both If both be not thine, powre out thy prayers, that it would plea&s;e thy angry God to giue thee thy &s;elfe againe, that Chri&s;ts wounded heart may &s;end thee back thy heart vnwou~|ded, with this, with this warning reuited through the
<PB N="30" REF="19">mid&s;t of it, <HI>Hereafter, keepe thy Heart.</HI></P>
<P>The Soule is &s;o in&s;inuated into the Body, with &s;o nere &s;o clo&s;e a combination, that it po&s;ed <HI>Tertullian</HI> (as him|&s;elfe confe&s;&s;eth) to di&s;tin|gui&s;h, <HI>Whether the Body Cary|ed about the Soule, or the Soule the Body.</HI> On the &s;ame hinges we may hang another doubt, which may be &s;aid to keepe the other; For looke on the <HI>Soule</HI> di&s;cu&s;sing, deciding, &amp; commanding all, you will &s;ay, &s;hee is the Guardian: Looke again on the <HI>Body,</HI> &s;ee in it the &s;euerall &s;tatio~s of the <HI>Sen&s;es;</HI> the <HI>Eyes</HI> watching, the <HI>Eares</HI> li&s;tning, all &s;tan|ding
<PB N="31" REF="19">Sentinels, &amp; the whole frame of it like a well built Ca&s;tle, it might tempt you to beleeue, that the Body had the charge giuen of keeping the <HI>Heart.</HI> But &s;ince the Guard may as well be &s;aid to keepe the King, as the King the Guard, we will leaue the care between them, wi&s;hing the~, that neither of them an|&s;wer as <HI>Kain,</HI> did,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 4.9.</NOTE> <HI>Am I my Brothers keeper.</HI> For the Heart wil one day giue account for the lu&s;tfull wandring of the Eye, the Eye &s;hall giue ac|count for betraying of the Heart. <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;aith, <HI>The &s;ame fire &s;hall then hold them, that no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ally in the &s;ame flame;
<PB N="32" REF="20">collegue fellowes they haue bene in &s;inne, and God will not part them in the puni&s;hment.</HI></P>
<P>The be&s;t re&s;olution then of the&s;e words wilbe, <HI>Heart keepe thy &s;elfe.</HI> But it is a high way &s;aying, <HI>That he that learns of none but him&s;elfe, hath a foole to his teacher.</HI> How then &s;hall the <HI>heart</HI> that is kept by none but it &s;elfe, haue no wi&s;et a Guardian? I feare no wi|&s;er. <HI>Dauid</HI> hath therefore found out another for the cu&s;tody; <HI>For</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>vnle&s;&s;e God keepes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 127.2</NOTE> <HI>the watchman wa|keth but in vaine.</HI> Hee that keepes the <HI>Spheres</HI> in their motions, the <HI>Sunne</HI> with a whole army of Ie&s;&s;er lights
<PB N="33" REF="20">in their cour&s;es, he that &s;ets the Sea his bounds, <HI>Thus far &s;halt thou pa&s;&s;e, but no farther;</HI> He that hanges the whole World vp|on the Hindges, is as care|full of thee as of the whole world; nor doth he leaue thee only to his generall In|fluence, as <HI>Pelagius</HI> (too proud of the &s;trength of his owne Heart) would haue it; He doth not winde thee vp as a Watch, then giue thee vp to thine owne motion, but &s;ayth Saint <HI>Au&s;tine, When he hath &s;ent his Graces as Har|bengers to prepare thy heart, he continues them there to guard thy Heart:</HI> Doe but recount to your &s;elues the Stories of
<PB N="34" REF="21">your own liues. Remember how often your hearts haue bene re&s;olutely &s;et on &s;uch, or &s;uch a &s;inn, yet God hath di|uerted them: How often haue your tongues bene rea|dy to bla&s;pheme, or &s;lander, yet <HI>God</HI> hath &s;topd them; and your hands prepared for a mi&s;chiefe, yet <HI>God</HI> hath &s;tayd them. How this affects you I know not, but St. <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> was &s;o taken with it, when he thought on't, that it made him &s;peake tho&s;e words <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> which nothing but &s;uch a zeale, &s;uch a deuotion, as St. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> had, could make warrantable? <HI>Such are the mer|cies of God</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>to my &s;oule<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="35" REF="21">that I can &s;car&s;e imagine God doth any thing els, but &s;tudy how to &s;aue me; as if hee had forgot all the re&s;t of his creatures, to haue the more time to looke to me alone.</HI></P>
<P>Nor is this all; but as great <HI>Princes</HI> will haue their Ser+uants attend on him whom they honor: &s;o <HI>God</HI> comma~ds the glorious Angels to wait on their Harts, on whom he ca&s;ts a gratious eye, nay, <HI>They are no longer Angels,</HI> (as St. <HI>Gre|gory</HI> well ob&s;erues) <HI>then they are &s;o employd:</HI> For according to S. <HI>Au&s;tin, An Angel is a name of Office, not of Nature.</HI> They are alwayes <HI>Spirits,</HI> but not alwayes <HI>Angels,</HI> for no lon|ger
<PB N="36" REF="22">me&s;&s;engers from <HI>God</HI> to man, no longer <HI>Angels;</HI> &s;ince onely to be a Me&s;&s;enger, im|plies to be an <HI>Angell.</HI></P>
<P>That euery one of vs hath a &s;euerall <HI>Angell</HI> deputed for his guard from his natiuitie, is the iudgement of &s;ome of the learned Fathers: Saint <HI>Hierome</HI> proues the dignity of the &s;oule by that argume~t, <HI>St. Ba&s;il</HI> as confidently &s;ayes <HI>That euery true beleeuer hath his Angell:</HI> the like &s;ayes <HI>Ori|gen</HI> of euery one that is bap|tized. Others of later times, haue gone &s;o far, as to affirm, our Sauiour Chri&s;t while he liued on earth, had his tutela<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters"> Angell: becau&s;e it is &s;ayd that
<PB N="37" REF="22"><HI>when he was in that bloudyagony in the Garden,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 22.</NOTE> <HI>there appeared an Angell from heauen comfor|ting him.</HI> But the bold fore|head of the <HI>Ie&s;uite Maldonat,</HI> blu&s;heth at this, reiecting it for a Paradoxe, <HI>That hee that was the true God &s;hould want the guard of one &s;ingle Angell. Bellarmins</HI> Meditations haue eleuated him to &s;o high a fan|cie, as to find out, that in eue|ry Kingdome there are two Kings, a Man and an Angel; in euer Dioces two Bi&s;hops, a Man and an Angel; nay, in the Catholike Church two Popes without a Schi&s;me, the one a vi&s;ible Man, the other an inui&s;ible Angell. But wee
<PB N="38" REF="23">knowledge is bounded o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> the one &s;ide with the Scrip|ture, on the other &s;ide, by ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> owne mode&s;ty, do willingly forbeare to giue you dreames in&s;tead of Reuelations, Fan|cies, in&s;tead of Truth. Whe|ther euery Soule of vs hath a &s;euerall Angell for a Tutor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Let it re&s;t with tho&s;e Fathers that thought &s;o: But whether each of vs hath a bad An|gell to oppo&s;e, as a good to a&s;si&s;t, as <HI>Maldonat</HI> thinks pro|bable? or whether at the re|&s;urrection, euery mans good Angell &s;hall gather together the bones of him he guarded, as <HI>Suarez</HI> teacheth: Or as <HI>Bellarmine</HI> will haue it, <HI>In the
<PB N="39" REF="23">Chaire of Rome there bee &s;eated an inui&s;ible Pope, as well as a vi&s;ible;</HI> Let the Ie&s;uits only determine, that haue made them&s;elues a fal&s;e Key to the Cabinet of <HI>Gods</HI> &s;ecrets. It &s;hall &s;uffice vs to whom the Fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e of the reuealed <HI>Go&s;pell</HI> is &s;ufficient, <HI>That hee that maks his Angels mini&s;tring spirits,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 1.7.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; his Mini&s;ters a flame of Fire, hath giuen his Angles charge ouer vs,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;ai 91.11</NOTE> <HI>to keepe vs in all our wayes.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Daniel 10</NOTE> In <HI>Daniel</HI> wee find but one Angell to guard a whole Kingdome, all <HI>Per|&s;ia.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gene&s;. 32.</NOTE> In <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> two Armies of Angels to keepe one <HI>Iacob.</HI> Of their protection wee are cer|taine, of their number whe|ther
<PB N="40" REF="24">one or more, wee may be with religion euough vn|certaine. That which con|cernes vs neere&s;t, is to make &s;uch v&s;e of it, which St. <HI>Ber|nard</HI> doth on tho&s;e words al|ready cited; <HI>He gaue his An|gels charge ouer thee.</HI> O what reuere~ce &s;hould the&s;e words &s;trike in thee, what deuotion &s;hould they &s;tirre vp, what confidence to heare that thy Angels are thy guides, to hear that they are not onely pre|&s;e~t with thee, but pre&s;ent for thee: they are the coniuring words of that deuout Father, <HI>Let mee be&s;eech you Brethren, that yee would not commit tho&s;e foule &s;innes in the &s;ight of the
<PB N="41" REF="24">Angels that keepe you in the eyes of God him&s;elf, which you would not doe if no more then I were by? If you will needs &s;in</HI> (&s;aith St. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI>) <HI>chu&s;e out &s;ome place where neither God nor his An|gels are; but if their be no cor|ner &s;o darke, &s;o &s;olitary, &s;o &s;ecret, but they are there, let there as well be no place for you to dare to &s;inne.</HI></P>
<P>I haue &s;howne you the at|tendance of the Angels vnder God the great Keeper of all harts; That there is a hea|uenly watch dayly &s;et about vs. I will onely adde this out of St. <HI>Ba&s;il, That God, nor his Angels neuer part with vs, till
<PB N="42" REF="25">we make them goe, that only our &s;ins di&s;mi&s;&s;e this Watch. For as &s;moake driues away Bees</HI> (&s;aith that Father) <HI>or as ill &s;mels cha&s;e Pigeons from their Doue-coats, &s;o doth the &s;moake, the &s;tench of &s;inne driue God from vs with all his Angels.</HI> Let not there|fore the vnregenerate Sinner complaine that his <HI>Heart</HI> is not in Gods keeping: For had he not throwne durt on it him&s;elfe, nay, had hee not razed out of it the Image of the <HI>Deitie,</HI> as a Thiefe doth the marke of &s;tollen Plate, that the owner &s;hould not know it, <HI>God</HI> had &s;till kept it. But he keepes no defaced <HI>Hearts,</HI> nor yet no counter|feit;
<PB N="43" REF="25">he keepes no carele&s;&s;e, vnregarded, throwne-away hearts. <HI>Heart</HI> keepe thy &s;elfe, mu&s;t be the watchword; that pa&s;sion that meetes thee without that word, let it not liue a minute longer; for there is no greater Trea&s;on then &s;elfe-Trea&s;on, when the betrayer, and the betray|ed, &s;pell but one man.</P>
<P>But it troubled St. <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> much, how the <HI>heart</HI> &s;hould keepe the <HI>heart,</HI> when the <HI>heart</HI> would &s;o &s;eldome obey the <HI>heart.</HI> It makes him be|gin with admiration; <HI>The minde commands the body, it is obeyd; the minde commands it &s;elfe, it is re&s;i&s;ted; bid thy feet
<PB N="44" REF="26">&s;tirre, or thy hands moue, or thy eyes turn, in a moment it is done, with &s;uch ea&s;e and &s;uddenne&s;&s;e, that you can &s;car&s;e di&s;tingui&s;h the performance from the com|mand: but the Heart commands the Heart, to will this, or that good; which it had not comman|ded had it not willed, yet doth it not will what is commanded.</HI> He ends with the admirati|on he began, <HI>What Prodegie is this, what Oedipus &s;hall vnrid|dle it?</HI> But the good Father findes it out at la&s;t, <HI>For</HI> (&s;ayth he) <HI>the Heart turnes but halfe a fide on good actions, it lookes on them but with one eye; if it chance to bid farewell to &s;inne, it is as fooli&s;h friends part, with
<PB N="45" REF="26">many lookings backe, many excu|&s;es, &s;til one farewel more.</HI> When Saint <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> him&s;elfe in his yonger dayes, prayed to God for <HI>Cha&s;titie,</HI> he confe&s;&s;eth he could not keep his rebellious <HI>heart</HI> from adding, <HI>giue mee cha&s;titie, but not yet O God, let me haue &s;ome plea&s;ure more.</HI> No wonder then if the heart bee not obeyed, that would not be obeyed: if &s;in depart not, when the heart will not let it goe. To clo&s;e vp this, if we bani&s;h &s;inne, it mu&s;t bee withall the heart; if we en|tertaine God, it mu&s;t be into all the heart. If we keep our <HI>hearts</HI> it mu&s;t be withall dili|gence: So &s;hall we bee able
<PB N="46" REF="27">to beare a part in the Pro|phets &s;ong, <HI>My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready, for I haue kept my heart with all di|ligence.</HI></P>
<P>Thus haue wee &s;eene the Iewell that is guarded, the watch &s;et, the watchword giuen; we are now to walk the round to &s;ee the Di&s;ci|pline: For St. <HI>Bernard</HI> will haue <HI>Solomon</HI> heere meane a Military watch, that is, <HI>keep thy heart through al the watches of the night:</HI> So that we all lye perdue vnder Martiall law, <HI>he that &s;leepes dyes for it.</HI> The Originall word <HI>Samarah</HI> (as it is ob&s;erued by <HI>Scalager</HI>) will well beare it: for it not
<PB N="47" REF="27">onely &s;ignifieth the place, the &s;tation of the watch: as it is &s;aid in <HI>Baruch, the Stars &s;hined in their watches.</HI> But the actio~ of the Watch it &s;elfe, as <HI>Dauid</HI> v&s;eth it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 130.6</NOTE> <HI>My &s;oule wayteth for the Lord, more then they that watch vnto the morning, I &s;ay, the~ they that watch vnto the mor+ning.</HI> The Antients diuided the night into foure Watches; two from the Euening to the fir&s;t crowing of the Cocke; two from the crowing of the Cocke to the ri&s;ing of the morning. The&s;e night wat|ches <HI>Origen</HI> &s;econded by St. <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> compared to the foure ages of man, <HI>his Infancy, his Youth, his Manhood,</HI> &amp; <HI>his Olde
<PB N="48" REF="28">Age:</HI> So that you may now perceiue what it is to keepe your hearts all the Watches of the night; it is no le&s;&s;e then fro~ thy Cradle to thy death|bed; from the fir&s;t moment that God kindled a light of knowledge in thy heart, till the la&s;t when hee &s;hall put it out: a light indeed &s;o dimne, that the Fathers doubted not to compare it to the night; yet by that light, by that weake light, that glimme|ring, we are all to watch; Nor did our Sauiour blu&s;h to be likened to a Thiefe that &s;hould come in &s;uch a night; for he that tooke on him our Nature, &s;hames not at the
<PB N="49" REF="28">name of our vices; &s;o that he by that name may keepe vs waking? But whether he come as a Thief, or as the Ma|&s;ter of the hou&s;e in the &s;econd or third watches,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12.38.</NOTE> <HI>ble&s;&s;ed are the &s;eruants whom he finds thus watching.</HI> But why in the &s;e|cond or third onely, St. <HI>Gre|gory</HI> makes que&s;tion of? why names hee neither the fir&s;t watch nor the la&s;t? Hee an|&s;wers, the fir&s;t is implied in the &s;econd, but the la&s;t is left out as de&s;perate. Hee that dreames out the fir&s;t watch, may awake in the &s;econd, he that &s;huts his eyes in the &s;e|cond, may open them in the third: But hee that drinkes
<PB N="50" REF="29">downe &s;inne like <HI>Opium</HI> to &s;leepe with it, till the conuul|&s;ions of old age, or the la&s;t crampe of death awake him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 25.</NOTE> &s;hall be like wretched <HI>Nabal</HI> who when hee had &s;lept, found that his hart was dead within him. But let me be|&s;eech you brethren to awake before that howre awakes you; to remember how fear|full a thing it is to fal into the hands of an angry God, who~ yee haue &s;o often mocked with delayes, as you meant to co&s;en your &s;elues to hell in &s;pight of heauen. Yet make a &s;tand, looke backe on the time, which you haue rather throwne away then &s;pent <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word">
<PB N="51" REF="29">flatter not your &s;elues, that the la&s;t Watch is farre from you, for none is truely young that is olde enough to dye: To &s;hut vp all, v&s;e but that wit, that &s;tudy, that diligence to &s;aue your &s;oules, which you haue done to damne them. For God requires no more of you, then his ene|my; you haue &s;pared neither time, nor co&s;t, nor trouble in the Deuils &s;eruice, <HI>You haue lo&s;t your harts with al diligence;</HI> In Gods &s;eruice doe but &s;o much, <HI>Keepe your hearts with all diligence.</HI></P>
<P>Neither <HI>Loue,</HI> a <HI>Kingdome,</HI> or the <HI>Deitie</HI> endures a &s;ha|rer, neither a deuided <HI>diligence</HI>
<PB N="52" REF="30">or a deuided <HI>heart</HI> can &s;erue Gods turne. Though the <HI>Tran&s;lators</HI> therefore differ, whether it be <HI>Cu&s;todia, Cura,</HI> or <HI>Munitio,</HI> whether <HI>ex</HI> or <HI>prae</HI> be affixed, yet in the intire|nes, in the word of latitude, they all agree; For, whether we looke vpon the <HI>watch</HI> we &s;et about our <HI>hearts,</HI> it mu&s;t be no &s;lumbring, no &s;upine, nor intermitted watch; or on the care with which wee <HI>watch,</HI> it mu&s;t bee no loo&s;e, &s;cattered, di&s;tracted, or agu|i&s;h care that comes by fits; or on the places, fro~ whence we watch the Forts or Block hou&s;es, the inward or out|ward &s;en&s;es, all mu&s;t bee
<PB N="53" REF="30">man'd. Since therefore &s;inne a&s;&s;ayles euery where, wee mu&s;t be armed euery where. If we do but ob&s;erue nature, we &s;hall finde by her placing of the <HI>Heart,</HI> how we &s;hould <HI>keepe</HI> it: Fir&s;t, it is &s;eated with all aduantage of intelligence, almo&s;t in the center of man, with a curious net of veines, &s;pred from it ouer all the bo|dy; like the Spider in the mid&s;t of her web, which fee|ling the lea&s;t touch that &s;hakes her worke, retires in|&s;tantly from the danger: So &s;hould the Soule &s;hrinke at the lea&s;t noy&s;e, whi&s;pering, or murmure of &s;in, it &s;hould auoyd the very complement,
<PB N="54" REF="31">the fir&s;t addre&s;&s;e of it, and to be &s;en&s;ible of danger at the very &s;ight, the glimp&s;e of a Temptation. But this is not all that <HI>Nature</HI> hath ble&s;t the <HI>Heart</HI> with; for be&s;ides this &s;cituation of aduantage, it hath a double natural fence, the one more inward, a ten|der, though firme skinne, to enwrap the <HI>heart</HI> with; the other, an outward &s;trong wall of ribbs. St. <HI>Cyril</HI> in his booke of <HI>Adoration,</HI> bids vs note it as remarkable, <HI>That the fir&s;t ruine of this wall was in Paradi&s;e, when God tooke a ribb out of Adam to make a woman of: &s;o that the forming of our fir&s;t Mother, hath cau&s;ed many of her
<PB N="55" REF="31">Sonns the loo&s;ing of their hearts;</HI> For as St. <HI>Cyril</HI> followes the <HI>Allegory: Euer &s;ince that time, &s;inne a&s;&s;ayles the heart at that place where it wants that rib for to defend it.</HI> St. <HI>Gregory</HI> Mo|ralizeth the <HI>Ribbs</HI> into &s;o ma|my rational Vertues encom|pa&s;sing the heart like the &s;trong men about the bed of <HI>Solomon,</HI> The <HI>tender skinne of the heart</HI> he makes to bee the <HI>tender Con&s;cience, For hee that wraps not vp his heart in a &s;oft, a cleane, and vn&s;eared Con&s;ci|ence, is either about to make a forfeit of it, or hath alreadie lo&s;t it.</HI> That therefore wee may immitate <HI>Nature,</HI> Let the <HI>Heart</HI> nouer bee vnguarded,
<PB N="56" REF="32">let religious meditations bee as veines to conuay pure thoughts from it, con&s;tant vn&s;haken re&s;olutions bee the nerues, let a wall of Virtues, immure it in&s;tead of Ribbs, a cleare Con&s;cience in lieu of a defiled; &s;o &s;hall wee finde the motiue of al, made good, <HI>For out it come i&s;&s;ues of life.</HI></P>
<P>It was <HI>Platoes</HI> aduice in his &s;econd <HI>Dialogue of his Re|publique, That euery Citie &s;hould haue his Fountaine in the mid&s;t of it,</HI> his rea&s;on, <HI>that it might be readier for v&s;e, either for the ordinary employments of it,</HI> or <HI>if a ca&s;uall fire &s;hould neede the helpe of it.</HI> For the &s;ame cau|&s;es thinkes St. <HI>Chri&s;tome, That
<PB N="57" REF="32">ble&s;&s;ed Fountaine of, bloud and water, brake forth out of our Sa|uiours &s;ide about the heart nere the midd&s;t of him, that it might be equally neere to all, that would either drinke out of that eternall &s;pring, or quench the fire with it, that either Lust or Anger had made flame. Like &s;uch a Foun|taine in the midd&s;t of a be&s;idged Citie, &s;hould the Heart of man be among his many enemies.</HI> But poy&s;oning of waters is the ordinary &s;tratagem of warr, nor hath our great Aduer&s;ary forgot it, He knowes that if the Fountaine of Life bee not &s;poyled, his broken Ci|&s;terns of death will neuer be frequented, nor can hee euer
<PB N="58" REF="33">call him&s;elfe his Conqueror, who&s;e heart &s;tands out a|gain&s;t him. It was the com|plaint of <HI>Italy</HI> in the Ciuill Warres: <HI>That as often as Rome was &s;et on, &s;he of nece&s;sitie was the way of the Warre;</HI> but it fares wor&s;e with the <HI>Heart, For as it is the fir&s;t part of the man that liues, the la&s;t that dyes; &s;o it is the fir&s;t the Deuill giues a&s;&s;ault vnto, and the la&s;t that he giues ouer; nay, were there neuer a Deuil, the Heart hath anill Spirit of 'its owne to trou|ble it.</HI> For as &s;ome Boroughs with vs boa&s;t of the Priui ledge, that they may hang &amp; draw within them&s;elues: &s;o is the heart of man &s;uch a
<PB N="59" REF="33">Corporation, it may execute it &s;elfe within it &s;elfe, with|out any Forraigne, either Iudge, or Executioner. For &s;hould wee goe no further then the <HI>thought,</HI> might wee not make a &s;hift to <HI>thinke</HI> our felues to hell? if we had nei|ther hands, nor eyes, nor feet, would not our hearts finde the way thither? I know we all keepe an outward &s;tate with our &s;innes, as Prin|ces do with their meane Fa|uourites, we will not &s;eeme to acknowledge the~ abroad, yet wee hugg, and play, and make wantons of them in the inward Chambers of our hearts: as if ill thoughts at
<PB N="60" REF="34">the day of Indgement would weigh no more then the ayre or the Sunne beames doe in the Scales again&s;t vs: but at that triall we &s;hall find, that without the mercy of our God, euery loo&s;e la&s;ciuious <HI>thought</HI> which wee take de|light in, &s;hall be as a &s;heet of Lead to helpe to &s;inke vs. <HI>Proclus</HI> tels vs a &s;tory of <HI>Polli|dorus</HI> the Tyrant, who in a vi&s;ion &s;aw his <HI>Heart</HI> thrown into a boyling <HI>Caldron,</HI> where after it had bene a while tor|mented in the heat, it cryed out of the <HI>Caldron</HI> to him, <HI>A|pollidore, I am the cau&s;e to thee of all this.</HI> Nor may wee vn|iu&s;tly feare, that their hearts
<PB N="61" REF="34">will really cry out &s;o, who now pa&s;&s;e ouer all as in a &s;lumber, who&s;e ill thoughts dayly v&s;her them to ill acti|ons, who&s;e ill actions bring them in a circle backe to ill thoughts againe. For <HI>Dauid</HI> found it out, The wicked &s;till walke the round; Fir&s;t, they act a &s;inne, becau&s;e the thought hath plea&s;ed them; then they thinke that &s;inn o|uer againe, becau&s;e the Act hath plea&s;ed them; by a dam|ned <HI>Arithmatike</HI> multiplying one &s;inne into a thou&s;and. How then, mu&s;t this Foun|taine be &s;o pure, may not the lea&s;t &s;traw, nor graine of du&s;t be throwne into it? Cannot
<PB N="62" REF="35">the <HI>Heart</HI> &s;o much as play with the Deuill? Are ill thoughts &s;in; Good thoughts that are not put in execution are not rewarded, &s;hall then the ill ones vnacted bee con|demned: Cannot the di&s;tin|ctions of the Doctors of <HI>Rome</HI> excu&s;e, when our great God &s;hall examine, may not we an&s;wer for our thoughts in the &s;ubtil La~guage of their Schoole, <HI>That &s;ome of the~ were but fir&s;t fir&s;t motions, therefore no &s;innes; others &s;econd fir&s;t mo|tions, therefore but veniall &s;ins.</HI> How the learned Papi&s;t may euade from Hell with this, I know not: but we dull <HI>Pro|te&s;tants</HI> haue no &s;uch Art, we
<PB N="63" REF="35">dare not venter on it. That all our inordinate thoughts are &s;inne, is our Confe&s;sion, for all is our &s;orrow, of all is our repentance.</P>
<P>Nor is it a wonder that thoughts &s;hould be interpre|ted for deeds: For, St. <HI>Chri|&s;o&s;tom</HI> &s;heweth vs, <HI>That as the Deed of the band is the out ward action, &s;o the Deed of the Heart is the thought. Yee haue heard,</HI> &s;aith our Sauiour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat 5.37.28.</NOTE> <HI>it was &s;aid by them of old, Thou &s;halt not commit Adultery, but I &s;ay vnto you, that who&s;oeuer lookes on a woman to lu&s;t after her, hath committed Adultery in his heart, already.</HI> For &s;aith <HI>Tertullian, The will it &s;elfe is imputed to it
<PB N="64" REF="36">&s;elfe, nor can the beart becau&s;e the deede is vndone, hauing done the thought that it &s;elfe could do, be excu&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P>As <HI>Hanibal</HI> therefore was wont to &s;ay of the <HI>Romanes,</HI> that they could not be ouer-come but in their own coun trey, So let vs v&s;e this Stra|tagem in fighting again&s;t our &s;inne in the very heart, the countrey wher it breeds It was St. <HI>Bernards</HI> aduice to his Si&s;ter, to mark wel what God &s;aid of the Woman to the Serpent, <HI>Shee &s;hall brui&s;e his head:</HI> Hee him&s;elfe an|&s;wers, <HI>The very head of the Serpent is then truely &s;aid to bee brui&s;ed, when &s;inne is there &s;ti|fled,
<PB N="65" REF="36">where it is fir&s;t borne.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 137.9</NOTE> Hee is a religious <HI>Herod,</HI> that kils &s;uch <HI>In&s;ants,</HI> nor &s;hall hee want the name of <HI>happy,</HI> that da&s;hes the&s;e <HI>little ones</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Stone.</HI> The <HI>Ebrew</HI> hath it, <HI>again&s;t the Rocke.</HI> A mi&s;ery which concernes vs all, cryes St. <HI>Augu&s;tine, for the Rocke is Chri&s;t:</HI> Doth the tender <HI>Con|&s;cience</HI> complaine of young growing &s;innes, of di&s;orde|red vnruely thoughts, that break in vpon vs in the mid&s;t of our prayers? <HI>Away with them to the Rocke;</HI> That <HI>Rocke</HI> hath &s;trength to brui&s;e them: doth <HI>Lu&s;t</HI> kindle a flame in our hearts of loo&s;e <HI>La&s;ciuious regitations? Away with them
<PB N="66" REF="37">to the Rocke;</HI> that <HI>Rocke</HI> hath <HI>water to quench them.</HI> Doe we find Gods anger kindled a|gain&s;t vs for the&s;e &s;innes? A|way againe to the <HI>Rocke,</HI> that <HI>Rocke</HI> hath holes to hide vs in. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was in the cleft of the Rocke when he &s;aw <HI>God</HI> pa&s;sing by: but if wee once get into the cleft of this <HI>Rock,</HI> God &s;hall bee alwayes pa&s;|&s;ing by, but neuer pa&s;&s;e, &s;o he is ours for euer.</P>
<P>It can be neither time no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> labour lo&s;t, that is &s;pent i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> clen&s;ing of the <HI>Fountaine,</HI> fo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> if any one here would th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> minute make it his work <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> God would bee well plea&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> to looke downe from he<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="4 letters">
<PB N="69" REF="37">uen vpon &s;uch Labourers, whom his Sonne hath alrea|dy ble&s;t, &s;aying, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the cleane in heart;</HI> yet this is not enough: be thy heart as pure as Truth, as white as Snow, or Innocency, if it be a Foun|taine &s;ealed vp, onely a wi&s;h|ing, a thinking, or intending heart; nay, I may adde, if it be onely a beleeuing heart, if there be no good workes, <HI>no i&s;&s;ues of Life from it,</HI> then flatter not thy &s;elf that ther is any <HI>life</HI> in it. <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaks of &s;ome in his time, <HI>That God well &s;atisfied, if they ac|knowledged him in their hearts, howeuer in their actions they de|nyed him:</HI> Inferring from
<PB N="66" REF="38">hence, that they might &s;inne without forfeit of their <HI>Faith; As if</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>they could com|mit a cha&s;te Adultery, without wrong to marriage;</HI> or <HI>Religi|ou&s;ly poy&s;on their Father, with|out lo&s;&s;e of their Pietie.</HI> But they that haue the Art to &s;in, without forgoing of their <HI>Faith,</HI> may haue as &s;trange a conueyance, no doubt, to be damned without loo&s;ing of their pardon. Wee &s;hould hardly &s;ay, a good Hou&s;e were kept, where we neuer &s;aw the Chimney &s;moake, nor Almes giuen at the gate; nor can it bee the thrift of a good &s;oule, not to di&s;pence it hath abroad: How&s;oeuer
<PB N="69" REF="38">our Clanculary concealed Saints imagine, &s;hould the naturall heart contract all the heat it had within it &s;elfe, neither it, nor the body could haue a being. For as in <HI>Gla&s;&s;e workes</HI> though the fire bee &s;til to be kept enclo&s;ed with|in the Furnace, yet there is &s;ome vent, &s;ome breathing for it; So when the Spiritu|all <HI>Heart</HI> hath entertained a ve&s;tall fire of <HI>Faith</HI> in it; the hands cannot but bee war|med with Charity, the Tong heated with Deuotion, and the Eyes &s;parkling towards Heauen; All the out-parts mu&s;t feele the warmth of it; for it is well ob&s;erued, that
<PB N="70" REF="39">it is not &s;ayd, <HI>In it is life,</HI> but <HI>out of it come i&s;&s;ues of life.</HI></P>
<P>To &s;hut vp all with an ob&s;eruation of St. <HI>Cyrils, The Heart of man is like the Rodde of</HI> Mo&s;es, <HI>as long as he held it in his hand, it remained a Roll, but when hee threw it to the ground, it turned to bee a Ser|pent:</HI> nay, <HI>a Dragon, the Prince of Serpents,</HI> as <HI>Philo</HI> the Iew &s;aith. So the Heart of man as long as there is fa&s;t hold of it, as long as man is the po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;or, God the Guardian, it continues &s;till a Heart, but if our boy&s;terous vnruly &s;innes once throwe it to the earth, it changeth in&s;tantly, to be a Serpent. So let mee be&s;eech
<PB N="71" REF="39">as many as heare me to day, who&s;e Con&s;ciences this mi|nute tells them, that their <HI>Hearts</HI> are turned into <HI>Ser|pents,</HI> and are now crawling on the earth, to &s;tretch forth a hand of &s;orrow, a hand of true repentance, to take them vp againe, in what &s;hape &s;oe|uer they appeare. For he that was exalted on the Cro&s;&s;e, as the Serpent in the wildernes, &s;hall turne tho&s;e Serpents into Hearts againe, their gall and poy&s;on into Inno|cence, their &s;ting of Death, into <HI>I&s;&s;ues</HI> of immortall <HI>life.</HI></P>
<P>Lay vp therefore the&s;e Memorialls yee that loue your <HI>Hearts,</HI> Lay them vp
<PB N="72" REF="40">yee that doe not, that you may loue them. Remember the <HI>Heart</HI> is a <HI>Iewell</HI> of Gods owne cutting, the &s;ub&s;tance and fa&s;hion of it is heauenly. Remember it is the <HI>Gla&s;&s;e</HI> that God delights to looke in, why &s;hould you breake it and &s;catter it? It is his <HI>Let|ter</HI> &s;ent from Him&s;elfe to Him&s;elfe, why &s;hould you either blot, or fal&s;ifie; or not deliuer it where it is dire|cted? It is his <HI>Coyne,</HI> his <HI>Med|dale,</HI> why &s;hould you vnder|ualue it? It is his <HI>Sacrifice,</HI> his <HI>Temple,</HI> and his <HI>Altar,</HI> why &s;hould you prophane it? But if the Deuill hath a|ny &s;inne &s;o powerfull as to
<PB N="73" REF="40">&s;trike out the memory of all this: Yet remember it is that <HI>Iewell,</HI> which <HI>Man</HI> ha|uing forfeited, the <HI>Sonne of God</HI> was faine to dye for to redeeme it. So that hee that dares loo&s;e his <HI>Heart</HI> againe, dares crucifie his <HI>God</HI> againe. Remember next, the pure Eyes of the <HI>Angels,</HI> that like the eyes of a wel-drawne <HI>Pi|cture,</HI> are fa&s;tned on you which way &s;oeuer you turn. Remember the neuer-&s;lee|ping <HI>God</HI> that is all Eye to bee your Guardian, vntill that your wilfull &s;innes di&s;|mi&s;&s;e him from you with all his Angels. Remember la&s;t of all, that this heauen|ly
<PB N="74" REF="41">watch is not &s;et about dead Trea&s;ure. That as the ce|le&s;tiall Orbes haue a motion of their owne, though moo+ued perpetually by the <HI>Fir&s;t Eternall Moouer:</HI> So thought the Powers of Heauen bee &s;et to Guard you, yet this excu&s;eth not the Guard you are to &s;et vpon your felues; for if a man keepe not him|&s;elfe, God doth not keepe him. Keepe therefore your <HI>Hearts</HI> through all the wat|ches of the Night; from the twilight, to the crowing of the Cock; from the crowing of the Cocke to the daw|ning of the day; from the Mantle to the Winding-&s;heet;
<PB N="75" REF="41">&s;heete; from the Cradle, to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he Graue. Let neither ill <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">houghts</HI> pollute the <HI>Spring,</HI> nor <HI>foule deeds</HI> the <HI>Riuer;</HI> &s;o &s;hall there from thence <HI>come I&s;&s;ues of life,</HI> not onely the life of nature, which the wor&s;t men haue, nor onely the life of <HI>Grace,</HI> which the <HI>Good</HI> haue here, but the life of <HI>Glory,</HI> which the <HI>Saints</HI> haue in the world to come, <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
