I. Spirit and Heart.

The Soul of Man is signify­ed by both words: and it is the [...]se of Scripture thus to mul­tiply [Page 9] words of the same signi­fication, either propter empha­sin, or propter exegesin: to shew the earnestness of the Speaker, or to help the under­standing of the Hearer. If we will distinguish them, then by Spirit may be understood the superior part and faculties, the faculties which are inorganical, and depend not on corporeal instruments: by Heart we may conceive the inferior powers, so called from that principal member of the Body, the chief seat and original of life and af­fection. Well then, the Soul, and the whole Soul is to be sa­crificed.

As in the Mosaical Law God reserv'd the Inwards for him­self, so in our Evangelical [Page 10] service he requires especially our inward Man; nay, without it, the Jewish Sacrifices were not accepted. All their Ceremo­nies before Christ; and our out­ward performances since Christ, are of none account, unless the heart concur and give value to them. Flavius Josephus calls the Politie of the Jews [...], God himself was immediatly the Author of it; he gave them Laws both Civil and Ce­remonial, and so could not but be pleas'd with what him­self commanded: nevertheless when the Jews preferred those outward signs and ceremonies, before inward and morall du­ties; when they came once to this pass, that they placed all Religion and holiness in them, [Page 11] how sharply doth the Lord up­braid them by his Prophets? Let me call to your remem­brance two remarkeable places to this purpose, which do fully shew how God stands affected. In the first of Esay ver. 10. the Prophet calls for audience, and in the following words, he ex­postulateth with the supersti­ous Jews: To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord, I am full of the burnt of Rams, and the fat of fed Beasts, and I de­light not in the blood of Bullocks. If the Lord delight not in these, what then would he have? that the Prophet signi­fies, v. 16. Wash you, make you clean, cease to do evil, learn to do well; and then come, saith [Page 12] the Lord, v. 18. though your sins be as Scarlet, they shall be as white as Snow. In the sixt of Micah, v. 6. a question is pro­posed, Wherewithall shall I come before the Lord, and bow my self before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with Calves of a year old? will the Lord be pleased with thousand of Rams, or ten thousand of Rivers of Oyl? This is much, and who is there that can repent at so dear a rate? but theres more yet: shall I give my first Born for my trans­gression, and the fruit of my Bo­dy for the sin of my Soul? The Answer's Negative: none of this will do; no, the Lord hath not required it. Why, what then hath the Lord required? [Page 13] that follows at the 8. v. and I pray you mark it well: He hath shewed thee, O Man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? theres the top of all, the humiliation of the Soul, to walk humbly with thy God.

If the Prophets in the Old Testament, by such pathetical passages endeavoured to lessen the esteem of outward ceremo­nial worship, and press upon the Jews the inward and mo­ral, what may we expect from Christ and his Apostles in the New, when Types and sha­dows are vanisht, and have gi­ven place to the substance now exhibited? Christ hath de­nounced no less then eight woes [Page 14] in one Chapter against Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites, that appear beautiful outwardly, and clense only the out-side of the Cup: and St. Paul hath set it down for a rule to Timothy, Bodily exercise is of little profit.

Wherfore if I were to speak to such as are superstitiously ad­dicted to the outward form of Godliness, denying the power thereof (that there would be such, the Apostle hath foretold) such would I beseech to re­member Esay's Quis requisivit? who hath required these things at your hands? and that frustra colunt, which our Saviour ur­geth, Mar. 7. In vain do they wor­ship me, teaching for Doctrines the Cōmandements of Men. The aim of my Speech is not to cō ­demn [Page 15] any humane Ordinance, for the better ordering of the Church, not repugnable to Gods word: but this is my drift, that we would all employ our chie­fest care to serve God with that, which he most cares for; and therefore I beseech you, Fa­thers and Brethren, that you present your Souls a living Sacri­fice, holy and acceptable unto God.

A living Sacrifice. Behold here a main difference between this and the legal offering; the Beast was slain; the Soul then truly begins to live, when she is offered up to God; for as the Soul is the life of the Body, so is God the life of the Soul; ye [...] somewhat in the Soul is slain; Lust and Wantonness are slain, and then as it were, a Goat [Page 16] is offered: Wrath and Anger are slain, and then as it were, a Bull is offered: but these are ene­mies of the Soul, by whose death she lives the better; And hence from the benefit accrew­ing to the Soul by this oblati­on, may be taken an incentive to the performance of it; per­form it we shall the rather, if we consider, that all the rest we can possibly do in Gods service, without this, is but meer simulation, no more but the acting of a Religious part upon a Stage. Could we pray unto God, till our Tongues are weary, and our Knees cleave to the dust; could we fast as long as Moses and Elias; could we feed the hungry, and cloath the naked of the whole world; [Page 17] whatsoever can be imagined to be done, & there be wanting an humble and religious heart, all is to little purpose in Gods e­steem, 'tis not piety, but hypo­crisy; not Religion, but ostenta­tion.

Nor do I mean that the bu­siness of Religion is to be dis­patcht privately between God and our own Souls only: that's the other extream. The Soul indeed hath the first and choi­cest place, both because it hath the greatest share in sin, the rest being but instruments of sin, and fewell for sin abused by the Soul, and so the Soul in point of justice is to bear the greatest pain in the exercise of Humiliation; and also, because it is the best thing we have, [Page 18] and most peecious in Gods ac­count, and so in point of gra­titude to be chiefly offer'd. Now as the Scripture saith of God, Having given us his Son, how shall he not give us all things? so may it be said of us; offering up to God our Soul, that which is in our Bo­some and dearest to us, how shall we choose but give him all things else? Our Bodies, for­med into reverent gestures at the performance of Religious exercises, and chastned with those too much neglected works of mortification, where­by the Soul as it were setting Foot upon the Body raiseth her self higher for Divine con­templation: Our Estates too, extending them to pious uses, [Page 19] works of mercy: wherein, as God himself to our great com­fort is principally exercised, so when we resemble him therein, he is in us most delighted. Thus a broken Body is required, and a broken Estate too, but above all, a broken Soul.

And here see the goodness of God in requiring that Sacri­fice which the poorest Man may offer as freely as the richest. Un­der the Law, when a Lamb was wanting, God accepted of a pair of turtle Doves. Thou poor Soul, that hast nothing, dost thou ask me, Quid retribuam? What shall I render, what shall I offer unto God? Habes in te quod offer as. August. Hearken, I will tell thee how thou mayst be as liberal as the best; Give [Page 20] him thy self: give him a broken and a contrite Heart. If there be any advantage, it seems to be on the poor Mans side; for there is a certain thing that the Apostle mentions, 1 Tim. 6. [...], pride and high-mindedness usually waits upon rich Men, quite contrary to this humbling of our selves: and besides, dant sua non se: because they give unto God somewhat of their Estates, they are the more apt to withhold, and make the bolder to keep back from him somewhat of themselves: but Men of a poor and of a broken Estate are more easily brought to that poor­ness and brokenness of Spirit, which is of so high esteem with God, and being able to give [Page 21] little else, will give themselves wholly.

Wholly, I say; for the Soul, and the whole Soul is to be of­fered. God hath employment for every part and faculty of it. To the understanding hee is truth: to the will goodness it self: our fear hath his wonder­ful judgements to work upon; our love cannot but take flame from his loving kindness: what greater joy, then in his presence? what better things can be hoped for, then his promises? Hee hath enemies of his glory for our anger and indignation to spend themselves upon, espe­cially those domestick enemies in our own Bosom, our sins, the proper object of our sorrow too; this anger and sorrow are [Page 22] the busiest Agents in the work of Humiliation; they will not leave, till the whole Soul be broken; that as the hard and impenitent heart kept out God, so the broken heart may give him entrance: and as sin hath over-spread the whole, so there may be a gracious work wrought upon every part. When the Soul is thus whole, that is, no part with-held from God, and thus broken that is, truly humbled for her offences, then have we our of­fering ready: the former whole­ness doth not exclude this breach of contrition. So from the matter it self, the Heart and Spirit, let us with your patience proceed to the qualification or requisite conditions of the mat­ter, [Page 23] in the words, broken and contrite:

The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit, &c.

II. Broken and contrite.

I will not be curious in the termes, onely tell you this from a learned hand, that they seem to be borrowed from the man­ner of Sacrificing among the Jews. Their Sacrifices were first cut in pieces, not mangled but joynted, as is observed out of the Jewish Rituals; that was their breaking: then were they burnt to ashes, that was their contrition. A breaking and contrition which doth not un­fitly represent the breaking and contrition required in true re­pentance. [Page 24] Wherein we must after a sort take asunder every part and faculty of the Soul, and examin the particular de­fects; not the greater defects onely, but piercing into the closest corruptions, in recessus animi; searching the most reti­red Corners of this Laby­rinth.

A necessary piece of work, this breaking and contrition; but hard and ungratefull to most Men: to such, as frame to themselves a new pleasing Divinity agreeable to their own lusts & ends: such as think to gain Heaven and Earth to­gether: who, not remembring that Christ himself wore a Crown of thorns before that of glory, and bore the Cross [Page 25] before the Scepter, hope to walk to Heaven on Roses, to live in all the delights & plea­sures of this world, and be ne'r the further off from that eter­nal happiness of the world to come. Scrupulous they are, in the judgement of these, & un­politick, that require in a Chri­stian life, such mourning in private, such breaking of the Heart, such contrition of the Spirit. Yet they will in the end appear the wiser sort, that are content to forgoe the plea­sures of this life, for the joys of that hereafter. And indeed we must all be content, unless we can find a smoother way to Heaven, then God hath shew­ed us, then Christ and all the Saints have led us, we must be [Page 26] content I say; notwithstanding the tenderness of the Flesh, that prompts every Man, with pro­pitius esto tibi, to take seriously in hand this work so necessary. Let the Flesh reclaim and de­terre us from setting upon it: or when we are about it, let it move us to do it slightly, yet for all this we must do it, and we must do it throughly.

Now for the through per­formance of this work let us take a view of the means. It is true, there is a Tribunal within us, and a witness also within us, and an executioner also to tor­ment us sur do verbere; but neither is this torment so effe­ctual, nor the witness so faith­ful, nor the judge so incorrupt, that the business can be com­pleated [Page 27] without any further help. Our natural knowledge of the principles of good and evil is but weak: in the application of which principles to our par­ticular actions we are not skil­full. The Copy of the Law was written in our Hearts exactly at the first, when we had Hearts of Flesh, and capeable of a fair Impression; but since our hearts became stony, the Characters are much defaced, and we have need to repair to the authentick Copy, thereby to correct our errors and supply our defects. I mean the Law written in the Holy Bible, of which the Psal­mist hath a fit Elogium: The Law of the Lord is perfect, con­verting the Soul. Psal. 19. God that can out of stones raise up [Page 28] Children unto Abraham, and draw water out of the hard Rock, can as well by the power of his word melt these Rocky Hearts of ours into tears of penitence, and of these stones make us new Hearts. Vox Domini confringens Cedros, Ps. 29. The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation; and although as it proceeds from the mouth of his weak Mini­ster it be but wind, yet this wind accompanyed with the vertue of his Holy Spirit, is strong enough, not onely to shake the top branches, but e­ven to rend up the bottom root of the tallest Cedar. The Sword of the Spirit hath a sharp point and a keen edge; when it is ma­naged by a Paul or Apollos, Men [Page 29] mighty in the Scriptures, and such as have boldness equall to their skill, it will pierce and cut deep, even to the dividing asunder of the Heart and Spirit.

Besides a powerfull appli­cation of the Law unto a sin­ners conscience, it pleaseth God many times to further this gracious work by joyning with it some affliction. Afflicti­on sanctified hath a speciall in­fluence to that effect. Worldly Crosses drive the Soul inward, and put us into a serious me­ditation of their Original: Om­nis paena propter culpam: All the evill of pain is for the evill of sin; the consideration where­of brings a fresh report of Gods anger to the guilty conscience, [Page 30] and makes the wound wider. And withall, it may be noted, Men are usually punished in the same kind wherein they have offended. The punishment so answers the offence, that the one serves to renew the memory of the other; and thus is the Book of conscience like unto some secret Letters, most plain­ly read by the fire of tribula­tion. These briefly I take to be the means, whereby a hard heart is broken, Conscience a­waked and informed by the Law soundly applyed, the Law backed by Affliction.

The Sinner being arrested by the terrours of a naturall Conscience, the threats of the Law, and some present tokens of Gods anger; although like [Page 31] a malefactor he be ready to try all shifts before he will fly to the mercy of the Judge, can­not hold against so strong im­pressions: to stand out, he sees, were but to make God redou­ble his stroaks; now at length he understands, by his own feeling, the malignant quality of sin: he melteth into sorrow one while, other while he is cut to the Heart with a holy indig­nation: Oh, saith he, in the de­testation of his sins, that I should ever so ingratefully for­get God, and so desperately neglect my own safety: that being a Man, I should lead a life so brutish: that without care so much as of common honesty, I should commit acts so shame­full! What madness was it to [Page 32] pretend to happiness, and ven­ture upon such pernicious en­terprizes: so greedily to swal­low poyson, and to hug my own damnation! Oh, how am I am bashed and confounded, that for a trifle, a matter of nothing, a few ounces of gain, a little breath of applause, some mi­nutes of delight, I should so, and so often, by such and such sins, offend so presumptuously against so glorious a God, so un­dutifully against so kind a Fa­ther, so ungratefully against so gracious a Redeemer!

The case of our penitent, whilst he hath one eye fixt on Gods Majesty, the other on his own guilt, is pittifull beyond expression. Da Christianum, & scit quod dico. The enter­course between God and the [Page 33] Soul is truly known onely to the experienced Christian. He alone conceives what it is to receive the word with fear and trembling: with what affectio­nate longing, and thirsty desires the Soul panteth and gaspeth after mercy, choosing rather to hear of mercy then a King­dom. He that hath felt the smart of sin, knows what dete­station is due unto it, and that there is no sorrow like unto that sorrow. Ruben principium doloris mei: as some read it. Gen. 49. 3. Iacob calls Ruben the beginning of his sorrow, non quod in nullo, &c. because all his former griefs were swal­lowed up in that which the Sin of Ruben brought him. If ano­thers sin were so grievous, how [Page 34] much more ones own. So hea­vy is the burden of this sorrow, that it presseth down the Soul well nigh to desperation; it may be truly said, that a penitents way to Heaven lyes near the Gates of Hell: and Satan, that at first playes the Serpent, by fly temptation, turns Lyon in our distress, and endeavours by open force to draw us in. But our comfort is, that when we are cast down, God hath not cast us off: when wee walk through this shady vale, he shal lead us forth to the Streams of comfort; when our Heart and Spirit is broken and contrite, then are we his Sacrifices, then he doth not despise us. So from the qualification of this Sacri­fice in the words broken and [Page 35] contrite, we are fallen upon Gods acceptance and esteem of it, in the first and last words, these are the Sacrifices of God, these he will not despise.

III. The Sacrifices of God.

Sacrifices in the Plural, to signify, pro omnibus unum suffi­cere, as Calvin notes: that this one Sacrifice of a broken Heart is worth all Sacrifices of God: not because he is the giver of what we offer: although thats very true; for what have we worth a giving, which we have not first received? but thats not the meaning here; the ad­dition of God to Sacrifices is a mark of speciall excellency. Thy righteousness is like the [Page 36] Mountains of God, Psal. 36. So the Margin hath expressed the Hebrew, which the Text In­terprets, like the great Moun­tains; so here, the Sacrifices of God are the greatest and most excellent Sacrifices. The latter words, Thou shalt not de­spise, are spoken [...], a figure very frequent: Bethle­hem not the least, [...], which indeed for our Saviours Birth in it, was the greatest of all Ci­ties. And Saint Paul would have us most highly to esteem prophecying, when he bids us not despise it, [...], the ve­ry same word here used by the Seventy; by which wee must understand, that God is so far from despising or setting at nought the Sacrifice of a [Page 37] contrite Heart, that nothing can be more acceptable or pre­cious in his sight.

God Almighty glorieth not in any Title so much as that of mercifull and gractous: a Father of mercies, and God of comfort: and the Church could not possibly stile him better, then, a God whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive. This is his pro­per work, but vengeance is cal­led opus non suum, Esay 28. a strange work and not his own. Behold here the true ground and reason of that Acceptance I speak of. 'Tis Gods goodness, not the dignity of our Contri­tion that so commends it. To talk of merit and satisfaction with the presumptuous Papist is [Page 38] no less unreverent, then unsafe. Let them beware (said judicious Hooker) who challenge to them­selves a strength which they have not, least they loose the cōfortable support of that weak­ness which indeed they have. By the power of Grace, say we our hard Hearts are broken, and by the gentleness of grace they are so favourably accep­ted.

Yea, such is Gods good­ness, that hee would bring us whole and sound to Heaven, if it might be: for he delighteth not, in the death; no, nor in any pain or trouble of his crea­ture: not, as it is absolutely considered, but in regard of the end thereof, so he is much plea­sed with it. As the Physician [Page 39] is glad to see the working of his Physick, not that he desires the pain of his Patient, but his recovery: or as a loving Hus­band desires his Wifes travel, not for the pain she must en­dure, but for the Births sake: So is God affected, as I may say, in the travel of his Spouse, the Christian Soul, the pangs whereof hee willeth not for their own sake, but for the new Births sake that cannot be pro­duc'd nor reviv'd without them.

Well, to return, that the contrite Soul is an acceptable Sacrifice to God, we cannot doubt. My Dove that mour­nest in the Clifts of the Rock, let me see thy Face, Cant. 2. Our Face is never so fair in [Page 40] Gods Eye, as when 'tis washt with the tears of a Penitent Heart; these Penitent tears Satan cannot endure: nay, 'tis the conceit of one, tolerabilius sustinet flammam suam quàm lacrymam nostram. Satan can as little abide this Water of Repentance, as the fire of Hell: but God so much values and loves our tears, that he hath a Bottle on purpose to preserve them in. When we are least in our own eyes, then are we most precious in his. To this Man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite Heart, Esay, 66. 2. Nor doth he onely cast a favourable look upon that Man, but vouchsafeth to make him his dwelling place: For thus saith the high and holy [Page 41] one, that inhabiteth Eternity, whose name is holy; I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble Spirit, to revive the Spirit of the humble, and to re­vive the Heart of the contrite. Es: 57: 15:

What comfort, what glory is this to an humble Soul, that she is chosen out for an habi­tation of the most high! sure, where God dwelleth by his gracious presence, that place must needs be Heavenly; so indeed is the penitent Soul, what ere she seems: God that dwells there doth not so hide his countenance, but that the beams of comfort either mingle with the most bitter complaints of a broken Heart, or at least [Page 42] in due time succeed them. No better instance then David. See him in the first of his Pe­nitentials, Psal. 6. My Soul is sore vexed, ver. 3. I am weary with my groaning, ver. 6. Mine eye is consumed for very grief, ver. 7. There is sorrow, plen­ty; But hath the Lord no pit­ty? in the next verses, The Lord, saith he, hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer. Here is comfort. Thus as I grounded Gods acceptation of our Repentance, upon his Mercy: so have I now setled our Comfort upon his Accep­tation Because he is mercifull, therefore he accepts us; and because hee doth accept us, [Page 43] therefore shall we find certain comfort.

These are, for whose sakes this point is to be carefully handled; weake Christians: whose minds the extremity of grief hath so overclouded, that they find not themselves in themselves: they complain most bitterly of the hardness of their Hearts, when their very complaints are a comfortable Argument that they are alrea­dy broken: they grieve for the totall want of grace, when the presence of it in some measure is proved by their unfeigned desire and longing after it. Such poor souls must be made to understand, that Grace may work in the Heart, which for the present perceives it not. [Page 44] God like the Sun scattereth his influence further then his light: and the Penitent Soul, like the Moon in Conjunction, hath the fairest side toward Heaven.

In Spiritual conflicts nothing is of power sufficient to up­hold the fainting Soul, but the Hand of Divine mercy. Mer­cy can find no way unto us, but through the wounds of Christ, and the streams of our Saviours Bloud. O wretched Man that I am, cryes out the Apostle: Who shall deliver me! and in the next verse; I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our Lord is of a graci­ous and sweet disposition: he underwent most grievous con­flicts in his own person, in the dayes of his Humiliation; he [Page 45] knows the better how to suc­cour us; and he chose such to preach mercy to others, as had themselves found most mer­cy: namely, Paul and Peter: to the end that their examples as well as their Doctrin might speak comfort to distressed consciences. When we consi­der the first fruits of those that came unto Christ, the Publi­can, the Harlot, the Thief and the Blasphemer: when we con­sider the comfortable Titles he hath assumed; of a Head, that suffereth in the lowest mem­ber; of a Shepherd, that hath care of his weakest Lambs; of a Husband, indulgent to his Spouse; of a Physitian, good at all diseases, but especially the binding up of a broken Heart: [Page 46] these things when we consi­der, we cannot want Argu­ments to raise up the dejected Heart, and assure the distrust­full, that in the lowest de­gree of Humiliation he shall never be forgotten, never be despised.

To draw to an end, with a word or two of Exhortation.

1. To all. St. Peter hath ho­nourd us with the title of Priest­hood, 1 Pet. 2. Priests you know should not be without their Sacrifices: we cannot offer a more acceptable Sacrifice then this of a broken Heart. Whe­ther it be a morning Sacrifice offer'd in our Youth, or an Evening Sacrifice offer'd in our Age, God, we are sure, will not despise it. Let us per­form [Page 47] this Office of our Priest­hood, or never look to be par­takers of the Kingdom. It is in­deed a hard piece of service and unpleasing; such is the un­towardness of our Hearts, and such power have sensual plea­sures over us: but difficulty is not a curb but a spur to ge­nerous minds: and remember, Qui instat praecepto, praecurrit auxilio, He that urgeth us with his command, leads us by his grace. What should deter us, when the Almighty is our aid? Many oppositions and discou­ragements must the tender­hearted Man expect from this wicked world, but let the De­vil and the world conspire, this is a faithful saying, The Heart that is in Gods hand [Page 48] cannot miscarry. Memorable is that speech of Adherbal in Sa­lust to the Senators of Rome, Ego sic existimabum P. C. uti Patrem saepe meum, &c. We may justly apply it to our case: Our Fathers and Prophets, our Lord and Master hath fore­told, by long experience wee have found it true; as many as have, with humble and Pe­nitent hearts, enter'd into a Covenant with God, eos maxi­mum laborem suscipere, they have undertaken a laboursome and painfull profession; sed omnium maxime tutus esse, but they have safety for their pains, no Mans security like to theirs.

2. To the Clergy. St. Paul, Rom. 15. calls the Gentiles his oblation. Ministers are Priests [Page 49] in an especial manner: neither can we do better service, then to offer unto God the bro­ken hearts of our people. God hath put fire into our Mouths to kindle those Sacri­fices. He hath put a Sword into our hands to pierce and cut the hardest heart. Verily, such is the temper of these times, that piercing and cutting Scriptures seem most seasonable; in the handling whereof we must en­deavour to stir up in our hea­rers, as St. Hierom speaks, non clamorem, sed genitum, the sighs and tears of the Auditors best commend the Preachers elo­quence; nevertheless we must remember, that the Holy Spi­rit descended as well in the shape of a Dove, as in the like­ness [Page 50] of fire, and Spiritual Men must be no less meek then ve­hement. Nil tam Spiritualem virum indicat, quàm alieni pec­cati tractatio: the discreet handling of a sinner is the Mi­nisters Master-piece; Men are prone to Sin, the conscience must be awakened by the Law: Men are prone to despair for Sin, the conscience must be comforted by the Gospel. We must so prudently mix and ad­minister both Law and Gos­pel, that hard hearts may be broken, and broken hearts may be bound up.

To close up all: The custom of the Ancients was to begin their Feasts with Sacrifice: Our Spiritual Sacrifice of a broken heart, what is it else but the in­troduction [Page 51] to a Feast? the Feast of a good Conscience, our one­ly comfort in this vale of tears, and that other Feast at Gods Heavenly Table, the consum­mation of our bliss, in the life to come.

God of his mercy grant, that we may all offer up this Sacri­fice, that we may be partakers of that Feast. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.