THIS Psalm is justly styled David's Recantation; to which Head, we must reduce all his, and all other Confes­sions of God's Saints in Scripture, as to the common Remedy, of that lability, error, and sin, which is congenious to their and our Natures.

This is one of those seven Penitential Psalms, penn'd by David, and appointed by the Church to be used in time of Penance and Contrition. Psalms which S. Au­gustine, was so great a lover and admirer of, that he commanded them to be written in Capital Letters, and hung upon the Wall over against his Bed, or about the Curtains of his Death-bed within, next to him; that so he might die as he had lived, in the Con­templation [Page 2]and Meditation of them, with tears in his eyes, in the practice of Repentance, praying for the remission of his sins: alwaies judging this, (as Possi­donius speaks) the safer and surer way to blessedness, then that of Raptures; and the fittest disposition for dying Christians, especially for such of the Ministry, who have by their omissions, flatteries and silences, the sins of others to answer for as well as their own.

This Psalm is Psalmus [...], so Junius; A Psalm of prayer; for mercy is the scope of it, which David praies for in the negative and positive effects of it. And indeed this sweet Singer of Israel never prayed more pathetically, then when his heart was broke most penitentially: as Birds in Spring sing melodi­ously when it rains sadly; or as some faces which are most oriently beautiful, when most wash'd with tears.

The occasion of this Psalm was David's sin and Na­than's Ministry, 2 Sam. 11, & 12 Ch. The effect whereof was not an itching ear, but an aking heart: for whilest he tells him a Parable, David suspects not that it con­cerns him; but when Nathan no longer brandishes the sword in the air, but by a close application falls in with him, Thou art the man, David feels the wound, and nè evanescat, & saeviat dolor, lest the sense might va­nish, and his wound fester, he cries out for help, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; ac­cording to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions: as in the first verse.

The Parts of his Prayer are two:

• Petition for himself.
• Supplication for the Church.

1. For himself, who by his Murder and Adultery had so offended and dishonoured God; from the 1 verse to the 18.

2. For the Church, which by his fall was so scan­dalized and endangered, that from Dan to Beersheba 70 thousand die of the Plague, 2 Sam. 24.15.

The Arguments by which he enforceth his Prayer are three.

1. Taken from his Repentance, which was sound and serious, (as having in it not only the necessity of a Duty, he had sinn'd if he had not repented; but the necessity of a Remedy, for he had perish'd if he had not repented.)

2. From others, whom by his experience of God's pardoning mercy, he might with more skill, humility and tenderness, recover and cure, v. 13. Docebo praevari­catores vias tuas, Then shall I teach transgressors thy waies, and sinners shall be converted to thee. Spiritual Physici­ans must not only be knowing, but men of practice and experience, that can tell what it is to have a bro­ken heart and contrite spirit.

3. From the glory of God's pardoning mercy, which would be made more illustrious,

1. By his publishing of it, and therein his righte­ousness, in keeping promise, and forgiving those sins for which our Surety hath satisfied, v. 14, 15. Deliver [Page 4]me from bloud-guiltiness, O God, or, from blouds, (Uriah's and others with him) and my tongue shall sing of thy righ­teousness. Praebe mihi materiam Cantici & gratiarum acti­onis, ignoscendo peccato, (so Muis upon the place) Open thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

2. By his thankful offering to God, not the Sacri­fices of the Law, those he desires not, delights not in; but these of the Gospel, A broken and contrite Heart. For the Sacrifices of God are, &c.

In the Text we have two Propositions:

• Affirmative.
• Negative.

Affirmative, The Sacrifices of God are a broken Heart.

Negative, A broken and contrite Heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

These Propositions are one for substance, yet dou­bled (as Pharaoh's dream) to make the truth more cer­tain. Wherein you have,

1. The Subject, A broken and contrite Spirit.

2. The Predicate, The Sacrifices of God, &c.

3. The Copula [Are] not in the Original, (therefore put in a different character) to perfect the sense.

For the better opening these Sacrifices, I shall doe with them as the Priests under the Law, Medium ani­mal per cervicem & spinam dividere, Cut them through the middle from the neck downwards, [...]. And this bears (saith my Author D ^r W.) a huge proportion to the Text; for [...] and [...], an iron si­new in the neck and a stone in the heart, signifie [Page 5]in Scripture one and the same sin, and must be alike sacrificed. First then,

[...] These two Participles make two full Epithetes: One signifies, to break whole things, 1 all of a piece; The other, to beat hard things all to pieces and powder.

This breaking and beating in other Scriptures is exprest in terms of extremity: As the smiting of the heart, 2 Sam. 24.10. The wound of the spirit, Prov. 18.14. Thus it is applied to Christ, Esay 53.10. Jehova autem voluit [...] conterere eum, It pleased the Lord to bruise him, &c.

Thus to Saints, Esay 57.15. I dwell in the high and holy place, [...] & cum contrito & humili, so Vatab. to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the spirit of the contrite ones. So as a broken and con­trite Heart, is a whole Heart broken to pieces, and a hard Heart so beaten to powder, that there remains not a sheard (as Isaiah speaks) to take up: igniculam ten­tationis, or modicum noxiae voluptatis, the spark of a tem­ptation, or a drop of hurtful pleasure (as Parisiensis elegantly interprets it.)

[...] Sacrifices, in the plural number, 2 for the grea­ter Emphasis and Amplification: instar omnium, instead of all; All sacrifices nothing to these, all nothing with­out these, all summ'd up in these. For these are

[...] the Sacrifices of the Almighties, of God. 3 The adding God's Name to any thing in Scripture gives it an eminency, a glory above other things. As [Page 6]in the Old Testament, the Waters, Mountains, Cedars of God; in the New Testament, the Peace of God; and here the Sacrifices of God, most rare and excel­lent. For,

[...] Such God will not despise. 4 The phrase is low, yet hath a [...] in it: as 1 Thes. 5.20. Despise not Prophecie; Heb. 12.5. Despise not the chastening of the Lord. And so imports God's choicest way of Acceptation, the third step of Honour in the Text. D ^r W. Sacrifices, Sacrifices of God, and the Sacrifices of God which he will not despise, but own, delights in, puts the highest price upon.

The result of all is,

That a broken and contrite Spirit is the Sacrifice of God, which he will own, accept, and honour. For as such a Heart is grateful to the Penitent himself, so to Angels, to the Mediator, to his Ministers, and so to the Almighties, [...], to God himself.

1. To the Penitent: for having this heavenly grace wrought in his heart by the holy Ghost, and thereby coming to the sensible knowledge of his sins, and the displeasure of God, he doth earnestly grieve; but by faith in Christ (the Surety of his debt and duty, his Sacrifice and Mediator) he is raised again to comfort: And then, Sicut post vehementes imbres aeris tranquillitas sequitur, As after vehement showers there follows a tranquillity of air; so post lacrymarum pluvias mentis serenitas, after flouds of tears, the Penitent finds such a serenity all over his Soul, that he weeps for [Page 7]joy that he hath wept; de peccato dolet, & de dolore gaudet. Est flendi voluntas, (so S. Ambrose) he wills to weep. For such tears leave behind them a sweet tast and relish upon the Soul (the immediate reward of this brokenness and contrition; yea God's secret te­stimony that the Penitent hath herein pleased God) and then no wonder he is so pleased with himself, that he praies, Evermore give me this bread, for fle­tus est cibus animae & refectio mentis, Godly sorrow is the Soul's food and the mind's refection. Psal. 80.5. Ci­bâsti eos pane lacrymarum, & propinâsti eis lacrymas in mensura. Vatab. Thou feedest them with the bread of tears, and givest them plenteousness of tears to drink. In Penitential tears there is meat and drink: Hence that late Penitent of Waterford in Ireland (weeping abun­dantly) cried, Oh that there were in me a well of this Li­ving water, that streams might continually run down my cheeks, that in these streams I might be wafted over into another world, and till then, that they might not be dried up!

2. As this broken contrite Heart is grateful to the Penitent, so to the good Angels, Domestici Dei, Cives Coeli, Principes Paradisi, those Domesticks of God, Citizens of Heaven, Princes of Paradise. This is their ban­quet, Luke 15.7. I say to you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more then over ninety nine just persons that need no repentance. Ver. 10. There is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, &c. Angelorum deliciae Poenitentium la­crymae, [Page 8]Bernard; Those tears which drop from a bro­ken contrite Spirit are the Angels delicacies. Peter weeping gives Angels wine in heaven; and they to re­quite him, send him a Cup of Consolation upon earth, Mark 16.7. Goe tell his Disciples, and Peter, that he goes before you into Galilee: Tell it, Petro gravissimè vulnerato & acerbissimè dolenti, to Peter deeply woun­ded and bitterly weeping. En solicitudinem Angeli, behold the solicitude of an Angel for a broken and contrite Spirit. They that have their tongues, and want their charity, are Messengers of no value, sounding brass and tinckling Cymbals, inanis & futilis garrulitas, as Drusius interprets it.

3. As this broken contrite Spirit is grateful to the Angels, so to the Mediator, who is Angelorum caput. It is his office to swath broken bones, sweeten im­bittered spirits, and wipe off tears: Felices lacrymae quas benignae manus Mediatoris abstergunt, saith Bernard, Happy tears which his blessed hands wipe off. Luke 4.18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to heal the broken-hearted, &c. Non infundit oleum misericordiae nisi in vas contritum, Bern. He pours not the oil of mercy but into the broken vessel.

The tender Mother in S. Bernard, Quem aegrotan­tem novit filium, takes her weak weeping child, sets it most on her lap, laies it oftnest in her bosome, magìs sovet, saepius complectitur. Thus Christ: For Peter had incurr'd a great and infamous scandal, given a noto­rious offence to the whole Church of God; solas [Page 9]the Censorious person cries, Call him no more Pe­ter, a Rock, a chief Pillar of the Church, but Reuben, unstable as water, one that hath lost his excellency. But our Saviour knowing his Heart broken, and his Spirit contrite for his sin, sends him a personal message by an Angel, and that Angel by Magda­lene, to intimate to him, that he who had cast seven Devils out of her, could pardon three denials to him. And this message is directed to him under the name of Peter, (an Apostolical name) Mark 16.7. Goe tell his Disciples, and Peter, Petro summè scandaloso; whereby our Saviour doth at once comfort his conscience and cure his credit, restore him to his Discipleship and his Apostleship. So the late excellent Bishop of Excester, D. Br. O magni­tudinem misericordiae Christi! O the greatness of the mercy of this good Samaritane, who not onely dres­seth the wound, and pours in Wine and Oil, to cleanse, ease, and heal, but takes order for the Cure; that not onely prevents with grace, but continually supplies with the necessary increases of it, that the broken heart may persevere and be saved!

4. As this broken contrite Spirit is grateful to the Mediator, so to his Ministers: It is their office to declare and pronounce to the Penitent the Ab­solution and Remission of their sins; to feed his Lambs [for his sake] hence the Syriast addes [...] to the Text, John 21.15. Feed my Lambs, [mihi] feed [Page 10]them for me. Propter te, Domine, propter te, is the Ministers Motto, and the Rabbins Proverb. Non vult Christus ut parvi pendas quos ipse minimè parvi pendit, Christ would not have those slighted whom he tenders. No better sign of Grace, then for a Minister (in imitation of Christ) to own and cherish the broken in heart. This is S. Paul's trial of a spiri­tual man, Gal. 6.1. If any man be overtaken in a fault, [...], Erratum, Laesio errante manu admis­sa, and that fault not proceeding from malice, but mis-information, and mis-understanding of things, (as our late Soveraign of eternal memory speaks) you that are spiritual restore such a one; [...], he is a bone out of joynt, set him in his place, (it may cost tears and pain) yet the bone well knit will be the firmer. Nihil adeò spiritualem virum de­monstrat, ac alieni peccati tractatio, S. Augustine, No­thing doth so demonstrate a spiritual Minister, as his handling another mans sin. Esay 50.4. The Lord hath given me. Linguam Eruditorum, the tongue of the Learned; What to doe? To dispute Con­troversies, tie and untie knots in Divinity? No, but that I should know how to speak a word in season sitibundo & lasso, to him that is weary.

Lastly, It is grateful to the Almighties, [...], to God himself: though he will not own divisum & dispersum Cor, a heart and a heart, yet he will ac­cept [Page 11]and honour confractum & contritum Cor, a bro­ken and contrite Spirit. For,

1. 1 He preferres this alone to all typical ceremo­nial Sacrifices, ver. 16. Thou desirest not Sacrifice, elsè would I give it thee; thou delightest not in burnt-offe­rings. Indeed we find not exprest any Sacrifice for Murther, Adultery, or any Capital crime; therefore God desires them not 1. simply for themselves, nor 2. comparativè, in comparison of the inward Sa­crifice of a contrite Spirit, or of the all-sufficient Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross.

Nihil ergò offeremus? saith S. Augustine: Sic veni­emus ad Deum? Unde illum placabimus? Shall we then offer nothing to God? shall we come empty to him? how then shall we appease him? Habes in te quod offeras, (saith the same Author) thou hast in thy self the Beast that thou maiest sacrifice, and the Incense that thou maiest offer. In me sunt, Deus, vota tua, That (O God) is in me, thou callest for from me.

2. 2 God preferres this before all Moral and Pha­risaical perfections. Hence the Publican is pre­ferr'd before the Pharisee, Luke 18.10,—15. The Pharisee is on his tip-toes, stands alone, seorsim, proud and censorious, as that famous and great Divine D. Hammond speaks; full of self-righteous­ness, worldly confidence, and earthly adherence: Lord, I thank thee, I am not as other men, or as this [Page 12]Publican. The Publican in the sight and sense of his sin, and the unreasonableness of it, is ashamed, dares not lift up his head, but smites upon his breast, (with God be merciful to me a sinner.) I tell you, saith Christ, this man went down to his house justified, rather then the other, so our Translation; but not the other, Impropria est comparatio, so Master Calvin. And the weeping Prodigal before his insulting hypo­critical elder brother, Luke 15. For though he justles him, and thrusts him away, will not so much as own him for his brother, but speaking to his Father, saith, this thy son, v. 30. who hath devoured thy living with Harlots, &c. yet the Father tells him, for all this he is his brother, v. 32. This thy brother was dead, and is alive again, &c. If I be thy Father, he is thy Brother. It is meet we should make merry and be glad. Yea he preferres him, for he re­ceives, embraces, and kisses him, clothes and adorns him, feeds and feasts him.

In allusion to this Parable, the now Arch-angel of this Church of England, His Grace of Canterbury, (in whom (expertus loquor) Indulgentia Christi, solici­tudo Angeli, & officium Episcopi, The Indulgence of Christ, the solicitude of an Angel, the office of Primitive, Evangelical, Catholick Episcopacy do verily meet) I say he, in the Chappel-Royal, in a publick Sermon (since printed) told his Majesty (whose mind is alwaies watered with the mild dews [Page 13]of meekness and moderation) That it became him, as a publick Father, to look upon all his Sub­jects as Sons; but upon his Prodigals with more kindness and tenderness (when they once come to themselves, and acknowledge their Error;) yea when he sees them returning (though afarre off) to meet them, caress them, call for the Ring and the Robe, to set some mark of favour upon them more then ordinary, that may give assurance to them and to the World, that his Promises made and performed were not the effects of Necessity, but the fruits of a gracious Princely minde, in­violably resolved to out-doe all his Promises and Engagements.

And I hope, saith that grave and religious Pre­late, the now Lord Bishop of Winchester, D ^r Mor. in the Epistle to his Coronation-Sermon, That your Majesty herein will find a happy success, in doing not onely as your Grand-father Henry the fourth of France did, but as God himself doeth. As Henry the fourth of France did, who pardoned those Rebellious Subjects that came in to him, (how much soever they had before offended;) and to secure them from their fears, and oblige them to his service, he honoured some of them with Titles of quality and Places of Trust; and I finde not (saith that excellent Bishop) that any of them ever gave him cause to repent.

But in doing as God himself doeth, who receives the Prodigal, yea and makes as much of him as if he had never offended, (though the elder Brother repine at it;) methinks this should bespeak those who would be called the sons of these spiritual Fa­thers, to walk in their steps, to goe and doe like­wise.

Lastly, God owns and honours the broken con­trite Spirit; for this is the especial grace he promi­ses to his Church, by which all other blessings are qualified and sanctified, and without which they are nothing worth. Ezek. 36.21. God opens the treasures of his mercy; at the 24. verse he promi­seth to take his People from amongst the Heathen, gather them out of all Countries, bring them to their own Land, &c. And yet as if all this were nothing, unless a broken and contrite Spirit were vouchsafed them, God promiseth at the 26. verse, I will take away the heart of stone, and I will give a heart of flesh: 1 first, as an Antidote against sin; se­condly, 2 as a spiritual Potion to kill the worms of temptation, which might lead them into Evil; and thirdly, 3 as a preservative from Lamentation, Mourning, and future Woe. And to speak to our own condition: Though God hath brought us out of the dangers of tumultuous clamours and schis­matical terrors, given us our Religion and Laws, our Properties and Immunities, and, which is the [Page 15]summe of all, our King and Church; yea though we have had many fair mornings after a black day, though our Candle gives a clear light, and we sleep in the arms of Peace; yet if God break us not for our Sins, and from them, if he give not a broken, contrite Spirit, a worm may yet breed out of our Corruption, and consume our Gourd.

But why will not God despise, but so accept and honour a broken, contrite Spirit? that is the [...].

1. Because it is a spiritual Sacrifice. 1

First, the Sacrifice is the Spirit; secondly, the Spi­rit as broken.

1. The Sacrifice is the Spirit, that is the best of man. Prov. 23.26. My son, give me thy heart.

2. The Spirit as broken, and that is the best of the Spirit. When we beat hard things into pow­der, we call that powder the flour of it. Broken­ness and Contrition is D ^r W. flos Cordis, the finest of the heart. The finer the flour, the fitter offering for God. A contrite Spirit is fit for any service, any Sacrifice; yea it is all Sacrifice.

God will not despise, 2 but own and honour a contrite Spirit, because it is very gracious and ami­able. Tricameratum, (it is Avicenna's word) wherein you have not the three Persons personally, but the Love of the Father, the Grace of the Son, and the [Page 16]Renovation of the holy Ghost, mystically. Hence Cor Pauli, Cor Christi, Chrysost. the Heart of Paul is the Heart of Christ. This broken contrite Spirit, in the purpose and preparation of it, is Amor Dei, the Love of God; in the inspiration and infusion of it, it is Donum Dei, the Gift of God; in the comforts of it, it is Osculum Dei, the Kiss of God. It is no chance-Gift, inter missilia Fortunae, as that Excellent Prelate speaks, D. B. B. E. but God's choice Gift. In other blessings God kisseth us sleeping, we know not how we come by them; but this is given non dormientibus, sed vigilantibus, not to them that sleep, but to those that watch and weep, cry and wait for it.

But more particularly, The broken contrite Spirit is gracious and very amiable; For,

You have in it all the lineaments of the new Creature, the new Birth, the Divine Nature.

• 1. Conviction.
• 2. Compunction.
• 3. Conversion.

See all drawn to the life in Primitiis Evangelii, in the first famous Conversion wrought by the A­postles in the Christian Church, (the Pattern and great Exemplar of all Conversions to the World's end.)

There was Conviction, 2. Acts 36. I Therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord, and Christ.

Compunction. 37. v. And when they heard this, II they were prickt at their heart; [...], as if the points of so many poisoned daggers or scorpions stings had been struck into every part of their hearts, at once in the cruellest manner imagin­able: so the word imports.

Conversion. 38. For they Repented, III and were Baptized, &c. The Hebrew calls Repentance [...] the Greek [...], and we Conversion (the main joynt of Repentance) which implyes not only an aversion from sin, a dying to it in the passions of the mind, (Fear, Grief, and Hatred,) but a turn in the Will to God. Not only [...] but [...]; a grief for what is past, but a change of mind for the time to come; not grief of mind only (so [...] is sometimes taken) but [...], which implyes a grief for sin mixt with Faith which is repentance to Salva­tion, never to be repented of. 2 Cor 7.10. Whose rise is godly sorrow, whose nature is a purpose to sin no more, whose fruit is amendment of life.

A Contrite spirit is gratious, Lastly. because there is in it the Evidence of God's immediate, Omnis potent and Efficacious working upon the Soul, not in a way of Providence, or Justice, but in a [Page 18]way of Grace. Ʋis [...] regenerationis, as the Renown'd Mead hath it. 36. Eze. 26. I will take away the heart of stone, and I will give a heart of flesh. 1. A very stone, made flesh. A Monster of Vice, a Miracle of Virtue. Monstrum vitii, Miraculum virtutis. This is modus rei. 2. I will do it, this is modus dicti, I will take away the heart of stone, stupid, senseless, rebellious, and I will give a heart of flesh, tender, pliable, flexi­ible to every good word, and work.

Hitherto you have had these Sacrifices naked, and open, [...], the skin pul'd of, and the Intrails expos'd to open view. I now come to the Apostle [...], 2 Tim. 2.15. His rightly dividing the word, and giving every one their due. General discourses are like the beams of the Sun, dispers't in the air, which may warm us a little, and that's all: but close ap­plication is like the Burning glass, which gathers all the Beams into one point or Centre, fastens them on the Soul, and so Verba, not inflantia, but inflammantia, kindle and enflame.

Then learn here from this Doctrine of a Broken and contrite Spirit,

What the issue of sin in the end will be? i. It may be sweet in thy Mouth, but it will be bitter in thy Bowels. The little pleasure sin brings thee in, if it be not thy bane, thou must vomit it up again, and that may tear and torture thy very [Page 19]Soul. 2. Jer. 19. It is an evil thing and bitter to provoke the Lord. Extrema gaudii luctus occupat, the end of that mirth is mourning.

If ever God save any of your Souls, ii. it will be by brokenness and Contrition. If ever God by his Grace, come to dwell in any of your hearts, he will make a forcible entrance.

Consider how dreadful the condition of despair is: if these whom God intends, Mercy, Grace, iii. and Peace to, be so broken, and beaten, so bruis'd and ground to powder: what are their racks and tortures? their Tribulation and Anguish? Whom God strikes, and wounds with the sight and sence of his wrath, as most deserved and due to them, as most unavoidable, and unsupportable by them? These racks and tortures are Primitiae infernalis flammae, the first fruits of the infernal flame, the greatest part of the torment of the damn'd in Hell, where the worm never dies, and the fire never goes out. Quid patientur quos reprobet, si sic cruciantur quos amat? saith Gregor. If David's bones were so broken for his adultery, what furious reflexions? What a Hell was in Achitophels con­science for his Perjury, Treachery, and Treason? How did his sorrow rise into horror, and that horror into despair? God grant that both you and I may know what this despair is, rather by re­lation then experience.

See the blessed estate of those whose hearts, iiii. and Spirits are broken and Contrite.

They will be preserved from sin, i. and the sad ef­fects of it, and inabled to perform all duties accep­tably. 31. Jer. 18. I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, &c. I have surely heard, i. e. hearing I have heard, heard attentively, so as to regard, &c.

This will make the soul patient, ii. under the great­est affliction, and thankful for the least mercy; glad with the woman of Canaan, for a Crum; taste with the Church, a little honey in an Ocean of Gall, Lamen. 3.22. It it the Lords mercies, we are not consu­med.

Their Obedience will be highest, iii. when their Condition is lowest, and their hearts lowest, when their condition in the world is highest.

This brokenness and Contrition will make the heart, iv. the only fit soyl for the word of God to take root in, and bring forth thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold. The hearts of the Corinthians were first tables of flesh, then written upon by the spirit of God, and so declared to be the Epistle com­mendatory of Christ, seen and read of all men, 2 Cor. 3.3.

I might here demonstrate the Vast odds betwixt that Account God and the World make of a bro­ken and contrite Heart: v.

But I will conclude all in a use of Examination, whether our hearts and spirits were ever truly bro­ken and contrite or no?

He that will fish for Souls, must bait his hook with the worm of Conscience, which as St. Chry­sostom speaks, is [...], an unpopular Tributial. Now the office of Conscience is four­fold.

To know the rule, [...]. i.

To take notice of the Entity and existence of our Actions, whether done, ii. or not done with such and such circumstances, or without.

To apply the Action to the Rule, iii. and compare these two together, [...].

To judge of the quality of the Action, iv. accord­ing to the Rule, and of its agreeing, or disagreeing to it. This Act is called [...], and is the last and perfectest act of reason, or of Conscience. If this work of Conscience were throughly done, men would know and own their misery. It would take off their Edge and mettle, if they did but seriously think, how directly their ways point towards eter­nal damnation. There is no man but will stoop un­der self conviction, and self judgement.

[...], then ('tis the Baptists word) prepare the way of the Lord.

[...], ('tis St. Pauls word) Examine your selves: yea, 'tis Gods word, 17. Prov. 3. The fi­ning pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but God trieth the hearts: [...], (so the Septuagint renders it) the allusion is to Goldsmiths, who try their mettals by the Touchstone, and by fire. [Page 22]If you will not try your selves by the Touchstone of the word, God will try you by fire, by the fire of inward conviction, and outward affliction. Now Examination is, not for Examination sake, but [...] is that we may find [...], and that is a broken and contrite Heart. To direct herein, I shall lay down two [...], or chara­cters by which we may make a certain judgement, whether our hearts and spirits are truly broken, or contrite, or no.

First, the qualities in them.

Secondly, the effects or consequents of them.

The qualities in a Broken Contrite spirit, i. are these five.

It is Evangelical and Active. i. There is a broken­ness and contrition which is Natural and Legal.

Natural, such was Josephs weeping over his bre­thren, and St. Aug. weeping in reading the history of Dido before his conversion; which were not Acts of grace, but of nature.

Legal, such was the incestuous Corinthians, who was almost swallowed up of sorrow, 2 Cor. 2.7. the sinfulness of which sorrow appears in two things, It keeps from duty, it unfits for duty, that like Paper too wet, which receives no wri­ting. But the contrite heart is Evangelical, (ano­ther Isaac) a child of promise; that grows not out of the bodies constitution and temperament, but out of the promise, 36. Ezek. 26. I will take away [Page 23]the heart of stone, and I will give a heart of flesh.

And as it is Evangelical, so it is Active. There is a passive contrition, dolor morbi, a soreness, sor­rows and pangs that seize on us, whether we will or no, but the brokenness here is deliberate, ele­ctive, Active; for,

It is a grace seated in the heart, i. and making it willing to mourn and repent.

It is a duty, and to be performed. ii. Rent your hearts, Plough up the fallow ground, &c.

It is a condition of the Covenant, iii. and to be ful­fill'd. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, &c. 2 Chr. 7.14.

A Broken and Contrite heart is tender and melt­ing, yields to threatnings, melts under promises, Second­ly. 2 Chr. 34.27. Propterea quod emollitum est cor tuum, & humiliasti te à facie Jehovah, saith God to Josiah. Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thy self before God, &c. There is a tenderness which ariseth from the Natural sympathy betwixt the heart and the eye, Lamen. 3.51. My eye affects my heart, &c. but this tenderness comes from Faith, which doth not only purifie, but mollifie the heart, by applying, first, the word of God, that ham­mer, arrow, fire. Secondly, The blood of Christ. Thirdly, The love of God. With this hammer it breaks, with this arrow it pierceth, with this fire it melts the heart, in this blood it dissolves the Adamant, on this pillow it breaks the flint.

A broken and contrite Heart, Thirdly. is of a quick sense, and lively apprehension.

It discerns in the Soul, i. intima & minima, the least thing and most secret. [...], & [...], The first workings of our Understandings, and apprehensions; of our passions, and affections, ren­dred in the 5. Heb. 14. The bones & marrow, the thoughts and intents of the heart, the secrets of the belly. Prov. 20. latentes sensus as Drusius speaks.

It discerns in sin, ii. 1. Offence, 2. Dishonour, 3. Unkindness, 4. Ingratitude. Offence and dishonour of God, unkindness and ingrati­tude against God, Hence Davids Con­trition in the 3. v. Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. [...] tibi tibi soli Not only because David a King, and his Crown imperial, and so exempt from all Co­ercive and Vindicative power, and force of his Sub­jects, and only left to Gods own judgment; But be­cause this was his greatest grief, that he had sin'd a­gainst God, & such a God as had been so good to him, 2 Sam. 7.18, 19. And that this God should so suffer in his sin. 2 Sam. 12.14 Who only could pardon his sin.

A broken and contrite Heart, Fourthly is Docible and flexible, docible in the Understanding, and flexi­ble in the Will. That men are able to understand and will Aright, this is of Pure nature, status insti­tutus, in which anima est integra. That the Un­derstanding is indocible, and the Will inflexible, [Page 25]this is of corrupt nature, status destitutus, in which anima est laesa, illusa, illisa. Laesa in naturals, illusa in morals, illisa, bruised, beaten, broken in meerly spirituals and supernaturals. But that the Under­standing is tractable and docible, and the Wil flexible, this is of Sanctified nature, status re­stitutus, and here anima is rectificata, here the Grace of God is flexanima▪ and Vorticordis ('Tis S. Aug. word) it bores the ear, and bows the Soul. See this in the Converts, in the 2. Acts 37. Men and Brethren what shall we do? In S. Paul Act. 9.6. Lord what wouldst thou have me to do? In the Jayler Act. 16.30. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? These are not only Verba ignorantiae, words of men at a loss, how to get ease, but verba docilitatis, & promptitudinis, words of men whose spirits are broken, and contrite, whose Understandings are docible, and whose Wills are flexible, ready to hear any Instruction, and to undertake any di­rection for Life and Salvation.

A broken contrite Heart, Lastly. Obedientially resigns up its self into Gods hands: For, i. it is a heart after his heart, that is ready to do or suffer [...], all his Wills, The will of his Word, and the will of his works, of Precept, and Providence. This was the character, God gives of David. 13. Act. 22. I have found David the Son of Jesse, a man after my own Heart, which shall fulfil all my wills, [...].

Like melted Oar, Second­ly. it will run into his mould, and receive every lineament of it, Rom 6.17. You have have received that form of Doctrine that was de­livered to you, or rather [...], into which you are deliver'd.

With Abraham it will come to Gods foot. Thirdly. 4. Es. 2. come at his call. Vocavit eum ad pedem suum, calls him to his fo [...]t: ut sequeretur eum quocunque vellet eum ire, ut prompti, & morigeri famuli solent, qui Domi­ni vestigia sequuntur, tametsi incerti sint quo ipsos ducant. (so the Cald. Paraph.) that he might follow him whither soever he would have him goe; follow him as a good servant his Master, (though he knows not whither) all his Saints come to his hand and re­ceive the law from his mouth, Deut. 33.3.

But Secondly, Try your selves, as by the Qualities in it, so by the effects and Con­sequents of it; which are these Four.

It will repress censoriousness. i. A truly broken and Contrite heart is most sensible of its own sin, knows most evil by it self, judgeth its own sin greatest, and its own state saddest, hath neither list, nor leisure to censure others: as knowing that Censoriousness is a complicated evil; that there is in it, first, a Usurpation of one of those immedi­ate Prerogatives of God, Glory, Vengeance, Judgement.

Secondly, Rashness, thirdly, Uncharitableness, fourthly, Scandal; 14. Rom. 13. Let us not judge one [Page 27]another, but judge this rather, that no man put a stum­bling block in his brothers way, and therefore a sin justly damnable, [...], merito paenas luens, Rom. 3.8.

St. Paul calls himself the least of Saints, and greatest of sinners. The least of Saints, 3. Eph. 8. To me the least of all Saints, [...], a Compara­tive made of a Superlative. Minimissimo, so Estius. The greatest of sinners, 1 Tim. 1.5. [...], the very chief signiferum peccatorem me confiteor. I pro­fess my self so. He was not so, (saith St. Aug.) but seem'd so to himself, and the reason is good, For he set his own sins in debita proximitate, and so they appeared in justa magnitudine, in a due distance, and they appeared in the just magnitude; but he look't at the sins of others remotely, and so they lost their proportion.

St. Peter before his fall, thought best of himself, and worst of others. Though all men should for­sake thee, yet will not I. He fell by this censorious comparison, and was so broken and bruised with his fall, that he durst never after compare with others, much less prefer himself before others, or censure and reproach them.

In the 2. Acts you have some of the A­postles Auditors, scoffing in their faces, and censu­ring them at the 7. ver. for simple and illiterate Galileans, at the 13. ver. for drunkards; but no sooner (by the dint of the word) are their hearts [Page 28]broke, but they leave their censuring, and fall to be­seeching, 37. ver. Men and brethren what shall we do? Words of great humility and reverence.

St. Jerome complained of a sort of men in his time that plac't religion in sifting, censuring, and speak­ing evil of others, Omnibus maledicere, bonae conscien­tiae officium putant. This was an Epidemical disease in St. Aug. time, Temerariis judiciis plena sunt omnia. In brief, a censorious spirit is not a contrite spirit. A censorious man is another Doeg, Dophi, which the Hebrew Doctors thus interpret, do duo pi os, one that hath two tongues: To him God speaks, 50. Psalm 20. Thou sits and speaks against thy brother, thou slanderest thy own mothers son. Ponis probrum, struis calumniam, so Vatab. thou strowest thy seat with censures, blowest them into thy neighbours ear, but 21. ver. Arguam te, & ordinab [...] in oculis tuis quicquid fecisti, I will reprove thee, and I will set all thy own faults in thy eyes, resistam tibi in faciem, so the Hebrew Text, and I will resist thee to thy face, hold thy eye upon them, till I have fill'd thee with con­viction and fear. Consider this you that herein, for­get God, lest he tear you in pieces, when there is none to deliver; the Metaphor is taken from Lyons that catch their prey, and tear it, out of whose jaw none can rescue.

A Broken Contrite heart, ii. meekly and patiently submits to Gods afflicting hand for sin. Thus Da­vid, [Page 29]2 Sam. 15.25. Absolom had stoln the hearts of all Israel into a rebellion against his Father; the conspiracy and insurrection was sudden and strong. In this storm you find no estuations of spirit, no in­vectives, no cursing his Stars, (the dirt of a foul heart) but he lies down at Gods feet, in a gracious poyze and evenness of soul; not knowing what God will do with him, whether he will take him up or tread upon him; weighs the events, but casts an­chor here. If I shall find favour, he will bring me back, & shew me both the Ark and the Tabernacle, [...], (Sep [...]uagint) the beauty and holiness of it. But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee, here am I, let him do to me what seems good to him: If the worst come that can, I am determined to submit to Gods hand, to resolve all events Pro and Con, and my self too, into his blessed will; though the issue seem not good to me, it is enough it seems good to him.

A stone in the fire will sooner flie in your face then melt; and an unbroken heart, sooner fret, rage, and blaspheme God, then submit to God: But a contrite spirit will say with the Church, I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him; and with David here, 4. ver. Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified, acquitted, glorified, by my Confession. Justified, [Page 30]when thou speakest in the reproof of Nathan; and clear when thou judgest me, by sentencing my sin, and punishment for it; or when thou art judged by others, who may think I am dealt too sharply with.

A Broken Contrite heart under Gods afflicting hand is like a box of Spicknard broken, or like sweet flowers pounced, many fragrant graces spread, and give their spiced smells. The fire dis­covers mettals, whether good or bad; tempests Trees, whether well rooted or no, and afflicti­ons our hearts, whether broken and contrite, or not.

A broken and contrite spirit, Thirdly. will freely and fully recant and retract all its errors, and sins. Confession is the genuine effect of contrition. There is that holy Candor, and Ingenuity in a bro­ken heart, that it will not keep in it sin, to save its credit, and so come under the curse. 28. Prov. 13. He that hides his sin shall not prosper.

Nimis perversè se amat, qui & alios vult errare, ut error suus lateat: He loves himself too per­versly, that had rather, that others should still wan­der, then his own strayings should be observed. The Saints of God have ever been of another mind. Hence Moses Unbelief, Davids Blood­guiltiness, Jeremies Impatience, Jonahs Pettishness, Pauls Persecutions, are impartially recorded by [Page 31]their own Pens. Take holy Job for an instance, who about to make a solemn Protestation of his integri­ty. 31. Job. (which is inseparable from contrition) He doth it by recanting & retracting his error and sins. 33. v. If I have covered my transgression as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my Bosom, &c. i. First he would not hide his sins, ut Adam, ut homines, (so the Arab. version) ut homo, (so Arias Montanus) He would not hide them as Adam, who sought a covering for his transgression, Non quia nudus, sed quia lapsas, not because he was naked, but be­cause he was faln. Nor as man, or as men; who use Palliations, Expositions, Evasions: Non quia nudi, sed quia lapsi; not because they are innocent, but because they are guilty.

He sits on the Dunghil, opens his Ulcers, ii. and Sores; freely and fully makes his confession, strong­ly imagine you heard him, Job. 40.4, 5. Behold I am vile, what shall I answer thee; I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer, yea twice, but I will proceed no further. chap. 42. at the 3. v. I uttered what I understood not, at the 6. v. [...] Ideirco, reprobabo quod male dixi, so Vatab. translates the Text. Wherefore I abhor my self. Or I will reprobate what I have sinfully spoken. Et rescipiscam, I will repent, or I will return to my self, into the way whence I wandred. In this sense resipiscere is frequently used by Tertul. [Page 32]and Lactantius for Repentance. Yea I will repent, saith Job, in dust and ashes. For, prisco more, in pulvere & cinere sedebat paenitens (so Drusius) of old the penitent, so Sate, now Dicat unusqui­que quod velit, let every man speak his pleasure. I shall rather choose with Adam, Moses and Job, David, Solomon (who hath by his Book of Ecclesiastes testified his retractations to all the World) and Manasses, with Jer. and Jonas, with Matthew, Magdalene, Peter, Paul, August. Jerom. Anselm. and Bernard. I say, I shall rather choose with all these blessed Saints, and broken vessels of Election, Confundi coram peccatoribus super terram, Quam confundi coram Sanctis Ange­lis in coelo, vel ubicunque Dominus voluerit, judicium suum demonstrare, by Confession to be shamed be­fore Sinners on Earth, then to be confounded before all the holy Angels in Heaven, or before all the world at the day of Judge­ment. For be we well assured, that our iniquity will find us out, yea, and the punishment too 32. Numbers 23. [...] in­veniet, [...], Septuagint apprehendet. Our iniquity will discover us, and judge­ment will take hold on us, Dabitis paenas pro eo.

But you will object, Such as thus retract, Object. and recant their Errors and sin, build again what they have destroyed, and so make themselves Transgressors, as S. Paul speaks, 2 Gal. 18.

I answer with S. Aug. In ipsum Paulum pri­mitus hoc diceretur. Answ. This should first have been objected against S. Paul himself; for, Gal. 1. ult. it is said, He which persecuted us in time past, now preacheth the faith which once he de­stroyed: And they glorified God in him. Indeed, Cum erubescit quisquam, de proprie iniquitate, & poenitendo in melius commutatur. When a­ny shall take shame to themselves for their own sin, & repent, and reform; Ista confusio adducet gratiam & gloriam. This honest shame, shall bring them both grace and glory. For as he that hides his sin shall not prosper, so he that confes­seth and forsaketh, them shall have mercy. I was an obstinate Papist, as any in England (said B. Latimer) in so much as when I commenced Batchelor in Divinity, my whole position ran a­gainst Melancthon's Opinions.

To conclude then. Irrideant nos fortes & potentes, saith St. Aug. Let the 99 just persons, that need no repentance, laugh and scorn us; Nos inopes & infirmi consitebimur tibi, &c. We the poor of the flock, of contrite spirits, will confess our sins to thee, O Lord.

Once more, Irridiant nos arrogantes, & non­dum salubriter prostrati, ego tamen confitebor tibi dedecora mea: Let the arrogant, and such as never had the grace of a broken and con­trite heart, let such deride me, saith Aug. I will, with Lazarus full of sores, lie at the beautifull gate of that God, who is rich in mercy, and confess my foulest iniquities to thee, O my God.

Lastly, A broken contrite spirit will be deep­ly affected, as with the act of sin, the guilt, and the stain, so with the scandal of it. A scandal is a stone in the way, at which a man stumbles, fals, and receives hurt in his body. Scandalous sins are such as others stumble at, fall, and re­ceive hurt by in their souls.

Sins are scandalous in respect of their Manner and Matter.

In respect of the Manner, when committed deliberately, and presumptuously.

In respect of the Matter, when they are com­mitted in materia gravi: For all deliberate presumptuous sins are in their Matter and Na­ture hainous.

In sin there are four things considerable.

• 1. The Act.
• 2. The Guilt.
• 3. The Stain.
• 4. The Scandal.

The Act is quickly over; but the rest have long lives.

The Guilt, that remains for ever, if not taken away by Repentance, and Faith in Christs bloud.

The Stain that continues when the guilt is pardoned. Sanato vulnere manet cicatrix: Though the wound be healed, yet the scar a­bides; as the infamy upon Jeroboam's name, That he made Israel to sin.

Lastly, Though the Persons of scandalous Sinners be gone long since, yet not the hurt daily done by their example.

It is a Question in the Schools, Whether the damned have their greatest punishment at first? Some have determined it negatively; and their Reason is, Because they have not at their death finish'd all the mischief they will do. For, when their bodies are in their graves, and their souls in Hell, their sins are above ground, and live in the memory of men, and do daily mis­chief, and will to the worlds end. Therefore as the hurt of their bad example encreaseth, so doth their punishment.

Whether the pain of the damned be thus encreased, I know not: but sure I am, mens sins and ill examples may be above ground, and do hurt, when they themselves are under ground, and turn'd to ashes.

Wo then to the World because of offences, (saith our Saviour, Matth. 18.7.) not passive offences, (saith the late Reverend Hoard) i. e. Actions which men stumble at (when they have no just cause, through their own ignorance, ill-affectedness, rashness, pride, or any like cause) for then wo would be to the very best men the earth bears; none being able to walk so accurately, blamelesly and wisely, as to avoid and prevent all captious exceptions, cavils and prejudices; no, not our Saviour him­self, for his Disciples told him, Mat. 15. that the Pharisees were offended at him.

Our Lord, then means Active scandals, truly and properly given, such as carry that in their foreheads, which the Christian World, nay the Pagan world cannot choose but be of­fended at. Such are,

• 1. The late National Oath and Covenant, which is either leterally to be kept, (which I hope none dare say) or to be re­pented of, (which I hope all will say) One of the Horns of this Dilemma will Gore.
• 2. The killing of our late Soveraign Lord the King, not to be mentioned without abhorrency, nor forgotten without stupi­dity, nihil funestius luctuosius nihil.
• 3. The very scandalous offences in Life and Doctrine accompanying our late Rebel­lions [Page 37]and Schismatical courses, and our continued compliance, with the late Usurpations and Traytorous forces.

These are those evil deeds, by which we have given occasion to the enemies of God to Blas­pheam. Vide Christianos quid agunt & evidenter fieri potest, de ipso Christo sciri, quid doceat, (thus the Pagans in Salvian;) See what the Christians do, and by that you, may easily know, what their Christ teacheth.

These are those horrid scandals, which live in the memories of men, and do daily mis­chief: for,

• 1. Do they not serve mens turns for the justi­fication of their sins?
• 2. Do they not fill their heads with hopes, that they shall do well enough, notwith­standing their seditions, conspiracies, and Rebellions, though they should put the Kingdom again into blood? seeing such men, who were reputed good, and are now believed to be in Heaven, were guilty of the same, and worse.

But that I may come to that which is Verbum Diei.

It was Prophesied by our Soveraign of glori­ous memory (Christus Jehovae) to his Son, our now most Gracious King (Miraculum Clemen­tiae) [Page 38]Just, up to the highest example; but Merci­ful beyond example, in the 27. Meditation of his [...]. That the most of all sides (who have done amiss) have done so, not out of malice, but mis-information and mis­understanding of things.

And (which is the Prophesie) that none will be more loyal and faithful to You or to Me, than those subjects, who sensible of their own errors and our injuries, will feel in their souls, most vehement motives to repentance, and ear­nest desires to make some reparations for their former defects. Behold this day this Prophesie fulfilled; for, feeling in my soul most vehement motives to repentance, and earnest desires to make some reparations for my former defects; I have voluntarily taken hold of this solemn op­portunity, having (here) neither Text nor terms put upon me, (as one of the greatest mer­cies of my life, the advantage of grace, the fruit of the Spirit, Nutus Dei, Gods beckning me into this place) wherein to offer to him the Sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit.

What was St. Paul's comfort after the con­fession of his sin, 1 Cor. 15. is mine, though not worthy to be called an Apostle, a subject of the Kings, a son of the Church (founded in Prae­lacy) from which Government this Nation re­ceived [Page 39]the everlasting Gospel, planted and wa­tered with their blood, The blood of our learn­edst and most religious Martyrs, Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, Ridley Bishop of London, Latimer Bishop of Worster, Hooper Bishop of Glocester, Ferrer Bishop of St. Davids; these all dyed Protestant Bishops in opposition to po­pery. That is,

1. To all those Doctrines held by the modern Church of Rome, which are either contrary to the written word of God, or be superadded, as necessary points of Faith, to be of all Chri­stians believed upon pain of damnation.

2. To all those superstitions used in the wor­ship of God, which are either unlawful, as be­ing contrary to Gods word, or being not con­trary, and therefore arbitrary, and indiffe­rent, are made essentials and imposed as neces­sary parts of worship. So Dr. Sanderson the late learned, loving and vigilant Bishop of Lincoln, of reverend memory. And Oh that my head were a fountain of tears to bewail our ingrati­tude, injustice, perjury, and Antichristianism, in covenanting against them! I say, that though unworthy to be called a subject of the Kings, a Son of the Church, Yet by the grace of God, I am, that I am, a Penitent, a Convert. And as a token of it, with St. Paul to make some com­pensation [Page 40]where I have done the wrong. I have herein laboured more abundantly than they all, who have alike offended. And not as pleasing men, but God ( [...]) the searcher of hearts, I do here with that seriousness (as if I were im­mediately to appear before the Tribunal of Christ) make this threefold profession of my judgment.

1. That the Solemn League, and Covenant, which I have taken, was, and could not be o­ther than sinfully taken by me, or any other; and continues so to all that have taken it, to be sin to them, until they have renounced it. And therefore cannot but condemn my own, or a­ny other of my brethrens repentance, whilest we would seem to repent of other our offences against God, our Sovereign, and this Church, but hold fast & defend stil that Covenant, which was and (as it is to be feared) is still secretly meant as a common band of confederacy, and iniquity. And therefore do by these admonish all that are involved in this guilt with my self, no lon­ger to add impenitency unto their sin, upon pretence of conscience for that which ought to be renounced (as we tender our own and others souls safety) for conscience sake.

2. That I believe the killing our late Sove­reign Lord the King was a most horrid murder, [Page 41]and parricide, and the great shame of all them, and their religion, that acted in it, or towards it, or after approved it, by assisting thereto, by any force or Councel, or preaching, or pray­ing, or giving thanks: And therefore also can­not but condemn from my heart, all such, who though not consenting to killing, yet teach it lawful, for some subjects to resist by force, fight against, imprison, and forbid addresses unto their Liege-Lord and Sovereign. And particu­larly, I cannot but condemn that robbing of the King of the universal subjection and de­fence, due to his sacred Majesty, by such equi­vocal swearing, that they will defend his Person in the defence of the true Religion, as it is men­tioned in the late Covenant: And all these practices, and Doctrines, I do freely acknowledge to be more evidently and truly Popish, than any thing, which hath in the late Quarrels been objected to the Fathers and Sons of the Church of England.

3. That whereas I do acknowledge, that very often other scandalous offences in Life, and Doctrine are wont to accompany, such Rebel­lious, and Schismatical courses, and conti­nued compliance, with all present Usurpations, through all the time of Rebellions force; so as, that it needs God's infinite mercy to pardon, [Page 42]and great charity from men, to believe any fol­lowing profession of repentance; yet for as much as a sinner, hath no other way, or hope left of his Salvation, but such sincere and late repentance; I humbly crave pardon of God, and man for any offences, which I have given, and beseech all men to believe this my unfeign­ed Profession of Repentance.

For as much as Charity,

• 1. Suffers long, and is Kind, 1 Cor. 13.4. [...], the word signifies a gentleness, & sweetness of manners: hence Christians in the purest times of the Church, were cal'd [...], for the loveliness of their conversation one towards another.
• 2. It doth not behave it self unseemly [...], doth not bitterly disgrace ano­ther, is not transported by cruel passions.
• 3. Is not easily provoked [...], fals not quickly into a sharp fit.
• 4. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, is not glad ano­ther hath done ill, that thereby he may be disgraced; but rejoiceth in, and with the Truth.
• 5. Bears all things, [...], as the Beam bears the Building, or as the word [...] signifies, covers faults with her large Mantle. Non facile, de quoquam desperat, quin ad melio­rem [Page 43]fungem venire possit; as the learned Grotius on the place; doth not easily de­spair of any, but that he may repent and be saved.
• Lastly, Believes all things; not all things simply, but ( credenda, & credibilia, as Paraeus speaks) in other mens sayings and doings believes the best.

As an Evidence of this Charity, In all humi­lity I beseech you, Men, Brethren, and (Right Reverend Father,) to join with me in Prayer, That the God of Peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shep­heard of the Sheep, through the bloud of the everlasting Covenant would make us all perfect in every good work to do his will; working in us all, that which is well pleasing in his sight. And that in the multitude of his mercy he would forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please him, in newness of life, to the honour and glory of his Name, through Jesus Christ; to whom, with the Father and the blessed Spirit, be all glory, Ma­jesty, Dominion, Power, and Adoration, both now, and for evermore.