RIght Reuerend, Right Honora­ble, Worshipfull, and Well-be­loued: They that haue wayed sinnes in the ballance of iniqui­tie, haue found some to be more heauy then others, by many de­grees, either in the Causality,Albertus in Compend. Theolog. (as the Schooles speake) as that sinne of Lucifer, or in the genera­lity, as the sinne of Adam, or in the deformity, as the sinne of Iudas, or in the difficulty of Pardo­ning, as the sinne of Iulian: These be sinnes of the highest eleuation, towring, and mounting vp to call for perpetuall desolation, and branded with [Page]the blackest character that euer any sinnes were.

For other sinnes the auncient haue compared them to sundry beasts, to shew the beastlinesse thereof, Enuie to a Dogge, Anger to a Woolfe, Sloth to an Asse, Auarice to a Hedg­hogge, Gluttony to a Beare, Luxurie to a Boare: Some others haue described them by some disea­ses, to manifest the fulsomnesse and loathsom­nesse thereof, Pride by an inflammation, Luxurie by a Feauer, Enuye by a Leprosie, Anger by a Phrensie, Sloth by a Lethargie, Auarice by a Dropsie, Superstition by the Plague, and these bee common, O too common euer since the sonnes of Adam receiued the tainture of bloud from the first offence of their first father!

But what commerce haue the Saints with sinnes? there is no felowship betweene righte­ousnesse and vnrighteousnesse, no communion betweene light and darknesse;Gen. 25.22. 1. Sam. 5 4. Math. 21.13. Reu. 12.7. 1. Ioh. 3.9. and if one wombe cannot containe Iacob and Esau, one house the Arke & Dagon, one Temple prayer & merchandise, one heauen Michael and the Dragon, how shall one soule retaine polution and sanctification? Saint Iohn testifying, that he that is borne of God doth not sinne, neither can he sinne, because hee is borne of God:Austin. but Dauid hath confessed though a Saint, a King, qui habuit sanctitatem, non solum vnctionis sed functionis, that by his owne experi­ence he found it, that seauen times a day doth the righteous fall.Epist. 46. And herevpon Saint Hierom to re­concile [Page]these two places, asketh the question, Si iustus quomodo cadit, si cadit quo modo iustus, and answereth himselfe, that he falleth by sinne, riseth by grace, falleth by his fault, riseth by his faith, or as another, homo cadit non iustus, Zanchius. as a man hee of­fendeth, but as a Christian man hee reconcileth himselfe to God: and being borne of God, sin­neth not: nay as Saint Iohn speaketh, he not onely doth not sinne, but he cannot sinne, that is,1. Iohn. 3.9. despe­rately, without remorse they cannot sinne, and pre­sumptuously without feare they doe not sinne, neither do, nor can, sinne desperately as Cain did, presumptuously as Pharaoh did; malitiously as Iudas did; blasphemously as Iulian did, for the seede of God remaineth in them.

Howsoeuer therefore the slips and slidings of the best seruants of God be registred, that he that stan­deth may take heed least he fall, yet no one of them hath falne finally, totally: And howsoeuer, this sweete singer of Israell (whose heauenly Antheme I haue chose for this solemne celebrity) though his foote had almost slipt, nay though hee had fallen, and descended downe, downe, downe into the sha­dowes of death, into the snares of death, into the Chambers of death, yet behold his sunne-rising as Orient as euer it was, he is againe created to walke in righteousnesse and holinesse before God all the dayes of his life. The word CREATED, will be the summe of my succeeding discourse: first thereby to remember those many that haue this day re­ceiued [Page]holy order heere, from that honourable Prelate,Lord Bishop of Lintolne. and most reuerend Father, who most carefully aduised them of the dignity and duty of that function, and who are now created anew, and are to forsake all the world, nay their owne selues, as the Disciples did, & in the prime of the Church those Primitiues that would be no Possessiues, Lorinus in 2. Act. Apost. some left all they had, others sold all, others gaue all; so these should so much neglect all things for Christes sake, as that they were at the first created to the image of the earthly man, earthly, so now they should be created to the image of the Lord from heauen, heauenly.

And secondly, my choice of this Text was chiefly to solemnize this great Feast of the CREATION and inuestiture of my most graci­ous Lord and Maister the Prince, to adde so­lemnity to which Feast,Psal. 148. were I as able as willing, I would take the course that Dauid in 140. Psalme, to call from the heauens, the Angels, and armies thereof, Sunne, Moone, Starres, heauens of hea­uens, and the waters that be aboue the heauens, I would descend from the orbes and arches, and summon the ayre, fire, snow, vapors, and winds. I would enter into the Ocean,Psal. 8. and raise the Dra­gons, and all deepes, fishes of the seas, and all that passeth through the pathes of the seas. I would warne a Conuocation of all the world, and muster together mountains, and all hilles, fruite­full trees, and all Cedars, beastes and all cattell, [Page]creeping thinges and feathered fowles, Kings of the earth, and all people, Princes and all Iudges of the world, young men and maidens, old men and children to praise the name of the Lord: for if euer, now we may say, Blessed be the eyes, that see the things that we see, so royall, learned, and religi­ous a King, so noble, worthy & gracious a Prince, the kingly father so happy, so excellent, the prince­ly Sonne so rarely vertuous, so obedient, though I will not say as those heathen did of the Apostles, gods haue descended to vs in the likenesse of men, yet I will with the heathen Historian confesse,Xenophon. [...], a Prince is an Image of God, which ti­tle is the most glorious chaplet, coronet, frontlet, tablet, bracelet of a Christian Prince.

Aug. de Temp.At the Feast of the Natiuity wee are taught to bee borne againe: at the Feast of Easter to rise againe, at the Feast of Whitsontide to pray for the spirit, at this Feast of Trinitie to receiue the spirit, and by this great and solemne long wished-for Feast of this CREATION, wee are taught to pray for the creating of new hearts, good soules, religious spirits, honest consciences. And howsoeuer the head of my Text serueth only for the Prince, the CREATION, yet the body of my Text serueth for all people, it is the renouation of the mind [Create in me a new heart] I haue prouided this messenger to send vp to heauen for new souls; an ambassadour quicke of speed, faithfull for trust, happy for successe, whom neither the tediousnesse [Page]of the time, nor difficulty of the passage can hinder, but as a chariot of fire will presently be lifted vp in­to the presence of the Almighty to seeke his assi­stāce. It is the messenger that Ezekias vsed to haue the charter of his dares renued:Esay. 38.3 2. Kings. 4.32. Math. 5.7. that Elisha vsed to haue the Sunamites childes soule renued: that the sicke of the palsey vsed to haue his hands, and feete renued, and that Dauid vsed to haue his heart re­nued. It is prayer, the language of heauen, the tongue of Canaan, Austin in Soliloq. the speech of Zyon, the musick of Ierusalem, the harmony of sinners, the melody of Saints. It is that fire which being kindled by the spirit of God, in the Temple of the soule, will euer burne vpon the Altar of the heart, and euer ascend from the censor of the Tongue, till thou hast ob­tayned of God the petition of Dauid, Create in me a new, cleane, pure, vndefiled, vncorrupted heart.Diuisio. I will onely insist vpon these two parts; first the greatnesse of his suite;Duae partes. no purgation, or clen­sing, or curing, or recouering, or quickning, but a new creating; Create in mee. Secondly, the great­nes of his sore & sorrow, not his hand, or foot, or eye, or head, only ill affected, but his heart, the best member, the Metropolis of his soule, Create in mee a new heart. And of these briefly, praying as Saint Austin did on the like occasion, Deus faciet hunc textum tam commodum quam accommodatum. God make this text so commodious for our soules, as accommodated for these our times. And first for the Creation.

Prima. pars. Hosiod. Ouid. Plato. vide Phillip. Mornay lib. 10 de vera Religi­one. Tull de Nat. Deor.The Creation is the Genesis of the booke of God, the first Act in Nature, as Heathens confesse, the first ouerture of Gods power, as Diuines wit­nesse, a worke so wonderfull, that the Atheist inquireth of Plato, quae ferramenta, qui vectes, quae mollitiones, quae machinae, tanti operis fuerunt, what were the Engins, posts, machinations, pullyes, leauers, pillers, scaffolds, of so great and wonderfull a worke.

Who can imagine that so many things, diuerse in quality, immense in quantity, high in sublimi­ty, deepe in profundity, could euer bee made: that so many sinews and ioynts, and connexions and con-catenations should bee so orderly disposed in that great Fabrique: Nasci, to be borne is a won­der, a body though little, to bee so framed, the ioynts to mooue so actiuely, the sinews to stirre so nimbly, sences to vtter force so sharply, the lungs to breath so powerfully,Iob. it drew Iob into ad­miration, and to aske who hath framed thee in the wombe? but to bee Created, a world so massy, so mighty, vnlesse man looke with the eyes of Grace, through the windowes of Nature, hee cannot as a naturall man perceiue it: but Moyses taught it,Plato Moses, Atticus. Gen. 1. Plato learned it, and though the Atheist do not be­leeue it, yet in the first of Genesis, in the Capitall Characters of Heauen and Earth it is described, and some vnder-take to free Aristotle from deny­ing the Creation, though his workes do much op­pugne it, hee being as ambitious to ouer-come all [Page]other opinions, as his Scholler Alexander to con­quer other Nations.

The word Create, Aquiuas. in Scripture is taken by the Schoolemen & Fathers diuersly, pro prefectione ex nihilo, In the Image of God he created man: pro generatione ex propria substantia: Gen. 1.27. These are the generations of the Heauen and the Earth, as in Genesis.Gen. 2.3. Pro renouatione, as in Esay. I will Create a new Heauen,Esay. 65.17. and a new Earth; pro donorum Chri­stus infusione, as in the Ephes [...]ns. Created by his spirit to good workes:Ier. 31.22. pro filij Dei incarnatione, as in Ieremy, The Lord hath created a new thing, a woman shall compasse a man. And in this place pro regeneratione, as some, pro iustificatione, as o­thers. Improperly it is vsed many wayes, as either that in our Anniuersary Act and Commence­ment of the Vniuersities, the Creation of our Doctors: or as at this feast the word is vsed for the Royall inuestiture and Creation of the most noble Prince. But to returne to our purpose.

Regeneration may fitly bee called a Creation; In the one, the other is shadowed: In praedestination the huge and vast deepe, the darke forme whereof can hardly be discerned: In vocation, the sepera­ting of light from darknesse, of knowledge, from ignorance in the soule. In iustification the Sunne is created, the beames of grace begin to shine. In glorification, the new Adam is framed after the image of God, and placed in the Paradise of immortality: Dauid had tasted of these riuers [Page]of Paradise, he had beene praedestinated, called, iustified, but now these streames and currents were dryed vp, his forme was in a chaos, his sunne in a cloud, folly had polluted his eyes, filth had posses­sed his thoughts, bloud had defiled his hands, shame had couered his head, sinne had prophaned his heart, not onely, no whole part in his body, but no whole part in his soule, no meanes to cure him, to create him a new. There was a time when he cryed out Concaluit cor, et exardescit ignis, my heart is hotte,Psal. 39.3. Aust. in Psal. and the fire is kindled within mee. But now his heart is cold, the fire is quenched, the spirit is departed, his soule is expired, and he is euen as a dead man, Corpus in­ane animae.

Of Hermotinus it is recounted that hee some­times lost his soule, that it would depart from him at times, and come home againe: such was Dauids state, he was in a trance, not a slumber alone, but a strange Lethargie: Ionas that slept so fast, when the waues, windes, stormes, out-cryes of the Saylers, stretchings of the tacklings, the Sea, the ship, the Heauēs could not awake him: Dauid slept as soūdly as he did, dayes, weekes, moneths, a whole yeare, he had in the course of his life many enemies; Saul warring, Shemei rayling, Doeg intrapping, Philistins betraying, Absolon rebelling, Adoniah vsurping, but all these not so great, as the two enemies that had set now vpon him, besieged him, boorded him, possessed him, adultery and murther: adultery had [Page]adulterated his soule, and murther had almost murthered his heart: hee was almost in that sor­rowfull state that Saint Bernard describeth a hardned hart,Bernard ad Eugenium. which be it extimulated and exulce­rated neuer so much, yet will not be cut with com­punction, nor softened with loue, nor moued with mercy, nor allured with intreaty, yeeldeth not to threatnings, vnthankfull for benefits, vnfaithfull in Counsels, vnmercifull in iudgments, shamelesse in dishonesty, wretchlesse in danger, in things aper­taining to men voide of humanity, in matters con­cerning God full of temerity, vnmindfull of what is past, negligent of what is present, improuident of what is to come. Such almost was this heart of Dauid, as secureles, and carelesse as any hart could be: Idlenesse had vshered Concupiscence, Adulte­rie and blood reuel'd in his Court, nay in his heart, in thē the vilenesse of his thoughts, hatefull to God, nor the filthinesse of his mind, hurtfull to himselfe, nor the sight of his subiects, nor the ob­seruation of his seruants, nor the blood of Vriah, nor the great belly of Bethsheba, nor the crying of those two cursed twins, Adulterie, and Murther, could cause him to feare, till that Nathan had rai­sed him, and the new spirit had created him.

No maruaile, though Pharoah adde sinne vnto sinne,Exod. 10.20. Mat. 2.16. or Herod ioyne massacre to ambition, or Ne­buchadnezzar ioyne pride vnto bloud,Dan 5.27. or Nero ioyne villanie to mischiefe, or Catiline serue to ioyne ruine to ryot, or the wicked ioyne the cart­ropes [Page]of iniquity to the cords of vanitie, when the bowels of Gods elect, shall be so filled & possessed with carelesnesse. What shall refraine the wicked from sinning desperately as Cain, rebelliously as Saul, presumptuously as Pharoah, aspiringly as Lu­cifer, trecherously as Iudas: when Dauid, a man af­ter Gods owne heart, his Psalmodist, his Organist, his Prophet, his sweetest singer of Israel, should so offend the God of Israel, and need such a transfor­mation?

But the doctrine herein for vs all, is this,Doctrine. that though the godly may be in a traunce for a time, and the fit of that sinfull feauer so strongly handle them, yet the Lord hath a mind to releeue them, and a power to reuiue them. Dauid had the Prac­tique of this Theorique, in all his soundings he sen­deth to the well of Bethel, flieth to the cittie of re­fuge, the Wel of Gods fauour, the cittie of Gods power, he remembred euen now, when his soule is brought to the vttermost pit, nethermost hell, yet by his respiration, by Gods inspiration there is life in him, he sigheth out, and groneth out, Create in me a new heart. That, as in the Acts when Eutiches, ouercome with sleepe, fell downe from the third loft, Paul spake, Trouble not your selues, Act. 20.10. for his life is in him: so may I speak vnto you all, Right Reuerend, Right Honorable, and Welbeloued, that he are me this day, though ye haue seene Dauid in his folly, in his fall, & that Scripture hath vncouered his nakednes so far, that he seemeth to be dead and buried, and to [Page]smell in the graue, as the Fathers expound that of Lazarus 4. daies;Austin Ambros. the 1. day by conceiuing finne, the 2. by consenting, the 3. day by comitting, the 4. day, by continuing in sin, yet there is life in him, and as Dauid was a type of Christ, so the words spoken of Christ may be true of Dauid, He was dead, but is a­liue, and he shall liue for euermore: for whom God loueth, he loueth vnto the end: all the deuils in hel, all infernall complices cannot raze one of Gods seruants out of the booke of life. Reu. 1.18. None of them shal be lost,Ioh. 17.12. though the sownings of their faith cause them sometimes to draw their breath so inwardly to it self, that no man can perceiue it, yet the good nes of God shall embrace thē, as Paul did Eutiches, their life in them,1. Ioh. 3.9. their seed is in them. Salomon in the trance of Idolatrie, Ionas in the trance of recu­sancie, Ieremy in the trance of impatiency, Peter in the trance of apostacie, Thomas in the trance of in­fidelitie, God shall in these haue a blessed purpose, both to such as are in these spirituall Apoplexies, and to others.

Ireneus giueth 3.Ireneus. reasons in respect of vs, why the infirmity of the Saints are Chronicled in the book of God: 1. to giue vs warning, that both they and we haue but one God, who was euer offended with sinne, how great soeuer the persons were that wrought it. 2. to teach vs to abstaine from sin: for if the ancient Patriarcks who went before vs, both in time promise, couenant, loue, & grace of God, and for whom (sins being yet not so many) the Son [Page]of God had not suffred, if they bare such reproches among their posterity, that their corruptions are registred, what shall we sustain, that liue in a brigh­ter and later age of the world, and haue continued beyond the comming of the Lord Iesus. 3. to giue vs warning and instruction, that there was a cure behind, the sacrifice of the Lambe which was not then slaine but for such as sin now, Christ dieth no more, no more sufferings, no more satisfactions. And as another well noteth, If that an apple, a wedge, a bribe, the turning back of the eye in Lots wife, smile of the countenance in Abrahams wife, discontent once in Miriam, false fire once in Co­rah, and the like, if these deserued such punishment, what shall our customary sins, open and secret, of the eye and hand, in word, in works priuate within our owne tent, publike to the great Eye of heauen.

S. Austen handling the point vpon this Psalme,Austin. in Psa 51. maketh this enarration, Commissum atque conscrip­tum est, it is done and written, not for thy imitati­on, but for thy instruction, to informe thee thus much, that if thou takest the wings of the morning, & fly from one end of the earth to the other, thou canst not find a soule so pure that hath not sind, the chiefest, greatest, strongest, wisest, goodliest, godli­est, haue fallen; Patriarckes, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, stars, Angels, al haue sinned, yea and some so fallen, that they neuer rose again: sinne thou not, that thou maist rise; but so rise from sin, that thou maist neuer fal againe. Feare, O feare [Page]the fall, swallow not the hooke of delight, Consci­entia, contrist ans scientia, Bernard in Cant. as Saint Bernard doth etymologize the word, Conscience will follow, if sin be the Prologue, shame wil be the Epilogue, the woorme, the whip, the scourge of conscience will feare thee, she is marked and obserued by her owne eye, though no other eye perceiue her, fol­lowed and chased by her owne foote, though no­thing in heauen or earth pursue her, shee fleeth, feareth, and yet stingeth and fretteth, and hath a thousand witnesses within her owne breast when she is free from all the world: Happy then if the conscience finding her misery, seeke the promise, the promise take hold on faith, faith aske prai­er, praier aske God, that God heare, and mercy an­swer, that againe, we may be created in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of our liues.

Triplex Creatio spiritualis.This Creation is spiritually wrought, first by Baptisme, the character of Christians, marke of the Church, signe of the Chosen, oth of the Saints, liuery of the Seruants, assurance of the Sons of God, A peccato mundans, Poenam relaxans, rationalem illuminens, Albertus in Comp. Theol. Eusebius. Concupiscibilem ad bonum inflammans, Characterem inueniens, as Ratisbonen­sis collecteth the power and vertue hereof. Con­stantine neuer Baptised before hee was dying, and Dauid neuer so baptised as heere, when he was al­most dead and then in his last gaspe, wash me, clense me, purge me. Neuer any a more true knight of the Bath then he, hee had the waters of Iordan, [Page]pooles of Shiloan, fountaines of Lebanon, springs for the Spring, and fall of the leafe: But our Baptisme doth create vs anew, no sacrifice or sacrament of the old law so powerfull, they were but remembrances gratulatory, no oblation pro­priatory, but this so energeticall as that the forme and frame, soule and body bee changed: It is the great seale of the Charter of heauen which is pro­claimed Omnibus Christi fide libus. Gratia gratis data. Gratia gratum faciens. Gratia prae­uaen. Gratia subse­quens. To all the Chri­stian people of the world.

Secondly wee are Created by Grace, Grace is shed into our hearts. The distinctions of Grace a­mong the Schoolemen will be harsh to many in this assembly, but all must know that in this wee must acknowledge with the Prophet, Grace, Grace, Zechariah. 13.1 all is Grace, euen that fountaine opened to the house of Dauid. For our righteousnesse cannot Create vs, no more then we can Create it, for had we Iustitiam Gentilium, it were but vaine and Philosophicall, had we Iustitiam Pharisaeorum, it were but shadowy and legall, had wee onely Iustitiam Viatoris, it were but imperfect, and casuall, no sparke of our owne can enflame vs, onely Grace can Create vs: A sweeter word then Grace was neuer vttered, Mi­riams Tabrel, Asaphs Trumpet, Ieduthun his Negi­noth, Dauid his Cimballs, Salomons Songs, the Spouses sonnets, neuer made sweeter melody, then this beloued voice of the beloued GRACE. It is the Balme that runneth from the head to the beard, and from the beard vnto the skirts [Page]of the garment, it is Iordan that maketh glad the City of God, it is the roabe of righteousnesse that couereth the whole man, & God giueth liberally thereof to euery one, Gratiam dat, datam conser­uat, conseuatam multiplicat, multiplicatam remu [...] e­rat, giueth Grace, freely, conserueth Grace giuen, multiplieth Grace conserued, and rewardeth Grace multiplied. Creati sumus per gratiam, we are Crea­ted by grace.

Thirdly, Creati sumus per poenitentiam, wee are Created againe by Repentance, it is the spring of the life of man, the budding of the figge tree, the reuiuing of the withered lilly,Plyn. Nat. Histor. that as the Swal­low reneweth sight, the Eagle reneweth youth, the Hart reneweth strength,Psal. 103,5 so Man by repentance casteth of the sinne that presseth downe, and is a­gaine Created and restored, purged, washed, san­ctified.

This Creation requireth many conditions as the Fathers obserue:Aust. in Psal. Alber. de sacr. for Repentance must bee tota, wholy, with all the heart. Secondly, Amara, bit­ter, make lamentation,Ioel 2, 12 Ier 6, 26 Wisdom 6.18 and bitter mourning. Thirdly, Voluntaria, voluntary, come freely, and willingly vnto the Lord. Fourthly it must be Ac­celerata, speedy,Eccles. 5, 3 Cant. 5, 3 deferre not to pay that which thou hast paied vnto God. And fiftly it must be Conti­nua, continuall and perseuerant, if thou hast put put off thy coate how shalt thou put it on? If thou haue washed thy feet how shalt thou defile them? Thus obseruing the conditions & binding [Page]thy selfe by this obligation thou shalt be Created as Dauid was.

If wee should looke vpon him, when he was ta­ken from the sheepfolds, from following the Ewes great with young, from being so meane in his brothers eyes, nay in his owne eyes, euen then when his fathers house was of the poorest in the Tribe, him-selfe the least of his family, lowest of brethren, and if after wee shall behold him aduan­ced from being a Shepheard to follow sheepe, to bee [...],Homer. a shepheard to gouerne and lead people, from being the meanest of his bretheren, to bee Lord, and then to change his coate for a Court, his sheep-hooke for a Scepter, to become wiser then his teachers, greater then his enemies, more puisant then Saul, more victorious then Am­mon, more honoured then the Aged; this in the eye of man was a new Creation, but yet not to bee compared with this: Then his state was changed from poore to riche, now his soule is changed from sinfull to a sanctified state. And being so Created againe, the words of the Psalme may fitte him, O well is thee, and happy shalt thou bee, thou art fairer then the children of men, full of grace are thy lips, because God hath blessed thee for euer.

The vse of this is to direct vs to a due regarde of our corruption,Vse. who haue neede so to bee refor­med in our liues: and yet in this consideration euen to behold the mercy seate, the throane of grace, from whence by the powerfull operation [Page]of Gods spirit we may be created. Vides miseriam agnosce misericordiam: August. doost thou behold thy mi­sery, acknowledge Gods mercy euer able to change thee, and to purge thee from actuall de­prauations, and natural corruptions, from thy ma­ny, mighty, heauy, filthy, bloudy, crying sinnes: and therefore to call frequently to God, to pray hear­tily for this reformation, to pray that wee may powre in our prayers:Solinus. for as the stone Diacletes is said to loose all her excellent power and operation if put into the mouth of a dead man, so Prayer if put into a mans mouth whose heart is dead, or whose hand is vncleane, it looseth all the soueraine properties. Some of the Fathers haue deciphered the three Theologicall vertues of faith, hope, and charity, by the three that attended Christ at the transfiguration on the Mount, and at his ago­ny in the garden, Peter, Iames, and Iohn; Peter by faith, Iames by hope, Iohn by loue: If thou didst imagine thy selfe to haue all these three, and hadst not the power of Prayer, it were nothing: Not to speake of the efficacie of hope or loue, the won­ders of faith be many, to remoue mountaines, to quench the fire, to stay the windes, to resist ene­mies: Prayer hath all these, it remooueth moun­taines, thy sinnes bee as Mountaines before the Throne of GOD, it remooueth them fur­ther from thee, then the East is from the West, it quencheth fire, if the fire of lust kindle with­in thee, by Prayer thou mayest quench thee, if [Page]the windy storme of any deiected desperat thought do blow within thee, pray vp, Lord let thy enemies bee scattered: if the Diuell, world, and flesh, set vp­on thee, yet by this thou shalt put to flight all in­fernall complices. It opened and shut heauen, it brought plenty and dearth, drought and raine, and will if thou bee acquainted with her, be the swee­test companion that euer accompanied any on the face of the earth, to say no more, it will preferre thee, and create thee heire apparant of the king­dome of Heauen.

The festiuity of the Creation now celebrated, should infuse greater spirits into vs then hereto­fore, such occasions of ioy to vs, of happinesse for vs, such triumphes, applauses, Iubilees as these, do draw from vs gratulation and acclamation, in that God hath not onely giuen his iudgements vnto the King, but his righteousnesse to the Kings sonne, 72.1. lea­uing such a hope for the young, such a comfort for the old, such happinesse for all; such a young Ptolomey for studies and Libraries; such a young Alexander for affecting martialisme and chiualrie, such a yong Iosiah for religion & piety. This should stirre vs vp to acknowledgement of Gods mercies by his Highnesse, and mooue vs to a spirituall ambition, for our owne happinesse: That as in such honorable state he is to be created PRINCE of so great place here on earth, by his Purple robes, Sword, Signet, Golden Staffe, (the earnests of his glorious and triumphant royalty in Heauen) [Page]so seeing God hath Created vs Kings and Priests, as Saint Iohn speaketh,Reu. 1. we should desire the bene­fit of this spirituall Creation to put on the roabes of righteousnesse, the sword of the spirit, to receiue the staffe of protection, to be placed as signets on Gods hand.

There was as Creation of a Prince in Scripture, but it was the poorest and meanest that euer was. The Prince his name is found in Esay: Esay. 9.6. The PRINCE of Peace, and of his creation mention is made in Ieremie: The Lord hath CREATED a new Thing on the earth, Ier. 31.22. it was new indeed as Augustine con­fessed, a saeculo non est auditum, Aug. de Temp. neuer since the be­ginning of the world was the like newes heard, and Bernard stood at an amazement at this Crea­tion, Bernard. de Jncarnat. there was Lux non lucem, verbum infans, aqua sitiens, panis esuriens: At that creation there was a light not shining, the word an infant not speaking, the water of life thirsting, the bread of life hung­ring, God himselfe descending, and the Creator Created, if I may so speake. A body hast thou Created saith the Psalmist, a body without sinne, to endure the suffrings for sinne, and to vndergoe all the torments that the vnbounded inuention of hell could deuise: This was a new thing, Nouum et omnium nouitatum nouitas supereminens, Jerome. saith Ierome, such and so merueilous, miraculous & ex­traordinary a nouelty as the world of worlds can­not yeeld the like president. Let the Sibills speak of their new Rutilans Sydus, Aug. de Ciuit. Dei. the Astronomers of their [Page]new starres in Cygno & Serpentario, let the Imagi­naries find out a new Vtopia, the Cosmographers their new-found America: let Pancirolla write whole volumes De nouis Repertis, and Mercurius Gallobelgicus (the worlds Post-master for newes) supply newes euery yere, yet no like newes to this, no Creation since the first Creation of the world like to this, the Court then to like in a poore Inne, the stable to be the bed-chamber, the cratch the Royall pallat; VVinter and Hunger to attend, and yet the VVisemen to offer, Angels to honour, Shepheards to sing of him, Oracles then to cease, Deuils then to tremble: this was a New, a strange Creation.

To Zebedees children Christ answered, Ye cannot be baptized with the Baptisme wherewith I must bee baptized: so I may say, wee would be loath to bee CREATED in that order, that he was CREATED. But let it be our morning and euening prayer, that we may be created according to his likenesse, that as he of God became man, so we of men may become the sonnes of God. Delay not, it is daungerous; presume not, it is perillous: Dauid sought it and found it; vnlesse thou seeke it with heartie prayer, thou maist seeke it and not find it:Austin. Huic fit miseri­cordia, tibi non fit iniuria, though he shewed great mercie to Dauid, and will not to thee, he doth thee no iniurie. Take heed least impenitencie cause him to prooue a wrath-reuenging God, and let no man continue in sinne, that grace may abound: Repro­bates, Deuils can do no more, if any do so, he may [Page]sleepe his euerlasting sleepe of sinne, neuer be war­ned, neuer be wakened more: God may say to thee as he said to the Disciples, and pronounce that sen­tence against thee for thy sleepe of the soule, as he did to them for the sleepe of the bodie: For hence­forth sleepe and take thy rest, till thy eyes sinke into the holes of thy head, I will neuer come, nor send, nor call, nor waken thee, the night shall compasse thee, and the pit shall shut her mouth vpon thee. In our Church Lyturgie, which is in these daies like to Christ crucified between two, there is a most com­fortable promise drawne from Scripture, At what time soeuer a sinner doth repent of his sinnes from the bottome of his heart, God will put away all his wic­kednesse out of his remembrance: thereupon many take their pleasure, and glut themselues with sinne, referre all good thoughts till the last houre, neuer put their hands into their bosome, to see how lea­prous they be, their mouthes continue to bee the vents to breath forth the putrified sauour of their soule, their eyes the windowes, their eares the doores of destruction, their vnderstandings flaues to their willes, their wils common curtizans of pollution, their memories the table-booke of their corruptions. O miserable and fearefull state of such! If any at any time, in any case had reason to crie with Dauid, these haue [Create in me a new heart.] And so much of the first part, Create in mee.

The part to be created, Secunda pars. is the heart, [Create in [Page]me a new heart] As is gold among the mettalls, the sight among the senses, the Nerue Opticke a­mong the sinewes, so is the heart among the members, and yet of the heart Ieremy complai­neth, The heart of man is deceitfull and wicked aboue all things, who can know it, Ier. 17.9. And al­though the heart be so little, as that it will scarce serue a Kite for a baite, yet the windings and tur­nings in the heart containe many Maeanders. The Heathens accounted it the Sunne of the bodie: for as in the middest of Heauen the Sunne is situated, which enlighteneth all things with his rayes, and cherisheth the world, and the things therein contained with his life-keeping heate, so the heart of man, the fountaine of life and heate, hath assigned to it by nature, the midle part of the bodie for his habitation, from whence proceedeth life and heate vnto all the parts of the bodie, as it were into riuers, whereby they bee preserued and enabled to performe their naturall function. In Diuinitie wee shall finde it to bee Sacram Palladis arcem, the seate of reason, the Metropolis of the soule,Andr. Laur. the Sanctuarie of the mind, the Arke of the vnderstanding, the Tem­ple of faith, the holy Place of the holy Ghost, so that with a good heart there is euer a wise tongue, a diligent hand, a warie foote, a watchfull eye, an attentiue eare, and a humble minde, this beeing like the great wheele in a watch, all the lesser depend vpon it, the tongue wil not praise, vn­lesse [Page]the heart do loue the eare will not heare, vn­lesse the heart do mind: the hand will not giue, vn­lesse the heart do pittie: the foote will not go, vn­lesse the heart do striue: the heart like the Iudge giueth the charge; like the Captaine giueth the onset: it is the warning peece of the castell: when the heart is prepared, the senses ate readie to per­ceiue, the imagination to represent, the knowledge to forme, the wit to find out, the reason to iudge, the memorie to conserue, the vnderstanding to apprehend, and so of all the other faculties.

Saint Austin defineth the heart to be the seate of the soule, and the soule to be the whole inward man, wherewith the masse of clay is quickened and gouerned, and held together, changing her names according to her sundrie offices which she beareth in the bodie: when she quickeneth the bodie, shee is called the soule: when she desireth any thing, the will: for knowledge, the mind: for recordation, the memorie: for giuing life, the spirit: for apprehen­ding outwardly the sense. All starres receiue light from the Sunne, so that if the light be darke, how great is this darknesse. In the Temple there was the Altar and the Censor; a Christian must haue both; the Censor is the tongue, it polisheth the best operations of the senses, and is the Embassa­dor, Speaker, Interpreter, between God and man: but the heart, the Altar, is of more honour: for howsoeuer the Romaines so much honoured the hand, and Esop preferred the tongue, and the Op­tickes [Page]the eye, and the Anatomists the head, yet God of all other parts desireth the heart: and there­fore Dauid so much prayeth for the Creating of a heart.

The languishments of the bodie be nothing to the soule: as the soule is in comparison of the bodie full of glorie, so is the griefe of the soule more full of inward miserie, and therefore the hazard of the soule more to be feared, and the safetie of the heart more to be tendred. In the greatest distemperature of Dauid, when his bo­die was so ill affected,Psal. 38.2. no health in his flesh, no rest in his bones, his loynes filled with a sore disease, his wounds putrified and stunke, the mar­row and moisture quite dryed vp, when he was almost dissolued into the dust of death, yet his soule might haue beene safe and sound: but if the soule be sicke, can the bodie haue any comfort? it was ill with those that cryed out in Scripture, My head, my head: and another, My belly, my belly, but when they cry out of the heart, of the soule, all will be out of tune.

The Italian obserueth by a Prouerbe, that the Germans wittes dwell in their fingers end; and so must all true goodnesse, it must haue a des­cent from the heart to the hand: for when the heart doth indite a good matter, the hand will easily bee the penne of a readie writer.

The Anatomists obserue, that there bee strings that passe from the heart to the tongue, [Page]and so what the heart thinketh the tongue vtte­reth, then the eare heareth, the eye obserueth, the tongue prayeth, singeth, praiseth, recordeth: and howsoeuer the tongue be in the highest part of the bodie, and yet is the speaker of the lower house, it deliuereth onely that which the nobler parts haue agreed to, nothing but that which the hart and the faculties of the soule haue determined. And as all good commeth from the heart, so all good that commeth to vs, commeth into the heart: it is the Schoole Maxime, Virtutes Theologicae non sunt in nob is per acquisitionem, sed per infusionem, the ac­quisition of the head cannot obtaine faith, hope, charitie, it must be the infusion into the heart: for as Biel teacheth of faith, Fides est non suasa sed in­spirata, not perswaded, but inspired: so of the o­ther Theologicall vertues, and of euery good and perfect gift it is infused by the Father of light into the heart. So that God dwelleth in the soule, and the soule dwelleth as in his Metropolis, in the hart. And this caused Dauid to require the new heart, the good heart.

The doctrine hence proceeding is, that a good Christian must euer pray, and study, to keepe his heart vndefiled; and if it chaunce to bee neuer so little polluted, presently to wash it, to cleanse it: for the heart is the inner side that is to be purged, it is the Parlour where the Sauiour will eate the Passeouer, it is the Gedeons fleece, the Goshen, the Chanaan, the Temple, the Sanctum [Page]Sanctorum of the Temple. It is the inner roome, the Treasurie, the Tower, the Arke; here dwelleth zeale, of Elias, for zeale in Christianitie is ignis sanctus: next zeale dwelleth knowledge, of S. Paul; for zeale without knowledge is ignis fatuus: here dwelleth faithfulnesse, as in the Pastor of Smyrna, for faithfulnesse to the truth is suffimentum redo­lens: and next faithfulnesse dwelleth charitie, as in Saint Iohn; for faithfulnesse without charitie, is suffitus non redolens, sed olens: here dwelleth pra­ctise, as in the Niniuites; for practise is stella lu­cens: next practise dwelleth perseuerance as the Co­rinthians; for practise without perseuerance, is but Stella cadens: here dwelleth beleefe in God as in the Disciples; for beleefe in Christianitie, is lucerna ardens: next beleefe dwels loue in God, as in the Psalmist; for beleefe without loue, is Cymbalū tinni­ens: here dwelleth obedience as in Abraham; for o­bedience is virga consolans: next obedience dwel­leth patience, as in Iob; for obedience without pa­tience, is baculus non dirigens. In a word, in this Pa­radise is the tree which Hugo describeth, Arbor bo­nitatis quae per timorem seminatur, Hugo de San­cto victore. the tree of goodnesse which is set by feare, strengthened by faith, watered by grace, germinated by godlines, will waxe greene by hope, will fructifie by loue, will build by learning, will blossom by long-continuing, will grow ripe by patience, and the fruite of life will be gathered at death, the fruite of grace now, and of glorie hereafter; for these differ, but, Tempore [Page]& loco, but in time and place, as the Schoolemen speake: then euery honest vnmasked Christian may say as Dauid did, Cor meum dilatasti, thou hast expatiated my heart, a great doore is open, and here dwell mercie, and truth, and righteousnesse, and peace, and ioy in the holy Ghost. In such a sancti­fied heart, there dwels not the affectation of the titles of the world, which bee but follia terrae, the liuelesse leaues of the earth; or the desire of the fortunes of the world, which bee Lollia terrae, Bernard. the emptie windie chaffe of the earth; or the earnest seeking for the wealth of the world, which be but Illia terrae, the exenterated guttes, and garbage of the earth; or the prosecution of the pleasures of the earth, which be but Lillia terrae, the fading, falling, failing, strawing-flowers of the earth. All these haue not habitation or commoration here; the good HEART (with Saint Bernard) counteth them shadowes, and in accounting them so, it thinkes too well of them: for there is much excellent Arte in delineating a sha­dowe: or it thinketh them dreames,A Elian. histor. and sleeps,Chrysost. as Chrysostome; and this thought is also too good; for in sleepes there bee much ease and sweete comfort: or holdeth them with Si­rach to bee smoakes, and that censure also is too good for them, for in incense there is sweete sauour in smoakes: or further with Nazianzene, calleth them follies, and this, as the rest, is too good a name for them: for Erasmus [Page]wrote much in the praise of Folly. And therefore vpon little aduise, concludeth with Saint Paul, that they bee [...], Stercora, dung, and filth, and stench, Adams Apple, Esaus broth,Philip. 3. Babilons Cuppe, Iudas soppe, the Sorcerers Serpents, the Spiders webbe, the Cocatrices Egges, the waters of Tema, which in a moisture swell, & in a drought faile: All these cannot fill the heart; Orontius describeth the world in the forme of a Hart, and leaueth many spaces voide in the figure of the Hart, that cannot be filled vp with the world, for a Circle cannot fill vp a Triangle, so that the heart is more then all the world; nothing can fill the heart but God; the parts of the heart be a Trinary, and nothing can fill vp this Trinary, but the three per­sons of the Trinity.

Ecclesiast. mencioneth a vaine heart, Esay a bar­ren heart, Ieremy a deceitfull heart, the Psalmist a sinfull heart, Paul a double heart, Moses a hard heart: But Dauid desireth the new, the cleane heart, When the Sunne riseth, then the beasts arise from their dens, the Fowles from their nests, and men from their beds. So when the Heart setteth for­ward, all the members will follow, nothing will stay after the Heart, but as the eyes of seruants looke to the hands of their Maisters, and the eyes of hand-maides to their mistresse, so the members of the body waite vpon the heart, vntill the Lord haue mercy vpon vs, and therefore Christ spake, Make cleane within in the heart, and all will bee [Page]cleane;Math. 13.26. Luke. and therefore the Publicane beate vpon his heart as if hee were angry that it waked not all the rest: therefore Saint Paul speaketh, Make melody to the Lord in your hearts, Ephe. 5.19. shewing that the mem­bers make a sweete harmony, when the heart is in tune; and therefore Salomon, Gods Purueyor, cryeth for the heart. Pro. 23 26.

If Pilate had washed his heart when hee wa­shed his hands,Math. 27.42. hee had beene as cleane as Na­aman comming out of Iordan: 1. Kings 5. If the Siche­mites had circumcised their hearts, Gen. 34.22. when they cir­cumcised their flesh, they had saued their soules when they lost their liues.Gen. 4.2. If Caine had offered his heart, Math. 5.20. when hee offered his fruites, his offring had beene as acceptable as Abels: If the Pharisey had lookt into the in-side, as well as to the out-side, his heart had beene as cleane as his hands. It is not enough to say my foote standeth vpright,Psal 26.12. Psal. 88.9. Psal. 25.15. Psal. 108.1. Psal. 42.1. or my hands I stretch foorth towards thy holy Temple, or mine eyes are euer toward the Lord: or mine eares O Lord hast thou opened: or O God my Tongue is prepared. But as the HEART desireth the water-brooke, so longeth my HART after thee O GOD, so beeing renued in heart, the heart shall bee capable of a new Soule: the Soule of a new body; that body of a new garment, that garment of a new girdle: And the Christian be­ing so altered, and changed, and reformed, and CREATED a new, GOD will manifest to him those new things in Esay; Esay 42.9. Ier. 31.31. those new Couenants [Page]in Ieremy, those new Commandements in Iohn, Iohn. 13.14. Math. 26.28. Heb. 10.20. Ezech. 18.31. those new Testaments in Matthew; those new liuing wayes in Paule; those new beleeuing hearts in Ezechiell, to make them new Creatures, yea new men, to giue them new names, and to make them capable of a new Heauen, and new Earth.

The vse of this is, to exhort euery one in this great and Honourable assembly, to leaue off the iniquitie of his heart, and to bee changed by the renuing of his minde, that hee may prooue the good will of GOD, acceptable and perfect; Cast of the Morian skinne, expunge the Leo­pards spottes, flye out of Babell, haste out of Zo­dome, Goe not back, looke not back, but for euer Consecrate thy selfe, thy soule, thy body, to thy GOD, and let his word dwell plenteously in thee in all wisdome. Col. 3.16.

You my Brethren, now admitted into the sa­cred function of the Cleargie, remember this, Preach this, practise this, Let not a white hayre of lightnesse bee found vppon your blacke garments, nor a blacke spotte of filthinesse polute your white surplisses, take heed of the moate of Schisme, and beame of superstition; let your Garments haue the high Priests Pomegranates, as well as Bells, your Lampes be as well inwardly burning, as outwardly lighting, and neuer be weary of the worke of the Lord,1. Cor. 15. in as much as your labor is not in vain in the [Page]Lord, and he that promiseth wil performe, though in this last and worst age, he that hath stepped but two steppes from the dunghill, such whose fathers Iob would not haue placed with the Dogges of his sheepfold, though these crauen gallants bee ready to abase and abuse this sacted Calling, yet remember yee that Christ Iesus in his owne per­son, hath dignified this profession, and at this day there is no Prince in the Christian world, but hath in him some part of a Priest, besides that Christ Iesus hath, in washing vs all from our sinnes, made vs Kings and Priests to God his Father. Reuel. 1.5. Thinke vp­on this dignity, practise that duty, and so the Lord be with you, and with your spirits.

All of you my beloued heare the summe of all: you that come to be either spectators, or neces­sary attendants at this great solemnity of the CREATION, powre forth your praiers; First for the most gratious PRINCE, who is to bee Created, that hee may answer all those worthy expectati­ons of him, and bee as renowned as Solomon, that preaching Prince, or Constantine that praying Prince, or Theodosius that religious Prince, or our most Religious, Gratious, Zealous, and miracu­lously-preserued Soueraigne, who hath so happi­ly by Peace blessed vs, and so worthily by his Pen conquered his enemies: And if for Nebuchadnet­sar and Balshassar his sonne, prayers were appoin­ted to bee made when they were Heathens and [Page]oppressors, much more now are prayers to be powred forth plentifully, for our most sacred Soue­raigne, and his Princely Sonne, that their daies may be as the daies of heauen, that in their time the righteous may flourish, and there may be aboun­dance of peace so long as the Sunne and Moone endureth, that they may deliuer the poore when he cryeth, the wearie also, and him that hath no hel­per, they may liue, and vnto them may be giuen of the gold of Arabia, their names may endure for euer among the posterities, which shall be blessed by them, and all the people shall praise them.

And for our selues let vs celebrate this happie Creation with a new Creation; the Sunne renueth, the Moone renueth, the yeare renueth, the spring renueth, the morning renueth, this very houre re­nueth. Shall we continue old, dull, dead? The Hart renueth strength, the Swallow sight, the Eagle youth, yea the very Viper renueth and casteth his slough, shall we be worse then the Viper? Doe wee looke for new wonders, and make our selues new prodigies? Is the misery of the world such, that men will not be renued or anew created? vnlesse the course of the world be altered, or the pillars of the earth mooued, or the chambers of the deepe dis­couered? must the Sea diuide as to Moses? or Ior­dan flie backe as to Israel? or the Sunne stand still as to Iosuah? or goe backe as to Hezechiah? or a voice be heard from heauen as to Paule? The Lord doth vse ordinarie meanes, the preaching of the [Page]Gospell, but extraordinarily: if it pierce thy soule, thou art new Created, God rather desireth bleeding hearts, then itching eares. If thou finde this word to be powerfull in thee, and to moue in thy soule as Iohn Baptist leaped in his mothers wombe, Take vp thy bed, and rise, and walke, thou art healed, thou art this day Created, make much of that sweet Nightingale in the cage.

Christ goeth home with thee, and will enter, dwell with thee, and thou shalt serue the Lord in righteousnesse and holinesse all the dayes of thy life: practise this, and pray for this, and cry euery man vnto God, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who onely doth marueilous things, and blessed be the name of his Maiestie for euer and euer: And let all the people say, AMEN.