The Christians sacrifice Seene, and allowed.

The Christians sacrifice Seene, and allowed.

Table of contents

Title page

TO MY LATE AVDItors, the congregatiō of Clement Danes, al the good wil which I can shevve.

THE CHRISTIANS SACRIFICE.

[Page]

THE CHRISTIANS SACRIFICE.

‘My sonne, geue me thy heart.Pro 23.2 [...]’

TO binde all the Lessons togeather, vvhich yee haue learned since I came, this Setence did come to my mind, My sonne, geue me thy heart, vvhich is the summe of all that ye haue heard,Iob, 22, 22. Luk. 2, 19 Psal. 17.3 [...] Dan, 7, 28 and shews in vvhat chest you shoulde lay vp these treasures in your heart, & then geue that heart vnto God, and hee vvil keep all safe.

A supplication is come as it were from God to man, that man woulde sende God his hearte,Pro. 9, 1. penned by Salomon, vnder the name of Wisedome, [Page] & directed to her sons, vvisdome entreateth her sons that they would giue her their harts, this wisdome is god,Rom, 8.15 Gal, 4, 24. Iohn 4.14. vve by adoptiō are his sons, & our hart is that which christ cals spirit & trueth, vvithout hypocrisie: Geue me that heart, saith God. Hee vvhich geues any thing to another, cōsiders before what he loues, & giues that which he thinks wil be accepted, that he may be loued for his gift: therfore Dauid, as though he vvere at a stād, & sorrowed that hee could not doe inough for God, break [...] forth to himself, What shall I giue vnto the Lord for al that he hath giuen me? The Lorde hearing as it vvere, these sighes of his seruaunts, which care & study what they may doe to please him, comes in their suspence, & like a friend vvhich desires nothing but good wil answers frō heauen, My son, giue me thy hart. Vnder vvhich suite he taxeth them beside vvhich are suiters alvvaies to [Page] him, and looke still to receiue like the Publicanes, but neuer caste in their minds what they should giue, threfore their tribute is set dovvne by equall measure vnder the kings seale, euery man must homage his hart. He vvhich alvvaies gaue, novv craues: and hee vvhich craued alvvaies, novv geues: Christ standes at the doore like a poore man, & asks not bread, nor clothes, nor lodging, vvhich vve should geue to his mē bers, but our heart: that is, euen the continent of all, and gouerner of mans house, vvhich sittes on the bench like the Iudge, to geue the charge, and teach the tongue to speake, the hande to vvorke, the foote to vvalke, the eare to attend, the eye to obserue, the minde to chuse, and the flesh to obey.Leu, 1, 9. & 13 That vvee must present to GOD like a burnt sacrifice, vvherein all is offered together, a vvise tongue, a diligente hande, a vvarie foote, a [Page] vvatchefull eye, an attentiue eare, an humble minde, an obediente fleshe, put all together, and it is but the heart. My sonne (saith God) geue me this heart. Here thou arte the geuer, God the petitioner, thy heart the gifte, vvhich he claymeth by the name of a sonne. Shoulde GOD bee a suppliaunt vnto thee and mee, but that our vnthankefulnesse condemnes vs, that for all the thinges vvhich hee hath geuen vs, we neuer considered as yet what wee should giue vnto him before hee asketh: hee is faine to put in his petition like a suter, and saie, giue me thy heart: Marke what God hath chosen for himselfe, not that vvhich any other shall loose by, like the demaundes of them vvhich care for none but themselues, but that, vvhich being geuen to God, mooues vs to geue vnto euery man his due,Luk. 19, 8. as Zacheus vvhen hee gaue his hearte [Page] to Christ, parted his goods to the poore, & restored to al, that which hee had got by vvrong. Once God required offeringes and sacrifices,Mal, 1.13, and, 3, 18. vvhich men vvere vnvvilling to geue, because it vvas a deer seruice of God, but novv he saith, that the hearte is more then all burnte offerings and sacrifices,Mar. 12,. Gen. 23. Iacob loued Ioseph more then al his bretheren, so God loueth the heart more then all her follovves, this myte God vvill haue for all his benefits vvhich vve may best affoorde him, thy almes to the poor, thy counsel to the simple, thine inheritāce to thy childrē; thy tribute to Caesar, Iohn, 4, 24. but thy hearte to God: hee vvhich is a spirite; requires the spirite, and delightes, to dvvel in the heartes of men. Here God plantes himselfe as in a castle, vvhich is alvvaies besieged vvith the vvorlde, the flesh, and the deuil If the enemie get a thought, or a vvord, or a vvorke, yet he hath but [Page] rased the vvalles, but if hee take the hart, then the fortresse is lost. From that time, al our thoghts, & vvords and vvorks, are captiue vnto him, he bids them goe, & they goe, doe, and they doe it. That man is like Esau, gen, 25, 33 vvhich had an inheritaunce, vvhich had a hart; but now he hath not possession of his ovvne, therefore geue God thy heart, that he may keep it, not a peece of thy heart, not a rovvme in thy heart, but thy heart. The heart deuided, dieth: God is not like the mother vvhich vvould haue the child deuided, but like the naturall Mother,1, Kings 3, 26 vvhich said rather then it should be deuided, Let her take all. Let the deuill haue all, if he vvhich gaue it, be not vvorthie of it, God hath no copesmate, therefore he vvil haue no parting offtakes, but all, or none: and therefore he vvhich askes here thy heart, in the 6. of Deut. & the 5. asks all thy hearte, all thy soule, all thy [Page]strength: thrice hee requireth all, least vvee shoulde keepe a thought behinde: yet it is thy heart, that is, a vaine heart, a barren heart,Esai 47, 1 [...] Eccle. [...], 9 a sinfull heart, vntill thou geue it vnto GOD, and then it is the spouse of Christ,1. Cor, [...], [...]6 11 Cor, 6, 19 the Temple of the Holie Ghost, and the image of God, so changed, and formed, and refined, that God cals it a newe heart, Ezek. 36.26. Some haue a double hearte,Eze, 36, 26 as it is in the 12. Psalme: but God acknovvledgeth but one heart, saying,Psal, 12, 2 geue me thy heart, not geue mee thy hearts: declaring that a single heart is pleasing vnto him, and that they vvhich haue a double hearte, a heart & a heart, haue neuer a good heart. God doeth not require the heart, as though hee required no more then the heart, like the Pope, vvhich saith, geue me thy hart, & it sufficeth. To maintaine his Papistes pendant and crouchant, vvhich liue amongst Christians, hee requireth [Page] nothing of such but their hearte, they may worship god vvith theire lippes, and dissemble their religion, and forsvveare their opinions, and come to sermons, and subscribe to other lavves, and seem protestants, as the deuill licenceth vvitches to seeme christians, so they geue him their heart, he dispenseth vvith thē to dissemble, & giue the rest as they list, but God requireth the heart because vve should not dissemble, for in the 12. to the Rom. hee commaunds the body too,Rom, 12, i, Offer vp your bodies a liuely sacrifice. Which vve cannot doe, vnles we giue heart, & hand, & tongue, & eies, & eares, and all, for the body is all: but the heart is chiefe in request, because if there be any goodnes, it lies in the hearte, & because he vvhich giues the hart geues al,Luc, 6.45, for out of the aboundance of the hart the mouth speaketh, the hand vvorketh, the eye looketh, the eare listneth, the foote vvalketh to [Page] good or euill: therefore, there is such strife for the hearte, as there vvas for M [...]ses bodie:Iud, 9, geue it me saith the Lord, geue it me saith the tempter, geue it me saith the Pope, geue it me saith riches, geue it mee saith pleasure, as though thou muste needes geue it: novve here is thy choice, vvhether thou vvilt geue it to God or the deuill, Gods hearte or the deuils heart whose vvilt thou be? Man hangs in a ballance like a young virgin vvhich hath many suters: some she fauoures for parentage, some for personage, some for friends, some for vvealth, some for vvit, some for vertue: and after all, chuseth the vvorst of all: so the heart hath so many suiters besides God, that sometime shee marrieth vvith one, sometimes vvith another, the vvorld keepes her, the flesh keepes her, the deuill keepes her,Mat, 14, [...] vvhich haue no more interest in her, thē Herod to his sister, but seeke [Page] her spoile, like them vvhich marry, for riches, are glad vvhen one dies, that another may come. These suters are like Absolom, [...], Sam, 5. vvhich did not seek the harts of the people like Dauid, but steale them vvith slatterie and lies, but god vvoulde haue thee giue thy heart. As a man considers what he doeth vvhen he geues, so god licenceth vs to consider of that vvhich vve doe for him, vvhether he deserueth it, vvhether vvee ovve it, vvhether he can require it, [...]st it shoulde come againste our vvil: therfore geue me saith God, as though he vvould not straine vpon vs, or take from vs, but if thou vvilt giue him thy heart, then he accepts it, it muste come freely like a gifte, as his blessings come to vs, & then his demaund [...]s graunted. Here is no respect of time, hovv long thou mayest st [...]y it, or hovv long he vvill keepe it, but geue it, is the present time, as though hee vvould haue it [Page] out of hand, while hee askes before ye goe out of the church: for vvhat can vve aske of him, vvhile vve denie him but one thinge vvhich hee askes of vs: therfore consider vvho is a suiter to you, Novv I am a collector for God, to gather hearts, either you must graunt him, or denie him, thinke vvho shall lose by it, if thou vvilt not pay thy landlord his rent. Hovv many subiectes vvould reioyce, if they had any thing to geue to the Prince, and pray her to accept it, that they might but say; I haue giuē a present to the Queene?Mar, 14, 3 So Mary reioiced that she had a litle oyle to sprinkle vppon Christe, that shee vvould take no mony for it:1, King, 17, 13 yea the vviddovv of Zarephath was so ioyfull that shee had a little foode for the Prophet, that shee spared it from her children, and her selfe, to serue him first, so they vvhich loue the Lord like his Disciples, [Page] vvhich left al to follow him, [...]uc, 5 11, had rather that he shuld haue their riches, their honours, their heartes, & their liues, then they themselues. Why is Dauid called a manne after gods own hart, Sam, 13, 14 but because whē god said, geue me thy hart, his spirite ansvvered like to an Eccho, I geue thee my heart? is God so desirous of my heart? vvhat good can my heart do to God? It is not vvorthy to come vnder his roofe: I would I had a better gift to send vnto my Lorde: goe my hearte to thy maker, the Bridegroome hath sent for thee, put on thy Wedding garment, for the Kinge him selfe vvill marrie thee. Who is not sorry novv, that he did not geue his heart before? Is hee not vvorthie to die, that vvill take his hearte from him that made it, from him vvhich redeemed it, from him which preserues it, from him vvhich vvil glorifie it: to geue it vnto him vvhich vvil infect it, torment it, cō demne [Page] it? Will a seruant reach the cup to a stranger, when his maister cals for it? Or vvill a man sell his coat if he haue no mo? What hast thou reserued for God vvhen thou hast giuen Sathan thy heart? Christ hath promised to come and dvvel vvith thee, vvhere shal hee stay,Reue, 3, 2 [...] vvhere shal hee dine, if the chamber bee taken vp, and thy heart let foorth to another? Thou art but a tenaunt, and yet thou takest his house ouer his head, and placest in it vvhom thou wilt, as if thou were Land-lord. Canst thou possesse another mans goodes, but hee wil molest thee, and trouble thee vntil hee haue his owne? And doost thou thinke to keepe that which is Gods, and hold it in peace? No, hee vvil neuer suffer thee to rest,1, Sam, 38 Exod. 8, 13 and 9:28 Actes 16, 14 Exo, 8 & 9 & [...] but crie vppon thee day and night as Moses vexed Pharaoh vntil hee let the people goe, so thou shalt be distracted vvith feares and thoughts, [Page] as one plague followed an other vntill thou let thy heart goe, that it may serue God, as if a man shoulde pull out thy heart, and take it from thee, so grieuous it is vnto God to keepe thy heart from him. Therefore, let all suiters haue their aunsvvere that thy heart is married alreadie, as Isaac answered Esau, Iacob haue I blessed, Gen, 27 and he shal be blessed: So thou mayst say, God hath my heart, and he shall haue it, and them that craue it hereafter, sende them to Christ for it, for it is not thine to geue, if thou haue geuen it to God alreadie. But take heede thy hearte doe not lie to thy selfe, and saie it is Gods, vvhen it is the vvorldes,1, King, 24, 6 like Ieroboams vvife, vvhich vvould not seeme Ieroboams vvife. By this thou shalt knovve vvhether thou haste geuen it to him or no, If thy hearte bee gone, all vvill follovve, as the Sunne riseth firste, and then the [Page] Beastes arise from their dennes, the Fovvles from their neastes, and men from their Beddes: so vvhen the heart settes forvvard to God, all the members vvill marche after it, the tongue vvil praise him, the foote vvil follovv him, the eare vvill attend him, the eye vvil watch him, the hande vvil serue him, nothing vvill stay after the heart,Psal, 123, 2 Mat, 23.26 but euerie one goes like handemaydes after their mistresse: this Christ verifieth, saying, Make cleane vvithin, and all wil be cleane: that is, the eye, and the eare, and the tongue, and the hande, and all: as the Father gaue vs all,Rom, 8, 32 vvhen hee gaue his Sonne, so vvee geue him all, vvhen vve geue our hearts. This is the melodie which Paul speaketh of, Ephe. 5.19. Make melodie to the Lorde in your hearts, shevving that there is a consort of all the members, when the heart is in tune, that it soundes like a melodie in the eares of God, [Page] and makes vs reioice vvhile vvee serue him, vve haue example hereof in Christ, vvhich said that it vvas meate and drinke vnto him to doo his Fathers vvil: and Dauid vvhich danced to see the Arke,Iohn 4, 34 2, Sam, 6, 14 1, Chro, 29 9 and the Israelites of vvhome it is saide that they reioised, vvhen they offered frō their heart vnto the Lord. Therfore Salomon pricking out the heart for God, speaks as though he vvold set vs the pleasantest, and fairest, and easiest way to serue him vvithout any grudging, or toyle, or vvearines: touch but the first linke and al the rest vvil follovv; so set the heart a going, and it is like the poize of a clock, vvhich turnes al the vvheeles one vvay; such an oile is about the heart, vvhich makes all nimble and currant about it: therefore it is almost as easie to speake vvell▪ and do vvell,Psalme 45, 1 as to thinke vvell. If the heart indite a good matter, no maruell though the tongue be the penne of [Page] a ready writer, but if the heart bee dull, al is like a left hand, so vnapt and vntovvard that it cannot turne itselfe to any good. Therefore Gods suites haue so hard passage in our counsailes, iudgemēts, and parliamentes, because men doo not giue him their hearts, vvhich should be the first offering of all: if they did giue him their heartes before they sit dovvne to heare his cause, they coulde not denie him any thinge that is for his honor, though it vver against their profite, but as Christ saith, not my vvill, but thy vvill,Mar, 26, 39 so they vvould say, it is not our kingdom but thy kingdom, it is not our Church but thy church, therefore not our vvill but thy vvil, not our lavv but thy lavv, not our disciplin but thy disciplin raigne in it: & all that giue their heartes subscribe to this, the rest say, not thy wil but our wil, not thy lavv but our lavve, not thy disciplin but our discipline, because [Page] as the Apostle saith, they seek their own glory, and not Christs, Phil. 2.21. [...]at, 2, 3 This hath bin the rubbe euer since reformation began, Herod cannot see how he shoulde bee King, [...]cts 19, 23 if Christ should raigne: therfore as the imagemakers cried & stormed whē images should goe down, alledging that they liued by this crafte: so, if ye mark what kind of men they be which preach, and write, and labor so hotly against the discipline, it is they that are like to lose some of their dignities, or their commodities by it, [...]h, 11, 48 [...]ar, 23, 7 [...]ar, 10, 21. if the gouernment should change: the Scribes & Pharisies resisted Christ more then the people, because he denounced wo to them, and misliked that they shoulde bee called Rabbi: hovv hard it is to follovv Christ, when he saith, leaue all; nay if hee bid vs to leaue any thing for him, though vvee should leaue our very selues. Mat. 16.24. The tongue will not praise, because the [Page] heart doeth not loue; the eare vvill not heare, because the heart doeth not mind, the hand wil not geue, because the heart doeth not pitie, the foot vvil not goe, because the heart doeth not stir: al stay vpon the hart, like the Captaine that should giue the onset.

Secondly, God requiring the hart, sheweth that all the thinges of this worlde are not worthie of it, nor a peece of it, nor a thought,Eccle, 1.13 & 14 vnlesse it be to contemne them, as Salomon thought of vanitie.

Thirdly, that all should consent so with the heart, that we shoulde speak as if the heart did speak, pray as if our heart did pray, heare as if our heart did heare, giue as if our heart did giue,Psal, 44, [...] Iob, 22, 22 remit as if our heart did remit, & counsell as if our heart did counsell, as the Apostle saith, Doe all thinges heartily: Coloss. 3.23. which if we would keepe, nothing that we doe should trouble vs, because [Page] nothing is troublesome, but that vvhich goeth against the heart.

Fourthlie, that vve shoulde serue god for himselfe and not for our selues, as he vvhich giues his heart, dooth all for loue: This christ requires vvhen hee castes off that disciple,Mat, 28, 19 vvhich offered to follovv him for aduantage, The birds haue nests, & the foxes haue holes, (saith christ) but the sonne of man hath not a place to hide his head: shevving this disciple, if he vvill follovve him, he must not looke for a place to hide his head: vve must leaue all to follovv christ,Mat, 4, 20 [...]ohn 9, 26 as Peter did, and not seeke al by follovving him, as they that vvent after him for bread.

Fiftly, that vve should not serue god by fits, as vve vse to pray vvhen the night comes, to hear vvhen the Saboth comes, to fast vvhen Lent comes; to repēt when death comes, but the seruice of the heart is continuall [Page] seruice,1, Thess, 5, 16 like in that 1. Thes. 5 Reioyce euermore, praye continuallie in all thinges geue thankes. Who is this which reioiceth, and praieth. & thanketh continually? The tongue praieth but sometime, the eare attē deth but sometime, the hand giueth but sometime, but the heart prayeth, and praiseth, and vvorshippeth alvvaies: a man may serue God alvvaies vvith his heart, and neuer be vvearie, because the heart cannot serue him vnlesse it reioyce in his seruice: and therefore they praised God vvith musicke, vvhich did not delight god, but shevved that they delighted in his seruice, as they did in musicke,1. Chron. 15, 16 1. Chr. 15.16. but if the tongue, or the hande, or the eare, thinke to serue God vvithout the heart, it is the yrksomst occupation in the vvorld, the houre of tediousnesse, like a long sicknesse, hee is tired before hee beginne, and thinketh himselfe in the stockes, till [Page] the sermon be ended, till his praier be doone, that hee may bee at libertie, and turne to his byas agayne.

Lastly, this shewes how God mislikes our coldnesse in hearing or praying, if wee cannot say with the Virgin,Luke 1.46 My hearte doth magnifye the Lord. Al that comes short of this, is hipocrisye, and pleaseth GOD like the offering of Cayne Genesis 4.5. As Ioseph charged his brethren, Genesis 42.15. that they shoulde not come to him for corne, vnlesse they brought Beniamim vnto him vvhome they lefte at home:Mat, 15.8 so GOD vvill not haue vs speake to him, nor come vnto him for any thing, vnlesse vvee bring our hearte vnto him, vvhich vvee leaue behinde. The tongue vvithout the hearte is a flattering tongue, the eye without the hearte is a vvicked eye, the eare vvithout the hearte is a vaine eare, the [Page] hande vvithout the heart is a false hand. Doest thou thinke that God vvil accept a flattering tongue, a wicked eye, a vain eare, a false hand, which reiecteth a sacrifice if it be but lean, or brused? No, saith Paul, Leuit, 22, 21, 22, 42 If I geue all that I haue, & haue not loue; that is, geue not my heart, it auailes me nothing, he saith not, that they vvhich geue not their heartes geue nothing, but that they shall haue nothing for such offerings:mar, 12, 42 hee vvhich brings but a mite, & bringes his hart, brings more then he which offers a talent,mat, 19, 20 Gal. 6, 7 & he shall goe avvay more iustified, then he which saide, All these haue I kept from my youth vpward, for God is not mocked,Act, 5.3 but knowes how much is behind, thogh Ananias seem to bring al. He marks hovv I speak, and how you heare, & hovv vve pray in this place, & if it come not from the heart, hee repels it as fast as it grovves vp, like the smoake vvhich chmes tovvardes [Page] heauē, but neuer comes there, man thinkes vvhen he hath the gift that he hath the heart to, but god vvhen he hath the gift cals for the hart stil the Pharisees praier, the harlots vow, the traitors kisse, the sacrifice of Caine, the fast of Iezabelle, the teares of Esau, the oblation of Ananias are nothing to him, but still he cries,Psalme 73, 1 bring thy heart or bring no thing: like a iealous husbād vvhē he hath a vvife, yet he is iealous vvhether he hath her hurt, so vvharsoeuer thou do, yet god is iealous still, & respects not what thou dost, but whether thou do it frō thy hart,Mat, 27, 24 of mere loue tovvard him. If Pilat had vvashed his hart vvhen he vvashed his handes,2. Kin, 5, 14 Ge, 34, 22 he had bin cleaner than Naamā vvhē he came out of Iordā if the Sichemites had circumcised their harts, vvhē they circumcised their flesh, they had saued their soules, vvhen they lost their liues, if [...] 4, 2 Cain had offered his heart vvhen he [Page] offered of the fruites, his offering had bin as acceptable as Abels: but as svvíns flesh vvas like shépes flesh,Leuiticus 10, 7 yet vvas not accepted because it cāe frō an vncleane beast: so Caines offering, Pilats vvashing, the Sichemits circūcision, the pharisces praier, and fasts, & alms, vver as fair as the apostles, yet they had no revvard, but wo to you hypocrits, Mat, 23 because they vvā ted the heart,1, Kin, 18, 24 vvhich is like the fire that kindleth the sacrifice. but vvil he requit our praiers, & fasts, & almes, as he did theirs? yea (saith Christ) except your righteousnes exceed the pharisees, that is,Mat, 5.20 except vve giue our harts besides our lips, & our eares, & our almes, vvhich they gaue more than vve, we shal not enter into the kingdom of heauen, because our righteousnes doth not exceed the righteousnes of the pharisees, but their righteousnes exceedeth our. Christ doth not bid them wo, because they vvere Pharisees as vve are not, but [Page] bicause they were hypocrites as we are. God delights him self in giuing, & therfore loueth a cheerfull giuer:Mic [...], 7, [...]8 1. Cor, 9, 7 but he cannot giue cheerfully which giues not his heart. Therefore Iudas thought the oyle spent which was powred vpon Christ & wisht the price of it in his purse: so they grudge and greeue when theie should doe good, and think, shall I giue it? Can I spare it? what will it bring? So the good worke dieth in birth, like a Bride which drowpeth in the hand, whiles the head considers whether he shall let her goe, or holde her still: as easie to wring Hercules club out of his fists as to wring a penitent teare from their eies, or a faithfull praier from their lips, or a good thought from their hart, which cannot affoord the hart it selfe: euery thinge is too much which they do, and they think God more beholding to them for blurting out a Pater nosler, or staying [Page] a sermon, or fasting a fridaie, than they to him for al his benefits:Mat, 23 and when they haue doone what is their reward? wo be vnto you Scribes and pharisies, hipocrites, because you gaue not your hartes: therefore we doe but vexe our selues,Mat, 15, 8 and loose our labour, thinking to make God beleeue that we praie, when indeed our lippes doo but praie: wherby it comes to passe, as we serue him, so he serueth vs; our peace is not in deede, but in vvorde, our ioy is not in heart, but in countenaunce, a false comfort, like our false vvorship; for he vvhich geueth God his lips in stead of his heart, teacheth god to geue him stones in steade of bread: that is, a shadovv of comfort, for comfort it selfe.

Novv vvhen vve haue giuen god faire vvords and long prayers, and solemne fastes, and mourning countenances, hee puts in but a vvorde more to fill vp the sacrifice, Geue [Page]me thy heart, and it suffiseth. It is like the laste suite of Abraham, when hee saide to God, I will speake but this once; so if thou wilt heare him in this, hee wil aske no more; therefore nowe conclude, vvhether God shal haue thy heart, or nothing: If thou consider vvhat right he hath to aske it, and what cause thou hast to giue it, thou canst not keepe it til I ende my sermon. Of all the suters vvhich come vnto you, it seemes there is none, which hath any tytle to claime the heart, but God; which challengeth it,Mal. 1, 6 by the name of a sonne: as if hee should say, thou shalt giue it to thy father, vvhich gaue it to thee: art thou my son? my sons giue me their hearts, and by this they knowe that I am their father, if I dvvel in their heartes: for the heart is the Temple of God;1, Cor, 1, 16 therefore if thou be his son, thou wilt giue him thy hearte, because thy father desires it, thy maker [Page] desires it, thy redeemer desires it, thy Sauiour desires it,Rom. 8.3 [...] thy Lorde and thy King and thy Master desires it; which hath geuen his Sonne for a ransome, his spirit for a pledge, his vvorde for a guide, the vvorlde for a vvalke, and reserues a kingdome for thine inheritance. Canst thou denie him any thing, vvhich hath geuen the heire for the seruant, his beloued for his enemie, the best for the vvorst? Canst thou denie him any thing, vvhose goodnesse created vs, vvhose fauour elected vs, vvhose mercie redeemed vs, vvhose wisedome conuerteth vs, vvhose grace preserueth vs, vvhose glorie shall glorifie vs? Canst thou denie him anie thing? O if thou knevve, (as Christ sayde to the Woman of Samaria, Iohn 4.1 [...] vvhen shee huckte to geue him vvater) if thou knevve who it is which saith vnto thee, Geue mee thy hearte; thou vvouldest saye vnto him as [Page] Peter did, vvhen Christe vvoulde vvashe his feet; Lorde, not my feete onely, Iohn. 13.9. but my hands and my head, not my heart onely, but all my bodie, and my thoughtes, and my vvords, and my vvoorkes, and my goods, and my life, take all that thou haste geuen. For vvhy should not vve geue him our heartes, as vvell as our lippes,Gen. 13 89. vnlesse vvee meane to deceiue him vvith vvoordes for deedes? If Abram gaue Lot leaue to choose vvhat parte hee did like, shall not vvee geue God leaue to choose that vvhich hee loueth? I hee did not loue thee, hee vvou'de not require thy hearte; for they vvhich loue, require the heart. Th [...] master requires labour, the lande lorde requires seruice, the captain requires fight; but hee that require [...] the heart, requires it for loue, fo [...] the heart is loue. Wee vvill geue him little, if vvee vvil not geue him that, vvhich hee askes for loue tovvardes [Page] our selues: though hee say; giue it, yet indeede hee hath bought it, and that dearely,Psal. 31.5 1. Pet. 1.18.1 [...] with the deerest bloud that euer was shedde. Hee gaue thee his heart, before hee desired thy heart; but heart for heart, a liuing heart for a hart which died: thou doest not lose thy life as he did for thee, but thou bestowest thy life to glorifie him, thou doest not part from thy heart when thou giuest it, but hee doth keepe it for thee, least the serpent should steal it from thee,Gen. 3.8 as he stole paradice from Adam when it was in his own custodie: he cā keep it better than vve, and he wil keepe it if we commit it to him, and lay it in a bed of peace, and lap it vith ioy,Psal. 31.5 Iohn. 10.2 [...] and none shal take it out of his handes. Therefore, if ye aske mee, why you should giue your heartes to god? I doo not answere like the Disciples which went for the asse and the colte,Mat. 28. [...] The Lorde hath neede [Page] but wee haue neede. For vnlesse wee geue our soules, hovv can hee haue them? And vnlesse hee haue them, hovve can hee saue them? Therefore vvee haue neede, if euer the saying vvere true, (It is more blessed to geue than take:) more blessed are they vvhich geue their heartes to GOD, than they vvhich take possession of the vvorld.Acts 20.45 1. Sam. 25.42 Abigail did not gaine so much by her gifte to Dauid, as vve for our gifte to God; for shee vvas married vnto Dauid, but vve are married vnto Christ;Cant 5 of vvhom the Church doth sing in the 5. of Canticles, that no wel beloued is like her beloved; what hart would not be loued of him, though it doe not loue him? Who can assoyle this riddle? vve vvoulde haue Christ our bridegrome, and yet we vvil not be his spouse; I would haue him take my heart & yet I wil not geue it. Hovv should he keep it, or saue it or glorifi, it if I hide it away [Page] like the seruant that buried his talent in the earth?Mat. 26.24 So much as I keep from God, so much I keepe from heauen, and vvill not suffer him to glorifie it, as I did vvishe one part to be saued, and another damned. He vvhich vvould haue his hart sanctified, and comforted, and enlightened, and vvil not geue it to God, is like a woman which would haue her dough leauened, and layeth her dough in one placee, & the leauen in another, vvhere one cannot touche the other: then commeth the tempter, and takes them asunder, and seaseth vpon the heart, because he findes her alone. This is his seede time, novv hee enters into it, and filles it vvith his poyson, till the temple of God be the sinke of sin, and the hearr vvhich shoulde bee the seate of holinesse, grace, and vvisedome, a heart of pride, a hearte of enuie, a hearte of luste more like a bellie than a hearte; [Page] hovv many things lodge in the hart vvhen God is not there? It is a vvorlde to think, hovv the diuine soule, vvhich descended from heauen to bring forth fruit, is become afit soyle for euery vveed, vvherby vve may see vvhat hearts vve haue before vvee geue them to GOD Therefore novv aske your heartes vvhose they are, and hovv they are mooued vvith these vvordes? hovve many here vvill geue to this collection? vvhose heart is gone vp vnto him, since I beeganne to speake? Here one, and there one runs vp the ladder,Gen. 28.12. like the angels that Iacob savve in his dreame, and sing vvith Dauid, Psal. 47 47 My heart is prepared, my heart is prepared; and why not thou as vvell as hee? Doeth not he sende for all alike? vvilt thou be the thorne, or the stone, or the high vvay,Mat. 13 vvhere the seede doeth lose his fruite? vvhy, hadst thou rather be cōpelled then inuited, since [Page] thou art called to a banquet?Ma [...]. 22 Howe manie heartes moe might we draw to God, if all that be heere woulde goe to him this day? But thus it standes,Mat. [...], 33 God hath sent vnto vs for our heartes, and wee answere him as the husbandes of the vineyard, when he sent for fruites, or as Nabal aunswered Dauid, 1, Sam, 25 when hee sent for foode, who is Dauid? or, who is the Lord? That I shoulde take my heart from pleasure and sinne, and giue it vnto him? Thus we demurre vpon the cause, when we should giue, whether we should giue or no, and aske the fleshe, and our lusts, and our pleasures, and if the deuill will not giue his assent: thē we return to an excuse, it is not mine to giue: or if thou cāst get the diuels good will, I vvill not stand, or let sinne and pleasure haue it for a while, and when they haue done with it, thē God shal haue it. Thus euery thing which should be throwen [Page] out, hath a place in our heart; and hee vvhich shoulde bee receiued in, can haue no roome there, though hee would open the dores of heauen, if vvee would open the doores of our hearts, that the king of glorie might come in.Psal. 24.7 What shal become of those hearers, vvhen he which craues them novv, shal iudge them hereafter? Then they shal stande like Esau, Gen. 27.36 and see them blessed like Iacob, which gaue their heartes; and crie themselues, as hee did to his father Isaac, haste thou not reserued a blessing for vs? What a heauie heart will it bee then, vvhen it may not ioye any longer heere, and the ioyes of heauen are shutte against it? and he vvhich desired it, vvil not haue it, because it comes like the foolish virgines,Mat. 25.11 when the dores of mercie are shut. Thus ye haue heard vvhat God requires for al that hee hath geuen you, and hovv all your [Page] seruices are lost vntill you bring it. What shal I vvish you novv before my departure? I vvish you vvould geue al your heartes to God, vvhile I speake, that yee might haue a kingdome for them; sende for your hearts vvhere they are vvandering, one from the banke, another from the Tauerne, another from the Shoppe, an other from the Theaters: Call them home,Luke 15.22 and geue them all vnto God: and see how he vvil vvelcome them, as the father embraceth his Sonne. If your hearts vvere with God, durst the deuill fetche them? durste these sinnes come at them? Euen as Dina vvas defloured when shee strayed from home:Gen. 34.1 so is the hearte vvhen it strayeth from GOD: Therefore call the members togeather, and let them faste like a Queste of 12. men, vntill they consent vpon lavv, before any moe termes passe to geue God his right, [Page] and let him take the heart, which he woeth, which hee would marrie, which hee would endow vvith all his goods, and make it the heire of the crowne. When you pray, let your heart pray, when you heare, let your heart heare, when yee giue, let your heart giue, whatsoeuer yee doe, set the heart to doe it: and if it be not so perfect as it should be,Pro, 3, 1 Dan, 10, 12 yet it shalbe accepted for the friend that giues it.

Nowe if you cannot command your hearts to turne vnto God, because the diuel pleades custome, & the flesh will not agree to leaue her possession,Mat, 6, 2 then remember what Christ saith, When ye giue your almes the left hand must not knowe what the right hand doth: so the fleshe must not knowe what the spirite doeth. Thou must not make thy lustes of counsel, but as Abraham vvhen he was bid to offer his sonne,Gen, 22, 6 rose vp betime and left his wife at home, [Page] and neuer made Sara priuie leaste she should stop him, being more tē der ouer her children, like vvomen, thā the father is; so thou must geue the heart to God, before the fleshe heare of it:1, Sam, 25, 18 for if Abigail had consulted vvith Naball that churle, vvhether she should haue supplied Dauid vvith victuals, or no, vvhen hee sent, that miser vvoulde neuer haue giuen his consent, vvhich scolded so soone as he heard of it, therfore she vvent alone and gaue that which he asked, and neuer told her husband what she would doe, least he should hinder her, which sought her welfare & his too; so we should steale our hearts from the vvorlde, as the world stole them from vs.

I haue but one day more to teach you al that you must learne of mee, therefore I vvoulde holde you here vntill you assent to geeue all your hearts to God. If ye geue them not novv, where haue I cast the seed, & [Page] hovv haue ye heard al this yeare? If ye vvil geue them novv, ye shall be adopted this day the sōnes of God, and I shal leaue you in the bosome of Christ, which vvil geue you heauen for your hearts.1. Cor. 2.16 The Lord Iesu graunt that my vvords be not the sauour of death vnto any soul here; but that you may goe in strength thereof, through prosperitie and aduersitie,Mat. 25.34 til you heare that cōfort from heauen: Come yee blessed, and receiue the inheritance. Amen.

FINIS.

§

§

[Page]

[Page]

THE CHRIstians Sacrifice. Scene, and allowed.

LONDON. Printed by Thomas Orwin, for Thomas Man, 1589.

TO MY LATE AVDItors, the congregatiō of Clement Danes, al the good wil which I can shevve.

[Page]

[Page]

BEloued in Iesus Christ, my first fruites, I haue nothing but this myte to leaue with you, which is the summe of al my sermons, ye haue heard it already, & as th'apostle cals the Corinthians his epistle, so ye should be my sermon;2, Cor. [...] that is, my sermon should be printed in your hearts, as this is printed in paper. If ye haue not giuen your h [...]r [...]s yet to him which sent for them, nowe thinke that god hath sent for them againe, and heare me writing, whom ye cannot heare speaking. Take not custome for religion shun occasion aswel as sinne se [...]k the vse of euery thing, desire not to haue your Kingdome here. [Page] And so I leaue you all with Christ, whom I haue preached, to bring forth the fruit of that seede which is sowen, beseeching you for al the loue that you haue of heuen, that ye would not count any thing in this world worthy to keep your harts from God, but think of the day when you shal giue account of euery lesson which ye haue heard, and hee which hath called you in this prison, wil glorifie you in his pallace, where ye shall see him to whom yee haue geuen your hearts, and enioy that blessing of blessings, which makes all the worlde to worship him. The father of our lord Iesus Christ, which hath begunne to draw you to his Kingdom, neuer leaue you vntil you come vnto it, Amen.

Your late vnworthy seruant for the Lord, Henry Smith.

Information about this book

Title statement

The Christians sacrifice Seene, and allowed.

Smith, Henry, 1550?-1591.

Edition statement

1589

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2005-12 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A12343

ID [STC]

STC 22658

ID [STC]

ESTC S105912

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

99841637

ID [PROQUEST]

99841637

ID [VID]

6235

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early English books online.

Notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A12343)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 6235)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 1610:20)

Source

— The Christians sacrifice Seene, and allowed., Smith, Henry, 1550?-1591..

Extent

[44] p.

Printed by Thomas Orwin, for Thomas Man,. London :: 1589.. (By Henry Smith.) (Signatures: A-C (-C7-8, blank?).) (Reproduction of the original in the Bodleian Library.)

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.