THE sin OF hardness of Heart: THE Nature, Danger, and Remedy of it. Opened in a SERMON, PREACHED TO The honourable House of Commons, July 2●. 1648. being the day of their solemn monthly Fast. By STEPHEN Martial, B. D. Minister of God's Word at Finchingfield in Essex. Published by order of that House. psalm 95. 7, 8. To day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, &c. Prov. 29. 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. London Printed by R. Cotes, for Stephen Bowtell, at the sign of the Bible in Popes-head Alley, 1648. TO THE RIGHT worshipful The Lady Trevor, Wife to my most worthy and approved Friend, Sir John Trevor. Madam, YOu have been long taught of God, and therefore are not ignorant that spiritual sicknesses differ many ways from bodily, this one is notable, The more any spiritual disease increaseth, the less it's felt, and the more any soul is sensible of it, the less power it hath over him; This is found most true of the greatest of spiritual plagues, the sin of hardness of heart, none more confident of the goodness of their heart, than the most obstinate and rebellious sinner, where as the most tender-hearted Christian complains most of hardness, the spirit that is most flexible to God, most laments its obstinacy; Madam, I may apply this to yourself, all such servants of God who know and converse with you can discern that God hath in great measure taken out of you the heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh, upon the ta●les whereof he hath written his holy Law, and that it is your delight to walk with him, to live to him and please him in all things; yet did I never hear you bestow one good word upon your heart, but rather upon every occasion you are declaiming against it, and complaining of its hardness and obstinacy. But Madam to feel hardness of heart is softness of heart, and did you but clearly understand how much the Lord delights in such a frame of spirit as he hath given you, you would cease to be so suspicious as you are of your own spiritual condition, and would spend the rest of your days rejoicing in your portion and serving him without fear: I hope this plain Sermon may through God's blessing be some help to make you judge more rightly of that grace which God hath so plentifully bestowed on you, and to bless his Name who hath in great measure delivered you from this destroyer, even this plague of a hard heart; I humbly present it unto you, as a pledge of my thankfulness, for all the many and great refreshings I have found in your family, where I have constantly found your respect and tenderness towards me more like that of a mother than a stranger: The good Lord pardon my unfruitfulness among you, and requite you and your good husband's love toward me a thousand fold into your bosoms, and multiply his favours upon your whole family, and continue to guide you by his counsel till you come to his glory. Your La. most obliged, STEPHEN Martial. A SERMON PREACHED TO THE honourable House of COMMONS upon their solemn monthly Fast. BEloved in the Lord, some mistake concerning one of the Preachers that should have supplied the work of this day, is the occasion of my standing here at this time, at shorter warning, than is fit for such a service, but I have learned to receive encouragement from a call; and therefore without any further apology, I beseech you attend to the Word of God, which you shall find written in the 7. of ZACHARIAH Vers. 12. Yea they made their hearts as an Adamant stone, lest they should hear the Law, and the words which the Lord of host hath sent in his spirit, by the former Prophets, therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. MY Text is part of an answer to a case of conscience, The Text opened, the occasion, coherence and parts of it. propounded in the beginning of this Chapter, from the fourth verse. of this Chapter to the end of the next Chapter is contained the full answer to that case of conscience; the case of conscience was this; They sent unto the house of God, Sherezer, and Regem-melech, and their men, to speak to the Priest, and to know of him, and of the Prophets whether they should weep in the fifth month, as they had done these 70. years; this was the case propounded; now because my subject matter this day must very much relate unto this case, give me leave a little to open it to you; The Jews after it had pleased God to bring upon them the Babylonian captivity, did set apart four days every year, which they kept as solemn days of humiliation, one of them was in the fifth month, another was in the seventh month, another was in the tenth month, and another was in the fourth month, upon these occasions: In the tenth month did Nebuchadnezar's Army, first beleaguer Jerusalem, as you'll find it in the 25. Chapter of the second book of the Kings, that day that Nebuchadnezar's Army first sat down before the city, did they keep 2 Kings 25. 1. a fasting day all those 70. years: In the fourth month of the year following, they broke into the city and took 2 Kings 25. 3. Vers. 8. Vers. 25. it, the day that the city was taken, did they keep as a solemn fasting day; In the fifth month Nebuzaradan came and burnt the Temple; the day that the Temple was burnt, did they also keep as a fasting day; In the seventh month Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, was killed, murdered by Ishmael, and all the rest that were left, were scattered into Egypt, and that day likewise did they keep as a fasting day; and these four days they kept threescore and ten years; Now the Temple being built again, at least in a good forwardness, they send to know whether the fast of the fifth month should continue; concerning the other fasts they make no mention of them, probably conceiving that the occasion of those fasts did continue still; but they would know whether the Lord would not have them lay aside the fast of the fifth month, which was kept in reference to the Temple, because the Temple was now built, or in a great forwardness; this case of conscience was sent, some think, by the Jews that remained still in Babylon, that they sent Sherezer and Regem-melech, and the rest of them, as their ambassadors; others think they were sent from all the Jews, that were returned from their Captivity, but by whom soever the message was sent, this was the case that I have read to you; Now the Prophet comes to answer this case, and in the answer he takes notice of all the four days of fasting, though they mention but one of them, because they all hung upon one hinge, and the answer of the Prophet to this case, so much of it as is contained in this Chapter is a mere slighting of the case propounded; and there are two things wherein the Prophet expresses the Lord's contempt of their Embassage, one, That the Lord took no notice of any such thing; Did you fast to me? (saith he) you speak of days of fasting, 1. that you have kept 70. years, did you fast to me? Did I either appoint them? or do I accept them? or have you carried them as you should do? the meaning is, you play the hypocrites with me, you would make a great deal ado about a solemn Embassage, to have a case of conscience determined, which is first, but a ceremony at the best, and besides it is a ceremony of your own inventing, and in it you have howled and mourned for your afflictions, but never took notice of your sins, that have caused those judgements to come upon you; you fasted sometimes, and feasted sometimes, but when you have fasted, you fasted not to me, & when you did eat and drink, you did eat and drink to yourselves, and not to me; that is the first, a slighting of it, as a keeping a coil about a trifle, when there were greater matters concerned them which they regarded not. The second branch of the prophet's answer contains 2. the true reason why all this fasting of theirs was thus slighted by God that is laid down, First, More generally in the 6. Verse, wherein the Prophet 1. gives them a sound and a sharp reproof, you have wept and mourned, but should not you rather have took notice of the words, which the Lord did send by the Prophets? should ye not hear the words that the Prophets cried in former times, when Jerusalem was inhabited, and the Cities thereof round about her? there you might have learned the true way, but that you have no whit regarded; you cry for your afflictions, but you are not one whit sensible of those sins that have caused these judgements upon you: That is the general, than secondly, He proceeds more particularly to open this Ulcer of 2. their hypocrisy, and three things there are which he remembers them of, First, The Lord remembers them of the counsel that had been given them and their Fathers, how to remove the 1. plagues that lay upon them, (saith he) Thus speaks the Lord of hosts (in the 9 Verse) execute true judgement, and justice, show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, oppress not the widow, the fatherless, nor the stranger, let none of you imagine evil against his brother in his heart: this was the counsel which of old was given, how the ruin of Jerusalem might have been prevented; the exercise of justice, and the exercise of mercy; indeed the Prophet there instances only in two Table duties, but I think the reason is, because the Jews were always very exact in matters of God's worship, save only when they fell into Idolatry, and they bore themselves much upon the duties of the first Table; and it is God's ordinary practice when he would discover the hypocrisy of men, that are much in holy duties, to fall upon the duties of the second Table, wherein they ordinarily are careless, so the Prophet tells them, that had they walked after this manner, this wrath had never come upon them; but now, which is the second, See what disobedience they showed to this, and this disobedience 2. is laid down in the 11. & 12. Verses: and aggravated from the worst quality that disobedience can be accompanied with, that is, wilfulness and obstinacy; and this wilful and obstinate disobedience of theirs, is laid down in four Metaphors, but all of them signifying one and the same thing, only the three first do most immediately signify the outward expressions of their disobedience; and the fourth which is the root of all, discovers the very fountain whence all their disobedience did spring; First saith he, They refused to harken, they were like to a man, that when you would do an errand to him, flings away from you, and saith plainly, he will not hear what you say; Secondly, They pull away their shoulder, alluding unto a Beast, a Bullock, that when you would put the yoke upon it, it snatches the shoulder away, and refuses to be yoked by you, nay, saith he, They stopped their ears; alluding to Adder, that (they say of it, it) lays one ear against the ground, and stops the other ear with the tail, that it may not be charmed, or like unto those, that when they would plainly let you see, how much they slight what you say to them, put their finger in their ears, that all may take notice, they will not regard you; But then fourthly, (which is the theme that I purpose to handle by the Lord's assistance;) Here is the cause of all, that is, they made their hearts like an Adamant stone, yea (saith he) they made their hearts like an Adamant stone, that they might not hear the Word that God hath spoken; then follows the third branch, the fruit of their disobedience, therefore all this wrath is come upon them. In these words, here are two things to be handled; First, The sin that this people were guilty of; in these 1. words, they made their hearts like an Adamant stone, that they might not hear the word: Secondly, The judgement that this sin brought upon them: Therefore saith the Lord, it is come to pass, that as they 2. would not hear me, I would not hear them; but a great wrath is come upon them, and I have scattered them among all the Nations, and laid their land desolate. In their sin, (which is the only theme I shall insist upon) you have two things: First, What their sin was, what the wicked frame of their 1. heart was, their heart was like an Adamant stone; Secondly, How it came to be so: they made their heart so themselves; 2. they made their heart as an Adamant stone: next open the meaning of this, what is here meant by an Adamant stone? the Hebrew word is variously interpreted, some do render it a flint, some a stone that will not waste, many with our new translation render it an Adamant, but generally, critics do agree, that it is a stone of the hardest nature, that will not by any tool be graven or fashioned to any desirable mould: so to make their heart as an Adamant stone, doth plainly mean, they did extremely harden their heart, that is the English of it, they would not hear, they stopped their ear, they pulled away their shoulder, yea, they did extremely harden their hearts: Here are two things further to be interpreted: First, What is meant by the heart that is here hardened? And 1. secondly, What this hardening the heart signifies. 2. By heart you know is naturally meant that piece of 1. flesh that is in the body, which they say, it is primum vivens, and ultimum moriens: but morally and spiritually by the heart is meant the soul, and usually, the will and the affections are ordinarily in Scripture meant by the heart; so it is here. What by hardness, or hardening; hardening in the natural 2. signification of it, is nothing but the withdrawing of moisture form any substance, whereby the parts come to be condensed and made stiff, so as not to yield to the touch; Durum est quod non cedit tactui, that that will not receive any impression that is hard: this in a natural sense; but in a moral and spiritual sense, to harden the heart is nothing but to have the will resolutely and unchangeably set upon any purpose, not to be taken off from their enterprise by any means that can be used to change them, that is to harden the heart; and in the Scripture it is sometimes taken in a good sense, a man's heart may be hardened in a very gracious manner, so Ezekiel's Ezekiel 3. 8. was, when the Lord told him, the house of Israel will not harken to thee, for they are impudent and hard hearted, but (saith God) I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads, thou shalt be as impudent as they, as an Adamant, harder than flint, &c. thou shalt be as much hardened in good as they in evil, I have given thee that grace; that shall make thee resolute as they: Paul was, when they came, and wept, and prayed him he would not go to Jerusalem, (saith he) you weep in vain I'll go though I die for it; his heart was hardened: and so Luther; when his friends would have persuaded him not to have gone to worms; to the disputation there, If all the tiles of the houses in worms were Devils, I would go; that is to have a heart hardened in a good cause; but ordinarily in the Scripture, to harden the heart, or to have hardness of heart, is ordinarily meant in an evil sense; hardening in sin, hardening against God: and so my Text hath it plainly, they made their heart as an Adamant stone, that they might not hear the word that God had sent to them: their heart was resolutely, and unchangeably bent to go on in their ways, say or do what God would, or could to the contrary; that is the sin that is here mentioned; now from hence I shall take up this Lesson; and it is the only Lesson, which I shall by the Lord's assistance handle this day; and in it take in both the sin, and the judgement together. That the sin of hardening the heart against God, is a certain Doct. forerunner of utter destruction; They made their heart as hard as an adamant stone, therefore came there a great wrath from God; and therefore Hardening the heart, a certain forerunner of destruction. as I called, and they would not answer, when they cried I would not answer, but I have scattered them: so the Lesson is plain; but before I come to prove it, that Five distinctions about hardness of heart, premised forth: clearing of this Doctrine. it may be rightly stated, I shall premise five distinctions about this sin of hardness of heart; whereby you will more plainly understand the Doctrine that I am to make good out of the Scripture; First, That there is a natural hardness of heart, which is the 1. case of all men in the world; Secondly, there is an acquired There is a natural hardness of heart, and there is an acquired hardness. hardness of heart, or a hardness that man brings upon himself; There is a natural hardness of heart, the Scripture is plain in it, that all men in the world, the original frame of their hearts; is in the Scripture set down by the expression of a heart of stone, in Ezek. 11. Ezek. 11. 19 when God promises conversion, (saith he). I will take away the heart of stone, that is in them, and give them a heart of flesh; every man and woman in the world, brings the stone of the heart into the world with them; but than Secondly, There is an acquired hardness of heart, or a hardness that men bring upon themselves; so my Text saith, they made their hearts hard, and so it is said of Zedekiah, in the 36. of the 2 Chron. he hardened his heart against God: that is one; Secondly, Know that there is a gradual or partial hardness of 2. heart; when the heart is hardened but in some measure, There is a gradual or partial hardness, and there is a to as hardness. there is some hardness in them, and some softness in them, and there is a total hardening of the heart when the whole fram● of the heart is given up to hardness. That there is a gradual, and partial hardness of heart, you may see it in Christ's own Disciples, who being new Creatures had a heart of flesh in them, and yet it is said of them, in Mark. 6. 52. They considered not the miracle Mark 6. 52. Mark. 8. 17. of the loaves, because their heart was hardened: and in Mark. 8. Christ saith to them, Have ye your hearts yet hardened? Christ's own Disciples had some degrees of hardness of heart, but then There is a hardness, that is a Totall hardness; of Jer. 5. 3. Jer. 6. 28. which the Scripture saith, they are all brass and iron; Thirdly, There is a hardness of heart, that is felt; felt by them 3. that are under it; and there is a hardness of heart that is There is a hardness felt and a hardness unfelt. unfelt. There is a hardness that is felt: so the Church saith in Isaiah 63. ver. 1. Ah Lord, why hast thou hardened our hearts from thy fear? But Isa 63. 17. There is likewise a hardness of heart, that though it lie upon the soul, yet they feel it not; that they are as dead men under it, like Nabals heart, that was like a stone, and he took no notice of it: and this unfelt hardness of heart, it proceeds sometimes from ignorance, and sometimes from malice; Fourthly, 4. Know that there is a hardness of heart, that is unwilling, There is an unwilling hardness a hardness bemoaned for and striven against; & there is a willing hardness, a hardness reigning and delighted in. Ier. 31. 18. bemoaned, lamented, groaned under, looked upon as a judgement, as a misery; and there is a hardness of heart that is willing, a willing hardness, a pleasing hardness, a reigning hardness, a hardness chosen and delighted in. That there is an unwilling, bemoaned hardness, is plain, in Ephraim's case in Ier. 31. who makes this his sorrowful complaint before God, that his heart was like a heifer, like a bullock that would not carry God's yoke, it made him weep bitterly for it; and so the Church in the forementioned place, of Isaiah 63. O Lord, why are our hearts hardened from thy fear? she Isai. 63. looked upon it as a marvelous great evil, that lay upon them. But then, There is likewise a hardness, that is a pleasing hardness; a hardness delighted in, a hardness reigning, a hardness gloried in; that is the hardness that my Text mentions: Lastly, Know that there is a hardness of heart, that is man's work, and there is a hardness of heart that is God's work; 5. There is a hardness which is man's work, and there is a judiciary hardness which is God's work. The hardness of heart that is man's work, are all those several hardnesses, that I have spoke of hitherto, whether natural, gradual, felt or unfelt, bemoaned, or gloried in, they are all our own hardnesses; But then There is also a hardness which is God's work; which is a Judiciary hardness, a judgement inflicted by God righteously upon men; who when they will harden themselves, God consents that they shall be hardened, and concurs to their hardening; so he is frequently said in Scripture, to harden Pharaoh's heart, and to harden whom he will: but this same Judiciary hardness of heart which is God's work, you must know it is not by God's infusing obstinacy and and malice into them, that God doth to none: but it stands in these three things, sometimes, By taking away from them, or denying them those means that might make their heart pliable to God: or 1. Secondly, In case they do enjoy the means, yet God withholding his blessing from the means: and Thirdly, 2. Permitting them, or so far withdrawing the bridle of 3. his restraining grace from them, as to permit them to abuse the means that they do enjoy, to their own ruin and further hardening; and thus was Pharaoh and his people hardened by the ministry of Moses and Aaron; and thus were the Israelites hardened by Isaiah's ministry, as you'll find it in Isaiah 6. the Lord said to him, go Isai. 6. 8, 9 to this people, and make their hearts hard; how was that? He should preach to them, but they should be given up to a fat heart, that is, a senseless, and a heavy ear, that is, a heedless ear; God would give them up to a senselessness, and heedlessness, that the more means they enjoyed, the more desperate and vile their hearts should grow: now then to draw up all this to my purpose, the Doctrine that I am to handle, wherein I am to show you, that hardening the heart against God, is a certain forerunner of destruction; I do not mean it of that natural hardness, that we all bring into the world, nor of that acquired hardness, that is found in every man, who hath but lived a while upon earth, nor of that partial or gradual hardness, that is in the best of God's people, much less of that felt, bewailed, bemoaned hardness, that is looked upon as a heavy judgement, by them that lie under it; though all these are sins, yet these are not the sins of my Text; but my Text means it of the chosen, voluntary, elected hardness, the Totall hardness, the reigning hardness, when men do obstinately, and willingly strengthen, and make firm their hearts in their sinful ways against God, and then God in his righteous judgement concurres, and saith be it so: when men do thus harden their hearts against God, be it a Family, be it a kingdom, be it one, or be they many, this hardening the heart against God, is a certain forerunner of utter destruction; Now you understand what the Lesson is, that The Doctrine proved. I am to handle, and First, I shall make it good, and plainly demonstrate the truth of it, out of the Scripture; and for the proof turn to three or four Texts, the one is that known signal Text in Prov. 29. 1. read it carefully; he that being often admonished, or reproved, hardens his neck; there is my very Doctrine, that after admonitions hardens his neck; what of him? Shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy; weigh all those words; First, What it is that is threatened against him, he that being often reproved, hardens his neck, what of him? He Prov. 29. 1. doth not say, he shall smart for it, he shall be afflicted, but he shall be destroyed; destruction is prepared for him; Secondly, He doth not say he is in danger of it, but he shall be destroyed; it is decreed in heaven, it is set down for him, he shall perish; and, Thirdly, That suddenly, he shall suddenly be destroyed; the Vision of his destruction is not for a long time to come, but his damnation sleepeth not, he shall suddenly be destroyed: Yea and that with out remedy; no power shall rescue him, no mercy shall pardon him, no Mediator shall intercede for him, there is no remedy, all the world cannot help it, the man that after many reproofs hardens his heart, shall be destroyed without any remedy; there is a place like it in the 28. of Proverbs, the very Chapter Prov. 28. 14. before it, and the 14. verse; He is a blessed man that fears always, that is the beginning of the Verse, he is a blessed man, he lives in a blessed state, whose heart suspects itself; O I shall sin, I shall offend God, I shall yield to my Corruption; he is a blessed man that fears always, but he that hardens his heart, he that dares venture upon ungodly erterprises, what of him? He shall fall into mischief; some render it in malum inprovisum, into unthought of mischief; hazardous men, hard hearted men, are suddenly before ever they think of it, caught: and in 2 Rom. 2. 5. the Apostle there Rom. 2. 5. speaks to such a hard hearted wretch as my Text means: Thou (saith he) after thy hardness of heart that cannot repent, treasurest up unto thyself, wrath against the day of wrath; mark ye, the hard heart it is Satan's treasury for sin, but it is God's treasury for wrath; Satan doth not lay up more wickedness in a hard heart, than God lays up vengeance in the Cellars of it, treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath: & were it needful I could give you abundance of examples out of God's Word; Pharaoh and the Egyptians are a famous one; 600000. Israelites in the Wilderness are another famous example of hardening hearts to ruin, when the hardness of their hearts made them all fall in the Wilderness; as you have it epitomised in Psalm. 95. and the latter end of it: and so many more in the Old and New Testament, that the time will not allow me to mention, Job hath a passage may serve for all, in Job 9 4. saith he, Who over hardened himself against God, and prospered? As if he should have said, I challenge all the World to bring an example of any one man that ever hardened his heart against God, and was not ruined by it; that expression, and prospered, is but an Affirmative for a Negative; bring me an example of one that carried away the victory, that was not lost in the War; but to make it yet more plain to you, be pleased to observe there are two things meet in this sin of hardness of heart, besides many Two things meet in this sin, which evidently prove that ruin attends it. other that might be said; but I say there are two things that will demonstrate to all the world, that it is a sin that must bring forth certain judgement: The one is, In the Nature of it, it is rebellion against God, it is 1. the trying of it out with God, whose will shall stand; It is made up of rebellion and not yielding▪ for God saith plainly to the hardened sinner, I will have such a thing done, no (saith the tother) I will have such a thing done; but saith God, if I be God, I'll have it done; saith the tother, I am resolved it shall be thus, and he tries it out: The sin of hardness of heart is made up of Rebellion and not yielding, he takes up the bucklers against God here, I will try, and when he hath done refuses to lay them down upon a Summons, but will stand it out to the utmost; Now (Brethren) it is not imaginable, that any thing but ruin should attend such an one; Gamaliel's speech in Acts 5. Beware (saith he) Act 5. 39 left ye be fighters against God; The hardened sinner enters into the lists to contend with God, and then saith Jer. 44 28. God, if it be come to that it shall be tried, whose word shall stand, mine or theirs; God speaks to the very case of some hardened sinners, that said to the Prophet Jeremiah they would do what is good in their eyes: well saith God, you have spoken the word, and we will try it out, whether you or I shall carry it; if poor worms dare enter the lifts and bid defiance to God and refuse to submit, they must perish: Secondly, there is this in this sin of hardness of heart, that, In the nature of it, it frustrates all the means that It frustrates all means of salvation. should possibly serve to save the soul from ruin; I say the sin of hardness of heart, in the nature of it, frustrates all those means which should tend to save the soul from ruin; Psal. 95. 7, 8. Heb. 3. 8. and therefore you'll find it ordinarily; If you'll hear God's voice harden not your heart, in the 95. psalm; so in Hebrews 3. 15. To day if you will hear my voice, harden not your heart, as they did in the wilderness; and my Text hath it again, they made their heart like an Adamant stone, that they might not hear the words that God had said to them; so that this is a sin that prevents all those Ordinances and means, which the Lord hath sanctified and appointed for reducing a soul from the ways of death; and this is noted of the Israelites in the wilderness, that though they had innumerable miracles and administrations of all sorts, they ate miracles, and drank miracles, and wore miracles, they had whatsoever might possibly do a people good, all these were lost to that people, how? only because of the hardness of their hearts; and so the Prophet Isaiah expresseth it, in the sixth of Isaiah, the Lord doth by the Prophet, (saith he) John 12. 40. Acts 19 9 Prov. 2. 19 harden their heart that they may never turn and be healed: Christ saith the same in John 12. 40. that this was the reason, why all the miracles that he had wrought among them, and all the Sermons that he had preached among them, did them no good, because their hearts were hardened: it is like a piece of stone, put into a bottles mouth, though you put it into the bottom of a well, no water gets into it, the stopple keeps all out; the sin of hardness of heart keeps the soul from receiving any good, it is like unto the harlot that Solomon speaks of, or rather like them that go in to the harlot, that none of them ever turn to take hold of the ways of life; so that because it is a sin, that is open Rebellion against God, and it is a sin that in the nature of it, rejecteth all the means that might make reconciliation with God, what can be expected; but the heart that goes on to harden itself must needs run into utter ruin. I have one thing more before I come to the Application, and that is to discover how this sin of hardness of heart may be known, the properties of it, that every soul may be able, when it comes to the Application, to give a right judgement of its own condition; and here I beseech you remember, that I do not come to inquire after hardness of heart in general, there is no living man upon earth, but his heart is hardened; there is no child of God living, but his heart is hardened, all the sinful motions and inclinations that are found in us, they are all the fruits of hardness of heart; all that rebellion that Paul speaks of in the seventh to the Romans, a law in the members rebelling against the law of the mind, and leading of him captive, it is all the fruit of hardness of heart but all hardness is not the hardness of my Text; all How this destructive hardness may be found. hardness of heart is not destructive hardness, is not ruining hardness; hardness felt, hardness bemoaned, hardness lamented and striven against is softness in God's esteem; and is so far from being a forerunner of ruin, that it is an evidence of salvation; but it is this destroying damning hardness of heart, that I would inquire the properties of, and set them before you out of the word of God: and there are six things that I have thought upon, whereby this destroying damning hardness of heart doth manifest itself, First, Take that which is most usual in the Scripture, the 1. Lord ordinarily expresses this devilish hardness of heart, Such an hardened heart is frequently compared to an untamed Bullock. Deut. 9 19 32. 15. Jer. 31. 18. 2 Chron. 36. 13. Nehem. 9 29. Psal. 75. 5. Jer. 7. 26. 17. 23. Exod. 32. 9 33. 35. Which comparison affords two evidences. If it can possible it will not be yoked. by the comparison of an untamed heifer, of a bullock that refuses to carry the yoke, to draw, or to plow; very often in the book of God doth the Lord describe this hardened sinner by the comparison of an untamed heifer, in reference to the yoke: Now in an untamed heifer, there are these two things remarkable to my purpose: the one is, That if it be possible, it will throw off the yoke that you would put upon it, turning away the neck, rinching the shoulder, using its strength, and all that it hath, to keep the yoke that it may not come upon the neck of it: or secondly, If you do get the yoke over the neck, and compel it to be under the yoke, than it pines away, frets and fumes, and bellows, and takes on, but work it will not; just thus is this hardened heart, God hath two yokes; The one is, 2 If by force the yoke be put upon it, it will fret and pine away but not work. The yoke of his commandments, which he commands every soul to take upon its self, this yoke, this hardened wretch throws away with indignation, that you may say of a hardened heart in reference to the yoke of obedience, as Job speaks of the unicorn, in the 39 of Job, Canst thou entreat him to carry thy yoke and to plow thy ground? can thy fair words persuade him to do it? (saith he) so do you think any allurements for God, shall make this wretched man carry the yoke of God's commandments? no, he throws them off, what God would have him do he will not do, but than God hath another yoke, that this creature cannot keep off: and that is, The yoke of correction, the yoke of judgement, and when the Lord puts that yoke upon him, than he pines away, frets, swelters himself, and as the Prophet Ezekiel expresses it, in the 24. of Ezekiel, You shall not weep, that is, you shall not weep with any godly sorrow, but ye shall Ezek. 24. 23. pine away in your iniquities: and the Lord expresses it in the 51. of Isaiah: Thy sons do faint (in the 20. verse) they are like a Bull caught in a net, full of the fury of the Lord, there thy sons are fallen, I have yoked them, they would not carry my yoke of obedience, but I have yoked them with judgement; and how are they under it? there they lie like a Bull in a net, full of the fury of the Lord, yelling and roaring: thus the hardened heart is like an untamed heifer, the yoke of God's commandments it will not carry, and the yoke of judgements though it must carry, yet it doth not profit by them, but only pines away by discontent under them; This first note of a hardened heart I give only for your memory's sake, because the matter of it will come in the things that follow. And secondly, another property of this hardened heart that my Text speaks of, is, That it is an insensible heart; Nabals heart is said to be 2. like a stone, sensible of nothing, though all belonging to A hard heart is an unsensible heart. him was like to come to ruin; Nabals heart had no sense of any thing, so is this wretch, this wretched creature I am speaking of, let God's wrath be threatened to him, though he lie under it, he feels it not; let his own unkindness be opened, he is not sensible of it, let heaven shake over him, let the earth shake under him, let his estate shake, let his house quake, nothing moves him, let death be ready to shake him, hell ready to devour him, he apprehends nothing, he is like the drunkard that Solomon speaks of in the 23. of Proverbs, that lies asleep Prov. 23. 34, 35. upon the top of a mast, they have beaten me, (saith he) but I did not feel it, they have wounded me, but I did not know it; nothing that the Lord doth to them, or that his word saith to them, makes them sensible of any thing, a hardened heart is an insensible heart; that is another property of it: Thirdly, this hardened heart of my Text, Is an impenitent heart indeed, the hardness of heart is 3. but an aggravation of impenitence, but he is resolutely A hard heart is an impenitent heart. an impenitent person, he is one that goes on in the ways of sin, and will not be took off from the ways of sin; A hardened heart, you may truly say of it, it is a Rock to God, but it is wax to the devil; it is inexorable to the requests of God, but it is most yielding to the allurements of the devil; God's seed will not grow in this rock, but the devil's seed grows best of all there; they obey not the truth but willingly obey unrighteousness, they are stones to God, but wax to the devil; indeed to harden the heart, and to go on resolutely in a way of sinning against God, is all one, take it as the Apostle expresses it in the second of the Romans, thus, (saith he) Rom. 2. 5. after thy hardness and heart that cannot repent: a resolute hearted man is like a Blackmore, that cannot change his skin; like a Leopard that cannot change her spots: it is set and bent to go on in the ways of sin; that is another property: Fourthly, This hardened heart doth not only go● on in the ways of sin, but goes on in them against 4. all admonition, and all helps against, and means to the A hard heart goes on, notwithstanding all means to the contrary. contrary, whatsoever dispensation there is from heaven appearing to take him off from his sins, the hardened heart hath a non abstante, though preached against, though threatened, though allured by promises, though terrified by judgements, the hardened heart is Sermon-proof, is judgement-proof; Eli's sons they were not only wicked, but they harkened not to the voice of their Father when he made them a good Sermon from God, yet because God meant to destroy them, he had given them up to hardness of heart, the counsel of their Father wrought not one whit upon them; so Solomon saith of him in Proverbs 29. he that having been often reproved, hardens his heart; Jeremy compares him to a wild Ier. 2. 24. ass, Ier. 2. all that seek to catch him labour in vain, Israel had loved strangers, and after them he would go, if God in his Word mourn to them they will not weep, if the Word pipe to them they will not dance, if he offer to draw them with cords of love, they will not follow, if by his judgements he stand in their way, as the Angel did against Balaam with a drawn Sword, yet on they will, like the smith's Dog, they can sleep when the sparks fly about their ears; he is like a man in iron, an armed man, strike him with a staff, cut him with a Sword, all is one, he hath armour of proof, keeps out both, men who thus go on are hardened to destruction: Fiftly, Another property of this hardened wretch is, that they make but a mock and scorn either of the sins that 5. they walk in, or of any judgements, or plagues that may A hard heart slights and scorns counsels or threatenings. Gen. 19 14. betide them for their sins; as it is said of Lot's sons in law, their father told them of their sins, and told them of the judgement, but (saith the Text) he seemed to his sons in law as one that mocked: they jeered him, and they thought he jeered them, they are like the Matth. 7. 4. Swine that our Saviour speaks of, throw a pearl before them, they will tread it under their feet; they make a scorn of them, tell them of their offences against God, and of the ruin of their souls, they are like Leviathan that the spirit of God speaks of, in the 41. of Job come Job 41. 24. 27. upon him with spears and swords, they are but as stubble to him, and straws, he laughs at them, he says, Aha, like the horse in the middle of the battle, neighs and laughs at the danger; so when a heart goes on in a hardened Deut. 29. 19 way it makes a jest, and a scorn of all the evils you can threaten against him, he saith, Tush, I shall have peace though I add drunkenness to thirst, these threatenings are nothing, this wind shakes not my corn; and I'll add but one more, and that is, When the heart goes on in this destructive way, it doth 6. oppose and set against all those as enemies who would A hard heart: opposeth and sets against them as enemies who would stop them in their wicked ways▪ Exod. 10. 28. stop them in their way; and when once the soul is come to that pass, then in truth is Satan set upon his throne, than they are the devil's cushion, or his pillow; and this the hardened heart ordinarily doth, you may see it in Pharaoh; when Moses still followed him from God, and he could not be rid of him, than he gave him this answer, come no more to me, I'll hang you the next time you come, see my face no more, if ever thou comest to me again with these messages, thou shalt die for it; and so likewise Amaziah, you may read of him in 2 Chron. 25. when he was fallen into the sin of Idolatry, God 2 Chron. 25. 16. sent a Prophet to him to admonish him; forbear (saith the King to him) who made you of the King's council? hold your tongue, else you'll be smitten, than saith the Prophet, by this I know that God means to destroy thee; when they are like unto them our Lord speaks of, in the seventh of Matthew, not only as swine, that trample the pearl under their feet, but like Dogs worry them Matth. 7. 4, 5. that offer to bestow the precious things upon them: in one word, David describes them excellently in the 23. Chap. of the second of Samuel about the sixth and seventh verses: 2 Sam. 23. 6. The sons of Belial, that is the hard hearted men of my Text, for a child of Belial is a child without a yoke, that will not carry God's yoke, mark how he describes them, the sons of Belial are like thorns; thorns that may not be taken with hands, but the man that touches them, must be fenced with iron, and the staff of a spear, there is no coming near them; when men are set upon their ways, that they hate him that reproves in the gate, and declare themselves opposite unto all those that would bring them in to God; there is the hard heart that my Text mentions, to this pass was Israel and Judah come, 2 Chron. 36. 15, 16. 2 Chron. 36. 15. They transgressed greatly, and the Lord sent to them by his messengers rising early, because he had compassion on them. But they mocked his messengers, despised his words, and misused his Prophets, than the wrath of God broke out against them and there was no remedy: so that in a word, when men are come to be stiffnecked against God, senseless, and remorseless, boldly going on in sin against all mercies and means, and make a scorn of sin and judgement, and declare themselves enemies to those that would reduce them into a better condition, these are the men that my text means, and that fall under this Character, their damnation sleepeth not; I come now to the Application of it; and there are many excellent uses that we might make of it, three or four I shall by the Lord's help communicate at this time; First, I earnestly entreat you to examine your own souls, use 1. Terror to all who harden themselves against God. whether none of you fall under this Character; I am assured, there is not a soul in this Assembly, but hath hardness of heart in him; I shall be far from threatning destruction to every soul that is hard-hearted, but I desire you to examine whether you are not one of these hardened sinners my text speaks of, the Lord help you to look inwardly and say, Lord, is not this my case? say once again, Art not thou resolved to go on in thy way, what ever come of it? hath not God enlightened thy conscience, that the ways that thou walkest in, are the ways that lead to death? art not thou set notwithstanding to go on in that way, though God sometimes follow thee with judgements? dost thou not cast the judgements off, if it be possible, or lie and vex under them, and yet go on? hath not God oftentimes in the ministry of his word met with thee, in thy wicked ways, and showed thee the evil and the danger of them, and thou resolutely goest on, that thou hast made thy heart like a piece of the nether millstone, as God saith of Leviathan's? art thou come to this pass? hear a word or two from God, thou miserable wretched man, knowest thou what thou hast undertaken? dost thou understand that thou hast sent a challenge to God? dost thou understand that thou art in defiance with heaven? dost thou understand (I say) that the Lord God almighty is entered the lists against thee? or wilt thou not understand it? or now when thou hearest it, do not thy joints tremble? art thou able to hold u● the weapons, when he comes to strike? know thou for certain, that it is the interest of God, to destroy all those that will try it out with him, he would even hereby be known to be Jehovah, in the 40. of Job, If thou be'st God (faith he) show thyself; Job 40. 11. how? pluck down every proud man, abase them, lay them low, batter them; be assured of it, thou art a lost man, thou art an unequal match for him, the greatest Kings and Monarchs, the stoutest Champions, the strongest Giants have met with their matches, but the Lord whom thou defyest never met with his match, and I tell thee he is preparing for thee; God it may be hath not struck yet, but he is turning his grindstone, he is sharpening his tools, he is preparing his arrows, he hath them ready at the very face of thee, and thou wretched man wilt be found to be but as stubble before God's devouring fire, thou art an undone man, who ever thou art, that hast dared thus to exalt thyself against the Lord, and if any of you that hear this Sermon do know any who are thus resolutely set to go on in their wicked ways, any such insolent worm which dares thus lift up itself against its Creator, I'll give you that counsel that Moses did give to the Israelites concerning Korah, Dathan, Numb. 16. 26. and Abiram, who were in the like rebellion, that these men are in, Get you all of you up from the tents of these men, lest you perish with them, get you up from them, have nothing to do with them; it is the terriblest thing in the world to be found to fight against God: O that you would all examine your own hearts upon it: Then secondly, This lesson doth to my apprehension speak wonderful 2. sadly concerning our poor distressed England at this Lament the sad condition of England, our obstinacy against God a sadder token of ruin then all other judgements which lie upon us. day; truly the dangers that this kingdom of England is in at this day, are not to be expressed; It pleases God that we are compassed round about with mischiefs, and one depth calls to another, and almost every day brings up a new cloud, and for aught mortal man can see, the issue of blood, which we hoped had been staunched, is like to be opened again in as dreadful a manner as ever, yet it was Ships revolted on one side, others contrary to Leagues and Covenants invading on the other side, tumults in every corner of the kingdom, that we are all at our wits ends, but (in God's presence I speak it) I fear the threatening of this doctrine more, than I do all the revolted Ships, than I do Duke Hamiltons army, or all others who by Sea or Land are endeavouring to hurt us. The kingdom, the body of the kingdom of England is brass and iron; let us all, especially you that are the representative body of the kingdom, if we have any bowels in us, let us join and bemoan it now we speak of it, God hath steeped England in the oil of mercies, we are not melted one whit, he hath ground us under terrible judgements, we are as hard as ever rock was; we are broken like a flint stone into 100 pieces, and every piece as hard as the whole stone was; go from one end of the kingdom to the other (pardon me if I use the received expressions) let men be Cavaliers or Roundheads, Royalists or Parliamentiers, give them what style you will, all are brass and iron; the generality of the kingdom resolutely goes on rebelling against the Lord God; but go into any town, go into the places of public resort, view the city, view the Countries, see whether men be not everywhere set upon mischief and madness, the ministry of the word overborne, bulrushes as able to stop a current as all the endeavours of that handful of men that stand for God, are able to stop the inundation of people's sins, lying, swearing, debauchedness, blasphemy, heresy, profaneness of every kind, almost all in rebellion against God, and no man almost lays it to heart: indeed we have our monthly Fasts kept up, but alas, they are brought to a mere formality; but so did these Jews in the Text, threescore years and ten together, Fast after Fast, but God loathed them, because they tended the ceremony, and neglected the substance, piety and justice, and turning from wicked ways, and even so do we in the mean time like the anvil grow harder for all the strokes are upon us; surely Gods wrath is great against us, Pharaoh's hard heart was a worse plague than all his other plagues put together, and the obstinacy and hardness of heart throughout the land is the greatest plague we can lie under, and will prove, if infinite mercy prevent it not, the sluice or floodgate to let in destruction, let us sadly lay these things to heart, and mourn before him because of them, and rather wonder at God's patience then at our plagues; and certainly, if God go on to lay our pleasant land desolate, and to scatter us as with a whirlwind, though now we can lay the cause of our calamities at one another's doors, God will make us all know that it was our obstinacy of heart against him that hath brought ruin upon us; the Lord teach us to jay it to heart upon this day of our humiliation; Secondly, Is the sin of hardness of heart so destroying a sin? use 2. Therefore a heart of flesh is an excellent grace▪ 2 Chron. 34. 27. Iob. 23. 16. what cause then have they to bless the Lord to whom God hath given a tender, soft heart, a heart of flesh, such an heart as Joshua had, 2 Chron. 34. thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself; who can say with Job, God hath made my heart soft; if any soul in this Assembly hath obtained a softened heart, let him know that in that one gift God hath given him the quintessence of all the grace of the new Covenant; God made all the new Covenant good in that one promise, I will give you a heart of flesh, to have the heart of stone taken Ezck. 11. 19 away, and to have a fleshy heart in the room of it, is an unvaluable mercy, God delights to dwell in a house thus broken, where the floor is soft, where the rain comes in, and you have infinite cause to praise God for it: but because I would not be mistaken, I pray you know, that all tenderness and brokenness is not that heart of flesh that I mean; There is a natural tenderness that some men have, a compassionating spirit, so that they can hardly see another in misery, but will weep with him, and yet it may be their hearts are as hard against God, as Leviathans is against a spear; and there is another tenderness, that is a legal brokenness, when God it may be seizes upon the heart with a spirit of trembling, that they are stabbed with the apprehensions of wrath, and so are like unto Cain, that wheresoever he goes, he was in the land of Nod, that is, in the land of trembling; this trembling heart is a curse threatened, the Lord shall give thee a Deut. 28. 65. Levit. 26. trembling heart, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the land of their enemies, and the sound of a shaking leaf shall chase them; I mean neither of these, but that evangelical broken heart, that is contrary to the sin of my Text, is nothing but an heart willing to lay down the bucklers before God, that saith with Job, Lord I have How such a heart may be known. done foolishly, I will do so no more; the heart that yields to God: and that will appear by these four things, one is, that To such a heart, the relics of the hardness of their hearts is a most uncomfortable burden, the stone in their 1. It's a heart complaining of its hardness. bladder, or the stone in their kidneys, though it afflict their sense more, yet doth not afflict their inward man, their heart, so much as the obstinacy, and obdurateness, and wretchedness, that they find in their own soul against God; O Lord, why hast thou caused us to err from thy ways? and hardened our hearts from thy fear? so also Ephraim mourned, I have been chastised, but I am like an untamed heifer that will not carry God's yoke; a heart that mourns under his hardness is a tender heart; to feel and complain of hardness is softness, it's an evident sign that there is underneath a living and quick part upon which this hardness presses, else there would be no complaining of it: Secondly, It is a heart that the meditation of God's kindness 2. and its own unkindness maketh relent; the thought It's a heart wrought upon by arguments of love, by Gospel arguments. that God should spare them, pity them, doth most affect them: thus the hardened Jews in Zachary, those that had been most hard against God, yet when they looked upon Christ whom they had pierced, who came to save them, they wept like a child; this Lord we have pierced, we have crucified the Lord of life: If any arguments work at all upon hardened sinners, they are such as these, Tophet is prepared for you, you are going to a place of blackness and darkness, to a lake burning with fire and brimstone, where you will wail and gnash your teeth, but arguments taken from God's love and bowels of mercy do most melt a tender heart, when the Lord had turned and softened that harlot's heart; Ezek. 16. this most affected her that he was reconciled to her whom she had broken with her whorish heart, this Evangelical, fleshly heart relents, and bleeds at the thoughts of God's kindness and its own unkindness; and then thirdly, it appears in this, A Gospel-softned heart is afraid of sin, a very coward 3. to any evil, this heart hath not courage enough A soft heart is afraid to sin. to try the power of God's displeasure, How can I, how dare I do this wickedness and sin against God? hard hearted Iob. 31. 23. men dare venture upon such bloody things, but a softened heart saith with Job, destruction from the Almighty is a terror to me, and by reason of his highness, I cannot endure; David whose heart was as a Lion, feared not to encounter Prov. 28. 14. with Lions, bears, Giants, yet his flesh trembled at any thing which might offend his God; this sign of a gracious tender heart you find, Prov. 28. 14. in the opposition between a fearful heart and a hard heart; Blessed is the man that feareth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into evil; the heart which feareth always is the heart which out of the love of God would not sin, yet out of the consideration of its own proneness to evil suspects itself, and fears it shall be surprised, this frame of spirit is thus opposed to a hard heart. This same fleshly heart, is a heart upon which God's seal leaves a print, God's counsel I mean, his Word, threatenings, exhortations, or whatsoever comes from him, leaves a stamp upon him; It is a heart that is wax to God, willing to be moulded, resigns up itself to be to God what God would have it to be, as well as it can; if this heart be at any time drawn into sin when God appears displeased, it saith, I have done foolishly, I will do so no more, it lays down the Buckler and yields to God, God's argument prevails with it, and therefore is ordinarily expressed by having God's Law written upon the fleshly Tables of their heart, easily moulded to God's will as much as its frailty can attain unto; it saith, Lord I am full of Rebellion, full of distempers, but I would not bear up arms against my God, I would yield to him, I would follow him; if it be thus with thee, thou hast got the grace of the new Covenant, most opposite to the most damnable sin that can be found amongst men; oh forget not to bless God daily for it: The last and prinpall use I intend is, use 3. Exhortation and direction against this great sin. For exhortation; because this sin of a hard heart is such a destroying sin, such a ruining sin, therefore I shall desire to give you some helps how this great evil may be prevented, if we be not yet come up to it; how it may be cured, if any of us lie under it; And If the Lord have cured it, how we may be preserved, that we do not return to it: But first take a few motives to provoke you to labour and strive against this cursed Motives to strive against it. evil of a hard heart: I pray you consider in the first place; We are all hard by nature, not only a Pharaoh, a Senacherib 1. or Julian are hard hearted, but we are all so naturally; We are all hard hearted by nature. and that man that hath the stone by nature, if he be not wonderful careful, it will grow upon him; our whole family are liable to the Stone says one, therefore I must be wary, I must look to it; and the rather look to it, because it is not an easy thing to get hardness out of a rock; thy heart is a rock, and if thou dost not look to it, thou wilt not get hardness out of it, it will grow upon thee, and thou knowest not whither it may come in time; Consider secondly, That while thou art under the plague of a hard heart, 2. thou art under all the curses of God, God hardens his While we are under it our condition is miserable. against thee, while thou hardnest thy heart against him, none of all thy services are accepted, thy person is rejected; every thing is accursed, all goes cross to the soul that is hardened before God: Consider thirdly, (for I'll but point at things.) All that God aims at, by all his dealings towards thee, 3. is but to bring thee upon thy knees, that thou mayst not All God's strokes tend to soften thee. harden thyself against him; why dost thou think he brings thee to Church to hear? why doth he give thee leave to speak to him in prayer? why doth he visit thee with afflictions? why doth he pour upon thee so many mercies? what doth every stroke think thou speak? what doth every dispensation speak? nothing but this, remember the battle, do so no more, rebel not against thy God, stand not up against him, when all that God aims at is, to give thee quarter, terms, articles of safety, and honour to thee, do not stand out to thy ruin; again, consider this, If thou stand out, it will certainly end ill; I confess 4. the greatest Monarchs upon earth have sometimes met Thou wilt be ruined if thou stand out. with their match, but the Lord God never yet met with his match; never anybody that stood out against him, that ever made him raise his siege, if he hath once pitched down before them, it is in vain; some besieged have first eaten Horse flesh, and afterwards eat Dogs and Cats before they would yield, and sometime succour hath come, but when all is done, a breach will be made on thee, and thou wilt be taken; Gideon told the Princes of Succoth who refused his request; when he came back, he would tear them with Briars and thorns of the wilderness, and he made his word good; believe it, God will tear thee with Briars and Thorns, if thou yield not to him; yet know for certain; If thou lay down thy weapons and refuse standing 5. out obstinately against God, he will be cordially If thou yield the quarrel is ended, and thou wilt be spared. reconciled, all quarrels will be ended if once thou give over hardening thy heart against him, his heart will be tender toward thee, the Lord expresses it excellently in the 27. Chap. of Isaiah; who would set Briars and thorns in battle against me? what man Esay 27. 4. would be so mad, to set Briars and thorns to fight with devouring fire? well, if they will do it, if they make that choice, I shall go through them, and burn them up, but (saith he) rather let him lay hold upon my strength, that he may make peace, and he shall make peace with me, fury is not in me; though thou hast hitherto hardened thy self against him, he is yet to be won, mercy may yet be found, lay hold upon his strength, say unto him, Lord, here I lay down my weapons, I have been a wretch, a rebel, I have sinned, I am guilty, but I come with my halter about my neck, he will make peace, he will grant thee very honourable quarter; Elihu sets forth this notably in Job 33. after God hath battered the strong holds of a sinner by preaching, by visions, by dreams, by corrections and judgements to withdraw man from his sinful purposes, yet if when he is ready to perish, when his soul draws nigh to destruction, he will but yield and call for an interpreter, one of a thousand to show him righteousness, Then will God be gracious to him and deliver him from going down to the pit. To prevent this killing sin, if as yet thou be not under means how to prevent this sin of hardness of heart. the dominion of it: First, Beware lest ye be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; mark ye, there is a deceitfulness in sin, 1. that will harden men before they are aware; many a man Take heed of the deceitfulness of sin. Heb. 3 12. thinks thus, shall I hear arms against God? God forbid, I had rather be struck dead from heaven with a thunderbolt, than ever harden my heart against God; this is his thought, but sin cozens him into it, he is cheated into it, as in our civil troubles, many a man is wrapped into an engagement, that if he saw the bottom of it, he would die before ever he would yield to it; but when he is once in, he knows not how to get out; so is it here, but beware that sin do not cozen and harden you through its deceitfulness; though we are all hard, yet this killing hardness comes on by degrees, and the first thing that lets it in, is the pleasure that sin brings to the soul, the bewitching pleasure of it, and then a man's thoughts are only to give himself content, but means no hurt against God, little thinks that he begins to fight against God, but the pleasure of his sin hath bewitched him, and then that pleasure brings him to repeat it again and again, and so to come to a custom of it, and afterwards to defend it, and then in the end to come to a direct opposition of what ever would take him off from it, thus men are entangled by the deceitfulness of it; watch therefore against all the alluring baits of that sinful flesh that dwells in thee: This in general; but More particularly there are three sins, that you must take marvelous heed of, if you would not be hardened; More particularly beware the one is, The sin of unbelief, that which brought all the 1 Of unbelief. Psal. 9 5. Heb. 2. 12. 15. 16. Israelites to their hardness in the wilderness, you have it in the third of the Hebrews, If ye will hear my voice harden not your hearts as your fathers did in the wilderness, but how came they to be hardened? the holy Ghost tells you the spring of it in the 16. and 18. Verses, for some when they had heard the word provoked him, even they that believed not, they would not believe God, and so they grew hardened; therefore the Apostle exhorts in the same place to take heed that there be not an evil heart of unbelief; when the Israelites were in the wilderness, God had made them many promises, but they did not see them accomplished, he had made many threatenings and they did not always presently light upon them, and because they saw not God's word presently fulfilled, therefore they believed not, and because they did not believe and rest upon God's word, therefore their hearts grew hard, senseless, careless and bold in sin, and then, Pride and high thoughts of ourselves, are wonderful hardening evils; nothing upon earth makes a man so desperate 2 Of pride. in the ways of sin as self-conceitedness; and therefore in the Scripture very often, the Bullocks stiff neck, and a proud heart signify one and the same thing, Lift not up your horns on high, speak not with a stiff neck: Psal. 75. 5. Ier. 43. 2. you have a notable example in the 43. of Jeremiah of men who obstinately would go into Egypt against the express word of God, and in the 44. Chapter they said they would do that which was good in their own eyes; but who were they? the Prophet tells us, they were all the proud men: And thirdly, Hypoctiticall and formal attending upon ordinances 3. without attaining the inward power, is one of the greatest Of hypocritical and formal performances of Religious duties. hardners in the world; you see it in these of my Text, what was it hardened them all these threescore and ten years? nothing more than their monthly Fasts, their frequent Fasts, and their daily prayings to God. The stubborn, hardened and impudent harlot you read of Prov. 7. what was it made her so bold in her filthiness that she will take her fill of love till the morning? why, Prov. 7. 11, &c. this secured her, I have had my peace-offerings this day, and paid my vows, I have had a day of Fast, or a day of thanksgiving, attended upon ordinances; so when men do perform ordinary holy duties, and rest in the shell of them, they lick themselves whole with them; though I live in such a sin, yet I pray, I read so many Chapters every day, I keep the Fast as constantly as any man, I go to Church, this hardens the heart in a way of sin; this is the first direction, beware that you be not cozened into hardness by the deceit of sin; secondly, another means to prevent hardness, is, To beware of the abuse of God's patience & bounty: The 2. wretched heart of man being prone to be bold in sin by Abuse of God's patience of mercy. Eccless. 8. 11. nature, is made more bold, when it observes God lets men alone to take liberty to sin against him; Solomon expresses this clearly in the eighth of Ecclesiastes, Vers. 11. Because (saith he) sentence against an evil one is not presently executed, God spares him, what then? Therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil; resolutely set to go on in a way of sin, because they see that others scape well enough, as the soldier when he first goes into the battle, while he is a fresh water soldier he fears and trembles, and dares not be where he hears the bullets whizz about, but he comes off safe, and it may be of 1000 men not 100 killed, than he grows bold the next time, and in time dare go upon the canon's mouth; and so Mariners at Sea, at first quake, but when they come off storm after storm, they think they shall come off still; so the wretched heart of man, observing God's patience and indulgence towards sinful men, takes liberty to go on and concludes with that wretched man, Deut. 29. who blesseth himself and saith, I shall have Deut. 29. 19 peace though I walk after the lusts of my own heart, adding drunkenness to thirst, he blesseth himself when God curseth him, but for the Lord's sake, watch you against it, for that is a woeful hardening, when that that should bring a man to repentance, hardens his heart, and of such God protests he will not spare them, but the anger and jealousy of God shall smoke against him, & all the curses written in the book of God shall light upon him: And thirdly, Beware of the examples of others, the common multitude 3. going on in any way of sin, especially when they Examples of others. that do it are great men, and it may be some of them good men, this emboldens men in their evil ways; it is a wonderful means to make them hardened in sin, when they see the sin which they commit is common; & we are prone to think there is no danger in that which many men, great men, good men practise; the abominable sin of Sodom, the sin for which God destroyed Sodom, they say there is no man almost in the Eastern Countries makes any conscience of it, because it is a common sin, yet they make conscience of murder, theft, drunkenness, &c. but because this is a common sin they regard it not; these things I commend unto you to prevent this sin of hardening your hearts: But suppose the soul be under it, what is then to be done? If thou be'st under the sin of hardness of heart, I 2. mean if hardness reign in thee, if thou be come up to How to cure this sin of hardness of heart. the height of it, I have little hope to do thee good, yet many have very resolutely gone on, and through God's mercy have been cured; and there are two ways to cure the stone in the heart as well as the stone in the bladder; the one is, To break it; the other is, To dissolve it. I shall only point at them, they cannot be sufficiently handled in a little piece of a Sermon. 1. If thou wouldst have the stone of thy heart broken, then How to break it. attend upon these three things; the one is, Study to be convinced that this is thy condition, 1. search throughly and rest not until thou say feelingly, I, here lies a stone indeed, I am this hardened wretch, when the Leper was so far convinced, that he covers his lips, and goes out and cries, I am unclean, I am unclean, he was in the way to a cure, so do thou, study to be convinced, Lord I am like an untamed heifer, I am a hard hearted wretch, my heart is set in me to mischief; till the Lord convince thee of it, there is no hope that any means will ever do thee good: Secondly, The ordinances of God, especially the preaching of his 2. word, and in it the denunciations and threatenings of wrath and vengeance, they are as a hammer to break this Rock; Is not my word a hammer? (saith God) do not I Jer. 23. 29. break the rocks? wouldst thou have the stone in thy heart broken? bring it under the bout-hammer of God's Word, sit thee under a plain and faithful ministry, and apply to ●hy soul the denunciations of wrath and judgement due to thy sin, and pray God to set it home to thy soul; leave not till thy heart sink under the stroke of the Word, as the Butcher follows the hard head of the Bullock with blow after blow until it lie along upon the floor; follow thy heart thus with blow upon blow, read over thy ways, and thy doings that have not been good, and say not this will be a very hard task, thou hadst better do this than perish, better turn then burn; and besides the Word, Take the judgements or corrections of God, that are upon thee to break thee; a good shower and a plough 3. together helps notably to break the clods in the fields; Blessed is the man whom God chastiseth, and teacheth; when God follows thee with corrections, consider of them, say thus, God visits me, my family, my wife, my state, my soul, my children, &c. I am never from under the rod, what is the matter? Lord what is it? show me why thou contendest with me; Surely; for my iniquity I am smitten, all this is come upon me for my rebellion, O my soul I shall find it hard striving against the Lord, I do but kick against pricks in the time of adversity: consider, these are means to break the stone; but Above all I commend the sweet way of cure, by the dissolving of it; and that is only by faith in the blood of How to dissolve it. Jesus Christ, lay hold upon Christ by faith: I know not how true it is, but some say, the blood of a Goat will in time dissolve an adamant, but certainly there is a slain goat, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood is able to dissolve the heart that is like an Adamant; Christ's blood will turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh; you see it in the Jews, those hard hearted wretches, that when they were put in choice, whether they would have Christ, or Barabbas, spared Barabbas and crucified Jesus; yet these hard hearted sinners when they come to hear from Acts 2. Peter, that they had crucified the Lord of life who yet was willing to save them, they cry out, Men and brethren, what shall we do? crucified the Lord of life! Lord are we guilty of such a thing against a Saviour, and in the 12. of Zachariah, which place intends the conversion of Zach. 12 10. the whole nation, They shall look upon him, whom they have pierced, and shall weep, as one weepeth for the loss of an only child; if then thou wouldst have thy obdurate heart, thy hardened heart, if thou woul'dst have it in truth yield to God, go and sit thee with Mary near Christ's cross, and hear him say behold thy Saviour, as he spoke to Mary, behold thy son, and to John, behold thy Mother; so sit thou and think that thou didst hear Jesus Christ calling to thee, Behold thy Saviour, see the son of God dying, shedding his blood, that thou Mayst not die, and be damned; though thy sins have nailed me here, this blood that flows from me shall wash thee, and shall keep thee that thou shalt not perish, look thus upon him, this will do the deed, this will melt thy heart, this will dissolve it, so that thou canst not choose but go alone and say, Ah unkind wretch, that ever I shall bear arms against such a God This is the way to dissolve the stone, to melt thy heart; I have one thing more; when God hath cured it, Beware that hardness grow not upon thee again; 3. though thou drive it away once it will turn again: Know How to keep the softened heart from growing hard again. all ye people of God, that though a converted man cannot become a rock again, yet he may become very hard, he may be frozen as hard as ice; though good ground will never be a rock, yet good ground may be very hard Watch against hardening, which steals upon us when for want of ploughing, and lose many a season, and it must be torn, and torn again before ever it will be fit for seed again, thou Mayst be so far hardened, as to have cause to cry out with the Church, Lord, why is my heart hardened from thy fear? therefore when God hath made thy heart tender, and softened thee, labour to keep it so, watch over thyself, that thou do not depart from it, and to help you, remember these few brief directions; Observe thy heart very diligently when it grows lazy 1. as the Church did, who when her beloved came, and We grow lazy. would have come to her, she had put off her coat, and she was loath to foul her feet; when I say, thou findest thy heart grow lazy, thou beginnest to harden. When thou findest thy appetite gone, that thou dost not relish the Ordinances of God, and communion with 2. Our appetite fails. him, when thou canst turn thy back upon those fellowships, and communions with God, that heretofore have been more precious to thee then thy life; or When thou findest thy heart grown self-conceited, that thou art some body in thy own eyes. 3. When thou growest pettish, and wayward to them that Become self-conceited. admonish thee, that thou growest choleric, and art impatient 4. Or unwilling to be admonished. to be plainly dealt with, than is thy heart hardened, and look to thyself betimes, let it not grow upon thee; do as men will do in other diseases, I find the stone growing upon me, I shall have another terrible fit of it, if I prevent it not, I must take a little timely physic, use the means before prescribed both to break it and dissolve it, yea before these things grow upon thee, use these former prescriptions for preventing it, and be very much in prayer to thy tender hearted Saviour, to keep thy heart tender, he only can do it, and he will do it, if thou seek to him, and rely strongly upon him to do it, according to his Covenant of Grace, wherein he hath bound himself to take away the heart of stone, and to give his people a heart of flesh, use (I say again) these means carefully, otherwise if thou harden thy heart against God, God will harden his heart against thee, and he will make thy heart ache, and thy bones quake before thy peace shall be made, the Lord give you to consider of these things. There is another Use of this Lesson to the whole kingdom how to prevent our threatened desolation: O how glad would we all be to find some expedient to save the kingdom! why, certainly this would do it, could we think of a way how this brass and Iron, this rock of England might relent before God, and lay down the Bucklers, that would save England, and nothing else will do it; What might be of use to England over and above what is already spoken, cannot now be delivered, the time being more than spent, nor can my voice reach England, but our prayers may reach Heaven where our tender Lord is; let us therefore turn what might be spoken in a Sermon to England into a prayer for England. FINIS.