most compassionate and tender-hearted to others afflicted with the same wofull terrours and troubles of conscience A woman which hath herselfe with extraordinary paine tasted of that exquisite torture of child birth is wont to bee more tenderly and mercifully disposed towards another in the like torment then she that never knew what that miserie meant And is more ready willing and skillfull to relieve in such distresses It is proportionably so in the present Case But the Alien beeing tainted in some measure with the Divels hatefull disposition is by the heate of his slavish horrour rather enraged with malice then resolved into mercy Hee is rather tickled with a secret content then touched with true commiseration to see and heare of others plunged into the same gulphe of misery and plagued like Himselfe Hee is much troubled with his solenesse in suffering and the singularity of any sorrowfull Accident Companion-ship in crosses doth something allay the discomforts of carnall men So that sometimes they secretly but very sinfully reioyce such is their dogged divelish disposition even to see the hand of God upon their neighbours Neither can hee in such extremeties minister any meanes of helpe or true comfort at all either by prayer counsell or any experimentall skill because the evill spirit of his vexed conscience was not driven away by any well-grounded application of Gods mercies and Christs blood but as Saules was by Musicke worldly mirth carnall advise Soule-slaying flatteries of Man-pleasing Ministers plunging desperately into variety of sensuall pleasures c. 7. Hee which after the boisterous tempest of Legall terrours hath happily arrived at the Port of Peace I meane that blessed peace which passeth all understanding made with God himselfe in the blood of his Son enters presently thereupon into the good way takes upon Him the yoke of Christ and serues him afterward in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of his life And ordinarily His deeper humiliation is an occasion of his more humble precise holy and strickt walking and of more watchfulnesse over his heart and tendernesse of conscience about lesser sinnes also all occasions of scandall appearances of evill even aberrations in his best actions holiest duties c. But Aliens whē once they bee taken off the Racke and their torture determine either become just the same men they were before or else reforme onely some one or other grosse sin which stuckē most upon their consciences but remaine unamended and unmortified in the rest or else which often comes to passe grow a great deale worse For they are as it were angry with God that hee should give them a taste of Hell fire before their time and therefore knowing their time but short fall upon earthly delights more furiously engrosse and graspe the pleasures of the World with more greedinesse and importunitie These things thus premised I come to tell you that for the rectifying of the fore-mentioned Errour and prevention of the danger of dawbing and undoing for ever in a matter of so weighty importance I would advise the Spirituall Physition to labour with the utmost improovement of all his divine skill heavenly wisedome best experience heartiest praiers most piercing persuasions prest out of the word for that purpose wisely to worke and watchfully to observe the season when hee may warrantably and upon good ground apply unto the woundedst soule of his spiritually-sicke Patient assured comfort in the promises of life and that soveraigne blood which was spilt for broken hearts and assure him in the Word of truth that all those rich compassions which lie within the compasse of that great Covenant of everlasting mercy and love sealed with the painefull sufferings of the Sonne of God belong unto Him Which is then when his troubled heart is soundly humbled under Gods mighty hand and brought at length to first a truly penitent sight sense and hatred of all sinne secondly a sincere and unsatiable thirst after Iesus Christ and righteousnesse both imputed and inherent thirdly an unfained and un-reserved resolution of an universall New-obedience for the time to come c. Here I had purposed to have been large but I am prevented by that which hath been said already and therefore to avoide repetition I must remit you to the consideration of those Legall and Evangelicall preparations for the entertainement of Christ and true comfort which I handled before which may give some good direction and satisfaction in the Point Yet take notice that in the meane time before such fitnesse bee fully effectuated I would have the Man of God ply his Patient with his best perswasions and Proofes seasonably mingled with motives to humiliation of the pardonablenesse of his sinnes possibility of pardon damnablenesse of despaire danger of ease by outward mirth c. And to hold out to the eye of the troubled conscience as a prize and Lure as it were the freenesse of Gods immeasurable mercy the generall Offer of Iesus Christ without any exception of persons times or sinnes the pretiousnesse and infallibilitie of the promises in as faire and lovely a fashion in as orient and alluring formes as Hee can possibly But it is One thing to say If these things bee so I can assure you in the Word of life of the promises of life and already-reall right and interest to all the riches of Gods free grace and glorious purchase of Christs meritorious blood Another thing to say If you will suffer your understandings to bee illightened your consciences to bee convinced your hearts to be wounded with sight sense and horrour of sin If you will come-in and take Iesus Christ His Person his Passion his yoke If you will entertaine these and these affections longings and resolutions c. Then most certainely our mercifull Lord will crowne your truly humbled soules with his dearest compassions and freest love Lastly bee informed that when all is done I meane when the Men of God have their desire That the Patient in their perswasion is soundly wrought upon and professeth understandingly and feelingly and as they verily thinke from His heart first that Hee is heavy laden with the grievous burden of all His sinnes secondly That Hee is come by his present spirituall terrour and trouble of minde to that resolution to doe any thing which wee find the Hearers of Iohn and Peter Luk. 3. Act. 2. Thirdly That Hee most highly prizeth Iesus Christ farre above the riches pleasures and glory of the whole earth thirsts and longs for Him infinitely Fourthly That Hee is most willing to sell all To part with all sinne with His right eye and right hand those lusts and delights which stucke closest to His bosome Not to leave so much as an hoofe behind Fifthly That hee is content with all his heart to take Christ as well for a Lord and Husband to serue love and obey Him as for a Saviour to deliver Him from the miseries of sinne To take upon Him His yoke To enter into the narrow
For the spirit of a man saith Salomon will sustaine all His other infirmities but a wounded spiâ—rit who can beare Yet His soule though Hee was the Prince of glory and Lord of Heaven and earth upon the Crosse was even as a scorched Heath without so much as any drop of comfort either from heaven or earth The grievous weight of all the sinnes of all his Children the least of which had bin enough to have pressed them downe into the bottome of Hell lay now heavy upon him The powers of darkenesse were let loose to afflict Him Hee wrastled even with the fierce wrath of His Father and all the forces of the infernall kingdome with such anguish of heart that in the Garden it wrung out of his pretious Body a Sweat as it were great drops of blood falling downe to the ground with such agony of spirit that upon the Crosse Hee cryed My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee And the measure of all these sufferings and sorrowes were so past all measure that all the creatures save sinfull Men onely both in heaven and earth seemed to bee amazed and moved with them The Sun in the heavens drew in his beames unwilling as it were to see the spotlesse blood of the Son of God spilt as water upon the ground The Earth it selfe shrunk and trembled under it The very Rocks rent asunder as if they had sense and feeling of His intolerable and save by Himselfe vnconquerable paines The whole frame of Nature seemed astonished at the mournefull Complaint of the Lord of the Whole World These and farre more then these or then can bee exprest our blessed Saviour being Son of the most high God endured for no other end but to ransome us from the bondage of Sathan and of Hell in a thirsting desire of saving all Penitent sinners And to offer himselfe freely a most glorious and everlasting Husband to all those who with broken and beleeving hearts cast themselves into His bosome Such admirable and unutterable perfections beauties indowments sufferings and inflamed affections as these in the heavenly Suter unto our sinnefull Soules doth mightily aggravate the hainous and horrible sinne of refusing Him Thus and in this manner would I have the Men of God to magnifie inlarge and represent to the hearts of their Hearers all the excellencies of Iesus Christ with the worth merit and efficacy of His blood To set out to the utmost they can possibly the glory of the Gospell with all the riches of mercy goodnesse and free grace revealed and offered therein c. So that they tell them withall That Iesus Christ takes none but such as are willing to take upon them His yoke That hee gives himselâ—e to none but such as are ready to sell all in the sense I have said that they may enjoy his blessed selfe That the glorious grace of the Gospell shines savingly to none but such as deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and live soberly righteously and godlily in this present World That those whose Soules are cleansed by the blood of Iesus Christ from all sinne are onely such as walke in the light as God is in the light who make conscience of detesting and declining all sins and workes of darkenesse discovered to them by the light of Gods holy Booke and sincerely set their hearts and hands with love and carefull endeavour to every duty injoyned therein In a word That as that Fountaine opened to the house of David for sinne and for uncleanesse I meane the blood of that immaculate Lambe Iesus Christ the holy and the righteous doth turne all the sinnes even the very scarlet and crimson of a truly broken heart and every true Mourner in Zion into snow and wooll so it will never wash away the least sinfull staine from the proud heart of any unhumbled Pharisee That hereby no strangers unto the love and life of godlinesse may bee deceived by appropriating unto themselves any of these glorious things which are onely proper to the sealed Fountaine but onely conceive of them as excellent motives to cause them to come in I would have the Preaching of Christ fill the soule of every true harted Nathanael every time with unspeakeable and glorious joy with all those Euangelical pleasures which neither eye hath seene nor eare heard neither have entred into the heart of man But I would have it onely make every unregenerate Man sensible of what infinite blessednesse Hee bereaves Himselfe by continuing a Rebell that thereupon Hee may bee moved to make hast out of His present Hell into this new heaven so fairely opened and freely offered unto Him Besides pressing the law promising mercy proposing Christ c. to stirre men in their naturall states to make them entertaine thoughts of comming in to humble them in the sight of the Lord under the heavy burden of all their sinnes assure them also of pardon in case they will leave Sathans service and so prepare them for Christ Let Gods Ministers lay hold upon all warrantable wayes which they shall find and feele out of their Ministeriall experience and holy wisedome to be availeable and prevaile for that purpose So that the worke bee done in truth And that they doe not like the Divels dawbers deceive them to the eternall ruine and damnation of their Soules by telling them that they have Christ already and are safe enough for salvation whereas indeed as yet there is no such matter Such points as these are woont to make attentive naturall men to startle in their seates to looke about them something more then ordinarily To wit to divide the precious from the vile To distinguish that One true happy state of grace from all states of unregeneratnesse and all kinds of Hypocrisie to tell them out of the Booke of God How farre a Man may goe in generall graces and doing many things c. and yet come short of Heaven To deliver Markes of sincere Professours of a saving Faith of true repentance of a sound conversion c. But I would have this done with a great deale of spirituall wisedome and heavenly understanding with much godly discretion and caution least thereby either the formall Professour may bee incouraged or the weakest Christian disheartned To discourse of the fewnesse and scarcity of those which shall bee saved and that even under the light and within the sound of the Gospell See Math. 20.16 Many are called but few chosen Consider the Parable of the Sower Mat. 13. There is but one good soile upon which the seed of the word falls prosperously but three reprobate grounds as it were upon which it is lost as water upon the ground See my first Doctr. upon Gen. 6.8 c. Thus let the Men of God acquaint themselves with such Points as they conceive the likeliest and most pregnant to pierce their Hearers hearts and come closest to their Consciences that so by the helpe of God they may pull them out of Hell And there are
conscience with putting forth his hand to some outward workes of Christianity and some kinde of conversion which may yet well enough consist with the secret enjoyment of his bosome-sin Or by some other such indirect course unsound cure But now the Other whom the Lord doth purpose to prepare for himselfe by this first worke and to call effectually doth entertaine at the same time by the helpe of God a strong invincible resolution not only never more to returne unto foolishnes whatsoever comes of him never upon any termes to fall back again into his former sinfull pleasures which have now fastned so many fiery Scorpions stings in his conscience but also never to admit of any cure recovery and comfort to his afflicted soule but only by Iesus Christ never to have the bleeding wounds of his bruised spirit bathed bound up and healed but in that Fountaine opened to the house of David and to the Inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for uncleannesse Nay rather then he will doe the one or the other hee will abide upon the Racke of his spirituall torture unto his ending houre Whereupon he directly addresseth and applies himselfe to the only meanes appointed and sanctified by God for working a sure kindly and lasting cure in such a case I meane the Ministery of the Word And if hee may have his will he would hit upon the most skilfull experienced searching and sound-dealing Man amongst all Gods faithfull Messengers 2. And so in a second place without all reservation or any purpose ever to returne or divert hee comes unto the Ministers of God in the same minde and with the same meaning that Peters hearers did Act. 2.37 having his heart pricked and rent in peeces with legall terrour as theirs were Men and bretheren what shall wee doe if there bee any Instruction direction or duty which upon good ground out of Gods blessed Booke you can enjoyne we will willingly follow it embrace it and rather die then not doe it Prescribe any course whereby wee may have the boyling rage of our guilty consciences some what asswaged we wil blesse God that ever we saw your faces Nay that ever hee made you the happy instruments to fasten these keene arrowes of truth and terrour in our amazed and afflicted spirits Alas we see now c. See before p. 135. c. And now here the Ministers of God have a strong seasonable calling to set out in the height the excellencie amiablenes and soule-saving sufficiency of Iesus Christ blessed for ever To amplifie and magnifie to the life the heavenly beauty unvaluablenesse and sweeetnesse of his person passion promises No sinne of so deepe a die bee it scarlet or crimson but his pretious blood can raze it out No heart so darke or heavy but one beame shining from his pleased face can fill it as full of spirituall glory and joy as the Sunne is of light or the Sea of waters No man so miserable but if hee will goe out of himselfe and the Devills slavery quite and come-in when hee is dearely invited he will advance him without money and without price from depth of horrour to height of happinesse c. 3. By this time being thus told and truly informed in the mystery and mercy of the Gospell the poore wounded and weary soule begins to bee deepely and dearely enamored of Iesus Christ. To advance him highest in his thoughts as the only jewell and joy of his heart without which hee hath been heretofore a deade man and shall here after bee a damned miscreant to preferre and prize him farre aboue the pleasures riches and glory of the whole earth to set his eye and longing so upon him as to hold himselfe lost for ever without his love Nay in the case hee now stands hee is most willing for a sound and saving cure to passe through a peece of hell if need were to such a heavenly physition in whose blessed person alone as hee heaâ—es all the riches of mercy goodnesse compassion and comfort is to bee found and in whom are hid and heaped up the fullnesse of grace and treasures of all perfection So that now the current of his best affections and all the powers of his humbled soule are wholly bent and directed toward him as the Sun-flower towards the Sun the iron to the load-stone and the load-stone to the Pole-star To whom the nearer hee drawes the more heartily it grieves him that ever he pierced so sweet and deare a Saviour with such a former impure loathsome life so many abominable now most abhorred provocations 4. Vpon this discovery survay and admiration of this pearle of great price this rich treasure the now truly broken and contrite heart doth cast about by all meanes how to compasse it O! what would he now giue for the sweete fruition and ravishing possession of it Hearts-blood life lying in Hell for a season were nothing in this case The imperiall crownes and command of tenne thousand worlds were they all extant would bee in his conceit but as dust in the Ballance layd in the scale against Iesus Christ c. But these things are not required at his hands At last he happily hitt's upon that which God would have him he even resolves to sell all that he hath to part with all sinne tho it should bee as deare and as much doted upon as that compared to a right eye or right hand bee it that which hath kept him longest in hell most wasted the conscience and stuck closest to his bosome I meane his Captaine corruption Master-lust or Minion-delight he will spare none he will quite out of Sodome hee will not leave so much as an hoofe behind For hee well now remembers what hee hath often heard heretofore tho then hee tooke no heed That the Lord Iesus and any one allowed Lust are never woont to lodge together in the same Soule 5. Fifthly To the party thus legally afflicted evangelically affected and fitted savingly now doe all the promises of life in Gods blessed Booke offer themselves as so many Rockes of eternitie in faithfulnesse and truth for his wearied soule tossed with tempest and full sorely bruised with stormes of terrour sweetly to rest upon with everlasting safety God the Father his bowells of tenderest compassion and bounty already stirring within him runnes that I may so say as the Father in the Gospell to fall upon it's necke and to kisse it with the kisses of his sweetest mercy Iesus Christ opens himselfe as it were upon the Crosse to receive it graciously into his bleeding wounds all which hee beholding with a spiritually illightned eie admiring and adoring can not chuse but subscribe and seale unto them that they are true and so by the helpe of the Holy Ghost casts himselfe with all the spirituall strength hee can at least with infinite longings most thirsty desires and resolution never to part into his blessed bosome saying secretly to himselfe
perswaded Gods bowels of compassionate tender-heartednesse and love did yearne within him towards Iob with more dearenesse and delight at that cry Tho he slay mee yet will I trust in him then at any time else even in the Spring of his spirituall prosperity or fullest tide of most heavenly feelings Here then is comfort more then thy heart can hold if thou wilt bee counselled by the Prophets that thou maist prosper For when thou thinkest that all is gone that thou art a lost man and utterly forsaken even in the depth of thy spirituall darkenesse thou being so spiritually disposed as I have said and which thou canst not deny I say even then and thou oughtest so to apprehend and believe the love of God is as it were doubled towards thee much more endeared by reason of thy distresse and cannot hold but breakes out many times into extraordinary pangs and expressions thereof As wee may see Isa. 54.11 Oh! thou afflicted tossed with tempest and not comforted c. And into profession of resolution and waiting to do us good which he will super-abundantly performe in the best time Behold I will lay thy stones with faire colours and lay thy foundations with Saphires Ibid. And therefore will the Lord waite that hee may bee gracious unto you and therefore will hee bee exalted that he may have mercy upon you For the LORD is a God of iudgment Blessed are all they that wait for him Isa. 30.18 Retiring the effects and exercise of our love from him whom wee love dearely makes it returne with redoubled fervour into our owne bosomes and there growes into a more vehement flame which never rests untill it breake out againe with dearer pangs upon the beloved Party Even as when the Sunne suffers an Eclipse and it's beames are driven backe and reflected from the face of the Moone interposed directly betweene it and our sight so that they shine not upon us then is the heate and light thereof multiplied and much intended toward the Fountaine which afterwards is shed downe upon us againe more amiably and acceptably when the darkenesse is done And let us further take notice that Christ our eldest Brother blessed for ever deales with us in such Cases as Ioseph a type of him in many respects dealt with his brethren hee frown'd upon them handled them roughly and frighted them extremely onely to humble them thorowly but in the meane time and midst of his menacing carriage his heart was so full of naturall affection that hee was enforced by the excesse thereof to turne aside and weepe and so returne to them againe And hee turned himselfe about from them and wept and returned to them again Gen. 42.24 So the Sonne of God as well as God the Father thorow him tho sometimes in a little wrath hee hide his face from us yet as hee will certainely after a small moment gather us with great mercies so in the meane time Hee is afflicted and most tenderly affected towards us in all our afflictions See Isa. 63.9 7. Seventhly Thinke it not strange that thou art fallen into this kinde of spirituall affliction as tho some strange thing or that which doth or may not befall the dearest servants of God had happened unto thee For herein thou becomes conformable to as holy Men as ever the world had Iob David Heman Luther c. Nay to the Sonne of God himselfe From whose example and precedency let the Christian even in the darkest horror of a spirituall desertion when hee is afraid lest God hath forsaken him fetch abundance of comfort and support out of such considerations as these 1. Christ himselfe was in the same Case Besides a numberlesse variety of most barbarous cruelties inflicted upon his blessed body by the mercilesse and implacable malice of the Iewes and by consequent sympathy upon his glorious soule Hee suffered also in soule immediately intolerable and save by himselfe unconquerable torments and paine Hee grapled with the fiercest wrath of his Father for our sins and sweat blood under the sense of his angry countenance Nay this Crosse upon his soule infinitely more waighty then that which hee carried upon his shoulders toward Calvarie did not onely cause streames of great bloody drops to fall downe to the ground but also prest from him that heavy groane Mat. 26.38 My soule is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death and that last rufull bitter cry My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee cap. 27.46 If Christ Iesus himselfe then blessed for ever the Son of the Fathers love the Prince of glory Nay the glory of heaven and earth the brightnesse of everlasting light c. In whom hee professeth himselfe to bee well-pleased and for whose sake onely hee loves all the sonnes of Men which shall be saved was thus plunged into a matchlesse Depth of unknowne sorrowes and most grievous desertion Let no Christian cry out in the like spirituall desolation but ever immeasurably short of his and in his feare of being forsaken that his Case is singular desperate irrecoverable For the onely deare innocent Sonne of God was farre worse in this respect and in greater extremity then hee is can or ever shall bee 2. Secondly Amongst other ends for which the Lord Iesus drunke so deepe and the very dregs of that bitterest Cup of his dearest Fathers heaviest indignation this was one That by a particular and personall passing thorow that infinite Sea those extremest dreadfull horrours of divine wrath for our sinnes which we all most justly deserved and would have caused any meere Creature to have sunke downe under it into the bottome of hell and by an experimentall feare and feeling of that bitter and bloody Agony which melted as it were his blessed soule into that mournefull Cry My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee The comfortable influence of the Deity being for the time in some sort restrained and retired from the humane nature that it might bee capable and sensible of that anger and angvish which would have holden both Men and Angels and all created Natures under everlasting calamity and woe I say that by his owne sense and experience of such painefull passages hee might learne and know with a more fellow-feeling and pittifull heart to commiserate his poore afflicted Ones in their spirituall desertions and with a softer and more compassionate hand to bind up their bleeding soules with his sweetest Balme of tender-heartednesse and love when in such horrible depths they shall thirst and long and gaspe for drops of mercy and his Fathers pleased face For in that hee himselfe hath suffered being tempted hee is able to succour them that are tempted Heb. 2.18 A woman which hath her selfe with extraordinary torture tasted the exquisite paines of Childe-birth is woont to bee a great deale more tenderly and mercifully affected to an other in like case then she that never tried what it is to be terrified with the suddennesse
pendas sed propter hoc saltem maxime gemas quoniam peccatoruÌ„ dolorem non sent is Non enim hoc provenit quòd peccatum noÌ„ mordeat sed quòd anima peccans sâ—t insensata Peccantes non dolere magis eum indignari facit irasci quà m peccare Chrysost. ad pop Antioch Hom. 46. Quòd si quis existet qui Diaboli plag is non persentiat nimirùmillius norbus ex illâ indolentiâ ingravesett Quemcunque enim plaga una inflicta non mordet neque attristat is certè facile alteram excipit itemque hac acceptâ tertiam neque enim intermitit ad extremum usque spiritum feriens â—efarius ille quoties invenit animam supinam prioresque plagas contemnenten Idem de Sacerdotio lib. 6. Isti quisanos seputabant multò periculosius desperatiùs aegrotahant August de verbis Apost Serm. 9. But Satan is not willing to deale so roughly with the unregenerate if Hee could chuse for Hee stands ever in most danger of losing them when Hee carries Himselfe towards them in so hard a fashion wherefore Hee rather flatters and faunes endeavouring to rocke them asleepe still if hee can in the Cradle of securitie and presumption Neither will Hee storme thus to wit labour to pull them by the strength of utter despaire as it were quicke into Hell and to make them kill themselves or doe some other most grosse and unnaturall crime but when hee sees his advantage in regard of some bodily crosse or distemper or that hee sees the Lord will needs awaken their sleepy consciences Whately New-birth Cap. 5. Qui jugum suscipiunt Diaboli Diabolus eos delectat decipit ne discedant à malo impij usque ad mortem suam Incertus Author In Mat. Cap. 11. Hom. 28. Galat. 5.21 Prov. 14.14 a Quin hinc est â—ur malus non libenter sit solus nec libenter vivat secum sed semper consortia quaerat sodalitia bominum voluptuariorum cum quibus possit tempus fallere Est enim solitaria vita eipermolesta partim propter recordationâ—m sceleru partim propter met um poenarum partim denique quia scit quòd secum non consentiat quòd conscientia evigilatura ingentem eì moestitiam allatura sit Kecker n. Syst. â—th lib. 1. cap. 3. Can 6. Quisquis incorde premitur malâ conscientiâ quomode quisquis abstillicidon exit de demo suâ out d fume nonibi sepatitur babitare sic qui non baber quietumcor habit arâ— incorde suo libentèr non potest Talesfords exeunt à seâ—psis aniâ—â— intentione de hiâ— quae foris sunâ— circa corpus delectantur quietemin nugis inspectaculis in luxirijs in omnibus mal squaerunt Quare for is volueruni sib benè esse Quia non est illâ—â— iniâ—s bene unde gaudeans inconscientiâ— suâ— August in Psal. 101. page 288. b Beati qui gaudent quando merant in corsâ—um nihil mali ibi inventunt Attendat sancticas vestra quomo to noline intrare domus suas quâ— babent malas axores quomodâ— exeâ—â—nt ad forum gaudent caepu hora esse quâ intraturi sunt in domum suam contristantur Intraturi sunâ— enim ad taedia ad murmura ad amaritudines ad eversiones quta non est domus composita abi intervirum uxorem pax nud a est Et melius illi est furis circumire Si ergò miseâ—i sunt qui cum redeunt ad parietes suos timen ne aliquibus sunrum perturbationibus coertantur quantò sunt â—â—sertores qui ad conscientiam suam redire nolunt ne ibi litibus pecâ—atâ—rum evertantur Ergo ut possis libens rediâ—e ad cor tuum munda illud Auser inde cupiditatumsordes auser labem avaritiae auser trabe superstitionum aufer sacrilegia malas cogitationes odia non dicâ— adverâ—â—â— amitum sed etiam adversus inimicum Auser ista omnia intra cor tuum gaudebis c. August in Psal. 34. c Those Christians have this heaven upon Earth who are come from under the storme and tempest of temptation and 〈◊〉 in the sweet 〈…〉 and feeling 〈…〉 mercies of their 〈…〉 in Christ Iesus sealed unto them by the testimony of the Spirit of God Yates d In the broken 〈◊〉 contrite spirit 〈◊〉 the Lord will 〈◊〉 despise A 〈…〉 have his 〈…〉 uprightly 〈…〉 is painefuâ—ly 〈◊〉 a good 〈…〉 may be◠〈…〉 and troubled 〈…〉 e Hujusmodi 〈◊〉 est instarferae alicujus quae quamdiu dormit videtur esse cicur neminem lâ—dit sed excitata in hominem involat dilâ—cerare conâ—â—â—â— Diligenter itaque cavenda est â—alie conscientia quâ—ppequae nâ—nnunquam per totum vitae curriculum quieta manet alto lethargo oppressa jacet seâ— aegritudine aliquâ— graviore veletiam mâ—rte appropinquante excitatura Deo truculentâ suâ immanitate hominem terret Alst. Theol. Casuum Cap. 2. In peace there is a totall dâ—position both of Armes and Enmity all hostile affections are put off In a truce there is but a suspension and a cessation of Armes for a season so as duriâ—â— the same there is stilâ— provision of more foâ—â—ces and a preparation of greater strength 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 1.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iam. 2.19 d Voluptas perpetui vermis nutrix ad tempus admodùm breve possidentem demulcet Postremò verò acâ—â—bioris exitum tristitiae sortitur Basil. Exhort Ad. Baptisâ—um e Grave siquidem grave inquam onerosum est peccatum omni plumbo ponderosius Chrysost. Ad. Pop. Antioch Hom. 31. f Mortuus est autem peccator maximè ille quem moles consuetudinis premit quasi sepultus Lazarus Parùm enim erat quiâ— mortuus etiam sepultus August de temp Serm. 48. Ephes. 2.1 g Neque negari potest non minoris esse virtutis immò aliquantò majoris è morte animas mortuas excitare ac corpora mortua Musc. In Evang. Ioan. cap. 5. Ier. 13.23 h Primum enim divini amoris objectum est ipsa Deitas ac Filius ille dilectus 2. Res creatae in genere 3. Angeli 4 Genus humanum 5. Electi Til. p. 1. Syntag The. 40. pag 113. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Coloss. 1.13 i Deo nihil est in odio nisi malum hoc est nihil est ei invisum o â—iosum excerabile nisi malum Hoc autem est peccatum ipsum praetereà nihil Zanch. De naturâ Dei Lib. 4. Cap 7. * Ephes. 5.4 Gal. 5.21 Matth. 5 28. k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aâ—â—st Posterio Anal. Lib. 1. Text. 15. l Illud quod maximè videtur Deus odissi scilâ—ceâ— Diabolum non odit nisi ratione peccati eum amaret si peccatum non esset tanquam creaturam suam Vâ—de Sap 11. Nihil odisti eorum quae feâ—isti Quod intelligendum est nisi propter peccatum adjunctum quod ipse non secit Peral m Quae
have parted with the magnificent state and pompe of Pharaohs Court where Hee might have wallowed in varietie of all worldly delights and to take part with His afflicted Brethren of a world of miseries in a vast and roaring Wildernesse There was never carnall man since the Creation but in such a Case would have followed the Court and forsaken Gods people Hester a weake Woman could never possibly have holden out against the fury of so mighty a Favourite the hazarding of Her high Place the favour of so great a King and even life it selfe had She not been upholden by an extraordinary strength from Heaven No great Woman in the World wanting Grace would ever have runne such an hazard but have suffered the servants of God to sinke or swimme so that She might swimme downe the Current of the times without crossing and enjoy the present without perill It was a 〈◊〉 temptation 〈◊〉 â—â—nathan and a very 〈…〉 Dilemma Either leave to adhere to David or resolve to lose a Kingdome But the hope of an earthly Crowne could not hire Him to hold His peace and betray the innocency of His heavenly Friend And Ionathan answered Saul his Father and said unto Him Wherefore shall Hee bee slaine What hath Hee done The dread of dis-countenance from two angry Kings whose indignation is as the roaring of a Lyon was a terrible Motive to have made Michajah temporize not a Server of the Times and His owne turne in the World but would in this Case have tuned His Pipe to Ahabs pleasure especially encouraged by the flattering concurrence of so many false prophets But the sight of the mighty Lord of Heaven and Earth sitting upon His Throne and all the Host of Heaven standing by Him infused such an holy fortitude into the spirit of this Man of God that no greatnesse terrour or Majesty of any crowned Potentate could possibly daunt His courage or dash Him out of countenance And therefore Hee answeres with a resolution as high as Heaven and out of a sacred pang of seraphicall zeale As the Lord liveth whatsoever the Lord saith unto mee that will I speake So that Hee may discharge a good conscience and doe as God would have Him Hee is at a Point That Message which thâ—â—lmighty had put into His mouth must 〈…〉 Him to a centur◠〈…〉 from so 〈…〉 owne Coate to a suspicion of dis-loyalty for crossing so peremptorily the Kings Plot to smiting both with the fist of wickednesse and taunts of the tongue from His fellow Seers Nay tho His faithfull dealing throw Him into a Dungeon there to bee fed with the Bread of affliction and Water of affliction untill the full wrath of an enraged prophane King fall upon Him to the uttermost Thus let the World say what it will whatever flesh and blood suggest to the contrary Howsoever unsanctified great Ones storme and disdaine yet assuredly every true Friend to Iesus Christ must bee content farre rather to bee dis-courted then desert a good cause or not to defend the innocency of a gracious Man tho in disgrace and to speake for Gods people tho Haman rage to roote them out quite as a company of singular exorbitant fellowes who serve God as they list and keepe not the Kings Lawes As is unanswerably evident by the precedency of these newly named noble and holy Saints I confesse this may seeme precise Doctrine and a divine Paradox to all the great Masters of pleasure and Minions of luxury and pride whose blood runnes fresh in their veines and marrow is yet strong in their bones Nay who having attained the height of their ambitious aimes sit now aloft in the very top of their un-blessed bravery and greatnesse drunke with the pleasant wine of worldly prosperitie and holding in scorne the holy preaching of the good way the syncerity of the servants of Christ and society of the Brotherhood Yet I can assure them in the Word of Life and Truth the now embracement and practise of precise walking will incomparably more comfort them upon their Dying-Beds in that great and last encounter with all infernall powers about the immortality blisse and glory or the endlesse and unsupportable paines and misery of their Soules then if they had been the sole and soveraigne Commanders of all the Kingdoms of the Earth all their life long But no marvell in the meane time that as the Spirit of truth tells us and punctually to my purpose Not many Wise men after the flesh nor many Mighty not many Noble are called Not for any impossibility For the irresistable might of the Spirit worketh upon whom it will and some Great Men are good but by reason of the difficulty Being beset with such variety and strength of temptations they are rarelier and hardlier wrought upon by the Word and woone out of Satans en-snarements High roomes temporary happines abilities above ordinary so puffe them up and transport them beyond themselves with such a deale of Selfe-love Selfe-opinion Self-prizing that their proud and obstinated spirits will by no meanes stoope to the simplicity of the Gospell â—â—gularitie of the Saints and the foolishnesse of preaching But if at any time they heare of a Nathan Ieremy Amos Chrysostome Latimer c. They are very loth to lend their attention lest thereby they should bee made Melancholike put in mind of the Evill day tormented before their time But if they have the patience They are ready to startle in their seates and whisper One to an Other You see now these preciser Fellowes would damne us all to Hell Let us breake their bonds asunder and cast away their Cordes from us Such adoe there is and a world of worke to bring such noble Bedlams into their right minds and to fright such Idolizers of their owne sufficiencies and wilfull graspers of their gilded Fetters from their admired follies and honorable servitude 3. Thirdly a gracious Man about a Royall Person is a goodly Sight full well worth even a Kings Ransome For never any except himself truly feare the great God of Heaven can possibly bee cordially and conscionably serviceable to any of our earthly Gods A Principle so cleare and unquestionable that no Man of understanding and Master of his owne Wits except himselfe be notoriously obnoxious can have the face to deny it Please they may bee politically plausible flatter extremely and represent themselves to ordinary observation as the onely Men for loyalty and love But if wee could search and see their hearts wee should find them then most laborious to serue themselves and advance their owne ends when they seeme most zealous for their Soveraignes service Ahitophel in the Sunne-shine of peace and calmenesse of the Kingdomes time did accommodate himselfe to the present both in Consultations of State and religious conformitie But no sooner had this hollow-hearted man espied a dangerous tempest raysed by Absoloms un-naturall treachery but Hee turned Traytor to his naturall Lord when Hee
the Lord Iesus so sweetly offering himselfe in that pretious promise Matth. 11.28 resoluing to take him for an everlasting husband and ipso facto as they say it might be put into a very Heaven upon Earth For this glorious grace of Faith the Prince of all spirituall light and lightsomnesse in the truely humbled Soule thus shed into such a darke and grieved spirit doth enkindle and set on shining all those gracious heavenly Starres that are woont to beautifie the hearts of holy men hope love zeale son-like feare humility patience selfe-deniall vniversall obedience fruitfulnesse in all good workes c. Which make them light it selfe to walke in the light towards the infinite and unapproachable light And therefore they never neede to want lightsomnesse but have perpetuall pregnant matter of spirituall mirth and mightinesse of spirit The point appeares and is further prooved by manifest and manifold experience David having bin formerly wofully wasted with great varietie and extremitie of dangers and distresses was at last plunged into a most desperate perplexity 1. Sam. 30 6. Which had bin able to have swallowed up into despaire the manliest vigour of the greatest spirit upon earth not supported with grace The like or a lesse caused King Saul to fall upon his owne sword yet He blessed man by the power of his spirituall peace and the beames of Gods pleased face-shining upon his Soule did patiently and sweetly comfort Himselfe in the Lord His God and stood like an impregnable Rocke unshaken with the raging assaults of any tempestuous sourges He was at this time hunted by Saul like a Parâ—ridge in the Mountaines cashierd by the Princes of the Philistines as a fâ—llow of suspected fidelity robd by the Amalekites of His wiues His sonnes and His daughters The Towne to which He returned for safety was burnt with fire And to make his calamity compleate and most cutting even His owne men were ready to stone Him Now in this great distresse upon the first apprehension whereof He wept as the story saith untill He had no more power to weepe yet comming to Himselfe and recollecting His spirituall forces His heavy heart ready to sinke and fall asunder in His bosome did fetch by the hand of faith comfortably fortified by sense and experience of former fauours such heavenly strength from Iehova whom He had made His portion that thereupon His courage was revived and raised to that height that He presently pursued his enemies with extraordinary valour and resolution cut them off quite and recovered all And David saith the text was greatly distressed for the people spake of stoning Him because the Soule of all the people was grieued every man for His sonnes and for His daughters but David encouraged Himselfe in the Lord his God c. What a bitter Sea of unmatched miseries did breake out upon blessed Iob which with a sudden unexpected violence bearing downe that Hedge of protection which God had set about Him the raines purposely let loose by divine dispensation to Sathans malice in the meane time did fearefully overflow him to that height and horrour that He stands registred in Gods Booke as an unparalled Instance of extraordinary sufferings and sorrowes calamities and conflicts to all succeeding ages no story being able to afford the like The naturall death of one deare childe strikes sometimes so heavy to a mans heart that for griefe he growes into a consumption but all Iobs children were suddenly taken away at once by a violent stroke some petty crosse upon his outward state and cutting off but part of his goods causes sometimes a couetous worldling to cut his oÌ„wne throate But Iob was robd of all so that it is a prove be to this day As poore as Iob Many wives are passionate and peevish in time of prosperity whose hâ—arts notwithstanding will melt in compassion and kindenesse over their husbands in any kinde of misery but Iobs wife tho dearely intreated by Her most distressed Husband even for their childrens sake the mutuall common pledges of sweetest loue yet would not come neare Him My breath saith He is strange to my wife though I entreated for the childrens sake of mine owne body Chap. 19.17 Satan I confesse is woont to roare and rage fiercely enough about Gods blessed Oâ—es to doe them all the mischiefe Hee can possibly but rarely hath hee so large a reach and his chaine so lengthned as he had against Iob. The painefull anguish of some one part would not onely deprive a Man of the pleasure of the worlds Monarchy if he had it in possession but also make Him weary of His life In what a taking then was Iob who from the sole of his foote unto his Crowne had no part free from â—ore bâ—les and horribly iâ—flâ—med ulcers exasperated and enraged with the stiâ—ging smart of Satans extremest malice who had power given Him to inflict them God himself frownes many times and withdrawes beames of His pleased face from the soules of His seruants to their great griefe tho for their spirituall good But seldome doth he set them up for His Marke hunt them as a fierce Lion set His terrours in array against them and command the poyson of his arrowes to drinke up their spirit as Iob complaines It is no strange thing neither should it much moove but only make us walke more watchfully to heare men of the world and drunken Belialls to belch out from their rotten hearts upon the Ale-bench such base slanders as these These Professors for all their faire shewes are certainely all of them notorious Hypocrites Tho they looke never so demurely they are not the men they are taken for c. But to have a Mans nearest familiar understanding Christian friends to charge Him with Hypocrisie is a most cruell cut to a troubled conscience And this was Iob. case So thus as â—ob was singular in the universality of His afflictions so there was a singularity of bitternesse above ordinary in eâ—very particular aâ—fliction And what of all this And yet for all this this holy man by the helpe of that pretious hoard of grace which his heavenly heart had treasured up in the time of prosperitie out of that spirituall strength which He had gotten into His soule by his former humble acquaintance and conversation with His God and knowing full well that tho all was gone yet He still possessed Iesus Christ as fully if not more feeliâ—gly as ever before He becomes hereupon as rare and admirâ—ble a Patterne of Patience to all posterity as He was an extraordinary astonishing speâ—â—acle of adversitie and woe Consciousnesse of His fore-spent righteous life which he peruseth Chap. 31. The clearenesse of a good conscience Chap. 16 19 Behold my witnesse 〈◊〉 in heaven and my record is on high And his invincible faith Chap. 19.23 24 25 Oh that mâ— words were now written Oh that they were priâ—ted in a hunke That they were graven with an Iron pen
an heavenly hoard of grace good conscience Gods favour c. happily treasured up while it is called Today hath the sole and sacred property and priviledge to hold up our hearts In times of horrour inabling us in the meane time patiently and profitably to master all miseries passe thorow all persecutions conquer all Commers and at length by the helpe of God to pull the very heart as it were out of Hell with confidence and triumph to looke even death and the Divell in the face and to stand with boldnesse before the terrour of the last Day like an unmooveable Rock when the Sonnes and daughters of confusion who have slept in harvest and mispent the gratious Day of their visitation shall intreate the mountaines and Rockes to fall upon them I say it being thus let every one of us like Sonnes and daughters of wisedome in this short Sommers Day of our abode upon earth and in this glorious Sun-shine of the Gospell and pretious seasons of grace imploy all meanes improove all oportunities to gather in with all holy greedinesse and treasure up abundantly much spirituall strength and lasting comfort against the evill Day To which let us be quickned by such considerations as these 1. This wise and happy treasuring up of heavenly hoards and comforts of holinesse afore hand will sweetely mollisie and allay the bitternesse and smart of that heavinesse and sorrow of those fearefull amazements and oppressions of spirit naturally incident to times of trouble and feare which ordinarily doe very grievously sting and strike thorow the hearts of carnall and secure Worldlings with full rage and the very slashes and fore-tastes of Hell Of all other passions of the Soule sadnesse and griefe grates most upon the vitall spirits dries up soonest the freshest marrow in the bones and most sensibly suckes out the purest and refinedst bloud in the heart All the Obiects of lightsomnesse and ioy are drowned in an heauy heart even as the beauty of a Pearle is dissolved in vineger Now the onely Cordiall and Counter-poyson against this dampe of light-heartednesse and Cut-throate of life is the secret sweetenesse and shining pleasure of that One pearls of great price three orient raies whereof are righteousnesse and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost treasur'd up in the Cabinet of a good conscience The glory pretiousnesse and power of which hidden treasure purchased with the sale of all sinne doth many times shine faireliest upon the Soule in the saddest times inspires for the most part into the hearts of the owners the greatest courage and constancy of spirit even in the dayes of adversity and vexation inables them to digest and beare without any great wound or passion those crosses and cruelties which would breake the backe and crush the heart of the stoutest Temporizer Was there not a great deale of difference thinke you betwixt the heart of Hezekiah who had walked before God in truth and with a perfect heart when He heard the newes of death from the mouth of the Prophet and the heart of Belshazzar when he saw the hand-writing upon the wall Giue me a great man who carries a way the credit and current of the times with all bravery and triumph wallowes and tumbles himselfe in the glory and pleasures of the present Throw Him from the transitory top of His heaven upon earth upon His last bed present unto His eye at once the terrible paÌ„gs of approaching death the ragefull malice of the powers of Hell the crying wounds of His bleding conscience the griesely fourmes of His innumerable sinnes His finall farewell with all worldly delights the pit of fire and brimstone into which He is ready to fall And I tell you true I would not endure an houres horrour of His wofull heart for His present Paradise to the worlds end But on the other side let me be the man whom the corruptions of the time confine to obscuritie who mournes in secret for the horrible abominations and crying sinnes that raigne amongst us who thinkes that day best spent wherein Hee hath gathered most spirituall strength against that last and sorest combate and by the mercies of God and humble dependance upon His omnipotent arme I will looke in the face the cruellest concurrence of all those former terrors with â—â—â—fidence and peace 2. Secondly By this spirituall hoarding of comfortable provision against the Evill day we may prevent a great deale of impatiency dependance upon the Arme of flesh base feares sinkings of heart un-manly deiections of spirit desperate resolutions and many passionate distempers of such raging and distracted nature which are woont to seize upon and surprise unholy and unprepared hearts when the Hand of God is heavy upon them How bravely and Heroically did patient Iob beare and breake thorow a matchlesse variety and extremity of calamities and conflicts The softest of whose sufferings would have strucke full cold to the heart of many a Carnalist and made it to dye within Him like a stone as Nabals did One of the least the losse of His goods I am perswaded would have caused many covetous worldlings to have laid violent and bloudy hands upon themselues For instance Ahitophel onely because the glory of his state-wisedome was obscur'd and overtopt at the counsell-Bord sadled His Asse gate Him Home put His houshold in order and hanged Himselfe The onely cause of His fainting in the day of disgrace and dis-acceptation was His false and rotten heart in matters of religion While the Crowne sate with security and safety upon Davids head He walked with Him as a companion unto the House of God But when the winde begun to blow a little another way and upon Absoloms side like a true Temporizer He followes the blast and turnes his sailes according to the weather And therefore His hollow heart having made the Arme of flesh His Anchor and a vanishing Blase of honour His chiefest blessednesse shrinkes at the very first sight and suspition of a tempest and sinkes this miserable Man into a Sea of horrour But now on the contrary what was the cause that Iobs heart was not crusht into pieces under the bitter concurrence of such a world of crosses of which any one severally was sufficient to have made a Man extreamely miserable The true reason of His patient resolution amid so many pressures was the spirituall riches He had hoarded up in the time of His happines Amongst which the divinest and dearest Iewel lay nearest unto His heart as a counterpoyson to the venome and sting of the Divels deadliest malice I meane a sound and strong faith in Iesus Christ the Lambe slaine from the beginning of the world which now began to shine the fairest in the darkest Midnight of His miseries and sweetly to dart out many heavenly sparkles of comfort and such glorious eiaculations as these Though he slay me yet will I trust in Him Cap. 13.15 And that cap. 19 23 c. Oh that my words were
now written oh that they were printed in a Booke That they were graven with an iron pen and leade in the rocke for ever For I know that my Redeemer liveth c. There were two cutting and cruell circumstances largely insinuated Cap. 29. and 30. which did keenely sharpen the edge and mightily aggravate the weight of Iobs miseries The one was this He had bin happy Now as that mans happines is holden the greatest who hath bin in miserable condition for He tasteth the double sweete of remembring his forpassed misery and enioying his present felicity So on the contrary It is the greatest misery they say to haue bin happy The other was that which most nettles a generous nature He being a Man of so great honour and worth whose rare and incomparable wisedome even the Princes and Nobles adored as it were with a secret and silent admiration as appeares Cap. 29.9.10 was now contemned of the most contemptible The children of fooles and the children of base men that were viler then the earth make him their song and their By-word cap. 30.8.9 For when true noblenes and worth is downe and any one of the Lords Champions dejected it is ordinary with all those dunghill dispositions to whom His sincerity was an Eie-sore His power and authority a restraint to their lewdnesse the glory of His vertues fewell to their envy to run as a Raven to the fallen Sheepe to picke out His eyes I meane which yet â—asts of a truly cowardly and mercilesse constitution to wound his very wounds and to vexe his vexations This was Iobs case But what now ministers comfort to Iobs heart against these corrosiues Euen consciousnesse of His graces and integrities treasur'd up and exercisde in the dayes of His peace He reckens up fourteene of them Chap. 31. From consideration hereof Hee gathers towards the end this triumphant resolution against the â—orest of His sufferings I would even crowne mine head with the bitterest Invective of my greatest adversary whence it is cleare that the two potent pillars of Iobsâ—â—rong â—â—rong and strange patience which all generations will admire to the worlds end were a sound faith and the sanctified fruits thereof prepared and practised in the time of his prosperity 3. Thirdly by fore-provision of Gods favour grace good conscience and such spirituall store wee shall be able worthily to grace and honour our profession truly to enoble and winne a great deale of glory and reputation to the state of Christianity when the ambitious Rufflers and boisterous Nimrods of the world shall see and observe that there is a gratious invisible vigour and strength of Heaven which mightily supports the heart of the true Christian in those times of confusion â—eare when theirs shall be like the heart of a woman in her pangs fall asunder in their breasts even like drops of water That He is as bold as a Lyon and unmooveable like Mount Zion in the Day of distresse and visitations of God when they shall tremble at the shaking of a leafe call upon the Mountaines to cover them That He shall be able then to say with David Psal. 46.1.2 The Lord is my refuge and my strength c. Therefore will I not feare thâ— the earth be remooved and tho the mountaines be carried into the middest of the Sea But they shall cry out of the bitternes of their spirits with the hypocrites Isai. 33.14 Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire Who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings God is much honoured and His truth glorified when it appeares in the face of men that a poore neglected Christian or in the worlds language a precise foole is able by the power of grace and influence of his favour to affront and out-face all the frownings and malignant aspects of the proud Giants of the world And he is the Lords noblest Champion and a Professour of the truest and heavenliest dye that holds out in the wetting and shrinkes not in the Day of adversitie Chrysostome speakes to the people of Antioch like himselfe a Man of an invincible spirit against the tyrannies of his times In this saith He should a gracious differ from a gracelesse man that hee should beare his crosses couragiously and as it were with the wings of Faith outsoare the height of all humane miseries He should be like a Rocke being incorporated into Iesus Christ inexpugnable and unshaken with the most furious incursions of the waves and stormes of worldly troubles pressures and persecutions And blessed bee God that even here upon earth in this vale of teares there is such a visible and vast difference betwixt a wicked and godly man The one is like the raging Sea that cannot rest the other stands fast like a Rocke which shall never bee remooved An unregenerate heart is ever restlesse commonly in these three regards at the least First by reason of an endlesse and unsatisfiable appetite after pleasures riches honours revenge or what other Darling delight it hath singled out and made speciall choice of to follow and feede upon with greatest contentment and sensuall sweetnesse God hath iustly put that property or rather poison into all earthly things doted upon and desired immoderately that they shall plague the heart which so pursues them by filling it still with a furious and fresh supply of more greedinesse iealousies and many miserable discontentments so that they become unto it as drinke unto a man in a Dropsie or burning Fever serve onely to inflame it with new heate and fiery additions of insatiable thirst and iâ—ordinate longings Secondly because of the many secret grumblings and stinging reclamations of a gauled conscience against its present guilty courses and forbidden pleasures Thirdly in respect of a continuall ebullition as it were of confused and contrary lusts out of the empoysoned Fountaine of originall corruption which fill it with many damnable distractions and tumultuations of Hell But now if besides this inward boyling it bee also tossed with outward troubles what a miserable Creature is a carnall Man Euen as the Sea if besides its internall agitations by the restlesse motions of estuation descention revolution and reflection it be also outwardly turmoyl'd with stormes and tempestuous winds How ragefull roaing wil it be But the other is like a strong unmoveable mountaine that stands impregnable against the rage of winde and weather And all the cruell incursions and ungodly oppositions made against it either by men or Divels are but like so many proud and swelling waves which dash themselves against a mighty Rocke The more boysterously they beate against it the more are they broken and turned into a vaine foame and froath Come what come will His heart is still in His breast and His resolution as high as Heaven Pestilent then is that Principle of Machiavel a Fellow not to bee named but by way of detestation and savours rankely of cursed Atheisme Whereby He teaches in sense and summe
humorist an Hypocrite and all that naught is even as bad as the false tongues of the Devils Limbes can make a blessed Man He was a good-fellow will they say but hee is now quite gone a proper man and of good parts but his Puritanisme hath mar'd all While Paul humour'd the Pharises in persecuting and plaguing the disciples of the Lord Hee was a principall and much honoured Man amongst them but when hee turned on Christ's side He was holden a pestilent-fellow the very plague So that it is plaine and palpable whatsoever may bee pretended to the contrary that those cursed Cains dogged Doegs and scoffing â—â—maels that set themselues and spend their malice against the Ministers and people of God hare slander and persecute the very workes of Grace and graces of Gods Spirit in them Even their zâ—ale holinesse hatred of sinne reformation c. are an Eye-sore and heart-sore to such hatefull wretches and Owles of Hell â—ho cannot endure any heavenly light 8. As stigmaticall Rogues burnt in the hand curtal'd of their eares branded in the fore-head are in the Common wealth so are Persecutors in the Church By mutuall intelligence and information of Gods people or some more publike lasting record and Monunument of the Church they have many times such a Marke set upon them that they carry it to their graves yea to the iudgement Seate of God that it may bee knowne a sore-hand to that glorious Tribunall and all the triumphant Church what beastly men stinging Scorpions and pricking thorn's they have beene amongâ—t Gods Children and in the sides of the Saints Such a brand had Alexander the Copper smith set upon him by Paul 2. Tim. 4.14.15 And such a Brand was set upon Diotrephes that mâ—litious prating companion by Saint Iohn 3. Ioh 10. So are those bloud thirsty Tygers Gardiner Bonner and the rest of that cruell litter and persecuting packe branded that their names shall rot and their memories be hatefull to the Worlds end So too many in these times though they be very iolly fellowes in their owne conceits ador'd as Idols by their flattering Dependants applauded generally as the principall Patrones of revelling good-fellowship â—et in the censure of the Saints and by the doome of divine wisedome they are clearely knowne and iustly reputed enemies of all righteousnesse and Satans speciall Agents to doe mischiefe against the Ministery 9. And it is to be feared they will finde no mercy upon their Beds of death and in their last extremity cry they never so loude or promise they never so faire God in iust indignation is woont to deale so with those who drinke up iniquity like Water withâ—ut all sense or feare of a glorious dreadâ—ull Majesty above See Ezek 8.18 with those who refuse to stoupe to Gods Ordinance and submit to the Scepter of Christ when they are fairely invited by the Ministery See Prov. 1.24.28 Ier. 7.13.16 and 11.11 With great Ones who grinde the faces of the poore See Micah 3 4. with abusers of the riches of His goodnesse and long suffering See Rom. 2.4 5. How much more doe you thinke shall impenitent Persecutors bee paide home in this kinde See 2. Macchab. 9.13.17 There that great and cruell persecutor Antiochus being seizd upon by an horrible sickenesse promiseth very gloriously upon that his last Bed Besides many other strange reformations even that he also would become a Iew himselfe and goe thorough all the World that was inhabited and declare the power of God But for all this heare what the Writer of that story saith of his spirituall state and of Gods resolution towards Him vers 13. This wicked person prayed also unto the Lord who would now have no mercy on him 10 All their spitefull speeches scurrill scoâ—fes pestilent lyes insolent insultations c. are as so many Crownes of Glory and ioy unto the heads and hearts of all persecuted patient Professours 1. Pet. 4.14 Act. 5.41 Iob. 3.36 So that they infinitely misse the malicious Marke their revengefull humours would gladly hit the hurt and heart-breaking of those they so cruelly and cunningly hunt with much rancour and hate And not onely so but most certainely hereafter if they die not like drunken Nabal and their hearts become as stones in their brests upon their Beds of death they will all tho now passing from them with much bitternesse of Spirit and without all remorse turne into so many envenomed stings and byting scorpions unto their owne consciences and knaw upon their hearts with extreamest horrour 11. The whole body of the militant Church ioyne all as one man with a strong concurrent importunitie at the Throne of grace and with one heart and spirit constantly continue there such piercing prayers against all stubborne impenitent scorners all incurable implacable persecutours as the people of God have bin wont to poure out in such cases as Lament 3.59 c. O Lord thou hast seen my wrong judge thou my cause Thou hast seene all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me Thou hast heard their reproach O Lord and all their imaginations against me The lips of those that rose up against me their devise against me all the day Behold their sitting downe and their rising up I am their musicke Render unto them a recompence O Lord according to the worke of their hands Give them sorrow of heart thy curse unto them Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord. Now I would not be in that Mans case against whom Gods people complaine upon good ground at that iust and highest Tribunal one halfe houre for the imperiall crowne and command of all the kingdomes of the earth for who knowes whether iust at that time the righteous Lord for his children's sake and safety may raine upon such a mans head snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest 12. And the prayers of the Saints poured out in the bitternesse of their soules vexed continually with their malicious cruelties and cruell mockes are meanes many times to bring Persecutours to an untimely end to knocke them downe before their time Doe not you thinke that the faithfull Iewes at Ierusalem hearing of Antiochus marching towards them like an evening Wolfe to drinke up their bloud had presently recourse unto Gods righteous Throne with strong cries to stay his rage And doe you not thinke that those very praiers drew downe upon him that horrible and incurable plague whereupon Hee died a miserable death in a strange Countrey in the Mountaines Herod for any thing wee know might have lived many a faire Day longer if hee had dealt fairely with the Apostles of Christ. But putting One to the sword Act. 12.2 And another in prison vers 4. Hee put the Church to their prayers vers 5. Which prayers for there is a certaine omnipotency of prayer as Luther was woâ—t to say did create full soone those vermine that eate him up horribly in the height
hast shamefully abused whose anger patience and pure eye thou hast villanously provoked all thy life long Alas what wilt thou doe then What wings of the morning will then carry Thee out of the reach of Gods revenging hand What Cave shall receive thee What Mountaine canst Thou get by entreaty to fall upon Thee What darkest Mid-night or Hellish Dungeon shall hide thee from that wrath which Thou shall bee neither able to abide or to avoide In this case I would not have thy heart in my Brest one houre for the riches glory and pleasures often thousand worlds Neither blesse thy Selfe in the meane time because Thou hast neither feare fore-tast or feeling of the wrath which is to come the vengeance which hangs over thine Head and the horrour which dog's Thee at the heeles For that is the very complement of thy misery and perfection of thy madnesse To bee sicke and senselesse of it is the sorest sicknesse To have Satan slash thy Soule with so many sinnes one after another and to feele no smart is a most desperate securitie To have all this misery towards and to bee confident and fearelesse is the misery of miseries The reasons why thou art at rest from their guilty rage in the meane time and that so many sleeping Lions I meane all thine unpardoned sinnes doe not yet awake and stirre terrific and teare in pieces are such as these 1. Satan is suttle that Hee will not meddle much or molest thee extreamely untill Hee bee able to doe thee an irrecoverable mischiefe Hee is woont not to appeare in His true likenesse and so terribly not so much to disquiet and trouble any of His owne before Hee have them at some dead lift and desperate advantage as under some extraordinary Crosse great disgrace grievous sicknesse In time of some deepe Melancholy un-avoidable danger universall confusion When Hee conceives in all probabilitie that they have out-stood the Day of their visitation hardned their hearts that they cannot repent received the sentence of death against themselves And at such other like times when hee hopes Hee shall bee able to crush and confound them suddenly utterly and for ever And then hee playes the Divell indeed and shewes Himselfe in His colours For Hee then infinitely endeauours with all cunning and cruell industry after Hee hath wafted them a while downe the current of the times with as much carnall peace and pleasure as Hee could possibly to cast them upon the Rocke of a most dreadfull ruine and swallow them up quicke in the gulphe of calamity and woe of despaire selfe-destruction everlasting perdition of Body and Soule But you must know that in the meane time untill Hee can spie such an opportunity Hee labours might and maine to keepe them in as merry a moode as may bee Hee laies about Him by all wayes and meanes Hee can devise to plot and provide for them and that with great variety and curiosity fresh successions and supplies continually of pleasures contentments the countenance and favours of the times sensuall satisfactions all earthly prosperities If Hee can helpe it and have his will they shall wallow still in all worldly felicity and bee attended upon with all the delights their hearts can desire And all this to continue them with more easinesse and irresistance in the damned way And lest otherwise they should grow weary of His slavery sensible of their guilded fetters and so labour after liberty and enlargement from His Hellish bondage For Hee knowes full well that if thy endured much hardship in His service they might perhaps thinke of seeking after a new Master that want of comfort in the world might draw their hearts to delight in the Word Not finding happinesse upon earth might make them enquire after that which is in heaven That crosses and crossing their courses being sanctified for that purpose may happily helpe to breake their hearts and bring them to remorse for sin which Hee mainely feares and opposeth with all the craft and power Hee can possibly lest thereupon they breake out of His fooles-Paradise into the Garden of Grace out of the warme Sunne into Gods blessing In managing this maine policy for the more secure detainement of His Vassals in the invisible chaines of darkenesse and damnation and in an everlasting distast and dis-affection to the good way by holding up their hearts in His sinfull service and wooing them to go on quietly towards Hell without any grumbling Hee workes many wayes 1. Hee plots all Hee can to procure them successe in their wicked enterprises and unlawfull attempts especially against the faithfull Ministers and people of God for that doth infinitely confirme harden and encourage them in their prophane courses and opposition to grace Herein Hee doth many times mightily prevaile by improving the oportunities pressing the advantages which hee gaines by the executions of Gods iustice and rebellions of his Children The sinnes even of His owne people doe many times provoke Gods just indignation against them and enforces Him to raise up their adversaries as scourges and to give them successe for the humiliation and chastisement of his chosen See Psal. 81.14.15 Isai. 10.5 6. c. Ezech. 22.19.20 Whereupon Satan fills the hearts of the wicked so prevailing and conquering with a great deale of pride selfe-applause insolency contempt of godlinesse selfe-conceitednesse of their owne righteousnesse and worth and so hardens them extraordinarily and holds them with much obstinated resolution in the wayes of death and prejudice against the holy Path. 2. Hee helpes all hee can to have them thrive and prosper by oppression usury simony sacriledge bribery covetousnesse cousoning Machiavellian tricks c. That so His service may seeme more sweete and gainefull unto them To the effecting whereof Hee receives notable assistance and speciall advantage from the corruptions of the times and conscionable simplicity of the Saints For the first These worst and ulcerous times wherein so many Vines Olive-trees and Figge-trees wither away in obscurity and so many Brambles brave it abroad in the world tumbling themselves in the pleasures splendour and glory of the present wherein so many brave Princes are walking as servants upon the earth and too many servants of luxurie and pride are mounted on horse-backe I say they are the onely season for Satan to gratifie all His gracelesse Ones and to hoist them up by the common but accursed staires and stirrops of bribing basenesse temporising ill offices to humour greatnesse and other such vile meanes and accommodations into eminency in the world and high roomes where hee keepes them in a golden captivity with great contentment and lockes them full fast in the Scorners chaire with much securitie to their owne sensuall hearts and notorious service to Himselfe Whereas indeed and truth to men that have eyes in their Heads the ascent is slippery the Top shaking the downefall desperate For the second It is incredible to consider what a deale of advantage in worldly dealings
in that sweetest well-spring of life and immortality then enjoy the riches pleasures and glory of the whole World everlastingly For a bitter-sweet taste of which for an ynch of time Hee villanously trampleth under-foote as it were that blessed blood by wilfully cleaving to His owne wayes and furious following the swinge of His owne sensuall heart even against the check and contradiction of His grumbling conscience 3. Of the most blissefull presence freedome and communication of the Holy Ghost and all those divine illuminations spirituall feastings sudden and secret glimpses and glances of heavenly light sweeter then sweetnesse it selfe wherewith that good Spirit is woont to visit and refresh the humbled hearts of holy men 4. Of the fatherly providence and protection of the blessed Trinity the glorious guard of Angels the comfortable communion with the people of God and all the happy consequents of safety deliverance and delight that floweth thence 5. Of the unknowne pleasures of an appeased conscience a Iewell of dearest price to which all humane glory is but dust in the balance Not the most exquisite extraction of all manner of Musicke Sets or Consorts vocall or Instrumentall can possibly conveigh so delicious a touch and taste to the outward eare of a Man as the sound and sense of a Certificate brought from the Throne of mercy by the blessed Spirit seal'd with Christs blood to the eare of the Soule even amidst the most desperate confusions in the evill Day when Comfort will bee worth a World and a good Conscience ten thousand earthly Crownes 6. Of all true contentment in this life of all Christian right and religious interest to any of the Creatures For never was any sound ioy or sanctified enjoyment of any thing in the world found in that Mans heart which gives allowance to any lust or lyes delightfully in any sinne 7. Of an immortall Crowne the un-speakeable ioyes of Heaven that immeasurable and endlesse comfort which there shall be fully and for ever enioyed with all the children of God Patriarkes Prophets Apostles Martyrs Christian friends yea with the Lord Himselfe and all His Angels with Christ our Saviour that Lambe slaine for us the Prince of glory the glory of Heaven and Earth the brightnesse of the everlasting Light c. In a word of all those inexplicable nay unconceiveable excellencies pleasures perfections felicities sweetnesses beauties glories eternities above 2. It doth every houre expose Him to all those evils which a Man destitute of grace divine may commit and unprotected from above endure It brings all plagues 1. Internall Blindnesse of minde Hardnesse of heart deadnesse of affection searednesse of conscience a reprobate sense strong delusions the spirit of slumber slavery to lust estrangednesse from God bondage under the Divell desperate thoughts horrour of heart confusion of spirit c. And spirituall mischiefes in this kind moe and more dreadfull then either Tongue can tell or heart can thinke Least of which is farre worse then all the plagues of Egypt 2. Externall See Deut. 28.15 c. 3. Eternall See my Sermon of the foure last things 3. By it 's pestilent damning Property and poyson it turnes Heaven into Hell Angels into Divels Life into death Light into darknesse sight into blindnesse Faith into distrust hope into despaire Loue into hate humility into pride mercy into cruelty security into feare liberty into bondage health into sicknesse plenty into scarcenesse a Garden of Eden into a desolate Wildernesse a fruitfull Land into barrennesse Peace into war quietnesse into contention Obedience into rebellion Order into confusion vertues into vices blessings into curses c. In a word all kind of temporall and eternall felicities and blisse into all kinds of miseries and woe 7. What heart except it bee all Adamant and turn'd into a Rocke of flint but possessing it selfe with feeling thoughts and a sensible apprehension of the incomprehensible greatnesse excellency and dreadfulnesse of the mighty Lord of Heaven and Earth would not tremble and bee strangely confounded to transgresse and breake any one branch of His blessed Lawes especially purposely and with pleasure or to sinne against Him willingly but in the least ungodly thought For alas Who art thou that liftest up thy proud heart or whettest thy prophane tongue or bendest thy rebellious course against such a Majesty Thou art the vilest wretch that ever God made next unto the Divell and His damned Angels A base and an unworthy Worme of the Earth not worthy to licke the dust that lyeth under His feete A most weake and fraile creature Earth ashes or any thing that is naught the dreame of a shadow the very Picture of change worse then vanity lesse then nothing Who when thy breath is gone which may fall out many times in a moment thou turnest into dust nay rottennesse and filth much more loathsome then the Dung of the Earth and all thy thoughts perish But now on the other side if thou cast thine eyes seriously and with intention upon that thrice glorious and highest Majesty the eyes of whose glory thou so provokest with thy filth and folly thou mayest most justly upon the commission of every sinne cry out with the Prophet O Heavens bee astonished at this bee afraid and utterly confounded Nay thou mightest marvaile and it is Gods unspeakeable mercy that the whole frame of Heauen and Earth is not for one sinne fearefully finally dissolued and brought to nought For He against whom thou sinnest inhabiteth eternity and unapprochable light The Heauen is His Throne and the earth his footstoole Hee is the euerlasting God mighty and terrible the Creatour of the ends of the earth â—c The infinite splendour of his glory and maiesty so dazles the eyes of the most glorious Seraphims that they are glad to adore Him with couered faces The Diuell and all the damned spirits those stubborne Feinds tremble at the terrour of His countenance All the Nations before Him are but as the drop of a bucket but as the small dust of the balance nay they are nothing to Him saith the Prophet yea lesse then nothing Hee fitteth upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grashoppers The Iudges and Princes when Hee blowes upon them are but as stubble before the Whirle-winde And Hee taketh vp the Iles as a very litle thing At His rebuke the Pillars of Heauen doe shake the Earth trembleth and the foundations of the hills are mooued His presence melts the mountaines His voice teares the Rocks in pieces The blast of the breath of His nostrils discouers the chanells of waters and foundations of the world when Hee is angry His Arrowes drinke bloud His sword deuoures flesh and the fire of his wrath burnes unto the lowest Hell The Heauen is but His span The Sea His handfull The wings of the wind His walke His garments are light His Pauilion darknes His way in the whirlewind and in the storme and
of His Ministeriall wisedome bends Himselâ—e to breake the hearts of His Hearers Amongst other pieâ—ciâ—g Passages of His searching Sermon Hee tells them to their faces they standing before Him stained with the horrible guilt of the dearest blood that ever was shed upon earth most worthy to have beene gathered up by the most glorious Angels in vessels of gold that they had crucified and slaine that iust and holy One the Lord of life Iâ—sus of Nazareth vers 23. And againe at the close and conclusion vers 36. leaves the same bloody sting in their consciences which restlesly wrought and boild within them untill it begot a great deale of compunction terrour and tearing of their hearts with extreme amazement and anguish Now when they heard this they were pricked in their heart v. 27. Whereupon they came crying vnto Peter and the rest of the Apostles Men and Brethren what shall wee doe And so beeing seasonably led by the counsell of the Apostles to beleeve on the Name of Iesus Christ to lay hold upoÌ„ the promise to repent Evangelically They had the remission of sinnes sealed vnto them by Baptisme and were happily received into the number of the Saints of God whose Son they had so lately slaughtered Of Paul who tho Hee stood as a Prisoner at the Barre and might perhaps by a generall plausible discourse without piercing or particularizing have insinuated into the affections and wonne the favours of His Hearers who were to be His Iudges and so made way for His enlargement and particular wellfare yet Hee for all this very resolutely and unreservedly crosseth and opposeth their greedy lustfull and carelesse humours with a right searching terrifying Sermon of righteousnesse temperance and iudgement to come Acts 24.24.25 That vnhappy Felix was a fellow polluted with abominable adultery and very infamous for his cruell and covetous oppressions and by consequent unapprehensive and fearelesse of that dreadfull Tribunall and the terrors to come Whereupon Paul hauing learned in the Schoole of Christ not to feare any mortall man in the discharge of His Ministry drawes the sword of the Spirit with undantednesse of spirit and strikes presently at the very face of those fearefull sinnes which raâ—gned in His principall and most eminent Hearers tho Hee stood now before them in bonds at their mercy and devotion as they say Hee shrewdly galls the Conscience of that great Man by opposing righteousnesse to His brybing cruelties temperance to his adulterous impurities the dreadfulnes of Iudgement to come to His insolent lawlesse outrages desperate security Hâ—d Paul addreâ— Himself to haue satisfyed their curiosities as many a rising temporizing treâ—char-Chaplaine would have done very industriously and to entertaine thâ—â—ime with a generall discourse of the wonderfull bâ—â—â—h 〈…〉 Christ now so much talk't of 〈…〉 in the world with â— pleasing discovery onely 〈…〉 and glorious things purâ—â—◠〈…〉 by His Bloodshed not 〈…〉 delights 〈…〉 lust and other sinnes O then they had listned unto Him with much acceptation and delight all things had been carried faire and favourably Paul had not been interrupted and so suddainly silent Nor Felix so frighted and distempered But this Man of God knewfull well that that was not the way neither best for them nor for His Masters honor nor for the comfort of His owne conscience And therefore Hee takes a course to cause the Tyrant tremble that thereby Hee might either bee sitted for Christ which was best of all or at least made inexcusable but howsoever that in so doing His duty might bee discharged and Soule delivered holding it farrre better that His Body should bee in bonds then His Soule guilty of blood Orthodox Antiquity was of the same minde and for the same methode Austen that famous Disputer in His time counselleth to this purpose in this Point I expresse the sense and summe and no more then may bee collected and concluded from the Place I will not ever tie my selfe grammatically and pedantically to the words precisely and to render verbatim save only in some cases as of Controversie or some other such like necessity of more Punctuall quotation The Conscience is not to bee healed if it bee not wounded Thou preachest and pressest the Law comminations the Iudgement to come and that with much earnestnesse and importunity Hee which heares if Hee bee not terrified if Hee bee not troubled is not to bee comforted Another heares is stir'd is stâ—ng takes on extremely Cure His contritions because Hee is cast downe and confounded in Himselfe After that Iohn Baptist saith Chrysostome had thorowly frighted the minds of His Hearers with the terrour of iudgement and expectation of torment and with the name of an Axe and their rejection and entertainement of other children and by doubling the punishment to wit of beeing hewed downe and cast into the fire when Hee had thus every way tamed and taken downe their stubbornnesse and from feare of so many evils had stir'd them up to a desire of deliverance then at length Hee makes mention of Christ. God powres not the oyle of His mercy saith Bernard save into a broken vessell So also are all our moderne Divines who are instructed unto the Kingdome of Heaven Peter Martyr magnifies Nathans method of preaching and commends it to all the Ministers of God Hee first proposeth a Parable as wee doe Doctrines for the illumination and conviction of the understanding Then Hee applies it more particularly and to the presentâ— where Hee doth notably exagitate and aggravate the Sinne by recounting and opposing Gods extraordinary bounty and most mercifull dealing with David by the cause of it contempt of the Lords commandement and dreadfull things ensuing thence Afterward that Hee might strike the heart thorow with astonishment and dread Hee threatens terribly At last upon compunction and crying I have sinned He sweetly comforteth and rayseth to the assurance of Gods favour againe If this course must bee taken with relapsed Christians why not much more with those who are starke dead in trespasses and sinnes Christ is promised to them alone saith Calvin who are humbled and confounded with sense of their owne sinnes Then is Christ seasonably revealed faith Musculus when the hearts of men beeing soundly pierced by preaching Repentance are possest with a desire of His gratious righteousnesse The way to Faith saith Beza is penitence Legall compunction because sicknesse enforceth men euen unwilling to slie unto the Physician Men are ever to bee prepared for the Gospell by the preaching of the Law A Sermon of the Law said Tilenus while hee was yet Orthodoxe must go before the Doctrine of the Gospell that the Oyle of mercy may bee powred into a contrite vessell In our exhortations to follow Christ saith Rolloc the minds of men are ever to bee prepared with a sense of misery and their darke estate and afterward with a desire of enlargement and light It
many respects 1. In respect of Gods word and messages first not dividing it and dispensing them aright Secondly Dishonouring the Majesty and weakening the power of them many times with the vnprofitable mixture of humane allegations ostentations of wit fine frier-like conceits digged with much adoe out of Popish postills c. Even as wee may see at haruest time a land of good corne quite choaked up with red blew and yellow flowers As King Iames doth excellently allude in the forecited place Thirdly Fearefull prophaning them by mis-application against Gods will Making the heart of the righteous Sad whom God would not have made Sad and strengthening the hands of the wicked that hee should not returne from his wicked way by promising him life Fourthly Villanous perverting and abusing them to their owne advantage applause rising revenge and such other private ends 2. In respect of the flattering and unfaithfull Ministers themselves First Extreme vilenesse Isa. 9.15 Secondly Guiltinesse of spirituall bloudshed Ezech. 3.18 Thirdly Liablenesse to the fierce wrath of God in the Day of visitation Ier. 14.15 1. King 22.25 3. In respect of their hearers who delight in their lies in their smooth and silken sermons Suddaine horrible and unavoidable confusion Isa. 30.13.14 4. Burning both together in hell for euer without timely and true repentance banning there each other continually and crying with mutuall hideous yellings O thou bloody Butcher of our Soules hadst thou bin faithfull in thy Ministery wee had escaped these eternall flames O miserable man that I am Woe is mee that ever I was Minister for now besides the horrour due unto the guiltinesse of mine owne damned Soule I have drawen vpon mee by my unfaithfull dealing the cry of the bloud of all those soules who have perished under my Ministery to the everlasting enraging of my already intollerable torment Give mee leave to conclude this point with that patheticall and zealous passage of reuerend and learned Greenham against negligent pastors amongst whom I may justly ranke and reckon also all Dawbers for as well never a whit as never the better Men-pleasers For selfe preachers are for the most part seldom-preachers Heare His words Were there any love of God from their hearts in those who in stead of feeding to salvation starve many thousands to Destruction I dare Say and say it boldly that for all the promotions under Heaven they would not offer that iniury to one Soule that now they offer to many hundred Soules But Lord how doe they thinke to give up their reckoning to thee who in most strict account will take the answere of every Soule committed unto them one by one Or with what eares doe they often heare that vehemâ—nt speech of our Saviour Christ Feede Feede Feede with what eyes doe they so often readâ— that piercing speech of the Apostle Feede the slocke committed unto you But if none of these will move them then the Lord open their eyes to heare the grievous groanes of many Soules lying under the griefly altars of destruction and complaining against them O Lord the revenger of blood behold these men whom thou hast set over us to give us the bread of life but they have not given it us Our tongues and the tongues of our children have stucke to the roofe of our mouths for calling and crying and they would not take pitty on vs Wee have given them the tenths which thou appointedst us but they have not given us thy truth which thou hast commanded them Reward them O Lord as they have rewarded us Let the bread betweene their teeth turne to rottennesse in their bowells Let them be clothed with shame and confusion of face as with a garment Let their wealth as the Dung from the earth bee swept away by their executours And upon their gold silver which they have falsely treasured up let continually bee written the price of blood the price of blood For it is the value of our blood O Lord. If thou didst heare the blood of Abel being but one man forget not the blood of many when thou goest into judgement I now returne to rectify and tender a remedy against the first aberration Which I told you was this When mercy Christ the promises salvation heaven all are applied hand overhead and falsely appropriated to vnhumbled sinners whose Soules were never rightly illightened with sight of sinne and waight of Gods wrath nor afflicted to any purpose with any legall wound or hearty compunction by the Spirit of bondage In whose hearts sense of their spirituall misery and want hath not yet raised a restlesse and kindly thirst after Iesus Christ In this case mine advise is that all those who deale with others about their Spirituall states and undertake to direct in that high and waighty affaire of mens Salvation either publikly or privatly in their ministry visitations of the sicke or otherwise that they would follow that course of which I largely discoursed a little before taken by God himselfe his Prophets his Sonne the Apostles and all those men of God in all ages who have set themselves with Sincerity faithfulnesse and all good Conscience to seeke Gods glory in the salvation of mens Soules to discharge aright their dreadfull charge and to keepe themselues pure from the blood of all men To wit That they labour might and maine in the first Place by the knowledge power and application of the Law to illighten convince and terrify those that they have to doe with concerning conversion with a sensible particular apprehension and acknowledgement of their wretchednesse and miserable estate by reason of their sinfulnesse and cursednesse To breake their hearts bruise their Spirits humble their Soules wound and awake their Consciences c. To bring them by all meanes to that Legall astonishment trouble of minde and melting temper which the Ministry of Iohn Baptist Paul and Peter wrought upon the Hearts of their hearers Luk. 3.10.12.14 Act. 16.30 And 2.37 That they may come crying feelingly and from the heart to those Men of God who happily fastened those keene arrows of compunction and remorse in the sides of their Consciences and say Men and Brethren what shall wee do Sirs what must wee doe to bee saved c. As if they should have said Alas wee see now wee have bin in Hell all this while and if wee had gone on a litle longer wee had most certainely lien for ever in the fiery Lake The Devill and our owne lusts were carrying us hood-winkt and headlong towards endlesse perdition Who would have thought wee had bin such abominable beasts and abhorred Creatures as your Ministry hath made us and in so forlorne wofull estate Now you blessed Men of God helpe us out of this gulfe of spirituall confusion or wee are lost everlastingly By your discovery of our present sinfull and cursed estate wee â—eele our hearts torne in pieces with extreme and restles
Iesus Christ c. But who doe you thinke now are the true and great fooles of the world And who are likeliest one day to groane for anguish of Spirit and say within themselves This was hee whom wee had sometimes in derision and a Proverbe of reproch Wee fooles accounted His life madnesse and His end to bee without honour Now is hee numbred among the Children of God and His Lot is among the Saints Therefore haue we erred from the way of truth and the light of righteousnesse hath not shined unto us and the Sun of righteousnesse hath not rose upon us wee wearied our selves in the way of wickednesse and destruction yea wee have gone through deserts where there lay no way But as for the way of the Lord wee have not knowne it What hath pride profited us Or what good hath riches with our vanting brought us All those things are passed away like a shadow and as a post that hasted by c. Nay and yet further besides the extraordinarinesse of the iniquity folly in refusing Christ freely offered it shall most certainely bee hereafter plagued with extremest tormenting fury and most desperate gnashing of teeth For with what infinite horrour and restlesse anguish will this conceit rent a Mans heart in pieces and gnaw upon His Conscience when Hee considers in Hell that Hee hath lost Heaven for a lust and whereas Hee might at every sermon had even the Son of God His husband for the very taking and have lived with Him for ever in unspeakeable Blisse yet neglecting so great salvation must now crying out therefore continually against Himselfe as the most raging Bedlam that ever breathed lie in unquenchable flames without remedy ease or end It is the highest honour that can be imagined and a Mystery of greatest amazement that ever was that the Sonne of God should make sute unto sinfull Soules to be their Husband And yet so it is Hee stands at the doore and knocks if you will give Him entrance Hee will bring Himselfe and Heaven into your hearts We are Christs Ambassadours as though God did beseech you by us Wee pray you in Christs stead to be reconciled to God Wee are Christs spokes-men that I may so speake to Wooe and Winne you unto Him Now what can you say for your selves that you stand out Why come you not in If the Divell would give you leave to speake out and in plaine termes One would say I had rather bee damned then leave my drunkennesse Another I love the world better then Iesus Christ A third I will not part with my easie and gainefull trade of Vsury for the treasure hid in the field And so on So that upon the matter you must needs all confesse that you hereby judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life that you are wilfull bloody Murderers of your owne Soules that you commit such a wickednesse that all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth cry shame upon you for it Nay and if you go on without repentance you may expect that the Hellish gnawing of Conscience for this one sinne of refusing Christ may perhaps hold scale with the Vnited horrors of all the rest What is the matter I marvell that you will not entertaine the Match If wee stand upon honour and noble family Hee that makes love and sute unto our soules hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords If upon beauty Heare how hee is described Cant. 5. My beloved is white and ruddy the chiefest of ten thousand His head is as the most fine gold his lockes are bushie and blacke as a Raven His eyes are as the eyes of Doves by the rivers of water washed with milke and fitly set His cheekes are as a bed of Spices as sweet flowers His lips like Lillies dropping sweet smelling myrrhe His hands are as the gold rings set with the Berill His belly is as bright Ivory overlaid with Saphires His legs are as pillars of marble set upon Sockets of fine gold His countenance is as Lebanon excellent as the Cedars His mouth is most sweet yea hee is altogether lovely Now you must understand that the Spirit of God by these outward beauties and braveries labours in some measure to shadow out and represent unto us the incomparable excellency of inward graces the dignity the glory the spirituall fairenesse of Iesus Christ that wee may know that Hee is wholly and altogether lovely delectable and precious If upoâ— ease and contentment Hee can lead us to fulnesse of joy and pleasures at Gods right hand for evermore If wee desire honorable Alliance Hee will bring us to an innumerable company of Angels to the generall assembly and Church of the first borne which are written in heaven and to God the Iudge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect If we stand upon wealth we shall haue all things with him which is a large Possession If we respect love Greater love hath no Man then this that a Man lay downe His life for his friends And hee being the brightnesse of His Fathers glory and the expresse image of his person came downe from his bosome the well-spring of immortality and blisse the fulnesse of joy and that unapprocheable light into an House of flesh upon this base and miserable earth Hee passed thorow a life full of all manner vexations miseries persecutions indignities slanders speaking against of Sinners c. He was so prodigiously slandered that they said Hee had a divell Whereas the fulnesse of the Godhead dwelled in him bodily Hee was cunningly hunted long and at last violently haled by a Packe of Hell-hounds to a cruell and bloody death which for the extremity and variety of paines for the enraged spight of the executioners for the innocency and excellency of the Person suffering the like never was shall or can bee endured His passions were such so bitter and unsupportable that they would have made any meere creature to have sunke downe under the burden of them to the bottome of Hell Hee was tortured extremely and suffered grievous things both in Body and Soule from Heaven Earth and Hell His blessed Body was given up as an Anvile to bee beaten upon by the violent and villanous hands of wretched Miscreants without all measure or mercy untill they had left no one part free from some particular and speciall torment His skin and flesh were â—ent with scourges His hands and feet pierced with nailes His head with thornes His very heart with the speare point All His senses all his parts indeed His whole sacred body was made a rufull spectacle to Angels and to Men of all the most base and barbarous vsage which malice could devise and cruelty execute But all this yet was but a shadow of His suffering the substance of His suffering was the Agony of His Soule Give mee any affliction save the affliction of the mind
yet at last with everlasting kindnesse will Hee have mercy on Him And that Hee will never utterly and finally forsake any of His. Thus died those blessed Servants of God Mistris Bretergh Master Peacock c. Mistris Bretergh in the heate of temptatioÌ„ wished that she had never bin borne or that she had bin made any other creature rather then a woman But when that Hellish storme was over-blowne by the returne of the glorious beames of the Sun of righteousnesse into Her Soule She turnd her tune and triumphed thus Oh happy am I that ever I was borne to see this blessed Day I confesse before the Lord his loving kindnesse and his wonderfull workes before the sons of men For hee hath satisfied my Soule and filled my hungry Soule with goodnesse Master Peacocke in the height of His dreadfull Desertion told those about Him that hee converst with Hell-â—ounds That the Lord had cursed him That Hee had no grace That it was against the course of Gods proceeding to save Him c. But when that horrible tempest of spirituall terrours was happily disperst and the light of Gods comfortable countenance begun to shine againe upon His most heavy and afflicted spirit Hee dis-avowed all inconsiderate speeches as hee called them in his temptation and did humbly and heartily aske mercy of God for them all And did thus triumph What should I extoll the magnificence of God which is unspeakeable and more then any heart can conceive Nay rather let us with humble reverence acknowledge His great mercy What great cause have I to magnifie the great goodnesse of God that hath humbled Nay rather exalted such a wretched miscreant of so base condition to an estate so glorious and stately The Lord hath honored mee with his goodnesse I am sure hee hath provided a glorious Kingdome for mee The joy which I feele in my heart is uncredible 4. Some of Gods worthiest Champions and most zealous servants doe not answere the unreprooveable sanctity of their life and unspotted current of their former conversation with those proportionable extraordinary comforts and glorious Passages upon their beds of death which in ordinary congruity might be expected as a conuenient conclusion to the rare and remarkeable Christian cariages of such blessed Saints So bottomlesse and infinitely un-fathomable by the utmost of all created vnderstandings are the depths of Gods most holy waies and His inscrutable Counsells quite contrary many times to the probable conclusions of Man's best wisdome But every one of His sith he certainly passes thorow those pangs into pleasures and joyes endlesse and unspeakeable must be content to glorifie God to be seruiceable to His secret ends with what kinde of death Hee please whether it bee glorious and untempted or discomfortable because of Bodily distempers and consequently interpretable by undiscerning spirits or mingled of temptations and Triumphs or ordinary and without any great shew or remarkeable speeches after extraordinary singularities of an holy life which promised an end of speciall note and admiration Why may not some worthy heavenly-minded Christians sometimes by strong mortifying meditations and many conquering fore-conceits of death in their life time make it before-hand so familiar and easie unto them an by continuall conversing above and constant peace of conscience taste so deepely of spirituall ioyes that that dreadfull Passage out of this life as it may breede no great sense of alteration in themselves so no extraordinary matter of speciall observation to others Of the wicked and those who were ever strangers to the mystery of Christ and truth of godlinesse Some die desperately Tho thousands perish by presumption to One of these who despaire yet some there are to whom upon their beds of death all their sins are set in order before them and represented to the eie of their awaked consciences in such griesly formes and so terribly that at the very first and fearefull sight they are presently struck starke dead in soule and spirit utterly over-whelmed and quite swallowed up with guilty and desperate horrour So that afterward No counsell or comfort no consideration of the immeasurablenesse of Gods mercy of the unvaluablenesse and omnipotency that I may so speak of Christs bloud shed of the variety excellency of gracious promises of the losse of their owne immortall soules can possibly drive and divert from that infinitely false conceite and cursed Cry My sinnes are greater then can bee pardoned Whereupon most miserable and forlorne wretches they very wickedly and willfully throw themselves into Hell as it were upon earth and are damned above ground Thus the Lord sometimes for the terror of others glorifying his owne iustice bringing exemplary confusion upon impenitent obstinacy in sinne and willfull opposition to grace doth in greatest indignation by the hand of divine vengeance unclaspe unto them the Booke of their owne Conscience and of His owne holy Law In one of which they find now at length all their innumerable iniquities transgressions and sinnes engraven with the Point of a diamond enraged with Gods implacable wrath aggravated with the utmost malice of Satan And never to bee razed out or remitted but by the bloud of the Son of God in which they peremptorily professe themselves to have no part In the other they see the fiercenes and fulnesse of all the curses plagues and torments denounced there and due unto all impenitent sinners ready to bee poured upon their bodies and soules for ever And no possibility to prevent them no waies to decline them but by Gods infinite bounty thorow Iesus Christ in which they also utterly disclaime all right and interest And therefore they are now finally and desperately resolved to looke for no mercy But in their owne judgement and by their owne confession stand reprobates from Gods covenant and voide of all hope of His inheritance expecting with unspeakeable terrour and amazement of spirit the consummation of their miserie and fearefull sentence of eternall damnation They are commonly such as have been grosse Hypocrites like Iudas and lien in some secret abomination against the knowledge of their hearts all their life long that have followed still their owne sensuall wayes and course of the world against the light of the Ministry standing like an armed man in their consciences to the contrary who have been Scorners and Persecutours of the power of godlinesse and the good way who have abjured the Gospell of Iesus Christ and forsaken the Truth for honour wealth or worldly happinesse To whom the Lord in their life-time vouchsafed many mercies much prosperity great meanes of salvation long forbearance c. And yet they stood out still they still hated to bee reformed set as naught all His counsell and would 〈◊〉 of His â—â— proofe Wherefore the Day of gratious visitation beeing once expired a thousand Worlds will not purchase it againe Heaven and Earth cannot recall it No mercy no comfort no blessing can then bee had tho they seeke it with teares
hee was upon the earth called thy blessed Lord and Saviour Divell See Matth. 10.25 Ioh. 7.20 which passeth all I am perswaded that any drunken Belial ever yet fastned upon thee Contemne thou therefore for ever and trample upon with an humble and triumphant patience all their contumelies and contempts Passe-by nobly without touch or trouble without wound or passion the utmost malice of the most scurrill tongue the basest gibe of the impurest Drunkard Doth the World carnall men thine owne friends ormall Teachers suppose and censure thee to be a dissembler in thy Profession and will needes concurrently and confidently yet falsely fasten upon thee the imputation of hypocrisie An heavy charge Yet for all this Let thy truly-humble heart conscious to it selfe of it's owne syncerity in holy services like a strong pillar of brasse beate backe all their impoysoned arrowes of malice and mistake this way without any dejection or discouragement Onely take occasion hereby to search more thorowly and walke more warily Iob may bee a right noble patterne to thee in this point also He had against him not onely the Divell his enemy pushing at him with his poysoned weapons but even his owne friends scourging him with their tongues His owne wife a thorne pricking him in the eye yea his owne God running upon him like a Gyaâ—â— and his terrours setting themselves in aray against himâ— Powerfull motives to make him suspect himselfe of former halting and hollow-heartednesse in the wayes of God yet notwithstanding his good and honest heart having been long before acquainted with and knit unto his God â—â— truth makes him breake out boldly and resolutely protest Till I die I will not remove my integrity from mee My righteousnesse I hold fast and will not let it goe Chap. 27.5.6 Behold my Witnesse is in Heaven and my record is on high Cap. 16.19 Art thou a loving and tender-hearted mother unto thy children and hast thou lost the dearest The greatest outward crosse I confesse that ever the sonnes and daughters of Adam tasted and goeth nearest to the heart Yet thy sorrow is not singular but out-gone in this also For the blessed Mother of Christ stood by and saw her owne onely deare innocent sonne the Lord of life most cruelly and villanously murdred upon the Crosse before her eyes Ioh. 19.25 Hast thou lost thy goods or children Doth thy wife that lies in thy bosome set her selfe against thee Doe thy nearest friends charge thee falsely Art thou pained extremely from top to toe Doe the Arrowes of the Almighty sticke fast in thy soule Thy affliction is grievous enough if thou taste any of these severally But doe they all in greatest extremity concurre upon thee at once Hast thou lost all thy children and all thy goods Doth thy wife afflict thy afflictions c. If this bee not thy Case and rufull condition thou commest yet short of Iob a most just man and one of Gods dearest Iewels 4. The exceeding greatnesse and pretiousnesse of the promises In every one of which it is incredible to consider what abundant matter of unspeake-able and glorious joy lies wâ—rpâ— up Oh how sweet are they to a thirsty soule in the â—â—me of angvish and trouble They are like a cloud of raine that commeth in the time of a drought They are very glimpses of Heaven shed into a heart many times as darke as hell They are even rockes of eternity upon which every bruised reed may sweetly repose with impregnable safety A truly humbled spirit relishing spirituall things would not exchange any one of them for all the riches and sweetnesse of both the Indies Tell me deare heart thou that in thy unregenerate time though now happily changed lay soaking in sinnes of cruelty and blood whether that mercifull promise Isai. 1.18 Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord Though your sinnes bee as skâ—rlet they shall bee as white as snow though they bee red like crimson they shall bee as wooll bee not farre dearer unto thee then thousands of gold and silver Or thou who formerly pollutedst thy selfe villanously with such secret execrable lusts which now thou canst not remember without horrour tell mee if it were utterable by the Tongue of man with what dearest sweetnesse and blessed peace thy broken heart was bound up and revived when thou cast thine eye considerately and beleevingly upon that pretious place Ezech. 36.25 I will sprinkle water upon you and you shall bee cleane and from all your filthinesse and from all your Idols will I cleanse you c. There was beyond the Seas as my Author reports Christian Matrone of excellent parts and piety who langvishing long under the horrible pressure of most furious and fiery temptations wofully at length yeelded to despaire and attempted the destruction of her selfe After often and curious seeking occasion for that bloody fact at last having first put off her apparrell threw her self head-long from an high Promontory into the Sea But having received no hurt by her fall shee was there by a Miracle and extraordinary mercy strangely preserved for the space of two houres at the least though all the while shee laboured industriously to destroy her selfe Afterward drawne out with much adoe and recovered shee yet still did conflict with that extremest desperate horrour almost a whole yeere But by Gods good providence which sweetly and wisely ordereth all things listening on a time though very unwillingly at first to her husband reading amongst other places that Isa. 57.15 Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones For I will not contend for ever neither will I bee alwaies wroth for the spirit should faile before mee and the soules which I have made I say listening to these words the Holy Ghost drawing her heart shee begun to reason thus within her selfe God doth here promise to revive and comfort the heart of the contrite and spirit of the humble and that hee will not contend for ever neither bâ— alwayes wroth But I have a very contrite heart and a spirit humbled 〈◊〉 to the dust one of the acknowledgement and sense of my sinnes and divine vengeance against them Therefore peradventure God will vouchsafe to revive and comfort my heart and spirit and not contend with 〈◊〉 for ever nor bee wroth against mee still c. Hereupon by little and little there flowed by Gods blessing into her darke and heavy heart abundance of life lightsomnesse spirituall strength and assurance In which she continued with constancy and comfort many a yeere after crowned those happy dayes and a blessed old age with a glorious and triumphant death and went to Heaven in the yeere 1595. What heart now but Hers that felt it can possibly conceive the depth of that extraordinary un-utterable
1 Mercifull and 2 Gracious 3 Long-suffering and abundant in 4 Goodnesse and 5 Truth 6 Keeping mercy for thousands 7 Forgiving iniquity transgression and sinne In which there are implyed un-answerable replies to all the scruples doubts exceptions objections which may arise in a troubled soule 1. Thou sayest perhaps that thou art plunged into the depth of extremest spirituall misery both in respect of sâ—â—fulnesse and cursednesse The present sense whereof is ready to sinke thee into despaire Be it so Then take my counsell in this Case Cast thine eye upon the first and fairest flowre in this heavenly-glorious Garland of divine goodnesse And thou shalt finde a fame greater depth of mercy ready to swallow up thy depth of misery The mercy of God and misery in this kind are relatives No misery no mercy much misery much mercy transcendent misery transcendent mercy the onely difference is the mercy of God is infinite thy misery finite And therefore how much spirituall misery soever thou bringest in a broken heart to the Throne of grace Gods bountifull hand will weigh out to thee a proportionable measure of mercy nay a measure without measure super-abundant running-over For where misery in a truly humbled soule aboundeth there mercy doth much more abound 2. Or suppose that at thy first turning unto God tho truly humbled yet thou art tempted not to take Christ out of this ccoÌ„eit because thou art but euen now come out of hell and horrible courses and as yet hast no good thing in thee at all Or after some progresse in Christianity reflecting in time of temptation upon thy whole carriage since conversion and finding it to have been so fruitlesse and full of failings Thou concludest thy selfe in thy present feeling to be extremely vile of a very doubtfull state for thy soule if not stark naught That no Professour upon earth walkes so unworthily and if Ministers knew thy heart and weake performance of holy duties they would not bee so forward to presse comfort upon thee c. I say in these two cases and the like it is a great happinesse and sweetest comfort that the mighty Lord of Heaven and Earth hath proclaimed himselfe to bee Gracious which imports thus much to poure out abundance of extraordinary bounty upon a most undeserving partie To place dearest affection and desire of doing good there where there is no desert at all As if a King to make his royall favours more illustrious should raise a worthlesse Wretch a most contemptible Vassal to be his worthiâ—â—â— Favorite highest in his love And therefore bring 〈◊〉 to the Throne of Grace but a true sense of thy misery a syncere thirst for mercy an humble acknowledgement of thine unworthinesse and God hereupon for his Christs sake will thinke thee worthy of the riches of his grace the righteousnesse of his Son all the promises in his Booke all the comforts of his Spirit a Crowne of immortality and blisse For hee is gracious and an universall glorious confluence of blessednesse in all kinds is promised to poverty in spirit and shal most certainely to the vtmost bee made good unto it for ever 3. But alas I saith an other have most wretchedly mis-spent the flower and strength of mine age in vanity and pleasure in lewdnesse and lust The best of my time hath been wofully wasted in Satans notorious service and sensuall serving my selfe c. And therefore tho I bee now weary of my former waies and looke backe upon them with a trembling heart and grieved spirit yet I am affraid that God hath given over looking after mee that His patience towards mee is expired and my day of visitation out-stood And that he will not vouchsafe to cast his eye of compassion upon such a Blackamore Leopard as I am so overgrowne with corruption and growne old in sinne especially having so long neglected so great salvation forsaken mine owne mercy so long and so unthankefully despised the riches of his goodnesse and forbearance leading mee to repentance I confesse it is something rare to see men gone-on so long and growne old in sinne to returne and give way to any saving worke of the Ministry because too often in the meane time they so harden their hearts that they cannot repent yet notwithstanding bee thou assured in the Word of life and truth if now at length thou be truly touched indeed and will come-in in earnest the Father of mercies will receive thee freely to mercy and embrace thy bleeding soule in the armes of his everlasting love through Christ. For it is a title of highest honour unto him to be long-suffering Hee all this while waited that hee might bee gracious unto thee And now undoubtedly upon thy first resolution to returne in truth hee will meete thee with infinitely more compassionate affectionatenesse then the Father in the Gospell his Prodigall who when hee was a great way off his Father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neckâ— and kissed him c. 4. Yea but saith an other Though I have been a Professour long yet many times my heart is full heavy and more loth to beleive when I seriously and sensibly call to minde the hainousnesse of my unregenerate time and see in my selfe besides since I was illightned and should have behaved my selfe in forwardnesse and fruitfullnesse for God answerably to my former folly and furiousnesse in evill so many defects and imperfections every day and such weake distracted discharging of commanded duties both to God and man Take then counsell and comfort in this Case by casting thine eye upon Gods kindnesse He is abundant in kindnesse which hath these foure pretious properties First To bee easily intreated Secondly To be intreated for the greatest Thirdly to passe by involuntary infirmities Fourthly to accept gratiously weake services Even â— fraile man if of a more noble generous and kind disposition will bee easily appeased for the unpurposed offences errours and over-sights and well pleased with the good will syncere indeavours and utmost especially of those who hee knowes to bee true-hearted unto him and desire heartily if they were able to doe all hee desires even to the height of exactnesse and expectation How much more then will our heavenly Father deale so with his children who is in himselfe essentially kinde and infinitely 5. Yea but saist thou many times when I reach 〈◊〉 the hand of my faith to fetch some speciall promise into my soule for refreshing and comfort and weighing them well and comparing advisedly my owne nothingnesse worthlesnesse vilenesse with the riches of mercy grace and glory shining in it and marking the dis-proportion I am overwhelmed with admiration and astonishment and to tell you true say sometimes to my selfe Is it possible that this should be so That so glorious things should belong to such a wretch and worme as I am But turning thine eye from a distrustfull and too much dejected dwelling upon thine owne
gracious acceptation and intertainement at his Throne of Grace That it is naturall also to his Name To forgive iniquity transgression and sinne That is sinnes of all sorts kindes and degrees whatsoever There is none so hatefull and hainous whether naturall corruption or ordinary outward transgression or highest presumption but upon repentance God is most able ready and willing to remit it 7. God the Fathers compassionate pangs of infinite affection and forwardnesse to entertaine into his armes of mercy all true Penitents As I live sayth the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turne from his way and live turne yee turne yee from your evill wayes for why will yee die O house of Israell Ezech. 33.11 Woe unto thee O Ierusalem wilt thou not bee made cleane When shall it once be Ier. 13.27 They say if a man put away his wife and shee goe from him and become another mans shall hee returne to her againe Shall not that Land be greatly polluted But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers yet returne againe to mee sayth the Lord Ier. 3.1 Oh that my people had hearkned unto mee and Israel had walked in my waies I would soone have subdued their enemies and turned my hand against their adversaries The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him but their time should have endured for ever Hee should have fed them also with the finest of the wheate and with honey out of the rocke should I have satisfyed thee Psal. 81. O that thou hadst hearkned to my commandements then had thy peace been as a River and thy righteousnesse as the waves of the Sea Thy seed also had been as the sand and the off-spring of thy howells like the gravell thereof his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before mee Isa. 48.18 8. His mercifull almightinesse in putting life and lightsomnesse into the most dead and darkest heart Seeke him saith the Prophet that maketh the seven Starres and Orion and turneth the shâ—dow of death into the morning Amos 5.8 Suppose thou sâ—ttest thy selfe to seeke Gods face and favour and art presently set upon with this temptation But alas My soule is so blacke with sinne and darke with sorrow that it is to no purpose for mee to proceed c. But now in this case consider who Hee is that thou seekest it is He that made of nothing those beautifull shining glorious constellations Orion and the Pleiades and nothing in the world is darker then nothing Hee is Hee that turneth the darkest midnight into the brightest morning c. 9. Christs sweetest dearest most melting invitations of all truly troubled soules for sinne unto the Well of life and their owne everlasting wellfare Come unto mee all yee that labour and are heavie laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11.28 O Ierusalem Ierusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings c. Mat. 23.37 And when hee was come neare hee beheld the City and wept over it saying Oh if thou hadst knowne even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace Luke 19.41.42 In the last day the great Day of the Feast Iesus stood and cried saying If any man thirst let him come to mee and drinke 10. Precedents in Gods Booke of many hainous and horrible sinners received to mercy upon their humiliation As Eve Magdalen Paul Zacheus Sodomits 1. Cor. 6.9.11 Crucifiers of Christ. Acts. 2. 11. Experience perhaps of the Comforter converted from a more wicked and desperate course then the Patient himselfe And it doth not a little refresh the heart of him who grievosly wounded in conscience and thereupon sending for a skillfull and faithfull Messenger of God and when he hath opened his Case fully unto him to heare him say when he hath sayd all My Case was farre worse then yours every way Nay but besides those notorious sins I have named unto you I have defiled my selfe with many secret execrable lusts Be it so saith the spirituall Physition yet in the daies of my vanity I have been guilty of moe and more hainous crimes then any you have yet spoken of Yea but even now when I have most need of should most prize reverence and lay hold upon Gods blessed Word Son and Promises I am pestilently pestered with many abhorred villanous and prodigious injections about them Not a man alive replies the Man of God hath had his head troubled with more hideous thoughts of such hellish nature then I c. 12. That pretious Parable Luk. 15. wherein all those loving passages of the Father unto his prodigall Son to wit His beholding him when hee was yet a great way off his compassion running towards him falling upon his necke kissing him putting on him the best Robe and the Ring killing the fatted Calfe c. doe shadow that immeasurable incomprehensible love of God the Father to every one that is willing to come out of the Divels cursed service into the good way But come as farre short of expressing it to the life as the infinite greatnesse of Almighty God surpasseth the finite frailty of a weake man and worme of the earth 2. In a second place Let us take a view of some of those most delicious and sweetest streames of dearest comfort which spring abundantly out of that fruitfull Fountaine of compassion and love Psal. 103.13 Like as a Father pittieth his Children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him See also Deutâ—r 8.5 Malac. 3.17 Hence may wee draw refreshing enough to our thirstie soules in many passages of heavy thoughts and grievous complaints about our spirituall state 1. In the distempers and damps of prayer thus Suppose the dearest Sonne of the loving'st Father to lie grievously sicke and out of the extremity of angvish to cry out and complaine unto him that hee is so full of paine in every part that hee knowes not which way to turne himselfe or what to doe and thereupon intreats him of all loves to touch him tenderly to lay him softly to mollifie all hee may his painefull misery and give him ease How ready thinke you would such a father bee with all tendernesse and care to put to his helping hand in such a ruefull case But yet if hee should grow sicker and weaker so that hee could not speake at all but onely looke his Father in the face with watery eies and moane himselfe unto him with sighes and groanes and other dumbe expressions of his increased paine and desire to speake Would not this yet strike deeper into the Fathers tender heart pierce and melt it with more feeling pangs of compassion and make his bowells yerne within him with an addition of extraordinary dearenesse and care to doe him good Even just so will thy heavenly Father bee
Abraham as you know Gen. 22. did not indeede when it came to the Point sacrifice his Son An Angell from Heaven stayed his hand Onely Hee had a will purpose and resolution if the Lord would so have it even to shed the blood of his onely Childe Now this desire to please God was graciously accepted at his hands as tho the thing had been done and thereupon crowned with as many blessings as there are starres in Heaven and sands upon the Sea-shore By my selfe have I sworne saith the Lord because Thou hast done this thing and hast not spared thine onely Sonne and yet Hee spilt not a drop of his blood save onely in purpose and preparednesse to doe Gods will Therefore will I surely blesse thee and greatly multiply thy seede as the starres of the Heaven and as the sand which is upon the Sea-shore vers 16.17 Rich men Marke 12. cast into the Treasury large Doles and royall offerings no doubt For it is there said Many that were rich cast in much vers 41. And yet the poore Widowes two mites receiving worth and waight from her holy and hearty affection in Christs esteeme did out-valew and over-weigh them all Verely saith Christ I say unto you that this poore widow hath cast more in then all they which have cast into the Treasury Reasons 1. One argument may bee taken from the blessed noblenesse of Gods nature and the incomparable sweetnesse of his divine disposition Which by infinite distance without all degree of comparison and measure of proportion doth surpasse and transcend the ingenuousnesse of the noblest spirit upon earth Now men of ingenuous breeding and generous dispositions are wont to receive sweetest contentment and rest best satisfied in prevailing over and winning the hearts good wills and affections of those who attend or depend upon them Outward performances gratifications and visible effects are often beyond our strength and meanes many times mingled and quite mard with Hypocrisies disguisements famed accommodations and flatteries with selfe-advantages by-respects and private ends But inward reverence and love kind and affectionate stirrings of the heart are ever and alone in our power and ever by an uncontrole-able freedome exempted from enforcement dissembling and formality No marvaile then tho the most royall and Heroicall spirits prize most and bee best pleased with possession of Mens hearts and beeing assured of them can more easily pardon the want of those outward Acts of sufficiency and service most minded by basest men which they see to be above the reach of their ability and power Now if it be so that even ingenuous and noble natures accept with speciall respect and esteeme the affectionatenesse and hearty well-willing of their followers and Favourits tho thâ—y want dexterity and meanes to expresse iâ— actually in visible effects and executions answerable to their affection How much more are spirituall longings holy affections thirsty desires graciously accepted of that God in respect of whose compassions the bowels of the most mercifull man upon earth are cruelty In respect of whose immeasurably amiable melting sweetest disposition the ingenuousnesse of the noblest spirit is doggednesse and disdaine Especially sith Mens good Turnes and Offices of love turne many times to our good and benefit to our advancement profit preferment But our well-doing extendeth not unto God That infinite essentiall glory with which the highest Lord alone to bee blessed adored and honoured by all for ever was is and shall bee everlastingly crowned can neither bee empaired by the most desperate rebellions or enlarged by the most glorious good deeds Can a man saith Eliphaz to Iob bee profitable unto God As Hee that is wise may bee profitable unto himselfe Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous Or is it gaine to Him that thou makest thy waies perfit And Cap. 35.6 7 8. If thou sinnest what doest thou against Him Or if thy transgressions bee multiplyed what doest thou unto Him If thou bee righteous what givest thou to Him Or what receiveth he of thine hand Thy wickednesse may hurt a man as thou art and thy righâ—eousnesse may profit the Sonne of Man Were all the wicked men upon earth turned into humane beasts desperate Belials nay incarnate Divels and the whole world full of those out-ragious Giants of Babell and those also of the oâ—â— World And all with combined force and fury should bend and band themselves against Heaven yet they could not hurt God The Lord is King be the people never so impatient Hee sitteth between the Cherubins be the earth never so unquiet Or Were all the Sonnes of men Abrahams or Angels and as many in number as the Starres in Heaven and as shining both with inward graces and outward good deeds as they are in visible glory yet could they make no addition unto that incomprehensible Majesty above They could not conferre so much as one drop to that boundlesse and bottomlesse Sea of goodnesse or the least glimpse unto that Almighty Sunne of glory All nations before Him are as nothing and they are counted to Him lesse then nothing and vanity Our sinnes hurt Him not Our holinesse helpes Him not It is onely for our good that God would have us good No good no gaine accrewes unto Him by our goodnesse For what good can come by our imperfect goodnesse to that which is already infinitely good What glory can bee added by our dimnesse to Him which is already incomprehensibly glorious Every infinite Thing is naturally and necessarily uncapable of addition Possibility of which suppos'd implies contradiction and destroyes the nature of Infinity If it bee so then that good turnes doe good unto Men and yet out of their ingenuousnesse they most esteeme good wills true heartednesse kind affections And can well find in their hearts to passe-by failings where there is heart and good will as they say To pardon easily want of exactnesse in performance where there are unfained purposes How much more will our gracious God who gaines nothing by all the good workes in the world out of the depth of His dearest compassions kindly interpret and accept in good part the holy longings and hungry desires of a panting and bleeding Soule How dearely will Hee love the love of a true-hearted Nathanael How willingly will Hee take the will for the deede the groanings of the Heart before the greatest Sacrifice But lest you mistake take notice here of a two-fold Glory 1. Essentiall infinite everlasting It is impossible that this should either receive disparagement and diminution or addition and encreasement by any created power And this I meant in the precedent Passage 2. The other I may call Accidentall finite temporary This ebbs or slowes shines or is over-shadowed as Goodnesse or Gracelesnesse prevailes in the world As the kingdom of Christ or powers of darknes get the upper hand amonst the Sonnes of Men. In this regard indeede Rebellious wretches dishonour God upon Earth I confesse And Godly men
upright Soule wil be graciously accepted of our mercifull God in the Name of Iesus Christ As tho first Thy repentance had been to the full Secondly Thy obedience to the height Thirdly Thy present promises vowes and resolutions for future forwardnesse and fruitfulnesse performed to the vtmost For when all is done Iesus Christ is All in All Hee alone is the onely Sanctuary and Tower of everlasting safty for every truly humbled Soule to fly unto both in life and death Hee is made unto us wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption I come now as I promised to some speciall Cures and particular application of comfortable Antidotes to divers spirituall Maladies of which Christians specially complaine to those terrours and temptations which are woont most to afflict sin-troubled and truly-humbled Soules 1. I will suppose Thou art effectually and savingly wrought-upon by the Preaching and power of the Word illightned and convinced to acknowledge and feele thy selfe to bee a most sinnefull and cursed wretch by nature lost and forlorne damned and utterly undone in thy selfe c. And upon the opening of the glorious Mysterie of the Gospell and offer therein of the Person and pretious merits of Iesus Christ for the present binding-up of thy broken heart and endlesse blessednesse Thou art ravisht with extraordinary admiration and affection after that hidden Treasure and Pearle of great price holding thy selfe happy that ever thou wast borne and made for ever if thou canst get possession of it but a gone-man if thou canst not get it and an everlasting Cast-away Most willing therefore art Thou to sell all that thou hast prizing it infinitely before the riches glory and pleasures of the whole earth c. In which state thou hast a strong direct and speciall Calling to fill thine hungry Soule with Iesus Christ to lay hold upon his Person Sufferings promises and all the rich purchases of his dearest blood as thine owne for ever To take Him as thy wisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption that so unspeakeable ioy and full of glory peace which passeth all understanding Evangelicall pleasures which neither eye hath seene nor eare heard neither have entred into the heart of Man might abundantly flow into thine heart from the Fountaine of all comfort But yet so it is alledging that thou art the unworthiest upon earth the vilest of Men No heart so hard as thine thy sinnes farre above ordinary of an abominable and most abhorred streine of a scarlet and crimson die for thou hast done so and so sinned many and many a time against that Divine nay and even naturall light which stood in thy Conscience like an armed Man persecuted the Saints liued in Sodom c. And that which troubles thee most of all for all these sinnes thy sorrow is very poore and scant in no proportion to thy former hainous provocations I say upon these and the like mistaken grounds Thou very unadvisedly professes but against thine own Soule That as yet Thou canst not thou dares not Thou wilt not meddle with any mercy apply any promise or bee perswaded that Iesus Christ belongs unto Thee What Such a vile unworthy abominable wretch at thou to expect such glorious things to come neare so pure a God to lay violent hands upon the Lord of life and looke for everlasting blisse Alas Say what you will saist thou as yet I cannot I dare not I will not Whereupon Thou willfully as it were lies still upon the Racke of much spirituall terrour and trouble of minde And which is a miserable addition and mischiefe for which Thou maist thanke thy selfe art all the while farre more liable and lies much more open to Satans most horrible injections and cruellest temptations to selfe destruction despaire plunging againe into former pleasures of Good-fellowship and the like It grieves mee to consider how fearefully and falsly thou deceives thine own heart in a point of so great importance to thy much spiritual hurt and further horror Why therefore art thou most welcome to Iesus Christ because thou art so sensible of thy spirituall misery and beggery because thou art so vile so abominable so unworthy and wretched in thine own conceit Those that bee whole need not a Physician but they that are sicke Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners And in this respect He is said to iustifie the ungodly and to die for the uniust And to seeke those that finde themselves lost And therefore that which thou makes thy greatest discouragement to come unto Christ should bee and in truth is the greatest encouragement to cast thy selfe with confidence into the bosome of His love But before I come to speake more fully to the Point Let mee premise this Principle When a Man is once syncerely humbled under Gods mighty hand with sight of sinne and sense of divine wrath so that now all his former wicked wayes pollutions and provocations of Gods pure eye lie so heavy upon His heart that Hee is truly weary willing to bee rid of them all unfainedly thirsting after the blood and holinesse of Christ And therefore as well content to take upon him His sweet and easy yoke for to please Him in New-obedience for the time to come as to partake of the merit of His Passion for the present pardon of His sinnes I say then Hee must conceive that Hee hath a sound seasonable and comfortable Calling to lay fast hold upon Iesus Christ and to bee undoubtedly perswaded that Hee hath his part and portion in Him And besides that Gods blessed Word determines it Hee may the rather assent unto the season and the more boldly believe Because Hee hath now found and feeles by his owne experience the practise of that double policy of the Divell so often discovered unto Him heretofore by Gods faithfull Messengers to wit That whereas Hee was a long time most industrious to â—eepe His heart resolutely stubborne and unstird against the might and piercing of the most powerfull Ministry and when at any time Hee once perceived it to begin to worke upon Him raised all possible oppotion against His yeelding So now when Hee is truly toucht indeed and resolute to abandon His Hellish slavery for ever Hee labours might and maine with all restlesse cruelty and malice to keepe His conscience continually upon the Racke To this purpose He objects and urgeth to the utmost the hainousnesse of his former sinnes the fiercenesse of Gods wrath which Hee cunningly concealed before the littlenesse of His sorrow His unworthinesse to meddle with any promise and the like And what 's the reason thinke you that Hee who was so dawbing before is now so downe-right Hee that was so indulgent before is now so desperately bloody and for nothing but despaire and damnation It is easie to tell For that foule Fiend knowes full well if a poore Soule in the supposed case and such a truly-humbled state shall but come now when
comest with thy cost Whereas God ever gives His Sonne freely and bids thee come and welcome and buy without money and without price Obiect 2. But will it not bee presumption in mee having no good thing in mee at all to bring with mee but comming now as it were fresh out of Hell from a most wicked impure abominable life to take Christ as mine owne and all those rich and pretious promises sealed with his blood Answ. Enough hath been already said to meete with this objection It is not presumption but good manners to come when thou art called How can Hee bee said to presume who is both invited and intreated commanded and threatned to come in c. Of which see before Thou must now in this extreme spirituall thirst of thine drinke of the water of life so freely offered that thou mayst receive some heavenly strength to bee good and power to become the Sonne of God Thou must throw thy sinfull Soule upon Iesus Christ bleeding and breathing out his last upon the Crosse as the Body of the Shunamites Childe was applyed to the Prophet stretching himselfe upon it That thou mayst thereby bee quickened with desired fruitfulnesse filled by little and little with all the fulnesse of God receiving grace for grace I am the resurrection and the life saith Christ Hee that believeth in me tho He were dead yet shall Hee live It were execrable presumption for any Man who purposeth to goe on in the willing practise or allowance of any one knowne sinne to believe that Christ is His righteousnesse and sanctification But where all sin is a Burden every promise as a world of gold and the heart syncere for a new way there a Man may be bold For thee to have pretended part in Christ wallowing yet in thy sinnes had been horrible presumption indeed and for mee to have applyed the Promises and preached peace unto thy remorselesse conscience before the Pangs of the New-birth had seazed upon thee had been damnable dawbing But in the Case I now suppose Thee to bee it is both seasonable and surely grounded for mee to assure thee of acceptation and pardon and for thee to receive Iesus Christ without any more adoe into the armes of thy humbled Soule 2. His sweet Name Exod. 34.6.7 Wherein is prevented whatsoever may any wayes bee pretended for standing out in this Case as appeares fully before pag. 415. line 25. 3. His glorious Attributes 1. His Truth Hee that believeth hath set to His Seale that God is true Ioh. 3.33 He that labours and is heavy laden with the burden of sin comes to Christ for case when Hee is called takes Him for his Saviour and His Lord and thereupon grounds a resolute unshaken and everlasting confidence that hee is His for ever puts to his Seale that Christ is true that His pretious promise Come unto mee all yee that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11.28 is inviolable Whereby Christ Iesus blessed for ever is mightily honoured His truth glorified and thine owne soule with extraordinary blessednesse everlastingly enlived But Hee now that retires in this Case and holds off makes Him who is Truth it selfe a lyar Hee that believeth not God hath made Him a Lyar 1. Ioh. 5.10 Now what a fearefull indignity is this against the Lord God of Truth Wee see too often how miserable mortall men wormes of the earth take such an affront at the hands one of another For many times for the Lie given them they throw themselves desperately upon the irrecoverable ruine of their lives states soules and posterity by chalenging the field and killing each other Which dishonour to the mighty Lord of heaven and earth is the greater and is much aggravated by the infinite infallibility of the promises For besides His Word which were more then immeasurably sufficient Hee hath added a most solemne Oath for our sakes that wee might have greater assurance and stronger consolation 2. His Mercy most directly and specially And to say nothing of the freenesse of His mercy which springs onely out of the riches of his infinite bounty and the good pleasure of His will of his readinesse to forgive otherwise the death of Christ should bee of none effect His blood shed in vaine the greatest worke lost that ever was done of His delight in mercy Mich. 7.18 Mercy in man is a quality in God it is His nature and essence Now what wee doe naturally wee doe willingly readily unweariedly As the eye is not weary of seeing the eare with hearing c. A Bee gives honey naturally never stings but provoked When God is angry it is but as it were by accident upon occasion drawne unto it by the violent importunity of our multiplied provocations but Hee delights in mercy c. I say to say nothing of these this one consideration may convince us of extreme folly in refusing mercy in such a Case for all the hainousnesse or number of our sinnes to wit That no sinnes either for number or notoriousnesse in a truly broken heart can make so much resistance to Gods infinite mercies as the least sparke of fire to the whole Sea and that is little enough Nay as infinitely lesse as an infinite thing exceedes a finite Betweene which there is no proportion 3. His Power For thou art very like thus or in the like manner to reason within thy selfe and cavill cruelly against thine owne Soule Alas what talke you of taking Christ the promises of life and heavenly lightsomnesse my poore heart is as darke as the very middle of Hell much harder then a Rocke of Adamant as cold and dead as the senselesse Center of the earth as uncomfortable and restlesse almost as desperation it selfe c. It is more then infinitely impossible that such a darke hard dead comfortlesse Thing should ever bee enlightened softened quickened and established with joy c. But marke how herein thou unadvisedly under-valewes and unworthily sets bounds to the unlimited power of God Whereas thou shouldest imitate Abraham the Father of all them that believe who staggered not at the Promise of God through unbeliefe but was strong in faith giving glory to God And beeing fully perswaded that what Hee had promised Hee was able also to performe Rom. 4.20.21 Bee advised in this Case 1. To compare these two things together The making of the seven Starres and Orion and turning the shadow of death into the morning And the infusion of heavenly light into thy darke and heavy heart And doest thou not think that the second is as easie as the first to the same Omnipotent hand Nay it is easier in our conceit to the Divine Majesty nothing is difficult or un-easie For those glorious shining Constellations were created of nothing and nothing hath no disposition to any Beeing at all much lesse to any particular existence But a Soule sensible and weary of it's spirituall darknesse is
in the nearest and most immediate passive disposition if I may so speake to receive the whole Sunne of righteousnesse Reach but out thy hand in this Case to Iesus Christ offering Himselfe freely unto Thee as a Saviour and Lord and thou shalt presently take possession of the Kingdome of Grace and undoubted Right to the everlasting Kingdome of Glory The Prophet Amos 5.8 presseth this Argument of power for some such purpose And it may serve excellently against all pretences and counter-pleaes for a supposed impossibilitie of being illightened and refreshed in the depth of spirituall darkenesse and distresse It may bee Thou mayest say unto Mee You advise mee indeed to seeke Gods face and favour c. But alas Mine is not an ordinary heart it is so full of guilty sadnesse and horror for sin that I have little hope c. Yea but consider He that I counsell Thee to seek made the seven Starres and Orion and turneth the shadow of death into the Morning and will doe fargreater wonders for thy Soule if thou wilt believe the Prophets that thou mayest prosper If thou will trust in Him He will quickly turne the tumultuous roarings of thy conscience into perfect peace Thou wilt keepe Him in perfect peace whose minde is stayed on thee because Hee trusteth in Thee Isai. 26. 3. The Prophet therefore to prevent all scruples and exceptions in this kinde calles upon them thus Seeke him that maketh the seven Starres and Orion c. 2. Secondly lay these two together To bring hony out of the Rocke and oyle out of the flinty Rocke Deut. 32.13 And to mollifie thine heart even to thine owne hearts desire in which there is already some softnesse else thou couldest not sensibly and syncorely complaine of it's hardnesse And thou must needs acknowledge that they are both equally easie to the same Almightie arme 3. Thirdly thou mayst well consider that it is a farre greater worke to make Heaven and Earth then to put spirituall life and lightsomnesse into thy truly humbled and thirsty Soule to which so many pretious Promises are made And Hee with whom Thou hast to doe and from whom thou expectest helpe is He that made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that therein is which keepeth truth for ever Which openeth the eyes of the blind and raiseth them that are bowed downe Psal. 146.6 Which healâ—th the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds Who taketh pleasure in them that feare Him in those that hope in His mercy Psal. 147.3.11 4. In such an extremity of helpe-lesnesse and hope-lesnesse In this trembling and terrour of thy heart thou shouldest call to minde for thy comfort That Hee who establisheth all the Ends of the Earth Prov. 30 4. and hath hung that mighty and massie Body upon Nothing Iob 26.7 can most easily stay and stablish the most forlorne and forsaken Soule even sinking into the mouth of despaire Hee that said at first to the Earth Stand still upon Nothing and it never stirr'd out of it's place since the Creation can easily uphold fortifie and refresh thine heart in the depth of the most grievous spirituall misery Even when in the bitternesse of thy spirit thou cries My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord Lament 3.18 4. Even his Iustice. Christs blood is already payed as a price for the pardon of the sinnes of thine humbled Soule and thou wilt needs pay it over againe or else thou wilt not enter upon the Purchase As tho God did expect and exact the discharge of the same debt twice which to imagine were a monstrous intolerable indignity to the most just God You know full well what conceit wee should hold of that Man who having a debt fully discharged by the Surety should presse upon the Principall for the payment of the same againe Wee should indeed thinke HIm to bee a very cruell hard-hearted and mercilesse Man wee should call Him a Turke a Cut-throate a Canniball farre fitter to lodge in a Den of Tygers then to live in the society of men What a fearefull dishonour then is iâ— to the mercifull and mighty Lord of Heaven and Earth To the righteous Iudge of all the World to conceive that having received an exact and full satisfaction for all our sinnes by the hearts-blood of His owne deare Sonne should ever require them againe at our hands Farre bee it then from every One who would not offer extraordinary disparagement even to Gods glorious Iustice to entertaine any such thought Especially sâ—th wee have His Word His Oath and the Seale of His Sonnes blood for security And assuredly wee may build upon it as upon a Rocke of eternall truth that when wee come unto Christ weary of all our sinnes thirsting syncerely for Him and throwing our selves upon Him as Salvation it selfe resolved to take upon us His sweet and easie yoke for the time to come Hee doth presently as Hee hath promised take off the burden and free us everlastingly from the guilt and staine damnation and reigne of all our sinnes But now if thou wilt cast thy self upon Iesus Christ role thy selfe upon the Promises beeing so humbled spiritually thirsty and resolved as thou hast said and I supposed at the first For wee who are Gods Messengers comfort and assure of pardon in such Cases onely upon supposition that the heart and speeches all the Promises and protestations of the Party and Patient we deale with bee syncere every way I say if thou thus cast thy selfe upon the Lord Iesus and the promises of life having a well-grounded strong and seasonable calling thereunto beeing as appeares before invited intreated commanded c. The Case will be blessedly altered Thou shalt then doe as God would have Thee and mightily honour the un-valew-able and infinite dignity of His Sonnes Passion and blood the pretious freenesse of all the Promises His free love sweet Name Truth Mercy Power Iustice c. Thou shalt also cut off and defeate the Divels present fiery darts and Projects of further cruelty dis-intangle and unwinde thy selfe out of the irkesome Maze of restlesse terrours and trouble of minde crowne thine owne soule in the meane time with peace that passeth all understanding with ioy unspeakeable and full of glory with Evangelicall pleasures such as neither eye hath seene eare heard or have entred into the heart of Man and hereafter be most certainely received by that sweetest Redeemer of thine into those glorious Mansions above where nothing but light and blessed immortalitie no shaddow for matter of teares discontentments griefes and uncomfortable passions to worke upon but all ioy tranquillity and peace even for ever and ever doth dwell 2. Yea but may an other say I in the Case proposed have cast my selfe according to your counsell upon Iesus Christ and there by the mercy of God am I resolved to sticke come what come will and yet no comfort comes What doe you thinke should I thinke of my selfe in this Case
I think in such a Case it may be convenient and that such an One hath thereupon some cause and Calling seriously and impartially to search and trie His spirituall state For which purpose ponder seriously upon such considerations as these some of which may discover unsoundnesse Others His unadvisednesse 1. It may bee the Party is not yet come in truth to that sound humiliation contrition spirituall thirsting resolution to sell all c. required by the reverend Author in that most profitable and piercing Doctrine of Faith quoted before but onely hath passed over them overly not soundly superficially not syncerely and then no marvell tho no true and reall comfort come Informe thy selfe further in this Point and that thou mayst more fully know my meaning in it and be guided aright in a marter of so great waight Ibid. Cap. 2. Of the Author and meanes of Faith And Cap. 5. Of the difficulty of Faith pag. 284 c. 2. Or it may bee howsoever Hee protest otherwise and for all His partiall Legall terrour and trouble of minde His deceitfull heart may still secretly harbour and hanker after some sweet sinne as Pride Revenge strange Fashions Worldlinesse Lust Playes Gaming Good-fellowship as it is call'd c. From which it doth not heartily yeeld resolve and endeavour to make an utter and finall cessation and divorce And assuredly that false heart which regards and allowes any wickednesse in it selfe howsoever it may be deluded with some Anabaptisticall flashes yet shall never bee truly refreshed with ioy in the holy Ghost 3. It may bee tho there was some probable and plausible shewes that the Party was principally cast downe and affected with the heavy waight of sin and horrour of Gods wrath for it yet the true predominant cause of His heavinesse harts-griefe and bitterest complaint was some secret earthly discontentment the restlesse biting of some worldly sting And in such Cases remove this and you remove His paine Comfort Him about his Crosse and you set Him where Hee was And therefore as in all this He continues a meere stranger in affection to the sweetnesse amiablenesse and excellency of Iesus Christ so it is impossible that Hee should bee acquainted with any sound spirituall comfort But I will suppose all to bee syncere and as it should bee Let mee advise Thee then to take notice of thine unadvisednesse 1. Thou art perhaps so full of the want of feeling such a stranger to so much expected and desired ioy and peace in believing and by consequent so drowned in the unnecessary distractions and distempers of a sad heart that thou utterly forgets to give thankes and magnifie Gods singular and incomprehensible mercy for illightening convincing and terrifying thy conscience offering his Sonne raising in thine heart an insatiable thirst after Him and giving Thee spirituall abilitie to rest thy weary Soule upon Him And who knowes not that unthankfulnesse keepes many good things from us and is an unhappy blocke in the way to intercept and hinder the comfortable influence and current of God favours and mercies from being showred downe so frankly and plentifully upon His people And Hee is more likely to bee the more provoked in this Case because thou suffers thine heart to bee lockt up and thy Tongue tied by Satans cunning and cruell malice from praysing the glory of Gods free grace for such a worke of wonder I meane that mighty Change of thine from nature to grace in extolling of which were all the hearts and tongues of all the Men and Angels in Heaven and Earth set on worke industriously thorow all eternitie they would still come infinitely short of that which is due and deserved 2. Or it may be when some One of a thousand upon thy complaint that no comfort comes doth seriously labour to settle thine heart in peace pressing upon Thee for that purpose invincible and unanswer-able Arguments out of the Word of Truth to open it wide that over-flowing Rivers of Evangelicall joyes which may spring to Him that is advised and believes the Prophets abundantly even from the weakest Faith to refresh and comfort it Telling thee that as thine humbled Soule learning upon Christ drawes much heavenly vertue mortifying power and sanctifying grace from him so it may and ought also to draw abundance of spirituall lightsomnesse from that ever-springing Fountaine of life c. Yet notwithstanding all this thou suffers some malicious counter-blasts and contrary suggestions of the Divell to disperse and frustrate all these well-grounded and glorious Messages And therefore it is just with God that thou fare the worse at his hands and fall short of thine expectation because thou gives more credit to the Father of Lyes then the Lord of Truth Sith thou spills all the Cordials that are tendered unto thee in the Name of Christ by His faithfull Physicions thou art deservedly destitute of comfort still Many in such Cases while Gods Messenger who can rightly declare His wayes unto them stands by opening and applying the rich treasures of Gods free mercy in the mysterie of the Gospell and with present replies repelling Satans cavils are reasonably well cheared and revived But when Hee is gone they very weakely and unworthily give way againe to that foule lying Fiend to cast a dis-comfortable mist over the tender eye of their weake Faith and to domineere as Hee did before Tell mee true If thou wert in doubt and distresse about thy temporall state Tenure of thy Lands soundnesse of thy evidence Wouldest thou advise with and take counsell from a Foole a Knaue and an enemy or wouldest Thou make choise of an honest wise understanding Friend I doubt not of thine Answer And wilt thou then so farre disparage divne truth gratifie Hell and hurt thine owne heart as in that waightiest Point of thy spirituall state to consult and resolve with the Divell a Liar a Murtherer and sworne enemy to Gods glory and thy Soules good And neglect God Himselfe blessed for ever speaking unto Thee out of His Word by that Minister which in such a Case durst not falsify or flatter Thee for a World of gold Shall many thousands of worldly-wise men give credit very readily and roundly to Dawbers with untempered morter upon a false and rotten foundation to the most certaine and eternall ruine of their Soules And shall not an humble and upright-hearted Man believe the Prophet upon good ground that the bones which the heavy burden of sinne hath broken may reioyce God forbid 3. Nay but suppose the Party bee truly humbled very thankefull resolute against all sinne labour to believe the Prophets c. And yet no comfort come I say then there is an other Duty expected at thy hands right pretious and pleasing unto God And that is waiting By which God would 1. Set yet a sharper edge and eagernesse more hungring and thirsting greater longing and panting after the ravishing sweetnesse of His comfortable presence with which melting earnest crying dispositions Hee
stampt upon His Soule by an Almighty hand A worke for wonder and power answerable if not transcendent to the Creation of the World To the production whereof the infinite mercies of the Father of all mercy the warmest hearts-blood of His onely Sonne the mightiest Moouing of the blessed Spirit were required Now what an indignity and disparagement is offered unto so glorious a Workeman and blessed a worke to assent and subscribe unto the Divell a knowne Liar that there is no such Thing 4. To double and aggravate upon the Christian the grievous sinne of unbeliefe Not to believe the Promises as they lie in His Booke is an unworthy and wicked wrong unto the Truth of God But for a Man to draw backe and deny when they are all made good upon His Soule makes Him worse then Thomas the Apostle For when He had thrust His hand into Christs side Hee believed But in the present Case a Man is ready to renounce and disclaime Tho Hee have already graspt in the armes of His Faith the crucified bleeding Body of His blessed Redeemer The sacred and saving vertue whereof hath inspired into the whole Man a new spirituall sanctifying life and a sensible un-deniable change from what it was 5. To discontinue or detaine the heart lock't up as it were in a perpetuall barrennes from giving of thanks which is one of the noblest and most acceptable Sacrifice and service that is offered unto God Now what a mischiefe is this that an upright heart should bee laced up and His Tong tied by the Divels temptation from magnifying heartily the glory of Gods free grace for such a worke I meane the New-Creation at which Heaven and Earth Angels and Men and all Creatures may stand everlastingly amazed So sweet it is and admirable and makes an immortall Soule for ever But to keepe my selfe to the Point Those who complaine as I have said That because the pangs of their New-birth were not in that proportion they desire answerable to the hainousnesse of their former pestilent courses and abominablenesse of their beastly life before many times suspect themselves and are much troubled about the truth of their conversion may have their doubts and scruples encreased by taking notice of such propositions as these which Divines both ancient and moderne let fall sometimes in their Penitentiall Discourses Ordinarily men are wounded in their Consciences at their conversion answerably to the wickednesse of their former conversation Contrition in true Converts is for the most part proportionable to the hainousnesse of Their former courses The more wicked that thy former life hath been the more fervent and earnest let thy Repentance or returning bee Sorrow must bee proportionable to our sinnes The greater our sinne the fuller must bee our sorrow According to the waight of sinne upon the conscience ought penitent sorrow to bee waighty He that hath exceeded in sinne let Him exceede also in sorrow Looke how great our sinnes are let us so greatly lament them Let the minde of every One drinke up so much of the teares of penitent compunction as Hee remembers Himselfe to have withered from God by wickednesse Grievous sinnes require most grievous lamentations The measure of your mourning must bee agreeable and proportionable to the sinne And wee may see these rules represented unto us in the practise of Manasses who beeing a most grievous sinner 2. Chron. 33.6 Humbled Himselfe greatly before the God of His Fathers vers 12. In the Woman who is called a Sinner Luk. 7.37 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they say by a kinde of singularity and therefore takes on extraordinarily vers 38. So that she wipes Christs feete with teares In the idolatrous Israelites upon their turning unto the Lord 1. Sam. 7.4.6 who drew water and poured it out before the Lord. In the Hearers of Peter who having their consciences all bloody with the horrible guilt of crucifying the Lord of life Act 2.33.36 were pricked in their hearts vers 37. with such horrour and raging angvish as tho so many empoisoned daggers and Scorpions stings stucke and were fastned in them punctually In Paul who having been an hainous offender a grievous Persecuter Act. 9. whereas the other Apostles as One sayes had been honest and sober fisher-men tasted deeper of this cup then they For Hee tells us Rom. 7.11 That the Law slew Him Hee was strangely amazed with a voyce from Heaven strucke downe to the earth and starke blinde He trembled and was astonished For three daies Hee did neither eate nor drink c. Act. 9. And there is good reason for it For ordinarily the newly-illightened eye of a fresh-bleeding Conscience is very sharpe and cleare piercing and sightfull greedy to discover every staine and spot of the Soule To dive even to the heart-roote to the blackest bottome and ougliest nooke of a Mans former Hellish courses to looke backe with a curious survay thorow the pure Perspective of Gods righteous Law over his whole life to His very Birth-sinne and Adams rebellion And in this sad and heavy search it is very inquisitive after and apprehensive of all circumstances which may adde to the hainousnesse of sin and horrour to his heart It is quick-sighted into all aggravating considerations and quickly learnes and lookes upon all those wayes degrees and circumstances by which sins are made more notorious and hatefull And what the spirit of bondage in a fearefull heart may inferre hereupon you may easily iudge Now to the Case proposed I say first 1. That betweene sinne and sorrow wee cannot expect a precise adequation not an Arithmeticall but a Geometricall proportion Great sinnes should bee greatly lamented yet no sinne can bee sufficiently sorrowed for Tho it may bee savingly When wee say the pangs of the New-birth must bee answerable to our former sinnefull provocations wee meane not that wee can mourne for sinne according to it's merit that is impossible But great sinnes require a great deale of sorrow Wee must not thinke that wee have sorrowed enough for any sinne tho wee can never sorrow sufficiently Before I proceede to a further and fuller satisfaction in the Point let mee tell you by the way how discomfortable and doubtfull the Popish doctrine is here about that the truth of our Tenet may appeare the more pretious and taste more sweet Their Attrition and Contrition as I take it differ as our Legall and Evangelicall repentance 1. In respect of the object Contrition as they say is sorrow for sinne as an offence to God Attrition is a griefe for sinne as liable to punishment 2. In respect of the cause Contrition ariseth from sonne-like Attrition from servile feare See Valent. Disp. 7. Q. 8. De contrit punct 2. This Contrition is the cause of the remission of sinnes Bellar. lib. 2. de poenit cap. 12. Arb. At Catholici alij passim Well then thou art a Papist and troubled inconscience Thou knowest well that without
Dove my undefiled For my head is filled with dew and my lockes with the drops of the night yet for all this full loth they are to leave their Beds of ease and therefore frame many shifts excuses and delaies to passe by and put off those compassionate calls of love and mercifull importunities I have put off my coatâ— how shall I put it on I have washed my feet how shall I deâ—ile them Whereupon their blessed Spouse so unworthily repell'd with such notorious unkindnesse and ingratitude scattering onely in their hearts some sense and glimmerings of his spirituall sweetnesse and beauty to breede the more shame and sorrow for so foule neglect departeth from them for a time withdrawes the life and lightsomnesse of His gratious presence hides as it were in an angry cloud the comfortable beames of His former favour and so leaves them to the darknesse of their owne spirits and in the comfortlesse Dampe of a justly deserved desertion That thereby they may bee schooled to prize Iesus Christ before gold and silver and to preferre as is most meete one glimpse of His pleased face before the splendour of all earthly Imperiall Crownes To listen with more reverence cheerefulnesse profit and holy greedinesse to His heavenly voice in the ministry of the Word and to make more deare account of godly comforts when they shall recover and re-injoy them For the purpose Wee may finde Cant. 5. The christian Soule laid too soft and lazily upon the â—ed of case and earthly mindednesse and slipt into a slumber of security and selfe-love vers 2. Her wellbeloved knocks and calls upon Her Nay be speakes and intreats upon all the termes of dearest love and for his painefull sufferings-sake to rise open unto Him Ibid. But she most unworthily puts him off with some slight excuses and delaies of sloth vers 3. whereupon Hee drops into Her heart some taste of His sweetest ointments to set Her affections on edge and eagernesse after Him vers 4.5 And so departs and leaves Her in Her sad and solitary dumps for driving away Her Dearest by such intolerable unkindnesse and shamefull neglect vers 6. Which perplexity and trouble of spirit for His departure begets in Her a great deale of zeale fervency and patience to follow after Him vers 7.8 An extraordinary admiration of His amiable excellencies and heavenly fairenesse vers 10 c. And no doubt a farre nearer embracement and dearer esteeme of Him upon His returne and enjoyment of a more full blessed coÌ„munion with Him againe Cap. 6.3 6. Sixthly The graces of salvation are the most pretious and worthfull things that ever issued out of the hands of God by creation The dearest of His infinite mercies the hearts-blood of His Sonne the noblest worke of His blessed Spirit doe all sweetly concurre moovingly meritoriously efficiently to the production of them No mervaile then tho it bee right pleasing unto God that such rare and inestimable Iewels should bee rightly prized and holden in highest esteeme by those that have them That they should still appeare and present themselves to those Soules wherein they shine in their true excellency orient fairenesse and native beauty Now privation of excellent things hath speciall power to raise our imaginations to an higher streine of estimation of them and to cause us at their returne to entertaine them with much more longing farre dearer apprehensions and embracement Absence and intermission of the most desirable comforts adde a great deale of life to the love of them and waight of pretiousnesse to their valewation The goodnesse of whatsoever we enioy is better perceived by vicissitude of want then continuall fruition Sleepe is more sweet after the tediousnesse of some wakefull and wearysome nights Liberty and enjoyment of the free aire and faces of men after restraint and imprisonment The glory and fairenesse of the Sunne after a blacke day or boisterous storme c. So Gods favourable aspect is much more acceptable after an angry tempest and hiding his face for a season And the graces of salvation farre more amiable and admirable to the eie of His humbled Childe after the darkenesse of a spirituall desertion Wherefore our gracious God doth many times in great mercy and wisedome deprive His dearest servants for a time of the presence of their Spouse the assurance of His love and sense of those graces that the absence thereof may represent the glory of such an incomparable happinesse and those heavenly Pearles more to the life and discontinuance of their enjoyment may inflame and affect their hearts with more holy greedinesse and eager pursuite after them and stirre up in them that height of esteeme and heate of love which may in some good measure bee answerable to their unvalewable excellency and sweetnesse Such dulnesse of heart deadnesse of affections and declination to the World may grow sometimes upon a good man that Hee may finde little more contentment in communion with Iesus Christ then in the prosperity of His outward affaires which is infinitely unworthy an Heire of Heaven But now in such a Case Let God make Him but to repossesse the iniquities of His Youth and fight against Him with His terrours for a while and the same Man with all His heart will preferre the reconciled face of God and peace of conscience before the Soveraignty and sole command of all the Kingdomes upon Earth While wee have a free and un-interrupted recourse unto the Throne of Grace wee are apt to under-valew and to conceive of that mighty grace of prayer but as of an ordinary gift But if once the Lord please to leave us to that confusion and astonishment of Spirit that our ejaculations doe sadly rebound upon our heavy and un-heated hearts without answer or encouragement from Heaven wee shall easily then acknowledge the Spirit and power of praier to bee one of the fairest flowers in the Garland of all our graces the very arme of God to doe Miracles for us many times and ever to settle our troubled Soules in sweetest peace and patience amidst the greatest pressures and persecutions either of Hellish or earthly enemies 7. Seventhly Iesus Christ Himselfe blessed for ever drunke full deepe of the extremity and variety of sorest sufferings in many kinds not only to deliver His from the vengeance of eternall fire but also lovingly to learne out of the sense of that sympathy and self-feeling to shew Himselfe tender hearted kind and compassionate unto them in all their extremities and never to suffer them to sinke in any trouble or affliction though never so full of desperate representations or apprehensions of impossibility to escape or to bee tempted at any time above their power and patience And many are the meanes and Methods by which Hee is woont to ease and mitigate their many painefull miseries especially that extremest of Martyrdome First Somtimes He rescues them by His own mighty and immediate arme out the mouth of Lyons and pulls them by strong hand
fullnesse and constant fruition is reserved for the next life Here wee are trained as it were in a spirituall warfare against the World the Flesh and the Divell wee are exercised unto New-obedience by manifold crosses troubles and temptations Satan is sometimes set upon us to afflict us with His owne immediate Hellish suggestions Sometimes our owne sinnes grievously affright us with renewed representations of horrour Sometimes our owne God frownes upon us Himselfe with His displeased and angry countenance and in love leaves us a while to the terrours of a spirituall desertion Hee sometimes laies His visiting 〈◊〉 upon our Bodies and casteth us downe 〈…〉 of sicknesse Sometimes Hee sends heavy crosses upon our outward States and breakes the Staffe of our prosperity Continually almost Hee suffers many malicious Currs to barke at us with slanders lies disgracefull imputations and all the enemies of grace to pursue us bitterly with much malice and disdaine Thus are wee trained and entertained in this world Our Crowning comes in the World to come Ninthly To cause thee to have recourse with more reverence thirst and thankfull acknowledgement to the Well-head of refreshings if God once withdraw the light of His countenance and comfortable quickning of His Spirit wee shall find no comfort at all in any Creature no life in the Ordinances no feeling of our spirituall life and therefore wee must needs to the ever-springing Fountaine of All-sufficiency c. Which blessed ends and effects when the good hand of our God hath wrought Hee will as certainly returne as ever the Sunne did after the darkest Mid-night and that with abundance of glory and sweetnesse proportionable to the former dejection and darknesse of our spirits The lowest ebbe of a spirituall desertion brings the highest tide of spirituall exultation As wee may see before in Mistris Brettergh and Master Peacocke pag. 84. 2. What is the reason thou art so sad and sore afflicted for the absence of thy Beloved and with want of the woonted gracious and comfortable workings of the Spirit It is because Thou hast formerly grasped the Lord Iesus sweetly and savingly in the armes of thy Soule been sensibly refreshed with the savour of His good ointments ravished extraordinarily with the beauty of His Person dearenesse of His blood riches of His purchase and glory of his kingdome And hast heretofore holden Him as the very life of thy Soule and chiefest and onely treasure ejaculating with David unfainedly from the heart-roote Whom have I in Heaven but Thee And there is none upon Earth that I desire besides Thee Earth is an Hell and Heaven no Heaven without Iesus Christ I say the present griefe that thy well-beloved is now gone argues evidently this former enjoyment of His gracious presence And then build upon 't as upon the surest Rocke Once Christs and His for ever The gifts and calling of God are without repentance Whom Hee loveth once Hee loveth unto the end Hee is no changeling in his love I am the Lord faith Hee I change not therefore yee sonnes of Iacob are not consumed Once elected ever beloved Once New-borne and borne to eternity If once the sanctifying Spirit hath seizd upon Thee for Iesus Christ thou art made sure and lockt fast for ever in the armes of his love with everlasting barres of mercy and might from any mortall hurt and adversary power Thou maist then cast downe the gauntlet of defiance against the Devill and the whole world and take up with Paul that victorious chalenge unto all created things I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other Creature shall bee able to separate mee from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord Hee may hide His face from Thee for a while but thou hast His owne sure and inviolable Word from His owne mouth That Hee will returne and with everlasting kindnesse have mercy on thee Hee may frowne upon Thee I confesse for a season and so fright thee with his terrours as tho in thy present apprehension thou wert a lost Man But Hee never will Hee cannot possibly forsake thee finally I have sworne once by my holinesse that I will not faile David Psal. 89.35 And in the meane time thy former feelings of the motions of the Spirit and grace doe give cleare evidence and assurance that spirituall life is still resident in thy Soule tho runne as it were into the roote and tho it 's more lively operations and effects bee suspended for a time The Woman that hath once felt the Child stir in Her wombe is most assured that shee is with-Child that an immortall Soule and naturall life is infused into it by the omnipotent hand of God though at other times shee perceive no motion at all It is so in the present Point And thy grieving also groaning and panting after Christ is an unanswerable argument that thou art alive spiritually Lay the waight of the whole world upon a man that is starke dead and Hee can neither stirre cry or complaine 3. Consider that some graces are more substantiall in themselves more profitable to us and of greater necessitie for salvation as Faith repentance love New-obedience active and passive Selfe-deniall vilenesse in our owne eyes humble walking with God c. Others are not so or absolutely necessary but accompany a saving state as separable accidents as ioy and peace in believing sensible comfort in the holy Ghost comfortable feelings of Gods favour rejoycing in hope a lively freedome in prayer assurance of evidence c. And from hence mayest thou take comfort in two respects First Desertion deprives thee only of these comfortable accessarâ—es but thou art still possest of the Principall and substantialls of salvation Of which not the utmost concurrence of all hellish and earthly rage can possibly rob thee And therefore thou art well enough in the meane time and as safe as safety it selfe can make thee 2. Secondly Losse of these lesse principall graces which by accident is a singular advantage and gaine drives thee nearer unto Iesus Christ at least by many unutterable groanes every one whereof is a strong cry in the eares of God and causeth thee better to prise and plie to exercise and improove more fruitfully those other more necessary graces without which thou canst not bee saved It is a wise and honest passage in Mistris Iuxons Monument pag 60. Shee continued faithfull to the ende in the most substantiall graces For howsoever shee mourned for the want of that degree of ioy which shee had felt in former times yet she continued in repentance in the practise of holinesse and righteousnesse in a tender love of God and to his Word and Children in holy zeale and fruitfulnesse even to the last period of her daies And indeede her want of full ioy was so
un-avoidablenes and terrible pangs of a womans travaile and is more skilfull ready and forward to relieve in such distresse And so also all others who have been most afflicted either with outward troubles or inward terrours or both are ever most fit and feeling to speake unto the heart to put to their helping hand and make much of comfortlesse and miserable men troubled and tempted as they have been And such was the Case of our blessed Saviour in his sufferings for our sakes Hee was exercised all his life long with variety and extremitie of cruelties indignities and all manner of vexations beyond measure grievous bitter and intolerable Hee drunke full deepe of the Worlds disgrace the Divels malice the rage of great Ones the contempt and contumelies of the vilest the scornefull insultations of his enemies sorest sufferings from all things in Heaven Earth and Hell Of those pinching passions hunger thirst wearinesse of bodily tortures hideous temptations agonies of Spirit even of the full Cup of his Fathers fiery wrath and horrors of soule for our sinnes to the very last drop which went as farre beyond his other outward extremities as the Soule goes beyond the body Gods utmost anger the malice of men Whereby hee is now blessedly fitted and enabled excellently to succour them that are tempted Consciousnesse of his owne Case in the daies of his flesh is a keene incentive to his holy and heavenly soule more sensibly and soone to take pitty upon and ease the severall necessities troubles sorrowes and soule-afflictions of all his Children 3. Thirdly As this ever-blessed Redeemer of ours was in himselfe more then infinitely free and more then farre enough from all sinne so by consequent from any inherent cause of the least crosse or any shadow in the World of his dearest Fathers displeased countenance For originally He was of a most pure harmelesse and holy nature all his life long kinde sweet and gracious to every Creature offending none doing good unto all In his death incomparably patient brought as an innocent Lambe to that bloody slaughter not opening his mouth for all those base and barbarous provocations of the cruell and mercilesse Miscreants about him swimming in blood burning in zeale wrastling in prayer even for the salvation of his enemies So that his guiltlesse and unspotted soule had no neede at all of any passion or expiation All his sorrowes and sufferings were voluntarily under-gone onely for our sakes and sinnes Had not the pretious hearts-blood of the only deare naturall eternall Sonne of God been poured out as water upon the ground where at the whole Creation was astonished the Earth trembled and shooke her Rocks clave asunder her Graves opened the Heavens with-drew their light as not daring to behold this sad and fearefull spectacle never had the soule of any sonne or daughter of Adam been saved It was not the glory and treasures of the whole Earth not any streaming sacrifices of purest Gold not the life of Men and Angels no not the power and prostration of all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth or of ten thousand Worlds besides could have prevail'd satisfied and served the turne in this Case Either the Heire of all things must die or we had all been damned Is the heart then of any Mourner in Zion heavy and ready to breake for sorrow because hee hath lost the light of Gods face feeling of his love and consolations of grace So that the darknesse of his Spirit thereupon frights him with re-possession of his pardoned sinnes temptations to despaire and feares lest hee bee forsaken O then let him hie and have speedy recourse unto this heavenly Cordiall when our Lord and our Love felt the curse of our sinnes and his Fathers hottest wrath comming upon him in the Garden without any outward violence at all onely out of the paine of his owne thoughts bled thorow the flesh and skinne not some faint deaw but even solid drops of blood and afterwards in the bitternesse of his soule cried out upon the crosse My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee And none of all this for himselfe For no staine at all did cleave to his sacred soule But all this the least of which wee can no more expresse then wee could undergoe for thy sake and salvation alone who loves our Lord Iesus Christ in syncerity And therefore ground upon it as upon the surest Rocke even in the height of thy heavie-heartednesse and depth of a spirituall desertion that those depths of sorrow whereof our conceits can finde no bottome thorow which hee waded in his bloody sweat cry upon the Crosse and painfull sufferings in soule did most certainly free thee everlastingly from the guilt venome and endlesse vengeance of all terrours of conscience Agonies of Spirit temptations to despaire and damnations of Hell The righteous Iudge of all the World will never expect or exact at the hands of any of his Creatures double paiment a double punishment Our dearest Saviour hath satisfied to the utmost with his owne blood the rigour and extremity of his Fathers Iustice in thy behalfe and therefore it is utterly impossible that thou shouldest ever finally perish Inward Afflictions and troubles of minde may for a time presse thee so sore that thou maist bee ready to sinke for 1 chastisement 2 triall 3 prevention of sinne 4 perfecting the pangs of the New-birth 5 example to others c. But in despite of the united rage and policy of all infernall Powers Thou shalt in due time be raised again by that victorious and triumphant hand which bruised the Serpents head and burst the heart of Hell even out of an horrible pit bee set upon a Rocke farre above the reach of all hellish hurt or sting of horrour In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindnesse wil I have mercy upon thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer Isa. 54.8 5. There is another terrible fierie dart dipt full deep in the very rankest poyson of the infernall pit which though it bee not much talked of abroad nor taken notice of by the World yet is secretly suggested and managed with extremest malice and cruelty in the silent bosomes of Gods blessed Ones The most holy hearts are many times most haunted with this foulest fiend Strangers to the wayes of God bee not much troubled in this kinde nor ordinarily vexed with such horrours Satan as I said before makes as much of his in this World as hee can possibly knowing that hee hath time enough even eternity to torment them in the World to come And therefore hee is not woont to weld this terrifying weapon against them save only at some dead lift or upon some speciall advantage as under some extraordinary misery or in excesse of melancholy to drive them thereby to distraction selfe-destruction or despaire Or it may bee God may suffer him to afflict thus hideously some grievous sinner which hee is
he watchfully apprehending and plying industriously workes a world of mischiefe upon afflicted soules in their spirituall miseries Idlenesse laies a man open to all hellish snares and temptations makes the heart like unmanured ground fit for nothing but the wildest and rankest weedes of lust luxury lewd company the universall inordinatenes of Originall corruption to domineere rage and doe what it will Like standing Pooles naturally prepared and pregnant to breed and feed the vermine and venome of vilest thoughts and un-naturall filth Like Thorow-faires for Satans most hideous and horrible injections to wander and walke up and downe in without restraint or remedy Solitarinesse besides it's native propertie and power to make sad increase melancholy and aggravate feares doth in this Case more then any bring an heavie Woe Woe to him that is alone For if the weake Christian fall hee hath not another to help him up He may there be surprised yeeld and foil'd before he get into such company which might happily have prevented it or supported him in the temptation Too much secrecy and concealement may cause the wound of a terrified conscience to bleed inward rankle fester and grow desperate whereas seasonable discovery might have cured and comforted it Horrour arising from the apprehension of such uncouth and monstrous thoughts kept close and dam'd up in the mans owne brest may swell so high that the poore soule may bee in great danger to bee wofully drowned and over-whelmed by it which had it had vent be time eased and emptied it selfe into some holy and faithfull bosome might by divine and discreete counsell by little and little dried up quite I have knowne him who did bite in and keepe close in his bosome this temptation of blasphemie the space of about twenty yeares All which while the Divell did tyrannize extremely and keep him almost in continuall terrour Hee thought there was never man had such vile and prodigious thoughts as hee And if the World knew what they were hee should bee abhorr'd as a monster of men and the loathsommest creature upon earth most worthy to bee utterly exterminated and rooted out of the society and confines of Mankinde And hereupon many and many a time when hee apprehended any opportunity or had any meanes offered to make himself a way he was tempted there unto principally upon this ground that it was pitty such an horrible Blasphemer for so he supposed should any longer breathe But at last hearing the nature manner and remedy of these hideous injections discovered by the Ministery afterward privately informing himselfe further and more fully from Gods Messenger was happily taken of the racke for the time to come and most wonderfully refreshed And therefore take heede of keeping the Divels counsell The tempted in this kinde may doe well to bee still conversant in religious duties honest workes of their lawfull Callings company of skillfull experienced Soule physitions or one or other comfortable imploiment 7. Settle in thy heart a peremptory impregnable resolution never to entertaine any conceit of that great Majesâ—y and glory above of the most holy and ever-blessed Trinity or any thing there-about but such onely as is revealed and represented unto thee in Gods Booke Whatsoever is objected by carnall reason to the contrary or injected by the Divell any wayes to deprave the divinenesse of that glorious Truth ought to bee rejected as cursed false and execrable And therefore when that hellish Nimrod shall at any time hunt and chase thine affrighted soule with these blasphemous Hell-hounds bee sure ever to take Sanctuary in the Oracles of God and keepe thee close and safe under this Covert Whatsoever is not comprehended within the Confines of that sacred Pale warranted by holy Writ the soveraigne Touch-stone of all heavenly Truth let it bee abhorred and retorted as dung upon the face of the Tempter That sense and apprehension of the Deity and divine things which is not suckt from the brests of the two Testaments is in this regard to bee reputed ranke poyson repelled and abominated with infinite indignation and disdaine And for further helpe herein when thou findest thy selfe thus followed with the violent and incessant incursions of this furious folly call often and seriously to minde that accursed brand which the Booke of God hath set upon the Adversary that hee is the Father of lies and let that still continue a more resolute rejection and contempt of whatsoever comes from him Suppose a raging Bedlam should follow thee up and downe all the day long and tell thee that thy father or speciall friend were a Stone a Bird a Tree a Toade or whatsoever is viler or more absurd would'st thou hereupon entertaine and harbour in thy minde any mis impression or monstrous perswasion of the party I trow not onely his senselesse clamour and restlesse raving would be very â—â—kesome troublesome and un-welcome especially sith thou art furnished with a cleare demonstrative light out of naturall Philosophy that hee is a reasonable Creature and thy selfe sees in him the face and favour the shape and proportion of a Man Proportionably Satan that bloody Bedlam of Hell out of that madnes at which Heaven and Earth may stand amazed solicites thee to admit such and such horrible and hideous conceits of thy dearest Lord his Sonne and sacred Word Ah cursed Fiend that ever thou shouldest discover such prodigious malice against thy glorious Maker Now God infinitely forbid that this should cause the least alteration or any diminution at all of thy lowliest most reverent adoring and divinest thoughts of so great a God For have but recourse to the holy Records of all sound supernaturall and saving knowledge I meane the Word of life with which thou oughtest to consult and to which onely thou art confind in this Case and thou shalt finde him to bee Onely one living and true God everlasting without body parts or passions of infinite power wisdome and goodnâ—sse the maker and preserver of all things both visible and invisible And in unitie of this Godhead there to bee three persons of one substance power and eternity the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost And besides thou mayst graspe as it were and feele betweene thy fingers as they say even in every Creature His greatnesse and goodnesse Majesty and might power and providence In the glorious Lights of heaven saith a noble Writer wee perceive a shaddow of his divine countenance in his provision for all that live his manifold goodnesse And lastly in creating and making existent the World universall by the absolute Art of his owne Word his power and Almightinessâ— which Power Light Vertue Wisdome and Goodnesse being alâ— but Attributes of one simple Essence and one God wee in all admire and in part discerne per speculum creaturarum that is in the disposition order and variety of Celestiall and Terrestriall bodies Terrestriall in their strange and manifold diversities Celestiall in