farthing for all poor lost Souls that come unto him 3. You must pray hard beg the Spirit of God to help your infirmities to work all your works in you and for you and God hath promised to give his holy Spirit to them which ask him Luke 11.13 Stranger I believe in Jesus Christ and repent with all my heart what would you have me do more Min. Friend concerning faith in Jesus Christ we have spoken somewhat before enough to startle you and awake you out of your carnal security if you did indeed believe the Word of God Now for your repentance what do you do when you repent Stranger Why I cry God mercy for all my faults and desire him to Jorgive me Minister Friend that 's Prayer it 's not Repentance to say Lord have mercy on me and so forth is praying Str. Oh but Sir I am sorry for my sins Min. Friend You speak these words so smilingly and merrily as if your heart were not much orewhelmed with sorrow at the present for your sin Str. Yea but Sir I grieve for my sin though now I am a little merry I confess I hope there 's no harm in that Min. Tell me truly Friend did you ever weep for sin in secret between God and your own soul Str. Sir you put me hard to it I do not remember that ever I shed any tears for my sins but some men are not apt to weep Min. What you say Friend is very true some are naturally more apt to weep than others but cannot you weep and take on bitterly for other things for the death of a wife father child or some special friend of yours Stranger I confess then indeed I have mourned greatly and almost wept my eyes out Minister Friend it seems somewhat strange that you who have tears in abundance at command upon other sad occasions should not have some tears also for your sins against God Str. Well Sir though I weep little or not at all for my sins yet I grieve for my sins and hate my sins as much as another man Min. Friend if your grief for sin were right it would be 1. For sin as it is sin displeasing to God a dishonour to God and a defilement to your own soul 2. Godly sorrow works repentance 2 Cor. 7.10 That is amendment in heart and life Str. I hope I grieve for sin and hate it also though you Sir object something still against what I say Min. Friend be not angry that I object so much and so oft I do it only to find and beat out the truth and for your good Str. It may be so Sir Minister Friend You think and say you hate your sins let me put a few questions to you 1. Do you hate all sins one as well as another he that hates one Toad hates all Toads 2. Do you long to be the death of your sins is your hatred a mortal a deadly hatred do you mortifie the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit Rom. 8.13 3. Deal plainly and truly as you will answer it at death and judgment is there not some beloved sin that you are loth to part with loth to be told of by friends or Ministers some sinful way of profit or pleasure which you have no mind to leave but allow your self in it Stranger Sir I have had a great deal of talk with our own Minister who is a very good Churchman and he never said half so much to me Min. It may be so but what say you to my last question is there not some sin that you allow your self in which is as dear as your right eye and right hand unto you Str. Sir I am not bound to confess to you you have no authority to examine me Minister No Friend I speak in love to you desiring if the Lord please to do some good to your soul but let me tell you I fear your conscience cryes guilty you begin to be so touchy Stranger Sir it 's my fault to be angry but you do so pinch me yet I am persuaded you mean me no hurt therefore if you 'll needs have my heart out of me it 's even no better nor no worse I confess I love the company of some that are none of the best and I can't shake them off the world is hard and unless a man have some tricks there is no living in it and I do walk in some wayes not to mince the matter with you which my conscience tells me I ought not to walk in Min. Friend You do well to be open with me by the blessing of God it may be for your good therefore tell me a little farther do you not sometimes take the Name of God in vain Str. I hope not or very little Min. What think you of such words as these As I live As I am an honest man As I am a Christian Let me never stir Let me never be believed more if it be not thus and thus What think you of By my Faith By my Troth and By our Lady and of saying O Lord O God O Jesus and the like in common discourse which kind of words I heard fall from you at least some of them since you and I met Stranger Truly Sir I think they were better forborn Minister I think so too for they look like Oaths and Curses as a light and irreverent using of the Name of God Christ saith Matth. 5.37 Let your conversation be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil Str. Sir People will not believe what I say unless I use such expressions as these Min. It matters not much so long as you speak the truth plainly if men will not believe you the fault is theirs and let me tell you that those who are wise men indeed will believe you the less for the using such words as these and say He that will swear will lye he that sticks not at dishonouring God by taking his Name in vain will not stick at deceiving man by a lye and speaking an untruth Stranger Sir what you say I confess is reason Minister Friend since I find you in so good a vein and willing to discourse it on which I am glad of tell me do you not use to break the Sabbath Str. No Sir I go to Church constantly when I am well and nothing hinders me Min. But Friend do not you accustom your self to lie long a Bed in the morning to sit idling at the doors that day to talk of worldly business to make bargains to hire or pay Labourers to walk in the fields needlesly do you not use some Sports Pastimes and Recreations do you not Travel that day to or prepare for Markets and Fairs and the like Str. I confess I have done so but I 'll do so no more Min. Friend you must desire God to humble you for these as all other your sins to pardon you in the blood of Christ and to strengthen you against them for
the time to come by his grace and holy Spirit working in you Stranger Sir I hope I am truly humbled for my sins I grieve and am sorry for them I have had many afflictions and smarted for my sins Minister If your sorrow for sin be right it is not so much because of afflictions and judgments felt or feared as because you have offended God who hath been so good and merciful unto you You will also loath and leave your sins as the abominable thing which God hates Jerem. 44.4 Rom. 7.15 The evil which I hate Str. Sir I hope also that I hate my sins truly and indeed Min. Friend if the hatred of sin be right then 1. You 'll hate all sin as I told you before Prov. 8.13 The fear of the Lord is to hate every false way 2. And withal know this that whoever hateth sin loveth God and his people Str. Why Sir I make no question of it but I do love God and his people Minister Friend if you do indeed love God you do also keep his Commandments John 14.15 Not allowing your self in any known sin and for the godly if you love them you are then acquainted with them delight in their company as David Psal 119.63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts And Paul when he was converted joined himself to the Disciples which were at Jerusalem and at Damascus Acts 9.19 and 26. Now if we be unacquainted with such people if shie of their society c. it 's in vain to think we love the Brethren 1 John 3.4 if we do not love the brotherhood 1 Pet. 2.17 the society of Saints and that when they are most strict and spiritual in their communication and conversation if you be a meer stranger to them where is your love towards them what say you to this Friend Stranger Sir you in your talk with me put me hard to it Lord help me Min. Friend your saying Lord help me puts me in mind to ask you what good prayers do you use to say Stranger Such as my friends taught me the Ten Commandments I believe in God c. and the Lords prayer Minister Friend do you think the Ten Commandments and I believe in God c. be good Prayers Str. Yes Sir Min. No Friend the Ten Commandments are a rule of life shewing us what we must do and I believe in God c. sheweth us what we ought to believe but they are not Prayers and when we say them we ask nothing at Gods hands Sir They are good things and it is good to learn them Min. Friend that is true it is good to learn them and to understand the meaning of them to live according to the Commandments and to believe according to the Articles of our Christian Faith but to think they are Prayers and to say them over instead of Prayers that is your mistake Str. Sir I confess my error therein Min. Friend what think you of the Creed I believe in God c is that form of words Scripture the written Word of God as well as the Ten Commandments and the Lords Prayer Stranger Yes surely Sir Minister No Friend we find the Ten Commandments in Exod. 20. and the Lords Prayer in Matth. 6.9 but I believe in God c. in so many words together is not in all the Bible but that form of words was made up and laid together by men yet it is agreeable to the Word of God and so is of good use for all Believers Str. Sir I thank you if you would explain and open something to me out of the Ten Commandments I believe in God and the Lords Prayer you would do me a great courtesie Min. Friend I am glad to find you willing to learn but that is too long a work for the little time we are like to be together and therefore I would advise you by all means when you come home to learn good Catechisms and to talk with good Ministers and good People putting questions to them and they will help you Str. True Sir but whilst we are together it may be you may say something out of them which may do me good Minister Why then Friend in the first Commandment Thou shalt have c. what do you think God forbids in that Commandment Stranger I think the having more Gods than one Min. Friend what you say is a general truth but what is it to have other Gods Str. Sir to have other Gods is I think to worship the Sun Moon or Stars c. Min. Friend let me tell you the Commandment of God is spiritual and reacheth the hearts of men so that to love desire joy fear trust in any thing more than God is to have other gods thus we may make husbands wives children friends trades customers c. riches honours pleasures c. to be our gods when our hearts run out more after are set more upon them than upon God Str. Sir this is strange Min. Friend as strange as it is it is very true for God saith Prov. 23.26 Give me thine heart and Matth. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and it is certain to have our hearts upon any person or thing more than God is to make that our God and our Idol Stranger Sir then by what you say if any be more careful to please or more fearful to offend a husband a wife a master or mistriss a land-lord or great man that rules over us than we are careful to please or fearful to offend God is to make them our gods Minister Friend it is certainly so however it may seem to be new doctrine to you And for the second Commandment Thou shalt not make c. what think you is forbidden in this Commandment Str. I think we are forbidden to worship Images as the Papists do Min. Friend that you say is true but the Commandment of God hath a farther reach in it and forbids not only the worshipping of Images or God by Images but the worshipping of God any other way not appointed in his Word Deut. 12.32 What thing soever I command you he speaks of worship ver 31. observe to do it thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it Stranger I confess Sir this is plain Scripture I cannot gainsay it Minister Well Friend for the third Commandment Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain c. What think you is meant by the Name of God Str. To deal plainly with you Sir I cannot well tell on a sudden what is meant by the Name of God though I have said it over many and many a time Min. Friend are not men known by their names you and I and others why then the Name of God is that whereby God makes himself known by his Titles Attributes Ordinances Word and Works Str. Sir I think what you say
2.34 He is set for the fall and for the rising again of many in Israel Rom. 9.2 Though the children of Israel be as the sand of the Sea yet a remnant onely shall be saved Str. I shall never be beaten off from it but that Christ dyed for me as well as others Min. Friend but what if Christ did not dye for you Your conceit that he did dye for you will not serve your turn can you be saved by believing that which is not true that 's but the presumption and vain confidence which you have no ground for for ought I can perceive by you Stranger Sir you are the strangest man that ever I met with in my life you tell me that to believe that Christ dyed for sinners will not save me and that to believe that Christ dyed for me in particular will not save me I pray for God's sake tell me what 's that faith which will save me Minister Friend it 's true I am a stranger to you but what I have spoken to you is nothing but the truth and the way the onely way to be saved is by faith true faith in Jesus Christ Str. Sir what 's that you call true faith whereby we are joined to Christ justified and saved Min. Friend I 'll tell you it 's not a believing that Christ dyed for sinners for that the Devils do it 's not a believing that Christ dyed for me in particular for that 1. Multitudes of ungodly men and reprobates do and may do in a way of presumption and 2. Many a doubting Believer wanting assurance dare not say I believe that Christ dyed for me in particular now that conceit or presumption which an ungodly man may have and a godly man may want can't possibly be that faith which is justifying and saving Stranger Pray what is it then Minister Faith is Friend a receiving of Christ as God the Father offers him in the Gospel as our King to rule us our Prophet to teach us as well as our Priest who made satisfaction and now makes intercession for us it is also out of a sense of our lost estate in our selves a resting on him alone for salvation John 1.12 As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his Name Str. Why Sir do not I do all this Min. Friend I fear not for had you taken Christ as your King you would not dare to allow your self in sinful courses as Swearing and the like which you cannot deny but you are deeply guilty of had you taken Christ as a Prophet you would have been taught by Him by his Word and Spirit and have gotten some knowledge at least in these principles and fundamentals of Christianity Had you rested upon Christ alone for salvation you would not have told me as you did even now that you hoped to be saved by your serving God your good prayers and the like not mentioning a word of Jesus Christ which makes me fear that as yet you are a meer stranger to Christ and faith in Christ Stranger Sir you say enough to make me despair and drive me out of my wits Min. Friend Despairing Yea that 's it I would have I 'd have you to despair in your self that so you might come to believe and hope aright in Jesus Christ And whereas you speak of driving you out of your wits no Friend I would onely drive you out of your sins your vain presumptions and carnal confidences a man is never indeed in his right wits never comes to himself as the Prodigal did Luk. 15.7 till he repents and believeth aright in Jesus Christ Stranger Sir what would you have me to do Minister This is a good question indeed were you pricked in the heart as those Acts. 2.37 were you truly and throughly sensible of sin and misery were you troubled in mind but then you must unsay what you said before that you never in your life questioned your spiritual estate and that you have been alwayes of a strong faith towards God c. Str. Sir what if it should be so with me what if I should be troubled Min. I 'll tell you Friend what you should do and what you will certainly do if through the rich grace of God to you your troubles be in order to conversion and salvation Str. What I pray Sir Min. Friend were you troubled indeed to some good purpose you would put two questions to your self What have I done And what shall I do to be saved What have I done look backward upon the former part of your life with shame and sorrow for what you have done with an unfeigned purpose of heart of turning unto God as David saith Psal 119.59 I thought on my wayes and turned my feet unto thy testimonies And Jer. 8.6 No man repented him of his wickedness saying What have I done Stranger Sir for that other question What shall I do what will that put me upon Minister Friend this question What shall I do looks forward and if it be in earnest will put you upon sollicitous and careful thoughts how you may get out of that state of sin and misery which you find your self intangled and involved in will put you upon going to good Ministers and experienced Christians inquiring of them the way to be saved will put you upon searching the Scriptures and the reading good Books upon casting off your old company and acquainting your self with the people of God whom before you hated and cared not for upon secret and earnest prayer to God according to your spiritual wants and necessities will indeed make you to be a new creature Stranger Well Sir I see then when all is done I must mend my life and become a new man Minister Friend you have said well hold there but do you think by your mending your life and becoming a new man to satisfie God for what 's past and that your good deeds shall make amends for your bad Str. I hope so Sir Min. See how you have forgot what even now I told you no Friend satisfaction for what is past or what is to come is made to God the Father onely by Jesus Christ by what he hath done and suffer'd not by any thing we can do or suffer When we have done all we must say we are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do Luke 17.10 Str. But Sir how shall I come to have all this you speak of any part and share in the satisfaction made by Christ and how shall I become a new creature Minister Friend this is a good question I like it very well and will tell you how 1. You must know and acknowledge that you can do nothing of your self by your own strength neither believe nor repent or the like 2. You must by faith relie upon Christ and Christ alone who hath fulfilled the Law satisfied his Fathers justice and and paid the uttermost