to smart whereby the Lord awakeneth Conscience indeed and striketh terror into the Hearts of his Chosen casting them down very low to Self-denial he breaks their stony Hearts in pieces convincing Men as Transgressors telling them that they are the Men even Men of Death this they have done and that they deserve discovering millions of Sins more than they ever dreamed of quickning Sin in the Conscience and putting a Weapon into its hand to kill the Sinner under his Guilt For this is properly the Office of the Law to detect and convince Men of such and such Sins to pass sentence against them for those Sins and to follow them so convicted with a thundring noise from place to place hedging and hemming them in on every side that they can neither get out nor be quiet any where till they humble themselves and fall down before the Lord's Mercy-Seat Fourthly We may not exclude from this Preparative Work a branch of the Gospel which the Lord makes use of for the completing this Preparation by it as by beams and heat from a Fire far off to soften and melt those broken pieces that so the Heart being ready to fall asunder and grieving more kindly than it can do under mere Legal Terrors may readily and delightfully admit of Spiritual Infusions and be the more speedily brought into a new Mould And this the Gospel doth First By unvailing unto such distressed Minds the holy and pure Nature of God himself which the Law discovereth only as he is a Creature the Gospel further as he is a Father his patience and loving kindness in Christ his rich Mercy great Love Free-Grace those Spiritual Beams by which the Divine Nature shines forth upon us Saul Saul why persecutest thou me One that is so holy and harmless one that hath done so much for thee one that doth so entirely love thee and desire thy good Hast thou none to sin against but thy Saviour None to abuse but thy Friend None to kick against but the Bowels of Love Did not I suffer enough upon the Cross Must I needs suffer more This struck the Nail on the Head this made his Eyes to water his Heart to melt with this kind salutation Saul's hard Heart was softned and made pliable to a further work Secondly By discovering the sinfulness of Sin that it is not only fearful as the Law saith but filthy also not only evil but the greatest evil whence once disrobed of that pleasing and deceitful shining Skin patcht up of the shreds of Pleasure Profit and Carnal Content it is apprehended as opposit to the greatest Good and consequently more to be hated and avoided than Hell There is no Hell without Sin nor any Heaven with Sin Hell is Penal but Sin is a Criminal evil The evil of pain is contrary to the good of a finite being only while the evil of fault is opposite to an infinite purity Both these namely the Law and the Gospel being thus amplified prest and applied to the sinners Soul so that he can find no starting hole to evade no corner to run into no gap open to get out of this Wilderness by this time it comes to pass that he finds a combustion in his Brest a fire kindled in his Bones such new trouble as he never felt now Hope appears anon Despair at one time Fear another time Love cometh into the Soul like flashes of Lightning both followed with Tears and Complaints he may be often heard to sigh and sometime to beat the Brest and say O Lord that I could repent O that I could believe O that I had a soft tender Heart That my Head were Waters and mine Eyes a fountain of Tears that I might weep Day and Night Help me O my Friends for the terrours of the Almighty oppress me he makes me inherit the sins of my youth so that I am ready to sink Help me O my God to do what thou commandest command what thou wilt and thou shalt not command in vain Make me a Man after thy own Heart give me O give if not a Fountain yet a Stream if not a Stream yet some few drops of penitent Tears to ease a burdned Heart and to prepare a loathsom Soul for the more precious streams of Christ's Blood And yet as if all this were not enough behold and see there steppeth up another Witness more against this terrified Creature And that is a reflecting power of the Soul called Conscience which joyneth with the Law and Gospel in their Sentence and meeting him alone as flying from both the former and hoping somewhere to escape assaults the poor Soul and concludes to this effect Nay whither now Think not to shift off all hope not to carry all away as Sampson did the Gates go not about to hide it do not deny or extenuate it for all this is true which thou hast heard from the Law and Gospel O wretched Creature thus and thus hath God walked towards thee in Justice in Mercy in Power in Patience and Bounty he sent Christ with healing in his Wings to heal and do thee good and yet thus and thus rebelliously and ungratefully hast thou walked towards him thou hast put away Salvation bolted out thy Physician What wilt thou say Whither wilt thou go Nay nay think not of pleading dream not of flying much less of any hiding except thou wilt contract farther guilt and a greater burden on thy self which is heavy enough already Down proud Heart down with it lower than thy Knees cloath thy self in Sack-cloth and Ashes put a Rope about thy Neck as Benhadads Servants did confess thy faults humbly aggravate thy folly ingenuously and then thou mayst hope to hear the voice of Mercy there is no way to flie from him but by falling down before him Blood-letting is a cure of Bleeding To close and get in is the only way to avoid the blow Thirdly Why the Lord thus brings his Children into the Wilderness Answ All God's Actions are ordered by infinite Wisdom therefore some reason may always be rendred of his Will In case we apprehend it not we must acknowledg the weakness of our own Capacities and subscribe it without enquiring after any Reason because we know it is his Will Yet in this business something may be said as probable and with due reverence He doth it First To divorce the Heart from Sin and to break that Love-knot between the Heart and Sin in every Natural Man which ordinarily is not done without some throws of this Spiritual Trouble While Men run up and down in the seeming pleasant fields of Liberty sin is sweet and fair unto them so far from fear that they are in love with it Who ever saw a covetous Vsurer troubled in mind when he is telling his Money and reckoning up his Bonds and Bills An Adulterer mourning with his Mistress in his Arms Belshazzar indeed was taken and troubled among his Cups and so are some Drunkards but that was an extraordinary
perdit liberum arbitrium as St. Augustin hath it Man can move no more of or by himself in Spiritual things especially without preventing and assisting Grace than a dead Man can in Naturals naturally * According to the Church of England as she teacheth Art 10. no more than a Worm can fly And therefore Luthâ—r with St. Augustin before him in opposition of the other side thought it was better to style it servum arbitrium a servile rather than a free Will Though some kind of Freedom cannot be denied to be essential and unseparable from the Will If we consider this power of Man as in the lower Region he is not naturally but morally dead and as a dead Man is not able to produce any Vital Actions so neither can any natural Man produce any Spiritual Action Quid boni operari potest perditus nisi quantum fuit à perditione liberatus Victore peccato amissum est liberum arbitrium non nisi ad peccatum valet ut malè agendo fit damnabilis ancilla O humana Natura O Adam Quando sanus eris non stetisti tuis viribus surrexisti Ecce dico ego quod qui superbè sapiunt ut suae voluntatis viribus tantum existiment esse tribuendum hi non posse credere in Christum c. August Thirdly That no Creature nor created Instrument can reach to work upon the Will the frame thereof is too high and the temper divine God only can change and order it Which indeed he doth working upon Man as upon an intelligent Creature â—uaviter flectendo non violenter torquendo in a way agreeable to hâ—s Frame and Constitution without committing a Rape upon any faculty first enlightning the Mind then effectually and sweetly persuading the Will to yield by surrender and accept of Grace whereby the whole Man is enabled to coâ—perate in the use and exercise thereof as will appear in the sequel only first observe the contents of this Promise as it may be drawn out into two Theological Conclusions viz. First That it is the Heart which is chiefly wrought upon in the work of Conversion Call it the Heart the Will or the inner Man or what else it is that within us which no Instrument nor finite Power can reach unto And herein this differeth from the former Work the Vnderstanding was chiefly touched in that the Will in this which is attended as a King with all the rest of the inferiour Faculties and Senses A good Will is the good Tree that maketh the Fruit good and a bad Will is the bad Tree that maketh the Fruit bad As all the evil or good of a Tree cometh from the Root so doth all the evil or good of a Man come from his Will and till this be sanctified till this be renewed nothing can be good in him The Eyes may look the Tongue may talk and the Feet may in Men's apprehensions be moving towards Heaven and yet the Heart all the while may be bent Hell-ward As Men rowing in a Boat look one way but drive a contrary Course and intend another way The outward Man may be seemingly Converted without any saving change in the inward but the inner Man cannot be long without the other as the Candle in the Lanthorn will appear by its own Light and as the Diamond or rich Jewel will cast a sparkling Lustre sooner or later before the Eyes of others Therefore our Gracious Lord and Wise Physician takes the surest and soundest way to work a perfect Cure Give him the Heart and the rest will quickly follow It is the Heart that is hard by speaking to it he softens it it is the Heart that is unclean by speaking to it he sanctifieth it it is the Heart that is poor by speaking he doth inrich it it is the Heart that is distressed with fears and doubts by speaking unto he comforteth and confirmeth it it is the Heart that is most out of order by speaking to he brings it into a spiritual frame Ezek. 36.25 26. Then will I sprinkle clean Water upon you and you shall be clean A new Heart will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you c. Thus the truth of this Point shineth with its own Lustre We will pass from it with the resolution of a Case here to be propounded viz. All this I believe may some Person say but how may I discern when my Heart is thus wrought upon Answ 1. When it is tender not in the present act or exercise of Hearing only but after while you meditate on your Sins as David did Psal 51. Against thee thee only have I sinned He doth even drown himself in Tears Or upon God's Mercies in Christ upon any relation of the Churches distress at Home or Abroad not only as they are Men but as they are Members of Christ both being melting Considerations and nothing can bring the Heart to this temper but the fulfilling of this promise 2. When it closeth with God's Precepts and Promises together desirous to do the one as delighted to believe the other Where true Conversion is wrought the Will is master'd of unwilling is made willing and ready to chuse what it once abhorred Lord what wilt thou have me to do Now the Heart makes a stand at nothing objecteth nothing it is as willing to a word of Command as to a word of Promise to the Work as to the Reward It is all over yielding and submitting Which is all that shall be said here to the Case propounded because occasion will be offer'd to speak more fully to it shortly in the amplification of this Point Doct. 2. A second Conclusion from this Promise is this viz. That it is one and the same Hand which woundeth and healeth which casteth down and raiseth up Which brings into the Wilderness and after speaks unto the Heart I will allure and I will speak As the rust of Achilles his Sword only cured the Wounds which it made Psal 34.18 The Lord is nigh to them that are of a broken Heart and saveth such as are of a contrite Spirit He breaks the Vessel and then pours out the Oyl of Salvation into it Hos 6.1 He hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up The Hand of God even when it strikes drops Balsam his very Rods are bound up in Silk and softness and beforehand dipt in Balm He wounds that he may heal and in wounding healeth What the Poet's Fable concerning Telephus his Spear is here truly verified Vna eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit The same holy Hand that wounded us must cure us Rom. 9.16 So then it is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth but of God that sheweth Mercy 2 Cor. 1.4 The Lord of all Comfort who comforteth us in all our Tribulation Jesus Christ brings the Soul into saving Trouble and then sheds abroad into the Heart the comforts of Sanctifying Grace He is alway
ready at hand always good and kind to Man but then especially when Man stands in most need of him as all the Saints have found and testified Manasses in Prison Hagar in the Wilderness Daniel in the Lions Den and they in the fiery Furnace Job David Hezekiah in great distress and anguish of Spirit When the Bottle is dipped under Water he saveth it from drowning The more grievous their Oppression the more gracious hath been his Redemption And the reason hereof is good First Because none else can do it Not Men or Angels much less the Gilded Toys of the World or all that exteriour Lustre which charmeth the Eyes of so many esteemed by a troubled Mind but as a Cloud in painting a petty vapour of Water or as Chaff driven of the Wind. The Jews have a saying common among them viz. It is he that openeth our Heart in his Law i. e. By his Spirit he enableth the Heart to understand and effect Spiritual things it is a branch of his Prerogative Luke 24.45 He opened their Vnderstandings by removing Impediments by breathing into them the Holy Ghost and bestowing further Functional Graces As S. Ambrose expounds and explains that Text by some passages of S. Paul 1 Cor. 12.8 9. God toucheth the Heart as the Musician doth the strings of his Instrument and it soundeth what he pleaseth Secondly He hath Undertaken and Promised it by Himself to our First Parents and by his Prophets unto the Church in every Age successively It is the sum and end of the New Covenant to accept those who deny themselves to raise up them that are cast down to inrich those that are poor in Spirit and to speak comfortably to those who will not be comforted any other way He brings them into this Wilderness for this end that he may speak and not speak in vain unto them Till then commonly Man is like an untamed Heifer or wild Asses Colt that runs and revels here and there that breaks all Bonds and will hear no Advice When Sin is discovered and Conscience awakened one syllable of the Gospel one word of Comfort is as good News out of a far Country In every natural Man there is a three-fold Bar hindering the entrance of Spiritual Light and Life Ignorance in the understanding it is covered with Ignorance as the Deep was at first with Darkness there is a very Chaos Hardness in the Heart like that of Nabal's which became like a Stone and a malitious pravity in the Will which is like a noisom Sepulchre so that as such he can neither understand receive nor affect this Supernatural Work till the Lord hath removed them by his Spirit Cooperating with the Law and Gospel It is said of Lydia that the Lord opened her Heart i. e. effectually called her as Calvin saith He gave her Divine Light and Grace without which special Concurrence of his Paul's labour had been fruitless In effect it is all one with this I will speak unto her Heart i. e. I will speak Friendly Plainly and Effectually Conceive this Evangelical Work to go on in this Order First The Lord revealeth himself to such a Heart so dejected and troubled as a Wise and Loving Father not willing nor suffering any such to perish As St. Ambrose told Monica Filius tantaram lachrimarum c. A Son of so many Tears as she shed for her Augustine cannot perish Now these brought by a Voice into the Wilderness are all Sons of Sorrow many Tears are shed by them as a living Fountain sends forth plentiful Streams and often many Tears are shed for them therefore they cannot Perish And this the Lord doth in three degrees 1. He makes it evident that there is a possibility of Ease Purity and Peace And to that end he brings many presidents to their Mind of old hard rusty Hearts renewed softned and opened For they are recorded in Scriptures for that purpose Paul saith he obtained Mercy for this cause 1 Tim. 1.16 For a pattern to them which should hereafter believe The Lord speaks to some as bad as might be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah Isa 1.9 Yet in the 18. ver there is Come let us reason together though your sins be as Scarlet c. Others are bespatter'd with Idolatrous filthiness yet I will cleanse you from all your filthiness is God's Promise Ezek. 36.25 Besides many others with the Apostles black Roll 1 Cor. 6.10 11. Such were some of you but ye are washed and sanctified These and the like Instances are here brought to mind as evidences of Divine Favour and incouragements to Faith 2. He discovereth Christ and acquaints them with the New-Covenant as the only Remedy to make up the breach of the First-conditions Behold saith the Lord my Son a Lamb slain from the beginning to take away the Sins of the World Behold him in Union with your Nature and in Unction to the Office of Mediatorship Behold him in his Obedience Active and Passive assuming the Crime and Curse of your Nature undergoing the penalty and fulfilling the Precept of the Law in his own Person but in your stead and room Behold him in his Meritorious Viatory Office by way of Purchase and Conquest as also in his Applicatory-Intercession for all burdened Souls who seeing you are truly weary of Sin behold the Mediator by a real tender of his own Merits prevailing for you among the rest 3. He offereth Christ unto all such upon condition of Faith and Repentance to the performance of which Condition he enableth in his Offer So that they will to do what they are required saying often with grief and fear O that we could Repent and Believe O that we could take the Lord's offer c. Although Actual Faith be not yet in the Heart as some are of Opinion tho Mr. Perkins judgeth the contrary yet it is very near and shall infallibly follow Hagar had her Eyes opened to see the Well before she went to it and stooped down to take and taste it Faith comes in by exercise to manifest it self by certain steps and degrees And let all those who find themselves past any of them thankfully acknowledg God's Work and be humbly constant in the use of Means for the Lord will speak again Phil. 1.6 He which hath begun a good Work in you will perform it c. And pray as Luther wonted to do Confirm O Lord in us what thou hast wrought and perfect the Work that thou hast begun in us to thy Glory As Queen Elizabeth prayed Look upon the Wounds of thine Hands and dispise not the Work of thine Hands thou hast written me down in the Book of Preservation with thine own Hand O read thine own Hand-writing and save me Secondly He openeth the Heart towards himself and that in three Degrees 1. He persuadeth it of the truth of those Passages formerly revealed and discovered and that the Lord doth seriously intend them to all in this condition 2. He raiseth up in it an
that are meanest in their own apprehensions Such shall understand this secret and partake in it to sit on Thrones as crowned Kings and Queens for evermore Vse 3. Lastly What transcending Comfort doth this Truth and Text afford to all troubled Minds Such I mean as have been stayed by Divine Power when they were running towards Hell in all sorts of Vanity and Prodigality and had been there ere this had not God in Christ been more merciful to them than they were careful about their own safety If the King should vouchsafe to speak to a mean Person before many what an honour would it be what ravishing thoughts would arise and what applause would it procure How much more should it be so here when the King of Kings speaks and that unto the Heart of a forlorn Creature comfortably I have heard thy Prayer I have seen thy Tears behold I will heal thee c. so the Lord spake unto the Heart of Hezekiah 2 Kings 20.5 Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up for a memorial before God c. so the Lord spake unto the Heart of Cornelius Acts 10.4 And how often did our blessed Lord and compassionate Saviour Jesus Christ raise up disconsolate Souls with such words as these Son be of good chear thy Sins be forgiven thee Daughter great is thy Faith go in peace thy Faith hath made thee whole Yea all the precious Promises are such Cordials See Prov. 28.13 Who so confesseth and forsaketh his Sins shall find Mercy Job 33.27 28. He looketh upon Man and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which is right and it profiteth me not he will deliver his Soul from going into the Pit c. Isa 1.18 Come now let us reason together saith the Lord though your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow c. Chap. 55. ver 7. Let the Wicked forsake his way and the Righteous Man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Mich. 7.19 He will turn again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our Iniquities and cast all their Sins into the bottom of the Sea Hos 14.4 5. I will heal their Back-slidings I will love them freely Mal. 4.2 To them that fear my Name shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his Wings Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Rom. 8.1 Now therefore there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ c. 1 John 1.9 Rev. 21.6 So almost in every Book of that holy Volume may be found such Stars of Light such pieces of Treasure such Bezar-stones to keep sick Souls from fainting under their Sins and Sorrows Promises wherein the Lord speaks something to the Hearts of believing Penitents to this effect The Seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpent's Head Whatsoever Christ did or suffered was for you by his satisfaction God is reconciled to you all your Sins are pardoned and your Souls shall be saved This is to speak to the Heart of a poor Sinner Now as some Artificers after long poring upon a piece of Black Work and finding a dimness in their Eyes are wont to refresh themselves with the beholding the Verdure of Meadows or lustre of Emeralds so let poor Penitents wearied and heavy laden with the consideration of their Sins for their refreshment make use of those Gospel-Cordials the Promises they will be chearing to the Eye of Faith But 't is sufficiently known that those to whom this Comfort belongs are most ready to put it from them as none of their Portion The troubled Spirit makes Darts of every thing it can to fight against Reason and kill it self not suspecting its own Poyson The conclusion therefore of this subject shall endeavour to prevent that mischief by proposing and answering some Cases which may contain the complaints of such troubled Spirits Object 1. My Sins have been so many and great that I fear to apply any Promise Answ Nay therefore you should be the more ready and willing to apply this Lord come unto me for I am a sinful Man and have most need of help Save me Lord or I perish Greater Sins should hasten all to the Mercy Seat the greater Wounds to the Physician No Man flies his Counsel because his Cause is great and intricate but plies him the more Especially while you consider the extent of his Power and Love who speaketh His Power passeth the nature and number of your Sins whatever they be Christ is a great Saviour He is called a Mighty Saviour and the Salvation in him is called Great Salvation and the Redemption in him Great Redemption 1 John 2.1 If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous And for his Love that extends to all sorts of Penitents to Manasses Mary Magdalen to the Romans and Corinthians to foul Sinners griping Oppressors sharp Persecutors Sinners in the highest form 1 John 2.2 And he is the Propitiation for our Sins c. In the Levitical Law there were Sacrifices for all sorts of Sins and what did they prefigure but the ample efficacy in Christ's Death which was an Atonement for Sins of all kinds and was as the daily Sacrifice for the Expiation of the continued and augmented number of Transgressions Even where Sin hath abounded there Grace hath after much more abounded So if you consider the nature of those Promises made unto distressed Souls both for Constitution and Condition For Constitution they are absolutely free no Foreign Power to enforce them from him that made them nor any Natural Abilities in Man to reserve them And for Condition they are Evangelical bringing with them what they require of you Be of good comfort when he calleth you fear not refuse not to receive what he offereth Say rather Speak Lord and speak home for thy Servant desireth to hear Object 2. But alas it is pleaded my Corâ—â—ptions have been and are strong and abominaâ—â—â—â— that I know not what to do Answ The sense of Sin 's strength is no â— hopeful symptom nor prejudice to Faith â—f all tempers the hardned is most dangeâ—â—us and Sin hath the greatest strength â—here there is the least sense When a Patiâ—â—t is deadly sick he saith and thinks he is â—ell and feels no pain but when he is reâ—â—vering he is full of sense and complains â—s Head is weak his Stomach sick his Bones â—me all is amiss every thing is too hard â—â— him There is more hope of one sensible â—â—nner than of a thousand presumptuous â—â—rdned Wretches Sense of Sin doth ever â—â— before sense of Christ Besides the powâ—â— of God's Voice will weaken them and â—â—e Efficacy of his Spirit mortifie and subâ—â—e them Here it may be said as it was of â—â—thage a little before it was taken Moriâ—â—ium bestiarum violentiores esse morsus dying â—asts
bite most cruelly dying Sins trouble â—â—d oppose the Soul most stoutly Sanctifiâ—â—tion follows Faith and presupposeth our â—â—ion to Christ You may not stand safely â—â— this pretence that you will labour to get â—â—me power over your Corruptions and then â—â—u will hearken to what God will speak â—â—to your Hearts but first hearken and â—â—ctory will follow by degrees and that neâ—â—ssarily upon this ground viz. The Principle whence Grace cometh the Stock out oâ— which this fair Flower groweth is strongeâ— than the Principle and Root whence Corruption that stinking Weed floweth beinâ— joyned the weaker must yield in the end Only do you resist it and complain often about it in private prayer to Christ and bâ— assur'd that he who hath broken the Serpentâ— Head for you will also bruise it in you Object 3. Oh but Satan and my own Hearâ— do condemn and tell me I am a Cast-away Answ In this case hearken not what Meâ— or Angels say much less what Satan anâ— your own deceitful Hearts suggest but whaâ— the Lord saith It is his Prerogative to speaâ— unto the Heart and your duty to hear him only before your selves much more beforâ— Satan Suppose the Devil should tell you thaâ— all were well your Sins pardoned and thaâ— you should be saved would you believe him for himself I trow not And for your selves you are no competent Judges in this perplexed condition as the distemper'd Palaâ— is not fit to judg of Meats or the vitiated eye of an Object Consult with experienced Christians and still keep an Ear open foâ— this Voice of God speaking at all hours oâ— the Day I will hearken what the Lord will say for he speaketh peace to his People But withal let not his Saints return to folly Object 4. Me-thinks I behold God not as speaking to my Heart but as still frowning upon 〈◊〉 and speaking against me as a Judg for the â—ach of his Laws and after the use of much â—ans in private and publick I can feel no â—â—mfort Answ This is a sore scruple which veheâ—ently beats upon most sensible Sinners â—ore need therefore to assoil it The anâ—wer is this You must learn to live and walk â—â— Faith and not so much by Sense to beâ—â—eve more than you feel Your comfort is â—et more in Promises than in Possession Alâ—â—ough the Fig-tree should not blossom neither â—ruit be on the Vine though the labour of the â—live should fail and the Fields should yield no â—â—eat c. Yet saith the Prophet by Faith â—ould I rejoyce in the Lord and joy in the God â—f my salvation who is my strength and â—ill make my feet like Hinds feet and make â—e to walk upon my high places Even â—ith Abraham beyond hope to believe under â—ope so shall you bring much Glory to God Now to help forward this Spiritual Appreâ—ension and Resolution 1. Labour to have your Judgments rightly â—nform'd in the manner of Divine Dispensaâ—ion of Grace what Method and Degrees â—he Holy Spirit observeth in Converting and Sanctifying the Heart Ignorance of this is â—ollowed with great heaviness and much â—auseless discomfort of long continuance 2. Look off your selves and beyond all means which are as Guides and Conduits Guides to lead you to Christ and Conduits to convey Virtue from him unto your Hearts Dwell not on the well-doing of Duties rest not on the exercise of Grace there is no satisfying Merit no purifying Blood in all or any of these that so you may look upon the Mediator only all our Riches and Safety is from without from this blessed Object conveyed and received by Faith and through him upon the Father It is horrible to think on God and terrible to hear him much more to see him without Christ Guilt dare not look on Majesty and Majesty is most terrible in an Enemy and a Judg. I have read of a politick Practice of a Macedonian Courtier who being banisht King Philip's presence adventured once again to come into the Court and further into the King's presence with young Alexander in his Arms as if he said Let him plead for me and accordingly for his Wit he was pardon'd and accepted into Favour Change the Persons and you may make it a President True it is you are deservedly banisht Heaven and God frowneth upon you but come with Christ in your Arms make him your Friend and then no doubt of acceptance He hath made us accepted in the Beloved In Christ he is a reconciled God a tender Father in Jesus Christ in Christ God's Nature is lovely to us and our Persons lovely to God 3. Meditate often what it is you have in and with Christ viz. Perfect Righteousness imputed to Justification and imparted to Sanâ—â—ification All your Sins remitted freely your Persons accepted to Eternal Life So â—hat Men nor Devils the Gates of Hell shall not finally prevail against you either actively to hurt or hinder or passively to withstand you Object 5. But I find my Heart hard and impure therefore I fear God hath not spoken 〈◊〉 it Answ To find this and in truth to bewail it is one sign of God's speaking to it God in the still Voice hath discovered that â—nto you which undiscover'd might have proved your Bane The Scum appears not â—ill forced by the heat of the Fire the impurity of the Heart would lie undiscern'd were â—â— not for the Fire of God's Word Live â—ot under the reign of any one Sin pray for more Sanctity and Softness remembring those two precious Promises viz. Deut. 30.6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine Heart to love the Lord Ezek. 36.25 26. Then will I sprinkle clean Water upon you and you shall be clean c. Wherein God speaks again to perfect what he hath begun and for more Spiritual enlargement to be more thankful for this that the Lord hath vouchsafed to single you out above many others to allure you into this Wilderness and to speak unto you be sure God's Words and Works shall not be left imperfect Upon the falling of your Eyes towards the Earth in token of Humility let your Hearts be raised towards Heaven to testifie your Spiritual Joy by saying with Mephibosheth What is thy Servant that thou should'st look upon such a dead Dog as I am With Abigail Behold let thy Hand-maid be a Servant to wash the feet of the Servants of my Lord. With Ruth Why have I found Grace in thine Eyes that thou shouldest take notice of me seeing I am a Stranger And with Jesus Christ I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes even so O Father because it was thy good pleasure Quest After all this how may a Man know the truth and soundness of his Conversion Answ To this the following Discourse will offer some resolution for which purpose it is designedly adjoyned Reade and reap Profit Give Glory to God by Jesus Christ In
be kindled though but a little 3. Meditate upon sinful Nature there is both Guilt and Filth such a Nature which Sighs and Tears may better express than Words We were in Adam as in a common Root and he sinning we became guilty Rom. 5.12 In whom all have sinned By his Treason our Blood is tainted and this Guilt brings Shame with it as its Twin Rom. 6.21 And not only is the Guilt of Adam's Sin imputed but the Poison of his Nature is disseminated to us our Virgin-Nature is defiled the Heart is spotted 1 Kin. 8.38 How then can the Actions be pure If the Water be foul in the Well it cannot be clean in the Bucket We are all as an unclean thing Hell it self which is the sole Receptacle of Sin and Sinners is not in some respect more filthy than Mans Nature Poor Man is like a Patient under the Physician 's hands that hath no sound part his Head bruised his Liver swelled his Lungs perished his Blood enflamed his Feet gangren'd Thus it is before Grace comes Isa 1.6 Yea though your Nature be changed there are Remainders of this Corruption The best Saint alive who is taken out of the Grave of Sin yet smells of the Grave-clothes still upon him As Basil said of the Rose that it was a fair Flower but it wanted not its Prickles that might put him in mind of the Curse the Earth was subject unto so in the best there are those Remainders and Relicks of Sin which might cause them to mourn and weep before the Lord. 4. Meditate on the Lord Jesus Christ his Suffering Agony how sharp and bitter it was if your Heart be as hard as an Adamant the Blood of this Scape-goat will soften it It affected his Head for upon the fore-sight he began to be amazed Mark 14.33 It affected his Heart for he began to droop to faint Math. 26.37 See how he was affected in his Soul the innocent for the nocent it was overcast with an heaviness to death yea in his Body he sweat drops of Blood Luke 22.44 Meditate on his Sufferings see if they will not move you to sorrow The sight of Caesar's bloody Robes greatly affected the People of Rome and edged them to revenge When St. Augustin read the Story of Dido he could not but weep And when Julius Caesar saw Pompey's Head tho his Enemy he wept and refused at his return to Rome to ride in Triumph for his Victory The like did Charles the 5th upon his great Victory over the French King at the Siege of Paris How much more may the Meditation of Christ's Sufferings who was our Friend suffering for our Sins melt our Hearts See him in the Wilderness of Suffering it may bring you into the Wilderness of Sorrow 5. Meditate upon the dangerous Consequence if you have not Sin charged upon you here in this Life If you follow not God into this Wilderness of Trouble for Sin now but still cleave to Aegypt preferring the momentany Pleasures of Sin to this Manna be assured one of these two Evils will follow either the Lord will break this League and Union between Sin and your Hearts or else he will permit and order that Disorder till you attain the fulness of Hardness and Blindness When Conscience shall be awakened and Sin charged upon the Soul suddenly and fully both for number and weight your jovial Meetings excessive Drinkings and Heathenish Quaffings will have weeping and howling here or hereafter when it will not be the whole World on Fire nor the terrible presence of the Judg coming with shrill-sounding Trumpets and Troops of Angels only nor Hell and all the Devils there shall be so fearfully heavy and unsupportable but Sin so deceitfully pleasing now appearing then more ugly than Hell or the foulest Fiend there committed now by degrees one after another some this Day more next now an Oath than a Lye but presented and pressed and imputed altogether even to the sinking of a Soul O think of this often all you in whom the custom of Sinning hath taken away the sence of Sinning if any thing this will help to awaken and bring you into this Wilderness 3. You may help the Work forward by special application of what you hear when the Law is personally applied the legal work upon the matter is ended and when the Gospel is believed the whole is perfected As it was in the Creation of the World and in the Conception of Christ so soon as ever his blessed Virgin-Mother did close by her understanding and will with the Word and Message of the Angel the Hypostatical Union was begun in her Womb as Zanchy following Gregory and Damascene is of opinion so it is in the Regeneration and Sacramental nutrition of the new Man he said it was done no sooner is the Word applied but the Work is wrought Put it not off therefore to others but say Certainly this is my case I am the Man that have done so and so that have such an Heart so hard so unclean and deceitful c. Then hear what threatnings are denounced against such Offâ—nces then see what judgments have been inflicted upon the like Offenders this will pluck the Plumes and allay the Jollity of any Person This is the way to draw proud Minions and roaring Gallants out of their Fools Paradise into a World of saving trouble to see and bewail their monstrous Vanities and youthful Folly And here let all such be advised to stay till the Lord be pleased to speak unto them and to bring them as by a Hand of Comfort into Canaan O pluck not off the Plaster because it smarts refuse not the Potion because it is bitter confine your selves to his Rules of Physick break not those Bonds and cast not off these Cords from you haste not out of this Wilderness too soon because it is Solitary the end and issue will support Patience he that believes will not make haste to apply unseasonable Comforts The Lord will be seen in the Mount and heard in the cool of the Day The Corrosive must eat out Corruption to the bottom before any healing Salve can well be applied that so there may be a perfect Cure The Law is that Corrosive promises that healing Oyl both must have their time and place for Working O let not let not preposterous haste prevent good speed be more desirous to be ready for Comfort than to have it and then doubt not but it will be enjoyed time enough Vse 3. Thirdly The use may serve for Consolation This Doctrine like the Carcass of the Lion which Sampson found and therein a swarm of Bees with sweet Hony-combs yieldeth sweet Consolation to such as have been or at present are exercised in this uncomfortable condition No Affliction is for the present joyous but rather greivous Especially a wounded Conscience who can bear To be alone in a vast Wilderness encompassed with Sins with divers and horrid Fears and which is heaviest of all to have the
with Men that would destroy the brood of some Beasts and Birds they pull down their Nests and destroy their Dens So it is with the true Penitent in respect of Sin down with all now that they would uphold before Fourthly There followeth a great Love to a sound-searching Ministry that will fully search and try the deceitful Heart and batter the deceitful holds of Sin Threatnings are welcome that shake the proud stony Heart and dash Babels Brats against the Wall I mean the crawling Vermin of noisome Lusts O strike thou Man of God strike in Christ's Name and spare not burn and cut here O here is an impure hard Heart as ever was harboured in any Breast And then goeth most chearfully most thankfully and best contented when he is struck to the quick What a blessed opportunity was this happy that I lived to see this day to hear such a Sermon If we hate an Enemy nothing will satisfie but his death Fifthly There remains still many fears and an holy jealousie that every Sin he reades or hears of is his Master is it I As it is reported of Socrates that when he walked in the Streets and saw any Person disorder'd would say to himself Am I such a one And as Master Bradford did when he looked into the lewd Lives of others And so do all humble Christians Nay commonly in this case he takes all to himself I have been this and I am thus and deserve that He needs neither Accuser nor Judg but is ready to cast the first stone at himself Thus the intented Convert is brought into the Wilderness of Spiritual Trouble where he yet remains a miserable Spectacle in Chains under Bondage tossing to and fro sighing and looking about now upon himself where he seeth his Chains but no power to loose them then abroad to see if there be any near but there is none to hear or help Finally he raiseth up his Eyes towards Heaven in such an earnest humble fixed manner as if he would never leave till he heard some word of comfort for which here is a Promise which comes in the next place to be handled III. I will speak unto her Heart Containing the third General of the Text viz. The first infusion for Apprehension or actual excitation of Sanctifying Grace In which Promise is presented to your view 1. The subject of this Evangelical Work and that is the Heart Instruments work directly upon the outward Man only he hath his seat in Heaven that works upon the Heart This is as Fire among the Elements that doth assimulate every thing to it self or as the Primum Mobile to the inferiour World which carries all the inferiour Orbs with it the first Mover or great Wheel in a Clock once moved moves with it all the rest the Tongue Eyes Hands Feet all move to the motion of the Heart and when God hath once fram'd the Soul to his Discipline by the ministry of the Law then he takes the Heart to be a fit hearer and speaks unto it 2. The manner of Exccution I will speak unto or above Two things may be conceived as promised herein First To speak comfortably to a solitary disconsolate Soul So much doth the Hebraism every-where import Comfort ye my People speak comfortably to Jerusalem Isa 40.1 The words are originally as here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Speak to the Heart of Jerusalem i. e. speak things grateful to her comfort raise up chear as both the Syriack and Chaldee Paraphrase do take it As it was with the Jews when God gave the Law to Israel by Moses they heard the Thunder and saw the Lightning but neither heard nor saw God so it is in this preparative work of Faith Men see the bright purity of the Law they hear many Woes and Curses denounced but God in Christ they neither hear nor see till he further enlighten them and raise them up by speaking to their Hearts Secondly To speak Victoriously above all the strength of that natural resistability which is in every untamed and unsanctified Heart In few words it is thus much I will chear and change her Whence Ministers are fitly called Comforters 1 Thess 2.11 and the Gospel a Peace-offering a word of Comfort and Reconciliation How the Lord works this whether as a Moral Persuader only by proposing Objects or as a Physical Agent determining the Intellect changing the Will and ordering the whole Business both for efficacy and event How the Will of Man hath it self towards the Grace of God in the act of Conversion hath been and is the great question of the Christian World Divines of all sorts are beating about it some to defend others to bolt out the Truth Pelagians with the Jesuits on one hand are for the strength of Nature and liberty of the Will to accept or refuse the Voice of God The Primitive Fathers from Augustine downwards with most Protestants and the Dominican Friars on the other hand are more for the Glory of God's Free-grace Who worketh both to will and to do of his own good Pleasure Here will be nothing interposed in order to any determination of this Controversie only the studious whom it may concern are referr'd to what is extant * Chamier Tom. 3. operum lib. 3. Cameron respons ad Epist docti viri alibi Zanch lib. 5. de Nat. Dei D. Rivet comment in Hos in disput 13. D. Twiss in defens Perk. Vind. gra and may yield better satisfaction For others who are willing to rest in plain Truths and fear to offend by curious enquiries they may take what follows for answer viz. First God speaketh and worketh after a secret if not an unexpressible manner Divine Graces curiously and mysteriously insinuate themselves and the impressions of the Will are extremely nice Therefore Men should not be rash in determining nor over-bold in presenting to the Eye what God hath vailed endeavouring to make Windows in God's Closet and to unclasp his secret Books St. Augustine's Rule is surely safe Praestat dubitare de occultis quam de incertis litigare And his Counsel is very prudent viz. Compescenda est humana temeritas id quod non est non quaerat nè quod est inveniat Contra. Manich. l. 8. c. 1. i. e. We must bridle our Temerity and check our Curiosity lest we pursue what is not revealed and find that which is Let all take heed of soaring too high lest they be scorched and wading too deep lest they be drowned There are some things we may nescire sine crimine not know without blame but cannot know them sine discrimine without danger And in respect of these a learned Ignorance is to be preferr'd to an ignorant Learning Stobaeus reports of Thales that he gazing on the Stars fell into a Pit so may all pryers into God's Secrets be suffered to fall into the Pit of Error Secondly Man hath certainly lost his freedom to Good by his first choice of Evil. Seipsum
earnest longing after them as the only good to be desired with which they may be happy and without them they must be everlastingly miserable The wise Spiritual Merchant having once found this Treasure hideth it and makes haste for joy that there is some possibility of enjoying it he selleth all that he hath and resolveth to purchase it whatever he pay whatever the conditions be As the hunted Hart longs after the running Stream so these Men do now cry out Give us Christ or else we die They Hear Reade Fast and Confer O they will part with all they will do any thing for Christ A Sight a Touch a Taste of him is more worth than the World 3. After many Conflicts Doubts and Fears the Heart is wrought upon not only willing to receive Christ for so it was before but actually to cast it self upon Christ to rest on him and to resign it self wholly to his dispose O the sweet Repose which a fainting Soul finds in a Promise rightly applied after a storm of Spiritual Trouble The Heart is ever with him the Eye is alway upon him and the Tongue is delighted often to mention him Sweet Jesus hast thou done and suffered so much for me Was thy Heart pierced was thy Head bowed was thy Body nailed to the Cross for my Redemption How unworthy am I such a wretched Creature such a rebellious Prodigal such an impure lump of Sin to hear of such Mercy much more to taste thereof But seeing it was thy great Love to do it and thy Bounty to prevent me by offering it 't is my duty to receive it with all readiness of Mind and thankfulness of Heart Tho thou should'st kill me yet will I trust in thee tho thou should'st after cast me into Hell by me merited yet would I come unto thee Lo Lord Jesus lo a dumb deaf and lame Leper before thee if thou wilt thou canst make me clean and whole and if thou wilt not none else can do it I resolve to sink at thy Feet and if it were possible to perish in thine Arms. Thirdly The Lord speaks again to this same Heart thus far wrought upon three times he spake unto Samuel before he knew what and to whom to answer and the end and effect of it is three-fold 1. By the power of his Word he turneth out the old Inhabitant for intus existens probibet alienum Satan who did reign there by Sin and brings another into possession even Christ by his Spirit and Graces 2. He changeth the natural Disposition of the Heart truly for Parts though not perfectly for Degrees There is no part but is bespangled with Grace As Air in respect of Light so is the Heart in respect of Grace of a double he makes one single a hard and stony Heart he softeneth Understand not this of any Natural Moral or Legal yielding all which are presupposed but of an Evangelical softness a tenderness following upon serious deliberation and consideration of God's infinite Love Christ's bitter Sufferings and the odious nature of Sin And lastly Of an impure deceitful hypocritical Heart he makes an honest clean sincere Heart Ego non sum ego It is not what it was Such power and healing Vertue there is in the Word of God 3. By his Divine Breath and Power this Marriage between Christ and the Soul is consummate the Spiritual Bond apprehended and the Mystical Union manifested as it followeth in this very Chapter I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in Righteousness Judgment Loving-kindness and in Mercies i. e. In him in whom Mercy and Justice meet and are reconciled I will do it truly and firmly so that all his Benefits shall be made over by way of Joynture or Dower thy Poverty and Deformity shall be accounted his his Riches and Beauty thine This is that the Lord speaks to the Heart finally for this he allured her into the Wilderness that he might win her to himself and thus is this Work finished The manner of Conversion as for the present we apprehend it to be ordinary thus far concluded and briefly in the Heads only unfolded we may for further satisfaction light and benefit require Quest First When is the Lord said to speak unto the Heart Answ I answer 1. When he overcomes the natural hardness of the Heart and begins to let out that Spiritual Impostume or mass of Impurity which lieth hid in every one by Nature This is a Work to which neither Men or Angels are able to set their Hands The Heart-maker is the only Heart-breaker and he alone that knows the Heart can purifie or purge it When Rocks are turn'd into streams of Water and the Mountains melt like Wax and clods of Earth are made like Stars of Heaven surely then God putteth forth his Power then he speaketh to the Heart 2. When he raiseth any comfort in distressed Minds by closing with them in some promises of Pardon or power over Sin This is the Voice of God for he only can prepare a Door of Hope in every Valley of Trouble provide Manna in the Wilderness Water in every dry Rock and Light in every Dungeon There is no precious Electuary for sick Souls but by his Prescription and Administration 3. When he answereth the desire of the Heart against such and such a Sin or in a timely supply of such a Grace either in truth where it is not or for degrees where it was in a little measure before All Grace is originally from Heaven it comes from above James 3.17 i. e. from God the first and second preventing and assisting God bids the Soul to mortifie such a Lust and the Soul complains as Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 20.12 I have no might against this great Army then the Lord comes in with Auxiliary Forces and his Grace hath been sufficient God bids him to pray for such a Mercy and he finds himself very unfit his Heart at first was dead and flat but on a sudden he is carried above his own strength his Tears drop his Love flames God hath then spoken then he came in with assisting Grace If the Heart burn in Prayer God hath struck the Fire the Spirit hath been tuning the Heart therefore it maketh sweet melody 4. When there is a close concurrence and an orderly subordination between God's Word and the Heart When the Word is not only delivered to the Heart but the Heart also is deliver'd up unto the Word By the closing of these two our Wills are wholly taken up in God's Will So that the Heart ever saith after as Christ did not my Will in any thing but thy Will be done in all O Lord This is one reason alledged by St. Augustin why he would have all sorts to reade the Scriptures and frequently to hear them Quia in illis loquitur Deus ad Cor indoctorum atque doctorum Because therein God speaks unto the Heart of the Learned and Unlearned Aug. Epist 3.
ad Volus Quest Secondly It may be further demanded How a Man may know when and whether the Lord hath or doth speak unto his Heart Answ First By an awful dread which fills the Heart when God hath spoken unto it Josiah trembled at the Voice of God in his Law And that is a testimony of God's speaking to him But thus it is with every Creature that hears the Voice of God the Devils tremble and Men quake and as the Worms when it thundreth wriggle into the corners of the Earth so for all their lofty looks though when all is quiet they may puff up themselves with a conceit they are more then ordinary like Caligula who thought himself a God imitating Joves Thunder But when the True God gave forth his Voice from Heaven he that before was so high was now as low in spirit running under his Bed or into any Bench-hole for preservation So let the Lord but arise to speak the tallest Cedar the highest Tower the loftiest Spirit of Godless Men can dare it no longer but will think the holes of the Rocks and Caves of the Earth to be their best shelter Yea even the inanimate Creatures shew the impressions of his powerful Voice The Sea flies the Mountains skip the Earth trembleth and the whole Creation shaketh at the Voice of God Therefore Secondly It may be known by love and longing after him As it was with Elisha after Elijah had saluted him he was presently inflamed as if a spark of Fire had fallen down upon him so that he would unseparably follow him Thou O my Soul art Elisha God is Elijah if he once speak unto thee thou wilt follow him crying My Lord and my God! O lift up the light of thy Countenance upon me When shall I come and appear before the presence of God All the days â—f my appointed time will I wait Such drawing Vertue is in the Word of Christ it is as an Ointment poured forth therefore the Virgins love him Love is the Whet-stone of Love and the Love of Christ in speaking to his People constraineth them to love him 2 Cor. 5.14 Thirdly By those Evangelical Effects formerly mentioned When God speaks unto a poor grieved Heart as the Father unto his Prodigal Son Luke 15.20 c. The Heart is raised to admire God in all his Attributes and Ways and is ravisht with desire of his Glory What shall I â—â—nder for so much undeserved favour I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord I will dwell in the House of the Lord to behold the fair Beauty of the Lord for ever Fourthly By that speedy reply which the Heart returns unto God Speak on Lord for thy Servant heareth and thy Face will I seek Psal 27.8 The Heart doth eccho out as it were an answer to the Voice of God as Jer. 3.22 the Lord speaks Return ye Backsliding Children and I will heal your Backslidings They readily answer Behold we come unto thee for thou art our God! Every gracious Person hath the duplicate of God's Law in his Heart and is willingly cast into the mould of his Word When Men have their Ears only spoken unto in it at the best they do but dwell on Duties and place the sum of their Religion in a bare outward profession but when God hath once spoken unto the Heart then they look more into the substance of Religion Quest Thirdly If it be demanded What a Man should do when the Lord hath or doth speak unto the Heart Answ I answer With all readiness and humble reverence the Heart must speak unto the Lord again So much is expected and good Manners will teach a Man so much to speak when he is spoken unto especially by such a Superiour Now the language of the Heart consists in two things viz. Receiving and Returning In receiving what the Lord offers by a flexible yielding unto the Work and Word of God and by a concurrence both of consent in respect of his Promises and of obedience in regard of his Commands In returning Praise Prayer and all hearty service Praise for that God is pleased to take notice of you so mean so vile Great Men are thought to grace their Inferiours if they vouchsafe to speak unto them I am sure it is so here by speaking to us the Lord doth exceedingly honour us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrysostom God's condescention is incomparable he speaks to his People as a Man would speak to his Friend thus he graceth them inwardly outwardly and so maketh them gracious and amiable in the Eyes of Men. Prayer that as he hath begun so he would finish the Work till the Heart be throughly moulded into a spiritual temper of Flexibility and Purity according to his own Heart Vse 1. From hence the Erroneous Opinions and Irregular Practices of all those are justly to be taxed and reproved First Who ascribe this Work either to inward power and strength of nature or to some outward means as if Man could speak unto the Heart or the matter of a Sacrament did contain to convey Grace by the work wrought Pelagians old and new go the first way Papists with their followers the latter way Both joyning to derogate from the glory of his Grace who ascribeth this work unto himself I will speak unto the Heart These Men do undertake to sail without the Stars and labour without the Sun They set Dagon before the Ark equalize the Creature with the Creator If this were true then St. Paul mistook to say Not I but the Grace of God in me and it is God that giveth the increase Gratia non est gratia ullo modo nisi sit gratuita omni modo is St. Austins rule Let them with their Wit and Learning endeavour to set up the Idol of Free-will and strength of Nature let us with the sacred Scriptures labour to set up the Free-Grace of God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good Pleasure Secondly Who being in the Wilderness of Spiritual Distress will not stay till the Lord speak unto them but make haste to drink Water out of any Puddle to snap up Carnal Ease from Worldly Jollity in Eating Drinking Gaming and other Pastimes to drive away such Melancholy Dumps Some by busie Imployments as Cain thought to do Others by Musick as Saul a third sort by variety of Flesh-pleasing-Company Being herein not much unlike to many weak and crasie Patients that are ready to fancy any new Medicine they hear of and to tamper with that rather than to expect a Recovery through a course of Physick prescribed by the Physician All which you may be sure will say as the Scribes and Pharisees did to Judas What is that to us see thou to it Either they will cast you off desperately saying Now you are mad this you have got by reading and hearing so many Sermons or else they will slight it with Gallio and care for none of these
things Or at least they will quench all a killing pity too common by daubing with untempered Mortar So that one day you will say out of woful experience Miserable Comforters are ye all Physicians of no value good for nothing Seek not to them rest not on them it is God only in and through Christ who speaks peace unto his Saints in this case hear only what he saith Thirdly A third sort to be blamed are such as are converted outwardly in Profession only the Lord make them sound Pictures without Life Clouds without Water Sodoms Apples fair only to see to The outward Man is spoken unto and convinced so far as to perform Duties the Ear is spoken unto so far as to hear often the Tongue is spoken unto so far as to discourse well but the Heart is not spoken unto all the devotion of these Men is in Hearing and Censuring they come to arraign the Minister at the Bar of their own Judgment and to judge that Word by which they must be judged at the last Day they come to debate the Man not the Doctrine to censure the Preacher not to practise the Sermon Like Merchant's Coopers they taste much Wine but deal for none their Hearts are not changed the same Lusts lodg there as before restrained only they are hard and impure as ever the virtue of Christ's Death and Life is not yet applied to such they are yet destitute of Grace whatever their profession be Nay you and your Profession are but like the cursed Fig-tree that bare Leaves and no Fruit. God hath not spoken to your Hearts neither did you ever speak in your Hearts to God Many Prayers you may haply say over and yet never pray for Prayer is an offering up of the Heart or Will to God by Christ Vse 2. The second Vse will direct to Duty which concerneth either Minister or People Ministers must learn to speak unto the Heart as near as possible they can because God doth so whose Ambassadors they are Like Marks-men though they cannot shoot so as to strike yet they must aim at this Mark their Arrows must be sharpened for this purpose though like the Arrows of Jonathan some fall short of others go besides the Mark yet some or other being guided by a Supreme Power may pierce the Hearts of the King's Enemies whereby the People shall fall under him Those Ministers speak best who strive to profit more than to please and so must all they that desire to do good in that relation they must preach to the Conscience to the Quick As King James of famous Memory said of a Reverend Bishop of this Land This Man Preaches as if Death were at my Back So should every Minister do Preach as if Death Judgment and Hell were even at Mens Backs Bring the point as near as may be home to the hearers Door that is plainly particularly earnestly otherwise they preach as a Man that shoots his Arrows at randon and hits not the Mark it is as if the Minister should lay his Sermon on his Cushion and never dart it into the Peoples Bosoms If People do not feel your Points at their Backs Spears in their Sides and Swords in their Bellies they will feel nothing it will be lost labour You that are People and Hearers may learn 1. To bring your Hearts with you to God's Ordinances How many heartless Sermons have some heard and made Else you bring nothing for God to speak unto and it is no more than if you sent your Clothes stuft with Straw Yea upon the matter you deny his Presence and Office Men that are his Messengers speak unto the Ears and present things from their Lord unto the Eyes of the Body and those parts you leave not at Home for what should we do at Church you will say without our Ears and Eyes But I say What make you there without your Hearts God is there who speaks unto the Heart as Men unto the Ear If that be away it is all one as if you were absent Nay you aggravate your Sin and provoke him more by your heartless presence in preferring Men whom you vouchsafe to hear unto God whom you will not hear but highly dishonour him by offering a dead Carkass in his Temple an unreasonable service in such cold Devotion All such are Abominable they put a Cheat upon God and mock the most High They come full Mouth'd but empty Hearted offer a Case without the Jewel a Gilded Cup and no Wine in it To such God will say Who required these things at your hands thus to tread my Courts My Sons give me your Hearts or you give me nothing As Joseph said to his Brethren concerning Benjamin Gen. 43.3 so God saith of the Heart Ye shall not see my Face without it Bring your Family and Bibles to Church but especially your Hearts which are most out of order and there the Lord will begin his Work Joyn with the Congregation Hand and Heart offer them both to God in earnest Prayer and attentive Hearing wait and say When Lord how long Holy and True Accept what thou callest for and speak one word to my poor Heart among the rest before I go that the Bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce 2. To labour most about the Heart the Heart in the Body and the heart of Religion yea and to prize good Men who by their good Fruits testifie to others the goodness of their Hearts as the good Fruit doth the good Tree because the Lord hath spoken to them No Relick comparable no image can be a more lively remembrancer If David did so admire Man as Man how then ought we to admire and reverence Man as united to Christ shining with his Image adorn'd with his Beams clothed with his Righteousness and entitled to an everlasting Kingdom Many as Beautiful some as rich in Apparel are very powerful to draw and dazzle the Eyes of weak Beholders but for Beauty and Honour none are comparable to gracious Hearts they now partake of Angelical Splendor and hereafter shall exceed the Sun in brightness Acts 6. ult Mat. 13.43 Phil. 3. ult But Who is sufficient for these things sufficiently qualified to set forth to the Life the Beauty and Brightness of Christ mystical He had need of a refined Nature of sublimated Thoughts of a Quill taken from the Wing of a Seraphin and to soar aloft free from the pressure of terrene mixtures in heavenly Contemplation Who can reade or seriously think of this mystery of Mercy without a readier expression of joy mixt with tears than their conceits in words What a Man a sinful Man weltering in Blood full of Sores and Ulcers fitter to be loathed than loved for such a one Poor Blind Miserable and Naked to be married to a Prince such a Prince the Heir of Heaven and Earth Who can believe our report or believing it not love such an one To whom will the Arm of the Lord reveal this but to humbled Souls
language of a melting Heart breathing out a compassionate Lamentation after Pardon desired obtained and sealed The cause of fear was past Nathan had declaratively removed it upon his acknowledgment The Lord hath put away thy Sin thou shalt not die God had put away his Sin from before him because he loved David but David could not forget his Sin because he loved the Lord. Love maketh God forget it and the Sinner to remember it David's love to God so freely forgiving such hainous Sins did increase daily and with this love his sorrow grew that he should so ill requite the Lord the thought of it carried him more and more into God's Presence whose Purity and Brightness meeting with the light of David s Conscience represented his Sin more clearly as ever before him When he considered what God had done for him and what he had now done against the Lord moving common Enemies to blaspheme he was even ashamed and confounded so Planet-struck he was that he could not durst not lift up his Face Tacita sudant praecordia culpâ Juven he is at the Meridian Zenith Vertical Point of Shame he could not mount higher The End why it was penn'd and published was partly in respect of himself to get further assurance of God's re-promised Favour in his own apprehension and partly with reference to others to leave a ground of encouragement for poor Souls that fall after Baptism against that Spirit-quenching Doctrine of the Novatians who leave no room for pardon of Sin after Baptism or Repentance to assure them it is possible they may be forgiven and received into Favour as also to leave a pattern of Penitency to all Posterity After grievous falls even into â—resumptuous Sins it is possible Men may â—e raised return'd and entertain'd but it â—ust be done thus after the pattern shewed â—s in this Mount such Sins will be ever beâ—ore them in Memory and Detestation and â—he burden will be intollerable so that they â—ill often cry out with David My Sins are â—er before me The meaning may be thus unfolded as â—f David had said and enlarged himself after â—his manner First I am mindful of my Fault as if it â—ere written upon every Wall God hath â—orgiven the Guilt that it should not redound â—o Condemnation but my Conscience cannot â—et go the Memory of that I have done in â—he Day-time I think of it and in the Night 〈◊〉 dream of it as my Book it is when I reade â—nd as an Image when I pray ever before â—e while I am alone it doth accompany me and when I am in Company the thought â—f it doth not forsake me Whither-soever 〈◊〉 go that woful Story is still presented with all the aggravating Circumstances Bathsheba defiled Vriah slain a harmless Sacrifice and both by David a Man called from the Sheepâ—ook to the Scepter raised to highest Digâ—ity out of deep Obscurity and honoured with such a Style as never any Man had Oh Ingratitude Shall not all Men in all Ages cry out upon David that he should so far forget God as to leave his own many of his own and to take his poor Neighbour's Lamb to dress for his Stranger Oh fearful These or the like are my thoughts by Day and no other are my conceits by Night in Company I am alone and while I am alone I have these Companions My Sins are ever before me Secondly I am wonderfully troubled about it For me-thinks mine Eyes and Ears have no other Object I see my Sins in that order as they were acted Idleness first but followed with Adultery first of the Eye next of the Mind and lastly of the Body Adultery is attended by Drunkenness-active he made Uriah drunk and that Drunkenness by Murther See the Bead-roll viz. Idleness Adultery Drunkenness and Murther and hearken to the cry of them one answering another but all are against David one was occasioned by another and the former still punished in the latter Many and fearful they are more hideous than Hell pursuing me like so many Furies into every place as of the whole Army accusing me of Negligence and Security of Bathsheba bewailing the stain of her own Body and her Husband's Bed of Vriah's Blood calling from the Ground for vengeance of all my Subjects brought in danger by their Prince's Folly yea of all the Birds in the Air whistling David's Crime on every Tree of Heaven and Earth groaning under the burden of such a Report That David a Man after God's own Heart so beloved and advanced should be thus fouly overtaken and lastly of Jesus Christ shewing his Wounds rub'd up afresh by these Abominations of mine What Ear â—an endure or Heart hold to see and hear his â—ins thus set in order before him Thirdly I am horribly afraid not so much â—f Damnation God hath graciously put away my Sin I know I shall not die as of the ugly face of Sin at first it was not apprehended by me I little thought of what I how feel but now it is presented to me in true Colours black as Hell bitter as Gall and more heavy than Mountains the pleasure was small and past but the bitterness â—s present and doth far exceed it was momentany that delighted me but lasting that â—exeth me I am ashamed of every passage that I knowing so much and professing the contrary should be so foolish and forgetful â—irst to perpetrate the Act then to cover it with Fig leaves as if any Person Thing or Act could be hid by any means from this bright Eye of the Word Well may God be hid from me but I can never be hid from God All things are naked and open to him Sin deceiveth most when it promiseth most and bringeth a Curse with its sweetest Morsels being like that Gold which ever brought destruction to the Owners of it Aurum Tholosanum Or like that Horse which had all perfections that could be named belonging to an Horse Of Cn. Cejus for stature feature colour strength limbs comliness but withal the Owner of him was sure to die an unhappy death This is the misery of Sin how pleasant profitable or advantagious soever it may seem to be unto Flesh and Blood it hath always Calamity in the end it ever expires in Trouble Fourthly I acknowledg all not confusedly as before through the light of Conscience but distinctly and feelingly by the Light of God's Word closing with the light of Conscience All this while I went about to please my self but now I find by woful experience that the things which I have done displease the Lord and therefore now I desire my Repentance may be answerable to my Sin i. e. multiplied and ever before me that others may hear and learn by my example how deceitful Sin is taking away from Men what it promiseth to bring viz. Pleasure and Contentment and for one pleasing sight or touch it presents it presents an ugly face for ever after O that Men were Wise
their Joy and Happiness encreased thereby were this remembred it would prove a comfort to those whose Religious Friends do often end their Days in such distress For by coming so immediately from the sight of such an ugly Objâ—ct to the Intuition and Fruition of such Beauty as is in Christ the Vision is more beatifical To pass from the presence of Sin into the presence of God doth more ravish the Soul with Coelestial Joy God in Christ will excel in Beauty and Glory to that Man's Eye and Apprehension who hath lately seen the sinfulness of Sin As the Sin is never more glorious than when it breaks out of a black Cloud so the Glory of Heaven will certainly be more admirable and lovely to those unto whom Sin hath appeared exceeding sinful Now if it pass unseen these two Days and if it be not presented to be seen and loathed in one of those Hours then it will be presented at the Great-Day which is emphatically called the Day of Discovery 1 Cor. 3.13 in fulness of Horror and inevitable Fury When the Curtain shall be drawn aside and all the secrets of the World discovered and every Man see the actions of his Life as upon a piece of Tapestry spread before his Eyes appearing as so many Thorns and Venemous Beasts and no Mercy to be shewed no Grace to be offer'd when no Petitions will be received nor any Voice heard but Go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire As may be gather'd from divers passages of sacred Scripture viz. Psal 50.21 Matth. 7.22 23 25 41. Hodie hodie poenitentiae locus saith St. Augustin To day there is room for Repentance you must repent now or perish then If the Tap be not now thaw'd it may be frozen for ever Hell vomiteth up our highest desires and will afford no felicities Happy is he whose Sins are ever before him here in a grieved memory they shall never be set before him there if they vex thee now as a loathed burden they shall not torment thee then The Sins which ye have seen to Day ye shall see them again no more for ever Secondly The Grounds whereupon this truth resteth are such as follow viz. 1. That inviolable dependency which all effects and conclusions have upon their own Causes and Principles whence they flow Acts Powers and Habits are unseparable from the Person as they are one from another Every Agent is and shall be attended with its own Works the Dead in the Lord are blessed and their Works follow them The Ox knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Master's Crib Sin lieth at the Sinner's door and will acknowledg no other Master What is once done cannot be undone No Power can recal it from being Only a penitent sight of Sin may hide it from the sight of Justice and Mercy can recal it from being imputed An act contracting Guilt may pass from a Person and yet not redound upon the Person by a supernatural interposition of satisfying Merit Christ must come between and stay his Course or else Sin would not only be set before us but even upon us in full Guilt and Weight and that for ever 2. The nature of the Soul in her retaining Faculties is another Ground whereby she is necessarily enabled by reflexion to recal to see and judg all her own past Actions This is essential and therefore it is that such Power and Impressions do remain inseparated either to punish or chear them by the remembrance of things past To which you may adjoyn the office of Conscience which is to bear witness and accuse or excuse according to Demerit A guilty Conscience we use to say and more say than some are aware of what they say is as a thousand Witnesses It will tell us all that we have done for many Years ago and present us with all the Follies of our Youth This is the Book wherein Men may read their own History and Doom both what they have done and what they have deserved There are two Rules the one is God's Word which pointeth out both Estates and the other is every Man's Conscience which is privy to the frame and standing of his Heart and which of these Estates is his As long then as there is such a Soul with us endowed with such admirable Faculties viz. Understanding Memory and Conscience so long will Sin be before us if we once do evil we shall hear of it ever after till Sanctification be perfect and Grace be crowned with Glory 3. The Order of Divine Justice requiring some proportion between the pleasure taken in Sin and the vexation for it after Beautiful it appeared in coming but ugly and deformed in going sweet it was in the offer and act but bitter in the close like Hony which is very sweet but begets most bitter Choller Or as Claudius his Mushrom which was pleasant but poysonful How much she hath glorified her self and lived deliciously so much torment and sorrow give her Rev. 18.7 As it shall appear hereafter with the Impenitents in Hell suffering by way of Satisfaction so it is here on Earth with Penitents suffering by way of Correction Intention of delight in the act of sinning is justly recompensed with extension of continued Grief It will vex you long because it did affect you much Sin was before you when it should not and now it must be before you when you would not Justice being refused in the first will be heard in the latter Thirdly The Ends of all this wherefore a single Commission is followed with frequent Presentations we may conceive to be such as these 1. To keep the Heart of God's People in a spiritual frame of Self-denial and Humility and that the habitual grace of Repentance may be upheld and more lively in exercise Hereupon I am apt to think that Mr. Fox that industrious preserver of the Honour of many of God's Servants was observed to say That nothing did him more hurt than his Graces nothing more good than his Sins being ever before him His Graces through the prevailing power of Corruption remaining were ready to puff him up and to set him in God's room by self-seeking whilst his Sins kept him down and kept him humble and meek Few know the benefit of this Combat It is one of the best remedies against spiritual Pride and Security to keep the Mind upon Sin and Sin in the Mind Hence that confident speech of renowned Austin I dare be bold to say that it is good for proud Persons to fall into some Sin Vnde sibi displiceant qui jam sibi placendo ceciderunt Salubrius enim Petrus displicuit quando flevit quà m sibi placuit quando presumpsit Aug. de Civit. Dei lib. 14. That they may be humbled as Peter was and so saved 2. To terrifie his Adversaries and so to leave them inexcusable when the full weight of Sin falls upon them If the memory of Sin do so follow them which have repented and are pardoned how will it be
or less it continueth during Life and rather increaseth than decayeth as Love doth It is not sufficient to see Sin once a Year and yet it would be better for some then it is did they go so far as our Adversaries require Confession nor once in our Life only at Death to cast an eye upon it and bid it adieu with an O Lord Lord be merciful and open unto me which good words and seasonable too are not blamed but the delaying of so main a Duty till then Heaven is not to be had usually at so cheap a rate Satan ordinarily is not so soon vanquished nor Sin so easily put off Whosoever thinks it so easie a matter to repent and believe as that he hath seen and sorrowed enough for Sin now he may desist from both did never see nor sorrow for it at all What David here said of himself is true of every renewed Heart more or less during Life My Sin is ever before me Vse 1. The use hereof may be 1. To discover to you a two-fold Error to be carefully avoided because common and dangerous First Of the Romanists who in their Doctrine and Practice do place Sin rather before the Ear of the Confessor than before the Eye of the Committer That the one must hear it is absolutely necessary without which there is no Salvation that the other should see it is not so at least not so much prest by them Auricular Confession is more insisted on than inward Contrition And Penance is too far sever'd by them from Repentance We hear much and often of the one but of the other there is too deep a silence Confession and Satisfaction are strictly lookt unto by such as profess their Religion in earnest to give them their due that nothing may be blamed in them but what is blame-worthy But Contrition and Sanctification this personal sight of Sin and Evangelical sorrow for it are not so much urged neither in their Writings nor Practice for ought I can learn However I dislike not Confession it is a Duty very comfortable and useful the abuse set aside I could wish it more frequent among us but never used in publick or private without Contrition Let the Heart accompany the Tongue else it is the most unsavoury piece of Formality that can be Secondly Of our common People who deem the worst of such as are thus troubled condemning rash judgment in others do yet pass the bounds of Charity towards them As if poor Souls they only were curst of God and hated of others because they are thus pursued by Sin and baited by Satan especially if it be on their Sick-bed Strange it is to hear them cry out upon profession of Religion as if Religion were the worse for it because her followers are thus affrighted for their good They will not profess Religion no not they nor be tied to frequent the Church to perform Duties in private because such and such are distracted by it Sure they are out of their Wits this Book-learning hath made them Mad else they would never complain and cry out so that their Sins are ever before them Why say they are not we all Sinners as well as they and yet our Sins never trouble us More is the pity and greater is their Misery Poor Souls you cannot distinguish between trouble for Sin and senslessness under Sin between the desperate pangs of Despair and the genuine thâ—ows of a troubled Mind Miâ—ht you not as truly have said the same of David St. Paul and all the rest of God's Saints in every Age who have passed through this Wilderness to Canaan But in so doing know you dishonour God lay a blemish on his Work and often condemn the Generation of the Righteous This trouble of Mind being one of the most infallible marks of true Penitency the Road-way to Heaven for adult Persons and one of the best signs of this Nature that any one can see in himself or desire in his Friend Let my Sins good Lord be always before me as David 's were Let all thine be so disquieted here that so all our Sins may never come in sight at that Day but be buried in everlasting forgetfulness True it is some Men may superstitiously endeavour to make the Way to Heave narrower than indeed it is but far more there are who voluptuously endeavour to enlarge it and make it more broad and easie than God hath made it without any such sight of Sin or trouble about it crying out To what end serveth this waste What needeth all this ado Cannot Men be saved without this sight of Sin and sorrow for it Whether they can or no I will not stand to determine sure I am ordinarily they will not Till they be brought into the Wilderness they are intractable indocible therefore the Lord troubleth them that they may be willing to be saved To all such as think otherwise I should commend these following passages of holy Scripture to be considered in their most retired Thoughts Numb 32.23 Gen. 4.7 Psal 50.21 22. Mat. 7.13 14. Phil. 3.11 1 Pet. 4.18 The Righteous shall scarcely be saved ad praesentis Vitae difficultates debet referri c. saith a judicious Interpreter on that place Our Race or Warfare here in this World is like a Voyage by Sea beset and encountred with many Difficulties Rocks Tempests Pirats open Enemies and false Brethren Ardua prima via est which made St. Paul say If by any means I may attain unto the Resurrection of the Dead A phrase importing difficulty without doubtting he was perswaded he should attain it but not without the use of such means and after much strugling What else is meant by the Wrestling of Jacob the Praying and Fasting of David the Running of Paul the Scruples and Cases of Conscience proposed by the Saints of God frequently and in great variety when once they begin to benefit by the Word Men and Brethren what shall we do Sirs What must I do to be saved And the like Complaints are very frequent where the Word hath awakened them The Pains and bitter Sufferings of all our renowned Martyrs both of the Primitive Times and in the late Marian-Days do preach unto us the Straight-way The difficulty of obtaining and keeping a grounded persuasion of God's Favour in the free pardon of all our Sins through the Satisfaction and Intercession of Christ The Church Militant is a Lilly among Thorns having Enemies ever about her and her Sins always before her Non est ad astra mollis è terris via We may not expect to be carried to Heaven on Beds of Down but through many Tribulations not to go to Paradise through Paradise a Way â—â—rowed with Roses The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth Violence few arrive in this Harbour without danger and difficulty It is not so easie a thing to work out Salvation as most deem and yet through Christ it is easie to all them that receive him Thirdly Hereunto may be added another
and Power unto it for this end To know how the Law doth this may give some Light to Ministers in the use thereof And that may be 1. By way of Illumination of the Understanding to see Sin as it is sin which no word nor means in the World can do beside because God hath imparted to it the brightness of his own Purity so much as he pleased and thought to be needful for this end with a searching faculty undeniably to charge Conscience with all and every Sin this supernatural splendor closing with the innate light of Conscience proceeding in this manner viz. First to discover Actual Sins beginning often with some of the most hainous and going on by degrees to the rest for number and nature how many how foul and to that end the Law presenteth to the Soul First With her Soveraignty for Constitution and Commission being made and ordained by him who is infinite in every Attribute and hath an absolute dominion over our Bodies and Spirits and sent abroad with a large Commission to show all Sins unto all sorts impartially whether they be high or low rich or poor prophane or holy the Law hath a soveraign power and exerciseth it after a regal manner sparing none Secondly With her Integrity and Extent In this Wilderness the Law sheweth Conscience her Spiritual Authority her Aggravating Faculties her exact Purity and that mutual Dependency one Law and one Member of the Law hath upon another Her Spiritual Authority to go into the inward Rooms yea into every corner of those Rooms and every crevice of those Corners where Sin lieth hid and to search and bring out all Sins great and small of Omission and Commission Like a two-edged Sword it pierceth to the very Marrow to the very intents of the Hearts Her Aggravating Faculty to set forth particular Sins to the Eye as the Glass doth the spots of the Face in the most odious Colours that so Sin may appear exceeding sinful Her Exact Purity to discover such practices of our Life to be sinful which we never dreamt of nor before took notice of so much as to suspect I had not known Sin i. e. some Sins to be Sins but by the Law this discovers that to be a Mountain which before the Sinner judged to be a Mote and that to be Sin which before he esteemed Righteousness and like a Light exposed to view those Corruptions which lay hid and unseen in their due proportion Her Mutual Dependency one Branch doth so hang upon another that whosoever breaketh one is guilty of all James 2.10 The whole Law is but one Copulative and this dependance of one Precept with another and all upon the Law-Maker whose Authority is violated and contemned in the breach of one as well as of all occasioneth even one Sin to be so infinitly weighty Secondly The Law proceeds to discover Original Sin in the Root and Branches how we participate in the first sinful Act of Adam how that Guilt is imputed and how Habitual Corruption is propagated from immediate Parents to all their Posterity proceeding from them by an ordinary way of Generation as Poyson is carried from the Fountain to the Cistern all herent in the Nature or redounding on the Person by virtue of the Covenant and this the Law doth either by way of Comparison or else by way of positive Description comparing and preferring it for the evil thereof to Actual Sin as the Root or Cause thereof Et quod efficit tale est magis tale is said in Philosophy and is true in Divinity Then describing it either by Names or Properties By Names first calling it the Old Man the Body of Death as if Death were nothing without this Sin a Weight that presseth down c. By Properties next and they are especially four viz. Eminency Predominancy Insensibility and Perpetuity For Eminency the Law saith it is a Transcendent Evil and the worst of all Evils Predominancy strangely to rule and oversway like a second Nature which Men often confess while they say It is their Nature to do this or that is to be furious to swear and curse a little now and then they cannot help it 't is their Nature when indeed it is the corruption of Nature reigning Insensibility to keep all the parts in a sleepy peace that Men are not aware of their danger till they be awakened and brought into this Wilderness Perpetuity to cleave fast unto our Nature even to the end of our Life While Blood is in our Veins Sin is in our Nature like the Jebusites this remains as a Thorn in the side in the Flesh even when Victory is obtained by Grace over all Actual Sin in a competent measure that is still living and stirring gathering new Forces and breaking into Rebellion ever and anon Thus the Law bringeth Men into the Wilderness by the work of Illumination 2. By the work of Conviction whereby the Conscience is brought to this Spiritual assent that the former Testimony of the Law is true both for Crime Object and Curse denounced and the Person to a particular application both of the Sins to be personal and of the sentence against such Sins and Sinners to be Legal The sum of which Work may be comprised in this practical Syllogism viz. Whosoever is thus Sinful and Cursed according to the Law is fully miserable but I saith the assuming Conscience am thus sinful and cursed therefore I am fully miserable What shall I do miserable Man that I am who shall deliver me in this vast Wilderness O help help me for the Lord's sake I am ready to faint to sink to die with fear and grief The Spirit by the Ministry of the Law worketh this distinct and sound Conviction divers ways 1. By removing all Impediments which are usually observed to hinder this Conviction One is natural Deadness and penal Hardness caused by Love and Custom in some one or many Sins which while it is interposed between the Law and Conscience will not suffer them to close and so nothing is done till that be in part removed Another is Spiritual Sloth which is a prevailing Backwardness and a precipitating Carelesness to consider what the Law discovereth and concludeth against Sin Men naturally love their ease and quiet they would not be disturbed A third is carnal Craft to pretend Religion and to perform all outward Duties and yet all the while to keep Sin in the Heart untouch'd to remain as habitually and delightfully unclean as ever This Soul-destroying Subtilty appears 1. In a readiness to shift off Sin and Reproofs from our selves to others The Minister met with such an one to day there was a Lesson for him indeed c. 2. In loathing a sound plain-searching Ministry as sore Eyes do the Sun which goes about to answer all the Objections of a natural Heart against the Goodness of Divine Truth Thus the Law removes Impediments 2. It worketh Conviction by applying unto the Soul and Conscience 1.
Gentle Expostulations frequently and movingly here and there as unto Adam and Gehazi Gen. 3.9 2 Kin. 5.26 Tell me poor Soul was it not â—ven so hast not thou done thus and thus went not my Spirit with thee and was not mine Eye over thee Confess thy Sin ease thy self and give glory to God O how loving is the Lord even in his Terrors and Enditements In the midst of Judgment he remembreth Mercy Tho his Robes be red they are not without some streamings of white and if he be compelled to pronounce Judgment as it was said of Augustus he doth it even with Tears in his Eyes 2. Instances very pertinent and those either direct as Psal 50.18 c. or Parabolical As Nathan dealt with David so the Lord deals with those whom he intends to restrain and renew You are the Men saith he that have been so much addicted to and delighted with Idleness Wantonness Luxury Pride Covetousness Slandring Drunkenness Swearing Lying and the like 3. Threatnings are added where the former avail not Cursed is every one that doth not all which is written in the Law He shall be pursued with Judgments of divers Natures to one end sometimes with prosperity on the right and anon with adversity on the left hand and last of all which is the worst of all dying impenitently he must needs be damned Thus the Lord thundereth in his Law against some whom nevertheless he intends to sanctify and save as a Father may threaten and terrify that Child whom he intends to make his Heir But withal you must know that he doth inwardly and secretly support them that they dash not upon Presumption nor sink under final Despair So that at length being driven from all their hiding Places they are brought into this Wilderness and forced freely to take upon themselves all those Sins discovered by the Law to fall down before God and to acknowledg their Guilt and Desert before the Throne of his Majesty resolving there to lie prostrate till he raise them in Mercy Now say they we see we feel we know how true the Word of God is how faithfully such Ministers dealt with us while we slighted and laughed them to scorn and how deceitful Sin is that appears at first small sweet and clean when as it is weighty bitter and filthy They cry who will take this Dagger out of my Heart this Mill-stone off my Back this Fire out of my Loins this Sting out of my Conscience Now the seeming sweetnesâ— of Sin is turned to Gall. O Sin how grievous is thy remembrance Away ye wicked we will henceforth endeavour to keep thâ— Commandments of our God No morâ— Swearing much less Perjury no Drunkenness no more Uncleanness When thesâ— knock at the door the answer is O thesâ— are they that cost us dear at such a time wâ— yet feel the sad Impressions of our former Afflictions for them we find a Pardon no easy Enterprize nor Repentance so pleasing a Potion we would not for all the World bâ— under that Anger of God nor feel one drop of his scalding Indignation which we have perceived for those Offences Thus the biâ—â—â—â— Child dreads the Fire And this with submission is the Course that Ministers musâ— take in opening and pressing the Law firsâ— which is God's Instrument effectually to charge the Conscience with Sin and to bring a Person into this Wilderness 2dly The People may learn to join with the Lord in his Ambassadors so to furtheâ— this Work of the Law when and where iâ— is once begun and to follow the Lord undeâ— his Cloud and after this Fire into this Wiâ—derness And that 1. By a serious Meditation of these many Impediments which keep Men out of it oâ— hinder them much in the way towards it when the Lord is about to bring them into it Eye them that you may avoid them For instance to esteem of the Law as a strange thing as not appertaining to them or wherein they are little or nothing concerned to interpose some beloved Sin between these two Lights of the Law and Conscience that they cannot join This alone hindered Herod's Conversion under John's piercing Ministry the interposition of his Herodias caused a fearful and final Eclipse So likewise to go away unthankfully and carelesly from a good Discourse doth hinder the Work and quench the Sparks which might have bred a Flame 2. By frequent Meditation on divers good Subjects moving this way as 1. Upon the Mercies of God bestowed upon you in particular from time to time This Course the Lord took to humble David 2 Sam. 12.7 8 9. And whosoever hath tried will say It is a very piercing way to bring the Heart into a through and kindly grief I have read of one who reading a Pardon sent him from the King fell a weeping and burst out into these Words A Pardon hath done that which Death could not do it hath made my Heart to relent As the Sugar-Loaf is dissolved and weeps it self away when it is dipp'd in Wine so will Penitents dissolve and melt themselves away in the sweet sence of Divine Love and their neglect or abuse of it Without doubt the very Behaviour of the Prodigal's Father brake his Heart with more thawings and kindly mourning than ever his former Hardship and Misery did O this that ever he should run to meet him that he should fall upon his Neck and kiss him This kindness of his Lips wounded his Heart with the deeper sence and judging of his own unkindness When the Surface of the Water is glazed with Ice the Sun-beams dissolve it such operation hath the Grace of Christ upon frozen Hearts which are never truly melted into Contrition but by Evangelical Beams Surely when a Sinner shall consider the great Love the sweetest Kindness the freest Pardons offered the choicest Mercies bestowed his Heart cannot but melt into a River What all these to and for me Lord yea for thee What after such deep Rebellions and Refusals yea after all and that most freely and willingly Good Lord how can the Soul but weep and mourn now 2. Meditate for that purpose upon the Justice and Power of God able to revenge the Quarrel of his Covenant and to bruise all his proud and stout Enemies with a Rod of Iron He is not only a Rock of Refuge to the Godly but also a Rock of Destruction to dash the Impenitent in pieces The strength of the Rock is seen as in upholding the House that is built upon it so in breaking the Ships that dash against it The force of Fire is manifested as in refining the Gold so in consuming the Dross There is none like unto thee O Lord thou art great and thy Name is great who would not fear thee thou King of Nations Jer. 10.6 And It is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God Heb. 10.31 As a Lion he tears in pieces the Adversaries Psal 50.22 There is no standing before him if his Wrath