let us admire and blesse this good God and not quarrell with his ministers nor providence and say other men have comfort and therefore why am I so troubled and disquieted how now It is endlesse mercy that thou livest therefore downe with thy proud heart and stifle those distempers of Spirit and say The Lord hath broken and wounded me but blessed be his name that I may come to Church and that he hath not dealt with me as I have deserved but in goodnesse and mercy I hope God in his season will doe good to my soule Secondly let us be wise to nourish this same blessed worke in our hearts for ever let us have our hearts more and more strengthened because thereby our hearts will be more more inabled to beare and undergoe any thing if you have but a little glimpse of hope cover it and labour to maintaine it and if ever God let in any glimpse of mercy into your hearts let it not goe out it is ever good to take that way that God takes the Lord sustaines our hearts with hope hope is the sinewes of the soule therefore strengthen it As a marriner that is tost with a tempest in a darke night when he sees no starres he casts anchor and that cheares him this hope is the anchor of the soule whereby it lookes out and expects mercy from God the poore soule seeth no light nor comfort nothing but the wrath of an angry God and he saith God is a just God and a jealous God even that God whose truth I have opposed is displeased with me then the soule is tossed and troubled and runnes upon the rockes of despaire how shall the soule be supported in this condition you will finde this true one day therefore looke to it before you vile drunkards are now sayling in a faire gale of pleasure and carnall delight but when the Lords wrath shall seaze upoÌ„ you wheÌ„ he shal let in the flashes of hel fire then you are tossed sometimes up to heaven now downe to hell therefore cast anchor now and this hope will uphold you for this hope is called the anchor of the soule Thou dost not yet see the Lord refreshing of thee but it may be otherwise The people of NiniviÌ„e said Who knowe's but God may repent this upheld their hearts and made them seeke to the Lord in the use of the meanes and the Lord had mercy on them If you belong unto the Lord he will come against those drunken proud hearts and rebellious hearts of yours and dragge them downe to hell and make them sorrow for their sinnes And remember this against that day Who knowes but the Lord may shew mercy and therefore yet heare and pray and fast and seeke unto him for mercy We fence those parts of our bodies most that are most pretious and the hurt whereof is most dangerous Hope is called the helmes of salvation and the assurance of Gods love is the head of a Christian now take away a Christians head and he is cleane gone the devil ever labours for that and saith You come to heaven prove it Loe you thinke God hath need of drunkards and adulterers in heaven and will God provide a crowne of glory for his professed enemies Hath God made heaven a hog-fâ—ie for such uncleane wretches as you are No no there is no such expectation of mercy this wounds the head of the soule but hope is the helmet that covers the head of a Christian makes him say I confesse I am as bad as any man can say of me heaven is a holy place and and I have no goodnesse at all in me yet there is hope the Lord may breake this proud heart of mine and take away these distempers of Spirit Now by this meanes the head of a Christian is kept sure Quest. But some will say how shall we maintaine this hope in our hearts and by what meanes may we feed this hope Answ. The meanes are especially three First take notice of the Al-sufficiencie of God as he hath revealed himselfe in his word say not as many do I cannot conceive it or I cannot finde it but what doth the word say Is not God able to pardon thy sinnes away then with those I cannot conceive it and the like Is there any thing hard for me saith God Whatsoever thy estate is there is nothing hard to him that hath hardnesse at command when our Saviour said It is as easie for a camell to goe through the eye of a needle as for a rich man to goe into heaven Good Lord said they Who can be saved But Christ said with God all things are possible if you looke unto man how he is glued to the world so that all the ministers under heaven cannot pull him away but still he will lie and cozen Reason and Judgement cannot conceive how this man should be saved but with God all things are possible See what the Apostle saith Abraham above hope beleeved under hope that he should be the Father of many nations this he did because he knew he which had promised was able to performe it and this did feed his hope he did beleeve above hope in regard of the creature under hope in regard of God As if he had said I have a dead body but God is a living God and Sarah hath a barren wombe but God is a fruitfull God It may be thou sayest Object if any exhortatioÌ„ would have wrought upon me then my heart might have beene brought to a better passe but can this stubborne heart of mine be made to yeild And can these strong corruptions of mine be subdued Howsoever thou canst not doe it Answ. yet God can quicken thee and although thou art a damned man yet he is a mercifull God this all-sufficiencie of God is a hooke whereon our soules hang when the Apostles had prayed that the minds of the Ephesians might be opened and that they might be able to know the love of Christ because some one might say how shall we know that which is above knowledge the text saith Now to him that is able to doe abuÌ„dantly above all that we can thinke or aske according to his mighty power that worketh in us to him be glory As though he had said though you cannot thinke or aske as you should yet God is able to doe exceeding abundantly more then we can thinke or aske so then no more but this we are not able of our selves to thinke a good thought yet there is sufficient power in God and though we are dead hearted and damned wretches yet there is sufficient salvation in God Let us hang the handle of hope on this hooke Secondly the freenesse of Gods promise marvelously lifts up the head above water as the beggar saith The doale is free why may not I get it as well as another This sometimes dasheth our hopes when the soule begins to thinke what mercy is offered he saith
he saith to himselfe Thou hast sinned and offended a just God and therefore thou must be damned and to hell thou must goe This is the particular seising of the curse upon a sinfull soule for this is the nature of true sorrow if evill be to come we feare it if evill be upon us we grieue and sorrow for it herein is the greatest worke of all the Lord deales diversly as he seeth fit specially these three wayes First if God have a purpose to civilize a man he will lay his sorrow as a fetter upon him he only meanes to civilize him and knocke off his fingers from base courses as wee have knowne some in our daies many desperate persecutors of Gods people God casts his sorrow into their hearts and then they say they will persecute Gods people no more haply they are naught still but God confines them first God only rippes the skinne a little and layeth some small blow upon him but if a man have been rude and a great ryoter the Lord begins to serve a writ upon him and saith Thou art the man to thee be it spoken thy sins are weighed and thou art found too light heaven and salvation is departed from thee thy sorrow is begunne here never to have end hereafter but thou must continue in endlesse torments thou hast continued in sinne and therefore expect the fierce anger of the Lord to be upon thee for ever so that now the soule seeth the flashes of hell and Gods wrath upon the soule and the terrours of hell lay hold upon the heart and he confesseth he is so and he hath done so And therfore he is a poore damned creature and then the soule labours to welter it and it may be his conscience will be deluded by some carnall minister that makes the way broader then it is and bids him goe and drinke and play and worke away his sorrow or else it may be he stops the mouth of conscience with some outward performances it may be his conscience saith Thou hast committed these these sinnes and thou wilt be damned for them And then he entreats conscience to be quiet hold his peace and he will pray in his family and heare sermons and take up some good courses and thus he takes up a quiet civill course and stayeth here a while at last comes to nothing And thus God leaves him in the lurch if he meanes only to civilize him But Secondly if God intends to doe good to a man he will not let him goe thus and fall to a civill course When a man begins to colour over his old sinnes and God hath broken his teeth that he cannot worry as formerly but yet there is no power in him If the Lord love that soule he will much the more clearely reveale his sinnes unto him God will plucke away all his chambering and wantonnesse all his pride and peevishnesse and pull off his vizzard and shew him all his sinnes and pursue him therefore as before God entred the blow so now he followes it home And hence it is that Iob saith The arrowes of the Almighty sticke fast in me and the venome thereof drinkes up my spirits and the terrours of the Almighty encampe themselves against me every way And as David saith Thou keepest my eyes waking and my sinnes are ever before me If God love a sinner and meane to doe good to him he will not let him looke off his sinne the Lord wil ferret him from his denne and from his base courses and practises He will be with you in all your stealing and pilfering and in all your cursed devises if you belong to him he will not give you over And in another place Iob saith How long wilt thou not depart from me nor let me alone till I swallow downe my spittle You had better a great deale now have your hearts humbled and broken and see your sinnes then to see them when there is no remedy And in another place the holy man Iob saith Thou wilt not suffer me to take in my breath but fillest me with bitternesse Your eyes have beholden vanity therefore now you shall see the Lords wrath against you for your sinnes and you have breathed out your venome against the Lord of heaven therefore now he will fill your soules with indignation in so much that he shall breath in his wrath as you have breathed out your oathes against him you have filled the Lords eyes and eares with your abominations and the Lord of heaven shall fill you answerably with his wrath And in another place Iob saith Thou wilt breake a dry leafe tossed too and fro And yet the Lord brake him Now the soule seeth all the evill and the Lord pursueth him and sets conscience aworke to the full Consider that of the Apostle That all those might be damned which beleeved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse Even all of them What shall no great ones be saved No nor you little ones neither all that lay not hold upon Christ but have pleasure in unrighteousnesse not only great ones and such as are abominably prophane but even all that had pleasure in wickednesse Now conscience saith Doest not thou know that thou art one of them that have had pleasure in unrighteousnesse therefore away thou must goe and thou shalt be damned Now the soule shakes and is driven beyond it selfe and would utterly faint but that the Lord upholds it with one hand as he beates it downe with the other he thinkes that every thing is against him and the fire burnes to consume him and he thinkes the ayre will poyson him conscience flies in his face and he thinkes hell mouth is open to receive him and the wrath of God hangs over his head and if God should take away his life he should tumble head-long downe to hell Now the soule is beyond all shift when it is day he wisheth it were night when it is night he wisheth it were day the wrath of God followeth him wheresoever he goeth and the soule would faine be rid of this but he cannot and yet all the while the soule is not heavy and sorrowfull for sinne he is burdened and could be content to throw away the punishment and horror of sinne but not the sweet of sinne as it is with a child that taâ—es a live coale in his hand thinking to play with it when he feeles fire in it he throws it away he doth not throw it away because it is blacke but because it burnes him So it is here A sinfull wretch will throw away his sinne because of the wrath of God that is due to him for it and the drunkard will be drunke no more but if he might have his queanes and his pots without any punishment or trouble he would have them with all his heart he loves the blacke and sweet of sinne well enough but he loves not the plague of sinne Foolish people saith the
profest opposing of God himselfe a sinfull creature joynes side with the devill and the world and comes in battaile array against the Lord and flies in the face of the God of hosts they are called haters of God Psam 83. That is when they see grace in another man in such a man and in such a woman and hate them for it little doe they thinke that they hate the God of heaven and his holy nature and if it were possible they would have no God in heaven to take notice of their sins call theÌ„ to account for them as the wise man Gamaliel said to the Pharesies and elders refraine your selves from these men and let them alone for if this Counsell or worke be of men it will come to nothing but if it be of God you cannot destroy it lest you be found fighters against God you make nothing of opposing the Gospell and preaching thereof I tell you that there is never a creature that lives in any such sinfull course but he is a fighter against God and he resists the Lord as really as one man doth another And as Stephen saith You stifnecked and uncircumcised in heart you have resisted against the holy Ghost You must not thinke that you resist men onely no poore creatures you resist the Spirit and so aime at the Almighty in opposing of the meanes of grace What a fearefull condition is this I pray you in cold blood consider this and say thus Good Lord What a sinfull wretch am I that a poore damned wretch of the earth should stand in defiaÌ„ce against the God of hosts and that I should submit my selfe to the devill and oppose the Lord of hostes And as you resist the Lord so you doe also passe the sentence of condemnation upon your selves and seale up that doome which one day shall be executed upon the wicked in hell at that great day of accompt that looke what God shall do theÌ„ the same thou dost now by sinning this is the doome or as I may say the necke verse of the wicked and the last blow as now thou doest depart from God by sinning so then thou shalt depart froÌ„ God for ever A wicked man forsakes God and pluckes his heart from under the wisdom of God that should inform him in the way of life and the soule saith God shall not blesse me God shall not be God unto me but I will live as I list and I will run down post hast to hell and when our hearts beginne to rise against God and his ordinances and your soules beginne to goe against the Lord I tell you what I would thinke with my selfe suppose I heard the voice of the Archangell crying Arise yee dead and come to Iudgement and the last trumpet sounding and the Lord Jesus comming in the heavens with his glorious Angells and did see the Goats standing â—â— the left hand and the Saints on the right hand and with that I did heare the terrible sound Depart ye cursed would you be content to heare that sentence passe against your soules Oh what lamentation and woe your poore soules would make in those dayes and therefore consider it well and say that I doe that in sinning which the Lord will doe in the day of Judgement shall I depart from the Lord and withdraw my selfe from mercy and say Christ shall not rule over me and save me shall I doe that against my selfe which the Lord shall doe in that day God forbid There are two things hardly knowne what God is and what our sinnes are or else we hardly apply the knowledge of them to our selves Objects But some will object and say if sinne be so vile in it selfe then why doe not men see it Answ. To this I answer the reason why men see not their sinnes though it be so vile it is mainely upon these two grounds First because we judge not of sinne according to the word and verdict of it but either in regard of the profit that is therein or the pleasure that we expect there from The Usurer lookes on his profit that comes by sinne and the adulterer his pleasure and Iudas saw the money but he did not see the malice of his owne heart nor the want of love to his Master and this made him take up that course which he did but when he threw away his thirtie pence the Lord made him see the vilenesse of his sinne it came cleerly to his sight and therefore he cryed out I have sinned in betraying innocent blood As bribes blind the eyes of the wise and pervert judgment so sin bribes the eyes of the soule and therefore the Tradseman seeth much profit come by cozening false measures and so gives way to himselfe therein but he sees not the sin so the oppressor seeth the morgages pawnes that come in but he cannot see his sin till he be laid on his death bed and then the Lord sheweth him all the wrong that he hath done Secondly another reason why we see not the vilenesse of sinne is because we judge the nature of sinne according to Gods patience towards us as thus a man commits a sin is not plagued for it and therefore he thinkes God will not execute judgements upon him at all all things continue a like saith the wicked man as if he had said you talke of the wrath of God that shall be revealed froÌ„ heaven against all ungodlines where is the promise of his comming doe you not see that such a man is an oppressor a prophane persoÌ„ yet growes rich and thrives in the world and because God spares a wicked man still for the present therefore he thinkes all are but words he shall be free from the punishment to come as the Prophet saith in the name of the Lord These things hast thou done and I kept silence when thou wast upon thy Ale-bench and there thou didst speake against holinesse and purity and because I did beare yet and say nothing therfore thou speakest wickedly that I was even such a one as thy selfe The wicked man takes Gods patience to be a kinde of allowance to him in his sinne as the wise man saith because sentence against an evill worke is not speedily executed therefore the hearts of the sonnes of men are wholy set in them to doe mischiefe as the Prophet saith they call the proud happy ye that worke wickednesse are set to doe evill they that tempt God are delivered As who should say you say that the wrath of God is incensed against swearers and drunkards and the like but we see them prosper and because they doe prosper thus their hearts are set to worke wickednes but howsoever it is true the Lord doth sometime beare with wicked men the longer God staies the greater account they shall make and the heavier judgements they shall receive from God See what Iob saith thou sealest up my transgressions in a bagge and
would give any thing I might live under his ministery It is just Ahabs old humour he could sute seasonably with foure hundred false Prophets and if there had beene five thousand more they should all have been accepted of him but when Iehosaphat said Is there never another Prophet of the Lord Oh yes saith Ahab there is one Micaiah but I hate him he never spake good to me that is he never soothes me up So it was the temper of the people mentioned in the Acts when the Apostle saw they were a rebellious people he deales plainely with them but they cryed Away with such a fellow he is not worthy to live What said they then it seemes we shall be cast off from the Lord and be his people no more they were not able to beare that people in this case deale with Gods faithfull ministers as the widdow of Sarepta did whē the Prophet had told her that the meale in the barrell and the oyle in the cruse should not decrease all this while he was welcome but when her child was dead Oh what have I to doe with thee thou man of God thinking indeed that the Prophet had killed her sonne So all the while we set the doores open wide that all the drunkards and adulterers in the country may goe to heaven you like us well enough and we are as welcome as may be and we are marvellous good preachers and you thinke us fit for the pulpit but if we come once to lay sinne to your charge and to threaten condemnation for it to say If God be in heaven you shall never come there if you continue in your sinnes oh then they are up in armes and say as the widdow did Are you come to slay our soules and awaken our consciences beloved this argues a spirit that never found the power of the word But it is our duties and we must doe it and howsoever it is not accepted of the wicked yet it shall finde entertainment with God and he shall give us our reward at that great day Secondly it is a word of reproofe suffer me to deale plainly in this kinde if particular application be so powerfull and so profitable let me speake a word of my selfe and to my fellow-brethren It falls heavy on us that are not willing to practice the same but rather oppose it in others that desire to doe it this plain and particular application is accounted a matter of sillinesse and want of wisedome and rashnesse and a thing which befits not a pulpit but a mans words must be sweet and toothsome and he must have a tender hand over men whosoever they be be they never so prophane Nay I dare say if the Devill himselfe were here he 〈◊〉 not be troubled ministers must lay bolsters under mens heads and sow pillowes under their elbowes that they may sit easily and not trouble drunkards and adulterers but let them be still in their sins and so let them goe downe to hell this is that which the Devill loves and takes much content in And it is certaine if he could prevaile no other course should be taken up if a great man be present or a patron that we looke for a living from if my eares had not heard it I could not have beleeved it it is strange to thinke how they daube this over If their sinnes be so grosse that all the Congregation would cry shame if he did not reproofe them what will they say reprove you we will not we dare not but beseech you and desire you as every man hath his infirmitie a word to the wise is sufficient c. I blame my selfe so farre as my base feare possesseth me but brethren what will become of preaching in conclusion if this may take no place in the hearts of people and yet notwithstanding all this there is one thing to be considered if there be but any upright hearted minister or sincere Christian that is more exact then ordinary what will the carnall ministers doe though they have no reason in the text no ground in the word to warrant them though they cannot condemne a poore Christian upon good grounds yet they will invent new wayes and wrest the Text to dishonour Gods name and then in all bitternes they can vent themselves against faithfull Christians and conscionable ministers and hence the hands of the wicked are strengthened and the hearts of Gods people are much daunted and the Gospell of Jesus Christ prevailes not in the heart of such as it is preached unto Let us see what it is that God requires of us marke the severe charge and command that the Apostle gives his scholar Timothy I charge thee before God and the Lord Iesus Christ who shall Iudge the quicke and the dead preach the word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke as if he had said the stubborne hearts of men need this specially reproving and therefore doing this is the maine thing that God requires and the maine end for which the word serves Sharp reproofes makes sound Christians He that heales overly hurts more then he heales are there not many to be humbled and are there not many lusts raigning in the hearts of men and women Let us therefore throw away this shamfull hiding and make our ministery knowne to the soules of those to whom we speake Object But some will object against this preaching that it is nothing but the rashnes of mens spirits a kind of rayling that fits not a pulpit Answ. To this I answere the Prophets of God ever used and practised it and the holy Apostles which were inspired in an extraordinarie measure of the spirit did imitate Christ and his Prophets and God commanded Esay to lift up his voice as a trumpet and shew my people their transgressions and the house of Iacob their sinnes That is tell the drunkard and adulterer of their sinnes Did Christ and his Apostles raile Are these men onely wise Oh fearefull that the soules of men should be so desperately transported against the truth of God you that have had any such thoughts against the power of God in the ministery of the word repent and pray that if it be possible the words of your mouthes and thoughts of your hearts may be forgiven The Apostles and Christ himselfe used this kind of teaching Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisies seven times together if Christ had now lived you would have said he had railed Oh fearefull I tell you this is the next sinne against the sinne of the holy Ghost Object Ay but Secondly they object in this last age of the world there is a difference to be put it is true if men were not taught this were necessary but now in these times of knowledge what needs all this adoe all those troubles and reproofes what shall we make men to be chamlings to mince their meat for them no set their meate set the word before them and
Object Oh! many are they that have it could I feare God as I should and seeke for mercy as I ought then there were some hope but I have no heart to endeavour or desire after any mercy and I cannot bring my soule nor submit my will to yeild and therefore shall I ever have any mercy Answ. Why not thou too Doth God sell his mercy No he gives it freely God keepes open house Oh the freenesse of that mercy and goodnesse that is in God! he requires nothing of thee to procure it but he shewes mercy because he will shew mercy thou hast no will but God hath a will and his shewing of mercy depends not on thy wil but upon his owne freewil It is true God will make a man will and break his heart because no man otherwise can be saved but it is as true that Christ will give you brokennesse of heart as well as heaven and salvation I will take away the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh and cause you to walke in my wayes saith the Lord hold this truth in thy soule As there is no worth in the soule that can deserve any thing at Gods hands so there is no sinne the sinne against the holy Ghost only excepted that can hinder the freenes of Gods grace from saving of us if thou belong to him he will hale thee to heaven and pull thee from hell he will make thee lie in the dust and wait for mercy come groveling for his grace and that freely without any thing on thy part Who is a God like to thee saith Micah who pardonest iniquity because mercy doth please thee The Lord sheweth mercy not because thou canst please him but because mercy pleaseth him And in Esay he saith I am he that blotteth out thy offences for my owne names sake But the soule may say Object they were Gods people that did humble themselves and they had hearts to feare him Answ. See that in the twentie fourth verse Thou hast brought me no corne neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifice but thou hast wearied me with thy transgressions yet the Lord saith I am he that pardoneth thy sinnes Thou saiest if thou couldest pray and humble thy selfe there were hope of mercy the text doth not say It is a sinner but it is I a God that must doe it this is the freenes of his grace But some may object Object Is it possible that a man should receive any mercy yet be so stubborne and rebellious This makes way for drunkards to live as they list and yet thinke to goe to heaven Answ. I answer It is true the Lord will pardon thē if they belong to him but he will doe it with a witnesse the Lord will dowze that soule of thine in the veine of his vengeance but he will pardon thee too God will pardon thy sinne in Christ but he will make thee feele the bitternesse of sinne Lastly consider the abundance of mercy and goodnesse that is in God whereby he not only strives with us in the midst of all rebellions but he is more mercifull then we are or can be rebellious this helpes the heart of another thing that cuts it For when the soule seeth all his sinnes for number for nature so many and so abominable he saith Object Can mercy be shewed to such a wretch as I am Answ. Yes for as God is al-sufficient and his promise free so he hath plenty of mercy for the worst he exceeds in mercy all the sinnes that can be except that against the holy Ghost and therefore the soule throwes it selfe upon this the Apostle saith Where sinne abounds grace abounds much more lest any man should say Let us sinne that grace may abound the text saith in another place whose damnation is just This knockes off fingers though a sinfull wretch abuse God and Grace yet mercy will overcome the heart in this case but it will cost him deare though thou turnest the grace of God into wantonnesse the Lord will turne that wantonnesse of thine into bitternesse the Lord will sting that heart of thine one day and make thee see whether it be good to forsake mercy when it is offered it will be easier for Sodome then for thee when thou shalt see a company of poore Sodomites frie in hell howsoever God may bring thee to heaven yet he will make thee frie in hell and he will make thee thinke a Sodomite to be in a better condition for the present then thou art Object But some will say God cannot in justice save such a wretch as I am For answer to this see what Saint Iames saith Mercy rejoyceth or triumpheth over Iustice howsoever Iustice saith he must be plagued yet Mercy saith Christ hath made a plentifull satisfaction for him then mercy triumpheth over judgement so then if God be al-sufficient and his promise free and his mercy superabundant then we may be stirred up to hope for mercy from God our hearts may be supported herein for ever Now I come to some other particulars that are plainly exprest in our text First they made a free and open confession of their sinnes they did not stay till the Apostle went to their houses but they went to him and said Men and brethren you have spoken against the sinne of murder and we confesse we are guilty of this sinne they saw their sinnes and confessed them openly before the Apostles The Doctrine which ariseth from hence is this When the heart is truly broken for sinne it will be content to make open free confession thereof when a man is called thereunto or thus sound contrition brings forth bottome confession Men and brethren What shall we doe to be saved as if they had said the truth is we have heard of the feareful condition of such as have killed the Lord Jesus and we confesse whatsoever you have said he was persecuted by us and blasphemed by us we are they that cryed Cucifie him crucifie him we would have eaten his flesh and made dice of his bones we plotted his death and gloried in it these are our sinnes and haply a thousand more that then they revealed and this is remarkable They goe to Peter and the other Apostles they did not goe to the Scribes and Pharisees and that cursed crew Whence observe this by the way when the soule is thus truly broken generally it will never repaire to such as are carnall and wicked men for these people knew that the Scribes and Pharisees had their hands as deeply imbrued in Christs blood as themselves and besides they knew them to be such naughty packes that they would rather incourage them in their sinnes then any way ease them and recover them from the same therefore they went to the Disciples because they were holy and gratious persons and willing to succour them and it is certaine that soule was never truly broken for sinne