be grateful unto thee for every mercy that I do or shall receive of thee and suffer me not to forget either it or my self and to seek my self and mine own glory in any thing I do or shall do for thee I humbly and ardently beseech thee The eighth Conference Wherein the believing Soul maketh use of Christs overcoming of the world against the world BEliev. O Lord my God who being the eternal Son of the eternal God hast given thy self for me to deliver me a servant and wast made man that I a man might be made a child of God being free from sin which dwells in every man Ro. 7.20 thee God and man exempted who art only without sin Heb. 4.15 Yea didst therefore overcome it in thee who art God and man John 16.33 deliver me I pray thee from sin even from this Luciferian pride feral passion and this Soul-wasting envy and self destroying self-love and from this evil covetousness and from these unruly lusts Christ Dost thou not believe that I am able to do it Mat. 9.28 29. Believ Yea Lord Christ Then according to thy faith be it unto thee Believ O my most sweet and blessed Saviour how great is thy mercy For when I silly wretch did but call thou didst hear me by and by and when I was in fight thou didst corrobrate me and when I was ready to sink thou didst support and sustain me and when I did even despair in my self thou didst lift me up above my self Blessed be thy holy name for thy great and unspeakable mercy The ninth Conference Wherein the believing Soul maketh use of the love of Christ against sin SOul O thou Heavenly fire which alwaies shinest and O my dear love which alwaies burnest shine I pray thee from Heaven into me and inflame me with thy great love so as that nothing in this world may be so dear unto me as thou my dear Saviour yea let the world it self be as dead unto me as it was to thy servant Paul who now liveth and shines with thee in glory Gal. 6.14 and do thou which art life it self live in me as thou livest in him that I also may live in thee with him Gal. 2.20 Christ * Cant. 2.14 O my dove thou art thus in the clefts of the Rock even in me who am thy Rock and desirest nothing more than me be of good cheer for thou shalt both love me more than ever thou didst and I 'le express my love toward thee more than ever I did and I will so stupifie thy senses within thee as that the world shall be as crucified unto thee and I 'le even live in thee and work mightily by thee Col. 1.29 and thou shalt live in me and with me here and hereafter eternally John 6.56 Soul O how sweet how ravishing and how comfortable are these words which I hear sweet Jesus more to be desired are they than Gold yea than much fine gold sweeter also than the honey and the honey-comb Psal 19.10 for by them thy servant is now assured that the world shall be subdued in me that thou also thy self my most glorious Redeemer wilt be my exceeding great and all-sufficient reward living in me and with me now and eternally O that this love and good affection which thou O my Love hast diffused in me might now be like that holy fire which in the time of the Law was to burn alwaies and never to go out upon thine Altar and that no waters of affliction might quench it and that no flouds of Satannical temptations drown it Cant. 8.7 O do thou who art Love it self alwaies preserve it that it may ever burn and never go out I humbly obsecrate and pray thee The tenth Conference Wherein the believing Soul maketh use of Christs intercession BEliev. O my Soul as thou hast done in times past so cease not now to invocate thy dear Saviour that he will save thee more and more foom thy sins For he is thy Lord and therefore worship thou him Psal 45.11 Soul So I will by Gods help O most fair Psal 45.2 Most holy most gracious most merciful Saviour intercede for me that I may be kept from this evil world Rom. 8.34 Christ I have prayed for thee John 17.25 and I even ever live to make intercession for thee Hebr. 7.25 wherefore doubt not but assure thy self for certain that thou shalt be kept from the evil which thou fearest and overcome the world which thou hatest for he that is my Father and my God is also thy Father and thy God John 20.17 and I know that he heareth me alwaies John 11.42 and there fore hath heard me in this thing also that I have prayed for when I desired him to keep thee from the evil John 17.15 Soul I doubt not but God thy Father and my Father hath heard thee interceding for me and me praying for my self for thy sake and will hear me for thou hast said whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it unto you John 16.23 O sweet name how pleasant how delectable how amiable and how prevalent therefore must thou needs be in the mouth of him that prayeth and in the ears of him that heareth such prayers as are so sweetned with thy sweet savour as with ointment poured forth Cant. 1.3 O blessed be thy sweet holy name sweet Jesus in the which thou causest me to trust by this thy sweet and precious promise The eleventh Conference Wherein the troubled believing Soul maketh use of Christ's Prophetical Office BEliev. It should seem that thou art not yet nor canst be altogether quiet Soul Quiet No No as long as I have this body of sin about me I do not look for it Believ But yet thou must not be so much disquieted and dejected Soul Dejected how can I chuse seeing that God is still so much by me offended Believ But this is not the way to peace which thou goest Soul Which way then would you have me to go Believ That way which is the best way Soul The best way which is the best way Believ Christ who hath said of himself that he is the way it self John 14.6 Soul You say true and I had almost forgotten my self forgetting the way it self and pleasing my self with grief and sorrow for my sins which though it be good and laudable when it is moderate and seasonable leading the pensive and perplexed sinner to Christ yet is it not sufficient or available when it goeth alone and is separated from Christ for he it is who must perfume sweeten all such tears and sorrows as shall be unto God acceptable he must free us also from sin without which freedom no grief for sins past can be profitable Believ Then go to Christ O my soul having been estranged from him by reason of sin which caused thee to absent thy self from him being so dejected and to count thy self unworthy of him being so polluted Soul So I
am like a dog returning to his vomit in that I have recommitted so many sins which I should have omitted yet let me find but some crumbs of mercy crumbs are not denyed to dogs and that I may not be such a dog returning to my former disobedience help me I pray thee and save me from sin for therefore thou camest into the world that thou mayest save sinners of whom I a poor sinful soul am chief Christ O dear Soul great is thy Faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt Soul Oh the comfort and oh the quietness and tranquility which I find in thee and by thee sweet Saviour for now I am perswaded that neither Satan nor sin shall prevail against me to separate me from my dear love Christ who saves me from evils past fuscitates and raises me from the present and fortifieth me against those which are to come O Lord Jesus if thou didst not thus preserve me there is no sin in the world which I might not commit against thee for I know that there is no evil perpetrated and done by any man which may not also be acted by another man if the Creator be wanting who made man But now thou hast done that for me which hath kept me that I might not do what I would have done against thee and that I might abstain thou didest prohibit me and that I might believe thou didst infuse grace into me unto thee therefore be all honour and glory The seventh Conference Wherein the troubled believing Soul maketh use of Christ's death to work the death of sin and promises to be more thankefull BEliev. How is it with thee now O my soul Soul Not very well Believ Not well Soul No. Believ Why so Soul I am not so well comforted as I have been in times past and sin begins to gather strength and I am not able to master it as I do desire Believ It may be thou hast drawn this misery upon thy self by not being * Tho. à Kemâ— pis de Imit Chr. l. 2. c. 10. thankful enough for mercies comforts formerly distilled upon thee or by some secret pride which if it be so the cause must be first removed then Faith must be rightly used and all will be well Soul You have spoken as right as may be I am such an unthankful creature and so high spirited by nature and therefore it is just with God to bereave me both of comforts and strength to resist the common Adversary who goeth and goeth continually seeking whom he may davour 1 Pet. 5.8 and whom by no other means I shall be able to resist but only by Faith and therefore I promise both to be more grateful for the future by God's help and also more humble and lowly denying my self in all things and aforibing all honour and glory unto him of whom are all things yea * Sileat sibi ipsa anima transeat se mon cogitâ—ndo se sed de te Deus mous â— c. Aug. Man c. 12. passing by my self so in my thoughts as that I may not think of my self but of God who is my only hope and confidence and that I may overcome for the future both sin and Satan who is the Author of sin I 'le by the grace of God set faith a work eye especially the bitter * Nullum tam potens est tam efficax contra ardorem libidinis medicamentum quam mors redemptoris mei Id. cap. 23. death passion of my dear Saviour who loved me and gave himself for me that he might mundify me redeem me from * Tit. 2.14 all iniquity perswading my self that I shall be delivered in his own good time even from these sinful lusts and passions which now do so molest me yea I 'le also call upon him even now forthwith desiring his heavenly highness that he will by the power of his death work the death of my sins and free me from Satans power and tyranny Believ Well said this is the course thou must take O my soul and therefore call thou upon the Lord in this time of need for he hath said Call upon me in the day of trouble I 'le deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 50.15 Mark this golden sentence O my soul for here is both a Precept for thee to bind thee and a promise to assure thee the Precept is call upon me yea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clama cry unto me and spare not as if thou durst not speak being afraid but rather lift up thy voice and cry aloud as being commanded to be so bold the Promise is and I will deliver thee or I 'le loose thee from thy bonds for so much the original * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports even a solution from bonds for troubles are as bonds and so are sins and thou shalt glorify me note how the Lord doth here promise not only to free thee from troubles but also to cause thee to glorify him being freed out of troubles as which of thy self thou canst not do though but even now thou didst promise and vow to do it Soul Are not these thy words O my Lord my God who must help me didst not thou dictate them into David's pen and leave them recorded in thy book even for me to excite and to secure me Lo I am in trouble O Lord being fast bound and captivated as it were of sin Rom. 7.23 and I cannot unite my self of my self but thou canst who art omnipotency it self and therefore I call even to thee to help me For thou hast said call upon me in the day of trouble and I assure my self that thou wilt not leave me because thou hast promised me that thou wilt deliver me saying I will deliver or loose thee Loose me therefore O thou who art most free and unbounded and yet bound to free me having bound thy self by a promise to succor me O let not sin let not Satan keep me bound whom thou Lord Jesus hast redeemed by thy precious blood but free me O free me by thy power from the power of the one and tyranny of the other that I may freely serve thee being comforted in thee Yea Lord when thou hast enlarged me then enable me also and cause me to glory fie thee For thou hast promised that also unto me saying and thou shalt glory fie me taking that saying to be a promise as well as a precept For else if thou shouldst but command me that I must glory fie thee and shouldst not also cause me to do what thou commandest I should never be able to do what I ought and so consequently thou shouldest never have the glory which is due to thy holy name And therefore blessed be thy holy name O my God and Saviour who in one word hast both injoyned and promised me that I shall glorifie thee O inexhaustible Fountain of all grace and glory cause me therefore to glorifie thee and to
A Cluster of sweetest GRAPES FOR SAINTS Brought from the Heavenly Canaan OR The Saints Assurance gotten and to be had in this Life by the several means specified in this Tract upon 1 Pet. 1.9 And fifteen Soul-solacing Conferences with Christ touching Sins and the World's Conquest according to the high and noble Art of fighting the great fight of Faith 1 Tim. 6.12 Fitted for all such gracious Souls as do most heartily desire to see the death of their strong and mighty corruptions a thorow victory gotten over this vile and troublesome World By Christopher Jelinger M. A. LONDON Printed in the year 1664. Epigramma Authoris Auspicatorium ad JESVM CHRISTVM REGEM REGVM Dominum suum Clementissimum CHrist◠Decus Coeli Coelorum Gloria Christe Unica Progenies ex Deitate Patris Adveniat nobis Regnum quod nomine Coeli Scripturae dicunt adveniatque salus Monstretur nobis facies tua Maxime Regum Et tendat sursum quicquid ad ima ruit Adveniat quoque laeta Canan quae dulcia semper Tundit mella probis angelicisque viris Tempora decedant quibus heu FIDUCIA nobi◠Defuit veniant tempora grata Tuis Adveniat nova Lux veniant Saturnia Saec'la Quae exhilarent Sanctos Optime Christe tuos Accedatque piis FIDUCIA Magna salutis Et gustent Justi gaudia magna Poli Adveniat cunctis etiam sperantibus in te Fons vitae semper dulcibus Uber aquis Ambrosios libent Coelesti è Nectare Rores Qui Coelum sitiunt justitiamque Dei Adveniat porro Coelestis Musica Christe Et nos nunc recreent Jubila Grata Poli Quae nec Julaeae voces nec tibia possit Musica Cyrrhaeis assimilare Modis Et te collaudent spes O fidissima Mundi Omnia quae existunt Lux Polus arva fretum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the truly Vertuous Lady the Lady Margaret Courtney Grace Peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ MADAM I Cannot but be mindful of you also in the publishing of my several Treatises Your gracious carriage and good report which you have among good and gracious people and your exemplary forwardness to come to our Lectures when they were up and the great respect which I have and fervent love which I bear to your Noble Family since I came first acquainted with it hath in a manner constrained me so to do and by name to dedicate unto you these Soul-solacing Conferences with Christ which I have penn'd and upon the earnest request of others published for the good of all such gracious souls as do desire no better talk than such as is contained in one of these Books and doubtless is most pleasing to Christ Christ you know did soon draw near to those * Luk. 24.15 Emauntish Pilgrims who did but talk of him and therefore much more will not be far from us also if we shall not only talk so of him but also with him especially when he shall see that we do most heartily desire to see the death of our sins and to live above this vile and evil world as Conqueror of it and not conquered by it Oh! that doth his very heart good and therefore how Oh how should we confer and talk and commune with him about it even day and night that we may oppose it with all our might prospering and prevailing against it to our souls delight Madam Christ will be exceeding glad of our talk if we shall so talk with him as here we are taught of the conquest of this world that we may reign with him in the other world His heavenly Highness therefore gives us hearts to speak as we ought to speak that after we have spoken with him here we may be spoken unto by him hereafter to triumph with him for ever So prayeth Your most humble servant in Christ Christopher Jelinger To the Worshipful THOMAS REYNEL Esq And Justice of the Peace Grace and Mercy be multiplyed WORSHIPFVL MAay it please you to give me leave to dedicate and to present this little Tract of The Saints Assurance unto you as to a Person so enobled with Grace as that by God's Grace enabling you I hope you wil not only Patronize it but also promote my grand design in it which is to stir up all that shall read it to the gaining of the said Assurance thorow Gods assistance Worthy Sir you see what a Subject I am faln upon even a Subject which will subject our fears eject our doubts and deject all adverse powers which in the want of this Assurance are wont illaqueate our very intellects to captivate our wills and to subjugate all the powers of our souls Souls therefore will never do well till they be heavened with it for my part when I take a full circle of my self and a thorow view of my condition do find without it my very being to be a burden my life a * Sustaining the loss of the light of God's countenance loss my heart a hell for Oh the hellish horrors that a man shall feel in his heart when this Assurance is far from his heart But when it is in it O what a glad man is he Heaven being in his heart his heart in Heaven Oh Sir what a Heaven what a Paradise what a beatitude did circumscribe that holy * Father when St. Hierom as he writes of himself he was as it were in medio Angelorum choro in the very midst of the quire of Angels hearing them sing as he was in Eremo in a Wilderness and may not we be so too yes verily if we would but labour as we ought for this Assurance treading into the Vestigaes or footsteps of those blessed Hebrews who were so assured of their salvation and eternal bliss according to that memorable expression of the Apostle Heb. 10.34 Knowing mark knowing in your selvs that you have in Heaven a better and more enduring substance for then as they thereby were so we thereby shall come to the innumerable company of Angels c. Heb. 12.22 Confess I must that it is as hard a thing to acquire and to gain this Assurance as any thing I know in the world and you know Sir how the Church of Rome doth fulminate and thunder out her * Council Trid. sess 6. c. 9. 16. Anathema's against us for maintaining this Assurance to be had in this life but I am not discouraged from this treating on it by either for against the one I know that I am defensated and born up by God's never-failing Truth against the other by his power and therefore I say for all this let us O let us labour and labour hard because our work is so hard strive as for life to be perswaded in our hearts that without fail and doubt we shall enter into life Life here is sweet but that above is sweeter the Assurance of it the sweetest thing in all this world's circumference for when a man hath
gift of God Phil. 1.29 say as Rachel Give me children or else I die Gen. 30.1 So Lord give me Faith or else I die and he will not say thee nay For every one that asketh receiveth saith Christ Luke 11.9 Ask therefore and say Lord thou hast said every one that asketh receiveth O let me receive for one or how else can it be every one if I may not for one Prayer is the souls recourse to the fountain of life and a Christians address to the God of all power to fetch power and help in a time of need Heb. 4. ult Go therefore O dear Christians to the Christians God for power and help in this time of need Go and cry and say with that poor man in the Gospel Lord help mine unbelief Mar. 9.24 Lord help my poor soul to believe Beloved no less power is here required for you to be able to believe being dead than was for the raising of Christ from the dead Eph. 1.19.20 see the place and place your selves therefore before his Throne of grace that you may get grace and power to believe according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places And thus beg power to believe and to be good and do not think that it is in * Vt Platonici Stoici aiunt apud Clem. Alex. l. 1. c. 61 your power to have faith in God when all your power must come from God * Videatur Concil Arau s c. 24. It is man's greatest weakness to presume upon his own strength when his greatest strength is but weakness and therefore I press and perswade you to beg which if ye do as ye ought I assure you in the words of Christ that it will not be long before you get faith in Christ not long neither before ye will be blessed with that heavenly Assurance of the Saints which cometh by Christ Christ not being able to deny you because he cannot deny himself 2 Tim. 2.13 and not deny himself because he is Truth it self John 14.6 and being Truth it self hath said Ask and you shall have seek and you shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you Luke 11.9 Thus labour by all these holy waies and means to believe and when your carnal friends shall go about to hinder thee saying what needs all this praying and all this weeping and all this running to Sermons say would ye not have me to live if I do not believe I cannot live Again say Would ye have me be assured of nothing I will be by Gods grace assured of something and especially of my salvation Again if Satan seek to hinder you from striving and praying that ye may not believe yet pray and use all the means premised because God hath promised that you shall be heard and he will do his best for you when Satan shall do his worst against you The Lord give you hearts to pray and hearts to believe that believing you may be assured that you shall be saved so prayeth from his heart your faithful friend to his your best friend who is a hearer of prayers and can do abundantly above all that you or I can ask or think or conceive to him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end 3 Medium Now this and the rest of the ensuing Mediums are properly and chiefly provided for Saints who do believe for which cause and for whose sake I call this Tract the Saints Assurance à potiori Amen Eph. 3.20.21 3. Labour to live as spotless a life as you can possibly for * 1 Joh. 3.3 every man that hath this hope in him What hope that he shall see God v. 2. namely in ‖ Irenaeus l. 4. c 37. Christ and by himself purifieth himself even as he is pure Observe every man that hath this hope and so consequently whose soul is safe whose faith is sound whose heart is sure Again observe purifies himself that is labours to be pure and how is that even as he namely God himself is pure O height of holiness O profunditie of purity are there any such in the world say the men of the world Yes saith the Apostle there are such which though they are not without sin yet are not * 1 Joh. 3.9 1 Joh. 1.9 under sin that is under a reigning sin pressing hard towards perfection which is to be pure as he is pure that is aspiring to it and climbing after it and towards it as Johnathan's Armor-bearer after his Master I remember what a * Anselm de Simil. Father saith that he had rather be in Hell than lie in any sin against God and I have been much taken with his saying God grant that by it you also may be so taken as that you may not be so often overtaken But to the Law and Testimony for all the Fathers Who is she that looketh forth as the morning fair as the Moon clear as the Sun Cant. 6.10 Observe how Christ praiseth his Church for her transcendent pureness and surpassing fairness Some spots she hath and therefore she is assimilated to the Moon as well as Sun and yet called fair because she alloweth them not and because of that Christ seeth them not No no even Balaam could say He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob neither hath he seen perversness in Israel Numb 23.21 Again She is fair as the morning for she is * Instar diluculi quando aurera incipit tenebras dispellere Paraeus partly clear and partly dim like that wonderfull day which is only known to the Lord not day nor night Zech. 14.7 for so is the * Vide Chrysost in Rom. 13.12 Morning and so is she not altogether day because of sin remaining in her nor altogether night because of sin resisted by her and so and after this manner fair and clear and pure but farther what saith Christ of her Thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee Cant. 4.7 that is no spot * Rom. 7.15 allowed no spot approved for whilst she is able to stand she stands and * Heb. 12.4 striveth against sin so do you labouring to cleanse your selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 and that by the Spirit Rom. 8.13 For as any one blemish in the face mars beauty and one dram of poison spoils a whole box of precious Ointment so if you let alone but one sin to reign in you and over you that one will spoil all even all your fair carriage and all your confidence for no * Si unum in locum collata sint omnia mala cum turpitudinis malo non erunt comparanda Cicoro 2. Thusc evil like the evil of sin to spoil a man When Phocas the Roman Emperor had built a most fair and stately Pallace there was a
the evils that will follow if you will not follow these directions 2. Others from the good that will come if you will come to labour for this Assurance 1. As for the evils You will live 1. In continual doubts 2. In continual fears and sorrows 1. You will live in continual doubts and question even every thing as whether ye did not all that ever ye did in Hypocrisie whether your love be true your conversion true your godliness true and especially you will doubt of your Faith whether that be true saving Faith * Nam fidel is non est nisâ— qui suae salutis securitati innixus Diabolo morti confidenter insultet quomo do doceinur Rom. 8.38 Calv. Inst l. 3. c. 2. s 16. yea or no because so few have it and because so much temporary and hypocritical Faith is going where give me leave to dwell a little while because I hear most doubting Christians call their Faith mostly in question And because those two kinds of Faith carry men so far as they do and thereby raise such doubts As 1. The Temporary carry men so far as to make them hear the word even with jâ—y Luke 8.13 Oh! me-thought saith the Temporary I was even ravished when I heard such a Sermon 2. It maketh men to be not hearers only but doers also of many things both in their Families and apart even to admiration Mark 6.20 St. Basil knew such a Temporary at Jerusalem * Basil Epist mihi p. 515. who for a time lived so strictly as that he did even admire him for he had fasted so often as that he had brought himself to nothing almost but skin and bones and counted the greatest wealth as dung and watered his cheeks with rivers of tears and walked as he thought with God day and night in brief lived so solitarily and retiredly as if he had cared for no earthly creature and yet at last fell not only off but also in love with a strange woman having forsaken his own wife and I do not read in the same Basil of his recoverie at all and this and the like examples cannot but make any man who wants this Assurance to tremble and doubt So the hypocritical I mean the sturdie Hypocrites faith * Famous Mr. Hooker as Divines call it Good Lord how far it carrieth 1. It brings him to a great deal of sorrow being * Matt. 13.22 thorny ground and having his thorns in him that is pricking sorrows and troubles of mind The Temporary saith he is deceived for he came easily by his faith he was never much troubled before it or about it he believed by and by but mine cost me dear and the truth is such a Hypocrite commonly hath sorrow enough for the quantitie of it though not enough for the quality or uprightness because everie valley is not filled according to Luke 3.5 though he himself like a high Mountain was thrown cast down by a soul-piercing Sermon there being a hollow false heart left in him 2. It makes him even to trade with Christ and that much too like that * Mat. 19.16 17 18 19 20 21 22. young man who also was so sorrowful and had so much talk with Christ about his salvation and made as if he would do much by Christ's perswasion though not to the losing hand upon any terms but only so far and to so much as will suit with his estate and occasions 3. Nay it will carry him out even unto suffering for saith he the Temporarie cozeneth himself for he is * Mat. 13.21 offended yields and ‖ De quo Socrates l. 3. c. 1. Ezebolius-like complies by and by * Luk. 8.13 and is gone but I scorn to do so I will stand it out to the last though I die for it See 1 Cor. 13.3 how a man may give his bodie to be burnt and yet want Charitie and so consequently true saving faith which works by love Gal. 5.6 Beloved there is a Rule in Logick Those disjunct Propositions both parts whereof are true the whole must needs be true if either part be false then the Proposition must be false Now here both parts are true I may give my bodie to be burnt and yet want Charitie so a man may suffer and yet want faith Ergo. For there be many things in mans heart that he will rather die than yield as Pride Obstinacie self-wildness sturdiness and the like This this maketh men doubt so and doubt they will till by the use of means formerly prescribed they gain that Assurance which is here required and therefore get it O by all meanâ— get it my dearly beloved for how long will ye doubt so 2. You will live in continual fear and heaviness for you are whilst you want this Assurance in darkness and see no light Isa 50.10 the Hebrew is brightness which is more than light and seemeth to allude to the brightness of God's countenance which a child of God walking in darkness and wanting this Assurance cannot see Now when a man walketh in darkness you know what a sad fearful man he is because he can see no light every man that he meets he takes to be an enemie everie voice he hears he thinks to be the voice of Robbers everie step he makes he fears will make him fall so when men are not assured of their salvation and of God's favour how sad and fearful are they everie Scripture almost they meet with they take to be against them everie step of theirs to be a step into hell everie glimpse of comfort to be a delusion of the Devil and so they live the sorrowfullest the dismallest the disconsolatest life that poor creatures can live living in a continual fear of death of Devils and of hell fire which burns for ever It hath been my own case when I wanted this assurance I was afraid to be alone and afraid of Satan because of his buffetings and so will you be or are alreadie O my brethren the tongue of man is hardly able to express the sorrow the fear the perplexity that a poor doubting Christian is in whilst he wants this Assurance and cannot see the light of the Lord's countenance when he looks upon his Wife if he have any his Children his Goods wherein others take a world of comfort he saith what comfort can I take in them who cannot be assured at all as others are of the favour of God which is better than ten wives ten sons nay 10 thousand worlds when he looks upon his meat and drink he saith what good can all this good meat sweet drink do to me who have no assurance at all that ever I shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and drink of that new sweetest wine which they drink of in the Kingdom of God When he looks upon his bodie he saith O how will this bodie of mine be able to dwell in that flaming fire and how O how will
how good is then the life creating if Salvation wrought be sweet how sweet and delicious is Salvation it self which worketh all Salvation if wisdome be amiable when we do but think on things created how amiable is that wisdom which produced all things of nothing Lastly if many and great delights be in things delectable and pleasant what and how much delectation must needs be in him who made all things so delightful And therefore why doest thou range so here and there O my Soul to find out what may do thee good among things created which cannot satisfie thee possess thy self of God in whom is every good thing and let him fill thee desire that which is only good and then thou shalt have enough and desire no more for in that good which is God thou shalt find far greater joy greater delight greater profit greater glory than all the world can possibly yeild thee Soul I do not only believe it that I shall find it so but I do partly find it already and therefore O my sweet and gracious God who art only good turn thou all sinful joy and carnal pleasure into gall and betterness in me that nothing may be so sweet dear pleasant and amiable unto me as my Lord and my God who art sweetness pleasantness and amiableness it self and be thou my joy who hast also promised to be my reward I humbly pray thee The fifth Conference Wherein Christ's aid is implored against Satans temptations in a time of desertion BEliev. I perceive O my Soul that thou canst not be long quiet for thou beginnest to be as turbulent as ever thou hast been Soul So I am and I cannot be otherwise disposed now Believ Why so Soul Because he that should comfort and sustain me is far from me and the tempter whom I wish farther off is nigh me raises such storms against me as that I know not what to do that he may not sink me For I am like that little ship Matth. 8.24 covered with the impetuous waves of his tempestuous and grievious temptations beating upon me without any cessation or intermission Believ Let not this dismay thee O my Soul for thus Christ is wont to trie his best * Nunquam in veni aliquem tam religiosum devotum qui non habuerit interdum gratiae subtractionem Tho. a Kempis de imit Chr. l. 2. c. 9. beloved Soldiers withdrawing himself from them for a season that they may both see what need they have of him and what they are without him even * Vnde fit illud quod cogitationes bonae carae Deo placentes mentem veluti deficiant Basil in Reg. brev interrog 80. barren dead and dull unable to do any thing and that they may likewise seek him the more thirstingly who seeks them even by such desertions most lovingly and therefore wrestle thou with him O my Soul this being not a * Gregor Moral l. 5. c. 4. sign of reprobation but only of probation thy beloved hath sufferd thee a great while suffer thou also and sustain thy beloved and withall seek him Soul O sweet love dear Saviour where art thou that thou absentest thy self so long from me when wilt thou return again unto me O my Lord and my God * Bern. Serm. 54. carest thou not that I perish Lo Satan that grand adversary of mine seeketh to sink me in a * Mark 8.38 sea of misery O save me for thy names sake * In mari turbulente versamur c Aug. Saliloq c. 35. Christ Why art thou so fearful O thou Christian Soul having but little faith Mat. 8.26 Believe only that I can and will save thee and all will be well with thee for all things are possible unto him that believeth Mar. 9.23 Soul I believe Lord help thou mine unbelief Christ Then be safe and let Satan cease to make a noise and raise tempests * Ma. 54.11 that this poor soul tossed with tempests may be calmed and sweetly comforted Soul Oh the ease and oh the peace and joy that I feel and find in thee and by thee sweet Saviour oâ— what a mighty Christ is this my Christ that even Satan that strong man himself must and doth obey him The sixth Conference Wherein use is made of Christ's incarnation by faith against sin BEliev. how dost thou now O my Soul Soul I should do well enough were it not for sin that abominable thing Believ We may not expect an absolute perfection here sin will ever * Heb. 12.1 cleave even to God's dearest children as long as they live and therefore let not that dismay thee Soul If one did not give way to it it would not trouble me so but now I cannot but be troubled and much perplexed being conscious of too much yieldingness and complying Believ Though this be an heavy case yet pray and trust in God O my soul who will not therefore withdraw his mercies from thee nor forsake thee but rather assist thee for after times so that sin which is such a grievous burden unto thee shall be diminished demolished in thee more and more that it may not reign over thee Rom 6.14 Soul I fear that I have even so wearied God with sin that he will not hear me though I should make never so many prayers because I am so full of sin for so it is written Isa 1.15 When you make many prayers yet I 'le not hear you your hands are full of blood Believ What a strange complaint is this that I hear where is thy faith O my Christian soul that thou makest such a fearful conclusion God speaks there against irrepentant sinners who lay nothing to heart and revolt more and more v. 3.5 but thou on the contrary art not only sensible of fin and the danger of it but also strivest against it more and more and therefore that place concerns not thee so as that thou may est boldly come to the Throne of grace in the time of need * Si forte ex humana infirmitate labimur non ideo desperemus sed iterum recurramus ad clementem medicum c. Bern. in Scala parad c. 12. notwithstanding thiâ— thy sad condition Heb. 4.16 Soul Do you say so theâ— I 'le adventure it again and say with the good * Mat. 15.22 23 24 25 26. woman of Canaan have mercy on me O Lord thou Son of David for I am grievously vexed with the Devil Christ I am not sent to be a Saviour but to those that obey me who also may only expect salvation Heb. 5.9 but thou hast been disobedient and rebellious against me Soul Yet Lord help me Christ It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to dogs Soul Truth Lord yet the dogs eat of the erumbs which fall from their masters table therefore if I may not obtain so much mercy and grace as others who have been more obedient and dutiful than I who
Lord Jesus * Rev. 22.20 come and do it yea be thou like a Roe or young Hart upon the mountains of Bether or of * Cant. 2. ult Nam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat divisionem division making hast to fulfill thy Word in me for lo I am even divided in two having a will and a will or a will which is against a will a will regenerate warring against the will unregenerate and yet but one will thus divided as it were in two so as that * Gal. 5.17 I cannot as I should overcome this vile world but mine eies are towards thee O Lord who only canst must end this quarrel and therefore I say with David make hast to help me O Lord my salvation Psal 37.22 Christ Surely I come quickly Rev. 22.20 Soul Even so come Lord Jesus The Fourteenth Conference Wherein the believing Soul desires Christs presence that it may be able to overcome the world BEliev. Thou must overcome thy self in many things O my Soul if thou wilt come to enjoy a more perfect peace and tranquility being freed from many doubts fears discomforts and discontents which many times surprize thee Soul Which be those many things wherein I must yet more overcome my self Believ First of all thou art too soon and too much angry and passionate yea and thou lovest pleasure too well yet even fine sights and dainty fare and money and mens applause and vain talk and idle sports and slandrous reports again thou hast not laid aside yet thine envy thy malice and thy revengefulness thy high mindedness and self-conceitedness and thy sloathfulness and evil thoughts yea while the very steps of thy best beloved are yet hot in thee thou dost even intromit adulterous and most ignominous thoughts of pride and revenge and lusts and strife and worldly gain and vain delights and graceless talk and those ears which a little before did drink in the Word spoken by the everliving God himself are pestilently infected and those eies which were even lately baptised with sacred and precious tears are horribly contaminated and that heart which was recently and newly visited of the celestial Bridegroom is wofully soiled and polluted and that tongue which did decant sing and say the praises and songs of God pitifully abused Soul All this is most true I cannot deny it and therefore wo is me that I have so loving and gracious a God and Saviour who may now justly say unto me what could I have done more unto thee that I have not done for thee Isa 5.9 thou wast not and I created thee thou hast sinned and made thy self Satans bondslave and I redeemed thee thou didst go astray in the worlds circumference with the ungodly and I elected thee from among them I gave thee grace whereby thou mightest overcome this vile world * Jer. 3.1 but thou hast played the harlot with the world and neglected that grace and faith which I * Jude v. 3. delivered unto thee Again I would fain have made mine * Joh. 14.23 abode with thee continually and therefore I have often knocked at the door of thy heart saying open to me my Sister my Love my Dove my undefiled for * Cant. 5.2 my head is filled with the dew and my locks with the drops of the night by reason of my long waiting for thee but thou hast not opened unto me and therefore what an unhappy creature am I that have so horribly and detestably abused and offended the Lord my Creator which made me Christ Thy case indeed is grievous O perplexed Soul but yet despair not for * Joel 2 1◠the Lord thy God is gracious and merciful and slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil and therefore he saith Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers yet return again unto me Jer. 3.1 Soul Are not these they words O my Lord and my God did not they issue out of thy sacred mouth And are they not writen for my learning that I even I through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Ro. 15.4 Chr. Yes verily for the whole word of God is my word and I am Gods word Rev. 19.13 Yea God himself John 1.1 who spake these words for thine everlasting comfort S. I believe it I believe it sweet Jesus dear Saviour who art * Joh. 20.28 my Lord and my God and therefore though my sins be great yet will I not despair nor be out of hope having so great and loving a Saviour who casts away none but those that will cast away themselves O my dear Love Christ which ever burnest with love and art * Gregor Nazianz more merciful than I can possibly be sinful have mercy upon me therefore and pardon all my grivous offences and hainous transgressions where with I have transgressed and sinned against thee Inflame me also with the inextinguible flame of thy love so as that I may love nothing in this world more than thee O my sweetest Love and most merciful Redeemer Christ Jesus Jesus I see thou wilt needs have a pardon and me too whom thou desirest to love more than all things and so consequently to enjoy above all things and therefore as both the one and the other thou dost desire so both thou shalt have a pardon first which may put away thy guiltiness and me too as by whom thou mayest must overcome thy worldiness being wounded with arrowes of my love and indued with sufficient strength and power from above by me in me and for me that the world may not as it hath in times past overcome thee Soul And wilt thou give thy self unto me indeed sweet Lamb dear Saviour who also hast * Gal. 2.20 given thy self for me Christ Yes verily for I cannot deny my self 2 Tim. 2.13 being * Hos 11.9 God as well as man a meer man may deny himself when a woman will marry him and have him but I cannot do it if the poorest creature that is will have me believing on me I cannot keep my self from such a poor Soul but I must and will give my self unto it because I have bound my self to do it by the word of promise Jo. 6.51 Jo. 14.23 Rev. 2.17 Soul O the joy and O the comfort which these sweet words of thine distill into me sweet Saviour For now I am fully perswaded that thou my beloved art mine that I am thine Cant. 2.16 and that this vile world shal have no such power over me as it had formerly and that nothing in this world shall be dearer unto me than thou my dear Saviour and therefore I am even bold upon that assurance which I ground upon thy word of promise to bespeak thee in the Language and praise of thy dear Spouse saying Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth thy love O my love is better than wine Can. 1.2 Yea my beloved shall even lie all night betwixt