at comfort but is a desperate forlorne and uncomfortable griefe For in grieving for our sinnes we give God the glory of his justice acknowledging them to be vile and loathsome and grievous But in comforting our selves we give him the glory of his mercy acknowledging him to be more full of goodnesse then our selves bee of badnesse which is to doe him the highest honour For the Lord delighteth in shewing mercy and therefore cannot but delight that men should esteeme and account him so ready to shew mercy For whosoever loveth to doe any good and commendable thing loves to bee accounted ready and able to do that thing And indeed God is not well pleased nor honoured as I said before with his Saints teares further then those teares bee meanes of fitting them for and making them capeable of comfort As the Chyrurgion delighteth not in the smart of his patient further then it is a meanes of healing the sore nor the Physitian in the bitter potions of his patient or his sicknesse further then it procureth health Therfore if we consider in the old Law Deut. 16.14 he calleth vpon them to bee sure that they doe rejoyce in their feasts And whereas he appointed one only solemne fast throughout the yeare Levit. 26.19 and that but one daies continuance alone he appointed three severall most solemne feasts in every yeare and those also of seaven daies continuance each of them Exod. 23 14. Whereby it is manifest that hee takes farre more content in their gladnesse and solace then in their ruth and lamentation For indeed hee liketh their griefes alone as I said before as a preparative to their Joy Now seeing our care must be to doe that that may glorifie and please God and our joyes will glorifie and please him after wee have beene humbled as well as our humiliation before it is needfull for us to cheare up our hearts as well as to depresse them § 5. Thirdly this comfort is a thing altogether as profitable to our selves and as much availeable to our sanctification and good living as griefe nay griefe will doe at all no good to the working of holinesse and beating downe of sinne further then it is so ordered and moderated that it may conclude in consolation As a man is fittest to doe any naturall work when he hath his limmes all at ease and rest so to do any spirituall good thing when he hath his minde at ease and rest Nehem. 8.10 The joy of the Lord is your strength saith that holy man to the people in Nehemiah which is the cause that God hath confirmed his promise by oath that as the Apostle saith Heb. 6.18 wee might have strong consolation The herbs and grasse and corne doe ripen best in warme and fun-shine weather so the sun-shine of consolation doth bring up the herbe of vertues in our hearts Carnall and earthly joyes doe nothing further the growth of piety but spirituall consolations such as this we intreate of doe make it prosper and flourish exceedingly Never is a Christian man in better case to doe any good duty to beare any misery for Gods sake to love God to pray to heare the Word to doe works of mercy to the afflicted or to performe any other services then when he can comfort himselfe in God Then the heart hath more full communion with God and therfore is in best plight to doe any thing well I confesse sorrow hath its use it is as plowing and as breaking of the clods that make the ground ready for the seed It is as it were the sweeping and cleansing of the house that maketh it fit for the Holy Ghost as for aguest to inhabit and to dwell in But the very proper confirmer and strengthener of the soule is comfort that doth minister to it ability to worke Gods works As God loves in matter of bounty a cheerefull giver so in all services a cheerefull servant And doubtlesse the service will not be cheerefull if the heart be not comforted therefore in heaven where God hath the best services men have the most comfort And in Paradice where God had the best service next to heaven man had the most comfort And in the Thessalonians 1 Thess 1 3 6. in whom Saint Paul did commend the labour of love the worke of faith the patience of hope and whom he praiseth because their love and their faith did grow exceedingly hee shewes the foundation of this growth to have beene because they received the Word with joy in the Holy Ghost Seeing well-grounded comfort is the most profitable thing that can be for our soules we must strive for it § 6. Onely brethren you must remember how we limited the point viz. that after we have humbled our selves we must then take comfort and not before There is a time saith Salomon to mourne and a time to laugh we must take time to rend our hearts and to turne to the Lord with mourning and contrition and then we must take time also to stirre up and to revive our hearts and to embrace the Lords mercies with all joyfullnesse we must beware of making too much hast to comfort our selves as also of being too slow to the worke If the sore bee not throughly drawne before it be healed then the festered matter will breake out againe and the cure will not be well effected and if it be not healed after drawing no soundnesse will come to the member affected As the body so the soule must be healed soundly and to the bottome and not skinned over with untimely and preposterous and ungrounded consoations I pray you to observe this caution and this limitation that none of you may abuse and misapply the point to your owne hurt for nothing is more dangerous then false comfort Of the twaine it is much more safe though it seeme far more troublesome to be too much and too long in mourning then to fetch in comfort before we have at all mourned or before we have mourned in due measure for to comfort ones selfe untimely is to trust in a lie and is the surest way to cut off all sound and good comfort and to keepe a mans selfe uncapable of true comfort Thus daubing with untempered morter will never make any good worke downe will that daubing come in the day when the storme and winde shall blow upon it § 7. If any man aske how he shall be sure not to take comfort too soone I answer him That he must not bee bold to take any comfort till he have gotten such a measure of sorrow and let sorrow continue so long in his heart that it hath wrought him to a plaine and free and full confession of his sins to God and to a firme and stedfast purpose and determination of will to leave forsake and abandon them And when he hath brought himselfe to this then must hee mixe his sorrow with some comfort and after a while he must bid his griefes adew and
for neither need they be discouraged at the greatnesse of them Even so when we have committed innumerable sinnes deserving eternall death and can no way satisfie for our selves yet so long as he hath perfectly fulfilled the law for us being made under the law in our steed and hath perfectly satisfied the justice of God by bearing the curse for us our estate is good enough in him though never so irrecoverable in our selves Wherefore compare thy sins to Christs merits and thinke is not he my Saviour hath not he discharged my debt hath not he answered for mine offences are not his death sufferings and obedience much more able to pacifie Gods anger then my transgressions to provoke it Doubtlesse it is so no man that professeth Christian Religion will deny it and therefore by his bloud peace of conscience may come unto the greatest sinner § 3. If it be objected Ah J know his redemption is perfect and all-surficient but how can I tell that it shall be granted unto me I answer put off that question a little till thou have first answered some few questions which I shall propound unto thee Dost not thou thinke that the bloud of Christ is sufficient to wash away all thy sins is not his satisfaction full compleate and of worth enough to answer for all thy transgressions even though they were more then they bee If thou sayest no thou denyest the truth of the fore-alledged Scriptures and disparagest the merits of our blessed Saviour which I hope thou wilt not dare to doe but if yea as needs thou must say yea then hearken yet further a little and for thine owne interest into this satisfaction receive satisfaction by this reason Our Saviour Christ calleth unto him all that travell and are heavy laden with sin and promiseth refreshing rest unto their soules Tell me art not thou laden art not thou crushed Dost not thou confesse thy sins to be a most insupportable burden and so heavie a loade that they will surely presse thee downe to hell if he doe not ease thee if thou dost not or dost not desire so to doe thou art none of them whom I intend to comfort if thou dost why then in Gods name let that loving invitation of our Lord satisfie thy forementioned doubt and conclude thou thus for thy selfe Every one that being heavy laden will come unto Christ shall bee refreshed shall have rest to his soule and therefore shall have his merits bestowed upon him without which there can bee no rest to his soule Now I am heavy laden and I will runne to Christ and so doe J pray thee without doubting or feare any longer and then thou must conclude infallibly I shall be refreshed I shall have the merits of Christ to be mine according to the truth of his promise § 4. And so you have the first meditation The second must be of the infinite mercies of God in Christ who is gratiously ready in him the Sonne of his loves to accept of every sinner that renouncing himselfe and all his owne righteousnesse doth flie wholy to him for refuge For the Lord is a God Exod. 14 6. gratious mercifull slowe to anger abundant in kindnesse and truth reserving mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sinne His mercy is as high above us as heaven is above the earth Psal 103 11. He will abundantly forgive Isa 55.7 2 9. and his waies are not as our waies nor his thoughts as our thoughts for as the heavens are higher then the earth so are his waies higher then our waies and his thoughts above our thoughts Yea hee hath multitude of tender compassions and is rich in mercy to all that call upon him Rom. 10 12. and his mercy endureth for ever You see by these words of Scripture what store of mercy there is in God and what quantity of compassion poore sinners that are humbled must looke to finde with him Now consider further what is this mercy and compassion of God Doubtlesse it is a willingnesse promptnesse readinesse forwardnesse full resolution to accept of miserable sinners that have made themselves most wretched by their sinnes and to relieve their miseries when they humbly stoope unto him Mercy is not an ability to pardon and helpe if one will but a willingnesse to helpe and pardon when one is able Wee doe not call him a mercifull man that could help a poore distressed person if he would but it is not his pleasure so to doe for so it may be with a most cruell and hard hearted fellow The most rigorous and exating rich Usurer could forgive his debtor that is a banckerout and can pay him nothing if hee would but he will not though he can and therfore doth not deserve to be called mercifull The most fierce and furious tyrant might forgive his subject if he would that hath offended but because he is not willing therefore no man styles him pitifull and gratious So neither were the God of heaven full of grace mercy and compassion if onely he were able to forgive humbled sinners and would not that were not mercy I say that were not compassion but this is grace this is compassion He is willing to receive the humbled wretch he is ready to forgive and fully resolved with himselfe to blot out all his sinnes from his remembrance bee they what they will for number or haighnousnes when once he converteth unto him Now therefore that thou knowest the store of mercy that is in God and also what mercy is Compare thy sinnes also to Gods mercy and see if they can be in any sort equall thereunto For are not his mercies in Christ infinite endlesse boundlesse and therefore farre surpassing all the sinnes of all sinners which bee they what they can be for weight and number yet doubtlesse infinite they cannot bee Thou seest how great a thing this globe of earth and water seemeth to be to them that walke upon it yet in comparison of the heavenly spheare that doth incompasse it what is it else but a poynt a prick a center a thing of nothing that holdeth no proportion to those higher regions and know assuredly that there is no more proportion betwixt all the sins of all men and Gods mercies then betwixt the poynt of earth and the circumference of the skies He is willing to pardon more then all of them can commit and therefore onely they bee not pardoned because they will not humble themselves to seeke pardon Thus then must thou raise up thy falling heart I have to doe with a most infinitely mercifull and tender hearted Father that doth not desire the death of him that dieth but is ten thousand thousand times more willing to give me pardon then I am to crave or accept it It pleaseth him more to bestow forgivenesse then me to receive it O doe not so great an injury to God as to set any bounds and limits to his goodnesse to diminish or detract from the
pardoned and those sinners saved And who now can be hopelesse who now can cast off comfort Now therfore stay and look upon those effects proofes of Gods mercy and truth and say unto thy selfe is not God the same God that of old was not his justice and anger against sin as great then as now and is not his mercy and truth as large and sure now as then and why then should not J also take heart to seeke unto the same God and rest upon him And these be the most comfortable meditations that I could propound to the sorrowfull and fearefull heart of the broken sinner for the suppling of his wounds and fitting his soule for consolation CHAP. VI. § 1. NOw these meditations must be concluded and intermixed with confessions and supplications The poore sinner must gather up his thoughts into petitions and requests and refusing to be hindered by any feares doubts or objections must take to himselfe boldnesse to fall downe before the throne of grace and following the counsell of the Holy Ghost must take to himselfe words and say receive me gratiously and take away all iniquity Addresse thy selfe unto the God of heaven in the name of Christ his Sonne and say Lord behold here the worst of sinners appearing before thee casting himselfe as low as hell desirons to bee as full of shame and sorrow as is possible and therefore troubled because he cannot be more grieved more abased I am Lord indeed a vile and grievous sinner and these and these evills have I done but ô for the merits sake of Jesus Christ alone thy deere and onely begotten Sonne accept me forgive and according to the multitude of thy mercies wash mee throughly from all my sinnes Remember O Lord the thing that thou hast promised and sealed up to al that seeke thee even blot out all mine offences out of thy remembrance and for my sinnes and iniquities O Lord remember them no more Be not wearie of making these requests though thou seeme to thy selfe to receive none answer to them but fly constantly and runne boldly to the throne of grace to attaine mercy to helpe in time of need If thy soule be vexed with new feares confirme thou it with new prayers and resolve if thou must be damned to be damned praying and if thou must needs perish to perish with a prayer in thy mouth then thou canst not bee damned then thou canst not perish Call upon God in the day of thy trouble make thy prayers to him in the flouds of great waters and sure they shall not come neere thee for he will fullfill his promise and will grant thee all that thou beggest in the name of his Sonne Thus have you two helpes to comfort prayer and meditation § 2. The third followes and that is conference Make thy case knowne to others of Gods people for wisdome lies not all in one brest so that any one man should bee able for himselfe to answer all Satans crafty cavills especially the weake Christian cannot therefore must he shew his case and crave counsell David could comfort himselfe Bathsheba could not Wherefore devoure not thy sorrowes all alone but aske advice seeke abroad for comfort and make an happy use of the fellowship and communion of Saints More easily can the divell over reach one then many communicate therefore thy griefes and feares to some or other of Gods faithfull people or Ministers Now is the time of hearkening to the counsell of Saint Iames who bids us Confesse our faults one to another James 5.16 and pray one for another that you may be healed when men that are tormented in spirit suffer themselves to bee stopped by shame or feare from opening their wounds they multiply their own miseries and increase the flames by stifling them Do not so therefore any longer but make manifest thy terrors and acknowledge thy sinnes to some or other comforter A man in a desperate disease will runne to the Chyrurgion Bee sure thou hast not committed any so grievous sins but some or other of Gods children have committed as bad Bee sure that no temptation ceaseth upon thee so foule and hideous but the same or as bad hath beene found before in some or other of the Saints J say therefore againe make haste to seeke advice and discover thine whole soule freely and fully to him whom thou takest for thy Physitian and leave nothing no nothing unuttered that doth trouble thee and resolve to beleeve rather the words of him that seekes to comfort thee then thine owne strong fancies and Satans lying cavills against thee It is evident that a sound man can easily doe that for a sick man which hee by no meanes is able to doe for himselfe in the time of his sicknesse Therefore doe the sicke send for the whole and the whole come to the sicke and even so must the sick and comfortlesse soule doe likewise onely doe this speedily and put not off till thou beest already overwhelmed with griefes As a bone out of joynt that is too long afore it bee set is farre more hardly restored to his place and is ever ready to be slipping out againe so a distressed soule that defers to crave counsell is much more hardly comforted and doth much more easily fall againe into his wonted griefes Speed is necessary therefore in the latter of these two cases as well as the former and great is the hurt of deferring If thou hast carryed thy griefes in silence long that that is past cannot be remedied and thou must bee sure it will bee harder and longer afore thou canst be helped But if thou beest one that now begins to faint let nor Satan hinder thee from revealing thy case as he will endeavour Two eyes see more then one and one man alone is easily cousened Shame shame carnall shame hinders many a soule from inward comfort he is ashamed to tell to others what he findes in himselfe as not knowing that all men labour of the same disease of originall sinne which is an aptnesse to every sinne If a man have a foule disease and bee ashamed to shew it either hee must bee the better skilled in Surgery himselfe or else he dies for it so it is for sinnes Make speed therefore to look abroad for comfort if thou finde not thy selfe ablt to deale with thine owne feares and objections § 3. Doe this also plainely and fully without any reservation sticke not at any thing that troubles thee but cleere thy minde fully and wholy and be not like a childe that holdeth out the wrong finger and will not bee knowne where his worst paine is If need be thou maist tie thy Physitian to secrecy by the strongest bond of an oath but be not thou in any one thing secret or reserved chiefely conceale not that sinne sinnes or temptations that doe most perplexe thee or any one aggravating circuemstance of them All labour is lost till this be done Till the thorne be pulled out