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
boundlesnesse of his compassion to thinke that thou canst possibly exceed his goodnesse with thy badnesse but go unto him and acknowledge saying O Lord the multitude of thy mercies doe farre surmount the multitude of my rebellions O therefore be gratious to mee according to the multitude of thy mercies and so thou shalt bee safe But thou wilt say perhaps how can I tell that God will shew mercy to me I answer Art not thou one of those to whom he hath sealed up mercy in baptisme yea but thou wilt say many are baptized that never finde mercy I answer not one that in sence of want of mercy and in a perswasion that God can bee mercifull to him doth seeke to the throne of grace for it And for a fuller answer to this doubt now proceed to the third meditation § 5. This is of the widenesse and largenesse of Gods promises to sinners which are of such an unlimited extent that they exclude no sinner for no sinne and in no time of comming to him For in all these respects are his promises wondrous large and of great extent J say first they shut not out any sinner but runne in this generality Come unto me All that are heavie laden even all all without any exception so that whosoever he be that is heavy laden hee sees the gate of Gods goodnesse standing open to him and wide enough to receive even him also among the rest of sinners next hee excepts not any sinne but telleth us thus The bloud of Christ purgeth us from all sinne 1 Joh. 1.7 And againe if your sinnes were as red as scarlet they shall bee as white as snow Isa 1.18 And againe Ezek. 18.22 I will blot all his iniquities out of my remembrance and he bids them pray thus Take away all iniquity Hos 14.2 and allowed David to cry and say Psal 51.9 Blot out all mine iniquities Doe you not heare how generall these promises bee not narrowed with any exception but alone to be understood with this qualification of the persons if they be humbled for sin And in like manner for the time of comming lies not the promise in the day that the sinner turneth Ezek. 33.12 meaning when so ever sooner or later first or last so that hee turne in truth you see no time excepted for the grant of pardon of sinne Indeed in regard of crosses it may fall out that a man may seek to God for freedome of them and not find it but for pardon of sinnes he that comes in truth comes never too late And here now is the right use of those universall promises which are set downe in Scripture God would have no man perish but would have all men saved and come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2.4 and He is a propitiation for the sinnes of the whole world 1 Ioh. 2.2 and Hee gave himselfe a ransome for all 1 Tim. 2.6 and He tasted death for every man Heb. 2.9 Which the Lord hath of set purpose conceived in this ample forme of words that there might bee sure and certaine ground and footing for the faith of any man whatsoever that being tyred with his sinnes doth runne unto this grace of God in Christ to finde helpe in time of need Seeing God hath not excepted thy person or thy faults or thy time of comming doe not thou except thy selfe make not the gate of Gods promises scanter or narrower then it is He hath opened both the leaves of these dores as wide as may bee and thinkes it not fit to cloze them up against any humbled and confessing sinner at any time O doe no thou put a distrustfull hand upon them to shut them against thy selfe but let them stand wide open and enter boldly and aske mercy and looke for mercy and finde it § 6. Now followes the last meditation which must be of the examples of Gods grace in performing these promises to other sinners as bad if not worse then any of us can be For the Lord hath made good these words of his in his Son to as great hainous willfull presumptuous offendors as any have beene are or can bee in the world that will come unto him No man can name so great a sinne or sinnes with so great aggravations but that the Scriptures affoord us examples of as grievous sinnes pardoned and as grievous sinners saved if they have framed themselves to humiliation and conversion For what may thy sin bee or thine obstinacy in sin Is it murder and adultery runne into with fore-resolved deliberation continued in with great hardnesse and obduration behold these were Davids faults and thou seest him pardoned and comforted yea though he ran unto them in old age after many benefits received and after a long time of forwardnesse in the true religion and service of God Hast thou beene an Idolater a Buggerer a Drunkard a Rayler an Extortioner why such were some of the Corinthians as Paul remembers them and yet they were washed sanctified justified as he also telleth them Hast thou besides Idolatry followed Sorcerers and Witches and practised inchantments and sorceries and that with so much and so long obstinacy as to kill those that should admonish thee of these faults Why so did Manasses too and yet he is pardoned Hast thou persecuted Christ blasphemed him made others to blaspheme and put them to death that would not why so did Paul also and that after divers yeares spent in those places where many wonders and miracles were wrought to confirme the Gospell of Christ and yet he is pardoned Hast thou beene an harlot so was Rahab and the sinnefull woman in the Gospell Hast thou beene a theefe so was hee that defended Christ on the Crosse Hast thou denied and foresworne Christ so did Peter also after hee had beene diverse yeares his disciple and yet all these are pardoned Yea verily brethren the first sinne that ever was committed was in many respects the greatest of all particular acts of sin that ever were committed since It was virtually radically causally all sinne and yet loe Adam and Evah that did commit it they are saved The smalnesse of the matter makes the fault farre greater being a light and easie thing propounded meerely for a triall and as a signe and profession of their obedience as if a man should forbid his childe a very slender thing and that which hee might easily forbeare to testifie his obedience unto him he would be more offended against him in this case by how much hee had made choyce of a more triviall matter to proove his obedience withall Now for such persons at such a time in such a place in such a state on such motives to disobey their maker in such a thing so easie to bee observed and given to them onely to proove their obedience surely a greater disobedience and therefore a greater sinne can hardly be named and yet as I said before this sinne is
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
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
are so many and so vile that they cannot bee forgiven the Lord tells as obstinate and as grievous sinners as ever were that if they now turne hee will repent him of the evill and consequently they shall be pardoned wilt thou not give credit to God rather then to the divell This is the first doubt taken from sinne § 6. An other and a sorer followes Ah I since the time that I thought my selfe called and converted have yet againe rushed into grosse and grievous sinnes and that also willingly and upon deliberation and what shall I doe then sure I was but an hypocrite and sure J cannot bee pardoned at least I am not This reason also must bee cast into this forme Whosoever after his calling and conversion committeth great sinnes willfully was sure but an hypocrite and is not nor can bee pardoned But so have I done therefore J am but an hypocrite I am not pardoned nor can be To this I answer againe that the first part of the argument is apparantly false and therefore such is also the conclusion It is false that he which hath so sinned after calling was but an hypocrite and is not pardoned for this was the verycase of David whose example wee now are handling Did not hee fall in the felfe same fort as thou hast said and yet hee was no hypocrite but he was pardoned I demand of the therefore Hast thou renewed thy confessions nad thy sorrowes and thy resolutions of amendment since thy fall and art thou returned to a forme purpose and endeavour of walking before the Lord in uprightnesse If thou hast then I assure thee by warrant of Davids example that thou wast sincere before and that thou art pardoned If thou hast not I require thee now in Gods name settle about these things apply thy selfe seriously to renew thy repentance and to turne againe to God and thou shalt be pardoned So is the second doubt answered taken from great sinnes § 7. The third followes and that is worse then both the former Ah I have made long defections from the covenant of grace and revolted backslided apostated from the waies of God and in my backsliding veine have runne into I know not how many and how grievous offences Since I found some good things working in my soule and had for a great space and with great forwardnesse continued to walke in the paths of piety I have againe broken forth and continued a long time in my wandrings without any care of returning and therefore now I feare that my case is desperate and that J have committed the unpardonable sinne This argument must bee likewise cast into this forme whosoever hath beene guilty of long and grievous defections and backslidings hath his sinnes unpardoned and hath committed the unpardonable trespasse nor can be pardoned Now so I have done as mine owne heart is too sure a witnesse against mee Therefore I neither am nor can bee pardoned Mine answer to this reason is in the same manner that the former The first part of it must bee denied as being evidently false and against the Word of God For David in my Text did thus backslide in some degree but Salomon whose birth is here mentioned and who is here graced with the name Iedidiah because the Lord not alone did but also would love him did make even such an Apostacy to the very full and yet hee recovered himselfe by repentance hee was upright before and hee was pardoned For hath not the Lord promised Israel to heale her backslidings Tell me then fince thy backsliding hast thou not recovered and with much shame and remorse craved pardon and returned to doe or labours to doe thy first workes If not thou art not the man I seeke to comfort unlesse thou shalt now addresse thy selfe to this reconversion as I may so terme it If yea why then know that thy case is good enough the disease that is healed doth never kill but to thee appertaine the promises made to backsliding Israel And whereas thou sayest my sinne is sure that unpardonable sinne Understand that the Scripture never calleth any sin unpardonable Some sinnes indeed are never pardoned because the committer thereof doth never repent but that a sinne repented of should bee uncapeable of pardon it is more then the Word of God doth ever afsirme but if there bee any such sinne this sinne of thine cannot bee that sinne For he that wholy falleth away after some degrees of grace received it is impossible that he should renew him againe by repentance but thou dost againe renew thy selfe by repentance for thou confessest and lamentest thy turning aside and returnest againe to crave pardon Let thine heart returne a true answer dost thou not finde it aking and relenting for thine Apostafie longing desirous to come on againe and carefull to seeke pardon for former declinings if so then art thou renewed by repentance and therefore didst not wholy fall away If backslidings shall breed in any man either utter hardnesse or utter despaire so that either one is not sorry for them or will not seeke forgivenesse of them that is a sore signe of utter relapsing but thou dost come backe againe to the Lord falling out with thy selfe for falling of from him and casting downe thy selfe before him above and against all hope dost crave mercy of him I am certaine therefore that thy case is good and thou art or shalt bee pardoned And for this so terrible objection of backsliding let the Prophet fully satisfie thee For to Israel that had plaide the harlot from God and followed many lovers the Lord saith by his Prophet Yet returne unto me Chap. 3 ver 1. ver 12. Jer. 3. Returne ô backesliding Israel and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon thee for I am mercifull saith the Lord and will not keepe anger for ever onely acknowledge your iniquity and so forth and then after Turne ô backsliding children for I am married unto you and I will take you one of a city and so as it followeth in the Prophet Loe now the truth of God whatsoever fearefull Apostacy thou hast made if thou returne and acknowledge here is promise of acceptance and this very turning shewes that thou hast not committed that never-to-be pardoned sin for that offence is therefore onely never pardoned because the man that hath runne into it will never returne either out of hardnesse or despaire or both CHAP. VII § 1. ANd these objections arise from the quality of sinnes committed either before or after calling An other troope arise from those many wants and defects which the soule doth finde in it selfe And first the soule findes fault with it selfe for want of repentance reasoning thus against it selfe Alas I have no repentance and therefore I am not pardoned To which I answer that it must bee confessed for a truth whosoever hath not repented is not pardoned But why dost thou say I have not repented To answer this doubt informe
terrors drive thee from God or to God If from God let them do so no more and thou shalt have comfort if to God do so still and that will prove thy state good § 3. And so are those objections answered that arise from feelings Now the last sort spring from Satans temptations O J am laden and filled with temptations to despaire to hurt my selfe to blaspheme God to deny God and his Word and other most execrable things and J have long continued in this estate J answer Hast thou not sins of thine owne to answer for but that thou wilt also charge thy selfe with the divels sinnes understand therefore that this temptation is grounded upon a meere false position that hee who is pursued and molested with hellish temptations is not Gods child nor hath his sinnes pardoned And know that if Satan cast in the most vile temptations for hee can cast in temptations as it is said he put it into the heart of Iud. is to betray Christ so long as those temptations be rejected abhorred they be not the mans sins but his trialls and afflictions onely For tell me was not Christ forty daies in the wildernesse tempted of the divell Doubtlesse in all that space hee pursued him with all the most noysome temptations hee could invent we read indeed of three alone but we may be well assured that they were above 3000. even numberlesse It may seeme that those three are recorded because they were most crafty and subtill when the divell had spent all his skill paines before to no purpose he proceedeth to these as his last maine assaults for the two former were so subtilly conveighed that a man can scarce see that Christ had sinned if hee had yeelded to them for might not hee as well make bread of stones as wine of water and leape from the temple as walk on the sea But to worke a miracle at the divels suggestion either out of doubting because hee spake against him or of presuming because hee spake for him this had beene a fault in Christ And for the last it came so suddenly and violently that it would have even carried a man away before he was aware to give but one bow for such a reward Now sure if Christ might be thus tempted forty daies then any Christiā maybe likewise tempted as many moneths as many yeers Tell me therefore dost thou not oppose those temptations by the word of God and when thou canst too by prayers at least by secret groanes inward sighs Are they not most bitter to thy soule even more untastfull then gaule wormewood and wouldst thou not rather then any thing be rid of them Canst thou then bee so ill conceited of God as to feare that he will impute them to thee know that they be only thy miseries not thy sins and this will be a good meanes to rid thee of them For tell me hadst thou a child which some wicked fellow should locke into a roome that he could not get out and there should tell thy child thy father is a rascall a villaine a knave a theefe a miscreant curse him wish him hanged wish him damned cut his throat and the like but the childs heart and haire riseth at the hearing of these words he abhors them him that utters them and would if hee could cut out his tongue that useth them What now wouldst thou thinke of this child specially if thy selfe shouldst have put them both together meerely to trie how thy child would behave himselfe in such a case or for some other like purpose Surely thou wouldst not love thy child one jot the worse nay rather much more for this triall Now doe but conceive that God is as just mercifull as thy selfe wouldest be for this is thy case directly and none other or think that some filthy fellow had surprized thy wife in a roome by her selfe and there should solicite her with shamefull words gestures which shee did repell with disdaine crying out to thy selfe that wast within hearing to come and helpe her wouldest thou account thy wife lesse honest for this and not rather commend her honesty the more for this Even so it is betwixt thy selfe and Satan and therefore such and none other shall the Lords sentence bee of thee § 4. Yea but I have yeelded to some of these vile thoughts I have yeelded to them and how then shall I do I answer the multitude and violence of them did sometimes so tire thee and put thee out of breath and strength as it were that thou couldest not give a loud and earnest but alone a faint and whispering nay hereupon Satan hath made thee beleeve that thou didst yeeld but know that it is one thing to yeeld to a temptation an other thing to bee over-wearied and tyred with it that a man is not able to make such sensible resistance as he did once If a strong and sturdy fellow full of lewd desires meeting with an honest but weak woman should so long wrestle with her till she were quite out of breath and could scarce speake or stirre any longer and in that her wearinesse should use some unfit gesture to her were shee the lesse chast wife for that in the censure even of the most jealous husband So then that that thou callest yeelding was not yeelding but an inability through faintnesse to make resistance § 5. But say thou had styeelded to som evil even most loath some for a little time being over-tired with resisting Hast thou not now recalled recanted thine yeelding dost not thou now abhor thy selfe for yeelding crave pardon of it and resolve never to do it nor yeeld to it hereafter any more Sure if some varlet should by much importunity intice thy servant to let him into thine house that he might rob thee or do thee hurt and after many repulses at last should bee so overlaide by importunity that he should consent promise to do it but so soone as ever the fellow was gone should abhorre it and refuse to put it in practise and with teares in his eyes come tell thee what had passed craving pardon wouldst thou not forgive him wouldst thou cast him out of thine house There have been Princes so mercifull that when some have beene inveigled to conspire their death but after have repented of their own accord revealing the conspiracy have submitted to their mercy could and did shew them mercy and will not God bee more mercifull then ever man was or can be Bee not therefore disheartned because of thy long temptations and sometimes sodaine yeeldances This the Lord can and will passe by and much more then this § 6. So have I answered the chiefest of those temptations and objections which I could meete with that are used to hinder the Saints from comfort in perswasion of the remission of their sins It is your part that would be comforted to continue meditating praying conferring labouring to informe your judgement aright in these things which in doing you shall not loose your labour He that shall come will come and will not tarry The night shall passe and the day shll arise If any say J have long waited for comfort and finde it not I answer so did David as J said above but resolve to waite still on Christ and to continue striving for comfort though you perceive Little good effect for the time for the more slowly it commeth to you at the first the more fully it shall abound in you at thelast If faith cannot comfort you let hope If you cannot say God hath pardoned me yet say J hope he will and so sustaine your selves And that hope which purgeth your hearts driveth you to prayer sets you at defiance with all sinne and makes you esteeme highly of Christ that will support you and bring grounded and plentifull comfort in the end Those of you brethren therefore that have throwne themselves downe pulled down their proud hearts and tumbled their faces in the dust before the Lord Irequire them to yeeld unto God the glory of his mercy and to Christ the glory of his merits and to goe away comforted at least resolute to labour for comfort with assurance that they shall have it for hee that said will performe it Blessed bee they that mourne for they shall bee comforted FINIS