gall Instead of lesser troubles behold greater terrours Take up betimes then Reason bids thee of two evils that thou chuse the least That thou run not from bad to worse that for fleeing of the fear thou shouldst not fall into the pit and snare Jer. 12.5 Job 20.24 25. Jer. 48.44 Isa 24.18 2 Into what a gulf of sin art thou falling 'T is a Question in the Schools Whether unbelief despair or hatred of God be the greatest sin Aquinas * 22 a. q. 20. a. 3. resolves it That despair is the greatest quantum ad nos the other secundum se The truth is that despair is always inclusive of the other two though they are not always inclusive of it Despair ariseth out of unbelief and is still accompanied therewith as hope ariseth out of faith Neither is there in despair only a privation of hope * ib. a. 1. but there is an aversion at least a retreat from the object hoped for and from God the object hoped in as either unable or unwilling to give it and so there is an hatred of God that goeth with it either negative if I may so phrase it as in the pious a want of love at least to that degree which is due to him Or positive as in the impenitent and was in Cain and others O! how many sins are there in this one sin how many that attend upon it What horrible infidelity as if there were more in sin to damn us than in God and Christ to save us What height of ingratitude to God! for his Christ and the Covenant of his grace and for all those means he hath afforded for awakening our hopes and attaining of happiness What horrid imputations to and blasphemy of God! In making our guilt more omnipotent than his power and sin more hurtful than he is good and helpful What haughty insolency against God and his Gospel in justifying themselves and Satan in saying our Salvation is impossible when both of them speak it possible and proffer it upon easie terms What odious indignity is there offered unto Christ as if the cry of our sins did outvoice the cry of his blood or there were not either worth enough in it or not a willingness to impart it though he left his father took our flesh c. to this very purpose What open injury do we offer to the Church as if there were no Balm in Gilead and the business and blessings of religion were but a mockery as ending in madness and melancholy Yea how ominous is the injury hereby to our own selves as barring us out not only from present happiness but from all possibilities and hopes and bringing us into the most amazing agonies of 1. temptation 2. tribulation 3. transgression 1. Of temptation Despair is the Devil's shop and shambles By this he puts men upon blaspheming God and self-butcheries Witness Cain Saul and Judas Gen. 4.13 14. 1 Sam. 31.4 cum 16.14 Mat. 27.5 cum Joh. 13.27 2. Of Tribulation Nothing but now ministers matter of trouble to the Soul Even God his Gospel c. And they multiply upon him I was not in safety neither had I rest neither was I quiet yet trouble came yea there is a special malignity in these troubles not only in that they are soul-troubles but self-troubles troubles of his own making and maintaining He is his own tormenter Job 3.26 Jer. 2.19 3. Of Transgression Now is the time of sinning most against God our selves and the soul-good of our neighbour hardening the wicked hindring the weak and intercepting the worthiest in the cheerfulness of their progress and pilgrimage The effects I acknowledg are different in different persons 1. It enervates endeavours in most As the Orator * Desperatione debilitati experiri nolunt quod se assequi posse diffidunt Cic. Orat. ad Brut. long since observed Hope is the nerve and tendon of Action if this be cut off or contracted they are disenabled and indisposed Men care not to make experiments for that of which they conclude they shall never come at 2. It eateth cut the sweet and extinguisheth the Spirit and heat of endeavours if they are continued Cut off hope and the springs of joy and holy obedience are dammed up Servile fears prevail and so duty doth become a drudgery and comes off with difficulty 'T is worse rowing than against wind and tide 3. It inflameth some unto self-violence Saul falls upon his own Sword Ahitophel and Judas hang themselves and so pass from one hell to another 4. It exasperateth some against God and Godliness and boils up their hatred to malice and despight as Cain and Jehoram's messenger What shall I attend on the Lord any longer 5. It endeth with some in sensuality and Epicurean or brutish indulgences to make the best of their gain in carnal divertisements while they may As those Jer. 2.25 c. 18.12 1 Cor. 15.32 There is no hope we will walk after our own devices Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die Direct 4. Present the Object in and from whom you can alone hope for peace and safety more rightly to your Conscience Is it not enough that you have hard thoughts of your selves but will you have hard thoughts of our God likewise O the zeal the strength the sounding of his bowels and of his merceis towards thee Are they restrained Hath he not proclaimed his Name to be the Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Yea the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works He is full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth Isa 63.15 Exod. 34.6 7. Psal 86 5 15. 103.8 145.8 9. Whence then are these approaches toward despair O thou trembling soul whence why do these tormenting thoughts stick upon thee Is it that God cannot is not able to pardon thee Nay what is too hard for an omnipotent mercy to pardon or pass by Man can put up but a few provocations such is his impotence through pride passion c. He cannot contain but would be calling for fire from heaven But God hath proclaimed his Name to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord the Lord the mighty God * Deus fortis Jun. Tremel His Omnipotence can forgive both iniquity transgression and sin all kinds all degrees of sin Luk. 9.54 Exod. ibid. Numb 14.18 19 20. Amos 7.2 3. What! is it that he careth not is not willing to forgive and have mercy upon thee Nay as I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but this is his pleasure that the wicked turn from his way and live Lo how he invites injoyns intreats it Turn you turn you from your evill ways How he expostulateth in it why will ye die God is not willing that any should perish but that all
the Lord our God but the mercies which he gave to humble and to prove you you abuse to pride and luxury c. Oh sinful and sensless Consciences Isa 42.25 Jer. 8.7 Hos 7.2 Jer. 5.24 Deut. 8.16 17. Or do you answer his administrations of justice with trying your ways and turning to the Lord Do you labour to see his mind in them and to learn more skill in his Statutes through them And doth Conscience call upon you Come and let us return to the Lord our God and by sound Conversion to seek a cure for them In administrations of Mercy doth Conscience ordinarily attend abett and argue from thence to duty And when it hath put the question What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me Doth it proceed to the Psalmist's conclusive resolution I will take the 〈◊〉 of Salvation and call upon the name of the Lord I will pay my vows unto the Lord I will wâ—â— before the Lord in the land of the living c. Iâ— short is Conscience wont to answer the dispensations of mercy with more dearness foâ— God and his glory and with more degrees 〈◊〉 humility as it did in Jacob and in David theâ— is yours a good Conscience Psal 103. through out Ezra 9.13 14. Gen. 32.10 2 Sam. 7.18 19. 6 To the Copy of God § 27 The Conscience which is statedly good setteth the Christian upon Conformity to God he abhorreth sauciness with God as blasphemous and aspireth after similitude to God as his eminent business He knoweth that God is righteous and thence concludeth to be a doer of righteousness God is pure and as his hope is in him so he purifieth himself in Conformity to him God hath made it an argument Be ye boly for I am holy Conscience bearing his Authority brings the same argument also and Christ binds it upon the Conscience 1 Joh. 2.29 c. 3.3 1 Pet. 1.15 16. Mat. 5.48 Little Children let no man deceive you if God hath not drawn out his resemblance upon you if you are not doers of Righteousness as God is righteous If Conscience can permit you to walk in darkness while you profess to that God who is a pure light whatever be your pleas that your Consciences are good they are but pretensions not proofs your Consciences are still bad You that are ordinarily looking at and labouring to come as nigh as you may unto your Copy That are followers of God as dear Children that are created after God in righteousness and true holiâ—ess and whose care it is to be as immutable â—ntensive and extensive as you can in goodâ—ess You are the Children of God our Father who hath given to you a good Conscience 〈◊〉 Joh. 3.7 9. c. 1.5 6 7. 1 Pet. 1.14 Eph. 5.1 c. 4. â—4 Mat. 5.45 I have used a greater length and liberty of Speech in this Question than I have in former or shall in future Cases the importance thereof enforced me If Conscience be good your condition is good if Conscience be naught your condition is naught too as will be seen hereafter Be therefore the more thorough and serious in the trial of your selves still remembring this just Limit in all thy helps for knowledg hereof given you That your ordinary or usual tendency and habitude must be attended 'T is not what your Conscience is for a fit or in some sudden flash either as to good or as to evil but what your common frame and general or most usual temper is must be consulted Q. 5. Whether we may know that our Consciences be statedly and Evangelically good Though your Consciences are lockt up from the knowledg of others and are comprehensively and fully known only by God himself for who can understand his errors Psal 19.12 Yet every man may know what the stated habitude of his Conscience is if he will but deliberately discuss and carefully commune with and impartially attend and improve the judgment of his own Conscience As seems evident 1 By the description of its Nature 'T is the candle of the Lord searching not some but all not only the outward parts of the body but the inward parts of the belly i.e. the inwards acts and thoughts and therefore the the habitude and temper of the Heart elsewhere expressed by the Belly Prov. 20.7 cum Job 15.2 35. c. 32.18 19. The Spirit of Man i.e. the Conscience of Man knoweth the things of Man and within Man The Heart i.e. the Conscience knoweth its own bitterness and therefore may know its own blessedness 1 Cor. 2.11 Prov. 14.10 2 By the demands from and for it in Scripture Know ye not your selves i.e. your Consciences and so what your and their state and condition is whether you be in the faith whether Christ be in you 2 Cor. 13.5 Let every man prove his work and then shall he have rejoycing in himself which springs from the Testimony of a good Conscience Gal. 6.4 2 Cor. 1.12 3 By the declared sense hereof we find among the Saints Job's record is on high and in his own heart Job 16.19 c. 27.5 6. David and Hezekiah can and do confidently appeal the all-knowing God in it Psal 26.2 3. 17.3 Isa 38.3 Hear Paul We trust we have a good Conscience 'T is not we think or we hope but we trust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are perswaded are confident of it which confidence we may raise upon the same foundation that he did In all things willing to live honestly Heb. 13.18 Q. 6. How may we get or obtain a good Conscience The Premises in answer to the former Question are of place and pertinent use here also as likewise whatsoever shall be prescribed hereafter for obtaining a pure peaceable upright faithful Conscience c. Here I advise you these few things * See Perkin's Tom. 1. Treat of Conscience c. 4. p. 551. Sheffield's good Conscience ch 25. Dyke's good Consc c. 5 6. That you Direct 1 1 Act Consideration * See Motives in Dyke's good Cons c. 10. ad finem Consideration is the next step to the Conversion of thy self the change of thy estate and the setting of thy Conscience right in the sight of God Psal 119.59 60. 45.10 11. 50.21 22. See Q. 4. Direct 3. Consider therefore in thy Heart Deut. 4.39 c. 8.5 If my Conscience shall be good Then 1 My Condition will be good secure Conscience for the main and thou securest thy Condition for the main Thy Condition is as thy Conscience is good or bad as this is good or bad in the sight of God Amaziah's Condition was bad though the current of his Actions was materially good because his Conscience was bad he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord but not with a perfect heart nor like his father David 2 Chron. 25.2 2 King 14.3 Jehoshaphat's Condition was good though he were chargeable with some things that were signally bad because his Conscience was good Nevertheless
should come to repentance Behold he is ready to pardon Hebr. a God of pardons gracious merciful slow to anger and of great kindness Ezek. 33.11 c. 18.32 2 Pet. 3 9. Neh. 9.17 I know thou lookest upon him as clothed with righteousness and armed with omnipotent justice to revenge thy disobedience And 't is true he is so if thou shalt persist in thy sins But wilt thou revolve these few questions in thy heart and return an answer to them in thy own bosom 1. Is not Omnipotent mercy as propense and willing to save thee as Omnipotent justice is to damn thee Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die saith the Lord God and not that he should return from his ways and live He doth not so much as afflict willingly Judgment is his strange work but he rejoyceth to shew mercy He is as it were drawn to acts of justice but he delighteth in acts of mercy Ezek. 18.23 Lam. 3.33 Isa 28.21 Jer. 32.41 Mic. 7.18 Why then such confusion of heart Why dost thou cast away thine hope why shouldst thou fear and fly from him as one that will not forgive when there is forgiveness with him that he may be feared Psal 130.4 7. 2. Is not Omnipotent mercy as prevalent with him to save thee as justice is or can be to damn thee Behold mercy rejoyceth against judgment Acts of mercy flow freely from him they are of his own meer will and motion He hath mercy because he will have mercy Acts of justice have their foundation still without him and are laid in the desert of sin Justice requireth desert Mercy remitteth desert and requireth only distress or defect and knows no motive out of its own self Mercy doth not extend it self upon any former obligations or upon any future hopes Its acts are all free and both from and for it self How marvellous must the influence of mercy then be that is not raised upon the goodness or worth of the sinner but upon the good will of himself Yea when justice seems ready to strike mercy stays its arm and that for its own sake when there is nothing but misery and necessity can be suggested for the sinners sake Jam. 2.13 Rom. 9.15 16. Job 37.23 Psal 78.38 39. Isa 48.9 Behold then the foulness and merit of thy sins is supererogated by the freeness and super-abundance of his mercies 3. Hath not Omnipotent mercy provided and done more in order to thy Salvation then justice hath for thy damnation Yea he hath sent his Son to save thee if thou wilt accept of him his servants by office to shew thee the way of Salvation if thou wilt attend them his Scriptures and Ordinances to skill thee in and work in thee the things that accompany Salvation if thou wilt improve and obey them And nothing can damn thee but thy impenitence in sin Hath justice done as much to fit thee for hell as mercy hath to fit thee for heaven Now the designs of all his acts of justice are but to drive thee to the acceptance of his mercies If justice threatens 't is that she may not punish or if she punish here 't is that she may not punish for ever If thou art judged of the Lord 't is that thou mayst not be condemned with the world Joh. 3.16 Act. 16.17 c. 13.26 Tit. 2.11 1 Cor. 11.32 Oh! turn thy amazing fears of justice into admirings and hopes of mercy 4. Hath not Omnipotent mercy hitherto preponderated the proceeds of justice toward you Yea 't is not for want of might but of meer will and mercy that he hath hitherto forborn you and that your forfeited souls states c. have not been fearfully snatcht from you by some signal arrest of divine vengeance Hath he not indured you with much long-suffering Could finite mercies have put up a thousandth part of such continued injuries and indignities What bowels what bounties of mercies have yearned on you and been extended to you why should not Conscience reflect and say may not the same mercy at last save me that hath so long spared me yea and it will save you if you will yet shake off your sins and submit to its terms Nay this is the very end of it Oh may it so end in you Account that the long-suffering of God is Salvation in the end and design of it He waits that he may be gracious unto you Return and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep anger for ever Rom. 9.22 c. 2.4 2 Pet. 3.15 Isa 30.18 Jer. 3.12 5. Doth not Omnipotent mercy proffer and perswade you to imbrace its Propositions of Salvation and to prevent the ominous strokes of provoked justice yea God will have all men to be saved The grace of God that bringeth Salvation to all men hath appeared Lo he proffers it to all Whosoever will Ho every one that thirsteth He presseth it upon all who soever thirsteth let him come let him come let him come 'T is urged yet a fourth time Encline your ear and come to me He perswadeth it Here are waters here is wine here is milk here is bread for you whatsoever may raise your natures or relieve your necessities Here is the good which you seek after and which alone can satisfie you He prevents the exceptions whereupon men stand off its worth and their unworthiness Come buy without money and without price He pleads and expostulates wherefore will ye spend your money for that which is not bread c. Why will ye die Yea he prayeth and entreateth by his Ambassadors as though God did beseech you by us we pray you to be reconciled Lost man do but suffer me to save thee poor sinner suffer me to love thee These are the charms as one saith * Manton on Jude v. 2. p. 75. of Gospel rhetorick 1 Tim. 2.4 Tit. 2.11 Rev. 22.17 Isa 55.1 2 3. 2 Con. 5.20 Shall your diffidence and despair turn the deaf ear to all this and frustrate both God's design and your own desires to all eternity 6. Hath Omnipotent justice ever condemned any under the publication of the Gospel but upon the neglect or refusal of the offers of Omniptent mercy No mercy must disclaim you ere justice can damn you Vindictive justice must have the permit at least of divine mercy ere it can so punish This this is the condemnation the neglect of that great Salvation mercy shews us the miserable refusals and abuse of the riches of mercy Mercy never refuseth till men refuse What say you are you willing to be at peace and friends with that God to whom you say you have been so long enemies Never were there any who were willing to accept the conditions of mercy and to accord the quarrel of justice that mercy hath abandoned or justice arrested and cast into hell-torments If you are but willing truly throughly willing be you never so weak or have you
been never so wicked mercy hath a wing to cover you and clucks after you as her chicken 2 Chron. 36.16 Joh. 3.20 Heb. 2.3 Rom. 2.4 5. Isa 1.19 Mat. 23.37 7. Once more who are the Objects of Omnipotent mercy but such as are in misery Mercy is an attribute whose aspect is ever toward the Creature God knoweth himself loveth himself but is not merciful to himself And 't is misery is the object of mercy as the sole motive of bestowing mercy is his own free mercy So that the calamitousness of thy condition should not be abused to keep thee from mercy but used as an argument rather to awaken and quicken thee to the speediest close with mercy Here maist thou unload thy burdens and ease thy miserable breast The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy With him is a multitude of tender mercies Whither can you look but to mercy if you will not still live in misery Now here is work for saving mercy in the sense of thy misery Justice looks what your merits are but mercy looks what your miseries are Be not discouraged sin and misery are the most strong and suitable arguments whereby to plead for mercy For now you present God with the proper object of mercy which you pray him to magnifie You have the example of his Worthies to encourage you Lord be merciful to me heal my soul for I have sinned against thee Be merciful unto me O Lord for I am poor and needy Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed My soul also is sore vexed O save me for thy mercies sake Exod. 33.19 Jam. 5.11 Psal 51.1 41.4 86.1 3. 6.1 5. Direct 5. Present the Object by and through whom we can only hope for Salvation aright to you the Lord Christ His very name is argument enough to refell despair revive hope and raise both desire and delight His name Jesus Lets thee see what he is to his and what he will be to thee if thou wilt believe in him a Saviour from thy sins Mat. 1.21 Act. 16.31 1 Tim. 4.10 Away with thy strait and narrow conceptions of the blessed Jesus The Angel tells us This is good tydings of great joy which shall be to all people that there is born a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. The Apostles testifie that God sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world And if you attend his own sayings he assureth you I came not to judg the world but to save the world And God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved Luk. 2.10 1 Joh. 4.14 Joh. 12.47 c. 3.17 What is it then that sticks with you Do you think him either 1. averse that he will not or 2. not able and so cannot save so vile a sinner as thou art though thou submit unto him Behold Christ is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prorsus perpetuo perfectè as * ad Heb. 7.25 Gryneus giveth it us CHAP. V. Quest Whether we should direct our Prayers only to God the Father or may also to the Son and to the Holy Ghost And how may we order our thoughts aright in distinguishing these three persons especially as to prayer MOst dear and worthy Friend I willingly own the obligations you have put upon me to God and you And shall rejoyce to serve you or if this may satisfie you I shall not premise any needless Preface to what this paper offers you Your concessions in our late Conference I shall not so much prove as improve The question you would be clear in being complicate I shall take asunder and tender you what satisfaction I may from the holy Scriptures without the accession of humane Authors as knowing that your faith doth not indeed should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God 1 Cor. 2.5 Quest 1. Whether we should direct our prayers only to God the Father or may also to the Son and to the Holy Ghost Answ I affirm we may direct our Prayers to any of them and should direct our Prayers to all these three persons in the one most single and undivided Godhead To this purpose please to peruse these ensuing Propositions Prop. 1. God is the object of prayer the adequate and alone object His commands as also your concessions determine our prayers to and upon him who is God by nature upon him and upon no other Mat. 4.10 Psal 50.15 65.2 Gal. 4.8 Psal 44.20 21. So that the proper fundamental and formal reason of divine worship is the perfect and infinite excellency of the eternal Godhead Prop. 2. The Godhead which is and can be but one there being but one first cause and last end Deut. 6.4 Ephes 4.6 Isa 41.4 c. 44.6 8. subsists in Father Son and Holy Ghost without any division of that most single essence yet with distinction of these several persons This as your self concedes so these Scriptures clear 1 Joh. 5.7 Mat. 28.19 c. 3.16 17. Deut. 6.4 Jehovah Elohim So that as the Father is God Rom. 15.6 c 1.7 So also is the Son 1 Joh. 5.20 1 Tim. 3.16 Act. 20.28 And so likewise is the Holy Ghost Act. 5.3 4. 1 Cor. 3.16 17. c. 12.6 7 8. Three distinct persons they are but one and the same God There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three its not said ver 8. agree in one but are one Not only do they agree in one testimony but are one in truth one thing one nature one God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Joh. 5.7 I should further expatiate in clearing this truth but that you have already evidenced your clearness in it Prop. 3. The Son and Holy Ghost being one God co-equal and co-essential with the Father divine honour and our dues of office as prayer c. are to be deferred therefore and given unto them as well as to the Father This is eminently enough pointed to us in that prayer of Benediction which was prescribed unto the Priests Numb 6.23 27. Wherein they must thrice iterate The Lord the Lord the Lord bless thee c. But it is evidently and expresly pattern'd in that prayer of Valediction 2 Cor. 13.14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God i.e. the Father and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all Amen The practice of John may be produced likewise in that proemial prayer for and salutation of the Seven Churches Rev. 1.4 5. Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come a frequent periphrasis of the Father and from the Seven Spirits which are before his throne i.e. the Holy Ghost the variety and perfection of whose Graces in these Seven Asian Churches is hereby indicated he being but one and
it self evil as in the Polygamy of the Patriarchs And should not this power be good whose power is so great both for evil and for good 5. From the Principles it owneth 1. In Nature Doth not even Nature it self teach me that my Conscience be good whatsoever pains it cost me or whatever be the persecutions from men wherewith it may be consequenced The very Heathens have therefore prescribed means and pressed motives 2. In Grace how much more am I taught to exercise my self herein and engage my self hereunto by all the principles of godliness and by all the Promises of the Gospel 6. From the Offices it is to perform Can my Conscience do well if it be evil do not its Offices for God require that it be holy and good Conscience hath the office of 1. A Minister and is therefore obliged to be good a bad Minister being the worst of Men there is little hopes of its ministring good unless it be a good Minister 2. Of a Magistrate who should be most eminently and exemplarily good and a Minister to thee for good 3. Of a Witness 4. And of a Judg which must be good or they will do evil do evil themselves and not deliver Souls from extremity and injustice 3ly Direct 3 Apply you to the Causes of a good Conscience The Causes improved the effect will ensue These are principal or less principal 1 The Principal is God Every good and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of Lights The good Conscience is from the God of Conscience The God that made thy Conscience can alone make thy Conscience good Acknowledg him then in all thy ways and he shall direct thy paths Ask of him by prayer and strong crys as David did Thou art good and dost good teach me thy Statutes Incline my heart to thy Testimonies Let my heart be sound in thy Statutes Create in me a clean heart O God Jam. 1.17 Psal 119.36 68 80. 1. It proceedeth from the good-will of the Father The Inspiration of the Almighty giveth Understanding 'T is He that putteth Wisdom in the inward parts and giveth Understanding to the Heart Press thy Heart to consider it and plead with him in Supplication who delights to be urged with the liberousness of his own acts of Grace and giveth liberally to him that asketh Job 32.8 c. 38.36 Jam. 1.5 2. It is procured by the great worth of the Son who was made sin for us to take sin from us and in the likeness of sinful flesh by a sacrifice for sin hath condemned sin in the flesh and so brings us to God 2 Cor. 5.21 1 Joh. 3.5 Rom. 8.3 marg 1 Pet. 3.18 The good Conscience costs no less price than the Blood of God the Blood of Christ was shed that the besmeared Conscience might be sprinkled and purged for the peculiar service of God Act. 20.28 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Heb. 10.22 c. 9.4 Apply then the meritorious and medicinal vertue that is in the Blood of Christ for cure of those maladies and bruises that are in thy Conscience Apply it by an hand of Faith make it thine Put thou on the Lord Jesus Christ Bring it down to thy case let this Blood be sprinkled on thy Conscience apply it in ardent prayer come unto God by him present his Merit with thy malignity to Divine mercy Plead his worthiness in thy unworthiness his stripes for thy healing the righteousness of Christ for the renovation of thy Conscience Pursue thy petitions upon the price he hath paid 3. It is produced by the gracious work of the Spirit If Conscience be spiritual and gracious it comes from the spirit of Grace if pure if holy 't is by the power of the Holy Ghost 'T is carnal till the Spirit comes never spiritual till born of the Spirit It is the spirit of life which sets it free from the law of sin and death Joh. 3.5 Rom. 15.13 16. Rom. 8.2 What Evangelical Truths are imprinted on the good Conscience they are of the Spirit 's writing 2 Cor. 3.3 What Evangelical Testimony is imparted by the good Conscience 't is of the Spirit 's working of his working for us who also witnesseth therewith in us Rom. 8.15 c. 9.1 Put not off the Spirit then in its motions and essays upon you which he maketh ply to him with all diligence and dearness put him not off with delays much less shouldst thou provoke him with a denial Let Steven speak why the Jews were uncircumcised in heart Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost Act. 7.51 Rather pray in the Spirit which God hath promised to pour out And who knows but Beggars may be blest in that branch of the Promises of his Grace I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them Prov. 1.23 Luk. 11.13 Ezek. 36.27 2 The less principal Causes are 1. an operative faith and love within you 2. the ordinances for faith and love without you 1. Let there be an operative faith and love within you These like Judah and Simeon his Brother come up into each others lots to subdue the Canaanites and set right the Conscience Let there be Charity out of a pure heart and Faith unfeigned and thou canst not be left without a good Conscience which the Apostle lodgeth in the midst of these as the Tabernacle of the Congregation was in the midst of the Camp Judg. 1.3 1 Tim. 1.5 Numb 2.17 Both of them have a blessed operation and tendency first to purifie then to pacifie the Conscience Of which hereafter 2. Live in the Ordinances for Faith and Love Be much in Praying Hearing Reading Meditation Conference the end of all these Commandments of God is to make thy Conscience good Cry after him and continue in them for this end make God's end thy errand to them and your heart shall live that seek God 1 Tim. 1.5 Psal 69.32 You wrong your own Souls that wave the Ordinances of our Saviour How many an evil Conscience hath been healed and cured by them How many a bad Conscience have been made good and how many a good Conscience have been made better The way is as open to you as it was to them follow God in them forsake not the ways of his Gospel you shall know if you follow on to know the Lord. Continue at the gates of Wisdom come for Wisdom to her gates and thou shalt not come off a loser yea if thou criest after knowledg and liftest up thy voice for understanding If thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledg of God Prov. 8.33 ad finem Hos 6.3 Prov. 2.1 6. 4. Attend Conscience throughout Direct 4 If Conscience be not good throughly 't is not good truly See that this goodness go throughout Conscience To this is requisite 1. a right apprehension of
Tell him with Job Behold I am vile and with Agur Surely I am more brutish than any man I have not the understanding of a man Prov. 28.13 Psal 32.5 6. Job 40.4 Prov. 30.2 3 Abhor thy self in the sense of it A prostrate self-abhorrence will surely purge thy Conscience and blot that consciousness of sin thou hast contracted both out of God's debt-book and thy own day-book Whereof Job and David are plain and pregnant instances Job 42.6 Psal 51. This Medicament is a sure preventive and safe purgative of a putrified Conscience it includeth these two as the principal ingredients 1. Self-displicence in sorrow and indignation with thy self as David Oh! that I should be such a fool such a sot such a beast 2 Cor. 7.11 Psal 73.21 22. 2. Self-defiance in shaming and judging thy own self renouncing thy righteousness and ripping up thy follies and filthiness and loathing thy self in thy own sight O Lord righteousness belongeth to thee but to me shame and confusion of face O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face c. Ezek. 6.9 c. 16.63 Dan. 9.7 8. Ezra 9.6 3. Rev. 2.5 Renew Do over the first works for thy former washing The door of Mercy stands as open as heretofore Thy duty to use the means and the efficacy of the means upon a due use of them is as observable as heretofore Then thou wert without strength and couldst not co-operate with divine Grace nor any more cleanse thy sin than the Ethiopian can change his skin In that first work thou wert meerly passive Rom. 5.6 Jer. 13.23 Job 14.4 * See Saryl ad loc But now the case is altered the least Saint is not without a little strength Grace is communicated and doth expect thy co-operation with it self that a man purge himself Rev. 3.8 2 Tim. 2.21 2 Cor. 7.1 Renew then 1 the advised provision Q. 5. Dir. 3. Particularly 2 the application of the Promises this is not only an excellent congruity and an evident connexion between the Promises of Christ and the purging of our Conscience but they exhibit a Copy how we should purge and effectually conveigh a power whereby ye shall purge the Conscience and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust 2 Cor. 7.1 2 Pet. 1.4 3 Renew the ardour of thy Prayers these will engage and sanctifie all other endeavours engage Heaven and thy own Heart follow thy work close here and with much constancy Double the duty and thy diligence therein Remember the Psalmist how he reiterated this Petition Wash me purge me cleanse me create a clean heart in me Wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin Psal 51.2.7 10. 4 Renew the Acts of these holy Principles in thee Faith Hope and Love as they were of past so are they of present and perpetual efficacy so the expressions intimate Act. 15.9 1 Joh. 3.3 Purifying 't is not said having purified their Hearts by Faith He that hath this hope purifieth himself c. Send Faith afresh then to the Blood of Christ and the blessed Covenant of Grace for cleansing and let this stir up and streng then the other implanted Habits to their several imployments Shew Hope a further sight of those pure and perfect Glories which God hath prepared and promised The more this glorious Purity becomes the matter of thy Hope for hereafter the more will a gracious Purity become the matter of thy attempts and aspirings here And to besure the more thou lovest pureness of heart the more wilt thou apply thy self for and shalt attain of heart-purity CHAP. IV. Of the Peaceable and Disquiet Conscience Q. 1. Whether the Conscience that is not Evangelically good or pure may yet enjoy great peace and so whether a Man may safely conclude his Conscience is pure because 't is quiet and at peace I. Prop. 1 IF you understand peace of Conscience in the most proper precise and strict notion thereof then can there be no peace of Conscience where there is no purity 'T is first pure then peaceable There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Others may sing a Requiem to them Peace peace and they may bless themselves in their own hearts saying I shall have peace but my God saith there is no peace Jam. 3.17 Jer. 6.14 Deut. 29.19 Isa 57.21 The quiet of such Consciences some please to call a Truce but cannot allow it the name of peace If that here is only a temporary suspension of arms no total cessation * See Dyk good Cons p. 31 32. the quarrel is not taken up Conscience is but taking more time to right it self and revenge their stubbornness Peace of Conscience if we understand it strictly imports more than an immunity from inward Concertations and Concussions it implieth also an enjoyment of it self with a victorious serenity in the felicitating smiles of God's Countenance and in viewing the spoils of Sin and Satan its vanquished adversaries Rom. 15.13 Phil. 4.7 Joh. 14.27 It presupposeth peace with God as its prime basis upon which it rests and into which it is resolved as its principal cause Peace of Conscience being originally but the reflex of this that God is reconciled and at peace with us Rom. 5.1 2. Job 22.21 Men of impure Consciences are upon terms of enmity not of peace with God they are against him and he against them Ephes 2.16 Psal 18.26 2. It presupposes a propriety in Christ who is our Peace whose death for us is the sole price of our reconciliation and peace with God and whose Union with us and the communion with and conformity to him is the signal evidence thereof But the impure Conscience hath no interest in Christ he is not only without Christ but at war and enmity with Christ Ephes 2.14 Rom. 5.1 10. 2 Cor. 5.18 19. Fph. 2.12 Col. 1.21 3. It is produced by Faith Faith Evangelical giveth us peace with God and God giveth us peace in and by the exercise of faith Faith unites us with God in Christ and so 't is peace in Heaven here is its direct act and then Faith unfolds and reviews this Union and so 't is peace in the Heart here is its reflex act Now the impure Conscience hath no saving Faith which doth still first purifie then pacifie the Conscience Rom. 5.1 c. 15.13 Ephes 3.17 18 19. 1 Joh. 5.11 12 13. Joh. 5.44 Act. 15.9 4. Besides this peace is made the priviledg the incommunicable priviledg of the Church and Kingdom of Christ who are said to be clean through his word Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you c. i. e. to you not only eminently above others but exclusively to you and not to any others Rom. 14.17 Joh. 14.27 cum 15.3 II. Prop. 2 But if you understand peace of Conscience in a larger and less proper sense in the vulgar notion and latitude of this expression as it imports the quietness thereof from inward arrests
exercise of his graces in you while he is evidencing his grace to you He requireth your offerings and the first fruits of you oblations with all your holy things and hath promised I will accept you with your sweet savour Cant. 7.12 13. Heb. 12.28 Ezek. 20.40 41. And now God is pleased by his own promise to undertake for his peoples peace while they persist in such ways as these Isa 26.3 c. 30.15 c. 32.17 4 Be more steady in the reciprocations of love with him Give him love for love Are his desires towards thee Let thy desires also be towards him Doth he rejoyce over thee do thou also rejoyce in him 1 Joh. 4.19 Psal 33.1 21. Isa 26.8 O love the Lord all ye his Saints While you live in Love there is an harmony of hearts and you 'l have no leisure for listning after those sinful avocations which displease God and disturb the Conscience Love will be adhering to and abiding with God and assimilating you to his goodness Besides love casts and keeps out tormenting fears and is of that transcending and inexpugnable force that like death it beareth down all before it Many waters cannot quench love neither can the floods drown it Psal 31.23 5.11 12. 70.4 1 Joh. 4.18 Cant. 8.6 7. Direct 5. Keep up a steady confidence and faith in Christ He was the cause and is the conservator of Evangelical peace It was procured by his Death and is preserved by his Intercession Herein he doth not only appear in our natures but for our sakes and in our steads as our Agent to preserve a corresponderce and prevent controversies as our Attâ—rney to plead our Cause and promote our Concernments And whereas every sin tends to a breach of peace he takes upon him to accord the difference and appease justice and he doth it not only by presenting our petitions for peace but by pleading the perpetual vertue of his own pacifick sacrifice and perâ—â—â—â— satisfaction for us Heb. 9.24 c. 6.20 â— Job 2.1 2. Rev. 8.2 3. Heb. 9.7 12. Now your work is to come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them that thus come Heb. 7.25 You may neither come in prayer nor by faith immediately unto God but through him in the vertue of his Mediation and Intercession Eph. 3.12 Col. 3.17 2 Corinth 3.4 Upon every new breach that your sin seems to make 1 Set the principle of faith at work afresh upon him An active faith will appropriate and draw the benefits of his Intercession into our own chanel He is entred by his own blood into the holy place for us He appeareth in the presence of God for us Heb. 9.12 14. It apprehends and eyes Christ as one that is herein about our business answering our accuser accomplishing our absolution according our crimes or charges with divine justice advocating our case with the Father and that we may be accepted before the Lord as one that bearing our names before the Lord upon his two shoulders yea upon his heart as a memorial before the Lord continually as the high Priest did when he went into the Holy of Holies Rev. 12.10 Heb. 9.7 11 c. 1 Joh. 2.1 Exod. 28.12 29 38. Yea an active faith will be able from the influence and efficacy of his Intercession to argue down both inward fears and outward force whatsoever may seem to introduce a charge or impeach the peace of our Consciences She concludes Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by him And challengeth them to speak or do their worst she is so secured in him Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Heb. 7.25 Rom. 8.33 34. 2 Send up the prayers of faith to him or rather to God by him Put thy petitions for preserving thy peace into his hands and they are sure to pass He will deliver them and the Father will not deny him 'T is the office he undertaketh to offer up the prayers of the Saints and he will therewith offer up his own incense 1 Joh. 5.14 15. Joh. 16.23 Rev. 8.3 If you would maintain Conscience maintain this confidence His Intercession affords you abundant arguments Seeing that we have a great High-priest that is passed into the heavens Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need 1 Joh. 3.21 22. Heb. 4.14 16. Direct 6. Keep close to the Covenant of Peace Conscience fetcheth its comforts out of the Covenant of Grace 'T is its armory in times of Spiritual war and its treasury in times of Spiritual peace 2 Sam. 23.5 Heb. 6.18 2 Cor. 10.4 c. 4.7 Learn to be more conversant in it and keep close to it 1 Not only in fulfilling the condition it propoundeth of which before Q. 6. Though all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies 1 Chron. 16.15 16 17. Psal 25.10 103.17 18. 2 But by faith in the Promises it contains Every promise would thus end in peace for what is the Gospel but a Gospel of peace Or what are Gospel-truths but the glad tydings of peace Abraham and Sara had enough to perplex and intricate them but faith in the promise kept them immovable and unshaken Rom. 10.15 Gal. 6.15 Rom. 4.18 22. Heb. 11.11 God hath laid up immutable grounds of Comfort in his immutable Covenant If the fruits are mutable 't is because our faith is mutable The Promises are all Yea and Amen but our faith is yea and nay Let faith eye them more steadily and embrace them more strongly So did the Patriarks and they lived and died in peace Heb. 6.17 18. c. 11 13. 3 By frequent views of its perpetuity and continuance The mountains indeed shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee nor the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Isa 54.10 'T is a sure Covenant We have his word his oath his seal to confirm it to us and his own love and faithfulness are lain at pledg for the performance of it 2 Sam. 23.5 Psal 89.33 34 35. 2 Cor. 1.22 When ever therefore Conscience is ready to misgive thee call her hither and mind her of the immutability of Gods Covenant in the mutability of thy condition Tell her Thus saith the Lord if you can break my Covenant of the day and my Covenant of the night that there should not be day and night in their season then may also my Covenant be broken with you Jer. 33.20 21. c. 31.35 36 37. Direct 7. Keep on in the Commandments of God Keep up duty if you would keep off disquiet Peace of Conscience is preserved by obedience not only
grievous and distrust so great I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul I shall go down to the grave without so much as any glimpse more of my God or of his grace I am cut off Lo God hath overthrown me He hath stript me of my glory and taken the crown from my head He hath destroyed me on every side and I am gone and mine hope hath he removed like a tree Thus we find them casting their eye inward and crying out Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable yea upward and complaining Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever How long wilt thou forget me O Lord for ever Will the Lord cast off for ever will he be favourable no more Is his mercy clean gone for ever c. Isa 38.10 11 15. Lam. 3.54 Job 19.6.9 10. Jer. 15.18 Lam. 5.20 Psal 13.1.77.7 8 9. 6 The distresses of pious Souls may be of a large extent for quantity as well as of a long extent for continuance Very extensive in themselves and may extend over the whole Subject 1. In themselves they may be so large as I cannot meditate any other stint or limit than this that they shall not extend unto a full and final despair Otherwise they may and often do exceed the sense of others and the speech of them that are the sad and suffering subjects Job's grief was very great so great that words and weeping too were too narrow for the vastness of it Oh that my grief were throughly weighed saith he and my calamity laid in the balances together For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea therefore my words are swallowed up All language is too little to declare their greatness and therefore is a line too short to limit or determine it and yet neither silence nor speech many times can moderate it Though I speak my grief is not asswaged and though I forbear what am I eased Job 2.13 c. 6.2 3. c. 16.6 2. They extend sometimes over the whole subject all Conscience the immediate and proper subject and over all under the power of Conscience the remote and less proper subject Conscience is sometimes all in a combustion in the sadded Christian My heart is like wax saith David melted in the midst of my bowels It fainteth it faileth me it is grieved pained sore pained within me smitten and withered like grass oppressed overwhelmed in me disquieted distracted yea my heart within me is desolate The troubles of my heart are inlarged c. Psal 22.14 84.2 40.12 73.21 55.4 102.4 61.2 38.8 88.15 143.4 25.17 Conscience the commander in chief being thus mortally wounded the whole army is in a rout and either runs before the pursuer or are roaring out their plaints c. Reason is distracted the resolutions of the Will dissipated Affections discomposed Passions distempered and every power of soul and body is disordered Conscience thus pierced and broken all come in to bear a part in this sad Catastrophe The poyson hereof drinketh up my spirit saith Job My spirit was overwhelmed saith David My spirit faileth My soul is sore vexed and consumed with grief My soul cleaveth unto the dust My soul fainteth for thy salvation My soul is full of trouble I will speak in the anguish of my spirit saith the former I will complain in the bitterness of my soul Job 6.4 Psal 143.4 7. 6.3 31.9 119.25 81. 88.3 Job 7.11 And can ye expect it much better with the body Review the same instances Fear came upon me and trembling which made all my bones to shake My bones are pierced in me and my sinews take no rest My bowels boiled and rested not He cleaveth my reins asunder and doth not spare he poureth out my gall upon the ground My bones are vexed There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin The arrows of his quiver enter into my reins Mine eye trickleth down and ceaseth not without any intermission Mine eyes fail for thy word saying when wilt thou comfort me Job 4.14 c. 30.17 27. c. 16.13 Psal 6.2 38.3 119.82 Lam. 3.13 48. And now Soul wilt thou tell me or rather tell thy self whether thy sorrow be like unto their sorrow who were yet Saints of the first magnitude 7 The distresses of pious Souls may be very eminent for quality and degree as well as for quantity and duration I cannot undertake to cleave an hair to say thus far they may be intended and no further Though I doubt not to say that these anxieties and afflictions can never bring them to an utter and universal aversation from God or godliness Their diffidence and demeanor towards him may be very deplorable yea dreadful but their spot is the spot of children They do not they dare not say unto God depart from us we desire not the knowledg of thy ways Yea this is their greatest desire that they were his and he theirs Turn us again O God and cause thy face to shine is the burden of their prayers And this is the greatest thing they deplore that they have turned away from him and that he is turned against them And could we trace their fears and dolors to their proper form we should find they did not spring from an aversation to God or grace but from an appreitation That they drag so heavily is not that they hate holiness but in that they have not holiness at least as to their sense or with that strength and sweetness they would fain have Psal 44.17 23. Deut. 32.5 Job 21.14 Psal 42.1 6. 80.3 7 14 19. Isa 49.14 Lam. 3.3 Psal 73.21 22. Nevertheless they may be deeply plunged in this ditch and may arrive 1. To formidable conceptions of God as if God were not only not kind but cruel to them as if he failed his promise had forgotten to be gracious and in anger shut up his tender mercies As if he were not only deaf to their prayers but distorted his providence and did not do them justice and were immovably determined upon their destructions Such a feaver or such a frency rather may these distresses sometimes draw upon the understanding So that the Soul may not stick to say I am troubled at his presence when I consider I am afraid of him Job 30.21 Psal 77.8 9. Lam. 3.8 Job 19.7 c. 23.13 15 16. 2. To false constructions of Godliness as if they had laboured in vain and spent their strength for nought and in vain Thou saidst saith Elihu what advantage will it be unto thee and what profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin Thinkest thou this to be right 'T is true I do not find the abode and fixing of such apprehensions upon a faithful heart But holy David's feet were almost gone his steps had well nigh slipt when he saw obdurate sinners prospered and himself
thus plagued He as upon the borders of this crime Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency But he soon takes up the tentation Isa 49.4 Job 35.2 3. Psal 73.2 12 16. 3. To furious commotions both of their reason and passions so as to curse their birth to complain of life and to court and covet death saith Job 3. per totum Mark me saith he and be astonished even when I remember I am afraid and trembling taketh hold of my flesh My sighing cometh before I eat and my roarings are poured out like the waters My bones shook my hair stood up Job 21.5 6. c. 3.24 c. 4.14 15. 4. To fearful concussions of the very frame of nature in them I am troubled saith David I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long there is no soundness in my flesh I am feeble and sore broken I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart My soul is full of troubles and my life draweth nigh unto the grave saith Heman I am as a man that hath no strength My members are as a shadow saith Job My bowels boiled and rested not Psal 38.6 7 8. 88.3 4. Job 17.7 c. 30.27 Conscience pours out blackness and darkness upon the constitution and this pours it back upon Conscience 5. To frightful conclusions against themselves As if all past were but hypocrisie all present were but iniquity and all future were but exclusion from mercy and enduring of misery as if it were not only past help but past hope What is my strength that I should hope saith this Soul with Job Yea where is now my hope as for my hope who shall see it My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. My Judgment is passed over from my God My bones are dried up my hope is lost and I am cut off for my part I am counted with them that go down into the pit like the slain that lie in the grave whom God remembreth no more Job 6.11 c. 17.15 Isa 40.27 Ezek. 37.11 Psal 88.4 5. Upon such precipices may the prejudices and passions of pious Souls hurry them So that their Souls may refuse comfort as if they resolved with Jacob to go down into the grave mourning and to give the Sons of Consolation but Isaiah's language in another case Look away from me I will weep bitterly labour not to comfort me Psal 77.2 Gen 37.35 Isa 22.4 Let me only add that though I have justified these Propositions I must not be understood to justifie the passions and provocations instanced I have not written this for the patronage but plucking up of sin nor for the ulcerating but healing of Souls as also that others may hear and fear that they fall not after the same examples of distrust into the same excesses of disquiet Q. 12. What if a pious Soul hath hitherto persisted in the use of such means and yet finds no peace but his perplexities rather increase what shall he do Direct 1. Abide with perseverance Give not over but go on with the use of the means prescribed thee nor slacken thy diligence in the duties shewn thee If they are means they conduce to this end and will be crowned with success in the end And if thou expect to come at the end it must be by a continued use of the means These are not wells without water nor clouds without rain They tend to peace in their native operation and shall end in peace according to God's ordinance and promise Joh. 16.33 Isa 32.17 c. 26.3 Psal 119.65 Rom. 2.10 You say then you have not declined from the means but I doubt you have either declined from Christ in them or in your care about them Let me ask you 1. Hath there not been slightness in the course of your duties You do the work of the Lord but is it not negligently How often do you quicken and convene all that is within you How often do call upon your drowsie hearts Awake awake Deborah awake awake to this holy duty If you are slothful no marvel that God and Conscience do still scourge you for you are herein guilty both of unkindness to God and cruelty to your selves for as much as every duty hath a reward in it for you as well as it is a debt to him Jer. 48.10 Psal 103.1 108.2 Jud. 5.12 Be diligent then that you may be found of him in peace He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him Their Souls shall delight themselves in fatness 2 Pet. 3.14 Heb. 11.6 Isa 55.2 2. Have not you slighted Christ in your duties You come and that often but do you come unto God by him Do you take him with you in the hand of your faith and in the arms of your love No marvel if God be strange to your Souls if you are strange to his Son What atonement what acceptance can you have or hope for but by him He is our peace Heb. 7.25 Jer. 14.8 Rom. 5.11 1 Pet. 2.5 Ephes 2.13 14. Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus from hence forwards Keep him fresh before the eye of Conscience This may fill you with confidence Christ now undertakes the case and that you shall in time have comfort Bring him in your hand and he beareth you upon his heart And he cannot be denied who hath his father's ear his father's heart Col. 3.17 Ephes 3.12 Joh. 16.22 25. Exod. 28.29 30. 1 Joh. 5.14 Direct 2. I advise you that notwithstanding 1 That you attend with patience You have need of patience of the patience of expecting as well as of the patience of enduring that after ye have done the will of God you may receive the promises I doubt your work is not done or not well done However there must be time allowed for between work and wages between seed-time and harvest In due season you shall reap if you fain not Heb. 10.36 Gal. 6.9 Durst you say with that profane Pursevant of King Joram This evil is of the Lord what should I wait for the Lord any longer Nay rather should you say with the Church In the way of thy judgments will we saith she have we wait for thee who in the midst of judgment remembreth mercy Yea and waits that he may be gracious to his when it will be the best season when it will be best for their Souls for the Lord is a God of judgment 2 King 6.33 Isa 26.8 Hab. 3.2 Isa 30.18 God will be known to be the God of all comfort and of this arbitrarily not at our but at his own pleasure and appointment He will speak peace and that in season in due season when it shall seem most free in him the giver and when it shall be most fit for you the receivers But you must leave eternity to take his own time and not look on it as if it would be at no time because it is not at your time The vision is yet
for an appointed time but at the end it shall speak and not lie Though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come it will not tarry beyond God's appointment or your advantage 2 Cor. 1.3 4. Ephes 1.9 Psal 85.8 Heb. 10.37 Hab. 2.7 Be patient therefore there is some peace even in patience for it calms and stills the passions and gives the soul the possession of it self and 't is seldom but peace ensueth on patience for this hath the promise of it I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry He brought me up also out of an horrible pit out of the miry clay c. Jam. 5.7 8. Luk. 21.19 Psal 40.1 2 3. Isa 40.27 31. c. 26.9.64.4 Direct 3. Abet hope This will be an Anchor sure and stedfast in the most astonishing tempests when you cannot use either sails or rudder What though thy heart be cast down there is no happiness nothing but horrour in hand yet shouldst thou charge thy Soul with David Hope thou in God Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him there is plenteous redemption His compassions fail not he hath corrected thee but he hath not consumed thee And whence is this but of his mercy This I recall to mind saith the Church in her sore and nigh sinking condition therefore have I hope Heb. 6.19 Psal 42.5 11. 130.7 Lam. 3.21 22. I grant your case is deplorable but not desperate Your recovery is ardnous but not impossible Others have been restored Job David Heman c. whose feet were as fast yea faster locked in these stocks than yours If you make reflection you 'l meet with little or no reason to let your hopes flag and fail at this rate Is there not the same way open still the same mercy in God the same merit in Christ the same ministration of the Covenant Are you not as capable of peace now when God hears you praying crying lamenting after him and sees you pursuing panting after him and pressing on him as you were heretofore when he heard little else perhaps than blasphemies saw you weltring in your blood and yet was then found of you when you sought him not Why should you cast away those confidences of hope or not rather hold them fast Heb. 10.35 c. 3.6 14. Besides the valley of Achor i.e. of trouble which had its name from Achans troubling them and there being troubled of the Lord may be for a door of hope So great a darkness may presage and be but the immediate precursor of a dawning When I am weak i.e. in my self then am I strong i.e. in my Saviour saith Paul When his feet were fastest in the stocks his liberty was nearest and his bands were loosed When Job's and David's distresses did most overflow their banks then did their most peace and joy flow into their bosoms God comforteth those that are cast down Yea when men are cast down then thou shalt say there is lifting up and he shall save the humble person Josh 7.26 Hos 2.15 2 Cor. 12.10 Act. 16.24 26. Job 42. Psal 31.22 2 Cor. 7.6 Job 22.29 Direct 4. Adhere yet to him and that with full purpose You have lost your assurance this is expired in lamentation and anguish but do not let go your adherence this will end in life and happiness at the last God's end by putting you to feed on husks is not to keep you off but to quicken you home to your father's house not that your Souls should drive further from him among the shelfs and sands of despair but draw nearer to him in the still and safe waters of dependance Act. 11.23 Deut. 30.20 Psal 83.16 Hos 5.15 He expects that you cleave to him with steadier resolutions and commit your selves to him with a steadier recumbence 1. Cleave to him more stedfastly You that fear him are called on to cleave unto him And alas whither can you go from him and find the good and peace you look for Thou mayst call for thy lovers but among all thy lovers there is none can comfort thee while God is wounding and chastising thee Is it not thy loosness and inconsistency with God which hath brought thee into these labyrinths of confusion and mazes of perplexities Call back thy Soul hither Return unto thy rest O my Soul My Soul wait thou only upon God And keep thy Soul here For there is no quiet off the center But every thing is quiet in its center Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help whose hope is in the Lord his God Deut. 10.20 Lam. 1.2 19. Jer. 30.14 Psal 116.7 62.5 146.5 I doubt your restlesness groweth out of irresolution You are not throughly resolved for God as your center and chiefest good Or how is it that you are so easily carried from him or cleave no more entirely to him a stone needs not to be driven downward nor fire upward they affect their center and acquiesce in it nor are drawn from it but by force and violence Come then and gather up your resolutions for God Be ye stedfast and immovable Yea thou maist humbly tell him I will not let thee go except thou bless me No though thou hast sore broken me in the place of Dragons and covered me with the shadow of death my heart shall not turn back from thee While I live I will serve thy Majesty and when I die it shall be at the feet of thy mercy O how such prayers and purposes have power with God and prevail Lo this is the rest wherewith we may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing 1 Cor. 15.58 Gen. 32.26 28. Psal 44.18 19. Isa 28.12 2. Commit your selves to God more steadily I see your case comes off but badly from your hands will you cast it once at length into God's hand Unto him will you commit your cause Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee Commit thy way and works unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass and thy thoughts shall be established But if you think to warm you by your own sparks and to walk in the light of your fire This shall ye have of mine hand saith the Lord ye shall lie down in sorrow Job 5.8 Psal 55.22 37.5 Prov. 16.3 Isa 50.11 Unbelief like a growing torrent will bear down all the props and pillars of hope and obedience before it and leaves thy duties bare without spirit or strength Nor wilt thou be able to extricate thy mind out of that maze of doubtful and perplexed reasonings wherein she is intangled without this exercise of faith Obj. Ah but may such as I dare to adventure it Will it not be presumption in me to transfer over my case to him and trust in God Answ No in no wise 1. Devolve thy cares and case thou must some-where or thou must still droop under them and die away
understanding May not Reason say to thee as Elihu to Job how much more may Religion say it If thou canst answer me set thy words in order before me stand up Job 32.8 c. 33.5 What cause is there for this uproar Why art thou so restless O my Soul why in this rage Hast thou not a God to run unto Yea hear him Come now and let us reason together though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool If ye be willing and obedient c. If why art thou disquieted O my Soul cannot be answered before the Bar of Reason much less will this question Why art thou distracted O my Soul why art thou despairing Let reason gird on her strength for the battle and hold the ballance in weighing thy condition and how will thy passions flee before it like the dust before the wind Isaiah 1.18 19. Psal 42.5 Direct 2. Present thy estate aright unto thy self at least as right as reason may help thee to set it This mischief groweth out of the misrepresentation of us to our selves in looking upon it through a wrong medium We look upon it through a red or flame-coloured glass and so all things look to us as if they were all blood or in a flame So Job My days are past saith he my purposes are broken off even the thoughts or possessions of my heart c. And where is now my hope as for my hope who shall see it Job 17.11 15. Two things I advise thee Present that estate wherein thou remainest aright to thee and whereinto thou art run or running The state wherein thou remainest Here use the looking-glass if thou wilt but not the multiplying glass as Cain doth enhancing the desperateness of his state beyond the denounced sentence of God Gen. 4.13 14. Nay Job and Heman we find dashing upon this rock He look'd upon himself as a man that had no strength free among the dead as if he were enfranchised of the grave already whereas he was in a state of life seeking and lamenting after God Job 3. 6. 10. 19.6 7 c. Psal 18.4 5. cum 1.2 13. Is thy estate an estate of grace the cure is promised Omnipotency is engaged for it Isa 57.16 20. c. 40.27 31.48.8 9 10. Is it the estate of nature yet the cure is possible Manasseh Magdalen and others whose sins were more sinful whose state was more sad have been actually cured Hast thou been a blasphemer a persecutor injurious So was Paul yet he obtained mercy and for this cause that he might be a pattern to them which should hereafter believe 1 Tim. 1.13 16. If thou wilt but yet return though thou hast been weary of God and wearying of him hitherto and made him to serve with thy sins yet he will return and save thee not for thy sake but for his own sake Isa 43.22 26. Zach. 1.3 Jer. 3.12 13 14. Ezek. 36.22 33. Is thy estate an estate of great discomfort yet not of grievous despair at least in the root and reason of it While life remaineth there is still reason and room for hope Say you you have a name that you live but you are like Sardis in deed and truth dead dead as to any spiritual life yet Sardis is not shaken off Behold the Gospel informs you that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live Yea it inviteth inciteth incourageth you Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light Eccles 9.4 Rev. 3.1 c. Joh. 5.25 Ephes 5.14 Ah! but our bones are dried up our hope is lost we are cut off for our parts Why Till your days are cut off the door of hope stands open All the day long he stretcheth out his hands to a rebellious people Yea thus saith the Lord God to these bones I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves It was spoken to Israel to revive their dead hopes of their Civil State but is applicable to us likewise for restoring our hopes in any Spiritual strait if other Scriptures be compared with it Isa 65.2 Ezek. 37.5 11 12. Rom. 4.17 2 Cor. 1.8 9 10. Eph. 2.1 5. 2 Direct 3 Present the estate whereinto thou art running aright to thee which shall be a third Direction Will despair make thy sins less or thy state better 'T is as if thou wouldst flie from the Sheep to the Dog or from the Dog to the Wolf or from either to the roaring Lion or the ravening Bear from food to physick from physick to poyson Thou that art fleeing from the iron weapon the bow of steel shall strike thorow Over what a clift art thou casting thy self headlong Into what a gulf of extreamest sorrows and sin art thou contumaciously hastening 1 Into what a gulf of sorrows Hope deferred maketh the heart sick but hope denied maketh the heart swoon and sink away 'T is as if you would throw away your Anchor that you may ride out the tempest Hope rests and reposeth the mind and freeth it from all such anxieties as arise out of the floating instability and fearfulness thereof as one well * Dr. Rey. olds Pas â—ous c. 25. When Hope is gone Happiness goeth with it and instead of these what terrour cometh that maketh the heart as it were an hell upon earth and maketh the man a Magormizabib a terrour round about The Heart which was wont to be the habitation of delights is now become the habitation of dragons of trembling sorrows and tormenting fears The wild beasts of the desert Satan and his accomplices do here meet with the wild beasts of the Island a mans own Soul The Satyrs dance here and cry to their fellows The shritch owls hatch and gather under their shadow The Vultures also be gathered together every one with his mate Prov. 13.12 Lam. 3.17 18 19. Psal 18.4 5. 86.13 116.3 Isa 34.14 15. c. 13.21 22. I want words to express the misery of this estate O! the boiling oyl and scalding lead that Conscience is pouring out upon the other powers The Aetna of sulphureous flames that they pour back upon Conscience Whatever be the dreadful effects to which an heightned fancy may boil up our inflamed angers griefs terrours they may be expected here Soul consider whither whither thou art precipitating thy self from distress unto despair Despair this one word should stop thee If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee how shalt thou contend with horses If thou durst not venture the small rivulet of distress what wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan of despari Canst thou fight Goliah that fallest before a stripling Whilst thou art fleeing hither from the iron weapon a bow of steel shall strike thee thorow the glistering sword cometh out of thy
expedient for the right directing of your Prayers frequently to actuate such thoughts in and about the distinction of these persons before Paayer Because this serves thereunto as a means to its end There is not only a habitual but an actual preparation of our selves prerequired to Prayer Job 11.13 Isa 64.7 Psal 108.1 The actual presenting of the divine essence to our selves and pressing the glory thereof upon our Souls which eminently shineth forth in all these persons is admirably preparatory hereunto and hath a powerful influence per modum objecti upon our minds wills and affections both to fetch them off from other pursuits and objects and to fix and unite them in and to the present office To allure the heart to draw nigh to him to aw it with the dread of him to advance it to a dependance on and delight in him and to abase shame us in the sense of our distance from him as Creatures and the dishonour we have done to him as sinners as you have seen in effect already Qu. 2. Direct 5. The Doctrine of the Trinity is as all Theological Doctrines are a Practical Doctrine The Scriptures propound it in order to Faith and Worship Not one of these persons but is the object of both as I have already proved Q. 1. Prop. 4. Prop. 4. In actuating distinct thoughts upon these distinct persons in the undivided essence we may read and thence recollect many incouragements and inducements to Prayer both of petition and Praise Think of them in their essentiall union and whatsoever of obligation on inducement an infinite immutable absolute allsufficient most pure most perfect goodness and truth may offer you for your incouragement in Prayer here it is your Faith may freely take it up and improve it Think of them in their personal distinction And here also what is there rather what is there not that may perswade and encourage Prayer Let me intimate a few things 1 Think you of God the Father The thoughts of that very name cannot but take with an ingenuous nature and will bring his Children with Reverence and with Confidence upon their knees as it did Paul Eph. 3.14 But you must think further of him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ibid. This consideration in confession will not only bend the knee but break the heart Luk. 15.18 Zech. 12.10 This will immediately set the Soul a blessing of him Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 1.3 Eph. 1.3 1 Pet. 1.3 Yea and send your Soul a begging to him and crying after him Abba Father i.e. Father Father O that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies would give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledg of him c. Gal. 4.6 Jer. 3.4 Eph. 1.17 c. Lo. 1. hence may your Soul resume he is my God and my Father This was that blessed news which Mary must bring from Christ to his Disciples Behold I ascend to my Father and your Father to my God and your God Joh. 20.17 2. Hence may you Soul reason down all discouragements 1. Why may I not adventure t is not the presence so much of a Judg as of a Father is it not my Father that reacheth me out the Golden Scepter There is something of encouragement that he is my Father by Creation the eyes of all may and do wait upon him and he gives them their meat in due season But how much more of encouragement is there that he is the Father of Christ my Father in my Christ Here your faith may see boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him Eph. 3.12 2. What may I not ask and have He is able to do exceeding abundantly for me above all that I can ask and think who could beget an only begotten Son in his own unbegotten nature c. yea and he is willing too He that spared not his Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things Eph. 3.20 Rom. 8.32 2 Think you of God the Son The very thought of his relation to the Father will be taking and transporting to honour him and it will be your honour The Father loveth the Son and sheweth him all things that himself doth hath committed all judgments unto the Son that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father And if any serve me saith he him will my Father honour Job 3.35.5 20 22 23.12.26 What! the only begotten Son of the Father the Angels worship him upon that account and how should we whose nature he took for whose sake he suffered c. how should we much more adore him think of this Sonship 1. It will afford you boldness in Prayer You need not sollicite the servants about the Court Angels or Saints departed to present your petitions for you the only begotten Son of the King of Kings who is in the bosom of the Father that hath his Fathers Eye his Fathers Ear his Fathers Heart yea his Fathers Essence bids you come with boldness in full assurance of faith by him Tells you that he will be your Advocate and that he is now at the right hand of his Father your intercessour Eph. 3.12 Heb. 10.20 22.7.25 2. It may assure you the blessing prayed for Can you think the Father will deny his only begotten Son of the same mind will nature with himself who taketh your petitions out of your hand or heart rather and tenders them in your behalf unto his Father All things that the Father hath are mine saith Christ Joh. 16.15 Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you ask and receive that your joy may be full ver 22 23 c. 15.16 This comfort this confidence have we that believe on the name of the Son of God 1 Joh. 5.13 14. 3 Think you of God the Holy Ghost Lo this is the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father He proceedeth from and is one with the Father and with the Son and that to further your union and communion with himself and them He is not only a spirit of adoption to the Saints but a Spirit of supplication in the Saints Rom. 8.15 Zech. 12.10 If the temptations of the flesh pull you back let the thoughts of the Spirit put and prick you on that you make it a work not of formal saying but of fervent praying Praying in the Holy Ghost Jude 20. The thoughts of him 1. Lead you to the origine of ability for prayer Prayer is too hard for flesh and blood which therefore hangs backward your thoughts now prompt you an omnipotent help We know not either what we ought to pray for or how to pray for it as we ought Now the Spirit helpeth our infirmities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stands as it were over against us at the other end of the burden and puts under his shoulder with us and so