vrgeth and alwayes carieth a passiō therwith aboue the harts affection euen the entry of those torments which cānot be cōceaued at full as our nature now stādeth nor deliuered by report Here in this passion the cause is not feare nor passionate griefe but a torment procuring these affections and euen as the punishment of bodily racking is not the passion of the hart but causeth it only so the hart fareth vnder this sore of the mind which here properlie fretteth and straineth the sinnes of the soule wherefrom the heart taketh his grieuous discouragement and fainteth vnder Gods iustice Hitherto you haue described that which your soule feeleth not to instruct you but that other may more truly iudge of the case and the distinction betwixt melancholy it may be more apparant CHAP. XXXV The affliction of mind to what persons it befalleth and by what meanes ALthough no man is by nature freed frō this affliction in so much as all men are sinners and being culpable of the breach of God lawes incurre the punishment of condemnation yet is the melancholicke person more then any subiect therunto not that the humor hath such power which hath before bin declared to stand far a loofe of such effect but by reason the melācholicke person is most doubtfull iclous of his estate not only of this life but also of the life to come this maketh him fall into debate with him selfe to be more then curious who finding his actions not fitting the naturall or written line of righteousnesse wāting that archpiller of faith assurance in Christ Iesus our hope partly thorough feare findeth the horror and partly if it please God so far to touch feeleth the verie anguish due vnto the sinner in that most miserable condition falleth into flat dispaire This commeth to passe when the curious melancholy carieth the minde into the senses of such misteries as exceed humayne capacity and is desirous to know more thē is reuealed in the word of truth or being ignorant of that which is reuealed thorough importunate inquirie of a sudden falleth into that gulfe of Gods secret counselles which swalloweth vp all conceit of man or angell and measuring the trueth of such depth of misteries by the shallow modill of his owne wit is caught deuoured of that which his presumptuous curiositie moued him to attempt to apprehend Of melancholy persons especially such as are most contemplatiue except they be well grounded in the word of God remoue not one haire therfrom in their speculations are this wayes most ouertaken receaue the punishment of ouer-bold attēpt of those holy things which the Lord hath reserued to his owne counsell while they neglect the declared truth propounded for rule of life and practise in written wordes reuealed not remembring the exhortation of Moyses to the children of Israell the secrets are the Lords but the reuealed will appertaineth to vs our children And this in mine opinion is one cause wherefore melancholicke personnes are more prone to fall into this pitte then such as are in their organicall members otherwise affected Nowe contemplations are more familiar with melancholicke persons then with other by reason they be not so apt for action consisting also of a temper still and slowe according to the nature of the melancholie humour which if it be attenuated with heate deliuereth a drie subtile and pearcing spirite more constant and stable then anie other humour which is a great helpe to this contemplation As the melancholicke is most subiect to the calamitie before mentioned and especially the contemplatiue so of them most of all such whose vocation consisteth in studie of hard pointes of learning and that philosophicall especially of Nature haue cause in this case to carie a lowe saile and sometime to strike and lay at the anker of the Scriptures of God lest by tempest of their presumption they be caried into that whirle poole whereout they be in daunger without the especiall grace of Gods mercie neuer to deliuer them selues Such except they be well ballaced with knowledge of the Scriptures and assurance of Gods spirite are neuer able to abide the ouglinesse of their sinnes when they shall be once vnfolden and the narrowe point of reprobration and clection propounded vnto their melancholicke braines and hearts and most miserale polluted soules vnacquainted with Gods couenaunt of mercie and that earnest of his fauour the comfortable spirit of his grace Of such as haue some knowledge in the worde and practise of obedience the want of the true apprehending of gods reuealed wil touching election and reprobation and the right method of learning conceauing the doctrine causeth some to stumble and fall at this stone For as a sworde taken at the wrong end is readie to wound the hand of the taker held by the handle is a fit weapon of defence euen so the doctrine of predestination being preposterously conceiued may through fault of the conceiuer procure hurt whereas of it selfe it is the most strong rocke of assurance in all stormes of tēptations that can befall vnto bodie or soule The one part of predestination is Gods immutable will the cause and rule of all iustice and vttermost of all reason in his workes the other part is the execution of that will according to mercie or iustice sauing or condemning with all the meanes thereto belonging Christ Iesus in those of whom the Lorde will shewe mercie and the iust desert of a sinner on whome he is determined to shewe the iustice of his wrath If this most comfortable doctrine and the firme ancher of our profession be not in all partes equally apprehended we may not onely misse the benefite therof through our owne fault but receiue wounde and daungerous hurte thereby For if the consideration be bent vpon Gods will and counsel only without respect of the means it is impossible but the frailty of mans nature must needes be distracted into diuerse perilous and desperate feares finding nothing in it selfe that may answere his iustice and withstand the fearefull sentence of condemnation if it stay in the meanes of his iustice only and haue not eye vpon his mercy in his sonne Christ then likewise ariseth an assurance of eternall destruction to the consciēce defiled and the guilty soule deformed with iniquity if the meanes of his mercy be regarded without farther respect of his eternall decree and immouable iustice then is there also no assurance of his mercy vnto miserable man who melteth like snow and vanisheth like a vapour before his iustice and doubting of the continuance of his fauour alwayes hangeth in suspence All these considerations thus seuerally falling into the melancholick person moue doubt and care and either breed a resolute desperatnes or a continuall distrust tossing hither and thither the soule not established by knowledge and faith in Gods eternall counsell the most wise iust and mercifull meanes of his execution which being perfectly knowne according to the word
and sealed vp in the christian heart by the worke of Gods spirite is so farre of from disquieting the spirit or breeding doubt that the children of God in all temptations finde the immutability mutability of Gods counsell and the testimony of his fauour in their consciences by his spirite to supporte them in all stormes of temptation and to be the rocke against which no violence of Sathan or his ministers or whatsoeuer their owne infirmity offereth of discouragement can preuaile Besides these such as read the word of God with passionate humour fall into this inconuenience especially if without guide and instruction they carie any presumption of minde and are not modest and warie in their collections such being melancholicke may easily fall into distrust of Gods mercy perish in dispaire So that ignorance and infidelity are the chiefe causes of this miserable estate whereinto many haue fallen especially such as haue neuer bene able to be recomforted which for the most part are they who with neglect of Godds feare and hardnes of heart against their conscience and knowledge haue with desperate purpose gathered strength in the wayes of sinne and haue cast of all remorse til the Lordes vengeaunce in this sort ouertake them or haue fallen into that sinn whereof the Apostle speaketh of that none should pray for and which our Sauiour calleth the sinne against the holy Ghost Other some ther be of which number I know you deare M. that fearing the Lord with sincerity of hearte haue bene notwithstanding this way distressed the weight of their sinnes exceeding for a time the strength of their faith whose case I take to be thus farre other then such as I haue before mentioned euen as in stormie tempest the ship stirreth at euery blast and sourge of the sea to be in daunger of wrack and the yong ash bending to euery blast of winde seemeth in perill of breaking rooting vp whē both the ship kepeth her constant course the tree yet hath his rooting so in you those of your disposition in this case the tempest and storme of this temptation raysed partly by your owne weakenes and partely through Sathans tempestious malice causeth your faith to bend and seeme feeble yeelding to this force while notwithstanding you be built on the rocke planted with the hand of God in the Eden of his gracious election remayne a plante for euer in his paradise of eternall felicitie Such as you your self herm offend that you measure your selues by your infirmities which hath so farre vse in vs to breed a watchfull care ouer our owne wayes not to discourage vs consider that we are as the Lord esteemeth who is more glorified in shewing mercie thē in executing of his wrath whose word declareth vnto vs that he loued vs being ennemies and found vs whē we were lost and loathed not our polution but for himselfe onely offered his mercy so that we must stand in that reckning of our selues which the Lord will haue vs to doe in his mercie else shal we be wrōg iudges of the wayes of the Almighty Euen as one that hath not had experience of trauaile by sea feareth euery wea uing of the ship doubteth of perill where the nature of the trauailer is such without hazard or daunger So you such as are in like case afflicted imagine euery puffe of this kinde of tēptation to be nothing else but the gate of destruction when as notwithstanding it is the verie course way where through God doth lead his dearest children whose counsells are not to be measured by our infirmities nor by that we cast forecast or doubt but as he himselfe hath pronoūced of his own wayes as many of his children haue proued before vs. Here the melācholie taketh aduantage and Sathan prosecuteth a maine with bēding your affectiōs to feare doubt distrust stoppeth that consolation the mercy of god affordeth which his childrē are ready to minister vnto you And these are melancholickes of another sort who notwithstanding they endeuour to feare God yet not aduised through this base vile humor receiue discouragemēt in thēselues more then through Gods mercie they haue need til such time as the cōfort of his spirite by due means alteration of their body by cōueniēt remedy of the godly phisician raise thē vp againe These are melācholiks most disposed by reason of the euill temper of their bodies to this affliction not by power of the humor which resteth in their bodies toucheth not the minde but by reasō they are more curious distrustfull thē other cōplexiōs which being ioyned with ignorance or a preposterous knowledge cast thē into these laberinthes of spirituall sorow whereout very hardly are they at the length able to dispatch themselues without great mercy of God and diligent and carefull applying of his meanes But you may say vnto me can a man by his owne power drawe on this kinde of crosse which you haue before declared to be the hand of God yea verily if Gods only mercie be not his stay euen as our first parents voluntarily gaue their neckes and in them all their posterity vnder the yoke of Sathan and as the vengeance of Gods iustice alwayes burneth against the wicked his sword continually employed which nothing cā quēch but the water of his grace flowing from the sids of his Sonne and that spiritual complet armour where of S. Paul speaketh of so should euen all of vs in this life taste of the heate feele the dint of that sword if his mercy in his Sonne for his Saintes cause on the earth he staied not the ielousie of his wrath His anger our sinnes pull on but his mercy is only for himselfe Thus you haue heard what manner affliction this of the minde and conscience of sinne not comforted by assurance of pardon is how it differeth from melancholy how melancholicke persons are most subiect therunto and by what meanes this calamity is procured with the diuersity of persons thus afflicted hereafter you shall vnderstand which is your chiefe desire my counsell and cure both in that state of minde wherin you stand and whereof the Lord graunt you speedy and comfortable release and also in what your crased body surgayned with melancholy and all his vncomfortable accidentes doth of naturall phisick help of medicine require But first my deare M. giue way to my wordes of comfort and for the old friendships sake and sweete society we haue had in times past alwayes seasoned with heauenly meditations and spirituall conferences denie me not that interest which shal be both comfortable vnto you and ioyfull to many of your friendes whose prayers are with sobbes powred out for your release especially beware least vnaduisedly you dishonour god in this kind of sorow who is the God of peace and comfort CHAP. XXX A consolation vnto the afflicted conscience YOu feele you say the wrath of God kindled against your
of that kinde of frailty giue comforte vnto you in your case although in an other kinde yet in this respect not vnlike We haue experiēce how diuerse times the desease preuaileth ouer the sicke persons that actions faile and faculties seeme quite to be spent neither hand nor foote is able to do their duetie the eye is dimme the hearing dull the tast altered and the tounge distasteth all things eue of most pleasant relish and the weak and feeble pacient seemeth to attend the time of dissolution when yet notwithstanding there remaineth a secret power of nature and a forcible spark of life that ouercōmeth all these infirmities and consumeth them like drosse rendereth to the body a greater purity firmenes of health then before the sicknes it did enioy Euen so esteeme of the spirituall case and consider that your soule is sicke and not dead and faith is assailed but not ouercome only haue patience to attend the finishing of this secret worke which passeth all conceite and capacity of man and you shall see these burning feauers of temptations to be slaked and cooled by the mercy and grace of Christ and that sparke of faith which lieth now hidde and ouerwhelmed with heapes of temptation and seemeth to be vtterly quenched to breake forth againe and to consume these straunge causes of the desease of the soule and as nature after a perfect crise dischargeth her self either by stoole vomite sweat or bleeding or such like euacuations to the recouerie of former health so shall you feele all these doubtes and feares and terrors remoued and strength of faith restored with such supply as it shall be able to make euident proofe what secrete vertue laye hid and yet not idle in all this vncomfortable plight which offereth you temptation of dispaire Seing then that you are yet but vnder the conflict and not ouercome haue good cheare in the succession which as in Christ it is victorious ouer head so are we his parts members to looke for the same crowne of glory who both ouercome in him through him in our selues shall in the ende be possessed of the victory and receiuethe crowne of immortality As for that which your owne conceit corrupted by melancholy perswadeth you wherin Sathan is busie and omitteth no oportunity giue no credite thereunto but as it is so esteeme it a delusion which time will discouer and lay open as you your selfe shall hereafter most planly discerne I graunt you the temptation it selfe though your body were free from this infirmity is of the greatest kinde such as doth not skirmish only lightly vpon our soules but setteth the maine battaile against our most happy estate in so much as it forced our Sauiour to cry my God my God why hast thou forsaken me But what then are we therefore to be discouraged no no here appeareth rather the aboundance of Gods grace and the mightie supporte of his power which euen in the middest of hel preserueth his and suffereth not so much as their garments to take any smell of the flame but euen from thēce is able to raise them to his celestiall kingdome place them which his sonne in the throne of glory And if you dewly consider the price of our redemption how prerious it was how it could not be obtayned without shedding of the most pretious heartblood of the sonne of God you must thinke the quarrell to be no other to the ende but a matter of blood of strife of sweate of feare of ielousie and whatsoeuer affection goeth with affecting a glorious triumph in all the mēbers of Christ both inwardly and outwardly in the spirite and in the body as our head himselfe could finde in dispensation though he sued vnto his father therefrom with aboundance of tears and thinke that it is Gods busines we are in hād with and that we are inabled of him and accōpt not these smal venies of Satā for deadly woūdes which are no thing other but practises and exercises of the spirituall courage and circumspection and introductions to that vse of the whole armour of God where against no force of the enemy shall preuaile though the attempt seeme to be full of perill terror But you say you feele small strength of faith no support of that hope which maketh not ashamed Beware least you iudge vniustly of the wayes of God esteeme that for small which is great and vile which in the sight of God is most pretious For herein the ennemy may take encouragement to your great disaduantage You feele not that taste thereof you sometimes felt and do you iudge therefore you are bereued vtterly thereof what consider the soule is now sick distestaeth much wholesome meate of consolation and loatheth many pleasaunt and fragraunt cuppes of comfort and counsell and yet the indeuours of Gods childre in this behalfe and the sweete waters of heauēly comfort are not therefore of themselues bitter or vnsauory so you are not to measure the absence of this grace by that you presently but by that in times past while the soule stoode free from this disease of tēptation trial you haue felt of comfort in the spirite through an acceptable measure of faith according to the dispensation of Gods grace and not according to our fancy but as he shal think meete to be ministred vnto vs. Neither is the tryall of faith only to be taken according as the soule feeleth it in it selfe but also and sometimes as in such temptations as these wherein you now trauaile onely by the course and trade of life which hath passed before and those fruites which are euident to the eye of others who can iudge more sincerely then the afflicted whose vnderstandinges are somewhat altered through Sathans terrors But againe you say the course of life past and your estate present hath nothing aunswered the holines of your vocation and that sinceritie the Lord requireth so that here also the comforte faileth you What then are you therefore reprobate No but it argueth want of faith not so but place for farther increase of faith and the fruits thereof Those whome the Lord hath chosen to be his worshipers and hath redeemed and consecrated holy to himselfe and prepared good workes for them to walke in they be his plantes and ingraffed oliue braūches in his sonne which take not their full perfection at once but accorglorie And if you duly consider the price of our redemption how pretious it was how it could not be obtained without shedding of the most pretious hart bloud of the Sonne of God you must thinke the quarrell to be no other to the ende but a matter of bloud of strife of sweate of feare of ielousie and whatsoeuer affection goeth with affecting a glorious triumph in all the members of Christ both inwardly and outwardly in the spirit and in the bodie as our head himselfe could finde no dispensation though he sued vnto his Father therfore with aboundance
they be his plantes and ingraffed oliue braūches in his sonne who take not their ful perfection at once but according to the nature of a plāt require dayly watering dressing wherby by degrees they attaine in the ende a full stature in Christ So that you may not accompt your selfe voyde of grace because you are not perfect for in this life both faith and knowledge and loue are all imperfect and shall partly be furnished and partly receaue perfectiō elsewhere but you are godly wisely to consider the secret worke of Gods spirite and grace and take comfort of the smallest crumme and drop of this heauenly sustentation and attend your time of perfect growth according to the good pleasure of God You can not at all times feele and followe with your conceir and naturall capacitie the worker of this mysterie more then you are able to discerne where the wind riseth and where it lighteth You know we that are called are borne againe and as the growth and increase of our bodies is not perceaued of vs though we do increase the birth is not apprehended of the infant borne bred euen so is it with vs in the heauenly birth and spirituall regeneration the spirit worketh without our leaue and acquainteth vs not with his maruelous working more then is expedient at his pleasure when and in what measure for our comfort much lesse can a body ouercharged with melancholy drowned in that darke dungeon see the comfortable beames of his daystar brightnesse of the cheerfull Sunne of God aboundant mercie and a mind whose actions are hindered by meanes thereof whereby it neither conceiueth nor iudgeth sincerely and vprightly as the case requireth and neither so only affected but blinde folded by the humour and brought into this darknesse of feare is buffited also and beaten with Sathan on all sides whereby being distracted it obtayneth no respit and release of due and iust consideration howe can it discerne rightly of these thinges Wherefore your case being such yeelde not so much to the enemy as to iudge of your selfe according to his sentence who is a lyer from the beginning and the father of lyes but according to those olde testimonies which you haue felt in your owne conscience and haue giuen comfortable shewe of to others in the course of your life heretofore Oh but you feele not the testimonie of Gods spirit which might assure you Neither do any of Gods children at all times feele it Dauid cōplained of the want hereof Iob complained likewise so haue diuerse of Gods children in all times made mone hereof Sufficient it is if at any time that assurance be giuen and if it be the will of God for a time to withdraw it that you may feeling your owne frailty with more earnest desire call to him for his wonted grace Who are you to interrupt the wayes of God and to preuent his counselles and for your comfort be assured that the former grace you haue receaued is of that nature that it neuer decayeth but remaineth an euerlasting seed of immortalitie proceeding from the Father of eternitie and with whom there is no chaungeablenesse nor shadowe of turning who doth nothing to repent him of but is only wise stable sure and hath no neede to correct anie thing of his owne workmanship And if he with hold the comfort of his spirite from you for a season it is that you may with greater appetite seeke after it and hauing found it more ioy therein and praise his mercie with thankfulnesse of hart and readinesse of vtterance to found out the aboundance of his mercie If the Lord withhold it not but the frailtie wherein you stand diminish the sense thereof or the temptation presse so farre vpon you that you are not free to iudge aright or the perill which the temptation carieth with it moue you to distrust knowe that nothing befalleth you straunge herein more then to other of Gods children before you and that to wade through these violent streames patience and constancie is most needfull with a resolute mind to abide the Lords wil who in the end wil come and will not tarie This is the broken contrite heart which the Lord will not despise this is the poore spirit on whome the Lord pronounceth blessednesse and this is the affliction whereof the Spirit of God is called the comforter so that although before the Lord hath vouchsafed you many graces yet were you neuer meete to receaue diuerse other which he will nowe bestowe vpon you before this present and so shall you in the end receaue the cup of saluation in steed of the bottell of vineger and teares and in steed of the bread of affliction the heauenly Manna and the bread of life from the table of God Christ Wherefore suspect these thoughtes to be of the enemie and not of your selfe cast into your mind of him and not springing of incredulitie I am out of Gods fauour I am reprobate from his kingdome there remaineth no hope for me I haue no faith For such are his temptations of old daily they be the points he laboureth in against Gods childrē if not to wring frō thē their hope at the least to weary their dayes with heauinesse and discomfort Neither esteeme your selfe presently by that you feele but by that you haue felt when nothing hath ouershadowed that light of knowledge faith and zeale but the full brightnesse of these graces hath broken forth For why haue not these doubts risen vnto you before time and where is nowe the auncient assurance They before time rose not because the temptation was far of and that assurance although by tempest of temptation and by this spirituall storme it seeme to bend and to giue backe yet is it inuincible and recouereth thereby more strength then euer it had before Is the souldier worse appayed that sustaineth the combat and standeth in the face of his enemie though the terrible thunder of shot beat his eares and he in perill of hitting though he maintaine the heate of the battell against the force of his enemie with perill not a whit he becommeth hereby more valiant he learneth experience his skill increaseth and his courage doubleth vppon him So in this spirituall battaile you must not be discouraged like a milk soppe or a fresh souldier vntrained or vnacquainted with warfare but set the victorie before your eyes which is alreadie attained and purchased for you and so much the more are you to endure with Christian valiance in that here is no feare of ouerthrowe the battaile is broken and the enemies scattered and onely the captaine requireth to be followed of you for whome he hath obtained the crowne of victorie if the stragling tayle of the enemie annoye they may shewe their malice and hostilitie but their force is foyled and take heart onely and endure and you shall see them vanquished and submit vnto that power of Christ which inableth you You must