in forgiving them God forgives them pounds nay talents and shall not they forgive their brother pence Neither tell me hee is a base and unworthy fellow for there is not that distance betweene him and thee be hee never so base as between thee and God O but it is a grosse wrong which he hath done mee is it worse then the sins which thou hast committed against thy God O but hee hath done it often What of that yet not so often as thou hast offended thy Maker O but it stands not with my credit to pardon him thy pride at once eats out both thy Piety and Charity and let me tell thee looke to obtain that from God which thou art willing to doe for thy brother Christ Jesus the Sun of righteousnesse would not set in a cloud though hee was put to death without cause but hee prayes for his persecutours Pater ignosce nesciunt quid faciunt Father forgive them they know not what they doe If thou follow not the example of our Blessed Lord take heed lest he stop his eares to thy Prayers because thou refusest to be reconciled to thy Brother Before wee leave this clause another observation offers it self to be handled there is hope in Israel concerning this that is in the Church and the point which I hence infer is this There is no remission of sinnes out of the Church Doctr. Remission of sins is not a flower that growes wild it onely growes in the Garden of Zion For proof of this look that pregnant place Psalme 128.5 The Lord shall blesse thee out of Zion or as another translation renders it The Lord shall blesse thee out of Zion from heaven Mark he doth not say the Lord in heaven shall blesse thee from heaven but the Lord from heaven shall blesse thee out of Zion indeed the Church is a heaven for where the holy people of God be there is a heaven and there is a blessing which though primarily it come from God yet secondarily it comes from the Church and though I doe not say with some Philosophers that all influences come from the Moon to the Starres yet I will say it of the Church thither hath God conveyed his blessings to bee transmitted to the sonnes of men I would have you to marke one thing which it may be you never yet took notice of the Propitiatory was joyned to the Arke so as it could not be removed from it to shew that he that would have his sinnes forgiven him must hold close to the Arke and this is according to that ancient rule of Divines he that will have God to be his father must have the Church to be his mother Our blessed Lord was named Jesus because saith the Angel He shall save his people from their sinnes and in the end of the Creed we say I believe the holy Catholike Church the forgivenesse of sinnes by the conjunction of which two Articles together is intimated to us that out of the Church there is no forgivenesse of sins This is also proved in the 87. Psalme last verse â—sâ—â— 87.7 Isa 33.24 All my-springs are in thee and Isa 33.24 The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven all their iniquity Vse 1 It is to let us see the miserable estate of those without the Church they being without the pale of the Church what shall become of them As Christ told the Jewes John 8.24 John 8.24 They shall dye in their sinnes And what is it to dye in sin it is immediately to goe to hell there to be tormented with the devill and his Angels for ever Heathens are here said to be without the Church and to be sure if they live and die such they shall be excluded heaven hereafter for as in Rev. 22.15 without shall be dogs Rev 22.15 Vse 2 Secondly as wee must deplore the miserable condition of those which be without the Church so let us magnifie God for our own happy condition God hath entred us into his Church blessed bee his name for it wee are in the way where his blessings be and where the heavenly Manna falls daily but this is not all that we be in the visible Church for tares grow in the field as well as good corne it is true all that were without the Ark perished but yet a Cham was saved alive in the Arke so that it is not all to be externall members of the Church but as we be admitted into it by Baptisme so we must believe and repent else we are but Tares in the field of the Church which though for a time they may grow up with the good corne yet at last they shall bee but fuell for the fire of hell A mans water in Baptisme is but a cold proofe of Gods love unlesse hee hath faith and repentance I speak not of Infants which never committed actuall sinne for unlesse there be a heart to believe and repent he may be damned for all his Baptisme as some of the Jewes were for all they were circumcised As therefore we glory in this that wee are within the pale of Gods Church so let us not content our selves with it but let us labour to be within the Covenant by getting faith and Repentance that so in Gods good time we may attain the end of our faith the salvation of our sinfull soules in Jesus Christ Shecaniah now goes on and saith Let us make a Covenant with our God It appears by this good man that as hee had heard Ezra to confesse his sins amongst the rest so he desired not onely to be pardoned for what hee had done amisse but he resolves on a new course of life saying Now therefore let us make a Covenant with our God And indeed these be the two maine stones in the building of repentance first when a man desires to be better secondly when hee resolves to bee better First when a man desires to bee better it is a good part of health wee say to desire health our blessed Lord faith to the impotent man Wilt thou bee made whole he would not heale him against his will even so we must desire to bee cured of our spirituall maladies It was so with the Iaylor Acts 16.30 in Acts 16.30 he saith to Paul and Silas Sirs what shall I do to be saved and this where it is supposeth a sense of miserie and we see it in holy David Psal 142.2 Psa 142.2 I powred out my complaint before him J shewed before him my trouble And Saint Paul saith O miserable man that J am who shall deliver me from this body of death Rom. 7.25 Thus sure it was with Manasseh Rom. 7.25 and with those Converts in Acts 2.37 who being pricked in their hearts Acts 2.37 say to Peter and the other Apostles Men and brethren what shall wee doe I feare a great many doe not truely desire to be freed from their sinnes it was the sin of Augustine when time was saith he I
to that strange speech Ierem. 4.11 Ierem. 4.11 saith God I will cause a dry wind of the high places in the wildernesse to blow toward the Daughter of my people not to fanne nor to cleanse That is I will bring a great judgement upon them but such is their obstinacy that they will not bee bettered by it Vse 1 May wee not think without breach of charity that this is the case of many in these dayes Hath not the Lord punished some of you for pride excesse adultery oppression and yet yee are as proud excessive lustfull and oppressive as before What doe you meane to out-brave God doe you long to bee made the instances of his displeasure beware of this for yee cannot provoke him but to your own hurt Vse 2 In the second place let us labour to profit by affliction it is a lesson worth our learning for affliction is not good in it selfe and then we profit by it First when it urgeth us to examination and confession of our sinnes Secondly when it works us to humiliation for our sinnes when we have the melting heart of Iosiah and the contrite heart of David Thirdly when wee poure out our soules to God in prayer when his chastning hand is on us as the people of God did Isa 26.16 Isa 26.16 Lastly when wee not only vow amendement of life in our affliction but when wee reforme our wayes and so follow our vowes with endeavours This is the true end of affliction when like gold wee come purified out of the fire and when it is as a file to cleare us from our rust and becomes a Bethesda to cure us of our spirituall infirmities but when men are the worse for being afflicted they may well expect a worse thing to befall them The last clause is neither can wee stand before thee because of this As if hee had said wee cannot come before thee with any confidence while wee bee in our sinnes unrepented of which yeelds us this Observation That man that comes before God in his sinnes without repentance cannot come with any confidence or hope of mercy Prov. 28.13 In Prov. 28.13 mercy is promised to him that confesseth and forsaketh his sinnes but wrath is pronounced against him that hideth them Such a man may come into the Courts of God such a man may offer sacrifice to God but it is an abomination to him Prov 1â— 8 Isa 1.15 Prov. 15.8 and hee tells such in Isa 1.15 When yee spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when yee make many prayers I will not heare Why s o your hands are full of bloud And this is the meaning of those words in Iohn 9.31 God heareth not sinners Ioâ— 9.31 That is not such as are obstinate and impenitent sinners It should teach us to abhorre sinne Vse if we know a man to bee infected wee will bee sure to avoid his company and shall we not cast away sinne which makes us unable to stand before God Therefore abandon thy wicked lusts and wash away all sinne by the teares of true repentance and then in the name of God come into his Courts though thou canst not bee an innocent yet come in penitence and thou shalt finde that God is as well pleased with penitents as innocents And now that I have done with this Text give mee leave to goe over the three verses againe by Application and to spread them on you as Elisha spread himselfe on the Shunamitish womans childe wee have right to them all three it is said in the first that God punished them but lesse then they deserved and that he had delivered them was not this our case five yeares since for our sinnes God punished us by turning our waters into bloud and hee punished us lesse then wee deserved but withall hee magnified his mercy towards us in taking that judgement off the pestilence wholly from us in a short space Then for the next verse did not wee say as these Iewes O Lord now that thou hast delivered us if wee shall returne to our sinnes againe it shall bee just with thee to punish us most severely Which of our soules did not say thus And for the last verse wee may say also with Ezra Wee are before thee in our trespasses therefore O Lord it may stand with thy justice utterly to consume us Beloved I have ever been free and bold with you and I will not now begin to discolour Is not London as full of pride excesse and adultery as ever doth not sacriledge and usury keep as high a roome in the City as ever it did Surely those sinnes must bee of a deep tincture which all this scouring will not cleanse well God hath begun with us againe and hee shall bee just if hee should not leave a man of us alive What shall wee now doe every man to his prayers let every one amend one and then all will bee amended Let every one sweep his own doore and the Street will soone bee cleansed Here wee bee now but God only knowes whether wee shall have so much leave as to come into his house againe while therefore wee have time while the arroâ—es of God flie beyond us and beside us round about us and yet not touch us let us seek his face by true repentance and I will bee bold to say if hee finde us penitent hee will remove his judgement but if wee stand before him still in our sinnes no marvell then that hee renew and encrease our plagues Sermon V. EZRA 10. Vers 1. Now when Ezra had prayed and when hee had confessed weeping and casting himselfe down before the house of God there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great Congregation of men and women and children for the people wept very sore THe former Chapter did set downe the humiliation of Ezra this demonstrates the fruit and effect that it produced when the people saw that hee was so affected and afflicted and that not so much for his own sinnes as for the sinnes of the people they take it to heart and first there is a very great Assembly gathered together Secondly they weepe sore Thirdly one particular person Shecaniah by name confesseth the sinnes of the people Fourthly they conceive hope of remission Fifthly they resolve to put away their strange Wives Lastly they put their late resolution into execution That which gives occasion to all these is laid downe in the first words of the Chapter which containes First the actions of Ezra and they bee two praying and weeping Secondly his manner of confessing hee cast himselfe down before the house of the Lord upon this followes the comming together of a great assembly of men women and children We begin with his actions and first for his praying when Ezra had prayed As I told you in the former chapter this good man was come from Babylon with a great deale of comfort and with a happy message of good
himselfe of being a blasphemer and a persecuter yea the chiefe of sinners 1 Tim. 1.13.15 Secondly 1 Tim. 1.13.15 it stands in a mans judging himselfe when hee passeth the sentence of condemnation against himselfe Thus did David he confesses that hee had done wickedly 2 Sam. 24.17 2 Sam. 24.17 and Daniel acknowledgeth that to him and his people belonged nothing but shame This is to judge a mans selfe which if men doe they shall save God a labour for hee that judgeth himselfe shall eseape the judgement of the Lord. I desire you to practise this second act of Ezra doe not only pray unto God Vse but likewise confesse your sinnes unto him I doe not charge on you that kinde of confession which our Adversaries of the Church of Rome charge upon their people they tye a man First to a particular enumeration and confession of all his sinnes to the Priest Secondly they say if men doe not particularly confesse their sinnes they cannot obtaine pardon But thirdly if a man shall doe so then hee deserves to bee pardoned But wee are against them on these grounds First there is no precept in the Word of God which commands a man to make a particular enumeration and confession of his sins to the Priest Secondly there is no promise to encourage us to doe it Thirdly there is no example for it in the whole Book of God Nay I will prove that without this particular enumeration of sinnes remission hath been granted as to the woman which was a sinner in the City Christ pronounceth her pardoned without a particular enumeration of her sinnes Luk. 7.48 Luk. 7.48 and thus hee pardoned Zaccheus who only made a generall confession of his sinnes and obtained remission Secondly wee oppose them herein on this ground because they charge that on people which is impossible for as David saith Psal 19.12 who can understand his faults Psal 19.12 and yet hee was better skilled in this kinde of Arithmetick then any Romanist and if he could not reckon his sinnes no man else can Our sinnes are as the sands upon the Sea-shore for multitude which no mortall wight can number And saith Solomon the just man falls seven times a day Prov. 24.16 Prov. 24.16 Therefore it is impossible for any man to confesse all his sinnes particularly Thirdly this is the wrack of the soule for such a man goes away without any plenary remission of his sinnes for if it bee so that hee that meanes to obtaine pardon must make a particular enumeration of all his sinnes then it is certaine that hee must goe away without remission because it is impossible to confesse all his sinnes particularly Lastly this is that which the primitive Christians knew not it was a yoake too heavie for them to beare and one of their own saith Tertullian never knew any particular confession but to the Church Again when it grew up in after-times it was put down wisely For when a Bishop of Constantinople perceived that a Priest under pretence of confession did with Eli his Sonnes abuse a woman at the doore of the sanctuary hee presently put it down Againe they of Rome make it the picklock of Kingdomes for by this particular confession they unlock all the secrets of Princes I charge not this on people but I wish them to acknowledge their sinnes in the presence of God Neither is this so easie as most men think it to bee for since our fall wee are so prone to conceale our sinnes that if there bee but one bush in Paradise wee will finde it to hide our selves in but let us not hide our sins as Adam hid himselfe but let us with the prodigall confesse them and that is the way to have them pardoned But some will demaund and say how shall we confesse our sins To this I answer First wee must confesse them with shame thus did Iob Iob 42.6 Iob 42.6 I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes And thus did the poore Publican he confesseth that hee was not worthy to lift up his eyes unto Heaven Thus also did the woman which was a sinner in the City shee was so full of shame for her sinnes that shee dares not come before our Saviour but comes behinde his back as hee sat at meat and washed his feet with her teares Secondly wee must doe it ingenuously it must not bee extorted from us as it was from Achan but wee must willingly confesse our iniquities Thirdly wee must doe it with sorrow and contrition of soule Fourthly with anger Fifthly with honest hearts that is with an assured purpose to leave our impieties therefore it is said Prov. 28.13 Prov. 28.13 Hee that confesseth and forsaketh his sinnes shall finde mercy Lastly wee must confesse our sinnes fully there must bee no retaining excusing or extenuating of sinne for God knowes the depth of our deceitfull hearts yee know how it is with a begger if hee have one soare worse then another hee will bee sute to lay that open that hee may move passengers to commiseration So wee should not only confesse our lesser but our grosse iniquities which is the next way to have God mercifull to us Alas what will it availe us to keep one Achan when that one is enough to trouble a whole Host what shall wee gaine by reserving one Ionah when that one will hazard the losse of the ship and the lives of all them that saile in it Let us therefore confesse our sinnes according to the manner prescribed and then wee may bee confident that God will forgive our iniquities and blot out all our offences Wee come now to the manner of Ezra his confession laid down in these words weeping and casting himselfe down before the house of the Lord. The first thing in it is his weeping and this hath ever been an usuall concomitant of prayer Psal 6.6 See it in David Psal 6.6 I am weary with my groaning all the night make I my bed to swimme and water my couch with my teares Mark hee made his prayer to God and teares went along with it The like wee see in the same Prophet Psal 42.3 Psal 42.3 My teares have been my meat day and night while they continually say unto mee Where is thy God The like wee see in the sinner in the City Luk. 7.38 Luk. 7.38 and wee see it in Ezra in our Text hee not only prayes but weepes And there is great reason why wee should weep in regard of sinne Reason 1 First because of the great good that sin deprives us of we are apt to grieve for the losse of a father a wife or a child but what great cause have we to mourne especially for our sinnes though wee lose our friends by death yet wee may meet them againe in the Kingdome of Heaven if wee live and die in Gods feare but if we mourn not for sinne wee shall never see the face of God to our comfort Micha
Sodomites did against Lot saying Hee came to sojourne with us and shall hee rule over us They say as the Hebrew to Moses Who made thee a Ruler and a Judge and with Ahab they call such Ministers the Troublers of Israel And the Conscience of such a one tells him That though he seeme to love such a Minister yet in his heart hee hates him Herodias hates John at the heart because he met with dilectum delictum her darling sinne But let such a one know whosoever hee or shee be that there cannot be a more evident signe of a desperate estate then this David had committed two great sins adultery and murder but because hee took the reproof of Nathan well which appeared by his confession submission he was presently pardoned but he that hates reproof goes up into the chair of the Scorner which is the next degree to hell Vse 2 Secondly let us all labour for a meek spirit then which nothing pleaseth God better let us be as the good corn which when it is fanned falls at the feet of him that fannes it and let us pray to God for such a Minister as may tell us home of our sinnes and let us thanke God for such a one when we have him what would we give for a Chirurgion who would not onely skin but heale our wound And when the Minister shall be plainest with thee and touch thee most to the quick finde nor fault with him but with thy self Not hee that soothes men up in their sins but hee that pricks them to the heart is the onely spirituall Physician to be valued Wee proceed now to the second verse which hath two parts First the person speaking Shecaniah Secondly his speech wee have sinned against our God c. I begin with the party speaking which is Shecaniah Ezra had done his part and loe here is a man sets to his hand and seconds him from whence I note this brief conclusion How comfortable it is in good Actions to have an Assistant When Moses is praying in the mount and Joshua fighting in the valley Israel is like to prevaile against Amalek and when Deborah and Barak joyne together they soon conquer the Midianites Daniel having undertaken a great businesse hee comes to his three Associates desiring them to joyne with him in Prayer to God and it pleased God to heare their Petition and to reveale the Kings dreame unto him Thus Nicodemus and Joseph joyne together for the Interment of our Saviour and Paul and Barnabas gave each other the right hand of fellowship and Saint Paul calls Aquila and Priscilla his helpers in Christ Jesus Rom. 16.3 Rom. 16.3 Is it not lamentable that men should set good businesses on foot and have none to joyne with them On the contrary if an ill businesse be but in agitation there be enough and too many that will give their helping hand though it but to the upholding of a rotten Ale-house a man that goes about to doe good may complaine as David that he is as a Pelican in the Desart it shall be long enough ere any come to assist him well it should be otherwise let us therefore as we tender Gods honour joyne together in promoting goodnesse Pilate and Herod though they were enemies to each other yet they can agree to persecute the Lord of life and though the Jesuites and the secular Priests be at daggers drawing amongst themselves yet they can agree together to set Kingdomes in a combustion and why should wee be backward nay why should we not be forward to helpe forward good Actions Further it may be observed that this Shecaniah was a great man surely hee was no lesse then a Magistrate if so it yeelds us this observation It is a happy thing when the. Priest and Magistrate the word and the sword goe hand in hand together when Moses and Aaron kisse each other when David the King and Abiathar the Priest when Joash the King and Jehoiada the Priest agree in the same thing then it is a signe that sin Satan will fall like lightning from heaven It is to be lamented that these two goe not together wee Ministers can goe no further than the sword of the Word gives us leave but if when we have started the prey the Magistrate will not pursue it judge whose fault it is if sinne abounds we the Ministers of God complaine of blasphemers of uncleane persons and places where they haunt we complaine of unlawfull gaming and recreations if the Magistrate followed this by his sword it could not be that men should bee so wicked as they are Beloved if we should be called to our reckoning presently we can say with a safe conscience that we have faithfully discharged our duty and done what we could to the beating downe of sin but there will be no reformation till the word of Ezra and the sword of Shecaniah goe together But now what is it which Shecaniah saith which is the second thing in the verse he speaketh that in a few words which Ezra had delivered more largely hee confesses that he and the people had trespassed against God He blaunches not their sinne but saith We have trespassed against our God teaching us thus much for our instruction That the penitent soule is more-severe against it selfe than the most slanderous tongue in the world There be three things in which a good Christian can never satisfie himselfe enough the first is insufficient sorrow for his sinnes the second is in the assurance of Gods love in pardoning them the third is in his obedience to Gods Commandements but it is quite otherwise with the wicked in all these for first he thinks he hath sorrowed enough if hee have shed a few teares for his sinnes secondly for the remission of his sinnes and the assurance of Gods favour if you will take his owne word for it no man is surer of that than himselfe and for a godly life he is farre enough from that for he is afraid of being too holy But I passe by that and fall upon another observation which naturally springs from Shecaniah's words and it is this Above all other griefes Doctr. this to a good soule is the chiefest that he hath offended God See it in David Psal 51 4. in Psalme 51.4 Against thee thee only have I sinned All the world knew that he had wronged Uriah and Bathsheba and doubtlesse he was much troubled at it but in the day of his humiliation he pitcheth on this especially that he had offended God 1 Sam. 2.25 Eli saith to his sons 1 Sam. 2.25 If one man sinne against another the Judge shall judge him but if a man sin against the Lord who shall intreat for him Intimating to us that no offence done against man should grieve us so much as that we have grieved God The like we see in the Prodigall he saith Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to
receive the Law of God for them it was a sinne of a horrid representation yet for that he found mercy and forgivenesse They were foule sinnes in which David was ingaged and sometimes they put him shrewdly to it causing him to complain and say They were a burthen too heavie for him yet God be thanked he had remission of them A fouler sinner cannot be imagined than Manasseh was who was an Idolater a shedder of innocent bloud in great abundance one that made his sonne passe through the fire and dealt with familiar spirits yet there was hope in Israel for him for upon his repentance hee was received to mercy Look upon Matthew and Zaccheus they were Publicans and Publicans in those dayes were notorious sinners for in the Gospell yee shall finde Publicans and sinners rankt together yet two maine ones of these were converted Shall I tell you of Peter who denyed nay forswore his Lord and Master yet hee obtained mercy Or shall I tell you of the woman which was a sinner in the City out of whom was cast seven devills yet Christ had mercy upon her and forgave her Shall I tell you of Paul who with his owne tongue confesseth that he was a persecuter a blasphemer nay the chief of sinners yet he obtained mercy pardon And when God would extend mercy to such a finner as hee what doth he but proclaime to the world that none should despaire Againe shall I tell you of the incestuous Corinthian who was a notable sinner yet upon his repentance hee was absolved Or shall I tell you of the Corinthians themselves of whom some had been Idolaters Adulterers Covetous Drunkards yet they were washed sanctified and justified when they had truely repented Let us therefore be perswaded and assured that every sinne is remissible if we can but repent Reason 3 The third Reason is drawne from the attributes of God First from his power there is no sinne whatsoever but hee can forgive it therefore the Prophet Micah saith Micah 7.18 Who is a God like unto thee Miâ—â— 7.18 that pardoneth iniquity hee is not as man who can pardon a few offences but hee can pardon all sinnes as well the great as the small Secondly wee may reason from the justice of God saith the beloved Disciple 1 Joh. 1.9 1. John 1.9 If we confesse our sinnes hee is faith full and just to forgive us our sinnes and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse Thirdly we may reason from the mercy of God that bottomlesse Ocean which can never be exhausted and drawne dry O the depth the breadth the length the height of the mercy of God! the depth of it is such as it cannot be imagined for it is infinite and such is the breadth of it that it reacheth over all the earth and for the length of it it is of a large extension for it is everlasting Psal 117.2 Psal 117.2 and for the height of it it is of such an altitude that it reacheth above the clouds Psal 108.4 Again Psal 108.4 if ye speak of the greatest gift that ever God bestowed on the world it was this he gave his Sonne Jesus Christ to die for sinners and when our Saviour came into the World he did converse with sinners at which though the Scribes and Pharisees snuffed saying He was a companion of Publicans and sinners yet we must know that hee no more contracted pollution from them then the Sunne doth when it shines on a stinking dunghill and yet some of those went into heaven before those learned Rabbies And for the death of our Blessed Lord which was the end of his comming the efficacy of it was such that it was not onely of force to forgive pence but talents and it is the unanimous consent of all the holy Fathers that no sinne is unpardonable if men doe but repent Tertullian saith hee that threatens sinne grants pardon to men upon their repentance and saith Cyprian It is impossible that the whole burnt offering of a contrite spirit should be repelled and Saint Bernard saith The plaister is bigger then the soare and where sin abounded grace hath much more abounded Enough then hath been said for the proof of the point I will onely answer one Objection and so I will come to apply it Will some man say Objection Is the greatnesse of the sin no impediment to the forgivenesse of it What say ye then to the sinne against the holy Ghost those that commit that are never like to obtaine pardon I answer Solution this is no impeachment to the truth which I have delivered for I said and say again If men doe repent though their sins were never so grear they shall be pardoned but the sin against the holy Ghost admits of no repentance therefore if ever thou didst sigh for sinne that was not the sinne against the holy Ghost for such as are guilty of chat transgression are without all sorrow remorse and that sin is not irremissible because God cannot pardon it but because that wicked man cannot performe the condition which God requires of him and that is Repentance as it is with a Patient who spits in the Physicians face and throwes away all good potions prescribed him for his recovery of such a one we say hee is incurable so we say of the sinne against the holy Spirit he that commits it because hee despights the Spirit of God and because hee repells grace being offered him therefore he becomes so obdurated in sinne that hee cannot repent So that notwithstanding this Objection the truth of the point remaines unshaken that the greatnesse of a sinne if there be repentance is no impediment to the remission of it Vse 1 It meets with the old and false position of the Novatian Hereticks who said That men falling into sinne after conversion there was no place for their repentance Cyprian calls the author of that Heresy the enemy of Gods Mercy and the slayer of repentance but they held not constant to this for afterwards they said There was no place for Repentance to him that sinned after Baptisme and not long after they came to mollifie this also saying That a man might repent of small sinnes after Baptisme but if hee fell into great transgressions then there was a falling away utterly but the Fathers of the Church did all fight against these affirming That although men committed great sinnes after Conversion yet Repentance was ut tabula post naufragium as a planck to carry men to land after they had suffered shipwrack Will yee heare some of their arguments First they bring that place in Hebr. 6.4 Hebr. 6.4 where it is said It is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift if they shall fall away to renew them again to repentance This place hath much troubled the learned and for resolving it some have said impossible impossible is no more than difficile hard or difficult others say