be more in our thoughts is the Prayer of your poor Brother weak in Grace and low in Comfort I. B. LETTER IX To S. E. January 13. 1684 5. Dear S. I Receiv'd your's and am glad to hear of the removal of that afflictive Distemper you have of late been under a mercy I have been often seeking to God for for which I am with you obliged and shall endeavour to bless the Lord I am rejoyced to hear you are so much upon the praising pin O that I could but learn that heavenly Note But O what a strange lumpish Heart have I I talk of Heaven Of an Eternity to be spent in the love and joyful Praises of God and a dear Redeemer Truly it is a shame while my Heart is so backward to and unskilful in this blessed Work O had Heaven no better singers then I am or am like to make what poor harmony what harsh melody would there be among them But for the eternal Praise of the great Jehovah it shall not be thus many times when I hear the pretty Bird's singing forth his Praises in their kind I am ashamed of my self I am generally secure and senseless sometimes sad but seldom joyful 1st Oh how secure and dead I am many times I have scarce any Sense or feeling of Spiritual things upon my Heart I have such a senseless benumed Conscience through Custom in Sin that I feel little of the weight and burthen of it or of my need of a Saviour alass while others are joyfully prasing God and a dear Redeemer I have need to pray for a more awakned Conscience and for more Sorrow for Sin 2dly When my Conscience doth begin to speak home and my Heart doth a little relent then either my Sorrow is slighty and superficial not bearing a proportion to my Sins O how many Tears I have need to weep over as not coming from a Heart thoroughly sensible of Sin Or else I am ready to be dejected but it is more rarely thus with me I mostly err on the other hand But then 3dly When shall you find me in a joyful thankful praising frame The Lord hath laid me though an unworthy wretch under many obligations I do not want Matter whereof to compose my Song but alass I want a musical Heart well I yet hope that in Heaven if the Lord will bring me thither at last I hope then he will change my Note That I shall then have no more cause to complain of this Heart of mine but shall then with an innumerable Company of Angels and Saints sing a new Song to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Amen I am your Loving Brother I. B. LETTER X. To S. E. February 5. 1684 5. Dear S. I Receiv'd your's and return you thanks for it and for your I do not doubt hearty Prayer for me for spiritual Joy but O that you would help me to pray more Sorrow into my Heart first you tell me I know what they shall reap that sow in tears to wit Joy But if that be Scripture as I know it is I may expect but a small Crop not that I think my Tears can wash away the Guilt of the least Sin or merit the least favourable Glance of God's Countenance but Repentance of which Godly sorrow is one part is a necessary Qualification O therefore pray for more of that and herein you will exceedingly befriend me I am afraid you are exceedingly mistaken in me I do not wish you so ill as you wish your self to be in my State and Frame Sure I am if you did believe the Discription I have given you of it which I do again own and acknowledge to be worse then I did or can discribe to you you would not wish so however if I do think worse of my self then I should which yet I am confident I do not yet sure I am you err more on the other hand in thinking better of me then I deserve and be not troubled at my Complaints O will you not give me leave to Complain Was I under any outward Trouble I am sure you would and that you would gladly endeavour to help me too and will you not give me leave to Complain of my Spiritual wants and burthens What want Grace and not Complain Be so doged with such domineering Lusts and hanted with such impetuous Temptations as I am and not Complain Give me leave and will you not do what you can to help me O if you love me help me down with my Lusts by your Prayers but I will not longer detain you I am your Loving Brother I. B. LEETTER XI To S. E. March 8. 1684 5. Dear S. I Receiv'd your's but have time to write but a line or two I was sorry to hear of the return of your Ague but am glad to hear it hath left you again O that all fatherly Corrections might leave us better then they find us I saw my F. lately and was glad to here there was hopes of your getting home I would not have you think I forget you as to that business you hint at I know not how to advise you my self but I shall endeavour to pray for you to him that can however one thing I will say acknowledge the Lord in all your ways then take his Word for it that he will direct your Steps I am ready to think from some Circumstances that there may be something of Providence in it but let us wait a while and see what the Lord will do I am your Loving Brother I.B. LETTER XII To S. E. April 9. 1685. Dear S. I Receiv'd your's and was much perplexed in my Mind not understanding your meaning in some Passages of it as to your coming home I cannot but desire it and methinks it is plainly your Duty considering the Circumstances that you are in and considering your poor Parents how crazy they are and in what need they stand of your help Dear S. have a care of giving way to melancholy discontented Thoughts remember former Experiences that you have had of God's goodness have you not many a notable one I believe you have if you do but think on them I remember an Expression of my Father old Sins and old Mercies should not be forgotten we should not give way to any more Sorrow for Sin than we can give a good Account of much less then for any outward Trouble and what matter is it if the Lord should mark us out for Crosses and Troubles here if he will but mark us out for himself mark us out for Heaven O Sister all will be well in the End How short is this Life if we should have nothing else but Trouble here Then comes Heaven the day is at hand and then all is forgotten O nothing but joy nothing but joy in Heaven remember that Sister the thoughts of Heaven are my own and as thy own what would such Thoughts do Would they not make all our Troubles here
know this Sin is most odious and unaccountable in Beggars and therefore in my poor beggarly Soul Dear S. I could tell you a long and sad Story of a poor young Man under twenty Years of Age who finds the old Man the body of Sin exceeding strong who many Years since did lamentably Experience the sad Fruits and Effects of original Corruption and that fears that to this day his Lusts gather strength on him instead of his geting ground on them finding that his natural sinning Principles are not idle but ever active and finding farther that his frequent Acts of Sin have greatly encreased and strengthned the habit so that now his Lusts do lord and domineer it over him at such a strange rate that he is ready to fear sometimes that in the end his Iniquities will be his Ruin that he shall one day fall by the hands of his Lusts which are got to such a head now that they value not his Prayers or any other Means that he can use against them of a Rush Do you not pity such a One Methinks I see you ready to weep over Him and engraving his Condition upon your Heart that so you may ever remember him when you go before the Lord why to deal plainly with you I am he and do not entertain such a foolish Thought as if I spoke worse of my self then I deserve indeed I do not know how to do that I do not fear wronging this naughty sinful Heart and Nature of mine O what a mirror of Sin and Impiety I am Yet who in my Circumstances so sensless Indeed I have a Hankerchief lying by me but God knows I have little need of or use for it and much more may I say my dear Saviour hath full little need of one for my Heart though he be willing and ready yet I do not give him occasion for the Execution of his Office who is the binder up of broken Hearts but Lord who is it that can break my Heart but thee O first wound and then heal I bless thee for that little small degree of Sensibleness thou hast given me O encrease it But yet Lord how long shall this be the best Chear I have to weep and mourn over my head strong Lusts When wilt thou by thy Omnipotent Grace help me down with them When shall a day of triumph come Dear Lord after thou hast got the Victory wilt thou suffer these thy Enemies to come and spoile thee of thy conquest in my Soul Surely thou wilt not Break not the bruised reed squench not the smoaking flax despise not the day of small things say to me thy grace is sufficient for me I am thine save me But I would not be too tedious dear S. I beg you would go and spread the sheet before the Lord which represents my Condition unto you though not so bad as it is for indeed I want Words to express my own Vileness by I had almost thought to bid you take a view of him that is called the wicked One if you would see a Picture of my wicked Heart However think of the vilest Wretch you know on Earth and if I any way differ from him no thanks to me for that therefore think more meanly of me and pray the Lord to subdue my Pride and help me to entertain low and mean Thoughts of my Self I do not know any Child of God that hath so much cause to be broken and humble as my self But I forget my self for its time to break of I assure you you have no small share in my Affections who hath great cause to subscribe my self as one of the holy Martyrs did a proud and hard-hearted Sinner I. B. LETTER IV. To S. E. September 6. 1684. Dear S. I Receiv'd your refreshing Letter and blessed be God-that I did so for verily it put a little Life and Comfort into my Soul I hope you will excuse the rudeness of any Expression in my last and I return you thanks for your good Councel not to deny the Grace of God O I would not do so indeed sometimes poor Soul have such bleared Eyes with Sorrow for Sin that they are prone to overlook God's Graces O that I may never be guilty of such Ingratitude But no great danger of it upon this Account while my Heart is so hard O for more Humiliation and more Sorrow Alass I am not one of those weepers that take on so for Sin its true I am apt enough to overlook God's Grace but it s from another a contrary Cause Dear S. my Condition is really the same as I hinted to you and much worse You may make your own to be somewhat like it bless God that gives you to think low of your Self Well I would say something to the Encouragement of us both be it granted that our Condition is such and such yet as you say there is Merit and Satisfaction enough in Christ and there is Mercy and Pity enough in him and in his Father through him for the worst of us even my self our Corruptions are strong What then Are they too strong for his Omnipotent Grace O no they cannot stand before it believe me Sister though we be weak in our selves yet we have mighty strong Friends God and Jesus Christ and the holy Spirit of Grace are on our sides What then shall we be afraid and utterly dejected at the Thoughts of our Enemies O no for shame they be more that are with us then they that are against us God is my Covenant engaged to carry on the Work that he hath begun think often of that sweet Place that hath oft revived me I will not break the bruised reed He will not do it himself nor suffer any else to do it yet how hard it is to believe such things to believe them soundly I say when we are under our discouragements Well let us walk humbly but no longer sadly and disconsolately it pleaseth the Devil when he seeth his Design take so well with us as it doth when he can deprive us of Peace and Comfort but our sad disconsolate Looks are no Satisfaction or Pleasure to our gracious Father He is no farther pleased with our Sorrow then as it prepares us for the discharge of higher Duties and the exercise of higher Graces he had rather see our Souls elevated in the highest strains of Love Joy and Praise well study we now in every thing to please him and that which is our Duty in this as well as in all other things would be our great Priviledge I was troubled to hear that she whom I lov'd was Sick but glad to hear you are better my Prayer for you is that all things may work together for your Good your Mercies and your Afflictions I look upon as my own The Lord bless you with Pardon Grace and Peace Farewel I am your truly Affectionate and Loving Brother I. B. LETTER V. To S. E. September 30. 1684. Dear S. I Receiv'd your's and am glad
am one that would fain be your Companion in the path of Holiness here and joint Possessor with you of Happiness hereafter I. B. LETTER XVI To C. H. Dear Cozen I Received your's and the doubt which troubles you I find to be the same that I have been exercised with my self so I shall give you a few of my Thoughts although I am under discouragements and have much ado to perswade my Pen to write when I think I have more need to seek advice then to give in this Case so sar as I understand it the matter stands thus with us we fear we are not sick enough for Christ to heal we are not humbled enough our hearts not broken enough for Christ to bind them up now it s true those are deceitful flatterers that would teach us to slight Humiliation for Sin this is a dangerous deceit they will prove but unsound believers that were never soundly humbled but we must consider all Christ's Patients are not sick to the like degree The wounds of such are not all of a like depth some the Spirit deals more gently and tenderly with draws them with the cords of love when others he snatcheth as brands out of the Fire if the Lord hath done his Work shall we peevishly quarrel with him because he hath not done it just as we desire O let the Lord take his own method so he will but save our Souls from Sin and Wrath But it s well if there be not Pride in the bottom when we are so thoughtful about these preparatory Humiliations we would fain bring something to Christ that might make us more acceptable O deceitful Hearts wicked Hearts As one saith why do we not complain more of our want of Faith These preparatory Works are of no worth but as they are means to promote a saving closure with Christ our business is to enquire whether our Humiliation for Sin hath attain'd its end and that Humiliation is sufficient as to its End which prevails so far as that we cannot rest satisfied without Christ when the Soul is so sick that it cannot but cry out give me Christ or I die either we see our need of him or not if not why then do we complain of our selves as lost without him Either we are willing to be saved by him in his own way or not if we are it is a great dishonour and wrong to him to doubt of his Willingness He is more willing to save us then we are to be saved by him when you object your want of Tears that you cannot mourn for Sin I can tell you a sadder Story which makes me write with wet Eyes I say I have more reason to complain of hypocritical Tears then you have for the want of them Humiliation and Repentance lieth chiefly in your Will I remember a saying of Mr. Baxter's there is more Humiliation saith he in a base esteem of ones self then in a thousand Tears more of it in a will and desire to Weep then in the greatest abundance of Tears that come either from the force of Terrour or from the moistness of the Brain could I sind more of this inward Soul humiliation I could take abundantly more comfort in that then in abundance of Tears while my Heart is thus Senseless and feels little when you speak of Reformation consider the terms of the Covenant Sincerity is accepted instead of sinless Perfection and our dear Redeemer sees not only what his Servants are but what they should be and what they shall be O happy time when we shall all see him as he is and be like him I take little notice of what you say of that Expression in my last I am still ready to say as much subscribing my self a Scholar in the lowest Form in the School of the Lord Jesus I. B. LETTER XVII To C. H. Dear Cozen THE reading of your last wherein you did acquaint me with the good Success of my poor worthless Paper did much refresh my Spirit indeed I cannot but look upon your Estate as you describe it to be safe and happy O how glad should I be many times of clear Evidences of so much What Comfort may be safely drawn from such Premises As to what you say that you fear its only a good Mood that you are in it must be granted that natural unregenerate Persons have their good Moods sometimes but I think they never come in them to a sincere willingness and resolution to close with a Gospel Christ on Gospel Terms they may have some faint Wishes and Desires but the Mood is off them before any change is wrought upon their Hearts and Wills and when it leaves them they are more hardened and secure then before and while they are in such a Frame they are out of their Element like Fishes in the Air but I am confidently perswaded that you find it otherwise with your self when you find your Heart in a holy good Frame you are where you would be and when you find it otherwise it is your grief and burthen O how glad you would be was there no such sad and sinful interruptions in your Communion with God and a dear Redeemer Such a happiness as this is well worth dying for and why should you be discouraged at that which is the common Case of all God's Children upon Earth Go to the holiest Saint you know and I warrant you he will freely acknowledge that he hath his up's and down's if it be not so then wo to such as I who alass can seldom find my Heart in any good Frame while we have Flesh as well as Spirit we must expect that-the Flesh will be acting its part and it s well that we have a spiritual Principle to oppose it and happy they who have Faith and Patience to continue this Conflict such shall certainly come off conquerors at last but I would not be too tedious upon any occasion no Friend you have shall be more ready to communicate Experiences or shall more rejoyce in being any way instrumental of the Good of your Soul then my self who though very weak yet am truly willing the Lord be your Guide and Portion I am affectionately your's I. B. LETTER XVIII To C. H. Dear Cozen IN compliance with your request I will tell you what it was that moved me to give you those my Sentiments of your Condition it was this that your Humiliation had this Fruit that nothing could content you without Christ and that as far as you know your own Heart you are willing to be saved by him in his own Way and in his Strength to mortify Corruption which I am sure is more then Flesh and Blood could teach you I desire you may be truly serious sensible and humble but I would not have you turn an unmerciful false Accuser of your self Assurance is a great Mercy where vouchsafed and improved but it is of far greatter moment to us that we have Grace and use and exercise it then
THE REMAINS OF Mr. Joseph Barrett Son of the Reverend Mr. JOHN BARRETT Minister of the Gospel AT NOTTINGHAM BEING The Second PART taken out of an Exact DIARY written by his own Hand LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst and are to be Sold by him at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside and John Richards at Nottingham 1700. TO THE READER IF you have conversed with the Former Volumn of this eminently holy Man's Papers we reckon we need do no more to envite you to a serious delightful Perusal of this Second then to assure You that they are more of Mr. Joseph Barrett's Papers and indeed we scarce need to certify that neither themselves do testify it they have the same Rich Vein of more then ordinary Judiciousness Savouringness and Spirituality running through and sparkling in them as did in the Former the same marks of eminent Impresses and large Supplies of God's Spirit and the same signs of a Man very much in Communion with God and inflamed with Love to and Zeal for God of one much in Heaven during the little time he was here on Earth his True and somewhat peculiar Character Which makes it not strange at all that he was so soon removed to Heaven the place his Heart was so much in and he drove such a great Trade with and that he was so soon removed from Earth a place so grievous to him by reason of its-aboundings Iniquity and withheld and which vexed his Righteous Soul from day to day in seeing and hearing its ungodly Deeds nothing revived him more than the Success of his Projects for Christ and Souls And in imitation of his Blessed Master whom we never find weeping for any of his own though peculiarly heavy Affliction and sore Sufferings but only for either the Sins or Calamities of others nothing grieved him more than to see the hardness of Men's Hearts their opposition to the Blessed Jesus and the sad prospect this gave of Judgment upon Them and the Nation If an ill Spirit broke out with any Prevalence and the Interest of Religion seemed to give ground if any Adventure of Prayer many of which he made and put others upon making and blessed be God with good Success but if at any time any such Adventure did not make the return he hoped for how near did it go to his Heart out of his Apprehension of God's Displeasure and fear of this precious Duty of Prayer come into Discredit This grived him much more than the failure of any the greatest Adventurers in the Business of his secular Calling Apprehesions of God's being provoked and displeased and fears of the Consequences of it sat heavy made deep Impressions upon the Spirit of this Josiah whose Heart through Grace was peculialy soft and tender the Zeal of God's house did eat him up Several things of his and upon many Accounts we have reason to conclude valuable ones are locked up from being publickly useful by being written in Characters But blessed be God that so ordered it that so much of the good Treasure of this Scribe instructed to the Kingdom of Heaven this well furnished Housholder is left unlocked and stands open for publick Vse The things this Second Volumn consists of we shall not stay you in giving you our Judgments particularly of them but leave you to make a Judgment of them your Selves when you have perused them Only it may not be amiss to give some brief Account of the nature and method of those Conferences that one of these Tracts hath relation to The Reader therefore is desired to take Notice That in the Congregation of which this Holy Man was a Member there is a meeting of several Christians once a Week from Five to Seven of the Clock at Night for mutual Edification which is spent only in Prayer repeating of Sermons and singing of Psams on those Nights when the Ministers are not present But usually once in a Month the Ministers are there and then some practical Question or Case of Conscience is propounded and discoursed of and every Man present hath liberty to propound his own Thoughts and speak his own Experience Prayer begin and together with a Psalm or Spiritual Hymn closes the Exercise The Minister opens the Question and in the Close sums up the substance of what hath been discoursed of These meetings this good Man was a great Lover and Promoter of yet such was his great Modesty that be seldom spoke himself but wrote his Thought and put them into a Friends hands with a charge of privacy as to the Author who read them towards the close of the Exercise Having thus acquainted you with what we think necessary in relation to these Papers we recommend them to your serious powerful Perusal you and them to the Blessing of the God of all Grace and our Selves to your Prayers who desire help through your Prayers and the supply of the Spirit he obtain help to be The furtherers of your Faith and helpers of your Joy in the Lord John Whitlock Jo. Whitlock Junior August 22. 1699. ADVERTISEMENT THE first Account of Mr. Joseph Barrett's Life printed contains Eight Chapters which is in several Hands single therefor these his Remains begins Chapter the Ninth BOOKS Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns the lower End of Cheapside near Mercers-Chappel Books written by the Reverend Mr. J. Howe OF Thoughtfulness for the Morrow With an Appendix concerning the immoderate Desire of foreknowing things to come Of Charity in reference to other Men's Sins A Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. Richard Adams M. A. Sometime Fellow of Brazen-Nose Colledge in Oxford The Redeemer's Tears wept over lost Souls In a Treatise on Luke 19.41 42. With an Appendix wherein somewhat is occasionally discoursed concerning the Sin against the Holy Ghost and how God is said to will the Salvation of them that perish A Sermon directing what we are to do after a strict Enquiry whether or no we truly love God A Funeral Sermon for Mrs. Esther Sampson the late Wife of Hen. Sampson Doctor of Physick who died Nov. 24. 1689. The Carnality of Religious Contention In two Sermons preach'd at the Merchants Lecture in Broadstreet A Sermon for Reformation of Manners A Sermon preach'd on the Day of Thanksgiving Decemb. 2. 1697. To which is perfix'd Dr. Bates's Congratulatory Speech to the KING A Sermon on the much lamented Death of the Reverend William Bates D. D. The Redeemers Dominion over the Invisible World being a Discourse on the Funeral of Mr. Houghton A Sermon at Mr. Mathew Meads Funeral CHAP. IX QUESTION I. How may a man know that he is led or acted by the Spirit of God BEfore I answer directly I beg leave to lay down a few things which I think may tend a little to clear the question and to prevent Mistakes about it As 1. That there must be a principial of Spiritual Life infused into the Soul in the Work of Regeneration before a Man can be said
come to find out and know what are our special Sins 2. What means are to be used for the Mortification of them As to the former of these I shall give you my poor thoughts thus Tho' we have in our Hearts by Nature that which is the Seed and Principle of all Sin and tho' the unregenerate are under the Power and the Dominion of every Lust yet they yea and the godly themselves who sincerely desire and endeavour to disown and renounce all Sin yet even they as well as the former have some one sin or more which may in a peculiar manner be called their iniquity their special sin And in order to the discovery what this sin or sins are I think 1. Our work lieth with God and 2 With our own Hearts and Consciences and so 1. We must be very sincere and impornate with God in Prayer that he would please to discover and make them known unto us The heart is deep the Deceitfulness and Wickedness of it exceeding great who can know it Jer. 17.9 We are naturally prone more easily to spy out Faults in others then in our selves and the great Traitor our special sin lieth closest of all and while the Devil and our Flesh can hinder it we shall not find him out And therefore we have need to pray with Job 13. chap. 23. Make me to know my Transgression and my Sin 2. When this is done we must seriously endeavour to bring our Hearts to the test by some such Questions as these 1. What Sins are they that we are most strongly enclined unto and of all others most loath to leave or part with our right Eye and right Hand sins these are our spiritual Sins Mat. 5.29 30. The young Man that came to our Lord Mat. 19. When he brought him to that trying Point about his Master Sin which appears to be coveteousness or worldliness the news of parting with that makes him go away sorrowful he rather choosing to take his leave of an only Saviour 2. What sins are they that we are most frequently and violently tempted to the Temptations unto which we have least Power to resist and so consequently are oftest foiled by The Devil studies this Point more I am afraid then many of us do I mean it mostly of my self and when he hath by diligent Observation found out which way our Inclinations carry us most strongly he suits his baits thereto And if we observe we shall find his strongest batteries and fiercest Assaults to be on this our blind our weakest side and so we may observe that in these Assaults we ordinarily come off worst many times halting if sometimes we get not broken bones methinks this head is clear in it self 3. What Sins are they which we find our Hearts most prone to think of even when outward Objects are not before us to prompt us to such thoughts What Sins are they that the thoughts that come most freely and immediately from our Hearts are employed about Sometimes these Sins will appear at the Mouth For out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh Mat. 12.34 And as one of Jobs Friends chargeth him Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity But I think this is a more certain and constant Sign For as a man thinketh in his heart even so is he 4. What Sins are they that we find our selves prone to entertain in our Thoughts with greatest Pleasure and Delight What sin is it that we are apt to conceive the greatest Sweetness in we may mark him out or that 's he Tho' sin is an evil and bitter thing in it self and in its Effects and tho' it be so to the real apprehension of a Sincere Heart yet in spite of it the Flesh will be contradicting it herein especially in relation to its great Master Lust 5. What Sins are they that we are prone to make most Provision for that we may fulfil the Desires and Lusts thereof Tho' others will be craving and e're while crying feed me and feed me yet if we observe we shall find we have the most frequent impetuous imperious calls from our Master Sins The Flesh will be from time to time prompting us most of all to plot and contrive and drudge for them These will crave and expect the largest allowance or Benjamins Mess and will be most unwearied and impudent in it 6. What Sins are they which Conscience is want to give us the severest Checks for when it is at at any time soundly awakened either by the Ministry of the Word or under some smart Affliction Conscience will speak and strike home at such a time and then it is most likely to hit upon the right vein Act. 2.37 Gen. 42.21 And they said one to another we are verily guilty concerning our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his Soul when he besought us and we would not here therefore is this distress come upon us Now to the second part of the question which indeed contains in it the harder part of our work 2. Having found out what are our special Sins what means are to be used for the Mortification of them 1. Prayer is one Special means to be improv'd here whatever spiritual work we take in hand one great End of it lieth with God And a Christian will fight best upon his Knees Hereby we may engage God and his sufficient grace on our side and so we may groundedly hope for Victory we have the Apostle Paul's course and success here 1 Cor. 12.7 8 9. But 1. We must see that in our Confessions here we be particular full free and open hearted with God we must open our wound if we would have cure while we are for hiding and concealing them nothing will be done as it thereby appears we have no mind it should 2. We must see we lay the greatest load of Sorrow upon them and thereby endeavour to get them more imbittered to us 3. We must see we be very sincere and very fervent in our desires after that Grace which alone can enable us to do the work they will not regard the biggest the hardest Words that we can give them and they would but make a mock at such striplings as we are if we take the Field without our Captain if ever we give them any killing blow it must be by God's strengthning our Arm and therefore we must not Pray as if we feared least the Lord should take us at our word or least he should do it too soon or like those that are indifferent in the Matter seeing if they die not by our hands our life must go for their life 2. We should improve the Word of God here which is the Sword of the Spirit turning the Edge the Point of it against our special Sins in some Sense we may allude to the King of Syria's Charge to his Officers 1 King 22.31 Fight neither with small nor great save only with these princely Lusts I mean that we make it our particular Care
both in the reading and hearing of the Word especially to observe lay up and apply home to our selves those Commands Reproofs Promises and Threatnings which have a peculiar relation to our special Sins could we but rightly manage this weapon it would do great execution 3. We should dilligently improve our covenant Transactions with God this way And 1. Our Baptism in that Ordinance by the Hands of our Parents we took the Lord's listing Money whereby we were engaged to Fight against all his Enemies but especially against these his chief Competitors and grand Rebels And this Act of our Parents for us we have since solemnly made our own or at least ought to have done it 2. Such of us as have been made partakers of that precious Ordinance of the Lord's Supper we both may and ought especially to improve it this way O the Blood of Christ nothing like it for the killing of a Lust we may say of it as David of Goliah's Sword 1 Sam. 21.9 There is none like that give it me this is a proved tri'd weapon 3. When we do at any time afresh renew our Covenant with God either in that Ordinance or upon other Occasions we should do it with a special Eye to these our special Sins And that 1. By labouring here especially to lay hold on plead and improve the Covenant on God's part one main branch of the Covenant is that he will subdue our iniquity Mic. 7.19 Lord let these epecially feel the Weight of thine Hand 2. By laying our selves under particular fresh and strong Engagements against them we shall find we need the most strong and twisted Cords when we would bind these Sampson Lusts 4. We must fix and set our Resolutions as against all Sin in General so against these in special as a good Souldier resolves either to win the Field or lay his Bones there so we should be at a Point with them but while we are wavering and halting between two Opinions there is no hope we should make any work of it 5. We must be careful we make no provision for them and so as much as possibly we can avoid those things which we have found to be occasions of or temptations to them and by this means endeavour to ruine and starve them out we must with-draw with-hold the Fuel if we would have the Fire out 6. Here we must be most strict and constant in our watch here it is that our greatest Danger lieth here we are in most danger of being betrayed here Satan is most likely to make his Breach And if we be careless and secure here we shall certainly be loosing ground though we should be no where secure because no where out of Danger yet we should set the strongest Guard and strictest Watch at the weakest Part of our Wall 7. We must labour to grow in all Grace but above all in those that are most directly opposite unto our special Sins we should desire and labour hard for some peculiar Eminency in those Graces and could we but attain this it would prove an excellent Means for this is certain as Grace gets up Sin must down as in Nature contraries will expel each other so it is here the more we grow in humility the more that Pride will be laid in the dust the same we may say of any other Sin Can none of us set to our Probatum est 8. If ordinary Means fail we must then betake our selves to extraordinary I mean to solemn Fasting and Prayer as our Lord said of that Devil the Disciples could not Cast-out Math. 17.21 This kind goeth not out but by fasting and prayer so as some of our beloved Ministers have observed there are some Lusts that will not otherwise be Cast-out Now could we but thus do and after all humbly and believingly depend upon the free and soveraign Grace of God in Christ we might verily hope that these Goliah's how much soever they may have defied us hitherto should not be able to stand before us 3. What Considerations should move us to endeavour the Mortification of them Answ 1. The Lord doth indispensibly require it Col. 3.5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth This with other the like Scripture precepts are especially applicable here not a limb of the old Man that by the Lord's leave should be spared but especially we should lay at his Heart at those Parts and Members of him where his life and strength mainly lieth put away saith Samuel the strange God's and Astaroth it is probable that was one of their chief and most provoking Idols and therefore named in particular And I think one may safely say That Man who doth not sincerely desire and endeavour in Obedience to such Commands the Mortification of his special Sins the putting away of his Astaroth he doth not nor can he be said sincerely to obey them as to any of the rest 2. Though a single Command from God be enough to make this or any other thing our indispensible Duty yet here we are under other as strong Ties and Obligations as can be imagined we are the Lord 's by manifold Right how many things he hath to ground a most just and unquestionable claim to us and our service upon And farther we are his by our own and I hope many of us may say sincere and hearty Consent we have sworn unto the Lord and may not go back now it is a thing in it self impossible that we should at the same time habitually and prevailingly love and serve God and Sin too no Man can Serve two Master's so contrary and therefore we must endeavour the Mortification of them as we would not be guilty of the most horrid Perfidiousness as well as Disloyalty and Rebellion by siding with these Tyrannical Usurpers which as such we have at least in pretence renounced against him that is our most rightful gracious and solemnly avowed Soveraign Lord. 3. Without this we can have no clear sound and comfortable Evidence of the sincerity and integrity of our Hearts this seems clearly intimated Psal 18.23 I was also upright before him and I kept my self from mine iniquity and it is a thing very clear in it self for that Opposition against Sin which is right it is and must be against Sin as it is Sin that is as it is so directly contrary to the most holy Nature Will and Law of God and so directly opposite to his Glory and so consequently it must be against all Sin and especially against our special Sins and therefore we must endeavour the Mortification of these or in vain we hope for any well grounded Peace or comfortable assurance 4. These are the main Obstructers of our growth and progress in Grace and Holiness these are the Chief of those suckers and luxurious Branches we have been told of so frequently of late as a prevailing ill Humour in our Bodies so are these in our Souls whatever else we do in Religion all will prove but to
little purpose we must never think to be any body for Christians while we suffer these to Lord it over us The Devil knows this well enough and so he will give us leave to do almost any thing else while we will but keep far enough from these but touch these and we touch the Apple of his Eye he cannot endure it knowing that if we do it in good earnest his Interest in us is then like to go down apace as ever we desire to be thriving Christians we must endeavour to get rid of these 5. These Sins of ours slew our Lord Jesus Christ and then surely if we let these go if we let these live we are not Jesus his Friends this should be a very moving Consideration to us the pardon of any one of our Sins could not have been obtained but at the expence of that precious Blood of his and if we may suppose that some of our Sins gave him our dearest Lord a deeper Wound a Sore or Bruise then others of them they were these and do they not deserve a Wound from us Should we not endeavour to give them a deadly crush for this Yea it was one special End of his Death to destroy these And shall he die for us and as to us loose his labour when he hath done 6. We should be quicken'd to our Work here especially at such a time as this is for England's sake and for the Ark of God amongst us Matters seem to be at a very tickle trembling Point what the Lord intends to do we know not but really many things looks very threatning and God's faithful Ministers who are like to know most of his Mind are often droping such hints as would make a sensible Heart tremble Now this is the best way that we can take to prevent England's Ruine nay if God save us not by his Prerogative Royal it is the only way and it is unquestionably the duty of each of us to be fighting for our Country at home and thus we may do it and England hath not a worse Enemy then Sin nor better Friends at this pinch then such as do heartily and vigorously ply their work here and now shall England's Ruine ly at our doors Or shall deliverance come and we do nothing to set it forward on its way 7. This work though it be hard and difficult yet it is not impossible nay if we do sincerely apply our selves to it in God's way and strength the Victory is certain it is very true our Enemies are many and mighty but it s also as true that they are all such as have been baffled and conquered it must be confessed that we are poor weak things But withal it must be granted that our Captain is strong we may venture to set one Lord Jesus against them all this is a mighty encouragement to our work but no argument for sloth for he requires we should be active in it though in a manner he doth the work to our hands He hath overcome all the Enemies of our Souls and hath purchased that Grace for us whereby we also shall be enabled to overcome and how many Saints are there now triumphing in Heaven with Palms in their Hands who were once as deeply engaged in the Conflict and it may be under as discouraging Circumstances as we can be we have the same Captain that they had and what he hath done in and for them he is ready to do yea and will certainly and shortly do for and in us if we belong to him abide in him and continue with him so that difficulties should not be pleaded by us as discouragements in a Matter of this nature and necessity For 8. And lastly There is no other way for us here but we must either kill or die Sin as some of us lately heard is such a tyrant all whose Laws are written in the Blood of Souls It is Sin that brought Death into this World and that hath digged Hell in the next nothing so deadly as Sin and suppose but one Sin allowed and spared that one would as infallably undo us for ever as a thousand And farther suppose our Hearts be sincere and so prevailingly for God and therefore safe in the main yet if we neglect our Duty here those Sins of ours will not only keep us short both as to Grace and Peace here as was hinted before but which is a necessary consequent they will also cause us to fall short of those Degrees of glory which otherwise we might hereafter have attained unto the least degree of which should be of more account with us then all our worldly Interests laid together yea then all this whole World and will be so to us if we are indeed such as have laid up our Treasure in Heaven where we are truly our selves QUESTION III. How is the Duty of giving and receiving reproof to be managed THAT it is the Duty not only of Ministers to reprove Sin in others though to do it Ministerially is peculiar to them by Vertue of their Office and their Commission and Charge thereupon But yet that it is also the Duty of private Christians is plain Lev. 19.17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour and not suffer Sin upon him Now in answer to the Question how this Duty is to be managed I shall give my thoughts 1. By laying down some things which I take to be necessary Qualifications in the Person that would be a right successful Reprover 2. Some needful Cautions 3. Some general Rules and Directions The Qualifications are as follows 1. Wisdom and Prudence these are necessary because the right management of this Duty is a work of no small difficulty and for want of these some well meaning Persons marr the Work and instead of doing good do harm this way light and heat should go together otherwise the Motion will be irregular we need these to direct us in suiting our Reproofs 1. To the Persons we Reprove And that 1. With respect to their different Estates For though we must be Faithful to all yet we may not use the like freedom of Expression with all Job 34.18 Is it fit to say to a King thou art wicked Or to Princes ye are ungodly 1 Tim. 5.1 Rebuke not an Elder but entreat him as a Father 2. With respect to their Disposition and Temper For some are naturally more stubborn and hard to work on others more soft and tender Jude 22 23. And of some have compassion making a difference And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire I know it there are some of that temper and especially where any of them are also under that distemper which renders them more capable of impressions of this sort take such ordinarily I say and one shall wound them deeper with the softest Word nay with a silent Reproof in a look then some others with the most sharp and cutting Reproof 2. We need
these to direct us to suit our Reproof to the Nature of the Offence according as it is either more open or secret or as it is greater or smaller either in its self or in its circumstances or in its probable consequents 3. As to the Time The Preacher saith To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under Heaven Ecl. 3.1 And so a time to keep silence and a time to speak v. 7. And a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment Chap. 8.5 Very much lieth in the right timeing of a Reproof such a Word spoken in Season how good is it I know indeed in some Cases the Matter may not admit of delay and likewise that delays sometimes may endanger a neglect But yet methinks where it may we should take the fittest time which in General I think is 1. When we find our own Spirits in a temper in some measure fit to give the Reproof if I find boistrous unruly Passions up that is no fit time for me to Reprove another in 2. When the Person to be reproved is fittest to receive it and like to get most good by it we may learn this from Abigall's prudent Carriage of the matter 1 Sam. 25.36 37. she would not Reprove Nabal till the Wine was gone out of him so to reprove a Man in the heat of his Passion it is like to do no good but farther to enrage him 2. Humility and Meekness 2 Tim. 2.24 25. I know this and some other Scriptures produced were spoken directly to Ministers yet in a Proportion they shew every one of us our Duty too and what Sin is there that we Reprove in others that in some respect degree or other we have not been guilty of our selves However we need not look for into our Hearts to find the seed and root of it and of all other Sins whatever yea more no thanks to the best of us that we are not as bad as the vilest Wretch that breaths and sure here is enough if duly considered to humble and meeken our Spirits when we have to do with others in the way of Reproof And as this is fitting upon our own Account so likewise needful upon the Account of the Party reproved because ordinarily he will but too hardly be perswaded but that we are Proud and take too much upon us or that we bear him ill Will and are for picking a quarrel with him one may believe that Man hath more Grace than ordinary that can take a Reproof well which is given him in a ruff proud and lofty Manner 3. Love Pity and Compassion that general Rule 1 Cor. 16.14 Let all your things be done with charity or love reacheth this Case indeed we must hate the Sin we reprove in another and we may and ought to express our hatred of it But we may not hate his Person nay we must see we love him yea though he be a wicked Man yet we must love him as a Man and so capable of Grace and much more if he be one already made partaker of it and we must endeavour by loving Expressions to wind in our Reproof as advantagiously as may be and so also we must do it with much Pity and Compassion to his weakness and infirmity considering our selves that we also are in the Body and have in us the like body of Sin and so are not yet out of the Tempters reach or out of Danger by his Temptations 4. Zeal and Courage as God's Glory is struck at and in some sense wounded and blemished by every Sin committed by our selves or others though to speak strictly and properly God is impassible quite out of the reach of Sin and Sinners our wickedness may hurt a Man as we are but not God Job 35.8 but no thanks to Sin or Sinners for that he should not be might they but have their Will therefore lukewarmness and indifferency of Spirit here is a cursed thing a holy heat become us well here for which we have the highest Pattern in the World even him who in other things was the most meek and lowly in Heart so when we are called to reprove those that are above us though I think it is not so ordinarily our Duty to reprove Superiors as others they should rather be dealt with by others or by us in another way yet where it is plainly our Duty we should not fear the Faces of any so the Prophets of old when they had God's Commission and Charge they spared not crowned Heads any more then others and New Testament instances might also be easily produced here 5. Intergrity and Faithfulness and that both to God and Man but I fear I enlarge too much and alass which is worse but too impertinently 6. Self-denial and Contempt of the World this is a necessary Qualification because if we will be Faithful to God and Souls it may so fall out that we may be called to reprove such as to outward things we may have most dependance on whose Favour of all others we are most loath to loose which may be hazarded by a faithful Reproof this the Flesh knows how to improve but here carnal Sinful-self must be denied the World contemned when it stands in the way of our Duty and if we would but be Faithful to God we should find him so to us Forthwith an upright Man he will shew himself upright 2. The Cautions are these 1. That we reprove not that as Sin which indeed is not so we must take heed of that for it would be Sin in us and so justly deserve a Reproof from them this was in some degree that good Man's Fault 1 Sam. 1.14 15. And so Peter's Fault Math. 16.22 For which our Lord gave him as severe a Rebuke as most we meet with v. 23. 2. That we reprove not other 's for that Sin which we have not good ground to charge them with and are not able some way to convince them of though I think in this Case it may be a Duty to give some friendly Intimations of what we either suspect or hear in a way as inoffensive as may be and I dare say this is far more Christian like then hasty rash-judging upon weak grounds and its ten to one on such as are false by which how much some have suffered the Lord knows which it is a dangerous thing I think to give a downright Reproof upon meer surmise or upon bare heresay especially in this censorious detracting Age when false Reports are so common in Men's mouth 's yea too often in the mouth 's of those that are Wise and Good though alass this is no part either of their wisdom or goodness 3. We should beware we do not throw away our Reproofs upon such as are unworthy of them such as would but abuse them and us for them I think this Caution is warranted by and may be grounded upon such Scriptures as these Math. 7.6 Give not that which is holy unto dogs
search it out this is one main Duty which both God's Word and his Rod points us too Lam. 3.40 Let us search and try our ways 5. Our next duty is a free and hearty Confession of a judging our selves for and deep humiliation under the sense of those sins we discover whereby we have provoked him This the Lord stands upon Lev. 26.40 If they shall Confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their Fathers with the Trespass wherewith they have trespassed against me and that also they have walked contrary unto me Jer. 3.13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God Hos 5.15 I will go and return unto my place until they acknowledge their Offence This way we are to give Glory unto him Josh 7.19 What large Confessions do we meet with in Scripture made by the People of God when his hand hath been upon them When the Lord is testifying against us and laying load upon us in his Judgments we should take his part and this way be laying load upon our selves tho' indeed in another sense this is the next way to ease our selves of the burden I confessed and thou forgavest saith David so 2 Chron. 7.14 If my People shall humble themselves 1 Pet. 5.6 Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God When the Lord is laying us low by his Judgments our work is not to struggle with him but to fall at his Foot to lay our Hearts low for our sins 6. Our Sins thus discovered and confessed must be forsaken we must turn from them unto him that smites us Without this the former will neither please God nor any thing avail us we must take things as God hath laid them together If my People shall humble themselves and turn from their evil ways Let us search and try our ways and turn unto the Lord This is the great Errand his Judgments come to us upon These things I think do not need so much to be proved as to be urged and pressed home upon our hearts O that we could but effectually do that It is sin that hath bread the difference between God and us by them we have been fighting against him by them we have provoked this long suffering God of ours unto his strange work and now that his terrible anger is thus kindled there is but one way for us to take that is to submit to lay down our Arms unless we are resolved to try it out with him Nay but let the Pot-sheards strive with the Potsheards of the Earth but woe to us if thus we strive with our Maker who ever hardned himself against God and prospered We must therefore cast away our Transgressions from us and with indignation say to our sins as Ephraim to his Idols get ye hence 7. We must seek unto God by Earnest extraordinary Prayer joyned with fasting It is his will that we should thus by Prayer enquire of him at all times and for all things that we need and that he hath promised But especially this is our Duty in such times as these Call upon me in the Day of Trouble This the Lord expects Hos 5.15 In their Affliction they will seek me early And ordinary Prayer must not serve the turn The Lord looks for early earnest Prayer And so that we spend more time then ordinary in the Duty Not that the Lord is wrought upon by the length of our Prayers but the work that is to be done upon our own Hearts ordinarily requires it And this joyned with fasting which God's plain and pressing Commands and the practice of his People thereupon in all Ages doth sufficiently prove particular instances of either of which I think are needless here 8. We must renew our Covenant with God and by solemn vows bind our Hearts to their good behaviour for the future we had need to take our Hearts at all the advantages we can and at such times we have them at an advantage We too frequently and sadly experience it how easily our Corruptions break through our strongest Purposes and Resolutions they are but like Sampsons green wit hs to him But now solemn Vows and frequent renewing of our Covenants provoided we be serious in it these are observed to be good means to keep our treacherous Hearts from starting back Tho' here we must be careful we do not ensnare Conscience in matters of indifferency or impossibility This hath been and still is the practice of Gods People Neh. 38. And because of all this we make a sure Covenant and write it and our Princes Levites and Priests seal unto it which we have at large in the 10. Chapter And so we find David speaking of the Vows that he had made in his distress Psal 66.13 14. 9. We must be careful to pay our Vows by a resolved cleaving to the Lord whatever comes upon us Vows and Covenants solemnly renewed lay us under further Obligations Tho' its true the Lord hath the highest Authority to command and we are bound to obedience anticedently to any such acts of our own by Vertue of his most Supream and Absolute right in us and Sovereignty over us resulting therefrom yet it is as true that we cannot after such solemn Transactions by sin depart from God at so cheap a rate as before no our guilt and his displeasure will thereby be the greater and herein if the wise man's judgment may pass we act the part of egregious fools Ecles 5.4 5. When thou hast vowed a Vow unto God defer not to pay for the Lord hath no pleasure in fools pay that which thou hast vowed better it is that thou shouldest not vow then that thou should'st vow and not pay Yea we must thus cleave unto God all his Judgments notwithstanding They indeed yield us a good reason why we should leave sin but none why we should leave him but on the contrary why we should cleave more closely to him Come on us what will it should be the care of our Souls that we may be able to say with the Church Psal 44.17.18 19. All this is come upon us yet have we not forgotten thee neither have we dealt falsly in thy Covenant our heart is not turned back neither have our steps declined from thy way Tho' thou hast sore broken us in the place of Dragons and covered us with the Shadow of Death 10. We must steadfastly hope and trust in him according to his word He is styled the hope of Israel in the time of trouble Jer. 14.8 Thou art my hope in the day of evil Jer. 17.17 We must hope and trust in him and in his Promises even when his Providences seem in our shallow apprehensions to run never so cross to them we must hold to it as an inviolable truth in spite of all that sense or Satan may object against it that if the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it his hand shall make it good It is recorded of Abraham that against hope he believed in
of his Mouth but he hath it 2. In what he doth we should watch and take great notice what the Lord is doing observe gracious merciful so likewise more severe and afflictive Providences when they come that so we may answerably receive entertain and improve them both we should thus heedfully watch and observe such Providences whether dispensed to our selves or to others to our Persons Families Relations or to other particular Persons Families Societies Nations or Churches 3. We should particularly watch and observe what Answers the Lord is pleased at any time to give into our Prayers this the Lord requires of us and justly expects from us both upon his own Account and ours too whatever the Answer be if we do not thus look up and watch after our Prayers we provoke the Lord who justly looks upon himself as affronted hereby more ways then one and we likewise wrong our own Souls which are like by this means to suffer damage several ways but the contrary would both please him and be much to our own Advantage this is one way whereby we may come to enjoy more in the Mercies we so get and also to get more of them I know a Person whose experimental Observation it is that the more he doth with humility and thankfulness observe and take notice of God's gracious Answers of Prayer the more sweet Matter of that kind the Lord is wont to give him in for his Observation 2. Our watch must extend it self to others to our Neighbours but especially to our Christian Brethren those especially that we are joined with in the same Christian Society though Christianity doth not allow us to be busy bodies in other Men's matters yet neither doth it allow us to be of that wicked Persons mind who said am I my Brothers keeper But 3. It must especialy be exercised towards our selves we must see to keep our own Vineyard and so we must watch over our Thoughts Affections our Words and Actions Or thus we must watch 1. Over our inward Man 2. Over our outward Man 1. Over our inward Man And that 1. As depraved by Sin 2. As renewed by Grace 1. As depraved by Sin and here a great part of our Work lieth our worst most mischeivous dangerous and deadly Enemies ly in our own Bosoms a hellish brood of filthy Lusts which are ever ready to betray and ruine us Satan indeed hath a great hand in undoing Souls but the truth is he might spare his Pains did the Lord but stand by our own Lusts would do the work effectually themselves we have reason to conclude that we should go to Hell readily enough of our selves did but the Lord suspend withdraw his Spirit and Grace and so let us go quietly such Enemies as these sure need watching 2. As renewed by Grace alass Grace in many of our Hearts I am sure I must my self subscribe for one I say it is a poor small weak and tender thing if it be not very sickly declining and languishing this poor thing meets with great Opposition a world of enemies both within and without that it is as strange a wonder that it should be kept alive in our Souls as that a spark of Fire should be kept burning in a great quantity of Water we have need to watch our Graces if we would have them kept alive and much more if we would have them lively we must watch to the feeding and nourishing to the preserving and defending to the acting and exercising and so to the increasing and strengthening of them in our Souls we must watch over our inward Man 2. Over our outward Man over our outward Senses O how much Sin and Vanity is almost contiunally either coming in or going out that way unless streightly watched We have need to set a strict watch a strong guard upon each of them and so we read of holy Job's making a Covenant with his Eyes and of David's setting a watch at the door of his Lips And so we have need to watch as to the whole of our outward Carriage and Behaviour to see that it be such as becometh the Gospel 4. We must watch over our two grand Enemies without us Satan and the World Satan in his Temptations He is such a subtil powerful cruel and malicious Enemy hath so many Snares for us and is so good at the choosing and at the laying of them that without extraordinary care and watchfulness it is in an ordinary way impossible that our Souls should in any tollerable manner escape him And so the World is a near a present and very mischievous Enemy to our Souls we have need to watch the Men of the World and the Things of the World both good and evil for we are endangered by them all thus we must manage our watch universally 3. Diligently so the Charge runs Prov. 4.13 And the truth is our Case is such that its absolutely necessary it should be so without diligence in our watch we do nothing however that which is next to it a Town that is closely besieged by a potent Enemy that hath also within its Walls a strong treacherous Party ever watching for an opportunity to betray it to the Enemy without sure such a Town had need to keep a diligent watch the case stands thus with our poor Souls 4. Wisely and Prudentially one might instance here in many things I will hint only in a few touching the Corruptions of our own Hearts and the Temptations of Satan we must watch Sin so we must wisely observe and watch the first motions and stirrings of it to suppress them watch the occasions of Sin to avoid them watch to cut of that which feeds our Lusts we see how vigilant and industrious Men are to cut of Supplies from an Enemy with whom they are engaged in War This is a great piece of Spiritual Policy also we must watch all Sin in general but above all our special Sins so we must watch Satan in all his Temptations but especially in that which is as it were his Master-piece we must watch at all times but especially at such times as use to be most critical and dangerous ones with us with respect to the Prevalency of Corruptions and Temptations as such as are Persons of any tollerable Observation may find that there are sometimes more critical and dangerous with them this way then others 5. Prayer fully the truth is whatever Spiritual Work we take in hand humble fervent believing Prayer must come in at one End or we are like to make but poor Work of it and as to this of Watchfulness in particular if we do not thus engage the Lord to watch over our watchings all will be but labour in vain our Lord knew full well what he did when he linked these two together in his Charge watch and pray 6. And to add no more it must be constantly and perseveringly while we are here we are in our enemies Country and so are never out of danger and
so a Father when he strikes as well as when he stroaks What is his Design in this Affliction Assuredly he intends me Good and not Evil by this means he would set my Heart more against Sin causing me to taste of its Bitterness And wean me more from the Creature shewing me its vanity and insufficiency for my Happiness and so draw up my Affections more to himself who is the only Soul-satisfying good this is to mortisy and spiritualize me to make me place my Happiness in God and fetch my Comfort from him and those eternal Joys with him in a word to turn me from Sin to God to raise me from Earth to Heaven And is not all this Good Is not that good Physick which is a means to cure such mortal Distempers and he a good Physician who doth prescribe and give it though in it self it be a bitter Potion But farther as his Design is Gracious in sending this Affliction so his Providence exercised about it is very Compassionate this stroke might have come with many more sad and aggravating Circumstances he might have given me a larger Dose but like a wise and merciful Phycian he considereth my Strength or he might have left me to my self to have sunk under this heavy Pressure But behold underneath is his supporting Arm he helps to bear the Burthen himself lays on And when is it so well with me when have I so much of God when do I enjoy such sweet incomes from the Spirit as then when all things look black and dark about me in the World It s ordinarily God's use to know me my felicity to enjoy him most in the time of my greatest Adversity O therefore let me kiss that Rod which is bound up with so much love 6thly God even my God is all sufficient a few serious Thoughts of this may tend much to my Satisfaction and Comfort He who is the only self sufficient independent Being is his Peoples Potion and enough for them all O how happy do ten thousand times ten thousand of his Saints justly deem themselves in him And is he not enough for me Why what 's the matter Sure either I do not know him or else my interest in him is doubtful or I am inconsiderate not truly weighing my Happiness in him Ah what a poor Creature should I be had nothing but a God left me Why what would I have more To have God is as much as to have God and all the World have I him O then I have all in him I am ready to cry out wo is me for I am broken with a grievous breach this day Ah my loss how great it is I have lost a loving tender hearted careful Father one that had not only the name and relation but the heart and bowels of a Father as well How solicitous he was for my Welfare What care he took for my temporal Welfare but especially how concerned he was for my Soul O! Methinks I have sometimes seen even his very Heart in his Prayers Counsels Warnings Reproofs yea and Corrections too but now I am at once deprived of all O sad loss Why true my loss is very Great it pincheth sore it is my Duty to be sensible of it and much affected with it But hold what is become of my God of my heavenly Father He is yet alive and behold he lives for evermore Let it be with me here as it was with Jacob of Old when he was convinced that his Son Joseph was alive the good old Man his Spirit revived within him and so let mine upon this Consideration and let me say with him it is enough Is it not he that hath cared for me all this while and may I not humbly and confidently rely upon him still Is he not the same he was Nay is he not in a more especial manner the helper of the Fatherless What though this instrument and the other be removed out of the way He never wants Instruments to do his Work he can either make use of new Ones or do his Work without them when his People are in Distress if he see it good he can and will create Deliverance for them and that 's a Work done without a Tool I but what will become of that poor Family What will become of poor Relations Why by Faith and Prayer let me commit them all to the same God who will look after and provide for them too I have great Incouragement thus to do whether I look at him or them the little knowledge I have of him may assure me that they cannot be in better Hands He wants neither Wisdom Power nor Will to do them good under his Fatherly care and custody they are sure to want no good Thing which is consistent with his Love to bestow and their real Benefit to enjoy and are secured here from all real and destructive Evils It seems on purpose to strengthen the Faith and revive the Souls of his poor Creatures under such Tryals that he hath taken upon him those sweet relative Titles of a Father a Husband Again If I look at them I have farther Incouragement having a comfortable Assurance of the special covenant Interest that the most of them have in this God and a good Hope concerning the rest now let God alone he loves and will take care of his Children Let me not at once both grieve and dishonour him and torment my self with my Distrust But farther the loss is Publick O my Father the Chariots of England and the Horse men thereof God's poor Church hath lost a judicious faithful and painful Minister how many poor Souls that may want him How will that poor Place where he lived want him Well though here is a wide gap made yet sure such a God can fill and stop it up which of the Prophets live for ever God that sends his Servants appoints them their Work and when they have done that they must away and others come in their room He will not have all his Work done by one Minister or in one Generation but by a Succession of such in his Church to the end of the World so this precious Servant of his having acted his Part is gone down to make way for such as the Lord shall send having dispatched the Work given him to do he is gone to his Great Lord and Master to receive an ample Reward And still God's Church while upheld that is so long as the World stands shall be provided for 7thly The inconceivable Happiness his Soul enjoyeth the Soul of Man is a spiritual immortal Substance and Jesus Christ hath purchased eternal Life for all true Believers and firmly entituled it upon them in the Gospel So that their Souls no sooner depart this Life but immediately they are with him It is my great Sin and Misery both that my belief of such great and comfortable Truths as these is no more firm and stable And what a shame it is that I should be so wavering
about them who have so long enjoyed the glorious Light of the Gospel wherein they are so fully and plainly revealed O this evil Heart of Unbelief Well I now see a poor cold dead Carkase but what 's become of the Soul which did a while since animate it No doubt it is with Christ in Paradice O thrice happy Soul indeed Methinks while I am sadly lamenting my own Loss I should also rejoyce in his Gain which is inconceivably greater he is now possessed of that State of Bliss which he hath sometimes so sweetly described to us But how shall I proceed here My conceptions of this blessed State how low dark imperfect and confused are they But let not the Lord be angry he is now perfectly freed from all those gross Evils and Miseries which poor we Mortals are encompassed with he hath now at once bid farewel to Sin and Sorrow both for ever What grievious complaints I have heard sometimes coming from his Mouth by reason of his Corruptions and Imperfections though he had comparatively so little Reason But now I know his Note is changed He crieth out of a naughty Heart no more being received into the number of Just ones made perfect He is no more afflicted with perplexing Doubts and Fears His shaking Fits are all over A sweet serenity of Mind he ordinarily enjoyed indeed while here but now his Peace is perfect and uninterrupted Possession hath put his Title quite out of doubt He is no more cast down under a Sense of God's displeasure He seeth a Frown in his blessed Face no more he complains no more the Lord is angry with me He is no more annoyed and disquieted with Satan's Temptations being got quite out of his Gun-shot That old Serpent is now troden under his Feet so as never to hiss or put forth his Sting at him more For temptations he hath an everlasting triumph He is now got above a vain tempting and vexing World How little he regards this worldly Trash now he is got possessed of the heavenly Treasure How he would disdain yea abhor any Solicitations from the World was he in their reach Draw him away from his God with a toy a shadow O vile and vain Attempt He knows better things then so The rule of the greatest Empire upon Earth is far below the meanest of his heavenly Companions thrice happy Creatures be they all And as for a raging persecuting World he fears it no more for ever let his Enemies touch him now with their Scorns Reproaches and Callumnies if they can Which of them will imprison impoverish or banish him now It s a thing quite out of all their hands in his Conflict here he was exemplary for his Faith Patience and other Graces And now he hath obtained a full and final Conquest and with it a Crown of Glory which fadeth not He is now perfectly freed from all other sad effects and consequents of Sin He is no more seen in Tears and sad Complaints Grief no more finds a passage into his blessed Soul fears no more darken his Delights He is no more consumed with Cares He crieth out of a pained Head or Side of a sick Stomack or of weak and feeble Limbs no more for ever He is no more heard complaining of languishing unserviceable Weakness which hath sometimes been so great a burden to him All his dolourous Hours all his weary Nights and Day 's are over and past the Lord hath wonderfully changed Chear with him Behold for paternal corrections the highest expressions of fatherly Love and Affection The rod having done its work is quite laid aside and he is taken into the lap and as all his personal Troubles both inward and outward are at an End so all relative and publick ones of which he was wont to have no small share being one of a truly tender compassionate and publick Spirit He is now no more sadned and grieved with this Friends sinful Miscariage or that Friends heavy Affliction He is now got out of the sound of the Churches Sufferings Many a sad sight he had seen and many doleful tideings he hath heard concerning the Church of Christ which have deeply affected him with Grief and Sorrow the interest of a dear Redeemer lying very near his Heart but now no more of this for ever He is otherwise now taken up having wept freely with those that wept here on Earth he is now rejoycing much more abundantly with triumphant ones above O happy Soul indeed But this is not all may I therefore proceed a little farther And the good Lord pardon my great Sin the wrong I do thee in disparaging thy magnificent Bounty darkening rather then otherwise the Glory of thy heavenly Kingdom and his Felicity therein with my inadaequate Conceptions unsuitable Affections and low Expressions But what better can be expected from so sinful a Soul in Flesh Lord when thou admittest me to tast of the Tree of Life my self I shall have other kind of thoughts and be able to give another account of it I am now thinking what a sweet Story some Angel or glorified Saint could tell me concerning the heavenly State who could thus speak from Experience Well he is now with them made perfect He is not only freed from sinful Imperfections but hath his Capacity inlarged for the Reception of the heavenly Glory we are poor narrow-mouthed shallow Creatures little that we can take in or or hold What would Heaven be to us in our present State But it s otherwise with him being raised to as high a degree of Perfection as he is capable of and according to his Receptivety are his Enjoyments His large Vessels are filled brim full in the Ocean of eternal Bliss He is got to the nearest enjoyment of God your chief Good And what need I or can I say more O that I did but know experimentally know what thus much meaneth Blessed Soul he doth by sweet Experience being got as near him as he can well desire He now knoweth God indeed the knowledge of whom in Christ is life-eternal Indeed the estrangedness which Sin had created between God and his Soul was hapily removed in a good-measure while here so that he had much sweet entercourse with him but alass It was but in part but this is done away that which is perfect being come while he was here he saw but through a glass darkly as poor we do but now Face to Face And having this knowledge of God what can he be ignorant of which is worth the knowing or would any way augment his Happiness And doubtless it would add much to his Joys now he is got to the heavenly Canaan to reflect and look back upon the many weary turns and windings which he had in his Passage through the howling Wilderness of this World but that which is sweeter still indeed the kernel of all is he now enjoyeth God in the perfect and constant actings of joyful Love while we are forced to breath out many
penal Evils which God inflicts upon us Righteousness and Judgment is ever to be ascribed to our God and all the blame to be charged home upon our own naughty Hearts it is Sin which imbitters all our Comforts here O hate Sin and take a holy revenge upon it Afflictions are but the effect Sin is the cause now remove the Cause and the Effects will cease O what bruitish and unreasonable Creatures are we who are so much in love with Sin a thing so odious and hateful in the sight of God and so mischievous to our Selves O unnatural we who are so in love with our own Miseries Now that you may follow this Direction effectually it would be a good way seriously to endeavour to find out what those Sins are that have had the greatest hand in bringing this Affliction upon you for in many of God's strokes his Hand his Rod points very visibly to the Offence I have verily thought so in several of the light Afflictions he hath laid upon me When God afflicts us in Relations we ought with shame and grief to reflect upon our relative Sins I dare not but humbly mind you of this thing having found out the Achans let us dispatch them without delay let us humble our Souls exceedingly for them and earnestly beg the Pardon of them and with all our might strive against them O let us shew Sin no mercy Let the Lord see that his quarrelling with us hath broached an irreconcilable quarrel between our Souls and Sin 2dly Let us be led to see more of the emptiness and vanity of the Creature since our fall from God to the Creature we are very prone to place and seek our Happiness in it whereas our Happiness consists and ought to be placed in God alone who is the chief Good and our Gracious God many times sees good to Afflict his Children most in those things which have got the greatest share of their Affections and so are likely to draw away most of their Hearts from him O remember dear Cozen our Head and Husband the Lord Jesus hath a very jealous Eye over our deceitful Hearts he cannot brook any adultrous Affections in his Spouse when he seeth we are following strangers and so growing strange with him it much offends him yet so constant is his Love to us that he takes various Methods to recover our Affections and if nothing else will do it rather then quite loose us he will hedge up our way with Thorns and seldom that our naughty Hearts will be reclaimed till it comes to that I remember an Expression of my Father in a Sermon of his to this Purpose I am verily perswaded saith he that most of the lashes laid upon God's Children here are to pay home and sharply to correct them for some overloving of the Creature As I said before hate Sin more so here love the World less 3dly When ever we find the Devil tempting us to hard Thoughts of God then let us stand up and plead mightily for God's goodness let not our base distrustful unbelieving Hearts be suffered to entertain any such vile Suggestions when God's providences are dark and afflictive towards his People then it is the Devils trick to do what he can to possess their Minds with black and unworthy Conceptions of him as if he had an evil Eye upon them and grudged them their outward Comforts or did willingly Afflict them or took pleasure in their Grief so it is sometimes with God's Church in general Sion's Language sometimes is The Lord hath forsaken my God hath forgotten me And so it is frequently with particular Souls under their particular Tryals and Troubles here How have poor I experienced this sad Truth And with what shame and sorrow may I acknowledge the too great readiness of my base Heart to close with such Temptations And if you do not meet with the same sometimes I can assure you from sad Experience your Case is singularly Happy and if you do meet with them with abhorrence reject and cast them out fear yet scorn to entertain them labour to recollect former Experiences you have had of the Lord's loving kindness He is unchangable in his Love to his Think often what an Expression it is of his Love and Care that he will be at the pains to Afflict you clearing your Adoption you may thence easily argue that all your Afflictions are but Fatherly Chastizements And O how would that sweet Promise of God's turning all to our spiritual Good and Advantage Rom. 8.28 if frequently seriously and believingly considered of make us think very well of all he doth 4thly Live by Faith upon the Attributes and Promises of God it is nothing below this that will be able to keep up your Heart and hold up your Head above these Waters and here I would advise you to seek out those Attributes of God that most suit your Case as it may be sometimes you are puzzeled even at your Wit 's end and know not what to do not what Course to take I believe it is so with you sometimes is it not Your way is made dark in this Wilderness why then have recourse by Faith to the infinite Wisdom of God it may be you meet with a great deal of treachery and deceitfulness in the Creature in this Case live upon the Truth and Faithfulness of God which never fails It may be you may meet with cruel and harsh Usage from such as you have no reason to expect most of the Contrary in this Case solace your Soul in the Consideration of those Bowels of Compassions that are in your heavenly Father and so improve all the Attributes of God for they are all yours and strongly engaged for you if you be his and so as to the Promises of God seek out those that come nearest to your Case promises of Support under your Affliction and of Deliverance when the Lord shall see that good for you at least of a blessed Sanctification of all to your Soul which is ten Thousand times better then present deliverance without it 5thly The exercise of Patience is another thing wherein a Christian Carriage under Affliction doth consist a quiet submitting unto and acquiessing in the good Will of God consider God's disposing Will in his Providence is as really his Will and doth as firmly constitute our Duty to Obey as his commanding Will in his Word And seeing it is his Will that it should be so with you as now it is endeavour chearfully to subscribe unto it let it appear that you are a Practitioner yea a good Proficient in the holy Apostles Art who had learnt in whatsoever State he was therewith to be Content what a poor Contentment is ours if it depends upon our Creature enjoyments yet what abundant reason we should be Content with what we have we deserve nothing so surely ought to be Content with any thing and if an ever Blessed God will not Content us surely we are very unreasonable and
foolish And as for Patience O what an unreasonable thing is a fretting murmuring impatient Carriage in a Creature and much more in a Child under the righteous wise and gracious Disposals of God's Providence it is especially unreasonable and sinful in such who may see not only God's Hand but also his Heart in their Afflictions therefore in our Patience let us possess our Souls let us consider our Afflictions are but the just procurement of our Sin and light in comparison of what we deserve and they are but short for a moment and such as we have need of and God hath gracious End 's in them and will bring our good out of them a gracious Design I verily believe he is now carrying on upon your Soul which could not have been so well effected another way And in Heaven all our sad day's will be forgotten only so far as they will administer Occasion for God's eternal Praises 6thly Let us labour after a joyful thankful Frame what abundant Cause there is that we should not only be patient but in joyful Tribulation let it be our care to clear up our Interest in God and then let us take a survey of the Heritage of his People the many glorious Priviledges the Covenant of Grace entitles us unto and then let us live up to our Means poor honest Hearts are frequently to blame here in living below their Estates alass we place so much of our Happiness in the Creature that much of our Comfort depends upon it but thus it should not be if God be our Portion let us live upon him let the World see that however some cry down a Religious Life as a sad melancholy Life and however others exalt their own Fancies Conceits and gross Delusions above it yet let it appear that we find that solid ground of Comfort in it as can bear up our Hearts under our greatest Pressures dear Cozen how unlike are we unto and how unfit for the blessed Society of Angels and Saints above who are continually singing forth the high Praises of our God Yea how unlike we are to those we here profess our selves to be Is not Praise ever comely for the upright O what a dishonour we are to God and Religion when every petty Cross in the Creature can sadden and sink our Hearts whilst we have the God of all Consolation to live upon O what strangers we are to our own Happiness in being such strangers to a Life of joyful Praise O what merry Christians might we be even under our saddest Circumstances were we but duly sensible of our highly priviledged Estate even here Lord vouchsafe unto us the joy of thy Salvation Finally be instant in Prayer I bring this in last because nothing I have said will be of use to us without some Divine Influences be fetched in this way O be frequent and earnest with God in Prayer that he would by his Spirit teach you what is the errand of this sad Providence that he would help you by your Affliction to see more of the Evil of Sin and more of the Vanity of the Creature and help you under it to keep up high honourable and good Thoughts of himself and that he would help you to act Faith and exercise Patience yea and to live in his joyful Praises And here I would promise you my hand the best of my assistance I can give you that little Interest I have at the Throne of Grace shall be employed for you Thus I have given you some of my Thoughts excuse my boldness herein I hope you will I would have spent some Thoughts upon the particular Nature of your Affliction and so of your particular Duties and Supports but that I am deeply sensible of my own unfitness and consider what able experienced Ministers and Christians you may have opportunity to converse with I must break of being sensible my Pen hath been quite too nimble for me I having been much more tedious then I first intended Dear Cozen I commend you to God and the Word of his Grace This poor confused piece of Nonsense the Lord was pleased to Bless O what a workman is he Let me learn this if he will undertake a Work no matter then how mean and sorry his Tools be Who am affectionately Yours I. B. LETTER II. To S. E. July 16. 1684. Dr. S. BY a hint from my F. in his last I understand you have received but two Letters from me since you went to N. But either you are mistaken or else some of them have miscarried but why am I solicitous about them How little are they all worth How little of God in them all Which makes me wonder why you should be so desirous of them Alass are they not as wast Paper How much precious Time have I thus wasted in writing a little nonsense to you And not only so but I have caused you to mispend time in reading that you could get little or no benefit by but Sister I would not have you think that I have any inclination to leave of my wonted way of Converse with you no I intend to be more constant than ever only I am ashamed to think that what I have done this way hath been to no better Purpose O that we were but soundly Sensible of the worth of precious Time on which depends Eternity How would this influence us in the whole of our Lives here which are but short and very uncertain It is not for nothing that you and I are brought into and still kept in Christ's School Well Dr. S. there is one Lesson I am very desirous to learn I will tell you what it is that so you may help me by your Prayers and also bear me company it is to redeem Time a thing soon spoken soon written but not so soon or easily learnt but the advantages that would come in by it would more then counterballance all its difficulties Well will you be my fellow Student I question not but you are willing yea I hope you are better learnt a greater proficient here then my self O happy Souls who in Time know the worth of Time O thrice happy Souls that are so wise as to cut off all occasions of those sad Reflection which I have of my mispent Time I am your tender and loving Brother I. B. LETTER III. To S. E. August 15. 1689. Dear S. I Receiv'd Your's but am displeased with the Term you give my Letter if you have got any Good give God all the Glory to whom its due and for a requital help poor me with your Prayers but I must earnestly entreat you to be ever very Cautious how you mention any thing that may be an incentive to Pride you would not think what a small Spark sets this base Heart of mine on Fire O my Pride my Pride Yea I am afraid least there should be something of it in what I now write O lamentable Case O abominable Sin And it is especially intollerable in me you
if my poor Spark added any thing to your flame but especially I am pleased with what you write in the Commendation of our loving Saviour I would be grieved when any Blaspheme that worthy Name but methinks it sounds something like Heaven when any are celebrating the Praises of the Lamb indeed I have both seen and heard that of him lately that would not have left me so Tongue ty'd in this Matter as I am was not my Heart so bad as it is O the Love of Christ methinks it should be the burthèn of all our Songs methinks I would fain be saying something I know not how to cull out a more excellent Heart affecting Subject to write to you on but I am afraid to meddle almost because my low and ill Management will be but a disparagement of his matchless Love O that I knew but what to think or write that might affect my own Heart and Your's But what a strange Heart have I to deal with What can affect me if this do not O thou Stone or harder if harder can be May your Heart be more affected in reading then mine is in writing and when it is so O then remember poor me O how should our Hearts be affected when we consider the Person loving the Manner how he hath loved us the rich Benefits his Love hath put him upon procuring for us or we our selves the Persons beloved That he the only begotten Son of God who was his Father's delight from all Eternity ever rejoycing in his Presence that he should have such a gracious Respect to us such poor sorry contemptible vile and sinful Wretches as we are that he should Love us and that at such a rate as he hath done even to die for us and this when he knew before hand how disingeniously we should carry it towards him even returning him Hatred for his Love O this is the most prodigious stupendious Act of condesending Love imaginable And then O think his Love is eternal Love though he was not actually our Saviour from Eternity yet he was so appointed in God's eternal Purpose and Decree O that the ever blessed God should have such eternal projects of Love for such worms as we And his Love is to Eternity for whom he thus loves once he loves to the end and should not this stir our Hearts if we have any Life in us to think that the Son of God should have such a special Eye upon us in his Death procuring the effectual Application of that Redemption he was then working out to our Souls in whom there was nothing antecedently to move him to such distinguishing Love O what shall we think of those invaluable Benefits he hath procured for us as reconciliation justification sanctification and eternal Glory O that I could get my Heart more affected with this astonishing Love Lord I cannot comprehend I cannot reach it no wonder it passeth Knowledge its Love in a Mystery but I do and will admire it and look and long for a sight of thee in Heaven where I shall know thee better with all the Heart affecting Circumstances of thy Love being ever under the warm and melting Influences thereof Hath Christ so loved us what follows but that we hate Sin more and love the World less but Him more and express our love in obedience to the things he commands us and in a willingness and readiness to deny our Selves in any thing dear to us for his Sake well I hope you will pick something out of these confused hints But my Paper begin to tell me I forget my self I am Your's I. B. LETTER VI. To S. E. October 31. 1684. Dear S. YOUR'S I receiv'd and to your request that we may hence forward live a Life of Thankfulness unto and in the joyful Praises of God and our dear Redeemer I heartily desire to say Amen I looked upon it as a great Mercy that the Lord was pleased to give us to see the Faces one of another once more with Comfort but a greater still that he was pleased to indulge us with another opportunity of joyning in that precious Ordinance of sitting down together once more at his Table O what cause we have to love exalt and bless the Name of our dear Redeemer who hath I hope brought us into a special spiritual relation to himself and one to another O how should we love him our Head and one another as fellow members of his body I thought I had loved you as well as I could before but now methinks I feel a fresh and stronger Obligation then that which is purely Natural shall we be fed and feasted together by our dear Lord and shall we be hereafter glorisied together by and with him and shall we not dearly love him and one another Alass but am I one of those blessed and happy Souls am I What do I more then others more then a meer painted Hypocrite may do What have I to prove my interest in Christ my title to his precious Benefits Alass my Evidences are most to seek when I think what a difference there is between Heaven and Hell and so between their Inhabitants O what fears arise in my Soul Ah Sister these eternal Concerns of ours are not things to be left at such uncertainty by us who are so near them we must not be satissfied with a may be O let us go upon sure grounds for Eternity Yet I find which doth sometimes a little revive my Heart the Lord hath said he taketh pleasure in them that hope in his Mercy and I do hope so far as I know my Heart that I have indeed chosen him in Christ for my Portion and Felicity and that I do in the main sincerely desire and endeavour to live to him as my ultimate End But much ado I have to make this out many times Methinks I can plainly see a pious Principle acting you O that I was but as sure of my own Sincerity as I am well satisfied concerning Your's See if you can pray a little more peace into my sinful and sometimes sad and now I fear declining Soul see what you can do your Father and I would say my Father hears of you daily by me whom am Yours I. B. LETTER VII To S. E. November 18. 1684. Dear S. I Receiv'd an account of your Illness last Saturday by a Letter from my F. and to let you see I am not unmindful of you I here visit you with a few Lines though I cannot at present in Person and O that the Lord who many times makes use of poor unlikely means yet that when he pleaseth can do his Work without them would hereby encrease your Spiritual liveliness I remember I receiv'd a Letter from you not long since wherein you complain much of a dead and dull Frame which I did not answer Will a word or two now be acceptable Methought when I read your Letter it should have been my own only for this difference that you seem to
be more seriously affected with your Case then I am with mine who have more cause O if ever poor Creature had need to make such complaints it s I Well but do we not hear Persons most eminently Pious making such complaints very frequently We should not be quite discouraged as though our case was singular How often doth warm hearted David pray for quickning which argues a sense of his want Sensible we should be but not discouraged O that we could confess and bewail our deadness more sensibly more lively But all our work lieth not in complaining but we must use the means God hath appointed for our quickning I verily believe our greatest work lieth in prevailing with our own Hearts to the diligent constant and believing use of the means certainly quickning enlivening Grace is purchased for us by the Lord Jesus and now he hath gone through the most painful part of his Work is he not willing to apply to our Souls what he hath purchased O let us not once question this O let us not wrong a dear Redeemer so much as to think otherwise of him O methinks was I but once made a meet recipient of these influences of his Spirit I should not doubt but I should have them Well it is Grace that must make us so and we have a gracious God to deal with who delights in Communicating of his grace and goodness to his Creatures let us call to mind what we heard of this Subject when we was last together let us ply our Hearts with the serious Consideration of the Sin and Evil of such a Frame together with the necessity reasonableness excellency and usefulness of the Contrary let us pray hard for it and use other means But pray S. take heed of that ungrateful Partiality as to judge and conclude from the remainders of Sin in you that you are in a state of Sin and Death the best on Earth complain of deadness and they do not Complement but have real Cause for it a perfect freedom from all Sin and its Effects remember that is reserved for Heaven Have you not a principle of Spiritual life Else whence comes the Sense you have of your deadness Methinks if I was with you and you would be faithful to your self I should not doubt but I could convince you think as ill of Sin as you will as you can but acknowledge and honour Grace joyfully and thankfully entertain any quickning Motions you have as you would have more what I say to you I would speak home to my own Soul the Lord help me that I may The Lord who is all perfect Spirit and Life make us more like unto himself I am your truly Affectionate Loving Brother I. B. LETTER VIII To S. E. December 15. 1684. Dear S. I Receiv'd both your's and owe you more then thanks for them I would bless the Lord that hath directed us to this way of Correspondence by Writing and that about the great Concernments of our Souls which I hope may prove profitable to each of us and very comfortable in the review I am sorry to hear of the bodily grievances you are under but stormy and pationate at the providential Dispensations of our wise and good God I dare not I would not be certainly if there be any true rest and satisfaction for the Creature it is in the will of its Creator who is goodness it self and I am glad to hear of the calmness of your Spirit my daily Prayers to God are for your spiritual and eternal Welfare and that you may not want any good thing here that the Lord would rebuke Distempers and lengthen out your Life but in that you are mindful of Death I rejoyce for to tell you true I love in my Heart to read and hear and think of Death my self indeed I have now out-lived my self my own expectation some Years But O the unaccountable folly that I am guilty of in that I am yet no more fit to die O strange almost incredible I Profess to believe a Future Judgment that there is a day wherein the great God by Jesus Christ will Judge me with all the World for all my Thoughts and Words and Actions whether they have been good or bad and so sentence me to my final State But O how unaffecting are my Apprehensions of this certain great and dreadful Truth and how inconsistent is my Practice to the belief hereof I am daily running on in my Errors heaping one Sin upon the back of another so laying my self under an unavoidable necessity either of bitter Repentance here or else exposing my self to the condemning Sentence of a most just and righteous Judge hereafter to a State of inconceivable and endless Misery which is enough to make any Heart except such a Flint as mine to tremble if seriously thought of Well shall I go on in this careless Frame and Course I fear I fear I shall but God forbid Well there are two things I would commend to my self and you in order to our Preparation for Death and Judgment 1st Let us make sure of a true and thorough work of Sanctification upon our Hearts O how shall we dare to look Death in the Face if found in an unsanctified Estate Sin is the sting of Death but then how may we with undanted Courage look it in the Face and as it were play with it when the Sting is taken out when we are passed from Death to Life if Sin be dead to be sure it s pardoned so otherwise how shall we think of Judgment to which Death immediately carries our Souls Will God clear the Guilty The turning point at that Day will be whether we be such as have come up to the Terms required of us in the remedying Law of Grace all are Sinners that is certain but all are not impenitent unbelieving Sinners O Sister penitent believing holy Souls and they alone shall be able to stand in Judgment shall obtain Mercy from the Lord in that Day and none but such have real ground of Comfort in the forethoughts of it 2dly Let us labour after clear and certain Evidences of our sincerity O how sweet a thing is Assurance of God's Love peace of Conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost How would these chear and revive our Souls in a dying Hour Sure I am a well grounded Assurance would then pay us our own with Interest though we should be at never so much pains to attain it but how sad to be sent to bed in the Dark it must needs be very uncomfortable to a gracious Soul to leave this World uncertain how it shall go with it in the next therefore let us study the Word more which is the Rule by which we must be judged and impartially compare our Hearts and Lives therewith by which means through God's help we may come to know how it will go with us then Blessed be God for that Revelation of his Will Well that our mortality and immortality may
that we know we have it let the most of your time and care and thoughts be spent in the getting and exercising of Grace and wait upon God for comfort in his Time and Way and when you want Evidences of special Grace then as Mr. B. adviseth improve the general Grounds of Comfort as the merciful Nature of God the merciful Nature and Office and the all-sufficiency of a Redeemer the extent of the Covenant of Grace and so the possibility probability yea the conditional Certainty of your Salvation if you come up to covenant Terms abundance of Comfort might be fetched in by the serious Consideration of these things and if you find that trying your self by Marks be ineffectual as to helping you to Comfort but that you are rather more disordered by it your doubts encreasing would you spend your time in endeavouring to exercise Grace in putting forth fresh acts of Faith on Christ and in exercising Love to God and the like would you I say but take this Course a while I am perswaded you would find it a more ready way to Satisfaction and Comfort then by trying your self by Marks unseasonably Thus you might come to feel that you do believe and feel that you love God c. when you complain of the weakness of Grace and strength of Corruption and the like consider you are to distinguish between that which is matter of Humiliation and for Reformation and that which is matter of Doubting the Lord when he hath prepared you for it cause his face to shine upon you and order it so that the present shakings you are under may tend to and issue in your more firm Settlement I am affectionately your's I. B. LETTER XIX To my M. Dear M. I Cannot but really sympathize with you under your present Troubles methinks I feel part of the burthen that lieth upon you O that I could do any thing to make it more easy and light to you But alass I can do little more then pray for you well as your Troubles abound so may your Graces and Comforts abound much more May your Soul prosper indeed May all your outward Troubles prove spiritually Advantagious If so I both may and will rejoyce in your Happiness I take it for a certain Truth that it goeth well or ill with us as Matters go with our Souls alass what are those Mercies worth that do not someway reach our Souls And why should we not prize those Afflictions that further their Salvation and love that God the better that sends them Sure I am these sick Souls of our's need Physick as well as Food and why should we not bless God for the one as well as for the other when both tend to promote our spiritual Health O that we were brought to kiss the Rod patiently chearfully and thankfully to submit to the Lord 's severest Discipline who intends us good and not hurt and will issue all things well Dear M. chear up as well as you can labour to get above this lower Region O what solid Comforts may be fetched from Heaven in our darkest Hours here O how great how sure how near is our reward there Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor hath it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive what God hath laid up for them that love him and all this we none of us know how much as sure as the decree and promise of the Faithful and unchangeable God can make it and near too The Lord is at hand he saith behold I come quickly and my reward is with me dear M. Comfort your self with these Words be very careful of your self least grief be added to our Affliction My dear F. though I have not time to write is much in my Thoughts his illness hath damped my Spirit in that Business you know of many Friends are inquisitive about him and I hope many Prayers are going up to Heaven for him here I am your loving obedient Servant I. B. LETTER XX. To S. E. Dear S. HAVING a little time I resolved to write a line or two hoping they would not be unwelcome I have little business except Soul concerns to write about but indeed that is our greatest Business these our grand Concerns and all other things even those we call Matters of Weight great Concerns they are but trifles compared with these it is a great Comfort to me when I think what comfortable Evidences I hope I have of the good Estate of your Soul I think my self happy in having so many Relations related to Jesus Christ O happy Family highly favoured of the Lord that is likely to turn out so many Souls for Heaven O S. make sure to be one and pray hard for me that I may be another yea that there may not be one outcast amongst us and labour to get as long an Heaven as ever you can O we may begin Heaven even here O how much more of Heaven might me enjoy then we do Well I will tell you what I would be pressing after even to maintain a constant strict and holy Communion with God in and through Christ O the sweetness of Communion with God Oh our unspeakable loss in having Hearts so alienated from God and in being such strangers to a heavenly Life Lord how long shall it be thus How long e're we may love and enjoy thee perfectly without the least intermission interruption or cessation O this body of Sin And O this body of Flesh Well it is our happiness to desire and long and wait with Patience for that which others happy they are do possess and enjoy with fullest satisfaction may our Souls now be following harder after God May we now live like believers a life of holy Love and joyful praises I am much concerned for poor F. but can do little to help him only I pray as hard for him as I can be as careful as you can poor M. that she be not brought down to I am affectionately Your's I. B. LETTER XXI To my F. Dear F. NOW I am beginning to write comes to mind God's great goodness in that I have yet a F. to write to I have great cause to sing aloud of Mercy the Lord punisheth less then my iniquity deserveth he doth but shake the Rod to let me see what I deserve and he can do at pleasure that I ly every way at Mercy when he might strike home indeed O that my Heart should be no more affected with so great Mercy O how far the Lord will fall short of that tribute of Praise due from me O that he would help me yea O that all my Friends would help me by their Prayers that I may love and praise God more who is continually every way doing me good O what a pitty what a shame so good a God should be loved saved and praised no more Was not Earth what it is was not my Heart what it is is was impossible but I live in hopes it will be better e're long
Man and it is very Afflictive to all that love you as for my own part it clouds and dasheth all my outward Comfort when ever I think of you and the Lord knows that is not seldom and my poor F. is declining fast and your cheariness I am well satisfied would be better to him then any Physick Well dear M. I am daily pleading with G. for you as I have now been pleading with you I shall now wait for my Answer from you both may it be a comfortable one May it I then promise to bless G. for it more then I ever did for any outward Mercy he ever gave me in all my Life I am concerned for my poor S. that she hath learnt to bear her Trials no better alass we must learn to stoop and hold our Tongues the Lord will have us at that before he brings us to Heaven I intend to let her hear from me shortly but my Affection engaged me to deal with you first O that it may not be in vain I would fain take fast hold on you both and engage him to drive the nail home carry it like a Christian an that hath already a Christ in possession and an Heaven in hope the God of all grace and comfort revive and chear you dear M. what I have written comes from the tender Affection of your loving obedient S. I. B. LETTER XXVII To my M. Dear M. I Was much concerned to see you so low when you was here in Town I earnestly beg the Lord would make your burthen lighter and in the mean time encrease your Strength to bear it and it would much rejoyce my Heart could I do any thing to help you either of these Ways your Exercises are many and great and you are one of a sorrowful Spirit whereby all your other burthens fasten themselves the more and deeper upon you I can say something to your Case from my own Experience being many times much troubled with the same Distemper I will therefore tell you how I find it with my self and what course I have found most helpful to me I have my exercises many ways both inward and outward and such as are no small ones and when a melancholy Fit takes me I am many times ready quite to sink under them and can do little else but aggravate my Troubles and make every little thing great and inwardly lash and torment my self not only with what I at present feel but also with future fears being ready to conclude it will never be better but worse and worse with me a thousand sad perplexing Thoughts crowd into my Mind and I please my self in this tormenting of my self though when the fit is over I cannot but condemn my self for it yet while under it I really think I cannot do otherwise nay that I do well in it and then sometimes I can neither read nor hear any thing but I must meditate Terrour from it and make nothing of bearing false witness against my self every thing must go against me be it right or wrong at other times the best Friends I have can scarce say or do any thing to please me but I can find something to disquiet both my self and them sometimes I have gone alone to think it out but I find there is no end of that but now I will tell you of two things wherein I have found the most Relief the one is secret Prayer when I find one of these Fits is creeping on me when I find my self pinched or burthened one way or other I then take the first opportunity I can possibly get to go alone and there to give my Heart free vent endeavouring to turn my Trouble into a right Channel confessing and bewailing my Sins and while I am thus endeavouring to lay this load on my other burthens are removed before I am aware and moreover it s ten to one the Lord removes that burthen too before I have done believe me I have sometimes gone to that Duty with as heavy an Heart as I think any poor Creature ever had and have come away with it as light as though I had been in a corner of Heaven I do not say this as though I thought you a stranger to this sweet remedy but to put you in mind to take it seasonably do not defer it to your wonted times of Prayer but take the very first opportunity that you can sometimes when I have thus deferred my Heart hath been so strangely bound up that I could scarce pray at all be sure to observe this to take the remedy in time before the Distemper hath got too much hold I believe this which follows is a very needful piece of Advice to you because I know you have used much to neglect your self and I am afraid you do so still whereby you injure your self both Soul and Body more then you are aware in this case use those Creature comforts and supports the Lord affords you not only as a thing Lawful but as your Duty You assuredly Sin if you do not I dare say it is the Lord's mind that you should not deny your self any thing that might make you more chearful in his Service and he hath so provided in his Providence that you need not want any thing that tends to the support or comfort of your Life and then how dare you deny your self Dear M. I write not these things at random for I know much of your Case by my own and having tried these things I recommend them to you now let my Councel be acceptable to you and that the Lord would make it effectual my earnest Prayers shall follow these poor Lines and if I might understand they are of Advantage to you it would very much rejoyce my Heart even mine who am Your's I. B. LEETTER XXVIII To C. W. upon the Death of his Child Sept. 13. 1693. My dear F. I Now understand our gracious G. hath been pleased to remove your Babe to take away that part of the delight of your Eye with a stroke I would endeavour to bear a part with you and I think my self obliged by that bond you know of though as I may say yet unscaled to attempt to administer some relief to you under your present Presures as the Lord shall enable me for some reasons I do it this way and the Lord give my Pen good speed Methinks I hear you thus bespeaking me have pity upon me have pity upon me O my Friend for the hand of God hath touched me Well I would direct your Thoughts to that Scripture 2 Sam. 12.19 20 21 22 23. and the Lord help you to take out the Copy that is there set before you an intire humble and chearful Submission and self Resignation to the good Pleasure of God is certainly our Duty even when we are under his sadest Dispensations this he stands upon and there is the greatest Reason in the world he should and now my Friend to further you herein I would have you let
would not have one praying Hour intermitted and yet I am loath my Pen should go the round a second time before I have somthing from you I beg you would be urgent with your worthy Ministers for a second Call to the whole Kingdom which I shall in impatiently long for not to ease my Pains but to do the Work much more universally and effectually and to encourage them to it let them know that the Iron is now hot with many of us by the experiments I have made I find a great readiness of Mind to the Duty and dare almost promise them a general universal Correspondence with the thing by those whose Prayers are likely to stand poor England in any stead at this dark and trembling Point of Time though it cannot be expected that all should fall in exactly with every Circumstance the good Lord give them an one-rest of Heart in this Affair and the whole Nation in complying with them If the Lord should encline their Hearts to do any thing this way I shall hope for some Copies I shall think the time long till I hear from you but I know not when to end it s well I have a Man of Patience to deal with I am dear Sir your very affectionate humble and much obliged Servant Jo. Barrett LETTER XXXVI To Mr. L. May 25. 1696. SIR I Cannot but eagerly take hold of the first Opportunity to let you know how well I was pleased with the short hint you gave me in the close of your last the Lord help me to do it so as may be to your eternal Advantage Since you took the little good Advice I gave you so well I am encouraged thereby to tell you more of my Heart I do not dissemble with you in telling you that yon have a great share of my Affections if you was my own Brother I think I could not love you better and I am well satisfied that as we use to say there is no love lost between us that you bear the like Affection unto me now I would endeavour to make the best improvement of the Interest I have in you and surely that cannot be better done then by doing my utmost to in-title my great Master a dear and lovely Jesus to it I do heartily rejoyce in your outward prosperity but more earnestly desire the Prosperity of your Soul and should exceedingly rejoyce might I any way be an instrument in promoting it the thing I aim at is not so much the proselyting you the bringing you over to my way and party but the engaging you in a course of serious Godliness though as I have found G. in the way that I am in I dare not forsake it my self so far as I am satisfied it is according to his Word yet I am far from thinking that Religion lies in Notions and Opinions and I doubt not but that there are many serious Christians that differ from me in their Opinions about lesser Matters but this all serious Christians in the World are agreed in that without conversion regeneration true repentance faith and real holiness both of Heart and Life there is no hopes of Salvation Now this is the Business you and I must look after to see that we have past the new birth are throughly changed from what we were by Nature and truly Grace makes a mighty great Change where it comes it is a thing above Morality common Civillity above a formal Profession above outward Attendance or Ordinances above the common Works of the Spirit in the Hearts of Men it is an inward deep powerful abiding thing The Lord give us to experience it in and upon our own Souls without which its impossible that all the Words in the World should make us rightly understand it The poor miserable deluded World thinks all this is meer Phancy but assure your self it s otherwise I know you will meet with a great many Objections arising from Satan and your own Heart as I and all others who have experience of a saving work of G. upon their Souls have done before you He will its like endeavour to make you shy of Convictions of your sin and misery by Nature which in some degree or other ever goes before a sound Conversion but as you love your Soul when ever you feel the holy Spirit of G. this way at work do not stifle but encourage them all you can when you feel your self pained this way take the first opportunity you can to retire into some private Place and there pour out your Complaint before the Lord acknowledge your sinfulness lament your misery cry to him for Mercy cast your Soul at his Feet and though you should not have ease and satisfaction at first yet be not discouraged but hold on seek him in good earnest and my Soul for your's he is found of you And its like he will endeavour to prejudice you against Religion as too strict as a moross dull melancholy Thing as that which would deprive you of all the Comfort of your Life but this is notoriously False I would not delude you and I do and must seriously profess to you this in just commendation of my dear Master and his Service that I am fully satisfied upon the little trial I have made that a religious godly Life is the most pleasant Life in all the World again Wisdoms Ways are ways of Pleasantness and all her paths are Peace I have now been acquainted with Him and his Service many Years and still the more I know of Him and his Service the better I am pleased with both and that upon solid substantial Grounds really I speak my very Heart to you in these things and nothing but what you shall certainly find your Self if you will but come and see if you will but make trial as I have done Indeed Religion doth forbid all beastly Pleasures but it doth not need them for it brings others infinitely better in their room which are peculiar to it self which strangers intermeddle not with and then as to sober manlike Pleasures it s so far from depriving of them that it gives the best right unto the sweetest Enjoyments and the surest hold of them And the best is still behind even those Rivers of Joys and Pleasures at God's right Hand for ever more where others must ly down in endless Sorrow but I am afraid you will think me too tedious do not take it ill from me I verily think you will not God is my witness that love to my Master whom I can never admire never commend never save so much or so well as he deserves I should and love to your Soul a longing desire that you two may come to be savingly acquainted together hath set my Pen on work let him give it good speed I greatly delight in you here but I would very fain take you along with me to Heaven let us not part But I dare not for a World delude and flatter you here without a sound Conversion
News the next day's Post brought us was very surprizing to me O how loath the Lord is to leave us How shall I give thee up O England Methinks now here is that in this late gracious providential Dispensation which shall wonderfully facillitate your affecting that Business I have again and again earnestly recommended to your care methinks its a very fruitful Call to that Duty how many Heads of Arguments it affordeth Some very encouraging others as awakning for amongst other things believe me Sir if this Deliverance hath not a better effect upon us and be not followed by us at another rate then former any have been we may well fear to think what comes next we are upon our good behaviour and who knows whether this be not the last Tryal the Lord will make Your Reverend Ministers upon whom the Eye of the Nation is much fixed never had a fairer opportunity for a general and successful Call to Prayer To the whole Kingdom which I sent my last to beg for we are now generally alarmed a great number of pious Souls that have for some Months been hard at work in seeking G. in an extraordinary Manner that way have now I doubt not fresh Life put into them but your long silence makes me fear least the Business should some way miscarry at least that you have some unhappy rubs thrown in your way I beg a few lines for my satisfaction though you cannot give me so full and good an Account as you would and let me have a fuller one afterwards who am dear Sir your obliged Servant Jo. Barrett LETTER XL. To Mr. L. E. June 15. 1696. SIR YOU will understand by my former Letter that your's came safe to hand and was to the rejoycing of my Heart blessed be G. for the great satisfaction therein given of your sense of matters of the highest Concern I hope the Lord hath in some measure made you sensible of the worth of your Soul of your Sin and Danger of your need of Christ and Grace in order to eternal Life and Glory and that he hath also enclined you seriously and presently without delay to mind the things which concerns your everlasting Peace the good Lord keep this for ever in your imagination of the thought of your Heart and establish your Heart unto him Indeed as you hint sincerity and heartiness in Religion is worth all and meer pretences to it how fair and specious soever never did nor will save one Soul but will aggravate the Condemnation of many when others great care is to seem better then they are the Lord help us that our's may be to be better then we seem this is right in the sight of the Lord O that I could find more of this temper in this Soul of mine As to that which you hint at which hath been a great disadvantage to you the unsuitable Carriage of Professors It is a common Case and a sad one wo to the World because of such Offences and wo to those by whom such Offences come It doth very much prejudice the World against serious Religion and Godliness when they see such as are high pretenders to it can be as loose as others though indeed if you observe you will find the World watcheth such most critically to spy any thing amiss in them and sometimes they do falsly accuse and at other times aggravate Matters at a high rate out of an hatred if the truth was known of Religion and Godliness it self but alass it s too true God knows that many that are high pretenders to these are but meer pretenders and no wonder if these miscarry and become a reproach to Religion and truly though I do not think you aimed at me in it yet I must acknowledge that in many things I act so unsutably to my Profession many times that I am e'en ashamed the World should know who am I for fear that blessed Name and Cause I bear and stand up for should suffer by me but as to this you have prevented me in saying that in short that I should have done that this should not hinder others and make them think worse of Religion its blessed Authors ways and end but rather quicken them the more to see to soundness at the bottom that they take up a Profession on right Grounds that they have a right Principle within and make them more chearful afterwards to live up unto it and back it with a sutable Practice As to what you further hint about Dissenting Ministers if you heard them but speak for themselves you would soon understand that it was not a proud sturdy refractory Humour that made about two Thousand of them wise learned and pious Persons at once quiet their Places run the hazard of Imprisonment Banishment and in all probability the utter undoing of themselves and families as to this World and which was yet dearer to them deny themselves the publick Advantage they had of doing good to Souls but the truth is such things was imposed on them which how indifferent and lawful soever they appeared to others after the diligent use of the best means for Satisfaction did not appear so to them which therefore they could not comply with without sinning against God and wounding their own Consciences which they durst not deliberately and wittingly do tho' it had been to save the World and their Arguments are such as their Opposers could never yet Answer satisfactorily in the Judgment of judicious impartial Men and sober Conformists though they are satisfied with the lawfulness of them yet bear them as their Burthen and some of them have pleaded the Nonconformists Cause But as I do not much trouble my own Head so neither would I trouble your's with matters of Controversy though if you desire it I will give you further satisfaction in this Point for my own Part I can freely join with the Church of England in their Worship as our Ministers frequently do so far as I am not obliged to join in that which I look on as a Corruption in it and where I can see any of them that appears to be sincere a truly God-fearing Man I speak my Heart that Man I can put in my bosom as well as any of my own Party we are both agreed in the main and I believe we shall never be all of one Mind in every Point while in this imperfect State where we cannot assent in Judgment let us dissent with Affection O that there was more of this Disposition on both sides And that we could mutually study and endeavour to outstrip one another in promoting the Common but glorious Cause of Christ and Christianity in the World making Religion our Business being careful to adorn our Profession with sutable Conversations then I doubt not but we shall all meet in the same Heaven in the end and the glorious Light which then beams forth from the Father of Lights will discover all our Mistakes and perfectly agree us I am your's I.