unto Gods will and then whatsoever thy sinns have been whatsoever thy tentations distractions feares or doubtings be if thou wilt beleeve the Lord will graciously accept of thee for his sonns sake The Lord stands not upon thy sinns nor thy unworthynesse as I have formerly said he bids thee beleeve therefore tho thou beest unworthy of Gods favor and mercy yea beleeve because God commands thee and he is worthy to be obeyed By beleeving Christ and his righteousnesse become thine and having Christ neither sin nor the law shall be able to hurt thee for faith reprives us from the law and puts us under grace Therefore beleeve else never looke to have any sound joy or true peace to thy soul the heart is filled with joy and peace in beleeving Rom. 15.13 Where there is doubting of Gods love or our own salvation there can bee neither joy nor peace but anxiety trouble vexation and griefe Faith pacifies and quiets all For being justified by faith we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ and rejoyce under the bope of the glory of God neither do we so onely but also we rejoyce in tribulations Rom. 5.1 2 3. True faith tho never so little is able to keepe thy soul from sinking under any affliction be it never so great or grievous When Peter was strong in faith he could cast himself into the Sea but his heart and faith failing he began to sink little and weak faith will be able to keep us from drowning but not from beginning to sink When Peters faith was weakest Christ was nearest at hand to helpe him Christ who never did nor will reject the weakest beleever put forth his hand and saved Peter but yet withall reproved him for doubting O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt Mat. 14.31 Doubt not therefore but beleeve And be perswaded that if the Lord intended not to shew mercy unto thee he would never haue given thee an eye to see thy sinnes a heart to grieve and mourn for them or a tongue to desire the pardon and forgivenesse of them Therefore assure thy selfe that a grieved spirit a sorrowfull heart a wounded conscience is no sure argument of a forlorn condition or of the want of the love of God Vse 2 Againe is it so is this the best way for us to bee patient and cheerfull in affliction to bee perswaded of Gods love Labor wee then to get our hearts setled in this perswasion and thou shalt finde the anguish of thy affliction much alaied thou shalt feel the smart of it much abated Holy Job was brought to a low and pittyfull condition when he desired to he let alone whiles he might swallow his spittle Job 7.19 Yet even then Job wondred at the goodnesse and favor of God that he would think him worthy the melting and trying What is man that thou dost magnifie him and that thou settest thine heart upon him And dost visit him every morning and triest him every moment Job 7.17 18. Being then undoubtedly perswaded that when God comes neer thee with affliction he is neer thee in affection that when he corrects thee he loves thee for until the heart of man be thorowly perswaded hereof hee shall never take comfort in nor pick any good out of his affliction Imagine with me a man who hath every day his full feed of the best and what outward comfort he will call for what true content can hee take in these things when hee knows that hee is under the displeasure of his Prince and so in danger every day of being cast into prison whereas if through the rage and malice of some of his enemies hee were cast into prison if he were perswaded of the Kings love hee would rest contented knowing and beleeving that the King will honor him for his reproach and ere it be long set him free againe Even so it is with every one that is perswaded of Gods love in his affliction Therefore as at all times so especially in the time of affliction Gods children should live by faith Affliction is like to do us little good if it be not tempered with faith As that meate which we take into our stomack concocteth not if the native heat be defective and wanting even so that affliction which is administred unto us will profit us little if faith be wanting unto us Faith stilleth the heart even in our sorest and greatest afflictions perswading us of Gods love in correcting us and that the Lord intendeth our great good by this affliction which lyeth upon us the love and care which parents have of their childrens good and wellfare doth not wholy consist in providing of meat drink and apparel for them but partly in correcting of them for their good and partly in providing of physick for them when they are any way distempered Even so almighty God our mercifull and loving father doth no lesse love us when he corrects afflicts us which as you have heard is the physicking of our soules then when he provideth outward necessaries for us and this faith doth perswade the heart of For faith judgeth not of things by sense or outward appearance but as the truth is in Jesus Christ justifying the Lord in all his waies alway magnifying the wise and holy proceedings of our good God as the only best and most profitable for us It is only the apprehension of some losse the feare of some evill or the sense of Gods wrath and displeasure in our affliction which makes the heart so sad and the spirits so lumpish in the time of affliction then set thy faith on work and it will blow over all these clouds it will answer all carnall doubts and reasonings and so settle the heart in a constant perswasion of Gods love that we shall rejoyce and be thankfull for our afflictions because we know and beleeve that God in afflicting of us loves us And to put the matter out of all doubting I will lay down a few but sure and certain evidences of Gods love in correcting of us Dost thou desire to know whether God in afflicting of thee loveth thee whether his stripes bee the blowes of an enemy or the chastisement of a loving father thou mayest know it by these tokens First when God gives thee a heart to be contented and a minde to be willing to beare whatsoever he shall lay upon thee and to want whatsoever thou seest the Lord is not willing thou shouldst injoy Hee that doth not rest content with the love and favor of God in the want of outward yea the best of outward things doth not rightly prize the love of God in that the want of other things doth more affect him and take up his minde then the consideration of Gods love and he more discontented in the missing of the one then contented with the possession of the other He that cannot be content to part with any earthly benefit when God shall call for it it is to
from the Kingdom It would fill a volume to set down the manifold afflictions which are recorded of GODS children I will therefore speak but of one or two moe which I cannot omit because their examples will tend much to our satisfaction if we will compare our tryals and afflictions with theirs and consider how farre theirs have exceeded ours One would think that if any upon earth should scape scot free as they say and be without afflictions the Virgin Mary the mother of our Lord might she being a woman so freely beloved of God Luke 1.28 and so neere unto Christ But if God would have the mother to be exercised because a sinner yet mee thinks her sonne being the onely begotten of the Father without sinne and one in whom the Father was well pleased Mat. 3.17 should go untouched No no it might not be both these drunk deep of afflictions as I shall make it evident unto you First concerning Mary let us consider what old Simeon said unto her Luk. 2.35 A sword shall pierce through thy Soul Shee under-went not onely out-ward and bodily afflictions but also in-ward and spirituall tryalls even such as pierced her very Soul A sorrowfull spirit drieth up the bones saith Solomon Pro. 17.22 And Prov. 18.14 the spirit of a man will sustaine his infirmities but a wounded spirit who can bear it It was not then any pinching poverty nor the rough handling of the Romane exactors who forced her being bigge with child to take a painefull journey to Bethlehem nor the poore entertainment which she and her tender babe found in the Inne nor Herods blood-thirsty rage which made her with her tender little one to flie into Egrpt where being a stranger no doubt she indured adversity her bellie full nor the fear of Archelaus after her return nor her long deferred hopes all the while that Christ lived a private life though Hope deferred bee the fainting of the heart Prov. 13.12 nor yet the malice or hatred of those bloody people the high Priests the Scribes and Pharisees who not only opposed her son but blasphemed his person and doctrine no nor the paines and torments of his bitter passion of which she was an eye witnesse and spectator none of all these were the sword that pierced her Soul though these were great burthens for a poore woman to bear and the last more grievous then all the rest How did Jacob take on when hee beheld but the bloody coat of his sonne Joseph Jacob rent his cloths and put on sack-cloth about his loynes and sorrowed for his son a long season Gen. 37.34 How did David lament the death of his trayterous son Absolom though hee heard but the report of his slaughter 2. Kings 18.33 O Absolom my son O my son Absolom would God I had died for thee O Absolom my sonne my sonne And reade wee not that Agar went aside at her childs fainting her mothers heart not enduring to behold the death of an Ismael Gen. 21.16 How then thinke we was Mary affected at the sight of so many and so great miseries which befell her son And yet all these as I take it were but the beginnings and occasions of greater internall heart-breakings and spirituall agonies with which her soul conflicted For what perplexed thoughts may we think did assault her soul nay what did not when she saw every thing directly to thwart and crosse her preconceived hopes grounded upon the warrant and truth of Divine Oracles Might not Mary have thus complained What is this he that should be the Saviour and Redeemer of Israel the horn of Salvation unto them to be thus maligned and crucified And yet while he lived there was some hope though no likelyhood that God might work miraculously for his advancement and by means unknown make good his promises but now that he is done to death that shamefull and accursed death of the crosse what hope is left I thought that he should have restored the Kingdom again to Israel But alas how can that bee he being now dead and laid in his grave Surely Mary had sunk under this burthen her faith her patience had failed her had she not with Abraham the father of the faithfull above hope beleeved under hope not regarding the outward miserable condition of her sonne but fastning the eye of her faith upon the Lord true of his Word and just of his promise yet for all her faith and patience behold and see if any sorrow were like unto Mary her sorrow The mourning of a mother for her sonne her only sonne the sonne of her hopes her hearts delight nay that son in whom shee expected that all the kindreds and nations of the world should be blessed and yet now dying dying a most ignominious shamefull accursed death now perishing without hope of recovery Loe here was the sword that pierced her soul thorow and thorow wherupon the Fathers dispute the case whether Mary were not a Martyr and they conclude that she was more then a martyr because in martyrs the more fervent their love is to Christ the more it lesseneth the paines of their sufferings but Maries love the more intense and the greater it was towards her son the more it augmented her sorrows But let us leave the mother and last of all take a view of her sonne his sufferings Who though he were the prince of our salvation yet was he consecrated by afflictions Heb. 2.10 Was he not in this world reputed as an abject amongst men lived he not in penurie in povertie Mat. 8.20 The foxes have holes and the birds of the heaven nests but he had not whereon to rest his head How was he reviled and rayled upon by those foul-mouth'dJewes who called him a Wine-bibber a Pot-companion a friend of Publicans and sinners a Conjurer one that wrought by the helpe of Belzebub was he not buffeted spit on whipped crowned with thornes last of all despitefully crucifyed Besides all these hee did inwardly sustaine farre more heavy crosses then that which was laid upon his shoulders though the weight of that made him to faint with wearinesse for he was all his life time assaulted by Satan and towards his end brought into such an agony as it wrung even drops of blood from his forehead before his death his soul was heavy unto the death through those feares and terrors which had seazed upon him conflicting with the wrath of God and undergoing the curse with greatest extremity all which made him as one rejected and given over of the Lord in a most heavy and dolefull manner to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matt. 27.46 If then Job an upright and just man one that feared God and eschewed evill If David a man after Gods own heart one that walked before the Lord in truth and righteousnes and uprightnesse of heart with God 1. King 3.6 If Mary the mother of our Lord a woman so freely beloved of God And to conclude if
and justified And for any to condemn those whom the Lord will acquit is to accuse if not condemn the Lord himself and not only so but to make themselves liable unto judgement For with what judgment ye judge yee shall be judged and with what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again Mat. 7.2 Therefore blessed is he that judgeth wisely of the poore afflicted the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble Ps 41 1. Because the Lord is pleased for speciall ends to lay his hand more heavily upon this man then his neighbour shall any dare from hence to conclude that he is the greater sinner God forbid we may rather conclude that of the twaine he is the best the most beloved of God You onely have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will visit you for all your iniquities Amos 3.2 Who were they that were tried by mockings and scourgings by bonds and prisonment or those that were stoned and hewen a sunder and slaine with the sword or those that wandred up and down in sheepes skinnes and goates skinnes being destitute afflicted and tormented Were they not Gods deare ones those of whom the world was not worthy Heb. 11.36 37. Whose blood was it wherewith Manasses died the streets of Jerusalem was it not innocent blood the blood of the Lords people 2. King 21.16 Who was hee that dolefully cryed out Will the Lord absent himselfe for ever and will he shew no more favor Is his mercy cleane gone for ever shall his promise faile for evermore hath God forgotten to bee mercifull and will he shut up his loving kindnes in displeasure Psal 77.7 8 9. Was it not the complaint of David a righteous and holy man a man after Gods own heart What was he that cursed the time of his birth Saying Let the day perish wherein I was born and the night when it was said there is a man child conceived Why died I not in the birth or why died I not when I came out of the wombe Iob 3.3.11 was it not Iob an upright and just man one that feared God eschewed evill How then darest thou cēsure the child of God by reason of his affliction Surely this must needs proceed either out of ignorance not knowing the Scriptures or from the want of charity or else from the guilt of thine own conscience taking the length of thy neighbors foot by thine own last and measuring him by thy selfe Want of judging of thy selfe is the cause why thou art so ready to judge another But do not flatter thy self neither esteem any one to have the more goodnes because he hath the les affliction For I tell thee a man may be a Dives clad in scarlet and fine linnen living and wallowing in all manner of pleasure and prosperitie faring and feeding every day deliciously and yet bee a devill incarnate a man odious and hatefull unto the Lord. Neither mayest thou condemne any for wicked because the Lord judgeth him A man may bee a poore Lazar not having so much as a clout to cover his nakednesse living in want and penury dying through paine and misery and yet be the Lords faithfull servant and dearely beloved of him Therefore thou goest by a wrong line when thou deemest thy selfe or others to be good because thou dost flourish and prosper because thou livest at ease and goest untouched or takest others to be the worse because their dayes are dayes of sorrow and adversitie For neither doth prosperitie declare a man to be godly nor adversitie prove that he is wicked but rather the contrary for whom the Lord loloveth him he chasteneth and scourgeth every sonne that he receiveth Hebr. 6.8 whereas if yee be without correction then are yee bastards and not sonnes Object But doe not many of Gods children live at ease in fulnesse and prosperity without troubles and afflictions Answer It is possible that the outward estate of the childe of God may be smooth and prosperous though this be rare that no rub comes in the way yet there is no childe of God without his trouble and affliction as hath been proved in one kind or other Afflictions are either outward in our persons our personall state goods or good name or in those that are in some neere relation unto us or they bee inward in the mind and conscience Now one of these wayes every child of God first or last more or lesse hath been is or shall be tried Many a childe of God that liveth in health doth not prosper in his outward estate but bites of the bridle and hath short commons Many that live in fulnesse and feel no want of outward necessaries do sustaine many wrongs and injuries through reproaches slanders and backbitings of the wicked which are more grievous unto them then the losse of their substance many have great troubles in their family through the wickednesse either of unnaturall and disobedient children or else of unfaithfull and gracelesse servants Many have great grief and trouble for or from their kindred And many that taste not of any outward triall and affliction are not without some inward temptations either they be buffeted by satan or allured by the world or sollicited by their own concupiscence unto some evill or else they be disquieted in their minds or troubled in their consciences Now howsoever many of the world which know not what perturbation of mind meaneth may think these inward troubles to be no trialls yet in truth they are the most smarting the sorest afflictions of all other for the heart knoweth the bitternesse of his soul Prov. 14.10 The mind of a man may bear out with patience and fortitude outward and bodily evills but who is able unlesse God strengthen him to endure the torment and torture of a wounded conscience and a grieved spirit A wounded spirit who can bear it Prov. 18.14 So that first or last in one kind or other outwardly or inwardly in ourselves or in some dear or neer unto us wee have had or shall have our troubles and trialls Vse 2 Againe Is it thus that the Lord doth afflict his dearest children then let us put on the whole armor of God that wee may be able to resist and stand fast in the evill day Ephes 6.13 Let us prepare our selves for troubles that when they come wee may not be amazed or over much perplexed as though some strange thing were come unto us 1. Pet. 4.11 Things which wee hear not of or look not for when wee meet with them wee think them strange and wee know not which way to carry our selves or what course to bee undertaken of us whereby wee may either be eased of them or have ease with them Hence it is that many in the day of adversitie are ready to cry out they know not what to doe c. Another saith I never looked for this trouble I never dreamed of this triall No did Why hast thou not heard what
clothed for this is meere folly in us because with all our carking and caring we cannot better our condition this I say was the scope of Christs words and not to beat us off from a provident and wise fore-casting of businesse or from fitting and preparing of our selves for afflictions against which we shall be the better armed if we can weane our hearts and take off our affections from immoderate and inordinate loving of the world and the things thereof Whereupon saith Paul 1. Corinth 7.32 I would have you without care .i. without setting your mindes and hearts upon the world for the fashion of this world goeth away vers 31. and our time here is but short this night may our souls be fetched away from us for which change of ours and all other tryals that in the meane time may befall us we shall be the better fitted and armed if we will prepare for them If every morning thou wilt addresse thy selfe to meet with thy crosse and arme thy selfe against all assaults resolve ere it be night to meet with some trouble this I dare boldly and confidently promise and assure thee will be an excellent help yea singular means of carrying thee a great deale more chearfully thorow thy afflictions or else furnish thee with a great deale more strength and abilitie to beare and undergo them so long as it shall please God to lay them upon thee But when I speake of preparing for afflictions and arming your selves against them I would have you know that there must be more then a bare minding of affliction or a resolution not to be dismayed or daunted with them the soul must lay in some spirituall provision we must treasure up faith and a good conscience A stocke of true holinesse lying by us will alay the heat ease the smart and sweeten the bitternesse of any affliction that can befall us It is from the want of this spirituall and heavenly provision that many carnall worldlings when any crosses or troubles befall them are struck to the very heart with fearfull amazements fears and terrors of minde and spirit yea with passionate distempers sometimes of rage and fury which puts them upon desperate resolutions I may instance in Ahitophel a man of that brain and worldly wisedome that his counsell was esteemed as the oracle of God 2. Sam. 16.23 This great statist finding himself to be over-topped by the counsell of Hushai and fearing that the rejecting of his counsell would be the obscuring of his glory it is said That he sadled his asse arose and went home and put his houshold in order and hanged himself 2. Sam. 17.23 Would this man have laid a little disgrace so neere his heart if his heart had beene sound towards the Lord and his anointed Surely no. But being a traiterous time-server and going as he conceived with the strongest side making flesh his arme and his outward esteeme and glory his idoll he desperately plungeth himselfe into a sea of horror Whereas holy Job having other manner of tryals severall tydings one upon the neck of another of the losse of all his cattell substance yea and of all his children the least of which losses would have struck so cold to the heart of many a carnall worldling that it would have dyed within him like a stone as Nabals did What was the cause that Jobs heart was not crusht into pieces under the wait of so many losses but that still he kept within compasse and blesseth God for all Would you know the true ground of his patience and holy fortitude Job was one that feared God one who in the time of his prosperitie and outward happinesse laid up store of spirituall riches and treasures He had wisely layed in store of faith and holinesse and uprightnesse upon which his soul did feed in the dayes of his affliction So as no afflictions which befell him could beat him from his hold he resolves to trust in God though he slay him Job 13.15 The consciousnesse of his former gratious and righteous carriage towards great and small especially towards the oppressed the poore and fatherlesse did furnish him with strength to undergo the sorest of his sufferings Oh be then taught by this holy example how to be fitted and prepared against afflictions A godly life the feare of the Lord faith and a good conscience will lay such a foundation for time to come that though never so many stormes do arise though the winde of affliction waves of tentation do beat upon thee yet shalt thou stand as a tower impregnable no affliction shall be able to vanquish or overcome thee It may be thy afflictions may rise like a spring of bitter waters yet the salt of a good conscience wil sweeten these waters and heal them It may be afflictions like to over-flowing Jordan are come over thee so as thou cryest with David I am come into deepe waters and the streames runne over me Psal 69.2 yet a good conscience like to Elias his mantle will cut and divide this Jordan so as thou shalt be able to passe over it For this promise hath the Lord made to every one that is godly Surely in the flood of great waters they shall not come neere him Psal 32.6 That Panoplie and whole armour of God which the Apostle exhorts us to be furnished withall that so we may resist in the evil day Ephes 6. that is to say A girdle of vertue shooes of preparation the breast-plate of righteousnesse the shield of faith an helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit are all where a good conscience is for this is armour of righteousnesse on the right hand and on the left Righteousnesse will keep thee from being shaken with afflictions though the earrh be moved and the foundations thereof totter though all things are in combustion about thine eares yet if iniquitie be put farre away and no wickednesse dwell in thy Tabernacle then truly shalt thou lift up thy face without spot and shalt be stable and shalt not feare Job 11.14 15. For though a just man falleth that is into trouble and affliction seven times yet he riseth again Pro. 24.16 For the Lord putteth under his hand Psal 37.24 Vse 3 Thirdly if it be thus let us be the more exercised in the Word of God which will teach us how to beare afflictions and minister comfort unto us even in the heat and extremity of them Whiles means and liberty is afforded be wise now to store thy self with heavenly provision that is to say comfort out of Gods Word to cheare up thy soul and refresh thy drooping spirits in the day of affliction If thy law had not beene my delight I should now have perished in mine affliction saies David Psal 119.92 My affliction would have destroyed me and made me perish from the right way if it had not beene lenified and sanctified by thy Word The Word of God teacheth us in all times of tryall to rest upon the
Lord assuring us that there is hope in Israel that there is balme in Gilead to asswage all griefs to cure all sores The Word of God teacheth us how to construe God aright in all his dealings with us and to wait for promised salvation which in due time shall come when it shall be most for Gods glory and best for us How easily would afflictions batter down our confidence and over-turn our faith if it were not continually supported and strengthned by the Word Satan will be ready to buzze into our eares that God in wrath afflicteth us that those are most beloved which are least afflicted but the sheep of Christ will not know nor follow the voice of a stranger that is they will not subscribe nor yeeld to any temptation which tendeth to the withdrawing of their hearts and hopes from God but set their seal to the Word of and so through comfort of the Scriptures rest in hope For the more plenteously the Word of God in the love and evidence thereof doth dwell in any man and enable him to prove all things the more stedfastly will he hold that which is good and stand immoveable in the mids of all afflictions and temptations that shall assault him Though thy bones should be vexed and dryed like a pot-sheard and turned into the drought of Summer though thou wert powred out like water all thy bones out of joynt and thy heart melted like wax in the middest of thy bowels though Gods arrows should stick fast in thee and his hand presse thee sore though there should be no soundnesse in thy flesh nothing but stinch and corruption yea though innumerable evils should compasse thee about and thou not able to look up though fearfulnesse trembling should come upon thee and horror be ready to over-whelme thee yet if thou wilt have recourse unto the Word of God and beleeve what is there promised thou mayest with joy draw waters to refresh thy soul out of the wells of salvation Isa 12.3 If thou desirest sound and solid comfort such as will give true content to thy soul thou must pick it out of the Scripture Thou shalt never be truly satisfied unlesse it be with the breasts of her consolation Isa 66.11 Thou must suck sweetnesse out of the Word to uphold thee It is my comfort in my trouble saies David for thy promise hath quickned mee Psalme 119.50 When affliction commeth whether wilt thou run for comfort to thy honors thy revenews thy possessions thy friends I may say of them in this respect as Job speaks to his friends Miserable comforters are ye all Job 16.2 Thou maiest as well fetch water out of thy brick-walls as draw sound comfort from those outward things which are worse then vanitie for they are vexation of spirit Eccl. 1.14 These outward things can afford thee no comfort for they are nothing Prov. 23.5 He is a very simple and silly Arithmetician who knows not that of nothing comes nothing If thou placest thy comfort or puttest thy confidence in the best of earthly things thou buildest upon the sands every little blast and tempest will overthrow thy building The ground of all our comfort the onely anchor to stay our souls in any spirituall tempest the only staffe we have to rest upon in the time of afflictions are those sweet and precious promises made known unto us in the word What ever other carnall comforts men may for a while rejoyce in they will prove but a flame of stubble or as a blaze of thorns which can yeeld no solid or abiding light unto the soul A man may as soon drink up the water of the sea with spunges or remove mountaines with one of his fingers as be able by vain sports youthfull recreations and pastimes songs and musick though hee adde to these the consideration of his honors greatnesse and riches to alay those sorrows and paines which sinne and affliction may bring upon him All these vanities will but respite them for a little time that they may return the fiercer I say it again solid and lasting comfort must be fetcht out of the word or no where if thou expect comfort from other things thou wilt be deceived Every toy and trifle a bable a thing of nothing will cut the throat of thy comfort if thou joyest especially in earthly things Haman was second to a mighty Monarch and wanted nothing that the world might afford a subject In the 5. of Ester at the 11. you may read how he boasted of the glory of his riches and all the things wherein the King had promoted him and how he had set him above the Princes c. One would think that this mans condition was farre enough from vexation or discontent No no the want of a cap and a knee from poore Mordecai sitting at the Kings gate did so perplexe and vexe this proud Courtier that all hee had could avail him nothing as he professed vers 13. Ahab you know was King of Israel and therefore had the world at will yet the want of a little vineyard of Naboths which lay full in Ahabs eye because Naboth would neither sell it unto him nor yet exchange with him for a better it is said 1. Kings 21.4 That Ahab came into his house heavie and in displeasure because of the word which Naboth had spoken unto him he throwes himself down upon his bed turned his face and would eat no bread Surely a poore triall for a rich man for a King to bee so much troubled about Yet so it is and shall be with all those that set more by their outward glory their gardens and pleasures then by the Word of God If they set their hearts upon these outward things as they fail as fail they will being subject unto corruption so their heart fails them and they are all a mort halfe dead for want of comfort Whereas that soul that can truely say as did Jeremiah Chap. 15. vers 15. Thy word was unto mee the joy and rejoycing of mine heart Whatsoever affliction can befall him he shall be sure to have comfort by him yea within him Delight thy selfe therefore in the Word of God Now barrell up whiles these cunduits of comforts be full and the pipes do runne Learn Wisedome of the men of the world to take that oportunity which the Lord doth now afford thee Make hay whiles the Sunne shines The seasons you know are not alwayes faire After a long calme oft times there follows blustring stormes As goodly gleams as these of ours are now clouded in other places And little do wee know how soon the Sunne may goe down over the Prophets when night shall bee unto us for a vision and darknesse for a divination Mic. 3.6 When Agabus had signified by the Spirit that there should bee a great famine throughout the world Then the Disciples purposed to send succour unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea which thing they also did Acts. 11.29 30. Wee now blessed
Lord as he bringeth afflictions upon us so will hee also in due season bring us out of them Great and many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all Psalm 34.19 Vse 5 To draw to a conclusion of this point Is it so that all our afflictions come from Gods hand be we then in the fift and last place exhorted to have recourse unto the Lord in all our troubles both for strength and comfort in them and also for issue and deliverance out of them The Prophet complained of the way wardnesse and stubbornnesse of the people in his daies Esay 9.13 The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them neither do they seek the Lord of hosts This was Asa his folly who though his disease was extream yet hee sought not the Lord in his disease but to the Physitians 2. Chron. 16.12 Such is the folly and madnesse of some people that they will seek to any body yea to the Devill running to his cunning rather couzening man or that woman in their afflictions before they seek unto the Lord. As if any hand could take off that affliction which the Lord layeth upon us Deliverance out of trouble is a prerogative royall and belongs wholly unto the Lord For hee saith Moses will take away from thee all infirmities Deut. 7.15 Call upon mee in the day of trouble saith the Lord so will I deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie mee Psalm 50.15 Whereupon the Prophet Jeremiah set his eyes towards the Lord Thou art my force and strength O Lord and my refuge in the day of affliction Jerem. 16.19 Such as seek unto others and not unto the Lord in affliction do wait upon lying vanities and forsake their own mercy Ion. 2.8 They have inherited lies and vanity wherein there was no profit Jere. 16.19 Therefore if thou desirest abilitie and strength to beare thine afflictions go unto the Lord for it Power belongeth unto God Psalm 62.11 The God of Israel is hee that giveth strength and power unto his people Psalm 68.35 And so the Prophet Esay speaketh Hee giveth strength unto him that fainteth and unto him that hath no strength hee increaseth power Esay 40.29 Say not therefore in time of trouble mine affliction is greater then I can beare for though thou beest weak and ready to sink under thy burthen yet the Lord hath made thee a promise that hee will uphold thee with his hand So that though thou canst do little of thy selfe thou maist be able to do all things through the help of Christ which strengtheneth thee Phil. 4.13 Go therefore boldly to the throne of grace that so thou maist receive mercie and find favor to help thee in the time of thy need Trust in the Lord and he will helpe and save thee for who ever hoped in God and was ashamed Commit thy selfe and thy condition to God and he will stand by thee and helpe thee he will not be absent from thee over long Fall down at his footstoole make him thy hope and fortresse in whom thou wilt alwayes trust and he will imbrace thee in love he will lay thee upon the shoulders of his gracious Providence and protection hee will bind up all thy wounds he will heale and cure all thy diseases hee will refresh thy feeblenesse he will comfort thine afflicted spirits he will put under his hand so as thou shalt not faint under thy burden and in his good time will put away all pensivenesse and mourning from thee Therefore if thou bee able to hold up thy head in any storme if thou faintest not in the day of adversitie if thou standest fast and quit thee like a man say not my power or my strength hath carried mee thorow this affliction or made mee able to stand under this burthen but as Moses speakes to the Israelites concerning their outward substance Remember the Lord thy God for it is be that giveth thee power Deut. 8.18 So must thou say I have no ability to undergoe any affliction but that which the Lord is pleased to help me withall Object But will some poore weather-beaten soul say Hitherto the Lord hath supported mee but my heart now begins to faint I feel my spirits to abate and my strength begins to decay therefore if the Lord do not speedily deliver mee and send me ease the sooner I feare I shall sinke under mine affliction I can beare it no longer Answ What is the Lords hand shortened Numb 11.23 Is the Lords power weakened that hee cannot helpe thee for time to come as well as he hath hitherto supported thee Is the Lords staffe so weake that thou durest not trust unto it Or is the Lord unfaithfull to leave thee and forsake thee No no the Lord is where he was as ready at hand as willing and as able to helpe thee and stand by thee as ever hee was if thou by thine unbeleef do not put his strength from thee for if ye beleeve not surely ye shall not he established Esay 7.9 Whereas if yee put your trust in the Lord your God yee shall be assured 2. Chron. 20.20 For I am the Lord I change not and yee sonnes of Jacob are not consumed Malac 3.6 Therefore though thy flesh faileth and thine heart also as Davids did yet God is the strength of thine heart and thy portion for ever Psalm 73.26 Trust therefore in the Lord and still wait upon him for they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall lift up their wings as the Eagles they shall runne and not bee weary and they shall walke and not faint Esay 40.31 Againe if all our afflictions come from God it will bee our wisdom to go unto him for issue and deliverance out of them Call upon me in the day of trouble so will I deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie mee Psalm 50.15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord for he will bring my feet out of the net Psal 25.15 Joseph was unjustly cast into prison by his too credulous and unrighteous master but God was with him and delivered him out of all his afflictions Act. 7.9.10 If ever thou hopest to be healed or helped out of or in any affliction it must be by the Lord his hand Refuse not the chastening of the Almighty saith Eliphaz for he maketh the wound and bindeth it up he smiteth and his hands make whole Hee shall deliver thee in six troubles and in the seventh the evill shall not touch thee Job 5.17 18 19. Hereupon they call one to another Hos 6.1 Come let us return to the Lord for he hath spoiled us and hee will heale us hee hath wounded and hee will bind us up As the Lord took his time to bring thee into trouble so hath he his time set for thy deliverance To all things there is an appointed time and a time to every purpose under heaven Eccles 3.1 Gods Providence hath set and limited the time how long his children
a load upon thine heart and conscience or keeps thee it may be upon the rack it is not because thou shouldst thinke or say hee hath cast thee off from being his child but that thou mayest be the better fitted for that good hee intendeth thee and that thou mayest make more account of his love when it is shed abroad in thine heart God will have those which shall hereafter partake of his light now and then to know what it is to fit in darknesse and to bee in the shadow of death Now because of all other tentations and tryals incident unto us there are none so grievous and unsupportable as are inward and spirituall afflictions let it not be accounted lost time if before I proceed any further I make here some little stand both to take a view of some inward afflictions and also to prescribe some remedies for the easing if not the curing of such malladies as are most obvious and oft times prove most dangerous for want of applying or improving of those helpes means which may be used Almighty God our most wise Physition who sees us inwardly and is better acquainted with our constitution and temper then wee our selves are knoweth how to strike every one in the right veine and because people full fed are oft full of grosse humors and bad blood and those that live idly live oft times unprofitably the Lord in great wisedome doth exercise some of his deare ones with fightings within that so the inward man may be the better able to withstand outward evills as souldiers in many places are trained that so they may bee the more skilfull and better able to resist a forraign enemie Somtimes the Lord is pleased to withdraw the sweet comforts of his spirit from the hearts of his deare children and to strike them with inward terrors and feares of his wrath and vengeance which condition of theirs although it be uncomfortable for the present yet it proves profitable in the end Of all afflictions incident to the soul of man there is none so grievous and intolerable as a wounded conscience this transcends all other malladies and miseries whatsoever and therefore Solomon asketh Who can be are it Prov. 18.14 An accusing conscience tortures the soul with hellish horror here and as it were plungeth a poore sinner into hell whiles he lives When that gnawing and biting worme begins to fasten its teeth upon a poore soul his anguish and vexation becomes unspeakable and unconceivable of any but those that have felt it No favor of man no love of friends no preferment of the world no outward honors nor abundance of riches will be able to quench the fire or alay the heat of a tormented conscience As may apeare by that memorable story of Francis Spira who being upon the rack of a guilty and accusing conscience oft wished himselfe as is reported in Cains case and in Judas his place and that his soul might exchange with theirs wishing and desiring rather to be in hell torments then to be racked and rent with such hellish horrors and raging feares as did continually affright his poore soul And being by one demanded If hee feared not greater tortures and torments after this life then hee now sustained hee answered Yes but yet he wished he were in hell that so his torturing fears might be at an end This mans condition no boubt was terrible and dredfull yet who can say that hee perished everlastingly What warrant have any as some have done to judge him to bee a desperate castaway They will say that God might condemne him out of his own mouth But is this sufficient evidence for any peremptorily to passe sentence upon him The words of a distempered person are of no validitie in any civill court whatsoever Is it not an usuall thing for brain-sick and distempered persons to belie themselves and others too Object But Spira despaired of mercie Answ And what of that Have not many of Gods deare children done so many yeeres together Did any thing befall him in the time of his desperation but that which is incident unto the childe of God hath not our age afforded us examples as deep in dispaire in outward appearance as ever Spira was whether wee consider the matter of his tentation which was Apostacie or the deepnesse of his desperation and yet through the goodnesse and mercie of God they received comfort in the end Hee that will avouch Spira to be a castaway must prove that he despaired both totally and finally which as I conceive they can hardly do seeing it is said That in the midst of his desperation hee complained of the hardnesse of his heart which as hee said lockt up his mouth and tyed up his tongue from prayer Hee felt the hardnesse of his heart complained of it and lamented it the Word of God may discover corruption in us but is it not grace that makes any to be waile corruption Who knowes what case and comfort he might find and feele within before his soul went out of his body albeit hee never made any expression of it nor any neere him could perceive it Object But doth God deale so sharply with any of his children as to exercise them with such horror of conscience Answ Yes very often The conscience of a deere child of God may a long time be vexed with feares and horrors lie a long time upon the rack of unquietnesse and torture so farre from apprehending or hoping for any comfort or mercie that hee may receive the sentence of death against himselfe and subscribe to his own damnation yea he may confidently avouch himselfe to have no grace no faith to be a very castaway And yet wee see these blustring stormes have in good time blowne over and God upon unfained humiliation hath pacified their accusing conscience stilled and quieted their troubled minde by the apprehension of his love in the pardon of their sinnes For after the soul is once kindly soaked in godly sorrow and the heart sufficiently humbled in the sight of our unworthinesse the Lord at length shewes us his loving countenance tells us by his Spirit that he is reconciled unto us and that through Christ wee are freed from the guilt and so from the punishment of all our sinnes For though wee have been polluted and stained with all manner of iniquitie and impietie even from top to toe though our sinnes have been of a crimson and skarlet hue as great and grievous as may be so as peradventure in our conceit there is no possibillity of being cleansed from them yet God is able to make them as white as snow and wool Isa 1.18 There is no sinner so abominable and loathsome whom true and sound repentance will not make as holy and as righteous as Adam was before his fall Mistake me not not that any penitent if his heart-strings should breake with sighing and sobbing or his eyes fall out of his head with weeping and mourning can of himselfe be
thought of them Then feare not they shall not be layd to thy charge Assure thy selfe those sighes and groans which proceed from thy perplexed soul shall find so much grace and favor with God as they shall be able to prevaile with him for that blessing thou hast begd and standst in need of And although thou canst not pray as thou wouldst yet sigh and groane as thou shouldst and hee which knowes the secrets of all hearts will be able to understand the meaning of thy sighs and groans of the spirit within thee which doth plead and speak to God for thee Object But I feare the Lord doth abominate my sacrifice and service as loathsome hee may cast it as dung in my face and lay some judgement upon mee for offering up such a strange sacrifice unto him Answ If God hath given thee a heart to mourne for sinne he hath made thee able to offer him such a sacrifice as hee is well pleased with and therefore he can not but accept of thy person whatsoever thy failings have been Thy grieved soul and sorrowfull spirit is a sacrifice which casts a sweet savor in the Lords nostrills Psalm 51.17 And would God accept of thy sacrifice if hee had rejected thee No no assure thy selfe that God hath accepted of thy person if hee accepts of thy sacrifice The Lord had 〈…〉 and to his offering Gâ—â—e 4.4 The melting of thy soul and the kindly mourning over him whom thou hast pierced with thy sinne is a most infallible evidence of Gods love towards thee and of the saving presence of his holy Spirit abiding in thee Therefore let thy spirit rejoyce in that thou art able to mourne for sinne Those teares which proceed from a grieved soul and wounded spirit may be compared unto Aprill showers which bring on May-flowers although these showers wet where they fall Yet through the heat of the Sunne working with them they produce a great deale of sweetnesse in those plants and hearbs which they fall upon There is abundance of joy in all godly sorrow As the harvest is potentially in the seed so the harvest of true and sound joy growes out of this seed of sorrow Psalm 126.5 They that sow in teares shall reap in joy Why is thy soul then so troubled within thee why art thou still so sad so heavie and dejected Object Howsoever I grieve and mourn yet I can not beleeve that there is any truth of grace in mee in that I am not so fruitfull and profitable in my place and calling as I should and faine would bee I am a barren fruitlesse tree one that cumbers the earth fit for nothing but the fire Answ But is it not with thee as it fareth with some covetous earthly gripple-minded persons which spend their time in scraping and raking together these outward things pinch their bodies and are ever and anon whining and complaining that they have nothing when as their chests are full of good linnen their houses stored and stuffed full of utensills and their purse full of money but being blinded with the love of the world think they have nothing because they have not so much as their covetous eye would look over and therefore do neither thankfully acknowledge what they have received nor profitably improve any thing they do enjoy either to Gods glory their own comfort or others good Even so many afflicted souls being overladen with anguish of mind and deluded by Satan oft times complaine of the want of grace in the midst of plentie not seeing as the saying is wood for trees and thus do bely both God and themselves And it is just with the Lord somtimes to hold his children down with feares and doubtings because they have not been sufficiently thankfull to God for that rich grace they have received from him Our unthankfulnesse is not only as a great fogg and mist which doth exceedingly obscure and darken the grace of God in his children but is also as a worme or canker which eats into the sap and heart of grace so as it thrives not nor fructifies as otherwise it would do But such as are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God Psalm 92.13 Doth not the Prophet Jeremiah also tell us that those that trust in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is shall be as a tree planted by the water which spreadeth out her roots shall not care for the yeere of drought neither shall cease from yeelding fruit Jere. 17.8 Answ And is not this good fruit to bemoane thy barrennesse Admit that for the present thou dost not increase thy spirituall stock as thou desirest thou dost not perceive grace to thrive and grow in thee as thou dost behold it in others must it needs follow that thou are therefore utterly destitute and void of grace A man whiles hee is asleep makes no use of many good things hee hath a hand benummed with cold feels not that which it holds fast It may so fall out that grace may be somthing chilled in thee doth it therefore follow that it is quite killed in thee Thou must learn to put a difference betwixt no grace and grace some way infeebled for the present It fares with grace in the hearts of many of Gods children as it doth with the Moon somtimes in the full and somtimes in the wain or as with the Sea which somtimes flowes and sometimes ebbs even so through Satans malice and our own frailtie grace may seem somtime to ebbe in us and then no wonder if the heart be deaded and out inward peace disturbed through feares and doubtings Assure thy selfe this off and on this up and down this heat and cold ariseth from those principles of grace and corruption abiding in all the Lords people Corruption somtimes prevailes and this royles and troubles these living waters within us and makes them thick and muddy so as little good appeares in us but anon when the wind of the spirit blowes againe with its holy blast it cleanseth and refineth these troubled waters whose cleernesse may again be seen and whose goodnesse may be tasted Object But my case is worse then ordinary for I have returned with the dogge to lick up my old vomit after repenting and cleansing yea covenanting with God for ever to renounce and abandon my former sinnes I have with the swine wallowed in the old mire of filthinesse and therefore I cannot think that ever grace was in truth begun in mee Answ If it be so thy case is the more lamentable and fearefull but yet it is not desperate For divers of the Lords people many worthie ones have relapsed have fallen back unto old sinnes and yet by the goodnesse and mercie of God have recovered themselves againe and gained the love and favor of God Did not Abraham sinne the matter of Sarah his wife hazarding her chastitie by a poore plot yea a sinfull pollicie exposing his wife to adultrey for his own outward peace
be feared that man never felt the sweetnes of Gods love in the assurance of the pardon and forgivenesse of his sinnes Skin for skin and all that ever a man hath will he give for his life Job 2.4 Then much more will hee part with all that hee hath so be it he may have his part in Gods love for thy loving kindnesse is better then life Psal 63.3 for what is life but death if it be not upheld by the love of God Art thou then heartily content with the Lords handling of thee Dost thou with all cheerefulnesse take up thy crosse and beare thine affliction Canst thou truely say Behold here am I let him do to mee as seemeth good in his eyes 2. Sam. 15.26 I dare be bold to say thou art an happy man God in afflicting thee loveth thee Secondly if God loves thee hee will fetch thee neerer unto him by thy affliction See what the Church professed Esay 26.8 9. Also wee O Lord have waited for thee in the way of thy judgements the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee With my soul have I desired thee in the night and with my spirit within me will I seek thee in the morning By which words it appeares that Gods people those that are beloved of him are so farre from being driven from God by affliction that they are brought thereby neerer unto him Afflictions are so farre from extinguishing grace in Gods people that they increase it rather as water cast upon the smiths fire doth not put it out but increaseth the flame thereof Afflictions drive us unto the Lord in prayer Esay 26.16 In trouble have they visited thee they powred out a prayer when thy chastning was upon them Affliction will send us to the Sanctuary and make us more diligent in hearing the Word more conscionable in the practise of good dueties So that as judgements lighting upon the wicked do come from Gods avenging wrath and justice and so are as pikes and clubs to beat them further off from God even so those afflictions which befall his people proceeding from his love are as cords to draw them neerer unto him Thirdly thou mayest assure thy selfe of Gods love in afflicting of thee if thine afflictions do raise up godly sorrow in thy heart causing thee to grieve and be disquieted that thou shouldest by thy wickednesse thus provoke the Lord and put him as it were out of his course forcing him to do that which he goeth unwillingly about for Hee doth not punish willingly nor afflict the children of men Lam. 3.33 This was that which did break the heart of David to consider how hee had offended the Lord who had been so gracious and bountifull unto him Against thee against thee only have I sinned and done evill in thy sight that thou mayest be just when thou speakest and pure when thou judgest Psalme 51.4 A good heart grieves more that by his sinnes hee hath grieved God then that God hath grieved him by some affliction And therefore had rather the Lord would take away his sinne then his affliction And therefore when the Lord had so severely threatned David by the mouth of his Prophet Nathan David cries not out through feare of Gods judgements as some would have done upon so hard tydings Alas I am undone how shall I ever be able to hold up my head if Gods judgements come so thick upon mee c. No no the sword which pierced Davids heart was his sinne against God and therefore hee praies Wash mee throughly from mine iniquitie and cleanse me from my sinne Psal 51.2 Hee that in the time of affliction can find his sinne the greatest cause of his humiliation may assure himselfe of a sanctified use of his affliction and of Gods love in so dealing with him Wee shall find little fruit and lesse comfort to grow out of our griefe sorrow and humiliation if it be for outward things and not for sinne Grieve wee never so much never so long for our outward afflictions and crosses our griefes can neither abate them nor remove them whereas godly sorrow sorrow for sinne if it doth not batter our crosse it weakens it and in the meane time procureth much ease to the minde and peace to the conscience Assure thy selfe that sorrow is no where so well bestowed as upon sinne Godly sorrow is the salve appointed to heale and cure sinne now to apply this salve to a wrong sore to affliction is lost labor Learn therefore to turn thy sorrow against thy sinne and then thou wilt say as David speakes Psalm 119.75 I know O Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou hast afflicted me justly as the old translation hath it And so saying thou mayst boldly proceed with David and pray Let thy mercy comfort mee according to thy promise unto thy servant Let thy tender mercies come unto me that I may live vers 76.77 Therefore whensoever the Lord entereth into judgment with thee fall thou to judging of thy selfe Accuse thy selfe that God may be justified And let thine own heart speak unto thee in the words of the Prophet Hast thou not procured this unto thy selfe because thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Jere. 2.17 This is a good signe that God will do thee good by thine affliction which hee would not if hee did not love thee Fourthly and lastly thou maiest bee assured that God afflicteth thee in love if hee gives thee a heart to be thankfull to him for thine affliction Canst thou blesse God taking from thee as well as giving unto thee I dare then confidently avouch that thine afflictions are sanctified unto thee and that in love he hath afflicted thee Thus did Job The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken it blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1.21 For prosperitie and good things many wicked men will in their manner be thankfull to God but for adversitie and such things as are in appearance evill to be thankfull this is the property onely of good men Wee can easily bee brought to praise the Lord when hee pleaseth us but when hee crosseth us when he cuts us short and keeps us to hard meat then to blesse and praise his name this is clean against our nature it is onely the worke of grace in us for grace will make those things easie which are very hard and difficult unto nature And therefore there cannot be a better evidence of a gracious and sanctified heart then to praise and glorifie God for afflictions For in so doing a man doth justifie the Lord in his dealing yea by our thankfulnesse for afflictions we magnifie the glorious attributes of God wee acknowledge his justice Psal 119.75 I know O Lord that thy judgements are right and that thou hast afflicted me justly Wee acknowledge his truth Psalm 19.9 The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether Wee acknowledge his mercie Psalm 25.10 All the pathes of the Lord
which thus rageth amongst us Surely our great unthankfulnesse and our horrible abuse of Gods good creatures Doth the Lord punish thee with losses or with povertie Consider whether these outward things did not make thee proud or else were occasions of imboldening thee to the committing of some sin or other Are thy children stubborne and disobedient Twenty to one but it is to punish thy disobedient and undutifull carriage formerly towards thy parents Thus might I instance in divers particulars by which it is evident that the Lord doth oft times proportionate punishments to our sins so as by our affliction wee may easily guesse at what sin the Lord aimeth and of which hee would have us most heartily repent us Secondly look into the book of God whither thou canst there find any that have formerly drunk of thy cup have been exercised and chastised with the same rod that thou art if thou dost not find any such example there aske and enquire of thy friends whether they have knowne any to be punished as thou art now if thou find any upon record in Gods booke or by report from others canst heare of any that have been in thy condition then seek and enquire what their sinnes have been what manner of persons they have been and think with thy selfe thus surely I am sick of their disease in that my Physitian takes the same course with me which he did with them I have committed their sins in that I partake of their punishment Thirdly if thou wouldest faine find out that sinne for which especially thou art afflicted consider when thou art under the rod what sinne lieth heaviest upon thy conscience very probable it is that that sinne which now cries loudest in thine eares from the voice of thy conscience cried loudest in the eares of God for punishment Too many commit sinne with delight thinking they shall never heare more or worse of it But when affliction commeth the consciencc begins to tell tales and lay open things done in secret Dost thou not remember how at such a time in such a place thou didst commit such a villany Dost thou not know how once in such a kind thou didst highly dishonor God Hast thou forgot how thou didst once wrong thy neighbor in such a thing Thus in affliction the conscience many times brings to mind that sinne of ours which wee had buried in forgetfulnesse as appeares by Joseph his brethren and so should never have repented of it if the Lord by affliction had not made our conscience to discover it unto us Fourthly if the Lord doth not meet with thy sinne in its kind or if thy conscience do not reveal unto thee all thy wickednesse or that sinne for which thou art punished then bee earnest with the Lord in prayer that hee would bee pleased to inlighten thine understanding and helpe thee to make a narrow search and tryall of thy wayes or else that hee would discover unto thee that or those sins for which his hand doth now lye so heavily upon thee Thus did Job I will say unto God condemne mee not shew me wherefore thou contendest with mee Iob 10.2 Before Ezekiel could behold the wicked abominations of Israel the Lord taught him to digge in the wall Ezek. 8.8 9. So before we shall be able to discerne that sinne or any other of our sinnes for which we are afflicted the Lord by his spirit must demolish that wall of hardnes of heart which hindereth us from seeing our sinnes or else he must give us of his eye-salve wherewith anointing our eyes those scales of ignorance and spirituall blindnes may fall from our eyes that so we may the better see our sinnes Intreat the Lord to shine into thy dark understanding by the light of his Word that it may enter thorow even to the dividing asunder of thy soul and spirit of thy joynts and marrow that it may be a discerner of thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart as the Apostle speakes Heb. 4.12 And be thou well assured of this for thy comfort that he that is truely desirous and withall scedulous and deligent to finde out his speciall sinnes hee shall have them in the end discovered and layed open unto him because as you have formerly heard this is one end why the Lord doth correct us that so we may search and trye our wayes and turne again unto the Lord. Lam. 3.40 That we may be brought to a true sight and sense of our sinnes and so be throughly humled for them Affliction serves to ransack the bottome of the heart to launch our festred consciences and o let out by confession the festred and corrupted matter there ingendred Iosephs bretheren never came to see the odiousnes of their sin untill affliction enlightned them and then they could say Wee have verily sinned against our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not heare him Gen. 41 21. Now if once we come to see sinne in its proper colours and to be perswaded of the nature and danger of it then we are in the broad way to repentance and this will worke our hearts not only to a loathing but to the leaving and forsaking of our former evils For what man but hee that is desperately carelesse of his own welfare and happines will dare to put on a garment infected with the Plague What man that is in his right minde will take a snake into his bosom Who is so foole-hardy as to pull a Lyon by the beard or take a mad Dog by the eare He that wilfully wittingly lives in sinne doth a great deale more endanger the safety and good of his soul then any man by the Plague or any other meanes doth the welfare of his body Lighten mine eyes saith David Psal 13.3 that I sleep not in death Prosperity thickens these eyes of ours or else doth cast such a mist before them that we cannot see sinne in its coulours yea the worse and more wicked any man is the lesse doth he see his evill the lesse is hee perswaded of the danger of sinne All the wayes of a man are clean in his own eyes Prov. 16.2 Through Satans subtilty and mans infidelity it comes to passe that those which commit the grossest sinnes and greatest offences imagine that their faults bee the smallest and those that are plunged into deepest dangers do dreame of greatest safety and security as many who have their hands deepest in the troubles and persecutions yea in the blood of Gods servants will thinke that they do God best service Ioh. 16.2 Of this minde was S. Paul all the the while hee breathed out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord Acts 9 1. Therefore least such as belong to God should sleep in death by their blindnesse flying from repentance shunning reformation and running into destruction the Lord in great love opens their eyes by affliction as hee did the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar Dan.