as much as a great rich man will scorne to cry for the losse of a shilling Wherefore if you be not regenerate your selues according to the former exhortation to become so if you be and know it not as yet certainly settle your selues to search into your hearts and liues and to consider of the things formerly deliuered whether you haue found them in your soules yea or no and so bring your selues to certainty in this point and if you bee once certaine of it then apply your selues mangre earth and hell to liue with glad hearts and cheerfull countenances For once the word of Dauid is a most true word It becommeth vpright men to reioyce And my brethren that you may the better reioyce know that you are to be frequent in practising the duty of thanks-giuing to God for this mercy of all mercies I meane to appeare before him in your secret closets and there all alone with hearts exalted to as much ioy as can be and inlarged to as full an acknowledgement of indebtednesse as is possible to report before him the wonderfulnesse of his goodnesse towards you and to recount the vncountable number of his mercies in that he hath done more for you then if hee had made you of base slaues absolute Monarches of the world The Lord my brethren is exceedingly well pleased with the sacrifices of thankes-giuing no offering is better welcome vnto him then the hearty offering vp of the calues of our lips speaking good of his name It doth the Lord good to speake after the manner of men to heare his owne praises related by them that are deere vnto him and haue best cause to know his inconceiueable treasures of grace because they haue been plentifully partakers therof Now the benefits of this present life are so meane worthlesse contemptible in comparison of those of a better life and by name of this foundation of all the rest so it is in regard of possession and enioyment a new birth as that they which want it can but speake hollowly to God when they begin to speake of his mercies and can be but very faint in thankes how earnest soeuer they may be in requests But the child of God that hath a right vnto heauen giuen him at the same time that hee became Gods child hee may most feelingly expresse his apprehensions of Gods goodnesse and vpon occasion of this one mercy magnifie the name of the Lord his God for all the rest which become truly and indeede mercies by meanes of this and with this Wherefore I doe againe propound this matter vnto you as one of the most pleasing and acceptable seruices which in this present life you are able any of you to performe vnto the Lord euen to withdraw your selues from company and worldly businesses and with bended knees and hands and eyes reared vp to heauen-ward in the most solemne manner to confesse before the Lord his louing kindnesse and to amplifie as much as your hearts and heads will serue the exceeding greatnesse of that his vndeserued grace which he hath shewed in making you new creatures in making you his owne children by adoption This is better then all riches better then all nobility better then all learning and better then all health And the receiuing of this one mercy alone though one should for all other things bee as afflicted as the world can make him or imagine him deserueth more and more feruent praises then all the nobility wealth wit in the world without it Hath God made thee his child hee hath done more for thee then if hee had set thee in Salomons Throne without making thee his child and therefore discharge the paiment of praise for so incomparable a mercy and that fully and without delayes Especially brethren you are to doe this considering that it is to which end wee began to mention it a principall meanes of helping you to the enioyment of the comfort which we are about to distribute vnto you For the benefits of God then are made truly comfortable to vs wheÌ„ we do turne theÌ„ to the praise of God but when wee forget to returne him his deserued thankes then doth he iustly punish vs by taking away the pleasant relish of his benefits out of our mouthes by leauing the palate of our soules to such an vntastfulnesse that we shall not be able to finde the sweetnesse of them As a mouth that is out of taste feeles no content in the most sauourie meate that is Wherefore put together the honour of God and your owne comfort and that you may haue your soules so truly rauished with the sense of his goodnesse that aboue all carnall reason and almost against it you may be glad and cheerfull set your selues as I was about to say in the most solemne and hearty manner to tender vnto the Lord this welcome present of thankes-giuing Say vnto him O Lord God of heauen the King of men and Angels and ruler of all creatures and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ infinite are the benefits wherby thou hast obliged my most vnworthy soule vnto thee For all that I haue I haue from thee and all that I shall haue I must haue from thee thou art the onely indefinite fountaine of goodnesse from whence issue forth all good things to all that enioy good It is thy wonderfull goodnesse that I was borne a man with vse of my vnderstanding and seâ—ses but yet Lord far far aboue all other things that in this life I haue receiued or can receiue doth this benefit of causing me to be borne againe of water and of the holy Ghost exceede I was the sonne of death thou hast made me the sonne of life I was an heire of perdition thou hast made mee an heire of saluation I was a slaue to sin thou hast made me a free-man from sins seruitude and a voluntary seruant to holinesse I was vnder the power of Satan led by his tentations according to his will I am now vnder the dominion of Christ Iesus led by his spirit to doe his will I was the child of the diuell and thou hast made me thy child O blessed change O happy alteration I owe to thee my soule by many bonds it is thine Lord many wayes thou madest it thou hast redeemed it thou hast regenerated it and now Lord accept it as an offering of a sweet sauour and accept with it all the hearty praises and vnfained thanks that a poore vnworthy creature can breathe forth vnto thee O Lord this mercy can but bee abased by words thou hast made me thine owne child by adoption thy Sonne O Lord euen thy Sonne who art the most rich the most high the most renouned the most puissant Prince and King in comparison of whom all Princes are worse and lesse then very nothing What shall I render vnto thee for all thy goodnesse thou requirest thankes thou deseruest thanks and thou acceptest thankes and Lord be thou blessed and praised with all
children of God doe not take paines to make themselues vnderstand their own inward happinesse they will not finde time enough to contemplate the beauty of that goodly portion which the Lord hath allotted vnto them they will not bestow their thoughts in heauenly meditations hence their being ouercome of carnall sorrow and well may they thanke themselues for the want of comfort seeing they will not open their eyes to looke abroad into the land of comfort I am sure if any of vs were shut vp in close prison for the space of one whole twelue-moneths and should there be destitute of all good attendance lodging fare and other comforts but withal were assured that at the yeeres end he should surely come out of prison and be made a great Prince for all the rest of his life which should endure for the space of fortie or fiftie yeeres after hee would scarce feele any trouble in that restraint any griefe in those wants any discontent in that bad vsage yea so much familiarity would his thoughts haue with the wealth and honor wherin he should liue so long a time after his enlargement that the imprisonment would seeme nothing vnto him and hee would rather wish to lie in prison vpon those termes then to liue in his house without those hopes My brethren such and none other is your condition This world is your present prison and for some of Gods children it cannot be denied but that they doe finde in it somewhat course entertainment but it is certaine that after a little time perhaps lesse then halfe a yere it is sure not many yeers they shall be inlarged and after their inlargement aduanced to a kingdome so farre excelling all earthly kingdomes in the honour wealth ioyes thereof as gold excells dirt And this kingdome they shall be sure to enioy not for fortie or fiftie nor for so many thousands or millions of yeeres but euen for all eternity world without end What doe you then sowring and imbittering your hearts with thinking vpon the tediousnesse of your imprisonment and refusing to take comfort to your selues in the consideration of your kingdome It is therefore as I said aboue long onely and meerly of your carnalnessâ— in not pondering of the good that God offers vnto your soules which makes you lie mourning vnder the pressure of your afflictions Wherefore settle your selues to resist carnall sorrow and to imbrace spirituall ioyes you shall finde your labours this way voide of difficultie and full of successe When thy worldly heart would thrust thee into the pit of worldly sorrow by telling thee of thine hard fare thy poore house thy little meanes thy debts thy wrongs thine enemies Stay thou thy selfe vp by opposing to all these the consideration of thy new birth whereby thou art instated into an heauenly kingdome wherein thou shalt abound with all fulnesse of ioyes for euermore and wherein thou shalt bee more happy and blessed then thine owne heart can possibly conceiue of and that for euermore And then propound the case vnto thine owne selfe indifferently and say vnto thy soule O my soule looke on both sides with an vnpartial eye look to the condition of my body and estate and take a view of the miseries that lie vpon me but look withall to the condition of my soule and ponder well vpon the happinesse that I am admitted vnto and then be thou but an impartiall iudge betwixt sorrow and ioy to whether rather thou oughtest to encline I am sickly but I am regenerate and shall bee saued I am poore but I am borne againe and shall see the kingdome of God I haue few friends but I am made the child of God and shall attaine heauen I haue few friends but I haue receiued the spirit of grace to beget me againe to a kingdome immortall vndefiled and that fadeth not away I haue a froward husband or wife or a stubborne sonne or a daughter but I am Gods sonne or daughter and haue Christ Iesus to bee mine husband and yoke-fellow Haue I these blessings to counteruaile these miseries and shall I pule and whine and looke with a sad countenance and walke with a dead heart Nay I ought not nay I must not nay I will not yeeld to this extreame weaknesse of carnall lamentation I haue cause to be glad I haue reason to be merry and in spight of all that the worst yoke-fellow or worst child or worst estate can doe to grieue me I will be merry and I will bee glad O my soule reioyce in the Lord be merry in thy father and shout for ioy in Christ thy Redeemer Thou art begotten againe thou art made new thou art regenerate who should be liuely if not the children of Kings who should reioyce if not the heires of Crowns I am Gods heire heauen is mine inheritance and a crowne of glory is laid vp for me and I will bee glad Thus you must labour against the vntowardly griefes of your owne hearts and enioy the wonderfull blessing of regeneration So must you wipe away those vnprofitable teares from your eyes and clothe your selues with the garments of gladnesse For it is a wrong to your selues a disgrace to the good thing giuen an ingratitude to God the giuer if he bestow pretious benefits vpon you and you enioy them not See therefore that your hearts doe not droope nor your faces looke sad as in former time but goe you now out of Gods house refreshed with the sweetnesse of this comfort vnto your owne houses reioycing as once the man did that was healed of the palsie And if thine heart after all this obiect and say Indeed if I were sure of my regeneration and so of my saluation your speeches were to some purpose but alacke I want that assurance Why then I answere thee thou hast other more necessary worke then to grieue for crosses or losses for the vnkindnes of thy yoke-fellow or death or vndutifulnesse or afflictions of thy children euen for this that thou canst not tell but that thou maiest bee in hell where thou shâ—lt meet with that which is incomparably worse then all hard vsage in the world and that within the space of 24. houres or lesse Wherefore now turne thy thoughts from striuing to put away griefe and onely labour to change the obiect of it that by grieuing for thy sinnes and by considering thy wickednesse of nature and of life and sorrowfull confession of the same to God with humble supplications for a redresse of all thou mightest at last become a new creature and bee assured that thou art so and then set thy selfe to enioy the fore-named consolation Either brethren you bee not certain of your new birth and then you haue cause to grieue for things of a more dangerous nature then outward crosses and so to labour to know your selues borne againe or else you bee certaine of your new birth and then you haue reason euen to scorne to bee cast downe at any outward euils
haue while to settle any part of his longings vpon the renewing of his soule by grace and so farre is the worke of a new birth well proceeded The poore dead man being so far awakened out of his senselesse death in sinne that with great disquietment he feeles it and with heartiest workings of his soule doth couet to come out of it which last I take to bee the hungring and thirsting after righteousnesse noted by our Sauiour as a blessed note of blessednesse 3. The spirit of Prayer In the third place there is dropped into him the spirit of grace and supplications by which hee is at length imboldened to goe vnto God and in some solemne and expresse manner to vtter his confessions and petitions which before perhaps for some good space of time he could not dare to doe For the former two workes of grace doe often a great while together shew themselues in sighes and grones and sudden strong eiaculations secret vndissembled boylings vp of desire in deep wishes longings afore the poore sinner can take so much hart to himselfe as to make a formed and setled prayer vnto God But after the working of these motions some while he puts vpon himselfe the resolution of the King of Nineueh and saith within himselfe Ionab 3. Let me cry mightily vnto the Lord of heauen earth his mercies are infinite who can tel but that be may haue mercy vpon me that I perish not so is his secret sustaining hope now formed and fashioned into the right proportion of a sauing grace and shewes it selfe manifestly within him hee saith to himselfe there is hope concerning this thing and therefore I will cry and continue crying and let the Lord doe what hee pleaseth vnto me Then downe vpon his knees he fals and with his hands and eyes lifted vp to the throne of grace yet almost afraid and ashamed to looke thither and therefore ready often to rise vp and start backe againe he dares at last to poure forth his lamentable confessions into Gods bosome whom now hee hopes hee may haue leaue to call Father though alacke hee haue been too too vngracious a child Thus he proceeds to arraigne and accuse himselfe acknowledging for which hee hates himselfe because it is so plaine that he cannot but know it that he hath sinned in such and such and such and such particulars and that he hath a most filthy heart as full of wicked inclinations and thoughts he thinkes verily as the sea it selfe is full of water Wherefore hee passeth a very sharpe sentence vpon himselfe and that also very sharpely plainly saying with an inward assenting of his very soule that hee is fully worthy of all those plagues and punishments which the Lord hath threatened in his word and will execute in hell and that it should not be in the least degree iniurious if God would not be mercifull vnto him for ah how vnfit is he to receiue mercy But yet withall he takes heart in the most humble abasement of himselfe most earnestly to call and cry and beg for mercy and forgiuenesse and for the worke of grace to change his nature from that loathsome disposition which troubles him now it may be by the working of hope hauing his heart so much softened that teares before stopped vp by that binding force that strong and secret sorrowes shew themselues to haue in mans heart doe euen begin to flow forth from him to adde if it might bee a greater feruor vnto his prayers And if at first second third fourth and it may be many more times he seeme to haue cried in vaine because none answere commeth but heauen it selfe seemes strongly stopped vp against him yet hee goes againe still to the same throne of grace againe reckoning vp the same and if he can also new sinnes againe bewailing them bitterly and heartily imploring both pardon and help againe This is to come vnto Christ Iesus heauie laden as our Sauiour comfortably inuiteth vs this is to seeke God while hee may bee found and to call vpon him while hee is neere as the Prophet exhorteth vs. Which hauing done he knowes not what to doe more and therefore euen casts himselfe vpon Gods goodnesse through Iesus Christ and knowing that in him the Son the Father is well pleased he striues to rest in him continuing to knocke continuing to seeke because his heart giues him that at last he shal not faile to find acceptance And this spirit of prayer seemeth to me so proper to the regenerate that it cānot any way befal the vnregenerate who when he feeleth not his misery doth but multiply idle words in seeming to pray when he feeleth it is so wholly drowned and swallowed vp thereby that he cannot runne vnto heauen for helpe But with the regenerate prayers and supplications are alwaies found and a continuing therein also how many bitter repulses soeuer he suffers at Gods hand as often he doth very many the Lord either deferring or making more speed to answere as hee sees most behoofefull for the profit of each of his seruants and proportioning the fruit of his grace this way to his knowledge of their ability and fitnesse to receiue an answere or to brooke delayes It must not be denied but that the man that neuer shall be regenerate in the griping and twinges of his accusing conscience through the working of the law and the bare illumination of the spirit may come so farre as to roare out his Lord haue mercy vpon me very often yea hee may by perswasion and entreatie of friends be brought to reade some good prayers out of a prayer-booke yea to be glad to haue an other pray for him in his owne hearing and in some sense also to ioyne with him yea more by frequent perswading vrging teaching of some godly man he may be drawne to pray for himselfe but yet still the spirit of prayer is absent in that he doth not finde himselfe by an inward moouing of his owne heart inclined in the middest of his griefes and feares to betake himselfe to God for helpe by calling vpon his name And which is a maine obseruation in this matter if he pray he prayes almost altogether for pardon and for fauour little for grace and holinesse whereas the Christian man by a secret drawing of his own inward soule wrought by this regenerating spirit comes vnto the Lord with his requests begging grace and holines with no lesse earnestnesse then remission and saluation Yea and hauing once begun this course he finds so much refreshing thereby that he cannot but continue to doe it euen sometimes with much strugling against of his own hart through feares and doubtings thereof So it is one thing to bee perswaded to pray by men and to doe it for ease sake another thing to be inclined vnto it by the priuate and secret working of the Spirit One thing to beg for pardon not much minding amendment another thing to crie for the helpe
of God to reforme ones heart and soule as well as his free fauour to pardon former offences An vnsanctified man by benefit of Christian acquaintance in long and heauie terrours may come to the one of these to the other alone the Spirit of sanctification can leade one To which passe when the heart is once brought at length 4. A perswasion of mercie bringing a resolution of obedience the fourth act of the Holy Ghost doth plainely shew it selfe for it becomes a spirit of adoption within him the very earnest penny of saluation sealing vp vnto him the fauour of God the pardon of sinne the attaining of life and by a new and in truth considering the difference of former times a strange worke perswading him that God is reconciled vnto him and hath accepted him for his childe As it made him able to take vnto him words and goe vnto the Lord crauing to bee accepted graciously so it brings him word againe from God that he shal be yea that he is accepted gratiously and answering him euen as one would say with a sensible answer in the middest of his prayers oft-times so strongly and vndoubtedlie â—â—â—ures him of his being heard that hee makes for the time no more question of it then whither he liues yea or no. From which assurance of spirit hauing tasted the sweetnesse of Gods Grace and felt how good the consolations of his Word and Spirit are he growes resolute in his very soule for the time to come in all things to please God and finds a new kind of disposition inabling him to auoide euill and doe good so hauing put his necke vnder the gentle and easie yoke of Christ Iesus hee finds rest vnto his soule and thus is Christ formed in him and he transformed into a new creature For this firme purpose of will to please God in all things is so manifest and euident and sensible a worke of grace that now we may say this act of regeneration is growne to some good ripenesse and euen now perfected in him before he was in making a new man but now he is made new now he is begotten againe and become a sonne of God and heire of his kingdome and fellow-heire of Christ I know that it may befall an hypocrite lying vnder the burthen of a terrified conscience which may be totally and perpetually separated from regeneration and regeneration from it by the diligent inculcating of the comforts of the Gospell and the earnest labour of some Christian and godly men that in such case would faine speake peace to bee brought because they are told there is none other way of comfort to a purpose of neuer committing such and such grosse sinnes as they are accused of in their owne soules and to some promise of amendment of life but this is rather a resolution forced vpon them by striuing of others hereupon promising comfort then a thing growing in themselues out of the sense of the louing kindnesse of the Lord their God Whereas a Christian finds somewhat within him inclining him and making him to say within himselfe and euen little lesse then to sweare and vow with Dauid that hee will surely keepe the righteous iudgements of the Lord and that in all things and for euer to his dying day And thus is the worke of regeneratioÌ„ brought to some perfectioÌ„ thus doth the holy Ghost mould the soule of a man into a new fashion thus doth hee stampe vpon him a new image and as you would say the very lineaments and proportion of God his Father whom in a sweete likenesse that makes him amiable to God and Angels he begins to resemble Onely my brethren vnderstand you one thing for the better conceiuing of all that hath been spoken There are two sorts of regenerate men in the world Some it pleaseth God to call to himselfe euen very betimes dropping pietie and grace into them almost together with their mothers milke by benefit of that great fauour of God holy and Christian education and that euen in certaine insensible degrees so that they cannot so easily name the beginning and progression of this worke In these all the forenamed things are most manifestly found for in truth the working of them doth not cease till life cease and that so as sometimes the one of these workes of grace is more strong then the other Sometimes they find a more sensible abasement of themselues within their owne hearts out of the apprehension of their sinfulnesse sometimes desires and prayers are more vehement sometimes a comfortable resolution of pleasing God doth more mightily stirre in them yet because of the early working and that they were wrought in a still manner by very small degrees the worke did almost goe beyond obseruation and they cannot so distinctly tell when they began to be abased when to be raised vp But there is another sort of men regenerate who did liue a long time in vnregeneracie yea perhaps also in profanenes and notable and notorious wickednesse for oft it falleth out that the Pharisies and Scribes make lesse haste to the kingdome of heauen then the Publicans and sinners I meane that the grosse offenders are sooner regenerated then the ciuill liuers Now for such men it pleaseth the holy Ghost many times yea most times to worke these foure fore-rehearsed workes very distinctly making as it were some euident pause betwixt each of them and grace goes forward in them euen step after step in the manner that hath been described Most times if not alwaies the difference of their former life when they were but dead making the matter euident enough they can name when and where and by what meanes the Lord began first to lay them low to pull them downe and as they say in nature corruption and generation goe together to kil their old man by terrors till being so slaine he had in a calmer manner shewed them the filthinesse and lothsomnesse of it They can tell what longings they felt before they durst pray and what adoe they had to bring themselues to pray and then how long they continued praying before they were answered and lastly wheÌ„ that sweet tidings came that rauished their soule with ioy and made them so inamoured of Gods goodnesse that they euen made a strong couenant with him to walke in his waies and keepe his iudgements All these things I say they can tell well and nothing doth them more good then to recount with themselues this mightie act of the most high whereby their foules with as great a miracle as once Lazarus his body were raised vp from the rotten graue of sinne wherein they lay wrapt vp in the winding sheet of hardnesse of heart and blindnesse of mind stinking and putrifying as a carcasse crawleth with wormes swarming with those noysome lusts that are able to poyson vp an honest heart CHAP. V. Shewing the effects of Regeneration ANd so haue you brethren the order and so farre as may be collected out of scripture the
manner of the bringing to passe of this most excellent and wonderfull worke of a new begetting by the most excellent and wonderfull begetter the Spirit of truth and by that excellent and wonderfull seede of life the word of truth 3. The effects of regeneration which are foure Now I will declare vnto you that which is the third thing I promised the effects that follow hereupon Not euery particular for who can name them the life of grace abounding in multiplicitie of actions and operations as it were eating drinking breathing grieuing striuing smarting of the soule as the life of nature but alone some principall and most eminent by the seeing of which in it selfe the soule of the new borne babe of Christ shall haue cause to receiue much comfort The principall effects therefore of regeneration are these foure First a spirituall combat Secondly a good life for all this combat Thirdly a knowledge of that good estate whereinto the regenerate is translated Fourthly Spirituall growth in those graces that at first were but weake and feeble in the regenerate For alack an infant is a very tender thing and so are Gods infants For the first of these 1. The spirituall combat with No sooner doth a Christian begin to draw the breath of this new life but he findes himselfe called to fighting euen in the very cradle as I may so speake and as they fabled of that renowned heathen man He stands in a pitched field of enemies so soone as he can goe vpon the feete of his soule and there hee must neuer cease giuing and taking blowes till hee cease to be in this lower world Although indeed there be some intermission and relaxation of the strength and furie of the encounter as it pleaseth the Lord that knowes all things to temper them to his strength and direct them to his good 1. The Diuell First the diuell begins to play his part with him and finding him gained out of his hands and pulled from vnder his tyrannie musters vp an armie of tentations wherewith at least to annoy him if hee cannot as hee cannot preuaile to bring him backe againe to his seruitude and thraldome For when the strong man armed kept his house all things were at quiet vnder him but when he feeles himselfe bound and cast out and his house rifled by a stronger then himselfe then it must needs follow that hee will bestirre himselfe and lay about him with all the power that he can make So now the poore Christian though perhaps but an infant in grace is violently assailed by Satan according to his nature with extreame rage and subtiltie And if it haue so falne out that the Spirit of God was faine to batter downe the height of his heart and make passage for himselfe with horrible feares and terrors then Satan labours often to reuiue those terrors and by infinit cauils and obiections to make him euen despaire of his saluation There is none end almost of the diuels striuing in this case but hee will labour continually with new doubts and obiections to call his saluation into question and to make him thinke that hee shall neuer enioy the quiet possession of his heauenly inheritance Yet against all these the Spirit of God so strengthens him that by vertue of the gratious promises of God and by the power of constant prayers and supplications he supports himselfe and still continues to rest himselfe vpon the free goodnesse of God in Christ notwithstanding all these obiections and shakings Neither yet will Satan rest here but is further troublesome vnto him by stirring vp innumerable vile suggestions to draw him to the committing of some most notorious sinnes perhaps worse then euer in all his life before and for his old corruptions he ceaseth not to prouoke and incense them with all vehemency that he may driue him into lewd and hatefull practises of sinne But against these suggestions also he fighteth resolutely much indeede vexed and disquieted with them but still reiecting abhorring thē and beating them back by the word of God which is his sword by constant supplications whereby still he settles his soule firme and fast in his holy purposes of obedience I confesse that the diuell is a common enemie to all mankinde both sanctified and vnsanctified and therfore the vnregenerate also are much molested with him oftentimes when hee growes exorbitant and seeketh to pull them by the strength of vtter despaire as it were quicke into hell and to make them kill themselues or doe some other most grosse and vnnaturall crime But Satan is not willing to deale so roughly with them if he could chuse for he stands euer in most danger of losing them when hee carries himselfe towards them in so hard a fashion Wherefore he rather flatters and faunes endeuouring to rocke them asleepe still if hee can in the cradle of securitie and presumption Neither will he storme thus but when he sees his aduantage in regard of some bodily crosse or distemper or that he sees the Lord will needes awaken their sleepie consciences But for the poore Christian hee would not giue him rest no not for a day or two from the most horrible feares and from the foulest tentations whereto his corruption giues any passage or from others more hideous especially if hee see him weake scrupulous and iniudicious then hee makes vse of such ignorance and weaknesse and will neuer finde time to make an end of vexing him but that the Lord himselfe doth please to sound a retraite Indeede the Lord by this meanes to keepe downe his pride and ouer-master his strong corruptions doth giue much way to Satans rage but so still that he forgets not to refresh him with seasonable aide of his spirit of prayer and with the strength and comfort of his holie word and promises And in these termes stands hee with Satan euer almost assailed and incumbred by him And besides this the flesh also 2. Of the flesh as a more dangerous enemie though not so violent steps foorth to incounter him For though by grace it be wounded and mortified yet is it not quite and cleane taken away and remoued Wherefore the corruptions of his heart also grow violent in him lusting against the spirit and with a kinde of insinuating and secret inclination carrying him forward to all the former lusts of his ignorance and perhaps to some that are more loathsome and abominable Now vnbeliefe passion lust reuenge wantonnes worldlines and all the old distempers will be mouing in his soule and hee shall finde himselfe euer and anon little lesse then ready to yeeld vnto them and to be quite ouercome by them But the spirit in this case reuiueth it selfe also and lusts against the flesh stirring vp good motions against the bad and holy desires against the vnholy and vertuous wishes against the vitious and heartie prayers and requests to God against the sinfull inclinations of the euill heart so that at length his
with a knowledge of acquaintance whereby they conceiue him to be their father such as little children to whom he alludeth haue of their fathers and mothers that they be theirs In truth the Christian man finds in himselfe something within him sealing him vp to life he hath an earnest penny that makes the bargain sure betwixt the Lord and his soule He cannot but call God Father and often though not alwaies in calling him so he euen feeles him so also He hath an inward a sure certificate of his reconciliation with his displeased Lord. And if doubts doe arise as I told you before that they would and that right often and very troublesomly for the diuel wil cast thē in thick and threefold and with great violēce these his very doubtings driue him to his father to be resolued of his doubts by which meanes it comes to passe that as a truth is much cleared by making answering obiections so his assurance is cōfirmed by these doubts Indeed an infant at first hath not so much knowledge or vse of reason as to conceiue of his owne life but when some daies are past and himselfe becomes stronger then doth he wel enough know that he liueth so in the infancy of regeneration the regenerate can scarce tell that he is regenerate but hauing a little growne forward in a good life hee findeth his case plaine enough and wants not this assurance though he be incumbred with many doubtings Yea when hee stands at the weakest and doth most complaine for want of this assurance yet euen at that time he neither accounts it impossible nor yet needlesse to haue it but desireth it with the strongest of his desires and is troubled for want of it more then for want of any other thing and the feeling that he hath it not serueth but to quicken his care of seeking it and to make him seeke soundly that he may not bee deceiued with false imaginations about it Sometimes also it fals out that a fit of Melacholy possesseth a growne man so strongly that hee imagines himselfe no better then a dead man but then the actions of life performed by him do put the matter out of question amongst others that haue life and the same actions at last perswade himself also that he liueth Euen so a man borne again and well growne in the life of Grace through strength of tentation may bee so farre troubled as to make a great doubt whither he liue the life of grace yea or no. But he by feeling the troublesomnes of this feare by striuing against it at length doth euidētly find that he iudged falsely of his own case and so returneth to enioy his assurance again Yea somtimes a liuing mā by some wound receiued or by some inward distemperature is cast into a deadly swoune neither feeling life nor giuing any great signes of it but after a while by rubbing and the like meanes he is restored to the vse and to the feeling of life So a regenerate man being ouercome by some tentation and hauing runne into some sown doth lie almost like a man dead in sinnes and trespasses but after some checks of his owne heart and admonitions of others and corrections from the Lord he is reuiued out of that sowne and begins to shew forth the effects of grace and withall with comfort to feele and vnderstand the same Wherfore it is manifest that the knowledge of a mans being regenerate is a necessary effect of regeneration and which faileth not out of the forenamed cases and after some time to reueale it selfe Hence it is that the regenerate man wonders at no kind of men more then at them which will needs hold that the matter of ones being truly sanctified is so extremely ambiguous as that by reason of the deceitfulnesse of mans heart it should bee impossible for any man infallibly to know himselfe to be in the state of grace He counts this is as absurd as if a man should say that because an image may bee made and painted so like a liuing man and that withall fits of melancholy and sownes are of so strong a working in men therefore it should be impossible for any man to know vsually and infallibly that himselfe is a liuing man Hee perceiues that such men speake thus alone because they talke of these points barely by roar as they say by meere speculatiō For he hauing known the powerful working of Gods spirit knoweth well enough that he hath found it and knowes that hauing it it will make it selfe so euident that after a little while it will be knowne and when he wants it hee findes himselfe not driuen to denie the possibility or necessity of knowing it but alone to bee grieued and to condemne himselfe that he doth not get that which is both possible necessary to be gotten He finds also that though after his committing of some kindes of sinnes this his assurance that hee is Gods childe is very much enfeebled yet there is a secret and strong worke of grace inwardly mouing him inuiting him leading him by the hand and little lesse then with a kind of sweet and gentle violence drawing him to go to God and confesse his sinne crauing mercy purposing amendment and casting himselfe vpon Christ for acceptance that now he cānot but say within himselfe sure here is life though before the matter were called into doubt Yea he findeth the spirit of adoption dictating vnto him the name of Father in this case and making him bold so to call God and to cry vnto him till at length he perceiue by manifest signes that hee is indeed a Father vnto him Yea verily to the Christian man this knowledge of God is so rich and precious a iewell that he makes more account of it then of a thousand worlds and a thousand liues Wherefore of almost all errours concerning mans condition hee can with least patience brooke their to him being made in case to discerne it most palpable fancy of which I spake before that thinke it impossible to attaine a sure knowledge and infallible that one is the child of God not know himselfe to bee Gods by regeneration and adoption Take away his life then take away his being The world is worse then a prison and a dungeon to him if the light of this knowledge bee taken away hee can haue no quiet in himselfe no comfort in any thing else without this knowledge he perceiues that this is the greatest confirmation of his soule in an holy life that hee knowes himselfe to be begotten againe by the seed of immortality to a liuely hope and to an immortall inheritance This knowledge therefore is so necessary vnto him that hee cannot liue without it and hence it is that he no longer enioyes himselfe then he retaines it And so much for the third effect of regeneration The fourth and of those that I purpose to speake of the last effect followeth That is growth As a naturall life
seruāt And though the conscience being too much put to it by the seruants of God in their folly do wax somwhat sharp yet still it keepeth this note of difference from the vnpurged conscience that it drawes them vnto God So a good conscience is both quiet for it promiseth forgiuenes and withall wakefull for it cals for duty incessantly steppeth out against euery confessed euill yea against suspected ones too 3. In his will In the third place the will of the sanctified man shewes it selfe to be holy by two graces also planted in it First it is carried vp to Godward It longeth thirsteth after the liuing God so that it findeth nothing in heauen nor in earth comparable vnto him It doth embrace him and draw vnto him as vnto the chiefe in a maner the only Good The being happines and felicity of God is the thing that aboue all things yea aboue his owne happines he desireth the fauour loue and grace of God next to that aboue all other things Let him enioy the light of Gods countenance and let corne and wine goe which way they will he is happy enough in that God is happy and is his Father So Dauid once Psal 73 25. Whom haue I in heauen besides thee and whom in earth with thee and in an other place All my bones shall cry Lord who is like vnto thee Now he hath learned to place his felicity in the liuing God Now apprehending him as goodnesse it selfe he vniteth himselfe vnto him by a feruent act of his wil euen panting after him Secondly his will becommeth very flexible to the wil of God It begins to be made one with Gods will and to be as it were carried therein like a star in its proper orbe or euen as a man in the chariot wherein hee hath seated himselfe His will begins to bee euen swallowed vp in the will of God and to bee nothing but as God will haue it which is the principall and a most inconceiueable happines which he findeth in this world If it may appeare vnto him that God would haue such a thing done he resolues to doe it say profit pleasure credit what they can to the contrary Contrarily if that hee perceiues the Lord of his life would not haue him to doe such a thing his determination is that he will not doe it though he be solicited with all the allurements of delight commodity aduancement In truth this free and firme disposition of the will to doe the good and auoid the euill which God enioyneth him for Gods sake is the very heart and marrow of regeneration and therefore there is nothing which a Christian man more misseth then the worke of his will this way if it be hindred and nothing in himselfe which he doth enioy more whilest the motions of it are vninterrupted An hearty and vnfained desire to please God in all things is the characteristicall note as I may tearme it of the sanctified It is the most apparāt euidēt sensible distinction betwixt him the falsly-seeming sanctified the hypocrite Wherfore it is of much importance to finde this grace in ones selfe And so are the superiour powers of the soule framed to the blessed Image of God 2 In the inferiou◠powers The inferiour powers must needs follow the temper of the superiour and in them there resteth the spirit of grace and glory which adorneth them with the brightnesse of excellent graces First the thinking power or imagination is raised vp to God and the things of God 1. The thinking power The Christian man findes that as hee is apt by nature to thinke of the King or of his parents or friends or such like thing so by vertue of his new nature he is of himselfe moued to be taking occasion very many times to entertaine thoughts of God and alwaies thoughts tending to magnifie him within his soule Hee is often stirring vp in his owne heart motions tending to discouer vnto himselfe the beauty and sweetnesse of God his wisedome his power his truth his iustice and other attributes and withall also the admirable and inconceiueable excellency of heauen the surpassing glory and felicity of an other life There is some familiarity and louing acquaintance betwixt God and the kingdome of God and his imagination and it is a great pleasure content to him to cōuerse as it were with these things in the cogitations of his mind to haue thē dwell within him Before God was not in all his thoughts as the Psalmist speaketh Psal 10.4 but now contrarily as the same Psalmist affirmeth of himselfe his meditation of God is sweete euery thing almost that he sees serueth but to beget in him new formes of apprehending Gods excellencie which in truth shineth forth most brightly in all these his workes A man that knowes a rare secret and hidden treasure cannot but euer and a none haue the cogitation of it reuiuing it selfe within him and the Christian hauing the eie of his minde opened to know God and to beleeue in him sees such rich treasures of wisedome and goodnes in him that his minde must needs be entertaining him within by the imagination of these things Wherefore not in solitarines alone but in company the motions of his minde are aduaunced towards heauen and other things serue but as ladders to raise his soule thitherward He is often euen in the middest of other businesses digesting in his minde the excellencies of God and thinking with himselfe how good how great how wise is the Lord God who hath done this and this and this how excellent is his name through all the earth how happy is he in the highest heauens where hee hath founded the throne of his glory yea how blessed a Crowne hath he laid vp for thē that feare him how plentifull a reward is reserued for them when he walketh abroad and sees Gods workes and when he is imploied in other occasions he holdeth his inward comfortable conference with himselfe about his God and often hath his soule prouoked to speake vnto God and to take him into part of this diuine conference telling him as it were with a reuerent boldnes and wife-like familiarity how much good hee knowes by him and how excellent hee must needes conceiue him to bee by such and such workes of his In one word hee mindeth not onely not chiefely the things that are belowe as once he did but the things that are aboue where Iesus Christ our sauiour sitteth at the right hand of glory His meditation is of God and his law and Kingdome continually In like sort his memory is hallowed to the remembring of God 2. Memorie and the things that pertaine to God He frequently mindeth himselfe of that all-seeing eie which in all places attendeth him and though the Lord as being a spirit be in a sort absent from his senses yet by vertue of this sanctified memory which makes absent things present he
offers him vnto his minde as continually standing at his right hand beholdeth him in all places euen then when he is farre remoued from all other company as a narrow obseruer of his secret actions and an eie-witnes of all his most inward and retired cogitations He puts himselfe in minde still and still saying Lord whither can I fly from thy presence The Lords eies behold me his eielids ponder my paths to him nothing is secret from him nothing can be concealed thus I say he mindeth himselfe of the Lords being hard by him and represents him often to his soule as a witnesse and iudge of his whole life yea of his very heart and conscience And this excellent vertue of remembring God doth stand betwixt him and the tentations to sinne as it were strong barriers that doe mightily restraine his forward flesh from committing it For why saith he to himselfe doth not the God of heauen see and know and vnderstand how then shall I doe this wickednes and sinne against him to his face Further his memory serues his turne also for the things of God The commandements threats promises of the word the workes of God either of mercy or iustice the infinite and eternall reward of well doing the intolerable and endlesse punishment of irrepentant sinning and the like are alwaies before his eies and hee makes none end of minding himselfe of such diuine things as may frame him to holines There is a naturall power of memory consisting in the ability of retaining and making repetition of things that one hath heard or seene This ability as following the temperature of the body the sanctified man perhaps may want and if nature haue not bestowed it vpon him he must want it for grace doth not adde a greater naturall perfection to the powers of mans soule but alone makes the perfections it hath straite and right and guideth them to God ward but that memory which God hath giuen him he can vse for the good of his soule to godly purposes in all the sanctified performances of memory He can retaine good things according to that strength of retainement which nature affords him but that that he doth retaine and heere indeede he shewes his memory to be sanctified he hath at hand for the benefit of his soule in due season fruitfully recalling it in the instant of tentation in the very time of neede when it may auaile him to resist sinfull suggestions of Satan or the flesh and to quicken him against his backwardnes and vnwillingnes to duties commanded So his memory becomes a principall instrument of order both to his heart and to his life for example A godly man and an vnregenerate come both to one sermon It is made against filthines or couetousnesse or any vice as it falleth out The vnsanctified man may perhaps be able to repeate tenne times more and more orderly then the sanctified this is a fruit of nature not of grace but when some time is past and that both shall be tempted to couetousnes or filthines all that that the vnregenerate man could so readily repeate is slipt quite out of his minde as a thing carelesly thrust into a corner which a man cannot find when he should vse it so that he follows the sin as much as if he had neuer heard that Sermon but the godly man hath those reasons proofes of Scripture which he was able to carry away instantly in his minde repelling such thoughts and saying haue I not heard what a sinne this is haue I not beene taught how it displeaseth God so by this his holy remembrance the word of God is auaileable to keepe him from sinning or at least after to raise him vp to the renewing of his repentance And so you see the holinesse of a Christian mans memory 3 In his affections Thirdly his affections are also sanctified and set in good order by the vertues which the holy Ghost infuseth into him The principall affections are loue and hatred feare and confidence ioy and sorrow All these are inabled by the spirit of God with a new power of exercising themselues vpon God and the things of God and there are certaine vertues which doe rectifie each of them in their seuerall workings First for loue the motions and inclinations thereof are ruled by that King of vertues charity both towards God and towards the children of God A good mans heart is inclining it selfe still to Godward he finds in his soule that he hath something within him bowing and bending his heart to God and making him euen earne and melt after him sometimes and cleaue and sticke vnto him in an vnexpressible manner yea the sweetnes of that loue wherewith he finds himselfe loued of God is still pulling him vnto God euen then when perhaps he finds the Lord somewhat displeased with him and carrying himselfe towards him somewhat angerly as a wife comes towards her husband with a kind of melting affection submissiuely but still louingly when she perceiueth that he is offended with her In truth the working of this affectiō rectified as I said aboue by charity cannot be well enough set out in words he findeth such a kind of clinging to God and such an vniting of his heart towards him that he had rather be depriued of all that is deere to him in the world then of him and his soule doth so setledly stedfastly solidly irresistibly bend it selfe to be one with him that this inclination many times doth ouerweigh and ouer-rule all other inclinations in him and sometimes hee cannot but euen breake forth into words professing so much to himself as Dauid I loue the Lord and calling vpon others saying loue yee the Lord wishing with all the wishes of his soule that himselfe and all others might more and more loue the Lord. A sanctified heart standeth affected toward God euen as the louer doth to the person he loueth and he hath though not so passionate because the obiect is spiritual yet as true and as perceiueable a working of his heart to God as one louer hath to the other and as to God so he is likewise indued with charity to Gods people The liking of his heart is to them aboue all other men hee finds his heart mooued with good will to none so much as to the Saints If he perceiue the beames of Gods image shining that is to him as good and better then twenty yeeres acquaintance yea it surpasseth all names of blood and alliance whom he sees godly him hee priseth aboue all other men In truth this charity doth then shew its warmth when almost the breath of grace is choaked by vices of diuers kinds Though some particular breach may cause a little iarring of affections betweene a godly man and another whom hee perswadeth himselfe to feare God also yet he cannot but feele his heart to stand towards him euen in this iarre Yea let a Christian man be at the worst that euer he can be and gone as farre
my brethren is a regenerate mans heart adorned in al the powers of it vnderstanding will conscience the principall and imagination memory and affections the inferiour Not so perfectly I confesse that the contrary vices doe not often shew themselues interrupting the working of these vertues and obscuring and darkening their luster but so as that still the Sunne of holines doth breake thorough the mists of vices when they be at the thickest and shine out againe in spight of such indarkening of them In an vnsanctified man these graces are not to be found at all he doth not perceiue the working of them he feeles not their weakenesse he desireth not their confirmation but the child of God findeth them in himselfe and often againe findeth the quite contrary he perceiueth them sometimes to be stronger sometimes weaker and he is truly disquieted with the vices that are opposite to these vertues as with diseases of body and with the infirmity of these graces as with weakenesse of his legs and armes when he should imploy himselfe in any worke or busines His knowledge of God is obscured with ignorance and often assailed with obiections his faith in God and in his word hath its faintings his conscience feeles some prickes of guiltines his will is not without its rebellious motions his thoughts are dull to God often times and his memory is turned to other things with the neglecting of God his loue is cold his feare is chaunged into a kind of stupidity his confidence is shaken his ioyes weakened and to his seeming little lesse then dead and his griefes are euen stopped and the streame of his teares dryed vp or diuerted but alacke he finds this so to be and is vexed at it he perceiueth it and discerneth it with paine and dislike and hee can tell well that sometimes it hath beene otherwise with him and why is he thus now why is hee so altered from himselfe Indeed he hath these graces neuer so plentifully but that he sees defects and knowes there should and desires there might be more but yet when grace is a little weakened ouer that it was he findeth it before long and seekes to restore it againe to its former and a stronger strength CHAP. VII All to examine themselues whither they be regenerate yea or no. ANd so brethren haue I done mine indeauour to explaine this most necessary doctrine of regeneration without which our Sauiour little lesse then sweares that no man can be saued Giue me leaue now I pray you to apply the point a little closser to your consciences without which the word will want much of its efficacy to your good Vses 1. To all that they inquire into themselues whether they be regenerate yea or no. And in this application I would addresse my speech first to all indifferently regenerate or not then to the vnregenerate and lastly to the regenerate specially according to their different estates Brethren you heare and I am perswaded you doe beleeue that that our Sauior speaks verily verily vnlesse a man be borne againe he cannot see the Kingdome of God Be you therefore perswaded all of you to descend into your owne soules and well to prosecute the examination of your owne estates whether you be as yet regenerated yea or no. Tell me I say in the name of God whosoeuer thou beest that standest heere before the Lord art thou regenerated yea or no It is very necessary to know at least wise whither it be possible for vs to be saued or not Seeing of this life we haue no further assurance then for the present moment and that we know all it must shortly haue an end can it be any other then very madnes to remaine vncertaine whether there be a possibility of our changing for a better when change we must of necessity either for a better or worse It pleaseth vs not to hang in vncertainties about the things of this world which are but for the twinkling of an eie will we make our selues so foolish as to bee content alone not to know what ill may befal vs heereafter An impossibility of entring into heauen caries with it a certainty of falling into hell he that cannot enter into the former cannot but be cast into the latter Wherefore againe and againe I exhort you seeing it is impossible to be saued without regeneration know you of your owne estate so much whether you be regenerated yea or no. And my brethren take heede of satisfying your selues heere in a matter of so much importance with wandring conceits and vncertaine probabilities let it not suffice you to thinke you are borne againe rest not seeking till yee haue concluded vpon the matter vndoubtedly one way or other and can say without all question either I am regenerated or I am not In very truth the vnwillingnes to enter into this inquisition giueth occasion of vehement suspition that one is not regenerated It is a sore presumption that a man hath not that grace whereof he is not willing with any seriousnes and diligence to examine himselfe if hee haue it yea or no. And let that man that is willing to put of this matter slightly to please himselfe in idle imaginations saying I hope I haue beene regenerated though he haue neuer bestowed paines to inquire into the grounds of this hope let that man I say be euen all most assured that he is not as yet regenerated A sound and well grounded scholar feares not be examined in grounds of learning a sufficient workman in any trade is neuer vnwilling to come into triall and question about his skill onely bunglers onely dunces abhorre from all search and triall of their sufficiencies A secret guiltines of wants causeth an vnwillingnes of being hard pressed to shew what one hath doubtlesse it is so in the matters of the soule also The regenerate is willing to search out his estate because the goodnes thereof doth more cleerely appeare by how much it is more often searched but he that cannot away to stand asking and demanding of himselfe and call for infallible proofes of his being regenerate is therefore alone vnwilling to put himselfe to the trouble of proouing it because hee is destitute of sufficient proofes I say therefore vnto thee thou must follow this inquiry closse thou must not beleeue euery thought of thine heart thou must haue good assurance and good grounds of good assurance afore thou be bold to call thy selfe a regenerate man The hart of men brethren is a very Sea of guile Euery sonne of Adam hath a marueilous selfe-deceiuing spirit Selfe-loue I say selfe-loue and a desire of all good to our selues makes vs too too credulous of our owne condition for the most part because nature worketh in vs a desire of being happy we are all too too willing to beleeue that we haue those things I meane it of spirituall things without which we cannot be happy In truth for things temporall because our senses strong confutâ—rs doe refell
their hearts and feare him with all their hearts and trust in him with all their hearts and repent euerie day and beleeue in Christ as well as the best and haue done euer since they can remember these full men these rich persons these that haue soules so perfectlie replenished with all graces that they finde no want of faith or of repentance or of humilitie or of the spirit of prayer or of the loue of God or almost any thing These that haue no faults in themselues they were neuer proud in all their liues they know as much as any of them all can tell them and they haue not brought vp so many children they trow but that they can tel how to be saued that neuer wronged any in al their liues and that hope in God they shall be saued for their good liues and good meanings All these ignorants neuer vnderstood and therefore onely boast of much because wanting knowledge totally they cannot know their owne wants Wherefore if any amongst you be such and out of ignorance so well-conceited of himselfe let him not pretend to be regenerate In vaine he claimeth Gods Kingdome if he be not changed and become another man Yea all those that though they haue more knowledge then to brag thus yet neuer felt themselues to haue been the children of wrath nor were neuer pained with the apprehension of their owne sinfulnesse These also I affirme to be vnregenerate and so remaining cannot be saued Yea all that allow wicked thoughts in their hearts and neuer take care to see and lament the euill conceits of their inward man but rather serue sinne in the lusts of it and please themselues in thinking of that which for feare or shame they doe not dare to accomplish those also haue no part in Gods Kingdome as the case goes with them hitherto Yea all that makes no conscience of smal sinnes which the world doth not take notice of but passe ouer such trespasses without making any matter of them or troubling themselues to bewaile them these haue cause to fearâ— that heauen is fast locked vpon them Yea all that allow themselues for gaine profit or pleasure sake in any one sinfull action secret or open excusing and shifting and turning themselues into all shapes to make themselues not to know it to be sinfull and labouring not to be moued with the exhortations of the Word checks of their owne consciences but holding still their resolution that that thing they must needs do they cannot chuse but doe though their consciences would willingly checke them for the same were they not by them put to silence All these are to number themselues among the vnregenerate and such as if God be as he is most perfectly iust cannot be saued whilest they abide such But most of all those that liue in open grosse sinnes and yet flatter themselues with hopes of doing wel enough because others liue as bad as they and because they doubt not to ouer-entreate God with the repentance of the last houre these are farthest off from regeneration and remaine in a dangerous and damnable estate so that I doubt not to proclaime vnto them in the name of God that so continuing Christ shall profit them nothing Christ shal neuer bring them to heauen Now therefore if any of you that heare me do perceiue your selues to be such I pray you lay aside all your conceits of going to heauen I pray you surcease to feede your selues with vanitie and wind and to make your selues secure by making false promises to your soules of that they shal neuer attaine Know thou whosoeuer that art an ignorant boaster of thine owne goodnes or a man senselesse of thine owne badnesse and must be dispenced with all in some one darling sinne which faine against the truth beginning to shew it selfe to thee thou wouldest not haue to bee counted a sinne know thou whosoeuer that art a worker of iniquity and puttest off repentance till the time of sicknesse that thou hast no part nor portion in this inheritance that thou art the old Man leauened with old leauen and not renewed nor purged and therefore that it cannot possibly befall thee to see Gods Kingdome if Christ be true and God iust so long as thou abidest vnchanged What should one doe to make dead men feele their death If we could speake plainer to you we would brethren for why we know that at this very point your whole happinesse must begin The vnregenerate can neuer become regenerate till he first perceiue himselfe vnregenerate A child of Satan can neuer be made the childe of God till he feele himselfe the child of Satan Our spirituall felicitie begins in the sense of our spirituall misery and therfore we take all this paines to make you see your wretchednesse because it is vpon none other conditions auoidable Open thine eies therefore and see open thine heart and feele thine vnregeneracie thy being in the state of death thine horrible sinfulnesse and thy being as I haue often said and cannot too often say no better then the very sonne and daughter of the Prince of Darkenesse Will you not see will you not feele will you hood-winke your selues will you harden your hearts will ye suffer the Diuell to turne you from heeding your owne estate till at last it be past recouery I pray you doe not so be not so great enemies to your owne soules I entreate you But what should I goe forward with more words to you I will turne my speech to God for you And O thou Author of life and light be pleased now to remember the end of thine owne ordinances and make them fruitful for the purposes by thy selfe appointed O open the eyes of some one of these blind men inlighten the soules of some one of them at least with so much light that they may perceiue themselues hitherto to haue been voide of light put into them at least that first motion of life that they may feele themselues hitherto to haue been but dead men and voide of life O let not thy word returne empty but make it effectuall to all to which thou sendest it CHAP. IX Containing an exhortation to seeke regeneration AND now brethren in the next place 2. Exhortation that they seeke to come out of this hard estate if there bee amongst you any whose soule the Lord may haue awakned to feele their vnregeneracy to them let vs further ad a word of exhortation It were in truth a poore comfort to know ones wound if there were not a plaister deliuered withall to heale those wounds But we come to entreate you to be made the children of God and to bee begotten againe and withall wee come to assure you that you may be such if you do not reiect the present offer of grace I pray you therefore let these words sinke into your minds and be you willing desirous to be the children of our heauenly Father I hope brethren the request
will not seeme to you vnreasonable nor the motion light and not worth harkening to when the God of heauen sues vnto you that be his enemies to be changed and become his adopted sonnes Sure I am that if a Gentleman should with the same good meaning make the same offer to a poore miserable beggar either he would greedily accept the motion or else all that knew him would esteeme him mad How much worse then mad art thou then which wilt reiect the Lords owne motion offering to become thy Father and intreating thee to bee willing to be made his child by adoption you may perhaps say vnto me that you do already wish and desire so to bee with all your hearts but that all the difficultie lies in being made such as you desire to be And I answere that if you doe indeed and in truth long and desire to be regenerate with a setled and firme desire and stable and confirmed wishing of your hearts that then the greatest impediment is remoued and the greatest difficultie ouercome and your regeneration is now in a faire forwardnesse yea verily it is already begun and doe you but cherish these motions and it shall be perfected You may perhaps make another obiection and say that it is not in your power to regenerate your selues and therfore it is an idle attempt of me to perswade you to become such as you cannot make your selues to be for the Spirit of God must regenerate and who can command that to come vpon him To which I answere that indeed a man cannot possibly regenerate himselfe this is Gods act not his he is a meere patient in it But yet I say moreouer that the doctrine of the Gospell is the ministration of the Spirit and where that is preached as now it is preached amongst you there the holy Ghost comes to regenerate there he comes with his in-liuing vertues there he is present with his quickning power and he that wil not resist the motions and exhortations that the word and spirit of God doe raise vp within him shall surely be visited from on high and shall haue the spirit of God descending vpon him to make him a new creature Yea further I say to such an one that God hath appointed certaine things to be done by men which they that will not refuse to doe may doe and those that shall doe shall be regenerated For there is a common worke of illumination so making way for regeneration that it puts a power into man of doing that which when he shall doe the spirit of God will mightily worke within him to his quickening and purging All you therefore that finde your selues as yet not to be regenerate but yet faine would be for to others it is in vaine to speake they be not yet so farre inlightned as to be capable of regeneration but all you hearken and vnderstand what it is that you must doe that you may be regenerate and by doing which you shall not faile of receiuing this wonderfull blessing of a new life to be created in you onely yet with one prouiso that you doe not dampe the present motions of the word and spirit of God with procrastinations and delayes with putting off and deferring till an other time Nay you must accept of the offers of grace whilest it is called to day and know that nothing doth more harden your hearts and chase away the spirit of God from them then that foolish and slothful shifting off his perswasions with a purpose of setling about the worke hereafter but not yet Thou must take Gods time and not bid him tarry thy time It is no reason the King should waite vpon the traitor till he were at leisure to receiue a pardon If thou wilt not haue while when the Lord sees it fit to make thee a sweet promise of grace remember the terrible threatning of Wisdome You shall seeke me and not finde me Prou. 1.24.28 because I stretched out mine hands and you would not heare me O then venture not to put off God till hereafter Who can tell whether euer he will come so neere thee againe if at this time thine entertainment of him be no better then to shut vp the dores of thine heart and tell him the roomes are otherwise filled there is no place for him as yet But now I say with prouiso that you will now begin without further deferring I will shew you the way of life and tell you that which if you will be pleased to doe and it shall be no such hard matter nor impossible but that your owne soules shall confesse there is nothing to hinder you from doing it but your owne vnwillingnesse or carelesnesse or both if I say you will be pleased to doe I testifie vnto you in the name of the Lord that you shall bee regenerate and that from the time you begin to doe them you begin to be regenerate Now these things are in number three as I said before neither impossible for you to doe Wheâ—eof the meanes are three nor yet difficult there lackes but a willing mind and they be easily done onely vnderstand of them that you must not satisfie your selues with hauing done them once but must doe them continually because they are meanes of encreasing holinesse as well as attaining it The first is 1. To desire and pray for the spirit of regeneration so to nourish your apprehension of your owne misery in not being regenerated and your earnest desire of being regenerated for the escaping of this misery that it may breake forth into requests and petitions vnto God for his spirit of regeneration Goe thou and muse thus with thy selfe Alas I see most euidently that as yet I am but a sonne of old Adam there is no thorough change of mine heart nor of my life from sinne to holinesse I am as I was borne and haue not been altered by a new birth and therefore I am in no possibility of being saued This night if God should as how know I but he may this night take away my soule from me O I perish for out of heauen the blessed Sauiour of mankind hath excluded mee for thither he tels vs euidently that none must enter that are not borne againe and O miserable man I that am not yet capable of eternall life and that stand in such tearmes with God to this day that hee cannot both keepe his owne truth and saue my soule What shall I doe what course shall I take O could I once obtaine regeneration then I were safe then I were sure then if death should come immediately I neede not feare it then were the gates of heauen opened vnto mee and then I both might and should enter in thereto O that I were regenerate O that I were borne againe O that I were a new creature O that once the image of Christ Iesus were imprinted vpon me All the goods and honours of this world would not so much aduantage me as
holinesse if I could attaine it But what doe I stand wishing I haue beene told that the spirit of God is he who regenerateth his people Wherefore I wil beg at his hand that mighty and sauing worke of his spirit and boldly I may doe it for Christ Iesus hath promised to all that thirst that if they come Isa 55.1 he will make them drinke of the waters of life Yea he hath told me that if we men who are euil can yet giue naturall good things to our children that aske them God will much more giue his spirit to them that aske it For his promise is to poure waters vpon the dry ground and flouds vpon the thirsty ground and to poure out of his spirit vpon all flesh Well I am assured the word of God is true and these promises shall be performed to euery one that asketh that he may receiue and to euery one that seeketh that he may finde for the Lord is rich in grace and giues to all that aske hits no man in the teeth And therefore I will take courage to call vpon him for that most desireable gift of God euen the spirit of regeneration Thus hauing enkindled thy desires bow thou the knees of thy body and of thy soule too vnto the king of heauen and poure out thy requests in the most submissiue earnest manner thou canst saying either in these words or to this purpose O Lord I am a lost sheep I am a child of wrath by nature I am most miserable most sinful I see that in me there dwelleth no good thing and if I be not renewed I must perish I beseech thee haue mercy vpon me that I perish not Send thy blessed spirit into mine heart to regenerate me for so is thy promise plainly made in thy word Thou knowest that I cannot make my selfe new O let thy spirit come vpon me and make me to haue a new heart and a new spirit Lord Iesus Christ send thy spirit into mee which may restore mee from this death of sinne which now at last thou hast made me to feele vnto the life of holinesse Thou toldest the woman of Samaria 〈◊〉 4. that if she would aske of thee thou wouldest giue her the water of life Now Lord I come and aske of thee that water that liuing that pretious water of the holy spirit O giue it vnto mee that I may neuer thirst but that it may spring forth in my belly and become a riuer of water O Lord I beg not money I beg not honour I beg not health I beg not naturall wisedome but I beg that which I haue more need to receiue and shall haue more benefit by receiuing and which thou hast more promised to giue and shalt haue more honour by giuing then by any such temporary or externall thing O giue me therefore thy holy spirit to regenerate me and make mee to feele by experience the truth of thy gratious promises My brethren I haue put these prayers into your mouthes learne you to poure them forth before the throne of grace in secret forget not in some such manner of words to cry for this best of all gifts and beg earnestly and if thou canst not amplifie yet multiply if thou canst not vse variety of words yet repeate the same request often and againe and againe if thine inuention serues not to say more let thy desire force thee to dwell vpon this 20. times rather then faile twice 20. times O Lord giue vnto me a miserable sinner thy spirit of life grace to regenerate me for so hast thou promised to them that aske I aske Lord resolue to continue asking I certifie you all frō God and by this authority of Christ Iesus committed to his Ministers do verily assure you that he who so seeketh regeneration shall as certainly be regenerate as God is true of his word and that is more certaine then the Sunnes shining in the heauens and the earths keeping his owne place I know that Satan will step forth to hinder you from following this counsell he will striue to make you carelesse of it all together as if there were no neede of begging so hard but I assure thee that he doth but beguile thee Neuer any man was regenerate nor shall be after yeeres of ability to pray vnlesse he doe pray for it for the gift of the spirit is promised to you that aske and to none else and by telling thy selfe of thy misery in wanting regeneration thou shalt easily shake thy selfe out of this carelesnes and bring thy selfe to a care of seeking that which but by seeking thou canst not get and but by getting thou canst not be saued Then will the Diuell assaile thee with more tentations and cast obiections and doubts in thy way as if it were in vaine to pray for sure thou shalt not be heard but beleeue him not hee is a lyar in going about to make thee make God a lyar for is not the promise so vniuersall as no man is excluded that doth not exclude himselfe doth it not runne thus euery one that asketh receiueth euery one that seeketh findeth and therefore say thou to thine owne heart if euery one why not I sure I will aske then and will not spare to speede by sparing to speake to God And that thou maiest yet more imbolden thy selfe know that God hath tyed thee by a kind of vow to seeke to him for the spirit of regeneration and himselfe to giue it vnto thee when thou so seekest For tell me art thou not a man professing to be of the Christian religion Wast thou not baptized in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost To what end was this washing but to assure thee of the spirit of God working like water to thy regeneration Wherefore vrge thou the Lord with his owne seale and say O Lord what better euidence can I wish Thou hast giuen me the seale of regeneration O make it to appeare not to haue beene an empty signe Lord baptise me with the Spirit and with Water euen wash me and cleanse me by that pure Water of thy holy Spirit which may sanctifie me throughout and make me a new creature If any doubt arise in thine heart looke thus to the seale of the couenant and confirme thy faith and assure thy selfe that God will neuer falsifie his bond and seale he will wash thee according to his couenant sealed vp vnto thee by Baptisme In very deed brethren it is an absurdity to imagine that all that are baptized with water are also infallibly regenerated but yet it is sure that all such might be regenerated if considering what this seale importeth they would duly and earnestly seeke vnto the Lord for performance thereof This is that I call vpon you now to do if already any haue not done it Let the remembrance of thy Baptisme with water cause thee to seeke to him that can giue the Baptisme of the spirit
he knoweth not how to deny himselfe nor his couenant But perhaps still the Diuell may be busie with thee and cast some quiddity and subtill cauill in thy way as sometimes he hath done telling thee that if thou beest not as thou findest thy selfe not to be regenerate thy prayers cannot be heard because they be not of faith Thou maiest answere him that that worke of God in his word which moueth thee so to pray is a beginning of regeneration which shall vndoubtedly be perfected if thou continue to pray and therefore that thou wilt not be hindred by such cauils For thou beleeuest that God hath said true when he said Ho euery one that thirsteth and seeing out of a perswasion of the truth of this generall promise thou addressest thy selfe to performe the duty whereto the promise is made thy prayer must needs be of faith though of a weake faith and be no sinne but an acceptable seruice vnto God Now therefore brethren be not discouraged for praying for the spirit of life to breathe vpon you by any cauils or obiections of Satan be not made carelesse of seeking so necessary a thing by any fond imaginations that he will put into your minds be not diuerted from doing this duty by any worldly businesse that may come betwixt but what euer thou doest now in thine heart and when thou commest home in thy closet and in the solemnest manner bow thy selfe to God and cry vnto him for the holy Ghost to regenerate thee And O thou blessed spirit that art like the wind and breathest euen where thou lusteâ—â— breathe into the hearts of some of these that heare me this day and cause some of them to be inflamed with a desire of regeneration and to be incouraged to the begging of it whereas yet it hath not been wrought And so much for the first meanes to be vsed 2. An hiding of the word of God in the heart The second meanes is a diligent hiding of the word of God in the heart For seeing that is the seede of immortality if it be closely laid vp in the ground of our soules it will fructifie to life This law is pure and it will purifie It is perfect and it wil conuert the soule if like a plaister it be laid vnto it Let it be ingraffed into you like a science and it will change the wild sap of your nature and make you able to bring forth fruits of holinesse A man then buries the seed of the word in his hart when he doth ponder and muse vpon it when he sets himselfe seriously to consider the truth of it and to apply it vnto his owne soule taking that that is generally deliuered as pertaining to himselfe in speciall Now the whole word must be thus whetted vpon the heart not the Law alone for that of it selfe will breed nothing but miserable terrours not the Gospel alone for that finding the heart vnprepared to receiue it in such ill ground will bring forth nothing but the stinking weedes of presumption but both the Law and the Gospell it so being tempered together and obtaining a ioynt worke in the soule by their mutual forces they may both produce the grace of sanctification So then if one would be regenerate he must take to himself the whole Word of God He must set himself al alone to muse of it saying to himself These coÌ„mandements the Law giueth to al mankind among the rest to me these curses it denounceth against the transgressers of it of which seeing I cannot deny my selfe to bee one the curses thereof belong vnto me and I alasse I lie vnder them But the Word of God hath shewed me the way of escaping the curse for Christ Iesus the Sonne of God was in our stead accursed that wee might be free from the curse and bee partakers of that blessing which was long since promised in him saying In thy seede shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed Also the Word of God doth plainely declare concerning al the sonnes of men Psalm 14. that they haue done a corrupt and abominable deede and that none of them doe good no not one It shuts them all vnder sinne and pronounceth them al the sonnes of wrath But Iesus Christ is become the Sauiour of mankind and in him his Father is well pleased and none that beleeue in him shall perish Yea in him is preached remission of sinnes and life euerlasting to all that beleeue in him and rest vpon his merits as vpon a perfect satisfaction and hee doth ratifie all the sweete promises of the Law to all that beleeue in him and striue to obey him so that for his sake they shall obtaine all the good things which the Law promiseth but because we are all sinfull it cannot bestow them on vs. I am a sinfull wretch I am a cursed creature I am vnder Gods anger in my selfe but Christ Iesus hath satisfied for my sinnes he hath performed a perfect righteousnesse for me I will goe out of my selfe I will renounce mine owne righteousnesse and rest onely in him euen vpon him onely in whom O my soule assure thou thy selfe to find full remission and perfect saluation onely so be it thou turne not the grace of God into wantonnesse but out of loue to him set thy self to keep his holy coÌ„mandements and take vpon thy neck that sweet gentle yoke of his the bearing of which is the most comfortable liberty in the World Certainly men and brethren he that will often renew these meditations in his soule and see the foulenes of sin in the glasse of the Law and the sweetnes and brightnes of Gods free grace shining forth in the doctrine of the Gospel shal surely be translated into the image of God from glory to glory Therefore now resolue with your selues that you wil find time constantly to meditate on the Word of God and it shal not faile to giue light vnto your eyes and life vnto your soules So haue you the second meanes of attaining regeneratioÌ„ Tâ—irâ— constant 〈◊〉 tâ—e Worâ— pâ—eached The third and last is to attend at the gates of Wisdome to waite on her posts I meane to be constant hearers of the Word of God preached This is the ordinance of God which he will worke by most effectually and most vsually The mouth of the Minister is the Conduit pipe wherby the Lord doth please to deriue the sweet wholsome waters of life into the soules of men 1. Cor. 1.20 It hath pleased God by the foolishnes of preaching to saue theÌ„ that belieue The Lord hath appointed his Ministers to be spirituall fathers by their labours in publishing his Word to beget men vnto him and whosoeuer will not seeke regeneration and saluation here where God hath taken order that he may meete with them he for his carelesnes or ignorance of Gods ordinance shall neuer bee able else-where to attaine them I told you mine opinion before of the Word
barely read I cannot esteeme it quite deuoide of all power to regenerate where God doth not giue vnto men a possibilitie of vsing other helpe I see not that he should be thought either vnable or vnwilling to worke by this but where preaching with paines or cost may be gotten there he that to saue his labour or to spare his purse will neglect it shall neuer be borne againe Wherefore beloued you must make high account of this ordinance you must follow it you must be constant in frequenting it that the Lord by the mouthes of his faithful seruants may breathe the breath of life into you I confesse that there is a kind of fine neate daintie preaching consisting in wel-sounding words and streines of wit and humane learning to set out the skill and art of the speaker and make the hearer applaud and commend him which a man may well doubt whither God wil euer blesse to the winning of soules These selfe-preaching men that make preaching little else but an ostentation of wit and reading doe put this sword of the Spirit into a veluet scabbard that it cannot pricke and wound the heart it cannot worke life by working death first it cannot quicken by killing before it quicken But the plaine and downe-right preaching of the Word by laying it open in plaine termes to the eyes of the mind and laying it hard to the very consciences by exhortations rebukes and comforts for which it is profitable euen this foolish preaching is that that must make you wise to saluation Wherefore how much were it to be desired that all we Ministers would follow that whereby with fetching lesse circuits and taking lesse vnprofitable and selfe-intended labour wee might doe more good to men and bring more glory to God and Oh how much are you to be called vpon to loue the Word of God preached to be glad to haue it plainely deliuered vnto you and with earnestnesse pressed vpon you without all quirkes of wit and guilded shewes of mans wisdome and of gay words In one word therefore I doe you all to wit that this preaching is the instrument of God I meane the chiefe and principall instrument by which he is pleased to regenerate mens soules Wherefore I command you all in the name of the Lord to loue it honor it frequent it submit your selues to it as you loue your soules-health But let me adde one necessary obseruation more in this point They bee but vncleane beasts that doe not chew the cud If you will haue the Word which you heare effectuall to make you the sonnes of God you must not be carelesse and forgetfull hearers you must not let it slip from you as soone as it is heard but you must ioyne meditation with it and after you haue heard consider with your selues what you haue heard and ponder vpon it as vpon a thing that much concernes you and lay the precepts reproofes threats promises and exhortations thereof vnto your soules saying each to himselfe I see this is a dutie haue not I omitted it O yes I haue and so fall a begging pardon for former omissions and strength for more carefull performance hereafter and so in all the other parts of the Word that may be deliuered vnto you And brethren the Word thus heard in the Church and thus ruminated digested and concocted at home will be a Word of power vnto you to conuert you to God from the power of Satan Thus I haue shewed you the meanes of being made the sonnes and daughters of the liuing God Be they not plaine be they not possible be they not easie If any of you misse of a new birth is it not because he cares not for it and in very truth because he is not willing to accept it I cal your owne soules to witnesse and that God in whose name and those Angels in whose presence I haue spoken these things vnto you that God desireth not your death hee would haue you saued hee offers saluation hee would haue you renewed and hee offers the spirit of renouation and if you want it it is only meerely wholly because you regard it not and because you will not take his directions in seeking it O thou therfore that art vnregenerate see thine vnregeneracie desire to be regenerate call vpon God for his Spirit of grace to regenerate thee ponder vpon his Law and his Gospell the seede of regeneration Hearken to his voyce speaking in his messengers and meditate on what thou shalt heare from them and thou shalt bee regenerate But if thou wilt needs stand in thine owne light and out of a conceit of being already in a good estate keepe thy selfe irrecouerably in an euill estate or out of sloathfull negligence or prophane carelesnesse omit to follow the sound directions which haue been giuen thee be thou euer then the child of the Diuell be thou euer the sonne of perdition worke out thine owne destruction and thy blood bee vpon thine owne head the Lord is free wee are free and of thine owne hand alone it shall be required CHAP. X. Comforting the Regenerate ANd so much bee spoken to them that are not borne againe 3. Vse to those that are regenerate Now from the same point also wee haue something to say to those that through the grace of God haue been blessed with this greatest of al blessings and that both for comfort and exhortation First then 1. Câ—ns let vs lay open before the sanctified man the riches of consolation of which the words of our Sauiour doe put him in possession This worke of the Spirit of God doth him more good then al the wealth strength health wit learning beauty credit fauour and grace that could befall him in the world For all these things fore-named a man may haue in as great abundance as this earth could yeeld and yet bee no whit nearer to heauenly felicitie yea bee quite out of all present possibilitie of attaining it But so soone as euer the Spirit of God from aboue hath visited the soule of a man and hath begotten in him the image of Christ Iesus so soone is he interessed into the glorious Kingdome of God and hath that riches and honour of heauen appertaining vnto him as an inheritance that cannot fal besides him Euery true Christian therefore be he of neuer so meane repute parts in the esteeme of others or of himself is yet a great and a rich heire and hath a mighty and large kingdome by vertue of this birth-right appertaining vnto him for the excluding of all that are not borne againe from out of heauen is a plaine admittance of all them into heauen to whom this benefit of a new birth hath befalne The one cannot but be saued as well as the other cannot possibly bee saued Seeing if the cause that hindreth our entrance into Gods Kingdome bee remoued we neede make no question but that our passage afterwards shall be found both certaine and easie enough
O therefore that the children of God could sufficiently vnderstand their owne blisse that with heartie reioycing within themselues and vnfained thankefulnesse vnto God they might passe on forward towards the fruition of it Hope of great things in the world doth fill the soule with ioy and men before the attaining of good things made sure and certaine vnto them doe comfortably foresee and expect the attainement Let vs doe so for things spirituall consider with thy selfe to what inheritance the Lord of heauen hath pleased to adopt thee Represent vnto thy selfe the vnutterable ioyes which are laid vp for thee and which thou canst no more bee depriued of then God himselfe can faile of truth and al-sufficiencie for hee that hath promised is faithfull and will performe his promise The children of God whilest they frame their affections according to their present estate in the world doe walke heauily and discouragedly at once wronging both God that hath giuen them such excellent things to take comfort in and themselues that haue receiued so certaine assurance of such things Doth it become thee to whom God hath made ouer the royall inheritance of heauen purchased with the bloud of his owne Sonne to weare out thine heart with discontentment and to marre thy face with carnall teares Is not the fulnesse of celestiall glory and riches able to counteruaile thy meane and afflicted estate here Cannot eternitie outweigh this inch of time and infinite blissefulnesse the present sleighthy afflictions surely the ballances are too too vnequall wherein things of so great value are not of sufficient weight to pull downe such trifles It is nothing in the world but our being led by sense rather then by faith which makes our hearts heauy and our liues vncomfortable Let vs but cleare vp our eyes dimmed with excessiue and causelesse teares and we shall find matter enough for glorious and vnspeakable ioyes euen in these tribulations which feele most burdensome vnto vs. Bee thou neuer so poore neuer so despised wronged troubled yet being regenerate God is thy Father Christ thine elder brother heauen thine house and habitation and the glory thereof thine inheritance Can hee be poore that hath such riches despised that hath such honour deiected that hath such comforts belonging vnto him To euery soule amongst you that is able to approue his regeneration vnto himselfe I am to speake in the name of the Lord and to say vnto him in this wise That he is not to lay the fault of his troublesome and discontented life vpon his estate but alone vpon his vnbeleefe and inconsideratenes for God hath giuen cause and meanes enough of being full of heartie comfort and ioy in despight of all that the diuell and the world can doe vnto him Dost thou not see how frolicke the foolish worldling is if hee haue gotten a few thousand pounds together if he haue built him a faire house and purchased a good liuing or two lying neere about it and yet in such termes standeth his soule with God that if hee should as hee may decease to night hee were sure to bee roring in Hell before morning But thou to whom Heauen is ascertained by the most plaine euidence and strong assurance that God can tell how to make vnto his creature of a future thing if thou haue an ill childe a froward yoke-fellow a sicklie bodie a penurious and friendlesse estate doest spend thy time in sullen discontentment weeping and wailing and takeing on with little lesse immoderatenesse of griefe then Rahel weeping for her children which would not bee comforted because they were not I tell thee the truth in the name of the Lord this is a great sinne of thine and a soule shame for thee Is it not a sinne to vnderprize heauen is it not a sinne to imbase Gods richest gifts is it not a sinne to dis-esteeme these benefits that passe all the estimation of all men and what is this but a dis-esteeming imbasing vnderprising of heauen it selfe to carry thy selfe as if the comfort and felicity thereof were not of worth enough to keepe thee from sinking vnder the burthen of sorrow about earthly matters Againe tell me if thou shouldest heare of a man that had at the same time made two bargaines by the one of which hee should loose some foure or fiue shillings or pounds say and by the other hee should gaine so many hundreth thousand pounds and vpon the former trifling losse should sit weeping and sighing and wringing his hands and crying out that he were vndone though hee knew well enough what a rich amends his second bargaine had made him If I say thou shouldest heare of such a person what wouldest thou say to him wouldest thou not cease pitying him and euen breake into laughter at his so ridiculous and absurd folly that would needs torment himselfe without all cause and would not enioy the good that God had offered him In truth few men would find in their hearts so much as to take compassion of such a wilfully-miserable man Hearken now then what I say Thou art this man forespoken of and thy carriage is iust his carriage so that what accusations of folly and absurdnesse thou wouldest cast vpon him the same doe in the truest application of things appertaine to thy selfe Thou hast two liues and two estates a temporary and an euerlasting For the temporary thou hast indeed let it be confessed made but a sorie match Thy children are not so dutifull thy yoke-fellow not so louing thy state not so plentifull thy friends not so faithfull as were to be wished But for the euerlasting thou hast made a bargain aboue all imaginations gainfull For God is to thee a most faithfull friend and Father Christ Iesus a most deare surety and brother heauen a rich inheritance all Saints fellow-citizens and all Angels willing seruants and after this minute of time spent in affliction thou shalt passe to a state of blisse that neuer shall haue an end In truth the gaining of ten hundred thousand pounds doth not more exceed the losse of two single pence then these thy spirituall benefits exceede thy naturall crosses and therfore I say it is most ignorantly and simply done of thee to passe away thy dayes in heauinesse and sighing which thou hast so good and sufficient cause to spend in all holy cheerfulnesse and reioycing Wouldest thou then bee acquainted with the true cause of thine vnquiet and vncomfortable liuing It is not the multitude nor greatnesse of thy crosses it is not the heauinesse of those afflictions that lie vpon thee more hard then vpon other men as thou art ready to imagine so seeking to excuse thine owne fault but it is thy carnalnesse of mind thy being led all by sense thy looking only to things visible here before thine eyes and not to things inuisible prepared for thee aboue the clouds and kept for thee by a strong and able friend Christ Iesus that hath also bought it and paid deare for it The
possible thankes O thou art good thou art gracious thou art full of compassion mercy pleaseth thee I feele I feele that thy mercy is ouer all thy workes and I haue cause to say by experience that thy mercy endureth for euer for thou hast made mee thine owne child by adoption which by nature was the child of wrath O blessed be thy great and glorious name for euermore Brethren open your mouths wide in thankes-giuing and God will fill them full of comfort and know that thou canst not haue a more sensible assurance of thy new birth then if thou canst feele thy selfe heartily moued to giue praise to God for it It shall witnesse to thee that thou art a new creature if thou canst giue many thankes to him that made thee so for hauing so made thee Reioyce therefore in thy blessednesse that art borne againe and bee frequently and heartily thankefull to him by whose word and spirit thou wast borne againe that so thou maist comfortably enioy this greatest of al blessings thy being borne againe CHAP. XI Exhorting the Regenerate to grow in Grace ANd this is the consolation of God wee haue to giue you O all yee his sonnes and daughters 2. Exhortation twofold hearken a little further I pray you to the exhortation that must ensue Seeing the Lord of Heauen hath created a new life in you learne you two things for the necessitie thereof to saluation First 1. To nourish this life of grace in themselues to cherish it in your selues secondly so much as is possible to propagate it vnto others First I say make much of this life of grace this new man created in you according to God in righteousnesse and true holinesse make much of it striue to confirme it strengthen it and increase it so soone as the life of nature is seene in a man he is made you know desirous of nourishment that augmentation may follow generation So be you also for your soules that you may at one time both shew your new birth and confirme it In truth this I must tell you assuredly for I know it to bee as true as the Lord himself is to be trusted of his word he that once hath this life shall neuer see death But I told you before that he may feele sicknesse and that if it were not for the sick-making phisicke which the Lord will giue him for his recouerie he might feele death Now therfore I am to entreate you all to saue the labour of taking physicke and that by seeking to preuent diseases and to grow in soundnesse of spirituall strength You all know right well what bee the chiefe things which impaire naturall strength and procure diseases of body namely poyson surfetting and staruing It is euen so likewise with the soule 1. By auoiding ill company and câ—oosing gâ—od 2. By auoiding things sinfull in resisting the first motions to ill first by poyson it inuenometh it selfe secondly by surfetting it distempereth it selfe and lastly by staruing it infeebleth it selfe Beware of ranke poyson Sinne I say sinne things vnlawfull and condemned these are very starke poyson to the soule Ratts-bane and Hen-bane and Mercury and Opium yea the very inward moisture of a Toade or Serpent are no more dangerous to the flesh then this is to the spirit And when a Christian man begins to yeeld so much to the naughtinesse of his owne hart that hee takes leaue to allow some sinne in himselfe in some small degrees then it ceaseth not to worke wofully in his soule till at last it haue caused him to breake forth into the grosse and foule practice of it and then is he poysoned indeede and if the Lord should not come with his physick he could not but bee damned but howsoeuer hee languisheth and is sicke he leeseth the sense of Gods fauour the desire of Gods seruice the comforts of Gods Word and the loue of the comming of Christ Iesus Lust reuenge deceit loue of money loue of credit loue of pleasure and all other corrupt affections lodging within if they once so farre preuaile that a man is willing to follow them in thoughts and words agreeable to their wicked nature doe by little and little euen grieue the Spirit of God and quench the graces of the holy Ghost till after a while a man falleth into some wicked act of some of these kinds and Oh then the burning and shooting and swelling of the body after the drinking of Ratts-bane is not more manifest in the bodie then the miserable effects of these sinnes are euident in the soule The conscience begins to accuse God is alienated the hart is hardned the mind blinded and sometimes a man lies long as it were in a sowne before he can recouer himselfe by repentance Wherefore the godly mans care must be to oppose the first motions of sinne to flie the occasions of euill doing to be careful of restraining himselfe from the very smallest degrees of wickednesse for a little sinne allowed will bring in a greater till that come accompanied with the greatest of all and that make a man little lesse then dead the second time We must therefore cast away the superfluitie of maliciousnesse that is this allowing of sinne and pleasing our selues in the occasions first degrees of it if euer we desire the spirituall health and wel-fare of our inner man Dauids conceitednesse begate idlenesse idlenesse begat adulterie adultery murder and all a long lying and deepe sleepe in sinne It is wofull to consider the miserable ruines that haue been made in the soules of many of Gods seruants by their carelesnes this way how weake they haue growne how their acquaintance with God their delight in his Word their comfort in prayer their desire of being dissolued and their ioy in a godly life hath been interrupted and how they haue come to that passe as scarce to shew to others or find in themselues any signe of liuing Perhaps this may be the very case of some amongst you that heare mee at this time O if it be get thee a preseruatiue take thee a large quantitie of godly sorrow feede vpon the bitter but wholesome hearbs of humiliation and griefe go and meditate on the threatnings of the Law on the death of Christ on the lamentable effects that others of Gods people haue found vpon their growing so naught and recouer thy selfe againe by hearty confession and humble begging of pardon and of strength And now all you that be as yet free from such wofull sicknesses be admonished by the miseries of others and let not the deceitfulnesse of sinne so farre preuaile against you that you should giue any allowance vnto it take any pleasure in the motions or occasions of it or giue your hearts leaue so much as to thinke or speake of it but with detestation Poyson is often sweete but a wise man had rather deny to his taste the delight of sweetnesse then fill his stomack with deadly pangs and gripings Sinne
is honey in the mouth but grauell in the belly Hidden bread is pleasant and stolne waters are sweete but O the miserable agonies which must ensue before the soule can bee clearely purged againe from the remainders of such poyson It is a pleasing thing to dally to reuenge to deceiue to play the glutton and the drunkard but it must cost a man so much toile so many sorrowfull confessions so many heauie passages before hee can recouer againe the quiet of his conscience and his enioyment of the assurance of Gods fauor that at last it shall appeare a deare-bought contentment and an euill penny-worth of delight No wise man will drinke Wine and Sugar if it haue been first impoysoned with some deadly thing neither let any Christian so farre forget the rules of Christian wisdome as for any paltry pleasure or profit or credit which lying swearing whoredome drunkennes idolatrie or any like grosse sin may yeeld vnto him to venture the committing of them Doubtlesse if he do his complaint shall bee at last as those sonnes of the Prophets once said O man of God death is in the pot But to surfet is little lesse dangerous 3 Taking heed of excesse in things indifferent and accustoming to sparing and moderation then to feede on poyson to labour ouer-much and ouer-hard to the inflaming of the bloud to drinke when a man is hot to eate and drinke excessiuely these things doe so exceedingly disquiet and ouer-charge the body that many a man dies of them So in the soule it is likewise found that the excessiuenesse of things lawfull and the vnseasonablenesse of indifferent actions doth sometimes little lesse annoy the soules welfare then the committing of things sinfull Especially if a man doe mistake and account that thing lawfull or indifferent which is wicked and sinfull and hereupon out of his erroneous iudgement lay the reynes vpon the necke of his carnall desires grosse knowne confessed sinnes doe no more infeeble the soule and ouerthrow the quiet and strength of the inward man then such licentiousnesse The abuse I say of things in themselues lawfull through the vntimely and immoderate doing of them is exceeding perillous vnto the soule and often death is little lesse then ready to enter in at this window The ouer-eager following of worldly businesse when a man not out of obedience to Gods commandements and out of a desire to humble himselfe by iust painefulnesse in his calling but out of a loue of wealth and a desire to grow rich and great in the world doth set his thoughts and hands a worke about the affaires of this life so that hee can scarce thinke or speak with any life or comfort of any other thing then this earth this greedy and continuall pursuing of worldly businesses though in themselues lawfull honest and commendable doth vexe the spirit choak the word dis-hallow the soule offend God and wound the conscience no lesse then the committing of fornication would doe for this is to commit spirituall whoredome with that grand harlot the wicked world Also the perpetuall and vnsatiable vse of pleasures and pastimes in themselues it may be no way sinfull nor condemnable yet still pursued with an ouer-vehement affection to them with an ouer-strong delight in them when they bee not vsed as meanes of maintaining our health or fitting our selues for the workes of our calling and indeede according as the name of recreations beareth for the refreshing of the mind and making it more liuely and chearefull in better things but are followed for their owne sakes out of a loue of pastime which is a childish and too base a thing for a wise heart to bee in loue with and when there is no conscionable regard had of that rich and pretious iewel of time which no treasure caÌ„ redeeme I say the most honest and lawfull recreations in the world so inordinately followed without regard of the due end thereof and without the practice of Christian moderation in them is no lesse harmefull to the soule then it is to the body to bee ouer-watched or ouer-laboured It dulleth the heart it clogs the conscience it stoppeth the mouth from praying it interrupteth all good meditations and by little and little doth steale away the hart from God and godlines till at the length grosse sinnes and presumptuous doe come in the neck of lawfull liberties abused The same be spoken of the vse of daintie fare and soft raiment and all other naturall comforts when the heart begins to bee ingaged to them when we onely seeke our owne satisfaction in them when we forget to demonstrate in our manner of vsing them a deniall of the world and a crucifying of our selues to the world and the world to vs then they are dangerous to our soules and doe euen little lesse then kill vp the new man in vs. O I would that the experience of many a Christian did not verifie this Learne therefore to temper your selues in things indifferent to be moderate in following your calling moderate in vsing recreations moderate in meate and drinke and attire and alwaies rather to be ouer-sparing to your selues in these things then ouer-large rather abridge thy selfe of somewhat thou mightest haue then by venturing as farre as euer thou art able to make thy selfe beleeue it is lawfull to bring thy selfe in danger of going a step or two further and falling into a fâ—at sinfull abuse Shew forth the vertues of Christ Iesus let it appeare that thou doest not loue the world nor the things therof by being content alwaies to come a little too short of thine allowance then any whit at all excâ—eding it The most wholsome diet is that that is most sparing and it is profitable for the body somewhat to deny the appetite and abridge the stomacke Euen so it is also for the soule and no man shall euer bee other then a dwarffe and weakeling in godlinesse that will not be drawne to denie himselfe somewhat of his lawfull liberty for so slippery is our standing so weake are our feete that if we venture to doe all we think lawfull in these kinds wee shall surely doe it vnlawfully I haue told you brethreÌ„ belieue it as a sure truth which your experience shal iustifie though your tongues may deny You shall not be confirmed in the inward man if you doe not keepe your selues somewhat short in outward liberties of the body about profit pleasure foode attire and the rest of these bodily and sensuall matters O preferre thy soule before thy bodie and make more account of inward strength then of outward wealth credit or merriment But lastly if a man doe starue himselfe for want of victuall 4. By being constant in religious exercises and pine his body by neglecting his due meales it is without all doubt that he shall haue a weake and feeble body So it is also for the soule The Lord that hath ordained bread to make mans heart strong hath ordained also the spirituall