to salvation The going out of the soul unto Christ and the whole application of it self to the promises of salvation made in and by him and whosoever doth this sincerely and with a faithfull heart is passed from death to life and shall never perish neither in this life nor in the life to come it puts its trust in him that never fails them that do so There is indeed a third Act of Faith Which is an act of assurance and full perswasion commonly called by Divines The reflex act of Faith Now this Act of Faith Is when the soul is fully and throughly perswaded that Iesus Christ hath actually pardoned all its sins and that it is his and he is hers This is not that Act of Faith concerning which the Apostle speaks Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by Faith we have peace with God It is rather a consequent of justifying Faith that peace which floweth to the soul as a fruit and a sweet effect of justification and that this is not that Act of Faith which justifieth is plain Because the soul must be justified before it can put forth it self in this Act. This is a comfortable but not a necessary Act of Faith and is more properly called fides justificati then fides justificans the Faith of a justified person then justifying Faith It is good and speciall justifying Faith for the soul heartily and sincerely to desire and thirst and hunger after the pardon and forgivenesse of its sins through the free grace of Iesus Christ and confidently to rest upon the promises of free remission and pardon But it is another pitch of Faith and of an higher nature to be confidently assured that all my sins are really and fully pardoned It is one thing to beleeve that my sins how many and how great soever shall be taken away and that God will smile upon me and we shall not finally perish And another thing to be fully assured that now God is well pleased with us and all our sins are blotted out Yea it is one thing to be perswaded that our names are in the white book of election and our sins decretally pardoned which was from eternity and meritoriously pardoned which was if ever in Christs death And another thing to beleeve that God hath acquitted us actually from the obligation to death that is in them God so pardons in time and in the Act of justification It is truth we ought to strive after a Faith of assurance but we are not necessarily obliged to an assurance upon our justification Faith precedes actuall and formall justification in our consciences it is the instrument to apprehend it Now the Gospel doth not when it calls to me to beleeve oblige me to a lye If before I am justified I should be tied to beleeve I am actually justified the Gospel would oblige me to that in order to my justification which I cannot upon warrantable grounds beleeve till after my justification So that we cannot conclude that we have not true justifying Faith that we do not beleeve because we cannot be confident God hath actually and formally in the court of our consciences acquitted us from the guilt of our sins for the essence of justifying Faith doth not consist in that And yet we may not altogether shut out confidence and perswasion out of the justifying Act of Faith give me therefore leave to adde a word or two concerning it The Seventh SERMON LUKE 17. v. 5. Lord increase our faith YOu may remember that I have told you that in order to the increasing of faith we must labour to remove those blocks and scruples which hinder the progresse of faith in the Soule And to this end I have spent severall houres in satisfying poor souls in those scruples which often lye in faiths way in a gracious soule I have done with such as are previous to faith and make the soul think it dare not and ought not to beleeve The last day having set the soule so farre on of its way that it is convinced it ought to beleeve but complaines That it doth not it cannot beleeve I came to search out the cause of such complaints which I shewed was ordinarily either First a mistake of the nature and acts of faith or Secondly a misjudging it self from the effects of faith I began with the first and propounded to such Christians these two considerations First That faith hath divers acts and the highest was not necessary to a justifying faith Secondly That Faith is of so good a nature that it will consist with many doubtings and weaknesses and yet retaine its truth For the first of these I shewed you the last day what were the severall acts of true faith and what act was necessary to justification and what act was not necessary I shall repeat nothing of what I then said but go on CHAP. 7. How to satisfie such poor Christians as think they doe not truly beleeve because they have many doubtings and weaknesses ALas Complaint saith a poor Christian I am confident my faith is not true but false I am so full of doubtings and feares and every act which I should think an act of faith is so weak c. To this Complaint now I shall apply my second consideration viz. That true faith is of so good a nature that it will keeping its truth consist with much weaknesse in the severall acts and dwell in a soule where many doubts are This is my Thesis Now concerning this divers have treated so largly that I shall be very brief and rather repeat what they say following them then lead you a worse way of my own Sedgwicks doubting Christian I finde Mr. Sedgwick who hath made it his work in his Book called The doubting Christian to handle this very point and hath done it fully laying down foure or five conclusions by way of premise for the right understanding of this point I shall name them to you First It is without question that all Doubtings are â—infull they are the smoakings of our corruptions they are begotten of sinne the depravation of our originall light with which God in innocencie enlightned Adam that is the cause and they hinder grace and hinder us in our duty c. Secondly They be no part of faith in that a man doth beleeve he doth not doubt Faith and Doubting may dwell under the same roofe but they marry not nor mingle any bloods together they are not at all of a family Faith is of the family of Heaven Doubtings are of the family of Hell they are inmates but have little acquaintance one with another none at all with one anothers natures they are two things though in one soule Thirdly They cannot consist at the same instant with the act of faith Ib. p. 16. for it is impossible that Faith should formally doubt the beleever while he beleeveth and in what he beleeveth doth not doubt I cannot at the same time lay my hand upon the Rock and
and rely upon his grace Ball upon Faith 82. p. and so in event saith Mr. Ball is sure of salvation and yet would give a world to be assured of Gods favour and fully perswaded that its sins are pardoned Fifthly Willets Synopsis Papismiâ— p. 974. 975. That it is false that the Papists say no particular assurance ought to be lookt for or may be procured it may be procured and it ought to be sought for this might easily be proved Perkins 3. vol. 220. 2. d. 1. vol. 542 2. b. 143. 1. c. 564. 1. d 543. â— d. but I shall not meddle with it it being not my work and it being a question would take up a great deale of time but I shall rather refer him that doubts of this to those learned men that have sufficiently managed this quarrell against the Papists Ball upon Faith 1. Part. ch 8. p. 79. 80. 81. Downams Warfare part 1. l. 2. c 8. p. 102. § 2. p. 103. col 1. 30. 104. § 6. c. 9. p. 106. part 1. l. 2. c. 11. p. 118. cap. 13. p. 127. § 1. cap. 14. c. 11. and many others who have largely discussed this point Rutherfords Christs dying for sinners v. codicem and maintained this truth Sixthly and Lastly It is as false that the Antinomians and Libertines hold that without this well-grounded full perswasion there is no faith in the Soule this a learned Writer of our owne in severall parts of his book hath made out against them Thou mayest have true saving faith though for the present thou canst not be fully perswaded that thy sins are pardoned yea though thou mayest think that they are not pardonable through some accidentall temptation over-powring thee or some corruptions hindring the actings of Faith yet thou mayest be perswaded that they are pardonable and at that time it will appear to all the world that thou art perswaded they shall be pardoned to thy soule by thy fearing to offend God and thy carefulnesse to please him by thy crying fasting weeping lying at the feet of divine grace and resolving if thou perishest to perish at the gate of heaven and meet with hell there if thou meetest with it anywhere Nay be not mistaken this thy Faith is 1 certaine and 2 strong as well as saving First It is saving That I have already shewed you when I fully shewed you that the essence and pith of justifying Faith was a fiduciall rolling our selves and hanging upon the Lord Iesus Christ for pardon Now as it is saving Secondly so it is strong That Faith saith a precious Authour is argued to be strong that hath no light of comfort but walkes in darkenesse upon the margin and borders of an hundred deaths Davids Faith was a strong Faith when though all Gods waves were upon him yet he called upon God daily Psa 88. 7 8 9. when the soule is so far from being perswaded that it is a lovely one in the Lords eyes that it conceives it self a damned wretch in the Lords sight and onely sees a sparkling light in at a crevis of the window and by a little pinhole a beam of hope comes in and it thinks well my sinnes are yet pardonable yet I dare not say there is no hope yet I know not what to think my sins are great Gaole-sinns I am perswaded if my name be in the Charter of grace it is in the bottom and it is sometimes ready to think that the little glimmering of light it sees is rather the counterfeiting light of a Glow-worm then the triumphing light of the Sun yet the soule is ravished with that particle of light and goes and kisseth the hole that gives it a passage and sayes well here 's all my comfort my sinnes are yet pardonable I see the ship of my soule is wrackt possibly this bit of board may save my life I will on to it if I perish I perish I will not lose this pin-hole light I will cry fast weep and pray Lord say my sinnes are pardoned I am perswaded thou canst pardon them and if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Lord here will I lie filthy bloody full of sores at the Poole of Bethesda I will not stirre a step from the Poole I will lie in the way till thou hast cured mee I say this doth argue a strong faith the perswaded assured soule hath cables of comfort who would fear the breaking of them God doth not rap his fingers so often as this poor soule This Believer hath but a twine thred to hang upon yet he catcheth hold and sayes this straw shall bear my souls weight yea God raps off his fingers often his life is full of doubts and feares yet he holds and will not stirre a step doth it not argue a great a reliance The woman of Canaan had no assurance of Christs favour Matth. 15. 21. she cryed he answered her not a word v. 23. nay when she made friends to him he would neither heare her nor her friends mediation though they were Christs own Disciples still she comes and worshippeth him he chides her this yet argued no assurance she replyes he sayes Great is thy Faith v. 28. Mr Ruâ—therford noteth sweetly upon that that the fewer Externals that faith needeth the stronger it is within little evidence much adherence speaketh a strong faith Now though that perswasion be an inward work yet the grounds are externals for the strength or weaknesse of perswasion is moved by the compasse of sence the lesser my grounds are if my adherence be the same the stronger is my faith if I will trust my friends little finger as much as his whole hand doth it not the more argue my confidence in his strength my reliance upon him that he will do what he can to hold me Oh! it is a sweet thing to see a soul hang upon Christs little finger that only apprehendeth a generall promise is perswaded that its sins are pardonable sometimes doubts of this too yet it cryes and hangs and weeps and relies scorns to lay its little finger upon any thing else any self sufficiency any creature-righteousnesse to bear it up it argues a strong faith O soul be not deceived Great is thy faith nay and such a faith may be certain too thou mayest live at uncertainties upon a certain faith The bruised reed is not broken the smoaking flax is not quenched thy faith is doubly certain though thy life of faith be full of incertainties 1. It is certaine in respect of the Object 2. It is certaine in respect of the Event 1. In respect of the Object A weak faith doth not argue weaknesse in Free grace or weak efficacy in the blood of a pretious Jesus the pur-blinde eye doth as certainly see the Sunne as he whose eyes are best the weak pur-blind-eyed soule doth certainly see apprehend and rely upon Christ though not so clearly and comfortably 2 Thy faith is certain in respect of the Event Even
Lord increase our Faith I Am discovering to you upon what grounds many Christians think they have no warrant to beleeve and rest upon Jesus Christ and labouring to satisfie such poor Christians in such cases and under such perplexities of spirit I have shewed you already two usuall causes First A too irregular eying of preparatory qualifications thinking that they are not humbled enough Or secondly A too unwarrantable prying into Gods secrets conceiving they are not elected and upon this score utterly refusing to obey that great Gospel command Beleeve to both these I have spoke something already to the latter the last day I am intended by the blessing of God and as he shall inable me to speak something this day to a third cause commonly alledged by Christians why they conceive they ought not to beleeve viz. Because of their own unworthinesse in respect of the greatnesse and multitude of their sins that have stained and possibly do yet pollute their soul Alas saith a poor soul would you have me lay hold on Iesus Christ what with my filthy hands what can such a rotten sinner that hath been so auncient in sin can I think you have warrant wheâ— I have given the Devill my youth to beleeve Iesus Christ will take the fag end of my life No no call to the young person to beleeve that is not yet withered and rotten with sin call to those that have lived honestly and civilly not to such profane wretches as I have been Now to answer this cavill Let me bend my discourse at this time and propound certain considerations which duly weighed may comfort a soul under this trouble and put it upon its work and duty of beleeving and convince it that it is its duty Cap. 4. How to satisfie a poor soul doubting whether it may beleeve or no because of its many and great sins past or its continuing corruptions and so deemeth it self unworthy FIrst of all consider Gods grace is enough for thee This scruple of thy spirit ariseth from scant streightned thoughts of rich incomprehensible grace Be convinced therefore that there is a fulnesse enough in the ocean of infinite grace to swallow up thy soul however loaded with a burthen of sin observe but how the Scripture setteth out infinite love take one place for all Eph. 3. 17 18 19. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the bredth and length and depth and heigth and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that you might be filled with the fulnesse of God Mark how the Apostle expresseth free grace by all dimensions are thy sins in the heighth there is an heighth of love are they in the depth there is a depth of love are they long broad are they all yet there is mercy enough in this Christ for such is his love that it passeth knowledge are they a mountain why who art thou O great mountain before Zerubbabell thou shalt be made a plain do thy sins cry up to heaven his mercies are above the heavens are thy sins more in number then the haires of thy head his mercies are more in number then the sand which lieth on the sea shore Now this is easie to be conceived if we do but conceive and know that the mercies of God are infinite God is an infinite God and every mercy of his is as inconceivable as himself is His love passeth all understanding saith the Apostle have no low thoughts Christian of the heighth of free grace which reacheth up to the heavens yea and above the heavens Is the filthy garments of thy wickednesse of a larger extent thinkest thou then the long white robe of his righteousnesse Who was made for thee righteousnesse wisdom sanctification and redemption Is the fountain set open for Iudah and Ierusalem for sin and for uncleannes so shallow that thou canst not bath in it Mistake not Christian it is a bath of capacity to hold all filthy souls be their uncleannesse what it will if they will but come and wash and be clean those that have the rottenest wounds the filâ—hiest sores the most unsound â—arkasses may fetch balm from Gilead enough to heal their wounds When Christ was upon the earth the Evangelist tells us Matth. 4. 24. They brought unto him all sick people that were sick of divers diseases and torments and those which were possessed with devils and he healed them When vertue went out from Christ to heal the poor woman 〈◊〉 â—ouched the hemme of his garment it went 〈◊〉 â—im as light goeth out of the sun that there is 〈◊〉 for what goeth out Christ never had any vertue went out of him so as by such emission he lost any How many Saints think you since old Abrahâ—m who was the father of the faithfull to this day have touched the hemme of his garment vertue went out and healed every one and yet his garments are all oily with mercy and grace still How many drops of blood have thirsty Saints had from Davids time to this hour and yet the fountain of cleansing blood hath not a drop lesse in it Grace in Christ is like the heat of the fire or light of the sun take how much you will of either you shall not rob either narrow not the breadth of incomprehensible love when thou hast measured for beleevers ten thousand yards there shall not be a nail lesse on the piece of free-grace The sea though a thing infinite will hardly be measured out by quills much lesse shall the unfadomable ocean of infinite love be measured by drops for the washing poor souls from the stains and filth of their sins The boy could tell the father he would have done emptying the sea into an hole with a spoon before he should have opened the Doctrine of the Trinity And sooner shalt thou get all the light out of the body of the sun and hear out of the fire then put Jesus Christ to pant for his breath of free-grace Oh that sinners had but as willing leggs as he hath capacious arms we see hands are washed every day and have been these thousands of years now how long can we think it would yet be should we get the dirtiest hands we could make before all the seas rivers fountains and streams in the world would be exhausted yea though they should wash seven times a day infinitely sooner Christian then the fountain of free-grace shall be exhausted with all the buckets that come to draw the water of life from it Seest thou a steeple as Pauls in London or the like of a very great heighth seest thou the highest mountain that seems to have married the clouds and sit in their lap Suppose now that mountain or steeple in the deepest place of the ocean how much wouldst thou see on it nay were another on the top of that there would not be a spier of grasse nor a
fathers bosome and endear them to my fathers heart Read his Sermons observe his pains thou wilt finde a willing Saviour not excepting Publicans and Harlots from the Kingdom of God 10. Wouldst thou have more tokens of his will yet Mat. 21. 31. See him dying hanging upon the crosse dropping out his last blood breathing out his last breath stretching out his dying arms to encircle sinners should run into him breathing out the breath of free-grace i◠his very last act upon a theefe that had not an hour to live Who shall dispair who shall say Christ is not willing to save him and not blaspheme eternall love speak truth corrupt heart say thou art not willing to be saved 11. Is not this yet enough Observe him setting Ministers in his Church left thou shouldst not reade and none should tell thee the truth of his eternall love to speak out his good will in thine ears All our errand is nothing but this sinners Christ is willing to save you And as Embassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5. 20. 2 Cor. 5. 20. Why canst thou not beleeve his will Consider in thy Saviours will there is not onely a latitude for but an eagernesse of thy eternall salvation Why therefore doest thou say my sins are so great that God will not pardon me Beleeve O blaspheme not the God of infinite good-will But thirdly Consider That Gods eye of free-grace hath looked fauourably upon and Christs blood hath washed as filthy and polluted creatures as thou art or canst be Christ hath planted in the wildernesse The shittah tree Esa 41. 19. the mirtle and the oil-tree and hath set in the desert the fir-tree and the box and the pine tree He hath made as bad crab-stocks Esa 51. 13. as thy soul is bring forth pleasant and delitious fruits It is a note of Master Rutherfords That the dew of grace hath ordinarily faln upon the most gracelesse souls Possibly thou mayest see and finde presidents of actuall sinners born as black as the Ethiopian and that have made it their work to colly themselves with the soot of sins as much as thou hast and that have dried in sin with as long customary continuance as thou hast done yet Christ took them and washed them milk-white hast thou been an idolater a persecutor so was Manasses hast thou been unclean so was David hast thou crucified Christ so had they that were converted at Peters Sermon Act. 2. hast thou denied Christ so did Peter himself hast thou been a blasphemer so was Paul yea the chiefest of sinners yet received to mercy hast thou had seven devils so had Mary Magdalen yet purged and dispossest hast thou put off all to the last cast so did the theefe upon the crosse Lo here souls all mire and dirt that nothing could be discerned in them but filth and putrefaction their faces were so mired with sin that nothing of goodnesse could be discovered yet these are now in heaven all purified Saints in whom there is no blemish no spot all crowned spotlesse heirs of glory without the least speck of the ink of sin upon them Hast thou sinned beyond these thinkest thou it is hardly credible but suppose that free-grace hath not so far as thou canst finde any where set a stamp of love upon a soul so actually wicked as thou art before God Yet secondly There is never a Saint this day in glory that was not as seminally and habitually wicked as thou art or canst be And free-grace looked upon him in restraining the corruptions of his heart and preventing him otherwise he had run with thee to the same excesse of riot and wickednesse David was as filthy a wretch when he wallowed and tumbled in his naturall blood as thou art or canst be But to passe on to a fourth consideration which will hang upon a chain with this Fourthly If thou couldst suppose that infinite free-grace never yet did so great a work as to wash and save such a sinfull soul as thine is yet this could not in reason be a just hinderance to thy Faith because the depth of infinite love and free-grace was never yet sounded Though thou couldst truely say God never manifested his power and good will in pardoning such a creature of hell as I am yet what would follow Therefore God cannot pardon me or therefore God will nor pardon me Did ever God do his utmost Christian thousands of thirsty filthy creatures since the world began have been bringing their buckets and diving into the infinite depth of eternall love but did ever any Ethiopian soul dive so low as to bring up a stone from the bottome was ever any sinfull soul that was brought to the streams of free mercy such a capacious bucket that it could not be filled without grating upon the bottome of unfadomable love nay did ever any carry away so much for their own wants that they left the living fountain at a low water Paul brought as large a bucket as any and had as much need of a great measure of free-grace Well he plungeth himself in but doth he dive to the bottome or doth he not almost drowned in that depth of eternall sweetnesse turn head and come up again with his belly and throat and mouth full of living waters from the springs of eternall love Rom. 11. 33. And cries out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth of the riches c. mark how he puts all the children of love upon diving into the depth but puts them out of hope of finding the bottome or top of that height and depth and length and breadth of love Eph. 3. 17 18 19 Eph. 3. 17 18 19. which passeth knowledge It is not so much to thee whom God hath pardoned as whom God will pardon is not the fountain of his love dry are the springs yet running nay can he pardon beyond the measure of his former mercies then how can thy sins be too great to be pardoned were there never such sinners pardoned Esa 43. 18 19. Behold saith God I will do a new thing in the earth I will make a way in the wildernesse and rivers in the desert therefore remember not the former things consider not the things of old not to stint the Lord by them What do you tell me saith God what I have done I can do more then ever I yet did I am not tied to presidents I can make them Fifthly There is as much reason on thy part for Iesus Christ to receive thee though thou beest as thou sayest the worst of sinners as ever there was in Noah Daniel or Job for him to receive them This is Master Rutherfords note Rut. triall of Faith p. 20. What internall cause was there thinkest thou in any spotlesse Saints of glory why Jesus Christ gave them Faith here and hath now crowned them with a crown
comes from heaven to call thee he dies for thee he sends messengers to invite thee he hath washed as filthy wretches as thou art If he hath not yet he can he never shewed the utmost of his free-grace he hath as much reason to save thee as ever he had to save any of his Saints for themselves He never took penny-worth of merit with any He shall have the more glory by how much thou art more unworthy Free-grace shall more shew it self Thou if once forgiven wilt love him the more Other great sinners will be ready to trust in him from thy example Come now turn beleeve eschew evill do good Though your sins were as scarlet they shall be as snow Though as crimson they shall be white as wooll SERM. V. LUKE 17. 5. Lord increase our Faith I Am come now to Sathans last block that he ordinarily layes for the beleever to stumble upon in the way of beleeving when he cannot perswade them to despair of their interest in Gods hidden decree nor yet in regard of the hardnesse of their own heart nor yet in respect of their unworthinesse But the poor soul looks above all these to the Lord Jesus Christ then he shoots his last arrow by suggesting to the foul such thoughts as these But what if I have sinned against the Holy-ghost That generall rule Mat. 12. 31. All sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven hath a particular exception But whosoever blaspemes the Holy-ghost shall never be forgiven And if I be within that I have nothing to do with the generall promise Now Sathan having here to do with a poor credulous soul that is far easier to beleeve evill then any good of it self hath the fuller blow at it and followes on while the iron is hot he knows if he can but juggle the soul into this perswasion beleeving is at an end And as there are very many whom he either first or last batters with this engine of death so in regard of the weaknesse and ignorance of the most of Christians especially in the beginning of their conversion there are not a few that are wounded with this dart and will hardly be beaten out of that groundlesse conceit that they have really and indeed sinned that unpardonable sin against the Holy-ghost which occasions possibly many a dayes sadnesse and dejection groundlessely Now in regard that this temptation is entertained ordinarily through a defect of knowledge and understanding of what ingredients that compounded wickednesse is made off I shall in speaking to the satisfaction of a poor soul under this complaint Speak something concerning the nature of that sin which if once truely understood will be enough of it self to let such poor souls see how groundlessely they have yielded to that temptation of Sathan Cap. 5. How to satisfie a poor soul that conceives that it hath sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost and therefore ought not may not beleeve ALas saith a poor Christian Why do you tell me of beleeving The Complainant I know sir there is a fulnesse and freenesse of mercy in Iesus Christ for poor sinners yea though their sins have been many and great But I am sure the sin against the Holy-ghost shall never be forgiven and I and confident that very sin have I committed I have sinned against light and knowledge I have had blasphemous thoughts and have in heart denied Christ and been tempted to deny the truth of Iesus Christ c. Now to the satisfaction of a poor soul under this perplexity of spirit let me speak something First By way of premise Secondly By way of consideration First By way of Premise It is a truth that there is such a sin may be committed as is the sin against the Holy-ghost and being committed it is unpardonable That such a sin there is is plain from severall places of Scripture Mat. 12. 31. Mat. 12. 31. But the blasphemy against the Holy-ghost shall never be forgiven men Mark and Luke both make mention of the same passage of truth from our Saviours mouth Mar. 3. 28. Mar. 3. 28. Lu. 12. 10. The Apostle Iohn makes also mention of it Lu. 12. 10. 1 Ioh. 5. 16. There is a sin to the death 1 Ioh. 5. 16. And the Apostle to the Hebrews in two Chapters makes a more full and specifical discovery Heb. 6. 4 5 6. and 10. 26 27. Heb. 6. 4 5 6 7. and 10. 26 27. It is called the sin against the Holy ghost not that it is onely against the third person in the Trinity Vsher who is the Holy-spirit Vrsia for the sin is against the whole Trinity Pareus the three persons making but one divine Essence but because it is a direct opposition and resistance of the light of knowledge with which the Holy-ghost hath enlightned the heart of him that hath committed it 〈◊〉 Trinitatis ad extra lunt indivisa for although the work of enlightning be a work of the God-head without it self and so a work of all the three persons jointly according to the known rule of Divinity yet it is a worke which in the order of working is ordinarily attributed to the third person in Trinity There is such a sin called by Christ Blasphemy against the Holy-ghost he being that Person whose office it is in the order of the God-heads working to enlighten the mindes with knowledge of the truth Eph. 1. 17 18. Eph. 1. 17 18. Heb. 6. 4. Secondly This sin once committed is unpardonable Heb. 6. 4. this is also directly proved from those forementioned places in the Gospel Mat. 12. 31. 1 Ioh. 5. 16. c. Heb. 6. 4. and therefore is called by the Apostle Iohn The sin unto death In respect of the end and punishment of it Secondly It is as true that the elect ones cannot commit this sin Ioh. 10. 28. or ever be guilty of it Christ hath said He hath given unto them eternall life and they shall not perish 2 Tim. 2. 19 The foundation of God standeth sure 2 Tim. 2. 19. They shall be kept through the power of God unto salvation 1 Pet. 1. 5. 1 Pet. 1. 5. They that fall away were never in nor ever of the number of the elect for if they had been of them they would no doubt have continued with them But in that they go out and fall away it is that they might be made manifest they were not of them 1 Epist of Iohn 2. 19. Who so sin First Can never be saved Christ hath said These shall never perish Secondly They can never repent and beleeve Christ hath ordained that the elect shall repent and beleeve and although they may slip and fall yet he hath ordained they shall rise again and by repentance be recovered These things being premised Let me come in the next place to propound some considerations that being seriously meditated and made use of may serve to stay and comfort and settle the
and notwithstanding all this truly and really rely and rest Now these kinds of misgivings may arise from severall causes God may please for his ends to keep the soule in darknesse to keep it humble and to keep it in a strict way of adherence c. But I shall rather meddle with the subordinate and instrumentall causes and assigne three or foure causes The first may be blindnesse and ignorance there may be yea is a great deale of darknesse in the soule there was a thick darknesse surprized Adams understanding when he fell and this still clouds all the children of Adam we are not able to discerne or judge of the nature of the internall acts of the minde we cannot come to a certaine knowledge of them as they are in themselves but as I said before must judge them by the effects the soule doth not understand what affiance is and this makes her question whether she doth rely or no and not think she doth being never ready to think well of her selfe A second cause may be the Devils temptations such winds will make strong houses shake sometimes It is Satans great designe to keep the soule from beleeving and if he cannot keep the edifice of Faith from being built in the soule yet he will keep it if possible from standing sure Luke 22. 31. Simon Simon saith Christ Satan hath desired to winnow thee like wheat the word signifies to shake up and downe as in a fan wheat is used the kernells scarce ever lie still Satan is almost alwayes shaking the Christian by the shoulders he desires to winnow them and as with Iob because he had no power over his life he executed his power to the utmost upon the comforts of his life So he deals with the soule because he hath no power over the life of Faith therefore he will execute his power to the utmost over the soul that it may never come to have the comfortable sense of Faith and no wonder if when he brings his rammes to batter the poor mud wall of a Christian shakes especially considering how smooth an Orator he is to perswade and how subtill a Sophister he is to prove Even as it is as easie with a good Logician to make a poor simple creature beleeve so as he cannot deny that the Sun doth not shine so it is an easie thing with the Devill to perswade the soule that it doth not rest and rely when indeed it doth especially if we consider Thirdly What a misgiving nature and suspicious frame there is ordinarily in the hearts of Beleevers They are alwayes fearing and suspecting lest they should not doe their duty they know that in many things all sinne and they are afraid lest they should cozen and deceive themselves now when Satan takes a flint and a steele and falls a striking and he meets with such a box of ready dry'd tinder no wonder if hee quickly strikes fire Besides A fourth cause may be melancholy cloudy vapours that for the present the soule is darkned with and can see nothing with a cleare sight but is like a man in a phrenzie And a fifth cause may be a Christians wilfulnesse when the Christian will take no evidence of his faith by the effects of it The best evidence that we either have or can have of the truth of our faith and of our justification is the effects of Faith now if it comes to this that the soule will not take any evidence of the truth of the act of Faith but onely under the Broad Seale of Heaven the apprehension and assurance and full perswasion of it the soule may live without comfort a great while if with Thomas it must see the wounds and holes Now here 's many a good soules condition he questions the truth of his Faith we come to him and tell him could there be such an hungring and thirsting after the Word that thy eare is unsatisfied with hearing unlesse thou didst beleeve this was the word of God and rest upon it as the Word of truth Could there be such a care to please Christ and a feare of offending him to be found in thy whole life and conversation if thou didst not rely upon him for salvation Could there be such a willingnesse to part with all thy estate for Christ and rather then thou wouldst deny him or not enjoy him in his Ordinances if thou didst not rely upon God as thy portion No the soule will not look upon this as a sufficient evidence but cryes out All this an Hypocrite may doe sanctification is imperfect mine is hypocrisie No would God seale it to me then I would beleeve it Now where this is found the soule may for a long time sit in darknesse and see no light yea it may be go down to the grave in its owne thoughts like Erasmus hanging betwixt Heaven and Hell But I proceed Fourthly Thou mayst not at all times trust with alike confidence and yet at all times truly trust The truth of trust and affiance is one thing the degrees of it another the truth of Faith never grows more or lesse the degrees of Faith do as the least drop of water is water so the least dram of faith is faith as much as the highest degree of it This the experience of every Christian will tell you sometimes they will say I think if the Devill had hold of me I could trust God for Heaven Though hee kills me saith Iob yet I will trust in him that was not Iobs temper alwayes and yet without question Iob did alwayes beleeve Paul was not in the same temper Rom. 7. that he was Rom. 8. 38. Peters crying Master save me or else I perish did argue his faith was under water more then his head Davids temper Psal 27. 1 2 3. was not the same with his temper 1 Sam. 27. 1. In the first he would not bee afraid of an Host encamping round about no though the Host consisted of ten thousand Psal 3. 6. But in that place 1 Sam. 27. 1. tells us hee was afraid of one Saul and that after many experiences So a poor Christian is ready to think O I do not truly trust and rely upon God c. Sometimes I think if I had not a bit of bread nor a drop of water yet I would not feare my faith should be like that Hab. 3. 17. Another time my heart is so farre from it that though I have for the present enough yet my base heart can hardly keep from covetousnesse sometimes I think that if God would take me away in a massacre I should not yeeld my blood with a repining word another time I so doubt of my interest in Christ that I should not know how to dye upon my bed but am crying Lord take me not away with the wicked Christian thus thou mayest be David Psal 3. would not be afraid of his soules going out of his body if ten thousand swords were ready to cut out a passage for
he could not reasonably rely upon his promises for the blessing of his house with temporall mercies so as before And thence it is cleare that a Christian may truly rest upon the promises for salvation and pardon of his sinnes though he doth not so easily rest nor so constantly nor fully rely upon him for some particular promises of temporall mercies The sixt is this Thou mayst hang tremblingly upon the promises and yet hang upon them truly And there is a seventh Thou mayst truly rely and dwell upon the promises and yet not truly appropriate and peculiarize them and dwell on them as thy own portion to thy apprehension but of these afterwards The Tenth SERMON LUKE 17. v. 5. Lord increase our faith I Am come now to a sixth proposition which is this A Christian may rely and hang tremblingly upon the promises and yet depend truly a trembling faith is no contradiction faith breeds joy and hence is that of the Apostle The rejoycing of your faith but David hath bidden us Rejoyce with trembling I have read a speech of S. Austine that such as was the degree of sollicitous feare such was the degree of grounded assurance It hath been observed that such men as have had the palsey in their heads have lived to be aged men A Christian I am sure may be a true Christian though the trembling palsey of feare be in him It is the Apostles counsell Phil. 2. â—2 Work out your salvation with feare and trembling Sure I am the work of faith must be done in working out our salvation and this must be done with trembling It is a false and presumptuous tenet that is by some maintained in these times that will banish all feare and trembling from faith as utterly inconsistent with faith and will deny any to have faith but such as have got a confident presumption as if palsied hands were no hands Christ was never so cruell to poor diseased soules as these are Ephraim exalted himselfe by speaking trembling Hos 13. 1. The woman feared and trembled Mar. 5. 33. yet Christ told her that her faith had made her whole Paul trembling said What wilt thou have me to doe Acts 9. 6. And yet I think none in their right wits will deny that the seeds of faith were growing in Pauls heart though the stalk shaked The poor drowning man that catcheth hold of some twig to save his life he knowes he is drowned unlesse he doth it he therefore hangs truly and even casts his whole weight upon it and yet without question his heart trembles for fear though he cannot but think the bough will beare him such is the Beleever the true Beleever is a poor wretch that seeing himselfe undone in a wofull condition sinking to hell even just sinking onely spies a branch of the root of Iesse the Lord Jesus Christ in a promise upon this he claps hold here sayes he I will hang if this promise will beare the weight of a broken undone soule then I am saved if not I perish then the soule considers what burthen it hath to lay upon it and remembers it is the heavy weight of all its originall and actuall sins this makes it tremble and fear I doubt not but Esther when she went in to King Ahashuerosh had very good hopes that she should prevaile and did depend upon that as the last twig of hope she and her people had yet she went in trembling and sayd If I perish I perish Now there may be severall causes alledged for this trembling First It may be the deep apprehension of misery that did precede possibly the poor soule was under a spirit of bondage a long time and shaked in pieces almost with horrour and feare at last God opens a key-hole of mercy and bids the soule look through and see a Christ pardoning all its sinnes and washing it with his precious blood and cancelling all its debts and wiping away its teares the soule at the just opening of this now stands and trembles fearing lest the newes should not to be true and terrified with those late apprehensions not conceiving that hell can be so soon transformed into heaven When Peter had been in the Gaole and the prison and without question full of carnall feares for the next day he was to have been brought out and have been slain and the Lord just in the nick of time sent his Angel and delivered him Act. 12. 9. Peter could not tell what to think of it he wist not that was true that was done by the Angel but thought that he had seen a vision he was fain to stay a while before he came to himselfe V. 11. and said Now I know of a surety that God hath sent his Angel to bring me out So it is with many a poor Beleever he is in Gaole too God hath him in Gaole and the spirit of bondage keeps him in fetters and to his thinking there is scarce a minute sometimes betwixt him and death Alas death were a mercy but he thinks that there is not an haires breadth betwixt him and hell when he lyes downe at night he wonders that he doth not awake in hell in the morning now when under the saddest and deepest apprehensions the soule hath of eternall sinking into hell God beyond all his expectations sends his Angel to knock off these fetters and bring it into the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God when the soule like Peter is sleeping betwixt two devils as it thinks and is bound with two bellish chaines of terror and feare and the spirit of bondage keeps the prison and the Angel of the Lords consolation comes upon the soule and the light the glimmering glorious light of mercy and consolation shineth into this dark bellish prison and smites the soule and raiseth it up and sayes Soule arise thou art delivered and makes the chaines fall off from the Soule and sayes to the soule Poor soul gird up thy self bind on thy sandalls come stand up from the dead Christ shall give thee light Come come out of this Hell cast thy garments about thee c. no wonder if the soule for a while like Peter wist not that this is true which is done and no wonder if it step a step or two further before its trembling is over especially considering that these terrours seldome are at once but by degrees abated from the soule it passeth like Peter through the first and second ward through one iron gate of feares and then another street of terrours I say considering this it is no great wonder if it be some while before the soule sayes with Peter Now I know of a surety now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his Angel and hath delivered me out of the hand of the Devill and from all the expectations of Satan It is an ordinary thing if a man hath been drowning and almost drowned pulld on to the land he trembles and quakes at first as if still hee
pardon of our sins and of a pardon past and done c. I have already shewed you that the essence and marrow of justifying Faith consists in the soules rolling it selfe and relying upon God for eternall salvation not in the soules assurance that God is its God in the soules goings out not in its commings in in its direct act not in its reflect act And therefore our Divines make a distinction betwixt a soules application of its self to the promise and a soules application of the promise to it selfe and grant that there may bee in the soule a certainty of Faith in respect of the object though not an assurance of Faith in respect of the subject Wee will a little enquire how perswasion comes into the nature of justifying Faith There is a double distinction which I have noted before and shall here repeat would be observed concerning this perswasion First there is a difference betwixt a Perswasion and a beleeved Perswasion on a full Perswasion Secondly there is a great deale of difference betwixt a perswasion eying the future and relating to the present There may be in a gracious soule a perswasion though he sayes he is not perswaded There is a great deale of difference betwixt Faith and the Sense and feeling of Faith as I shall shew you more hereafter Secondly there may be in a soule a certain perswasion though not a full perswasion In all Faith there is a perswasion but in all Faith there is not a full perswasion the word in Scripture translated full perswasion is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 4. 21. It is said that Abraham was fully perswaded it is put in opposition to doubting of unbeliefe being so saith the text hee staggered not through unbeliefe and so Rom. 14. Let him that eateth be fully perswaded that is so perswaded that hee doth not eate with any scruple of mind or doubting of spirit I may be perswaded of a thing that yet I am not fully perswaded of but have some doubts of yet when my reasons for the affirmative are more then for the negative my mind begets a perswasion and enters a perswasion in my soule from the major vote of reason Now I cannot be said to bee fully perswaded unlesse my soule runs without a rubâ— as it is ordinary amongst us when wee are informed by credible Witnesses of such a thing done wee may bee perswaded it is true and really beleeve the truth of it and yet will not sweare it and perhaps shall have scruples and doubts unlesse we saw it our selves c. So a Christian may be perswaded that Gods love is towards him but till he feeles it as well as thinkes it he will hardly have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full perswasion without any manner of doubts or scruples concerning it Again There is a great deale of difference betwixt a perswasion for the present and a perswasion for the future I am forced to put it in these Termes for want of other I meane betwixt an assurance that my sinnes are actually pardoned and a perswasion that they are pardonable and decretally and meâ—itoriously pardoned and I shall feel at last the seale of Gods love I must speake here according to the manner of men it is true it may sound harshly that a Christian should beleeve only that God will pardon his sins and will justify him I know there be some learned and pretious men that hold that the elected soule is pardoned and formally justifyed before he beleeves and so would make our justification as Master Burgesse saith wittily nothing but the fetching a Coppy out of the Courtrâ—ll but I am of his mind in his late Treatise of justification p. 17. 8. where hee gives severall Arguments against this opinion As First If it bee so then all the Elect were then made blessed and happy their sins not being imputed contrary to Eph. 2. 3. Secondly because this Doctrine would make justification onely to bee declarative when the Scriptures tell us that our sinnes are charged upon us till wee beleeve Thirdly because Christ cannot as an head represent those that are not his members now before actuall beleeving we are no members of Christ Indeed meritoriously and vertually our sinnes are pardoned before wee beleeve See the Arguments against this answered in Mr Burgesse his Treatise of justification p. 180 181. and our soules are justified before we beleeve but I with him cannot see how we are formally and actually justified before we beleeve and to his Arguments give me leave to add a fourth Fourthly Pardon of sin and justification it is an acquitting of the guilty soule before God for the righteousnesse of another now how the soule should be actually acquitted before it be actually and formally guilty I cannot understand And therefore I say a soule may be perswaded that its sins are pardonable and shall be pardoned and accordingly truly rely upon the Lord Iesus Christ for the pardon of them which is true Faith though it cannot be fully perswaded that its sinns are pardoned And thus much may briefly serve to have noted how far perswasion and assurance necessarily come into the nature of true and saving Faith and how not And concerning it I shall only nominate these conclusions to you as containing the whole truth concerning it First That a Christian may have saving Faith though he cannot be fully perswaded that God hath actually pardoned and blotted out his sins and formally justified him for a beleeving that my sins are formally pardoned is to beleeve I am justified and is the Faith of a justified person not justifying Faith properly so called Secondly That a Beleever may have true saving Faith though he could never yet at all be perswaded that God had actually and formally justified his soule by pardoning his sins This is still the application of the promise to the soule and a reflex act of Faith which conduceth more to the soules comfort then its formall justification Thirdly That a Christian may have true justifying Faith though he cannot at all times be fully and unquestionably perswaded that God will pardon his sins a rationall man in a Feaver may have lost his actings of reason though while he hath the being of a man reason hath a being in him the tongue may belye the heart when the actions cleer it A Christian may be at will God pardon me with his tongue when his heart really thinks he will and he manifestly shewes it by crying fasting fearing to sin lying groveling at the doore of free grace Fourthly That a Christian cannot have true saving justifying Faith unlesse he doth I doe not say unlesse hee think he doth or unlesse he sayes hee doth but unlesse he doth beleeve and is perswaded that God will pardon his sins it is easily perceived by its resolving not to leave crying praying walking holily and circumspectly that it is perswaded in this particular that it is best both simply and in comparison to draw near to God
as every thing that hangeth upon a pin or a peg is as sure as the pin or peg on which it hangeth So that soule that hangs upon the mercy and Free-grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the rocky promises of salvation is as sure as the promise c. And thus I think I have sufficiently cleared the first thing that a Christian may have a true saving Faith yea and such a one as shall be strong and certain both in respect of the object and event that yet hath not this sublime act of Faith which is assurance I hasten to a second conclusion and all the rest of my Propositions with respect to a full perswasion that our sins already are actually and formally pardoned 2. Conclus Thy Assurance and perswasion that thy sins are pardoned may be a true perswasion and assurance though but weak or to speak more properly you may have this reflex act of faith and be perswaded that your sins are pardoned and this perswasion may be a true reflex act of faith and yet not constant in degrees Sometimes it may be weaker sometimes stronger I call the weakest perswasion wrought in the soul that its sins are pardoned a reflex act of faith for I doe not think that it is a piece of Faith necessary to the justification of a soule that it should believe that its sinnes are really and actually pardoned though it be a beame of grace that the soule should love and look after more then the world and it is and ought to bee more pretious to a believing soule then all the rocks of gold or mountaines of silver or beds of spices or ten thousand rivers of oyle yet I say I doe not take it to be an act of justifying Faith but of the justifyed soule Now this may be true in the soule though it be sometimes weaker and sometimes stronger That soule that all times is perswaded that its sins are pardoned and actually remitted is not alwayes a like perswaded of it It is a beame of Gods manifestative love which admirs of degrees Now as upon the earth in the day time there is alwayes some light though through some interpositions of clouds the light is not alwayes alike so in Christians that the Lord hath brought to this degree that they doe really believe that their sinnes are pardoned though through the sun-shines of Gods manifestative love upon their soules they for the most part think so yet they are not alwayes alike perswaded of it I doe verily believe that David generally was in this temper and who so peruses his pretious book of Psalmes will finde that he takes the pardon of sinnes for granted yet who so againe peruses the severall Psalms will easily perceive that Davids perswasion was not alwayes alike as any one may see by comparing Psal 6. and Psal 41. vers 11. you shall finde him in some Psalmes altogether singing and praysing and triumphing not a mention of a teare but in others declaring perswasion yet wants expressing confidence yet teares as in that sixth Psalme vers 1. 2 3 4. compared with vers 9. Sometimes the heavens are so cleare to gracious soules that the shinings of grace dazzle their soules so much that nothing will satisfie them but heaven Now Lord let thy servant depart in peace O that now I might dye and be incorporated into glory they are so wrapt into the third heavens that they cannot speak their joy another while it is lower water with their soules the Moones influence is not as it was David I am confident would have beene glad of an errand to have sent him out of the world to heaven Psal 34. But the good man again in the 39 Psalm prayes as heartily for his life as any poore wretch could have done that lay under an apprehension of a past sentence in hell against him 1 Pet. 1. 8. we read of a rejoycing with which believers should rejoyce even with joy unspeakable but there was not such a constant overflowing and full tide of joy alwayes sure It is a sure note that manifestative love hath its degrees and it is from a strong influence of Gods manifestative love to the soule that the soule hath such a perswasion now had I leasure I might at large here tell you at what times commonly the spring-tide of assurance flowes highest and on the contrary what may make the apprehension weaker and at what times it is ordinarily most weak 1. Commonly just upon Gods return after a long desertion and sad expectation the souls assurance is very great and its perswasion very high God turns mid-night into mid-day The soule then brings the Lord Jesus Christ into her mothers house into the chambes of her that conceived her commonly when the husband comes home after a long absence and long expectation more then ordinary tokens of love and passages of love are discerned betwixt him and the wife of his bosome Christ comes in then to make amends for his frowns and lowrings with the sweetest kisses and imbraces Mid-winter is turned into a Mid-sommer this you shall finde constantly in Davids Psalmes and so on the contrary when the soule is under desertions if there bee left yet a perswasion that though God doth hide his face yet hee doth not hide his heart yet it is but a weak and just living perswasion 2. And commonly at greatest distresse God comes in with strongest perswasions and fullest assurance as when the Christian is cal'd to Martyrdom or cal'd to dye or cal'd to do any great services that it distrusts its own strength and is ready to feare of faint that nothing but the most reviving quick and hot cordiall water can keep the soule cleane and able to undergoe that great and extraordinary service that God cals for at his hands ordinarily now at such times the Lord is pleased to come in with a fulnesse into the soul It was but yesterday you heard by my Reverend Brother that ordinarily God comes in with sighes which are evidences to sence when the soule is in greatest streights and we shall finde that Gods promise made to Abraham was often renewed to him and to Isaac and to Iacob but the diligent Reader shall observe that God pickt out that time or those times when he called his Saints to some hard work in doing of which their hearts might sink concerning the Lords promise The originall promise was in Gen. 12. 7. it was renewed to him chap. 13. v. 15. when he was to goe out of the land he scarce knew whither and leave it to others to possesse and to Isaac when he went to Gerar Gen. 26. 4. and to Iacob going down to Egypt Gen. 46. 4. At such times the children of God are to doe double work and had need of double strength and so a double subsistence when Eliah was to go in the strength of his meat forty dayes he had need eat a good meale the Angel therefore twice admonished him to arise and eat 1 Kings
promises made to us for sufficiency for this life Ser. X. 17. Whether a beleever may not hang tremblingly upon the promises and yet hang truly upon them what things may cause a trembling faith in the soule sometimes 18. Whether a Christian may not truly beleeve and yet not be able at all times fully and truly to appropriate the promises of Jesus Christ to himselfe in particular 19. Whether the true beleever may apply particular promises 20. Whether the true beleever at sometimes may not be unable to apply temporall promises when and why 21. Whether a true beleever at sometimes may not be unable particularly to apply spirituall promises if they be conditionall 22. Whether the true beleever at sometimes may not be unable to apply spirituall promises though absolute Ser. XI 23. What things must be wrought in that soule that by a particular application of faith layes hold upon any promise 24. Whether and how a Christian may and ought to apply all the promises so as to bring them as salves to his particular sores 25. Whether Conditionall promises suppose that I must fulfill the conditions before I apply them Ser. XII 26. Whether a Christian may not have saving faith yet no assurance 27. Whether and how perswasion comes into justifying faith and is necessary to every true faith 28. Whether a Christian may conclude he hath had faith of assurance or hath if it be weake and inconstant in degrees * 29. Whether assurance when lost may be recovered againe Ser. XIII 30. Whether it be a sufficient ground for me to conclude I have no faith if I thinke I doe not feele the strength of God carrying me out to those duties which I should doe and graces which I should act 31. Whether any Christian feeles strength alwayes alike and what causes there may be of his not feeling Gods strength alwayes alike acting in his soule 32. What a Christian ought to doe when he doth not feele the strength of God enlivening him and inabling him to act spirituall duties Ser. XIV 33. Whether and how a Christian may know whether those doubts which arise in his soule be such as a true beleever hath or no better then such as unbeleevers and reprobates have 34. Whether the principle of doubting in the beleever be unbeliefe or infirmity An Index of the Contents of the following Treatise SERM. I. CHAP. I. THe Coherence of the Text division of it and 8. Doctrines raised from it p. 1 2 3 4 The Doctrine insisted upon viz. That as the best of Christians have weaknesse and imperfection in their faith so it is their nature and duty to be sensible of it and to labour and strive against it p. 4 The Doctrine proved in its 3. branches by Scripture p. 5 3 Reasons of the first branch why Christians have weaknesses Ib. 1. Because the state of Mortality is imperfect Ib. 2. Christians condition here is inconstant Ib. 3. Corruptions renew daily Ib. 3. Reasons of the 2. branch Why the true Beleever will be sensible of his weaknesses Because 1. He is alwayes laying his heart to his eye p. 6 2. He is alwayes laying the square to his heart Ib. 3. He is not self-opinionated Ib. 3 Reasons of the 3. branch Why the Christian will strive against his weaknesses 1. Because the spirit works in him p. 7 2. Because he levels his arrowes at perfection Ib. 3. He knowes the more he hath of faith the more he hath of Christ Ib. Uses 1. To comfort weake Christians p. 8 2. To exhort all to labour to increase their faith p. 9 1 Direction to remove those things which hinder faith p. 9 10 1. Scruples and doubts hinder faith 2. Notes of a weake faith p. 10 What we must doe to remove scruples that hinder faith p. 11 What are the causes why many conceive they ought not to beleeve Ib. 1. Cause The too irregular eying of preparatory qualifications they thinke they are not enough humbled Ib. The question disputed Whether faith goes before repentance or repentance before faith p. 12 13 14 15 c. The termes opened and the question rightly stated p. 12 13 Six things granted to them that hold the Negative and the question againe rightly stated p. 14 The Affirmative proved by 3 Arguments by Scripture and experience p. 15 16 17 18 7. Objections answered and the truth vindicated p. 19 20 21 22 23 24 An answer to the Objections of the Jailor and Lydia's examples Master Shepheards answer to those examples p. 24 25 SERM. II. CHAP. II. HOw to comfort the soule under that trouble I am not enough humbled The complaint p. 26 Something spoken by way of premise p. 27 28 29 Severall considerations to comfort the soule under this trouble p. 29 30 1. Though God hath called for humiliation yet he hath not set a measure p. 29 2. No man is able to set a measure p. 30 6 Notes concerning Gods various dealings in humbling soules Ib. What soules God ordinarily humbles deeply and yet how various his dealings with them are p. 30 31 32 3. Consid If the end be wrought we need not trouble our selves about the meanes p 33 2 Ends of Humiliation To make sinne bitter and loathsome p. 33 34 To put the soule in a capacity of beleeving p. 35 5 Notes of Doctor Sibbs to know when humiliation is sufficient 34 A 3d end of humiliation is to inhance the price of Christ in the soul p. 36 4. Consid Thou mayest misjudge thy humiliation Ib. 3. Notes concerning the measuring of it p. 36 37 38 1. We must measure length and breadth as well as depth p. 37 2. We must measure inside more then outside Ib. 3. We must give an allowance for the time to come p. 38 5. Consid Humiliation is not a ground of Faith p. 41 Nor Acceptation p. 39 40 There may be a spice of Popery in a desire of deep humiliation p. 39 40 2. Directions to Christians under this temptation p. 43 44 45 1. By the Nature of God In his Covenant p. 43 44 45 In his Christ in his dispensatiōs of grace p. 46 In his promises Ib. Consider to what maner of sinners God hath dispensed out his grace Ib. 2 Things to be gathered from the Holy-Ghosts various expression of the worke of humiliation in the Saints p. 47 3 Notes concerning the promises p. 48 49 1. The promises require no more of us then they engage God for to us 2. No promises are made to the measure of humiliation but to the thing p. 49 3. Gods originall promises of first Grace and humiliation are absolute not conditionall p. 49 2. Direction By the nature of humiliation p. 50 The Nature of humiliation may be considered in its 1. Originall Ib. 2. Manner of working Ib. 3. End Ib. 3. Direct Labour after more humiliation p. 51. Want of humiliation is the cause of so many hypocrites p. 51 Meanes to get our hearts more humbled p. 52 3. Meanes given by
Master Shepheard Ib. Severall directions given by Doctor Preston in this case Ib. 3. Directions given in this case p. 53 1. Consider the nature of thy sinne in 6 particulars Ib. 2. Consider the mercy of God in 3 particulars Ib. 3. Fly to God by Prayer p. 53 54 SERM. III. CHAP. III. HOw to satisfie such Christians as thinke they ought not to beleeve because they doe not know they are elected The Complaint of the troubled soule p. 56 Something spoken to it by way of promise p. 57 The truth concerning Election premised in 5 Conclusions Papists and Arminians wound truth to heale conscience by lying charmes Ib. 8. Considerations propounded for soules thus troubled p. 58 59 c. 1. Consid Faith is not an apprehension of particular Election but an application of generall promises p. 59 60 61 62 2. Consid That thy faith only can discover to thee thy Election p. 62 The Covenant is only shewed by God to his Saints p. 62 63 3. Consider the phrase of Scripture expounding how our Election may be made knowne to us p. 63 4. Thou hast no ground to conclude against thy Election but thy unbeliefe p. 64 65 5. Cons Those that God elects to the end he elects to the means p. 65 66 We must have a sense of faith before we can have a sense of our Election p. 66 6. By this stumbling as we perplexe our selves so we call Gods wisdome in question a wayes and slander the charters of free grace p. 67 7. If we will beleeve Gods decrees cannot hinder us of heaven p. 68 8. Heaven and glory are worth an adventure whether we be elected or no. p. 68 69 Sâ—RM IV. CHAP. IV. HOw to comfort poore soules that dare not beleeve because of their unworthinesse in respect of their many and great sins 7. Considerations to comfort the soule under this affliction p. 72 73 c. 1. Gods grace is full enough of heighth and length and depth and breadth Christ cannot be brought to pant for breath of free grace p. 72 73 74 75 2. Consid There 's no defect of will in God to save the highest or greatest sinners p. 76 77 78 79 There is not only power but eagernesse in Christs will to save the greatest sinners p. 77 75 Christs eagernesse to save sinners proved by 12 particulars p. 77 78 79 1. He speaks 2. He sweares 3. He pleads 4. He expostulates with us upon denyals 5. He appeales 6. He wishes 7. He professeth he knowes not how to destroy them 8. He weeps 9. He invites 10. He comes from heaven to earth on this errand 11. He dyes for great sinners 12. He sends messengers to treat and parly with great sinners p. 77 78 79 3. Consid God hath pardoned and Christ hath washed as great sinners as thou art that were so either actually or habitually p. 80 4. Consid Infinite mercy never did its utmost yet God can pardon greater sinners then he hath pardoned p. 81 82 5. Consid There is as much reason on thy part why Christ should pardon thee as there was in any of the Saints why he pardoned them p. 83 6. Consid God never married any for a portion nor refused any for want of one p. 84 7. Consid Christ shall attaine his designe in pardoning sinners more fully by how much the greater sinner thou art p. 84 85 Christ gets most glory by pardoning great sinners p. 85 1. He glorifies his power and patience and riches of mercy p. 84 2. He gets glory from them They will love much p. 85 3. Others by their example will be perswaded to turne Ib. The whole case concluded with a story out of Eusebius p. 86 87 SERM. V. CHAP. V. HOw to satisfie a soule doubting that it hath sinned the sinne against the Holy-Ghost The complaint stated 89. Something spoken to it by way of premise 90. 1. There is such a sin 90. Why it is called the sinne against the Holy-Ghost 90. 2. It is unpardonable 91. 3. Elect ones cannot commit it p. 91 This scruple proceeds from ignorance p. 91 92 12. Considerations tending to comfort the soule under this wound and to informe us concerning the nature of this sinne p. 92 93 94 95 c. 1 Consid None could ever tell what this sinne was p. 9â— Various opinions of it 92. The Schoolmen and Papists opinion of it 92 Their 6 species of it disproved p. 92 93 How bsasphemy against the Holy-Ghost may be taken p. 93 How far we may discover what this sinne is p. 94 2. Consid None can be guilty of it but such as have had a great measure of knowledge p. 94 95 3. Consid It must be a setled sinne of our owne continued in without repentance not a transient suggested thought for which we grieve p. 96 97 4. Consid Every sin against knowledge is not this sin p. 97 What manner of sinning against knowledge it must be Ib. 5. Consid A bare deniall of the truth of God with which we are enlightened and the grace of God infused into us is not this unpardonable sin p. 98 What manner of deniall of truth is an ingredient into this sin Ib. 6. Consid Every envy at and hatred of our brethren and their goodnesse is not this sin p. 99 What manner of envy and hatred is an ingredient into this sin p. 100 7. Consid It must be joyned with a totall falling away from the truth Religion and profession of Jesus Christ Ib. 8. Consid Others would complaine of it as well as thy self if thou hadst sinned this sin p. 101 9 Consid Thy complaining and grieving for it is a signe thou art not guilty of it Ib. 10. Consid The sin against the Holy-Ghost is not unpardonable in respect of Gods mercy or its greatnesse p. 102 How and why it is said to be unpardonable Ib. 11. Consid It cannot be a block for thee in the way of beleevingly because though it doth take away from thee the power yet it doth not excuse thee from the duty of believing 103 12. Thou canst not conclude thy selfe to have sinn'd this sin if thou hast sinn'd it before thy dying houre Ib. The conclusion of the Case With a generall description of the sinne against the Holy-Ghost p. 104 105 SERM. VI. CHAP. VI. HOw to satisfie such poore soules as are conceited they doe not believe when they indeed doe 2 Causes of such Complaints 1. A mistake in the nature and Acts of faith p. 108 2. A misjudging of the effects of faith Ib. 2 Things propounded in order to satisfaction to such scruples as arise from the first cause Ib. 1 Thing viz. That there are many acts and degrees of faith and every act is not required to justifying faith Ib. 2 Thing That true faith is of so good a nature that it will consist in a soule with many doubts and weaknesses Ib. Various opinions concerning the justifying act of faith Knowledge is supposed to faith no
in times of apparant danger to rely Ib. Because dangers are obvious to sense The object of faith is out of sight p. 168 Promises where the flesh is concerned where sense failes are harder to be relied on then promises meerly relating to the soule p. 167 168 2. The soule may have more cause to feare Gods fulfilling of promises for this life then it hath or can have to feare the fulfilling of promises for eternall life p. 169 The reason of it p. 169 170 SERM. X. 6. COnsid A Christian may hang tremblingly on the promises and yet truly p. 171 Severall causes of a believers trembling sometimes p. 173 174 c. 1. Cause The deep apprehension of their misery proceeding p. 173 2. Cause The holds that have already deceived the soule p. 174 3. Cause The distance of the promise to sense and the generality of them p. 175 176 4. Cause Desertions p. 177 Whence ariseth trembling in desertion viz. from the sense of sin occasioning this desertion Ib. 2. Cause Why the Believer trembles in desertion is because the very essence of desertions is the withdrawing of the shinings of Gods love which onely can keep the soule from trembling p. 177 178 179 7. Consid Thou mayest truly rely upon Christ and the promises and yet not be able at all times fully and truly to appropriate and peculiarise them to thy selfe p. 180 Severall distinctions of promises and times to be observed for the clearing up the consideration p. 181 182 183 184 2. Distinctions of promises instanced in Temporall Spirituall Absolute Conditionall p. 180 181 1. Temporall promises made to particular Persons and Kingdomes must not be appropriated they are canceld bonds p. 184 2. We may truly appropriate Spirituall promises though we cannot for the present particularly apply temporal bodily promises p. 185 186 What promises are absolute what conditionall p. 181 182 A Distinction of times must be observed there is a difference betwixt the Saints Winter and Summer p. 183 What are the soules Winter and Summer 〈…〉 Ib. The truth of the consideration in certain conclusions 1. Particular promises must not be expected to be peculiarised our name is not in the bonds p. 184 2. At sometimes possibly we may not be able to appropriate temporall promises Ib. Certain such times exprest p. 184 185. 1. A time of extreme want and penury 2. In the darke day of desertion 3. In a misty day of Melancholy 4. In a black day of bodily afflictions 5. It doth not argue a nullity of true faith in spirituall promises not to be able to believe with a speciall faith the promises for this life at any time p. 185 3. Conc. For those that are conditionall promises in darke times the soule may not be able clearly and fully to apply them rest upon them and peculiarly apply them and yet at the same time truly dwell and rest upon them p. 186 4. Conc. In darke times the truly believing soule though it can give no reason for it may not be able to apply the most absolute peculiar promises as its peculiar portion p. 187 This must be cleared by considering what is required for a soule to be able to rest upon any promise as its peculiar portion p. 188 189 SERM. XI A Progresse in the former subject Three things requisite to be found in that soule that peculiariseth any promise so as to say this is my portion p. 189 1. There must be a clear understanding of the promise Ib. 2. A clear understanding of our own condition Ib. 3. A mighty and particular working of God upon the soule Ib. A misunderstanding of the person to whom the promise is made or of the matter of the promise may be a cause of thy non application p. 190 2. Rules for the understanding of the promises in order to our particular application of them p. 192 1. Generall promises are to be particularly applied and particular promises are to be generally applied p. 192 This rule enlarged in 3 branches and opened p. 192 193 2. Rule Whatsoever promises thou findest in the word of God made to any particular Church or People for spirituall and soule mercies we may still apply to the present Church though not the same and any member therof p. 193 3. Things to confirme this 1. God is immutable p. 194 2. The promises were made to them not as such and such people but as Gods people Ib. 3. The promises were made to Christ and the covenant of which they are branches were made to him and his heires p. 195 Many reasons of Master S. Rutherford to prove that the promises and the covenant was originally made to Christ personall not Christ mysticall p. 195 196 Master Rutherfords Distinction of a Covenant and Promises made to Christ some to him alone some part to him and his p. 196 197 What they are in their distinction p. 197 A 3d. rule for the understanding of the promises Conditionall promises require not that we should fulfill the conditions required p. 197 198 199 The 2d thing required to make the soule particularly apply the promises viz. A cleare understanding in the soule of its own condition p. 200 201 The 3d thing required to make the soule particularly apply the promises is a constant wonderfull working of the power of God upon the soule p. 202 This may be sometimes more sometimes lesse p 202 203 SERM. XII CHAP. XII COncerning those weaknesses that may in a gracious soule accompany the bighest act of faith viz. Assurance and how to satisfie the soule that scruples its faith because it cannot be assured at all or if at all yet weakly and inconstantly Severall Conclusions to comfort the soule under troubles of this nature 206 207 208 209 1. Conc. Thou mayest have a true and certain faith and such a one as will richly save thee and yet have no assurance of thy salvation p. 206 Various Opinions concerning Assurance p. 206 207 How farre perswasion comes into justifying faith p. 206 207 208 The 2 former distinctions concerning perswasion repeated and enlarged Ib. Master Burges his 3 Reasons why our sins are not actually and formally pardoned from eternity but onely when we believe p. 209 A fourth reason added to his p. 209 The 4 formerly mentioned conclusions concerning perswasion againe repeated and demonstrated p. 210 211 2. Other Conclusions concerning assurance added and proved p. 211 212 1. That it is false that the Papists say no particular assurance can be procured or ought to be looked after 2. It is as false that Antinomians say that there is no true faith without a fulnesse of perswasion Faith without Assurance may be 1. Saving 2. Strong 3. It may be certain p. 212 213 It is certain in respect of the 1 Object p. 214 2 Event p. 215 2d Concl. Thy assurance may be true though weak and inconstant in degrees p 215 216 What times ordinarily assurance is most strong p. 217 1. Ordinarily it is very high
not beleeve that is apprehend and apply and rest upon Christ as my Saviour We speak not of Faith as it is an infused habit and the gift of God to us but as it is an inherent grace and operative in us Now then we will 1. Enquire what the causes of such complaints in gratious souls may be 2. We will consider how to satisfie the soul in such troubles and scruples For the first complaint I cannot I dare not rest upon Christ and beleeve in him There are many causes of it which I shall speak to One ordinary cause of it is Scrap 1. The souls to much eying of preparatory qualifications I do not say the souls eyeing but the souls too much eying of them Hence it is that if you ask a poor soul under that trouble what 's the reason thou darest not rest thy self upon Christ Faith is a pretious flower that grows as well in the poorest beggars as the greatest Princes garden The meanest arm may as boldly lean on Christs shoulder as that which is gayed with gold-lace Alas saith such a poor soul Gods justice proceeds according to method First he useth to pull down and then to exalt First to lay the soul low licking the dust then to say to it I am thy salvation Alas I was never enough humbled I never saw hell yet would God rend my heart in pieces I could beleeve he would bind it up would he humble me c. Now in order to the satisfaction of a soul under this trouble it would be first enquired 1. Whether humiliation goeth before Faith or no. 2. If it doth what may comfort a soul under this affliction of spirit and what it ought to do in relation to its peace For the first it is a question variously tossed and determined understood and concluded in these times in which God hath cast our lot some utterly denying any such work some too eagerly contending for measure some limitting Gods dealings others misinterpreting if not wilfully mistaking the terms It will not therefore I trust be a lost labour first to enquire the truth of that question which is ordinarily thus termed Quest Whether Faith goeth before Repentance or Repentance before Faith Now for the fuller determination of it I shall first explane the terms Then conclude the truth and prove it by Scripture and Reason And lastly answer those Objections ordinarily made against it First I will spend a little time to open the terms which when rightly explaned I am confident will put the question out of question to those Christians that have any experience of the Lords dealings for the ambiguity of every term hath onely darkned the clearnesse of this truth First let us understand what is meant by Faith both in the kinde and in the act There are divers kinds and divers acts of Faith There is an historicall Faith which consists onely in the knowledge and assent to the truth of an History There is a Faith of miracles There is a temporary Faith and there is a true justifying Faith The question is onely to be understood of the latter which hath also severall Acts. First 〈◊〉 Secondly Relyance Thirdly Perswasion The question is to be understood of the second Act Whether God gives the soul power comfortably and truely to relye upon Christ and the promises for salvation before he hath wrought repentance in the soul Secondly the term Repentance is subject to ambiguity too Repentance is sometimes taken largely for the whole work of conversion and so Godly sorrow is an effect of it sometimes strictly and when we speak of Repentance in the question we onely understand the first parts of it consisting in conviction contrition and humiliation by which the soul is carried out into a loathing of it self both for its sins and in its righteousness And the question is Whether God doth not work in a soul a sorrow of heart and loathing of it self for sin before the soul hath power to rest upon Christ for salvation and relye upon him as its Saviour Lastly we must safely understand what is also meant by going before First we do not understand by going before a precedency in Gods hidden operation he at once infuseth the habits of grace into the soul But secondly by going before we understand a going before in a gratious Act and in a comfortable apprehension Neither farther is the question to be understood as if we thought Humiliation went before Faith as a work wrought by our own strength We acknowledge Humiliation to be a work of Gods speciall grace in the soul And the question is plainly thus Whether God ordinarily gives a poor soul power to act Faith by relying upon Christ and the promises of life and salvation before in some measure he hath brought the soul to be sensible of its lost and undone condition We say he doth not We will grant to our Brethren that are unsatisfied concerning this truth First That a man must beleeve before he can mourn But how not by any saving act of justifying Faith He must beleeve there is a sin-pardoning Saviour that hath fulnesse and freenesse of mercy and enough in his fulnesse for him and that though he hath sinned yet there is hope in Israel concerning this thing Then he puts his mouth in the dust if so be there may be hope Secondly we will easily grant that a man must have saving and justifying Faith before the work of repentance and humiliation will be perfect in his soul As we maintain it to be a precedent work so we denye it not to be a subsequent effect Thirdly we will grant that it is not a work to be done by our own strength it is Gods work onely our dispute is concerning Gods usuall order in working The same spirit that works a power in the soul of dependence upon Christ takes also away the heart of stone and gives an heart of flesh Fourthly we will grant that the habits of these graces are both together in the soul We onely question which God gives the soul power to act first Fiftly We dispute not concerning the measure but concerning the thing We do not question whether the soul must be thus far or thus much or thus long humbled before God will give it power to act Faith by a comfortable reliance on Christ We onely say it must be humbled Sixtly We do not limit the workings of God and say it is so necessary on Gods part that he cannot give the soul power comfortably to apply Christ and the promises but we say it is not his usuall course and ordinary may of dispensing grace to do it Yet his dealings are various he works not alike to all he may and sometimes doth go out of his beaten road The question is not concerning a necessity on Gods part but onely concerning a necessity on our part not concerning his miraculous power but his gracious will nor concerning any extraordinary operation but concerning his ordinary way of dispensations
This is the question truely stated which I shall endeavour to maintain as a truth of God in this following position That God in his ordinary way of dispensations of speciall Grace The question 〈◊〉 stated doth not give a poor soul power to apprehend Christ as its Saviour The Negative part maintained and accordingly to rest and relye upon him for salvation before in some measure or other he hath brought such a soul to be sensible of its lost condition by Nature and humbled it for its going aâ—â—ray from him This I shall labour to make good From Reason Scripture and Experience and clear from those Objections and Arguments brought against it First The soul cannot come into Christ till it be gone out of it self nor can the soul know that Christ is come into it till is knows it is gone out of it self The reason of the latter is plain for it is impossible the soul should know that to be which cannot be But Christ cannot come into a full soul Now the soul is not gone out of it self not will it go out of it self till it see the danger of continuing in it self this danger works fear this fear sorrow and this sorrow is humiliation Secondly Christ will onely come into such a soul and give such a soul power to rest and relye upon and comfortably to apprehend him as will prize him But till the soul be humbled it will never prize Christ For the first that Christ will onely come into such a soul as hungers and thirsts after him it is plain by the many promises made to such But that soul that is not emptied of it self it is impossible but it should loath Christ according to that of the wise man Prov. 27. 7. The full soul loatheth the honey comb The Apostle saith To you that beleeve he is precious If Christ be not precious to the soul the soul doth not will not cannot beleeve in him Now so long as sin is sweet and lust sweet how shall Christ be sweet to the soul Is Christ and sin both of a taste think we What fellowship hath light with darknesse saith the Apostle If Christ be precious to them that beleeve then certainly sin must be bitter to them that beleeve if light and darknesse be contrary as the Apostle speaks But Christ is precious to them that beleeve Thirdly That soul can never be willing to rest upon Christ that is not willing to leave sin for sin and Christ are contrary and it is impossible for a man to please his lusts and Christ too You cannot serve God and mammon Now it is impossible that the soul ever should leave sin which is naturall unto it and imbrace Christ whose goodnesse and sweenesse something more then nature more then flesh and blood must reveal before it be convinced that sin is vile and bitter A reasonable creature is acted by reasonable principles Nabal could say Shall I take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers and give it unto men whom I know not what they be Who is David and who is the son of Jesse saith he The figtree in Iothams parable saith Shall I forsake my sweetnesse and my good fruit and go to be promoted over the trees So saith a poor soul when it is proud who is Christ and who is the Son of God that I should leave all Sacrifice my lust and my corruptions unto him What! saith the proud sinner shall I forsake my sweet lust and sweet corruptions to yeeld to Christ The soul must be convinced that sin is evill yea and the greatest evill or it will never imbrace good Now it is impossible that the soul should be really convinced that sin is the greatest evill and God the greatest good but the soul will be grieved that it hath forsaken the fountain of living waters the greatest good to cleave to the greatest of evils But why should I dive into the dispensations of God by the bucket of reason Let us see what Scripture and experiences of the Saints of God recorded in Scripture tell us Mat. 21. 32. And ye when you had seen it repented not afterward that you might beleeve A learned and pious commentator Zuinglius hath this note upon this Text Grace and mercy exhibited to the world in Christ is not esteemed by those who do not feel their sins and grieve for them Christ complains in the Text that they would not repent that they might beleeve not that they would not beleeve that they might repent Will you know to whom the promises are made for whom Christ comes and to whom he comes Isa 55. 1. He came to seek that which was lost He came not to call the righteous Mat. 5. â— 4 6. and 11. 22. but sinners to repentance He is a Physitian and he tells us The whole need not the Physitian but the sick Rev. 21. 6. He hath told you that He fills the hungry with good things Mat. 9. 12. but the rich he sends empty away He hath pronounced them Blessed that mourn Luk. 19. 10. and 15. 4. 6. for they shall be comforted that are poor in spirit for their is the Kingdom God that Go out weeping Mat. â—5 24 and carring precious seed Psal 126. 6. for they shall return rejoycing and bring their sheaves with them Now certainly if Christ Jesus onely came into the world for such and none can have any assurance that Christ came to save him till he hath disclamed his own righteousnesse and is convinced he is a miserable lost creature Surely then they cannot beleeve before for Faith is the uniting grace that knits the soul to Jesus Christ Secondly If the promises onely belong to such as hunger and thirst as are weary and heavy laden and do not belong to them before they are so then certainly they cannot beleeve before they are weary and heavy laden For the same instant that the soul beleeves and is married to Christ the same instant are the promises intailed to the soul being its proper jointure Gal. 3. 22. Eph. 1. 13. Thirdly If the blessing onely belong to such surely they must be such before they can act Faith or else a beleever may be in the state of condemation and under the curse But to such is the blessng pronounced Mat. 5. 3 4 6. Infinite Arguments might be drawn from Scripture Shall we see a little experience Let us search out Gods ordinary dealings to whom hath he revealed himself in any comfortable apprehension what beleevers can we finde in Scripture who in coming to Christ had not their feet dipt in bitter waters Shall we take that troop of converts at Peters Sermon Act. 2. 37. They were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren what shall we do O lost undone creatures what shall we do Act. 16. 29. The Jaylor came trembling before Paul and Silas
and fell down at their feet and said sirs what must I do to be saved Take the great convert Paul Act. 9. what astonishing sorrow was he swallowed up in he was even humbled to the grave before you read of his Faith Let every Christian examine his own experience whether ever he should have received or prized Christ if he had not first been strucken with the sence of his own misery Enough hath been said for it let us hear a little what can be said against it 1. Obj. No man will be humbled except he beleeve what shall make me run to God and mourn except I beleeve he will pardon Answ We do not dispute of any Faith but a justifying Faith To beleeve and be perswaded I may be pardoned is not a distinguishing act of a justifying Faith this was granted before t is one thing to beleeve I may be pardoned so may an hypocrite T is another thing to beleeve I am pardoned or to relye on Christ for pardon this is proper to a justified person nor can he beleeve he is pardoned till he is humbled 2. Obj. Repentance is the effect of Faith now the cause must alwayes go before the effect Answ We distinguished before of Repentance Repentance hath two parts The aversion of the soul from sin and the conversion of the soul to God the latter part of it is onely an effect of Faith the former part of it the turning of the soul from sin is also an effect but not onely an effect it is begun before Faith though it be not ended till our life be at an end Secondly The turning of the soul from sin and the imbittring sin to the soul is an effect of Faith or rather a consequent of Faith viz. a generall common Faith in the beginning but not alwayes a consequent of saving justifying Faith 3. Obj. Christ must work this humiliation or it is good for nothing now if Christ be in the soul working humiliation then there is Faith Therefore Faith must go before humiliation Ans First Though Christ work this humiliation in the soul yet it doth not follow that Christ is in the soul for it may be a work of common grace and Christ is not in every soul upon which his common grace works But secondly to answer more fully I am of the minde of Master Shepheard and Master Hooker that although there be an humiliation which is indeed the work of common grace which an hypocrite may have yet there is an humiliation which is the work of special grace and that this likewise precedes the exercise of Faith And although it is true that Christ cannot be in the soul but in the same instant the soul is in Christ for Faith is the marriage grace yet it doth not follow that the soul is inabled by an act of Faith to apply Christ to it self assoon as Christ is in the soul and the habit of Faith is infused into the soul and therefore the question is stated not concerning the habit of Faith but concerning the act of Faith viz. Whether God gives the soul power to receive relye upon and apply Christ or receive any comfortable apprehensions of Christ and the soul in respect of us who can onely judge of the habit by the act cannot be said to have Faith before it hath acted humiliation or repentance The question is not which the soul must have first in respect of Gods gift but which it acts first for our apprehension 4. Obj. The preaching of this puts souls upon diâ—pair and hinders Faith they do not beleeve because they cannot finde that they are so humbled as God requires Ans 1. The sun must not be hid because it hurts fore eyes What is the truth of God must not be concealed because wicked men and seducers grow worse and worse Secondly No â—oul that is elected can dispaire if God hath given them to Christ the Devil shall never pluck them out of his hand the word must be preached though to some it must prove the savour of death unto death To the Gentiles foolishnesse Thirdly We do not say they must repent to such and such a degree mourn so many tears we dispute not how much sorrow there must be but maintain there must be some Fourthly True sorrow ought not to hinder Faith for the end of it is onely to bring the soul to be willing to exercise the grace of Faith by comming to Christ resting and relying upon him for salvation c. 5. Obj. But God works not his acts of speciall grace after the manner of men he works them together therefore faith and repentance are together wrought Ans We dispute not how God works them but how the soul acts them not which is in the soul first but which appears out of the soul first Iacob and Esau may be twins and in their mothers womb together but shall it therefore follow that they shall come out together may not Esau put out his hand before Iacob and be seen first by the mother and world too 6. Obj. But this is to take away free grace to say God will not save a poor creature before it be thus and thus humbled Ans 1. It is not to take away the freenesse of grace but to teach men to take heed that they do not turn the grace of God into wantonnesse it does not destroy free grace to enjoin qualifications and conditions of Gods own making Secondly You may as well say it destroyes free grace to say none shall be saved but those that beleeve which is the expresse language of Scripture He that beleeveth not is damned already Thirdly Free grace is established hereby For 1. Is it not free grace to give a soul Christ if it will but mourn and be humbled and beleeve is it not a free gift to give a kingdom unto me upon condition I will throw away a knife with which I was about to cut my own throat 2. We do not say that this humiliation and precedent sorrow doth deserve any such free grace for the performance of the action therefore the grace is still free 3. We say that free grace works this humilation a man can as well break a rock as break his own heart without the work of this powerfull spirit and the spirits operations are free even like the winde that blows where it listeth Ioh. 3. 8. We exalt free grace and make it yet more free onely we would not have men turn the grace of God into wantonnesse to their own confusion and therefore their vain objection that this brings us again under the covenant of works do this and ye shall live falls in pieces of it self for we neither hold that it is in the power of any creature to do this to break his heart and mourn for sin nor yet that any shall merit any salvation by doing of it we abhor that doctrine of merits that God justifies either for any works of grace acted of our own or for the
to heaven another way it is beyond Gods ordinary course of dealing with sinners for this is his usuall course first to throw down to hell then to lift up to heaven and a rule must not be cast away for one exception nor a summer made with one swallow And therefore let no soul presume and say well I can beleeve and rest upon Christ and yet I never was humbled without question where is a false applying and a false resting upon the Lord Jesus Christ and there are some that pretend they rest upon Jesus Christ to whom Christ will be as a bruised reed and as a broken staffe another day See it plain Mat. 7. 20 21. But on the contrary there may be and is a great mistake upon this truth in troubled and fainting souls And therefore I shall in the next place apply my self to them to offer something by way of consolation to them to support and stablish them and by way of succour to them to strengthen them against this temptation of Sathan For Faith is the radicall and fundamentall grace of the soul and as he said to his souldiers Fight not against either small or great but onely against the king of Israel He knew if he were over thrown his army would quickly be roâ—â—ed So saith the Devil if I can but overthrow his Faith and stave him off from the promises I shall easily overthrow his soul He that beleeveth not is condemned already but if he gets that castle he is safe therefore I say to throw the Devils snares out of the way I shall offer something to souls whose complaint is this O I cannot I dare not beleeve I have not been humbled enough c. First Be comforted knowing that although God hath every where called for humiliation and sorrow of heart for sin yet he hath no where set a measure for it The promises are not made to sinners as sinners as Antinomians and Libertines tell us they must make us a nâ—w Bible before they will shew us any such promises but it is as true on the contrary that they are not made to sinners just thus far and thus deeply humbled That there must be some God hath revealed that in his word but for the measure of it God will have that to order and dispose as he pleaseth Be comforted Christian that never man was damned for degrees of grace for want of grace many a soul hath perished but for degrees of grace never soul was yet in danger Mustard seed Faith is as much saving Faith as the bulwark Faith of assurance God holds his bottle as well to those eyes that from a sincere heart drop one tear this to day and another to morrow as for those that make their heads fountains of tears their eyes rivers of water Zac. 4. 10. Who hath despised the day of small things Do yo remember Christ gathered up the fragments of the bread which he had created the least of thy tears is a christall drop if from the sincerity of the heart the very minimum quod sic the least of a penitent Why wilt thou make a block in thy own way and throw a bone in thy own dish Why wilâ— thou set God a bound as if he could not or would not save thee till thy sorrows flood had come up to such a landmark when God hath set thee no bound saying Hitherto shalt thou go and no further Secondly Consider as God hath assigned no measure for thy humiliation so neither can any man set thee a stint to say whosoever is or shall be saved shall be and must be to this or this degree humbled I say no man is able to do it because Gods dispensations are various God will not be tract in his goings who hath found out his footsteps His wayes are past finding out they are like the way of an Eagle in the air Now God hath many wise ends in the variety of the dispensations of his free grace There are severall sorts of people that God deeply humbles oftentimes As 1. Those that he intends for some great service in his Church either to preach the Gospel for the conversion of so many as paul Act. 9. Or when it may be he intends that they shall come out and become witnesses for his truth These fine vessels God usually hammers and files very much 2. Such as God perhaps sees have quick and high spirits and will be enclinable to filthy pride The Lord layeth them low that they may have their spirits tamed and be brought into a lowly subjection to Jesus Christ And this might be one cause of Pauls humiliation too deeper then any other of the Apostles we reade of 3. Such as have been notorious publickâ— sinners Manasses must be brought to Babylon laid in irons then received to mercy half hang'd then the rope must be cut and the man saved just sinking in hell then lift up by the chin he had been a persecutor he had made Jerusalem swim with innocent blood and that might be another reason of Pauls so deep humiliation 4. And yet In these the wayes of God are not the same to our eye Peter an eminent preacher yet we reade of no such humiliation in him Mary Magdalen a grievous devil-possest sinner and yet we reade of no such sorrow in her God will not be tract in his ways we must not know the manner of his workings with his Saints he will chuse whom he list and why he lists and he will bring them in how he lists and when he lists Eccl. 3. 11. No man can finde out the work of God that he maketh from the beginning to the end Gods wayes are like the wayes of a serpent upon a rock and although think with M. Shepheard that we cannot conclude because we do not reade of the like humiliation of Lydia ☜ and others of the Apostles therefore they had no such humiliation as Paul Yet I cannot but think that therefore their sorrows are not revealed that we might not stumble upon them and tye up God to such and such dispensations as if God could work but one and the same way 5. Besides There may be a cause in the temper and variety of dispositions upon which God makes his speciall grace glorious God hath some that are rough pieces of knotty timber these he hewes and cuts much before he makes them fit for his Sanctuary Others of more genuine and meek and ingenuous tempers would be chopt in pieces if so much should be hewen off them Some grounds need not such stubbing and digging and plowing and harrowing they will be fit to receive the seed without so much labour 6. Some dispositions are not so fixt as to settle long upon an object as to be so deeply affected with it as others are Moveable dispositions saith Doctor Sibbs are not long affected with any thing and therefore saith he one main use of crosses is to take off the soul from that it is so dangerously
set upon and fix our running spirits Again saith he the spirits may be sometimes weak ana so wasted that they would not be able to indure so strong a conflict of grief as others that are of fresh and strong and stout spirits And in such a case God hath promised not to fix his wrath upon the soul too heavily Isai 57. 16. For I will not contend for ever neither will I bee alwayes wroth for the spirits should then fail before me and the souls which I have made Be comforted Christian when thou considerest the variety of Gods dispensations though thou doest not finde him acting in such a dispensation to thee as possibly he hath done to others It may be he hath not appointed thee for such an eminent service he intends not perhaps to call thee to martyrdom Possibly thou wert by nature of a dejected melancholly spirit and more indisposed to pride then others Perhaps he had not suffered thee to run into such outragious wickednesses as others did for which they must pay more tears to his bottle Possible thou wert not of so morose and rugged a temper as others that thou didst not need such stubbing and digging not so knotty that thou shouldst need so much cutting and hewing though thou hadst as many bad humours as others by nature yet it may be that they were not so setled and putrified by vitious custome or if they were yet be comforted in this that God acts not with great sinners and perverse natures and proud tempers and eminent vessels alike Who art thou to tract the Almighty to limit the holy one of Israel and if that God acts in such various dispensations know that it is not in the power of man to set a measure Thirdly Consider the end of humiliation and if the end be wrought take no thought for the means The ends of humiliation are chiefly these two First To make sin bitter to the soul to bring the soul into a loathing and detestation of sin Secondly To make the soul in a capacity of acting Faith 1. The first end is to bring the soul into a loathing and leaving of sin That Ephraim may speak two words First What have I done Secondly What have I to do with Idols Consider thou sayest I have not been humbled enough how shall we judge that 1. Hath thy humiliation made thee to loath sin That thou sayest as Iob 42. 6. I abhor my self and repent Mark the end of repentance is self-horring Doest thou say with David Psal 119. 163. I abhor and hate lying and every falseway vers 104. And I hate vain thoughts vers 119. And I hate them that hate thee Psa 139. 21 22. This is enough rest thy thoughts in it Heb. 1. 9. Thou hast loved righteousnesse and hated iniquity therefore thy God eventhy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladnesse above thy fellows That which was there spoken of God concerning Christ is true of all his members hath thy little humiliation which thou thinkest is not enough wrought thus in thee that whereas thou wert a drunkard liar swearer unclean person a vain proud person a companion of fools Now thou canst say and say heartily that thou hatest drunkennesse swearing lying sabbath-breaking vanity formality yea and those that do these things Why now thy humiliation hath wrought its end Why shouldst thou not love righteousnesse rest upon Christ apply the promises c. To say now I cannot think I have ground to beleeve is as much as if one should say when he hath made use of a scaffold to build a great building Alas I cannot beleeve that I may lay the top-stones of my building my scaffold is not high enough or it is not strong enough when it hath proved it self both high enough and strong enough in holding to accomplish the work Sibbs soul conflict P. 379. Doctor Sibbs in answer to this question When is Godly sorrow such as that the soul may stay it self with comfortable thoughts abouts its conditions Giveth these Rules 1. When we finde strength against that sin which we formerly fell into 5. Rules and ability to walk in a contrary way 2. When that which is wanting in grief is made up in fear 3. When after grief we finde inward peace 4. When after it we value the grace and mercy in Christ above all the contentments in the world 5. When it springs from hatred and works true hatred against all sin First Now saith he true hatred is carried against all sin Secondly Especially against those sins which are most near Sorrow for sin proceeds from the affection of the soul Hatred from judgement and we ought rather to rest in our hatred of sin proceeding from our judgement then in our sorrow for sin proceeding from our passions Considering that the fountain of passions is deeper in men of a melancholy and reserved temper then in others of a quick and chearly temper and yet these may hate sin as well as the other 2. The second end of humiliation is to make us in a capacity of receiving Christ Every soul is not in a capacity of receiving Jesus Christ when the soul is willing and desirous to receive Christ then it is in a capacity of receiving him And the soul cannot act Faith by resting upon Christ till it be made willing Some will say doth not Jesus Christ work this willingnesse yes without question It is he that worketh both to will and to do according to his good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. But yet he first worketh to will before he worketh to do and before the soul is willing it is not in a capacity of doing Rev. 22. 17. Whosoever willeth let him drink of the water of life freely First will then take then drink and yet it is free They shall indeed be willing in the day of his power Psal 110. 3. God draws the will but he makes us willing first before he gives us power to receive and apply Christ which is the act of Faith Now God useth means to work this willingnesse and that is humiliation Hos 5. 15. I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offences and seek my face In their affliction they will seek me early Now if thy humiliation hath wrought this effect in thy soul that thou art now made willing to receive Christ Jesus O beleeve act thy Faith let thy measure of humiliation never trouble thee it hath wrought its end 3. I might name a third â—nd of humiliation and that is to inhance the price of Iesus Christ to the soul Christ would not be so sweet if sin were not so bitter Doest thou finde this end wrought that now Christ is more precious to thee then thousands of gold and silver more sweet then thousands of lusts and corruptions That thy heart now sayes O that I had Christ though I had nothing in the world That I had the bread of life to eat and the water of life to
condition that the soul should be thus and thus deeply humbled O saith a gratious soul do you set me to eye them they undo and ruine me I finde the promises of Gods giving Christ to my soul run all upon conditions of hungring and thirsting Isai 55. 1 2 3. Of being weary and heavy laden Mat. 11. 29. Of being lost and undone and this is that which I stick upon I will answer thee in this particular First T is true such is the tenor of the promises they do require hungring and thirsting c. Though not as meritorious conditions yet consider That they require no more then God hath promised to givâ— See this Zach. 12. 10. Ezek. 11. 19 20. and 36. 26 27. Where God hath promised to give that same tender broken contrite heart which other promises require the soul to have that doth apply them to it self Secondly Consider that those promises that seem to require humiliation and brokennesse of heart as conditions or qualifications call them what you will do no where require such and such a measure they require rem but not mensuram Lastly And for thy great comfort consider that those originall promises in which God hath promised to give that tendernesse and brokennesse of heart which he seemeth to require in other promises as a condition and qualification for the soul to whom of due it belongs to apply those promises I say those promises are absolute for this take but two instances Ezek. 11. 19 20. and 36. 26 27. which are much the same And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them aâ— heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes c. As if he should say they cannot walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances untill their stony heart be gone and they have an heart of flesh Secondly They cannot have this heart of flesh till I give it them And thirdly I will give it them Now sit down and eye the promises say thus It is true God doth require an heart of flesh before I can apply the promises of pardon to me but the same God hath promised to give it me and there must there can nothing be done of me in relation to that first gift God hath freely promised to prepare me to apply his salvation and to walk in his statutes by taking away my heart of stone and giving me an heart of flesh and beleeve but this that God will fulfill this free and absolute promise unto mee It is thy duty not onely to beleeve that God will pardon thee but also to beleeve that God will humble thee and not to stick upon I am not humbled enough to apply the promise but to say I will labour to apply the promises of salvation and to beleeve that God will humble me more and make good amongst others that promise to my soul that he hath made to his people that he will take away their heart of stone and give an heart of flesh c. And thus I have done with the first direction to the afflicted soul Eye the nature of God more in his covenant Secondly In the dispensations of his grace Thirdly In his promises I come now to my second direction and that is Secondly Consider the nature of humiliation and this thou mayest consider First In its originall Secondly In the manner of the operation of it Thirdly In its end The two latter I have handled at large in my considerations I propounded to comfort the soul in its affliction I will but name them First Think that thy humiliation may be as great as it should be though not so deep as others have been it may be it hath been longer Secondly It may have a more inward work Thirdly Its working is not done it will have a work as long as thou livest 2. Consider the nature of it in its end First Meditate that the end of thy humiliation is but to bring thee to loath sin secondly Leave sin and thirdly To make thee prize Christ If this be done it hath done its work But this I enlarged my self upon before 3. which should have been indeed first Consider the nature of humiliation in its originall and efficient cause which is God Zac. 12. 10. Ezek. 11. 19. 20. and sit down now and say Certainly God hath a good work begun in my soul otherwise why should sin trouble me at all or why should I be troubled that I am not troubled for my sin and now how unreasonable a thing is it for me to start from applying the promises because in my conceit I am not enough humbled It is God that hath humbled me at all and it is he that must perfect the work in my soul and surely if he sees it is not enough he will work more and he must do it if he will have it for I am not able to humble my soul Thus far my direction hath reached to help thee to ease thy self and direct thee what to do in point of meditation and consideration My third reacheth thy practice Lastly Labour after more and more humiliation Neither keep thy heart from beleeving in infidelity out of a conceit of the want of it nor yet slight and neglect it Both these rocks must be avoided as pernicious rocks for poor souls and between which there is a safe passage Let the world think what they will Sound beleever p. 104. and opinion 〈◊〉 cry down that great work Want of humilitation saith Master Shepheard is the cause of so much counterfeit 〈◊〉 Ib. p. 146. as is in the world and again saith he we shall observe if there be little humiliation there is little of Christ if much of humiliation much of Christ if inconstant humiliation inconstant fruition of Christ if reall humiliation reall possession of Christ if false humiliation imaginary fruitâ—on of Christ Therefore though I would not have thee so weep but thou should I have a spare eye to look up to the free grace of Christ yet I would not have thee so much fix thy eye upon the mercy and free grace of Christ that thou shouldst have never an eye to weep for thy sins Humiliation and Faith are two things that are consistant together That 's the last direction Labour to get the soul more humbled I know thou wilt say how shall I do that truely I might give infinite directions Ib. p. 150. but this is so ordinary a point in which so many pious men have laboured that I shall but name to you some directions that they point out as helps to the soul in this work Master Shepheard gives those helps 1. Remember whose thou art Rom. 9. 20. 2. Remember what thou art a vild wretch Job 40. 1 3 4. 3. Remember what thou hast been and how long thou hast been so and why should God choose thee 4. Remember what thou wilt be Isa
of glory was there any Esa 43. 25. Esa 43. 25. I saith God am he that blotteth out transgressions for mine own names sake God for his own sake elected them therefore Christ died for them Christ of his own good will powred out his blood for them therefore he gave them power to beleeve and come to him here is all the cause ab extra from without still And is there lesse cause in Christ for thee then there was for them look in his Gospel promises or is there lesse cause in thee then a mere nothing But I shall make this more full in a sixth position which I shall commend to thy consideration which is this Sixtly That God never received any soul because it had a portion to set it off Thou sayest O I cannot beleeve c. why I am not worthy of salvation I am a great sinner I have been an auncient sinner Well then suppose that thou never hadst to thy knowledge committed actuall sins but wert as thou thinkest clean and spotlesse then thou couldst come to Jesus Christ and think he would accept of thee Thy money perish with thee doest thou think that Christ that gift of God can be purchased with the money of thy merits Doth Christ take any souls because they are worthy or doth he therefore take them that he might make them worthy doth Christ therefore take a filthy mired sinner because it is unclean or that he might wash it from it uncleannesse God gives his Son thou mistakest if thou thinkest he can be bought of thee either for love or money canst thou make Christ rich with the coblers ends of thy righteousnesse thinkest thou he that hath the inexhaustible treasury of righteousnesse doest thou think he cares for thy farthings wilt thou bring thy drops to the bottomlesse ocean of his bloody merits Your penny-worths cannot roll about that everlasting wheele of free-grace the decree of election nor bow nor break Christs free-heart to save you more then another The Garden of free-grace Christian hath never a weed of humane merit in it no nor yet is there a space to set it in The Robe of Christs righteousnesse is rich and full enough and needeth not the dunghill patches of thy merits That new-cloth will not endure to be patched with thy old rags Christ is a Noble-Bride-groom that would take a portion with his spouse if she could bring a proportion for him Adam if he could have got it up might have been married to God with a dowry But for as much as now that cannot be perfection is not attainable Christ scorns thou shouldst say Thou hast brought him a farthing The men of the earth shall not make him rich The first marriage-contract God made with man he demanded a portion and proffered the jointure of glory But when man with all his scrapings could not pay it Come saith Christ I will take thee with nothing then Do all or take all is Christs Dilemma to the children of men Lastly Consider That by how much the greater and more abominable sinner thou art by so much shall the Lord Christ attain his ends more fully which he aims at in saving any souls Doest thou ask what that is It is his own glory the glory of his free-grace God when he declares his free-grace to any soul makes a particular Proclamation Come let all the world see the power of my mercy and the good will that is in my bowels that I can wash such a stained soul that is nothing else but sin that I will pardon such an old inveterate sinner Now by how much thy sins are more and greater by so much God more sets out the vertue of his balm in healing such old putrified stinking wounds Secondly God knows such sinners once pardoned and changed will more glorifie him They that have much forgiven will love much Thirdly Luk. 7. 47. God shall have glory from such a sinner in that others by his example shall be kept from despair and quickned to leave their sins and trust in Gods mercy Psal 34. 6. and 51. 13. Come therefore beleeve rest on Christ Let not thy unworthinesse thy great thy many sins keep thee from Christ Eusebius in his third book of Eccles Hist cap. 20. hath a story of Iohn the Apostle who at Ephesus finding a young man of a goodly body gracious face and servent minde commended him to one of the Bishops or Elders to take care of him The Elder accordingly did instruct him and at length baptized him This young man afterwards became very wicked and dissolute seduced by wicked companions First became a companion of their feasts and cups and then of their theeving and robberies at last grew to a very great heigth of disorder and outrage and became a robber on the mountains Eusch Eccles hist l. 3. c. 20. Iohn returning to Ephesus enquiring for the young man of the Elder hears this news Saint Iohn after rebuking the Elder for his negligence rode to the mountain which this young man now grown to be a Captain of robbers kept Saint Iohn being taken of the theevish watch desired to be brought to their Captain and accordingly was when he saw him coming and knew it was Iohn he was stricken with shame and fled away Saint Iohn pursueth after him crying My son why flyest thou from thy father O son tender my case be not afraid as yet there remaineth hope of salvation I will undertake for thee with Christ I will dye for thee if need be as Christ dyed for us I will hazard my soul for thine trust to me Christ hath sent me He hearing this stood still trembled and wept embraced Saint Iohn and wept bitterly The Apostle when he had promised and protested to procure pardon for him of our Saviour prayed upon his knees kissed him and brings him to the Church preacheth to him fasts with him and leaves him not before he had restored him a penitent beleever Is this thy condition Christian hast thou been well principled and hast thou forget all the Sermons and admonitions given or preacht to thee and art thou turnd dissolute disorderly guilty of all wickednesse and now in stead of coming to Christ by Faith doest thou wouldst thou fly from him See thy Christ pursuing thee calling inviting Ah why doest thou fly from me that dyed for thee turn turn beleeve be not afraid as yet there remaineth hope of salvation in my merits I will under-take with my father for thee I have dyed for thee I will hazzard my favour with my father for thine trust to me O now stand still tremble weep pray turn trust in the Lord Iesus Christ Thou art unworthy but Christ is worthy he hath grace sufficient for thee He hath a good will to save thee yea eagerly bent to thy salvation he perswades he swears he pleades he appeals he wishes groaning he professeth he knows not how to destroy thee he weeps over thee he invites thee he
hearts of such Christians as yielding to this temptation have troubled and perplexed their own spirits First of all consider That as it is a certain truth that there is such a sin commissible that a creature may be guilty of yet it is as incertain what this sin is None ever could yet determine it or if they have done it it hath been unwarrantably I mean for the specificall â—in Innumerable almost have been the opinion of the Antients Some have thought it to be malice against the Brethrens-graces others Finall impenitency others despair of Gods mercy The Papists make six species of it 1. Impenitency 2. Despair these two seem to be but consequents of it 3. Obstinacy in wickednesse All obstinacy in wickednesse cannot be and how high what degree of obstinacy constitutes it they leave us to seek 4. The resisting of a known truth This comes nearest it but yet for the heighth and degree of resistance they also leave us in the dark and every resistance is not 5. The malice against our Bretheren for grace and goodnesse This hath something in it tending to it but reacheth not the full neither 6. A sinning out of presumption of Gods mercy That presumption is an ingredient in this sin is certain Aq. 22â— q. 14. Att. 2. and that the sin against the Holy-ghost is a sin of presumption but every sinning upon presumption of Gods mercy certainly is not unpardonable It is certain that blasphemy against the Holy-ghost may be variously taken First Lâ—terally when any blasphemous speech is spoken against the Holy-ghost As if any should maintain the Holy-ghost is not God c. So many of the antient fathers took it Secondly It is sometimes and so we take it to be meant here for a sin against the Holy-ghosts proper operations and workings as his enlightening grace c. Heb. 4. 6 7. For whosoever sins the first way sins not unpardonably Aus T. 10. though dangerously as Saint Austine largely proves Serm. 11. de Verbis Din. p. 47. Copiose tractat that the Texts Mat. 12. 31. c. are not to be meant of every blasphemous word but there is quadam blasphemia quoddam verbum a certain word and a certain kinde of blasphemy Now what this is that we are in the dark for nor have any except the Papists unwarrantably dared certainly to define or describe it so as to say This is the unparponable sin Now therefore Christian upon what ground doest thou say Thou hast sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost when neither thou nor any other can say this or that is the sin against the Holy-ghost why doest thou accuse the soul of thou knowest not what Judge if this be not an irrationall yielding to a groundlesse temptation But saith a poor Christian I have refused the enlightening spirit I have refused instruction and hated counsell and what is this but the impardonable sin or have â—inned against knowledge such and such a truth I have denied disputed against it c. To make therefore a little progresse though positively it cannot be said nor specifically determined what the sin against the Holy-ghost is that is unpardonable for it is certain that every sin against the Holy-ghost is not unpardonable A lye against knowledge is a sin against the Holy-ghost Act. 5. 3. yet not unpardonable Jacob committed it for the blessing Yet 1. It may be shewen negatively what it is not 2. Severall ingredients may be discovered that must be in this compound of iniquity And in relation to thy complaint consider Secondly That none can be guilty of it but such as have had a great measure of knowledge of Gods truth Heb. 6. 4 5 6. They must be such as have been enlightned that is such as the Gospel hath been preacht too and receive by so that it hath cleared up his understanding from that darknesse and mist of naturall blindnesse and ignorance in which Adams fall left us Secondly Such as have tasted of the heavenly gift that is Faith saith Pareus such as having heard the word have not onely been convinced of it but given a firm assent of Faith to it for it can onely be understood of a temporary Faith of assent not of true justifying Faith for that in whomsoever it is is kept by the power of God to salvation 1 Pet. 2. 5. Thirdly Such as have tasted of the good word of God Such as have had the Gospel preacht to them and have apprehended it good and sweet received it with joy Heb. 10. 26. Heard it gladly as Herod Heb. 10. 26. They must be such as have received the knowledge of the Truth It must be a defection and a declination from knowledge and a profession as is clear from that place Heb. 10. 26. from whence is plain that a naturall man that never was enlightned or an heathen that never heard the word of God or those that though they have heard yet have not had hearts to regard and received what they hear and give assent to it These cannot be guilty of this unpardonable sin why doest thou therefore trouble thy self that thou hast refused the Gospel and therefore thou hast sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost When the Gospel was never made known to thee so far as to enlighten thee possibly thou heardst the word but understoodst not regardest nothing Those that crucified Christ were converted at Peters Sermon Act. 2. have thine ears been stopt to the means of grace be humbled for it but dispair not because of it though thou beest called at the ninth hour yet if thou wilt come in at the eleventh thou shalt be received and welcome onely come God winked at the time of thy ignorance Act. 17. 30. Act. 17. 30. This sin must be against the word heard received tasted c. It is not a bare piece of originall corruption consisting in a privation of knowledge or aversenesse unto knowledge or vanity of heart in not regarding knowledge but it is the highest piece of actuall rebellion not for a while to stand at a distance from a pardon offered but to begin to reach out an hand to take it and then draw back and spit in the face of that God that offers thee This is plain for it is a blasphemy against the Holy-ghost in his workings now the spirit doth not alwayes work with the preaching of the word much lesse is the law of nature the work of the sanctifying spirit But the work of illumination and sanctification those are the spirits works in which we must take heed of opposing him This sin is not petty-iarceny but high-treason against God But alas will a poor Christian say yet I fear for I have received and tasted the word of truth and I have made a shew of rejoycing in the good word of God and after this have I been in my heart thinking to deny Christ to be the Saviour of the world to deny the word to be the word of truth and
sinned against knowledge Thirdly Therefore consider This sin which is the unpardonable sin must be a setled sin of thy own continued in without repentance and will be more then a sin of thy heart That it is first begot in the heart as all other sin is is a truth but it goeth out of it blasphemy is properly committed with the tongue without question the heart and tongue and hand have all a portion in this sin unpardonable but it is not in the thought onely Besides 2. It may be thy blasphemous thoughts which thou hast in thy heart are none of thine own for such thoughts there are oft times in a Christian that are meerly cast in by Sathan into the soul neither bred in nor nursed by the soul nor delighted in but are like the childe that was dead laid by the true mother by another womans side It is a little question whether these thoughts be sins or no if spurned out and rejected by thee whether they shall be put upon thine or upon Sathans score The contrary is determined by most of our divines to answer for It is by all granted that if they be sins they are the least of sins as suppose I should have a thought in my heart that there is no Christ but he whom the Gospel speaks of were an impostor I know not how this thought came there I have a suggestion to beleeve it but my heart rises against it cries avoid Sathan I pray against it humble my self that my base heart should ever have such a guest for my part I make a great question whether these thoughts be a souls sins any more then if a strumpet should come and lay a childe in an open porch or entry of an honest woman it would prove that the honest woman were the mother because the bastard lay in her entry or house unlesse the law so adjudged it in regard the door or entry was open So unlesse you will say that the heart sins by being no better shut then to let such a thought be thrust in questionlesse the very thought as a formall sinfull thought or motion is not the souls but Sathans But however if it be thy sin for which thou hast cause to be humbled Yet it is far from this sin this must be a constant owner and possessor of thy heart and a sin of a far higher nature then ten thousand such thoughts are Fourthly Thou sayest O but I have sinned many times against knowledge against the light of my conscience Consider therefore That though this sin be a sin aginst knowledge yet every sin against knowledge is not this sin Without question Iacob â—inned against knowledge in saying he was his fathers son His very son Esau and David in committing murther and adultery and Peter in denying his Master All these were sins against knowledge and yet none of them sins against the Holy-ghost It must be a sin against the knowledge 1. Of a divine Truth 2. Of some fundamentall truth of the Gospel 3. Distinctly made known to thee This is plain from the sixth of the Heb. 4 5 6. and 10. 26. And from the Pharisees commission of this sin Mat. 12. 31. They were â—onvinced of it as a truth that Jesus Christ was the 〈◊〉 of God and did those miracles he did by the power of the Divine Nature yet sinned in their saying before the people This man casteth out Devils by Beelzebâ—â— the Prince of Devils Sins of knowledge against the law directly are far from this sin also the sin of our first parents it is a sin against the enlightening grace of the spirit of God yea though thou hast denied some truth not fundamentall c. Indeed for all such sins as these are thou hast very great cause to be humbled Christian and to â—it down and mourn bitterly that these wickednesses may be forgiven and doing so thou needst not despair of the pardon of them But alas saith a poor Christian I have in a passion or sicknesse when I knew it was the hand of God blasphemed God or I have at such a time for fear of threats of death denied the work of God and the truth of God c. Fifthly Therefore consider That though the deniall of thy knowledge and the truth of God be a great piece of this sin yet it is not enough to constitute it and besides it must be another manner of deniall then that which thou complainest of It must be a deliberate and advised deniall not rash and sudden It is not enough to constitute this sin for there must be a blasphemy Secondly An opposition to it Secondly It is true that deniall is an ingredient in this unpardonable â—in But it must be 1. A wilfull deniall free not arising from fear Peter so denied his Master and many of the Martyrs denied yea and abjured the Faith But either First Sathan by his temptations Secondly Or the weaknesse of their flesh occasioned it for they at the same time loved Christ and the truth of Christ 2. It must be a deniall on purpose to discredit the truth out of a venome and malice of heart to it I may deny a fundamentall truth in an argument and disputation to see how another can prove it yet I have not sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost I hope 3. It must be a constant deniall If they shall fall away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies falls all in shatters so as an old rotten house not well at first put together Comfort thy self therefore Christian thou hast not sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost though thou hast possibly inadvisedly spake with thy lips yea though through the violence of Sathans temptations and wickednesse or weaknesse of thy heart for fear thou hast denied thy Saviour and his truth onely go out and weep bitterly renew thy love regain thy favour confesse him before men Thus many of the Martyrs did rending their recantations or abjurations and suffring Martyrdom gloriously But yet will some poor Christian say Alas yet I fear I have sinned this sin I have hated such a godly man envied that goodnesse which I saw in him I could hardly endure such a man whom I am confident is the Saint of God c. Consider therefore in the sixth place Sixthly That the hatred and envy of every godly man nor every envy of his goodnesse or every opposition against him for it doth not make thee guilty of this unpardonable sin It is possible thou mayest hate a man that is a godly man for some civill injury he hath done thee or thy friend possibly thou mayeâ—â— do it ignorantly verily thinking he is nought possibly thy envy of him may be an emulation not being sorry that the truth lives in him but angry to see the graces of Gods spirit live in him and not thee these now are far from unpardonable sins nor is every opposition of the truth of Jesus Christ or the professors of the truth an opposition
his soule out of his body Another time hee cryes O spare a little give me space that I may recover strength before I go from hence and be no more and again Take me not away with the wicked One while David is troubled to see the wicked flourish like a green Bay tree and himselfe like a withered tree without a leafe another time hee is not troubled at it but can as well trust God when he sends to Nabal for almes as when he sits at his Kingly Table and yet his faith was alwayes true Faith may be interrupted that the pulse of it cannot alwayes beat alike and yet while there is life the pulse of Faith beates though by reason of some sicknesse in the soule the pulse may beat more faintly and deadly then at other times Corruptions though they are never wholly the Christians Masters yet they may be their Masters sometimes more then others the minde may be more clouded with earthly thoughts the tide of passions may bee higher and the stream of Lusts greater the body may be sometimes sick and lesse active and yet living So the soule may be sick and Faith act more weakly then at other times yet Faith may be alive Fifthly Thou mayest not so fully and equally rely upon some promises as upon other and yet truly rely upon all It is a truth that the true beleever closeth with every promise but it is also true that the best Beleever findes a great deal of difficulty more for his soule to close with and rely upon some particular promises then upon others and a beleever shall finde if he be put to it that it is harder to rely upon God for his promises for this life then for his promises for eternall life God hath made promises for this life Earth is made over by Indenture to the Saints as well as Heaven Mat. 6. 32. God hath made promises of protection in times of danger of sufficiencie in time of peuury now a Christian will finde it harder if he be put to it for want of bread to rely upon Gods feeding promises then upon his promises for eternall life O it is hard for a poor creature to trust God for bread and water Hence comes distrusting and distracting care hence covetousnesse and earthlymindednesse in Gods own people And if a Christian be surrounded with swords and be in the midst of dangers it is a hard thing now confidently and without feare to rely upon Gods shield and buckler and trust himselfe within the Castle of his providence I am confident when David manifested such an evident distrust of Gods promise for protection of him 1 Sam. 27. 1. he did not at all distrust God for saving of him we read not a word of such a distrust Now I conceive the reason of it may be two-fold First Because here the flesh is sensible and concerned in it Dangers are obvious to sense The eye sees swords and trembles it sees present dangers but it sees not that speedy reliefe which the promises hold out it must be the spiritually enlightned eye of the soul must see that Elisha's man could see the mountain about Elisha full of charrets and horses but it was onely Elisha himselfe that could see the power of God assisting and defending Elisha was faine to pray before his man could have the scales fall from his eyes to see that Now for beleeving those promises where flesh and sense have a share and a present share the soule will finde it hard for though the flesh will never help the soule in relying and resting upon any promise yet it will hinder the soul very much and very often I appeal to any of you whether you have not found it an easier thing to rely upon a promise for salvation and strengthning and quickning grace which meerely concerns the soule then when you have been in some bodily straights you have found it to rely upon the promises for succour and support and deliverance As take a married man that hath a minde to the warres possibly the man is a very valiant and couragious man and values his life at as cheap a rate as any but his wife cryes and keeps a stirre that if hee were single though the designe were the same and the danger the same yet hee findes it ten times more hard then if hee were to goe a single man So the soule married to the body is ten times more troubled to close with a promise and venture into thickets of a danger by the bawlings and fearings of the flesh then it would be if it were to act single in statu separato or then it doth when it acts clearly for it self There is also a second reason may be given of this viz. Because wo may have more cause to feare Gods fulfilling his promises for this life and for temporall mercies in this life then it hath or can have to feare his promises for spirituall mercies and for eternall life The soule that findes an heart changed and walkes with God can give no reason why it should not beleeve Gods spirituall promises I meane the promises for spirituall mercies and his promises for eternall life What reason canst thou give why thou shouldest not beleeve Gods promises for pardon of sinnes What because thou art a backslider The promise is made to such Hos 14. 4. Is it because thou hast an hard heart the promise is made to such Ezek. 11. 19 20. But now come and ask the soule when dangers are at hand and the soul is ready to mistrust Gods protecting promises here the soule will tell you Alas I have been a backsliding creature and though the sins and backslidings of Gods people be no sufficient reason to warrant the soules distrust for salvation yet there is a great pretence of reason that the soul hath from hence why it should a little fear Gods wonted dispensations of temporall mercies to it for this is a sure rule that although when God hath elected and justified any he hath made a sure promise they shall never again be cast out of his eternall favour and love yet for their sins he will let them know his anger by withdrawing his temporal dispensations of love and mercy in relation to which are the promises of protection and temporall mercies given to chasten them with the rods of men and with the stripes of the children of men 1 Sam. 7. 14 15. See an experience of this in in David when he had backsliden so far as to commit those two great sins of Murder and Adultery 2 Sam. 12. David testified his repentance and Nathan said to him the Lord hath put away thy sinne thou shalt not dye v. 13. but the sword should never depart from his house v. 10. his wives should be given to be defloured by his Neighbour v. 11. The childe should die v. 15. Now though that David could not reasonably because of this backsliding distrust Gods promise for the pardon of his backsliding yet
were in his drowning danger though he be on the shore the terrours had surprized him before are not presently shaken of A second cause may be in regard of some holds that have already failed the soule Faith is when the soule layes hold upon Jesus Christ as the twig of salvation and hangs upon him for life and heaven and happinesse Now the soule hath had many twigs failed It is the nature of man to be timerous and as a drowning man will catch hold upon any thing which comes next hand to save his life on if he catcheth hold on one and that breaks he claps hold on another if that again breaks he claps hold on a third if that also breakes he still claps hold on a fourth beleeving it will hold otherwise he would never lay hold upon it yet so many having failed he cannot but feare lest that should faile him too So it is with a poor soule sin hath almost drowned him in terrour first he claps hold upon moralitie and civilitie resolving to live a sober and honest and vertuous life and thinks this will beare him well this twig breakes and will not hold when God hath a minde to work his work upon the the soule he quickly shewes the soule that this is a bruised reed and broken staffe the soule is plunged into a depth of horror and terror again well then hee claps hold of another twig and that is his duties he prayes and fasts and here he hangs this shall save me saith he this twig also breaks the Lord shews the poor wretch that all its righteousnesse is as a menstruous cloth and as filthy rags in his sight and here the soule is again plunged in feare at last God shews the soule the bough of Jesus Christs Righteousnesse the drowning sinking poor creature layes hold of this but with trembling lest this should also faile at first it feares A third cause may be in regard of the promise Faiths work is to lay hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ but now the soule doth not do this immediately but mediately Christ doth not appear and speak out of heaven to the soule and say I am thy salvation then the work of Faith would be more easie but Christ hath given the soul many both sweet and precious promises and these are the cords that the Lord Iesus Christ throwes out to the soule to pull it to the land with Now the soule takes this but with trembling untill it hath tryed the strength of them in regard it conceives the promises are lyable to many ambiguities bounded with many conditions and limitations and the soule conceives it selfe either not within the bounds of the promise or unable to fulfill the conditions of the promise or that it may make a false application of the promise And hence it is that come to a poor drooping soule that feares its condition and hath a true though a trembling hand of faith for Faith may have the palsey and urge the faithfulnesse of God in promising the surenesse of the promise once made the unchangeable nature of God they will tell you they do not a jot question this they know God is not man that he should lye nor yet as the son of man that he should repent they know that he is both faithfull and true but the promises they feare are not made to them they indeed rest upon them but whether rightly or no God knowes they conceive that either the promises were made to particular persons as to the Nation of the Jewes or they are sure to the particular number of Gods Elect of which they are none c. they will tell you that indeed the promises are true but they are conditionall and they feare that the conditions of the promise are not fulfilled in their soules so that the work lies another way not so much to perswade them of the truth of the promises in generall the cause of their trembling lies not here for feare that the promise should faile those to whom it belongs but for feare that they should misapply and misunderstand the faithfull and true promises of God And now although we must say concerning this trembling this is also our infirmity yet none can deny that it is an hereditary disease to the nature of man and will be in us more or lesse so long as any of us be in the flesh and so long as sinne remaines in our flesh and will be especially and most in those that have lien under greatest feares and terrours and are newly got out of them and begin to have a little of the light of comfort glimmer upon them even as a man that should come out of an horrid and dark dungeon where he hath been in darknesse thick darknesse into the glaring sight of the Sun in the top of the Meridian at the first will be dazeled and rub his eyes and apprehend himself in some darknesse though he be in the light He that had his eyes opened Ioh. 9. first thought he saw men like trees and this trembling may consist with true dependance Iob. 13. 15. Though he kill me yet I will trust in him the last words yet I will trust in him argued faith and a strong faith faith that he would trust a strong faith that yet hee would trust and yet whoso considereth the first words that Iob apprehended himself in a danger of killing will easily think that it was a trembling faith that Iob there acted And as it is ordinary with poor Christians through their infirmity to beleeve tremblingly in the beginning of their conversion so there is also another time when trembling doth ordinarily accompany true faith in the people of God and that is a time of desertion Secondly in time of desertion I think none will deny but Gods children have and act and must act true faith in this saving and justifying act of reliance and dependency but I am sure this they cannot doe without trembling Such was the condition of Iob in that place I before mentioned Iob 13. 15. David did rely and strongly rely in his time of desertion insomuch that in his 6. Psalm v. 8. he speakes confidently of a thing that he beleeved for as if it were already done The Lord hath heard the voyce of my weeping and yet whosoever readeth but the former part of that Psalm will finde that he was in a trembling temper His soule was sore vexed his bones were troubled he was weary with his groaning and he made his bed to swim with his teares c. Now the cause of this trembling ariseth First from the sense of the sinne The sinner saith Ah! the promises did belong to me but I have been a backslider and now what have I to doe with the promises What hath such a wretch as I to doe with these filthy unclean hands of mine to lay hold upon a clean Christ The sense of sin strikes a deep impression upon the soule and puts a shaking into the heart of
the soule yet it layes hold if Christ will not save me saith the poor soule sure I am nothing else can to him I will go and me thinks it goes as the Messengers of Benhadad to Ahab 1 King 20. Behadad there had wrong'd Ahab and through the help of God his Army was routed and Benhadad was glad to hide himselfe in one of Ahabs Townes in an inner Chamber and sends to Ahab his servants v. 31. said to him We have heard that the Kings of the house of Israel are mercifull Kings let us put sackcloth on our loynes and put ropes about our heads and go out to the King of Israel peradventure he will save thy life so they did and said Thy servant Benhadad sayes I pray thee let me live And he said is he yet alive he is my brother the men catcht his words and they said Thy brother Benhadad and he said Go and bring him and accordingly he came and Ahab took him up into his Charriot So it is with the poor soule when the soule hath fought against God by sin the Lord overthrowes it by desertion yet it lives but dare not be seen so openly it is hidden under the dark cloud of desertion it squilks as in an inner chamber it is sensible how it hath deserved death yea ten thousand deaths But the liâ—e of grace being yet in the soule it sayes within it selfe I have heard that the King of Heaven the Lord Iesus Christ is a mercifull Christ come therefore I will send my Messengers of Faith and Prayer they shall put sackcloth-upon their loynes and ropes upon their heads and go out to the Lord Iesus Christ peradventure he will save my soule and I shall live Without question Benhadads servants went with trembling hearts and yet relied upon this as the onely meanes to save Benhadad their Master alive So the soule sends out at such a time a trembling faith and trembling prayers and yet truly relies upon Christs mercy and favour and the soule sayes to God Lord thy backsliding revolting servant sayes Let me live let my backslidings be healed let my renewed sinnes be yet pardoned Christ will say Thou art my brother and take thee into the Charret but yet thy faith trembles and thy prayer trembles And indeed there is very great reason for it if we secondly consider that the very essence of desertions is Gods withdrawing of his manifestative love from the soul that the soul though it be loved with Gods elective love in and under desertions yet it wants the apprehensions and manifestations of his love Now that which onely can keep the soule from its naturall temper of trembling is the apprehended manifestations of Christs love to it which being withdrawn the soule falls a trembling again and yet the life of grace being not extinct it still trusts yea though he kills the soule yet it trusts in him So I have done with the sixth proposition That the soule may depend tremblingly upon the Lord Iesus Christ and yet depend truly I come now to the seventh and last Proposition to shew what weaknesse and doubting may consist with true faith in the soule that I shall doe in a seventh proposition thus Thou mayest truly rely and depend upon the promises of God and upon the Lord Iesus Christ for everlasting salvation and dwell upon them and yet not be able fully and truly to appropriate and peculiarize all the promises to thy selfe and act accordingly to them at all times There are distinctions of promises and distinctions of times from whence will arise distinctions of causes which would be understood To make out this certaine truth 1. You must know that there is a distinction of promises the promises are many wayes distinguished there are generall and particular promises absolute and conditiall promises Promises that concerne some particular people as the people of the Iews and particular persons as to David and Herekiah and other of the people of God which if we should apply we should misapply to our selves I shall not meddle with all the distinctions of these promises but onely with what shall conduce now to my purpose to make out this truth I have laid down in my proposition and so I shall distinguish of two promises two wayes First They are temporall or spirituall Secondly They are absolute or conditionall First there are temporall promises which are or may be called temporall either in respect of the matter of the promise or circumstance of time limited in the promise There are some promises that were made for a certaine time and at the time expired were paid and now the bonds are cancell'd these were particular Such were many promises made to the people of the Iewes and to particular persons amongst them Now these wee must not look to peculiarize and appropriate to our selves they are done with Secondly There are temporall promises so called in respect of the things promised being things temporall for the body or estate for protection of our selves wives estates families Now for these promises thou mayst not peculiarize them and yet have true faith for salvation salvation and heaven being not the thing promised in them and besides there may be cause why thou mayest not have so good ground to rely and confidently rest upon God for the fulfilling of these promises as I shall shew you more when I come to handle the distinction of times and as I shewed you the last time in the case of David 2 Sam. 12. But secondly there is a second distinction of promises I meane of spirituall promises which it is our duty at all times to apply and rest upon yet these are either absolute or conditionall It is a note that I have before somewhere noted that the promises of Gods first mercies in a way of saving grace to the soule are ordinarily absolute I will give and I will give without any praevious conditions to be found in the soule as his promises of inlightning grace Jer. 24. v. 7. I will give them an heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be people and I will be their God And for the grace of humiliation Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put upon you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you an heart of flesh and so for his grace by which he convinceth Ioh. 16. 8. The spirit should convince the world of sinne of righteousnesse and of judgement Now these promises are altogether absolute being the free promises for dispensations of the first graces in order to a poor soules salvation Now there are other promises of God for spirituall mercies in order to the soules salvations which are second dispensations and these are propounded with conditions as the promises of heaven for power to rely on Jesus Christ peace assurance c. Isa 55. 1. Mat. 11. 29. and again to him that overcometh will I give to drink
of the water of life freely with many such more not as if man could fulfill these conditions in the soule and prepare his owne heart No we abhorre that Popish doctrine though some falsly charge us with it But because Christ wil fulfill them before he bestowes those higher degrees of mercy and favour upon them he will make the soul hunger and thirst before hee will let it know it shall live Is 55 1. and give it power to come unto him Mat. 11. 9. hee will make the soule weary and heavie laden with sin before he will give the soule power to rely upon him comfortably for salvation â—zek 11. 19. He will take away the heart of stone out of the soule and give it an heart of flesh before he will give it power to walk in his statutes and keep his ordinances and do them before he will let it know that he is its God and that it is Gods chosen vessell And thus I have shewed you the distinction of promises and what we shall conclude from hence for our purpose I will shew you by and by when I have done with the distinction of times which I come to The Soule hath its winter and summer 2 Distinction its cloudy and black dayes and its lightsome and glaring dayes First it hath its lightsome summer Sun shine dayes when it is not conscious 1. Of any great sinne committed against knowledge such as Tertullian calls Peccata devorantia salutem Sinnes that swallow up heaven and salvation in the soule 2. When it hath no naturall distempers of body no cloudy melancholy vapours for the soule being to act through the body doth something suffer by it and as it is with a man that looks at the reflection of his face in a glasse if there be a wetnesse or dust upon the glasse he cannot see clearly So the soule if there be a mist or dust of melancholy oppresses the body the soule cannot see and act clearly Or 3. When the body is not under some harsh affliction for the soule sympathiâ—eth with the body and in its acting through the organs of it shewes the affection that it hath with the bodies sufferings and so also there are black and dark dayes for as it is summer time with the soule and day-light when it is not sad and darkned with desertion and when the body is not oppressed with melancholly or affliction or persecution So on the contrary it is winter and a dark time with the soule when the soule hath sinned some great sinne for which the soule looks up trembling to God and looks upon him as an angry revengefull God or when the body is heavy and oppressed with melancholy vapours stopping the passages of the soule or under heavy and grievous affliction that it is born down even to a back-breaking under them even as it is with a fountaine that runs through Conduit-pipes of lead c. or wood into any house if the fountaine be dirty and muddy in it self dirty water comes into the house or if the Conduit-pipes through which it passeth be dirty and tainted the water bringeth the pollution and tang of bitternesse c. that was in the pipe into the house otherwise if both the fountaine be cleare and sweet and the Conduit-pipes be not stopped nor tainted nor dirty then 〈◊〉 water runs sweetly into the place to which the Pipes lead it So it is with the soule that is the fountaine that runs into acts but through the Conduit-pipes of the body if the pipes be stopt or oppressed or muddy or cleare such is the actings of the soule And thus I have shewed you the distinctions both of times and promises now I shall conclude the truth of this proposition in some four or five Conclusions First of all Particular promises must not be expected to be peculiarized we may not expect that those promises which were made to the people of the Jewes in particular should be made good to us because they had promises to be delivered out of Babylon and Egypt at such a prefixt time it were madnesse in us to beleeve that the Church of God should be now delivered just after 70. years or 400. years and so likewise what promises were made to any particular persons amongst the Jewes as for any now to apply that promise made to Hezekiah I will adde to thy life 15. years I think we have a rule here in Land That if an inheritance be intailed by name it cannot be translated to any other these promises were entail'd by name these thou canst not nay oughtst not to apply they are not a portion by thy father design'd for thee Secondly It may possibly be that in some times thou mayest not be able to appropriate the temporall promises that God hath made to his children amongst which thou art included 1. In the darke time of want and penury to beleeve for bread to eate when I see none like to come O it is hard feeding upon Scripture leaves I shewed you this the last day 't is nothing to doe it or at least to think we doe it in times of prosperity Habakuks faith Hab. 3. 17. was an hard faith though it were a strong and precious one 2. In the dark time of desertions It is hard as I shall shew you by and by to apply those promises that are of neerest concernment to our salvation much more those which are at so remote a distance 3. In a time when melancholy dark cloudy vapours of the body cast a wist before the soules eye and will not give it leave to act clearly 4. In a time when the soule hath sinned thou mayest not fully rely and be so confident as before To peculiarize these promises I shewed you the ground of this before because though God hath promised that his Saints shall never eternally fall out of his favour yet he hath and will punish his Saints for sinne with the substraction of temporall favors as I shewed you before in the case of David and I take that to be an old Antinomian errour instead of a new truth That God doth not with temporall afflictions correctively punish his best servants for sin Lastly It doth not argue a nullity of faith and true saving faith at any time not to be able to appropriate outward temporall promises for although it is our duty to rely and depend upon all the promises yet if wee through infirmity be not able to rely upon these I conceive it doth not null the verity of our faith salvation being not the thing promised in these Thirdly For those that are conditionall promises in dark times the soule may not be able clearly and fully to apply them rest upon them and particularly apply them and yet at the same time truly dwell and rest upon them What spirituall promises are made conditionally in Scripture I have shewed you before now it may possibly be that even these though of great concernment to the soule
yet at all times the soule may not be able to say this promise of Heaven and glory and happinesse belongs to me Psal 77. 7 8 9. Holy Asaph in a dark day with his soule may say Will the Lord cast off for ever and will he be favourable no more Is his mercy cleane gone for ever Doth his promise faile for evermore Hath God forgotten to be gracious Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies The reason lies not that the soule doubts of the truth of God in his promises at all no it verily thinketh that if it had fulfilled the conditions of the promises the promises would remaine to its soule as stedfast as Mount Sion but it cannot see that It looks upon its sinnes in a multiplying glasse and upon its repentance in a diminishing glasse Every mountaine of good in its selfe now seemes a Mole-hill and every Mole-hill of sinnes seemeth a Mountaine unto it Thence it is that in the soules dark day of afflictions in the soule or in a dark day of afflictions to the body the soules faith is weakned it is ready to look upon its great affliction as an evidence that it wanteth that interest in God which it should have to apply promises It sayes with Gideon Iudg. 6. 13. when the promise saith like the Angel The Lord is with thee it answers O my Lord if the Lord be with me why then is all this beâ—alne me and where be all his mercies no the Lord hath forsaken me and delivered me to the hand of Satan now the soule must not take a judgement of its faith from hence but appeale abanima perturbata ad animam quietam to a calm day in the soule again Lastly In dark times the truly beleeving soule though it can give no reason for it may not be able to rest and apply the most absolute peculiar promises as its peculiar portion this I shall fully make out by considering what is requisite to be in the soule that shall appropriate any promise to it selfe as its portion upon which it will live in which and upon which it will dwell The Eleventh SERMON LUKE 17. v. 5. Lord increase our faith I Am still treating concerning those doubts and weaknesses which may and often doe consist with true saving faith in a gracious soule My last Proposition I left imperfect it was as you may remember this That a gracious soule may truly rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ and upon his promises for eternall life and yet not be able at all times fully and truely to appropriate and peculiarize all the promises to its self This I shewed in foure Propositions premising first a distinction of promises and secondly a distinction of times my last Proposition was this That in dark times a truly gracious soule may not be able to rest upon and apply the most absolute free promises for salvation so far as to say These promises are my portion To make out this I told you I would shew you what things are requisite to be in the soule that shall appropriate any promise to it selfe as its particular portion whiâ—h is the work at which I then stopt and which I have now to take up for here is the busines with troubled spirits tell them of large absolute free promises as say they here are jewels in boxes but these belong not to us they are not our portion and from hence further they conclude that they have not any true faith because they have not for the present a particular full power to apply these promises as plaisters to their wounded soules and rest upon them but yet I shall shew you the want of this doth not null our faith and is not alwayes a negation of it I conceive there are three things that are requisite to be found in the soule that shall be able to apply any particular promise to its selfe as its portion 1. A cleare understanding of the Promise 2. A cleare understanding of its own condition 3. A mighty and particular working of the Spirit of God upon the soule inabling the souâ—e to make such particular application First There must be a cleare understanding of the Promise the promise must appear to the soule as a salve having a full efficacie and vertue in it for the healing of its sore otherwise the soule can never apply it now it may possibly be that thy non-application of the promise may proceed from thy not understanding the vertue or misunderstanding the intent and end and power and efficacie of the promise possibly thou mayest understand the promise to be made particular when it is propounded generall and such have I my selfe sometimes met with that being under afflictions of spirit when I have propounded a promise to them as a salve fit for their sore they have evaded that way Ah! but that promise was made to the Iewes or to such or to such a particular person it was a plaister spread for anothers wound and what have I to doe to lay hold on it Or it was not made for such a sinner as I am not for a backslider not for such an hard hearted wretch as I am c. and with such cavils have stood at a distance from the promise crying It is not meet that the childrens bread should be given to dogs or perhaps their non-application may proceed from a misunderstanding of the matter of the promises Now for this thou must cleare up thy understanding in the nature of the promise both in respect of the persons to whom it is made and in respect of the matter of the promise and for the more cleare and full understanding of the promise I shall give a rule or two The first is remarkable I find it in a reverend Author which I shall deliver in his words with a little limitation thus Generall promises for spirituall mercies are alwayes to be applyed particularly and particular promises for spirituall and temporall mercies are to be applyed generally I call those generall promises which are either made to Gods people in generall or concerning spirituall things in generall as for example God had made a generall promise to any that should pray toward his Temple 1 King 8. 37. 40. Iehosaphat being after in distresse 1 King 8. 3â— 40. applyed this generall promise to his owne particular condition 1 Chron. 20. 8. 10. 1 Chron. 20 8. 10. And without question it was from a particular faith in this generall promise that Daniel prayed with his windowes open towards Hierusalâ—m Dan. 6. 10. Dan. 6. 10. and so for those promises which are made to the people of God for spirituall mercies in generall Psa 84. 11. such is that promise Psal 84. 11. He will give grace and glory and no good thing will be with-hold from them that live uprightly ought to be applyed for any spirituall good thing Iam. 1. 12. or particular dispensation of grace So the Apostle Iames 1. 12. would have the
as crimson they shall be as wooll But now the Christian not clearly understanding the nature and vertue of these promises cannot make a particular application of them to its soule it stands off and cannot make a particular application Alas saith the Christian these are made upon condition of a wearinesse and an heavy load of hungring and thirsting of comming of washing and cleansing of putting away the evil of my doings of ceasing to do evil and learning to do well Hard sayings Who can heare them I cannot get my heart to hunger and thirst I cannot get my heart to be weary and heavy laden A Leopard can as well cleanse himselfe of spots and an Ethiopian as well wash away the blacknesse of his skin as I can wash my black soule c. One that hath no legs can as well walk to Rome as I can come to Christ But know Christian thy particular applying faith here is hindered by a meer misunderstanding of the promise for though those promises require conditions yet they require not conditions to he fulfilled in thy strength but those required conditions are as well parts and branches of the free covenant of Grace as those promises which thou desirest to apply therefore you shall find promises for the fulfilling those conditions in thy soul God requires a wearines of sin and a loathing of sin and a sorrow for sin as a condition Mat. 11. 29. Is 55 1 3. God promiseth to give this self abhorring frame of Spirit and to work this loathing in his peoples soules Ezek. 6 9 20 43. 36. chap. 31. Zach. 12. 10. God requires washing and cleansing as a condition Isa 1 16. â—7 18. He hath promised to work this in the soule Christ tels Peter he would do it â—oh 13. 8. And David prayes that God would do it for him Psal â—1 2. 7. which prayer was grounded upon a promise and this washing is attributed to God as the working of his spirit Isa 4. 4. v. When the Lord shall â—ave washed away the filth of the daughteâ—s of Sion and shalt have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning God requires turning and comming and learning and leaving sin as a condition but he hath promised to fulfill these Hosea 14. 8. but he hath said none can come unlesse the Father draw him Ioh. 6. 44. and the Spouse without question grounding her prayer on a promise saith draw me Cant. 1. 5. He hath required turning as a condition Ezek. 33. 11. Ier. 3. 14. but he hath promised to work this in the soule Mat. 4. 6. and upon this the Church prayes Ier. 31. 18. Turn thou me and I shall be turned So that this is a certaine rule God requires no condition of a promise which he hath not promised to fulfill in us And whatsoever spirituall action is anywhere required of us as a duty he hath somewhere promised to bestow upon us as a dispensation of free Grace Therefore I would have the soule in such a condition when it stumbles at the condition of a promise seek out those promises where God promiseth to fulfill those conditions in it and particularly apply them and rely upon God for making them good and direct its prayers accordingly So I have done with the first thing required in the Soule for the particular application of the promises viz. a cleare understanding of the promises for which I have given three Rules Now in regard that at all times there may be in a true beleeving soule a clear understanding of the promises I conclude there may be true faith in the soule that at all times cannot make a particular Application But I hasten to The second thing which is requisite in that soule that doth truly rely or that can particularly apply the promises and that is a cleare understanding of its own condition for how can I truly and particularly apply a promise to the wound of my Soule when I do not understand truly what wound my soule hath Now a true believing soule may have a very false estimate of its own condition Thus had David and Asaph and the Church they thought they were cast off Psal 43. 2. Psal 44. 9. Psal 60. 1. Psal 7â— 1. 77 7 89 38. Now if I think that a part of my body is gangrened I will never apply Physick to it because I know it is in vaine so so long as the Soule conceives that its condition is irrecoverable its sins unpardonable that applying promises to it is but applying warm clothes to a dead man it will never apply Now such a temper may be in the beleeving Soule occasioned by the violent temptations of Sathan by dark clouds of melancholy or the like it apprehends its sinns nor pardonable or at least not pardonable as yet to the soule O! sayes the soule I have sinned against the holy Ghost what good will it do to me to apply promises I am dammed It is a temptation which Sathan ordinarily first or last troubles beleeving soules with I have answered that case of Conscience particularly and therefore shall not enter into a particular discourse of it now Now till the soule be brought so farr truly to understand its own condition that its wounds are curable and to cry unto God for the healing and cure of them it cannot be expected that it should particularly apply any Promises as plâ—isters for the healing and in regard I say that there may be some misjudging of the soules true estate in a gracious soule there may also be a want of this peculiar faith It is true it is given by all sober Divines as the least degree of Faith to beleeve that my sins are pardonable and to run and fly and cry unto God for a pardon of them but yet through the distemperature of the soule even this thing that the soules sins are pardonable which is generally beleeved and is the soules foundation upon which ground it humbles it self and cries and prayes may not be beleeved by the soule that yet hath true Faith or at least beleeved very darkly and with a great deale of doubting The third and last thing which I will instance in which must be found in that soule that shall particularly apply a generall promise as its particular portion is a constant wonderfull working of the powerfull Spirit of God upon the soule For let a soule never so truly understand its own condition and never so truly understand the vertue of the promise and never so fully conceive that the promises have an adequate proportionable vertue for the healing of its particular wounds yet unlesse the spirit of God by a wonderfull powerfull worke of grace doth lay the salve upon the sore and apply the promise unto the soule it cannot be done as it is with a man that hath lost his hands or the use of them and suppose him to have a sorein his back let him never so truly understand the
inferre a negative conclusion from ouâ— sense Sometimes wee see not the beames of the Sun the interposition of the Moone doth hinder us in an eclypse from beholding its light yea dark clouds we see ordinarily will doe it what shall we therefore conclude that the Sun doth not shine or that the Sunne doth not cast an influence upon the creatures this we should call ridiculous In like manner thou sayest I doe not feele God casting his influence of grace upon my soul strengthening me against my corruptions nor so shining upon me with beames of enlivening quickning grace my heart is not quick in his service it is dead unto duties and dull in them I doe nor feel the heat of the Son of Righteousnesse warming my soule with beames of love c. therefore wilt thou conclude God doth not doe it The Psalmist cryes out for want of feeling Psal 22. v. 1. Psal 22. v. 1. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and art so farre from my health and from tâ—e words of my roaring and so hee goes on v. 2. O my God I cry by day time and thou hearest not and in the night and have no audience Mark Christian holy men may sometimes want feeling did not God think you heare David had he indeed no audience according to his sad thoughts Ah! saith a Christian but there was some comfort though he did not feele peace yet hee did feele strengh he felt God enabling him to pray and cry and seek him but I cannot feele this Heark yet once againe to Asaph Psal 77. v 4. I am so troubled that I cannot speak David Psal 51. v. 10. 11 12. He prayes to God to create a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him and v. 14. to confirm him with a free spirit And yet shall we think that at this time David had not the sweet influences of Gods holy Spirit if so we are confuted from the foregoing verse Cast me not away from thy presence take not thy holy spirit from me By all which it may easily appeare that it is one thing not to feel God strengthening and quickning us and another thing for him not to doe it The working of Gods Spirit within us is very secret according to the nature of the Spirit we doe not feele the starres influence upon us nor yet the actings of our soules within us and yet it is certaine they have an influence upon us and that our soules do subtilly and secretly act in all in every part of our bodies and therefore secondly Consid 2. That the truth of Gods love to thee in his acting in thee is not so easily to bee discerned in the acting and working of God as in the effect of such acts and operations secret acts of spirituall substances are not to be discerned and understood in agendo but in affecto not in the doing but when they are done we cannot feel the soules conveying of its influence and power of working through every part of the body wee cannot understand or see or feele the time when it doth it nor the manner how it doth it c. yet we know it is done and that is enough for us thou canst not see nor feel the acting of the vegetative soule in the plant thou canst not feel how it growes or see when it growes or understand the moment of its shooting out yet thou sayest it doth act the plant is grown and the vegetative soule in it hath questionlesse been the internall principle of its growth You may possibly see a man in some lethargick disease or in a trance that you shall not see or discern that his soule is yet in his body you shall not discerne his pulse to beat nor discern him to breath but all possibly in the room may judge him dead yet his body keepes still warme doth not stiffen or grow cold his eyes are not set nor his chap fallen and possibly by applying a glasse to his mouth you may discern he yet breathes and lives and consequently you may gather the mans soule hath not yet taken its leave of the body for then you know hee would grow stiff and cold and so you conclude that his pulse doth still beat though so obscurely that you cannot feele or discerne it so it may bee with thy soule Christian the invisible worke of God in acting his grace in thee quickning strengthning thee moving thee to spirituall duties if thou lookest to see it and feele it acting as thou mayest feel the beating of thy pulse upon thy wrist thou mayst be deceived it may beat darkly and secretly it is a secret work of a spirituall substance and yet thou mayest be comforted in it if thou wilt but look to the effects if thy soul and body do not grow stiffe and cold stinking with old sins and lusts and base corruptions there is some spirituall life that keeps thy soule warm though thou canst not feele Gods secret and spirituall working in thy soule in the very act of warming and quickning thee and enabling thy soule to love him and desire after him yet speake truth does not thy soule love him doest thou not delight in him doest thou not desire after him come let us put a glasse to the mouth of thy soule here 's a base lust and corruption which if thou actest thou shalt bewray the hatred of thy God to all the World darest thou doe it wilfully and knowingly here is a prophane company that would be glad of thy company and at the same time here 's an Ordinance of God at which if thou wilt be thou mayest possibly suck a great deale of sweetnesse and taste much of thy God where wilt thou be wilt thou baulk thy communion with God rather then with prophane and ungodly men If thou darest so it is something but on the contrary doth no communion no company please thee so as the company of the Saints of God and doth no communion like thee so as the communion thou hast with thy God in his Ordinances If so thou hast some spirituall life in thee for the dead man hath no such judicious pallat and if thou livest a spirituall life it is not thou that livest but Christ that liveth in thee and thou livest by Faith in the Son of God thus thou mayest easily discern that in the effects which thou couldst not in the working of the cause But Alas saith a poore Christian my willing and desiring is nothing for though to will bee present with me yet I have no strength to performe And what will you make a desire to beleeve and pray Faith and Prayer I answer raw desires and wishes are no more beleeving then Esaus weeping for the blessing was the blessing or Balaams wish to dye the death of the righteous was the happy end of such as dye in the Lord. But the sincere desires and good will of justified persons are accepted of the Lord for the deed and when
God We are not to live by faith upon the incertainty of sense All that that speakes is not Gospel but we have a more sure and certain livelihood even the unchangeable goodnesse and infallible goodnesse of a God that cannot lie nor repent Sense is deceiving truth is infallible doth sense say God doth not strengthen me and doth Gods word say these things I could not doe if God did not strengthen me whither it be now better to believe God or deceivable sense judge thou Fourthly Learn to acknowledged Gods little finger thou doest not finde God lending his whole hand perhaps not strengthening thee in such a measure to act grace in such a degree but know the least stirring of the soul in a spirituall manner to a spirituall action is from God flesh and blood could not doe it find ouâ— out Gods little secret workings look for these thou wilt finde some of them in thy soule Fifthly and lastly Act contrary to thy minde we bid the sick man eat against his stomack thou sayest I cannot pray I cannot believe why I doe not find God giving me an heart to it doe it against thy minde thou shalt finde strength to doe it and comfort from doing of it This learned Mr Rutherford gives great Reason for as 1. Because it is ordinarily seen that a Christian may begin to pray with sad and fleshly complaints of unbeliefe yet going on the breathing of the holy Ghost will fill the sailes c. if we be doing the Lord will be with us 2. Our indisposition is a sinne and doth not free us from our duty 3. Ruth We are to pray against weaknesse and indisposition Christ dying and for strength and freedome of spirit 4. We are commanded in the day of trouble and temptation to pray Psal 50. 15. Math. 6. 13. â— 5. It is a sinfull omission in us not to pray and act not to doe what we can though we feele a weaknesse c. and severall other Reasons he gives p. 486. 487. c. Now doest thou not feele the strengthening influence of Gods Spirit carrying thee on to thy duty yet doe it that is the way to come to have a feeling stirre up the grace of God that is in thee 2. Tim. 1. 6. God complained Esay 64. v 7. That there was none that cal'd upon his name or stirred up himself to lay hold upon him It is the ordinary practice of Free-grace to send in sense and strength upon thy endeavours yet freely not as merited by them And thus I have shortly dispatcht all that I have to say to this scruple of conscience where the soule complaines for want of feeling c. The Fourteenth SERMON LUKE 17. v. 5. Lord increase our faith YOu may remember my design is to direct you to such meanes as may encrease your Faith The first which I propounded was To remove such scruples as hinder the progresse of our souls in the work of believing the soule conceiting either that it ought not to believe or else that it doth not believe The latter sort of which as I have shewed you ariseth either from an ignorant mistake of the nature and act and degrees of faith or from a mis-judging of the effects of faith Where a mistake of the nature and acts of faith is the cause by way of satisfaction I propounded to your consideration these two things 1. That there are divers acts of faith every of which is not necessary to Justification 2. That faith is of so good a nature that it will consist in the soule with many doubtings and weaknesses I have shewed you how true faith will and may consist with many doubtings and with what weaknesses it may consist in respect of knowledge assent reliance and assurance to summe up this businesse fully I have only by way of conclusion to discover to you in what the doubtings which may be in Gods dearest Saints differ from the doubtings of unbelievers and reprobates This is my work at this time Alas saith a poore soule but I am afraid that my doubting is not such a doubting as is incident to the Saints of God but such as Devils and reprobates have doubting of despaire not opposite only but contradictory to faith c. How shall I know whither my doubts bee such as may consist with faith in a gracious soule yea or no c CHAP. XIV How to know whither our doubtings be such as may consist with true faith in a gracious soule IN regard of this it will bee necessary that I should difference doubts and shew you wherein the Christian may be comforted being assured his doubts are not such as are inconsistent with true faith for thy comfort therefore know that there is a vaste difference betwixt the doubts of Gods people and the doubts of reprobates apparent in these five particulars First they differ in their ground and principle from which they arise The principle from which the doubts arise which are in the Saints of God is infirmity Rom. 4. 19. 20. The Apostle sayes Abraham staggered not at the Promise of God through unbeliefe but was strong in faith giving glory to God He doubted not through infidelity saith Mr Ball but he doubted of infirmity when he took Hagar to his bed for the raising of him a seed Gen. 16. v. 2. 3. and God Gen. 15. v. 4. had directly promised him an Heire yea so many children that the Starres of heaven should be a lesser number yea did he not doubt Gen. 17. 17. when the Lord had promised him a sonne hee laughed and said in his heart shall a child be born to him that is an hundred years old and shall Sarah that is ninty yeares old beare I know St Austine sayes Abrahams laughing was risus exultantis non derisio diffidentis the laughing of one that rejoyced and not the scorning of one that distrusted but with all due reverence to that learned and pious man I doe not think that he hath fully solved the knot I doe not think it was a mocking of distrust nor yet that it was a bare laughter of rejoycing I humbly conceive there was an exulting but yet mixt with a little doubting or disputing he rejoyced considering the faithfulnesse of the word but yet his sence through infirmity quarrelled with his faith about it In the joy of his heart he said as Mary upon the like tidings Luk. 1. v 38. Behold the servant of the Lord let it bee now unto me according to thy word and yet through infirmity he said How can these things be and therefore in the very next words v. 18. he sayes unto God O that Ishmael might live before thee which words as they plainely expresse Abrahams good will and wishing to Ishmael yet under correction to better judgements I conceive also from a comparing of the words before and immediatly after that they intimate a kinde of doubting of Gods fulfilling his word As if Abraham should have said Lord I am
them how p. 253. And in the object how 255. And in their duration how p. 259. They are in them most in the morning p. 258. They may have some such clouds in the day p. 259. Those in the day are fewer and weaker then those in their morning why 259. 260. They differ in the effects five different Effects mentioned in Believers p. 262. 263. 264. 265 E How to satisfie those that think they ought not to believe because they think they are not Elected p. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. The truth concerning Election in five particulars p. 57. Papists and Libertines Errours concerning it p. 58. It is not the object of our faith p. 59. 60. 61. It cannot be known in particular till we believe p. 62. 63. And till we know we believe p. 66. It is a piece of sense p. 66. It is unto the meanes as well as the end p. 65. 66. Nothing but unbeliefe can justly make us think we are not Elected p. 64. Clear Evidence for assent not absolutely necessary to true Faith p. 148. Difference of Evidences p. 150. F Faith may be weak in the best p. 5. 6. Reasons of it p. 3. 5. 6. A direction for the encrease of it p. 9. Notes of a weak Faith p. 10. How it is to be taâ—en in the Question whither Repentance goes before Faith p. 12. That Question truly stated p. 15. Faith in some sence must goe before humiliation p. 19. Faith preached without humiliation how farre dangerous p. 24. It is not the apprehension of particular Election but the application of generall promises p. 59. 60. It s object is revealed promises not hidden Decrees p. 160. True Faith will consist with much weaknesse in its severall acts p. 122. 123. The severall acts of Faith p. 115. 116. 117. Iustifying Faith set out in Scripture by six words p. 116. 155. Satisfaction to such as doubt the work of Faith in their souls p. 108. 109. c. It may be saving and strong without assurance p. 212. 213. How it is certaine without assurance p. 214. 215. Falling in what degree it must be to make up the sin against the Holy Ghost p. 100. Feeling double of strength and peace p. 222. What each is 222. Not Feeling doth not argue not being p. 223. Feeling at the best is but a disputable and deceivable Evidence p. 237. 238. It is in none alwayes alike Reasons of it p. 239. 240. Not Feeling is no just excuse for our not believing p. 242. 243. Causes of not Feeling how to remove them p. â—44 Feeling must be waited for p. 44. Fundamentals what are so properly so calld a difference of Fundamentals p. 127. G Gods wisedome and goodnesse and Charters of Free-Grace how slandred p. 67 God gets great glory by pardoning great sinners p. 84. 85. Going before how to be understood in the Question whither faith goeth before repentance p. 13. Grace enough in God for the greatest sinners p. 72. 73. Free-Grace hath lookt upon as great sinners as wee are p. 80. Infinite Free-Grace never yet did its utmost p. 81. 82. H Hatred of God and Gods people in what degree it must be to make an ingredient into the Sinne against the Holy Ghost p. 99. 100. Heaven and Glory are not so inconsiderable but they are worth ventring for p. 68. 69. Humiliation whither it goes before Faith or no p. 12 13. 14. It doth how proved by Reason Scripture and Experience p. 16. 17. 18. It is a work of speciall grace how Christs works it what followes from that p. 20. it doth not hinder the freenesse of grace it is it selfe a fruit of it p. 22. It was in Paul a case of Conscience concerning it largely handled p. 26. 27. 28. 29. It doth ordinarily goe before faith p. 28. 29. It is cald for in the thing but God hath set no measure p. 29. Nor can be set by man p. 30. It is various in divers p. 30. Three sorts of persons God uses to humble deeply p. 30. His dealings with those are various p. 30. 31. A note to be gathered from the Scriptures sparing relation of Lydia's Humiliation p. 31. Moveable dispositions usually not so deeply humbled p. 32. Various comforts for them that finde not themselves so deeply humbled as others p. 32. 33. Three ends of Humiliation p. 33. 34. 35. 36. If wee finde the Ends of it wrought we need not bee troubled about the measure of the meanes p. 33. 34. 35. 36. It works in the soule a loathing of sinne that 's one end of it p. 33. Five rules of Dr Sibbs to know when it is sufficient p. 34. It makes us in a capacity to receive Christ p. 35. It inhanceth our value of Christ p. 36. The measure of it may be mis judged p. 36. How wee must measure it to judge of it aright p. 36. 37. It must be measured both in length and breadth p. 37. inside 〈◊〉 outside p. 37. The whole work of it is not done when wee begin to believe p. 38. It is not a ground of Faith nor acceptation p. 39. 40. 41. 42. Directions for such Christians as conceive they are not enough humbled p. 43. 44. 45. 46. Humiliation how its nature ought to be considered so as to comfort a troubled soul p. 50. It must be more and more laboured after p. 51. Mr Shephards opinion of it p. 51. Severall directions given by Dr Preston and Mr Shephard and the Author for increasing this work in the soule p. 52. 53. 54. Prayer the surest direction for it p. 54. I Ignorance how farre and in what particulars it is consistent with true Faith p. 127. 128. 129. 130 c. Ignorance 1 in some fundamentals 2 in circumstantials 3 in the History of Scripture 4 in substantialls and fundamentals so farre that we cannot dispute them or make them out in particulars may be consistent with true Faith 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. Provided wee bee not content with but strive against such Ignorance p. 133. Justification is not formally before faith reasons for it p. 209. Justifying Act of Faith what it is and the six words Mr Ball expresseth it by in his Treatise of Faith p. 116. K Knowledge no act of saving Faith p. 125. In what degree and manner it must be in those that can be guilty of the Sinne against the Holy Ghost p. 97. 98. A low opinion of our owne knowledge a good signe p. 126. L Lydiae's conversion without any humiliation cannot bee proved foure answers to the objection drawn from her example against precedent humiliation Mr Shepards opinion of it p. 24. 25. M Melancholy oftentimes is a cause of a Christians doubting p. 164. Misbelief no Vnbeliefe p. 147. Misunderstanding of Scripture not impossible to a Belâ—â—ver p. 147. O 8. Objections answered made against that truth viz. that Humiliation ordinarily precedes Iustifying Faith in the Act p. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. Opposition of truth in what degree and of