and the power and goodness of the promiser Love lives upon Faith we can love God no longer than we believe When the imaginary Faith of wicked men like a candle dyeth within them their supposed love to God goeth out with it also They hate him in Hell and can do no other we love God no longer than we have a good opinion of his love to us 't is Faith that seeds this Lamp with Oyl We love him because he first loved us And therefore when the spring of Faith is low the stream of Love is very ebb Prayer lives upon Faith we pray no longer than we believe Prayer shall be heard We knock no longer at Gods door than Faith seeth we are welcom When a man feels guilt of sin yet Faith seeth the Lord will pardon it for his own name-sake Who is a God like unto Mica 7. 18. thee that pardons iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage He will turn again he will have compassion on us he will subdue i. e. pardon our iniquities so the word signifies and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea When a man feels the strength of sin yet Faith seeth that the Lord will waste and subdue it and doth not this bear up grace from sinking With what courage doth grace fight against sin when Faith tells her God is on your side and you shall overcome Faith finds and feels rest in trouble Vnto the upright there Psal 112. 4. ariseth light in the darkness The life of a Christian is a life of Faith which is a life contrary to sense and reason when the Lord kills what Doth he intend then to save me yes that he doth saith Faith and therefore Though he kill me yet will I trust in him and thus is grace inlivened When the Lord binds me in Cords of misery doth he intend me any good Yes saith Faith he intends to teach thee and instruct thee Blessed is he whom thou chastenest O Lord Psal 94. 12. Vers 13. and teachest him out of thy law that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity WHILE the pit is digged for the wicked Faith informs the Soul that God is upon a good work whilst he is binding and breaking his people Oh! he is teaching them some high and holy lesson his corrections are their instructions He is preparing them for a day of prosperity As 't is in the next verse That thou mayst give him rest from the days of adversity while the pit is digged for the wicked Where take notice of these two Things 1. While God is chastising his People he is preparing them for a day of smiles and felicities When he was breaking Job upon the wheel of Affliction he was but preparing him for a greater day of Honour and Prosperity 2. While God by chastisements is preparing his people for some greater happiness at that very time he is preparing a Gallows for the wicked he is digging their pit to bury them in That thou mayst give him rest from the day of adversity while the pit is digged for the wicked While the Jews were under a Cloud and God preparing deliverance for them he was at that very time preparing Hamans Gallows The wicked like condemned men are suffered to live till their Gallows and Grave be made ready Now Faith is well read in Divine Mysteries in Gods proceedings she acquaints the soul that God by chastising and touching the Body is teaching her that his strokes are not huntful Nocumenta sunt Documenta Secondly The Lord increaseth grace in his People by preserving a tenderness upon their Consciences 't is grace that makes the Conscience tender and that tenderness nurseth up grace with exquisite care in the soul The most tender hearted nurse is not more chary of her dear Babe to give it suck keep it clean preserve it from harms and see it come on and prosper than the tender Conscience is of her grace the sweet Babe of the Holy Ghost within her Blessed yea thrice blessed are they to whom God hath given a tender conscience As grace withers and shrinks up by an hardness coming upon the heart so grace improves mightily in a soft and tender soyl 1. The tender Conscience startles at secret sins as well as open sins to sin in the dark as well as in the light his Memento or if you please his Motto is Shall not God search this out Psal 44. 21. He fears Gods Eye more than all the Worlds eye The tender Conscience trembleth at your cunning arts and ways of sinning whereby in your bargains you can bring about your covetous desires under hand and no man discern you You call only those sins secret that are done in a corner but if in your publick dealings you can by your subtilties come over another Are not these secret sins too Tender conscience cannot swallow them And is not grace growing now 2. Tender conscience is quick and sensitive of small sins vain thoughts idle words lesser oaths wanton glances wishes and motions to sin He knows no duty small because there 's no Commandment small he calls no sin little because there 's no poyson little no death little no hell little and doth not this give strength to grace 3. The tender conscience smites the Saint after he hath sinned as oft as he sinneth After sin committed his heart gives him no rest till he hath made his peace with God If corrupt nature cannot but sin yet renewed conscience cannot but repent of sin it cannot but rise again if God be offended it cannot but meet him with humiliation if Man be wronged it cannot but make restitution or satisfaction as Zacheus did When David had sinned in numbring the people his heart smote him I have sinned greatly in that I have done Surely 2 Sam. 24. 10. grace gets ground by this 4. Tender conscience trembles at the appearance of evil as some eyes cannot abide to look on the Picture or Image of a Toad that which looks like sin he abhors it it scares a holy soul from any enterprize if it be but male coloratum an ill aspect Every thing that might any way redound to the wounding of Religion or at which any offence might be taken he entertains it not and doth not this give nutriment to grace 5. Tender conscience is jealous of the appearance of good as it hates the appearance of evil so it dares not always trust every appearance of good The tender conscience as far as it hath light will try all things and hold fast only what is good not what seems so Satan deceives more easily and destroys more dangerously when he assumes the shape of an Angel of light That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination Luk. 16. 15. in the sight of God 6. Tender conscience takes heed of what he knows lawful He doth not only fly what appears evil and try what appears good but
when he saith Touch his bone and his flesh he aims at deep affliction Touch him so as that his very bones may shatter that the very pillars may shake Touch him so as that the pain and distemper may sink into his very bones into his marrow the bone it self is a part without feeling yet to touch the bone impotts the greatest pain that can be felt 4. Satan if he prevails at the first on-set in the beginning of a temptation he drives on furiously and takes advantage to rout the whole soul As a Troop of Horse that having once broke the rank goeth on fiercely hoping thereby to rout the whole body so doth Satan you may see it in the pitcht battel which he sought with Peter Peter you know goeth after Jesus to the high priests Palace there Peter unawares doth as it were draw out into the field Well the Devil resolves to enter into Battalia with him Simon Simon saith Christ Behold Satan hath desired to have you that Lnk. 22. 31. he may sift you as wheat And there he doth first skirmish with Peter and sends out a Damsel against him Thou also Matth. 26. 69. 70. wast with Jesus of Galilee but he denied before them all saying I know not what thou sayest Here she breaks the rank and gets in upon Peter and what doth Satan do now He drives on furiously takes the present advantage and sends another maid and she chargeth him more strongly for she saith to them that were there This Vers 71. fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth Mark ye this fellow and she saith it unto them that were there round about him A worse charge than the former And again he denieth with an oath But Satan follows on still and now draws up Vers 72. Vers 73. his whole body against Peter After a while came unto him they that stood by a stronger multitude still and said unto Peter Surely thou also art one of them for thy speech bewrayeth thee Vers 74. Then began he to curse and to swear saying I know not the man And now he routs Peter and disperseth all his forces for saith the Text He began to curse and to swear saying I know not the man And here you have a second particular Satan is armed with malice against souls Thirdly Satan is armed with pride As David saith The 3 Particular Psal 10. 2. wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor Let them be taken in the device they have imagined Fourthly and lastly Another reason that helps Satan on well 4 Particular in his devices is because he hath a large conscience Indeed he hath no conscience Satan hath conscience of sin but he makes no conscience of sin he hath conscience of sin that is smiting him with sense of guilt but he makes no conscience of sin and therefore can do any thing As a man that makes nothing of sin to swear nor lye he may carry on any design he may grow rich Now the Devil is such he will swear and dissemble and lye and therefore may carry any design on foot He did lye to Eve in paradise and he was a lying spirit in the mouth of Gen. 3. 5. 1 King 22. 22. Ahabs Prophets Vse 1. The first Vse is this If Satan be so learned and exquisite an artist in the Trade of deceiving souls then let us not be ignorant of his devices as the Apostle saith but be fore-warn'd and fore-arm'd In the handling of this Vse I shall discover Satans plots and temptations Satan doth tempt men First Before conversion Secondly Satan tempts men in conversion And thirdly Satan tempts men after conversion 1. Satan tempts men before conversion that they may not be converted First To delay their repentance till they be sick When we are sick then we will repent Pain and weakness of body is no advantage to repentance and returning unto God it unfits the soul for action Hence observe what the Apostle James saith when he reckons up the several conditions of the Saints Is any among you afflicted let him pray he speaks Jam. 5. 13 14. that in general but saith he Is any sick among you let him call for the elders of the Church and let them pray over him As if he had said a sick man can hardly pray for himself Is any among you afflicted let him pray In afflictions a man can pray for himself But is any sick among you Let him call for the elders of the Church and let them pray over him As if he should say a sick man cannot pray for himself he hath enough to do to wrestle with his pain and conflict he hath need to call others to pray for him A diseased body unfits the mind for holy duties and therefore sick Hezekiah's praying Isa 38. 14. is called chattering like a crane or a swallow so did I chatter The pain of his body wrought such a disquietness and uncomposedness upon his spirit that he could not pray but chatter or like a crane or a swallow so did I chatter that is I Annotat. could not speak but sigh and groan or I was so full of pain that my Prayers were very quick and short not sentences but words not words but syllables not plain syllables but chatterings How pitiful then are they mistaken who put off repentance till their bodies be in pain till they are sick or weak They do it upon this ground because when the body is sick they think repentance is easie It is quite otherwise And therefore did Satan aim to make Job sick Satan was Job 2. 5. confident to trouble the mind of Job by casting Darts and Diseases into his body by making Job sick he hoped to make Job blaspheme and curse God Touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse thee to thy face If Satan thought by pain and sickness to make Job blaspheme God Dost thou think that pain will be an advantage to thee to turn to God It is said in Revelations at the pouring out of the fourth Chap. 16. 9. vial when they were scorcht with great heat they blasphemed God and they repented not to give him glory Let wicked men be scorcht with a feaver or with a pestilence or sickness and 't is the way to make them blaspheme God and therefore 't is a woful thing to put off repentance to a pained body pain in its own nature fits us rather to blaspheme and fly upon God than fly to God Never think it is one thing what God may make use of but do you never think to have help for the cure of your souls by the diseases of your bodies Usually we find that either sick persons repent not or theirs is but a sickly repentance Indeed a long and lingering sickness may do much there is a time wherein the understanding may act deliberately and the work may be digested but a short sickness and a short repentance such as it is I
is coy of what he knows lawful You will say this is pure niceness nee lless preciseness I tell you you know not the Scriptures All things are lawful but all things are not expedient All things are lawful for 1 Cor. 6. 12. 1 Cor. 10. 23. me but all things edifie not The judicious tender conscience asks Bernards three Questions An Liceat An Deceat An Expediat Is it lawful May I do it and not sin But suppose it be lawful Is it comely Is it becoming me a Christian May I do it and not reflect upon my Profession Is it expedient May I do it and not offend my weak Brother There are some things we must deny our selves for others sakes Things that are evil we must deny them for our own sakes and many lawful things we must deny for others sakes If meat make my brother to offend I will eat no 1 Cor. 8 13. flesh while the world stands lest I make my brother to offend 7. The tender conscience observes as well what he hoth not as what he doth regards omissions as well as commissions Our Lord Christ was as much displeased with Peters disswasion of him from suffering as with Satans perswasion to fall down and worship him his answer was the same to both Get thee behind me Satan Thou must as well observe what thou doest not as what thou doest The tender conscience takes notice of every opportunity he hath to do good trembleth to neglect duty as much as to act sin Thirdly God advanceth grace in his People by preserving their appetite to Ordinances They that are not hungry cannot feed It is uncomfortable to come with a full stomack to a full Table They look upon the dishes while others eat of them These may talk of Christ and Religion but the others feed on them A mans graces cannot grow strong unless he feed and he cannot feed unless he is hungry And therefore God adds strength to his Saints graces by preserving appetite in them to his Ordinances When Peter was hungry he heard a voice saying Rise and Act. 10. 13. eat It is Gods delight to fill the hungry with good things Luk. 1. 53. Matth. 5. 6. And this it is that Christ stiles them Blessed Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled Hunger though it speaks want yet there 's a blessedness attends it They shall be filled 'T is a strange promise that a man should be filled for no other reason but because he is hungry Among men it is not so In the Gospel the poor mans hunger is his Blessing In the World the poor mans hunger is his misery because men are not willing to feed him as oft as he is hungry and therefore the poor man of the world could wish he might be never a hungry But in the Gospel through Gods free-grace and bounty Blessed are the hungry for they shall be filled Their appetite makes them eat Christ and eat promises and eat pardon of sin and eating makes them strong Their hunger makes them prize Ordinances and the Gospel provisions when they are called they come to the marriage they do not make excuses but come to the supper and these guests God himself bids them welcom and carves unto them and therefore their graces must needs thrive God accepts our appetite as much as if we paid ready money for his graces Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the Isa 55. 1. waters buy and eat Their hunger is instead of a price their thirst pleaseth him as much as payment and therefore Blessed are the hungry for they shall be filled What made Davids graces thrive so well but his appetite to the Ordinances One thing have I desired of the Lord that I may dwell in the house of the Lord and to enquire in his Psal 27. 4. temple O God thou art my God My soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee To see thy power and thy Psal 63. 1 2. glory so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary David had a keen-appetite after the Ordinances and his appetite made his graces strong I say his appetite made him relish the word How sweet are thy words unto my taste Psal 119. 103. yea sweeter than honey to my mouth And this made him feed so heartily when he came My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness Psal 63. 5. And now grace must needs grow because their palate is qualified for such delicates they taste them with a transporting delight and feed upon them with extream pleasure Thus God animates and strengthens his Saints graces by preserving a fresh appetite in them to Ordinances And how doth he preserve their appetite to Ordinances Because this is so necessary to keep grace alive and vigorous in the soul therefore you shall find God runs various Methods to accomplish it 1. He keeps their sins in their eye or some special sin upon their Conscience My sin saith David is ever before Psal 51. 3. me Quietness within no trouble upon the Conscience will in time dull the appetite Men surfeit upon their peace within As a long peace corrupts a State and breeds sins and vices in it a still and standing pool is full of mud so a continued peace in the soul begets much vanity and many diseases in her Quietness takes away her stomach And therefore God represents some sin that we have done to the soul and stings the conscience with it and then the soul runs and looks up to the brazen Serpent God will not suffer your consciences to be quiet his design is to maintain an appetite in you to Ordinances 2. He hides their graces from them they think they have no grace at all or not true grace they have it there it is but God sends it to hide it self behind the curtain they cannot find it and then they cry and their spirits are stirred up now their appetite is rowsed they find an appetite to Prayer an appetite to Self-examination an appetite to Christ and to Ordinances God is fain to deal thus with them to hide their graces from them and then when they think they are lost they go from place to place to find them and at last they come as Joseph and Mary did to the Temple and there they find Christ This God doth to preserve and keep up your appetite 3. The growth of grace is hidden and concealed from them and here they make heavy complaints and conclude sadly against themselves Surely my graces are not of the true blood of the royal descent because they do not grow in me were they vital they would grow or else God hath forsaken me and I am under his sore and sad dissertion Thus they lye under the black Cloud their graces being true without question do grow and yet their growth of grace is hid from them And why doth the Lord carry things thus with them but to