Old Age to Covetousness and Frowardness Common experience tells us that many times Wantonness is the Sinners darling in the time of his youth and Worldliness his darling in the time of his age and without controversie Christians distinct and peculiar Ages may more strongly incline them to this or that Sin rather than any other or 5thly It may arise from that distinct and particular way of Breeding and Education which he has had Now to arm such Christians against their special Sins their peculiar sins whose Sins are advantaged against them either by their constitutions and complexion or else by their particular Calling or else by their outward state and condition or else by their distinct and peculiar ages or else by their particular way of Breeding and Education is my present work and business for though the raigning power of this or that special peculiar Sin be broken in a mans Conversion yet the remaining life and strength that is still left in those corruptions will by Satan be improved against the growth peace comfort and assurance of the soul Satan will strive to enter in at the same door and by the same Dalilah by which he hath betrayed and wounded the soul he will do all he can to do the soul a further mischief Satan will be still a reminding of the soul of those former sweets pleasures profits delights and contents that have come in upon the old score so that it will be a hard thing even for a Godly man to keep himself from his Iniquity from his special or peculiar Sin which the Fathers commonly call though not truly peccatum in delitiis a mans special darlin and beloved Sin Well Christians remember this once for all viz. That sound Conversion includes a noble and serious revenge upon that Sin which was once a mans beloved bosom darling Sin 2 Cor. 7. 11. Yea what clearing of your selves yea what Indignation yea what fear yea what vchement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge You see this in Cranmer who when he had subscribed with his right hand to that which was against his Conscience he afterwards as a holy revenge put that right hand into the flames so Mary Magdalen takes that hair of hers Of all Sins saith the sound Convert I am resolved to be avenged on my once beloved bosom darling Sins by which I have most dishonoured God and wronged my own precious and immortal soul and by which I have most endangered my everlasting Estate Having thus cleared up my way I shall now endeavour to lay before you some special remedies means or helps against cherishing or keeping up of any special or peculiar Sin either in heart or life against the Lord or against the light and conviction of a mans own Conscience First Cherrishing or keeping up of any special or peculiar Sin either in heart or life against the Lord or against the light and conviction of a mans own Conscience will hinder assurance these several ways First It will abate the degrees of our Graces and so make them more undiscernable Now grace rather in its degrees than in its sincerity or simple being only is that which gives the clearest evidence of a gracious estate or of a mans interest in Christ Sin lived in is like a Vermin to the Tree which destroys the fruit Grace cannot thrive in a sinful heart In some soyl Plants will not grow The cherrishing of Sin is the withering of Grace The casting of a favourable eye on any one special Sin hinders the growth of Grace If a man has a choyce Plant or Flower in his Garden and it withers and shrevils and is dying he opens the ground and looks at the root and there finds a Worm gnawing the root and this is the cause of the Flowers fading the Application is easie Secondly The cherrishing of any special peculiar Sin or the keeping up of any known transgression against the Lord and against the light of a mans own Conscience will hinder the lively actings and exercise of grace it will keep Grace at an under so that it will hardly be seen to stir or act yea it will keep Grace so down that it will hardly be heard to speak When a special or peculiar Sin is entertained it will exceedingly mar the vigorous exercises of those graces which are the evidences of a lively Faith and of a gracious state and of a mans Interest in Christ Grace is never apparent and sensible to the soul but while it is in action therefore want of action must needs cause want of assurance Habits are not felt immediately but by the freeness and facility of their acts of the very being of the soul it self nothing is felt or perceived but only its acts The fire that lyâ—th still in the flint is neither seen nor felt but when you smite it and force it into act it is easily discernable For the most part so long as a Christian hath his graces in lively action so long he is assured of them He that would be assured that this sacred fire of grace is in his heart he must blow it up and get it into a flame But Thirdly The cherrishing of any special Sin or the keeping up of any known transgression in heart or life against the Lord and against the light of a mans own Conscience so blears dimms and darkens the eye of the soul that it cannot see its own condition nor have any clear knowledge of its gracious state or of its interest in Christ c. Somtimes men in riding raise such a dust that they can neither see themselves nor their dearest Friends so as to distinguish one from another the Application is easie The Room somtimes is so full of smoak that a man cannot see the Jewels the Treasures that lyes before him so 't is here But Fourthly Cherrishing of any special or peculiar Sin or the keeping up of any known transgression against the Lord or against the light of a mans own Conscience provokes the Lord to withdraw himself his comforts and the gracious presence and assistance of his blessed Spirit without which presence and assistance the soul may search and seek long enough for assurance comfort and a sight of a mans interest in Christ before it will enjoy the one or see the other If by keeping up of any known transgression against the Lord you set the holy Spirit a mourning which alone can comfort you and assure you of your interest in Christ You may walk long enâ—ugh without comfort and assurance Lam. 1. 16. The Comforter that should relieve my Soul is far from me so in that 1 John 3. 21. It is supposed that a self-condemning heart makes void a mans Confidence before God The precious Jewel of Faith can be holden in no other place but in a pure Conscience that is the only Royal Palace wherein it must and will dwell 1 Tim. 1. 19. Holding Faith and a good Conscience Heb. 10. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience He
that comes to God with a true honest upright heart being sprinkled from an evil Conscience may draw near to God in full assurance of Faith whereas guilt clouds clogs and distracts the soul that it can never be with God either as it would or as it should Conscientia pura semper secura A good Conscience hath sure confidence Conscience is mille testes a thousand Witnesses for or against a man Conscience is Gods Preacher in the bosom 'T is better with Euagrius to lye secure on a bed of Straw than to have a turbulent Conscience on a bed of Down It was a Divine saying of Seneca a Heathen viz. That if there were no God to punish him no Devil to torment him no Hell to burn him no man to see him yet would he not sin for the ugliness of sin and the grief of his own Conscience But Fifthly Cherrishing of any special or peculiar sin or the keeping up of any known transgression in heart or life against the Lord and against the light of a mans own Conscience will greatly hinder his high esteem and reputation of Jesus Christ and so it will keep him from comfort assurance and sight of his interest in him so that somtimes his dearest Children are constrained to cry out God is departed from me and he answereth me not neither by Dream nor Vision neither this way nor that 1 Sam. 28. 15. But Sixthly The greatest and most common cause of the want of assurance comfort and peace is some unmortified Lust some secret special peculiar sin unto which men give entertainment or at least which they do not so vigorously oppose and heartily renounce as they should and might hinc illae lachrymae and this is that which casts them on sore straits and difficulties and how should it be otherwise seeing God who is infinitely wise holy and righteous either cannot or will not reveal the secrets of his love to those who harbour his known Enemies in their bosoms the great God either cannot or will not regard the whinings and complainings of those who play or dally with that very sin which gauls their Consciences and connive and wink at the stirrings and workings of that very Lust for which he hides his face from them and writes bitter things against them Mark all fears and doubts and scruples are begotten upon sin either real or imaginary Now if the sin be but imaginary an enlightned rectified judgment may easily and quickly scatter such fears doubts and scruples as the Sun doth mists and clouds when it shines in its brightness but if the Sin be real then there is no possibility of curing those fears doubts and scruples arising from thence but by an unfained Repentance and returning from that sin Now if I should produce all the Scriptures and instances that stand ready prest to prove this I must transcribe a good part of the Bible but this would be labour in vain seeing it seemeth to have been a notion engraven even on natural Conscience viz. That sin so defiles persons that till they be washed from it neither they nor their services can be accepted from whence arose that custom of setting water-pots at their entrance into their Temples or places of worship Let him that wants assurance comfort peace and a sight of his interest in Christ cast out every known sin and set upon a universal course of Reformation for God will not give his Cordials to those that have a foul Stomack those that against light and checks of Conscience dally and tamper with this sin or that those God will have no commerce no communion with on such God will not lift up the light of his countenance Rev. 2. 17. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone and in that stone a new name written These are all Metaphorical expressions which being put together do amount to as much as Assurance but mark these are promised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to him that overcometh to him that rides on conquering and to conquer O that Christians would seriously remember this The dearer it cost any one to part with his sins the more sweet and comfortable will it be to call to mind the Victory that through the spirit of grace he has got over his sins There is no comfort joy or peace to that which arises from the conquests of sin especially of special sins When Goliah was slain what joy and triumph was there in the Camp So here Seventhly Cherrishing of any special or peculiar sin or the keeping up of any known transgression either in heart or life against the Lord and against the light of a mans own Conscience will hinder the soul from that warm lively fervent frequent seasonable sincere and constant way of duty as contributes most to the increase of grace peace comfort and assurance c. Eighthly Seriously consider of the several assertions and concurrent judgments of our best and most famous Divines in the present case I shall give you a tast of some of their Sayings First A man saith one can have no peace in his Conscience that favoureth and retaineth any one sin in himself against his Conscience Secondly Another saith A man is in a damnable state whatsoever good deeds seem to be in him if he yield not to the work of the Holy Ghost for the leaving but of any one known sin which fighteth against peace of Conscience But Thirdly So long saith another as the power of mortification destroyeth thy sinful affections and so long as thou art unfainedly displeased with all sin and doest mortifie the deeds of the body by the Spirit thy case is the case of Salvation But Fourthly Another saith A good Conscience stands not with a purpose of sinning no not with irresolution against sin this must be understood of habitual purposes and of a constant irresolution against sin Fifthly The rich and precious box of a good Conscience saith another is polluted and made impure if but one dead fly be suffered in it One sin being quietly permitted and suffered to live in the soul without being disturbed resisted resolved against or lamented over will certainly mar the peace of a good Conscience Sixthly Where there is but any one sin saith another nourished and fostered all other our graces are not only blemished but abolished they are no graces Dike of the deceiptfulness of the heat chap. 16. Seventhly Most true is that saying of Aquinus That all sins are coupled together though not in regard of conversion to temporal good for some look to the good of gain some of glory some of pleasure yet in regard of aversion from eternal good that is God So that he that looks but towards one sin is as much averted and turned back from God as if he looked to all in which respect St. James says He that offâ—ndeth
life against the Lord or against the Light Conviction of a mans own Conscience Before I come to the Resolution of this Question I shall promise a few things that may clear my way 1. First When mens hearts are sincere with God when they don't indulge cherrish or keep up any known Trangression in their hearts or lives against the Lord. They may on very good grounds plead an interest in God in Christ and in the Covenant of Grace though their Corruptions prevail against them and too frequently worst them and lead them Captive as is most evident in these speciâ—l Scriptures 2 Sam. 23. 5. Psal 65. 3. Rom. 7. 23. 25. Isa 6â— 16 17 19. Jer. 14. 7 8 9. Hos 14. 1 2 3 4 8. But now when any mans heart doth condemn him for dealing deceitfully and guilefully with God in this or that or the other particular or for connivings or winking at any known Transgression that is kept up either in his heart or life against the Lord and against the light of his own Conscience which he will not let go nor in good earnest use the means whereby it should be subdued and mortified It is inot to be expected that such a person can come to any clearness or satisfaction about their interest in Christ and the Covenant of Grace and their right to the great things of that other world when a person will dally with sin and will be playing with snares and baits allow a secret liberty in his heart to sin conniving at many workings of it and not setting upon Mortification with earnest endeavours though they are convinced yet they are not perswaded to arise with all their might against the Lords Enemies but do his work negligently which is an accursed thing and for this God caâ—â—s such a person into sore straits and lets him wander in the dark without any sight sense or assurance of their gracious estate or interest in Christ c. The Isâ—acâ—â—â—es should perfectly have rooted out the Canaanites but because they did it but by halfs and did not engage all their power and strength against them therefore God left them to be as Thorns in their eyes and as Goads in their sides So when men have taken Christ's Press-money and are engaged to fight with all their might against those Rebels that war against him in their hearts ways and walkings and to persue the Victory to the utmost till their Spiritual Enemies lye dead at their feet and yet they do but trifle and make slender opposition against their sins This provokes God to stand afar off and to hide his Reconciled Face from them 'T is true when men are really in Christ they ought not to question their state in him but yet a guilty Conscience will be clamorous and full of objections and God will not speak peace unto it till it be humbled at his foot God will make his dearest Children know that it is a bitter thing to be bold with sin Now before I lay down the Remedies give me leave to shew you what it is to indulge sin or when a man may be said to indulge or cherish or keep up any known Transgression in his Soul against the Lord now for a clear understanding of me in this particular take me thus First To indulge sin or to cherrish it It is to make daily provision for it Rom. 13. ult it is to give the Breast to it and to feed it and nourish it as fond Parents do feed and humour the sick Child the darling Child it must have what it will and do what it will it must not be crost Now when men ordinarily habitually commonly are studious and laborious to make provision for sin then sin is indulged by them But Secondly When sin is commonly habitually sweet and pleasant to the Soul when a man takes a daily pleasure and delight in sin then sin is indulged 2 Thes 2. 12. You read of them that had pleasure in Unrighteousness Isa 66. 3. And their Soul delighteth in their Abominations Prov. 2. 14. who rejoyce to do evil c. Thirdly When men commonly habitually side with sin and take up Armes in the desence of sin and in defiance of the commands of God the motions of the Spirit the checks of Conscience and the reproofs of others then sin is indulged But Fourthly When men ordinarily habitually do yeild a quiet free willing and total subjection to the Authority and commands of sin then sin is indulged that man that is wholly addicted and devoted to the service of sin that man indulges sin Now in none of these senses does any Godly man indulge any one sin in his Soul Though sin lives in him yet he doth not live in sin Every man that hath drink in him is not in drink A Child of God may slip into a sin as a Sheep may slip into the mire but he does not nor cannot wallow in sin as the Swine does in the mire nor yet keep on in a Road of sin as Sinners do Psal 139. 24. See if there be any way of Wickedness in me A course a Trade of sin is not consistent with the truth or state of grace Job 10. 7. Thou knowest that I am not Wicked He doth not say thou knowest that I am not a Sinner or thou knowest that I have not sinned No! for the best of Saints are Sinners though the worst and weakest of Saints are not wicked Every real Christian is a renewed Christian every renewed Christian takes his denomination from his renovation and not from the remainers of Corruptions in him and therefore such a one may well look God in the Face and say Lord thou knowest that I am not Wicked Weaknesses are chargeable upon me but Wickednesses are not chargeable upon me And certainly that man gives a strong demonstration of his own uprightness who dares appeal to God himself that he is not wicked That no Godly man does or can indulge himself in any course or way or Trade of sin may be thus made evident First He sins not with allowance when he does evil he disallows of the evil he does Rom. 7. 15. For that which I do I allow not A Christian is sometimes wherried and whirled away by sin before he is a ware or hath time to consider of it See Psal 119. 1. 3. 1 Joh. 3. 9. Prov. 16. 12. Secondly A Godly man hates all known sin Psal 119. 128. I hate every false way True hatred is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against the whole kind That contrariety to sin which is in a real Christian springs from an inward gracious nature or principle and so is to the whole species or kind of sin and is irreconcileable to any sin whatsoever As contrarieties of nature are to the whole kind as light is contrary to darkness and fire to all water so this contrariety to all sin arising from the inward man is universal to all sin He who hates a Toad because it
A gracious Soul looks upon sin with as evil and as envious an eye as Saul look'd on David when the evil spirit was upon him O! saith Saul that I was but once well rid of this David and O saith a gracious Soul that I was but once well rid of this proud heart this hard heart this unbelieving heart this unclean heart this earthly heart this froward heart of mine Tenthly Every Godly man complains of his known sins and mourns over his known sins and would be fain rid of his known sins as might be made evident out of many scores of â—cripture 7 Job 21. 51. Psal 14. Hos 2. Eleventhly Every gracious Soul sets himself mostly resolutely valiantly and habitually against his special sins his constitution sins his most prevalent sins Psal 18. 23. I was also upright before him and I kept my self from mine Iniquity Certainly that which is the special sin of a Godly man is his special burden it is not delighted in but lamented there is no sin which costs him so much sorrow as that to which either the temper of his body or the occasions of his life leads him That sin which he finds his heart most set upon he sets his heart his whole soul most against The Scripture gives much evidence that David though a man after Gods own heart was very apt to fall into the sin of Lying he used many unlawful shifts we read of his often faultring in that kind when he was in straits and hard put to it 1 Sam. 21. 2. 8. 1 Sam. 27. 8 10 c. but it is as clear in Scripture that his heart was set against lying and that it was the grief and daily burden of his Soul Certainly that sin is a mans greatest burden and grief which he prays most to be delivered from O! how earnestly did David pray to be delivered from the sin of lying Psal 119. 29. Keep me from the way of lying And as he prayed earnestly against lying so he as earnestly detested it ver 163. I hate and abhor Lying Though Lying was Davids special sin yet he hated and abhorred it as he did Hell it self And he tells us how he was affected or afflicted rather with that sin whatsoever it was which was his Iniquity Psal 31. 10 my life is spent with grief and my years with sighings my strength faileth and my bones are consumed or Moth-eaten as the Hebrew has it here are deep expressions of a troubled Spirit and why all this Mark he gives you the reason of it in the same verse because of mine Iniquity as if he had said there is a base corruption which so haunts and doggs me that my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing He found it seems his heart running out to some sin or other which yet was so far from being a beloved sin a bosom sin a darling sin that it was the breaking of his heart and the consumption of his bones So Psal 38. 18. I will declare mine Iniquity I will be sorry for my sin There is no sin that a gracious heart is more perfectly set against than against his special sin for by this sin God first has been most dishonored and secondly Christ most crucified and thirdly the Spirit most grieved and fourthly Conscience most wounded and fifthly Satan most advantaged and sixthly Mercies most imbittered and seaventhly Duties most hindred and eighthly Fears and doubts most raised and increased and ninethly Afflictions most multiplied and tenthly Death made most formidable and terrible and therefore he breaks out against this sin with the greatest detestation and abhorrency Ephraims special sin was Idolatry Hos 4. 17. he thought the choicest gold and silver in the world hardly good enough to frame his Idols of But when it was the day of the Lords gracious power upon Ephraim than he thought no place bad enough to cast his choicest Idols into as you may see by comparing of these Scriptures together Hos 14. 8. Isa 2. 20. and chap. 30. 22. True grace will make a man stand stoutly and stedfastly on Gods side and work the heart to take part with him against a mans special sins though they be as right hands or right eyes True grace will lay hands upon a mans special sins and cry out to Heaven Lord Crucifie them Crucifie them down with them down with them even to the ground Lord do justice do speedy justice do signal justice do exemplary justice upon these special sins of mine Lord how down root and branch let the very stumps of this Dagon be broken all in pieces Lord curse this wild â—ig-tree that never more fruit may grow thereon But Twelfthly There is no time wherein a gracious Soul cannot sincerely say with the Apostle in that Hâ—b 13. 18. Pray for us for we trust we have a good Conscience in all things willingly to live honestly gracious hearts affect that which they cannot effect So Acts 24. 16. And herein do I exercise my self to have always a Conscience voyd of offence towards God and towards men in all cases in all places by all means and at all times a sincere Christian labours to have a good Conscience void of offence towards God and towards men Prov. 16. 17. The high-way of the upright is to depart from evil that is it is the ordinary usual constant course of an upright man to depart from evil An honest Traveller may step out of the Kings high-way into a House a Wood a Close but his work his business is to go on in the Kings high-way so the business the work of an upright man is to depart from evil 'T is possible for an upright man to step into a sinful path or to touch upon sinful facts but his main way his principal work and business is to depart from Iniquity as a Bee may light upon a Thistle but her work is to be gathering at flowers or as a Sheep may slip into the dirt but its work is to be grazing upon the Mountains or in the Meadows but Thirteenthly and lastly Jesus Christ is the real Christians only Beloved he is the Saints only darling 2 Can. 3. As the Apple-tree among the Trees of the Wood so is my Beloved among the Sons ver 8. The vâ—yce of my Beloved behold he cometh leaping upon the Mountains and skiping upon the hills ver 9. My Beloved is like a Roe or a young Hart ver 10. My Beloved spake and said unto me Rise up my Love my fair one and come away ver 17. Turn my Beloved and be thou like a Roe or a young Hart upon the Mountains of Bether Can. 4. 16. Let my Beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant fruits Seven times Christ is called the Beloved of his Spouse in the fifth of Canticles and twice in the sixth Chapter and four times in the seaventh Chapter and once in the eighth Chapter In this Book of Solomons Song Christ is called the Churches Beloved just twenty
those sad changes and dreadful providences that would have broke a thousand of such mens hearts upon whom God and Conscience could charge beloved sins bosom sins darling sins But Thirdly In the day of death Death is the King of terrors as Job speaks and the terror of Kings as the Philosopher speaks Oh how terrible will this King of terrors be to that man upon whom God and Conscience can charge beloved sins bosom sins darling sins This is certain when a wicked man comes to die all the sins that ever he committed don 't so grieve him and terrifie him so sad him and sink him and raise such horrors and terrors in him and put him into such a hell on this side Hell as his beloved sins his bosom sins his darling sins and had Saints their beloved sins their bosom sins their darling sins Ah what a Hell of horror and terror would these sins raise in their souls when they come to lye upon a dying Bed But now when a Child of God shall lye upon a dying Bed and shall be able to say Lord thou knowest and Conscience thou knowest that though I have had many and great failings yet there are no beloved sins no bosom sins no darling sins that are chargeable upon me Lord thou knowest and Conscience thou knowest 1. That there is no known sin that I don't hate and abhor 2. That there is no known sin that I don't combat and conflict with 3. That there is no known sin that I don't grieve and mourn over 4. That there is no known sin that I would not presently freely willingly and heartily be rid of 5. That there is no known sin that I don 't in some weak measure endeavour in the use of holy means to be delivered from 6. That there is no known sin the effectual subduing and mortifying of which would not administer matter of the greatest joy and comfort to me Now when God and Conscience shall acquit a man upon a dying Bed of beloved sins of bosom sins of darling sins who can express the joy the comfort the peace the support that such an acquittance will fill a man with Fourthly In the day of Account the vâ—ry thoughts of which day too many is more terrible than Death it self such Christians as are Captivated under the power of this opinion viz. That the Saints have their beloved sins their bosom sins their darling sins such cannot but greatly fear and tremble to appear before the Tribunal of God O! saith such poor hearts how shall we be able to answer for beloved sins our bosom sins our darling sins as for infirmities weaknesses and follies that has attended us we can plead with God and tell him Lord when Grace has been weak Corruptions strong Temptations great and thy Spirit withdrawn and we off from our Watch we have been worsted and captivated But what shall we say as to our beloved sins our bosom sins our darling sins O these fill us with terror and horror and how shall we be able to hold up our heads before the Lord when he shall reckon with us for these sins But now when a poor Child of God thinks of the day of Account and is able through grace to say Lord though we cannot clear our selves of infirmities and many sinful weaknesses yet we can comfortably appeal in thee and our Consciences that we have no beloved sins no bosom sins no darling sins O with what comfort confidence and boldness will such poor hearts hold up their heads in the day of Account when a Christian can plead those six things before a Judgment seat that he pleaded in the third particular when he lay upon a dying Bed how will his fears vanish and how will his hopes and and hopes and heart revive and how comfortably and boldly will he stand before a Judgment-Seat But Ninethly This opinion that is now under consideration has a very great tendancy to discourage and deaden the hearts of Christians to the most noble and spiritual duties of Religion viz. 1. Praising of God 2. Delighting in God 3. Rejoycing in God 4. Admiring of God 5. Taking full content and satisfaction in God 6. Witnessing for God his Truth his Ordinances and ways 7. To self-tryal and self-examination 8. To the making of their Calling and Election sure I cannot see with what comfort confidence or courage such souls can apply themselves to the Eight duties last mentioned who lye under the power of this opinion viz. That Saints have their beloved sins their bosom sins their darling sins But now when a Christian is clear and he can clear himself as every sincere Christian can of beloved sins of bosom sins of darling sins how is he upon the advantage ground to fall in roundly with all the Eight duties last mentioned But Tenthly and lastly This opinion that is now under consideration has a very great tendency to discourage multitudes of Christians from coming to the Lords Table I would willingly know with what comfort with what confidence with what hope with what expectation of good from God or of good from the Ordinance can such Souls draw near to the Lords Table who lye under the power of this opinion or perswasion that they carry about with them their bosom sins their beloved sins their darling sins How can such souls expect that God should meet with them in the Ordinance and bless the Ordinance to them How can such souls expect that God should make that great Ordinance to be strengthening comforting refreshing establishing and enriching unto them How can such souls expect that in that Ordinance God should Seal up to them his Eternal Loves their Interest in Christ their Right to the Covenant their Title to Heaven and the Remission of their sins who bring to his Table their beloved sins their bosom sins their darling sins But now when the People of God draw near to the Table of the Lord and can appeal to God that though they have many sinful failings and infirmities hanging upon them yet they have no beloved sins no bosom sins no darling sins that they carry about with them How comfortably and confidently may they expect that God will make that great Ordinance a blessing to them and that in time all those glorious ends for which that Ordinance was appointed shall be accomplished in them and upon them Now by these ten Arguments you may see the weakness and falseness yea the dangerous nature of that opinion that many worthy men have so long Preacht Maintained and Printed to the World viz. That the Saints have their beloved sins their bosom sins their darling sins neither do I wonder that they should be so sadly out in this particular when I consider how apt men are to receive things by Tradition without bringing of things to a strict examination and when I consider what strange definitions of Faith many famous worthy men have given both in their writings and Preachings and when I consider what a
to himself or others it will also put a sting into all a mans troubles afflictions and distresses it will also lay a foundation for dispair and it will make Death which is the King of terrors and the terror of Kings to be very terrible to the soul Twenty-two The keeping up of any known transgression against the Lord either in heart or life will fight against all those patterns and examples in holy Writ that in duty and honour we are bound to immitate and follow Pray where do you find in any of the blessed Scriptures that any of the Patriarks Prophets Apostles or Saints are ever charged with a willing or a wilfull keeping up either in their hearts or lives any known transgression against the Lord. Twenty-three The keeping up of any known transgression against the Lord will highly make against all clear sweet and standing communion with God Parents use not to smile nor be familiar with their Children nor to keep up any intimate communion with them in their neglects and disobedience 't is so here Twenty-four The keeping up either in heart or life of any known transgression against the Lord will fight against the standing joy peace comfort and assurance of the soul Joy in the Holy-Ghost will make its nest no where but in a holy soul so far as the Spirit is grieved he will suspend his consolations Lam. 1. 16. A man will have no more comfort from God than he makes Conscience of sinning against God A Conscience good in point of Integrity will be good also in point of Tranquility If our hearts condemn us not then have we considence towards God and I may say also towards men Act. 24. 16 Oh what comfort and solace hath a clear Conscience he hath somthing within to answer accusations without I shall conclude this particular with a notable saying of one of the Ancients The joys of a good Conscience are the Paradise of Souls the delight of Angels the Garden of delights the Field of blessing the Temple of Solomon the Court of God the habitation of the Spirit Bernard Twenty-five The keeping up of any known transgression either in heart or life against the Lord is a high contempt of the All seeing Eye of God of the Omnipresence of God It is well known what Ahashuerus that great Monarch said concerning Haman when coming in he found him cast upon the Queens bed on which she sate What saith he will he force the Queen before me in the house Esth 7. 8. There was the killing Emphasis in the words before me Will he force the Queen before me What will he dare to commit such a Villany and I stand and look on O Sirs to do wickedly in the sight of God is a thing that he looks upon as the greatest affront and indignity that can possibly be done unto him What saith he whilt thou be Drunk before me and Swear and Blaspheam before me and be wanton and unclean before me and break my Laws before my Eyes This then is the killing aggravation of all sin that it is done before the Face of God in the presence of God whereas the very consideration of Gods Omnipresence that he stands and looks on should be as a Bâ—r a Remora to stop the proceedings of all wicked intendments a disswasive rather from sin than the least encouragement thereunto 'T was an excellent saying of Ambrose If thou canst not hide thy self from the Sun which is Gods Minister of light how impossible will it be to hide thy self fâ—om him whose Eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun Ambrose offic l. 1. c. 14. Gods Eye is the best Marshal to keep the Soul in a comely order Let thine Eye be ever on him whose Eye is ever on thee The Eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good Prov. 15. 9. There is no drawing of a Curtain between God and thee God is totus Oculus all Eye He seeth all things in all places and at all times When thou art in secret consider Conscience is present which is more than a thousand Witnesses and God is present which is more than a thousand Consciences It was a pretty fancy of one that would have his Chamber painted full of eyes that which way soever he lookt he might still have some eyes upon him and he fancying himself according to the Moralists advice always under the eye of a Keeper might be the more careful of his carriage O! Sirs if the eyes of men makes even the vilest to forbear their beloved lusts for a while that the Adulterer watcheth for the twy-light and they that are Drunken are Drunken in the Night How powerful will the Eye and Presence of God be with those that fear His Anger and know the sweetness of his Favour The thought of this Omnipresence of God will affrighten thee from sin Gehezi durst not ask or receive any part of Nahamans Presents in his Masters presence but when he had got out of Elisha's sight then he tells his Lye and gives way to his Lusts Men never sin more freely then when they presume upon secrecy They break in pieces thy people O Lord and afflict thy Heritage They slay the Widdow and Stranger and murder the Fatherless yet they say The Lord doth not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard it Psal 94. 5 6 7. They who abounded in abominations said The Lord seeth us not the Lord hath forsaken the Earth Ezek. 8 9 12. The wise man disswadeth from wickedness upon the consideration of Gods Eye and Omniscience And why wilt thou my Son be ravished with a strange Woman and embrace the bosom of a Stranger for the ways of man are before the Eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings Proverbs 5. 20 21. Joseph saw God in the Room and therefore durst not yield but his Mistress saw none but Joseph and so was impudently alluring and tempting him to folly I have read of two Religious men that took contrary courses with two lewd Women whom they were desirous to reclaim from their Vicious course of life One of the Men told one of the Women that he was desirous to enjoy her Company so it might be with secrecy and when she had brought him into a close room that none could pry into he told her All the barrs and bolts here cannot keep God out The other desired the other Women to company with him openly in the streets which when she rejected as a mad request he told her It was better to do it in the eyes of a multitude than in the eyes of God O why shall not the presence of that God who hates sin and who is resolved to punish it with Hell-flames make us ashamed or afraid to sin and dare him to his face Twenty-six There have been many a Prodigal who by one cast of the Dice have lost a fair Inheritance A man may be kill'd with one stab of a Pen-knife and one hole
by the Embassadours of King Hunnerick answered thus Being assured of God and my Lord Christ I tell you what Victor Uticens l. 3. Wandâ—l perfecat you may tell the King Let him burn me let him drive me to the Beasts let him torment me with all kind of torments I shall never consent to be an Arrian and though the Tyrant afterwards did torture him with very great tortures yet he could never work him over to Arianism The best remedy against the slavish fear of Tyrants is to set that great God up as the object of our fear who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell Mark He doth not say to destroy soul and body simply or absolutely so that they should be no more for that many that love their Lusts and prize the World above a Saviour would be contented withal rather than to run the hazard of a fierce hot persecution but to punish them eternally in Hell where the Worm never dyeth nor the Fire never goeth out Now by Hell in this Math. 10. 28. The Grave cannot be meant because the soul is not destroyed Eccles 12 7. Phil. 1. 3. with the body in the Grave as they both shall be if the person be wicked after the Morning of the Resurrection in Hell From the immortality of the soul we may infer the Eternity of mans future condition the soul being immortal it must be immortally happy or immortally miserable It was Luthers complaint of old We Luther Tim. 4. 33. 4. more fear the Pope with his Purgatory than God with his Hell and we trust more in the Absolution of the Pope from Purgatory than in the true Absolution of God from Hell and is it not so with many this day who bears their heads high in the Land and who look and long for nothing more than to see Room flourishing in the mid'st of us Take one Scripture more viz. 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. By which also he went and Preached unto the Spirits in Prison Spirits that is the Souls departed not Men but Spirits to keep an Analogy to the 18th ver Christ suffered being made dead in the flesh and made alive by the Spirit in which Spirit he had gon and Preached to them that are now Spirits in Prison because they disobeyed when the time was when the Patience of God once waited in the days of Noah Broughton in his Epistle to the Nobility of England August lib. 1. de civ dei cap. 17. which somtimes were disobedient When once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah That is Christ by his Spirit in the Ministry of Noah did Preach to the men of the Old World who are now in Hell In Noahs time they were on Earth but in Peters time they were in Hell Mark Christ did not Preach by his Spirit in his Ministry or any other way to Spirits who were in Prison or in Hell while he Preached to them There are no Sermons in Hell nor any Salvation there The loving kindness of God is abundantly declared on Earth but it shall never be declared in Hell Look as there is nothing felt in Hell but destruction so there is nothing found in Hell of the offers of Salvation One offer of Christ in Hell would turn Hell into a Heaven One of the Ancients hath reported the opinion of some in his time who thought that thou there be destruction in Hell yet not eternal destruction but that Sinners should be punished some a lesser others a longer time and that at last all shall be freed And yet saith he Origen was more merciful in this point than these men for he held that the Devil himself should be saved at last Of this opinion I shall say no more in this place then this one thing which he there said These men will be found to erre by so much the more fouly and against the right words of God so much the more perversly by how much they seem to themselves to judge more mercifully for indeed the justice of God in punishing of Sinners is as much above Isa 55. 7 8 9. the reach of mans thoughts as his mercies in pardoning them are O let not such who have neglected the great Heb. 2. 3. Salvation when they were on Earth ever expect to have an offer of Salvation made to them when they are in Hell consult these Scriptures Math. 25. 30. Math. 13. 41 42. Rev. 9. 2. 〈◊〉 Rev. 14. 19 20. Rev. 20. 1 2 3 7. I must make hast and therefore may not stand upon the opening of these Scriptures having said enough already to prove both out of the Old and New Testament that there is a Hell a place of torment provided and prepared for all wicked and ungodly men But The third Argument to prove that there is a Hell is this The beams of natural light in some of the Heathens have made such impressions on the heart of natural Conscience that several of them have had confused notions of a Hell as well as of a Judgment to come Though the poor blind Heathens were ignorant of Christ and the Gospel and the great work of Redemption c. yet by the light of Nature and reasonings from thence they did attain to the understanding of a Deity who was both just and good as also that the soul was immortal and that both rewards and punishments were prepared for the souls of men after this life according as they were found either vertuous or vicious Profound Bradwardine and Bradw de causa dei l. 1. c 1. c. several others have produced many proofs concerning their apprehensions of this truth What made the Heathen Emperour Adrian when he lay a dying cry out O animula vagula blandula c. O my little wretched wandring soul whether art thou now hasting c. Oh what will become of me live I cannot dye I dare not but some discoveries of Hell of wrath to come Look as these poor Heathens did feign such a place as the Elizean Fields where the Vertuous should spend an Eternity in pleasures so also they did feign a place called Tartarum or Hell where the Vicious should be Eternally tormented Tertullian and after him Chrysostom affirmeth that Poets and Phylosophers and all sorts of men speaking of a future retribution have said that many are punisht in Hell Plato is very plain that whoever are not expiated but prophane shall go into Hell to be tormented for their wickednesses with the greatest most bitter and terrible punishments for ever in that Prison in Hell And Jupiter speaking to the other Gods concerning the Grecians and Trojans saith If any shall so hardy be To aid each part in spight of me Him will I tumble down to Hell In that Infernal place to dwell So Horace speaking concerning Joves Thunder-bolts saith Quo bruta tellus vaga slumina Quo styx invisi horrida Taenari scdes c. With which Earth Seas the Stygian
honour fire will descend as on Sodom and Gomorrah and water Gen. 19. Exod. 14. 22. though a fluid body stand up like a solid wall as in the Red Sea if he do but speak the word Oh let not the inanimate creatures one day rise in judgment against us for not giving Christ his due honour if we honour Christ we shall have honour that is a bargain of Christ's own making but if we dishonour him he will put dishonour 1 Sam. 2. 30. upon us as Scripture and History in all Ages do sufficiently evidence in History we read of an Impostor that gave it out that he was that star which Balaam prophesied Nâ—m 24. 17. of which was a Prophecy of Christ this fellow called himself Ben-chomar the son of a Star this man professed himself to be Christ but he was slain with thunder and lightning from heaven and then the Jews called him Ben-cosmar which signifieth the son of a lye Learned Synag Julaics cap. 5. 36. Buxtorf tells us that the Jews call Christ Bar-chozabb the son of a lye a Bastard and his Gospel Aven-gelaion the Volume of lyes or the Volume of iniquity and hath not God been a revenging this upon them for above this sixteen hundred years Rabbi Samuel who long since writ a Tract in form of an Epistle to Rabbi Isaac Master of the Synagogue of the Jews wherein he doth excellently discuss the cause of their long Captivity and extreme misery and after that he had proved it was inflicted for some grievous sin he sheweth that sin to be the same which Amos speaks of For three transgressions of Israel and for Amos. 2. 6. four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shooes The selling of Joseph he makes the first sin the worshipping the Calf in Horeb the second sin the abusing and killing God's Prophets the third sin and the selling of Jesus Christ the fourth sin For the first they served four hundred years in Egypt for the second they wandred forty years in the Wilderness for the third they were Captives seventy years in Babylon and for the fourth they are held in pitiful Captivity even to this very-day Oh how severely has God reveng'd the wrongs and indignities done to Christ the Lord by this miserable people to this very hour and yet Oh the several ways wherein this poor people do every day express their malice and hatred against the Lord Jesus Oh pray pray hard that the veil may be taken away that has been so long before their eyes Herod imprisons Peter and killeth Act. 12. 1 2 3 4 James with the sword this God puts up but when he comes to usurp the honour due to Christ he must die vers 23. for it Herod might more safely take away the liberty of one and the life of another than the glory due to Christ long before his death being in chains he met with a strange Omen For as he stood bound before the Palace Josephus of the Antiquities of the Jews lib. 18. pag. 475. 476. leaning dejectedly upon a tree among many others that were prisoners with him an Owl came and sat down in that Tree to which he leaned which a German seeing being one of those that stood there bound he asked who he was that was in the Purple and leaned there and understanding who he was he told him of his enlargment promotion to honour and prosperity and that when he should see that bird again he should die within five days after Now when Herod had imprisoned Peter and slain James with the sword he went down to Caesarea and there he made sports and shows in honour of Cesar and Pag. 510. 511. on the second day being most gorgeously apparelled and the Sun shining very bright upon his Robe of Silver his flatterers saluted him for a God and cryed out to him Be merciful unto us hitherto have we feared thee as a man but hence forward we will acknowledg thee to be of a nature more excellent than mortal frailty can attain to the wretched King reproved not this abominable flattery but was well pleased with it and not long after he espyed the Owl which the German had foretold to be the Omen of his death And suddenly he was seized with miserable gripings in his belly which came upon him with vehement extremity whereupon turning himself towards his friends saith Loe he whom ye esteem for a God is doomed to die and destiny shall evidently confute you in those flattering and false speeches which you lately used concerning me for I who have been adored by you as one immortal am now under the hands of death and his griefs and torments increasing his death drew on apace whereupon he was removed into the Palace and all the people put on Sack-cloth and lay on the ground praying for him which he beholding could not refrain from tears and so after five days he gave up the Ghost Thus you see how dearly they have paid for it that have not given Christ his due glory and let these instances of his wrath alarm all your hearts so that we may make more conscience than ever of setting the Crown of honour only upon Christ's head for he only is worthy of all honour glory and praise Rev. 14. 10 11. But Sixthly Is Jesus Christ God-man is he very God and very man then from hence as in a glass you may see the true Reasons why the death and sufferings of Christ though short very short yet have a sufficient power and vertue in them to satisfie God's justice to pacifie his wrath to procure our pardon and to save our immortal souls viz. because of the dignity of his person that died and suffered for us the son of God yea God himself there was an infinite vertue and value in all his sufferings hence his Heb. 9. 14. 1 Pet. 1. 19. Acts 20. 28. Gal. 4. 4 5 6. blood is called precious blood yea the blood of God did man transgress the Royal Law of God behold God himself is become a man to make up that breach and to Rom. 8. 2 3 4. satisfie divine Justice to the uttermost farthing for the man Christ Jesus to stand before the bar of the Law and to make full and compleat reparation to it was the highest honour that ever was done to the Law of God this is infinitely more pleasing and delightful to divine Justice than if all the curses of the Law had been poured out upon fallen man and than if the Law had built up its honour upon the destruction of the whole Creation To see one Sun clouded is much more than to see the Moon and all the Stars in Heaven overcast Christ considered as God-man was great very great and the greater his person was the greater were his sorrows his sufferings his Isa 53. humiliation his compassion his satisfaction
Of Oneness Of Christ's Oneness with the Father pag. 233 234. 235 P Of the Papists The ridiculous and superstitious devices of the Papists detected c. pag. 311 312 313 Of Pardon of sin That all the sins of believers are pardoned at once and actually unto them is proved by ten Arguments pag. 73 to 76 All a believer's sins are fully and finally pardoned at the hour of his death pag. 76 77 God looks not upon those as sinners whose sins are pardoned pag. 77 78 79 Pardon takes off our obligation to suffer eternal punishment pag. 79 80 Of Peace of Conscience The imputed righteousness of Christ is the only true basis bottom and ground for true peace and quiet of conscience pag. 348 349 350 351 352 353 Of the several Pleas that every sincere Christian may form up as to the ten Scriptures in the Old and New Testament that refer either to the General Judgment or to the particular Judgment that will pass upon every Christian immediately after death The first Plea pag. 72 73 The second Plea pag. 88. 89 The third Plea pag. 94 95 96 97 The fourth Plea pag. 288 289 313 314 315 The fifth Plea pag. 338 339 The sixth Plea pag. 373 The seventh Plea pag. 378 379 Of prizing Christ The Sufferings of Christ should raise up our hearts to a very high prizing of Christ pag. 300 301 302 303 Q Q. What that faith is that gives a man an interest in Christ c pag. 54. to 59 Q. Whether in the General Judgment or in that Particular Judgment that will pass upon all the Saints after death whether their infirmities or enormities their weaknesses or wickednesses shall be brought into the Judgment of discussion and discovery or no that they shall not is proved at large pag. 59 to 73 R Reasons Several weighty Reasons why Christ did partake of both Natures pag. 249 to 260 Of the Work of Redemption That the work of Redemption was a very great work pag. 263 264 265 266 267 Revelations the 19. 8. opened and applied pag. 334 335 336 Of the Righteousness of Christ Of the excellency and glory of Christ's Righteousness pag. 315 to 339 Nine strong Consolations that flow from the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness pag. 339 to 365 Of Running to Christ Vnder all our fears doubts conflicts we should still run to Christ pag. 308 309 310 311 S Of Satisfaction That God doth stand upon satisfaction and will not forgive one sin without it is made evident by five Arguments pag. 320 to 324 Of Sincerity When a man's heart is sincere with God pag. 1 2 3 Of Sin many weighty things about it Four ways to know when sin is indulged pag. 3 4 Thirteen Arguments to prove that no Godly man does or can indulge himself in any course or way or trade of Sin pag. 4 to 14 Ten Arguments to shew the folly vanity and falshood of that opinion that is received and commonly avowed by Ministers and Christians viz. That every Godly person hath his beloved sin his bosom sin pag. 14 to 24 First All wicked men have their beloved sins their darling sins c. pag. 24 25 Secondly The Elect before their conversion have had their beloved sins c. pag. 25 Thirdly after conversion the hearts of the Elect are most set against those sins which were once their beloved sins c. pag. 25 Fourthly After conversion a sincere Christian endeavours to be most eminent in that particular grace which is most contrary to that sin which was once his beloved sin c. pag. 25 26 Fifthly Though no Godly man hath any beloved sin yet every Godly man hath one sin or other to which they are more prone than to others pag. 26 27 28 29 Eight remedies against keeping up of any special sin either in heart or life against the Lord or against the light and convictian of a man 's own conscience pag. 29 to 42 Five and twenty Arguments against keeping up of any special sin in heart or life against the Lord or against the light of a man 's own conscience pag. 42 to 50 Of the sufferings of Christ See pag. 97 to 105 The true reasons why the Sufferings of Christ though short yet have a sufficient power and vertue in them to satisfie God's justice pag. 272 273 274 Of the Sufferings of Christ in his body The Sufferings of Christ in his body largely opened pag. 105 to 121 Of the Sufferings of Christ in his Soul The Sufferings of Christ in his soul largely opened pag. 121 to 131 The Sufferings of Christ in his soul were very high and great and wonderful pag. 131 to 137 That Jesus Christ did feel and suffer the very Torments of Hell though not after an Hellish manner pag. 137 to 153 Christ's Sufferings for us should mightily endear Jesus Christ to us pag. 153 154 155 The punishments that Christ did suffer for us must be referred only to the substance and not to the circumstances of punishment pag. 284 285 286 The meritorious cause of Christ's Sufferings were the sins of his people pag. 286 287 288 Seven Inferences from the consideration of the great sufferings of Christ pag. 289 to 315 Of the Suretyship of Christ All the sins of believers were laid upon Christ their Surety pag. 80 81 82 83 84 85 Q. Whether God were not unjust to give Jesus Christ to be our Surety answered pag. 85 86 87 88 The Suretyship of Christ considered at large pag. 374 to 379 T Of Triumphing in Christ Jesus The Imputation of Christ's Righteousness affords us the highest reason to rejoyce and triumph in Christ Jesus pag. 354 355 356 357 358 Of a True penitential turning from all sin A True penitential turning from all sin lies in six particulars pag. 17 18 19 Five and twenty Arguments to work us to turn from all sin pag. 42 to 50 Of Types The Scape-goat was a most lively Type of Christ pag. 368 369 V Of Universal Obedience Five and twenty Arguments for Vniversal Obedience pag. 42 to 50 An objection against universal obedience answered pag. 50 51 Vniversal obedience consists in nine things pag. 51 to 55 Of our Unrighteousness Christ's mediatory righteousness takes away all our Vnrighteousness pag. 342 343 W Of Willingness Christ's sufferings should work in us the greatest willingness to suffer for Christ pag. 303 to 308 Of the works of God The same Works which are peculiar to God are ascribed to Christ in the blessed Scriptures pag. 225 226 227 Of Worship Divine honour and Worship is due to Christ and by Angels and Saints is given unto him pag. 227 228 229 First All inward Worship is due to Christ pag. 229 230 Secondly All outward Worship is due to Christ pag. 230 to 232 When Jesus Christ was declared to the world God did command even the most glorious Angels to worship him as his natural and coessential Son pag. 232 233 ERRATA PAge 5. line 1. read all p. 6. l. 22. r. I. p. 22. l. 13. r. our p. 34. l. 14. heat r. heart p. 8. l. 4. him r. them p. 80. l. 31. lai r. laid p. 89. l. 16. r. so p. 111. l. 26. r. A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 112. l. 7. opinion r. opening p. 112. l. 20. nature r. water p. 112. l. 28. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 125. l. 19. r. animam p. 174. m. r. Bernard p. 181. l. 23. r. to p. 188. m. r. summam paenae p. 197. l. 22. love r. lose p. 202. l. 1. reviled r. revealed p. 193. l. 36. the r. their p. 212. l. 18. r. not p. 133. m. r. Relinquit m. r. confut p. 137. l. 7. and r. the. p. 138. m. Rom. r. Act. p. 141. l. 8. Torments r. Tormentors p. 147. l. 11. Isa 5. r. Isa 50. p. 157. m. r. magnum p. 232. l. 30. any r. and. p. 234. l. 19. r. that l. 34. not r. nor p. 238. l. 3. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 263. l. 30. given r. even p. 267. l. 21. into r. with with r. into p. 283. l. 14. their r. her blot out my wife and children p. 296. l. 4. deared r. dearest p. 311. l. 15. r. he did p. 321. l. 29. r. Secondly p. 336. m. hat r. that p. 354. l. 38. blot cut it in the fourth leaf of the Epistle Dedicatory l. 2. the r. this There are sundry other mistakes in pointings changes and transpositions of letters misfiguring of pages c. besides Some are omitted because they do not much disturb the sence others because they will not easily escape thy notice Share the faults between the Author's absence and the Printers negligence and then correct before thou readest
If thou wouldest have thy heart brought and kept 6. Psal 34. 18. Isa 57. 15. 2 Chron. 34. 27. in an humble broken bleeding melting tender frame then seriously peruse this Treatise But Seventhly If thou wouldest always come to the Lord's table with such a frame of spirit as Christ may take a delight to meet thee to own thee to bless thee to bid thee welcom Mat. 26. â—6 27 28 Luk. 22. 19 20. 1 Cor. 11. 23. to the 30. and to seal up his love and thy pardon to thee then seriously peruse this Treatise especially that part of it where the dreadful and amazing sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ both in body and soul are at large set forth But Eightly If thou wouldest have a clear sight of the length 8. Eph. 3. 18. Isal 146. 8. and breadth and depth and height of the love of Christ then seriously peruse this Treatise But Ninthly If thou wouldest have thy love to Christ tryed 9. Cant. 1. 7. cap. 8. 5 6 7. raised acted inflamed discovered and augmented c. then seriously peruse this Treatise But Tenthly If thou art a strong man in Christ Jesus and 10. 2 Tim. 2. 1. Hâ—b 5. 14. 1 â—oâ— 2. 6 7. 1 Joh. 2. 14. wouldest have thy head and heart exercised in the great things of God and in the deep things of God and in the mysterious things of God then seriously peruse this Treatise But Eleventhly If thou art but a weak Christian a babe a 11. 1. Cor. 3. 1. Heb. 5. 13. 1 Pet. 2. 2. 1 John 2. 1 12 13. little child a shrub a dwarf in grace holiness and communion with God and in thy spiritual attainments enjoyments and experiences then seriously peruse this Treatise especially the first part of it But Twelfthly If thou wouldest know whether thou art an indulger 12. Job 20. 11 12 13 14. Mica 6. 6 7. Rom. 13. ult James 4. 3. of sin and if thou wouldest be stocked with singular remedies against thy special sins then seriously peruse the former part of this Treatise But Thirteenthly If thou wouldest be rooted grounded 13. 1 Pet. 5. 10. Isa 53. Heb. 10. 10 12 14 Gal. 4. 4 5. Rom. 8. 3 4. 2 Cor. 5. 21. strengthened and settled in those two grand points of the Gospel viz. The active and passive obedience of Christ and be daily refreshed with those pleasant streams with those waters of life that flow from thence then seriously peruse this Treatise But Fourteenthly If thou wouldest be throughly acquainted 14. Isa 53. cap. 63. 2. 1 Pet. 2. 21 22 23 24. John 10. 11 15. 17 16. with the sufferings of Christ in his body and soul with their greatness and grievousness c. And if thou wouldest understand the mighty advantages we have by his sufferings then seriously peruse this Treatise But Fifteenthly If thou wouldest be able strongly to prove against the Socinians and the high Atheists of the day and such as make so great a noise about a light within them that there is a Hell a place of torment provided and prepared Mat. 25. 41. Psal 9 17. Prov. 5. 5. for all wicked and ungodly persons then seriously peruse this Treatise But Sixteenthly If thou wouldest in a Scripture-glass see the torments of hell and know how to avoid them and what divine improvements to make of them and be resolved in several questions concerning hell and hellish torments then seriously peruse this Treatise But Seventeenthly If thou wouldest be able strenuously to 17. 1 John 1. 2 14. 1 Tim. 2. 5. maintain and defend Christ's Eternal Deity and Manhood against all corrupt Teachers and Gain-sayers then seriously peruse this Treatise But Eighteenthly If thou wouldest be rooted and grounded in 18. Jer. 23. 6. Isa 45. 24. cap. 61. 10. 1 Cor. 1. 30. that great Doctrine of the Imputed Righteousness of Christ and be warmed refreshed cheared comforted and delighted with those choice and singular consolations that flow from thence then seriously peruse this Treatise But Nineteenthly If thou wouldest be set at liberty from many 19. Psal 42. 5 11. Psal 55. 5. 2 Cor. 7. 5. fears and doubts and disputes that often arise in thy soul about thy internal and eternal estate then seriously peruse this Treatise But Twentiethly If thou wouldest have all grace to flourish 20. Psal 92. 12 13 14. Rom. 15. 13. Act. 13. 36. 2 Cor. 12. 9 10. Rev. 12. 1. 2 Cor. 2. 14. and abound in thy soul if thou wouldest be eminently serviceable in thy Generation if thou wouldest be ripe for sufferings for death for heaven if thou wouldest be Temptation-proof if thou wouldest be weaned from this world and triumph in Christ Jesus when the world triumphs over thee then seriously peruse this Treatise Reader if thou wouldest make any earnings of thy reading this Treatise then thou must 1. Read and believe what Act. 18. 8. cap. 24. 14. Psal 1. 2. Psal 119. 5 18. Act. 17. 11. Psal 119. 9. John 13. 17. Psal 119. 105 106. thou readest 2. Thou must read and meditate on what thou readest 3. Thou must read and pray over what thou readest 4. Thou must read and try what thou readest by the touchstone of the word 5. Thou must read and apply what thou readest that plaister will never heal that is not applyed c. 6. Thou must read and make conscience of living up to what thou readest and of living out what thou readest this is the way to honour thy God to gain profit by this Treatise to credit Religion to stop foul mouths to strengthen weak hands to better a bad head to mend a bad heart to rectifie a disorderly life and to make sure work for thy soul for heaven for eternity Reader In a fountain sealed and treasures hid there is little profit or comfort no fountain to that which flows for common good no treasures to those that lie open for publick service If thou gettest any good by reading this Treatise give God alone the glory and remember the Authour when thou art in the Mount with God his prayers for thee are that thou mayest be a knowing Christian a sincere Christian a growing Christian a rooted Christian a resolute Christian an untainted Christian an exemplary Christian an humble Christian and then he knows thou wilt be a saved Christian in the day of Christ so he rests who is Thy Cordial Friend and Souls Servant Tho. Brooks The Interest of Reason in Religion together with the Import and Usage of Scripture Metaphors and the Nature of the Union between Christ and Believers modestly discoursed All occasioned by some late Writings particularly a Book of Mr. Sherlock's entituled Knowledg of God by Robert Ferguson Serious and Weighty QUESTIONS CLEARLY And Satisfactorily Answered The first Question or Case is this 1. Quest WHat are the special Remedies Means or Helps against cherishing or keeping up of any special or peculiar sin either in heart or