neighbors beast sware that it perished not through his default the lender ought and that by the law of God to giue credit vnto him and to rest satisfied How much more then not man but the Lord hauing sworne to forgi e thy sinnes oughtest thou to rest satisfied So that now euen in reason in coâ—science in equitie and in law the forgiuenes of thy sinnes ought to be a matter out of all doubt and contâ—ouersie If thou receiuest the witnesse of men the witnesse of God is greater And yet euen with men if they haue not cast of al I say not feare of God but humanitie there is such a religion of an oath as that rather than they will forswear themselues they will sustaine any inconuenience Examples whereof we may haue plentie not onely from dayly experience but euen out of the testimonie of the word of truth Hâ—rod swore to giue to that dancing daâ—sell euen whatsoeuer shee asked yea though it were the one halfe of hiâ— kingdome she demaâ—nded the head of Iohn Baptist. The scripture testifieth that albeit Heâ—od feared the people and so a ciuill insurrection that might haue cost him his life kingdome also yet for his oaths sake hee sent his executioners I will not now dispute how lawfully to cut off his head Iephtha a Iudge of Israell if he returned with victory vowed to sacrifice vnto the Lord the first liuing thing that he met withall after his returne The Lord so disposed of the matter that his owne daughter was the fiâ—st that offered her selfe vnto him Neither the regard of nature nor of the life of his own daughter nor of his sinne against God although perchance hee knew not that hee sinned therein no nor any thing else could make him to break his though but vn-aduised vow But what shall I speake of these men with whom a shew of religion might seem thus to haue preuailed when it is manifest that there haue been amongst the heathen many such especially one Marcus Attilius regulus that would for their oaths sake returne againe from their owne friends countrey where they might haue rested iâ— peace and safetie into their enemies hands notwithstanding that they knew that there were most exquisit and picked torments theâ—e provided for them how many haue we known with vs who being constrained by their oath haue layd open their owne shame and secreâ—ie to their greatest and vttermost peâ—ill If such be the reuerence of an oath taken but by God what thinke we will be the reward thereof when it is taken of God If man whose heart is aboue al things most deceitâ—ull will not be mâ—oued to breake his oath doe we thinke that the Lord who is the righteous iudge of the whole earth can be moued to forsweare himselfe The Lord will not suffer that man that sweareth to his neighbour and disappointeth him to dwell within his tabernacle nor to rest vpon his holy hill and then is it likely that he will suffer the sinne it selfe for the which hee reprooueth the man to haue place in his owne person God forbid that we should so conceue of the Lord acco nting him to be lesse constant than inconstant man If it were possible that such an imagination shuld creep into our heads as that we should thinke that the Lord would lye yet far be it from vs that we should think that the Lord would forsweare himselfe EueÌ„ this one word therefore which is that the Lord hath sworne to forgiue vs our sins should strike into our hearts such a full assurance therof as that we should rest in peace be fully satisfied and resolued therin no longer wauering as the vnconstant doubtfull minded man but rather reioice be comforted glorie in the Lord euen as my selfe haue known many of the elect of god to haue done who although before they were horribly afraid and disquieted in their own souls yet so soon as they heard this once that God hath sworne to forgiue their sins haue been exceedingly comforted and refreshed therwith haue presently shaken cast off all feare together with their doubting so that they neither feared nor doubted any longer The third Section But yet further if we measuring the Lord by our owne foot shall not giue credit either to his word or to his oth but shall for better assurance require writings and as we say euidences thereof behod herein the loue of God also who hath by his Indenture of couenaÌ„ts bound himselfe to forgiue our sinnes all our offences The couenants for the more assurance you may see drawen as it were by the Lords owne hand in the 31 chapter of the prophesie of Ieremy set downe very authentically as in the very and right forme of an Indenture of couenants in this manner following This is the couenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those daies saith the Lord I will put my laâ—â—es in the r inward parts wrâ—te it in their haâ—ts I wil be their God they shal be my people And they shall teach no more eâ—eâ—y 〈◊〉 neighbour saying Know the Loâ—dâ— for they shal all kâ—ow me froÌ„ the least of theÌ„ vnto the greatest of the sa th the â—orâ— foâ— I wil forgiue their iniquities wil remember their sins no moâ—e This is the Indenture of the couenant of the Lord dâ—awn eueÌ„ by the singer of the Lord the holie Ghost Wherein in the very entrance thereof thou maiest see First the very stile of an Indenture contained in these words Thâ—s is the couenant so forth Secondly the parties themselues mentioned betweene whom this coueuant is made the Lord of the one side the house of Israel that is the elect houshold of God which is the Church Catholike on the other side contained in these wordâ— That I will make with the house of Israel Thirdly the time the date as it were the term of those couenants when they should enter begin and that was especially at the time of the death of Christ coÌ„prised in these words after those daies Fourthly the articles and coâ—enants themselues are set down and specified and they are three principally The first is that he will instruct them inwardly in their soules by his spirit which should write his lawes in their harts The second is that he would be their God they should be his people The third is that he would forgiue their iniquity and remember their offences no more So that here wee see the expresse Indenture of the Lord by the which he hath couenanted graunted to forgiue vs our sins and our transgressions And because that in Indentures it is not ynough to haue but one which is as the first draught but a paire that they may be giuen interchangeably therefore the Lord hath by the hand of the Apostle to the Hebrues in the eight chapter drawâ— the counterpane of the former word for word as it is in the former after this
vpon the crosse wherin thou hast promised to forgiue all my sinnes and my transgressions Be it vnto me thy seruant I beseech thee according to thy free promise and according to thy gracious couenant Oh let me feele I pray thee the accomplishing hereof in my owne soule And as thou hast written this couenant in thy word with thine owne finger and sealed the same with thy bloud So gracious Father vouchsafe to write it in my hart by thy spirite and to seale it vnto my conscience by the powerful applying of the same thy blood thereunto that it may wash me from all my sins and my transgressions and so create in me that peace of God that passeth all vnderstanding Gracious God thy free offer maketh mee freely to offer these my requests vnto thy name and with a full confidence of hope to haue accesse vnto the throne of thy grace knowing that thou O Lord that hast promised art able wilt according to this thy scripture the writing of thine own hands performe it This course if thou shalt take it is not to be doubted but that as thy hart shall find faith so thy soule shal receiue comfort in and from the liuing Lord feeling according to his couenant of the Lord thy selfe to be washed clensed and iustified in the name of Iesu Christ and by the spirit of our God The Fourth Section But yet further if with Gedeon we shal desire a token or with Ezekiah a signe to confirme our faith Behold the Lord fitteth not in a Rainebow in the clouds as hee did to Noah he maketh not the sunne to go tenne degrees backward as he did for Ezekiah he maketh not the fleece to bee wet in the drie floure nor drie in the wet deaw as he did for Gedeon but he giueth thee being but one man euen two signes nay more than signes euen two Sacraments the one of Baptisme the other of the Lords supper both of them being visible signes to confirm vnto thee the inuisible grace of the free mercy of god in Iesus Christ And therefore did the Lord himselfe in the seuenteenth of Genesis when he first instituted the Sacrament of Circumcision call it a signe saying vnto Abraham that it should be a signe of the couenant that was between himselfe and them that is that it should be that signe that the Lord would giue vnto him to assure and to approue vnto him the fulfilling and accomplishing of his couenant Whereupon the Apostle Paule in the fourth to the Romanes speaking of the same Sacrament calleth it in like manner a signe saying that Abraham receiued the signe of Circumcision that it might seale the righteousnesse of faith which was in his vncircumcision That is that he receiued circumcision which was an outward and an euident sign to confirme vnto him his free iustification by faith Thus as one of the Iewish Sacraments is called a signe so likewise was the other which was the Paschall lambe or Passeouer as plainely appeareth in the twelfth of Exodus where it is said of the bloud of the Paschall lambe which represented the bloud of Iesus Christ the vnspotted vndefiled lamb that it should be vnto them for a signe vpon their houses that the Lord when he destroyed the Aegyptians their and his enemies would passe ouer them so that they should liue in peace and rest when their enemies were consumed So that hereby it plainely appeareth that both the Iewish Sacraments were not onely seales of the couenants but also giuen for signs and tokens vnto them which shuld be continually before their eyes to confirme vnto them the graces of God in Iesus Christ Whereupon it foâ—loweth that as their SacrameÌ„ts were vnto them so are our Sacraments that is the Supper of the Lord Baptisme giuen for signes vnto vs to confirme as all other the graces of God so our free forgiuenes and pardon for all our offences For the same is Baptisme vnto vs that Circumcision was vnto them as plainely appeareth in the second to the Colonians the eleuenth twelfth verses And the same is the Supper of the Lord vnto vs that was the Paschall lambe vnto them as infinite places and the generall consent of all men approoueth The visible signe only according to the time being altered into another which is far more significant and more liuely to signifie and so to confirme vnto vs this inward grace of God of which now we speake And therefore is a Sacrament verie fitly according to this their vse defined by Augustine to be a visible signe of an inuisible grace As therefore the signe of the Rain-bow iâ— the clouds coÌ„firmeth vnto vs that promise of God which he made with Noah that is that hee would destroy no more the whole earth with waters as the returne of the Sunne tenne degrees backward was a signe vnto Ezekias that 〈◊〉 should be recouered out of that disease As the fleece of Gedeon being wet in thâ— drie and drie in the wet was vnto him a signe that hee should ouercome hiâ— enemies so is the water in Baptisme wherwith we were washed a signe and token vnto vs that we should be washed from all our sinnes and our offences So likewise is the breaking of the bread the powring out of the wine in the supper of the Lord another as euident a signe that by the death of Iesus Christ by the shedding of his blood we are purged from all our sins According to the saying of Iohn in his first epistle who saith that the blood of Christ purgeth vs from all our offences And againe in the ReuelatioÌ„ Christ saith he hath washed vs by his blood from all our offences And again in the the 5. to the Ephesians the Apostle Paul speaking of Baptisme saith that Christ sanctified the Church and purged it by the lauacre of water in the word So that now when thou seest other or remembrest that thy selfe was washed with water in Baptisme And again when thou seest the body of Christ to be broken in the Supper of the lord and his blood to be powred out and giuen vnto thee thou art to coÌ„sider with thy selfe that these are two signes tokens which are shewed giuen to thee of the Lord fully to assure and persuade thy conscience that thy sinnes are forgiuen thee and that thou art washed that thou art saâ—ctified and that thou art iustified by the blood of Iesus Christ and by the spirit of our God So that now doest thou seeke with the Scribes and Pharisies a signe Behold the Lord hath giueÌ„ vnto thee not one but two tokens in stead of other miracles and wonders euen two visible signes of this inuisible grace euen Sacraments to confirme thy faith and yet doubtest thou The incredulous Iewes said vnto Christ shew vs a signe and we will beleeue thee See the Lord sheweth thee two yet wilt thou not beleeue him One raine-bow was ynough for Noah one fleece for Gedeon the sâ—nne once to
To this reason I might adde one other from that name of sinne where it is called our infirmity or disease and our phrenzie and madnes as the Philosopher calleth it Which might therefore seem the rather to bee pardoned because it was done in our madnes But I will omit this reason and come to the consideration of other reasons taken not as these from euerie man in himselfe being considered with his sins but from others euen men and deuils The 15 Chapter VVherein is â—ontained the first reason taken from man as he is considered in others which is drawn from the examples of other men by which the eternitie of the forgiuenesse of sinnes is further assurd vnto vs. ANd first we will consider the examples of other men by the which assurance of the forgiuenesse of our sins is yet further assured vnto vs. For what on sin haue we commited which other the Saints of God haue not either before or after their calling committed and yet as the spirit testifieth receiued pardon for the same Hast thou committed adulterie why so had the woman that was brought vnto Christ in the eight of Iohn so had the woman of Samaria in the fourth of Iohn for Christ said vnto her thou hast had fiue husbands and him whome now thou hast is not thy hu baÌ„d So had Dauid with Berseba and yet the Prophet said vnto him the Lord hath taken away thy sinne that thou shalt not die therefore Hast thou been possessed with the deuill so was Mary Magdalene who had seaueâ— diuels cast out of her Hast thou distrusted the Lord so did Moses at the waters of strife Hast thou as it were despaired so almost did Ieremy who said in the third of his Lamentations that he was a cast away and there was no hope for him in God So did Dauid in his 77. Psalm saying Will the Lord cast me off for euer should he be no more intreated should his louing kindnes faile for euer his promise from one generatioÌ„ to another come vtterly to an end Hast thou murdered and slaine thy brother so did Dauid murder Vrias So did the Iews put to death and slay the Lord of life as Peter chargeth them in the second of the Acts and yet they were by the same Apostle baptised to the forgiuenes of their sins Hast thou stolne and robbed thy brother So did the theefe that was crucified with Christ to whome notwithstanding Christ said This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Hast thou been an oppressor an extortioner and an vsurer So was Zacheus who notwithstaÌ„ding repenting and making restitution heard that comfortable saying of Christ vnto him happie art thou Zacheus this day is health come vnto thine house Hast thou contended and fallen out with thy brother So did Paul and Barnabas betwixt whom the contention was so hot that they departed a sunder one taking Luke and the other Iohn But hast thou being but one man committed all these sinnes Hast thou beene an Idolater defiled the Temple of God beaten down his truth erected Idolatrie hast thou been a witch a coniurer a southsayer hast thou shed abundance of innocent bloud so that the streetes flow therewith hast than committed more abhominations than the Cananites or the Emorites whom for their filthines the Lord cut out of the land of the liuing hast thou offered thy sonnes and daughters and sacrificed them to deuils in fire All these thinges did Manasses as it appeareth in the 21. chapter of the second booke of the Kings and yet he returned vnto the Lord and found fauour and mercie for all his sinnes as it appeareth in the 33. chapter of the second booke of the Chronicles Are thy sinnes greater than the sinnes of Manasses or is the mercie and the arme of the Lord shortened is the Lord a respecter of persons did he forgiue Manasses repenting him of his sinne and will hee not forgiue thee returning vnto himselfe and calling vpon his name is not the Lord rich in mercie vnto all them that call vpon him faithfully whether they be Iewes or Gentiles Greekes or Barbarians there is no difference in the Lord. Are these things left vnto vs in the word either to follow or to comfort vs withall Doth not Paule teach vs that whatsoeuer is written is written for our learning that through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures we might haue hope euen bee comforted while wee hope that the same Lord that hath been thus mercifull vnto others will as well be mercifull vnto vs also that hee will make our sins that are in like manner as red as skarlet as white as snow and that are like vnto the purple to be as the wooll as himselfe hath promised by the mouth of his Prophet Esay This is the first reason which is taken from other men The 16. Chapter VVherin is contained the secoÌ„d reason taken from man being coÌ„sidered in others whiâ—h is drawn fâ—om the testimonie of others as of the Ministers of the word of God of the Prophets of Christ himselfe of the Apostles and all other holy men of God who as faithful witnesses announce and confirme the forgiuenesse of sinnes THe second reason is taken from the testimonie of others who affirme and so confirme this vnto vs. And herein wee will first consider the testimonie of the faithfull Ministers of the Gospell of God to whom thou being afflicted oughtest to repaire for comfort And that both by the expresse commandement of the Lord himselfe who by the mouth of his Prophet Malachy saith that the Priests lips shall contain knowledge and the people shall enquire the law at his mouth And also by the example of the Iewes in the second of the Acts who being wounded in conscience came to Peter and the rest of the Apostles saying Men and brethren what shal we do For the Ministers are the Phisitions Surgeons of the soule to heale the same as well as they are the Lords warriors and so by the force of his spirituall weapons of power to cast down euerie high hold euerie strong thought and euerie name that is exalted against the name of God and Iesus Christ And therefore as by the armour of God on the left hand they can wound thy conscience so by the armor of God on the right hand they can wound the spirituall enemy As by the law they can kill thee so by the Gospel they can quicken thee as by the one they cast thee down so by the other they can lift thee vp For they are the dispensers of the manifold graces of God and the Lords stewards to giue to euerie one his portion in due time Iudgement to whom iudgment appertaineth and mercie vnto thee vnto whome mercie belongeth So that if thou repaire to them for comfort and â—f they shal giue thee comfort thou maist be comforted indeed If they shall giue thee thy portion in the forgiuenesse of sinnes they giue vnto thee as vnto the Lords seruant that thy
if there were that he was but a deceiuer a iugler a false Christ sent into the â—orld to seduce the wicked and them that are appoynted to reprobation as shall more at large appeare in another place But if this will not serue the turn he will perswade vs that Christ came to be a iudge to condemne the world and to leaue them without excuse as he did Martine Luther and so will he set him frowning vpon vs as a Iudge that is displeased with vs. Or if this will not serue hee will tell vs that Christ came not to die for vs but for Peter Paule Dauid and such like but as for vs hee knew vs not we were not then and therfore he could not then die for vs. But yet if this will not suffice hee will euen chide with the soule and ask him whether hee will make Christ a bawd for his sinnes And this especially he vrgeth while wee seeing our own nakednes do seeke and sue for the righteousnes of Christ to put vpon vs as a white garment to couer vs so as our nakednesse the filthinesse of our sins be not seene For then hee will stil vrge this one thing saying Oh thou wouldest haue Christ to be a couer a cloake yea a bawd for thy sin but all in vaine will he say And for the proofe hereof he wil straight alledge the saying of the Lord in the 70. psalme which is to be applied to the obstinate and such as hate discipline and cast the wordes of God behind their back as there plainely appeareth where he saith As soonâ— as thou seest a theefe thou consentest vnto him and thy portion is with the adulterers Thou openest thy mouth to euill and with thy toong thou framest deceit Thou sitting speakest against thy brother slaunderest thy mothers son While thou didst these things because I made my selfe as it were deafe thou thinkest me to be such a one as thy selfe is but I will reproue thee and set before thine eies thy sins in order as they were done And herby he excedingly trobleth the conscience and filleth it with feare and dispaire vntill such time as we feele our selues verely and indeed to be couered ouer with the righteousnes of the son of God Iesus Christ who is made vnto vs of God the Father wisedom holines righteousnes and redemption If this reason will not preuaile against vs he wil reason as wel as we from the holy Ghost and will tell vs that the feare that is bredde in our conscience for our sinnes is not the worke of the spirit of God to frame vs vnto repentance and to breed in vs a godly sorow to amendment of life but rather that it is a seruile fear such as Iames saith is in the deuils who fear tremble yea a doubting such as is in the infidels of whome the same Iames speaketh saying Let not the maÌ„ that doubteth think he shal receiuâ— any thing yea that it is a fore-tast of the displeasure of God and of the fearefull estate of the reprobat And as touching the peace of conscience albeit we haue aboundantly felt the same yet hee wil perswade vs that it was not the peace of conscience but rather an illusion of the deuill sent vnto him by the Lord to deceiue him and so to destroy him by a false flattering of himselfe And for the better perswasion hereof he will tell vs that the diuell can change himselfe into the image of an Angell of light and by that meanes so deceiue vs as that we cannot as he will say discerne the worke of the spirit from the illusion of the deuill To whom if we shal answer that albeit hee can change himselfe into thâ— image of an Angel of light yet not into the like working of the spirit of God for that he cannot create either ioy or peace of conscience or the spirit of adoptioÌ„ in vs. For these are proper works of the spirit yea euen in them that haue a temporarie faith and fall away againe vnto perdition his mouth is stopped he will leaue this reason and come vnto our naturall inclination to sin from thence he will reason after this manner saying Thou knowest that the Lord wil forgiue the sinnes only of the penitent and them that doe repent that leaue their sinnes and neuer commit them againe for that will he say is true repentance But thou ceasest not to sinne for as thou wert conceiued in sinne so thou continuest in sin and then continuing in thy sin how doest thou repent thee of thy sinne and then thou not repenting thee of thy sinne how canst thou looke that thy sinne should be pardoned And thus by a false perswasion that repentance consisteth in a cleane abolishing of sinne and not in the amendment of life as the truth is that it doth hee deceiueth the conscience and perswadeth it that therefore their sinnes are not pardoned because they are not for euer abandoned And vnto this perswasion he addeth diuers other reasons taken from sinne it selfe and first from the greatnes thereof which hee amplifieth and increaseth very artificially shewing himselfe herein a Grammarian that can frame of the positiue which is the lowest the superlatiue which is the highest degree a Rhethoritian that hath a notable facilitie grace in Hyperbole a Logitian that can reason from the lesser to the greater as also if occasion serued froÌ„ the greater to the lesser an Arithmetitian that hath skill in multiplying a Musitian that can make the lowest cord accord and sound equallie wâ—th the highest a Geometritian who as he can describe the whole world in a little paper so infect much paper with the description of a little countrie and to speake in a word a right deuill that make a mountaine of a moule hill For these are the arts or rather deceits of Sathan whereby hee can notably increase the greatnes of our sin If it be but in consent he will perswade vs that it is all one as if it were done And to this purpose he will alledge the saying of Christ in the fift of Mathew where he saith that the that looketh on a woman to lust after her in his hart hath committed adultery with her alreadie If it be committed after grace receiued of knowledge he will perswade vs that it is the sin against the holy Ghost which shall neuer bee pardoned in this world nor in the world to come If it were committed before our calling grosse also he wil tell vs that our sins are greater then that they can be pardoned as he perswaded Cain that his were And for the better perswasion hereof he addeth the testimonie of the law which confirmeth as he pretendeth that which he himselfe affirmeth As for example if a man haue with Salomon committed idolatry or with Dauid adulterie or with Peter apostacie here the law saith that adulterers idolaters fornicators such like the lord wil iudge Sathan saith so the conscience knoweth
so The law saith no idolater nor fornicator nor vnclean person shall enter into the kingdome of God or Christ the deuil saith so the conscience saith so The law saith the Lord hateth such the deuil saith the Lord hateth such and the consciece feareth that the Lord hateth such and it knoweth it selfe to bee such So that Sathan affirming the lawe confirming the conscience consenting sinne is made out of measure sinfull by the law and the art of Sathan and so it seemeth to be so great immeasurable as that it exceedeth the greatnes of the mercie of God the value of the bloud of Iesus Christ And yet further the more to increase the greatnes of our sin he willeth vs to weigh the weight therof which we feel sensibly to lie verie heauy on our souls after we haue coÌ„mitted the same And therefore is it that Dauid counteth him happy that is lighted of his sin and Christ willeth theÌ„ that are heauie laden to come vnto him he will case them Now SathaÌ„ by â—â—e heauy weight of our sin perswadeth the hâ—inous work in sinning and concludeth that because our fin is intollerable it is immeasurable therefore that as it presseth vs vnto the earth so it will into hell as it casteth vs vpon our face so it will cast vs from the face presence of the Lord. Vnto this weight of sin he addeth the monstrousnes that is in the same For as righteousnes is a most glorious vertue so is sinne a most vglie deformed and monstrous thing and so as it is Sathan maketh it appeare to the soule For howsoeuer before when Sathan inticeth vs to sin wee are blinded that we cannot behold the monstrousnes thereof because he couereth it ouer with a pleasant and delightful cloake yet after that the fact is committed he openeth our eyes to that the flithines and monstrousnes thereof appeareth at large vnto the soule Out of which as Sathan reasoneth that therefore sith sin is a monster it is moÌ„strous sith it is monstrous in shape it is monstrous in shew measure So the soule easilie is resolued thereof and that so much the rather because it is an eie witnesse of that which Sathan saith And yet the more to increase the horror and greatnes of our sins he addeth the multitude therof which are more in number than either the haires of our head or the starres of the skie or the sands of the sea shore which are innumerable that thereforâ— albeit our sins were not mightie as we would beleeue yet in so much as they are so many he will easily infer that they are exceeding great For that which wanted in the greatnesse is â—ecompenced in the multitude and that which wanted in the weight is repaired with the number wherby our sins haue ben so exceedingly multiplied as that what with the greatnes and what with the multitude our measure of iniquitie is fulfilled our viall full and the treasurie and hoord of our sinnes filled to the top that therefore the wrath of God must needs immediatly smoke against vs. And thus partly by the law partly by the weight partly by the monstrousnes and partly by the multitude of our sins he by this his art so increaseth our sins that he decreaseth our faith and maketh them to be so great that our faith is little or none at all he so filleth our Lord with sins that hee emptieth the heart of hope and maketh vs readie to thinke indeed with Cain that our sins are greater than that they can be forgiueÌ„ Thus as Sathan reasoneth from sin in the first place from the greatnes thereof to disswade the forgiuenes thereof so in the second place he reasoneth from the presence therof which by the force work of Sathan euen after the forgiuenesse therof and the peace of conscience and the righteousnesse of Christ giuen vnto the soule is put in the memorie and represented vnto the soule and that in such a liuely shape idea and forme as they are and were in their owne nature And this made Dauid complaine in his 51. psalm that his sins were continually before his eies yea after that the Prophet Nathan hath told him that his sins were taken away and that he should not die therefore And this made the same Prophet count him happie whose sins were couered Psal 32 namely that they were no longer present before the eie of his conscience as well as the eies of the lord And this is that that maketh the godly at the hour of their death or the day of their triall to doubt to feare and to tremble because they see their sins stil before their face fresh in their conscience which of it self were enough to make them doubt of the forgiuenes of their sins How much more when Sathan shal reason froÌ„ thence and perswade them that therefore their sinnes are not done away sith they are still as fresh in their coÌ„science as if they were but now done that therefore they are not blotted out sith they are imprinted in their consciences that they are not defaced sith they are before their face and that they are not taken out of their soul sith they are still therin And wheras before they were couered he will tell vs that that was but with forgetfulnes or with securitie or hardnes of hart or pleasure or some other fancies that crept into the soule in stead theâ—of But now when these things were gone he might see as Sathan will say that the guiltines of his sin still guilded ouer his conscience and the deformitie and filthines therof was but stubbered ouer with vntempered morter and not washed cleane out by the bloud of Iesus Christ and the spirit of our God And by this meanes how he troubleth feareth casteth downe the soule and beateth downe faith no man knoweth but he that feeleth he that feeleth it knoweth the strenght of Sathan of this reason against the forgiuenes of our sin And yet further because he would leaue no stone as the Prouerbe is vnremoued he reasoneth from the name as before he did froÌ„ the nature of sin And he telleth vs that our sins are our debts which we must make paiment of for the Lord will not as Sathan wil tell vs be any looser by vs. And here when he hath told vs. that we are not able to satisfie the debt he will tel vâ— withall that he is the Lords attorney to arrest vs his man of law to wage the law against vs. his laylor to take vs into hell which is his prison And herein indeed he wil begin to execute his office to lay the law to vs to sue vs to implead vs wil bring the matter to an execution or a Nisi prius For if we haue not before a quittance to shew sealed and written with his owne finger against this debt he will make vs glad to keepe our houses yea our beds or els to run away if we can to hide