doe it diligently when any thing is to bee done for the Lord Iesus doest thou doe it with all thy might if remisly thou art farre from seeking the Lord What ever a man doth for himselfe so farre as he conceives it to be for himselfe he will doe it diligently and with all his might and wee are commanded to love the Lord with all our might and there is a curse upon the contrary Cursed is he that doth the worke of the LORD negligently the meaning is not cursed is he that doth the worke of the Lord weakly and with infirmities for then all the Saints should bee accursed but that is done negligently which is done hypocritically and for other ends for they are the causes of that negligence to this the curse belongs and that justly this cold remisse formall customary performance of duties as when we receive the Sacrament or are exercised in any other dutie or in any cause that concernes the LORD to goe about it coldly is a signe we doe it not for the Lord. Consider whether thou doest them faithfully for so a man useth to doe his owne businesse for no man is unfaithfull to himselfe to another hee may performe but eye service but not for himselfe now so to do a thing is not to rest in the thing done but his care will be that it may be done effectually so as to see the fruit and effect of it And if you aske how you shall discerne you doe any thing faithfully That is discerned by this When a good action is to bee done thou carest not so much that it be done but thy selfe would be the doer of it for thy credit c. as Diotrephes he was a froward man but himselfe would doe all but wouldest thou doe it though the fame thereof were not knowne dost thou desire to have it done though another man doe it and thinkest it is no matter by whose hand the worke goes forward so that it goes forward Againe secondly what doest thou when there is a separation made a partition betwixt the businesse of the Lord and thine owne credit art thou yet then as carefull when two goe together it is not knowne who is the master of the servant of one of them that followes them both till they part so when thy credit and Gods glory goe together it is not knowne for which of them thou doest it but there are times when our owne and the Lords businesse will be separated and then consider what thou doest is it so that because thou art not the first in a businesse thou wilt doe nothing at all or if thou shalt not bee seene in it it is a signe thou doest it for thy selfe and not for the Lord when two men are to carry a beame into a house if both strive to goe in first they carry it in a crosse whereas if they would bee content to come one after the other it would go right in so often great workes both for Church and State might bee done that are thus hindred or are carried crosse because men are not willing that others should go before him Consider therefore these things seriously and bring them home to your hearts for to what end doe we preach that you might know these things onely that makes onely for your further condem nation and you had better never to have knowne them but wee preach them that you might lay them to heart take therefore some thing to consider these things and if you have found your selves failing in this be not yet discouraged but labour to make your hearts perfect for time to come thus to seeke the Lord alone To exhort to which which is the next use I make of it and to quicken you to this consider what great reason there is thou shouldest seeke the Lord Iesus and not thy selfe Consider what ties and bonds are upon thee towards him the bargain between him and thee past I will aske you first whose servant art thou and should not the servant seek the profit of his master if a man sees a company of sheep and he askes whose sheep are these sayes another to him such a mans for he hath bought and paid for them and hath not Christ bought thee and besides this his first buying of thee who gives thee thy wages and provides for thee meat drinke and cloathing and is there not reason thou shouldest serve him alone Then if thou beest perfectly a servant as thou art thou doest wrong to the LORD if thou doest not serve him Againe secondly I aske thee who is thy husband Is not the Lord Iesus and if thou beest his wife oughtest thou not to seek his things one that is unmaried is yet her own but when she is maried she is her husbands When there was no King in Israel every man did what was good in his owne eyes and if thou had'st no husband no King so mightest thou but thou art not tui juris the covenant is past already thou art not now to choose if thou sayest no consider that when thou wert baptized it was into the Name of the Lord and that by way of a vow which is an invocation with a curse that is the nature of a vow If thou sayest yea but I was young then I but since thou commest to yeares of discretion thou hast not disclamed it but confirmed it in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper receiving it often and therefore thou canst not recall it therefore that first covenant then made it stands good as marriages made under age if when the parties are come to yeares they did not disclame them they hold and he being thy husband Consider that as adultery is worse than fornication the one being punisht among the Iewes with death the other but with a pecuniary mulct so the sins which thou committest in going after other lovers is worse then if a heathen man had committed the same he that was circumcised Saint Paul sayes was bound to keepe the whole Law and so hee that is baptized and hath received the Lords Supper is bound to give up himselfe to the Lord as the Lord Christ to him and all things in him and so the Saints of Macedonia did 2 Cor. 8. 5. They gave themselves up first to the Lord. And if thou wert not thus bound yet hee hath deserved it at thy hands and both these wee find urged by the Apostle 1 Cor. 1. 12. 13. was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized into the name of Paul these were men among the Corinthians that did not seeke Christ alone in their professing of Christ for one was for Paul and another for Apollos another for Cephas but sayes the Apostle is Christ divided if Christ indeed had been divided amongst these three they might have sought them but Christ stands alone against them all and therfore they were to seeke Christ alone and he brings these two
it is not bitter if a good conscience bee joyned with it for then it is heavie when it falls upon the shoulder out of joynt or upon the sore place and therefore S. Paul he cared not for death or the prison because he had a cleare conscience all his afflictions were nothing to him for he bare them with a whole shoulder sinne wounds the soule and then affliction dropped in causeth smart Hee frames their hearts to patience and so that keepes their spirit whole so as they possesse their soules and themselves as on the contrary impatience takes the soule off the hinges puts it out of it selfe but whilest a mans spirit is strong and it selfe it will beare its infirmities but when impatient it will beare nothing when therefore afflictions are thus mingled with prayers and repentance and a good conscience and patience it is easie to beare them and it is GOD mingles their cup thus And as CHRIST said shall not I drinke of the Cup which my Father hath mingled although the cup be bitter yet the ingredients he puts in it makes it sweete GOD mingles a cup to them in another manner then to others See how hee mingled a cup to Ahitophel it was no great thing in it selfe it was but that disparagement in the rejection of his counsell yet such an ingredient was put in such an apprehension by Gods providence for though God was not the author of it yet he suffered Sathan to doe it as that it brake his heart and he hanged himselfe See the contrary in David when Ziglag was burnt a great and suddaine affliction yet he bare it well for he had comfort from the Lord an ingredient with it which incouraged him in God and so when he fled before Absalom his owne sonne a great and bitter affliction yet he bare it with such a mind as if hee had beene in his bed asleepe as appeares by the third Psalme which was made upon that occasion when tenne thousand were encamped against him yet hee feared no more then if hee had had never an enemy in the world I will lay mee downe and sleepe c. Thirdly his compassion is shewen in bringing them through and giving them a good issue and comfortable fruit of all as appeares by that place of Zachary 13. 9. Hee carried them through the fire and fined them thereby as Gold led them out and caused them to lose nothing but their drosse or as the Wheat loseth nothing in the winnowing but the chaffe There is an excellent place for this purpose in Esay 27. 8. In measure in the branches thereof thou wilt debate with it so some reade it God promiseth in the former part that Israel should grow like a fruitfull tree and flourish and though he afflicted them yet it should not be so as he afflicteth others hath hee smitten him as he smote those that smote him no hee smote them in the root but him in the branches so as he should grow the more by it God compares himselfe to a man that loppeth his tree but medleth not with the root or body of the tree but with the branches onely and that just so farre as neede was and where they should bee cut and that in season and at the just time that it may grow the more for this is to doe it in measure and this is no more than necessary to make the tree shoot the more and it were spoyled if hee did not deale thus with it Now hee smites others at such a time as they are most unfit for it and that in the roote so as he causeth them to wither they are losers by it as appeares by that wicked King Ioram 2 Kings 6. 33. This evill is of the Lord and what should I wait on the Lord any longer and by that of Ahaz 2 Chron. 28. 22. c. Then in time of distresse Ahab yet trespassed more against the Lord this was that King Ahaz this was the end of that affliction But some good soule will object and say I doe not finde this fruit of my afflictions It may be thou dost not for the present but stay a little till God hath made an end and thou shalt see that affliction which thou thoughtest most sharpe and for which thou sawest no reason and by which for a while you saw you got no good yet when the Lord hath made an end and put all together then I say thou shalt finde thy worst takings thy worst condition profitable and usefull to thee in the time of Winter when the trees wither an unwise man would wonder to see such a spoile but when the Spring comes you know the benefit of it you should not have had such a Spring but for such a Winter And so those varieties of afflictions and crosses which God leades thee through those sins those puttings backe which wee thinke can no way bee advantageouâ— to us they ever in the end will bring forth a Spâ—â—â—g time for all things worke together for good Iudge not by one particular but stay till God hath put all together and thou shalt see it is for good Thence it is that Saint Iames would have us Iames 1. 2. When wee fall into divers temptations to count it exceeding great joy that is hee doth not say when you goe in step by step but when you are precipitated fall all on the suddaine and are pluhged into them so the word in the originall signifieth And secondly not into one but into all sorts into divers afflictions at once affliction in Estate Body Wife Children one upon the necke of another yet rejoyce and not onely so but bee exceeding glad as glad as a Merchant man is to see his Ships come from the Indies laden with riches and full of treasure so beneficiall should they be in the end Now except they did always bring home such treasure and proved not in the issue exceeding good and profitable he could not have desired them thus to rejoyce Now if you aske the reasons why it is so that God deales thus with his Children in afflictions I answer out of the text First sayes hee they are my people they are his owne and therefore hee is full of bowels of compassion towards them as a man is to his owne child because it is his Hosea 11. 8. thou art mine and I cannot deale with thee as with a stranger for my bowells are turned within me as it is there when it came to the casting away of his child he cannot do it So 1 Sam. 12. 22. The Lord will not forsake you for you are his people And so also 〈◊〉 7. 18. Who is a god like unto our God that pardâ—â—◠〈◊〉 iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of thine heritage there lies the reason they are a remnant they are chosen out of the rest of the world and to them hee is so mercifull as there is none
goe and humble my selfe I will goe home to God and change my course and give up my selfe to him and serve him and this we shall finde in these examples mentioned before especially of the Prodigall Luk. 15. he came to this conclusion If I stay here I dye for hunger but in my fathers house there is bread enough here was hope that bred this resolution I will goe home and say to my father I have sinned against heaven and against thee c. here was that true humiliation we speake of So Manasses hee humbled himselfe greatly out of an hope of mercy for a man comes not to this active humiliation wherein he kindly humbleth himselfe unlesse hee hath hope of mercy and the beginning of faith is with a hope of mercy which sets a man a worke to goe to God and say Lord I have committed such and such sinnes but I will returne to them no more I am worthy of nothing Now there are foure severall compositions or foure paires of ingredients that have influence into this second kind of humiliation to cause us to humble our selves 1 Payr an hope of mercy as wel as a sence of misery that whereas before wee did looke upon God as a severe Judge we looke now on him as one willing to receive us both are requisite Sence of misery onely brings a man but to himselfe as the Prodigall first is said to come to himselfe but hope of mercy joyned with it drives a man home to God as it did also him without which sence of misery drives us from the LORD but hope of mercy being added to it causeth this active humiliation wee speake of whereby wee say I will goe and humble my selfe 2 Payre of ingredients are the sence of our own emptinesse together with an apprehension of that Alsufficiency that is in God which we also may see in the Prodigall when he said I shall starve and die if I stay here but in my fathers house is bread enough he lookt to that alsufficient fulnesse that was in God to supply his wants The creature whilst it findeth any thing in it selfe it will stand upon its owne bottome and not bee humbled but when it finds nothing in its selfe but emptinesse then it beginneth to seeke out for a bottome which it seeing to be in God alone it goes out to him for men will not be drawne off from their owne bottome till they see another bottome to stand upon 3 There must bee a sence of a mans owne sinfulnesse and the LORD JESUS his righteousnesse and so a light comes in that discovereth both thus when S. Paul was humbled there was a light shone about him which was an outward symbole of that new light which shone within him of Christ and his owne sinfulnesse A sence of the love of God and Christ joyned with the sence of a mans unkindnesse unto God whereby wee looke upon sinnes as injuries done to God and an unkindnesse shewne therein And now let us see the difference betwixt these two works or parts of humiliation that wee may further understand what it is to humble our selves And first they differ in the matter they are conversant about in that first a man is humbled properly but for the punishment a man indeed is humbled for sinne yet principally as it hath relation to punishment it is guilt works on him he is not humbled for sin as it is contrary to God and his holinesse but as contrary to himself and his own good and thus we are not humbled till we come to love God and to have a light discovering the holines and purity of his nature which one that is savingly humbled hath wrought in him They differ in their grounds and principles whence they arise The first ariseth but from selfe-love and is but a worke of nature though thus farre a worke of God to stirre up self-love by the sence of misery and to awaken it but so as any unreasonable creature if in danger useth to be sensible of it and what wonder then is it for a man when hee begins to have some sence of hel and death let into his conscience to be wounded and apprehensive of it but the other ariseth from the love of God kindled in the heart by hope of grace and mercy They differ in the instrumental causes that work them the one is wrought by the spirit of bondage by an enlightning meerly to see his bondage and the soule is as one that is in bondage fearing God as a master and he hath no further light than thus to see God as a Judge but this other is wrought by the spirit of adoption making the Gospell also effectuall discovering God as a father They differ in their effects as The one driveth a man from GOD but this latter causeth a man to goe to GOD and to seeke Christ it workes that affection to Christ that the Church in the Canticles had to him who would not give over seeking him till she had found him whom her soule did love Though there bee twenty obstacles in the way yet the soule hath no rest as a stone hath no rest till it bee in its owne center so nor this soule thus humbled but in God and therfore gives not over seeking him though it hath never so many denyalls The first breeds death an acedia a deadnesse and listlesnesse it makes a man as a log that moves not to God in prayer So it wrought in Nabal and Achitophel it breeds such discouragement as often ends in death Of worldly sorrow and such is all sorrow whereof God is not the end commeth death but when it is right and true and kindly sorrow for sinne it doth that which an affection should doe it quickneth him to doe that which he ought to do so feare when it is right worketh and so all other affections which were put into the soule for that end that it might bee stirred up by them to that which it should doe for GOD and its owne good and therefore this affection of sorrow for sinne quickens a man to seeke out to God when it is right The first breeds a fiercenesse and turbulency in a mans spirit as we see often in men whose consciences are awakned to see their sinnes they are fiercer then they were before for guilt of sin vexeth their spirits and where there is no sence of mercy from God there is none to men but hee that is broken for sinne spends his anger upon himselfe frets chiefly for his owne vilenesse and unworthinesse and the Peace of God which his heart hath a sence of makes his spirit gentle and peaceable and easie to be entreated and perswaded bring him Scripture and a child may lead him and perswade him The rough wayes are made smooth the rough and froward dispositions of the heart and every Mountaine-like affection cast downe as it is said they were by Saint
with our sins wee desire to hide them from our selves by putting false glosses upon them and from others by fained excuses but deale impartially with your selves herein and labour to see sinne in its full vilenesse And that you may doe so First pitch upon some one great sin and take it into consideration So Christ when he would humble Paul he tells him of his persecution Why persecutest thou me And so S. Peter when he would humble the Iewes Acts 2. 1. he tells them of their crucifying of Christ So Christ when hee would humble the Woman Iohn 4. he remembers her of her adultery And the method that God takes when hee would humble us it is good for us to take For as when a man goes to rub a great staine out of a cloath by the same labour hee rubs out others that are the lesse for my meaning is not that you should let other sinnes alone when I exhort you to single out one but to consider all particulars else also though never so small the multitudes of them will helpe to humble thee as well as the greatnesse When a man sees hee hath many debts though but small of sixpences and shillings yet being many the totall summe may arise to a great quantity and make a man see himselfe bankerupt Therefore set your sinnes in order before you give the due weight to every sin but yet especially let great sins bee in your eye Now some sinnes are greater in their owne nature as fornication swearing drunkennesse c. others are made great by their circumstances as that they were committed against knowledge with deliberation as Saul sparing the Amalekites and sacrificing before Samuel came wherein a commandement on the contrary was distinctly given So God aggravated to Adam his sin did not I command thee the contrary and didst thou not know thou shouldest not We are not to take sins by number only but also by weight as when they were committed contrary to many promises purposes and so as hardnesse of heart follow upon it And secondly withall labour to make sins present though long since committed looke on them as if they were newly done for though our sinnes bee great yet if we apprehend them and view at a distance and a great way off they move us not which is the reason why men are not more affected with the thought of death in their health which yet is one of the greatest evills and so apprehended by us when we come to die the reason is because it is then conceived to be a farre off and so men are not moved with it Thus it is in our apprehension of sins also the distance makes them seeme small there is not a neare conjunction and application of the object and the affection they are not brought nigh but men looke upon sinnes long since past as small whereas in truth sins long since committed are the same in themselves and in the sight of God they were when first committed and therefore should bee the same to thee So a man that hath committed a treason twenty yeares agoe may bee executed for it now and therefore Iosephs brethren remembred their sinne as fresh though long before committed as if they had then committed it their affliction revived in their consciences and made it as present but we usually looke on sins past as none of ours Iob saith that the LORD made him possesse the sinnes of his youth he possessed them that is looked on them as his owne What is the reason why to men in jeopardy as in a storme at Sea and in the time of sicknesse their sins then appeare so terrible and fearefull they apprehend them as present Now that which God doth by affliction let us labour to get done by meditation and by faith to looke on them as present turne that end of the optike glasse which will bring them neare to thee labour to have a true Judgement of their greatnesse and that they are the same for therein lyes true humiliation when the Judgement is rightly convinced to esteeme them the greatest evill though it bee not accompanied with so violent and turbulent a sorrow When you have made them thus present doe not quickly make an end but let sorrow abide upon your hearts for the worke is not so soone done you will get into some rocke or other unlesse you bee continually persecuted and followed by the apprehension of your sins till you come unto the City of refuge but doe as David did Psal. 51. he sets his sin before him and as Saint Paul to whom that sin of persecution was ever fresh in his memory and alwayes in his mouth I a persecutor c. In this case learne something of the Divell who when he would bring a man to bee swallowed up of sorrow his manner is to keepe a mans sin still before him nor will he let a man be at rest therfore 2 Cor. 12. they are called the buffetings of Sathan because hee comes often with blow after blow to discourage and amaze a man now learne from that practise of his to stay and dwell upon the meditations of our sinnes and often to present them to our soules Thy greene wood happily will not burne without much blowing it is frequens intensior argumentatio a frequent pressing of arguments that workes on the affections and so here keepe the object neare the faculty and at last it will worke look not on thy sins by fits let there be no interruption by worldly joyes or pleasures no intervalla and this is Saint Iames counsell Be afflicted and mourne and weepe Iames 4. Let your laughter bee turned into mourning and your joy into heavinesse humble your selves c. that is if you will have your hearts humbled abstaine from lawfull delights for the time get alone So Ioel 2. hee bids them set apart a day that they might have no interruption and if that will not doe it sanctifie another let not one sparke goe out ere another bee strucke otherwise you will bee alwayes beginning and never come to be humbled If you would come to lay your sins to heart and be affected with them then be sure you be not kept off by those false reasoning and excuses which hinder men from being humbled and keepe their sins from comming in upon them as for instance when a man comes to consider of his sinnes I but sayes he am I not in a good estate already and then my sinnes are pardoned for I have good desires in me and a good meaning I meane no man no harme and thus these keepe him from seeing himselfe a child of wrath but consider that thou mayst have all these good things in thee and more than these and yet be a child of wrath these will be found to the praise of the Holy Ghost who wrought them in thee but not to thy advantage to escape damnation for though these be
had thought to have gon off sooner but that the Supper of the Lord drawes neare which time is a day of reconciliation such as was that Feast the tenth day in the seventh moneth when the people all meeting together Aaron the Priest confessed their sins over the scape Goate which fled into the wildernesse which was a type of Christ taking away all our sins and the same is done and represented when we receive the Sacrament Now one condition required of the people at that time was that they should humble themselves and every soule that did not was to be cut off Levit. 23. 27. to the 30. verse and that letting goe of the scape Goate was at the same time as appeares Levit. 16. 20. to the 31. But to come to the point the Scripture is plentifull to prove it Iames 4. 6. God giveth grace to the humble sanctifying grace and also saving knowledge Psal. 25. He shewes his secrets unto the humble yea he dwelleth in such Esay 57. 15. he hath an especiall eye to such those eyes that runne through the whole earth fixe themselves on the humble man for good Esay 62. 2. other things have my hand made yet them he regards not in comparison To him will I looke that is humble he promiseth also to fill them with good things to give them preferment and honour to exalt the humble and meeke yea hee regards it so that when evill men have humbled themselves they have not gone away without some mercy as when Ahab humbled himselfe 2 Chron. 12. God promised he would not bring the evill in his dayes and the best of Gods children when they have not humbled themselves hee hath withdrawne his favour from them as he would not looke on David till he had humbled himselfe All the world cannot keep an humble man down nor all the props in the world cannot keep a proud man up And what are the reasons why God respecteth humble men so An humble man giveth God all the glory and him that honoureth mee saith GOD I will honour Now an humble man doth as Ioab did Ioab would not take the victory to himselfe but sent for David and it was the deepest policy that ever Ioab used and so the Apostles Acts 3. know that JESUS hath made this man whole and it is the humble mans wisedome in all actions not to set themselves up but to say no matter how I be regarded so God be glorified and God will honour such therefore CHRIST in his prayer makes this a ground of being glorifyed by God Iohn 17. I have glorified thee on earth now father glorifie me And so God will deale with his Saints in a proportion Humility keepes a man within his owne compasse but pride lifts a man up above his proportion it puts all out of joynt and breeds disorder and that bringeth destruction and therefore humility was defined by some of the Ancients to bee that which out of the knowledge of GOD and a mans selfe keepes a man to his owne bottome That whereas a proud man liftes up himselfe above his measure as a member in the body that swells takes up more roome then it should and are as bubbles in the water which should bee plaine and smooth but this brings all into its place againe gives the Creator his due and sets the creature where it should be and therefore God loves it It makes a man sociable and usefull and profitable to others a man would not have a stubborne horse that will not goe in the teame with his fellowes nor such high trees as overshadow others and will not suffer them to grow by them and bring forth no fruit themselves A man will not keepe a Cow or an Oxe that is still a pushing and such an one is a proud man it is but and onely the humble man that will live profitably amongst his neighbours and will not goe beyond his owne Tedder An humble man hath such a frame of heart as the LORD delights in for hee is fearefull to offend alwayes obedient ready to doe any service and is content with any wages loves much is abundant in thankfulnesse and cleaves fast to the LORD because hee hath no bottome of his owne and keepeth under his lusts because hee knowes the bitternesse of sinne resignes up his heart to the Lord to follow him in all things hee is a man of the Lords desires so it is said of Daniel when he had humbled himselfe Dan. 9. Such an one as the Lord would have and so it makes him fit for favour and when a man is fit for favour he shall bee sure to have it for God is not streight-handed to us Hath the LORD said it and that from heaven that if a man doe humble himselfe hee will forgive him Then this is a matter of great consolation when I can say from GOD to any one here that droopes that if thou doest and wilt humble thy selfe the LORD will forgive thee consider it this is newes from heaven Put the case to compare spirituall things with things which you are more sensible of that any of you had committed high treason against the King and thou hadst forfeited thy life and goods if any one should come from the King to thee and tel thee that if thou wouldest goe to him and humble thy selfe it should be pardoned And is not our case the same We are guilty of eternall death and have forfeited life and all when therefore GOD himselfe shall say If thou wilt humble thy selfe thy sinnes shall bee forgiven what comfort is it such a word as this should not be lost A man that knowes the bitternesse of sinne would waite and waite againe to gaine such a word as this from the LORDS mouth and would keepe it as his life It was not a light thing to get such a word as this from God none but a favourite could get it nay none but his Son and hee not but by his death if CHRIST had not provided this Charter for us every man should have dyed in his sinnes Now this we can and doe say from GOD through CHRIST that though your sinnes be great and you have fallen into them many a time and committed them with the worst of circumstances yet if thou humblest thy self thou shalt be forgiven so as thou mayst say I may challenge God of his promise and put this bond in suite and he cannot deny it This is a great matter if a man shall but seriously consider what it is to have this great God the Governor of the World to bee an enemy one would thinke they should thinke this Gospell good newes But you will say I doe yet neither know distinctly what it is to humble my selfe neither can I humble my selfe there is not a harder thing then it is Therefore I will shew it you once againe that you may know it for why should wee
not in so great a point turne it every way and mould it for your use and to your apprehensions as also that you may not thinke it harder then it is by which the Divell keeps many off Now you may know what it is by the expressions of those who have humbled themselves David having numbred the people when he humbled himselfe he said Lord I have sinned and done exceeding foolishly Iosiah his heart melted before the Lord. And Dan. 9. Lord we have done very wickedly c. and shame belongs to us hee was ashamed And Ioâ— when he humbled himselfe said Lord I abhor my selfe in dust and ashes And the Prodigall I have sinned against heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to bee called thy sonne And so they are said to bee weary and heavy laden Many other expressions there are but I will digest all into two heads to humble a mans selfe is but to bring his heart and minde unto these two acts Is out of a sence of a mans unworthinesse to say thus unto the Lord Oh Lord I haâ—e done exceeding wickedly and am worthy to be destroyed I have beene in the wrong way and done exceeding foolishly but thy wayes are righteous and thou art just yea I have dealt unthankfully and unequally with thee who hast beene so good to me That was it melted the heart of Iosiah and made Iob abhorre himselfe as vile as the dust I tread upon as ashes that are good for nothing or but as sackloth in which they used to humble themselves the worst of garments I am ashamed and confounded This is the first act which is a sence and an acknowledgement of our owne unworthinesse and vilenesse And the second a sight of a mans worthinesse to be destroyed unability to helpe himselfe and of the vanity of all things else A man must further say that I am not onely unworthy but guilty of death my sinnes will breake my backe I am not able to stand under them and I am utterly undone and when I looke upon all the props of my life my health and riches c. I see they are but vaine things reeds and feathers and as hollow ground whereon I can set no footing Therefore LORD bee thou a rocke to mee on whom I may pitch and build my selfe And that this sight of our owne unability is also necessary we see by that 1 Tim. 6. 17. Charge them that are rich that they bee not high minded nor trust in uncertaine riches they are both joyned together For so farre as a man doth trust in them he is high minded and the soule of man doth trust in them so long as it apprehends substance in them and that they are not vanity so farre the heart beares it selfe upon them and so is carelesse of the LORD and why else do afflictions humble men as Manasses but because a man then sees the emptinesse of all things it brings him to say with the Prodigall I die for hunger and these cannot feed mee and so to hold fast to the LORD which a man must needs doe when he hath but one thing to hold to Now when thou art wrought on so as to expresse this unfainedly this is it to humble thy selfe We should hence learne to strengthen our faith if we have done this if thou hast thus humbled thy selfe confessed thy sinnes taken up a full resolution to forsake them thou shalt have mercy according to that promise Prov. 28. 13. He that confesseth and for saketh shall have mercy But here we find those who have humbled themselves come in with two objections that hinder their comfort 1. That they cannot mourne for their sins 2 That they fall into the same sinnes againe and againe and that therefore they have not humbled themselves Now as we would not have the false deceived with false evidences so nor the true discomforted and therefore wee will answer these objections To the first If thou beest so farre convinced in thy Judgement of thy sin and misery and unability to helpe thy selfe as it hath turned the bent and rudder of thy will so as thou sayest I will goe and humble my selfe to my Father change my course confesse and forsake my sins though thy affections seeme to thee not stirred yet this is enough to translate thee into the estate of grace for I aske to what end is mourning and weeping required but to awaken a man to come home to God in this manner mentioned when therefore thou findest these effects thou maiest be sure thou hast the end of these and that is enough to save thee Suppose a man carries about him a deadly disease so as upon the discovery and knowledge of it he is content to part with all he hath to the Physicians and is wary of medling with any meate that will hurt him and increase it if he know this that it is deadly though he hath no sence of paine it is all one and there are some diseases you know wherein a man feeles not so much paine that yet are mortall it may make him as carefull to use the meanes and so is it here if the conviction of the sinfulnesse and deadlinesse of sinne worke those dispositions mentioned in thee then thou hast the end which mourning tends to and that is all one Though thy affections be not so stirred consider the promises are made to ones comming in and taking Christ and beleeving in him they are not made to the commotion of the affections and here in the words the promise is made to humbling thy selfe out of a solidity of Iudgement It is no matter by what meanes you are brought to take hold on Christ so you come to him It is all one whether I come to my journeys end by land or by water on horse backe or on foote so I bee come thither If thou findest thou doest the things that an humble man should doe then though thy affections seeme not to be moved yet in very deed they are moved and changed as if thou art fearefull to returne to thy sinnes art resolved to please God in all things to thy power For what are affections but divers positions and scituations of the will and the feete it walkes upon they are but the divers motions and inclinations whereby the will shoots it selfe into the objects of it Now looke which way thy will is resolved and set that way are thy affections set also if thou seest one ro rise up soone and goe to bed late to avoyde poverty and to get riches a wise man will assure himselfe that his ayme is such and his heart set upon riches his actions shew that his affections doe move strongly that way though he sayes he feeles no such stirradge Therefore though thou findest this stilnesse of affections yet if thou doest the same things that they use to do who mourne and weepe more thou mayest assure thy selfe thy
terme or object to another that is from sinne to righteousnesse from Sathan to God And because there are many false turnings and many men that wheele about and never turne truly who yet suppose that they are converted therefore we will endeavour to open to you this true turning Now it may be found out foure wayes First by the causes of it or motives upon which Secondly by the termes from which and to which we turne Thirdly by the manner Fourthly by the effects First for the causes of this solid true turning and the motives which worke upon a mans heart to turne him you must know that there are many things may cause a man to leave his evill ways for a while As it may be some present affliction for the avoyding of which a man may seeme to turne unto God Therefore God still complaines of the Iewes that they turned but fainedly unto him and not with the whole heart because when hee slew them then they sought to him and then they would turne from their evill wayes but when they were delivered they turned to their old Bias againe So Pharaoh when as he was plagued with any new Iudgement then hee would let the Israelites goe but as soone as that was off hee hardened his heart and would not let them goe As also a second cause to move men to turne may be some present commodity This doth appeare in many of those that applied themselves to Christ some did it for the loaves and some for their convenient living some for the hope of an earthly Kingdome which they thought hee would have brought but these all left him afterwards There bee many such false motives but the onely true motives are taken from the apprehension of eternall life and eternall death the conversion is not right till then and the reason is because all other motives may be over ballanced But the motives of life and death cannot be over topped by any thing If preferment be offered or what ever the world can offer but these exceed all that Sathan or the world or the flesh can suggest Therefore a man is then turned when the Lord shall enlarge his thoughts to see the greatnesse and the vastnesse of these two for then all those other things appeare but as Candles in the Sunshine So that if Sathan come with earthly honours and pleasures in his hand the answer will be easie but what are these to eternall death and everlasting life and these are not thought of nor considered by carnall men though they talke of heaven and hell yet they see not the immense vastnesse and latitude of them and therefore goe on so confidently hence Christ in Marke 16. when he sends forth his Disciples to convert men he bids them use these two arguments Tell every man if hee beleeve hee shall bee saved if not hee shall bee damned Where wee see the motives that Ministers are to use by Christs direction are eternall life and death And Saint Paul endeavouring to convert Felix told him of the Iudgement to come which made him to tremble And Christ told the woman of Samaria of that water and spring that flowes up to eternall life Consider therefore whether ever thou hadst a true apprehension of these without which a man cannot be throughly wrought upon which apprehension if true hath these conditions in it First it must be an apprehension of them as present for happily a man may have a slight thought of eternall life and death he may looke upon them as things absent and afarre off but when they are set on by God a man is pursued and brought into streights by the apprehensions of them so as he hath no rest till he be translated into another condition A carnall man on his death bed having an actuall apprehension of hell as present is strangely affected Now at conversion the apprehension of these seizeth upon a man by a work of the Spirit and compasses him about so as he cannot shake it off till he turnes to God The wise man sees the plague before hand even as present and therfore stayes not till it comes but turnes in the time of youth health and strength Secondly it must be a deepe fix'd and setled apprehension for sometimes a man that shall never be saved may be moved with the present apprehension of eternall death and life but it is as a storme soone blowne over but in him that shall be saved it is set on by the spirit of bondage and such an impression made as will never out but he still remembers it and this is that true apprehension which moves to repentance But some will say can a man be wrought upon by the meere apprehensions of eternall life and death to turne from his evill wayes without an apprehension of sin and grace When a man hath a true apprehension of eternall life and death he comes to know what sin and Grace is and never before till a man knowes eternall death he looks on sin as a trifle as a thing of nought therefore the wise man saith they despise their waies but this apprehension is it which helpes to present sin in its lâ—vely colours and so also the price of grace is then understood when it is apprehended as drawing with it everlasting happinesse as the needle drawes the threed The second thing is the consideration of the termes for there is no turning without going from one terme to another and there is no true turning except it be from Sathan and the creature and your owne selves to God Of this you reade in Acts 26. 18. that Saint Paul was sent to open their eyes and to turne them from darkenesse to light and from the power of Sathan unto God c. You see these the termes of true turning and this is especially to be marked for if there be no more then a turning from misery to happinesse it is not sound for if you look upon sinne and misery grace and happinesse as in themselves without respect to God you doe but turne upon your owne hinges as axle-trees you goe but different wayes to the same center that o ther wicked men goe unto so long as you looke only at the misery and the happinesse of your selves alone which is the center of all mankinde Therefore in a true conversion these motives are lookt upon in relation to God as thus if I follow my selfe and the creature they are never able to save me but if I apply my selfe to him that hath the keyes of life and death I shall be happy in him for ever therefore henceforth I will forsake Satan and every creature and apply my selfe onely to the Lord. And upon this ground a man makes this resolution with himselfe I will forsake Sathan and subject my selfe to God for he only is the author of true happinesse so that now God is made a tearme to which thou turnest and appliest
grace will he give you up to your lusts he will not It is Gods manner to let his children strive and to overcome in the end Iacob wrestled all night till the dawning of the day and then hee let him have the victory and blest him The Lord suffers us to strive long but this is our comfort that we have a promise that if we resist the Divell he will fly And whereas you will say I finde it not The meaning of the promise is not as if Sathan should fly away as thou shouldest heare of him no more or that thy lusts should never returne upon thee againe but that if thou wilt be peremptory thou shalt have the victory in that particular combate As if when thou hast a feaver if one comes and tells thee take such a receipt and thou shalt bee cured his meaning is not that thou shalt so bee cured as never to have Feaver againe but that thou shalt be healed for the present so in that particular combate thou shalt have the victory Oh! but I am still haunted and I doe not overcome Strive constantly and conscionably and though it doth returne againe and againe the Lord takes notice of all thy paines and warring against it that which he sayes to the Church of Ephesus Revel 2. 2. may be applied to this I know thy workes and thy labour though thy corruptions bee too strong for thee yet if thou strivest the LORD takes it for a victory thou shalt not bee condemned for it give not over but rather thinke thus if all this contention hath wonne so little ground of my lusts where should I have beene if I had not contended at all and therefore I must take yet more paines and row harder that at the last I may overcome And because this is of generall use both to regenerate and unregenerate therefore I will goe on to adde some more rules and directions wherein this paines consists which we must take in resisting sinn A third rule or meanes wherein this labour against evill wayes must be bestowed is to strive to take notice of all the wayes of God whereby hee labours to turne thee from thy evill wayes and let them not passe without some impression to that purpose for which God intends them God useth not onely his Word but many meanes else to turne men as by his workes and by many passages of providence hee strives with us all which should bee observed As it may bee some great crosse upon the commission of a sinne some great dangerous sickenesse though not to death sometimes hee sends great feares and terrors of conscience upon some sinne committed somtimes an evill report is brought up of us or hee sends friends to admonish us or executes some Iudgement upon another for the like sinne in our sight When he meets with thee some way or other as he met Balaam hee lookes wee should understand something by it and if we neglect those his dealings with us he takes it ill at our hands and so gives us up to our lusts more and more Dan. 5. 22. there had beene a Iudgement brought upon Nebuchadnezzar in the sight of Belshazzar his Sonne which should have beene a meanes to have turned him but Thou Belshazzar his Sonne hast not humbled thy selfe though thou knewest all this As if hee had said I did all this to one neare thee in thy sight that thou mightest be humbled and turne to me This was the case of Ieroboam 1 Kings 13. God sent the Prophet to him with signes and wonders both in tearing the Altar and withering his hand yet still he went on And verse 23. it is noted and set downe on purpose by the Holy Ghost that after this Ieroboam returned not from his evill way c. as if God had said I looked thou should'st have returned upon the sight of all these Iudgements but thou wouldest not So Ieremy 3. 8. you know that Israel was carried captive long before Iudah I gave Israel a bill of divorcement for her adultery yet treacherous Iudah feared not as if he had said a Iudgement on their next neighbour should have made them to have returned Therefore doe thou think what the Lord would by all such passages of providence towards thee which are all as warning peeces before the great army as crackes before the fall creveses through which the Lord reveales himselfe For you must know that God brings men in by his workes as well as by his word and you may take his workes in vaine as well as his word and to let them passe without profit is to take his Name in vaine for his Name is whatsoever hee makes himselfe knowne by as by these acts he doth and God will not hold him guiltlesse that takes his Name in vaine GOD will utterly destroy such a man for then there is no remedy God cuts not his owne corne till they be ripe and all his dealings with them tend to ripen them nor doth hee bring wicked men to destruction till they be ripe for it and every such passage doth ripen them Now all men are for the most part in one of these three conditions Some take no notice at all of such passages God passeth by them and is not seene and it is said of the Israelites Deut. 29. though they had seene great signes and miracles in the wildernesse verse 3. yet they had not eyes to see them nor eares to heare them verse 4. Others though they doe take notice of them yet the impression they leave behinde them is but slight and like a light colour not well dyed the tincture is soone worne out Marke 6. 25. for they considered not the miracle of the loaves for the hardnesse of their hearts It was spoken upon occasion of their being amazed at this new miracle Christs walking upon the water and is as if hee had said if yee had considered the miracle of the loaves you would not have wondered thus at my walking on the waters that had made so deepe an impression on them as it should by reason of the hardnesse of their hearts But you shall see the case quite otherwise in the Iaylor his affâ—ightment which the earthquake and the opening of the prison dores had wrought in him passed not away as a dreame but left such an impression as brought him home And so should all such passages worke with us And that is the third direction 4 Rule is not simply to goe about to resist a sin and to turne from the evil of our ways but to fil the heart with something that is better for when lusts are mortified the streame of our affections are not dryed up but diverted and therefore the way is not to goe about to stop the current of a sinfull lust but to turne thy heart into another channell set thy heart upon something that is better Take a crab-tree stocke that is sower or bitter the onely way to sweeten it
that doe not have nothing to do with it let him come and take freely that is I will bestow it without any other condition but comming without which no man can partake of it and thirsting without which no man will come or prize it The consideration of which covenant therfore should move us and helpe us to believe the truth of this point that whatsoever our sinnes are yet if we humble our selves c. they shall be pardoned Before I come to apply this to any man I must exclude those whom the Lord excludes or rather who exclude themselves Still remember what is the last letter of his name Exodus 34. 6. That hee will not hold the wicked innocent Thou that art a carnall man hast nothing to doe with this childrens bread thou art a Dog which may bee made good to thy conscience out of 1 Pet. 2. ult Like the dog thou returnest to thy vomit For in thy sicknesse and in thy distresse didst thou not make many promises and resolutions against thy wayes and courses and after thy recovery didst thou not returne to them againe with as much greedinesse as ever 2 Againe thou art such an one as doest not thirst after these promises carest no more for them then for thy old shooes these precious promises which as is said before containe in them most rich and precious promises and none shall ever obtaine them that doth not in some measure of truth prize them above all things whatsoever Thou that never hadst thy heart broken with the apprehension of sin and Gods wrath canst not come to thirst after them and so hast nothing to doe with this water of life A man that is still whole hearted ever since hee was borne and never affrighted with sinne and wrath may heare these promises spoken of but hath nothing to doe with them 3 They that are hypocrites are also excluded for they are to have their portion in hell fire and therefore whilst remaining such have nothing to do with the promises Now an hypocrite is one that is not willing to omit holy duties altogether and yet not willing to doe them throughly one that like the Eagle soares high in faire pretences but still hath the prey that is below in his eye and wil stoop for it upon occasion eying preferment credit riches c. all the while Thou mayest be white in thine owne eyes and washt before a Communion or so as a Swine may bee washt as well as a Sheepe but yet the Swinish nature remaines 4 Or it may be thou art a wicked man But you will say who are those wicked men I will give you a description of them which no man shall refuse they are such as hate the Lord nor can any man think much if he be call'd a wicked man comming within the compasse of this character for it is the note given in the second commandement Now when we heare this every man will be ready to say I hope my condition is good I am none of them that hate the Lord but know there are many thousands that think well of themselves who yet when it comes to the tryall will be found to hate the Lord. And therefore to try thee in this give mee leave to aske thee but a few questions 1 Dost thou not hate the law dost thou not wish that the Law were not so strict and that it gave more liberty Let an unregenerate man try himselfe by this and he will find such a disposition in him that he desires that the law would give him leave to commit such and such a sin he esteemes of the Law as a thing that is contrary to him and therfore their complaint of godly men is that their wayes are contrary to ours in the booke of Wisedome What wayes the wayes of the law for where is contrariety there is hatred and if they hate the law they hate the law-giver God for the law is the expresse image of God 2. Againe I would aske thee if this bee not also thy disposition that thou hast no great delight to be where the Lord is thou hast not any delight in holy duties otherwise than as custome and naturall conscience have made them familiar to thee nor to be in the company of the Saints for where two or three of them are there God is among them but when thou art among them thou art as it were out of thy element if they be such as are formall like thy selfe thou canst away with them but if they be holy and the holinesse of God appeare in them thou delightest not in them thou couldest it may bee bee among the Saints if they hold their tongues but let God shine in them then thou canst not indure to be there 3 Againe dost thou hate those that are like the Lord for if thou dost thou hatest the Lord himselfe for as wee try our love to the Lord by our love to the brethren so our hatred also Is there a secret dislike of them though thou knowest not why an antipathy though happily thou canst not give a reason of it It is because God hath put an enmity and there no man can put amity all endowments sweetnesse of converse and disposition eminency of parts in the Saints will not take away the enmity that is in wicked men against them David was a Poet a souldier a man of excellent parts wise and valiant yet had abundance of hatred amongst men for his goodnesse 4 Againe dost thou not desire that there were no God Couldst thou not bee content to live for ever in this world so that thou were happy here and so there were no hell Couldst thou not bee content that there were no heaven no GOD no Iudge at the last If every unregenerate man would examine himselfe he should finde this in himselfe Now if any wish that such an one were not that he were sublatus demedio it is a signe he hates him for that is the property of hatred to desire the utter removall of the things hated 5 Againe dost thou not lie in some sin which thou knowest is a sinne Now every man that lies in a sinne a knowne sinne feareth GOD as a Iudge Let him bee a thiefe and he will feare the Iudge and whom a man thus feareth hee hateth Quem metuunt oderunt he that walkes in darknesse hates the light and God who is the author of that light Dost thou therefore live in some evill way or other wherein thou dost allow thy selfe thou hast no interest in these promises onely those that claime interest in the promises who make conscience of all their wayes dare not omit the least duty nor performe it slightly Lastly consider art thou not one of the foolish virgins deferring repentance not caring to provide oyle in time but thinkest thou canst do it time enough at death and I will come in ere I die like the sluggard in the Proverbs tumbling in the bed of thy sin securely
in Paradise But you will object and say can sinnes that have been committed cease to have beene committed or cease to have been sins Answer t is true that which is once done can never bee undone All the acts remaine as things once done so as it may be said they were committed and were thus hainous when therefore it is said there shall be none the meaning is they shall be of no efficacy they shall never bee able to doe you hurt as our Saviour said to his Disciples Luk. 10. 19 You shall tread upon Serpents and Scorpions and they shall not hurt you so I may say of sin it shal not hurt you because the sting is taken away in and by Christ or as that fire in Nebuchadnezzars furnace it had power enough to burne others but not so much as to singe an haire of the three children because Christ was with them so those sinnes which would sting and shall sting others to death because of their impenitence yet shall doe thee no hurt but fall off like the Viper off from Saint Pauls hands but not hurt thee It is an opinion of some that GOD can see no sinne in his children because they say there are none when a man is once in Christ son to bee seene But that is not the meaning of that saying God sees no iniquity in Iacob they are there but as in a debt-booke crossed and cancell'd though the lines be drawne over yet the summes may be read yet so as they cannot bee enacted or sued for because they are crossed and cancell'd A falling starre loseth its light by little and little and when it comes to the earth it goes quite out so when sinnes begin to fall from their proper element and Sphere that is an unregenerate heart where they had dominion and raigned and moved as in their Orbe the light and influence of it decayes and shall at length both in the guilt and power of it wholly vanish I will also adde to this this caution the Saints must know that for all this their sinnes are retained till they actually repent againe the Lords wrath is kindled against them and they may feele such effects of it as may make their hearts ake Thus the Lord met Moses and would have slayne him in the Inne for neglecting that ordinance of circumcision the sinne was not forgiven till he had humbled himselfe and amended his fault so GOD was angry with the Israelites that fled before their enemies till the accursed thing was taken away So when David sinned in the matter of Vriah it is said in the end of that Chapter 2 Sam. 11. 27. The thing that David had done displeased the Lord and there was the wrath of a father against him though not of an enemie and when was it that GOD was well pleased with him againe but when hee had humbled himselfe and repented Therefore that you may have strong consolation search and examine your hearts and lives see that there bee no way of wickednesse unrepented of in you before you apply all these promises which then you may doe to your comfort Somewhat is now to bee said even to those whom before wee excluded for the end of our preaching is not to shut them for ever out If the LORD will bee mercyfull to our sinnes if wee be humbled there is an open dore for those that are without a ground to exhort them to come in Come and welcome God is exceeding mercifull and ready to forgive and receive you If any thing will draw men in they are the promises of mercy the Hue and Cry makes the Thiefe to flye away the faster The Proclamation of pardon brings the Rebels in and what greater motive can wee use than this that whatever your sinnes are or have beene never so great in themselves and aggravated with never so many circumstances yet if you will come in and humble your selves and turne to God God will bee mercifull to you No matter what thy sinnes have beene all the matter is what thy humility is what thy resolutions to confesse and forsake thy sinnes are thy have not gone beyond that price which hath beene paid for them And God will not only pardon their sins but also leave a blessing behind If you indeed should come thus to any man whom you have offended hee would say what are you not ashamed to come to mee having wronged mee thus to looke mee in the face not to aske forgivenesse onely but to aske such a kindnesse such a favour at my hands also how could you have the face to doe it But the Lord he never gives that answer for he is not as man Ier. 3. 11. Though if a man put away his wife and shee becomes another mans hee will not receive her againe yet returne to me sayes God It is possible for men to commit such sins that men cannot forgive but God can pardon any You know the pernicious counsell which Achitophel gave to Absolon to goe in to his fathers wives to make an irrecoverable breach betweene his father and him judgeing it such an injury as David would never put up yet returne to mee sayes God God can pardon any I will scatter thy sinnes as a myst and thine iniquity as a cloud Some sinnes are small as mysts some more great and grosser as a cloud Gods mercy is able to scatter both Doe not say oh I had beene a happy man if I had not fallen into this or that sinne I had then beene pardoned T is true that in respect of Gods dishonour it had beene better thou hadst not committed it but yet this I will say that in respect of obtaining pardon thou mayest bee happy notwithstanding if thou humble thy selfe this sinne will not barre thee from happinesse but thou maist be in as good a condition after thou art come home as any other whose sinnes have beene smaller and know that when thou art once come home God looking upon thee in Christ all thy sinnes displease him not so much as thy repentance in and through Christ pleaseth him But how shall a man be perswaded of this Gods readinesse to forgive Consider that place As I live saith the Lord I will not the death of a sinner but rather that hee turne from his wickednesse and live Hee hath taken an oath for it that hee delights more in saving than in destroying and you may believe him Consider also what Christ was wont to doe in the dayes of his flesh and hee is still as mercifull an high Priest as ever None were more welcome to him than Publicans and Harlots that came with repentance to him and he is as ready to receive us now as them then I doubt not but that Christ is willing but what will God the Father do It is certaine that hee is not willing to have his Sonnes bloud spilt in vaine which should bee of none effect if such sinners
as you are should not bee saved Hereby the bloud of Christ is improved that it is sprinkled on many for great sinnes Thinke not therefore that God is backward to pardon Psal. 130. 3 4. There are two arguments more to helpe us in this If hee should marke what is done amisse who should stand none should be saved Now it is not his will that all flesh should perish and therefore hee will not take the advantage to cast men cleane off for their sinnes againe none else would worship him There is mercy with thee that thou mayest bee feared It is his full purpose to have some servants to feare and worship him Yea shall I goe further God is not onely ready to forgive but desirous of it yea hee is glad at the heart when a great sinner doth come in which is noted to us in the Parable of the lost sheepe and the lost groat how did the woman rejoyce for the finding of her groat and the Shepheard for his sheepe And likewise in the Parable of the lost Sonne how glad was hee when he heard that his Sonne was comming home that yet had lived riotously and spent his goods it was to shew that GOD was so affected when a great sinner returnes to him Besides he doth not onely say if you will come I keepe open house I will not shut you out but inviteth them calleth them yea more sends his ministers to fetch them in yea more entreateth beseecheth commandeth threatneth But you will say is it possible that I should bee forgiven that have committed so many sinnes so great so hainous and continued so long in them Yes it is possible for you Marke that place 1 Cor. 6. 9. Hee reckons up as great sinnes as can bee named And such were some of you but now you are washed You see what kind of people there were forgiven whence wee may gather that those that are guilty of those sinnes now may bee forgiven as well as then such were some of you Whosoever thou art it is no matter what thou hast beene all the matter is what thou wilt bee Put case any of the old Prophets should come to thee or any man in particular and say wilt thou bee content now to turne to GOD if thou wilt all thy sinnes shall bee washt away and thou shalt bee made an heire of Heaven it would cause him that hath any ingenuity to relent and say LORD canst thou now bee so mercifull to mee as to forgive mee after all this loe LORD I will come in and turne unto thee I aske thee this question whether art thou content to quit all thy sinnes presently upon assurance of being received if thou dost if thou answerest no art thou not worthy to bee destroyed if yes is not this great comfort But some may say if heaven gate stand thus wide open I may come and bee welcome at any time Thou vile wretch that darest to have such a thought Dost thou not know that every such refusall of such an offer is so dangerous as it may put thee into hazard of never having the like againe If the gate of heaven stood thus alwayes open why then did God sweare in his wrath of some Israelites that they should never enter into his rest and what is the reason that God said of those that were invited to the feast but refused to come that they should never taste of it The reason is there given it is said the master of the feast was full of wrath at the refusall of his offer both because his love and kindnesse was despised that filleth a man with indignation and so the Lord and also because the thing offered was of so much price it being the kingdome of heaven and the precious bloud of Christ. Therefore whensoever such an offer is made and refused God is exceeding angry There goes an axe and a sword with this offer to cut downe every tree that will not bring forth good fruit Say not when you heare of this offer I am glad there is such a thing I will accept of it another time but it comes too soone for mee now Consider this that the end of the comming of the Lord Iesus was not onely to save the soules of men if onely so then indeed this might have beene done at any time even at the last but his end also was Titus 2. 14. That he mtght purifie to himselfe a peculiar people zealous of good workes ' which is a greater end than that which went before in the verse to redeeme us from all iniquity to purchase to himselfe a people that should serve him in their life time and canst thou thinke that thou that hast served thy lusts all thy life time shalt yet bee accepted at death It is a common saying with you that if a man bee called at the eleventh houre hee shall be received 't is true if thou beest called then first and not before as the thiefe who was not call'd afore was then accepted but what if thou hast beene call'd afore and hast not accepted but put off till death thy case then will bee exceeding dangerous Againe I aske thee what is it makes thee resolve to come in at death If love to Christ then it would sooner if to thy selfe how shall such conversion be accepted Come we now to the last words And I will heale their land WE have these three points may be observed out of them 1. That all calamities and troubles proceede from sinne this I note from the order of the words hee first forgives their sinnes then heales their land 2. That if calamities bee removed and sinnes be not forgiven they are removed in judgement not in mercy 3. That if sinne bee once forgiven the calamity will soone be taken away For the first all calamity is from sinne troubles from transgression In the chaine of evills sinne is the first linke that drawes on all the rest as grace is in the chaine of blessings and comforts Consider this in all kinds of judgements which wee may reduce to three heads 1. Temporall calamities about the things of this life they are all from sinne both publike and private What was the reason of Salomons troubles The Lord stirred up an adversary against him because hee departed from the Lord and had set up idolatry so the sword departed not from Davids house because of his sinne with Bathsheba and the murther of Vriah So Asa 2 Chron. 16. the Prophet tels him Hence forth thou shalt have warre because thou hast not rested on the Lord. I could give a hundred instances for this 2. Sort of judgements are spirituall which are much more grievous than the former when a man is given up to his lusts and to hardnesse of heart and this proceedeth from some other sinnes that went before and it is a sure rule that you never see a man given up to worke uncleannesse with greedinesse or to such open
scandalous sinnes but the first rise of it was his unconscionable walking with God in secret as the Apostle Paul sayes of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 20. to 24. That because when they knew God they glorified him not as God God gave them up to vile affections So Psal. 80. 11 12. But my people would not bearken and Israel would none of mee So I gave them up to their owne hearts lusts and they walked in their owne counsels As if he had said I used all the meanes they still refused and would none of me and therefore I gave them up Seest thou a man given up to a lust his heart so cemented to it as hee cannot live without it know this is in judgment to him for some unconscionable walking before and not practising according to his knowledge 3 There is yet a judgement beyond these when the Lord forsaketh the creature and withdrawes himselfe from a man which though men doe little account of is the fearefullest of all others The losse of Gods presence is a losse unvaluable Take a man that makes wealth or honour his God take that prop from him and how doth his heart sinke within him how much more when the true God shall bee departed from a man that God that is the God of all comfort if hee bee withdrawne the heart sinks into a bottomlesse pit of horrour as when the Sun is gone all things run into darknesse All comfort is from some measure or degree of Gods presence though men doe not take notice of it which when it is taken away there remaines nothing but horrour and despaire when God was departed from Saul 1 Sam. 16. hee from that day ranne into one errour after another in his government till hee was destroyed and the cause of this was sinne he had cast off the Lord and therefore the Lord rejected him The like was Caines case Gen. 4. His judgement was to bee banish'd from the presence of the Lord which hee acknowledgeth to be an insupportable punishment which hee was not able to beare When any trouble is upon thee sticke not in the rind and baâ—ke of it but looke through it and beyond it to the inward root of it looke to sinne as the cause and thou shalt finde it so it may bee the immediate cause and instrument may bee some outward thing some enemy of thy disgrace some sicknesse c. but who hath permitted them to worke is it not the Lord and what is the motive of his permission but sinne men may have many severall motives to doe this or that but nothing moves the Lord but sinne and grace When an enemy comes upon thee say not this man is the cause of this evill but the Lord hath suffered him to worke and sinne hath occasion'd this suffering 2 Chron. 12. 5 7. Shishak was but the violl through whose hands God powred out his wrath so I may say sicknesse is but the violl it is the Lords wrath that is powred out in it Amend this common errour that men are ready to seeke out the naturall causes of the evils that befall them if it bee sickenesse they looke to such a distemper in diet or cold c. as the cause of it so if they miscarry in any enterprize what folly and oversight hath beene the cause of it These are but the naturall and immediate causes but Christians should looke to and seeke out to the supernaturall When there came a famine upon the land of Iudah for three yeares 2 Sam. 21. 1. the naturall cause was evident which was a great drought for that famine was healed by raine afterwards and so in those hot countries famine came by drought alone but David rests not here but went to the Lord and enquired out the reason the sinne that should bee the cause of it And God told him it was for the sinne of Saul and his bloudy house in slaying the Gibeonites as wise statesmen when they find a meane person in a treason they rest not there but seeke further what deepe heads was in the businesse and who was the contriver of the plot When Iacob saw the Angels descend and ascend he lookes to the top of the ladder and saw the Lord there sending them to and fro Looke not to the stayres of the ladder one or two that are next to thee but to the top of the ladder and there thou shalt see the Lord sending one Angell to do thee a mischief another to be a Saviour to thee If you say how shall I know for what sinne it is Pray earnestly and enquire as David did and as Ioshua did when he saw the people flie before their enemies that God would reveale to thee the particular sinne and if thou canst not find out the particular sin for it may bee some sin long ago committed or some secret sinne yet be sure that sin is the cause of it for as in the works of nature we know the vapours arise out of the earth and ascend invisibly but come downe againe in stormes and showers which we are able to see and are sensible of so the judgements may be open and manifest enough but not the sins but some secret sin that past by thee without notice taken is the cause of it Learne hence to see sinne in its owne colours sinne is a secret and invisible evill and in it selfe as abstractly considered is hard to be seene of the best therefore looke upon it as it is cloathed with calamities and when you view it under the cloathing you will have another opinion of it than you had before If you should know a man who whersoever he comes doth nothing but mischiefe poysons one stabs another c. and leaves every where some prints of his villany how hatefull and terrible would he be unto you it is sin that playes all these reaks among us if sin come upon a man cloathed and armed with Gods wrath as it often doth at death then it is terrible Why do we not look upon it thus at other times but because we doe not behold it in the fearefull effects of it as then in the wrath due to it we doe Sin is the same at all times else but our fancy is not alwaies the same as the body is alwayes the same though the shadow bee greater or lesser that which we now count a small sinne as swearing and petty oaths will one day bee terrible such a sinne as was committed by Ananias and Sapphira would seeme small it may be to you in it selfe alone but see it cloathed with that judgement that befell them dying at the Apostles feete so see the sinne of Ahabs oppressing Naboth which you may looke at but as doing a little wrong to a poore man by a great man but see it cloathed with Ahabs death and the dogs licking his bloud and it will appeare to be most hainous so the prophanenesse of Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire Learne
that if you would remove the crosse you must remove the sinne first You may observe it in diseases that twenty medicines may bee used and yet if you hit not right upon the cause of the disease the patient is never the better but if that be removed the symptomes presently vanish so when some crosse is upon us wee set our heads and hands and friends aworke to remove it but all in vaine whilst wee hit not the cause and that is sinne which whilst it continues the crosse will continue The reason why our peace and prosperity is entertained with so many crosses and troubles is because our lives are interwoven with so many sinnes The cause of Gods unevennesse in his dispensations of his mercy towards thee is the unevennesse of thy carriage towards him Hast thou a healthfull body a sure estate many friends Thinke not that these shall secure thee see Adam in paradise Salomon in his glory David on his mountaine which hee thought made strong and you shall see Adam when sinne had made a breach upon him once quickly made miserable and sinne bringing in upon Salomon an army of troubles after it and upon David in the height sin bringing in upon him the hazzard of his kingdome the rebellion of his sonne sinne in a mans best estate makes him miserable and grace in the worst estate makes a man happy Saint Paul with a good conscience was happy in prison David through faith was happy at Ziglag But you will say how is it that calamities thus follow upon sinne wee feele no such thing and thus because it is deferred the hearts of men are set to doe evill All this is to bee understood with this caution that sinne when it is perfected brings forth death and not till then God stayed till Ahab had oppressed Naboth and gotten possession and then when he was seene God sends the message of death to him What hast thou killed and also taken possession Thus Iudas he was a thiefe whilst he kept the bag and went on in many sinnes in Christs family and Chri stlets him alone and he goes on till hee had betrayed his Master and then when his sinne was perfected and come to its full ripenesse then at last CHRIST comes with judgement upon him There is a certaine period of judgement and if the Lord stay execution till then thou hast little cause to comfort thy selfe Eccles. 8. 11 12. Because sentence against an evill worke is not speedily executed therefore the hearts of men are set to doe evill As if the wise man should have said Goe to you you that have peace and comfort your selves in this that whatsoever the Word and the Ministers threatten yet you feel nothing yet remember that as soon as the sin is committed the sentence goeth forth therefore he useth the word sentence to expresse this though it bee not so speedily executed yet it goes forth at the same time with the commission of the sinne The sentence you know is one thing the execution another and many times there is and so may be here a long distance betwixt the sentence of the Iudge and the execution of it So as his meaning is that execution is deferred Therefore flatter not your selves sentence is gone forth and execution will follow For the amplification of this that vision of Zachary seemes to make it good Zach. 5. When swearing and theft had beene committed Verse 3. Hee saw a flying roule Verse 2. Which Verse the 3. is interpreted to be the curse that goeth over all the earth for him that stealeth and sweareth Verse 3. which curse may bee upon the wing long ere it seizeth on the prey but it goes forth as soone as those sinnes were committed that is the execution may be deferred which is there further shewed in the parable of the Ephah which sets out as there the measure of the peoples iniquities for so Verse 8. he sayes this is wickednesse which untill it be filled hath not the weight of leade laid upon the mouth of it it being a long while ere God comes to execution and not till their sinnes are full the plummet of leade being laid as it signifies that then their sins are sealed up with the waight of leade rolled upon them that none might be lost or forgotten but God remembers them all and then hee saw two women come and the wind was in their wings Verse 9. that is when their sinnes are thus full and their measure sealed up their judgement comes swiftly like the winde and carries it into Shinar and there this wickednesse is set upon its owne base that is in its proper place a place of misery as hell is said to bee Iudas his owne place Sinne may sleepe a long time like a sleeping debt which is not call'd for and demanded for many yeares but if a man hath not an acquaintance the creditor may call for it in the end and lay the debtor in prison It was forty yeares after Sauls slaying of the Gibeonites ere execution went forth and vengeance was call'd for it So Ioabs sin which he committed in slaying Abner which was slaying innocent bloud slept all Davids time til Salomon came to the crowne Doe not therefore as ill husbands in debt that suffer the suite to runne on from tearme to tearme till they bee out-law'd and pay both debts and charges and all Thy sinnes are a bringing swift damnation and it slumbers not it is on foote already and will overtake thee and meete at thy journeyes end the end of thy dayes Let it therefore be thy wisedome to take up the suite and compound the matter with God betimes else thou shalt not onely pay the debt and smart for the sin it selfe but for all the time of Gods patience towards thee the riches of Gods patience spent and beare all the arrerages Rev. 2. I gave her space to repent but shee repented not God meant to make her pay for all the time he gave her to repent in The next point from these words is That if the calamity bee removed and the sinne bee not healed it is never removed in mercy but in judgement Hee doth here promise first to forgive the sinne and then to heale the Land so as if hee should have healed the Land without forgivenesse it had beene no mercy Because sinne is worse than any crosse whatsoever If therefore hee takes away the crosse and leaves the sinne behinde it is a signe thou art a man whom the Lord hates When a Physician takes away the medicine and leaves the disease uncured it is a signe the parties case is desperate or that the Physician meanes to let him perish Because the Lord doth nothing in vaine if therfore an affliction doth a man no good it must needes doe him hurt for that which doth neither good nor hurt must needes be in vaine That was a property of the Idols of the Heathens which are
Simile Reas. 4. It makes â—bedient 〈◊〉 9. Vse 1. Consolation Humiliation what Dan. 9. 1 An acknoledgiâ—g our vile sins 2 To acknowledge he is worthy to be destroyed 1 Tim. 6. 17 Vse 2. To strengthen faith â—rov 28. 13 1 When mourning is effectuall Simile 2 What the promises are made to Affections what Simile 2 Object Answ Falling againe into sins True humiliation what Daily failings should not weaken assurance Vse 3. To be humble in afflictions as well as patient 2 Chron. 12 6. 1 Pet. 5. 6. Ruth 1. 20 21. 2 Sam. 15. 26. Vse 4. To be more humble Luke 1. 48. Pro. 22. 4. Object Though the proud are ex alted and humble depressed Answ. 1. Yet the humble have the best gifts 2 He exalts them in due time 1 Pet. 5. 6. Aâ— Iosoph Psalme 105 18 19 20. Iob. 2 Cor. 12. Quest. Meanes to humble the heart Daily serch the heart Deut. 8. 2. 2 Study the Scriptures 3 To bee constant in holy duties 4 Diligence in our calling 5 Remember times and sinnes past 6 Acknowledge grace in us Simile Vse 5. Not to apply promises til we be humbled Object Answ How to know wee are humbled Doct. All performances nothing without seeking Gods facâ— Quest. Answ. What it is to seeke Gods face Exod. 20. 2. Hos. 7. 4. Simile Psalme 24. I Humiliation which is twofold Discovery of Gods excellencies Psalme â—5 Iohn 15. 15 God reveales his secrets to the humble Simile Ephes. 1. 17. 2 Cor. 3. 15. 16. 2 Cor. 4. 6. Exod. 34. 18 2 To seek the Lord alone Object Answ 1 Punishments the object of feare 2 What use may bee made of rewards and threatnings 〈◊〉 They are a beginning to seeke Gods face 2 To confirme us after wee are come in Simile 3 To seeke God with selfe denyal Object Answ. A man may seeke and love himselfe 1 God commands it 2 Negative commands imply the affirmative 3 It is agreeable to nature 4 God hath planted selfe-love 5 Motives in Scripture from selfe-love Quest. Answ. When a man must seeke God with opposition to himselfe It is best for him Simile 1 Cor. 15. 36 Simile Deut. 10. 13. 14. Difference in men in loving them selves Quest. Answ. Two selves in the regenerate 1 Flesh. 2 Cor. 4. 5. 2 Cor. 12. 2 5. 2 The regenerate part Rom. 7. How a man may seeke God and himselfe 1 2 3 Reas. From Gods holinesse Esay 6. 3. Holinesse what Rom. 11. 33 When a man is holy Nature of holinesse in two things 1. Purity 2. Sequestration Actions holy in severall respects 1 Pet. 1. Double holinesse required in man 1 Giving himselfe to God 2 Cor. 8. 5. 2 giving all things with himselfe Vse To examine if wee seeke Gods face 1 Else wee seeke something else 2 Fall away Ezek. 18. Hos. 7. 16. 2 Chron. 25 3 Love him not Cant. 1. 2. Cant. 1. 5. How to know when we seek the Lords face Rule 1. By our opinion of our selves Rom. 7. Simile Quest. How know to opinion of our selves Answ. 1. By that wee desire to excell in 2 Where wee lay up our treasure Simile Rule 2. What wee make our utmost end Double end Zach 7. 5 6 7. Hos. 10. 1. Quest. Answ. God must be looked to as tâ—â— end Quest. Answ. How a man may make his owne happinesse his end Quest. Answ. How a man may provide for himselfe Quest. Answ. Mat. 6. 22 23. Object Answ. Whence it is that good men have an eye to themselves Quest. How to know wee make the Lord our utmost end Answ. Rule 1. It rules all the life Rule 2. It limits the meanes Simile Rule 3. By a secret sence accompanying our actions Rule 4. By the affections Rule 5. Phil. 2. 21. Whether we seek the things of Christ naturally 1 Willingly Rom. 15. 20. 2 Cor. 11. 28 2 with'all our might To do Gods work negligently what 3 Faithfully Quest. Answ. 1 To doe it our selves 2 To doe it when our creditis separated Simile Vse 2. Why wee should seek the Lord not our selves 1 we are his servants 2 His spouse The nature of a vow 2 Cor. 8. 5. 3 The Loâ—d deserves it 2 Cor. 1. 12. 13 1 Wee are baptized in to his name 2 Hee was crucified for us 4 The equity of it 5 It is best for us Vse 3. Not to forget the Lord in the midst of his mercies Simile Rom. 8. 2 Cor. 3. ult 2 Cor. 1. 30. Simile The Scripture leades to Christs person Iohn 6. 1 Ioh. 5. 12. Quest. Answ. How to seeke the Lords Person To see him Psal. 9. 2 Cor. 3. ult Desire God to shew his face Cant. 5. Exo. 33. 13. Cant. 1. 3. Ier. 31. 2 Grow in acquaintance with him Observe God in his wayes 1 Creation 2 Redemption 3 Sanctification 4 Gods patience 5 Bounty 6 Love of Christ. 7 Gods greatnesse Isay 40. 15. By seeking God wee shall have Isay 4. ult 1 His presence 1 Sam. 18. 14. 2 Protection 3 Refuge in persecution Revel 2. 5. Psal. 139. Doct. 7. No interest in the promises without turning from our evill wayes 2 Parts of the doctrine 1 Terrour to the wicked Turning to God known by the causes False 〈◊〉 Some afffliction 2 Present benefit True motives to turning wheÌ„ce they are Mark 16. 16 Iohn 4. Eternall life and death how to be apprehended 1 Present 2 Deepely Object Answ. How men come to know sinne and grace 2 The consideration of the terms Acts 26 18. Hos. 7. 16. 3 The manner of turning Quest. Answ. Turning with the whole heart what â—er 3. 10. Illumination Acts 26. 18. Esay 16. 10. 2 Kings 6. 15 16 17. 4 The effect 〈◊〉 of turning 1 Sinne is put out of possession Sin crept into the regenerate 1 As a thiefe 2 As a rebel 2 Hatred of sinne Quest. Answ. Hatred of sinne what 3 Fighting against it Difference of relapses of the godly and others Gal. 5. Object Answ. Vse 1. Of examination Enmity Evill speaking Tit. 3. 〈◊〉 Idlenesse 2 Thes. 3 10. 2 Thes. 3. 1â— 2 Thes. 3. 6 13. Earthly mindednes Phil. 3. 19. Vnjust dealing Vncleanenesse 1 Thes. 4. 4. Object Answ. Good men may fal but walk not in sinne Sinnes of omission Negligent performance of duties Prov. 10. 20. Colos. 4. Ephes. 6. 4. Deut. 6. 7. Rom. 1. 29. 1 Cor. 6. 9. Simile Ephes. 5. 6. 2 Cor. 6. 9. Good men may swerve Quest. Difference of men forsaking sin Answ. 1 In searching for sin Ioh. 3. 20 21 Simile Iob. 20. 12. 2 In the ground of forsaking Rom. 7. 23. 1. Tim. 〈◊〉 8. Law of the mind what Why it is called a law Why the law of the mind Ier. 32. 4. 5 Differences between a naturall conscience enlightned and the law of the mind 1 In the consent Rom. 7. 15. Object Answ. 2 In the lusting Gal. 5. 17. Gal. 5. 24. 3 In the wil lingnesse to performe good 1 Tim. 1. 9. Rom. 7. 15. 4 In the power 1 Cor. 4. 20. 1 Iohn 3. 9. Iohn 1. 12. 5 It makes a change Rule 3. The maner of resisting in foure things 1 With the whole heart Iudgement Col. 1. 21. Conscience Pro 28. 14. Will. Affections 1 Cor. 12. Psal. 119. 20 Eph. 4. 18 19 1 2 3 4 2 Hee fights against â—mal ler evills Rom. 12. 2. 3 In the suc cesse Rom. 8. 1. Ephes. 4. 17. Rom. 7. 2 Cor. 12. Object Answ. Gods children soiled in some particular act Acts 4. 8. Psalme 51. 4 Continuance Vse 2. Other duties will not serve without turning â—an 4. 27. Ioshua 7. 8. It is the end of Gods ordinances The end of duties 1 Tim. 4. 8. Rom. 2. ult Mal. 3. 2. Esay 1 Vse 3. Good purposes onely not sufficient Ground of good purposes in carnal men Simile Deut. 5. 29. Doct. Turning fâ—â—m â—vill wayes difficult Reas. 1. They are pleasant Reas. 2. Agreeable to nature Ephes. 2. Reas. 3. Backed by the law of the members Rom. 7. 23. 2 Vse To put to the more strength to turne from sin Difficulty of a Christian course Quest. Answ. Rules of turning from sin Rule 1. Rule 2. Object Answ. Triall of our strife against sin Ans. 2. Tryall of our victory over sin Ans. 3. Ans. 4. Why God suffers sin to remaine in his Object Answ. Object Answ. Constant striving overcomes Revel 2. 2. Rule 3. Deut. 29. 3. Mark 6. 52. Rule 4. Quest. Answ. 2 Wayes to turne the heart from sinne Rom. 15. 13 Heb. 9. 14. 1 Iohn 2 Pet. 3. ult Rule 5. Object Answ. Quest. Answ 1. To stirre up grace what 2 3 Psalme 18. Rule 6. Rom. 7. 1 2 1 2 3 Object Answ. Rule 1. From God 1 From his truth Mica 7. ult Acts 10. 43. 1 Ioh. 5. 9. 10 11. 2 From his mercy Exod. 34. 6 7. 3 From his wisedome Psal 78. 38 39. Psal. 103. 13 14 14. 4 From his justice 1 Iohn 1. 9. 5 From our readinesse to forgive Psal. 103 13 Reas. 2. From the meanes of conveying forgivenes Heb. 22. 24. Heb. 9. 14. 3 Objections from our sins Answered Ezek. 36. 25. Reas. 3. From the freenesse of Gods covenant Iohn 7. 37. Revel 21. 6. ver 22. 17. Vse Who are excluded fâ—om pardon Exod. 34. 6. 1 Pet. 2. ult Object Answ. wicked men who Signes of such as hate God Deut. 29. Vse 2. To Trust perfectly in Gods mercy 1 Pet. 1. 13. Impediments to this trust 1 Mistake in the covenant Rom. 4. 5. Heb. 6. 18 19 2 Daily infirmities 3 Supposed want of humiliation 4 Want of Prayer for pardon Ier. 50. 20. Object Answ. The efficacy of sin taken away in forgivenesse Luke 10. 19. Caution Sins of the Saints retained till actuall repentance 2 Sam. 11. 27. Vse 3 Exhortation to be humbled Ier. 3. 11. Quest. Answ. Gods readinesse to forgive Object Resp. Psal. 130. 3 4 Object Answ. 1 Cor. 6 9. Refusall of the offer of grace dangerous Tit. 2. 14. Doct. All calamity is from sin 3 Kinde of Iudgemenâ—â— 2 Chron 16 Ro. 1. 20 24. Psal. 80. 11 12. 1 Sam. 16. Genesis 4. Vse 1. To see sin in all troubles 2 Chr. 12. 5 6 7. 2 Sam. 21. 1 Vse 2. Sin hard to find out Vse 3. How to remove crosses Object Resp. Eccl. 8. 11 12 Zach. 5. 2 3 Revel 2. Doct. Calamities may bee removed in judgement Reas. 1. Reas. 2. Vse How to judge of our estate Doct. 3. Sin removed calamity removed Reas. 1. Reas. 2. Object Answ. Vse Comfort in afflictions