armed souldiers If our friends were the Princes and all the Gouernours of the earth If our possessions wer as long as betweene the East and the west If our meate wer as Manna from heauen If our apparrell were as costly as the Ephod of Aaron If euery day were as glorious as the day of Christs resurrection yet if our mindes bee appalled with the iudgement of God these thinges would little comfort vs. Let experience speake If a troubled minde impayreth not health dryeth not vp the blood consumeth not the marrowe pineth not away the flesh consumeth not the bones if it maketh not al pleasures painfull and shortneth not the life surely no wisedome can councell it no councell can aduise it no aduise can asswage it no asswagement can cure it no eloquence can perswade it no power can ouercome it no Scepter affray it nor inchaunter can inchant it And yet on the contrary if a man languish in sickenes so his hart be whole and is perswaded of the health of his soule his sickenes doth not grieue him If a man bee reproched so he be precious in the sight of God and his Angels what losse hath hee If a man be bannished and yet doubteth not that heauen is his Country and that hee is a Citizen among the Saints it doth not appall him If a man be in trouble of minde and findeth peace of conscience hee will quietly digest his trouble But if the minde bee troubled who dareth meete with the wrath of the Lord of Hoasts who can put to silence the voyce of desperation who will step out and make agreement with the hills to spare vs who dare make a couenant with the diuell that hee would not lay claime vnto vs If then a good conscience helpeth all euills and all other benefites in this life cannot helpe a troubled conscience wee see it true in proofe which here is in prouerbe The Spirit of a man vvill susteine his infirmitie But a vvounded Spirit Who can beare it Againe in all other afflictions we may haue some comfort against sinne this is euer accompanied with sinne A man may be sick reproched imprisoned and banished yet in all these haue a cleare conscience his owne hart telling him that there is no speciall cause of these crosses in him but that hee may suffer them for the triall of his faith or for righteousnes sake and well dooing But when the Spirite is wounded there is a guiltines of sinne and where a mans spirite is troubled hee suspecteth all his wayes hee feareth all his sin he knowes not what sin to begin with it breeds such hurly burly in him that when it is day hee wisheth for night when it is night he would haue it day his meate doth not nourish him his sleep often forsaketh him his dreames are feareful vnto him If he speaketh he is little eased if he keepeth silence hee boyleth in disquietnes of hart the light doth not comfort him the darkenesse doth grieue him To prosecute our comparisons where all other euills are more intolerable because they bee temporall and pursue vs but to death this beeing not cured endeth not in death but becommeth eternall For euen the heathen men thought that death was the end of all misery the perswasion whereof made them beeing in some misery to make an end of themselues and hasten their owne death as Sathan doth make many nowe a daies who are ignorant of hell which is a place of farre greater paines than any they can suffer in this worlde whatsoeuer Howe be it a tormented conscience if before it was begun is now continued or if it was not before now beginneth and neuer endeth world without ende For though true it is that sickenes pouerty imprisonment or bannishment haue ended their terme in death yet a wounded heart which was temporall in this life is nowe eternall after this life that which before death was in hope recouerable is after death made both vncurable vnrecouerable It is good therefore to consider if euen in this life the torment of conscience be so fearefull how much more grieuous is it to susteine it in hell where that is infinite which here is finite where that is vnmeasurable which here is measurable where is the sea of sorrowe whereof this is but a droppe where is the flame of that fire whereof this is lesse then a sparke But to shut vp this argument Some there haue beene who thorowe out all their life time haue been free from all other troubles so as either they felt them not all or else in very small measure and by that meanes neuer knewe what outward trouble meant As for example some men there haue been who for sicknesse neuer knew the head-ache for pouertie neuer knewe what want meant who for discredite were neuer euill spoken of who euer put frō them the euill daye of the Lorde who haue made a league with death as it were a couenant with hell who thought they could crucifie anie crosse rather than come vnder anie Crosse yet they could neuer escape a wounded conscience either in this life or in the life to come True it is that Gods Children doo often escape it but the wicked and such as are borne vnto it as to their sure inheritance the more they flie from it the more it pursueth them If we haue transgressed the Ciuill Lawes the Iudge by bribes may be corrupted if a man haue committed some capitall offence by flying the Countrey hee maye escape the Magistrates hands but our Consciences telling vs that wee haue sinned against God what bribe shall wee offer or whether shall wee flie whether shall we goe from his spirite whether shall wee flie from hys presence If we ascend into heauen is not hee there If we flie to the vtmost parts of the sea is hee not there also There needeth no Paritor to summon vs there needes no Baylie arraunt to fetche vs there needes no accuser to come in agaynst vs sinne will arrest vs and lieth at the Doore our owne Conscience will impanell a Quest against vs our owne heartes will giue in Euidence agaynst vs and our owne iniquitie will pleade vs to be guiltie to our owne faces Now let vs shew how we may preuent it and by what means Gods children falling into some degrees of it for if it rage in extremitie it is an euil vnrecouerable may safely and quietly bee deliuered from it And here a iust complaint is to be taken vp and it is a wonder to be marked if we may wonder at GODS workes that we see so manie carefull and watchfull to auoyd other troubles and so few or none take anie paines to escape the troble of mind which is so greeuous We see men louing health and loathing sicknes in diet temperat in sleep moderate in Phisick expert skilfull to purge and to auoyde such corrupt humours which in time maye breed thogh presently they doo not bring forth sicknes yet to auoyde the
diseases of the soule no man abateth his sleepe no man abridgeth his diet no man prepareth Phisicke for it no man knoweth when to be ful and when to be emptie how to want and how to abound Others carried away with the loue of riches and verie nigh to fall into pouertie will not sticke to rise early to take sleep lately to fare hardly to teare taw their flesh in labour by lande and by water in faire soule weather by rockes and by sands from far from nere and yet to fall into spirituall decaies to auoyd the pouertie of conscience no man taketh such paines as though saluation and peace of mind were not a thing worthy the labouring for Some ambitiously hunting after honor not easilye digesting reproaches behaue themselues neither sluggishly nor sleepely but are actiue in euerie attempt by loue and by counsell by prudence and prowesse by wit and by practise by labour and learning by cunning and diligence to become famous and to shun a ciuill reproach yet to bee glorious in the sight of God and his Angells to fall before the heauens and in the presence of the Almightie to bee couered with shame and confusion of conscience we make none accompt as they who neyther vse anye meanes to obteyne the one nor auoyde those Occasions which maye bring the other Others verie vnwilling to come within the reache and daunger of the Lawe that they may by reading get experience howe to escape imprisonment of bodye or confiscation of goods wyll be painfull in penall statutes skilful in euery branch of the ciuill law and especially will labour to keepe themselues from treasons murthers fellonies and such like offences of life and death yet where the Lord God threateneth the seazure both of soule bodie the attaching of our soules the confiscating of our consciences the banishing of vs from heauen the hanging of vs in hell the suspending of our saluation the adiudging of vs to condemnation for the breache of his Commaundements few men sercheth his eternall Lawe few men careth for the Gospell neither the sentence of euerlasting diuorsement from the Lord neither the couenant of reconciliation is esteemed of vs. And to reache our Complaint one Degree farther The more we seek outward pleasures to auoyde the inward trouble of minde the more we hast and runne into it and wee speedely plunge our selues in a wounded spirite or wee be a ware Who posteth more to becom rich than the merchant man who hopeth lesse to become pore than hee that aduentureth great treasures who hazardeth his goods who putteth in ieoperdie of his life and yet suddenly he either rusheth vpon the rocke of hardnesse of heart or else is swallowed vp of the gulphe of a despairing mind from which happely he cannot be deliuered with a ship full of golde Woful proofe hath confirmed how some men whollie set on plesures such as could not away to be sad and hedged vp alwaies of godly sorrowe haue had their tables made snares and euen theyr excesse of pleasures hath brought excesse of sorrowes and whilest they laboured to put the euill daye farre from them they haue vsed follyes that haue beene the most bitter and speedie hang-men of their fearfull trembling consciences There be some of another sort who neuer dreaming of a troubled minde haue had their harts set on nothing but howe they might get some great fame and renowme therfore haue slipt into such vaineglorious attempts and foule flatteries as they haue not onely lost the peace of their Consciences but also fallen most deeply into reprochfull shame which they sought to shun Now therefore as the peace of conscience and ioy of minde is such a treasure as the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard nor the tung expressed but passeth al vnderstanding as they only knowe what the peace of minde meaneth that feele it so they alone can in trueth speake of a troubled minde that haue tasted of it by experience But let vs shew what way is to be vsed to keepe vs from this wound of the spirit It is the vse of Phisicke as to cure vs of diseases when wee are faln into them so to preserue vs from sicknes before it hath takē hold of vs it is the power of the Word as to asswage the trouble of Conscience when it doth once presse vs so to preuent it before it hath ouertaken vs. It is a chiefe point of worldly wisedome not to tarie for the vse of phisicke vntil we be deadly sick but to bee acquainted wyth Gods mercifull preseruation to defend vs from it likewise it is a chiefe pollicie of a godly Christian not only to seek comfort when the agonie is vpon him but also to vse all good helpes to meet with it before it comes And if we condemn them of folly who will not as well labor to keep themselues out of debt as to pay the debt when they owe it so it is a madnes not to bee circumspect to auoyd all occasions which maye bring trouble of mind vpon them as wee would bee prouident to enter euerie good waye which maye drawe vs out of this trouble when wee haue once entred into it These remedies preseruatiue are first the searching of our sinnes the examining of our faith The examining of our sins is either the due acknowledging of our sinnes or the true sense and feeling of our sinnes The acknowledging of our sinnes is eyther of those that bee past whether wee haue vnfeinedlye repented vs of them or of those which bee present whether wee be truely greued for them Thirdly of those secret corruptions which in the course of our life are likely to come whether wee are reuerently afraide of them and resolue to suppresse them with all our indeuour Concerning sinnes past we must call to minde the sinnes done of old in our youth in our middle age in our olde age iudging our selues we maye not bee iudged of the Lorde that accusing of our selues sathā haue no occasiō to accuse throwing down our selues before the Lord he may lift vs vp For manie going quietly away and sleeping in carnall securitie notwithstanding the sins of their youth neglecting to make conscience of their sinnes done long ago sodainly haue falne into such horrour of minde that the violent remembrance of all their sins surcharging them they haue been ouerwhelmed This Examination then dooth rightlye proceede when it doth reach to the errors of this life to the sins of our youth because many men euen from their childhood by a ciuill righteous life hauing escaped grose sins wherewith the world could neuer charge them haue not withstanding caried the burthen of more secret sins done in their youth Dauid Psal. 25. 7. prayeth the Lord not to remember the sinnes of his youth Iob 23. 6. the man of God confessing that the Lord writeth bitter things against him saith he made him to possesse the iniquities of his youth What shall
the body thorough some extraordinary repletion hath gotten some great surfet not so much to the weakening of nature as to the threatning of imminent death and therfore requireth rather some strong purgation than comfortable and cordiall medecines then the soule also being brought to some extraordinary sinne is rather to bee boared and pierced with the denouncing of Gods iudgement thā otherwise But because wee woulde deale more plainely lesse confusedly it is good in our accesse to the afflicted consciences to lay these two grounds First we must perswade the persons humbled that their sins are pardonable their soules curable And after that this visitation is not so much a signe of Gods wrath and anger as a seale of his loue and fauour in that it is not either blind or barren but plentiful in good effects and fruitefull in Godly issues The former howe needefull it is the experience of so many as haue beene throwne downe is a sufficient witnes who haue had this as a tagge tyed in their tentations The Lord wil surely make an end of them in some strange and vnknown tentation Wherein they are not vnlike vnto men fallen into some dangerous disease who thinking to bee without the fadome of the Phisitians skill and not to bee within the compasse of thinges recouerable adde a second and sorer griefe vnto their former Wherefore as these men seeme to bee halfe healed when any man of knowledg can bee brought who by experience hath cured the like malladie in like degrees in others So then the fearefull soules are not a little by hope refreshed and strengthned to looke for some ease when they see none other tentation hath ouertaken them thā such as hauing fallen into the nature of man haue found mercie at the handes of God that hee might bee feared This ground worke framed it is good to build vp and repaire the decayed ioy of the minde partly by the Law to make a preparatiue for these ioyes if the minde not truly humbled is not fit truly to be comforted and partly by the gospel if the conscience kindly throwen down is become a fit subiect to apply the promises of Iesus Christ vnto it And here againe to answere thē that denie the law wholly or at all to bee vsed when we wold breed comfort in one I demand whether if it be necessary to maintaine the righteousnes of Christ it bee not also as necessarie to preserue the righteousnes of the Law Seing the righteousnes of the Law of vs not fulfilled wyll drawe vs vnto the righteousnes of Christ to vs imputed And sith the righteousnes of Christ to vs imputed is neuer throughly and truly esteemed vntil we see the righteousnes of the law of vs to be vnperformed Again if our Sauior Christ did fore shew his Disciples that the first worke of the holy Ghost at his comming should bee to conuict the world of sinne to make men know that without Iesus Christ ther is nothing but sinne and then that he shuld rebuke the World of righteousnes that they might see Christ died not for his owne but the sins of others I see not why it should not be very conuenient first to lay opē the righteousnes of the law that men maye see their sins and then the righteousnes of Christ that men may see their sinnes discharged in him Besides wher the Lord saith by his Prophet At vvhat time soeuer a sinner dooth repent of his sins from the bottom of his hart I vvill put all his vvickednes out of my remembrance that it may well be gathered there must be a sound sorrow for sin going before and then the true ioy of sinnes pardoned may the more frely be looked for afterward Moreouer seeing al the promises of God in the gospel are cōmended vnto vs vnder the title tenor of restoring sight to the blind hearing to the deafe strength to the lame health to the sicke and life to the dead it is manifest not onely that there is no disease of the soule that Christ cannot heale but also that wee must first finde our selues blinde deafe dumbe lame sicke dead before he wil meddle with vs because they that are whole need not the Phisition and he came to call sinners not the Righteous to repentance Now to doo this in wisedome by neither pressing the conscience too seuerely nor releasing the conscience more vnaduisedly it shalbe the safe way to vse the wel tempered speech of the Apostle to the sorcerer Repent if it be possible thy sinnes may bee forgiuen thee Where hee dooth not wholly discourage him because it may bee his sins may be pardoned neither yet too boldly incourage him that without repentance he sheweth it altogether impossible to be pardoned And that we be not too preposterous in our consolations let vs bee warned by the blasphemous speeches of the detestable Arrian who of late yeares was put to deth at Norwich This hellish heretique a little before he shuld be executed afforded a few whorish tears asking whether he might bee saued in Christ or no When one told him that if he truely repented he shuld surely not perrish hee brake out most monstrously into this speech Nay is your Christ so easily to be intreated indeede as you say Then I defie him care not for him Oh howe good a thing had it been not to haue cast this pretious stone to this swine Oh how safe had it bin to haue dealt more bitterly and dwelt more vehemently on the conscience of this caytise Now to attaine some discretion in curing this wounded spirite wee must learne wisely to iudge both of the person afflicted and of the nature of his affliction First we must note whether it be a man or a woman becaus we may vrge more carefully the vse of the law to a man as hauing the stronger vessell And as Sathan knew the woman to be most easie and frameable to be wrought vppon at his first temptation so is hee not ignoraunt that shee is the weaker partie to susteine an accusation Then let vs consider whether they that are thus humbled haue knowledge or no Because if they haue none they thinke trouble of minde to be so strange a thing as neuer any before it if they haue knowledge then Sathan is readie to accuse them of sins agaynst the holye Ghost as though anie sin done against knowledge were a sinne of presumption Farther we are to enquire how strong or weake they are that if they be not sufficiently wounded to touch thē with some deep sense of sinne Also we must be circumspect to finde out whether by nature they are more fearfull or melancholy or no As also whether they be vsuall sinners or haue faln once of infirmitie that so vppon their disposition and inclination we may builde our speech the better To these it is good to adde this consideration of the persons age estate and ability as if the partie bee troubled for worldlinesse whether hee bee not a