judgement of God these things would little comfort vs. Let experience speak if a troubled mynd impaireth not helth dryeth not vp the blood consumeth not the marrowe pyneth not away the fleshe and consumeth the bones if it make not all pleasures painefull and shortneth not the life surely no wisedome can conceale it no counsell can advise it no advise can asswage it no asswagement can cure it no eloquence can perswade it no power can overcome it no scepter will affray it no Enchanter can charme it and yet on the contrary If a man languish in sicknesse so his heart be whole and he is perswaded of the health of his soule his sicknes doth not grieue him If a man be reproched so he be precious in the sight of God and his Angels what losse hath he If a man be banished and yet doubteth not that heaven is his cuntrie and that he is a Citizen among the Saints it doth not appall him If a man be in trouble and findeth peace of Conscience he wil quietly disgest his trouble but if the minde be troubled who dareth meete with the wrath of the Lord of Hostes Who can put to silence the voice of desperation Who wil step out make an agrement with the highest to spare vs Who dare make a covenant with the devill that he would not lay claime to vs If then a good conscience helpeth all evills and all other benefites of this life in them selues cannot help a troubled conscience nor see it true by proofe which heare it by prouerb The spirit of a man will sustaine his infirmitie but a vvounded spirit who can beare it Againe in all other afflictions we may haue some comfort against sin but this is ever accompanied with the accusation of sinne A man may be sick reproched imprisoned and yet in all these haue a cleare conscience his own heart telling him that there is no spirituall cause of these crosses in him but that he may suffer them for the triall of his faith or for righteousnes sake and wel doing but where the spirit is wounded there is still a guiltines of sinne and when a mans spirit is troubled hee suspecteth all his waies hee feareth all his sinnes he knoweth not what sinne to begin with it breedeth such hurlie-burlies in him that when it is day hee wisheth it were night and when it is night he would haue it day his meate doth not nourish him his dreames are fearfull vnto him his sleep often tymes forsaketh him if he speake hee is little eased if hee keepe silence hee boyleth with disquietnes of heart the light doth not comfort him the darknesse doeth grieue him to prosecute our comparison where all other evills are the more tollerable because they be temporall and pursues vs but to death this not being cured endeth not in death but becommeth eternallie for even the Heathen men thought that death was the end of al miseries the perswasion thereof made them being in some miserie to make an end of themselues and hasten their owne death as Sathan doeth make many now adaies to do who are ignorant of the Hells which is a place of far greater paine than any they can suffer in this world whatsoeuer Howbeit a tormented conscience if before it was begun is now continued or if it were not before nowe beginneth and never endeth world without end For though true it is that povertie imprisonment or banishment haue ended their times in death yet a wounded heart which was temporall in this life that which before death was in hope recoverable is after death made both vncurable and vnrecoverable It is good then to considder if even in this life the torment of Conscience bee so fearefull how much more grievous it is to sustaine it in hell where that is infinite which here is finite where that is vnmeasurable which heere is measurable where is the sea of sorrowe whereof this is but a drop where is the flame of that fyre whereof this is but a spark But to shut vp argument some there haue beene that throughout their life time haue beene free from other troubles so as either they felt them not at all or in very smal measure and by that meanes never knewe their head-ache For povertie never knewe what want meant who for discredit were never euill spoken of who ever put farre from them the evill daye of the Lord who haue made a league with death as it were and a covenant with hell who thoght they could crucifie every crosse rather than come vnder any yet they could never escape a wounded conscience either in this life or in the life to come true it is that Gods children by faith and repentance doe oft escape it but the wicked and such as are borne to it as to their sure inheritance the more they flie from it the more it pursueth them If we transgresse the civil lawes the Iudge by bribes may be corrupted If a man haue committed some capital offence by flying his Cuntrie hee may escape the Magistrates hands But our conscience telling vs that we haue sinned against God what bribe shall wee offer or whither shall wee flee where shall we go from his spirite or whither shall we flee from his presence If wee ascend into heauen is hee not there If we lie downe in hel is hee not there If wee flie to the vttermost partes of the earth is he not there also there nedeth no Paritoure to summon vs there needeth no Bailife to fetch vs there needes no accuser to giue in verdite against vs sinne will arrest vs and lieth at the doore our owne conscience will impanell a queast against vs our own hearts will giue in sufficient evidence and our iniquities will pleade guiltie to our faces Thus wee see both by the experience of them that haue suffered the wound of the spirit and the comparing it with other evills what a weight most grievous and a burthen intollerable it is to haue a tormented Conscience Nowe let vs shewe howe we may preuent it and by what meanes Gods children often fall into some degrees of it but if it rage in extremitie it is an euill vnrecoverable yet many safely and quietly be deliuered from it and heere a just complaint is to be taken vp and it is a woonder to be marked if we may wonder at Gods works that we see many so carefull and watchfull to avoide other troubles and so few or none take any paine to escape trouble of minde which is so grievous we see men loving health and loathing sicknesse in dyet temperate in sleepe moderate in phisick expert skilfull to purge and so to avoid such corrupt humours which in time many breede though presently they do not bring forth sicknes yet to avoide the diseases of the soule no man abateth his sleepe none abridgeth his dyet no man prepareth phisick for it no man knoweth when to be full and when to be emptie howe to want and howe to
their enemies with more gredie violence to praye vpon them with which kinde of stratagems our adversarie the Devill beeing well acquainted with often practiseth this pollicie if he seeth vs without all feare too quietly to rest in our selues he thinketh his assault must needes be the stronger because our assistance is the weaker Againe if hee discrieth in vs a cowardlie feare and fainting of heart before wee once begin to joyne battell with him he wil set vpon our moderate feare and as villanouslie as suddenly stabbe vs to the heart and make a present spoile of vs common practise doth further teach vs that when wee can heare the worde without all trembling at Gods judgements when wee can pray without all feare before the Majestie of God when wee can come to the Discipline of the Church without al reverence of the ordinance of the Lord al in vaine Again let vs heare with too much trembling and we shall learne nothing let vs pray with too servile a feare and our woorshipping of God will bee without all comfort vncheerful Thus if we neither lessen sin that is indeede neither make sin of that which is not sin in trueth it is good to proceed to this threefold examination to lay the edge of this doctrine more neere our afflictions because many will be found in this ripenes of knowledge and barrannes of conscience to speak and dispute of all these things very skilfully which flickring in the circumference of the braine not setling at the heart do seale vp a more just sentence of condemnation against them To help this evill with we must meditate deeply vpon the law and Gospell togither with the appertenances of them both that finding our selues far from Gods blessing and seeing our selues neere to the curses due vnto the breakers of the lawe we may raise vppe some sence of sin in our selues yet herein we must not stay but go forward for whereas many by the diligent viewe of the law haue come to the sense of sin in themselues and saw their own condemnation yet because they labored not to see their guiltinesse acquited by the remission of sinne in Christ they plunged in a bottomles sea of sorrowes others having passed those degrees hitherto made these steps to avoid the wound of Conscience haue come short of the mark who besides the sense of sinnes pardoned by the deth of Christ felt not the vertue of his passion crucifying sin in them but saw that with remission of sins was not joined mortification of sin feared that there was no forgiuenes for them but stil languishing with sorrow they thought their soules to stand charged with their former guiltinesse yea and which more is for that such men haue not truly bin instructed nor surely haue bene grounded in the doctrine of Christ his death and resurrection that is for that they sawe not aswell power flowing from his death to sley sinne in them as vertue to pardone sin in them for that they felte not aswell strength vnto sanctification striving from the rising again of Christ as they were perswaded of justification righteousnes therein They haue lyen still bleeding at the heart in such sort that the wound of griefe could hardly or neuer be stopped and stanched wherfore let vs strengthen our weake soules with this sevenfold coard of consolation against these bitter assaults let vs first labour to know sinne then to sorrow for sinne after to feele our sinnes in Christ forgiven farther to looke for power to crucifie the same then to lay holde on Iustification by his Resurrection and lastly hope for strength to proceede from thence to further vs in sanctification and holines of life even vnto the end And thus much briefly for that second thing which we matched in companie with the examination of sinne euen vnto the triall of faith both which rightly vsed shall in some measure fafegarde vs from the trouble of afflicted mindes Now let vs hasten to the third part of our division to shew how Gods children being fallen into this wounde of spirit may be helped out of it which God willing we also wil performe after we haue answered a necessary objection which in this former part might seeme to encounter against vs There is no man but will graunt that David Iacob and others of the saints of God had a sight of their sinnes a sorrow for their sinnes a tast of their remission of sinne and yet how commeth it to passe that these men were so trobled in mind To this I answer that their trouble so befel them either for failing in some of those former things or else they were rather afflicted for the triall of their faith than for the persecuting of sin in them and therfore be it alwaies provided that we think not every conflict of conscience continually chiefly to be for the pursuing of our sins but sometime principally for the scoring of sin as we may see in Iob wherevpon let all men be admonished when as they see good men thus humbled in minde to laye their handes on their mouthes from saying Surely these men are but Hypocrites doubtles these men be great sinners the Lord hath found out their iniquitie the Lord hath discovered their hypocrisie for good reason there is that such silence should be vsed for that the Lord may aswell make triall of their faith as take punishment on their sinnes for if such afflictions should alwaies chieflie be sent for sinne then it should followe that all others as they exceeded them in sinne should also exceed them in that punishment of sinne but nowe comming to the salving of this sore I shal seeme very strange in my cure and so much the more to be wondred at by howe much in manner of proceeding I differ from the most sort of men herein I am not ignorant that many visiting of afflicted consciences cry still Oh! comfort them oh speake joyfull things vnto them yea there be some and that of the learned who in such cases are full of those and such like speeches Why are you so heavy my brother why are you so cast downe my sister be of good cheere take it not so grievouslie what is there that you should feare God is mercifull Christ is a Saviour these be speeches of loue indeed but they often do the poore souls as much good herein as if they should powre colde water in their bosomes when as without farther searching of their sores they may aswell minister a malady as a medicine For as all nutriture and carnall medecines are not good for every sicke person especiallie when the body needeth a strong purgation then to minister matter restoratiue And as all incarnatiue medicines may for a time stay the paine of the patient but afterwardes the griefe becommeth more grievous So comfortable applying of Gods promises are not so profitable for every one that is humbled especially when their soules are rather to be cast farther down than
sinnes lest in time our grief passe away without any fruit whilest that not being displeased with one sinne aswell as with another we either look to such specially and generally Concerning those sins whereunto we are tempted as when a man is noted to think blasphemouslie of God the Father or to doubt whether there is a Christ or no or to imagine groslie of the holy Ghost or to deny God or to doubt of the Trinitie or to be moved to adulterie or such like In all which temptations hee feeleth the spirit oft checking him for them so as he knoweth not in this case what to doe that on the one side he dares not listen willinglie to such feareful monstrous temptations and on the other side he feareth lest then by long sute he might fal into them or at least for that hee seeth not howe to be delivered from them I suppose these motions are not so much to be disputed with as we by them are to bee provoked to a more instant and extraordinary zeale of prayer Surely these are dangerous temptations and therefore are not to be kept close with our nature which easily will incline vnto but particularly are to be confessed of vs for the Deuill will come sometimes to thee to keep thee still in a general acknowledging of sinne and vrge thee on this manner Surely thou must do this sinne thou seest thou canst haue no ease vntill thou hast consented thou art ordained to it the reason why thou art tempted is because thou doest not thus take thy pleasure go to deny God beleeue not his word it is but a pollicie to keepe men in awe Religion is no such matter as men make it Thus for feare of yeelding of the one hand and for shame of disclosing temptations on the other hand many men haue pyned away and almost haue bene overcome by them If we should disclose this saith these men what woulde people say of vs they would count vs Atheists they would think vs the wickedst men in the world Well for instructions and consolations let vs learne herein that these kinde of temptations are either corrections for some sinnes past or punishment for some sinne present or forwarner of some sinnes to come Wee shall see many tempted to adulterie who no doubt can not be brought to commit it and because they repented not of it it came to them againe that in their youth they haue committed it the like may be observed in these gluttony and in other temptations which are not so much seen to vs presently to overcome vs as to put vs in mind that sometimes heretofore we hauing bene overcome with them shuld now repent for them Sometimes a man shal ly in some sins whereof when hee will not be admonished neither by the publick and privat meanes even then some other strange temptation shall fall vpon him differing from that wherein he presently lyeth to admonish him of that other sin As when a worldling shall be tempted to adulterie a thing which hee hath no desire to doe yet it is to make him to look to his worldlines when he hath so strong and so through a liking whereat if he wil not be awaked he may suddainly fal into that to and so by the punishment of God in punishing one sin with another both his sinnes vnto his shame shall be laid open and one sinne shall make known another Sometime also it commeth to passe that one shall be tempted with such a sinne as neither heretofore nor presently he hath given any liking or intertainement vnto and yet the Lord by it may forewarne him howe he may fal into it hereafter as also to shewe that he hath stoode all his former life rather by the grace of God than by the strength of flesh and blood Wherefore when thou art mooved to doubt of God of Christ of the word of justification do not so much stand wondring at these strange temptations as think with thy selfe that it is the mercy of God by them to cause thee better to discerne of those temptations in others When thou shalt haue observed with feare and trembling howe they may make their first entire into a mans hart howe they gather strength howe they agree with our corrupt nature in what degrees they come vnto some growth how the spirit of God doth resist them what be the meanes best to prevaile against them and thus if thou make thy profit by them thou shalt so wonderfully search and descrie by severall veines the body age strength of these temptations in others by an holy experience which God hath taught thee in others that besides that thou shalt lay foorth mens secreete corruptions as if thou were in their bosomes thou shalt be able by the seede of sorrowe in thy selfe to beget an vnspeakable joy in others who in time may be tempted as thou nowe art Thus moreover and besides that such is the efficacie of sinne that they who nowe are no Papistes Heretikes Adulterers or Theeues may for their secure contemning foolish passing over of these temptations sent vnto them sodainly shortly after fall into them because they would not seeme to make some vse of them nor confesse before the Lord both their pronenes and worthinesse to fall into them But if we will humble our selues in such temptations and learne by them meekly to discerne the corruptions of our heart we shall not onely deliver our selues presently from peril but be further inabled to assist others hereafter in the like danger but some will oppose against these things which wee haue delivered Do you think it is a remedie to cast downe them that are already humbled this is rather to be a butcher than a builder of a mans conscience to whome I answer that I desire Preachers to be builders and not butchers and it is a thing generally to apply and another thing particularlie to lay the medicine vnto the wound It is good to begin the sore by the viniger of the Law and after to supply it with the oyle of the Gospell both which must be done in wisedome vsing them to some in greter to some in lesser measure For as some hauing nothing but a decay of nature and no naturall humour neede rather restoratiue than purging medicines so rather some troubled for some spiritual wants than for grosse sinnes need not so much the sharpe threatnings of the Lawe as the sweete promises of the Gospell But if the body through some extraordinarie repletion hath gotten some gret surfet not so much to the weakning of nature as to the thretning of imminent death and therfore doth rather require some strong purgation than comfortable and cordiall medicines Then the soule brought to deaths doore with extraordinarie sinne is rather to be boared and pearced with the denounce of God his judgement than otherwise but because we would deale more plainly and lesse confusedly it is good in our accesse to an afflicted conscience to lay these two grounds