presume to hold competition with heaven What furious tempests he raises in the air as that which from the Wilderness beat upon the four corners of the house of Job's eldest son and overthrew it Lo Job was the greatest man in the East his heir did not dwell in a cottage that strong Fabrick could not stand against this Hurricane of Satan What fearful apparitions he makes in the upper regions what great wonders he doth causing fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men Lastly what grievous tyranny he exerciseth upon all the children of disobedience Couldst thou look for any less my son from those whom the Spirit of God himself styles Principalities and Powers and rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickednesses in high places and the Prince of the power of the air Surely it were no Mastery to be a Christian if we had not powerfull opposites But dost thou not withall consider that all this power is by concession and the exercise of it but with permission with limitation What power can there be in any oreature which is not derived from the Almighty This measure the infinite Creator was pleased to communicate to them as Angels which they retain and exercise still as Devils their damnation hath stripped them of their glory but we know not of how much of their strength And seest thou not how their power is bounded Those that could in appearance turn their rods into Serpents could not keep all their Serpents from being devoured of that one Serpent of Moses Those that could bâ—ing Frogs upon Egypt cannot bring a baser creature Lice Those that were suffered to bring Frogs shall not have power to take them away Restrained powers must know their limits and we knowing them must set limits to our feares A Lion chained up can do lesse harme then a curre let loose What is it to thee how powerfull the evill Spirits are whiles they are by an over-ruling power tied up to their stake that they cannot hurt thee §. 2. The fear of the number of evil spirits and the remedy of it Thy feares are increased with their number they are as many as powerfull One Demoniack was possessed with a Legion How many Legions then shall we think there are to tempt those millions of men which live upon the face of the earth whereof no one is free from their continuall solicitations to evill That holy man whom our counterfeit Hermites would pretend to imitate in the vision of his retirednesse saw the air full of them and of their sâ—ares for mankinde and were our eyes as clear as his we might perhaps meet with the same prospect But bee not dismaid my son Couldst thou borrow the eyes of the servant of an holier Master thou shouldst see that there are moe with us then they that are against us thou shouldst see the blessed Angels of God pitching their Tents about thee as the more powerfull vigilant constant guardians of thy soule Loe these are those valiant ones which stand about thy Bed They all hold swords being expert in Warre every one hath his Sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night Feare not therefore but make the Lord even the most High thy Habitation Then there shall no evill befall thee neither shall any Plague come nigh thy dwelling For he shall give his Angels charge ever thee to keepe thee in all thy waies They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone yea and besides this safe indempnity Thou shalt tread upon the Lyon and Adder the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou trample under feet In secular enmity true valour may be oppressed will not easily bee dâ—unted with multitude I will not be afraid of ten thousand saith David They came about me like Bees but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them It was a brave resolution in that Generall who when one of his Souldiers could tell him that the cloud of Persian arrows shot at them darkned the Sun Bee of good chear said he wee shall sight in the shade Answerable whereunto was that Heroicall determination of Luther who after his engagements against all threats and disswasions would goe â—nto the City of Wormes though there were as many Devils in it as Tiles upon their houses and why should not we imitate this confidence What if there were as many Devils in the air as there are spires of grasse on the earth God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed though the mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea Behold God is our salvation we will trust and not bee afraid for the Lord Jehovah is our strength and our song he also is become our salvation Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered let them also that hate him flee before him like as the smoak vanisheth so shalt thou drive them away §. 3. The malice of the evill spirits and our fears thereof remedied But oh the malice of those infernall spirits implacable and deadly whose trade is temptation and accusation whose delight is torment whose musick is shrieks and howlings and groanes and gnashing and whose main drift is no lesse then the eternall death and damnation of miserable mankind Why should we my son expect other from him who is professedly the manslayer from the beginning that carries nothing but destruction both in his name and nature that goes about continually like a roaring Lion seeking whom hee may devoure Surely this malignity is restlesse neither wil take up with any thing on this side hell But comfort thy selfe in this that in spight of all the malice of Hell thou art safe Doest thou not know that there stands by thee the victorious Lion of the Tribe of Iudah whom that Infernall Ravener dare not look in the face Dost thou not remember that when the Sentence was pronounced of eternall enmity between the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent it was with this Doome It shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Loe a bruise of a mans heel is farre from the heart but a bruise of the Serpents head is mortall there his sting there his life lies Neither did the seed of the woman Christ Jesus this for himself who was infinitely above all the power and malice of the Devil but for us the impotent and sinful seed of man The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet saith the blessed Apostle Under your feet not under his own onely of whom God the Father had long before said Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool Yea what do I speak of the future Already is this great work done already is this great work atchieved For the Lord of
and glorifie his own mercy in crossing the reckoning and acquitting thy soul. All sums are equally dischargeable to the munificence of our great Creditor in heaven as it is the act of his Justice to call for the least so of his Mercy to forgive the greatest Had we to do with a finite power we had reason to sink under the burden of our sins Now there is neither more nor less to that which is infinite Onely let thy care be to lay hold on that infinite mercy which lies open to thee And as thou art an object fit for mercy in that thou art in thy self sinful and miserable enough so finde thy self as thou art a subject meet to receive this mercy as a penitent believer Open and enlarge thy bosom to take in this free grace and close with thy blessed Saviour and with and in him possess thy self of remission peace salvation § 4. Complaints oâ— unrepentance anâ— unbelief Sweet words thou sayest to those that are capable of them But what is all this to me that am neither penitent nor believer Alas that which is honey to others is no better then gall wormwood to me who have not the grace to repent and believe as I ought Why wilt thou my son be so unwise and unjust as to take part with Satan against thine own soul Why wilt thou be so unthankfully injurious to the Father of mercies as to deny those graces which his good Spirit hath so freely bestowed upon thee If thou wert not penitent for thy sins wherefore are these tears What mean these sighs and sobs and passionate expressions of sorrow which I hear from thee It is no worldly loss that thus afflicts thee it is no bodily distemper that thus disquiets thee Doubtless thou art soul-sick my son thy spirit is deeply wounded within thee and what can thus affect thy soul but sin and what can this affection of thy soul be for sin but true penitence § 5. Complaints of a misgrounded sorrow satisfied Alas thou sayest I am indeed sorrowful for my sin but not upon the right grounds I grieve for the misery that my sin hath brought upon me not for the evil of my sinâ— for the punishment not the offence for my own danger not for the displeasure of my good God Beware my son lest an undue humility cause thee to belye the graces of Gods Spirit thou art no meet judge of thy self whiles thou art under temptations Had not thy sorrow a relation to thy God why wouldst thou thus sighâ— towards heaven why would thy heart challenge thee for unkindness in offending why dost thou cry out of the foulness not onely of the peril of thy sin What is it that makes the act of thy sin to be sinful but the offence of the Divine Majestie how canst thou then be sorry that thou hast sinned and not be sorry that thou hast offended Tell me What is it that thy conscience primarily suggests to thee in this deep impression of thy sorrow Is it Thou shalt be punished or iâ— it not rather Thou hast sinned And were it put to thy choice whether thou hadst rather enjoy the favour of God with the extremest smart or be in his displeasure with ease whether wouldst thou pitch upon Or if liberty were tendred unto thee that thou mightst freely sin without the danger of punishment whether doth not thy heart rise at the condition as ready to flee in the face of the offerer Besides fear and horrour dost thou not finde an inward kinde of indignation at thy miscarriage and such an hatred of thy sin that were it to be done again if it were possible to be hid from God and men and if there were not an hell to avenge it thou wouldst abhoâ— to commit it All these are strong convictions of the right grounds of thy repentance and of the wrong which thou dost to thine own soul in the unjust scruples which thou raisest against it § 6. Complaint of the insufficient measure of sorrow satisfied If the grounds thou saist of my repentance be right yet the measure is insufficient I am sorrowful for my sins but not enough An effectual grief for sin should be serious deep hearty intensive mine is slight and superficialâ— I sigh but my sighs come not from the bottom of an humbled heart I can sometimes weep but I cannot pour out my self into tears I mourn but I do not dwell upon my sorrow My son thou hast to do with a God which in all the dispositions of our soul regards truth and not quantity If he find thy remorse sound he stands not upon measure He doth not mete out our repentance by inches or by houres but where he findes sincerity of penitence he is graciously indulgent Look upon David and acknowledge his sin formidably hainous no lesse then adultery seconded with inebriation and murder yet no sooner did he in a true compunction of heart cry Peccavi I have sinned against the Lord then he heares from the same mouth that accused him The Lord also hath put away thy sin thou shalt not die you doe not hear of any tearing of hair or rending of garments or knocking 's of brest or lying in sackcloth and ashes but onely a penitent confession availing for the expiation of so grievous crimes Thou art deceived if thou thinkst God delights in the misery and afflictedness of his creature So far onely is the grief his dear ones pleasing unto him as it may make for the health of their souls in theâ— due sensibleness of their sin in their meet capacity of mercy I do not with some Casuists flatter thee with an opinion of the sufficiency of any slight attrition and empty wishes that thou hadst not sinned doubtless a true contrition of spirit and compunction of heart are necessarily required to a saving repentance and these wert thou but an indifferent censurer of thine own waies thou couldst not choose but finde within thy selfe why else is thy countenance so dejected thy cheeks pale and watered so oft with thy teares thy sleeps broken thy meales stomacklesse wherefore are thy so sad bemoanings and vehement deprecations But after all this be thou such 〈◊〉 thou accusest thy selfe defective in the measure of thy repentance dâ—st thou rest contented in this conâ—ition dost thou not complain of it as thy greatest misery Art thou not heartily sorry that thou canst be no more sorry for thy sin Comfort thy selfe my son even this this alone is an acceptable degree of repentance Our God whose will is his deed accounts ours so What is repentance but a change of minde from evil to good and how sensible is this change that thou who formerly delightedst in thy sinne now abhorrest it and thy selfe for it and art yet ambitious of more grief for being transported into it Let not the enemy of thy soule who desires nothing more then to make thee perfectly miserable win so much of thee as to render thee unsatisfied
whereby we have communion with Christ and an assured testimony of and from him For he that believeth in the Son of God hath the witness in himself And what witness is that This is the record that God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life O happie and sure connexion Eternal life first This life eternal is in and by Christ Jesus This Jesus is ours by faith This faith witnesseth to our souls our assurance of life eternal Chariâ—y is the last which comprehends our love both to God and man for from the reflection of Gods love to us there ariseth a love from us to God again The beloved Disciple can say We love him because he loved us first and from both these resulteth our love to our brethren Behold so full an evidence that the Apostle tells us expresly That we know we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren For the love of the Father is inseparable from the love of the Son He that loveth him that begets loves him that is begotten of him Now then my son deal unpartially with thine own heart ask of it seriously as in the presence of the searcher of all hearts Whether thou dost not finde in thy self these unfailing evidences of thine election Art thou not effectually though not perfectly called out of the world and corrupt nature Dost thou not inwardly abhor thy former sinfull ways Dost thou not think oâ— what thou wert with detestation Dost thou not heartily desire and endeavour to be in all things approved to God and conformed to thy Saviour Dost thou not gladly cast thy self upon the Lord Jesus and depend upon his free all-sufficiency for pardon and salvation Dost thou not love that infinite goodâ—ness who hath been so rich in mercies to thee Dost thou not love and bless those gleams of goodness which he hath cast upon his Saints on earth In plain terms Dost thou noâ— love a good man because he is good Comfort thy self in the Lord my son let no fainting qualms of fear and distrust possess thy soul Faithful is he that hath called thee who will also preserve thy whole spirit and soul and body blameless unto the coming of oer Lord Jesus Christ. Comfort against Temptations § 1. Christ himself assaulted our trial is for our good THou art haunted with Temptations that which the Enemy sees he cannot do by force or fraud he seeks to effect by importunity Can this seem strange to thee when thou seest the Son of God in the Wilderness fourty days and fourty nights under the hand of the Tempter He that durst thus set upon the Captain of our salvation God blessed for ever how shall he spare frail flesh and blood Why should that Saviour of thine thinkst thou suffer himself to be tempted if not to bear thee out in all thy temptations The keys of the bottomless pit are in his hands he could have shut up that presumptuous spirit under chains of darkness so as he could have come no nearer to him then hell but he would let him loose and permit him to do his worst purposely that we might not think much to be tempted and that he might foyl that great enemy for us Canst thou think that he who now sits at the right hand of Majestie commanding all the powers of heaven earth hell could not easily keep off that malignant spirit from assailing thee Canst thou think him lesse merciful then mighty Would he die to save thee and will he turn that bandog of hell loose upon thee to worry thee Dost thou not pray daily to thy Father in heaven that hee would not lead thee into temptation If thou knowest thou hast to doe with a God that heareth prayers oh thou of little faith why fearest thou Loe he that was led by his own divine Spirit into the Wildernesse to bee tempted of that evill Spirit bids thee pray to the Father that he would not lead thee into temptation as implying that thou couldst not goe into temptation unlesse he led thee and whiles he that is thy Father leads thee how canst thou miscarry Let no man when he is tempted say I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evill neither tempteth hee any man God tempteth thee not my sonne yet know that being his thou couldst not be tempted without him both permitting and ordering that temptation to his owne glory and thy good That grace which thy God hath given thee he will have thus exercised thus manifested So wee have known some indulgent Father who being assured of the skill and valour of his deare son puts him upon Tiltings and Barriers and publique Duels and lookes on with contentment as well knowing that hee will come off with honour How had wee known the admirable continency of good Joseph if hee had not been strongly solicited by a wanton Mistresse How had wee known Davids valour if the Philistims had not had a Giantly Challenger to encounter him How had wee knowne the invincible piety of the three Children if there had not beene a Furnace to try them or of Daniel if there had been no Lions to accompany him Be confident thy glory shall be according to the proportion of thy triall neither couldst thou ever bee so happy if thou hadst not been beholden to temptations §. 2. The powerfull assistance of Gods Spirit and the example of S. Paul How often thou saist have I beaten off these wicked suggestions yet still they turn upon me again as if denials invited them as if they meant to tire me with their continuall solicitations as if I must yeeld be over-laid though not with their force yet with their frequence Know my sonne that thou hast to doe with spirituall wickednesses whose nature is therefore as unweariable as their malice unsatisfiable Thou hast a spirit of thine owne and besides God hath given thee of his so as hee lookes thou shouldst through the power of his gracious assistance match the importunity of that evill spirit with an indefatigable resistance Be strong therefore in the Lord and in the power of his might and put in the whole armour of God that thou maist be able to withstand â—n the evill day and having done all to stand Look upon a stronger Champion then thy selfe the blessed Apostle thou shalt finde him in thine owne condition see the missenger of Satan sent to buffet him and he did it to purpose how soundly was that chosen vessell buffeted on both sides and how often Thrice hee besought the Lord that it might depart from him but even yet it would not be the temptation holds onely a comfort shall countervaile it My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weaknesse It is not so much to be considered how hard thou art laid at as how strongly thou art upheld How many with the
vision of God as they apprehend more darknesse in all earthly objects certainly thou shalt not misse these materiall eyes if thou maist finde thy soul thus happily enlightned §. 8. The benefit of the eies which once we had Thine eyes are lost It is a blessing that once thou hadst them hadst thou been born blinde what a stranger hadst thou in all likelihood been to God and the world hadst thou not once seen the face of this heaven and this earth and this Sea what expressions could have made thee sufficiently apprehensive of the wonderfull works of thy Creator What discourse could have made thee to understand what light is what the Sun the fountain of it what the heavens the glorious region of it and what the Moon and Starres illuminated by it How couldst thou have had thy thoughts raised so high as to give glory to that great God whose infinite power hath wrought all these marvellous things No doubt God hath his own waies of mercy even for those that are born dark not requiring what he hath not given graciously supplying by his spirit in the vessels of his election what is wanting in the outer-man so as even those that could never see the face of the world shall see the face of the God that made it But in an ordinary course of proceeding those which have been blinde from their birth must needs want those helps of knowing and glorifying God in his mighty works which lie open to the seeing These once filled thine eies and stay with thee still after thine eies have forsaken thee What shouldst thou doe but walk on in the strength of those fixed thoughts and be alwaies adoring the Majesty of that God whom that sight hath represented unto thee so glorious and in an humble submission to his good pleasure strive against all the discomforts of thy sufferings Our Story tels us of a valiant Souldier answerable to the name he bore Polyzelus who after his eyes were struck out in the Battel covering his face with his Target fought still laying about him as vehemently as if he had seen whom to smite So do thou my son with no less courage let not the loss of thine eyes hinder thee from a chearful resistance of those spiritual enemies which labor to draw thee into an impatient murmuring against the hand of thy God wait humbly upon that God who hath better eyes in store for thee then those thou hast lost § 9. The supply of one sense by another Thou hast lost thy hearing It is not easie to determine whether loss is the greater of the Eye or of the Ear both are grievous Now all the world is to thee as dumb since thou art deaf to it How small a matter hath made thee a meer cypher amongst men These two are the senses of instruction there is no other way for intelligence to be conveyed to the soul whether in secular or in spiritual affairs The eye is the window the ear is the door by which all knowledge enters In matter of observation by the eye in matter of faith by the ear Had it pleased God to shut up both these senses from thy birth thy estate had been utterly disconsolate neither had there been any possible access for comfort to thy soul and if he had so done to thee in thy riper age there Had been no way for thee but 1 to live on thy former store But now that he hath vouchsafed to leave thee one passage open it behâ—ves thee to supply the one sense by the other to let in those helps by the window which are denied entrance at the door And since that infinite goodness hath been pleased to lend thee thine ear so long as till thou hast laid the sure grounds of faith in thy heart now thou mayst work upon them in this silent opportunity with heavenly meditations and raise them up to no less height then thou mightst have done by the help of the quickest ear It is well for thee that in the fulness of thy senses thou wert careful to improve thy bosome as a Magazine of heavenly thoughts providing with the wise Patriarch for the seven yeers of dearth otherwise now that the passages are thus blocked up thou couldst not but have been in danger of affamishing Thou hast now abundant leasure to recal and ruminate upon those holy counsels which thy better times laid up in thy heart and to thy happie advantage findest the difference betwixt a wise providence and a careless neglect § 10. The better condition of the inward ear Thine outward hearing is gone But thou hast an inward and better ear whereby thou hearest the secret motions of Gods Spirit which shall never be lost How many thousands whom thou enviest are in a worse condition they have an outward and bodily ear whereby they hear the voice of men but they want that spiritual ear which perceives the least whisperings of the holy Ghost Ears they have but not hearing ears for fashion more then use Wise Solomon makes and observes the distinction The hearing ear and the seeing eye the Lord hath made even both of them And a greater then Solomon can say of his formal auditors Hearing they hear not If thou have an ear for God though deaf to men how much happier art thou then those millions of men that have au ear for men and are deaf to God § 11. The grief that arises from learâ—ing evil Thou hast lost thy hearing and therewith no small deal of sorrow How would it grieve thy soul to hear those woful ejulations those pitiful complaints those hideous blasphemies those mad paradoxes those hellish heresies wherewith thine ear would have been wounded if it had not been barred against their entrance It is thy just grief that thou missest the hearing of many good words it is thy happiness that thou art freed from the hearing of many evil It is an even lay betwixt the benefit of hearing good and the torment of hearing evil Comforts against Barrenness §. 1. The blessing of fruitfulness seasoned with sorrows THou complainest of dry loins a barren womb so did a better man before thee even the Father of the faithful What wilt thou give me seeing I go childless So did the wife of faithful Israel Give me children or else I die So desirous hath Nature been even in the holiest to propagate it self and so impatient of a denial Lo children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh from the Lord. Happie is he that hath his quiver full of such shafts It is the blessing that David grudged to wicked ones They have children at their desire It was the curse which God inflicted upon the family of Abimelech King of Gerar that he closed up all the wombs in his house for Sarahs sake And the judgement threatned to Ephraim is a miscarrying womb and dry brests And Jechoniah's sad doom is