Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n
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A03611
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The soules preparation for Christ. Or, A treatise of contrition Wherein is discovered how God breaks the heart and wounds the soule, in the conversion of a sinner to Himselfe.
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Hooker, Thomas, 1586-1647.
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1632
(1632)
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STC 13735; ESTC S120676
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151,498
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275
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the bottome And let me advise you to this when your soules are wrought upon by any reproofes or admonitions take that truth and labour to maintaine the power of it upon your hearts all the weeke after and let your soules be awed by it Thirdly consider what thy soule findes to be most evill and detestable whether it be poverty or disgrace or losse of liberty and then marke what I say get up thy heart higher in the very apprehension of sinne as it is sinne and let thy soule be more affected with the vilenesse of sin then of any other hardship whatsoever As thus suppose thy heart be vere proud if shame and disgrace befal thee oh how doth this heart shake in the apprehension of it he can live no longer except some honour come Now sinne is worse then shame therefore looke up to heaven say oh my heart did shake with shame but sinne is farre worse for what if the Lord take away my honour that he hath promised to such as feare his name and what if he blot my name out of the booke of life therefore sinne is worst of all this is certaine there is no evill the soule feares or finds but sinne is the cause of it but the separation of the soule from the Lord is the greatest evil and sinne is the cause of it and therefore rest not till thy soule shake in the apprehension of it This is the next way to be above punishment or any thing else Now I come to the fruits of godly sorrow which are from these words They said to Peter the other Apostles Men and brethren what shall wee do In these words there are three things presumed and three things plainly expressed First there are three things presumed they did see themselves in a miserable and damnable condition as if they had said hell is now gaping it is but turning of the ladder and we goe to hell for ever Men and brethren what shall we doe Secondly they themselves were ignorant and could not direct themselves what to doe to come out of this estate and therefore they said Men and brethren advise vs what to doe if there be any help yee know it Yet still there is a secret kinde of hope and the heart suspects that it may and will be otherwise with them they doe not say there is nothing to bee done no they say What shall we doe surely there is some way to finde helpe if wee could tell it Againe there are three things plainly expressed in these words they make an open and plaine confession of their sinnes when they were sicke at the hearâ— they could make open confession and lay the hand upon the sore and say If there be any vile wretches under heaven we are they Secondly a thorough resolution against their sinnes and a hatred of the same as if they had said We are resolved to doe any thing whatsoever it is we care not so we may thwart our sinnes The last thing expressed is a sequestration of the soule from this sinne the soule falles off from them and bids farewell to all cursed courses First I come to the three things presumed and because I shall have occasion afterward to handle the two former Therefore now I come to the last of the three which is this Men and brethren What shall we doe Surely there is some course to bee taken Is there not you that are Gods Prophets tell vs if there be any hope for such poore distressed sinners as we are So the Doctrine is this there is a secret hope of mercy wherewith God supports the hearts of those that are truly broken hearted for their sinnes howsoever these men did see themselves miserable yet they did not throw off all say Men and brethren there is no hope for vs therefore we will heare no more but seeing we must go to hell we wil take our pleasure while we live here in the world while we may and if we must bee damned we will be damned for some thing No these people had some hope that they should finde mercy the Lord bruised the heart but he did not breake it the Lord will not quench the smoking flaxe but kindles it further and the Lord drawes on the worke of the soule and pluckes it to himself and makes it looke vp to him and waite vpon him for helpe and mercy I confesse it is true that sometimes the soule in some desperate fit and in some horrour of heart when temptation growes violent long and the distempers of a mans heart stir exceedingly then a man may seeme to cast of all and resolve with Dauid when he had beene long persued by Saul I shall one day fall by the hand of Saul So the soule sayth God will one day leaue me and I shall perish And as Dauid sayth in another place All men are lyers that is they sayd I shall be King of Israel but they are all deceived They all lyers but it was in his haste in a proud impatient haughty humour of soule This is our nature if God buckle not to our bow and heare us not even when wee will then in a proud humor wee are apt to say oh my sins will never be pardoned and I shall never get ground against my corruptions a man that is in a swoune lies as if he were dead but yet he comes to himselfe againe and lookes up and speakes So how ever the soule in some unruly humor is driven to a swoune and thinkes it impossible to finde mercy or overcome his corruption yet still he recovers againe and the soule that is truly broken for sinne is upheld as Ionas said I am cast out of thy preseÌ„ce I am eveÌ„ sinking yet will I looke towards thy holy temple So howsoever the soule may be over-whelmed in a drunken fit of pride or impatience yet aftes the soule hath prayed it saith I will wait upon God for mercy God deales with poore sinnners in this case as men doe that pound pretious powder as Bezar stone or the like to make some potion withall they will breake it and pound it all to pieces yet they cover it up close and will not loose the least sand of it as they breake it so they keepe it close that none be lost So when God doth purpose to doe good to your soules he will breake you and melt you and then you thinke he hath cast you off in his anger No no he is pounding of you but he will preserve those soules notwithstanding and will not lose such poore sinners whom he purposeth to doe good unto As it is with pocket dyâ—ls a man may shake them this way and that way but they are still northward by vertue of the loadstone so there are many shakings in the soule sometime it feareth God will not be mercifull he sometimes hopes that he will thus it is tossed to and fro but still it is heaven-ward there is a
all these rebellions of my heart should be pardoned and all this loosenes and security should be cast behind the backe of the Lord I say it cannot be It is possible onely labour thou that it may be and that thou maiest not be puffed up with presumption consider these three Cautions in thy seeking The first caution is First consider in thy seeking a little mercy will not serve the turne thou that hast been an old weather-beaten sinner and hast wallowed in thy filthinesse when thou goest to God for grace consider it is not a little grace or a small worke that will doe the deed it is not a few spoonfulls or buckets-full that will cleanse a fouleskinne so if thou hast had a filthy prophan heart which hath been a through-fare to all wickednesse and thou hast thus given thy selfe liberty thereunto and hast continued therein there must be a well of mercy to purge such a miserable wretch as thou art When David had committed those two sins of adultery murther had continued in them long he was forced to beg for much mercy and to say purge me wash me cleanse me O Lord these staines are marvelous deepe therefore purge me with hisope nay he had never done with it because his sinnes were more then ordinary So it will cost a great deale of worke before a loose prophane drunkard can be made cleane Secondly thou must expect it with much difficulty and hardnesse in thy selfe thou that hast beene rivetted in thy base luâ—ts and corruptions the Lord will make all cracke before thou shalt finde mercy thou that hast out-braved heaven with thy prophanesse the Lord will make thee a mirrour of humiliation as heretofore thou hast beene a spectacle of filthinesse A man that hath had a bone long out of joynt it is now festred it will make him cry many an oh before it be brought into his right place againe So it is with a man whose heart is full of filthines it will cost him much paines and difficulty and heart-smart before the Lord will bring the soule to a right set againe Manasses humbled himselfe mightily before the Lord because he had bin a mighty proud rebellious man the Lord made his humiliation as miraculous as his sinnes had beene and so David when he had given his sinnes ease in bedding with them the Lord brake all his bones and did awaken him with a witnesse Lastly you must resolve to bestow the utmost of your endeavour to get this mercy at the hands of the Lord It is not a dipping of a foule cloth in water will cleanse it but it must be soaked and rinced in it so you must not thinke to have the foule staines of sinne washed away with a few teares No no you must rub your hearts over over and awake your consciences againe and againe it is not a little examination nor a little sorrow will serve the turne the Lord will pull downe those proud hearts of yours and it may be let you goe a begging for mercy all your dayes and well you may have it at your last gasp when all is done The maine point in hand is this It is for the first part of contrition for the sight of sinne This hearing is not barely the sound of a mans words but the sense and meaning of the words by which the mind is inlightned and he begins seriously to ponder the nature of his sinnes that were so layed open unto him thus hearing they came to be pierced The first doctrine is this There must be a true sight of sinne before the soule can be broken for the text saith They did first heare and then apprehend the evill that was done by them thus they were brought to a saving remorse for their sinnes Ezek 36.31 the text saith Then shall you remeÌ„ber your owne evill waies your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves for your abominations First they shall remeÌ„ber their works and then loath themselves it is the course that Ephraim takes in Ieremiah After that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh and after I was turned I repented I was ashamed and confounded because I did beare the reproach of my youth And it is Gods Course which he takes with his as in Iob. When the Lord had once gotten his people into fetters he shewed them their Wickednesse and makes their eares open to discipline And in another place the Prophet shewed the ground reason why the people repented not they understood not the grouÌ„d and reason of their sinne For no man saith What have I done As a horse rusheth into the battaile and feareth nothing so a wicked man continues in a sinfull course never considering what he hath done the drunkard doth not say How have I abused Gods creatures and the despiser of Gods ordinances doth not say How have I rejected the Lord Jesus Christ And therefore no wonder though he be not affected with that he doth Now for the better clearing of this doctrine I will handle these three things First I will shew what this true sight of sinne is Secondly I will shew the reason why there must be a true sight of sinne before the soule can be broken for it thirdly I will make use of the point First it is not every sight of sinne will serve the turne nor every apprehension of a mans vilenesse but it must have these two properties in it First he must see sinne clearely Secondly convictingly First he that will see sinne clearly must see it truly and fully be able to fadome the compasse of his corruptions and to dive into the depth of the wretchednesse of his vile heart otherwise it will befall a mans sinne as it doth the wound of a mans body when a man lookes into the wound overly and doth not search it to the bottome it begins to fester and rancle and so in the end he is slaine by it so it is with most sinners we carry all away with this We are sinners and such ordinary confessions but we never see the depth of the wound of sinne and so are slaine by our sinnes it is not a generall slight confused sight of sinne that will serve the turne it is not enough to say It is my infirmity and I cannot amend it and we are all sinners and so forth No this is the ground why we mistake our evils and reforme not our waies because we have a slight and an overly sight of sinne a man must prove his wayes as the goldsmith doth his gold in the fire a man must search narrowly and have much light to see what the vilenesse of his owne heart is and to see what his sinnes are that doe procure the wrath of God against him as the prophet David saith I considered my waies and turned my feet into thy testimonies the phrase in the originall is thus much I turned my sinnes upside