condition that the soul should be thus and thus deeply humbled O saith a gratious soul do you set me to eye them they undo and ruine me I finde the promises of Gods giving Christ to my soul run all upon conditions of hungring and thirsting Isai 55. 1 2 3. Of being weary and heavy laden Mat. 11. 29. Of being lost and undone and this is that which I stick upon I will answer thee in this particular First T is true such is the tenor of the promises they do require hungring and thirsting c. Though not as meritorious conditions yet consider That they require no more then God hath promised to givâ— See this Zach. 12. 10. Ezek. 11. 19 20. and 36. 26 27. Where God hath promised to give that same tender broken contrite heart which other promises require the soul to have that doth apply them to it self Secondly Consider that those promises that seem to require humiliation and brokennesse of heart as conditions or qualifications call them what you will do no where require such and such a measure they require rem but not mensuram Lastly And for thy great comfort consider that those originall promises in which God hath promised to give that tendernesse and brokennesse of heart which he seemeth to require in other promises as a condition and qualification for the soul to whom of due it belongs to apply those promises I say those promises are absolute for this take but two instances Ezek. 11. 19 20. and 36. 26 27. which are much the same And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them aâ— heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes c. As if he should say they cannot walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances untill their stony heart be gone and they have an heart of flesh Secondly They cannot have this heart of flesh till I give it them And thirdly I will give it them Now sit down and eye the promises say thus It is true God doth require an heart of flesh before I can apply the promises of pardon to me but the same God hath promised to give it me and there must there can nothing be done of me in relation to that first gift God hath freely promised to prepare me to apply his salvation and to walk in his statutes by taking away my heart of stone and giving me an heart of flesh and beleeve but this that God will fulfill this free and absolute promise unto mee It is thy duty not onely to beleeve that God will pardon thee but also to beleeve that God will humble thee and not to stick upon I am not humbled enough to apply the promise but to say I will labour to apply the promises of salvation and to beleeve that God will humble me more and make good amongst others that promise to my soul that he hath made to his people that he will take away their heart of stone and give an heart of flesh c. And thus I have done with the first direction to the afflicted soul Eye the nature of God more in his covenant Secondly In the dispensations of his grace Thirdly In his promises I come now to my second direction and that is Secondly Consider the nature of humiliation and this thou mayest consider First In its originall Secondly In the manner of the operation of it Thirdly In its end The two latter I have handled at large in my considerations I propounded to comfort the soul in its affliction I will but name them First Think that thy humiliation may be as great as it should be though not so deep as others have been it may be it hath been longer Secondly It may have a more inward work Thirdly Its working is not done it will have a work as long as thou livest 2. Consider the nature of it in its end First Meditate that the end of thy humiliation is but to bring thee to loath sin secondly Leave sin and thirdly To make thee prize Christ If this be done it hath done its work But this I enlarged my self upon before 3. which should have been indeed first Consider the nature of humiliation in its originall and efficient cause which is God Zac. 12. 10. Ezek. 11. 19. 20. and sit down now and say Certainly God hath a good work begun in my soul otherwise why should sin trouble me at all or why should I be troubled that I am not troubled for my sin and now how unreasonable a thing is it for me to start from applying the promises because in my conceit I am not enough humbled It is God that hath humbled me at all and it is he that must perfect the work in my soul and surely if he sees it is not enough he will work more and he must do it if he will have it for I am not able to humble my soul Thus far my direction hath reached to help thee to ease thy self and direct thee what to do in point of meditation and consideration My third reacheth thy practice Lastly Labour after more and more humiliation Neither keep thy heart from beleeving in infidelity out of a conceit of the want of it nor yet slight and neglect it Both these rocks must be avoided as pernicious rocks for poor souls and between which there is a safe passage Let the world think what they will Sound beleever p. 104. and opinion 〈◊〉 cry down that great work Want of humilitation saith Master Shepheard is the cause of so much counterfeit 〈◊〉 Ib. p. 146. as is in the world and again saith he we shall observe if there be little humiliation there is little of Christ if much of humiliation much of Christ if inconstant humiliation inconstant fruition of Christ if reall humiliation reall possession of Christ if false humiliation imaginary fruitâ—on of Christ Therefore though I would not have thee so weep but thou should I have a spare eye to look up to the free grace of Christ yet I would not have thee so much fix thy eye upon the mercy and free grace of Christ that thou shouldst have never an eye to weep for thy sins Humiliation and Faith are two things that are consistant together That 's the last direction Labour to get the soul more humbled I know thou wilt say how shall I do that truely I might give infinite directions Ib. p. 150. but this is so ordinary a point in which so many pious men have laboured that I shall but name to you some directions that they point out as helps to the soul in this work Master Shepheard gives those helps 1. Remember whose thou art Rom. 9. 20. 2. Remember what thou art a vild wretch Job 40. 1 3 4. 3. Remember what thou hast been and how long thou hast been so and why should God choose thee 4. Remember what thou wilt be Isa
the soule yet it layes hold if Christ will not save me saith the poor soule sure I am nothing else can to him I will go and me thinks it goes as the Messengers of Benhadad to Ahab 1 King 20. Behadad there had wrong'd Ahab and through the help of God his Army was routed and Benhadad was glad to hide himselfe in one of Ahabs Townes in an inner Chamber and sends to Ahab his servants v. 31. said to him We have heard that the Kings of the house of Israel are mercifull Kings let us put sackcloth on our loynes and put ropes about our heads and go out to the King of Israel peradventure he will save thy life so they did and said Thy servant Benhadad sayes I pray thee let me live And he said is he yet alive he is my brother the men catcht his words and they said Thy brother Benhadad and he said Go and bring him and accordingly he came and Ahab took him up into his Charriot So it is with the poor soule when the soule hath fought against God by sin the Lord overthrowes it by desertion yet it lives but dare not be seen so openly it is hidden under the dark cloud of desertion it squilks as in an inner chamber it is sensible how it hath deserved death yea ten thousand deaths But the liâ—e of grace being yet in the soule it sayes within it selfe I have heard that the King of Heaven the Lord Iesus Christ is a mercifull Christ come therefore I will send my Messengers of Faith and Prayer they shall put sackcloth-upon their loynes and ropes upon their heads and go out to the Lord Iesus Christ peradventure he will save my soule and I shall live Without question Benhadads servants went with trembling hearts and yet relied upon this as the onely meanes to save Benhadad their Master alive So the soule sends out at such a time a trembling faith and trembling prayers and yet truly relies upon Christs mercy and favour and the soule sayes to God Lord thy backsliding revolting servant sayes Let me live let my backslidings be healed let my renewed sinnes be yet pardoned Christ will say Thou art my brother and take thee into the Charret but yet thy faith trembles and thy prayer trembles And indeed there is very great reason for it if we secondly consider that the very essence of desertions is Gods withdrawing of his manifestative love from the soul that the soul though it be loved with Gods elective love in and under desertions yet it wants the apprehensions and manifestations of his love Now that which onely can keep the soule from its naturall temper of trembling is the apprehended manifestations of Christs love to it which being withdrawn the soule falls a trembling again and yet the life of grace being not extinct it still trusts yea though he kills the soule yet it trusts in him So I have done with the sixth proposition That the soule may depend tremblingly upon the Lord Iesus Christ and yet depend truly I come now to the seventh and last Proposition to shew what weaknesse and doubting may consist with true faith in the soule that I shall doe in a seventh proposition thus Thou mayest truly rely and depend upon the promises of God and upon the Lord Iesus Christ for everlasting salvation and dwell upon them and yet not be able fully and truly to appropriate and peculiarize all the promises to thy selfe and act accordingly to them at all times There are distinctions of promises and distinctions of times from whence will arise distinctions of causes which would be understood To make out this certaine truth 1. You must know that there is a distinction of promises the promises are many wayes distinguished there are generall and particular promises absolute and conditiall promises Promises that concerne some particular people as the people of the Iews and particular persons as to David and Herekiah and other of the people of God which if we should apply we should misapply to our selves I shall not meddle with all the distinctions of these promises but onely with what shall conduce now to my purpose to make out this truth I have laid down in my proposition and so I shall distinguish of two promises two wayes First They are temporall or spirituall Secondly They are absolute or conditionall First there are temporall promises which are or may be called temporall either in respect of the matter of the promise or circumstance of time limited in the promise There are some promises that were made for a certaine time and at the time expired were paid and now the bonds are cancell'd these were particular Such were many promises made to the people of the Iewes and to particular persons amongst them Now these wee must not look to peculiarize and appropriate to our selves they are done with Secondly There are temporall promises so called in respect of the things promised being things temporall for the body or estate for protection of our selves wives estates families Now for these promises thou mayst not peculiarize them and yet have true faith for salvation salvation and heaven being not the thing promised in them and besides there may be cause why thou mayest not have so good ground to rely and confidently rest upon God for the fulfilling of these promises as I shall shew you more when I come to handle the distinction of times and as I shewed you the last time in the case of David 2 Sam. 12. But secondly there is a second distinction of promises I meane of spirituall promises which it is our duty at all times to apply and rest upon yet these are either absolute or conditionall It is a note that I have before somewhere noted that the promises of Gods first mercies in a way of saving grace to the soule are ordinarily absolute I will give and I will give without any praevious conditions to be found in the soule as his promises of inlightning grace Jer. 24. v. 7. I will give them an heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be people and I will be their God And for the grace of humiliation Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put upon you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you an heart of flesh and so for his grace by which he convinceth Ioh. 16. 8. The spirit should convince the world of sinne of righteousnesse and of judgement Now these promises are altogether absolute being the free promises for dispensations of the first graces in order to a poor soules salvation Now there are other promises of God for spirituall mercies in order to the soules salvations which are second dispensations and these are propounded with conditions as the promises of heaven for power to rely on Jesus Christ peace assurance c. Isa 55. 1. Mat. 11. 29. and again to him that overcometh will I give to drink
them he saves We say no for even the works of Gods spirit of grace acting in us are our works and salvation is not of works but of grace And this Evangelicall lesson is hinted to us even in the Ceremoniall Law The Lord commands a yearly day of atonement Levit. 16. for the sins of the holy Place To prove this I might instance in all those Text of Scripture of which the Epistle to the Romans and Galatians are especially full and so the Epistle to the Ephesians which treat concerning the Doctrine of Justification and clear it not to be of works neither internall nor externall but of grace But I will instance but in one Titus 3. 5 6 7. But after that the kindenesse saith he and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared Not by works of righteousnesse which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration Mark ye by it not for it Gods mercy and free-grace is the ground of the souls acceptation and therefore consider upon what principle thou runnest that concludest I have not yet been enough humbled for to be accepted as if thy humiliation were the reason and ground of Gods acceptation Indeed we ought never to think that we are enough humbled yet we ought alwayes to think that humiliation too much and that sense of our sins too much which hinders Faith for it destroyes its end Therefore why art thou thus troubled Christian with this conceit that your Faith is no Faith because before it you wept not just so many tears It is Faiths work to beleeve and apprehend the souls acceptation before God Now Gods acceptation as you have heard is never for the souls humiliation and therefore what should hinder thy Faiths working in apprehending thy acceptation before God because thou art not accepted for this work any more then any other Nay Secondly Thy humiliation is not a ground of Faith Thou doest not therefore apply Christ because thou art so and so humbled Put case that a great Prince should be willing to bestow his son in marriage upon a poor peasant onely saith he I will make this term or condition that when you come to marrie him you shal come in sackcloth to shew what ye are he shal give you a better garment afterwards wil any one say that this maids coming to the marriage arraied in sackcloth is a ground of her so rich mariage or will any say it is a meritorious condition that she deserveth such a match to come so attired Surely no the ground of all is the Princes delight in her this is the ground of his taking her to wife and yet the King commanded that attire So the Lord saith Poor vild wretch I will give thee my Christ in marriage but thou shalt come weeping to shake hands with him weeping for thy sins he shall afterwards take off thy sackcloth garments Can any say that this is either a meritorious cōdition or a ground of acceptation or Faith Consider Christian wert thou never so much humbled thou couldst not say I will therefore beleeve because I am humbled Humiliation is a necessary antecedent to Faith 〈◊〉 ground of Faith Let 〈◊〉 that therefore be a stumbling block to thee which cannot be a pillar and foundation to thee if thy Faith cannot stand upon it let it never stumble upon it And thus I have done with the second thing I propounded which was to propound such considerations to such souls as were under this temptation as might comfort their hearts and strengthen and stablish them Onely I beseech you remember to whom I have been speaking all this while not to hard-hearted stony souls but to broken and humbled souls not to those that regard not to get their souls humbled at all but to those that are humbled that they can be humbled no more and that groan under the hardnesse of their own hearts not to those that presume to apply their hot boiling lusts and corruptions to the blood and wounds of Jesus Christ flattering themselves with a notion of Faith and conceiting they do beleeve but to those that are humbled though they cannot have a good thought of themselves I would not be misunderstood to have spoken one word to slight the work of humiliation or to cherish that licentious novell Doctrine that there is no need at all of it and a Christian shall not need regard it but what I have spoken hath been not for dead men what should they do with cordialls but for dying fainting swooning Christians not for them that consider their sins too little but for them that so dim their eyes with poring on them that they cannot see the absolute covenant of God and the free-grace of Christ and lay hold upon the promises of life There is an extream on either side the sober Christian avoids either and keeps the mean So I have done with the second thing I propounded viz. to propound some considerations which might comfort the afflicted soul under this affliction and strengthen it to resist this temptation For without question as the Devil hath a designe upon many a soul to run it upon a rack of presumption and carry it on in a blind notion of Faith so he hath a designe upon some souls to wrack them upon the sands and sink them in a pit of despair The Devils devouring voice to souls is either There is no need of humiliation or there is no humiliation enough I come now to the last thing which I propounded which is to give some directions to such souls as are burthened with this affliction and groan under this temptation how to demean themselves and what to do I will reduce all that I shall speak by way of direction to these heads First Eye the nature of the covenant and grace and promises of God more Secondly Eye the nature and cause of humiliation more Thirdly Labour to get thy heart more humbled First of all Eye the nature of God declared in the free dealings out of his grace to thee This I shall enlarge in three instances 1. Eye Gods covenant and the nature of that 2. Eye Christs grace and the nature of that 3. Eye the Promises and the nature of them First Eye the nature of God in his covenant more The cause of this affliction is Christians too much eying and poring upon their sins and themselves the penitent beleever ought to have two eyes one to look downward another to look upward This is that which David comforted himself with when he considered his own unworthinesse and the unworthinesse of his house 2 Sam. 23. 5. Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is my salvation and all my desire although he maketh it not to grow David though a man according to Gods own heart yet had a wicked house Absolom had slain his brother rebelled against his Father
sinned against knowledge Thirdly Therefore consider This sin which is the unpardonable sin must be a setled sin of thy own continued in without repentance and will be more then a sin of thy heart That it is first begot in the heart as all other sin is is a truth but it goeth out of it blasphemy is properly committed with the tongue without question the heart and tongue and hand have all a portion in this sin unpardonable but it is not in the thought onely Besides 2. It may be thy blasphemous thoughts which thou hast in thy heart are none of thine own for such thoughts there are oft times in a Christian that are meerly cast in by Sathan into the soul neither bred in nor nursed by the soul nor delighted in but are like the childe that was dead laid by the true mother by another womans side It is a little question whether these thoughts be sins or no if spurned out and rejected by thee whether they shall be put upon thine or upon Sathans score The contrary is determined by most of our divines to answer for It is by all granted that if they be sins they are the least of sins as suppose I should have a thought in my heart that there is no Christ but he whom the Gospel speaks of were an impostor I know not how this thought came there I have a suggestion to beleeve it but my heart rises against it cries avoid Sathan I pray against it humble my self that my base heart should ever have such a guest for my part I make a great question whether these thoughts be a souls sins any more then if a strumpet should come and lay a childe in an open porch or entry of an honest woman it would prove that the honest woman were the mother because the bastard lay in her entry or house unlesse the law so adjudged it in regard the door or entry was open So unlesse you will say that the heart sins by being no better shut then to let such a thought be thrust in questionlesse the very thought as a formall sinfull thought or motion is not the souls but Sathans But however if it be thy sin for which thou hast cause to be humbled Yet it is far from this sin this must be a constant owner and possessor of thy heart and a sin of a far higher nature then ten thousand such thoughts are Fourthly Thou sayest O but I have sinned many times against knowledge against the light of my conscience Consider therefore That though this sin be a sin aginst knowledge yet every sin against knowledge is not this sin Without question Iacob â—inned against knowledge in saying he was his fathers son His very son Esau and David in committing murther and adultery and Peter in denying his Master All these were sins against knowledge and yet none of them sins against the Holy-ghost It must be a sin against the knowledge 1. Of a divine Truth 2. Of some fundamentall truth of the Gospel 3. Distinctly made known to thee This is plain from the sixth of the Heb. 4 5 6. and 10. 26. And from the Pharisees commission of this sin Mat. 12. 31. They were â—onvinced of it as a truth that Jesus Christ was the 〈◊〉 of God and did those miracles he did by the power of the Divine Nature yet sinned in their saying before the people This man casteth out Devils by Beelzebâ—â— the Prince of Devils Sins of knowledge against the law directly are far from this sin also the sin of our first parents it is a sin against the enlightening grace of the spirit of God yea though thou hast denied some truth not fundamentall c. Indeed for all such sins as these are thou hast very great cause to be humbled Christian and to â—it down and mourn bitterly that these wickednesses may be forgiven and doing so thou needst not despair of the pardon of them But alas saith a poor Christian I have in a passion or sicknesse when I knew it was the hand of God blasphemed God or I have at such a time for fear of threats of death denied the work of God and the truth of God c. Fifthly Therefore consider That though the deniall of thy knowledge and the truth of God be a great piece of this sin yet it is not enough to constitute it and besides it must be another manner of deniall then that which thou complainest of It must be a deliberate and advised deniall not rash and sudden It is not enough to constitute this sin for there must be a blasphemy Secondly An opposition to it Secondly It is true that deniall is an ingredient in this unpardonable â—in But it must be 1. A wilfull deniall free not arising from fear Peter so denied his Master and many of the Martyrs denied yea and abjured the Faith But either First Sathan by his temptations Secondly Or the weaknesse of their flesh occasioned it for they at the same time loved Christ and the truth of Christ 2. It must be a deniall on purpose to discredit the truth out of a venome and malice of heart to it I may deny a fundamentall truth in an argument and disputation to see how another can prove it yet I have not sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost I hope 3. It must be a constant deniall If they shall fall away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies falls all in shatters so as an old rotten house not well at first put together Comfort thy self therefore Christian thou hast not sinned the sin against the Holy-ghost though thou hast possibly inadvisedly spake with thy lips yea though through the violence of Sathans temptations and wickednesse or weaknesse of thy heart for fear thou hast denied thy Saviour and his truth onely go out and weep bitterly renew thy love regain thy favour confesse him before men Thus many of the Martyrs did rending their recantations or abjurations and suffring Martyrdom gloriously But yet will some poor Christian say Alas yet I fear I have sinned this sin I have hated such a godly man envied that goodnesse which I saw in him I could hardly endure such a man whom I am confident is the Saint of God c. Consider therefore in the sixth place Sixthly That the hatred and envy of every godly man nor every envy of his goodnesse or every opposition against him for it doth not make thee guilty of this unpardonable sin It is possible thou mayest hate a man that is a godly man for some civill injury he hath done thee or thy friend possibly thou mayeâ—â— do it ignorantly verily thinking he is nought possibly thy envy of him may be an emulation not being sorry that the truth lives in him but angry to see the graces of Gods spirit live in him and not thee these now are far from unpardonable sins nor is every opposition of the truth of Jesus Christ or the professors of the truth an opposition
is very busie in such manner of temptations yea even Christ himselfe shall not be without them Mat. 4. 6. he had set Christ upon the pinacle of the Temple and bid him cast himself down for it is written he shall give his Angels charge c. in which words I conceive as the Devill tempted Christ in an unwarrantable way to rest upon the promise so he also tempted him to doubt of the truth of the Scripture As if he should have said If the Scripture be true and you beleeve it try a little throw thy self down thou hast a promise to catch thee Psal 91. 11. Throw thy self down and thou shalt see now how true the Scriptures are c. So the Devill deales with Christians often sets upon them to deny the Scriptures and puts such thoughts into their hearts c. which are but temptations and argue not a nullity of their assent to the Scriptures but an assault made upon their faith by Satan But may a Christian say If I could know this it were something how shall I know whether such thoughts be the spawn of unbeleefe and proceeding from an internall cause my own infidels heart or whether they be as you say meerly the temptations of Satan and assaults upon my faith I shall labour to tell thee briefly First They are ordinarily but Disputations and Queries not determinations Thou oftentimes hast Quaeries in thy soule What should I think are the Scriptures the Word of God or no They have strange things in them one would wonder they should be the Word of Truth thou never commest positively to determine in thy soule Tush they are not the Word of God God gives Satan leave to play the Opponent sometimes to see what a Respondent the Beleever can be but hee alwayes keeps the office of the Moderator to himselfe when they never go beyond a dispute in thy heart that thou dost not determine in thy heart the contrary nor declare with thy lips nor practice with thy life the contrary it is a sign they are but temptations though they argue weaknesse and thou oughtest to bee troubled and humbled for them if they were children of thy owne begetting thou wouldst nourish them better Secondly If they be onely temptations thou findest a striving against them Tell me Christian when thou hast such an Atheisticall thought laid at the doore of thy heart that the Scriptures are not the truth of God what dost thou do with it what dost thou take it and suckle it and rock it and nurse it as thy owne childe Dost thou please thy self with such thoughts and labour to coine arguments to maintaine and hug them This is a note of a base heart Or art thou impatient of it but presently cryest out Ah Lord what a base heart have I And dost thou labour to beat such thoughts out of thy heart and pray against them and never listen to any argument Satan would bring to tempt thee to the beleefe of it I beleeve this is thy tempter and know if it be thou mayest have such thoughts and doubts and yet be a true beleever Thirdly If it be not reall unbeliefe but a meere temptation to unbeliefe thy thoughts will not be long Iames 4. 7. Resist the Devill and he will flee from you The Devill if he be left to stand upon his own legs is as very a coward as lives he will come and tempt a beleever to deny the Scriptures to be the word of truth the beleever findes these filthy thoughts cast into his heart he considers Arguments to resist this temptation cryes and prayes and sayes I beleeve Lord help my unbeleefe Away goes Satan presently will answer never an Argument but yeeld the field and the beleevers heart is fixed presently I mark this in 4. Matth. we read there of three weapons the Devill took up at Christ v. 3. Hee tempteth him to distrust Gods providence Christ resists this v. 4. The Devill hath done with this not a word more to say well he flyes to another v. 5. tempts him to presume unwarrantably upon Gods providence and to deny the truth of the Scriptures Christ resists this v. 7. The Devill durst not reply but leaves this too well he betakes himselfe to another v. 8. Christ resists this v. 10. Satan hath not a word to say but the coward quits the field packs up and gets himselfe away v. 13. Try thy thoughts are they dwelling thoughts or transient if they abide not they are Satans that carries bag and baggage with them when he leaves thee Fourthly Thou mayst know if they be temptations by thy life thou art sometime ready to think that the Scriptures are not the word of truth thou canst not assent to them but at this very time durst thou live contrary to the rule of the Scripture Darest thou now go and be drunk and be unclean for what now should keep thee in awe Darest thou then 't is unbeleefe But at this very time if thou durst not but live according to that Word of Truth which yet thou art in doubt whether it be the Word of truth or no say what thou wilt thou dost assent unto it and Satan would but fool thee of thy faith Thus you have heard how a Christian may doubt or rather be tempted to doubt sometimes whether the Scriptures be the Word of Truth or no and yet have and give a true and firm assent unto it as the Word of Truth and you have heard me giving some notes how a Christian may know whether such thoughts proceed from a principle of unbeleef and dissenting to the Word of Truth or from the temptations of Satan I come to the third Conclusion which is this Thirdly A Christian may be a true beleever and yet not fully assent to some particular truth in the Word of God There are many pieces of Gods Truth in Gods Word The Word is the word of an eternal wisdom and of a depth too deep for us that have but narrow capacities and finite buckets to finde the bottom of it Now I conceive it is not essentiall to a true beleefe and assent that I should assent to every thing in the Word of God nay which of us doe doe it The causes of this may be these 1. Ignorance I shewed you before when I handled that point that there may be a great deal of ignorance consist with true faith ignorance in point of Doctrine and ignorance in circumstantialls ignorance in divers things which are not of absolute necessity to salvation Now I conceive that assent doth alwayes imply knowledge How shall they beleeve on him of whom they have not heard was the Apostles question Now I conceive assenting to a particular truth as the truth of God doth nor consist in a bare negation but hath something positive in it I conceive that I cannot bee said to Assent to all things from which I doe not dissent but if I assent I doe fulâ—y agree and close with something
were in his drowning danger though he be on the shore the terrours had surprized him before are not presently shaken of A second cause may be in regard of some holds that have already failed the soule Faith is when the soule layes hold upon Jesus Christ as the twig of salvation and hangs upon him for life and heaven and happinesse Now the soule hath had many twigs failed It is the nature of man to be timerous and as a drowning man will catch hold upon any thing which comes next hand to save his life on if he catcheth hold on one and that breaks he claps hold on another if that again breaks he claps hold on a third if that also breakes he still claps hold on a fourth beleeving it will hold otherwise he would never lay hold upon it yet so many having failed he cannot but feare lest that should faile him too So it is with a poor soule sin hath almost drowned him in terrour first he claps hold upon moralitie and civilitie resolving to live a sober and honest and vertuous life and thinks this will beare him well this twig breakes and will not hold when God hath a minde to work his work upon the the soule he quickly shewes the soule that this is a bruised reed and broken staffe the soule is plunged into a depth of horror and terror again well then hee claps hold of another twig and that is his duties he prayes and fasts and here he hangs this shall save me saith he this twig also breaks the Lord shews the poor wretch that all its righteousnesse is as a menstruous cloth and as filthy rags in his sight and here the soule is again plunged in feare at last God shews the soule the bough of Jesus Christs Righteousnesse the drowning sinking poor creature layes hold of this but with trembling lest this should also faile at first it feares A third cause may be in regard of the promise Faiths work is to lay hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ but now the soule doth not do this immediately but mediately Christ doth not appear and speak out of heaven to the soule and say I am thy salvation then the work of Faith would be more easie but Christ hath given the soul many both sweet and precious promises and these are the cords that the Lord Iesus Christ throwes out to the soule to pull it to the land with Now the soule takes this but with trembling untill it hath tryed the strength of them in regard it conceives the promises are lyable to many ambiguities bounded with many conditions and limitations and the soule conceives it selfe either not within the bounds of the promise or unable to fulfill the conditions of the promise or that it may make a false application of the promise And hence it is that come to a poor drooping soule that feares its condition and hath a true though a trembling hand of faith for Faith may have the palsey and urge the faithfulnesse of God in promising the surenesse of the promise once made the unchangeable nature of God they will tell you they do not a jot question this they know God is not man that he should lye nor yet as the son of man that he should repent they know that he is both faithfull and true but the promises they feare are not made to them they indeed rest upon them but whether rightly or no God knowes they conceive that either the promises were made to particular persons as to the Nation of the Jewes or they are sure to the particular number of Gods Elect of which they are none c. they will tell you that indeed the promises are true but they are conditionall and they feare that the conditions of the promise are not fulfilled in their soules so that the work lies another way not so much to perswade them of the truth of the promises in generall the cause of their trembling lies not here for feare that the promise should faile those to whom it belongs but for feare that they should misapply and misunderstand the faithfull and true promises of God And now although we must say concerning this trembling this is also our infirmity yet none can deny that it is an hereditary disease to the nature of man and will be in us more or lesse so long as any of us be in the flesh and so long as sinne remaines in our flesh and will be especially and most in those that have lien under greatest feares and terrours and are newly got out of them and begin to have a little of the light of comfort glimmer upon them even as a man that should come out of an horrid and dark dungeon where he hath been in darknesse thick darknesse into the glaring sight of the Sun in the top of the Meridian at the first will be dazeled and rub his eyes and apprehend himself in some darknesse though he be in the light He that had his eyes opened Ioh. 9. first thought he saw men like trees and this trembling may consist with true dependance Iob. 13. 15. Though he kill me yet I will trust in him the last words yet I will trust in him argued faith and a strong faith faith that he would trust a strong faith that yet hee would trust and yet whoso considereth the first words that Iob apprehended himself in a danger of killing will easily think that it was a trembling faith that Iob there acted And as it is ordinary with poor Christians through their infirmity to beleeve tremblingly in the beginning of their conversion so there is also another time when trembling doth ordinarily accompany true faith in the people of God and that is a time of desertion Secondly in time of desertion I think none will deny but Gods children have and act and must act true faith in this saving and justifying act of reliance and dependency but I am sure this they cannot doe without trembling Such was the condition of Iob in that place I before mentioned Iob 13. 15. David did rely and strongly rely in his time of desertion insomuch that in his 6. Psalm v. 8. he speakes confidently of a thing that he beleeved for as if it were already done The Lord hath heard the voyce of my weeping and yet whosoever readeth but the former part of that Psalm will finde that he was in a trembling temper His soule was sore vexed his bones were troubled he was weary with his groaning and he made his bed to swim with his teares c. Now the cause of this trembling ariseth First from the sense of the sinne The sinner saith Ah! the promises did belong to me but I have been a backslider and now what have I to doe with the promises What hath such a wretch as I to doe with these filthy unclean hands of mine to lay hold upon a clean Christ The sense of sin strikes a deep impression upon the soule and puts a shaking into the heart of
as crimson they shall be as wooll But now the Christian not clearly understanding the nature and vertue of these promises cannot make a particular application of them to its soule it stands off and cannot make a particular application Alas saith the Christian these are made upon condition of a wearinesse and an heavy load of hungring and thirsting of comming of washing and cleansing of putting away the evil of my doings of ceasing to do evil and learning to do well Hard sayings Who can heare them I cannot get my heart to hunger and thirst I cannot get my heart to be weary and heavy laden A Leopard can as well cleanse himselfe of spots and an Ethiopian as well wash away the blacknesse of his skin as I can wash my black soule c. One that hath no legs can as well walk to Rome as I can come to Christ But know Christian thy particular applying faith here is hindered by a meer misunderstanding of the promise for though those promises require conditions yet they require not conditions to he fulfilled in thy strength but those required conditions are as well parts and branches of the free covenant of Grace as those promises which thou desirest to apply therefore you shall find promises for the fulfilling those conditions in thy soul God requires a wearines of sin and a loathing of sin and a sorrow for sin as a condition Mat. 11. 29. Is 55 1 3. God promiseth to give this self abhorring frame of Spirit and to work this loathing in his peoples soules Ezek. 6 9 20 43. 36. chap. 31. Zach. 12. 10. God requires washing and cleansing as a condition Isa 1 16. â—7 18. He hath promised to work this in the soule Christ tels Peter he would do it â—oh 13. 8. And David prayes that God would do it for him Psal â—1 2. 7. which prayer was grounded upon a promise and this washing is attributed to God as the working of his spirit Isa 4. 4. v. When the Lord shall â—ave washed away the filth of the daughteâ—s of Sion and shalt have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning God requires turning and comming and learning and leaving sin as a condition but he hath promised to fulfill these Hosea 14. 8. but he hath said none can come unlesse the Father draw him Ioh. 6. 44. and the Spouse without question grounding her prayer on a promise saith draw me Cant. 1. 5. He hath required turning as a condition Ezek. 33. 11. Ier. 3. 14. but he hath promised to work this in the soule Mat. 4. 6. and upon this the Church prayes Ier. 31. 18. Turn thou me and I shall be turned So that this is a certaine rule God requires no condition of a promise which he hath not promised to fulfill in us And whatsoever spirituall action is anywhere required of us as a duty he hath somewhere promised to bestow upon us as a dispensation of free Grace Therefore I would have the soule in such a condition when it stumbles at the condition of a promise seek out those promises where God promiseth to fulfill those conditions in it and particularly apply them and rely upon God for making them good and direct its prayers accordingly So I have done with the first thing required in the Soule for the particular application of the promises viz. a cleare understanding of the promises for which I have given three Rules Now in regard that at all times there may be in a true beleeving soule a clear understanding of the promises I conclude there may be true faith in the soule that at all times cannot make a particular Application But I hasten to The second thing which is requisite in that soule that doth truly rely or that can particularly apply the promises and that is a cleare understanding of its own condition for how can I truly and particularly apply a promise to the wound of my Soule when I do not understand truly what wound my soule hath Now a true believing soule may have a very false estimate of its own condition Thus had David and Asaph and the Church they thought they were cast off Psal 43. 2. Psal 44. 9. Psal 60. 1. Psal 7â— 1. 77 7 89 38. Now if I think that a part of my body is gangrened I will never apply Physick to it because I know it is in vaine so so long as the Soule conceives that its condition is irrecoverable its sins unpardonable that applying promises to it is but applying warm clothes to a dead man it will never apply Now such a temper may be in the beleeving Soule occasioned by the violent temptations of Sathan by dark clouds of melancholy or the like it apprehends its sinns nor pardonable or at least not pardonable as yet to the soule O! sayes the soule I have sinned against the holy Ghost what good will it do to me to apply promises I am dammed It is a temptation which Sathan ordinarily first or last troubles beleeving soules with I have answered that case of Conscience particularly and therefore shall not enter into a particular discourse of it now Now till the soule be brought so farr truly to understand its own condition that its wounds are curable and to cry unto God for the healing and cure of them it cannot be expected that it should particularly apply any Promises as plâ—isters for the healing and in regard I say that there may be some misjudging of the soules true estate in a gracious soule there may also be a want of this peculiar faith It is true it is given by all sober Divines as the least degree of Faith to beleeve that my sins are pardonable and to run and fly and cry unto God for a pardon of them but yet through the distemperature of the soule even this thing that the soules sins are pardonable which is generally beleeved and is the soules foundation upon which ground it humbles it self and cries and prayes may not be beleeved by the soule that yet hath true Faith or at least beleeved very darkly and with a great deale of doubting The third and last thing which I will instance in which must be found in that soule that shall particularly apply a generall promise as its particular portion is a constant wonderfull working of the powerfull Spirit of God upon the soule For let a soule never so truly understand its own condition and never so truly understand the vertue of the promise and never so fully conceive that the promises have an adequate proportionable vertue for the healing of its particular wounds yet unlesse the spirit of God by a wonderfull powerfull worke of grace doth lay the salve upon the sore and apply the promise unto the soule it cannot be done as it is with a man that hath lost his hands or the use of them and suppose him to have a sorein his back let him never so truly understand the
hath said to Sathan after much intreaty Behold all his comfort and peace and quiet and yet that but for a moment a little moment neither is in thy power only upon himself his life and being thou shalt not put forth thy hand Thou shalt saith God if thou wilt be a combatant but he shall be the conquerour There is scarce a child of God but hath his heart full of ensigns conquered colours of his enemy hanging up there Now Christians by this you shall know whither your doubts bee such as are consistent with saving faith in your soules have not you gotten the day over some of your doubts concerning which you can say The God of peace hath already trodden Sathan under your feet and doe â—ot you fight against your present doubts with great hopes that shortly you shall tread upon the necks of these too have you not found that Sathan hath put his strongest cavalry in the front and most assaulted you in the morning of your conversion unto God have not you found that those doubts which you have since met with are fewer and weaker then those of the first sort doth not Sathan begin to draw his bow as if hee wanted strength and his arm were now grown feeble and he began to quit the field hath he not done his worst think you have not you found that the clouds that have past are vanished doe you finde your conquered enemies revive or are they not rather slain before you their not returning as it proceeds from Sathans policy that will not rally his beaten forces againe for feare of a second rout so it also proceeds from the encrease of knowledge and grace in your soules These are notes that may assure you your doubtings are not the doubtings of carnall despairing wretches their doubts return still they are at the same stumble God will not save us he cannot save us Let us doe what we will yet say they there is no hope But I hasten to a conclusion Fifthly and lastly therefore you may difference your doubtings from the doubtings of unbelieving wretches by the effects Let us see a little what the effects of doubtings are both in unbelieving wretches and also in the servants of God Quest What are the Effects of those doubtings which are in unbelieving wretches Answ A going away from God they say It is in vain to serve Lord in vaine to pray more or heare more in vaine to wait upon God This evill is of the Lord said that wretch Why should I wait for him any longer So these say our damnation is of the Lord why should we pray to him any longer Why should we mourn any more There is no hope No Come let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye Mark this in that 18th of Ier. 11. 12. And they said there is no hope What then Wee will walk after our own devises and we will every one doe the imagination of his own heart Here 's the effect that the doubting of unbelievers works in their hearts a wilfull desperate departing from God and resolving to walk contrary unto him But now on the other side Quest. What Effects doth doubting work in the the hearts of believers Ans I conceive that the doubtings of the Saints of God produce these foure or five contrary Effects in the hearts of them that feare God First A complaining unto God The believer runs to God and sayes Ah Lord I know not what to do but my eyes are towards thee Ah Lord I know not what to answer Lord doe thou answer for me I have a base heart cloudy Lord cleare it yea and he complaines of himselfe he sayes with Iob Iob 10. v. 1. I will leave my complaint upon my selfe The unbelieving wretch he complaines indeed but he leaves his complaints upon God A second Effect that the believers doubts work in his heart is a begging mercy of God Lord help saith he my eyes are to thee Lord satisfie my poore doubting soule Thus did Iob and David constantly The unbeliever never carries the burthen of his spirit to Jesus Christ that he might have ease The believer never keeps his burthen upon his own shoulders till it break his back The unbeliever sayes there is no hope his dead heart hath no principle of life in it in the world to carry it out to God but he sincks like lead in the mighty waters A third Effect that the believers doubts work in his heart is a striving and struggling against them He strives thus to make his calling and election sure he looks out for strength searches the Word of God to satisfie him in his scruples enform him in his mistakes to deliver him from his feares and comfort him in his sadnesses and dejections of spirit he enquires at the mouth of Gods Ministers he goes about the City and streets and broad places enquiring saw yee him whom my soule loveth If hee meeteth with the watch-men hee enquires of them Cant. 3. 4. He doth not look upon it as his duty to sit still as dead On the contrary the other strives not he sayes There is no help To what purpose is striving then A fourth Effect that the doubts of the believer produce is a waiting for God his sight is cloudy yet hee waits I will stay saith he and see if God will not satisfie my soule in this difficulty The other sayes as he 2 King 6. 33. This evill is of the Lord why should I wait for him any longer The Saint sayes Yes Is 8. 17. I will wait upon him that hides his face from the house of Iacob I will wait upon him that yet covereth me with a cloud and makes darknesse to be round about me hee stands at Gods doore yet crying craving waiting till the Lord comes into his soule A fifth Effect which shall be the last I will name which doubting produceth in the believing soule is a walking with God What sayes the doubting believer Well though I doe not know whither I am enough humbled yet I am weary I will goe to Christ for ease though I doe not know whither I be chosen of God or no yet I will chuse God to be my God I will not depart from him though he kills me I will walk as neare as I can according to the rule of his word though I be full of feares I will not start from his precepts though thou killest me yet I will trust in thee The wicked doth contrary as you heard before from Ier. 18. 11 18. And now Christians try your selves by this note what effects doe your doubtings work in your hearts You doubt sometimes possibly whither you belong to God or no doe you then resolve to make sure of it by a wilfull departure from God and a rebellion against God or doe you at this time complaine to God cry unto him to lift up the light of his countenance upon you strive against your doubts wait for Gods Revelations of his love and