that which he doth not feele For there be a great many mo as greatly tormented as he but he thinkes not so because he dâ—th not feele it so Thus do you deale you are greatly troubled with the weaknes of your own faith which you feele therfore according to your feeling you complaine Many deere seruants of God are greatly greeued for the weaknes of their faith that none hath so weake a faith as you haue not withstanding there be a great number besides your selfe who are as much troubled this way as you But I will take your own words You say your faith is weake Yea then you grant you haue faith And therefore say I or rather the Lord himself for your comfort you cannot possiblie perish For God so loued the world Iohn 3.16 that he gaue his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him might not perish but haue euerlasting life But your faith as you say is so weake that you cannot thinke it to be anie faith at all A weake faith is a good faith therefore make much of it and labour to strengthen it And I againe doe answer you with a better warrant than your thought that a weake faith is a faith yea a good and a sound faith The weakenes of faith doth not take away the nature and beeing of faith that because there is weaknesse in it therefore it should cease to be a faith Will you say a weake man is no man because of his weakenesse No A weake man is a man for he is a man though neuer so weake as long as there is any life and breath in him Neither doeth his weakenesse take away his goodnes for he may be a verie good man although he be verie weake So say I of your faith the weakenesse thereof takes not away the goodnes It is a good a sound and a liuely faith although it be weake I neuer yet heard of anie beleeuing man or woman Weaknesse of faith a generall complaint of all the godlie but haue complained of the weaknesse of their faith Nay for my part I haue marked it in sundrie examples that the more godly and beleeuing the more they haue complained I coulde from mine owne experience name diuerse to proue this paint and some of them well knowne vnto your selfe But I wil name some one or two out of the Scriptures and leaue the rest to your owne good consideration You reade in the Gospell of Marke the ninth chapter and foure twentieh verse of so good and faithfull a man marke 9.24 Example of a weake faith in a verie good man as you wil your selfe confesse hee had a true and sincere faith because hee saide vnto Iesus Christ Lord I beleeue Neuerthelesse this good man was sicke of your disease and felt his faith to be weake yea verie weake and therfore he intreates the Lord Iesus very earnestly yea crying out with tears saith Lord help my vnbeleef c. Again you reade in Saint Lukes Gospel the seuenteenth chapter and fift verse of the holie Apostles The Apostles weake in saith whom our Sauiour Christ had chosen to preach and by their preaching to beget faith in others yet euen these men doe in like maner find and feele great want and weaknesse in their owne faith For which cause they put vp their humble supplication vnto their Lord and master Iesus Christ that he would increase their faith So that now you see verie plainly Weakenesse and wants will waite vpon vs to our graue there is no cause why you should too much discourage your selfe with the consideration of the weakenesse of your faith Because the best and most faithfull seruants of God doe halt of this sore as well as you and shall doe as long as they liue in this world For there is no perfection of any good grace in this life 1. Cor. 13.9 We see and know in part and therefore must needes also beleeue and practise in part Perfection is no where to bee found but in heauen Weakenesse of faith a speciall meanes to humble vs. that that we may long to be there and so bee fully perfect God vseth this as a holie and good meanes rightly to humble you and many of his deare children for your good that by the true feeling of this weakenesse and many other infirmities you may see how much neede you haue to runne continually for strength and succor at the handes of your sweete Sauiour who hath throughlie supplied all your wants and who will so strengthen you that your faith though neuer so weake to your owne feeling may neuer faile you For which purpose I would haue youe to lay sure holde of these wordes full of sweete comfort deliuered vnto Peter by out Sauiour Christ for the strengthening of all the faithfull Simon Simon Luke 22.31 Sathan hath desired to winnow you as wheate All the faithfull are as deare to Christ as Peter but I haue prayed for thee that thy faith faile not Marke I pray you how Iesus Christ promiseth to pray for Peter and not for him onely but for all the faithfull For is hee onelie Peters Sauiour He prayeth for all the faithful as wel as for Peter and for you is he not also the Sauiour of all the faithfull in the world Is hee not your Sauiour as well as Peters yes truly Then he will pray for you also For so he sayth in that most sweete prayer which hee makes to his heauenly father for all the faithfull which shall beleeue in him to the worlds ende Ioh. 17.20 I pray not for these alone but for them also which shal beleeue in mee through their worde And if hee in whom onelie the father is wholie and altogither well pleased Math. 3.17 and for whose sake hee can not bee displeased with you doe praie for you shall not hee bee heard and his prayer fullie graunted Yes it can not be denied But yet you say hee speakes to Peter Christ in Petes speâ—kes to al the faithfull by name and promiseth to pray for him by name Yea and that is as much as if he should call you by your name and say that he will pray for you and for so manie as Satan hath any desire to winow But satan hath a great desire not onely to winow Peter but all the rest of the faithfull also For so are Christs words saying Sathan desires to winow not thee Sathans malice in deadly against all the faithfull but you as if hee should say his malice is not against one alone but against all Therefore as all must looke to themselues so Christ promiseth to praie for so many as are windowed and particularlie for you because you can tell that you are winnowed And whereas it pleaseth the Lord thus to winow and sift your faith you may be sure not to loose but to gaine thereby For this you know the more the good corne is fanned and winowed
worldly things but dung in comparison thereof did that word I say neuer speake peaceablie to your conscience by the holy ministerie did 〈◊〉 neuer giue you assurance and ioy in the holy Ghost did it neuer worke such sweete comfort as no worldly ioy could be like vnto it did you neuer heare such a sermon from your owne godly and carefull pasâ—or or from any other that you haue said at your comming home you would not for all the worlds good but you had heard it because it was so sweete and comfortable did you neuer speake that worde from the true feeling of the heart which might warrant your soule that you are in Christ Iesus If this worde hath had this gracious and powerfull worke in your soule as I am fully perswaded it hath Ephes 4.30 and your selfe cannot denie it for if you doe beside the great wrong you offer your own soule you trespasse against that spirit whereby you haue bene sealed vnto the day of redemption then know assuredly you are so graâ—â—ed into that body of Christ Iesus Gods loue is euerlasting and â—â—changeable as nothing shall be able to seperate you from that loue which the Lord your God beareth you in his deare Sonne in whome hee hath so loued you once Iohn 13.1 as hee must needes loue you for euer And that bicause the Euangelist saith whome hee loues he loues to the end For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance Againe Rom. 11.29 God is not as man that hee should lie Num. 23.19 neither as the sonne of man that hee should repent Hath he saide and shall he not do it and hath he spoken it and shall hee not accomplish it No be you well assured and write vpon it 1. Sam. 15.29 that the strength of Israel wil not lie nor repent For as the apostle Iames saith Iam. 1.17 with him there is no variablenesse nor shadowing by turning Let these and such like places be alwais in your remembrance and giue your selfe vnto the continuall meditation thereof For they shall stand you in great stead if you can call them to minde when your temptations shal assaile you with greatest streÌ„gth And forget not Therefore reade them often and continually that you may alwayes haue them at your fingers end often to thinke of such excellent places as that is which you find written in the eight chapter of the Epistle written to the Romanes and the sixe and thirtieth verse after this manner What shal separat vs from the loue of Christ shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or peril or sword c. No I am persuaded that neither death nor life angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Iesus Christ our Lord. And full sweet to this purpose are those words of the holie prophet Dauid Psal 34.18 19. The Lorde is neere vnto them that are of a contrite heart and will saue such as be afflicted in spirit Great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lorde deliuereth him out of them all Psal 30.5 Againe weeping may abide at euening but ioy commeth in the morning But you finde no such matter you saie for this trouble of minde hath holden you not onelie nights and daies but weekes and moneths yea and yeeres and yet you can finde no ease nor comfort Be it so yet bee not therefore out of heart for the longer it bee before you haue ease the more welcome it shal be when it commeth And to this purpose are the wordes of the Wise-man where hee saieth The hope that is deferred is the fainting of the heart but when the desire commeth it is a tree of life Lastly let the words of Eliphas the Temanite be fast bound vnto your soule which you shall find thus reported in the booke of Iob the fist chapter 17 18 19. verses Beholde blessed is the man whome God correcteth therefore refuse not thou the correction of the Almightie For hee maketh the wound and bindeth it vp hee smiteth and his handes make whole Hee shall deliuer thee in sixe troubles and in the seauenth the euill shall not touch thee The summe drift of all that which hath bin set downe from the beginning to this present place is to encourage you concerning the maner of your affliction which though it be very sharp bitter to the flesh because no chastisement for the present seemeth to be ioyous but greeuous Hebr. 12.11 A principal coâ—fort for the afflicted soule yet there is a time when it shall bring the quiet fruit of righteousnesse vnto them that are exercised thereby In regard hereof Moses the man of God saith Deut. 8.16 that the Lord humbled his owne chosen people and prooued them that hee might doe them good at their latter ende And truely in my poore iudgement you may gather more vndoubted assurance of Gods euerlasting fauour towards your soule by these inward afflictions Afflictions better tokens of Gods loue then riches and prosperitie then by any outward prosperitie of anie worldly blessing whatsoeuer whether it be of health of riches or such like And that because in these your afflictions you are most like vnto your head Christ Iesus Hebr. 1.2 who though hee were the right sonne and heire of the whole world yet had hee not a house to hide his head in Matth. 8.10 as himselfe confesseth Hebr. 2.10 But it pleased the Father seeing hee would bring manie children vnto glorie to consecrate the prince of their saluation through afflictions Now as the holy Apostle reasoneth â— Tim. 2.11 12. This is a true saying if we be dead with him we shal also liue with him If we suffer with him we shal also reigne with him To be short the Holy ghost saith Act. 14.22 That we must by many afflictions enter into the kingdome of God And once againe Rom. 8.28 Those whom he knew before hee also predestinated to be made like to the Image of his Sonne that he might be the first-borne among many brethren So that you may wel perceiue you are not thus farre forth any whit out of your way but you keepe the rode Afflictions the highway to heauen euen the good way which leaveth you as streight as a line vnto the kingdome of heauen And therefore as no traueller who keepes his right way and knowes it wil be sory but very glad because he trusteth to come to that place where his desire is to abide so no more cause haue you to be grieued but rather to reioyce because you know you walke in the streight path which shal bring you to that place of your abode where you would so faine be and where you shal abide most blessed and happie for euer Thus much haue I thought good to offer
vnto your godlie meditations to encorage you concerning the maner of your afflictions The Lord grant you a rich portion of his spirite that your soule may reape a gratious blessing Now you shall further vnderstand in few wordes what shall be the substance of all the matter which foloweth in the remainder of this poore treatise The substance of the whole Treatise folloâ—ing I purpose so neere as I can to gather together those obiections which you and others doe obiect against your selues and so farre as the Lord shall affoord me his grace I entend in order to answer them The first and principall obicetion so far as I can conceiue learne by conference with you The first obiection and answere and with so many as I haue any acquaintance is this The troubled minde doubts of Gods fauour That you doubt much of Gods fauour towards you that you feare it greatly you are not the child of God and if you be yet can not you be thereof certainely perswaded This obiection hath aireadie beene answered in part not withstanding because it is as the foundation of al the other obiections I will in hope of Gods gracious assistance indeuor my selfe to answere it more fully for your better contentmeÌ„t First therfore I would gladly learne this one thing of you or of anie other who is your partner in these temptations who it is that beareth you so greatly in hand A needefull point therefore marke it well you are not the child of God If you answer your conscience through the greatnesse of your sinne doth tel you so then do I againe demaund of you who it is that sets your conscience a worke to vrge this point to what end Harken to Gods 〈◊〉 for he seckes 〈◊〉 God If it be Gods spirit you may be right glad because then it is for your good namely the you may go out of your selfe secke the forgiuenesse of your sinnes and euerlasting saluation in Christ his death and obedience to the full assurance of Gods fauor and the euerlasting peace of your conscience Hearken not to sathan for he hath vowed your destruction But speake the truth is it not rather a strong temptation of Sathan your deadly enemie to trouble the peace of your conscience and if it be possible to driue you to desperation If it be so as I feare it greatly then say I vnto you there is no cause why you should beleeue him First because he is a lyer Ioh. 8.44 Secondly because he is your enemie who meanes you no good at al. That he is a lyar it is manifest because he hath beene so from the beginning And he cannot nowe chaunge his nature It is as much against his nature to speake the truth as it is possible that God should lie Heb. 6.18 Rom. 3.4 who is onely euer true Therefore there is no cause why you shoulde beleeue such a common liar as the Deuill who will lie as fast as a dogge can trot as wee vse to say in our common speach You haue iust cause therefore to except against him in this respect Againe you neede not doubt that hee is your enemy Reuel 12.10 1. Pet. 5.8 and that to the death because hee is the common accuser of the bretheren and like a roaring Lion goeth about continually seeking whom he may deuoure In regard whereof you are not to hearken to him No credit to bee giuen to the deuil though he speak the truth bicause his meaning is badde or beleeue anie thing he shall saie vnto you no although he speake the trueth And my reason is because he will not tell you the trueth to helpe but to hinder you not to cheere but to choake you not to saue but to spill your bloud And whereas you will replie you cannot denie but hee saieth the trueth concerning the greatnesse of your sinnes and that iust condemnation which you haue deserued for them I answere thereto after this manner That you are not to take the knowledge of your sinnes from Sathan because he will not tell you the trueth and the whole trueth as it is in deede Marke thed euils cunning For either he will pare your sins and make them lesse theÌ„ they be to make you altogether carelesse or else hee will make them greater then they be to throw you headlong into despaire But you are to take the persit knowledge of your sins The holy vse of the Ministerie from the true vnderstanding of the Lawe of God Rom. 7.7 fast girded to your conscience by the holie ministerie which GOD hath ordained for this purpose Regard and reâ—erence the ministerie if you loue your soule that you maie thereby come to true and vnfained repentaunce of all your sinnes and bee saued through faith in Christ his blood For the blood of Christ doth clense you from all sinne 1. Iohn 1.7 And if you will yet reason against your selfe that your sinnes are so great that you can gather no assurance of Gods fauour towards you Examples of notorious sinners who repented and were pardoâ—ed then let mee offer to your coÌ„sideration some one or two examples of such notorious knowne sinners as the world cried shame of and yet repenting had their sinnes forgiuen them I meane of set purpose to make choise of those persons and people who in the scriptures are noted to be most infamous Because you and such as are so exercised as you are doe indeed charge your selues further than you ought No easie matter to comfort a troubled mind For you make your selues so bad as though none were to be compared vnto you or as though God had no mercie in store for you And hereupon it comes to passe that almost there is not any word of God which can bring peace vnto your troubled consciences I intend therefore to match you so and with such as you shall be forced to confesse you are outmatched The end shal be this to bring glad tidings to your heauie and sorrowful soule that God both is and will be more fauourable to you then you can as yet be persuaded For if God haue shewed mercie to those Reasons to persuade the afflicted who by reason of their knowne sins were in all mens iudgement further from mercie how can he denie you mercie The Lord persuade your heart who neuer brake into that outrage of sin and yet doe most humblie sue vnto him for mercie That good master who forgaue his bad seruant at his owne intreatte ten thousand talents would not haue beene hard vnto him who ought but a hundred pence if he had sued vnto him as he did to his cruell and vnmercifull fellowe seruant who by no meanes would bee entreated to shewe that fauour in a little debt which was shewed him in a verie great summe Remember I pray you that you haue to deale with a God who is farre more mercifull and therefore you
the cleaner it is and the oftner golde is put into the fining-pat the more pure and excellent it is To this end therefore are you fined after this manner that the triall of your faith being much more precious then golde that perisheth 1. Pet. 1.7 though it bee tried with fire might bee found vnto your praise and honour and glorie at the appearing of Iesus Christ Now I come to answere a fourth obiection of yours The fourth obiection and answere concerning praier That you cannot pray What can you not pray at all can yee neuer pray Yes you thanke God for his mercie you can pray sometimes but neither so often nor so zealously as you desire and as your neede enforceth you Sometimes you pray Cold praier better then no praier but verie coldlie and with verie little or no feeling Sometime you pray more earnestly and for all that you find small comfort And sometimes though you doe what you can you can not praie for your life This is as I knowe by some wofull experience a verie iust and true complaint yet I remember when I demanded whether you could praie at anie time you could not denie but you could pray sometime and I am persuaded with good feeling and sweete comfort to your soule Whereupon I proue once againe to your conscience that you haue a true faith vnto saluation because prayer is an vndoubted and plaine fruit of a liuely faith Rom. 1â— 13. accompanied with euerlasting saluation for whosoeuer calleth vpon the name of the Lord shal be saued Praier is not a common gift Prayer no common but a speciall gist giuen to the elect common to all but a speciall gift proper onlie to the elect as faith and repentance The Apostle saieth All men haue not faith 2. Thessalon 3.2 so say I all men haue not the gift to pray A wicked man can not pray because he can not beleeue for praier is a most excellent fruit of faith The vngodly haue not this gift in truth or in any good measure howsoeuer they haue many other excellent gifts of wisdome councell learning yet they want this which the Prophet doth plainly auouch saying of them that they call not vpon God as though he should say they do many other things but they doe not this and no maruell for indeede they cannot because they want that spirite which should teach them to pray for the spirit helpeth our infirmities and praieth in vs yea this same spirite of sanctification which hath wrought a gracious measure of Faith and Repentaunce in your heart hath taught you also to pray and to take so great delight therein that you are glad when you can pray your selfe or can be partaker with others when they pray But you say sometimes you cannot pray at all Praier is not a common gift and therefore you doubt your selfe very much The godly cannot alwayes pray as they would If you could pray when you would and as you would beare with my plainnesse for I speake from the feeling of mine owne heart you would be proude you would thinke it were but a gift of nature in your owne power and no gift of God so should God loose his glorie so should you soone forget the right vse of a notable blessing and forget also to be thankfull Nowe you haue it but seldome or not so often as you would your selfe you knowe from whome you receiue it and when you haue it you vse it with more reuerence and make more account of it you take more ioy in it and when you want it you groane to God for it the more earnestly It is verie needefull and much for your profit The want of many blessings and graces is very needefull and profitable that the Lord would excuse the best of his seruants with the want of manie blessings and graces both for their bodies and soules 1 To be sicke It is good some times to be sicke that we may knowe how good a thing it is to enioy the benefit of health 2 Hungerbitten It is good sometimes to be hungerbitten that our meate may be the more sauourie that we may be the more thankfull for our foode that we may receiue and vse it more reuerently and the more willingly releeue such as stand in neede It is good for vs some nights to be abridged of our naturall sleepe 3 To want sleepe that we may know thereby Psal 127.2 that it is the Lord who giues rest vnto his beloued It is verie meete we should sometimes be troubled in conscience 4 To haue a troubled concience Peace of conscience a pretious blessing that we may knowe how precious a blessing that is aboue all others to enioy the peace of conscience and to labour aboue all things to attaine to it and to maintaine the same It is good for vs sometimes to be cleane to seeke hawe to praie that when we can praie we may be the more humble reuerent and thankful But if you like to stand vpon this point to vrge the same against your selfe I will as in the sight of God to his glorie and mine owne shame confesse the truth vnto you as it is with me in this thing I haue more cause a thousand fold to doubt my selfe herein then you haue by reason of the great calling which the Lord hath layed vpon me being a minister and teacher of the word Therefore the Lord be mercifull vnto me a wretched sinner For my wicked euill heart is so narow and baren in prayer that many times I cannot pray at all And this fals out not onelie in my priuate meditations betweene God and mine owne soule but in my dailie prayers with my houshold wherein I haue beene forced for the most part to vse This hath beene in former time now through Gods grace it is otherwise yet perfourmed in great weakenesse and with many wants besides some speciall exercise an other way sufficient to abate the pride of my heart and to keepe me vnder and that almost word for word a short prayer which I haue set downe in a short Cathechisme for the helpe and furtherance of such as are vnder my charge And if vpon some speciall occasion offered I indeuour my selfe to pray otherwise it is such poore drie naked and sillie stuffe both for words and matter that after I haue prayed I am a great while maruelously tormented in conscience And I should be vtterly ashamed that you or any other should come within the hearing of my babling praiers And assuredlie were it not that I felt some more gracious assistance from the Lord in those prayers which are offered vp in my publike ministerie I could haue small assurance of Gods louing fauour towardes mee This I confesse according to the truth that you may know you are no more alone in this point than in the former and to intreate you to pray for me following the good aduise
of the holie apostle Saint Iames who counselleth vs Iames 5.16 to confesse our sinnes one to an other and to pray for one an other But alas say you how should I pray for you True praier is not a set order of fine wordes when I can not pray for my selfe If you cannot pray in set wordes and in fine order can you not therefore pray at all can you not sigh and groane inwardly in the true feeling of your soul as one that is so greatly oppressed with griefe that he hath not a tongue to vtter that which he hath within his minde If you can sigh and grone after this maner be of good comfort For you haue learned long since from some of your faithful teachers who haue many times soundlie taught this point from the word of God and that of purpose for the relief of weake consciences that you pray verie effectuallie Your sighes are prayers which the spirite from whom they proceed vnderstandeth right well yea although there is not so much as anie one worde vttered to expresse them Wordes are for our vnderstanding that we may thereby knowe one anothers meaning But the hoke spirite which is our comfortable schoolemaister and searcheth the deepe things of God knowes our meaning and thoughts before we speake yea although we speake not at all For as the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 139.2 He knowes our thoughts long before And the Apostle saith the spirite helpeth our infirmities for we knowe not what to pray as wee ought but the spirite it selfe maketh request for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed These sighes breaking out violentlie from the consciences of the godlie The sighes of the Godlie are acceptable prayers are prayers and loude cryes acceptable tâ— the Lord and pearcing deepelie into his eares as appeares in Exodus 14.15 Where the Lorde demaundeth of Moses why hee cryed so vnto him whereas the wordes of the Text make no mention of anie one worde hee spake or vttered I pray you tell mee this one thing A similie if the childe of your owne bodie whom you loue dearelie and which is vnto you as your owne soule shall be sicke and being full of paine shall moane him selfe vnto you tell you howe sicke hee is where his paine doth holde him and shall entreate you euen as you loue him to doe what you can to ease him will you not doe it both willinglie and readilie yea will you not doe whatsoeuer you are able euerie kinde of way for the ease of your deare dearling But if his paine shall encrease and grewe so great that it takes awaie his speech so as bee is not able to speake a worde but to fetch deepe sighes and to moane himselfe vnto you by most greeuous groanes will not these groanes pearce your heart more deepelie and cause the bowels of compassion to yerne in you more stronglie to straine your selfe euen to the vttermost of all your power to affoorde him as much comfort as is possible both by your selfe by others shall the groning of your child worke great pitie in you and shall not the the mightie groanes of your poore sicke soul moue the Lord your God to greater compassion The Lord exceedeth al men in goodnesse and compassion and therefore will heare and helpe you readily If in such a case you will be so readie to heare and helpe know you for certentie the Lord will be more readie to heare and helpe whensoeuer you shall in the anguish of your soule groane vnto him For looke how farre he exceeds you and all other in goodnesse so farre also doth he exceede you and all other in mercie and compassion Beside all this there is no sacrifice more acceptable in the sight of God then the sighes and groanes of a troubled minde Psalm 51.17 The sighes of the spirit aâ—e to be regarded For so saith the Prophet The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit a contrite and broken heart O God thou wilt not despise Therefore make as good account of the groanes and sighes of the spirit as of any prayer you can make euen in the best words you can deuise And for a farewell of this matter remember that the godlie and good king Ezekias Ezekias could not pray but chatter could not in smooth and fine wordes poure out his prayers before the Lord in his great sicknesse but chatter like a swallow or a â—rane as hee confesseth of himselfe Esa 38.14 Consider also that the poore Publican being ashamed of himselfe The Publican prayed feruently but saide little by reason of his sinnes and feareing to lift his eies toward heauen could not deliuer his minde at large in fit and choise words but with much paine Lu. 18.9 10 c. at the last he breakes forth after this manner O God be mercifull to me a sinner Neuerthelesse our Sauiour Christ giueth sentence on his side that he went home more iustified then the proud Pharisie who had both words and winde at will Your fist obiection doth thus offer it selfe That you cannot leaue sinne The fist obiection and answere of leauing sinne And that which doth more trouble you you cannot leaue those sinnes which you haue vowed to leaue but you fall againe into them First you reason thus against your selfe that you can not leaue sinne No maruell Sinne cleapes too fast to our nature to part with it in haâ—â—e for although you be one of Godes saintes and haue receiued the spirit of sanctification in measure to fight the Lords battels against sinne and hell yet are you no Angell in this world so as you can altogether ceasse to sinne because you carrie and shall carrie vnto your graue a bodie and soule subiect to sinne Therfore you must fight this battel euen so long as you haue breath and life This enemie of yours is so strong No perfect conquest ouer sinne vntill death that he will neuer be fullie ouercome vntill you haue ouermastred him by death And then you shall haue a full and perfect conquest ouer him and all your enemies In the meane time plucke vp a good heart gird you fast with all your Christian armour Christian coâ—â—age and armor put on your complete harnesse and euerie part thereof as you finde it set down in the sirâ— chap. of the Epistle written to the Ephesians Ephe. 6.13 14 c. take your weapon in one hand I meane the sworde of the spirite and your buckler in the other that is to say the shield of faith Lay about you lustily with all the strength and cunning you haue Yea bee strong in the Lord and in the power of his might And fear not the issue Be carefull to fight Christ his â—attell and feare not the issue although you latch and catch many a sore blowe no though you be foiled and wounded because you haue a valiant captaine Christ Iesus your Samour who hath alreadie himselfe gotten
fell into the selfe same sinne vnto Abimelech the king of Gerar Genesis the twentie chapter and second verse Sarah also gaue her consent both times and was partaker of the sinne Isaac their sonne vpon the â—ke occasion so readilie coyned a lie as if his father and mother had not only by practise but by precept taught him to lie I knowe both what I say and to whom I speake for as these examples and such like may not nor ought not to make vs bolde to runne headlong or to continue with delight in anie 〈◊〉 great or small for then wâ— vnto vs so they serue to comfort vs that wee stand not ouermuch amazed at our daylie slippes in sinne Nowe followeth a sixt obiection concerning hardnesse of heart The â—ixt obiection concerning hardnes of heart That you can not profite by the worde preached and therefore thinke it were as good or better not to heare at all as to heere to no purpose and profit For hardnesse of heart which is the first branch of this obiection I answere that it is a principal part of the corruption of the old man which cleaueth fast vnto our nature and is one of our mortall enemies which will haunt vs vnto the death Hardnesse of harâ— wâ—ll hang vpon vs and haunt vsâ—o the death For our faith shall be exercised therewithal as long as we shall liue in this world Therefore our best remedie is to arme our selues with the armour of proofe before rehearsed and to buckle with this aduersarie Looke well to your atmour whose edge and courage by little and lâ—ttle shall be abated And for your encoragement this I say that flesh and bloud hath not opened your eies to see this to be a sinne neither touched your heart with a misâ—iking thereof Blesse gods narre that now you see and greeue for that sinne which in former times you neither sawâ— nor greened for for then you might long ago haue found out this and manie other sinnes when they raigned in you more strongly and caried you headsong without any resistance or misliking into much euil to commit sin with great greedines But then you could find no fault at all with your selfe nay you thought your self in as good case as was possible Your case all one with the Apostle Paul Ro. 7.9 c. Acts 26.9 And no maâ—uell because you were blinded through the dâ—rknesse of your owne vnderstanding and reason so as you could iudge no colours Now through Gods goodnesse for the welfare of your soule your eies which were blind are opened to see those things which you neuer saw before and your heart is touched with a wonderfull misliking of that which before you leued Yea indeede you must needes confes Giue God leaue and he will helpe that which you can not you see and feele your hardnesse of heart but you cannot helpe nor amend it No but the Lord both can and wil helpe to amend whatsoeuer is amisse in his time In the meane time Psal 27.14 do what you can be patient tarie the Lords leasure wait vpon him and he shall comfort thine heart Where you say A generall complaint of the best you cannot profit by the word of God preached that is also a generall complaint of all such as are most carefull to profit But your owne words do prooue against your selfe that you doe profit For if you profited not how comes it to passe that you haue found out this fault that you cannot profit It is not the manner of such as doe not receiue profit by the word preached to find fault but to please and flatter themselues most when they profite least Therefore this is a great argument and sound proofe of your profiting The complaint of not profiting is verie profitable because it mâ—kes you carefull to profite in that you can thus blame your selfe that you doe not profit And it pleaseth the Lord thus to exercise you and the rest of his beloued ones with the feeling hereof not to discourage you but that this may be as a whetstone to sharpen your stomake to heare with greater conscience and as a spurre to make you more egar vpon the word when it is preached that the oftener you heare you may desire more and more to proâ—ite by hearing But where as in the end As you loue your soule take heede of this temptatiâ— you throwe downe this logge in your owne way that it were good not to heare at all I am to giue you speciall warning as you tender the saluation of your owne soule to take heede howe you giue consent to that temptation in the least thought of your heart for it is a strong enchantment of Sathan to bewitch you withall and a choise baite to catch your soule in euerlasting destruction The deuill himselfe hateâ— pâ—eâ—ching more than holy water because it ouerthrâ— weth his â—ingdome He knowes this as well as anie man can tell him that the word preached is the onelie most principall meanes which God hath ordained to strengthen you against the whole batterie and force of al his temptations Hee knowes also that from thence you daylie gather courage against him Whether it be thus or not I appeale to your conscience And if you haue found this powerfull worke in your owne soule then so often as hee shall thrust in this temptation say vnto him auoyde Sathan Matth. 4.10 for thou labourest to murther my precious soule by withdrawing me from the meanes of my saluation But howe doth he vrge this point against you The deuils crust in reasoning and with what reasons First because you doe not feele profit presentlie Secondlie because you doe not profite so much as you should Nowe marke I beseech you the deuils craft in reasoning First you feele no profit by the word presentlie so soone as you heare it preached therefore you doe not profit at all You feele not profite presentlie therefore you shall neuer feele profite You shall see this cunning laied open to your vnderstanding in a familiar example after this manner The deuils cunning laide wide open by sensible reasons A sicke man hath Phisicke giuen him to helpe his sicknesse He is not helped presentlie so soone as hee hath taken it Therefore he shall neuer haue helpe The husbandman doth sowe his seede and casts it into the ground that it may growe and bring forth fruit But it growes not so soone as it is sowen Therefore it will not growe at anie time neither shall â—ee euer reape anie croppe of his seede Againe hee reasoneth thus against you you profit not so much as you should or not alwayes alike Therefore you profit not at all This is as if one should reason after this fashion One aâ—re of corne some yeare brings forth fiue tenne twentie or a hundred fold But it doth not so euerie yeare Therefore it brings forth nothing at all Some yeares an occupier gaynes a hundred
pound by his trade Hee gaynes not so much euery yeare Therfore he gains nothing Thus the deuil reasoneth with you therefore be your selfe iudge of his maner of reasoning and the Lord in mercie giue you wisedome in all things to take heed of his wilinesse that you be not by him anie way abused The seuenth and last obiection is The last obiection concerning euill thoughts concerning euill thoughts which arise in the minde wherewith I know some are not a little troubled for comfort of whose weake consciences which are many times ouer much greeued by the consideration thereof I answere thus from the Prophet Ieremie the seuenteenth Chapter and ninth verse Ierem. 17.9 that the heart is deceitfull and wicked aboue all things who can know it By which place if my iudgement doe not much abuse mee this one lesson may be rightlie and kindly gathered that when the best men and women haue done their best to their best power they shall neuer attaine or come to the perfect The heart is like a bottomlesse pit which can neuer be drawen drie and full knowledge of ' all the corruption and filthinesse which is there hatched and harboured because it is like vnto a bottomles pit which can neuer be drawne drie Hereupon I reason thus If we shall neuer in the whole course of our life come to the through and full knowledge of all that venemous poison which is deepe rooted in the dungeon of our vnderstanding how then shall it euer be possible for vs to attaine to the perfect reformation of so manie disorders as are there to be found Genes 6.5 Againe the Lord himselfe saith That all the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart be euill onelie euill and that continuallie If all be euill by nature before we be regenerate and borne a new by a second birth of the spirit and word and that continuallie then no maruell if some be euill and that continually after our regeneration Because wee be renewed but in part Ephes 4.24 and we haue so put on the new man which after god is created in true holinesse and righteousnesse as that we shal neuer cleane and altogether put off the old man with all his deceiueable lustes vntil we put off this flesh and that by death In this one point standeth a great part of our Christian warfare wherein we are at all seeles and seasons to stand vpon our garde This is our taske to our dying day to fight against our affections which are our deadly foes and to watch with all diligence in withstanding the euill affections and thoughts of our hearts which as Peter saith fight against our soules For these be such spitefull enemies as lodge themselues close euen in the closet of our heart 1. Pet. 2 11. they eate and drinke with vs Our vnruly and lordly lufts do yawe vs continually they sleepe and wake with vs they ride and goe with vs they goe out and in with vs to bee short when our othâ—â— enemies the worlde and the diuell doe graunt vs some time of truce their will affoord vs no peace because they sit so neare vs as that euermore they are at hand readie to assault vs Faith and praier are our best armour both before and behinde and on euerie side Therefore we are to the vttermost of our power to arme our selues strongly against them by faith by prayer and all other good and holie meanes That wee maie daylie get ground of them and through Gods grace ouermaister them in some good measure to our euerlasting comfort The rather because the wise man saieth He that is slowe to anger Prouerb 16 32. is better then a mightie man and hee that ruleth his owne minde is better than hee that winneth a citie But euen now while we are speaking of euill thoughts there comes in one A wofull complaint against euill thoughts with a most lamentable complaint saying O sir I am so troubled this way as I thinke there was neuer anie childe of God so grieuouslie troubled For I haue such wicked and blasphemous thoughts as make my flesh to tremble and all my bones to shake yea they are such as they almost driue me to dispaire when I thinke vppon them For they strike not at men but at God himselfe They exalt themselues against the persons of the Trinitie and some of them against the blessed and holie Scriptures What they bee in partieular I am ashamed to speake If you bee ashamed so much as to name them then I perceiue you take no great liking of them neither doe you meane to entertaine them And therefore I answere in fewe wordes they shall not be able to hurt you Psalme 66.28 If I regard wickednes in my heart saith the Prophet God wil not heare me He doth not say if there be any wickednesse at all in my heart or anie thought of wickednesse For who can say It is one thing to haue euil thoghts and another to like of them and delight in them my heart is cleane but if I regard wickednes that is if I delight in it or meane to nourish it within me then I am sure the Lord will not heare my prayer nor shew me any fauour But as if the Prophet should say and as I am sure you doe say that is farre from me to take delight in any such vngodlie and blasphemous thoughts yea so farre as I am not more greeued for any thing then for this that any such thought should come into my minde And therefore hee and you and you as well as he may bee vndoubtedly perswaded the Lord will neither reiect you nor your prayers which in Christ his name you shall offer vp vnto him And whereas you thinke it so strange to haue so euill thoughts to arise in your minde and that you are perswaded there are no moe so tempted beside your selfe I answere vpon mine owne knowledge you are therein greatlie deceiued There bée manie who are euen as much troubled with the same or with as euill And this I dare auouch The most godly are not free from euill thoughts that the most godlie are not free but are subiect vnto most vngodly thoughts Rom. 3.10 and psal 51.5 although they yeeld not vnto them First because they as well as others doe carrie with them a cursed corrupt nature which is the roote from whence all euill springeth Secondly because they haue such an enemie as will not spare to tempt them to the greatest euill yea to this Iob tempted to curse God not in his heart but with his mouth Iob 1.7 then the which there can be nonegreater namelie to curse God as the iust and holy man Iob was tempted But as that good man withstoode the temptation so doe they fight against euerie euill motion and are preserued Yet there is one thing more concerning euil thoughts which is that you can not be rid of them but that euer and anone they come into your minde To this I answere 1. Pet. 2 1â— that the sooner you checke them and the more strongly you resist them the sooner a great deale shall you bee rid of them First you must resist for Iam. 4.7 resist the deuil and he will flie from you And heere marke that this resistance must be by the word and by praier The ready way to be rid of euill thoughts is to resist them Secondlie you must resist egerlie and speedilie And therefore as Dauid hasted to fight against Goliah 1. Sam. 7.48 and with courage slang a stone so hard that it stacke fast in the foreheade of the vncircumcised Philistim so must you speedilie strike at euerie such thought so soone as you shall perceiue the same to put out his head and once to arise in your minde And as Iesus Christ being tempted of the diuell to fall downe and worship him Matth. 4.10 at the same instant gaue him his answere saying auoid Sathan so must you giue them a present answere and send them packing to the diuell of hell from whence they come and whither you are in all haste to returne them If when you haue vone what you can you finde your selfe too weake for them that they be too hard a great deale for you then turne your captaine Christ Iesus to them who hath so fullie conquered for you as that howsoeuer they shall assault you continuallie and manie times foile you yet shall they neuer get the full victorie ouer you but you in your captaine shal be more then a conquerour ouer them and all the rest of your deadlie enemies Rom. 8.37 for Christ was deliuered to death for our sinnes Rom. 4.25 and rose againe for our iustification To him therefore be glorie for euer and euer Amen Thus you haue the pledge of my good will towards you manie others which I haue not done to exclude ame grace or blessing of comfort which you may receiue in greater measure from your owne godly pastor most careful of your estate but that you may more highly account of so excellent graces of God in him And that what soeuer is wanting in this my poore treatise may by him bee more fullie supplied FINIS