heart hath formerly received from Gods Spirit For sanctification comes after justification and after the soule hath received faith and grace then the heart hath a new power given unto it whereby it is able to set forth it selfe into any holy action so that in this a man is a free worker whereas sorrow in preparation is a worke wrought on me and I am a patient and doe onely endure it but I have not any spirituall power to doe any thing of my selfe Now mark what I say both these are saving for rows but they differ marvelously many thinketh at every saving work is a sanctifying work w ch is false for every saving worke is not a sanctifiing worke as the Apostle saith Those whom he calleth them he also justifies and whom be justifies he glorifies Glorification implies sanctification here in part and glory for ever hereafter there is a saving worke and calling but yet not sanctifying worke for vocation is when God so farre enlightenâ— the minde as to buckle the heart and to turne it away from corruption to him and then afterwards God brings the heart to be justified and then sanctified they are first called and then justified and then glorified The difference of those 〈…〉 is thus to be conceived in this similiâ—udâ—â— as it is with the wheeles of a clocke thâ—◠〈◊〉 quiâ—e wrong what must a man doe to set this clocke â—ight againe he must 〈◊〉 stoppe it 〈…〉 no longer wrong and then turne it and set the wheeles right now all this while the clocke is a patient and the workâ—man doth all Secondly wherein is thuâ— set right then the work man puts the plunmets and weights on it and now the wheeles can runne of themselves by vertue of that poise and weight they have gotteÌ„ so that these two are plaine different actions Just so it is with the 〈◊〉 of the soule the will and the affections which are as the wheeles of this great and curâ—ous clocke for the soule goes hel-ward and sin-ward and the minde knows nothing and the will and the affections imbrace nothing but hell and sinne now to bring these into any holy order the Lord must stoppe the soule and that is done by the discovery of sinne and by this humiliation of heart when the Lord lets a man see his sinne and saith to him If thou wilt have sinne thou must have hell and all together and then the soule saith if it be so I will meddle no more with sinne the adulterer will be uncleane no more and the drunkard will bee drunke no more Now when the soule is thus turned it looketh heaven-ward and God-ward and is content Christ should rule over it All this while the soule is a meere patient this is a saving worke a worke of Gods Spirit where ever it is soundly wrought and will in the end be faith and grace But now when the soule is seâ— heaven-ward God justifies a poore sinneâ— and pluckes him to himselfe by faith and adopts him to be his child then the Lord gives him of his Spirit and this is as the weight of the soule then by the power of that spirit the soule is able to runne right hath a principle of grace in it and the poise of the spirit of grace which doth possesse the soule makes it able freely to mourne for sinne and to have the heart inlarged in the service of God this is mainely the sanctifying worke Quest. The second question is this whether doth the Lord worke this in all and whether doth he worke it in all alike or no. For I perceive the hearts of many poore Christians are gasping for this the Lord never wrought upon me in this maner and my heart was never thus battered bruised therefore how shall we know whether the Lord doth worke this in all or no and in all alike Answ. For the answere of this question I will handle three things First the worke is the same in all Secondly the maner is different in the most Thirdly many have it in them and yet perceive it not how or when it was wrought First this work of contrition of heart is wrought in every one in this worke of preparation before he is or can be planted into Christ for the truth of this and the substantiall nature of it Scripture is plaine and reason is pregnant Scriptures are many I will only name three as that in Luke our Lord Jesus Christ came to seeke and to save that which was lost We may observe two things first the qualification of that party whom Christ will seeke and save he must be a lost man in his owne apprehension secondly see the certainty of salvation of such a one Christ came for this end he came to seeke up and save that which was lost Now Christ will not misse of his end he came for the lost sheepe then the lost sheepe he will have though the lost sheepe cannot seek nor save theÌ„selves yet Christ will save them Thus you see all men must be thus disposed before they can be saved and if thus fitted and disposed they shall be certainely saved It is not enough for a man to be in a miserable estate and damnable condition but he must also see it and his heart must be truly affected with it and finde and feele the but then of it not so much for the punishment but for the sinne whereby his heart is estranged from God and also God from his soule Now that the sensiblenesse of his lost condition is there spoken of and this man that hath it shall be saved may appeare because the sensiblenesse of a mans condition in regard of the punishment of sinne is such as a man may have and yet never have grace and salvation Cain had the feeling of Gods wrath and felt the punishment of it and so did Iudas also and yet they were never sought up nor saved The second place of Scripture is out of Iohn No man commeth to me except the father draweth him by comming you must conceive beleeving as in that famous place of Iohn He that comes to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst Now this text implyes two things and they are profesly granted by the intendment of the Apostle for the people murmured why the Pharisies and the great ones beleeved not and followed not Christ to whom Christ answeres Vnlesse my father from heaven draw them they cannot come so that these two things are cleare first a man must be drawne secondly if he be drawne he shal surely come This drawing is thus much when God opens the eye of a man and makes knowne his sinne sets downe the heart in the acknowledgement of sinne so that he feeles the vilenesse and the burthen of it and is content to part with the fame When the Lord shal lay all a mans abominations upon him all his adulteries and all his thefts and
thy many distempers the longer seed time the greater harvest and so howsoever this sorrow is troublesome now it will be very comfortable in the end and though it be tedious to lay all these cursed abominations upon thy heart yet it will not be harsh when the Lord remembers you in his Kingdome it will never repent you that you have had your hearts humbled and broken when the Lord comes to heale you and it will never repent you that you have wept when the Lord comes to wipe away all teares frō your eyes Blessed are they that mourne for they shall be comforted saith our Saviour but Woe to you that are at ease in Sion there is a time of mourning for sinne you cannot have ease and quietnesse alwaies you had better now be wounded then everlastingly tormented And therefore if you desire to see the face of God with comfort and to have Christ speake for you and say come you poore heavy hearted sinners I will ease you if ever you desire this labour to lay load on your hearts with sorrow for your sinnes Oh what comfort shall ◠poore broken heart finde in that day David saith A broken and contrite heart O Lord thou wilt not despise When men goe into a farre countrey for merchandize they will not take rattles and such toies for their money but such commodities as they may get something by so when the Lord comes for broken hearts you must not thinke to put the Lord off with a little painted sorrow No no it is a broken heart that the Lord wil not despise Would you know what kinde of heart the Lord will accept and never cast off It is a broken heart tell your friends and neighbours of it me thinkes you looke as if you would finde acceptance with God and goe to heaven oh then get an humble lowly broken heart the Lord regards not all the rivers of oyle in the world not a hundred thousand fasts but it is a broken heart that God will blesse and glorifie Looke as it is with a womans conception those birthes that are hasty the children are either still borne or the woman most commonly dies so do not thou thinke to fall upon the promise presently Indeed you cannot fall upon it too soone upon good grounds but it is impossible that ever a full soule or a haughty heart should beleeve thou maiest be deceived but thou canst not be ingraftted into Christ therefore when God begins to worke never rest till you come to a full measure of this brokennesse of heart Oh follow the blow and labour to make this worke sound and good unto the bottome and then you shall be sure to receive comfort as the Prophet David saith Our eyes are up unto thee till thou have mercy on us Let your consciences be wounded throughly and kindly resolve not to heare the cursed counsell of carnall friends that say what neede you mourne O poore fooles there is not any even the civillest professor in the Kingdome but if God did discharge his sinnes to his heart as hee could doe it were enough to make him goe howling with sorrow to his grave therefore humble your selves before God and never be at rest till the Lord shew mercy to your soules never unburthen your soules before God ease you and do not breake prison For if you doe God will send after you with a witnesse No no When God hath put thee into prison breake not out til God send to deliver you and then your hearts will be filled with comfort soundly humbled soundly comforted If a man be lost Christ will seek him up and save him Quest. Now it may be some poore soule will say How shall I bring my heart to this sound worke indeed Answ. For answere to this I will shew three meanes whereby the Lord workes this sound conviction First when the Lord begins first to worke upon you and you begin to see your corruptions then possesse your soules with the apprehension of the ticklishnesse of your condition wherein you are this worke is great and marvelous inward and you may be easily deceived and the danger is great if you be deceived it is in this case with the soule as it is with a ship on the sea when the marriners passe by and see the rockes where such and such ships have beene split and the men and all lost they are very wary to steere aright and to direct their compasse aright but neare sands and rockes they will not come So it is with this humbling of the heart many have beene cozened and deceived therein therefore now hold this rule Let that soule whose eyes God hath opened and brought under his blowes let such I say rather feare he is not sound in the worke then feare that he shall not have ease for every man saith I pray you Sir comfort and refresh me and will God never give me comfort Oh now you goe wrong many perish because they goe off from this worke so soone but never did any perish because he received the worke soundly Therefore reason thus with thy owne heart and say Good Lord be merciful to me my condition is very tickle If now I be deceived thē farewell comfort Was not Cain and Iudas vexed and disquieted and yet damned This is a great point of wisedome and sinks many a Christian I know what I say as it is with child bearing a woman when her throwes come often and strong there is some hope of deliverance but when her throwes goe away commonly the child dies and her life too So it is in this great work of contrition which is nothing else but the child-birth of the soule when your throwes goe away take heed that your salvation goes not too once you could say the minister spake home to my heart I remember the time full well Why then what becomes of all your sorrow You can be as carnal as secure as ever it is certaine you are in child-bearing but your throwes have left you and your brokennesse of heart is gone and therefore you are in an ill case surely at some low ebbe of grace Againe if a mans heart be soundly broken though he fal into some sinne he may be recalled but if he have not his heart soundly broken he is undone If the foundation be naught the building must needes fall So it is in this preparation of the soule for Christ if this be naught all comes to naught therefore be so much the more fearefull of your soules because your condition is so much the more tickle in this then in any thing else and rather desire soundnesse then quietnesse Secondly when God stirres doe you stirre your hearts too be you stabbed further make the blow goe deeper therefore wheresoever any truth goeth neere thy heart and awakens thee looke up to heaven and blesse God for it and labour to drive the naile home to the head and make the salve sinke into
take shame to himselfe for his sinne his confession never comes to the bottome Secondly confession is a matter of great safety I take this to be the only cause why many a man goes troubled and gets neither comfort in the pardon of the sinne nor strength against it because he comes not off kindly in this worke of confession When you doe nakedly open your sinnes to a faithfull minister you goe out in battaile against sinne and you have a second in the field to stand by you but especially there is comfort in this particular for the minister will discover the lusts and deceits and corruptions that you could not finde out and he will lay open all those holds of Sathan and that meanes of comfort that you never knew I am able to speake it by experience this hath broke the necke of many a soule even because he would goe out in single combate against Sathan and doe what he could not revealing himselfe to others for help was overthrowne for ever As it is with the impostumed part of a mans body when a man lets out some of the corrupt matter and so skins it never healing it to the bottome at last it cankers inwardly and comes to a gangrene and the part must be cut off or else a man is in danger of his life so when you let out some corruptions by an overly confession but suffer some bosome lust to remaine still as malice or uncleannesse c. Then the soule cankers and Sathan takes possession of it and the soule is carried into fearefull abominations Many have fallen fouly and lived long in their sinnes and all because they would not confesse freely therefore as you desire to finde out the deceitfulnesse of your corruptions confesse them from the bottome of your soules Thirdly this open and free confession may maintaine the secrecy of the soule for the onlâ— way to have a mans sinnes covered is to confesse them that so they may not be brought upon the stage before all the world Object Oh saith one this is contrary to common reason we are affraid to have our sinnes knowne that is our trouble we keepe our sinnes close because we would preserve our honour Answ. I say the only way for secrecie is to reveal our sinnes to some faithfull Minister for if we confesse our sinnes God will cover them if you take shame to your selves God will honour you but if you will not confesse your sinnes God will breake open the doore of your hearts and let in the light of his truth and the convicting power of his Spirit and make it knowen to men and Angels to the shame of your persons for ever If Iudas had taken notice of his sinne and yeilded to Christs accusation and desired some conference with Christ privately and said Good Lord I am that Iudas and that hell-hound that have received mercy from thee in the outward meanes and have been entertayned among thy people yet it is I that have taken the thirtie pence Lord pardon this sinne and never let this iniquity be laid to my charge I doubt not but though Iudas his soule could not be saved because that now wee know Gods decree of him yet God would have saved him from the publike shame that was cast upon him for it but he did not doe so but hidde his malice in his heart and professed great matters of love to Christ and kissed him and thus he thought to cover his sin wisely but what became of that the Lord forced him to come and to indite himselfe in the high priests hall before the temporall and spirituall counsell So you that keepe your sinnes as sugar under your tongues and will be loose and malitious and covetous still well you will have your thirtie pence still and they are layed up safe as Achans wedge of gold was remember this God will one day open the clossets of your hearts and lay you upon your death beds and then haply yee will prove mad and vomit up all were it not better to confesse your sinnes to some faithfull minister now If you will not give the Lord his glory he will distraine for it have it from your heart blood as Iulian the apostata said when the arrow was shot into his heart he plucked it out and cried saying thou Galilean thou hast overcome me the Lord distrained for his glory and had it out of his heart blood Now I come to the second fruit of contrition which is here plainly expressed and it is this A restlesse dislike of themselves and their sinnes as if they had said Men and brethren we care not what we doe against those evils of ours whereby the Lord hath beene so much dishonoured and we indangered command us what you will we must not rest thus so loathsome are our sinnes that we will doe any thing rather then be as we are So from hence the doctrine is this The soule that is truly pierced for sinne is carried against it with a restlesse dislike and distaste of it or thus Sound contrition of heart ever brings a thorow detestation of sinne this they professedly proclaime before the Apostles As if they had said thus much in more words You say we are they that have crucified the Lord of life and we confesse it oh happy had it beene for us if we had never listened to the plots of the Scribes and Pharisies but that which is past cannot be undone or recalled What must now be done if we rest here we perish forever can nothing be done against these our sinnes that have done so much against the Lord Jesus we must loath ourselves and our sinnes and we must get out of this eâ—â—ate or else we are undone for ever Now for the further opening of this point I will discover these three things First I will shew what a distaste and dislike this is Secondly wherein this hatred and dislike of sinne consists Thirdly I will shew the reason why it must be so For the first namely what dislike this is for the clearing of which you must looke backe to that which I spake before of godly sorrow For of the very same stampe and nature is this dislike and hatred of sinne and it is thus much in effect First there is a hatred in preparation and secondly a hatred in â—sanctification both are saving workes but both are not sanctifying workes vocation is a saving worke but not a sanctifying worke they are two distinct workes This hatred in preparation is that which the Lord workes upon the soule and smites upon the soule and thereby puts this kinde of turning into the heart not that the heart hath any powerfull inward principle of grace before for this is the first that the Lord workes so that as before the soule was forced to see sinne and to feel the burthen of it so the heart is now brought to dislike sinne this is a worke wrought upon the soule rather then any
79.26.187 83.2.18 103.3.6 119.36.13 59.83 Pro. 8.19.24 Esay 5.19.49 7.18.5 17.11.29 Ier. 4.3.162 15.42 8.6.12 31.29.12 Lam. 3.19.82 20. ib. Eze. 16.16.223 30.31.244 Ezek. 36.31.11 Dan. 12.4.83 Hos. 2.2.65 15.211 3.3.175 Zac. 11.10.13 Mal. 3.45.22 Mat. 7. last 62 12 37◠43 21.45.66 27.4.240 46.57 Luke 3.11.64 12. ib. 19.10.58 23.40.222 29.42.36 Ioh. 6.44.171 Acts 3.17.38 Acts 4.22.69 5.3.235 16.30.180 Ro. 7.7.38 8.15.138 2. Co. 3.2.62 Eph. 3.19.215 20. ib. 1. Th 5.8.213 2. Ti. 1.17.138 3.14.84 4.1.72 Tit. 1.13.72 Heb. 6.19.212 2. Pet. 2.8.82 Re. 22.17.173 CHristian Reader thou hast here some sermons brought to light which by reason of the Authors absence are presented to thy view both with some lesser escapes and in more homely termes then his judicious eye would have suffered The principall faults I have here corrected those which are smaller may in the reading be easily discerned Page 30. for many read may p. 51. f. the r. they p. 63. f. sorces forces p. 78. f. carelesse carelessenesse p. 89 f. slave salve and line 32. insert is p. 94. ◠cup. p. 98. f. wherfore whereof p. 173. f. brad bad p. 142. and so in other places for happily perhaps p. 149. f. it him p. 67. f. fece fence p. 275. f. pulked plucked p. 56. blot out not p. 119. blot out this and that p. 143. blot otu the. p. 149. blot out and so forth p. 153. blot out for it is so in the second place p. 155. blot out which p. 160. blot out how I dispute p. 141. blot out in the second place p. 112. l. 11. blot out those evils and. THE SOVLES PREPARATION FOR CHRIST ACTS 2.37 Now when they heard this they were pricked in their hearts and said to Peter and the other Apostles Men and brethren what shall wee doe to bee saved IN this great worke of preparation for Christ Observe two things First the dispensation of the worke of Grace on Gods part he pulls a sinner from sinne to himselfe Secondly the frame and temper of spirit that God workes in the hearts of those that he doth draw and that makes its selfe knowne in two particulars partly in Contrition partly in humiliation For our better proceeding in the prosecution of these two maine points I shall handle them severally and at large And first we will sift out what this Contrition and humiliation is that we may not deceive our selves and thinke we have them when it is nothing so This Contrition as I conceive is nothing else but namely when a sinner by the sight of sinne and vilenesse of it and the punishment due to the same is made sensible of sinne and is made to hate it and hath his heart separated from the same and the sight of sin makes it selfe knowne in three particulars First when the soule is sensible of sinne Secondly when it hath a hearty and sound sorrow for the same and an earnest detestation of it Thirdly when he hath his heart separated from his corruptions All these are not wrought so much by any power that is in us as by the Almighty power of God working in us for the sinner would not see his sin but the Lord forceth him as the holy Prophet saith Thou holdest my eyes waking I am so troubled that I cannot speake the Lord holds sinne to a carnall sinfull wretch so that his sinne walkes and sleepeth and goeth with him nay the soule of a poore sinner would beat backe the blow and would not have the word to touch him he labours to shift off the arrowes of the Almighty which the Lord shooteth into the soule but the Lord will not suffer him so to doe Thy arrowes sticke fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore Psalm 38.2 As if the Prophet had said I would faine have beate backe thine arrowes but they sticke fast in me and I would have shaken off the burden that lay upon me but thine hand presseth me sore so then at last when the sinner sees hee cannot shake off the arrowes then he is content to bee separate from his corruptions This is in generall in the text wherin you shall plainly see these three particulars fully expressed First the sight of sinne by the hearing of Peters words and it was not by the bare hearing of his words onely but when Peter came somewhat roundly home to them and said This is Christ Iesus whom ye have crucified then followes the former worke namely the acknowledgement of their sinnes and the first cause that made them see their sinne was a particular application of their sinnes hee came punctually and particularly to them and said you are they that have crucified the Lord Christ this touched them and made them see their sinnes Secondly the daily and serious meditation and apprehension of their sinnes and of those truths which were delivered in the word hearing that is daily pondering and considering of the evills that were committed by them and shewed to them Thirdly they were pricked they did not pricke themselves but the Lord followed that truth that was delivered and by his Almighty hand did make that word prosperous to their soules and though they would not pierce themselves yet the Lord pierced them The second part of it is in these words They were pricked in their hearts not in their hands or eyes but in their hearts The third part is the separation from sin in these words Men and brethren what shall we doe Whatsoever you would have us to doe we will doe it and whatsoever sinne is forbidden wee are content to be rid of it nay nothing was too hard or too much for them Give mee leave to take a doctrine by the way from the words they when they heard this who were these they see this in the 36. verse them that had crucified the Lord of life What will some say is it possible that ever they should be so pierced frō their sinnes it was said of Iudas that betrayed Christ it had been good for that man that he had not beene borne What shall we thinke of those that murther Christ. If Iudas was damned for betraying of Christ then much more they for killing of him Is it possible the Lord should doe good unto them yes even they came to be pricked in their hearts From these words this doctrine ariseth It is possible for the most stubborne sinners upon earth to get a broken heart They that stoned the Prophets and killed them that were sent unto them and sleighted all the meanes of grace they that refused Christ and would not heare him they are now brought upon their knees and are resolved now if any course might bee taken to get Christ and mercy Titus 12.13 one of their owne Prophets said the Cretians are alwayes lyers evill beasts and slow bellies a man would thinke it a vaine thing to medle with them they are such desperate wretches but the text saith Reprove them sharply that they may be sound in the faith so
all these rebellions of my heart should be pardoned and all this loosenes and security should be cast behind the backe of the Lord I say it cannot be It is possible onely labour thou that it may be and that thou maiest not be puffed up with presumption consider these three Cautions in thy seeking The first caution is First consider in thy seeking a little mercy will not serve the turne thou that hast been an old weather-beaten sinner and hast wallowed in thy filthinesse when thou goest to God for grace consider it is not a little grace or a small worke that will doe the deed it is not a few spoonfulls or buckets-full that will cleanse a fouleskinne so if thou hast had a filthy prophan heart which hath been a through-fare to all wickednesse and thou hast thus given thy selfe liberty thereunto and hast continued therein there must be a well of mercy to purge such a miserable wretch as thou art When David had committed those two sins of adultery murther had continued in them long he was forced to beg for much mercy and to say purge me wash me cleanse me O Lord these staines are marvelous deepe therefore purge me with hisope nay he had never done with it because his sinnes were more then ordinary So it will cost a great deale of worke before a loose prophane drunkard can be made cleane Secondly thou must expect it with much difficulty and hardnesse in thy selfe thou that hast beene rivetted in thy base luâ—ts and corruptions the Lord will make all cracke before thou shalt finde mercy thou that hast out-braved heaven with thy prophanesse the Lord will make thee a mirrour of humiliation as heretofore thou hast beene a spectacle of filthinesse A man that hath had a bone long out of joynt it is now festred it will make him cry many an oh before it be brought into his right place againe So it is with a man whose heart is full of filthines it will cost him much paines and difficulty and heart-smart before the Lord will bring the soule to a right set againe Manasses humbled himselfe mightily before the Lord because he had bin a mighty proud rebellious man the Lord made his humiliation as miraculous as his sinnes had beene and so David when he had given his sinnes ease in bedding with them the Lord brake all his bones and did awaken him with a witnesse Lastly you must resolve to bestow the utmost of your endeavour to get this mercy at the hands of the Lord It is not a dipping of a foule cloth in water will cleanse it but it must be soaked and rinced in it so you must not thinke to have the foule staines of sinne washed away with a few teares No no you must rub your hearts over over and awake your consciences againe and againe it is not a little examination nor a little sorrow will serve the turne the Lord will pull downe those proud hearts of yours and it may be let you goe a begging for mercy all your dayes and well you may have it at your last gasp when all is done The maine point in hand is this It is for the first part of contrition for the sight of sinne This hearing is not barely the sound of a mans words but the sense and meaning of the words by which the mind is inlightned and he begins seriously to ponder the nature of his sinnes that were so layed open unto him thus hearing they came to be pierced The first doctrine is this There must be a true sight of sinne before the soule can be broken for the text saith They did first heare and then apprehend the evill that was done by them thus they were brought to a saving remorse for their sinnes Ezek 36.31 the text saith Then shall you remeÌ„ber your owne evill waies your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves for your abominations First they shall remeÌ„ber their works and then loath themselves it is the course that Ephraim takes in Ieremiah After that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh and after I was turned I repented I was ashamed and confounded because I did beare the reproach of my youth And it is Gods Course which he takes with his as in Iob. When the Lord had once gotten his people into fetters he shewed them their Wickednesse and makes their eares open to discipline And in another place the Prophet shewed the ground reason why the people repented not they understood not the grouÌ„d and reason of their sinne For no man saith What have I done As a horse rusheth into the battaile and feareth nothing so a wicked man continues in a sinfull course never considering what he hath done the drunkard doth not say How have I abused Gods creatures and the despiser of Gods ordinances doth not say How have I rejected the Lord Jesus Christ And therefore no wonder though he be not affected with that he doth Now for the better clearing of this doctrine I will handle these three things First I will shew what this true sight of sinne is Secondly I will shew the reason why there must be a true sight of sinne before the soule can be broken for it thirdly I will make use of the point First it is not every sight of sinne will serve the turne nor every apprehension of a mans vilenesse but it must have these two properties in it First he must see sinne clearely Secondly convictingly First he that will see sinne clearly must see it truly and fully be able to fadome the compasse of his corruptions and to dive into the depth of the wretchednesse of his vile heart otherwise it will befall a mans sinne as it doth the wound of a mans body when a man lookes into the wound overly and doth not search it to the bottome it begins to fester and rancle and so in the end he is slaine by it so it is with most sinners we carry all away with this We are sinners and such ordinary confessions but we never see the depth of the wound of sinne and so are slaine by our sinnes it is not a generall slight confused sight of sinne that will serve the turne it is not enough to say It is my infirmity and I cannot amend it and we are all sinners and so forth No this is the ground why we mistake our evils and reforme not our waies because we have a slight and an overly sight of sinne a man must prove his wayes as the goldsmith doth his gold in the fire a man must search narrowly and have much light to see what the vilenesse of his owne heart is and to see what his sinnes are that doe procure the wrath of God against him as the prophet David saith I considered my waies and turned my feet into thy testimonies the phrase in the originall is thus much I turned my sinnes upside
First the ground on which our meditation must be raised Secondly the maner how to follow it home to the heart Thirdly how to put life and power to it that it may prevaile and worke that end in our soules which we would have it First concerning the former we must consider the grounds whereupon meditation must be raised and them I referre to these foure heads First labour to see the mercy goodnesse and patience of God that have beene abused and despised by that unkinde dealing of ours and that marvelous carelesnesse those duties God hath required of us the height of Gods goodnesse to us lays out the height of all our iniquities coÌ„mitted The greater the kindnesse and mercy of God is the greater are our sinnes that esteeme not of this mercy but abuse it and despise it This adds to our rebellions this makes our sinnes out of measure sinfull because God hath beene out of measure mercifull There are many sinnes in one when a man sinneth against many mercies and walkes not worthy of them we may observe that this is the course that God takes to breake the hearts of the Israelites when they had neglected his wayes and broken his commandements what was his message when the Lord humbled the people and brake them kindly The Lord by the Angell thus speakes I made you to goe out of Aegypt and brought you to the land which I sware to your fathers and I said I would never breake my covenant with you and ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of the land But ye have not obeyed my voice why have you done this worke Now the Lord presseth this his kindnesse upon them and labours to melt their hearts in the apprehension of his goodnesse to them and their unthankefulnesse to him in the eight verse the text saith When they heard this the people lift up their voice and wept The consideration of Gods kindnesse to them and their unkindnes to God He did all for them and they did all against him the Lord was gratious to them for their comfort but they did not walke worthy of it Why have you done this saith the Lord Why was my mercy despised Why was my goodnesse slighted Why was my patience and long suffering abused When they heard this they wept in the consideration of their unnaturall dealing Nay this is the thing remarkeable in Moses he stabs the heart and workes effectually upon the Israelites by this meanes Doe you thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Is not he thy father that hath bought thee Hath not he made thee and established thee and will you thus reward the Lord Thus carelesly and thus proud and disobedient Why Remember saith he the dayes of old and then he reckons upon Gods gratious dealing with them I applie this in particular there is never a soule here present there is never a man in the basest estate and lowest condition but hath had experience of Gods goodnesse and mavelous loving kindnesse this way Were you ever in want but God supplied you were you ever in weakenesse but God strengthened you in sicknesse who cured you in misery who succoured you in povertie who relieved you hath not God been a gratious God unto you every poore soule can say never a poore sinner hath had a more gratious God then my soule all my bones can say Lord who is like unto thee this heart hath been heavy and thou hast cheared it this soule hath beene heavy and thou hast relieved it many troubles have befallen me and thou hast given a gratious issue out of them all And shall I thus reward the Lord shall I sin against his goodnesse and this kindnesse Then what shall I say heare O heaven and harken O earth the Oxe knoweth his owner and the Asse his masters crib and Israel knoweth not Gods kindnesse nor acknowledgeth his goodnesse towards them the consideration hereof one would thinke should break the hardest heart under heaven if men be but ingenious men if they have received any great kindnes from a friend they were never in want but he relieved them he tooke theÌ„ into his house and they might freely goe to his purse or any thing he had If a man should deale thus kindly with another and this man should deny him an ordinary favour he will be ashamed to come into his presence he will say his house was mine and his purse was mine and to deale thus unkindly nature would have taught me otherwise what are your hearts to God that hath been gratious to us all he hath created us doth preserve and keepe and afford many blessings unto us he gives us our houses that cover us it is God that affords us all this and shall we sinne against such mercy therefore goe to the beasts of the field and they will tell you and to the birds of the ayre and they will discover unto you Gods mercy goe to your beds and tables who gives these and continues these doth not the Lord yet sinne against this God O foolish people and unwise all love on Gods part and all negligence on ours God exceeds in goodnesse towards us we doe exceed in unkindnesse and unthankfulnes towards him this is the first ground upon which meditation must be raised The second ground secondly if it be so that mercy will not prevaile with you if you have no good nature in you then secondly consider that this is a just God that hath beene provoked by your sinnes if mercy cannot prevaile with you you shall have Iustice enough and that without mercy you must not thinke to slight Gods mercy and carry it away in that fashioÌ„ But God is a just God as he is a gratious God he will be revenged of you If there be any stubborne heart shall say God is mercifull and what then therefore we may live as we list and be as carelesse as we please Take heed that just law that hath been condemned and those righteous statutes that hath beene broken and God hath beene provoked by you will be revenged of you did ever any provoke the Lord and prosper and shall you beginne first thinke you where is Nyâ—rod and Nebuchadnezer and Pharoah and Herod and those proud persons that set their mouths against God and their hearts against heaven they that provoked the Lord what is now become of them they are now in the lowermost pit of hell God sent Pharoah into the red sea and for ought we know his soule may now be roaring in hell this is certaine that whosoever resisteth him shall find him a swift Judge to condemne him The Apostle saith Hebr. 12. and last our God is a consuming fire and in Deut. 22. and 32. If my fire be kindled it shall burne to the bottome of hell That Iustice of God will not be appeased without satisfaction that Justice is wise and connot be deceived that Justice is powrefull and cannot be resisted and not only
you then away to the Lord Jesus Christ and let this meditation of a mans corruptions be as a Bridge to carry him to Christ that so he may have salvation which is promised through him and shall be bestowed upon all broken harted sinners and marke what I say that soule that will not seeke out to Christ and will not be beholding to Christ for what he needâ— that soule wants brokennesse of heart What ever he be that will not seeke out to Christ and goe out of himselfe to another wants brokennes and this stubbornnesse of his that he will not goe to Christ ariseth from some of these three grounds First the soule will not goe out it is because the heart thinkes and presumes it hath no neede of Christ and therefore will not goe but we will not medle with that for that is proper to carnall men Secondly if the soule will not seeke out to Christ for helpe and comfort it is because the heart is not content in good earnest to be ruled by Christ that Christ should come and take possession of the soule and doe all therefore if the heart cling to corruption it is content that Christ should ease it but not that Christ should sanctifie it and remove that corruption that hath prevailed over it and therefore when a man is under the sight of sinne he would faine have God shew mercy unto him and yet he will not pray nor read nor use the meanes but dwels upon the meditation of his sinnes and neglects many ordinances of God whereby it may receive comfort this man would have a Christ to quiet him but not to rule him and take possession of him and this is the reason why in these cases the soule is never commonly kindly striken these would faine have quiet and comfort â—â—d yet they will not be driven to holy duties nor be content that Christ should rule in them they are content to commit the sinne but they would have pardon for it The third ground is this and the cunningest of all and that is this provided the soule be content to be ruled by the Lord Jesus and to submit unto him yet here is another deceit of the soule of a poore sinner that would joyne something with Christ for the helping of him in that great worke of salvation and this I take to be the complaint of sinners and sometime broken hearted ones too they dare not goe to expect mercy from the Lord Jesus Why why because they are unworthy so abominable their lives so wretched their courses that they dare not goe to Christ that he may shew mercy to them I reason the point thus is it because of your unworthinesse that you dare not goe to Christ so then if you had worthinesse this would incourage you for to goe Why then you thinke Christ is not able alone to helpe you but you would have your worthinesse helpe Christ to save you and so you would joyne with the Lord Jesus in this great price of Salvation and Redemption If your sinnes were but small and you had some worthinesse that so Christ might doe something and your worthinesse doe something and so you might make up the price betweene you then you could be content to goe to Christ but otherwise you thinke you may not goe to Christ without some worthinesse of your owne Againe why then belike you 〈◊〉 be beholden to Christ for so much mercy and so much grace and so much forgivenesse one of these two must needs be the ground of this complaint either we would have our own worthines joyne something with Christ or else we are so vile that we will not be beholden to Christ for so much mercy but this unworthinesse indeed is nothing else but pride a man will not be beholden to Christ for so much mercy but he will share with Christ in the matter of salvation or else he will not be pertaker of the great worke of redemption Imagine a debtor were in prison and a friend sends to him what ever the debt be if he will but come to him he will pay all the man returnes this answer If he had not such a great debt to pay he would be content to come to him but the truth is the debt is so great that he will not come to him nor trouble him now one of these two must needs follow either he thinkes his friend is not able or willing to pay his debt or else in truth he will not be beholden to him for so much but if the debt were a little one then he would make a shift to pay some and his friend some and so they would make up the debt between them So it is in this case this is that which keeps the heart from laying hold on the promise they thinke they are unworthy to pertake thereof which is nothing but pride of spirit for either they would bring something and share with Christ in the worke of redemption or else they will not be beholden to Christ for so much mercy There is another shift which keepes the heart from going to Christ O faith one I never had my heart so broken affected as such a one hath and therefore they dare not goe to Christ because they have not so much contrition their hearts so much broken as others have therefore they dare not goe Ay but be your soules content to goe to Christ and yeeld to him would you keepe any corruption is there any sinne which you would not have Christ come and remove The soule answereth that they would be content to resigne all to the Lord Jesus Christ but they are not so humbled as others are I say the ground of this complaint is nothing else but selfe-confidence in broken heartednesse for the soule is not content to have so much broken heartednesse as is sufficient to bring a man to Christ but it would have so much as that it might bring a man to Christ to helpe him in the worke of redemption they thinke iâ— is not enough to have the soule so huÌ„bled as to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ but they would have so much as they would joyn with Christ in this great worke which is nothing else but carnall confidence Therefore the conclusion is this So farre see thy sinnes so farre meditate upon thy sinnes and so farre labour to have thy heart affected with thy sinnes and so far attend unto them that three things may follow First that you may see an absolute necessity of Christ and that thou maist use all meanes to seeke unto him and never be quiet whilst thou findest him Nay while thou dost use the meanes but only upon the Lord Jesus pray and rest not in prayer but in a Saviour that is obtained by prayer heare but rest not in hearing but convay to thy selfe what is revealed in hearing receive the Sacraments but rest not in them but therein seeke a Saviour which is there signed this is the very stint
and pitch of meditation thus farre see and affect and drawe your hearts to the consideration of your sinnes that the soule may be forced to goe to Christ and use all meanes to find him pray for a Christ heare for a Christ use all meanes and see a need of a Christ to blesse thee in all thy services and see a need of a Christ to pardon thy sinnes and then you take a right course And thus much for the second passage now we see how to follow meditation home that the soule may be affected therewith and holden thereto Ay but you will say our thoughts are dull and our meditation fraile and our wants heavy and little good we get by this meditation we fall to sinne againe how shall we come to get the life of meditation that it may be to us as it ought to be I answer the meanes to make meditation powerfull are two I confesse after a man hath mused and pondered it is possible that a corrupt heart may recoile and fall backe againe therefore there are two helpes to put more life into meditation First labour to call in the helpe and assistance of conscience that meditation may be more fruitfull and powerfull conscience is a great commander it is Gods vicegerent and chiefe officer and God is the general overseer of all the affaires of the world but conscience hath authority to execute Judgement according to the sentence God hath revealed and hath a greater command with the heart then bare meditation hath understanding and reason are but the underlings of the wil they are but servaÌ„ts subjects to the wil and these only suggest and advise unto the will what is good as a servant may suggest to his master what is good and yet his master may take what he list refuse what he please in this kind But conscience hath a greater command Rom. 2.15 conscience is said to accuse or excuse a man and conscience comes with a law and a command as the Apostle saith 1. Iohn 3.20 If our hearts condemne us conscience makes the heart to yeeld I compâ—â—e it thus look as it is happily with a man that is in debt if a man have a writ out for him he is not troubled greatly with that he will not goe to prison because of that nay though he shew it him yet he will not goe but if he brings the Sergeanâ—â—o arrest him then he must go and and then he must be imprisoned whether he will or noe So it is here meditation brings in the writ and sheweth a man his sinnes layeth open all his duties neglected so many hundred duties omitted so many thousand sinnes committed so many prophanatioÌ„s of Sabbaths so many oathes so many blasphemies but the soule saith What is this to me I have sinned and others have sinned and I shall doe as well as others but conscience is a Sergeant and Sergeants do your office these are your sinnes and as you will answer it at the day of Judgement take heed of those sins upon paine of everlasting ruine When conscience begins thus to arrest a man then the heart comes and gives way to the truth revealed and conscience thus settles it upon the heart The Second meanes whereby meditation may get power upon the soule is this we must cry crave and call for the spirit of humiliation and contrition that God by that blessed spirit of his which in Scripture is called the spirit of bondage would set to his helping hand assist conscience his officer take the matter into his owne hand and because there are many rebellious corruptions that oppose Gods truth we must call to heaven for helpe that God would seise upon the heart and breake it A perverse heart will linde the Judgement and say I will have my sinnes though I be damned for them and when conscience comes and saith I will beare witnes against you for your pride and covetousnesse and prophanesse They resist conscience Looke as it is if a Sergeant arrest a man he may escape his hands or kill the Sergeant but if the Sheriffe or the King himself come take the prisoner in hand then he must goe to prison whether he will or no so it is here though a corrupt heart can stoppe conscience stay conscience yet there is a commanding power of Gods spirit the spirit of humiliation And when God comes from heaven to aide his officer the heart must stoope and be governed Looke as it is with a child that is under government his father perhaps bids the servant correct him now it is admirable to see how the child will taunt with the servant and struggle with him mightily now when the father heareth this he saith Give me the rod and he tells the child you would not be whipped but I will scourge you and he will set it home and plague him so much the more because he resisted the servant So it is here the Lord hath revealed his will and sent his ministers to discover your sins and verrifie your hearts it is strange to see what resistance we finde one scornes to heare and rebells against the minister Well however the voice of the minister or the word cannot make the blow fall heavy enough for the time yet if the Lord take the rod into his owne hand he will make the stoutest stomack stoope and the hardest heart come in when the father takes the rod into his hand and lets in hell fire he will set it home take it off who will or can the Apostle cals it the spirit of bondage and observe the place When the spirit of bondage commeth then commeth feare The spirit of bondage is said to be the spirit of feare as who should say the Lord sheweth a man his bondage by the Almighty power of his Spirit and will make the soule feele it and stoope unto it In Iob the Lord doth shew unto men their workes and then he commands them to returne he openeth their eare to discipline saith the text and commandeth that they returne from iniquity he openeth the eye and maketh a man see his sinnes and then he commands the heart to returne whether it will or no. When the Lord doth shew unto man his sinnes and holds him to his sinnes that he cannot looke off them this is the worke of the spirit of bondage when conscience hath done his duty and yet his mouth is stopped then the Lord himselfe comes and however the word by the mouth of the ministery could not prevaile yet God will set the sun-light of his spirit to your soules and then you shall see your sinnes and stoope under them When a man would cut off the sense of sinne yet where ever he is and what ever he doth the Lord presents his sins to him when he goeth in the way he reades his sinnes in the pathes when he is at meate his sinnes are before him when he goeth to lie downe he goeth to read
and sinne onely imputed made our Saviour to buckle under it Psalme 22. Davids heart was crushed with it Psalm 40. Nay the Apostle saith All the creatures groaned under it the earth groanes under sinners and is willing to vomit them up it is a burden to the Sunne to give light to the adulterer to see his harlot and it is a burden to the ayre to give breathing to a blasphemer that belcheth out his oaths against the God of heaven nay it is that which sinkes the damned into the bottomlesse pit it is such as Iudas had rather hang himselfe then indure the horror of Conscience for it let this therefore dash the foolish conceit of them which thinke there is no pastime but in sinne however men glory in sinne and take delight in sucking the pleasure of sinne yet the end will be bitternesse Their sweet meat will have a sower sauce and those sinnes which are so sweet will eate out all comfort froÌ„ their soules from everlasting to everlasting They were pricked in their hearts So that the maine point which fits our aime is this sound sorrow piercing of the soule of those that are affected with it they were not onely pricked in their eyes to weepe for their sinnes and to say they would doe so no more The adulterer is not only pricked in his eye that he would see his adulterous queane no he goeth further sinketh into the very soule and pierceth through the very heart It is with sorrow that hath any substance in it as it was with the repentance of Ninivie not onely the ordinarie and refuse sort of people forsooke their sinnes but even the King himselfe came from his throne and sat in dust and ashes yea the Nobles other subjects and the very beasts of the field did â—ast So it is comparatively with this sorrow it is not onely for the tongue to talke of sinnes and the eye to weepe for his sinnes but even the Queene of the soule which is the wil it selfe puts on sacke-cloth and the heart and all the affections as so many subjects follow after It breakes out into the eye and the frame of the heart shakes with it and the knees knocke together and the hands grow feeble it is not O Lord be mercifull unto us and so be gone But it must goe to your hearts and you may weepe out your eyes and cry your sins at the market crosse but have you put off the will and affection of sinning as well as the tongue of sinning the nature of this sorrow is marvelous strange consider it David saith Make me to beare of joy and gladnesse that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce This sorrow that did seise upon David was not slight but it breakes all the bones which are the maine pillars and props of nature the burthen was so heavie and so great that it made all the burthen that was in him to shake And in another Psalm My moisture is turned into the drought of Summer This sorrow went so deepe into his soule that it did not only take away his outward refreshing but it tooke away all the moist humors the inward juyce the very oyle of life It is admirable which the Prophet Hosea saith Hosea 13.8 I will meet them as a beare bereaved of her whelps and will rend the kall of their hearts You must not thinke to have a whip and away but the Lord will breake the very kall of those proud hearts of yours rather then hee will suffer sinne to dwell in you where his throne should be And hence it is that this sorrow sinke many Did you never see a soule in distresse of Conscience he is all turned to dust and ashes this sorrow goeth to the quicke it is not a little touch and away but it breaketh the heart inwardly For the opening of this point let me discover these particulars First how the Lord workes this sorrow and how it is brought into the soule Secondly I will shew you the behaviour of the soule when it is thus peirced and this will shew the soundnesse Thirdly I will shew some reason why it must be so Fourthly I will answer some questions Fiftly make some uses and therein lay downe some ends how we may helpe forward this worke when it is begunne For the first I know God deales sometimes openly and sometimes more secretly But for the first how this pricking comes into the soule and how the Lord stabbs the soule and makes at a man to thrust him through This discovers it selfe in three particulars First the Lord commonly and usually lets in a kinde of amazement into the mind of a sinner and a kind of gastering As it is with a sudden blow upon the head if it comes with some violence it dazells a man that he knowes not where he is Just so it is generally with the soule the Lord lets in some flashes of his truth and darts in some evidences of his truth into the heart of a man the hammer of Gods Law layeth a sudden blow upon the heart and this discovers the vile nature of sinne as when a drunkard is drunke to day and will be so to morrow and the minister preacheth against that sinne and yet he will be drunke still and the blasphemer saith come le ts sweare the minister out of the pulpit now it may be the Lord lets in some suddaine truth that unmaskes the soule and drives him to sudden amaze that now he sees his corruptions to be otherwise then ever he did commonly he doth not yet see the evill of sinne but he is driven to a stand and a pawse and he doth not know what to say of himselfe nor what to thinke of his sinne there is a kinde of tumult in his thoughts and a confused cumber he knowes not what to make of himselfe and he goeth away in a kind of confused distemper Thus it was with Paul when he was running a long to Damascus and had gotten a lustie Steed to make hast suddenly there did shine a light from heaven and he heard a voice from heaven saying unto him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me He marvelled at the matter and yet he did not know what the matter was and therefore he saith Who art thou Lord What wouldest thou have me doâ— As it was with Saul so it is most commonly with us all it may be a poore man drops into the Church and the Lord lets in a light and the Lord doth compas him about with some threatnings of the Law and shewes him the nature of sinne and the damnation that comes by it and thereupon his thoughts beginne to hurry in one upon another and he retyres home and thinks thus with himselfe surely the preacher spake strange things to day if all be true that he spake then certainly my conditioÌ„ is naught surely there is more in sinne then ever I thought of I did alwaies thinke that such sinnes as were grosse and
he saith to himselfe Thou hast sinned and offended a just God and therefore thou must be damned and to hell thou must goe This is the particular seising of the curse upon a sinfull soule for this is the nature of true sorrow if evill be to come we feare it if evill be upon us we grieue and sorrow for it herein is the greatest worke of all the Lord deales diversly as he seeth fit specially these three wayes First if God have a purpose to civilize a man he will lay his sorrow as a fetter upon him he only meanes to civilize him and knocke off his fingers from base courses as wee have knowne some in our daies many desperate persecutors of Gods people God casts his sorrow into their hearts and then they say they will persecute Gods people no more haply they are naught still but God confines them first God only rippes the skinne a little and layeth some small blow upon him but if a man have been rude and a great ryoter the Lord begins to serve a writ upon him and saith Thou art the man to thee be it spoken thy sins are weighed and thou art found too light heaven and salvation is departed from thee thy sorrow is begunne here never to have end hereafter but thou must continue in endlesse torments thou hast continued in sinne and therefore expect the fierce anger of the Lord to be upon thee for ever so that now the soule seeth the flashes of hell and Gods wrath upon the soule and the terrours of hell lay hold upon the heart and he confesseth he is so and he hath done so And therfore he is a poore damned creature and then the soule labours to welter it and it may be his conscience will be deluded by some carnall minister that makes the way broader then it is and bids him goe and drinke and play and worke away his sorrow or else it may be he stops the mouth of conscience with some outward performances it may be his conscience saith Thou hast committed these these sinnes and thou wilt be damned for them And then he entreats conscience to be quiet hold his peace and he will pray in his family and heare sermons and take up some good courses and thus he takes up a quiet civill course and stayeth here a while at last comes to nothing And thus God leaves him in the lurch if he meanes only to civilize him But Secondly if God intends to doe good to a man he will not let him goe thus and fall to a civill course When a man begins to colour over his old sinnes and God hath broken his teeth that he cannot worry as formerly but yet there is no power in him If the Lord love that soule he will much the more clearely reveale his sinnes unto him God will plucke away all his chambering and wantonnesse all his pride and peevishnesse and pull off his vizzard and shew him all his sinnes and pursue him therefore as before God entred the blow so now he followes it home And hence it is that Iob saith The arrowes of the Almighty sticke fast in me and the venome thereof drinkes up my spirits and the terrours of the Almighty encampe themselves against me every way And as David saith Thou keepest my eyes waking and my sinnes are ever before me If God love a sinner and meane to doe good to him he will not let him looke off his sinne the Lord wil ferret him from his denne and from his base courses and practises He will be with you in all your stealing and pilfering and in all your cursed devises if you belong to him he will not give you over And in another place Iob saith How long wilt thou not depart from me nor let me alone till I swallow downe my spittle You had better a great deale now have your hearts humbled and broken and see your sinnes then to see them when there is no remedy And in another place the holy man Iob saith Thou wilt not suffer me to take in my breath but fillest me with bitternesse Your eyes have beholden vanity therefore now you shall see the Lords wrath against you for your sinnes and you have breathed out your venome against the Lord of heaven therefore now he will fill your soules with indignation in so much that he shall breath in his wrath as you have breathed out your oathes against him you have filled the Lords eyes and eares with your abominations and the Lord of heaven shall fill you answerably with his wrath And in another place Iob saith Thou wilt breake a dry leafe tossed too and fro And yet the Lord brake him Now the soule seeth all the evill and the Lord pursueth him and sets conscience aworke to the full Consider that of the Apostle That all those might be damned which beleeved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse Even all of them What shall no great ones be saved No nor you little ones neither all that lay not hold upon Christ but have pleasure in unrighteousnesse not only great ones and such as are abominably prophane but even all that had pleasure in wickednesse Now conscience saith Doest not thou know that thou art one of them that have had pleasure in unrighteousnesse therefore away thou must goe and thou shalt be damned Now the soule shakes and is driven beyond it selfe and would utterly faint but that the Lord upholds it with one hand as he beates it downe with the other he thinkes that every thing is against him and the fire burnes to consume him and he thinkes the ayre will poyson him conscience flies in his face and he thinkes hell mouth is open to receive him and the wrath of God hangs over his head and if God should take away his life he should tumble head-long downe to hell Now the soule is beyond all shift when it is day he wisheth it were night when it is night he wisheth it were day the wrath of God followeth him wheresoever he goeth and the soule would faine be rid of this but he cannot and yet all the while the soule is not heavy and sorrowfull for sinne he is burdened and could be content to throw away the punishment and horror of sinne but not the sweet of sinne as it is with a child that taâ—es a live coale in his hand thinking to play with it when he feeles fire in it he throws it away he doth not throw it away because it is blacke but because it burnes him So it is here A sinfull wretch will throw away his sinne because of the wrath of God that is due to him for it and the drunkard will be drunke no more but if he might have his queanes and his pots without any punishment or trouble he would have them with all his heart he loves the blacke and sweet of sinne well enough but he loves not the plague of sinne Foolish people saith the
of sin as it is sinne he cannot lay aside his sorrow so long as sin prevailes and gets head against him and dogges him up and downe nothing will content him but the removall of his sinne That soule which was cured by any other meane save onely by Christ was never truly wounded for sinne If ease cures him then horrour was his vexation If honour cure him then shame was his burthen If riches cure him theÌ„ poverty did most of all pinch him but if the soule were truly wounded for sin then nothing can cure him but a Saviour to pardon him and grace to purge him for what is that to the soule to have ease and liberty nay to be in heaven if he have a naughty rebellious heart nay if it were possible for him to be in heaven with his sinfull heart it would tyre him and burthen him there Therefore those soules that are cured by any thing saving by Christ those soules were never truly wounded for sinne as sinne It may be horror and vexation lay heavy upon theÌ„ but it was not the stroke of sinne that did trouble them Then gather up all he that which out of the vilenesse which he seeth in sinne is content to take shame to himselfe and will not meddle with his sinne neither carelesly nor willingly and is not cured by any thing saving by Christ this man behaveth himselfe truly in the first place Thus much of the tryall Secondly againe the soule is restlesse in importuning the Lord for mercy and will not be quieted till it get some evidence of Gods favour the soule will take on nay it will not be contented unles it can finde some glimps of acceptance through the goodnesse of God in Christ. This is plaine if a man be burthened with a weight or some heavy load that is laid upon him if that he be fallen under his burthen he lyeth there like to die and if there be none neere to succour him all his care is to cry out for helpe and though he seeth no man yet he cryeth out O help help for the Lords sake Saul was without sight three daies and no doubt he prayed to God all that while as if he had resolved to give him no rest till he had found mercy this is the nature of true sorrow it ever drives a man to God whereas reprobate sorrow drives a man from God Nay it may be though the heart thinkes it shall never finde mercy yet the Lord carryeth on the soule in an earnest desire and using the meanes and wil not off from God and from his word and sacraments and ordinances Nay though he sometime concludes that he shall never get mercy nor get power against his corruptions and then one saith You had best leave off all Nay saith the soule I cannot be worse then I am if I goe to hell I will goe this way There is a kinde of sorrow in the heart which is heavenly and godly but reprobate sorrow even drives a man from God and maks him say if I am damned I am damned if I be a reprobate I am so O â—hou wretch is this all If a poore creature that is pressed under his burthen cryeth for helpe when almost nature strength doth faile he crieth still for helpe and that is all he can say and so he dyes and this is the last word that he speaks with a soft still voice O help help So it is with the soule of a poore languishing sinner when the heart is burthened with the vilenesse of the nature of sinne and the separation from God by the same he doth not now cry ease and liberty and riches Lord No he cries mercy mercy Lord on this vile heart of mine and give me power against these mighty lusts after many means using when he is going the way of all flesh his last word is mercy Me thinkes I see this poore soule slyding away and saying how many sinnes have I committed Oh mercy mercy Christ. And this is the last word he speaketh and so he dies and no question but mercy shall be given him It is not a Lord have mercy upon me and God forgive me will serve the turne No it is otherwise if ever God set home this worke he will make you restlesse in seeking mercy and nothing shall content you but mercy to pardon your sinnes and grace to subdue them and the soule thinkes if mercy would but shine upon him and if his sinnes were taken away that they might never hinder him in a ChristiaÌ„ course he were a happy man this is the frame of the soule that is truely weary of sinne When the young man came to Christ and played fayre and a farre off and said he could do any thing Well said Christ if thou canst doe any thing then goe and sell all that thou hast and give it to the poore but he went away sorrowfull from Christ saith the text he did not come to Christ sorrowful but weÌ„t away sorrowfull from Christ whereas if he had beene burthened with sinne as sinne he would have come to Christ sorrowfull and say Now I see Lord the world is a heavy burtheÌ„ O Lord help me against it give me mercy to pardon me and grace to remove it But our Sauiour heard no more of the young man and as it is in the text this pricking of heart made the Jewes come to Peter sayingâ— Men and brethren What shall wee doe They did not as a great many say now a dayes if the minister were far enough off from me and I from him I were happy I cannot be quiet for him these are reprobate speeches but the sinner that is truly humbled and burthened with sinne as sinne he comes home and is resolved to wait for mercy till the Lord sheweth mercy to him Carnall sorrow sent Iudas and Achitophel to the gallowes but godly sorrow ever drives a man to God When Ionah was in the Whales belly he said Lord though I cannot come to thy temple I will looke towards it so a sorrowfull soule that is truly burthened with sinne will say though I cannot come to heaven yet I will looke up to heaven and though I never finde mercy yet for mercy will I wait thy mercy onely Lord shall content me The next thing is this we thinke of all things our sinne most pleasant and nothing so grievous as Gods commandements and therefore will these sinnes wherein we have taken so much content will these so wound the soule why should sinne so wound and pierce the soule The reasons are these three The first is this the soule must be pierced with sinne because it is the greatest evill of the soule and therefore if the heart doe but truly apprehend it it cannot but it must be most of all burthened with it If a man beare two weights on his backe that is most grievous which is most heavy if he feele the burthen as the nature of it requires it will most
saving worke thereof Therefore plow up all by sound saving sorrow labour to have thy heart burthened for sin and estranged from it and this is good husbandry indeed the want of this was the wound of the thorny ground as you may see in the parable those hearers had much of the world in them much ease and profit and pleasure and these choaked the word and made it utterly unfruitful and so they never received comfort nor mercy afterwards This is that which the Prophet David saith A contrite and an humble heart O God thou wilt not despise If you would have your hearts such as God may â—ake delight in and accept you must have them broken and contrite David saith The Lords voice breaketh the Cedars of Libanus So the voice of the Lord like lightning must thunder into the corrupt heart of sinfull creatures A contrite heart is that which is powdered all to dust as the Prophet saith Thou bringest us to dust and then thou sayest returne againe yee sonnes of men So the heart must be broken all in pieces to pouder and the union of sinne must be broken and it must be content to be weaned from all sinne as you may make any thing of the hardest flint that is broken all to dust So it is with the heart that is thus fitted and fashioned If there be any corruption that the heart lingers after it will hinder the worke of preparation If a man cut off all from a branch save one sliver that will make it grow still that it cannot be ingrafted into another stocke So though a mans corrupt heart depart from many sinnes scandalous abominations yet if he keepe the love of any one sinne it will be his destruction as many a man after horror of heart hath had a love after some base lust or other and is held by it so fast that he can never be ingrafted into the Lord Jesus This one lust may breake his necke and send him downe to hell So then if the soule onely can be fitted for Christ by â—ound sorrow then this must needs pierce the heart before Christ can come there but the heart cannot be fitted for Christ without this and therefore of necessity the heart must be truly wounded with sorrow for sinne The last reason is this because by this meanes the heart comes to set a high price upon Christ and grace either the grace of God offered in the gospell or that good way which God hath commanded us to walke in If the heart finde the greatest evill to be in horror and vexation then ease and quietnesse from these will be the greatest good but now the soule seeth grace to be truly precious because it seeth sinne to be truly vile and this is the end why the Lord makes the soule see the vilenesse of sinne that the heart may be brought to see the excellency in Christ and prize him above all Now there are two questions to be answered First whether this sound sorrow be a work of saving grace and such a worke as cannot be in a reprobate Secondly whether God doth worke this in all men that are truly converted and brought home to Christ and whether he workes this in all alike or no. For the first whether is this a worke of saving grace yea or no and such as cannot be in a reprobate for answer to this First I will shew the order that this worke hath to the other workes Secondly I will shew the difference of this from sanctifying sorrow and yet it comes to be sanctifying sorrow For the order first the heart in this worke is not yet conceived to be in Christ but only to be fitted and prepared for Christ. If you stoppe here in your consideration and despute not of any worke to come it is only in the way to be ingrafted into Christ but so that undoubtedly that soule which hath this worke upon it shall have faith powred into it for this is the meaning of that place The Lord Iesus came to socke and sâ—ve that which was lost Now to be lost is not because a man is sinfull and miserable in himselfe but he is lost that seeth the evill of sinne and the punishment that comes therby comes to be lost in his owne apprehension in râ—gard of his owne estate and he that is thus lost shall be sure to have Christ and salvation by him It was the end why Christ came and therefore it shall be fulfilled But he that is truly sensible of his sinne and the vilenes of it and abhors himself for it he is truely lost he is not yet settled on Christ for then he were safe enough but he is truly sensible of his lost estate and therefore shall have faith and Christ though yet he partake not of them yet he shall be everlastingly saved and redeemed by Iesus Christ. Quest. And therefore this is an idle question what if a man die in this worke of preparation before he come to have faith I say it is an idle question because it is impossible that he which is thus prepared for Christ and grace but he shall have them before he die As the Prophet saith Behold I will send my messenger before me to prepare my wayes When the heart is fitted and prepared the Lord Christ comes immediatly into it The teÌ„ple is the soule the way is the preparation for Christ so as the soule is yet to be conceived as in the way of preparation for Christ not to have any formall worke of grace whereby he is able to do anything for himselfe The next thing is the difference of the sound saving sorrow from sanctifying sorrow and you must know there is a double sorrow First there is a sorrow in preparation Secondly there is a sorrow in sanctification The sorrow of the soule in this preparative worke of it is thus to be conceived when the word of God leaves an impression upon the heart of a man so that the heart of it selfe is as it were a patient and onely beares the blow of the Spirit the Spirit of the Lord and the over-powring force of the same forceth the soule to beare the word and hence come all those phrases of Scripture as wounded pierced pricked and the like only in the passive voice Because the soule is a patient and the Lord by the almighty hand of his Spirit breakes in upon the soule so that this sorrow in preparation is rather a sorrow wrought upon me then any worke comming from any spirituall ability in my selfe This is sorrow in preparation when I am a patient and wherein I receive the worke of the Spirit and am forced and framed by the spirit to doe that which I doe in this kinde But then Secondly there is a sorrow in sanctification and that is thus that sorrow that doth flow from a spirituall principle of Grace from that power which the
of sinne upon it that whereas before the heart did finde much sweetnesse in these base courses the Lord makes them as bitter as gall or wormewood And then the soule begins to reason thus with it selfe and faith Is it such a thing to be drunke is it murther to envy my brother and can none such enter into the Kingdome of heaven when the soule seeth God taken away heave separated from him he saith Is this the pleasing sin that I have loved and is this the nature of my pride to have God resist me this lies heavy upoÌ„ the heart and at last the soule is resolved to part with his sinne and never to love it more Good Lord do what thou wilt with me only take my soule and save me and take away my lusts and corruptions The heart is content at length that Christ should doe all and now the match is made the sight of sinne from the punishment of it will never separate the soule from sinne nor breake that union that is betweene them Iudas had it in a great measure and God pluckt his sweet morsels from his mouth and made him confesse his sinnes and take shame to himselfe so God doth with many and makes them say I have beene a drunkard and an adulterer and a desperate opposer of God and his ordinances But though Iudas loathed the horrour punishment of sinne yet he had a murtherous disposition still he that had killed Christ went and murthered himselfe too Now from these former conclusions I reason thus If a mans sinnes be his God and if there cannot be two Gods in one heart and if those corruptions of the heart must of necessity be cast out and if the heart will not part with sinne till it be wearied with it and that is done by godly sorroâ—â— then it is a matter of necessity that the heart must be pierced and there must be a separation betweene sinne and the soule before Christ will marry the soule and rule in it or else there shall be two Gods in one heart which cannot be The second thing in this answere is this some may say oh I never found this worke in me Now therefore you must know how ever this worke is wrought in all for the substance of it yet in a different maner in the most For the fashion that God useth in framing the heart is different two men are pricked the one with a pinne the other with a speare two men are cut the one with a pen knife the other with a sword So the Lord deals kindly and gently with one soule roughly with another and handles it marvelous sharply and breakes it all to pieces There is the melting of a thing and the breaking of it with hammers this I say the rather to checke the imagination that harbours in the heart of some men otherwise holy and wise and yet mistaken in this point they thinke the Lord never workes grace but in this extraordinary manner It is true God sometime must use this affrighting of spirit and when proud spirits come to grapple with the Lord he will make their fâ—urdy hearts to buckle And it is true there must be a cleare sight of sinne and the heart must be wearied with the vilenesse of iâ— and be content to part with sinne This is wrought in all but that it must be in all in this extraordinary fearefull maner as it is in some the word saith it is not neither is God bound to any manner there is a difference among persons As for example First if the person be a scandalous liver and an opposer of God and his grace and sets himselfe against the Lord Jesus Christ if he set his mouth against heaven and professe himselfe an enemy to God and to his truth Secondly if a man have harboured a filthy heart and continued long in sinne hath been a close adulterer and continued long in it Thirdly if a man have been confident in a civill course Lastly if God purpose to do some great workes by him In all these foure cases he layes a heavy blow upon the heart commonly the nature of these persons requires it First when any one hath beene an opposer of God and his grace if the Lord should deale gently with him other vile wretches would be ready to say such a man is gone to heaven though he be thus and thus yet the Lord dealt lovingly with him and therefore though I continue in these courses I shall doe well enough Nay delude not thy selfe for the Lord will bruise him and rend the kall of his heart and make him seek to a faithfull minister for direction to a poore Christian for Counsell whom before he despised and the world shall know what it is to oppose God and to persecute his children as he broke Pauls heart and made him say I am he that have persecuted the Saints Commonly the Lord will not shew mercy to such as these are in hugger mugger but wil make the world see their humiliation as they have seen their rebellion and opposition Thus the Lord deales with the secret theefe close adulterer the Lord pluckes away their corruptions makes them vomit up their sweet morsels and then they will say these are my sins and this heart of mine is hardened by the continuance in them And therefore it is that the Lord workes in this manner But if the soule be otherwise trained up among godly parents and live under a soule-saving ministery that saith you cannot goe to heaven by a civill course and you cannot have any dispensation for your prophanation of the Sabbath I say if a man live under such a ministery keepe good company the Lord may reforme this man and cut him off from his corruptions kindly and breake his heart secretly in the apprehension of his sinnes and yet the world never see it In both these we have an example in Lydia and the Iaylor Lydia was a sinfull woman and God opened her eyes and melted her heart kindly brought her to a tast of his goodnesse here and glory hereafter But the Iaylor was an outragious rebellious wretch for when the Apostles were committed to prison he layed them up in stockes and whipped them sore O saies he now I have gotten these precise â—ellowes into my hands I wil have my penny-worths of them Now there was much worke to bring this man home when the Apostles were singing Psalmes there came an earth-quake which made the Prison doores to fly open and the prisoners fetters fall off but yet the Iaylors heart would not shake at last the Lord did shake his heart too and he came trembling and was ready to lay violent hands upon himselfe because he thought the prisoners had beene fled but the Apostles cried to him Doe thy selfe no harme for we are all here with that he fell downe before them and said Men and brethren what shall I doe to be
saved I conclude this naturally all men are locked up under infidelity now the Lord opeÌ„s their hearts severally you know some lockes are new and fresh and therefore an easie key may open them but some lockes are old and rusty and therefore must be broken open by force of hand so it is with some mens hearts howsoever sin prevailes over the hearts of civill men and they are full of pride and the like and yet their hearts are kept cleare froÌ„ rusting by restrayning grace now the Lord will draw that man by the key of his spirit and kindly withdraw him from his sinne But if a man have beene an old rusty drunkard or adulterer no key can open his heart alas it is not a little matter will doe the deed it is not now and then a gratious promise that will breake his heart But the Lord must come downe from heaven and breake open the doore by strong hand by awaking his conscience that all the countrey rings of him You know all mens hearts are compared to stones some stones are soft you may crush them to pieces with your hands and some are flints which must have many blowes before they will breake so it is with the heart while it hath not beene melted and softned by humility the Lord must breake it open by maine force and as it is with a tree some branches are young and smooth without knots and some are old ones and full of knots now if a man come every day and give a little cut at the tender branch at last it will off easily but it is no cutting of an old tree with a pen-knife but a man must take an axe and give many a sore cut that all the people in the towne may heare it All men grow upon the root of sinne which is Adams rebellion some are young and have not growne knotty in a rebellious course every Sabbath day the Lord gives a cut at him by his counsels and by his threatnings and by his promises at last it falls off kindly and they are content to part with their sinnes and to rest upon Christ for mercy Another man is an old sturdy vile wretch an over-growne adulterer and drunkard and his heart is blinded in sinne I tell you if ever the Lord cut off this man from his base course hee must come with a mighty hand and with his book of the Law God is ever laying at his soule blow after blow and so at last hee begins to forsake his wicked courses What saith one is such a man turned hee was as heavy a persecutor as ever the Sunne saw his father was an enemy to all goodnesse and hee was as bad Like father like sonne Hath the Lord brought him home Yes now hee sends to the faithfull Ministers and to Gods people for comfort and direction The third and last part of the answer is this That when God workes gently with Christians they hardly perceive the worke though wise Christians may approve that which is done for this is certaine wheresoever Christ is there preparation was if ever man be saved Christ hath made him see his lost estate Sometime the worke is secret and the soule apprehends it not because it is so and though he doe yet it is an unknowne worke to him hee knowes not what to make of it he can finde in his heart to hate those and those sinfull courses yet he cannot see how this was wrought in him Mans spirit is such that he misjudgeth the worke but give me a Christian that God doth please to worke upon in this extraordinary manner and to breake his heart soundly to throw him downe to some purpose though it cost him deare this man walkes with more eare and conscience and hath more comfort comming to himselfe and gives more glory to God wheras the other doth but little good in his place and hath little comfort comming to him Therefore labour for soundnes in this worke and then for ever sound but if once deluded here then for ever cozened and everlastingly damned The first-Use is for instruction It is so that the soule of a man is thus pierced to the quicke and runne thorow by the wrath of the Almighty Then let this teach the Saints and people of God how to carry themselves towards such as God hath thus dealt withall Are they pierced men Oh pitty them let our soules and the bowells of commiseration and compassion bee let out towards them and let us never cease to doe good to them to the very uttermost of our power and strength And to the performance of this not onely reason perswades us but Religion bindes us and pitty moves us See what the Lord saith by Moses If a man see his neighbours oxe or asse fall into distresse by the way the Lord commanded to ease him and succour him nay to lay all businesse aside and not to hide himselfe from him Thus the Lord commands mercy to the unreasonable creature that is thus wearied with the weight that he carrieth hath the Lord care of oxen As the Apostle saith in another case It is for our sakes that the Lord requires this duty The meaning is this shall not the heart of thy brother be eased that is tired thus with the wrath of the Almighty shall not this poore fainting creature be succoured are you men or are you beasts in this kinde If a hogge be but in distresse it is strange to see how folke come about it are we divels then that we can see poore creatures burthened with the unconceivable wrath of the Lord and not pitty them doe you see these and not mourne and succour and pray to heaven for them See what Iob saith and let him speake in the behalfe of all distressed soules O saith hee that my sorrowes were all weighed they would prove heavier then the sand Marke how he cries for succour oh you my friends have pitty upon me for the hand of God is heavy upon me for the hand of God hath touched me Imagine you saw him sitting upon the dunghill mourning it is not the hand of a man or an enemy but the heavy hand of God and therefore all you my friends that see my anguish and my sorrowes have pitty upon me Those palefaces and blubbered cheekes and feeble hearts and hands of theirs say thus much unto you have you no regard of a man in misery have you no pitty saith the Lamenting Chuâ—ch so doth every grieved humbled soule their sighes and sorrowes in secret say thus much oh all you that walke in the streets have you no remorse of a poore desolate forlorne creature Had I beene only wounded or had my nature growne weake some Physitian might have eased me had I been poore some friends might have enriched me had I beene disgraced the King might have advanced me to honours but was there ever sorrow like to my sorrow of soule It is the God of mercy that shewes
himselfe displeased with me it is the God of all grace and comfort that hath filled my heart with the venom of his wrath if there be any pitty or compassion in you lend helpe and succour such poore distressed soules if a woman be in travell and her strength faileth her oh what bitter cries shee puts forth with that all her neighbours come to helpe her and when they have done all they can they pray to heaven for that they cannot doe themselves And as it is with a man that is swounding away they runne for strong cordiall water and for this man and that friend to succour him and they cry all help help for the Lords sake he is cleane gone this is all well it is a worke of mercy and pitty But men brethren and fathers you know not the heart breaking sorrows that are in the soules of these poore creatures he lies as it were in childbed and is in the very pangs of conversion and his heart is even now at a ha even now to be converted and loosned from sinne and to have Christ brought into his soule O that God would send some amongst you that you might see some experience of it Oh faith the poore soule will these and these sinnes never be pardoned and will this proud heart never be humbled thus the soule â—ighes mournes and saith Lord I see this and feele the burthen of it and yet I have not a heart to be humbled for it nor to be freed from it Oh whence will it once be did you but know this it would make your hearts to bleed to heare him it is not the swounding away of a man in a qualme No No the sword of the Almighty hath pierced through his heart and he is breathing out his sorrow as though he were going downe to hell and he saith if there by any mercy any love any fellowship of the spirit have mercy upon me a poore creature that am under the burthen of the Almighty O pray and pitty these wounds and vexations of spirit which no man finds nor feeles but he that hath been thus wounded It is the signe of a soule wholy denoted to destruction that hath a desperate disdaine against poore wounded creatures O saith one I hope you have hearing enough have you not it may be you will tumble downe into a well or hang your selfe will you not Oh fearefull is it possible there should harbour such a spirit in any man there is not a greater brand of a man denoted to destruction then this I doe not say onely he is starke naught for the present but it is a fearefull brand of a man denoted to eternall destruction if the devill himselfe were upon earth I cannot conceive what he could doe worse When the woman was about to be delivered the Red Dragon was there ready to destroy the child see what the Prophet David saith of such Lord powre out thy wrath upon the heathen that know not thee and the Kingdomes that have not knowne thy name let thy wrathfull displeasure take hold of them that adde iniquity unto iniquity let them not come into thy righteousnesse let them be blotted out of thy booke What 's the reason of this why did David make this imprecation and say Lord seâ— open the gates of hell that thy wrath may fall upon the soules of such as these are the text saith they persecute him whom thou hast smitten the Lord smites a poore sinner and thou art ready to persecute him too the Lord hath wounded him wilt thou stabbe him to the heart Good Lord adde iniquity to iniquity The sin is marvelous and the curse unconceivable When Amaleck met Israel and tooke them at advantage because they were weake and weary Remember saith the text what he did to thee in the way how he feared not God and the Lord saith I remember what Amaleck did to the people of Israel goe therefore and blot out his name from under heaven and kill all both young and old This is a true type of such as are enemies to the poore Saints of God that are thus desolate and wounded in their consciences their being in the wildernes was a type of the Saints conversion and their comming to Canaan was a type of the Saints ariving at the heavenly City Jerusalem Now canst thou jeere at the Saints that are thus wounded and canst thou wound them further and pierce him to the heart and discourage him The Lord will remember thee in the day of thy death and as thou hast shewed no mercy so shalt thou receive no mercy in that day I have knowne many such opposers of God and his Grace that have beene forced to lay violent hands vpon themselves and when the Lord hath gotten some of them upon their sick bed they lye roaring there and the Lord layes his full wrath vpon them If there be any such in this congregation I pray God let them see some sudden veine of his vengeance that if it be possible they may finde and feele the waight of this trouble of conscience that they themselves also may finde mercy from the Lord. The second part of the Vse is this as we must pitty those thus wounded so hereby we see the best way to send help to such as are wounded in their hearts the woâ—nd is in the heart therefore let the salve be applyed to the heart It is in vaine to tell a poore wounded soule of Hawkes or Hounds or the like hee is not wounded in his body but in his heart the physicke must be applyed to the part diseased If the head be sick or sore you must not apply a salve to the arme and if the brest be ill you must not apply a salve to the foot so it is a vaine thing to offer riches or pleasures or profits to a man that is wounded in his conscience for sin the wound is not there if the wound were in disquietnesse then pleasure will cure it if the wound were in poverty then riches would cure him if the wound were in basenes and contempt then honours would cure him No thy heart is wounded and the conscience is terrified in the apprehension of Gods wrath And therefore apply the spiritual Balme of Gilead even the blood of Christ the case is cleare that all the Crosses and Crucifixes and Agnus dei in the world al the popish pardons can doe no good to a wounded Conscience There is never a popish shaveling under heaven can cure a wouÌ„ded soule hee cannot apply that spirituall salve that should comfort him hee may delude him and lead him into the commission of sinne but he cannot minister any true comfort unto him thus they cure a poore Christian by searing of his conscience and make him sinne so much the more and neuer be troubled for sinne as if a man should kill a sicke person and say now he feeles no hurt so it often fals out that a man
thing done by the soule the Lord is now fitting and preparing the soule for the presence of his blessed Spirit And in this great worke of preparation the Lord workes these three things First he stoppes the soule from going on any longer in sinne Secondly he wearieth the soule with the burthen of sinne Thirdly by hatred the soule is brought to goe away from those carnall lusts and corruptions with a secret dislike of those sinnes which he hath been wearied withall In all these the soule is a patient and undergoes the worke of humbling and breaking rather then it is any way active and operative Thus the heart is turned away from sinne and set against those corruptions which heretofore it was burthened with as it is with wheels of a clocke when the wheeles have runne wrong before a man can set them right againe he must stop it and turne it to its right place and all these are meerly wrought upon the wheele by the hand of the workeman for of it selfe it hath no poise nor weight to runne right but when the clocke-master puts to his plummets then it is able to runne of it selfe though the workemans hand be not there So the will and affections of a man which are the great wheels of this curious clock of the soule these wheels do naturally of thēselves run all hel-ward and sin-ward and devil-ward now before the soule can receive a new principle of grace first the Lord unmaskes a man and makes him come to a stand and makes him see hell gaping for him thus the heart is at a maze Secondly the Lord laies the weight of sinne and corruption upon him and that doth sincke the soule with the horrour and vexation and loathsomnesse of his sinnes Thirdly then the soule is carried away from sinne by hatred and dislike and saith Is this the fruit of sin that delighteth me oh then no more malice no more drunkennesse thus the heart is turned away but after the soule is once brought on to God by faith and goes to God receives the spirit of sanctification of which we shall speake afterwards this is a new principle of life and out of this gratious disposition the soule is now growne to hate sinne freely and to knocke off the fingers from corruptions and beat downe his lusts and to love God freely out of that power of grace which the Lord hath put into the soule Now you must know that all this while I speake of the first worke when the soule is turned by the spirit against his sinne being formerly burthened with the same sinne This doth ever accompany a heart truly broken for sinne There is this difference betweene sorrow and hatred sorrow feeles the burthen but hatred flings it away sorrow loosneth the heart but hatred lets out the corruption sorrow saith doth sinne thus pinch the soule and hatred saith no more sinne then thus the Lord by his Spirit prepares the soule For the proofe of this point see what the Prophet saith You shall consider your waies and your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves A poore Christian would teare his heart in pieces in the apprehension of his owne vilenesse and saith Good Lord shall I ever be plagued and annoyed with this sturdy malitious heart and shal I ever carry this vile heart about me that wil one day carry me to hell if thou be not the more mercifull this makes a man even fall out with himselfe Againe see what the Apostle saith for this thing you have had godly sorrow but what hath it wrought in you doth it worke a holy indignation and revenge against your sinfull courses that when thy soule seeth his filthy abominations rising swelling and bubling within thy heart it takes on exceedingly and wil scarce owne it self but lookes away from sinne and is weary of it selfe in regard of the same Nay if it were possible that thou couldest be content to live without a heart even to forgoe thy selfe that so thou maiest not be troubled with that vile heart of thine and so dishonour God no longer I beseech you observe it when a man is brought thus farre oh he cries to God and saith Lord was there ever any poore sinner thus pestered with a vile heart Oh that this heart should ever be so opposite against the Lord Lord except I had a better heart I would I had none at all thus the heart loathes it selfe and in what measure the soule is carried with a restlesse dislike of sinne as it is sinne in the same degree it is most violent against those sinnes whereby he hath most dishonoured God as you may see in Zacheus his heart did most rise against his master sinne so the Lord having humbled the repentant Church thou shalt defile thy graven Images of silver and the ornaments of thy golden Images thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth and say get you hence They hated all sinne but especially their Idolatrous courses so it will be with the heart that is truly broken he will cast away with hatred all his pleasing and profitable sinnes thus much of the first passage Quest. 2 The second passage is this Wherein doth this true hatred consist that a man may know whether he have sinne or no Answ. Answere this hatred or dislike consists in these foure particulars First if the soule doth truly hate sin then it is very willing to make search for it in every corner of the heart And any sinne that he cannot know himselfe he is willing that any Christian or any friend should make them knowne unto him A King that hates a traitor that would kill him and a man that hates a thiefe that would robbe him they are willing that any man should discover that traitor or thiefe and they will entertaine him kindly and reward him for it When the Ziphites came to Saul and told him where David was mark what he saith Oh blessed be yee of the Lord for you have had compassion upon me Just so it is with a broken bleeding heart that hath an open hatred against his corruptions if any Minister or Christian will make knowne some base lusts that lurke in his soule he will not flye out and say What is that to you Every tub must stand upon his owne bottome and if I sinne I must answer for it Nay hee will blesse the Lord for it and say Blessed be the Lord and blessed be such a Minister blessed be such a neighbour for they have shewed mee my sinne and had compassion upon my soule Secondly as the soule desires to have sinne revealed so it desires to have sinne killed and it makes no matter how it be killed or by whom so it be killed at all Hence it comes to passe that the soule which truly hates sinne is ever seeking to those meanes that are most able to give strength to him and to over come his corruptions and is
downe he looked all over his waies And as Zachary saith When the people shall looke unto him whom they have pierced and consider the nature of their sinnes then shall they mourne Note that this clear sight of sin may appeare in two particulars First a man must see his sinne nakedly in its owne proper colours we must not looke upon sinne through many mediums through profits pleasures and the contentments of this world for so we mistake sinne but the soule of a true Christian that would see sinne clearely he must strip it cleane of all content and quiet that ever the heart hath received from any corruption and the heart must looke upon sinne in the danger of it as the adulterer must not looke upon sinne in regard of the sweetnes of it nor the drūkard upon his sinne in regard of the contentment that comes thereby nor the covetous man in regard of the profit that comes by his sinne you that are such the time will come when you must die and then consider what good these sinfull courses will doe you how will you judge of sinne then when it shall leave a blot upon thy soule and a guilt upon thy conscience what wilt thou then thinke of it we must deale with sinne as with a serpent we must not play with a serpent as children doe because it hath a fine speckled skinne but fly from it because of the sting so must we deale with sinne a prophane gallant will prophane the Sabbaths because otherwise he should be counted a puritane Looke not at the speckled skin of sinne but how thou canst answere for thy sinne before God especially seeing the Lord saith I will not hold that man guiltles that blasphemes my name of what place or condition so ever he be Looke now on the nature of thy sinnes nakedly Secondly we must looke on the nature of sin in the venome of it the deadly hurtfull nature that it hath for plagues and miseries it doth procure to our soules and that you may doe partly if you compare it with other things and partly if you looke at it in regard of your selves First compare sinne with those things that are most fearefull and horrible As suppose any soule here present were to behold the damned in hell and if the Lord should give thee a little peepe hole into hell that thou didst see the horror of those damned soules and thy heart begins to shake in the consideration thereof then propound this to thy owne heart what paines the damned in hel doe indure for sinne and thy heart will shake and quake at it the least sinne that ever thou didst commit though thou makest a light matter of it is a greater evill then the paines of the damned in hell setting aside their sinne all the torments in hell are not so great an evill as the least sinne is men begin to shrink at this loath to go downe to hell and to be in endlesse torments Now I will make it good by three reasons that sinne is a greater evill then those torments and plagues which the damned in hell do indure The first reason is this That which deprives a man of the greatest good must needs be the greatest evill nature saies so much that which deprives a man of all that comfort and happinesse wherein the soule finds most content that must needs be the greatest euill of all but sinne onely deprives a mā of the greatest good for the good of the soule is to have an heart united unto God and to have fellowship with him to have him salvation through him to be one with the Lord this is the chiefest good of the soule All things here below are made for the good of the body and the body is made for the good of the soule and the soule is made for God and these things here below are only so farre good to us as they are meanes to make us enjoy a nearer communion with God and contrarily riches and honours and profits and pleasures are as so many curses to us if by them our hearts be withdrawne from God The reason why God is estranged from us it is not because we are poore or pursued or imprisoned or the like but it is sin that breakes the union betweene God and us as the prophet Esay saith Your sinnes have separated betweene you and your God Now that which separates from God which is the chiefest good it is our sinnes it is not punishment that takes away the mercy of God from us but a proud rebellious heart and the contempt of Gods ordinances Therefore sinne is farre worse then all the plagues that the damned doe or can suffer Secondly because there is nothing so contrary and opposite against the Lord as sinne corruption and this is the reason why God is the inflicter of all the punishments of the damned in hell it is through the Iustice of God that they are damned because God is of such a pure nature that sinne cannot be in him nor practised by him Thirdly because it is sinne that doth procure all plagues and punishments to the damned and therefore being the cause why they suffer it must needs be greater then all punishments for all punishments are made miserable by reason of sin therefore sinne is a greater evill then all the miseries of the damned If a man were in prison and had the peace of a good Conscience his prison would be a pallace unto him and though a man were in shame and disgrace and yet have the favour of God there were no misery in him so it is with sinne if no man suffer but for sinne then sin is a greater evill then all other punishments as being the fountaine from whence they flow Now let us looke upon sinne through these things and when our corrupt heart provokes us and the world allure us the devill tempts us to take any contentment in a sinfull way suppose we saw hell fire burning before us and the pit of hell gaping to swallow us and sinne inticing of us and let us say thus to our soules It is better for a man to be cast into the torments of hell amongst the damned then to be ouercome with any sin and so to rebell against the Lord. Now therefore if those plagues and punishments make the soule shake in the consideration of them Oh then blesse thy selfe so much the more from sinne which is the cause all plagues whatsoever Were a man in hell and wanted his sinnes the Lord would love him in hell and deliver him from all those plagues But if any man were free from all punishments and in honour and wealth if he were a sinfull and wretched creature the Lord would hate him in the height of all his prosperitie and throw him downe to hell for ever Secondly we must see sinne simply as it is in it selfe in regard of the proper worke of it it is nothing else but a
profest opposing of God himselfe a sinfull creature joynes side with the devill and the world and comes in battaile array against the Lord and flies in the face of the God of hosts they are called haters of God Psam 83. That is when they see grace in another man in such a man and in such a woman and hate them for it little doe they thinke that they hate the God of heaven and his holy nature and if it were possible they would have no God in heaven to take notice of their sins call theÌ„ to account for them as the wise man Gamaliel said to the Pharesies and elders refraine your selves from these men and let them alone for if this Counsell or worke be of men it will come to nothing but if it be of God you cannot destroy it lest you be found fighters against God you make nothing of opposing the Gospell and preaching thereof I tell you that there is never a creature that lives in any such sinfull course but he is a fighter against God and he resists the Lord as really as one man doth another And as Stephen saith You stifnecked and uncircumcised in heart you have resisted against the holy Ghost You must not thinke that you resist men onely no poore creatures you resist the Spirit and so aime at the Almighty in opposing of the meanes of grace What a fearefull condition is this I pray you in cold blood consider this and say thus Good Lord What a sinfull wretch am I that a poore damned wretch of the earth should stand in defiaÌ„ce against the God of hosts and that I should submit my selfe to the devill and oppose the Lord of hostes And as you resist the Lord so you doe also passe the sentence of condemnation upon your selves and seale up that doome which one day shall be executed upon the wicked in hell at that great day of accompt that looke what God shall do theÌ„ the same thou dost now by sinning this is the doome or as I may say the necke verse of the wicked and the last blow as now thou doest depart from God by sinning so then thou shalt depart froÌ„ God for ever A wicked man forsakes God and pluckes his heart from under the wisdom of God that should inform him in the way of life and the soule saith God shall not blesse me God shall not be God unto me but I will live as I list and I will run down post hast to hell and when our hearts beginne to rise against God and his ordinances and your soules beginne to goe against the Lord I tell you what I would thinke with my selfe suppose I heard the voice of the Archangell crying Arise yee dead and come to Iudgement and the last trumpet sounding and the Lord Jesus comming in the heavens with his glorious Angells and did see the Goats standing â—â— the left hand and the Saints on the right hand and with that I did heare the terrible sound Depart ye cursed would you be content to heare that sentence passe against your soules Oh what lamentation and woe your poore soules would make in those dayes and therefore consider it well and say that I doe that in sinning which the Lord will doe in the day of Judgement shall I depart from the Lord and withdraw my selfe from mercy and say Christ shall not rule over me and save me shall I doe that against my selfe which the Lord shall doe in that day God forbid There are two things hardly knowne what God is and what our sinnes are or else we hardly apply the knowledge of them to our selves Objects But some will object and say if sinne be so vile in it selfe then why doe not men see it Answ. To this I answer the reason why men see not their sinnes though it be so vile it is mainely upon these two grounds First because we judge not of sinne according to the word and verdict of it but either in regard of the profit that is therein or the pleasure that we expect there from The Usurer lookes on his profit that comes by sinne and the adulterer his pleasure and Iudas saw the money but he did not see the malice of his owne heart nor the want of love to his Master and this made him take up that course which he did but when he threw away his thirtie pence the Lord made him see the vilenesse of his sinne it came cleerly to his sight and therefore he cryed out I have sinned in betraying innocent blood As bribes blind the eyes of the wise and pervert judgment so sin bribes the eyes of the soule and therefore the Tradseman seeth much profit come by cozening false measures and so gives way to himselfe therein but he sees not the sin so the oppressor seeth the morgages pawnes that come in but he cannot see his sin till he be laid on his death bed and then the Lord sheweth him all the wrong that he hath done Secondly another reason why we see not the vilenesse of sinne is because we judge the nature of sinne according to Gods patience towards us as thus a man commits a sin is not plagued for it and therefore he thinkes God will not execute judgements upon him at all all things continue a like saith the wicked man as if he had said you talke of the wrath of God that shall be revealed froÌ„ heaven against all ungodlines where is the promise of his comming doe you not see that such a man is an oppressor a prophane persoÌ„ yet growes rich and thrives in the world and because God spares a wicked man still for the present therefore he thinkes all are but words he shall be free from the punishment to come as the Prophet saith in the name of the Lord These things hast thou done and I kept silence when thou wast upon thy Ale-bench and there thou didst speake against holinesse and purity and because I did beare yet and say nothing therfore thou speakest wickedly that I was even such a one as thy selfe The wicked man takes Gods patience to be a kinde of allowance to him in his sinne as the wise man saith because sentence against an evill worke is not speedily executed therefore the hearts of the sonnes of men are wholy set in them to doe mischiefe as the Prophet saith they call the proud happy ye that worke wickednesse are set to doe evill they that tempt God are delivered As who should say you say that the wrath of God is incensed against swearers and drunkards and the like but we see them prosper and because they doe prosper thus their hearts are set to worke wickednes but howsoever it is true the Lord doth sometime beare with wicked men the longer God staies the greater account they shall make and the heavier judgements they shall receive from God See what Iob saith thou sealest up my transgressions in a bagge and