that a Cretian which is a filthy beast by a sound reproose may come to bee a glorious Saint and whereas the Jewes had loaden the Lord with their sinnes therefore it was just with God to ease himselfe of his burden and so send them and their sinnes downe to hell together Thus a man would think but the Lord did not so as we may see in Esay I am he that blotteth out all thy transgressions for my owne name sake I will remember your sinnes no more and as the Apostle saith the Gentiles were full of all unrighteousnesse worse then they almost could be for all kind of degrees of sinne and yet many of them became full of all holinesse Such were some of you saith the Apostle and in another place we may see that a Scarlet sinner may become a Saint in nature we know this scarlet is such a deepe die that all the art under heaven cannot alter it Yet the Lord can make of a Scarlet sinner a milke white Saint I doe not say it will ever be and it doth alwaies come to passe but it is possible The reason is taken from the Lords Almighty goodnesse and power the Lord is able to supply all wants and amend that which is amisse nay he is able to do more then that thou standest in need of When the Lord made heaven earth he did not spend all his strength that he was able â—o help no more No no he is All-sufficient still he is not onely able to continue that good which the creature hath but to make a glorious supply of whatsoever is wanting as David saith He pardoneth all thy iniquities and forgiveth all thy sinnes not some but all otherwise he were not All-sufficient unlesse he had a salve for every sore and a medicine for every malady if our sinnes were more then God could pardon or if our weakenesses were more able to ouerthrow us then his strength to uphold us he were not All-sufficient Indeed there are some things which the scripture saith God cannot doe but it is not because of the want of power in God but because there is a weakenesse in the creature As God cannot deny himselfe but the more and greater our sinnes and wickednesse are the more will the strength and glory of his power appeare in pardoning of them and where sinne abounds there grace abounds much more in the pardoning of the same Christ is All-sufficient in power to procure mercy for all thy sinnes and the Spirit is all-sufficiently able to apply the satisfaction of Christ to thy soule and therefore be thy condition never so fearefull the sinne against the holy Ghost onely excepted there is power and mercy in the Lord to pardon thee and it is possible for thee to finde mercy The first use is for reproofe and it checks the desperate discouragement that harbours in the hearts of many poore sinners that if they finde no power in theÌ„selves no succour in the meanes they doe question in this case and presently conclude an impossibilitie to receive mercy and they thinke there is no hope of pardon as heretofore they have had no care in sinning because they cannot see how it may be they suppose it cannot be This bringeth a great indignity to the Lord Jesus Christ and a great discouragement to themselves why the Lord hath hardnesse and difficulties at command When the seige about Jerusalem was marvellous sore and every man did despaire of any comfort or succour the Prophet said before to morrow this time shall a measure of fine flower be sould for a shekle and then a Lord on whose hand the King leaned said If the Lord should make windowes in heaven how can this thing be and the Prophet said unto him thou shalt see it but not eat of it so it is with many that begge often and the Lord answereth not so that the soule is marvellously starved and the flood of iniquitie comes in amaine upon the soule and all his sinnes come to his view and the heart beginnes to reason in this manner If the depths of Gods mercies should be opened can all these sins be pardoned and can this damned soule of mine be saved Surely this cannot be It is just with God wee should seeke mercy given to others as bad as wee and yet wee not taste of it because wee distrust the Lord. Cains sin was so much the greater because hee said it could not be forgiven so it is a horrible sinne to say the Lord is not so mercifull as the Devill is malitious and that the world and a sinfull heart 〈…〉 able to damne me then God is to save me if 〈…〉 so God were no God and Christ no 〈…〉 and the Spirit no comforter this is a 〈…〉 sin our selves and the devill above God the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh therefore check all those discouragements of soule which too much prevaile with us Secondly it is a ground of great incouragement to provoke the hearts of all wicked men under heaven to looke out of that condition wherin they are for some mercy because the most wicked of the world may be wrought upon and the most prophane heart may be pierced Who therefore would not have his heart quickned up to seeke out for recovery from that estate wherein he is All you poore creatures if there be any here present as I doubt not but there are Oh you poore and ungodly sinfull creatures my soule pitties you you that have had your hands imbrewed in the blood of Christ and whose sinnes are written with a pen of Iron and are seene in every corner of the street you that are thus in the gall of bitternesse and yet in the kingdome of darkenesse though your case for the present be very desperate yet here is a little twigge in the middest of the maine sea whereupon you may lay hold And this may make you looke up the Lord may shew mercy unto you as proud as stubborne and rebellious as you have had mercy If you have the hearts of men looke for mercy though your estate be fearefull for the present yet it may be good God hath not set the scale of condemnation upon your sinnes he hath not yet sent you to hell Consider this whatsoever thou art thou yet livest upon the earth and enjoyest the meanes and it is possible yet to have all thy sinnes pardoned oh lay about thee goe home say Good Lord were they pierced in their hearts that pierced the Lord Iesus and were their soules wounded In conclusion then why may not my prophane sinfull heart be humbled and pierced It may be so if the Lord say Amen it will be thus that disease is not past remedy that hath beene cured in others therefore let this stay thy heart as bad as thou have been humbled and brought home and therefore why not thou But the soule will say Can all these abominations be removed and is it possible
Object Oh! many are they that have it could I feare God as I should and seeke for mercy as I ought then there were some hope but I have no heart to endeavour or desire after any mercy and I cannot bring my soule nor submit my will to yeild and therefore shall I ever have any mercy Answ. Why not thou too Doth God sell his mercy No he gives it freely God keepes open house Oh the freenesse of that mercy and goodnesse that is in God! he requires nothing of thee to procure it but he shewes mercy because he will shew mercy thou hast no will but God hath a will and his shewing of mercy depends not on thy wil but upon his owne freewil It is true God will make a man will and break his heart because no man otherwise can be saved but it is as true that Christ will give you brokennesse of heart as well as heaven and salvation I will take away the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh and cause you to walke in my wayes saith the Lord hold this truth in thy soule As there is no worth in the soule that can deserve any thing at Gods hands so there is no sinne the sinne against the holy Ghost only excepted that can hinder the freenes of Gods grace from saving of us if thou belong to him he will hale thee to heaven and pull thee from hell he will make thee lie in the dust and wait for mercy come groveling for his grace and that freely without any thing on thy part Who is a God like to thee saith Micah who pardonest iniquity because mercy doth please thee The Lord sheweth mercy not because thou canst please him but because mercy pleaseth him And in Esay he saith I am he that blotteth out thy offences for my owne names sake But the soule may say Object they were Gods people that did humble themselves and they had hearts to feare him Answ. See that in the twentie fourth verse Thou hast brought me no corne neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifice but thou hast wearied me with thy transgressions yet the Lord saith I am he that pardoneth thy sinnes Thou saiest if thou couldest pray and humble thy selfe there were hope of mercy the text doth not say It is a sinner but it is I a God that must doe it this is the freenes of his grace But some may object Object Is it possible that a man should receive any mercy yet be so stubborne and rebellious This makes way for drunkards to live as they list and yet thinke to goe to heaven Answ. I answer It is true the Lord will pardon thē if they belong to him but he will doe it with a witnesse the Lord will dowze that soule of thine in the veine of his vengeance but he will pardon thee too God will pardon thy sinne in Christ but he will make thee feele the bitternesse of sinne Lastly consider the abundance of mercy and goodnesse that is in God whereby he not only strives with us in the midst of all rebellions but he is more mercifull then we are or can be rebellious this helpes the heart of another thing that cuts it For when the soule seeth all his sinnes for number for nature so many and so abominable he saith Object Can mercy be shewed to such a wretch as I am Answ. Yes for as God is al-sufficient and his promise free so he hath plenty of mercy for the worst he exceeds in mercy all the sinnes that can be except that against the holy Ghost and therefore the soule throwes it selfe upon this the Apostle saith Where sinne abounds grace abounds much more lest any man should say Let us sinne that grace may abound the text saith in another place whose damnation is just This knockes off fingers though a sinfull wretch abuse God and Grace yet mercy will overcome the heart in this case but it will cost him deare though thou turnest the grace of God into wantonnesse the Lord will turne that wantonnesse of thine into bitternesse the Lord will sting that heart of thine one day and make thee see whether it be good to forsake mercy when it is offered it will be easier for Sodome then for thee when thou shalt see a company of poore Sodomites frie in hell howsoever God may bring thee to heaven yet he will make thee frie in hell and he will make thee thinke a Sodomite to be in a better condition for the present then thou art Object But some will say God cannot in justice save such a wretch as I am For answer to this see what Saint Iames saith Mercy rejoyceth or triumpheth over Iustice howsoever Iustice saith he must be plagued yet Mercy saith Christ hath made a plentifull satisfaction for him then mercy triumpheth over judgement so then if God be al-sufficient and his promise free and his mercy superabundant then we may be stirred up to hope for mercy from God our hearts may be supported herein for ever Now I come to some other particulars that are plainly exprest in our text First they made a free and open confession of their sinnes they did not stay till the Apostle went to their houses but they went to him and said Men and brethren you have spoken against the sinne of murder and we confesse we are guilty of this sinne they saw their sinnes and confessed them openly before the Apostles The Doctrine which ariseth from hence is this When the heart is truly broken for sinne it will be content to make open free confession thereof when a man is called thereunto or thus sound contrition brings forth bottome confession Men and brethren What shall we doe to be saved as if they had said the truth is we have heard of the feareful condition of such as have killed the Lord Jesus and we confesse whatsoever you have said he was persecuted by us and blasphemed by us we are they that cryed Cucifie him crucifie him we would have eaten his flesh and made dice of his bones we plotted his death and gloried in it these are our sinnes and haply a thousand more that then they revealed and this is remarkable They goe to Peter and the other Apostles they did not goe to the Scribes and Pharisees and that cursed crew Whence observe this by the way when the soule is thus truly broken generally it will never repaire to such as are carnall and wicked men for these people knew that the Scribes and Pharisees had their hands as deeply imbrued in Christs blood as themselves and besides they knew them to be such naughty packes that they would rather incourage them in their sinnes then any way ease them and recover them from the same therefore they went to the Disciples because they were holy and gratious persons and willing to succour them and it is certaine that soule was never truly broken for sinne
justice but mercy patience will come in and plead for vengeance against the sinner and that will be the forest plague of all When you appeare before God what wil you expect you will call for mercy to save you and for patience to beare with you No no saith Mercy Iustice Lord I have beene despised Iustice saith Patience hath beene abused Iustice saith Goodnesse I have beene wronged And how will it be then when Mercy it selfe shall condēne that soule and Patience shall be an accuser of it and Goodnesse shall call for vengeance against it The third ground Thirdly as we must consider Gods mercy that hath beene abused and the Iustice of God that hath beene provoked So consider the nature of your sinnes and the haynousnesse of them sinne is not a tricke of youth or a matter of merryment but a breach of the Law of God and therefore it is good for a man in this case to examine every commandement of God and the breach thereof Thus I would have the soule well acquainted with the Law You know not your sinnes therefore get you home to the Law and looke into the glasse thereof and then bundle up all your sinnes thus So many sins against God himself in the first commandement against his worship in the second against his name in the third against his Sabbath in the fourth commandement nay all our thoughts words and actions all of them have beene sinnes able to sinke our soules to the bottome of hell bundle up your sinnes lay one upon the heart and another upon the conscience and then it will breake your backes those small infirmities you make nothing of those sinnes you make slight of and make a tricke of youth if you will bestow your minds a little seriously you will see them to be farre otherwise every sinne deserves death The wages of sinne is death not he onely that murthers his neighbour and takes away his life but the malitious man and the proud man deserves death Nay to come nearer the text what if I prove you had a hand in the shedding of the blood of Christ dwell here a little and consider it and you shall see the point cleare If there be any soule here present that hopes to have any part in Christ as if I should goe from man to man and aske have you a part in Christ you will say aye surely I hope so marke what I say thē if thou hopest for any mercy from Christ then Christ was thy surety and bare thy sinnes and those sinnes of thine were the witnesses against our Saviour they were the souldiers that tooke him the thornes that pierced him the speare that gored him the Crosse that tooke away his life The truth is the souldiers and Pilate the Scribes and Pharisees could have done nothing to our Saviour but for thy sinnes had it not beene for thy sinnes had it not beene for the sinnes of the elect the souldiers could not have apprehended him the Pharisees could not have witnessed against him there could have been no Judge to condemne him very well then thy sins caused all this thy wicked thoughts and wicked actions caused our Saviour to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me He sunke under the consideration of thy sinnes and thou goest away and makest a tricke of youth of them and a matter of merryment of loose talke and wicked doings well you had a part in the crucifying of Christ. When you are gone think of this and as you are going home thinke with your selves It was my sinnes that had a part in the shedding of the blood of Christ and when you are at meate let that come into your mind I have had a hand in the crucifying of the Lord Jesus Christ and when you goe to bed thinke of it I am one of those that have embrewed their hands in the blood of the Lord Jesus that Saviour that is now at the right hand of God that hath done so much for his servants that sweat drops of blood those sweates and drops were for thy sinnes and is this a matter of merryment and a tricke of youth in the meane time No no thy soule will finde it otherwise one day unlesse the Lord remove those sinnes of thine those sins will make thee howle in hell fire one day unlesse you be burthened with them here thinke of this I am one of those that by vaine thoughts and prophane actions have crucifyed the Lord of life and if you can make those sinnes a matter of merriment I wonder at it The fourth Ground ariseth from the consideration of the punishment of sinne you must consider what sinne will cost you namely those endlesse torments that cannot be conceived nor prevented and I will leave here to speake of the paines of the wicked I should have said much thereof and come to speake only a little of the last Judgement Me thinkes I see the Lord of heaven and earth and the attributes of God appearing before him the Mercy of God the Goodnesse of God the Wisedome of God the Power of God the Patience and longsuffering of God and they come all to a sinner a wicked hypocrite or a carnall professor and say Bounty hath kept you Patience hath borne with you Longsufferance hath endured you Mercy hath relieved you the Goodnesse of the Lord hath beene great unto you All these comfortable attributes will bid you adue and say farewell damned soule you must goe hence to hell to have fellowship with damned ghosts Mercy shall never be enlarged towards you any more you shal never have Patience any more to beare with you never Goodnesse more to succour you never compassion more to relieve you never power more to strengthen you Nay you that have heretofore withdrawne your selves from Gods wisedome and gospell you shall never have wisedome more to guide you never Gospell more to comfort you never Mercy more to cheare you you shall then goe into endlesse and easelesse torments which can never be ended where you shall never be refreshed never eased never comforted and then you shall remember your sinnes My covetousnesse and pride was the cause of this I may thanke my sinnes for this Thinke of these things I beseech you seriously and see if sinne be good now see if you can take any sweetnesse in it I end all with that of Iob O that my griefe were well weighed and my calamity laid in the ballance for now they would be heavier then the sand of the sea So say I oh that our sins were weighed and our iniquities weighed in the ballance together such mercy have we despised such Justice we have provoked such a Lord of life have we crucifyed such torments have we deserved endlesse easelesse and remedilesse if these were weighed they would be heavyer then the sand and sincke our soules under the consideration of them But then you will say happyly I can thinke of these things and consider of
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
would thinke this man to be in a miserable condition And yet all this is but a beame of Gods indignaâ—tion If the beames of Gods wrath be not hot what is the full sunne of his wrath when it shall sease upon the soule of a sinfull creature in full measure The third consideration is this Nay yet if thou thinkest to lift up thy self above al creatures and to beare more then they all then set before thine eyes the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ he that creats the heavens and upholds the whole frame thereof when the wrath of God came upon him onely as a surety he cries out with his eyes full of teares and his heart full of sorrow and the heavens full of lamentations My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Oh thou poore creature if thou hast the heart of a man gird up the loines of thy mind and see what thou canst doe Doest thou thinke to beare that which the Lord Jesus Christ could not beare with so much sorrow Yet he did indure it without any sinne or weaknesse he had three sippes of the Cuppe and every one of them did sinke his soule and art thou a poore sinfull wretch able to beare the wrath of God for ever Now beloved seeing all objections are answered and the things made plaine labour to do that which you may have comfort in Submit your selves to the good word of the Lord and not only be willing and coâ—tent to be thus enlightned but labour for it that thou maiest prevent the Judgements deserved by the same Now that I may the better prevaile with you consider these three motives first it is the only old way to heaven for God never revealed any other but this way in the old law the only way for the leaper to be cleansed was to come out into the congregation and to cry I am uncleane I am uncleane This leaper was every sinner this meanes of curing was the sight of his sinne and as he did so must every sinner confesse his sin take shame to himselfe and say It is my proud heart and this my loose life c. This true sight of sinne is the only doore to life and salvation who would not goe that way which is the right the ready way if ever you receive mercy at the hands of the Lord it must be by this way or not at all I pray you take heed and doe not find a shorter cut to heaven the further you goe the contrary way the further you must returne back againe this hath cozened many a man more then he doth imagine As a traveller when he is loath to goe through some filthy lane he will breake through the fence and goe through the meadow that he may save the foule way at last when he hath gone up and downe and cannot get out againe he is forced with much losse of time to goe backe againe and goe through the lane So it is with many sinfull wretches in the world and this hath cost them deare They will not goe this way by sorrow for sinne to see the filthinesse thereof and their cursed abominations but they will have a new way to receive mercy comfort from God yet at last they are driven to a stand and then they will heare the minister of God and when he saith Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost that is those poore sinners that saw themselves lost and consider the plagues of their heart And when Christ workes savingly he opens the eye and awakens the conscience and a man must confesse before he can find mercy then the soule saith I never saw this worke upon my soule I was never lost No where broke you over then you would needs to heaven a new way you are like the thorny ground that would receive the word with joy Nay I le assure you you must come backe againe and see all those abominations which have been committed in secret by you and discover them or else there is no meanes to come unto life Let us search try our waies saith the Church you must not thinke that Christ will pardon all and you doe nothing No first see your sinnes and then you shall receive mercy pardon for them Secondly the worke by this meanes will bee much more easie then at another time If thou once get thy conscience convicted and thine eyes opened the worke will goe on clearely and easiâ—y Many of Gods people will strike in with you and many good Christians will pitty you and pray for you and you shall have many helps this way and therefore is it not better now to have your conscience awakened when you may have helpe then afterward when there is no remedy When any of Gods people fast or pray they will remember you what saith one Doe you know such a man yes very well what is he oh he was the most shamelesse drunkard that ever the sun did see or the earth beare Was he so oh but now God hath opened his eyes and awakened his conscience he was never so frolike before but now he is as much wounded now his heart is broken his conscience flies in his face It were good to remember him though he hath beene a wretch and a profest opposer of Gods people yet let us remember him Yes that I will I know his burthen is great I have found it and I hope so long as I have a knee to kneele and a tongue to speake I shal remember him And then they pray for him and say Good Lord who can beare a wounded soule Good Lord thou hast humbled him and made him see himselfe vile and miserable let him see thy mercy in Christ. What a comfort is this to have a whole countrey pray for him in this maner Object But some will object and say This is something dangerous and drives men sometimes to a desperate stand and therefore is it not farre better to be as we are and not to awake this severe Lion A man cannot conjure downe his conscience when it is up once Answ. To this I answere you must see your sinnes that is the truth of it doe not thinke to put it off the Lyon will roare and that conscience will be awakened one day it is better to be awakened now then to have your eyes opened in hell when there is no remedy Thirdly set upon this worke the issue will be very successefull oh what a comfort will it be to a poore soule in the time of death when he shall come to render up his soule into the hands of God that all his sinnes are wiped out And then to heare those glad tidings from heaven Be of good comfort poore soule thou hast seen thy sinnes therefore I will not see them thou hast remembred them and mourned for them therefore I will never plague thee for them Who would not see his sinnes that Christ may cover them in that
hope that it may be otherwise For the Lord holds the soule by a secret vertue to himselfe and drawes the heart to seeke for mercy When the Prodigall child was brought to a desperate strait he beganne to consider what he had done whereas before he said shall I ever be a slave in my fathers familie but at last when all was spent what doth he doe he saith It is true I can looke for no help and favour and I cannot tell whether my Father will receive me or no yet my Fathers servants have bread enough and I shall starve for hunger O wretch that I am I have left a kinde fathers house yet come what will I will home to my father and say Father I have sinned Thus the soule thinkes with it selfe Oh the many sweet and gratious cals that I have had how often hath Christ come home to my heart and desired entrance and yet I shut the doore upon him shall I now goe home to the Lord Jâ—sus Christ How justly may he reject me that have rejected him he may damne me and yet he may save me therefore I will wait upon him for mercy thus the soule will not off from God but it hath a secret hope wherewith the Lord keepes the heart to himselfe The first reason is because unlesse the Lord should leave this hope in the heart it would utterly be overthrowne with despaire You that make nothing of your loose thoughts and vaine speeches I tell you if God did set but one sinfull thought upon thy heart thy soule would sinke under it the Lords wrath would drive thee to marvelous desperation were it not that the Lord doth uphold thee with one hand as he beats thee downe with the other I say it were impossible but the soule should despaire as the proverb is But for hope the heart would breake Who can stand under the Almighty hand of God unlesse he doth uphold him God hath broken off the sinner by this sorrow but he will not throw him to hell As the gardiner cuts off a graft to plant it into a new stocke not to burne it So the Lord cuts off a sinner from all abomination but he wil not cast him into hell and the Lord melts the heart of a poore sinner but consumes him not but as the goldsmith melts his gold not to consume it all away but to make it a better vessel So the Lord melts a poore sinner to make him a vessell of glory the Lord will fire those proud hearts of yours and clip off those knotty lusts but if you belong to him he will leave a little remainder of hope that you shall be formed and fashioned not consumed It is the argument of the Lord by the Prophet He will come and dwell with and refresh the broken soule and he will not contend for ever lest the Spirit should faile before him If the Lord should let in but one scattering shot of his vengeance into the heart it were enough to drive the soule to despaire but God will lay no more upon us then will doe good to us Secondly if the Lord did not leave this hope in the heart a mans indeavours in the use of the meanes would be altogether killed if there be no hope of good then there is no care of using the meanes whereby any good may be obtained Good is the loadstone of all our endeavors a man will not labour for nothing therefore despaire killes a mans labours and pluckes up the root of all his indeavours If there be any good present hope makes us labour to encrease it if any good be to come hope labours to attaine it But good there must be So hope provokes the soule to use the meanes and to say I am a damned man but if there be any hope I will pray and heare and fast who knowes but God may shew mercy to my poore soule Now gather up all if without this secret hope the heart would faile and if without it a mans indeavours would be utterly crusht and come to nothing then it is no wonder that the Lord in his infinite mercy and wisedome when he will doe good to the soule leaveth some secret hope of mercy First we may here take notice of the marvelous tenderness and the loving nature of God in dealing with poore sinners that in al his courses of justice remembers some mercy and in all the potion of his wrath still he drops in some cordials of comfort he deales not with us as he might but so as might be most comfortable every way and usefull to worke upon our hearts to draw our soules home unto himself Should the Lord come out against a poore sinner and in his wrath let fly against him his soule would sinke downe under him but blessed be God that he doth not deale with our hearts as we deserve if he were as rigorous against us as we have beene rebellious against him we should sinke in sorrow and fall into despaire never to be recovered any more But as the Lord batters us so he releeves us as we may see in Saul he had gotten letters to Damascus and now he hoped being generall of the field to bind and to imprison all and he would not spare the poore Christians a jot but Christ meets him in the field threw him downe and might have killed him too but the Lord desired rather that he might be humbled then confounded I cannot read that ever he shewed his letters but layed all flat downe before the Lord and so was accepted the Lord shewed him his misery yet he lets him not perish there but gives him a little crevise of comfort When the Lord dealt with the children of Israel he said I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse and there I will give her the valley of Achor for the doore of hope When Achan was stoned for stealing the wedge of gold the Israelites called it the valley of Achor and so it is called to this day The valley of Achor is the valley of trouble of stoning or consternation so the Lord doth here he draweth the soule into the wildernesse of sorrow for sinne but doth he leave the soule there no there is the doore of hope also and there the soule shall sing as in former times And hereupon the soule saith there is some hope that God will do good unto me for all this there is hope the Lord is melting me to make me a vessel of glory that 's a gloomy night when there is neither moone nor candle to be seen so though the soule be marvelous gloomy and heavy yet there is some crevise of light and consolation let into the heart still chearing and refreshing it the Lord knowes what metall we are made of and remembers that we are but dust therefore he so corrects us that he may leave an inkling of mercy and favour in our hearts O therefore
hides his sinne take heed that God say not Amen when thou art going the way of all flesh Then thou wilt cry for mercy but then the Lord will say remember that impostumed heart of thine might have been launced and cured but thou wouldest needs keepe thy lusts and corruptions still For the Lord Jesus Christs sake now pitty your selves if you desire your everlasting comfort now take shame to your selves that you may be for ever glorified O now launce those proud rebellious hearts of yours that you may finde some ease teare now in pieces those wretched hearts that the coare being let out the cure may be good sound Secondly this reproves the cunning hypocrit howsoever he is content to be ashamed for his sinne and to shew the foulnesse of it yet it is admirable to consider what sly passages and trickes he will have before he comes to open any thing sometimes he sends for a faithfull minister and it is his entendment to confesse his folly and yet he goes backe againe and confesseth nothing at all but if the Lord follow the close hearted hypocrit and let in some more of his indignation and make his wrath to seaze upon his soule then he sets downe a resolution to confesse all and yet there is such dawbing such secret acknowledgment of sinne it stickes in his teeth something he will say that may be every man can say against him and then he speakes of hardnesse of heart and of wandering thoughts and that which even the best of Gods people are troubled withall but he never comes to those sinfull lusts that lie heavyest upon his soule If a man that is sicke have a foule stomacke but yet is unfit to vomit it may be he casts the uppermost up but the spawne of it remaines so it is with the hypocrite he saith something and now and then a word fals from him he would faine bite it in againe if he could but there is a witnesse within that must not be seene When Rachel had stolne her Father Labans Idolls he followed after Iacob for them and searched among the stuffe but Rachel being something foolishly addicted that way sate still upon them and Laban must not search there So it is with the close hearted hypocrite he is content to confesse that which all the world cryes shame of him for but there is some Idoll lust as secret uncleannes or private theft that he will not confesse Now for the terrour of all such gracelesse persons I desire to discover two things in the point First that this is a marvelous fearfull sinne Secondly it is a dangerous sinne First me thinkes the sinne it selfe is like the sinne of Ananias and Saphyra hee sold all that he had and as the Lord moved him and commanded him he gave way to it that it should be given to the poore But when it was sold he kept backe one part of it and when Peter said Did you sell it for so much Is this all the price Yes saith he Now mark what Peter saith Why hath Satan filled thy heart that thou hast not lyed to man but to God Satan many times steps into the heart but when he is said to fill the heart he shuts out the worke of judgement and reason and the Word and Spirit and all good Resolutions in those particular occasions which concerne a man As if Sathan should say Knowledge shall not direct him the Spirit shall not perswade him the word shall not prevaile with his heart but I will take possession of him in despite of all these this is Sathans filling of the heart Thus it is with the Hypocrite his conscience is awakened and saith Thou must confesse thy sinnes or else thou shalt be damned for them the word commands thee and the Spirit perswades thee to confesse thy sinne and hereupon thou saist This is my condition and there is no ease nor comfort to be had in private means and therefore I must goe to some faithfull Minister and reveale my selfe to him and when thou hast done thou keepest backe halfe from him and thou lyest against Conscience the Word and Spirit and all and when the Minister saith Is this the bottome of thy sinne Diddest thou not commit such and such a sinne Oh! no I was never guilty of any such matter and yet thou lyest Marke what I say this is to have Satan fill thy heart thou givest up thy heart into the possession of the Devill Knowledge directs thee not the Spirit perswades not and the Word prevailes not but the Devill crowds into every corner of thy heart and thou wilt cover thy sins and so perish for them everlastingly But secondly as the sinne is vile and odious so it is as dangerous Hee that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper saith the Wiseman Howsoever thy heart may be still for a while yet thou shalt not prosper in thy Family nor in the Word and Sacraments but all meanes are accursed to thee thou shalt receive no mercy at all hee that confesseth and forsaketh his sinnes shall finde mercy but he that confesseth not his sinnes shall not finde mercy As wee use to have a neast egge to breed upon so it is the Devils cunning to leave a neast egge some bosome lust or other in thy soule and the Devill sits upon this same as upon a neast egge and when the Devill is cast out by a slight overly confession of your sinnes yet there is some secret lust still left in the heart and that will breed a thousand abominations more in you For I beseech you take notice of this the Devill returnes and brings seven Devils more then himselfe and he hatcheth seven times more uncleannesses then there was before therefore as you desire that Satan may not fill your hearts and as you desire to have any meanes blessed to you come off kindly and currantly eyther not confesse at all or else confesse currantly that you may finde mercy in the time of need The second Use is for Instruction to shew us that a broken hearted sinner is easily convicted of his sinnes and willing to under-goe any reproofe hee that will confesse his sinnes freely of himselfe will easily yeeld when hee is called upon to doe it If the word lay any thing to his charge he will not deny it a man need not bring any witnesses against him he will never seeke to cover his sinne but if any occasionall passage of speech come that may discover his sinne he takes it presently and yeelds to it and saith I am the man I confesse this is my sinne and my folly he doth not fence his heart against the truth To whom shall I looke saith God even to a man that hath a contrite heart and trembles at my word this is the root and this is the fruit the heart must be contrite and broken by the hammer of Gods Law before it can shake at the hearing of the word A