is a free and full discharge from sin and the punishment thereof without any satisfaction on our part and this God doth when he is content for Christs sake not to impute sin unto us but to account it as not committed and the punishment as not due unto us being fully and freely contented with the All-sufficient satisfaction made by Christ in his Death and Passion Vs who are grievous sinners and are for ever forlorn without this mercy Vs that by faith do believe our sins are pardoned helping us against doubting and confirming our faith Vs who believe continuing to us this thy grace unto the end whereby we may daily have sin expiated and done away as by our weakness we are daily prone to sin Our Trespasses that is The infinite sins which proceed properly and naturally from us as from a most corrupt fountain and are no way to be imputed to thy Majesty as the Author thereof or to Fate or Constellation or to the Devil onely though he seeketh to bring us thereto for every man is drawn away by his own concupiscence Jam. 1.14 As we forgive c. This is the condition upon which we desire mercy at the Lords hands which chiefly consists in the reconciliation of the minde for though we demand satisfaction where there is ability yet remitting the malice the Lord requireth no more at our hands unless in the case of extreme poverty so that a Trespasser may be forgiven and yet lawful satisfaction required and a Debt may be forgiven and yet the Condition here set down not performed viz. if the minde be not reconciled but continueth still offended Now though a trespass be forgiven by man yet may it be retained before God and though not forgiven by man yet may it be by God upon the unfained humiliation and repentance of the Trespasser And although this forgiving of others is set as a condition required that we may be forgiven yet it is not for our forgiving of others that God will forgive us but this condition is put to teach us That when we come to God in prayer we should not come in wrath or hatred against other men or with a desire of revenge for this is contrary to the good Spirit of Prayer So then we must here observe That our forgiving of others is not a cause of our forgiveness but one effect of our Justification and a token of the Image of God in us For this condition imports That we must exercise mercy towards our brethren and so break off the course of our sins if we look for mercy at Gods hands for the words in this Petition are comparative betokening a likeness and similitude between Gods forgiving and ours which must be rightly understood because our forgiveness is mingled with much corruption through want of mercy and therefore we must not understand it of the measure of forgiveness nor yet of the maner simply but especially of the very act of forgiving And the force of the Reason stands thus If we who have but a drop of mercy forgive others then do thou who art the Fountain of Mercy forgive us Understand further That a man forgives a trespass onely as it is a damage unto man but as it is a sin against God in the transgression of the Moral Law so God onely pardons it These words thus understood must be conceived as a Reason drawn not from the cause or like example but from the sign or pledge of Gods forgiveness for God hath made a Promise to forgive us if we forgive our brethren their trespasses Mat. 11.25 Lastly the order of this Petition followeth That wherein we crave the needful good things of this life teaching that the main hindrance thereof is sin which till it be removed hindreth that we cannot enjoy the good we desire nor be freed from the evil we decline and that by having our daily bread we should lift up our mindes for Spiritual blessings unto God Luke 11.13 and that it is nothing at all to have our daily bread unless God give us also the pardon of our sins In this Petition we pray 1. That God would forgive us all our sins in thought word and deed both Actual and Original 2. That he would remit unto us the punishment that is due unto us for sin both here and hereafter In this Petition Christ willeth 1. That we acknowledge our sins 2. That we thirst earnestly after the remission of our sins 3. That our faith be exercised because this Petition confirmeth our faith yea and floweth from faith For what Reasons we are to pray for remission of sins viz. 1. That we may be saved because without remission of sins we cannot be saved for it is the very nature of sin to hinder us from all good things here Lev. 26. and of Gods Kingdom hereafter Psal 15.2 3. Rev. 21. 2. That we may be put in remembrance of the remnants of sin which are even in the holiest men and that to this end that Repentance may evermore encrease 3. That we may desire and receive the blessings prayed for in the former Petitions 4. That Gods goodness may be manifested and we moved to meditate of his infinite mercy to man when even the Angelâ— that sinned he spared not 2 Pet. 2. and also assured that though 〈◊〉 by sin forget to perform the obedience of Sons yet God still 〈◊〉 the compassion of a Father How sins are said to be discharged 1. When they are discharged by the person which coâ—â—itted them so the devils and damned discharge their debts by suffering Mat. 18.34 25.41 2. When they are paid by another and so are our sins discharg'd by Christ Gal. 3.14 which satisfaction may be called forgiveness in a threefold respect 1. In respect of us who nâ—ther do nor can confer any thing to this satisfaction Luk. 17.10 2. In regard of Christ who alone doth forgive them Mat. 9.2 and we no way are able to requite him Psal 103.1 3. In respect of God the Father who in love giveth his Son and accepteth his obedience as our satisfaction Joh. 3.16 From these words Forgive us we may learn 1. That as we sue for our own pardon so must we with the â—â—ints sue for others Exod. 38.32 2. That we must be sorry when men do sin Psal 119.136 3. That we may not uncharitably discover mens sins Gal. 6.1 2. 4. That we must not cause any man to sin Prov. 7.18 Gen. 39.8 5. That we must not delight in any sin Psal 119.104 6. That we must forgive our brethren Gen. 50.21 There are three kindes of debts in sin viz. 1. A debt of Obedience which we owe to God but have not paid it through our transgression of the Law Gen. 2.17 3.6 2. debt of Punishment because we have transgressed Rom. 6.23 3. A debt of Purity which we owe by reason of our corruption after our transgression Rom. 8.12 And against all these debts we must seek that we may get
our discharge in this life that we be not tormented in the life to come The Reasons why sin is called a Debt to man 1. Because we owe love which is thereby broken Rom. 13.8 2. Because we owe punishment for doing wrong Judg. 1.8 3. Because we owe satisfaction for the wrong done Lev. 6.4 These words As we forgive our debtors are added for these Reasons 1. That we may rightly desire remission of sins that is with faith and repentance a sign and token whereof is the love of our Neighbor 2. That when we finde in our selves true faith and repentance we may so have a certain argument and comfort in us that we are of the number of them to whom remission of sins is promised and that therefore we shall doubtless obtain the same All offences that are done to us of others may be reduced to these three Heads 1. Such as do onely displease us but bring no loss or hurt to us 2. Small injuries such as do not onely displease us but withal bring some little hurt to us either in our life goods or good-name 3. Greater injuries such as are not onely offensive to our persons but withal do prejudice our life and bring a ruine upon our estates both in goods and good-name The forgiveness between man and man is fourfold viz. 1. Of Revenge that is when we requite not evil for evil either by thought word or deed This belongeth to all men 2. Of private Punishments when men return not punishments for injuries done by way of requital though we cannot forgive wholly and perfectly yet we may truly and sincerely 3. Of Judgement when we judge not an injury done to be an injury 4. Of Satisfaction when it is due for some hurt done Now man is said to forgive man when he doth pardon either the wrong done Gen. 50.21 or the punishment appointed for the wrong 2 Sam. 19.23 or the satisfaction which the offender is bound to make Luke 7.4 or all of them as occasion is offered Mat. 18.32 The conditional words of this Petition are useful to us many ways viz. 1. To inform us that asking of pardon and testimony of Repentance go together he that receives the one must express the other for where God gives pardon there also he gives grace to repent and mercy is not granted but on condition of repentance Acts 2.37 38. 2. To teach us to forgive our brethren every day to renew our repentance and to humble our selves and to let us know That we are bound to forgive all persons Gol. 3.12 all sins Prov. 10. and at all times Mat. 17.22 when men offend us and that fully 3. To afford us a notable sign of pardon of sin namely our forgiving of and mercy to our brethren 4. To admonish us to beware of the common sin of this Age which is desire of revenge spite and grudging for if we forgive not we pray in effect that God would not forgive us yea we curse our selves 5. To discover unto us the gross hypocrisie of our Nature for so oft as we make this Petition we make profession of reformation of life in new obedience for this one branch of brotherly Reconciliation here professed doth presuppose our Conversion from all sin since true Repentance for one sin cannot stand with a purpose to live in any other 6. To stir us up to hunger after love mercy gentleness meekness and to endeavor to practice the same continually living in peace 2 Cor. 13.11 laboring to make peace Mat. 5.9 and shewing all tokens of love to our adversaries that they may assure themselves we have wholly forgiven them 7. To shew us the way how to keep true peace of conscience for ever for when we are at one with God and man we have a blessed peace and this is by calling upon God for the pardon of our sins every day and by following after peace with men in the practice of forgiveness and reconciliation which is never sincere without repentance 8. To acquaint us That no man living in malice can say the Lords Prayer as he ought to do Mat. 5.24 and that is a sign of grace to forgive Mat. 17.32 9. To exclude from pardon all such as persecute the Saints of God till they repent and practice as they pray in this Petition By this Petition we are taught 1. To bewail our carnal security going on from day to day in sin without thought of the debt thereby 2. To relye and settle our hearts in all estates in affliction temptation and death it self on the meer mercy of God in Christ by faith in his Blood for the pardon of our sins 3. Not to lie down in the sins we daily commit but renew our estate by true humiliation and repentance which consists in daily examination confession contrition supplication and conversion 4. To use this Petition as a remedy against despair which must not embolden any to sin presumptuously for the Lord hath said he will not be merciful to that man Deut. 29.19 5. That no man possibly can fulfil the Law for the Apostles themselves were commanded to ask pardon for sin every day whereby it is plain they could not fulfil the Law much less can we 6. In all godly maner to endeavor after what we pray for for it is gross also hypocrisie daily to ask the pardon of sin and still to continue in the daily practice thereof 7. Not onely to pray for the pardon of our own sins but of our brethrens also whereby we are taught that the good estate of their souls should be dear and precious to us In the Supplication of this Petition we pray for what soever tendeth to the forgiveness of our sins as 1. The knowledge of our sins without which the tongue may pray for pardon but the heart cannot Thus many poor and miserable souls ignorantly deceive themselves 2. Grace to acknowledge our sins for he that hides them shall not prosper Prov. 28.13 and all that know them do not confess them or else some way justifie themselves 3. Grace to be truly humbled for sin and that in the sense of Gods curse due for it else we are still in our sins and cannot pray to speed 4. Justification through the death and blood-shedding of Christ Rom. 4.25 That Christs righteousness may be made ours and our sins laid upon him for his mercies sake 5. Love and charity towards our brethren that God would give us a heart to be reconciled to them pardoning their offences against us The Deprecation of this Petition is against all things that may shut up Gods mercy and goodness from us as 1. Blindeness of minde and ignorance of our inward estate which is through ignorance of the Law 2. Hardness of heart which keepeth from repentance 3. Despair of Gods mercy and goodness which driveth from God to the Devil 4. Presumption which is the promising of happiness to ones self on false ground 5. Continuance in sin and the least opinion of
same 2. By the rightly pacified Conscience which is done by Faith in the heart And the Peace here meant is such a Peace as cometh after War after conflicts for sin after knowledge of Gods displeasure with thee after the sense hereof and after all this a knowledge of Reconciliation again Now many in an evil estate live and dye peaceably but deceive not thy self that is onely because they were never acquainted with the Doctrine of Justification and Sanctification because they never saw the danger for to be sure that I am free from a danger and not to know a danger is all one and doth breed a like confidence and security Thus as it is a great mercy to have a true and sound Peace so to have a Peace not well grounded and bottom'd is the most dangerous Judgement in the world That thou mayest therefore the better judge whether thou hast this Sign of the forgiveness of thy sin know That this Peace is threefold 1. With God properly called Reconciliation God in Christ at one with Man Man through Christ at one with God 2. With our selves when the conscience sanctified ceaseth to accuse and the affections subject themselves to the enlightened minde 3. With our Christian Brethren Arguments to perswade us of the forgivenes of our sins if we come unto Christ 1. By the Scripture-expressions so frequently ratifying this Truth 2. By Christs Practice when he was on earth 3. Otherwise Christs Blood should be shed in vain 4. By the Example of others pardoned 5. Else no flesh should be saved 6. God should not else be worshipped and served 7. By the infiniteness of Gods Mercy The universality of Gods Promises touching the forgiveness of sins is threefold 1. Without exception of Time for At what time soever a sinner shall repent him of his sins I will put away his iniquity saith the Lord. 2. Without exception of sins for Albeit your sins were as scarlet they shall be made as white as snow Isa 1. 3. Without exception of person for Whosoever shall depart from his wicked ways and turn unto God he will receive him The Duties to be performed of us in believing the forgiveness of sins to the faithful viz. 1. To pray unto God earnestly every day above all things of this world for the pardon of our sins because this is so great and wonderful a grace 2. To love the Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ with all our hearts and with all our might because God is the Author of this great grace Christ Jesus hath merited the same for us 3. To break off all our sins by Righteousness and not continue any longer therein because we have been enough endangered through sin and are still in the same danger if we continue in it 4. Not to have in any account the Popes Indulgence for sins but to abhor his Blasphemous Pardon for them seeing this is in Gods power onely Four Grounds of possibility of Pardon be the sin never so great 1. That the Mercy of God is infinite yea above all his Works 2. Men of years living in the Church of God and knowing the Doctrine of Salvation shall not be condemned simply for their sins but for continuing and lying in them 3. It pleaseth God many times to leave men to themselves and to suffer them to commit some sin that woundeth Conscience but yet we may not hence think that he is the Author thereof but our own depraved Nature 4. The Promises of God touching Remission of sins and life eternal in respect of Believers are general and in regard of all and every man indefinite This Doctrine of forgiveness of sins doth teach us 1. To acknowledge our selves before God to be grievous sinners to have godly sorrow for them and to seek pardon by daily Prayer for the forgiveness of them 2. To have a circumspect care and fear not to offend God at any time yea a most earnest desire to please him better then we have done Psal 103.3 4. Joh. 5.14 3. To return all praise and thankfulness to God for this so infinite Mercy which appeareth in nothing more then in the forgiveness of our sins 4. To shew back again our love toward our heavenly Father according to the measure of his love towards us the greater sins he hath pardoned the greater love should be returned 5. That the receiving of this Mercy from God must work in us mercy towards our brethren Luke 6.36 Eph. 4.32 Col. 3.13 The sum of this Article may be this Remission of sin is Gods Will not imputing to the Elect to all of them and to them onely their sins but Christs Righteousness which Remission of sins is the work of all three Persons of the Deity granted for Christs Intercession and Merit but freely in respect of us and is received by Faith through the working of the Holy Ghost upon our Conversion and Repentance You that are skill'd in Physiognomy Have ye observ'd in men Condemn'd to dye How to the life they do resemble Death Or 's if they liv'd by Artificial breath But travelling to their Execution say A Pardon overtakes them in the way How then the Scene is alter'd they survive Themselves and seem to be now twice alive Draw the Curtain Reade The Gospel saith The Pardon 's seal'd and it is ours by Faith §. 12. The Resurrection of the Body THe Resurrection of the Flesh is a restoring of the substance of our Bodies after Death even of the same matter whereof they now consist and a reviving and quickning of the same bodies with life incorruptible by the same Immortal Soul whereby they now live which God will work by Christ in the end of the world by his Divine Vertue and Power which restoring also shall be of the Elect unto the Eternal Glory of God but of the Reprobate unto Eternal Pains Thus although the body after death lie rotting in the Grave yet at the last day it shall be raised again by Gods great Power and being joyned to the Soul shall stand before Gods Judgement Seat to give account of all it hath done whether good or evil and be rewarded accordingly When Christ as Man for thus onely he can remove from place to place his Godhead ever filling all places shall come down visibly and openly with great Glory and Troops of Angels about him to Judge those that shall be then living for the world shall be full of people even to the hour of his coming and then the Dead being raised out of their Graves even all from the first Adam shall be joyned with the living who shall onely in stead of dying be changed and thus all people together of all Countreys and Nations shall be presented before his Tribunal to receive Sentence according to the Equity yea and Justice of his Gospel whether of Absolution to pass into the Kingdom of his Father or of Condemnation into the Kingdom of Hell with the Devil and his Angels for ever Now though amongst those
whereof are not quite extinct in us by sin for every man thinks reverently of God by Nature 3. At the first conceiving of them the party is smitten with an extraordinary fear his flesh is troubled and oftentimes sickness and faintings do follow Unclean thoughts which have their residence in the minde of man are of two sorts viz. 1. Inward and such as have their Original from the flesh and arise of the corruption of mans Nature though stirred up by the Devil These at the very first conceiving are our sins though they have no long abode in the heart 2. Outward and are such as have relation to an outward cause or beginning Of which sort are those evil thoughts that are conveyed into the minde by the Devil and if we take no pleasure in them nor yield consent unto them they are not to be accounted our sins but the Devils by whom they were suggested Divers are the kindes of wicked Thoughts These three are the most common viz. 1. Voluptuous set upon Vanities Pleasures Delights Sports and such like 2. Ambitious set upon Pride aspiring after Honor who shall be greatest 3. Malicious enviously bent towards others seeking to do Mischief The Conditions required in Wishing Evil against others that our Thoughts may not be evil viz. 1. All Imprecations or evil Wishings which are made absolutely without some Prophesie or special Revelation are Sins 2. They must be done without private hatred and desire of Revenge 3. They must be done in respect of Gods glory onely and the preservation of the true Church 4. We must not imprecate or wish evil as it is an evil as it is the Destruction of them against whom we wish it Two special Rules to guard and keep the heart safe from evil thoughts 1. That the Word of God dwell plentifully in us by daily meditation of the Commandments Promises and Threatnings revealed in the same 2. To establish our Thoughts by counsel Prov. 20.18 that is not once to think or conceive so much as a thought but upon advice and direction taken at God and his Word This Rule we must practice in the use of our Senses Speeches and Actions Can man be when the Heart gives not consent Guilly the Breach of this Commandment 'T is so for since our Parents fell we all Are subject to this Sin Original â—et so as first we must take pleasure in This new conceived Embryo of Sin â—r if we hate the Thought strive to reject The Motions that do on our Hearts reflect The Sin is Satans and not ours for we Not tickled with this thought of Sin are free CHAP. VI. Of Gods Love to Man of Election Creation Redemption Vocation Justification Sanctification Adoption Regeneration Conversion from Sin to Good Works Repentance and New-Obedience I. THe greatest Evidence of Gods Love that could be given consisteth in the Forgiveness of Sin which is well known to all that know the end of Christs coming which was to save Sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 and the extent of this Love of God reacheth to all Sins except that against the Holy Ghost which neither is unremissable in its own nature as it is sin but as the party so sinning is uncapable of Repentance and consequently of Mercy so that there is no sin that excepted but cometh within the compass of Gods Mercy and Pardon upon Repentance The Reason is because the Mercy of God is greater then all sins whatsoever and the Sacrifice of Christ is a sufficient Price of Redemption for all his blood cleanseth from all sin 1 Joh. 1.7 From this extent of Gods Love it may be well inferred That Mans destruction is of himself either because he maliciously despights the Spirit of Grace or wilfully rejects the offer of Pardon In the order of Redemption God hath made mans sin pardonable but man by his impenitency makes it not to be pardoned for God excludeth none from the participation of his Mercy his Pardon being offered to all which yet must be understood of Gods outward Dispensation and Manifestation of his Mercy by the Ministery of the Word wherein no difference is made betwixt persons nor exemption of any So as it calleth not into question the Secret Counsel and Eternal Decree of God Again it must be known That it is to be referred to the several degrees sorts and conditions of men betwixt which God maketh no difference as Honorable Mean Rich Poor Learned Unlearned Old Yong Free Bond Male Female Magistrate Subject c. Lastly it is to be applied to the All sufficiency of Christs Sacrifice which is available to take away the sins of the most notorious sinners that can be as well as any other sinners Gods love to Man appears both 1. In this life 1. Before the Fall in making us after his own Image 2. After the Fall by repairing his Image again in us which we had lost 2. In the World to come by crowning us with Immortality for the Goodness of God endureth for ever Psal 103.17 Gods love to Man opened in the Scripture by these degrees viz. 1. God hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33.11 2. That he deferreth mitigateth and taketh away punishments inviting all men to Repentance 3. That he debaseth himself to relieve our infirmities by his Spirit Word Sacraments and Miracles 4. That he embraceth with singular love his Chosen so that he saveth and delivereth them for ever from sin and all Evils and comforteth all in Afflictions Rev. 7.21 5. That he chose rather to bring to pass this our Delivery even by the Incarnation and Death of his onely begotten Son then that all Mankinde should perish Joh. 3. 6. That he promiseth and performeth all those things of his own free goodness Exod. 34.19 7. That he doth those things towards sinners not onely unworthy of them but even his Enemies Rom. 5.10 Two things which highly commend Gods love viz. 1. The Freeness of his Grace which is every way so free that the Goodness which he sheweth to his creature is altogether of himself and from himself Joh. 3.16 Rom. 5.10 when there was none to mediate for us Gen. 3.15 God offered Grace and freely gave his Son to be a Mediator This is to be opposed against mans unworthiness 2. The Riches of his Mercy which are unutterable unconceiveable according to Gods Greatness so is his Mercy Infinite and reacheth above the Heavens so as he may be said to be Rich in Mercy Eph. 2.4 Abundant in Goodness Exod. 34.6 This is to be opposed to the Multitude and the Heinousness of our Sins God is Rich in Love and Mercy to Man divers ways viz. 1. Because he doth perform more effects of his Love in regard of himself then we have need of or our misery require for to the Remission of sins a simple Pardon had been sufficient but hereto he addes the gift of his Son by his death to satisfie for us by his
God Levit. 18.24 Ezek. 20.18 Matth 15.19 20. Jam. 1.21 Zeph. 3.1 Rev. 21.27 It is compared to an unclean cloth Isa 64.6 to the Blood of pollution Ezek. 16.6 Levit. 15.19 It polluteth and prophaneth the actions of greatest Devotion in the Service of God Hag. 2.13 It defileth the Land and places where sinners are conversant Lev. 18.24 25. And as the Dropsie man the more he drinks the dryer he is and the more he still desires to drink So a sinner the more he sins the apter he is to sin and the more desirous to keep still in a course of wickedness Custom in sinning breeds hardness of heart Hardness of heart brings Impenitency and Impenitency Condemnation that men of years living in the Church are not simply condemned for their particular sins but their continuance and residence in them and though every sin be mortal yet are not all equally mortal but some more some less nor do sins committed utterly take away Grace but rather sometimes do make it the more to shine and shew it self Thus can God turn every thing to the best to those that are his yea so as we may say we gained by Adams Fall whence descended unto us that Original Sin which the Papists say is not Sin properly so called but onely because this Original Corruption in all men at their conception is an occasion or cause of Sin but as for the Sin it self which was in this corruption of Nature they say it was taken away by Christ Rom. 5.18 And herein the Anabaptists agree with the Papists for they also hold that Original Sin was taken away by Christ yet David as righteous man as any Anabaptist or Papist confessed that he was conceived in sin and born in iniquity Psal 51.5 For Christ taketh not Sin away but as he saveth viz. from all such as truly believe in him to whom it is no more imputed Nor is God as some blasphemously imagine the Author of Adams Fall for the unchangeable Decree and Will of God takes not away the liberty of mans Will or of Second Causes but onely enclineth and ordereth the same as the first and highest Cause So that Gods Decree went before Adams Fall onely as an Antecedent not as a Cause thereof and though Adam fell not without Gods general permissive Will yet without his special approving Will and he having full power and liberty to stand God can no way be said to be the Author of his Fall nor consequently of Sin And now when man is punished for Sin other Creatures suffer with him though had not man faln it had been otherwise but now as Instruments of evil man oftentimes doth horribly abuse them to the dishonor of the Creator therefore do the Creatures groan as weary of wicked men and yet to this ungrateful Creature Man doth the Goodness and Mercy of God appear infinite like himself in that the Air doth still yield man breath and not poyson him in that the Water so variously accommodates him and not drowns him that the Fire comforts and not consumes him that the Earth bears and sustains him and not through drought prove barren parch up and cleave asunder to swallow him that his Food doth nourish and not choak him that Death doth spare and not strike yea that Hell is conquered for him O the depth the depth the depth of the Goodness of God to this faln restored yet ungrateful Creature Man yea there had not been any such thing at all as Death had not man disobeyed for God made not Death in the beginning nor should it have been except of our selves for it ensued on the voluntary Sin of man God forcibly inflicting it as a most just Punishment and the present Punishments of this life are but the beginning of Everlasting because they are not sufficient here to satisfie Gods Justice and though God doth not so punish the sins of the godly yet is not his Justice impeached thereby because he punished them in Christ with a punishment Temporal yet equivalent to Everlasting which equability doth the Gospel adde unto the rigor and severity of the Law Now the Judgements of God are not onely Punishments to the Sufferers and Offenders but also Documents and Instructions to all others that behold them know them and hear them they are as Sermons to Repentance for this very end and purpose he worketh them and therefore they must be Instructions to us to avoid the occasion of them which is Sin The Sin against the Holy Ghost is when any after that he hath by the Holy Ghost been lightned with the knowledge of the Truth of the Gospel doth stand against that Truth not for fear or through infirmity but on wilful Malice for this Sin is a spightful resistance of the Gospel against the knowledge and light of Conscience after the Spirit hath perswaded the heart of the Truth and Benefit thereof and when a man sinneth out of malice and spight against God himself and Christ Jesus which is not every sin of Presumption or against Knowledge and Conscience but such a kinde of presumptuous Offence in which true Religion is renounced and that of set purpose and resolved malice against the very Majesty of God himself and Christ Heb. 10.29 This Sin against the Holy Ghost is said to be unpardonable not that it exceedeth or surmounteth the greatness of the Merit of Christ but because he that commits it is punished with a final Blindeness and without Repentance there is granted no Remission of Sins neither is it unpardonable because it is greater then Gods Mercy or as Cain thought Greater then can be pardoned Gen. 4.13 but because the heart of him who committeth it is uncapable of Mercy As if a ventless Vessel be cast into the Sea it cannot take in one drop of water not because there is not water enough in the Sea to fill it but because it had never a vent to receive water In every Sin these four things are to be considered viz. 1. The Fault whereby God is offended in the Action which is the Root of all the rest 2. The Guilt whereby the Conscience is bound over unto Punishment 3. The Punishment it self which is eternal Death the wages of Sin 4. A certain Stain or Blot which it imprints and leaves in the offender The Seat of Sin in man is threefold viz. 1. Reason whereof Some are of Knowledge Others of Ignorance 2. The Will whereof Some are from the Will immediately Others are somewhat beside the Will Some are mixed partly with the Will partly against it 3. Affection whereof Some are of Infirmity Others of Presumption In respect of the Law Sin is twofold viz. 1. Of Commission but if we carry a constant purpose not to sin and endeavor to resist all Temptations our Concupiscence will not be imputed to us 2. Of Omission which obliges us to Punishment as much as Sin of Commission Again Sins are either 1. Immediately against God as all the Breaches of the First
seasoned with some taste of his Wrath and Indignation This indeed is the true Tryal of our Faith even when above and against Reason we relie on the Mercy of God in the Apprehension of his Anger In which time of Temptation men are unfit Judges of themselves and of their condition how it stands between God and their Souls even the faithful themselves at such time may cry out and complain as if they were without both Faith and feeling of any favor of God who yet even then is not absent from them neither hath forgotten them The hour of Temptation with the Faithful is the time of winter wherein their Faith and Graces seem as it were benumm'd but when the Rejoycing Beams of the Sun of Righteousness break forth dissipate and chase away from the poor bemisted Soul the thick cloud of false and forged Suggestions his Faith appears the spring of Graces approacheth they shew forth by lively effects That they still retained life and were not dead to the present operation of unspeakable comfort in the late clouded Soul In such Distresses let no man think the Weight of his sins can over-ballance the Merit of his Savior The Celestial Lights may suffer Eclipses and we must walk by Faith not by Feeling Now the true Application of Life Everlasting promised in and by the Blood of Christ is the general Remedy for all Distresses But note That the distressed in minde are not fit for comfort till they be humbled for their sins for till then the Word of God is misapplied and so abused Despair is a sin whereby a man makes shipwrack of all Hope of the Mercy of God in Christ arising from a false consideration of his sins which he hath committed or the good which he hath omitted with a perswasion that God is neither able nor willing to forgive him Thus the Desperate man believeth not that God is either good true faithful or powerful he may indeed have some conceit that he is so in general but that he is so to him in particular and for his good this he will not be perswaded of but with Judas conceits that God is not willing to pardon him or rather that he will not pardon him Mat. 27. or with Cain That he is not able to forgive him Gen. 4.13 Thus Despair impeacheth the most glorious Attributes of God his Power as if he were not able to make good his Promise his Truth as if he were unfaithful his Mercy as if it were dryed up with the heat of mens sins his Omnipresence as if he were not ever by us Thus it stops the currant of Gods Mercy barreth up the gates of Heaven against men and openeth the mouth of Hell for them which if thou wilt avoid beware of Infidelity for that is the Mother of Despair And thus Despair ariseth partly from too deep an apprehension of the power of the Devil as if he were Infinite and he able to do whatsoever his Malice would or unlimited God letting the reins loose and permitting him to do what himself pleased and partly from too light an esteem of that power which is to be had in God as if he were not sufficient to keep us safe and of the Mercy of God as if it were not Infinite Temptations to draw us to doubt of that help we have in God and to Despair are properly termed The fiery darts of the devil which he shoots into our thoughts to poyson the Soul with their venomous heads thereby to draw us into Perdition These Temptations where they light and fasten pierce deep showers of them did the Devil shoot at poor Job David complains much they were let fly at him yea he flung some even at Christ himself in the wilderness Mat. 4.3 in the garden Mat. 26.37 c. and on the Cross 27.46 He that Despairs sucks fiery burning poyson into his Soul hath the Brimstone of Hell sulphering in his very bowels not a drop of the gracious Promises of God to quench it because he thinks the Puddle-pool of his sins greater then the Ocean of Gods Mercy This fire either stupifies the Spiritual Senses and dries up the life of the Soul or torments him like Cain Saul and Judas intolerably without all hope of redress Whosoever therefore by reason of their weakness or through the violence of some Temptation have so let fall their shield of Faith as that Satans fiery darts have touched their Conscience and pierced their Soul let them not thereupon utterly despair and give themselves up to the power of Satan but know That a Renewing of Faith by a speedy recourse to the Promises of God in Christ is a liquid Balsam to quench the flame Virtual to draw out the fire and Soveraign to cure the wound Faith applying the Vertue of Christs Sacrifice to a perplexed and troubled Soul dispelleth the inward anguish thereof but he that after some failings and spiritual wounds puts off all Hope as if Death and Destruction without all Remedy must needs follow thereupon is like him that will rather dye then take Physick murthers his Soul because it was sick hastens his own Damnation and by a Blasphemous prejudice to the unvaluable Merits of Christ through Infidelity becomes the wilful Destroyer of that Soul which might have lived for ever had he had the grace of Faith to apply the Remedy The special distresses of the Minde are five and arise either 1. Of a Divine Temptation 2. From outward Affliction 3. Of the Temptation of Blasphemy 4. From a mans own Sins 5. From a mans own Body Distress in minde is when a man is disquieted and distempered in Conscience and consequently in his Affections touching his estate before God which hath two Degrees 1. The less which is a single fear grief suspence or doubt touching his Salvation 2. The greater which is Despair when a man in his own sense and apprehension is without all hope of Salvation All distresses of the Minde ariseth from Temptation either begun or continued therefore according to the divers kindes of Temptations must the Distresses of the minde be distinguished which as formerly may be all reduced to these two Heads viz. 1. Of Tryal which is twofold 1. Combat of the Conscience directly with the wrath of God called a Divine Temptation 2. Of the Cross whereby God proves and makes tryal of the Faith of his children 2. Of Seducement which is threefold 1. Immediately from the Devil called the Temptation of Blasphemy 2. From a mans own sins both Original and Actual 3. From Imagination corrupted irregulated and depraved Despair is of three sorts of men viz. 1. Of Epicures Prophane men and Atheists who rejecting all Hope and refusing to wait for Mercy their Conscience convicting them that there is nothing to be expected but damnation give themselves over to all maner of wickedness laboring to extinguish out of their hearts That there is a God a Heaven or a Hell Jer. 18.12 2. Of those men who are overcome with