a sweet smell there shall be a stink instead of a Girdle a Rent and Baldness instead of well-set Hair c. Crux salutare remediun est ad tollendam cordis duritiem non naturâ suâ c. i. e. The Cross is a wholsom Medicine to humble and soften the hard Heart not in it self as the Pool of Bethsaida did not at any time give healing but when the Angel descended into it but by a Spiritual Power using that Instrument to bow us Now stand and lay all these together then you may say This is the Wilderness or thus is a Soul prepared for Christ The whole may be comprised in one Thesis or Theological Conclusion Viz. Doct. That it is Christ alone who in the use of means brings his chosen Ones into such Trouble for their good In which Proposition are to be observed the Author Subject Means and End First The Author 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ego I even I the first and the last with whom the new Covenant was established having power to offer Grace in Promises I that have satisfied Justice and overcome all the Enemies of Mankind I that do prevail and am accepted in a real tender of my own Merits to the Father in behalf of my Church It is I even Jesus Christ that will do it He it was that spoke to the Patriarchs and by the Prophets he it was that made known the secret Will and good pleasure of God to Man he it is who made the Body and prepares the Soul to erect a Spiritual Frame and Government in the Heart supporting the bruised Reed and blowing the smoaking Flax till he turn the one into a brazen Pillar and the other into a triumphant Flame 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I considerable either as God simply or Man really and truly or as Mediator God and Man jointly As God so he is a principle Efficient in this Work His Names whereby he is described in both Testaments do say so much viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All which do signify Being independent Authority Strength and All-sufficiency for his undertaken Charge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 two Greek Names much magnified by Damascen and Aquinas the one being a Name of Nature and signifieth absolute and perfect Being even the chiefest Good the other being a Name of Authority and Power imports the extent of Divine Providence compassing disposing and working all in all See for this purpose especially two places of Scripture Exod. 34.6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lord the Lord merciful Rev. 1.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord c. As Man so he is the principal Instrument by and through his Humanity to convey Life into all his Members once called effectually and united Joh. 1.14 16. The Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us c. Full of Grace and Truth And Of his Fulness we receive Grace for Grace Joh. 5.21 26. As the Father raiseth up the Dead and quickneth them even so the Son quickneth whom he will c. As God-Man the Mediator so he is the Meritorious Cause procuring and preserving Life for and in all his How and why this should be appropriated to the Son when as there is but one Nature and so one Principle of Action common to all the Persons in that sacred and ever blessed Trinity is somewhat difficult to believe but more hard to conceive and express possibly the following Reasons may give some light unto it Thus it is 1. Because such was the Will of God according to his infinite Wisdom so to order it that the second Person only should undertake the Office of Mediation fulfil the Law satisfy Justice and dispense Grace 2. Because it is a mixt Work neither simply Opus ad extra wholly outward for so it is common the Father and the Holy Ghost do cooperate with the Son in this Dispensation nor altogether Opus ad intra an inward Work for then there were no doubt nor scruple but it might be personal limited to any of the three as it was in the Incarnation all the three Persons were Joint-workers in a preparative Inchoation yet in the end and complement of it we see it was terminated in and upon the Person of the Son The Divine Nature was incarnate as relatively contracted with due reverence and submission be it spoken to a certain manner of subsistence in the Person of the Son Quomodo tota Filii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sit incarnata non tamen Pater cùm sint una 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 credo licet ad exprimendum non intelligo Zanch. So it is in the Dispensation of Grace the thing is willed and the Subject prepared by a Joint Work of all the Persons in Trinity but the execution of that purpose and the actual fruition of Grace is in and by the Son first elected to that Hypostatical Union between the two Natures to the Office of Mediation then given as Head unto the Church whence Life and Motion is derived to his Mystical Body elect in and after him 2dly Here is the Subject to be observed whereon this Work passeth Her No one particular Person is here meant but a select Company to be gathered from divers Families Countries Kingdoms tho here more restrictly as limited to the People of the Jews and so to be knit into one Body The Church malignant the Whore of Babylon Rev. 17.1 3. called Antichrist is called and compared to a Woman a Whorish Woman for seeming Beauty Bravery Suâ—tilty and Impudency not any one but a Company that exceed in Wickedness and increase in it So the Church Militant the Spouse of Christ is likened to a Woman for flexibility and fertility not any one single Person but a chosen Company gathered together in one Vna Ecclesia quia ex una Fide per unum Spiritum nascitur Epiphan some of all sorts Men Women Jews Gentiles Greeks Barbarians not all of any sort Choice admits not of Universality The singular Number here and elsewhere used imports a Paucity or at least a Singularity of Persons Quare hunc trahit non illum noli judicare si non vis errare S. Aug. in Joh. Causa occulta esse potest injusta esse non potest Ibid. Epist 59. ad Paulin. Choice was made of Her not for the Multitude much less for any Merit See her Condition Ezek. 16. and her Behaviour before in the former part of the Chapter The Promise was of his own free Grace and good Will without any merit of preceding Will or Work in her Works of Nature might be foreseen either as future or possible but could not of congruity merit his Favour being so evil Works of Grace could not be foreseen because they were not nor could be indeed till Grace were first bestowed Good Works are an Effect no moving Cause much less meritorious for the procuring of Grace About
A VVILDERNES OF TROUBLE Leading to a Canaan of Comfort OR The Method and Manner of God's dealing with the Heirs of Heaven in the Ministry of the Word Wherein is shewed How the Lord brings them into this Trouble supporteth them under it and delivereth them out of it So that none finally miscarry By W. CROMPTON Minister of the Gospel Hos 6.1 He hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up LONDON Printed by J. D. for J. Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard to be sold by Mich. Hide Bookseller in Exon. 1679. To his Honoured Friend Mr. JOHN MAYN Of the City of EXON MERCHANT THat there is a Summum Bonum or chief Good to be enjoyed by Man all sorts acknowledg Philosophers and Divines Ancient and Modern Desired by all as naturally as the greatest flames and the little sparks of Fire ascend to their Sphere either confusedly or distinctly attained only by some and in the fruition whereof true Happiness consisteth But what that is all agree not Varro out of Philosophers and St. Augustin out of Varro maketh mention of two hundred eighty and eight Opinions about it Some placing it here others there and have accordingly pursued their own conceits Error in this Point is not more common than dangerous being attended with variety of Vncertainties every one striving to maintain what he doth most affect whether an independing real-Good apprehended and presented by an Vnderstanding rightly informed or an apparent Good only offered by an Erring faculty Sense and understanding in Act is by union between the Faculty and the Object the Soul is said to be what it understandeth if the Object be a real Good the Soul by virtue of that union hath an answerable denomination In this Philosophy is an insufficient Guide looking only on this Life and the felicity of the more ignoble part of Man duâ—ing his abode here in the Visible World A supernatural Revelation is needful Reason cannot fathom nor the light of Nature reach unto the end for which Man was made Divinity discovers this and Faith comprehends it That Man was created for God to be like and enjoy him Christ is the Means to bring this to pass Man is made perfect but mutable He falleth Christ steppeth in to raise him again A new Covenant is established whereof Christ as Head undertakes to perform Conditions The Humane Nature must be united to the Divine in his Person that Christ might suffer what Man had deserved and Man might receive what Christ merited The Hypostatical Vnion is the ground or medium of another Mystical Vnion whereby every Penitent Believer is made a partaker of the Divine Nature and of all the priviledges of Christ's Obedience as if they had done it in their own Persons as of Adoption Justification Sanctification Glory The End was first the Reasonable Creature thought on next and the Means last All which were foreseen and ordered by an eternal Act of the first Cause not that for this or this after that not the Means first for the End nor the End so first as a motive to the Means but the End Object and Means together according to the freedom and counsel of his Will foreseeing still to preserve an order in the means both of Precedency and instrumental Efficiency He willed the Law and Gospel should be Preached that Knowledg and Faith might be wrought in his he willed Faith that they might be justified he willed Justification that they might be sanctified and glorified He willed all these joyntly that the End might be attained after all viz. The Communication of his own Excellency for the compleating of Man's Felicity It is not these Titles therefore can make Man happy The line of his Life being drawn forth with so many uncertainties and the height of his Power laid on so weak a foundation At one time or other of the best it may be said and the greatest on Earth may say of himself I was all things and yet nothing part of the Emperor Severus his Speech to his Council and Captains at York where shortly after he died leaving behind him this Testimony as many others have have done That Man's chiefest Good is not here below The Earth in her most glittering furniture is but Earth Fabulous and Enthusiastick and can afford but brittle Happiness Honour Riches Pleasure are but deceitful Toys So far from being Man's happiness that they often prove greater letts than helps towards Happiness Our chiefest good is Bonum immobile immutabile but Riches make themselves Wings and are uncertain like the Swallow in Winter season suddenly bidding farewel never perhaps returning again as a word once spoken nescit vox missa reverti Our chief Good is Bonum aeternum perfectum while Carnal Pleasures even the deepest here are most empty frothy and momentany like Comets made fat with smoaks and vapours of the Earth and in stead of giving Light and Brightness they bring forth Murders and Contagions Our chief Good is Bonum Immortale firm and ever flourishing always the same but Honour is fading and often buried in the Dust or quickly swallowed up in Oblivion Man was happy by Creation while the prime faculties of the Soul had that blissful Object to reflect upon the true God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom only is found a satisfying sufficiency to fill unto contentment the infinite appetite of the Soul When man turned from the Creator to the Creature he lost a real for a seeming Happiness onlâ— in this happy that the footsteps to true Happâ—â—â—sâ— are left imprinted in the Fall Let him but once think whence he is fallen and return and he cannot miss of Happiness No regaining it without returning Return return O Shulamite return How often and earnest doth the Lord call for it as that one Thing necessary which should be most intended by us How vain and empty is the Creature How full and solid the Creator Deformity in the one Beauty in the other Bitterness in this Sweetness in that To fear God and keep his Commandments is the whole of Man The Duty and Dignity Honour and Felicity of Man to know Thee and whom thou hast sent is Eternal Life In his Presence is fulness of Joy and at his Right Hand are Pleasures for evermore In him are all the Perfections of all Creatures by way of Eminency Quicquid convenit enti quatenus ens illud maximè competere in primum ens quod est Deus Who may be enjoyed either by Faith properly termed Felicity here in the Way or by Sense in our Country more fitly called Beatitude Here is a short and sure Way return to God by Christ and be happy for ever Eph. 1.10 Col. 2.10 How this is brought about and how it may be discerned is the subject of the following Discourses unto which I have taken leave to prefix your Name and by this poor way endeavoured to serve you since more ample Demonstrations are wanting to
1. That he be persuaded of God's love unto him that he willeth indeed his Health and Safety in particular 2. That the Terms on which he willeth it are the Conditions of the new Covenant Faith and Repentance 3. That an unfeigned submission to God's own Ordinances is the right and ready way to enable the Soul to perform these Conditions and so to attain the End Whoso would be saved must be well grounded and throughly persuaded of this And so much for the first thing mentioned in the beginning The second and third follow which contain the main Business intended and are the Marrow of the Text. Viz. II. The Preparation of the Soul for Grace I will allure her into the Wilderness And herein are two things remarkable 1. The legal work of the Spirit in breaking the Heart of Stone and drawing it under sound Humiliation Lactabo eam I will entice her so Rivet Inclinabo eam I will encline or bend her to my Mind saith Zanchy Reddam eam flexibilem mihi I will bring her pliant to my hand so Calvin Ego seducens eam ire faciam desertum so Arius Montanus Seeing others have done so to her hurt I will seduce her for good I will allure and bring her into a Wilderness of saving Trouble and wholesom fear So our last Translation rendreth it The very Name of Noah's eldest Son by birth to whom this Promise was first revealed doth explain this Phrase and illustrate this Work Gen. 9.27 God shall enlarge Japhet c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seductus pellectus persuasus Which may be and is often taken in the worser part yet the Context here and in Genesis enforceth us to take it in the best sence only I will seduce allure persuade her for good As the Devil and his Instruments had seduced her to hurt so the Lord in tender mercy and pity would seduce another way for her good Even as Lovers use to improve all their Art and Skill to persuade and obtain the good Will of those whom they love and affect to marry So the Lord being in love with his People and desiring to marry them to himself in and by his Son for ever speaks thus in the Lovers Dialect I will allure her and cause her to do what she would not that afterwards she may do what she should Others I find who judg it more sound to derive Japheth from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies dilatare to enlarge to open the Heart and affect it with Joy Which doubtless may be admitted as a Consequent of the former both serving to set forth this preparative Work as a necessary disposition preceding Conversion For as Faith is the Condition of the Covenant so is this Preparation the Condition of Faith No Faith ordinarily without it in Truth although many have Faith without it in regard of Sense The thing may be done truly and yet not observed distinctly 2. A second thing to be noted here is the State and Condition of all such as are under this preparative Work of the Law They are said to be in the Wilderness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi locus à sermone remotus a remote Place far from Company from Conference and from human Comforts where she should meet with none to quench the Motions of the Spirit none to dawb with untempered Mortar no Egyptian Reed to rest upon none to complain unto or to seek Comfort from but the Lord alone Into such a place or condition the Lord would bring her as that none should hinder his Work any longer So that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Wilderness here is not to be understood a Cell or a Monastery as Aquinas glanceth 2. 2 dae q. 188. art 8. nor a desert Place properly called a Wilderness but rather the State and Condition of the Parties to be converted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Wilderness so Hierom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into the Wilderness so a latter Edition of the Septuagint more agreeable to the Original importing three things viz. 1. A turning of those to be converted out of all the deceitful Holds of Nature wherein Men usually shelter themselves against the Power of the Word of God The ready way we know to take the Hare is by driving her from her Coverts and Burroughs wherein she doth use to hide her self from the Dogs that pursue her so here 2. A presentation to the eye of the Understanding of many spiritual Dangers as so many roaring Cannons on every side wherewith a Christless Person is environed so that he who thought all to be well with him before while he remained securely asleep in the state of Nature now seeth all to be quite naught and out of order He dreamed he was rich happy and wanted nothing but being awake he seeth himself poor miserable and naked Alas for wo Within him he hears Conscience telling him the truth above him he beholds God offended frowning and turning his loving Countenance from him beneath him he seeth and feeleth Hell opening her Mouth to receive him having deserved as he now judgeth the lowest Room the darkest Corner and the fiercest Flames there about him trouble and fear is on every side He is weary of Life because of Sin and yet afraid to die because of the account alone he is tempted and terrified and in company he is defiled or grieved What to do or whither to go he knoweth not This is a Wilderness indeed As it is with a wounded Hart who feeling the Shaft runs from the Woods to the Plain and from thence to the Woods again but finds no ease at all Haeret lateri laethalis arundo the deadly Shaft sticks fast in his side Or as it was with the ancient Hebrews when they were led by Moses and Aaron from Egyptian Bondage into the pleasing Liberty of fruitful Canaan but through a vast Wilderness full of Troubles Conflicts Trials So it is with the Woman the Church and every Member thereof out of Christ but coming on towards him they begin to see their Sins they hear the terrible Threats of the Law they fear the Wrath of God as a just Judg they run up and down here for advice and there for comfort like Men afrighted to distraction for so the blind World judgeth them and cannot be comforted till the Lord speak unto their Hearts 3. It imports variety of Afflictions following upon the former Efficacy and Discovery of the Law And these are both positive and privative sometimes one and sometimes both as need requires Privatively the Lord deals with Men when he deprives them of Sacrifices Sacraments of Wealth Honour Food House Friends or Liberty and the like to pursue and follow them with Infamy Poverty Imprisonment or Captivity and all to humble and make them pliant to his Hand for their good He made Jeshurun look with lean Cheeks that he might leave kicking and learn Righteousness I will take away the bravery of thy tinkling Ornaments and instead of
their Joy and Happiness encreased thereby were this remembred it would prove a comfort to those whose Religious Friends do often end their Days in such distress For by coming so immediately from the sight of such an ugly Objâ—ct to the Intuition and Fruition of such Beauty as is in Christ the Vision is more beatifical To pass from the presence of Sin into the presence of God doth more ravish the Soul with Coelestial Joy God in Christ will excel in Beauty and Glory to that Man's Eye and Apprehension who hath lately seen the sinfulness of Sin As the Sin is never more glorious than when it breaks out of a black Cloud so the Glory of Heaven will certainly be more admirable and lovely to those unto whom Sin hath appeared exceeding sinful Now if it pass unseen these two Days and if it be not presented to be seen and loathed in one of those Hours then it will be presented at the Great-Day which is emphatically called the Day of Discovery 1 Cor. 3.13 in fulness of Horror and inevitable Fury When the Curtain shall be drawn aside and all the secrets of the World discovered and every Man see the actions of his Life as upon a piece of Tapestry spread before his Eyes appearing as so many Thorns and Venemous Beasts and no Mercy to be shewed no Grace to be offer'd when no Petitions will be received nor any Voice heard but Go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire As may be gather'd from divers passages of sacred Scripture viz. Psal 50.21 Matth. 7.22 23 25 41. Hodie hodie poenitentiae locus saith St. Augustin To day there is room for Repentance you must repent now or perish then If the Tap be not now thaw'd it may be frozen for ever Hell vomiteth up our highest desires and will afford no felicities Happy is he whose Sins are ever before him here in a grieved memory they shall never be set before him there if they vex thee now as a loathed burden they shall not torment thee then The Sins which ye have seen to Day ye shall see them again no more for ever Secondly The Grounds whereupon this truth resteth are such as follow viz. 1. That inviolable dependency which all effects and conclusions have upon their own Causes and Principles whence they flow Acts Powers and Habits are unseparable from the Person as they are one from another Every Agent is and shall be attended with its own Works the Dead in the Lord are blessed and their Works follow them The Ox knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Master's Crib Sin lieth at the Sinner's door and will acknowledg no other Master What is once done cannot be undone No Power can recal it from being Only a penitent sight of Sin may hide it from the sight of Justice and Mercy can recal it from being imputed An act contracting Guilt may pass from a Person and yet not redound upon the Person by a supernatural interposition of satisfying Merit Christ must come between and stay his Course or else Sin would not only be set before us but even upon us in full Guilt and Weight and that for ever 2. The nature of the Soul in her retaining Faculties is another Ground whereby she is necessarily enabled by reflexion to recal to see and judg all her own past Actions This is essential and therefore it is that such Power and Impressions do remain inseparated either to punish or chear them by the remembrance of things past To which you may adjoyn the office of Conscience which is to bear witness and accuse or excuse according to Demerit A guilty Conscience we use to say and more say than some are aware of what they say is as a thousand Witnesses It will tell us all that we have done for many Years ago and present us with all the Follies of our Youth This is the Book wherein Men may read their own History and Doom both what they have done and what they have deserved There are two Rules the one is God's Word which pointeth out both Estates and the other is every Man's Conscience which is privy to the frame and standing of his Heart and which of these Estates is his As long then as there is such a Soul with us endowed with such admirable Faculties viz. Understanding Memory and Conscience so long will Sin be before us if we once do evil we shall hear of it ever after till Sanctification be perfect and Grace be crowned with Glory 3. The Order of Divine Justice requiring some proportion between the pleasure taken in Sin and the vexation for it after Beautiful it appeared in coming but ugly and deformed in going sweet it was in the offer and act but bitter in the close like Hony which is very sweet but begets most bitter Choller Or as Claudius his Mushrom which was pleasant but poysonful How much she hath glorified her self and lived deliciously so much torment and sorrow give her Rev. 18.7 As it shall appear hereafter with the Impenitents in Hell suffering by way of Satisfaction so it is here on Earth with Penitents suffering by way of Correction Intention of delight in the act of sinning is justly recompensed with extension of continued Grief It will vex you long because it did affect you much Sin was before you when it should not and now it must be before you when you would not Justice being refused in the first will be heard in the latter Thirdly The Ends of all this wherefore a single Commission is followed with frequent Presentations we may conceive to be such as these 1. To keep the Heart of God's People in a spiritual frame of Self-denial and Humility and that the habitual grace of Repentance may be upheld and more lively in exercise Hereupon I am apt to think that Mr. Fox that industrious preserver of the Honour of many of God's Servants was observed to say That nothing did him more hurt than his Graces nothing more good than his Sins being ever before him His Graces through the prevailing power of Corruption remaining were ready to puff him up and to set him in God's room by self-seeking whilst his Sins kept him down and kept him humble and meek Few know the benefit of this Combat It is one of the best remedies against spiritual Pride and Security to keep the Mind upon Sin and Sin in the Mind Hence that confident speech of renowned Austin I dare be bold to say that it is good for proud Persons to fall into some Sin Vnde sibi displiceant qui jam sibi placendo ceciderunt Salubrius enim Petrus displicuit quando flevit quà m sibi placuit quando presumpsit Aug. de Civit. Dei lib. 14. That they may be humbled as Peter was and so saved 2. To terrifie his Adversaries and so to leave them inexcusable when the full weight of Sin falls upon them If the memory of Sin do so follow them which have repented and are pardoned how will it be
I hear and that all others should hear Husbands accusing me of Wrong and Injustice Virgins and Wives complaining of a Stain brought by me to their Beds and Bodies my Neighbours muttering out my breach of Wedlock band yea all my Folly and Prodigality What shall I say Or whither shall I go My Sins are ever before me Speak no word of comfort raise me not up but rather trample me under Feet as unsavoury Salt cast me out of Company as unworthy to live or breath O ye Heavens why do ye shine upon me O thou Air why do'st thou refresh me O thou Earth why do'st thou bare me up It is I that have rebelled against our Soveraign Lord it is I that have playâ—d the Beast it is I that have been so ungrateful and forgetful My Sins are ever before me Droop O my Soul and weep abundantly hang down the Head and weep and mourn in deep bitterness It is better to lose the sence of Seeing by weeping than always to see Sin Resolve never to look chearfully much less to entertain a thought of Joy till thou hearest Christ saying to thee Son be of good cheer thy Sins are forgiven thee No more of this here the second Point comâ—s to hand viz. 2. Doct. That whosoever is thus mindful of Sin and troubled about it to him it is a good sign of the pardon of it and of his being in the state of Grace Multitudes of Scriptures may be produced proving this Conclusion by just Consequence and easie Deduction Some are noted in the Margin * 2 Chron. 33.12 Job 13.26 Psal 32.5 Rom. 7.24 Examples to illustrate you have in all the Saints of God of whose Conversion and being in a â—tate of Grace we ought to be assured evidenced to our Faith by the Word recording it and to our knowledg â—y this following trouble for and about Sin As in David here and in many other Psalms * Ps 25.7 32.5 38.4 Isa 38.17 Luk. 7.38 Mat. â—6 ult 1 Tim. 1.13 Act. 2.43 16.30 In Hezekiah Mary Magdalen St. Peter and S. Paul the two great Apostles the latter of which was a furious Persecutor of Christianity till subdued by the Spirit of God and of a Ravening Wolf was made a Lamb of the Fold with those mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles and many others of our own Knowledg who have and do speak out of experience and most comfortable assurance that it was good for them that ever they were thus troubled and I believe never any read or heard of any that miscarried who once came to this kindly sight of Sin And there are two Grounds of this truth Reason 1. The First is God's Order which he observes in the Conversion of a Person and Sanctification of our Natures by discovering the Maladies and setting Sin before the Eye of that Sinner whose safety he desires and intends Partly to stay him from running on further towards Hell partly to prepare him for the receipt and exercise of Regenerating Grace and partly to keep him humble and weaned from an immoderate love of Worldly Glory as from the former Discourse will more fully appear Reason 2. Secondly The other Reason is God's free Promises annext to the second Covenant and presupposing this Condition Only Faith is the condition of the Covenant but this trouble of Mind is the condition and companion of Faith As legally considered it is a condition Preparative and preceding Faith as Evangelically it is an unseparable Companion ever following Behold this self-same thing that ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what carefulness it wrought in you c. 2 Cor. 7.10 11. Faith is in us first in order of Nature at least though Godly sorrow is apt first to appear as sap and life are first in the Root yet Buds Leaves and Fruits first discover themselves in the Branches They shall look upon me whom they have pierced there is Faith for Christ crucified can be beheld with no other Eye and they shall mourn for him c. Zech. 12.10 There is brokenness of Spirit Spiritual trouble resulting from it It is an hard question in Divinity Whether Faith be no part of Repentance Which some resolve thus * Synops purio Theolog. Disp 32. §. 40. If Repentance of which this Trouble is a branch be consider'd largely for the whole work of Conversion so Faith is comprised in it if strictly so it is the cause thereof However it is apparent they are nearly allied they are Sister-Graces where the former is there is the latter also Reason 3. To which a third Ground may be added When Man approacheth near unto God he seeth both himself and Sin better Sin appears to be greater and himself lesser The Divine Light and Purity represents both as they are in deed and not as Satan's-Jesuits Pleasure and Profit do misreport As it is with the Moon the further off it is from the Sun the greater it is but by near approaching it appears lesser It is St. Austin's allusion in one of his Epistles Thus it is with Man in respect of God Quò propius ad Deum aceedit Homo eò melius sentit quà m miserae sit abjectae conditionis saith Rivet The nearer Man cometh to God the better he seeth his own miserable Condition According to that of Gregory in his Morals Quanto magis internae Divinitatis conspiciunt omnes Sancti tantò magis se nihil esse cognoscunt When the Saints by Faith come to apprehend Spiritual Mysteries then they clearly see their own nothingness that glorious Sun discovers all their Dust they are ashamed of their droppings when they stand before that Ocean As the great Doctor of the Gentiles who was immediately inspired by the Holy Spirit and of great Sanctity no less then a Cherubim scorched with Celestial Ardours and who pitched his Feet upon the front of the Sun became most vile in his own Eyes when he was carried up nearest to God Such poverty of Spirit such trouble of Mind such a sight of Sin is an infallible sign of our Conversion to God and of obtained Pardon Object It may be objected May not a Natural Vnregenerate Man such as have no renewing Grace have a sight of Sin May not they be troubled about Sin and yet never return to amend and procure Pardon Answ Doubtless they may not only see Sin with some trouble and distaste but also leave the exercise thereof they may see Sin and be brought I say to some trouble about it by the inward light of Natural Conscience by the use of outward means while they live within the bounds of a Visible Church by the fear and force of Humane Laws or by some heavy Judgment falling upon them in their Bodies and Estates all or any of which may force open their Eyes to see and acknowledg their own evil ways as it fell out with Pharaoh who sighed at every Plague and seemed to be willing to turn to God And so did
or less it continueth during Life and rather increaseth than decayeth as Love doth It is not sufficient to see Sin once a Year and yet it would be better for some then it is did they go so far as our Adversaries require Confession nor once in our Life only at Death to cast an eye upon it and bid it adieu with an O Lord Lord be merciful and open unto me which good words and seasonable too are not blamed but the delaying of so main a Duty till then Heaven is not to be had usually at so cheap a rate Satan ordinarily is not so soon vanquished nor Sin so easily put off Whosoever thinks it so easie a matter to repent and believe as that he hath seen and sorrowed enough for Sin now he may desist from both did never see nor sorrow for it at all What David here said of himself is true of every renewed Heart more or less during Life My Sin is ever before me Vse 1. The use hereof may be 1. To discover to you a two-fold Error to be carefully avoided because common and dangerous First Of the Romanists who in their Doctrine and Practice do place Sin rather before the Ear of the Confessor than before the Eye of the Committer That the one must hear it is absolutely necessary without which there is no Salvation that the other should see it is not so at least not so much prest by them Auricular Confession is more insisted on than inward Contrition And Penance is too far sever'd by them from Repentance We hear much and often of the one but of the other there is too deep a silence Confession and Satisfaction are strictly lookt unto by such as profess their Religion in earnest to give them their due that nothing may be blamed in them but what is blame-worthy But Contrition and Sanctification this personal sight of Sin and Evangelical sorrow for it are not so much urged neither in their Writings nor Practice for ought I can learn However I dislike not Confession it is a Duty very comfortable and useful the abuse set aside I could wish it more frequent among us but never used in publick or private without Contrition Let the Heart accompany the Tongue else it is the most unsavoury piece of Formality that can be Secondly Of our common People who deem the worst of such as are thus troubled condemning rash judgment in others do yet pass the bounds of Charity towards them As if poor Souls they only were curst of God and hated of others because they are thus pursued by Sin and baited by Satan especially if it be on their Sick-bed Strange it is to hear them cry out upon profession of Religion as if Religion were the worse for it because her followers are thus affrighted for their good They will not profess Religion no not they nor be tied to frequent the Church to perform Duties in private because such and such are distracted by it Sure they are out of their Wits this Book-learning hath made them Mad else they would never complain and cry out so that their Sins are ever before them Why say they are not we all Sinners as well as they and yet our Sins never trouble us More is the pity and greater is their Misery Poor Souls you cannot distinguish between trouble for Sin and senslessness under Sin between the desperate pangs of Despair and the genuine thâ—ows of a troubled Mind Miâ—ht you not as truly have said the same of David St. Paul and all the rest of God's Saints in every Age who have passed through this Wilderness to Canaan But in so doing know you dishonour God lay a blemish on his Work and often condemn the Generation of the Righteous This trouble of Mind being one of the most infallible marks of true Penitency the Road-way to Heaven for adult Persons and one of the best signs of this Nature that any one can see in himself or desire in his Friend Let my Sins good Lord be always before me as David 's were Let all thine be so disquieted here that so all our Sins may never come in sight at that Day but be buried in everlasting forgetfulness True it is some Men may superstitiously endeavour to make the Way to Heave narrower than indeed it is but far more there are who voluptuously endeavour to enlarge it and make it more broad and easie than God hath made it without any such sight of Sin or trouble about it crying out To what end serveth this waste What needeth all this ado Cannot Men be saved without this sight of Sin and sorrow for it Whether they can or no I will not stand to determine sure I am ordinarily they will not Till they be brought into the Wilderness they are intractable indocible therefore the Lord troubleth them that they may be willing to be saved To all such as think otherwise I should commend these following passages of holy Scripture to be considered in their most retired Thoughts Numb 32.23 Gen. 4.7 Psal 50.21 22. Mat. 7.13 14. Phil. 3.11 1 Pet. 4.18 The Righteous shall scarcely be saved ad praesentis Vitae difficultates debet referri c. saith a judicious Interpreter on that place Our Race or Warfare here in this World is like a Voyage by Sea beset and encountred with many Difficulties Rocks Tempests Pirats open Enemies and false Brethren Ardua prima via est which made St. Paul say If by any means I may attain unto the Resurrection of the Dead A phrase importing difficulty without doubtting he was perswaded he should attain it but not without the use of such means and after much strugling What else is meant by the Wrestling of Jacob the Praying and Fasting of David the Running of Paul the Scruples and Cases of Conscience proposed by the Saints of God frequently and in great variety when once they begin to benefit by the Word Men and Brethren what shall we do Sirs What must I do to be saved And the like Complaints are very frequent where the Word hath awakened them The Pains and bitter Sufferings of all our renowned Martyrs both of the Primitive Times and in the late Marian-Days do preach unto us the Straight-way The difficulty of obtaining and keeping a grounded persuasion of God's Favour in the free pardon of all our Sins through the Satisfaction and Intercession of Christ The Church Militant is a Lilly among Thorns having Enemies ever about her and her Sins always before her Non est ad astra mollis è terris via We may not expect to be carried to Heaven on Beds of Down but through many Tribulations not to go to Paradise through Paradise a Way â—â—rowed with Roses The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth Violence few arrive in this Harbour without danger and difficulty It is not so easie a thing to work out Salvation as most deem and yet through Christ it is easie to all them that receive him Thirdly Hereunto may be added another