is the way that God hath appointed and he wil bless the order which he hath set in his infinite wisdom and which he wil prosper If you would find his blessing walk in his way if you expect success attend his order and direction which he hath left to bring us to his Christ and so to life and happiness If you see not your sins you are in hazard never to see good day while you live nor when you dye Christ is said to stand at the dore and knock and if any man wil open unto him he wil come in and supp with him Rev. 3. 20. Saving Contrition is a shooting back the boults of our base lusts a severing and unlocking the heart from the Soveraignty of ones noysom Corruptions that stop the passage and hinder the coming of our Saviour this clear and convicting sight of our sins is as it were the lifting up of the latch or letting in of the Key the powerful dispensation of the truth and operation of his spirit whereby the knot and combination between sin and the soul is broken and severed and the way made that the authority of the truth may come at the heart and work kindly upon it for good An error here in the entrance is hardly ever recovered to miss here is mervailous dangerous it spoyles our whol proceeding in the great work of our calling and everlasting comfort as the naturallist and Physitian observe an error in the first concoction is never recovered in the second for the Lord in his wisdom and the course of nature hath so ordayned that each part doth that which is its proper and peculiar work but doth not rectify or redress that which was done amiss by another and so the goodness of the nourishment is never recovered or the body strengthened or health so comfortably preserved herby as were to be desired So it is in the entrance of 〈◊〉 great work of preparation for Christ and our effectual bringing home unto him never see sin aright the soul cannot be affected with it in a right manner never truly see the need of a Savior never seek after him or come to him this through sight of sin is as it were the setting open of the window whereby the light and good of the truth and the loath 〈◊〉 of sin is laid open unto the soul and comes in a main upon the Conscience to prevayl with it whereas shut this window and stop this passage the soul is cooped up in the dungeon of darkness and delusion be the ordinances never so powerful the means never so effectual there 〈◊〉 no coming into the heart no hope to work upon it or to prevail with it for good the evil of sin is not acknowledged and therefore not prevented that which his reason cannot see a man cannot shun the excellency and necessity of a Christ is not discerned and therefore not endeavoured after as were meet It befalls the soul smote with this spiritual blindness as with the Assyrian Host when they came to surprize Elisha 2 Kings 18. 19. 20. He prayed Lord smite this people with blindness he did so and they saw nothing before they were in the midst of their enemyes so here when the sinner is misguided by the dimness of his deluded mind he goes on in an evil way and knowes not whither he goes or where he is before he be in the botintoless pit Oh be wise and wary therefore that we err not here least we rush into ruine and that past alrecovery Expect then Gods blessing upon our endeavour but in Gods order attend his work in his own way It is the aym of our Saviour in sending and the office of the Holy Ghost in coming into the world when he intends to work effectually the saving good of his people to intitle them to the pardon of their sins and to establish their hearts under the government of his spirit John 16. 7. 8. If I depart I wil send the Comforter and when he is come he wil reprove he wil convince and set down the world by 〈◊〉 conviction of sin of righteousness of judgment of righteousness that the law is satisfied justice answered and that fully because he that was in prison is now released and therefore the debt payd and he gone to heaven to his Father Of judgment the power of his Kingdom government erected and set up in the soules of his servants and children in that by death he overcame him that had the power of death that is the Devill and therefore he is judged and falls in his cause as having no right nor in reason can challenge no rule in the hearts of those for whom Christ hath satisfied divine justice and therefore are free from that authority that sin and Satan had of them thereby But before we can share either in the righteousness of Christ for our justification or the rule of his spirit in our Sanctification the Holy Ghost must and doth convince us of sin that we have rejected and not entertained this Saviour If we do not convictingly see our sin in settling upon the root of our Corrupt rebellions and casting away the riches of Christs mercy the rule of his Grace it s not possible that those spiritual benefits should ever be made ours As ever therefore you desire to see and find the mercies of Christ sealed up unto your Consciences in pardoning of sins and acceptation of your persons As ever you would find the Kingdom of Satan cast down in your hearts and the government of his Grace and spirit there set up labor for this clear and convicting sight of sin begin you where the Holy spirit begins that you may find his presence with you his effectual power and blessing to accompany your endeavours in that way Catch not disorderly at pardon look not for peace of Conscience or hope to see the government of Christs Grace set up in your souls before you come to 〈◊〉 your sins by convicting evidence of the Holy Ghost The holy spirit of Grace wil not cross his course to gratify our Corruption That I may further set on the exhortation I shal endeavour to do these two things First To propound some means to help in 〈◊〉 work Secondly Some motives to quicken you therein The means are these that follow First Labor we to see that unconceivable excellency of holiness that is in the Lord and search we into the 〈◊〉 and the righteous laws there recorded for the direction of our daily course and that wil make us see the loathsomness of our own hearts and the vileness of 〈◊〉 As it s said of darkness it cannot be seen by it self but its light that discovers it self and darkness It s as true of sin it is not by it self to be discerned for it is spiritual darkness the light of Gods Holiness and wisdom which by sin are wronged and the law which is transgressed these are both lights God is light and in
such a Christ pleaseth us well but such a Christ will never do us good 2 This makes a man bold to adventure upon the commission of the grossest evill this makes him fearless to continue in it makes him negligent and regardless by godly sorrow and saving repentance to recover out of it he passeth not he cares not to take his poyson and to drink it in as his daily dyet he carries his 〈◊〉 about him and that which will undoubtedly cure him he may yet maintain union with Christ and communion with his cursed Lusts. 3 This makes a man slight in holy servises so as neither to put a price upon them nor to see an excellencie in them or iudg aright of the necessity of such performances he becomes sleepy and heartless in what he doth he is sure of a Christ that will answer all and therefore he troubles not himself with holy duties if he stumble upon the doing of them so if he neglect the doing of them so he hath a way to help all he can have a Christ he conceives without these and therefore he makes no great matter whether he do these or no. 4 Nay if he may have union to Christ while he is in his corruption if so he is then in a good estate for he that hath the son 〈◊〉 life 1 John 5. 12. Therefore he may have evidence of his good estate without the sight of any saving qualification because he may have a Christ and so be in a good estate without any saving qualification And therefore this Evidence must needs come from an immediate revelation from Heaven for there is no appearance no manifestation of it on Earth either in our hearts or lives in what we have or do and therefore then our good estate may be sure unto us by Christ when we have nothing but sin and do nothing but commit sin And hence because both graces and gracious actions may be wanting in this union to Christ because separable from it thererefore the want of them cannot infer the deniall of a good estate nor the presence of them conclude the certainty of a good estate because they are not proper and peculiar to such a condition for then they could not be severed from it which they may And thus this one Delusion like an Egyptian fog darkens the whol Heavens even the bright beams of the Sun of the Gospel and the everlasting Covenant of Gods free grace cuts the sinews of sincerity and eats out the blood and spirits of the power nd presence and life of Grace and under a pretence of advancing Christ and Free Grace destroies his Kingdom and frustrates the coming of Christ into the World For he came for this end 1 John 3. 8. To destroy the Works of the Devil the Apostle concludes it verse 10. as a proof beyond all question or exception the child of the Devil is manifest in this He that hates his brother and works unrighteousness is the Child of the Devil and yet upon this grant and according to this ground a man may do both these and yet be united unto Christ and so be blessed of him Look we therefore at these so desperate 〈◊〉 not as Rocks and Sands where men may suffer Shipwrack and yet be recovered but like a devouring Gulf or Whirl-pool whereinto whosoever comes there is no hope nor help to come out as cutting a man off from the careful and consciencious use of the means appointed by God in the Gospel to recover him As a Ship that is foundred in the midst of the main Ocean without the sight of any succor or hope of Relief Besides then the Arguments formerly alleaged I shall propound some other to fortifie against this so dangerous a Deceit Reasons to prove that Christ cannot be united to the Soul while it is in its Natural Condition and the state of Unbeleef Taken from John 14. 17. Christ saies he would send them another Comforter even the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive Every man while he is in his corrupt and natural condition he is one of the World Eph. 2. 2. When in times passed ye walked according to the course of this world vers 3. Among whom also we had our Conversations in times past in the lusts of the flesh How otherwise could they be called 〈◊〉 of the World unless they were in it They who cannot receive the Spirit cannot receive the Lord Jesus nor union to him but men Naturally cannot receive the Spirit therefore they must be called out of the World and from the Power of Satan and so be prepared and then receive Faith that so they may receive 〈◊〉 But Conversion being a Creating Work a Work of Creation needs 〈◊〉 preparation to 〈◊〉 or for it 〈◊〉 his Word is 〈◊〉 he calls men his people who are not his people and by calling them so he makes them to be so Preparation is required to the implantation of the 〈◊〉 into Christ not 〈◊〉 regard of God or his work upon us as though he needed any help to the execution of his holy wil but in regard of the thing wrought in us for he working all things according to the counsel of his own will and the rules of his Infinite Wisdom he needs not any help in his work yet it is 〈◊〉 his perfection and sufficiency to go against the wise Order set down in the Dispensation of his Providence for the bringing about of this work the causes of a thing do not help God in Working or Creating they are necessarily required to make up the thing wrought or created there is nothing in a blind eye 〈◊〉 may help God to restore it to sight yet God according to reason must put a power and ability of sight or a 〈◊〉 faculty before he will nay indeed can bring forth seeing God can turn Water into Wine but in reason he must destroy the Nature of Water and then make Wine for it implies a contradiction to say that Water should remain Water and yet have Wine made out of it So it is in the soul he can change a proud and unbeleeving heart into a 〈◊〉 heart but he must first destroy the power of unbeleef 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can bring in faith He that is under the power of infidelity and corrupt Nature he is under the guilt of his sins and in the state of condemnation John 3. 18. He that beleeves not is condemned already and vers 36. The wrath of God abides upon him But he that is in Christ to him there is no condemnation Rom. 8. 1. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Matth. 3. last and for his sake with all that are in him Now to be in the state of condemnation and acceptation together in the state of Life and death to have the wrath of God abiding and the good pleasure of God resting upon a party at the 〈◊〉 time 〈◊〉 a perfect contradiction and so impossibilities in
is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 send the Lord Jesus I shal shortly open both 1 Why it is ascribed to the Father And 2 Why to the Father as sending the Lord Jesus Unless the Father which hath sent me draw him First then Why the Father is said to Draw This Drawing as we have Disputed formerly implyes Two Things in it of necessity 1 〈◊〉 from whence the soul is drawn and that is sin upon which the soul was 〈◊〉 2 Somthing unto which the soul is drawn and that is 〈◊〉 Now both the Expressions serve both these Intendments in a most pregnant manner Because the Fathers manifesting himself in his displeasure unto the soul doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and most 〈◊〉 the work of that holy violence 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 unto the soul 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 from it and 〈◊〉 which this drawing we know is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be conceived The sin of Adam falling from his Creation in which the 〈◊〉 of the Fathers working is especially discovered in that he is the original in the Deity first in Order and Working from himself and Creation is the Original of things there they have their beginnings Hence in Scripture it is said to be 〈◊〉 directly against him and indirectly against the Son and the Holy Ghost because that work wherein though they al wrought yet the manner of the Fathers dispensation did principally appear 1 Joh. 2. 1. Little Children sin not at al but if any man do sin we have an Advocate with the Father He sayes not We have an Advocate with an Advocate Christ is not properly and firstly and directly an Advocate to himself but an Advocate is to plead with the party offended in behalf of him who stands guilty and hath offended and therefore he is said to be an Advocate with the Father because he was the offended party properly and directly Christ an Advocate to plead the Cause of his people the Spirit the Witness to Certifie of the Success what the Advocate hath done for them and what acceptance he hath found with the Father in their behalf Hence the Fathers Displeasure in the fierceness of it comes as most cross and directly contrary unto sin and so the sinner because directly wronged and therefore hath most reason and is most ready to offer violence to the sin for the destruction of that and the Confusion and Condemnation of the sinner because of that And hence therefore the resistance of sin comes to be destroyed and the soul of the sinner most affrighted for it and wearied with it and so compelled to part And therefore our Savior who was in our stead and became our surety and bore our sorrows the chastisement of our peace being upon him He sayes Shall I not drink of 〈◊〉 Cup which the Father will give me Joh. 18. 11. By Cup is meant those sufferings in our behalf 〈◊〉 the Father had appointed and did also lay upon him and so Consequently upon us in him If the fierceness of the wrath of the Father as the Partie directly offended is most cross to the sin of 〈◊〉 sinner and most dreadsul to his soul as guilty 〈◊〉 the Expression thereof even in that regard is most fit by a kind of violence to remove sin from the soul and to force the soul from it Again The Father as he sends Christ 〈◊〉 unto him Because when he so makes himself manifest unto the sinner he shews the soul whither 〈◊〉 should go and what certain success it may expect yea easie and ready acceptance with the Father and deliverance from his wrath and the vengeance deserved if it'do go For when the sinner comes indeed to look upon the ghastly visage of sin to see the heinousness and the unsufferable bitterness of that Evil that doth undoubtedly attend upon it He now Concludes he must either part from sin or else he must needs perish in it it cannot be avoided Go he must from his sin but whither to go he cannot tel that the filth and guilt of sin may be removed from him and he delivered from the wrath of the Father which he hath deserved by it When he hath sought far and neer for succour and shelter that Heaven and Earth professeth there is no salvation to be had in us Holy Ordinances and Duties say We have heard of the Name thereof but we neither have it nor can give it only we have heard tel there is Salvation in Christ and in no other Name under Heaven The 〈◊〉 therefore intends to make out to a Christ but 〈◊〉 the Question and Doubt meets him Though Christ can Discharge my Debt lay down and present sufficient pay It s yet doubtful whether the 〈◊〉 being the Creditor wil accept of it and rest 〈◊〉 with it or no Yea sayes the text The Father hath sent him for this purpose to be his salvation unto the ends of the earth and therefore he wil not refuse him briefly therebe Three things 〈◊〉 in this sending which may draw the 〈◊〉 of the sinner towards Christ. 1 That God hath appointed him in his 〈◊〉 purpose and Counsel to accomplish this work 〈◊〉 49. The Lord hath called me vers 1. And he 〈◊〉 unto me Thou art my Servant in thee will I 〈◊〉 glorified vers 3. Thou shalt be my salvation to 〈◊〉 ends of the earth vers 6. Joh. 6. 27. For him 〈◊〉 the Father sealed A Comparison taken from Princes when they would send any with certain Evidence of their Appointment and Approbation they 〈◊〉 him a Commission and signifie their mind under 〈◊〉 Hand and Seal So the Commission and 〈◊〉 of the Father is as it were the Evidence and 〈◊〉 undeniable that he was Designed to this 〈◊〉 2 That he hath fitted and furnished him with all 〈◊〉 abilities and sufficiency to discharge the 〈◊〉 of Redemption committed to him Psal. 89. 19. He hath laid salvation upon one that is mighty 〈◊〉 save Yea Isa. 61. 1. 2. The spirit of God was 〈◊〉 him and he hath anointed him i. e. 〈◊〉 him with Grace that he might suit al the 〈◊〉 and desires of his people yea with the spirit above measure Joh. 3. 34. 3 That he accepts of him and his Service and Mediation in the behalf of al those whose 〈◊〉 and places he sustains Matt. 3. last This is my 〈◊〉 in whom I am well pleased Not with whom only but in whom with al those whose place he sustains and whose surety he was If God the Father who was offended and that deeply with my sin and therefore is now come out against me either to destroy my sin or to ruinate and condemn my soul he hath appointed the Lord Jesus his Son to deliver poor Creatures from their sins and from his wrath and he hath fitted him for this so great a work and he wil accept him only and al that sue for acceptance in him He only appointed fitted and accepted for sinners let us therefore look towards him and go to him The Father that hath
had been happy for us that we had never listened to the counsel of the scribes and pharisees and been led by their examples or carried with the croud to the commission of such bloody evils the guilt whereof is so great vileness of loathsomenoss whereof is so hellish and unconceiveable but that which is done and past cannot be recalled but what shal we now do is there nothing to be done against these high-handed abominations which have done so much dishonor to Gods name indignity to the Lord Jesus the Lord of life so much injury to our own souls and hazarded our everlasting happiness and comfort what shal we do If any thing that can be done by others we wil seek far and near for help If any thing that can be done by our selves we shal 〈◊〉 it to the utmost of our power is there nothing to be done that we might have the blood of these sins of ours which have taken away the blood of the Lord Jesus this is not an estate to be rested in a 〈◊〉 in which we must continu and quiet our selves we should be willing to do any thing against 〈◊〉 sins and selves therfore the doctrine hence followes 〈◊〉 Sound contrition brings the soul to detestation against sin and sequestration from it When the people lamented 〈◊〉 the Lord who had 〈◊〉 himself so long time from them Samuel that he might have assurance of their sorrow that it were good and that they might give in evidence their hearts were upright he puts them upon this tryal If indeed you wil return unto the Lord put away your Idol 1 Sam. 7. 3. This was the practice of those converts Hosea 14. 1. 2. 3. 4. When they had taken words and desired the Lord to take away their iniquitie the proof of their sorrow and repentance is shewed in that profession of theirs Ashur shal not save us nor wil we go down to Egipt nor wil we say to the works of our hands ye are our Gods these were their special sins and their protestation is bent in a peculiar manner to abandon them for ever Those also who were convinced of their sinful departings from God by their curious arts Acts. 19. 19. To shew 〈◊〉 detestation of their sins they came al as one man and were al of one mind they burn their books in the view of al the people before al men that the memory of such evils might be abhorred and the very instruments which had been abused to the practice of them might be removed from the face of the Earth a 〈◊〉 heart that makes a true 〈◊〉 he is said in phrase of scripture to speak and judg as God doth of sin and to 〈◊〉 the same sentence 〈◊〉 it Now Gods mind is and the conclusion he hath set down is this thou shalt blot out the memory of them from under heaven and so would a broken heart do with his distempers There be two Particulars in the Doctrine wherein the double Effect of sound Contrition is discovered 1. Detestation of sin 2. Sequestration from sin We wil handle them both apart Begin we first with that hatred and detestation which the heart truly burdened carries against sin For the opening whereof we shal discover 1. VVhat is the Nature of this hatred 2. How it doth discover it self and may be discerned 3. The Reasons why this is required in this Work of Preparation To the First To difference this work of Hatred as it is appropriate to this place and comes now to consideration from the like disposition and operation of soul which 〈◊〉 wrought by the holy Ghost and expressed by the Saints in the further progress of the work of Application before it ariseth to the full breadth and further perfection unto which the Beleever arrives It 's a discovery which is attended with much difficulty and hardness to lay out the peculiar bounds and limits of it that each work may take that which is peculiar to it self and not interfer upon the other it 's a matter marvelous intricate and narrow for the search we shall labor to be wise to sobriety so far as light goes and the Lord helps We shal cast that which we would speak by way of Explication into several Conclusions as apprehending that the 〈◊〉 and most familiar way to communicate what may lend some little Direction this way As the first Adam did depart from God and in him all 〈◊〉 Posterity so the second Adam the Lord Christ doth bring back all his again unto God the Father by the contrary way In the departure of Adam and his Seed this is plain to common apprehension There was first an Aversion or turning from God then a Conversion or turning of the soul to the Creature this is the usual course and the usual 〈◊〉 They have 〈◊〉 the Fountain of Living Waters and digged to themselves Pits that will hold no water Jer. 2. 13. Adam attends not Gods Direction and then he attends the delusion of the Enemy contents not himself in what God had found but finds out findings therefore our Savior brings back his contrary way begins where Satan ends as it were there must be an Aversion and turning from the Creature before there can be a conversion unto God he came from God to the Creature he must return from the Creature to God but 〈◊〉 aversion is first that is from his abusive cleaving to the Creature for in truth 〈◊〉 is nothing else but an 〈◊〉 affecting of these inferior things Ambition is the inordinate affecting of praise the aiery applause of men Covetousness an inordinate seeking and 〈◊〉 upon the world Uncleanness an unruly 〈◊〉 unreasonable pursuit of the delights of the Flesh in a word a perverted and exorbitant wil inordinately following and pursuing the Creature not from God for God but from a sinful disposition to self-ends this is the frame of evil in the heart the woof and web of wickedness lie there Now the Lord Jesus he comes 1 John 3. 8 9 to destroy the works of the Devil the Original is to 〈◊〉 and unravel undo or take down 〈◊〉 work as the word implies and therefore he begins to pull down his work where he ended it viz. He first works an Aversion from sin and the Creature sinfully affected and then in Nature and Order there wil be conversion to God The Point of the Compass cannot stand North and South together first it must stand from the South before it stand North The face of the soul cannot stand God-ward and Sin-ward and Creature-ward This is the course of the Scripture and the constant expression of it To turn from Idols to the living God from darkness to light from Satan to God There is nothing in the soul that can turn the soul from sin and the Creature that which is wholly possessed and wholly acted by an inordinate affection to the Creature that can never turn from the Creature 1 Pet. 4. 2. All men live according to
M R Hooker's First Second Third Fourth Fift Sixt Seventh and Eighth Books made in New-England THE APPLICATION OF REDEMPTION By the effectual Work of the Word and Spirit of Christ for the bringing home of lost Sinners to God The first eight Books In which besides many other seasonable and Soul-searching Truths there is also largely shewed 1. Christ hath purchased all spiritual good for HIS 2. Christ puts all HIS into possession of all that Good that he hath purchased 3. The Soul must be fitted for Christ before it can receive him And a powerful Ministry is the ordinary means to prepare the heart for Christ. 4. The Work of God is free And the day of Salvation is while this Life last and the Gospel continue 5. God calls his Elect at any Age but the most before old Age. 6. The Soul is naturally setled in a sinful security 7. The heart of a Natural man is wholly unwilling to submit to the Word that would sever him from his sins 8. God the Father by a holy kind of violence plucks His out of their corruptions and draws them to beleeve in Christ. By that Faithful and known Servant of Christ Mr. THOMAS HOOKER late Pastor of the Church at Hartford in New-England somtimes Preacher of the Word at Chelmsford in Essex and Fellow of Emmanuel Colledg in Cambridg Printed from the Authors Papers written with his own Hand And attested to be such in an Epistle By Thomas Goodwin And Philip Nye London Printed by Peter Cole at the sign of the Pringting-press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1656. To the Reader READER IT hath been one of the Glories of the Protestant Religion that it revived the Doctrine of Saving Conversion And of the new creature brought forth thereby Concerning which and the necessity thereof we find so much indigitated by Christ and the Apostles in their Epistles in those times But in a more eminent manner God hath cast the honor hereof upon the Ministers and Preachers of this Nation who are renowned abroad for their more accurate search into and discoveries hereof First For the Popish Religion that much pretend to Piety and Devotion and doth dress forth a Religion to a great outward Gaudiness and shew of 〈◊〉 and wil-worship which we confess is entermingled with many spiritual strains of self-denial Submission to Gods wil Love to God and Christ especially in the writings of those that are called Mistical 〈◊〉 But that first great and saving Work of Conversion which is the foundation of al true piety the great and numerous volumns of their most devout writers are usually silent therein Yea they eminently appropriate the word Conversion and thing it self unto 〈◊〉 man that renounceth a Secular life and entereth into Religious orders as they cal them and that Doctrine they have in their discourses of Grace and free wil about it is of no higher elevation than what as worthy Mr. Perkins long since may be common to a Reprobate though we judg not al amongst them God having continued in the midst of Popish Darkness many to this day and at this day with more Contention than 〈◊〉 not scandalous in their lives having in 〈◊〉 Knowledg the Form of Truth by 〈◊〉 adding thereunto some outward 〈◊〉 Duties Such Persons we mean as 〈◊〉 were in our Pulpits plainly 〈◊〉 but Civil Moral 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 really but such kind of Professors of 〈◊〉 as Mutatis mutandis are found 〈◊〉 Turks of Mahumotanism who 〈◊〉 the Principles of that 〈◊〉 and are devout in Duties to God 〈◊〉 thereby through the meer 〈◊〉 of Natural Devotion and Education 〈◊〉 Laws and Customs of that Religion 〈◊〉 also through Moral Honesty are not 〈◊〉 in their Lives Such like 〈◊〉 amongst us have been and that 〈◊〉 a New 〈◊〉 of Religion with 〈◊〉 also from others the Ignorant 〈◊〉 Prophane professedly received 〈◊〉 the Communion of Saints as visible Saints 〈◊〉 Principle and Practice hath as it 〈◊〉 needs weakened and embased the 〈◊〉 purer stamp of the Doctrine of 〈◊〉 as then held forth with such evidence of difference from these 〈◊〉 Profession not only by encouraging such boldly to take on them to be 〈◊〉 as it were by Authority but also by having checked and flatted the spirits 〈◊〉 themselves that would teach it seeing that this Real Application in Practice and Principle to such Moral Christians as Saints is a manifest Contradiction unto al 〈◊〉 can be Doctrinally said in the Pulpit to the contrary concerning the power 〈◊〉 this great work in true Saints And 〈◊〉 the Profession of Religion hath been levelled and diffused into that bulk and commonness that the true marks of saving Graces are as to the open discerning much worn out and wil be more and more if this should obtain Or else as great a Cause as any other a special Profession of Religion being 〈◊〉 Mode and under Countenance Hence many have been easily moved to see what might be in Religion and so attend to what is said about it and upon listening thereto their spirits have been awakened and surprized with some light and then with that Light they have grown inquisitive into what this or that Party of Religion holds what the other or what a fourth And thinking themselves at liberty as the Principle of the times is to chuse as men in a Market what that Light wil lead them to they accordingly fal in either with this or that particular perswasion and this is al of many mens Conversion And yet because such become zealously addicted to such or such a 〈◊〉 some of the Professors of each of which others that differ own as truly Godly therfore they are presently adopted owned as Saints by the several Followers of such Opinions And each sort thinks much that those who embrace their Opinion should not be accounted and esteemed Religious 〈◊〉 all others that do sincerely 〈◊〉 the power of it Thus men Tythe 〈◊〉 and Cummin and leap over the great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Regeneration namely 〈◊〉 for sin the 〈◊〉 sence of their Natural Condition the Difficult work of Faith to 〈◊〉 them Union and Closing with Christ Mortification of lusts c. which works where they are found and visibly held forth none are to be disowned for other Opinions consisting with the 〈◊〉 yet so as without these no Opinion of what Elevation soever can or doth constitute a man Religious Now look as when among the Jews Religion had run into Factions and Parties and the power of it thereby was 〈◊〉 lost God then set down John 〈◊〉 amongst them a sowr and severe Preacher Urger of the Doctrine of 〈◊〉 and preparative Humiliation for sin which he comparatively to what was brought in by Christ termeth the Baptism of Water though withal 't is said that in the Close of his Doctrine 〈◊〉 pointed unto Christ Saying unto the people that they should beleeve on him that should come after him that is on Jesus Christ. Yet this he did but 〈◊〉 at for the
lastly is the meaning of that text Rom. 7. 6. wherein a man is said to be married to his sin for the comparison holds As long as the Husband lives so long the Wife is bound and is subject to him so while we remain in our natural condition under the Covenant of Works we are in Covenant with our sins and married to them so that we cannot be to any other we are hand-fasted and cannot part 1 Sin claims a propriety in the soul. 2 Takes possession of it 3 It wholly orders and acts it as the woman hath not power over her self but the man On the 〈◊〉 side the Soul 1 Gives it self away to it 2 Submits to the authority of it And 3 Is wholly acted by it Therefore it is That they that are in the flesh cannot please God Rom. 8. 8. The act of Sin cannot please but the Spiritual 〈◊〉 of the Soul is acted by Sin therefore it cannot please God while a man is in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This KEY will Open many Doors Hence it follows Original Sin is not a meer Privarion or want of Original Righteousness but an active 〈◊〉 or running wrong of all the wheels the Faculties of the Soul of man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only take away his Image but 〈◊〉 up the soul to the power of Corruption and 〈◊〉 its discovered by the actions of Fighting 〈◊〉 5. 7. The Flesh lusts against the Spirit 〈◊〉 Rom. 7. 21. The Law of Flesh 〈◊〉 against the law of my mind captivating the 〈◊〉 erecting and setting up a soveraignty and height 〈◊〉 jurisdiction in the soul there is a law of sin and 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 2. As Adam actually by his own Fault and Folly 〈◊〉 away the Holiness and Righteousness of God 〈◊〉 himself to the sinful distemper of his own 〈◊〉 so he doth also Meritoriously work i. e. by 〈◊〉 sin deserve that God should take away the one 〈◊〉 deliver up to the power of the other And if 〈◊〉 then also Actually for to work a 〈◊〉 meritoriously is so to do a thing according to 〈◊〉 of Covenant our selvs and that we should 〈◊〉 another should do to us or for us what is sutable 〈◊〉 the Covenant either broken or kept In a word As Adam works his own death by 〈◊〉 so also 〈◊〉 procures both the loss of the Image of God the 〈◊〉 of Corruption to take possession of him and 〈◊〉 for both these are included in that Thy 〈◊〉 is of thy self Oh Israel Hos. 13. 9. Hence also it comes about That the law is the 〈◊〉 of sin 1 Cor. 15. 56. and sin as strong as the Law because the Law of God gives 〈◊〉 to sinful distempers to take possession of it So 〈◊〉 look what power the Kings Commission is of in 〈◊〉 hand of the High Sheriff the same power hath 〈◊〉 Sheriff when he hath that Commission So look what strength there is in the Commission from Divine Justice the same strength sin hath which hath that Commission Hence again All sins Original and Actual which follow therefrom are punishments of the 〈◊〉 of Adam as they come from God Its 〈◊〉 with God That he that wil reject his Wisdom 〈◊〉 Holiness should be deprived of it its just that 〈◊〉 that wil chuse his own Delusions and 〈◊〉 before Gods directions and Covenant should be delivered up to the power of them and staked 〈◊〉 in them Thou wouldst be so why remain so 〈◊〉 And every putting forth of Original Corruption takes occasion from this act of revenging 〈◊〉 pushing the soul away from him But as they 〈◊〉 from Adam so they are sins properly called For Adam doth not properly punish himself he 〈◊〉 not the execution of any act of Justice 〈◊〉 is it 〈◊〉 that he doth evil but it is his delight 〈◊〉 takes content therein even to depart from God which is the sentence of the second Death Hence lastly There is no possibility that a 〈◊〉 should be recovered by any power he hath or by 〈◊〉 vertue of any Creature to deliver the wil of a 〈◊〉 from under the power of his sin or from 〈◊〉 carried with it Because he is sealed up under 〈◊〉 by the Curse of the Covenant broken and the 〈◊〉 of it in a righteous Course For as 〈◊〉 could be no other reward of a good work but to 〈◊〉 immutably carried by the Spirit of the Lord and enabled to work so for ever We can go no farther than the last end to please God is the last end 〈◊〉 chief good of the Creature the immutable 〈◊〉 and constancy in that is al the good we 〈◊〉 have Do and Live That is Do and Do 〈◊〉 me once and please me for ever that is Thou shalt be enabled for ever to please me and to be happy in so doing So contrary wise The Curse of the breach of the Covenant is for ever to be acted by the power of sin 〈◊〉 break it Do not and Die that is Displease 〈◊〉 by Disobedience and be so accursed that thou 〈◊〉 ever displease me The just punishment which is answerable to our 〈◊〉 of the Lord and our chief good is that 〈◊〉 shal ever reject it For if a man could please God and so 〈◊〉 his end after his Disobedience and 〈◊〉 of Covenant he might then be happy and 〈◊〉 be in his sin and so never be punished for it which is impossible The Sum of this Argument in short returns to thus much That if the Will of a man be under Commission of Divine Justice and is delivered up to 〈◊〉 power of Sin to be possessed of it and acted by it therefore it is not nay cannot be willing to be 〈◊〉 from its sins The Third Reason of the Doctrine is taken from the Power which Satan hath to lead and so to 〈◊〉 all sinners wholly according to his own desire 〈◊〉 the lord hath given him allowance thereunto As 〈◊〉 said to Satan touching Job All that he hath is 〈◊〉 thy hand Job 2. 6. So al these that wil not be my Subjects but are turned Traytors lo they be in 〈◊〉 hand they shal be thy slaves Thus he rules in the Children of disobedience Eph. 2. 2. Thus he 〈◊〉 them at his will 2 Tim. 2. last He is the strong man that maintains possession in the Soul and the sinner goes as he is led 2 Cor. 12. 2. Malefactors are the Kings Prisoners but under the keeping of the 〈◊〉 so sinners have their Mittimus and they are put into Satans hand he keeps them in the chayns of 〈◊〉 and reserves them to the 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 day if they be not rescued out of his hand by Jesus Christ. The last Reason is taken from the Naturalness and neer Alliance there is between our hearts and our lusts that we count it death to part with them nay we cannot be without them hence in Scripture they are called as the members of our body Col. 3. 5. mortifie your members and those the dearest and tenderest the right
And this was usual in the Course of Providence and the Dispensation of the Means of Grace for himself gives the ground of Gods dealing and his aim in this 1 Tim. 1. 16. To wit That he might be an example and pattern to all Posterity to support the hearts of the rebellious Gentiles that they might not sink under the weight of their unsufferable 〈◊〉 but yet to seek the Lord. So it was with these Converts Acts 2. Some mocked some blasphemed 〈◊〉 derided the Apostles and that was the season the Lord took to set upon their hearts by the Ministery of the Apostles And were the Scripture silent in this case how often have we found it in our own experience acknowledged by many those who came purposely to deride and scom the Ministery of the Word somtimes to entrap and ensnare the Minister somtimes to see and slight and jear at the Assemblies of the Saints that was the time which the Lord took to seize upon their souls to Convince Convert and Save them through Mercy what Congruity or suitableness was there then for this work unless you wil make Contrariety and the height of sinful rage and opposition to be Congruity this is Gods manner to do wonderful things beyond the reach of Common Reason when it was hard to the people of the Captivity to beleive it God then sayes it was not hard to work it Zach. 8. 6. Thus saith the Lord unto this people If it be marvelous in your eyes should it be marvelous in my eyes God usually carries the chiefest of the Expressions of his Providence by way of Contrariety and cross Means in Common Apprehension and the course of things that he might silence the pride of al flesh and the forgery of al 〈◊〉 who are the professed enemies of his Grace So Elias when he would make way for the Glory of the Miracle and Manifestation of Gods power he doth nor only lay the Sacrifice upon the Altar without Fire but digs ditches deep and fills them with water that the power of the Fire might appear more remarkablely 1 Kings 18. 33 34 35. So here To this Experience which cannot be 〈◊〉 take these Reasons for further cleering of the truth and the crushing of this Erronious Conceit If the Conversion or Attraction of a sinner be lastly resolved into the Congruity and suitableness of Moral Perswasions then may it lastly depend upon some natural Cause or in truth upon some Common Circumstance of some outward occasion and Conveniency with which the sinner may meet in the use of Means For in the meeting and Concurence of these as time place order or outward helps and the disposition of the party in some or al of these this Congruity wil consist But this is to resolve our spiritual and supernatural Call into a natural Cause against Rule and Reason For nothing can exceed the bounds of that ability which the Lord in the way of his Providence hath set in the Creature natural Causes produce natural Effects only Joh. 1. 12. Which are born not of blood nor of the will of man nor of the will of the flesh There is nothing in Corruption or natural Disposition or the excellency of any 〈◊〉 that brings forth this spiritual birth Nay the Apostle professedly excludes al these as not able to bring about this work and therefore sets out the vanity and emptiness of them when they are at the highest We Preach saies the Apostle Wisdom to those that are perfect which this world nor the Princes of this world were never able to reach unto 1 Cor. 2. 6. 8. If any were suited with the choicest Means or had liberty to enjoy the choicest Opportunities or the best Advantages according to their hearts Content these were the men and yet these could 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of this work 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 of outward Means which properly reach not the 〈◊〉 work prove an 〈◊〉 unto this effectual Calling So the Apostle 1 Cor. 1. 26. Not many wise not many rich 〈◊〉 many noble 〈◊〉 wisdom and choice abilities wealth and outward 〈◊〉 honor and 〈◊〉 they are in 〈◊〉 and so 〈◊〉 and therefore Congruous to help forward a 〈◊〉 Course because those that are not subordinate 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Argument follows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reason if any then these who had 〈◊〉 and choice abilities to improve the Means 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work those who had wealth to purchase them those who had authority to 〈◊〉 and them to serve their turn they should be suited to al 〈◊〉 encouragements to 〈◊〉 on in a Christian Course but we see this doth it not Some who have the greatest 〈◊〉 and suitableness of al Moral Perswasions to draw their hearts to Christ do remain for ever at greatest distance from him therefore saving Conversion is not resolved into nor depends certainly upon the Congruity of Moral Periwasions That some have such suitableness and yet remain at such a distance I instance in 〈◊〉 those that sin the sin against the holy Ghost and count the Blood of Jesus a Common thing That these have the Congruity of al means to prevail with them the Word wil give in 〈◊〉 proof Heb. 6. 5 6. They taste of the heavenly gift that is Faith are made 〈◊〉 of the holy Ghost have tasted of the good Word of God and of the powers of the world to come They have a taste of Vocation of Adoption and 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 and that there were 〈◊〉 of Moral 〈◊〉 to work these I thus shew Where there is a Concurrence of al Moral Causes which by the rule of Providence the Lord hath appointed all those that he hath fitted and proportioned both to the nature of the soul and the nature of the spiritual work needful for it such whom he hath so far breathed upon and wrought withal that there is a taste of al the saving work of God left upon the soul only the truth and reality of the work is 〈◊〉 comes as neer to effectual Calling as may be and not be Called as neer to the stamp of true Sanctification as can be and not be Sanctified there is the Congruity of al Moral Perswasions and the meeting and Concourse of the strength of al Arguments and Reasons that can be propounded only there is yet a principle internal wanting which should indeed change the Will For if the contrary to al these be incongruous and carry a kind of unsuitableness either to the necessities of the soul and the work of God upon the soul for its saving good then the presence of these carry an undoubted congruity and answerableness to all the good of the soul and the work that should be done upon it For certain it is when al the Means that God hath appointed are attended and used also in the order and manner he hath appointed neither more help nor more Congruity can be desired nor yet attained for if there be any other Means which God hath not appointed those wil prove hinderances not
heart is the alone work of God It is not in him that Wills nor in him that Runs 〈◊〉 in God that shews Mercy You know many of you hundreds for ought I know that you never knew what Christ and his Grace meant and you know your hearts close with your sins though you dare not give way to them Now mark when you come and hear the mind of God and the Ministers speak unto you and the Will of God is published Oh! Go your wayes home and say As the Lord lives I will not leave thee until the Lord hath spoken to my soul till I find the effectual work of the Word and Spirit of God drawing my soul from my sins to Jesus Christ. Therefore call for that same shewing Mercy which the Apostle speaks of Rom. 9. 16. So then it is not of him that wills nor of him that runs but of God that sheweth mercy When you have run what you can and willed what you are able then look up to the Lord to shew you Mercy the Minister hath spoken what he can and I have heard what I can but Lord shew Mercy and never leave until you have found that the Lord hath shewed you Mercy in this work of drawing your Soul from Sin to Christ. FINIS THE Application OF Redemption By the Effectual Work of the Word and Spirt of Christ for the bringing home of lost Sinners to God The Ninth and Tenth Books Beside many other seasonable and Soul-searching Truths there is also largely shewed â—â—The heart must be humble and contrite before the Lord will dwell in it â—â—Stubborn and bloody Sinners may be made broken-hearted â—â—There must be true sight of sin before the heart can be broken for it â—â—Application of special sins by the Ministry is a means to bring men to sight of and sorrow for them â—â—Meditation of sin a special means to break the heart â—â—The same word is profitable to some not to others â—â—The Lord somtimes makes the word prevail most when its most opposed â—â—Sins unrepented of makes way for piercing Terrors â—â—The Truth terrible to a guilty conscience â—â—â—Gross and scandalous sinners God usually exerciseth with heavy breakings of heart before they be brought to Christ. 11. Sorrow for sin rightly set on pierceth the heart of the sinner throughly 12. They whose hearts are pierced by the word are carried with love and respect to the Ministers of it And are busie to enquire and ready to submit to the mind of God 13. Sinners in distress of conscience are ignorant what they should do 14. A contrite sinner sees a necessity of coming out of his sinful condition 15. There is a secret hope wherewith the Lord supports the hearts of contrite sinners 16. They who are truly pierced for their sins do prize and covet deliverance from their sins 17. True contrition is accompanied with confession of sin when God calls thereunto 18. The Soul that is pierced for sin is carried with a restless dislike against it By that Faithful and known Servant of Christ Mr. THOMAS HOOKER late Pastor of the Church at Hartford in New-England somtimes Preacher of the Word at Chelmsford in Essex and Fellow of Emmanuel Colledg in Cambridg Printed from the Authors Papers written with his own Hand And attested to be such in an Epistle By Thomas Goodwin And Philip Nye London Printed by Peter Cole at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1657. READER IT hath been one of the Glories of the Protestant Religion that it revived the Doctrine of Saving Conversion And of the new creature brought forth thereby Concerning which and the necessity thereof we find so much indigitated by Christ and the Apostles in their Epistles in those times But in a more eminent manner God hath cast the honor hereof upon the Ministers and Preachers of this Nation who are renowned abroad for their more accurate search into and discoveries hereof First For the Popish Religion that much pretend to Piety and Devotion and doth dress forth a Religion to a great outward Gaudiness and shew of 〈◊〉 and wil-worship which we confess is entermingled with many spiritual strains of self-denial Submission to Gods wil Love to God and Christ especially in the writings of those that are called Mistical 〈◊〉 But that first great and saving Work of Conversion which is the foundation of al true piety the great and numerous volumns of their most devout writers are usually silent therein Yea they eminently appropriate the word Conversion and thing it self unto 〈◊〉 man that renounceth a Secular life and entereth into Religious orders as they cal them and that Doctrine they have in their discourses of Grace and free wil about it is of no higher elevation than what as worthy Mr. Perkins long since may be common to a Reprobate though we judg not al amongst them God having continued in the midst of Popish Darkness many to this day and at this day with more Contention than ever that plead for the Prerogative of Gods Grace in mans Conversion And for the Arminian Doctrine how low doth that run in this great Article this we may without breach of Charity say of it That if they or their followers have no further or deeper work upon their hearts than what their Doctrine in that point calls for they would fal short of Heaven though those other great truths they together therewith teach God may and doth savingly bless unto true Conversion he breaking through those Errors into some of their hearts And how much our reformed Writers abroad living in continual wranglings and Disputes with the Adversaries of Grace have omitted in a Practical and Experimental way to lay open and anatomize the inwards of this great work for the Comfort and settlement of poor souls many of themselves do greatly bewayl And to find them work and divert them from this it hath been the Devils great Policy who is at the head of all those Controversies as also ever since Pelagius time to this very day to make that dry and barren plot of Ground namely the naked dispute of the freedom of mans wil to be the great seat of this War as the Pope did the Conquest of the Holy Land in the darker times to find al Christian Princes work and thither to draw al the forces and intentions of mens minds jejunely in a great part Phylosophically to debate what power mans wil for-sooth hath in the Summity and Apex of Conversion to resist or to accept the Grace of God and so whether Moral perswasions only be not Sufficient or that Physical Pre-determinations be not also requisite to Conversion whilest in the mean time al those intimate actings of a soul in turning to God The secret particular passages both on Gods part and on the souls part which are many and various by which the soul is won over unto God and Christ those treaties the souls of men hold with God and Christ for justifying and
detestation and sequestration appears in the last words Men and Brethren what shall we do we will do any thing suffer any thing command what you wil enjoyn what you please be it never so hard we will endeavor it never so cross to our hearts or comforts we will bear it better be any thing than be thus 〈◊〉 let 's be in any condition that once we might be freed from this sinful and accursed condition in which we be We have taken liberty to lay out our Work with as much plainness and openness of order as we may because we shall have occasion to mind you of the particulars in our future proceeding and how the several 〈◊〉 serve each others turn in their place and order Before we come to the Particulars one Point 〈◊〉 in the very entrance which will be very serviceable to make way for all the Truths following and therefore we shall take in that at this time that it may be as an Harbenger to make room for all the rest And it ariseth from a right consideration of the parties to whom 〈◊〉 here speaks and with whom his word so prevailed and took place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 36. verse he tels them that same 〈◊〉 whom ye have crucisied They were therefore such as had rejected blasphemed 〈◊〉 the Lord of Glory those who in a bloody manner 〈◊〉 away the life of 〈◊〉 who came to take away their sins Is it possible is it credible that ever mercy should be extended unto such that ever good should be wrought in such Yes Lo here When they heard this they were pricked in their hearts They whose hands were imbrewed in the blood of Jesus their hearts are now 〈◊〉 with Godly sorrow and so made fit to receive Grace and Mercy Hence the Doctrine is Stubborn and bloody sinners may be made broken-hearted sinners Bloody hellish abominable 〈◊〉 may yet obtain broken hearts worse than these could hardly be conceived or imagined and yet God makes work of these knotty way ward Spirits It was said of him that betrayed Christ it had been good for him that be had never been born What shall we say of them that murdered our Savior they are in the highest rank of the most wicked men that ever were born yet even such as 〈◊〉 who also opposed the Word and Gospel of Grace the Disciples and Apostles the Preachers and Publishers of Grace the Author and God of Grace yet such as these have now their hearts broken and in some measure prepared to be partakers thereof The Apostle speaks of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 29. That they were full of all unrighteousness there can hardly be added any thing to the largeness of the expression No sin worse for the kind more for the number greater for the measure for they had all unrighteousness all the kinds of evil and all degrees in the largest extent they were full and yet of such the Apostle professeth 1 Cor. 6. 9. when he had mentioned a heap of most loathsom and hideous abominations Know ye not that no unrighteous person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate self-Polluters Extortioners Covetous persons shall ever enter into the Kingdom of God then verse 11. And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God Some such as these were savingly brought home to God Yea when corruption becomes like an old cankered sore of long continuance and the sinner incorrigible under all the choycest means that have been used yet then the Lord works the Cure Isay 57. 18. I was angry with him for his evil lustings and he went on in the frowardness of his own heart ther is no help if the Disease grow worse for the dressing the Prophet adds I have seen his waies I will heal him and lead him and restore comforts to him and to those that mourn with him as if he should say Ah poor Creature he cannot see himself nor me yet I see him and his way he wounds himself but I will heal him he deludes himself but I wil heal him sink he must in his own sorrow but I will succor him and supply to him Isay 48. 4. I know thou art obstinate and thy neck is an Iron sinew and thy brow is Brass and yet Verse 17. I am the Lord thy Redeemer that teach thee to profit and leadest thee by the way thou shouldest go The Lord bows an Iron sinew and makes it bendable unto his will The Lord makes snowy Saints of scarlet sinners scarlet we know is twice dyed in the Wool and in the Web and Cloth and therefore it is beyond all the skil and art of man to alter it Yet though our Sins be such bred in our Natures committed in our Lives and therefore beyond our reach 〈◊〉 and the power of all means and performances we can take up to remove them yet the Lord hath undertaken it and he will do it Isa. 1. 18. There is a Threefold Argument to settle this Truth Taken from the largeness of his Mercy which is as himself Infinite and therefore infinitely exceeds all our wants and can supply them all our weaknesses and infirmities and therefore can forgive them and remove them as he will as though they had never been Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and return unto the Lord for he will abundantly pardon and to our God for he will have mercy But the discouraged sinner might happily reply It is Mercy that I have abused and his pardons he hath tendered yet I in the time of my folly have trampled under my feet and therefore with what face could I beg mercy or upon what ground could I think ever to receive it He answers For my thoughts are not your thoughts nor your waies my waies for as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my thoughts than your thoughts there is no proportion no comparison the Earth is not of a valuable consideration to the Heavens but like a Centre in the Circumference it is as though it was not So here the thoughts of Gods Mercy to pardon thee is so far beyond the evil of thy waies and thoughts to condemn that they are as though they were not nay though thou couldest not beleeve it or think it yet the Lord could and would do it This is one of his names He keeps mercy for thousands Exod. 34. 7. he hath it in store for thousands and FORGIVES Iniquity Transgression and Sin that is all kinds and degrees of sin and he must be thus or else he were not God For did our sins exceed his mercies our weakness his strength were Satan more malicious to tempt 〈◊〉 and powerful to overcome 〈◊〉 than he was gracious to defend and Almighty to deliver then were he not God if any thing were
Psal. 19. 7. the law of God makes wise the simple 2. Tim. 3. 15. it's able to make us wise unto Salvation 3 There 's a Sufficiency of God to content and satisfy us Blessed are they who walk in his wayes and blessed are they that keep his Testimonies Psal. 119. 1. 2. Great prosperity have they that love the law and nothing shal offend them ver 16. and in truth there can be no greater reward for doing wel than to be enabled to do well he that hath attayned his last end he cannot go further he cannot be better Now by sin we justle the law out of its place and the Lord out of his Glorious Soveraignty pluck the Crown from his head and the Seepter out of his hand and we say and profess by our practice there is not authority and power there to govern nor wisdom to guide nor good to content me but I wil be swayed by mine own wil and led by mine own deluded reason and satisfied with my own lusts This is the guise of every graceless heart in the commission of sin so Pharaoh who is the Lord I know not the Lord nor will I lett Israel go Exod. 5. 2. in the time of their prosperity see how the Jews turn their backs and shake off the authority of the Lord we are Lords say 〈◊〉 we will come no more at thee Jer. 2. 31. and our tongues are our own who shal be Lords 〈◊〉 us Psal. 12. 4. So for the wisdom of the world see how they set light by it as not worth the looking after it Jer. 18. 12. we wil walk after our own devices we wil every one do the imagination of his own evil heart yea they sett up their own traditions their own Idols and delusions and Lord it over the law making the command of God of none effect Math. 15. 8. 9. So for the goodness of the word Job 22. 17. Mal. 3. 14. It is in vayn to serve God and what profit is there that we have kept his ordinances yea his Commandemnts are ever grievous It s a grievous thing to the loose person he cannot have his pleasures but he must have his guilt and gall with them It s grievous to the worlding that he cannot lay hold on the world by unjust means but Conscience layes hold upon him as breaking the law Thou that knowest and keepest thy pride and stubbornness and thy distempers know assuredly thou dost justle God out of the Throne of his glorious Soveraignty and thou dost profess Not Gods wil but thine own which is above his shall rule thee thy 〈◊〉 reason and the folly of thy mind is above the wisdome of the Lord and that shal guide thee to please thine own stubborn crooked pervers spirit is a greater good than to please God and enjoy happines for this more Contents thee That when thou considerest but thy Course dost thou not wonder that the great and Terrible God doth not pash such a poor insolent worm to pouder and send thee packing to the pitt every moment 2 It smites at the Essence of the Almighty and the desire of the sinner is not only that God should not be supream but that indeed he should not be at all and therefore it would destroy the being of Jehovah Psal. 81. 15. sinners are called the haters of the Lord. John 15. 24. they hated both me and my Father Now he that hates endeavours if it be possible the annihilation of the thing hated and its most certain were it in their power they would pluck God out of Heaven the light of his truth out of their Consciences and the law out of the Societies and Assemblies where they live that they might have elbow room to live as they list Nay what ever they hate most and intend and plott more evil against in al the world they hate God most of all and intend more evil against him than against all their 〈◊〉 besides because they hate all for his sake therefore wicked men are said to destroy the law Psal. 126. 119. the Adulterer loaths that law that condemns uncleaness the Earthworm would destrow that law that forbids Covetousness they are sayd to hate the light John 3. 21. to hate the Saints and Servants of the Lord John 15. 18. the world hates you he that hates the Lanthorn for the lights sake he hates the light much more he that hates the faithful because of the Image of God and the Grace that appears there he hates the God of all Grace and Holiness most of all so God to Zenacharib Isa. 37. 28. I know thy going out and thy Comming in and thy rage against me Oh it would be their content if there was no God in the world to govern them no law to curbe them no justice to punish no truth to trouble them Learn therfore to see how far your rebellions reach It is not arguments you gainsay not 〈◊〉 Counsel of a Minister you reject the command of a 〈◊〉 ye oppose evidence of rule or reason ye 〈◊〉 but be it known to you you fly in the very face of the Almighty and it is not the Gospel of Grace ye would have destroyed but the spirit of Grace the author of Grace the Lord Jesus the God of all Grace that ye hate It crosseth the whol course of Providence perverts the work of the Creature and defaceth the beautiful frame and that sweet correspondence and orderly usefulness the Lord first implanted in the order of things The Heavens deny their influence the Earth her strength the Corn her nourishment thank sin for that Weeds come instead of herbs Cockle and Darnel instead of Wheat thank sin for that Rom. 8. 22. The whol Creature or Creation grones under vanity either cannot do what it would or else misseth of that good and end it intended breeds nothing but vanity brings forth nothing but vexation It crooks all things so as that none can straiten them makes so many wants that none can supply them Eccles. 1. 15. This makes crooked Servants in a family no 〈◊〉 can rule them 〈◊〉 inhabitants in towns crooked members in Congregations ther 's no ordering nor joynting of them in that comly accord and mutual subjection know they said the adversary sin hath done all this Man was the mean betwixt God and the Creature to convey all good with all the constancy of it and therefore when Man breaks Heaven and Earth breaks all asunder the Conduit being cracked and displaced there can be no conveyance from the Fountain In regard of our selves see we and consider nakedly the nature of sin in Four particulars It s that which makes a separation between God and the soul breaks that Union and Communion with God for 〈◊〉 we were made and in the enjoyment of which we should be blessed and happie Isai. 59. 1. 2. Gods ear is not heavy that it cannot hear nor his hand that it cannot help but your iniquities have separated betwixt God and
which he used in the contrivement of that evil and leaves not there until he come to the Root of al the wretchedness of his Nature that Original corruption in which he was born and bred Psal. 51. 5 6. Behold Lord I was warmed in wickedness and in sin did my mother conceive me but thou lovest Truth in the inward parts but I would have colored over my vile carriage and by false pretences I would have hidden the filthiness of my sins by sending for Uriah and sending him to his own house to have lien with his wife that so he might have fathered the sin without suspicion This was the guise and disposition of Eli 1 Sam. 3. 17. he enjoyns Samuel not to 〈◊〉 any thing from him of all the things that the Lord had spoken he would hear al and know the worst of al So it ought to be with every man that in earnest desires to know the evil of his sin If the Word discover Conscience accuse for any sin take the first notice and inkling cease not to make ful enquiry and see what wil become of it search unto the very bottom Labor to take all those cursed Cavils the wily shifts and devices which carnal Reason casts in to break the blow as it were and to defeat and put by the Authority of the Truth So that the edg and powerful Operation of an Ordinance is wholly blunted and hindred that it prevails not with the heart nor can the Judgment 〈◊〉 set down by Evidence of Argument and Reason which comes to be darkened by such Cavils and devices Here is then the great skil and ought to be the chief care of a Christian not to consult with flesh and blood at least to cleer the Coast of al such Carnal Reasonings that the Evidence of the Truth may be entertained without gainsaying and attain his proper powerful effect upon the mind and heart These Cavils and Shifts are commonly referred to Three Heads 1 To lighten the evil of sin that it is not so hainous and dangerous a matter as Ministers seem to make it 2 If it were so dangerous yet the danger may easily be prevented 3 If it cannot be prevented yet it may be suffered without any such extream hazard as many fear and others would bear the world in hand To remove these out of the way that so the Work of Conviction may go on with more success we shal shortly speak to all of them in the Order propounded It 's incident to al men naturally to have a slight apprehension of their sin partly they do not know it partly they are loth to be troubled and disquieted with it and therefore out of their own ignorance and security they would easily perswade themselves it 's not so hainous and dangerous that so they may not fear so much to commit nor care so much to reform them when once they are fallen nor yet suffer themselves to be overborn with terror and discouragement though they continue in them This lessening of the hainousness and dangerousness of sin issues upon a four-fold Ground for the most part The commonness of sin makes men not start at the commission of it that which so many do and so ordinarily and happily such who are for their parts and places of no mean esteem they imagine and conclude they may safely do We are sinners say they and good now are not all so If it go ill with us then God be merciful to many We have our failings we are not alone we have many fellows who lives without them If we were so gross as such you had just reason to condemn us and we to condemn and loath our selves but being no other than the most are I hope there is no great matter in it I Answer in three things 1 The more common thy sin the more 〈◊〉 it is and the heavier thy Curse will be from the Lord. The more they be that oppose the Lord and his Truth the more need of thy help and the greater had been thy love to him and his cause now to stand by it and the greater thy falsness and unfaithfulness to forsake both and to joyn sides with the wicked See how unkindly he takes the suspicion and appearance to be carried away in a common defection 〈◊〉 6. 66. When many went back and walked no more with Jesus if commonness might have given encouragement the Disciples had warrant enough to have carried them in the stream yet see how il the Lord takes the least inclination or suspicion that way Wil ye also go away See how heavily the anger of the Lord breaks out against such Apostats Iudg. 5. 3. Curse ye Meroz said the Angel of the Lord yea curse ye Meroz bitterly because they went not out to help the Lord against the mighty When opposition grows sierce and the numbers grow to be many and the power mighty of such as become Adversaries to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who then becomes careless of the Lord and his Cause the Curse of God comes out against such in a peculiar manner he aims at them by name Curse ye such who go not out to help the Lord against the mighty pride the mighty stubbornness the mighty 〈◊〉 and unprofitableness and base Earthly-mindedness 〈◊〉 gets footing and grows common in the places and amongst such with whom we 〈◊〉 2 As it shews thy curse to be heavy so thy estate to be miserable and thy soul as yet destitute of any saving work of Gods Grace Thou art in the road and broad way to destruction and this is one evidence it 's the common track Broad is the gate wide is the way that leads to destruction and many there be that go in thereat Matth. 7. 13. It 's easie to find and as easie yet certain thou shalt perish in it It 's made a description of a Child of wrath and such who are dead in sins and trespasses Eph. 2. 2. Who walk according to the Course of this world according to the prince of the Aire who rules in the hearts of the Children of disobedience Dost thou walk in the common road according to the course of the world thou art in the kingdome of darkness and art ruled by the Prince of darkness and shall go to everlasting darkness Dead Fishes Swim down the stream Thou art a dead man if thou goest with the stream of the world Therefore the Apostle James gives it as an Evidence of true Religion and a man truly Religions James 1. 27. This is true Religion to keep a mans self unspotted of this present Evil world If a man say he be Religious and yet Refrain not his tongue the Religion of that man is vain If a man will lie and Rayl and Shift up and down because others do so truly the Religion of that man is vain and so his hopes and comforts will be The Commonness of this sin doth exceedingly aggravate it and make it out of measure sinful even of
into his Fathers Concubines in the view of the people that he might settle the hearts of the people more sure to him in that there was no hope of reconciliation and agreement betwixt him and his Father and so establish his own safety Common Soldiers if their numbers encrease though they be but weak and unskilful yet give encouragement to the trayned band and the Commanders themselves yea their very appearance in the field though they strike not a stroke helps much in the Fight So the Prophet in the former place chargeth this evil upon 〈◊〉 in siding with Ahab in his design 2 Chron. 29. 2. Shouldest thou help the ungodly he that yields to the Counsel of the ungodly and joyns hands with them in their way and work he helps the ungodly and is guilty of their sin and blood Thou that art resolved to soldier with the Society of the ungodly and so suit them in their way to maintain what they say and do let them say and do what they wil thou helpest a false tongue to lye a malicious heart to reproach and 〈◊〉 an unjust hand to oppress for thou wilt defend what they do let them do what they wil that is naught Thou that art thus deluded and taken aside with the invegleings of others though the Lord looks at them as Leaders into evil and so will reward them Yet know thou must that thy condition is far worse in some 〈◊〉 more dangerous than theirs and thy plagues will prove more heavy so 〈◊〉 art thou from hoping for any 〈◊〉 or pity to thy self because thou art 〈◊〉 that thy sin and judgment wil hereby be encreased It 's the sad doom of our Savior and worthy of most serious consideration Matth. 23. 15. Wo be unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for ye compass Sea and Land to make a Proselite that is to make one of their Sect and humor one of their hang-by's that must be pinned to their sleeves melt into their Opinions and imbrace their practice when they have made him their own their sworn Vassal al of a string that they can stir him and turn him as they wil mark the issue They make him twice more the Child of the Devil than themselves That Perdition comes to be their Portion and Hell for their Inheritance they are the heirs of it and they have a double portion there their plagues twice more heavy and therfore their sins must carry the same proportion twice more vile than those that were their Leaders into that leudness Brethren what a dreadful thing is it for one to think of it The Scribes Pharisees who were cruel oppressors 〈◊〉 exactors who devoured widdows Houses false Hypocrites blind guides painted Tombs Serpents and a generation of Vipers who cannot escape the damnation of Hell and one would think Hell it self had scarce any worse Yet when they had miss-led some poor Sneaks and deluded some ignorant silly people by their importunities and painted appearances of Holiness brought them to the bent of their bow captivated them wholly to their Opinions and Practices what a dreadful thing is it to think that these poor 〈◊〉 Creatures should be twice more the Children of Hel than such who to common apprehensions might seem to be the scum of Hell Hear and fear and let your hearts sink and shake within you you poor 〈◊〉 Creatures take a scantling of your condition by the former example Imagine you saw a proud Pharisee a man of a 〈◊〉 tongue ful of turnings and windings he cannot live without lying he is froward in spirit and 〈◊〉 not to 〈◊〉 the straight wales of the Lord that he may please his own wil suit his own humor bend the Rule to his mind not his heart to the Rule one of an uncontroulable Spirit that wil contend with God and men if they 〈◊〉 him in a sinful course Suppose thou sawest this man receive his Sentence at the day of Judgment and sent down to the pit For without shall be lyars c. 〈◊〉 22. 15. They who pervert the straight 〈◊〉 of the Lord are the Children of the Devil Acts 13. 10. And such as sow contentions amongst brethren and are contentious and obey not the Truth tribulation and wrath and anguish shall be upon the soul of every one such Rom. 2. 8. He hath learned thee his Trade of Lying miss-led thee into the like perverse contentious courses How shalt thou escape the damnation of Hell Oh thou wilt reply Lord it was his counsel that cozened me his 〈◊〉 and insinuations that drew me to those evils I had never done them else I hope therefore I may be pitied though he be plagued I may be excused though the Curte fall upon him who was the cause and Author of all No no poor misguided creature thou art utterly mistaken He is the Child of the Devil and hath received now his 〈◊〉 thou hearest him yelling in the bottomless pit he hath his load more than he can bear but thou art twice more the child of Hell this is able to sink thy heart with the very thought of it Thy slavery is far greater thy obstinacy more and therefore thy recovery harder than his he is a slave to his sins thou art a slave to the man and sin and all he wil hear reason if it be propounded thou knowest nothing and therefore receivest nothing unless thou be allowed by thy Leader the less hope that ever thou shouldst be convinced or reformed The Lord is forced 〈◊〉 let in the flashes of the fiercest of his fury into the faces of such misguided creatures to bring them to the consideration of him and themselves and to deal punctually for their conviction Psal 50. 18. When thou sawest a Thief thou consentedst and thou wast partaker with Adulterers q. d. they perswaded 〈◊〉 and thou didst imbrace their perswasion Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother he points out the time the place the company the crew amongst whom they sate These things thou hast done and I kept silence and thou thoughtest that I was altogether like thee but I will reprove thee and set thy sins in order before thee Oh consider this ye that forget God You forget you misguided sinners that God was present and saw what you plotted that God is Omniscient and knows what you intended that he is the righteous Judg of all the World and will bring the secret things of darkness to light and make known the hid Counsels of the heart Therefore let me end with the Advice and Counsel of Moses do not think to excuse your selves because deluded by your company but leave counsel and company share not in their sins and Societies if you wil not share in their plagues Numb 14. 26. Depart I pray you from the Tents of these wicked men touch nothing of theirs their counsels and perswasions and they 〈◊〉 his Counsel good and 〈◊〉 own experience gave proof They fled and cried whenthe Earth opened lest the Earth
it was said to him in the story when the Prophet in his own person would discover the Kings carelesness to him he disguised himself as the King passed by and so passed by him and said 1 Kings 20. 39. Thy 〈◊〉 went out into the midst of the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 a man brought a man to me saying Keep this man if by any means he be missing then shal thy life be for his life and as thy servant was 〈◊〉 here and there he was gone and the 〈◊〉 of Israel said so shal thy judgment thy self hath decided it Let me speak to thee in a like manner The Lord hath given thee his holy commands in charge the Grace of God the Gospel of Grace which hath appeared and which bringeth Salvation teacheth men to deny ungodly unworldly lusts to live Godly soberly in this present evil world to be Zealous of good works 2 Titus 13. 14. that we 〈◊〉 mortisy the deeds of the flesh that we might live Rom. 8. 13. but if we walk after the flesh we shal dy these Evangelical commands thou art bound to observe if by any means they be awanting thou loosest thy lise if thou loosest them forget these and God wil forget thee Now thou returnest thy excuse that while thou wert busie here and there busie in planting and building busie in plotting and contriving thine own carnal contents thy heart busie and eager in the pursuit of earthly occasions and imployments thy thoughts busie in devising and acting meanes in observing and improving opportunities thy hand busie in endeavouring to the utmost of thy power and skil to accomplish these either sinful or at the best earthly conveniences thou mindest these so much the other was wholly out of thy mind out of thy own mouth shalt thou be condemned so shal thy judgment be thou heedless sinful creature thou hast decided the matter they that forget God shal be turned to Hell Psal. 9. 17 They who mind earthly things their end is damnation Phil. 3. 21. God in mercy wil not mind thee he wil not mind the prayers thou makest he wil not mind thy complaints thy necessities thou presentest before him Thus generally For a particular answer I shal do two things 1. Shew who those be that make this shift 2. How this aggravates their sin Who those be that make this excuse that each man may take his portion that those may not be burdened by mistakes who desire to burden themselves that we may not bruise the broken in spirit There be two sorts of forgetful persons First such who in the sence of their own feebleness and brickleness of memory are not able to keep the wholsom truths those heavenly treasures which many times are commended to their care observance but those precious promises precious comforts directions they slip away out of their weak memories like pure liquor out of a leaking vessel which makes them sit down in silence and their hearts sink in discouragement loaded with the loathsomness and greatness of the evil that they cannot tel how to bear it nor yet to bear up their hearts under the weight of it they conceive it so hainous so dangerous a sin that which we cannot retain say they how shal we have the use of it how shal we answer the loss of such glorious truths and the very weight of the evil shakes their very hopes many times And you shal ever observe the favour the Lord shews to such weak ones and the work of his grace in them that though through the scantness and narrowness of their memories they are not able to keep things in their order to make report of them yet so much as they have present use for they wil have that at hand and such truths which they shal have need of for after times they are never generally call'd to the practice of them but they are call'd to their minds Gods spirit brings them to remembrance their hearts by faith received them and hold them Mat. 13. 23. but the narrowness of their memory was like a house that had but scant roomes kept them in a lumber together but there they were and therefore the 〈◊〉 brings them forth John 14. 26. The comforter 〈◊〉 bring all things to your remembrance These are not the persons we now speak unto for they lighten a d lessen their evil by this means these find it heavie and load 〈◊〉 heurts with Godly sorrow for it 2. There is therefore another sort whose wound of 〈◊〉 lyes not in the weakness of their memories or scantness of 〈◊〉 that they cannot retain the truths commended to them and come within their charge but such who stuff their minds and memories so ful of earthly occasions or attendance to some distemper that either they keep out or croud out the rememberance of their duty and think because it was not in their minds therefore they have plea sufficient if it be not in their practice and thus their disposition and spirit is worse than their carriage and behavior and this their excuse it encreaseth their sin in three things or ads a three fold aggravation to it They give in undeniable evidence that they do not only neglect the service but that they have no love to it not only their endeavours are wanting but their hearts and faithfulness are wanting also to the Lord and his work love and faithfulness wil cause attendance and remembrance where ever it is The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves he dreams of her in the night hath her in his eye apprehension when he awakes museth on her as he sits at table walks with her when he travels and 〈◊〉 with her in each place where he comes So it would be with thee If thou 〈◊〉 little and makest that thy excuse its certain thou lovest little if thou mindest not thou 〈◊〉 not the Lord and his waies Psal. 119. 97. Oh 〈◊〉 I do love thy law it is my meditation day and night so the Saints Isa. 26. 8. The 〈◊〉 of our hearts are towards thee and the remembrance of thy name And therefore the Psalmist again 〈◊〉 thy Commandements are ever with me The heart of the lover keeps company with the thing beloved If thou mindest not to practice the duty its certain thou may est conclude thou 〈◊〉 yet hadst love to the Lord Jesus and his service This forgetfulness not minding that which is thy charge shewes thou never hadst a high esteem never yet sett'st a price upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the ways and wil of God thou undervaluest thy duties and lookest at them as things of little worth and therefore are out of sight and out of mind refuse things that are of mean account with us we lay them by cast them into any blind corner we judg them not worth the remembrance and therefore we bestow not our memories upon them but if there be a pearl of price some special and rare jewel each
irresistable operation of his Spirit when the soul having that impediment removed it comes to be in the next passive power and immediately disposed to a Spiritual Work vult moveri God leaves a powerful impression upon the will acts this capability to carry it from sin in a right order to God at the entrance of which the soul is moved and takes the impression having taken the impression or motion it moves again and in vertue of that is said to act and consent so that this consent is not from our selves though not without our selves And thus we are put beyond any principle of our own or to be the beginners of our own work by any thing we have in our selves which cuts the sinews of the Covenant of Works and hither many times God wil bring us to our beginnings to the bare board even to leave our souls with him that he may carry us from sin to himself and act us upon himself and keep us with himself for ever Thus David Psal. 119. 29. Take from me the way of lying 〈◊〉 could not take it away himself Hos. 14. 2. Take away all iniquity they leave themselves in Gods hand that the Lord would cause them to turn from iniquity So that in this Condition it 's true to say a man hath not a principle of concurrence with God as by sanctified habits we have but the Spirit puts in us a power whereby we are carried to God The Fourth Particular for opening of the Point The behavior of the heart under this stroak and that appears in the Particulars following When this Sorrow is rightly set on and the soul rightly affected therewith the sinner hath the loath somness of corruption ever in his sight keeps it ever within his ken he could not be brought before to take to heart the hainousness of 〈◊〉 evil Ministers pressed him with it in publick others minded him of it in private forewarned him of the direful venom and 〈◊〉 that lay in those distempers of his that one day he was like to feel to the hazard of his everlasting happiness it would be bitterness in the latter end but he turned the deaf ear to al would not so much as take it into consideration not once look back into the danger of his rebellions nor listen to any thing that may force the same upon his soul but now the case is altered he that could not be brought to see sin before now he wil see nothing but sin cannot be brought to look off from it he feels now the plague of those provocations of his and finds by woful proof and experience the truth of al that formerly hath been told him and hath time enough now to recount the savory counsels those seasonable reproofs directions entreaties which would have kept him from the commssion of those evils the hainousness whereof he is not able to conceive the bitterness and poyson whereof he is not able to bear now he is constrayned to feel the sting thereof He hath now leisure to survey the folly and perversness of his spirit in former times and to sit down in silence and shame now he can seal to that as an eternal truth of God which before he east behind his back as slight and vain Oh I now see the Ministers were faithful watch-men which foresaw the danger and foretold me how dreadful the evils would be which did attend my distempers If I would not leave my sin mercy and blessing would leave me and my heart feels it so The Christians were loving and compassionate which laboured by earnest and affectionate entreaties to with draw me from the wayes of wickedness which with drew me from God by woful experience I sind it so Though it were a sharp yet it was a sure safe word that I have often heard but would never receive It were better to cut off my hand to pluck out mine eye and to enter lame and maimed into the Kingdom of Heaven lame and maimed in comforts and credit and carnal and sensual delights than to have 〈◊〉 these and go to hell where the worm never dyes and the fire never goes out and now my Conscience confesseth it is so Lord where was my mind that could not see this how hard and senseless my heart that could not be affected with this the sinner thus wounded his hand is ever upon the sore his eye upon his distemper as the extream danger that hangs over his head and the deadliest enemy that is in pursuit of his soul he sleeps wakes eats and drinks with this as his daily diet a standing dish carryes it up and down as his daily companion Psal. 51. 3. My sin is ever before me listen to him when he sighes out his prayers in secret ye shal observe his complaints run upon this confer with him enquire of his condition his speech ever returns to this point and al his questions lead stil to the discovery of the loathsomness of his rebellions As it is with a commander or General of the field when he sees the enemy come on furiously his numbers many his power great his souldiers skilful and couragious so that he sees al ly at stake the shock is like to be sudden fierce either conquer al or loose al A prudent commander seeing where the stress of the battle and the strength of the enemy lyes and the safety or ruin of the whol consists he leaves the thoughts of comforts conveniencies wife and family the profits and priviledges which he hath formerly enjoyed and prized bends al his thoughts exerciseth the utmost of al his 〈◊〉 now to defeat the enemy how to encounter him how to overcome him and this takes up the whol mind and the whol man its vayn to attend other things when the neglect of the enemyes approach is the loss and overthrow of al. So it is with a broken hearted Christian when the numberless company of those hellish abominations of heart and life lay siedg against and threaten his everlasting ruin either he must destroy them or they wil undoubtedly destroy his comforts he leaves the consideration of other things and looks to the main chance If my sin live I dye for it either I must be separated from them or they from me and therefore bends al his forces bestows al his thoughts how the hainousness of this may be forever discovered the heart forever freed from the power and authority thereof The Apostle Paul hath his sin ever in his eye he keeps it in fresh remembrance and consideration never hath occasion to mention any thing of himself but stil he strikes upon that string to me the least of all Saints and then the chiefest of all sinners I was a persecuter and blasphemer the main evil was there and his eye and thoughts were most upon that So the lamenting church Lam 5. 16. wo to us because we have sinned the plague famine and sword though they were beyond measure