further and that most justly and truly to that our Church hath abolished as it was very fitting the Tyrannous and Antichristian abuse of Popish Auricular Confession which they very fondly thrust upon the souls of Christians as an expiatory sacrifice and a meritorious satisfaction for sinne racking their consciences to confesse when they feele or felt no distresse and to enumerate all their sinnes which is impossible that so by this meanes they might dive into the secrets of men and women which many times proved pernicious and hurtfull not only to private persons but also to publick States But to leave the Church of Rome to their fopperies let all good Christians be admonished to beware of their owne naturall corruptions which is a thing that is by nature in the best for all are in this point borne Papists and there is no man that hath not as Luther sayd a Pope in his belly a high conceit and opinion of his owne workes whereby we thinke wee tie God unto us and yet I dare say there is in us no reall vertue no true substance For wee can of right chalenge nothing at Gods hands be our workes never so good or excellent for before thy conversion what canst thou deserve when every of thy workes and actions are but as so many sinnes for to the impure all things are impure Tit. 1.15 And without fayth it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 And also after conversion all thy workes are tainted with sin whereas if they could merit or deferve then they must be absolutely good and righteous Oh then chalenge nothing for thy works sake for thou mayst know their imperfections and in begging any blessing from above from whence commeth every good and perfect gift Ja. 1.17 I say therein use no other plea but the freedome of Gods grace Let Papists lay claym unto them as they are servants but let us claym them as we are sonnes For know it is not Esaus riches nor Jesables birth nor Goliahs strength nor Achitophels wit nor Absolons beauty nor Sauls stature nor Dives fine Purple nor the Fooles great Barnes that can assure or certifie the soule of the favour of God for I dare say all these a man may have and yet bee of old ordayned for condemnation But as wee were I say thou must confesse thy sinnes and weaknesses as the Reverend Divine Mr. Perkins in his Case of Conscience observeth That so the Minister of God may pronounce the sentence of Absolution of thy free remission and reconciliation with God in Christ unto thee for as is shewed a little before the Minister hath the Keyes committed unto him for that end Joh. 20 22.23 and that hence thy hope and confidence in God may be confirmed which the Minister may truly doe if by thy confession he finds in thee the grounds and signes of fayth and repentance and heere in this small Tract I doubt not but fully hope that I have not spent my time in vaine but that some if not all that shall see and read it shall finde some comfort thereby unto their soules if thou be called and brought to repentance and fayth in Christ despayre not I will heere againe put you in minde of one ground of comfort more for or in stead of many and it is this That a desire to repent and beleeve in a touched heart and conscience is fayth and repentance it selfe for God accepteth the will for the deed as I sayd before though it bee not so in nature yet in Gods acceptation by and in Christ it is so And this is evident in the holy Scriptures first because if there bee a willing mind it is accepted not according to that a man hath not but according to that he hath 2. Cor. 8.12 And doth not God only call all that thirst and desire the waters of life yea and offers thereof freely Esa 55.1.2 I say if they doe but desire and thirst for it hee then promiseth to give it them freely Revel 21.6 and 22.17 And he will be as good as his word to us because his word and promise is to us Yea and Amen 2. Cor. 1.20 Seeing it is thus with the Lord that thou shalt be sure to receive and taste of these waters of comfort if thou wilt pray for it and expect with patience and tarry the Lords leasure for it then thou art and shalt be blessed in the desire of it for Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for first or last they shall bee satisfied Mat. 5.6 And then blessed shalt thou bee in the happy possession of it hope well for if it were not for hope as it is in the Proverbe Heart would breake and pray heartily for it for I dare say Prayer is an excellent Antidote against any despayre temptation or assault whatsoever and no Prayer comparable to Christs which he hath taught us Mat. 6. But in a word for conclusion know Christian and loving Reader and despayre not For Christ is the doore to Heaven Faith is the locke of this doore and Prayer is the key to open this locke which may bee a great motive to keepe a man from despayre and therefore not to be distracted for these times though troubled with an unnaturall warre but in a word let me advise thee often and with zeale and fervency of spirit to turne this Key Prayer for as the body cannot live without the soule no more can the soule live without Prayer But for thy further satisfaction heerein I referre thee to a Sermon of mine entituled The great Estimate that redounds by Crosses and Afflictions The Text being but one word viz. Rom. 8.18 the word Afflictions as also to my Exposition on the Lords Prayer Thus blessed soule thou hast for thy comfort A Hand-kercheffe to wipe away all dolour and griefe or what may trouble thy soule or conscience for the miseries or calamities of the Times and a Directory to all happinesse To which God in his good time bring thee Amen FINIS
A HAND-KERCHEFFE FOR A DISCONSOLATE SOULE To wipe away his Sinne and to keep him from Despaire as though they had never been committed By Samuel Spinckes Minister of Gods Word So apply the Promises of God unto thy Soule that thou never despaire but make him thine owne by Faith in Jesus Christ and hope thou in the Lord Jehovah for by Hope we are saved Rom. 8.24 LONDON Printed by Thomas Harper 1651. TO THE Much Honoured and truely Vertuous THE LADY ANNE SCOTT Late the Spousesse of Sir EDWARD-SCOTT of Scotts Hall Knight and Baronet the Mirrour of Piety S. S. wisheth all the Prosperous Events of Health and Happynesses externall internall and eternall Madam THE Truth is most Divine though crossing humane sense spoken by the Father of truth but I will not heere stand blowing a Trumpet as it were either of your Worthinesse or my owne weakenesse As for your Vertues and Almes-deeds they shall and will follow you when you shall be gathered to your Fathers Revel 14.13 And for my imbecillity and weaknesse let the World laugh at it I care not onely my desire is that God may be glorified I have made bold to present a Hand-kercheffe for a Disconsolate Soule under your name assuring myselfe according to your wonted Piety of your loving acceptance my desire to doe good and that to the poore and meanest soule shall in part as I hope excuse me in all For we are all Debters with that blessed Saint Paul Rom. 1.14 both to the wise and unwise And as it must and ought be our wisdome chiefely to winne and gaine soules Prov. 11.30 So it behooveth all Gods children to receive from us with meekenesse his Statutes and Judgements Deut. 4.6 I have heard you are as patient as Job and like to Moses milde and altogether full of Vertue In a word although neither my person nor condition can any waies merrit at your Ladyships hands yet the benigne aspect you alwaies afford to those that labour in Gods Church hath thus far emboldned me in all humility to crave that this my endeavour may passe in Publique under your Ladyships name which favour being happily obtained the Worke and thing it selfe may of all sorts expect to be the rather embraced And so praying the Father of mercy to grant you much joy health and happinesses terrestriall with a glorified life coelestiall resteth Yours in all duty most bound Samuel Spinckes A Hand-kercheffe for a disconsolate Soule c. OH What shall I doe what shall I say Heerein observe the true Light of the World and he will direct thee Joh. 1.34 Even that Sonne of God whom as yet the Disciples knew not neither did they understand the mysteries of Redemption the which are wrought by Christs humiliation and exaltation by the one sayth Aquinas taking from us all evill and by the other giving us all good Oh why should any then dispayre of their salvation seeing Christ came not for the just but to call sinners to repentance for it is he that died for our sinnes and rose againe for our justification Rom. 4.25 Is it thus Why then should any despayre of everlasting life I dare say it is abusive much to thy Creator to say that the joyes of the Kingdome of Heaven belong not unto thee Wherfore take heed of thus abusing or mis-using of Gods mercies and Christs merits for Christ was betrayed mocked spitted on scourged and put to death and all for our sinnes I say truth it selfe was betrayed wisedome it selfe mocked glory it selfe spit upon innocency it selfe scourged life it selfe killed and all for us and our sinnes that we might not despayre What should a man doe to keep him from despayre Confesse his sinnes unto God and that not once or only in generall but often also and that in particular and be sure to make satisfaction and restitution to those thou hast wronged for the Law of God under the penalty of his curse requireth to restore whatsoever was wrongfully gained Levit. 6.2.3 c. Doe not thou then waver in thy fayth for a wavering minded man is unstable in all his wayes Jam. 1.8 For as the Painter at the first sayth Ponton on Luk. ch 19. drawes his picture with a Coal roughly and afterward with an accurate Pencil and Orient colours exactly so the Holy Ghost in the Prophets and Old Testament shadowed Christs passion obscurely but in the latter and New Testament points and sets it downe as it were perspicuously The two Testaments are two pence Luk. 10.35 bearing the same Kings Image sayth Theophylact on Luke 10. though not in the same stamp for all things being now finished and fulfilled that are written by the Prophets of the same man yet our Saviours picture engraven in the Gospel is more full and clear then that which was imprinted in the Law for now God hath shewed us the light of his countenance Psal 67.1 Let us not therefore despayre for all the hub-bubs and garboiles and warres or discontents that are in the world nay in this our Kingdome but put sure trust and confidence in God and wee shall see that the Lord in his good time will bring a period to those distractions Oh I say despayre not but search the Scriptures for they are the way unto Christ and Christ is the way to Heaven Altissiodorensis in his Golden Summe sayth that Fayth Hope and Charity are a created Trinity resembling the three Divine persons uncreated For the Son is begotten of the Father and the Holy Ghost proceeds from both so stedfast hope is bred of fayth and love doth issue from them both Whence observe that Bellarmine cites often out of his Works against S. Augustine that the foundation of Gods house in our soules is faith the walls hope and the roofe charity And the Prophet in a vision saw the transgressour against the transgressour and the destroyer against the destroyer So the Schoolemen oppose the Schoolemen and their Champion Bellarmine fights against Bellarmine in the points of faith and charity for if faith be the foundation of all other vertues in a Christian as himselfe writes in his first Booke of Romes Pontificals and 10. chapter then it is not as he disputes in the first Booke of his Justification and 4. chapter that is wrought by charity but contrariwise charity doth arise from faith It is then an idle dreame to suppose that charity is inclosed in faith as a Diamond is in a Ring for Christ is the precious Pearle saith Luther in Galla. 2.5 and Christ it is which gives life and lustre to the Ring for the just live not by love but by faith in the Lord Jesus Habak 2.4 It is an improper speech then as some of our Divines observe as Doctor Fulke in Gal. 5.6 to say that faith worketh by love as the body by the soule the matter by the forme for the soule rather worketh by the body than the body by the soule The matter is passive the forme active whence know ye that
tryall of our innocency wherfore seeng it is thus Oh! therefore never despaire of Gods mercy but with the Apostle James count it exceeding joy when ye fall into divers temptations knowing that the trying of your faith bringeth forth patience c. Comfort Oh comfort your selves in and with these words And know that through many tribulations ye must enter into the Kingdome of God Acts 14.22 Oh man thou art created thou art healed if by faith thou canst see it yea thou art saved if thou wilt perceive it but which of all these are from thy selfe I dare say not any of them for thou couldst not create thy selfe when thou wast not thou couldst not justifie thy selfe when thou wast a sinner and worse then thou hadst not beene thou couldst not raise thy selfe when thou wast dead because then thy strength was as if thou hadst never been When then is a mans free will in the state of nature seeing the Roman Church boasts much of their free-will where is our merit at the hand of God Those that are wise do consider a three-fold operation not offree-will to merit as the Roman Church teacheth but of divine grace and all these in man but from God The first is our Creation the second a Reformation the third our Confirmation and perfection to glory and God I say is the Authour of all these for all our being and well-being is from God the Father in and by Christ and by the Blessed Spirit and therefore to us humility but to God onely belongs the glory Object But here some may reply and say surely I have heretofore felt as I thought the beginnings of Grace and a new reformed life and conversation by which I was perswaded that I was formed wholy to Christ my Redeemer thus I was once perswaded yet now I find that I am subject to manifold temptations and sometimes overcome to fall into grievous sinnes which wound my conscience yea I see a decay of grace in my selfe I find a weaknesse of faith and a kind of deadnesse in my soul so that I delight not in the Law of God as I should nor do I feele that assurance of the favour of God and of my salvation as I desire and therefore I feare that the faith that I had was but faigned and my holinesse but in shew and therfore now I doubt that my estate and condition is fearefull wofull and miserable Respon This is a very large Objection and hath many parts but I will answere them all with what brevity I may and first for the Conclusion who told thee that thou wast in Gods favour It may be thou wilt reply it was and is thine owne conscience seeing thy decay in faith in holinesse and the burthen of thy sinnes too heavy for thee to beare and therefore this pronounceth the curse against thee because thou hast not continued in all things that are written in Gods Law to doe them Levit. 27.26 and because thou hast not that measure of grace which should be in a Christian in such an one as is in Gods favour but who is this that thus perswades thy conscience to these doubtings Shall I tell thee who it is Why then know it may be either God or Sathan First I say it may be it is God which if it be so then know certainely it is for thy good and that God for a time leaves thee to thy selfe and so suffers those doubtings to be in thee it may be it is for some secret sinne for which as yet thou art not fully and absolutely humbled nor hast not truely as yet repented thee thereof and in such a case then God doth it to worke humiliation in thee that so thou mayst be saved or it may be it is to keepe thee from security and to make thee so much the more to abhorre and feare sinne or to prevent spirâ—tuall pride in thee to trie thy faith patience constancy and true trust in his promises or else it is to move thee to esteeme better of Gods service and of all spirituall graces heereafter or it may be it is to teach thee to flie by earnest prayer unto Christ thy Saviour and to mplore mercy at his hands with the renewing of his spirituall grace in thee because in Christ God is well pleased and in him thou mayst have and finde mercy yea even in the depth of all thy misery but I say If it be God that brings all these doubtings into thy mind then I dare say that it is a sure argument to confirme thy faith and ascertaine thee that thou art Gods child and that so his mercy shall imbrace thee on every side and thus it is I say that God tempteth and it is then for thy good if God do thus tempt thee But not so with Sathan for if Sathan tempt and perswade thee to these doubtings then he doth it to worke despaire in thy soule and so to procure thy utter ruine and destruction and therefore believe him not but resist his temptations at the very first as the Apostle adviseth 1 Pet. 5.9 and so prevent all occasions for according to the Proverb Give the Devill an Inch and he will take an Ell and take heed of solitarinesse and of being too much alone but use company if thou beest naturally given to mellancholly then I say use merry company for thy recreation but take heed of being alone lest Sathan may deale with thee as he did with Eve when she was alone for then it was that he tempted her Gen. 3.2 3. Therefore I say be circumspect and give no credit to Sathan when he shall perswade thee to any evill motion or action for he is a Liar John 8.48 and he is thy enemy yea thy accusing enemy and one that seeketh to devoure thee 1 Pet. 5.8 and why shouldst thou believe a liar or any way credit thine adversary rather than the sweete promises of the Father of mercy how full the holy Scriptures are of the sweet promises of mercy let a man search and he shall finde as in Ezek. 18.27 he that doth righteousnesse not he that saith but he that doth shall save his soule alive and come unto me all ye that are weary c. Mat. 11.28 and for this read Job 13 14 15. with others And therefore hold this for a ground although thou mayst be subject to doubtings yet by and with Gods assistance with holy Job thou wilt never despaire but pray earnestly and without ceasing for the gift of persevering And thus shalt thou find comfort in the latter end and thus thou mayst perceive then how thou mayst obtaine the joyes of Heaven and not to despayre Againe peradventure thou wilt say I know there is much joy and happinesse in Heaven provided for the elect but what 's that to me For I shall have no share thereof I know it by reason I am so subject to so many temptations and entised often to grievous sinnes sometimes with the Atheist to thinke that