the heinousness of his sins hath any just cause to despair of mercy For though our sins be many yet the mercies of God are more though they be great yet his mercies are above them He is rich in mercy yea his mercy is infinite so that though he have spent much mercy already upon our Fore-Fathers yet he hath mercy enough in store for us also with him there is plenty of forgiveness and his mercy endureth for ever And the merits of Christ are of the same nature for he is Mighty to save and he is the same for ever and through the riches of these merits of Christ there is a way set open even for the worst sinners to become partakers of the riches of the mercies of God Now if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins c. 1 John 2.1 2. And though the time of his abode upon Earth in the day of his flesh were but short though his sufferings were but for a season yet such was and is the dignity of his person being the Eternal Son of God that his Sufferings and Obedience are infinitely meritorious and his blood is able to clense us from all unrighteousness So that we may well say with the Apostle Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed or rather who is risen again and now maketh Intercession for us Rom. 8.33 34. But let no man turn this doctrine of comfort to a liberty of sinning against the greatest sins there is hopes in Christ for penitent Believers But because there is mercy with God shall we therefore go on in sin God forbid there is mercy with him and therefore he must be feared But if any man shall presume to sin because there is mercy with God through Jesus Christ instead of mercy that man is like to meet with nothing but Justice For as mercifull as God is and as all-sufficient as the Death of Christ is there is no mercy for such as go on still in their wickedness And thus you see that Christ is mighty enough to save us from all our sins and to reconcile us unto God Now that we may have benefit by this sufficiency of Christ we must lay hold upon it by a lively faith This is that which unites us unto Christ and makes us one with him This is that which gives us interest in him and makes us partakers of his merits This makes the death and obedience of Christ as verily our own and as effectual for the pardon of our sins and the salvation of our souls as if they had been performed by our very selves So that if we do truly Believe in the Lord Jesus then is God well pleased with us for his sake and by virtue of his merits being made ours by faith our sins are all pardoned and our souls and bodies shall be Eternally saved And so much the Scripture doth plainly testifie in several places As John 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Life Everlasting And again Acts 10.43 Through his Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive Remission of Sins be they never so many never so heinous And again Acts 13.38 39. Be it known unto you that through this Man is Preached unto you the Forgiveness of Sins And by him all that believe are justified from all those things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses By the Law of Moses we could never have been acquitted either from the Guiltiness of Sin or from the Wrath of God But we are delivered from both by Faith in Christ for by it we obtain the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation of our souls And thus it is manifest That Christ is the Way by which we are to obtain the pardon of sin and peace with God and that Faith is the way whereby we are made partakers of the merits of Christ for our Justification and Salvation Proceed we now in a word to shew that nothing but Christ can reconcile us unto God and that nothing but Faith can make us partakers of Christ for our Reconciliation There is no way whereby to come unto God but onely Christ It is onely in Christ that God is well pleased neither is there salvation in any other For there is no other Name under the Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Acts 4.12 Neither is there any other means on our part whereby to receive Christ but onely Faith And yet unless we do receive him we get no benefit by him and therefore unless we do believe in him we shall perish in our sins And to this purpose speaks our Saviour John 3.36 He that believeth on the Son hath Everlasting Life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see Life but the Wrath of God abideth on him See the summ of all this in that place of St. John 1 Epist 5. Chap. 11 12 and 13 Verses God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son hath not Life These things have I written to you that believe in the Name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have Eternal Life and that ye may believe in the Name of the Son of God By which place it is plain that there is a way to Life that Christ is the way to it that Life is so in him that it is in no other but him that it is so in him that by believing in him we obtain Life and that it is so in him that without believing in him we get no benefit at all by him And thus you have the truth of the former Answer Enlarged and Confirmed according to it 's severall Branches by which it is manifest That Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing else but onely Faith in him can help us to the pardon of sin the Love of God and the Salvation of our Souls Hereupon it may be thus replyed The Second Question IF I cannot obtain the pardon of my sins and the Favour of God without Faith in Christ I doubt my condition is woful and that I am yet in my sins and liable unto wrath For I fear that I have not this Faith in Christ and that I do not as yet believe in him Shew me therefore I pray you how I may be comforted against this fear and how I may know whether I do believe in Christ Yea or No Answer Doutless if we do not believe in Christ our condition is woful For there is no salvation in any other and without Faith in him we get no benefit by him but we are in our sins and the obligation unto wrath is in full power and force against us For though the ransome which Christ paid by his Death upon the Cross be a ransome
abundantly sufficient for the sins of the whole World yet the benefit of that Death of his is bestow'd on none but upon such conditions as God himself pleaseth which conditions for such as be of years are Faith and Repentance which if we want we shall be sure to perish in our sins not out of any defect in Christ but onely because we want those conditions whereby we come to have interest in him and to be partakers of his Merits Now that we may the better know whether we have this Faith in us yea or no and so neither be deceiv'd with vain hopes nor yet discomforted with false fears consider this which follows and see what Answer you can make to these several demands Are you sensibâ—e of the misery wherein you are by reason of your sins And do you finde that you need a Saviour Do you know who is the Saviour of the World Do you know in some good measure who Christ is and what he hath done for us and what the benefits that are to be had by him Do you know what a necessity there is of having of him and what a misery it is to be without him and what we must do if we would have any benefit by him And do you verily believe that Christ Iesus and none but he is the Saviour of the World and that he hath both done and suffered as the Scriptures Testifie of him Do you verily believe that there is no way to Heaven but Christ that there is no way to get Christ but Faith and that there is no part to be had in him but by renouncing all other Lords and all other Saviours and by adhering wholly unto him for all our Consolation and Salvation And do you now Desire from the heart to be made partaker of Christ and do you sincerely endeavour to accept of him and to embrace him And can you be content for his sake to forsake all things and to undergo any misery rather then to part with him Can you be content to take him as we say for better for worse and not onely for your Iesus to save you from your sins but also for your Lord to command and dispose of you at his pleasure And is it your care to know his Will And is it your endeavour to yield him an Universal Obedience And is it your practise in obedience unto him to exercise your self to keep a Conscience void of offence both toward God and toward Men and constantly and conscionably to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live godly and righteously and soberly in this present world Do you thus Accept of Christ and Submit unto him Nay is it your hearty desire and unfained endeavour so to do Then you may be sure that you have some degrees of True Faith in Iesus Christ and therefore that Christ is yours that God is yours that All is yours For this is such a qualification as hath the promise both of the Life that now is and also of that that is to come By the Questions we may examine our condition For after this manner is Faith wrought in us Such are the preparatives such is the nature and such are the effects of a True Faith as are implyed in these questions So that if we can in some good measure make understanding and affectionate answers to them all Then we may be sure that we have a True Faith in Christ But if either we know him not or desire not to accept of him or care not to obey him we have then cause to think that we do not believe in him and if we think otherwise we do but deceive our souls Now if upon examination had we finde that we want Faith we must be diligent in using the means whereby to get it which is by reading and hearing of the Word of God and conferring about it For Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word If we finde that we have this Faith we must be careful to keep it and to increase it by the Word by the Sacraments and by Prayer The Third Question UPon this that hath been spoken another question may be raised to this purpose I do in some measure know who Christ is and I do believe that he is a Saviour All-sufficient and that there is no other way to Salvation but Him and that whosoever believeth in him shall not Perish and I my self would fain believe in him But how may I know that I have right to believe in him and that the invitations to Faith do concern me How may I know whether I should be welcome or not if I should be so bold as to come unto him Answer For our encouragement herein and that we may come the more boldly unto the Throne of Grace we must know that Christ is a Common Saviour he is the Saviour of the World and in regard of the All-sufficiency of his merits there is not one of those whose nature he took unto whom his merits are not communicable neither is there any one who in that respect may not truly be said to be savable The Promise is made to You and to your Children and to all that be afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call Acts 2 39. Now if you desire to know whether you be one of those whom he doth call to believe in him consider then whether or no you be sensible of your misery and burdened with your sins whether your desire be to be eased of your sins and to be partaker of Christ and of those benefits and comforts that be in him For if we be thus qualified we may be confident that we are of the number of those whom he doth seriously invite to come unto him and to depend upon him And hereof you have a witness in your self and Gods own hand to shew for it to your greater comfort For these are his own words Come unto me all ye that labour and be heavy laden and I will give you rest Mat. 11.28 And again If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink Iohn 7.37 Unto such thirsty souls was Christ sent he came to speak peace to such as are weary and broken-hearted and to set at liberty such as are bruised So that if we finding what a misery it is to be in sin and to want a Saviour have thereupon an earnest desire to be delivered from this misery we may be as sure that he calls upon us to come unto him as if our very Names were specified in these invitations Being thus qualified we may come boldly and upon our coming shall be sure to finde Rest But without this badge we have no warrant at all to expect a welcome They that do thus hunger and thirst after Righteousness shall be filled but they that be rich in their own conceits and are not sensible of any wants these he sends empty away The Fourth Question BUt if I finde that I want this sorrow what course
own ease to submit unto him when once we have found him Now when we can be content to accept of Christ upon any terms then are we ready for him then are we fit to be admitted into him And when we do seek unto Christ for this admission he regards not so much how long we were at School under the Law how often we were lashed by it or how sorely we have smarted under it But all that he looks after is whether we be fit to come unto him Consider therefore with your self had you ever such a sight and sorrow for your sins as made you weary of them and out of love with them and willing to be eased of them and desirous of Interest in Christ and ready to accept of Christ upon any Terms rather then to goe without him Is it your grief that you cannot be more sorrowfull and do not you desire as much to be kept from sin for the time to come as to have all that pardoned that is past Surely if you stand thus affected then are you fitted and made ready for Christ and whether your sorrow were great or little yet it is a token that it was a true and a godly sorrow because it worketh repentance unto salvation never to be repented of It may be yet further objected Thus The Sixth Question I Confess that I have been grieved for my sins and I have been desirous to believe in Christ But I fear that my Sorrow is not good nor my Faith sound because my obedience is so faulty For I am not so willing to forsake all my sins nor so carefull to yield Christ Obedience as I should be or if I am willing so to do yet mine infirmities and my failings are such and so many that I fear my sorrow and my faith are not such as they ought to be Answer Certain it is that sorrow for sin will nothing avail us without amendment of Life The wicked must forsake his wayes if he expect pardon Isa 55.7 And it is he that confesseth his sins and forsaketh them that shall find mercy Prov. 28.13 If we willingly allow our selves in the practice of any thing displeasing unto God our condition is dangerous If we say that we abide in Christ we must walk as he walked or else we deceive our own souls 1 John 2.6 If we say that we have fellowship with God and yet walk in darkness we lye and the truth is not in us 1 John 1.6 And if it be not our study and exercise to yield Christ an Universal Obedience our Faith is but Presumption our Peace is but Security our Hopes are but Shadows and our Expectation will Perish But if we have an hearty desire and a sincere endeavour in all things to live honestly we may not from our failings and imperfections presently conclude that we are not sanctified at all that we have no Faith no Interest in Christ no love of God in us For perfection is not to be attained unto while we be in the body But sincerity is that which may be had and affords unto us matter of comfort For the Lord loves them that do follow after Righteousness Pro. 15.9 And they whose sincere desire and endeavour it is to have respect to all the commandments are accepted of him If it be our unfained desire study and endeavour in Obedience unto Christ to do whatsoever he commandeth If it be our care to cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect Holiness in the fear of God and not wickedly to depart from him in any thing I say if it be our unfained desire study and endeavour so to do we may safely conclude notwithstanding all our imperfections that our sorrow is good and our faith sound and that our sins are pardonable and our service is accepted and our souls shall be saved For in Gods account and acceptation that goes for a clean life which is not stained with wilfull pollutions and whose obedience is extended to the utmost of his knowledge and hath withall a purpose to amend what God shall hereafter make him know to be sinfull to that man is allowed the opinion of gracious See further of this point in Answer to Objection 16. The Seventh Question IF these things be so I find then that my condition at the present is good And if I were sure to dye in this Estate I make no doubt but I should be happy But I fear that I shall not continue in this Condition For my Enemies are Many and Mighty and Crafty and Watchfull and I myself am prone to Sin and apt to fall from my own Steadfastness And I finde by experience that many who have begun in the Spirit have ended in the Flesh and their latter Ends have been worse then their Beginnings This makes me to fear that I shall not continue faithfull unto the death And yet without this continuance I shall never Obtain the Crown of Life Answer All these things I confesse are true such are our Enemies such is our Weakness and the Misery of those that do turn back from the Holy Commandment given unto them is such that it had been better for them not to have known the way of Truth 2 Pet. 2.21 For they shall lose those things that they have done and their portion shall be with unbelievers So that a Man cannot chuse but have cause to fear Nevertheless there is comfort in God against this fear also Yea This very fear of Falling Away hath in it matter of consolation for it is a means to keep us from departing from God Ier. 32.40 And I will make an Everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Many there be that having begun well do yet at length grow weary of well doing and so lose what they have done And therefore let him that thinketh that he standeth take heed least he fall But yet let not our hearts be troubled let us not be dismayed with fear for the perseverance of such as are justified and sanctified in deed and in truth is certain and the foundation of God standeth sure the Lord knoweth who are his and he knoweth how to deliver them out of Temptation In further Answer to this Objection and the better to comfort us against this fear take special notice of these Texts of Scripture 1 Pet. 1.5 Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time John 10.27 28 29. My Sheep hear my Voice and I know them and they follow me And I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never Perish neither shall any Man pluck them out of my hand My Father which gave them me is greater then all And no Man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand 2 Chro. 16.9 For the eyes of the Lord run to
the Word For that is able to build us up and to give us an Inheritance among them that are Sanctified Acts 20.32 And lastly We must pray without ceasing that he who hath begun a good work in us would also finish it and grant that our whole Spirit Soul and Body may be kept blameless unto the coming of our Lord Iesus This is the way to continue in well doing and so running we shall obtain The Eleventh Question But though my soul may be cared for yet my body may be in want I want already many things that be necessary Or at least I fear that I shall want such things as be needfull for me And this fear makes my life the more fearfull Answer Doubtless if our souls be cared for other things may the lesse trouble us Howbeit against those things also there is matter of comfort in Iesus Christ He that regards the soul will not neglect the body and he knows what we have need of And if we be of his family he will be sure to provide for us He is able enough to help us for the whole Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof And of his will we have no cause to doubt for he hath promised that if we seek first the Kingdome of God and his Righteousness all these things shall be added as it were over and above and into the bargain Mat. 6.33 And he hath said that he will withhold no good thing from them that fear him Psal 34.9 10. Whereupon we may safely conclude that if he keep any thing from us it will be good for us to be without it So that we may well say with the Prophet David The Lord is my Shepherd I cannot want Psal 23.1 For he that hath given us Christ how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 The Twelfth Question I Have been a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief I have gone through much Misery already and many are the Crosses and Troubles that are upon me at the present and I fear that there be more and worse yet to come So that sometimes I begin to think that the Lord doth not love me and I am ready to doubt what will become of me And I fear that my Patience will one day be tryed and that I shall faint in the day of Evil. Shew me therefore I pray you how I may be comforted against this fear and how I may be enabled to wade through all with Christian patience Answer True it is that the crosses and troubles which men shall meet withall in the way to Heaven are matters of offence and unto some they are very powerfull turning them back from the hope laid before them to the embracing of this present World But if we would think upon things aright in the midst of misery we should have comforts enough to refresh our souls Neither is there any trouble that can befall us in the midst of which they have not matter of strong consolation which being justified by Faith are at peace with God through Iesus Christ. Now to the end that we may be the better comforted against all crosses let us make use of these few considerations following 1. Consider that it is no new or strange thing to be exercised with Afflictions Neither are Crosses and Troubles of themselves an argument of Gods hatred but rather a token of his love and a witness of our adoption if we bear them patiently and make good use of them There is not any affliction incident to the nature of man which some one or other even of Gods own dear Servants and Children have not been exercised withall Look upon David and Jacob and Ioseph and Iob and Paul and all that cloud of Witnesses made mention of Heb. 11. And we shall finde that through many Afflictions they all entred into the Kingdome of God Nay look upon the Captain of our Salvation and we shall finde that even he himself was made perfect through Sufferings Heb. 2.10 And this must needs be a special means to enable us to bear all with the greater patience when we shall know and consider that though our afflictions be for number many and for nature grievous yet they are but the measure of our Betters 2. Consider that God hath promised never to leave us nor forsake us Heb. 13.5 And his presence alone is support sufficient even in the worst of miseries How can Iacob be afraid to go down into Egypt when God himself hath said he will go with him Gen. 46.34 God hath made the like promise unto us and therefore if he bid us go into troubles If he command us to walk even through the valley of the shadow of death yet we need fear no evil as long as he is with us For if God be with us who can be against us Rom. 8.31 3. Consider that unto such as do believe in Christ the nature of Afflictions is wholly altered for their sting is pull'd out and their bitterness is allayed They may savour of anger of wrath they do not Crosses they may be Curses they are not They may be Chastisements for our correction but they are not Iudgements for our confusion For Christ hath suffered whatever wrath was due unto us by reason of our sins And if we be once reconcised unto God by Faith in Christ there is more matter of comfort in the assurance of his Love then there can be of dejection in the greatest trouble 4. Consider that God intends nothing but good unto us in his sharpest dealings with us For it is all to humble us and to prove us and to do us good at our later end all is for our profit that we may be partakers of his holiness For hereby he reforms what hath been amiss in us in times past hereby our iniquity shall be purged and this is the fruit to take away our sin Isa 27.9 Hereby he prevents sin in us for the time to come as he did St. Paul unto whom there was sent the Messenger of Satan to buffet him lest he should have been exalted above measure 2 Cor. 12.7 Hereby he doth wean us from the Love of the World and Worldly vanities As long as all goes well with us we are ready to say with S. Peter It is good to be here But when once we begin to be Afflicted then presently with the Prodigal our minds are homewards Hereby he deals with us as the Husband-man doth by the Vine he pares and prunes us to make us the more fruitfull Iohn 15.2 Hereby he doth exercise our Faith and Patience and makes tryal of our sincerity as he did by Iob. And so in this he lays the ground of our greater glory For greater Afflictions require greater Patience and the greater our Patience is the greater shall be our future Happiness And the consideration of this must needs be a means to perswade us to Patience For if we can willingly endure smartingwater for the clearing
Question And yet after all this I must die and when a few years are come I shall go the way whence I shall not return and the fear of Death doth much amaze me Answer Verily there is no solid reason why it should for God hath given us victory over death it self through our Lord Jesus Christ The death of Christ was the death of death Death fastning upon him to whom it was not due lost it's sting and so became less able to hurt those that had deserved it Christ hath pulled out the sting of Death by dying for sin So that now like a Bee or Snake without a sting it may buzze about us and afright us but it cannot hurt us All the hurt that death can do to such as believe in the Lord Jesus is to free them out of Prison to put an end to their dayes of Sin to carry them home to their Fathers house to let them into their Masters joy to pull down those mouldring Cottages wherein they dwell and to build them up to Immortality For if we believe that Jesus Died and rose again them also that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him and they shall be for ever with the Lord. And of this Happiness the worst kinde of Death that can befall us cannot deprive us A Man may dye in Poverty he may dye with Extreamity of Torments he may dye by common Calamities and yet he may dye in Faith and so dying his End shall be Peace For Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the Spirit c. Rev. 14.13 So that if we did but throughly understand the Nature of Death and what it is to the People of God we should be so far from being afraid of it that with Saint Paul we should rather desire to be dissolved because then we should be with Christ which is the best of all To shut up this Point and so likewise the whole matter concerning Afflictions this let me adde to the rest That if we do desire to get Good by these Meditations and to be upheld with Comfort in the time of Trouble we must Continue instant in prayer This is that Receipt which the Holy Ghost prescribes to all sorts of Persons against all manner of Grievances whatsoever James 5 23. This is that Remedy that is alwayes at hand and never out of season Yea this is that Messenger which being dispatched aright was never sent empty away Believe it If a Man were in a case more desperate then Death in a place worse then Hell yet if there he could pray heartily he should find Comfort and Strength even beyond Hope for our Prayers use to be with the utmost of our Hopes if not beyond them and yet God doth use to be better to us then our Prayers The Sixteenth Question I See now that there is matter enough of solid Comfort in the Word of God But the unevenness of my walking makes me to doubt that I have no Part nor Portion in those precious Promises which God hath made unto his People Answer Promises I confesse that are misapplied can afford to the Soul no solid Comfort But from our Failings we may not presently conclude That they do not at all belong to us For God looks upon the Heart and where Ability is wanting the Will is accepted Are not your Failings your Grief are they not besides your Will are they not contrary to the current of your Desires and the main bent of your Resolutions and Endeavours Is it not your Endeavour to do the Will of God though it cost you the parting with the Sweetest Sins even your own Iniquity And is it not your Resolution that you will not wickedly Depart from God If it be so then notwithstanding your Failings you may say with David I have kept thy Word For though this be not such a measure of keeping as the Law requireth yet it is such a keeping as God accepteth For he accounteth such as keep themselves from wilfull sins upright and innocent through Christ their Strength and their Redeemer as appears by that passage Psal 19.13 And this is a true Rule whereby to proceed in the judging of our selves If a Man that believes in Christ continues in an unknown Sin that cannot hinder the uprightness of his heart so the ignorance be not wilfull but the least touch of knowledge or wilfulness mars sincerity So that if our failings be not wilful though they be many yet they cannot hinder our interest in the promises of God And what can we now object more Do we doubt the truth of all these promises Surely we need not For God is not a Man that he should lye neither the Son of Man that he should repent Hath he spoken and shall he not do it Hath he said and shall it not come to pass Was he ever yet worse then his word And have not we had experience of his Love as well upon our selves as others Is he not the Faithful and True Witness and a God that is most zealous of his own glory Why then are we disquieted And why are our hearts dejected within us Still trust in God make straight steps to your feet Pray for Faith in the Promises and stir up your self to take hold of God tarry the Lords leasure and fear not Light is Sown for the Righteous and Gladness for such as be upright in heart It may lye buried in the ground out of sight for a season it may be somewhat long in coming up and very unlikely to come to any perfection Nevertheless in due season we shall reap if we faint not And therefore cast not away your confidence For the worst is past the good is begun the best is at hand Lift up therefore the hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble knees and run with patience the Race set before us and being partakers of such precious promises let us think upon them believe in them and live in them and in so doing we shall rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Hear the sum of all There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8.1 There is no Condemnation and there 's our comfort The ground hereof is Christ the way unto it is by Faith to be in him the evidence of it Is to walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit In the matter of merit Christ is all in matter of interest and application Faith is all in matter of evidence and manifestation new obedience is all Nothing can free us from Condemnation but Christ nothing can give us interest in Christ but faith nothing can assure us that we do truly believe in Christ and shall be delivered from condemnation but a care to be obedient unto Christ in all things wherefore let us so believe and so live for as many as walk according to this Rule peace shall be upon them and upon the Israel of God Now the God of hope fill us with all Joy and Peace in believing that we may abound in hope through the Power of the Holy Ghost Amen and Amen In the multitude of the Thoughts within me thy Comforts delight my Soul Psal 94.19 FINIS