it hath beene prepared for them from the beginning of the world to this very day Now this gives a light into the businesse the evidence is sure that this man hath title to all the riches and compassion of the Lord Jesus Acts. 2.39 Every poore creature thinkes that God thinkes so of him as hee thinkes of himselfe and hee thinkes God intends marvellous grievous things against him and if there be any judgement denounced or any plague revealed the soule sits and sincks and thinkes with himselfe thus I wretch the Lord spake to mee and intended mee the Lord threatned mee and denounced judgement against mee and one day he will bring all these plagues upon mee all shall be made good upon this wretched heart of mine one day whereas the Spirit of the Lord judgeth otherwise and God meanes well towards him and intends good to all you that have beene broken for your sins and there is witnesse of it in heaven and it shall be made good to your owne consciences Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners broken abased vile wretched carnall sinners doe not thinke hee will keepe any old reckonings in minde Christ came into the world only to succour sinfull humbled wretches hee only came to call sinners not your proud haughty justiciaries that trust in their owne performances no but miserable vile broken abased sinners therefore now here is some ground and light come in that wee have to doe with mercy Psalm 80.3 Cause thy face to shine upon mee If a man be in a deepe darke dungeon he cannot tell when it is light hee may aske is it light but else hee cannot tell But an humbled sinner is like a man standing full upon the Sunne rising this face of Gods mercy shines full upon him the Lord lets in the inclination of his kindnesse and makes knowne the surenesse of his favour in the Lord Jesus Christ now the soule hath some apprehension that he hath to doe with mercy Partic. 2 The Spirit doth ratifie that interest as the soule now hath as intended towards him and prepared for him hee makes it good to the heart and establisheth it and makes it sure to the soule This is the nature of a witnesse if it be sufficient as the Lord provides That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall bee established so it is with the testimony or testification of Gods Spirit for the Spirit doth not beare witnesse alone but the Father from heaven and the Sonne in heaven doth joyne witnesse with the Spirit and the court is in heaven where this controversie must be scanned and now the Spirit doth by witnesse promise that all this mercy shall be made good and given the humbled heart shall be made possessor thereof hence it is that the soule comes to be deeply setled herein for God cannot deny himselfe nor his promise this is the maine ground and tenour whereupon wee hold everlasting happinesse you know in men of great estate if their lease had beene naught and their tenour false this staggers them deeply therfore every man labours to make his tenour as good as hee can thinke on it the maintainer of all this good that a Saint of God hath all his hope of life and salvation hangs upon the maine hold the free promise of the Lord the certaine faithfull promise of the Lord in through Jesus Christ by the testimony of the Spirit you that are sanctified by Christ know nothing unlesse you know how to live by a promise in some measure Now this promise is not only a bare word of God and a bare intimation of some will and intendment of good but it is a kind of ingagement when the Lord doth lay his truth to pawne here is good surety for a poore humbled soule it shall undoubtedly be bestowed upon him he doth not only intend well unto him hee doth not only prepare mercy for him but now he ties binds himselfe so that he cannot goe back you see now this is the bottome to beare up the truth when the Lord doth please to ingage himselfe to a broken hearted sinner that hee shall be made to beleeve and made to live by his beleeving I beseech you take notice of it this is the tenour and covenant of God with a broken sinner hee calls him graciously and then promises to bestow mercy upon him 2. Cor. 6.18 Come out from among them what then what shall I forsake all my old companions shall I renounce all commodities that I have coveted all the honour in the world which I have affected Yes saith the Lord come out from them all abandon them lose all riches and be impoverished lose all honour and be abased ah but what shall wee get by it why then I will be your God that is I will ingage my selfe and passe over the title of all my mercy and goodnesse and compassion and all that I have you shall have all is yours and what then You shall bee my people marke that hee is obliged to a poore humbled heart as if he had said I will be your God and supply your wants and work graciously for you as it was with Abraham the Father of the faithfull so it must be with the faithfull servants of God Gen. 12.3 Now what there is promised to Abraham he promiseth to all his children to all the faithfull it is thus with thee that is thou must bid adue to thy country and friends and though thou livest with thy Father yet thou hatest his base courses and though thou livest with thy friends yet thou hatest their wicked practices and thou hast forsaken thy god pride and thy god covetousnesse and thy god drunkennesse and the like thou knowest God will blesse thee he hath bound himselfe and cannot goe backe this is the ground of the speech 1 Iohn 2.25 Eternall life is the thing there promised but how can wee intitle ourselves in this the text saith this is the promise he hath promised that is he did freely and frankly and of himselfe and out of his owne good will ingage himselfe to give and bestow this promise upon us here is the root and ground of all his promise This is the difference betweene the first and second covenant God did covenant with Adam that he should live upon the ground that he should doe Now because the covenant of eternall life depended upon doing it was not certaine to him and his posterity but lost it but our eternall life dependeth upon the promise of God and therefore it is sure because God cannot faile cannot change his promise cannot be altred if we observe the conditions eternall life is sure unto a broken hearted sinner hence come all those phrases in this kind Wee are called children of the promise what is that why the very promise of God makes us children wee are begotten and made the Sonnes of God he is called in Esay The everlasting Father hee hath begotten us by
will make with the house of Israel I write my lawes in their hearts and they shall not need to be taught Men must know God and beleeve in the Lord. Now as the Lord requires this as the condition of the covenant so the Lord will work this in them as he requires this of them Iohn 1.12 the text saith To them that beleeve he gave them power to be the sonnes of God Now if a man will beleeve he shall be saved Now then hee makes a man beleeve that he may be a sonne This is the second passage whereby the soule of a sinner comes to be cheered or that there is not onely abundance of sufficiency in the Lord Jesus Christ but that mercy as it is able to doe him good so it will make him partaker of the good The third particular is this That as mercy hath all good and will make us partakers of what it hath so also it will dispose of us and of that it bestoweth upon us Mercy will not onely have a sinner but it will rule and order that grace it hath bestowed upon the soule For if mercy purchase a soule at so high a rate as the blood of the Lord Jesus it is right that the soule purchased by grace and supplyed with grace that mercy should dispose it for the honour of God You are not your owne saith the Apostle but bought with a price therefore you must glorifie the Lord in body and soule Nay it is not onely right that mercy should doe it but reason and beneficiall to the soule that mercy should doe thus Nay I say unlesse that mercy should rule a man he had not beene able to give full content to the soule If the Lord should leave any poore soule to the destiny of his owne heart and the malice of Satan hee would runne to ruine presently he is not able to supply his owne wants and to dispose of his owne spirit and employ aright his owne soule For if Adam in his innocency had a stocke in his owne hands fell and perished then if mercy should put a man into the same estate that Adam was a man should bring himselfe into the same misery that Adam was brought into but there is that fulnesse of that mercy that is in Christ that it wil bestow all good needfull for me so also it will dispose of that good in me so that Satan shall never prevaile the world shall never overcome nor my corruptions beare sway in me but the Lord shall rule me for ever and this is the fulnesse of Gods mercy Gather up the point then that we may see what wee must learne There is sufficiency in mercy to supply all wants nay there is ability in mercy to communicate that it hath and we stand in need of Nay mercy will preserve us and that it giveth to us against all oppositions that can befall thee This is the lesson that the soule must learne that it may be able in some measure to see the way and learne the path that leadeth to everlasting happinesse This is the first lesson that the soule must learne of God the Father Vset For the use of this Is this the lesson the soule must learne then looke wisely upon it and when this comes upon thee and sorrow assailes thee heavily doe not looke into the blacke booke of conscience and thinke there to finde supply neither looke into the booke of the privileges and performances and thinke to finde power out of thy owne sufficiency Looke not on thy sinnes to pore upon them whereby thou shalt be discouraged neither look into thy owne sufficiency thinking thereby to procure any thing to thy selfe These are but lessons of the lower forme It is true thou must see thy sinnes and sorrow for them but this is for the lower forme and thou must get this lesson beforehand and when thou hast gotten this lesson of contrition and humiliation looke onely to Gods mercy and the riches of his grace and be sure as you take out this lesson take it not out by halves for then you wrong mercy and your selves too if you thinke that bare workes will serve and that is all No no mercy will rule you therefore take all the lesson out and then the heart will be cheered and thy soule in some measure enabled to come on to the Lord and will see some glimpses of consolation from the Spirit Quest 2 We see the lesson what must be learned now we must see the reason why the Lord must teach this lesson Answ I answer It is not appropriated to the Father alone for the Father teaches not alone but the Sonne and the holy Ghost teach too But why then doth the Text give it to the Father Here I answer directly because the Father was directly offended with the sinne of man 1 Iohn 1.7 If wee sinne wee have an advocate with the Father namely the Lord Jesus Christ to plead for us with the Father He doth not say wee take an advocate with an advocate that doth not plead with himselfe the reason is God the Father was directly offended though all the persons in the Trinity were offended yet the Father more directly Now he that is directly offended favour and mercy must come from him to the party that doth offend and that is the reason why Christ especially cast this upon the Father Take a creditor that hath money or creditors that are bankrupts now this is no meanes to helpe and succour these men but it lyeth upon the creditor that oweth the debt for he onely it is must come to forgive the debts for it is here God the Father being directly offended by the sonne of man therefore from him in the first place must proceed the pardon and mercy to the sonne of man Hence it comes to passe that the text saith the Father must teach this lesson Quest 3 The third question is this After what manner doth the Lord teach the soule Christ speakes now of the worke of the Spirit and that you may not be mistaken know this that the worke of the Spirit doth alwayes goe with and is communicated by the word therefore if the question be After what manner doth God teach the soule to spell out this lecture of mercy and pardon Answ I answer brieflâ— The Lord teacheth the soule by his Spirit I told you that before that not only the Father but the Sonne and holy Ghost also teacheth the Father from himselfe the Son from the Father and the holy Ghost from both Therefore understand what I say the Spirit of the Lord doth not onely in the generall make known Gods mercy but doth in particular with strength of evidence present to the broken hearted sinner the right of the freenesse of Gods grace to the soule nay it holds those speciall considerations to the heart and prefenâ—eth the heart with them not onely so but in the second place the Spirit doth forcibly soke in the reâ—â—ish of that grace
honourable let him be what he will be and let his parts be what they will if he hath not the Spirit hee is none of Christs his you are to whom you obey but pride and covetousnesse you obey and malice and spleene you obey you are therefore none of Christs Pride will say This heart is mine Lord I have domineered over it and I will torment it Corruptions will say Wee have owned this soule and wee will damne it You that heretofore have made a tush at the word this wind shakes no corne and these words breake no bones thinke what you have done little do you think you have opposed the Spirit Acts 7.5 what resist the Spirit Oh thinke of this Why what shall I say by what spirit wilt thou be sanctified by what spirit wilt thou be saved Can thy owne spirit save thee no the Spirit of God must save thee and have you resisted that Spirit me thinks it is enough to sinke any soule under heaven Hereafter therefore thinke this with thy selfe were hee but a man that speakes yet I ought not to despise him but that is not all there goeth Gods Spirit with the word and shall I despise it the Lord keepe me from this there is but one step betweene this and that unpardonable sinne against the holy Ghost onely adding malice to thy rage thou opposest thy Father haply the Son mediates for thee thou despisest the Sonne haply the holy Ghost pleads for the but if thou opposest the Spirit none can succour thee therefore looke to it Vse 3 Direction Hence we may observe the ground why many of Gods faithfull people understand not that they have the Spirit of God nor yet the increase of it they looke not to the promise by which it is conveyed but to corruption by which it is hindred you listen not to the verdict of the Gospell Let every one ask this great question How may I know when the Spirit is in me That you know it not the fault is your owne look into the word It is with a poore soule as with little children the childe in the night being hungry seekes for the dug but if he doth not lay hold of it he gets no good bâ— it so thou hast been a long time musling about a dry chip and hast got no comfort Be sure therefore to lay hold upon the promise hold it and thy spirit shall be filled with marrow and fatnesse If there be marrow in a bone thou must breake it before thou canst get any out So it is with the promises they are full of sweetnesse but you must chew them breake them and bestow thy heart on them An Alchimist that distils oyle doth draw out the spirit of metalls but it is by distillation so it is with the promises they are excellent metall there is a great deale of comfort in them but if you will have benefit by them you must distill them by meditation Obt. I but some soules may say We have done thus often but yet returne as emptie as before Answ I answer You should have staid longer upon the promise it must not bee at your carving and disposing in reason a man must swallow his pills and eat his cordials but wee should doe the contrarie we should chew the promises and that is done by meditating on them but we swallow the precious promises of Christ that should comfort us therefore chew them if you desire comfort over and over againe eat these daily and you shall finde much comfort and consolation therein and benefit thereby Vse 4 Terrour we may see the hopelesse condition of those men that live under the Gospell and their hearts are not wrought upon them If the Spirit of God and the Gospell of God will not worke upon thee if thou hast the eye of a man about thee thou maist see thy wofull and lamentable condition If a bungling servant cannot tell how to hew a peece of wood for a building it is no marvell but if it be such a peece that the master Carpenter cannot make it fit for the building then it is good for nothing but to be burned So it is here with the soule if the Spirit of God can doe thee no good who can if we a companie of bunglers cannot doe it no marvell but if our master Christ if he takes a stubborne sturdie heart in hand and cannot doe it it is fit to bee damned Is not that man miserably ignorant that wisedome it selfe cannot make wise is not he sicke of sinne whom the Gospell cannot cure 1 Cor. 4.3 I desire those whose conscience to this day accuse them that yet they are blinde and those that brave it out and say Shall I feare the face of a man no no I scorne it I beseech you let me deale with you doe not brave it out so for it is the greatest miserie under the Sunne for thou dost as good as to say thou wilt not have the word of God to worke upon thee Iames 1.21 The word of God is able to save thee and to sanctifie thee and art thou yet polluted and defiled Oh take heed of it goe and be moue thy soule to the Lord and say Good Lord such a drunkard thou hast met with such a proud heart thou hast humbled and such a stubborne heart thou hast pluckt upon his knees and if drunkards be humbled if the ignorant be instructed then what a cursed heart have I that was loose and vile and base and profane before and so I am now I tell thee what can you thinke of your selves if the Spirit goe with the word and thou mocke at it thy condition is lamentable Vse 5 Exhortation Then you are to be intreated in the bowels of our Lord Jesus Christ when ever you heare the word of the Lord and the Gospell of God you must come trembling and submit to that good word Exod. 23. When ever the word of the Lord is revealed the Spirit of God blessed for ever is there accompanying of it therefore good reason the creature should submit to the Creator Wee speake not a word for our selves we preach the good word of the Lord and how ever our selves have spoken this if you oppose it know it that it is the Lords word therefore when you heare the word doe what you will with us onely submit to the word of the Lord doe what you please with us as Ieremy saith onely embrace the word of the Lord. It is Gods word therefore take heed of opposing and gainsaying it labour to awe your soules to settle all distempers wipe out all carping and cavilling at the word as they presse in upon thee Obt. But how shall we bring our soules to doe this Answ By considering these two or three meanes Labour not onely to have thy soule convicted that the holy Ghost is there accompanying the word as it doth or else how could it reveale thy sinnes but also perswade thy heart that it is so apprehend the power
the word and the seed of the promise which is sowne in our hearts by the vertue of the seed and the Spirit of grace accompanying that seed wee have power to receive Christ and the Spirit of Christ and so to become the Sonnes of God This is the reason of that phrase in Scripture We are not children of the flesh but of the promise also of this in Gal. 3. last verse We are made heires by the promise it makes us heires that is looke whatever ground or hope or hold of eternall life and glory blessednesse you hold it by the vertue of the promise all is by a promise grace and goodnesse is communicated to us by a promise this is our life and all our hold therefore the Gospell is made to be the testament of Jesus Christ as by ones last will and testament a man leaves his goods and lands to his posteritie so the Lord Jesus Christ out of his free good will leaveth one legacie of mercie and grace and pardon and strength to all humble broken hearted spirits Galath 3.15 though it be but a mans covenant saith hee when it is confirmed no man doth abrogate it but if a man seale it and confirme it with his bloud then it is fully established no man will no man can disanull it So Christ leaves a Legacie of mercie to you and of favour and compassion to all broken hearted sinners by promise and therefore it is established nay it is the last promise the last Legacie and Testament therefore the promise no man can alter Ioh. 1.14 He doth not leave peace then as the world doth they wish it but cannot give it they wish it but cannot bestow it but Christ leaves a legacie of mercie and peace behind him nay he hath ratified it by his bloud and he will make it good to the soule for ever Partic. 3 The witnesse makes the soule yeeld unto what the spirit hath witnessed As the witnesses in open court in a matter of law they make the case cleare and evident the Jury they take it the Judge observes it you all know how the case goes the witnesse sufficient c. So when the witnesse of Gods Spirit comes bringing the hand of God the Father and the hand of the Sonne touching Gods acceptance it casts the cause clearely Now this judgement of the sinner yeelds and cannot but close and submit it selfe unto the truth this is the meaning of that phrase before the text they shall be taught of God they shall not only learne but they shall be taught they shall have their lesson without booke they shall be made to learne and therefore the tenor of the covenant is this I will write my Law in their inward parts and they shall all know mee from the highest to the least observe the 2 Pet. 1.3 it is a place of marvellous difficultie this I take to be the meaning there is enough to satisfie any man according to his divine power he hath given unto us all things that is the Lord by his almighty divine power hath given unto us all things either appertaining to this present life here or eternall life hereafter But how comes this to passe that God doth this the Text saith It is through knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and vertue the word in the originall is through their acknowledgement of him that hath called us The soule doth not onely barely know that this is grace and mercy in Christ the eye of the understanding is not only opened but hee now comes to acknowledge the same and subscribeth thereby thereunto God saith I will save thy soule I will be thy God the soule saith It is true Lord I will deny it no more I will gain-say it no longer In a word then gather up the point if it be so that the Spirit by the witnesse thereof doth discover the interest we have in grace if it doth ratifie the interest which it doth discover nay if it makes the judgement yeeld to what it hath ratified it certifies effectually and undeniably the truths of grace and mercy thus prepared and ratified to the soule and the soule saith I confesse it Lord and closeth therewith Quest Why may some say if this bee so how then comes it to passe that many of Gods deare children how comes it that many humble hearted creatures never knew they were called never had any speciall intimation of Gods favour they cannot say in truth they are the Lords Answ I speake of him that hath had the work of preparation fully and substantially upon his soule I speake this that no scrambling hypocrite nor sinfull wretch may come and scramble for comfort and so goe away and deceive himselfe in this kind know therefore for answer thereunto There is a double knowledge the first is this A naked simple apprehension of a truth a meere closure of a mans minde with a naked plaine truth revealed so that the judgement saith it is so Secondly there is a reflecting act when a man lookes over his understanding and labours to discerne the worke thereof not only apprehending what was laid before him but when he doth apprehend that he doth apprehend when he knowes that he doth know it marke that place for wee will carry Scripture with us 1 Ioh. 2.3 Hereby we know that we know him saith the Text if wee keepe his Commandements A man may know a thing and yet not know that he doth know so then it is cleare every Saint of God hath the first knowledge that is every man that is truly called in truth doth apprehend and undoubtedly close with the worke of the Spirit making knowne unto him the mercie of Christ many may worke and most men doe the second worke they doe not know that they know the Scripture saith that the Devill himselfe rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience that is he casts in a seed of errour and delusion and corruption into the hearts of wicked men and by his delusions they entertaine those errours embrace base courses Now not one among a thousand can say that the Devill doth thus this is done by vertue of Satan and yet he doth not see it nay there is a veile of Satan upon the soule there is a seed of Satan in the soule and the soule closeth with it and yet hee apprehends it not so every faithfull soule is ruled by Gods Spirit and the seed of Gods Spirit is flung into his minde and closeth therewith but hee cannot discerne the worke of the Spirit working upon him the one governed by Satan the other enlightned by the Spirit but neither can apprehend nor know what they doe know in this kinde Reas 1 Because onely the Spirit of the Lord knowes the Lords minde it is only privie to Gods counsels and it only understands the secrets of Gods love and therefore it only can reveale them and communicate them Matth. 11.27 Now because the holy Spirit proceedeth from
the Father and the Sonne he can nay he doth make knowne the Counsels of both and so removes all objections and cleares all cavils it is a point of consideration to you that are weake ones satisfaction is by the meanes of Christ the Sonne layeth downe the price and doth satisfie the Spirit doth certifie it unto the soule that the Son hath satisfied for the neglect of what God ever required at our hands and for the committing of what ever God hath forbidden now the soule is fully satisfied As for example Take a creditor to whom the debtor oweth money haply the debtor is arrested for his not paying the debt the surety he comes and layes downe the debt now the debtor is unacquainted with this unlesse there be a messenger that brings a certificat under the hand of the creditour that he is paid and the surety hath discharged the debt and hee is quitted when he heares this his heart is fully quieted So here the Lord Jesus is the Surety the Father is the Creditour our soules are the debt now the Spirit of God he is the Messenger and he brings under the hand of God of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ an acquittance to our soules that what ever sinnes wee have committed are pardoned through Christ and this fully contents the soule Marke 1 Cor. 2.10 yea the deepe things of God as who should say how can you tell that Gods minde is towards us and that hee will pardon why these are secrets aye but the Spirit of the Lord knowes and searcheth the deepe things of God that which eye never saw that which the Angels in heaven cannot tell you that which all the men in the world cannot reveale unto you without God be with them that your names are written in the Booke of Life you shall bee accepted these are deepe things but the Spirit reveales them This is the first Reason the Spirit onely knowes the minde therefore it only can give notice thereof unto the soule Reas 2 The Spirit only can break thorow al those mists and clouds of ignorance and blindnesse that are in our minds which oppose this worke nay it can beare downe all those distempers and discouragements which make us unfit and unable to receive the evidence of Gods love and goodnesse in the Lord Jesus Christ for these two things are in the heart of a sinner that marvellously oppose the evidence of Gods favour unto the soule Hindr. 1 That every man hath a veile of ignorance over his heart 2 Cor. 3.15 Now the veile of ignorance no hand can rend it none can remove it but only the Spirit of God The god of the world blindes the eyes of the wicked why then it must be the Spirit of God the Spirit of another world I meane the Spirit of Christ that must open the eyes and take away the veiles and clouds and mists that the god of the world casts before the eye Hindr. 2 Are desperate discouragements when a poore sinner is plunged in the apprehension of all the evill which he hath committed and in the aggravation of all those sins whereby God hath beene dishonoured when the soule observes this hee thinkes and sayes This proud heart will never be humbled this unregenerate heart will never be sanctified the Lord never intends good to my soule it is impossible that so many corrections so long continued should ever be pardoned here the soule sinkes downe in desperate discouragements now there is none but the Spirit of God that can let a light into the soule there is none but the hand of the Lord that can rend and pluck and pull a poore fainting despairing dying sinking heart under the burthen of his manifold abominations none but the Almighty hand of an Almighty God can doe this when it is night all the candles in the world cannot take away the darknesse so all the meanes of grace and salvation all the candle-light of the Ministery they are all good helps but the darknesse of the night will not be gone before the Sun of Righteousnesse arise in our hearts Hence it comes to passe that it is a very difficult matter to give comfort to a poore distressed soule Psal 40.1 Marke what a coâ—le there is to give comfort all the world cannot comfort them and perswade them I shall one day perish say they I shall one day goe downe to hell let all the Ministers under heaven say what they will Comfort yee comfort yee saith the Lord as who should say they will not be comforted they will not thinke nor be resolved of it I mercy and I comfort it is a likely matter it will never be it never can be I shall never see that day will the Lord pardon me I doe not thinke it I cannot beleeve it God is a just God and a righteous God and I am a vile wicked wretch it is mercy that I have despised and trampled under my feet and I mercy no certainly there is no such matter this makes the Lord have such a doe Comfort yee comfort yee the third time and yet they will receive none We Ministers of the Gospell observe by experience that we meet with some soules that are gone to the bottome of hell sometimes by their distempers and wee make knowne the promises propound arguments lay downe reasons but nothing takes place nothing prevailes all is presently forgotten and you had as good say nothing all is forgotten therefore none but Gods Spirit can doe it hee must come from heaven and say Comfort yee comfort yee my people let me therefore speake to you that are Ministers you doe well to labour to give comfort to a poore fainting soule but alwayes say Comfort Lord say unto this poore soule thou art his salvation Lord speake comfort and say to such a one his sinnes shall be pardoned mercy shall bee bestowed upon him his iniquities are forgiven it is that wee observe in the policie of Satan Satan hath two Policies Policie 1 First if he can hee will keepe a man that hee shall never see his sins therefore hee labours to doe away all plagues and judgements from the apprehension of the soule and therefore when the Minister comes home to the conscience and saith What you have heaven what proud and profane and oppose God and his ordinances and you goe to heaven No no such matter marke what the Devill suggests take thy pleasure it is but halfe an houres work when you lie upon your death-bed if you can but then cry to God for mercy and for forgivenes it is enough this is the first Policie to keepe a man from seeing his sins and thus the soule is content to carry hel-gates on his backe and a thousand abominations and is never troubled Well haply the Lord enlightens the soule of such a sinner and sets his sinnes before him and saith here are thy sins and for these thy sins thou shalt be sent packing to hell now he cannot look off
his sins but the Word reveales them and the Spirit settles them thou maist take thy pleasures and live in thy sins but the end will be bitter for all these sins God will visit thee God will execute judgement upon thee then the soule trieth his heart examines his paths and begins to pore on his corruptions when Satan sees this he labours to draw him away and sends drunken companions unto him that they may take his minde off from his sins Policie 2 But if Satan cannot keepe him from seeing his sins then he shall see nothing but sin before hee was frolicke and braved it out and kickt mercie into the kennell and he would doe what he list Ministers tell mee of grace no no I will follow my course now it is otherwise with him he can see nothing but iudgements and plagues and corruptions and so sinks downe in discouragements as therefore there is nothing that can pursue a sinner and make him see his sins but God so there is none but the Spirit that can let downe a cord of mercy and draw a poore sinner out from the bottome of hell so the Spirit knowes the secrets of God if the Spirit once settles these things upon the soule and takes away all hinderances that doe oppose the evidence of Gods favour then the Spirit must only certifie Gods love and mercy and goodnesse to the soule of an humble broken hearted sinner Vset Triall will you put your selves upon triall will you over-see whether you ever had any notice of Gods acceptance observe then the author of it whence and of whom you had it this will discover the truth of it when we mistrust good newes from a farre Country we use to say it is good indeed but is it certaine whence had you it had you a letter from beyond sea or heard you from some Noble man that heard the letter read then it is certaine So there be glad tidings of peace and mercy there is good newes from heaven God hath pardoned vile sinners God saves millions of men good newes but if your hearts perswade you for certain doe you thinke so or doe others tell you so is it nothing but idle ale-house talke hath Gods Spirit sealed it doth God say to thy soule thou art his servant he thy King thou his son he thy Father if it be so thou maist pawne thy life on it trust to it the notice is good If a malefactor were condemned and a rogue that hath beene burnt in the hand who goes up and downe with a passe suppose the one to forge his pardon the other to counterfeit his passe A wise man he knowes and understands the falsenesse of the partie and he shall never get any good by it hee will stop the rogue with the passe in his hand and hang the traytor with his pardon about his neck So it is here wee are all malefactors and poore rogues running up and downe the face of the earth and we are walking and looking after another Country now what must be our passe the evidence of the Spirit thou that saist thou doubtest not of Gods mercy and the pardon of thy sins under whose seale hast thou this pardon did it come from a right Office and from a right Seale then it is good else the Lord will stop thee with thy passe in thy hand and hang thee with thy pardon about thy necke Quest But then you will say how may wee discerne the notice of the Spirit of the Lord from another notice and how may the Saints of God discerne it Triall 1 Differs in these three particulars First in the specialitie of it it is an evidence that comes home particularly to the soule Looke as it is in the conveyance of lands and leases by joynt inheritance therein haply the lease was made before the man had a childe now if afterwards he have halfe a dozen children every one in particular hath a title to it interest in that land as though they were mentioned in particular So the Gospell propounds grace and mercy to all humbled soules broken hearted sinners are mâ—de joynt heires and inheritors of everlasting mercy you that will come out of your sinfull courses and will touch no uncleane thing thou hast particular interest in Gods mercy as if thou wert called by name Robert or Richard c. Now mark al the notice and evidence that any hypocrite under heaven hath of the freenesse of Gods mercy is this hee hath only some common inkling and heare-say of salvation they are within the hearing of the promises made to others and they either not rightly apprehend or else mis-applying the sense and meaning of the promise to themselves they cosen their soules and never have any particular evidence of the truth of it to their soules by the worke of the Spirit there is haply an expectation among the prisoners in Newgate that there wil be a pardon come cut at the end of the Parliament and some man passeth by and saith there is a pardon for Newgate The prisoners that heare this it makes them rejoyce but when the Parliament comes out there is a pardon only for such persons for such facts of such a quality and nature and so haply he that rejoyced so much in the consideration of a pardon hath nothing to doe with it now the generall heare-say will doe no good but the particulâ—r evidence so it is betweene a cunning Hypocrite and a childe of God when an Hypocrite hath beene driven to extreme horrour for his sins then he lookes out for mercy his heart is terrified and his soule perplexed and he heares there is abundance of mercy in Christ and Christ came to save sinners the Hypocrite is delighted with this in the generall this is only overly and common he over-heares a promise and so quiets himselfe therein but when it comes to the triall God came to save sinners but what sinners humble broken hearted sinners But the Hypocrite is not such an one therefore it belongs not to him Differ 2 The second difference of the Spirit is such that it can hardly be rased out of the soule the testimony of the Spirit brought home to the soule cannot bee taken away for when the Spirit witnesseth to the soule it leaves the light upon the minde of an humbled sinner that will never be plucked off but hee will turne his eye towards it while the world lasts This evidence that is brought home and cast in by the Spirit it is so unexpected and so pleasing and so incomparably strong and wonderfull and withall so unconceiveable excellent that an humbled sinner when once he sees the glimpse and inckling thereof it will ever be prying and looking that way nay in the most desperate discouragements that can befall and in the greatest desertions that can betide the soule nay notwithstanding all those subtilties of temptations that Satan hurries into the soule to make a man at a losse and to make him leave looking
Adam could not seeke to another for a principle of life for hee had it in himselfe neither was â—t sinne in him for the Angels themselves doe not beleeve in Christ neither is it required of them Againe Adam had a kinde of trust and confidence in God but not this trust nor this faith but it was this so farre as the creature beâ—ng a second cause should stay and move it selfe according to the first cause and to concurre with the first cause unto any worke This Adam had â—nd the Angels have it in Heaven which beleeve not in Christ The blessed Angels have a power spirituall in themselves and they say that all power is firstly in God and that he doth governe them and all the Heavens too and stay themselves upon God firstly and so co-worke with God but this is farre different from saying thus the Angels stay themselves first upon God as being the first cause of all created substances and to goe to God to fetch a principle of life from God these are contraries Object 3 The maine objection of all is this If say they Adam never had power to beleeve and so beleeving in Christ was not in the state of his innocency then why doth God condemne 〈◊〉 for not beleeving seeing they have not this power and Adam had it not It is all the difficulty that lies upon the point The answer is plaine open and naked and therefore I answer it by distinction thus Answ 3 Infidelity and not beleeving doth imply two things thus the first is the meer want of the power of faith and the absence of ability to rest upon another and to fetch the principle of grace from another neither the Law nor the Gospell nor God himselfe doth condemne thee for this nay the Gospell doth not require this that a man should have power of himselfe to beleeve not God doth not require it but the promise breeds faith and feeds faith it begets faith and continues faith in the soules of all those that have it and this is all that God would have that the soule of a poore sinner should be contented to taked from him and bee under the Spirit that would inable him to beleeve and to goe to him for the which may make him beleeve that hee might be made strong in the power of the might of Jesus Christ as in that place of the Ephesians the Gospell saith thou art a poore miserable sinner her is mercy only be contented that I should worke upon thee for thy good and convey mercie to thee so that the bare want is not the cause why God doth condemne a man the Angels in heaven this day have not this saving faith and yet there is no sinne in them againe besides 〈◊〉 are want of this confidence there is an aversnes â—f heart and a crossenesse of soule to the meanes of grace and the Gospell and against the Spirit â—f grace that would worke faith and draw my â—â—ule out of my sinne and plucke my soule to my â—aviour 〈◊〉 sinfull soule is fastned to his folly and â—ettled upon his base corruptions and hee rests here with a kinde of resolution not to goe off â—om his distempers and he will hold his corrupâ—ons and maintaine his lusts so that when merâ—e is offered he saith I will not have mercie but â—y sinne and the Spirit of God shall not plucke â—y corruptions from mee but I will have my â—nne rather than a Christ thought I perish for it â—is resisting against the meanes of grace the proâ—ise and mercie and the most blessed Spirit of â—â—ace this flowes from originall corruption and â—â—refore Adam never had this and comming â—om sinne and being a fruit of sinne a man shall â—nd must justly bee condemned for it though â—dam had not faith yet he would not have oppoâ—d the Spirit of grace it would have wrought â—pon him this is the infidelitie which the Scripâ—ure so often makes mention of because the â—eart is proud and sturdy and setled upon his â—es and saith What shall Jesus Christ come to â—fer me grace and to plucke away my sinnes and â—rruptions and to give mee grace I will none 〈◊〉 this Christ not I if thou doest want grace beâ—use thou hast resisted grace thou art justly to â—e condemned as a sinner this is the whole â—urse of Scripture Ioh. 3.19 This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darknesse better than light because their wayes are evil that is they love their sinne lusts and corruptions and chuse them and fasten to them and will have them and will not have a Christ this is the ruine of a sinner and this is the infidelity which the Lord speakes of and this is nothing else but the resisting the grace and mercie which would worke grace in him and this is properly unbeleefe to see how unbeleefe bankes the way to heaven a man that is a covetous wretch close hearted the word reveales this and condemnes this and saith hee I will not forsake the world and the adulterer saith I will not forsake my lusts and the drunkard faith I will not forsake my companions hee is staked downe to his corruptions so that all the Angels in heaven and all the promisses of the Gospell cannot perswade him to forsake his corruptions but he is staked downe to his corruptions and hugs them and saith I will hug my sinne in despire of all the world and God himselfe this is a cursed fruit of originall corruption this is sinfull and fearfull and a man is justly condemned for it so then no man is condemned for want of power to beleeve but because he resists grace and mercie and will not receive power to beleeve Thirdly now I come to show how the Lord workes upon the heart this is easie for all of you to apprehend and you may the better see the order of Gods worke if yee observe these foure rules the maine weight lies upon the third and the fourth therefore we will onely propound the two former to make way for the rest First when God comes to worke upon a poore sinner hee findes him dead in sinne and hee hath no good at all in him no saving supernaturall good and hee is not able to worke any good in himselfe by all the meanes in the world and he is not able to receive any spirituall good in the use of those meanes so the Apostle saith I know that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing and our Saviour Iohn 3.6 Whatsoever is borne of the flesh is flesh whatsoever comes from man from corrupted flesh is uncleane so Rom. 8.7 The carnall or the fleshly wisdome is not subject to the law of God so that a man not only hath no good in himselfe but he is not able to receive any good but rather oppose it Secondly hence it is cleare that all saving workes are the proper gifts of God and the peculiar operations of his good Spirit in the hearts
of those that have it for if every man by nature is dead in sinne and hath no good of himselfe and can receive no good but rather oppose it then if hee have any saving worke wrought in him it is Gods free gift therefore first the Lord meets with a poore sinner and reveales himselfe to him before he be aware of it as many a man haply drops into the congregation or fals into a house where there is conference and mercy and grace shines upon him before he is aware of it and doth effectually draw the soule home from sinne to God as Ioh. 6.44 No man comes to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him the Lord bindes the strong man in preparation and humiliation for the Devill will not goe out by intreaty no the Lord Jesus must binde him and then the Lord Jesus is pleased to separate the soule from sinne to himselfe and he takes possession of him and in vocation hee perswades the soule effectually and brings it home and when he is brought home he gives him his good Spirit to sanctifie him Thirdly and this I would have you marke though all grace come from the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of his Spirit yet the Lord workes the worke of his grace and Spirit after a divers manner and the manner especially which is remarkable is this no man hath grace by nature nor any good and all that he hath is the proper worke of God and this God workes though differently some workes God workes upon us to bring us to himselfe and some workes God workes in us to bring us into a nearer communion and 2 Tim. 1.14 That excellent thing which was committed to thee keepe fast how by the Spirit that dwels in us this excellent thing was the doctrine of the Gospell now Saint Paul perswades us to keepe it by the Spirit that dwels in us this is a matter which blindes many a poore ignorant man that otherwise would bestow himselfe upon the free grace of God we truly say that all grace comes from Christ hereupon many a man thinkes that he must first be in Christ before he can have any grace we receive Christ by faith and therefore we must have faith before we can have him and wee come to Christ by faith and therefore we must have faith before wee can come to him now the Lord Jesus is the Authour of all grace in the hearts of his owne the Lord workes some grace upon us to bring us himselfe as the worke of preparation and vocation this is a saving worke of Christ but yet it is the worke of the Lord to bring us home to himselfe but now when we are come by faith then God conveyes another worke to us he doth justifie a sinner and adopt him and sanctifie him as in this similitude the first Adam by way of a naturall generation must beget a childe before he can imprint his image of corruption upon him and he must be the sonne of Adam before he can receive corruption from Adam so that generation is the way to corruption else it is no corruption as in that place Adam begat a sonne in his owne image that is as blinde as stubborne as proud as Adam so that generation is the way by which wee receive corruption from the first Adam so it is in the second Adam he doth by spirituall regeneration and after a speciall manner worke upon the hearts of his to bring them home to him before he will imprint his image upon them which is the image of sanctification the Lord Jesus will by the worke of vocation and preparation as by a spirituall union bring the soule to himselfe before he will imprint his image upon him sanctification now preparation and vocation goe before sanctification and yet they are not sanctification in the strict sense as generation went before the imprinting of the fathers image so vocation to Christ is before the image of Christ can bee imprinted I use to expresse my selfe by this similitude looke as it is with a clocke that hath the wheeles turned the rong way what must a man doe to make these wheeles goe right First he stops the wheeles and the wheeles doe not stop themselves and then he turnes the wheele and the wheele doth not turne it selfe and when hee hath done so then he gives it a poise or plâ—â—â— and by vertue thereof the wheeles run right and the clocke strickes right all these are severall workeâ— upon the wheele the stopping is not the turning and the turning is not the striking so it is with the soule of a poore sinner the heart of man iâ— like this wheele it was made for God to please him and to serve him and was altogether heaven-ward but now it is hell-ward and sin-ward and world-ward and it is quite unjoynted now how must God worke upon this heart to bring it into the right frame againe First the Lord stopâ— the poore sinner and that is by preparation he shewes him his sinne and the punishment of it and when he is posting on to hell the Lord writes bitter things against him and saith friend this is not the way to happinesse friend if you goe that way there is the pit of destruction before you and so with a mighty strong commanding hand he stops the sinner by godly feare and sorrow and hatred and turnes it from wickednesse Secondly the Lord turnes the heart to himselfe in vocation and the Lord saith come hither thou poore sinner doe not goe to thy lusts they will kill thee but goe to the Lord Christ and he will save thee goe not to the world it will delude thee but goe to the Lord Christ and he will inrich thee thou art filthy but goe to Christ and he will purge thee thou art miserable but come to Christ here is happinesse and that will save thee by thiâ— time the wheele is stopped and also turned the right way and every wheele is where it should be and then the Lord justifies a poore sinner and is well pleased with him and is reconciled to him and he giveth his Spirit in adoption and that is as the poise that so he shall no more be ruled by the world nor by his lusts but by the good Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and the hand of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ doth assist that poore soule for ever Thirdly the soule having received the Spirit by faith as Gal. 4.5 receives hereby the adoption of sonnes Fourthly now the whole frame of the heart runs right and is towards God and for God and loves God and hath the spirituall power and a new principle of it selfe and this is the maine worke of sanctification if you will take sanctification in the stricktest sense all the rest are saving workes but this is the maine worke of all Fiftly as the clocke when it is thus framed strikes right and when it is two it strikes two and when it is
I was in heaven and yet because I have no faith I am now cast downe to hell it is thus much when the Lord lets in a glimpse of the exelencie of the grace of faith and the glory of heaven and the sweetnesse of the pardon of all the sinnes of the faithfull and the Lord lets in a glimpse of all these which goes home to the top of the affections and will that the Lord by a spirituall kinde of flash suddenly passeth by the will so that he leaves some kinde of dew and some remembrance of those glorious things which are thus let in upon the minde of a poore sinner insomuch that his heart is marvellously tickled and ravished with it I expresse it thus as it is with the water in a standing poole and the water that runneth through a pipe the standing water soakes and goes down-ward and settles inwardly in the earth but the water that passeth by suddenly leaves only a little dew behinde it but soakes not at all so it is with this temporary beleever the streame of the heavenly truths of the Doctrine of Christ passeth by suddenly as namely that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and that Christ came to take away the iniquitie of his servant this doth passe by suddenly and leaves a little dew behinde it so that he saith Oh this is good this is sweet I may be saved too may I not Oh I never heard a man speake so comfortably this word bedewes the heart a little but it soakes not downe it goes not to the root of the soule therefore observe it this is a work which the hypocrite may have only observe thus much he sips of grace and salvation and makes a meale of his corruptions but the gracious man onely sips of his corruptions and makes a meale of grace of holines mercy in Christ Looke as it is with seed that is cast into the wombe of a woman the seed is enough to beget some fruit but if the wombe be a miscarrying wombe it comes to nothing so it is betweene the stirring of the Word in the heart of a poore Saint and in the heart of an Hypocrite the Spirit of the Lord workes in the heart of a Hypocrite by the Word and is able to moysten him but the heart miscarries in the worke and resists and gainsayes and never comes to any good hee never comes to bee a faithfull man rightly proportioned whereas the same Spirit of God working rightly upon the heart of a beleever it makes him a very proportionable Christian the other remaining but a confused lumpe Now see what this man may doe when he comes to this let him bee thus bedewed with this taste of the excellency of faith and never have faith strengthned and rooted in him yet hee will bee very eager in the pursuit of the Word and marvellous constant in attending upon the Word because it is his delight and hee will bee marvellous painfull to get the Word for a man will doe any thing to get his delight and he may bee angry with such as would hinder him in the pursuit of the Gospell which is his delight this a man may doe and yet all come to nothing and so may perish everlastingly for looke what joy and delight will doe for a push the same a carnall temporary may doe But that this man will doe all this it is plaine of this kinde was Balaam that wretched man of whom you may see divers passages in the 23. 24. chapters of Numbers hee was a witch as Divines hold and hee was going to curse the people of God but the Lord stopt him and how did he it why he let him see the excellency of the condition of the Saints of God and said Oh thou wretched man loe there and behold the happy condition of my people and see all the good that I have given them and wilt thou curse those that I love so dearly Now see how he was taken up with it Oh that I might die the death of the righteous this was a glimpse of the glory that was let in upon him to stop him and to awe his heart yet hee returned to his old byas againe the third Scripture is in Matthew 25.8 I know Interpreters vary in it but I will be bold to suggest what I thinke the five foolish virgins said give us of your oyle for our lampes are gone out they had lamps but no oyle how could they kindle their lamps except they had oyle they had a little oyle in their lampes but none in their vessels their lampes was their excellent and glorious profession and the oyle which they had was nothing but the taste of the heavenly gift they had so much stirring of the will and affections as might carry them on to professe the truth but they had not oyle in their vessels which might sink downe into their hearts to subdue their corruptions and to quicken up their grace they had not this power to frame their hearts strongly towards the Lord and to feed their profession with constancy and perseverance to the end so that you see what hee can say for himselfe and me thinkes he speakes marvellous probably The Lord bee mercifull to us if a man goe thus farre and come to nothing it is wonderfull he is farre beyond the judicious professor Oh saith he I had a rellish of the sweetnesse of the good Word of God and a taste of the heavenly gift and my heart was ravished with the sight of the glory of it and I could even have gone to Heaven now you see the best of him But now secondly what is the falsenesse of this man and wherein is his failing and why where he falls short of faith and what it is that would make him an honest man Now the second thing is this that notwithstanding the sudden push of this man hee will wither and will turne his backe upon the truth and commonly he is an enemy to that truth to which his love was carried and which was his chiefe delight and this hee doth upon these two grounds commonly First when he seâ—th the bitternesse and misery and affliction and vexation that accompanies the Word hee is weary of the Word rather than he will beare those afflictions that doe accompany the Word he will follow our Saviour no longer than prosperity follow him for he will rather forsake Christ than to forgoe these hee was made a professour all upon a sudden and hee receives the Word suddenly with joy when hee heares of the glorious grace and mercy of God he faith Oh that Jesus Christ should come from Heaven to save sinners and to wait upon poore drunkards and adulterers and vilde wretches Oh sweet and admirable mercy saith hee and so all upon a sudden he turnes Christian and Professour but if afflictions and trouble come for the truth then hee turnes off all Christ and truth and his profession and all Oh saith he
man doth use to say I durst not have thought it nor expected if you had not promised it so the promise of God made to the soule makes the soule to rest upon it to expect faith without a promise is all one as if a man should expect a crop without seed for the promise is the immortall seed of Gods word whereby the Spirit breeds this faith in the hearts of all that are his Iohn 5.25 The houre is comming and now is when the dead shall heare the voice of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall live it is spoken of raising of a dead man from the grave of sinne First there is the voice of Christ to the soule before there can bee an eccho againe of the soule to Christ so the power of the promise must come to the soule and wee must heare the voice of God in the promise before we can returne an eccho againe to the Lord the Lord saith Come to me and the soule saith I come Lord when thou seest much deadnesse and unfitnesse of heart doe not thou goe away and looke off from the promise and say Thus I am and so it is with mee but rather goe to the promise and say Whatsoever frailties I finde in my selfe yet I will looke to the Lord and to his promise for if I want faith the promise must settle mee more and more therein I must not bring faith to the promise but receive faith from thence and therefore I will wait till the Lord please to worke it Meanes 4 Lastly labour to yeeld to the equall condition of the promise and make no more conditions than God makes now the promise requires no more of a man but that he should come and lay hold on mercie therefore doe thou require no more than God in the promise requires there is enough in the promise to doe thee good therefore expect all good from it and be content to goe to the promise and take of God whatsoever he hath therein offered Esay 55.1 2. Bâ—y without money this is the condition that God offers mercy upon Buy wine and milke that is grace and salvation without money that is without sufficiencie of your owne for wee must not looke for sanctification till we come to the Lord in vocation for this is all the Lord requires of thee to see thy sinnes and be weary of them and be content that the Lord Jesus shall reveale what is amisse and take it away and that the Lord should give thee grace then the Lord will bring thee to himselfe and thou shalt receive mercy from him and then all thy corruptions shall fall to the ground To summe up the point briefly thus First when wee have pluckt away all carnall props there is way made for the promise to come to us Secondly when our hearts are possessed thorowly of the sufficiencie of Gods promise and grace then the promise drawes neere to the soule Thirdly when we expect all from the promise even power to come to the promise then the promise layes hold upon us Fourthly when we are content to yeeld to the equall conditions of the promise then the promise carries us quite away Thus we have seene the hinderances removed and the meanes propounded and now that wee may be moved and perswaded importunately to seeke after this blessed grace of God I le propound three motives Motive 1 The first motive is this because if you once get this grace you get all other graces with it in this you have all the rest attending and you have all the rest overplus it is a ground of comfort to set a man aworke when in the doing of one he may doe many things so it is in the worke of faith men that are wise to provide for themselves and to lay out their money for their best advantage for a purchase if they see it is well wooded and all the stocke goes into the bargaine especially if there be some golden mynes all their mindes will be upon that purchase because if they have that they have all in that so it is here get this grace and get all strengthen this and strengthen all nourish this and nourish all want this and want all once get this and then you need not seeke for wisdome for faith will make you wise it will bring holinesse with it to purge you Ah the golden mynes of mercy and salvation doe all attend upon the purchase of faith it is in this case with faith as it is in a mans body a man hath an especiall care of his stomack and liver because the stomack disgests his meat and the liver makes bloud and bloud is in all and now if all be maintained all is for health so what ever a man lookes to â—et him looke to this for by faith we lay hold on Christ and from Christ wee receive all good whereby our hearts may bee cheared and refreshed faith brings all grace and workes with all grace get faith and get all 2 Corin. 3.18 Wee all with open face behold as in a glasse the glorie of the Lord and are changed into the same image from glorie to glorie I have opened the place before to have the glorious grace of God his meâ—knesse and patience that the soule may be transformed and of an impatient man be made meeke and patient and to have the glorious grace of God imprinted upon the soule how will all this come we all by faith looke upon the riches of Gods grace in Jesus Christ Christ is the glasse and the glorious grace of God Christ is compared to the glory of the Lord therefore first we must behold grace before wee can receive it first see humility in Christ and then fetch it and there see courage to put mettall into the heart that is cowardly Secondly as all grace comes by faith for it is faith that closeth with Christ and from Christ receiveth grace for grace as the seale leaves the same impression upon the wax that is upon it selfe so secondly by faith wee are delivered from all and made conquerours over all either enemies that can assault us or miseries that can trouble us wee have many enemies the Devill and the world but especially a vile base and corrupt heart if you know and feele these miseries here is one speciall privilege of faith it will rid all these and make you conquerours over all these enemies this only faith can doe every man labours for mastery and victory this is the white that every man shoots at as it is in a pitched field though it be but for one victory how every sâ—de drawes on the forces and use all the meanes and skill that can be to get the day but if there were an engine or instrument that would overcome all enemies and breake all forts and trenches if there were any such engines no man would sticke at any price or spare any meanes and endevours to get the engine because if they have this