assault 2. His repulse in Christs answer In the assault consider 4. things 1. The assault 1. The sinnes wherto he tempts our Sauiour 2. The arguments whereby he tempts 3. The manner of conueyance 4. The time For the first By our former opening of the temptation it appeared that the words of the deuill The sinnes whereto Sathan tempteth Christ seemed first to vrge Christ to the working of the miracle and then secondly in case he did not to distrust his Fathers voyce But indeed this latter was the mayne thing he looked at in this temptation Therefore I say Sathan tempted him first of all to vnbeleefe not to beleeue his Fathers voyce Thou art my Sonne Secondly to distrust the prouidence of God for releeuing his body in this hunger As in the former he accused Gods truth so in this latter his care As he tempted him to doubt of that particular word spoken onely to him Thou art my Sonne so of that generall word spoken to all Gods children concerning his prouidence and protection ouer them And these two were inward and secret sinnes whereto he tempted to doubt of the truth of Gods word and the care of Gods prouidence And indeed these two necessarily go together for we can neuer trust in Gods prouidence for this life vnlesse we beleeue that word of his spirit telling vs we are his children for when we beleeue him to be our father and our selues his children then will we hange vpon his prouidence and assure our selues of his care Now in the third place out of these two bittter roots he would haue drawne him to a third namely in this distrust of Gods prouidence to haue wrought a preposterous miracle releeuing himselfe by vnlawfull meanes For the first then Doct. We see it is the deuills chiefe endeauour to call into question the truth of Gods word God had It is the diuels chiefe endeuor to call into question the truth of Gods word said Thou art my sonne and now he comes with his If thou be the sonne of God In the word of God there be specially three things 1. Commandements and these he accuseth as vniust and vnreasonable 1. commandements as that first commandement to our first parents 2. Threatnings and these he maketh to be but scar-crowes 2. threatnings and meere bugges as to our first parents that threatning yee shall dye no sayes the deuill but ye shall liue better then euer ye did So Deut Deut 29. 19. 29. 19. ye shall haue peace though ye walke after the stubbornnes of your owne heart neuer feare the curses threatned 3. Promises and them he 3. promises makes to be but vaine words as to Dauid in temptation Ps 77. Hath the Lord forgotten to be mercifull and Psal 77. to Cain Gen. 4. My sinne is greater then can be forgiuen Gen 4. and so to all dispayring persons Now in all these the deuill assaults our faith not as he thinks without reason For faith in the commandements breeds obedience in the threatnings feare in the promises comfort So that by this meanes he would bring it to passe that as God should haue no feare reuerence and obedience at our hands so we should haue no comfort at his hands But yet more He striketh more specially at our faith in the promises specially doth he strike at our faith in the promises not so much at the generall faith in beleeuing the truth of them in generall as at our speciall iustifying faith applying those promises vnto our selues Not so much to doubt at the generall voice of God in the word Euery beleeuer shall be saued but at the particular voyce of God by his spirit applying the generall to vs and saying Thou beleeuest Thou art my sonne For indeede this faith is the ground of all sauing Reu. 1. obedience The loue of Christ apprehended by 2. Cor. 5. faith constraines vs. 2. Cor. 5. And I beleeued therefore Psal 116. I spake Psal 116. We cannot performe any sincere acceptable filiall obedience till by faith wee are assured of Gods loue This perswasion sets vs on worke in our obedience Secondly faith is the very life of our liues and the strength of our soules without which we are but very drudges and droiles in this life The holy Ghost Rom. 15. 13. fill you with all ioy in beleeuing Rom. 15. 13. And beleeuing ye reioyced with ioy glorious and vnspeakable 1. Pet. 1. 8. 1. Pet. 1. 8. Therefore the diuell enuying our comfort and our happines would rob vs of our faith that he might rob vs of our ioy Thirdly faith is our cheycest weapon euen our shield and buckler to fight against him whom resist stedfast in the faith 1. Pet. 5. 9. Therefore as the 1. Pet. 5. 9. Philistins got away the Israelites weapons so doth Sathan in getting away faith from vs disarme vs and make vs naked For this is our victory whereby we ouercome euen our faith 1. Ioh. 5. And in this faith 1. Iohn 5. apprehending Gods strength lies our strengrh as Sampsons in his lockes and therefore the Diuell knowing this labours to do to vs which Delilah did to Sampson euen to cut off our lockes And indeed when he doth this he doth that to vs which Sampson did doe the Philistins hee pluckes downe the pillers of the house and ouerthrowes vs. Vse 1 Vse 1. Aboue all things then fortifie wee our faith and assurance that God is our father and we his sonnes Where the Diuell oppugnes most thither must we bring our greatest strength Now as we haue seen he labors specially to shake our faith Sathan hath desired to winnow you Luk. 22. 31. 32. Luk. 22 31. 32 what would he winnow in them The next words shew but I haue prayed for thee that thy faith faile not Though Sathan then come and accuse God to vs as not louing vs yet let vs bee no more mooued then a good wife would bee to heare a false knaue thus accusing her louing husband If wee must not receiue a false accusation against an ancient vnder two or three witnesses 1. Tim. 5. shall wee then rereceiue 1. Tim. 5. an accusation against the Auncient of dayes the Lord himselfe vpon Sathans word a knowen and detected deceiuer Such as are knowen to doe ill offices on both sides to come to mee with a tale against thee and then presently to goe to thee and say as much of mee such I say being once knowen who will regard them Now we know Sathan to be such an one Hee accuses God to vs and then hee goes and accuses us to God as he accused both Iob Iob 1. 2. to God Iob 1. 2. and afterward God to Iob as not respecting him As wee would bee loath God should beleeue Sathan against vs so let vs take heed that we beleeue not Sathan against God Vse 2 2. We may not then be discouraged when wee feele our selues thus
But without any true reformation for presently after he fell to as bad cruelty against the holy Prophet Micaiah Iudas was grieued for murthering Christ yet no change ensued hee fell to murthering of himselfe The Israelites being threatned by God when as they meditated a returne into Aegypt wept and howled And yet at the same time being commanded not to goe the next way to Canaan but to fetch a compasse about they disobeyed But these men sorrow not aright because they sorrow not as the Corinthians did vnto a transmentation vnto a change of their thoughts and purposes from euill to good It is not possible a man should truely grieue and be displeased for his sins and yet continue in them without a change For as one very well sayes vnlesse sinne be made a wanton it will not stay It likes no grimme entertainement The sad countenance the weeping eyes the frowning forehead dash it quite out of countenance It is not able to stand before them The teares of true Repentance haue a purging and a raising vertue therfore the Prophet exhorting to Repentance sayes Wash yee make yee cleane These teares therefore Is 1. 16. are washing and cleansing teares where they fall they make cleane worke scouring away the filthinesse of our sinnes The abundance of naturall raine maketh the waies fowle that before were faire But contrarily the more abundantly this raine falleth the cleaner and fairer are the wayes of our hearts and fitter for the feet of the Lord to walke in For this is that same preparing of the way Matth. 3. of the Lord which the Baptist requires Worldly sorrow workes a change in the body it brings gray haires on the head and furrowes and wrinckles in the face It turnes youth into olde age and strength into weaknesse and so causeth death But the change of godly sorrow is quite contrary It turnes olde age into youth and a weaknesse and sicknesse into health and strength No distillations of waters heale our bodily diseases so as this water doth our spirituall This salt brine takes away all our raw humours and makes vs sauory meate for the Lord. This raine dissolues the clowds of our iniquities and ô what a pure cleerenesse is there in the heauen of our hearts And therfore iustly may wee suspect their repentance whose sorrow brings not with it this happy change 2. So also may we theirs whose change and alteration proceedes not from godly sorrow and touch of conscience for sinne Let it not suffice vs that in many things wee haue reformed our wayes For so did Herod Iudas and many other temporary beleeuers But alas this reformation was not grounded vpon true humiliation and so at length it came to nought as an vnfounded building And therefore by humiliation first digge wee deepe in our hearts and cast out the rotten and vnsound ground and so build wee Excellent is the counsell of Christ to luke-warme Laodicea be zealous that is reforme the fault of thy luke-warmnesse Reuel 3. but withall he addes and Repent namely of thy lukewarmnesse let the reformation of thy fault be grounded on sound sorrow for it So may I say to the couetous be liberall and repent to the vncleane be chaste and repent to the neglecter of Gods worship frequent the Church and exercises of Religion and repent Many Professours haue made a goodly flourish and of couetous haue turned liberall and of prophane deuout and who so forward as they But when they turned religious they did not heartily repent and repine at their former prophanesse grieuing and grudging at the seruice which formerly they did Sathan They sowed not the seed of their obedience in tears nay with the stony ground they beganne in ioy and therefore end in sorrow Before haruest comes all is withered and they become vnfruitfull They beganne not in humility and therefore end not in glory Nay they beganne in pride and therefore end in shame They beganne in impenitency and therefore end in despaire And thus haue we opened the definition of Repentance CHAP. II. In what order Humiliation is wrought REpentance then consisting of those two parts Humiliation and Reformation let vs speake of them both seuerally And first of Humiliation where consider first the grace it selfe And secondly the contraries to it In the grace it selfe foure things are to be considered 1. The Nature 2. The Measure 3. The Vse and Excellency 4. The Practise 1. For the nature two poynts must bee considered 1. The nature of Humiliation in two things 1. In what order it is wrought 2. What are the qualities and propeties of it being wrought For the former it is thus to be considered 1. The spirit by the shrill trumpet of the Law arouseth the sinners drousie conscience setteth his 1. The order of it sinnes in order before him and presenteth him with that fearefull spectacle of eternall death and condemnation And that so that the poore sinner selfe-conuict and selfe-condemned holding vp his guilty hands before Gods Tribunall and receiuing the sentence of death doth not onely see hell with a wide and gaping mouth ready to deuoure him but euen in a manner feeleth himselfe in hell already the terrours of God fighting against him and the envenomed arrowes of the Almighty sticking in his ribbes so that in this perplexity being brought downe to the very gate of hell and feeling the very flashings of hell fire in his conscience he cries out Miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me Who shall descend into this deepe to Rom. 7. helpe me out of the myre wherein I sticke so fast A man in this case is like a rocke which with some mighty shaking is made to tremble but yet still retaines his hardnesse or as an iron vessell which with some violent stroakes is broken into peeces but these peeces remaine whole and hard and are not yet molten by the fire Now vnto humiliation there is required not onely a broken but also a contrite spirit And Contrition is when all is stamped to very dust and ground as it were to powder so that there is a through dissolution of that which before was firmely hardened and compacted together But the Law of it selfe cannot dissolue and soften the hard heart of man Therefore the sinner though neuer so violently shaken and battred with the thunderbolts of the Law is not as yet truely humbled but onely prepared for and in the way vnto humiliation As when a thing is torne and broken though into great and solide lumps it is neerer to dissolution then when it was whole and entire 2. Therefore the spirit by the hammer of the Law hauing broken vs doth in the next place by the fire of the Gospell melt vs. For the word of God Ierem. 23. 9. is both a hammer breaking the rockes and a fire A hammer in the Law A fire in the Gospell which with the heat of Gods loue in Christ doth melt mollifie and dissolue our hearts
Ioh. 4. Christ sat as a Iudge in her conscience and pinched her with that close imputation of adultery There was no dealing with Iob till the whirl-wind schooled Iob. him An vnhumbled sinner is as vnfit for Gods instruction as an vnbroken colt for the saddle and as the hard and clotty fallow ground not subdued by Ierem. 4. the plough is for the seede Who can weilde a mightie hard rocke but let it bee broken to fitters and stamped to dust the hand of the Artificer may worke it as he will When Isay Is 6. Acts 9. and Paul were tamed with the terrors of the Lord then Lord heere I am What wilt thou haue mee doe When the Lyons and Beares are meekned then a little childe may lead them Is 11. Hence those speeches The Lord shall direct the humble Humble Psalm 25. Mic. 6. 2. Chro. 30. 8. Ierem. 44. 10. thy selfe to walke with thy God Be not stiffe-necked but giue the hand to the Lord to be lead by him They are not humbled neither haue they walked in the wayes of the Lord. There is no more resistance in a bruised heart against the Lord then in soft waxe against the seale 5. To procure vs the sounder comfort Whole sores throb and rage Ease is by breaking The deeper the wound is searched and teinted and the sharper corrasiues be applied the sounder will the flesh be afterward The lower ebbe the higher tide The deeper our descent in Humiliation the higher our ascent in Consolation Therefore when Christ promiseth vs his spirit to be our Comforter he shewes this shall bee the first ground-worke of Comfort which hee shall lay the conuincing of our conscience of sinne I will send the Comforter and hee Ioh. 16. shall conuince the world of sinne A miserable Comforter one would thinke no but marke whether this Conuiction of sinne tends For it is added that he shall conuince them of righteousnesse After he hath soundly conuicted them of sinne in themselues vnto condemnation He shall to their comforts conuict their iudgements and perswade their hearts of righteousnesse in Christ vnto iustification So the Prophet sheweth how his peace was wrought out of his trouble When I heard my bellie Hab. 3. 16. trembled my lips shooke rottennesse entred into my bones and I trembled but marke the end of all this that I might rest in the day of trouble Surely after the most toylesome labour is the sweetest sleepe After the greatest tempests the stillest calmes Sanctified trouble establishes peace And the shaking of these windes makes the trees of Gods Eden take the deeper rooting 6. God heerein hath respect to his owne glory which he gaineth to himselfe in working thus by contraries ioy out of feare light out of darknesse heauen out of hell When he meant to blesse Iacob Gen. 32. he wrestled with him as an aduersary euen till hee lamed him When he meant to preferre Ioseph to the throne hee threw him downe into the dungeon to the golden chaine about the necke hee laded him with iron ones about his legges and caused the iron to Psal 105. enter into his soule When he meant to make a most beautifull and orderly world he makes first a vast gulfe a grosse Chaos wherein was nothing but darknesse and confusion and yet out of it he caused light to shine and out of it brought hee this goodly frame of heauen and earth which now wee see Euen so in the second creation which is by Regeneration first there is nothing but a hellish Chaos of darkenesse in the minde of Confusion in the heart and yet at length comes forth the goodliest creature that euer was the new creature in Christ The Vse of all this is 1. To discouer their errour who thinke they haue true Repentance when they haue only some legall qualmes of sorrow some stirrings and stingings of conscience which euen the fiends in hell haue who yet are vncapable of Repentance Indeed these are preparations to Contrition as wee heard in the Elect and are as the pricking of the needle before the thread But contrition it selfe is a further matter Christ biddes the heauy loaden come vnto him and learne of him to bee humble A man therefore may be heauy loaden and as yet not come to him nor truely humbled When those whom Peter pricked asked what they should doe to be eased of that paine hee prescribed them Repentance as the salue for that sore of a wounded conscience A man may haue a sore and feele it and yet want the salue that should heale it And yet the feeling of the sore is the first step to recouery For this makes vs enquire after the salue 2. To terrifie such as being stupefied in conscience and are wholly vnsensible of sinne can carry it away lightly as Sampson did the gates of the city and their backes neuer complaine of the burthen These blocks that neuer in their life were moued with Gods threatnings neuer in any straight of conscience neuer groaned vnder the burthen of Gods anger they haue not so much as entred into the porch of this house or lift the foote ouer the threshold of this schoole of Repentance In Dauids Repentance for numbring the people this is noted at the first step his heart smote him So in 2. Sam. 24. his Repentance for adultery hee notes this to bee the ground My sinne is euer before me The terrible Psal 51. image thereof affrights me continually But for these Brutes their sinne is euer behinde them Nothing is before them but their profits their pleasures their bagges their barnes And the delightfull image of these things so bewitches and besots them that they will neuer see the face of sinne till they feele the fire of hell And iust it is that such who will not see sinne heere by the light of Gods word should at last see it for euer by the light of the Diuels fire 3. To comfort such as are distressed in conscience in the apprehension of Gods wrath against their sinne It is a speciall worke of the spirit thus to discouer vnto them their misery and in the sight thereof to touch their heart Yee haue not againe receiued Rom. 8. 15. the spirit of bondage vnto feare saith Paul The word Receiued implieth that the trouble of conscience is to be accounted of as a gift and the word Spirit shewes the author of the gift Heere is comfort then thou art in the way to saluation thou hast receiued the first gift which the spirit bestoweth vpon all those whom it bringeth to Repentance in that thou seest thy bondage and tremblest Yea but poore comfort thou wilt say to behold and feele God as an enemy with his sword wounding me then with his naile continually raking in the wounds with his axe continually hewing and hacking mee yea and quite cutting me downe and laying me flat on the ground Silly man who seest not the depth of Gods wisedome Gods
men can hardly be brought vnto to demolish and cast down the goodly buildings as they thinke though indeed rotten and ruinous of their ciuill vertues they can hardly endure to haue all their life by-past censured and condemned for nought But yet they must if euer they will see the kingdome of God Except a Iohn 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 man be borne againe hee cannot see the kingdome of God The word againe is significant which as Beza there notes imports that we must goe ouer all againe that is past and reiect it as vnprofitable and begin a new Thus did Paul who was a better ciuilian then thou canst be for thine heart when he repented hee threw away all his glozing ciuill vertues as offals to dogges And though before hee Phil 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thought himselfe in good case yet when the Law was reuealed vnto him he saw what hee was then Rom. 7. and then was troubled for inward lusts and motions of his heart And these our times want not such examples when ciuill men hauing beene ceazed vpon by the spirit they haue seene their owne dangerous state and haue beene vrged to repentance and so haue felt a wonderfull change in their harts and liues of neglecters of the word and praier they haue become conscionable practisers of all religious dueties and zealous louers of that which before onely fashionably and for Lawes sake they haue performed Let then ciuill men whose nature is changed by the spirit of Repentance know that they are in a damnable state and that it will not bee well with them till they grow to a loathing and a detestation of this their euill life voyd of all heat and heart of holy deuotion CHAP. XIII Of the properties of Conuersion BVt because many will yet deceiue themselues 2. The properties of it which are 3. thinking they haue repentance when they haue none and some againe will bee so terrified with this doctrine of the change which repentance workes that they will thinke they haue no repentance when indeede they haue wee will therefore further proceed to speake of three properties of this change or turning of the heart in Repentance By the two former whereof wee shall terrifie the first kinde of selfe-deceiuers and by the third shall comfort the second kind of doubters 1. Properly This change then must be an orderly change beginning in the soule euen in the 1. It is orderly very marrow and spirit thereof and so proceeding to the outward man and the actions thereof This orderly change the Apostle teacheth when first he bids vs be renued in the spirits of our mindes and then Eph. 4. 23. 24 let him that stole steale no more O Ierusalem wash thine Ieremy 4. heart But alas how many are there that set the cart before the horse and begin to change their liues before their hearts Some indeede aduise vs so to doe but as I thinke not aduisedly It is the onely way to hypocrisie to doe that outwardly which is not first begunne in wardly And besides it is idle and to no purpose to purge the channell when the fountaine is corrupt and to apply remedies to the head when the headach is caused from the impurity of the stomacke Miserable experience shewes how such disordered beginnings of Repentance often come to a miserable end Content not then thy selfe with leauing sinne outwardly but see you loath it inwardly content not thy selfe to loppe off the boughes but lay the axe to the roote of the Tree 2. Properly It must be a thorough change The 2. It is thoroughly Lord sanctifie you throughout that your whole spirit and soule and body may bee blamelesse Many in their repentance giue but the halfe turne Acts 1. those 1. Thess 5. 23. that turne from one sinne to another as from couetousnesse to prodigality from Atheisme or Iudaisme to Popery This is as if the mouse escaping the trappe should fall into the pawes of the cat It is iust like the turning of the wind from one point of the North vnto the other from North-east to North-west but yet still it is in the North and as far from the South as before So these men turne but yet in their sinne still and as farre from God as before Secondly those that turne their vnderstandings from errour to truth but not their wills from euill to good as those that of Papists turne loose and vnreformed Protestants Thirdly those that turne from many sinnes and with Herod doe many things but yet they remaine vnturned from some one speciall sinne Some indeede there are whose change makes them like Aethiopians white onely in teeth euery where else cole-black I meane our verball professours that haue onely a change from the teeth outward a change of their wordes can speake well and that is all But others there are that goe further and doe much and yet not enough because though they seeme to turne from sinne and to looke towards God yet haue a leering eye and a squint respect vnto their sins with Lots wife casting a longing looke after their olde Sodome And they turne as if a man whose face is towards the West should turne to the North or South for so turning hee may looke both waies both to the West whereon his face was set and to the East whereon his backe was turned So many turne from their sinnes to God not directly but side-waies so that with one eye they may looke to God and with the other to some sinne But as hee whose face is turned directly to the East cannot see the West so he who indeed looks directly to God cannot looke to his sinnes but he must needs haue them behind his backe Repentance if it be true is generall It strippes vs starke naked of all the garments of old Adam and leaues not so much as the shirt behind In this rotten building it leaues not a stone vpon a stone As the flood drowned Noahs owne friends and seruants so must the floud of repenting teares drowne euen our sweetest and most profitable sinnes Most true is that saying of Thomas Aquinas That all sinnes are coupled together though not in regard of conuersion to temporall good for some looke to the good of gaine some of glory some of pleasure c. Yet in regard of auersion from eternall good that is God So that hee that lookes but toward one sinne is as much auerted and turned backe from God as if he looked to all In which respect S. Iames sayes he that offends in one is guilty of all Repentance is a thorough change of the whole man of the whole life it refines euery part not so much but vanity and lightnesse in apparell The Lord shall wash saith Isaiah the filthines of the daughters of Zion that is that proud brauery and affected meanes of apparell mentioned in the third Isay 4. 4. opened chapter by the spirit of iudgement that is of
thorough his sides mortally pierced all their soules Looke then as a man by his parts or place is fitted to doe Sathan more harme as learned men wise men in the Church or Common-wealth so much the more doth Sathan oppose them and the rather because in them he ouerthrowes many others Augustine when God called him was farre more assaulted by Sathan than Alixius because of Augustine his greater learning Moses when he began to execute Moses his calling what troubles had he So Paul Paul aboue his fellowes because of greatest gifts maligned of Sathan And Zach 3. Sathan was standing Zach. 3. Iehoshua This serues first for caution at the right hand of Iehoshua the high Priest Such persons then haue heere their Item to take heede to themselues Sathan hath desired to winnow you The choisest wits the quickest spirits the greatest parts the deepest learning the highest callings he labours to prey vpon If he see a yoong gentleman of great parts place and parentage likely to bee aduanced and called foorth to great seruices he will specially labour to corrupt him with the loue of vanities and vaine pleasures and with the contagion of euill company and euill counsellours This also is comfort 2. For Consolation to those of such parts and places when thus troubled by Sathan or his instruments whether Magistrates or Ministers It is a signe Sathan is afrayd of them And on the contrary that Sathan neuer feares any great hurt from them in their places of the Magistracy or Ministery whom he lets quietly alone In the whole history of the Acts wee shall see how the Apostles almost neuer came to any place but Sathan began to rage tempest against them The second poynt The cause and manner of this 2 The cause manner of Christs going into the desert his going He was led by the Spirit By the Spirit vnderstand the Holy Spirit not the impure one First because mention was made of this Spirit immediately before in the former chapter by Matthew Secondly because of that which followes to be tempted of the Diuell whereas if the vncleane spirit the Diuell himselfe had beene meant thereby then rather the words should haue runne thus He was led of the spirit to be tempted by him Thirdly Luke is plaine He returned from Iordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by that spirit into the wildernesse Doct 1 Led Some referre it onely to the inward motion of the minde others also to the motion of his body miraculously carried rapt as Philip Act 8. Acts 8. by the spirit into the wildernesse And to this doe they referre that afterwards Luc. 4. 14. concerning the rumour that went of Christ To this I rather encline both because Markes words fauoureth it the spirit thrust him foorth and because that if it had bin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 1. 12. otherwise hee would haue had after these miracles at Iordan so many followers that the worke of tentation intended would haue beene hindred And yet this extraordinary motion of his body hinders not the voluntarines of his minde which as it is the grace of all other of his sufferings so of his temptations that he was not led as a Beare to the stake but went to it with courage and cheerefulnesse The Vse This leading of Christ by the spirit was extraordinary yet we must thus far imitate it That the very motions of our body and our goings to and from places must bee from the direction The very motions of our bodies must be from direction of Gods word and spirit of the Word and so of the Spirit of God As was Noahs going in and comming out of the Arke Iaakobs going to and comming from Laban But many are led by the Diuell as dogs in a string and carried from the Church to the alehouse the stewes and the stage The Spirit of God carries vs to no such places Doct 2 All our temptations are disposed and ordered by the secret will and counsell of God Hee leades vs All our temptations are disposed by Gods secret will and counsell Sathan is chained 1 Chron 21. 1. 2. Sam. 24. 1. and goes before Who then would not follow such a guide and be cheerefull in all our trials Sathan is a mastiue but yet in Gods chaine and cannot come out at vs to baite vs vnlesse God loose him and set him on vs. Therefore 1. Chron. 21. 1. Sathan is sayd to mooue Dauid to number the people and 2. Sam. 24. 1. God is sayd to mooue Dauid to it euen as both the dogge may bee sayd to bait the beast and the owner of the beast that brings him to be baited and suffers the dogge to be set vpon him Heere then is sweet comfort in these baytings A Comfort to the tempted Christian God is by and lookes on hee will haue pitty on vs if he see this curre too violent hee will plucke him off As the owner of the beast is so mercifull to his beast as not to let vs bee killed by the mastiues If thou feele thy selfe ready to faile and sinke in tentation lift vp thine heart to that Spirit that led thee to be tempted and yet will not suffer thee to be led into temptation He that set him on hee onely can take him off The third poynt The end of his going To be tempted 3. The end of Christs going into the desert of che Diuell Heere six questions may be asked Quest 1 1. Quest What is it to tempt or to be tempted Answ The word which is the first roote is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What it is to tempt or to be tempted to pierce thorough And so this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comming of it is to take triall because by piercing thorough a thing it is tried what it is within whether sound or no. Thereafter then as the meanes are to try or discouer so is the word of tempting vsed For first there is a triall by a naked offring of obiects or occasions thus we say of delicate meats they are temptations So prosperitie riches c. are temptations And crosses also Iam. 1. 2. And thus is God sayd to tempt in Scripture because in his How God tempts Iames 1. 2. prouidence he offers obiects and such occasions as will try vs and when he sends vs either wealth honours or the contrary when he sends vs his Word the precepts and exhortations thereof As by speeches cast out we also do trie and as we say feele one another So Gen. 22. God tempted Abraham in Gen 22. How Sathan tempts that commandement of offring vp Isaac Secondly Triall is by earnest perswasion and sollicitation to sinne for by this meanes we are tried what we are as Iosephs chastity was tried by his mistresses perswasions And this is the Deuils tempting Sometime the fisherman onely sets his bait without any vrging of the fish to
Lord might the better know how to pitty and tender and releeue vs with comforts when we are in temptation They pitty vs most in our sicknesses that haue felt the same themselues So Heb. 2. 18. For in that hee suffred and was tempted hee is able to succour them that are tempted And Heb. 4. 15. 16. We haue not an high Priest which cannot bee touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all things tempted in like sort yet without sinne Let vs therefore goe boldly vnto the throne of grace that wee may receiue mercy and finde Grace to helpe in the time of neede Quest 5 5. Quest By whom was he tempted By whom Christ was tempted Answ Luke sayes by the deuill Matthew saies by the tempter Quest There are many euill spirits who is this here called the deuill Ans It should seeme to be the prince of them the head of that Apostasie as Matt 25. the Diuell and his Angells Quest 6 6. Quest Why is he called the Deuill Answ The word signifies a slanderer or accuser And he Why the tempter is called the deuill accuseth 1. To God 2. To man 1. To God he accuseth man hence called the accuser of the brethren Reuel 12. And thus he accused Iob Iob. 1. 2. 2. To man He accuses first God himselfe as to our first parents as enuying their felicitie and ouer-hardly dealing with them in their restraint of that fruit and so still he doth in the matter of Reprobation and the commandements of the Law Secondly he accuses or slanders the graces of God he brings an ill name vpon them to discredit them with vs. Thus he slanders zeale to be rashnes iustice to be crueltie wisdome to be craft mercy to be fond softnes humilitie to be basenesse 3. He slanders the seruants of God that they are hot fiery furious factious enemies to Caesar curious proud c. 4. His neighbours and such with whom he hath to deale by suggesting false suspitions and surmises against them 5. His own selfe by inraging his conscience against him Now Sathan especially is an accuser in accusing vs to God and our owne consciences And hee doth this specially 1. after the committing of some grieuous sinne which he tempted vs vnto Before he seemed our friend and put vpon sinne a goodly vizour but now he pluckes it of and vrges vs to desperation 2. In some more grieuous tryall and specially at the houre of death 3. At the day of iudgment Vse 1 1. Vse It being the diuells office to be an accuser or slanderer let vs take heed of doing such ill offices Let the diuell haue his owne office let vs not go about to take it out of his hands 2. Since the deuill is an accuser it must make vs warie ouer our wayes as wee are warie in our worldly estates of the promoter of picke-thankes and tale-bearers He will accuse falsely when there is no cause much more then will he accuse when we giue him cause by our sinnes Howbeit euen here will he be a false accuser and slanderer by making that to be treason which is but petty larceney and sinnes of infirmitie to be the impardonable sin against the Holy Ghost The Fathers doe excellently describe how the deuill at the last day will stand forth at the barre and like an eloquent Tertullus plead against sinners Iudge O righteous Iudge that which is equall Iudge him mine that would be none of thine After his abrenouncing of me all that is mine in baptisme what had he to doe with anger wantonnesse vncleannesse couetousnesse and pride and the rest of my things He would needs be mine He lusted after these things of mine Adiudge him therefore to me as mine c. so Augustine And Cyprian brings him in thus I neuer suffred either blowes on the face or thornes on mine head or scourges on my sides or crosse on my backe I neuer shed my blood for them nor yet did I euer promise them an heauenly kingdome and yet haue they wholly deuoted themselues and all to mee Oh let vs stop the mouth of this so greedy a curre that snatches so eagerly at euery thing And howsoeuer as I said in regard of accusing others wee may not put him out of office yet in accusing of our selues we should Let vs accuse our selues before he come to accuse vs that so he may come too late Doctrin 1 And so much of the name that Luke giues him The diuell The name that Matthew giues him is the Tempter Then came the tempter vnto him See what is the diuells profession and his trade He is The diuells profession and trade is to be a tempter not only an accuser but also a tempter And therefore he doth this last that he may doe the first he therefore playes the tempter that he may play the diuell He tempts vs to no other end but that he might accuse vs. Herevpon the Scripture elsewhere giues him this name 1. Cor. 7. 5. 1. Thess 3. 5. wee see by it whence are our temptations to lust to anger to couetousnes they are but casts of the diuels office they are from him whose profession and occupation is to tempt The more vnwelcom should they be vnto vs and reiected with the greater distaste and dislike Can any good thing come out of Nazaret said Nathanael Ioh 1. 46. but more truely may we say Can any good thing come from hell what euer hee pretend can the deuill intend any good to thee It were argument sufficient against the temptation if it would be remembred that he that tempts is the deuill and as sure as before the sinne we finde him a tempter so sure after the sinne we shall finde him a deuill Againe this shewes whose iourney men they are and of what company they are free that sollicite men to sinne They are free of Sathans trade they are his factours and iourneymen and therefore our Sauiour calls Peter being instrumentall to Sathan Sathan himselfe Matt. 16. 23. Come behinde me Sathan They that will haue his trade shall haue his name too Doctr. 2 2. D. This phrase signifies his assiduitie in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 trade for it is in the participle of the present tense implying a continuall action as one that is neuer The deuill is very diligent in his tempting out of his worke The deuill is not idle nor lazie at his businesse but as Latimer speakes of him he is the onely diligent Bishop in his Diocesse for 1. There is no person whom he tempts not Indeed 1 He tempts all persons the deuils are many there was a whole legion in one man and yet though so many yet in such a multitude of men as are in the world one would thinke some might escape his assaults yet such is his diligence and so bestirres he himselfe that not a day passes ouer our heads wherein any of vs escape his frequent assaults 2. There is no place
Take heede of that deceitfulnesse of heart whereby we promise our selues great matters of our selues if wee might but change our estates and callings to our mindes Oh how liberall would the poore man be if he were rich how vpright and iust the priuate man if he were a Magistrate But they consider not that there are temptations in those estates and callings and that more dangerous then in their owne and therefore they know not what they shall doe till they haue triall of themselues And therefore they should rather feare the worst of themselues So much of Sathans temptation Now let vs see Christs answer But Iesus answered and sayd It is written Man liueth not by bread onely but by euery word that proceedeth Christs answer to Sathans temptation out of the mouth of the Lord. The diuels argument was If thou wert the sonne of God thou wouldst turne stones into bread to releeue thine hunger and so preserue thine humanity which otherwise will perish But thou doest not turne stones into bread Therefore c. Our Lords answer now is both to the consequence and the false ground of it To the consequence hee answers by retorting it most excellently whatsoeuer proceedes out of the mouth of God can preserue mans life Therefore it followes not that if I be God I must needes nourish my body by bread oh absurd and senselesse Sathan Nay if I could not nourish my body but by bread then were I not God and therefore need I not turne these stones into bread because I am God and can make what I will to nourish me euen stones without being turned into bread To the ground of the consequence which was that without bread his life could not bee preserued he answers that it was directly false and prooues it by the words of Scripture Deut. 8. Man liueth not by bread c. Deut. 8. 3. And thus we see the scope of this answer Wherin Consider 1. Whence it is taken 2. The answer it selfe Doct. 1 For the first It is taken out of Deut. 8. Where Moses tels the Israelites that God therefore did feed them with Manna from heauen to teach them that man liueth not by bread onely Our Lord could haue confounded the Diuell otherwise but to shew the power of the Scripture and to grace it and to The word of God is the sword of the Spirit wherewith we must wound Satan Ephes 6. giue vs an example of fighting against Sathan hee chuses this way of confuting him by the written word This is that sword of the spirit Eph. 6. wherewith we must wound Sathan We are bidden to resist him by faith but this faith is grounded on Gods word Vse 1 The Vse 1. Against the Papists that take away the weapons from Gods people and so betray them into the hands of their enemies and in steed of the sharpe two edged swords of the spirit giue vs a leaden and a woodden sword of their owne as their holy water their crossings their graines and their durty reliques It is not the signe of the crosse but the word of the crosse that ouerthrowes Sathan For he is that strong man that will not yeeld but to a stronger Now the signe of the crosse and holy water and such bables are humane inuentions and therefore too weake to chase him away But the word of God hath a diuine power in it and so is able to ouercome him And indeed if there were no other argument to prooue the Scripture to be Gods word this were sufficient that it hath power to quaile and to quash Sathans temptations Vse 2 2. Against such of vs as delight in other bookes and not in Gods and this is the fault of many ministers that are mighty in the Fathers Schoole-men and Counsels but not with Apollos in the Scriptures Acts 18. 24. Acts 18. 24. But Ministers with Christ should labour to bee good Textuaries and not Ministers onely but all Christians in their places For Christ heere alledgeth Scripture not as a Minister but as one tempted to defend himselfe Now all Christians are subiect to temptations In the plague time none will goe abroad without some preseruatiue None will goe foorth into the fields but take at least a staffe with them for feare of the worst Those that trauell will not ride without their swords Those that know they haue enemies will neuer goe foorth vnweaponed and Kings alwayes haue their guards Now all of vs hauing Sathans temptations and our enemies ready for vs at euery turne we had neede daily to resort to the armoury of the Scriptures and there to furnish our selues For when this word shal be hid in our hearts and enter into our soules then shall we preuaile both against the violent man and the flattring woman that is against all kinde of temptations whether on the right or on the left hand I haue hid thy word saith Dauid Psal 119. in mine hart Psal 119. that I might not sinne Thus Ioseph preuailed against that temptation to folly by remembring the seauenth commandement The reason why we are so Genes 39. often foiled is for that we read not the Scriptures at all or else carelesly without affection or attention and impression in the heart Let vs now then like good ants hoard vp against the winter of triall of this spirituall graine In that time one sauoury sentence of Scripture shall do vs more seruice then all the pretty and witty sayings sentences of Fathers Philosophers and Poets If Christ as man notwithstanding his vnion with the God-head had vse and comfort of the Scripture how much more then the most holiest men Cast not off the study of the Scriptures onely to the Ministers Though the law bee not thy profession yet thou wilt haue so much skill in it as to hold thine inheritance and to keepe thy land from the cauiller So heere though diuinity bee not thy profession yet get so much skill as to keepe thine heauenly inheritance against Sathans cauils As any is more subiect to Sathans temptations so hath hee greater neede of the Scriptures Therefore Princes and great ones specially haue speciall great neede of them Deut. 17. 18 19. Iosh Deu. 17. 18. 19. Iosh 1. 8. 1. 8. And betimes let vs inure our little ones to them Who knowes but that the alledging of these texts heere might bee the fruit of that institution in the Scriptures in his childhood vnder his parents 2. The answer it selfe followes In which heere are two things 1. First a concession or grant implied 2. The answer it selfe in the word Onely Man liueth not by bread only It implies thus much I grant that ordinarily man liues by bread Where by bread synechdochically is meant all other the creatures made for food As Iob 1. They went to eat bread that is to feast banquet Then secondly a restriction of the grant Yet not onely by bread but by euery word that proceedeth out of the mouth
and last end but as one vnder God that had receiued that he had of him Thus wee see how this text answers Sathans first temptation to outward idolatry It answers also in the latter clause And him onely shalt thou serue the second temptation to inward idolatry in the loue of honour and riches God onely must bee our master not God and riches Matth. 6. Hee must haue all our heart and affections Psal 73. Whom haue I ô Lord in heauen or in earth but thee And thus much of the combate betweene Christ and Sathan the second maine head of this story The third followes The issue It is two-fold The third part the issue of Christs temptation 1. The diuela departure Then the Diuell left him Matth. 4. 11. 2. The Angels ministring For the first Out of it we learne The first issue Doct. 1 1. That God will giue an issue to all the trials of his children so that they shall not alwayes continue God will giue an issue to the trials of his children vpon them 1. Cor. 10. 13. There hath no tentation taken you but such as appertaine to man and God is faithfull which will not suffer you to bee tempted aboue that you be able but will euen giue the issue with the temptation that yee may be able to beare it Doctr. 2 2. Wee see heere in our Sauiours practise how true that of Iames is Iam. 4. 7. Resist the Diuell and Resistance of Sathan puts him to flight he will flie from you A coward inuites him The more we giue place to him the more he encroches The way to bee rid of him is not to yeeld to him The reason is plaine Resisting is more then a mans worke When hee sees a man goe about to resist him he perceiues God is there and therefore flies the presence of God Where no resistance is there he perceiues the spirits absence so conceiues hope of easie victory Let vs then shew our spirits in resisting and fighting with Sathan Heere a word and blow is the best If the Diuell speake but the least word in temptation draw presently vpon him or thou emboldnest him Quest How should I resist him Answ 1. With Gods word as heere our Sauiour The way to resist Sathan did seriously meditating on it and by faith applying it to thy selfe 2. With our owne words in prayer Amalek cannot preuaile so long as Moses his hands are held vp Resistance indeede is by faith whom resist stedfast in the faith 1. Pet. 5. 9. Now faith 1. Pet. 5. 9. vses both the word and prayer In resisting the iniuries offred vs by men if wee reuenge them our selues we complaine not or if wee complaine to superiours wee reuenge them not our selues But heere both must bee done Wee must both resist him with blowes and violence in striking at him with the sword of the Spirit the word of God as also with complaints put against him to the Lord in our prayers S. Luke addes that he departed for a season Luke 4. 13. which implies that though Sathan had receiued this terrible foile and such a foyle as might for euer haue put him out of all hope of victory yet after a while againe such was his malice such his shameles impudent importunity that he would not for all this rest but would yet againe assault our Lord. It teaches vs then Doct. That which before hath also beene noted Sathans inuincible malice and importunity He himselfe was heere ouercome and yet not his malice Sathans malice is inuincible his temptations yet not his impudency Who would haue thought that euer Sathan put to so fowle and shamefull a foyle durst euer haue peept out of his denne againe and haue showen his face any more And yet his malice makes him both blind and restlesse We finde him againe at our Sauiour Matth. 16. 22. 23. where he vsed Peter as his stalking Mat. 16. 22 23. horse If after such an inglorious foile giuen by the sonne of God who had thus trampled him in the mire vnder his feete and so victoriously triumphed ouer him his malice would yet serue him for new aduentures what then will it doe where hee findes his repulse more gentle and his denials more easie Neuer must we hope for any truce with this aduersary Though he haue the worst by neuer so much yet will not his malice endure to heare of a peace no not of a truce As hee neuer slumbers nor sleepes that keepes Israel so neither hee that hates Israel Psal 121. 4. Neuer hope we to be freed from Sathans molestations till wee haue gotten that great gulfe Luk. 16. Luke 16. 26. 26. betweene him and vs. Wee may sometimes haue somewhat more peaceable intermissions hee may for a season forbeare vs but yet neither will those seasons bee long for hee knowing his time to bee short Reuel 12. will bee sure that those seasons Reu 12. shall not be ouerlong And therefore our wisdome will be to redeeme these seasons and if any rest bee giuen vs from his malice to be arming our selues against a new combate Bee not too secure thou mayst as well thinke he will cease to be a Diuell as cease to tempt The second issue is the Angels ministring And loe The second issue the Angels came and ministred vnto him They ministred either food to his hungry body or comfort to his troubled soule wearied with Sathans wicked temptation or else they ministred triumphing at his victory And this is set foorth by way of admiration And behold the Angels c. Him whom the Diuell so vilely vsed The Angels doe seruice vnto Learne first Doct. 1 1. The difference betwixt Christs temptations and ours He had no helpe but his owne The Angels The difference betwixt Christs temptations ours came not to him to minister till after the temptations were ended but to vs they minister in the very act of temptation Doct 2 2. When we haue been abused by Sathans wicked instruments God will send some of his to bee in God raiseth vp comforters vnto his seruants after the abuses of Sathans instruments Luke 16. stead of ministring Angels to vs. So after Shimeis railing and Absaloms treachery the Lord raysed vp many faithfull friends and comforters to Dauid Though the rich man despised Lazarus Luk. 16. yet the Angels despised not to carry his soule into heauen Nay God himselfe oftentimes as I may say ministers vnto his abused and oppressed Saints Witnes those many vnspeakable comforts ministred vnto the harts of the Martyrs in their prisons at the stake and in the fire How may this comfort vs against the railings and scoffings of Michall What though she scoffe yet Dauid shall bee honoured of others euen of those in whose eyes shee desires hee might be despicable 2. Sam. 6. 22. 2. Sam. 6. 22. Doct. 3 3. See how Gods prouidence is neuer wanting to those that make it their portion Nothing is lost Nothing is lost by waiting on Gods prouidence by waiting vpon Gods prouidence If Christ had hearkened to Sathan to haue made bread of stones and so out of a distrust in Gods prouidence had vnlawfully releeued himselfe hee would haue found it indeede bread of stones euen like Salomons bread of deceit full of grauell it would haue beene stony and grauelly stuffe to his conscience If Christ hearkned vnto Sathan and had by that miracle serued himselfe the Angels heere had not serued him Who would not wait vpon Gods prouidence to be thus waited vpon by Gods Angels Trust God in all thy straights make not bread of stones and rather then thou shalt want God will send not onely Rauens to feede thee as they did Eliah 1. King 17. 6. but an 1. King 17. 6. Angell to feede thee also as he did to the same Eliah 1. King 19. 5. 6. when wee are not thorough distrust 1. King 19. 5. 6. ouer-hasty to serue our selues rather then faile the Angels shall serue vs. So well shall he be serued and so assuredly shall hee bee fed that makes Gods prouidence his portion FINIS
Euangelicall were naturally in Adam Repentance then belongs to the Gospell 1. Because properly it is commanded as is also iustifying faith in the Gospell Mark 1. 14. Christ preached the Gospell One might thinke what was that The next verse tels vs saying Repent and beleeue the Gospell 2. It is promised in the Gospell in the Couenant of grace Ezech. 36. 26. I will take away the stony heart out of your body and giue you an heart of flesh Which that it is a promise of the Gospell appeares plainely vers 22. I doe not this for your sakes but for mine owne names sake And so Ierem. 32. 40. I will make an euerlasting Couenant with them that I will neuer turne away from them to doe them good but I will put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from me And this is further euident because Repentance is sealed in the Sacraments of the Gospell For Baptisme is called the Baptisme of Repentance Luk. 3. 3. because it seals vp to vs Gods promise of Repentance 3. It is wrought in vs by the Ministery of the Gospell Galat. 3. 2. whilest it sets before our eyes Christ crucified and so causes vs to lament Ezech. 12. 10. Therfore Christ commanded that Repentance should be preached in his name who by his obedience hath merited it for vs as well as remission of sinnes Luc. 24. 46. 47. and in this regard is sayd to bee raised vp of his father to giue Repentance to the house of Israel Acts 5. 31. As for the Law it being the ministery of death 2. Cor. 3. how can it worke Repentance which is vnto life 2. Cor. 7. 10. Acts 11. 18. Repentance is required vnto the sense of mercy and forgiuenesse The Law then knowing no forgiuenesse neither knowes it any Repentance When the Law is broken it requires the suffering of the curse and not any Repentance for the auoyding of the curse It sends vs down to the dungeon of damnation and seales it vpon vs with an vnremoueable stone not giuing vs the least inckling of any recouery Nay the Law setting out vnto vs that most rigorous and precise Iustice of God and his infinite and implacable wrath against sin doth in a manner forbid all Repentance Telling vs t is in vaine to seeke by our teares and lamentations any mercy at his hands who is a consuming fire a God of pure eyes and cannot behold iniquity The Law then of it selfe leaues a man in vtter desperation then which what can be more contrary to sauing Repentance and is no otherwise a schoole-master vnto Christ then as the minister of the Gospell makes vse of it contrary to it owne nature to driue vs vnto Christ by shewing the sinner condemned in the Law that it were not best for him to trust any longer to the Law but to accept of the grace offered in the Gospell The Vse 1. If Repentance be a part of the Gospell then know we it is not so sowre and crabbed a thing as most thinke Indeed the Law is pure vineger But the Gospell is refreshing and suppling oyle euen the soueraigne balme of Gilead and of this Gospell the glad tidings of peace is Repentance a part Yea it is one of the legacies of the new Testament A rich treasure purchased with the bloud of Christ Luc. 24. 46. 47. Sorrow indeed is bitter and vnpleasant to our corrupt nature yet many things are wholsome that are not so toothsome The sheepe of Christ know that to feed vpon this salt marsh is the onely preseruatiue against the rot Therefore nothing is there they lesse repent themselues of then this Repentance nothing they reioyce more in then this sorrow and good reason It is a peece of that blessed Gospell 2. If the difficulty of Repentance discourage thee remember that the commandements of the Gospell haue grace annexed by reason the same things that are commanded in the Gospell are also promised and so this yoake is sweet and easie 3. If the weaknesse of thy Repentance trouble thee remember it is an Euangelicall grace and how little a mite will the Gospell accept euen a penny for a pound A desire to repent is Repentance heere and to grieue because wee cannot bee grieued goes currant for godly sorrow 3. In the description I adde further that it is a Wrought by the Spirit euen grace of the spirit to shew that the Spirit is the authour thereof as appeareth Ezech. 12. 10. I will powre the spirit of grace vpon the house of Iudah and then they shall lament Before we can powre out one teare into Gods bottle God must powre the water of his spirit vpon the dry and heathy ground of our hearts Rom. 8. 26. Wee cannot breath out so much as a sigh but the spirit must first breath it in We cannot suspirare vnlesse God doe first inspirare That we may truely say heere with Dauid in euery repenting sigh sob teare Of thine owne Lord haue we giuen thee Wee powre out because thou hast first powred in Peter weepes but first Christ looked on him The waters flow but then specially when the winde blowes Psal 147. 18. Oh to how low an ebbe will the waters of repenting teares come if this blessed winde of the Spirit blow not It is the fire of the Spirit in our hearts like as in a Still that sendeth vp those dewes of repenting teares into our heads that droppe foorth of our eyes Vse Let no man thinke Repentance in his own power and so that hee may repent when hee will Can any man melt a stone or turne it into flesh By repentance we breake the strong snares of Sathan wherein we are hampered And what power shall 2. Tim. 2. 26. enable vs to doe that but that which is stronger then Sathan euen the power of the spirit Man is like a wild Asses colt Iob 11. 12. will he euer be tame of himselfe no it is the spirit that must tame and humble him by conuincing his conscience of sin Ioh. 16. 8. Man is like a silly lost wandring sheep Will hee euer be able to get into the high way of himselfe No he must heare the voice of his sheepheard crying behinde him This is the way walke in it Is 30. 21. Else he will wander in the wrong way irreturneably Therefore while that voyce soundeth in our hearts while we are called vpon by it to day harden wee not our hearts While the Spirit stirs in thy heart as once the Angell in the poole Ioh. 5. take the opportunity The Spirit who is the worker of repentance is not at thy beck Thou canst not set him on worke when thou wouldest suffer him then to worke when he would If wee could humble our selues we should neuer be humble foreuen this power of humbling our selues would make vs proud God therefore hath reserued it to himselfe and his owne Spirit that so we might be humble indeed yeelding our selues to be wrought vpon by him when he
commeth yea and in humility attending vpon him and waiting for his comming in the exercises of the Word and prayer as they Acts 1. 4. 14. But how many may be charged as they Acts 7. 51. Yee stiffe-necked and of vncircumcised hearts and eares yee haue alwaies resisted the holy Ghost And therefore are ye so hard hearted and stiffe-necked because you haue resisted the holy Ghost when he would haue bowe your neckes and softened your heart 4. It is said to be a grace of the sanctifying spirit The sanctifying Spirit to distinguish it from the legall repentance that is sometime in the reprobate hauing receiued the spirit of bondage vnto feare for this repentance is a fruit of an effectuall calling Ier. 31. 19. After I was conuerted I repented and so is peculiar to the regenerate And heereby also is it differenced from that blush and neere resemblance of Repentance which is in such reprobates as haue receiued the enlightning spirit 5. It followeth in the description whereby the In order of nature it is after Faith beleeuing sinner I make the subiect of Repentance to be a sinner for so doth Christ Matth. 9. shewing that such as are perfect neede Repentance no more then whole men do physick But withall I cal this sinner a beleeuing sinner to shew that faith must goe before Repentance as the ground and root thereof In time Faith and Repentance are both together but in the order of nature faith is first Reasons 1. Repentance and griefe for displeasing God by sinne necessarily argue the loue of God for a man would neuer grieue but rather reioyce at the offence of him whom he hates When Christ wept for Lazarus the Iewes sayd Loe how he loued him Ioh. 11. and Christ imputes the repenting teares of that sinnefull woman Luc. 7. to loue Much is forgiuen her for she loued much And wheras Acts 20. 21. Paul makes Faith and Repentance the summe of the Gospell the same Apostle 2. Tim. 1. 13. makes faith and loue the summe of it which shewes plainely that Repentance comes from loue and so consequently from faith because faith works by loue Gal. 5. 6. and it is impossible wee should euer loue God till by faith wee know our selues loued of God 2. Repentance beeing vnto life must needes bee drawen out of Christ the fountaine of all spirituall life and quickning grace So that a man must first receiue Christ before he can receiue Repentance or any grace from Christ Now faith is that which receiues Christ Ioh. 1. 12. 3. Repentance being the softning of our hearts and the changing of our natures how shall our stony harts bee molten but in Christs bloud and what can bathe them in that blood but faith And how shall such wilde oliue branches as wee be changed but by being engrafted into Christ as into the naturall Oliue And what can ingraft vs into him but faith 4. It is impossible that a man apprehending nothing in God but rigour and seuerity should euer relent toward him or come in and submit himselfe No there is mercy with thee ô Lord that thou mightest be feared Psal 130. This is it that brings in the sinner creeping and crouching before God as the Syrians to Ahab because they had heard the Kings of Israel were mercifull Christs 1. Kin. 20. 31. gracious aspect cast on Peter drew foorth the tears Gods gracious reuealing of himselfe not to the ear onely but eye also of Iob made him abhorre himselfe and repent Iob 42. 6. hence the exhortations to Repentance are founded commonly vpon the mercy of God in the Gospell as Ier. 3. 14. O yee disobedient children returne for I am your Lord. So Matt. 3. Repent for the Kingdome of Heauen is at hand in which Christ is ready to dispense mercy and forgiuenesse to the repenting sinner so Os 6. 1. Ioel 2. 13. Rom. 12. 1. 2. Cor. 7. 1. There must be faith then to apprehend at least some hope possibility of mercy or else the sinner will harden his heart and enrage his affections grow furiously desperate against the Lord. 5. As the legall Repentance cannot be without Faith beleeuing the threats of the Law so neither by like proportion can the Euangelicall Repentance bee without faith in the promises of the Gospell going before Ob. Mar. 1. 15. Repent and beleeue Repentance is set first and so Acts 20. 21. Answ 1. The order of placing things in Scripture is not alwayes according to the order of nature But sometimes one thing is set first which in order of nature is last as the effect before the cause and then the cause comes after to shew how wee should obtaine the effect As faith is set after a good conscience and pure heart 1 Tim. 1. 5. when yet it is faith that purifieth the heart Acts 15. So heere first repent and then that yee may repent beleeue 2. Things in Scripture are often propounded according to the order of our sense and feeling Now though faith in order of nature be first and the act of Faith before the Act of Repentance yet it is not so liuely and strong and so not so sensible to vs till after Repentance for the promises are made onely to repenting sinners Ob. Matth. 21. 32. Yee repented not that yee might beleeue Answ Sometimes then name of Repentance is giuen to the first preparatory beginnings and introductions thereof Now the preparations to Repentance are those legall fits of feare and terrour which are both in nature and time to before Faith The Vse 1. Against the Popish Repentance which is made to goe before mercy and forgiuenesse as a meritorious procurer thereof But as we haue seene Repentance is caused by the taste of Gods mercy by faith Therefore the Baptist exhorteth to repentance not that the Kingdome of Heauen may come as earned out by the sweat of pennance but because the Kingdome of Heauen is come Againe there cannot possibly bee any true repentance in Popery because repentance springeth from the particular apprehension of Gods mercy by faith which Popery cannot endure 2. Against the Libertines abusing Gods mercy and easinesse to forgiue vnto wantonnesse As the grace that Kings vse to shew against Parliaments makes many theeues But indeed they are beasts and no men that sin because of Gods mercy and it is an argument that they neuer by Faith tasted of Gods mercy in the pardon of their owne sinnes For they that feele much forgiuenesse loue much Luc. 7. If a man should tell a condemned Traytour that his Soueraigne would forgiue all his treasons and restore him to all his former dignities would not such mercy make his heart euen to melt and knit him faster in loue and duety then euer 3. Heere is comfort to all true Repentants that mourne for their sinnes and purpose a new course This repentance of theirs is an euident argument of their faith that hath tasted of the sweetnesse of Gods mercy or else their hearts would