in grace It is thine own fault if thou gettest not more strength Wherefore serves that heavenly food of the Word and Sacraments but to nourish thy soul to eternal life Do but eat and digest and thou canst not but grow stronger God will not be wanting to thee in an increase of grace if thou be not wanting to thy self He offers his Spirit to thee with the means it is thy sinful neglect if thou separate them Thou knowest in whose hands is the staff of bread pray that he who gives thee the food and the mouth would also give thee appetite digestion nourishment § 8. An incitement to more caution anâ— faster adherence tâ— God Thy grace is weak It concerns thee so much the more to be cautious in avoiding occasions of temptation He that carries brittle glasses is chary of them that they take not a knock whereas strong metal fears no danger He that hath but a small Rush-candle walks softly and keeps off every air Thou art weak thy God is strong Dost thou not see the feeble childe that findes hee cannot goe alone how fast he clings to the hand of his mother more trusting to her helpe then his owne strength Doe thou so to thy God and say with the blessed Psalmist Hold up my goings in thy pathes that my footsteps slip not Hold thou mee up and I shall bee safe Vphold me according to thy Word that I may live and let me not bee ashamed of my hopâ—â— Peter was a bold man that durst step forth and set his foot upon the liquid face of the waters but he that ventured to walk there upon the strength of his faith when hee felt the stiffe winde and saw the great billow began to sinke in his weaknesse but no sooner had Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him then he takes courage and walks now with the same confidence upon the Sea that hee wont to walk on the Lâ—nd Together with a check hee receives more supportation from Christ then his owne legges could afford him Feare no miscarriage through thine own weaknesse whiles thou art held up by thatâ— strong helper Comforts against Infamy and Disgrace § 1. Comforts from like sufferingsâ— of the holiest yea of Christ himself NExt to our body and soul is the care of our reputation which whoso hath lost is no better then civilly dead Thou sufferest under a publike infamy I do not ask how justly He was a wise man that said It was fit for every good man to fear even a false reproach A good name is no less wounded for the time with that then with a just crimination This is a sore evil my son and such as against which there is no preservative and for which there is hardly any remedy Innocence it self is no antidote against evil tongues Neither greatness nor sanctity can secure any man from unjust calumny Might that be any ease to thy heart I could tell thee of the greatest of Kings and holiest of Saints that have grievously complained of this mischief and yet were not able to help themâ— selves Thou hast the company of the best that ever the earth bore if that may be any mitigation of thy misery Yea what do I speak of sinful men whose greatest purity might be blurred with some imperfections Look upon the Lord of life the eternal Son of the ever-living God God cloathed in flesh and see whether any other were his lot whiles he sojourned in this Region of mortality Dost thou not heare him for his gracious sociablenesse branded as a man gluttonous a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicanes and Sinners Dost thou not heare him for his powerfull and mercifull cure of Demoniacks blazoned for a fellow that casts out Devils through Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils Dost thou not heare him sclandred to death for treason against Caesar and blasphemy against God Dost thou not heare the multitude say Hee is madd and hath a Devil Dost thou not heare him after his death charged with Imposture And can there bee any worse names then Glutton Dtunkard Conjurer Traytor Blasphemer Mad man Demoniack Impostor Who now can henceforth thinke much to bee sclandered with meaner crimes when hee heares the most holy Sonne of God in whose mouth was no guile in whom the Prince of this world could finde nothing laden with so hainous calumniations § 1. Comfort of our recourse to God Thou art smitten with a foule tongue I marvell not if it goe deep into thy soule That man gave an high praise to his sword that said it was sharper then sclander And if a rasour bee yet sharper such did David finde the Edomites tongue And if these weaâ—pons reach not yet farre enough he found both spears and arrows in the mouthes of his traducers Lo thou art but in the same case with the man after Gods own heart What shouldst thou do but for Davids complaint make use of Davids remedy I will cry unto God most high unto God that performeth all things for me He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up God shall send forth his mercy and his truth Do by thy slander as Hezekiah did by the railing lines of Rabshakâ—h spread them before the Lord and leave thy quarrel in the just hands of that great arbiter of heaven and earth who will be sure in his good time to revenge thy wrong and to clear thine innocence and will requite thee good for these causless curses § 3. Comfort from the clearness of our conscience In the mean while thou sayst I stand blemished with an odious aspersion my name passes thorow many a foul mouth Thou hearest my son what some others say but what dost thou hear from the bird in thy bosom If thy conscience acquit thee and pronounce thee guiltless obdure thy fore-head against all the spight of malice What is ill fame but a little corrupted unsavoury breath Do but turn away thine ear that thou receive it not and what art thou the worse Oh thy weakness if thou suffer thy self to be blown over by the meer air of some putrified lungs which if thou doe but a little decline by shifting thy foot will soon vanish § 4. Comfort from the improvement of our reason Thou art under ill tongues This is an evill proper onely to man Other creatures are no lesse subject to disease to death to outward violence then hee but none else can bee obnoxious to a detraction sith none other is capable of speech whereout a sclander can bee formed they have their severall sounds and notes of expression whereby they can signifie their dislike and anger but onely man can cloathe his angry thoughts with words of offence so as that faculty which was given him for an advanâ—tage is depraved to a further mischiefe But the same liberall hand of his Creatour hath also indued him with a property of reason which
Didst thou conceive my son that grace would put thee into a constant and pepetually-invariable condition of soul whiles thou art in this earthly warfare Didst thou ever hear or read of any of Gods prime Saints upon earth that were unchangeable in their holy dispositions whiles they continued in this region of mutability Look upon the man after Gods own heart thou shalt finde him sometimes so courageous as if the spirits of all his Worthies were met in his one bosom How resolutely doth he blow off all dangers trample on all enemies triumph over all cross events Another while thou shalt finde him so dejected as if he were not the man One while The Lord is my Shepherd I shall lack nothing Another while Why art thâ—â— so sad my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me One while I will not be afraid for ten thousands of the people that have set themselves against me round about Another while Hide me under the shadow of thy wings from the wicked that oppress me from my deadly enemies who compass me about One while Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth Another while Lord where are thy loving kindnesses Yea dost thou not hear him with one breath professing his confidence and lamenting his desertion Lord by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled Look upon the chosen vessel the great Apostle of the Gentiles one while thou shalt see him erecting trophies in himself of victory to his God In all these things we are more then conquerours through him that loved us Another while thou shalt finde him bewailing his own sinful condition Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death One while thou shalt finde him caught up into the third heaven and there in the Paradise of God another while thou shalt finde him buffeted by the messenger of Satan and sadly complaining to God of the violence of that assault Hear the Spouse of Christ whether the Church in common or the faithful soul bemoaning her self I opened to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when he spake I sought him but I could not finde him I called him but he gave me no answer Thus it will be with thee my Son whiles thou art in this frail flesh the temper of thy soul will be like her partner subject to vicissitudes Shouldst thou continue always in the same state I should more then suspect thee This is the difference betwixt Nature and Grace That Nature is still uniform and like it self Grace varies according to the pleasure of the giver The Spirit breathes when and where it listeth When therefore thou findest the gracious spirations of the holy Ghost within thee be thankful to the infinite munificence of that blessed Spirit and still pray Arise O North and come thou South winde â—blowe upon my garden that the spices thereof may slow out But when thou shalt finde thy soul becalmed and not a leaf stirring in this garden of thine be not too much dejected with an ungrounded opinion of being destituted of thy God neither do thou repine at the seasons or measures of his bounty that most free and infinitely-beneficent agent will not be tied to our terms but will give what and how and when he pleaseth Onely do thou humbly wait upon his goodness and be confident that he who hath begun his good work in thee will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. § 10. Complaint of unregeneration and deadness in sin answered It is true thou saist if God had begun his good work in me he would at the last for his own glories sake make it up But for me I am a man dead in sins and trespasses neither ever had I any true life of grace in me some shew indeed I have made of a Christian profession but I have onely beguiled the eyes of the world with a meer pretence and have not found in my self the truth and solidity of those heavenly vertues whereof I have made a formal ostentation It were pity my son thou shouldst be so bad as thou makest thy self I have no comfort in store for hypocrisie no disposition can be more odious to the God of truth in so much as when he would express his utmost vengeance against sinners he hath no more fearful terms to set it forth then I will appoint him his portion with the hypocrites Were it thus with thee it were more then high time for thee to resolve thy self into dust and ashes and to put thy self into the hands of thine Almighty Creatour to be moulded anew by his powerful Spirit and never to give thy self peace till thou findest thy selfâ— renewed in the spirit of thy minde But in the mean while take heed lest thou be found guilty of mis-judging thine own soul and mis-prising the work of Gods Spirit in thee God hath been better to thee then thou wilt be acknown of Thou hast true life of grace in thee and for the time perceivest it not It is no heed to take of the doom thou passest upon thy self in the hour of temptation When thy heart was free thou wert in another minde and shalt upon better advice return to thy former thoughts It is with thee as it was with Euâ—ychus that fell down from the third loft and was taken up for dead yet for all that his life was in him We have known those who have lien long in trances withovt any perception of life yea some as that subtil Joannes Duns Scotus have been put into their graves for fully dead when as yet their soul hath been in them though unable to exert those faculties which might evince her hidden presence Such thou mayest be at the worst yea wert thou but in charity with thy self thou wouldst be found in a much better condition There is the same reason of the natural life and the spiritual Life where it is is discerned by breathing sense motion Where there is the breath of life there must be a life that sends it forth If then the soul breathes forth holy desires doubtless there is a life whence they proceed Now deny if thou canst that thou hast these spiritual breathings of holy desires within thee Dost thou not many a time sigh for thine own insensateness Is not thine heart troubled with the thoughts of thy want of grace Dost thou not truly desire that God would renew a right spirit within thee Take comfort to thy self this is the work of the inward principle of Gods Spirit within thee as well may a man breathe without life as thou couldst be thus affected without grace Sense is a quick discrier of life pinch or wound a dead man he feels nothing but the living perceiveth the easiest touch When thou hast heard the fearful
intermission which thou canst neither suffer nor avoid fear them whiles thou grudgest at these lay thy self lowe under the hand of thy good God and be thankful for a tolerable misery How graciously hath the wisdom of our God thought fit to temper our afflictions so contriving them that if they be sharp they are not long and if they be long they are not over-sharp that our strength might not be over-laid by our trials either way Be content man either thy languishment shall be easie or thy pain soon over Extreme and everlasting are terms reserved for Gods enemies in the other world That is truly long which hath no end that is truly painful which is not capable of any relaxation What a short moment is it that thou canst suffer short yea nothing in respect of that eternity which thou must either hope for or fear Smart a while patiently that thou maist not be infinitely miserable § 8. 7 Comfort Tâ—â— benefit 〈◊〉 the exercise of our patâ—â—ence Thou complainest of pain What use were there of thy Patience if thou aâ—ledst nothing God never gives vertues without an intent of their exercise To what purpose were our Christian valour if we had no enemy to encounter Thus long thou hast lien quiet in a secure Garison where thou hast heard no trumpet but thine own and hast turned thy drumshead into a Dicing table lavishing out thy days in varieties of idle Recreations now God draws thee forth into the field and shews thee an enemy where is thy Christian fortitude if thou shrink back and cowardly wheeling about chusest rather to make use of thy heels then of thy hands Doth this beseem thee who professest to fight under his colours who is the Great Conquerour of Death and Hell Is this the way to that happie Victory which shal carry away a crown of glory My son if thou faint in the day of thine adversity thy strength is but small Stir up thine holy courage Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Buckle close with that fierce enemy wherewith thy God would have thee assaulted looking up to him who hath said and cannot fail to perform it Be faithful to the death and I will give thee a crown of life § 9. 8 Comfort The necessity of expecting sickness Thou art surprized with Sickness whose fault is this but thine own Who bade thee not to look for so sure a guest The very frame of thy body should have put thee into other thoughts Dost thou see this living fabrick made up as a clock consisting of so many wheels and gimmers and couldst thou imagine that some of them should not be ever out of order Couldst thou think that a Cottage not too strongly built and standing so bleak in the very mouth of the Windes could for any long time hold tight and unreaved Yea dost thou not rather wonder that it hath out-stood so many blustring blasts thus long utterly unruined or that the wires of that engine should so long have held pace with time It was scarce 〈◊〉 patient question which Job asked Is my strength the strength of stones or is my flâ—sh as brass No alas Job thy best metal is but â—lay and thine as all flesh is grasse the clay mouldereth and the grasse withereth what doe we make account of any thing but misery and ficklenesse in this wofull region of change If we will needs over-reckon our condition we doe but help to aggravate our owne wretchednesse §. 10. 9. Comfort Thou art retired to thy sick bed Be of good comfort God was never so neer thee never so tenderly indulgent to thee as now The whole saith our Saviour need noâ— the Physitian but the sick Lo the Physitian as being made for the time of necessity commeth not but where there is need and where need is he will not fail to come Our need is motive enough to him who himself tooke our infirmities and bare our sicknesses our health estranges him from us Whiles thou art his patient he cannot be kept off from thee The Lord saith the Psalmist will strengthen thee upon the bed of languishing Thou wilt make all his bed in his sicknesse Loe the heavenly comforter doth not onely visit but attend thee and if thou finde thy pallet uneasie he shall turn and soften it for thy repose Canst thou not read Gods gracious indulgence in thine own disposition Thou art a Parent of children perhaps thou findest cause to affect one more then another though all be deare enough but if any one of them be cast down with a feverous distemper now thou art more carefully busie about him then all the rest how thou pitiest him how thou pliest him with offers and receits with what silent anxiety dost thou watch by his couch listening for every of his breathings jealous of every whispering that might break off his slumber answering every of his groanes with so many sighes and in short so making of him for the time that thy greatest darling seems the while neglected in comparison of this more needfull charge How much more shall the Father of mercies be compassionately intent upon the sufferings of his deare children according to the proportion of their afflictions § 11. 10 Comfort The comfortable end of our suâ—ferings Thou art wholly taken up with the extremity of thy paines Alas poor soule thy purblinde eies see nothing but what is laid close to thee It is thy sense which thou followest but where is thy faith Couldst thou look to the end of thy sufferings thou couldst not but rejoyce in tribulation Let Patience have her perfect work and thou shalt once say It is well for me that I was afflicted Thou mightsâ— be joâ—ond long enough ere thy jollity coulâ— make thee happy Yea woâ— be to them that laugh here But on the contrary our light affliction which is but for a momeâ—t worketh for us a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glory Oh blessed improvement of a few groanesâ—â— Oh glorious issue of a short brunt of sorrow What do we going for Christians if we be nothing but meer flesh and blood And if we be more we have more cause of joy then complaint For whiles our outward man perisheth our inward man is renewed daily Our outward man is but flesh our inward is spirit infinitely more noble then this living clay that wee carry about us whiles our spirit therefore gaines more then our flesh is capable to lose what reason have we not to boast of the bargain Let not therefore these close curtaines confine thy sight but cast up thine eies to that heaven whence thy soule came and see there that crowne of glory which thy God holds forth for all that overcome and run with patience the race that is set before thee looking unto Iesus the Author and Finisher of our faith who is set down at the right hand of the throne of God And solace thy selfe
and glorifie his own mercy in crossing the reckoning and acquitting thy soul. All sums are equally dischargeable to the munificence of our great Creditor in heaven as it is the act of his Justice to call for the least so of his Mercy to forgive the greatest Had we to do with a finite power we had reason to sink under the burden of our sins Now there is neither more nor less to that which is infinite Onely let thy care be to lay hold on that infinite mercy which lies open to thee And as thou art an object fit for mercy in that thou art in thy self sinful and miserable enough so finde thy self as thou art a subject meet to receive this mercy as a penitent believer Open and enlarge thy bosom to take in this free grace and close with thy blessed Saviour and with and in him possess thy self of remission peace salvation § 4. Complaints oâ— unrepentance anâ— unbelief Sweet words thou sayest to those that are capable of them But what is all this to me that am neither penitent nor believer Alas that which is honey to others is no better then gall wormwood to me who have not the grace to repent and believe as I ought Why wilt thou my son be so unwise and unjust as to take part with Satan against thine own soul Why wilt thou be so unthankfully injurious to the Father of mercies as to deny those graces which his good Spirit hath so freely bestowed upon thee If thou wert not penitent for thy sins wherefore are these tears What mean these sighs and sobs and passionate expressions of sorrow which I hear from thee It is no worldly loss that thus afflicts thee it is no bodily distemper that thus disquiets thee Doubtless thou art soul-sick my son thy spirit is deeply wounded within thee and what can thus affect thy soul but sin and what can this affection of thy soul be for sin but true penitence § 5. Complaints of a misgrounded sorrow satisfied Alas thou sayest I am indeed sorrowful for my sin but not upon the right grounds I grieve for the misery that my sin hath brought upon me not for the evil of my sinâ— for the punishment not the offence for my own danger not for the displeasure of my good God Beware my son lest an undue humility cause thee to belye the graces of Gods Spirit thou art no meet judge of thy self whiles thou art under temptations Had not thy sorrow a relation to thy God why wouldst thou thus sighâ— towards heaven why would thy heart challenge thee for unkindness in offending why dost thou cry out of the foulness not onely of the peril of thy sin What is it that makes the act of thy sin to be sinful but the offence of the Divine Majestie how canst thou then be sorry that thou hast sinned and not be sorry that thou hast offended Tell me What is it that thy conscience primarily suggests to thee in this deep impression of thy sorrow Is it Thou shalt be punished or iâ— it not rather Thou hast sinned And were it put to thy choice whether thou hadst rather enjoy the favour of God with the extremest smart or be in his displeasure with ease whether wouldst thou pitch upon Or if liberty were tendred unto thee that thou mightst freely sin without the danger of punishment whether doth not thy heart rise at the condition as ready to flee in the face of the offerer Besides fear and horrour dost thou not finde an inward kinde of indignation at thy miscarriage and such an hatred of thy sin that were it to be done again if it were possible to be hid from God and men and if there were not an hell to avenge it thou wouldst abhoâ— to commit it All these are strong convictions of the right grounds of thy repentance and of the wrong which thou dost to thine own soul in the unjust scruples which thou raisest against it § 6. Complaint of the insufficient measure of sorrow satisfied If the grounds thou saist of my repentance be right yet the measure is insufficient I am sorrowful for my sins but not enough An effectual grief for sin should be serious deep hearty intensive mine is slight and superficialâ— I sigh but my sighs come not from the bottom of an humbled heart I can sometimes weep but I cannot pour out my self into tears I mourn but I do not dwell upon my sorrow My son thou hast to do with a God which in all the dispositions of our soul regards truth and not quantity If he find thy remorse sound he stands not upon measure He doth not mete out our repentance by inches or by houres but where he findes sincerity of penitence he is graciously indulgent Look upon David and acknowledge his sin formidably hainous no lesse then adultery seconded with inebriation and murder yet no sooner did he in a true compunction of heart cry Peccavi I have sinned against the Lord then he heares from the same mouth that accused him The Lord also hath put away thy sin thou shalt not die you doe not hear of any tearing of hair or rending of garments or knocking 's of brest or lying in sackcloth and ashes but onely a penitent confession availing for the expiation of so grievous crimes Thou art deceived if thou thinkst God delights in the misery and afflictedness of his creature So far onely is the grief his dear ones pleasing unto him as it may make for the health of their souls in theâ— due sensibleness of their sin in their meet capacity of mercy I do not with some Casuists flatter thee with an opinion of the sufficiency of any slight attrition and empty wishes that thou hadst not sinned doubtless a true contrition of spirit and compunction of heart are necessarily required to a saving repentance and these wert thou but an indifferent censurer of thine own waies thou couldst not choose but finde within thy selfe why else is thy countenance so dejected thy cheeks pale and watered so oft with thy teares thy sleeps broken thy meales stomacklesse wherefore are thy so sad bemoanings and vehement deprecations But after all this be thou such 〈◊〉 thou accusest thy selfe defective in the measure of thy repentance dâ—st thou rest contented in this conâ—ition dost thou not complain of it as thy greatest misery Art thou not heartily sorry that thou canst be no more sorry for thy sin Comfort thy selfe my son even this this alone is an acceptable degree of repentance Our God whose will is his deed accounts ours so What is repentance but a change of minde from evil to good and how sensible is this change that thou who formerly delightedst in thy sinne now abhorrest it and thy selfe for it and art yet ambitious of more grief for being transported into it Let not the enemy of thy soule who desires nothing more then to make thee perfectly miserable win so much of thee as to render thee unsatisfied
judgements of God denounced against sinners and laid home to the conscience hast thou not found thy heart pierced with them hast thou not shrunk inward and secretly thought How shall I decline this dreadful damnation When thou hast heard the sweet mercies of God laid forth to penitent sinners hath not thy heart silently said Oh that I had my share in them When thou hast heard the Name of Christ blasphemed hast thou not felt a secret horrour in thy bosom All these argue a true spiritual life within thee Motion is the most perfect discoverer of life He that can stir his limbs is surely not dead The feet of the soul are the Affections Hast thou not found in thy self an hate and detestation of that sin whereinto thou hast been miscarried Hast thou not found in thy self a true grief of heart for thy wretched indisposition to all good things Hast thou not found a secret love to and complacency in those whom thou hast thought truly godly and conscionable Without a true life of grace these things could never have been Are not thine eyes and hands many times lifted up in an imploration of mercy Canst thou deny that thou hast a true though but weak appetite to the means and further degrees of grace What can this be but that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse to which our Saviour hath pronounced blessednesse Discomfort not thy selfe too much son with the present disappearance of grace during the hour of thy temptation it is no otherwise with thee then with a â—ree in winter-season whose sap is run down to the root wherein there is no more shew of the life of vegetation by any buds or blossomes that it might put forth then if it were stark dead yet when the Sun returnes and sends forth his comfortable beames in the spring it burgens out afresh and bewraies that vitall juyce which lay long hidden in the earth No otherwise then with the hearth of some good huswife which is towards night swept up and hideth the fire under the heap of her ashes a stranger would think it were quite out here is no appearance of light or heat or smoak but by that time she hath stirred it up a little the bright gleeds shew themselves and are soon raised to a flame Stay but till the spring when the Sun of righteousnesse shall call up thy moisture into thy branches stay but till the morning when the fire of grace which was raked up in the ashes shall bee drawne forth and quickned and thou shalt find cause to say of thy heart as Iacob said of his hard lodging Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not Onely doe thou not neglecting the meanes wait patiently upon Gods leasure stay quietly upon the bank of this Bethesda till the Angel descend and move the water §. 11. Complaint of the insensibleness of the time and meanes of conversion I could gladly thou saist attend with patience upon God in this great and happy work of the excitation of grace were I but sure I had it could I be but perswaded of the truth of my conversion but it is my great misery that here I am at a sad and uncomfortable losse for I have been taught that every true convert can designe the time the place the meanes the manner of his conversion and can shew how neare hee was brought to the gates of death how close to the very verge of hell when God by a mighty and out-stretched arme snacht him away in his own sensible apprehension from the pit and suddenly rescued him from that damnation and put him into a new state of spirituall life and undefaisible salvation All which I cannot do not finding in my selfe any such sudden and vehement concussion and heart-breaking any such forcible and irresistible operation of Gods Spirit within me not being able to design the Sermon that converted me or those particular approaches that my soule made towards an hardly-recovered desperation My son it is not safe for any man to take upon him to set limits to the wayes of the Almighty or to prescribe certain rules to the proceedings of that infinite Wisedome That most free and all-wise agent will not be tyed to walk alwaies in one path but varies his courses according to the pleasure of his own will One man hee cals suddenly another by leasure one by a kinde of holy violence as hee did S. Paul another by sweet solicitations as Philip Nathaniel Andrew Peter Matthew and the rest of the Apostles One man he drawes to heaven with gracious invitations another he drives thither by a strong hand we have known those who having mispent their yonger times in notoriously lewd and debauched courses living as without God yea against him have been suddenly heart-stricken with some powerfull denunciation of judgement which hath so wrought upon them that it hath brought them within sight of hell who after long and deep humiliation have been raised up through Gods mercy to a comfortable sense of the divine favour and have proceeded to a very high degree of regeneration and lived and died Saints But this is not every mans case Those who having from their infancy been brought up in the nurture and feare of the Lord and from their youth have been trained up under a godly and conscionable Ministery where they have been continually plyed with the essectuall means of grace Precept upon precept line upon line here a little and there a little and have by an insensible conveyance received the gracious inoperations of the Spirit of God though not without many inward strifes with temptations and sad fits of humiliation for their particular failings framing them to all holy obedience these cannot expect to finde so sensible alterations in themselves As well may the child know when he was naturally born as these may know the instant of their spirituall regeneration and as well may they see the grasse to grow as they can perceive their insensible increase of grace It is enough that the child attaining to the use of reason now knowes that he was born and that when wee see the grasse higher then we left it we know that it is growne Let it then suffice thee my son to know that the thing is done though thou canst not define the time and manner of doing it Be not curious in matter of particular perceptions whiles thou mayst be assured of the reality truth of the grace wrought in thee Thou seest the skilfull Chirurgion when hee will make a fontinell in the body of his patient he can do it either by a sudden incision or by a leasurely corrasive both sort to one end and equally tend towards health trust God with thy self and let him alone with his own work what is it to thee which way he thinks best to bring about thy salvation § 12. Complaint of irresolution and uncertainâ—y in matter of our election answered All were safe thou saist if onely
I could be ascertained of mine election to life I could be patient so I might be sure But wretched man that I am here here I stickâ— I see others walk confidently and comfortably as if they were in heaven already whereas I droop under a continual diffidence raising unto my self daily new arguments of my distrust could my heart be setled in this assurance nothing could ever make me other then happie It is true my son that as all other mercies flow from this of our election so the securing of this one involves all other favours that concern the well-being of our souls It is no less true that our election may be assured else the holy Ghost had never laid so deep a charge upon us to do our utmost endeavour to ascertain it and we shall be much wanting to our selves if hearing so excellent a blessing may be attained by our diligence we shall slacken our hand and not stretch it forth to the height to reach that crown which is held out to us But withal it is true that if there were not difficulty more then ordinary in this work the Apostle had not so earnestly called for the utmost of our endeavour to effect it Shortly the truth is in all Christianity there is no path wherein there is more need of treading warily then in this on each side is danger and death Security lies on the one hand Presumption on the other the miscarriage either way is deadly Look about thee and see the miserable examples on both kindes some walk carelesly as if there were no heaven or if there were such a place yet as if it nothing concerned them their hearts are taken up with earth neither care nor wish to be other then this world can make them The god of this world hath blinded their mindes that believe not Some others walk proudly being vainly puft up with their own ungrounded imaginations as if they were already invested with their glory as if being rapt up with the chosen vessel into the third heaven they had there seen their names recoâ—â—ded in the book of life where as this is nothing but an illusion of that lying spirit who knows the way to keep them for ever out of heaven is to make them believe they are there It must be thy main care to walk even in a jusâ— equidistance from both these extremes and so to compose thy self that thon maist be resolute without presumption and careful without diffidence And first I advise thee to abandon those false Teachers whose trade is to improve their wits for the discomfort of souls in broaching the sad doctrines of uncertainty and distrust Be sure our Saviour had never bidden his disciples to reâ—joyce that their names are written in heaven if there had not been a particular enrolment of them or if that Record had been alterable or if the same Disciples could never have attained to the notice of such inscription Neither is this a mercy peculiar to his domestick followers alone but universal to all that shall believe through their word even thou and I are spoken to in them so sure as we have names we may know them registred in those eternal Records above Not that we should take an Acesius his Ladder and climb up into heaven and turn over the book of Gods secret counsels and read our selves designed to glory but that as we by experience see that we can by reflections see and read those Letters which directly we cannot So we may do here in this highest of spiritual objects The same Apostle that gives us our charge gives us withal our direction Wherefore saith he brethren give all diligence to make your calling and election sure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as divers copies read it by good works For if ye do these things ye shall never fall For so an entrance shall be ministred to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Lo first our Calling then our Election not that we should begin with heaven and thence descend to the earth it is enough for the Angels on that celestial Ladder of Jacob to both descend and ascend but that we should from earth ascend to heaven from our Calling to our Election as knowing that God shews what he hath done for us above by that which he hath wrought in us here belowe Our Calling therefore first not outward and formal but inward and effectual The Spirit of God hath a voice and our soul hath an ear that voice of the Spirit speaks inwardly and effectually to the ear of the soul calling us out of the state of corrupt Nature into the state of Grace out of darkness into his marvellous light By thy calling therefore maist thou judge of thine election God never works in vain neither doth he â—ver cast away his saving graces what ever become of the common But whom he did predestinate them also he called and whom he called them he justified and whom he justified them also he glorified This doubtless thou saist is sure in it self but how is it assured to me Resp. That which the Apostle addes as it is read in some copies By good works if therein we also comprehend the acts of believing and repenting is a notable evidence of our election But not to urge that clause which though read in the vulgar is found wanting in our editions the clear words of the Text evince no less For if ye do these things ye shall never fall here is our negative certainty And for onr positive So an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Lo if we shall never fall if we shall undoubtedly enter into the Kingdom of Christ what possible scruple can be made of the blessed accomplishment of our election What then are these things which must be done by us Cast your eyes upon that precious chain of graces which you shall finde stringed up in the fore going words If you adde to your faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charitie If you would know what God hath written concerning you in heaven look into your own bosom see what graces he hath there wrought in you Truth of grace saith the divine Apostle will make good the certainty of your election Not to instance in the rest of that heavenly combination do but single out the first and the last Faith and Charity For Faith how clear is that of our Saviour He that believeth in him that sent me hath everlasting-life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life Lo what access can danger have into heaven All the peril is in the way now the believer is already passed into life This is the grace by which Christ dwells in our hearts and
whereby we have communion with Christ and an assured testimony of and from him For he that believeth in the Son of God hath the witness in himself And what witness is that This is the record that God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life O happie and sure connexion Eternal life first This life eternal is in and by Christ Jesus This Jesus is ours by faith This faith witnesseth to our souls our assurance of life eternal Chariâ—y is the last which comprehends our love both to God and man for from the reflection of Gods love to us there ariseth a love from us to God again The beloved Disciple can say We love him because he loved us first and from both these resulteth our love to our brethren Behold so full an evidence that the Apostle tells us expresly That we know we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren For the love of the Father is inseparable from the love of the Son He that loveth him that begets loves him that is begotten of him Now then my son deal unpartially with thine own heart ask of it seriously as in the presence of the searcher of all hearts Whether thou dost not finde in thy self these unfailing evidences of thine election Art thou not effectually though not perfectly called out of the world and corrupt nature Dost thou not inwardly abhor thy former sinfull ways Dost thou not think oâ— what thou wert with detestation Dost thou not heartily desire and endeavour to be in all things approved to God and conformed to thy Saviour Dost thou not gladly cast thy self upon the Lord Jesus and depend upon his free all-sufficiency for pardon and salvation Dost thou not love that infinite goodâ—ness who hath been so rich in mercies to thee Dost thou not love and bless those gleams of goodness which he hath cast upon his Saints on earth In plain terms Dost thou noâ— love a good man because he is good Comfort thy self in the Lord my son let no fainting qualms of fear and distrust possess thy soul Faithful is he that hath called thee who will also preserve thy whole spirit and soul and body blameless unto the coming of oer Lord Jesus Christ. Comfort against Temptations § 1. Christ himself assaulted our trial is for our good THou art haunted with Temptations that which the Enemy sees he cannot do by force or fraud he seeks to effect by importunity Can this seem strange to thee when thou seest the Son of God in the Wilderness fourty days and fourty nights under the hand of the Tempter He that durst thus set upon the Captain of our salvation God blessed for ever how shall he spare frail flesh and blood Why should that Saviour of thine thinkst thou suffer himself to be tempted if not to bear thee out in all thy temptations The keys of the bottomless pit are in his hands he could have shut up that presumptuous spirit under chains of darkness so as he could have come no nearer to him then hell but he would let him loose and permit him to do his worst purposely that we might not think much to be tempted and that he might foyl that great enemy for us Canst thou think that he who now sits at the right hand of Majestie commanding all the powers of heaven earth hell could not easily keep off that malignant spirit from assailing thee Canst thou think him lesse merciful then mighty Would he die to save thee and will he turn that bandog of hell loose upon thee to worry thee Dost thou not pray daily to thy Father in heaven that hee would not lead thee into temptation If thou knowest thou hast to doe with a God that heareth prayers oh thou of little faith why fearest thou Loe he that was led by his own divine Spirit into the Wildernesse to bee tempted of that evill Spirit bids thee pray to the Father that he would not lead thee into temptation as implying that thou couldst not goe into temptation unlesse he led thee and whiles he that is thy Father leads thee how canst thou miscarry Let no man when he is tempted say I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evill neither tempteth hee any man God tempteth thee not my sonne yet know that being his thou couldst not be tempted without him both permitting and ordering that temptation to his owne glory and thy good That grace which thy God hath given thee he will have thus exercised thus manifested So wee have known some indulgent Father who being assured of the skill and valour of his deare son puts him upon Tiltings and Barriers and publique Duels and lookes on with contentment as well knowing that hee will come off with honour How had wee known the admirable continency of good Joseph if hee had not been strongly solicited by a wanton Mistresse How had wee known Davids valour if the Philistims had not had a Giantly Challenger to encounter him How had wee knowne the invincible piety of the three Children if there had not beene a Furnace to try them or of Daniel if there had been no Lions to accompany him Be confident thy glory shall be according to the proportion of thy triall neither couldst thou ever bee so happy if thou hadst not been beholden to temptations §. 2. The powerfull assistance of Gods Spirit and the example of S. Paul How often thou saist have I beaten off these wicked suggestions yet still they turn upon me again as if denials invited them as if they meant to tire me with their continuall solicitations as if I must yeeld be over-laid though not with their force yet with their frequence Know my sonne that thou hast to doe with spirituall wickednesses whose nature is therefore as unweariable as their malice unsatisfiable Thou hast a spirit of thine owne and besides God hath given thee of his so as hee lookes thou shouldst through the power of his gracious assistance match the importunity of that evill spirit with an indefatigable resistance Be strong therefore in the Lord and in the power of his might and put in the whole armour of God that thou maist be able to withstand â—n the evill day and having done all to stand Look upon a stronger Champion then thy selfe the blessed Apostle thou shalt finde him in thine owne condition see the missenger of Satan sent to buffet him and he did it to purpose how soundly was that chosen vessell buffeted on both sides and how often Thrice hee besought the Lord that it might depart from him but even yet it would not be the temptation holds onely a comfort shall countervaile it My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weaknesse It is not so much to be considered how hard thou art laid at as how strongly thou art upheld How many with the
blessed Martyr Theodorus have upon racks and gibbets found their consolations stronger then their pains Whiles therefore the goodnesse of thy God sustaines and supplies thee with abundance of spirituall vigour and refreshment answerable to the worst of thine assaults what cause hast thou to complain of suffering The advice is high and heroicall which the Apostle James gives to his Compatriots My brethren count it all joy when ye fâ—ll into divers temptations Let those temptations be rather trials by afflictions then suggestions of sin yet even those overcome yeeld no small cause of triumph for by them is our faith no lesse tried and the trying of our saith worketh patience and the perfect work of patience is a blessed entirenesse of grace The number of enemies addes to the praise of the victory To overcome single temptations is commendable but to subdue Troopes of temptations is glorious § 3. The restraint of our spirituall enemies and their over-matching by the power of God Alas thou saist I am overlaid not with multitudes onely but with power In all challenges of Duels there is wont to be respect had to the equality both of the Combatants and weapons But woe is me how am I overmatched For me I am a weak wretch and we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against Principalities and powers against the rulers of the darknesse of this world against spirituall wickednesse in heavenly places Behold the Amorite whose height is like the height of the Cedars and their strength as the strength of oaks What are we but poor pismires in the valley to these men of measures Who can stand before these sonnes of Anak I did not advise thee my son to be strong in thy self alas we are all made up of weaknesse One of those powers of darknesse were able to subdue a whole world of men but to bee strong in the Lord whose lowest Angel is able to vanquish a whole hell of Devils and in the power of his might who commandeth the most furious of those infernal spirits to their chains Wo were us if we were left in our own hands there were no way with us but foiling and death But our help is in the Name of the Lord who hath made heaven and earth The Lord is our strength and our shield he is our rock and our salvation he is our defence so as we shall not be moved It is he that hath girded us with strength unto battel and that subdueth those that rise up against us Take courage therefore to thy self man there cannot be so much difference betwixt thee and those hellish powers as there is betwixt them and the Almighty their force is finite and limited by his omnipotence How fain dost thou think Jannes and Jambres the great Magicians of Egypt by the conjoyned powers of hell would have made but a Louse in an affront to Moses yet they could not How earnestly was that legion of Devils fain to beg but for leave to prevail over a few Gaderene-swine How strong therefore soever they 〈◊〉 to thee yet to him they are so meer weakness that they cannot so much as move without him Who can fear a Bear or a Lion when he sees them chained to their stake Even children can behold them baited when they see their restraint Look not upon thy self therefore look not upon them but look up to that over-ruling hand of the Almighty who ordinates all their motions to his own holy purposes and even out of their malice raises glory to himself and advantage to his servants §. 4. The advantage that is made to 〈◊〉 by our temptations and foils It is a woful advantage thou sayst that I have made of temptations for alas I have been shamefully foiled by them and what by their subtilty and what by their violence have been miscarried into a grievous sin against my God and lie down in a just confusion of face to have been so miserably vanquished Hadst thou wanted tears my son for thine offence I should willingly have lent thee some It is indeed a heavie case that thou hast given thy deadly enemy this cause to triumph over thee and hast thus provoked thy God Be thou thorowly humbled under the consciâ—ence of thy sin and be not too sudden in snatching a pardon out of the hand which thou hast offended be humbled but after thou hast made thy peace with God by a serious repentance be not disheartned with thy faâ—lings neither do I fear to tell thee of an advantage to be made not of thy temptations onely but even of thy sin What art thou other then a gainer if having been beaten down to thy knees thou hast in an holy indignation risen up and fought so much the more valiantly A wound received doth but whet the edge of true fortitude Many a one had never been victorious if he had not seen himself bleed first Look where thou wilt upon all the Saints of God mark if thou canst see any one of them without his scars Oh the fearful gashes that we have seen in the noblest of Gods Champions upon earth whose courage had never been raised so high if it had not been out of the sense of some former discomfitures As some well-spirited wrestler therefore be not so much troubled with thy fall as zealous to repay it with a more successful grapling We know saith the blessed Apostle that all things work together for good to them that love God All things yea even those that are worse then nothing their very sins The Corinthians offended in their silent connivence at the incestuous person the Apostles reproof produceth their sorrow what was the issue For behold this self-same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulness it wrought in you yea what clearing of your selves yea what indignation yea what fear yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge Lo what a marvellous advantage is here made of one offence What hath Satan now gotten by this match One poor Corinthian is mis-led to an incestuous copulation The evil spirit rejoyceth to have got such a prey but how long shall he enjoy it Soon after the offending soul upon the Apostles holy censure is reclaimed he is delivered over to Satan that Satan should never possess him The Corinthians are raised to a greater height of godly zeal then ever Corinth had never been so rich in grace if it had not been defiled with so foul a crime Say now whether this be not in effect thy case Shouldst thou ever have so much hated thy sin if thou hadst not been drawn in to commit it Shouldst thou have found in thy self so fervent love to thy God if it had not been out of the sense of his great mercy in remitting it Wouldst thou have been so wary of thy steps as now thou art if thou hadst never slipped Give glory to God my son whiles thou givest shame to thy self and bless him
to take heed of making haste to be rich and the great Apostle tels us That he that would bee rich fals into many temptations Surely there is no small danger also in affecting to be too suddenly rich in the endowments of the soule this cannot but be accompanied with the temptation of an unthankfull distrust for on the one side he that beleeves makes not haste and on the other we cannot bee sufficiently thankfull for what we have whiles we doe over-eagerly reach after what wee have not Tell me thou querulous Soul dost thou not ackowledge what thou hast to be the gift of God And wilt thou not allow the great Benefactor of heaven to dispense his own favours as he pleaseth If he think fit rather to fill thy vessell with drops of grace art thou discontented because hee doth not pour out his Spirit upon thee in full vâ—als If thou have have any at all it is more then he owes thee more then thou canst repay him Take what thou hast as an earnest of more and wait thankfully upon his bounty for the rest Is it not meeâ— in a free gift to attend the leasure of the donor What sturdy and ill mannerd beggers are we if we will not â—â—ay at the doore till we be served and grudge at our almes when it comes Look upon the Father of the faithfull thou shalt finde him fourscore and sixe yeares childlesse and at last after he had got an Ismael hee must wait fourteen yeers more for the promised seed and when hee had enjoyed him not much longer then he expected him he must then sacrifice him to the giver Thus thus my son must our faith bee exercised in attendance both for time and measure of mercy §. 3. Comfort from Gods acceptation of truth not quantity Thy graces are weak yet if true discomfort not thy selfe how many weak bodies have we knowne which with careful tendance have enjoyed better and longer health then those that have had bigger limbs and more brawny armes neither is it otherwise in the soul Soundnesse of grace is health increased degrees of grace make up the strength of that spirituall part if thou have but this health tenderly observed thou maist be happy in the enjoying of thy God although more happy in a comfortable sense of a stronger fruition We have to do with a God that stands not so much upon quantity as truth of grace he knowes we can have nothing but what hee gives us and inables us to improve and where he sees our wils and endeavours not wanting he is ready to accept and crown his owne gifts in us He will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax §. 4. Comfort from the variety of Gods gifts and the ages and statures of grace Thou art weak in grace Be not discouraged my son there are all ages all statures in Christ Shall the child repine that he is not suddenly grown a man Shall the Dwarf quarrell that he is not a Giant Were there a standerd of graces lesse then which would not be accepted thou hadst reason to bee troubled but it is so far from that as that our Saviour hath encharged Suffer little children to come to me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdome of heaven In some legall oblations it pleased God to regard time and age The Lamb for the Passeover and for the peace-offering the Bullock for the sin offering of Israel have their date assigned And in divers cases he hath called for two Turtle Doves or two young Pigeons Young Turtles and old Doves in the mean while according to our Jewish Doctors were unlawfull to bee offered but in our spirituall sacrifices all ages are equally accepted He that is eternall regards not time he that is infinite and almighty regards not statures Even the eleventh houre carried the peny as well as the first and Let the weak say I am strong §. 5. Comfort from the safety of our leasurely progresse in grace It troubles thee that thou hast made so slow progresse in graces thy desire is to heaven-ward thou checkest thy self for no more speed It is an happy ambition that carries thee on in that way to blessednesse Quicken thy selfe what thou mayst with all gracious incitations in that holy course But know my son that we may not alwaies hope to goe thitherward on the spurre in that passage there are waies that will not admit of hâ—ste how many have we known that by too much forwardness have been cast back in their journey whether through want of breath or mistaking their way or mis-placing their steps I praise thee that it is the desire of thy soul to run the way of Gods Commandments and do encourage thine holy zeal in speeding that holy race ever praying thou mayst so run as that thou mayst obtain But withal I must tell thee that Blessed is the man that doth but walk in the Law of the Lord Whiles thou passest on though but a foot-pace thou art every step neerer to thy glory so long as thou riddest way thou art safe Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee O God in whose heart are thy wayes who passing through the vale of misery goes on from strength to strength till he appear before thee his God in Sion §. 6. Comfort from our good desires and endevours Thy grace is little but thou wishest and labourest for more this is a good beginning of heavenly wealth Hee is in a good way to riches that desires to thrive Never any holy Soule lost her longing If thy wishes be hearty and serious thou hast that which thou cravest or at least bee sure thou shalt have If any man â—ick wisdome let him aske of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth no man and it shall bee given him Were this condition offered us for Worldly riches who would be poore If we imbrace it not in spirituall either wee distrust the promises or neglect our own mercies In these temporall things how many have so eagerly followed the chase of the world that they have over-runne it and whiles they have greedily swallowed gain have been choaked with it but in those better blessings earnestnessâ— of desiâ—â— â—nd fervour of prosecution was never but answered with a gracious impetration §. 7. Comfort from the happiness of an humble poverty Thou art poore in grace but in an humble self-dejection longest for more know that an humble poverty is better then a proud fulnesse Wert thou poore and proud there were no hope of thy proficiency thy false conceit lies in the way of thy thrift and many a one had been gracious if they had not so thought themselves but now that thou art meaner in thine opinion then in thine estate who can more justly challenge our Saviours blessing Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Thou art weak