lest God be dishonoured by their conuersatiō so are they ielouse of their pretious faith lest it be not in such measure as they defire or in truth be none at all wherein they may easily be deceaued first in the discerning then in the measure and portion Touching the discerning thus may they be ouertaken when the inward feeling thereof doth not aunswere their desire and the actions proceeding therfrom do not satisfie their thirst of righteousnesse whereby reliefe may rise to the nourishment of faith the satisfying of that holy appetite they are discouraged and entangled with spirituall cares from which a more aduised consideration agreable to Gods worde might easily deliuer them Touching the portion their fault lyeth in this that they measure the excellencie thereof and the power partly by measure and quantitie and not by vertue wherewith through Gods mercifull grace it is indued to the saluation of all those that haue it but in measure of a graine of mustard seede which both errours are to be corrected by pondering of the case not by that we iudge but by that God him selfe hath geuen rule of both touching the sense of faith the sinceritie of the fruites and increase of measure all being his giftes and graces dispenced vnto vs according to his mercie and wisedome as is most for his glorie and expedient for vs. For if we duly weigh from whence we are fallen and howe deepe into this degenerate nature wherein we are captiues of Sathan and slaues of all iniquitie we shall receaue comfort of the least sparke of faith and may praise God and receaue comfort in the smallest worke of obedience perfourmed in sinceritie though not in perfection and if we finde the increases slowe and the victorie harde in this our warfare let vs consider with whome we fight and for what crowne and howe both heauen and earth was moued at our redemptiion and the same power concurred thereto as in our first creation And as the great and mightie oakes are slower in attaining their full grouth then shrubs and weedes whose enduring is for many ages when the other in short time wither and fadde away so esteeme your encrease of heauenly graces slow but sure euerlasting as immortalitye that you may be as a beame or a piller in the tēple of God for euer and euer Neither are we to accompt the nature of any thing according to our sense or to the shew it maketh For then should the most fruitefull tree in winter be takē for barren and the lustie soile dry and vnfruitefull while it is shut vp with the hard frost but rea son as in other deliberatiōs so in this must lead vs being guided by the word of God rightly to iudge of the presence life of faith in our souls which being the shield in this our spirituall warfaire endureth much battering many bruntes and receiueth the forefront of the encounter oft times faireth as if it were pearced through and worne vnfit for battaile yet is it in deede of nature inuincible and repelleth whatsoeuer ingine the enimy inforceth against vs and stādeth firme rooted whatsoeuer storme Sathan raiseth for the displacing thereof How then are we to behaue our selues in this temptation whē both the sence of faith is dulled in vs and the fruites minister discontentment you remember the saying of the Apostle the graces and mercy of God is without repentance and Christ Iesus whome he loueth to the end he loueth them if then you haue in times past felt that gift of the spirit which you haue done haue ioyed therin be assured it is a marke neuer to be defaced of your election firme stāding in Gods fauour For what moued the Lord to bestow the grace but his owne mercy that he bestoweth who cā take away if he himself take it frō vs for some deserte of ours did not he foresee the same lōg before so why did he not withold his mercy but as he knew vs when we were straungers from him and loued vs when we hated him and had nothing which might prouoke his mercy but our misery so is his goodnes continued vpon vs still for his owne sake and not at all for our deseruing that all being subiect to his condemnation he might be glorified in the saluation of some for that righteousnes sake which is in his sonne and that oblation of his offered vp not for himselfe but for others from whose righteousnes so much is detracted as we attribute vnto our selues or seeke to attaine vnto in respect of satisfying Gods iustice and so much impaired of Gods mercy as we shall rest vpon any vertue or power in our selues whereby to auoid his vēgeance of iustice Our election as it first riseth from God and is established in his immutable counsell and decree and lyeth in no power else befide so the hazard thereof is not committed to the aduenture of our frailty but the continuance and stablenes in the same decree hath the foūdation For alas the wofull experience of Adams frailty in his best estate giueth sufficient testimony and more then sufficient what hope there is of continuance of grace if the assurāce of our saluation should depend vpon our keepe who without support of God are like the wynde inconstant and as fraile as the tender hearbs and want all habil tie of withstāding the affaults of our enimie and constant perseuerance in any religious vertue and worke of pietie Then if the foundation of our election lie in the counsell of God and be founded vpon his decree who hath reuealed the one but the Spirit of the Lord and what is able to vndermine the other where the Lord himselfe hath layed the corner stone This assurance in time past the Spirite of God hath confirmed vnto you you haue felt it with plēty of heauenly ioy and comfort and if in the cōflict of temptation you esteeme the strength according to that remaineth after the battaile or that which you feele being somewhat tyred in the conflict you may here giue vauntage to the ennemy through discouragement and loose the field as much as lieth in you wher there is hope of assured victory For be it that you feele the hability weake and the ennemy strong and your owne corruption vpon the point to preuaile yet consider there is a roote of this vertue whose fruite and braunches although these stormy tēpestes may nippe and shake yet the sappe shall neuer be dried vp in the roote neither can anie euill winde of Sathan so blast that the immortall seed be at any time quit withered yea though all his fiery dartes be thereto with all might and maine employed but that the storme being blone ouer by the spirite of grace and the comfortable sunne of consolation shining vpon our gloumie heartes it will budde forth againe into blossome fruit and braunch as a most beautifull tree in the paradice of God Let the comparison of bodely sicknes and the consideration
vrgeth and alwayes carieth a passiō therwith aboue the harts affection euen the entry of those torments which cānot be cōceaued at full as our nature now stādeth nor deliuered by report Here in this passion the cause is not feare nor passionate griefe but a torment procuring these affections and euen as the punishment of bodily racking is not the passion of the hart but causeth it only so the hart fareth vnder this sore of the mind which here properlie fretteth and straineth the sinnes of the soule wherefrom the heart taketh his grieuous discouragement and fainteth vnder Gods iustice Hitherto you haue described that which your soule feeleth not to instruct you but that other may more truly iudge of the case and the distinction betwixt melancholy it may be more apparant CHAP. XXXV The affliction of mind to what persons it befalleth and by what meanes ALthough no man is by nature freed frō this affliction in so much as all men are sinners and being culpable of the breach of God lawes incurre the punishment of condemnation yet is the melancholicke person more then any subiect therunto not that the humor hath such power which hath before bin declared to stand far a loofe of such effect but by reason the melācholicke person is most doubtfull iclous of his estate not only of this life but also of the life to come this maketh him fall into debate with him selfe to be more then curious who finding his actions not fitting the naturall or written line of righteousnesse wāting that archpiller of faith assurance in Christ Iesus our hope partly thorough feare findeth the horror and partly if it please God so far to touch feeleth the verie anguish due vnto the sinner in that most miserable condition falleth into flat dispaire This commeth to passe when the curious melancholy carieth the minde into the senses of such misteries as exceed humayne capacity and is desirous to know more thē is reuealed in the word of truth or being ignorant of that which is reuealed thorough importunate inquirie of a sudden falleth into that gulfe of Gods secret counselles which swalloweth vp all conceit of man or angell and measuring the trueth of such depth of misteries by the shallow modill of his owne wit is caught deuoured of that which his presumptuous curiositie moued him to attempt to apprehend Of melancholy persons especially such as are most contemplatiue except they be well grounded in the word of God remoue not one haire therfrom in their speculations are this wayes most ouertaken receaue the punishment of ouer-bold attēpt of those holy things which the Lord hath reserued to his owne counsell while they neglect the declared truth propounded for rule of life and practise in written wordes reuealed not remembring the exhortation of Moyses to the children of Israell the secrets are the Lords but the reuealed will appertaineth to vs our children And this in mine opinion is one cause wherefore melancholicke personnes are more prone to fall into this pitte then such as are in their organicall members otherwise affected Nowe contemplations are more familiar with melancholicke persons then with other by reason they be not so apt for action consisting also of a temper still and slowe according to the nature of the melancholie humour which if it be attenuated with heate deliuereth a drie subtile and pearcing spirite more constant and stable then anie other humour which is a great helpe to this contemplation As the melancholicke is most subiect to the calamitie before mentioned and especially the contemplatiue so of them most of all such whose vocation consisteth in studie of hard pointes of learning and that philosophicall especially of Nature haue cause in this case to carie a lowe saile and sometime to strike and lay at the anker of the Scriptures of God lest by tempest of their presumption they be caried into that whirle poole whereout they be in daunger without the especiall grace of Gods mercie neuer to deliuer them selues Such except they be well ballaced with knowledge of the Scriptures and assurance of Gods spirite are neuer able to abide the ouglinesse of their sinnes when they shall be once vnfolden and the narrowe point of reprobration and clection propounded vnto their melancholicke braines and hearts and most miserale polluted soules vnacquainted with Gods couenaunt of mercie and that earnest of his fauour the comfortable spirit of his grace Of such as haue some knowledge in the worde and practise of obedience the want of the true apprehending of gods reuealed wil touching election and reprobation and the right method of learning conceauing the doctrine causeth some to stumble and fall at this stone For as a sworde taken at the wrong end is readie to wound the hand of the taker held by the handle is a fit weapon of defence euen so the doctrine of predestination being preposterously conceiued may through fault of the conceiuer procure hurt whereas of it selfe it is the most strong rocke of assurance in all stormes of tēptations that can befall vnto bodie or soule The one part of predestination is Gods immutable will the cause and rule of all iustice and vttermost of all reason in his workes the other part is the execution of that will according to mercie or iustice sauing or condemning with all the meanes thereto belonging Christ Iesus in those of whom the Lorde will shewe mercie and the iust desert of a sinner on whome he is determined to shewe the iustice of his wrath If this most comfortable doctrine and the firme ancher of our profession be not in all partes equally apprehended we may not onely misse the benefite therof through our owne fault but receiue wounde and daungerous hurte thereby For if the consideration be bent vpon Gods will and counsel only without respect of the means it is impossible but the frailty of mans nature must needes be distracted into diuerse perilous and desperate feares finding nothing in it selfe that may answere his iustice and withstand the fearefull sentence of condemnation if it stay in the meanes of his iustice only and haue not eye vpon his mercy in his sonne Christ then likewise ariseth an assurance of eternall destruction to the consciēce defiled and the guilty soule deformed with iniquity if the meanes of his mercy be regarded without farther respect of his eternall decree and immouable iustice then is there also no assurance of his mercy vnto miserable man who melteth like snow and vanisheth like a vapour before his iustice and doubting of the continuance of his fauour alwayes hangeth in suspence All these considerations thus seuerally falling into the melancholick person moue doubt and care and either breed a resolute desperatnes or a continuall distrust tossing hither and thither the soule not established by knowledge and faith in Gods eternall counsell the most wise iust and mercifull meanes of his execution which being perfectly knowne according to the word
they be his plantes and ingraffed oliue braūches in his sonne who take not their ful perfection at once but according to the nature of a plāt require dayly watering dressing wherby by degrees they attaine in the ende a full stature in Christ So that you may not accompt your selfe voyde of grace because you are not perfect for in this life both faith and knowledge and loue are all imperfect and shall partly be furnished and partly receaue perfectiō elsewhere but you are godly wisely to consider the secret worke of Gods spirite and grace and take comfort of the smallest crumme and drop of this heauenly sustentation and attend your time of perfect growth according to the good pleasure of God You can not at all times feele and followe with your conceir and naturall capacitie the worker of this mysterie more then you are able to discerne where the wind riseth and where it lighteth You know we that are called are borne againe and as the growth and increase of our bodies is not perceaued of vs though we do increase the birth is not apprehended of the infant borne bred euen so is it with vs in the heauenly birth and spirituall regeneration the spirit worketh without our leaue and acquainteth vs not with his maruelous working more then is expedient at his pleasure when and in what measure for our comfort much lesse can a body ouercharged with melancholy drowned in that darke dungeon see the comfortable beames of his daystar brightnesse of the cheerfull Sunne of God aboundant mercie and a mind whose actions are hindered by meanes thereof whereby it neither conceiueth nor iudgeth sincerely and vprightly as the case requireth and neither so only affected but blinde folded by the humour and brought into this darknesse of feare is buffited also and beaten with Sathan on all sides whereby being distracted it obtayneth no respit and release of due and iust consideration howe can it discerne rightly of these thinges Wherefore your case being such yeelde not so much to the enemy as to iudge of your selfe according to his sentence who is a lyer from the beginning and the father of lyes but according to those olde testimonies which you haue felt in your owne conscience and haue giuen comfortable shewe of to others in the course of your life heretofore Oh but you feele not the testimonie of Gods spirit which might assure you Neither do any of Gods children at all times feele it Dauid cōplained of the want hereof Iob complained likewise so haue diuerse of Gods children in all times made mone hereof Sufficient it is if at any time that assurance be giuen and if it be the will of God for a time to withdraw it that you may feeling your owne frailty with more earnest desire call to him for his wonted grace Who are you to interrupt the wayes of God and to preuent his counselles and for your comfort be assured that the former grace you haue receaued is of that nature that it neuer decayeth but remaineth an euerlasting seed of immortalitie proceeding from the Father of eternitie and with whom there is no chaungeablenesse nor shadowe of turning who doth nothing to repent him of but is only wise stable sure and hath no neede to correct anie thing of his owne workmanship And if he with hold the comfort of his spirite from you for a season it is that you may with greater appetite seeke after it and hauing found it more ioy therein and praise his mercie with thankfulnesse of hart and readinesse of vtterance to found out the aboundance of his mercie If the Lord withhold it not but the frailtie wherein you stand diminish the sense thereof or the temptation presse so farre vpon you that you are not free to iudge aright or the perill which the temptation carieth with it moue you to distrust knowe that nothing befalleth you straunge herein more then to other of Gods children before you and that to wade through these violent streames patience and constancie is most needfull with a resolute mind to abide the Lords wil who in the end wil come and will not tarie This is the broken contrite heart which the Lord will not despise this is the poore spirit on whome the Lord pronounceth blessednesse and this is the affliction whereof the Spirit of God is called the comforter so that although before the Lord hath vouchsafed you many graces yet were you neuer meete to receaue diuerse other which he will nowe bestowe vpon you before this present and so shall you in the end receaue the cup of saluation in steed of the bottell of vineger and teares and in steed of the bread of affliction the heauenly Manna and the bread of life from the table of God Christ Wherefore suspect these thoughtes to be of the enemie and not of your selfe cast into your mind of him and not springing of incredulitie I am out of Gods fauour I am reprobate from his kingdome there remaineth no hope for me I haue no faith For such are his temptations of old daily they be the points he laboureth in against Gods childrē if not to wring frō thē their hope at the least to weary their dayes with heauinesse and discomfort Neither esteeme your selfe presently by that you feele but by that you haue felt when nothing hath ouershadowed that light of knowledge faith and zeale but the full brightnesse of these graces hath broken forth For why haue not these doubts risen vnto you before time and where is nowe the auncient assurance They before time rose not because the temptation was far of and that assurance although by tempest of temptation and by this spirituall storme it seeme to bend and to giue backe yet is it inuincible and recouereth thereby more strength then euer it had before Is the souldier worse appayed that sustaineth the combat and standeth in the face of his enemie though the terrible thunder of shot beat his eares and he in perill of hitting though he maintaine the heate of the battell against the force of his enemie with perill not a whit he becommeth hereby more valiant he learneth experience his skill increaseth and his courage doubleth vppon him So in this spirituall battaile you must not be discouraged like a milk soppe or a fresh souldier vntrained or vnacquainted with warfare but set the victorie before your eyes which is alreadie attained and purchased for you and so much the more are you to endure with Christian valiance in that here is no feare of ouerthrowe the battaile is broken and the enemies scattered and onely the captaine requireth to be followed of you for whome he hath obtained the crowne of victorie if the stragling tayle of the enemie annoye they may shewe their malice and hostilitie but their force is foyled and take heart onely and endure and you shall see them vanquished and submit vnto that power of Christ which inableth you You must
the fellovvship of your mournefull estate VVherby I am faine to call for such supporte as reason ministreth to vvisemen and am compelled as it vvere to put bit into the mouth of my ouer vehement affection and giue checke as much as my strength serueth vnto my passion somevvhat in this behalfe vnruly Yet albeit our cases are not equall in so much as the griefe is not so sensible to me as to your selfe vvhome it hath I perceiue entred to the quick not onely of bodely sense but hath passed deeper and fretted the tender sinevves of the soule and spirite yet I say for asmuch as such is the gracious prouidence of our God and the manifold graces of his bountifull hand vnto men that scarce appeareth any calamity but if time be taken and opportunitie laid holde on helpe and release doth as readely present it selfe to the comforte of such as trauaile vnder the burthen as affliction is readie to charge them and considering on vvhome this kinde of crosse is fallen vpon a man exercised in the studie of pietie and a practiser of the same and one not ignorant of the preceptes of philosophie vvherby vvordly men and such as are destitute of the knovvledge of God stay themselues in such cases vvhich as it serueth them but slenderly and is but a readen staffe to beare vp so heauy a burthen being othervvise voide and vnfurnished of the heauenly grace so may such philosophicall and humaine preceptes and consideration of naturall causes and euentes stande him in steade vvho resteth not vvholly there on but leaneth vpon the maine pillar of Gods promises of mercy and grace and vvaighteth vvith patiēce the appointed time of his release These considerations to be seene in you giue me consolation and the rather inable me to comforte you my deare friēd vvhose soule I perceiue pāteth vvith heat of that flame vvhich most nigh you say in your feeling approcheth vnto those tormentes described vvher the vvorm dieth not and the fire goeth not out vvhereof although you seeme presently to feele the anguish for a time yet haue comfort and attend the happie issue vvhich doubtles is your raising vp againe and more high aduauncement into the assurance of Gods loue and fauour For as of all mettalls gold is tried vvith most vehement heate and abideth the oftenest hamering of vvorkemen for the refyning vvhich being once fyned serueth for the seate of the Diamond and for matter of precious vessels to the royall furniture of the tables of potentates and princes so novv euen that heauenly refiner holdeth you in this hote flame for a time till being purified and cleared from that drosse of sinne vvhich cleaueth so fast to our degenerat nature you may make hereafter a more glorious vessell for his seruice and honour of his heauenly maiestie Your request is not onely that I should minister vnto you vvhat my slender skill either in diuinitie or phisicke may afford but that I vvould at large declare vnto you the nature of melancholie vvhat causeth it vvhat effectes it vvorketh hovv cured and farther to lay open vvhatsoeuer may serue for the knovvledge thereof vvith such companions of feare sadnes desperation teares vveeping sobbing sighing as follovv that mournefull traine yea ofte times vnbrideled laughter rising not from any comforte of the heart or gladnes of spirit but from a disposition in such sorte altered as by errour of conceite that gesture is in a counterfet maner bestovved vpon that disagreeing passion vvhose nature is rather to extinguish it selfe vvith teares then assvvaged by the svveete breath of chearefulnes othervvise to receiue refreshing This your request chargeth me vvith that vvhereto if my skill reacheth not yet my good vvill and prompt minde both in respect of your estate vvhose griefe I pitty and desire to mitigate and the complaintes of diuerse others also in like case oppressed dravve me that both they you knovving the groūds of these passions vvhat parte nature hath in the tragedie and vvhat conscience of sinne driueth vnto vvhat difference betvvixt them hovv one nourisheth another hovv ech riseth and the seuerall meanes both of preuenting and cure of ech the desperate discouragementes vvhich rise vnto bodie and minde thus afflicted may be at the least mitigated and some light giuen to the soule stumbling in the darke midnight of ignorance and refreshing to the comforteles hearte distracted vvith a thousand doubtes and pensiue thoughtes of dispaire vvherin according to your request I haue copiously entreated of these pointes that both you might be the more comforted and satisfied by plentie of discourse being a matter fitting your humor and pertinent to your present estate you might haue vvherevvith to passe the tedious time vvith more contentmēt Therefore as your griefe vvill giue leaue and respitt thereto you may here knovv and learne that vvhich you desire to knovv in this case vvhereof if by Gods blessing you may make vse to your cōfort I shall ioye in my paines and you against other times of tryall by this experience may haue cause of more hope of release and comfort in heauines then through the terrour of this straunge affliction you presently feele THE CONTENTES OF the booke according to the Chapters HOw diuerslie the word melancholy is takē Cap. 1. pag. 1. The causes of naturall melancholie and of the excesse thereof Cap. 2. pag. 4. Whether good nourishmente breede melancholie by fault of the bodie turning it into melancholie whether such humour is founde in nourishmentes or rather is made of them Cap. 3. pag. 7. The aunswer to obiections made against the breeding of melancholicke humour out of nourishment Cap. 4. pag. 10. A more particular and farther answer to the former obiections Cap. 5. pag. 22. The causes of the increase excesse of the melancholicke humour Cap. 6. pag. 25. Of the melancholicke excrement Cap. 7. pag. 31. What burnt choller is and the causes thereof Cap. 8. pag. 32. How melancholie worketh fearfull passions in the mind Cap. 9. pag. 33. How the body affecteth the soule Cap. 10. pag. 39. Obiections against the manner howe the bodie affecteth the soule with answer thereunto Cap. 11. pag. 49. A farther aunswer to the former obiections and of the simple facultie of the soule and onely organicall of spirit and bodie Cap. 12. pag. 55. Howe the soule by one simple facultie perfourmeth so manie and diuerse actions Cap. 13. pag. 67. The particular answers to the obiections made in the 11. Chap. Cap. 14. pag. 72. Whether perturbations rise of humor or not with a diuision of the perturbations Cap. 15. pag. 80. Whether perturbations which are not moued by outward occasions rise of humour or not and how Cap 16. pag. 90. How melācholy procureth feare sadnes dispaire and such other passions Cap. 17. pag. 101 Of the vnnatural melācholy rising by adustion how it affecteth vs with diuerse passions Cap. 18. pag. 110. How sicknes and yeares seeme to alter the mind and the cause how the soule
soule and anguish of conscience most intollerable and can finde notwithstanding continuail prayers and incessaunt supplication made vnto the Lord no release in your owne iudgement stand reprobate from Gods couenant and voide of all hope of his inheritance expecting the consummation of your misery and fearefull sentence of eternall condēnation I pray you deare brother consider Gods mercies of old and the former experience of his fauour and those holy testimonies of election which you haue in times past made plentifully shew of and consider whether it be not rather a temptation then as you imagine Gods anger against you Of temptations there are diuerse sortes some rising frō our owne natures othersome from without vs such as are without our natures either springe from our malitious enemie Sathan or from such allurementes or terrors which the world tosseth vs withall In these Sathan is a worker besides his owne peculiar manner of tempting His temptations are either by corporall possession or with more liberty and freedome to the tempted Of our owne natures springe the temptations which rise of the roote of originall sinne without any forraine instigation from the world whatsoeuer is either a bayte of pleasure or fright of terror which increase the actuall sinnes springing from the originall roote and lay as it were compasse and powreth on water to that vngracious stock Now if this your affliction be no other but some kinde of these tēptatiōs which I haue no doubt to make manifest and playne vnto you then are you to esteeme of your case more comfortably thē you do and to attend with patience the issue which not onely is not infallible to signifie determinatly of election or reprobation but in such as are of like conuersation vnto you and haue giuen euident testimonies of a sound faith groūded vpō knowledge as you haue done bringeth forth the fruites of patience experience hope increase of faith and not onely in the end yeeldeth plenty of spirituall ioy and comforte vnto themselues but furnisheth also with power and hability to confirme others both by their owne example and wordes of great consolation from their owne experience In all the former kindes of temptations there is hope and examples are sundry in ech kinde of which the corporall inhabiting of Sathan is the greatest fullest of tertour and dispaire yet the history of the deedes and sayinges of Christ the wrytinges of the Euangelist do testifie of whole legions dispossessed of that habitation by the power of Christ mercifully extended vpon such poore and miserable captiues which examples are written for our instruction against like times of affliction that we giue not ouer hope though millions of deuills should possesse vs within and enuirone vs without but knowe his power is aboue all force of the enemie and his mercie farre surmounting Sathans malice But before I proceede in this particular I will make plaine demonstration vnto you that you haue no cause in this sorte to feare nor haue anie shadowe of grounde whereon you should resolue against your selfe vppon the poynt of reprobation but that these molestations and terrours which you nowe indure are temptations rather for your farther good and profite then grounded resolutions of such lamentable issue which hauing declared vnto you in the generalitie I will enter into the particular kindes wherewith I iudge you are thus distressed First I will endeuour to loose the holde your melancholie hath layed vppon the assuraunce as you take it of reprobation which hauing first perfourmed your iudgement may more easilie embrace the other parte which is a tryall onely for a time and a meere temptation Although Gods children euerie one haue their saluation founded vppon his eternall decree of mercie towardes them published by the preaching of the Gospell and written and sealed in the heart of his chosen by the power of the spirite of adoption which crieth Abba father and testifieth in measure some more some lesse according to the dispensatiō of that grace yet on the contrarie part there is no euident and vndoubted signe of reprobation in any while they liue because there may be hope of repentance but onely that sinne which Christ calleth the sinne against the holie Ghost and for which the Apostle forbiddeth to pray this the Diuines do expound to be an open wilfull apostasie from God with malitious hate against the profession of his knowen trueth Next vnto this sinne is impenitencie which can not be knowne till death make shewe thereof and cut of time of repentance Of the first of these examples are verie rare as Iulianus the Emperour called apostata of the other Cain Esau Saul Iudas and the prophane people of the world that know not Christ and such as knowe him onely in vaine profession outwardly and so continue are patternes of the sinne and shall be examples of Gods vengeance But first touching that sinne wherefore no prayer is to be made because it witnesseth and sealeth vp reprobation to the offender in this life I will by comparinge your course of life and your present demeanour with that sinne manifestly lay open your case to be farre other then reprobate Before I enter hereinto you must beware you make no mo sinnes of that kind then God him selfe hath pronounced to be of that sort for in these matters that concerne Gods religion euen the perfection of our wisedome is but follie much more our sicke braines and melancholicke vnderstanding is farre to be remoued from handling such holie thinges whereof none can geue rule but he who knoweth the perfect nature as I may so speake of God which is knowen onely to him selfe so that here you must rest in this case and striue to see with no sharper eye then so farre as God hath reuealed nor enter other course in search of such matters of his secresie then he hath him selfe manifested by whose Oracles we are instructed that only one kinde of sinne cutteth of all hope of saluation in such as haue professed Christ and that only because it is of such nature that it closeth vp all remorse of repentaunce being the height of all iniquitie equall with that of the deuilles them selues who are shut out of Gods fauour for euer If this then be the onely sinne which brandeth the wicked soule to eternall condemnation and you deare heart haue not in anie sort thus offended as I haue no doubt to make euident proofe whie do you vnkindlie torment your owne heart and throwe your selfe into that pit of destruction from which the Lord hath redeemed you and as though you were your owne and not his a possession of your own purchase to be bestowed as fancie leadeth you and not Gods creation wrought by his spirite of regeneration ordayned for his seruice and glorie Nowe let vs enter into the consideration whether you haue sinned against the holie Ghost or not which if you haue in deede done as peraduenture your humour would leade you where is the renouncing of Gods religion
which you haue hitherto professed and presently do hartely embrace Where is that malice which prosecuteth this mischiefe What persecution haue you in word or deede raised against the truth What sword haue you euer drawne against it or what volumes haue you written against sound doctrine with purposed opposition against your own conscience neither that of frailtie but of meere will and obstinacie If your humour be not able to alleadge such testimonies as it cannot in deed these thinges being matters of iudgement and will and not of fancie and consisting of euidencie to be knowen of others and not of imaginacie conceit of a fearful and distrustfull hart giue ouer I pray you these melancholicke priudices against your selfe and prepare your heart to receaue comfort which the word of promise ministreth vnto you For that sinne except onely all other are within compasse of grace and haue no power to shut vs from Gods fauour Be it that you haue sinned against your conscience yet certaine condemnation and casting of doth not necessarily ensue thereupon else should there be not a person on whome God should shewe mercie For we all sinne in that manner and the good we would our conscience bearing witnesse of our duetie and breach of that we are bounde to do we do not but the sinne which we would not do in respect of regeneration that we commit through our frailtie which groweth vp in strenghth by increases of God to perfefection and hath euermore in it not to discourage vs but to breede circumspection and to remember vs where our perfection and excellencie lieth euen without vs in that vnspotted lambe Christ Iesus For our willes are corrupted not onely in that they are seduced by corrupt iudgement which is the least part of their want but when contrarie to iudgement grounded either vppon nature or the plaine worde of trueth we make choyce of that we knowe is naught or preferre the greater euill before the lesse Otherwise should our nature obtaine in this life a greater perfection then our first parentes had in paradice whose freedome of will was peruerted to that which was against the knowen commaundement of God and giue any one faculty or practise of the minde be perfect all must needs be of like purenesse seeing equallie they were corrupted and equallie receaue restauration This perfection we are to hope for and attende the consummation of the rudimentes of righteousnesse which both in knowledge and vse are in part blind and impotent and in heauen are to receaue the absolute perfection and beautie fully agreeable to Gods good will and vprightnesse of his iustice If then you haue neither sinned against the holie Ghost which is plaine through manifold testimonies of vnfaigned faith euen at this time being full of sighes and groanes for your offences carefull to eschue what soeuer is repugnaunt to Gods will releeuinge with tender affection of Christian loue the necessities of others neither in the whole course of your life hauing bene of notorious marke of iniquitie much lesse a blasphemer of that holie name and a renouncer with contumelie of the holie profession assure your selfe that your present estate is no other but a storme of temptation and no marke of perdition from which the Lorde after triall of faith and patience will deliuer you and sende that calme peace and tranquillitie which in times past you haue enioyed and shall by his grace againe recouer to your euerlasting comfort Of temptations some touch our fayth and other some the fruites thereof Our faith as whether we beleeue or not The fruites either of profession of the truth when persecution or feare or fauour of men slaken our zeale and smother the outwarde shewe of those glorious graces of faith of the spirite or in the fruites of obedience sutable and kindly vnto our profession as those which concerne persons possessions or name wherein charitie towarde men is broken all these temptations though both affection do incline vnto them excepting incredulitie which bringeth foorth impenitencie and renunciation of the faith and will bring them to effect yet are they not of power to separate vs from the loue of God in Christ whose sacrifice is all sufficient and propitiatorie for all kindes of sinne that onely before mentioned excepted You say you beleeue not and therefore drawe vppon you the payne due to the vnfaithfull here beware deare brother and waigh with circumspectipn and due consideration of your state in so waightie a point as this is and although you haue not at this time the sense thereof in your imagination which is now disguised and blemished with melancholie conceits and corporall alteration of the instrument of the bodie yet do you beleeue and shall hereafter feele the sweete comfort thereof as you nowe aboundantly declare the fruites of so holy a roote patience meeknesse charity prayer newnesse of life and what soeuer good vertue springeth in the children of God therefrom For euen as in outwarde senses we do see sometimes and feele and heare when wee do not perceaue it so we may also haue faith and not alwayes haue the sensible perceauing thereof especiallie our bodies as yours presently is being oppressed with melancholie which alwayes vrgeth terror and distrust and deludeth vs with opinion of want of that whereof wee haue no lacke euen as in another extremitie other men are oft carried with an opinion and confidence of those thinges whereof they haue no part And if it be so with melancholickes as it is crediblie recorded in historie that some haue complained they haue bene headlesse so that as Aëtius reporteth Phylotymus the Phisitian was faine to put a cap of lead vpon a melancholickes heade that he might by feeling the waight conceaue otherwise and Artemidorus the Grammarian did imagine he wanted both a hand and a legge though he wanted neither you are to lay aside this fancie and to weigh the presence of the cause by the effectes which are most euident tokens of faith in you and not to rest vppon your deluded conceites which if you yeeld vnto will perswade you in the ende that you want both head and heart also after it hath dispossessed you in part of the right vse of both but you will say vnto me do not men otherwise doubt of this point but vpon melancholie Yes verely and especially such as most hunger and thirst after righteousnesse and are poore in spirit and broken in hart the rest of the world except some vengeance of God laye holde vppon them or some horrible fact gnawe their wounded conscience passing their time in a blinde securitie carelesse of God and emptie of all sense and hope of a better life or feare of that eternall destruction passe their dayes and finish their course as the calfe passeth to the shambles not knowing their ende to be slaughter by the butchers knife Such I saye as are most carefull to walke before their God in righteousnesse as they doubt and feare in euerie action
of that kinde of frailty giue comforte vnto you in your case although in an other kinde yet in this respect not vnlike We haue experiēce how diuerse times the desease preuaileth ouer the sicke persons that actions faile and faculties seeme quite to be spent neither hand nor foote is able to do their duetie the eye is dimme the hearing dull the tast altered and the tounge distasteth all things eue of most pleasant relish and the weak and feeble pacient seemeth to attend the time of dissolution when yet notwithstanding there remaineth a secret power of nature and a forcible spark of life that ouercōmeth all these infirmities and consumeth them like drosse rendereth to the body a greater purity firmenes of health then before the sicknes it did enioy Euen so esteeme of the spirituall case and consider that your soule is sicke and not dead and faith is assailed but not ouercome only haue patience to attend the finishing of this secret worke which passeth all conceite and capacity of man and you shall see these burning feauers of temptations to be slaked and cooled by the mercy and grace of Christ and that sparke of faith which lieth now hidde and ouerwhelmed with heapes of temptation and seemeth to be vtterly quenched to breake forth againe and to consume these straunge causes of the desease of the soule and as nature after a perfect crise dischargeth her self either by stoole vomite sweat or bleeding or such like euacuations to the recouerie of former health so shall you feele all these doubtes and feares and terrors remoued and strength of faith restored with such supply as it shall be able to make euident proofe what secrete vertue laye hid and yet not idle in all this vncomfortable plight which offereth you temptation of dispaire Seing then that you are yet but vnder the conflict and not ouercome haue good cheare in the succession which as in Christ it is victorious ouer head so are we his parts members to looke for the same crowne of glory who both ouercome in him through him in our selues shall in the ende be possessed of the victory and receiuethe crowne of immortality As for that which your owne conceit corrupted by melancholy perswadeth you wherin Sathan is busie and omitteth no oportunity giue no credite thereunto but as it is so esteeme it a delusion which time will discouer and lay open as you your selfe shall hereafter most planly discerne I graunt you the temptation it selfe though your body were free from this infirmity is of the greatest kinde such as doth not skirmish only lightly vpon our soules but setteth the maine battaile against our most happy estate in so much as it forced our Sauiour to cry my God my God why hast thou forsaken me But what then are we therefore to be discouraged no no here appeareth rather the aboundance of Gods grace and the mightie supporte of his power which euen in the middest of hel preserueth his and suffereth not so much as their garments to take any smell of the flame but euen from thēce is able to raise them to his celestiall kingdome place them which his sonne in the throne of glory And if you dewly consider the price of our redemption how prerious it was how it could not be obtayned without shedding of the most pretious heartblood of the sonne of God you must thinke the quarrell to be no other to the ende but a matter of blood of strife of sweate of feare of ielousie and whatsoeuer affection goeth with affecting a glorious triumph in all the mēbers of Christ both inwardly and outwardly in the spirite and in the body as our head himselfe could finde in dispensation though he sued vnto his father therefrom with aboundance of tears and thinke that it is Gods busines we are in hād with and that we are inabled of him and accōpt not these smal venies of Satā for deadly woūdes which are no thing other but practises and exercises of the spirituall courage and circumspection and introductions to that vse of the whole armour of God where against no force of the enemy shall preuaile though the attempt seeme to be full of perill terror But you say you feele small strength of faith no support of that hope which maketh not ashamed Beware least you iudge vniustly of the wayes of God esteeme that for small which is great and vile which in the sight of God is most pretious For herein the ennemy may take encouragement to your great disaduantage You feele not that taste thereof you sometimes felt and do you iudge therefore you are bereued vtterly thereof what consider the soule is now sick distestaeth much wholesome meate of consolation and loatheth many pleasaunt and fragraunt cuppes of comfort and counsell and yet the indeuours of Gods childre in this behalfe and the sweete waters of heauēly comfort are not therefore of themselues bitter or vnsauory so you are not to measure the absence of this grace by that you presently but by that in times past while the soule stoode free from this disease of tēptation trial you haue felt of comfort in the spirite through an acceptable measure of faith according to the dispensation of Gods grace and not according to our fancy but as he shal think meete to be ministred vnto vs. Neither is the tryall of faith only to be taken according as the soule feeleth it in it selfe but also and sometimes as in such temptations as these wherein you now trauaile onely by the course and trade of life which hath passed before and those fruites which are euident to the eye of others who can iudge more sincerely then the afflicted whose vnderstandinges are somewhat altered through Sathans terrors But againe you say the course of life past and your estate present hath nothing aunswered the holines of your vocation and that sinceritie the Lord requireth so that here also the comforte faileth you What then are you therefore reprobate No but it argueth want of faith not so but place for farther increase of faith and the fruits thereof Those whome the Lord hath chosen to be his worshipers and hath redeemed and consecrated holy to himselfe and prepared good workes for them to walke in they be his plantes and ingraffed oliue braūches in his sonne which take not their full perfection at once but accorglorie And if you duly consider the price of our redemption how pretious it was how it could not be obtained without shedding of the most pretious hart bloud of the Sonne of God you must thinke the quarrell to be no other to the ende but a matter of bloud of strife of sweate of feare of ielousie and whatsoeuer affection goeth with affecting a glorious triumph in all the members of Christ both inwardly and outwardly in the spirit and in the bodie as our head himselfe could finde no dispensation though he sued vnto his Father therfore with aboundance
of teares and thinke that it is Gods businesse we are in hand with that we are inabled of him mooued and carried by his spirite increase with his increases not to be measured with the eye of flesh or carnall vnderstanding but by the same spirite which worketh in vs who as he hath begunne will also make perfect his worke to his owne glory which lieth in taking pity and compassion more aboundantly then in shewing vēgeance By this which hitherto hath bene said it appeareth plainly that no sinne hath yet passed you which can seclude you from hope of saluation and therefore necessarily it followeth that the crosse you are now vnder is an attempt of Satan against you to cast you into vtter dispaire and if it were possible to vndoe that knot more surely knit then that of Gordius which coupleth vs vnto our God and wherewith we are espoused vnto Iesus Christ euen our most glorious faith which ouercommeth the world where against not Satā nor all his force or stratageme is able to preuaile I say it is only a temptation of the ennemy purposed of him to your confusion but from your louing God and mercifull father a triall of faith and patience and the proofe of those vertues which before laye hid in secrete which he will haue now shew themselues in the combat he himselfe a beholder an incourager a succour at neede and prest with the crowne of triumph to giue rewarde and honour to the victory Wherefore only haue patience be not discouraged stand sure and the feeblenes of Sathan shall soone appeare and his weapons shall be al broaken in peeces and God through faith and patience and comfort of the Scriptures by his spirite shall be glorified in the weakenes of his poore afflicted seruant and you shall againe as Dauid was be restored to those wōted ioyes which you haue sometimes felt in the sweete mercies of the Lord. Now the ground of all tēptation is our owne weakenes this is tried and proued by Sathan or the world or both ioyned together as considerations of our destruction Besides this continual buddes of iniquity which do rise from our originall corruption Sathan sometimes playeth his part vpon our weakenes alone and sometimes by outward temptations and sometimes layeth siege round about vs and besetteth all the parts of our complete armour We are weake in vnderstanding and in what so euer action riseth therefrom euen in will affection Our vnderstanding is turned into blindnes of error Our will embraceth not only those thinges which corrupt iudgement directeth vnto but euen wher sometime vnderstanding stādeth sound ther will bēdeth to affection neglecteth the light of reason Our affections are both rebellious to right iudgement and will in that they rage where they should not and wher iust cause is giuen there they inordinately exceed Thus iudgement wil and affection hauing degenerated vse the bodely members as weapons and instrumentes of all impietye and in iustice so that if the grace of God did not for preseruation of humaine society and especially for his Churches cause restraine this strēgth of iniquity the pillers of the world would shatter in sunder and the vault of heauen would fall all things woulde turne againe to their former Chaos be consumed with the terrible fire of Gods vengeaunce and perishe in his heauy displeasure Our misery being such no maruaile though both Sathan and the world preuaile against vs except the Lord stretch foorth his hand and vphold vs. This our infirmity Sathan doth sometimes assaye without meanes and sometimes by outward occasions of euill forcible perswasion of sinne and rebelliō against God How he doth it without means the experience is more lamentable and infallible then the manner how easie to finde out In corporall possession it seemeth there needeth no meanes when Sathan possesseth all partes of the howse and as maister commaundeth at his pleasure But how without such accesse he is able to tēpt that is a matter of more difficult consideration which because it maketh not a litle to the better laying open of your estate I will somewhat stande vpon referring you for the rest to the resolutions of the diuines who haue chiefe part in this busines For my owne part I do take it am assured you find the experience that Sathā after a personall manner vnto the soule though not in bodely shape to the eye without meanes of outward thinges which might moue our wils or affections tempteth vs in the very secrete thoughts of our heartes For being a spirite and by creation most excellent it is not to be doubted but that he hath a spirituall accesse vnto our spirites to trouble them and to disorder all their actions as we see corporall creatures with bodely and corporall force to annoy one an other And as men haue fellowship one with other by corporall presence and are delighted or displeased with the quallities of the minde according as they like or dislike vttered by speach talke so is it most like that the spirites haue their society maintained by a spirituall conference whereby their wills and purposes are entercommunicated one to an other without corporall sound whereof both the spirites want the instrument and the voice nothing affecteth the mind Dayly experience maketh this manifest in such as are possessed how Sathan so beareth the sway in them that their speach and phrase altereth and their discourse is farre other then before their whole nature at Sathans becke and their vtterance of minde as he only suggesteth In others whome Sathan hath not layed such hold on the same no lesse is to be seene as when the false prophetes did deceiue Ahab there came forth a spirit which was sent to be a false lying spirite in the mouth of all his prophets which accordingly did make promis vnto him of victory who notwithstāding found a contrary euent of ouerthrow destructiō So entred Satan into Iudas the traitor moued him to betray our Sauiour not by a corporall possession but by a spirituall impulsion whereby he worketh in the children of disobedience and Peter in the fift of the Actes sayeth to Ananias why hath Sathan filled thine heart c and againe in the second to the Ephesians the Apostle calleth the Deuill the prince that ruleth in the ayre the spirite that nowe worketh in the children of disobedience by which it is plaine that the deuill hath power where God permitteth him ouer the minds and iudgements and wills of the reprobate and wicked and may also in such sort tempt the faithful seruants of God For the Apostle saith in the same place that the Ephesians to whome he wrote in times past walked according to the course of this world after the conduct of that spirite Neither do we stande thus subiect vnto Sathans annoyance through the subtlenesse of his nature being a spirit but through that lōg experience and practise of our miserie from age to age whereby he
is able with ease to worke our anoyance in all respects This giueth him knowledge of our mindes more perfectly who apprehendeth the same by the least shew and inclination of our affection wil. Not that he knoweth our harts entirely and perfectly which is proper to God only the framer of the hart but only through that triall and experience which not one onely particular man hath ministred vnto him but euen our whole race from Adam to this present this maketh him not to expect anie outward signification of speach or gesture to conceiue our intents and purposes but out of our vniuerfall corruption whereof he hath continuall proofe he hath layed vp matter of argument to discouer the vanity of our mindes and the secret thoughtes of our heart which after he hath found he suggesteth as he seeth occasion wherto we must incline instigation of sinne disobedience against God his holy commandemēts His temptatiōs are properly such as neither our natures seme to incline vnto but in a generality to all kinde of wickednes nor the world doth either allure vs or inforce vs especially the children of god who are partakers of his spirit finde them most straunge and such as they abhorre the very least conceite of them finde no parte of their nature to incline vnto them howsoeuer in other respectes they complaine of frailty Of this kinde are certaine blasphemies suggested of the Deuill and laying of violent handes of them selues or vpon others neither moued ther to by hate or malice or any occasion of reuenge of the same sort is the dispaire and distrust of gods mercy and grace besides many other as taking away the seede of the word out of the heart of the negligent hearers the suggesting of errors such like without our natures speciall inclination that way but rather contrarily affected And as he is a spirite an effectuall worker in other meanes so when he applieth his proper trauaile he attempteth the most daungerous assaults to our saluation and entereth so deep that knowing the iudgement is the fountaine of all vertuous action there he maketh traine and after a spirituall manner seeketh possession thereof to the vtter descouraging of all your actions that depend thereon knowing that it once being at his deuotion the corporall grosse actions bodely vices neede no great prouocation Other temptations rise of our owne rebellious heartes vnto the holy commandementes of God or frō the wordely allurements which as baites entice vs frō the way of obedience or else from terrors of life which scar vs with threate of perill if we embrace the way of piety and of holines and setteth before vs a greater awe of men then we haue of feare reuerence of God Now among these temptations falleth your present estate especially Sathan employeth his force to your iudgement and not against the strength of carnall iudgement only but against that which the Spirite of God hath taught and sealed vnto you in your conscience both suggesting vnto you those blasphemous conceites which your heart vtterly abhorreth the least thought and remembrāce of and raiseth that doubt of Gods fauour which now diuersly distracteth you Remember I pray you how the spirite of God calleth him the tempter the deceiuer of the world and the accuser of the faithfull the Dragon and old serpent a lyer and the father of lies by which epethites and descriptions you may consider his power his malice and his craft to deceaue and to abuse you neuer before acquainted with his practises as at this present you haue experience of and not take all that your minde conceiueth of any manner of impiety whatsoeuer to be from you but from Sathan who as he hath power to tempt and to trie to cast before you these stumbling blockes whereat he would haue you fall so hath he no power to fasten them vpō your minde and to giue them setteling your owne conscience bearing you witnes how much repugnant they are to your desires The rather are you to accompt thē as frō him because they be such as are altogether cōtrary to your former conuersation whereto you haue felt your nature incline before and such as haue no inforcement nor inticemēt from any creature but from him Wherefore though such kinde of thoughts doe assaile the hart that being guilty of so great sinne your cōsciēce might be so much the more defiled and the discouragement the greater yet aunswere them againe by the word of God which is the sworde of the spirite and wayte the happie ende of the conflict with patience and accompt not these small venies of Sathan for deadly wounds which are nothing else but practises exercises of your spirituall courage circumspection introductions to that vse of the whole armour of God where against no force of the enemie shall preuaile though the attempt seeme to be full of perill and terrour But you say you feele small strength of faith and no support of that hope which maketh not ashamed Beware least you iudge vniustly of the wayes of God and esteeme that for small which is great and vile which in the sight of God is most pretious For herein the enemie may take encouragement to your great disaduauntage You feele not that taste thereof you sometimes felt and do you iudge therefore you are bereued vtterlie thereof what consider the soule is nowe sicke and distasteth much wholesome meate of consolation and loatheth many pleasaunt and fragrant cuppes of comfort and counsell and yet the indeuours of Gods childrē in this behalfe and the sweete waters of heauēly comfort are not therefore of themselues bitter or vnsauory so you are not to measure the absence of this grace by that you presently but by that in times past while the soule stoode free from this disease of tēptation trial you haue felt of comfort in the spirite through an acceptable measure of faith according to the dispensation of Gods grace and not according to our fancy but as he shal think meete to be ministred vnto vs. Neither is the tryall of faith only to be taken according as the soule feeleth it in it selfe but also and sometimes as in such temptations as these wherein you now trauaile onely by the course and trade of life which hath passed before and those fruites which are euident to the eye of others who can iudge more sincerely then the afflicted whose vnderstandinges are somewhat altered through Sathans terrors But againe you say the course of life past and your estate present hath nothing aunswered the holines of your vocation and that sinceritie the Lord requireth so that here also the comforte faileth you What then are you therfore reprobate No but it argueth wāt of faith Not so but place for farther increase of faith and the fruits thereof Those whome the Lord hath chosen to be his worshipers and hath redeemed and consecrated holy to himselfe and prepared good workes for them to walke in
consider that as in warfare the seruice is not alwayes alike neither keepeth the souldier the same degree but is aduaunced of the generall as he seeth cause euen so if the Lorde nowe bestowe you in a straunge peece of seruice in his spirituall warre and place you in the forefront whome he hath hitherto tendered as your condition required you must be contented and quite your selfe like a man and knowe that the wisedome of the heauenly captaine is such and his tender affection so great towarde his followers that in the middest of perill not one haire of them shall miscarrie whom he leadeth Then to conclude this point seing your case is onely a tēptation and no temptation is of it selfe except that one a signe of reprobation cast of these discouragementes and learne howe to behaue your selfe herein that you may passe through with credit of your vocation and honour vnto God ioy comfort to your faithful friends in the Lord Iesus You haue read your selfe may partly perceaue by my former discourse howe melancholie perswadeth of miserie where there is no cause some haue imagined them selues to haue wanted their heads some their armes other some haue thought themselues dead men and other some one member of their bodies as bigge as three which as it perswadeth in corporal things that which is not so no lesse doth it in spirituall things especially being like a weapō taken into Sathans hand and vsed to all aduantages of our hurt and destruction This maketh all more grieuous is called of Serapio the very seate of the deuill being an apt instrument for him both to weaken our bodies with and to terrifie our minds with vaine fantasticall feares and to disturbe the whole tranquillity of our nature Wherefore ascribe I pray you these troubles of your mind to no other but to the frailty of your bodie I meane this excesse of distrust feare otherwise the temptation may be without it and giue no way to Sathans practise in yeelding your iudgement and affection to his suggestion but resist as against a sicknesse and as nature doth with her spirit against bodily disease so take courage and call together the wisdome and knowledge God hath giuen you and nowe put it in vse against this subtle and forcible enemie And through Gods blessing by due vse of such naturall means as I shall hereafter declare vnto you both mind and bodie shall againe be restored to the former integritie and you haue greater cause then euer to prayse God for his mercie and goodnesse towardes you Hitherto nothing hath befallen you that diuerse of Gods children haue not passed through before you although the battaile hath bene sharp bloudy euen as our Maister hath sweat dropps of bloud in the like combat remember the victorie is the more glorious and the conquest so much the more honorable sure as we haue experience in the person of Iesus our Sauiour which found no other way to his kingdome and hath left vnto vs an example of like patience constancie hope and whatsoeuer vertue else is requisite to this battaile of the spirit and doth furnish vs in all partes with spirituall armour He girdeth vs with truth and buckleth on vs the brestplate of righteousnesse he shoeth our feet with the preparation of the Gospell of peace he deliuereth into the left hand the shield of faith wherby we may quench the firie dartes of the deuill into the right the sword of the spirite the word of God and couereth our heads with the helmet of saluation If we shall cowardly cast our armor and weapon from vs and betake vs to flight besides there is no place of safetie we shall dishonour our captaine giue ouer our selues to the pleasure and crueltie of our enemie and finally perish for euer Wherefore trie the strength of this armour and the sharpnesse of this sword nowe occasion is offered march on with those shoes of peace which is the ende of warre and wherof they are the pledge and assurance hold out that shield of faith and although it be battered on all sides yet forsake it not for the temper is such as no fierie darte of the wicked can pierce it and bestowe that sword of Gods word the word of consolation of ioy of assurance of spirituall and heauenly wisedome whereby the iudgement is perfected the hart established and the whole man of God made absolute Forsake not that breastplate of the righteousnesse of Iesus Christ and that frute of our sanctification whereby we are in his Sonne acceptable vnto God with the helmet of saluation couer your head that all the good meanes of God being to the full employed you may fecle the power of this heauenly furniture to your present encouragement herafter to your euerlasting saluation Let not your sinnes dismay you for Christ came not to saue the righteous he supplieth all our wantes and hath aboundance to discharge our debtes In him is God well pleased with vs as him selfe hath pronounced so that being discharged in him let vs giue ouer all feare with boldnes approch vnto the throne of grace that we may receaue the mercie promised vnto vs for if we be righteouse then is Christ vnrighteous and suffered for him selfe and not for vs but he was iust pure a lambe without spot or blemish slaine for the attonemēt that we might thereby liue broaken that we might be healed and humbled for our aduancement Wherefore lay the burthen vpon him who hath sayd come vnto me all ye that are heauy loden and he shall ease your wearied shoulders thereof and geue you refreshing If ther were no sinne wheron should Gods mercie be shewen and whereto tendeth the promise of the Gospell But you say you are a great sinner what then is not the mercie of God greater is there anie ende of his compassion If sinne do abound who shall stint the grace of God that it should not also ouerflow Dauid was a great sinner so was both Peter and Paule yet were they not refused but receaued mercie And if the grace of God were so great that our sinnes could not withholde his mercie when we were straungers from his couenant aliens from the common wealth of Israell and led with that spirit of errour and darknesse like the nations that knowe not God much more being reconciled stand we sure and vnremoueable in his fauour though the cloudes do somtimes ouercast the bright beames therof our owne imbecillitie comprehendeth it not Remember the tryall of Iob who would haue taken him for other then one forsaken of the Lord what were his thoughts let the day perish wherin I was borne Why died I not in the birth wherefore is light giuen vnto him that is in misery and life vnto them that haue heauy harts And in an other place oh that I were as in times past when God preserued me whē his light shined vpon my head c. But
and sealed vp in the christian heart by the worke of Gods spirite is so farre of from disquieting the spirit or breeding doubt that the children of God in all temptations finde the immutability mutability of Gods counsell and the testimony of his fauour in their consciences by his spirite to supporte them in all stormes of temptation and to be the rocke against which no violence of Sathan or his ministers or whatsoeuer their owne infirmity offereth of discouragement can preuaile Besides these such as read the word of God with passionate humour fall into this inconuenience especially if without guide and instruction they carie any presumption of minde and are not modest and warie in their collections such being melancholicke may easily fall into distrust of Gods mercy perish in dispaire So that ignorance and infidelity are the chiefe causes of this miserable estate whereinto many haue fallen especially such as haue neuer bene able to be recomforted which for the most part are they who with neglect of Godds feare and hardnes of heart against their conscience and knowledge haue with desperate purpose gathered strength in the wayes of sinne and haue cast of all remorse til the Lordes vengeaunce in this sort ouertake them or haue fallen into that sinn whereof the Apostle speaketh of that none should pray for and which our Sauiour calleth the sinne against the holy Ghost Other some ther be of which number I know you deare M. that fearing the Lord with sincerity of hearte haue bene notwithstanding this way distressed the weight of their sinnes exceeding for a time the strength of their faith whose case I take to be thus farre other then such as I haue before mentioned euen as in stormie tempest the ship stirreth at euery blast and sourge of the sea to be in daunger of wrack and the yong ash bending to euery blast of winde seemeth in perill of breaking rooting vp whē both the ship kepeth her constant course the tree yet hath his rooting so in you those of your disposition in this case the tempest and storme of this temptation raysed partly by your owne weakenes and partely through Sathans tempestious malice causeth your faith to bend and seeme feeble yeelding to this force while notwithstanding you be built on the rocke planted with the hand of God in the Eden of his gracious election remayne a plante for euer in his paradise of eternall felicitie Such as you your self herm offend that you measure your selues by your infirmities which hath so farre vse in vs to breed a watchfull care ouer our owne wayes not to discourage vs consider that we are as the Lord esteemeth who is more glorified in shewing mercie thē in executing of his wrath whose word declareth vnto vs that he loued vs being ennemies and found vs whē we were lost and loathed not our polution but for himselfe onely offered his mercy so that we must stand in that reckning of our selues which the Lord will haue vs to doe in his mercie else shal we be wrōg iudges of the wayes of the Almighty Euen as one that hath not had experience of trauaile by sea feareth euery wea uing of the ship doubteth of perill where the nature of the trauailer is such without hazard or daunger So you such as are in like case afflicted imagine euery puffe of this kinde of tēptation to be nothing else but the gate of destruction when as notwithstanding it is the verie course way where through God doth lead his dearest children whose counsells are not to be measured by our infirmities nor by that we cast forecast or doubt but as he himselfe hath pronoūced of his own wayes as many of his children haue proued before vs. Here the melācholie taketh aduantage and Sathan prosecuteth a maine with bēding your affectiōs to feare doubt distrust stoppeth that consolation the mercy of god affordeth which his childrē are ready to minister vnto you And these are melancholickes of another sort who notwithstanding they endeuour to feare God yet not aduised through this base vile humor receiue discouragemēt in thēselues more then through Gods mercie they haue need til such time as the cōfort of his spirite by due means alteration of their body by cōueniēt remedy of the godly phisician raise thē vp againe These are melācholiks most disposed by reason of the euill temper of their bodies to this affliction not by power of the humor which resteth in their bodies toucheth not the minde but by reasō they are more curious distrustfull thē other cōplexiōs which being ioyned with ignorance or a preposterous knowledge cast thē into these laberinthes of spirituall sorow whereout very hardly are they at the length able to dispatch themselues without great mercy of God and diligent and carefull applying of his meanes But you may say vnto me can a man by his owne power drawe on this kinde of crosse which you haue before declared to be the hand of God yea verily if Gods only mercie be not his stay euen as our first parents voluntarily gaue their neckes and in them all their posterity vnder the yoke of Sathan and as the vengeance of Gods iustice alwayes burneth against the wicked his sword continually employed which nothing cā quēch but the water of his grace flowing from the sids of his Sonne and that spiritual complet armour where of S. Paul speaketh of so should euen all of vs in this life taste of the heate feele the dint of that sword if his mercy in his Sonne for his Saintes cause on the earth he staied not the ielousie of his wrath His anger our sinnes pull on but his mercy is only for himselfe Thus you haue heard what manner affliction this of the minde and conscience of sinne not comforted by assurance of pardon is how it differeth from melancholy how melancholicke persons are most subiect therunto and by what meanes this calamity is procured with the diuersity of persons thus afflicted hereafter you shall vnderstand which is your chiefe desire my counsell and cure both in that state of minde wherin you stand and whereof the Lord graunt you speedy and comfortable release and also in what your crased body surgayned with melancholy and all his vncomfortable accidentes doth of naturall phisick help of medicine require But first my deare M. giue way to my wordes of comfort and for the old friendships sake and sweete society we haue had in times past alwayes seasoned with heauenly meditations and spirituall conferences denie me not that interest which shal be both comfortable vnto you and ioyfull to many of your friendes whose prayers are with sobbes powred out for your release especially beware least vnaduisedly you dishonour god in this kind of sorow who is the God of peace and comfort CHAP. XXX A consolation vnto the afflicted conscience YOu feele you say the wrath of God kindled against your