and so sure an argument of sinceritie that I know none better none surer than it For such carefull and anxious inquiry such fearfulnesse of hypocrisie argueth a strong desire of sinceritie and the desire of Grace as we shall see afterward is generally agreed on to be Grace Yea euen ouer-much timorousnesse and superfluous curiositie in this kinde when men cannot satisfie themselues with anything no not with the pregnantest proofes of it and are therefore thereby much disturbed perplexed and distracted though it be an infirmitie and ought therefore with all good endeuour to be remedied because it dismayeth disheartneth disturbeth the peace of the minde depriueth the soule of alacritie dulleth and dampeth the spirits and hindereth much in the performance of many necessarie good duties yet as they vse to say of shamefastnesse It is a good signe of an euill cause though it proceed froman euill cause a consciousnesse commonly of some defect yet it is a signe of some grace so is this though of it selfe a weaknesse yet a signe of much grace and goodnesse it is like some weeds that though they be weeds of no good vse but vnprofitable and such as hinder the growth of better things that might succeed in their roome if they were once remoued yet are signes of a rich and a fat soile and howsoeuer therefore they may discourage an vnskilful person from dealing with it yet will giue a wise and an experienced man encouragement thereunto A sixt Note of Sinceritie may be a sight and sense of ones owne Incredulitie and Impenitency with a serious griefe for it It was the poore mans speech to our Sauiour in the Gospell I beleeue Lord helpe my vnbeleefe His Faith hee found and felt mixed with much infidelitie and incredulitie and the sense of his infidelitie with the griefe for it argued his Faith And it is reported of the Mother of three men of great note that when shee told her Confessor that considering what rare Schollers and Men of note her three sonnes whom shee had by vnlawfull meanes begotten on her had proued the one the Master of the Stories another the Master of the Sentences and the third the Collector and Compiler of the Decrees shee could not be so sorie for her sinne as shee should hee made her answer againe and it was no euill answer Be sorie for this then that thou art or canst be no more sorie And vndoubtedly as when wee haue best beleeued yet we shall haue cause still to repent vs of our vnbeleefe so when we haue repented the best we can of our sinnes we shall haue cause to repent vs euen then of our impenitencie of a want of repentance in vs. But this ignorant vnfaithfull impenitent persons are not vsually apprehensiue and sensible of They beleeue and repent they say and it may well be they thinke beleeue as they say as well as the best And shall I tell you what is the cause of it Sinners saith one are sleepers They are as men in a dreame and there is nothing difficult with dreamers Men may dreame and many doe oft that they flie in the aire and swim ouer the sea but are far enough for all that from doing or being able to doe either as they will soone finde when they are once awaked out of their dreame In like manner is it with these silly deluded soules They lie fast asleepe in sin and so doing they dreame yet of faith and the feare of God and repentance and other graces of Gods Spirit they dreame I say that they haue these things as well and as much as any yea so well as better needs not to be had Whereas others that be awaked out of this imaginous sleepe and doe now indeed truly repent and beleeue finde many wants much defectiuenesse in their Repentance their Faith their Hope their feare of God their dependance vpon God and the other graces of his Spirit truly indeed but imperfectly as yet begun and wrought in them Yea as the more knowledge a man hath the more hee commeth to know his ignorance the more skill he hath the more he commeth to discouer his owne vnskilfulnesse A young Scholler when he hath gotten his Seton or his Ramus once by heart thinketh hee hath as much Logicke as his Tutor can teach him but when hee commeth indeed to vnderstand things hee seeth his owne errour So the more men beleeue the more they come to see and feele their owne vnbeleefe the further they wade on in the studie and practise of repentance the more they finde out and discouer their owne impenitence and complaine of the hardnesse and vnto wardnesse of their hearts the more they labour and make progresse in sound sanctification the more come they to apprehend and to see into the depth of their corruption And this very sense of the want of grace is a good argument of grace It is a sure signe of Grace to see no Grace and to see it with griefe For Blessed saith our Sauiour are those that are poore in spirit euen as well as those that are pure in Spirit The one he saith shall see God and the other hath a present right to the Kingdome of God which is the same in effect For the Kingdome of God is theirs He saith not Blessed are the rich in Grace though that also be most true but Blessed are the poore in spirit that is such as are spiritually poore humbled deiected cast downe in the sight and sense of their owne wants apprehending nothing so much as the want of grace in themselues Such are blessed because such are rich though they cannot yet come to see and apprehend their owne wealth And this hee saith no doubt that if any weake one be not able yet to discerne the puritie of his owne heart hee may yet be comforted in the very pouertie of his Spirit the serious sense whereof may assure him that he is in part come out of his sinne and is entred into the state of grace For it is a sure signe that a man is awaked out of his sleepe when he discouereth and seeth the errours of his Dreame And it is in these cases with men commonly as it is in drawing vp of water as long as the bucket is vnder water wee feele not the weight of it but so soone as it commeth aboue water it beginneth to hang heauie on the hand when a man diueth vnder water hee feeleth no weight of the water though there be many tun of it ouer his head The element they say weigheth not in his owne proper place whereas halfe a tub full of the same water taken out of the riuer and set vpon the same mans head would be very burdensome vnto him and make him soone grow wearie of it In like manner so long as a man is ouer head and eares
they finde him But this is a strange thing that no man can so seeke him before he hath found him And surely as no man can sincerely seeke God in vaine so no man can sincerely desire grace in vaine A man may loue Gold and yet not haue it but no man loueth God but he is sure to haue God saith Augustine Wealth a man may desire and yet be neuer the nearer it but Grace no man euer sincerely desired and missed of it It is true here that the Psalmist in another case saith Lord thou hearest the desire of the poore thou hast prepared their heart and thine eare hearkeneth to their prayers It is God that hath prepared the heart and wrought this desire in it for it is God that worketh such willingnesse in vs and he will neuer frustrate the desire that himselfe hath there wrought Yea as no man saith he can seeke God but he that hath found him and it is a signe therefore that a man hath alreadie found God in part when seriously and sincerely he seeketh him So no man can desire grace but he that alreadie hath grace for he that desireth grace hath grace to desire it and it is an infallible signe therefore that a man hath alreadie some measure of grace that doth seriously desire to haue it He would neuer desire to feare God that stood not in some awe of him alreadie nor desire to feele in himselfe a loue of God that did not in some measure already loue God Nor could a man euer truly desire sanctifying grace were not his heart alreadie sanctified by the Spirit of Grace which hath wrought also in him that desire of it Not to adde that the greatest part of a Christian mans perfection in this life witnesse Pauls owne ingenuous confession of himselfe and who went euer beyond him How farre at least come the most short of him consisteth rather in will then in worke and in desire and endeuour more then in deed True it is indeed that any naturall man may desire happinesse glory saluation and eternall well-being Oh saith Balaam that I might die the death of the righteous and that my latter end might be like his he desired indeed to die their death but to liue their life he could not endure it is naturall for euery one to desire his owne naturall good But to desire spirituall grace holinesse sound sanctification faith vnfained the true feare of God serious repentance is more than any naturall man euer did or can doe And therefore Blessed are they saith our Sauiour as that are poore in spirit and that mourne for their spirituall defects so that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse after spirituall grace after a supply of them Now what is hunger but a want of food with a sense thereof and an earnest desire of it or what is thirst but a drought a want of drinke and a vehement desire of it For in hunger and thirst there are these three things first an emptinesse in the one and a want of moisture in the other for it is not want of food simply but want of wetting that causeth this secondly a sense of this emptinesse and want of moisture with a speciall kinde of paine and griefe in the bodie proceeding from it For a man may be emptie bodied and yet not affected thus with it as in some diseases and where naturall heat is much wasted and thirdly a vehement desire of such either nouriture or moâ—sture whereby this emptinesse may be filled or this drought slaked For a man may be emptie and sicke againe in some sort with it yea readie to die of it and yet haue no appetite to his meat neither but a loathing of that rather whereby hee might be refreshed and releeued he may be emptie of food and yet feele it not he may feele it in some sort and yet not desire food But in hunger and thirst ordinarily doe these all three concurre Yea so vehement and violent is this desire of such supply oft in hunger and thirst that for a bit of bread or a cup of drinke men haue many times been content to part with the dearest and pretiousest things that they haue beene possest of In like manner is it in this spiritual hunger and thirst There is first spirituall pouertie a vacuitte an emptinesse of grace to sight and sense it may be vtterly of all in deed and truth of some degree of it there is secondly a griefe and painfulnesse in the heart and soule arising from the apprehension of it a mourning and bemoaning of ones selfe for the want of it and thirdly an earnest desire of it aboue all things in the world so that as a man throughly an hungred counteth all nothing in regard of meat a man heartily a-thirst all nothing in comparison of drinke he would giue any thing for it so the soule thus affected with the blessed Apostle counteth all nothing but drosse and dung in comparison of Christ the knowledge of him faith in him and conformity vnto him It is with it as with a Kings childe that though it be neuer so richly arrayed and haue neuer so many costly iewels hanging about it yet all is as nothing to it nothing but the nurses brest can still it when for want of food it is out of quiet So nothing but spirituall grace can here satisfie the soule all other things are esteemed as nothing to it Or as with some women that goe with childe and are subiect to longing they will part with any thing for that that they long for and are readie euen to sinke downe to faint to goe away yea to die if they haue it not So here spirituall grace and the sense and assurance of it is the thing longed for that they would giue a whole world for to obtaine if they had it and they are readie euen to faint and sinke vnder that heauie weight of griefe that surchargeth their distressed soules because they cannot yet finde and feele that in themselues which yet vndoubtedly they haue For certainly whosoeuer they be that can finde themselues in this sort affected either they must confesse themselues to be in a blessed estate and consequently in the state of grace for what true happinesse out of it or else they must contradict our Sauiour and charge Truth it selfe with vntruth who hath pronounced them blessed that are so affected And this I desire to haue well weighed and seriously considered for the staying of many troubled soules What is it that doth so much trouble thee and in this lamentable wise distresse and distract thee Oh saith he presently I haue no faith no repentance no loue no feare of God no sanctifying no sauing grace in me Why doest thou see a want of these things in thy selfe Yes that is it that so grieueth me that I cannot loue God stand
and Angels put together is as none in regard of his being the same with himselfe The first of them is in this tearme excluded from sound ioy the second is admitted to it as well as the third or the fourth yea therefore rather than the third by much because it is sure in time to attaine to the fourth and it may well therefore constitute a distinct sort or degree to make vp the number propounded at first to wit imperfecta sed firma or firma sed non pura non perfecta An imperfect Righteousnesse but yet firme or a firme and permanent Righteousnesse though not yet pure and perfect Since that the Grace of God begun here in the Hearts of his holy ones though neuer so infirme and weake in it selfe yet being supported and vpheld by the power of his Spirit is sure neuer wholly or fully to faile but as the light that the Moone receiueth from the Sunne though to our seeming but very little at first shortly after the change as we tearme it yet it increaseth more and more daily till it come to the full so shall the light of Grace in Gods Children though but little scarce sensible at the first either to others or themselues yet it shall grow on till it come to it full growth which when it hath once attained that which will not be in this life it will neuer herein contrary to the manner of the Moone impaire or abate againe So that the Point that hence ariseth is this that Ioy belongeth to the Vpright And to the Vpright only First to the Vpright that is as well to those that be sincere-hearted as to those that be perfectly and exactly righteous yea to all vpright bee they strong or weake ones bee they well growne or but new borne babes in Christ Iesus For whereas there are two ranckes of Men truly Righteous The former of such righteous ones as neuer fell neuer sinned the estate of the elect Angels that need no repentance that like the Prodigals elder Brother neuer left their Fathers house nor euer offended him in ought The latter of such righteous ones as haue fallen indeed but are risen againe through Gods mercie in Christ their Sauiour restoring them in part and raising them vp againe by repentance the state of all the faithfull in part f renewed and regenerate and restored againe to their Originall Righteousnesse Or to come nearer to the Point The former of those that are righteous in regard of a perfect habite or an absolute perfection of righteousnesse And so our Sauiour Christ only here on earth was and the Saints saued now in heauen are The latter of those that are righteous in regard of the desire studie endeuour and imperfect practise rather than perfection of righteousnesse Such as sincerely desire to feare and to serue God and endeuour constantly to doe his will as haue respect to Gods Commandements and thinke vpon them to obserue them though they cannot keepe or fulfill them so as they should that follow after righteousnesse as a worke-man doth his trade that he hath bound himselfe an apprentice to though he be not yet his crafts-master And so Iob is said to be Iust though he had his infirmities and failings by his owne confession not a few So Zacharie and Elizabeth are said to haue beene righteous in Gods sight that is truly and sincerely though not perfectly righteous for they were not also without their wants And euen these latter also haue right to and may haue part in the ioy here propounded as well as the former though the former enioy it farre more fully than they doe For God will be mercifull yea he hath alreadie beene and is mercifull to those that set their hearts aright that desire to feare his name And I will be with him saith God of Salomon if he endeuour to doe my will And Then saith Dauid shall I not be confounded when I haue respect to all thy Precepts When I am vpright with my God And The louing kindnesse of the Lord is from euer and for euer vpon those that thinke vpon his Commandements to do them And He that followeth after Righteousnesse shall finde Honour and Life true honour and eternal Life For vnto those that by patient perseuerance in well-doing seeke honour and glory and immortalitie will God render Life eternall And therefore to such also euen in expresse tearmes is ioy promised and such also in expresse tearmes are enioyned to reioyce The righteous shall be glad in the Lord and trust in him and all without exception that are vpright in heart shall reioyce And as here Light is sowen for the righteous so else-where Light in darknesse ariseth to the vpright And againe hauing in the beginning of the Psalme pronounced them blessed not that neuer sinned but that haue sincerely repented them of their sinnes in whose soule there is no guile he concludeth with an incitement yea an iniunction laid vpon all such to reioyce Be glad yee righteous and reioyce in the Lord and be merry yea shout for ioy all yee that are vpright in heart And if there be great ioy in heauen for such sure there may well be much ioy also here on earth vnto such And this may be further confirmed vnto vs if we shall consider 1. That it is not so much the quantitie as the qualitie and sinceritie of his grace in vs that God principally regardeth A little pale and course Gold is of much more worth than much bright Copper than much fine Brasse And a good peece of Gold is true Gold though it be bemired and besmeared with durt an ingot of Gold is good Gold though it haue much drosse still mixt with it Nor will a man that is in his wits cast away his money be it Gold or Siluer for the foulnesse of it or the Gold-smith his wedge for the drosse that is mixt with it but where he meeteth with neuer so little good gold and it be but a grain or two mixt with neuer so much drosse he will not leaue the gold for the drosse but keep the drosse with the gold till he haue fined it and so seuered and freed the one from the other In like manner here Gods grace in the hearts of his Children though it be mixt still with many infirmities yea and corruptions yet is it true Grace and much better than all those seeming shadowes and though glorious yet but counterfeit shewes of it that are found either in Heathen mens liues or in the courses of Hypocrites Nor will God therefore in regard of those infirmities and corruptions mixt with it reiect it but rather haue a care of them in whom it is to cure and to correct them that his